Happy Thanksgiving

I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving today.  It is not the food that makes it special; it is the people, both family and friends, that make this day special each year.

Years ago when I wasn't disabled we would invite someone, who didn't have family near, to celebrate today with.  One year we took thanksgiving food to a man we knew that was a shut in.  Everyone deserves to have people to celebrate the holidays with.  If you know someone who doesn't have anyone in which to celebrate with, and you are willing and capable, please invite them to your home to enjoy spending time with others.  Not only will it benefit them, but you may be surprised at the benefits to you and your family too.

We always wanted to serve in a soup kitchen, especially around the holidays, but something always prevented us from doing so.  At this time in our lives we can't serve in that way; maybe sometime in the future we will be able to.  If you are serving the homeless this year I want tothank you.  Making a difference in the world starts with the little things we do for others.

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Sites that Caught My Eye this Week

June so hit the nail on the head with this timely post.

A Wise Woman Builds Her Home

What is Your Opinion?

There is a couple out there in cyberspace leaving it up to public opinion as to wether or not to abort their baby.  I ask my readers to please go and make your voice heared on this matter.  Your vote will only count once.  If this is important to you please let others know about it.  I have posted on facebook, wrote about it here, and I am telling all my friends.  I am not asking you to tell me how you vote, that is a private matter, but I am asking you to please go vote.

Birth or Not

Monday's Musings from the Porch Swing

My oldest daughter had very little interest in sewing when she was younger.  I taught her how to use the sewing machine, to do some simple stitches, and she helped with some very simple sewing.  She wasn't interested in much more though.  Last night she sat across the table from me and asked me how to cut out a pattern for a dress she wants me to make.  I am hoping as I get more into the process she will want to participate further. My younger daughter on the other hand is begging to learn to read and play the piano.

The subject matter I wanted to talk about today is children, their learning and your timing.  I've graduated my oldest daughter from homeschooling after teaching her since three-quarters of the way through first grade and am now homeschooling my younger daughter.  Over the years I've learned something very important:  sometimes when a child is struggling with something that is necessary for them to learn it is helpful to put it aside for a few days or more.  When you pick it back up they may still not get it and it may need to be set aside for a little more time.  Eventually they will surprise you and get it and go sailing along better than you thought possible.  If we continue trying day in and day out when their minds are not ready to grasp the lesson at hand all that will happen is frustration on the part of both parent and child.  On the other hand if it something they don't have to learn put it aside and only mention it occasionally; if it is something they need in their lives they will ask for help learning it sooner or later.   The other situation you may run into is that of a child asking, sometimes begging, to learn something that you thought would be waiting till a year or so down the road; like my daughter wanting to learn to read and play piano.  I didn't think she would be reading for another year and I thought the piano playing would be several more years away.  When a child ask to do something, I think they are at least ready to begin with some simple lessons if not more, so I begin the lessons. Children know more than we give them credit for.  I will know from how well she handles the first couple of lessons as to how fast or slow I will need to go.

I did not come to my philosophy of home education on my on  I have prayed, talked with my husband and  read several homeschool books.  If you are homeschooling or just beginning to homeschool don't take my word for how you should teach your children.  God blessed us with our children and will guide us on how we should teach them if we only ask Him.

 

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Little Girls and Dresses

Since I wear dresses all the time my little girl prefers to wear them too.  I am teaching her to be lady like when she wears one, but she is just a young girl.  Tonight I found a blog post that will help me to help her.

Sites That Caught My Eye This Week

My daughter has been wanting to learn to sew, but Buzzard and I don't feel she is ready to work with the sewing machine.  I recently came across some websites to teach me and her how to sew with our hands.  This is one skill I must admit I have not yet learnt.  Children seem to like it when you are learning right along with them any way, so this should be fun.

Raising Homemakers

If your child is ready to start using the sewing machine you might be interested in this website.

One Hour Craft

As I was looking for some crafts I could do with Coqui, she loves crafts, I stumbled across something wonderful, two websites for making dolls.  I have been telling Buzzard that I wanted to make a home-made doll for her for Christmas.  This way I can personalize it and make clothes just like the ones I make for Coqui.

Skip to My Lou several free patterns here

Doll Net Market you can buy some inexpensive doll patterns here.  Most are for intermediate and experienced doll makers, which I hope to someday achieve.

Doll Maker This one has a life-size doll with a free pattern.

The Purl Bee In case you are interested in making a felt doll.   These can be very pretty.

With so many families being on strict budgets this Christmas maybe some of you will find these websites inspiring.

Since I wear dresses all the time my little girl prefers to wear them too.  I am teaching her to be lady like when she wears one, but she is just a young girl.  Tonight I found a blog post that will help me to help her.

Like a Warm Cup of Coffee

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Nagging

Buzzard is working and going to college and taking care of his family.  Due to my disability he carries a bigger responsibility than he did before.  I try to find other ways to do things or wait till he is off to ask him to do something like move a table for me.  Sometimes I will interrupt him while he is studying and ask him if he can do such and such when he takes a break.  With him having so many things on his mind right now I know he sometimes gets lost in what he is doing and forgets that I have asked him to do something.  The quandary I come upon is: if I remind him am I nagging?  If I don't remind him he may not remember that I need such and such done.  I have to admit there have been times when I have reminded him then felt like I was being a nag afterwards.  Other times I have not said anything about it again, but have stewed over the fact that he didn't remember.  This stewing has shown up in my behavior too, I'm sorry to say, which in turn affects the whole family.  As I was writing this it dawned upon me that the best way for me to handle these types of situations is to sit down with him when he isn't busy and ask him what he would like me to do when it slips his mind that I needed something done.  I would start this conversation by letting him know how much I appreciate everything he does and that I know he is usually very busy right now.  I want him to know that I respect him and want to honor his role as leader of our home.

Maybe there have been times recently when you have been a nag.  It is not very becoming or respectful for a wife to be this way.  If you find yourself nagging your loved one you should find a way to change this behavior.  If you don't know how to do this start with prayer.  God may show you how to change or He may want you to go to your husband to discuss it.  Your husband is there to guide you, God made him to be a leader of your home.

Please don't misunderstand me; if your husband isn't doing anything you ask of him and he isn't overly busy, asking him more than once to do something isn't being a nag. I don't mean that our husband shouldn't have time to himself.  What I am say is that not spend all his time just pursuing his own interest, he should be willing to help you too.  Websters dictionary defines nag as: to be a persistent source of annoyance or distraction.  I would think that being annoying would be if you are interrupting him over and over while he is busy working, doing important things, or spending some relaxing time by himself .

Blogs that Caught My Eye this Week

I know the week is almost over and a little late for this part of my blog, but I will try to add some more before the week is out.  I've been busy with my family this week and that takes precedence in my life.

I would like everyone to go check out this wonderful post My Body, My Mind, Ect..  I believe it applies to us all.

Are you an E-gal?

 

Monday's Musings from the Porch Swing

As a family who homeschools we are already going against the grain of the majority of american families, but just how do we stand strong when the wind blows hard against us, which it often does.  This wind seems to come the strongest from those close to us.  For us it has often seemed like an uphill battle.  We have older parents who are very set in their ways and tend to have a tough time understanding that we parent differently than our brothers and sisters.  We have tried more times than I care to count to explain to them why/how we do things the way we do, but it seems like we always end up at square one again next time.  What is one to do when this happens?  persevere by praying and asking for guidance.

You and your spouse need to be in agreement as to how you are raising the children.  If you are not it will be harder to stand up against those who don't support you.  It may mean that the two of you need to sit uninterrupted and discuss your choices.  If you don't agree on some things, the two of you will need to listen to each other and calmly discuss these aspects.  You may find that you have to go back to the discussion at another time; this is okay, progress will not be made if you get angry with each other.  In the end it is important to remember it is our job to build strong families who do what the Lord ask of us.  God will help us to follow Him.

Philippians 4:13 (KJV)

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Making Our Christmas Extra Specail

Today I began looking for crafts I can do for Christmas.  Last year I started a new tradition with our children; we made our first annual Christmas tree ornament.  There are many other families out there in blog land doing the same thing.  I like to use up things I have left over from other projects, so my children and I made felted wreaths.  The only difference was we used left over fleece from ponchos I had made for the fall weather.  Over the course of this past summer I found two whole boxes of yarn at yard sales.  On top of this I was given quiet a bit when a friends mom passed away.  In holding true to the Depression motto I mentioned in a prior post, we will be using some of that yarn for this year's ornament.  We will be making Sparkly Yarn Ornaments and possibly Felt Gingerbread Man Cookies.  The gingerbread cookie idea would give my daughter a chance to practice some beginning sewing by hand skills.

If you would like to find other Christmas ornaments you can make with your own family you might want to start looking at ideas at The Crafty Crow or The Magic Onions.  I know there are a whole store of sites out there to help you get started with your own frugal Christmas crafting with the children, but I just wanted to give you a jump start and help get the creative juices flowing.

I would like to thank the people whose websites I linked to here on this post for their wonderful ideas to make Christmas a memorial time with my family.  To me it's more about the quality time spent with them than it is the expensive gifts I could buy.  Since each child makes their own we will be giving their ornaments to them to add to their trees when they leave home; hopefully this will help the memories of the time we spent making them as a family live on.

Blogs That Caught My Eye this Week

I have found these blogs either helpful or thought provoking in my life and would like to share them with you.  I hope you find them helpful to.  Check back, I will be adding more here as the week goes on.  If you like this I will try to do it weekly as I see post that would fit the bill.  Enjoy the new sites if you've not been to them before.  If you know of a site that we all shouldn't miss please let me know and I will check it out and let others know about it too, if it would be beneficial to many that might be reading my blog.

Good Morning Girls Growth in the Lord

One Hour Craft Teaching your child to sew

My Virtual Sanity Recycling Sweaters for Yarn

Do Stuff Blog Crock Pot Yarn Dyeing (you can dye that yarn you get from recycling sweaters)

Pink Slipper Project Make slippers for charity

Quiltville Use up material scraps

Monday's Musings from the Porch Swing

I have been thinking about family relationships a lot over the last week.  Many families are so distant in their relationships from one another.  Too much time may be spent running too and fro for some families.  Other families may not know how to talk to each other.  Then there are others who haven't spoken to family members in years due to hurt feelings or other problems from the past.  I'm sure there are still other things I didn't mention that your family or some family you know has to deal with that keeps them from being close to their family .  I've decided the best place for me to start working on my family relationships is with prayer.  I am going to ask God to show me what I should do on my end and also to help us to resolve any problems standing in the way to a better relationship.  It is important to me that I not only ask Him to show me, but to pay attention to what He shows me.  He has already been showing me not to let the little things get to me.  Often someone will say or do something small and I get hurt or mad about it.  Instead I need to realize that maybe the other person didn't mean any harm in what they said or did, and even if they did I should be the more mature one and let it roll off my back.

In this day and time it is becoming increasingly important for me to have a good relationship with family, not only close and extended family, but in-laws too.  I feel that if we want our children to love others and love their enemies too that Buzzard and I need to show them the love we have for all of our family.  I do realize that there are some people that we personally may love, but still are not willing to spend time with due to things beyond our control, but God can make a way for all things.  We just have to pray and be patient and also realize we are only human and don't think the way God does. After all is said and done something in from the past may still keep us from as close a realationship with that person as the ones we are hoping to build with other members of our family.  In the end I believe if we desire these things it has to start with us.

Accupressure Mat Giveaway

I have another exciting giveaway to tell you about from The Modest Mom.  She is giving away an accupressure mat from Spoonk Rider.  Accupressure could be helpful to your health.  If intersted go check out The Modest Mom's blog for details on how to enter.  Good luck to all those who enter.

Lilla Rose Giveaway

These hair accesories are beautiful and give a nice feminen look to your hair.  Right now you can enter to win any item up to $15 in value over at A Wise Woman Builds Her Home.  I wish everyone good luck.

Monday's Musings From the Porch Swing

Today as I was getting ready to go to the Dr. it dawned on me that I, like many others, get guessed up to go out, but don't think much about how nice I dress around the house.  Why is it that many of us worry more about what we look like when we are among strangers than we do when around our own husbands; don't they deserve to see us look nice too?  I know that we spend a lot of time cleaning, cooking, and wiping snot from children's noses and don't want to put on a dress that we would wear to a party to do such task.  When we are picking out our everyday house clothes, or the patterns and material in which to make them, maybe we should put a little more thought into it and buy practical but pretty clothing.  I've been thinking I should take the time to look nice for my husband when he comes home from a long day at work; give him something to look forward to.  In the long run not only will this benefit him it will also benefit me, because it makes me happy to see my family happy, especially my husband.  It will also make me feel better about myself when I look in the mirror and give me a better outlook.  That in turn will make me more pleasant to be around, hopefully even when I've had a bad day, at least better than I would have if I'd seen myself dressed frumpy on a day like that.

I am not planning on telling my husband of this plan of mine, I am just going to implement it and see what changes come about daily when he comes home from work.

Moby Wrap give away

Are you a parent or grandparent of a young child?  Do you know how wonderful it is to carry your baby?  If you want this experience again or haven't yet experienced it, I suggest you register for the free Moby Wrap give away over at The Modest Mom.  Good luck.

Women, Dresses and Skirts

As a young woman I liked dresses, but didn't want to wear them all the time.  Two years ago I began wearing dresses out of necessity.  You see I had spinal surgery and any pressure on my back causes excruciating pain, therefore I started wearing dresses all the time.  The first winter I thought I would freeze when wearing them outside, but I didn't.  It was very cold that winter too.  I have really had a great experience wearing them.  When I go out I notice that men open doors, tip there heads at me, and say hi.  Please understand I am usually in my wheelchair that my husband has to push, so he is with me.  I have asked several men what they preferred a woman to wear and they have said dresses.  Honestly when I wear a dress I feel more feminine.  I am really glad that I had to start wearing them and don't want to go back to wearing pants.

I make my own dresses so this saves me money and I can style them how I want.  I even clean house in my dress.  At first this was kinda hot to do during the summer, but I got used to it.  I make my dresses tea length or longer, so that it is easy to get in and out of my wheelchair without being immodest.

I would like to hear other women's experience who wear dresses, those who have; always worn dresses, been wearing them for a little while, just begun wearing them occasionally, or those who would like to take a challenge to wear them for seven days.  Please comment and share your good and bad experiences with wearing dresses.  Let us encourage one another.  Wordpress doesn't give me the option to let post appear without being approved, but I will be checking and approving post. We are blazing new trails down roads traveled by women in the past.  Have fun and enjoy your dresses.

*Please understand when I say dresses that is to included skirts as well.  I myself just can't wear them due to my pain.*

C

Use it up; wear it out; make it do or do without! - L Reid

"Use it up; wear it out; make it do or do without!" - L Reid

This was a popular motto during the Great Depression, but as times got better many people left behind this way of living.  People over the years have become consumerist.  Many think if they want something and have the money to get it or the credit available they deserve it.  Their homes are crowded with clutter that they may not even use, much less realize what is there.  We are bombarded with ads on television, the internet, and in the paper.  We feel guilty because we don't spend enough time with our children, so we buy them things. We have a bad day so we go to the mall and buy ourselves something.  We need to get away from this frame of mind and remember all that we have the Lord has blessed us with.  Leave the television off, get rid of the newspaper subscription, and use an add blocker on your internet browser if you are tempted by all the ads and commercials you see daily.  Spend time with the Lord and your family when you've had a bad day.

Times are tough right now and many fear we will sink into another Great Depression.  How can we get back to the days when it was more important to appreciate and wisely use what God blessed us with?   You can search the internet and see how other households are putting this motto into effect in their homes then try those ideas out in your own home.  I know I get excited when I search the web and see families canning the bounty from their gardens, making their own jellies and jams, taking old pieces of furniture and making something new, or sewing their own clothes.  The list goes on and on.  It is helpful to see what others are doing, because it can inspire us, but it can also overwhelm us and leave us feeling guilty.  We may like the idea of canning, so we start a garden and look forward to a plentiful harvest.  We don't end up with the time to care for the garden and it becomes overgrown with weeds; we may feel downtrodden by the fact that we didn't get to can like others did.  Like anything in our lives we first need to pray for God's guidance.  Only He knows what tomorrow holds and what we are truly capable of doing.  Maybe this is not the year for you to grow a garden, but a friend from church offers to show you how she takes scraps and makes beautiful skirts for her daughters.  God wants us to take care of our families and wisely use our blessings;  He will surely guide us as to how we are to "Use it up; wear it out; make it do or do without!"

 

Sewing and Using our Time Wisely

I’ve not been able to sew much lately and my sewing list keeps getting longer and longer.  I have many things I want to sew, but only so much time in which to sew.  In fact because of my disability I am even more limited in the time I feel up to sewing.  Due to these two restraints I have come up with a way to make the most use of the time I have.  The first thing I do is make a list of all the projects that I want to sew, then I divide them up into groups of urgent needs, necessary, helpful, just for fun, and those I could  do without making.  This may sound like it is just extra work. If you have a lot of projects and they are constantly being added to by new needs and new ideas you’ve come across, then doing this may very well stop all of the confusion running through your mind.  Writing them out on paper, may help you make the best use of your valuable time.

Now that I have an organized list, I need to figure out how to tackle it.  I like to include my daughter in learning how to do things that are appropriate for her age, but when I have urgent needs this may take up more time than I can spend to get a particular sewing project done.  An urgent need would be something like sewing a gown for my daughter, because she out grew all the ones she had for last fall and it is getting too chilly at night for her to continue wearing her summer gowns.  When I have urgent needed projects to do I explain to her that it has to get done as soon as possible and why this is; she will need to know this as a future homemaker too.  When my husband has rested from work I will sit down and explain to him that I have some urgent needed sewing to do and need to make time for it.  This way he may be able to help me weed out other things I am spending my time on that I could put aside or drop altogether.  He can also help me by spending some time with our daughter when I am working on these sewing urgencies.

After I’ve finished all my urgent sewing I can set aside a particular amount of time once a week or more to work on things that would be helpful in our home.  One of the things on this list for me is another dress for church, since I don’t have very many.  I could’ve put this on my urgent list, but I do already have some I can wear, sure I go through the same dresses every few weeks, but I am not there to please others, but to please God.  My young daughter can help me to accomplish this by doing things she is capable of doing with my supervision and that she won’t get hurt doing.  I start by explaining to her what we are doing and why, then ask her to help me.  Here again she is learning future homemaking skills.

On my list of just for fun are usually lots of little things I can make with my daughter and/or my whole family.  One of the things on there at this time of year is a handmade ornament for our Christmas tree.  Usually I will get out enough supplies for everyone, read over the directions then get started.  Many of the ideas for ornaments come from online sites.  We like to make our own, because they are more memorable to us; not only because we made them, but also the time we spent as a family.  It is nice doing things as a family; it helps us to grow closer to one another.

And last of all is the list for things I could do without making.  When one is surfing the blog you may jump from one website to the next adding more and more ideas to things you’d like to make.  That’s fine, but when you make out your sewing list you need to go through them and be realistic as to what you need and what you could do without.  I keep this list to refer to when the same ideas pop back up again.  For us sewers it is like being in a candy store when we see beautiful handmade things that we can make also.  Be realistic, God has blessed us with the money and/or supplies to create things for our family, but we need to be good stewards of these blessings and our time.  Our family will appreciate the time this frees up for them to spend with us.

If you have other ideas for how to accomplish your sewing projects please leave a comment with your ideas and I will add them to a future blog and give credit to you, or leave a blog address for me to post.  Your ideas may help others in our situation.  Thank you if you contribute and thank you all for reading.

Homemaking Link-Up!

If you have a blog and have a post about homemaking, please go join the Homemaking Link-Up! over at Raising Homemakers.

I Want to Make Life Easier on Myself and my Family

When I was younger I wanted to have everything in my house match and liked having knick knacks, baskets, and fauex flowers sitting around.  As I've gotten older and busier (growing more in the Lord, raising my children, spending as much time with my family as possible, and homeschooling) I have decided that "less is more".  When we declutter our home, keeping only what we truly need, and keeping watch on what we bring into our home, buying what is needed now and what fits into this stage of our family's life, it gives us more time to spend with those we love and meet our goals.  I have a disability which has caused us to seek a minmalist approach to decorating.  When there are less decorations it is easier to keep our home clean.

Right now we are in the process of deciding what goes in to each area of the house.  If a particular item always tends to end up in a certain area of the house then that is where we need to find space for it to go.  This has not happened over night for us.  We have come to this way of declutering and trying to keep it that way over the last several years.  It has taken some baby steps here and big leaps there.  It really helps if the whole family is on board with this new way of living.

With my disability I often have to take rest.  When I am resting I still try to be useful.  Lately I've been going through papers in file boxes and any others I come across.  This is part of the clutter that often lies hidden in our homes.  It takes time to look for a particular paper when we have unnecessary ones mixed in with what we truly need.  Take time and go through them carefully and throw away or shed what is no longer needed.

Another thing I have been decluttering while resting is my bookmarks.  Many times I will think a blog is something I need and put it in my favorites, but when I go to find it again it can be near to impossible due to the fact that I have other bookmarks that are no longer needed and I hadn't organized them well to begin with.  I have been working to put my favorites into folders with names that fit the main content of the site; a name that will identify for me personally why I bookmarked the sites to begin with.

We Tend to be Hardest on Ourselves

I was going through my bookmarks today and sorting them into better folders when I came upon this one at Cup of Grace and knew I needed to share it with my readers.  She did such a good job writing this.

Moby Wrap Give Away Still Going on?

The winner hasn't been announced yet for the wonderful Moby Wrap and people are still entering to win.  If you don't know what the Moby Wrap is go take a look at Moby Wrap.  Do you like what you see?  Go to Raising Olives and enter the contest to get one for free in her give away.  Good luck everyone.

In remembrance of those who lost Love Ones on This Day

America suffered a great loss nine years ago, but in the face of this tragedy many people came forth to help.  I offer a prayer to all of you who lost love ones and those of you who stepped forward to help out on this tragic day.  I also offer a prayer to all my readers, this event affected us all.

Do We Pester?

I search the web for information to provide what I hope is the best for my family.  Sometimes when I find something and share it with my spouse he isn't inthusiastic about it and says he doesn't agree wtih it.  I'm sure many of you have been in this situation.  If this happens and we try to tell him more about this new idea a few times are we going against his authority of saying no it's not a good idea and pestering him hoping he will give in or are we just trying to fill him in on this new information?  Is it possible that we feel we are just trying to explain to him our point of view and he feels that we are pestering him to get him to let us have what we desire?  If he does feel this way then how to we get him to listen to us in situations like this without coming off as a pest?  We want to do the right thing and honor him and love him the way the Lord says we should.

As we Women Age

As we age we go thorough many changes with our hormones; for everything there is a season.  We have the season when our bodies are just beginning to bud, then we go into the season when we are capable of having children, then we go through perimenopause and onto menopause and finally onto being older.  You may incounter some problems during some or all of these stages of your life and may need to seek professional help.  Before doing so you should become more informed of your body and your choices.  I read another blog today that had some great information on hormones and hope that you will go take a look over at Your Sacred Calling.  The post there was done by a doctor and was very informative for me and I hope it is for you too.

How We Speak About our Husbands and Husbands of Others

We women often hear that we shouldn't talk to people about issues we have with our husbands, but how often have you heard you shouldn't give another woman advice about her own husband?  Have you been told that you don't have the right to make bad comments about another woman's husband?  I have not read or been told this but it has weighed on my heart.  You see one night I was talking to a really close friend and I was upset with something her husband had done, so I made a derogatory comment about him to her.  She got real quiet.  After hanging up the phone God began to work on me; letting me know that what I had done was wrong and that I should apologize.  It was too late to call her back, so I had to wait and carry the guilt of what I had done till the next time I could get ahold of her.  Once I had told her that I was sorry for saying that about her husband the burden was lifted from me.  I have now learned that along with not talking bad about our own husbands we don't have the right to talk bad about other women's husbands either, even if we are talking to another woman about a friend's husband.  Not only does this make for better relationships with our friends it also keeps us from encouraging her to say bad things about her husband, which she may be more prone to do when she hears us say bad things about him.

Do you want to teach your children about classical music using living books?

If you are like me living books are the way to go when teaching your children.  Zeezok Publishing has published some great books about classical music composers, american government, movie reviews, civil war historical literature, and a penmanship course using quotes, speeches, and documents from famous presidents.  Right now Modest Mom is having a contest to give away a set of three  books about Fredick Chopin.  Winning this contest will help you to build your library of living books.  Take the link above and enter by Septemeber 14th.  Good luck everyone.

Pracitcally Pink is celebrating her 300th blog entery and would like to share

Practically Pink will be giving away three patterns from Marie-Madeline Studio to 3 guest. You get to choose which pattern you want if you're the winner.  Please check out both of these ladies websites.  Good luck to everyone.

Practically Pink is giving away a $30 gift card

Practically Pink is giving away a $30 store credit for Gussy's.  Now if you've never heard of Gussy she is a very creative woman who sew ruffeled handbags, little girls purses, laptop bags and more; go check it out.

Moby Wrap Give Away

If you don't know what the Moby Wrap is go take a look at Moby Wrap.  Do you like what you see?  Go to Raising Olives and enter the contest to get one for free in her give away.  Good luck everyone.

Want to build your marriage?

It is easy for us to sit and think of all the things our husbands don't do that we wish they did.  It is easy to make up list in our heads of the mistakes they make or the things they forget.  If we look at 1 Cor. 13 we can see that we shouldn't be behaving this way.  Maybe you struggle with this or maybe you were brought up in a home where you didn't see examples of what it is like to truly love your husband according to God's guidelines.  You are not alone.  Today while surfing the web I took a link from A Wise Woman Builds Her Home to a post about giving our husbands more attention at Like a Bubbling Brook.  At the bottom of this post I took links to the Completing Him Challenge at  Women Living Well , Gratituesdays at Heavenly Homemakers ,  and Marriage Mondays at Come Have a Peace.  All of these post deal with our strive to be Godly wives.  I hope you find them as informative and helpful as I have.

If You Are Worried

2 Chronicles 20:9 (King James Version)

⁹If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help.

Another Great Give-away

Yesterday I told you about a give-away that is being held over at A Wise Woman Builds Her Home for those beautiful aprons.  Today I realized she is holding another give-away for a great living book for children by Ken Ham called Charlie and Trike in the Grand Canyon Adventure. Hurry the contest ends tomorrow.  If you want to keep track of what's going on at her website like her on Facebook or clink on the button to the right that will take you right to her blog.  While you are there you should join her email subscription.

My Focus for This Blog

I have been thinking alot about what I wanted the focus of this blog to be.  I have felt that at this time in my life my main focus is being a christian wife and mother.  To me this means continuing to grow in the Lord and apply lessons that God is teaching me to my family life.  I believe if we are willing we can continue to grow and learn about the roles in life God has placed us in.  These lessons in turn can make the world a better place by us applying them to the life of our families.  You may only be one person, but God can use your obedience to change the world.  Just remember Joseph in Egypt, Noah, Abraham, Ezra, and Ruth.  All of this being said I am going to make the focus of my blog growing in the Lord as a wife and mother.  I will often accomplish this by explaining how I applied the things I've learned and the outcome of doing so.

A new sites to tell you about and an apron contest

I like to visit A Wise Woman Builds her home on a regular basis.  Her blogs are very helpful to in growing as a christian wife and mother.  Today when I went there I was introduced to another website called Marie - Madeline Studio.  These women make modest and beautiful aprons, skirts, jumpers and bags.  Go check them out then go to A Wise Woman Builds Her Home and register for the apron contest.  She is going to give away 5 aprons made by the ladies at Marie - Madeline.  Good luck.

Decision Making

Decision Making

How do you make decisions in your home?  Do you make some or all the decisions by yourself?  Do you think to turn to God to guide you in what you should do?  Do you go to your husband for help with your decisions?

I will admit I don’t always remember to ask God for guidance when making a decision, though I do try and am always working to do it more.  When I have an important decision to make it concerns my family since I am the keeper of our home.  If I have prayed about something that I think needs a decision now, but peace about what I think should be done is not there, I go to my husband with my concerns and what I think.  He may agree or disagree with me, or even tell me we should wait or that the decision is not as pressing as I had thought.

Going to my husband does not mean I am not a confident woman or that I can’t hear God’s leading.  It does mean that I am upholding the Biblical standard and confident in God and the husband He provided me with.  This in turn makes me a strong and confident woman and in turn make our family unit stronger, by setting a good example for our children.   We work together, but my husband is head of the household just like God intended.  I should depend on him to help me with things I am unsure of.  He too will come to me; in this way we work together as a team.  Don’t just wing it next time you are not sure what should be the answer to something you need to do or something you have been contemplating.  First, try to remember to pray then go to your husband.

How can you be a helpmeet?

Helpmeet

How do you go about being a good helpmeet? If you have children like we do this can sometimes be hard. What I mean is; as a mom we have a tendency to put our children first, but this is not the way it should be. In the order of our priorities and responsibilities God is first, then our spouses, then the children, then others. What you may be asking; I thought we had a responsibility to help others. We do, but we also have a responsibility to help our family. If we have a wonderful relationship with God, then we will be able to be a better wife, mother, and so forth. If we in turn dedicate ourselves to being a good helpmeet, our homes will function better and we will be in a better position to help others. Just remember we have to get right with God to begin with, this does not mean we will be perfect, that will only happen when we get to Heaven. What it does mean is that we do our best by continuing to pray and spend time with the Lord daily and do what He ask of us. Our very next concern as I mentioned before is our spouses. We need to listen to them, respect them, have patience, help them, and say we are sorry when we are wrong. Don’t let your pride get in the way of doing these things. We were created to be his helper.

If you are new to looking at your marriage this way it will probably be a big adjustment for both you and your husband, but in the long run, since you are following God’s plan for marriage, it will be better than if you had just done your own thing. This will not happen overnight and you will mess up plenty of times, like the rest of us do, but God is faithful in helping us to follow His plans for us. Don’t be too hard on yourself, ask God for forgiveness and forgive yourself, spend time with the Lord meditating and reading His word. I have found that having like minded Christian girlfriend and reading blogs of like minded Christians is helpful, as well as studying some of the good Women’s Bible study books on the market that have been written for this purpose.

Gardening

Gardening

Over the weekend Buzzard started the garden. His dad and his brother came over to help him till up the ground. It is going to be a family garden since our family lives close by. The next day Buzzard began planting. He drew out his plan on paper after watching some experienced gardeners on Youtube. I plan to keep this paper in our household binder, so that we can make any changes to this plan for next years garden.

Working with your husband not against him

Buzzard is redoing our bathroom to make it easier for me to use with my disability.   The other day we went to pick out tile for the shower. We went to two separate stores.  Neither of which had a big selection.  I was disappointed at first and couldn't seem to find anything that we agreed on.  You see our bathroom is kind of small so Buzzard do not want to do really dark tile, but every one I like was too dark.   I begin to get frustrated and wished that there was more selection, but I said a little prayer and ask God to help me with this. I knew I needed to make a compromise, so I decided maybe I can have my cake and eat it too.  I wasn't trying to be selfish I was trying to work things out.  I had Buzzard get the one he liked and I picked up the one I like and put them side-by-side, then I had him lay out a pattern using the two tiles that we liked and some that went with both from their own sets. This actually worked out very well.  I must say it was interesting watching people walk by and look at him down on the floor laying out the pattern as I was telling him what I wanted.  I did this because he wanted it to be special for me.  You may wonder just what I'm getting at;  I am trying to learn to be a more submissive wife without becoming a welcome mat.  My prayers and working out a compromise made him happy and in return I was happy too.

Being Discerning When Reading

I am a professed book worm. I have a very long list of books that I would like to read. This list would be much longer if I took every suggestion I come across for books to read. I don't do this though, because as a Christian woman is very important to me to be discerning in what I choose to read. Some things I may find offensive, other things are just not my cup of tea, and still others are of a subject matter that the Lord has led me to know that I should not be reading. Over the years I have become more discerning and will probably do so more and more as I grow as a Christian.

Do yourself just read what ever the popular crowd is reading or do you pick and choose? How do you make these decisions? Do you make them based on your lifestyle and what you believe is true and right, or do you choose just according to what looks good?

One thing that I require in books that I read is that they make me stop and think, or they teach me something new. I don't like to waste my time on books that one might read just to be reading. The time I get to spend reading is precious and I looked at it as such. The book lists that I now have has been revised twice already to get rid of books that would be a waste of my time to read. Now do not get me wrong I would not go and look at someone else's list and say they were wasting their time in what they have chosen to read. Each person has to make those choices for themselves, hopefully with the Lord's leading.

Are we thankful in all God does?

When we have a problem we usually go to the Lord in prayer, but how often do we go to the Lord in prayer of praise when something good happens and He blesses us with things that we need. We're all guilty of this, but it is something I myself am trying to work on. I bring up this subject, because this weekend we were very blessed. My husband had been wanting a piano for a long time and we have been living meagerly in the way of furniture. This has been resolved; a close friend of ours had moved from one state to another and had excess furniture. While he was going through his house he realized he didn't use the piano he had purchased many years ago. When he told my husband how we would get the furniture to our house my husband teasingly told him to put the piano on the trailer too. Our friend then replied that he would do that. My husband thought he was joking, but he assured my husband that he was not. After everything was brought into the house I thanked the Lord for His multiple blessings. I had never even asked for a piano, but I do believe that our littlest one will be using it in the near future. We believe she has been given the gift of music and we want to teach her how to use that gift to honor the Lord. When things go well for you this year try to make it a point to thank the Lord for these blessings. He provides for us in more ways than we can possibly imagine, but if we pay attention we can see more blessings than we have noticed in the past.