Faithful Friday

Friday is always faithful to show up. It seems to be the day most people look forward to, like a friend coming to visit. My Friday has been busy so far. Cleaning, laundry, groceries, school, and, in a minute here, a quick break with the kids. They are watching a documentary called "Saving Sharks" and then we will watch "Surf's Up" together. TJ is here for a few hours, though he is napping right now. What a sweet little guy he is. I caught him drawing in my book and said "TJ, Don't write in Grandma's book." He threw the pencil behind him and looked at his doodle saying "Oh No, Grandma, what happened?!" You know I would not erase that doodle for anything!!
The top picture is the tree in my front yard. It is well on it's way to becoming a flaming red spectacle. I will get a better picture when it is in all it's glory. My begonia's are showing signs of fall too. The edges are turning white and they are looking weak. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. I plan to spend tomorrow working around my home and baking rolls, courtesy of Niki. I will show pics on Monday. For now, the shark documentary is over and my laundry needs to be switched around. Just like Friday is always faithful to show up, God is faithful to show up, also like a Friend. Just a bit of encouragement for myself and for you. God Bless your weekend!

"Your Pride Prohibits You"

What an awesome reminder that He is there to direct us when we are not quite sure where to go. Now most of us see only the last part of that verse....He will direct your path. Do not forget the first part. It tells us that He will direct our path if we trust in Him and acknowledge Him in all our ways, not leaning on what we know and understand. I forget that part alot and then ask "Why am I over here when He should have me over there?" It is because I did not acknowledge Him, nor lean on Him, instead of what I know. Very recently, God told me "Your pride prohibits you." Now, most of you know that I am pretty hard on myself and that can appear as humility. It is infact PRIDE. I focus so much on myself and my short comings that I do not acknowledge HIS ways. How can you acknowledge Him if you are so busy focused on how you could do better here or there? Anytime the focus is "self" there is pride involved. Now that is not to say that taking time to reflect on self is prideful...no, it is responsible, but to put the focus there is a matter of pride. Through this second journey of parenting, I have spent many hours dwelling on what I could do better, where I am failing, how I can "fix" things. All the while I was leaning on my own understanding. Notice all the "I"'s? I, I, I!!! God has brought me to the realization that He did not place these children here because I am this awesome knowledge filled Mother who is to be the salvation of these poor pitiful orphans. No. He placed them here because He wanted them in a place with a Godly woman who would become an empty vessel in which He could work. He shared this with me as I spent 20 minutes on my hands and knees on a dirty bathroom floor. I did start out washing it, but during my time down there I began to cry out to God. Through that conversation came, "Your pride prohibits you." I empty myself of the pride that fed my mind, telling me a mantra of "You ARE a good mother. You ARE a good mother...." I want to be that empty vessel that God fills up daily with what my children need, and their needs are unique only in the fact that their spirits are unique. So this day, I trust in the Lord, and I lean not on my own understanding. I acknowledge Him in ALL my ways and, because of this, He DOES direct my path.

Tackle It Tuesday

Today's tackle is not yet done, but is on the list for today. On Sunday, it was sunny and 80 degrees. Yesterday it was rainy and only in the low 50's. Today is sunny and will be somewhere in the 60's. It is that crazy change of season. Today, I prepare for winter. Our fireplace has a gas log, though it does burn real wood if we choose. A gas log is very clean and easy, though once a year it is a huge mess. Today is that day. I will take the logs out and check to see if all 3 layers of "bedding" are sufficient and clean. First is a layer of sand, then in the middle is this fluffy wool type material which causes a burning embers effect. The last layer goes around all of this and is tiny lava rock. Oh, the wonders of a fake/real fire! The outside of the fireplace gets a deep clean also. I am starting something new in my Tackle It Tuesdays...one tackle will be a "job" that needs to be done, and a second one will actually be more of a challenge, but it is also a need. I will tackle some time for myself, with or with out a child involved. Today's involves NO children. Wicked? I'm not sure, but I will take some time away from household chores, which for today include, laundry, baking bread, dust and vacuuming the lower level (after the fireplace is cleaned) and kitchen cleaning. I did little or no housework yesterday, as I was helping a friend set up her new blog. I will introduce her to you once it is all set up. OK, so today's "time tackle" is to spend at least an hour reading. Not a children's book, or a 1800 themed novel, but a book of substance. I received 3 from Amazon yesterday and will choose one and plan to complete it within a week. I will let you know how that goes. It will cut into my quilting time, but I feel it is important for me. Plus the cleaned out fireplace will provide the perfect ambiance for reading and a cup of coffee. To see what others are tackling today, or to join in on the tackle fun, go here. I want to welcome a new blogger to the block. Her blog is called Drucilla's Stitches. She is a home schooler and a quilter. Pop over to say welcome. I look forward to reading about her quilting and home school adventures. She is basting a queen size log cabin and wanted some advice...as a thread baster I can not help her. Though, you did mention, Drucilla, that you may send it out to be quilted, which means you may not have to baste it at all! And to answer your comment about "being fast" at hand quilting...not at all. If you look at my posts regularly, and you can ask my readers, I rarely have anything to show unless I do a stitchery or a "portion" of my queen size quilt. I am planning to start my winter installment of the 4 seasons swap very soon and with the Christmas gifts I have planned I will be able to show more very soon. We are studying the fruit of the Spirit in our home school. I found this, but to be honest I can not remember where. I thought it was a wonderful reminder of the fruits that God wants us all to bear. One of the things that I am sharing with my children is that these are fruits OF THE SPIRIT. You can have them on your own, to a degree, but when they are truly working in your life from the Spirit of God, they are perfect. May we yield ourselves to His Spirit and bear His fruit today. (grab the fruit and pass it on!)

Where Are The Parents?

We have all seen these images. Children in danger with a guardian angel to protect them. I want to know, WHERE ARE THEIR PARENTS??? Why are they out crossing a bridge that has gapping holes in it? Why are these young children hanging from the side of this cliff? They look cared for, but where are their parents? And this child can not be more than 4. Am I missing the point of the picture? Another cliff.... Another dangerous bridge. Is this child blind? Where is her mother??? It is dark outside!Again, I see not one of these children as being more than 5 or 6 years old. I know, I know...it is art work that reflects God's protection. I still have a problem with it. God put parents in a place to keep their children safe. When I look at these beautiful images, I do miss the point...all I see is a neglected child. A child who needs to be protected, not from the cliff or the tattered narrow bridge, but from the parents who are absent. And children who do have caring parents, still get God's protection. They are doubly safe!!

Walk On With Me

My child, the path of duty is before you. It may look rugged, but it is the only way of divine blessing. Choose out some other way, and you will find only disappointment and frustration of soul. Weariness shall overtake you on the smoothest road, if it be not the path of My ordained will. Be not deceived by doubts, and be not detained by fears. Move into the center of My purposes for you: you shall find there are glorious victories waiting for you, and recompenses far exceeding every sacrifice. Be obedient: you shall bring joy to My heart. Neither the applause nor the scorn of men should be of any consequence to you! My approval is reward enough, and without this, any other satisfaction is not worthy of your pursuit.

Walk on with Me. I shall be very near to give you support and encouragement, so you have nothing to warrant your fears. They shall vanish as you obey.

From "Come Away My Beloved" by Frances J. Roberts

Just wanted to share what God whispered to me while I was silent.

Cinderella

Poor Cinderella. She had such a wicked mother and her sisters were just horrid. How did she turn out so well? Any child treated so badly would be unattached, unlovable, and just as horrid as her step sisters (I may touch on this in detail next month). Well, since it is a fairy tale we will cut her some slack, and take from Cinderella's story some wonderful lessons to be gleaned. First of all her hands were hardly ever idle. The step sisters, however, never did anything but lay around and bark orders. They had ugly souls to match their ugly faces. Can we say "entitlement"?This is what happens to our young girls when responsibility is not taught. Idleness never leads to anything good. Idle hands lead to folly (it is a Proverb somewhere). Well, Little Miss Cinder...I mean Charlotte...has had some idleness going on lately. I took a lesson from Cinderella, and we went to work. Unlike Cinderella, we change out of our floor scrubbing clothes, but we do keep working....
Also unlike Cinderella, Charlotte has a Mommy who worked right along with her. We accomplished much this morning and there was no "folly" to speak of! Everything is sparkly clean and smells wonderful!!

I miss having clothes lines, but I make do ;) Fresh clean floors and rugs!!! Nothing feels better!
Our castle is clean, dinner is cooking and the hands in our castle are not idle. Folly will no longer reign in our kingdom!!!!!

Christmas Shopping

While reading Niki's post today over at Rural Writings, I was struck with the fact that Christmas is not that far away, especially for those of us who make handmade gifts! As I read about her gift ideas I began to contemplate my own. Then she shared her binder. She uses hers a little differently than I do, though it does the job she needs it to do. I really enjoyed seeing it. Anyway, I started to think about using my binder to help organize my Christmas.

I have all the major holidays at my house, so I could actually have an entire "Holiday" section that would help me plan out each event. Thanksgiving is always big here as the menu and grocery list are long and detailed. Recipes used during these holidays could also be incorporated. Plus, my Christmas lists and planning would all be in one place. No one EVER gets in my binder, except me, as it says "Work" just by it's very existence.

I ordered 2 jumpers for Charlotte, as I mentioned yesterday. I decided to hold one back for a Christmas gift. It is pictured below and the plaid is the fabric I chose. I ordered this from Lilies of the Field.

I ordered 2 CD's today and will hold one back for Zach for Christmas. These are meant for ages starting at 8, but I think he will enjoy them (Charlotte, also). I got volume 1, but I may add volume 2 before my Christmas shopping is finished.

I also grabbed this for both kids for a Thanksgiving Unit Study we will be doing through the month of November. I am excited, as we actually have Stone tools used by Plains Apache's sent to us by Joni.

Now I need to organize my gift ideas and giving list. I am mentally putting my holiday section in my Home Management Binder as I type this! Thanks for the inspiration Niki!!! So, how many of you have started preparations for celebrating the birth of our Saviour?