My 2021 Joy Dare

Posted on by Mary
Dare

Hey All! Who’s upper a little Dare?? I know I know 2019 and 2020 was the word JOY. However during the year 2021 my word is intentional, so I am focusing on INTENTIONAL GRATITUDE and Gratitude produces JOY!

So here’s the thing. In the past I have hosted a gratitude Challenge every Thursday (aka the Thankfulness challenge) because I believe that thankfulness should happen all year long NOT just November!

And since we are commanded to “give thanks in all things ” (1 Thessalonians 5:18) I decided that for 2021 I would participate in Ann Voskamps Joy Dare which you can find HERE.

Each week on Thursday I will post the weeks prompts with all that I am thankful for., and by the end of the year I should have well over 1,000 gifts to be thankful for (HAHAHA did ya see what I did there…Ann’s book is 1,000 gifts!) Actually I will end up with 1,095 gifts to be exact..

I will also post the image of the prompts though that belongs to Ann NOT ME. You can either join me in spirit and keep track in you journal in the privacy of your own home but I would really love it if you would share your gifts with me in the comments below!

Dare

Let’s get started for the week of January 1-7 2021

January 1- 3 Gifts Heard

  • The deep Rhythmic Breathing of 3 sleeping children.
  • Silence- Stillness as I spend time in God’s Word
  • Sweet murmurs from another child upstairs spending time talking to his dad.

January 2- Inside, outside, on a plate

  • Inside: The woodsy smell of a candle melt adding to the cozy feeling of our home in the early morning.
  • outside- Much needed rain
  • On a plate: many different tastes of the season- I am thankful for the days mostly I can stomach special treats because they are few and far between right now

January 3rd- 3 Graces overheard

  • hearing hubby encourage the kids as we have walked this journey of a health scare
  • the kids being real life friends to each other
  • giggles of joy as tickles and playing are unleashed in the living room.

January 4th- Old, New and Blue

  • Old-Two pretty little victorian doll ornaments- given to me from Nana upon her passing away.
  • New- Tupperware boxes I planned to buy but my friend gifted them to me ” because I needed some encouragement”. Her words not mine.
  • Blue- Extra comfy pajamas gifted to me by my hubby- both pairs are blue both perfectly warm and cozy!

January 5th-something I;m reading, making and seeing

  • Something I’m reading” Prison Letters by Corrie Ten Boom – Can I just say that this book really serves out a healthy dose of perspective.
  • I am not currently making anything- but I did make 6 pairs of PJs for Christmas and 6 neck warmers and there is nothing quite like taking the time to make something for your family.
  • Something I am seeing- our family all snuggled in and gathered for our morning devotions

January 6th- In your bag, in your fridge, and in your heart

  • In your bag- new fresh socks- I should say it’s in my hospital bag that is mostly packed in the kitchen. I have learned that in my new season I must be prepared and new socks for the hospital is amazing- sort are your own pajamas!!!
  • In your Fridge- a meal prepared in love by thoughtful friends.
  • in your heart- words of encouragement- those spoken in love to build up NOT spoken as a teaching moment.

January 7th- 3 Graces from people you love

  • a funny card from a friend- only they can make you laugh like that!
  • random check-ins and being asked how are you really doing?
  • Truth spoken in a moment of frustration at life’s circumstances- to heal.The point is to encourage. The point is to encouraged build unto show they really care- And it works!

How about you? Are you up for the Dare? Interested in One Thousand Gifts? You can check it out HERE

Happy Homemaker – Happy 2021

Posted on by Mary
2021

Happy New Year and Happy 2021!!!

The weather outside is::::

Yucky. Yesterday we got some snow- it was downright nasty!! today is just gray and cold

On the breakfast plate this morning::::

coffee and I attempted an egg white sandwich…it was a nice thought.

As I look outside my window::::

A winter wonderland. everything covered in a few inches of fresh snow.

As I look around the house::::

Generally clean. Christmas decorations are still up but its the goal for this week to get them down.

What I’m wearing today::::

Teal comfy pants -because that’s all I can stand (see post from New Year’s Day)

Currently reading::::

  • Intentional Gratitude Study (in my Bible)
  • Prison Letters
  • Prince Caspian
  • Joy for The Journey
  • S. H. A. P. E.

On the TV for this week::::

YouTube Art Videos


On the menu this week::::


Monday – Leftovers
Tuesday – Soup
Wednesday  – Burgers and fries 
Thursday – Tortellini Soup
Friday – Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole
Saturday –   Sunday –  Taco Salad

 Something fun to share:::

For 2021 one of the ways I’m being intentional is in my gratitude and here’s how I’m doing it. You can Join me here each Thursday

Favorite photo from the camera::::

2021
pals

Prayers, Inspiration quotes, Devotionals::::

2021

For more Happy Homemaker posts Check out Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

Intentional…..2021 {WORD}

Posted on by Mary

Each Year I choose a word (intentionally). 2019 I choose JOY, and when 2020 rolled around around I felt the innate sense that JOY needed to stay my word for 2020 AFAIN…..hmmmmm….I wonder why. But then December of 2020 rolled around. I try to be intentional with my word each year. Now I am not one to label events to a year and I am not about to do that with this circumstance either. First let’s go back to November, the beginning of November that is.

That’s when I decided what 2021’s Oe word would be……

Intentional

Low and behold I had no idea what in the world was about to happen. We had a great Thanksgiving and first week of December. I was in full swing of planning for 2021. And the very first Bible Study of 2021 was scheduled to be Intentional Gratitude.

And then I woke up the second Wednesday of December and life swirled out of control….(I’m gonna spare you all the extremely gory details) but it involved the first of 3 emergency room visits and life came to a screeching halt.Since that day I have had 3 emergency room visits, 5 Doctor’s visits, 2 emergency procedures, 1 MRI, 1 CAT scan, 2 Ultrasounds, 2 overnight stays in the hospital (that’s 4 total hospital visits total…..and warning TMI moment 11 attempts at…NEVERMIND…..its 11 attempts at something that was excruciatingly painful for me and that is all ya really need to know.

……and I found myself smack in the middle of needing to be intentionally joyful and intentionally grateful because life had me in so much pain that I required Narcotics and Jesus. Yes you read that correctly.

Originally I had areas I “planned” on being intentional in. But I have become ever more aware of how God’s plans are not my plans and His ways are not my ways.

My plan was intentional…

  • gratitude
  • service
  • family time
  • blog
  • home
  • relationship with Jesus
  • hubby
  • relationships with others in general

If you know me some of those things come naturally. Like service- it’s one of my spiritual gifts .

But since all of this has Happened I have had to reconsider some and add others.

  • service for me is an “active” thing- and right now action is not something I can do very much of. So service has taken on a different look- right now it is heavily rooted in prayer and texting and phone calls ( oh wait that’s been a lot of 2020!!!)
  • Taking care of our home has not been something I can do right now. It took all of my strength and energy tp write out our weekly menu and grocery list.
  • My relationship with Jesus has jumped to a whole new level….more on that in a later post.
  • I’ve added intentional “REST”. Sometimes that requires sleep and other times it means stepping away because my body is so exhausted. Exhausted currently holds a whole new meaning for me and I cannot yet put it into words.
  • intentional emotions. Emotions in these situations can spin out of control, especially when extreme pain is wrecking your whole body.
  • Intentional breathing- NO JOKE. when you are in extreme pain you forget to take deep breaths and I am so grateful for a friend who would remind me over the phone to control my breathing and take deep breaths. It’s these practical reminders that can calm a very serious situations.
  • Intentional honesty- admitting where I am at. It’s easy for me to ask people and care for others in their situations but it’s another for me to say here’s where I am at and I’m really struggling with. I have a great group of friends I can do this with. No judgement because they REALLY know me. (They don’t just think they know me or my intentions) and in those moments they are so gracious and willing to share truth not just pat answers. One of them shared a devotional that really reminded me to really think on what I know NOT on what I am feeling. (More on that later too)

In closing

I want to leave you with my verses for the year

intentional

I fully believe that I am in full swing on really learning what these verses mean. It’s one thing to know “what “they mean. I know WHAT they mean but it’s another story to take these verses and fully apply them to our lives- that the difference between knowing and living God’s word (aka is the Bible a textbook to you?) HA another post!! coming your way….I think all of these count as intention blog posts!.

Well Let me know what your word and verses are for the year in the comments below!

Intentionally Social: 3 Reasons Keep Social Media

Posted on by Mary
social

Hubby and I were recently talking about all things social media. I told him that back in April I was ready to delete all social media accounts because I was over it. Then I told him that I was going going to make it so it was just friends and family who lived really far away.

I was really struggling the fairness of social media. not saying thane in particular was behaving in that way…..I was struggling. And yet there was this sense that I needed to wait. On morning I woke up and did my bible study and as I began my day. I reached for my phone and opened facebook and there staring me in the face was the cutest little face……It was a video I had taken of our then 2 year old saying something adorable as always…..I scrolled a little further…….a post from a book that I was reading talking about our relationship with God……I scrolled aliyyle further a post I had written about something I was struggling with……Not about some one else…about me.

I told hubbyThat it hit me right then and there that’s why I have social media……memories. I know I know I said in the image that there were three reasons and there are but the overarching reason is the memories.

Memories- A Recounting of the kids

Man there is NOTHING better than seeing your 4 year old “preaching” or your two year old pulling back his commentary that all girls are duped” when he realizes him mama is a girl *Gasp*

Those memories bring back smiles and giggles from all involved. then there are the hard moments. this moments that might be about a struggle . It’s good for us to remember. God taught the Israelites to set up memorial stones and pillars to remind them of where they had come from.

Memories- the things we have learned

This one is big for me! I read A LOT. I have currently finished 35 books for the year and am working on books 36-41…..I have 4 more waiting in the wings the will jump on that list as soon as something comes off. I also have one book for a launch team that I am waiting to arrive and that will jump on as soon as it arrives. Now I NEVER have shared book numbers here before. It’s not really about how many books I read but I want someway for the info I am putting in to come back in the future.

Like I mentioned above, the memory specifically on facebook will show up every year on that day! and more than once I have needed to see what I’ve shared. It serves as an encouragement as to where I have been and where I am headed

BONUS benefit: When someone writes in the comments that what I have shared has met them where they are and that it was exactly what they needed! that is always a huge blessing to me because THAT means I am not alone in my struggles.

Memories: The things I have written.

One of my biggest regrets over the last few years is deleting the things I have written that have been misinterpreted because it is a reminder of where I have been and what I have struggled with. I have written about some those things here on my blog.

Writing is my outlet and it is for ME. If someone is helped along the way THAT’s fabulous. I always feel so blessed when someone has shared with me about how my writing has changed them.

I have made mistakes too….I have vented…..I have gotten frustrated……but as I have grown I have realized that intentionality is so important. (Stay tuned for another blog post coming up on being intentional). But even in those instances I have learned from those mistakes and grown leaps and bounds. I know that when I am finished with this blog post right now I will go and share it to my social media platforms.

And from there it will get stored in some memory bank and in a year…..and in 10 years and in 20 years this post will come up in my memories and it will serve as a reminder to me …..no one else can see my memories Just me.

Two more benefits of intentionally taming our social media usage:

When I started this blog post a few weeks ago there were only 3 points but since then I have come up with two more important points.

  • Prayer- on more than one occasion in the last few weeks I have seen urgent prayer requests of family/ friends who are going through major issues of some form or another. I hope that our words of encouragement lift them up and bless them and as we pray for them I pray that encourages them as well.
  • And lastly as a ministry family one of the things social media does for us is keep us connected to a) our ministry friends who are far away-even in other countries…..we have ministry friends in Italy, Brazil, Africa, Canada, Ecuador (just to name a few) and then there are those ministry friends all over the country….In many different states. With social media they are only one click away!

I want to challenge you to be intentional! In everything You do!

Happy Homemaker Monday 9-14-2020

Posted on by Mary
monday

HAPPY MONDAY EVERYONE! I generally enjoy Mondays but I woke up this morning feeling like ..”Yep. it’s a Monday”.

Wow I can’t believe it’s been almost a month since we began our homeschooling journey. I know we have homeschooled one kiddo before but all four is a new undertaking. On a whole it has been an enjoyable process with some small hitches.

New York is on it’s decline into full fledged fall weather and some of the trees are beginning to change.

♥♥The Weather♥♥

Our temperatures have finally dropped and I couldn’t be happier.  I am more than ok with 80’s.  

Monday – 63
Tuesday – 67
Wednesday – 76
Thursday – 64
Friday – 56
Saturday – 55
Sunday – 62

♥♥How I am feeling this morning♥♥

I generally wake up Monday mornings feeling like “Yay, It’s a new week, a clean slate to tackle life, This morning I however woke up saying “ugh Allergies.” and just generally UGH. I think I am just tired. Headed to church for my reboot. Hubby is giving me a day to fulfill my Introverted needs 

♥♥On my mind♥♥

All that needs to be done. The new fridge shows up on Wednesday (the old one does after two years (totally bought the service plan this time!!)

♥♥On the breakfast plate♥♥

Hubby made frech toast and bacon

♥♥On my reading pile♥♥

  • A Rose in a Dirch
  • Rose in Bloom
  • Creating a Peaceful Home
  • A horse and His Boy
  • In His Image
  • in All Things
  • The book of Philippians

♥♥On my tv♥♥

Silver Spoons and Hazel

♥♥On the menu this week♥♥

Monday – Sloppy Joes and French fries
Tuesday –
Wednesday – 
Thursday –  
Friday –
Saturday – 
Sunday – 

The menu isn’t completed yet because I have to re-work what I already had to incorporate the food I had to cook from the dead freezer

♥♥From The Camera♥♥

Stop Motion Pictures have over Taken my camera

♥♥Looking around the house♥♥

Well the downstairs is pretty spotless but the upstairs Kinda exploded with all of the stop motions fun

♥♥New recipe I tried last week, or one that we really enjoyed♥♥

Potato and Leek soup. and bread bowls. that was fun. Everyone really enjoyed it  

♥♥To relax this week, I will♥♥

It it my goal to crack open the sketch book and doodle a bit. and finish up my doodling class I’m watching on Skillshare

♥♥Something I want to share♥♥

Nothing really

♥♥On my prayer list♥♥  

Family and friends who are going through stuff (sorry can’t really share). our church. our country and the world we live in.

For more Happy Homemaker posts Check out Diary of a Stay at home Mom

And you can check out come of my other Happy HomemakerPosts by clicker HERE