I have been keeping up on a blog on Facebook called (In)Courage.  Today's devotion really touched me. 

In the season of rain, pray for rain .

When you have a prayer answered, do you then forget to continue to pray for that issue?  I know I am guilty of this!  Why would we continue to pray for something God has answered?  Do not forget that we war, not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of thedarkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Ephesians 6:12  Our enemy prowls around like a lion, looking for whom he may devour.  1 Pet 5:8. 

Do not think for a moment that because the Lord has so graciously answered your prayers that you are now out of the woods.  I am not implying we should be looking for Satan in everything, just that we need to be aware.  Be aware that Satan may try to use this against us and draw us back into what ever issue we may have just been delivered from.  We need to become more acutely in tune to where we are vulnerable. 

Commit to prayer, everyday.  Pick a spot in the house where you frequently find yourself and make a decision for that spot to be a reminder to pray.  For some it is the kitchen sink, as in the (In)Courage article today, for others it may be the laundry room.  I often pray at the kitchen sink but the shower is my quiet time with the Lord (even as interrupted as it often seems to be!).  You can even take one of the kids soap crayons and write the word "pray" on the wall to remind you! 

God's grace is sufficient.  Rejoice in those answered prayers!  Thank the Lord for the blessings you have been given!  Most of all, be thankful that we have been given the ultimate gift of Christ's life for our own.  Praise the Lord that this life is temporary!!

*If you need prayer, please feel free to email me.  I will pray for you!



Matthew 6:26  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

A challenge was given today by The Nester and you know how much I love a challenge and The Nester (I secretly want to be her but shhh!! don't tell her that!).  The challenge (or suggestion) was to post a link to your blog showing off your chalk board decor.  I do have a chalk board that I love (see Christmas decor pics for that) but I had a can of chalk board paint and an idea, so I got started. 

Forgot to take a before photo, so here is the house when we were looking at it. * This is not my decor, although I know you all wish you were into cows and had that cool fish! 




Here is the start of the black chalk board paint.  Nail biting nervousness going on here but I had taken the plunge so I had to keep going to finish it!  *And please, don't be jealous of my beautiful counter tops!  Everyone can have them, especially if you like do-it-yourself stuff and don't care if it's done right.  Not ME!  We can't wait to rip out this crap, pardon my language!  Waiting for the $$$ for it - isn't that always the story?




Finished!  Only took a few hours and honestly, I LOVE it!  Don't you?  Well, that's ok, you don't have to live here   Eventually I will paint the side walls a real color but when I went to pull the paint can out, guess what?!  It was dried up.  Sigh... so I will get some more eventually.  Since I get to the hardware store as fast as a snail, it may be a while.


Sorry, I do know the hood (is that what it's called?) is dirty but no matter how much I scrub, that's how it looks


Do you think hubs will approve?  I hope so!  He's in for quite a shock   But the teenager said it looked good so that's a pretty good compliment!  (Hubs likes it btw   )

Can you believe February is almost over?  February and March are busy months for us.  I celebrated my 33rd birthday along with my Grandpa (we have the same birthday) who turned 75!  Hubs and I will have been married 14 years on March 1st, so hubs gets lots of romantic pressure for a good 3 weeks of the year   Poor guy!  We went to the coast with my whole family this last weekend to celebrate the birthdays.  Hubs was kind enough to let me have the weekend off and just enjoy family time, especially with my Mama who I only get to see a few times a year, if I am that lucky! 

So now that March is a week away, have you kept to your new you in 52, new year's resolutions or what have you for 2010?  I am down a size so I guess I am moving in the right direction.  Having a great marriage is my number one goal!  If I have that, everything else will fall into place.  So far, we're doing pretty well at this one!  Another of my goals is to make sure I don't forget birthdays, even if I don't send real paper cards, I am sure to send an email or something because I think birthdays should be special and remembered.  I want to spend more time with my family, both immediate and extended.  I miss them!  I intend to have friends over more often, maybe even weekly.  We'll see if I can swing it   The list of goals goes on and on.  Does it ever end?  When we die, I suppose!  We just have to keep striving for what we know we ought to be doing.  I know I'll give up here and there but the main thing is to keep trying.  One day at a time, like I'm working a 12 step program.  Life is like a constant 12 step program, we all have our demons we're battling. 

I hope it continues to be a good year! 

This is my very first painting on canvas!  It turned out ok.  Yes, it's a hummingbird. I did start out following the colors of a real one and when I couldn't find enough photos to get a good idea of all sides of the bird, I improvised.

I am entering a contest at The Nester.
I want to win one of these awesome signs for my home!  You can enter too!  Just visit her blog and follow the directions!  This contest is brought to you by DaySpring and The Danielson Designs Studios!  Isn't that so nice of them?!  Create your own sign for your home!  There are tons to choose from!  Go to: DaySpring-Danielson Design Studio.

If you could do ANYTHING and be guaranteed success, what would you be doing?  Define success for yourself, as that word can mean different things to different people.  I thought this would be a really fun question to answer.  Please leave a comment!  Be extravagant! There are no rules (well keep it family friendly please LOL).   Take a little time to dream! 

I personally think my first two choices would be an artist or a decorator.  Something that lets me use my creative side and get my hands dirty! 

I am back today with another challenge.  I seem to be full of those don't I?  If I post it here, I have to follow through on it!  So it's a good thing.  Have you seen the movie Fireproof?  There is a book that goes along with the movie, called The Love Dare.  K-Love is doing the love dare on their blog and with hopefully millions of their listeners.  Imagine the impact on marriages world wide!  Even if your marriage is super fantastic, you can still use this!  So come along with me, it won't cost you anything!  K-Love has put all the information for each day on their blog and we're only on day 3 so it's not too late to jump in and get going!  Let's fight for our marriages and keep families intact!  Today's entry is convicting.  Selfishness.  That is truly the root of all evil.  Not money like we so often say!  Good luck!  You don't need your spouse to participate either!  If you've seen this movie, then you know that.  If you haven't watched it, I encourage you to do so!  Alright, ready, set, GO!!

Day 3 of The Love Dare

For the new year, K-love wants to make a difference in 2010 by doing a NEW you in 52 challenge.  Now they are mainly focusing on food and diet.  I am thinking of the overall picture.  Why not a new you in 52 weeks, in what ever part of your life you want!  Each week, work on adding something new to your life.  Whether it's changing spending habits, saving money, shining your kitchen sink each day, trying new foods, etc.  You get the idea.  Of course, the idea is to keep the habits or new things you've done the week before and keep adding to it! 

Why not make it fun?!  Drop some old habits, create some new ones.  This last week I started shining my sink every day.  No dishes in the sink or on the counter is my goal.  We don't have an electric dishwasher.  We have a manual one, meaning ME   I hate doing dishes.  I especially hate doing dishes that have been sitting in the sink for any length of time.  It's gross.  Dirty dishes seems to really irritate my man, so that is another reason I want to keep them clean. 

Have some great ideas for the 52 weeks?  Tell me about them!  I am going to need ideas!  Good luck to you all!  Keep it fun (ok, I know like shining your sink is fun!).

The New Year is upon us.  Can you believe it's 2010?  I remember Y2k so very clearly.  It was actually the worst year of our lives to be honest and I am glad to kick it out the door (hard with pointy boots on).  I pray that this new decade brings goodness to everyone!   Have you taken down all the Christmas decor?  I have not, I must admit.  The tree is long gone but the rest is still hanging out. 

The question is, do I put it ALL away or leave out the snowmen?  What do you do?  I should probably pack it all in.  Spring can't come soon enough.  I'm ready to see the sun again but realize, that is many months away around here.  Mostly, I want to hit garage sales and find some treasures   I have figured out which pieces of furniture my home needs and I am ready to start scouring the countryside for them.  I have realized the longer we live here. exactly what we need to fill the space and what we don't (like toys!  Ok, that one isn't going away any time soon LOL). 

I have also decided against New Year's resolutions.  Why set myself up for failure each new year?  I know what my goals are, they don't change just because there's a new number in the calendar year.  Plus, my goals will remain the same for the rest of my life, so I will just embrace them and keep working on myself!  I realize that all life coaches would disagree with me.  No time line means you're not working towards anything attainable (I'd just keep changing the deadline so why bother).  They're probably right but I'm ok with that.  That's why they get paid the big bucks to try to fix people and I don't! 

So Happy New Year to you all!  Feel free to comment and share your goals for the year or for your life!  Maybe you'll motivate me

A recent study done by  public health expert Nathan Grills from Monash University in Australia, has declared jolly old Saint Nick a public health menace.  With that big old belly that jiggles like a bowl full of jelly and his speeding (yes, speeding while driving a sleigh) may put our children at risk for bad health choices and Santa may give them H1N1.  Santa needs to ride a bike and eat carrots with his reindeer to front a much healthier life style to children.  Seriously? 

Grills apparently donned the suit of the big guy in red and says, "I was kissed and hugged by snotty-nosed kids at each performance andwas never offered alcohol swabs to wipe my rosy cheeks between clients."  Why not take your own sanitizer if you are that worried about the germs?  Can't you just see this man being jolly Santa?  Ho, Ho, NO!  Don't touch me, you snot nosed kid!  Yikes!

I really hope we never embrace the skinny Santa.  I say let him eat cookies!  My kids don't think they need to eat only cookies because Santa does.  Let's give our children a little more credit for thinking than that!  How else is Santa going to fly through the sky in a sleigh if he doesn't speed?!  Doesn't he require magic to fly?  Let's ban his magical powers as well because kids might try to fly and that could be really dangerous too!  Speed is required for airplanes and jets to fly too, duh!  If Santa were skinny,  wouldn't the reindeer go even faster?  Less weight to carry!  Maybe PETA should get involved.  I mean, those reindeer are probably being mistreated carrying all that weight!

Doesn't Santa live with elves?  As any mom knows, hanging with the little people is EXHAUSTING!  So maybe Santa needs his comfort food to deal with the elves and stay sane.  Plus, being a big guy makes him appear authoritative which you've got to have when you're dealing with elves.  They're pesky!  What else does the poor guy have to do living in the North Pole?  Brrr....

As I recall, doesn't Santa do a lot of deliveries of bikes, scooters, sleds, and roller skates at Christmas?  I know I got a few bikes as a kid from him!  So see, Santa DOES promote a health lifestyle for kids! 

If you are worried about the germs Santa may be carrying, sanitize your child's hands after sitting on his lap or don't go see him.

Leave the silly traditions alone!  Do we have to take the fun out of everything?!   Next they will say that Rudolph's red nose promotes getting a cold!  To think this man was actually paid (probably well) to do such a silly study!  Ok, vent over.