10 for 10

Just thinking about the similarities and differences of time and money. One minute and one dollar are pretty equal in their own different realms. Neither will "buy" you much. Money and time both require much thought and prayer to know how to spend them wisely. They are both gone in a blink of an eye. And when we have spent them we can have something to show for it in the end whether good or bad. Both can be wasted.


Being here on my own with no responsibilities has given me some time to think. Sometimes I don't use my time or money as I should and I usually take both for granted. 10 minutes or 10 dollars may not seem like much but can really amount to quite a bit if I use them wisely. The way someone spends their time and money usually reveals who they are and where their priorities sit.


10 things I'm likely to do with 10 minutes...


1. All kinds of household chores....sweep a room, fold a load of clothes, vacuum.

2. Check e-mail.

3. Write a real hand-written note.

4. Work on my blog.
5. Chat with a friend on the phone. (Nevermind, I always have more than 10 minutes worth to say!)
6. Update my planner or grocery list.
7. Re-organize a drawer or cabinet.
8. Rest.
9. Check the Sunday paper for the weekly sales.
10. Pray!

~~~~~~~~~

10 things I'm likely to do with $10....


1. Have lunch with a friend.
2. Rent a movie.
3. Buy a new pair of flip flops or slippers.
4. Buy new magazines.
5. New flowers for the kitchen.
6. A new book.
7. Ice cream for the family.
8. A t-shirt.
9. Hit some garage sales.
10. Yummy bath supplies.


Unfortunately the sad difference between time and money is that you can save one but not the other. You can't save time you can only manage it. You have to use it all now and then it's gone forever.


I pray that the Lord with help me to be a good steward of His gracious resources.

A Flood Of Emotions

Too late Honey I found a house! Just kidding. Sorta.

How I love it here. It's like slipping into an old pair of blue jeans. Just right. Perfect fit. So me.

I have loved every single second of being here. I love every single thing about it. If I could have any material possession dropped into my lap it would be a house/job right here in FSM.

Green is better than white.

Confession: I've cried so much thinking about having to go back home. This is home. I will always be a southern girl.

But time to suck it up, right? Great things are happening in CO. I especially love our church and the new friends we're growing closer to. I know it's where the Lord wants us to be. And if we were to move back I'd feel rebellious. I wish I had more friends though. Those friends that can just dive into deep conversations without the weather talk first.

White is pretty too. New jeans become comfy after awhile. I hope.

Flying Fun

If you haven't flown in awhile, things have changed. The Lord answered our prayers and we were able to get seats on the planes with no problems. Thank you Lord! So happy to be here with no difficulties.



But as I was flying I thought of some ideas that might make the trip a bit more fun for the travelers. So, I'm giving the airlines a little help (in case some big wig Delta guy is reading) and blog about some changes that I thought might be good for all.



~A plane wide Bingo game. Fun for all ages!! With prizes of course.



~A door prize for those who didn't win a Bingo prize.



~Lose the center row. Nobody wants to sit there and the people of either side of you don't want you sitting there either.



~Snacks. What happened to the snacks? No peanuts, no popcorn, nothin'! And let's go beyond the tired bag of peanuts and branch out into some cheese and crackers or apple slices.

~Magazines. No SkyMall thank you. Real magazines. Not just Field & Stream either. Some girl ones please.

What do you think? The first plane we were on was a big jet type. The flight was over before I knew it. The next one was one of those little bitty ones. Rough and a bit unsettling. Although it was shorter than the first it seemed a lot longer. It was fun though...even without a door prize.

Here We Go!

We leave at 4:30 in the morning to catch our first plane to AR. Yippee!! Please pray for traveling mercies and for my Honey and kids at home without us.

So I'm signing off for a week and should be back the beginning of next week. (I'll miss my blog)

2 more days

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." John 14:27

Day after tomorrow I leave for AR for a whole week. I've never been gone from my kids for more than a weekend. I've never been gone overnight from Mal or Baby Z. And while I've been thrilled about going for months, now that it's here...well, I'm ready to come home. I miss them already.

G'ma is coming and will be a great distraction for Mal and Z. She will be a big help to Lane and Honey. The week will probably go fast.

But I'm praying John 14:27. I don't wanna worry about it. I wanna enjoy the time. I'm looking forward to....
~ seeing my friends!!

~a beautiful wedding.

~ chatting on the porch with my old neighbor and laughing as he fusses about politics and tells me how great his new grandson is.

~walking around my old neighborhood in the mornings.

~going to my old church and hearing Pastor Dale.

~hearing how much fun my daughter is having with *her* friends.

~snow cones.

~coming home!

Please pray for us if you think about it. We're flying stand by so that is always iffy.

Interesting Story

My watch battery died. And while I didn't really want to get out today I also didn't want to go all day without my watch. Besides #1 wanted to get her hair cut and tomorrow it's supposed to rain.

So the hair cut place is 2 doors down from the jewelers. While I'm waiting a man in a wheel chair comes in. He is in a lot of pain and asked the manager to call the paramedics. Some time before he had fallen from his chair and hurt his hip. He could hardly move in his chair b/c of the pain.

While waiting for the paramedics (and my watch) I asked him if I could pray for him. When I was praying the manager comes over and starts praying with me too. Nice.
The paramedics come and take him and I'm still waiting for my watch. I'm looking in the cases at all the pretty things when all of a sudden the manager hugs me from behind.

This was quite a surprise b/c I didn't even know she was behind me!

I said something like "Oh! I thought you were my daughter."
She replies, "No, just your sister."

Awwww. I left thinking about how God puts you in just the right spot at just the right time for just the right purpose. Not even sure what the purpose was for me to be there but glad for it just the same.

Pray for James if you think about it.

An Attitude Of The Heart

Yesterday we had a horrible parenting day. Ever have one of those where you feel like you've totally blown it? God and kids are good to forgive but it still leaves you feeling terrible. I read this morning about Paul's ministry to the Thessalonians.
He compares his ministry relationship to that of a parent/child relationship and here God gives us a glimpse of what it should look like.

"but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children. We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well." 1 Thes 2:7

"For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting, and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory." 1 Thes 2: 11-12

I noticed the words:
Gentle- the opposite of gruff, sweetly caring for someone with a smile, kindness

Love- in a way that goes out of your way for someone else.

Delighted to share - happy in doing what you're doing, not resentfully wishing you could do your own thing.

Dealt with each of them - learning who each one is and not employing a cookie cutter style of parenting.

Encouraging- cheering them on and not expecting them to already get it.

Comforting - helping them along when they are down and discouraged.

Urging- wanting so much for them to taste to goodness of God that you never "let it go".

We would've done well to read this yesterday. Today is better than never though and I'm looking forward to a new day with new opportunities. Thank you God that Your mercies are new everyday.

Forgiveness

2 Cor 2:10-11
"If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And what I have forgiven--if there was anything to forgive--I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes. "

Unforgiveness gives Satan a foot hold in our lives. It is an open door to our hearts for him to come in and wreak havoc.

I tend to be one who can hold a grudge or nurse a wound for a long time. But this week the Lord has shown me why this is so dangerous. And just to make sure I get the point, I was put to the test right away. However, and thanks be to God that he prepared me long in advance.

Not only was I reading about forgiveness in my Bible study but also in the Young Peace Maker books I'm reading aloud to the kids. This particular book teaches 4 promises of forgiveness to help us to forgive from the heart and not just with the words from our lips.

1. I promise I will not dwell on what you did wrong. I will think good thoughts about you and do good for you.

2. I promise I will not bring it up to use against you.

3. I promise that I will not talk to others about what you did.

4. I promise that I will be friends with you again.

Aren't those good?
It's a sweet reminder.

Today

~I asked the Lord for a present today. I asked Him to let Baby Boy be quiet in his bed until 7am so I could read my Bible without him whining and crying for me. A couple of whimpers was all I heard until 7am. Thank you God! I got to work on my Bible study book and I'm all caught up so far.

~The dishwasher repair man came just when he said he would! He said nothing's wrong with it and to rinse my dishes better. I don't think he knows.

~My 7yo got past lesson 76 in his reading. He's so happy. Lesson 76 was a doozie.

~I got a going-to-AR errand done all on the phone.

~I finished our Mothers Day presents...late, I know.

~Beautiful (almost hot) day, then very cool and way too windy, then rain and it might snow tonight! I've decided that May is not my favorite weather month in CO. One thing's for sure. I'm going to have to pay more attention to the forecast. Dressing for yesterday's weather will not do.

~Early soccer practice this afternoon and I decided at the last minute to take everyone. I should've planned better. I got home and had to put together a quick dinner. Why didn't I think ahead and put something in the crock pot?

~Hey, speaking of crock pot did I mention that she BROKE?!! My new one! So sad. It has a long crack down the side of the bowl. I'm looking for a replacement bowl online but no luck so far. I'm thinking that after shipping, I might do better to just buy a whole new one. We'll see. Still have my old faithful.

~I got home from practice to find a present in my mail box. My moms sent me their cereal coupons! So sweet. Thank you!

~My son left his soccer bag on the field tonight. Honey drove him back up there. Lane and I prayed for it. It was still there. Whew!

~Mally and I took Baby Z for a walk in his stroller. We rolled over a twiggy branch that caught up in the stroller wheels. Since she was helping me push, it caught up in her feet too. I kept pushing forward thinking that we would shake it loose. She finally looked up at me (trying to keep it together although she wanted to throw a fit) and cried "Not the leaf!!"

~7 more days!!

Some more bargains at Walmart

Organic tomatoes at $.27/can with this coupon. Click under Mom's Nutrition on the Muri Glen link. You can print this a few times.



Huggies wipes refills for $.17 with this coupon. Great for the diaper bag! The coupon is on the last page and you should be able to print it at least twice. It took me awhile to find these wipes. Not every store has them. I found them on the soap and shampoo aisle at Walmart...not in the baby area.

Here's another one for the Buddies soap in case you couldn't print the first one.

Please let me know if these links don't work. I'm still learning how to do it!

What's That Smell

"But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him." 2 Cor 2:14

This reminds me something of a parade. A victory parade with God right up in front. Have you seen those parades where the participants throw out candy to the spectators? That's what I think of when I read this. God's in the front, we're following throwing out to the spectators something that God has given us that's even better than candy. The fragrance of the knowledge of Him.

"For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing." 2 Cor 2:15

The same smell is different to different noses. To my mother-in-law, the smell of Korean food is a yummy aroma. To me it is an awful stench. To those being saved our aroma is a pleasant encouragement, a gentle reminder, a worshipful praise to the God they love. To those perishing, it is foolishness at best. It turns them away just as the smell of Asian food does me.

Lord, make me a pleasing aroma of Christ that spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him. Amen

Give Me Words To Speak

God is so amazing that I am totally humbled and awestruck. You see, I have been praying for the Lord to increase my audience for Him. To bring into my life more people to share with and the ability to do it.

I feel like I do have so much I want to say sometimes but I am verbally unimpressive. I just never have the right things to say. The nice sounding words just don't come. I can't even play Scrabble b/c the best word I can come up with is DOG.

This week God has answered my prayer in ways I never expected. As far as increasing my audience...the door has opened in areas I never expected. In my family and also in my church.

But as far as helping me speak, well that is an interesting one. In response to my pastor's question of "What would be the one new thing you'd like to learn" I would answer to be a sign language interpreter in the church. Perfect for me b/c I could share God's Word with people who may otherwise not "hear" yet not have to fumble for the right words myself. I just say what he says.

Henry Blackaby said it in a different way. He said, "I have no right to respond to anyone apart from God's Word. That is why I just go around quoting Scripture." Wow. Even better than sign language (though I still love the idea) is just repeating God's Word. Never would I have to fumble for just the right thing to say. Never have to worry about getting tongue tied or speaking on my own. Who wants to hear what I have to say anyway when you could hear what God has to say?!!

I have set my mind and heart to memorizing Scripture in earnest now. In my Bible study yesterday I read Phil 4:6-7...

"Do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."

The Lord has enabled me to use that verse several times the last couple of days. He has opened my eyes to show me His Word and the ways in which it can apply to those around me. What an incredible God! So living! So HERE!

Walmart Deals

Free cereal!! Go here to print a $3/1 coupon. You can print at least two, but it is rumored that some can print 10! Not me though.

Anyway, Walmart has them for $2.50/box so you can get 2 boxes free with a $1 overage.

Here's another one. Print this coupon for $1/1. These are .94 at WM making it free with a .06 overage.

I had a good shopping trip today. I hit Walgreens first for the soap deal. BUT...they didn't have as many as I wanted b/c somebody bought them all up! Was it YOU? ;-p I guess it's best to go as close to Sunday as possible. But that usually doesn't work for me. This week shopping day was Wednesday.

Then I hit Walmart and got the cereal plus 4 boxes of wipes for .17/each with coupons. I wish I could find that site so I could post it for you. I'll keep looking. Anyway, I got the groceries for the week and saved about $15 in coupons.

Henry Blackaby

Just guess where I've been tonight? To see Henry Blackaby!! Henry Blackaby!!

If you're not familiar he's the author of Experiencing God as well as lots of other books. I first did EG when I was a new believer years and years ago. It totally changed my life.

Then Honey went to a Promise Keepers in Dallas and heard him speak. These were the days before cds were the thing and he bought the cassette. I listened to it over and over again. My girls listened to it in their beds when they were litttle. I pretty much memorized it and then the tape got so bad at the end you could hardly understand it. Honey burned it to a cd later and now it's on my MP3. I also had the opportunity to speak to group of teenage girls on it years later. Fabulous stuff.

But tonight I had the opportunity to meet my hero of the faith in person! He spoke at a church in a near by town. When we got there, the ushers told us that most of the pews were reserved and if we weren't with a group we had to sit in the last 3 rows.

ME! In the BACK?? They obviously didn't understand. I tried to talk Honey into making friends with someone up front.

He was just as wonderful as he was in book or tape. I came away with oh so many treasures to meditate on for a long time. I'm so thankful. So happy to get to go. I know already that this is the beginning of a personal revival long overdue. What a special privilege.

Determined to not be in the back again, we cut out early to the book table for signings. I brought all my books from home. Guess who was FIRST? That would be me.

Poor man had to sit there and sign 7 or 8 books for me and listen to me talk the whole time. (I was really excited.) Actually I got to go through the line 2ice since we went back and bought some more. He was very gracious. I took a pic with my phone that maybe I can talk Honey into fixing up for me later. And guess what? They recorded his message tonight so after I get it I can again listen over and over and over again. Not to mention my new books to read (!).

God's goodness never ends.

Super Deals At Walgreens

I'm really excited about the WG deals this week b/c my friends in AR can do them too.
















On page 5 of the ad there is a page of Register Rewards . Basically you buy 9 of those items and get $20 back.

Here's the deal: On the same page is a coupon for Charmin wipes for 1.99. Cascade is on sale 2/$5 Buy the wipes plus 8 Cascades for a total of $22 +tax. Get $20 back!
Basically you're paying for the wipes and getting 8 detergents for FREE. (Does this make sense?) Of course if the wipes aren't useful to you you could just buy an extra detergent to make the 9th item. The wipes are just the cheapest.

If you're not familiar with Register Rewards it works like this. Buy the participating products and a coupon will print along with your receipt. Use the coupon on anything in WG on your next transaction.

So you can do the first deal, then turn around and use your RR for another identical transaction and only be $2 out of pocket. Of course if you have coupons your OOP will be even less. The $20 RR will print every time.

There are other products included too but the Cascade is among the cheapest, not to mention the most useful for my family. I will probably do this deal several times and get enough soap to last for the year.

Here's some other good deals I noticed:
Printer paper 2.99
foil 2/$1
trash bags 3/36ct @ $6 (after rebate)

A note about rebates: If you get your rebate on a WG gift card they will give you an additional 10% (free money anyone?) This of course brings your trash bags down even lower.

Further back in the ad is another RR page for personal products. See if any of these are useful to you or if you can work up a screamin' deal. Even with coupons, I couldn't find a deal worthwhile there.

Here it is!

What do you think?

PS: Aren't the colors of my neighbor's trees beautiful?

Whining and Crying

He did the unthinkable. Honey took the kids on a bike ride and left Joey HERE!! Oh the betrayal. He's pacing the house whining and crying and driving me crazy. Gotta tie that leash onto some handle bars next time.

Speaking of bikes...I got one! I was the only one who didn't have a bike. Those days are over. $20 for a nifty green 2-wheeler. It's a man's bike but for $20 ya can't be picky. I want to post a picture but I can't seem to make it work right now. I need my compu-guru. We're going on a ride for date night and I'll post a pic later.

Now we're in the market for those bike baby seats. Something tells me I won't find a coupon for those.

More Veggies

Don't you love the fresher foods when the warmer weather hits? I made this today in a new attempt to get everyone to eat more salad. I'm going to try to keep it filled all the time with new and different things. I'm hoping that my kids will become more salad friendly if they can pick their own toppings.

Pear Streusel

I made this for breakfast yesterday and it was gone in no time! It's one of the new ones from the Cooking Light magazine.
5# pears (or apples) washed and cut into chunks

2/3 C. pineapple or apple juice poured over pears

Topping:

3/4 C. ww flour

3/4 C. sucanat or brown sugar

1/4 C. melted butter

3 T. honey

1 1/2 t. cinnamon

3/4 t. salt

3/4 C. chopped nuts

Mix all topping ingredients except nuts. Sprinkle evenly over pears. Top with nuts. Bake @ 375 for 30 minutes.

Guess Who's Who

Sometimes these guys look so much alike.

It's hard to tell the difference from the back.

Pretty handsome in the front too!