Welcome everyone to my Happy Homemaker post for this week. I hope you have all had a great Monday so far. Do you ever feel like the Homemaking side of life gets tougher at the beginning of the school year? It has been the same for me to matter our schooling situation and maybe it seems worse this year because I am still in recovery mode but goodness! Here’s to hoping the Homemaker game gets a little easier this week!
Breakfast time….what is on the plate this morning::::
I pretty much had coffee for breakfast this morning-maybe that is why I have felt like a slug all day
Looking around the house::::
It Looks like a Monday for sure. Tomorrow I need to kick it back into high gear.
On today’s to do list::::
Major House cleaning and organizing. I have some stuff I need to get rid of. Finish up my planner work for the month. YES I am running behind!.
Currently reading::::
Hello Fears
Get Out of Your Head
My Bible
S.H.A.P.E.
On the TV this week::::
nothing really
The weather outside is::::
Much cooler than it’s been I am already missing the summer temps
On the menu this week::::
Monday – Chef Salads with Sautéed Chicken
Tuesday – Soup (Not sure what type Yet)
Wednesday – Meatloaf and mashed potatoes and gravy and Veg
Thursday – Taco Salad
Friday – Pizza and wings
Saturday – Leftovers
Sunday – Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole
If I have a few minutes to myself, I will::::
Exercise then paint
New recipe I tried, or want to try this week::::
no new recipe. I just don’t have time for that right now
One of my simple pleasures::::
Quiet mornings and evenings. Im so glad we kept the routine even after changing to homeschool. It has helped me to be able to have the silence my heart and mind need as an introvert.
Favorite photo from the camera::::
Looking Around the House::::
The whole House needs a good deep cleaning. I am planning on using my Spring cleaning Checklist and go room by room and just knock it out!
Praying for::::
♥♥ Lots of friends and family who either have COVID or knows someone who does. One person in particular is not doing so well but is making strides in the right direction ♥♥ Our Search Process ♥♥Friends and family who are struggling
Bible Verse, Devotional that is resonating with me at the moment::::
9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 NIV
Hey All. I have been busy today Preparing for this week for my art breaks. I have been horrible the last two weeks about taking the little art breaks as I have been prepping for and started school.
Every week I try to exercise on the treadmill Its been hard as I have been dealing with the low iron. One of the things I have done during this time has been to reward myself to art when I got off the treadmill. See with low iron I have a hard time getting my heart rate to lower so I found that doing something like art afterwards helps to calm my heart rate and keeps my mind focused and helps to avoid a panic attack.
Last week was a bad week for exercise and I didn’t have time to sit down and do anything. So I had a brainstorm on the way to church this morning! I was so excited. I came home and I got to work. Some times the key is preparing for these breaks ahead of time.
Here’s what I did…
So I masked off 6 cells and painted simple backgrounds. Then as I exercise each day this week I can just go into my craft room and finish off one cell. Even though I am not really having a struggle with my heart rate or panic attacks since my iron infusion, I am finding that reconnecting with painting is helping me just enjoy our current season a little more!
I have no idea what will be pained on these backgrounds or what line art will come out of it. But I am excited about this little project. And maybe if this works out well this will turn out to be a fun little Sunday project preparing for the week ahead! We shall soon see.
I hoping that next week I will have 5 or 6 fun mini paintings all ready for you!
Thanks for Joining me for day 20 of my Choosing Courage : My 100 Day writing Project. You can check out the other posts here.
If you have ever taken a history class you have heard the phrase “History Repeats Itself”. The premise behind this is that if we can’t learn from what has happened before us we will make the same mistakes OVER and OVER again.
It’s a Biblical principle too. We can see it in the book of Judges as well. It’s an ongoing cycle of Isreal doing what was right in their own eyes. They walked away from God-Consequences came- they cried out for help- God sent a judge to deal with it- and then Isreal did the whole cycle all over again. They didn’t learn and they just kept doing the same thing…..
And then I landed on these verses in Romans…
Applying this principle to another problem
Hmmmm. Then I got to thinking about some discussions I have had over the last few years. People who wanted to dismiss the Old Testament We think ‘oh that’s not for now”. Remember I mentioned Judges- well we live in a world where we are “doing what is right in our own eyes”. We are not following what God wants for us! And we need to be aware that consequences are heading our way.
Then I was talking with a group of people and I referenced a The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. and a great majority of the group had no idea who C.S. Lewis was…a short time later I was talking about Corrie ten Boom. Corrie and her family were Christians in Poland during World War II and they hid and smuggled Jews out of Poland to protect them from Nazi’s who wanted to wipe out the Jews. Corrie and her family were arrested and sent to concentration camps. Her sister and father die in the concentration camps but Corrie survived. Her influence changed many people. And she died a hero of the faith. As I conversed with more and more Christians I began to realize that many Christians today had no idea about their Christian forefathers. Those who lived and breathed their walk with Jesus and died faithful servants of Jesus.
Another problem
In the same breath I hear Christians become disillusioned by “popular Christians” of today who make poor choices, walk away from their faith and even renounce their faith. We get frustrated and angry that they are human… I mean REALLY? I must confess I felt completely let down by a popular Christian author from my college years when He made some horrible decisions a few years ago. Was everything I had chosen to do because of his books a lie? NO. because my heart was right before God. My life and decisions are not dictated by his decisions. He is responsible to God for them, not me. Despite his renouncing of his faith God still uses those books and articles.
My Big Question
Why can’t we take the lives of those who have gone before us and died faithful servants and study them and learn what helped them to remain faithful to God? We mistake them for being irrelevant because they lived in a different time- a different decade or a different century. And yet at we live in the 21st century and in the current state of the world what better time to dive into the stories of those who have been martyred for their faith!
So after I made these realizations I decided to do something about it.
3 Things I am going to do to change my perspective and the world around me.
#1- I am going to do everything in my power to share the lives of those who have gone before her with my kids and last week we started to read the Christian Heres Then and Now Series books we got the family for Christmas this past year. We are starting with Hudson Taylor -Missionary to China.
#2- I am going to learn as much as I can about those who have won victories for my faith. Yes because of them I have freedoms and I can have courage to move forward in my day to day walk with Jesus. If Corrie ten Boom can forgive the concentration camp soldier who mistreated her I can forgive the person who snapped at me for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
#3. I am going to take what I learn and not only impact my children with it but I am also going to let it bleed into my daily conversations just like I do about the Bible. I will let it impact my writing here too. I am going to share it as often as possible.
Your invitation to help stop history from repeating itself.
And if you want to join me on this journey I would love to have you! I suggest you start with the The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. It’s a 7 book series that is fictional but also allegorical for the Christian faith. It’s a fun read and the kids love it too. We have gone through it twice with our kids.
And don’t ignore the authors Of today- I have my favorites of those too. but let’s not neglect those heres who have gone fore us. And be super careful that whomever you are learning about not to elevate them to the status of God. Only God himself deserves that place. They are only human after all and will let us down.Let’s help History not to repeat itself on our watch.
And thank you for joining me for Day 19 on my Choosing Courage 100 day writing project. Feel free to check out the other days HERE
Struggles, we all have them. I listed 7 common ones in the image above but let’s be honest we have a whole lot more struggles than those 7 listed. But these 7 we have all dealt with at some point or another or at least most of them.
Struggles- Why can’t we be gracious?
As a pastor’s wife I have seen what struggles can do to people AND what people can do to those who have struggles. It’s easy to sit back and pass judgement on people for the struggles they are facing. There can be any number of reason’s we face struggles And we aren’t going to delve into them. Maybe that’s a post for a later date or maybe not.
If we all have struggles then why do we feel the need to pass judgement for those who share their struggles with us? I think the first one is PRIDE- We think we are better because we can “handle it” better than someone else. We make it is spiritual gift to be able to handle struggles on our own. (AHEM- just an FYI IT isn’t one). I think the #2 reason is we are afraid of being judged for sharing our struggles and I think the third reason plays into the second- we are so insecure about our struggles that we have to pick on people with more visible struggles that our own.
Lat’s put and end to the Masquerade
Casting Crowns has a great song about this very subject it’s called Stained Glass Masquerade.
[Verse 1] Is there anyone that fails Is there anyone that falls Am I the only one in church today Feeling so small Because when I take a look around Everybody seems so strong I know they’ll soon discover That I don’t belong So I tuck it all away, like every thing’s okay If I make them all believe it, maybe I’ll believe it too So with a painted grin, I play the part again So everyone will see me the way that I see them
[Chorus] Are we happy plastic people Under shiny plastic steeples With walls around our weakness And smiles to hide our pain? But if the invitation’s open To every heart that has been broken Maybe then we close the curtain On our stained glass masquerade
[Verse 2] Is there anyone who’s been there? Are there any hands to raise? Am I the only one who’s traded In the altar for a stage? The performance is convincing And we know every line by heart Only when no one is watching Can we really fall apart But would it set me free If I dared to let you see The truth behind the person That you imagine me to be? Would your arms be open? Or would you walk away? Would the love of Jesus Be enough to make you stay?
[Chorus] Are we happy plastic people Under shiny plastic steeples With walls around our weakness And smiles to hide our pain? But if the invitation’s open To every heart that has been broken Maybe then we close the curtain On our stained glass masquerade
[Chorus] Are we happy plastic people Under shiny plastic steeples With walls around our weakness And smiles to hide our pain? But if the invitation’s open To every heart that has been broken Maybe then we close the curtain On our stained glass masquerade
[Outro] Is there anyone that fails Is there anyone that falls Am I the only one in church today Feeling so small
“With walls around our weakness, And smiles to hide our pain?”
It’s easy when people smile. It makes us feel good. But when people don’t smile we begin to feel uneasy…it makes us uncomfortable. I can’t tell you the number of times I have hugged people in tears on any given Sunday morning because of whatever was going on in their lives at the time. You name it it was cried over…and on those same Sunday’s I have heard or been told “You just need to smile. ”
I’m sorry but no. You can have the joy of Jesus and be broken all at the same time. We as Christians do not need to live a lie. We can AND should share our broken places and grieve them openly. BUT we should not stay there. It may take weeks or months because there are many stages of grief and pain we need to work through. And THAT takes some time.
Our Struggles are our Struggles but they are not our identity.
We are victors not victims. Yes we need to be open about our struggles. BUT they aren’t our identity. Over the next few weeks I will be sharing my journey in learning all about my identity in Christ. This journey has taken my entire life and will continue until the day I die. I have in no way arrived in my full understanding of my identity in Christ. I am learning something new every single day.
Story time
A while back a friend was really struggling with something. This friend posted about it on facebook and I saw a mutual friend write back a snarky reply. It was inappropriate and hurtful or at least I hurt for my friend because I had been walking this journey with this friend for a long time.
Fast forward some months later I found myself dealing with a very similar (not the same just similar ) problem as my friend. I was having sleepless nights due to some pretty sever anxiety. I had only ever experienced anxiety one other time in my life as a young mom when I was given a medication and that is the side effect it had on me. Fast forward 10 years later and I had just gone through some major medical Trauma.
I lay in bed at night every night for weeks heart beating out of my chest…..Head spinning in dizziness, mind going full tilt in all directions and all I could hear echo in my ears- that’s friends rude question on facebook. Their influence, negative as it was , was wreaking havoc on my mental state. I could hear their accusing tone……that snide comment tore right through my heart and guilt set in. I wasn’t well.
The reality of my anxiety
The comment? ” What are you holding onto? ” Now I understand that you would have to know the person who made the statement but the truth its that person is very harsh….and even though I hadn’t heard the person say it I had heard that person a dozen times before ask similar questions in condescending tones.
The reality is I wasn’t holding onto to anything. The reality was I was sick and we didn’t even realize just how sick I was. Part of anxiety is that you basically convince yourself you are dying- my heart was racing super fast and I was short of breath…and the list goes on and on.
My reality was Anemia and Iron deficiency. Which causes high heart rates. It causes shortness of breath. It causes Anxiety. In December I had NO detectable iron levels in my blood. Yep you read that right ! N.O.N.E.
There wasn’t any amount of letting go- bible study or prayer that could chase the anxiety away. I know, I tried. I begged .I pleaded. I repented and forgave And yet the anxiety persisted and the guilt grew.
We need to stop being “happy plastic people Under shiny plastic steeples”
We need to stop trying to fix people to make them look the part. We aren’t God. God wants us to love people in the middle of their messes. He will take care of the rest. And we need to realize that the only way people are going to heal- not be fixed is through Jesus! Shiny plastic people don’t have scars- Christ followers do- Jesus does. Jesus in all of his perfectness still has scars in heaven. Jesus isn’t a shiny plastic person, why should we be. In His darkest hour he asked for his friends (the disciples) to keep watch and pray with Him- He was left alone- they slept!
Let’s stop trying to be something that we aren’t and be who we were created to be How about we take the masks off and share the real us with the rest of the world so they can see that even in the midst of our deepest grief and sorrow that we trust Jesus with the mess. It’s easy to trust Jesus when life is easy peasy. It gets real when we trust Him with the hard stuff.
Let’s Check our influence
Let’s be honest that friend never thought that their words would impact anyone else but our friend writing the post but the reality is this: That one person made a negative impact on every person who read their comment. Because Satan uses those negative people to harm others even though they didn’t know another soul in that comment thread. . It’s a ripple effect I. have been teaching for years! One little pebble can send a ripple through the whole pond. And one little question can ripple through the hearts of those nearby.
If you are struggling please know that you are NOT alone. And if someone has told you that they have never had a struggle they are being untruthful. They aren’t being real with you! No one’s perfect we shouldn’t pretend to be and we shouldn’t expect others to put on a smile to make us more comfortable
Share with me your thoughts in the comments below and know that you, my friends are being prayed for!
This is post #18 in my Choosing Courage 100 Day Writing Project. to catch up on the rest click here
Happy Thursday everyone and welcome to this week’s installment of the Joy Dare. I cannot believe it has been 8 months on this journey.
I have found this most helpful in my prayer time. In recent years as I have sought to grow in my prayer time but I always struggled with feeling and knowing I was forgetting important parts of prayer. So I went back to the very simple but effective Acrostic ACTS
ACTS
Adoration (Praise)
Confession (admitting and repenting of sin)
Thanksgiving (Gratitude)
Supplication ( prayer Requests)
I don’t strictly follow these in order though it REALLY helps my scatter brained nature in line. So I just added the Joy dare into the Thanksgiving section of my prayer time
8/27/2021-9/2/2021
Day 27- 3 Gifts New
New Beginnings
New School Year
New Journal to start next week
Day 28- 3 gifts long awaited
New church- still waiting- making closer steps
Soccer season has started
Wrapping up a study
Day 29- A gift one, two, three
One – God to worship and Praise
Two- more days left in August
Three-Planners- school, mobile (as in it goes with me)
Day 30- 3 Gifts small
little changes that change a church culture
words of encouragement- insignificant on their own- powerful when put together
a smile- full of love yet often taken for granted
Day 31- 3 miracles
every new day-to write a part of your Story Lord through it we get to share Jesus with the world
Jesus- everything about him!
flowers- They can withstand storms, poring rain and some can even withstand Cold and snow. They remain beautiful through the storm- what a testament to God’s care
Day 1- 3 Gifts of summer
Adventures with Friends
warm sunny weather
longer days (aka more sunlight)
Day 2-3 gifts cut
Rosie’s haircut she is much cooler now
Family time Cut out of a very Busy Schedule
Paper Scraps cut to make cards
So how about you? What are some of the little things you are thankful this week and bring you great Joy. I know as I get older I am discovering that it’s the simple little things that bring me some of the greatest Joy!
Want more information about Joy Dare or One Thousand Gifts You can check them out on Ann Voskamp’s website.
