To provoke a thought or 2

For those of you who don't read this blog I wanted to share this with you.
http://conorbootheandgirls.blogspot.com/2008/04/fine-line.html

If you can't do anything else - do this!!!

Well on Thursday night I hit bottom. I laid in our bed and sobbed to John about how I was completely exhauseted to the point that I didn't know what to do. Most of you know from some previous post that I have been sick but what you don't know was that it was almost 9 consecutive weeks of sickness. I think the lack of sleep just kept my immune system down so I kept getting stuff. Anyway, I have been well for the most part for 2 weeks now which is great. I started trying to rev up life again and realized that I just couldn't do it and the harder I tried the more tired I got. As John and I talked, I knew that I needed a break from being a mom and housekeeper for a few days. John has been working really long days and he is exhausted to so we decided to head to the beach - his mom's house. I could get away from the kids and he could rest some and spend some fun time with the boys. This is not what we REALLY need but it is the next best thing to time compeletly away from the kids.
Friday before we left I met with a friend who is a little farther along in her mothering journey. I told her what was going on and just how I didn't even want to be around my kids. All I seem to be doing was putting them in front of the TV to keep from engaging with them because I had nothing to give. Then of course comes the awful guilt that you are failing your childing ..yata yata yata. She of course affirmed me that all moms go through this, it is very normal at this stage of my life to feel like this for a season which is very encouraging to know you are not the only one. Then she gave me the biggest AHH ever!! She said Amy the most important job you have regarding your children is to shepard their hearts. If you can't do ANYTHING else DO THIS. They will recover from extra time in front of the tv or extra room time, etc. Just take time to shepard their hearts. For me this takes the pressure off of all the other things that I want to do as a parent and most of the time love doing. It gives me one thing to focus on with my children for this season of recovery in my life. Please pray for me that God will renew me physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

3 Bowling Boys

After 2 LONG weeks of work daddy actually got home at a decent time - 5 pm and we decided to go have some fun. I forgot my socks so I decided to help Brady instead of paying 5 bucks for some socks. Brady of course didn't need my help. He actually beat John and Jake. His super competetive daddy isn't taking it so well. It was so much fun!!!

Scoping it out...

the only way he could get it down the lane

a lesson from daddy...Brady says move outta the way

the ball gaurd...look at his shoes

3 boys bowling...what a blast!!

Organizing 1 - Scripture Memory Box

I thought I would start with an easy one that has been so helpful for me. We are teaching the boys Bible Verses and the Children's Catechism at breakfast every morning. We started Jake about age 3 but have started Brady sooner and surprisingly he is getting it. Jake begin to have to many verses for us to review daily so i did this little system for review. Now John and I have a color and we just all do our verses at breakfast as often as possible.
In case you were wondering, the verses we are teaching Jake for the most part come from the Wise Words for Moms Put on/Put off List. It has really helped when we discipline him that he already knows the verse. http://www.amazon.com/Wise-Words-Moms-Ginger-Plowman/dp/0966378660
We use the book : The Children's Shorter Catechism. Our church gave it to us but you can also find them on the web.

you will need:

-index cards in various colors - each person gets their own color
-1 - 2 pieces of white card stock (or just 8 white index cards)
-8 page divider tabs (see pic below)
-index file box (we use the 3x5 cards and box)

put it together:

1. Take you 8 tabs and label each of them with a day of the week (7) and one labeled New
2. Attach these to the white index cards. If you have a piece of cardstock, first cut it into 8-3x5 pieces to use for your divider page. Then attach the tabs to them. Make sure that you stagger their placement just like the tabs are when you put them on pages.
3. I put one verse on an index card and 5 catechism q&a on a page. These go in the NEW file to be reviewed every day. For Jake - age 4 - we do 1 verse and 1 question/ week (unless really easy) but everyday we review all the questions we have gotten to on the catechism page. Brady- age 2.1 - we just started with him and he will do Catechism 1-3 and Eph 6:1 for an entire month before moving on.
4. After the verse has been memorized (what ever the time frame is) we move it to one of the days of the week for weekly review. After the Catechism page has been memorized (which for jake takes about 4-5 weeks) it also goes to a day of the week for review.



So here would be what we would do at breakfast on say a Monday:
Jake - Practice New - 1 Thes 5:16-18, Catechism # 16-18
- Review Old in Monday file - Catechism #1-5, Phil 2:14, Ps 53:3
Brady - Practice New Only
John and I aren't doing catechism so we just practice new and review old.

Hope this makes sense. I tried to be extremely thorough so it would make sense. Let me know what you think and if you have ?'s

Organizing Tips Following this Disclaimer!!!

Lately, I have had a few friends ask me to help them organize. As I wrote in my previous post, I long to do this "on the side" later in life but for now it is just a hobby. Last week I started helping a friend here organize her house. The morning we started I woke up so incredibly energized. I love to see order come from chaos. (that was a general statement about organizing not at all intended toward your house my friend :)) As we have continued to work on it I have been so refreshed. I love it...Really!! God has definitely said not now as a job but I thought that I might use this blog to encourage and spur my faithful readers on to organize and give them tips along the way. Being organized so helps me have the energy, resources and time to woo my flock....to love my family, to think for them, pray for them and serve them. I want to start with a disclaimer.....perfection is not even around the corner for me (unless of course God takes me home quicker than expected :)). I have learned that I am by nature an all or nothing person. This does not suit well at all with being anything but perfect. Most days I am not all and for a very long time I have struggled with feeling like those days I am nothing and therefor I do nothing. In the last few months after countless conversations with John about this struggle I am learning that living like this is not fulfilling so here is where I have landed regarding this all or nothingness (is that a word???) : God has given me the ability to organize and simplify my life quite easily. I want to choose to work towards doing this in every nook and cranny of my life so that there is less of me to make room for more of Him. I want to set up these "systems" in order to make day to day life easy and even some parts of it thoughtless so that I can spend my brain energy on more important things. As I do this I am learning to remind myself that it is a system that I am committed to but not one that I am ruled by- therefore it will not be the determiner of my success or failure for that day or week. This "thought process" has been so helpful for me in the past few months and has been greatly put to the test with my 9 weeks of sickness. I am learning that it is there waiting to be used but I am not a failure for not using it this week or the last nine for that matter.
I really love this gift that God has given me and I want to share it with you if you are interested. Of course I may not be able to be there in person but I will walk you through some of my thoughts on the process of organizing, how to organize specific rooms, how I plan meals, my weekly schedule, cleaning schedule, and so on. I am excited!!! More to come soon.

Not Now

"Lord, I give up all my own plans and purposes, all my own desires and hopes and accept Thy will for my life. I give myself, my life, my all utterly to The to be Thine forever. Fill me and seal me with Thy Holy Spirit. Use me as Thou will, send me where Thou will, work out Thy whole will in my life at any cost, now and forever."


On November 11, 1998 I wrote this prayer in the front cover of my Bible. I was reading Elisabeth Elliot's book Let Me Be A Woman. I had been a Christian a little over 1 year. I was single (though John and I were dating) and in college (little responsibilities). I clearly remember the day I wrote this in my Bible. I remember sincerely asking God to make this true in my life. Over the years I have glanced at it and been encouraged by it but I don't think I have read it since having children, until this week. Tuesday night I sat on the couch waiting for John to get home for me to leave for Bible Study. I was frustrated because he had planned to come home at 4 and it was 6:15. (work is tough right now with many long days). The kids were tired and whiny and hungry (he had told me to not cook - Mcdees and park time for the boys and daddy) and so was I. I had my Bible in my hand and I opened it just killing time and this prayer is what I saw first.
Since then it hasn't left my mind for the most part. I have really had some hard conversations with God this week about this prayer. The realities of this prayer for my life today seem 200 times harder than they did in 1998. Sometimes I feel myself screaming for just an inkling of my plans, my desires, my hopes.
But God is answering my prayer from almost 10 years ago...He is making this true in my life even on the days that I battle Him with every ounce. "The one who called you is faithful and he will do it" In the past few years I have made several attempts to put my "marketable skills" (so called by a dear friend) to work. I set out in my mind to make it work. I organized in my head how I could squeeze in time here and there. In my mind it would work plus it would help us pay off such a large amount of student loans - it was a good thing with good motives. But God said no, every time God said no. Not one time could my heart be settled. Sometimes I made it farther along in the process than others (even spent $10 for a business license once). At some point before I actually began he said NOT NOW.
But God you gave me these skills - let me use them for your glory...not now.
I can always tell when the itch is coming. Usually after I go through these battles with the Lord, I put my skills aside, even in my home (unless things need organizing cause I can't handle that :)) I have three empty picture frames on my living room wall that have been there for about 11/2 year. It is not pouting but I just don't even want to be creative, don't want to look at the magazines because it makes me discontent.
Well for about the last 3 weeks I have had the itch again. A couple of friends have ask for help organizing and so I have been thinking about the idea of being a professional organizer on the side and making money for it. (not you friends :)) On Tuesday, when I read this prayer I knew the Lord was again saying not now.
I really long for God's will in my life because I firmly believe that it is only there that I will enjoy life abundantly. But sometimes it is hard to wrap my head around this season of life being abundant life. All of me goes to others and even when my sweet husband gives me a break I find myself using it to research stuff about kids, parenting, saving money, serving my husband. Then I get all mad because I didn't just take me time. But even as I sit and write this I realize that I love doing those things. Apparently being "Just a wife and mom" is God's plan for my life. I am completely ok with being a wife and mom and I don't desire to "work" away from my home. My wanting to "market my skills" has nothing to do with me not being a stay at home mom. God has just given me skills that in our culture I could use to make money from home and pay off debt and have a constant creative outlet that I so long for.
I have once again stopped wrestling with God over this. He know absolutely what is best for me and one day He may make this desire of my heart His desire but for now it gets packed away for someday.

"Keep me safe, O God, for in you I take refuge. I said to the Lord, "You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing." As for the saints who are in the land, they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight. The sorrows of those will increase who run after other gods. I will not pour out their libations of blood or take up their names on my lips. Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me.

I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. `Psalms 16

Just a little FYI - Betty Scott Stam wrote the prayer at the top. Years after putting it in my Bible I learned more about her: She and her husband were China Inland Mission Workers and they both were led to their death through the streets of China. They were executed by decapitation while their young baby lay behind in it's crib.

Fun Times

Just for fun. Aunt Donna the last one is just for you. I HAD ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS. It just showed up at my door and ask for a picture. :)