Relishing the Ordinary

It was an ordinary evening.  I was unloading the dishwasher while dinner was heating up on the stove.  My 15-month-old was “helping” me, while my 5-year-old ran around the kitchen like a wild Indian, playing with his new ball.  My husband was in the other room spending time with our 3-year-old daughter.

I stopped to take it all in, and I realized I was having the time of my life!

It wasn't a special holiday.  Everything that was going on was very ordinary, but I was enjoying myself immensely!

I could have this much joy every day if I would only choose to.

I don't need to wait for something special to happen to enjoy  life.  I can choose to enjoy every moment.

When I'm cooking an “ordinary” supper, I can stop and thank the Lord that I have food to prepare for my family and a stove on which to prepare it.

When I'm doing an “ordinary” dishwasher unloading, I can be thankful I have the luxury of owning a dishwasher.

When I'm changing an “ordinary” diaper I can be thankful for these little ones God has entrusted to me.

If I stop and think about the blessings God has given me, the ordinary things seem so much more special.

Just since that evening a few days ago, I have tried to stop and think throughout the day about God's blessings and to make a conscious choice to enjoy what He has given me – not just on the special days.

What will you enjoy today, my friend?  The smell of a Christmas candle?  The sound of Christmas music on the radio?  The love of your family on this ordinary day?  The pretty things God has given you to decorate your home?

Stop.  Look.  Listen.  Enjoy.

Everything we have is a gift from God.  He loves us, and has given us “richly all things to enjoy” (1 Timothy 6:17).

So let's enjoy what He's given.

Free Time Management E-book (Highly Recommended!)

Update:  The price is now up to $2.99, but still very worth it in my opinion!

Tell Your Time by Amy Lynn Andrews is currently free on Amazon.  If you've never read this e-book, I highly recommend you do so.   This is one of the most helpful books I've ever read on the subject of time management.

If you don't have a Kindle, you can still get the e-book for free, then download one of these apps to read it on your computer or another device that you own.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you all have an enjoyable weekend as you meditate on the goodness of God.

O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.  Psalm 34:8

To The Point of Exhaustion

Last night we finished up Missions Conference at my church.

Having grown up all my life in good churches as well as attending Bible College, I've been involved with approximately 32 Missions Conferences.

If I haven't surrendered my life to the Lord's work by now, I'm a pretty sad case.  The truth is, I've given my life to God a long time ago – to go wherever He wants me to go and do whatever He wants me to do.

Every time I attend a Missions Conference, my heart is burdened for all the people around the world who do not know Jesus, and who do not have someone to tell them about Him.  My heart is stirred to work harder towards telling those I already know about His love.

This year was no different, and I thought, “Lord, what would you have me to do?”  many times throughout the services.

God answered in one specific way long after the final service had ended last night.  We were home and getting ready for bed.  We were all worn out, and naturally I wanted to get into bed as soon as possible.

But my husband and I could sense that the children needed some attention from Mommy and Daddy.  They had been rushed through the days of this past week to make sure everything was ready for church on time.  Daddy came in the door from work at the last minute every night, and we would all hurry out the door.  We enjoyed some fellowship with the missionaries after the services every night and then we would hurry back and make a mad dash for bed to get as much sleep as possible before another busy day arrived.

Last night we really felt that, as tired as we were, we should take the time to play with them, give them some tickles and cuddles, sing some songs, and just re-charge their “love batteries”.

Then it was off to bed.  My oldest, who always seems to be high need when it comes to how much attention he gets, asked me to sing him a song.  Thinking of how exhausted I was and how I had already “paid my dues” by playing with him, I started to say “Not tonight.”

But that's when the Holy Spirit spoke to me.  “You go to Missions Conference and tell me that you'll do whatever I ask you to do.  You sing the song that says you'll “spend and spare not” when it comes to how much you'll invest in people.  You've said that you're willing to minister to people even when it's exhausting.  Well, here's your chance.  Here's a little soul that needs your ministry, and even though you're exhausted, you need to keep going.  You can't give up just because you're tired.”

Wow!  My heart was challenged to give my everything to this ministry of being a “keeper at home”.  That is truly the primary thing God has called me to do.

It might seem more glamorous to work to the point of exhaustion when it's something “important” like being in a “real” ministry.  But if we were to ask someone in the ministry, I would imagine they'd say it's not exactly more fun to be called in the middle of the night by a drug addict threatening to kill you than it is to sing a song to your kid before bed.

I have been giving up way too easily.  I have been so concerned about the souls in my community and around the world to whom I'd like to minister that I've failed to see just how important these little souls are.

This one

And this one

And this one

No longer am I going to base my decision to sing or not to sing a song before bed on how tired I am.  I'm not going to give up on the housework just because I want to go to bed.  I'm not going to tune out the little voices asking me to read a book just because I have a list of things that I'm trying to get done.

These little ones are just too important!

So what if I'm tired?  If I tell myself I wouldn't let something as simple as exhaustion stop me from ministering to the heathen, I should never let it stop me at home!

I can claim the verse “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” for the big things, and I can claim it in my little space at home.

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Time, Money, Health (Part 4)

If you missed it, you can read part 1 here, part 2 here and part 3 here.

Photo Credit

After we successfully polished off 40 boxes of Pop-tarts, I was so disgusted that “buying” the free junk food with coupons really wasn't even a temptation any more.  I continued to coupon, but gladly passed up any type of food that I felt would be bad at all for my family.  I kept whittling down my list of foods that I was willing to purchase.  Eventually I got to the point where all I did was to skim the lists on the coupon blogs looking for great sales on meat and vegetables and coupons for things like cheese and eggs.  I renewed my allegiance to ALDI and only went to the big stores if there were several of my approved items on sale.

Photo Credit

(I did continue to coupon at the drug stores, and for a time got more heavily involved in that than ever.  I got a lot of free necessities for our family like diapers and toilet paper and made a lot of money selling all the excess freebies.  But that's another story for another time.)

It was around that same time that I happened to win a blog giveaway for a bunch of Dave Ramsey‘s books and other products.  My husband and I both read The Total Money Makeover, more out of curiosity than anything.  We had both grown up in homes where debt was never a problem, and we carried that over into our marriage.  We didn't spend money on things we didn't need, we saved up and paid cash for big purchases, and we felt like we were doing just fine financially.

What did this guy have to say that we didn't already know?

As it turned out, he knew quite a bit more than we did…

I’ll be sharing the next step in our journey in the next post in this series.  Be sure to subscribe to email updates or follow me on Facebook so you won’t miss it!

You’re So Pretty!

My 5 year old tells me all the time, “Mommy, you're pretty.”  I love it, and it makes my heart melt!

Yesterday, he gave me this flower, and of course I thanked him profusely.  I then tucked it in my hair.

“Mommy, you look pretty!” he squealed in delight.

Believe me, my outward appearance was anything but pretty.  My hair was an absolute mess from running around outside with the kids and I had no makeup on.

But that's not what he noticed.  To him, I was pretty because I was pouring out love and attention on him.

Outward beauty is such an unimportant thing compared to the inner beauty that we all can possess if we are living a life in love with Jesus.

He's not looking at the way we look on the outside.

1 Samuel 16:7  for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.

1 Peter 3:3-4  Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;  But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.

What do you want others to notice about you?  That you're the most fashionably dressed woman they know?  That your hair, nails, and makeup are always perfect?  That you obviously spend a considerable amount of time primping in front of the mirror?

Or do you want them to see past the outside and think you're beautiful because they know you love them?

Do you glow with the radiance that flows from a pure heart?

Proverbs 31:30  Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.