One Word 2022

I had never heard of One Word until I attended Bible study at Ada Bible. However, it turns out that this isn’t just a Christian thing. But for this (and I would guess most) Christian it is typically a little different because I tend to anchor our word with a Bible verse.

So, what exactly is One Word? I have seen many things but it comes down to this overall concept: To change anything in your life you need to focus and picking one word, with God’s help, to focus on and have clarity about for the year will bring you that change.

To be honest, I do not think I have ever really used it the way I should through the years of picking a word. Because, it has gotten hard. Not just hard but Satan pushing in ways that break me and I have allowed him to win over the years. And then, I finish the year without any focus on my word, or much of anything to be honest.

And the worst part is I never even realized it, until this year. Here we are only 18 days into the new year. My word is picked. My verse is picked. I have started and stuck with a new habit of writing scripture out each day. I am leading a Bible study and attending two other Bible studies. I have been doing well, to the outside world.

And yet, my word, which happens to be Fulfilled, is no where in site. My home life is in chaos. My desire to draw closer to God through scripture writing and Bible reading and studying isn’t there. Yes, I am doing both of them. Yes, I am getting in depth with both of them. Yes, I pray for God to light a fire within me for His Word. And still, so many things are going wrong.

Do you want to know what all of these things are telling me? Satan is working overtime my life. This has got to be a fabulous year that I will be feeling Fulfilled in all aspects of my life. I mean, normally the devil gives me a little bit of time. Typically I am pretty focused on the word for a good 4-6 months and then it goes downhill. And here we are not even out of January and I am being hit hard.

My favorite hat says, “Not Today Satan” and I often say it out loud. I even, at times, open a door or window and tell him to get outta my house!

So, what if you want to give up making resolutions and just focus on One Word for your year? How do you decide on a word? How do you even begin or know where to start?

There are a lot of blogs out there and websites that have lists of words to help you get started. But this is what I have done.

1. What went on in the past year? Was there something that really stood out that I wasn’t happy with?
2. I typically have a couple words in mind at this point and I pray over them. I flat out ask God to give me a clue as to what word I need in my life. Where do I need to focus so I know it is coming from Him and not me.
3. Once my word is chosen I start digging into Bible verses. Sometimes they have the word in it and sometimes it does not but it hints at it.
4. I write both the word and the verse down. Commit it to my heart. This year I also committed it to God that I would focus on this all year and not allow other things to get in my way.
5. I share it. I don’t have to but I am hoping it will help with the commitment to keep it in my forefront all year long. When you have an accountability partner who can say, “Hey what has God done with you and being fulfilled lately?”

Are you going to pick a word for the year? I would love to hear what yours is!

Coming Home

As a believer living in a this world it is easy to become jaded and miss what gifts God blesses me with daily. I accepted Jesus Christ into my heart and each day I have the Holy Spirit who is giving me the guidance I need to navigate this broken world. But there are still times that my focus is on this world and not Christ.

Luke 15:20-24

When I wake up each day I try and start by give thanks, praise, and gratitude to God. It doesn’t matter if it is something simple like being able to wiggle my toes or if it is something huge like having a roof over my head. I find when I start my day with giving thanks I focus on the good things just a little longer. 

But as each day goes on, I tend to lose site of Jesus. I rush around trying to accomplish all the things on my to-do list, which is never ending. I become impatient as the person in front of me on the road is going 5 MPH slower than the speed limit. I ask my family to do something and then I have to ask again, and again, and again. And by that point I am frustrated, impatient, and yelling. I get overwhelmed with trying to keep appointments, meals, plans, and life all straight and in order. 

And at the end of each night when I crawl into bed and reflect upon my day, more often than not I am not proud of who I was, what I thought, the words I said, or even what I accomplished. 

At the end of each night, Jesus embraces me.

Then I look up and I see the Father running towards me. His arms wide open, tears streaming down His face. When He reaches me He embraces me. He is filled with love, compassion, hugs, and kisses. And once again He says, “We must celebrate with a feast! For you, my child, were dead and has now returned to life. You were lost, and now you are found.”

I am reminded that Jesus is the way and the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father except through Him. That nothing I do will make Him love me less and nothing I do will make Him love me more. But thankfully each day, I am able to start over because of God’s grace and I get to come home to Him and so do you.

Luke 15:20-24 (NLT)
“So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.

“But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.

Lamentations 3:22-24

Lamentations 3:22-24 (NLT)
The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!” 

The Purpose Of Proverbs

I started using the NLT version a lot more when I am using the YouVersion app.

Today in my 90 days of reading through the Bible I got to Proverbs and this just hit me. The Purpose of Proverbs!

It is beautiful…

“Their purpose is to teach people wisdom and discipline, to help them understand the insights of the wise.” We are so blessed! Have you ever thought about how in the old testament times they didn’t have the Holy Spirit in them. They had to memorize everything! Most days I can’t recall what I ate for breakfast how in the world am I going to memorize the O.T.?! And yet, we are so blessed! God left us this amazing gift, the Bible. It is God-breathed. It is His love letter to us. He wants us to be wise and He has left this wisdom for us to use and learn from.

“Let the wise listen to these proverbs and become even wiser.” Lord, I know I have so much room for growth and I am not as wise as I should and could be. Please use Your words to seep into my soul. Gift me with knowledge and wisdom and allow me to feel Your Holy Spirit within the depths of my soul. ~ Amy

Do you love learning? Do you love the Bible and discovering new things you hadn’t see before? Did anything jump off the page at you? Would you like to join my inner circle? Click here to do that!

Just Think About It…

What does this mean to you?

Over the years, for myself, it has changed. But I think I finally get it and understand it and am doing it.

Tell me, what does this mean to you?

Radical Faith

Have you ever noticed that when you are in tune with God, He shows you things you never would have thought about on your own? I am noticing it more and more as time goes on.

As I have been praying about what I need to be doing in life, to bring glory to God, He has brought something and someone amazing to mind. Let me talk to you about a person who truly has radical faith. First though I need to share two stories with you that God brought to me while I was praying for this person and how He showed me this man’s radical faith.

Have you ever heard the story of Abraham and Isaac? It is told in Genesis 22:1-19

Abraham Tested
22 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”

“Here I am,” he replied.

2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”

3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”

6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”

“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.

“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.

9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”

“Here I am,” he replied.

12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”

13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”

15 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18 and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”

So there are some things that really stand out to me when this was brought to me while in prayer: one thing is Abraham had one son, Isaac. Abraham was told to take Isaac and to make him a burnt offering to God. Abraham didn’t beg and plead with God. Abraham didn’t question what God’s motives were for this. He just knew that God was telling him that Isaac had to be a sacrifice and Abraham was going to follow through.

Another thing that stuck out to me was that Isaac didn’t question what Abraham was doing. Yes, he mentions that there was no lamb but when Abraham responds with God will provide it, he just kept on trusting Abraham and God.

That last thing that really stuck out to me was once Abraham and Isaac were up on the mountain, Abraham built an altar and arranged the wood. Abraham then bound Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. He was about to kill his son when Abraham was stopped by the angel. Even as I write this I am struck by the fact that Abraham just kept on moving forward. He was going to kill his only child, his only son. Not only that but Isaac allowed his father to bound him, place him on top of the altar and wood knowing what his father was about to do. Isaac didn’t try to run away. Isaac didn’t try to talk Abraham out of it. Isaac just knew and had faith in both his father and God. He trusted that whatever was to come, was what needed to be done.

Have you ever heard the story of Jesus calling his first disciples? It is told in Matthew 4:18-22

Jesus Calls His First Disciples

18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 20 At once they left their nets and followed him.

21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Fishermen were not poor, ignorant men during Jesus’ time. I had no idea until a few years ago that fishermen were not poor. I am not sure why I thought this all these years, but I did. It was a few years ago that my pastor explained how wealth they actually were. That they were truly smart, knew multiple languages and were truly not just fishermen, they were businessmen.

(We have a surprisingly good picture of the scale of Simon Peter and Andrew’s fishing operation. They worked in partnership (Lk.5:7) with James and John, the sons of Zebedee (Lk.5:10), who had employees (Mk.1:20). They were free to start (Jn.21:1-3) and stop work (Lk.5:11) when it suited them. The impression that they were men of substance who controlled their own lives is confirmed by the quality of their house at Capernaum. Known as the House of Peter since the fourth century, it is larger than most of the other houses excavated in Capernaum. But that is not all. Although no evangelist was interested in providing his readers with a detailed picture of the families of Jesus’ disciples or of their business practices, we can read between the lines. Given the average size of families at the time, it seems very likely that more of the family must have been involved in the fishing business on the Sea of Galilee than just Simon Peter and Andrew, and the family income would have been proportionally greater than that of two men working alone. Against this background of a relatively well-off family, it becomes possible to understand how Simon Peter and Andrew were financially able to drop their work and become, first, disciples of John the Baptist (Jn.1:40-42) and then disciples of Jesus.)

Now let me tell you about this person, Daran. You see Jack and I met almost eleven years ago now. We met in a bar and we met because of Daran. I had been going out with friends to this place and singing karaoke on Friday and Saturdays when I did not have the boys. I had been doing this every other weekend for about three months. Then near the end of December, Daran and Jack showed up.

Let’s fast forward a little bit. I got back to God. I got back to going to church. I got back to Bible study. I got back to feeling peace and knowing that everything was going to be okay. That led me to a place though that meant I was not having out with Jack and his friends on a regular basis.

There was nothing against any of them. I prayed for them and loved them where they were at, but I knew I could easily fall back into drinking and making bad choices if I was around them often. So I did what I did best, avoided them. I did not prevent Jack from being around them and doing things with them, I just often made the choice not to be involved.

Now fast forward even further and Daran made some serious changes in his lift last year. He gave up the partying, the drinking and he truly sought Jesus and having a relationship with him. I knew somethings were changing in his life, but I didn’t really know what was going on. Jack never really shared what was going on, just that his marriage fell apart, and he was changing.

Jack would go check on him to make sure he was okay. Jack would hang out with him but I still didn’t know what was going on in Daran’s life. That is until July of this year. Daran was celebrating one year of sobriety and we went to support him as a family. The kids swam in the pool. There was some cornhole played. There was a cookout. It was a good day.

Now fast forward again to current times. Daran is working on putting together a non-profit organization to help people. Those people currently are middle to high schoolers. He has been coming on Friday nights and helping with my kids and Brit’s kids. He has been bringing kids to Friday nights. We have been spending more time together in the last few months than in the past eleven years of me knowing him.

I have been praying for him and for his mission. I have said a few times to Jack that he has more courage than I do. You see a long time ago (when I actually figured it out, it has been about 22 years since I started to have this thought) a local business went out of business. Knowing the problems I had created for myself as a teen, I knew there was a lot of room on the NE end of town for a place for teens to go after school. A place for them to be able to hang out, a place for them to be mentored, a place for them to do school work and get help, a place for them to find themselves and to see where their life could go if they made right choices. (At that time, I was not so Focus on God being in it, over the years He has come into that vision).

It isn’t really courage though. He has radical faith. He is Abraham. He is Isaac. He is Peter, James and John.

I was praying for Daran and these are the images, the stories that God brought to my mind. Daran has this blind faith. He is doing what God is asking him to do and he isn’t questioning it. He gave up a six figure (I’m guessing) income to make pennies compared to before. He is putting his home up for sale knowing that if he is offered this number he is selling it and if he doesn’t get an offer with a specific number he will hold onto it until later.

He is moving forward not truly knowing where God is taking him. He is praying. He is listening. He has made Jesus his best friend and he is doing what is asked of him. He doesn’t question. He has no clue what is going to come next. He doesn’t know if his house is going to sell. He doesn’t know anything and yet he has this radical faith that God is going to be right there with him because God asked him to do these things for Him!

I have never in my life known anyone who is like this. I have never know a person who is so in love, so on fire, so trusting, so radical in their relationship with Christ.

Have you really ever known anyone who was asked to give it all up like Abraham, Isaac, Peter, James and John? Have you really ever known anyone who was not only asked to give it all up but then proceeded to do exactly what was requested of them? I can say I have not, until now.

You may be thinking currently if radical faith requires you to give up your job, sell your house, and form a non-profit you have no desire to have radical faith. That is really what it means though. Having radical faith is about having a relationship with God and being the unique you He created you to be. It is about your relationship and doing what is asked of you.

For you to have radical faith, it may mean God asking you to smile at the grumpy lady in the grocery store. It may mean mowing your neighbors lawn even when you don’t want to. It may mean turning the television off and spending 30 minutes with Christ, alone! It may mean picking up the phone for the call you really don’t want to take because it means you are going to be asked to do something you don’t want to do.

For you to have radical faith, it means that you have to have a relationship with Christ so you know when He is asking you to do something and then doing it. Radical faith isn’t about giving it all up, it is about a relationship with God, trusting in what He is asking you to do in the moment and actually following through and doing it.

I have been asked many things by God and there have been many things I haven’t done. I can’t say I follow through on my radical faith all the time, but I can say I am praying for someone who currently is!

America’s Got Talent & The Voice

There is talent all over the world. I have never been a huge fan of shows like American Idol and some of the other shows like that. However there are two shows I have come to love: America’s Got Talent and The Voice.

We gave up cable a while ago. Financially it just made sense. We still needed internet and we have a smart TV and an Amazon Fire TV. So we watch Youtube and we also have Netflix. I do not get to see the most current shows that I used to love but that is okay.

We survive without live TV. I never thought it would work for a few in the house but overall everyone has adjusted great.

Now I just want to share a few of my favorite people from these shows. Music speaks to my soul. The people who sing, write, and perform these songs all have stories. Guess what? Those stories speak to my soul. My husband is assured that when we had cable that I would cry during each of those shows at least once.

Chris Medina was on America’s Got Talent but I can’t find that video now.

 

If I am picking the music I am listening to, most of the time it is going to be some form of Christian music. It just speaks to me. I can sing, praise, and cry out to God. I also find that it just feeds the soul. So often I can get into my car and feel frustrated or defeated and then I start the car and a song will be on.

My whole attitude is changed. My outlook is better. I feel His presence and I just feel better. I feel His comfort. I know that no matter what happens, it is going to be okay. He is with me.

Does music ever speak to you like this?

Bad Days Video Update

So the last few days have been rough. I post a lot of positive things because it helps me change where my mindset used to be.

Lately I have been forgetting why I started all this good stuff. I haven’t completely forgotten it but things have been going pretty good compared to March 2016 and before.

God gave me a gentle reminder though of why He placed some things in my life and I am glad. He reminded me of my true why and for that I am thankful.

I missed blogging yesterday and in the video above it explains why. Hope you take a few moments to watch!

 

Are You a Student of Your Spouse?

Long ago I thought that if you got along with the person you are dating it would just all work out. For a time I even thought even if you didn’t really get along, if you wanted it to work out, it would. In both cases I wasn’t correct. No matter how well you do or don’t get along,  you have to be willing to be a life long student of your spouse/partner. 

Every person in your life is an individual who is unique. This applies to everyone you come across, new friends, family, old friends, siblings, parents, children and of course most important your spouse. So do you take time to study them? Do you know what is important to them? Do you know what makes them tick and how they need to be shown love? Or do you just wing it and do it how you would like to be shown love? 

We were talking about the 5 love languages in youth group. If you have never heard of it before, you are not alone. Apparently my husband had never heard of it and that shocked me. How in the world have I been with this man for over 10 years now and I had no clue he had never heard of this or knew what they were? It does explain a lot though because so often I would explain to him what was important to me and he would look at me like I was an alien from  whateverplanethasnotbeendiscoveredyet. 

So if you are a person who has not heard of the 5 love languages or if you are a parent I can’t encourage you enough to head on over to the 5 love languages site and take a couple of the tests! After taking the test you may be interested in purchasing the 5 love languages book. The best thing is how many different books there are to help you with the different life stages. There is a love languages for children, love languages for men, love languages for teens, love languages for singles, love languages for the workplace and best of all love languages of God!

I think it is so important to take these tests together. To learn with each other and to try and show your spouse you love them in their love language. I personally take the test about once a year just to see where I am at. I have never asked my husband to take it because I always assumed what his were (it seems that I was a person who was doing some suggesting and never did my own following through). Tonight, I opened up the website and I had each of us take the test. 

To say I was shocked by the results doesn’t quite explain how I felt when I looked at his results. I was completely gobsmacked by his results. They were not exactly the same as mine, but we were really close. So close I had to do a double take when comparing them to recall which persons I was looking at. I don’t think it should have shocked me as much as it did, but for whatever reason it did. Probably because in my head, I think men all get physical touch as their top result (I know this isn’t the truth, just a perception I have in my head). 

Jack and I have always been similar in so many ways. So often I will say something and he will look at me and tell me to get out of his head because he was just thinking the same thing. Or all of a sudden in the middle of a show we are watching or song he will blurt something out (most of the time it has nothing to do with what we are actually doing) and I just look at him and laugh because I was having the same thought as him and I just had not said it yet. I was so skeptical when I would see shows or movies and the people were, “you complete me”. Especially after my first marriage. However now with Jack, I totally get it because he does complete me.

Do we have problems? Yes of course we do. Do we have disagreements? Yes of course we do. Do we have 100% the same beliefs about everything? Not a chance and that leads back to the problems. Do we love each other? No doubt in my mind. Do we want to spend the rest of our lives together? Could not imagine it any other way. Do we get each other? We are getting there. Do we know how to show love to each other? We are so much closer today than we were yesterday!

I think when you choose to only love people in your life the way you want to be loved you miss out on so much. You are not filling their love bucket up. You are not even filling yours up fully. Being able to show and receive love the way others need it is pretty amazing. It is a gift to them, from you because you truly love them. It does not always mean they are going to come back and show you love the way you need it. There are a lot of reasons why they would not but one of the biggest ones is, maybe just maybe they have no clue what any of that means. 

Life can be hard and so can relationships. There is never an easy path all of the time for any of it. You can work toward making things better. You can be selfless, you can pray, you can work together taking the test and putting into action what you have learned about each other. 

You could also go the other way and be selfish. You could take the test and stew in the fact that you knew your loved one was not loving you the way you needed it. You could ignore how you should be loving your spouse. You can make a choice to ignore all you have learned and just focus on you and what isn’t going correct.

Life is full of lessons. Some of them are easy and some of them are really hard. Jack isn’t my first marriage. I knew before I got married the first time that I sholdn’t not be doing it. I even wanted to call it off but it didn’t happen. I tried to make that marriage work. I found a church and got involved. I prayed, read the Bible, and read as many books as I could get my hands on about marriage, husbands, wives, relationships and how to make them work; even if only one is trying. None of that worked because it wasn’t a healthy relationship to be in. It was a hard lesson that went on for years; and even current life is affected by that one choice. 

Marriages and relationships are not meant to be one sided. They all need give and take. They all need conversation and listening. They all need grace and forgiveness. They all need people who are willing to bend and stand firm. They all need people who are ready and willing to be selfless and not selfish. They all need laughter and tears. They all need joy and sorrows. They all need people who are willing and able to become a student of the person they are with. 

Do you know why you have to be willing to be a student of the people you are in a relationship with? Because during our lifetime, we change, we grown, we morph into different beings. We are not who we were in the past. We are ever changing. That is why you have to be willing to be a student and study your spouse. The person you dated will not be the same person you marry. The person you married will not be the same person a year later. That person you loved a year later with completely change when you have children and grandchildren. 

We are ever changing and growing. Are you ready and willing to be a student who studies your spouse if you are not already there? Are you ready to take your relationships to the next level? I would love to hear about it because happily ever after can exist, even if you are currently struggling.

 

Pressures In Life Can Overwhelm

Last week in Bible study, I struggled. I could not get through the chapter. My focus was missing. Every time I tried to read it, pressures in life took over. My mind would wander and I would close the book, again.

I could not figure out what was really going on. Which was kind of crazy since the whole strategy was about the pressures you face. We are reading FerVent by Priscilla Shirer. At the end of each chapter I do a summary of what we read for the ladies. Here is the summary on Strategy 8.

Hi Ladies!

This past week we talked about Strategy 8, Your Pressures.

I have had some chapters that were a bit hard to get through, but this chapter was impossible for me to get through. Every time I would sit down to read it, I could not focus.

What was causing all these issues? All the pressures of life that had been going on! They have not gone away but I made the choice to truly focus. To dig into prayer, to focus on God and what He had planned for me.

We can be enslaved by good things and bad things. I often think it is easy for us to focus on the good things we are doing for Him, and forget to focus on the relationship with him.

We have to find our balance. We have to set a schedule for ourselves. We need time daily for our family, for our time with God, for the things He is placing in front of us. The only way to really know if it is of Him, be in the relationship with Him.

I love where she said, “Your Father just wants you to be you. And that means not
having to be two of you to get it all done.” because that thought is what has been setting me free. The fact that God has been showing me that HE created me to be who I am. That He wants me to be me. To see that in this chapter was just another way He confirmed to me that I am heading in the right direction.

I was not created to be who my parents wish I was. I was not created to be who my children wish I was. I was not created to be the person who always says yes and never says no. I was not created to be what others want me to, I was created to be in a relationship with Him. I was created to listen to Him, His will, His wants for me.

And the more I head in the direction He has for my life, the more peace I have inside of me. The more contentment I have in my life. The more rejuvenated I feel when I spend time with Him in worship.

Another thing God has pointed out to me is that my children are affected by who I was trying to be. The more I was going, the more I expected from them, the more perfection they would try to show to gain my approval. That is not what I want for them! I want them to build their relationship with Christ. I want them to build who God has created them to be.

Pressures in our lives can lead us to be worn, weary, exhausted and pushing God to the side. That is not what He created us for. Good and bad things get in our way of having a relationship with Him.

Maybe it is time to really go into prayer about each thing you are doing in your life. Even those who are retired can be choosing wrong things. Over this past week, I have been making a list. I have been watching what is taking my time.

I am praying about it all. I hope you do as well!

Tomorrow we talk about our hurts! I can’t wait to see you all.
Amy

It was crazy how I could not focus. I was so focused on all that was going on around me. I am so glad that I took the time to focus on Him, pull myself back in alignment with God and moved past the craziness of the past week.

This does bring us closer to the book being over. When the book is over, we have one more week as a final get together, then our Bible study for the year is over. So I have been working on trying to figure out what would be a good choice for summer Bible study.

Between two of us we decided it would be good to do something that gets us more in tune with God. So we are thinking about doing a daily devotional and then just talking about what we read over the week.

So far we have talked about using: Jesus Calling By Sarah Young, Jesus Always By Sarah Young, A Little God Time For Women By Broadstreet Publishing Group and I have a couple others I would like to pull out and review.

Anyone have any reviews or a daily devotional you love? I would love to hear your thoughts!

Be His Light!

Keeping Your Schedule When School Is Out

I decided to use our spring break to try a few different things for our summer schedule. So far nothing seems to be working. For whatever reason my kiddos seem to think they can do what they want. They can say no as often as they want. They don’t have to do their chores. They can sit on tablets or in front of the TV all day. They have another thing coming.

So far we have all been off our schedule and I do not want that for our summer. We need to be able to be consistent. We need to have specific times laid out for what we are doing. Even if each day varies, we need to know what we are doing on which day of the week.

Being a work from home parent and a stay at home parent, there are certain things that need to be accomplished daily. So far this spring break has shown me that we will not be able to accomplish it if we continue on our current method of winging it! Last summer wasn’t as much working as letting it go. Which is fine but we are trying to get further in life, which requires a little more work this summer.  

Tomorrow is a new day. I got this amazing planner about a week ago (post coming on how amazing it is) and it is time to put it into play. We are going to sit down and work on our hourly schedule as a family. I will be making mine based upon what I was doing prior to this vacation time. Then we will sit and work on the kids based upon what I am doing. 

Currently my days are not filled with anything constructive. I have not been doing my Bible study time. I have not been doing my reading. I have not been doing my typical reaching out for business. I have not been doing my chores. I have not been cooking as much as I was. I have not been playing my music during the day. 

I am off. I am not my happy self. My bright aura is missing and dull. I need to get back on track because I feel like I am losing what I had set in place over the past few months. Even when I went through all the surgeries, I still did my best to keep the schedule I had going. Then as soon as I was better, I was right back to it. So to be feeling so off and not have anything wrong other than children being home, frustration!

I am hoping that with us sitting down together, things will get better. It is really hard to sit and do this lack of everything. I am more exhausted dealing with the lack of stuff to do than I am when I have a full day. Don’t get me wrong, I am exhausted when I climb into bed at the end of each day. Yet when I am accomplishing things with my day, other than dealing with two children who just want their way, it is a different feeling. 

I realize how much of an introvert I am when I deal with them all day, every day. Being a mom is a huge blessing. There are times when it is hard but I would not trade it for anything. And yet, I still need my me time I am finding. I am not getting my me time, I am finding. When I look at last summer and how I was getting my me time, it was my Bible study time. They would do their reading and I would do mine. Even if we were in the same room, they were quiet and I made it through the days much better. 

Another huge thing I am seeing is that I am not going to prayer like I have been doing. I am just so frustrated, so short tempered and so irritated. Instead of me stopping, praying and deep breathing then dealing with things, I am just flying off the handle. At things I would not normally be upset over. I am seeing how being off schedule for even just a little bit of time, is not my friend.

So how am I going to stay on track? How are we going to start our school free time with a schedule? 

We are going to do like we talked about above. We are going to have a schedule. We are going to sit down a good week before school gets out for the summer and come up with our schedule. We are going to work together because when you involve your children (or spouse) you are going to have a much easier time getting them to stick to it. You are not dictating what will be done, because you came up with the plan together. 

There may be times when it is hard to keep our schedule due to weather. There may be times when it is hard to keep our schedule because we decide to throw caution to the wind and do something extra special. Yet we will have this schedule. We will talk about what the day looks like each morning before we begin. We will talk about what the next night looks like each night before we go to bed. 

Another huge key to keeping on schedule is going to be bed time and wake up time! Yes I will probably extend it a couple hours verse their school schedule because of when Jack gets home from work. It will give us some time as a family to be able to eat dinner, go for a walk and have some family time. At the same time, my youngest two children are very much so like me. They need their sleep! If they do not get the correct amount of sleep (because they always wake up at the same time every morning), everyone who is around them (this includes themselves) is miserable! 

So how are we going to keep our schedule when there is no school. We are going to create a schedule together. We are going to talk about it twice a day (and maybe more). We are going to have plenty of fun times mixed in with work times. We are going to work as a family to make this work. 

How do you keep your life on schedule and sane when you have vacations from school? It isn’t always an easy thing to do but I would love to hear how your family does it!

I’m sorry if this post seems off and fragmented.  If you come across this post, please pray. Tonight I am struggling to focus on this post. A friend I went to high school with, her 5 month pregnant daughter is missing. She dropped her off on Friday the 31st of March to eat and be with her boyfriend. She heard from her that she was heading home soon and hasn’t heard from her or her boyfriend since. Their phones have been off since she tried reaching them Saturday morning. A couple people reached out letting them know they saw her and her boyfriend in an altercation about 5:30 at the transit station. There was an OB appointment to find out the sex of the baby today and neither of them showed up. She has been known to take off before when angry but she was okay. She was so excited for this appointment, so even if she had taken off, she would have made this appointment. I am in tears for this family. I am praying she is fine. I am praying that she just got angry about something and took off. Still as a mother who has had to sit and wonder, I know her heart is breaking. Now as a mother, I know the pain and heartache I put my parents through and for that I am sorry. My prayers are with this family as they try and find some answers.