Homestead!

We have been unsure of our purpose,  how and where we wanted to raise our precious girls…we’ve been asking God to show us and point us in the direction he wants for us. We know we want to raise these girls different. To know morals, know how to work and love Jesus in a real way. We just have been at a stand still, and…
Bam! …we have a dream!
                             a goal!
Such a good feeling.
We have started making these wooden base/mason jar lights. So beautiful,  and such a high demand for them. With my handy man, its easy peasy…and we enjoy doing it together!
Any cash we make with those, along with tax money and whatever else we can set aside, will be saved for our “homestead” or teeny tiny shack, with land and animals. Either way, its a start to self sufficiency!
Yipeee!

Payed with cash, Lord willing. 
Less bills, means less time away at work. Working to just pay bills? Seems pointless.
We ship these lights, if your interested. 
Better yet, these are only a few examples. We do custom orders,  so anything your heart desires.
“Take our dreams, come and give them wings, Lord with you, there’s nothing we cannot do” -Brit Nicole

Christmas.

Christmas in this society, is hard.

This culture tries with all its ferocious might to suck me under.
To blind me, to make me feel like a failure.
Well, I stuck it to them.
We had a wonderful CHRISTmas.
Having sweets, that are getting a little older, that can grasp words, concepts that we teach them….is SO much fun.
I thoroughly enjoyed the joy they found, the sparkle of wonder in there eyes.

We create there normal, what they expect/know is what we have made known to them, as normal.

So, we’re trying to do things differently.

All the gifts we bought them, we got off the online yardsales in our area, for next to nothing.
We did no electronics.
We gave things to a family homeless, living in a hotel.
And my favorite part was, we made Jesus a birthday cake! (That they got to decorate.) And sang happy birthday to him. A tradition I hope to keep.

I challenge you to create a normal in your kiddo’s minds, that’s not normal in the worlds eye view. Be a Jesus freak. 
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Oh, beloved housework.

It haunts me.
It overwhelms me.
I never feel on top.
Its suffocating.

These are lies.

As I was talking with a friend tonight and God brought this new outlook to my mind.
I am so excited to share it with you!

Day to day, housework stresses me out. Sometimes it feels like a race, I’m trying to lap my kids, just to keep up.

But still, I never feel like I’m winning.
I constantly feel like I’m failing, the worst housekeeper, mom and wife in the world.

Until tonight.
This, just this. Listen and tell me if you agree.
Think back to a three weeks ago, three years ago.
You don’t remember if your house was clean, organized or if there were dishes in the sink, do you?
I surely don’t! …I remember three years ago, when my oldest started crawling, with her curly top and her piercing blue eyes.
I remember my youngest three weeks ago started her crooked grin. Well, You get the idea.

In the moment of it, the house is a big deal.
But really, is it? If I can’t remember if the house looked like a tornado hit from just a short bit ago, is it really going to matter in 20 years. Is that what we want to look back and remember keeping busy with?

In 20 years, it will be too late to take these days back. Too late to recreate memories. To let dishes sit,  laundry linger, and organization fall behind.
A friend’s facebook status yesterday was “I spent too much time worrying about crumbs on the floor when my kids were just rugrats, but thankful I get a second chance with my grandkids.” Stuck with me, because for me, its not too late!

Because none of that really matters.
Matters? Ok, it does…. We want to have it be up to our standard, clean, collected and pretty. but is now the time?
Just a new view that I am excited about, as I start a new monday tomorrow.
So if your house is wrecked, but your kids are loved, happy and having a ball. That doesn’t mean your a bad mom or homemaker. It means your cherishing these few short years….
Food for thought…
Now what do you think, please share.

May we as momma’s have peace, joy as we trust in Him and seek Him alone on this journey..

Amen.

These days, I hope we never forget.

I hope we never forget these days. How trying, draining and hard these times are. The definition of tired, where your eyes burn. Poop and more poop. You time, is now there time. Showers may or may not happen daily.

I know they say when you look back, the hard fades and the good shines over, but I hope we remember. Ah, But man, it does takes a village. It takes the ones that have gone through these times, mentoring, giving breaks, advice, support and wisdom.
Don’t silently judge, but jump in. Us young parents have never done this, don’t hold back. I feel in today’s age, we let each other struggle.
These days are by far the best days of my life, but also the most draining. This three under four is kickin’ my butt! No matter the age, how many, it is a struggle. Learning, loving and disciplining, fragile beings.
Lets hold each other up. Lets be a village, shall we?

To all young momma’s and daddy’s…push on.
Gods in this with you. May His face shine down on you. xo

Poop in the tub, make my day.

Lets just say this week has been…weird, crazy, fun….tiring? Tiring…that’s a giveaway, tired is always there.

To start it of..we went from beautiful fall, cool weather.
To, BAM! Winter. 8 inches over night.
The girls and I shoveled twice yesterday, and the hubs and I shoveled twice last night, one being at midnight. We’re going to try to keep up on it better then last winter. So we don’t have a three foot wide driveway that you have to put the gas down to make it through. So thats been exciting.

Yesterday, Miss Sunshine, had the BIGGEST turd in the bath tub, gross. I know, but I had to share with someone! It didn’t phase her at all, I think it honestly fascinated her. I grabbed it with a wipe and dashed to the toilet, while trying not to breath through my nose. I was rocked. Guess that can be checked of the “list”…

Today, I walk into the bathroom to find Addi straddling the toilet, back to me…confused and trying not to laugh, I ask her WHAT ARE YOU DOING, LOVE?! And she says, “I’m peein like daddy” awesome.

The things they do!

Stories on stories

Today we had the blessing of spending time with my grandparents. They’re in there 80’s and have so many stories to share.
I love hearing there passion for God, stories from raising there kids, the challenges, the things they miss and advice for my life now.  One thing my gramps of few words said, that stuck with me was, “when i was in the army as a barber and was asked to do a one time sermon then asked to be the full time minister after that by the general. He said,I’m not sure why I said yes, but I did. I would preach in front of 400 soldiers, I just know it wasn’t me, it was all God speaking through me. Because, usually I have very few words and don’t enjoy speaking to crowds. But God used me, and now I’m thankful I had that opportunity, I still can’t believe I did that!”

That made me think about life.
When you think you can’t,  you can.
If God calls us to it, he will empower us and we may learn something we always have doubted in ourselves.

God knows what he’s doing.
If we feel the nudge, we can’t doubt our ability but trust God in His ability.
He may just surprise us, use us for His kingdom in ways we never would of imagined.

I stink.

If you keep putting off a shower because you don’t want to hear screams and hope they survive 5 minutes by themselves….if you think no one can reaaally smell you.
If you think its okay to take care of everything but yourself. Well, When your 3 year old walks past and says “mom, you stink!” In a disgusted tone, there’s not much to be said. But that it’s time.

This happened to me yesterday and i stunk….I let them fend for themselves for five minutes and they survived and I was refreshed and felt much better about myself.

I now smell good.

Free spirit, fly on.

As I watched them dance, spin and be free yesterday, my heart was flooded with love. They’re so free spirited, hear no judgement and are %100 ok with how God made them. I just pray and pray for all three. The devil has come to devour and he is alive in this world. Feeding lies into our young women’s minds. Taking joy. Money is being poured into the look of a women…people we say it with our own mouths, “our treasure is not here on earth”, “beauty is not from the inside”… but do we really live that way. Ha, no! Wake up….Women in today’s society don’t feel enough, until they’re hairs the “right” color, makeup is covered up the perfection he made. And our clothes are on the verge of sexy.
May I encourage you, you are enough. “There is no flaw in you” he created you. Beautiful you, don’t cover it with what satan uses in our sex saturated society. Hold your head high, in who you are.
May you find strength knowing that you are perfectly created with Gods hand.
You are a work of art.
You are enough.
Don’t listen to the lies, overcome that by speaking truth to yourself.
Don’t chase the styles, acceptance from this sick world. Run this race for Him, in the end its gonna be you and Him.
“Don’t grow weary in doing good”
Its tiring going against this world, standing on your own, being looked at with judgment. its worth it! We were created by Him, for Him! How awesome.
You are a master piece!  Breath life into
those other women around you, because we all struggle with lies. May you have the words, the strength and the courage to be different. Carry on loves, xo