Delight in the Lord: Making Your Home A Haven Study and Challenge Week 1 Day 1

This is the 11th Annual Making Your Home a Haven Study from Courtney Joseph at Women Living Well.  I have done this before. I have even posted about the study/challenge on my blog before.

I have started to blog again so many times, but I never got around to posting what I wrote. I miss writing/blogging. As I read books about finding what a person is supposed to be doing, I keep coming back to writing. I'm getting off subject here, but I have read old blog posts and newsletters of my own and thought "Wow! What wisdom and insight!"; not always, of course, but sometimes I can hardly believe I actually wrote what I know I wrote!

Actually, this whole thought process does apply.  Courtney's intro talks about being so busy that we do not delight in life (,or in the Lord). You can see from the picture that I bought the journal from Amazon this year, but in years past, I have just used the blog posts and printables to follow along (in the early years, there was not printed journal option). You can watch her talk about the subject in her introduction video on the blog (or YouTube) and read what she wrote on the blog.

I may have even written on here about this before, but as it is something I have struggled with over and over, I am sure it bears possible repetition (if only for myself).  I know that when life seems overwhelming and I am over tired and I don't feel like I can accomplish even the bare necessities... I can look to my time with God and see that it is lacking. I know He wants me to spend time with Him and I NEED to spend time with Him.  Also, I punish myself for not getting things done by not allowing myself to do things like this (writing and blogging and other creative things, even putting time with God on the back burner) that would actually fuel me to accomplish those other tasks that I am struggling with. And I even realized last week that I no longer sing in the shower, or the car, like I used to. And I only sing and dance while I do chores when one of my children plays music near me. I love that they will play D.J. for me sometimes and we even turn it into a game many times of naming the song, artist, release date... or even just have an impromptu Dance Party. I am happy that I inspired a love of music in my children (and the variety of genres they enjoy, and introduce to me, is incredible!), but I am a little sad that have not been the one starting the music lately.  I know how much singing makes joy bubble over from me and changes my mood in a matter of minutes. 

These past years that I have not shared on my blog have had hardships and celebrations... don't all years?!  I would like to share some highlights from those missed years; I will just have to see how that goes.  This year began with all the hope and excitement of a new year that quickly turned to the Covid-19 Pandemic taking over so much of my thoughts and decisions.  The Pandemic mixed with the USA Presidential Election has made for a lot of frustration in my mind. Not that I haven't prayed about it, and not that I have terrible tragedy that I experienced. I actually have so much to be thankful for during this past year. And as much as I have tried to pray in all things and rest in God's peace... I have struggled with feelings of frustration, weariness, uncertainty of what I should do and say in life situations that sprung from the years events, probably anger (the thought keeps coming to me, but I haven't realized it until now), and I know there is more muddled around in my mind that I can't even begin to express right now.

All that to say that I am so glad to be joining in with Courtney and so many others around the world for Making Your Home a Haven. We are writing down things we are grateful for each day, as well as the scripture study and the challenges.  This is perfect for the month of Thanksgiving in my home country of the USA.  I also feel this as a great way to reset before the beginning of another new year.

I plan to post on here as well as on my Instagram account:  @thebasicsoflife_elvisgirl .

The challenge for this week is to buy an extra large candle to light every day. You put the candle in a central place in your home. Each time the glimmer of the candle catches your eye,  you stop to pray and give thanks. My candle is not probably not considered extra large, but it is soy and made in Kansas City and burns for many hours. The Frakincese and Myrrh scent seemed perfect to me to get my mind on the celebration of Christ's birth, too.

The scripture study for today is Philippians 4:4-9.  Those verse are full of instructions for our thoughts and promises for God's peace.  They are verses I turn to often, but usually separate. They are such a powerhouse together as they were initially intended.  Even if you don't join in the study, I highly recommend reading the verses and meditating on them.

Resurrection Sunday 2012

Matthew 28: 5,6 "The angel said to the woman, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here. He has risen, just as he said.  Come and see the place where he lay."

The good news! Jesus Christ conquered death and we have the hope of our own resurrection!  I don't remember if I've said here, but we changed churches in the last year, so we have a different pastor than in my previous "my pastor said" comments.  This Sunday, part of our pastors sermon was why we can believe that Jesus really died on the cross and came back to life in bodily form...and one of those reasons is that his followers risked their lives on a daily basis to tell others about Jesus.  If Jesus resurrection was a hoax, they would not have risked being killed themselves to share about Jesus.

Resurrection Sunday is probably my favorite holiday...it's close with Christmas though, because if not for Christ's birth, then there would be no Resurrection.

This is our family pic for this year's holiday:

Ellie said I was "too excited" this year.  Well, I was excited because I finally got our matching skirts made (I was going to make them last year).  When I was growing up, my Mom made us matching dresses many years for Easter (Resurrection Sunday) and Christmas, and my little sister, too.  This is the first year that I have made Ellie and I matching anything.  She had picked out sandals to wear, but the day turned out too cold, so we decided to wear leggings... then I got the idea to wear our cowboy boots and jean jackets (which is a whole other story... for another post).

Anyway, I hope you all had a great holiday with your family and friends!

On the First Day of Christmas...

I don't believe I learned that the 12 Days of Christmas are the days after Christmas, leading up to Epiphany (the celebration of the Wise Men who followed the star to bring gifts to the Baby King, God's Son).  If I learned about when the 12 Days of Christmas are as a child, I didn't remember.  I do remember learning about that as an adult.  I don't keep my wise men in the stable anymore.  I put them all together for the picture I took for the blog post yesterday, but they usually live across the room, until Epiphany.

For myself, growing up in a Christian home, there are things I took for granted.  I love when other Christians bring things to light for me.  Yesterday at church, our song leader pointed out the circumstances of Mary delivering baby Jesus in the stable.  Imagine all these people in Bethlehem for the census... sure they're tired and cranky... but you see a young mother, about to deliver her first baby.  He pointed out that those of us in the church, if we had been there, mother of our Savior, or not, we would have given up our room and slept in the stable ourselves.  I have given birth to a baby, I know I would have been willing to give up my room for a young mother-to-be.  I wonder how Mary felt... God would have a room for her, if He wanted her to have a room. I imagine she was still praising God, so thankful for the stable.  How does a person have such faith?  I think, that is why she was chosen.  Our Savior came into this world illegitimate and born in a barn.  The world would not take a second look at that child.  But the heavens and the Heavenly hosts proclaimed His birth... and the Wise Men sought Him out to bring Him gifts.  And me, funny child, knew this story practically from birth, and never thought how remarkable having stars and planets line up to proclaim a baby's birth and having Kings who study the stars chase after this baby to worship Him... and not even one person volunteering their room for a pregnant young woman, a baby being born in a barn... like that must happen every day back then (ha!  I don't think so).  As a child and young adult, I didn't realize that Mary and Joseph were not yet married.  I learned that when I read my daughter The Very First Christmas by Paul L. Maier.  There is a disadvantage to some of those children's Bible story books.

Our pastor showed a short video, a funny video about a living nativity.  At the end, the video was serious, the man playing "Joseph" said he could not give up his baby boy.  If he was God, the world would be in trouble.  I have thought about that before, but I still marvel at that sacrifice (something I am certain I didn't grasp as a child).  God planned all that would happen, from the beginning... He knew Jesus would be born in a stable, and die on a cross.  He knew when and where and how.  I can't imagine.  I am thankful that I am human, unable to know the future, because I don't think God made my brain and my heart capable of knowing such things.

"Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!" 2 Corinthians 9:15

Christmas Traditions

My favorite Christmas tradition at my Dad's parents' house involved the manger scene.  Every year, my grandparents put up a manger scene.  Grandma would take the manger scene all apart and assign everyone a piece.  Then grandma would read the Christmas Story and when each of our pieces was named... be that piece Mary, Joseph, donkey, lamb, Shepherd, or the always wanted baby Jesus... we would go up to the manger and place our figures inside.  My Mom made sure we had a manger scene for our first Christmas.  The manger scene is the Christmas decoration that I enjoy the most.  I nearly kept our manger scene up all year last year.

The lights and ornaments on the tree are pretty.  I do enjoy turning down the lights and just enjoying the glow of the Christmas Tree.  We had a tradition when I was growing up of putting up our tree every Thanksgiving.  I am glad I started the tradition of giving my children a new ornament each year, because putting up the ornaments and remembering who gave them to us, or when we made them, or Mom and  Dad made them, was the most fun thing for me in helping set our family tree as a child.

I like taking a family picture each year.  I like seeing how everyone has grown and seeing how clothes and hair change over the years.  Here's our picture from after church this morning: 

Merry Christmas!  

Happy Birthday to Jesus (or Yeshua-"The Lord is our salvation")!

Christmas Memories

Tonight I sang an a Capella version of Away in a Manger with a special choir group at church for the Christmas Eve service.  My parents came to watch.  I got to sing Christmas hymns with them at the end of the service.  Singing with Mom and Dad reminded me of good times growing up... in church with my family, even with my Mom's friend and her kids looking at Christmas lights and singing Christmas carols.

I was talking with my sister the other day about the different Christmas experiences we had growing up.  We have not "done" Santa Claus with our children.  Our parents did not confuse us with the myth of Santa Claus.  We did watch the kid's Christmas programs with Santa Claus on tv.  I even remember sitting on Santa's lap once at the mall... I don't remember if I asked to, or what.  My brother, sister, and I always knew  that Santa Claus was not real.  We knew that the reason for Christmas was to celebrate the birth of God's Son, Jesus.  I saw kids at school who were so caught up in Santa Claus, and I remember when they found out Santa wasn't real.  I know some of them felt like they were lied to.  I know I felt like they were lied to.  I felt bad for them.

Since we've always homeschooled our children, and I like to find out the history behind things we do (I think part of that is all the Sociology classes I took in college), I looked up the history of Santa Claus for our kids.  I enjoyed teaching them about St. Nicholas and how he became the myth of Santa Claus people celebrate today.  We started a tradition of celebrating St. Nicholas Day (December 6th, in case you were wondering).  On that day, my children open their stockings.  I had began giving them a new ornament every year for our Christmas Tree, but opening a new ornament just before you take down the tree is not so much fun... so they now get their ornaments in their stockings on St. Nicholas Day.  Then they get to enjoy the ornament for a whole month!

My Dad grew up in a home that "believed" in Santa Claus.  My Mom grew up in a home that only celebrated Jesus' birth.  My Mom's family didn't always have a Christmas Tree at Christmas when she grew up (actually, I think she can count on one hand the times they did); if memory serves me correctly, they didn't usually have presents.  They both went to church and celebrated the birth of Jesus.

So, growing up a grandchild of my Dad's parents and my Mom's parents, my siblings and I (and our cousins) experienced different Christmastimes at each grandparents home.  I don't remember when I realized that we didn't get Christmas (or birthday) presents from my Mom's parents, but except for asking "why" at some point... not getting presents from my maternal grandparents didn't really matter.  My grandma was a wonderful cook, and so are my aunts.  We enjoyed a delicious meal and lots of playtime with our cousins (10, plus 3 second cousins... my mom is the youngest of 6).  I always enjoyed just visiting and being with my Mom's parents and extended family.

At my Dad's parents, when my brother, myself, and our cousins were young (my sister is 8 years younger than me) my grandma would have someone dressed as Santa Claus stop by to visit us. My brother and I had to pretend that "Santa" was the real deal.  We always got presents, but I remember being disappointed so many times... even when we thought they were getting us something we really wanted.  One year we were expecting boom boxes (portable stereo cassette radios)... they were not stereo, they were mono.  I remember an ugly doll that I named after a little girl I didn't like.  My three cousins were all boys and they were not very nice little boys (they grew up to be nice men though).  For the cousins, we drew names for presents.  My aunts took turns with me, until my sister was born, because both wanted to buy for a little girl.  One aunt usually made me things... doll dresses were my favorite (except the ones for the ugly doll, but they did fit other dolls later on); the other aunt always gave me something store bought ( I liked when she got me music boxes).  I did enjoy quiet times with my Dad's parents, and I loved playing with the toy kitchen furniture that my Great-grandpa made my grandma.  We did have some nice times playing kitchen with my cousins in the upstairs of the old farm house.

I remember visiting my great-grandparents (my dad's mom's parents... who were still living when I graduated from college!).  I had a thought today about how I was a little creeped out by my great-grandparents when I was little... I think it was because they were old.  Really, they weren't that much older than my Mom's parents, or my Dad's dad, but they were "great" grandparents.  I remember not really wanting to give them a hug and kiss goodbye.  Great-grandpa's face was scratchy many times from stubble.  As I grew up, I came to know his heart and love him so much!  I look forward to heaven, when I can hug him and kiss his scratchy cheek again (grandma, too... but without the scratchy cheek).  My great-grandma was so sweet, she even paid me to finish an afghan doing hairpin lace; she wanted me to learn that much.  She would give up her coat for someone who was cold, in fact I believe she did one time (maybe more than once that I don't know about).

I think, remembering these things that time, love, example and treasure in heaven are so much more important than gifts, trees, lights... and all those other things that appear so important to our modern world.  There are people around us who don't even know who Jesus is, people who don't know the real reason we began celebrating Christmas.  What a gift we could be giving.

Thank you, Lord, for giving me my family and your Son.

Best Things About My Birthday

1.  God gave me another day on earth with my family and friends, good health, home, work, food, sunshine, and lovely fall weather.
2.  Cards, calls, and facebook messages wishing my a happy day.  I love an excuse to catch up with people and touch base.
3.  First Day of Homeschool Co-op this year, and my first time teaching a class in over a year (I was permanent substitute last year)... and I got told by many students that my class was their favorite!
4.  Cute new skirt from the thrift store (that my son told me I should buy for myself) and cool picture my son took of me.
5.  Date with my hubby to Planet Sub (which has special newlywed significance, from when we lived near Lawrence, KS and the Yellow Submarine sub shop) and to see the movie, Courageous... which made me laugh so hard my sides hurt, and cry a whole bunch, and pray, too.
6.  A wonderful young lady to stay with the kids while we went out.
7.  Sweet hubby driving to another town to get the Bordeaux Cherry Chocolate Frozen Yogurt I wanted.
8.  Enjoying the frozen yogurt shake I made at home.
9.  Safely home.

If only I had a cape, I think I'd look like a superhero.  :)

September is the month for Family Friendly Movies and Giveaway!

There is a great new family movie: Dolphin Tale coming out.  One of the consultants on the movie is the son of Sally Clarkson, homeschool speaker, author, and pretty cool lady.  The two child stars are homeschooled, I know that is fairly common these days among child actors, but I will say that the girl is one of the exceptions to your average Hollywood child stars from the interview I saw of her where shares about your calling from God and her passion for God (she even shares about her typical day... including chores!).  I don't know about the boy.  I haven't seen an interview with him.

The dolphin story is based on a true story, from the movie makers of Blind Side (also based on an inspirational true story).  In the movie the homeschooled star, plays a homeschooled girl! Ellie saw the trailer at a movie she saw with a friend this summer.  She said she really wanted to see Dolphin Tale, and I really want to take the kids! The movie is about a dolphin who is found by a boy wrapped up in litter and hurt.  The dolphin loses his back fin/flipper and the boy makes helping the dolphin want to live and be able to swim again his mission.  I foresee the need for a box of tissues.  I also imagine there will be some cheering going on.

There is a giveaway going on at Sally Clarkson's blog.  She and her hubby are giving away four Dophin Tale packages with t-shirts, beach balls, posters, stickers, and more.

There is free curriculum to go along with the movie and also a call to homeschoolers to flood the theaters on opening day, September 23rd from the Homeschool Movie Club... along with free curriculum from other family friendly movies like Kit Kittredge and Ramona and Beezus.  I encourage you all to check out the Homeschool Movie Club HERE.   

Click HERE to see the movie trailer and HERE to see the homeschool clip that is out to see.

If you don't know about the Walmart/P&G Family movie, the newest Family Movie Night shows on tv this Saturday.  The movie is called Game Time: Tackling the Past.  You can find out more about the Family Movie Night HERE.  My family and I have enjoyed every one of the Family Movie Night movies.  I'm not sure which one is my favorite, but the last one, Who Is Simon Miller, was pretty great.

Tomorrow, a movie called Seven Days in Utopia comes out.  Looks like a pretty good family friendly movie, though I've only see the trailer.

I am SUPER excited that the makers of Facing the Giants and Fireproof have their new movie coming out September 30th (my birthday) :  Courageous!!!  Check out clips and a music video from Casting Crowns at the Courageous Movie site.    The subtitle is "Honor Begins at Home".  The movie is about being Godly fathers and husbands.  I am so excited for this movie.

Gratitude...Learning Love

Today I finished reading One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp.  I was reveling in how the Holy Spirit leads as and God links the message at the church we went to on Sunday, not our usual church, but one we were trying out... and the Fireproof Couples Study that we're going through again (with a different couple)... and Ann's blog, A Holy Experience, and her wonderful book.  I was reminded of how wonderfully God linked together my reading of The King Will Make A Way with the Ladies Bible Study that I was in to show me the simple truth, that I should have already known, that what God really wants from all of us in for us to know Him...he wants a relationship with us, and the truth I realized again today, that He will make a way.  I thought for so long that the point was that Christ died to that we might live with Him when we end this life on earth, and certainly He is with us all the time, He lives in us, but I didn't really understand how that worked... God living in us.  The beginning is our accepting the relationship, communion, if you will.

I knew that there was the great mystery, the relationship between a husband and wife that is the example on earth that we can see with these human eyes of ours to show the relationship between Christ and His Bride, the Church.  Then Ann Voskamp's book, One Thousand Gifts clues me in to the gratitude and blessing that is the opening, blossoming, and understanding that relationship.  The church we went to showed me the history and the betrothal and wedding traditions that Jesus used to show us, His disciples, His students, His Love, how he was pledging His self to us.

And I felt like the light bulb finally turned on, I understood how this relationship, the oneness worked.  I didn't just want to understand how to be one.  I wanted the experience, the feeling... how Ann described the culmination of her own understanding in the last chapter of One Thousand Gifts.

I was driving the family home tonight, listening to my mix cd of Contemporary Christian music made up of downloads from my itunes gift card gift from Mother's Day.  Ellie keeps me up on new Christian songs and artists by watching the music videos on JCTV (when I wasn't much younger than her, I discovered new Christian artists the same way, but I had to stay up extra late on the weekends to catch them on our local station that aired Christian programing).  One of the songs that she tuned me into was The Invasion by Trip Lee.  So, I added that song to my downloads about a week ago. 

Thomas listens to Christian music on the radio, and introduced me to the two songs before that The Invasion on the cd, and I was thinking about the words as we listened to the songs:  Closer by Shawn McDonald "I just want to be closer to you.  I just want to be closer.  I am yours. You can have all of me, anything, everything..."

and More Like Falling In Love by Jason Gray "It's gotta be more like falling in love, than something to believe in, more like losing my heart than giving my allegiance... it's like I'm falling in love"... and I so wanted that... like I said, that feeling of closeness, oneness, falling in love.  I wanted to be able to bless God with my thankfulness.  More Like Falling In Love  reminded me of the quote on my refrigerator, "Let your religion be less of a theory and more of a love affair." G.K. Chesteron. 

Then I listened to The Invasion as much of the song went by, because I don't know the song well enough to rap along with the lyrics, but part of the song is sung (not rapped) and I sing along with the woman singer, Jai, "I give my gratitude, Jesus.  You died to make all things new-yeah.  My knight in armour, when our world in falling.  Your love's never failing.  I find safety in your arms."  I meant every word, and I felt that feeling I was asking for.  Oh, we just have to ask.  As Thomas says, "We have a rich Daddy, who wants to bless us with gifts... and we only have to ask."

I'm still reveling in all of this... gift.  I just had to write it all down... and share.

I'm pretty sure I'll share more on One Thousand Gifts.... I wrote pages in my notebook today while the kids were at Vacation Bible School.

Abraham Lincoln and I would have been friends

Thomas brought home a bunch of info about President Lincoln, because he is considering taking the family to visit the Lincoln Library and Museum in Illinois (a family vacation/field trip).  In the information he brought home, was quote from Lincoln:

"When any church will inscribe over its altar, as its sole qualification for membership, the Savior's condensed statement of substance of both law and Gospel, 'Thou shalt love the Lord they God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself,' that church will I join with all my heart and all my soul."

The quote was a part of an article about our 16th President's faith, because he never signed on and formally joined a church, or identified himself with a certain denomination.  I firmly believe from that statement, and the many speeches and writings of Abraham Lincoln that he was a Christ follower and I will meet him in heaven someday. 

The important thing is that we are a part the the Church, the body of Christ, not that one is aligned with a certain denomination, brick and mortar, or wood structure here on earth.  None of that will last, but our relationship with God and other Christ followers will still be with us when this world is no more.  This is not to say that Lincoln (or myself) did not attend church services in a building;  his family was Baptist, and he attended Presbyterian church with his wife in both Illinois and Washington, D.C..  President Lincoln's words and example show that he was a Christian, I have no doubt.  Since President Lincoln and I apparently have similar beliefs about joining a church and man made rules, I am pretty sure, had we known each other in this life, we would have been friends.

Vacation Bible School: Fruit of the Spirit at the County Fair

This was the first year that the church we attend had a traditional Vacation Bible School.  Well, I would say semi-traditional, because we had the classes in the evening.  When I was growing up, we always had VBS 

during the morning.

The theme was Fruit of the Spirit and a County Fair. I did the actions for the songs.  Ellie and Wyatt, and some of their friends, wound up being my backup dancers; that is why Ellie and Wyatt are dressed country.  The volunteers were supposed to dress up every night.  I wish I would have had the kids take pictures of me, because I wore a different outfit every night.  I still like playing dress-up!

I added this because it shows the awesome stage that some of the volunteers created for the skits.

This is Ellie during recreation, using a fly swatter to put stray balloons into the corral.

Ellie and her BFF.

Wyatt modeling his green house.

I only remembered to bring my camera two nights.
This night, the Farmhand Fun was all about goats.
The kids got to try goat milk and goat cheese.

And meet a live meat goat.

Wyatt at Farmhand Fun.

They made garden stones.

Ellie, her BFF, and a friend from church.

Ellie at Farmhand Fun.

A fellow homeschool mom teaching the kids about goats.

The "actors" for the skits.

Wyatt working his stray balloon into the corral.

My ladies Bible Study group, the inspiration for our first ever traditional VBS.
Just for fun, we are three homeschool teachers and one public school teacher.
Wonder if anyone could guess who was who... there are pretty good odds.

Afterwards, people were asking if I had recovered from VBS.  I said there was nothing to recover from.  Truly, I had fun.

AWANA Year End Review

Yes, I am totally playing catch up on my blog posts.  I have a few hidden away even, that can wait.  The fact that we have officially started our new school year, although the rest of the kids activities... like Co-op and AWANA won't start till September... so I'm hurriedly trying to catch up!

The last theme day the kids participated in was Hippie Night.  Those of my readers who know me from my own youth, know this is near and dear to my heart... bell bottoms, long  hair, tiny braids, headbands, peace signs, etc.  So, I had a lot of fun helping the kids dress up for this (though 50's night was pretty "me", too... aka Elvisgirl, you know... and I love the tv shows set in the 50's, and the other musicians from that time period.).  Okay, so hear are some pictures:

My Hippie Children.
Wyatt wore his cowboy boots, instead of his tennis shoes, to the club meeting.
We thought the boots made the look more authentic with his flare leg jeans
(couldn't find any actual bell bottoms in his size).
Ellie wore her "go-go" boots and peasant skirt, and formerly my peace sign chain belt
(it's silver, if you look close).

Ellie with the mood ring that used to be mine.

Wyatt wearing his Daddy's mullet wig from when he played on That 70's Team for basketball.
I was going to let Wyatt wear the necklace that my Dad made in high school, but I couldn't find it,
so he got to wear the hemp necklace that I made in college.

Make Peace, not war.  Wyatt and I tie dyed his shirt.

Ellie and Wyatt both finished their books this year.  Wyatt has completed Sparkys, and next year will move up to Truth and Training like his big sis.  Ellie will be moving from the Ultimate Adventure to the Ultimate Challenge.  These are some pictures after the end of year Awards Ceremony:

I just noticed Wyatt standing on tip-toe, trying to be as tall as his big sis.

The kids had been outside playing, which is why Wyatt's cheeks are red and Ellie looks mad
(she was mad... at some mean kids, not her parents).

Reshaping It All

I am currently reading Reshaping It All by Candace Cameron Bure and Darlene Schacht.  I've been following along with the 65 Day Reshaping It All Challenge.  I subscribed to the posts so that I have them delivered to my e-mail in-box, that way I don't miss out on anything.  Today is day 26 of the Challenge, so there is plenty of time to check it out and join in.  If I remember correctly, it only takes 21 days to make or break a habit.  The Challenge ends on July 4, Independence Day (my 12th wedding anniversary).

The site is great!  Full of inspiration, much like the book itself, "motivation for physical and spiritual fitness".  Posts have included yummy, healthy recipes (there are some of those in the book, too... from Candace's own kitchen) shared.  There have also been videos from guest contributors and interviews with Candace.

Other blog authors are following along and contributing have been giving away copies of the book.  Darlene has also had sponsors that are giving away things on the Reshaping It All Challenge site.  I recently got in on one of those giveaways.  The way to enter was to send in a picture of yourself with your copy of the Reshaping It All book.  My son/personal photographer, Wyatt, took many pictures of me before we got the one I sent in.  I had the book turned around backwards in a bunch of them.  I didn't realize it until I loaded them on the computer; he thought I meant to have it backwards, because "There was still a picture of her on the back."  Gotta love him.  So, here's the one I sent in:

There is a story behind that blue shirt.  It is just a Danskin shirt from Walmart.  I bought it on clearance for $3.  Actually, I bought two of them, one in a size large and the other a size small.  I would have preferred to  buy a medium, but they were on clearance, and those were my choices.  When I bought them, I would not wear the small out of the house, but Thomas said I should keep it.  It is my favorite color of blue, soft and comfy cotton, and a great price!  I bought them more than six months ago.  I didn't take the tag off the small until the date you see on the photo.  And I actually wore the shirt out of the house that day! 

So, the giveaway was a hoodie from Union28, an online marriage apparel store.  Oh, they have some really cool clothes!  I highly recommend checking them out.  I will be shopping there in the future!  Then  Darlene made the giveaway even sweeter, she added a copy of the book to give to a friend. 

There were lots of giveaways for people who didn't have a book, and some comments to send you to the site even said to sign up and win one for a friend, if you already had a copy.  I have a least a dozen friends I'd like to give the book to, so I did sign up for at least one, maybe two giveaways.  Then I went to sign up to win other copies of the book and I couldn't enter to win.  There were all these comments from ladies who didn't have a copy and so badly wanted one.  So, I couldn't bring myself to enter anymore of those book giveaways, but this was a "My Husband Rocks" hoodie AND a copy of the book specifically to give to a friend!  And I won!!!  Thank you Darlene and Union28!!!

So, some of you may be wondering... have you lost weight, or did you just get brave wearing the size small shirt?  Well, I did Cinch! earlier this year.  My Mom saw the book on the Rachel  Ray Show, I think, and then bought the book.  She and Dad did the 30 day diet.  Then she loaned me the book.  Thomas was doing his "Fat Boy Challenge" at work (the guys all gain weight over the holidays and then try to lose the most percentage of weight in 2 or 3 months).  So, we did the Cinch Kick Off, and we both enjoyed the food and I read the book.   We both lost weight, and I continued to use the main ideas in the book to judge when I should eat and how to balance what I was eating. 

Now Mom and Dad are doing the Food Lovers Diet.  I think they were both in place that they thought there was nothing more they could do, but the inches just seem to be melting off them.  My great-grandpa (Dad's grandpa) had a belly, and Dad was just sure his was inherited.  Well, he's losing that belly now!  I almost can't believe how lose their clothes are getting!  They haven't lost hug amounts of weight on the scales, but they are losing inches.  Mom keeps going shopping for new clothes, and keeps trying to get rid of Dad's that are falling off of him.  He had a pair of jeans on last week that looked like they were pleated, but the look was just because he had to tighten his belt so much to keep them up.  They've shared some of what they've learned from Food Lovers, too.  Anyway, to make a long story shorter, the keys are much what Candace shares with her readers in Reshaping It All, eating in moderation... and treats/desserts are okay in moderation, eating a balanced diet (plenty of fruits, veggies, whole grains, lean protein, and just making sure you're eating real food... the stuff that God created),  and exercise! 

My parents have really inspired me to get moving again.  I know I need to be a good example to my kids, but I honestly get lazy sometimes. Seeing my Mom and Dad shape up and have more energy... oh!  I want that, too!  I know I feel better and get more done when I eat right and exercise.  I really just want my clothes to fit well, to be healthy, and have lots of energy.  I'm not concerned with what my scale says... unless those numbers go back to where they were at the end of 2010, which was the heaviest I'd been since having kids!

I am loving how Candace keys in turning to God, and loving His word more than sweets.  I actually used that on lunch at work the other day.  The store was having a cook out for us, so that meant free burgers, hot dogs, chips, etc.  And my manager was saying how great the burgers were, much better than usual.  So, I'm thinking, free food, I should take advantage of that, right?!   But I had carefully packed a yummy, healthy lunch of baby spinach leaves with balsamic vinaigrette, my special recipe herbed chicken salad, and a serving of Kashi Heart to Heart whole grain crackers.  I could eat that later though....  So, I picked up a burger, no bun, topped it with a slice of tomato, grabbed some All Natural Lays Barbecue chips (cuz I'd been wanting to try them for weeks... and I didn't get a bun!).  I put another plate on top and headed out to my suv to enjoy the sunshine and some contemporary Christian music while I ate, and charge my cell phone. 

I ate the free food, (I passed on the soda, too... I had some cold homemade herbal tea in my lunch box, mmm) but I wasn't satisfied.  So, I ate my spinach "salad" and vinaigrette.  Then I wanted something sweet.  I try to keep a square of Ghirardelli dark chocolate in my purse for sweet cravings or just when you need a chocolate fix (only one per day! remember... moderation).  I don't actually have chocolate everyday anymore, but that's something I learned from Cinch!. 

I started to go for the chocolate, then I thought, do I really want, or need, that chocolate right now.  The answer was no, so I reached for the Bible I keep in the basket with my cds and dvds and enjoyed some honey from my Lord.  I had a book mark in Romans from something I was looking up and just opened up there are started reading.  When I was done, I didn't care about the chocolate anymore, nor any other food.  I wasn't sure if Reshaping It All was going to be all I hoped the book would be, but the further I read, the more I glean from the stories and wisdom.  I am really enjoying and learning from this book.

A Free Easter Devotional

I just had to share with my friends the free, downloadable, 17 day Easter Devotional, which includes ornaments and instructions for an Easter Tree over at A Holy Experience.  You do have to subscribe to her posts, but you will want to, they are wonderful!  The devotional is call Trail to the Tree,  written by Ann Voskamp, and includes reproductions of classic paintings in full color as part of the book, and for use as ornaments at the end. You can look over a preview in pictures of the devotional and Easter Tree at her blog.

Making Your Home a Haven Challenge Week 1

This month, I'm participating in Courtney's Fall Challenge over at Women Living Well: "Making Your Home A Haven." For week one we were to buy an extra large candle and light the candle everyday and when the candle catches your eye, say a prayer for peace in your home.
I really liked the idea of this challenge and it seemed pretty simple. Sometimes my house feels like total chaos and some peace sounds really good. I already had the perfect candle. The cutest yellow candle with a fall leaf base that a former teacher gave to me when she visited my home. The candle was so special, I had put it away and never used it. Well, the first thing I hear from my dear son is "That stinks." But every time I looked at the candle on Monday, I said a prayer for peace in our home. And the peace in our home was challenged yesterday. Not to mention the fact that the candle would not stay lit. I just gave up and used it as a reminder to pray, lit or not.

Today, I tried a different candle, one my Mom gave me, that smells like a strawberry rubarb pie (I'd only used it once). It smelled wonderful, but that candle did not stay lit either. I'm not going to stop though. I'm going to keep lighting the candle and keep praying whether the candle stays lit or not. Again, the peace in our home was challenged. I've worked for years on my temper and I was really thankful these past two days that I was able to deal with the challenges with patience, peacefulness, gentleness, and self control. I know that at other times in my life I would have responded in anger. Instead, I've been peaceful and able to use the scriptures for training, teaching and correcting (2 Timothy 3:16).

So, I've especially been thinking about the fruit of the spirit. When I was younger I don't think I realized that Galatians 5:22  referred to the fruit of the Holy Spirit within us, I'm pretty sure I was thinking the reference was to the human spirit. Wow, I know now that I couldn't get along and produce such awesome fruit without the Holy Spirit. That reminds me of a sermon I heard on the radio recently. The pastor was saying "The Christian walk is not difficult, the Christian life is not challenging...it's IMPOSSIBLE."; and the Christian walk is impossible without Christ living in us (Philippians 4:13).
Well, the rest of the week was pretty much the same.  I gave up on lighting the candle, and just used it as a visual reminder to pray for peace in our home.  The candle reminded me of a story my sister was reading me out of Christian book for young moms (I'd actually picked it up for her, but it had great info in it for moms at any stage of raising children).  The story was about how this mom was sad a frustrated that she didn't have time for her morning quiet time with God, she misses her time with Him.  As the story goes on, God talks to her and tells her that she may time have the hour or whatever she had uninterupted before, but she does have moments throughout the day.  So she began to use the quiet moments changing a diaper to thank God for the changes he'd made in her life, washing things for washing her clean of her sins.  She began to feel refueled in those small moments throughout the day.  That is kind of what the candle did for me, made me be more aware of the moments throughout the day that I can use to pray for my family.

I'm really looking forward to the rest of this challenge!
Galatians 5:22 "The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, against such things there is no law."

Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

2 Timothy 3:16 "All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness."
 
You can read about the other ladies who are participating in the challenge Women Living Well.  We're all linked up on the Week 1 post from Courtney, which is well worth a read!

Thank you God, for pictures!

I'm so thankful!  When I'd all but given up on recovering my lost pictures, my dear hubby tried the memory stick in the computer again and got it to work long enough to transfer the pictures to the desktop.  While he left it transferring, the memory stick died again!  But not before he got all my missing pictures back for me.  I knew I was waiting too long to try to get something done, but I hadn't given up hope.  I didn't want to send the disk away somewhere and the only "local" place was an hour away... in not the neighborhood you want to go to by yourself, or with children.  Anyway, I kept putting it off, and I'm glad I did.  :)  Thank you, God, for letting me have my pictures back.

Here are a couple of birthday pictures that I was really sad to be missing:

Poor Ellie, I couldn't find the birthday candles (they were in the trunk of my car from when I'd celebrated birthdays in the park with my friends in September... I found them when I cleaned out the trunk) and we didn't have a 9, so Ellie held the 6 upside down before we lit it.  Oh, that is a sad moment in motherhood.

Wyatt birthday cupcake tower/cake in New Mexico, at his cousins house, because his birthday is the same week as Thanksgiving.  He hated that haircut.  The hair dresser messed up and cut it shorted then the guys asked for.

I Won!

I'm so excited!   I sat down to look at my e-mail, and I won a free ticket to the latest A Woman Inspired Conference:  Beauty and Wellness from Amy Bayliss.  I went a little further in my e-mail and I won the A Tale of Two Kingdoms book contest from The Old Schoolhouse magazine.

Thank you, God!  I know winning is not just luck.

Sharing a Shirt with a Spider

Tonight I continued my nearly one year project of painting the ceiling and floor of our basement. The basement houses our homeschool classroom, playroom, family room, a bathroom, and laundry room/exercise room. I had a full hour of moving furniture and prepping for painting half of the family room ceiling. I made a new playlist on the old computer (since the newer computer when ka-pooey, in Ellie's words) and set out to paint the ceiling, which is actually the floor joices.

So, I was painting along, and felt something in my shirt. At first, I thought it might be some left over insulation which I still find stuck to the ceiling after 7 years, or more, that we took the ceiling down from the basement, because we found out we had termites. We won't have a finished basement ceiling anymore, because you can't see what's going on if it's covered up. Not having a finished basement ceiling has also been good for those times that the kids have flooded the upstairs bathtub and the water leaked through to the basement.

Anyway, back to feeling something in my shirt. I ignored it for a minute, because I had the long handled paint roller in my hands and was busy with paint dripping on me (low drip ceiling paint can still drip). Then I decided it might be a bug, so I kind of squished my shirt around what every "it" was. Then I pulled the side of my shirt out the side of my overalls and found a spider. I started to throw the spider in the trash, but we do have brown recluses around these parts, so I decided to save the spider and let my hubby (brow recluse identifier expert) take a look at it.

When he looked at the spider, he did indeed identify the bad dude as a brown recluse. Uck! So I made him look me over to check for spider bites. He couldn't find any! Thank you, God!

The kids and I were reading Luke 10:19 recently: "Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you." Wyatt asked if that meant we could really step on scorpions, and they wouldn't hurt us. I told him, that yes, I thought Jesus really meant we could step on scorpions and they wouldn't hurt us, but that He probably didn't mean for us to go test that out.

I'm not trying to test God. I know we live in a sinful world and bad things can happen. I love when God shows me He's serious about what He says. I was sharing shirt with a brown recluse spider and God let me kill the spider without it biting me. I love when things happen, and I feel God saying, "You are mine little girl." I love belonging to God.

Resurrection Sunday

We should remember every day that Jesus died for us, but I do really love that we have a special day to remember and celebrate that He not only died to pay the price for our sins, but that He conquered death and rose from the grave as alive as any healthy, breathing man on earth. We have the promise of eternal life with God. The very first verse I memorized as a child was John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life."


Jesus left us the gift of the Holy Spirit and a real relationship with our Creator. No longer do we have to go through a priest or a sacrifice to talk to God; we have direct communication. Not only that, we are adopted into Jesus' family, joint heirs in the Kingdom of God.
Ephesians 1: 5-7 "having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace"

This was a windy, but beautiful day. Here are some pictures of our family:





I didn't realize, until too late, that I didn't have a good picture of Ellie in her pretty, new dress. The kids both ran off, but Wyatt came back for this photo:

Wyatt and I made some candy later on: Wyatt wanted to take a picture of the two of us when we were done making candy, so we set the camera on timer. You can see the crockpots for supper in the background. :)

Since Ellie was hanging out with Grandma Joan while we were candy making, and I didn't get a good picture of the family with her, she allowed me to take a picture while she was drawing in her "World Book".

Happy Resurrection Sunday!

Witness

I've been wanting so badly to write about our Extreme Homeschool Room Makeover and our Renewal Ceremony for our ten year anniversary. Seems like things have been so busy, I just haven't had a spare moment. I should be in bed right now, but my mind is full...of other thoughts.

A former co-worker died today. I didn't know her for very long, but she seemed like such nice person. She had two children that she loved very much; that was easy to see. She was very kind to a lady (who she used to work with) who had a degenerative disease. She had little, but shared what she could. She was thankful for what she had and what she was given.

My husband asked me if she knew the Lord. I could only answer with something like, " I think so, maybe." We talked about God one day at work. I believe she told me she went to church growing up, but not recently.

I think the day we spoke about God and religion was the same day I remember a couple of older ladies came into the store one day that we were working. They were such sweet old ladies, full of smiles, with bright eyes. They asked if we'd make our reservations for when this life is through (or something to that effect). I knew what they meant right away. I smiled and nodded. The ladies I work with looked sort of funny, not sure how to answer. The older ladies went on to explain a bit about Jesus and heaven. The ladies I work with responded with a "Oh, yes, we know about that"-type answer...not really assuring, a little vague.

So, I don't know for sure if she knew our Lord and Savior. I wonder now if there was something else God wanted me to say to her, but I didn't listen to His urging. I wonder if I missed an important opportunity to witness to her. I won't get another one. I often think that I witness by my actions, what I say and do, how I treat others. I know that sometimes people need more. They need to hear the old story, the truth of salvation, hope, life everlasting. I pray for her poor children, left motherless.

I have known many people die before, but most of them I was assured that I would see them again in heaven. Their lives were a witness to me. This death is such a reminder to make every moment matter, to savor every precious minute with my loved ones, and to witness without fear.

The Lamb

When I was finishing up the post on Picture of Christ, I was thinking about something else that I didn't really understand when I was growing up. I grew up in the church, in a Christian family, reading and learning about the Bible. Something that I think is very important that I didn't really get put together, until I was an adult, relates to this part of the song Crucified, which I quoted from Christafari (okay, maybe not so much relates, but it made me think about this):

I do not set aside the grace of God (can't you see?)
For if gained through the law righteousness could be-
then Jesus Christ He died for nothing.

So the song says that if righteousness could be obtained through following rules, then Jesus died for no reason. I understood that being good, making sacrifices, or following Old Testament Rules would not get me into heaven. I knew that only faith in Jesus Christ could write my name in the Book of Life. I understood that Jesus was the Lamb of God, the ultimate sacrifice. What I did not understand was how the Old Testament men were also saved by faith. Like when Abraham was told by God to sacrifice his only son, Issac, the son he'd been promised; he was going to sacrifice Issac, because of his great faith in God. What a great picture of what was to come. I also now understand that the lambs that were sacrificed for sins represented God's Lamb, who would be the final sacrifice for ALL sins. I just love that I finally have all those puzzle pieces in place.