Athena in a Minivan

I am going to cross post this as I have written it on the Weight Loss blog I am a part of over at WAIWMIWLI.

This is where I have been. I spent the month of September planning the yearly women's retreat for my church which was the first weekend in October. (I did not gain nor did I lose but just maintained during that time and was still at the same weight) The retreat was so awsome and I came away renewed and refreshed. I shared with the speaker my struggles with overeating and the inability to stop. Weight Watchers was not working anymore. She shared this website with me http://www.settingcaptivesfree.com/lords_table/ and how it had freed her from the sin of gluttony. ( I know, I hate that word but that is what it is and now that I can call it as such, it is so freeing to know what held me captive.)There is a link to this at the sidebar.

This is a 60 day course in learning how to turn over to God all the feelings and emotions that I had used food for in the past. I had not said anything about it because I was afraid of another failure. But alas it is not so. Only God and God alone could bring about this change in me. I have white knuckled it through weightloss in the past so many times but now it is with God that I am only eating when I am hungry. The feelings to overeat still come (it has only been 14 days) but I have not given into the temptation rather I have filled my soul with scripture, praise, singing, and Bible Study.

I still have a long way to go as I have been an active sinner for many years and I have many bad habits to overcome but daily, walking with the Lord I am learning how to turn this over to the one who has overcome the world. If you are still white knuckling it or struggling as I was, come on over to the Lord's Table and learn to feast on HIM.

Strep Throat

It is now unanimous. All the children and Honey have or have had Strep in the past 2 weeks. Strep is a yucky bacteria that infects the throat and other open areas. It hurts like the dickens. This morning I woke up to a crying Toddler and Butch complaining of a sore throat. It is Sunday which means a visit to CareNow, our local acute care clinic. I am grateful for Sunday hours and computer check in which means we wait at home instead of in the office.

We are on our 4th round of antibiotics, one round for each patient.  It is amazing that this can cause so much discomfort. I am grateful to live where we can get antibiotics anytime of the day, see the doctor on the weekend and a safe clean place to rest when we are trying to get well. Sundance won't even have to miss school since we do it here at the kitchen table.

Now if I can just get the laundry and dishes caught up after two weeks of sick ones in my house.....

When I am old...

I will not be mean to a poor mother of three small boys who is obviously stressed because she has to stand in line at the post office instead of using the machine in the lobby to buy stamps. I will not say things like, "my children never behaved like hooligans". I will be loving and gracious and realize that people have feelings and that a sour word can hurt even when I do not even know the person.

I will remember that Christ did not respond to hurtful words with the same. I will remember the sweet ladies at church who think my children are darling even when they are rowdy.

I will be like Helen who at the young age of 81 still finds time to send thank you cards to young mothers. Who even after all that life has given her, still sings praises to our Lord and shares His love everywhere she goes.

I love resale shopping!!

It is getting ready to turn cold around here. I went to our local resale/thrift stores to find pants for the ever-growing twins. I also needed to procure some jackets. Since it is not yet cold, I guess many people have not bought these items yet as I found plenty in each size. These are not worn out, junk either. I bought a Lands End squall jacket for $4.00, a Sag Harbor fleece jacket for me for $3.00, and another heavy boy's coat for $6.00.

I also bought 8 pair of boy's pants (some name brands: Land's End, Tommy Hilfiger) for $4.00, 4 "church" (ones with collars) shirts for $2.00 and 2 pair of PJs for $1.00.

Our biggest finds were costumes. The boys had been looking through mail order catalogues and had seen Ninja costumes but they were WAY too expensive. I found two Shadow Ninja costumes from last year that were $3.00. They are similar to this one.. They were $3.00. We also like to play Star Wars and I found two Darth Maul costumes complete with masks for $3.00 each. Power Rangers are another favorite and there were two for $2.00 each. I know I should leave some costumes for others but hey, when your boys like to play make believe, I try to give them as many props as I can.  From what I can figure, we bought about $130 dollars worth of costumes for $16. Less than the cost of one of them new.

Toddler does not need anything since he has twin big brothers. I have two times the clothing in each size. I have begun to share half of it with a new friend at church who has two boys younger than mine. All in all, a  pretty good day of shopping.

Life and all that it is.

In baseball, you never mention when there is a perfect game going on because you just might jinx the game. I almost hate to mention life as we know it but things have been going along so well that I hate to jinx it. I know that I need to talk about it because the Holy Spirit has been reminding me that it is only because of grace that things are going well. Oh, there is still a (actually 4) loads of laundry that needs to be done and Toddler is TRYING to learn to use the potty and the bills come in regularly but I am being reminded that this is life as I know it.

This morning we had a guest preacher as our's was out of town celebrating his mother's 80th birthday. Bro. Keith reminded us that Christ did not leave us alone here on earth. He left us a Helper, a Comforter, a Companion, one who takes our prayers to the Savior, one who fills my heart with joy. I have been trying to daily meet with God. It has taken some effort as my house is full of rambunctious, homeschooled 6 yr old twins and a potty training 2 yr old. There are so many things that a mom has to do to run a full house and these can distract me from the first thing in my life.

What I have begun to do is a tough job for a night owl such as I . I am getting up earlier. I am not talking about early because I know there are others who get up much earlier than I do. Honey even is gone to work before I even see the light of day. I am getting up 45 minutes before the children do. I fix a cup of my favorite tea, dress and spend some time with God. Currently I am working on my Bible study from Joshua for Community Bible Study, read my Sunday School lesson which is Hebrews, and read the daily lesson from God Calling. I take some time to pray, turn on some praise and worship music on the IPod and then let the rest of the day begin.

I can tell a difference on the days I oversleep. I am not quite tuned into my day or my kids or my husband or my Savior. My days still are not perfect. Thursday, a friend's son had surgery and I kept and extra 6 yr old boy for the night and took him to our Homeschool Enrichment; Friday, a good friend called who was crying as she had been laid off; Saturday, Sundance came down with Strep Throat and we had to change from a day of fun to time in the Urgent Care Clinic and $60 worth of meds.

The toilet still overflows, my children' need to be redirected, the laundry still needs to be washed. God is in the everyday, day to day things of life. No life does not always go the way I planned it but by starting my day with spending time with my Heavenly Father, all the other stuff of life just seems to flow more smoothly.