Mitchell Mom of Five

blog vacation of sorts.

I will be on a blog vacation of sorts.  My father in law is dying of lung cancer and it has now spread to his liver and spleen.  Instead of the months that we thought we had it is now weeks and days.  I will keep reading everyones blogs when I get a chance to get to a computer but that will be far and few between.  I am with father in law during the day and DH stays with him at night.   If I do not get back on here to leave a message between now and Christmas.  Happy Thanksgiving.  Merry CHRISTmas!!!!!!! Happy New Year!!!!! 

Thanks

Peg

Unaswered Prayer?

All of us have prayers we raise up to heaven that "seem" to appear go unanswered as of yet...... some of us have been praying for something for days, months and yes even years....... does God not hear us? This quote is for you.........and me. :)  ~ gloria ~

" God's timing is not ours to command.  If we do not start the fire with the first strike of our match, we must try again.  God does hear our prayer, but He may not answer it at the precise time we have appointed in our own minds.  Instead, He will reveal Himself to our seeking hearts, though not necessarily when and where we may expect.  Therefore we have a need for perseverence and steadfast determination in our life of prayer.

  In the old days of flint, steel and brimstone matches, people had to strike the match again and again, perhaps even dozens of  times, before they could get a spark to light their fire, and they were very thankful they finally succeeded.  Should we not exercise the same kind of perverence and hope regarding heavenly things?  When it comes to faith, we have more certainty of success than we could ever have had with flint and steel for we have God's promises as a foundation.

  May we, therefore never despair.  God's time for mercy will come -- in fact, it has already come, if our time for believing has arrived.  Ask in faith, without wavering, but never cease to petition the King simply because He has delayed His reply. Strike the match again and make sparks fly!  Yet be sure to have your tinder ready, for you will get a fire before long. "

 ~~ Charles H. Spurgeon ~~

The Joy Giver

I have been so busy this past week......from schooling the children ( there are 8 being schooled now!) and tending  the home fires... that I have not had a moment to sit and blog.... and  I also went into the city this week and that always takes a good chunk of my time ..........in the midst of the busyness,  we have also had time to sing our praises to the Lord and rest in His beautiful promises in HIS  word! As we enter into this week of Thanksgiving, I like to take time to remember those brave and faith filled souls who came from so far away to establish a colony where they could worship their God freely without being "dictated" how they should do so. They believed the Word of God was to be taught freely and not under the "banner" or "control" of some church........ oh, how I can relate to these brave souls!  My journey to the Lord was somewhat of a pilgrimage in many ways! My family travelled over many miles to arrive to a place where God could teach us and show us His ways.  So I do have a tender spot in my heart for those pilgrims who came to America searching for freedom to worship to their heart's content!

This past week we have been learning a new hymn to sing for our Bible devotions.  We recently learned the beautiful hymn:  As the Deer.... if you don't know this lovely song, you so do need to become familiar with it's beautiful melody and even more beautiful lyrics! I have been hearing my children humming and singing this lovely song........

                                                          As the Deer

                                    Music & Lyrics by Martin Nystrom

As the deer pants for the water, so my soul longs after you.

You alone are my heart's desire and I long to worship You.

Chorus:

You alone are my strength , my shield; To you alone my spirit yield. You alone are my heart's desire and I long to worship You.

You're my friend and You are my Brother, even though You are a King.

I love you more than any other, so much more than anything.

Chorus:

I want You more than gold or silver, only You can satisfy.

You alone are the real joy giver, and the apple of my eye.

Chorus

Jesus really is the real JOY giver -- and the apple of my eye! He is what I long for and I need Him like my body needs water!  I long to worship Him!

I hope in this coming week ~ that you too will find time to worship the JOY giver!!

Praising Him!

gloria

Changes in the plan- its okay.

Remember when I said my menu plan was more of a set of guidelines?
We didn’t have the monkey bread on Monday as some family members were having issues at the dinner table and we decided it would be best to all go to bed early.
Yesterday evening we had an impromptu trip to Menards for some replacement pipes and fittings for the kitchen sink.
I should probably add here that yesterday, on my list of Things I Hadn’t Planned On Doing (remember this?) was scrubbing ¾ of the kitchen floor.
On my hands and knees.
Why only ¾? Because Flylady says that housework- even when done incorrectly (or in my case not completely) still blesses your family.
Huh?
Well, we’ve got skiffs of snow, layers of mud and leaves and 3 kids who are constantly tramping in afore mentioned bits of nature. And with more snow on the way- I quickly decided that the high traffic door to door path in the kitchen could stay as is.  My wrists and knees muttering protests helped to ease my conscience greatly.
Anyhoo, I quickly decided to make the most of trip by trying to do next week’s shopping since Aldi’s is just down the road. This is still a pantry week but being ever frugal-minded . . . . not to mention I’ve now checked off something from next week’s To Do List . . . .
This of course would all be taking place during evening dining time. No quick Mickey-D’s stop for us though- I’m sticking to my pantry budget week.
I quickly put together mini-sandwiches with leftover chicken salad and other lunch meats we always keep on hand, tossed some Clementine oranges in the bag, napkins, plates (just in case) and a still-warm-just-sliced loaf of chocolate cherry friendship bread. Voila.
Light dinner on the road.
I also grabbed the current family read-aloud: The Fighting Ground by Avi- very intense and riveting.
We whipped through Aldi’s in record time- the kids have the loading and unloading and packaging routine down pat. It was fun to watch Mr. Steady marvel at them. As for Menards, Mr. Steady looked for the things on his list- when a man goes to a store like that- he’s always got more things on his list than the thing that necessitated the going to the store in the first place—anyway- the kiddos and I enjoyed the Christmas displays- the trees plus the little ceramic villages.
This then lead to the kidlets asking for a Christmas movie for watching after we got home. Mickey’s Christmas Carol.
And so while it wasn’t the dinner or the evening I had envisioned for us- it was still quality family time.
And that’s what matters most.
Well, that and sticking to the pantry budget.

Pumpkin Pie Coffee Creamer

TACKY or frugal smarts?

Tackiness vs. simplicity
poor etiquette vs. saving $$ and a tree or two
We send out quite a few Christmas cards each year. Last year I was able to save some pennies by making Christmas postcards to send out- saved by making them myself and saved on postage.
This year the budget is even tighter.
So------ I’m thinking of sending Christmas greetings via e-cards through Dayspring.
I must ask- Is this a big no-no on the etiquette scale?
Will I be vilified?
Of course, I can’t do all my cards this way as there are still some people on my list that don’t have email but I could cut my list way down.
By my calculations, I could save myself $20 easily.
I don’t know about you but $20 is a lot of cash here—in fact, that’s half the weekly grocery budget!

photo- last year's postcard Christmas cards.

Giving 3 days straight

The MIX

MPM- more of a guideline

Menu with Daily Costs

Notes: My menu is really more of a set of guidelines- what I’m prepared to prepare. Sometimes life gets in the way and meals get switched or we find ourselves helping out at my parents’ place and eating supper with them. Often I will carry over a meal to the next week if we didn’t get to it- since I have the ingredients on hand. With the holidays coming we have declared this week to be a pantry week- meaning we will be eating from the pantry and freezer and only purchasing staples like milk and eggs this week.

Monday
B: Oatmeal with your choice of topping
L: ravioli, bread and butter, cubed cheese
D: Tomato soup, grilled cheese sandwiches, dill pickles
Dessert: iced monkey bread
Daily Cost: $7.92
Tuesday
B: Mama’s cheesy scrambled eggs, toast
L: Homeschool group lunch: Bring: cranberry Jell-o jigglers
D: Maiden cook: skillet lasagna, garlic bread
Dessert: none
Daily Cost: $7.56
Wednesday
B: Choice: cereal or yogurt
L: chicken noodle soup & mini sandwich triangles
D: Peppy Macaroni
Dessert: Twinkie Cake
Daily Cost: $11.12
Thursday
B: Toad in the Hole
L: Nachos
D: One Dish Chicken bake, steamed veggies
Dessert: leftover Twinkie cake
Daily Cost: $7.64
Friday – Family Movie Nite
B: Oatmeal with your choice of topping, toast
L: Diner Dinner
D: Cheeseburger Casserole
Dessert: is there any Twinkie cake left?
Daily Cost: $5.14
Saturday
B: Daddy cook (eggs, bacon, toast etc.)
L: Leftover Smorgasbord
D: Leftover Smorgasbord
Daily Cost: $3.00
Sunday
B: Cocoa Wheats, toast
L: Harvest dinner @ church: bring greens salad
D: @ my parents
Daily Cost: $5.25
Weekly Total: $47.63
~~ Don’t forget to check out the yummy menu ideas every Monday over at The Organizing Junkie’s blog. You just might find your next favorite family recipe!

Overcoming

" They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb.... they did not love their lives so much as to shirk from death. "  Revelation 12:11

Are we willing to compete for God's best, with the knoweldge that the best things are always achieved by the most difficult paths?  We must endure steep mountains, dense forests, and the Enemy's chariots of iron, since hardship is the  price of the victor's coronation.  Arches of triumph are made not  of rose blossoms and strands of silk but of hard blows and bloody scars. The very hardships you are enduring in your life today have been given to you by the Master, for the express purpose of enabling  you to win the crown.

Therefore do not always look ahead to your tomorrows for some ideal situation, exotic difficulty or faraway emergency in which to shine. Rise today to face circumstances in which the providence of God has placed you.  Your crown of glory is hidden in the heart of these things -- the hardships and trials pressing in on you this very hour, week and month of your life. Yet the most difficult things are not those seens and known by the world but those deep in your soul, unseen and unknown by anyone except Jesus.  It is in this secret place that you expierence a little trial that you would never dare to mention to anyone else and that is more difficut for you to bear than martyrdom. 

Beloved, your crown lies there. May God help you to overcome and wear it.

               It matters not how the battle goes,                 

               The day how long;

               Faint Not! Fight on!

               Tomorrow comes the song.

~~ L.B. Cowman, Streams in the Desert  pg. 427-428 ~~