April was tough!

Those words are the understatement of the century! God keeps showing me and reminding me of how selfish I am! I only human and don't like to be reminded of my faults. (so change them already, right!!!) As many of you know, I wrote out each month and things I was fasting from. April was no buying anything for myself. Not even the simplest hair pin or pair of underwear! :) (Ok, I don't wear hair pins.)  It was brutal!! There were jewelry sales going on on Facebook, the juiciest coupons were being sent to me via email, a new store opened up locally, I am out of everything of Mary Kay and not to mention, I was having major Target withdrawl!!! However, everytime I had an urge to make a purchase, I would pray for whatever or whomever the Lord lay on my heart at the time. It was truly amazing who the Lord had laid on my heart and mind! There were times where I would get a text from someone who needed prayer. Along with the whole 'no shopping' fast, we have this series going on at Grace right now and Sunday's sermon title was 'Giving Generously'.

                 Pastor Larry had three bullet points:
                    1. I will appreciate what I have...
                    2. I will accept where I am...
                    3. I will achieve contentment with Christ's help...

I am taking a few steps to change this 'selfishness'. I am making a conscious effort to see divine appointments to help someone who needs what I have. I pray that my eyes be clearer now than they have ever been. Won't you pray with me as well?

Amy

Fasting/Lent

     Fasting for me is hard. I always fast from something that I can't do without (or think I can't do without). Coffee, sweets, shopping, pepsi and just food in general. (I like food.) January was fairly easy. No sweets and eating after dinner. I especially love chocolate and desserts! I am a woman. So it would only make sense to fast from these after the holidays.  February, well there's a tale to tell. Seems like from day one I have been getting hammered by Satan. He has been putting lies in my head . Throw in family issues and our anniversary, it was too much. Who knew the lack of my most favorite carmally smoothness topped with whip could do this. I didn't realize that I was as addicted to caramel macchiatos so much! I have been battling migraines and this one today was a doosie. I have never had so much neck pain in my life, not even during childbirth! I will continue to persevere through with prayer.
     Tonight as I was making dinner, Coleson said "Hey mom, did you know today is fat Tuesday?" I had to think for about 5 seconds and it dawned on me that tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent. He then asked if they could eat all the chocolate they want? My initial answer was huge NO. But the more I thought about it, the more my brain gears started turning. At dinner, I asked the boys if they would give up candy during Lent, if I let them have all they wanted tonight. They were quick to yell YES! I may come regret it this decision! I encourage you to fast from something during these next 40 days and see how God works in your life!!

Goals, not Resolutions

Resolution: A firm decision to do or not to do something

Goal: The result or achievement toward which effort is directed

Every December, I set goals for the coming year. I dislike calling them resolutions. Resolutions seem 'hard' to me. Its either hit or miss. No in between. If I set a goal and miss it slightly, in my mind I don't feel like it's a total fail. I just build on what I have already accomplished. This year I have a little something different planned. Along with my goals, I have an item(s) I am fasting/exempting monthly. I have made the first quarter a tad easy.

January- no sweets & eating after dinner
February- no coffee/specialty drinks
March- no fast food

However as the year goes on it gets a little tougher.

April- no purchasing any clothes/jewelry/shoes for myself (that's 30 whole days!!!!)
May- no sweets, no specialty drinks & no fast food
June- only eating fruits & veggies

For some of you this may seem easy, but the second half of 2013 will be brutal for me. It's a little more personal therefore I won't be sharing it here. A few more personal goals I have are listed below. Writing them here for all to see will be motivation for me to excel at them.

* One date night a month with my hubby
* Run 500 miles this year
* Go on one mission trip stateside
* Take violin lessons
* Hone in on what dislocates my heart and see where I can do something that matters in that area

I have encouraged my boys to set goals for themselves. How else do you see growth from one year to the next. I encourage everyone who reads this to make a list of goals and set small ones that are attainable. Then taking that confidence and setting more/harder ones. I will let you know how my year goes! Happy New Year & God Bless!!!

Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

                               I love Summer!!! I love warm weather! The only thing that makes this dreary, cold, monotonous weather bearable is the fact that the holidays are just around the corner. Family time, eating time, conversing time, time to just relax and focus on loved ones. The kids having breaks from school. Time to hang out and chill with them. Just today, I decided to have my dad's extended family to my humble abode for turkey day. I like to entertain, however I must admit I'm not very good at the decorating part. I'd like to think that people will still have enjoyed being here, despite what my house looks like.
                              But, Christmas is my all-time most favorite season of the year!!! I love it even more than my birthday! My A.D.D kicks in and I go berserk for the shiny paper, ornaments, candles, glitter, and it doesn't help that red is my favorite color!! (I would have made a great elf!) In all honesty, I love giving gifts. I start my planning in August/September for the gift giving season. (You never know when that perfect gift will be on sale!)  On Christmas Eve, my family comes over, we eat appetizers and open gifts. The kids are all watching to see when us adults have the last bite swallowed so they can open presents! Who am I kidding, I can't wait to dive head first into the tree! I just realized that would be a sight to behold! Ha.
                              The other evening Marv and I sat down with the boys to discuss what they wanted for Christmas. All 3 boys were yelling so loudly over each others voices, that I couldn't hear a blessed word. They did calm down enough to say what each one wanted, even Marv, who dreads this time of year, mentioned a few helpful gift ideas for himself! I can't wait to get started!!!
                               With all the hustle and bustle that this time of year brings, please don't forget to be thankful for the many blessings you have, family & friends that are still here, your health and most of all the real reason we celebrate Christmas. Jesus.

Joy

      Joy, such small lettters but what a great impact these 3 have on our lives. We, as Americans are stressed out, overworked, stretched to the max, among lots of other things. There's so much 'stuff' vying for our time, trying to grab our attention that we don't know which end is up sometimes.  It's easy to put quiet time on the shelf or say a quick prayer in the car on your way somewhere.
      This past Sunday at Grace, we started a new series called 'Get Back'. I am so excited for the revival this is going to bring to Grace!! We were challenged to fast from something, anything, to get our minds focused on Christ once again. We all struggle with spiritual drift from time to time and this is the time to recommit to scripture reading, face on the floor prayer time, & truly confessing all the dirt within us. I encourage you, whether you attend Grace or not, to look into your own life and see where you have drifted, (scripture reading, memorization, prayer time). I have decided for my fast to eat only salads and healthy foods, no junk or packaged garbage. As a family, we are skipping fast food, including my ever-so-handy Monday, Friday & Saturday night pizza. This means I will have to cook more but it's going to be so worth it!
      Our worship master, Rocky, wrote a song called Revive Us. The lyrics 'restore our joy' struck a  chord with me. I'm usually a positive, happy person but earlier this summer I felt a little down. My prayer is that God would restore the joy back into your lives.
    Good luck in your fast and 'Getting Back' to God!

                                                    Revive Us

                                                                                                                        Amy

Tidbits of Busyness

     Can I just say that I hate that Satan loves to keep me busy. It's the number one thing that gets me every time! I don't see it coming! So busy with work that my kids get neglected. So busy that my spouse feel unloved & disrespected. (OUCH) So busy that family & friends feel rejected. So busy I don't have time to open God's Word. It is one of Satan's plans to busy me with other 'things'. To distract me from what is really important. Perhaps, I am the only one struggling with this?
     I can tell when I don't spend enough time in the word & praying. I get anxious and start to worry. I can tell when I am busying myself with other 'things'. I can so tell when I'm not spending enough QUALITY time with the men of the house. They get irritated, closed up, and simply don't want to listen. Which in turn makes me grumpy and it ends up in a vicious cycle. Yes, I can get grumpy on occasion, I am only human.
     However, on the flip side, I try to weed out my schedule and focus on only the things that are of most importance. I try to spend my days off with my boys and feed my hungry hubby a nice dinner from scratch on my days off. (One of his love language's is acts of kindness.) If that means having his clean underwear in his drawer and not on the laundry room counter, I will gladly have them put away. :)
     The boys and I were watching home videos the other evening. I remember thinking we are never getting out of diapers and bottles with the twins and now here they are going into second grade! I am wondering if I will ever teach them everything I want them to learn/know before they leave our home. How am I focusing today to spend time with each one? How can I teach them biblical principles and scripture? I have a couple of attack plans! I will take time out to smell the roses, put away clean underwear and make mashed potatoes from scratch!
      I hope you find yourself not to busy to smell the roses.

Life Group Trip

               This past weekend, our Life Group took a short, eventful and very hilarious work trip to Gary, West Virginia. Gary is located at the bottom of the steepest mountain (or so it seems) in one of the poorest counties in the United States. We had several work projects lined up through an organization called School for Life. A few of our projects included, re-schingling a porch roof, gutting a bathroom, tearing off 2 porches, power washing the exterior of a house and repainting it. Now I'm a list maker, get'er done kind of person and get great satisfaction to cross things off the list when completed. Let me just say, God had other plans.
                Marv and I tore into a bathroom on Friday, tearing out a pedestal sink, a toilet that sat on bricks and a couple severed 2x4's, and a full tub/shower combo. Now let me paint you a picture, minus the putrid smell (which is forever etched in my senses). Marv, is by no means, a plumber by trade. He knows that hot is on the left, cold is on the right, and that everything else flows downhill. Water gushing out of a pipe means there's a problem. The floor in the bathroom gave the Alps a run of their money, hence the reason the commode sat on bricks. I should also say that we had to move these people's 'things' out of the bathroom before we could do our work. I am very funny about hair and products that are not mine or my family's. So I could have almost started gagging moving hair pieces, sanitary napkins, and everything else under the rainbow. (I still shudder)
                After removing the tub, sink and toilet, mostly in pieces, there were 4 layers of crusted on vinyl flooring we had tear out. Marv had given the last layer of vinyl a good yank and popped off the sink pipe at floor level. Insert Old Faithful here! We had to leave to grab a few more supplies. When we returned, I immediately smelled something when we climbed the stairs to get to the house. The grandma was home babysitting and decided to dump turpentine all over the floor and down the open pipes. (Who has turpentine laying around their house?!!!) My eyes burned and I had a cough already and this was just the icing on the cake. Moving on, as Marv was trying to cut apart the shower his foot went through part of the floor. The rest of our group joined us Saturday morning to help finish what we could. Our supposedly 1 day bathroom took us 2. Saturday it was raining and so the outside projects that didn't get accomplished, will wait until someone else arrives to get finished.
                It didn't matter that we didn't get the 5+ projects done. We gave a mom a safe floor so she can give her 4 year old son a bath without having to worry about falling through the floor. Also a  toilet that won't fall over spilling it's contents. My take away: Be happy with what you have. The Jones, Smiths, Millers, Yoders, Troyers, whoever will always seem to have bigger and better. The truth is, who cares!!! If you have a roof over your head that doesnt leak, food on the table that isn't moldy and clothes on your back that aren't dirty, then you, my friend, are BLESSED! What more does one want except happiness and contentment. I find myself very happy with everything the Lord has blessed Marv and I with. I hope you are too!