Quick Before I Get Sidetrack'd

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about simplicity and living a simple life. Over the past few days and weeks, the idea seems to be everywhere I look – on blogs I read, in my Bible class at church – pervading my thoughts. My ideas aren’t cohesive enough at this time to write about my perspective on the topic, but I wanted to share a couple of links to blog posts that I’ve enjoyed recently.

Last week Meredith at Like Merchant Ships did a series entitled “How to Live Well on Less”; links to each post in the series can be found here. She writes about budgeting, purchasing, decorating, and finding beauty in what you own.

Then I read a post by Brant at Letters from Kamp Krusty titled “Here’s to Nothing!” in which he writes about how his family’s approach to life has impacted others in their neighborhood.

I would enjoy hearing your thoughts on simplicity as well – what “simple living” means, how it can be accomplished, things you’ve done to simplify your life or household. Leave a comment and let’s see what where this discussion might lead.

First, a little of this…

Lauren is so kind; she named me a “Thoughful Blogger”. This was designed to recognize “those who answer blog comments, emails and make their visitors feel at home on their blog; for the people who take others people’s feelings into consideration before speaking out, and who are kind and courteous. This award is for those generous bloggers who think of others.”

I am honored that Lauren thinks of me in this way. Thank you!

And now, a little of that…

Susan and Janice of 5 Minutes for Mom are having another great giveaway. They’ve teamed up with Best Buy to give their readers a chance to win an Insignia 37” flat-panel LCD HDTV!! Click here for all the details.

I hope you are all having a wonderful Monday!

Here we are; it’s Monday again and time to reveal the menu plan for this week. It was kind of tricky to plan this week as Matt requested that we only have things that we don’t usually make. But, armed with internet access, a plan came together.

Monday – leftovers from this weekend: pasta with fresh tomatoes, garlic, and parsley

Tuesday – enchiladas (filling will be from tamale casserole recipe), chips with guacamole & salsa

Wednesday – leftover enchiladas

Thursday – southwest corn fritatta, salad

Friday – homemade pizza

Saturday – lunch: fend for yourself / dinner: eat out for Matt’s birthday

Sunday – lunch: pancakes / dinner: mexican at Life Group

Hope your week is full of good eats!

Using the integer generator at random.org I have selected the winners in my Dog Days of Summer Bloggy Giveaways.

In giveaway #1 for the Gnomy’s Diary Angel – comment # 37 – Photojenic

And in giveaway #2 for the Sisterchicks book – comment #8 – Jana

Thanks to everyone for entering the drawings. I will e-mail the winners and get the prizes out as soon as I can.

Oxford American dictionaries list the following among the synonyms for challenge – test, tax, strain, stretch, stimulate, inspire, and excite. When I made the decision to participate in the challenge that Sheryl was setting for herself I had no idea what the next 21 days would hold. That was probably a good thing.

Beginning July 2nd I set out to pray for/about the following three things each day:

1. The words that come from my mouth
2. Our impending move, Matt’s new job, and the sale of our house
3. A new church home in Nashville

I have consistently been praying about the words of my mouth and the attitudes of my heart (because that is the root of all I say and do). Specifically, I’ve been praying the words of Psalms 141:3 and Proverbs 31:26.

Over the last few weeks I’ve noticed (and hope those around me have noticed) a shift toward kinder, gentler words. One particular focus of my prayers was that I would not be irritated with Little for interrupting what I was doing and demanding attention when I was focused on something else. I feel that God has really been softening my heart toward the gift that is my baby girl. When she seeks attention now, I try to stop what I’m doing (if that is feasible) and play or snuggle. As her Momma, I represent security and love to her, two things that she needs that only I can provide. Not that I’ve perfected this or conquered these issues, but I can see the work of God in the area of my motivations and speech. I continue to pray that I will speak words of wisdom, words of edification, words of love to those I interact with, especially Matt and Little.

The prayers about our move and selling the house really stirred things up around here. I’ve spoken about the saga surrounding our non-move in previous posts, so I won’t rehash all of that here; I will mention how God continues to deal with me in this area.

When we moved here two years ago we really felt we were being called to this place for a specific Kingdom purpose. As the Nashville situation unfolded I convinced myself that the lessons we’ve learned regarding what the church should be, how we are to be recognized as Christ followers, and what it means to be “in the world, but not of it” were the lessons we were brought here to learn.

Over the weeks of prayer about our move I was convicted that there is more here that God has prepared in advance for us to do. I felt led to repent of the way I had tried to “take over” God’s plan and decide what it was we were supposed to learn or do here. Now I look forward to seeing how God’s purposes unfold in and around my family.

Through these three weeks my patience has been tested, my emotions have been taxed, my mental capacity has been strained, my faith has been stretched, my prayer life has been stimulated, my hope has been inspired, and I’ve become excited about what the future holds.

Thank you to those of you who have read my posts and prayed for us as I went through this challenge (and the moving situation). And I especially thank our friends (some of whom I know read here although they rarely comment) who have come alongside us in prayer and conversation as we’ve worked through this time of testing.