Grocery List for Nourishing Breakfast Challenge

These are the items you will need for next week's breakfast menu.

Butter

Sucanat (see below)*

Rolled Oats

Steel Cut Oats

salt

cinnamon

Organic Yogurt or Kefir (Plain!) (large container)(see below)**

Organic Free Range Eggs (see below)***

baking powder and baking soda

vanilla

Organic natural peanut butter

Organic dried cranberries or raising and/or nuts to your liking.

onion

greens of some sort, organic spinach or swiss chard

real shredded cheddar cheese

*Sucanat is a less processed form of cane sugar. It is usually by the other baking ingredients in the grocery store or a health food store. If you cannot find it, or choose to not use it, brown sugar will work. I won't dock points for not using the ingredients exactly, this is more about learning a new method. ;-)

**I use Kefir that we make from our own raw milk, but store bought PLAIN yogurt will work fine. I buy Stonyfield Organic Yogurt, whole milk. Please don't buy the fat-free, yuck!

***Buy the best eggs you can, please! You will need enough for a breakfast of eggs for the size of your family as well as 5 (five) for the recipes. (probably 1 1/2 or 2 dozen)

I hope I have not forgotten something!

Our Menu:

Monday: Oatmeal (Soaked of course)

Tuesday: Baked Oatmeal

Wednesday: Egg Frittata

Thursday: Leftover Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars

Friday: Yummy Granola (just page down)

Nourishing Breakfast Challenge

THE CHALLENGE?

One week of nourishing breakfasts!

I think that once you find out just how easy it is to incorporate 'soaking' grains, beans and nuts into your life you will be more apt to do it. The concept seems huge at first, 'how in the world am I going to add one more thing into my already busy schedule?'

I am going to attempt to make it easy and fun for you. All this week I will post breakfast recipes that incorporate soaking practices. I will also post a grocery list of items you may not have on hand so you can be prepared for next week. I will also post a schedule to follow telling you when to soak something and when to prepare it. You print up the recipes, study them, prepare for them and make them next week according to schedule!

Just to make it even more fun I thought I would have a 'give-away'! I would like to give away Stephanie's (from Keeper of the Home) ebook

Healthy Homemaking:
One Step at a Time
A 52 Week Journey of Baby Steps to Help You Move Towards More Natural, Nutritious and Sustainable Living!

Here are the rules.

*commit to follow along each day next week

*make the assigned breakfast

*leave a comment and/or post about it on your blog, telling of your experience

For each day you make the breakfast and post/comment about it your name gets entered into the drawing. If you make all five of the breakfasts, you get your name entered in an extra three (3) times! As a bonus, if you post about the Nourishing Breakfast Challenge on your blog this week encouraging others to join in, you will get your name entered in another three (3) times!

I hope this will be a fun way to challenge you to start incorporating these nourishing methods into your diet. By the way, if your morning schedule is too crazy for this type of change just make them for lunch, it still counts!!

Marriage Monday: Love

I wondered if the Lord would give me something to share today, and as I read this devotional out of Springs in the Valley, I felt it was perfect for Marriage Monday. I feel the truth revealed in this story would work on any hardened heart or strained relationship. I have often thought of this concept being used on one of my children at a difficult stage, but today, let's think of our husbands, and winning them with love.

"The greatest of these is love." (1 Corinthians 13:13)

"I'll master it!" said the axe; and his blows fell heavily on the iron. And every blow made his edge more blunt till he ceased to strike.

"Leave it to me!" said the saw; and with his relentless teeth he worked backward and forward on its surface till his teeth were worn down and broken, and he fell aside.

"Ha, ha!" said the hammer, "I knew you wouldn't succeed! I'll show you the way!" But at the first fierce stroke off flew his head, and the iron remained as before.

"Shall I try?" asked the still, small flame.

They all despised the flame, but he curled gently around the iron and embraced it, and never left it till it melted under his irresistible influence.

Hard indeed is the heart that can resist love.

"And now abideth faith, hope, love. . . the greatest of these is love."

(Springs in the Valley, compilied by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman)

I so can see myself in the axe, the saw and the hammer! Trying with all my might to soften the hardened heart or change the situation. How much more effective to 'curl gently around and embrace. . .until it melted under the irristible influence'?

Lord Jesus, thank You for Your love that has been shed abroad in our hearts. By Your grace, enable us to love those around us, especially our husbands.

Blessings Amidst The Struggle

Thank you so much for your prayers and sweet comments. I am beginning to feel a little better. I feel as though I turned a corner this week. Small amounts of strength and joy have made an appearance this week.

My dear friend came to our house and spent the day with the children on Monday and Wednesday so I could go to my mom's house (who was gone for the week) and just rest and be quiet. I can rest, for the most part, at home, but as you can imagine the quiet part of it is a bit difficult. My friend adores my children and rarely has opportunity to "soak them up", as she says, and my children thoroughly enjoy her.

It does not take a great deal of stress or physical exertion to bring me to a heap on the floor, but I do feel as though it is getting better.

I think the real struggle is about to begin for me. While these last 3-4 weeks have been miserable, I have not had to decide how much I could or could not do. It was impossible to do too much because I have been unable to do much of anything. My history with adrenal fatigue has always been to 'push through' and pay for it later. I am determined not to do that this time as I do not want to go through this again! I have to be keenly in tune with the Holy Spirit because I really don't know when I have gone too far until, well, I have gone too far! Please pray for me in this area.

Blessings:

*Being 'down' has provided me an opportunity to reconnect with my 21 month old. He has needed some one-on-one with me because of some training issues. While dealing with a screaming 21 month old was a bit stressful, it was something I needed to do. We are buddies again.

*Before this all started, our prayer was for more family unity. For a family who learns and plays together 24/7, Brian and I felt there was a general lack of unity and some smoldering selfishness. Having to pull together for the purpose of keeping this house running and taking care of mom seems to have brought the best out in everybody and united our family.

*Some of the younger children have had to take on more responsibility, which is so good. It can be easier to just let the littles promotions in responsibility slide, and this has given them a promotion right quick.

*I have always begged God to make me 'quieter and gentler', especially with my voice, and this has caused me to speak softer and more slowly. My prayer is that new habits will be made through all of this.

*Things that would normally ruffle my feathers, I am learning to just let go, as it is not worth the damage it does to my body. Again, please Lord, let this be a new trend.

*My fellowship with the Lord has been especially sweet as I can literally feel Him carrying me at times. My awe of His providence and love for me has grown a hundredfold.

*I am slowly learning how many "things" I must have taken on because 'I' wanted to instead of being sure it was what God wanted me too.

*My eyes have been opened to my propensity to push, strain and strive, all of which are the furthest thing from the REST I so long for.

I could go on, and I am sure there are many more blessings only the Lord knows about, but I'll end here. Again, thank you for your prayers and kindness.

Breakfast for a Well Nourished Mama

Farm raised eggs, scrambled in real butter with lacto-fermented salsa, topped with real cheddar cheese, served on a sprouted wheat tortilla.

Let's dissect the nourishing breakfast and see just why it is so healthy!

First, let's start with the eggs. Store bought eggs are just plain awful for you. They come from chickens who eat pesticide laden grains and are given hormones and kept in cages. Not at all the way God intended it! Research your eggs! This link from Stephanie will get you started. Grass-fed, organic and hormone free eggs are extremely easy to find in most places and are quite reasonably priced for the high protein you get. We raise our own chickens for eggs, but a local farm around us sells them for around $2.00 a dozen. Considering the protein potential,this is cheap!

I won't go too much into this, but you even need to consider what you are cooking your food in! We have banished all Teflon from our home and only use cast iron, stainless steel and glass at this time. I think even more important than Teflon being banished is getting rid of all aluminum cookware.



I keep my sprouted grain tortillas in the freezer with wax paper in between them so they don't stick together. I then place them on top of the splatter guard to thaw/warm them while the eggs are cooking. You can find these tortillas at a health food store or you can make your own. I bought these.



Let's recap this short lesson. There is so much more I could write about, but let's keep them simple and short.




**Use only high quality grass-fed, hormone free eggs whenever possible.



**Do not cook with Teflon or aluminum.



In future posts I hope to share my lacto-fermented salsa recipe and what lacto-fermentation is. Also, the importance of sprouted or soaked grains, raw milk/cheese and real butter. Phew, all from one nourishing breakfast. Stay tuned.

Have You Surrendered All?

How to recognize an area of your life that is not surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Does the area cause anxiety, fear, and even frustration?

If this area causes you to sin,

if it causes you to worry and wonder, often times consuming your mind and thoughts,

if you are afraid that if it doesn’t change or go a certain way, the way you think it should,

it is probably not surrendered.

Does this area frustrate you, cause you to become angry and sin?

Do you hold on to it so tightly because you just “know” how it is supposed to be?

(Why don’t others see it?!)

Are you so sure that you know exactly the truth in this situation?

Do you know better that your sovereign God Who apparently has ordained this for you?

Do you find yourself almost chiding God? "come on already, why aren’t You doing something here?"

Can you honestly look at every area, every prayer, every desire,

every need or perceived need and calmly echo your Savior's words,

“Not my will but Thine be done”?

It is one thing to say we are fully surrendered to God and His will. Actually it is very easy to say it and even really believe we are in our hearts.

But you know what, sometimes God comes along and says

“Are you really surrendered to My will?”

and we often times respond in the spirit of Peter,

“Oh, yes Lord, I am, my life is Yours, do as You please.”
Should we wonder then, when a little ways down the road, we find ourselves frustrated, afraid or even angry when something is not going our way?

Could He be purifying our hearts?

Exposing areas we cling to so desperately for various reasons.

Areas, that once surrendered, would be beautiful gardens of peace and hope.

Take some time to reflect. What areas in your life are upsetting peace and rest in your heart?

Could they be things you refuse to surrender to God for fear they won’t come to pass or won’t change?

Aren’t you weary of holding on so tightly?

Be courageous; let it go, surrender it entirely into the Almighty’s hands.

Lift your eyes and look to the heavens:

Who created all these?

He who brings out the starry host one by one,

and calls them each by name.

Because of his great power and mighty strength,

not one of them is missing.

(Isaiah 40:26)

Be still, my soul:

the Lord is on thy side.

Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.

Leave to thy God to order and provide;

In every change, He faithful will remain.

Be still, my soul:

thy best, thy heavenly Friend

Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.
(Be still my soul by Ka­tha­ri­na von Schle­gel)

Can you leave to thy God to order and provide?

Mama is Sick

I find it sort of ironic that I am posting about being very sick in the middle of a rant on nutritious eating, but who am I to question God's timing in all of this. Also, the only reason I have had time to blog on nutritious eating is because I am so sick. Sort of funny, huh?

I have been sick with various symptoms for over six weeks now. We have only found out in the last couple of weeks what is actually going on. It was a relief to finally be diagnosed, but the recovery time is not short, and that brings a sense of anxiety to me.

I have what is called Adrenal Exhaustion, stage 3. You can read about it at the link provided if you like, just page down to stage 3.

I have had 'adrenal fatigue' for several years and have been treated by my doctor for it. It has been mild and somewhat easy to manage. Actually, compared to this, it was a cake walk.

Symptoms that I have been dealing with are:

*Extreme fatigue (unable to do normal everyday activities)
*Dizziness at all times, but especially when standing
*Very 'foggy' headed
*Anxiety attacks and shortness of breath
*Inability to handle ANY stress
*Very emotional
*Hair falling out (not tons)
*Uncontrollable feeling of freezing at times
*Depression
*Nausea, general upset tummy

There are more, this is the majority of the symptoms. We are unsure if those weeks of feeling sick were actually my decent into stage 3 or if I had food poisoning or a virus that was just too much for my adrenals to handle.

As you can imagine life has come to a screeching halt here. Brian is incredibly understanding and supportive, for which I am so thankful. I feel like I might be going crazy at times, and totally unable to handle the symptoms, and he is always there pulling me through it. He has even had to get a little stern with me at times, as I can be so irrational. He helps calm me through the anxiety attacks. These things really frustrate me because more often than not, I am not even thinking anything and my body just responds to stress with these attacks. I cannot control the breathing and the heaviness in my chest and it makes me crazy!! (Control issues: one of the things God is dealing with me during this time;-)

The children have been incredible, which has been a comfort. My 19 year old son has set a timer on his watch and brings me my supplements every hour. He even called me from Costco to tell me to take them! He has really taken over with meals and the children. My 17 year old son makes sure I am drinking my water and has made me the softest of scrambled eggs everyday this week! All of them have really stepped up to help. We still have issues to deal with and this has brought out some areas that we have really fallen down on the job with training them, but it has been very good. I have a dear friend who just wants to help in any practical way possible, and to be honest, I cannot think of anything that these children and Brian don't have covered.

Apparently, the recovery time for this is about a year!!! You heard that right. Imagine, a passionate, driven homeschooling Mama of nine being told she is going to have to take it incredibly easy for a year! Good one, I thought, but the doctor assured me he was not joking!

These first 2-6 weeks are supposed to be the worst, and I can attest that they seem to be, so far.

Part of the reason I post about this is that I believe adrenal fatigue is more prevalent than most think, especially with mamas. I also believe that the diet that I grew up eating and continued eating into my married life has played a significant role in my health, as I have stated before. Poor diet is a huge stressor to the body.

One thing I have learned is that our adrenal glands do not differentiate where the stress is coming from. It could be poor diet, emotional stress, physical stress, loss of a loved one or even a smashed toe. They just do their job no matter what the stress and they can only be 'driven' for so long!

I'll end with a few of the things that we feel contributed to my adrenal fatigue.

*eating according to the Standard American Diet (SAD) for most of my life.
*several babies and c-sections, while not taking care of myself nutritionally ( I would NEVER blame having babies for the Lord for my sickness! It was how I took care of myself, not having the babies!! tell me you understand this!)
*always 'pushing through' even against medical advice.
*in the year 2000, our family experienced a horrible trauma that continued on for about five or six years, and in all reality, continues on a smaller scale to this day.
The extreme stress of those years took a significant toll on my body. I continued on with life as usual, what else could I do with several children and homeschooling?
*chronic pain for the last 10 years.
*unable to sleep more than 2-3 hours at a time

There is a whole HUGE spiritual side to this that is so overwhelmingly cool, but it is so difficult to put into words. I pray that the Lord allow me to share it somehow, sometime! He is so amazingly faithful and good.

If you have hung in here to the end of this monumental post, I thank you and ask you to lift our family in prayer as the Lord leads.

Nourishing Breakfast Idea

A breakfast idea that is nourishing and frugal is oatmeal. Not packaged, flavored quick oats like we used to eat. :-)

Oatmeal that has been soaked is very nutritious and far superior to boxed cereals. It is so easy to soak the oats the night before and quickly cook them up the next morning.

Soaking grains is very important. As I mentioned before, we ate basically a whole grain diet and our blood work showed that we were actually depleted of the very minerals that are so high in whole grains. How is this possible? Well, by not soaking our grains we were not breaking down the phytic acids which blocked the valuable nutrients from being digested. Also, they contain enzyme inhibitors that interfere with digestion. Not only were we not getting the nutrients we thought we were, the whole grains were actually depleting us of these nutrients.

Here are some great articles on the benefits of soaking grains. You could just 'google' soaking grains and have a field day researching this idea.

Nourishing Practices: Soaking Grains

The Value of Soaking Your Whole Grains

Be Kind to Your Grains

We like the texture of Steel Cut Oats vs. Rolled Oats for this application. Rolled oats are too 'mushy', they say. Steel cut oats are also called Irish or Scottish oats. It is the whole oat grain cut instead of rolled. Do not buy 'quick' oats or 'instant' oats, these are too processed. You can usually find steel cut oats in any grocery store these days. Health food stores also have them.

For our family, the night before, we put about 3 cups of steel cut oats in a pan with water to cover and a splash of whey, Kefir, yogurt, lemon juice or vinegar. (It just has to be something acidic as you will find out as you read the articles)

In the morning we drain the extra liquid, add some water and simmer for about 10 minutes, until done.

I then add a ton of real butter, raw preferably, and sweeten with honey or maple syrup. You could use Sucanat or Rapadura if you like.

I like mine with lots of (soaked) chopped nuts and organic dried cranberries.

It is so easy and frugal and so, so good for you.

Home School Helps w/ Little Ones

Ladies,

I just recently came across these two articles that were very encouraging. I needed to read these for the season I am in and thought you all might be blessed too.

They are articles on home schooling with babies and preschoolers.

Little Ones vs. Homeschooling

The Baby IS the Lesson

Enjoy!

Nutrition: Where To Start

I want to begin this post by reiterating one very important thing from my previous post, How Then Shall We Eat. Please only pursue feeding your family in a more nourishing way if the Lord is leading you. If this is not the right season for big or even small changes, then please do not take this on just because some woman wrote about it. Okay?

As a woman with much on her plate I realize how easy it is to get overwhelmed with what I read on various blogs. This 'overwhelmedness' is NEVER my intention. It is only to encourage and inform.

Let me also state that if you are feeding your family to best of your ability, knowledge and budget, then you are right where you need to be. We all have different situations, seasons, levels of skill and budget. My hope is to encourage, challenge and inform, with the hope that you pray, let the Spirit lead you, and find what is best for YOUR family.

Today I am going to provide you with a few links that I think will be helpful as you begin this journey or seek to take it further.

The first is an ebook by Stephanie from 'Keeper of the Home'.

Healthy Homemaking: One Step at a Time

A 52 Week Journey of Baby Steps to Help You Move Towards More Natural, Nutritious and Sustainable Living

I think she does an excellent job providing lots of information and it is in an easy to understand and apply format. She really makes it 'doable'. There are tons of links included in the ebook.

I have mentioned the Weston A. Price Foundation in a previous post, but there are a few lists that I think are useful in evaluating where you are and where you might want to be.

The first on is called Dietary Guidelines

You could go through the list and see how many of the things you already do and pray about which ones you should seek to implement. Some of them might be easier than you think.

Another list is called Dietary Dangers

You may not be familiar with the reasons why some of these things are bad for you and this list might help generate things for you to research. (You all do know how to 'google' right? Google is a keeper of the home's best friend! ;)

So many of the things on this list could easily be avoided if all packaged food was removed from our homes. If you never learned to cook from scratch and are a 'hamburger helper and cream of mushroom soup' kind of gal, this could be very challenging. But, take heart, if I can do it, so can you! My mom left when I was thirteen, she didn't know how to cook from scratch nor did she teach me. My grandma, who helped raise us, used packaged foods and canned products, so that did not prepare me either. Where I am today was pretty much self taught, by His grace, of course;-) You can do this!

Cooking from scratch with wholesome ingredients is probably the single most important thing you can do to improve your families health. More on this in another post!

Lord Jesus, You alone are our Wisdom, guide us even in the details of how to nourish our families. Thank you for Your Holy Spirit who guides us in all things. You have a distinct and perfect plan for each one of our families and we submit this area to You, looking for You to lead.

How Then Shall We Eat

I have for a long time wanted to write big elaborate posts encouraging you women to eat more traditionally; more healthfully. I have learned so much over the last couple of years that has made a tremendous difference in our health.



I don't have the time or mental energy to go into lengthy posts full of information so I thought rather than not do it at all I would just start sharing little snippets here and there and try to provide links for you to do your own research as God leads.

There are so many great blogs out there by women who are called by God, I believe, to share this information. They have the time and mental capacity to do this. I realized I don't need to reinvent the wheel, I'll just show you where I learned it. I am forever indebted to these women who willingly and graciously share their journey to health and how they truly nourish their families. I feel like I know them well. I have poured over their writings and soaked them all up. Several of them are in my blog roll.

They are Kimi from Nourishing Gourmet, Stephanie from Keeper of the Home and Lindsay from Passionate Homemaking. Please, go meet my friends, you will be glad you did. These are just a few of the many wonderful "Nourishing Tradition" blogs.



I'll share a brief testimony. I was raised on the Standard American Diet (SAD), and since getting married have been on a journey to eat more healthful. Only recently did the Lord really open my eyes to an even healthier way of eating. For years we ate everything whole wheat, less than the average amount of processed foods, and what seemed like plenty of fruits and vegetables. Long story short, for all this healthy eating, we found out we were actually lacking in many of the normal minerals and vitamins, via a blood test.



This is about the time the Lord led me to Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon, and the Weston A. Price foundation. I suggest, if the Lord leads, to research these resources. I wholeheartedly believe pretty much everything they teach and God used them to connect all the dots! For years I was so close yet so far away.



My heart is to reach younger women, as well as older, so they can teach the younger. As a woman who has surrendered her body to the Lord to use as He sees fit and to bring forth as many Godly seed as HE chooses, I wish I had this information when I was younger. Not only for my sake, but for the sake of my children and their children. My body might be in a much healthier state had I known what I know now and am continuing to learn.



PLEASE, please, at the very least, pray about this. Only take this on if this is what God has for you now. Don't let yourself get overwhelmed; trust His good Spirit to lead. Maybe this is an answer to prayer, as it was for me. I am not kidding when I tell you that the way we ate before these changes would put most American families to shame. I thought I was doing so well, and I was for what I knew then, but if I was missing it, others might be too.

Marriage Monday: "Rooted in Christ"

This a quote from the book I mentioned before called,

"The Christian Family" by Larry Christenson

I once again whole heartedly recommend it.

A wife is more than a mother, housekeeper, cook, counselor, and chauffeur.

She will not find the deep places of her heart satisfied with bowling, bridge,

PTA meetings, or even church work. On the other hand,

if her sole source of happiness lies in her husband of her children,

she is also doomed to disappointment.

God did not intend us to find satisfaction a part from Himself.

A wife who puts Jesus first will be a joy both to her ‘lord’ and to her Lord! (See I Peter 3:6.)

A radiant wife, who once sought escape in intellectual pursuits,

recently disclosed her secret for finding fulfillment in life:

"It’s doing what Jesus wants me to do!"

She went on to say that Jesus can change out attitudes;

He can even change the routine tasks that were once a drudgery into a joy.

"Be rooted in Christ, not in your husband;

then you are free to be a worthwhile person,

a good wife."

Jesus gives you the invitation to take your anxieties to the cross,

and to leave the reforming of your husband in God’s hands.

The wife who is trusting God is not nagging her husband.

I loved what he said about needing to find our sole satisfaction in Christ alone. If we tend to idolize our husbands, we place a burden on them they were not meant to bear. This does not mean that we cannot lean on them and be incredibly one with them, it just means we had better not make 'gods' of them.

Be rooted in Christ, not your husband . . .brilliant!

Little Boys, Pencil Sharpeners and Grace!

I am enjoying my sweet little 5 1/2 year old little boy so much lately. When I read this post about another mom's observations of her little boy it touched my heart so.

My sweet little guy comes up to me flashing his huge blue eyes, (most of my children have huge brown eyes) and shows me his bleeding finger.

"Honey, what happened to your finger" as I wrap a tissue around it.

"I was holding onto the pencil sharpener and it hurt my finger" he says batting his eyes swiftly in an effort to hold back the tears.

"Sweetie, did you stick your finger in the pencil sharpener"

"Yaaaeeeessss" he says all drawn out and with a sweet lisp.

I hug him tighter, fighting back the urge to chuckle and say, "Oh honey, mommy is so sorry you got hurt, maybe next time we just won't put our finger 'in' the pencil sharpener, okay?"

Why do I choose to post this little story? Well, because, in my heart, it is a work of God's beautiful grace. You see, not too long ago I might of let this little guy know in no uncertain terms the complete foolishness of putting one's finger into pencil sharpeners. He would have walked away with a complete understanding of the workings of a pencil sharpener, the dangers and probably be banished from ever touching one, ever!

I am so thankful for the work that God is doing in my heart towards these children. Thankful He doesn't give up on me. Thankful for new mercies every morning. And so thankful that by His grace, I was able to look past a foolish incident and touch the heart of my sweet little boy.

Marriage Monday "Receiving So He Can Give"

When talking about marriage, much of the teaching is on encouraging women in all the practical things they can do, or ways to 'give' to be a good help meet. This is extremely important, but I think there is another side to this that just might get overlooked. I know this might not speak to every woman, because each of our husbands and marriages are so different, but I'll share, none the less, seeing as how it is a struggle of mine. ;-)

As women, wives, and mamas, we are 'givers' by nature. God made us this way so we could fulfill our roles.

But what about receiving? This can be very hard for some women. If our husbands are to fulfill their calling in life, we are going to have to do our share of receiving. They cannot love us fully if we do not receive it. They cannot lay down their lives for us fully if we do not receive it. By being stoic, or prideful, or whatever, it is this that keeps us from 'receiving' from our husbands. We are actually hindering them from living out God's will for their lives.

This is a big one for me, especially right now as I deal with some pretty big health issues. I am supposed to be the one running this house, and not from bed, thank you very much! He desires to serve our family; to lay down his life, but I resist it. I think, for me, it boils down to pride, at least in part. I should be able to do this! It is stiff-necked rebellion really; refusing to surrender to God in this. And really, all that pride and angst is doing nothing to help my husband.

What about when he tells me I am the most beautiful woman in the world? Should my response be one of disbelief and refusing to accept it?

What about his encouraging words regarding my role as a mama? Should I roll my eyes and resist his words?

I recently read a post from a woman who asked her husband on their anniversary what she could do to be a better wife. She waited nervously for his answer. You know what his answer was?

"When I tell you you are beautiful, believe me."

"When I tell you that you are the best mom, believe me, receive it."

In other words, humbly receive his love! Wow! Not be a better cook, clean more, be more patient with the kids, be intimate more often, but receive his love!

When I told my husband this story, he so understood it. It's what he has been saying for years! ;-)

Do you struggle to 'receive' from your husband? I touched on only a few examples in this post, as well as, only a few reasons why we struggle with this. For many of us it goes way deeper, but Jesus can heal the wounds and past disappointments if we go to Him. Have you ever considered that when you resist your husband's desire to love and serve you it is actually hindering him, not helping him?

Perfect Pesto

Here is our pesto recipe. It is so easy to make and you can find plenty of variations online if you like. This is what we do.

Into the food processor goes:

1/4 cup Toasted Pine nuts, you can substitute almonds or walnuts too.(these can be found for a great price at Sam's or Costco, don't buy them at your local store or you will pay a ton!)

3 cloves of garlic ( I don't like raw garlic in this recipe, too strong. I use the chopped garlic in a jar for this.

2 cups packed fresh basil leaves

1 small handful fresh parsley (mostly for color, could be omitted)

1/2 cup olive oil

Salt to taste

1/4 cup REAL Parmesan or Pecorino Romano (Again, find it at Sam's or Costco)

Just waz it up until until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides as needed. I don't really measure the ingredients every time, it is just sort of by eye. I have batches that don't have enough salt or too much because of this.

This is what it looks like when it is all done.




We use this for pasta just about every week. We also make the most divine tasting Pesto Pizza with this. Or, sometimes we make a delicious foccacia and slather this all over the top of it!

A Walk Through the Garden

Today I am going to share a peek inside our gardens. You need to know right up front that we are NOT professional gardeners/farmers, though we do try!

Each year I plant tons of basil, as we love to make our own pesto and freeze it for the winter. I seem to never grow enough! This year we have about 30 plants, some doing better than others, but still it is not enough. Last year I think we had more. We would go out with a laundry basket and pick the plants nearly clean. We would make batch after batch and freeze it in small containers. I personally love the "Italian Large Leaf" variety. You get way more bang for your buck, and the taste is divine.

This is an adorable little ornamental pepper plant. The peppers start out purple and then turn red. They are extremely hot! I bought them mostly because of the purple peppers. Purple and green are my favorite colors!

It is kind of hard to tell here, but we have corn in the fenced in area. We have a nasty muskrat who was eating my dear husband's corn. Tomato plants to the right and two rows of potatoes. We have grown potato plants for a couple of years now and wanted to plant more this year. We dug trenches and kept covering the potato plant each time it popped out to encourage more potatoes. We hope to have some to 'keep' this year. It is hard to plant enough because with such a large family we eat so much.

Above are the pole beans. We love green beans. There are tons of flowers and a few tiny beans starting.

This little box is what I call the 'Brassica' box. I call it that because that is the type of plants that are in there, Brussel Sprouts, Collard Greens, and Kale, they are from the Brassica family. I learned that from Alton Brown on "Good Eats'. I try to impress my family every now and again with my vast knowledge. Oh, and about the collard greens, I forgot that I planted them. I kept wondering where the cauliflower was, then I remembered that maybe I planted some collard greens.

This box has more pole beans with carrots planted in the front. We put straw down in the paths to try to keep the weeds down, didn't work;-)

My beautiful purple cabbage! Don't you just love purple?

And my green cabbage! I am going to make some lacto-fermented sauerkraut from this beauty!

We also have lots of peppers, hot peppers, strawberries, more basil, snow peas and lettuce.

I hope you enjoyed a tour of our little garden.

Marriage Monday "Your Tips"

For today's installment of Marriage Monday I am asking you all to help out and share a testimony or tip you have about marriage.



I would love to hear your heart on this most wonderful subject, as I am sure others do too. Let's pool the resources of wisdom out there and encourage one another in the heart of Titus 2!







Maybe you have a testimony of a struggle you have found victory over in your marriage.



Maybe you have a tip or two you could share.



Anything on your heart regarding marriage would be a blessing. You can leave your thoughts in the comment section or link to your own blog.



My little tip of the day is:



Try to greet your husband at the end of his work day with a smile, hug and kiss. I realize some days this seems nearly impossible, but try to put your own 'self' on the back burner and cheerfully greet him. Also, it would be really sweet if you could refrain from dumping the burdens of your day on him, at least until he comes in the door. ;-)

I am looking forward to hearing from your heart. Thank you!

I have learned . . . . . . .

Today is my 43rd birthday and I have been reflecting on things I have learned over the last 43 years. I know I have not lived long enough to have tons of wisdom, but I just want to document what I do know for sure. I am surprised at how many things I know to be true, as I have become increasingly aware of all the things I don't know!

So, here goes,

I have learned . . . . . . . .

That God is more than enough to meet my every need.

When Jesus saves, it is to the very uttermost that He saves.

That through every heartache, every trauma, every trial, small and earth-shattering, He remains faithful and can be trusted.

These simple truths, God is sovereign, He is wisdom and He is love. Learning these simple truths and applying them to every aspect of life brings great peace.

That God’s hand is in everything! Nothing touches my life that doesn’t pass through His hands first.

I deserve hell, even on my best day, but I have eternal life only by His grace.

My heavenly Father loves me, accepts me, even cherishes me.

My Father can be trusted with my every hope, every dream and every desire; my very heart.

My marriage and my children are THE ministry God has given to me.

My relationship with my husband is the most important relationship I have here on earth.

By serving and honoring my husband I always somehow get blessed a hundredfold.

True intimacy between a husband and wife is indescribable!

My children really and truly are gifts from the Lord, even on bad days.

My children teach me more that I could ever teach them.

Thanking God in all things IS His will for me.

Time really does go by faster than you realize and before you know it you will graduate a child or become a grandma.

That sweet baby smell doesn’t last forever.

Teeny, tiny piggy toes eventually aren’t so fun to kiss and nibble anymore. So gobble them up while you can.

Nursing a baby in the wee hours of the morning while the house is quiet and dark can be one of the most precious and holy times ever!

Friendship with my teens/adult children is better than I thought it would be.

One God-given friend who is totally and utterly on the same spiritual page as you is better than a hundred casual friends.

Every sunrise and sunset should be viewed as a glorious picture God painted just for you today.

His mercies really are new every day!

Taking time to come before His throne for everything is the only thing that I absolutely cannot live without.

I better stop now, I think I could gush on God all day long! As a matter of fact, I think I will, but just not here.

What have you “learned” in the years you have been here on earth? Maybe take the time to record them, someday your children will thank you.

We will not hide them from their children, but we will tell to the generation to come the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, and His might, and the wonderful works that He has performed. (Ps. 78:4)

Marriage Monday "Carrying Out God's Plan"

This is a really great quote from a book my husband is reading called, The Christian Family by Larry Christenson. (Actually it is Larry Christenson quoting Peter Marshall) This book is amazing. We have read SO many books on parenting and family, and I would have to say that this is probably in the top two or three all time favorites! It is an older book, from 1970, but can be found used on Amazon. I highly recommend it.

‘A Good Wife. . . More Precious Than Jewels”

In A Man Called Peter’, Catherine Marshall tells how her late husband tended to put women on a pedestal. She quotes the following from one of his sermons:

“Modern girls argue that they have to earn an income,

in order to establish a home, which would be impossible on their husband’s income.

That is sometimes the case, but it must always be viewed as a regrettable necessity,

never as the normal or natural thing for a wife to have to do.

The average woman, if she gives her full time to her home,

her husband, her children . . .

If she tries to understand her husband’s work. .

to curb his egotism while,

at the same time, building up his self-esteem,

to kill his masculine conceit while encouraging all his hopes,

to establish around the family a circle of true friends . . .

If she provides in the home a proper atmosphere of culture,

of love of music, of beautiful furniture and of a garden. . .

If she can do all this,

she will be engaged in a life work that will demand every ounce of her strength,

every bit of her patience, every talent God has given her,

the utmost sacrifice of her love.

It will demand everything she has and more.

And she will find that for which she was created.

She will know that she is carrying out the plan of God.

She will be a partner with the Sovereign Ruler of the universe.”

I also thought this post went great with the post I wrote for

"At the Well. . . In Pursuit of Titus 2" today.

Please go check it out and maybe share a little of your "journey home".

Family Photo

The man of my dreams!!

Here is our whole family!

I am astounded at what God has brought about from the two of us! We had a family wedding this past weekend and thought it to be a good opportunity for a family photo.

Marriage Monday "Controlling Our Thoughts"

We can choose what we think about. God's word tells us to take out thoughts captive in 2 Corinthians 10. In Philippians, Paul encourages us, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."

While we might not be able to always choose what thoughts pop into our minds, we can choose what to do with them!

Let's look at different types of thoughts that find their way into our minds and see what we can do to turn them around.

Thoughts about his weaknesses:

Let's face it, as much as we love our husbands, they do have a few (or many) weaknesses. (Let's not forget we do too;-) If we allow ourselves to meditate on all their weaknesses, I believe they will only be magnified in our minds. The second you find yourself zeroing in on his faults, stop right there and choose to focus on his strengths. Make a list of his strengths, if you have to, and pull it out when needed.

Complaining thoughts:

These types of thoughts seem to naturally follow the previous type because usually it is their weaknesses we are complaining about. As soon as you realize you are complaining in your head about him, stop it immediately! Take those sinful thoughts captive and replace it with thankful thoughts. If we just took half a second, took our eyes off of ourselves, we could come up with a multitude of things to be thankful for.

Comparing thoughts:

Never, ever do it! Don't allow it for one second. It only sows a seed of discontent! Take hold of those thoughts and bring them into submission. Praise God for the man He has given you!

Negative thoughts:

Once you begin to look for these, they are easy to spot. They just make you feel all yucky, your shoulders start to slump, your face gets a bit grumpy looking and your heart feels heavy. Let me just say again, we can choose what we think about. Whatever that negative thought is, find a positive one to replace it with.

It is amazing to me how my mind can actually determine what kind of day I am going to have, or what kind of attitude I have. When I find myself having a bad day, mad at my husband or children, discouraged or in despair for that matter, I can pretty much trace it back to that wonderful thing called my mind! We are not victims, held hostage by our thoughts, we can choose! I am not saying it is easy, but we can have victory in this area. At times, I have had to grab my head and out loud tell it what to think!

Grab your bible, make lists of things about your husband you are thankful for, write out your husband's strengths, do whatever it takes, do not let your thoughts erode away at your marriage.

"A wise woman builds her house, but a foolish woman tears it down with her own hands."

Lord Jesus, reveal to us where we foolishly entertain wrong thoughts about our husbands. Give us wisdom to replace those wrong thoughts with Godly, edifying thoughts.

Warrior is a Child

As a woman,

a wife,

a mama,

a grandma,

a daughter,

a friend,

a sister,

there are so many times I just need to 'go running home' and 'drop my sword and cry for just awhile'.

Years ago when I first got saved this song was a favorite and I have lost track of it over the years. Just today, as I have been still, thinking, praying, being humbled and broken by my Father, I remembered it. It seems so fitting for how I am feeling.

So many people say, "I don't know how you do it" or "you're so strong", but like the song says, they don't see inside of me, they don't know WHO picks me up when I fall down. They don't see the enemies that lay me at His feet.

Aren't you so thankful for Jesus?

Can you imagine walking through this life without Him? I have included the lyrics, I think they are so powerful. If you are feeling a bit beat up or tired, sit back and listen to this song and let Jesus pick you back up.

Grace and Mercy to you!

Warrior is a Child

by Twila Paris

Lately I've been winning battles left and right

But even winners can get wounded in the fight

People say that I'm amazing

Strong beyond my years

But they don't see inside of me

I'm hiding all the tears

They don't know that I go running home when I fall down

They don't know who picks me up when no one is around

I drop my sword and cry for just a while'

Cause deep inside this armor

The warrior is a child

Unafraid because His armor is the best

But even soldiers need a quiet place to rest

People say that I'm amazing

Never face retreat

But they don't see the enemies

That lay me at His feet

They don't know that I go running home when I fall down

They don't know who picks me up when no one is around

I drop my sword and and cry for just a while

'Cause deep inside this armor the warrior is a child

They don't know that I go running home when I fall down

They don't know who picks me up when no one is around

I drop my sword and look up for a smile

'Cause deep inside this armor

Deep inside this armor

Deep inside this armor

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Marriage Monday "Be His Cheerleader!"

Our husbands need us to encourage and lift them up. The last thing they need is a wife to come along side them and point out all their flaws! Chances are good they are well aware of their mistakes and even heavy-hearted about them.

As men, leaders, and providers they carry A LOT of responsibilities and burdens. As wives, we have a powerful influence in their lives. We can tear them down or we can build them up!

Let's submit our cares and concerns for our husband's weaknesses to God and trust Him with them.

We can be positively persuaded that God will keep that which we commit to Him! (2 Tim. 1:12)

And then, come along side them and encourage, edify, and build them up! Let the Holy Spirit do His work and let's do ours, okay?

ENCOURAGE . . . . EDIFY . . . .SUPPORT . . . . BUILD UP!!

Therefore encourage (admonish, exhort) one another and edify (strengthen and build up) one another, just as you are doing.

. . . encourage the timid and fainthearted, help and give your support to the weak souls, [and] be very patient with everybody [always keeping your temper].

(1 Thess. 5:11,14)

Lord Jesus, give us divine wisdom on how to build up and encourage our husbands. By Your Holy Spirit, convict us of those times when we are trying to do Your work. Enable us to love and support instead of tear down. Make us like the wise woman who builds her home instead of tears it down.

Holy Ground

It may be on a kitchen floor,

Or in a busy shopping store,

Or teaching, nursing, day by day,

Till limb and brain almost give way;

Yet if, just there, by Jesus thou art found,

The place thou standest on is Holy Ground.

(M. Colley)

Hear me today, when you

kiss a boo-boo,

wipe a nose,

change a diaper,

stay up all night with a sick child,

wash yet another load of laundry,

listen to one more story,

give until there is literally N O T H I N G left to give

physically, emotionally, spiritually,

and you do all this and more, serving and loving your Jesus,

the ground you stand on is indeed HOLY!

You could try, but you could not convince me of a greater work in the kingdom than of surrendering your body to bring forth godly seed for the Master. To nourish and care for eternal souls, E T E R N A L souls that He has graciously loaned to us for such a short time.

Stop right now, look down, you see that ground? That is holy ground!

Lord Jesus open our eyes to the eternal value of what You have called us too. Give us just a glimpse into Your holy and eternal purpose in this beautiful thing called motherhood.

Marriage Monday "Principle of Unity"

Today I wanted to share a principle that we use in our marriage regarding decision making. I was reminded of it as we are possibly looking at some HUGE changes for our family right now and we are seeking the Lord with fervor as we want to know His perfect will for us.

I am talking about what I will call the 'principle of unity'. Every huge decision, most medium to big decisions and even many smaller decisions we use this principle. We believe the Lord leads us through His word, the Spirit, circumstances and this 'principle of unity'.

We have committed to not moving on something big unless the Lord brings us into agreement. We trust that if there is no peace between us than that is the Lord guiding us. There have been countless things that I was so sure of, that Brian was not, so we didn't do it. I can honestly say many of those times the Lord has graciously showed me why it wasn't the best for us. When we just can't seem to agree on something we take a step back from our desires and look to God to guide us. We almost always see that later He brought us into agreement, fine tuned our desires and led us to His best.

A good friend encouraged me recently to not let this 'lack of unity' frustrate me. It is easy to get frustrated when he looks at something I think is too big, too small, too much, or too whatever. But I need to rest in God and trust Him to line us up at the right time. We marvel at how He uses this 'disunity' to steer us to the right path.

While I am fully submitted to Brian as the head of our home and would submit even one of these huge decisions to him if he asked, we see this as living out the verse:

"Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ" (Ephesians 5:21)

And I can say that if he did require me to just submit to his decision even if I didn't agree I could trust that that is exactly what God would want me to do and even if it turned out to be a bad decision, God would work it out for our good.

It is a mutual respect, a humbling of ourselves and a submitting to God to lead us.

I understand that not all marriages work this way and I am in no way encouraging us women to stand up to our husbands and demand that we be heard. If this is not how you and your husband makes decisions, it is not your job to make it so, okay? This is just a principle that works for us.

Also, we do not use this principle to 'hold out till the other one cave', it is just a way of letting the Lord lead us through our unity.

Lord Jesus, teach us to humble ourselves to You and to our husbands. Helps us to not push our agenda and to wait for Yours.

Kentucky Readers!! I Need Your Help!

Okay Ladies, it looks like God just might be clearing a way for us to live out our lifelong dream!

• We have wanted to live on a farm with lots of acreage.

• Have room for our adult children and their families to build, if they so desire.

• Live way more simply, possibly 'off the grid'.

• Possibly an old Amish Farm

• Be as self-sufficient as these 'wanna be farmers' can be. ;-)

• Be debt-free.

• Oh, and if at all possible, in or near or at least close to the mountains.

I hope to have quite a story to share, or stories for that matter as all this unfolds. Without sharing too many details yet, I can say that our Almighty God has provided in a way that you usually only hear of happening to other people! We always believed it was possible but always said "it would so have to be God". Well, looks like it just might be.

We are looking to Him to lead our every step. Jeremiah 6:16 is the scripture we believe He has given us at the beginning of this journey.

This is what the LORD says: "Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. . .

We are standing at the crossroads asking Him for the old paths! We are so excited and I am praying we don't have to wait long to find out what all this means because I am so impatient and excited that I could bust!

So, to the point! (Sorry ;-) What I am asking for, if you live in Kentucky or know someone who does, is for help finding our future home! We are looking for somewhere between 20-100 acres with a farm house and barns. Possibly an established business, orchards, strawberries, ect. Also, to include lots of hardwood acreage, if possible.

These are just a few of our thoughts, I believe God will lead and fine tune our thoughts. Please share any information you might have to help us. I want to hear from you!

Homeschool Resource

I recently discovered a wonderful website called Simply Charlotte Mason. Years ago we did more Charlotte Mason type of schooling, but the last several years we fell back on just the basics and relied heavily on textbooks. (which I love by the way, I am not an anti-textbook Mama ;-)

During what I call 'our survival years', it was all I could do to open a textbook assign a few pages and move on to the next child. Funny, how all those years I felt we just weren't doing enough God's grace more than covered it and we are still "ahead" of each child's grade level. (Whatever being 'ahead' or 'grade level' means ;-)

This year I feel the Lord's leading to go back to a little more Charlotte Mason type things and this particular website has been invaluable! It did for me just what the name says, it made Charlotte Mason style of teaching 'simple'.

I bought many of their products and am very happy with them. I do think they might be geared to the younger children, say below 8th grade, though they do show you how to use it for older children as well.

Just thought I would pass the information along!

Marriage Monday "Meeting His Needs"

Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. (1 Corinthians 7:3-5)

Continuing on with the theme from last week about us "being created for him", I thought to touch on a sensitive and private subject.

In our effort to be wise women and true help meets, we need to seek to know what our husband's needs are in all areas. We have discussed other areas in previous posts, but today I want to gently remind us to discover their needs concerning intimacy and seek to meet them.

Chances are their needs are probably a little different than ours, especially with all the ups and downs of hormones, births of babies, breastfeeding, as well as all the demands of being a mama and a a keeper of the home. Not to mention, God wired them differently than us, and that is a good thing! But, let's not use all these as an excuse to become focused on ourselves.

Over the years I have learned a lot. I have been blessed by a very patient husband. We both had loads of baggage brought into our marriage from past sinful relationships. It has not always been easy, but God's mercy is so amazing! We often marvel at how special and blessed our marriage bed is, because we certainly do not deserve it based on our prior choices.

One thing that has helped me, by God's grace, is take my eyes off of me and how 'I' am 'feeling' and seek to 'love' my husband. I need to recognize his advances are just his God-given desires and needs, as well as his desire to love me, and God made ME to meet them.

I can choose to respond in a selfless way!

I have found if I purpose to please him, my body begins to line up and I soon forget I was tired or had a headache or whatever my excuse was. And you know what, even if it doesn't line up that night, that is still okay, my desire should be to please him!

It is a matter of being self-LESS! It is 'true' love according to 1 Corinthians 13.

I would like to add that this post is meant to encourage us to take our eyes off of ourselves in yet another area. I once heard a message similar to this, only it went to the extreme of putting the burden on the wife, at a time when I was very, very overwhelmed having just had my third baby in less than three years. (numbers 6, 7 and 8, mind you) I was guilt ridden for a very long time over that message. There was no conviction from the Holy Spirit, just condemnation from the enemy. Please, I beg of you, do not let this bring condemnation. If you are in a season of your life that the Lord is NOT speaking to you about this, please just file it for another time. The last thing I intend to do is to bring condemnation or place burdens on you.

Lord Jesus, you have given us an amazing gift in our relationship with our husbands. Help us Lord to give ourselves entirely to our husband. Bring healing where there needs to be healing. Bring conviction where it is needed. Give us wisdom to know what they need and the desire to lay down our lives and truly love them and seek to meet their needs.

At The Well Post

Go over to "At the Well . . . In Pursuit of Titus 2" to read my post called "Are You Engaged?"

It is a post encouraging us Mamas to keep our hearts 'engaged' in our role as Mamas to these precious children!

Let me know what you think.

God hug your children . . . after your read the post ;-)