~stunted growth~

Several weeks ago, my husband began preaching through the book of Genesis.  I must confess to you, I wasn't thrilled.  While I didn't grow up in church, since becoming a Christian over 17 years ago, I have taught countless lessons and craft projects about creation and the fall of man to numerous preschoolers!  What could be left to learn, right?  Wrong!

I think it's interesting that when God told Adam and Eve that they had done wrong, Adam blamed Eve and she blamed the serpent.  Neither wanted to acknowledge their sin - and neither sorry.  Fast forward to chapter 4.  Cain murders Abel because Abel's offering is pleasing to God and his isn't.  When God tells Cain of his punishment, he is clearly upset over the punishment, but not repentant.  God tells him he'll be a wanderer, yet he builds a city - and names it for his son.  Disobeying God and keeping the glory for man instead of giving glory to God.  Later, Cain's great great great grandson, Lamech killed two men.  When he confessed his sin to his wives, he said, "If Cain's revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech's is seventy-seven fold."  Lamech confessed his sin.

In my quiet time recently, God has revealed big truths in tiny bites.  Today He layed it on thick!  Am I truly repentant?  Am I sorry for the sins I commit, or am I sorry I've been caught or sorry I'll be punished?  When God reveals sin in my life, I usually let life's busyness be my excuse.  I can't count the times I've thrown together unhealthy meals for my family at the last minute or put quiet time with God on the back burner because our family schedule filled up before I squeezed it in.  What am I teaching my children through my disobedience?  It's easy to see through the book of Genesis that unconfessed sin can become generational sin.  Nothing would grieve my heart more than to know that I have stunted my children's growth in the Lord.

How many times have you heard a parent encourage their child to lie so they don't get in trouble?  It happens, though I'm sure they wouldn't call it lying.  It's deception nonetheless. Sometimes the consequences are too great for Mom and Dad to bear.  If little Johnny admits that he vandalized cars in the school parking lot, he won't get to play football.  If Sally tells Mary that she took her baby doll, Mary won't want to be her friend anymore.  It sounds ridiculous, but it happens!  While these are extremes, and most of us can never imagine allowing things like this to go on, we probably can imagine not grounding our four year old from television because it would mean I wouldn't have that 30 minutes during Dora to clean up the kitchen, or not taking away the Nintendo DS, because it keeps him quiet in the car on the way to Grandma's.  When we allow half-hearted repentance to us without consequences, we're setting our kids up to half-heartedly obey God.

Please don't think this post is about my terrible, disobedient children - far from it.  They're great!  I couldn't ask for better kids!  This is about me.  I've given excuses to God time and time again, like 'I can't help it', 'I'm under too much pressure', 'we're so busy' and I'm sure God's favorite is 'You know how I am....'  The problem is that God is never okay with an unrepentant heart.

While I can never perfect my walk with God, and I can't protect my kids from all sin, I can teach them to be repentant and graciously accept God's correction so He is glorified in their obedience.

The question is not if I sin or how often.  Obviously I'm not perfect and never will be, but what kind of example am I setting when I know I'm sinning and refuse to stop, or let my day dictate my attitude instead of standing firm on the Word?  Do I stop and call upon the name of the Lord?

God is continually sanding down the rough edges of my heart and molding me into who He wants me to be.  It's my belief that, besides the Holy Spirit, there is no better tool for transforming the heart than that of a child entrusted to you.  My heart's desire is to submit to Him fully in obedience, for my own sake - and the good of my kids.

Blessings,

~bad habits and busyness~

I've developed a new bad habit.  Actually, I'm not even sure I can call it that.  You decide....

We homeschool our kids, so life has gotten busier in the last few weeks since school began.  Gone are the lazy days of summer (Ha! As if....).  We're back to business (or should I say busyness?).  While I would like to tell you how organized and efficient I am as a wife and mom, I'd be lying.  I am the type of person that works better from a list - but most days I can't even find it!  Lately I've been known to have 3 or 4 partial lists, because I've misplaced the previous ones!  This is so frustrating!  I'm not really sure how it happens.....it just does.  (That sounded so much like my ten year old son!)  My husband thinks I'm crazy.  Oh, he doesn't say it, but the look on his face says it all.  It's not uncommon for him to be going through the mail or a book and find one of my lists - from weeks or even months prior!  No kidding!

Recently I've added a new bad habit, though.  My laundry room is all the way in the back of my house.  Out of the way, which is good.....and bad.  My laundry routine lately is to:

1. Take the clothes out of the dryer and put them in a basket. 

2. Put the clothes from the washer into the dryer and start the dryer. 

3. Start the water in the washer along with a capful of liquid detergent (so that the detergent is dilluted by the time I get the clothes into the washer.)

4. Leave laundry room with intentions of collecting dirty clothes from our bedrooms.

5. Bring basket of clothes from the dryer into the living room to fold, then put away. 

6. Forget all about the fact that the washing machine is filling up and proceed with other duties. 

7.  Go to sleep and wake up.  Begin again at #1 - only to realize the soapy water has been sitting in my washing machine overnight! 

Ewww!  There is no way I am washing clothes in that water!  I am wasting so much water......and soap!  I'm trying to remember to take a basket of clothes with me when I first go to the laundry room - but I'm finding it hard to change my ways!  Am I going crazy?  Please tell me I'm not the only one that's this forgetful!

Blessings,

~saucy dreams~

Hot weather is here and the long, leisurely summer I was dreaming of seems out of reach.  Since finishing school, our days have been filled with welding classes, family reunions, baseball, softball, cleaning the house....and laundry :-P

I had dreams of a garden big enough to feed the neighborhood.  This was the year I would finally take the time to do it!  Nothing was getting in my way.  Nothing!  My plans also included growing everything I need to can my own spaghetti sauce - tomatoes, onions, peppers, basil, oregano.  My secret sauce would be available with the twist of a lid!  I can think of nothing better than putting in extra hours up front to make dinner prep quick and easy.  I've been formulating shortcuts for years, but this would be the ultimate!  (I should probably mention I've never canned, either unless you count the summers helping my Aunt Bev stir her sauce and tighten the lids!)  In my mind, this would help me become more like the Proverbs 31 woman.  "She gets up while it's still dark, provides food for her family....she plants a vineyard....she sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks."

Instead, we've had baseball and softball games to prepare for and play.  Glen coaches Grayson's team, so he's particular about summer activities on game days.  Outdoor activities are inevitable, but not for too long.  No sunburns for us whitey's - and no swimming on game day for sure!  The regular ball season just wrapped up, but Grayson is on the allstar team, so we're not done yet.  (Uggh - I mean, YEAH!)

The past few months have been full of good intentions.  After several weeks of rain, my in-laws bought a tiller after hearing of my plans, but all for not - it never started!  Finally last week, I walked into Lowe's and priced raised garden beds.  They're marked down, but still a little pricey - this is an experiment, after all!  I looked for tomato plants and guess what was on clearance?!!  They were marked down from $9 to $1 so I decided to buy five or six.  When the lady at the register rang me up, she said she'd give them to me for 50 cents if I'd buy them all!  SOLD!  Sixteen tomato plants for $8!  Surely owning sixteen plants makes me a gardener;-)

Once again, I had big plans.  Saturday I would "work the ground" in my backyard and begin my journey.  As I'm cleaning house Saturday morning, Glen was mowing and trimming the yard.  I hear him stop and I begin to hear a noise.  A rhythmic sound - with intention.  I step out back to see my husband with a post-hole digger!  NOOOOOOO!!!!!  That's my job!  I've been planning this for years in my head.  It never included Glen doing the work - or using a post-hole digger for that matter.  Though it will help you to get the plant in the ground, I don't think it's the ideal way to plant them.  Where I imagined hours of time spent tending, nurturing and contemplating, he saw a task to check off of a list.

After calling Dig-Rite to mark the utility lines in our yard, the only suitable place to plant was smack-dab in the middle of the back yard.  The final straw was that somewhere along the way, one of the many owners of our 75 year old home decided to get rid of their concrete patio by covering it with 6" of dirt!  Guess where the patio was?  Yep - smack-dab in the middle of the back yard!  The only place left to plant them is in the front yard!  Since I don't think our neighbors would appreciate this, and there are probably codes restricting it, we'll look for other options.  The raised garden is looking like a better idea everyday - especially since for now, the plants are in rows on my driveway!


I'm convinced there's a conspiracy to keep me from gardening, but I'll diligently tend to my potted plants for now.

Oh, and while reading Proverbs 31 again, I think I found a loophole.  Proverbs 31:14 says, "She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar."  Could this mean a trip to Sam's and Aldi's?  Or possibly Mexican take-out?  I think it could......

Blessings,

~i'll take it any way i can get it~

Yesterday was Memorial Day, and although I have many veterans in my life and I am thankful for my freedom, lately any day that Glen has off has become a day to "catch up" on cleaning and organizing.  I know Glen must LOVE this!

We started the day by having breakfast in bed, made by our sweet 12 year old, Grayson.  She's learning the finer points of cooking, and we're letting her practice on us;-)  Last time she made omelets, Glen informed her that he likes "the works" on his!  She made sure I got everything she needed from the store - and she loaded his omelet down with ham, cheese, onion and God only knows what else...  I'm a simple girl - cheese only, please.

So that was pretty much the end of our holiday.  From the time we got up, we got busy.  Glen did yard work (and Riley helped), then showered, then started organizing the bedroom.  Closets, drawers, you name it.....even my jewelry box!  That thing hasn't been organized in a decade!

I cleaned in the rest of the house, while the kids cleaned in their rooms.  They weeded out clothes that don't fit and even cleaned under their beds (I don't even want to know what lurks under there!) - and yes, that took all day.  I am ashamed to say that as much as I love a clean house, with everything neatly in it's place and the smell of (insert your favorite scented cleaner here - mine is Pine Sol), I cannot keep it that way for the life of me!  I don't know if it's because we're so busy and we're in and out of our house so often, or if it's because we homeschool - so the kids are always there (the down-side to the up-side), or if we're just slobs!  Whatever the reason, I hate the fact that I can't keep it together.  One elderly lady from church always says, "One day you'll have all the time you need to keep a clean house.  Just enjoy those kids!"  I don't want to wish my time away with my kids, I'd just like to enjoy them in a clean house;-)  The easy answer here is to hire someone to help, but I can't justify spending the money when I'm home!  Also, at this point, I feel I need to clean up for the cleaning lady;-)

As a side-note, after I walked into the bedroom last night, exhausted from the day, I looked up at my pretty wrought iron candle holder hanging on the wall to find that Glen had conveniently turned it into a hat rack.  I was too tired to fight about it.  I'll sneak them into the closet at some point.  Right now I'm just grateful for his help - and I'll take it any way I can get it!

Blessings,

~community~

I have to confess, when I first started blogging, I did it solely for myself.  To put down thoughts that were scattered, on something besides a notebook that would eventually be misplaced, forever unable to locate.  Recently however, I've realized the effect other blogs are having on me.  As I browsed for like-minded women's blogs, I became encouraged by the fact that most of them don't have it as together as they would like either:)  Thanks for encouraging me!

I have great friends.  I have always been blessed with good friends - even from a young age.  When I started homeschooling my kids, the group of friends I had a lot in common with shrunk.  Though I am still friends with many, I get encouragement and have the opportunity to share my joy and frustration with those who also homeschool.  Without the homeschool moms in my town, I'd be lost!  Thanks for encouraging me.

Since beginning to blog, God has started to fill a huge void in my life through the blogging community.  I have many friends, but few are pastor's wives.  As a pastor's wife it's so hard to find anyone who completely understands where God has me.  There's nothing special about me because my husband's in the ministry (in fact, there's nothing special about him either! JUST KIDDING! He's special to me!), but I am viewed differently because of it.  As easy as it is to say you think your pastor's wife is "just like you" (and she is), the second she slips up, many are ready to condemn her for her mistakes.  This doesn't happen so much within our church (that I know of), but around town - friends of friends of friends, you know.  I've even heard someone say, "but you're a pastor's wife"!  Yes I am, but so imperfect.  Those of you who've been my friend, even before the ministry know this all too well:) You're saying, "is this really an issue?  I know you and I know you fail!".  Thanks for keeping it real!

I have been so encouraged by blogs of other wives in the ministry, and am realizing that though my blog was initially for me, my everyday ramblings and goof-ups could encourage a wife that's new to the ministry.  I'll continue to write for me - for my own sanity, but know that you are writing for me and I'm grateful!

God is once again proving Himself faithful to supply all of my needs.  If you are a ministry wife and you're reading this, chances are you've encouraged me - thank you!  If you're not, please pray for your pastor's wife and don't put her on a pedestal, she'll let you down.  Remember, she's just like you and she needs encouragement, too!

Blessings,

~yummy recipe~

Okay, I love to cook.  It seems like since our kids have gotten older and into more activities, I end up cooking the same boring things.  I LOVE watching the food channel and could browse recipe books for hours, but when it comes down to it, I cook what's comfortable and familiar.

A few weeks ago I was looking up recipes online and ran across one that sounded good, looked fairly healthy, and - here comes the amazing part - I tried it!  Glen loved it, but that's not saying much - there's not much he doesn't like.  I liked it, which is rare:)

I didn't take a picture (like you, Glenna - awesome, btw!).  We ate it too fast to get the camera out!  I've posted it below and hope you love it as much as we do.

Spicy Sausage and Peppers Penne

Ingredients:

8 oz whole wheat penne pasta
1 lb hot italian turkey sausage (about 4 links)
1 each - med. green, yellow and red bell pepper, cut into 1/4 inch strips
1/2 cup coarsely chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1 14.5 can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
2 tsp italian seasoning
1/4 cup grated fresh parmesan cheese

Directions:

1.	Cook pasta according to package directions in Professional (4-qt.) Casserole; drain and keep warm.
2.	Meanwhile, cook sausage in Family (12-in.) Skillet over medium-high heat 14-16 minutes or until sausage is lightly browned and no longer pink, turning occasionally. Remove sausages from skillet; cut diagonally into 1-inch pieces and set aside. Cut bell peppers into 1/4-inch strips using Chef's Knife. Coarsely chop onion using Food Chopper.
3.	In same skillet, cook bell peppers, onion and garlic pressed with Garlic Press over medium heat 6-8 minutes or until peppers are crisp-tender, stirring occasionally. Add sausage, tomatoes, tomato sauce and seasoning mix. Cook and stir 1-2 minutes or until heated through.
4.	Place pasta in large bowl; pour sauce mixture over pasta, tossing to coat. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.
Yield: 6 servings

Enjoy!

Blessings,