Leaving no time...

When was the last time you heard from God about something small in your life that he wanted you to let go of? Did you listen to Him? Did you put it off, thinking your own mind was talking to you and not Holy Spirit? I believe so many of those little nudges from Him, get ignored. Things that if we just followed and obeyed, would lead us closer to Jesus; closer to ridding our lives of idols. 

 

 They can be silly things really, but things that take up so much of our time, so much of our "attention"...that they push Jesus and our relationship with him to the side...to a place where it never should be. He decreases, and that thing, that entertainment, whatever it may, be rises to the forefront of our life.

 

 

 

It can become an idol. It can happen slowly, over time, but before you know it you may be addicted so to speak. You may let it consume your every spare moment. Leaving no time to talk to God. Leaving no time to commune with Holy Spirit. Leaving no time to worship at His feet.

 

 

Could it even go as far as to take your attention away from your children? From your spouse? Do you let it rob you of sweet moments you could be looking at your child, taking in the beauty of what they might want to be sharing with you, but you miss it because you are distracted with this idol? Do you miss moments you could be connecting with your husband? Do you miss the moments you have together because you are distracted?

 

 

 

Is this idol worth it? Is God trying to speak to you? He was speaking to me. I want to be ready to lay anything down at His feet...big or small. I want to hear and obey. I want to get anything out of my life that keeps me from being a better wife, a better mom, a better daughter, and sister. I want to get anything out of my life that keeps me from being a better child of God. I want to be filled with Holy Spirit. I want him to feel welcome at any moment in my life...not like He has to try and squeeze in and be noticed, or felt, or heard from.

 

 

Life filled with work, school, laundry, meals, errands, etc. is busy enough, don't let "things", or any form of entertainment become first in your life. Slow down the pace. Become "old school" if you will. Cherish Jesus more that anything. Cherish your family. Listen for that still, small voice and follow Him.

 

 

But Samuel replied, "What is more pleasing to the LORD: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.

1 Samuel 15:22

 

Blueberries

Summer also means blueberries for our family.

 Our usual picking spot, about 35 minutes north in the country, did not have berries this year due to a late frost that killed all the berry flowers. We were very disappointed when we found out this news. We decided to try another patch, closer to town.

We were so very excited to finally be out picking!

The weather was very hot, but that's just part of it I guess.

 Emma was very eager when we first got there

 

 Olivia was a diligent picker. She wanted to fill her very own bucket.

 Ethan was a diligent picker, too! He would get some berries, and then pour them in my bucket.

 

 Elijah was a great picker for about the first two thirds of the time being there.

 

 Beautiful berries

 

 Emma became completely disenchanted with picking, the bugs, the heat, and the lack of water (my fault), about half way through our picking.

 

 

 

 Sweet Mom, huddled by a bush faithfully picking, in her wonderful sun hat.

 

Hot and buggy...

 Precious five year old

 

 Tired, but faithful little picker. She had her a half bucket at this point.

 

 "I want to go home, Mommy!"

 

 Heading to the berry barn to get some water and pay for our berries

 



 33 weeks pregnant...and very, very hot!

 

 The closer we got to leaving, the more smiles Emma delivered.

 

 Beautiful pasture nearby. Oh, how we love open farm land...

 

 Sweet littles

 

 Beautiful sunflowers near the blueberry bushes

 Me and my babies...thankful for another wonderful (hot) memory :)

 

Emma was the happiest when we were home, bathed, and sorting our berries...

 

 

Tomato Tradition~

It's summer, so that means it's time to can!

A tradition started by my mother before I was born...

One she instilled in me from as young as I can remember...

And one that I am teaching my children to love and appreciate.

~Olivia washing the tomatoes/step 1~

 

 ~Ethan boiling the tomatoes for a few minutes, then putting them into cold water to cool/step 2&3~

 

 ~cooling toms~

 

 ~Me, cutting the softened tomatoes into a pan, preparing them for cooking/step 4~

 

~Emma, just being precious, drying off a tomato after it has been washed by Livy~

 



 ~Emma's tomato~

 

~Ethan wishing he could help me cut the softened tomatoes~

 

 ~getting fresh cooling water~

 

 ~cooling toms, waiting to be cut~

 

 ~tomato love~

 

~My sweet, diligent boy, helping me stir the first "cooking" of tomatoes/step 5~

 

 ~filling the jars, with the hot, cooked tomatoes/step 6~

 

 

~removing air bubbles with a knife/step 7~

 

~add lemon and salt to filled jars for preservation/step 8~

 

~add lids, and water bathe for 40 minutes/step 9&10~

 

~discard cutting scraps, and tidy kitchen while waiting for jars to water bathe/step 11~

 

~sweet Elijah playing with his pattern blocks. He had no interest in the tomatoes~

 

~enjoy the beauty of your handy work/step 12~

 

Thank you, Mom, for teaching me the art of canning...

 

Titus 2:3-5

 

Raindrops and Puddles~

 

It's so easy to say no all the time.

No to all the little things our kids want to do that will just cause more work for Mommy.

 But, this day, I said yes.

What does it matter if I have to help them dry off and change their clothes?

What does it hurt to do an "extra" load of laundry?

 Such joy for them...

 So out of the box from our everyday routine...

 Yet, so needed.

Needed for them to play and jump in rain puddles.

To abandon all carefullness, and just have fun.

To take a break from the normal, and enjoy God's rain.

 It's so easy to say no...to stay within the confines of our schedule...

 But, the happiness it brought us all...

 To lay aside the next thing that should be done...

And just say yes.