Monthly Archives: September 2014

Where does your security lie?

Posted on 09/19/2014 | Leave a comment

Being a woman, wife, and mother, I like being “secured.” I appreciate feeling sheltered, safe, and cared for.

Merriam Webster defines security as:

the state of being protected or safe from harm

things done to make people or places safe

freedom from fear or anxiety

Some of us have a strong sense of security when they think of their husband, family, friends, and sometimes church group. Sometimes we take for granted too often the security that we can find in being part of an extended family and community.

Being fleshy human beings, what I myself really wish to define security in my life is a lack of want and worry.

Here is my list of securities:

I want a full pantry stocked with all of the groceries that we would need for long term use.
I want a freezer full of produce and meat that we have prepared and put up for the next year. If I had a cellar, I would want it filled with canning jars full of fruits and vegetables that I worked hard at canning. I would love to see baskets of fruit saved for the winter, and bins of potatoes that we would use throughout the coming winter months.
I would love to see a huge pile of firewood, all stacked up nice and neat. This would ensure that we would not go cold even for a second in the coming winter months.
I would love to have my closets and drawers full of clothing and shoes to fill every child’s need. Even if we had to throw a few away throughout the winter, I still would want to have enough outfits to make it through the coming year.
I would love to have financial security, probably one of my greatest desires. Money in the bank to adequately cover our living expenses. Do I need to go to the store? Not a problem. Want to help a friend in need? Money can be freely given. Unexpected medical bills? Not a problem there is an ample cushion for whatever emergency needs arise.

Instead I am reminded that there is NO REAL SECURITY in today’s world. The pantry can be full and well stocked one month, and then running low the next as we feed our growing children. Our wood supply is getting low and a storm is expected to hit in the next few days. Clothes wear out and there isn’t the time or money to be able to go get replacement ones.

And these are just the petty cares in my world.

In other areas, floods, wars, hurricanes, and tornadoes, storms, and earthquakes rage all around us. We never know when the next disaster will strike. If we solely focus on the upheaval in nations around us it can fill us with dread. I know it is not good to focus on the turmoil out in the world.

As for financial security, that is hard to capture as well. Bills can accumulate as fast as we can pay them. Prices rise up on groceries, gas, and taxes. Sometimes it can almost seem impossible to make ends meet. But guess what? We do. We always manage somehow. Yet it sometimes causes me worry and fret.

Since I can find no REAL security in the world, I turn to the ONLY one who can provide that for me. In God’s word, He promises in Proverbs 3:5,6

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.

God’s word can be a comfort in times of need and stress. His word is full of promise and comfort. We can ALWAYS look to God for comfort, peace, safety, and shelter when the cares, responsibilities, and trials of this world appear.

If you want a more in depth study of what true security means through faith alone I encourage you to read Habakkuk 2:2-11.

God tells Habakkuk in these verses that He is in control. His revelation is certain to occur at exactly the right time, even if it seems to be delayed. Habakkuk is to live by faith, believing that God will fulfill His plans exactly at the right moment, and trusting in God’s good character. He is supposed to believe and trust even when circumstances seem to indicate that God is not good, or not in control.

So where is your security? What do you trust?

Your financial assets?
Your husband? Your parents? Your friends?
Your strength? Your abilities? Your self-assurance?

All of these things can and will fail. You can lose your financial investment overnight. Just as the thousands of Americans who lost it all back a few years ago. People will one day let you down, because we are human fleshy beings. All of your strengths and abilities can crumble in one full swoop when trials arise. We should never put our security in these things.

The only true security you will find in this world is in God alone.

He alone is our rock and our salvation.
He alone will never leave you nor forsake you.
He alone frees you from the need to watch out for yourself, to harm others to protect yourself
In Him alone will you find the life that is filled with a joy and peace that no one can understand.

As a Mother, wife, woman, and child of God, I put my life and security in the ONLY one that I know will keep me protected and safe.

God gives me the ability and power to provide as best I can here on earth for my family. He gives me the knowledge to plan and prepare and stock my pantry as best I can. He provides the resources to prepare financially for our future. When the outlook looks bleak at times, I continue to put my faith in Him and He ALWAYS works things out. No need to waste time worrying, He has it ALL figured out.

Being joyful when overwhelmed

Posted on 09/18/2014 | 1 comment

JOYFUL……

Tell another Mother that they need more of that in their lives and you are likely to be attacked with bad looks. Most moms that I know have piles of laundry that seem to never get done, they change diapers round the clock, they get less sleep than anyone I have ever met, and they are generally on overload most of the time.

So how is it that we as mothers can experience more joy in our lives?

Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are.

― Marianne Williamson

In reading 1 Peter 1:6-7 it reminds us that we can be both joyful and overwhelmed at the same time:

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith,being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

In these verses Peter was writing to people who were rejoicing in spite of trying times. This is something that we need to look at first

It is possible to experience joy and be overwhelmed at the same time.

We live in such comfort in this country that we come to expect freedom from hunger, sorrow, and too much work. God sometimes uses pain, persecution, or difficult situations to bring His people closer together. How is He going to do this if we avoid everything so that we won’t be overwhelmed?

Have you ever noticed that a mother of 2 can be just as overwhelmed as the mother of 10? This should tell us that it does not matter how many children that you have, even though having more certainly does bring about more work, but rather it is about our attitudes towards having them.

If our attitudes do not line up with Christ, then it can cause us to be overwhelmed. If in the back of our minds, we are harboring thoughts of what if…..what if we spaced our children farther apart…what if we didn’t choose to have so many…what if we stopped altogether…..maybe we could cope better.

But God does not give us more than we can bear if we rely on Him. It just doesn’t fit the description of God. Why would He create a child and then swamp the mother with so much work that she didn’t have the time or the ability to properly raise him?

I know that God has each of us in different places in our lives and some He has called to have large families, others He has not, but what I am trying to convey is that it is about our attitudes of the heart not whether we have 2 children or 10.

I often think of people in other countries who have families and how difficult it must be to just complete the daily tasks for the day without all of the modern conveniences that we have available to us. Doing something as simple as washing the clothing, could possibly take an entire day to do. Especially if they had to walk a distance to get the water. Then as we look at doing laundry and sometimes it does take all day, but we are washing 100 times the amount of clothing. Thank God for a washer and dryer to do all that in.

All of us Mothers have times when we feel overwhelmed. There are times when even when night time rolls around we are still trying to get tasks done for the day.

There are certain tasks that need to get done and there is just no way around it. If I see that I have too many tasks on the agenda, I make a list of what needs to be done. I might scratch off those tasks that aren’t going to hurt anyone if they don’t get done, even if they seem important to me. Maybe my refrigerator hasn’t been wiped out in months. Maybe those windows have been smeared with fingerprints for most all of the season. It is okay to let some things go. I am sure your family would rather have a mother who wasn’t worn out and tired than one who got everything done and was short and snippy each day.

Some husbands prefer their wives to have their tasks completed so that when they return home from work they are able to sit and relax together. Others don’t mind if their wives are bustling around sometimes creating more chaos. This will be a personal choice whether you choose to be done or keep working.

An area that you can cut corners with is food. It is better to be a happy mom than one who serves desserts or time consuming meals. If you are busy, keep your meals simple. There will always be another day when you can bake cookies to save for another day.

Keep your lunches simple. Heat up some refried beans and put on tortillas with some cheese. A quick and easy lunch. If you serve with some apple slices you can even get away with not serving on any plates. Use napkins. Make clean up easy. If you are constantly feeling busy, you need to lower your standards in order to find time for the more important things.

Remember when you get a day that isn’t so busy take the time to do something out of the ordinary. Take your children to the park for the day. Pack a simple lunch and just let them play. Join in with them and play. It will make you feel rejuvenated especially if you have been stuck in a house with a crying baby.

Sometimes it helps to tell the children, if you help me finish baking on Wednesday then Thursday we will be able to goto the park for the afternoon. Include them in your tasks, life shouldn’t be overwhelming especially with a house full of willing hands.

It helps to set up certain times to get normal household tasks completed in a week. I used to feel like I had to have everything done and my house spic and span and then I could enjoy myself. I was a wreck trying to get it all done. Now I ration out my chores for the week and then I do them on the specified day. Sometimes that means I have to endure looking at dust covering my television and tables. I know that I will eventually get to it that week, just not going to stress about it today. If you want more information on how I organize my weeks look at large family organizing.

Another area that is important to watch out for is lack of discipline. Maybe the reason we can’t keep up is because we like to sleep in or we go to town too often. If this is the case, we need to change our ways. We are called to be keepers at home, that doesn’t mean that we spend the majority of our time away from the home.

Sometimes that might mean that we need a quick cat nap in the afternoon to help keep up. It is better to leave some work undone and take care of ourselves than to drag on to the last drop of energy. But if we are reading an interesting book instead of getting our work done, than that is a different story. We need to be mature enough ourselves to discipline and work and rest and accordingly.

Remember, sometimes we are just not going to have it “all together.” It happens to all of us. It isn’t a lack of faith or poor management. It is part of having a family or having too many irons in the fire. We have to look at the big picture daily or we will definitely not be joyful. We need to constantly remind ourselves that God will not give us more than we can handle if we keep our priorities straight.

Man is fond of counting his troubles, but he does not count his joys. If he counted them up as he ought to, he would see that every lot has enough happiness provided for it.
Fyodor Dostoevsky

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My 3 month plan for household items

Posted on 09/17/2014 | Leave a comment

It seems that life has been very busy lately. Since starting school back up it seems my tasks to be completed in each day are multiplied. I usually have to limit how much time I spend away from the home each week running errands. If I don’t, then I am stressed trying to get all the school and household work that has to be completed each day.

I have my schedule set up so that I have time to run errands at least once per week. Lately, we have been having to be gone a few times per week due to doctor appointments or different tasks that needed to be accomplished away from the home. Well whatever the reason, I have found that I am away from home more than I would like to be. I needed to change some things.

Each month, I usually designate once a month to go do our household paper shopping. I buy things like soap, diapers, cleaning items, etc. All of our non food products I get this day. I have a list on my marker board where I write down things that come up that are needed for the month and I would get them on this day.

I also take a day to do our monthly big shopping trip. We usually attack a few stores and get all of our major food shopping for the month done. This way I am left only to have to pick up milk and fresh produce usually every week and a half.

The problem with my old schedule for shopping is that it takes an entire day each month that I have to designate to shopping for paper goods for our household. If I could just eliminate that trip it would free that time up to go do other things of interest to our family. It might not seem like much to most people, but when you aim to just leave your home once a week and on that day you have to go do shopping…..that is usually not what you want to be doing. I had to change what I did.

I sat down and wrote down all the paper/household goods that we would need each month in our home. I then figured out how much I would use for 3 month’s worth of usage.

Download (PDF, 118KB)

Since this is the first time doing this and I could be completely wrong with how much we use of an item, I put a column on my page for what we used and need. That way when I go do this shopping, in 3 month’s time I will see if my figures were accurate.

Since my pantry is not full of packaged foods anymore, I was able to free up some space. I took my top shelf and designated that to household items.

I decided to keep the items down in the basement verses up where they could readily be used. I have found that if there are new tubes of toothpaste or new shampoo bottles, sometimes that last little bit in the container gets overlooked and thrown away. This way they have to use every last bit before grabbing another product.

I used a small basket for items that would normally get lost on the pantry shelves.

I usually spend about $200 a month getting these types of products. Since figuring out my 3 months supply I spent about $400 on these products. I am anxious to see if I will actually save by buying more of the items at one time verses when I need them.

Having this new way of shopping will hopefully save me some money—I will give an update in the end of my 3 months time. It also has allowed me to skip out on having to do this for the next 3 month thus allowing us more time to do fun things.

Plus, we have been watching Doomsday Preppers—love this show, even though I truly believe that they all need to make Jesus their Lord and Savior. It makes me feel good that we have stocked up on some basic necessities in the event that we have some sort of calamity that does not allow us to go to the grocery store. It never hurts to be prepared and have a plan.

for when you feel discouraged….

Posted on 09/16/2014 | 8 comments

image courtesy of pakorn at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I sometimes wonder why if we aspire to live a more plain and simple life why do we seem to suffer things. I don’t mean suffer as far as physical pain or loss, I mean suffer more like feeling the sting of rejection from others and sometimes financial burdens. It seems all of us go through it but sometimes it seems it is always lurking right behind us, waiting to catch up.

We knew it would not be an easy life. Choosing to homeschooling our children is not an easy task. The loss of income and the amount of time it takes to school your own is consuming. Sometimes we may think, maybe getting that job just so we can have a little more money or that vacation would be worth it. But even through the trials of continuously working at our tasks as stay at home moms it is far better to be home with your children teaching and training them then enjoying fleshy desires. It may take years to see your work come to fruition, but it is a job well worth it.

Maybe your choice is in choosing to wear a head covering. Some ladies go through feelings of doubt and rejection in wearing one. I know some that doubt their beauty and what people socially think of them. Some may desire a church that covers and will even scrimp on religious beliefs just to go to one that covers in order to “fit in.”

Sometimes we as “plain and simple” women might just grow weary of being the “strong” ones. Sometimes it may be that we are the ONLY ones. Finding like minded sisters in the Lord can be a struggle for many. I know I have struggled much throughout the years trying to find like minded sisters whom I can reach out and share with. I am thankful that the Lord took me through a time of just seeking Him, making it easy for me to avoid looking to others for advice. I am very thankful for the women he has placed into my life now and also grateful for the quiet times that I felt alone.

It could be that we choose not to have computer access, thus making it very difficult to be able to fellowship or search out other women. Feelings of discontent start creeping in with our choices of life.

What about choosing to wear only skirts or dresses? Dressing in skirts alone can be a struggle. In our ever-present society where everyone wears jeans as the “norm” and modesty is way over looked. If you believe in modesty you are definitely an oddity, thus making you feel alone again even in our churches.

Sometimes as we choose this narrow path it seems we are set up for trouble and heartache. But we have to be so content in our walk with the Lord and know that His ways are pleasing. If we were walking the path as everyone else, than we would not be worth the time of the deceiver’s trouble.

I say this not to say that people who do not choose the narrow way are less likely to have trouble and sorrows, rather, they have a different type. We all suffer in our own way and for different reasons. That is a result of the fall from grace. But, in our suffering there is light at the end of the tunnel. We are headed towards that light.

When your children are older, they will look back and see the example that you set for them. They will be grateful for a mother who sacrificed and “suffered” so that she could raise her children with good morals and values. They will see that you chose to do the best for them and put their needs above your own by choosing to stay home.

You may have people that look at you in an odd manner. They may gossip, or talk badly about you behind your back, but that is okay. Be content in your walk and choice of life. Don’t presume that you know what goes on in everyone’s heads. We can’t look upon man’s heart. That look or that comment may be them trying to figure out what gives you your convictions to go a different route. They might be wondering where your inner strength comes from? And why they don’t have it?

The people who openly question and make unkind remarks are usually being touched by the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, why would they care? You might be the only light shining to these souls, showing them another path. If people choose to criticize you they will have to respect you for standing up and walking against the grain.

Pay attention to the ones that are not in your immediate path of life. The mom at the grocery store who sees that you don’t purchase processed foods but choose to make healthy food for your family. Maybe it will be the bank teller who is struggling with wanting to wear dresses full time. Maybe it will be a conviction of wearing a head covering for someone who feels that they can’t socially wear one. We don’t know everyone’s struggles of life, but we do know that we are called to be an example. To let our light shine before men, so that they can see our works of the Father.

When those struggles get you down and you doubt that you are strong enough to keep going, take the focus off of yourself and turn it back towards God. God is using you for a better purpose than you can even imagine. Let these tough times come, ride them out, gain wisdom to learn what to do the next time around. Finally, testify of the goodness of what God has done in your life to others. This is the biggest encouragement to others. Take your persecution as a blessing and rejoice over it.

Fear not, for I am with you;
Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you,
Yes, I will help you,
I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.

Isaiah 41:10

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My frugal productivity last week #2

Posted on 09/15/2014 | Leave a comment

My goal, is to put this in each week as a new series, to allow me some regular series going each week. I will try my best.

As you may know, I believe my role as “Mom” is a great and mighty role. I believe that when given that role, it is my job to do the best with the resources that God has given to me and be productive with them as well.

Here are my last week’s frugal productivity……

This week was a busy week, we had just gotten back from camping and we were full swing into getting back into school.

It took me a few hours to unpack things and most of the day to wash the bedding and clothing. I was VERY thankful for my big washer and dryer.

Being in a large family, I have found we have to be creative when it comes to organizing some of our things in our household. For the bathroom, I have been frustrated with our scrubbie holder. We used the chrome hooks that were hung in our shower and for the 2 hooks, we held 4 different scrubbies. Every morning, I was constantly picking up someone’s scrubbie that had fallen into the shower, fumbling with trying to untangle my scrubbie, and trying to keep one separate for the child who cannot handle any type of soap on her body. I wanted to replace some of them and was talking to my oldest and realizing that he wasn’t even using the correct scrubbie all this time!!! I had to do something different.

I have a friend who recommended putting hooks on the back of the door and hanging them separately for each child, the only problem was that we have a pocket door for the bathroom, so that wasn’t going to work.

I then thought of staining a nice piece of cherry wood and hanging it vertically alongside of the shower and having hooks for each child’s scrubbie. That was a good idea until I realized that the cost for the hooks was going to be $15 plus the wood cost.

Then after talking with my friend who has a “larger than us” family, she said that Walmart had a shower organizer with lots of little hooks for around $12. I checked it out my next shopping trip and bought it.

This is perfect for us. It holds all the scrubbies and bars of soap. I don’t like soap on the shelves in the shower, too hard to clean. I keep a veggie scrubber brush in the shower for little ones feet and nails. Some of the older ones also brush their teeth in the shower. I didn’t realize that was a “weird’ thing to do. It just cuts down on the time to have to do it outside of the shower. I put an index card on the wall above the shower and wrote down who has which color scrubbie. I plan on keeping this up until everyone is acclimated in using the correct color.

I had to clean my oven this week. This is one of those jobs that are NOT one of my favorite things to do. I do not use natural homemade cleaners, as I have found it is WAY harder to clean. This is probably the only “harsh” chemical I buy. (I do buy bleach, because we do use this occasionally but not for regular cleaning.) Anyways…..my frugal accomplishment would be to NOT use paper towels. I had ALWAYS used almost an entire roll to clean out the oven, because I didn’t want to deal with the mess. Well, this time I just used an old washcloth and filled a bucket full of water to rinse the cloth in. It really wasn’t hard at all. When I was finished I rinsed off the cloth and hung it under my sink on a little hook. It will sit there until I have to do this task again, probably another month or so.

While vacationing, I have found that my children really enjoy peaches cut up and covered in granola. That is something I enjoy eating and all my little ones kept eating off my plate, so I decided to give it to them for a breakfast meal.

We also have an abundance of apples right now, I like to slice up the apples and put them on a plate with a dab of peanut butter and sprinkle granola on it for my children to dip it. Here is our easy recipe.

We also went to our local Farmers Market this week while out for an appointment. I like to see if anyone has containers of things that they want to get rid of and will sell to you cheaper. I was able to pick up a box of cucumbers for $4. They were all mismatched and some were curvy, but when peeled and cut up they taste just the same. I kept these on the counter this week to munch on along with some baby carrots, leftover from camping.

I have upped our Kombucha making process. My husband and I really enjoy drinking this healthy drink. I was only able to make a few gallons at a time, due to not having any more large glass containers. I went to Walmart and found 2 gallon glass “cookie” jars for $15,and now use them for making my kombucha in. This has allowed me to NOT purchase any other kinds of drinks for my husband and myself which allows us to be frugal in our drink selection. Plus we are getting all the added health benefits of drinking kombucha.

This was one of my favorite frugal accomplishments for the week. I had gotten an email from York photo, giving their latest weekly deals. One of the deals was a photo book for $10. I had gotten to see another friend who had done one of these books and I thought it was a really neat project. It is almost like scrapbooking without doing all the work. They are normally quite expensive, but once in a while they offer them really cheap. This was one of those times.

I had to upload photos, I believe I did about 100 photos for this book. You can do as many as you want, it was only about $1.50 for extra pages, not bad at all.

You can choose from a million different fonts, background designs, clipart, etc. I could of spent hours designing these books, but I didn’t . I chose some family scriptures and quotes and picked some simple designs.

I thought it was perfect because I have been making photo collage boards for the last few years to capture our family and this would be something different, but still something besides keeping the photos on CD’s or in a box to never look at again. I plan on giving it to my husband for Christmas as he thought it was a really neat idea and he doesn’t know that I did this unless of course he reads this blog post!!!

For me, this was frugal, as it will be an inexpensive gift, plus I don’t have to have them printed off and made into photo collages, which is more work as well.

I was also able to FINALLY get photos of my children printed off for my living room walls. York also had another great deal of buy 1 get 2 free 8×10 photos. The only problem was, amiss ordering them I somehow forgot to get the littlest ones printed off. Thank goodness Walmart photo has free shipping, I was able to order it and it should be here this week. Sorry Stephen. These are going on our living room walls because my walls have been bare for a really long time.

How about you?? Any frugal productivity things that you did this week?