Needless Pain We Bear

Okay, It has been awhile. Really no excuse just had life and the business of it all creep in and decided something had to give for awhile so blogging was one of those things. There are also times I just can't imagine that anyone really cares what I have to say! :) Here I am, not any less busy in fact maybe more so, but taking the time to share my life again with those who read this.

Have you ever had a week where you cannot believe how many little things can happen and you lay down at night and wonder how or why it has not bothered you as much as it should or it has not even bothered you at all? This past week has been one of those times. I am now sitting back and thinking of all the things that have happened and I really feel "untainted" and untouched. So today, I have asked my self, why? The only answer I can give is the love and holding of my Heavenly Father.
What have these things been you might ask, okay maybe not, but here are some examples. I am 35 weeks pregnant and should be uncomfortable and miserable. I have even tried to force myself to find something to complain about, but have come up with nothing. Am I ready to have a baby, absolutely! Am I anxious to hold this little one? Absolutely! But have I been able to see the joy of helping God with this little miracle instead of finding the negative of the last month? Yes. If you know me, not a common way for me to be. I am not the most patient person in the universe especially when it comes to holding babies! Do my hips ache? Yes! Do I have to go to the bathroom every hour on the hour? YES! Do I have an appetite or do I feel like I want to throw up every time I think of food? I can't even fathom eating an entire meal with out puking! But, through all of that, I am thankful not unhappy. Maybe after the 11th child I am finally to the point of wisdom...although getting up 4 times a night to go the bathroom, at least I CAN go back to sleep! In a short time, sleep will come as a luxury, for awhile anyway! The next thing that happened to me this week was I took 2 of my girls to their music lesson in the same day and found out that NEITHER of them were having a lesson that day! One is in town and the other I drove 30 minutes away! I laughed! Not upset, not even one bit annoyed! I laughed! I know, I know, you are probably thinking why would that bother her? Well, I guess it is because I am very scheduled and using 2 hours away from home that could have been used for something more useful than sitting in a car when I hate driving in the first place, is one of those things that can rub me the wrong way at times! I actually loved having the 2 hours alone with my girls and we had a really good time! Now on to other things. Our car is in great need of new tires. Money, in great need also. We have 2 times in the coming week that my husband or I need to travel. Do I worry? Usually. But not this time. I have realized I am in God's hands and He knows our needs. I did not even look to my husband to "fix" the problem. I know he would if he could! So, I put no pressure on him to get it fixed! I am trusting in my heavenly Father! Through Him, it may be possible to go a thousand more miles when someone else tells us not to go another mile! On to the next dilemma. Last night my husband went to tuck the kids in and came upstairs to inform me that our washing machine is "toast"! Not a great thing in a household that has 4 loads of laundry a day! Missing one day could mean a pile of clothes that the kids could sled down! I said to him, "Well, we will look into it tomorrow." I did not even worry and I slept the whole night without even a care of it! (Well, except for the bathroom trips!) Now, remember, we cannot afford at this point to get new tires for our car, so a new washing machine is not even a thought! Do I wonder what we will do when we have to build a sky lift in a couple days to cross over the mountains of laundry? Yes, it has entered my mind. Do I know that this problem is bigger than me and now matter how much I fret, I have no answer? Yes.

The whole point to this little blog today is not to put myself on this great faith pedestal! Believe me, I lack faith so often and more times than not I try to figure things out BEFORE going to God. So I am dumb-founded at my calm heart and fullness of faith! All I know is for some reason, I have chosen to allow God to work in my situations this week instead of ME trying to write out a plan! I think I am to the point of realizing that without Him, I can do nothing anyway and even if I did, my plan would lack all things compared to the plans God has for me. So, here I sit with my hands in the air in total surrender to Him. Exactly where He wants me to be all the time. If only I would chose that path ALL the time! It reminds me of a hymn I know and love. "Oh what needless pain I bear! All because I do not carry everything to God in prayer!" Let Him carry your burdens today and thank Him for the answers He does have even if it is not in YOUR timing!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY DEAR, SWEET HUSBAND!

Today is the day we celebrate the day the man of our home was born! Words cannot express what a glorious day that was for his mother and now we get the joy in sharing in her joy! Little did she know there would be 11 others running around one day from him! What a joy and we are so thankful for the wonderful father he is and what a blessing he is in my life! I know God danced the day he was born! Thank you God for him! We love you sweetheart!

Burpie Hathday to you! (it's a long story! Not a typo!)

 

Spring photograph

My daughter has been out taking spring pictures and I just love to show off what she has done. I love spring! Enjoy today, everyday is a gift from God! How fun that he gave us things to enjoy just because He loves us! May you feel His love today in a special way today!

 

Foto Friday

This was a picture of the beautiful roses my husband brought home for me on Mother's Day weekend. I think the last time I got roses from him was when he was trying to capture my heart when we were dating. Guess what I did with those? Took them to my mom's place of employment! Remember, I said he was TRYING to capture my heart! Short term it did not work, long term, my heart was captured and still is! Have a beautiful God filled weekend!

 

A devotion for the weekend

Places of Spiritual Benefit
These commandments . . . are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home.

Deuteronomy 6:6-7, NIV

Our homes are to be places of moral, spiritual, social, emotional, and physical benefit. If you think that what you do within the privacy of your own home is your own business, think again! God has made it His business, and you and I will experience serious consequences if we refuse to follow His directions for our homes.

Destruction and brokenness are all around us today. It is a brokenness that is directly related to denying our children the benefit of moral, spiritual, emotional, and social instruction. If we do not instruct our children about God and His "Manufacturer's directions" for living, they will develop their own standards and values based on what they feel, what they think, what their friends are doing, and what seems to work-and in one generation we will see the chaos and confusion that result from their "guessing" their way through life. God has given us directions telling us how to live a life that works. If we are to prevent brokenness, our homes should be places of moral and spiritual benefit to those living within them.

Blessings,



Anne Graham Lotz

AnGeL Ministries Website

A day in my life

I love to hear what other homeschooling/stay at home moms do with their day and how and if they schedule things the way I do. SO...I am asking those of you who feel like it, to let me know how you plan your day. I am going to put how MOST of my weekdays go with some variation. Or feel free to just tell me what you did yesterday and how everything worked out. Can't wait to read how people live their day to day lives! Please don't feel like you can't write in if you don't homeschool. I still would love to hear what others do!

5:30am- Time of prayer, and bible reading
7:00am- Shower and dress for the day (I must never skip this because I will NEVER get in the shower if I don't do it at this time!)
7:30am- help get breakfast ready. (We have a buddy system in our home, so usually I get the youngest one his breakfast and everyone else gets their buddies)
8:00am- clean up and make sure buddies get showered and dressed
9:00am- put little one down for nap and prepare for bible time
9:30am- bible time
10:00am- blanket time for little ones and school assignments for older kids
10:45am- Older kids continue with school while I spend time with younger kids
11:45am- I either prepare lunch or one of the older kids organizes it
12:00pm- eat lunch
12:30pm- clean up and free time
1:00pm- naps for little ones and I help older ones with school assignments or this is the time 2x's a week I run errands while one of the older kids babysits while the younger ones are sleeping
3:00pm- free time
4:30pm- prepare dinner
5:30pm- assigned kids set table and we eat dinner!
6:00pm- clean up and jammie time
7:00pm- youngest 2 go to bed and dad goes over assignments with older kids- mom showers ALONE with the door locked :) Yes, I shower 2x's a day! Just a habit I guess! ;)
7:30pm- family time
8:00pm- all kids go to bed with the exception of a couple nights a week when they get to stay up until 9pm YES, even my oldest kids go to bed at this time but they can do school work, read, draw or write as long as they are quiet. This is something my husband and I decided when our first child was born. It is essential for our marriage to connect every night. I strongly recommend this. If you think it is too late, try doing small increments of time at first and explain to your children why it is so important! It is for the benefit of the whole family! A strong marriage is the most important in God's eyes for family unity.
8:00pm- Time with my hubby!
between 9:30 and 10:00pm- I go to bed
Start over again!

Please leave your daily schedule to share with all of us on the comments! I would love to hear from all of you! Have a God-blessed day!

P.S. If you don't have a schedule you follow, that's okay! Just let us know what you did yesterday or another day that you want to write about. This is not about seeing how perfect everybody is! It is just something I thought would be fun!

Works For Me Wednesday

I always have pictures that have been developed and I do not like them sitting around in the packets from the developer. So, immedieately after I recieve them in the mail or pick them up at the store, I put them in inexpensive photo albums. I always look in the clearance isles for photo albums. I have found them anywhere from $1-$5. I try to make it a rule never to spend over $5 unless they come in a pair. I also make sure they hold at least 150 pictures otherwise I would have too many laying around. This is very useful for all you scrapbookers out there who like to keep your pictures organized but don't possibly have the time to sit down everytime you recieve pictures. Just a side note, make sure you do not get any albums that are magnetic! Buy the kind you just slide the pictures in. You can recycle these albums also after you use the pictures in your scrapbooks! Another thing I have done with the many albums I have on hand is use them as last minute gifts. Who does not appreciate a nice photo album for a gift! Just something that Works For Me!

 

A week of deep cleaning!

Today I we cleaned and cleaned some more and still have quite a list to cover. I pray alot when I clean and today was no exception. Sometimes I complain too! ;) I really cannot believe how much dirt and grime can build up! My kitchen is the one place where I try to keep exceptionally clean. So I thought! Until today! My children are all assigned specific jobs in the kitchen and deep cleaning, I guess is one I have left out. Today my 10 year old and myself tackled that! Now it is too clean to cook in! ;) Anyway, as I have been thinking constantly about my list of things I want to accomplish this week, (our school is titled, "The Ups and Downs of Cleaning") Meaning we get our house clean from the ceiling to the floors! That is one of the benefits of homeschooling right? Being creative and being able to do what needs to get done! AS my list keeps growing, I can lose sight of why it is so important to teach my children to keep a clean house. (Not obsessively, just orderly and neat.) It is about working together and realizing we are all in this together. I had to have a moment to change some attitudes at first and it really frustrated me. I wanted them to be excited with their work clothes on begging me to show them what needs to be done next with anticipation in their eyes! Yeah, right! Them, not so much, at first! As the last 2 days have continued, things have changed. They have done a good job and end up laughing about something as they are buried in cleaning. We have actually begun to enjoy the week and look forward to our list tomorrow.

As I have been praying, I have been thinking of my relationship with God and how I like to do all the fun things that come with being a child of God, but watch out when the "yuck" stuff appears! The cleaning out of my heart. The stuff I have let build up and just decided it was not a problem until the conviction comes in full force! I have to then have a little attitude adjustment from Him. Some time alone with the Word of God and prayer deep cleans my heart and unlike my kitchen, where I feel it is too clean to want to use it, this cleansing of my heart encourages me to want to be used for Him! I can then laugh and enjoy His presence again. How fun! Amazing how God speaks to us when we are doing everyday things and we decide to take the time to listen! I guess, now I need to go make dinner in my clean kitchen! ;)