Encouraging words…

While I was doing my daily devotionals yesterday I came across an amazing article by best-selling author, speaking, teacher and mother, Angela Thomas. I wanted to share it with you, it is from her book Prayers for Mothers of Newborns. It has been a real encouragement to me today and I want to share it with my readers. If you are feeling overwhelmed with the task at hand know that there are other woman walking in your shoes and we can be an encouragement to eachother in these days. May these words bring comfort to your heart and rest to your busy days…

In the words of Angela Thomas;

“Dear God of Solomon, Our disheveled bed remains unmade another day. It’s lunchtime, and I still haven’t eaten breakfast. I’ve attempted to unload the dishwasher for hours now; just a dew more free moments and it will be done. Diapers and blankets and spit-up clothes clutter every catchall place. The garbage can is full…well maybe I can cram in a little more trash. It’s Thursday,and Sunday’s paper waits to be read. A new baby. How can one precious, cherub-faced newborn bring such devastation and disarray? I thought It was all ready for the challenge but here I sprawl, knocked flat. My greatest daily accomplishment is survival. My kids go through the day semiclothed and partially fed. We quickly gave up on the goal of getting anywhere on time. We are just about ready to leave, and there’s another poopy diaper or spit-up incident. Spit-up is the worst. Most of the time I have to change my clthes as well as hers, then clean up th car seat and any other objects within projectile distance. My preoccupation with accomplishment is freed by the words of Solomon: “What has been done will be done again (Ecc 1:9).” Some things take lower priority. “Catching up” lasts only for a moment. These are the days of mothering my baby. Caring for the family is important. Loving You is important. Everything else can wait. Nothing else really matters right now. Thank You for the release from accomplishment. Help meto focus on the things that matter. There is rest in the truth of Yor word. Amen.”

I really thought that these words from Angela Thomas were so uplifting and encouraging. There are days where we measure our worth by what we accomplish. We need to remember that in this season of motherhood we are not called to accomplish, we are called to love God and our families! So savor these moments, don’t worry if the dishwasher isn’t unloaded yet or all the laundry is done. Snuggle your little ones and enjoy their giggles, and laughter, smell the baby and give her lots of kisses. May to experience the fullness of motherhood and the patience and grace to love the Lord and your family today!!

Bucket of Rocks

This past weekend was absolutely beautiful, it was a cool and crisp, but warm and sunny. I love the fall, such an incredible time of year to reflect. I find myself really stopping to look at the leaves, smell the fresh air and thinking back on all the wonderful memories of the summer. The fall always promps me to want to nest, organize and prepare for the upcoming year. I went through and organized all the summer/winter clothing for myself, Jim and the kids, sent 5 garbage bags to rebuilt resources, organized my entire walk in closet, sorted through the playroom purging all the unused toys and reorganized my tupperware drawer; it feels so good! My husband, Jim, and I also decided that we were going to clean out and organize the garage this weekend and we did! It look amazing and we can actually both park our cars in there. Since moving into our new home last winter our garage has been the go to place for junk and other unwanted parafinalia. Now it is neat and organized!

In the same way I like to organize my physical surroundings I also feel the urgency to organize matters in my heart. I love how my children end up teaching me life’s most valuable lessons;) And thankfully my son Judah was the teacher this weekend:) While Jim and I were our organizing the Lord showed us an incredible picture of the importance of unloading and organizing our hearts and the things in life that weigh us down! My son Judah kept yelling at Jim to come to the ditch infront of our house because he wanted to tell him something. Jim was trying to clean out the garage and he couldn’t keep running back and forth so he told Judah to come and talk to him in the garage. Judah explained that he couldn’t come over, he kept yelling “daddy come here I want to talk to you”. (We didnt realize it but Judah had taken a large bucket out of the garage and was filling it up with his favorite rocks in the ditch. Many of these rocks were large and really heavy but he “loved” each one. Judah couldn’t move the bucket of rocks so we wanted Jim to come to him). Judah finally told Jim that he had a bucket full of rocks and they were too heavy to move so he couldn’t come talk in the garage. Jim encouraged Judah to get rid of some of the rocks or leave them and come and talk to him but Judah refused. He wanted to bring them. He continued to whine and complain that his bucket was too heavy to carry. He was frustrated and the whole neighbourhood knew it. Jim continued to encourage him again to leave the rocks but Judah wouldn’t he wanted to bring them. This carried on for a while until Judah finally dumped the bucket and came to talk to Jim.

Does this sound familiar to any of you? Is your bucket full of rocks? Have you ever tried to hold onto something or carry something that you were not strong enough to carry? Do you get frustrated and complain when you know there are areas in your life that you need to “leave behind”?  I’ll be the first to admit that there are times I find myself struggling to get to the Father because I refuse to leave my sin behind. I whine and complain that God won’t meet me but it’s because I refuse to move. Just like Judah was so determined to hold onto his rocks I am so determined to hold onto my sin. I make up excuses for my sin trying to justify them. I can’t leave behind the “rock” of anger because then I won’t feel justified, or the “rock” of comparison or bitterness, hatred or pride, performance, envy, jealously, idolatry…you get the idea. We try to explain how much we love these “rocks” and we may even dress them up to look so nice. (See picture above – Judah’s pet rock, orginally named: “rocky”!). Regardless, we all carry around these heavy rocks and when the Father asks us to leave them and we refuse. We get frustrated and begin to grumble and complain, much like the Israellites. We need to realize that we were not meant to carry these “rocks”! We need to let them go. Are there some “rocks” that you may be carrying around that God wants you to leave so that you can get closer to him? He says in his word that if we draw near to Him, he will draw near to us, James 4:8. So I encourage you to leave them, empty your bucket and move forward, it’s worth it!

May you experience the fullness of a close relationship with him, free from any “rocks” that are weigh you down!

Perfect Pickles

I thoroughly enjoy cooking with/canning natural and organic foods. I love the thought of eating and making real food without preservatives and other ingredients that I cannot even pronouce let alone spell:) Sometimes when I read the labels on certain food products I feel like I’m back in highschool learning about the periodic table of elements from chemistry class. So part of my mission this summer was to make my own jams, pies, pickles and to freeze in season fruits and veggies so that I can use them throughout the year! I would say that my pickles this summer were my greatest success. In this blog I am going to share how to make the pickles and what you will require to make them. First you will need a large stock pot which will hold the pickles while they cure for the 12 days.I wanted to share the recipe and a couple pictures. I didnt realize that pickling could be so simple. It took 12 days to make them but I only spent about 5 minutes each day adding to the mixture. It was extemely economical and now I have ten 2L jars of pickles to use for the next 10 months, which should take us to next summer. We love pickles, we eat about 1 jar a month. They are sweet crunchie pickles and used a lot of sugar but you can substitute with maple sugar it is completely natural and works just as well. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we have. The best time to make pickles in when pickling cucumbers are in season (July- early September), they are cheap and can be purchased at your local farmers market or at a local farm.

Here is the recipe:

Pickling Brine

In a large stock pot add 1 3/4 cup picking salt in a gallon of boiling water. Test for the strength by seeing if it will float an egg.

8 quarts cucumbers cut up. Put in brine for four days.

1st-4th day – Stir brine daily.

5th day – drain, pour boiling water over.

6th day – drain and discard water. Dissolve 2 tbsp alum in boiling water to cover.

7th day – drain and mix 8 cups vinegar with 8 cps sugar and put 3 tbsp mixed pickling spice in bag – bring to boil and pout over cucumbers.

8th day – drain, reheat vinegar mixture and add 2 cups sugar – pour over pickles.

9th day – add 2 more cups sugar, boil mixture – pour over pickles.

10th day – add 2 more cups sugar and boil – pour over mixture.

11th day – 2 more cups of sugar, boil and bottle.

What did you do today?

On several occasions I have been asked by people who find out that I stay home with my children; “so you stay home, what exactly did you do today?” Or sometimes they simply state; “you stay home, that must be so nice, you must have so much time on your hands, I wish I could do that”. Sometimes I want to volunteer them to babysit my three children and run our household for a 10 hour time slot and see if they come up with a different response:)

At times my defenses have flared up because the tone of their voice implies that I didnt do anything at all. As if there is doubt in their minds that I did anything more than getting out of bed or sleeping through the entire day. The Lord really had to deal with my heart in this area of my life. Why was I so offended by their questions? Why do I feel like I need to prove my position? When I used to talk about my career in counseling as a therapist, I never had the need to defend my job but now as a stay-at-home mom I feel the need to defend it?

I felt like telling them everything I did in a day; …”Woke up, had a shower (if I’m lucky), got dressed, made the bed, made 3 more beds, got the kids up, changed two diapers, did toddlers hair, picked out clothes for three little people, dressed the same three little people, brushed two sets of teeth, breastfed the baby, made breakfast, unloaded the dishwasher, reloaded the dishwasher, cleaned up after breakfast, gave out vitamins, by this time changed another diaper, hopefully brushed my teeth and hair, (not gonna lie, it doesn’t often happen), took out the garbage, threw in a load of laundry, did homeschool with the two little kids while the baby napped, change another diaper, hang out laundry on the line, put in a load of cloth diapers, played pirates (the kids were the pirates and I was the monkey – go figure:), read a couple books, attempted a puzzle, got snack out, fed snack to the two little kids, cleaned up, hung diapers on the line, put in a load of towels, got on our coats, packed into the van, did up 4 sets of seatbelts, headed out to the EYC, played and talked with some other mom’s (one of the highlights of my day), packed the kids back up in the van, another 4 sets of seatbelts, stopped at the gas station and filled up, realized I needed a coffee today, stopped at Tim Hortons, also added two muffins to my order for the backseat drivers in the van:), unloaded the van, kids played, changed another diaper, unpacked diaper bag, got out lunch, made two different lunches because they don’t like the same meal, cleaned up, ate the leftovers, fed the baby, changed another diaper, put on a show for 1/2hr, put the toddler down for a nap, set up the 4yr old for a quiet time, played with the baby, cut up watermelon for snack, started getting ready for supper, took the dry clothes in, hung out the wet clothes, put in the last load of towels, swept the floor, sent the messages from the phone calls for my husbands business that I answer throughout the day, put the baby down for her nap, sat down for 15 minutes in the silence and read by Bible and journaled (another highlight of my day), was interrupted by the 4 yr old who reminded me that quiet time is now over, cleaned up his room, got toddler up from her nap, make the bed again, changed a diaper, got out snack, cleaned up split juice with a mop, played in the playroom, got everyone dressed for a walk, went to the marsh and got cat tails, carried the 4 yr old home while pushing the double stroller because he was too tired to walk, (I felt like I was going to faint:), got dinner started, fed the baby and did a puzzle with my feet, played a swords game and lost, changed baby’s diaper, hubby came home, we ate, cleaned up, loaded dishwasher, talked about the day, took clothes off the line, folded clothes, put clothes away, undressed the 3 kids, bathed the 3 kids, got three sets of PJ’s on, had a bedtime snack, brushed teeth, read stories, said prayers, sand songs and put the two littles to bed, fed the baby, put baby to bed, came downstairs, cleaned up, did dishes, took out garbage, turned on dishwasher, talked with Jim, prayed, put my head on my pillow and passed out!”… that is what I did today and you? Some of you may be able to relate all too well to the job description above.

It bothered me for a really long time, until I began to realize that it wasn’t a question of what I did as a mom, it was my view as myself in that position. I didn’t believe that what I was doing was important and I wanted to prove to myself and others that it was an important job. The Lord began to heal my heart and show me that what I do every day really does matter and that even if no one else notices that HE see me and says that it is worth it. I felt such a relief when I began to walk in this truth everyday, I didn’t feel the need to strive or prove myself rather I began to have a heart that was thankful for the job that He assigned to me. I now see each of these daily activities as worship to the Lord and as a duty that I need to be faithful to. I am a mother and that is my full time job in this season of my life and I love it! I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else, looking after anyone else. I count it a blessing and a priviledge to stay home with my babies and I pray that I will be able to raise them to be all that God created them to be, this is my highest and most important calling in life! May you be encouraged to pursue motherhood to the fullest whether you stay home or work, remember that the little ones in your care are a gift and a blessing! You are valuable and important not because of what you do but because you are loved and accepted by your Creator!

Homeschooling starts tomorrow!!

Our journey is about to begin! Starting tomorrow I will be taking on the role of homeschooling mom to my 4 year-old-son. (And my 2 year-old daughter – she will most likely be colouring and doing crafts during our classroom time.) Hopefully our one-month old little girl will start to regularly take her morning naps during this time as well! I feel so blessed to have the oppotunity to teach my children, I always remember thinking that it would be so much fun to be a teacher, who knew that I would school my own kids one day:) I love watching them grow and learn! I feel like it is a priviledge to be able to spend each day with them, knowing that the season of childhood goes by so fast and each day brings about new changes. Over the past year I have sought out many people who have had experiences with homeschooling, friends, family, complete strangers, all of them had their own bits and pieces of wisdom and insight that I could glean from. I spoke with homeschooling parents, students, some who were homeschooled all the way through others who were just schooled for a couple years. I read articles and listened to radio programs, read statistics and compared the numbers, I think I went a bit overboard. But through it all I loved learning about everyone’s different experiences and it made me that much more excited to start our oun journey. Judah, my son, is so excited as well, he has been telling me for over a year nw that he really wants to be homeschooled, he doesn’t want to go to school, he wants me to be his teacher. I was actually surprised at first but then thankful that God has been preparing his heart and that he too is looking forward to the experience. My husband has been amazing as well, he and I are a team in this and have preparing through much prayer and discussion for this new season!! It will take discipline and sacrifice. We have decided that we are going to oversee different parts of the curriculum and add in our own classes as well. For example, Jim is going to be doing the french portion and I will be doing the phonics, numbers and letters. It is nice to know that we can teach in the areas of our strengths to give them the best we can and cover more courses. I was sitting in the room this mornig, praying for God’s will to be done in our home. I was asking for strength, endurance and creativity as I embark apong this adventure in the education world. I look forward to watching them grow in the academic area of their lives and ultimately my prayer is that; God would give me the grace I need for this season and that HE would teach my children everything that HE wants them to learn so they can be all HE created them to be!

Atirah’s Birth Story

Atirah Kaiya Prayse

“Prayer, Life and Praise!”

July 28, 2011

7lbs 1.90z, 19 inches

4.28pm

The events surrounding Atirah’s birth are truly a blessing from God. As a mother I have been challenged and humbled through them, the Lord has taught me much through bringing this little girl into the world, for which, I am truly grateful! The name Atirah means “prayer” in hebrew and little did we know that you would rely so much on prayer leading up to your arrival as well as during labour and birth. You came to us on July 28th at 4:28pm. You were 2 weeks and 2 days past your due date but still a tiny little peanut, the smallest of all my children thus far. The final month of my pregnancy leading up to your birth was frustrating and challenging for me. I had tons of prelabour contractions, I would be awoken in the middle of the night because these contrations were  so intense. It was hot and I was getting impatient. However I was having a great pregnancy and I was determined to rely on the Lord’s timing and to allow Him to bring your forth at the right time! There were many nights when I thought that you were going to come but by the next morning things would stop. I listened to many of my fellow pregnant moms and tried all the “tricks in the book”; evening of primrose oil at 36 weeks, hot baths, spicy food, long brisk walks, we even restorted to castor oil at the end but you didnt budge:) The midwives started doing stretch and sweeps at 38 weeks but it still didnt do anything! I should also mention that we were planning a homebirth if I went naturally however I was somewhat doubtful because your brother and sister were both overdue and we had to be induced at the hospital. Judah was 8 days over, induced with prostin gel and born 12 hours later at 8lbs 1oz. Mercy was two weeks over, induced with prostin gel and born 5 hours later at 8lbs 5oz. Both healthy beautiful babies but both very much overdue. There were a couple issues such as an aged placenta and meconium aspirations that we were warned about so naturally we wanted to be sure that we would make a choice that was the best for you. July 12th, my due date, came and went as did the next two weeks. I had one ultrasound that we thought may be more accurate and it was for July 20th, however that date came and went as well. I think you were pretty cosy in my belly little one:)

As the days passed I felt like an israelite wandering in the dessert, wondering when I would see the promised land! I would grumble and complain, I was getting frustrated that I couldnt got into labour by myself and wondered what was wrong with me? Everyone else was having their babies and there were a lot of them! My sister in law was due after me and ended up having her little guy 5 days before me! But through prayer the Lord would gently remind me of His faithfulness and plans for my life, I knew that He was good and knew what He was doing so I would surrender, repent and move on. I finally decided to fully surrend it to the Lord and completely trust that whatever happened I would trust Him as he worked in my heart! We spoke a lot with the midwives about your birth and discussed for how long we should wait. There were no signs that you were dropping into the pelvis, and there was no dialation of the cervix that would lend itself to labour coming anytime soon. Your dad and I prayed A LOT about it, and felt like with my history and the amount of time that had already passed we would wait as long as we could before scheduling an induction, and we did. We trusted the Lord to intervene if he wanted to but we both felt peace about being induced with the prostin gel if we came to the 28th of July. And we did. To be quite honest I doubted that it would even work as the baby’s head was high and I hadnt dialated much. We now realize that because you were so small there was no need for you to “drop” and therefore there was no pressue on my cervix wchi was the reason for little to no dialation. You may have stayed in there for another few weeks which could pose as a threat for your health and mine. The day prior to our induction I tried castor oil to see if it would “naturally” induce me but it only gave me contrations 3 minutes apart lasting 1 minute for about 6 hours and then they stopped and after it was all over I was really tired. On wednesday night our kids had a sleepoverat Gramie and Grampies house, so we enjoyed a nice evening together and had a great night sleep, which would prove to be a blessing the next day. On Thursday morning we woke up and headed up to the hospital for 7:30am. We met our midwife Kathy there as well as the oncall OB, Dr. Egboula (amazing ob, very kind and respectful), and they induced me at 8:30am. Immediately the contractions started, they were intense and about every 2 minutes. Jim texted our family and friends and everyone began to pray for our journey ahead, and boy would we need it! I laid in the bed for an hour and then walked the halls for 45 minutes, as I walked they intensified and at 10:30am the nurse checked me, I was 4-5cm and having regular intense contactions. I was still doubtful at this point, thinking that it could stop at any time, I had felt this before and nothing came of it. They decided to admit me and I immediately got in the shower, unfortunately there were no tubs at the hospital so I had to settle for the shower. My mom met up with us and our midwife returned. Everyone thought that it was going to be really fast, and so did I. I laboured in the shower, still doubtful but hoping that this was it. As the water teamed down on my back I began to sing with the music that Jim had put on and worship the Lord, I felt his presence in that room and knew that he was in control. I was continuing to surrender this labour to him and I began to weep as I thought of the reality of meeting my little girl. I was overwhelmed by love, excited and anxious and in pain all at the same time. I was praising him to the priveledge of carrying this life. Labour continued for the next 4 1/2 hours, contractions 2 minutes apart, lasting for a minutes, I was getting tired. Everyone was just waiting for my water to break, wondering what the hold up was. I was getting pretty tired by this point, so Kathy my midwife decided to check me to see if there was any progress. Again Jim sent out an email asking our intercessors to keep praying for the health of the baby and myself. In my mind I was thinking I should almost be fully dialated after all this work but I wasn’t. At 3:15pm I braced myself the uncomfortable exam and we found out that after 6 1/2 hours of labour I was still 5cm and the head wasnt engaged at all! I felt God’s peace come over me in that moment and felt like I zoned out. I heard Jim and Kathy talking about pain management, breaking my water, etc. But I felt like I wasnt really present. I had peace that Jim could make that decision as I was too tired to think about anything. He knew me, he knew that medication wasnt an option for me and I trusted his discernement. We decided to break my water, Dr. Egboula was still there and he agreed to do it. At 3:40pm he returned to my room and broke my water, it was painful and I felt a bit scared as I knew that this was it and at any moment I was going to feel this labour kick into high gear. They put me on the monitor to make sure that the baby could handle these contractions and she did perfectly. In 5 minutes of my water breaking, I began to feel the most intense conctractions of my life. They would last at least a minute and were one on top of each other. It was in agony, I had never experienced such intensity. I sat at the edge of the bed, and held onto my mom while Jim pressed into my lower back. After the first 5 contractions my body began to transition into the pushing phase, I began to bear down uncontrollably. This continued with each contraction. In my mind I knew that it wasnt going to be long now. I just needed to make it through each contraction. The pain was enduring and it was all I could do to breathe. I cried out to the Lord and clung onto my mom and my wonderful husband. In the next half hour I went from 5cm to 10cm and I could actually feel the head descending into my pelvis. My body began to push and with three short contractions I push out our precious baby girl! (my pushing was completely involuntary, my body just knew what to do, it was amazing). Our second midwife Audrey showed up 2 minutes prior to her birth so she was able to assist in the birth which was amazing because both Kathy and Audrey have attending all of our children’s births. Jim told me afterwards that at the end I said “I can’t do this” and within 5 seconds Jim handed me our beautiful baby girl. It was amazing! I love that her daddy caught her and brought her into the world. We were all in tears and in awe of this new little life. It is such an amazing and humbling experience to know that you are the only one in the whole world who can comfort your child in that moment. As soon as she heard my voice she was silent! Jim cut the chord and immediately Kathy started collecting the chord blood so we could send it away for storage. Once Atirah was born I felt like a million bucks! That feeling of complete relief is amazing! I was so in love with this little baby lying in my arms, feeling her and seeing her brought such great joy to my life. I was so thankful to the Lord for bringing me through such a hard and long labour. As I lay there with her on me, everyone kept saying how tiny she looked, at this point I thought she was about 9lbs because of how overdue she was so they weighed you and I was in shock that I had such a tiny baby, you were an answer to prayer! I had always prayed and asked the Lord for a little baby and he gave me you, we nicknamed you “little prayer”:) I feel as though with each baby the wells of my heart grow deeper and I have the capacity to love even more. I have such a deep love for you Atirah, word cannot express it. Perhaps, it is because I had be anticipating your arrival for SO long or many it is simply because God gave me this love, whatever it is, I fully embrace you little one! You are perfect and you are another precious gift from the Lord. Atirah Kaiya Prayse, birthed through life-giving prayer and praise you came to us. May your life testify to the goodness and faithfulness of our God!

Building…

Wow I feel like it has been ages since I last blogged, although it has really only been 2 weeks. For me, that is a long time, I am used to journaling and writing down my thoughts daily. Life has been busy with the Wilson tribe. We are currently building a home and with building comes much sacrifice! Our family time is sacred during these days as Jim is often working in the evening at the house. We had a wonderful Father’s day yesturday and are gearing up for another exciting week!

The entire foundation of our home is now complete, praise the Lord! It has felt like a long time, although I am told that it was actually faster than normal.

It amazes me as I stand back and observe this large amount of concrete in the group that this will one day be the foundation of my home. Our lives will revolved around this place, it will be where my babies grow up, where we make memories, where the walls of our house and lives will be built. I am in awe of how much sweat and labour has gone into this part of the house (and money). The foundation is completely buried underground yet the true test of its strength depends on what we see above ground. I feel a spiritual parrallel coming on:)

Isn’t it true that the foundation of our lives is what really matters? The exterior can be beautiful and decorative yet if the foundation is faulty EVERYTHING will crumble! We need to be people who a committed to developing a firm foundation and making sure that we are connected to God who is our strength! I firmly believe that we cannot rush our relationship with Him. Just like we cannot lay the foundation of a house quickly, we cannot rush through our relationship with Him – our foundation. It takes time. Life takes time. To heal, to be made whole, to trust, to love, to have faith. It takes precious time to build these things, just like it takes time to build a home. If you rush you will miss important steps that could jeopardize the security and stability of your home.

We live in a culture that craves speed, power, and efficiency. We are constantly stimulating our minds on computers, cell phones, videos, games, and various types of multi-taking in order to accomplish as much as possible. We need to make time to rest. To be still. To be quiet. To know that HE is God so that all nations will be blessed! Our physiological make up is designed for down time, if we deprived our body and our minds of sleep for long enough we would actually die! I believe this is true spiritually as well, if we do not slow down and rest we will run out of steam. Take a couple minutes today to be still…rest your Spirit and listen to the Lord…what is He saying?

May to experience a time of peace and quiet where you can reflect and know that HE is God!

When it rains it pours!

Today it was pouring rain in my world! It is funny because I have recently been telling people that motherhood has been fairly simple these days. The kids are at nice stages as they are both sleeping at the same time, eating well, and playing together. But in the last 24hrs, it has been a different story! Mercy woke up at least 4 times last night – she is teething, they were both cranky this morning, Judah was drama king and extra emotional, they both cried at the same time on multiple occasions, fussy about eating, Judah woke Mercy up and at nap time Mercy woke Judah up, everything was a fight and no one listen to mommy! Judah kept telling me to go to work, he wanted to see daddy. (love that line, can’t you feel love and appreciate in those moments:) – NOT)

What did I do? What happened? I kept trying to pinch myself all morning wondering if I was sleeping and needed to be woken up from this nightmare. I often see this pattern in motherhood, things go ALL wrong at the same time and also at the most inconvenient times! Hence the saying “When it rains it pours”!

Once I finally got these two little angels to sleep, for their afternoon nap, I sat alone in peace, quiet and stillness, ate my breakfast (it was now 1:30pm) and had a little debriefing session with God. He knows my kids better than me so I often go to Him for advice:) I really believe that when life challenges us we can do one of two things:

1. Complain and wallow in our frustration

Or…

2. Reflect and learn from the situation

I chose the latter and as a result I really learned a lot about my perception of life. Everything was chaotic this morning because inside of me I had a plan or a picture of what things should look like, it was an EXPECTATION of my babies and our day. The Lord slowly and graciously helped me to lay down my selfishness, my agenda and my desires and remember that in HIS kingdom selflessness and humility come first! I truly believe that my reactions to the day and what I was telling myself had everything to do with the difficulty level. I was tense, stressed and negative. I now realize this. Next time I am going to be calm, relaxed and positive.

Kids are unpredictable. Life throws us curve balls. You are NOT alone! God is in control. Our priorities are to love Him and love our kids! May you experience the peace that passes all understanding today, may it guard your heart and mind in Christ!  May the Lord bless you and your household today!

Carob Oatmeal Chip Cookies

1 1/4 cups all purpose whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup carob powder
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
egg replacer equivalent to 2 eggs (2tsp egg replacer + 4 tbsp water)
1/3 cup rice milk
1/2 cup mashed bananas
1/4 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 cup pecans or walnuts chopped
1 cup rolled oats

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets. Combine flour, carob and baking soda. In a large bowl mix egg replacer and oil. Mix in rice milk, bananas and lemon juice. Gradually add dry incredients. Once it is all mixed add nuts and oats. You can also add in dark chocolate chips or carob chips. Bake for 8-10 minutes until golden. Allow to cool and serve with rice milk or almond milk. I can’t wait for Judah to wake up and taste them! Mmmmmm…

Hanging Fruits and Veggies!

The other day I was shopping at a local garden center when I noticed an unusal sight. I walked toward a strange looking planter with curiosity written all over my face. I realized that this planter had strawberries hanging off of it, it was a hanging strawberry plant. I don’t know if it is just me, but I had never seen such a thing. Later on that week I saw another strawberry planter at the local farmers market. After drilling the vendor with all my questions I decided to purchase the planter. It was full of strawberries. It was an ever-bearing strawberry plant which means that it will continue to bear fruit all summer long. Unlike the strawberry plants that just produce strawberries in June and July. I brought the plant home 2 weeks ago and it has been thrivingever since. It is growing rapidly and new berries are coming every day. Although, my children eat them as fast as they grow. I think I have been able to eat one or two berries, they were delicious. The advantages of hanging your strawberries are:

1. They can be moved and will not spread all throughout your garden.

2. There berries will not rot because they are sitting in wet soil.

3. They are less likely to get eaten by animals. (squirrils, chipmunks, etc) 

4. You can take them indoors in the winter and enjoy the fruit despite the cold temperatures.

5. You can determine how big they get based on the size of pot that you plant them in. (Smaller pot, smaller plant, larger pot, larger plant.)

6. They are a great decoration for your deck/outdoor area!

Not only did I decide that this is a good idea for growing strawberries but I also purchased an upside down planter for tomatoes. It too has been thriving. You water it from the top and the plant basically grows upside down. I absolutely love it. Another advantage with tomatoes is that they will not rot in this kind of planter because it is off the ground.  I often find that the fruit on tomato and strawberry plants will rot easily because they are so heavy and the fruit ends up sitting in the soil and getting eaten by buds. Yuck! So my simple solution is hanging up the plants.  Try it and let me know what results you get, also feel free to ask questions! Happy gardening!