Sacrifice

I was singing to my son as I tried to get him to sleep tonight (big challange right now in our house) and I just began singing the phrase "I'll never know how much it cost to see my sin upon that cross" this is from the song, "Here I am to worship". As my son fell asleep I thought of this: there is always "Cost" involved. As a mother/wife I see the "cost" in caring for my children, serving my husband, etc. When I was an employee there was "cost" involved in my job. As a friend there is "cost" involved in relationships. Sacrifice is something we will always come across! How awesome it is that God thought it was worth the sacrifice of His Son for us to have life! I have been studying Genesis lately. The fall of Man and Noah. Without the sacrifice of God's Son we would not exist! We would naturally sin and have to die for those sins! If Adam and Eve could sin so easily without any distractions, struggles, etc do we think we are any different! Tonight I want to acknowledge how Blessed and Grateful I am to be Saved from Sin! Thank you Jesus for the sacrifice you made for Me!!!! I want to follow that example of sacrifice and be a Cheerful Sacrificer with my family! I want to sacrifice for my husband and children without complaining! I want to embrace the beauty and blessing I have to be a wife to an amazing husband who loves to serve God and loves his family and a mother to three wonderful children who all need me in different ways. Thank you God that you have given me eyes to see how to serve them all!

Happy Birthday Tosha!

Today is my sister's birthday!

Happy Birthday Tosh!! Hope your birthday is special! We love you!

Singing with my children

I love to sing! If you know me and you did not know that it is because I do not sing well! Isn't it fun that our children do not notice our lack of talent? I am always singing with my two smaller children. When I sing silly songs loud and crazy it always makes my Zeke laugh and we just dance and sing together. Sometimes in the car or at home. I have also enjoyed many moments of singing worship songs over my children. Recently I have started singing a song over my 19 month old when he goes to sleep. The song goes

Lord prepare me
To be a sanctuary
Pure and Holy
Tried and True
And with Thanksgiving
I'll be a Living
Sanctuary
For You

I believe the Lord put this on my heart as a prayer for my son as he grow! What a privilage it is to raise these beautiful children God has given me. It is so hard sometimes with two very young babies underfoot but God will give me strength during this season to raise up a Strong Man and Beautiful Woman of God.

I have also been blessed with an amazing Older child. Brandon came to me when he was already 13 years old. In this time he has moved in with us, played football, hurt his knee about 3 times, liked a few girls, knocked over a few mailboxes, seen my faults, requested that I choose his wife. We have had many special moments over the years. I always knew there would be special things that would just be "Brandon things". One of those things was "Special Dinner Night". For about a year on the nights that Mike and I would go on date night I would plan a special dinner night for Brandon. I would give him a goody bag with snacks, special treats and drinks as well as a special note just for him. He even had a specil placemat and plate for that night! I always wanted Brandon to feel special. I never ever wanted him to feel like he was any less my child than the children I gave birth to. There is a special song that has been on my heart for the past year or so for Brandon. I have never and never plan to sing this song to Brandon but it is and will always be in my heart. The name of the song is "Find your Wings" by Mark Harris. I have to include the lyrics because they are so amazing. I will probably cry as I type them.

It's only for a moment you are mine to hold
The plans that heaven has for you will all too soon unfold
So many different prayers I'll pray for all that you might do
But most of all I'll want to know you're walking in the truth
And if I never told you I want you to know As I watch you grow

I pray that God would fill your heart with dreams
And that faith gives you the courage to dare to do great things
I'm here for you whatever this life brings
So let my love give you roots
And help you find your wings

May passion be the wind that leads you through your days
And may conviction keep you strong Guide you on your way
May there be many moments that make your life so sweet
Oh, but more than memories

I pray that God would fill your heart with dreams
And that faith gives you the courage to dare to do great things
I'm here for you whatever this life brings
So let my love give you roots
And help you find your wings

It's not living if you don't reach for the sky
I'll have tears as you take off
But I'll cheer as you fly

I pray that God would fill your heart with dreams
And that faith gives you the courage to dare to do great things
I'm here for you whatever this life brings
So let my love give you roots
And help you find your wings

Sing with your children! It is fun and definatly creates a bond between you!

Schedules

Let me just start this post by saying that I HATE schedules. But I have to get one. I have three children. One is 17 yrs old and will be finishing high school via homeschooling in December. One is 19 months old and is currently getting into everything (hopefully not at this moment since he is supossed to be in bed). One is 2 months old and naturally needs mommy to do everything for her (I am very blessed that she sleeps 10-12 hours at night). As I have thought about this schedule business for the past few weeks I have determined that it is really mommy that needs to get into a routine. So every morning I plan to get up at 6am to have some time to myself and then start my day with the kiddos. I think this worked maybe twice. I have tried to plan a variety of activities for my 19 month old so that he will stay busy and this only keeps me extra busy. He has fun but I get nothing done. I think I am one of those people who plans her goals so far fetched that she never completes anything. I told my husband the other day that I was going to get up at 6am everyday. He said "why don't you just try to for tomorrow". What good advice that was. SO with that said, I will try tomorrow to get up early and have time to myself. And then we will go from there! If you read this post and you have a good routine/schedule please share it with me! Maybe I can learn from you!

Two under 2

I am officially the mother of Two under 2!! And boy is it challanging! Hence the reason I have not blogged in about a month! I have so many things rolling around in my head but no time now to get them down. I just wanted to post a few photos of my new family member and also to let you think about something I have been thinking about lately.

I have been thinking about the different roles we all have in a family. For example a mother has a different role than a father and a husband different than a wife. A husband is responsible to provide for the family where the wife is to submit to him and follow! I am grateful that i do not have the responsibility to provide for my family but some how buck up to my husband when I think he is crazy for wanting to do something! Ladies, we have to trust them. I know it is hard sometimes to think that God would have us trust these crazy sinners but He put them over us for a reason! And the role as mother and father. The father's role is not to care for the kids. That is our role as a mother. Yes, they can help out as they see fit but it is not their job! It is a mother's job. And yes, when they do help and do it different than you would like, feel free to correct them but I wouldn't expect them to help out again! I speak from experience. I appreciate my husbands help and learn the hard way that if I want his help I need to let him know I appreciate it and not correct him. Another tidbit I have learned regarding this. They will not remember the simple things (like which lid goes with which sippy cup) even though you think they should. This is NOT their job! Their job is to love us wifes and to provide, among other things. Our job is to take care of the husband, kiddos and the home! WOW! I guess I really did blog about this! LOL Here are some photos of our sweet Abigail Rose!!! Feel free to comment regarding roles and responsiblities in families.

Trusting your Husband

My husband was sick this past week. And we are not talking about a little sick. He came down with Tonsilitis and missed work for 3 days! My husband works contract as a nurse and does not have sick time! He was really sick! At first I was a little annoyed with him. I am 38.5 weeks pregnant and he came to bed late Sunday night complaing and waking me up that he didn't feel well and that he may have to call in to work. Well, I was very annoyed that he woke me up and then I was annoyed that he was talking about calling in to work. We need the money! So I responded with no sympathy and told him to quit whining! As hard as it is to admit it I did tell him that. The next morning I knew he was sick. He kept telling me it was tooo cold in our house and that we could hang meat in there, etc. He was obviously running a fever. He was in bed all day. At some point I realized that my issue was a trust issue (I love to have my husband home during the week) and I needed to trust that God would meet our needs and know that my husband would not call in sick unless he really was! He knows our needs as well as I do! He does not call into work that often! As I began to understand this and deal with the root issue I was able to serve my husband during this sick time that turned out to be 3 full days. The next day we went to the doctor and he found out it was Tonsilitis so he was on antibiotic and since I was pregnant I saw my midwife to make sure i was okay. My throat was a little sore. My throat was a little red so she prescribed me and antibiotic as well. I wasn't feeling the greatest but I just kept wanting to serve my husband. This time of sickness brought us closer to eachother. It was a very hard time for my husband ( he said several times he didn't think he had ever been this sick) and I am glad I was able to submit to him and trust his judgement. How awful of me if I had whined and complained and he had gone to work sick!? I even turned off the fan one night since he was shivering so bad!

I also wanted to add something I heard this morning at church about Submission! Tommy Nelson was talking about how a wife is to submit to her husband but he explained how the Husband submits to Christ and Christ submits to God! So as we submit to our husbands we are ultimately submitting to Christ and then to God! So when we are NOT in submission to our husbands we are also NOT in submission to Christ! Really makes me think! I will have to remember this when there are times I don't want to submit. Our husbands have to answer to Christ for everything they do! When I trust God it makes it a little easier to trust my husband.

CVS Trip

I had intended this blog to include some of my coupon shopping experiences so that others could be encouraged and benefit just like me. Below is two transactions I made a couple of weeks ago. It shows how you can get things you need for very cheap! This particular trip I needed my sunday papers and charcoal. I did not have coupons for either so here is how it went:

Transaction 1
2 Chex Mix 1.00 ea
2 Listerine Smart Rinse 3.49 ea
2 CVS bandages 1.99 ea
2 Dallas Morning News papers 1.50 ea

Total 15.96

Used 3/15 CVS coupon, 2 $1 off coupon for Chex, 2 $1 off coupon for Listerine, and a 9.98 ECB
Total out of pocket was $ 0.00
And I got $3.98 ECB for bandages and $6.98 ECB for listerine

Transaction 2
1 Pampers Diapers 7.99
1 Gum Go Between teeth cleaner 2.99
1 Kingsford Charcoal 5.99

Total 16.97

Used 3/15 CVS coupon, 55cents off Gum coupon, 1.50 off pampers coupon, and 3.98 and 6.98 ECB

Total out of pocket was $1.50
And I got $1 ECB for the Gum product

I hope this is helpful to someone! If you would like more advice on how to do shops at CVS let me know. I love helping people get the things they need for Free, better than Free or almost Free! It is so much fun for me.