Enough.

I am determined to post something more substantial this week than a Monday Menu. That is why I am posting on Sunday ;o) Don't get me wrong, the menus have a great place and keep things running on track in our home (a least for meal time). But my posts have been a bit...I don't know...lame? Hair and menus. Wow, that is deep. I got to see Jamie yesterday and that made me think of how much I miss her posts. Jamie, that is not to guilt you. You just always put a smile on my face when I read your posts. Lately whenever I see Jamie we ask each other how the frugal living is going. That is a post all in itself. But I do want to share what God has been teaching me the last few weeks. Apparently He needs to drive this in deep because for the last four weeks it has been the same lesson. God is enough.

I already talked about this a bit the first week when the lesson was on complaining. Whenever I am complaining it is telling God He is not enough. The second week just reinforced that thought with the lesson on thankfulness. I have really been working on being thankful and saying thank you as often as possible with being sincere. You know what I have learned? I have really not been a very thankful person. The ugly word of entitlement comes to mind.

The past two weeks the lesson has been on covetousness and contentment. God has brought me so far from where I had been in the early years of marriage with covetousness. Yes, the green eyed monster comes out from time to time but really not very often anymore. Yet I learned in week four that I still struggle somewhat with contentment. Again the theme of God is enough. Just like God, He has given me opportunity to practice this theme. Again and again He has given me opportunities to either practice being content or not. Will I trust in Him and truly believe that He is enough. That He is big enough. Involved enough. Cares enough. Provides enough. Loves enough. Will give enough justice.

If you would have asked me before if I believed that God is all I needed I would have given the right answer, yet He is pushing and chiseling away on my grasp of control. Giving me opportunities to trust Him to be enough.

If you think of me pray for me this next week. The lesson is on a critical spirit. I have known from the beginning of this study this would be a hard week to swallow. More chiseling will be involved.

Hair...why do I think about it so much?

I want a new haircut. Something fun, a little funky, sassy, and sensible. And...I want to look like her.


or...

But this is my favorite...(She is a real person that I virtually know)


Is that asking too much?
That's all I got. Real deep today, I know.

Monday again?

I am not sure where last week went. I am finding it hard to believe that it is Monday again. I am loving that this Monday however is a holiday. I am not so excited about celebrating President's Day, but very much looking forward to enjoying a day off of work and school. Ron has taken Eli(12) and Eden(11) snowboarding for the day, so I think the rest of the gang and I will go to a movie this afternoon and maybe do a little clearance shopping.

Here is what I have planned for meals this week.
Monday: Chili and cornbread
Tuesday: Mexican stack (kinda like taco salad)
Wednesday: Dinner at church (potato bar, yum!)
Thursday: Homemade mac & cheese
Friday: Fajitas
Saturday: Chicken soup or maybe Tortellini soup
Check out the Organizing Junkie for more meal ideas.

Monday Menus

Monday: Pork roast, rice pilaf, and green beans
Tuesday: Ella's B-day!! I am sure she would prefer Mac & Cheese but we are having Fajitas
Wednesday: Dinner at church
Thursday: French toast
Friday: Spaghetti, bread, salad
Saturday: Still thinking on this for Valentine's Day, Our Best Bites looks like they will have some yummy things this week. They had chocolate waffles with berry sauce today. Yum!

Those of you that know me very well are wondering if I really made pork roast. Yes, I did. Neither Emma or I ate it, but I made it ;o) I am trying to use the meat I have in the freezer (my dad brought it over)

Happy Monday to y'all! For more menus head on over the Organizing Junkie

Thursdays thoughts

This week has flown by. I can't believe it is already Thursday, February 5th! We celebrated Eden turning 11 yesterday (and will continue celebrating through the weekend because one day is just not enough) and getting ready for the baby to turn 3 on February 10. Add in the sniffles, some coughing, work and school and we have had a busy week. Are you as ready as I am to see the sun shine and the weather warm up?

I am taking this fabulous bible study that I can not recommend enough. It has been a wonderful opportunity to pour some water on this dry and thirsty land. It has been a really long time since I have done a bible study that is this powerful. Never have I related so much to the complaining children of Israel. I have seen a painfully close resemblance to myself in their whining and ungratefulness. Who wants to be around a whiner? Not me. In fact I usually try to avoid them. I would much rather be considered thankful. Real to life's struggles, but thankful.

Here's a little sample:

If we choose complaining as our lifestyle, we can be absolutely sure that we will be sent to live in the wilderness.

All the grace and strength you need to experience joy and victory are available to you; but by choosing to complain, by clinging to the idol of a perfect life, you are flushing away the grace of God.

Your complaining is totally self-centered rather than other-centered.

They let the things they taste, touch, smell and feel dictate the priorities of their lives. (Israelites)

God sees our complaining as an insult to His provision

God's fullness comes to those who turn from complaining and embrace thankfulness as the focus of their thought life.

Emotions make a great caboose but a terrible engine.

Emotions are untrustworthy and should not determine your choice of attitude.

We dishonor God with anything less than gratitude.

I am so enjoying this study! Yes, it is very convicting. But not in a negative way. To me it is so exciting to see God revealing things I need to change in my life, and to see scripture through another lens. To know that He is not done with me and that He is patient to still be working on my heart. What an awesome God we have that loves us so much. I still have so much to learn.