Gratitude

This week my gratitude list is short. I am thankful for my salvation, given as a free gift to me through my Savior, Jesus Christ, so that I could be freed my my sin and reunited with the One who created me and gave me life.

Even after confessing Christ as my Lord and savior, I had a thought in the back of my mind that my sinfulness was only in the things that I had done wrong. So my goal was then to try to do things "right" - the better I could be, the more I deserved God's approval and love, right? Even then, I sometimes wondered - "I know I am saved, but what exactly am I saved from? What does "saved" really mean?" Through a series of events, good theological books, and a burning desire in my heart to really know this God I wanted to serve.... He revealed to me what salvation really is.

My "wrong" actions weren't the problem - even if I had a perfect day, in which I felt I did everything "right" - there still lurked sin.

Sin in my heart
Sin down to the very core of my being
Sin in the marrow of my bones.
Sin, that, no matter how I tried, I could not remove from myself.

Sin that was there, like a cancer silently eating away at me, despite how healthy or good I looked on the outside. Its in all of us, even "good" people. We are flawed, broken, without any way to repair ourselves. We are far from God.

I was far from God.

Only when I realized the enormity of my sin, my utterly helpless, pathetic, disgusting condition, did I understand the depths of salvation.

Only then did I see what a true gift it is.

Only then did my heart break over what my Savior did for me by laying down His life in place of mine, so that I may be reconciled to the Lord, Creator of all things.

Only then did my heart finally understand the "Joy of the Lord", overflowing with what can only be humble gratitude and rejoicing.

In light of who I was, and who I now am - only because of His incredible, beautiful, live-giving mercy and love - it becomes hard not to praise Him.

It is impossible to live my life without gratitude to my Redeemer and Lord, for who He is and what He's done.

Today, and for always, I am thankful for His salvation. How could I do anything but praise Him?

Fitness Friday

Yes, that's right - I'm posting a Fitness Friday the day after Thanksgiving! I hope it doesn't make anyone feel like a slacker! The reason I'm doing a Fitness Friday the day after Thanksgiving is because yesterday was not only Thanksgiving for me, it was my birthday. My 30th birthday, to be exact. Yes, yes, the big 3-0. I survived without too much mourning of my 20s. However, I have reached this birthday with something that has never taken me this long to get rid of - extra pregnancy weight! Yikes! I guess what they say about the motabolism slowing down is actually true!

So, part of my birthday present from my sweet Michael (at my request) was some running supplies. New shoes, and some new supportive undergarments - both of which are extremely important for comfortable and injury-free running. I took pictures of my new shoes but can't find the cord to my camera to upload them, so here's a stock photo:
(I think you know you're a blogger when you find yourself taking pictures of things like new running shoes!)

We went to Fleet Feet, a store that specializes in running shoes and studying your gate, stride, and footfalls to determine which will be the best fit for you. I learned something shockingly interesting there (mom, if you're reading this, don't have a heart attack!) - they said for running, the best socks are ones with NO cotton in them. None at all. What?! I thought cotton was best for allowing your feet to "breathe", right? Well, yes, but it also absorbs all the sweat, and can't wick it away. So it can lead to stinky feet and chafing, and other yuckies like athlete's foot (eeew!). So go with socks made of good wicking material. Now we all know ;-)

I'm moving rather slowly into my running routine. I'm trying to get up early and spend a good half hour on the treadmill every morning. The first week, I only ran for about 10 minutes each day - the rest of the time I walked. This week my goal was to bump that up to 15 minutes of running, which I accomplished on Monday, but since then haven't gotten on the treadmill at all. I plan to, today, however, once people are napping.

To keep myself accountable, I've added this ticker to the bottom of my blog:

Isn't that cute? I put a goal of 100 miles, but I don't really have a goal of when I'd like to reach that 100 miles. My real goal is to just get into better running shape and run consistently every week. Perhaps at the next 5k Michael and the boys do, I can join in!

Thankfulness and a Recipe

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope all are enjoying a special time with their families and giving thanks to the One who is the giver of all good things. I'm thankful for many, many things, including the fact that I have been blessed with 30 years upon this earth! :-)

Here's a recipe that I'm making today, its a nice twist from the traditional mashed potatoes:

Roasted Garlic Potatoes

• 4-5 pounds of baby red potatoes - the smallest you can possibly find! I usually use Green Giant's Petite Red Potatoes - they're smaller than even the grocery store baby red potatoes. They can be hard to find, though (I get mine at Super Target, none of my traditional grocery stores carry them).
• 1 head of garlic
• 1 stick salted butter
• 1 TB salt
• 1 TB Dry dill weed

Wash, dry, and place baby red potatoes tightly packed into a large glass baking dish.

Peel head of garlic and place individual cloves randomly between potatoes, as evenly dispersed as possible.

Slice up stick of butter and place squares of butter on top of potatoes, also spread out as evenly as possible.

Evenly sprinkle 1 TB of salt on top, then evenly sprinkle 1 TB of dill weed on top.

Cover with tin foil, bake at 400 degrees for several hours - the longer, the better! Also, the bigger the potatoes, the longer you'll need to cook to achieve good tenderness. I usually do mine for 3-4 hours.

The smell of them cooking is unbeatable... and eating them is even better!!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

Wordless Wednesday - Why I Love Babywearing

(Joel in my ring sling, 8 months old)

Gratitude

"Enter His gates with thanksgiving And His courts with praise
Give thanks to Him, bless His name.
For the LORD is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting
And His faithfulness to all generations."
Psalm 100:4-5

56. libraries

57. coming in from the cold

58. sound, blissful sleep

59. interruptions

60. tap water

70. His sacrifice

71. I am clean

72. the air in my lungs

73. running

74. my heart, once stone, now living flesh, pounding life through my veins

75. the incredible grace of my father God, bestowed on me day after day

The rest of my small, but ever growing gratitude list can be found here. Consider joining in the gratitude community at holy experience, and allow gratitude to transform you.

Switching Gears

When we first started out on our homeschooling journey, I looked over ALOT of curriculum. (Can I just say as a side tangent that I actually think the amount of choices out there for homeschooling now is a detriment? There's so much guilt and worry involved, because of the fear that you might miss out on something absolutely essential that you never would have even thought of until you saw it in a catalog! I know its probably better than when homeschooling pioneers 20 years ago only had old public school text books, but I still think its overwhelming, especially for new or insecure homeschoolers.) There was one curriculum in particular that I had settled in my mind pretty early on that I would *not* be using, for a few various reasons that I believed didn't quite line up with our homeschooling goals. We wound up choosing our current curriculum, My Father's World, which I have enjoyed using - we've used it through several grades (K, 1st, 2nd, and now 3rd) and been reasonably pleased.

However, as the children have grown and I have grown in confidence concerning my ability to homeschool, some of my desires and goals have changed, as well. So while I've appreciated the curriculum MFW has put together, next year will be moving on. Here's the ironic part. That curriculum I mentioned wouldn't "fit" with us, the one I was completely settled on not using, so much so that I never even looked at their catalogs after my decision was made - I wasn't even tempted! - that curriculum is the one we will be switching to. (I think the Lord loves irony, lol!)

"That curriculum" is Sonlight. It was a very strange road that lead us to choosing Sonlight for next year. It started, of course, when I came to the realization that MFW wasn't quite fitting for us anymore. My initial thought was to piece together my own stuff. While researching available History programs out there, another homeschooler commented that she uses Sonlight, just the History portion. Then another mentioned that she loved the read-alouds from Sonlight. Then, totally unrelated to this, I noticed that this random guy who sometimes leaves comments here (Hi, Luke! You stand out as my only male commenter!) is actually from Sonlight. Also, another blogger, Kimberly from Raising Olives, has been posting about how Sonlight works for her family recently. Suddenly, Sonlight was everywhere!

So I decided to take a peek at the website. Which was a bit overwhelming, so I ordered a print catalog. The catalog arrived and I took it into the baby's room, because I get good reading time in while he's nursing. I spend the entire WEEK looking through the catalog, reading all of the articles, using their website, listening to podcasts, watching videos, reading reviews, etc. etc. etc. (OK, I'm a bit obsessive about researching things, but that is because: 1. I'm OCD, 2. I'm 1st born type-A personality, and 3. I hate jumping into something without knowing EVERYTHING there is to know about it. When we got Ada as a puppy, I took out every single book the library had about training puppies. I'm not exaggerating. Michael has come to understand this side of me and no longer thinks I'm crazy. Even though I might be.)

A few things that seriously impressed me about Sonlight:

• It truly is literature-based learning. Not just a few read-alouds combined with some seat work and some text-like books. Lots, and lots and lots of books. That you can order straight from Sonlight, instead of having to hunt around or hope your library carries them. We LOVE books. I had already been supplementing our current curriculum with extra read alouds because there weren't enough in the schedule to suit us. And oh, my, what GOOD books. Books I remember reading and loving as a child. True classics! One of our homeschool goals is to encourage the children to love reading, because reading opens up so many worlds of imagination and avenues of learning. Even if they retain nothing of actual "facts", if a child has a love and desire to read, a whole world of education is available to them as they grow!
  


• The customer service is excellent. From the mass amounts of information available on their website and in the catalog, to the emails I sent asking questions and getting replies in less than 24 hours that actually answered my questions perfectly, I have been very impressed with how well they run things.


• Their organization. It seems like they've thought of everything. This sort of ties in with the customer service point, but more so. My sister-in-law had an older copy of an IG that she let me borrow to look over, and I am impressed with the structure and thought that has gone into it. I love the flexibility of choosing a 5 or 4 day schedule (4 day fits our life perfectly, and I won't feel like I'm "behind" when I need a day for doctor's appointments or errands). They provide discussion questions and a sketch of the main points the children should be picking up and narrating back after readings. This is a funny point, and will demonstrate what I nerd I truly am, but they actually provide color-coded labels to put on your books, so they won't get lost on the bookshelf or jumbled in with other books. I love that! And even the point that their shipping boxes come with a castle outline that you cut out for the kids to play with... little details like that show me they've really put alot of thought into everything.


• Their 18-week "Love to Learn" guarantee. Seriously? I can use the curriculum for 18 weeks, and then if its not a good fit, send it back for a full refund?! How can that deal be beat, really? The scariest thing about investing in curriculum is the fear that it might not be a good fit and money will be wasted. That alone gives me confidence enough to at least give it a try!

So, that's our plans for next year. I'm still trying to figure out which Core we'll begin with (Isaac and Ezra combined - the littles will still be tagging along and having some preschool time as they do now), and I'll have to be diligent about saving up my homeschool budget, but I'm really looking forward to diving into Sonlight, come next spring!

A Quiet Life

Its been a few days since I've posted! I've actually got a little list of topics I'd like to post about, but whenever I get the time, the ambition is lacking. Interestingly, this verse has been circling around in my head lately, and I think its part of the reason I'm feeling quiet:

But we urge you, brethren, to excel still more, and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you...

1 Thessalonians 4:10-11

So please forgive me for not having much to say for a little while. I'm entering a bit of a quiet period, and focusing on attending to my own business of ministry to the ones the Lord has entrusted me.

Wordless Wednesday - Pure Sweetness!

My Mission Field

This is the Above Rubies e-mail devotion for this week. I found it very encouraging, so I wanted to share! I know I've said it before, but if you don't receive the Above Rubies magazine, or the email devotions, you are really missing out on a blessing! Information on how to subscribe is at the bottom of the devotion - they're both free!

MY MISSION FIELD

Matthew 9:37-38, "Then said Jesus unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest."

Do you sometimes hanker to be doing some great work for God? You feel as though you are wasting your life in your home. You would love to serve the Lord in some harvest field. Yes, it is true, the harvest is great and the laborers are few. But why are they few? Because mothers have not understood God's purpose.

Are you looking for an easy path in life in life or do you have a heart to serve God as a missionary? Dear mother, you are already a missionary. God has chosen your specific mission field for you. It is your home and family. You are employed by God to train laborers for His harvest field. You don't raise children and then send them to Bible College to prepare for service. You train them for God's service from the time they are little. They should be ready to labor in the harvest field when they come forth from your home.

Is a missionary's work easy? No, it takes sacrifice. Is motherhood easy? No, but it will be worthwhile. It takes everything you've got--all your resources of time, energy and strength--but you will influence nations. It takes sacrifice--many mothering days are exhausting and overwhelming--but you will receive the fruit of your labors and an eternal reward. It will take committed prayer and intercession, but your prayers will be answered. Remember, you are not on vacation; you are on the mission field!

Maybe God has only given you one laborer to prepare for Him--that His is plan for you. Maybe he has given you six, or even twelve! Wow, would twelve be too many? Jesus trained twelve disciples who impacted the world. How would you like to train laborers who "turn the world upside down"?

What kind of laborers does God want us to faithfully prepare for His service? The following is my vision for our children, grandchildren and future generations. I believe He wants us to prepare children who are...

Baby lovers
Blessing imparters
Bible believers
Bible obeyers
Committed laborers in God's harvest
Courageous overcomers
Demon destroyers
Diligent workers
Evil haters
Faithful servers
Fearless soldiers
Freedom fighters
Fruit bearers
God fearers
God lovers
God pleasers
God worshippers
Gospel preachers
Holy Spirit empowered witnesses
Israel supporters
Jesus fanatics
Life choosers
Light shiners
Liberal threateners
Obedient listeners
Parent honorers
Persecution endurers
Prayer warriors
Responsible citizens
Righteousness lovers
Sharp arrows
Tomorrow's leaders
Truth bearers
Truth keepers
Truth lovers
Truth preservers
Truth seekers
Truth speakers
Uncompromising disciples
Valiant conquerors
Zealous servants of the Living God!

Wow! Can you imagine anything more exciting and fulfilling that raising laborers such as these? You couldn't have a greater mission field or a greater vision.

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER: "Thank you, Lord, for showing me my mission field. Help me to serve you faithfully and to raise prepared laborers for your great harvest field. Lord, I am open for you to give me all the laborers you have planned for me to train. Amen."

AFFIRMATION: I am a full-time missionary, recruiting and training laborers for God's harvest field.

If you know others who would be blessed by these devotions, you are welcome to forward them or let them know they can subscribe by sending a blank email to subscribers-on@aboverubies.org

Gratitude

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossians 3:17

46. My rocking chair, given as a gift, which has rocked night after night for 9 years while I've snuggled my little ones

47. Laughter

48. The joy of rediscovering God's creation through the eyes of a baby

49. Provision

50. Wonderful women I am blessed to know

51. His life-giving Word

52. The energy of children


53. Other's creativity, making the world beautiful

54. Good books to read

55. Time to read good books

For more of my gratitude list, please go here. Think about starting your own list of things you are thankful for!

The Truth

This is an excellent video. I know, I know... its 7 minutes long! But surely while you're browsing facebook or other blogs, you can keep this open and listen to it ;-)

The New Look!

As you can tell, things have changed around here (yet again...!)! I mentioned previously that I was blessed to win a giveaway from Tonya at Safe in HIS Arms for a blog makeover by The Design Girl. This is the result of her hard work!

I love it - its so perfectly "me"! Danielle (the Design Girl) was great to work with, especially considering that I am clueless when it comes to digital design stuff - she was patient and helpful, and worked SUPER fast to get things done. If you're ever considering a professional blog makeover, I would recommend her in a heartbeat!

Thank you Tonya, for the giveaway, and for Danielle, for the awesome work!!

A Song for Saturday

Another great song off of the Glory Revealed album. This one is my favorite! It is based on Romans 11:33-36:

"Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!
For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR?
Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN?
For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things
To Him be the glory forever.
Amen."

Who could hold the wealth of God?
Such treasure found in Him
Who could comprehend His heart and mind?
His wisdom has no end

For from Him, through Him, to Him are all things
From Him, through Him, to Him are all things

To You be the glory, forever
To You be the glory, Lord, amen
To You be the glory, forever
To You be the glory, Lord, amen

Who has known the mind of God?
Who has counseled Him?
Who has given gifts to God
That He might be repaid?

For from Him, through Him, to Him are all things
From Him, through Him, to Him are all things

To You be the glory, forever
To You be the glory, Lord, amen
To You be the glory, forever
To You be the glory, Lord, amen

In dark and light, in death and life
When hard times enter in
In all things we will worship You
With You there is no end

To You be the glory, forever
To You be the glory, Lord, amen
To You be the glory, forever
To You be the glory, Lord, amen

For from Him, through Him, to Him are all things
From Him, through Him, to Him are all things

Homeschooling Humor

Meatloaf and Mac N' Cheese

Yes, that's really what this post is about! I rarely ever share recipes - cooking is not my forte and is something I'm working on my attitude about. I tend to get overwhelmed over menu planning, grocery list making, grocery shopping, and food prep in general. However, I am a "work in progress" in this area and know that good food is not only a blessing to those whom I serve, but a necessity! So I need to get over my attitude and decide to find joy in it :-)

Here's a meal that we love, and is super, super easy to throw together.

Meatloaf:
2 lbs ground beef (I actually use ground turkey because its usually cheaper)
1.5 cups Stove Top Stuffing
2 eggs
1.5 tsp Bragg's Liquid Aminos (yummy!)
dried onion, garlic powder, and salt to taste

Mix all ingredients together, place in a greased loaf pan. Cook at 350 for an hour or until no longer pink. Some might like it topped with tomato sauce or ketchup, we don't. If you do, pour some on top before cooking.

Macaroni and Cheese:
(I found this recipe at A Year of Slowcooking, check it out for more great Crockpot recipes!)
1/2 lb uncooked macaroni noodles - I use whole wheat
4 cups milk
1 egg
4 cups shredded cheese (I use entirely sharp cheddar)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp dried mustard

Spray crock pot with cooking spray. In mixing bowl, whip egg and milk together. Stir in spices. Add cheese and noodles, stir well. Pour into crockpot, cook on high for 1-3 hours, or low for 2-5. It can get a little mushy, so check it on occasion. Delicious and so easy!!

We like to steam some broccoli or brussel sprouts to go along with it. It makes a yummy, easy-to-make meal! Enjoy!

Wordless Wednesday - When 2-Year-Olds Dress Themselves

A Day at the Races!

On Sunday afternoon, Michael and the boys ran in the "Fall Back 5K". Michael entered the 5K, Isaac and Ezra ran in the 1 mile fun run, and Joel and Nathan joined in the tot trot. Judah and I were the cheerleaders! It was a really enjoyable family affair. I took a ton of pictures, so here's a little picture documentary of the day:

These are the "King and Queen" Buildings - we've passed them on the highway before, so it was really neat to be AT them!

Before the race - I apologize for the bad lighting. I don't have any cool photo editing software to fix pictures like this!

Just some pretty trees :-)

Michael's in the line-up... can you find him?

Waiting for Daddy!

Isaac

Ezra

Joel

Me and Judah!

There he goes!

His official time. His goal was to get in under 23 minutes! He finished 7th overall, and 1st in his age group.

Receiving his award

Isaac and Ezra's turn

Isaac surprised us! We thought we'd see him around 10 minutes... he finished second, with a time of 8:35!

Ezra came is right behind Isaac at 8:48!

Ezra's award

Its good sportsmanship to cheer on your competitors ;-)

Joel and Nathan's turn. See how well they're paying attention to Daddy telling them where to go? ...Or not?

They're off! Joel, is, anyway. Nate was confused by all of the commotion! I love the look of excitement on all of the children's faces.

There goes Nate!

Joel coming in to the finish. He came in second!

Joel's ribbon!

Nathan got scared and started crying. :-(

Still crying, even after getting a ribbon

Still crying...
but no worries... after a few post-race cookies, he felt much better!

On the ride home ;-)

We really had so much fun (well, except for Nathan toward the end). Perhaps a Tot Trot when it should be nap time isn't the best idea!

We're so thankful that running is an activity that we can all enjoy as a family, and even share some success in, too! We met a dad there who had 6 children - he was there with 4 of them, and they all run, too (the mom and the other children were at a half marathon!). It was neat to meet another large family parent, and to see how much running has been enjoyed in their family as well.

Gratitude

Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

36. His new mercies

37. Early, quiet mornings

38. My dishwasher

39. My dishwasher of the human kind



40. Dishes to wash

41. My Ergo, how I love to keep baby close

42. Chubby, naked baby bodies - is there anything more adorable?

43. Brothers that love, voluntarily



44. Boys who are turning into young men before my eyes

45. The man who is raising men



For more of my gratitude list, go here. Consider starting your own, and giving thanks to God in everything!