Hi guys!

I've been at a loss on what to post on this page. For many years you guys followed me as we were missionaries. After we resigned and Marty took the church here in Chillicothe, I kinda felt like I didn't have anything interesting to post about. 

But, then I got to thinking about why I started this page to begin with. It was to share my thoughts and insights on things. I still have thoughts, we are just in a different place. I've decided to take back up posting on here. 

We live in rural America, and I love it! I'll be sharing about of our life here in Chillicothe, Missouri, and my life as a pastors wife and stay at home mom. 

I hope you all stick around! I think it'll be fun!

A Book Review!

  

  Today I thought I would do a book review. I don't think I have ever done one on here. Reading is something I enjoy doing. I'm looking forward to summer break so I can get some more reading in. :)  

  

  I had a friend of mine give me book last Sunday. I ate it up! This is the type of book that you need a highlighter and a pen. I found myself reading parts of it out loud to Marty. He enjoyed it as well.  

  I honestly haven't read too many ladies ministry books. I don't know why, I just haven't.

   Women's Ministry Insights by Julia Bettencourt, is the book I would like to talk about today.  

  

  This book will challenge you as a lady in the local church. It is geared toward ministry leaders, but I believe it could be a blessing to any lady. I was challenged in my thinking, and moved from my comfort zone, which is when growth will happen. I want to grow as a Christian and a pastors wife. 

  I'm going to share a little section that hit home for me!  

WOW!! JUST WOW!! What an awesome thought!

  Here is a link to buy the book. I really encourage you get it and read it. I have shared a few copies with fellow pastors wives, that I thought would enjoy it.

  We should be encouraging one another to grow in Christ.  We as women can at times be pretty judgemental towards other ladies. 

  One thing the author points out in the book is that every person has their own priorities. We shouldn't judge another lady just because her priorities are different than mine! Just because they are different, doesn't mean they are wrong! How easily and quickly we judge on priorities! Our priorities change with the stage of life that we are in. 
 
  We should lift each other up, and encourage them to keep on being faithful to the Lord and to serve where they are.  

 

When God has another plan...

When God Has Another Plan

Daryl Williams

Forsaken by his brothers, didn't fit the scene
Being made a slave was not what Joseph dreamed
The coat of many colors was stained with blood and lies
But from this divine appointment, a ruler would arise

When God has another plan, walk on and just say yes
When God has another plan, be assured that He knows best
When all your dreams are shattered, rest in His sufficient grace
We don't have to understand, when God has another plan

Alone and broken hearted, questions fill your mind
Changes can be hard that come by God's design
But if you could see tomorrow with a view from Heaven's Throne
Every unexpected struggle has led you closer home

This song is one of my favorites!  I tear up every time I hear it. 

  Looking back over the ministries we have had the privilege to work in, I can say that there have been plenty of times that we have just had to just walk on and say yes. 

  I'm going to very transparent in this blog post. Some of our struggles have been very real and raw. Some I have shared, some I have not and may never share. So, today I thought I would share some of my heart with you all. 

  Greenland was our first place of service. 

We were in Greenland for three years. We have many good memories, and to be perfectly honest, some very bad memories of Greenland. Marty and I left Greenland as broken people...   

Alone and broken hearted, questions fill your mind.
Changes can be hard that come by God's design.

This part of the verse perfectly describes how we were. We felt very much alone and broken hearted. Satan had crept in and told us that no one cared and that we were alone in our feelings. 

We struggled for years! Looking back, we could see the Lord working. But, at the time, our pain was real, as was our distrust in others. 

We tried for a long time to get into Denmark, and even back into Greenland. I remember being completely overwhelmed at the thought of going back to Greenland. I confided in a dear friend and just cried at the thought of going back to the place that had caused so much hurt in our lives. 

When God has another plan, be assured that He knows best.

When all your dreams are shattered, rest in His sufficient grace.

We don't have to understand, when God has another plan.

  

I had to learn how to rest in God's grace. Our identity was wrapped up in that fact that we were Arctic missionaries. Our dreams had been shattered. 

Then God lead us to Hungary! 

Marty and I both firmly believe that God lead us to Hungary to help us heal, and to help us to mature in the ministry. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Hungary. I loved the towns, the people and the culture. I would love to visit Hungary again one day. We were in Hungary for two years. 

We came home on furlough with every intention on returning to Hungary.  

But if you could see tomorrow with a view from Heaven's Throne.

But, once again, God had another plan...

 

If you would have asked Marty a little over a year ago if he would ever pastor a church, in Missouri, He would have thought you were crazy. :) But, God began to work in his heart and our lives once again. 

Well, today marks a year that Marty has been pastoring, in Missouri! :)  

Grace Baptist Church had been without a pastor for many years. We have known the church since Maryanna was a baby! 

We love the people here.

Looking back on all that we have done and all that we have experienced, I can see God leading every step of the way. 

Every unexpected struggle has led you closer home.

I'm incredibly thankful that God has given us a home here in Missouri. 

I would like to encourage you to keep on plugging along for the Lord. No, we don't always understand, but we can trust our Savior to lead in our lives.  

Social Media...

This Friday marks two weeks not being on my social media. I started out this year with the mindset of "being intentional" when I got on my social media accounts. Basically, have a reason why I was going on them, not just mindlessly scrolling.  

Two weeks ago I noticed that I was having more and more days where I honestly just felt sad. I couldn't put my finger on it, at the time. I began to evaluate the things in my life. I was doing my daily devotions, and prayer time. But, I had noticed it was just lacking. 

 One morning I finished up my devotions, which were taking anywhere from 15-20 minutes. I then caught myself on facebook. Before I knew it more than 30 minutes had past!! I was spending more time mindlessly scrolling on facebook than I was with my Lord. It's painful to admit that, but it's true. 

I know there is proper balance to these things. For me, I have chosen to stay off Facebook, for now. I can testify and say,  

my walk with The Lord is sweet once again, and my joy has been restored. 

Social media has its place in our society. But, I would like to say that, if you rush through your time with the Lord, just to see what everyone else is up to, it will have a negative effect on you. I found myself being easily irritated at my family and situations around me. 

I know not everyone deals with things like this. But, if you do, know that you aren't alone. And there is a solution to the problem. For me, it's to completely cut it out for now. For you it may not be that, it may be to just scale your time down on social media. I would love to hear your thoughts on the subject of social media, and how it effects you!    

Hello 2020!

   I hope everyone had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year! With the New Year comes new goals. One of my goals is to be more organized in my home. 
  
   So far, so good. :)  The main thing that  I have incorporated in our daily routine is the one touch rule. The one touch rule is simple. Remember teaching your children that once they were done with something to put it away, that's the one touch rule. 

  As an example, you just got home from running errands. You take your shoes off and leave them where they lay. Then throw your things on the nearest piece of furniture. You think, I'll put it away later. Well, later comes in a couple of days, when you are scrambling to find something that is now buried in the pile that has accumulated.

Don't be like this poor lady! :)

    It could have all been avoided if you would have picked up those shoes and put them in their place. Or hung up that coat in the closet or on the coat rack. It doesn't take that much more effort to put things where they belong right away. 


    For me, it goes a step further. How about those household chores that many dread? Laundry and dishes are two of the most dreaded household chores. I'm and oddball and actually enjoy doing both of these. :) You can apply the one touch rule to these two chores as well. How? It's simple, see the chore through all the way. Here's what I mean. You start the load of laundry and you see it through. You wash, dry and fold, all in one day! Don't let it pile up. Same with the dishes, wash, dry, put away!  I do dishes several times a day, but at the end of the day, I'm left with a nice clean kitchen. There might be a cup or plate or two hanging out in the sink from the end of the night, but not a giant pile of dishes.

This, a million time this!!

Another thing to conider is that when you do the one touch rule,  you actually see what you use on a daily basis, and you can declutter from there. If it hasn't been used in a while, get rid of it! It's just taking up space. Also, if you go to put things away and you don't have space for the things you use, it's also a good idea to declutter. 

A good rule!

   Can I challenge you and encourage you to declutter something? Or organize an area in your home that needs it? I know I have a few areas in my home that need organized and declutterd!

Titus 2 from my perspective.

The thoughts in Titus 2:3-5 are very challenging, at least to me.

      These are a few of my thought and beliefs on these verses. 

3. The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;
   
4. That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands,to love their children,
   
5. To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.
   

I would like to break down these verses and show you how, if you follow these few things, your life as a wife, mother, daughter and a Christian will be sweet.

Verse three starts out, “The aged women likewise...” Aged here isn't necessarily talking about age, as in an older lady. Aged could also mean experienced. Granted with age comes experience. I have more knowledge and wisdom now, in my 30's, than in my 20's. That being said, I have some knowledge that I can share with the younger ladies. I'm a young pastors wife with a few older ladies in our church. I can learn for these ladies because they have lived through things that I haven't. We should be willing to learn from those older than we are, whether that means they are numerically older or just wiser in an area we lack in.

“That they be in behaviour as becometh holiness...”

If you are a mom, I'm sure at one point or another you have told your child to behave. When we traveled as missionaries, before we got out of the car at a church, I would remind my little ones to behave. They understood what I meant. I wanted them to act in a certain manner. Our behavior often defines who we are. Let that sink in. :) How many times have you seen someone, just in passing, at a store and you made an instant judgment on them because of the way they were acting? I know I have. I may not know this person at all, but seeing their actions makes an impression on us. Our behavior matters. Most importantly, our behavior when it comes to spiritual things. Are we lax with our spiritual life? Our children see our behavior and and, like it or not, they will emulate what they see mom do. Make living a holy life the most distinguished quality about you. People around will notice and it will have an impact on them.

Fall Cleaning

You hear about Spring cleaning, but what a deep clean in the Fall? I enjoy cleaning, I find it very therapeutic. Having a tidy home is important to me.  I find myself cleaning like a mad woman when I'm stressed or frustrated about something. 

I came across this Fall cleaning list, and I really like it. I'm going to start working on this list each day after school. 

It's always more fun to do things like this with other people. So, who wants to clean along with me?

Hello from Missouri!

I realized the other day that I never updated you all on our move!

As you know, we lived in Hungary as missionaries, and we came home on furlough. During that furlough, due to several different things, we knew the Lord was calling us back home to America.

So, in March, Marty officially resigned as a missionary. Talk about an adjustment! We have been missionaries almost all of our married life, going on 17 years!!

Marty began calling supporting churches to let them know about us resigning. One of the first churches he called was Grace Baptist Church in Chillicothe, Missouri. You see, Grace Baptist church has always had a special place in our hearts. We couldn't explain it, but of all our supporting churches this one always stuck out to us. Not saying we didn't appreciate all of our other supporting churches, this one was just special to us. We have known the people here ever since Eli was two and Maryanna was a baby, so at least 12 years! They had been without a pastor for nearly 5 years. 

 Before Marty called them, we prayed that if this was the church we were to be at that Bro. Snow, the deacon, would bring it up. Low and behold he did! He asked Marty to pray about coming up to candidate.

Grace Baptist church building

We took some time to pray about Marty canidating there, and on March 31st he did. The church took two weeks to pray. Then at the beginning of April the church called Marty to be the new pastor. We were beyond excited! Our first service was April 21st, Easter Sunday and also the churches 16th anniversary.

The welcoming cake!

Our family!

We got busy looking for housing. We traveled up every weekend from Arkansas, which was about a 5 hour drive. Thankfully, The Lord opened up housing very quickly, and on April 28th, we secured the nicest house we have ever lived in.

Our new home! 

We went back down to Arkansas to begin packing up our house. We packed it up in two days! Granted, I had a majority of it packed up already. We left Arkansas the night of April 30th, and got home here in Chillicothe on May 1st, at 3 am, during an awful rain storm. We have a running joke in our family, that every time, and I mean every time we move, the weather is awful!     

Loading up the moving truck!

We have now been here for four months now! The time has flown by. We have settled in nicely and have enjoyed serving alongside our church family. It has been odd not traveling as much, but we have enjoyed having a place to call home and a place to serve. 

Sewing!

Sewing is something I enjoy doing but don't do very often. My kids are heading to camp in a few weeks, so that means the girls needed new culottes! They are super simple to make yourself! I was curious as to how much they cost online, and the cheapest I found were $18, for one pair. But, I was able to get the material and supplies for right around $20, and I will get a few pairs of culottes made.

I thought I would put myself out there and show you guys how I make my girls culottes! 

 *DISCLAIMER* 

   I am by no means a seamstress. I know how to sew basic things. With that being said, ignore my not perfectly straight lines, and my nontechnical lingo!  :)     

Step 1~Materials! 

You will need, fabric, elastic, scissors, pins, sewing machine, and a pair of basket ball shorts. I use the shorts as a pattern, they work great! 

Step 2~Cutting!

Lay the shorts out on your fabric. Leave some room on the side for extra wide legs. 

I cut about 2 inches longer than the shorts, just to give more length for hemming. 

Don't cut right up against the pattern. You will want the extra room! 

Not the best picture, but then you take the piece you just cut out and cut out another one just like it! 

You should now have four pieces cut out. 

There are two panes shown, but there are actually four! When you cut them out your material was folded. I hope that makes sense!  :)

Step 3~Sewing! 

Now comes the fun part, sewing them together! You are going to sew along the inseam first, the curved part. :)  Do this with both of your pieces. 

I use a zigzag stitch. 

Now you put the two pieces together. You need to put the right sides together. 

Now you are going to pin the legs together. Sew these first! 

All pinned and ready to be sewn! 

After you have sewn the inside seam, you then sew the outside of the leg, do that on both sides. 

Now you measure for the elastic! You don't want it too tight, they won't be able to pull the culottes  up if the elastic is too tight!:) 

I then pin the waist band to be about an inch and a half. Enough room to run the elastic through.

Leave a space to thread you elastic through! 

Pin one side of the elastic down, so you don't wind up pulling it all the way through. 

Use a safety pin to thread the elastic through! 

When you come out the other end, make sure that the elastic didn't get twisted as you threaded it through. Been there done that! 

Overlap the two ends and sew them together! I sew them in a couple of lines so that the elastic doesn't come undone.

To keep the elastic from twisting, I like to sew it down. I find the side seam, and just sew the elastic down on each side! 

Then you hem them to the desired length and you are good to go! Please ignore my raw edges. :) 

And there you have them! 

Eryn and cartwheel approved! 

I sure hope this post helps someone! Most of all, I hope it made sense and is easy to follow along! 

Tidy Home tip #3

I hope everyone had a great weekend! Today I'm going to start back my mini series! Tidy Home tip #3, the living room. For us, the first room you see when you come in the front door is the living room. So, I try to keep it nice and tidy. A side note, the living room is my favorite room in the house! I love all the windows! 🙂

Here's my routine:

My routine actually starts at night.

I make sure everyone picks up their random things that get brought to the living room.

I straighten up the couch cushions, and fold up the blankets.

Then I sweep and mop. I don't mop every night, but just about.

Now my morning/after school routine:

Once we are done with school, I will vacuum the rug. It usually has eraser pieces all over it. 🙂 Then I will vacuum the rest of the room. And if it needs it, I'll spot mop.

I then dust the coffee table and tv stand.

It's that easy! I love waking up to a clean living room!

Tidy Home tip #2

Tidy Home tip #2, the kitchen! Like I said yesterday, I enjoy cleaning, and the kitchen is my favorite place to clean. I know, odd duck. Here are a few of my tips for a tidy kitchen!

Clean up as you cook. Don't let the dishes pile up in the sink as you are cooking. It's easy to get to where it looks overwhelming.

I clean the rest of the meal dishes as soon as everyone is done. I don't let them hang out in the sink.

Only keep the things you use on a daily basis on your counter. It keeps them clutter free and makes cleaning them a lot easier.

I try to remember to wipe down the stove top after each meal. It helps keep it from getting burnt on junk that is a pain to scrub. :)

I clean the counter tops after the dishes have been done and put away. That a way, I have a nice clean surface to come and cook the next meal!

Method cleaners are great! I love the scent and they work great!
The heavy duty degreaser is a must to keep the stove clean. 

This is my clean kitchen, I strive to keep it this way!
It is honestly not that much work to maintain. 

Tidy Home mini series!

I thought it would be fun to do a little mini series on a tidy home. *Disclaimer* No, my home isn't always in perfect order, we do live in it.* But I do strive to keep four areas of my house presentable. Those are: the kitchen, the living room, the bathroom, and the laundry area. I'm an odd duck, I actually really enjoy cleaning, I find it relaxing, and a good destresser.

Today I wanted to share how I stay on top of laundry. To me, laundry is one of the easiest household chores to keep up with. Especially if you have a good system down. For us, we have one laundry basket for the five of us. I find that having more than one basket makes it easier for it to pile up. It sits right in front of the washer. Once the basket is full, usually every other day or every three days, I simply wash what's there. I make sure to fold right out of the dryer, so that a mound of clean clothes doesn't take over! Easy peasy!

Next I'll cover how I keep my kitchen tidy.

This is our one and only laundry basket.
It's a good feeling when it's empty, even if it's only for a little bit.

My favorite laundry soaps! The two balls are wool dryer balls.
 They work okay, they do cut down on drying time and I only have to use one dryer sheet!