The art of saying no...

I truly do believe that learning to say "no" is an art form.  I have always been able to say no to early afternoon snacks that would ruin dinners, to little boys climbing on dressers, but really saying no to someone is not something that I have learned.  But, I am determined to try.  And today was my first step in that process. 

Two years ago, I left a church that I thought I would be serving in until I died.  I gave my heart, my sweat and my tears to that church and the ministry that went on there.  And if you needed something, I was the girl to call.  I was the secretary, treasurer, member of leadership, nursery school worker, so on and so on...  I am not telling you this to pat myself on the back but rather to share that boundaries weren't real easy for me.

But, we left.  Rather God called us out of that church and His timing couldn't have been more perfect because the two most beautiful crawled into my life and their needs were paramount.  With the departure came a sigh, a huge break for me and a time for God to take care of me.  And I wanted so badly to impress Him and people, that I kind of lost my way.

I'm going to be forty in 19 months (but who's counting) and I think it's time I grew up, darn it.  So, today I was invited to a little get together with the ladies from my small group Wednesday morning Bible Study.  And I really wanted to go.  These are really nice, fun women.  But, it was right during Hunter's nap.  I mean, smack dab in the middle of his nap.  So, I did what I always do.  I prayed, I talked about it with Sean and thought about it, ad nauseum.  Do you remember that old song, "Should I stay or should I go now?" 

It is always in the small day to day mundaneness of life that God shows up big time and He teaches me a huge lesson in it all.  And, today, I said "No, I'm sorry, that is right during Hunter's nap and I can't go."  So, as I write this, I have a little cherub blissfully sleeping in his bed instead of being rushed around and exhausted today.  It may sound small to some people but to me that was a huge step because I was putting the needs of my family before someone else.   I cared less about what people thought of me.  Yeah..

Yesterday....

What do I have to be joyful about today?  Yesterday, that's what.  Yesterday was Veteran's Day and my husband was off from work.  And that was so nice because he works six days a week and when he is off on Sunday I am off to work right after church.  So, to have a day with him smack in the middle of the week was surely a blessing.   

And I am a huge believer in getting Christmas shopping done early.  I feel like with so much on my plate on a daily basis, Christmas shopping becomes a chore instead of a pleasure the closer it gets done to the holiday.  And yesterday we were able to sit down and really figure out what to buy the kids and we pored over catalogs and laughed and we budgeted and we dreamed.  We dreamed of what we could buy them and what we could really afford!

We planned what day we are having our Christmas picture taken and when we are going to buy our Christmas tree.  Just having those plans gives me such peace during this holiday season....

Michael Buble Anyone?

Michael Buble.  Need I say any more?  Great singer, great song, not too bad to look at!

Flying in the sky...

Place: T.F. Green Airport in Providence, Rhode Island
Time: 9:47 A.M.
Date: October 10, 2009
Reason: Flying to see my good friend in North Carolina
Thought in my head: I am going to die, I am going to die...

Today I have been challenged to tell about something that brought me great joy and here it is.  Recently, I flew from Rhode Island to North Carolina to see my good friend.  She is an amazing Army Wife carrying her third child while her husband is serving our country in Iraq.  I just wanted to give her a hug and tell her that I love her and that I am proud of her.  But, to do that, I had to get on a plane and that was REALLY hard for me.  I told everybody how scared I was, strangers and friends alike.  Anyone who basically made eye contact with me heard my story, to the point that I was tired of hearing about it. 

And, as always, God came through for me in spades and put the nicest people around me on every single flight.  So, I am filled with joy today that I conquered that fear and looked it in the face and didn't let that fear control me and my life anymore.  We are even planning our next flight for next summer.  I can't believe it.....

He is a gracious God and He is my Friend.

My message to yeast..

Let me take you back in time.  It was about 14 years ago and my boyfriend (now husband) said he was going to make sweet rolls for dinner.  Now, my Mother's motto when I was growing up was "God helps those who helps themselves."   Now in all my reading of the Bible, I have never found that verse or chapter in the Bible.  So, as you can imagine, with my very limited culinary experience, I was a bit in awe of him.  Still am, I must say.  I watched him knead and roll and actually PUNCH the dough, something I have never seen.  And can I tell you that those are still the best sweet rolls I have ever tasted.  Hands down. 

Fast forward about five years later and Sean, the fabulous husband, was building a deck for a woman and she wanted a certain kind of roof that he had never made before(the kind escapes me at the moment) and he came home and told me about it.  I was so worried he would lose the job and I said wide-eyed, "What did you say?"  He told me he told her no problem and then proceeded to ask me to find a book about these roofs at the library.  Hip roof maybe?  I found said literature and that roof came out beautifully.  I had asked him, "Weren't you worried?"  And he said, "Worried about what?  I knew I could figure it out."

That attitude still amazes me, the way he takes life by the horns and lives it with gusto and doesn't worry. He actually has faith in himself.   I quiver, I quake, I worry and analyze something from every which way.  You see, I have wanted to make bread for a long time.  I have longed for the rich smell that wafts from the kitchen when bread is being baked.  Maybe it's the chilly day or the changing leaves, but something inside me yearned to make wheat bread.  But, you see, something about yeast scares me.  I always heard about bread falling and the perfect temperature of the water.  Yada, yada.   I know, I know.  I would look longingly at it in the grocery store and last week I said, "No more! You are coming home with me."

So, today I made bread!  I haven't cut it, I haven't tasted it but I conquered my fear.  I said, "No more".  And you know what my message to yeast and fear is?  Shut up.  (Here's a picture of my creation!  So proud.)

Can't get enough..

Cannot get enough of this song!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZE33ejdgWIY

Words to live by...

Recently while searching the internet, I ran across this blog called The Non-Consumer Advocate (thenonconsumeradvocate.wordpress.com) and while running the risk of sounding dramatic, I learned a phrase there that has completely changed my life.  The phrase is "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without."  Well, my family and I have taken those words and have completely run with them.  I was constantly on the search in my house for things to use up and get rid of and wear the life out of.  And here is what happened. 

First I set off to attack USE IT UP.  And I love to knit.  And it has always been on my heart to use the gifts that the Lord has given me to bless others.  And mostly, preemie babies have been on my heart because I was so fortunate to give birth to strapping and healthy babies while others have not been as fortunate as me.  So, I first attacked my knitting basket.  And I found many small balls of yarn that really wouldn't have been able to used for anything other than hats for these precious angels.  So, I set my hands to work and here is where I am at:

Okay, next scenario: My husband was really struggling to fix this cabinet in our kitchen.  He usually can fix ANYTHING but for some reason he just couldn't get this particular cabinet to work properly.  So, I came up with the brilliant idea of taking the doors completely off and hanging a cute little curtain instead.  So, I sewed a little curtain and I excitedly said to my husband, "I can go to Target tomorrow and buy a tension rod to hang it so we won't have to worry about hardware."  So, he then said to me, "Wife, you don't even have to because I have a dowel that I have been wanting to use!"  As I was a little disappointed that I couldn't stroll the aisles of my beloved Target I knew staying home would SAVE MONEY.  And then I thought with one fail swoop we tackled USE IT UP (extra material from my fabric stash) and MAKE IT DO (dowel instead of tension rod!)  Here is a picture of our beautiful handiwork:

So proud.  So thank you Katy Wolk-Stanley, I don't know where you live (except on the internet) but you reached into our little home and you changed this little family in Connecticut!!!!