A few years ago as I was putting together a Mother's Day card for my Mom, I came across this website called Above Rubies. I was just awestruck at the encouragement that they have for those of us who are called to be wives, homemakers, and mothers. As I was reading through the articles, poems, and stories on the website I came across this poem that Nancy Campbell, the founder of Above Rubies wrote and shared on the website. I am so glad that I took the time to copy and paste it into my documents because they have revamped the website and I can't find it on there any more.
We mothers are not alone in this journey of motherhood! We have God on our side who is helping us in this journey of training the next generation for His kingdom.
MOTHERHOOD IS NOT FOR WIMPS!
By: Nancy Campbell
There are those who would spurn the vocation of mothers
And say it's inferior to the career of others,
I'll have to admit that it's not easy work,
It's relentless and from it you cannot shirk.
It takes all your energy to be a mother and wife,
It requires daily commitment and a disciplined life,
It demands all your resources of patience and love,
Long-suffering and wisdom from God above.
It takes self-control and continual endurance,
It needs constant and faithful perseverance,
It is total sacrifice and forgetting your self,
You may sometimes think you are left on the shelf!
And what about time?
It's no longer yours,
It belongs to everyone else who comes in your doors.
Can you claim your own rights?
No, they're gone too,
Like your right to sleep the whole night through!
It's not so easy to crawl into bed with a book
Or go off and dream in some quiet little nook.
It seems like you're totally losing your life
To be a good mother and a godly wife.
But oh, dear mother, please do not despair,
In God's great vision you have a share,
You are fulfilling your destiny planned before creation
Which is to nurture children and BUILD A NATION!
You are walking in the footsteps of Jesus your Lord
Who lived a life of sacrifice out-poured,
He didn't cling to His rights with selfish futility,
He didn't claim any privileges but walked in humility.
He gave up His own life to save millions of others,
This same principle is at work in the lives of mothers,
When you lose your own life you'll find it again,
Glorious life - His life - even in toil and pain.
So lift up your head, embrace your calling so high,
You're in God's perfect will so you don't have to sigh.
You may sometimes feel worthless - don't listen to this lie,
For your influence will go higher than the clouds in the sky!
As you nurture and train your God-given seed,
As you sharpen these 'arrows' by word and by deed,
You shape the nation, you determine its course,
Your mothering is not wasted, but is a mighty force!
As your children leave home and go into the world
The stamp of your training will be unfurled,
Your influence will reach countries you've never been
And down the generations its extent will be seen.
Your work is so powerful, no wonder it's tough,
But God is behind you, He's the GOD WHO IS ENOUGH,
His strength and wisdom are available to you,
He'll stand behind His promises which are totally true.
He'll always be with you right through to the end
As you follow His leading and deny the world's trend,
Each morning you wake, your strength He'll renew.
He'll fill your home with His presence and His blessed peace too.
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!
**I originally posted this in August, 2007
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Friday, May 7, 2010
Weekly Shopping Trip---Savings $31.01
I am really enjoying this shopping habit/routine that I am making for myself. Payday week is a big shopping trip which usually means at least three grocery stores and spend several hours getting it completed. Non-payday week is just a basic food staples run with maybe a couple of deals that I just can't pass up. It basically averages out to every other week is a big shopping trip as hubby gets paid twice each month. The advantage to this routine is that I am not getting burned out doing the grocery shopping. I can get my shopping trip prepared now in about a half hour or less depending on the week and I can get my shopping done in 3 hours on big weeks and under an hour on staples run. I also am finding with this routine that I am spending less because I am not buying extra convenience items. Last year there came a point where I was just worn out and didn't have the motivation to do any shopping so I did it half heartedly and found that I was actually spending more because I was caving to convenience.
With my new routine, I am spending on average about $24 per day to keep my household going, that is food for meals & snacks, shampoo, soap, laundry detergent, and paper products. I would love to get back to the $20 per day that I was doing before I was burned out with shopping, however, I will take baby steps to get there rather than big steps so as not to upset the family too much.
This week was a non-payday week so I did a basic food staples run and spent less than $60 for everything. I hopefully will be able to make it until next Friday(payday) before doing any more shopping.
Here is the breakdown of my purchases this week:
Meijer:
With my new routine, I am spending on average about $24 per day to keep my household going, that is food for meals & snacks, shampoo, soap, laundry detergent, and paper products. I would love to get back to the $20 per day that I was doing before I was burned out with shopping, however, I will take baby steps to get there rather than big steps so as not to upset the family too much.
This week was a non-payday week so I did a basic food staples run and spent less than $60 for everything. I hopefully will be able to make it until next Friday(payday) before doing any more shopping.
Here is the breakdown of my purchases this week:
Meijer:
- 45 ct Meijer brand Zyrtec $17.97(my allergies are awful!)
- 1/2 gallon buttermilk $2.39
- 4 cans Old Orchard juice $4.00
- 1 Degree deodorant $1.47
- 2 Right Guard deodorant $2.00
- 4 gallons milk $7.52
- 6 tubes cinnamon rolls $5.00
- 3 tubes crescent rolls $2.65
Total OOP(with 6% sales tax for non-food): $44.44
Total Savings: $21.80
Total without sales & coupons: $66.24
Family Fare:
- 2 heads lettuce $1.76
- 1 box Honeycomb cereal $1.77
- 2 boxes Raisin Bran $2.54
- 4.12 lbs ground chuck $8.20
Total OOP: $14.27
Total Savings: $9.21
Total without sales & coupons: $23.48
Grand Total OOP: $58.68
Grand Total Savings: $31.01
Grand Total without sales & coupons: $89.72
This post is linked to:
- Coupon Super Savers at Coupon Saving Game!
- Savers Bungelow at Saving a Bundle!
- Week-Ending Finales at The Frugal Free Loader!
- Super Savings Saturday at MoneySavingMom!
- Shopping Round Up at The Grocery Cart Challenge!
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Homeschooling FREEBIES: Bible Studies, Homemaking, & HS Resources
I came across this site called Hippo Campus. HippoCampus is a project of the Monterey Institute for Technology and Education (MITE). Its goal is provide FREE high-quality, multimedia content on general education subjects to high school and college students. The covered subjects are: Algebra(in English & Spanish), US Government and History, Biology, Calculus(in English & Spanish), Environmental Science, Physics, Psychology, Statistics and Religion. The project has given you a choice in that they have correlated with several different textbooks that they have put the text and multimedia online or you can take an online course.
The last freebie for today is bible studies that you can download for free! I love listening to Kay Arthur. On her ministry's website are some downloadable Bible study guides with free registration. She has the current Bible study available along with past Bible studies. After looking through a few of them, I see great potential in using them with my high schooler for his Bible class.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Menu Plan Monday 5/2-5/8
Last week’s menus were delicious! I stuck with simple, family favorite meals. I really need to work at finding new meal combinations or new recipes to try because the same old meals are getting old! The weather keeps “yo-yoing”! We have several days of summer weather with no rain and then we have several days with below average temperatures and rain with wind. Just when I feel like doing lots of grilling and lighter meals, the weather makes think of a big bowl of soup with homemade bread!
Last week’s grocery shopping was a big shopping trip. Hopefully I calculated things correctly so I will just have to a staples run (milk, produce) these next couple of weeks before payday. We are still working at paying down some unexpected debt. We went from getting new windows to having both of our vehicles at the mechanic’s shop for several different items. We went from having no issues with anything to having a “mudslide” happen and trying to prioritize everything that is a occurring has been interesting to say the least.
Hopefully at the end of the week, I will be able to get some long overdue baking done. The weather is be at a “cool stage” so instead of running the furnace I’ll just run the oven! J Each week, I have been working at keeping some kind of sweet item and bread item available for my crew to have during the week. It would be nice to get a big stash of items done so that I don’t have to work a time in each week to bake something.
This week’s meals are more of my simple, family favorite meals. Things are going to be busy around our house this week as it appears that each evening there is something going on! Monday, hubby has bible study; Tuesday, I have bible study and hubby is having friends over to watch the Red Wings/Sharks game; Wednesday and Thursday night, hubby has first aid certification class and then Friday and Saturday look clear at the moment but that could change as the week progresses.
This week’s lunches that are listed below are for the kids and me! Unless we are having leftovers, our lunches are served with apple slices or carrot sticks along with fruit juice or water. Hubby usually takes a dinner leftover along with various snacks for his work lunch so I don’t take the time to really plan his lunches. I just take the next container of leftovers in the stack in the fridge that I have prepared ahead of time.
A special thanks to Laura-Organizing Junkie for hosting Menu Plan Monday! Need help with your menus; go check the over 300 other delicious meal plans that have been linked at Laura-Organizing Junkie's site or look down in my right sidebar for my menu suggestion lists!
Sunday (5-2)
Breakfast: eggs, hash browns, sausage or steak and chocolate donuts
Lunch: pizza
Dinner: McDonald’s (after church)
Monday (5-3)
Breakfast: cereal and donuts
Lunch: leftovers
Dinner: chicken rice casserole and homemade rolls
Tuesday (5-4)
Breakfast: waffles and sausage
Lunch: lunchables
Dinner: grilled chicken, seasoned pan fries, and green beans
Snack: popcorn and bbq smokies for munchies during the game
Wednesday (5-5)
Lunch: leftovers
Dinner: chicken club sandwiches, French fries and carrot sticks
Snack: snack basket
Thursday (5-6)
Lunch: pizza
Dinner: roasted chicken breasts, mashed potatoes, and corn
Friday (5-7)
Breakfast: cereal and toaster strudel
Lunch: leftovers
Dinner: chili, rice and homemade corn muffins
Saturday (5-8)
Breakfast: Your Choice
Lunch: ????
Dinner: Salisbury Steak, mashed potatoes, corn and biscuits
Snack: popcorn or snack basket
Singing Sunday--Everything Falls
Everything Falls
by Steve Fee
you said
you'd never leave or foresake me
when you said,
this life is gonna shake me
you said
this world is gonna bring trouble on my soul
this I know
when everything falls apart
your arms hold me together
when everything falls apart
your the only hope for this heart
when everything falls apart
and my strength is gone
I find you mighty and strong
you keep holding on
you keep holding on
when I see
the darkness all around me
when I see
the tragedy has found me
I still believe
your faithful arms will never let me go
and still I know
when everything falls apart
your arms hold me together
when everything falls apart
your the only hope for this heart
when everything falls apart
and my strength is gone
I find you mighty and strong
you keep holding on
you keep holding on
sorrow willl last for the night
but hope is rising with the sun
(its rising with the sun)
there will be storms in this life
but I know you will overcome
but I know you will overcome
when everything falls apart
your arms hold me together
when everything falls apart
your the only hope for this heart
when everything falls apart
and my strength is gone
I find you mighty and strong
you keep holding on
when everything falls apart
your arms hold me together
when everything falls apart
your the only hope for this heart
when everything falls apart
and my strength is gone
I find you mighty and strong
you keep holding on
you keep holding on
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