Hunger and Thirst

“Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.”

~ Matthew 5:6

I have quite the sweet tooth. My friends all got a kick out of it the day I posted a Facebook status that said, “Help! I'm craving chocolate and have lost my M&Ms!” I scoured the whole house up and down to find my giant bag of M&Ms that I keep hidden from my children (I do share on occasion—really, I do).

I’m sure you’ll be relieved to hear I found them and my craving was fulfilled, but what’s even better is the way God has used that craving to draw me close to Him. It all started with a question, “When was the last time I craved God enough to search Him out?”

We crave a lot of things: chocolate, steak, a good book. But how often do we crave God or His Word? That’s what the words Jesus spoke in Matthew 5:6 make me wonder. Do I really hunger and thirst for righteousness? What would that even look (or feel) like?

And those questions led me to the apostle Paul. I think Paul really understood this. He wrote to the Philippians, “I long to know Christ and the power which is in His resurrection, and to share in His sufferings and die even as He died; in the hope that I may attain to the resurrection from among the dead” (3:10-11 WNT).

Paul craved the righteousness by hungering for more of Christ. Earlier in that paragraph he said he counted everything else as a loss. He knew he didn’t have any righteousness of his own, but only what he received by faith in Christ (vs. 7-9).

The knowledge of Christ is there for the taking. His life, death, and resurrection are all recorded in the Bible, all we have to do is open it with the intention of learning more about Him. We can’t deepen our knowledge of Christ when we open God’s Word thinking we already know everything it has to say. We have to be open for God to communicate with us. We have to want to know Him more—to crave Him.

I loved the way one of the women in my Bible study worded this. She said, “God is a gentleman. He waits for us to come to Him.” A.W. Tozer said it this way, “God waits to be wanted.” He doesn’t demand that we sit and eat. He doesn’t stand over us and tell us we can’t start our day until we have spent at least half an hour reading His Word and drinking in His Spirit. He waits patiently until we crave Him, and then He fills us to the full.

When we draw close to God, He fills us with peace, hope, love, joy, and so much more. Paul wrote in the book of Romans that he wanted God to fill them with joy and peace so they could overflow with hope (15:13). When we crave God, He does just that. He blesses us with more of Him so we can live life to the fullest (John 10:10).

“It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’” 

~ Matthew 4:4 (WEB)

The above is an excerpt from my book, "Blessings from Above: A Deeper Look at the Beatitudes"

Our Thanksgiving Menu

Do you have any foods that you traditionally eat each holiday? Obviously for Thanksgiving we have turkey with all the fixings, but I wanted to take a moment to share our exact menu with you - recipes and all. First, I have to tell you that I LOVE Allrecipes.com. I get all of my recipes there and don't know what I'd do with out it. So a lot of these will just be links - in which case you can click the title of the dish to be taken to the recipe.

Hart House Thanksgiving Menu:

Easy Herb Roasted Turkey

I make this almost exactly as written. I do put it in an oven bag vs a roaster with a lid though. I found this recipe a few years back and it is simply amazing. It comes out as a mouth watering dish that is to die for. If you're not happy with your current turkey cooking method, I highly recommend giving it a try. Plus, it's crazy simple.

Mashed Potatoes and Gravy

I don't think a Thanksgiving meal can be complete without mashed potatoes and gravy - but they are also crazy simple. There are enough things to cook on the stove, that I use instant mashed potatoes and heat them in the microwave as a time/space saver. I do make my own gravy though. I boil the turkey neck and use that broth (and meat) for the gravy base - adding in any extra juice off the turkey if needed. Then I thicken in up with cornstarch. Pretty simple, but really good.

Sweet Potato Casserole

Again, I make this almost exactly as written. The only thing I change is that I use regular margarine (not the fat free stuff). I'll be honest, this is the only sweet potato casserole recipe that I've ever used, but everyone always loves it.

Campbell's Green Bean Casserole

Okay, This is just your basic Green Bean Casserole - but why mess with perfection (especially when I won't be eating it)?

Cranberry Sauce

In the past, I've always bought the canned, jellied cranberry sauce, but I made my own a few weeks ago with this recipe - and it was SOOO GOOD. So I'm making it on my own from now on... although, I may still buy one can of jellied for the kids. They aren't too fond of the whole cranberries in this recipe. I will say that I cooked mine on the stove vs. the microwave method recommended here, but that's the only change I made.

Stuffing

I dislike stuffing, but for the sake of my family I buy a box or two and mix it up. Nothing special, but they insist on appreciate it.

Deviled Eggs

I don't think I can really give you my deviled eggs recipe - as it's very much to taste. Obviously you hard boil the eggs and cut them in half. Mixing the yolks with other ingredients until you're satisfied. We use Miracle Whip, mustard, pickle juice, salt, pepper, and paprika if that helps at all.

Pumpkin Pie

I insist that everyone must eat pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving (except for my old roommate, Nita B. - but she's special so that's okay). It's one of my favorite parts of the meal. I use canned pumpkin and follow the recipe on the can - the only thing I change is that I use half the recommended cloves.

Pecan Pie

I have the best mother-in-law in the world, and she makes these for us with fresh Texas pecans. Yeah... she's awesome. She'll also bring some sort of sweet veggie salad - which are surprisingly good and crazy healthy. I really need to learn how to make them...

And that's it. Pretty simple really, but oh so yummy.

What's on your menu this Thanksgiving? 

Mother's Day

For me all holiday's are usually hit and miss. Example? On my birthday this year my entire family was sick - thus my children think I'm still a year younger than I really am. We've actually had mock arguments about whether or not I had a birthday this year. I really did - it just passed with no notice.  It's a trend in my life. Once when I was still in elementary school I had a sleep over on my birthday and my sister somehow convinced all of my friends to go sleep in her room - and I wasn't invited. Another year she did makeover's for all of my friends during my Superbowl party - knowing full well that I was allergic to make-up.

So I've come to expect little from holidays. Mother's Day is no different. It started out with me over-sleeping. We had planned to go to church with my in-laws, but their service starts 20 minutes before ours and I can't stand walking in late - which we always do anyway. So at 10:37  when we were finally all ready to go (7 minutes after the service started), I declared that it was too late to go to their church and we detoured to ours. I felt guilty all the way through service about making that selfish decision. 

After church was over we stopped by the store to pick up my Mother-in-law's flowers and cake. While we were there we ran into one of the ladies from my in-laws church. She asked us how my Father-in-law was doing. Mr. Amazing said we were on our way to their house, but when we talked to them earlier in the week they were doing well. So she suggested that we detour to the hospital. He had fallen down the steps at the church that morning after Sunday school and had to go to the ER. Thankfully, other than the concussion, and gash on his head, he is doing well and they were just leaving when we got there. However, he wasn't allowed to eat for 24 hours, so the cake that we bought went un-touched. We had also hoped to take them out to eat, and well... that didn't happen either. All-in-all, I think it would be fair to say that my Mother's Day was 100 times better than my Mother-in-law's. 

We ended up going out to eat without the in-laws. I would have loved to have them there, but we still had a pretty good time. Despite the fact that the restaurant burnt my chicken.

The best part of my day? After we ate Mr. Amazing and the kids took me to the bookstore. They know how nerdy I am :) I got 4 books and a membership card to Books-A-Million - he spoils me. I can't say that it was a great day, but I got new books so it wasn't all bad :)

It's very possible that you might see a post on bookstores vs. shopping online from me sometime soon - but I haven't decided where to post that yet...

What's In Your Heart?

Well, we are finally moved into our new home - and loving it! We are still surrounded by boxes, but we have the necessities taken care of and room to unpack the rest. However, while I've been MIA from the online world, God has been teaching me a lot. We had a women's event at church on Saturday and while I didn't overly relate or become inspired by the speaker, she did say one thing that really stuck with me. She referenced the many failures of David - the one the Bible refers to as the man after God's own heart.

Most of us know that David was an adulterous murderer, but she didn't stop there, she brought up the point that his children were... well, we'll say less than perfect as well. So many times as Christian women, we feel like our children are a direct reflection of us as Christians. When they mess up, or repeat something that we said or did that we know is wrong, we feel like failures. David's son raped his sister - I can't imagine how I would feel if one of my boys did that (to anyone, but even more so to their sister!). I would feel like a wretched failure and blame myself in some way - I'm pretty sure of that much. But look at David. God said about him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’ (Acts 13:22) - God saw David for what was in his heart - not for his failures and the failures of his children. That's a message that I needed.

I've been too focused on my failures - so much so that I've been hiding the light that God has given me for fear of messing up. That's not what He wants for me, and it's not what He wants for you either. It's not about  us. It's not about our imperfections or successes. It's not about our motives. It's not about us at all. It's about what Christ has already done. God just wants us to come as we are.

Migraine Scriptures

If you've followed my blog or know me in real life, you probably already know that I suffer from migraines. They started back in 2008 when I slipped on some ice and fell down the stairs in front of our home - carrying one of my twin girls that was just a few months old at the time. She was fine - I, on the other hand, cracked my elbow and got whiplash. The whiplash triggered migraines that have just never went away. Seeing a chiropractor helped for a while, but since we recently moved, I haven't found a new one yet. So today, I pulled out this list of Scriptures that I compiled several years ago to help me deal with the pain - and then I realize that I never posted them here. 

If you've ever dealt with migraines, you already know that they aren't fun. I hope that God can use these in your life as He does in mine. I find them both encouraging and strengthening:  

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

Ecclesiastes 7:14

In the day of prosperity be happy, But in the day of adversity consider--God has made the one as well as the other So that man will not discover anything that will be after him.

Matthew 4:24

The news about Him spread throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all who were ill, those suffering with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, paralytics; and He healed them.

Job 5:18

"For He inflicts pain, and gives relief; He wounds, and His hands also heal.

Revelation 21:4

and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away

Job 6:10

"But it is still my consolation, And I rejoice in unsparing pain, That I have not denied the words of the Holy One.

Psalm 69:29

But I am afflicted and in pain; May Your salvation, O God, set me securely on high.

Ecclesiastes 1:18

Because in much wisdom there is much grief, and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain.

2 Corinthians 12:7-10

Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me--to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness " Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

Psalm 139:14

I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well.

2 Corinthians 4:16

Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.

Philippians 4:4

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!

2 Corinthians 5:1

For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

Philippians 4:11

Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.

*All Scriptures are taken from the New International Version of the Bible - Copyright 1984

The TV Delima

Mr. Amazing has a wonderful job working for the local phone company. They also do internet and television, so we were blessed with free cable. Although I'm not sure "blessed" is the right word. Mr. Amazing and I debated it for several months before I finally caved and let them install our free cable and I still have really mixed feelings about it. 

On the one hand, I love Bubble Guppies. They are so darn cute! Also, we use to live off of library movies, but the local library here doesn't have a huge selection, and none of them are really what I want the kids to be watching. But on the other hand, there are so many things on TV that I don't want my kids exposed to. They all learned the very first day that we would NEVER watch Sponge Bob in this house. If I ever catch them watching it, the TV will be gone within seconds. They have diligently obeyed that rule.

And then there are shows like Max and Ruby. Max is this chubby little rabbit who likes mud pies and is being raised by his big sister, Ruby. Max is a bad little rabbit. He directly disobeys his sister on every show that I've seen, and what does she do? She laughs at his disobedience. At first, I was awed by her kind spirit, but now I'm seeing a different side of it. He continually disobeys because he gets away with it - I mean, wouldn't you? If you knew you didn't have to listen to what your mom/adult in your life said because she'd just laugh if you did it anyway? I might even disobey to get her to laugh. The show is teaching the worst kind of sin. Selfishness and disobedience. 

Admission: I really thought that Ruby was Maxes mom, but apparently they don't have parents, just a grandmother who visits on occasion... I'm not sure if that makes the whole thing better or worse.

Have any of you seen this show? What are your thoughts on it? What shows do you let your children watch on TV?

Our Hopeful House

Last week I told you about the house that we are planning on buying. This is it. It's a 3 bedroom 2 1/2 bath 1 story home. We'll have a 2 car garage and live in a wonderful neighborhood. I'd love to show you photos of the street we'll live on from Christmas, but I couldn't find any. This is "THE" street to go down during the Christmas season. It's a dead end road, but they line the entire thing with candy cane sticks and lights - then they lay out the 12 days of Christmas on big wooden signs. The north side of the street has the first 6 days and the south side has the last 6 days. It's pretty awesome.

Are you ready to go inside?

This is the entryway. It's too small to be anything useful, but it's there. We're hoping to knock out the wall eventually and make it bigger, but for now, it's just an entry way.

This will be the living room. It's actually the original garage that they used as an addition to the house. The downside? See that itty-bitty window. Yeah, it's the only one in the room. We'll eventually put in a window on the front side of the house to this room, but until then, it will be a bit dark.

This is our dining room. 

And my office :) Well, I'll share it with Mr. Amazing. It will also double as a guest bedroom until we can fix up the guest house (Yes, you read that right).

This is our kitchen. It's a small hallway like room. But I like it.

This is a view of the other side of the kitchen. We still need to get a fridge, but the dishwasher is nice.

And here is the bathroom. It's a little old school, but I think that gives it character.

This is going to be Mr. Amazing and I's room - it's green. I like green.

This will be the girl's room - somehow I forgot to take pictures of the boy's bedroom... but there really is a third bedroom. I promise. 

And this is the view of the back of our house and back yard from the back fence. It's a BIG yard. The downside? It's full of stickers. We're going to have to do some major landscaping before we can let our dog out :(

And this is the guest house. A little bit of history, this was the original house that the original owners lived in before they built the big house. It's kind of like a stucco cabin. It has a bedroom, main room, kitchen and bathroom. It had some water damage last winter, and really needs cleaned up, but it's pretty neat to have a guest house.   

 And that's it. I hope you enjoyed your tour!

The Sailor's Savior

I mentioned earlier this week that I'm studying the book of Jonah. I'm actually going through a book called, Lord, Teach Me to Study the Bible in 28 Days by Kay Arthur - and I have some pretty mixed feelings about it. Some days I read 2-3 chapters (days) at a time and still feel like I didn't get any where, other days - like today - one chapter is all it takes for her to help me find something amazing. The best part is, that while she sends me on "Bible Errands" as I'm calling them, she doesn't tell me any answers. At first, this really annoyed me - especially during the days where she thought I would learn something astounding and I obviously didn't see the dots that she thought I would connect. But today, it was a good thing. Here's what I found (yes, we're still in chapter 1):

Most of the time when we read the book of Jonah, our focus is on Jonah. But have you ever stopped to look at the other people on the boat with him? I relate so well to these people. I go about my life until a storm hits, and then I look to the false gods in my life to fix it - I pray to the false god of reason, I offer sacrifices to the false god of time, and I bow down to the false god of other humans. And finally, when none of those things work, I suck it up and decide to fix it myself. I start doing everything in my power to "lighten the load" or save myself. Just like the sailors did.

When the storm came upon the ship, they prayed to their false gods and they tried to solve the problem for themselves, and finally, they gave up and decided that Jonah held the key - and he did. And while Jonah held the key, he wasn't the key himself, the key was his God - our God. And God holds the key to solving our problems as well.

As the sailors listed to Jonah tell them how to solve the problem, they rejected it. Throw him overboard?! That's absurd! Have you ever said that to God? I have. I'm like, "God, I know You know best - but that's a stupid idea." So just as the sailors kept struggling to try to save themselves, I do the same thing. God's already shown me the way to go, and I'm too stubborn to follow Him.

Of course we all know that the sailor's eventually gave in and threw Jonah overboard, and of course he was swallowed by a whale. Everyone talks about how him being in the belly of the whale for 3 days and nights was a picture of Christ in the tomb, but did you ever stop to realize that God also used him to save the men on the boat?

These men were scared for their lives and knew that Jonah held the key - even if it wasn't the solution they were hoping for. But they did what he said, and they were saved. He willingly (yes, being thrown overboard appears to have been Jonah's idea) sacrificed himself for them - he was their savior... and not just the savior of their lives, but he also pointed them to the one true God. Because of Jonah's sin, they came to know and worship God. The last few verses of Jonah chapter 1 says that they made vows to Him, now I don't know what kind of vows those were, but I'd like to think that they dedicated their lives to Him (but again, I don't know for sure because it doesn't say).

...My girls have woken up and emerged from their room and disturbed my entire train of thought, so I guess I'm done now.   Oh the joy's of being a mom.

Trusting Faith

I just started a new Bible study through the book of Jonah and God has already used it in my life in a big way. I'm still in the first Chapter, but God showed me how He used Jonah's sin to reach the hearts of the other people on the ship to Tarshish for the glory of God. Because of Jonah's sinful rebellion, they came to worship God. God has used that in my life to show me that I am to trust Him - even through my sin. And some how, and it has to be a God thing, because I can't figure out how God connected the two - but God used this to show me my own sin. The sin of a lack of faith - a lack of trust.

You see, shortly after the beginning  of the new year, my husband started looking at all of the houses for sale in town. He started telling me about them, and we even started looking at a few. I have no idea why, but he had decided it was time for us to buy a house. I didn't agree, but didn't see the harm in looking.... and then we found one that I loved - I mean really loved. It would have been my dream home. And it sold less than a week after we first saw it. We had only just asked the realtor about it and she wanted us to see how much of a loan we qualified for before going any further. She didn't tell us she already had someone else interested. Only that it had been on the market for so long that they had dropped the price by over half. Before we could get to the bank it was gone. Looking at houses wasn't fun for me, I dreaded finding one I liked, and hated wasting time on the ones that weren't what we were looking for.

But we did find another one that had everything we were looking for - and it was even more reasonably priced than the first one that I set my heart on. We talked to the owner and he was willing to do owner financing. We needed to have the money for the down payment - and we did - it was a done deal. The house was ours... or so we thought.

The money we thought we had for our down payment fell through. So we decided we would check about getting a regular loan through the bank. The first guy we talked to told us that there was no reason we wouldn't be approved, in fact, he recommended going for a bigger loan to make the improvements we needed. The owner of the house was willing to pay the closing costs - it was a done deal... or so we thought.

The next lady we talked to at the bank said that there was a very slim chance we would qualify for a loan. In fact, she was pretty sure that we wouldn't because Mr. Amazing was unemployed during our move to Texas last fall. It didn't matter that his work history until then was better than most peoples, they said even one day of being unemployed within the last 5 years makes it pretty much impossible to get a loan. Period. So when we called to tell the owner of the house, he recommended doing a rent-to-own. He would rent us the house until next year, under the understanding that as long as we didn't miss any payments and paid the down-payment out of next year's tax return, that the house would be ours. It was a done deal... or so we thought.

The house is actually owned by brothers. Their parents left it to them in their will. The brother didn't like the idea of renting. But they really wanted to sell the house, so they agreed to take whatever down payment we could afford. Awesome! But with the 15 year mortgage they wanted to do, that made the payments too high for us to do comfortably... we were going to have to walk away... or so we thought.

The brother that we were talking to about the house, agreed to a 20 year mortgage instead... and then talked his brother into it. So they dropped the down payment from $10,000 to $3,000 and changed it from 15 years to 20 years. It was totally a God thing. We're set to move in at the end of April... but yet I don't believe it yet. I'm still waiting for the next thing to go wrong. I don't want to tell my landlord that we're moving out because of that fear. I didn't even want to tell my friends and followers about it for fear that it would fall through. And God showed me today that I'm not trusting Him - at all.

I'm not trusting Him that He will care for us, provide for us, and shelter us. I'm fearing the unknown instead of trusting my known God... and I'm sorry. I've confessed that sin to God, and now I'm confessing it to you. Because this post is already so long, I'm not going to tell you all about our new house today - but you can check back in next Monday for the scoop. Just know that I'm trusting God - whatever happens - that He will continue to provide for my family. Even if the deal on this house falls through - again - He will make sure that we are cared for and have a home.

Childhood Memories

What's your favorite childhood memory?

If you asked me, it would depend on your definition of childhood. When I was 6 and under it was spending time with my grandpa. All my memories with him are great ones. He would take us to the corner store and buy us ice cream and bubble gum. We would visit him at his meat locker and have coffee break with him (you know, 80% milk, 10% sugar, and 10% coffee). We would ride bikes around the town square - him on his adult tricycle and me with my training wheels side-by-side. He was an artist, so we would paint pictures together (or he would make me think I was helping anyways) and watch Bob Ross. He was constantly spouting off this one poem that annoyed me to no end at the time - but I would give anything to remember the words now.

Fast forward to my high school years, my favorite memory would actually be the summer before my junior year in high school. I had the best friend a girl could dream of, we did everything together. She lived 30 miles away, but I would pick her up for Sunday night church and youth group on Wednesdays and we spent a ton of time together. We went swimming in her pond, got my car stuck in the mud on a dirt road, and stayed up all night talking about everything - including my dislike of peas. We were like two peas in a pod - only I liked it.

So all of this reminiscing has made me wonder what my children will remember when they grow up. Will they remember grandparents that would travel any distance just to spend time with them? Family camping trips? The hikes that we use to go on in Colorado? Will their favorite memory be Wednesday night youth group? Reading books together before bed? Or the times when they are free from their parents as I have heard from so many others I've talked to?

I know that I can't control their favorite memories, but I can do my best to make sure that they grow up with good memories. I'm far from the perfect mother, but one of the things I love most about my family is that we know we love each other and God. And that reminds me of a YouTube video by Voddie Baucham called "Creating A Godly Legacy" apparently in the 3 years since I last watched it it has been removed from YouTube - sad - but I was able to pull up the outline in an online search. You can download it here. And then I found the DVD and went ahead and bought it too (I love tax return time).

Operation Shape Up - Day #1

You know those silly fantasies you have? You know, like thinking your life would be better if only...? If only you had more undisturbed work time. If only you were in a better financial situation. If only____________... you get the picture. I've had a lot of 'if only's in my life. I've also had a lot of times that I looked forward to something that was going to happen, because it had become an 'if only' in a matter of speaking. Such as, after I move, I'll read my Bible everyday, have a clean house, and be caught up for work. It sounds unreasonable now - now that I'm there and realize there are even fewer hours in the day than before. Between shuttling the kids to and from school, unpacking boxes, and everything else that I need to do each day it feels like I will never get caught up.

Commence Operation Shape Up 

I've decided to start getting life under control now. Not when the next big things happen, but just starting where I am - right now.

There are several things that I'm wanting to work on, but here's a few:

• Reading My Bible Daily - I've actually been doing really well at reading the "Jesus Calling" devotional book every day this year, but not so good about actual Bible reading.
• Eating Healthy - Okay, I'm not a health nut and never will be, but I do know that eating smart is good for you in more ways than one. I need to focus to accomplish the work I need to do each day, and eating smart and drinking water instead of soda is just one small step to being more alert and having more energy.
• Exercising Daily - I sit at my desk all day everyday. There's not much activity involved in that. I get up to walk to the car to take the kids to school or fix supper, but regular exercise isn't part of my routine - but it needs to be. It's part of that energy thing I mentioned - not to mention that we just had to spend a bundle of money on new clothes for me because I out grew my old ones. *hides face in shame*
• Prioritizing Projects - My priorities have been a bit mixed up. Work wise, I keep taking on new clients before finishing up bigger projects that are over due - that has to stop. I've begun turning away clients until I'm all caught up - not easy by the way. I've also noticed that because I'm so far behind on work projects, that my family is suffering. I've tried set work hours in the past, and that just doesn't work for me. But I do need to prioritize my family over my job.
• Expanding My Horizons - I've been a bit stuck in my own little work these past few months. I've let friendships fall by the weigh-side. I've found my comfort zone (that's not overly comfortable) and determined to stay right where I am - I think this was a subconscious decision, but I'm consciously deciding to change it. 

So, those are the 5 steps involved in Operation Shape Up. I'm bound and determined to shape up my life. Today is off to an okay start. I got up and made my family breakfast and fixed Mr. Amazing's lunch. I even ate breakfast myself - highly unusual for me. And I'm even drinking water - anyone who knows me personally can tell you what a feat that is all on it's own. I worked out on my new elliptical machine... Okay, that part didn't go very well. After 5 minutes of running my chest was burning and I couldn't breath. I had intended to listen to an audio book (expanding my horizons with my new Kindle), while I ran, but it took the whole 5 minutes to download. In the past - 6 years ago past - I have found that if I have something to watch or listen to while running, it takes my mind off of the workout and allows me to get more done.

Now, off to read my Bible and take some vitamins :)

*Updated to add:

Those vitamins were NASTY! We got them at the Vitamin Cottage before we moved from Denver. They're called "Wellness Formula" - I bought them for Mr. Amazing, though I don't remember why...They have a ton of good stuff in them - like garlic, elderberry fruit extract, ginger root, and vitamin C.

I'm suffering from a Kidney infection, so I took the 3 horse pills that it said would correct any bodily imbalance (it recommends taking this dose every three hours until your better... I don't think so). I'll stick to the normal 1 tablet daily from here on out. I had to break my water only kick to wash them down with some lemonade.

Re-dedication

A friend of mine's favorite devotional book is Jesus Calling by Sarah Young, and she was excited to share when it went on sale at the end of January. Based on her high recommendation of it (that I've been hearing for years now), I took advantage of the opportunity to get it for the temporary low price. And I have to admit, I knew nothing about this book other than it was a devotional book that she loved... that's it. Now that I've started reading it, it's one of those devotional books that's written as if God is speaking directly to you - I normally chafe at those, but this one is different. It might be because I took the time to read Sarah's introduction, or it might be that her words are just the first truly inspired ones I have ever read, I'm not sure. She acknowledges that Scripture is far more inspired than these devotions, that she believes were from God speaking to her during her quiet times - and so far, I think she's right on target. The three that I've read so far have touched me exactly where I needed them. God is definitely using them in my life! They're short, simple, and cut right to the core.

God has used them to show me that during 2012 I drifted. I let life get in the way of my relationship with Him. He wasn't my number 1. It's not that I didn't want Him to be, I just struggled with priorities. I struggled with making the eternally important a priority over the earthly important - when if I would have taken the time to think about it, the two should be the same. I'm ashamed to admit that I pushed ministry aside for money - and we all know that you can't serve both God and money. I've been stressed to the max about everything on my to-do list. I have clients wanting to know when I'm going to complete their jobs, I'm surrounded by boxes from my move, and my family wants me to stop working and spend time with them. So what was today's devotion about? Being refreshed by God's peace because He is our burden-bearer. I don't know if that's a lesson that you needed at the start of this new year, but it's most certainly one that I needed.

I don't know how I'm going to get my life in order, it's a little too much to comprehend at the moment, but God knows. So today I'm laying my burdens at His feet. There's a lot of them, but He can handle them much better than I can, and I'm going to bask in His peace. In the secret of His quiet place, I'll wait for Him. I'm re-dedicating my life to Christ. I'm surrendering my goals, my priorities, and myself to Him, and Him alone.

 

Looking Forward

I know a lot of people use the end of the year to reflect on the past year, but I'm refusing to do that. Instead, I'm choosing to look forward. It doesn't matter what I did or didn't do during 2012. It doesn't matter what regrets I might have, or what successes I achieved. What matters is what's yet to come. Where will I go from here. Where will you go?

2013 is going to be a good year for me - a great year. Why? Because I'm trusting God to make it so. Of course I know there will be challenges and probably some heart ache - that's life. Jesus didn't promise us a life of ease, but told us that we would have trouble in this world (John 16:33). But He also says that He came so that we could have life - and have it to the full (John 10:10).

As I'm looking ahead to the coming year, I can't help but think of the things I want to do, and yet, this year I sense God telling me not my will, but His be done. I don't know where this year will take me, but as long as I keep my eyes on Christ, I know it will be worth it.

I do want to leave you with a few things that I'm looking forward to this year:
The launch of my newest book - "A Year of Book Marketing" is tomorrow and Mr. Monday is returning!

So for this first Mr. Monday post, I wanted to start a list of reason's that I'm thankful for my Mr. I invite you do join me as well if you want. You can link up at the bottom of this post. I'm planning on this being a series, where the last Monday of every month you can link up with new reasons you're thankful for your Mr. until we reach 100 :) Ready? Go.

10 Reasons I'm Thankful For Mr. Amazing:

1. He loves me - I know, it's a selfish reason, but he does and I'm thankful for that!
2. He doesn't smoke - We just moved to Texas, and I don't know why, but it seems like 90% of the guys here smoke! *Little known secret, when we first started dating, I smoked, Mr. Amazing never has. I quit when I got pregnant with the girls. I guess reason #3 would be that:
3. He loves me despite my imperfections (such as past habits mentioned above) - I know I already said I was thankful that he loves me, but loving me despite my imperfections really is different. His love doesn't try to change me, he loves me just the way I am. And I'm thankful for that.
4. He works hard to support our family - he really does. It isn't easy getting up every single day and leaving the house to slave away for people you don't care about. My first husband chose not to do so, and I'm thankful that Mr. Amazing isn't like that.
5. He's the perfect snuggle partner - I know, it's mushy, but it's true. My favorite time of day is snuggling with him in the morning, and I'm thankful for that time - with his old job he had to leave for work at 2 am and we didn't have that. So this is nice.
6. He's a great dad - he is. He helps the boys with their homework and teaches the girls new things all the time. He takes them for bike rides and blows bubbles so they can pop them. He's just all around awesome - I mean Amazing. ;)
7. He's thankful for me - I know, that sounds selfish too, but he is - and I love it. He isn't one of those guys that wonder's what his wife does all day. He knows I work hard and he's thankful for it. He's thankful for my love, and he's thankful for what I do with the kids. So I'm thankful for his thankfulness.
8. He's willing to help - Again, a little selfish. He helped me complete a work project this month that I was behind on, and he constantly offers to help with other things, or asks what he can do to help me out - not because he thinks I'm slacking, but because he knows it's not easy being me. He works hard all day, and is still willing to help out when he gets home. Go ahead, admit it, you're jealous.
9. He pushes me to be better myself - he might not think that I'm thankful for this, but I am. He knows I like to stay in my comfort zone and pushes me to expand my horizons - and when I'm doing so...
10. He encourages me - when I'm scared of doing something new, or feel like I'm failing at, well, everything, he encourages me and lets me know that he's there to support me and thinks I'm doing a fabulous job. :)

It's hard to stop at 10, but that's the first round. I can't wait to write more next month! What reasons are you thankful for your Mr.? List a few in the comments or write your own blog and link up below...

Just a Heads Up

I've been organizing a Christmas Book Sale for the company that I work for. It's going on now, and I knew you would want to know about it - because you're awesome like that. So, here's the scoop:

By visiting our sales page, you can score up to $200 in savings and get over 60 books for free or reduced price. There are both fiction and non-fiction books listed and tons of Christian titles.

After racking up savings on books (or before) you can also enter to win a $25 Amazon Gift Card.

So hop on over and check it out at:
http://bit.ly/ChristmasBookSale

There vs. Here

I've been meaning to write this post for a while, maybe even making a series out of it. But since we just went through a major move - Denver, Colorado to Small-town,  Texas (exact location not disclosed) - I wanted to outline some of the differences. Here's a few:

Colorado - If you wave at someone you don't know, you might get shot, but at the very least, you'll get a dirty look.
Texas - Everyone waves at everyone. If you don't wave, people wonder why you're having a bad day.

Colorado - If you want to say hi to someone, you nod your head up.
Texas - You nod your head down - or just wave.

Colorado - The mail man leaves packages on the ground near the mailbox.
Texas - If you get a package, the mailman brings it to the door. If you don't answer and your door is unlocked, he'll just set it inside for you.

Colorado - If you want to have your electric turned on, you call them up and they need a credit card on file.
Texas - You must physically go in and fill out paperwork, then they don't do cards, you have to pay with a check or cash.

Colorado - If you have a birthday party, you send out invitations and people RSVP.
Texas - You send out birthday party invitations requesting an RSVP and no one responds, then several people show up anyway.

Colorado - The high on Thanksgiving: 62
Texas - The high on Thanksgiving: 87

And here's my favorite:
Colorado - they have already had their fair share of snow - it even snowed 4 inches in October before we moved. School isn't delayed or cancelled for anything under 2 feet, they don't even do indoor recess unless the temp is under 20 degrees.
Texas - we had a quarter inch of snow today and school was delayed 2 hours. Of course, we weren't expecting that anyway and took our son in. There were several other parents dropping off children, so Mr. Amazing let him out of the car and drove away. Little did he know the door was locked and all of the other kids would return to their cars... When he got to work, someone mentioned that school had been delayed for an hour, so he called me to inquire. We don't have T.V. so I have no idea how to find out other than calling the school. No one is at the school - assumingly because school has been delayed. It's 28 degrees, so I'm not overly concerned, but go about getting the small children ready to drive to the school and see what's going on. Planning on making sure he has some place warm to sit, or waiting with him until the door is unlocked. As I'm backing out of the driveway a police car pulls up... Kainen gets out of the back and the officer explains that they would have been their sooner, but Kainen only knew our house number - not the street name. Of course, we've lived here all of 1 week, I'm not surprised by this - actually, I was surprised he even knew the number already. Then the officer explains that school doesn't start until 10 because of the snow - the 1/4 inch that I mentioned. He also suggests registering for text messages from the school - GREAT idea.

Which brings me to the next difference:
Colorado - You want to register for mobile updates, you sign up online.
Texas - You want to register for mobile updates? You go to the schools website, find the number to call for instructions (which you had to search for because it isn't obvious). The man that answers the phone doesn't know how to do that, but thinks it has something to do with Twitter. I should call back after school starts at 10 when someone else is there that might know how I can get set up... I'm from Colorado. I just find them on Twitter (not listed on their website), and sign up to follow them and get mobile alerts for their tweets (as they only have three in their entire history, two being tests at the beginning of the year and one being about the delay this morning, I'm assuming I won't get a ton of updates I don't need).

So yeah... things are a bit different here.

Here's a nice photo of our new house
(still being remodeled, so it won't always look like this) 

with the nice snowfall that delayed school for 2 hours....

Guest Post: When Dealing with Infidelity

When dealing with infidelity 

by Naty Matos

In Today’s society Christian women are not exempt of dealing with the ugly monster of infidelity. Unfortunately in many Christian homes women have had to deal with the fact that their husbands have shared intimacy with someone else.

Adultery breaks the heart of a woman, especially the one that believes that is living with a man after God’s heart. The first question on a woman’s mind is what did I do wrong? I came to bring you the answer. You did nothing wrong.

Although it is true that in a troubled relationship there are two sides of a story and that both parties shared the responsibility, the final choice to act belongs to the individual. You did not make your spouse cheat, he chose to do that.

I think that’s a liberating thought, as many women blame themselves for the actions of their husbands in this particular. There’s no amount of conversation, intimacy or pleasing that would have made him make a different choice. Yes, those things may have influence his decision, but it was ultimately his decision to act on it. Adultery is not the actual problem; it’s just the symptom to major issues in the relationship that were not addressed on time.

Can a marriage be saved after one commits adultery? Yes, but it takes many of things and both parties need to be willing to work together to achieve it.

• The husband needs to repent for his actions; to God first and to his wife.
• The husband needs to end the adulterous relationship Hebrews 13:4 “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.”
• The wife needs to forgive her husband. This is very important. If for the rest of your life you will be bringing the issue up is not going to make the healing process any easier. Yes, it’s not going to be easy and that’s where prayer and counseling will have to help. Remember the word on Ephesians 4:32 “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
• The husband needs to make amends to his wife. Matthew 5:23-24 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift”
• The wife needs to find her identity in Christ and her security in him and not her husband. When a woman finds out that her husband has cheated on her; many insecurities arise. Am I attractive enough? Was I intimate enough with him? Am I good enough? It takes a toll on her self-esteem. This is when she needs to remember that she’s not who she thinks she is or who her husband says she is. She is who God says she is.
• They should seek counseling to mend the relationship and deal with the issues that triggered the situation.

In my new novella, “Season’s Greetings for Amelia” our main couple deals with the issue of infidelity. Can this marriage be saved? Find out by getting this intense story for your Kindle just 0.99 cents.

About Naty Matos:

Naty Matos was born in the city of New York. She grew up in the beautiful Island of Puerto Rico and now lives in the city of Atlanta.

She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Clinical Psychology with a Minor in Mass Media Communications and a Master's Degree in Mental Health Counseling.

Naty writes Christian fiction and non-fiction. She maintains a blog on Christian Living Topics at www.therisingmuse.com

Copyright © The Rising Muse 2012

Book Description

Daisy has the perfect life, beautiful children and a wonderful husband. And Christmas is right around the corner.  Tis the season to be jolly... Or is it?

Daisy's life is flipped upside down by strange letters that are sent to her by her best friend, Amelia. And as her life continues to quickly spiral out of control, she realizes that something BIG is about to happen.  Can she put aside her confusion, hurt, and anger in order to solve a mystery that may have a horrific ending????

Can Daisy's life ever return to normal regardless to whether she does or doesn't?

You can get your copy of Naty's new book by clicking here.

Life is Good

The past week has been simply amazing for me. I've been recovering from a pretty nasty virus, but I just keep being blessed!

Last Friday I found out that I won a copy of Jody Hedlund's newest book, Unending Devotion (and I LOVE Jody's books), AND that afternoon I found out that I had won Christian Womens Voice Magazine's Christmas Moments essay contest (my essay "Keeping Christmas about Christ" will be featured in their next issue).

Shelley Hitz and I started a new book marketing community for the website Self-Publishing-Coach.com that really took off over the weekend.

Our latest devotional book, "21 Teen Devotionals... for Girls!" was published on Sunday, AND that very same day we received a 5 star review of our first devotional book from Readers Favorite.

I guess that all of those amazing things happening in a row, especially when I've been over stressed and under the weather lately, have just really been showing me how blessed I really am.

Riddled Reflections

I have been really struggling lately. Really. It seems like I can't concentrate long enough to be productive at anything. I have been falling behind at work because I can't finish a complete thought. Between the constant "Mom. Mom. Mom," from my children, and the migraine that I have been battling for going on a month, I'm at a loss. It got so bad last week that I was almost ready to quit - just throw away everything that I have worked so hard for, and dreamed of. While any of you who have been reading my blog for a while know, most of my migraines are caused by chronic whiplash that I got several years ago, however, my chiropractor says that this one is probably caused by some stress going on in our family life. He says it is irritating my whiplash and the combination of the two is totally throwing me off my game. In other words, it's not a coincidence that the headaches started at the exact same time as every thing else... imagine that.

So I took the weekend off. I have two major projects due no later than Wednesday, and over a dozen smaller projects that I HAVE to finish up this month, and I took the weekend off... Was that a dumb move? Maybe, but my hope was that stepping away from part of the stress would help my head to stop throbbing - it didn't, but I am thinking just a bit clearer now. I'm confident (well, mostly) that will God's help I will meet all of my deadlines, and the stress in our family life will work itself out to the glory of God.

I guess that I should mention that part of my weekend off was helped along by a dear friend who volunteered to take the kids for a night - all four of them. She didn't get much sleep Saturday night and was ready for a nap when we picked them up on Sunday afternoon, but it was the first night I had had alone with Mr. Amazing since the twins were born (almost 5 years ago!). It was nice. We both had headaches, but it was still nice. Part of my (and him) felt guilty that I took the time off. With the kids gone there was great potential to get a ton done. But stepping back and just taking time to breath... well, that was worth it.

I was looking back, even just two years ago I was allowed lazy days. I didn't work from home back then... I did a lot of volunteer things, but when you volunteer you don't have as much to do, or deadlines with consequences. I spent a lot of time back then cleaning house and studying my Bible. Now I spend a lot of time working, a little time reading my Bible, and I clean a bit too. I thought my house was messy back then, I know it's messy now. But with all of the changes, I wouldn't change where I am for anything. Yes, I would gladly give up the headaches, and would love to have patient children, but despite all of that, I am blessed beyond measure. I have the opportunity to live my dream. No, it isn't easy, but it's worth it.

- I mentioned that with my headache I haven't been able to complete a thought... yeah, I just re-titled this post because I totally set out to write something else. Oops... At least you are a forgiving audience. :)

In the Midst of Tragedy

I'm assuming that you have all heard about the tragedy that happened here in Denver this past week. Watching the news and knowing that such devastation occurred so close to home is heart wrenching. While our neighbors are still recovering from the devastating wild fires that occurred earlier this month, there is now yet another event to mourn. 

I have refrained from posting much in social media since the day that it happened. Reading through my news feed is almost enough to bring me to tears. While people are sharing the pain from the people that were lost or still in critical condition, others are going to barbecues and celebrating birthdays. I know that this goes on every day, but watching it unfold right before my eyes seems so surreal. Life goes on.

This is the world we live in. A world full of troubles, yet Jesus told us to take heart because He has overcome the world. It's months such as this that I need that reminder. Not just for the big things, but for the little things too. While our state is suffering from both natural and unnatural devastation, there are normal every day troubles as well. Just because my heart hurts for all of those suffering doesn't mean that I can stop being a mom to mourn with them. We all have to carry on. We can weep as we live, but live we must. 

So while this is a time of sorrow for those not just here in Colorado, but around the world as the families and friends affected by these events are scattered across the globe, I have to take heart knowing that Jesus, my sweet Jesus, has overcome the troubles of this world. And that while any of us could die tomorrow in a natural or unnatural disaster, I can place my hope and my trust in Christ alone. We don't have the promise of tomorrow, but we can have the promise of eternity. 

I can't think of anyway to draw my feelings of hurt and hope to a close, so I want to share a link with you. This is the only link I have shared about this latest act destruction is one written by someone who was there. She shared her experience and heart on her blog and her words are wise. I encourage you to read them: http://aminiatureclaypot.wordpress.com/2012/07/20/so-you-still-think-god-is-a-merciful-god/

Life Happens

I've been busy lately. Besides the mounds of work that I have to work through, I've been trying to make sure that work doesn't consume my life, and that only appears to make me even busier. My dad and little brother came to visit us last weekend, which was tons of fun, and the week before the kids had vacation Bible school. I always loved VBS as a kid, although I don't remember much other then the fun, it brought me tears of joy listening to the boys retell the parables that they learned during the week. The theme was "Things Hidden" and the children learned about the unseen things of God - like His kingdom and eternity. 


Honestly, I had an entire post planned out about one of the parables that they recounted to me. There was just something about listening to it from the perspective of a child that I wanted to share... but then life happened, and while I'm sure I will remember later, I can't for the life of me get my thoughts together now.

Ty's schooling is still up in the air for next year. Mr. Amazing is going to call the district tomorrow and see if he can get any answers that they wouldn't give me when I tried in the spring. Depending on how that goes, we should be making a final decision soon. It will be good to know what direction we will be going so that I can stop thinking about all of the possibilities and focus on just one. I'm leaning heavily towards public online school if he hasn't been accepted into the school we are still waiting to hear from.

Have I mentioned on this blog that I'm working on a new book? I can't remember. You can learn more about it on my other blog at: http://authorheatherhart.blogspot.com/2012/06/faith-talk.html I'm posting updates on it as I go over there, if you're interested.


Well, despite my mindless chattering, I really do have work to do... I'd best get to it!