Busy week...and God's goodness!

My goodness....this has been an unusually busy week around here. (right now, I have a little calico cat curled up on my hands and wrists...it's a little hard to type right now) LOL (late Saturday evening....)

At the end of a particularly busy time in our lives, I've found that when it is over and life settles down again, I see God's hand helping me thru...and the blessings that were the results.

We had a nice 2 day visit with my Mom, who we hadn't seen since December. She had been in Alabama helping my aunt after surgery. We enjoyed watching Ty 2 days this week....a wonderful day-long visit with dear friends, a couple cubscout events , a visit with our old friends and neighbors and our churches progressive dinner.

Now...Ron and I had never been to a progressive dinner and had no idea what to expect. We had so much fun! First, we were directed to have appetizers at the home of our good friends, the Skiles home. There, we were able to fellowship people from our church for a little while, and were able to meet some people that we hadn't had the opportunity to get to know before. We were then handed our itinerary for the evening. We then traveled to another home for soup/salad...and again, wonderful fellowship. One of the things that was nice, was that in between, Ron and I felt like we were on a 'date'....we laughed, and were able to talk uninterrupted by little ones. After our soup/salad, we headed to the church office to co-host one of the main courses. For our final destination, we headed to a home of friends from our caregroup for dessert. What a sweet spread! We laughed and had a lot of fun....and are looking forward to it next year. Now....it is time to REST after church...no one is going anywhere, no one is coming over....we're all going to rest, enjoy each other's company and have a relaxing dinner....with no one rushing out the door.

One thing that this week has taught me, is that our family does not do very well, with lots of activities. We are really praying about guarding our family time....and down time. Not sure how that will look in the future, but I know God has a plan and for our family, it is NOT to be running out the door every evening. Many women get a 'nesting' instinct before a child is born...well, I think I get that instinct everyday...I love the warm, homey, old-fashioned, slower pace of life....at home. I'm definitely a homebody! Oh, I am definitely happiest when home...and I love having guests here with us as well. Tonight after a simple dinner of potato pancakes, applesauce and sweet/sour red cabbage, we'll light a fire, have a little family devotion time, crochet and just hang out together around the fire....maybe add a little popcorn and an old movie to finish the evening.

I wanted to share a portion of some lyrics that we sang at church this morning , they really blessed me.

'Blessed be Your name, when the sun's shining down on me, when the world's all as it should be, blessed be Your name.

Blessed be Your name on the road marked with suffering, though there's pain in the offering, blessed be Your name.

Ev'ry blessing you pour out I'll turn back to praise. When the darkness closes in, Lord, still I will say...Blessed be the name of the Lord, blessed be Your name! Blessed be Your glorious name!

You give and take away...you give and take away, my heart will choose to say, Lord, blessed be your name.'

May you all have a peaceful day and a blessed, restful Sabbath! ~Sue~

Nature Pictures

Today it was beautiful outside, so I took advantage of the weather to snap some shots of Ronnie and Anna. Here are some of the best:Anna and I had just finished 'dance class' and I had to take some pictures of her in her leotard! HOW CUTE! She has on her angelic smile, adorable!

I have a 'thing' for pictures with trees :o) Ronnie with his Blue Bear... he was leaning on a car by the way :) Without even trying, I made Ronnie blurry, but the background more focused... hmmm A hunk of log fell down into our yard a week or two ago and provided us with great picture seats!I love the brick! I needed a change of scenery (so to speak) from trees and leaves.

Well, those are the best; email me if you want to see the others... more pictures soon!

Tagged & Awarded!

WE HAVE BEEN AWARDED! Not just a, "Whoever wants this, take it" kind of thing, but we were specifically awarded the excellence in blogging award!

I AWARD:

Ella

Lydia

Bekah

Rose

Southern Maiden

I was also tagged to do this...here are the instructions:

1. the rules: erase my answers and put yours in. Use the first letter of your name to answer ALL of the following questions. If the person before you has the same 1st letter pick a new one. You CAN NOT use anything twice, and you CAN NOT use your own name for the boy/girl question. After you are done, tag 5 people...

Here is my tag:

. What is your name? Sara
2. A 4 letter word: Star
3. A boy's name: Samuel
4. A girl's name: Samantha
5. An occupation: Singer
6. A color: sienna
7. Something you wear: shirt
8. A Food: steak
9. Something found in the bathroom: soap
10. A place: South Park

11. A reason for being late: stomach ache
12. Something you shout: SUPER!

13. A movie title: Sense and Sensibility!!!!!!! Woohoo!
14. Something you drink: SODA

15. An animal: snake
16. A song title: Savior Song (rachael lampa)
17. A verb: swings

I tag Dani, Lydia, Bekah, and Ella!

Eternal perspective.....

Tonight was our monthly homeschooling support meeting. You know there are times when you feel that you need to be somewhere, and the enemy tries every which way he can to thwart God's plan? Well...today was one of those days. But...again, the enemy was defeated.

We had a speaker tonight who's topic was eternal perspective...eternal focus in our homes...with our children. This is her last year of homeschooling...I think it's her 20th year. She, her husband and children are in full time missionary ministry thru Heaven's family. http://www.heavensfamily.org/ The most important thing that she spoke on, and the reminder for me was so timely, was keeping our focus on things/activities/homeschooling that have eternal value. Not that academics are not important, but that teaching about who God is, and what His word says and helping them have a personal relationship with Jesus has so much more importance than any 'schooling' that we do.

We all spoke a lot about things of eternal value and eternal perspective. Becky shared all about the different missionary ministries that they have, particularly about the orphanages that they support and help run. Three weeks ago, she just got back from Myanmar. (formerly Burma...which I didn't know) Myanmar is a 3rd world country in Asia. As she described her trip and her journey to one particular orphanage, my thoughts listening to her ran the gamut from "oh, those poor children! And, how do people live like that?!" to...".oh, my goodness how can we (meaning our country) be so very focused on money and the economic climate, recession, depression that we are experiencing now, when we are and will continue to be the richest country in the world?! Wow...does our family have so very much of everything we need...and we have it in abundance! As simply as we live, we could live so much simpler...and we could live everyday with gratitude and contentment. Money has no eternal value. People have eternal value. Caring for each other, our brothers and sisters in Christ has eternal value...whether the caring is done here or overseas. But these children! They have so little, especially compared with my children...they don't even have parents...and yet, they know the Lord, they are joyful and grateful....she told a story that thanks to this ministry, one particular orphanage was able to have rice and vegetables everyday and they were especially grateful to now have chicken once a week. They were GRATEFUL to have chicken once a week!

I wanted to post all of this while it was fresh in my mind. I wanted to write it down to talk about with my children tomorrow...and to remember as we're doing our schoolwork, that the time I spend with my children reading and discussing God's word, the time that we sing worship together, the time we spend praying together has much, much more eternal value than any books or knowledge we get from academic studies.

We will be looking into ways that we can help these people and orphans...even in our uncertain economic climate. Because...I know that our God provides...and if He is leading us to provide for the 'least of these'...then I know He will provide for us as well. And, oh, Dear Father...forgive me for my times of ungratefulness and discontent! Help me to avoid worldly distractions and spend as much time as I can with my children praising You and reading your word as we study your world....raising these children to know you and love you is our greatest ministry as parents. May you all have a blessed day! ~Sue~

Giveaway Winner

The giveaway is over, and we had the same winner! Bella won the Valentine's Day giveaway! Congratulations Bella,

and look over at http://unendingjoyfilm.blogspot.com/ for a movie-related giveaway!

Creative frugality....& Menu plan Monday!

As we continue to pour our researching skills and creativity into living a "creatively frugal" lifestyle, our menus will reflect that. Recently, I've done some bulk shopping and am pretty well stocked in freezer and pantry....it's become fun to look thru what I have and come up with some frugal, but good tasting meals. This is a busy week coming up, and two nights we won't even be home for dinner. But..."Mama said there'd be days like this, there'd be days like this my mama said!" It is a very good "busy"....fun activities, spending the day with special friends, my mom coming to stay for two days (Hooray!!!! We can't wait!), Cubscout activities and a church 'progressive dinner'. (never went to one of these....we're looking forward to it.) All of this to say, I guess, that I'm trying to encourage you to "accentuate the positive" and "keep on the sunny side"...and enjoy God's blessings and provision! He IS faithful to provide! He WILL meet all of your needs! (maybe not all of our 'wants')I've been reading in 1 Thessalonians and I pray that these scriptures encourage you: 1Th. 4:11-12 "...that you may aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, that you may walk properly toward thoses who are outside, and that you may lack nothing." And, one of my very favorite verses, 1 th. 5:16-17 " Rejoice always! Pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

So... get your kids excited about being creativily frugal...using the God given creativity and promoting contentment....kids (if there are any kids reading this) get yourselves excited about being creativily frugal....make something out of nothing....CREATE! Especially, get creative in the kitchen...look up some 'Great Depression' recipes online...surprise your mom! LOL We're created in our Creators image....therefore....be creative! Of course, it takes more work...but it can be fun....make it fun! And...remember to laugh....life is way to short NOT to! Here's our frugal menu for the week!~Sue~

Monday
GF blueberry pancakes (the only day I have time to make them!)
chicken veg't soup with brown rice
GF chicken pot pie, green beans

Tuesday
cheesy eggs, potatoes, fruit
GF pancake & nut butter sandwiches with fruit
Dinner at the Goettel's! (friends we don't get to spend time with very often...she is making GF spagetti and meatballs, and I'm bringing the salad and dressing)

Wednesday
Brown rice custard with apples
quinoa lentil casserole, beets & cucumbers
GF fettucine alfredo, green beans with mushrooms

Thursday
cereal, bananas
leftovers/pbj
crockpot/ swiss steak with tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, & peppers over brown rice, and salad

Friday
oatmeal with raisins, bananas
GF steak pizza, salad
Church progressive dinner (chicken parmesean, pasta, mine gluten free of course)

Saturday
GF banana nut bread, fruit
leftovers
GF pierogie casserole, green beans

Sunday
cereal, bananas
good Sunday soup, GF crackers
potato pancakes, sweet/sour red cabbage with bacon, homemade applesauce.

Be anxious for nothing...Sabbath Rest.

~In these very uncertain economic times, and the headlines predicting a Great Depression worse than the Great Depression....on this Sabbath, let us remember what God's word says...and cling to it as we rest in the surety and knowledge of His love and provision for us today...and everyday. Have a blessed Sabbath! ~Sue~

"In nothing be anxious" (Phil. 4:6).

No anxiety ought to be found in a believer. Great, many and varied may be our trials, our afflictions, our difficulties, and yet there should be no anxiety under any circumstances, because we have a Father in Heaven who is almighty, who loves His children as He loves His only-begotten Son, and whose very joy and delight it is to succor and help them at all times and under all circumstances. We should attend to the Word, "In nothing be anxious, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God."

"In everything," that is not merely when the house is on fire, not merely when the beloved wife and children are on the brink of the grave, but in the smallest matters of life, bring everything before God, the little things, the very little things, what the world calls trifling things -- everything -- living in holy communion with our Heavenly Father, arid with our precious Lord Jesus all day long. And when we awake at night, by a kind of spiritual instinct again turning to Him, and speaking to Him, bringing our various little matters before Him in the sleepless night, the difficulties in connection with the family, our trade, our profession. Whatever tries us in any way, speak to the Lord about it.

"By prayer and supplication," taking the place of beggars, with earnestness, with perseverance, going on and waiting, waiting, waiting on God.

"With thanksgiving." We should at all times lay a good foundation with thanksgiving. If everything else were wanting, this is always present, that He has saved us from hell. Then, that He has given us His Holy Word -- His Son, His choicest gift -- and the Holy Spirit. Therefore we have abundant reason for thanksgiving. O let us aim at this!

"And the peace of God which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." And this is so great a blessing, so real a blessing, so precious a blessing, that it must be known experimentally to be entered into, for it passeth understanding. O let us lay these things to heart, and the result will be, if we habitually walk in this spirit, we shall far more abundantly glorify God, than as yet we have done. --George Mueller, in Life of Trust

Twice or thrice a day, look to see if your heart is not disquieted about something; and if you find that it is, take care forthwith to restore it to calm. --Francis De Sales (from devotional 'Streams in the Desert'

Valentine's Day Giveaway!

*UPDATE: This giveaway will be closing 2/23/09: TODAY IS THE LAST DAY!*
I love 'Love' don't you? Not just a friend or family member's love, but Christ's love he shows to us each day. John 14:23 says, "Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him." How amazing to know that the Lord God accepts us and loves us so much, all the time! What an awesome God we love and serve!

On a slightly less deep level, I have another giveaway for y'all! These are home made jewelry sets for, of course, valentines day! We also have a guest giver, Lainey! She is one of our latest followers, a dear friend, and a jewelry maker extraordinaire! She generously donated a pair of earrings, while I made a necklace/earrings set. Sorry, but there are no clip on earrings in this one... sorry! Same as last time, just comment and you will automatically be entered. If you have a blog, you have a chance to earn an extra entry: make a post about the giveaway, then tell all your friends! We will enter your name twice if you do that. Here are the pictures of the jewelry!
These earrings are called Rosy Love, hence the red beads, it goes along with the necklace below

The giveaway also has designer earrings, made by none other than a sponsor, Lainey's Lovely Beads who makes lovely jewelry. These are called Cotton Candy Love.

Remember, when you comment if you're doing the extra entry, to state that in the comment so I can check it out! Feel free to use a picture, but please credit this blog. Thanks, and happy belated Valentines Day!