For Today…
Outside my window…The sun is starting to peek out and it looks c-c-c-c-old out there. I still thank the Lord DAILY for the view I see when I come down the stairs in the morning. I’m blessed to live at such a beautiful place.
I am thinking…about having a second cup of coffee and wondering how the day will go after having hubs home for 10 wonderful days. We’ve been spoiled and not it’s back to “reality”. 
From the learning rooms…well the above mentioned 10 days have made things a little different but learning actually happens best when dad is home with us. The girls helped cut drywall and other home projects that they’d never get to do with me.
I am thankful for…a heater that works (albeit very expensively) as well as firewood stacked in the garage!
From the kitchen…we finished off the Chinese feast the girls made on Saturday but the fridge is still full. Looks like another week of mish-mash meals to use up what’s in there.
I am wearing…still in my snuggli because it’s the warmest thing I own.
I am reading…“All God’s Children and Blue Suede Shoes“. I actually finished it last week but want to read most of it aloud to the girls this week and discuss.
I am hoping…hubs will have a relatively relaxed day at work given the time off everyone had and the pressures that are ahead.
I am creating…uh… hoping to create a “faithbook” this year!
I am hearing…too much electricity! The fridge, the light bulb above my head the heater and the cats’ water fountain. Wondering what the house would sound like with no electricity - but wait, that would mean the heater wouldn’t be working. Never mind.
Around the house…except for a few boxes it looks good because the slave girls our daughters keep everything tidy on a daily basis.
One of my favorite things…is watching my husband laugh. I got to see that a lot over the past week.
A few plans for the rest of the week…getting back into the swing of things as “normal”. What does that mean exactly?????
Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you…
Over the years that I’ve had this blog or claimed the nickname QuietMom as my own I’ve had people ask me exactly what that means. Usually they’ll say something like, “I wish I could yell less at my kids too.”
And although not yelling at your kids is part of being a Quiet Mom, there is a lot more to it than that.
The verse that inspired me to choose the QuietMom nickname is 1 Peter 3:4 which is at the top of my blog. But to put it in context here are the verses before and after too:
1 Peter 3:1-6
Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives;
While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear.
Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;
But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.
For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands:
Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.
Now if you’re not a regular reader of the King James Version of the bible some of that probably makes no sense to you at all… “be won by the conversation of their wives”? The word conversation in the King James really just means how you live your life - your actions, attitude. The Amplified Bible says “be won by the godly lives of their wives”.
So in a sense, being a quiet mom does mean being quiet, silent and not talking much. But it’s much more than that - it’s an attitude of trust, contentment - peaceful quiet rest in my spirit. Not the mousy meek that says nothing, but the gentle, trusting meek that believes that God knows what He’s doing in my life, my home, my husband, my kids - everything!
So, that said; Are you a quiet mom?
If you want to comment on this post, use the Mr. Linky guy up there - even if you’re not officially “participating” - which really no one is since it’s not an official meme - YET! Thanks!
For weeks now on twitter I’ve been throwing out the idea of Happy Husband Friday. I guess because I’ve not actually done a blog post on it myself my idea hasn’t taken off too much even though the ladies who do respond have been very positive about the idea.
The premise is this; one day a week, Friday, make a concentrated effort to think about your husband throughout the day. Wonder about what he’s doing, pray for him, send him a quick text message, call him on his lunch break if you can but more importantly, stop what you’re doing and really think about him … in a positive way.
Some quick “think” or “do” ideas:
Think about the first time he held your hand - awwww!
Spend some time thanking God for the fact that your husband is the provider for your family.
Remember what it felt like when you started down the wedding aisle toward your husband.
As you kiss your child on the forehead, think about what a great dad your husband is to that child.
Send him a quick text message on his cell phone that says “I’m thinking about you”
Participate in the “My Husband Rocks” meme and blog about your man.
Leave him a message on his work voice mail. Something like “Just wanted to say hi - hope you’re having a productive day.”
Give him a 10 second kiss when we he gets home from work tonight. Yes, COUNT in your head to 10 - it’s long and he’ll LOVE IT!
Any more ideas? Add them in when you comment using the Mr. Linky thingie up top. Please?!
It’s fairly early on Thursday morning, 1/1/2009 - early is relative I guess since we went to bed after 1:30! Kids and hubs are still in bed and I wanted to make a quick post about 2008.
It was a good year!
Although I was a bit concerned last January that we would be snow blowing and shoveling for the entire 2008 year, spring did come. Amazingly every single snowfall of that winter occurred when hubs was on a business trip away from us, but we managed fine. We like it better when he’s here. Much better. And not just because of the snow thing.
Our garden actually produced something (other than weeds) and we learned a lot that we can put to use again this coming spring. I’m very excited about that.
We helped my parents celebrate 50 wonderful years of marriage. A highlight of the year for sure.
We spent good times with good friends and family. We still visit our dear friends at the retirement home each week and helped one of them with his car issues. That experience alone helped me grow in patience - sort of. Not really. I met one of my very very dear online friends after years of iming, emailing and working with each other. It was one of my best days this summer! Smoochies to you Nicole!
The fall was a sad time as we watched our sweet cat get very sick and eventually die. Our cats are like family and he was especially loving, funny, naughty and sweet. We still miss him and talk about him almost every day. Memories are a good thing - sweet sorrow is… sweet.
And then in the last few months when gas prices soared we learned how to be content staying home more again - it was a good thing. The sewing machine stayed busy, the piano got a workout, we used up a lot of ink and pencil lead and the cats think it’s heaven because they can sit on our laps all the time.
In Summary:
Hubs in 2008
He stayed employed.
He liked his job (most of the time).
He was able to spend more time at home. (YAY)
I love him more than ever. Really.
He read more books - he never used to like to read at all.
Still likes me. I’m glad! (you do don’t you honey?)
Oldest Girl
Continued to grow in grace and beauty
Wrote more stories/books this past year than I’ve written my entire life.
Boldly declared truth
Strengthened her relationship with her sister
Made me smile - a lot
Younger Daughter
Grew in beauty and grace.
Fingers officially moved faster than the speed of light when playing the piano.
Used her beautiful gift of music to serve others
Lost her “boyfriend” (Scamper). Very sad. Good memories.
Always a delight to my heart - every day
Me:
There’s still much to learn but hopefully 2008 brought maturing and greater faith. I think it did.
I am blessed and eager to see what God has in store for our family this year.
Today I visited my friend Sheila’s blog for another excellent post on marriage. Go HERE to read it in full but to give you a little taste:
The truth is that when we marry, we tend to marry with one goal in mind: to be happy. This is the man who will make me happy for the rest of my life! We’re ecstatic. We’re optimistic. We’re in love.
Hopefully we did marry someone who is similar to us, who loves God, who has the same values. But here’s the kicker: even if you did marry someone who appears perfect for you, it doesn’t mean your marriage will be perfect. And I think we all know people who have divorced, and we look back and say, “Why? They were so perfect together!”
Isn’t that true though? Our culture crams into our minds from the time we’re little princesses that prince charming will carry us off to never never land and we’ll never have a moment of disappointment again. Happily ever after, etc. I know that much of my single adult life that’s what I was hoping for… someone to make ME happy -ever after.
Selfish little things aren’t we? Then we get into the marriage and realize that prince charming isn’t meeting every expectation that we are secretly putting on him so we try to change him to fit the perfect mold. And the trouble begins.
Oh wife - make it all about you but not in the selfish way. Make it all about you being the wife that the bible says you should be.
This was the turning point in our marriage; when I finally got it that it’s not all about me changing him - rather it’s all about me changing ME.
When I stopped throwing all those expectations on my husband, even some that I didn’t realize I had until I was attentive to it, and turned my focus to meeting the expectations that the bible puts on me as wife and helper to my husband, our lives started to change.
Don’t get me wrong, we were never “unhappy” or headed for divorce. We went into marriage both fully committed to “until death part us”. But I’d say for a season we were definitely on autopilot - just going through the motions. THAT changed when I focused my efforts on changing me and not him.
Our marriage is stronger than it’s ever been and we’re definitely no longer on autopilot. And yep, we are living happily ever after now, too.
About 3 years ago I posted this post on an old blog about finding balance in our lives as a family and revisiting how we were going to spend our Sundays in light of what the ten commandments, and the bible as a whole, have to say about the matter.
As God would have it, as hubby and I were looking at the issue and talking about it, one of my favorite preachers, Alistair Begg, had a series going on our local radio station on The Sabbath. (He’s has that whole series on MP3! You can find more info when you click here.) That series of messages really helped us to pray through how we were going to live our life on Sundays as a day “set apart” for God.
Business-wise I made the tough decision to no longer work on Sundays. Given the type of business I do, that’s not an easy thing. I have to pass birthday parties on to other folks in my business often… and that obviously affects my bottom line. God has blessed that, however, and I’m finding more calls coming in for parties during the week and on Saturdays than ever before.
But over the last few weeks I’ve been reflecting again on this whole Sabbath rest thing…. so often we’ve gotten caught up on what we shouldn’t do on that day - we don’t work, we don’t eat out or go shopping, etc. And I do think that kind of thinking is good to a point. But it does seem to turn the focus of the day back to us again rather than on Him who gave us the day in the first place.
In the 10 commandments it says:
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
That’s just one place where it’s mentioned… there are many many other verses that talk about setting the day apart and keeping it holy.
I popped on my headphones and started listening to the Begg series again this week, just to focus again. My goal is not to be legalistic - rather it’s to be obedient and submissive to the word of God. That’s always been my desire since the Lord brought me to Himself many years ago.
One of the areas where I think I’m failing in this (and I say failing only in that I’m the one losing out on the benefits - not that God thinks any less of me for how I’m spending the day) is in my conversations throughout the day. It’s just so easy at church and afterward during our pot luck lunch or whatever to just talk about life, work, shopping … just “stuff” rather than focusing on the things of God.
I told my daughter that I liken it to getting your brain accustomed to television instead of reading. It’s so much easier to turn on the TV than to pick up a book, let alone a really meaty book that makes your brain work - and yet the rewards of that great book will be MUCH greater. And, with consistent reading of quality literature, your brain not only will enjoy the challenge, it will crave it - and the TV and “junk food” will hold no place. That’s how I want my Sunday conversations to be - rich, worshipful, encouraging to my sisters in Christ but specifically focused on God and His Holiness.
Is it possible? I don’t know. Sometimes I find myself pulling away from conversations and cleaning up or interacting with the young kids just to avoid the conversations that, though interesting and probably important, aren’t “Sabbathy”.
What do you think? Do you take a Sabbath rest each week? What does your day of rest look like?
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