Category: Family

Random Ramblings: CRAZY weekend

Posted on by Mary

Actually its been a super crazy week since I last wrote a Random Ramblings….. Crazy Crazy CRAZY!!!!

Let’s Start with last week.

J was home from school on Monday because he had a fever the night before..and the school holds to a 24 hour policy without meds. T, K, and S went to school, but we were all very aware about the storm heading our way.  Hubby had a meeting Monday night.  Snow showed up Early Tuesday morning and we quickly realized that things had changed over night…our original 12 inches was upgraded and by Tuesday evening we had 29 inches of snow.  did I mention the kids had a snow day Tuesday )YAY)…..and then Tuesday afternoon a travel ban was put into place…… so Wednesday no school….Thursday rolled around and the roads were much better excluding the drift spots, but no AWANA that night.  J’s respite care worker came Thursday and Friday instead of Tuesday and Wednesday…. Hmmm I wonder why. Hubby  was at church from 10-4-430 and then we had some errands to run and dinner out together (Are you getting tired yet, cuz I am just writing it.  THEN Friday Happened….Initially all the kids had off school for Friday but since they exceeded their 5 allotted snow days T, K, and S all had school on Friday  so it was just J home.  Hubby and J went to church to finish up the previous days project.  When they came home J’s service coordinator came for a brief meeting and his respite care worker came…we ate a quick lunch and were off to visit a church person who also had her gall bladder out last week (That is 3 of us from our church in about 3 months), then we had to pick up the kids from school (OOPS almost forgot that detail…thanks J for reminding us at lunch) had to o pick up K’s friend, whose parents are our church’s youth leaders, from her grandparents house so she could come spend the weekend with K while her parents, I and two teenagers went to a youth rally….. BREATHE!!! We drove home that night, stopped at Walmart  and came home….. slept….. then left AGAIN the next morning to head back.  We were there till 5ish and then headed home again… IN MORE SNOW.  I didn’t get to go right home though I had a meeting at church that took a while because it involved some artistic work… and you know artists, we are our own worst critics!   Yep OCD was strong!!  I came home to my children (T & K) preparing dinner for us!  What a blessing those two are!  And that leads us to Sunday with all the normal Sunday stuff for a pastor’s family.

This life is crazy and we all go through crazy times but in the end we have choices.  As the speaker at the youth rally I attended this weekend shared as he spoke through 1 Corinthians 13, we all have a choice in being loving we can be kind or we can be rude….. So in these times of  Crazy it’s very easy to become self absorbed and rude, I mean ungrateful… and much more or we can CHOOSE  to look beyond our crazy, our horrible, our circumstances and be who God has called us to be…… LOVING!   It’s not easy and it takes a ton of practice.  I know I’m not there yet.  I’m not perfect and I most certainly DON’T have this all figured out. So start small. That’s what I am doing. I’m picking one thing….. and I’m choosing to pay attention to others rather than my crazy! How about you? What keeps you from being loving when THAT is what God calls us to do?

 

Happy Homemaker Monday – 3/20/2017

Posted on by Mary

The weather::: today will be grey and very overcast with the high of 43 but the temps are looking up with a dip back into the 20’s but then rising again to 50’s.  we still have a very thick blanket of snow, but there are spots of grass in the areas the wind blew the snow away.

On my reading pile:::  Pretty much the same as last week.  Unglued, The Best Yes, You are Loved no Matter What, and I Am

Movies or Shows I watched this weekend:::  Nothing I was away most of the weekend at a Youth rally

On my TV:::I am about to put my TobyMac  station on Pandora on our TV

On the menu for this week:::

Monday Venison with Potatoes, Carrots, and  Tomatoes  in the crockpot

Tuesday Leftovers

Wednesday TaterTot casserole in the crockpot

Thursday Meatball subs

Friday Hamburgers and hotdogs and fries

Saturday Pizza (Hubby’s Homemade including my fave Bacon cheeseburger Pizza YUM)

Sunday Meatloaf and potatoes and a veggie (meatloaf and potatoes go in the crockpot together)

On The To-Do List :: I need to tackle my sewing cabinet this week.  When hubby built it for me there was no time to organize it so that is my major tackle for this week AND if I can complete that I will move onto the craft / exercise room

What I am sewing, crocheting, knitting or creating::: I have a couple of Cricut projects I need to work on.  I’m still learning to use my new machine, but I need to just practice more with it to build up my confidence

Happening this week:::Our friend is moving out this week.  we are happy for her that she has found a place so quickly, everyone is sad that they are going but it’s a new adventure for them.   God has blessed them greatly in this and we look forward to see how God works in their lives

Looking around the house::: the downstairs looks amazing, we have to find son #2’s AWANA grand prix car sine he lost it….and we can’t seem to FIND IT ANYWHERE   YIKES

From the camera:::

kitten therapy

What I’m wearing today::: comfy jeans…you know the ones with elastic…Hey don’t judge the girl I jam still healing from gallbladder surgery and real pants are very uncomfortable still, a blue sweater with navy and maroon plaid collar and tails  and my sneakers

One of my simple pleasures::: Coffee with yummy creamer…

Bible verse, Devotional:::

Hebrews 9:11NIV

11 But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here,[a] he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation

 

For More Happy Homemaker Posts Check out tDiary of a Stay At Home Mom

 

Random Ramblings: All the New Normals All wrapped into one Big Crazy

Posted on by Mary

Well I am still here, and I am still alive…and now I am well. and Every Monday I am going to post  random ramblings about our lives….this maybe one of the longer ones…it spans months but  it is to keep family and friends up to speed  on our day to day lives, from the perspective of our faith as a family intertwined as it is who we are, not what we do!

So Onto todays Ramblings….

Let’s start at the latest bit of crazy and the least unexpected of all.  Nearly two weeks ago….I found myself in the ER waiting       for emergency surgery….MY gallbladder to be exact.  Let’s just say apparently I had been a lot sicker than I realized.  It’s amazing at just how well I feel since the surgery, it has been kinda hard for my poor hubby to keep me down.  I have learned my limits though…like bending.  I gave up bending over a week ago!!    The back pain that I had been experiencing  for literally months went away as soon as the gall bladder was gone and has not been back since.  And during this time God really struck me with some new thoughts….now that I was feeling better And that I had to be resting it was the perfect time to read and write and read and write and write and read some more…and I have done just that.  It is during these moments that God and I have worked through some REALLY tough stuff….NO joke.    Part of what we have worked on is this lack of confidence thing that has haunted me for 2 1/2 years now.  but Im going to be blogging on that regularly now.

The next oddity is that this has been our absolutely sickest winter since our oldest child was in preschool…he is going to be 12 in just a few short months…we have gotten 6 illnesses that have hot almost very person in our family.  the most recent was child #3 getting the flu… yes he had the flu shot.   this has not been easy. We have not had 1 whole week since New Years without at least 1 kid home sick from school….it’s not a two and a half months I want to revisit anytime soon.

And perhaps the craziest of antics of all actually happened in October.  we had a friend and her three small children move into our home.  yeah so we grew by four…if you are keeping track that is 10 all together and 3 cats and a dog…..no exaggerations. . Their apartment (in our house) has been mostly done since just before Christmas and in just about a week and a few days they will be moving into their own place.   It has been a stretching experience but we  are glad we did it!

We also said goodbye to hubby’s Grandpa in October and then his uncle VERY unexpectedly almost a month later.

Im really sorry it has been so incredibly long since I have written.  it has not been  my intention And I will be  discussing on Mondays my struggle and explaining my journey with my word confidence, so place on jumping into that next Monday.  I can say this….God has given me the desire and gift to write…or so I am told, so I will write.  I am not going to hide any longer.  My confidence is not in men but in Christ….and I am not doing this for anyone else but HIM to bring him glory through what I have to say!  Thanks for sticking with me! and I look forward to getting to know each other in the near future.

with much love,

Mary

True Confession: On Brokenness and Breaking the Silence….

Posted on by Mary

brokennessBrokenness comes in all shapes and sizes.

Sometimes it comes in the form of a diagnosis that we believe ends in no good for our future. I received such a diagnosis at ripe old age of 16. I had been diagnosed since the age of 13 with age-related Macular Degeneration. You may ask how on earth could you be 13 and have anything age-related? But the dilemma came with the type of Macular Degeneration I have. There are two forms, Wet and Dry. Juvenile on-set is Dry. however Age- related is either Dry or Wet, Well I have wet, and since the age of 13 I have had the eyes of a 65 year old. Minus a year and a half after I had surgery but I still had a shadow. An ever constant reminder that something could and did show back up again. At 16, or the month before I turned 16. All I could think about was the freedom that came with a car. Then I got scared. My freedom stripped away. Who wanted a damaged girl.? (My husband of now 13 years did that’s who.) What had gone wrong to make God mad at me? I heard nothing about grace in the church I grew up in. All that echoed through my head was countless Sunday school stories that said if you sin, bad things happen. And bad things happen, when you sin. I thought my life was over. And in all honesty there were days I thought about ending it all. I would be forever legally blind.

Then there are the phone calls people dread….all people. You know the ones, I’m sorry honey but Gram passed away. Did I mention that it was phone call #11….in a year!

And then there is the moment you hear the service coordinator (you have already worked with the previous two years) as you explain what’s going on (what you already know in your soul) as she says, oh Mary I am so sorry I think we missed it. I am pretty sure he has AUTISM.

Or two years later when you are standing in your church and your little boy runs out of a classroom yelling the most awful thing you could ever imagine……your head swims. Continue reading “True Confession: On Brokenness and Breaking the Silence….” →

It’s Been a Month…..

Posted on by Mary

It's Been A Montha Month…a whole month?   REALLY? Tomorrow marks a month since I last posted , and it’s not because of a lack of want.   it’s been a very crazy month and i wish I could say it was going to get better.   Actually it will…..once we leave on vacations, but until then the month coming will hold some fun!

 

It had been a pretty focused month …and then it happened last week….I got sick.   I have not been sick all winter…I would start down the cold road and then I would take extra vitamins and then Id be fine.My seeds That needed to be are all started…They aren’t really doing much BUT they are started at least!I had my laptop sitting next to last week, open all ready to write but my arms ached so BAD!  I just rolled over and went to sleep.

So here are some of th things we have accomplished over the last month

  1. Little Bean turned 6
  2. Picnics
  3. Weasels’s 3rd quarterly report was written and sent in.
  4. Homeschool curriculum for grade 3 has been purchased  and recieveed
  5. Letter of Intent to homeschool has been sent in
  6. Away has been completed
  7. we acquired a second set of college stdents (related to a class that they take in the special education degree)  they spend 25 hours with a family over the course of a semester.   For whatever reason the second set couldn’t finish out their hours with their assigned family so we were asked if we could fit in another set.  this was a fourth semester participating in this program…a lot of this college kids don’t…or can’t connect but the group we had this semester really connected wonderfully with weasel…..they were simply amazing!
  8. My stack of reading is GOING NO WHERE FAST!   I just had too many things going on at once, but soon I will have more time once homeschooling is done for the year.
  9. we (my Women’s Bible study group that I leadI) put on this AMZING Ladies Brunch….. And we are beginning to form the foundation of a a thriving women Ministry in our church.  this was really time consuming, BUT it’s what I am called to do and I love it!
  10. we are getting ready to kick off our next ladies Bible study  using Rest Assured By Vicki Courtney which I reviewed here a couple of months ago.  I have fallen in Love with the book and it is beginning a 4 level Bible study series spanning 4 books
    1. Rest Assured
    2. The Best Yes
    3. Thrive
    4. Fervent
  11. and even though I have been silent on the blog, I have been writing.   There is a blog series pending the release of Stacey Thacker’s book  Fresh Out of Amazing.   This series of blog posts has been shall we say….HARD!  that seems like such an understatement.
  12. There have been people in my life who need me…not just my hubby and kids.  I have some friends who are really going through some really hard things…unthinkable things.  sad things.  and I will be there for them.  I made a determination a year ago that I would be that friend that God uses to be a light….(I write this as Michael W. Smith’s song I will be Here for You come on)
  13. We also have another Bible study meeting here in our home.
  14. and there are somethings I just can’t share.   tThey quite possibly could require “new Normal’s”    But we are willing.  That’s really what God asks of us, is willingness.  Usually based around our “i’ll never…” statements..
  15. Little Bean accepted christ as his Savior,  then later that week, 3 young girls from our church followed suit!  what an amazing blessing…Did I mention Little Bean accepted Christ on MOTHER”S DAY    🙂
  16. Hubby and I celebrated 13 years of marriage..while I was sick 🙁
  17. Tomorrow is Hubby’s Birthday!

Well there is a look inside our last month.  You will be hearing more from me more often I have some really neat thing coming down the line including a weekly project Post, sharing my latest creations and  a snapshot into my planner….I have been using The Happy Planner for the last 7 months and boy am I loving it.    There will also be some  Why I do what I do posts, inspired by Rest Assured and The Best yes, So won’t you Stay tuned in the coming days weeks and months as we jump into writing again!  I promise It won’t be a month till you hear from me again !

Blessings

Mary