Isn’t this a happy little mess?!

In all the things that are demanded of us every single day, it’s really, really important that we take time to have a break.  Even 15-30 minutes of scheduled time to do something other than the work before you will refresh you and make you more ready to go back to the normal demands of your life.

I have lots of interests that I pencil into my days.  Playing Words With Friends is something I only “allow” myself to do when I’m in the car, on my way to sleep at night or a when I’ve scheduled a 15 minute time on the swing for a break.

I also love making cards.

The picture above was taken after about 30 minutes of cutting, gluing and punching.  I love that I’m also being productive while taking a break!

We can really get discouraged and down if we don’t take a little time for fun!  Lysa TerKeurst said,

College tuitions brought some belt-tightening to our household when both of our girls headed off to the Christian university.  It wasn’t easy to pay that bill each month, but we were determined that, by God’s grace, we would send them to college and pay the bill for the tuition so that they might finish their years there debt-free.

They were expected to work to pay for their personal expenses, as well as books, which you probably know, can set a person back a good chunk of change!  They did their part, and we did ours.  Praise the Lord, He allowed both girls to finish not owing the school a penny.  It wasn’t necessarily easy, but the sacrifice was well worth it!

During those years, extra money wasn’t available.  Money for gifts and little projects around the house, just wasn’t there.  I began to pray and ask the Lord what I could do to earn some extra money.  I was still homeschooling, so I needed to be able to work from home.  Remembering the biblical principal to do everything with all our might, I knew I had some “might” that could work.  Surely there was something I could do or offer that could stir up some extra income.

The Lord brought my love for baking to mind.  So, I began to bake sweet breads, muffins and pies and offer my goods at my bank, the place where I got my hair cut, and to professional people working at the hospital.  I loved my business, and I saw it really flourish in the years I worked it.

The last year I had my business, I was so busy at Christmas I didn’t even have time to do my own baking.  That’s when it came to a close.  The need was now behind us, and my husband wanted us to have a home life, so I stopped, in deference to him.  But it had served its needed purpose and was such a blessing.  At the time I stopped, I had grown to baking specific orders of cakes, pies, cookies, cheesecakes…you name it.  There was  a need for busy people to hire someone to bake for them, and the Lord had brought that to my mind, given me a love for it, and provided for our family in that way.

Do you have a financial need that you’re praying about?  Think about what you have to offer.  What service do you enjoy doing that others would pay to have you do for them?

A Peek Into My Life This Past Week

Click on picture to enlarge.  Click twice and it’ll look like you’re up close!

There are some days when things seem overwhelming minutes after waking up.  The demands seem great, the energy minimal.  Too many obligations for the hours that lie ahead.  That’s how Saturday morning was.  Ahead of me I needed/wanted to accomplish –

He will direct your paths.  Yes.  What a comfort.  What a relief.  Then I prayed out loud…

“Lord, You know what I need to get done today.  I know I can trust You.  I want to be a blessing to others and to my husband, and if that will happen through meeting our friends for lunch, then I trust You.  Help me to accomplish what is important today and let go of the rest.”

I went home with peace in my heart and the overwhelming feeling gone.  I had a spring in my step – even after a little more than a two mile walk in the country!

While I was getting cleaned up and dressed for the day, my husband sent me a text (he was still out running) –  Our friends got a late start and can’t meet for lunch after all.  While I knew our time with our friends would’ve been sweet, this was the Lord’s hand, and I knew it.  He had directed their steps, and mine, too.

All day I kept asking myself what the next right step was, and I kept my hand to the plow.  You know what?  At the end of the day, I had accomplished everything on my list, plus we had even taken off for a couple hours in the early evening to go out for supper and a drive through the country – something we hadn’t even planned to do!  Isn’t God good?

Starting my day with the Lord in His Word and prayer was, I know, the best thing I could’ve done – especially on a busy day. It’s easy to think I need to move on to my list when I’m overwhelmed in the morning, but how wonderful to see the Lord direct me and enable me to accomplish exactly what He had designed for my day.

On your overwhelming days, stop and ask the Lord to help you take the next right step.  The first thing will always be to seek Him.  He will direct you and that will make for a profitable day!

Lovingly,

If you were my neighbor, you would know by watching us that we LOVE being outside!  We have spent as much time as possible on our front and back porches this spring and summer, and have loved every minute of it!  We haven’t eaten supper in the house in a very long time.  If it’s hot, we turn the porch ceiling fan on.  If it’s raining, the covered back porch keeps us dry.  If it’s too sunny, we lower the shade.  We swing, we rock, we play in the yard, we take naps on the swing that lays back, we play games on the patio table, and we eat our meals out there.

Because we enjoy our yard so much, I’ve tried to make it inviting.  But then, maybe we enjoy it because it is inviting.  In April, Southern Living Magazine had pictures of a backyard that caught my attention.  Because our yard is so deep, I wanted to break it up somehow.  The picture in the magazine got me inspired enough to come up with a plan.  I’m dividing the yard into thirds.  The first third, closest to the back porch will be a manicured yard with grass, benches, bird bath, and a path leading to the backyard.  But I needed a focal point.

Enter…Alli’s wedding pergola that was sitting in its deconstructed state with no home! A talented man in our church (who would never be caught dead or alive reading this blog b/c it’s for women) made this pergola per Alli’s request.  (Tell him we love it, Angie!)  Alli and her husband live in an apartment with no yard, so, I’m “taking care of it” for them.  I know, isn’t that nice of me? =)

This week on one of my husband’s “days to rest” (ha), he got out there and put it together!

What a husband!

It was no easy task to do this alone, or with the help of a 4’9″ wife, but he did it!

So now this is the focal point for the yard!  Behind it will be the rest of the 2/3 of the yard for volleyball, croquet and maybe a few raised beds for herbs.  This will be  a work in progress for the next several years, but I love that we have gotten things rolling!

I bought 2 climbing rose bushes to ascend up the sides of the arbor.  Even though the bushes are small right now, I can already envision it covered with blooms up to the top!

My encouragement to you to freshen up your Friday is to look at your yard – small or big, and think of something you could add to make it more inviting.  Even if you just have a small deck or patio off your apartment – what could you do to make it a liveable space?  Consider:

Stay refreshed,