These last couple of months have brought into a sharp reality how little “stuff” matters at the end of our life.  My MIL loved her stuff.  She loved her old stuff, new stuff, free stuff, sentimental stuff, collectible stuff and her stuffy stuff.  ~Cough, Cough~ Get my point?  We are in the middle of clearing out her condo and are reminded how easy it is to want to save “that special card,” or all the copies of that one picture – just in case.  But my  husband and I have determined to go through our own belongings and get rid of the unnecessary things so our girls won’t have this daunting task in front of them some day!

I recently found a great post on simplifying your kitchen here on Goodbye House, Hello Home.  She has some great tips on how to clear out your kitchen and make it organized and clutter-free.  Here is another post about 18 Things You can Get Rid of Today!

I keep a black trash bag in a bedroom closet and when I come across something I don’t need, I put it in that bag.  Then I tie up that bag and take it to Goodwill.  You know what?  I’ve never missed anything I’ve gotten rid of!  As a matter of a fact, it’s so freeing!

Freshen up your Friday (and your life!) by finding 5 things today that you can take out the door!  Put them in a bag, tie it up, and either throw it away, or give it away.  Then get in the habit of doing that each week!  Don’t let your life get cluttered up with your “stuff.”  Trust me, your children don’t want it to deal with it when you’re in heaven!

See you in church for our revival meetings!  If you live away from me, I trust you’re making your way all day on Sunday to a local assembly where you will hear the Word, enjoy fellowship, and have the opportunity to serve the Lord!

Be refreshed,

With love,

Now you know where I’ll be spending my crafting time!  Of course this also doubles as a guest room.  Hmm, think it would be rude to awaken our guest so I could make a card?  Just kidding!

Do you have a dream room you’re planning?

From the parsonage windows,

I have a heart for moms; they’re one of my own kind.  Standing on this side of motherhood gives me a bright, new perspective!  My side of the fence is filled with sweet words of appreciation from my grown daughters.  Memories of their childhood are spoken from them with fondness and laughter.  I’m seeing the “green side” of parenting. It’s the side where the fruit is ripening.  It’s wonderfully sweet!

I remember when I was on the other side of that mothering fence, though.  My husband worked two part-time jobs while pastoring our new church, and I was often the Lone Ranger parent.  I did school all day, managed the bickering between sisters, along with the pouting attitudes and grumbling spirits.  Green grass was often a dream in the distant future.  I was standing on the dirt where I was trying to sow.

Then I would come across a verse in my daily Bible reading that would so encourage my heart and help me to keep my perspective.  It would be a verse like this one that I read this week. It would be an unlikely verse that the Lord would use to snap me back to remembering my purpose in motherhood.

This is not a passage on parenting, but it was a command from King Jehoshaphat to the judges.  He was reminding these men that their work was to be done for the Lord – not for any man under their jurisdiction.  Do you know what the work of a judge was? The judges of these courts were to:

1. keep the people in the worship of God 
2. to punish the violations of the law 
3. to decide controversies between man and man.  

It sounds like they were doing the work mothers do!  Look at the similarities…

1. Have you taught your child about God?  Prayed with him?  Read Scripture to him? Sung to him about Jesus? Reminded your child to fold their hands during prayer,  have their devotions, or pay attention in church?  
2. Have you disciplined your children when they disobeyed?  
3. Have you tried to decide which sibling started the fight that is shaking the living room floor at the point of a 5.6 on the Richter scale? 

If you’ve been a mother for more than a day, and you love the Lord, you’ve at least done #1.  This is a great reminder that your mothering, as King Jehoshaphat said to the judges, is to be done for the Lord. Do all you do as a mom for the Lord.  Make that peanut butter and jelly sandwich, clean up the spilled milk, teach that math lesson, discipline, sing, pray for your child – all as unto the Lord. Sometimes when you’re getting weary and your patience is growing thin, you may literally need to say out loud, “Lord, I’m doing this for you.”

You won’t need to be concerned with what others think about your mothering skills, or whether or not your children still like you. You also won’t have a bad attitude about your responsibilities as a mom if you’re doing it all not for man, but for the Lord!

Let me address those of you that may not be moms. This verse applies to each of us.  If you’re going in to a job today, taking college classes, or staying home in the retirement years of your life, keep the thought in mind that everything we do is not for man, but for the Lord.  There is eternity in front of each of us.  If we’re living with this attitude that Jehoshaphat encouraged, we will have crowns to cast at our Savior’s feet. The rewards will also be for the Lord. 

With love,

Most of us are busy most of the time.  Cooking and eating at home has to be intentional.  You must plan ahead and prepare ahead if you want to have a home cooked meal. Because we had planned to begin packing up my MIL’s condo, I knew Saturday was going to be a busy day.  I wanted to have supper ready when we returned home in the early evening, so I decided to make a soup on Friday night that I could just warm up for supper.

While looking on Pinterest, I found a delicious-looking soup with turkey sausage, beans, tomatoes and pasta.  Mmm, it sounded yummy, so I decided to try it.  Saturday also turned out to be a very cold day here in Tennessee, so it was a perfect day for a comforting soup!

I served it with a green salad and multi-grain French Bread.  It was so wonderful to come home to this meal after an exhausting day of packing!

If you want a soup that is filling and comforting, this is your recipe!  I think I would add a couple more cups of chicken broth next time as suggested; it got a little thick upon cooking, but it was still very good.

Ingredients
1 pound ground sausage, turkey (or pork)
1/2 medium onion, diced
1/2 medium carrot, diced
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes
6 to 8 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper
1 can White Beans (I used a northern bean)
1 cup ditalini pasta, or any small pasta

In a large pot, brown the sausage.  Remove from pot.  If there is a lot of fat left in the pot, pour this out but do not wipe out pot.  Add onion, carrot and olive oil and saute for 5 minutes until soft.  Add garlic and saute about a minute more.  Add the tomatoes, 6 cups of the chicken broth, thyme, bay leaf, some salt and pepper, the drained beans and the sausage and cover the pot. Cook for an hour over low heat, at a gentle simmer. Add the pasta and cook, uncovered, until the pasta is tender.  Check the seasoning and add more salt and pepper to taste.  If the soup is too thick for your liking, you can add more chicken broth.

Serve with grated cheese on top and an extra drizzle of olive oil.

What recipe do you turn to when you want to prepare a meal ahead of time?