Do You Have A Vision For Your Home?

Over the summer while watching my teenage son do one of his weed eating jobs I noticed something that was very interesting to me. Instead of starting in one spot and working his way up the hill, down the hill or across the entire area so there was no mistaking where he had already been - he skipped around from one place to the next making it hard for me to even tell where he already mowed.  He mowed a patch here and a patch there. He was inconsistent. He had no real rhyme or reason for his mowing.  He had no plan for how he would accomplish this job.  No focus, no vision. 

 

Watching him got me to thinking and then The Lord spoke to my heart about the inconstancy in my own life. How I tend to start projects and not finish. How I get in a good routine of cleaning my house, or making menus, or having my quiet time with God only to allow something else to find its way in and move my attention elsewhere.  It is easy in today's world to quickly have our attention drawn from what we are supposed to be doing onto something else.

Habakkuk 2:2 says And the Lord answered me and said, Write the vision and engrave it so plainly upon tablets that everyone who passes may [be able to] read [it easily and quickly] as he hastens by.

Write your plan and run with it!

We can take this verse and apply it to our own lives.  Pray and ask God to speak to your heart about the direction He wants you and your family to go.  Then write your vision for your family.  What are your hopes, dreams and goals you want to accomplish?  What do you want your children to learn? 

We can take it in a different direction as well - write your vision or plan for keeping your house in order.  Do you have a daily and weekly plan for house work?  If not - stop flying by the seat of your pants, get out a piece of paper and jot down the things that you would like to accomplish each week.  Write out your vision.  If you are anything like me my daily and weekly plans for keeping my house change often but I think that's ok.  We have to adapt to each changing season as the needs and responsibilities of our family change.

The important thing is to pray and ask God to give you vision and purpose for your life and then do it. 

What about you? 

Do you have a Vision For Your Home?

Practical Homemaking Skills I Wish I Had Known...

I am not blaming my lack of knowledge on my child hood or on my parents but it would have helped greatly to have been taught few things before I set out on my own. I got married when I was 18 years old. At the time I felt as if I were ready to tackle the world but looking back now I see that I was nothing more than a young, immature child that had no idea of how to really make it in this world. I am sure there were times when my mother may have attempted to teach me some sort of homemaking skill but it wasn't enough for me to catch on to. It is quite possible that she was met with a teenager who thought she already knew it all and didn't need to be taught but either way I was ill prepared to be a wife, mother and homemaker. Homemaking has to be taught. It is not a job that just comes naturally. Would you like to know about the skills I Wish I had known?  Head on over to the other Jennifer's blog A Heart For THE Home where I am contributing today to find out what they are.   

This is Who I Am. Servant, Wife, Mom.

Recently I have been doing much thinking about who I am.  What is my role in the world.  We all know that as seasons of life change so do many of the roles we play.  As wives, mothers and homemakers sometimes we feel that our jobs are not as important as those of others.  We need to always be quick to recognize this as an attack from the devil to try and make us down play the importance of our role in our family.  We are important.  Our jobs are important.  Whether you are a stay at home Mom or you work outside of your home - it doesn't matter, you are important.  This is Who I Am.

I'm a child of God. Not just any god but a child of the Most High God. Without Him I am nothing, without Him I can do nothing. I love Him because He first loved me. He is the giver of life and of all things good. I am blessed to be a recipient of His grace, of His mercy and of His gifts.  I am His servant, placed here to share His love with others. 

I am a submitted wife in training. God placed with me my man. He's not perfect. I'm not perfect. Our marriage is not perfect. BUT with God as our Spiritual Leader we have tackled many hard situations together and always end up stronger at the end of the thing. Our love for each other grows stronger each day because of the love of God that is at work in each of our own hearts. I say in training because I'm not there yet. I strive to be the godly submitted Proverbs 31, Titus 2 woman of the Bible but I am human and I fail at it miserably a lot of days.

I am a Mom. I am not super mom but I love my boys and I am doing my very best to be a good steward over these amazing lives God has placed in my care. I am following Proverbs 22:6 and training them in the way they should go and I am praying that when they are old they will not depart from this teaching and training. I am trusting God to help me mold and shape their hearts for His Glory. This job is tough and its definitely not for the faint at heart but I wouldn't trade it. It's challenging most of the time but it's rewarding ALL of the time.

Who are you?  How do you see yourself?  Do you recognize your importance?

Why We Choose Not to Celebrate Halloween

Last year I did a 4 part series on why our family chooses not to celebrate Halloween.  I have combined the 4 part series here in this one post in case you didn't get a chance to read it before.  If you would like to read the original posts and the comments from last year, just click here.  I would love to hear your thoughts but please be nice even if you disagree with me.

This post is about why we don't celebrate Halloween.

I want to begin by saying I realize that this can tend to be a bit of a touchy subject to some and this is not a post putting you down if you do choose to celebrate. I am not judging or condemning anyone, this is what is good for our family and the decision we have made for us.

When I was a child Halloween was one of the two days a year that we got a large amount of candy in our house (Easter being the other). We would usually at last minute dress up in some cheap or homemade costume (believe me none of them were fancy or store bought) and my dad would load my brothers and me and sometimes a few cousins in the back of his truck and he would drive up the road only stopping at the houses of people we knew (we lived out in the country and knew most of our neighbors so there were a lot of stops) and we would get our bags filled with candy. We would always take time to stop at an older couples house that my family was friends with where they would not only give us candy but would serve us hot chocolate as well to help warm us up from the cold. Yes, I went trick or treating as a child and yes, I turned out alright. However, our world around us has changed drastically since I was a child where we knew most all of our neighbors and our family knew their family before them for generations back. It was a time of fun in the community. Growing up in a primarily non-Christian home we thought nothing more of Halloween than a day to dress up and get candy.

Easy Pumpkin Spice No Bake Cookies

It's officially Fall time now and for me it's the time to start baking all things apple and pumpkin. This year I got the idea from a friend to make pumpkin flavored no bake cookies. So I thought I would attempt to use my traditional Chocolate No Bake Cookie recipe and just make a few slight changes. These cookies are fairly cheap, super easy, and take only a few short minutes to make. In fact much like the original version of this cookie I usually have all the ingredients needed on hand.  If you would like to have the recipe and see how I make mine step by step head on over to The Purposeful Mom's blog where I am posting today. 

Is The Bible Just Another Book?

Recently I won an amazing give away from my friend Jessica's blog "Our Family For His Glory".   The give away was done at the end of a Summer long Bible study I did with her going through the book of Ephesians.  It was her desire to give away some things that would be a blessing to the recipient and would encourage and help you in your walk with The Lord. Everything in the give away was amazing but my favorite thing of all was a new Study Bible.

And I got to thinking about my Bible;  this new one and the older ones that I have.  Some of them are plain while others are just so pretty to look at like the new one I just received.  There is just something about a new Bible. The smell that I can't describe other than to say "new Bible" smell, the way the pages stick together, the shiny page ends whether silver or gold. We are so blessed to live in a country where we can own as many bibles as our hearts desire and checkbook can afford. Bibles can be bought for as cheap as $1.00 at your local Dollar Tree all the way up to pretty much any amount you are willing to spend.

But the Bible, any Bible from the cheapest to the most expensive, from the most beautiful to the most plain is just a book. Yes, you heard me right.  It is just a book like any other.  It has a front and back cover, it has pages with words on them in between these covers just like your favorite novel or magazine. It's just a book and left sitting on your shelf or coffee table it holds no special meaning or value at all. It's just a book mass produced in factories like any other regular book.


Psalm 119:11, one of my favorite verses says I have hidden your word in my heart so that I might not sin against you.

When does the Bible, Gods written word to us become something special? When we read it, when we meditate on it, when we memorize it and when we hide it in our heart. Then it becomes alive and active according to Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

We need to have Gods word hidden in our hearts so that we are always ready with an answer when asked the question of why we have this hope inside us.  I Peter 3:15  But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect...

You can't have the promises of the Bible operating in your life if you never spend time reading and getting to know what those promises are.

Your children will only want to know this Jesus you speak of when they see you reading your Bible and getting to know the God of the Bible.  You will be a great witness when others can see the promises of God at work in your life.  Jesus said that every tree is known by it's fruit, if you do not spend time in the Word each day your fruit isn't going to be very good. 

Don't allow your Bible to be just another book.  Pick it up, dust it off and dig in!  Not sure how?  Here are a few ideas to help get you started.

Pray. 

Determine a time in your day that would be best for you. Personally I like early.  It's nice to start your day with God.  Now I will admit early doesn't always happen but it is my favorite time of the day. 

Decide where you want to read.  Find a cozy spot (not too cozy, you don't want to fall asleep) but a nice spot to sit with your coffee or favorite drink of choice.

Start small. Remember something is better than nothing. Read one verse a day.  Feeling like you want to do more than just one verse?   Read a chapter in the book of Proverbs each day.

Feeling really adventurous?  Pull out a notebook and take notes or journal.

Once you get your routine started for reading your Bible each day - add in a Bible study.  There are many free online Bible studies out there. 

Everyone Has A Purpose

My boys have played soccer since they were very small.  Through the years they have both played probably every position possible on a variety of different teams.  One thing that was always important to them was getting to be up front so they could score a goal.  Of course everyone wants to make a goal, that is the person on the team that is up front and gets much praise but we often forget that it takes the whole team to achieve the actual goal. 

It's much the same way in the body of Christ.  Everyone has a part to play.  And that part is very important.  I Corinthians 12 says that God places each one us in the body of Christ where it is pleasing to him.

I Corinthians 12:27-31
²⁷ Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. ²⁸ And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. ²⁹ Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? ³⁰ Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues^[d]? Do all interpret? ³¹ Now eagerly desire the greater gifts.

Not everyone is called to be a pastor. Not everyone is called to be a miracle worker or prophet but we all have a purpose and a calling.  We can't all have the spot light on us. In fact many of us are very far from the spot light among the sticky floors, dirty faced little ones, sinks full of dishes and piles of laundry we have. We all can make a difference though. I have prayed before, Lord what is my purpose? How am I supposed to share Jesus with anyone when I am home all day long alone with just my babies?  Then, one day I got my answer. I am making a difference in the life of a child, my child and prayerfully in the lives of all the other children they come in contact with.  Also, I pray that this blog will make a difference in some small way in your life. 

Jesus said in Mark 16:15  He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.  No, we can't all have the spot light on us but we are all called to take the gospel to lost and hurting.  We are all called to share Jesus.

Do you ever feel like you are not making a difference?  Remember we all have a part, we all have a purpose. I encourage you to pray and ask God to show you what your part is for this season of life you are in.

Is Social Media Taking Over Family Time?

Modern technology is amazing. I mean think about it for a minute. At no other time in history have people been so connected with one another. Information travels from one person to the next at record breaking speed. 

 

When I was first married cell phones were the coolest thing. Not the kind we have now, the kind that were mounted on the inside of your vehicle. When my oldest son was born, cell phones had evolved somewhat and were something that you could carry with you. They were HUGE but you could carry them with you. Email was a neat way to contact friends and family to stay updated on the latest family news.

Today, just a few short years later we live in the age of self portraits, likes and status updates. Many of us live out our lives day by day to our readers, followers, family and friends.

To continue reading the rest of this post head on over to A Heart For The Home where I am contirbuting today.