Jumping up and down...

I have a picture in my head of Titus jumping up and down because he hears the garage door open and he knows that means daddy is home! Titus is seriously bummed when he sees Mark get his brief case because he knows he's not going to get to play with daddy all day long. Titus is pretty sure Mark hung the moon!

When I go to die, I pray that I am jumping up and down because I know I am going home to my heavenly father. I want to know that as I am leaving my earthly body the "garage door" is opening and I will soon see Jesus my savior who will bring me to the throne of my Abba Father, the creator of all things.

I want to long for my heavenly Father as Titus waits for his daddy!

Faithful...

There is one theme God has shown throughout my life, the theme is faithful. My God is faithful God, he is a God who cares about the big stuff in my life, but he also cares deeply about the little things in my life. How do I know? Because, I cry out to Him, and he hears me, he not only hears me, he either carries me through the stuff or he takes it away. Sometimes he requires me to go through it, such as cleaning my house. This morning I looked around my house and you would have thought a tornado came through and dropped things where ever it wanted to. My kiddo's are sick and I know the best things for them are not found on the shelves of wal-mart, which means I need to spend time in my kitchen. I also knew that laundry had piled up and needed to be delt with. Sigh...my load had gotten to heavy and I could not carry it. So I did what any self respecting overwhelmed woman would do. I sat myself down and had a good ole cry! Crying does something amazing that nothing else releases. I can sit down, have a good cry, dry my eyes, go to the throne of God, and come out ready with a plan. After a good cry and a good chat with my Lord and Savior life usually looks amazing after that.

So I started with the bedrooms, then found myself in my office, laundry had gotten started, the stove had been turned on and my concoctions were brewing. I was also blessed with my hubby and kids pitching in to help me.  God was faithful to pull me through today, he didn't make the laundry disappear, I still needed to do the work, but God changed my heart attitude, and little by little, the work has been chipped away.

God is faithful to bring me through it! One by one the do to list gets smaller and smaller. So thankful God cares about overwhelmed mommies like me! Praise be to the Lord!

Elder Berry Syrup and Chicken broth our multivitamin!

Allergy season has kicked in at our house. Our kids have everything from runny noses, sore throats, and itchy eyes. Maddie's eyes are swollen and puffy and Titus is already sounding pre-pneumonia. I should know by know to start all my remedies a week early so I actually have them on hand as start them even before allergy season. Lesson learned, I'll start preparing a head next year.

There are three basic go to remedies I try to keep stocked. The first is raw local honey, I am thankful that our natural store just down the road carries delicious local honey! The second is chicken broth, I will start using this in almost everything! I will make sure to have either warm broth to drink at meals, make rice with the chicken broth, or soups. This is a sure way to get nutrients into my families bodies. The third remedy is elderberry syrup. I learned of this syrup from a friend of mine who had made it for her family. All three of my kids, as well as my husband and I suffer from weak immune systems. You can used dried or fresh elderberries, either work fine. I will post recipes for all three of my go to remedies.

Elderberry syrup:
Elderberry Syrup Recipe- 1 cup fresh or 1/2 cup dried organic Elderberries (harvest blue or black, avoid poisonous reds)

- 3 cups water

- 1 cup raw local honey

- 1 organic Cinnamon stick, 3 organic Cloves, and organic Ginger, (optional)

Place berries, water, and spices in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. Smash the berries to release remaining juice and strain the mixture. Allow liquid to cool and stir in honey. Will last for 2-3 months stored in the fridge.

Chicken broth:

Chicken bones 

     I save the bones from the chickens I"ve roasted or grilled, once I have two or three whole carcasses I            start my broth)

Vegetables:

     Carrots, celery, broccoli stems, onions. I often save the ends and scrapes of my raw veggies. It may not      look like much at first but by the time you go to make broth it will have added up. 

Herbs:

     Marjoram, sage, and oregano are all herbs that aide in helping sinuses. Dried or fresh work fine.

I can usually get two to three gallons of chicken broth from two to three chicken carcasses. 

To make broth:

Dump chicken bones, veggies, and herbs in a stock pot or the biggest pot you have. Add water. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of white vinegar. Let set for an hourish. This will aide in breaking down the bones and getting the most nutrition our of them. After an hourish bring water to a boil, turn down to a simmer, cover, and let simmer anywhere between 12 to 48 hours depending on what you have time for.

Local Raw Honey: 

This really is worth checking in your area to find a local source. It tastes ten times better than the store stuff and does wonders for allergy sufferers!

One more thing that helps my families sinuses is warm tea with honey, it soothes the throat, soothes the nasal passages, and tastes yummy. Given right before bed the honey helps with calming coughing attacks.

I pray this remedies bring relief to your allergy sufferers! 

A Legacy...

My life is different because of a young man, named Larry Wardrup,while in high school he had the guts to ask my mom out for coffee. As they were talking over coffee this young man presented the gospel to my mom, and she accepted Jesus into her heart and life.

I have always wanted to find this man and thank him in person. I have searched the internet, but have always walked away with no way to contact him. You see what Larry did not know was the deeply troubled home my mom came from. My mom grew up in a very abusive family, a family ran by fear and torment. When Larry shared the gospel with my mom he introduced her to the savior who would be the one to be able to bind and heal her wounds.


I have memories of my mom sitting on her bed reading her bible and getting to know her Jesus deeper. I have seen Jesus carry my mom through some of her darkest days walking this earth.  My mom is the one who helped me to ask Jesus into my heart. I have had the privilege of teaching and showing Jesus to my kiddo's, all three of my kids have asked Jesus into their hearts and lives.

What Larry gave my mom was a generational gift. It would be a gift that would be received by generations down the road. My life, my kid's lives are different because Larry shared the hope of Jesus Christ with my mom.

Larry Wardrup, where ever you are, thank you! Thank you for sharing Jesus with my family!

I use to want to...

Loving life for me looks like watching
my husband spending time with our kiddos!

I use to look at other people's lives and wonder why my life wasn't as fun filled as theirs. Wondered why I didn't have the awesome camper, the amazing diamond ring, or a thrilling adventurous life. I kept hearing my friends say how much they loved their lives and they truly meant it, they really did love their life. I would start crying, because I didn't love my life and I wanted to.

It occurred to me that if I was desiring something, if I wanted something, or if there was something missing in my life, then I needed to take these desires and wants to the Lord. I needed to align myself with Christ and get my attitude right.

Seeing sheer joy on Naomi's face...
is part of my loving life!

I went before the Lord and poured my heart out to him. I started with a pity party telling the Lord I see others have this, that, and the other thing. I then asked for forgiveness for having the pity party and then I could get to the heart of the matter. I told the Lord what I was really wanting was to love my life. I prayed continually for God to bring a love of life back into my life. 

As always, God hears, God cares, and God answered! First, God started with having me do a self evaluation. Why was I not loving life and was I responsible for the fact that I wasn't loving life. The answer was yes I was the one responsible for not loving my life. 

Loving life first begins with loving Jesus the savior and God the father. Real joy, lasting joy, can only come when one is abiding in Christ. Apart from Christ, apart from the vine (John 15:5) we can do nothing. Which means I cannot love life either. If I am not abiding in Christ then everything I am doing, every relationship I have is only meant to give me instant gratification, which will wear off after time. Some times with in minutes. My love of life first has to stem from a love of the father! The start of loving life was reconnecting to my "vine" and reconnecting to my savior. Allowing my savior to fill my cup to overflowing. The second thing was to being to pray for the Lord to bring into my life that which would bring me closer to him, but also fill my want of loving life.

My love of life also began by pouring out into others, spending time with friends. Having heart to heart conversations, mentoring young moms, and mentoring others. It has also looked like walking/running to get my body back into shape to have energy. This too has opened opportunities to go for walks with friends and again opening up time for conversation and time to deepen relationship with my friends. Loving life looks like holding my husbands hand and watching my kids ride their bike. Loving life looks like having great food, great friends, and great beer. Loving life looks like praying to either get back into horses or for the Lord to bring in a new passion. Loving life looks like me humbling myself and constant asking For more of Him and less of me. I seriously repeat this pretty much all day, every day. It's all I want in this world is to have more of God in me and less of myself.

watching Titus catch a fish for the first time
was a moment of loving life!

Loving life is a two fold process, it's asking God to open your eyes to the things your having pity parties about and then repenting of them. But, it's also looking around and seeing the things that already allow me to love my life. It's practicing thankfulness and gratitude.  Changing our perspective so that it radiates Christ back to us, allowing us to love life. 

If you don't know were to start, go to God the father and ask him. He is so faithful to his children! He loves us so much and he wants us to find joy abundantly. But, joy and a love of life will only ever come from Christ alone, from more of God and less of me!

You cannot force a cocoon or a petal to open!

You cannot force a cocoon or a flower petal to open. You can force them, but both will be destroyed and the extent of their beauty will be destroyed. This is also true of children, you cannot force them to be ready for something. As much as we would like to force our hand in situations, it cannot be done.

However, in the midst of waiting for the flower pedal to open, it does require soil, sunlight, and water. It does require care. This is also true with kiddos. One example of this is my Madeline. Last year she began kindergarten and we began putting together letter sounds to form words. Learning C-A-T, spells cat and D-O-T, spells dot. We worked on memorizing words you simply cannot sound out. We have also read to Maddie since she was in my womb. We read semi hard books, easy books, just about anything she shows interest in.  Blending words, especially big words can be quite overwhelming for the new reader. But, we pushed through. We continued working on letter sounds, putting the letter sounds together and reading words together. We learned how to find word families and to blend them together to figure out the word. There were light bulb moments going on all through the year at different times. I was giving her the information she needed and letting her grasp the concepts as her brain and emotions were ready. Sure enough she has exploded as a reader.

Another example is Madeline learning to swim. She has been afraid of putting her face in the water, afraid to go in even shallow water without her life jacket. We have had her take swimming lessons to get use to the water and learn swimming strokes. We have swam with her, we have let her jump to us in the water, we have helped her feel safe in the water. Then today I took her in deeper water with her life jacket on and showed her that she would float with her life jacket on. Once she realized she could float, she then realized she could swim for real, then she went in shallow water were she could touch and taught herself how to swim.

Patience and the willingness to continue to teach tools that will aid in their success of grasping a concept is priceless and very well worth it! Sometimes a tool looks like teaching letter sounds, sometimes it looks like teaching them they can float in water, sometimes it is teaching them that I am trust worthy. Sometimes the tool is working on a character trait that needs to be strengthened.

I have been encouraged over and over again as I have anxiously waited and prayed for my kids to grasp what I am teaching. Sure enough, they do!

The big jig saw puzzle

I have always had a heart to minister to others and I have always had a heart for ministry. I began ministry by leading a small group bible study while I was in high school. I have lead kid's clubs, worked for the salvation army day camp, lead campus crusade on a college campus, worked at a christian camp ministering to staff, campers, and families. I have co-lead a singles ministry and now I have a ministry raising my own three kiddo's.

When I married I had just come off of a three year run as head wrangler at Camp Redcloud. I was burned out and needed a break from ministry, but the ministry break didn't really come until we had the twins. I have been on a three year sabbatical of raising and surviving twins and their big sister and working on my relationship with Mark.

God has used my time of raising kids, working on my relationship with Mark, and homeschooling my kids to come to the place were I am today. Mark and I have gone through stages of metamorphosis! Going from a egg, to a caterpillar, molting numerous times, and finally emerging as a butterfly. Then we will begin the cycle again as God we continue to raise our kids and go through life becoming more in His likeness and going through yet another metamorphosis.

I am excited at the place God has finally brought Mark and I. We have struggled, we have cried, and God has turned our tears and sorrows into joy. He has triumphed in our lives, He has the victory over sin and struggles in our lives!

The Lord let me have a time of quiet, a time of giving to Mark and the kids, and a time of being quiet. Now, God has brought both Mark and I on board with a heart towards ministering again. We have no idea what this looks like. It could mean moving and joining another camp or other ministry. It could mean ministering within our church. It could look like ministering to our neighborhood. We don't really know, we simply know God is moving in our hearts and lives and we are ready to see what the next piece is to our puzzle.

This week I have had the chance to pour truth, scripture, and prayer into the life of a precious dear young lady in my life. Helping her to walk through her struggles and love her at the same time. Giving her the same truths that were given to me by people who loved me through my struggles. Praying for God's triumph in her life and God's victory of freedom in her life! I am both humbled and thrilled that the Lord is using me again in the lives of others for His glory!

God is using me where I am at in my life in the lives of others. My willingness to submit to my husband and raise the kid's God has entrusted to me in the way I know he wants me to raise them, is ministering to others in powerful ways. Oh, yes Lord, use me!!!

I am so thankful for the down time God has given me from ministry but I am SOOOO ready and SOOO excited to jump back in with both feet. One of my very favorite aspects of ministry is inviting people over to share meals with us. Allowing the setting for conversation to flow in any direction it wants or needs to go. Simply living life with others and being real with them.

God is using me and I am so ready!