Sunday, February 1, 2015

February 2015 Goals

February 2015 Goals

  • Finish 3 books I'm reading now and read 3 more books
  • Exercise 3 days a week
  • Journaling Daily
  • Finish James Chap 1 and Memorize James 2:1-6
  • Organize and Catalog 1 Tote in Storage Room
  • Declutter 200 items
  • Cooking Day
  • Touch up Paint All Upstairs Rooms
  • Dishes Done Before Bed each night
  • Monthly Date (Scott Plans)
  • Continue Scared Marriage Study with Scott
  • 30 Day Husband Encouragement Challenge
  • Pray Daily for for Each Child
  • Choose 4 couples from church to pray for/send card
  • Learn “Praise Him Praise Him” During Family Worship
  • Kids practice sitting for 15 min while listening to sermon or audio book 3 times a week
  • Spend 30 min daily playing with kids
  • Spend 30 min daily reading picture books
  • Read aloud 200 pages chapter books
  • Have kitchen helper do meal prep for at least 3 meals a week
  • Continue Catechism book
  • Finish James Chap 1 with kids start chap 2
  • Continue chore system

Saturday, January 31, 2015

January 2015 Goals Update

Like so often happens January began with loads of excitement over changes and accomplishing great things and is now wrapping up in the midst of a large dose of reality. This month has gone how I would have planned but I've learned life rarely does. That's one reason I have goals so that I can focus on and get back on track. I spent several days at the beginning of the month with a fussy teething baby who didn't want to sleep, then the baby and 2 year old had colds and fevers for a few days. There were about 2 weeks we were all healthy then the nastiest stomach bug I have ever dealt with hit us with 3-8 days of icky sick symptoms for each child Scott and me. I'm not going to beat myself up about where I have failed in the goals just let you all know what I did accomplish and get on with working toward February goals.



January 2015 Goals

  • Read 5 books - I finished 2 and am about 1/2 way through the other 3
  • Walk 25 Miles on treadmill - This ended up being a bit ambitious with the time I allowed for exercise. I only got about 10 miles in on the treadmill but got up and exercised 10 days this month which is progress for me.
  • Journaling Daily - I also ended up only doing this about 10 days this month but it is progress and I am enjoying it.
  • Finish James Chap 1 - This is one I am disappointed I didn't get done but then got wiped out with this sickness. I only have a couple verses left in this chapter to get down before moving onto chapter 2
  • Organize and Catalog 2 Totes in Storage Room - Done - I actually got 5 totes organized and cataloged!
  • Declutter 200 items - Done - I decluttered 270 items this month!
  • Cooking Day - Done
  • Paint Chalkboard Wall - Done and I love how it turned out
  • Dishes Done Before Bed each night - This is another one that didn't happen every night but most nights and made a big difference the next morning.
  • Monthly Date - Done: We went out to see the Hobbit for Scott's birthday
  • Start Sacred Marriage DVD Study Thursday nights with Scott - We got 2 weeks of the study done. One week Scott was super tired and fell asleep as soon as the kids were in bed. The last week we chose to forego because we were so tired from sick kids. It has prompted some good discussion between us.
  • 30 Day Respect Challenge - Didn't make it all the way through this month but the days I did were a huge challenge
  • Make Daily Prayer List for Each Child - Done This has been so beneficial for me to start my day praying specifically for each child
  • Choose 4 couples from church to pray for/send card - We got through 3 of the 4 families we had chosen this month. Again that week of sickness wiped us out the last week. I also didn't get cards sent like I wanted to so there is room for improvement
  • Learn “I Will Sing of My Redeemer” During Family Worship - Done for the most part. We didn't get to the last verse but even our 2 year old knows the chorus and is adorable singing it at the top of her lungs
  • Kids practice sitting for 15 min while listening to sermon or audio book 3 times a week - This is one I slipped up on and need to work harder at next month
  • Spend 30 min daily playing with kids - Not everyday but having it as a priority on my to do list really helped
  • Spend 30 min daily reading picture books - Not everyday but having it as a priority on my to do list really helped
  • Read aloud 200 pages chapter books - Done- We read 206 pages this month
  • Have kitchen helper do meal prep for at least 3 meals a week - Did good for 2 weeks. Will keep working on it next month
  • Continue Catechism book done
  • Finish James Chap 1 with kids - We are very close. I think just 2 verses left
  • Establish new chore system - Done and working pretty well

Friday, January 2, 2015

January 2015 Goals

January 2015 Goals

  • Read 5 books
  • Walk 25 Miles on treadmill
  • Journalling Daily
  • Finish James Chap 1
  • Organize and Catalog 2 Totes in Storage Room
  • Declutter 200 items
  • Cooking Day
  • Paint Chalkboard Wall
  • Dishes Done Before Bed each night
  • Monthly Date
  • Start Sacred Marriage DVD Study Thursday nights with Scott
  • 30 Day Respect Challenge
  • Make Daily Prayer List for Each Child
  • Choose 4 couples from church to pray for/send card
  • Learn “I Will Sing of My Redeemer” During Family Worship
  • Kids practice sitting for 15 min while listening to sermon or audio book 3 times a week
  • Spend 30 min daily playing with kids
  • Spend 30 min daily reading picture books
  • Read aloud 200 pages chapter books
  • Have kitchen helper do meal prep for at least 3 meals a week
  • Continue Catechism book
  • Finish James Chap 1 with kids
  • Establish new chore system

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

2015 Goals

Obviously I am not a big blogger and that isn't likely to change this year but this seemed a good place to put my goals down for the accountability of having them posted for anyone to read. This past year was a spend in survival mode between being pregnant through a VERY long winter with no desire to write yearly goals last year. Then spending the summer months recovering from a csection. As I prayed and talked to Scott about this coming year these are the goals emerged as things that we want to focus on as priorities this coming year.  Each month I will break them down into monthly goals to help me monitor the progress better.

I realize a lot of these seem pretty basic but I my desire is to make small changes toward living a more intentional life. A lot of things on this list are things that we do occasionally but I by making them a goal I hope to take them from being occasional things to permanent lifestyle habits. In the next day or two I will be posting my specific goals for the month of January.

So for anyone interested here are my goals for 2015

2015 Goals


Personal - Makes spiritual growth a priority, Improve health, More disciplined in homemaking
  • Read 30 books - I have a few specifically I am wanting to read but overall just want to be challenged to spend more time reading. This number also includes listening to audiobooks.

  • Choose 1-2 new healthy habits to work on developing each month - I will assess each month what goal(s) to work toward that month. The intention is slow but lasting change.

  • Spend 15 min journalling daily - Time set aside to reflect each day

  • Finish Memorizing Book of James - This has been a goal for several years and I am hoping 2015 is when I actually accomplish it

  • Declutter and catalog all totes in storage room - Most of the totes haven't been gone through since we moved here 2 1/2 years ago so I figured it is time to sort through them all

  • Declutter 2,015 items in 2015 - Some of you may remember I did this back in 2012. The goal is to make do some major purging of items in order to simplify our lives so we have time for the most important things.

  • One big cooking day each month to simplify meals - This is not a make all the meals for the month but just one day a month set aside to do as much prep for meals to help supper prep go more smoothly. It also requires that I have menus done for a month at a time.

  • Choose one thing on my to do project list to finish each month - I always have a long running to do project list from mending to craft projects needing attention. I hope to get more than one done each month but this goal ensures I choose one that must get done each month.

  • Work on developing 1-2 homemaking habits each month - I will choose these each month. The goal is slow but lasting change and making things that are occasionally done things that are regular habits.

Marriage - Goal: Invest time and energy to strengthen our marriage
  • One date night out each month (alternate Scott & Ruth planning)

  • Spend one night per week doing a Bible or Biblical based marriage book study with Scott.

  • Read 3 marriage books

  • Revive our Hearts 30 day challenges (rotate through one each month)

Parenting - Invest in our children with the goal of salvation, discipleship, godly character,& life skills

  • Make specific daily prayer list for each child

  • Choose one family/couple from church weekly to pray for and send encouragement card

  • Focus on learning one hymn per month during family worship

  • Teach kids to sit quietly (with notebook and pencil) for one hour while listening to a sermon - This is something we have been working on occasionally but want to make a more consistent effort to training especially the younger children to do.

  • Spend 30 minute daily playing with kids - I know this may seem a strange goal but it is so easy for me to get busy doing stuff around the house that I don't spend time just sitting on the floor interacting and having fun with the kids. I want to make it a top priority on my daily do to list this year.

  • Read 2,015 pages of chapter books aloud to kids in 2015 - This is another goal I had in 2012 and had so much reading old favorites and discovering new books with the kids.

  • 30 min daily reading picture books (their choice) - This is another one of those things that happens occasionally but I want to make it a higher daily priority this year.

  • Teach cooking/kitchen skills (have one of the kids help make at least 3 meals per week)

  • Continue Grace and Truth Catechism Book

  • Continue Memorizing Book of James

  • Chore system for kids to help teach them to be self motivated & disciplined

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Small Light in a Dark World


Today is set aside as sanctity of human life Sunday and as I sat this morning listening to my husband preach on the value of life I reflected on the many events in my life that have led me to hold the deep conviction that all human life from conception to natural death has value and is precious to God.

I thought of my mom. Of any person in the world she had by far the biggest impact in my life in teaching me to value all life. I watched as she suffered through the discomfort of many pregnancies. She was not one of those ladies who had a lot of kids because pregnancy was easy. She greatly disliked being pregnant but she loved life and God allowed her to give birth to seven children. I watched her suffer through cancer treatments. I stood by her bed and watched her suffering come to an end as her life here on earth ended and she entered the splendor of heaven. Through her life and death she taught me so many lessons about the value of life and helped me to see all life as a precious gift from God.

As the sermon continued my mind jumped to the cold January day 7 years ago laying on an ultrasound table and learning the precious baby in my belly was no longer alive. From the moment we learned I was expecting we thanked God for this new life and Scott and I looked forward to being parents. We grieved the loss of our child but we thanked God for the short time we had. I was reminded once again of how precious and valuable life is. 

I then looked down to the child I was holding in my arms, our precious boy James. For those who may not know James is autistic. He has many amazing strengths but also struggles with many things. A few months ago we sat down with some specialists to discuss some ideas for therapy and goals to help James. One of the questions that was asked of Scott and me was to think long term of what our biggest goals and dreams are for James. Scott responded, "Our greatest desire for James is for him to love God and serve Him with his life."  As parents we of course hope that one day James will be able to live independently, support himself, get married, raise a family etc. but those are all secondary goals and desires. James' life has value regardless of what he is able to accomplish. Watching his struggles and victories has taught us so much about the value of all life.

As I have been typing this I feel the occasional twitches of movement inside my womb. It never ceases to be an amazing thing to have a human life being knit together within my body. The baby growing inside me has been made in the image of God and is a precious gift to be cherished.  

We live in country where mothers can legally choose to kill their unborn babies, the foster care system is full of children who have suffered terrible abuse and neglect, those with disabilities are mocked and seen as a drain on society, the old are often left to languish alone in nursing homes.

But in a dark room a small light can make a big difference!

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Notes from Mother/Daughter Tea

 I was asked to be the speaker for our Mother/Daughter tea at church this past weekend. I figured I'd share my notes here. These weren't originally written with a blog post in mind or for anyone to read other than me while I spoke so please excuse any grammar/punctuation etc errors. :)


Galatians 5:22-24
 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.  Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires."
 
Theme for today is mothers planting seeds of love, joy, & peace. As we see in these verses love,  joy, & peace are fruit of the Spirit. If I want my children to develop these in their life they need the Spirit so the first step is to give them the gospel.

Our goal as parents/grandparents/ss teachers etc is not to raise good, moral, happy kids but rather to raise godly kids. We teach them rules - God’s standard - but not to make them good we give them law to make them desperately hope for grace.

Law that is given without the hope of grace causes rebellion or hypocrisy. There are many who leave church say it is because it is a list of do’s and don’ts or who leave and go to the other extreme and convert to a works based religion like mormonism or catholicism (about 40% of mormon converts grew up in baptist homes/churches) Both of these reasons are the result of a child who was presented with God’s law but never came to a true understanding of God’s grace.

Laws and rules cannot save. Children need to realize they are not good - they have sinful hearts. Apart from the gospel they cannot do anything good.  Even those things that seem good apart from the relying Holy Spirit are done for sinful/selfish motives and God says they are like filthy rags to a Holy God.

A child who is told they are bad without giving them gospel will despair.
But on the flip side it is just as important to realize a child who is told they are good apart from Christ will blind them to the need for the gospel. (ie you’re such a good little boy/girl)

The fact is none of us can do good but Christ came, lived a perfect life, and then died to take the punishment for our sin which means when we die we will live in a perfect heaven forever. But not only did Christ die for the punishment of our sin the most exciting part of the story is that he rose again and showed that he has power over death and sin. This means that while we cannot in our own strength do good when we believe Christ died in our place we are given the same power that rose Him from the dead to help us live a victorious Christian life and we are no longer bound by sin’s power.

 I would like to read for you a short section from the Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd Jones.
 
"Now, some people think the Bible is a book of rules, telling you what you should and shouldn't do. The Bible certainly does have some rules in it. They show you how life works best. But the Bible isn't mainly about you and what you should be doing. It's about God and what He has done. 

Other people think the Bible is a book of heroes, showing you people you should copy. The Bible does have some heroes in it, but most of the people in the Bible aren't heroes at all. They make some big mistakes (sometimes on purpose). They get afraid and run away. At times they are downright mean.

No, the Bible isn't a book of rules, or a book of heroes. The Bible is most of all a Story. It's an adventurous story about a young Hero who comes from a far country to win back his lost treasure. It's a love story about a brave Prince who leaves his palace, his throne - everything - to rescue  the one he loves. It's like the most wonderful of fairy tales that has come true in real life!

You see, the best thing about this Story is - it's true. There are lots of stories in the Bible, but all the stories are telling one Big Story. The Story of how God loves his children and comes to rescue them."

 
Sharing the grace of God needs to happen throughout daily living not just specific witnessing opportunities.
  • Look at that flower - God is good to create flowers. Do you know the best thing God did for us was sending Christ...
  • I know it is hard for you to obey. It is hard for me to obey God but I believe that Jesus died to take away my sin and now when it is hard for me to sin I can ask God to help me.
  • When a friend tells you about how their spouse or close friend has deeply hurt them. “I am so sorry to hear you were treat wrongly. The Bible tells us to love those who hurt us. That is something I could never do on my own but...” tell about Christ being hurt - now when I am wronged I ask him for strength to show the same love I was shown.

The second aspect in helping our children/grandchildren develop love, joy, & peace is discipleship and learning to live a spirit controlled life.

Our job doesn’t stop once our child says they have accepted the gospel and prayed a prayer for two reasons: first because we can’t know their heart and secondly because we are called to make disciples.

Our theme is gardening today so I want you to imagine you were given a tomato seed by a gardening friend. You have admired her garden and one day she gives you a seed so you can grow your own tomato plant. You plant it, water it, give it sunlight, check it every day - wonder if it’s a dud, if it will ever sprout and then one day finally a small ½” green sprout emerges from the dirt. You are ecstatic and rush to call your friend and you tell her it was a lot of work and waiting but you finally did it, you grew a tomato plant! Of course your dear friend will assure you that while it is exciting to see a new sprout your work is far from over. In fact the hardest part is still to come. If you were to leave that small sprout on its own it will quickly shrivel and die and all the work you put into getting it to sprout will be in vain.

The plant grows slowly but one day you call your friend because it isn’t looking very well. Your friend comes by and sees it is wilted. The soil is dry and weeds are choking it out. You assure your friend you can’t imagine what is going wrong because you spend 1 hr a week watering it and pulling out a few weeds. Your friend lovingly tells you that watering & weeding once a week is not enough to produce a vibrant, healthy plant. It is a lot of work and you will have to sacrifice but the fruit will be worth it. Put up supports to keep it from falling over under the stress of storms, pull the weeds, water it faithfully. You do all this without promise that it will produce fruit because you can’t force it to bear fruit but you do everything you can to help it grow and flourish so that one day you can enjoy a bush full of delicious healthy fruit.

Coming to the point of salvation is only the beginning the hardest part is still to come as we disciple and learn how to live  a life controlled by the Holy Spirit.

Galatians 5:16 "But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh".

After salvation when you or your child are presented God’s commands we still can’t do it on our own but we don’t have to because we now have the help of the Holy Spirit. The same Holy Spirit. who convicted before salvation now provides the grace and strength to crucify selfish desires.

Many believers miss out on genuine peace, love, & joy God wants us to have because we still try in our own strength to follow a set of rules as long as we so or don’t do xyz we are godly and pleasing God. If I read my bible, witness, give to church/missions/my children obey me/children are attend church etc-  then I am good and godly. They are good things but done in our own strength they are not pleasing to God.

Fruit of the Spirit is tested during trials and difficulties. Difficult things will happen (siblings fight, people lie, cheat, hurt you,get sick, die) I often hear people say difficult times either bring people close to God or pull them away from Him and the reason that happens is not usually because the difficulty significantly changes us it merely magnifies what was already inside.

If the person has a habit of relying on God’s strength when those difficult times come they rely more deeply on Christ’s strength and the love, joy, peace are evidenced in a magnificent way in their life.
If the person has a habit of relying on self when things come that are too difficult for to handle in our own strength it pushes us to despair, depression, bitterness, and anger.

if you have never come to the place where you realized the terrible news that you are a sinner, someone completely incapable of doing anything to please God but understand and believe God loved you and has the best news for your which is Christ lived a perfect life and then died to pay the punishment for our sin and rose again and gives us the power to be free from the power of sin I urge you to consider what you’ve heard and if you have questions I would love to talk to you.

If you have made that decision your life should look radically different from an unbeliever  - even a very moral unbeliever. If you can give the same parenting/marital/counsel etc as a moral unsaved catholic, amish, or mormon something is very wrong. Christianity is not about living a good moral life following a list of dos and don’ts it is about living a life completely dependent on Christ that brings glory to God and how good He is not to us and how good we are.

Your children, grandchildren, co workers, family etc are watching you. Because of the grace of God you do not need despair over missed opportunities when your children were younger. We may sorrow over missed opportunities but because of the grace of God there is just as much hope for a hardened 70 year old to come to Christ and be transformed by the gospel as there is for my 2 year old little girl.  The world desperately needs  to see how the grace of God changes a life.  It is not by following a list of rules but by moment by moment choosing to rely wholly on the Spirit. Christ said that the way the world would know his disciples is by the fruit they bear.

Are you bearing the fruit of the flesh trying to follow Christ’s commands in your own strength or does your life bear the beautiful, refreshing fruit of love, joy and peace evident in a spirit filled and controlled life?

Friday, February 1, 2013

Goals Update - January 2013


    • This past month we have been able to make good progress toward our 2013 goals.

    • 1. Read 500 Picture Books to the Children - This past month we have read 75 picture books. We are all having fun making regular trips to the library for new books.

    • 2. Read 2000 Pages of Chapter Books to the Children - We ended up starting the year out by reading Little House on the Prairie (we read the Big Woods last year). We only have three chapters left. Total pages read this month 285.  Will has really enjoyed this book and likes to talk about the things we are reading about. This month for one of his writing assignments in school he "wrote" (dictated to me) a story about a man building a log cabin with the steps he remembered from the Little House book.

    • 3. Make Five New Items Each Month for my Doll Clothes Shop - I listed 7 new pairs of doll jeans and two shirts in my store this month. I also made a custom doll bedding set for a friend.

    • 4. Pay Down $6500 in Debt - We didn't do as well as I would have liked in this area this month as we only paid off $197 but hopefully in future months we will be able to catch up so we are able to make our yearly goal.

    • 5. Memorize the Book of James - We are doing this as a family and have memorized James 1:1-8 this month. I was hoping to get to verse 10 but at least we are slowly progressing. Even Ellie who is 2 is able to say the first several verses along with us.

    • 6. Exercise 12 Days a Month - I got all 12 days in this month! I have lost 5lbs this past month with the help of exercising and following (loosely) the eating plan in the book Trim Healthy Mama. If you haven't heard of this book I highly recommend it. It is written by two moms of many kids and is loaded with a lot of great information.

    • 7. 40 Hospitality Meals - We had 2 meals into our home this past month (total of 9 guests between the 2 meals). One Sunday this month was a church fellowship dinner so that was one less week we had to invite people over. I have also been hosting a ladies' Bible study in our home every Thursday night. 

    • 8. Date Night with Scott Twice a Month - We ended up having 3 at home date nights. It is nice to be able to have a time set aside that we put all other projects aside and just do something relaxing and fun as a couple. 

    • 9. Do 52 Messy Craft or Project with the Kids - I didn't do as well as hoped in this area as we only accomplished 2 messy projects this month. One was cornstarch and water. The second was making styrofoam snowmen. We recently got new dining room chairs and had lots of styrofoam that the kids wanted to play with and break apart. It turned into a huge mess (I'm still finding little pieces of styrofoam around) but the kids all loved it.  Here are the pictures of that adventure. Please excuse the half naked kiddos. James & Ellie got dirty at supper and we did this project right after supper so they didn't get clothes on before we started it (seemed kind of silly to dress them again for a craft that would get their clothes all dirty)







    • 10. Read 12 "Grown Up" Books - I ended up reading two books this month. The first was Ann VosKamp's 1000 Gifts (this is the book we are going through in our ladies' Bible study). The second was Lies Women Believe by Nancy Leigh DeMoss (this is a book I plan to use for our next ladies' Bible study). They are both very good books and was challenged and encouraged by both books.