Happy Mother's Day!

My husband just left for work.

My house is full of people I love, but it's quiet because they are all asleep.

I can hear the dishwasher running and the dryer going.

I spent the morning putting lunch in the oven, cleaning up little messes, and rocking a baby to sleep.

I am overwhelmed with joy.

Motherhood is so daunting, so challenging at times.  There is always so much work to be done, so many things to think about.  What time is baseball?  Where are all your socks?  Who forgot to unload the dishwasher?  What do you mean we're out of milk?!

Endless trips to the doctors.

Teenagers learning to drive.

Watching your babies grow up way too fast.

In the midst of all this, I pray "God, help me to be a good mother.  Help me to choose the right words.  Show me how to teach my children to love you.  Show me how to teach them how much YOU love THEM!  Stay with me, guide me, don't let me mess this up!  I want them to be a shining light for you and your Son, show me how to do it."

None of us are perfect, no matter how hard we try.

My house is never as clean as I want it to be.  Closets stay unorganized and dishes are sometimes left in the sink.  I have laundry baskets that never quite seem to get emptied.  Despite all of that,  I am full of gratitude because "the Mighty One has done great things for me".  (Luke 1:49)

God doesn't want us to be so preoccupied with the little stuff that we lose sight of what really matters.  Of course, the laundry, dishes, cooking and cleaning have to be done!  However, it has taken many, MANY years for me to learn that it's ok to leave it there and work on a puzzle, go to a baseball game, paint my daughter's fingernails, enjoy a cup of coffee with my husband or listen to my son explain his latest computer programming accomplishment.  We show love when we are available to those who love us.

The Bible confirms it for me in the story of Martha & Mary:

" . . . Martha welcomed him into her home.  And she had a sister called Mary, who moreover was listening to the Lord's word, seated at His feet.  But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him, and said, 'Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone?  Then tell her to help me.'  But the Lord answered, 'Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only a few things are necessary, really only one, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.' "    Luke 10:38-42

I don't want to be "worried and bothered about so many things".  I put my hope and trust in Him, the source of my strength and joy.  I ask Him to guide me everyday (all day long!) as I deal with all the challenges I face in this ministry called Motherhood.  I thank Him constantly for the incredible husband He has given me as my partner in raising our precious children.  And I am overwhelmed that He is working to accomplish infinitely more than I can ask or imagine.  (Ephesians 3:20)

May you have a blessed Mother's Day.  Hug those babies tight and sit at the feet of Jesus, thanking God for all that He has done!  Now, it's time for me to check that dryer!

Foodie Friday

So I had to be really nerdy and look up the definition of a foodie before I decided it was ok to call myself one.

The Urban Dictionary defines a foodie as "someone who loves everything there is to know or learn about food".

Uh, yeah, I am DEFINITELY a foodie!!

I LOVE to eat.  I love to cook.  I love to bake.  I love to FEED PEOPLE.

It just gives me a great sense of joy and pleasure to see someone enjoying the taste of something I have created.

I haven't talked about it much on the blog, yet, but I have come a long way on my journey with food.  I have learned so much about how our bodies react to so many things I used to not even notice on the ingredient list.

I want to share all that I have learned with you.  My hope is that you'll get just as excited and eager to learn and grow and change in your eating habits as I am.  Your body (and your taste buds) will thank you!

So, every Friday here is going to be "Foodie Friday".  I'll post recipes, information on things I've learned, spotlight great clean, healthy or natural Food Blogs, and ask you to share what you know.

To get started, leave a comment below with your favorite food blogs, recipe sites, or tips and tricks for eating healthy on the go (and with kids!)  Let's all learn more about food together!

Thanks for visiting me - I hope you'll come back soon!

A Year of Reading

This is it.

The year I'm going to read the Bible.

Not just a few pages here and there.

Nope.

I'm going to read it

all

the

way

through.

I have a plan and everything!

I bought sweet hubby a great new Bible for Christmas, and it just happened to have a One Year Reading plan in it.  I have it copied, and I'm determined.

Are you with me??

Time for Tea!

My daughter is a member of a Keepers of the Faith club and she and her friends are getting ready to host a Valentine Tea next month.  Today they spent some time talking about etiquette, what kinds of food and tea to prepare, how to decorate, as well as many other details.  It's so sweet to watch my daughter growing into a beautiful young lady, full of her own thoughts, ideas and aspirations.

It isn't really the tea that's important, though that was the focus of the meeting.  These girls are learning something much more valuable, something they will (hopefully) carry with them into adulthood.  They are learning to put others before themselves.  If you read about etiquette for tea hostesses, you will see rules about not clanking your spoon when you stir, standing behind your chair and waiting until everyone is present before you sit, making sure you don't interrupt when someone else is speaking, and passing items around the table before you serve yourself.  Not long ago, these things were just considered good manners.  Today, society seems to have forgotten all about them.  Families talk over one another in restaurants, stare at their electronic devices instead of conversing, or worse, don't even take the time to sit down to meals together because of their too-busy schedules.

My hope is that through participation in this wonderful Christian group, my daughter and I (and the rest of our family!) can recapture some of what my mom and grandma once enjoyed - wonderful, memorable moments of simple joy.

We're going to start by making some:

Sweet Lime Iced Tea

Ingredients:

1 gallon boiling water

6 black tea bags

1 1/2 cups sugar ( I will use Turbinado)

4 limes, juiced

Directions:

Pour the water into a gallon sized jar over the tea bags. Allow to steep for 45 minutes. Remove and discard the tea bags. Stir in the sugar and lime juice until the sugar has dissolved. Cool to room temperature; refrigerate until cold before serving.

What are some things you are doing with your daughters?  Do you have the same hopes to teach her to have a heart of hospitality and service?

It's a new year.

A time for hope,

new goals,

a renewed sense of determination.

I am determined to do many things.  One of them being:  to write more.

To share with others so many of the lessons I have learned - about faith, family, health, food, and the true joy of living.

I can't make any promises that what I have to say will be any good.  I wake up every day thinking about what I want to say here, but hesitating for lack of time to say it "perfectly", or for fear that it isn't "important" enough to share.

No more.

So, please excuse me when there are typos, grammar errors, or an obvious need for a thesaurus.  I have quite a few things I want to say.  I hope my musings give hope or inspiration to someone.  If my story or my journey can help just one person, it will be worth every minute I spend here.

Thanks for stopping by.  May you be greatly blessed in 2013!