Finding harmony in family, finance & military life

I love waking up early, I really do. The shower is always hot, the house is always quiet, I can be perfectly content in my own little world at 5:15 am. Often my early morning routine has me heading out of the house for the gym then heading home to work out some more. I do my best to cram in my Bible reading and prayer time in the minutes between Brent leaving for work and the kids waking up in a wave of "mommy I am hungry"s and "mom there is no more toilet paper" oh and my favorite "mom I have nothing to wear!". On days the wave hits before I find time to just be with the Lord I make a mental note to find that moment later in the day, often I forget completely. I have been working hard to let that happen less. I want that moment! I crave that moment! Ok in all honesty I need that moment! I have noticed over the years the days with that moment have a much easier current almost like that "moment" is my blow up raft that gets me through th...

Heard an interesting take on being the stay at home mom, homemaker, house wife whatever you prefer. Along with being the domestic diva, home economist, and the long list of side jobs that goes with being a wife and mother your role in life should also include being the anti-drama for your husband. Yes that is right the ANTI-DRAMA! I hadn't really thought about it. Ok yes I have but not in that respect, I had not thought about how I could be the anti-drama to my husbands day. It actually goes hand in hand with the post I wrote here.  If he your husband works outside the home or inside the home he is already dealing with a great deal of drama. He gets to hear about the goings on in the life of his co-workers, he gets it from his boss, from the people he talks to on the phone. Your working spouse deals with drama all day every day at work. When he comes home your job is to be the anti-drama. That peaceful calm that he looks forward to coming home to each day. Now sure your life w...

Read Haggai chapter 1 today and two warnings followed by a promise jumped off the page. Haggai 1:5 The Lord Almighty says "Give careful thought to your ways" Haggai 1:7 The Lord Almighty says " Give careful thought to your ways" Following the first warning was a list of what they had done for themselves that yielded little or no results. Following the second a list of what they should do to bring Honor to the house of the Lord. He, God our maker the creator of Heaven and Earth, is calling us to think! Think about what we are doing each day, every minute of every day. Do our actions honor Him? Do our words honor Him? Is He reflected in the lives we live? Are we living only to bring honor and glory to ourselves while our soul, our spiritual selves, the temple in which God the Holy Spirit resides lay in ruins? Then came the promise. Haggai 1:13 "I am with you" Declares the Lord! That declaration brings warm fuzzies to your soul. He is with you,...

Yes we made it!  21 days in prayers, 21 days of reading the Bible, 21 days of fasting (for the most part)! It was not easy no not at all. It was nothing like I thought it would be. It was an experience that I do want to try again sooner rather then later! Reading the Bible and praying as a family on a daily basis is still happening. We did miss one day and honestly I felt it, like a missed conversation with your best friend. Today we only got in a couple minutes of Bible reading and prayer but the point is we did it. Maybe even more so the point is the kids asked for it. I liked that! I like that  they are in this with us holding us adults accountable. I too had started to carve out time to pray and read by myself each day during the committed 21 days. On the days I don't get to I feel like I am barely getting through the day. I hate myself and everyone else within hours of waking up and it pretty much sets my day up for complete destruction. So I need that time....

Wow three days, three very busy days full of karate, church, housework and life in general. I woke up on Thursday with a kink in my back and neck that is just starting to loosen up and have been battling a migraine that left my world in a haze. We have pressed on though with our daily dose of family time filled with Bible reading and prayer. Killing giants, slaughter for a wife and unclean hands! Haha sounds like some warped thriller. Nope. We have been reading 1 Samuel 17 & 18 and Mark 7. We are really enjoying getting to know the not quite yet King David. He had no fear and complete faith that God would deliver Goliath into his hands. God had already proven His immense strength and capability in David's life. David had killed lions and bears with his bare hands! No man can do that without the strength of God. What other men ran away from David ran head on into. He was not going to let a giant live after hearing him mock God. He set the standard for how God's army should...

I am sitting here trying to remember yesterday! I do remember reading the Bible I just can not recall the discussion we had afterwards. Ah yes now I remember bread and donkeys! We read 1 Samuel 16 when God tells Samuel to stop his mourning for Saul and anoint the new King. We got to meet David last night "A man after God's own heart" is how he is often described. A warrior, a musician, a prayer and a killer of giants. He feared nothing on this earth. He loved God! He also served under the man he was destined to replace as king. Questions covered by my crew. Why did Saul want to kill Samuel? Because he was evil, he was no longer with God he was tormented. They really have a hard time understanding that there are evil people in this world, people who will kill you for doing what it right. Why did David take a donkey and bread? Ha ha my answer well he had a long way to go and they did not have cars back then. David was a smaller guy so he could hop on that donkey and t...

Don't worry we haven't stopped! We are still right on track reading the Bible, discussing it and praying together every day as a family. We are still doing the Daniel Fast with some modifications here and there I am sure. On Sunday we tried Tahini Wild Rice Cakes  and loved them! Brent helped me make them and sprinkled some Old Bay seasoning on ours it was fabulous. On Monday we tried a tofu scramble. I will give you the recipe exactly how I shared it with a friend on Facebook. " I did "The Daniel Fast" recipe altered for my family. It was the extra firm tofu drained, dried and crumbled. You need a whole chopped onion (I used flakes) and three cloves garlic minced saute in 1-2 tsp/tbsp olive oil. I use the more. Just a co uple minutes till onion is done then add 1tsp curry 1/2 tsp turmeric 1/2 tsp cumin salt/pepper and a chopped up tomato plus the tofu. Cook for about five minutes till tofu is hot stirring frequently. Add a bunch of spinach let cook till spinac...

To sum up our family time tonight my Facebook status says it all: "  I think Brent and I had way to much fun reading the Bible to the kids. Acting out Jonathan and the armor bearer climbing a cliff and killing people. It was awesome ha ha. Brent read the devotion part and the prayer =D Saaaweeeeeet!! All the kids prayed tonight even Kady! She blessed all her bubbies (stuffed animals). It totally rocked! Spending time in the word as a family just kills the devil so if you want to be a demon slayer you totally gotta try it ;-)" Today was so much easier. My mind is clearer. I feel happy. We started the day talking to our three oldest kids about money. At our house work ethic is very important. We really want to impress upon them how important it is to work hard and earn money and we want them to know what to do with the money once they have it. We went over their individual job lists and how it is their responsibility to not only do the jobs but check them off on the ...

We survived what we have affectionately been calling "hell day" but you all likely just call it Friday! Fridays are the busiest day of the week for us next to Wednesdays. The time from picking up the kids from school to bedtime is always very full so finding time to work in our family time is a challenge. Wednesday and Friday are also supposed to be our liquid days on the Daniel Fast. Yesterday while it was much easier then Wednesday we also realized that we cannot go the complete day without eating, especially Brent. He goes to the gym in the morning and then has to do PT with his squadron later in the day. He needs food! Friday is also traditionally our date night. So we are altering the fast a bit. We had a small meal last night for our date night and from now on Brent will eat a lite lunch as well. We had our family time while the older three kids ate dinner after karate was over so at about 7:45pm. We read from 1 Samuel 13 where Saul does something only Samuel was supp...

Yesterday was so much better! I woke up in a much better mood, Brent was happy and the older three kids were back in school. We hit balance thank goodness. I was still struggling with some things but the prayers that were a struggle on Wednesday came much easier on Thursday. I also got to try a couple of new recipes and cooking even if it turns out terrible always puts me in a better mood.  First I made these Oatmeal Raisin Cookies . The kids loved them so success! As for Brent and I well the raisins definitely make them sweet so be sure to use a lot of raisins and we are still looking forward to an Oreo at some point in the future. Next I made a pizza crust  which I will get back to in a minute. Then I made unleavened bread using the recipe in "The Daniel Fast " book. I was enjoying myself! Ok unleavened bread is very oily, I mean very, very oily. It reminded me of the story about Elijah in the Bible when he goes to the Widow and asks for food 1 Kings 17. S...

Yesterday was tough. No it was more then tough it was hard. Oh forget it lets be honest I had a horrible attitude all day yesterday! It was not the attitude of prayer I had imagined yesterday would yield instead it was just the opposite. It was Sarah the crabby, angry, unhappy, flesh filled Sarah! Brent was not much better but I will leave Brent's attitude to Brent as I did nothing to help it. I could not think, concentration was impossible and every time I tried to pray I found my thoughts focused on yet another area of my own grumpy existence. What was wrong with me?! I do not think it had anything to do with the fact that yesterday was an all liquid day either because I was not even hungry the first couple hours of the day yet I let every little negative explode into something much bigger in my head. I did manage to accomplish my shopping trip with all five kids and got everything I set out to buy except dryer bars. They were completely sold out. Guess those coupon classes are...

Wow day three feels like day 20! I know my husband is feeling the affect of fasting far more then me as he is obviously tired and really craving meat. Tomorrow is the first day of all liquid and to be honest I find it a bit intimidating. We both prayed for help tonight as we continue in this fast. We have gone through the vegetables extremely fast and my complete lack of knowledge on just how the Daniel Fast works has us all tired of beans and rice!! So tonight I poured over a book  "The Daniel Fast" that a friend of mine thought to lend me and I was able to come up with a menu plan that will work for our family over the next two weeks. Tomorrow I will go shopping for the first 8 meals worth of food with all five kids. Oh dear, please pray for this mama I will need strength, patience and a keen mind considering I have yet to get lucky enough to find firm tofu at the commissary! Tonight we again read from the book of 1 Samuel chapter 11. The verse that stood out to ...

Day two! I really miss cheese, a lot. It is worth it though, giving it up for just a little while to watch my family grow in God. Brent is missing meat but I heard him pray out loud today I will take that swap. I am concerned about how he will do as he returns to work. Working with a bunch of men food is bound to come up. I will be praying for him a lot over the next couple of days. We are eating hard boiled eggs this week for one to help us transition into the fast and for another because I had two dozen eggs that needed to be eaten! Oatmeal, vegetables, fruit, rice and beans round out our meals along with a lot and I mean a lot of water. We are satisfied. Today we read from the book of Mark chapter 4. I love reading the parables! Today what stood out is the story of sowing the seed and how the seed grows depending on where it lands and what is harvested as a result. It makes you think about what you are sowing into your own life and into the lives of others....

Last week Brent and I made the decision to join our church family in a 21 day fast. We needed to do this as a family. I knew it would not be easy but it would be beneficial. We need to focus more on time spent as a family in prayer, reading the Bible and getting closer to God. The week since making that decision has been extremely high stress, exhaustion filled and down right discouraging. Satan took up a stomping ground in my head and my home. It was the perfect example of just why our family needs to do what we are getting ready to do. Choosing the type of fast was easy. The Daniel Fast for Brent and I and a modified version for our five kids. I am not so hung up on what we can not have but what we will gain by doing this. I really hope that mindset pays off as we press forward. My biggest concern is my own endurance. I love to eat! Meat, cheese, ice cream, cake, sour cream oh yes to me it is all good so giving it up will take will power. Brent while concerned about what he can...

My Disclaimer: I am not without sin! I will probably hurt your feelings and I will definitely make you think. This is what God laid on my heart to write and I did the best I could. I hope it touches you and I hope you share it, no matter how it makes you feel. Thank you for reading and well enjoy as always. "Everything is permissible for me"--but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"--but I will not be mastered by anything." 1 Corinthians 6:12 " So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." 1 Corinthians 10:31 Gluttony is a sin, the sin of gorging ones self, it is THE sin that can quite literally result in death. Yet it is also a sin that is rarely approached from the pulpit. In my 25 years as a Christian I have actually only heard it addressed once in a sermon and it was brief. Now I am not knocking Pastors after all they have a multitude of other matters to preach on. I do wonder somet...