WORD Wise Wednesday

This is a verse that really hit home this morning as I was reading my Bible:

Proverbs 10:3 The LORD will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish: but he casteth away the substance of the wicked.

Wow! Are we as a nation traveling down that road or what?! For many, many years, our nation was founded on Biblical truths and most of our fore fathers were claimed Christians. Look how God blessed our nation! But just look at the way things are going now. I don't know much about politics, and I don't keep up with current affairs, but I do know that things have changed. Would you say that our nation has turned sour on God? It seems all I do hear are wicked people doing wicked things? How long will He "suffer" us, or is He "casteth away the substance of the wicked"? Just some food for thought!

Hope everyone has a blessed day! Thanks for stopping my nook on this world wide web!

So Thankful

It's safe to say that this week so far has been MUCH better than last week. I poured my heart out to the Lord and my sweet husband the other night. Things were brighter. My husband graciously listen to my "problems" and just gave me a big 'ole hug and told me he loved me and that I was doing a great job at being his children's mother. Since that meltdown, I have undoubtedly seeked God for His wisdom and greater appreciation for my children. I needed a change of heart. The change is still is coming, but I can certainly tell it has arrived.

Sometimes, when the going gets rough and tough, it's easy(for me anyways) to view our children as a "job". Something that we have to "look after" until the next day, and start all over again. I found myself doing that a lot lately. I kept seeing my children, or their needs, as just something else I had to do. I was burned up and burned out. But, praise God, He's totally refreshed my soul and is slowly teaching me to ENJOY these days that my children are still babies. One day, in the not so distant future, they will be leaving my house, it will be quiet, and I will be sad. I will be longing to hear the pitter patter of little feet, see the crayon scribble all over the wall, and wipe a dirty mouth covered in cheese puffs. Yes... I will. I'm so thankful for the refreshed spirit sent by the Holy Spirit. I don't want to ever view my role as a mother as "just another task". I know I will have many days to come that I will feel weary.

Please don't take what I'm saying the wrong way. Every mother know exactly what I'm talking about when I say I was burned out. I'm so thankful though that I know and serve a God Who is so much bigger than me, and He is so faithful to supply my every need. I love my children dearly with all my heart and being. I want to continue in looking at them ALWAYS as our gift from God, that He has entrusted us with these little bodies and minds to look after and bring them up however He sees fit.

Oh Be Careful Little Eyes...

Today was definitely one of those days where I wanted to lock myself in the closet and scream to the top of my lungs. It was terrible...I'll be honest. And it was totally my. For the past two days, I have woke up in a terrible mood. Terrible. Why? No idea. Maybe hormones. Maybe the devil. Definitely because my relationship with Lord has slipped severely. I found myself with no fuse whatsoever, so every little thing Natalie would do, I would completely lose it. Totally. And like any other normal child would do, she picked up on MY bad attitude, and she had a bad attitude all day long. And so did I. Until...

"Oh be careful little eyes what you see...oh be careful little eyes what you see...for the Bible tell me so". That completely broke my spirit. I gave completely up right then and there. I fell into the dining room chair. Sobbing. Weeping. This entire day I had been yelling at her, being a horrid mother in my eyes. And here she starts singing this sweet song that I sing to her all the time. And for the first time I hear her sing it my herself. She added "Jesus Loves Me" in there, but it was perfect. At that moment I realized my foolish behavior, horrible attitude, and wretched human self-centeredness. Hearing my daughter's two-year old voice singing those sweet words was like Jesus Himself telling me to lean on Him. My day was not going to get better unless I looked to Him for peace in my heart, and to take away my feelings of self. All I could do was say "Lord, please help me". And you know what? Peace like a river flooded my soul.

Natalie came running into the dining room as she heard me crying saying, "What matter, Momma? Okay? Okay. I kiss it." And she leans over and kisses my knee. I sob even harder. After all MY foolishness today, she kisses me. My heart melts. And I kiss her back. I'm so glad the Lord speaks to us in even the smallest events. But He knew it was what I needed. As always...

WORD Wise Wednesday

Well, sorry this is day late. Things got kinda crazy around here yesterday evening. I had to work, and there were so many things around the house that needed to be done in preparation for the two parties we're hosting this week.

1 Corinthians 15:58
Therefore, my beloved brethen, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not vain in the Lord.

Now I know we can apply this to our daily walk with God, ministering to others, as we should, but lately I have been struggling with my domestic life. You know, the whole wife, mother, housewife, homemaker, keeper at home, etc. Somedays if feels as if everything I do is not getting a job done. Especially in the mother field. You see, we have reached the "Terrible Two's" here at the Black Shack, and it seems to be affecting me. More than it probably should. When I came across this verse while reading, I just saw it in a new light. I feel my child training is completely in vain. But I need to be "stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord". Well, being a mother and all those other things is the work of the Lord. He has given me these special tasks to take care while here on the earth. So I need to lean on Him for strength and ask Him for wisdom. I'm so glad I saw this verse differently. It's just what I needed. Isn't God wonderful?!

Busy Talk

Not much has been going on today. I had to work. I work two days a week - Tuesdays and Wednesdays. My mother-in-law watches the kids on Tuesdays, and my mother watches them on Wednesdays. Other than the fact I do have to work outside the home, leaving my precious littles, paying for our unwise financial decisions, it really works out perfect. They get to spend time with "Nana". And, "Nana" loves it, too!

This evening is going to be a busy evening for us. David is going to be working outside most of the time, cleaning up the grounds in preparation for two parties that are going to be held at our house this week! My sister is having an Usborne Book Party, and Natalie's 2nd birthday party is Saturday, so we have lots going on this week!

I ordered Natalie's birthday cake today on my lunch hour. She LOVES Dora the Explorer so I got her a Dora Cupcake Cake in the shape of the number two! It is sooo cute. Last year for her first, I just had someone make her a cute little cake, no theme. So this year I thought I would do Dora. I don't think I will do other items like cups and plates and things like that in Dora. I'm not too big on character themed things. Anyways, I think it will turn out great!

Hope you have a great rest of the day! Coming up tomorrow will be "WORD Wise Wednesday", so be looking for that!

What Fun Days

Well, so far today has been a great day. David didn't have to leave for work until ten o'clock this morning, so it was nice having him around for a few extra hours. He normally leaves the house around 5:15 as it takes him about and hour and a half to get to work. Natalie of course cried when he left. She's such a Daddy's girl. So I have been puttering around the house. I got the playroom cleaned up finally and realized that my daughter has way too many toys. That she doesn't play with. Or needs. So, purging I went. And I purged. It felt so great when I was finished. Naturally as I was putting toys in the "yard sale pile" she starts yelling "Mine! Mine toys!". She starts playing with them, and she hasn't played with them for like months on end. As I was nearing the end of my purging spree, I stopped and realized that Natalie wasn't in the playroom any longer and it was awfully quite. Sawyer was in his "Jumping Johnny" (which he absolutely loves), but Natalie was nowhere to be found. So I searched the house and found her in her bedroom, in the corner, rubbing "cream" all over her body. And it wasn't "cream". It was sunblock. A whole lotta sunblock. In fact, the whole bottle of sunblock. All over the place. In the carpet, on her clean clothes that she had managed to pull out of her drawers, on her Sunday shoes that she was wearing with her clean pajamas. I had to stop in my tracks when I saw her, and turn around and go out of the room so she wouldn't see me laugh. All I could do was laugh. So, here I was at 12:15, right before our lunchtime, stripping her down to give her a bath. Oh what fun days these are!

I sit here now, in the quite hour of naptime, blogging, and wondering about what I'm going to fix for supper. I have GOT to get back to menu planning. And couponing. I used to be very into couponing, and it was saving us a lot of money each month. But, I kinda got burned out. Know what I mean? I was pouring over ads, online, and different blogs, searching for the lowest deal. I felt I was spending way too much time on it. But, I can tell a difference in our budget and our meals. I hate it when the clock reaches 5:00, and I stand in front of the refrigerator or pantry wondering what I am fixing for supper that needs to be ready by 6:30. No more of that! Anyhoo, I guess I need to get in that kitchen, and think of something good to fix!

Thanks for stopping by! Til next time!

Busy Weekend

This weekend has been very busy for us! Next Thursday I'm having an Usborne book party at my house, and the following Saturday is Natalie's birthday party. So all day today we have been trying to get the house tidied up for those two big events. We took the kids over to my mother-in-law's house for a couple of hours so David and I could work straight through without interruptions! I was amazed at how much we accomplished. We weren't just cleaning the house, we were going through stuff and purging. And boy did we have a bunch of junk! My mother is having a yard sale in the fall, so we were also gathering items for it.

Also today, we went to my grandmother's house, which is about an hour's drive, to celebrate her and my grandpa's 58th wedding anniversary! Fifty-eight years! That is truly amazing! So many couples these days end up in divorce, nearly 50% they say, it's so encouraging to see the older generation still going strong! It was so good to see everyone. It's my dad's side of the family, and we don't get to see them very often. Only about once every two or three months. More during the holidays.

I cannot believe that in less than a week, my little baby girl will be two years old! How the time flies! She is such a mess! I try to work with her, singing her songs, the Alphabet song, and various little things. Now, she walks around singing "Jesus Loves Me", counting to ten, and singing her ABC's. It's such a blessing! I love to hear her sweet little voice! Sawyer is getting so big now, too! He's seven months old and he weighs a whopping 17 pounds! He's my little chunky monk. He's on antibiotics for an ear infection and the past couple of weeks he has not felt so great. But, I can tell he's on the mend! There was one night this week that I only got three hours of sleep! I was pooped and so was he! Thankfully, I was able to catch up on some sleep over the course of a few days. Praise God he's getting better!

I know this has been a very random post, but just catching up! Have a wonderful rest of the weekend! We have church tomorrow with plenty of resting later. Till next time!