Daily Grace

It's all about perspective

2012-02-03T09:42:00.000-08:00

It's all about perspective. At least most days it seems to be. How easily we can twist words or actions to mean something they do not. Why are we so easy to assume ill will? Why do we often want to play the victim or the ohh boohoo me?

He is a tall man, I guess kinda scary man depending on who you ask but he is my dad none the less. His life was not an easy one but you won't ever hear him complain. Just like everyone else he has his struggles and faults. My perspective was that he didn't love me. How could he? He never really told me he did. My perspective was I wasn't good enough. How could I be? He was always telling me all the areas I needed improving in. Due to my perspective I chose not to be respectful I chose not to honor him. To this day it is one of my deepest regrets. I let things like a silly worlds perspective get in my way of obeying a command. A command from my heavenly father.

Isn't it so easy to blame? He could do the same, never hearing I love you from his own father. Plus what was he to do with four daughters. All of us blossoming into young ladies in front of his eyes knowing someday some man would come and take us away. How does any man really know what to do at that stage lest he was taught? But there we go again playing the blame game. It's easier to be the victim the one who was wronged. But to change your perspective, to have a perspective that of the Heavenly Father now that takes work.

I'll never forget the day my father told someone he was proud of me. I knew it all along but somehow those words sounded so sweet. I took a look back at my life and remembered all the things he had done for me that said I Love You, though he seldom said the words. All the times of coming to my games at school, pitching the ball to me. Taking us on vacations and teaching us to play games. Always jumping every wave that came our way in the ocean with us. Fixing our car and of course filling our gas tank. Shoveling my driveway while King Los had to work. So many times at the kitchen table trying his hardest to have conversations he didn't know how to have. You see it really is all about perspective. God's perspective. He sees the heart. My Dad has always loved me and always will though we may never agree on somethings. I am determined to try and see people from God's perspective. One of love one of graciousness!

Are you up for the challenge?'

2011-11-05T06:32:00.000-07:00

Do everything without complaining or grumbling. Philippians 2:14

I remember awhile back this saying was going around on facebook. What if all you had today was what you thanked God for yesterday?

That struck me hard and got me thinking. I wouldn't have very much today. Most days I spend complaining. "Ugh there are so many dishes to wash! Elianna I said stop doing that! Can't you just listen to me for once? Hunny there's no hot water AGIAN! Great now we are running late!" and so on.......

Yesterday I posted on my facebook a challenge. What if instead of just being extra thankful this month we also tried to stop complaining. Are we being thankful if in the next breath we are complaining? Isn't it true that most of the things we complain about are actually just the result of being to blessed? When we complain about the dishes, that's a sign we have been blessed with more food then we need. When we complain about the water being cold that's because we are spoiled and always expect to have a hot shower. What about when our children are driving us crazy? We are blessed beyond words to be their mothers. If you ask me.. I complain because personally I am very spoiled. When things don't go my way I think I am entitled to complain. Like somehow I am not deserving of frustrating things. It all sounds so silly when I say it out loud but couldn't be more true.

SO will you take this challenge with me this month? Thanking God for what we have and avoid complaining for what is not going our way? I know I will mess up and complain some. But every time I start to complain and I am going to stop and say something I am thankful for. I hope you'll join me this month and follow along as I continue to write about Thankfulness and complaining this month.

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his love endures forever. Psalms 107:1

photo source

Step by Step

2011-11-01T07:48:00.000-07:00

We live by Faith not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7

I know I should write a blog post but really I can't find the words these past few weeks. Every time I sit down to write the things I think I will write about the word just aren't coming together.

But one thing I am sure of, being a Christian is not taking the easy road. It's not hiding behind the fact that one day we will spend eternity in Heaven with our Savior. So instead of doing the hard stuff we just hid in our comfortable little houses and pretend that what is going on doesn't pretain to us. After all it's not our children.

Around a year a go I started begging God to show me his will, to show me what he wanted me to do. I begged him to please help me to step by step follow him. What I didn't realize at the time was that step by step is a lot harder. You see God doesn't show you the steps ahead of time. It's just one step and then you wait till he shows you the next one. A lot of times you are about to step where you think he wants you to and then suddenly theres a wall there and you can't get through. At first I feel sad and confused. God didn't you want us to go that way? But then I thank God. Haven't I been praying he would show us the way? Isn't putting walls up and closing doors a way of showing the way? But what happens when more doors are closing then are opening? Does that mean we haven't found the right one or does it mean we were wrong all along? I don't know all the answers but I do know one thing and that is one step at a time we must walk by faith. We can't see whats ahead and most likely because it would scare us. When we say to God we want to stop living like "Americans" and live like a sold out followers for you things really get scary!

I was tired of just being a Christian living in my comfort zone I wanted more of him and less of me. So I hope one day when I can share our whole journey you will see how God directed each of our tiny baby steps towards being a real true follower of Christ. That we may live and speak Christ love not just have been given the gift of it.

When God closes one door

2011-09-28T14:22:00.000-07:00

Our trip to Ethiopia in Nov. has been canceled. Today during my time with the Lord I spent time writing in my prayer journal crying out to God asking him to show us exactly what he wanted us to do and to guide each and every one of our steps. An hour later I received an e-mail stating our trip had been canceled. I know this is an answer to my prayer. I am not mad God closed the door rather I am happy to know God has given us an answer. I just find myself having a hard time now sitting here wondering Ok God you closed one door but now which door is the open one? When will I ever learn to allow God to be in control and not think I must know my future?

Please continue to pray for us as something else is in the works right now and we just really wanna know if this is what God wants us. I pray he would continue to shut the doors until we can finally walk through the one he wants us to.

Chose to say blessed be your name?

2011-09-25T10:46:00.000-07:00

This morning was wonderful. We had baby dedication and sweet little Julian was dedicated. I love baby dedication. Declaring to our church, family, and friends that we are wanting to raise our children up in the Lord. This baby dedication was different. I found myself even more thankful.

In the Audience sat a woman about the same age as me. She was crying. She was crying not because she was so happy but because she was not up there. She excused herself to the lobby where someone tried to comfort her. You see her story is very similiar to mine. Like me she had a sweet baby boy who decided he wanted to come early. This sweet angel spent time in the NICU just like Prince JC. Unlike Prince JC this sweet angel did not live.

When I found my seat again and saw she had come back into the service. It was the most amazing thinkg to me she was singing along to, You give and take away but my heart will chose to say Lord blessed be your name. She sang this with tear streaked cheeks and her hands raised high. I couldn't help it I tried my hardest to hold my tears in but they just came anyways.

Lord,
Why was I up there? Why is my sweet little guy here and not hers? Why do I get to say you give and she has to say you take away? I know we must both chose to say Lord, Blessed be your name!

My dear sweet sister today my heart hurts for you. Today I hold my little guy a little tighter. Today I say blessed be your name Lord! Today I share in your sadness and say Thank you! Thank you for showing me no matter what we chose to say Blessed be your name!

Then why do we need God?

2011-09-24T12:57:00.000-07:00

Why do we think it's our job to be in control?

Why do we think it's our job to convict people?

Why do we think it's our job to always know everyone's business?

Why do we think it's our job to judge?

Why do we think if we don't understand it then it can't possibly be real?

Why do you we think that what we believe to be true today won't change tomorrow as we grow?

Why do we believe that when we read God's word that we only 100% understand it?

So I guess what I am wondering is if we think all these things....
Then why do we need God?

The last thing I want to do

2011-09-17T16:22:00.000-07:00

If I am honest, I am scared right now. Scared and excited.

In the past four years God has taken us from "christians" to having a deep desire to follow Jesus. From a broken and corrupt marriage to a beautiful picture of grace and forgiveness. To being selfish and consumed by the American dream to becoming parents and becoming passionate for the orphan.

In November we will be venturing to the beautiful country of Ethiopia for ten days to serve orphans, lepers, and the extremely poverty stricken people of Korah. When I started looking to adopt God put this wonderful country on my heart and since then it has become a love of mine and I feel so blessed to be able to have the chance to go and experience the life changing things God has planned for us there.

Ten days is not long. But it is long enough to touch a life and most importantly have our lives touched by God's wonderful love and plan for us. I am scared of that plan. A few months ago we were praying for two sweet girls in Ethiopia who I thought maybe God wanted us to bring home to be our daughters. It became a constant strain as wondered why God wasn't answering. I mean wouldn't he want those princesses to be ours? If he was here wouldn't he have taken them home to be his? So why weren't we receiving an answer? But then I realized I had. Be still.

I have written a few posts about this because it has been so heavy on my heart. How do you wait and be still for something that would change your life so dramatically? How do you be still when you need to plan and raise money? How do you focus on the rest of your life when something so big is constantly hanging over your head? It has been a constant struggle of mine.

Then two months ago I found out about a friend of mine who was taking her sweet little family to discipleship school to get training to minister better to people. A cord was struck in my heart. The Lord spoke to me. "Don't you remember all those years ago when you and King Los said you would go in ministry into another country? Why not now? What is stopping you? Didn't I sell your house and now you have no debt?". Since then things have become a whirl wind. We have been praying and seeking God's will knowing again he is saying BE STILL. I know he will reveal his will but it is so hard for me to do that. I want to know. I want to plan. I want to pray and say my goodbyes. I want to pack and sell. But the last thing I want to do is be still.

Our prayer is that this trip would help us to see more clearly the plan God has for us. Would you pray with us? Would you pray God's will is revealed? Would you pray that we can raise the funds? Most important would you pray I can be still?

Pageant Parenting

2011-09-13T12:57:00.000-07:00

Last night I watched Miss Universe with my sisters. It got me thinking about my post yesterday and how a lot of us do this pageant style parenting. I don't necessarily mean dressing our little ones up in little tutus and tuxes or in fashion wear. I mean us wanting our kids to look and act a certain way.

Its easy for us parents to really get wrapped up in the perfect 10 child. The child who dresses and looks spotless, the child who is a genius, and the child who is athletic. We say we don't need perfection from our kids just their best. But sometimes I wonder if we want what is our best and sometimes the world's best.

If you have ever watched Toddlers in Tiaras you have seen the little girls begging their moms not to put another coat of mascara on or another layer of spray tan. "But sweetie it will make your look better to the judges." The mom will sweetly say to her daughter. Do we do that as parents? Maybe not force our children to get spray tanned to the point of looking disturbingly like an Umpa Lumpa but we tell them what to do to "act" perfect.

So where do these children who aren't perfect fit. The one who's reading just comes slower and they stutter when they speak. The children who can't sit still and listen for long and school is just a struggle. What about the children who have a severe mental illness and aren't like "other" kids.

What is the perfect child anyways? Has our comparing and worrying about how the "Judges" will rate us made us turn our children into something they are not. Do we allow to them to have creativity or do we tell them "Sweetie purple socks really don't match your green sweater you have to change before church.". Do we look at our children with love and see all the wonderful differences and the beautiful imperfections?

The Mommy competition

2011-09-12T13:45:00.000-07:00

I hate The Mommy competition!
It's the why can't my kids sit as nice as her kids?
It's the why is her child potty trained already and my child runs for her life when I mention the word potty?
It's the of course my kid had to throw a temper tantrum in front of miss perfect and her perfect kids!

AND...
It's wow she really needs to discipline that child more!
It's the I would never let my child watch that, do that, ect.
It's the I am so glad my child doesn't complain all the time like her child.

It's harmful, it's depressing, it's prideful, and it's just plain wrong.

I believe as moms we are our own worst enemies. We are constantly comparing our progress of our little ones to other little ones. We think our parenting is good enough when our child makes a mistake in front of another child who seems to just have everything down pat. We think we are great parents when our kids remember to wear their halos and our friends kids are running around like little tornadoes. This is not fair and leaves no room for grace or difference of personality. It also leaves no room for bad days and tired kiddoes!

I wish I could say this is something I have never done. But unfortunately I have sat on both sides of this spectrum a time or two and I am starting to realize how much it is really affecting my parenting.
It's time to let God set the standard, not other Moms!

The Way

2011-08-27T12:26:00.000-07:00

When you say "There is no way I will ever get this house cleaned up."
... Jesus says "I am The Way."

When you say "There is no way I can survive on this little amount of sleep."
... Jesus says "I am The Way."

When you say "There is no way I can ever forgive that person."
... Jesus says "I am The Way."

When you say "There is no way I can ever change."
... Jesus says "I am The Way."

There is no way I can live without Jesus. He is The Way!

Help a family with their adoption

2011-08-12T08:38:00.001-07:00

Love this Lady and Love her heart so I really would love if you stop by and consider donating to her adoption. For every $15 you donate you are entered in a giveaway for some amazing prizes!!! I Just know they can reach their goal!!

Lets not turn a blind eye

2011-08-11T17:19:00.000-07:00

Things are getting soooo bad over in the Horn of Africa and I really think that us as christians really need to step up. We throw away old leftovers and moldly mystery items from our fridge and the babies and children are starving to death there. I just know we can all give some to help these sweet babies and children survive and also their parents so we will not have more oprhans. Please also get on your knees and pray, pray, pray! Please don't turn a blind eye!!!

Donate here!

Look out world the Vargas' have gone health conscience

2011-08-09T10:07:00.000-07:00

Whelp a lot of things have been changing around Casa Vargas. It seems in the past few months things have changed so drastically in so many ways we are hardly the same people that moved from the Castle to the farm.

The past week has been difficult. The Lord asked us to pray seriously about something that is so scary to us. Satan has definetly been on the attack and we are just asking God to send us clarity. I didn't think that I was so stressed out until the entire last week I have been waking in the middle of the night/early morning and can't sleep. Nothing like good 'ol insomnia to make you say Lord what are you trying to tell me. Thank God last night I was finally able to get some sleep. I know God is taking us on a long journey and I know I am not patient but I know God has told me to be still and wait!

Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.
Pslams 37:7

So in order to take my mind off the waiting and wondering I am taking sometime to work on some important things and one of them is....

A 30 day full body cleanse and an eight week sugar detox. Let me tell you I am only on day and wow I am already figuring out most of what I have at home has the awful high fructose corn syrup. YUCK! So that means the next 8 weeks I will be making a lot of stuff from scratch. I have been slowly meaning in this direction for awhile wanting to improve what we eat here on the farm and thought what better time then now. In the past two months I have been slowly implimenting small changes as to not drastically scare my hubby is not what we would call a health food nut. However he has been great about it and has been really on board! LOVE him! So here goes.. I'll keep you guys updated and hopefully I will be putting up some recipes here and there that I find, try, and then love.

Look out world the Vargas' have gone health conscience!!!

Have one of your priorities become an Idol?

2011-08-06T14:42:00.000-07:00

I heard on the radio today that sometimes we have to forget about the stuff we want then God will give it to us. Because sometimes our wants can become Idols.

It got me thinking.... even if some our top priorities that are totally God things can still become an Idol. Even if it is stuff that God wants us to do. If we become obsessed with it and only think and pray about that it is an idol to us. It becomes hard for us to wait patiently and we sometimes have a hard time doing the other stuff that is also important in our lives. We just become consumed, sometimes even with the God stuff. But just because God has called us to something doesn't mean that he has called us to it now. It also doesn't mean that our life should become only about that one particular thing and not about all our other priorities.

I am taking sometime this week to just focus on what I have here and now. I want to think how can I glorify God today. Right now. In my mundane normal tasks. I want to serve my family as unto the lord. I want to change diapers, kiss boo boos, make dinner, wash the clothes, mop the floor, smile at people at the grocery store and find ways to show God's love to my community.

But it's so much easier to say things then to do them. Everyday I am learning and growing and with God's help I think I am up to the challenge. Time to let go of my Idols and just be here in the moment with what God wants me to do NOW!

Media and parenting

2011-07-24T13:09:00.000-07:00

I love what Courtney from Women Living Well has to say about media and parenting.

But, the biggest thing I used to struggle with was just the distraction of media. It was a huge distraction for me when we used to have cable and internet. I spent more hours then I care to mention aimlessly perusing blogs and checking facebook.

But then we moved. We can't have cable at our house and we haven't gotten any internet yet and I'm kinda loving it. When I watch all my Amish neighbors I want what they have. Life is laid back and they actually work hard to reap great benefits. They take time to make amazing home cooked meals and baked items. They have huge garden so they grow their own healthy produce and even have some left to sell.

I know media is so helpful. I have learned tons and found many great recipes but it can serve as such a major distraction. Instead of taking time to back something yummy for our family we blog. Instead of making a meal for someone who had a baby we are busy on facebook. Instead of taking a nap when we desperately need some rest we are busy keeping up with our friends through e-mail. It's like we don't know when enough is enough. It's great to have internet on our phones. We can get directions, find the local gas station ,and check the weather. You name it we can do it! But what I find interesting is we as parents have time limits for children but none for ourselves. We check our facebook 10 times a day, our e-mail 6 or 7 times a day, and our blog another several times a day. It's almost like since we are adults we think we don't need limits. That we don't have to make a conscience effort to stop our media and maybe even God forbid take days off just to focus on our family. Let's not take this good thing we have and turn it into an obsession and distraction from our lives and family!

Take a serious look at your media use and ask yourself is this really taking away time from some of my priorities?

... I must become less

2011-07-18T11:10:00.000-07:00

It's hard to be patient...

It's hard to wait.....

It's even harder to wait patiently upon the Lord.

But last week when I was longing for his answer and longing for more....

more love....

more passion...

more devotion....

more of Him...

He spoke to me quietly and said:

(I) He must become greater and I must become less
John 3:30

It's time to focus on what he has given me now. It's time to really work on dying to myself. It's time to become less. For in order for him to become greater I must become so much less.

I need to become less in my hobbies...

I need to become less in my attitudes...

I need to become less in my selfishness...

I just really need to become less because I so need him to become Greater!!!

what if we crossed the reasons off

2011-06-21T15:00:00.000-07:00

This so does not just apply to adoptions it applies to being used in any area of what God calls us to. Any area that God asks us to give up our American "dreams" for his dreams!

I am not going to lie I am afraid of what God is showing me. Going out of our comfort zone sounds sooo cool and watching people do it makes me heart beat with enthusiasm for them. But doing it myself makes me feel all kinds of nervousness and selfishness.

Dream, Dream, Dream

2011-06-20T11:35:00.000-07:00

God's plans seldom make sense. They often appear crazy, to us and especially to others.

We hear his voice calling out to us, to step out in faith. It's scary and we often ask "Is that really what your asking God?". Have we heard him wrong? Was that really him?

Most of us get caught up in dreams. I think dreams and aspirations are great. But I am only human and can only see my plans not God's. I don't always know what is best. I just know what I want. So why is it that we are so willing to put everything on the line for our dreams? Follow your dreams everyone says! If you want it bad enough you can get it. Have you ever stopped to ask what God wants. Is my dream the same as God's plan?

You can find tons of books on following your dreams. Don't you know you will achieve true happiness if you follow your dream? Maybe I am wrong but I think we push to hard on the dreams part and not hard enough on God's plans. We are imperfect and for many of us our dreams change like the winds. We get a taste of success, fame, money and we know for sure that is what God wants for us. Why wouldn't he want us to be happy? Why wouldn't he want us to have money and fame?I think that when we only listen to our wants I believe we miss his plans. Or we choose not to listen because his plans often sound crazy and are hard. We want to be able to see the end of the story before we proceed with it.

I believe if we ask God he will see the desires of our hearts. He wants us to be happy and live a life full of peace, love, and Joy. It's just that he can see the whole picture and we can't. That means he always knows what best for us even if its not our dream!

Learned Truth or God's truth?

2011-05-31T17:34:00.000-07:00

I never really knew what Grace was... They didn't preach it at the church I attended as a child.

I knew salvation was a gift. But then I thought you had to continue to earn it. I thought through somethings I saw lived out that really grace was just a word in a song. I thought that works were what saved you. Choices and never sinning where what saved you. I even remember thinking if I die now that I didn't know where I would go because I had so many things to ask forgiveness for.

I lived under this awful need to be perfect, live perfect, and never sin.

Then one day God blessed me with this amazing friend. A friend that streched me. A friend that caused me to reavualate everything I thought I knew.

Salvation is totally a free gift. No exceptions!

Grace is extended to all who ask the Lord to come and be their savior. Nothing we do will ever be good enough to deserve God's love or forgiveness. WOW!

I still fight the battle often with believing that obeying rules and your actions are what make you good enough. But I am growing everyday and God is constantly showing himself to me. So for now I am trying to relearn God's Grace. It's out of my comfort zone that someone would love me without me being good enough.

But what I have most grown to understand is that there is a difference between God's truth and a truth that you have been taught or come to believe. Sometimes on purpose or not we are taught things wrong or precieve things wrong. We are all human after all. So lets not take anyone elses word for it not even our own. Lets be on our hands and knees constantly asking God to reveal to us HIS TRUTH!

Is there something in your life you are holding onto that God is trying to tell you is a learned truth not a God's truth. Let's all ask God to show in what ways we are not listening to his truth or have been swayed wrong. Because all of us have so much growing to do. I know I sure Do!

But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift.
Ephesians 4:7

Don't be afraid to ask!

2011-05-26T11:18:00.000-07:00

God is a God of wisdom! He is wisdom and he gives wisdom.

He is not a God of confusion. If you truly seek him and his wisdom he will help guide,direct, and show you what he wants for you.

I have found this sooo true for me in my life recently. With the sale of our house and a new job I have been blessed with. (it's a work from home job for one of my closest friends)

Lets all seek God's will because though it may sometimes seem crazy and a little over the top he knows best and always rewards obedience. Just remember it is all in his timing.

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. James 1:5

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
Matthew 7:7

Happenings round here

2011-05-10T10:35:00.000-07:00

First of all my computer has finally bit the dust. (God sure knows how to tell me I don't have time right now to focus on blogging.)

We are busy busy busy. We are in full swing with moving things to the farm. But, God has been so wonderful I actally don't feel overwhelmed I just feel excited to start this new chapter! God has been proving time and time again that if you are faithful he will provide for your needs!

I know I need to get some pictures up of the farm and everything and of course of the little munkins because they are so big already. Especially Prince Jules who rolled over for the first time last night. He is so different In personality from Princess Eli. It's amazing to see their differences as he gets older.

Here's a little more to sum up this new phase in my life....
1. Why did I ever used to complain when I had to mow for 45 mins? Now it takes me atleast an hour and a half to two hours.
2. Speaking of mowing I am deathly afraid of being shocked by the electric fence while mowing. I am pretty sure this is what makes the process take longer.
3. Living on a farm is inspiring me to do all kinds of "down on the farm" stuff. Like planting some veggies and other things. (Ash I'm still not getting a chicken coop, atleast not yet.)
4. I have accumulated lots and lots of things in my first few years of marriage. I need to clean out my closets!
5. We even have cows on the farm now. They are not ours but Princess Eli sure does enjoy to watch them.

I hope to get some pictures up soon and I will keep you updated as I adapt to my new life down on the farm.

Everyday should be good friday

2011-04-23T06:40:00.000-07:00

I was having such a hard time focusing on Good Friday and Easter. Of course I had planned so much for this week including a yardsale for yesterday morning. I was feeling emotionally and physically exhasuted and found myself constantly snapping at King Los. So we decided to watch the passion of the Christ as we often try to do on Good Friday.

I am so ashamed... ashamed I forget. Ashamed I tell others to do the hard stuff but I dont always do it myself. Ashamed I use my tongue as a weapon and not always as a device to build others up. Ashmed I don't always put God first.

King Los said to me last night as I sat distraught... You know we arent supposed to just remember what he did on today but everyday.

Hes right. It's great to remember on Easter weekend, we should celebrate and commemorate what Jesus has done for us. But let us not forget that because of what he did grace is extended to us everyday!! You and I no longer have to go to the temple to make a sacrafice we just have to go before Jesus and ask for forgiveness.

How great the fathers love for us!

Do the hard things

2011-04-21T10:13:00.000-07:00

I didn't want to tell her that...

She sat with her head in hands, tears streaming down her face. She had been through so much and now this?! She looked at me and said... "Why is this happening to me? Please tell me what you think I should do!"

I told her... "I can't tell you what to do. All I can tell you is what I believe from the word of God and that you yourself have to look to God and in his word for the answers. But life isn't easy and God calls us to do the hard things!"

"My father will disown me and everyone will think I am crazy. Even some of my christian friends." She said to me.

We can't see the big picture. God can! We worry and fear. God teaches and encourages! We hurt and cry. God loves and catches every tear in a jar. We can't do the hard the things by ourself, but God Can help us!

The christian life is not an easy one. Its full of having to do the hard things. Things the world think are dumb and crazy and things even some christians think are crazy. But live by God's word and not by any man's word!

Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. Luke 22:31

Satan has asked to sift us all.. we can allow God to prove himself faithful by doing the hard things he calls us to! No matter the circumstance.... there is no excuse. We must do the hard things!

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
James 1:12

But what Can I do?!

2011-04-15T10:46:00.000-07:00

Picture from BBC News

I need to stop saying "But, what can I do?"

I waste so much time sitting around asking that question

picture from endingextremepoverty.com

God is saying to me.....

As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

James 2:26

Stop thinking you can't do anything. It's not you that does something, It's God!

The Stirring....

2011-04-10T14:16:00.000-07:00

You know that feeling when you know God is busy at work concocting something big and challenging up for your life. I have been feeling like this for a month or more now. Sometimes I become overwhelmed with everything he is showing me. But the best thing is.....

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

Sometimes we get so busy looking for that next "THING" we forget to....

Wait for the Lord; Be strong, and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord.
Psalms 27:14

All about me...

2011-03-30T13:10:00.000-07:00

I guess I am at one hundred posts... Sooo therefore you are supposed to write 100 things about yourself.. I don't think I can do that but I guess I"ll see how far I get

1. I am the oldest of four girls.
2. I am one of 68 grandchild on my dads side.
3. I will be married four years in May to my best friend!
4. I got married when I was 19
5. Which means I will be turning 23 on April 29th
6.I have a daughter Elianna she is 19 months old
7. I have a son Julian he is 3 months old
8. Yes that makes them 16 months apart :-)
9. I love to read! Anything and everything but especially non-fiction.
10. I love to purchase books because I will reread them lots of times and love to pass them around to friends!
11. I have recently decided to embrace my calling to be a homemaker as something I actually enjoy!
12. Which means I have discovered I love to bake! (My hubby also loves this!)
13. I have been a christian for a long time but until I got married had really never lived out my faith the way I should!
14. I love kids... love love love them.
15. I do lots and lots of babysitting from my home and at other's homes.
16. I love adoption and my husband and I plan to adopt someday.
17. I sponsor a little girl who is around 10 through compassion who I try to pray for often and seriously get so excited when I recieve letters from her!
18. I love to laugh and make people laugh!
19. The best kind of laughter for me is the kind where I laugh so hard I start crying and can hardly breath.. this happens often to me because my husband is absolutely hilarious!
20. Speaking of tears.. I cry so easy. I cry when others cry. I cry at commericials. I cry at stories. I just pretty much cry over anything.
21. My two closest friends are my Mom and my Granny.
22. But I am blessed to have so many friends.
23. I just love people!
24. I also love to talk.
25. I have a serious love for learning.. which ties into reading but I absolutely love reading the bible and studying it and I sign up for any bible study I can attend.
26. I have led a biblestudy from my home which I loved.
27. I love to help others.. compassion and serving are my spiritual gifts.
28. My love language is words of affirmation and then quality time.
29. I am a serious bargin hunter.. I shop at godwill and tons of yardsales. I get most of my groceries from a dent and bent grocery store.
30. I only do one big grocery shopping trip once a month.
31. When I cook I look up recipes then I tweak em to how I want them or to put in what I have.
32. When my groceries are low I throw together whatever I find in the pantry and fridge.
33. I love to sing.. but unfortunatly am not great at it. Yes I am one of those drivers who is singing obnoxiously along to every song on the radio.
34. I know pretty much all the words to country music from the 90s especially Tim Mcgraw.
35. I love christian rap! Mostly because of my obsession with shaking my bootty..
36. This obssesion has been passed on to my lovely daughter who now proceeds to shake her booty anytime any kind of music is turned on. To cute!
37. I keep a prayer journal and write in it a lot.
38. I love to write and once started to write a book when I was around 18 or so. My sister recently found it and read it. She said she couldn't stop reading it... Now she said I need to write the end so she can find out what happens.
39. I like to sleep in... which isn't a great thing for a wife and mom since the most productive hours really are in the morning.
40. However I do my devotions.. God time, in the afternoon when both kids are sleeping.
41. I am very girly.. I love pink and seriously love stuff with sparkles!
42. Love going for walks and especially love when my hubby goes with.
43. Some of my goals for this year are making soap, learn to cook healthier, work on learning to sew better, grow some food, and run a 5k. There are so many more but that's just to name a few.
44. I have been to a lot of different countries. Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, Jamica, Cayman Islands, Haiti, and Colombia. We love to travel!
45. I have went on vacation to my granny's florida house every year of my life!
46. I attended private school till 10th grade then homeschooled till I graduated.
47. I hope this year to spend a lot more time volunteering and really spending time being Jesus' hands and feet to those around me!
48. Did I mention I have two kids... because I absolutely love them!
49. Oh yeah! In case you haven't noticed I also have a serious obssesion with exclamation marks!!
50. and well thats all folks I am sure you're tired of hearing about me after all I sure am tired of writing about me!

Look whos becoming a farm girl

2011-03-19T15:52:00.000-07:00

.... That's right! ME! O.k. so I am not really becoming a farm girl. Yet anyways. I am just moving to one. Here's how God had it all go down...

I have a bad habit or maybe some would refer to it as an obsession of looking at houses for sale. This is all due partially to my love for dreaming of my next home and honestly partially due to my lack of contentment with my current home. (I am trying so hard to work on the contentment issue.) We had been talking quite a bit about the great interest rates and awesome prices and thought maybe we could buy something now. After much thought and prayer we realized this just would not be the case. After all we only have one income and we want to try and lower our mortgage payments on the next home we purchase. But because of our current super high mortgage we can hardly put any money into savings. This makes it hard to put away for our next place.

One day during my afternoon God time and rest time I was praying and felt the nudge. (Love me some God nudges!) I had talked to my friend once about a farm house that her brother and his wife and rented for such a great price. I spoke to her about it and she quickly found out all the details. Turns out the people were moving out beginning of April. Ok God! If we were to rent the farm we would be going from around 60 to 70% of our income going to our mortgage to about 20% going to rent. Wow! Huge difference.

While on my way to bible study the next day I prayed... God send me a sign if this is what you want us to do. suddenly around the corner came my sign. I was like "Thank you God!" Ok maybe at first I was like "Was that really a sign God?". But ohhh so silly me I knew this was a sign! Because, I had asked for wisdom just as it says in James and God had given it to me!

Even though some dout still filled my mind, can anyone say Hello Gideon? We decided to step out in faith. We told four people that we were going to sell our house. Within twenty four hours one of the friends I had told texted me and said she had a friend interested. Umm What?! You see in this market you can pretty much count on at least six months your house will sit on the market. I was so excited. God is so awesome!

A few days later we received a call from the women who was going to purchase it letting us know she couldn't afford it. Then it came.. his voice. The deceiver whispering in my ear "See I told you that this wouldn't work out. He isn't really faithful. You misunderstood him." For a few minutes I listened then OUT LOUD I said Satan I will NOT believe you! Then to my faithful Lord I said I KNOW you will work it all out.

Two hours later. My phone rang, she changed her mind (or should I say God changed her mind). She was going to buy the house.

God is so awesome he has been showing me so much lately. Oh how little I have believed but he is so faithful and I certainly do not deserve his wonderful grace! Especially when I am such a doubting Thomas sometimes.

Please pray with us that everything thing would go through with her mortgage so that we will hopefully be settling on our house in may.

Then I will be living on a farm. Oh boy! But more about that later because I hear Prince JC calling for me!

Core Lies

2011-03-19T14:07:00.000-07:00

I am super excited to read this ebook and I incourage you guys to check it out too!

My lovely friend Sarah Mae wrote it and I know from our many long chats that this will be a great book! Did I mention its free? Love! Hope you enjoy it!

Super Healthy Spaghetti

2011-02-23T12:26:00.000-08:00

One of my New Years resolutions was to cook new things especially healthier things. So I decided to try Spaghetti Squash. It is so simple and Princess Eli and I really liked it. King Los is a big textures guy and couldn't get past the fact that it was chewer then pasta. So this will be a meal for just us girls. It is so inexpensive and so easy to make.

Just poke holes all over the the rind of the Spaghetti Squash then microwave it for two to three minutes per pound until skin is soft and bake in the oven for a hour. Then cut it in half and remove seeds. You can serve it like I did in the picture above or you can twist out the pieces and top with Spaghetti Sauce.

Insecurity

2011-02-18T11:10:00.000-08:00

Countless poor decisions are made from nothing more then insecurity.
Beth Moore

God knows what you mean

2011-01-18T17:49:00.000-08:00

This made me cry tonight. (and not just because I am super emotional)

God knows that you can’t get it right. You say what you don’t mean. You do what you wish you could take back. You choose one path when you should have chosen another. You get lost. You lose your temper. You strike out, fall down, and forget, but God knows what you mean. He can redeem anything and make a piece of art out of your broken pieces. He can make you so beautiful that it looks as though He broke you on purpose. That’s the unbelievably amazing thing about grace.

License: Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives
Read more: http://www.graceisforsinners.com/life/intent/#ixzz1BRR6RjkA
Under Creative Commons

It's been a rough start to my week with a seriously sick hubby a teething toddler and a two week old. I find myself continuosly lashing out at my daughter. Tonight before I put her to bed I sat her on the couch and apologized to her. She smiled and gave me a huge hug. I think kids have hearts a lot like God... they know what we mean!

I love when God speaks to me in my time of need and this is just what I needed to hear. Thanks God for knowing what I mean!

He carries me!

2011-01-11T13:14:00.000-08:00

Prince J came home on Friday from the NICU which we are so grateful for. It is a blessing to have our family altogether and start transitioning into what I like to call our new normal.

However I would not be honest with you if I said things aren't hard right now. It's been a huge adjustment for Princess Eli not only because she now has a brother she has to share attention with but because for six weeks she lived with my parents who spoiled her rotten as grandparents should. She is actually doing pretty well with Prince J but has become exceedingly whiny and naughty. I know all this is completely normal and my heart goes out to her as I know this is a hard adjustment for her.

Prince J is doing excellent so far he only cries when hes hungry but he seems to be always hungry. So no sleep for the weary. Little sleep makes the baby blues a lot worse for me. The thing I hate about the baby blues is that I really have no control over my feelings but I do have control over how I handle them. Thankfully this went away around 4 to 6 weeks last time.

But, I say all this not to complain because well honestly this time around is a lot better then It was with Princess Eli. King Los he has been so amazing and so helpful. The Lord, well he is the only thing sustaining me right now. I saw this verse on a blog I read today and it spoke to me so much!

He tends his flock like a shepherd:

He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart;
he gently leads those that have young.
-Isaiah 40:11

Right now I know the Lord is carrying me to close to his heart and I see the light at the end of the tunnel as I know this to shall pass. My emotions tell me I cannot go on and they are right and that is why the Lord carries me.

How Awesome it is to have a Savior who cares so much for us!

Prince Julian Is here!

2011-01-05T07:14:00.000-08:00

On Monday Jan. 3rd, 6lb 3oz Julian Carlos arrived rather quickly into our world. He was a little over a month early and was having a bit of a difficult time breathing so he is currently in the NICU but is improving very quickly.

We are so excited and so in love but are nervous about the adjustment of having two kiddoes only 16 months apart. So please keep us in your prayers!

Excited about 2011

2011-01-02T11:04:00.000-08:00

I love to set goals and I love even more to accomplish them.

Even though I find I have so many goals and things to work on this year I find that my most important goal for 2011 is....

"Resolved to study the scriptures so steadily, constantly, and frequently, as that I may find and plainly percieve to grow in the knowledge of the same."
Johnathan Edwards

Because no matter what "our" goals are for this year there is nothing more important then focusing on what God's goals are for us this year. There is no better way to figure that out then spend time in God's word and meditate on it. Asking God to show us who, what, and where he wants us to be in 2011.

I don't know about you but I am so excited for what God has in store for 2011!

I thirst to be made thirsty!

2010-12-18T08:39:00.000-08:00

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

2010-12-15T08:46:00.000-08:00

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

2010-12-13T12:52:00.000-08:00

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

2010-12-10T17:28:00.000-08:00

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

2010-12-08T10:44:00.000-08:00

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

2010-12-07T18:50:00.000-08:00

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

2010-12-06T19:29:00.000-08:00

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....

2010-12-01T10:04:00.000-08:00

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

Home... and Bed rest

2010-11-29T13:31:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-26T09:50:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-17T11:51:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-14T14:17:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-13T06:36:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-08T07:04:00.000-08:00

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...

2010-10-11T12:49:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-04T12:03:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-09-23T18:24:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-09-22T19:08:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-14T06:31:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-04T11:21:00.000-07:00

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!!

2010-08-23T11:30:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-08-11T18:06:00.000-07:00

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

2010-07-14T18:58:00.000-07:00

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.....

2010-06-24T18:31:00.000-07:00

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

2010-06-14T09:57:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-06-06T13:16:00.000-07:00

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

2010-06-02T17:16:00.000-07:00

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...

2010-06-01T09:33:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-28T09:31:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-27T18:20:00.000-07:00

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?

2010-05-24T19:11:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-24T12:35:00.000-07:00

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.....

2010-05-23T17:57:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-18T17:59:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-13T10:17:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-12T06:28:00.000-07:00

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?!

2010-05-08T10:22:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-07T04:36:00.000-07:00

... 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

2010-05-05T18:49:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-04T18:41:00.000-07:00

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

2010-04-27T10:50:00.000-07:00

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

2010-04-23T07:03:00.000-07:00

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

2010-04-21T18:41:00.000-07:00

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!

......

2010-04-20T08:47:00.000-07:00

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

2010-04-16T08:22:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-04-15T05:54:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-04-11T10:16:00.000-07:00

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?

2010-03-29T13:37:00.000-07:00

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

2010-03-27T17:56:00.000-07:00

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

2010-03-22T14:35:00.000-07:00

“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...

2010-03-19T18:23:00.000-07:00

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

2010-03-18T09:53:00.000-07:00

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

2010-03-16T11:55:00.000-07:00

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?

2010-03-15T10:58:00.000-07:00

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

2010-03-10T06:18:00.001-08:00

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

2010-03-08T11:14:00.001-08:00

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

2010-03-06T08:26:00.000-08:00

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?

Sarah Mae

2010-03-05T10:41:00.000-08:00

Last night i spent sometime with good friend miss sarah mae and it was a blast! Not only did i get to have a supper at this celebrity's house there was also quite a show! (insert sarahs laughter here) I told sarah that i am going to post on my site about the fact that we are actually friends and that in fact our husbands even work together and enjoy playing endless hours of video games together. I mean after all she is practically famous atleast the closest to a celebrity i have ever met. Not to mention that Angie from bring the rain and courtney from women living well are coming to her blogging conference. I would just like to say i would much rather meet those women then Julia Roberts! But, ok that may be a little stalkerish so moving on! I started to think about what Sarah's friendship and her encouragment means to me. I just wanted to let everyone know who the real Sarah is... She is super sweet and super encouraging and everything she says on her blog she really believes and trys to live out! So if you haven't checked out her blog yet please head on over there! and Also make sure you check out her Blogging conference Relevant!(Especially if you are as huge of a fan of Angie and Courtney as i am!)

Thanks Sarah for making me feel like I'm not crazy when most do! Your a great friend and even if you weren't a celebrity i would still love you!

Our Crazy Hubbies!

Whats happening at....

2010-03-04T11:38:00.001-08:00

casa de la vargas!

Princess Eli is now eating cereal!

in his image

2010-03-01T05:48:00.001-08:00

But there is no use trying to engraft an opposite nature on ones own. What i am, that i must be, except as God changes me into his own image.
Elizabeth Prentiss

I so often find myself thinking if only i could be more like that person. More organized like her, more spirtiual like her, and wiser like her. I get so caught up in others and what they think of me, i forget that we need to be in God's image not in "her" image!

330

2010-02-25T07:04:00.001-08:00

So this month at youth group we are doing a video series by David Nasser (you should check him out hes awesome) called Why Jesus?! and last night i learned something so totally cool and new to me..
Did you know that Jesus fulfilled over 330 prophecies?! The chances of that happening is even less likely then if you lined up quarters knee deep across the state of Texas and put a mark on just one coin. Then blindfolded someone and told them to pick out the one with the mark on it. That's so awesome! There is no disputing that Jesus is the Messiah!

Then it got me thinking... how cool it is to have a God that proves himself to us even though he doesn't have to. To serve a God that knows we are a people who like facts and answers. I can't wait to watch as he continues to fulfill what is yet to come... and to know that heaven will be all that he said and more!

i guess i am crazy!

2010-02-22T06:13:00.001-08:00

If its crazy to get married at the age of 19.....

If its crazy to buy a house at the age of 19.....

If its crazy to work with teens....

If its crazy to have a baby at 21

If its crazy to still be nursing at six months....

If its crazy to be a stay at home mom....

Then i guess i am CRAZY and loving every minute of it!!!!!

Valentines Day

2010-02-15T11:57:00.001-08:00

I am one of those people that think valentines day is great. Not that i need another reason to spoil carlos and tell him how much i love him but, i just love the funness of a day just dedicated to loving on spouse. Usually i go all out with candy and all kinds of fun treats sometimes concert tickets and fun stuff like that. However, this year was different. My mom and i recently came across one of the greatest books i have ever read. Created to be his help meet by Debi Pearl. Though i think most would consider it a little over the top it was like God was so clearly speaking to me like i had never felt before. The words in that book spoke to my heart and shook me to the core. I realized something... I am not only selfish but i have not been doing what the lord has asked of me.
So for Valentines Day I am giving Carlos the gift i know far out weighs any other gift i could give him. Here are the words of the lord that i am going to be now making my life goal...

... then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home to be kind and to be suject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God. Titus 2:4-5

I am sad to say i have not made the first 2.5 years of marriage very easy for my man and I certianly haven't obeyed the word but now with the help of God that is all about to change!

The very heart of reverence is extreme appreciation and profound thankfulness that this man, just as his is, has chosen to love me, just as i am! Elisabeth Elliot

Are you humble?

2010-02-08T06:53:00.001-08:00

While reading James yesterday morning, my mind stuck on this verse. Humble yoursevles before the lord and he will lift you up! James 4:10. I asked the lord do i really know what it means to be humble and am i really humble? Some of the definitions i found were meekness and modesty, Someone who does not boast, someone who is not self seeking. That last definition really hit me hard.... I am unfortunatly a little too self seeking. How often do i try to find ways to get ahead, find ways to relax instead of taking time with the lord and with the ministry the lord gave me. I am so quick to put myself first. Thus seeking myself first. I am sooo not humble... and i was suprised to find this out i never thought of myself as an unhumble person... So ask the lord...
Am I humble?

Know God Know Peace

2010-02-03T07:15:00.000-08:00

... so very true... as i sit here contemplateing all theese many things i have on my mind i realize my anxiety is slowly creeping up on me and reminding me how overwhelmed i am feeling. Then God lightly taps me on the shoulder and reminds me, Child if you would just spend but a little time with me i would show you peace you can not fathom.

Now as i sat here thinking of an excuse i could use to get out of shoveling the drive way (because poor carlos had to be at work at 4 am to plow) i heard a sound that sounded like a shovel scraping the drive way i thought it must be the neighbors or my imagination... nope how lovely my most amazing father had driven over here to shovel our drive way... wow good thing i am not spoiled. lol!

Schedule for your 4 month old?!

2010-01-25T11:44:00.000-08:00

after reading some posts on the bump i realize i am officially a bad stay at home mom.. i mean do people really plan out every minute of the day with their 4 month old. Tummy time, swing time, book time singing time, jump-a-roo time... and ect. Heres what my day looks like.... whatever Miss Elianna wants to do... she is the boss of her ownself.. she is after all only 5 months old... so therefore i guess i am worst stay at home mom ever. lol Good thing she is taking a nap now so that i can spend time planning out what the two of us will do for the rest of the day till she goes to bed tonight!.. i gotta stop reading the bump but then again where would i get all my laughs for the day?! lol
I love being a mom because no day is ever the same!