I am a little over halfway through the Fall Into Reading Challenge, and I thought it was time to step back and see how I was doing. The FIR challenge started on the official day of fall, September 22 , and ends on the last day of fall, December 21. I set the goal to read 9 books in that time. You can see those books and why I chose them here.
So how have I done?
I have completed 5 & 1/2 of them! The 1/2 is one that I could not get done before I had to return it for interlibrary loan, so I wont be finishing it.
Completed reads:
1. Julie & Julia
2. The Duggars: 20 and counting
3. Life Together
4. The Giver
5. Instructing a Child's Heart
6. Teach them diligently (1/2)
Read still waiting to be read:
1. Mere Christianity (just started on it)
2. The Journals of Jim Elliot
3. Babywise
I have really liked the accountability this challenge has given me. Though there is no one here keeping me on track, by committing on paper cyber-paper I have really felt nudged to finish what I started. It also has really helped me stay on track with reading the book I really wanted to read, instead of just starting lots of books that sound good but not finishing. So I have some work to do to finish on time, but I think I can do it!
Have you read anything lately? If not get to it people! If so, what was it? Was it good? Do share please!
Things at church are kinda depressing right now. A leader had to step down because of lifestyle issues, and several families have left for other various reasons. I have just been really heart broken by how the church has no idea how to deal with sin. So people hide it and fall into bigger pits. I am just overwhelming heartbroken by the lack of closeness and truly seeing the church as family today in the American church (well most of them). We dont know how to communicate when we are hurt or upset, so we just dont communicate at all. We run when we sin because we dont want to be found out. We are terrified to let people know the "real" us. We refuse to call out a sister or brother who is sinning, because we don't want to upset them, or worse yet, we don't want them to throw our sin back in our face.
I believe the Lord can change us. I believe He can "fix" these issues in the church today, but only if we are praying for it. Recently I have realized how little I pray for my church family as a whole. I may pray for specific requests they have, but I have not been praying for their everyday lives, their thoughts and motives.
As I mentioned here, our pastor preached a three week series on "Kingdom Prayer" based on Luke 11 recently. A big thing he stressed was praying not only for yourself, but for your church family also. Everything I pray for me should be a relevant need and prayer for my brothers and sisters in Christ. They need relief from temptation, power to live from the Spirit and not our flesh, to share the gospel boldly, etc. So this is a habit I want to develop, that this would be second nature for me.
No real point with this post, just thinking "out loud" (or "out type" I guess?). Pray for my church and me today if you get a chance. We need love and grace and communication skills and a deep deep love for Christ.
4 chicken breasts
1 can pineapple chunks
1 cup teriyaki sauce
1. Place everything in the crockpot and cook on high 4 hours or low 8 hours.
As always, head over to Org.Junkie for more plans.
Nope, its not a Christmas post. I just felt like singing a Christmas song!
A fact about me: I love lists. I love to make "To-Do" lists. I feel calmer in life when I have a list of the things that I need to be doing. It makes me feel in control (apparently I have control issues… don't worry- the Lord is working on it) of my time and life to a degree.
Another Fact: I love crossing things off of lists more than almost any other activity. It makes me feel like I have accomplished something. Crossing things off makes me feel like I am not a useless waste of space. It warms my heart.
The most ridiculous fact: If I realize that I have just done a task that was not on my list, but was in fact important, I write the task on my "To-Do" list and then cross it off. Yep, after I have already completed the task. There is no need for it to be on the list, because I do not need a reminder to do the task, since it is already accomplished. But for some reason, I need the satisfaction that comes from being able to see a list of the things I did with the time God gave me that day.
Am I the only weirdo that does this?
I bet you thought I gave up reading now that I have a job and all? Nope! I am still going strong slowly but surely. The library just happened to get both of the books I requested on Inter-Library loan at the same time, which meant I was forced to read them stat! (You can not extend Inter-library loans, so you pretty much have to read them fast) The one that was due back first, therefore the one I read first, was "Instructing a Child's heart" by Tedd and Margy Tripp. Tedd Tripp wrote "Shepherding a Child's Heart" also. So here is my take:Things I liked about the book:
Things that annoyed me about this book:
Overall, I only moderately liked this book. Again, I really like and agree with the teaching they are putting forth, but they just put it forth so boringly! If you are going to be a parent soon, or you are a parent of a young child I would recommend reading it, even though it's boring, just for the teaching value of it.
Money Saving Mom's Favorite Whole-Wheat Waffles (adapted slightly)
1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
2 eggs
1 3/4 cup milk (I usually use half milk, half water--unless I have a lot of excess milk to use up!)
1/2 cup oil or melted butter (I usually use half oil, half applesauce. You can use all applesauce, but we don't think they turn out quite as well that way. I've also substituted other pureed fruits and veggies and those work as well. So long as you do half oil/half puree, it doesn't make much difference.)
1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)
1/4 cup choc chips
1. Mix together dry ingredients in one bowl. (except choc cips)
2. Lightly beat together wet ingredients in another.
3. Add egg mixture to dry ingredients and stir just until moistened.
4. Pour batter onto lightly-oiled waffle iron and bake until done. (I add the choc chips here, just a few to each waffle. This helps them not all clump in one spot, because you can spread them.)
5. To freeze, I normally just let them cool and then stick 5-6 in each freezer bag.
6. To thaw, just pull them straight out of the freezer and heat in the microwave, in a toaster oven, or in the oven.
As always, head over to Org. Junkie to get other ideas!
Our church does "Trunk or Treat", which is an event where people decorate their trunks and give out candy from there instead of at their house. It is a neat thing really. We grill up lots and lots (over 800 hundred this year) of hot dogs, make lots of warm soup and setup tables right in the parking lot so families can feel free and safe to sit and eat. It is hard to get the kids all dressed up, take them out door to door and still get dinner on the table. We want to serve our community by just providing a time for them to focus on time with their family without worrying about money or time. These days you never know where is safe for children to go, but by doing this we hope families know there is a safe place for their children to come and be loved.
Did you miss Part 1? Read it here, so this post will make some sense to you!
"Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ."Galatians 1:10
This really isn't just a blog issue, it's a life issue for me. I all too often live my life to be seen in a favorable light by people. What I need to focus on in all of my life is doing what the Lord has called me too, living out my priorities of being a loving wife, creator of a peaceful home, investor in young women's spiritual lives, hardworking employee and loving friend.
How does my blog fit into this? Well it helps keep me focused and balanced. How? I typically write about things that fit into these priorities somehow and someway. Therefore, I am going to continue writing what I like and desire to write.
If you think a post is dumb then don't read it. You are not obligated. Every Monday I will post my menu plan. Why? Because it helps me to have my plan typed out and ready. Because I think it is fun. And because it may give some of you how don't have lots of recipes or are sick of what you normally cook some ideas. If this post annoys you or you think it's silly then just skip right over it. No biggie.
Along the same lines, if you really enjoy a certain post topic of mine then come back around the same time next week and you will probably get something similar. I tend to post in a pattern, it helps me stay in a routine and not get too focused on the blog instead of real life.
This is patelife: thoughts and plans that make up my everyday life as I strive to live out my God given priorities by the Lord's grace.
The end.
No, I am not writing a post on the annoying and cluttered social networking site myspace, instead I am writing a post on why I blog.
There are lots of types of blogs. There are blogs devoted to parenting, saving money, reading books, getting healthy, spiritual growth, cooking, photography, music , etc., etc., etc. Most large (read lots of followers or readers) blogs usually have a niche, or a topic they focus on. For instance, "Moneysaving mom" focuses on frugal living, or "YoungHouseLove" and "NestingPlace" focus on home décor and remodeling, while "Shredheads" focus on working out and Jillian Michael's The 30 day shred. There are everyday life blogs, but typically you start reading those because they have some issue (like MckMama's youngest who has SVT, or Kelly's Korner who had complications during birth). When you go to these blogs, you are expecting something specific. You want a certain type of info.
I have no niche, on my blog or in real life for that matter. I am not an expert on any one area, and I get bored without diversity. This is probably why I follow such a wide assortment of blogs, not just one or two types. I like the change of pace and thinking. Anyhow, my point is I do not blog because I have a lot to say on anything really. I have no wisdom on my own to share about anything under the sun. If you know me you know this is true, I am kind of a nutcase, always trying to do too much or too little (funny isn't it? I am either running around trying to be superwoman or I am being so lazy I make my cat look like superwoman!).
So why do I blog? I blog because this is my space. This is my online journal, if you will, that serves to get thoughts out of my head and onto some "paper". It is a place where I can share stories or thoughts that I might otherwise share with my best friends, but they all live too far away or our schedules are just polar opposite so it feels like they live too far away. I blog to hold me accountable to doing things I desire to do, kind of like one would do with an accountability partner… only we don't meet face to face.
So I post a lot of different and random things. And lately I have gotten slack from several people who read this thing and actually know me about some of the types of posts I do. It has actually made me self conscious about the whole blog. You may or may not have noticed that I have done zero posts since Saturday (except for Name that movie Friday, which I had already written- I have actually written those out till December! Ha). This is because I was worried about my blog being annoying to people. Really? I am now worrying about what people think of my blog? Does the people pleasing ever end??
Too be continued…