God's Amazing Race - Challenge One

Our CWF theme for 2011 is “God’s Amazing Race”. Together, we are hoping to challenge one another to run a race that helps draw our strength from Christ. We hope to learn more about enjoying the journey, refueling for the long haul of the race and allowing the pace to be steady so that we reach the finish line.

During each month, CWF will give a CHALLENGE to the ladies to help them along their path! There is no race ever ran well that did not require the runner to condition themselves and that is what we are hoping to do.

This month’s challenge is to Evaluate Our New Year! Look for my journey to the discovery of myself and the evaluation of what I want out of 2011.

Secret Sisters

I am very excited about the name that was given as my Secret Sister for 2011. I just love her to pieces and am so excited that I have the privledge of praying for her this year as a priority.

I am hesitant to do Secret Sisters each year because I don't want to let the other person down. I want to shower them with kind words, prayful thoughts and simple gifts that are given from my heart. Sometimes it is hard because I forget and others because if I feel the person will know who I am by the gifts I give. Makes it challenging!

This year will be easy though because I already think of her so often. It will be hard because I want to make my sentiments sweet and kind. I can't describe her and I can't give a hint about who she is yet but I will tell you that she is an AMAZING woman and I am thrilled that I got her name. What a great start to my challenge to run God's Amazing Race!

Momma's Recipes

Tonight I made homemade peach cobbler for the ladies meeting at our church. The kids were looking thru the recipe boxes to help me find the recipe and were asking about the recipes in my box. Some well used, some clipped from magazine and some never used but saved for a later date.

Yet, as I started glancing at what they were looking at it brought up such a warm feeling in my heart as they held certain recipes. The chicken dressing that is completely covered in spices and water marks. The Kris Kiaker cake that has stains from the cream cheese frosting. Even the "goo" recipes or "homemade playdo" recipes brought up sweet memories from playtime with the kids when they were young.

However, out of all the recipes in my boxes, none are cherised more than those that belonged to mom or grandmothers. The thought of these comfort foods bring joy to me. I remember being young and the smells of waiting for the dinner to be done. The excitement to have one of my Grandma's pink cookies. The fondness of my other Grandma's chicken and dumplings. The funny stories of never eating my Momma's chili and opening up a can of Wolf Brand chili and thinking that now I make that same chili once a month.

I hope when my kids are older, they will have memories of my cooking for them that make them feel like they have a little comfort of home!

Weight Control

My poor puppy is what you would call vertically challenged and a little "fluffy". No, it is not from long hair but rather some extra pounds that she is holding on to.

Tink loves her food. When her bowl is empty she brings it to someone so it can filled back up quickly and promptly. The failure to do so will definately end up with one sad pup!

I just can't help but get a laugh from her though. She is precious. The kinda dog that is so ugly, they are cute. One thing about her is that she almost embraces her weight and her looks. You can just tell she doesn't care!

People flock to her. We live in a very dog friendly neighborhood and she is somewhat of a people magnet. She rolls over for belly rubs at the very sight of someone walking her way! If they do not stop to pet her, she is pretty much in awe and will just sit and stare at them as if they are crazy for passing her by.

Well Kaleb said tonight that she was going to have to go on a diet and exercise regiment. My heart ached for her. I have empathy for her challenge because I understand. My poor little pup is facing a challenge that I don't even want to face.

However, I did get a little jealous thinking I wish could rely on someone other than myself to force me into a better diet and excercise regiment.

Geez there more I think about it I realize that I am actually jealous of my dog because she is not going to have to worry! No challenge over stopping to get one more White Chocolate Mocha, Krispy Kreme or Quarter Pounder for her.

If it works for her, I think I will demand that Kaleb take me for daily walks, feed me controled portions and eliminate my snacks! HA

Fly Lady

When I was a stay-at-home mom, I worked harder than any 9 to 5 job that I could work. The main reason was that there was pressure to "Do it All" and to "Do it Best". I was daily engulfed in the day to day jobs of making food, doing laundry, cleaning house, and doing what I thought was my "duty" to do.

I balanced home life with a billon other activities that I found to be extermely important of a stay at home mom. I wanted to do everything little thing that I found to be characteristic of my vision of what made a successful SAHM.

As my kids grew older, enjoyed being a part of more activites, and had social calendars I realized that doing it all was not working. The one area that I tended to consistently let go was my housework.

I love a clean house (mainly because my momma brought me up thinking that one thing out of order in a house equaled a diaster!!!)I love the smell of burning candles, pledge, Pine Sol and dryer sheets! I love to go to bed under freshly washed sheets. (My Aunt Sue told me when I was younger that you get to make a wish every time you crawl under freshly washed linens)

Yet, my love of a clean house was let go due to the lack of wanting to let other areas of my "life" go. This is when I found Flylady.

I got the my control journal and in no time (HA) I had a plan of action of how I was going to keep a clean home. I spent hours (I mean HOURS) planning out my plan. I even went as far as to do all my cooking once a month so that I could "fit it in" to my schedule. After a year or so, I started to let go of my Flylady plan of action.

I did develop my own version of Flylady. I still have certain task that take part on certain days. I still like a clean sink and I still have a few morning routines that I stick to, like swishing out my toilet in the morining. (Ironically on a side note, I was told that cleaning my toilet daily with a little swish of the brush was actually a sign of being clinically depressed. That whole story is a different blog article in itself!)

This year, I am trying to balance how to reinstate my Flylady plan without hours of valued time planning. Just wondering what all my friends do to keep their homes in order (and clean)? Do you have a daily chore list?

My Explanation

I remember the awkardness of being a teenager and the inveitable "peer pressure" of those around me. I can think back to every single pivitol moment in my life and pinpoint the exact person that I found influential in my decisions to handle the situation I was in. Some of these moments are regrets and some are achievements. While I am fully responsible for each action I took I am also reminded that others pushed me to succeed or fail(by an action or sometimes an inaction). This is not me casting blame or giving credit to any one person but simply remembering that those I surround myself with influence my actions.

As I was reading Genesis 4, I was reminded once again of why this thought is so important to me.
Gensis 4:7 says:
If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”

For myself, it is more of a matter of my own self-control and ability to make sure that certain aspects of life do not rule over me. It is the thought I want to impress upon my children in this time that they have If they simply do what they feel is right (which I prayerfully hope is based upon their understanding of God's word) then they will never have to have regret over something they knew not to do. Sure, there will be curveballs that have to be dealt with but hopefully those come along less frequently.

It will always be struggle to do what is right in every situation. The fall of man was an act of a simple disobedience of eating from a specific tree, but the consquence was moumental. God said NO, Adam and Eve said YES.

In my mind, my thought process is this: "God tested Adam and Eve with the simple boundary of something they could not have. They failed to accept the "NO". It was not a matter of the fact that they commited a horrible crime. God simply put a boundary of what was best for them and they chose their own way."

If no sin had existed after Adam and Eve until the age of Misti, I know I would have failed. Why? Because, I have done the same thing. I have known in my heart a simple "NO" from God and chose to act on my own for my simple yes. I did not count God's eternal plan in the equation. Luckily, thus far God has not banished me from a land :-)

So for today, I will be reminded that I am unaware of why my answers to God might have a monumental impact on a master plan. Hopefully I will live daily to have more times when I do the right thing in every situation. If I don't, I will cling to the grace and mercy of Christ who is the only reason I am worthy to be a part of the plan at all!

God Speaking A New Word

I love getting my new bible. I have tons of bibles in my home. They are not displayed in my home as "nick nacks" but they adorn the book shelves, night stands, end tables and even the bathroom. Some of my most treasured things I own include certain bibles that I have had for years or belong to members of my family.

Yet, you might ask why I love getting new bibles each year. It is because I re-read the bible every year. Sometimes I have done the 90 day challenge, other years I have just read nightly until I finsihed, or I have followed a strict reading plan in a devotional type one year bible.

I also mark all in my bibles. I highlight, I write thoughts, I input special dates or memories within the pages of my bibles. My journey through out the years is typically "highligted" within the pages of God's word. Obviously, there have been times the treasured verses or notes were inspired out of seeking God's answers for problems or prayer request. At other times, the marks within the pages simply indicate a new treasured verse that I can hold close to my heart.

I still refer back to my bible that I love the most frequently. This bible is the one that I have owned since 1990. So many lessons have been learned and so many verses have offered hope and granted a sense of peace over two decades.

Yet the reason for a new bible is that it allows me to rediscover new things and to allow myself to opprotunity to apply the knowledge I have learned before. In one year, a certain passage may have been key and I have learned from that passage or been comforted from that passage in the past. It is ever apparent how living God's word is when I go back a learn that each year a new verse within a parable, the Psalms or tucked in the Old Testament had new meaning. It is evidence of some growth within my walk.

Sometime the growth is very small in it's significance. In other times, I can see the overwhelming change that can only be attributed to God's grace and mercy for me. Sadly, there is also the same passages that I find God still convicting me of and patiently waiting for me to understand or apply to my life.

Simply, the new bible is a commitment to continue on a renewed journey to know the God that I so desperately want to seek. I want to allow the words to saturate my being and direct me in the paths I take.