I just wanted to leave a quick update about Emily. I ended up cancelling her neurology appointment today. It was just not sitting right with me the doctor's office they set her for her. Living in New England I do have the opportunity to have available some of the finest hospitals in Boston (which is a ride, but well worth it). So I have a request put in for her to be seen at Children's Hospital. I will update when I know more.
Early Intervention came today. She told me that they recommend and send their clients to Children's. That confirmed in me that I was making the right decision. As far as EI is going....she said Emily is doing excellent. We have noticed a big leap in the last few weeks. She is babbling more and trying to walk. She takes on average 4 steps before she falls---sometimes more. Chris and I work on this daily with her.
I must run now....I am doing the joys of Algebra tonight with CJ (we are doing it right now and it is already pass 9 pm)
Thanks for all those who have been praying.
Toodles,
Judy
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Monday, January 7, 2008
Testing 1-2-3, Testing
I don't know about you, but I HATE tests. Now, I am not talking about math or science here....I am talking about tests from God. I would rather help someone else through theirs (like encouraging or praying for them) than go through my own. They are just no fun!!
I know that God is working on me----constantly. And I am okay with that. But it is not always comfortable and it can down right hurt sometimes. I find that He will be working on an issue with me and then BAM! He wants to see if I REALLY have given over the situation to Him. Sometimes I do GREAT with the test, sometimes not so hot.
I will even open myself up here and give you 2 examples:
I have been reading a good book called "Passionate Housewives, Desperate for God". It is put out by Vision Forum. A friend of mine, Connie, gave it to me for Christmas. When I was in the second chapter, I almost gave up on it. Stacy McDonald is one of the authors and she talks about "me time" and how it is selfish to think we need it. She goes on to talk about how she has never had a massage, visited a spa or had a pedicure and she hasn't had a breakdown. You see, I like "me time". I don't find anything wrong with it. I have gone for a massage (not in quite some time) and a pedicure or two. I like to go to the market by myself to think or go up to my room for a time and let hubby have the kids to himself. I don't find anything selfish about this. This has kept me sain (even if at times my sanity was in question). I put the book down for a couple of days to think this over. Was I really being selfish? I decided at this point that I WOULD keep reading the book. There must be a reason why it was given to me. WELL I AM GLAD I KEPT READING!! Some of the things I have read have straight up challenged me while other things were so freeing. As I mentioned before, I just recently became a S.A.H.M. again and I definitely had some challenges with being home full-time.
So now to test #1. I was feeling real good about reading this book. I can see what she means by saying "me time" and how we need to die to self with serving our family. Tuesday (New Year's day) I had spent a good amount of time in the school room cleaning and organizing. It wasn't done yet, but close to it. I couldn't work on it anymore because Emily was up. A while later I had to talk (very loudly) to the boys to chill out playing Nerf gun. They came up stairs and I went down to my schoolroom and low and behold....that is where they were playing Nerf. I called the 3 boys down and....oh lets just say I did not have the reaction I should have. I not only blew it---I BLEW IT BIG TIME!! I was awful. I was walking in the flesh so much at the point and the "I am not appreciate" that I couldn't see beyond myself. I spent the rest of the night in "time out" in my room. By the morning I felt like such a fool. I knew that I had been given this test in front of me to see if I truly believed what I had been reading about and I failed. I started on a pity-party of "what an awful mother I am" and "the kids don't deserve to be stuck with me for a mother". The devil was having a field day with my mind. Then in a quite moment I thought of Terry Maxwell. I don't know if you know who she is but she has written many books. I was able to actually see her speak (along with her whole family minus one son)in September. While I didn't agree with 100% of what they had to say, I gleaned so much from her (you can check her out at http://titus2.com/ ). She went through a time of depression. From the sounds of it, it sounded much worse then the seasonal depression I use to get. At the conference she spoke about how she felt like she messed up bad with the kids at times. But then one day she asked her older children what they remember about there childhood (expecting to hear about all the times she messed up). To her surprise not one of them mentioned her times of failing. This thought on Wednesday brought me comfort. I also remembered something else....we are ALL sinners. It's true!! We all mess up now and then (some of us more than others) and the only thing that saves us is God's mercy and grace. Jesus died on the cross for moments like this. To be able to wipe clean my slate...and boy did I need it then. So I cried out to Him and asked for forgiveness. Too bad I didn't cry out to him BEFORE I reacted to the room (which by the way, the room was just the last straw that day. Many other things had happened. I don't want you think I am a crazy lady).
Test #2. This test came today. Today we were going to start back to school after having all of December off. I had very high expectations of how I wanted the day to go. I had planned to get up at 6 a.m. (even though the last month I have been getting up closer to 8), do my devotions, computer time and some straighten up before anyone got up. I was going to get CJ up at 6:30 and the other 3 at 7 (Emily is the only one who I would let sleep in). Next would be chores, breakfast, hygiene and ready to start school promptly at 8 a.m.. Healthy snack break is scheduled for 10 and Lunch for 1 pm. We were going to get so much done. I would read to the kids, play outside and maybe even do a craft. Oh it was a nice fantasy. Now for how the real day. Emily decided at 4:30 or so this morning to start crying. She would cry for about 30 seconds and then quiet for a couple of minutes and then start all over again. I went into her room multiple times, hold her, reassure her, put her back to bed, give her blankey and put her music on. One time I even put some teething lotion on just in case her teeth were bothering her. What I really felt was the problem was she wanted to come and sleep with Mommy. Ever since she was sick at Christmas time (I did alot of holding throughout the night) she has woken up a few times doing this. Finally at 5:30 I couldn't take it anymore and put her in bed with me. Not a peep out of her. She feel back to sleep about 10-15 minutes later IN MY BED. Now I couldn't get up like planned because I couldn't leave her alone. I figured that if I was awake during all the crying the kids had probably been awake too. I figured a little extra sleep for everyone would be fine. 8 a.m. rolled around and Emily and I were both just waking back up. At first I wanted to freak, but instead I put her in her crib (had Zachary entertain her while she was there) and I headed off to my office---I mean bathroom (it is one of the only places I can go and they won't follow me in). I prayed right then and there. I gave the day over to God and told Him that my plan was gone. For Him to use the day how He seemed fit. I chilled out and went with the flow. School didn't officially start until around 10:30 (and I was okay with that). No healthy snack at 10. No reading to the kids, no playing outside...it just didn't happen. And I was okay with all of it. It was a day of getting the kids back on track. Then Chris called me on his way home (like he always does). His day was busy but good. Hung up with him and a short time later he called back. He had broken down on the highway. He was able to get the car safely to the side of the road (thank you Jesus) but now he needed me to come and pick him up--another "not planned" moment in my day. So off I went. I was just so thankful that he was alright that it didn't bother me to go and get him...in fact, I felt like the Calvary coming to save him (except instead of a horse I rode a blue minivan). On the way there the thoughts started coming into my mind "how on earth are we going to pay for a tow and car repairs now!" I knew this was a test. Just this morning while I was laying in bed trying to get Emily asleep I was thinking about how I haven't worked in 4 months---so far, so good. My mind was now racing ahead of me with all the "what ifs". This is one of my problems...stress and anxiety about $$. But on that ride to save my hubby I decided right then and there to give it over to God. He will make a way...He ALWAYS does. By the time I had gotten to Chris I had a smile on my face. When we got home I felt like I was being pulled in many directions at once. Trying to figure out how we were going to do to get the car off the highway, Emily was up, lunch needed to be made and CJ's shirt needed to be ironed so he could get ready to go his game. Chris (who is a tremendous help) was outside washing the van. When he worries--he cleans. I knew he had alot on his mind so I didn't want to bother him. At first I wanted to scream inside. I felt overwhelmed. Instead, I took one job at a time and did what I could when I could. Everything got done---kids feed, baby changed, CJ to his game and the car towed to our house. All of it AND I went and did some more school with Jessie and Zachary while Chris was talking with one of our neighbors who is a mechanic. This day was full of tests I would have to say I PASSED!!! I passed with flying colors!
Both of these days were used by God to work on me. I will have to admit...today was easier and hurt less than last week. If only I could run to God every moment instead of thinking that "I can handle it".
Test #1 F
Test #2 A-----who doesn't like to get an "A"
Toodles,
Judy
I know that God is working on me----constantly. And I am okay with that. But it is not always comfortable and it can down right hurt sometimes. I find that He will be working on an issue with me and then BAM! He wants to see if I REALLY have given over the situation to Him. Sometimes I do GREAT with the test, sometimes not so hot.
I will even open myself up here and give you 2 examples:
I have been reading a good book called "Passionate Housewives, Desperate for God". It is put out by Vision Forum. A friend of mine, Connie, gave it to me for Christmas. When I was in the second chapter, I almost gave up on it. Stacy McDonald is one of the authors and she talks about "me time" and how it is selfish to think we need it. She goes on to talk about how she has never had a massage, visited a spa or had a pedicure and she hasn't had a breakdown. You see, I like "me time". I don't find anything wrong with it. I have gone for a massage (not in quite some time) and a pedicure or two. I like to go to the market by myself to think or go up to my room for a time and let hubby have the kids to himself. I don't find anything selfish about this. This has kept me sain (even if at times my sanity was in question). I put the book down for a couple of days to think this over. Was I really being selfish? I decided at this point that I WOULD keep reading the book. There must be a reason why it was given to me. WELL I AM GLAD I KEPT READING!! Some of the things I have read have straight up challenged me while other things were so freeing. As I mentioned before, I just recently became a S.A.H.M. again and I definitely had some challenges with being home full-time.
So now to test #1. I was feeling real good about reading this book. I can see what she means by saying "me time" and how we need to die to self with serving our family. Tuesday (New Year's day) I had spent a good amount of time in the school room cleaning and organizing. It wasn't done yet, but close to it. I couldn't work on it anymore because Emily was up. A while later I had to talk (very loudly) to the boys to chill out playing Nerf gun. They came up stairs and I went down to my schoolroom and low and behold....that is where they were playing Nerf. I called the 3 boys down and....oh lets just say I did not have the reaction I should have. I not only blew it---I BLEW IT BIG TIME!! I was awful. I was walking in the flesh so much at the point and the "I am not appreciate" that I couldn't see beyond myself. I spent the rest of the night in "time out" in my room. By the morning I felt like such a fool. I knew that I had been given this test in front of me to see if I truly believed what I had been reading about and I failed. I started on a pity-party of "what an awful mother I am" and "the kids don't deserve to be stuck with me for a mother". The devil was having a field day with my mind. Then in a quite moment I thought of Terry Maxwell. I don't know if you know who she is but she has written many books. I was able to actually see her speak (along with her whole family minus one son)in September. While I didn't agree with 100% of what they had to say, I gleaned so much from her (you can check her out at http://titus2.com/ ). She went through a time of depression. From the sounds of it, it sounded much worse then the seasonal depression I use to get. At the conference she spoke about how she felt like she messed up bad with the kids at times. But then one day she asked her older children what they remember about there childhood (expecting to hear about all the times she messed up). To her surprise not one of them mentioned her times of failing. This thought on Wednesday brought me comfort. I also remembered something else....we are ALL sinners. It's true!! We all mess up now and then (some of us more than others) and the only thing that saves us is God's mercy and grace. Jesus died on the cross for moments like this. To be able to wipe clean my slate...and boy did I need it then. So I cried out to Him and asked for forgiveness. Too bad I didn't cry out to him BEFORE I reacted to the room (which by the way, the room was just the last straw that day. Many other things had happened. I don't want you think I am a crazy lady).
Test #2. This test came today. Today we were going to start back to school after having all of December off. I had very high expectations of how I wanted the day to go. I had planned to get up at 6 a.m. (even though the last month I have been getting up closer to 8), do my devotions, computer time and some straighten up before anyone got up. I was going to get CJ up at 6:30 and the other 3 at 7 (Emily is the only one who I would let sleep in). Next would be chores, breakfast, hygiene and ready to start school promptly at 8 a.m.. Healthy snack break is scheduled for 10 and Lunch for 1 pm. We were going to get so much done. I would read to the kids, play outside and maybe even do a craft. Oh it was a nice fantasy. Now for how the real day. Emily decided at 4:30 or so this morning to start crying. She would cry for about 30 seconds and then quiet for a couple of minutes and then start all over again. I went into her room multiple times, hold her, reassure her, put her back to bed, give her blankey and put her music on. One time I even put some teething lotion on just in case her teeth were bothering her. What I really felt was the problem was she wanted to come and sleep with Mommy. Ever since she was sick at Christmas time (I did alot of holding throughout the night) she has woken up a few times doing this. Finally at 5:30 I couldn't take it anymore and put her in bed with me. Not a peep out of her. She feel back to sleep about 10-15 minutes later IN MY BED. Now I couldn't get up like planned because I couldn't leave her alone. I figured that if I was awake during all the crying the kids had probably been awake too. I figured a little extra sleep for everyone would be fine. 8 a.m. rolled around and Emily and I were both just waking back up. At first I wanted to freak, but instead I put her in her crib (had Zachary entertain her while she was there) and I headed off to my office---I mean bathroom (it is one of the only places I can go and they won't follow me in). I prayed right then and there. I gave the day over to God and told Him that my plan was gone. For Him to use the day how He seemed fit. I chilled out and went with the flow. School didn't officially start until around 10:30 (and I was okay with that). No healthy snack at 10. No reading to the kids, no playing outside...it just didn't happen. And I was okay with all of it. It was a day of getting the kids back on track. Then Chris called me on his way home (like he always does). His day was busy but good. Hung up with him and a short time later he called back. He had broken down on the highway. He was able to get the car safely to the side of the road (thank you Jesus) but now he needed me to come and pick him up--another "not planned" moment in my day. So off I went. I was just so thankful that he was alright that it didn't bother me to go and get him...in fact, I felt like the Calvary coming to save him (except instead of a horse I rode a blue minivan). On the way there the thoughts started coming into my mind "how on earth are we going to pay for a tow and car repairs now!" I knew this was a test. Just this morning while I was laying in bed trying to get Emily asleep I was thinking about how I haven't worked in 4 months---so far, so good. My mind was now racing ahead of me with all the "what ifs". This is one of my problems...stress and anxiety about $$. But on that ride to save my hubby I decided right then and there to give it over to God. He will make a way...He ALWAYS does. By the time I had gotten to Chris I had a smile on my face. When we got home I felt like I was being pulled in many directions at once. Trying to figure out how we were going to do to get the car off the highway, Emily was up, lunch needed to be made and CJ's shirt needed to be ironed so he could get ready to go his game. Chris (who is a tremendous help) was outside washing the van. When he worries--he cleans. I knew he had alot on his mind so I didn't want to bother him. At first I wanted to scream inside. I felt overwhelmed. Instead, I took one job at a time and did what I could when I could. Everything got done---kids feed, baby changed, CJ to his game and the car towed to our house. All of it AND I went and did some more school with Jessie and Zachary while Chris was talking with one of our neighbors who is a mechanic. This day was full of tests I would have to say I PASSED!!! I passed with flying colors!
Both of these days were used by God to work on me. I will have to admit...today was easier and hurt less than last week. If only I could run to God every moment instead of thinking that "I can handle it".
Test #1 F
Test #2 A-----who doesn't like to get an "A"
Toodles,
Judy
New Online Homeschool Magazine!
Tomorrow is the debut of a new online homeschool magazine---The Heart of the Matter.
You can click on the link above to see a sneak peak. Some of my favorite bloggers are contributors. I hope you enjoy!
Toodles,
Judy
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Godly Tomatoes
There is a new book out that I just heard about....it sounds great so I thought I would pass it along. It is called Raising Godly Tomatoes by L. Elizabeth Krueger. I found out about this book through Less of Me--More of Him's blog. She is actually having a contest to give away one of these books for FREE! You can go and enter the contest at http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Tiany/ . Also, you can check out the author's website at http://www.raisinggodlytomatoes.com/order.asp . Good Luck!
Toodles,
Judy
Saturday, January 5, 2008
A Few of My Favorite Things
Happy Blogoversary to Tiany at Less of Me--More of Him! She has been blogging for 2 years now. This is one of my favorite blogs to check in on daily. To celebrate her blogoversary she is do a contest---can you believe it! She is GIVING something away in celebration. She put together a basket FULL of her favorite things. To enter, go to her blog http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Tiany/ . From there, she will tell you the rules to enter. Basically, you list on your blog YOUR favorite things, post it on your blog with a link back to her. It's that simple!!
So a few of my favorite things (whenever I say that I think of Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music):
1. Chocolate! I LOVE chocolate. I need to have some form of it daily. I don't go for the expensive stuff either. Give me a a bag of Hershey Kisses and I am good to go.
2. My Computer. I rather be on my comptuer than watch t.v.. I love to read other blogs, research homeschool things and email.
3. Blistex. I have to have this. My lips have been chapped for as long as I can remember. I usually have a few throughout the house, one in my sweatshirt or pocket of my pants and Chris hides a few. I have a terrible habit of putting them down and not remembering where I put them.
4. Lisa Whelchel books. Anything she rights. I have almost ALL her stuff. I find her very down to earth and real with issues she has faced. Her books are very encourging and easy reading (which, lets face it...with 5 kids I need that sometimes).
5. CBD. I love to order things through them. I live in Massachusetts and CBD is located in Peabody. Whenever I order, if I do it before noon and chose UPS delivery I ALWAYS get it the next day. I LOVE that!
Those are all materialist Favorite things. Then I have favorite things that you can't buy..which mean more to me:
1. I love when Emily wakes up in the morning and I go into her room and she is sitting up with this HUGE smile! It is the best! It is like she is saying "I missed you all night, I am so glad you are here."
2. Kisses from my kids. I have never counted how many kisses I actually get in a day...but it is alot! Even my 14 y.o. son comes over every once in a while and gives me peck on the forehead or check. There are times when Zachary gets up before I do and I can feel his soft little lips kiss my nose while I am sleeping.
3. "I love you" notes left by my hubby.
4. When it is cold or rainy outside and I have no place to go. I can stay in my sweats and just snuggle up.
Toodles,
Judy
So a few of my favorite things (whenever I say that I think of Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music):
1. Chocolate! I LOVE chocolate. I need to have some form of it daily. I don't go for the expensive stuff either. Give me a a bag of Hershey Kisses and I am good to go.
2. My Computer. I rather be on my comptuer than watch t.v.. I love to read other blogs, research homeschool things and email.
3. Blistex. I have to have this. My lips have been chapped for as long as I can remember. I usually have a few throughout the house, one in my sweatshirt or pocket of my pants and Chris hides a few. I have a terrible habit of putting them down and not remembering where I put them.
4. Lisa Whelchel books. Anything she rights. I have almost ALL her stuff. I find her very down to earth and real with issues she has faced. Her books are very encourging and easy reading (which, lets face it...with 5 kids I need that sometimes).
5. CBD. I love to order things through them. I live in Massachusetts and CBD is located in Peabody. Whenever I order, if I do it before noon and chose UPS delivery I ALWAYS get it the next day. I LOVE that!
Those are all materialist Favorite things. Then I have favorite things that you can't buy..which mean more to me:
1. I love when Emily wakes up in the morning and I go into her room and she is sitting up with this HUGE smile! It is the best! It is like she is saying "I missed you all night, I am so glad you are here."
2. Kisses from my kids. I have never counted how many kisses I actually get in a day...but it is alot! Even my 14 y.o. son comes over every once in a while and gives me peck on the forehead or check. There are times when Zachary gets up before I do and I can feel his soft little lips kiss my nose while I am sleeping.
3. "I love you" notes left by my hubby.
4. When it is cold or rainy outside and I have no place to go. I can stay in my sweats and just snuggle up.
Toodles,
Judy
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Prayer Request
Hello fellow prayer warriors----I need you!
Next week, Tuesday, Jan. 8th, we are taking our precious little Emily to see a Pedi-Neurologist. We got Emily on June 24, 2007. We noticed not to long after getting her that she would sometimes have tremors and at other times she would just stare blankly for what seemed like forever but was really for less than 30 seconds. The tremors have seemed to stop but she still has the episodes that she will stop what she is doing and just stare. You try talking to her, wave your hands in front of her and even touch her---and NOTHING. She then snaps out of it and continues on. The Nurse Practitioner (NP) that we see said at first she wanted to give it some time to see if she keeps doing it. As we approached her birthday, Chris and I along with the social workers and the NP have all decided it is time to look further into this (esp. with her prenatal history). Being a nurse my mind runs at 100 mph with things like this. I know what it could be. I know it could be seizures. I HATE even speaking it out there. When I see her having her "episodes" it reminds me of a childhood friend, Barbara. I remember being in the middle of playing with her and her doing the same thing. She got diagnosed with Epilepsy as a child.
So my prayer: that God will lead us to the right Dr's, the right test, the right diagnosis. Also, that God would help Chris and I to deal with it too. As a parent, you don't want you child to be sick or have a chronic medical condition. You rather carry it yourself then see them suffer. This is where I am at. Her having a possible medical problem doesn't make us love her any less or think any differently about her. When I told my father yesterday what is going on and how the social worker want us to find out what it is going on BEFORE we finalize he said "it is too late..you can't give her back now!" Honestly, that WASN'T even a thought. They just want us to find out before we finalize because if something is wrong they can apply for more things for us (our social workers are great, always looking out for us). It was nice to see my father (who is usually a very cold person) show how much he loves her by his comment.
Thank you. I will keep you all up to date.
Toodles,
Judy
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Happy New Year!
Happy 2008!
I look forward to the new year. I don't make New Year's resolutions. To me, that has a tone of failure...how many people REALLY keep them. Rather, I look at my life and think of areas to work on or things I want to do.
1. I want to get HEALTHY (did you notice I did NOT use the words diet or lose weight). I want to be able to walk from my bottom floor up the 2 flights of stairs to the bedrooms with out feeling like I need some oxygen. So to do this I will add more fruits and veggies and less chocolate and junk food. See, my problem isn't eating TONS of food. In fact, most of my skinny friends eat much more than me. I however eat all the wrong foods. I would rather pick at Hershey Kisses all morning than sit down and eat a bowl of cereal and some juice. THIS NEEDS TO CHANGE. Also, I need to exercise more than my fingers on a keyboard. I need to get my cholesterol to a healthy level. I will be starting Red Yeast Rice tomorrow. This has been used in asian medicine for centuries. My NP that I see said it can reduce my levels by 30%...that would be fantastic!
2. I need to step it up a notch with homeschooling. I need to plan things out. Also, at the beginning of the school year I was doing great with ignoring the computer and phone during school time. That has gone by the waist side. Need to get back on track with that. No more phone calls unless it is Hubby checking in on the day (or me making an SOS call to him).
3. I need to do some bible studies this year. I am pretty good with doing my devotions in the morning however, I need some meat. I have had a Beth Moore study on my shelf for well over a year. I had started it when I got it and.... well, I need to make this a priority. Also, I would like to start memorizing scripture.
4. Church. I need to go to church more consistently. My hubby has a job that his days off are Wednesday and Thursday. There is no way around it. This will be the way it is until he wins the bid for Sunday off and that won't be probably for a few more years---state job with LOTS of people senior to him. So I am by myself trying to get the 5 of them out the door. And I don't know about you, but that is the time we are in spiritual warfare the most. I swear I can hear the devil laughing some Sundays at my frustration just waiting for me to give up. Unfortunately, I give up much more than I should. Chris has mentioned going to church mid-week as a family. Still tossing this one around. If we did this then he would be getting fed too.
5. I want to get financially healthy too. I worked part-time for 5 years as a surgical nurse. I started homeschooling the same year I finished nursing school and started working. That first year I only had one child school-age and another that was a toddler. I worked 4 evenings (3 pm to 1130 pm) a week. Looking back---I HAVE NO IDEA HOW I DID IT! Slowly but surely God has made a way for me to be home. The second year of hsing I cut down to 3 evenings a week. Did that for 2 1/2 years. Then I cut down to per-diem (as needed, but I still filled out the schedule) 2 evenings a week. Did that for 6 or so months and then started scheduling myself 1 day a week. In September, I finally broke free. Each time that I went to my husband and asked for me to work less it was a lesson in faith. Each time we could not see with OUR eyes how we were going to afford for me not to work. But we kept stepping out in faith and God has always met our needs...and some of our wants too. I think we bring in enough money a month to live comfortable, but, and this is a BIG BUT, we aren't so great with budgeting it. I want that to change. I want to be able to sleep at night without worry about $$ or the Would've, Should've, Could'ves that can happen.
I think that is a good start. What about you. I would love to hear some of the things you want to work on in the new year. Leave it to me in the comments or a link to your blog for me to check it out.
Toodles,
Judy
I look forward to the new year. I don't make New Year's resolutions. To me, that has a tone of failure...how many people REALLY keep them. Rather, I look at my life and think of areas to work on or things I want to do.
1. I want to get HEALTHY (did you notice I did NOT use the words diet or lose weight). I want to be able to walk from my bottom floor up the 2 flights of stairs to the bedrooms with out feeling like I need some oxygen. So to do this I will add more fruits and veggies and less chocolate and junk food. See, my problem isn't eating TONS of food. In fact, most of my skinny friends eat much more than me. I however eat all the wrong foods. I would rather pick at Hershey Kisses all morning than sit down and eat a bowl of cereal and some juice. THIS NEEDS TO CHANGE. Also, I need to exercise more than my fingers on a keyboard. I need to get my cholesterol to a healthy level. I will be starting Red Yeast Rice tomorrow. This has been used in asian medicine for centuries. My NP that I see said it can reduce my levels by 30%...that would be fantastic!
2. I need to step it up a notch with homeschooling. I need to plan things out. Also, at the beginning of the school year I was doing great with ignoring the computer and phone during school time. That has gone by the waist side. Need to get back on track with that. No more phone calls unless it is Hubby checking in on the day (or me making an SOS call to him).
3. I need to do some bible studies this year. I am pretty good with doing my devotions in the morning however, I need some meat. I have had a Beth Moore study on my shelf for well over a year. I had started it when I got it and.... well, I need to make this a priority. Also, I would like to start memorizing scripture.
4. Church. I need to go to church more consistently. My hubby has a job that his days off are Wednesday and Thursday. There is no way around it. This will be the way it is until he wins the bid for Sunday off and that won't be probably for a few more years---state job with LOTS of people senior to him. So I am by myself trying to get the 5 of them out the door. And I don't know about you, but that is the time we are in spiritual warfare the most. I swear I can hear the devil laughing some Sundays at my frustration just waiting for me to give up. Unfortunately, I give up much more than I should. Chris has mentioned going to church mid-week as a family. Still tossing this one around. If we did this then he would be getting fed too.
5. I want to get financially healthy too. I worked part-time for 5 years as a surgical nurse. I started homeschooling the same year I finished nursing school and started working. That first year I only had one child school-age and another that was a toddler. I worked 4 evenings (3 pm to 1130 pm) a week. Looking back---I HAVE NO IDEA HOW I DID IT! Slowly but surely God has made a way for me to be home. The second year of hsing I cut down to 3 evenings a week. Did that for 2 1/2 years. Then I cut down to per-diem (as needed, but I still filled out the schedule) 2 evenings a week. Did that for 6 or so months and then started scheduling myself 1 day a week. In September, I finally broke free. Each time that I went to my husband and asked for me to work less it was a lesson in faith. Each time we could not see with OUR eyes how we were going to afford for me not to work. But we kept stepping out in faith and God has always met our needs...and some of our wants too. I think we bring in enough money a month to live comfortable, but, and this is a BIG BUT, we aren't so great with budgeting it. I want that to change. I want to be able to sleep at night without worry about $$ or the Would've, Should've, Could'ves that can happen.
I think that is a good start. What about you. I would love to hear some of the things you want to work on in the new year. Leave it to me in the comments or a link to your blog for me to check it out.
Toodles,
Judy
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