My Girl

 My oldest (living) daughter made a confession the other day to me....she finds cleaning and organizing calming! I don't know where she came from!! LOL I hate cleaning and organizing! It's truly stressful and overwhelming to me! I have a craft room, which for the last year I have half jokingly called my crap room. The goal of the room is to hold our homeschool supplies/books, and eventually craft in there. I am not a naturally crafty person, but oh so want to be! I enjoy card making, and have successfully made them. I have goals to make scrapbooks of my children, and one day quilt. The immediate goal is to have the room functional again. It was until about a year ago, and honestly I'm not sure what happened, but the kids started tossing things in there, probably in a moment of freaking out clean up before company came (is my guess!!) So my daughter, E and I started working on cleaning and organizing. We worked off and on for a few hours and it's about 1/2-3/4 the way done. We will finish it tomorrow, or E will. I have a bible study with my friend after church and then a leadership meeting at 4 at church. I'm not even sure if I'll be coming home between them. If so, then I'll work on the room, but if not, then E will be at it on her own. 
Once we are done with that room tomorrow, on Monday after she finishes school she's going to start on her old shared room with her sister, so now her sister's room, which is HORRIFIC!! E said that she does not want O in there, she has a plan on how to get the room cleaned and organized. The other night, E and I went to the store and bought totes and storage bins, etc so she can start on that room, then once she's done with that (she thinks it will be a Monday-Friday job, which since she will not be working on it until late afternoon and evening), her taking 5 days seems realistic. I told her I could come and help her and she said, "no, I really prefer to just do it on my own". She's crazy. Once she's finished with O's room, then she wants to organize the boys room. Again, we have totes and storage bins, but I'll probably needs to get a few more storage bins. Once she's done with the boys room, she's moving down to the playroom. I have a label maker on its way for the totes (I had to order the label maker, since none of the stores locally had any, since clearly EVERYONE is labeling everything!). My 17 year old son JT is going to clean the family room. It will be so nice to have everything done. 

I'm hoping that before Christmas my husband will not be working so late (it's harvest season, so he is working late nights!), and can get his area of the basement all cleaned and organized. We have new shelving to go down there. He had TONS of Army stuff down there, so once he gets through that, the basement will look great, then we will start tackling the garage. We have flooring to go up to the attic, where what we keep in the garage will go to, but hopefully  most of what's in the garage will just GO. 

So hopefully this time next year, we will have a cleaned up house, organized, and downsized! 

Pray for us! 

Conviction

 God has a way of convicting us through HIS WORD and others. I like to debate, but I've been convicted that I'm NOT doing it in a Godly manner most of the time. I'm not representing Jesus as I should, and most definitely not leading anyone to HIM in my debating. I feel led to be quiet right now. To just hold my opinion back. It goes against my nature. I want to argue with God, "well I can debate and glorify you" but I believe he's telling me, "no be quiet for right now". I have no idea if he'll allow me to ever debate in a more Godly manner, but what I know is right now, he's telling me to hush up. It's going to be hard. It goes against what I WANT to do. So pray for me, please. 

2 Timothy 4:1-2 "I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching."

We are to be always conscience that God is watching, He judges believers and nonbelievers and holds us to HIS standards. 

1 Corinthians 3:10-15 "10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled[a] master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. 11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13 each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire."

God judges our works. Even if what we have done burns up, we are still saved. 

A few months ago, I was only getting on Social Media once a day, and at the end of the day. I was spending my days with my kids, reading my Bible, reading for pleasure (Christian Fiction), copy work and I had so much peace. It's clear I need to go back to that. I waste too much time on social media as it is. My plan is, first thing in the morning posting a request for prayer requests, then checking back after my kids are in bed, praying over those needs. I know my time will be so much better spent, and I'll be a happier woman, wife, and mom.  

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I wrote the above a few hours ago. I just got home an hour ago from an outdoor concert, from a band called Presence Worship. I encourage you to look them up. Their purpose is to bring Glory to God and train  Worship Leaders. I can't even explain why, but I cried through the whole concert. I could feel the Lord there. I can't explain it, but it was beautiful, emotional, and freeing. 

I pray that I can stay in that place of completely giving myself to the Lord in all I do. As a woman, mother, wife, homeschool teacher, childcare provider, friend, daughter, sister. To start our day in God's word, and coming back to it throughout our days. 

"Father let me be obedient to you. I pray to be an example to my children on how YOU can transform a person. Let me show my children YOUR love, your guidance, your discipline. Let me show them that YOU are the most important in this life, and then everyone and everything else. Let them see that YOU deserve worship and adoration, and only YOU. Let me teach them YOUR word, to hide it in our heart, and live it out loud. Let them see they should never be ashamed of the Gospel. Let them be humbled by the cross, and so grateful for your life, death, and resurrection. In Your Name....Amen"