HAPPY FATHER'S DAY! TO GOD

  Thank you , God, that you came for my sorrows, my griefs. Thank you for being my Mighty God, my Prince of Peace and by Your stripes I am healed. There's power in Your blood to not only save and keep from sin, but heal my wounds, little girl memories of violation, fear of the known and unknown. Oh, God, how excellent is Your name in all my earth. By Your name, Satan must flee and in the name of Jesus I have the victory.

  Thank you, Father, for being my counselor. If it wasn't for Your guidance, Your awesome instructions, I would be stumbling along trying to find hope and direction. Sometimes, your counsel seems confusing and maybe contradictory, but looking back I've been able to see that there were things in my future I couldn't see at the time. Oh, You know me, you know my frame, you know my make-up, my deepest needs and imperfections, and you lead on to perfection, to completeness, to wholeness. You lead me through my paths into Your paths of righteousness. 

  Thank you for fighting for me. Thank you for putting hedges of protection around me when there is no strength in me to fight. Thank you for putting me under Your wing when I am so wounded, hurting and scared, and whispering words of love and promises of protection. Thank you for raising a standard against the enemy and calling loud enough for me to hear, "You can come no further. She is mine, not yours. You've done enough. You can come no further." Thank you, oh, thank you for a chance. Thank you for breathing life into me, emotional life, spiritual life. 

  Thank you for believing in me when I can't believe in myself. Thank you for placing people in my path to help me begin to understand that you created me just as I am, and to you I am beautiful. Thank you for having patience with my failing trust and my fears that cause me to flinch and step back. You never push me to give to you. I see now how many times you give and keep giving. And when you see a spark of trust starting to flicker, You fan it. 

  Thank you for holding me every time I need it. You never want anything in return for holding me. You never violate me or accept the times I try to see how I can repay you. And you let go when You know I am clinging to you the wrong way. Thank you for being so pure, so right, and so everything Love truly is supposed to be. 

  Thank you for your disciplines. You make me keep trying to walk even when I get so tired of always falling down. Thank you for loving me so much that You're not willing to allow me stay where I am, but make me keep growing, keep seeking, keep trusting. Thank you for being there to fight my battles. You don't want me to give up, but You love me enough to let me make my choices. And that Love makes me keep coming back to You, makes me keep fighting with all the strength I have. 

  Thank you, Father, that joy comes in the morning, sunshine after the rain, healing after wounds. Thank you, that as I step into the unknown future, I can look back and see that you have passed by and you've made a difference in me and it gives me assurance that as I step, You will be there to guide my footsteps. Thank you that I know that you don't mind my running back to you when life seems so harsh and unforgiving. I will always be your little girl who never has to wait for you to notice me because I always have your ear and your lap is always there for me to climb into to be held like I long to be held. 

  God, You are my God. You are my Daddy, too. Thank you for all the time you've spent on me and for promising that you won't leave or forsake me, or change moods on me, or fail me, or violate me, or reject me. You are my real Father and I can't thank you enough for everything you've done for me and been to me.

Thank you with all my heart!!!

Happy Father's Day!!!!

Pro---Cras---ti-----nate..........

Is this a household word in anyone else's home besides mine? 
I set out last night to finish putting the laundry away. Now, I'm not talking a couple of loads, oh no, rather about eight of them.
I got it done....mostly.

I decided I'd make a cake last night around 9:30. When I read the recipe and saw that the cake needed to cool completely before layering I decided I'd start another project while the cake was baking. The cake came out of the oven and I set it on the stove......and it's still there this morning.

Every single morning I tell myself the floors are all going to be swept and mopped after my husband leaves for work. Did you catch that, "Every single morning?" I've been saying that since last Tuesday.....

I ran across a little saying that I have posted on my refrigerator, mainly to remind me to clean it out and wash the containers immediately. Here it is:


                     PROCRASTINATE LATER

Many times I've about walked away from doing the dishes, when I've glanced at that tiny piece of paper giving me the "Mommy look." It sure has helped me stick to a task until it's completed, after I got started, of course.

But today is going to be different than any other day in my history. I'm going to clean my entire house including closets, drawers and under beds. The meals will be on time, the laundry put away, and the bills paid. Ooooooo, I'm feeling inspired......

But before I get started, I need to catch up with some of girlfriends and find out what's been going on since we last spoke, see what the latest news is on Yahoo!News, start a book I've been meaning to read, spend quality time with my children....Oh, the list goes on.....

Saving Money

Happy New Year! Again

WOW! Has it actually been that long since I posted? Well, I have a few excuses for anyone who is listening. After my last post, my husband started working the night shift all seven days. I felt like I was in another world trying to serve breakfast before 6 a.m., keeping a 4 year old and a two year really, really quiet until lunchtime, doing my "loud housework" in the afternoon, etc., etc. 

My sister got married to a wonderful man in March and I tried to help as much as I could with the preparations. 

I got pregnant in late Spring with twins, however, Jesus asked for them back 10 weeks later. Although I've done my share of grieving, I feel secure knowing that a part of me is already in Heaven.

We started foster care in July and had our hands full up until the first of November. I felt like I was running in a cylinder 24/7.

We were able to go to Honduras for Christmas and New Year's! This is something we have wanted to do since we got married. We got to see my husband's family and have a wonderful time of visiting, shopping, going to Church, and swimming.

Now, 2013 is already one month old and we are off to a great start. I went up to Kansas to attend my Grandma's 80th birthday party. We really had a nice time, especially Grandma.  I think she has been looking forward to that for months.

My husband is back to working nights, but somehow, I'm keeping it together better this time. Lord willing, it'll only be until the end of March and I'll have him back on a normal schedule again.

We started our school year in Honduras. Isn't it neat how homeschoolers can take the entire school with them on vacation? Anyway, so I've organized all of our activities and bookwork for the year. 

When I got back from Kansas, I planted different types of lettuce in pots on my porch. I'm hoping that we'll be able to have fresh salad at least five times a week. 
I'm looking forward to getting my garden started again. Hopefully, I'll have a more successful story to tell this time. I'm planning on putting lime and soil conditioner in my clay to help balance the nutrients so my vegetables thrive. 

God is so good! He has been with us another year and we've lived to see 2013. We praise Him for His mercy and care.

I'm starting another blog that mostly going to be about cooking and meal planning. Check it out!

 www.cheaperbythedoz.blogspot.com

Adios for now! And we'll have to see how loooooong it takes me to post again.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Because I am not good at resolutions, I didn't commit to anything, I just said I would try.

So, what am I going to try to do this year? Mmmmm!

I told my Sweetheart I would TRY to keep the house a little cleaner than what I did this past year.
I will TRY to spend more quiet time with my Bible.
I will TRY to reach out more to others.

So... I am trying and boy! is it hard when I TRY to keep focused. There's always distractions:

Like this past week, I resolved to thoroughly clean my kitchen; I got as far as behind the refrigerator. It seemed like the day would go by to fast and I was still left holding the To Do bag.

This morning I instructed Micah and Hallie that I needed them to go play in their room for a few minutes and leave Mama alone. Mmmm! I think they were curious...or bored. The minute I opened the Bible little feet came down the hall with questions that just needed to be answered. I read a few verses before again I heard little feet and, "Mama, I can't find..." And the other needed to go to the bathroom but took her time getting there. By the time my "quiet time" was over, I wasn't sure what I had read.

The third one on the list hasn't happened yet...I don't believe I had to TRY everything the first week of the year, huh?

My desires are to draw closer to the Lord this year, keep homeschooling Hallie, grow a bigger garden, help Bryan through another year of college, continue to find unique ways to save and make money, and connect with others better than what I have.


Anyway, HAPPY NEW YEAR! to you and yours!!! If you made any resolutions, I hope you do great at sticking with them! Otherwise, if you're like me, then happy trying!

I Had My Daughter When She was Three Years Old & Birthed My Great-Grandpa

Now my daughter is six years old though she was born three years ago.
Do you believe in reincarnation? I didn't until I had my son and noticed that he acts a lot like my Great Grandpa Beisly, then I was converted.

Well...at least I grabbed your attention.
We are constantly having to remind Hallie that she is 3 years old. She wants to do everything BUT what a three year old is suppose to do. I have found her in the kitchen more than once pouring spices and herbs into a pan and mixing them. I lost a sack of carrots and found out that she has a "refrigerator" somewhere else. She pampers, disciplines, dresses, bathes, potty trains, spanks and plays with Micah. Sometimes he goes along with it, which is why I find out after the fact. She watches everything and thinks she can do it the next time. I scooped up laundry detergent out of the carpet because she felt that her whole room needed to be washed. And indeed, it did!!!

"Great-Grandpa" thinks a lot about food. He knows how we get it, where we put, how we prepare it, and how we eat it. He is VERY slow at about everything he does, except when it comes to food. Life kicks in gear when Mama gets in the kitchen. The other day we had been out grocery shopping and although we had eaten our breakfast before going and it was three hours before lunchtime, Micah felt he needed a snack. Raisins, bananas, yogurt, turkey franks, carrots, and milk tempted him. When we got home, he was right in the middle of putting our grocery away. Actually, I think he was afraid all of it was going into the refrigerator for later. His little face told of his distress and his hands tried to hold back some of the food from going in. But...unfortunately, we put it all up.
AND THEN....TADA! I opened the refrigerator and heard little feet start running for the kitchen. I was making my rounds in the kitchen gathering everything I needed to make lunch. In all my rounds, Micah could not figured out if I was cooking, or putting something away, or what!??? Finally, he said, "Mama, what doing?" And I had to laugh!!!!
When he figured out I was cooking, he immediately got up into his chair and sat there until the food was served. He sat there and ate. He sat, and sat and SAT! In-between bites he had several conversations with imaginary people and things and he sang a few songs as well. Hallie had left the table and Daddy and Mama were done eating as well. Daddy got on the computer and Hallie started playing, and Micah and Mama sat...and sat...and sat...for another 20 minutes.
Near the end of my patience, I scooped him up and suggested to his "other mama" that she go wash him up while I cleaned off the table. Whew! It was over, but I only had four hours until we would have to repeat it!

So, do you think my three old is actually seven, and that her brother is really her Great-Great Grandpa?
Well... maybe I am a few pancakes shy of a stack, but I have a reason to be: between 7am and 9pm I am guarding "my stuff,"or finding it (hey! where's the other pancake?!!!), cleaning up messes, and sitting for over an hour watching someone else eat!

That's okay! I absolutely love my life, and if I could choose any two children to be mine I would without hesitation choose Hallie and Micah!!!

Why?
 Because I love it when they crawl into my lap and wrap their arms around me and call me "Mama." I love watching the brightness of their eyes when they've just learned something new, discovered something, or have been discovered. I love hearing them sing around the house and read to each other the stories they have memorized. It's all worth the messes, the empty bottles of soap, spices, herbs, ketchup, milk..., the pulled up vegetable plants thought to have been weeds, and important papers torn up and written on.

It's the deep calling of Motherhood that gives the God-given grace and unconditional love to overcome the disasters.

What a Tremendous Week!!!

Boy! Did we have a blast this past week!
Krista, (my little sister from S.C.) was here with her almost 1 year old daughter. Hallie and Micah have not had much opportunity around babies, so they had a little harder time understanding why Annette can't walk like them. But, oohh! did they LOVE her and I think the love was mutual. They had a wonderful time getting to know her and they played well together.
In between our visits with Krista and Annette, we had a few projects going on at our house. We have a room (I have loathed calling it the junk room though it obviously looked like one) that has been "empty" ever since we moved. It has a bathroom in it, so Bryan and I decided it was time to do some remodeling. Bryan put a subfloor in the bathroom, so the bathtub could come back home. Long story short, we live in an older mobile home that has needed a lot of fixin' up to say the least. Both bathrooms have needed to be repaired and remodeled. Since, money doesn't grow on trees, we have had to do some rearranging of bathroom furniture. We ended up having to put this particular bathtub in our bathroom for awhile. We knew we'd have to put it back in someday. So...we did. But that is the only thing back in that bathroom and we are bathtubless in the other one. It doesn't help that the bathrooms are at different ends of the trailer. It's like this: you go to our bathroom to use the toilet and the sink and then you head to the other one to take your bath/shower. And if you just happen to forget to use the toilet and your on your way into the shower, well... you either hold it (which Hallie can't do), or you wrap yourself up and announce your coming back through.
Anyway, back to our tremendous week. I cleaned out the entire room and stuffed it all in the Living Room. We were able to put down 2/3 of the wood floor and then we realized...we need another box of wood!:( And since money doesn't grow on trees, and people don't put brand new boxes of wood out by the dumpster for whoever to pick up, we have to wait until payday. So, I just covered my head and groaned while my dear, dear hubby thought it was crazy for me to want everything done in a week.
So...we are waiting on that project.
Next...I made mango jam. I didn't finish...that's the way we do projects around here. But! I got half of it done and it was SO delicious. I said WAS intentionally. We have half of a jar left out of 4 and Bryan keeps asking me when I am going to get the rest done. I will, I will...just not all in one week, right??!!!
The most embarrassing project we did was bomb our house. Yes, we did, but it happened like the big bang theory, it all came back down together and everything was still the same, including the dirty dishes, when we got back.
Why did we bomb our house? "THEY" are terrorists...and we are after all the fleas we can find. I said ARE because I just found a flea today and I am back on the war path. I don't know why they have picked our house to infest, but just because they decided to move in doesn't mean I have to like it. So, we'll be bombing again and hopefully we will kill them. Bryan has also been putting stuff on our yard and he said he'll start doing it again.
Well, none of our projects got finished last week...but our visit with Krista and Annette ended on Friday and we miss seeing them! We can't wait until we will see them again in 4 months. But in the meantime, I need to finish remodeling...surely it won't take us THAT long, huh? (I guess it depends on how many paydays there are between now and then, or who knows... we might find us a green tree.)