Peace... in Believing

Chewing on this verse today:

May the God of hope

fill you with all joy and

peace in believing,

so that by the power of the Holy Spirit

you may abound in hope.

~ Romans 15:13

That verse was helpful to me when I was pregnant with Paloma.  As a result, we gave her the middle name Joy.  But, today the Lord has me holding on to "peace in believing."

Oooo... I love that verse.  I love that TRUTH.  I can have PEACE... this day... as I believe.

What am I believing?

I'm believing God to work a miracle by drawing hearts to Him.  Not too hard for the God who created them, eh?  I'm praying for the salvation of some near and dear people to my heart.  And my faith is growing.  By His Spirit I am abounding in hope right now.

Lord, You know the exact situation I'm thinking of and You desire for those persons to be saved as well.  In fact, You care more about their souls than I. Thank You for the joy I have because I know You!  Grant that to ones on my heart and mind...

Food, Inc.

Have you seen the documentary Food Inc.?  Well, we did.  Back in January... and it (along with other things) had us change quite a bit about how we eat around here.

Anyway, in case you're wanting to watch it FREE, PBS has it streaming til Wednesday, April 28th at midnight.  And if you do see it, please tell me what you thought!

A Post for the Mothers Out There

I read this post earlier and found myself crying at the end.  So kind of God to use other believers to enourage us in our roles...

... for He cares about our little ones, eh?

Yes, He cares about their souls... and our souls... and we should too!

Chow.  Off to focus on some souls!

Coveting... and Laundry

Back at our old church in MD I remember hearing at message by one of our pastors where he shared a helpful parenting strategy when at the mall with his kids.  He would prepare his kids for the many unhelpful things they would see by telling them to turn off their "I wanters."  Love, love that!  And I've used it since then... mostly for myself!

We recently had some work done on our basement and the whole process has reminded me of how prone my heart is to wander as I battle with discontentment.  I find my "I wanter" is often ON even when I am surrounded by abundant blessings.

Can you relate?

This was our basement laundry area BEFORE anything was done:

Yep.  And that is where I went to do my laundry for 3 years.  (Do notice the new washer, though, my Pops got me around Christmas!)  But, truly, at least I HAD a place to do laundry in my own home that I had at my disposal ANYTIME I needed it.  While I didn't like that the walls were covered in mold, the concrete floor was often damp and the kids couldn't come down making me make multiple trips to deal with what happens when Mommy was not upstairs, it was still a functional laundry room.  More than I deserved.

Enter my man - again!  Yep.  He made up his mind to get some work done in our basement to make it a bit easier for me.  His grand plan: add a full bathroom and make a real laundry room with walls and hook up our 2nd washer (the old one the new washer replaced) so I could do more in less time.  Well, if you're anything like me, you couldn't see any of THAT happening in THAT space.

Well, though we went over our anticipated budget, this is what happened.  We had our laundry area moved to the space you come to just as you enter the basement.  Lots of plumbing work.  Lots of de-molding work.  Lots of waterproofing work.

After that, Pops called in some other guys to turn it into "a room."

Did you see the light from the new windows?!?!  What a difference!  And we decided to go with walls that don't go all the way up so as to make it still very "open" and not cut off all the light to the rest of the basement.  Plus, once the play/lounge area is created I can still keep an eye on things while doing laundry!

Next came the floor and ceiling!!!!

And some paint...

And to finish it off...

Oh- and so what that our 2nd washer decided to "die" upon completion of this project!  I suppose we'll find another $50 one from Craigslist one of these days!  Hey, it lasted us 3 years!  Not bad for $50!

Thank You, Lord, for helping me see that I often sin in discontentment and allow the desires of this world overpower what You are calling me to and what You have graciously given me.  I trust Your grace will help me fight this area of sin and truly be joyful as I recall Your kindness to me.  May I not shake my fist at You when I have laundry to do... especially when I do it in such luxury!

When Did We Change So Much?

In this moment, this is how I feel my life is summed up:

~got saved
~got married
~got a van load of kiddos
~gave up couponing
~gave up fast food
~gave up processed foods
~buying grain by 25 and 50 lb loads
~buying coconut oil, sucanat, tea tree oil
~buying farm fresh eggs and milk weekly
~making my own bread
~making my own buttermilk
~making my own deodorant

What is going on and how did I/we change so quickly????

I remember my Papa-son came home one day and said, "Yeah, I decided to stop drinking soda."  WHAT???  How does THAT happen?

Well, who cares.  That's our reality right now... and we love it!

Failings of the Weak

Having our QTs this morning.  Sipping our hot coffee, enjoying silence.  Then it happens.

Boy #1 says from the foyer, "Mommy, I'm... I'm wet."

It's 6:30am and already dealt with Baby Girl #3 wet ~5:30am in a cloth diaper followed by Boy #2 wet ~5:50am in a disposable diaper.  What is going on?  I (again) tell myself I will not buy one more stupid disposable diaper to simply throw away after changing wet sheets!

Then Girl #1 comes into the office where we are trying to focus on our QTs to tell us, "I peed in my bed.  But just a little bit."  It's 6:33am.

Well, may as well go and check the remaining child to see if she is wet too!  (Thanks, Pops, for going as I type this!)

Thankfully, though I am scratching my head and asking God, "What am I doing wrong?" I hear Romans 15:1 very clearly,

We who are strong have an obligation

to bear with the failings of the weak, 

and not to please ourselves.

Yes, failings of the weak bladders!  And my response so reveals my wicked heart.  How long O Lord?  When will this five year season be over?????

Don't answer that!  Though there is MUCH urine I wouldn't change it.  I love them so much!

So, the Whitney Adventure continues.  And in case you've been wondering what we've been up to lately, well, this about sums it up!

OH- and Papa-son just came back down.  He informed me that Girl #2 was wet too!  Enough to change her sheets as well!  Hee hee!  Better get started on the laundry, eh?