My Ministry

"The season of young children is a time to refrain. Refrain from most outside activities, even some church activities. Now is a time to be faithful in discipline...it's the spring time of mothering. Redeem the time, don't waste it." Sono Harris

”But even as Jesus took three years off from the work of the universe in order to pass his ministry on to his disciples, to live with them, eat with them, love them, instruct them, so as mothers, if we want the same kind of life-changing impact on our children, it will require the sacrifice of our time, our commitments, and it will be inconvenient and life-consuming. But leaving godly disciples is the greatest work we will ever achieve.”

-Sally Clarkson, Discipleship is a choice that will cost you your time and your life

"We can feel that we are truly ministering when the Lord uses us to communicate a word of wisdom to someone,or He provides an opportunity to share the gospel with our neighbor. That seems like real ministry. And that is real ministry to be sure! But no more so than when we are wiping runny noses or cleaning the bathroom.That is because we have a very narrow view of true spirituality...The Lord wants to help us see the significance of ministry at home." Carolyn Mahaney

"Be a light in the midst of a society that does not embrace children. Do not be intimidated. Show your love for your children as you speak sweetly to them and are patient with them. If God has blessed you with a number of children, be proud to display your "blessings" from the Lord. You reveal to the world what God is like for He loves children. Jesus did not reject children. He welcomed the children to come to Him..." Nancy Campbell


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Diaper and Book Giveaway!

Last week I received a package of pull ups from Seventh Generation, and a copy of the Dr. Seuss book,"The Lorax." My kids love Dr. Seuss, and I was excited to have something I could put on Lily- who has been potty training herself- while we ran errands, but that would still allow her to feel like a "big girl." Diapers are very insulting to my two year old. :)

This is how their website explains their new line of diapers;

• NEW Overnight Diapers are absorbent enough to keep your baby and bedding dry through the night or during prolonged travel
• Free & Clear diapers have improved more flexible tabs that provide even better fit
• Free & Clear training pants have an absorbent core made with more renewable, plant-based materials.  They also feature stretchy, tear away side panels for a better fit and added convenience, as well as inner leak barriers for superior leakage protection
• Seventh Generation Free & Clear baby care products do not contain chlorine, fragrance, petroleum-based lotions or latex, and all Free & Clear products are also hypo-allergenic
• Starting March 2, you can register for a free The Lorax scrapbook with the purchase of any three Free & Clear diaper products, until supplies last

Because Seventh Generation has partnered with the upcoming Dr. Seuss movie, "The Lorax" I also received a free copy of the book to read to my children. The book seemed a little longer than what my kids were used to, but Jack and Anna sat with rapt attention while reading it. Jack, being the tender hearted child he is, even started crying when some of the characters had to leave the forest because too many trees were being cut down. I had to read him the ending to prove to him that everything turns out all right at the end of the story. We have since read, "The Lorax," several times today and the children enjoy the book very much.

Would you like to win your own copy of The Lorax, and a package of your choice of Seventh Generation Diapers? Please leave a comment if you'd like to win, and if you don't already please follow this blog. I'll leave the giveaway open until Friday and then pick a winner.

Disclosure:  The Seventh Generation Diapers prize pack, product and information have been provided by Seventh Generation through MyBlogSpark.

Sunday Tradition

Now that at least two of my children are old enough that they can remember things, I have started feeling a lot more pressure to make good memories for my children. I desperately want my children's hearts, and I very much desire for them to have a happy, memory filled childhood. The problem is, when I start putting a bunch of pressure on myself to make memories for my kids, I get stressed out. You know the old saying,"If Mama isn't happy, no one's happy?" Well it's true.

Anyways, a few months ago, when I got my pinterest account, I started seeing all of these fabulous looking recipes for pancakes. That's when an idea clicked for me. I decided to make Sunday night pancake night. My kids love it, and look forward to Sunday night dinner all week long. I love it because pancakes are relatively simple to make. And Erik enjoys trying a variety of pancakes.

So far we've tried chocolate, chocolate chip, cinnamon roll, s'more, birthday cake, pumpkin, and buttermilk pancakes. The kids and Erik's favorite have been the birthday cake, and mine has been the cinnamon roll. Sometimes we have a picnic on the living room floor and watch a video, and other times we just eat them around the table. But it's amazing to me that something so simple, could cause so much excitement for my children. And hopefully in years to come pancake night will become a fun memory and an ongoing tradition.

P.S. The website where I've found most of my pancake recipes is Chef in Training. The pancake and desert recipes she posts over there are seriously amazing! :)

Don't forget to enter my giveaway for a FREE pack of diapers and childrens book!

Homemade Yogurt

As you may remember, I have been trying to move our family to a more natural foods diet. I had heard of people making their own yogurt, but had always wrote it off as being too complicated(and, ok, maybe a little weird.) But when I saw this recipe, I decided I at least had to give it a try. It looked so simple! Besides, my kids love yogurt. 

So here's a picture recap, of how making my own yogurt went.

These were the only two ingredients needed.  Plus a crock pot and a heavy towel. How much simpler can you get(well besides picking up some from the grocery store?)

A picture of my towel covered crock pot. At this point, the yogurt has about 8 more hours to go.

This morning, I excitedly told the children we would be having yogurt for a snack. But to my great sadness the yogurt turned out looking like.....

Soup?! Aw man, I wonder what I did wrong. Oh well, the kids will still eat it. And they did, in fact when they first saw it they thought the yogurt was ice cream. However, after they tasted it they realized it didn't taste anything like ice cream! Yes, I do believe plain yogurt is a bit of an acquired taste, luckily we had some honey and bananas that they added to it and then it tasted fine.

Oh yes, one more thing, after we finished eating our yogurt, I started dividing it into containers. As I was finishing filling my last one, I accidentally knocked over another container, spilling the soup/yogurt mixture everywhere. Here's a picture, in case you don't believe me;

I took this after I had started cleaning up the mess, so this picture doesn't do the mess justice, but you get my point. The last time I tried making this yogurt the crock pot fell face down on my kitchen floor, and we didn't get to try any. Maybe I'm just not meant to be a yogurt maker? ;)

The Clanging Cymbal

" If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal." 1 Corinthians 13:1

A few nights ago I was making dinner. I had decided to make my husband's favorite meal complete with cheesecake for desert. I really love to cook, and I enjoy blessing my husband and children with their favorite foods. There's nothing wrong with this, in fact I think it's a good thing, but there was one problem. The meal I was making requires a lot of attention. It's not difficult to make, but I have to be standing next to it for most of the time it takes to cook. 

My children were running around, being children, but truthfully I was getting a little aggravated at their energy. I had spent their afternoon nap time cleaning, but the house was quickly turning into a disaster zone. I told them they needed to take their toys back to their room, and grab a book to look at quietly, and to their credit they obeyed without any problems. But for whatever reason I was in a bad mood. One of those lovely moods, where I was letting my emotions rule me. Before I knew it I was convincing myself that no one appreciates anything I do, and started questioning why I was even bothering with making a nice meal. 


The more I allowed these thoughts to creep into my mind, the more resentful and angrier I became. But then a thought popped into my head. All right, not a thought, but a conviction.


"Are you just making noise, Jessica?" 


And as much as I didn't want to admit it, I was. And what was the point of making my husband his favorite dinner if my motive wasn't love? Because I can guarantee my husband would much rather come home to a happy and loving wife and just eat peanut butter and jelly, than come home to his favorite dinner and have to deal with an annoyed and frazzled wife. And Erik doesn't even like peanut butter and jelly!


It's so easy to dutifully serve our families. I'm thinking as women, this is a particularly big struggle. However, we must always remember that if our desire to serve is outshining our desire to love then all we're really doing is making noise. 


Linked to A Wise Woman Builds Her Home.

Sickness

Two of my sickies this weekend. Yes, even though Lily didn't feel well, she still insisted on wearing a dress and tights(that girl loves tights;)

This weekend has been spent in our pajamas, sipping chicken noodle soup, and smelling like vicks vapor rub. Five out of the six people living in this house have all been sick(Max is the only one who hasn't caught anything yet), and we all came down with it around the same time! It's been an interesting weekend, especially since both my husband and I aren't feeling well. Definitely not a time where I'd be winning any house keeping awards(not that I ever would, but you know what I mean..)

But even though this isn't the way I had been hoping to spend the weekend, there have been so many sweet moments that I don't want to forget. Moments like dozing off with my two year old, and seeing my four year old try to handle being sick with a good attitude. Watching Jack and Anna try to take care of Lily like mommy and daddy do.

There has also been a lot of sitting around. As a mom, I can get so busy(as I'm sure you do too.) There aren't  many times where I can just sit and watch a video or play a game with my kids without feeling rushed to finish the laundry or start dinner. So even though none of us have felt well, I'm so thankful we were able to have this time to rest and recuperate.

So far, I'm the only one who seems to be feeling better. I'm sure I will need lots of grace to get through the next few days or the next week, but for now I'm thankful for a weekend of rest and sweet memories.

Disorganized Confessions

Do you want to hear a little secret about me? I am quite possibly the most disorganized person you will ever meet(what's that, Erik, did you just say "amen?")

Do you want to hear something else about me? I love clean houses. It's one thing when you're a disorganized person and you don't care how your house looks, but it's a whole other problem when you're a disorganized person and actually care about how your house looks.  Do you know what happens when someone who is disorganized loves a clean house? Things get lost, social security cards get put in the utilities file, and important documents get thrown away (like taxes....)

It's not pretty.

Growing up I was the girl who was consistently late for class. I used my text books as a folder for homework, and my room at my parents house was a bit of a mess(ok, perhaps a legendary mess.) Anyone want to guess what kind of student I was? ;) My parents are fairly laid back people, who obviously didn't want their home to be a disaster area, but didn't make a big deal out of things.

I've tried reading books on organizing, and Erik helps me keep track of paper work, but I still have lots of room for improvement. I'm not naturally organized, and I really doubt it will ever come easily to me, but I have to figure out a better system. Especially since we are planning on homeschooling.

So I have to ask. What are some of your strategies for keeping your home organized? How do you keep up on laundry? Do you have a day that you just clean the entire house, or do you take one room per day? Any suggestions would be very much appreciated!

This post is linked to A Wise Woman Builds Her Home &