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Song: Feel It Feat by TobyMac
This is a very upbeat and peppy song. I love how it talks about God taken our brokenness and making us into something beautiful. He can take our shattered pieces and mold them into something good for Him.
Well, you can’t see the wind, but it moves the leaves
From the bottom to the top of the tallest trees
You are everything I will ever need
And they can’t take that from meOh, I feel it in my heart
I feel it in my soul
That’s how I know
You take our brokenness and make us beautiful
Yeah, that’s how I know (can’t take that from me)Love came crashin’ in
Never gonna be the same again
Yeah, You came crashing in
You wrecked me, You wrecked meEverybody talkin’ like they need some proof
But what more do I need than to feel YouDirty Rocks + Rock Tumbler = Shiny Gems
It’s amazing how having kids can open your eyes to so many things, including learning more about yourself, life, and God. A couple years ago my cousin got the girls a rock tumbler. They LOVE it and are always on the look out for neat rocks (yes, my girls love rocks). On numerous trips, hikes, or walking through the yard they can be found collecting various rocks to run through the tumbler. It is a great activity for kids and can be a neat teaching tool as well.
The rock tumbling process goes something like this……
- Find a variety of dirty average looking small rocks
- Put them through the tumbler to remove all the grit and smooth out the rough edges
- Polish them
The whole process takes days and seems forever for the kids, but the end result is something beautiful and well worth the wait.
Recently, I came across a bag of rocks while I was cleaning. I had to smile knowing exactly why one of my ziploc bags had been used to stash a handful of ordinary, dull, and plain rocks. The girls know that even though they look like any old dirty rock once they are tumbled and polished their true colors will shine beautifully.
As I was standing there looking at those old, dusty rocks it struck me that my heart is much like those sharp and dirty rocks. There is a lot of junk that needs to be knocked off my heart and life before the beauty of God’s love can shine through. Thankfully with His help and a tremendous amount of patience on His part He slowly and faithfully cleans the dirt away, smooths out the roughness, and round the sharp edges. When His love, goodness, mercy, and kindness radiates from my brokenness it opens the doors for opportunities to make a positive eternal impact on the hearts and lives those around us.
An example of a rock tumbler you can get from Amazon if you are looking for a fun activity to do with your kids!What’s for Dinner: Our Weekly Menu Plan
It has been so much fun spending time with the family over the Holidays. We have been enjoying extra time together playing, cooking, and doing a variety of Christmas activities. It has been a week of great food as well as several extra treats. This week we will be doing more traditional meals as we wrap up our final week of Christmas break. Here is our menu plan for the upcoming week:
Our Weekly Menu Plan
- Monday (Beef or Pork Entree): Green Bean Tator Tot Casserole, Artisan Bread
- Tuesday (Kid’s Night to Cook): Homemade Pizza, Fresh Salad
- Wednesday (Chicken or Vegetarian Entree): Honey Mustard Chicken, Steamed Rice
- Thursday (Pasta or Seafood Entree): Salmon Steaks, Steamed Broccoli
- Friday, Saturday, & Sunday: Leftovers, Family Preference, and Hosting
I have a general pattern I try to follow for my weekly Menu Plan (for example Monday we have a beef or seafood entree and so forth). It is my goal, at least in the beginning, to have at least the main dish and one side planned. I will put together the remaining side dishes (veggies / fruits) based on the food items that need to be used up first and compliment the main entree.
Setting a weekly menu plan helps me utilize my time better, thus freeing up extra time to spend with my family. On the days that I am working longer hours I can prep the meal in advance so it will be easier to pull together once I am home. As I go through the menu planning process I will try to share some of our favorite family recipes. If there is a specific recipe you would like please let me know and I will do my best to accommodate (some recipes are a toss together meal and I do not use any set measurements).
As a family of four our life can get busy. What’s for Dinner is our weekly menu planning series and one of the ways to help keep us organized, on schedule, and within budget. Our family typically eats 6 to 7 dinner meals at home a week. We do try to go out to eat at least once a month as a special treat. Breakfasts are eaten at home before work and school, lunches are eaten at work, school, or home, so dinner is our main meal together as a family. Dinner is our time to reconnect, share, and enjoy being together after a busy day. Our weekly menu plan covers Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday only because the weekend (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) is our time to spend with family and friends. The weekends tend to be more spontaneous and my husband (who is the better cook) likes pitching in therefore we keep the menu open for variety. We use up the leftovers throughout the week for our lunches and on the nights that we are busy or can’t cook.
Photo by Liz
Intentional Living: Weekly Goals
Winter and Christmas break for the kids went by too quickly! They are now back to school and the house is too quiet. I loved having extra time with my girls. A lot of fun times, games, activities, and memories have been made over the past couple of weeks. Thankful for the extra time with my family. God has been good and we are blessed.
Last week’s goals
Family Goals
Read a variety of Christmas and Library Books my Kids Picked Out from Home and the local Library, including Old Yellerand Where the Red Fern Grows – still reading Where the Red Fern Grows, but read all the other books to the girls (now to return them to the library)!Plan one special activity with the familyPrepare for Upcoming New Year Holiday EventsPlay a Game with the Kids– we played several fun games over the Holiday breakSpend Extra Time with the KidsCelebrate our New YearsMake Cookies and Goodies with the KidsDo a craft with the kids
Personal Goals
- Drink 8 glasses of water each day – there were a couple days I didn’t drink enough water when out and about on adventures with the kiddos
Continue my YouVersion plan(s)Go to my Doctor Appointments Scheduled this week
Home (Yard & Pets) Management Goals
- All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day – still taking me 2 days, but getting closer
- Weekly Dinner Menu planned out for the week – our week was a little more off schedule so we remained flexible in the evenings this past week
Clean House (Focus – At least 15 minute daily “pick up” to keep the house clean as we prepped for the Holidays)Organize Chaos (Focus – Gifts Wrap & Boxes Put Away, Gifts Put Away)- Yard Cleanup (Focus – Finish Leaves) – working on it last week we had more rainy days than clear
Pet Care (Focus – New Dog House for Skipper)– Skipper LOVES her new dog house
Business Goals
Work on ideas for upcoming blog postsRespond to Inquiry – Business Relation EmailsKeep up with the day to day items that need my attentionWork completed for clients
Ministry Goals
Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch
Financial Goals
- Payoff the Car – working on it
- Payoff Outstanding Debt – (replacement microwave, refrigerator, hot water heater, and other debt) – working on it
Pay Bills & File PaperworkGo grocery shopping one time to one store this week and stay within budget
My goals for the upcoming week
Family Goals
- Finish reading Where the Red Fern Grows to the kids
- Plan one special activity with the family
- Play a Game with the Kids
- Prepare for Upcoming Winter Events
- Spend time Monday – Friday helping the kids with Homework
- Attend After School Activities
- Lunch Boxes & Book Bags packed the night before
- Dr. Appointments for Kids
Personal Goals
- Drink 8 glasses of water each day
- Continue my YouVersion plan(s)
- Go to my Doctor Appointments Scheduled this week
Home (Yard & Pets) Management Goals
- All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
- Weekly Dinner Menu planned out for the week
- Do at least one “Make 1 & Freeze 1″ Meal Prep (make a main dish to eat that day and one to freeze for later)
- Clean House (Focus – House Cleaned Up After Christmas Decorations are Put Away)
- Organize Chaos (Focus – Christmas Items Back in the Attic)
- Yard Cleanup (Focus – Blow Leaves)
- Pet Care (Focus – Skipper a Bath)
Business Goals
- Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
- Respond to Inquiry – Business Relation Emails
- Keep up with the day to day items that need my attention
- Work completed for clients
Ministry Goals
- Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch
Financial Goals
- Payoff the Car
- Payoff Outstanding Debt – (replacement microwave, refrigerator, hot water heater, and other debt)
- Pay Bills & File Paperwork
- Go grocery shopping one time to one store this week and stay within budget
I think it is important to share and encourage each other as we seek to improve our lives and the lives of those around us. I want to live intentionally not just hope all my dreams and goals come true. When I focus on small steps of improvement I am able to see results as I get closer to my goals. Some weeks I get closer to the goals I have in my life and other weeks a take a few steps back (life happens, emergencies occur, people get sick). Once the goals are written down and shared it provides a guideline for what I aim to accomplish this week.
Why Share My Goals?
- To keep me accountable
- To share a piece of my life with you as I strive to be a better Child of God, Wife, Mom, Friend, Homemaker, Entrepreneur and the many other roles I have each week
- To have my goals consistently written down so I can gauge progress more accurately
- Create healthy habits in my life
- To encourage you to share your goals with me as you continue to grown and learn
How did you do this week on your goals? Feel free to share or link to your list of weekly goals.
The picture above is one that I created for my own purposes, however, The “SMART” acronym was originally coined 30 years ago by Peter Drucker in his classic work, Management by Results.
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Spontaneous Tornadoes
It is amazing how quickly a mess can be made at home. There are days when I work hard to clean up the house only to have it explode into a mess of toys, crafts, and random stuff within minutes. Our children truly are a blessing in our lives and we love them dearly, however, they are known to make a mess.
How do we teach our children to be considerate of others by picking up their toys, papers, clothes, crafts, and whatever else they have gotten out? We want our kids to have fun, play hard, and be creative, but does it need to end in a big mess?
- Simplify Life – over the last few months it has occurred to me that we just have too much stuff. I am thankful for the many blessings we have been given but the more we have the greater responsibility. This is an area I am continuing to work on in our home.
- Organization – by creating an organized system the kids will have a better idea of what is it be expected and where to put away their items. For example, having a shoe basket inside the front door for them to put their shoes into when they walk in the door is a visual reminder for them to take off their shoes. When they have a place or specific bins for the variety of toys it helps them know where to go both to play with an item and to put it away. The expectation is clear and organization helps tremendously, although the Spontaneous Tornadoes will continue to happen from time to time putting these into place will cut down on the frequency of the tornadoes.
- Communication – talking with the kids about why we need to pick up our toys, clothes and home. Most of the time they will gladly pitch in and help pick up if you just ask nicely. Setting a timer or making it into a game (see how much we can pick up in 10 minutes) will help get them motivated to do it too.
- Actions Speak Louder – be an example to your kids…..this one can be a hard one. Somehow my stuff gets spread out too! If you have all your items all over the place then why should they be expected to pick up their toys, clothes, and miscellaneous items. I realize that it’s impossible to keep everything perfect especially during a busy week and in a well loved home, but by setting aside a few minutes everyday and trying your best to maintain the home (and the items you are responsible for) shows the children what is expected of them.
- Set Some Ground Rules – they want to do a craft? Okay, that it fine with me, however, prior to moving onto the next craft or another avenue of play they must first pick up their current mess. This helps them tidy up along the way so at the end of the day there are only a few items to put away instead of an massive explosion of toys, crafts, and other goodies (plus the glue gets put away instead spending hours drying out). I try to always let them do crafts and creative play whenever possible, although I do occasionally need to remind them to go back and pick up something if they switch to another activity without cleaning up the previous one. Thankfully, the kids are getting better at doing this and are needing less reminders, plus they know where items go so they can put everything away on their own without the help of the whole family (although we pitch in many times because that’s what families do for each other)!
I know Spontaneous Tornadoes will continue to invade our home via our children (and their parents) but with a little preparation and daily maintenance we should be able to keep them to a minimum. There are days when we all take 15 minutes and pick up the house together. When we are work together as a team it can go by quickly and shows the importance of everyone participating in the activity to get the work done.
Do you have Spontaneous Tornadoes in your home? How do you help prevent from having too many?
Happy New Year! Welcome 2015!!!
Happy New Year Fireworks!
Bringing in the New Year 2015 with fireworks, confetti, and family! Thankful for a great ending to the 2014 year. The year was packed full of a lot of memories. I am very excited to see what the new year brings. Fresh start and new memories for the entire family. I pray that it is a year of fun, growth, and good times with family and friends!
Fireworks display was compliments of my sweet husband and two daughters! They had a blast setting off the fireworks!
Celebrating the New Year with a lot of confetti which is always a favorite with the kids. I think we probably just got rid of all the confetti spray from last years party (I kept finding it in random places long after cleaning it up).
It’s not every night the kids get to stay up until midnight! Fun times!
Remains of the party fun spread out all over the floor! Once the party settled down and the kids were tucked into their beds it was time for the “clean up” crew to pick up all the confetti.
