I thirst to be made thirsty!

O God, I have tasted Thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. I am painfully  conscious of my need for further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God, the Triune God, I want to want Thee; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made thirsty still.
A.W. Tozer

Pitty Party.... Table for one

Just as I have tried to make this Christmas less about me and more about Christ... Something happens and I am hurt and frustrated. I then allow my heart to become so angry and spend the remainder of my evening last night having a serious pity party for myself.

Oh how easily I get overtaken by my emotions (pregnancy doesn't help) and forget that Christmas isn't about me, it's about Jesus.  Though I am hurt and feel like nothing about this Christmas is going to be any sort of special I remember that the Lord is my father and he is all I need.

People in life with hurt you and let you down even your own family but the Savior he will never let you down.

 And my GOD will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in CHRIST JESUS Philippians 4:19


So today I need to go before the throne and ask for forgiveness. I cannot celebrate the birth of my savior with so much anger in my heart towards someone. Then I need to pick myself back up and press on to make Christmas about him and remember it's not about me. After all, I have already been given the best gift anyone could ever receive!

Looking forward to my life

Isn't it amazing how we are always looking forward to our lives and forgetting we are living them now?!

There's always something to look forward to. The arrival of a new child. The day they will sleep through the night. When they will first crawl and then walk. The day they will finally be old enough to talk with.

But then we blink and we missed the now. Always looking forward causes us to have to look back and realized we missed important things.

On Thursday night I watched my sweet little girl jump around on her hospital bed with a big smile. She had croup but you wouldn't have known it by the way she was smiling and talking. Shes such a trooper like that. I so often miss that when I have those days of feeling so frustrated with her ever growing stubbornness. Though I was exhausted and really didn't enjoy spending another night in the hospital, I was so thankful, I got to take her home and knew she would get better. She doesn't have cancer or any life threatening disease. But, she does have one thing and that is that she is consistently getting older and no matter how I try I will never be able to relive these days again.

 It's ok to be excited about the future because we know that God has great things in store for us but we just can't miss the present because it soon becomes the past!

Children aren't expensive

In short, children aren’t expensive; obsessive-compulsive consumerism is. Children are not a financial liability; they are (if you must speak of them in monetary terms) an investment (perhaps the only one truly worth making) in the future.



Read the rest of this article here!

I don't know how to celebrate Christmas

For the Past 23 years I have the spent Christmas in Florida with my parents and my Granny. With the exception of two years when we spent Easter there instead and the first year I was married I went down the week after christmas.

So for me Christmas is summed up with warm weather, the beach, eating christmas dinner outside, and of course spending time with my parents, sisters, and granny.


This year due to the fact that baby prince maybe arriving early we will not be going.

The one year I missed Christmas there with my family I was so depressed and the only thing that kept me from having a two year old size tantrum was the fact that King Los suprised me on Christmas day with a note saying pack your bags we are going to Florida next week.

You see when you get married and then have children you have to start your own christmas traditions. The only problem is I feel as if I have absolutely no idea how to make Christmas special let alone how to make it all about Jesus. With Princess Eli only being 16 months I feel as if she can't really understand much so what can I really do? So I prayed about it and today I came across this stirring blog post.

It's made me think about so much. So now I am giong to continue to go before the Lord and ask him how we can start making Christmas about him and his sons birthday.

So tell me how do you make Christmas about him?

Servant sums it up

The greatest among you will be your servant.
Mathew 23:11





The difference between a servant and a slave is that a slave is forced to complete their tasks and a servant chooses to do their tasks.


Doesn't that about sum up all God wants of us? Noone wants someone to be forced to love and serve them but we all want some to choose to love and serve us!



Are you a Slave or a servant?

washing the feet of the Lord's people

 No widow may be put on the list of widows unless she is over sixty, has been faithful to her husband,  and is well known for her good deeds, such as bringing up children, showing hospitality, washing the feet of the Lord’s people, helping those in trouble and devoting herself to all kinds of good deeds.
1 Timothy 5:9-10



What does it mean to be faithful to your husband? 


What do people know me for? My good deeds?


What does it mean to bring up your children?


Do I show hospitality? How can I do it better?


How can I wash the feet of the Lord's people?


Do I help those in trouble?


What am I devoted to? Good deeds?




Lord, Open my eyes.

May my Grave stone read:
 Faithful wife, Loving mother, Doer of Good, Welcoming and humble, a friend to those in need, Devoted to following God, Servant.

The question God layed on my heart....

Do people come away from you and your home feeling like they encountered Christ?

Home... and Bed rest

It's amazing when your sole purpose is to serve others ... that a simple act of being put on bed rest can make you feel so inadequate. Although I am fully aware that I am serving my unborn child by simply plopping myself on the sofa to stay I am still feeling awfully useless.

How much I would love to be able to whip up a pumpkin cheesecake for King Los I promised for his birthday. I would love to chase Princess Eli around. I would even love to be able to clean the bathrooms. (Never thought I would say that.)

It really made me think that though I can't do much during this time in the way of physical things, I still want to be intentional with my time. Laziness just breeds more laziness. Because though I could drain my time away with endless blog reading and tv watching I want to make sure I am doing somethings a lot more productive.

So heres my list of things I can do to help whittle the time away and still be semi productive.

*First of all read some good books especially right now some inspiring autobiographies sound like just the inspiration I need. Also thanks to Sarah Mae for giving me the book Grace is for Sinners by Serena Woods which I am so looking forward to reading!
*Get my Christmas cards printed out and addressed.
*Finally make Elianna's photo book of her first year
*Get a bunch of things listed on Ebay
*Spend time of course in the word since I am way behind on my bible reading for the year.
*Write some encouraging notes and letters to peoples.
*Work on memorizing scripture.
*Find some more recipes to add to my need to try book.
*Of course just spending time realizing how much I have to be Thankful for!


Rejoice  in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 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 trascends all understanding will guard your heartss and your minds in Christ. Phillipians 4:4-7

Thanksgiving from my hospital bed

That's right I had the lovely opportunity of spending Thanksgiving in a hospital bed.

Wednesday I came in to the hospital due to a morning of contractions expecting them to say go home prop your feet up and drink lots of water. However they discovered I have a bladder infection which had started me into preterm labor, ten weeks to early.

So here I am still in the hospital bed and will be so until at least tomorrow sometime. I believe God wants to see if I am serious about my taking that challenge of a month without complaining. Of course I have been failing miserably. Although because I have decided to take this challenge it has made me so much more aware of complaining and I know I am doing a lot less of it then I would normally do.

So here's a list of my thankfuls to keep my mind on the blessings God has been so abundantly supplying me with!

*They were able to stop my preterm labor so that prince can stay in for a little longer.

*They were able to give me steroids to help his lungs and brain develop a little faster that way if he still decides to come early he will have a better chance of being a healthy little guy.

* As much as I dreaded the catheter it wasn't as a awful as I thought and God had mercy on me and I only had to have it for around twelve hours.

* My wonderful gracious loving absolutely amazing husband not only missed most of the thanksgiving celebrations to be here helping me, he also spent his birthday here taking me to the bathroom and helping me shower and all those things I was having a hard time doing yesterday.

* Most importantly the little guy is healthy and happy and kicking away and I feel a lot better so now I will have a few weeks to enjoy not much else other then resting. Which isn't all bad.


God is good!

Crumb topped Blueberry Muffins

Crumb Topped Blueberry Muffins

•FOR THE MUFFINS:


•1-½ cup All-purpose Flour

•¾ cups Sugar

•½ teaspoons Salt

•2 teaspoons Baking Powder

•⅓ cups Vegetable Oil  (I use applesauce instead. Makes them yummier and healthier!)

•1 whole Egg

•⅓ cups Milk

•1 cup Blueberries

•_____

•FOR THE CRUMB TOPPING:

•½ cups Sugar

•⅓ cups Flour

•¼ cups Butter (or Earth Balance)

•1-½ teaspoon Cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.


2. To make the muffins, combine flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1-cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with the flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.

3. To make crumb topping: Mix together sugar, cup flour, butter, and cinnamon. Mix with a fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.

4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

Taking the Challenge

So today during a sermon on attitude adjustment God brought this post to my mind. When I watched her Vlog the other day I thought to myself I am a pretty content person I don't really complain. Well God showed me that this is most certianly not true.

As a matter of fact I am realizing I complain a lot about the little things. My hair, my weight, the weather, and ect. I really want to have a christ like attitude in everything and not be complaining. So this week i am focusing on this challenge!

Perspective

It's not about what you have in your pockets.... but what you have in your heart!
-Anonymous




Thanking God this weekend for what I have in my heart and of course currently what I have in my ever growing belly!

Orphan Sunday

http://vimeo.com/13888620

This absolutely broke my heart and I am sure even if I wasn't pregnant I would have still shed a tear!

Halloween...

It seems every single blog lately has been on the topic of Halloween. Around our house it's know as my Moms birthday. I have never ever gone tricker treating or ever given out anything to any tricker treaters. My parents did not want us to celebrate it. But now I am a mom (still weird to me) and so King Los and I had to decide what we wanted to do. It wasn'ts a hard decision for us to make because after hearing a women who was a witch and then later in life become a christian, there was never a dout in our minds if we wanted to participate in Halloween. But instead of telling you my opinion (because really my opinion does not matter) I would like to challenge all of you if you are having a hard time deciding what to do this year for Halloween.

Look to God's word. Check out the orgin behind Halloween. Go with you conscience and live in love, don't judge others!

Easy Peasy Serving

I know this post is way overdue but we made a decision to end our Internet last week henceforth making it a little hard to blog. However I will still continue to try and blog from my parents house since I spend a fair amount of time there.

So back to Easy ways to serve from home

*The best and easiest way to serve others from home is prayer!
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
Ephesians 6:18

My Granny a wise and godly woman, spends so much time praying. She says that because of her age she feels as if she cannot do much anymore so she spends lots of time in prayer for her family and others. Lots of people call her and tell her their prayer requests and she adds them to her written list and spends time in prayer on each of them. She prays for anyone and everyone no matter if she knows them or not. She is a prayer warrior and inspires me to pray more. Sometimes there is not much we can do for people, but people can always use prayer! Whatever you do. Do not be a person who says they will pray for someone but always forgets. When you commit to praying for someone or a situation, write it down and make sure you pray for it. Prayer is such a great way to serve others.

* Another thing that is of great encouragement for others is sending notes or cards. We live in a time where people barely have time for a simple phone call but there is nothing like receiving a note or card. Telling someone you are praying for them (and actually are) or telling them you have been thinking of them is so encouraging. Wether they are going through a difficult time or just busy raising their little ones it always means a lot. It's so simple and you can buy blank packs of cards at the dollar tree!

*Taking meals. I'll admit the idea of that often sends me into a panic. I never know what to take people and alway fear I am not a good enough cook. But taking someone a meal after a baby is born, a love one passes away, someone has surgery, or just to give them a night off is such a blessing! I cannot begin to tell you how thankful I am to my friends and family who brought me meals after princess Eli was born. You don't even have to take a meal you could just send a plate of brownies with your hubby to take to the guys at work or to the unsaved neighbors. These kinds of things set us apart from the world and show God's love through small things. I know the guys at King Los' job love when I send stuff like peach pie and brownies and all kinds of goodies and I know it makes King Los proud to take them.

*Babysitting. Paying a babysitter can get expensive and not everyone is blessed like to me to have their family around them. How bout once a month offering a couple with young child a night of free babysitting so they could have a date night. Marriages right now are falling apart and one of the best things for couples is time alone together. What a blessing to offer a couple a free night of babysitting or a busy mom a few hours to run errands.

*Hosting exchange students or fresh air kids. This is such an excellent way to show God to unbelievers. I have had the privilege to see my parents host several exchange of which were not Christians but were able to find about Jesus and the gospel while staying here. You can build lifelong friendships through these kinds of programs and can really impact kids lives for the lord. You never know what kind of an impact just one or two weeks at your home watching your family could do for a non christian from china or anywhere in the world.

There is so many other great ways. Volunteering at a homeless shelter. Giving food to a food bank. Working on your elderly neighbor's yard. Sponsoring an orphan. Pray and ask God for opportunities to serve and he will show you! He is glad you are choosing to put your family first and will always show you people and ways you can serve while still doing that. Not to mention the best way to serve is right a long side your family teaching them how to live out God's word through serving and instilling the love to serve in your children.

His work His way!

Before I post about some great ideas of serving in easy  mom friendly ways that still make a big impact, I want to share something God has been showing me about this whole serving topic.


First off, we are all called to serve!

However just because we are all called to serve does not mean we are called to do ALL things!
I love how the ladies from Passionate housewives desperate for God by Jennie Chancey and Stacy McDonald, talk about this subject.

"God has a lot for us to do! His work for women isn't small, narrow, or confining. It calls forth the best in us and requires the faithful use of the talents he bestows. At the same time, God desires us to do his work His way!"

We DO NOT have to be doing "BIG" things to be making a BIG difference in peoples lives! Sometimes the little things get swept under the rug to make room for the big projects which are time consuming and don't always have the best rate of one on one time with people. Doing little consistent things make a big impact on non-believers because they are seeing God's word lived out through our lives!

Our husbands should come first and then our children and then of course others. We cannot forget that we are our husband's only help meet and our children's only mother.

Serving should be a way of life! It should be something you do throughout your day and something that your children grow to just do naturally because that is what they have seen from their parents!

Just because a program is making a huge difference in peoples lives and it seems all the doors are being opened for you to help with it, does not mean that is really what God wants. If that ministry is taking away to much time from your family and your main priorities it is not what God wants for you. If you are like me and are not extremely organized and great at balancing at time you will have to be really careful with saying yes to many things. It's so easy to just say yes to so many things then become overwhelmed. I know I needed to learn how to say the No word a lot more.

You will never regret the time you spent investing in your children and being the best possible help meet for your husband. You may regret all the time missed while you were busy volunteering for different projects that caused you to miss precious moments of time in your little ones lives. (I already had to learn this the first year of princess Eli's life and I had to actually step down from a ministry I was involved in.)

Take some time to talk God about your priorities and if you are really doing His work His way!

Being a wife and mom is not enough!

Do you ever feel that way?

I have sat with a few friends and have discussed the fact that it sometimes feels like we are not doing enough for the lord or that we aren't doing anything "big" enough.

But, for most of us moms especially with little ones getting involved in ministry takes to much time away from the family and fills our schedules to full. We have to face it that our children and husbands are most important ministry we have!

These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. ⁷ Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Deuteronomy 6:6-7

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6

Really we are doing something that will impact the world and future generations by training our children!

So how can we still serve others like God asks us to? I mean don't we have to volunteer for all kinds of projects, groups, and all kinds of community outreaches?


Nope! (Not that doing those things is wrong. We must each decide for ourselves what the lord is asking of us and our families.)

So tomorrow I will give you some ideas the lord has been laying on my heart of ways I can serve!

And whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. Mark 10:44-45

9Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. 11If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen. 1 Peter 4:9-11

Love Languages

Don't you love when you have those moments of  "Not sure why I didn't figure this out till now.". I have those a lot and I know it's all just part of the learning process.

Well while I was at the Women of Faith Conference (which is so worth going to if it's coming to a city near you) Andy Andrews was talking about the love languages and I started to think. I am pretty sure I know King Los' love language. But, I was deteremined when I got home to look at the book the Five love languages by Gary Chapman and talk to King Los about it.

I am so glad I did that! Not only did I discover I was not loving him with his love language I realized I was actually loving him with my love language which is pretty normal to do.

See I had been affirming him with more words then he needed. I mean seriously I thought to myself who could ever here enough great things about themselves and what they do. Although King Los appreciated those nice things I had been saying I realized he appreciated acts of service so much more.

He would much rather have a clean home, yummy cooked meals, and of course something yummy baked then hear a hundred kinds words. It seems so obvious now and of course I had heard of the love languages a million times I just thought I had it all right.

If you haven't checked out this book you need to! There is also one for kids and one for teenagers love languages too.

So talk to your spouse and find out if you could be showing love better to them.

Canning... in your oven

How to Can in the oven!

So if a few of you ladies are like me you aren't quite lucky enough to have a pressure cooker or canner. You'll be as excited as me to find out you can actually can peaches and pears in the oven. It's so simple and the process is pretty much the same as if you were going to use a regular canner.

*Preheat your oven to 250 degrees.

*You still fill the jars nice and full of peaches. Then make your syrup and add that in the jar.

*Then move your bottom oven rack as low as it can go and put two cookie sheets on it.

*Put six jars on each cookie sheet making sure that none of the jars of touching each other. You should put no more then a total of 12 in at a time.

*Then bake for between one hour and 15 and one hour and twenty minutes.

*Make sure when you take them out that the liquid inside looks like its bubbling just a little because that means it will seal for you. Also it's fine if a little of the liquid spilled out just keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't all spill out.

*Then of course let me sit for twenty four hours and they should  seal nicely for you!

*Also another fun little tip is to add about a tsp of vanilla to every four cups of syrup to add a little extra flavor to the peaches.

Make sure you save some fresh peaches to make some yummy peach pies. King Los  took one to work for the guys he works with and they absolutely loved it so make sure you make one for your family and one for a gift!      

                                                                                                            

Love your enemies... For Real!!

Ouch.. God made something painfully obvious to me this weekend.

I do not LOVE my enemies!


I think I'm a pretty easy person to get along with. I don't like confrontation and I often keep my opinions to myself as to not offend or hurt others. I feel as though I can get a long with pretty much any person. I love people and I love having friends!

I didn't think I really had enemies. Don't get me wrong sometimes people hurt my feelings and sometimes I meet someone who just rubs me the wrong way. I even sometimes find myself holding a grudge agaisnt someone every once in awhile. But, I usually have no problem forgiving and getting over it.

BUT.....

What about when you have a real enemy? Someone who has tried to destroy your family, your marriage, or just you in gerneral. Someone no matter how you have tried to handle it only seems to want hurt or frustrate you. What if this person is someone who has seriously injured, killed or maybe even raped a family member. Maybe it's a person that has spread awful rumors about you. Can you really love that person?

I thought I was doing pretty good with "that" person. I thought I had forgave! But, in my mind I was secretly hoping that what they did to me would also happen to them. That they would see how it felt to be hurt so much by someone. I was not letting go and letting God! I certianly was not LOVING them!

So God told me to look up some verses and heres a few I found.

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good".Romans 12:17-21

But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. Luke 6:27-28

Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. 1 John 2:9-10.


Feed your enemy! Cloth your enemy! Pray for your enemy! Love your enemy!

With tears in my eyes I admit I have failed horribly! I am so thankful for God's grace and the fact he never gives up on me!

Share your story!

She stood in her driveway with tears in her eyes. She shared that her husband had left her and her five month old baby two months ago. I had wondered for awhile now if something had happened but thought it wasn't my place to ask.

For a second I stood there wondering. Should I share our story? Would my husband mind?

He stood beside me and suddenly it was like the holy spirit took over and I just started to speak. I shared our story.

She cried more and then said "Wow! I had no idea I would have never guessed. It seems like when I look around everyone's lives seem perfect."

After I heard those words I realized she found hope and encouragement in our story. How God was transforming our lives and our marriage. I invited her to my ladies group which I now refer to as The till death do us part group. I knew there were women there who are faithful followers of God who share their stories and encourage women.

She came, shared, cried, and we prayed!

But it hit me so hard what she had said that day in the driveway.

As christians we shouldn't be hiding behind our pasts. We should be open books so others can see what God has done for us. If not for God, I wouldn't be married anymore and I sure wouldn't have this wonderful peace and hope.

Am I really being transparent or am I just playing the good christian with everything together?

Share your story!

The difference God makes in my choice to stay at home

Since getting preggors I am back to frequenting the pregnancy boards over at the bump.

It seems like everywhere on the internet the hot button topic is Stay at home moms versus working moms.

Here is some of a post I ran across.

"I am totally baffled by how many posters took the stance of "it is so important for me to be home with my child. We will make it work even though my salary pays for important bills." I literally cannot comprehend how someone would think it is OK to quit their job - a job that they admit pays for important bills like car payments, insurance, cell phones, etc - when it clearly isn't financially responsible. How is it responsible to put yourself in a poor financial situation?"

This really stuck out to me because well I'm going to be honest my mind has been spinning with all this fear lately. Financial Fear!

I just have to keep reminding myself, This isn't about finances. It isn't about having a career that makes ME feel fulfilled. This isn't about ME at all. It's about God and for right now this is what God called me to.


Time to suck it up and make some real sacrafices I have been trying to avoid. But, God calls us to give it all to follow him and for me that included my super fulfilling ME career.

The difference in "my decision" is it wasn't really "my decision" at all it is what God called me to do!

Say it then pray it.....

I don't know why it took my so long to write this post. I guess mostly because this is the one I struggle with the most.

I talked a lot in my last post about the awful things we can say to hurt our husbands to try and "change" their minds. But, what about the things we say that aren't disrespectful but are said over and over again?

Better to live in a desert then with a quarrelsome and ill tempered wife. Proverbs 21:19

"The Nag" a man's worst nightmare. The women who goes on and on about what they need to change. How they paid bills late again this month and won't you ever learn to throw your socks in the hamper?! The wife that thinks she needs to say it a couple hundred times because if he didn't change or stop right away he clearly didn't understand. This means it needs to be stated again and again until he changes. (Wrong!)

Why is it that we think we have a right to always be telling him the areas he is failing in? Making him feel as if he can never measure up or expecting him to change over night.

How many times do us women continue to do the same mistakes over and over again? Yet, if you hubby is like mine he continues to forgive and doesn't nag.

A quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping on a rainy day; restraining her is like restraining the wind, or like grasping oil with the hand.
Proverbs 27:15-16

I don't know about you but that sure doesn't sound like the women I want to be. So that is why I came up with this motto. Say it then pray it! I remember my granny saying something a long those lines to me. You can't change a person by persistent nagging. Thats only annoying! But, what if we spoke kindly and respectfully sharing our concern and then we took it to the lord. He is after all the only one who can really change someone!

Say it then pray it! It so much harder then it sounds but im determined to continue to work at it!

I've been eating to much bread

I could really write all kinds of excuses today for my life right now.But, really the truth is I have NOT been in the word like I should be lately.

If you want to know how I am doing spiritually just come take a look at my house. It never fails that when I am in the word and fellowshiping with the lord I am a better wife, mommy, and housekeeper. Without the lord I Only eat of the bread of idleness.

She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Proverbs 31:27

I am Lazy! I need to be in the Lord's word everyday in order to keep me in check. I need to be reminded of my role and I need to remember all the things the lord has done for me. If I do not, I eat way to much bread of idleness.

I am determinded no matter my excuses and that I am sick because of the wonderful little peanut growing in my belly that I will not continue to eat to much bread! I am going to work hard to stay in the word and be sitting at the throne of my father!

The Lord does not want excuses he wants action!

Exciting News!

I can't wait to get back to my posts on how i almost destroyed my marriage but i've been a little tired, and not feeling the greatest.


and thats because....


We are going to be having another baby!!

At first I was shocked and scared. This wasn't our two year plan! But, now I am so excited!


So I will resume my regular posting tommorrow!

Raising Homemakers

I'm not going to lie I am pretty excited about raising homemakers and it's not just because miss Sarah Mae is the genuis behind it.


I really wanna raise my daughter to know how to make a home and keep a home!
So this site is going to have such vaulable info for me! So if you are like me and want to hear helpful tips and information about how to raise our daughters up to be home makers make sure you stop by the site! While your there make sure you check out their cool giveaway!

my words a weapon of mass destruction...

Let me tell you nuclear weapons have nothing on the power of words.

The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.
Proverbs 18:21
This by far is more of a confession then words of wisdom because this is the area I have struggled the most in and still have to work so hard at. But yet this I believe is one of the areas that most often destroys marriages. When in the heat of anger we say things to "show" our husbands how their actions are hurting us. Except that by saying these awful things it doesn't show them that what they are doing is wrong instead it turns their hearts from us.

Why is it that we think by reminding our husbands how awful they are at helping with the kids or remembering to take out the trash, we think this will somehow change their hearts.

We think we are our husband's conscience, but we are not! We are their help meets.
It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make a help meet suitable for him".Genesis 2:18

As women we were blessed with insight. Unfortunately we often use this as a weapon instead of a tool to love on our husbands.

We are so quick to find the faults in our husbands and forget we have our own!

I am ashamed to look back and think of those awful things I would often to say to "show" my husband he was doing things wrong. I know that those words were a marriage killer.

The worst part is that with just one bad sentence you can undo weeks worth of wonderful loving things you said to your husband. Because it's those words that stick in their brain and computes to them that they are a failure.

Apologizing is necessary but once words are spoken you can NEVER take them back and you cannot undo the pain they have caused.I know our husbands often act as if the words we saw do not hurt them but they do!

When we speak these hurtful disrespectful things about them being childish, unloving, bad with money, and not a good enough father, we emasculate them!

.... To be continued.

9 months

Princess Eli is 9 months today!






My sweet Angel is growing way to fast and I am savoring everytime I hold her and she lays her head on my shoulder!

it's the little things in life

I used to always to compare our marriage to our dating relationship. I would think to myself, he always did all these great things for me when we were dating. He would write me super nice notes and surprise me with fun gifts.

I would hear women say "Yea get used to it once your married all those nice things stop."

The problem is that I was so focused on what he wasn't doing anymore, that I totally missed that I had stopped doing all those things too!

I am ashamed to admit that I had stopped doing all those little things that say your my man, my best friend, and you come first!After all it;s the little things that really say I Respect you and love you more then anyone else!

I started looking at King Los as my best friend again and started trying to remember when he said things like "I love this.", "This is my favorite." and, "I don't like this.".

Maybe your like me and you have a terrible memory and you need to jot stuff down. Even small things. Like the fact that King Los takes the trash out for us. To save money I always buy the cheapo bags. He hates them! So since hes so kind why not spend a little extra money and buy some that won't break open on the way to the end of the drive way. Maybe surprise him with his favorite candy or write a note and put it in his lunch.


Did you forget the little things that your man always appreciated when you were dating?

what would happen if?

In Saudi Arabia the country stops to pray five times a day!



I wonder how how much closer to the Lord I would be if I just took some time on my knees before Princess Eli woke up, during her nap, and after she went to bed. Even if it was just ten minutes. Instead of only taking time once a day to really kneel before the lord!

Knock Knock. Whos there? Just me bad mouthing my man

Today as I asked God where to start with this series I wrote a list of things down I feel played the biggest part in me nearly destroying my marriage. Two things I realized is, there is a lot of them, and I still have a long way to go in a lot of areas. So please just except this from someone humbled by her mistakes that would like to encourage other women with her story.



Don't you hate the phrase, "No offense."! As soon as those words come out of a persons mouth you can be sure whatever they are about to say will offend you. But what about "Just joking around."? If we say that phrase does that mean we get off the hook because we are just having some fun? Or what about "I'm just being honest."?


As women we so often fall into the category of degrading our husbands without evening realizing we are doing it. We think its all in good clean fun because we are just sitting around having a laugh with our friends.

"It's so annoying my husband won't keep his hands off of me!"

"You know how he is, if you don't ask him a million times he won't do it. I am better off just doing it myself."

"Yea right! My husband write me a romantic note. That would be the day!"

"Oh you know him the only thing he ever has time for is the things he wants to do."


BUT, you say, that's just between us girls and we always laugh you know it's so funny to swap stories about how messy are husbands are.


But, is it funny to them?

What if their conversations went like this....

"It's so annoying my wife is never in the mood."

"I get sick an tired of excuses for why the house isn't always cleaned up when I get home from work."

"Yea right! My wife wear something sexy for me? She barely remembers to brush her hair before I get home from work!"


If we ever heard our husbands sitting around joking about us like that we would be furious, embarrassed, and hurt. We don't want all our short comings laid out there for everyone to see like that. We certainly don't want to be a joke!

I am afraid I have been involved a few to many times in these kinds of conversations and embarrassingly enough I honestly thought it wasn't a big deal.

Now I see part of respecting our husbands is honoring them with our mouths...

However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
Ephesians 5:33

Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
Colossians 4:6

My pray is for me to continue to realize that this kind of joking is not appropriate and certainly does not show respect to our husbands!

Your hubby should feel like he is respect by your friends not a joke to them!

How I almost destroyed our marriage.....

If you know me in the "real world", you know I am an advocate for marriage. I am one, because of what I have done and been through. God is restoring our marriage and I am ever grateful that God opened my eyes to the things I was doing before I nearly ended our marriage. No matter how hard it was!

I just really feel God leading me to share, encourage, and stand along side other women to fight for our marriages! This is a battle ladies and we need to not take it lightly So, I thought maybe by me sharing some of my story, just maybe someone out there could relate and would have their eyes opened.


So please continue to read as I share some of my journey and hopefully you too will be inspired to fight for your marriage and be the change you want to see in your husband!

I'm a chicken

Yes it's true, quite often I am a chicken.

Afraid of what ifs.

All those thoughts that can buzz around inside your head like a pesky Nat.

What if my husband stops loving me? What if my husband or children die? What if I am not a good enough mother? What if my children grow up and do not end up following the lord? What if someone thinks I am crazy for...? Ect.....

I was reminded again today by Beth Moore in her series on Esther that what ifs stands for what I Fear.

So true! Those what ifs are just fears that if we don't give them to the lord can drive us crazy or cause us to not follow the path the lord has laid out for us.

Oh how I want to follow what the Lord desires for me. I don't want to miss out on oppurtunites because I am afraid of what people will think of me or if I will fail.

So I want to give the lord the what ifs and trust in him and his plan for me because....

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Jeremiah 29:11

and because I know fear causes me to not always be obedient.

But Samuel replied: "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD ? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
Samuel 15:22

My College days

Some days I have to admit I do wonder what my life would be like if I had chosen to go to college rather then get married and stay at home with princess Eli.

I love to learn and I loved my job!

But, I got to thinking these are my college days......


Late nights. Check! King Los needs clean underwear and socks for work tomorrow. Need to make sure he has stuff to take in his lunch.

Mommy Hangover. Check! That's what happens when you have been up several times a night with your little one and then they still get up at 6:30. This comes complete with pounding headache.

Studying. Check! Finding new recipes. Reading about ways to organize my home better. Reading about eating healthier and of course most importantly studying the bible!

Attending sports events. Check! King Los has many sporting events for me to attend. As a matter of fact I may actually attend more then a college student does.

Eating junk food. Check! Hey, sometimes I don't have time to cook. O.K. maybe I just don't always feel like making a meal.

Living off hardly any money. Check! One income enough said! Ha!


So when you look at like this, I really haven't missed anything. Instead I am obeying my Savior in what he has called me to do and I am finding true joy!


Yep these are my College days and I am loving every moment of them!

its not thursday but i am so thankful

Its rainy and dreary outside. My worst kind of day.

But being a mom is my best kind of day!




This time goes by so fast. Lets enjoy every moment of it!

Sunday.. just another day of the week?!

Recently God asked me a question.

Do you really know what it means to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy?

I wanna blog about this but, first I wanted to hear some feedback from you guys.

What do you do on sundays? Do you go to church but otherwise it's the same as any other day of the week? Is it a day about family and friends? Maybe, you take time that day to really rest and relax before another long week of work. Any cool traditions you and your family do every Sunday or things you never do on sundays?

I just really am curious to know, what Does the Sabbath mean to you and your family?

Rockin the Mini Van

... This goes out to all the hip mommas rockin the mini vans!


Someday I hope I can be as cool as you!

Praise him in the morning and in the afternoon

tonight at the youth national day of prayer rally we all broke up in small groups and had people pray for each other.


We had to say issues we were struggling with and then pray for each other.


I of course said pray for me and my stuggle to stop complaining.



Britteny a sweet girl in the youth group prayed for me. While I listened to her words, God spoke to me.

She said about it being human nature to want to complain but yet we have WAY more things to be thankful for then to complain about.

Then it was like God said.....

If you spend more time praising you won't have time to complain!

It is good to praise the LORD and make music to your name, O Most High,to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night to the music of the ten-stringed lyre and the melody of the harp. For you make me glad by your deeds, O LORD;I sing for joy at the works of your hands. How great are your works, O LORD,
how profound your thoughts!
Psalms 92:1-5



So I am sifting my focus on to praising more and in return hoping that that helps to keep me from complaining so easily.

Birthday and complaints

Sorry I have been missing. Thursday was my birthday!

Then we headed to the beach for the weekend and had a BBQ sunday.
It was super warm and super fun!








But I wanted to share with you my focus for may.
I am going to call this....
May Minus the complainin.


I don't know if you are like me in the area of complaining, but I do it way to often.


Especially to poor King Los.

So I am going to focus on this verse for the month of may.


Do everything without complaining or arguing.
1 Corinthians 2:14


I just find myself complaining to easily. I want to change that!


So here goes!

the candlelight dinner

I read this story with King Los on sunday while we were reading through love and respect by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs.

This story touched me.


I want to be this kind of a wife!


Dr. E.V Hill a dynamic minister who served as senior pastor of Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles, lost his wife, Jane, to cancer a few years ago. At her funeral, Dr Hill described some of the ways she had made him a better man. As a struggling young preacher, E.V. had trouble earning a living. E.V. came home one night and found the house dark. When he opened the door, he saw that Jane had prepared a candlelight dinner for two. He thought that was a great idea and went in to the bathroom to wash his hands. He tried unsuccessfully to turn on the light. Then he felt his way into the bedroom and flipped another switch. Darkness prevailed. The young pastor went back to the dining room and asked Jane why the electricity was off. She began to cry. "You work so hard, and we're trying." said Jane, "but it's pretty rough. I didn't have enough money to pay the light bill. I didn't want you to know about it, so i thought we would just eat by candlelight."

Dr Hill described his wife's words with intense emotion. "she could have said, I've never been in this situation before. I was reared in the home of Dr. Caruthers, and we never had our lights cut off." She could have broken my spirit; she could have ruined me; she could have demoralized me. But instead she said, "Somehow or other we'll get these lights back on. But tonight let's eat by candlelight."

Not content

I am embarrassed to even admit this.


About a year ago King Los and I took a trip to South America to the beautiful country of Colombia. We went so that I could meet his father and because he had not seen his father in over 10 years.

I had been to other countries before. Even third world countries. But, no matter how many times you see this kind of poverty you never get used to it.




So how is it that I can sit in this "mansion" and have my heart long for a bigger home?!

It's so strange.

I love saving money! I love yard saling and second hand clothes. I shop at only discount grocery stores and buy my meat in bulk when its on sale. I dislike going out to eat or even to the movie theater.

But,


for some reason I can't seem to be content with my house.


Especially when I see the kind of house I have been dreaming about for awhile for sale. It also happens to be only two blocks from my parents house.

Then I look at these pictures and I feel ashamed. How could I ever sit here and be so ungrateful for what I have recieved?


Lord,
I am sorry! I do not deserve these blessings. Yet you continue to give freely. Forgive me for not being content.

Everything by Lifehouse

I am in love with this song right now. These words are a comfort to me right now. I hope they will be to you also!

......

I have so much I want to blog about... however my daughter is waiting for me to take her for a walk and is attempting to use my computer as a chew toy.




But whatever you do today make sure you head over to Like a warm cup of coffee and check out a chance to win $400 for a charity of your choice and $250 for yourself! $250 would sure buy me a lot of yard sale deals!!!



Have a great Day!

Opposites attract

I hate spending money!.....

Well I like the idea of it. I always have the best intentions. But, for some reason no matter what I hate to spend my money.

King Los... well he loves to spend money.

So for us money is always about a balancing act between saving and spending and submitting and agreeing.

Although as much as it pains me to say this I am glad I married a spender. Because, if it weren't for him we would never ever do anything fun. We would never go out to eat or for ice cream. (oh how i love you ice cream)

I always knew they said opposites attract however I often forget to be thankful for that fact. Although I realize most of arguments are about our very differing opinions I am thankful for those opposite opinions.



We are currently living with only one car. (Oh yea and a shiny silver motorcycle!) So we have been throwing around the idea of buying another one. However I have a personal rule and that is never buy a car unless you can pay for it in cash.

King los has a rule and that is never Not buy a car that you want! Ok I'm teasing just a little. But, he is being so great a bout it since he knows I am having a hard time even thinking bout the idea of spending that kind of money on a car right now. So he decided to let us see if we can survive this summer without two cars and then we can talk buying another one this fall.

Now that my friends is how you compromise! Even though he knows I will have a hard time buying one in the fall. I know we will have to buy one unless King Los is going to turn his cycle into a snowmobile.





In my fantasy land, this is my dream family car. The Queen Los mobile!

So if in the meantime you find any blogs doing a giveaway for this kind of car, let me know! Because this lil beaut can hold six kiddos and I would still look stylish driving it! Another great perk would be the fact that King los would actually allow me to own one since it is not a minivan!

So take sometime this weekend to appreciate the opposites in your hubby. Especially the ones that you know actually help you be a better you!

Ultimate Blog party!

Hey Everybody thanks for stopping by! I think this is such a cool idea to get to kno all kinds of blogs! My blog is kind of a mixature of all different types of mumble jumble! I am a wife to my handsome King Los and a stay at home mom to my beautiful Princess Eli. I love clothes and love finding bargins at yardsales and goodwill! I am a little dorky but I have a passion to follow the lord to the fullest! So make sure to follow my blog because there is some shopalicious things coming up!
So grab some chocolate(My fav party food!) and enjoy the party!!!!


(Heres one of my many goodwill finds. This sweater was around three dollars. Can't beat that!)

I am still alive!

Yes, I am still alive. However the past month has been a ruff one. After princess Eli and King los were about over being sick I came down with it. I still have yet to get my voice back. So therefore I now sound like Drag Queen los. But I did manage to take some pictures so everyone can see what has been up at Casa De Vargas!


Princess Eli is seven months and is now a phillies fan just like her mommy and daddy!


Despite being so small for her age Princess Eli's feet finally touch the floor in her bouncey seat.



She loves spending time with her friends and Addison sure likes spending time with Eddy!


Then of course there is Denzel and Keziah.

We managed to get some swinging time in even though i wasn't feeling the greatest. However swinging is one of my favorite things to do. It seems Princess Eli may follow in my footsteps.

And of course she is now sitting by herself. Well pretty much only when she wants to.


When I look at these things I think how much God has blessed me and I am so greatful!

A little girls dream?

Feminism is a huge problem in our world today. I just wasn't aware it was such a big problem in our churches.

As I watch all the teenage girls stress over their plans for the future. I realize that at school and sometimes at home, College is the only option.

If you want to be a home maker later in life that is fine but for now you must attend college.

I wonder if/when they chose to become a homemaker will they even know the basics of running a home?

How is it possible when they spend so much time on homework, extra curriculars, and everything else they need to have in line before college. (Not to mention that they have to work to be able to save up money to pay for college.)

The number one prayer requests at my church for Teenage girls (especially seniors) is, pray for what to do about college and their future.

I remember as a little girl my dream was to get married and have children.

I wonder do girls even have that dream anymore?

....
... That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.
Titus 2:5

Time off

Sorry for the time off here at the castle... but there is so much going on right now... most things i cannot really talk about here and poor princess Eli is coughing up all kinds of mucus and has pink eye. Sometimes we don't understand why the lord allows us to go through what we do but we have to hold and have faith. Until things calm down a little around here and i can get my anxiety a little better under control i am having so more time off... so maybe see ya Monday we shall see! I just know right now i need to be spending most of my time in the word and with the lord because I am being attacked from all sides.

a wifes duty

“It was a wife's duty to be interested in whatever interested her husband, whether it was politics, books, or a particular dish for dinner.”
Eleanore Roosevelt

..... “It IS a wife's duty to be interested in whatever interestes her husband, whether it is politics, sports, or a particular dish for dinner.”
Queen Los

The road less traveled...

Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. Matthew 7:13-14

It's not always easy taking the road less traveled....

It's just not fair

Kind:of a friendly, generous, or warm-hearted nature; Forbearing and tolerant; Showing understanding. (Here we go with the understanding word again!)

This one plays into pretty much every other commandment in this verse. So i am not going to go into a lot of detail on this one. Just remember that it means forbearing and tolerant! ( I know i need to remember that!)



Jealous:Painfully desirous of an others advantages; Refers to negative thoughts; Apprehensive of losing affection or position.

Envious: The feeling of wanting to have something else possessed by another.

It's not always easy to not envy our husbands "freedom". I hate to admit this but i sometimes grow weary of all my responsibilities of being a wife and mom. I want to complain and say "It's not fair!".

Men they can't nurse babies. So every 2 or so hours when your little one wakes up to eat you have to get up and feed them while your hubby is sound asleep. I am guilty of waking up a time or too and thinking, ugh I wish I didn't have to get up yet. I just wish for once he could get up and feed the baby.

Then there is the times when we have been home with the kids all day. The baby has been crying non stop and nothing in the house got done. We think to ourselves he is so lucky to go out and get a break. But, most of all there is that time when he has to work late or goes out for an evening of sports. You just maybe think to yourself, this is so unfair i am the one who really needs a night out.

Or, maybe for you it is the constant feeling of the house work that never ends and the kiddos and hubby that always need you.

But, we forget something very important. Our wonderful husbands are under a lot of pressure to provide and lead our families. The decisions rest on their shoulders and lots of other responsibilities we take for granted. How quickly we forget the lifetime of work they have to do. How they miss out on so many of the moments with the children because they are working and the pressure of not wanting to be a failure. I am so guilty of forgetting how difficult it really is for the man.

I want to stop thinking those jealous thoughts and think ones of thanksgiving for all my man does for me! I want to show him kindness and understanding that his Job is very hard and that i am glad God gave me the role of being a wife and mommy!

VERY Patient

Love is very patient and kind, never jealous or envious, never boastful or proud, never haughty or selfish or rude. Love does not demand its own way. It is not irritable or touchy. It does not hold grudges and will hardly even notice when others do it wrong. It is never glad about injustice, but rejoices whenever truth wins out. If you love someone you will be loyal to him no matter what the cost. You will always expect the best of him, and always stand your ground in defending him.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7




Patience: Good-natured tolerance of delay or incompetence;Capable of bearing or enduring pain, difficulty, provocation, or annoyance; Understanding.

Starting with patience feels almost like biting more off then i can chew. I am sure no one else struggles with patience. I am also sure i am the only wife that ever taps her foot while "patiently" waiting for her hubby to come and help. Patience is a hard one, yet so crucial to love. I think that is why it is listed first. Patience needs to be a building block for every marriage. There will be so many times when you will need to rely on patience alone to keep you from erupting with anger. I know this more then ever because King los and I function on a different time schedule completely. Especially since he is Colombian. As laid back as they are, they really have no concept of time . After all when his family says we are eating at five that really means more like 8:00. So on Sunday mornings I still have to fight the urge to honk the horn while waiting in the car.(I especially hate being late for church!)

Another issue i think we need to address when dealing with patience with our spouses is the issue of spiritually maturity. I have spoken with many women wishing their husbands would be better leaders of the home and have a better walk with the lord. The definition understanding definitely comes into play here. We need to understand that we can't change our husbands only the holy spirit can. So we need to get on our knees and be praying for them while we wait patiently.
Psalms 37:7 Be still in the presence of the lord and wait patiently for him to act!

When i read the word capable I ask myself am i really capable? I sure want to be. If we aren't patient with our husbands we certainly won't be with our kiddos or anyone else for that matter.
I just love how the Living bible translation says very patient. So today lets not just make do with just being patient but lets be very patient, in all things!

Marriage Monday... What is love?

I am so tired of the medias portrail of Love. As women we get sucked into this idea of romantic love we feel with our hearts. Then when we get married and move in with our prince charming we soon start to feel that love disapearing. Why does he always have to watch sports center right when he gets home from work? Why can't he help with the kids? Why isn't he romantic anymore? On and on it can go. But what happens if we really take time to look at what God tells us love is. Would our marriages change? What about our attitudes? Would we be more content?


Take a Look at 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. I know we read and hear this passage so often it loses it punch. But, if we were to really dig into this passage and ask ourselves are we really loving our husbands the way we are called to? Would we find out we are failing miserably? ( I know i am!)

I would like to focus the next few days on these verses. So if you are up for the challenge make sure you stop back!


Check out other great marriage monday posts at come have a peace

Open my eyes

I want to see Jesus!.....



The lord has been showing me so much lately. I almost feel overwhelmed.




I am so thankful for all the blessings the lord has given me! I am in awe of his goodness to me.

...extended

Princess Eli with Anut Jess... showing that most of the time she is a little angel!


Satan knows exactly when the perfect time is to stirke. Like when your wonderful baby who has been sleeping through the night for longer then you can remember decides to cry every 2-3 hours. Wakes at six instead of seven or eight. Then refuses to drink out of a bottle. Screams for an hour and has to be fed her milk by spoon. There he is in my face reminding me how tired i feel and how irritated i am. So therefore i am extending the Cheerfulness challenge for the rest of the week. I am just so thankful for God's grace especially in times when i need it so desperatly!

Cheerful

Spring is coming! But, if you are like me you often start to get weary at this part of winter. Feeling like its dragging on forever and longing for those warm wonderful days of summer. I find my emotions boardering on irritated quite often at this time of the year. I end up not handling most things with grace like i should. Things like princess Eli not wanting to nap like she should and my own selfish self not wanting to serve my hubby the way i should. So i have taken this challenge.....

A cheerful heart doeth good like medicine, but a broken spirit makes one sick.
Proverbs 17:22

I am determined to spend my weekend being a cheerful Queen. That means no matter what little things satan throws my way i want to try and tackle them with a smile on my face and a song in my heart!I want to Serve my Lord and Savior with thanksgiving!

Won't you take that challenge too?