Days 5-8 - 31 Days to Build a Better Home

Have you joined in the 31 Days to Build A Better Home Challenge? It's not to late to jump in!

Day 5: Get Rid of Some Paper Clutter
~ While cleaning off the back stairs on Day 4, I generated quite a lot of paper that needed to be shredded. Tonight is the night our trash goes out, so all those itty bitty pieces of info are heading out!

Day 6: Plan Some Family Game Time for the Weekend
~ DH and little man are big gamers in our home - they love the Wii and all games associated with the Lego product line. Occasionally, I will convince them to put away their games in favor of a sports game that I enjoy. We had a blazing HOT weekend here, so some indoor time was a must. We enjoyed bowling, Frisbee golf, and regular golf.

Day 7: Flirt with Your Husband All Day Long
~ Done! And oodles of fun, by the way :)

Day 8: Bless Your Parents and Your In Laws
~ We are very blessed to live close to our parents. My parents live less than 10 minutes away and DH's parents are about an hour. It's a Monday night tradition that little man and I eat dinner with my parents while DH has band practice at church. Today, I cut up some fresh peaches and added a bit of brown sugar. I plan to take those and some angel food cake tomorrow night as a healthy(ish) dessert for all of us.

GO visit the ladies at Today's Housewife and join in!

A Fresh Perspective

I was watching Ratatouille a few days ago with little man for, oh the 400th time and was struck by a scene at the end of the movie. A waiter asks a famous food critic what he'd like for dinner and the food critic responds with "I'd like some perspective." I know I need some! What's important, what's first, what can I let go, who am I afraid to upset by saying "no," why do I think I should be perfect, what is perfect - anyway?!?!? You see the struggle, right? Please tell me you see it - and maybe feel some of it - too!

My perspective should come from remembering God's call on my life. Plain and simple. I stray from this very often and by NO means am I advocating a "follow me" philosophy. Girls, we'd all be going over the same high, dangerous cliff if you followed me. Follow Christ!!

I started a new Bible study last week with an amazing group of women. The scripture inspiration is from 1 John:4. "This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." (1 John 4:10-11) As one of Christ's followers, the most important thing I can do is to LOVE. First God, then loving those around me. It sounds so simple, yet loving requires being vulnerable, being accessible, being sacrificial. Those things are much harder. I am working every day to become more loving. I pray you are too!

Self Control - or lack thereof ...

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." Galatians 5:22-23

Several weeks ago I attended a womens conference and listened to Priscilla Shirer speak. She briefly mentioned her battles with food and referenced the verse above from Galatians as one that helped her break the bondage to food. For her, it was all about self control. Food itself is not bad, liking food is not bad; the problem comes when we have no self control and we overindulge.

God has been working on my heart over the past few weeks. I have read those verses over and over and over again and I am also being "smacked in the face" with my sheer lack of self control. Every decision I make throughout the day speaks of what I value and how much I trust God to fulfill His promises. When I make impulsive, over-indulgent, unwise, foolish, or plain old bad decisions, it reflects on me and the God I serve. I am also realizing that God has big plans for my life, my husband, our family and our little man. He could use all of us much more fully if I would display more self control. Practical examples? How I speak to people and the words I choose, how I choose to spend time, how many things I commit to doing, how I choose to spend resources, and many more things each day give me the opportunity to exhibit Biblical self control in my life.

I often try to convince myself that I have an area of sin under control - that I have overcome it. Self control was one of those area for a while. Until I realized that I had begun to control only the worst - or most obvious - things that caused me to exhibit a lack of self control. God continues to peel back layers and expose more opportunities for me to think differently and act differently. I am so thankful He's not done with me yet!

"...he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."
Philippians 1:6b

Finer Things Friday - Feb 19, 2010

It's been a wild week around our house - lots of emotional and spiritual up and down. We are clinging to the promise "that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:6b). God is faithful when we are not; God is merciful when we don't deserve it; God is gracious beyond measure. These things I KNOW to be true and I rest in them. Just a few glimpses into our week filled with grace ...


My 2 Snow Angels:
Shaking off the Chill with Hot Chocolate (and charming blue eyes!):



An Oldie, but Goodie, to Remind Me How Far We've Come:


Choosing to focus on the blessings in my life, the goodness in each day, and the joy in my family is definitely a FINER THING!

This post is linked to Finer Things Friday at Amy's Finer Things.