When I was pregnant with our first child my husband and I were so happy to be having a little boy. Fast forward eighteen months and we were expecting child number two. I was really hoping for a girl our second time around but God had other plans. After our second son was born my husband asked me if I was disappointed. I said "no, how could I ever be disappointed with something as wonderful as this?"
To continue reading hop on over to WWW.ThePurposefulMom.com where I am guest posting today.
Prayer Card Notebook
My "quiet time" or devotion time is very important to me. I try to make it happen of the morning before the busy-ness of the day creeps in but sometimes that doesn't happen. I have my bible, highlighters and pens, my prayer/study journal with paper, my devotion book(s) of the moment, scripture memorization cards (a recent addition) and my prayer card notebook.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 The Message
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 The Message
Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.
Of course this verse doesn't mean literally to pray all the time and never do anything else. It does however mean that we should pray wherever, whenever we can, want and need. I pray all the time, as I am going through my everyday tasks at home, driving my kids to ball practices, during devotion time and any other time someone comes to my mind or when it is impressed on my heart by the Holy Spirit.
Philippians 1:3-4 The Message
Next, I made dividers and labeled them. I have one for me (my personal requests), one for my husband, my kids, friends and family, etc... You could have as many or as few of these as you like or none at all.
Of course this verse doesn't mean literally to pray all the time and never do anything else. It does however mean that we should pray wherever, whenever we can, want and need. I pray all the time, as I am going through my everyday tasks at home, driving my kids to ball practices, during devotion time and any other time someone comes to my mind or when it is impressed on my heart by the Holy Spirit.
Philippians 1:3-4 The Message
Every time you cross my mind, I break out in exclamations of thanks to God. Each exclamation is a trigger to prayer. I find myself praying for you with a glad heart.
So in keeping with my favorite organizing things I do and love today I am going to tell you about one of my favorite "quiet time" organizing things. I really hadn't given much thought to it until the other day. I was flipping through my cards, praying and reviewing some of the praise reports and answers to prayers when I came across one for my cousin who also happens to be my best friend. I sent her an email reminding her about the goodness of God and told her about the things I had been praying for her about that have now come to pass and just wanted to share. She was interested in my "prayer cards" that I had told her about and wanted to know how I had set it up and how I organized them so I decided that I would share with you as well in case you would like to make your own.
First I bought a 3x5 index card notebook at Walmart and card refills.
Next, I made dividers and labeled them. I have one for me (my personal requests), one for my husband, my kids, friends and family, etc... You could have as many or as few of these as you like or none at all.
Then, I started writing down prayer requests on the card along with the particular scripture that I am standing on. As things change in the situation or prayers are answered I record that on the card as well.
- That's it! Very simple. I have been using mine for about 6 1/2 years now and I love it! I still write requests down on post it notes sometimes and stick them to the front of my bible (especially if they are very important) and I also have some prayer/praises written out in my prayer/study journal that are extra long (I'll tell you about that another time). This little note card prayer book is an awesome way to keep track of all those prayer requests.
What are some of your favorite ways to keep track of prayer requests?
A Broken Heart
"Hot Rod"
I told my boys about him dying yesterday and while my oldest was sad like I knew they would be my youngest son was completely broken hearted. I did not expect this type of reaction. He cried and cried all evening long and even when I was tucking them in bed he sobbed over his beloved pony. I prayed with him for peace and comfort in knowing that his pony had been well loved all the years we had him and that now he wasn't in pain or discomfort anymore (he had been slowly going down hill from being old for a while now) and I prayed that God would heal his broken heart. Will this happen instantly? No, probably not. We have memories that make it hard sometimes but God will heal my son's little broken heart in time and he will give him peace and comfort in this situation.
Psalm 34:18 (AMP) says that The Lord is close to those who are of a broken heart...
and
Psalm 147:3 (AMP) says that God heals the brokenhearted...
I firmly believe that God cares about every part of our lives, big and small. He cares when we are sad from losing a pet, a family member, friend, job, etc... I also believe He loves us so much that He will heal our broken hearts if we will just pray and ask him.
Make a Family Binder
(This is a picture of mine with a generic cover slipped in the front.)
I am a little late on starting to post my favorite things that keep my family organized due to being without electricity at our home for 8 days.
I will say there are several things that could fall into the number one spot in my opinion for the best organizing tool for our family. However, I have picked our family binder to start with. I love my family binder. You can call it your family binder, control journal, household management book, a household binder or whatever name you want.
The purpose of having a "family binder".
It's simple - It keeps me better organized!
Here are a few things I want you to know about having a "family binder".
* You can make it as detailed or as simple as you like
* My family binder has changed many times through the years
* You can use a notebook, a 3 ring binder like me, a day planner, etc...
* Some people have multiple binders (I sort of do and will explain later)
* You can make your own binder pages and inserts on your computer or find tons free online to print (or just use plain notebook paper)
* Your binder is meant to be a help to you and your family not a burden - so if keeping up with one is a lot of trouble to you, DON'T do it. We all have to do what is helpful to our individual family needs.
Building your "family binder".
I use a 1 1/2 - 2 inch 3 ring binder.
Tabbed dividers that have pockets in them and are erasable. (I don't have to buy new ones each time my binder needs to be updated)
I have a combination of free online printables (google search "family binder or family organizer printables), homemade pages, notebook pages and various handouts or print outs that pertain to the particular topic it is filed behind.
Some of my tabs include:
Sports for each of my children
School for each of my children
Menu
Home Blessing
Special Days and Holidays
Vehicle Maintenance
Home Maintenance
Outside
Vacation
Needs / Wants
As you can see the possibilities are endless as to what you can include in your binder. You need to sit down and think of what is important to you and what things you want to be better organized in. My tabs change from time to time as I go through different seasons of my life.
You can also search You Tube for video's on how to create one if you need a little more information.
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