Thursday, March 18, 2010

Some things I have been up to lately.

I don't know that anyone is checking in here or is even remotely interested, but on the off chance someone does stop by the blog-o today, I thought I would share some of the things I have been up to lately or that have been of interest to me.
I have been making lots of homemade easy no-knead breads lately from the books, Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day and Artisian Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. Great, great books with super easy bread recipes. I have made a lot of cinnamon rolls with whole wheat brioche dough that are super easy. Okay, my waistline isn't getting any thinner with those but they sure are good. I am trying to be good to get ready for swim season and just be healthier, but until the sun starts coming out and warming things up here so I can walk I have indulged a little. But anyway, the Healthy bread recipes are really good and super easy.

I have been online purchasing new books for our homeschooling. Can I just say I love reading with my guys. Love love love the books we read for our schoolwork and for fun. They love it too. Sometimes I wonder what they are getting out of it, but then I hear their play conversations and hear them incorporate their books in their play. It's fun. They are totally into Star Wars right now, but they still like the stuff we are studying too. American History is sooo interesting when you get beyond the textbook dry dates and bare facts. Try reading some living books about that period. So fun and rich.

I have been reading some books to be a better teacher to my boys. I am learning that purchasing a prescribed curriculum isn't necessary. I am reading a couple of books by Ruth Beecheck that are great and eye openers. Somedays I wonder if I will ever get this homeschooling thing figured out. Am I ruining my boys? Plus, my selfishness doesn't help the situation most days either. Focusing myself to the task is pretty hard. The boys pick up on that and that doesn't help them focus either. I need God's help in that area a lot. I have to remember that God has called me to this task, he will equip me, and that if he wanted my boys to have a different mother, then they wouldn't be mine. I am okay. Not perfect, and still growing in grace, but I am the mother God wanted them to have. He has their futures in His hands, and I am a tool in His hand. Am I willing to be that tool? Some days not so much. God, I need you so much to meet my calling. Make me the mom and teacher you want me to be.

I have been making some cards lately, but have been trying to make cards for me to use. Gasp!! What a novel idea. :) I have all this stuff and I have been making things to try to sell them, which by the way, hasn't been going as well as I hoped. Doesn't anyone send a card anymore? I have bargain, beautiful handmade cards (no I am not bragging, they are pretty) for less than a Hallmark card. I don't think you can buy a card in the store for less than $3 and my cards are handmade and only $3. I guess I have different taste in cards than other people. I have spent a lot of time around Valentine's day making gift packaging, gifts and cards but no takers. I guess I'll have to use them myself. Maybe that is the point God is trying to make. I guess he isn't interested in me selling stuff. In fact, maybe he's not allowing me to sell stuff so I quit buying more stamping supplies and just use what I already own to send my own letters and give gifts to folks he wants me to encourage. Hmmm... now there is a thought. See I can be a little dense and stubborn and selfish... okay a lot of those things. I am trying to do that, really I am. But those few extra stamping things I have in my shopping carts at Stampin' UP! and Papertrey, well, I could really use them, and .... Wait, what about all those other stamps and die cutting things that you really needed and could use that you bought last month and the month before, and the month before... have you used them? No... I don't have time, or I just haven't gotten around to that yet. Point taken, just hard to put into practice when you have built up a habit of getting. Can we say coveting a little? God is working here, but I can be a stubborn whining little child. I want it now!! Lord, help me to be content and to use what I have.

Well, that is all for now. Thanks for letting me ramble. Maybe you see yourself a little here and know you are not alone in the daily struggle. I am so glad God doesn't see me as I see myself. He knows all the yucky ugly stuff in my heart but because He's clothed me in Jesus' righteousness he sees Jesus' perfection and He loves me. In fact, God chose to love me before the foundation of the world before I had done anything. That blows my mind, and yet it is such a relief that I didn't have to do anything to get that. It's a choice God made purely for his own glory to chose me. He even gave me the ability to yield my life to him. The more he reveals my ugly heart to me, the more I am thankful for that fact, cause if it depended on me, there is no way he would be interested. If it wasn't for God bringing life to my dead sinful heart, I wouldn't be interested in him or care about the sin in my heart. Thank you, Jesus for that gift you bought and paid for me on the cross. I would be so hopeless without it. Thank you for the hope that I have before me that I will be with you in Heaven and finally be totally without sin. I eagerly anticipate that day. While I wait, I look forward to what God will work in and through me for his glory.

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