Risk

In my current Bible Study, Anything by Jennie Allen with Good Morning Girls, we were challenged to consider the question:

What am I willing to risk to draw closer to God?

When I first answered this question a couple of days ago, my first thought was one I quickly pushed to the back of my mind and I proceeded to write something generic, true but none the less, generic and without any real risk...Today, God has brought my original, "hidden", thought to the forefront.  My thought?

"Would I, could I, risk Makoa?"

I pushed that thought back because I know the answer is "No." and it SHOULD be "Yes". 

If I am serious about my Anything Prayer than ANYTHING means EVERYTHING --- even my son, my most precious treasure.

Today, Makoa is going to the beach with his cousin and Uncle while my husband and I are at work.  Lately, I have had this irrational fear of Makoa drowning.  I trust my brother to watch over Makoa, but he is not me.  The risk is TRUSTING God to protect him while I am not there.  The risk is TRUSTING God to give me the strength and grace to live through HIS will should my worst fear come to fruition.  The risk is TRUSTING God with my son, my true treasure.

Father God,

Forgive me for loving Makoa more than ANYTHING.  I am sorry that I am afraid You love him more than I do.  Forgive me for fearing you will take him away.  Forgive me for praying for his safety so he can be here with me.  Forgive me for putting him first in my heart --- YOU should be first.

I am scared, God, that should I say that I would risk my son to draw nearer to you, that you would take him.

Lord, You have blessed me to be Makoa's mama.  I want to be the best, most humble, steward of your blessing.  Rid me of this anxiety.  Help me to place you first in my heart before Makoa.  Help me to trust YOU with Makoa.

I know you love Makoa more than I do, that your plans for him are far better than ANYTHING I could ever do for him.  Help me to give him to You.

Please Lord.  In Jesus' name and for Your Glory.  Amen

My sister recently asked me to write a guest blog on Sassy Whisk about my recent budget-friendly vacation to New York City.

 Here's a snippet:

"It has taken me 35 years to learn that living with a budget means:
1. Growing up and being responsible (blah!)

SO THAT

2. You can tell your money where to go.

And you can tell it to go anywhere! All you need is a goal, a plan, a determined spirit to save and an easy-going attitude of gratitude.

This Spring, we decided to tell our money to take us to NYC for a couples get-away planned for our anniversaries in September.

Goal : Celebrate our 5th Anniversary in NYC with our Friends"

Read the entire post at Sassy Whisk.  Enjoy!

POTTY Time!

HELP!

It's time for me to stop procrastinating and add yet ONE more thing to my already full plate this Summer!  I seriously NEED to get on the ball with this Potty Training thing.  Makoa has absolutely no interest in it and I know, I know, he'll do it when he's ready and all that, but seriously, he's THREE and hasn't even tried!  He moves up to the 3 year old class at chuch this week, where they don't take "diaper bags" and this summer most of the kids in his class will be potty trained.  I know the majority of the problem is that I haven't taken the actual time and effort to potty train him.  I am at a loss.  Not to make this about my mom, but this is something I would totally need her assistance on!  Actually, I would have flown her out here to potty train her grandson for me :)

So when I have the time to blog, it'll probably be about the Potty Party in my household...All advice welcome and needed :)  And a TON of encouragement would go along way too, I'm gonna need it :)

Thanks and I'll let you know how it goes...

First and Last of 2010-2011

First Day of School 09.15.2010

Last Day of School 05.18.2011



I'm Daring 2 Share.

Jason Petty aka Propaganda
is truly amazing and inspiring.

I just had to share this with you...




"I hope you're closely listening..."

I Just Had To Share

Guess how much I saved?

Last night, to Stephen's and my dismay, we once again realized we were out of coffee for the morning.  And let me tell you, in this household, that is NEVER a good way to start off the morning.  So, thankfully, we have a gas station just outside the neighborhood that would provide us with our morning kickstart AND from immediate research online to find the store I would be going to to remedy our situation, Harris Teeter heard my cry. 

I LOVE Harris Teeter SALES! 

And I LOVE being an eVIC Member! 

This week I purchased:

Buy 2 Get 3 FREE!  So I bought TEN!

I see lots of baking in my future and lots of eggs spam and rice too!

Buy 2 Get 3 FREE!  Again, I bought TEN!
My sister Jesseca is coming for the Summer, so I need to stock up on CORN!
5 cans of Corn, 3 cans of Green Beans, & 2 cans of Peas

Buy 2 Get 3 FREE!  PLUS 2 coupons for $0.55/off 1!  So I bought 5 bags!

Buy 1 Get 1 Free!  I bought 2!

With my nephew in tow, we checked out and paid our bill, came home, scanned my purchase for the National Consumer Panel, and took a picture of our loot...

I paid $50 for $125 worth of groceries!

Yes, that's a $75 SAVINGS!

This is not something I do every week because the BEST savings is to NOT spend any money,

I do believe that "necessity is the mother of invention",

BUT

I LOVE getting the most for the money I do spend!

April Fool's Day

This day also happens to be my Mother-in-Law's Birthday.  Lucky Lady! 

The family decided to have a feast for her prepared by each of us contributing something. 

Stephen, Makoa, and I were in charge of Bread and Dessert. 

This is my staple Sourdough French Bread that I make often.

Photo by  Taste of Home

For Dessert, I've been working on mastering the Molten Lava Cake, one of my favorites.

Photo from Tasty Kitchen

As for her gift, Makoa and I had fun with this. 

I had made Marvelous Marble Cream Cheese & Chocolate Muffins to take to dinner at a friends house the day before the birthday dinner.  I had one left, so I decided I would put a candle in it and have Makoa hold it for a picture to be framed and given to her as a gift.  That "photo session"  sparked a bit of inspiration. 

A HomeMade Birthday Card

As you can see, Makoa and I had fun.