Gratituesday Archives | Page 21 of 40

Gratituesday: Burden Lifted

September 12, 2011 by Laura 43 Comments

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I was carrying a burden and I didn’t even recognize it. Well, maybe I did recognize it but it seemed like such a petty matter in life’s big picture, so I was choosing to carry the burden alone. To talk to anyone about it seemed like I’d either be whining or gossiping – and I certainly didn’t want to do either one. Therefore, I just trudged along, carrying the burden – because I’m strong, right? I can deal with it, right? Right.

Until last Sunday. That was the day a good friend of mine showed up on my doorstep unannounced. I’m always glad to see my friends, but I could tell that she had come with something on her mind. I thought maybe something was troubling her and that she’d come to unload a burden of her own. Yes, because apparently I think I’m the one that can carry my own burdens alone, and then help others carry their burdens too. (Who do I think I am, for goodness sake?)

Instead, she lovingly told me that she had no idea why, but that God had put me on her heart. She had come to ask if there was anything troubling me and she had come to pray with me.

For about one half of a second, my stubborn heart began to blurt that I was absolutely fine. And then the Spirit revealed the truth to me, making me realize that God had sent my friend here for a reason. She was fulfilling His purpose.

So I shared, and we prayed. I wasn’t gossiping, I wasn’t whining. I had a burden and my friend met my need and helped me let God take over the burden.

I’m not sure I’ve ever experienced anything so immediately transforming. Since that day, I’ve been a new woman. The issue causing my struggle is still there, but it is no longer a burden weighing me down. I am no longer carrying it alone and the difference is amazing.

Thank God for friends who listen to the Spirit and who can help meet our needs. I am so grateful.

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Gratituesday: Short But Sweet Visit

September 5, 2011 by Laura 22 Comments

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My dad can rarely get away from his work (one draw-back of being self-employed and being a work-a-holic). ;) As he and his wife are coming up on their fourth anniversary, he actually took a few days off to get away. I was so grateful to hear it. I was even more grateful to hear that they were going to spend part of their get away time with us! (Side note: In case you aren’t aware, I lost my mom seven years ago and my dad remarried four years ago this month. You can read a little bit more about this here.)

“Papa” bought the special breakfast he likes to get to spoil the boys. Here are the leftovers.
Not pictured: Chocolate Long John. Don’t ask me what happened to that one.

Dad and Tacy got to be here to watch our boys play in their soccer tournament over the weekend, then today, we visited and enjoyed down-time together. They watched the boys jump on the trampoline and do “their flips and tricks”. Tacy and I took a walk. We all just relaxed. Their visit was short but sweet and we treasured it all.

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Gratituesday: A Funky Fresh Freezer Full

August 29, 2011 by Laura 217 Comments

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I know the Funky Fresh Kitchen series has only just begun, but I sure do hope that you’re having as much fun as I am having!!! You all make this blogging thing a blast – I hope you know that. :)

This week for Gratituesday I wanted to share some of the fresh kitchen produce that we’ve been enjoying and working to preserve. Fall is always such a busy time, but the work is so rewarding as the wholesome food keeps filling our pantry and freezers.

We bought 12 dozen ears of organic corn at the farmer’s market and worked together to make a sticky, corn mess all over the kitchen – and also to put it up for winter. ;)

We ended up with about 30 quarts of sweet corn, maybe not enough for the entire year, but hopefully enough to last us until we can eat fresh corn next summer!

I ordered a big box of blueberries from Azure Standard (since blueberries don’t really grow well here in Nebraska). We ate as many fresh berries as we could, but then needed to freeze the rest for smoothies.

Why is it that looking at all these bags of good produce makes me so happy?!

Our green beans have been growing well, but have not produced enough for us to put up a year’s worth. Last week a friend of ours called and begged us to please come pick her green bean garden because she had quite enough. The six of us spent about an hour and a half one morning and well, judge for yourself. Do you think we got enough?

We snapped and blanched and snapped and blanched and now we have gallons of wonderful beans in our freezer!!! (Did I mention that we snapped and blanched? I truly was seeing green beans in my sleep for a few nights in a row.)

As I am every year, I am so thankful that God has provide wonderful, healthy food for our family. I’m thankful for my big freezers and that we are healthy enough to work together to get all of these foods preserved.

I’d love to hear what fresh foods have been in your kitchen as we head into fall. Have you been preserving? Have you visited your farmer’s market? (Leave a comment on this Funky Fresh Kitchen post for another chance to win one of 5 $10 gift certificates from our shop.)

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Gratituesday: Strong Enough

August 22, 2011 by Laura 22 Comments

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Through the years, our family has endured difficult seasons in which we were barely able to put one foot in front of the other. Illnesses, hardships, life changes, broken hearts, gut wrenching decisions, pain. Those were the times we curled up at the feet of Jesus and let His people serve and minister to us. We reached up and let our Savior comfort us as only He can. We sought His will, His healing, His strength. Alone, we weren’t strong enough.

Right now, our family is in a season of cheer. We are all healthy and doing well. The sun is shining, soccer is well under way, our school year is going great. I’m humbled by these blessings.

Life is good.

But we still aren’t strong enough.

We’re still not able to do all God has called us to do if we fail to let Him strengthen us and guide us. We’re only human. We’re weak. We’re frail. We’re not strong enough.

Whether the sun is shining in your life or whether the cloud cover has caused this season to be gray – God has promised to be strong enough for both of us. I find so much joy in knowing this. Because of Jesus, we can be strong!! Kinda makes you want to sit up straighter in your chair, doesn’t it?!

I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. Philippians 4:13

I love this song by Matthew West, Strong Enough, and pray that you are blessed by the words and by the knowledge that God is strong enough to hold all of us, no matter what!

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Gratituesday: So Far, So Good

August 15, 2011 by Laura 20 Comments

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I always intend to take lots of pictures. I always think it will be fun to document the entire week with its mountains of food, grateful soccer girls, helpful boys, dirty dishes – the whole thing.

But year after year, as I’m feeding the YC ladies soccer team, the pictures never happen. Occasionally I have half a brain and snap a shot, but generally I’m too busy to remember to get out the camera.

So far, I’ve taken exactly one picture. (Brace yourself for the excitement.) I made eight loaves of Honey Whole Wheat Bread and loaded them (sort of) into my cake container to transport to the church building where we’ve been serving the meals.

The meals have gone wonderfully so far and the YC ladies are so sweet and appreciative. It’s been great to grab hugs from returning students and to get acquainted with new students. I am so thankful that our family has this opportunity to serve the team this way and that Matt is able to help coach. We love being a part of York College (our Alma mater) and being a part of these girls’ lives!

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Gratituesday: My Son, My Brother

August 8, 2011 by Laura 64 Comments

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With tears in his eyes, Justus, our 11 year old, came to us on Sunday and said, “I want to be baptized.”

Matt and I spent a good part of the next three days discussing and studying with Justus about this decision. Without exception, each time the subject came up, our tenderhearted boy’s eyes welled up with tears. He knew exactly what he wanted and he definitely understood the commitment he was about to make. Justus was ready.

And so, Wednesday night Matt baptized Justus. It was a beautiful evening.

A friend of mine captured the event on video. While it’s difficult to hear much of anything (except for the rejoicing afterward!), we’d like to share the video for you to watch:

He came up out of that water a new man. He let the tears flow while he was hugged by so many of our church family and friends. We are so proud of our son and his decision to follow Jesus.

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Gratituesday: A Matter of Perspective

August 1, 2011 by Laura 65 Comments

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Our house is over 100 years old. Sometimes it just feels so dirty. And creaky. And high maintenance.

Sometimes I feel like our house is a never ending project. It is huge and the exterior needs painting. Scraping, priming and painting this thing is taking forever and our house looks a little bit dingy while it undergoes the tedious and laborious process.

Inside, Matt’s been insulating several rooms. Plaster comes off, dust forms everywhere, drywall goes up – walls are still unfinished while Matt instead focuses on painting the exterior.

The bathrooms need help. Paint is peeling, the floors need tile. Something weird is going on with the bathtub. The sink has hard water stains.

Most of our walls aren’t smooth, mostly because they’re made of 105 year old plaster. They have chinks and dings in them.

There’s a big draft in our guest room. We don’t have central air conditioning. It’s hard to keep our house warm in the winter.

Do you want me to keep going?

No, you really don’t. I love my house and I’m thankful for my house, but it is very old and takes a lot of constant work to upkeep. I don’t think we’ll ever be caught up on all the home improvement projects we’d like to do.

Sometimes that really bothers me. We love having company, and sometimes I wonder what people think when they stay here. Are they noticing the cracks? The peeling paint? The weird thing going on with the bathtub? Do they see the dangling mini-blinds that our boys yanked down, the gap in the game room ceiling that needs repair, the piece of trim that is missing?

Maybe they do. Some of them surely do. Our house is a work in progress and my prideful heart sometimes cares too much about what other people think. It really shouldn’t matter and it’s not something that should worry me, but sometimes I let it get to me anyway.

But recently, a friend that I haven’t seen for a while came over. She and her family have been living in a tiny home with hardly any yard or living space for her kids to run around and play. She wasn’t complaining, just telling me the latest.

She kept exclaiming over how big my house is, how pretty the living room is, how nice it is that we have a garden, how beautiful my kitchen is, how great, how great, how great.

Really? My house.

Great? Pretty? Nice?

Did you see the unfinished drywall? The varieties of colors on the outside of my house as we go from yellow to bare wood to white primer to taupe?

It seems that it’s all a matter of perspective. And a new perspective is what I need.

What other people see or notice or think doesn’t matter. What matters is that I appreciate the gift God has given me. Even if the gift does have peeling paint.

My house is beautiful and we are blessed.

It’s all a matter of perspective.

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Gratituesday: Calm Before the…Structure

July 25, 2011 by Laura 22 Comments

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I had a difficult time knowing how to title this post. It’s not like there’s really a storm coming in our lives (that we know of), so I couldn’t really call it the “Calm Before the Storm”. Everything upcoming in our lives: soccer season, feeding many extra people, school starting, gardening/preserving season – we love all of it. I almost called it “Calm Before the Crazy”, but that didn’t quite define it either because I’ve been working really hard to get organized before this busy season hits. I’m really hoping that it will all run smoothly and not be crazy.

I finally settled on “Calm Before the Structure”. I’m not sure that’s an accurate title or not, but it’s the best I could come up with.

Here’s the thing: This is our last week of “down time” before our family begins our structured school year, before soccer season starts, before tomatoes start to overtake our kitchen and before we begin our new high school Sunday night ministry. It may not be crazy (one can hope) but life is just about to get a lot busier. I’m not sure where that “busier” is going to fit in with our already very busy days, but I’m bracing myself because it’s a comin’!

As of Saturday, the new books I’ve been spending so many hours writing the past few months are allllllllmost finished. My Two Week Tackle List is dwindling. Ladies and Gentleman (because really, how many gentlemen are really reading this?) – I hereby declare that this week I’m taking a little time to relax!

I spent several hours today organizing our school books (which really doesn’t feel like work to me). I also allowed myself to read several chapters of Jane Eyre just because I wanted to! Wednesday, I’m taking all the boys to the $1 movie. Thursday we’ll all go out and do our traditional “back to school supply shopping” and go out for lunch. What a treat! The boys and I have been sitting and reading fun read alouds like The Toothpaste Millionaire and The Family Under the Bridge.

This week, we don’t have much of a schedule and it’s really, really nice. We’re gearing up for structure and full, full days. We can’t wait for all the fun! But this week, we may not get dressed until noon. We may play games until way past bedtime. We may eat ice cream for breakfast.

It’s a calm week, and I’m loving every minute of it!

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Gratituesday: Just One Thing

July 18, 2011 by Laura 39 Comments

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Of everything on my Two Week Tackle list, today I only got around to one thing – and even then I didn’t completely finish. All morning I was going to start tackling – yet everytime I tried, the phone would ring and someone would need us to help with something. Or the laundry needed to be switched out. Or we had to run an errand downtown.

And then it was time to make lunch.

That’s life and that’s why I allowed two weeks to tackle the list. Today I will choose to be grateful that I got just one thing done.

I decided to begin with one of the chores I was dreading most – cleaning out cabinets and putting down new shelf liner. Some of my cabinets have become pretty nasty, making for a job that wasn’t very fun. On the other hand, I’m really looking forward to sitting down and organizing our school books and working on our schedule. Therefore, I made myself get this dreaded cabinet cleaning chore done first – then I can reward myself by sitting down in a mountain of books!

I piled the contents of several cabinets onto the counter-top and proceeded to peel out the old shelf liner, vacuum off the shelves, wipe them down, then put down fresh shelf liner. I also got myself completely filthy in the process. Is it just a little bit obvious that I like and use a lot of Pyrex dishes?

Lookie at my clean, organized cabinets!!

I also thought I’d show you what happens when you assign your kids to go fold five big loads of laundry. Our six year old was in charge of all of the towels. He does a great job with smaller kitchen towels and washrags. But the large bath towels are still a little bit difficult for him. Still – I found this pile so endearing, I had to take a picture. I couldn’t bear to refold them. He worked hard on that folding job! (No, really they are folded, can you tell?!)

Even though I’d hoped to get more accomplished today – I’m still very thankful that I got one major (and dreaded) task out of the way. And I’m thankful that my kids were willing to help with some of our other, normal jobs.

Also, I wanted to offer some encouragement to all of you who find yourself trying to get something accomplished – working hard all day – and feeling like you never really get much done. It’s easy to get discouraged when we work hard and don’t feel like we have much to show for it.

If your family has been loved on by you – if you’ve fed them, clothed them, trained them, kissed them, held them – then you have accomplished much. Even if the dirty laundry is still all over the floor and the project you started at 10:00 had to be put on pause, never to be resumed, at 10:02.

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord… ” Colossians 3:23

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Gratituesday: Oh, Hello Summer

July 11, 2011 by Laura 19 Comments

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I’m so close to the finish line I can taste it.

The new book I’m writing…well, it turned into two books because two seemed better than one with what I was purposing for this project. I’ve been working on them for months and since May I’ve been doing little else but writing, taking pictures, inserting pictures, formatting, editing, writing some more. Occasionally, I also did my fair share of whining and feeling defeated. In the middle of this exciting but very labor intensive project, I had to pray often and remember to put all of this into perspective.

(Here’s a sneak peek at the covers of each book. I can’t decide if I’m done with those yet or not.)

Overall, I’ve loved writing these books. Because I’ve adored cooking since I was a little girl, writing Teaching Your Kids to Cook (written for parents of kids ages 2-12) and Learn to Cook (written for students ages 8 and up) has been my most enjoyable writing experience. All throughout, I’ve felt that if I was a child again and someone gave me these books, I’d melt into a puddle of happiness. Yes, I’ve gone from giddy to exhausted…from exuberant to cross-eyed and back to giddy again – all within a thirty minute time period of writing. Bless my family for putting up with me.

Now, I’m on the home stretch. I’m down to the nitty-gritty details of perfecting and tweaking and perfecting some more. The books are almost ready to turn over to Matt and others for the final editing process.

In the meantime, I’m giving myself permission to unglue from the computer screen a little more often. Yes indeed, I feel like I can finally say hello to a bit of a summer break. Instead of just sending my kids out to run in the sprinkler, I’m watching them shriek and play. Instead of waving to my kids as they run outside to jump on the trampoline, I’ve joined them a few times. Instead of only asking Matt how the garden is doing, I’ve dug into the dirt beside him.

Check out these baby birds in a nest on our porch, waiting for their mama to feed them breakfast…

Ahhhhh…it’s summertime. I’ve enjoyed it, but now I’m really enjoying it. I think I appreciate it even more than I ordinarily do, simply because I’m so giddy with excitement that my project is almost complete. (I’ll share more details as soon as I can.)

Bring on the sunshine and popsicles! :)

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