Multitude Mondays

Too often I allow external and internal worries and struggles interfere with my pursuit of Joy. It is these times that I truly need to count my multitude of blessings to be reminded of how much I am loved and provided for my God. God is faithful, loving and merciful. I am grateful for that as I am by my own judgement not worthy of His love, provision and mercy.

8. God's faithfulness, love and mercy.
9. A hard working husband.
10. A husband who has a good sense of humor
11. Kids that enjoy one another.
12. God who keeps my family safe when I am not there.
13. A job that hubby enjoys.
14. A warm home.
15. Funny children.
16. Children who are very verbal and problem solvers.(Watch out school system)
17. A home full of love.
18. Late night and early morning hours of silent prayers.

God is good and provides for all my needs. Even when I focus on my own struggles and worries, He is forever faithful to me and my family. Thank you, God!

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Multitude Mondays

I have been on the search for joy for so long now. I think part of my problem is that I am so busy trying to survive the day and get everything done, that I don't take time each day to intentionally name the the things, my blessings, that do bring me joy. If I would take a few minutes and thank God for the good things in my life, I think that the joy would be uncovered. It has been there all along, but my rush to do life's daily events leave me frustrated, overwhelmed, impatient and full of mommy guilt. So in an effort to intentionally find joy, I am going to count my blessings as the song from my childhood says, "one by one".

1. Time with my kids at the children's museum.
2. A van that is reliable and safe for travel to and from Atlanta and beyond
3. A GPS and cell phone that work and provide me with an extra bit of security in our adventures.
4. A warm pair of fuzzy socks on a chilly January night.
5. Three beautiful and gentle kitties that love my kids as much or almost as much as they love me.
6. Kids who are crazy for animals, especially their cats.
7. A hubby who is crazy for me and his kids.

Thank you, God, for the many blessings you provide me and my family each and every hour of the day. I want to intentionally seek and name the blessings so that I can give You thanks for them and teach my children to be thankful for their blessings. I want greater joy in life and it is found in You alone. Amen.

New Year's Goals

Okay,I have said this in the soooo many times in the past, "I am going to get organized in my life!". I have made charts, calendars, schedules, plans and plans on how to fit everything into a 24/7 life with 2 kids. But trying to schedule housework, scrapbooking, time with God, play and instructional time with kids, time with hubby, exercise, cooking, sleep, laundry, all the many, many tasks for MOPS and the children's ministry can't be done. Life happens. A kid is sick, daddy is out of town, a special event happens, headaches, just tired, so tired happens. I get bogged down, overwhelmed and all things slow to almost a halt. The only thing that continues to move somewhat is children's ministry because it will happen somehow each week and tons of kids are affected. So sad other people's kids get the better part of me than my own. Do you feel the mommy guilt heaped on me?

So scheduling each hour is out of the question, but I can organize each day generally and set some goals for the day. Flexiblity is important but so is consistency.
An idea from another mommy blogger is to spend no more, yes, set the timer-kind of 5 minutes on each room a day, except the kitchen, which gets 15 minutes. Do the surface stuff. No deep cleaning. That is saved for another day. After 5 minutes move on. This should be about an hour during the day and can happen at any point- morning, afternoon, evening, whenever there is time in that day's schedule. All the rooms don't even have to be done at the same time! Also, give myself permission to do something halfway. So what if all of the kids toys aren't in the absolute correct bin? At least they are picked up. I don't have to have everything completeley organized perfectly. Everything has a home,yes, but sometimes it can be a messy home.

Taking the 90 Day Bible Challenge is helping me take time to read the Bible. I do get behind, but I don't stress. I just get myself caught up and try again. Exercise and eating better is a little harder. I need to just do it early in the morning. I am eating out of the pantry and freezer for this month so whatever is there is going to be eaten.

Time at the computer is needing to be limited. This means MOPS, children's ministry and my own personal blog reading and writing (not that I write a lot here- MOPS is another story) will be affected. I believe this is my biggest time stealer. So getting a timer an sticking to it at specific times of the day is important.

So I have specific goal areas to work on. All of this, hopefully, will result in the ultimate goal of my family having a more fun, loving, patient, present, happy wife and mom and happy and clean home to rest in.

The verse I am using as my motto this year is from Colossians 3:17. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed,do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

My plan for the year is to pray this everyday at meal times(easy way for me to remember) and let all of my activities, speech and attitudes be a reflection of God's Will -to His glory and with thanksgiving to God for the challenges, blessings, opportunities and joys.

Happy New Year!

Taking the Challenge

With all the things I need to do as a mom, wife, ministry leader of not one but two ministries and eating, sleeping and the occassional shower, I too often lose the focus of my very existence. I feel quite lost in all of my endeavors because I am not staying as close to God through His Word and prayer. I try to find some time to read the Bible and pray in the mornings before kids get up- yeah, right, my early birds! But I often sit there trying to figure out where to start. I discovered this challenge at www.momstoolbox.com. I thought this would be a great way to start off the new year, refocusing my time with God with some structure and maybe some new bloggy friends to encourage me along the way. If you stumble across my ramblings, please feel free to join in.

A Wonderful Song

What can I give my Lord and King?

Good Intentions Leading to a New Season

It seems that yet again I start something and can't quite follow thru the way I should. Other things like family activities, other responsiblilities and just sheer laziness or need for sleep steal away my good intentions. It isn't that I don't always finish somethings, but rather that I don't get to do them the way I envisioned. For example, my study and thoughts of Lysa's book, Becoming More Than a Good Bible Study Girl. I have read it several times and spent time thinking and praying about the chapters I read. I just haven't had the chance to come to the blog and journal those thoughts or share them with anyone who might be passing by. (But I shall return to those entries when the time comes again.)
Plans are often made and then readjusted to accommodate the time and other contraints of my life. It is frustrating to no end, but I do give thanks that I have family and other opportunities that interefere with my own desires. I just sometimes wish, not so often though. That is where Simplicity comes in.

I have read Keri Wyatt Kents books about Sabbath keeping. It is so much more than just taking a day off from household chores, and other activities. It is more about making a set time to focus on God and His character. It may be done while watching kids play or while folding laundry with soft music as your company. However, it is done, it is done intentionally and with purpose. Everyone's Sabbath may look a bit different depending on the season of life they are in. A mom with babies and toddlers will have a different kind of Sabbath than a mom with older kids or an empty nester. My attempts at Sabbath Keeping have changed in the last few years as my kids have gotten older and more independent than babies and toddlers. However, I do need encouragement, more intentionality (is that a word?) in making my time with God, my spiritual disciplines more than something a Good Bible Study Girl settle for.

Now I do need to continue cutting back on some of the things I am responsible for and get involved in. My kids are getting older and will be adding to the schedule. They need to also learn that taking time to be with God is a good thing. Becoming more simplified in my spiritual disciplines is critical. So More than a Good Bible Study Girl meet Freedom of Simplicity by Richard Foster. I am going to lead this book discussion after the first of the year. I hope that by doing so I will gain a better understanding of how my Sabbath needs to look and to actually implement it on a more consistent basis.

And yes, I am giving up something. I am giving up a good deal of the MOPS operations to some other ladies. I have already laid the ground work for the meetings that remain this year. The ladies should be able to continue on with me serving as more of an advisor or mentor role. This will be my last year in MOPS. I pray leaders will emerge and be able to carry on for the remainder of the year and future years.

So my season of life is continuing to change. It is a bit sad to see those years with my babies go away. To know that my years staying home to raise them are coming to an end is hard. Despite how hard it has all been it has been glorious and a privilege to raise my little ones to this next stage- elementary school. Oh, this new season will be fun and glorious and challenging as well. So now with Good Intentions I am taking time to focus on preparing myself and my family for a more simplistic lifestyle with a intentional Sabbath time and more purposeful and real spiritual disciplines.I will follow thru with the help of God. I must for my own sake and that of my family's.