Boasting In My Weakness

   We arrived home Monday evening.  I have been busy unpacking and getting settled back into life at home.  I thought I would wrap up our vacation on this post.  I planned on writing more posts while I was away, but it just didn’t happen.  We were having too much fun! 

   I think I realize now, I might have improperly called this a “vacation.”  I heard on the news they are calling it more of a “staycation,” since we didnt leave our state.  But hey, when you go for a vacation in the state of Texas, you could truly be traveleing farther than someone who lives in a small state and travels to a different state.  So, who knows?  I guess it is all relative.  I received a forward yesterday with some Jeff Foxworthy quotes about Texas, and can you guess what one of them said?   ”If “Vacation” means going anywhere south of Dallas for the weekend, you may live in Texas.”  Ok, I am guilty! 

   Anyway, to sum up our “vacation” we all had a great time!  We did travel about 5-6 hours south of where we live, and we went to the beach, so to me, that IS a vacation!  We had a great visit with our family, and the time just flew by.  Jared and I are so very thankful to have family who are so willing to care for our children for a few days while we spend some time alone - just the two of us!  They are a such a  kind and generous family. 

   After Jared and I spent a few days at the coast in Galveston, we went back to stay with Jareds sister for a few days.  Then we headed back to Galveston to spend the night one more time, but with the kids that time.  We tried to cram in as much fun stuff as we could while we were away! 

   I will share a slideshow of pictures from our trip soon!

   Well, we are all enjoying our vacation!  I have had some internet access, but no time to post anything!  I thought I would post a few pictures from our anniversary celebration at the coast. 

   Jared’s family took care of the kids while we went to the beach for almost 3 days to celebrate our anniversary.  They took the kids to NASA and also to see WALL-E  while we were away, and it sounds like the kids had a great time! 

   We had a great anniversary celebration.  It was nice to have a few days alone.  I am so thankful for my husband and our marriage!  It seems we grow closer and more in love each year!  (I am going to try to get around to a better anniversary post when we get home from vacation)!

   I am going to do several vacation coverage posts because there are too many pictures for one post!  I will start off with info and pictures from our first day!

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   When Jared and I arrived in Galveston, we had reservations at a hotel (that was $100/night)  It was ok looking from the outside, and we thought it would be fine.  However when we got in our room it was definitly not worth the money.  It was filthy, and noisy.  We could hear the people talking in the room next door.  I am not too picky, but it was really bad ~ certainly not something I would pay that much for (and that was supposed to be a good deal!)

So we asked if we could cancel, and they let us, and we moved to a much nicer Hawthorn suites for only $30 more/night.  This hotel was much better.  It even had a little kitchen, living roon, bedroom and extra bed ~ and best of all, an ocean view!

   Hi to all of my friends and readers!  This week we will be gone on vacation all week!  :)  We are leaving a week earlier than we originally planned ~ yay!

   Jared and I will be celebrating our 8-year wedding anniversary tomorrow, July 8th.  Jared’s family is kindly going to take care of the kids for a couple days while we stay at the beach to celebrate our 8 years together. 

   Then the rest of our vacation week will be filled with beach time with the kids, and having fun with family. 

   If my laptop works where I am, I might do a little blogging while I am there.  If not, it will be quiet here all week! 

   I hope you have a wonderful week!

   We will be going on vacation soon.  I came across this awesome list of getting organized/ready before going away on vacation at the Fly Lady’s website, and thought I’d share it with you!  Have a great July 4th weekend!!

Fly Lady’s Vacation Packing and Planning List

   One of my biggest struggles in life is priorities.  Just ask my husband.   When we pray together at night and he asks what areas of my life I need prayer in, the one constant request I have (and have had for years) is that God would keep my priorities in line.  It would be nice if one day I could say, “you know, I really don’t need prayer for my priorities anymore!”  But I believe this is just one (of the many) areas of my life that God uses to keep me humble and completely dependent on Him - praise God!

These (top 4) priorities are:

1. God (my relationship with Him, spending time in prayer and in His word daily
2. My Husband
3. My Children
4. My Home

   I am going to make a wild assumption here, and guess that I am probably not the only woman in the world who struggles with keeping her priorities in order.   So, I thought I would share some more of what I have been reading lately in The Excellent Wife, by Martha Peace.   Hopefully it will be both convicting and encouraging to you, as it was to me!

   I just finished reading Chapter 8, which is the chapter on the Home.  You might think by my “Monday Meanderings” posts that I already have it all together, but I DON’T!  Keeping my home in its proper place on my list of priorities does not come easy or naturally for me.  It is a constant struggle!  There are so many things I would rather be doing, and it takes the Lord constantly reminding me, convicting me, and sanctifying me in this area.  Monday Meanderings is just one of the ways I attempt to hold myself accountable for what needs to be done in my home.  It is a good reminder to me of where my priorities should be.

   In the first section of this chapter she discusses being a worker at home.  She gives an example of two Christian women: one is lazy, the other busies herself with too much.  The lazy woman, while it might seem like she does a lot, is doing all of the wrong things.  She is busying herself with self-indulgent things, and neglecting her home and everything/everyone else.   The woman who is too busy, while she might be involved with tons of very “good” tasks and activities (such as serving in the church, serving others, hanging out with friends,etc), is also neglecting her family and home which are her priorities.  Here is what Martha Peace says about these women…

“Both Tracy and Stacy are Christians and have a desire to please the Lord.  Both, however need to reassess their lifestyles and their biblical responsibilities in the home.  A godly wife is organized and works hard to operate her home with the least possible chaos.  She also creates an optimistic, joyful atmosphere for her family.  God has always intended for the home to be the wife’s domain.  Unfortunately, this is not a popular topic in our culture, but God did and still does intend for the wife to be a “worker at home”(Titus 2:5).” Martha Peace, the Excellent Wife

Some scripture she quotes that goes along whith what she is saying can be found in Proverbs 31:13-27, Titus 2:3-5, and 1Timothy 5:14-15

   A second area she discusses is “creating a godly atmosphere in the home.”  We as wives and mothers hugely affect the tone and mood of our home.  Here are some quotes from the book…

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and love your family almost as much.  Be patient and kind and do not be selfish.  Create such an atmosphere in your home that your husband as well as other family members will look forward to coming home.  They will want to be around you instead of avoid you.  If you find yourself struggling emotionally with self-pity, not being appreciated, or being used by your family, become aware of your thoughts.  Biblically deal with your husband and children’s sins and replace sinful thoughts with biblically optimistic thoughts.” …

“A wife who has a gentle and meek spirit from the Lord provides a calming, soothing, and reassuring atmosphere in her home.  She trusts God deeply and does not panic at difficult circumstances.  She has a quiet confidence that God will “work all things for good to those who love God…”(Romans 8:28).  Her confidence and faith in God grows daily as she studies the Scriptures because she is “growing in the grace and knowledge of (her) Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).  She has a calming effect on the family, not the effect of alarming and upsetting them.  It is reassuring to be around her.”  Martha Peace, The Excellent Wife

  Wow!  I am definitly far from all of that.  But I am thankful for the reminder - that this is who I need to (and can) be in Christ!  And if our relationship with God is not the top priority, if we are neglecting to spend time with Him and in the word daily, everything else will be a mess!  There is no way we can be the wives, mothers, keepers of our homes that we are called to be without keeping God first in our lives. 

   Welcome to another week of planning in our home!  We have been enjoying our summer so far, how about you?  How about July 4th…any big plans?  We will be making our annual visit to my hometown to enjoy the festivities and fireworks.

   Here is the plan for this week…

1.  Bible Study -  This week I am reading/studying Psalms 144-148

   Our Church Scripture memorization for this week is: “And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”
Matthew 10:38-39

2.  “Must Do List“  

This week I “Must”

• Stick to my daily schedule - as God allows!

• ship tutu

• Swim Lessons

• Workout at the Y - 3-5 days/week

• July 4th activities with the kids

• Make a brain (Misty, help!) I need to get more organized with my days (btw: a brain is a home organiation binder)

• Catch up on putting photos in albums (I have a LOT to catch up on!)

 3. Cleaning Schedule:  I have decided to change my usual cleaning schedule up, because I have not been keeping up with it as I would like to.  Hopefully this new plan will make it a little easier to keep up!  I will have one day a week that is a “deep clean” day.  The rest of the days we will just do daily chores, and keep up what was cleaned on the deep clean day!  My “deep clean” day might change from week to week (at least at first) while I figure out what day is going to work best for our schedule! 

• Monday - daily chores, wash colors
•  Tuesday - Weekly Deep Clean day, wash whites
•  Wednesday -  daily chores, wash denim
• Thursday - daily chores, wash colors
• Friday - daily chores, wash bedding
• Saturday - daily chores, wash towels, floor mats

• Sunday - daily chores, Rest!

   

 4.  Train Them Up - Schools - out - for - summer!

I will still be finishing up Trevor’s phonics program with him this summer, and he is also doing a math workbook for fun, and extra practice, whenever he wants to pick it up and work on it!

The memory verse we are currently working on is: ”Do everything without complaining or arguing.” Phillipians 2:14

For bedtime devotionals, we are reading the My ABC Bible Verses by Susan Hunt

5.  Menu Plan

 Here is our menu plan for the week!  As always, anything that wasn’t used last week is carried over to this week.

• Monday: Rotisserie chicken, summer squash, sauteed mushrooms
• Tuesday: Homemade pizza, made with homemade whole wheat crust
• Wednesday: Grilled pork chops, mashed potatoes, garden salad
• Thursday: Spaghetti w/whole wheat noodles and homemade meat sauce, Italian bread with olive oil & spices for dipping, salad
• Friday: Beef & bean enchiladas w/whole wheat tortillas, black beans, and corn
• Saturday: Leftovers
• Sunday: Taco Soup

For more Monday Meanderings, or to participate yourself, visit Less of Me ~ More of Him, and for Menu Plan Monday, visit I’m an Organizing Junkie