Visitors

The kids and I hosted a potluck on Friday night and thanks to the request of one of the people who attended we actually have a picture of the group.

My parents, Jordan/Joy, Julie and Jason came for Hannah and Nate's wedding.  We enjoyed going to garage sales, bike riding, eating, scrapbooking, and attending a Saturday night singing.  My dad blessed me by working on a few of the projects on my to do list. We also celebrated Julie's birthday and Moriah got an early birthday present from my parents.  

Decluttering Week ?

I have not been doing as well as I like at meeting my decluttering  goal.  Blame in on having company, traveling, and just not being motivated.  Here is a quick summary of what I have done over the past few weeks.  

1)spent 2 hours organizing the digital pictures on my computer by month and year 

2) Got rid of our broken hot tub 

3)Got rid of a broken futon bed frame (thanks to my dad and brother, Jason) 

4)finished scrapbooking the 2014 Christmas pictures we received (thanks to my sister, Joy) 

5) Sorted out over 30 books to donate/sell 

6)Got rid of broken porch lights and replaced them with new ones (a huge thanks to my dad for this one)

 Before:

After: 

I have four weeks until my June 1st deadline, so I decided to make a list of what is left to do (maybe this will motivate me):
1) Finish sorting through books on the book shelves (Do I really need my textbooks from college?)
2) Sort and organize craft supplies
3) Organize computer files
4) Sort through boxes in the storage room
5) Finish cleaning desk area and organizing paperwork
6) Organize printed pictures and make a list of scrapbooking projects that need to be completed
7) Go through the various "junk drawers throughout the house.  (Not sure if I should admit that I have one in almost every room)

Warmer Weather

We spent a lot of time outside after school today.  Moriah picked flowers (dandelions) and they both rode their bikes in the bake yard.  I hooked our bike trailer up to my new bike and we went on  4 mile bike ride.  They kept telling me from the trailer that we should ride 10 miles.  Zion said, "mom if you can ride 8 miles you can ride 10."   Such the motivator.  He must be taking lessons from my instructors at the YMCA.  Guessing the added 80 pounds of the kids and trailer increased my workout.  Looking forward to going farther another day-it started to rain so we headed home.   

Prayer

I’m Tired of Praying the Same Prayers 
Lynn Cowell April 24, 2014

“‘Not so, my lord,’ Hannah replied, ‘I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the LORD.’” 1 Samuel 1:15 (NIV 1984) 

Just not having a good day. I’m tired of praying these same prayers! 

I debated whether or not to update my Facebook status to reflect how I really felt. Not every day is a good day. This day was especially hard as I held my prayer journal. I thought, I just don’t have it in me to pray those prayers again. I’m exhausted, worn out. I might be able to read my Bible, but pray? Not today. 

I decided to share the reality of my emotional state on Facebook. Hoping my words would encourage someone else who was having a bad day and struggling to pray for things that break her heart. 

There was another woman whose prayers were hard to pray. Her name was Hannah, and for years she prayed for and longed desperately for a child. 

Each year, Hannah traveled with her husband to worship the Lord. One year in particular, the burden of her prayer was more than she could take. The Bible says, “In bitterness of soul Hannah wept much and prayed to the LORD“ (1 Samuel 1:10, NIV 1984). 

As she prayed in her heart, her lips were moving, but her voice was not heard. The priest thought she was drunk! “‘Not so, my LORD,’ Hannah replied, ‘I am a woman who is deeply troubled … I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief’” (vv. 15,16). 

Eli, the priest, sensed Hannah’s pain and stepped into her situation with words to encourage, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him” (v. 17). The story tells us that Eli’s words made a difference, and Hannah left no longer sad. 

While a priest didn’t respond to my Facebook status, my dear friend Julie did. She had read my post and called, asking, “Are you OK?”

With those three short words, my dam of keeping-it-all-together broke. “No, I’m not.” The flood of weariness from unanswered prayers poured out. 

From there, my friend reassured me she was praying for me, but it was her challenge that did my heart the most good. Her words enabled me to “go in peace,” like Eli told Hannah to do. 

Julie encouraged me to pick up my prayer journal. Not so I could pray the prayers again, but to see God’s faithfulness in the past. 

“Go through and read all the prayers God has answered in your life,” Julie said. She assured me that remembering God’s goodness would fuel me to keep praying and trusting God for those answers yet to come. 

I recognized wise advice, so I took my prayer journal and read of God’s faithfulness to me and my family. In fact, I read it out loud. It made a difference in my attitude. 

God finally answered Hannah’s prayer for a son after many years of prayer. And while I don’t want to wait years to see answers to my prayers, Hannah’s story inspires me to keep worshiping, praying and looking for His answers. 

Do you have a prayer you are weary of praying? Maybe it’s time to focus on God’s faithfulness in those answered prayers in your past. 

Dear Jesus, You are faithful, always. Though I may grow weary in praying for Your will and Your ways to be accomplished in my life, You never grow weary. Though I may not see what You are doing, I know You are working. Today, I rest in the comfort of what You have done in my past and all You will do in my future. In Your Name, Amen. 

http://proverbs31.org/devotions/devo/im-tired-of-praying-the-same-prayers/

My Thoughts: When I read this devotion a few minutes ago, I knew it was God acknowledging the words that have been filling my prayer journal the last few days. I often scan back through my prayer journal to see how God has been working in my life. I want to see the answers to my prayers, but too often my mind focuses on the pain I read in my pleas for His help and direction. I see the same prayers over and over and wonder if He is ever going to answer them for me. I know that there is purpose in waiting, but when I feel exhausted by life it is hard for me to find that purpose and stay focused on His faithfulness. Not sure where this day will take me, but for now I am going to open my journal again and pour out my heart to the One who has everything in His control.

Still Decluttering

Hard to believe that it has been over a month since my last decluttering post.  I haven't given up, life has just been busy.  The kids and I spend a wonderful week in Florida with the Bertsch/Pfister family and then a few days after we returned I headed to Missouri for the Empowered to Connect Conference (I will probably share more about each of these events in future blogs posts).  In between my two trips Amanda Frauhiger came over and helped me clean out my kitchen cupboards.  Through the process I figured out that I had too many bowls, way too much glad-ware, and three junk drawers.  Leaving my house (it is all sitting in boxes in the dinning room) are over 8 cookbooks, 20+ small plastic containers, around 10 serving bowels of various sizes, a large roaster, and a lot of other small items.  I ended the clean out effort with a trip to the store for plastic baskets to keep my smaller kitchen items more organized.  While I was at the conference my parents stayed with the kids and my dad took out Moriah's old closet system and put in new bars and shelves.  I spent an afternoon last week painting her closet while the kids played with friends (a big thanks to Jesse Steffen for keeping them).  

 Before

  

After

Before

 

After

 

On Saturday Courtney and Jodi Pfister organized a group of friends to help me clean out two of my most dreaded areas in my house-the garage and the basement storage room.  I feel so blessed that Ked Ringger, Jason and Anna Lantz, Jay Gerber, Byron Gerber, and Keith and Kay Gerber all gave up part of their Saturday to join Courtney and Jodi (hopefully I didn't miss anyone).  My windows are sparkling, the landscaping is ready for spring, and both the garage and basement look 100% better than when we started.  I also have a large stack of items that I am getting rid off (I didn't feel like counting this time).  Now for the before/after pictures:

 Garage Before

 

Garage After

 Basement Before

 Basement After

Broken & Beautiful

Over the weekend I had the opportunity to attend Communion at Church. When I arrived I wasn't sure why I was there after a busy day at an adoption conference. My mind still hadn't slowed down from the emotions of speaking in front of a group of people.  Adoption is a topic I love to talk about but, it sometimes brings painful reminders that my dreams of adopting have been put on hold for so many years. As I prayed at the beginning of the service I told God how broken I felt and pleaded with Him to give me what He knew I needed not what I thought I needed. I shed a few tears when it was mentioned that at Communion last year Zach shared a final message with the church (not sure why I hadn't thought of that fact before I arrived). Tears feel again when we sang "It is Well" at the end and I was thankful to have Erin Drayer sitting beside me to give me a hug and reflect on how hard it is to watch your husband suffering. God was faithful in providing tears to wash away some of the pain and when it was all over I found myself able to smile and laugh again. The phrase "Broken and Beautiful" came to mind at some point during the evening and I listened to "Broken and Beautiful by Mark Schultz when I got home. So good to be reminded how much God treasures us completely surrendering all the broken pieces of our lives to Him so He can provide true healing. The circumstances of my life may have left me feeling broken, but I serve a God who can heal my brokenness and use it for His glory.

Decluttering Weeks 7 and 8

During the last two weeks I had to admit that I can't do it all.  Between having company at my house, traveling to my brother-in-laws wedding, and keeping up with the kids posting about my decluttering efforts wasn't a priority.   The good news is that I did make some progress.  During week seven I cleaned out our upstairs guestroom for company.  Got rid of around 15 items and then moved the rest of the clutter to my basement storage room because I didn't have time to sort it all.  I know that storage room will be a bigger job because I added more to the already existing mess but at least the guestroom is usable for the first time in months. Last week (week 8) the kids and I tackled the basement toy room.  It was a great success in that I managed to get the kids to part with some of the toys they don't play with anymore.  As a result of our efforts 9 empty boxes, over 30 games, a large box of Mega Blocks, a Table Hockey Game, 8 dolls/stuffed animals, 8 backpack/bags/play purses, 8 dress up hats, a decorative plate, a toy guitar, 3 office organizers, and a box of miniature tractors all left our house.  It felt so good to drop most of the items off at the Goodwill store yesterday.  Now for pictures (sometimes I wonder why I share the before pics.-rather embarrassing): 

 Before Guest Room

After Guestroom

Before Toy Room

After Toy Room

 

Get Rid of Piles