Works For Me Wednesday

This week my tip involves traveling with kids. When ever we are about in embark on a long journey, which to my kid involves anything longer than about 10 miles, but anyway, we head to the library first. But not just for books, which aren't usually allowed to travel for fear they won't come back. We go for books on tape or CD. We are lucky our van has both players. It has been wonderful. My children have listened to many stories that we haven't had the time to do as read alouds at home. Just a few have been:

• several Magic Tree House books by Mary Pope Osborne
• Ballett Shoes by Noel Streatfield
• the first Mrs. Piggle Wiggle book by Betty Mac Donald
• the orginal Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder
• we currently have The Railway Children by Edith Nesbit in our player

These have been lifesaver on long trips and are enjoyed by the whole family.

For other great tips visit Shannon over at Rocks In My Dryer.

Summer is upon us

This last week of May ~ I am finishing up cleaning out and culling for the upcoming yard sale. But next week summer will be officially here for my household. Complete with a new schedule. Working it out will be the other project for this week.

This week in LBY we are working on self-control and boy oh boy am I being convicted, and I have an answer to a question of my own. I'll be blogging on that later in my weekly post - which will - as usual be at least Sunday night before it is up. And keep in mind I have only done 2 days of the homework.

Tackle It Tuesday

Janice over at 5 Minutes for Mom has started a new meme in the spirit of all the spring cleaning and decluttering going on around called ....................you guessed it Tackle It Tuesday!

The idea is to pick a big project and post before and after pictures. Seeing as I don't have a digital camera I will have to post before and after word pictures.

Before:

Imagine a chest of drawers, with four drawers, set in the corner of the room, right next to the open closet door. Each drawer had things sticking up and out of it. The top two are almost closed except for the odd sleeve or coller sticking out. The bottom two are opened slightly wider, partially blocking the closet entryway, with pants legs and more sleeves sticking out and over the sides. Once you have taken all this in, step back slightly and look on top of said chest.
Now you see two stacks of boxes. On the left side, the one closest to the wall there are three boxes. On the far right two more boxes are stacked. Balanced precariously on top and across both sets of boxes is a small Razorback costume and other assorted baby clothes. Standing between the boxes in a makeshift bookcase are a stack of craft leaflets and books, mostly cross stitch but others as well.

The Goal:

Clean off the top of the top of the chest.

• put baby clothes away in keepsake drawer
• cull out things to sell
• store the rest in an easy to get to method (the contents of most of the boxes are pictures and momentos to be scrapbooked)

Clean out the drawers.

• Empty each drawer
• Again cull out things for said sale
• fold what is left
• put back in a predetermined order

1. short sleeve shirts, with collars on the left, without (good T shirts) onthe right
   
2. long sleeve shirts, sweat shirts and long sleeve T's on the left, sweaters on the right
   
3. shorts
4. pants and jeans
   

• instruct hubby what goes where (this is his chest after all!)

After

Imagine same chest of drawers. Drawers are now all shut. If you open them you will find the correct contents in each drawer neatly folded, minus the 4 old sweaters, several sweatshirts, 3 or 4 pairs of shorts, and a couple of pairs of pants that are too small in the waist. Now step back the boxes are all consolidated into 3 closed and stacked neatly in the corner. (My next Tackle it Tuesday may involve getting those pictures in some semblence of order for a scrapping date with my sister) There are only 3 leaflets laying on the clean right half of the chest top. The baby clothes have been put in the keepsake drawer on the other side of the room. The rest of the junk has been culled out and taken to my mom's for the yard sale this weekend!

HomeSchool E Store

You see the banner at the head of my page. The homeschool E-store has a new book each week for free download, and a lot of other great products at great prices. I have gotten some really great books to use now and later in our homeschool career. Here is the text of the email I recived today.

This week at HomeschoolEStore.com
HomeschoolEStore is proud to partner with Christine's Country Units to bring you
Australia Country Unit Study

You can download this eBook absolutely free May 29th-June 4th by going to www.HomeschoolEStore.com
Australia Country Unit Study

Not just a geography lesson, this unit will teach you about the culture, religions, and history of Australia. In this unit you will explore the holidays and customs and experience some cuisine from Australia. This Unit Study contains Six comprehensive lessons on Australia, including activities, puzzles, test, and guide.

A $7.50 Value, FREE!

(I edited the date. Seems like everybody is making the same mistake today but next month in June not July, even if Sunday is the 4th, it is of June ;-) )

Monday Memories

The blogger affectionily known as Chilihead (hey I didn't come up with it someone else did) over at Don't Try This at Home, has started a new meme Monday Memories. I thought it would be fun to dust off some of those memories and share them so I figured I'd join in.

Hers involved popcorn and that brought memories of my own childhood popcorn days. We would have popcorn and watch movies or M*A*S*H, I believe my dad had every episode taped. We would get out the old stove popper, or later the air popper, and get going. My sister would lay out what we called the Indian Blanket, I don't know why we just did and it was the only one we could eat popcorn on. We also had a praticular bowl we used, well that was until my sister and I got creative and we got a new one that was personalized with "C***'s Popcorn" on it, for Christmas one year. To this day my mom and dad still have that blanket and that 'new' popcorn bowl.

LBY Week 9

First of all can I just say that the first week when Beth said that this was the right time for this study, boy was she ever right. It has come at such a crucial time for me that I can without a doubt say that, I NEEDED this study NOW. That also gives me some pause to think 'what is going to happen that I need it twice?' since I am also starting over and going through it again with some of the W@H girls.

Okay when I started, I am thinking Gentleness. I can handle this one. What is so hard about that? The homework starts out with three aspects of gentleness. Day one Submission. Hey I have been working on that one! After all arent' we getting ready to go to seminary? Aren't I staying home and not working? Yep got that one pretty much covered. Then Beth hits with the words "Is your life a tangled mess....for too long?" ummmm...... you mean not letting go and really living now? "Rest in His faithful care....... Allow Hime to comb out the tangles until you are free...... Submit." Okay you have got me there God. I will work on this submission part.

Day two Humility. Okay I know I have that one covered. I am pretty much sure that most people I know are better off or can do it better than me. Putting others first, being humble. Then Beth translates the greek word - it meand "modesty toward self and piety toward God." Hey wait a minute my definiton of humility didn't include God, I better look further. Beth continues "It results from emptying ourselves of self" Sounds alot like the pouring out, she talked of earlier. Or as she explained " a correct estimation of ourselves which results from a correct estimation of our God" In other words, God is God and I am Not. I didn't want my hubby to do his run like he did on Wednesday, but you know what. If he hadn't done them like that I wouldn't be making my insurance payment tomorrow.

Days three, four and five Teachability. Okay, I am not going to be arrogant and say I have this covered after all just look what I learned the first 2 days. The first Word, she brings us to today is James 1 :21, which tells us to accept God's Word. And when I don't accept it, He will use what he can to get it across to me, even a donkey as in Numbers 22, or His judgement as with David in 1 Chronicles 13. And then showed us the Ultimate Teacher, and His commands to us to make disciples and teach them, which isn't the same as preach to them, to preach is to evangalize, to 'get them saved'. To teach is to continue their education.

That is a lot, gentleness involves submission, humilty and teachability. What more is there? And then I get to the video. Gentleness bows, both at the realization that times to come will be a trial, as Christ bowed and came to earth, and after the trials are through, as Job did in in his discussions after Satan's dealings with him.

1. It is more than our words and attitudes. -- we don't just talk the talk we gotta live it!
2. There are things that WILL be difficult -- pain is often what we fear the most
3. There will probably be some deep wounding -- don't dispair God hears you when you cry out, but in His answer the greater YES comes AFTER the earlier no.
4. But after the wounding, He is there to bind. But binding takes time. We must choose to stop and let Him tend to the wounds
5. And the scars that develop from the wounds that were healed are marks of grace and trust. -- See I have been there, I know what you are going through. Touch my hands. Touch my side. I have been there.


Gentleness bows.

Addie	Heather*	Carol
M	Rach	Jeana
Jenn	Amanda	MamaB
GiBee	Boomama	Maria
Blair	Heather	Nancy
Janna	Flipflop	Robin
Sherry	Patricia	Tara
Lauren	HolyMama!	Faith
Christy	Eph2810	Karin
Leann	Rachel	Janice
This is a list of the women participating in the study and the links to their blogs. New postings on the study will be published for the next ten weeks, between Friday 8pm - Saturday 8am. Please feel free to visit each of us and comment. Everyone is welcome to participate in this discussion as we seek to live beyond ourselves. May God bless you richly from the hearing of His word.

True Memorial

I just sat here and bawled through this entire video

Summer Reading Program

As if I need another thing to do this summer. My kids are going to be a part of the summer reading program at the library. So I decided to to the same thing. I am joinging The Summer Reading Program. over at Amanda's. Actually I followed Leann, I am going to set up a TV/Computer free time every day where we all read. My personal goal is a new book a week. That is a book I haven't read before, but from the state of finances it will either be a library book or one of the many on my shelves that I haven't read yet. I also have the goal of getting on schedule and keeping up with the Great Books Reading Partnership. That doesn't include finishing LBY and starting it again with W@H well going through it all again anyway. Yes I will be busy but I love it! This is the first summer in a long time that I have productive plans that I have actually thought out.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

I am officially kidless for the weekend. I met my mom and she picked up my kids and they will bring them home Monday night. I am looking forward toward a relaxing weekend. Where I can clean up and clean out my bedroom. I hope this accomplishes two things.

1. get things sorted out for a yard sale in a week from now.
2. actually have a hideout or sorts for hubby and me.

So I won't be having a cook out or having people over but I have major plans for this weekend for our home.

LBY week 8

Faith Fights!!

We studied the quality of faithfulness last week. Many of us know Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." NIV. A very simple definition. However, as often the case with Bible verses, there is alot more to it than meets the eye. We learned that the faithfulness of God is rooted in His steadines, steadfastness, honesty, and certianty. In other words His faithfulness is His Believability. We can believe everything He says, because He is faithful in everything he does. We can know.

Many times our faith is increased going through trials. God could deliver us out of it, but in His Infinite Wisdom, He chooses to walk us through it so that we can see His faithfulness and witness His beliveability (Deu 31:6, Jos 1:5, Heb 13:5) When asking why, I am often reminded that He doesn't think like I do (Is 55:8). Sometimes He lets the ship run aground But He alsway has a destination in mind for us. (Acts 27:28 - 28:10)

I have seen this in my own life recently. This time last year we had two incomes and found if difficult to make ends meet. We were always waiting on that next paycheck to pay a bill or do something. We were trusting that to come. However, when I chose to stay at home that, voluntarily cut out one of those sure paychecks. We still had something to rely on, though, Hubby's paycheck, my Pampered Chef, even some stored away in savings. Little by little however those things we relied on have drifted away. Hubby lost his job, our savings dwindled, I quit working hard with my Pampered Chef, etc. It is through this that God has taught me that Every thing I have comes from Him. It is Him I have to rely on to provide for me and my family. And what is more He knows what I NEED better than I do. I tend to confuse wants with needs. And as for our destination. A year ago, we were still looking at seminary as being something out there, off in the distance of our future. We didn't know when or how we could get things taken care of so that we would actually get there, a calling both of us know and have known for a long time. But through these hard times He has shown us way to make that calling a real part of our lives. We are now waiting on our psycological evaluation so that we can take those steps. All in God's time. Who know where I will be this time next year, God does. And I am relying on Him to order my steps to get there.

Further in our study we learned what part faith takes in our own Spiritual armor. It is the shield that quenches the flaming arrows of the enemy. It is put out there to stop everything our enemy throws at us. I loved Beth's statement that the enemy was mostly just mouth. Satan is described as a lion roaming about seeking whom to devour. We need to take our example from Daniel whose faith shut the mouths of the lions. Think about it, with his mouth shut Satan can not only not devour us but can't he say anything either!

How many times in the last few weeks has Satan reminded me of the bills that are due, or the gas I need for my van or how much I'd like to take a break from cooking and go out to eat. It is those times I need to get down on my knees and lift my shield of faith to quench those arrows.

Addie	Heather*	Carol
M	Rach	Jeana
Jenn	Amanda	MamaB
GiBee	Boomama	Maria
Blair	Heather	Nancy
Janna	Flipflop	Robin
Sherry	Patricia	Tara
Lauren	HolyMama!	Faith
Christy	Eph2810	Karin
Leann	Rachel	Janice
This is a list of the women participating in the study and the links to their blogs. New postings on the study will be published for the next ten weeks, between Friday 8pm - Saturday 8am. Please feel free to visit each of us and comment. Everyone is welcome to participate in this discussion as we seek to live beyond ourselves. May God bless you richly from the hearing of His word.

I guess I should clean off my desk more often

Remember this post. Well today, 22 days later, I found my keys. You know the saying, "If it would have been a snake, it would have bitten me."? Well that was more than the truth. I mean, if they were breathing, I would have heard them breathing. You see they were right on my computer desk! Not a foot from my mouse hand!! They were just under the piles of paper on the desk. And what is worse, if it hadn't of been for my middle child playing with things he wasn't supposed to I wouldn't have found them. He knocked something off of my desk and had to put it back. When I went back to 'rearrange' his handiwork, in other words, ordering my piles, there they lay.

A note to those of you watching and waiting. Hopefully LBY is coming tonight. I also have another post in draft stage, on self education. But for now I must take care of bedtime for three little kids!

Works For Me Wednesday

I love, love, LOVE cookbooks. I especially love the ones that are put together by organizations, usually for fundraisers, like the W@H cookbook, these often have tried and true recipes for regular people like me. I also subsribe to Taste of Home, not to mention numerous Pampered Chef cookbooks. However, I always have had the problem of storing them and finding the recipe that I wanted at any given time ~ Yes I really do use many of these cookbooks ~ well this Christmas I hit upon the perfect thing. The Campbell's Recipe Keeper. (I tried to find a pic online and couldn't) It has been the best thing. It is full sized (81/2 by 11 inches) three ring (1 inch) binder. It has pages on which to copy recipes. It also has dividers that have pockets in them for those recipes that you get out of newspapers, or recipe cards you are given. I am slowly transfering my classic recipes that I use often to this binder so that I can have them all in one place.

The next step is books for each of my children, yes the boys too. But that will come, that will come. I am even looking into scrapping those someday........

For more What Works for Me tips see Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer.

So far this week......

I have deep cleaned the kitchen, including the floor, which was a major project. I have cleaned the living room. I have cleaned off the boy's floor, sorting and putting away the toys, clothes and shoes.

What it more the kitchen is cleaned again, after 3 meals today, and the living room is still basically clean. The kids and I will do a 15 minute tidy before the night is out and they head for bed. We are getting ready and learning new routines over the summer so that when we start school full swing in August they will already be in place and second nature.

We are ..........

.........off to the zoo this morning! We will be meeting LesleysWife and her daughter, for a picnic lunch followed by a couple of hours at the zoo.

Counting the chickens

I have slacked off in posting on my quest. There are a couple of reasons for that, one I got off schedule while I was gone and never got back on schedule. Two, I felt I was rehashing the same thing over and over, and boring ya'll. ~ Yes, I am from the South, I typed ya'll. ~ But then I realized that I was rehashing the same thing over and over, well because God was doing the same thing with me.

You see I am a planner, I 'need' the security of a plan. I need a back-up, a plan B.....and C.... and D..... you get the picture. Not that I always follow that plan, but it has to be there for me to feel secure. Last week I was telling God "we need $X this week to get by" If DH could do 2 railroad runs we would have it. I had it all planned out. By the time Wednesday and Thursday got here time was running out, and I was getting worried, anxious, crabby, all of the above. I cried out to God, "You SAID You had it covered". I was trying to fit God into my mold. Ever tried that...... It.doesn't. work. What I needed to do and finally surrendered to doing was to simply trust Him. Saying, "Okay, You said You had it covered, I don't know how, You are going to do it but I am trusting You to do it somehow." And you know what He did. I listed those ways in my praises the other night. But I realized that though those, we are ahead of where we would be if God had worked according to my plans. Kind of makes me glad that "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts. " Isaiah 55:9 This week has been much better for me. Every time I start to plan things out for God to follow, I have been able to stop and give it over to God right then. And you know what God has been blessing that.

Works For Me Wednesday

Okay, I thought I didn't have something for today, but as I was commenting on another blog I realized it was 'what works for me' So here goes.

My youngest son started climbing out of the crib at about 19 months. I wasn't ready to move him to the bed yet, but for saftey's sake we did. However, there was another safety problem, how do I keep him in the room instead of wandering the house at night when the rest of us are asleep. Yes he has been known to be up for an hour or more in the middle of the night. So now I put the baby gate up in his doorway when he lays down. Many times he doesn't stay in bed, in fact the last few nights I have picked up the sleeping child from the floor and put him in bed when I went to bed, but he doesn't wander in the hallway or worse the kitchen while we sleep.

Apologies, Ammends, Praises and Lessons

My LBY post for this week was very short. Honestly there was a lot to say I just didn't have anything together coherently to say it. I was convicted by reading others' posts that I didn't give it or God the time they deserved. I will take my time and compose the post that should have been there tonight and in the morning and post it tommorrow.

I believe I again, have fallen into the cycle of not really living the Life God called me to live but just playing at it again. And that will end once again. There is so much I want to DO and so much I want to learn. I CANNOT be playing at life and still accomplish all God has for me.

So I will start RIGHT NOW! He deserves the Glory and the praise for several things that have happened in the last few days in our household. They are, in no particular order, other than that is how God called them to my mind.

• My MIL gave us gas money so that we could make the trip to see her this weekend. It also was enough to pay for the birthday dinner that we had Saturday night for hubby, and helped him to buy gas today for his runs.
• A dear church friend also gave us some money for our trip.
• Hubby was guided at the end of last week to approach his runs in a different manner, tis gave us more money this week to put into the bank for some bills looming near.
• I opened the bill for our vehicle payment today, to get the phone number to call and work out arrangements on the past due portion of it, only to find WE ARE NOT PAST DUE! I have not made our last payement, at least I can find no record of it, and there is no past due balance. The amount due only shows our current month and the due date which is still in the future.
  
• So that leaves the money in the account for our current mortgage payment, which I though I couldn't start on until the vehicle payment was paid.
  
• All of our family that gave us gifts for our birthdays (his was Sat, mine was Mon) gave us cash and we were able to apply that to necessary things.
  

God is Good. He is working His goodness in out through others in our lives. I am now concentrating listening for God's direction to spend myself in the act of DOing good for someone else.

One other thing, I am slowly learning that I needn't be the planner I thought I should be. God does all the planning. I just need to trust him. I keep saying God we need xx amount this week to pay this or that. He keeps saying, I will give you what you truly need if you just trust me. I didn't get the x amount for what I wanted paid last week, but now I am ahead of where I thought I would be at this time.

Hubby is also taking an active role in playing out the lessons he has learned. Last week he started taking out his tithe immediatly on reciving his payment for his runs. Before setting aside money for his expenses, which he has to do before he can give me any money at all. And God is honoring that. I am learning from that as well and will be taking out my tithe from any money I get before putting the rest in the bank or using it.

LBY week 7

I am FINALLY getting to post on this, and it will be short and sweet. I had decided not to post until after I had seen the video because many times Beth's commentary cements the whole idea for me, and I was so blessed by the video tonight.

So many things went through my mind as I watched and listened to her teaching on spending ourselves. Such is a timely message for me. I want to whole up and say I can't do anything because I can't afford to do anything right now. When really how can I afford NOT to do anything. Goodness DOES! I am only to go forward and do. He will reap the harvest. It is for His glory.

Addie	Heather*	Carol
M	Rach	Jeana
Jenn	Amanda	MamaB
GiBee	Boomama	Maria
Blair	Heather	Nancy
Janna	Flipflop	Robin
Sherry	Patricia	Tara
Lauren	HolyMama!	Faith
Christy	Eph2810	Karin
Leann	Rachel	Janice
This is a list of the women participating in the study and the links to their blogs. New postings on the study will be published for the next ten weeks, between Friday 8pm - Saturday 8am. Please feel free to visit each of us and comment. Everyone is welcome to participate in this discussion as we seek to live beyond ourselves. May God bless you richly from the hearing of His word.

My Frapper Map

I started this last year and thought I'd mention it again since I have moved my blog and have new readers.

I have a Frapper Map. Just click on the link (or the one in my side bar) and add your name and zip code and it will place your pin on the map. I like to see where my readers are.

Day 4

It has been a tough day. Not so much for me as for my hubby. He had a very bad day at work, working many, many hours for virtually nothing really. That has him very, very frustrated. We talked on the phone several times today and it was very surreal. From the worlds' perspective I should have been very worried and upset. But I had a peace about it all and it was preventing me from worrying. Later the more I dwelt on it I started to get that depression but even then it wasn't as bad as it has been in the past. For that I am thankful, truly thankful.


Another today, actually it is from yesterday, I didn't put down.

Reading Cathie Jo's blog, I discovered that God does have a purpose for even these low spots. I mean I always knew that in my head, after all my life verse is Romans 8:28. But really experiencing this has taught my heart this concept as well. One of the reasons I am glad that I am keeping this journal, an boring you guys in the process, is this documentation of my feelings and emotions through it all. I will have some sort of testimony when we get to the other side. And can honestly say to someone else, I HAVE lived it I KNOW what you are going through. It is easier to relate to some one who really understands where you are.

Contest

Sagerats is having a contest to help promote The HSB County Fair where you can sell and buy used curriculum, EVEN teacher edition's/guide's/answer key's, with no host percentage fees!

Day 3

Today has been a much better day. Even after a call to/from the mortgage company. Hubby and I had a long prayer time as well as some good couple time last night.k Of course the hours from 1 am to 6 am were riddled with wind and storms. Normally storms don't bother me much, but last night the wind, straight line, was so bad it really scared me. For awhile I was so petrified I couldn't even pray. After awhile I settled down. I had another long prayer session about the fear. But God was so Good, He restored my comfort. Praise Him!!

A couple of things have stood out for me in the last 24 hours.

1. God convicted me of my envy. At first that one blew me away, because it wasn't of material things exactly. It was of testimonies. I wanted God to act in a mighty way so that I could testify to it and give Him the Glory. I was fooling myself by saying it was for God's glory, when it really was for my own. So I confessed and handed it all over to Him and work not to try to do His planning for Him.

2. Leann spoke of she and her hubby relating to each other as both as first born children. They are able to understand each other easier because of this. I, to am a first born. However, my husband isn't, he's fourth born, first of his own father, but fourth nonetheless. These children are typically more laid back, from what I understand. This info helps me understand and relate to my husband differently.

3. Schedules and routines are wonderful. Even though I slept in because I was up a lot for the storms last night. I still accomplished a lot and feel good about what I have done. My home isn't perfect but I am okay with it. I am working slowly and steadily on it. Another few days of decent moods and good routines and I will be on track.

I am still looking for God's plan, seeking it out step by step.

Works For Me Wednesday

The Sock Basket

I hate to match socks from the dryer. For years I have solved this problem with a sock basket. When folding clothes any socks go straight into the sock basket. When a person needs socks that person, or me, goes to the sock basket and rummages around until a match is found. If you come across a match that doesn't belong to you, you have to take a second to match them and fold over the tops, that match can be dropped back into the basket. Occasionally my daughter will offer to match all the socks. For this she gets paid -- one penny for each pair of correctly matched socks. If she decided to sort and put them away she then gets a dime for each person's socks she sorts and puts away.


See Shannon at Rocks in my Dryer for other Works For Me Wednesday participants.

Day 2

This letting go is hard. I am still worried about income. And not seeing a clear answer as to when more is coming in, I worry. I know worry is not from God. My head knows this, at least. Every time I bring up the subject to Steven, he gets more frustrated because he doesn't have any pat answer either. That is what I want, what my flesh needs, pat answers. Unfortunately for my flesh, God doesn't opporate that way. That is where I need more and more of His Spirit. That goes back to a point back earlier in the Beth Moore studey. I need to pour out my self so that He can pour in His Spirit.

Quest Day 1

Stacey types hers in the morning -- I believe that I am going to have to type mine in the evening. That is just the way my body works. I am a night owl and so me and mornings do not get along.

I went to my mom and dad's this weekend. I talked about that last night. The trip did me a lot of good. I got to see friends that I haven't seen in a LONG time. Yeah I talked about that too. It was good to see them, to hear about their kids and grandkids. But it made me realize something. I am not the person that I set out to be all those years ago. Some time ago back on my other blog I wrote a series entitled "A Girl with a Dream" That was a story of how I met me husband. It was a long jorunery from a young girl that wanted to grow up and marry someone from her hometown ( I had my heart set on the eldest son of one of those couples I saw at my parents ) , settle down right there, teach and raise a family in the same place I grew up. In just a few short years that dream changed as I met and later married my husband. But it didn't change all that much, basically the location and the guy changed. I stil wanted to teach and raise my family. But God changed that. I now stay home, teach and raise my family.

He had other things to teach me as well. Through a series of steps some would call bad luck and others, including some very close to me IRL, would call bad judgement, but I call Divine Intervention, I don't have the security of knowing when the money is coming in to pay our next bill, I must totally rely on God to provide those things. As some of you know this has been a severe stuggle of faith for me. It may get worse before it gets better. I don't know, I certianly hope not! I do have the promise, straight from Him that He 'has it covered'. So however He choses He WILL care for me.

I am a long way from that girl with a dream. I am also a long way away from where several in my family thought I should be. They don't say it outright but I can hear it in their tones and the wording of the questions they ask. Beth Moore talks about how she never had her mother's blessing for her ministry. I believe I know how she feels. I have always been the homebody daughter that does what is expected. Now I am having to force myself to break out of that mold and search for MY path the one God called ME to and not the one that some in my family think I should take.

There are things on the horizion for me which I have glimpsed for a long time. They are coming nearer and nearer. I am just about ready to let go of my safety net, that path I 'should' be on and step out onto the path MADE FOR ME!

For today that meant not worrying about finances and resting in the assurences that God will provide. In the days to come it will mean answering the naysayers with the confidence that God Will Provide, even if I don't know how at that moment in time. It will also mean speaking out boldly about my faith with confidence I don't yet have in myself.

LBY -- week 6

Patience --

Well to tell you the truth I didn't get a real grasp on Patience until watching the video last night. I am glad I waited to post until after I watched it. It really hit me when Beth started talking about the Lord's patience with respect for ME. He has waited almost 32 years for me to let got and really live for him. I am not there yet, no where near there yet. I am just starting to let go. And having Him convict me every step of the way.

Then she starts talking about point three the end result. God uses those that frustrate us the most to bring out the bad in us so that He can deal with it. There is a blog that I read earlier that talks about the actions of the refiner. A refiner has to watch constantly as the silver is heated to make sure the temprature doesn't ruin the silver. He takes the impurities off as they rise up and knows when his work is complete when the reflection is pure. So it is with God. He watches us constantly to make sure that we aren't ruined. We can take comfort in that fact. He doesn't want to ruin us only purify us. He deals with the impurities as they rise to the surface. and His work will be finished when His refection is Perfect in us.

Addie	Heather*	Carol
M	Rach	Jeana
Jenn	Amanda	MamaB
GiBee	Boomama	Maria
Blair	Heather	Nancy
Janna	Flipflop	Robin
Sherry	Patricia	Tara
Lauren	HolyMama!	Faith
Christy	Eph2810	Karin
Leann	Rachel	Janice
This is a list of the women participating in the study and the links to their blogs. New postings on the study will be published for the next ten weeks, between Friday 8pm - Saturday 8am. Please feel free to visit each of us and comment. Everyone is welcome to participate in this discussion as we seek to live beyond ourselves. May God bless you richly from the hearing of His word.

My Quest

As I said earlier -- I started a quest, similar to my friend Stacey. Then life got in the way. But really I believe that was God designed, too. Let me explain a little bit. I was enthralled with Stacey's idea and at the point I am in my life I felt some big changes coming about. I wanted to document the changes and feelings etc. Sooooooo, I decided to start an account of my own. Reading hers, I realized she had some goals, fine I need goals too. What am I going to put down, where do I want to go with this, what am I going to write about. See a pattern here I, I, I, . That is right I wasn't letting God in on it. I was directing it. That should have been my first clue something was wrong. Did I listen???? NO. Friday I had a meltdown of sorts trying to get things ready to go, deal with things here. It just wan't happening. Hubby came home and made me take a nap before I left. I am thankful he did. Then, later that night I get online at mom's ( I hate dial-up) and discovered encouragement that my W@H girls had just for me. Wrapped in that love I went on about the day yesterday. After I got home, I was lamenting my housekeeping skills. It really wasn't intended as a step into another pity party. However, the ensuing discussion my husband and I had was rather rough in spots. But it all boiled down to one fact, both of us feel we are 'playing' at life and not living it to it's fullest. We get caught up in going through the motions, trying to plan, appease the world, but not releasing to God everything and living for Him. I never truly understood wanting life more abundantly. I thought I did, but I realize now that I didn't, don't, haven't. I want that, I want to give it all over to God and be released to live His dreams. I don't want to take another step that isn't ordained and in His Will.

So as a result of my weekend, I now have a God ordained focus for my quest. I will document it on my journey. Letting Go and Living for God.

In which I reminiss

I posted about starting my quest back on Thursday and never really went any further with it. I have an excuse life got in the way. More specifically I had a horrible day Friday, that was mostly self inflicted, and spent yesterday preparing for and celebrating my mom and dad's open house. I got to visit with two couples from the town where I grew up. This was the highlight of my trip, well one of them. I spent time with four people who watched me grow up, and learned about the current happenings of their children, with whom I grew up. And discovered, to my delight, that they have as much problems with their kids that I tend to have with my own. My sister is now planning a get together with the origianal three couples, my parents and the other two couples, all 7 of us kids, 6 spouses and all 12 grandchildren ranging in age from 15 to just over 1. That will be a lot of fun, if it ever happens. Knowing my sister however, it will.

I will be back later to post on LBY and some on my discussion with hubby last night, a more direct post to my quest.

Okay Here We Go

I have thought about this off and on all day -- and the way my day has gone is it has been more off than on. I have been stuggling with exactly where my place in this family is. No that doesn't sound right. I know I am the wife, mother, teacher, and homemaker. I have no issues with that AT ALL! My questions lie in the finer aspects of these issues. How amd I supposed to go about these things. Not routine/schedule wise, but just being. What am I supposed to do, what are my duties? How do I go about it. What are my reponsibilities and how far do they extend?

I guess I have some pretty spcific questions, right now a big one being, should I continue with Pampered Chef. Should I ask my husband to arrange his schedule around my needs in doing this. It isn't something I can take my children with me to do most of the time and days he has a long run he isn't home to take care of the kids. Now his schedule is such that he doesn't have to take those long runs on days that I need him home. However, it is these long runs that actually make us money and we can't depend on having them popping up when we want them to.

A Quest

My dear friend Stacey, who is amazing in her own right, she just doesn't believe it .......yet, has started on a 40 day quest. In reading her first posts, on which I haven't commented, but still read, I have discovered something about myself. Or prehaps rediscovered, she and I are alot alike. At least in our insecurities. But as I typed out the words 'alot alike' I realized that if I identify with her in the insecurities, I must try to idenify with her in the positives about myself as well. So I too will make a daily quest. I intitally wanted to say it too would be 40 days, but I don't know. I guess I do need a goal or I won't know when I get there. So lets say this -- I will spend the next 40 days reaching beyond myself even more and daily recording what I find. At the end I will look back at where I started and set a new goal.

Be back later with some goals and directions I want this to take. I want to take some time off today to listen to God and His plan for me during thistime.

Okay so maybe last night's post was a little rash -- but I DID lose my keys and still haven't found them yet. Haven't done laundry today either. But tomorrow is a new day, right? On good notes the kitchen is clean again and my family for the most part enjoyed tonights dinner.

I have some paperwork to do and get in the mail tomorrow, beauracracy gotta love it. Other than that it is a home day with lots of work to do.

Read This

What a tribute!
The nineteen year old she mentions at the end is not only her grandson but also my nephew. I have always supported our personel but it just got a lot closer to home!

Works For Me Wednesday

I have decided to participate in Works For Me Wednesday - started by Rocks in My Dryer.

Heres my tip for today. I actually picked this tip up from one of the WAH girls, but I love it. I found I was always needing bread crumbs for something or another and didn't have any, and sure wasn't going to pay for bread crumbs at the store, so I do this now. I keep a large freezer bag in my freezer when I have ends of bread or buns that don't get used, I store them in that bag. Every so often or when I need crumbs for something I take out that bag and run the bread through my mini food processor. I then store the crumbs in a smaller freezer bag. I always have bread crumbs ready to go or bread ready to make into crumbs.

I must say it

I am a first rate bonafide loser. I have lost my van and house key. I got set to leave for church tonight and couldn't find them. I now have to borrow hubbys and pray that I don't lose them too. The first place I am going is to get a duplicate van key made. After that I will head home, to clean up the house that was clean once today, not that you can tell it now. Do 4 more loads of laundry, in addition to the one that still sits in the washing machine because I have neither the drive nor the inclination to fold what is already in the dryer and move the wet load to the dryer. It has probably already soured anyway. Then I must plan for what I am doing for mom's open house this weekend.

Well it is Monday, Yeah it is Monday. I was up early to get to a 9:15 appointment that I had to wait over an hour for once I got there. But thankfully I thought far enough ahead to bring school work, which Alli finished while we were waiting. All three of the kids were fairly well behaved for the time. I was proud of them.

I have been on my phone alot with my mom this week arraging things for her open house this weekend. Every time she calls she wants me to bring something else. LOL I love her, and this is going to be so much fun, she planned and arranged both of our wedding receptions and it is fun for my sister and I to work together for something for her. I will try to take pictures for everyone.