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Friday, January 31, 2014

"Date Night"

You've heard it once, you've heard it a million times. It is so important to get out with your spouse on a regular basis.

Tom and I manage to get out here and there. We don't have a set schedule for date night. Sometimes it happens more frequently and other times, there is a large gap between. Recently, I started to feel like we must not have a healthy marriage because we don't "get out" as often as others. When I took a step back, I realized that there are so many reasons for that.

It's not money. We have plenty of babysitters and lots of family around. There are enough ideas on the internet for free or cheap ideas so that isn't it....I am not saying we are loaded! haha.

It's certainly not that we just don't want to. I LOVE an evening out with my hubby....and I think he likes nights out with me....ha!

I realized that we are one of those couples who tend to get time together on a regular basis at home. Right now, where we are in life, the kids are [usually] in bed by 8:30 and we are night owls so we have a few hours at night of uninterrupted time. Sure, we both spend time doing our own thing too but we tend to get time to talk about the day or what is going on in our lives daily. I know that it isn't like that for others and it may not always be like that for us. Some people work later than Tom. Some families have two working parents. Others have opposite schedules...whatever the reason, I am not going to sit here and tell you that you are doing something wrong. Circumstances change things.

I would like to encourage you to spend quality time together. Marriage comes before kids. Period. ****Disclaimer...I am not saying to ignore your children to spend time with your sweetheart*** Your kids seeing a healthy marriage before them will make them more confident in life and give them a security they would not otherwise have.



I truly believe that one of the largest reasons for divorce and marital issues these days (besides needing a marriage centered on God) is that couples spend too much time doing their own thing. They "grow apart" simply because they are not continuing to know each other. If this is you, take a step back. Drop something from your schedule and fall in love again with the person already in your life.

Marriage is a wonderful gift from God and just like other gifts that He gives us, we should be "using" it the best we can!




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Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Worship Wednesday: Worship Always

I am still in love with "Faithful God", which I talked about here. so this week...I will talk about a different aspect of worship.

I have great intentions of starting my day with Jesus every day. I fail miserably...

 All.

The.

Time.

I usually get to doing my bible study throughout the day...but I wouldn't call it quiet time.

Photo Credit


I open up my Community Bible Study book on the counter next to the ipad (which I use for my Bible much of the time) and as I walk by, or while I am standing there feeding the baby, I answer a question or two.

I have found that this works well for me to actually accomplish getting the study done...but again...not really quiet time.

I has its perks...it makes me actually think about the study all day instead of just for 20 minutes or so which has really benefited me, but what about that time with Jesus. Where can I get that when I have  Eight  bazillion loads of laundry to do and put away, and four precious gems that want my undivided attention at all times? Oh... and they want to eat! Every day! Can you believe it! haha


                    someecards.com - Why do they want dinner every single night?>


Tee Hee...no really...

Something that helps me lately to get though this phase of life that I am told I will miss someday, is to turn on Worship music. I stick my iPhone on the charger/clock radio and put it on Pandora (FREE MUSIC PEOPLE) and type in whatever type of christian music I am in the mood to listen to.

And then I worship.

While I am doing the dishes.

While I am cooking.

While I am scrubbing the floor.

While I am sweeping.

While I am running the vacuum.

While I am coloring.

While I am playing with play-doh.

While I am doing puzzles.

While I am enjoying my kids.

When we can't plan that the first moments of our day are spent with Jesus, we can still spend the day worshiping Him. And I have learned, there is nothing wrong with that!

And now...guess what...my kids are worshiping too:) You should try it!


P.S. I would love to hear how you are worshipping Jesus this week...comment below...or write about it on your own blog and post a link in my comments! I will read them, I promise!


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Monday, January 27, 2014

Mexican Monday--Chicken Enchiladas

I'd like to say I'm one of those people who has nights of the week for different types of food. You know...Mexican Monday, Taco Tuesday (ooops...that's  Mexican too)...but you get my drift, right?

Well...tonight...it really was Mexican Monday in our house. I had this Kraft Recipe Makers box that I had gotten with a coupon so all I needed to buy at the store was Chicken (which I already had) and 12 corn tortillas. I already had [several] cans of black beans and I also grabbed a box of Spanish (Yellow) Rice.

I should mention that I have given up entirely on trying to cook food that my kids will not complain about. 

I have come to a complete reality that it doesn't matter what I make. Someone will cry. Someone will gag. Someone will not get a snack later. 

It really doesn't matter so I now just cook what I want to (and that I think the hubs will appreciate) and they can just deal with it. 

Ok...I'm really not that mean. Our rule is that they have to try at least one bite of each thing and then they are allowed to be done and can also have a healthy snack later if they are hungry.

Tonight it was ice cream. Um...whoops on the healthy but I am just trying to get it out of the freezer. It was left over from a birthday party!

Anyways, dinner was great...and super easy! I have had to come up with ideas that can be made AFTER Tom gets home...and this tasted great!








Of course, not every one was pleased...

Libby tried everything without complaint (PURELY SHOCKING)

Keira liked the Chicken Enchiladas and Rice but normally HATES any kind of bean. She did eat one bean tonight....without gagging. (Actually, she really likes Green Beans...hehe)



And Janessa....




Well...



She pushed the plate away from her after taking one look and preceded to throw a fit for the next 25 minutes. 

I guess you can't win them all.

But seriously, I highly recommend these Kraft Recipe Makers for a night when you are looking for something quick and easy, but good. I have used a few of them now and they are helping me get out of the rut of cooking the same things over and over.


Link to Recipe


Also, did you know that if you needed shredded chicken, you can take FROZEN boneless chicken, boil it until cooked and throw it in the Kitchen Aid Mixer with the regular paddle attachment  and it is perfectly shredded in a few seconds! A---MAZE---ING!


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Saturday, January 25, 2014

A Year Ago Today...

Oh how a year can change things....in an unbelievable way when God is involved.

A year ago today, I was sitting in my living room on the phone with my mom (who I talk to at least once a day...and she lives five minutes away!) and the front door opened. Tom was home from work at 10:30 in the morning. My thought was, "oh no, he's sick", but in reality, he had lost his job. He was told that they were "restructuring" and didn't need him. He had recently been promoted and been given a decent pay increase so I am sure that played into it, but it doesn't really matter. He no longer had a job and I was a stay-at-home mom. No income.

I quickly hung up the phone, and started to panic.

We just looked at each other. I cried, I'm sure, but I don't remember. At the time, I was about 8 weeks pregnant with Levi and we hadn't told anyone yet (partially because I was still in shock about that!) Then Tom went for a walk. He prayed. I prayed. And the panic started to ease.

I never cease to be amazed at how God clearly has a plan for us that is so much better than our own. Also, how when we hand Him the reigns, our anxieties can drop away from us.

Photo Credit
While Tom was out walking, I went to the refrigerator for a drink. I noticed his school calendar  and got me thinking...

(for those of you who don't know, Tom has been working on his undergrad for the past five years and was scheduled to graduate in the Spring of 2015)

...2 hours later we had it all figured out! It's funny to say that but it kind of did work that way.

Once again, God's timing is perfect. it just so happened, that it was the last day that could add classes to his schedule. With a lot of figuring, we realized that if he went back to full-time status at school, between grants, scholarships, the money that the VA was giving him (from his Army days) and unemployment, he could stay home, get a LOT of school done much more quickly AND we would not lose one penny of income. CRAZY!

So here we are, one year later. He was home for 9 months, did school full-time in the spring and summer, got an amazing Co-Op job for a great company making more than he did at his previous place of employment, and miracle of all miracles, Tom started his last semester of his undergraduate degree this week. He will graduate in May with a Bachelors' in Computer Science (don't ask me what that means!). So now, we hope and pray that he will find the perfect fit job for him as this semester draws to a close.

It is just amazing how God held us in His hands, gave us peace even when those around us doubted the plan we had come up with, and continues to guide us daily...sometimes with surprises that we could not have even imagined.

If he had lost his job a week earlier, we would not have been able to pay the bills. One day later and full time school (and therefore extra income) would never have been possible.

Last week, Tom came home from his co-op and said, "I could do this job for the rest of my life and love it". Not many wives get to hear that and I feel blessed.

So friends, be encouraged. If something is happening in your life right now and you cannot see a way out, know that God is holding you in his hands. He is not going to let you go. He has a plan for you. Rely on Him alone.

P.S. If anyone knows of any computer programming jobs, I know a really great guy that is full of integrity!



Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Worship Wednesday: Faithful God

I have a LOT of favorite worship songs…it depends on the moment and the day and the time and whatever is going on in my head but I just really love truthful songs about Jesus.

So often, I cannot put into words how I am feeling and then I hear a song that says it perfectly. This is why, ninety nine percent of the time, I choose to listen to Christian music. I highly recommend it if you are a person who internalizes the lyrics to music as I do.

In the moment that I am writing this, my favorite is Faithful God by Gateway. The words are just so true to me. Right now, there are some pretty horrid things going on with families that I LOVE! People I LOVE are hurting. There is literally nothing I can do about these situations besides pray (which I am not demeaning…that is a very important thing I can do). I believe there are still demons. There is so much evil around us and yet God is so much more powerful. I highly recommend listening to this song with your eyes closed and just focus on how true the words are. God CAN fix any situation. He might not do it in the way that we hope but He is able. We need to cast our cares into His arms.



Faithful God

If  I call, will You come
When I cry, do you hear
I believe every tear
Is caught up by a faithful God
So I will cry until you come
Cast my cares into Your arms
I can’t see past this storm
But I’m counting on a faithful God

Faithful God
You hold my life secure
All my days are Yours
I believe
My God is like a fire defending me
Faithfully

I believe You still heal
And demons still bow
I’m convinced there is power
In trusting in a faithful God
So I will praise till You appear
And set Your foot upon this shore
I declare that every foe
Is subject to my faithful God

I know that You are mine
And I am Yours, I am Yours
I know Your faithfulness

It will endure, it will endure

Monday, January 20, 2014

Grasping at Nothing

Recently, I took the kids to Walmart for some regular grocery shopping time. They know that if they are well behaved while in the store (no begging, running away, screaming, yelling or generally bad behavior) they will get to ride on the Mickey Mouse Car found near the exit. I am not even sure why this works because the thing barely moves and I make all 3 girls ride it together even though there's not room.



It is worth Fifty Cents to me but no more!  Call it a bribe, call it whatever you want...to me, it is called "a way to survive shopping with 4 kids that are five and under!"

I digress. On this particular day, the kids were well behaved and anticipating their ride. When we walked out of the store, Keira presented her own quarter that she had apparently snagged from her piggy bank at home and kept in her hand the whole time. She brought it to play the grab machine. You know it. The one that you pour money into and after about $10-$15, you finally get a stiff, cheap stuffed animal that likely doesn't resemble even a well know Disney character.

So, I calmly explained that this game was a losing game and that she would likely lose her money and walk away with nothing. Also, the game cost fifty cents and she only had a quarter.

She wanted to play anyways. I thought about it and gave her a quarter explaining that this was the only quarter she would get from me and she would see that it just isn't worth it.

She played. She lost. She asked for more quarters. I said no. She Begged.


 I still said no.

Okay, I thought. Now I have the opportunity to show her that I was right. I explained how she should have listened to me. I went through all that just happened. How she missed the"fun" ride with her sisters. How she wasted Fifty cents with nothing to show for it. I thought surely she would never ask to play again. Apparently I forgot what it was like to be five. Her next words.

"Next time, I will bring more quarters". Ugh.

How often do I do this to God? He clearly tells me that the choice I am making is a bad one. One with consequences. One that will make me miss out on something great. How devastating.

Just like a five year old and a grab machine, we somehow think that if we just keep trying to get what we want, we will eventually get it. Sometimes we even do. But at what cost?

Sometimes it takes trying to teach my five year old a lesson (unsuccessfully) to teach me a bigger one!

Let's stop grasping at nothing and grasp at God's Word. It will never leave us empty or unsatisfied!



Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Worship Wednesday: Why Worship?

Welcome to my first Worship Wednesday. I always have a million things that I would like to write about...just not enough time to write them usually. However, lately, I have really been trying to focus on the things that I am passionate about in life. I want to make sure that I know what I am passionate about and take time to write/share that with other people. One thing that is not only a passion in my life, but also my husbands is worship. Not just music (though, that is a huge part of it for us) but the whole gamete of worship. So...in an attempt that I am hoping will not fail miserably, I would like to start worship Wednesday. Each week, I will share some way that worship has effected my life, past or present...I don't think future but I guess you never know! I am not sure exactly what that will be or look like, but I would invite any of you bloggers out there to do the same and post a link to your post in my comment section. To hear how God is teaching you more about worship would be equally as exciting to me.

So...I won't keep you long but recently, we dedicated Levi at our church. Dedication for us is a time when Tom and I are committing ourselves to teach our child about Jesus and bring them up in the church. It is also a time when our family and church family can affirm that they will support us and help us in that. 

I love it.

This being our 4th dedication, I really thought about what we were doing and thought back over the last five and half years that we have been parents. 

Have we been doing what we committed to with each child?

Are we spending our time wisely with each other and each child in God's Word?

Are we teaching our kids to WORSHIP The Lord in everything, every day?

Are you?

We played a slideshow with pictures of Levi during the dedication and while doing so, we also sang the David Crowder Song, "How He Loves Us". We let Keira and Libby join in at the end and sing with the microphone all by themselves which they thought was amazing but we also tried to explain to them that it wasn't about performing a song. It was about worshiping  God and singing about his love for us. We hope they will always know that love. 

Here is the video for your viewing enjoyment. (not the best quality...taken on an iphone...but you get the idea!) I apologize for my head being behind a music stand!





Friday, January 3, 2014

Teaching little girls

Happy New Year all!

It's that time again. You know, that time when we all say that we are going to change something drastically in our lives, call it a new years resolution and by February, we don't even remember what it was! haha.

I am not doing that...I never really do, but I am determined to work on something this year. More of a focus than a resolution. I would like to choose something each year to just kind of work on and make more of a strong presence in our lives. This year, I really want to focus on teaching my girls about modesty. Obviously, this is something that can't be taught in one lesson and it will be something that continues for years to come...I get that!

1 Timothy 2:9-10
"I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God."

I feel very strongly that this is something that we need to teach our girls from a very young age or it will be super hard later on. Just like any other good habit, they should be in the habit of dressing appropriately.

When I look to the future, I think about how I want them to be perceived by young men and then by the man they will someday marry.

There is always that classic TV show where the teenage daughter comes downstairs dressed in something tight and revealing and the father says, "young lady, go upstairs and put on a different outfit...you are NOT leaving the house dressed like that". While that is all good and everything, I would LOVE to see my daughters choose the right outfit first. (And also...someone had to buy those inappropriate clothes?!?!?!?!?)

So, the question now is, how? How do I teach my girls that their body is a gift from God. How do I teach them in a loving way (and a way that is appropriate for a 5, 4 and 1 year old) that God made male's different than females and dressing inappropriately can cause their brother to stumble? How can I teach them that just because a certain shirt looks great on them, doesn't' mean that they should wear it?

I mean...aren't these lessons that most of us adults could stand to hear too?

When I walk into the store these days, I am shocked by the number of clothes in my daughters sizes that I would never allow them to wear. They are drawn to the sparkles, glitter, bows and fun things on the clothing but do not yet know the importance of how they should dress themselves.

I want them to understand that they can dress nicely, and even be in style, all while glorifying God.

So, anyways...this has been a lot of rambling but this will be my focus this year...so that it is a great habit to continue teaching in the years to come.

I would love to hear any comments below on how you walk this path with your own daughters!