I was thinking tonight about how excited I should be about being in my hometown for Thanksgiving. We have traveled back this way once or twice for thanksgiving in the last 6 years, but for the most part, we have lived too far away to come. My mother LOVES Thanksgiving and always does it up big, so there was never a chance at my family coming to visit me during this special holiday.
However, as I was driving home tonight from cooking with my mom at her big beautiful house, I realized something. As much as I love my family, and I do love them tons, I couldn't wait to get home to MY OWN little family in our cozy little apartment. I pulled into my apartment (just down the street from my moms) and thought how grateful I am to be with my husband and kids. We have lived a pretty hectic life since my husband and I have gotten married. We have dealt with YEARS of separation due to military service, and have moved more times than I care to count. I realize how true it is when God says "And he shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife". My husband and I have had our issues for sure, but the one thing we have been able to do well is leave our fathers and mothers and cleave to one another. My husband, my daughter, my son, and I are so very very close. Wherever we go, we make it because of God, and because of the blessing of being a family unit. We are small, but we are strong in the Lord. So tonight, as I reflect on Thankfulness to the Lord, I realize that being here in Cali near my mom and brother and sister, is not what I am most thankful for. It is being where God has placed me, WITH my precious family. "Thank you God that my husband is not in a foreign country this year. Thank you Father for granting us health, that we are not confined to hospitals or beds, and thank you God for healing a broken marriage and making all things new. Lord please be with my Dad in Oklahoma, bless him this day and open His eyes to see and know you. Please show all my family their great need for your Son. Amen.
My own family UNIT.
Using what you got.
I have found that with the ongoing issues concerning the food we eat, I am finding it more and more necessary to fork out much more money to buy healthy, fresh, organic, and preferably local foods. This is not a cheap task. It does bite my bank account quite a bit more than my old shopping days at Walmart did. But with information that has been brought out about what exactly is in our foods today, I find I have little, to no choice, in the matter. Health is far more important than almost any other thing we can buy. We are just so used to spending so little on cheap packaged foods, with our coupons, that when we see the price of "organic" or natural/fresh foods, we panic and say "sheesh!! that is double what my -fill--in--the--blank--- cost!
But I digress......
The topic of this post is about saving money by using what you have. OK ladies, just so I don't feel totally alone and guilty, raise your hands if you ever let any good food just sit and go bad and are forced then to throw it away. Or how about, raise your hands if you throw away leftovers because you just don't want o go through the trouble of saving it and trying to re-eat at another time. Well since I cannot see your "hands" I will assume that I am not alone in this. I cannot even count how many times I bought those good veggies only to put off using them because....well....everything always looks more appetizing to cook and eat than healthy stuff. Can I also admit....*gulp*....that I also throw things out on a pretty consistent basis because I refuse to plan my meals? OK now, stop shaking your head in disgust, I am just not that kind of person. Organization is a fun "hobby" for me, but it is not something I like to do on a regular basis. For instance, I love to sit down and organize a messy room. I just don't want to do the work it takes to keep it from getting messy again. Are you getting what I am saying? I love to organize a project, but I just cant seem to organize my life.
Soooo..... it's baby steps for me. Instead of telling myself that I have to organize everything, I have simply challenged myself to do one thing. USE WHAT I GOT!
See this is all going to tie together soon, just watch ;)
So I figure that with the organic and natural foods prices being what they are in Southern California, I have to do something to keep the costs at bay. One way I am doing that is by making sure NOTHING goes to waste. If we make lunch and have something left over, it gets used in an "in-between" snack, put into the freezer for a later date, or put into the next meal. Simple as that. Have I mentioned that I like simple? ha!
I have to say I really really really like how this is turning out. I even get to use my creative side in my cooking! Almost daily I look at my food and say (for example)"what can I make with this ground chicken, my leftover vegetables, that box of crackers that needs to get eaten before they go stale, and all those organic potatoes I bought in bulk from Azure?"
That leads to making a "Shepherds pie/casserole with crackers cooked on top". Was it the best thing ever? Not really. Was it culinary excellence? Ummm not much. Was it a pretty darn good tasting meal that used what I had, filled my family up, and made enough to use for two meals? you betcha!!
Truly though, I challenge you to look in those cupboards, freezers, and pantries, and get busy cooking some yummy and interesting meals.
For more info on the state of our foods, you can watch some of the following documentaries...( I do not agree with all things in any of these movies, but they definitely make an excellent point about nutrition, and what is lacking in our foods at the super market)
1~Food Inc.
2~Corn King
3~Food Matters
4~Fresh
5~The Future of Food
P.S. most of these are available on Netflix.
Are we really Pro-life?
I know I haven't posted in a while, but that is due to a fantastic thing happening to me.......no longer addicted to the Internet, yay! No but seriously, my drive for Internet has decreased so dramatically in the past month that really all I want to do is hop on and check my email, and then hop right off again. It's been great, and my kids are really appreciating the all the fantastic cooking that has come from less time on the computer :) Since the first few weeks of our move transition were so stressful, I am taking time to do more things that bring me joy, i.e., taking my kids to the park, doing a bible study (Kay Arthur: Lord I Want to Know You has been great so far. It's right where I am at in my walk), cooking good healthy meals, and reading lots and lots of great Christian fiction :)
Sooooo, now that you know why I have been blogging ridiculously little lately, let's dive straight in to a controversial subject.
On to the topic at hand.
Are we pro-life? In asking that question I am going to present to you a scenario.
Imagine an Abortion clinic. It has a 6ft chain link fence around it, so that Christian protesters have to stand far enough away from the clients coming in to get their abortion.
A young woman pulls up in a beat up old car that spits and sputters and squeals until it comes it a jerky stop at the clinic. She slowly, sadly, but determinedly gets out, and begins to walk to the door when she hears a woman yell from the fence,
Protester: "Don't kill your baby! Please, God loves children, and He will provide for you, just trust Him!"
Young unwed teen: "Are you a Christian, lady?"
Protester:"Yes ma'am I am. Please choose life, God will work out all the details. He loves children and He loves you"
Young unwed teen: "Do you have a husband? A house? A car that works? Does your husband have a job?"
Protester: "Yes I do, actually."
Young unwed teen: "How many children do you have?"
Protester: "One boy and one girl......why do you ask?"
Young unwed mother: "Is that all you plan to have"
Protester: " OH yes, we decided our family was complete and my husband got a vasectomy 4 years ago. Again, why do you ask??"
Young unwed teen: "So your telling ME, a non believer, with no husband, no money, and no house, I should trust in "God" to provide for me when it comes to children, and to welcome that unwanted child into my life with open arms because God loves children. And YOU a Christian who trusts in the God I do not know, who has a husband, and money and a home, and a car that works, wont even DARE let the chance of conception happen because your so scared of having more."
Protester: "............choose life.............please....."
Young unwed teen: (as she turns to walk back to the abortion clinic she says over her shoulder) "yeah right......Hypocrite. IF you can't even trust him to take care of you and more children, why should I?"
She rings the bell and an Abortion nurse opens it for her. As the nurse is letting her in, she gets a glimpse of a different young lady among the protesters, and mumbles to herself "didn't I see that young woman in here a few weeks ago to pick up her birth control pills?"
So I ask you again, are you REALLY pro-life?
Let's be clear and make no confusion about my heart on this. I am not saying at all that if you use birth control of any kind, you are pro-abortion. I know many different families with many different views on children, and I know how much each one of them loves the Lord. I try and support all my friends in their personal decision that are between them, their husbands, and God.
But I cannot get away from the hypocrisy of it all when it comes to the pro-life movement in general.
Some of the women I knew, who I KNOW are pro-life, were so horrified when they found out my husband and I were getting a reversal and decided to let God bless us with more children. As many as He wanted actually. They were absolutely disgusted. How can I translate that with their STAUNCH pro-life stance? I just can't.
I volunteered as a counselor/client advocate at a crisis pregnancy resource center and all the while, my hope was that I could encourage, love on, and bring hope in the name of Christ to some of these hurting women. Not all women who came in wanted abortions, some just wanted a free pregnancy test. But some, whom I will never forget, where hurting, and scared, and desperately wanted to keep the baby, but didn't know how to make it work. They reminded me so much of myself at nineteen, pregnant, unmarried and scared to death , when I too had to walk in to a crisis pregnancy center because I couldn't even afford the ten dollar test. I remember the feelings of fear, hurt, and joy that you experience all at the same time when you find out your are expecting a VERY unplanned ill-timed pregnancy.
So I would comfort these women, and tell them about resources in the area who can help them with food, housing, and medical care. Then I would take them to the back room and give them maternity clothes so they could finally get out of their size 5 jeans that are being held together by a rubber band. I wanted so badly for them to know the love and peace of God. The peace that I had found. That is, in every area BUT children. My husband had a vasectomy when our second was only 2 weeks old. We loved the freedom that came with unprotected sex with no complications of having to deal with another pregnancy.
As I look back now I am filled with shame over my hypocrisy. Had any one of those women looked at me and asked "Do you trust God to take care of you if you get pregnant?". I would not have been able to answer.
Thank God that he has shown me the folly of my thinking in that area.
Some people reading this may think my judgments are harsh upon women unwilling to bear any more children for God. But the opposite is true. I RELATE! I remember the decision to get that vasectomy. I remember being sick my whole pregnancy, I remember my husband and I fighting so much, we walked the edge of divorce on more occasions than I could count. I remember feeling like, "I cannot do this again!"
But it was earthly, temporary and drenched in fear, not faith. It would not stay that way for long. Soon God would grow me and teach me to trust in Him. Soon my barren womb would cry out for life, only to be told every month, NO. My husband would also come under the same conviction and reverse what we had done.
I sit here now, 2 years after that reversal with no child to hold, no baby for my womb to nourish and grow, as it begs me each month to do. I grieve as all the women before me have grieved over infertility. Only mine was self inflicted. Fertility was a gift that I took for granted. Something I once had, but we broke.
BUT AT LEAST now I can say honestly to any woman who asks, I am pro-life. I will welcome any child God chooses to give me. And if you choose not to raise your child, I will gladly welcome that child into my home also.
In closing I say with love, don't just be pro-life in your politics.....be pro-life in your homes.
Kids Room.
OK, so a while back (about a year and a half ago) I typed out a post about how great it was for kids to share a room. I still think its great, and I think it teaches a lot about life when they do. However, a few months after that post was written we moved into a MUCH larger house that had 4 bedrooms (and only four people in our family). So we decided this would be a good time to let the kids have their own bedrooms. They did, they enjoyed it.......it didn't last long. Before we knew it (9 months later) we were moving again and this time from a 2000 square foot house with a garage, to a 1000 square foot apartment with two bedrooms. Needless to say the transition from sharing to not sharing, is way easier then not sharing to sharing. Did that make any sense what so ever? Probably not. What I am saying is that "stuff" accumulates when you have a whole room to fill. But when you try and take two filled rooms and attempt to condense that into one small room, things have to go. We were able to get rid of a lot of stuff and in the end the kids room ended up looking halfway decent instead of cluttered with things exploding out of every crevice. Although I do have to say the room does hold a remarkable amount of "stuff".
So how do you do it? Very carefully :)
And since the two who are sharing are opposites in gender, one got to put flowers on the wall.......
And the other got to put dinosaur stickers on the door. See, Mom's can solve all the worlds big problems.
I'm Back! on the Blog that is
OK OK OK it's been a ridiculous amount of time away from Blogging, I know. Really though this move has kicked my tushie (is that a word?). You would think that after the 12 moves in the (not quite) 9 years I have been married, I would have this thing down pat. Funny thing is, moves are kind of like babies, each one is different. Sometimes, I jump right in, meet new people, unpack and decorate all in the first two weeks. Other times, like now, I seem to live out of boxes for weeks on end, and not make one new friend for months. This seems to be one of those moves. Well, we have been in our new place for several weeks now, and its going slowly, but I am becoming adjusted to it more and more everyday. I really need to plug into a homeschool group soon though because I could use some friends out here for sure. However, what I need more than anything is Fellowship with other believers. We have yet to find a church that we truly want to stay in and connect with. We have visited two and are fairly certain, we will not return to either one. We really do not like "church shopping" and I do not consider that what we are doing, but you have to be careful to attend a church that will lift you up, and challenge you to stand firm in Christ, not water him down to nothing more than a few feel good sayings.
ohhhh I am sorry, that was a soap box moment wasn't it?
Anywhosy, here are some pictures of this kids (because what blogging mom doesn't love to fill in lost time with pictures of the kids:P). We went with my brother, his wife, and their adorable twin baby boys to a pumpkin patch. And while it was beautiful, I could have done without all the grotesque Halloween decorations. All in all though it was an excellent day, which we all needed very badly.
ENJOY! and have a beautiful night!
Here is my trusty duo behind those nifty wooden prop cut-outs
And here they are again behind yet another wooden prop cut-out (oh wait..there's more)
*insert evil laugh here*
Here is my handsome boy next to a very exciting tractor. We take very dramatic pictures, can't you tell?
Here is my adorable brother walking hand in hand with my girl. One of the few boys she will let come within ten feet of her :)
Oh here we are, just one more wooden prop cut-out picture because we love you all so much. (that and we sincerely lack creativity) 
Lastly, here is my hubby holding my precious nephew Brighton.
Welcome to the Hotel California.
Hahahaha I laugh just looking at that title. Well we are officially in California now. We are staying at my mom's while we wait on our stuff to get here. We saw our condo today for the first time, and while it is half the size of our previous place, I feel so very blessed to have it. I have already formed an attachment to the little place, and I can't wait to move my stuff in.
About the title....I was on my way to California and was blessed to be able to stop and stay the night with Celee (who write the blog Miscellaneous Musings of a 5xmom) and her family. It was a great stay and we had a great time staying up late and talking it up. One thing we were talking about was how Jake and I NEVER thought we would return to California. When we left 5 and a half years ago we assumed we would plant roots somewhere and not leave. Things turned out a little differently and now we find ourselves back. Celee's husband suggested we play the song "Welcome to the Hotel California" as we drive into Cali. We laughed because the lyrics say it all. Here are the last lines of the song Hotel California,
"Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door
I had to find the passage back
To the place I was before
'Relax,' said the night man,
'We are programmed to receive.
You can check-out any time you like,
But you can never leave!'
hahahaha. It's funny because when we left years ago, we thought to ourselves, "if we don't get out now, we never will". We honestly said that.
Now though, things are different. We have God. We have other Christians we will seek out and lean on (a step we really didn't know to do before when we were young Christians here). Even our family is different now, and we are all getting better about avoiding the drama that used to prevail at family gatherings.
I have to say, the beautiful 78 degree weather is helping me in all my sadness of missing my dear precious sisters in Christ back in Lawton. Praising God for the good things in the midst of this change.
pictures of the road trip soon to come :)
Parenting advice worth passing along…
Parenting advice worth passing along…
You can follow the link above to read a short but very profound point on Parenting. My favorite quote from the post was "As I near this final chapter of having kids in the home, I realize more and more that the overall goal in parenting is to emphasize heart inhabitation (a Spirit-led life) more than behavior modification. It’s not about raising “good kids,” but rather “godly kids.”
So true! I am glad I am learning this now while my kids are still fairly young. It is so hard to practice because it does take a lot of effort, and consistency, and love and patience, and on and on and on it goes. Which is hard on the "weak" flesh that we walk in, isn't it? But the fruits of the labor is great indeed! I am still learning so much, and changing so much. I have far to go, but I am on my way :)
p.s. Beyond this article, there are a lot of great resources that help encourage parents to teach to the heart of their children, not just modify behavior. Some of those resources are books like "Shepherding your child's heart", "Don't make me count to three!" and the complete audio series by Steve and Teri Maxwell "Encouragement for the homeschooling family" (which by the way is being offered as a "giveaway" at Miscellaneous Musings of a 5x mom so hop on over there and enter!!)
