Distractions Steal God's Peace

It was going to be a work day! I was going to get lots accomplished! I was going to make laundry soap, wash laundry, fold and put away ALL the laundry, clean bathrooms, etc... I was going to do all the things that good wives and mamas do. Cause that's what makes a good wife! Right? Well it does help! But I didn't hardly get a thing on my to do list done. Instead I exercised, had breakfast, and pedicures with my sister, played and read stories with my girls, and cuddled with my 6 month old. Are these things wrong? No! Then why was I feeling guilty? Maybe because those kind of days happen more often then not? I get distracted by everyday happenings. I get distracted by my husband, my girls, my sisters, most of all I get distracted by 'things'! In the Bible it talks about how Martha was distracted by many things. She was busy... She was preparing and serving. Not that those things were wrong, just like how me taking time to be with my husband, children and sisters aren't wrong. Jesus tells us to serve and love others. But it's what is in your heart and spirit. Is your heart and spirit right with God. Are you allowing yourself to have things that distract you from what you should be doing... Drawing close to Jesus. I believe distractions can come in many different ways. But mostly I believe it has to do with where your heart is. Is my heart right with God? Am I keeping my focus on what He has for me to do? Or is my focus in the clouds? Am I spending my day dreaming about could be's? Is there peace in my heart and home? Am I thankful for what the Lord has given me? 

Drawing close to Jesus can be very hard if I am allowing the cares and worries of the world into my life. Those things keep my heart and mind from having the sweet communion I need with the Lord. I need to give it all over to Him and allow Him to guard my heart and mind! Allowing Him to cover me in His sweet peace and love! 

When I was pregnant with Emmaline there was a time where our home was not only clean, but peaceful! Looking back I had thought that the peace came from the cleanliness. I was trying to get that peacefulness back. Guess what, no matter how much I cleaned it just wasn't there. I couldn't understand why I couldn't get the peaceful feeling back by washing dishes, folding laundry, sweeping floors. Oh how I tried, but it just wasn't there. I then read in my journal from when I was pregnant and realized I was in the Word constantly and praying continually! That is when I realized it was a heart situation. My heart wasn't right with God. I wasn't making Him first in my heart. I wasn't asking for His love and peace to fill this place. I wasn't sitting at His feet worshiping Him. I was trying to get His peace to fill our home without asking. Without drawing close to Him. Without Prayer. Without Him! I was doing what Martha had been doing. I was convicted. The next day I was in the Word and praying. Then one day the house was picked up but it was a tad messing here and there. That evening when my husband and I sat talking we both stopped and Rich said 'it's peaceful in here'. It wasn't because the dishes were done, it wasn't because the floors were swept, and the laundry folded... for indeed some of those things weren't done. It wasn't because the house was sparkling! It was because the Lord was there. It was because we were having sweet communion with Him! We were sitting at His feet! We were allowing Him to take the cares and worries of the world away from our hearts. He was in our heart! His love and peace filled our hearts, minds, and home! 

Priorities

Writing out what your priorities from most important to least important helps you, as a homemaker, to see what it is that you need to be doing in your day! Also making a list of things that will not be in your priorities at the time is also a good idea. Keep in mind tho that everyone is at different stages in life. For example my list of priorities aren't going to look the same as say my mom's! ;-) I challenge you to make your own list! But here's mine:

1) The Lord!

I need daily time to be in His word, t0 have a prayer time, and time to meditate/memorize scripture. This is extremely important to keep you on track for your daily activities! When you miss spending time in the word, life won't run as smoothly as you hope.


2) My Man!

My man is #2 in my life! We need our relationship to be strong so that we are on the same page with training our children and so that our children have happy parents who are working together to bring God all the glory! 


3) My Children!

My children are next! They need their mama to care for them in loving and kind ways! They need their mama to feed them, change them, dress them, bath them, love them, play with them, and train them! Children need their mama!


4) My health!

Yes this is next on my list. If my health is in poor shape then I can't take care of my family the way that I need to! My health includes all sorts of things like exercising, getting dressed for the day, eating healthfully, drinking water, taking vitamins, and anything else that means taking care of myself so that I'm presentable and healthy to better serve the Lord and my family!


5) My Home!

As most wives and mothers know we need clean, well kept, organized homes! We need this so that there is peace and restfulness in the home. This is an area that I struggle in very frequently. But it is extremely important for everyones physical, mental, and even spiritual health.


6) My animals!

My animals come next. With goats and chickens providing milk, eggs, and meat for us I need to make sure they are on my list of priorities. They need to be well taken care of!


7) Healthy Food!

I strive very hard to make our own bread, tortillas, muffins, yogurt, hamburger buns, and much more. This is important to me. Not only for our health, but also for the fact that it is fugal. 



Anyway that is a list of 'my' priorities right now... they are ever changing! What do your priorities look like?

Homemade Chocolate Chunks

Chocolate is one of my favorite things! LOVE chocolate! As does my husband. Tho store bought chocolate chips just aren't something that I buy. I missed making chocolate chip cookies, pancakes with chocolate chips in them, and all the rest of the yummy things that require the small delicious chocolate chips!

SO I've got good news for all you chocolate lovers out there! :-) Homemade Chocolate chunks! I prefer BIG chunks to chips anyway! ;-) Ready for the recipe?


Homemade Chocolate Chunks

1 cup butter, coco butter, or Palm Shortening (I use palm shortening)
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup coco powder

Take a sauce pan and melt your oil. I stir it frequently so that it doesn't pop and so that it melts faster. Then add the sugar so that you can melt it. I use Organic Cane Sugar. I've heard that you can use honey, stevia, or any other sweetener you want to try (I want to try it with Maple syrup). After you have the sugar stirred in you add the coco powder. Pour it into an 8x8 pan and put it into the freezer for a few hours or until hard. Then cut it up into chunks of your desired size! :-) Mmm! Enjoy!



Find the original recipe here. 

My Prayer Today

Today I was thinking how I want my life and everything in it to be glorifying to the Lord. I want Him to use me in the ways He wants. So my prayer today for my blog is that He would use this blog to encourage, uplift, and show His love and peace to others. I want this to be a place where other mothers, wives, and daughters can come and see a glimpse of my heart and know that Christ dwells in me!

I want Christ to shine out through me to those I meet! Even you on this little blog who I may never have the pleasure of meeting in person here on this earth.

I'm excited to be starting afresh with my blog and turning it into being more Christ-centered! I have some post ideas I want to share with you in the next few weeks that the Lord has been teaching/showing me. Some of which include topics like True beauty, time management, and priorities. I pray that the Lord shows me the right words to write and that you are blessed through them by seeing 'His' handiwork. For indeed it is not my own works but His through me!

Blessings on your day!
Sarah

Social Networks

So for those of you who don't know... I will no longer be on the famous social networks Facebook and Twitter. Nothing against them! In fact I like them. I just spent WAY to long on them and time is precious! I need to be wise in where I spend my time and at this point I'm not willing to spend time on Facebook or Twitter. So if you would like to follow me, e-mail subscription or GFC is the best ways. Or just simply come to my page every once in awhile! Also leaving a comment to let me know you stopped by always encourages me! :-)

Have a blessed day!

Emmaline's birth story

I must say being pregnant with Emmaline wasn't quite as easy as the pregnancy with Susannah and honestly I blame it on the way I was eating. I think I needed more fresh foods. I was eating a lot of bread and grains. 

Toward the end of pregnancy I was exhausted, miserable, and grumpy a lot. I would cry myself to sleep sometimes and my husband would hold me and reassured me that our baby would be here soon. 

A few weeks before the due date I started having a lot of Braxton hicks and contractions. It was kind of encouraging, but made me feel miserable again. I didn't really feel like doing much and I was constantly so EXHAUSTED. So I started hoping for a early birth! I was SO ready! Which was a good thing beings during most of the pregnancy I was scared of the labor. But by this time I was confident and quiet ready. 

I started having pre-labor contractions on Thursday, April 26. So my husband took off Friday. And we waited around hoping this would be it. The midwife came and checked me and told me I was at 2 1/2 cm. I was highly not encouraged. I had hoped to be farther along with having so many contractions. So we waited around again. Walking, walking, and more walking... hoping to kick real labor in. 

Nothing except the usual pre labor contractions happened till Saturday night when I felt a gush of water. I didn't actually think anything of it till Sunday morning tho when I remember the night before I had a gush of water. I felt funny that morning and thought that just possible the gush of water the night before was my waters breaking. I tried not to get my hopes up tho. I decided to calmly take a test and see if my waters had broken. And they had!!!! I was ecstatic! I ran and told my husband! 

We called our midwife who didn't answer her phone. Then I tried the assistant midwife and she asked if I was having contractions... I replied with 'just the same prelabor ones'. So she said to call back in when I was having contractions. My husband and I decided to do something other then wait around. So we went to get some chicks and have a BBQ with my parents. Still just the same annoying pre-labor contractions. I started getting discouraged and afraid labor wouldn't start on it's own just like with Susannah. 

My sisters and I went on yet another walk hoping something would kick in. Then my husband and I went home so I could get some rest. I was feeling tired and discouraged that my contractions hadn't started. So I decided to go to bed. It was like 9:00 pm. Richard wasnt tired yet so I went to bed alone. I then woke up really hungry and having very VERY spaced and irregular contractions. I was scared that they would just go away. But I went to tell my husband anyway... He was just then heading my way to go to bed. I don't think he thought that they were the real thing either. 

At this point it was 11:00pm. I didn't feel like sleeping anymore and I was hungry so I ate some granola. And wondered around the house a little hoping the baby would be born tonight. Then I sat down and read some birthing stories for awhile. The contractions were pretty spaced at this point so I wanted everyone to be able to get some rest. By now I knew that it just had to be the real thing! I waited around till about 12:30 when I started to feel a bit panicky about being by myself as the contractions were getting stronger and more intense. 

So I went to lay on our bed with Richard. When I layed down they got farther apart but stronger and longer. They were about 5 min apart and lasting 1 1/2 mins. When I got up they were 3 min apart and lasting 45 sec. I would then squeeze Richard's hand when I would have one hoping he would wake up. Which he did and he asked if I was having contraction. We decided it was time to call the midwife. 

The midwife sent her assistant out to check on me. She checked me while Richard went to prepare some more things. She told me I was dilated at 5 cm. I felt discouraged. I was ready to have this baby. When Rich came back the assistant told him I was dilated to 5 cm and he looked at me and said with so much encouragement in his voice "That's great Sarah!! Your already halfway there!!!" I then thought "Oh that's true!!" I was then very encouraged and ready to keep going! The contractions were a TON easier then with Susannah, who I was put on pitocin with. So I actually felt like I wasn't getting anywhere with them. 

Richard was so encouraging through the contraction and helped me keep my mind positive that we would soon be holding our baby! He walked around and did the labor dance with me and helped me moan through the contraction! I remember a couple times laying down on the bed to rest between contractions.

Finally after laboring like that for awhile I started to feel like pushing but I didn't think I was ready. In fact I thought I was a long way from actually being ready. Finally I couldn't hold back the push. The assistant then called the midwife and I could hear her telling her "Looks like she's pushing now. You should probably head this way." So she then fixed the bed up so I could push on my hands and knees for a few while she got the tub ready for my water birth. Richard then encouraged me "She's getting the tub ready!! Your going to be holding our baby so soon!!!" I was encouraged, but at the time thinking that was unrealistic and that there was still a long ways to go. I felt tired but not nearly as tired as with the labor with Susie. 

Finally I got into the tub. Which felt nice but made my contractions get farther apart which I honestly wasn't the happiest about... Haha! I just wanted to hold our baby! But I continued to push through them. I remember getting pretty warm and asking for a cool washcloth for my forehead. Finally after pushing for a bit she finally started to crown. The crowning hurt more then with Susie. I wasn't expecting it to hurt so much and I kept saying 'it stings, it stings, it stings!!!' My husbands told me later that during that time I was pinching his arms. That part seamed to last forever and was the most painful of the whole birth. 

Finally I got past the crowning part and was getting her out. When I was close to getting her completely out the assistant guided her under me so that I could bring her out of the water! I picked her up and laid back against the tub saying 'oh I love you already!!!' I felt ecstatic and oh so very excited!!! I felt like a little girl with a new doll!!! I didn't have my glasses or contacts on so I couldn't tell if she was a boy or girl. So I asked Richard. He then announced that she was a girl!!! Again excitement overwhelmed me!!! Even writing this I can feel the same excitement! At that point the midwife finally walked in and we all laughed about her missing the birth.

I honestly thought I'd tore a ton because of how much it stung. But it turned out I only tore a little and needed only a few stitches. She turned out to be a 9 lb 2 oz baby! I believe that's why it stung so much.  She was born at 5:17 am. I was in active labor for 5 1/2 hours. I pushed for about 35 min. I loved having a home birth! Not having to go anywhere and then being able to just lay down and sleep in my own bed with my husband was amazing!! :-) Overall it was a much easier birth then my first (minus the crowning part)!

That's Important To Me

My favorite song lately! Pretty much sums up what's important to me as well!

Keeping it simple around here

Today I decided that I'm going to make a change on my blog! :-) I'm pretty excited about it! I'm wanting my blog to have a little more me in it. Sarah Mae is hosting the challenge and I'm going to be following along! :-)

The first challenge is about setting boundaries! Here are my boundaries:

~I will not let my blog come before my Children. I will make sure that I spend the time I need to with them. I will blog during their nap times, early morning, or evening. I don't want to be known to them as a mama who just spends all her time on the computer.

~I will not let my blog come before taking care of my home. If I need to get something else done during nap time, early morning, or in the evening I will simply skip blogging.

~If I am burned out I will decide to take a brake from blogging and get down to real life. I want to write edifying things on my blog that are uplifting and encouraging to other ladies!

~I will be making my blog family friendly and Christ-honoring... being picky about what I blog about and who I blog for.

Thank you for reading! May the Lord bless your time here!
Sarah

There's where my energy went...

 Besides trying to keep up with our little 2 year old we have been:

Gardening! Which to be honest I haven't canned a thing. :( I've froze tons of things, but somehow canning just hasn't happened at all this year.

Needless to say tho we have been eating fresh produce from our garden nearly every day! Which is such a blessing!

Our little farm cat had a batch of 4 kittens this Summer! So we've been having fun playing with them! As well as our little goat kids! The mama goat is still nursing them through the day and I milk her in the morning receiving a half gallon of delicious milk! I haven't had enough to make things out of it yet... but I have made lots of yummy ice cream and some yogurt!

Can I leave without showing you a picture of our hairy little farm dog? :-)

Or miss priss herself?

This is our stack of wood that we have been bucking up, splitting and stacking throughout the Summer/Fall! This picture doesn't really do it justice... it looks much bigger in person! ;-)

I was splitting some the other day and our neighbor lady walked by saying "That's a man job" ;-) Oh how I do agree! Tho I must say it's kind of fun to 'try' and split some wood! And it's mostly fun to help my husband! :-)

Everyday is a new day

Everyday really is a new day around here. Summer with all it's wonderful blue skies and heat have ended now and I'm trying to keep myself looking forward to all that fall and winter bring along! :-) But let me tell you about our Summer a little! :-)

My sister Liz and I got to be pregnant together!! How fun is that?! Her son was born 5 weeks after my little lady! :-) It's been so much fun being an aunt and watching the cousins together! :-)

This is our best friend couple! ;-) Sisters and um... brother-in-laws... best friends! Actually my husband is the one that introduced my sister to her husband when we were courting! Our men where best friends at the time and still are! ;-)

 LOVE this man!!! :-) This Summer we had our 3rd wedding anniversary! It has been 3 amazing and adventurous years! Full of both trials and blessings! One of my favorite sites as of late has been The Dating Divas! They have tons of fun dating ideas!

 This summer we've also been getting to know this sweet little blessing! The best way to describe her is she wears her heart on her sleeve! When she is happy she's REALLY happy and when she is sad she's REALLY sad. At times she is calm and just is as quiet as can be and other times she is just so talkative! But in every way a blessing! :-)

 This is our little farm girl! She loves helping with the goats, cats, and chickens! She loves being outside and she is just a little ball of fire! Can't keep her still for anything really. Keeps her mama on her toes with all her energy! She just had her 2nd birthday on Sept 30th! Can't believe my little lady is growing up so fast!

 Children really are such sweet little blessings!! :-)