One of those days

This has been one of those days when I can feel the true sinfulness of man. I have been tested and have been found wanting today and I have cried bitter tears because of it. Why oh why do I have to fail my God so fully at times when I should be stronger. Evereything just snow balled into everything else until I couldn't even think straight I was so angry and instead of yelling and ranting at my children I stopped and took a deep breath and sang...eventually. I know I didn't yell at them and I didn't say anything demeaning or degrading and I didn't lash out at them, but somewhere I have dropped the ball today. Somewhere my attitude was not right, and my heart was not right, and my response was not right and I have exasperated my children. Let's not forget that verse after the one about obeying your parents in Ephesians (parents love to over look that one I've noticed). Although I didn't respond in a the I have in the past when pushed to my limit (mostly yelling) I can not be called innocent of some transgression somewhere. Lord help me!! Forgive me that the meditations of my heart where not pleasing to you oh Lord and that I did not seek first your wisdom during this dreary day!! I can only look to tomorrow where His mercies are new and thank God that He will not remember my trespasses today, but give me a fresh start tomorrow with Him through His son Jesus!! God bless you!

What we feed our children will have lasting effects

I have been contemplating much of the food choices I made (or where made for me) as a child. I wish I had not had soda when I was little and I wish I had realized at a young age what was in a burger from burger king.....(shudder). What I did not know when I was little I am trying to teach my children now, maybe they will make better food choices than I did and therefore live a healthier life (more sensible weight....better choices with their families from the beginning). I wonder why we are so apt to believe what is told to us instead of researching the information for ourselves. We believe what our parents tell us and rightly so because God willing they are not telling us lies, but are we doing the research as parents to make sure that our food choices for our children and ourselves are the best they can be? Are we showing them how to read labels and make wise decisions about food in the future? I believe I am doing my best with the money I have to provide my children with the healthiest options....lets face it most of us do not have the money to buy all natural organic everything. If you do more power to you! I have learned to make cuts and allow myself room to splurge on certain things. I make a lot of homemade items that most people would purchase at the store and that helps a lot. I have found many great websites to help me feed my family well and still stay in my budget with as little processed stuff as possible. I hope in everything I do from now on I can take an educated approach to it all and know the facts. I hope all who read this will too. It is not just after they are born that it is important. There is research showing that over the counter drugs and certain foods have a negative effect on the unborn baby. We should be aware of what we consume and realize that ultimately everything we put in our bodies will affect us for good or bad. God bless you all and may you make good food choices!

I have linked some websites I have found helpful toward my good food goals and budget!!!
http://faithfulprovisions.com/
http://shortcuts.com/
http://www.budget101.com/
http://www.econobusters.com/
http://www.howtoshopforfree.net/
http://www.recipetips.com/
http://www.southernsavers.com/

Lapbooking!!

I recently found out about lapbooking through the website http://www.homeschoolshare.com. This is a great resource for homeschooling parents who love to find new ideas, or share theirs. Being new to homeschooling I had no idea what they were. So I looked it up!  This week Celeste and I started on our first lapbook for Frog and Toad week! I have to say it is the most fun we have had homeschooling so far. She has had a blast with all the information and activities inside it and has loved taking it everywhere (in fact she has it in bed with her right now). If you have no idea what I am talking about I am not the one to ask...LOL. But I can point you to many sites that explain how to make a lapbook and have ideas to get you started. I am going to attempt to make my own lap book form some favorite books of ours that I already have on hand. I will post pictures of the one we made, but I just thought I would share my experience with them. They are the bomb!!!! Lapboking Rocks!!! Ok I'm done.

Helpful sites include:

http://www.squidoo.com/lapbooking

http://www.ehow.com/how_4601256_make-a-lapbook.html

http://www.youtube.com/user/servinggodandfamily cute lapbook video she put up

http://www.youtube.com/user/mcclintick02 (she has several videos on lapbooking, I'm a visual person)

and several more on Youtube, you can just search lapbook.

God bless!

Becoming the Woman of His Dreams

I am reading this book along with a friend of mine and I felt like posting my notes on here for anyone who may be interested. It is a fabulous book about being a Godly wife and being a true helpmate to your husband. Hope you enjoy my thoughts and insights (if there are any...lol).

Introduction:
She starts out in the intro talking about how we should begin our marriages, with the hoped for end in mind. Lets face it how many of us start out at the alter thinking "yeah, I really hope this ends in divorce in 20 years." Nobody I hope, so if we want our marriages to work we need to do all things to work toward that desired end. She emphasizes the fact that it is not just a hope, but something we must WORK for. It is not just going to come to us on a silver platter. Living with someone else requires effort on our part. I know as a girl I wrote many lists along the way of what my dream man would be, but lets not forget our husbands had the same thing in mind also, a dream wife. However, we have to WANT TO be our mans dream wife. If you are a Christian then you know that the woman we aspire to be is the Proverbs 31 woman. She is called blessed by her children and is praised by her husband. With this idea in mind Sharon Jaynes the author of this book did surveys and interviewed tons of men to find out what the woman of his dreams would look like. She discovered the acronym PRAISE. The woman of these mens dreams Prays for him, Respects him, Adores him, Initiates intimate friendship with him, Safeguards her marriage, Encourages him, and Sexually fulfills him. As I read this book for the second time I get so much more out of the contents and I begin to see how many things I have forgotten since the first time I cracked it's cover. This book is deep and asks some tough questions of you and your dealings with your spouse! Let me preface by saying that this is in no way something you can master and be done with it. This is a day to day thing that you will work on for your whole marriage. With that said let me tell you about the first section.

Prays for him:
Now even though she interviewed Christian men she admits that the number one thing was not praying for him, but like she says lets face it ladies whatever it is it ought to start with prayer!! I CAN NOT be the woman that my husband needs me to be without prayer, everyday prayer too. She talks about the fact that many of us only turn to prayer as a last resort when it should be the first thing we do. There is so much help that God can give and we shouldn't miss out on the help we can get with our marriages. With the way the family is being attacked today we should pray more than ever for stability and Christ-likeness especially with regards to our husbands. She also makes a profound statement that "God will transform just as much of our marriages as we give Him". WOW!! Why are we not giving Him it all???? When addressing the original role of women she says that there is no one more qualified to pray for your husband than you because that is part of being his helpmate. If you are prone to nagging your husband she says the best way to stop is by becoming a praying wife for your husband. This does not mean that we pray for him to be just what we want him to be, but what God would want him to be like (which ultimately is the best, isn't it?). You can not change your husband, so pray to the One who can!!
Also pray for yourself. You have to have the right heart in order to pray for your husband in the right way. As she says in the book, becoming the women of his dreams involves sacrifice and a willingness to concede to God's will for your marriage and husband. Lastly she talks about how even if your marriage has hit rock bottom that prayer can turn it around. Her personal testimony of her childhood is one example she uses. God can work in mighty ways if we will ask, seek, and knock...He will open the door to healing, strengthening, and blessing our marriages.

God bless you all

*Most of what is written has been gleaned from the book "Becoming the Woman of his Dreams" by Sharon Jaynes and is not the result of the bloggers own knowledge. All rights on information is attributed to Sharon. For a copy of the book go to http://www.sharonjaynes.com/

Take it away

Take it away Lord take it away
Please take it away
Take away the anger and the guilt and the pain.
Take it away Lord
Please take it away
Take it away
Replace it with your love replace it with your peace
Take it away Lord
Please take it away
I don't want to feel this way
I don't want to feel this way
Please take it away
Take away the frustration and the pain
Please take it away
I don't want it to affect and tarnish my relationships
I Don't want it to corrupt my love
Take it away
Please Lord take it away
Fill me with your Holy Spirit
and take it away
...........................................
Thank you Lord!!!!
Thank you!!!!!!

This is a prayer of desperation when frustration is all you seem to have.......

Will I praise Him still??

Things are going REALLY good for Jordan and I right now and almost everyday we are able to smile and say PRAISE GOD! During these times when it seems like everything is roses I feel like "when is the rug going to get pulled out from under us", or "when is the ball going to drop". I'm sure I should not feel this way, but I can't stand that sinking feeling when you're caught so totally by surprise that your heart stops for just one second. I think about how our life is now and I think about Job. Job is my favorite book in the bible because it is a picture of the way life will go. Notice I didn't say can because God says in His word, "in this world you will have trouble", so it is not weather it will come, but when. I have to ask myself if I would be like Job. If my child was diagnosed with terminal cancer tomorrow, could I like Job praise God anyway? I would like to shout a resounding YES, but I am not sure. It is so very easy to praise Him when things are going good, and don't get me wrong I have had plenty of experience praising Him with things aren't going so good, but to look into His face and say "Your will be done, praise be Your name" is not so easy when your heart aches from sorrow and your eyes are red from weeping. I have cried out to God in distress and He has heard my cry, just as the Psalmist says, but I do not recall much praising in those moments of strife. Spurgeon says "Just suppose that your loving Lord has caused this, suppose that from His own hand all your grief has come, every cut and every gash. If this is true, put your finger to your lips and be quiet until from your heart you are able to say, "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord" (emphasis added). What Spurgeon later reminds us in his writing is that all of it was merely on loan anyway. We did not own it and the people that we love will be called home to Him and it is His right to take them since they belong to Him anyway. We should rather look at the time we did have and reflect on the good times that we were able to share and rejoice in the memories we will always have. The mountain will not last forever and so I prepare myself for the valley that I know one day will come because in the valley He will make me more like Christ and in the valley, though I may not always feel like praising Him, I should praise Him all the more because I do have a GREAT HOPE and that comes from knowing His son Jesus and having an everlasting hope prepared for me through His death on the cross. Lord may I be able to say "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE LORD!"

Cloth diapers

I HATE cloth diapering. I do it because I know it saves money, but I really hate it. It's gross and messy and  stinky. If I could afford a laundering service I would do that, but then what would be the point of cloth diapering outside of the impact on the environment. They should make diapers that dissolve in water so you can just flush them down the toilet. That would be cool. Anyway, I just felt like yelling that today when I was taking many of my babies soiled diapers out of the soak bucket and placing them in the washing machine. The other thing I hate about cloth diapers is that when I put one on him he seems to know that the worst thing would be for him to poop in it .........and so he poops in it! I really think he senses the difference in my attitude when this happens. LOL! I would recommend it to anyone who would like to save about 40 bucks a month, but be warned it is not for the faint of heart! Blessings to you all!

In Him and for His glory,
Stephanie