Getting ready for the holidays

All of the Christmas boxes made their way into our family room this afternoon. The kids oohed and aahed over every little thing. This is really unusual for us. Usually we're not so on top of things around here. Last year we took our road trip to Ohio for Thanksgiving so we were really behind by the time we got home. The year before we had just moved into our new home so we were still getting things all settled and unpacked. I think the year before that I was just plain exhausted. Our 4th child was still a baby so I was plum worn out with having had 4 kids in 5yrs. Anyway...I'm determined to have things done a little earlier this year so we have a while longer to enjoy the beautiful decorations.

Now that all the Thanksgiving festivities have died down a bit, I need to do some major cleaning around here. I am still in purge mode so it has been wonderful to clean things out. Amazingly enough, Jayden, is wanting to purge along with me. It's such a wonderful feeling to get rid of stuff, especially right before the holidays.

Wallpaper is off the walls in our entry so now we're trying to figure out how to scrub the leftover paste off the walls before we can texture and then paint. We have so many house projects it's very difficult to decide which is most important. The wallpaper was an easy decision since the cats were having fun using it as a scratching post. Little by little and its all coming along slowly.

Now I have a few magazines to thumb through and then it's off to bed for this tired gal. Have a wonderul Sunday!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

It's not often that I thank God for the struggles, failures, disappointments, hurts and difficulties in my life. As I have been reflecting today on what I am truly thankful for, I was reminded that the struggles I have had to deal with this past year have only brought me closer to the Lord Jesus. I had a choice to make and that choice was either to run away and give up or to press on and say help me Lord Jesus. I can't possibly do this on my own. I have no one else to see me through this.

A while ago I decided I needed to share with others about my struggle with depression, anger, and bitterness. Amazingly enough, after I began opening up, others shared they were dealing with the same struggles and felt so ashamed and didn't feel they could talk about it. Not only has my pain drawn me closer to Jesus, it's also been an encouragement to other young mom's who desperately need to know they are not alone.

So today I am thanking God for so many wonderful blessings but also thanking him that he gives us just what we need to help us draw nearer to him.

Have a wonderful day celebrating this Thanksgiving with family and friends!

Rainy Days

We woke up to sunshine today. It was a glorious morning but by 10:30, the clouds started rolling in. I had to make a run to costco and by the time we walked out of there, it was raining. It hasn't stopped. I was really looking forward to a sunny day and playing outside for a while. Oh well...instead we stayed in, curled up and read some books, visited with a friend, had a nice warm cup of coffee and curled up with a movie. We decided to have some fun and make a fort in the family room. We got out the flashlight and read for while in our fun little hideout. It turned out to be a cozy day.

I'm still freezing cold though and still wearing my coat. Yes, I do walk around with my big winter coat on half the time. We have some heating issues in this house that we are still trying to figure out. The upstairs of our house get's nice a cozy warm but the main floor is always freezing no matter what the temp!

Looking forward to more cozy days this winter. There is some speculation that we could see some snow in these parts in the next few days. We'll see what happens. I'm all ready and stocked up with the necessities though...hot chocolate and popcorn! Now all we need is a good movie and some good books!

Wounds of the Heart

Why do I continuously go back to those old wounds, re-opening them and causing them to bleed again? At the moment it feels so good and right to go back there and revisit. As soon as I go back, I regret it. The pain and hurt all come back like a flood, not only for me but for my loving husband. He has to bear the brunt of the wound. Having thought it was buried and long forgotten, he has to revisit it along with me. Where does this flow from?

I can't seem to stop once the wound is open. It's painful and it hurts. I feel alone...desperately alone. Someone, anyone, come rescue me. Take me from this painful place so I don't have to face this once again.

Tender and loving, he puts his hand to my cheek, looks deep in my eyes and tells me he loves me. I feel it and I begin to soften. Little by little, the anger and hurt close up.

Jesus, please take this from me and close this wound.

Thank you Jesus!

Thankfulness

We are starting to think about Thanksgiving and how we want to celebrate it this year. We have begun reading so many wonderful stories. Today, after reading some of Squanto, the kids decided it would be wonderful to have a celebration feast! They were busy making cards and thinking of special people to invite to join us. There are so many things to be thankful for.

I am praising and thanking God he has been providing answers to some health issues I've been having. It's been a long battle with extreme anemia, depression, adrenal dysfunction, pain in my legs that has been unexplainable, food allergies, and emotional ups and downs. I'm so thankful I have the energy to love my kids more and better and I'm able to school them better, listen more, give hugs and cuddles, go on walks, play outside, make yummy snacks, and sit and talk with them. The list goes one....

God is Good All the Time and All the Time, God is Good!

Quiet Fridays

The last few days we've enjoyed nature walks in the beautiful but unusual very warm sunshine here in Oregon. It's been so wonderful to see all the different colors of Autumn, smell the fresh crisp air, and taste the goodness of fresh baked fall pumpkin muffins. God is so good to us and I have been soaking up his goodness all week long.

Fridays we tend to have a lighter school load and enjoy more reading and fun activities. We're almost finished with William Bradford Pilgrim Boy. We can't seem to put the book down, we're all so eager to get to the end. We're almost there though and highly recommend you read it. It's a pretty easy read and perfect for Thanksgiving time. Next we will move on to Squanto and then to The Chronicles of Narnia. I am really looking forward to this one as well. I have been reading For the Children's Sake, Laura Bush, and Choosing to See by Mary Beth Chapman. All good reads and vastly different.

Have a wonderful weekend enjoying the goodness of God.

Simplicity

This past year has brought much conviction about stuff. Material possessions tend to take over our home in every nook and cranny. I began to feel overwhelmed by all that we have. I just couldn't seem to find the space and the time to take care of it all. The kids would go from activity to activity dumping and throwing. I began to wonder if all this "stuff" was overwhelming for them too? Why do we think we need so much? Why do we continue to act as though material things will bring us some sort of joy or satisfaction? Slowly I began to realize even if I got rid of half of our things, we would still have a lot. We are teaching our children about other countries, cultures, children, and families and trying to teach them how blessed we are. Right now we are learning about India. We have learned that most of the country lives on 1 dollar a day! That's right! ONE DOLLAR! It's unthinkable! We have much to be grateful for.

With what and how am I filling my time and how are my children filling their time? How is it that stuff begins to own us and not the other way around?

It's amazing how children can find such pleasure in the simplest of activities if we would just allow them the time and do away with all the plastic, tv and videos games.

I began cleaning out and dumping, selling, and giving away. What a wonderful and freeing thing it is! I still have a ways to go and I am still a bit overwhelmed with stuffness but we are getting there and well on our way to becoming a simplistic home. The atmosphere is so much more peaceful and pleasant, it's so wonderful that we don't have heaps to clean up. I can spend my time doing other things instead because I'm not wasting so much precious time cleaning and putting away!

I'm thankful God is opening my heart and my eyes so that I might see.