Winter days

This is the perfect time to curl up in our sweaters, snuggle under a blanket, brew a pot of tea, sit by the fireplace and cozy up with a good book or movie. 

Can you believe January is almost over? 

With my backyard blanketed with a fresh covering of snow, it’s a good time to talk about what we’re into right now.

The night table 
This is the stack of books, I’m reading through.  

I’ve finished Only Daughter, {4 out of 5 stars}  The Life we Bury, {4 out of 5 stars} read 4 chapters of The Wrong side of Goodbye and realized it’s too close to John Grishams’ The Testament, so I didn’t bother finishing it… currently reading The Farm {pretty good so far}. 

The television 
Each and every January, we haul out our boxset of the series LOST, {because hello, Josh Holloway} and binge watch until all six seasons are finished… and now that the Australian Open is over, we’ve started season three.

The kitchen
With our boys out on their own, this mama still likes to make some homemade meals and send them to their homes.  So about once a month, I get the ingredients I need and I cook up a storm.  One fav is this.
Taco bake Casserole

As for me, I’ve decided to again to eliminate dairy, eggs, peanuts, sugar, MSG, corn, wheat, red meat and nightshade vegetables from my diet.  Not an easy task mind you, but one I’m hoping that with time, will improve my health.  Thank goodness for almond milk and this recipe.

Chai Spiced Granola


The iPad 
I’ve been reading a few new blogs…
The Lazy Genius Collective 
Cranberry Tea Time
Blessed Transgressions 
Living in the Moment
And of course I still love seeing what the “the girls” over at Mennonite Girls Can Cook are cooking up.  I’ve also been enjoying the Holy Bible app, and read my daily devotions from there. And let’s be honest here, after all we’re friends right? I love my recolor app.

The Radio
Been listening to k-love radio, a Christian radio station in the states.  And lovin’ it! It’s a great motivator. 

How about you? What are your own faves?

Take Care

Joy?!?

For a long time, I was really irritated with James {as in New Testament James} and his “count it all joy” to be found in James 1:2.

Life with a chronic illness is hard.

Some days, joy feels so unattainable.

Trade places with me and let’s see how long you talk about joy.

Each day when I wake up, my body feels miserable. I feel weak and tired. It is hard to move, hard to wake up, hard to go about my simple, daily life. If it were up to me, I would choose not to be chronically ill. But that is not the life God has given me, so I surrender my desires, and I accept His plan for my life.  {still a work in progress}

When we trust that each moment in our life has purpose and can cause us to grow, we have a reason to “count it all joy” in every circumstance.

When things don’t go as planned….. we can count it as joy.

In the middle of a crisis….. we can count it as joy.

If we feel discouraged, anxious or depressed….. we can still count it as joy.

When the prognosis is bleak or we are in physical pain….. we can count it as joy.

In our times of deepest loss, grief or loneliness….. we can count it as joy.

When we feel afraid or like we don’t have what it takes….. we can count it as joy.

Whatever life throws at us, whether it seems big or small, we can count it as joy because we have hope. 

Finding the joy in trials can be hard, can’t it?

And yet, God promises to never leave us, who walks with us or carries us through every trial and joy, and who has given his very life for us.

Life is good.  Not perfect.  But it is good.

Joy is there to be found in the hard days, the stuck-in-bed days, the pain-filled days, and the lonely days.

Perhaps JOY is my 2017 word?

Take Care

Listen

As an introvert sometimes even I just need a little bit of silence.

I’m quiet, you know. 

I read more and talk less. 

I process inside and have difficulty translating it to the outside. 

In this crazy, busy hectic world how is silence even possible?  

There are so many things that can invade our lives and block our ability to hear God. Television, radio, ipods, cell phones, Internet, email, traffic, and busy schedules all contribute to our noisy world.

Every moment is bombarded by noise, both external and mental, that can clutter our thoughts and cause us to lose the ability to settle down and really commune with and listen to God. All that noise can contribute to God’s silence in our lives. 

To listen is to be silent.

For when we’re silent, then we can listen for God speaking to our hearts.

shh… quiet

I’m listening ...

Take Care

Mary vs. Martha

In my daily life right now, I’m good with the Martha part, but the Mary part?  Well, it could use some work…..

My house is good, it’s tidy, relatively clean and fairly organized. But my spiritual life quite often sits on the back burner. Simmering, not really ever coming to a full boil.

Oh sure, I read a daily devotion, but more often than not, it’s one more task to complete.  It’s a daily struggle to find closeness with God, to take time to pray, and to read his word. 

The schedule of my life, I’m sure is quite similar to many other women. I go through each week doing laundry, making meals, attending church, running errands, keeping watch over my Squinch and date nights with the hubs, fill up most of my time.

It’s easy for my Martha part, every morning as soon as I get up I make the bed, tidy our ensuite bathroom. Do a quick overview of what I hope to accomplish in the day and then simply get started. 

Confession:  I need a little more Mary, and not so much Martha in my life… but the question is, how?

Do I simply open my Bible and start reading? Or every time I’m alone in the car, I listen to Christian music. Or in the afternoon I read a Christian book? Or pray every night before I go to bed?  

These are all good ideas, but… when I get to those times of the day, I tend to find something else to do. 

So, today, I’m making a promise to myself.  I will inject some Mary into my daily routine. It may take a week or so to see a real difference, but I’m going to chip away at this lifelong struggle each day. 

With a little more Mary today, I’m hoping my Martha will be more peaceful.

Take Care

Our little secret

We were given the best gift this Christmas!

Oh yah! And a chalkboard key holder...

Take Care

A Good Reminder

As we settle in to this New Year, may we be reminded to...

Take Care

It's been...

Last week was rough.

The week before we were busy.  Oh so busy! 

Celebrating Christmas with the family, and then New Year's with our friends.  To be honest, it's taken me a full week to simply recover.
Don't get me wrong both events were wonderful, absolutely wonderful.  But after the week I've had I sometimes wonder if it's worth it.

It's been hard and I've had to change my plans for today.  And yesterday and the day before that, and the day before that,  and the ... {you get the idea}

This is life, isn’t it?

An imperfect, messy, ridiculous, unpredictable, crazy, amazing, exciting, beautiful, and truly blessed life.

There's a lesson here I'm sure of it! 

As James 1: 2-3 said…“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.”

Sometimes we need reminding that every part of our life is an important piece in creating us to who He wants us to be.

Take Care

#OneWord

Over the past several years, I’ve chosen one word to live my year by and each year, I’m struck by the effect those words have had, each somehow building on the one(s) before it. 

And as each year segued into the next, I soon learned that after striving to be more honest {2012}, I became more authentic {2013} with my life, which gave me a better understanding of being intentional {2014}. I found that when I was more intentional about what I did and who I spent my time with I soon realized what was important, causing me to be thankful {2015}, for the many blessings that I have, helping me to recognize that I can be content {2016} with what I have, and where I am. 

It kind of boggles my mind how that worked...

And here we are again, in the beginning few days of a brand new year.  Many of the bloggers that I follow have been sharing their plans and dreams for the new year.  I’ve been reading post after post and have been inspired, intrigued, and occasionally fascinated by their carefully selected One Word.

Truly.

But sadly, I don’t have a One Word for this year.  {le sigh}

So then I thought maybe it’s time to do, “The UNword”.  Perhaps that would work better. “An UNword ~ is a word that you are rejecting for the new year. You would like to Un-Do it. Declaring a word that we ARE NOT.”

But it seems to me that the Un-word is just a different angle of the One Word. Instead of focusing on what you wish to lean into, you’re focusing on that which you wish to avoid.  And while both sound like good practices to me, I’m actually leaning towards no word.  

Choosing my word for 2017 hasn't become clear to me … and yet, somehow, I'm ok with that.

Take Care

Day Two

Here we are, on this second day, of the New Year and it’s got me thinking about what I’m going to do with it.

I want to handle this 2017 year as best as I possibly can. And then I want to take care of every day that follows it equally as well…

Every single day is a gift. {even Mondays}

And I know that yesterday was no more special than today is or than tomorrow will be. But still, these first few days of the New Year seem to mess with me a little more than say the dog days of summer….. {ah summer! ~ only 171 more days}

As we flip our calendar pages to a fresh New Year, we can look ahead to all those empty calendar boxes and be tempted to plan out our days, weeks, months, scheduling ourselves full with appointments, events, holidays, celebrations, adventures and end up missing the opportunities that God has in store for us. 

Each new day is a chance for a fresh start ~ these however oh-so-many breaths, these fleeting moments ~ are once in a lifetime. Every moment. Once in a lifetime, never to be repeated. And I don’t want to be so busy that I miss them. 
There is a whole new year ahead, brimming with so many possibilities and what God has planned {Jeremiah 29:11} for me!

I’m looking forward to 2017, are you?

Take Care

Happy New Year!

From our house to yours.

Take Care