399. Jeannine Floores our case study worker doing our homestudy! She is aweosme, funny and upbeat and real, very real! I highly recommend her to anyone who needs a homestudy! Her heart is in it to win it and I very much enjoyed our time with her last night during our first interview!
400. Praying friends-thanks to those of you who pray for us and thank you to Jenn and Marylee for texting yesterday to remind me that you were praying for us!
401. space heaters, we always use them anyway instead of turning on the heat, but our heat is not currently working in our house so i would definitely call space heaters gifts at this point!
402. my hubby brought my newspapers in this morning for me so I didn't have to go out in the rain, he is too sweet!
403. Tanner's brain, the way he thinks is truly a special gift to us!
Last night we had our first interview and it went very well! She is a hoot and we enjoyed talking with her (even if we spent most of the time answering questions, some easy, some harder. She made them all easier by helping us and sharing her own personal story of adoption. She was late so we only had a short while with our kids up and her there, but we had warned Tanner that she might talk to him and so she went ahead and did his interview last night while we played with Kenni in her room.
She is going to send me some of the funny comments he made (we obviously can't have a copy of the homestudy, but she will send the key funny quotes). I can't wait to hear them and I will of course post them on here as well as make them part of the adoption scrapbook. From what I remember that she told us I will say he is one smart cookie and we are so blessed God gave him to us! He will be an amazing leader and man someday!
We had to discuss the worst part, which is, what are you willing to adopt and what are you not willing to adopt? It was hard to say no to certain things, but we have to do what is best for our whole family including our biological kids and I pray that kids with those backgrounds are adopted by someone who is called to do so!
She asked us if we read and pray together as a couple and it was very sad for us to say no, not since we were newly weds. I read on my own as does my husband, but we have been missing out on reading together, or praying as a couple. We pray with our kids each night we put them to bed, but not with just each other. So last night we decided that trying to read through the entire Bible in one year is just not realistic for us, but in two years we are confidant we can do it, so we started over and read Genesis 1 and 2 last night. It was nice and I'm looking forward to spending this time with him each day!
We meet again next Tuesday, she had to reschedule due to her college son leaving on Thursday to go back to school and we totally understand so now I have to get a list of both of our addresses from the last 10 years together for her as well as us discuss a few things we were't sure of last night...
sorry I tried to post a picture, but it wouldn't let me browse my pics so I am unable to....
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
two posts in one day you say
our little little enjoys her jewelry :)
As this is the first day of 2013 I wanted to add another little note. I am very thankful for 2012 and all that God did for and with our family last year! I'm very much looking forward to this year and what God has in store for us!
Stick with me if you can: I brought home my catalog as I always do to show my hubby before deciding on what to buy with my spending money. I showed the hubs the items I liked and asked his opinion, he ended up taking the catalog and looking all through it and picking out pieces for me that he liked. Then he read the back of the catalog which said you can start your own business for only $149 (you can also start selling from your own hosting show and apply free product amount towards your start up cost amount). He said you would be good at this you talk to everyone and are comfortable with strangers and you could just wear the jewelry while you coupon and when people compiment it offer your business card and to host a show for them to earn free jewelry. I thought he was a little crazy, I always say not interested whenever I go to these parties as far as becoming a consultant goes. I don't like sales I hve done it before and I was not good at it (seas lawn and garden and fitness equipment). I said well I will ask Lora about what all it entails and we will pray about it.
Got some info, started praying...one night I was laying in bed with the hubs and he said you really should do Lia Sophia, I really think you should. I was still not sure and asked if he had really prayed about it, he said he had. That was the 1st real glimmer of me thinking I might do it. I was not getting any info from God as to go ahead or not, but my husband was so who knows....then i read the book "adopt wihtout debt" great book lots of great info on fundraising. I read a section on getting a part time job temporarily to help with the costs of adoption and suddenly I realized this was what God was planning for our family to help provide for the cost, I would go back to work. There are a lot of things I won't sacrifice for the sake of money-even if it is to pay off debt, or help fund an adoption. I am a stay at home mom, I homeschool our kids and I really feel this is what God intends for us so I will not budge on that! With selling Lia Sophia I don't have to give any of my mom duties up! I still get to be home with our kids and teach them. Also I don't want to work every evening or even 4 or 5 nights a week and have our family miss out on vaulable family time. With Lia Sophia I don't have to answer to someone else's idea of my schedule, I get to create my schedule with my husband in a way that works for our family. I don't have to be a salesperson, I get to wear beautiful, affordable jewelry and offer others to get it free when they approach me (the product thus selling itself) by hosting a fun party with their friends. The product is guranteed for life which is important to me, it will last and is quality jewelry!
The part that most excites me about selling this jewelry is that I get to share my story with as many women as God allows at their parties. Why did I decide to start selling jewelry? I'm glad you asked I wanted to help fund our adoption while not sacrificing precious time with my family. Then when people ask my why we are adopting of have adopted I get to share the most precious part of my life and that is my Lord and savior Jesus. Because God adopted us and first loved us, we are able to love and adopt our 3rd child. Short sweet and too the point. All glory to God and what a fun way to share Him with others! I feel like God has been preparing us in so many ways for this year and I am very excited to see what He does and how He uses our family to do His will....
If anyone would like to host a show please let me know. Another awesome benefit of buying from Lia Sophia is that you get to buy 2 items at full price then get up to 4 items at 50% off and the best part of that is that the 2 full priced items are your cheapest items. Where else can you get that deal? I have never seen anywhere offer a deal this awesome! email me at bigace3@hotmail.com
Thank you in advance for your support and prayers as we walk through this process and trust God with 2013!
finally a litlte concrete
392. setting a date for our home study to start (Jan. 8th and 10th)
393. skyping with family on Christmas morning
394. cold weather in Texas finally
395. emails from Gretchen
396. celebrating holidays with friends when you can't be with family
397. Nick finally having time off and getting to have him pretty much all to ourselves!!!
Those are the current gifts I am thinking on, but here is the adoption update for those who don't know:
We had a lot of back and forth and misunderstanding over the price as well as who would do our homestudy and finally after the uncertainty of it being $700 or $1000 we have been given our answer that the homestudy will cost $700. We are blessed that I am a saver when it comes to our monthy allowance and birthday money because I have that amount currently (God has provided and we are so very thankful--see this is why it pays to save--literally) I will pay for the study and then when we get our tax return I will get my spending money back and will be buying a .38 special revolver called the "body guard" which I am also very excited about :)
So we have our homestudy scheduled and the money is already in place to pay for it I feel like it is the 2nd big thing to check off the list in this whole thing. (1st one being the paperwork being turned in). Yes I am a list maker!
Emotions: as soon as the date was set for the study I freaked out. It was my first real freak out in adopting. I admittedly started to get think "can we really do this? Am I really capable of teaching and training another child-especially one that is likely going to have other issues aside from the normal kid issues of energy and craziness?" Then i remember that God called us to it, it won't be easy, but with Him it will be possible! I am going to fail our 3rd child just as much as I will fail our 1st 2 children and I am covered by God's grace in this and He will walk with me through it. Jesus has provided exactly the grace, people, money, patience, calm, words, etc. that I need to walk in faith through this adoption process and once we are finally able to bring our child home, He will be with us through that too. I am excited and thankful for the amzing God I serve and amazing husband He gave me to walk through this with! My friend G said "may you be a blessing to someone in 2013" I liked the way she put it and I liked that I can say we are going to be a tool God will use to bless someone in 2013, our 3rd child that will get a forever home and parents that love them. We are not perfect parents, some days I don't even feel like a good parent, but God is the perfect Father and He knows exactly what He is doing and so we will be the exact parents this child needs and this child will be the exact child we need as parents!
Tanner really wants a boy, Nick really wants a girl, I honestly don't care so long as we pray and discern the child that God intends for us (or children). It's weird to have no burning desire for more children, but to have a burning desire to bring home our 3rd child because they are ours and belong with us! I hate to think of not being able to protect them or provide for them while we are apart, but then that is where faith comes in and I have to trust that as we pray for our child's safety and wellbeing and health and healing that God is indeed providing all that our child needs. I'm praying for a super natural and tangible presence in our child's life that is felt and evident to our child and the people caring currently for our child. That God's hedge of protection would be surrounding our child and that their precious little hearts would begin to heal and prepare them for becomming part of our family. There is much faith in adopting, trusting God to care for your child while you can't, trusting God to provide the funds, trusting God to reveal the child He intends for you to you clearly, trusting the sleeping situation and car seat situation, the babysitting situation when required, not having family nearby as support so trusting God to provide the friends to help out like family would, and then just waiting for His time which is perfect.
These are the siblings to our 3rd child, can't wait to be able to put up our next child's picture!
can't wait til our child knows that we are thier forever parents!
393. skyping with family on Christmas morning
394. cold weather in Texas finally
395. emails from Gretchen
396. celebrating holidays with friends when you can't be with family
397. Nick finally having time off and getting to have him pretty much all to ourselves!!!
Those are the current gifts I am thinking on, but here is the adoption update for those who don't know:
We had a lot of back and forth and misunderstanding over the price as well as who would do our homestudy and finally after the uncertainty of it being $700 or $1000 we have been given our answer that the homestudy will cost $700. We are blessed that I am a saver when it comes to our monthy allowance and birthday money because I have that amount currently (God has provided and we are so very thankful--see this is why it pays to save--literally) I will pay for the study and then when we get our tax return I will get my spending money back and will be buying a .38 special revolver called the "body guard" which I am also very excited about :)
So we have our homestudy scheduled and the money is already in place to pay for it I feel like it is the 2nd big thing to check off the list in this whole thing. (1st one being the paperwork being turned in). Yes I am a list maker!
Emotions: as soon as the date was set for the study I freaked out. It was my first real freak out in adopting. I admittedly started to get think "can we really do this? Am I really capable of teaching and training another child-especially one that is likely going to have other issues aside from the normal kid issues of energy and craziness?" Then i remember that God called us to it, it won't be easy, but with Him it will be possible! I am going to fail our 3rd child just as much as I will fail our 1st 2 children and I am covered by God's grace in this and He will walk with me through it. Jesus has provided exactly the grace, people, money, patience, calm, words, etc. that I need to walk in faith through this adoption process and once we are finally able to bring our child home, He will be with us through that too. I am excited and thankful for the amzing God I serve and amazing husband He gave me to walk through this with! My friend G said "may you be a blessing to someone in 2013" I liked the way she put it and I liked that I can say we are going to be a tool God will use to bless someone in 2013, our 3rd child that will get a forever home and parents that love them. We are not perfect parents, some days I don't even feel like a good parent, but God is the perfect Father and He knows exactly what He is doing and so we will be the exact parents this child needs and this child will be the exact child we need as parents!
Tanner really wants a boy, Nick really wants a girl, I honestly don't care so long as we pray and discern the child that God intends for us (or children). It's weird to have no burning desire for more children, but to have a burning desire to bring home our 3rd child because they are ours and belong with us! I hate to think of not being able to protect them or provide for them while we are apart, but then that is where faith comes in and I have to trust that as we pray for our child's safety and wellbeing and health and healing that God is indeed providing all that our child needs. I'm praying for a super natural and tangible presence in our child's life that is felt and evident to our child and the people caring currently for our child. That God's hedge of protection would be surrounding our child and that their precious little hearts would begin to heal and prepare them for becomming part of our family. There is much faith in adopting, trusting God to care for your child while you can't, trusting God to provide the funds, trusting God to reveal the child He intends for you to you clearly, trusting the sleeping situation and car seat situation, the babysitting situation when required, not having family nearby as support so trusting God to provide the friends to help out like family would, and then just waiting for His time which is perfect.
Monday, November 19, 2012
answering a call
389. my adoption into Christ's family! I'm so very thankful for the immense blessing of being adopted as daughter to Christ, that I get to share in His family and be heirs of His kingdom! What a truly special gift!
390. adoption-the act of making someone who was born of another family a part of your family. I'm thankful that it is possible to adopt children who have no family and make them your own.
391. classes, seminars, books, and all other education to help with adoption!
.....so this call I am referring to is the one from God on all believers to care for widows and orphans. In James 1:27 we are told that the most pure and undefiled worship is caring for the widows and orphans and actually meeting them in their affliction. We are all called to play a role in the care of orphans and it looks different for many people, but for us it was distinct that the call was to adopt.
It started on Easter in 2011. Church was at the Frank Erwin Center (for my Oregon peeps reading this, it is like the Rose Garden). Worship was starting and out walked a choir from Uganda of little kids that came to worship with us. Our adoption story does not begin with a sad story, we didn't hear a tragic story or abuse or neglect and feel bad. Our story starts with seeing joyful children sing and worship Jesus genuinely in such a way that I was moved. Not because of myself, but because God used this precious group of children to change my heart, to open my heart to something I never ever wanted to do.
Everything so far that I have said I would never do, God has laughed and said "we'll see about that." I never wanted to marry a military man, move away from Albany, Oregon or adopt, or have 3 kids. I wanted to stay in my hometown and have 2 kids and a dog and never leave.....well here I am, married to an amazing man who happens to be a Marine, we live in Pflugerville Texas, and are about to have a 3rd child through the process of adoption. God is funny, but He sure does know best! He is a God of providence and we trust and know we are here exactly where we are because it is where we are meant to be!
Saturday we went to the adoption seminar and too many things were said to ignore God's calling us to adopt and NOW. We as people tend to mistake peace from God as the kind of zen peace where you sit and feel calm. Jonah was going to "not Ninevah" or against God's will for him to go to Ninevah and there was turmoil in his ship and it was the craziest storm the men had seen and Jonah was sound and peacefully asleep completely disoebying God. Clearly he was not doing what he should have been, and yet he felt pretty peaceful. In Luke chapter 22 we see Jesus so distressed he is literally sweating blood and yet He is obeying God in the hardest thing ever imaginable, He was headed to be crucified and die on a cross for our sin. He probably didn't feel very peaceful, and yet He was obeying and He didn't let the hardship and stress and all the other horrible feelings He was having turn Him from obeying God the Father.
I think we were waiting for a zen peace, we were waiting for the right time, to buy a house and settle down and then we would start the process, that is what the world would say to do, it makes sense to the world, but God doesn't ask us to obey when it makes sense to the world and He doesn't ask more of us than what He is willing to help us through. I can't even fully explain all the details that revealed to my husband and I that the time was now, but finally it was like we couldn't go on saying not yet, when we felt like God was saying "how many more signs can I show you before you obey Me now?"
We know full well that what we are about to do doesn't make sense to everyone, that is will be immeasurably hard, that we we struggle, we will fail, we will do and say the wrong things, we will hurt, but we know that we won't suffer alone, we have God in this and He will draw near to us while we draw near to Him.
WHY ADOPT?
We didn't decide oh we need another kid, we want 3, (welll my hubby apparently did want 3 kids once I was preggo with Kenni) but I was very content with just 2. We don't have a burning desire to have more kids. We are called to adopt, to care for the orphan in this way. God loved us first and adopted us into His family and He sent His son to suffer and die on a cross for us, to save us, to make us His own, that is the beautiful picture of the gospel. Adoption is a beautiful mirror of adoption, we are going to bring a child into our home and love him/her like Christ first loved us and we are going to teach them that we are not perfect, but we serve a perfect God and that Jesus loves him/her and will never fail our child like we probably will. We are going to make this child our own and we are going to struggle with our child and rejoice with our child for every step of healing that they take. We are not ourselves cappable of healing our child's hurt, but God is and we will be praying for our child.
We could have had a 3rd child biologically for free since we are military, we could have just decided to expand our family and paid for a birth certificate and that would have been great too, but we instead listened to what God wanted for us and we are growing our family this way, by loving one of His children who were not able to stay with their biologic parents.
Help us:
Please pray with us for our child, for their safety and nourishment, for the process to go smoothly, for discernment for us as we are referred to a child-that we would say yes to the child God has in His plan for us. Pray for the financial needs to be met as they come. We emailed the lady today at Breath of Life and are waiting for the next step to adopt domestically here in Texas a child that is at least 3 years old. We are going to be a mixed family and we appreciate your support and prayers!
390. adoption-the act of making someone who was born of another family a part of your family. I'm thankful that it is possible to adopt children who have no family and make them your own.
391. classes, seminars, books, and all other education to help with adoption!
.....so this call I am referring to is the one from God on all believers to care for widows and orphans. In James 1:27 we are told that the most pure and undefiled worship is caring for the widows and orphans and actually meeting them in their affliction. We are all called to play a role in the care of orphans and it looks different for many people, but for us it was distinct that the call was to adopt.
It started on Easter in 2011. Church was at the Frank Erwin Center (for my Oregon peeps reading this, it is like the Rose Garden). Worship was starting and out walked a choir from Uganda of little kids that came to worship with us. Our adoption story does not begin with a sad story, we didn't hear a tragic story or abuse or neglect and feel bad. Our story starts with seeing joyful children sing and worship Jesus genuinely in such a way that I was moved. Not because of myself, but because God used this precious group of children to change my heart, to open my heart to something I never ever wanted to do.
Everything so far that I have said I would never do, God has laughed and said "we'll see about that." I never wanted to marry a military man, move away from Albany, Oregon or adopt, or have 3 kids. I wanted to stay in my hometown and have 2 kids and a dog and never leave.....well here I am, married to an amazing man who happens to be a Marine, we live in Pflugerville Texas, and are about to have a 3rd child through the process of adoption. God is funny, but He sure does know best! He is a God of providence and we trust and know we are here exactly where we are because it is where we are meant to be!
Saturday we went to the adoption seminar and too many things were said to ignore God's calling us to adopt and NOW. We as people tend to mistake peace from God as the kind of zen peace where you sit and feel calm. Jonah was going to "not Ninevah" or against God's will for him to go to Ninevah and there was turmoil in his ship and it was the craziest storm the men had seen and Jonah was sound and peacefully asleep completely disoebying God. Clearly he was not doing what he should have been, and yet he felt pretty peaceful. In Luke chapter 22 we see Jesus so distressed he is literally sweating blood and yet He is obeying God in the hardest thing ever imaginable, He was headed to be crucified and die on a cross for our sin. He probably didn't feel very peaceful, and yet He was obeying and He didn't let the hardship and stress and all the other horrible feelings He was having turn Him from obeying God the Father.
I think we were waiting for a zen peace, we were waiting for the right time, to buy a house and settle down and then we would start the process, that is what the world would say to do, it makes sense to the world, but God doesn't ask us to obey when it makes sense to the world and He doesn't ask more of us than what He is willing to help us through. I can't even fully explain all the details that revealed to my husband and I that the time was now, but finally it was like we couldn't go on saying not yet, when we felt like God was saying "how many more signs can I show you before you obey Me now?"
We know full well that what we are about to do doesn't make sense to everyone, that is will be immeasurably hard, that we we struggle, we will fail, we will do and say the wrong things, we will hurt, but we know that we won't suffer alone, we have God in this and He will draw near to us while we draw near to Him.
WHY ADOPT?
We didn't decide oh we need another kid, we want 3, (welll my hubby apparently did want 3 kids once I was preggo with Kenni) but I was very content with just 2. We don't have a burning desire to have more kids. We are called to adopt, to care for the orphan in this way. God loved us first and adopted us into His family and He sent His son to suffer and die on a cross for us, to save us, to make us His own, that is the beautiful picture of the gospel. Adoption is a beautiful mirror of adoption, we are going to bring a child into our home and love him/her like Christ first loved us and we are going to teach them that we are not perfect, but we serve a perfect God and that Jesus loves him/her and will never fail our child like we probably will. We are going to make this child our own and we are going to struggle with our child and rejoice with our child for every step of healing that they take. We are not ourselves cappable of healing our child's hurt, but God is and we will be praying for our child.
We could have had a 3rd child biologically for free since we are military, we could have just decided to expand our family and paid for a birth certificate and that would have been great too, but we instead listened to what God wanted for us and we are growing our family this way, by loving one of His children who were not able to stay with their biologic parents.
Help us:
Please pray with us for our child, for their safety and nourishment, for the process to go smoothly, for discernment for us as we are referred to a child-that we would say yes to the child God has in His plan for us. Pray for the financial needs to be met as they come. We emailed the lady today at Breath of Life and are waiting for the next step to adopt domestically here in Texas a child that is at least 3 years old. We are going to be a mixed family and we appreciate your support and prayers!
Monday, October 1, 2012
thoughts for the day.....
386. reading friends blog whom i miss so much! and of course being encouraged! thanks so much my dear G!
387. Being in a missional community group, knowing that if I am really stuck in a hard place all I have to do is ask and I have some great people who will be there for me! the key part for me is asking, its hard for me to ask for help, though I love to help others!
388. me-not sure if I have said this one yet as this blog has been dragging on for quite a while, but I am thankful for the gift of me, God made me who I am and it's not always easy to be this crazy, bold, say what she thinks person, but I am thankful for my gifts and for God's constant presence in guiding me how to use them and here we go again....
sometimes I feel like I just can't get things right, can't do enough, can't be enough. I know I have blogged in some form about this so sorry for any repetetion (repetition can be so annoying I know). I've got a list of to do's that don't even fit fully on a single page of notebook paper, it's spilling over onto my dry erase board. Apparently I'm not great with priorities either, what order to do the impossible list in. I have my daily to do's like dishes, dinner, feeding kids, cleaning up from cleaning kids, diapers, feeding self, etc. But if I let myself go there and really think of all I need to do and won't get done, then I will too easily become depressed about what I would like to be able to do, but will never even touch, so instead I made a plan. :) yes I do love a plan!
388. plans (especially when you follow through and they go smoothly)
I made a new to do list for each week (monday-friday) and each day I do certain things-they are my only requirements for the day and then I can do something I would like to do as well as other things I should do, here is my weekly plan:
Everyday:
wash dishes, pick up living room (kids do most of it), clean and organize kitchen table, set up coffee, make the hub's lunch, teach my kiddos (homeschool)
mon:
vacuum all carpets
sweep/mop kitchen
laundry
tues:
vacuum living room
wash all bedding
cut coupons (if not done on monday)
wed:
vacuum living room
shop at Sprouts (bascially produce and its the double ad day =best deals)
park day with homeschool group
thur:
vacuum living room
sweep/mop (if needed)
laundry
fri:
vacuum all carpets
clean bathrooms
I feel so much better only having a few set things to do each day, of course I miss things and I'm not perfect, but instead of feeling like I have to tackle the world each day/week now I feel like I'm just taking on a piece each day and it's much more bearable.
I'm very very blessed and thankful for hands and feet that work and that I am able to JOYFULLY take care of our home and kids while my amazing hubby goes off to work and provides for us! I am also very blessed that I am able to spend time with our amazing Lord each morning through prayer and reading His word, His precious truth that enables me to learn and grow closer to Him each day!
I'm not going to ever be the mom I want to be, most people probably would say that I stress too easily with our kids and that I should relax, but by golly I am doing my best and I am thankful that God gives me the grace I need each day to do it all, His grace is perfectly sufficient for each and every moment so I can rest in that and find peace! My hubby is concerned about adopting (not becuase of money, or how small our home is, or what kind of baggage the children could have), but because he worries that our biological kids can be hard at times and drive me crazy so how would I handle adding 1 or 2 more to the mix. The answer is that I can't handle it, but I'M not suppossed to handle it, I just have to trust and have faith that God's grace will remain sufficient in each and every moment and hopefully the end result will be a family that strives to follow Christ and share His good news with others. We will have food in our bellies (mostly healthy), a roof over our heads, clothes on our backs, and love in our hearts. God will provide whatever it is we need and hopefully and prayerfully we will be able to answer the call to adoption in a way that glorifies God and brings Him glory. It will undoubtidly be messy and I will make tons of mistakes, but in the end all that matters is that we loved and we said yes when God asked if we had faith enough to trust Him....
387. Being in a missional community group, knowing that if I am really stuck in a hard place all I have to do is ask and I have some great people who will be there for me! the key part for me is asking, its hard for me to ask for help, though I love to help others!
388. me-not sure if I have said this one yet as this blog has been dragging on for quite a while, but I am thankful for the gift of me, God made me who I am and it's not always easy to be this crazy, bold, say what she thinks person, but I am thankful for my gifts and for God's constant presence in guiding me how to use them and here we go again....
sometimes I feel like I just can't get things right, can't do enough, can't be enough. I know I have blogged in some form about this so sorry for any repetetion (repetition can be so annoying I know). I've got a list of to do's that don't even fit fully on a single page of notebook paper, it's spilling over onto my dry erase board. Apparently I'm not great with priorities either, what order to do the impossible list in. I have my daily to do's like dishes, dinner, feeding kids, cleaning up from cleaning kids, diapers, feeding self, etc. But if I let myself go there and really think of all I need to do and won't get done, then I will too easily become depressed about what I would like to be able to do, but will never even touch, so instead I made a plan. :) yes I do love a plan!
388. plans (especially when you follow through and they go smoothly)
I made a new to do list for each week (monday-friday) and each day I do certain things-they are my only requirements for the day and then I can do something I would like to do as well as other things I should do, here is my weekly plan:
Everyday:
wash dishes, pick up living room (kids do most of it), clean and organize kitchen table, set up coffee, make the hub's lunch, teach my kiddos (homeschool)
mon:
vacuum all carpets
sweep/mop kitchen
laundry
tues:
vacuum living room
wash all bedding
cut coupons (if not done on monday)
wed:
vacuum living room
shop at Sprouts (bascially produce and its the double ad day =best deals)
park day with homeschool group
thur:
vacuum living room
sweep/mop (if needed)
laundry
fri:
vacuum all carpets
clean bathrooms
I feel so much better only having a few set things to do each day, of course I miss things and I'm not perfect, but instead of feeling like I have to tackle the world each day/week now I feel like I'm just taking on a piece each day and it's much more bearable.
I'm very very blessed and thankful for hands and feet that work and that I am able to JOYFULLY take care of our home and kids while my amazing hubby goes off to work and provides for us! I am also very blessed that I am able to spend time with our amazing Lord each morning through prayer and reading His word, His precious truth that enables me to learn and grow closer to Him each day!
I'm not going to ever be the mom I want to be, most people probably would say that I stress too easily with our kids and that I should relax, but by golly I am doing my best and I am thankful that God gives me the grace I need each day to do it all, His grace is perfectly sufficient for each and every moment so I can rest in that and find peace! My hubby is concerned about adopting (not becuase of money, or how small our home is, or what kind of baggage the children could have), but because he worries that our biological kids can be hard at times and drive me crazy so how would I handle adding 1 or 2 more to the mix. The answer is that I can't handle it, but I'M not suppossed to handle it, I just have to trust and have faith that God's grace will remain sufficient in each and every moment and hopefully the end result will be a family that strives to follow Christ and share His good news with others. We will have food in our bellies (mostly healthy), a roof over our heads, clothes on our backs, and love in our hearts. God will provide whatever it is we need and hopefully and prayerfully we will be able to answer the call to adoption in a way that glorifies God and brings Him glory. It will undoubtidly be messy and I will make tons of mistakes, but in the end all that matters is that we loved and we said yes when God asked if we had faith enough to trust Him....
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
oh for blogness sake...
380. time-sometimes good and sometimes less good, but still I'm thankful for time that goes by
381. home-it's good being home
382. a church that teaches classes as well as being an amazing church to be a part of in general!
Its been a long time again-go figure I can't seem to stay up to date on anything...
Plans are funny, I apparently thrive off plans and God thinks it funny to mess with me :) that would make sense as to why I married a Marine :) I heard on the radio that being too much of a planner is like saying you don't have faith, well I consider myself someone who lives by faith for sure, but also am a big time planner. It doesn't mean I can't take it when plans don't work out, I just feel better if there is a plan in place so I kind of know what to expect...
Lots of things are currently unplanned and I am honestly okay with it, but it will be nice to know once the time comes. We are sure we are getting out of the military, but unsure of where we will go or if we will stay afterwards. We want to adopt a couple of kids, but don't even know for sure when to start the whole process. We are taking a class offered at our church on preparing to adopt and it so far is awesome and really has so far confirmed my desire to obey God in adopting or "visiting the orphan in their affliction, which is true faith" (from James 1:27). God adopted us before the world was even created into Christ and we are part of His big family, and I want to adopt children in need of an earthly home to love and show God's grace and mercy to. It was somehow encouraging and scary at the same time when the teacher discussed what it meant to visit the orphan in their affliction. It will be hard, it will be jumping into a trial intentionally face first, but God will be with us each step of the way and He provides enough grace for each moment each day. Whatever hard time we are facing we have exactly the amount of grace we need for that moment and He will help us get through it.
I'm excited to continue learning about the process and hopefully get closer to that face first dive in moment! Another great point he made during class was how we as Christians tend to ask God for advice or wisdom and then we wait for "peace" but really a lot of us more likely wait for it to seem comfortable. We wait til the answer we have is a comfortable answer and call it peace. Peace is not always comfortable and it is not always easy, but when it is the right answer you will know it because it is pretty easy to quickly discern a wrong answer. When my hubby told me we were going to Texas I didn't find it to be a comfortable answer, yet I had peace because I really knew it was where God wanted us to be. It took time to get connected here, it was lonely in the beginning and frustrating to find a church, but God was with us the whole time and though there was discomfort at times, there was true peace that we were in His will.
383. days when daddy is home with us
384. new projects--pics to come later when I finish
385. doing the insanity workouts with my hubby by my side
381. home-it's good being home
382. a church that teaches classes as well as being an amazing church to be a part of in general!
Its been a long time again-go figure I can't seem to stay up to date on anything...
Plans are funny, I apparently thrive off plans and God thinks it funny to mess with me :) that would make sense as to why I married a Marine :) I heard on the radio that being too much of a planner is like saying you don't have faith, well I consider myself someone who lives by faith for sure, but also am a big time planner. It doesn't mean I can't take it when plans don't work out, I just feel better if there is a plan in place so I kind of know what to expect...
Lots of things are currently unplanned and I am honestly okay with it, but it will be nice to know once the time comes. We are sure we are getting out of the military, but unsure of where we will go or if we will stay afterwards. We want to adopt a couple of kids, but don't even know for sure when to start the whole process. We are taking a class offered at our church on preparing to adopt and it so far is awesome and really has so far confirmed my desire to obey God in adopting or "visiting the orphan in their affliction, which is true faith" (from James 1:27). God adopted us before the world was even created into Christ and we are part of His big family, and I want to adopt children in need of an earthly home to love and show God's grace and mercy to. It was somehow encouraging and scary at the same time when the teacher discussed what it meant to visit the orphan in their affliction. It will be hard, it will be jumping into a trial intentionally face first, but God will be with us each step of the way and He provides enough grace for each moment each day. Whatever hard time we are facing we have exactly the amount of grace we need for that moment and He will help us get through it.
I'm excited to continue learning about the process and hopefully get closer to that face first dive in moment! Another great point he made during class was how we as Christians tend to ask God for advice or wisdom and then we wait for "peace" but really a lot of us more likely wait for it to seem comfortable. We wait til the answer we have is a comfortable answer and call it peace. Peace is not always comfortable and it is not always easy, but when it is the right answer you will know it because it is pretty easy to quickly discern a wrong answer. When my hubby told me we were going to Texas I didn't find it to be a comfortable answer, yet I had peace because I really knew it was where God wanted us to be. It took time to get connected here, it was lonely in the beginning and frustrating to find a church, but God was with us the whole time and though there was discomfort at times, there was true peace that we were in His will.
383. days when daddy is home with us
384. new projects--pics to come later when I finish
385. doing the insanity workouts with my hubby by my side
Thursday, August 9, 2012
it's time to clean this old house.....
378. peace--not much of it lately and I do miss it!
379. my amazing husbands strong loving arms wrapped around me while i sleep-missing that too
I've learned that the mess doesn't bother me as much any more-truly. When I get back home, I am going to try to stop worrying about messes (aside from the kitchen of course-its too small for a mess and I can't start cooking in it til there is counter space so I digress). I've decided that I will be thankful and count it all joy that there are people in my house to make a mess and be loud! I'm happy that my house is comfortable and people don't feel like they can't sit on my furniture. I want people to make themselves at home, put their feet up and relax!
I've accepted the fact that my stuff will never look like a showroom, it will never be pristine-God willing I will have grandchildren that will visit my house often once my kids are grown and they will make themselves comfortable too! I anticipate scratches and dings and though I do believe we should take care of what we are given and be good stewards over our blessings, but not at the cost of putting other people out. Now when I see my kids carving into my kitchen table wth a fork, I'm not okay with that, but if they get some crumbs on the furniture-its something that I can clean.
I've long since given up my ritual deep cleaning friday's, I no longer mop my floors every week for the sake of doing it, no one eats off my floors and I find that as long as I clean them once my feet start sticking to the floor it's all good! I try to vacuum frequently because we have a dog, but I don't lose sleep if it doesn't happen.
It's all how you look at it really. I just saw a quote on facebook saying that "trying to clean the house with kids in it is like brushing your teeth while eating oreos"--too true and there are 2 choices we have-either be irritated and present yourself as having no joy in the task God has given you-which rubs other people wrong. Or be joyful over the task set before you and accept that it may take longer-you will get interupted, and by the time you are done, it won't look like a showroom. It will be sanitary and if you are able to find joy in the simple fact that you have hands and feet that allow you to clean yourself without extra effort it will show in your smile and patience and the people around you will notice and see you and have joy as well.
Some day your house will be empty and you will be able to clean it quickly without any interuptions (yes you can ignore the phone) and then you will finish and it will look like you really put your hard work and effor into it, but then you will sit down in a quiet house alone-then what?
I want my children to see that I am so very happy to serve Jesus and my husband and them, that requires a smile and positive attitutde while I work on the tasks God sets before me and then as they grown they will find joy in doing the tasks God calls them to do and it can be a very positive cycle. I used to be angry while I cleaned, I found no joy in doing the work and when it was done and someone came right behind me and made another mess I would be even more irritated, well that ends. That is a thing i grew up learning and it ends here. I pray that God would change that in our family and that my kids would never be angry over doing the tasks required of them.
So the choice is yours do you want to be angry over the mess and noise or be thankful that there are people there you can love on to make those messes and noise?
379. my amazing husbands strong loving arms wrapped around me while i sleep-missing that too
I've learned that the mess doesn't bother me as much any more-truly. When I get back home, I am going to try to stop worrying about messes (aside from the kitchen of course-its too small for a mess and I can't start cooking in it til there is counter space so I digress). I've decided that I will be thankful and count it all joy that there are people in my house to make a mess and be loud! I'm happy that my house is comfortable and people don't feel like they can't sit on my furniture. I want people to make themselves at home, put their feet up and relax!
I've accepted the fact that my stuff will never look like a showroom, it will never be pristine-God willing I will have grandchildren that will visit my house often once my kids are grown and they will make themselves comfortable too! I anticipate scratches and dings and though I do believe we should take care of what we are given and be good stewards over our blessings, but not at the cost of putting other people out. Now when I see my kids carving into my kitchen table wth a fork, I'm not okay with that, but if they get some crumbs on the furniture-its something that I can clean.
I've long since given up my ritual deep cleaning friday's, I no longer mop my floors every week for the sake of doing it, no one eats off my floors and I find that as long as I clean them once my feet start sticking to the floor it's all good! I try to vacuum frequently because we have a dog, but I don't lose sleep if it doesn't happen.
It's all how you look at it really. I just saw a quote on facebook saying that "trying to clean the house with kids in it is like brushing your teeth while eating oreos"--too true and there are 2 choices we have-either be irritated and present yourself as having no joy in the task God has given you-which rubs other people wrong. Or be joyful over the task set before you and accept that it may take longer-you will get interupted, and by the time you are done, it won't look like a showroom. It will be sanitary and if you are able to find joy in the simple fact that you have hands and feet that allow you to clean yourself without extra effort it will show in your smile and patience and the people around you will notice and see you and have joy as well.
Some day your house will be empty and you will be able to clean it quickly without any interuptions (yes you can ignore the phone) and then you will finish and it will look like you really put your hard work and effor into it, but then you will sit down in a quiet house alone-then what?
I want my children to see that I am so very happy to serve Jesus and my husband and them, that requires a smile and positive attitutde while I work on the tasks God sets before me and then as they grown they will find joy in doing the tasks God calls them to do and it can be a very positive cycle. I used to be angry while I cleaned, I found no joy in doing the work and when it was done and someone came right behind me and made another mess I would be even more irritated, well that ends. That is a thing i grew up learning and it ends here. I pray that God would change that in our family and that my kids would never be angry over doing the tasks required of them.
So the choice is yours do you want to be angry over the mess and noise or be thankful that there are people there you can love on to make those messes and noise?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)