My Fall 2012 Bucket List

It's Fall!!!!  I know it's only been Fall for a few days, but I have been thinking about it for months!  I love this time of year!  It's such a beautiful display of God's handiwork!

"Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good!"
(Genesis 1:31)


I've never made one of these before, but I saw this really neat idea over at Love Bakes Good Cakes, and I love it!

 

 

A Fall Bucket List!  Cute, right? 

(For the free 8x10 printable of this, click here.)

 

I'm already planning on doing most, if not all, of the things on the list, but I'll definitely be adding more.  I can't wait to start checking things off with my kids.  I know they will absolutely love this too!


I also found this:

It's got some great ideas and almost every activity has a link with more information.
(To check it out, click here.)

 

The thing I'm most looking forward to checking off this list is visiting a pumpkin patch...Or drinking apple cider...Or maybe having a bonfire...and eating s'mores.  Well, I guess I don't have a favorite Fall activity - I love them all!  Everything is just so pleasant this time of year.  The weather, the sights, the smells, the flavors, the activities...

 

My birthday is next month, which also adds to my love of Fall - I LOVE my birthday.  I may have a hard time choosing my favorite Fall activity, but I am 100% sure that my favorite thing to do for my birthday is to go to a pumpkin patch.  My husband and I have gone to a pumpkin patch for each of my birthdays since we met, and I love that my kids will by my excuse for continuing the tradition for many years to come!

 

Here are some things I want to add to my Fall 2012 Bucket List:

• Carve a pumpkin
• Make tons of pumpkin recipes...especially desserts
• Make homemade applesauce with fresh orchard apples
• Go on a hayride
• Get or make more Fall decor
• Make fun Fall crafts and treats with my kids
• Eat lots of candy corn
• Buy a cute scarf...and actually wear it
• Take the kids to a football game
• Go camping
• Drive to a nearby state park and walk the trails
• Regularly sit outside with my Bible and coffee before my kids wake up

And the most important thing on my list:

• Check off all the activities on my bucket list!

 

What are your favorite things to do in the Fall?  Do you already do the things on this bucket list?  What about the things I added?  Something else entirely?  Leave a comment below and share!

Happy Fall!
 

5 Things I Hate About You

Do you remember the movie 10 Things I Hate About You?  The storyline is about 2 teenagers who can't stand each other.  They just clash on everything, but can't seem to stay away from each other.  Finally they realize all the things they hate about each other are in fact the very things they love so much about each other, but don't want to admit it.

 

My love story isn't quite the same, but there are some similarities.  While my husband and I definitely didn't clash when we first met, there are many times we clash now.  And while we're not afraid to admit that we love each other very much, sometimes we forget all the reasons why.  There are many things that irk us about each other, but when we step back and look at those things, it's those very things that we used to love so much about each other.  Now that's a little backwards, isn't it?

 

Has this ever happened to you?  Have you ever realized the things you used to admire about your husband are somehow driving you crazy now?  How in the world does that happen?!

 

This week's (week 4) Revive Your Marriage challenge is to list 5 things you admire about your husband.  When I started to think about that list, I realized what I just shared with you - the things I admire most are also the things that can annoy me the most.  Lord, change my heart!  I am so excited to share the list with you all and then to start changing my attitude about those 5 things..and any other qualities of my husband that deserve admiration and praise.  I am so thankful for this challenge, because it places my focus on my husband who needs and deserves more of my focus, and it helps me remember why I fell in love with him in the first place.

 

Here are 5 things I hate love about my husband:

1. He works hard at everything he does.
2. He's constantly challenging himself and setting goals for himself.
3. He's easy-going and doesn't worry much.
4. He's very friendly and hardly knows a stranger.
5. He likes to be doing something...always.

So let's look deeper into these things. 

 

-If he didn't always work so hard, maybe he'd get to spend more time with me and our kids.  But then he probably wouldn't have the amazing job he has now.  And I wouldn't want him to be lazy.  Thank you God for my hard-working husband!  

 

-If he didn't focus so much on challenging and setting goals for himself, maybe he could focus on us a little more.  But I wouldn't want him to be apathetic about his life or his health.  I want him to continue to grow.  Thank you God for my husband who always wants to better himself! 

 

-Sometimes I get frustrated that he doesn't worry about the things I worry about, and sometimes it makes me think he doesn't care.  He cares.  I know he does.  And it would be pretty miserable around here if we were both worried all the time!  He definitely balances me out in this area.  Thank you God for my easy-going husband! 

 

-If he didn't have to talk to every person we come across, he could give us all of his attention and we could be on our way faster when we're out and about.  But then he probably wouldn't have as many friends as he has.  And then I wouldn't have as many friends as I do.  And he wouldn't be able to set a very good Christian example or reach others if he never talked to anyone else.  Thank you God for my friendly husband!

 

-If he didn't get so stir-crazy when he's home he could just sit and relax with me more.  But my kids don't really want to just sit.  And we'd probably get bored if all we did was relax at home, and we'd miss out on a lot of fun activities and experiences.  Thank you God for my fun, active husband!

 

 

I love my husband very much!  And I love him for many more reasons than I've shared with you today.  He is a wonderful man, and it's a shame I don't tell him that more often...or at all!  I'm going to write my list of 5 things I love about him and share it with him sometime this week.  (Maybe I'll share it on Friday - it's his birthday!)  And I want to start telling him at least one thing each day that I love, admire, or appreciate about him.  Not only will I be building him up, I am confident that the more I make it a point to appreciate little things about him and his character, the more I'll actually appreciate him overall.  Now that's a win for both of us!


*Check out the Revive Your Marriage blog series by clicking the button on my left sidebar.

Mommy Moment Monday: Say "Shrek Smoothie!"

This weekend we had our family pictures taken.  I really loved the setting!  We did the pictures on a country road lined with trees (which I didn't even know existed in this super-flat, lacking-in-trees, non-wooded, covered-in-fields part of the world), and in a cotton field.  I grew up in farming country, and I like really like fields - I love the color green, I love to watch them grow, and I love the nice, neat rows.  What I mainly saw was bean and corn fields, but my favorite was always wheat.  Wheat fields are just gorgeous - their golden color and they way they sway in the breeze - and then I saw a cotton field.  They are so pretty too!  You see the brown earth underneath, the dark stems and leaves, and then BAM!  Bright white balls of cotton!  The contrast is really neat!

 

Anyway, so now you know I like fields.  I like trees too.  And the country.  So it was very refreshing to spend a couple hours on that country road and in that field, since I haven't been too impressed with my new surroundings so far.  And yes, we spent a couple hours there for pictures...but mainly because my children were being impossible!  It was like pulling teeth trying to get them to look at the camera and smile.  I'm all for action shots, but one nice family portrait where everyone is looking and smiling would be nice.  Hopefully we got something close to that out of the shoot.  But regardless of how good the pictures turn out, it was really enjoyable to be outside and to see the trees and the cotton.  Still, I don't want to hear or utter the words, "Say Cheese!" again for a very, very long time!

This morning, although I wouldn't have been surprised if my kids had turned and run in the opposite direction at the sight of a camera, I pulled mine out during breakfast.  We had smoothies for breakfast and they were green.  Like bright, monster green - hence the "Shrek Smoothie."  The kids thought they looked pretty cool, liked the name, and loved the taste!  They hardly took their cups away from their mouths before they were empty.  When they did put their cups down, they had hilarious green smoothie mustaches (or in my daughter's case, a hilarious green smoothie covered face)!  They thoroughly enjoyed cheesing for pictures today, and I thought, "These are my kids!"  Crazy bedhead, green faces, non-matching outfits, and acting silly.  While I really do want some great pictures to hang on our walls, I can't wait to print out their Shrek-face pictures!

 

I love my silly kids, even if it means getting family pictures taken is more of a chore than it is fun.  Oh well.  We don't get family pictures done very often.  And I've accepted that my kids will probably never be the kids who just stand still and smile for the camera.  That's okay.  I have so many silly pictures of them that represent my true children so many fun Mommy Moments!  Here are my Shrek-faced babies:

 

I love them so much!

 

 

Have a great Monday everyone!

You Have to Try This S.O.A.P.!

S.O.A.P. - Scripture, Observations, Applications, Pray.

 

This is an awesome way to study your Bible! It is so simple, yet so effective!

 

I'm participating in the Good Morning Girls Bible study of Colossians, and this is the method they use.  It has taken me from reading and thinking about Scripture, to reading, writing, and understanding Scripture like never before.  The study has only been going for 1 week, but I have already learned so much - I can't wait to see where I am after the full 8 weeks!  But more than understanding Colossians better than ever before, I am so excited I know now a way to study the rest of the Bible that will work for me.  I think it will work for you too.

 

In this study, you only go over a few verses each day, which keeps it simple and allows a busy mom like me to keep up.  Following the S.O.A.P. method, you first write out each verse word for word (S - Scripture).  This doesn't take long since you only study a few verses at a time.  Then you write down what sticks out to you from the passage (O - Observations).  Next you think about what the passage means to you and for you (A - Applications), and finish by praying over what you've just read and learned (P - Pray).  That's it.  I have been amazed at what has been revealed to me by using the S.O.A.P. method, and even more amazed at how simple it is!

 

Good Morning Girls has provided a printable pdf document to go along with the Bible study.  All you have to do is print it out and you've basically got a study guide.  It lists the Scripture of the day at the top of the page, along with which week and day of the week you're supposed to read that particular Scripture on, so you can easily follow along with their schedule.  Then it provides space for each of the four tasks in the S.O.A.P. method.  So easy and so organized!  Have I told you I think it's great?!

 

So what happens after the 8 weeks is over?  I plan on continuing to study my Bible using the S.O.A.P. method.  I don't know what I'll study next, but I do know how.  I've even created a blank study guide in Word that I can print and use.  I just left the top part blank so I can write in the week day, and passage.  If I want, I can come up with a schedule to follow, or I can just write in which verses I read as I go along.  Either way, I am going to gain Biblical knowledge and grow in my faith.  If you're interested, it only takes a couple minutes to type up your own study guide, or there's even a website where you can register for an account and type your answers online:  www.soapstudy.com.

 

And you really can do this too.  My quiet time has been quite different each day this week, but I've been able to do it!  So far my quiet time has been late at night when everyone else was sleeping, first thing in the morning before my kids woke up, mid-morning while the kids were at playgroup, and during their afternoon nap, and while the kids were in the other room watching a movie.  I would like to have a consistent quiet time each day, but I don't think I'm at a point in my life where that's very feasible.  But that's okay.  The Good Morning Girls study of Colossians has allowed and encouraged me to successfully study my Bible every day this week, even if it hasn't been under the same circumstances each time!

 

I hope you'll try this study, or just try the S.O.A.P. method with whatever you read on any given day.  I think you'll find it really helpful in understanding God's word!  2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."  Another version says "All the Holy writings are God-given and are made alive by Him.  Man is helped when he is taught God's Word.  It shows what is wrong.  It changes the way of a man's life.  It shows him how to be right with God.  It gives the man who belongs to God everything he needs to work well for Him."

 

I love what this says about the importance of reading and knowing Scripture, and all that Scriptural knowledge can do!  Scripture is powerful!  It is "alive and active.  Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart (Hebrews 4:12)."  Wow!  I encourage you to get into the Word, whether you S.O.A.P. it or not!  Let it become alive and active in you so you will be equipped for every good work!




Home

Last week I took a trip down Memory Lane.  I didn’t enjoy it.  It’s not that there was anything bad down Memory Lane – In fact, I found it to be very beautiful!  It’s just that I don’t live there anymore.  I’ve moved.  I live on Here and Now Drive…and I like it here!  (I know, go ahead and roll your eyes.  What can I say?  I'm pretty cheesy sometimes.)

I’ve spent a lot of my life looking into the past or trying to plan my future while completely missing the present.  I’m tired.  I’m tired of living everywhere else but here, wherever here may be.  Right now, here is with my family and with God.

When my husband and I decided to move our family a few months ago, we planned on keeping our old house.  We thought it would be nice to have some place to go on the weekends, a place to enjoy nature, and a place for my husband to hunt later this year.  I was also thrilled at the thought of staying connected to the places and people I loved so much!

But then I started to feel torn.  I wanted to start settling into our new home and new town, but all I could think about was how much I wanted to go back to our old house.  I kept thinking of all the things that would be available to us if we still lived there, and resenting our new town for not offering the same things. 

And then I didn’t feel like I belonged to either place.  I definitely didn’t feel like I belonged here in our new town.  But when we took a weekend trip back to our old house, I didn’t feel like I belonged there anymore either.  It was surprisingly difficult to see how many things had happened and changed since we had moved, like I thought time would stand still while we were away or something.

Last week when I returned again for just a day, everything seemed so foreign that I may as well have never lived there.  I left feeling extremely depressed and couldn’t understand why what had been my home just months ago now felt like nothing but a distant memory.  On the car ride back to our new house, I found myself feeling very anxious to get home.  Home…Home?  Could this new house in this new town really be home?  Then I realized “home” wasn’t a house.  It wasn’t a town.  It wasn’t any place on this earth.

Home is where the heart is.  I know, I know.  How cliché.  But I believe it.  Over the past few months my heart has been at our old house and with our old friends and our old circumstances.  I also believe that home is where your hope is, and just like my heart, my hope has been misplaced over the last few months.  I started studying Colossians this week and have learned that our hope is stored up in Heaven, not on the things of this world, and that faith and love spring up from our hope (Colossians 1:5).  Spring up!  Isn’t that a great visual?!

I want faith and love to spring up in my life!  So I will put my hope in God.  I will keep my heart with God, and I will keep my heart with my family.  And you know what, I will always be at home - wherever I am. 

Hello?! Are You Listening?!

I say this to my son at least once every day.  He's 4.  You understand.

 

I just realized that God's been saying this to me at least once every day for the past few weeks, and probably a whole lot longer.  I'm not 4.  I don't understand.

 

How can I be so busy searching for answers that I miss God standing right in front of my face giving me all the information I need?

 

Hello?!!

 

I continue to be amazed at how God uses children to reveal such simple yet powerful truths to us hard-headed adults!  I can't even begin to count the times God has used my son to open my eyes.  Well, whatever that number may be, let's add another one to the total!

 

There have been so many Bible verses, biblical concepts, and life applications repeatedly revealed to me lately.  God is communicating many things to me and has made them very obvious.  Yet it took so many times for it all to sink in, that I'm sure God has been thinking "Hello?!  Carrie?!  Are you listening?!"  I used "hard-headed" to describe us adults in the last paragraph, but I think "hard-hearted" applies very well to me also.  God is really working on my heart in so many ways.  He has opened my mind to gain new perspective, now I pray that my heart will soften so that I will act on it.

 

Psalm 10:4 says that the proud person "does not seek Him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God."  I am proud.  I think I can figure things out on my own.  But I can't.  And I definitely don't want to push God out of my life.  That's a scary thought!

 

We are reminded in Philippians 4:6 "do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present [our] requests to God."

 

In Proverbs 2:1-5, God says, "...if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, tuning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding - indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God."

 

God reassures us in Jeremiah 29:11 that "...[He] knows the plans [He] has for [us]...Plans to prosper [us] and not to harm [us], plans to give [us] hope and a future."

 

So here it is in a nutshell:  Stop trying to figure things out on our own, and quit worrying about every little thing.  Rather, seek guidance from God, earnestly listen to and truly hear what God tells us, and know that God knows what to do.  He already has plans for each and every one of us.

 

Here are some of the things God has been telling me: 

• I should quit trying to figure out what my new town has to offer me and start focusing on why God has put me here and what I have to offer others, or I am going to miss opportunities to serve. 
 
• I need to be appreciative and grateful for my blessings and give God the glory for everything, because God gives and takes away, and because every good thing comes from God.
 
• I need to spend more time with God through prayer and reading His Word.
 
• I need to be patient and remain faithful to God even when He doesn't answer my prayers on my timing.  I need to live according to God's timing.



Apparently, I've got a lot of changing to do, so here I go!

 

 

Has God been trying to tell you something lately?  Are you listening?



Mommy Moment Monday: I May Not Have It All Together, But I Sure Do Have It All!

There have just not been enough hours in my days lately!  I haven't published a blog post since my last Mommy Moment Monday post!  I've been determined to keep up with blogging since I started, so I'm a little disappointed.  Hopefully this week will go better!

 

Welcome to Mommy Moment Monday!  Today I want to talk about "it."

 

I just do not have "it" together - whatever "it" is!  You know those Moms who are always on time, always smiling, who have a week's supply of food, clothing, and diapers packed in their car...just in case, who can somehow find the time to exercise, shower, read their Bible, and make breakfast before 8AM, and who's kids are rarely seen misbehaving in public?  I know you're all picturing someone right now...and I know that it's not me!

 

Now picture this:  the Mom who walks into a bank with her 4-year-old and 1.5-year-old, realizes there's no ATM inside, drags her kids through 95 degree weather all the way around to the back of the building to withdraw some money, drags them back inside, only to find she's miscounted and has to do it all again. 

 

Or the Mom who's on a very tight schedule and makes it all the way through the checkout line at Walmart only to find she's left her wallet on her dresser in her bedroom, which means she has to leave her full cart, drive back to her house for her wallet, and return to Walmart and wait in line again. 

 

Or how about the Mom who, right after cleaning up the accident her 4-year-old had in the kitchen, goes into the bathroom and finds her 1.5-year-old (who's recently decided she doesn't like to wear pants or diapers anymore) has taken off her dirty diaper to sit on the potty, used half a container of wipes to try and clean herself, and then attempted to wash her hands in the sink, leaving poop smeared all over the place. 

That's me.  The Mom whose children are running wild in two opposite directions at the grocery store.  The Mom who has to brush her daughter's crazy hair (and I do mean CRAZY) at big brother's soccer game because she ran out of time at home.  The Mom who drives 3 hours to her old house to pick up some things and remembers she gave her key to the realtor, who happens to be out of town that day. 

 

I used to have "it" a little more together, but somewhere around baby #2, I lost "it."  And apparently I have lost even more of "it" recently,  because all of the scenarios I just shared with you have happened in the last two weeks.  And I didn't even tell you everything!

 

But despite all the craziness, I can see that really, I have it all...even if I don't have it all together.  First of all, I'm a Mommy!  I may not be the most organized Mommy, but I am a Mommy, which means I have been given the greatest gift on Earth!  Also, my kids are happy and healthy.  They may run wild sometimes, but that means they're full of life!  And they are good kids.  Sure, they fight and yell at each other sometimes, and they both have their not-so-good moments, but they're also each other's best friend and they're great at hugs and kisses and "I love you's."  And man, they make me proud!  They have great manners (most of the time), they are smart and curious about life, and they are already starting their relationship with God, which means I must be doing something right!  There is so much beautiful in our crazy!

I'm reminded of a couple devotions I've read written by Lysa TerKeurst from Proverbs 31 Ministries.  The main point of both devotions is to encourage parents to focus on raising God-following and God-honoring adults rather than focusing on other not-so-important aspects of parenting - like our kids' ability to follow the rules of this world, our kids' worldly "success", or in my case, my own ability as a mom to keep it all together. 

Ephesians 5:1 reminds us that we are not children of this world but children of God, so we should "Imitate God, therefore, in everything [we] do, because [we] are his dear children."  That's what's important.  We parents should be imitating God and teaching our children to do the same.  Always.  Deuteronomy 6:6-7 says that "...[we] must commit [ourselves] wholeheartedly" to God's commands, and "repeat them again and again to [our] children.  Talk about them when [we] are at home and when [we] are on the road, when [we] are going to bed and when [we] are getting up."   We are comforted in Proverbs 22:6 that if we "Direct [our] children onto the right path, ...when they are older, they will not leave it."

So focus on the beautiful.  Focus on God.  And just take the crazy as it comes!  I hope you're all having a wonderful Monday!


*If any of you want to read the devotions I mentioned by Lysa TerKeurst, leave a comment and I will give you the links.