If you can't say something nice....

....don't say anything at all.

We've all heard that phrase, haven't we? Unfortunately, it is very difficult to practice. In 'real' life I struggle with it, but trying to practice it in my 'blog' life would explain my silence in the past few months.

If I am perfectly honest I would have to admit that I have been struggling.....

I have been struggling with people.....working with people, being kind to people, being used by people and being 'abused' by people......you know, the ministry. :) My struggle isn't over, but there is a gleam of light at the end of the tunnel.

I will be the first to admit that I am spoiled....I have a wonderful husband, 3 healthy children, parents and in-laws that love me, a wonderful home....the list could (and should) go on and on. God is so good to me. Because I KNOW how good He is, I struggled with the fact that I was struggling. Does that make sense? How can I struggle in this Christian life KNOWING full well how good God is to ME!?!?! HOW??? What kind of horrible person am I? How can I call myself a 'good' pastor's wife if I struggle with people....with the ministry and other things?

So, I was struggling with the ministry and then I added the burden of guilt to that struggle.

I was reading my Bible one day when I came to Psalm 31. (Oh how I love the Psalms!!!!) As I read the chapter it dawned on me that David, the man after God's own heart, was STRUGGLING!!!! He was telling God how rough he had it (vs 9)....
how people hated him(vs 13)....
how he was consumed with grief (vs 9)....
how he felt forgotten (vs 12).
WOW.
He went on to encourage himself and remind himself of how good God is.

vs.19: "Oh how great is thy goodness which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; (ME!!!!)

vs. 24: "Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord." (ME AGAIN!!!)

What an encouragement this Psalm was to me.

My struggle hasn't ended overnight, but I am more convinced than ever that God cares about me. He loves me. He will answer me when I call (CRY!!) to him.

He will guide me through my struggle.

Friday's List

1. Ye haw. Today is Friday.

2. I bundled the girls up today to go outside and play in the snow. It is a project. By the time we are ready to go out, I am sweating.....and they usually no longer want to go out.

3. We went out anyway.

4. When did I get old? After being outside for less than 30 minutes I was COLD and wanted to come inside. I am sure it had nothing to do with the fact that the wind was howling and it was/is 18 degrees outside.

5. The girls, on the other hand, were not cold and did NOT want to come inside.

6. We came inside anyway. I like having power like that.

7. Our youngest, precious child flushed a potato down the toilet recently. (on a side note, why do I always spell "toilet" wrong???)

8. The outcome of the aforementioned flushing did not go well....it was dirty. It was smelly. It was stressful. It was not good.

9. After the flushing, our 5 year old suggested that we sell our youngest on eBay.

10. We did not sell her.

11. Shipping would be too much.

12. Oh, and we love her. :)

13. The boys of our house are going to a Milwaukee Bucks basketball game tonight....the Bucks are playing the Miami Heat. For those of you who do not have sports-loving boys in your house, this means that they will see LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade. This is a good thing - a very good thing - for the sports-loving boys in my house.

14. I have nothing more to say, but didn't want to end on #13....even though I am NOT superstitious.

:)

Impossible

Helllooooooo! :)
As you have probably gathered, life has been very busy lately.

Very busy.

I have had so many things that I wanted to blog about, but absolutely no time to sit down and type it out.

How is it possible now - now that I have a few moments to sit down and type - how is it possible for me to not be able to think of one interesting thing to blog about?

Not one.
None.
Zero.
Total lack of anything.

I got nothin'.

So, there.

:)

Comfort Food

The weather this fall has been glorious.
Today, however, was a bit dreary....perfect weather for some comfort food.

Today's comfort food: Corn Chowder and Butter Biscuits

This recipe is soooooooo easy and sooooooooo yummy...

Corn Chowder

5-8 potoatoes, peeled and cubed
1 onion, chopped
2 cups milk
2 1/2 cups water
1 stick of butter (I am sure you could do without the butter, but I add it because butter comforts my soul.)
3 cans creamed corn
Seasonings to taste (I add pepper, oregano, garlic salt, or whatever strikes my fancy for the day.)

Toss it all in the crockpot and cook on HIGH for about 5-6 hours. (after that time I turn the crockpot to warm, and the longer the soup sits on warm, the thicker it will get)

Butter Biscuits
3 cups flour
4 1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 T. sugar
3/4 tsp. cream of tartar
3/4 c. butter (again, my soul is comforted)
1 egg, beaten
1 c. milk

Combine flour, baking powder, sugar and cream of tartar. Cut in butter until it resembles coarse crumbs. Add milk and egg - stirring quickly and briefly. Roll out and cut OR place in a greased pie plate. Cook 12-15 minutes at 450 degrees.

Let me know if you try these recipes....my kids LOVE them!

Oops....

I appear to have fallen off the edge of the earth.....and left my poor blog behind. Oops.

Where have I been? What have I been doing?
(you mean besides the usual laundry to infinity, meals, dishes and all those wonderful and horrible mommy chores? :))

Well, I think that I have mentioned that we bought our house at an auction about 18 months ago.

Our house was in sad, Sad, SAD shape....did I mention it was sad? :) So, before we moved in my amazing husband (with the help of a few others) got our main living level completely done.

BUT - the lower level was, you guessed it, still pretty sad.

As time and money allowed, we have little-by-little been working on finishing the lower level. With Thanksgiving right around the corner, and MY FAMILY COMING TO SEE ME (YIPEEEE.....YES, I AM SHOUTING!!!!!!!!!!!!), we needed to HURRY and get the guest bedroom in the lower level finished.

All of that to say - what have we been doing? (and I use the term 'we' quite loosely....'we' means that my amazing man has been doing 99.9% of the work.) We have put up drywall, mudded and sanded walls. We have painted (after spraying texture) those walls. We have put down ceramic tile in the hallway from the family room (that is already finished) to the garage. We have installed laminate flooring in the spare bedroom.

WHEW! No wonder I am tired. 'We' have been busy. :)
(I will try to get some before and after pictures put up soon.)

So, that is what I have been up to.

How 'bout you? :)

A list

1. After 2 days of horrific wind, things have stopped blowing around.

2. I thought I saw a snowflake today....I am hoping someone around me just had dandruff.

3. I just saw a Blue Jay out my kitchen window....JESUS LOVES ME.

4. My husband is out today chopping wood for one of our church widows. I am thankful for a husband/pastor who not only preaches with love but serves with love.

5. I want to go shopping and buy something. It is a good thing that the nearest mall is over 60 miles away.

6. "And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of Heaven:....." Matthew 16:19. I read that today. AWESOME.

7. Today is October 28 and the Christmas decorations at our local Wal-Mart have been up for weeks. WHAT?!??!

8. It IS too soon to decorate for Christmas, but it is NEVER too soon to start on your Christmas list!

9. Everywhere I look there are pregnant women.

10. Perhaps there is something in the water?

11. I am switching to bottled water.

12. While making this list a horrible odor reaches my nose.

13. I notice this odor just after my 23 month old daughter runs by....she is wearing "Buzz Lightyear" costume and an Anakin Skywalker mask.

14. I suspect that the smell is coming from neither Buzz nor Anakin.

15. I suspect that I will be the one to rid the house of that smell.

16. First I will light a candle.

Christmas

I know - it is ONLY October...

BUT...

I am starting to think CHRISTMAS!!!

We start our Christmas shopping the day after Christmas...make sense? :) We like to plan ahead, AND we like to save money by purchasing things on sale...plus, the more money we can save in buying for others, the more money I can spend on clothes and shoes for me. HA. I'm giving like that.

So, what is on YOUR Christmas list this year??