Re-post: Do you have margin in your life?

By Kate, on March 29th, 2013%

Have you ever noticed how hectic our lives are in today’s society? If our children go to school, they are up before 6 (and us along with them), race to get ready, race to prepare breakfast and lunch for them to take, race to get them either on the bus or dropped off at school. Even if we homeschool, we are up and get breakfast and get busy with schooling, then lunch, doing laundry while grading, getting the house cleaned after an afternoon of crafts and/or school projects, then supper and evening events.

Work hours are long, more and more companies are requiring mandatory overtime. Sometimes long drives to and from work/school. My husband teaches at a college and teaches evening classes and grades, what seems like, all the time. Our children have sports, church, ministry things they are involved with, and we are not even a big sports family. Plus our own church ministry. We are on the go all the time.

margin

What is margin anyway and why do we need it?

According to Webster’s it is:

The part of a page at the edge left uncovered in writing or printing.
Something allowed, or reserved, for that which can not be foreseen or known with certainty.

When I was in school, all my coursework was hand written on lined paper. We had to keep a certain amount of margin on both edges of the page. This allowed a few things. It gave us space if we had to write a word so we wouldn’t go off the page, and it gave space for the teacher to write their comments or corrections for us to address.

In other words, the margin was a bit of leeway on each page to give breathing room so we didn’t run off the page into oblivion.

How often do we allow margin in our lives today? Are we involved in so many things that, if anything goes wrong, our lives “run off the page”? Do we give ourselves some breathing space in case things get too hectic or do we max out the commitments we have in our days?

Years ago the woman who was involved in overseeing my discipling used to say, “For the believer, the good is the enemy of the best.” That seems, at first glance, to be an odd statement. But if we look a little closer, we see the great wisdom in it.

a bible study is a good thing
being involved in ministry is a good thing
doing play dates for our children is a good thing
mentoring others is a good thing
counseling others is a good thing
taking classes is a good thing

But here comes the point:

If any of these GOOD things are not what God is calling us to be doing, they actually become the ENEMY of the best things God has for us in our lives. If we are spending all of our time, effort and energy on these GOOD things, we do not have the opportunity to do the BEST things God has for us.

And it is all of these good things that generally cause us to live our lives WITHIN the margins of our lives. They sap our strength, our energy, our focus and have nothing left to give to the God ordained responsibilities in our lives.

Have you ever noticed that Jesus would take Himself away to a secluded place, away from the crowds and even His disciples? Jesus knew full well when His life had run into the margin and that He needed to be filled with the peace, rest, refreshment and power from the Father. He knew when He needed to allow His physical body to be given time be filled from on high. He knew the BEST the Father had called Him to and lived right there, not allowing the demands of others to thwart His following the Father’s best.

by: twinmomy_bucket

But so often we forget to take that intense time of fellowship with God. We run on our own strength and fill up the margins of our lives so that we no longer have the time or opportunities to find those secluded places of refreshment and filling. We run out of gas in our engines with no time to fill up – we run our lives on fumes and wonder why we are living without the power of the Spirit.

Please know I am NOT saying that any of the things I’ve mentioned above are bad, or that we shouldn’t be doing them. What I AM saying is that ALL of the things in our lives need to be brought before the Lord. We need to be willing for Him to weed out all the things that are sucking life from us so that we have room for the life-giving things He has for us.

Also remember that this will change as our lives change. When I was a young mom with numerous young children there were few things God opened up for me to be involved in. Just being home to raise and disciple those young children (and then with homeschooling as well) and minister to my husband took most of my energy and focus. Adding bible studies or other ministries would have caused me to live using up all the margin of my life. Now that my children are older, I have more leeway to be involved in things outside the home. As my life responsibilities change, so do the things God opens up for me.

But for each of us, no matter WHAT situation we are in, we need to be sure that we are taking EVERY event, task or ministry before the Lord to see if it is HIS best or just a good thing that keeping us from the calling of God for us. Don’t let your margin get filled up so that when trials come (and they will), you have no space in your life.

Let God design your schedule so that there is opportunity for those times of refreshing, so that you don’t fill up the margin with every day events that will sap you of joy, peace and power of the Lord.

Blogs I might be linking to:
Menu Planning Monday, On The Menu Monday, Erin Branscoms, Marital Oneness, The Better Mom, Multitudes on Monday, Hear it On Sunday, Sharing His Bounty, What Joy Is Mine, Playdates at the Well, Domestically Divine Tuesdays, Time Warp Wife, Funky Planet Frequent Flier Club, Encourage One Another, The Welcoming House, Legacy Leaver Thursday, What’s Up Wednesday, Thought Provoking Thursday, Hearts 4 Home, Thankful Thursday, Thankful Thursdays, Thankful, Thankful Thursday Brown-eyed Bell(e), Big Family Fridays, Faith Filled Fridays, Feasting In Fellowship Friday, Fellowship Friday, Homemaking Link-up Week-end, A Little R&R, Pieces of Amy

Setting Priorities - Part 2

By Kate, on March 19th, 2013%

Now that you’ve read part 1 in my series and have spent time with the Lord to gain His insight into your priorities, we come to the practical.

Warning! Metaphors (may be mixed) ahead!!

Making it work.

#1 – You eat the elephant one bite at a time!

elephant

How many times do we think, “I need to get these 7 things going in my life” and then jump feet first into a tub of cement – immediately stuck and going nowhere fast!? Man, I can’t begin to tell you how many times my eyes were bigger than my stomach, so to speak. I love how the Fly Lady constantly reiterates to start with baby steps. Well, the same is true for working on our organization/priorities.

Once you, your husband (we really need to take his suggestions to heart since he knows us so well) and the Lord have come up with a plan, write it out in bite-sized pieces. And just ONE PART AT A TIME!

Let’s suppose one thing on your Get Organized/Prioritized list is: daily exercise (~~yuck~~ I mean fun!) The tendency is to spend $350 and go join a gym with huge plans to go for 90 minutes 5 days a week. Please know I’m not saying that is a bad idea, but it may be premature. You FIRST should develop a pattern for doing some exercise faithfully before you put money in it. If the weather is not good, go to the library and get a video and work on that for 2 weeks. How many times were you able to do it in those 2 weeks? Was it not a good fit for you? Try a different kind. If you are new to exercise (as always, check with your doctor first), Step Away the Pounds is a great place to start. It’s just walking. Then when the weather gets nicer, take your walking outside. This is always a good time for me to pray.

What is YOUR one bite?

So, we’ve chosen our one bite of the elephant. Now let’s look at how we chew that bite. (still using exercise as our example)

#2 – Well, the more times we chew our food, the better it is for our digestion.

So, if we take that one bite and break it down into 15-20 chews, we come up with manageable and measurable practical things to work on. For example: one year I was working on faithfulness and the One Bite I chose was laundry. So from there I prayerfully came up with these steps:

for week 1- do one load every day: wash, fold and put away
for week 2- do 2 loads every day: wash, fold and put away
for week 3- put 1 load of laundry in when I rise; switch loads at lunch with another in washer, switch loads after my nap, making sure I fold and put away; fold 2nd load before I start supper and put clothes into washer; fold last load before bed making sure everything is put away
for week 4- repeat week 3
for week 5- repeat week 3 and add 2 extra loads of towels on Saturday
for week 6- repeat week 5 and add 2 extra loads of sheets on Friday

This got me faithfully doing 3 loads a day with Friday and Saturday getting the extra work done by the end of 6 weeks. When I did it this way, I sort of crept up on the need for organization and my Laundry Monster was tamable. With 10 people in the family, it is never quite fully tamed, but now that most of the family does their own laundry we are much more in control.

Now, look at YOUR list from the Lord. What are the things He has placed on it. What is the one bite of the elephant you need to take first? And how can you break that down into more manageable chews?

I’m looking forward to hearing your steps!

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Blogs I might be linking to:
Menu Planning Monday, On The Menu Monday, Erin Branscoms, Marital Oneness, The Better Mom, Multitudes on Monday, Hear it On Sunday, Sharing His Bounty, What Joy Is Mine, Playdates at the Well, Domestically Divine Tuesdays, Time Warp Wife, Funky Planet Frequent Flier Club, Encourage One Another, Living Well Wednesdays, The Welcoming House, Legacy Leaver Thursday, What’s Up Wednesday, Thought Provoking Thursday, Hearts 4 Home, Thankful Thursday, First Day of My Life , Thankful Thursdays, Thankful, Thankful Thursday Brown-eyed Bell(e), Big Family Fridays, Faith Filled Fridays, Feasting In Fellowship Friday, Fellowship Friday, Homemaking Link-up Week-end, A Little R&R, Pieces of Amy

Snow

By Kate, on February 27th, 2013%

snowfall

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But desire fulfilled is a tree of life. Proverbs 13:12

I was thinking about this verse yesterday when we were being told of a snow storm coming through. We live in rural northwestern IL. We get lots of weather warnings of snow storms but they seldom actually hit us. With the last several storms, we were PROMISED lots of snow, only to find nothing on the ground worthy of shoveling. Once I actually went out with just a broom!!!

I am a New England gal, born and raised, and I LOVE winter! I love snow, I love walks in the snow, I love being blinded by the sun glistening brightly off the snow, I love the cold that clears your sinuses and bites you on the nose and cheeks. I love autumn’s glorious beckoning to winter with its crispy crackly whisper.

So, now you understand why every time they promise snow, my heart leaps. My adrenaline starts surging and I’m worse than a child hoping for a snow day!

But, here in northwestern IL, we are RIGHT in the place where no snow falls! Just 50 miles to the west of us, they get tons. To the north they are inundated and out east gets blanketed in snow. Us, we get — nothing. Until yesterday!

snowfall at night

The flakes started falling at 11:30 but the temperature was high enough that I felt like the flurries were a tease. But then the weather took a turn in MY direction! The temps dropped just a bit and the snow flurries turned to snow furies. The swirls whited out the houses 2 blocks away where I can normally see and, lo and behold – IT WAS STICKING!

So last night was a wonderful night of cancelled classes for my husband and beauty outside along with some shoveling. More shoveling today, as the snow continued to fall all morning, made for a lot of fun and “desire fulfilled (being) a tree of life!”

snow on fence

Happy winter to all and to all a good night!

Blogs I might be linking to:
Menu Planning Monday, On The Menu Monday, Erin Branscoms, Marital Oneness, The Better Mom, Multitudes on Monday, Hear it On Sunday, Sharing His Bounty, What Joy Is Mine, Playdates at the Well, Back to School Monday, Domestically Divine Tuesdays, Time Warp Wife, Funky Planet Frequent Flier Club, Encourage One Another, Living Well Wednesdays, The Welcoming House, Legacy Leaver Thursday, What’s Up Wednesday, Thought Provoking Thursday, Hearts 4 Home, Thankful Thursday, First Day of My Life , Thankful Thursdays, Thankful, Thankful Thursday Brown-eyed Bell(e), Big Family Fridays, Faith Filled Fridays, Feasting In Fellowship Friday, Fellowship Friday, Homemaking Link-up Week-end, A Little R&R, Pieces of Amy

Beauty help: is it wrong?

By Kate, on February 6th, 2013%

This is a re-post from the past on beauty.

The question of “is it appropriate for a Christian woman to wear make-up” came up as a comment and I’d like to address that in a post. First, as always, I’d like to look at some scriptures.

Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised. Prov 31:30 (this seems to be the theme verse for this series)

Your adornment must not be merely external—braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God. 1 Peter 3:3-4

beauty

(source)

In all of this, it is important to remember what true beauty comes from. It comes from a heart centered on and surrendered to God. Physical attributes of a button nose or silken skin will fade with time (and gravity). They might show beauty on the outside but when our souls are empty, even the external beauty rings hollow. We’ve all seen women who are flawless in their features but there is just something about them that we find wanting. On the other hand, other women have a depth within their eyes that draws us to them. They may not be beautiful, but they are so attractive! Their beauty comes from within – from a heart and life of purpose and and richness.

Now when we look at this verse in 1 Peter 3, is this saying that trying to do things to accentuate our beauty is wrong? Well, if THAT were the case, we would all need to take off our wedding bands and never wear dresses again! (I should say here that there ARE some believers who feel that we are not to wear gold jewelry for this reason, but they are not consistent as they DO wear dresses.) Also, I need to add that the word merely is not in the original text. Does this make a difference? Re-read the text without that word being there. What is Peter trying to say to us?

(source)

I personally do NOT believe that this passage is telling us make-up (or dying our hair or wearing nail polish or wearing earrings) is wrong. BUT I think it is important to remember that the FOCUS of our beauty, the HEART of our beauty comes from the hidden person of our heart. There is nothing wrong with adorning the outside SO LONG AS we work to adorn the part of us that really counts!

Abraham’s servant gave Rebekah a gold ring and gold bracelets as he sought to bring her for Isaac’s wife. (Gen 24:22-30)
God tells how He adorned Jerusalem (His beloved) with gold and precious jewelry and luxurious and fine clothing in Ezek. 16:9-13
The father of the prodigal son took gold and rich clothing to place on his son in Luke 15:22
The imagery of Song of Solomon is often about the adornment of fragrance and clothing and jewels as part of the romance of the bride and groom

(source)

I do think we have some questions to ask ourselves in our using outward adornments to enhance our own beauty:

Are we supplanting our relationship with God with fads for defying age or beauty treatments?
Are we living a life of discontentment with God’s design of our bodies?
Are we never satisfied with how we look?
Are we so obsessed with trying to find that perfect beauty that we make beauty into an idol in our lives?

Years ago when I lived in a discipleship household, we were encouraged to make sure and spend AT LEAST as much time with the Lord in scripture and prayer as we spent getting ready to present ourselves to the world. It was a great heart challenge for us as to where our priorities lay!

Are you putting your hope in seeking beauty that doesn’t fade? Are you looking for that in developing a heart that seeks after God?

Blogs I might be linking to:
Menu Planning Monday, On The Menu Monday, Erin Branscoms, Marital Oneness, The Better Mom, Multitudes on Monday, Hear it On Sunday, Sharing His Bounty, What Joy Is Mine, Playdates at the Well, Back to School Monday, Domestically Divine Tuesdays, Time Warp Wife, Funky Planet Frequent Flier Club, Encourage One Another, Living Well Wednesdays, The Welcoming House, Legacy Leaver Thursday, What’s Up Wednesday, Thought Provoking Thursday, Hearts 4 Home, Thankful Thursday, First Day of My Life , Thankful Thursdays, Thankful, Thankful Thursday Brown-eyed Bell(e), Big Family Fridays, Faith Filled Fridays, Feasting In Fellowship Friday, Fellowship Friday, Homemaking Link-up Week-end, A Little R&R, Pieces of Amy

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Blog At Home Mom launch!

By Kate, on February 4th, 2013%

I’m so delighted to have had the opportunity to review Christin Slade’s new book Blog at Home Mom: Balancing Blogging and Mothering. What an encouraging and helpful book for us moms who blog.

I don’t know about you…well, in fact, I probably do. We moms STRUGGLE with balance in our lives!

Whether it is:

spending time with each child
getting schooling done
keeping the house in order
staying in budget
fixing healthy meals
driving children to various activities
often caring for aging parents

Add blogging to the mix and it can send us over the brink.

But Blog at Home Mom has some very practical and insightful help to keep us going. And it all stems from the Lord at the center of our priorities. Learning to schedule, organize, resort, plan and sometimes drop the various items on our plate.

I love that Christin says:

Many of us believe when we become mothers, we are supposed to sacriﬁce our own passions for the sake of our children. While in some cases, this may be true and necessary, I’ve learned that living in your passion while mothering is the best of both worlds. I’ve also learned God gives us passions for a reason.

We don’t stop being children of God when we begin having children of our own. He still has designed us with gifts and passions and talents. We just need to learn how and when to use and develop these for His purpose and glory.

If you are a blogger, if you are a mom, if you are a blogging mom — you’ve GOT to read Blog at Home Mom!!

Blogs I might be linking to:
Menu Planning Monday, On The Menu Monday, Erin Branscoms, Marital Oneness, The Better Mom, Multitudes on Monday, Hear it On Sunday, Sharing His Bounty, What Joy Is Mine, Playdates at the Well, Back to School Monday, Domestically Divine Tuesdays, Time Warp Wife, Funky Planet Frequent Flier Club, Encourage One Another, Living Well Wednesdays, The Welcoming House, Legacy Leaver Thursday, What’s Up Wednesday, Thought Provoking Thursday, Hearts 4 Home, Thankful Thursday, First Day of My Life , Thankful Thursdays, Thankful, Thankful Thursday Brown-eyed Bell(e), Big Family Fridays, Faith Filled Fridays, Feasting In Fellowship Friday, Fellowship Friday, Homemaking Link-up Week-end, A Little R&R, Pieces of Amy

What I learned from Desperate

By Kate, on January 9th, 2013%

Desperate

I hope by now you have bought your copy of Desperate. If you haven’t then head on over to buy the book AND begin to jump in on the fun of the giveaways, gifts and online support and encouragement.

I wanted to share something that smacked me upside the head when I was reading this book.

I’m on the other side of Desperate in my life now…my youngest is 11 and 4 of my children are now adults. I’m in a very different place. Yes, I can vividly remember those sleepless nights when I had to tie a baby to me with my bathrobe for fear of dropping her while I tried to burp her, I was so tired. I remember not speaking to an adult for days – my husband was in grad school and he’d come home between 1-2 am and leave to get back to school by 7 am. I remember having to take 5, 6, 7 children everywhere I went. I had no family nearby. We lived in a college town and there were very few married couples in my church and no truly older woman.

But I come from a time and family that just DEALT with hard situations. You didn’t ask for help, you just did what you had to do. Today we say we “sucked it up.”

I was reading page 20 of Desperate (I’ll let you run and get your copy to follow along…) and felt a THUD in my chest and then the tears started to trickle and then BURST forth! I’m not a sobber, but I was sobbing!

Sally was telling of visiting a friend and how her friend had prepared a tray with a lit candle, pot of tea, muffins and vase with flowers, and a note that said she was praying for her and other sweet encouragement. She wrote the following that absolutely echoed my heart:

Unexpectedly, the tears began flowing down my face. I was so used to toughing it out and taking care of all of our family’s needs and losing sleep and caring for the kids alone that I didn’t even know how much I needed a real live friend who could communicate to me that I was not invisible, and show me thoughtfulness that comes from a heart moved by the Spirit of God. Even just the thought that someone else had been considerate of me and prepared my breakfast touched a very deep vulnerable place in my heart that I had not even recognized as a need.

(source)

My breath catches in my chest even now as I type this.

I have never had this. Please know I LOVE MY LIFE. I have no regrets or latent frustrations or hostility. I do not begrudge the years of service and ministry to my husband or the mentoring I’ve done (and still do) to young mothers. I’ve had a couple of times of young friends taking me out for a “kidnapping” date. Even the year when I had an older mentor in North Dakota – she taught me, she corrected me, she trained me. But it wasn’t a time where I was completely pampered and prayed over and had my needs met.

This was all just one more confirmation to me that the heart and passion God placed on my heart 33 years ago (back when my hair fell out) of His plan for older women to come alongside the younger women and gently lead them (train and correct too) and be a HELP was EXACTLY RIGHT!

If you are an older woman, are YOU pouring your life into a young mom?Are YOU thinking about the needs you had to be mothered? Are YOU coming alongside and giving her help in her times of feeling Desperate?

If not…I think it’s time you did!

Blogs I might be linking to:
Menu Planning Monday, On The Menu Monday, Erin Branscoms, Marital Oneness, The Better Mom, Multitudes on Monday, Hear it On Sunday, Sharing His Bounty, What Joy Is Mine, Playdates at the Well, Back to School Monday, Domestically Divine Tuesdays, Time Warp Wife, Funky Planet Frequent Flier Club, Encourage One Another, Living Well Wednesdays, The Welcoming House, Legacy Leaver Thursday, What’s Up Wednesday, Thought Provoking Thursday, Hearts 4 Home, Thankful Thursday, First Day of My Life , Thankful Thursdays, Thankful, Thankful Thursday Brown-eyed Bell(e), Big Family Fridays, Faith Filled Fridays, Feasting In Fellowship Friday, Homemaking Link-up Week-end, A Little R&R

Desperate - on sale NOW!

By Kate, on January 7th, 2013%

I am SO EXCITED, honored and privileged to share some very thrilling news about a brand new book out: Desperate.

Desperate: Hope for the Mom Who Needs to Breathe

Desperate by Sarah Mae and Sally Clarkson is a breath of fresh air for moms! I read it through in 2 days (and I am NOT a reader) and all along the way said, “YES!”

Do you ever feel like you are all alone in mothering?
Do you ever feel like you just can’t do it today, like you need to crawl under the covers and hide?
Do you ever feel like if one more person says, “Mom”, you will scream?
Do you ever feel like a failure and that you are ruining your children?
Do you ever find yourself struggling with:
- exhaustion?
- frustration?
- fear?
- guilt?
- loneliness?

Have you ever felt any of that? Then you need to read Desperate, you need the encouragement to find the help you need.

This is NOT a How To parenting book.
This is NOT an organizational book.
This is NOT a How To homemaking, homeschooling, homesteading book.
This is NOT a book telling you how to do a better job, how to do more work, how to follow to this formula and life will magically be better.

This is NOT a book TO you,
it is a book FOR you.
It is a book to touch your spirit, your soul.
It is a book to let you know YOU ARE NOT ALONE!

Sarah Mae and Sally touch on the needs we all have, at one point in our lives, and give support TO MOMS that we can make it through!

And if this weren’t enough, they have TONS of support and fun!

giveaways
gifts for purchasing during the Launch Week
online bible studies
a free 7 day devotional
a Twitter party with Sarah Mae & Sally Clarkson (with prizes)
and more…

So hurry and purchase your book THIS WEEK to be a part of all the excitement of this Launch Week and get started with the encouragement and blessing you will receive from this WONDERFUL book!!

I’ll be posting on Wednesday with something from my own life that resonated when I read this book.

Blogs I might be linking to:
Menu Planning Monday, On The Menu Monday, Erin Branscoms, Marital Oneness, The Better Mom, Multitudes on Monday, Hear it On Sunday, Sharing His Bounty, What Joy Is Mine, Playdates at the Well, Back to School Monday, Domestically Divine Tuesdays, Time Warp Wife, Funky Planet Frequent Flier Club, Encourage One Another, Living Well Wednesdays, The Welcoming House, Legacy Leaver Thursday, What’s Up Wednesday, Thought Provoking Thursday, Hearts 4 Home, Thankful Thursday, First Day of My Life , Thankful Thursdays, Thankful, Thankful Thursday Brown-eyed Bell(e), Big Family Fridays, Faith Filled Fridays, Feasting In Fellowship Friday, Homemaking Link-up Week-end, A Little R&R

A New Season - Engagement!

By Kate, on November 27th, 2012%

Well, in one sense, I never really believed this phase would come. When you spend 26 years: pregnant or nursing or potty training or teaching to read or ride a bike or disicipling or helping through puberty or working on college admission…you really don’t think of the FINALITY of your tasks!

But yes, my eldest daughter is engaged!

Her fiance is a lovely young man and we are very excited for her. But where did those years go? My husband has been ready for this phase of life for a long time but I am just getting over the fact that my baby-making years are done. How can this be?

Please know I am so delighted for my daughter, her life and her being off on her own. I’m delighted that she calls me to talk things through. I’m delighted that her close council of friends are godly women who really love the Lord. I’m delighted that she and her fiance have a very strong spiritual walk together.

I’m just shocked at the fact that time is passing – and very rapidly it seems!

I miss my little girl who:

talked about “packidabs” at the age of 2 (we never did figure out what those were)
began reading at age 4 all by herself
wrote her first play at age 5 about Jesus, Mary, Joseph, Daniel and a witch
almost missed her 8th birthday because she was in her room getting some things ready for a game
was afraid a finger stick at the doctor would remove all her blood from her body
hid candy in her room thinking I’d never see
called her brother “diaper-head” as the worst Bad Name she could think of
taught her siblings how much fun it was to overdub movies and record them
had such fun playing with a message from her youth pastor by cutting out most of his message and leaving bizarre and hilarious results
was a serious introvert surrounded by a family of 10

I’m very glad I get to send her off with a young man who loves her dearly and understands her more deeply than almost anyone else.

Rejoice with me and pray for me in this new season I enter.

Blogs I might be linking to:
Menu Planning Monday, On The Menu Monday, Erin Branscoms, Marital Oneness, The Better Mom, Multitudes on Monday, Hear it On Sunday, Sharing His Bounty, What Joy Is Mine, Playdates at the Well, Back to School Monday, Domestically Divine Tuesdays, Time Warp Wife, Funky Planet Frequent Flier Club, Encourage One Another, Living Well Wednesdays, Legacy Leaver Thursday, What’s Up Wednesday, Thought Provoking Thursday, Hearts 4 Home, Thankful Thursday, First Day of My Life , Thankful Thursdays, Thankful, Thankful Thursday Brown-eyed Bell(e), Big Family Fridays, Faith Filled Fridays, Feasting In Fellowship Friday, Homemaking Link-up Week-end, A Little R&R

Come Before Winter - a repost

By Kate, on October 26th, 2012%

Back in January I, along with 12 other women, participated in a 10 Days of Proverbs Challenge. One post I wrote had to do with preparing our lives. As the weather here has gone from quite cool to very warm and back to quite cool again in very rapid succession, I felt this was a great day to re-post this. I hope it is an encouragement to you today.

She is not afraid of the snow for her household… Prov 31:21We had a snow storm last winter that left us with about 6 inches of snow. Now, compared to when we lived in North Dakota, that isn’t much. It did, however, close many of our businesses and send school students and staff home early. It reminded me of a story I heard by Chuck Swindoll years ago.

When you come bring the cloak which I left at Troas…Make every effort to come before winter. 2 Tim 4:13, 21Chuck (or Chucky-baby as he is affectionately referred to by my pastor

) talks about the 2 years that he pastored in New England (in fact, it was at a church that I attended 2 decades later). Growing up in the south he was not used to cold New England weather. Nor was he prepared for the rapid changes of seasons. In New England, in September there is usually a chilly week or two and then another week or so of absolutely LOVELY weather. Warm, sunny, and deceptively calm. Us New Englanders call this time Indian Summer and it is a time when we PREPARE our homes for the frigid winter just around the corner. We pull down (or put in, as the case may be) storm windows, put up plastic on outside windows, take in all summer furniture and in every way winterize the home.

Chuck thought all of his neighbors were CRAZY! It was 80 degrees. Why should he close up his house when the summer breezes were so lovely. So while home owners around him were shutting their homes up and battening down the hatches, he had his windows open and enjoyed lounging in his back yard.

A week later, the temperatures had plummeted to 40 degrees with howling winds and he found himself outside in the icy temps putting on storm windows and storing up the summer paraphernalia while all those around him were snug and toasty in their homes, already prepared for the winter gusts.

Paul was telling Timothy in this passage above that he wanted him (Timothy) to bring Paul’s coat that had been left, and to please come before winter. Paul knew that it was important to be prepared for the winter weather that would come.

There is a spiritual truth here as well. We each have winter times in our lives. Times of feeling cold and distant from the Lord, times of hardship and struggles. For some of us, these times come monthly with the changes in our hormones. For others, they come with changes in our circumstances. Paul knew that the winter weather meant he needed a coat and he wanted to be PREPARED beforehand. He prepared his life so that when the winter chill set in, he didn’t have to run around trying to find one. He would be ready.

Just like the Indian Summer in New England is a SIGN of the coming change, we often see the coming changes in our lives that whisper a spiritual winter coming. We need to make sure that WE are prepared. We need to be sure that our spiritual closets are prepared and filled up with all we need to get us through those long winter nights. We need to be filled up with the Word of God written on our hearts, with our prayer lives deep and intimate. We need to clothe ourselves, as Is 61:10 says, with garments of salvation and a robe of righteousness so that we will not be naked and unprotected in times of adversity.

The Proverbs 31 woman is like this. She is a woman who thinks ahead and prepares. Not just for the physical times of trial and need, but for the spiritual times as well. She works within her home to build her family up in the trust and knowledge and goodness of the Lord so they are ready when times of challenge come.

Have YOU thought of those times of calamity and how you can prepare for them? Not just physically but spiritually. How do you build strength and preparation into your lives today so you will not be out in the cold?

Source snowy, Source Indian Summer

Blogs I might be linking to:
Menu Planning Monday, On The Menu Monday, Marital Oneness, The Better Mom, Multitudes on Monday, Hear it On Sunday, Sharing His Bounty, What Joy Is Mine, Playdates at the Well, Back to School Monday, Domestically Divine Tuesdays, Time Warp Wife, Funky Planet Frequent Flier Club, Encourage One Another, Living Well Wednesdays, Legacy Leaver Thursday, What’s Up Wednesday, Raising Homemakers, Thought Provoking Thursday, Hearts 4 Home, Thankful Thursday, Raising Mighty Arrows Thursdays, First Day of My Life , Thankful Thursdays, Thankful, Thankful Thursday Brown-eyed Bell(e), Big Family Fridays, Faith Filled Fridays, Feasting In Fellowship Friday, Homemaking Link-up Week-end

4 Things That Make Me Cry In Autumn

By Kate, on October 5th, 2012%

Many people I know say that autumn is their favorite season. Well, there are 4 things about every autumn that make me cry.

1) I miss the colors of New England!

By Muffet (flickr.com) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

I’ve spend the past 30 years living away from my beloved New England and I miss it so much. Autumn’s colors are more spectacular there than anywhere else. West Virginia had beautiful scenery and colors and come the closest to New England. But in New England you can spend each week-end driving to a different state on a fall foliage tour and never be disappointed!

2) I miss the smell of New England!

By GearedBull (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

I know, sounds weird, right? But here, all I get to smell is factory (even though our mill has been closed for years, the odor of it seems to hang in the air) mixed with manure. Not a lot to inspire the olfactory system! In New England, there is a crisp, bright, clean air smell. Add to that the smell of fireplaces and apples and cooking and the mixture is intoxicating!

3) I miss the tastes of New England!

By Ericci8996 (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

apples fresh off the tree (yes, we have them here, but the taste is a bit flatter than New England apples)
doughboys (we call them Indian Fry bread here)
clam cakes
coffee milk
Del’s lemonade (even thought it is probably closed for the winter)

4) I miss the sea of New England!

By Juliancolton (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Well, I haven’t lived near the sea in 30 years and every once is a while I SNAP because of longing! The rush of the waves, the power of the sound, the smell of the salt and sand, the lonliness of the empty beach, the beauty of the crags and caves, the quaintness of the tiny villages along the coast. All these things, and more, fill my heart with anguish at the loss of them.

Then I realize that these longings of my heart are really just a shadow of the REALITY of Glory! Will there be coffee milk and clam cakes in heaven? Well, I’m not sure…but the joy they give to me certainly will be!

So, I continue to live on the prairie and CHOOSE joy…even on these days when autumn makes me cry.