Holders of Grace

First off, sorry for the absence for a week. We, like many, have been dealing with the flu!  I was down y'all.  I am never down, and I was down to the point of my husband  taking time off work to care for our kiddos, because I could not, down.  So I obviously was not up to writing.  Here I am again.  Humbly submitting what God has been teaching me over this time. When we are sick, life stinks, because it keeps going!  The kids still go crazy in the house, the dishes still pile up, the bills still come in,  and the world keeps spinning even when we stop.  But, I am doing much better and I am starting keep up with the world again.  And today, God gave me this song as I was doing my quiet time.  "Broken Ladders" Selah This beautiful song is covering me today. As I listen, I keep asking myself why I try so hard to reach and make myself  what I feel is worthy of God. Worthy of His love an...

I will let everyone in on my struggle. To spend time, on my own, with Jesus. I know that this is a common struggle because I have sweet friends who keep me accountable. We ask each other if we have had our quiet time today...and most days that is a struggle for me. Today, my quiet time kicked me in the rear, and it stings. Along with the book of the Bible that I am trying to read through, I try to read from Proverbs. If you did not know, there is a Proverb for everyday of the month, so look at the date and read the Proverb. God is pretty cool in giving us easy ways to read His word, especially if we are trying to establish, or in my case, re-establish getting into His word daily. Today, I read Proverbs 19. There is so much wisdom in this little chapter, however, what stuck out to me today was this:  Proverbs 19:13b-14  a quarrelsome wife is as annoying as constant dripping. Fathers can give their sons an inheritance of houses and wealth,     but ...

Throughout your day, what do you fill the dead space with? The silence? The time when there is no conversation. Do you fill it with music?  With the news?  With a TV show that you don't really pay attention to, but have going in the background? My "dead space" is often filled with things that are less than what they could be. I have been convicted of this lately. I regularly fill the dead air in our house with the TV, or my most recent obsession the sound track from "The Greatest Showman." (Seriously though...best new musical in a LONG time. I highly recommend!) In all of this, I have noticed something with my kids. They start to reflect whatever it is I am watching or listening to. This means my three year old has been walking around the house singing, "Never Enough" which is totally not the message I want sinking into her little heart. If you give the song a listen you will know what I am talking about. I am consciously making the effort t...

It has been a few days since my last post. I wish I could tell you I have something amazing to bring you today, however, I just do not have anything amazingly spiritual or super deep to talk about today. Today I am exhausted! We had an incredible weekend.  Friday, I spent most of the day cleaning and preparing for my newly five year old's birthday party.  He wanted a PJ Masks party, and I wanted to give it to him.  So I spent the day finishing cleaning, baking a very green Gecko cake, and decorating.  Thankfully we had some very good friends staying with us,  and my hubby and I were very thankful for all of our friend's help! Saturday, we went to Winter Jam in Tampa, with our youth group.  This was an all day affair to wait in line to get good seats, and yes we did have good seats.  My parents drove in late Friday night to take care of our four crazies all day Saturday. Bless them!  Sunday, we had an amazing day celebrating ...

Hooray it is a new year! That means all kinds of things.  Right now that means getting us back on track after the craziness of the holidays.  My husband is a Youth and Children's pastor and the Holidays are always a crazy time for us.  The end of 2017 was no exception. I also homeschool our kiddos.  My oldest is in first grade and my middle two are plugging away with preschool.  They usually just play a lot while I work with my oldest.  We also have a chore chart that I LOVE, but have gotten very lax with.  Plus a behavior chart to keep everyone in line.  Ok usually my wishful thinking with that one. Our routine has gotten so far out of whack,  that I am very glad for a new year and a new week.  Today, I started back full force with my online job, school, and the chore and behavior chart... and the kids are having none of it! My oldest girl is fighting off a fever virus that has had her down for a few...

For Christmas my children got a ridiculous amount of new and fun toys.  This means that their already overflowing play room needed to be purged. A little background on our play room, what we call The Den.  We bought our house and it had an extra office type space built into the garage. It started out as an office, and our play room was what would be the formal living room, but with four kids that just isn't a thing in our house. That room became the school room, the toys moved to the den, and the office is also our guest room. Because the den was built into the garage, you have to step down into it.  Before Christmas, our threenager, affectionately named "The Tornado", had managed to dump every toy from every bin and drawer in the room. This resulted in the den no longer being a step down, but pretty much even with the true floor...yeah... I was not happy.  My husband was not happy.  We decided for our own sanity to tackle it after we...

...and here is why. Every time I do, I fail. The tradition of the New Years Resolution has been one of those things that I used to participate in.  I would say things like:  I am going to read my Bible first thing in the morning;  I am going to clean my house everyday;  I am going to not yell at my kids. And then, the morning rolls around and I am exhausted  so I hit snooze just one more time, and then I have missed my alone time to read. Or the end of the day comes, and the kids are finally in bed,  so hubby and I sit on the couch and promptly fall asleep. OR my kids find some new form of destructive behavior for the umpteenth time today,  and I end up red faced and embarrassed because I lose my temper again . All of these things are good things to resolve to do, don't get me wrong.  But, the reality of the New Years Resolution is that I am taking God out of the equation.  I am setting myself up for ...