Good Intentions

A Wise Woman Builds Her House....

Well, it appears that I am in the habit of posting once a year, around this time!  I always seem to have "good intentions" of blogging more and getting back in the groove, however life enters and here I am one year later.

I came across the above FB page and Proverbs 14:1, just happens to be one of my favorite verses..."The wise woman builds her house, but the foolish tears it down with her own hands."

Now again, we are here at the idea of intentions.  None of us wakes up in the morning and purposely intends to tear down our own house. I love that this verse speaks to the inner, hidden part of me~ my heart.  God knows my heart and He sees my thoughts and knows if I am intentionally aligning them with Him or if I am haphazardly going through my day on my own "good intentions."

"For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart." Matthew 12:34b

I didn't intend to speak quite so harshly.  I didn't intend to anwser e-mails for that long.  I didn't intend to get caught up in the phone conversation for 45 mins.  I didn't intend to forget to take out the meat and now have to pick up something quick for supper on our way there.  

 Please don't hear me saying that occasionally we forget or some things must temporarily take priority over others.  I am trying to communicate the importance of being intentional with my intentions and aligning them with God's purpose for me each day.  He has been incredibly gracious in giving me a husband and three sons to care for, serve and love each day.  In this calling,  I long to do well and glorify God. Therefore, I must be checking my heart and what motivates me.  I should be finding my love for God at the top of the list, along with my desire to serve and love my precious family.

We are a busy people, filling up our lives with nearly anything that comes knocking on the door.  I think about women of the early 1900's and how much they were required to do in order to just simply provide the daily needs for their families.  I also think about how they did not have near as many distractions.  They did not have blogs, FB, Pinterest, twitter, Bunko club, shopping, the fitness club,  etc...

They woke up with the purpose of meeting the needs of their family.  In Genesis 2:18 God says, "It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him." Survival in that day kept them from being distracted by self-fulfilling enjoyments.  I am assuming that each woman fully walking in the will of God was fulfilled by living out her God-given purpose of meeting the needs of her family. Of being that suitable helpmate...

I am convinced that I too will be fulfilled in living out the purpose God has called me to in serving my family with the right intentions. The intention of building my house, and not tearing it down. The intention of building up the lives of those in my home, rather than tearing them down. There are noble callings that God gives each of us that may call us out of our home, but I know in my heart that my husband, children and home come first.  Ministry can happen with my home as the hub, making my ministry linear and not a list that leaves no time at the end to serve others.  All of my life is a ministry and my home is the place in which I start and finish each day, so I long to give my best there and not my leftovers.

Isn't it tempting to give others the best and then rest on the "grace" my family offers when I give them the tired, worn-out, spread thin rest of me?  Isn't it easy to want to give the right impression to others and rest in knowing that my family loves me no matter what?  Since, my family and my home are good gifts from God, I am certain that He longs for me to give my best there also.

Too much in the world tells me to empower myself and seek out what makes me happy and fulfilled.  The job of telling me what I need to do with my time and resources belongs to God alone. Married, single, divorced, widowed, a mother, an aunt, a sister~ each of us has a "home" in which we can build and invest.  May each of us be careful to live wisely and find our fulfillment in Christ alone. I pray that building your house will be enough to fill your cup!

Collision

There are moments in life that feel like a collision.  One of those ran a red light, came out of nowhere kind of collisions.  It hits, but instead of sitting still in the silence that follows after a real-life car collision, you keep moving at a pace that doesn't seem to fit. Nothing seems to slow down. 

The collision itself should have taken you out for a bit.  It shook you and it hurts.  When you actually have a little time to think about it, the tears begin to fall.  It's real and raw, but somehow you keep finding the strength to put one foot in front of the other.

You lie in bed as the sun begins to awaken all that fills this side of the earth and you see the orange and pink rays.  You smile, thinking about the beauty created in these mere seconds before the sun completely reveals itself.  All of its glory reflecting The One who deserves all the glory.

A heaviness weighs on you in these moments of the morning.  One that feels as though it will keep you from even getting your feet to hit the ground.  The warmth and safety of the blankets seem better, maybe even easier, than what may be waiting for you through-out the day.  You linger.  You wait.  Wait to see if maybe this day can just pass on by without you.

As you close your eyes you remind yourself that actually staying in the darkness cannot be an option.  The light, THE ONE TRUE LIGHT begins to shine into the crevasse of your heart and you begin to choose the way of life.  Your heart gently says to your mind, "HIS mercies are new every morning. Great is HIS faithfulness."  

But you cry to Him, that it feels like HIS faithfulness to you is running thin.  Although, you know that is not true.  The very breath you exhale is a gift. A "just for today" kind of gift.  

Life.  It is an on-going series of collisions.  Emotions, experiences, circumstances, people, trials, questions, joys, pain.  They all collide at different moments, but you keep moving forward.  Honestly, at times this movement is beyond your own comprehension, but deep in your soul you know you move because HE is making it possible.  In and through you.  Despite you.  

The hardest part comes in the choosing.  Not so much because you don't want to choose, but just because choosing the right way seems really hard some days.  It seems that the mundane of every day life or the overwhelming reality of the trial wins at that moment.  That collision of truth and reality.  The grace of the Father and the harshness of the world.  
  
But soon you're on your feet and engaged in life, moving forward.  And HE, the ONE is engaged in every detail of your life.  He sustains when the collision takes place.  That's how you choose and how you keep moving forward.  How you find the joy and hope in breaking through the heaviness.   

You know that this too will shape you and sanctify you and it will be worth it.  You also know that it is hard and real and requires of you a choice. A trusting kind of choice in His will over yours.  

You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
You have loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness, 

That my soul may sing praise to You and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever.  Psalm 30:11-12

 

    

The Beatitudes

Following is the memory work for the Clubhouse class.  Your students/children will be reciting this in August, so please practice a little every day!  Thank you :)

Your child should also have received a nine card packet with each verse, concept and photo.  If you did not receive one, please let Mrs. Marcia Whitehorn know!

A Snapshot...

Okay....well hello there!  When I logged on tonight I saw that it had been about 3 months since my last post and I felt disappointed.  It is not that I really feel like I have great things to say, but writing and expressing my thoughts helps me process and be creative.  As I look back over the last seven months, I probably should have blogged more and it would have helped the process!  Anyway...more on that later :)

Tonight I got the rare chance to check-up on some blogs that I haven't read in a long time and a few of them had "A Day in the Life" posts.  I thought it was so fun to see how they do the daily on-goings of life, so I thought it might be a fun re-entry post to blogging.  So, here is the most recent day that is still fresh on my mind, here goes....

3:00am  Luke comes to tell me he's hungry and he is going to get snack, then go back to bed.  (This happens about 3 times a week!)

5:30am   My alarm goes off and I hit snooze.  I sleep a few more minutes in my perfect bed and then the alarm goes off again. By the way, it is the sound of crickets chirping because I despise loud, annoying beeping alarms...like Wesley's  :0

5:50am   I hear Evan wake up and go walking down the hall.  He stops, then climbs in bed with Eli to "nuggle." This makes me smile in my warm bed.  I grab my devotion book and read today's encouragement.  James 3:17-18, The wisdom from above is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.  Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.  I love this verse, but I also love that I just studied the 7th Beatitude, blessed are the peacemakers~ so it has a new meaning to me this time.  The words on the pages encourage me to seek God's wisdom for the many decisions I have to make in one day.  It says that wisdom grows out of a long-time devotion to self-control and discipline. God is the one who upholds the ground I stand on, so I must plant my feet solidly with Him!

6:20am  Eli comes to make sure I am taking him to school.  I get up, brush my teeth, hair, put on make-up.  I get dressed, check the paint color in the boy's room I painted last night and come out to the kitchen.

6:40am  The kitchen is a buzz with my men~ making breakfast, talking to our baby turtles, finding belts, changing diapers, getting shoes on and practicing today's recitation, "A Slash of Blue" by Emily Dickinson.

7:15am  Miss Maggy arrives~ she stays the morning with Evan and Luke, so I can volunteer in Eli's class.  We are out the door and on our way!

7:55am  Arrive at school.  Listen to each of the kids recite their poem and record the grades.

8:40am   Leave school and stop at Target to pick up a few things.

9:30am  Meet Wesley at the gym to chat and work-out.  We visit for about 35 mins about life and some decisions we need to make.  Then work-out on the treadmill and thigh machine weights.  This is not my favorite, but I do feel better having done it and I like to be there with Wesley.


11:30am   Evan has an appointment, which takes about 15 mins~ then we go to lunch with Miss Maggy :) I have a salad and Lobster Bisque soup.  I see two friends there and catch-up a bit!

12:45pm   Drive to the auto-car wash and vaccum, the van looks like it hasn't been cleaned in 3 months!  Evan is not crying in the car wash, which is great!  This is NOT his favorite place. We drive to the post office and send my mom a happy box filled with fun things for her during her up-coming 4 day hospital stay & surgery.


1:30pm  Arrive home, change Evan's diaper and lay him down for a nap.  Unload the dryer and start a new washer cycle.  Fold clothes and listen to Luke read.

2:00pm  Luke goes outside to play since he is done with school work from this morning while Miss Maggy was here.  I lay down for a quick nap :) I am a huge believer in naps and have taken one almost everyday!  All of us love that time of day when it is quiet time and we settle-down and re-group for the rest of the day.

2:30pm   I go outside and play horseshoes and croquet with Luke.  This game is new to him and it is fun trying to teach him the right skill!

3:15pm  We go in to do house chores, book my rental car for when I go help my mom next week, laundry, kitchen floor, dining room table from school.  We get Luke's t-ball gear together and he gets dressed.

4:00pm  Evan wakes up.  He snuggles and then I change him and get him dressed.  He wants his "pri" (Capri Sun) and he is ready to go!  We hop in the car to go pick up Eli from Chess Club.

4:40pm  We leave school and drive to Red Robin to meet daddy for supper before Luke's t-ball game.  (*This is EXTREMELY rare that we eat out 2x in one day!)  I eat the Turkey Avacado croissant sandwich with fries and ranch.

6:20pm   Arrive at the ball field. I check e-mail and Facebook for a few minutes before we all get out. The temp gauge in my car says 78 degrees but the wind is blowing and I feel chilly, so I wear my fleece and think to myself that my dear friend will think I am so silly :)  Approximately 15 mins later I see her and she is grinning, then says "You and your polar fleece!"  Yep, she didn't let me down!  Luke does good, he tripped before 1st base at one point and took a nose dive, but he recovers.  On our way back to the game he says with grin, "That's the first time I've gotten hurt in t-ball!"

7:30pm  Wesley leaves for a meeting.  We leave at 7:45 and head home.

8:15pm   I give Evan and Luke a shower and then dry their hair.  Evan gets in his pack-n-play to look at books, Luke goes to his bed to read.  I get jammies and a diaper.  Eli finishes up in the shower and then they take turns brushing teeth and getting a drink.  We gather on Eli & Luke's bed for prayers.  Evan prays, "God, tank you for t-ball and daddy. Uh....Amen."  Luke prays not to be over-excited and wild tomorrow when friends come over and Eli prays to be a good leader for his brothers.  :)

8:45pm  I tuck them all in with kisses and head to make a cup of tea.  Then I sit down to check out some blogs and decide to get back in touch with mine!

9:45pm  I am still writing and Wesley comes home.  He draws me a bath and I am about to sign off to go unwind and then climb into bed.  I would normally do a project until about 11, but I have a big day tomorrow and I have been battling a headache for most of the afternoon and evening.

That is it in a nutshell!  I may do another "at home" kind of day, because most of our week looks a bit different with school and regular house responsibilities, but I will leave that for another time!