Daily Happenings

Well, we had an ok day yesterday. Some were still recovering and today I think everyone's pretty good, just got some nagging coughs left. Had quite the day yesterday, in a way, though. I actually did get some stuff done. Which was nice. And we made some crayons! Fun stuff!

Did you know you could mess up making crayons from old broken ones? I did. Because this is me and it all just makes sense, because it's me :) Well on to the Fun stuff! Yesterday, I decided we would finally make the crayons I had promised the kids we would. From all the broken crayons around the house. They did all the hard work peeling them a week or so ago. So yesterday I chopped them up. The silly things kept rolling everywhere! Finally got done and got them in the container. Makenzie, Michelle, and Emily filled all the tins with them. Making them so pretty. It was too hot in the afternoon so I told them I would heat them in the evening. So after dinner, when I felt it was cool enough I turned on the oven. I decided to follow instructions from one site cause I thought they would be the easiest and not make it too hot in here. Simple right, turn on the oven to 190, put crayons in for bout 20 mins and Wala! crayons. But no, it's me doing it so...I decided to sit down to check out FB. My sister was on so I decided to chat with her. As I'm doing this I hear a very loud commotion next to me. The girls are all yelling and James wasn't  really thrilled. Kathleen (the little doll) had gotten into my lanolin and had it thickly covering her face and hands. side note: at least she wasn't EATING it like normal! So as this was going on the oven was ready and I was trying to clean her up and get the crayons in the oven. I get them in and think "Yay!" I left them for about 20 mins. When I checked them they were just looking wet but hadn't melted down enough I thought. So since another site had said to turn the oven to 350 preheat it and then turn it off and put the crayons in. I thought "Well, I'll just turn the oven to 350 let it preheat and then take them out. They should be done by then." Yeah, great idea. NOT! The crayons were already heated to 190 so they got really hot. Do you know what that means? I had crayons burning in my oven!!!! AAHHH! I had to get them out so I had toxic smelling gas smoke flowing into my kitchen. Yuck! And the crayons melted so much that the color sank. So the top is a slight translucent color and the bottom is the speckled pretty colors they were supposed to look like! :) Yep, Only I could mess up melting crayons! LOL... The kids love them and are making crafts with them. So they work fine. Next time I'm gonna just do the preheat to 350, and put them in for 9-11 mins. I think that will work the best!

On to other things..It seems to me that a lot of moms are struggling with the same things right now. After having some not so great days and starting to kinda feel sorry for myself. I started reading some blogs and WOW was I encouraged. Some by moms in the same boat as me (8-10 kids) some older with more kids, but all wanting to raise their family for the Lord and feeling like they were failing! And on one of the sites I found an old blog that really helped! The first is ladyofvirtue.blogspot.com/ her blog from yesterday and the other one was in her Family Life category titled "Help me, I'm drowning!" There are alot of good ones on that site. Very encouraging! And the others are smockityfrocks.com/ and raisingolives.com/ . I don't think it's a good idea to get so caught up in all the great blog readings that you don't do you job. (remember everything in moderation) but there are some good ones out there that are so encouraging. Most of the ones I am following are great. It's just another show of how good God is. When we're feeling down He will lift us up. :)

Funny things...James Michael says to me (after I told Jason I couldn't read through his arm) "if you can see out the back of your head, you can see thru someones arm". Nice huh? Well I gotta go get pens away from Kathleen and get started on school. Especially since James Michael already got it all out for us to do it :) Such a good boy!



P.S. Another great site to visit, although you'll have to look up verses since she uses another perversion of the bible... http://www.raisinggodlytomatoes.com

FROG!

FROG...if you read my last post you know what that stands for....Fully Rely On God! Through Him is the only way you will accomplish anything! No matter how big or small that thing is! As I (and my friends) are finding...you take some babysteps to get in the right direction and satan hits you with everything he can to bring you down and stop you in your tracks! It's so much easier to just quit and yet it's absolutely necessary we don't! We are everyday living a testimony. What is your testimony? I don't want mine to be that of a quitter, a whiner, a complainer, or a slothful person. I know I can't be a good testimony though without spending time in the Word. It's a daily battle to be there though. So pray for me and I'll pray for you, that we will do the simple, yet difficult, and read the Word everyday! It makes such a difference! If you don't do it and only do it once in a while, you may say "doesn't seem to make a difference to me". But if you start doing it consistently everyday, and then you don't do it once in a while, you will notice a major difference.

As mothers especially, even if we never go out "soul-winning", we are everyday having an influence on the little lives watching us. And in that how many thousands of lives are we influencing? I wonder if Susanna Wesley ever thought about that? And yet even if she never did, her life and the lives of her children have had a influence on thousands throughout the years. What if you child is the next John or Charles Wesley? Or the next Amy Carmichael or Gladys Aylward? So today, tomorrow, next week, next month, this year, this decade (see the pattern) keep doing what you know is right. Rely on God, He will give you the strength you need to accomplish the important tasks before you. And remember what the IMPORTANT tasks are. They aren't necessarily a clean house or perfect children. Those would be nice, but your tasks are the eternal ones of being a servant of the Lord and proclaiming the Gospel of Salvation!

2 Corinthians 12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.


Didja see that? Your strength is made perfect in weakness! God can use you just as you are with all you imperfections and perceived weaknesses!

Looking Unto Jesus...

Well, we have internet and phone again for at least the next month. Yay! I am really behind in everything...I really need to get over this whole "all or nothing" attitude. We are spending today catching up on laundry. Got alot of the girls clothes done, still got around 2-3 loads of theirs left though. I'm hoping to get all of the girls clothes done today and then some towels too. Tomorrow, blankets! I looked at the Flylady zones and decided that I would start with the zones Monday, today I'm going to work on the decluttering. Today is the purse and car. I actually did my purse a few days ago but I'm gonna do it again, just cause. And the car we mostly cleaned out Tuesday, so we just need to finish it now. So nice that I actually kinda have a start on both these. The car would have been so overwhelming!

I am trying to keep a positive attitude about things, and it's really difficult at times. I tend to start looking at surroundings and things just seem so overwhelming, depressing or irritating. So last night I had an epiphany! Really it came about because of the way God made me :) And all women! Our brains are like balls of wire, with no beginning or end. (Mens are like boxes on a shelf, but that's another story LOL) So, anyways, I was thinking about something (can't remember what) and then I started singing a song, and something in that song reminded me of the verse that talks about keeping our eye on the prize, then I thought "and we really need to keep our eyes on the cross", and the cross is really Jesus, so we need to keep our eyes on him, and then I thought that's what happened to Peter (ironic too cause I'm reading 1 Peter in my bible reading) He took his eyes off Jesus and SANK! That is what we do! Something amazing happens (Jesus walked on water), We get out of our comfort zone (out of the boat), Start doing something amazing ourselves (walking the way Jesus walks), and then we start looking at circumstances and panic (Peter took his eyes off the Lord and looked at the water), then we go under (life is miserable, depressed, overwhelmed, etc...), but you know, if Peter had kept his eyes on the Lord he wouldn't have sunk. He'd have walked all the way to Jesus (gotten to Heaven which is essentially eternity with God), and he would've done it the way Jesus did. We are so much like Peter though. We take our eyes off the Lord and what he's told us to do, and we start looking at our circumstances and BAM! we get discouraged, depressed, overwhelmed, etc... If only we would keep our eye on the prize, which is eternity with Jesus, and if only we would keep walking the way Jesus walked (in obedience to the Father). We would have an amazing life! We'd be walking on water! Keep your focus on the Lord, keep your eye on the prize, don't look around you at life, Keep doing what you know is right, even if you have to start small get started, and (from the sermon Wednesday) be CONSISTENT! Don't give up! (which just reminded me of the t-shirt they used to have with the bird eating the frog, with the frogs arms coming out it's mouth and strangling the bird! :) Which also reminded me of the acronym F.R.O.G. Fully Rely On God! Don'tcha just love the way God made us! :D