I cannot tell you how many times God has whispered something, or led me to read something, that just made me laugh hysterically. He has a sense of humur, of that I am sure.
I believe we often think of God in one form. That of.....well..... GOD. With big'ol capital letters. Yes He is awesome in power, Mighty, Holy, maker of all things, The One true God and Judge of the universe, but He also..... laughs, smiles, and weeps.
It was one of those nights, where things just weren't going my way. Nothing terrible, just trouble finding a good balance in my relationship with my husband. That frustration led me to plaguing doubts about "US". My husband picked up on my attitude and promptly called me out on it. I was frustrated with that because in all honesty, I believed him to be most of the cause. (I know, I know)
Anyhow, he was a little sharp with me, I was a little perturbed with him, and we finally laid down in bed to settle in for sleep. He grabbed his crossword puzzle, I grabbed my Bible (partially just to show him what an AWESOME Christian I was).
I flipped around the Word of God, honestly saying to myself "Maybe I will read a Psalm....uhhhh... *sigh*....I have read the Psalms soooo many times before....*again another sigh*. What new thing could God possible say in these old words of David that will speak to me tonight?"
So I decided to read the Psalm I was on, while in my heart debating telling my hubby how I really feel.....
This is what God said through Psalm 4 starting in verse 4
" 4 Tremble and do not sin;
when you are on your beds,
search your hearts and be silent.
5 Offer the sacrifices of the righteous
and trust in the LORD.
6 Many, LORD, are asking, “Who will bring us prosperity?”
Let the light of your face shine on us.
7 Fill my heart with joy
when their grain and new wine abound.
8 In peace I will lie down and sleep,
for you alone, LORD,
make me dwell in safety. "
Of course the whole Psalm is wonderful, and the Lord was gracious to tell me that He will work it all out, and that through trusting in Him I could sleep in peace....BUT....I am CERTAIN the part He was MOST wanting me to read was the the part where it said "In your bed search your heart and BE SILENT". hahahaha
Our God is awesome, but don't forget he pulls no punches in letting us know how to behave :)
I love Him.
Lord, Help me daily to hold my tongue, trust in your, and sleep in peace. Amen
Who says God's not funny?
Muffin Tin Meals.
I love love love Muffin Tin Meals! I found this site for Muffin tin Mom. She makes all kinds of yummy looking meals for her kids using muffin tins! Although I do not frequent her site as much as I would like, I do pop on there from time to time and I always come away totally inspired to make our life a little more fun :)
Go and see what fun things you can find to fill the little spaces in your muffin tin. You know that it sits lonely in your cupboard, just waiting to be used.
Here is a Muffin tin Meal I did today for my kiddos. It was an in-between kind of meal, where the kids were hungry but we were still pretty far from the next meal.
*the top row is all natural Pita chips.
*the second row is a section of hummus, followed by peeled and chopped carrots
*the last row is sliced apples, followed by walnuts with honey :)
So what would you put in your Muffin Tins? I would love to hear your ideas, and also would love to steal said ideas for myself ;)
I am thinking tomorrow will be sliced raw veggies, cheese, and ranch :)
Kids.
I found these pictures on my camera today and all I can say is...... sometimes we are a very silly family :P
(those are socks my Grandma got me for Christmas and my kids just think they are too hilarious)
Our new house.
OK, true, we are only in escrow, but I am sure it will all come through OK and as of April 4th we will live in this house =)
It's not anything super spectacular, but we are in love. This house means...
*stability
*adoptions
*hospitality
And so much more! We are excited to move and excited to know we will not be moving for several more years to come. I am also excited to PAINT! The whole house is a beautiful blank canvas! Everything is painted white and ready for me to add my kind of color!
We are truly blessed. Our family is doing well, we are moving forward in our plans to start adoptions, my husband has a great job, and we are going to move out of our cozy apartment and into an adorable house :) Life is good
Being Thankful.
I read the post, which I am about to share with you, tonight. I read it as I sat thinking about my little daughter struggling all day with a high fever. High fevers may happen a lot in some of your houses, but in our house, we haven't had this high a fever in well over a year or so. I forget sometimes how quickly things change. How we can go from well to sick in a flash. The car accident 14 months ago taught us that. We were happily driving around getting to know the town we had just moved to 6 days prior, and were struck in the blink of an eye. My daughters daily headaches, and my neck pain are a constant reminder of how things change. YET, when do stop and realize that TODAY is the day to be thankful for every breath we take? For every moment spent with our precious children? Today is the day of our salvation! Not our "spiritual birthday" five years ago......TODAY. Today is the day to be thankful for our children, not tomorrow, when they may be in a better mood, or less needy.....TODAY. This is a reminder I need soooo often. I am realizing more and more the need of thankfulness and gratefulness in the Body of Believers. "Let it start with me Lord. Amen."
Please read this beautiful blog post on the subject. Here is a snippet...
"How to Mend All Your Broken Places.
A silly little turn of my foot in a game of charades gone ridiculously wrong.
And the bones in my ankle disengage, swell my foot like a bluing balloon, and I writhe quiet and smile thinly.
Because really, aren’t I one of those women who comes unglued and broken only a thousand times a day?
The heart of this world’s fractured and we all bear the fault lines.
I ice my throbbing ankle hill with a ziplock bag of melting snow.
Hobble around with the laundry for days.
I’m laying on the couch with my foot propped high over my head, when a friend emails, “Pray for me? I can manage the nausea and exhaustion. It’s the mouth sores that are the hardest.”
She’s the mother of five young children.
“I’m just not sure how I’ll be able to do my job to take care of my babies while on these drugs every day.”
She’s on an aggressive, determined round of three chemo drugs."
To read more click here and be changed.
The Child Training Bible.
Coming soon to a home near you.....
UPDATE: My sweet friend Mindy who came up with this idea has created a blog JUST FOR the Child Training Bible! What's great is that anyone can make one! Check it out here!
The idea for this Child Training Bible cam from my dear friend Mindy. There are several woman in my group of friends who desired to train our children with scripture, not with every passing wind of doctrine or the newest parenting book.
And although the book "Don't Make ME Count to Three!" by Ginger Plowman, played a role in the inspiration of this, this bible is a guide to scripture and nothing else. I can't wait to post more on this soon. Until then, it's late and I must go to bed :)
I Can't Complain.
I love when you ask someone how they are doing and they say "I can't complain...". Then they go on and say how much the Lord has blessed them recently. I can't help but think to myself though...."well I can". Complain, that is. I mean we always CAN complain, we just choose NOT TO. And really that is why I believe the scriptures encourage us to rejoice always, because God knows, WE CAN COMPLAIN. Even when we have no real good reason. I had been feeling very "complainy" (is that a word?) dealing with my bitterness and selfishness. But since God has been so faithful in helping me grow in maturity and humility recently I have realized that complaining is a symptom of old habits. Habits I am ever so eager to be rid of.
I feel like women sometimes need an "I can't complain...." holiday. Like when anyone asks you how you are, answer with "I can't complain....really. My husband is not a perfect but man he tries. My kids are healthy and are growing their cute little sinful selves into maturity and wisdom more and more everyday. I have good friends and a great church. God has saved me from my sinful self and right now I am going to go eat a delicious meal and maybe later I will make myself a cup of coffee, just because I can"
W O W. What would our faces look like if a woman answered that way? When asked "How are you?".
Could you imagine if we all just listed off all the things we have NOT to complain about? It would be contagious! Sadly, complaining is also contagious. One woman starts and next thing you know we are all trading woes.
Don't get me wrong, I believe there is totally a time and place for that! I mean we all need a good woman to hear our heartaches and failures from time to time.
But for some of us that's ALL the time. As Christians, this should not be.
To conclude, I am doing well, and although I would like sometimes to complain about my PCOS, and infertility, and blah blah blah. I won't. I won't because.....
I serve a God who is gracious, forgiving, amazing, and patient.
I have a good man for a husband who loves God.
I have two of the best kids in the world.
I am not bedridden and have fairly good health.
I have access to great healthy food and can actually afford to buy it.
I am living in a very cute apartment and I am even about to buy a house.
I have a car to transport me to the store, to church, and to my friends.
I am blessed to be able to stay home and homeschool my children. They are more fun than I ever imagined!!
Lord, help us all complain less, and serve more!
