Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Busy, Busy Week

We've had 2 bake sales this week (one at church and one at co-op) that I've had to both bake for and participate in. Early. Too early.

We had a "blessing of the animals" at our church on Sunday that Mike MC'd and the girls and I volunteered.

Both of my younger daughters were in a play last night. And it was smashing.

Tonight is Trunk-or-treat at our church. Youth dresses up. And my husband and I are in charge of the youth (last minute). And the car had to be cleaned, vacuumed and decorated.

Friday morning is clean up day at our co-op. For three hours. Friday afternoon is a small group overnight camping trip for which I have to both bake (all the sweets for over 30 people) and shop for disposables and various food. And breakfast stuff.

Of course, Saturday is Halloween.

I'm glad there is an extra hour thrown in this week. I think I'll spend it sleeping.

Now I'm off and running again.

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Saturday, October 17, 2009

Crown Financial

Crown Financial Ministries

I'm taking this class at church on Sunday mornings. Has anyone ever taken it? Have any opinions or thoughts on it?

We have Bible verses to memorize every week. It's been quite a while since I memorized Bible verses. I'll be putting them on the sidebar to help.

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Saturday, October 10, 2009

In Keeping With My New Goals

The rain here has been abundant. Huge, fierce storms that blow in and back out just as quickly. Leaving glistening puddles and drips in the brilliant sunshine.

Jillian loves to play in the rain. She was outside yesterday right after a storm had blown through and came bursting through the door to tell me of a rainbow that ended in the neighbors yard! I grabbed my camera but unfortunately it was gone. But I did capture a few pictures of beauty found in the small things.


Jillian drenched and on the swing here daddy made her.


Our thornless blackberry patch. Last spring it was two little sticks in the ground.


The runoff that keeps the blackberries growing like weeks.


Ripening Figs


Some of the last color in the yard. These bushes got so beautiful this year.


A hot pepper plant that has been crazy prolific this year. I'm drying them as fast as possible.


Sunshine on the magnolia tree.


Us heading inside. Bare feet squishing in the mud.

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Friday, October 09, 2009

Priorities

Things seem to slowly be coming together.

I'm not really sure why I do some of the things I do. Or if there is a name or word for why/how I handle things.

I have a lot to do in my home. The list is daunting.

The (younger) girls are at an age that is crazy busy. Julia is learning to drive. And aside from that she is a fifteen year old girl that is involved in many healthy/fun/uplifting activities. Jillian is 12 and really coming into her own. She is starting to enjoy all the girly stuff. She now talks on the phone, texts and messes with her hair. She too has many, many church and/or co-op activities.

My husband works at least 6 days a week. He is involved in 2 different weekly ministries that are NOT church specific and at least 4 that are specific to our church.

We have chosen in our life to rarely, rarely eat out. This sounds silly. I know lots of people who say they rarely eat out and then pick up fast food on the way home. Or buy frozen dinners from the grocery. The thing is, we *rarely* eat out. Literally maybe 3 or 4 times a year. We almost never eat frozen dinners. Most of our food is made from scratch. Not that I grind the wheat for all of our bread (though I do that from time to time) but that I literally cook breakfast, lunch (which is sometimes sandwiches, and sometimes not), and dinner *7* days a week.

That's a lot of cooking. I spend my time in the kitchen. Probably on average 2-3 hours a day. And I'm grateful that I get to do this. But on top of the actual kitchen time, there is the planning and shopping time. And I'm a bargain shopper, so add that extra time to the mix.

And I've posted chore charts for the girls and I here before, and the girls do quite a lot. But there are several areas that I'm on my own. For obvious and not so obvious reasons I suppose.

I do all the laundry.

I do 95% of the cooking.

I pay the bills.

I do all of the shopping.

I keep the calendar. (This is a much bigger deal than you might imagine. I'll try to write more about it at a later time.)

I, of course at this point, do all the driving. (And this year the co-op schedule is ridiculous. I'll post about that sometime soon as well.)

I keep the school records.

I tend (or not) the garden.

The point is, I'm reasonably busy just in general. And then I have church obligations and committees on which I sit. There is much prep involved in at least 3 of these.

And it feels like somehow over the course of time, my priorities have gotten smudged. I've been spending way too much time on things other than my home. And my home is showing the signs of neglect.

There are things in my sidebar that are not directly related to my home. But these are things that I have committed to do and so I will do them. And when they are done, things are going to be considered very carefully before I commit to anything else at this season of my life that does not directly relate to my home or family.

I'll still continue (for the time being) with the areas at my church that I volunteer/participate. But only so far as it doesn't interfere with my true mission field.

My family and home.

Some may view this as selfish. So be it. I have to do what I feel is right for me and my family. And I really feel the call to focus on home. To live in the moment with my family. To not only perform the duties at home, but to make memories with them. To love my family. To love my home. To take the time to appreciate all that I've been given. Instead of rushing through one thing to get to another.

No more.

So here's to a new beginning. I hope to blog about it along the way.

The life with which I have been blessed is entirely too beautiful to only give it a passing nod.

It's time to stop and focus.

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