It's the Morning

A while I ago I questioned God on where the hope in the morning was going to come from, when it was going to come, and when was my morning going to finally arrive. I can say happily and joyfully that over the hard time I had gone through I finally have reached that morning.

Recently my husband and I have been blessed with temparary guardianship of my teenage sister, not because she's bad, not because my parents can't handle her, but because she was getting put down day in and day out by the school she was in and because of the high volume of students the teachers weren't able to offer her the personalized education that she needed, and being amazing selfless parents that she has they offered her a new hope, a new beginning, and her being the butterfly finding her wings that she is she grasped it and clutched it tight with her hands. She at such a young age moved out of state to her sister and brother in laws house to be a part of a family she never quite was involved with and start a new. Most kids you would think would cry alot, or be angry, or play the self pitty cards that have been dealt but not her, she made them her muscle and she used them to get stronger and better.

While all of this was going on my husband and I had been getting ready to become foster parents, we had a teenager a while back but things didn't end very well and we had unhealed wounds from it, over time God healed those wounds but they still left some scarring. Right when we had finished our foster care classes, we received a call one afternoon it was my dad asking if we would be willing to take in my sister, and of course we couldn't object.

Through all of this we learned that though we go through storms, God makes those storms into a rainbow, He turns what was meant to harm us or hurt us into something that strenghtens us and gives us a purpose. I hate to be cliche but it really is true he takes the test and makes it a testimony. Now we have a lovely 14 year old who loves the adventures that God has placed before her and is taking each opportunity to the fullest capacity.

Please keep us in prayer as we continue on this journey that God has blessed us with and for our sweet little family addition even if it is temporary :)

Home

If you ask a child what home is you could get diverse answers, possibly the place they live, or where they go to sleep, or where their family lives. If you ask a teen what home means pending on the child you could get prison, the place you can't wait to leave, maybe the city or address. As we got older though home and it's meaning can tend to change, my home is my husband and wherever he is,  my home is my nephew and his smile and laughter, my home is my connection with God and that safety and protection from all that surrounds me. 

My home, isn't a house, it isn't a room or a certain group of things. 

My home is where I feel love, acceptance, safety. 

Take the time today to really think about what is your home? 

Running Circles: Reminding yourself of your purpose

I'm sure we've had those days sometimes even weeks where we just feel like we are running circles and getting nothing done. Today is one of those days. The fact that I am even able to sit down and type this post is amazing me as I do it. Part of it is getting done on adrenaline and the other part of it is getting done because I am taking a lunch break. So bare with me if it seems a little different than usual.

In the past week I have had more things piled onto me than I think the laundry basket has had clothes piled on it (and trust me that can be alot). Though this morning I woke up with scary news (only later to find God's healing in a scary situation) and had multitudes of people of vast differences calling me and texting me wanting to know answers, wanting to dump information on me, wanting to vent, wanting counseling, and yet here I am with my almost 1 year old beagle who won't stop chewing all her toys to shreds looking at me almost as if to say "Mom, your kind of scaring me."

Sometimes we go through these days and weeks and we wonder, "Am I even doing anything?" "Do they even care?" "If I disappeared would anyone notice?"

Today, I get it.

One thing that we have to remind ourselves in those moments is what God sees in us, that God would notice every single detail of us from a scratch on our hands thanks to a beagle who is behind on grooming, to a crazy hair out of place thanks to a chaotic morning. God notices and sees all of it, and He is there through it with us in the trenches running the circles with us, consider him the coach yelling "You got this." "Keep going your doing so well!" "I am so proud of you."

How do we remind ourselves of this? What are some safetys we can put in our path to remind us? Below I have some suggestions:

1.  Worship Music: I have a speaker with an ipod in my kitchen which is open to most of my house, I have it all set with TONS of worship music that all I have to do is hit play and my house is being flooded with worship music
2. Scripture of the house: We have a gorgeous turquise blue chalboard at the entrance of our home and next to the bathroom that states "Faith The Size of a Mustard Seed can move mountains." this is a scripture my husband and I have applied to our relationship, and things that have come our way many times so we felt it was the best scripture to keep as the "Motto" of our house. By seeing it in such a central location it is ingrained in our minds and our hearts. 
3. Scripture Everywhere: I am not obnoxious but I am obvious on the fridge we have a bigger sized magnet that reads "Hope for things unseen", In our office/dinning room we have the "Marriage Prayer" (lovely gift from someone that attended our wedding) In the bedroom above our bed we have 4 chalkboard with marriage advice from spiritual people in our lives. Having them everywhere helps us to keep the word of God central in our lives. 
4. Scripture Journals: I keep a journal with my Bible in my living room that I write the date, scriptures I've read with notes on how they stood out to me or the meanings I found within them, and worship songs that day that really helped me through the day, I also keep any notes of ministry videos I had watched and somethings that were said in them that stood out to me for instance the other morning I watching Joyce Meyer (one of my all time favorites) and I wrote the title of her message and the things she said that really I felt was a blessing to hear and a blessing to share
5.  I have a support system: I have friends though I don't see them all the time I know I can talk to and hear spiritually sound advice that will guide me through, moving out of town the hardest part was my entire safety net was gone, I didn't have Pastor Jamie on speed dial for a frappe run, I didn't have grammy in the living room to talk to, or Pappy to vent to and watch westerns, or my Aunt to make homemade hot cocoa and go shopping, or my nephew to love and cuddle and be distracted with. I lost all of it, most of them kept in contact but some of the people who were major parts of my safety net backed out completely I was out of sight and out of mind. That hurt's so it's important to be there for the friends who do stick around and come into your life so that you do have some sort of support! 

I am hoping this helped, and if you read the whole way through thank you so much! I know part of this was probably a little bit of a venting release, but I really pray that you walk with God in your journey and that you find peace within yourself and purpose within God. 

Husband Hints

I mostly write for wives, mothers and ladies, but this time its for the men. I know you all for the most part work very hard, and strive to offer a safe and loving environment. To be honest that's all we can ask for as wives is give us a safe home, and a loving one, and lead our family. However sometimes for wives we start to feel like the maid, the chef, the nanny, and the zoo keeper. Here are some helpful tips for you husbands and for you wives to help with preventing those feelings. My husband and I have worked really hard over the first year of our marriage (august 15th marks our year mark) to keep us from falling into society's rut in marriage.

1. Date Nights: Date nights out seem pretty obvious but there's one part to this rule that hasn't been upheld by society, PUT THE PHONES AWAY. Stop texting, checking facebook, no worries someone posted an animal meme, a music video and some quotes, and someone is complaining about life, it will all be there after your date is over. Take the time to enjoy each other. If you wanna take a pic fine but take the pic and put the phone away there's no need to post it in the moment. 
2. Date Night In: Having a date night doesn't necessarily mean  you need to go out, once every 2 weeks my husband and I have date night in where we make homemade pizza (dough and all) and watch a movie, we like to see who can make the better shaped pizza and its fun to mix all the toppings and come up with new varieties. (we also work together to clean up) 
3. Breakfast Duo: We take 1 day a week when we both have not much going on, and we split the duties of breakfast, he makes the chocolate chip pancakes, and I make the bacon or eggs (sometimes both) We joke that marriage counseling should consist of working in a small kitchen sharing 1 spatula. We were going to get an extra one but found that working as a team with our timing was kind of fun so we share a spatula (I know your probably thinking give it a couple years, and we will.) 
4. Compromise: My husband currently is loving watching the Masters Golf Tournament, He watches the golf tournament and I keep myself preoccupied or watch it with him (which adds humor) and afterwards or before he does something that I genuinely like such as (shopping, having tea and coffee together, starbucks date) It took us a couple months into marriage to figure this one out but if you give him the time to unwind from work, he'll give you the time to fill your love tank. (shout out to The 5 love languages book for that term) 
5. Grow together: Take up a class together, or get a book and turn the tv off and put the phones away and just enjoy learning and expanding your horizon as a married couple and individually. One major problem that has come up with couples and divorce is they say they "grew apart" that's because we as a married couple need to take the time to grow together, to offer things to satisfy our learning brains and make memories and adventures that draw us together. How do people often become best friends? They make memories that only them two have that draws them closer so make more memories!!
6. Pray together: This is last because if anything should stick in your brain this is the big one, My husband and I were given advice by his aunt (shout out Mar) and it was "ALWAYS pray in the MORNING and at NIGHT together" when you pray over your marriage and keep God the center of your marriage, your putting that protective seal over it, so that when the torpedos come to blast your marriage they bounce off. On top of that marriage is a promise made before God unifying two people by God. So God should be the center of your marriage anyway. 

***I hope this helps, if you have any tips that you don't see on this list comment them below after all we all could offer something to each other!!! 

Creamy Italian Crock Pot Chicken

I know it's been a while since I have posted a recipe, so I thought I would post one of my family's favorites, My husband on a weekly basis will request this one, not only is it easy for me to make, but it is nothing short of comfort food. I originally found a recipe like this on Pinterest but altered the amounts to fit the needs of my family as its just two of us.

What You'll Need:
3 boneless skinless chicken breast
1/2 cup of sour cream
1 large can of cream of chicken soup (or 2 regular sized cans)
2 packets of Italian dressing seasoning


What to do:

1. Turn crock pot on low
2. Place chicken breasts in all in one layer (don't double up) 
3. dump contents of cream of chicken over the chicken and spread it out evenly
4. scoop 1/2 of sour cream (doesn't have to be exact) spread around evenly
5. sprinkle both packets of seasoning evenly
6. Allow to cook on low for 6 to 8 hours (if you want to have it cook faster set the crock pot on high and it should only take 4 to 5 hours) 

** I usually will boil some rice before serving and serve it over a bed of rice, its basically a yummy chicken casserole. This recipe could serve about 3 to 4 people if you pull the chicken apart in the crock pot before serving (I usually do that myself) 

Worship strengthens the Weak

It's not surprise that it's been a hard time for me, moving from my family, starting a new life with my husband, taking in a pure breed beagle, leaving my church family, my support team being miles away, and then throw in there dealing with fertility struggles. It's hard. God never promised life would be easy, He never said "You'll never go through anything" He did however promise to leave us companion, a protector within us to help us and guides us and strengthen us. Who? The Holy Spirit.

I am almost through my first week of fertility treatments for my PCOS, and I have to say its been an extremely hard week! Between emotions on the fritz, my emotional buffer gone, and the pains I have had, my appetite is slowly decreasing some would embrace the lack there of eating, but not me, I eat all naturally for the most part to begin with so this concerns me. The only thing my body seems to want is water, ice cold water.

I have been asked why do the fertility treatments so soon, why not wait a little and see what happens, I could get blessed, and I agree I could get blessed with a child, however I also agree that Doctors were given to us by God, yes God will bless us and take care of us but we have to use the tools He has provided us with. I am truly and honestly praying and serving and trusting that my God will provide, He knows the desires of my heart, I am truly blessed to know and love a God that cares so deeply for my well being that He would bless me with an amazing husband who supports me and encourages me, he ensures he's there at every appointment so as a way to be a support and also an encouragement.

Today I am worshipping not for what God has given me, not for what I want, but for who God is in general. I worship because I am alive, I worship because those who I love who aren't alive know God and are with Him. I worship because by worshipping God, who is greater than me, I am strengthened, I am removed from my personal problems, my selfishness, and I am refocused to what it is that God wants my attention for. Never underestimate the power of worshipping with all of your heart.

**Tip: In our home I have multiple avenues of which worship music can be played, I keep an ipod touch and its dock right in my kitchen, a bluetooth speaker in my bathroom, a bluetooth speaker in my living room that can be moved anywhere. I encourage you to think of ways to up the amount of worship that plays in your house, sometimes I even leave worship music on in the background when I leave to run errands.