Wordless Wednesday

The local Lowe's Foods had a special on corn: ten ears for $2. Only my oldest had ever schucked corn before....

The Lord's Provision

Well the Lord certainly has moved in our life this week!

My oldest daughter, age 19 is leaving June 5 to live with my parents for a while. This has been in the works for a few weeks....they need some help with some projects and so on and she desperately wants to spread her wings so this gives her a chance to leave the nest but still have a security blanket. Also I know it will be good for her to be there with them, they are devout Christians and very involved in their church and so is my sister who lives next door and goes to the same church which is right down the road from them. I am excited for her to have this opportunity prior to getting out on her own.

Since Kelly will no longer be living with us, we have been talking about possibly moving into a smaller apartment to cut our rent, since our current rent is way beyond our budget. Out of the blue a 2-bedroom townhome unit came open this week. It is on special, and we get our discount, so our rent will drop from $1240 to $811 a month. That is almost to the penny the amount we needed to balance our bedget! I am beside myself about this! Plus it is an end until that backs up to a small hilly grass area so its almost like having a little yard.

As if all this were not enough, we received our Economic Stimulus payment this week! This will allow us to catch up on our current bills, get a few things we have been needing and stock our pantry.

Our Lord is good, and faithful and if we will just let go of our need to control and put it all in His hands, He will always come through.

Home Makeover: Part 1

I have taken on a big tackle, to completely redecorate, reorganize, and declutter our home. My goal is to do this as cheaply as possible using what I already have wherever I can. I am tackling one small area at a time, and over the holiday weekend I chose a corner of my dining room that has been bugging me. Our dining room is a multi-purpose room. It serves as our dining room, office and school room. With all that going on in a small space, you can imagine the clutter lurks all the time. Being the super-sensitive-to-my-environment type that I am, I can't relax if my home is not in order.

Here are the before and after pictures and some more info about my first project:



^ I realize to most folks this looks pretty neat and organized, but to me it is definately clutter and the fact that the shelf was unfinised made it stick out like a sore thumb. My mother was an interior decorator...what can I say? Stuff like that bugs me, lol.



^ A can of black spray paint from the local craft store was all I bought for this project. Aspen and I started off by spraying the whole thing in several thin coats of gloss black.



^ One can of spray paint gave us a nice base coat, and after that Ashley joined in and we used some acrylic craft paint we already had on hand to go over the whole thing with a thicker finish coat. We were really pleased with the results.



^ Some baskets and a plastic organizer that we also had on hand helped us conceal the clutter that was made up of our home school curriculum materials and frequently used craft supplies, as well as my camera and card reader. Moving the shelf closer to the desk helped conceal the wires from the printers and also balanced out the room a little more. Framed family pictures, my Bible and my favorie piece from my Friends of the Feather figurines collection finished out the look. I also decluttered the desk a little and replaced piles of papers and books with candles and a rose my oldest bought for me. Here's the final result:



Isn't it pretty?

Cost of the project: $3.25 for the can of paint (I had a 50% off coupon).
Time involved: About two hours, counting painting and organizing.

Results: A clean, peaceful room for family time and learning and some priceless memories made with my daughters.

Be sure to surf over to 5 Minutes For Mom to enjoy more tales of ladies conquering clutter and other household tasks.

Memorial Day: Some Gave All

I am late getting this posted today, but I did want to show my support for our troops, people risking their lives and being far from their families so that I can have the freedom to worship as I choose, educate my children as I choose, and live as I choose. I thank you all.

An Eternal Perspective

In many of his sermons and in daily conversation, our Pastor often usees the phrase "an eternal perpective", by which he means not forgetting that our time on Earth is brief and our time in Heaven eternal. I thought about this a lot this week as the family of singer Steven Curtis Chapman was in my heart and in my prayers after the loss of their precious daughter in a tragic accident. My greatest fear in this life is losing one of my children. My second greatest fear is passing away early myself and leaving my family behind. I find a lot of comfort from both of those fears by trying to have that eternal perspective. The song "If Heaven" by Andy Griggs inspires me in this and helps me to look to my reward when the trials of this life seem so big.

Enjoy, and be sure to head over to Signs, Miracles and Wonders to hear more uplifting, soul-touching music and testimony.

WFMW: Uses For Stale Foods

It seems like something is always going stale around here....bread, chips, crackers, cookies. I get so sick of throwing it away and feeling guilty about the waste, so lately we've been trying to find ways to use less than fresh items. Here are a few solutions we have found:

Graham Crackers: We had nearly a whole package of cinnamon graham crackers that were put away in the pantry open and went stale. My hubby use our little manual grinder to grind them up into super fine crumbs and we used them two ways. He used them as a breading for chciken strips which he deep friend and they were delicious! I used the remainder of them last night as a topper for my chicken/asparagus casserole. Suprisingly, the slightly sweet cinnamon taste really complimented the flavor and both meals were a hit!

Bread: Stale bread makes me nuts. When I eat a sandwich I want my bread super soft and fresh. As a result I tend to waste a lot of bread. I've recently found a few recipes where stale bread works just fine.

TOAD IN THE HOLE
This is a super simple breakfast dish. You simply take a piece of bread, and tear a hole about 1-1.5 inches in the center. Melt some butter in a hot skillet and place the bread in the butter. Break an egg into the hole. I usually lift the bread just a tad to let some egg drip under it. Cook for about 2 minutes and then flip. It's done when the egg is completely cooked and it's delicious!

FRENCH TOAST
Another super simple one. Break two-three eggs into a plate and salt and pepper to taste. I also add a few tablespoons of milk but this is optional. You can also add a little sugar or cinnamon for a sweet flavor. Coat both sides of the bread in the egg mixture and cook in a frying pan until crispy. Serve with syrup, jam or whatever else you like.

HOMEMADE STUFFING
My hubby gets credit for this one. He made a delicious batch of homemade stuffing over the weekend from a loaf of stale bread. He made a big batch using nearly a whole loaf of stale bread, but you could make whatever size batch you want. First he toasted the bread and then cut it into cubes. He used 1/2 cup butter, 1.5 cups of water and the following seasonings (these are to taste, he never measures anything): basil, salt, pepper, celery salt, dried onlions and garlic salt. He also he added a chicken flavor packet from a pack of Raman noodles to give it chichen flavor. Chicken bullion would work too of course. He then boild the whole mixture until the water had boiled down a little and it was at the consistency we like it. Super easy, super delicious!

I've been relly inspired about this lately so stay tuned for more Waste Not, Want Not ideas. In the meantime, make sure to visit Rocks In My Dryer for more great Works For Me Wednesday tips!

Wordless Wednesday: Rain

Be sure to visit Wordless Wednesday for more photographic fun.

Tackle It Tuesday: The Pantry

I'm amazed at how fast our relatively new home has become cluttered. We moved in here in February and I did a serious declutter and organizing campaign just prior to the move, so when we got everything all set up here it was neat and organized. Well, we are neat and organized no more, so most of my Spring Cleaning projects are once again revolving around decluttering and organzing.

The pantry had become painfully messy...I realized the extent of it while I was menu planning for the week. So, while my darling daughter Ashley graciously entertained the toddler, I dove into the plethora of chip bags (with no clips!), disorganized canned goods and packs upon packs of noodle and rice side dishes.

Here's the before and after:


Top Shelves Before


Bottom Shelves Before


Top Shelves After: Is that empty space???


Bottom Shelves After

Be sure to surf over to 5 Minutes For Mom to enjoy more tales of ladies conquering clutter and other household tasks.

Menu Plan Monday

Is it really Monday again already? Last Monday I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to get ready for company. This Monday things are more laid back, and so I decided to take the time to actually do some menu planning. I haven't done this for a while because my hubby has been on a cooking kick lately and so my menus weren't getting used. I have to tip my hat to him, he's come up with some pretty tasty meals, including scrumptious chicken burritos and his own recipe for BBQ chicken strips. (Yum!)

I'm afraid my menu this week may pale in comparison to his recent creativity, but since it's week two of our pay cycle, the cupboard is low and so is the bank account, so it's time for frugality to rule the roost. I'll try to do my best being frugal and creative, and use what we have on hand.

Monday Raman Noodle Spaghetti, wheat garlic toast

Tuesday Chicken Asparagus Casserole, green beans

Wednesday Slow Cooker Beans & Franks, country style corn bread

Thursday Hamburger Helper, green beans, canned biscuits

Friday Ritzy Chicken

Saturday Homemade Pizza

Not terribly exciting, I realize but at least now I am back on track with the menu planning. I typically only plan dinners because we all rise at different times so breakfast is grab and go, and our lunches are typically leftovers from the prior night's dinner., or simple stuff like PBJs.

Be sure to stop over at Menu Plan Monday at www.orgjunkie.com for more great menu ideas and recipes.

Sunday Scrappin': 5/18

It's Sunday again and that means it's time for Sunday Scrappin'. This is a GREAT way to get inspired, meet other crafters and share your creations, so please drop over and join today!

No scrapping this week, but I do have two new creations to show off. I really do feel blessed to have learned this beautiful art form and to be given the opportunity to glorify the Lord through it and help the very smallest of his children. You can learn more about the babies, how they're made and how they help real babies whose lives may be at risk by visiting Blessed Beginnings Studio.

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
Mathhew 25:40

First is Ainsley who is currently up for adoption on eBay:




Second is little Thomas, who goes up for adoption late tonight:

His Amazing Grace

More life lessons came to me this week. Be careful what you wish for people. I've been praying lately for the Lord to clear away the mud in my eyes and show me the truth about things and He has done just that. It has not been a pleasant experience, let me just say. I'm not complaining though. Evidently there was a lot I needed to see.

One thing he seems to be showing me in vivd detail is how my selfish behaviors affect other people and this week I got an especially painful taste of that. I'll spare you all the whole long story, but my selfish attitude adversely affected my parents, who are in their mid 70's, while they were visiting our home and in spite of apologizing and trying to make it up to them, I feel about as low as a slug.

It was eye-opening, though I have to say that. Not only did I suddenly see myself in the eyes of others, but I felt the pain my bad attitude of late had caused. This was a lesson I'll not soon forget.

Changes must be made. Only the Lord can make them and I must withdraw from myself and surrender completely to His will in order to facilitate them. He is the only way, the only Light, the only answer. For the first time in my life I am really aware of the gap between His grace and my human shortcomings, and what a miracle it is that he would extend that grace to "a wretch like me".

This version of Amazing Grace is my favorite for a few reasons. Deborah Liv Johnson has an incredible voice. I really love this version's Southern blues feel too, since I grew up in the South attending a small baptish church and learning about God's grace through my Grandparents, through who His light shined like it does through few people.

Enjoy, and be sure to head over to Signs, Miracles and Wonders to hear more uplifting, soul-touching music and testimony. Oh, and go tell your parents you love them.

Principles of Marriage

A few weeks ago our Pastor gave a wonderful sermon titled Principles of Marriage. I listened to it again a few nights ago and took the time to really consider how my attitude toward my husband and my marriage stacks up against the principles outlined in Ruth 3:10-18.

The first principle we see in this part of Ruth is that we are to pray for God's blessing. This is an area in which I fall short of God's will a lot. I am quick to get frustrated with my husband's non-believing ways and non-constructive habits and complain, but as I listened to this part of the lesson I was embarassed to realize it had been a long time since I'd prayed for my husband. Do you pray for husband? When he makes you crazy, what do you do? I was totally convicted by this part of the sermon and had the feeling I would continue to be as it progressed.

Secondly, we are to keep our promises. Honesty, trustworthiness and dependability are vital to our character in any relationship, not just marriage. I realized I am not always honest with my husband. I typically get annoyed and stew about things, but rarely do I honestly communicate with him about how I'm feeling. The other part of this is my role as his help meet. I'm fairly sure he doesn't always count on me in the way he should be able to. Convicted again.

Third is the emphasis on growing in God as individuals and as a couple. This is hard in our marriage since I am a believer and my husband is not, but I realize that I often use this as an excuse for my own unGodly behavior. I am supposed to be an example to my husband, a reflection of the Lord's love and thus I need to really beef up my own spiritual growth and work a lot harder on being obedient to the Lord's will myself. On this same topic, I realize too that I cannot change or save my husband. Only Jesus can do that and while I am to be the best example I can, ultimately I must leave my husband's salvation in the Lord's hands. Looking at it from that point of view takes a lot of pressure off of me and allows me to focus on my own walk with the Lord and on being the example that He wants me to be and that my hubby needs me to be.

Fourth, we are to wait on the Lord. We're directed not to act impulsively or emotionally. This is my greatest weakness! I want to run ahead of God on everything. I struggle with this on a daily basis. In fact, I rushed into both my relationship with my husband and our marriage and family with both eyes and ears closed to the Lord for years. We were too young and things moved too fast. When we met, I was 16 and he was 18. We married at 18 and 20, and our oldest daughter was born when we were only 19 and 21. Three years later our second daughter was born. As a result our lives have been more difficult and complicated that they needed to be in many ways. I wouldn't trade my beautiful family for anything, but I might have waited to have it until we were truly prepared.

Fifth in this list of principles is exercising self-control. Neither of us is very good at this. I often act in frustration and say and do hurtful things when I am angry, as does my hubby. This is an old pattern that we've become conditioned to over the years and one we really need to break.

Last but not least, we are to be generous and thoughtful. I am anything but generous with my husband, especially when it comes to my time. Between caring for our home, home schooling with two of my girls, and all the other daily demands that find me I find that his needs often come last, and I'm ashamed to say I often treat them as chores and get annoyed when he wants my attention because there are other things I'd rather be doing. He is far more thoughtful and generous with me than I am with him.

After taking this personal inventory I realize I have a long, long way to go to be he woman the Lord wants me to be and my husband needs me to be. I turst that the Lord can make me that woman though, and I need to begin by confessing these sins before God and seeking his forgiveness.

Wordless Wednesday

Just one word for today: laughter. This is my three-year-old with my dad who she calls Grandaddy.

Here I Am to Worship

One of the greatest moments of joy a Christian parent can experience is seeing Christ reflected in our children. Earlier Aspen and I were drawing together and I turned on some worship songs. To my surprise and delight, she sang along with "Here I Am To Worship" and knew most of the words. It brings me joy to know that the words are in her heart, even if she doesn't fully understand them yet.

This song is one of my favorites, as it reminds me that we don't only worship in church on Sunday. We worship our Lord anytime we life our voices in His praise, serve others or offer our testimony.

In thanks to God for this special moment and precious memory, I thought I would share the song here. Enjoy everyone, and as you listen sing along and worship with us!

Aspenisms Revisited

For fun today I decided to update what has been an ongoing series of posts since my original blog, Ramblings of a Rag-Tag Believer. Aspen's language development has been wondrous to watch! She is so articulate and the way she puts words together to express ideas has always brought a smile to my face. She has had many cute little phrases that have been unique to her and we call them her "Aspenisms".

First today, I want to repost the two prior entries I made regarding her expressions:

From July 28, 2007:

Aspen loves to talk. These days she is very verbal and is usually actively involved in most family discussions that take place in her presence. There are a few very distinct phrases that she uses to communicate what she wants or what she is thinking that I find incredibly endearing. I call them her "Aspenisms".

A few of my favorites and their meanings are:
"a couple whiles" This means a few minutes or a little while. When she wants to do something she will say "Mama can I do that for a couple whiles?"

"please I" This is her abbreviated version of please may I. When she wants seconds at dinner she says "Please I have some more?"

"mine" She often uses the word mine in place of my. "This is mine toy!"

"yapoon" The "yapoon" is the vacuum cleaner, by which Aspen is both terrified and fascinated. When it comes out she hops onto the couch and yells to our kitten, "Come on kitty mommy's gonna yapoon!"

"the pool area" She gets this term from her Dad, who commonly refers to the community pool as the pool area. Whenever she wants to know if she can do something at the pool she asks "We can do this in the pool area?"

"naughtyness" This is one she only used once but it was adorable. We recently started using Time Out for her when she is naughty. She has to sit in a certain spot for 2 minutes and we use the timer on the microwave to let her know when she can get up. The first day we did this, I was making dinner when her Dad got home from work. The microwave timer went off for something I was cooking and she proudly told him "Daddy that's for my naughtyness!"



From January 13, 2008:

"last Saturday" She uses this one whenever she is relating a story about something that happened and can’t recall exactly when it happened. Many, many things happen around here on Saturdays, evidently!

"Can we not?" This is what she says when told something is about to happen that she doesn’t like. If we have to do something she doesn’t want to do, this is her response.

"I don’t talk to real people!" This little gem happened just today and was the inspiration for this post. She loves to play with our phone and pretend to call people. I let her type in all the numbers she wants, but she can’t press the talk button, so that she won’t accidentally make a call. She pretends to call all sorts of people. Well, this afternoon the phone rang while she was holding it, and her Dad told her to answer it, to which she vehemently responded, "NO Daddy, I don’t talk to real people!"

And last but not least, today's update:

"Bednight story" This is Aspen's version of the bedtime story. It doesn't apply only to bedtime though. She loves to read and any old time of day is a great time for a bednight story as far as she is concerned.

"Can I hold you?" This is what she says when she wants to be held or cuddled. I can always tell when she is starting to get tired in the evening when she comes to me as asks to hold me.

Mother's Day Confessions

This Mother's Day evening I find I have the overwhelming need to confess lately that I have been far from the woman God wants me to be. I have been selfish instead of selfless, thoughtless instead of thoughtful, cruel instead of caring. I have gotten way too wrapped up in what I want and completely disregarded the needs and desires of my mate and my children. In a foolish attempt to meet my own needs I have turned from God and put my faith in people and things. I have focused my energy on the things that are wrong in our lives, rather than appreciating the many abundant blessings we've been given.

I've been battling depression since I was a child, and in times where it gets the most intense, I tend to make the mistake of trying to self-medicate with Earthly pleasures and selfish pursuits rather than being still and waiting on the Lord to touch me with His healing hands and move me forward. I indulge way too much in things that are not pleasing to Him and then wonder why I feel so distant from Him.

I have put way too much energy, time and money into my doll-making hobby for the wrong reasons. I believe this is a venture the Lord will bless, but only if I adhere to His requirements, such as putting my family first and buying my materials only as we are able to pay cash. Instead of doing this I have spent way too much money on credit and taken too much time away from my home and family to work on it.

Tonight I can see this clearly and confess it here with my fellow Christian blogging mamas as my witnesses. I'm turning back to the Lord and asking His forgiveness and for his divine guidance in how to correct the situations that have gotten out of control as a result of my foolishness.

I'd love it if you ladies would share your experiences, of times when you get off track, and how you get back on track and stay there.

The Work of Our Lord's Hand

I'm always amazed at how the Lord comes through and shows Himself in the moments of my deepest dispair. I've really been worried about the money lately and feeling like maybe I ought to go back to work. My hubby has been pressuring me in a subtle, almost sneaky kind of way about this and I've been really worried and stressed about it. I know it's the Lord's will for me to be home with the children, and I was feeling really torn over it. In my prayers last night, as I lay awake in bed unable to sleep, I confessed my doubts and my recent struggle with my faith. I confessed that waiting on the Lordis my weakness and that I always doubt what I cannot see. I asked the Lord to show Himself to me, to let me know He is there and working in our finances.

Out of the clear blue sky today my husband came home and informed me that the company he works for is changing the way they calculate employee rent, and as a result our monthly rent will drop by about $192 a month! This is something we would never have anticipated nor been able to make happen on our own, so there is no room for me to question that it was the Lord's hand directly.

I really struggle with trusting and being still, waiting on the Lord. This is my biggest area of spiritual weakness, especially during times like these when we have many struggles and issues going on, but my faith has been renewed today and I feel at peace.

Baby Ainsley

My latest creation, baby Ainsley is now up for adoption on eBay. Please stop by her auction and check her out!

Motherhood

Over at 5 Minutes For Mom, a Mother's Day celebration is underweigh. Moms can win $1000 by submitting their favorite photos that show what motherhood means to them. It's simple: you post your photo on your blog and link back using the handy-dandy Mr. Linky.

My entry is a photograph by my daughter Ashley, which to me symbolizes everything being a mother means to me in one simple gesture. This is me, and my youngest daughter Aspen. Not only did Ashley take this picture, but she also printed it herself in the darkroom at school. I love the fact that the print is imperfect. To me that only further reinforces the beauty of motherhood. I know my little one loves me, even though I am far from perfect. She doesn't want perfection, she just wants me.