Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Gratituesday: The Tradition

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Four trips to Walmart. One day.

Why? To carry on the fun tradition our family started three years ago.

All last week, our boys were working on their lists. First, they each wrote a “wish list” of possible gifts for others to purchase for them. Then they exchanged lists and spent time figuring out what they’d like to get for each brother. On Friday afternoon (after the morning crowd cleared!), I took one boy at a time to do their Christmas shopping for each other. I’d drop the one off at home, then pick up another and head back to the store. (Yes, the same greeter was there all four times. We’re like BFFs now.)

I love this time with each of my boys. I love having one-on-one time with each of them. I love the opportunity to talk with them about budgets, spending, and giving. With the exception of Malachi (who doesn’t yet have any source of income or receive an allowance yet), the boys spent their own hard earned money on these presents. I love seeing their generosity and thoughtfulness. (Even if, deep down, they’re excited to be able to play with whatever gifts they purchase for their brothers!)

This has quickly become one of my favorite family traditions. What are yours?

Share how God is working in your life on your blog, then come link up with us here. If you don’t have a blog, be sure to leave a comment letting us know what you’re grateful for!

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Gratituesday: Focusing on the Positive

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Today was a great day! Matt and the boys spent the afternoon raking leaves for an elderly lady. I got a wonderful, encouraging phone call from a friend. I was able to get a lot of work done on the Gift in a Jar eBook. We’re making plans for a visit with far-away cousins at Christmas time.

Why is it then, even though there are many, many positives in my life, I find that it can still be easier to focus on the negative? Another marriage is in crisis. Our friend is going through radiation. My house can’t stay clean for longer than two minutes. The potatoes boiled over again, making the kitchen smoke and stink. I’m tripping over the jackets that didn’t get put away.

Instead of focusing on the delights on my life, this is instead where my thoughts dwell.

So I repent, and work to recall the joys that fill my life.

My life is full of blessing. By focusing my heart on the positive, I am better able to minister to others, meet the needs of my family, and even cheerfully clean the crusty mess on my stovetop.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians  4:8

Share how God is working in your life on your blog, then come link up with us here. If you don’t have a blog, be sure to leave a comment letting us know what you’re grateful for!

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Gratituesday: The Decision

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Matt and I are self-employed, running a variety of businesses as a means to provide for our family’s needs. We own storage units which we rent out; Matt does lawn care/snow removal for several individuals and downtown businesses; and together, we work the business end of Heavenly Homemakers. Matt also helps coach our local ladies’ soccer team, does small construction jobs for people occasionally and does a wide variety of other odd jobs depending on time and need. When people ask, “What’s Matt doing these days now that he’s not working at Southside Grille?”, I find it a little bit difficult to give them a short answer. He’s definitely not just doing one thing, nor does he really have a specific “job title”. We both stay very busy with work, but it is definitely quite different than having a job.

Because Matt has a business mind and is very “visionary”, we are often looking into other business and investment opportunities. I love how my husband thinks “outside of the box”. I feel very secure with Matt as our provider, because he is an incredibly hard worker and has an unlimited number of ideas for ways to create income for our family.

For the past six months or so, we’ve been working toward a possible investment opportunity. We’ve put hours of time, prayer, discussion, number crunching and research into making a decision about purchasing a local, downtown commercial property. Matt saw great potential in making this investment and had a vision for improving the building in many ways so that it would provide additional income. Not only have we considered this purchase, we actually made two offers over the course of the past few weeks. The offers were countered and a few days ago, we came to a cross-road in this decision:  make a higher offer and more compromises on our end…or choose to walk away.

A higher offer still would have been a pretty good deal for us overall. The income potential from this property was promising, as long as Matt could spend the time needed to improve the building and the business to create these extra income opportunities.

And that’s when it hit us – We are already maxed out. Our boys, our marriage, the ministries we’re involved in, obligations, our current businesses, our own home improvements and to-do lists – they all need Matt. We should not take on something this large at this time.

I’m sharing this with you because I thought you might appreciate knowing what we’ve been working through for the past several months. Now that we have made our final decision on this matter, we feel content with our decision. There is peace that comes from listening to God and honoring Him by our choices.

And today, we feel at peace.

Share how God is working in your life on your blog, then come link up with us here. If you don’t have a blog, be sure to leave a comment letting us know what you’re grateful for!

If you are linking up a blog post for Gratituesday,
please copy and paste the following sentence into your post! Thanks!

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Did You Know That Today is Gratituesday? – Share the Love

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We’ve been celebrating Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers since January of 2008. That’s about three months after I began blogging – back when about four people read this regularly (and I was one them). I love how Gratituesday has grown since then. I love that now, many of you take special notice on Tuesdays and search your heart for something to be thankful for. Some days it’s easy, some days it isn’t – but when we truly look at all God has done for us, there is always something to be grateful for.

I was so tickled when I read my friend Jill’s Gratituesday post last week. It seems that she’s been taking the Gratituesday idea to the bank, to McDonalds – to wherever she happens to be going each Tuesday. She’ll say, “Hey, did you know today is Gratituesday?” She may receive a questioning look initially, but after she’s finished explaining that Gratituesday is a day we pause and reflect on what we’re grateful for, she’s likely to have changed that person’s outlook on the day.

I felt challenged by this idea and wanted to share it with you. I’d love to see Gratituesday go beyond this blog (and yours when you link up!). Think of the grateful attitude that could spread through Facebook. And how about taking Gratituesday offline like my friend Jill has been doing? What if you took it to your workplace? Or to businesses as you run errands? How about sharing it with your family around the dinner table? Or talk about what you’re grateful for on the car ride to gymnastics.

Being grateful is a huge part of stepping outside of ourselves and recognizing that God is truly at work among His people. Take time now to reflect, then share with us – either on your blog or by comment on this post. Then, take it one step further. Share with others beyond this blog. Ask your friends on Facebook to share what they are grateful for this Gratituesday. Talk it up amongst your “real life” friends. Focus on being grateful and encourage others to do the same. A little gratitude goes a long way.

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Gratituesday: This and That

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This Gratituesday, I decided to share several “little” things I’m thankful for, although really, can we call any of our blessings little? Except, of course, the first blessing I shared about weighs only a little over seven pounds…

1. Some of our close friends had a very sweet and adorable baby boy last week. Since we don’t see any more baby boys (or girls!!) in our future (unless God has something very different in mind for our future than we think He has) – I have to say that I have been living vicariously through my friend Jenny for the past few months. Now that the little guy has arrived, I have enjoyed loving on him as much as I can. Mmmmm….baby boys.

2. This week, Matt and the boys are doing a construction project for some friends of ours. Today all four of our sons headed out the door with Daddy, equipped with work gloves and a sack lunch. Seeing them all pile into the truck to go “tear off shingles and siding” made me sigh deeply with joy – not because I had the house to myself this morning, even though that was a nice way to get some work done. My heart was full, seeing my men head off together to work hard and learn. I can never take this gift of a godly daddy and four healthy sons for granted.

3. It just so happens that the couple Matt and the boys are working with/for this week used to live in the same town as and were great friends with my grandparents many years ago in Kansas. It was so wonderful to make this connection! Mrs. Spencer knows my Nana!! And she even remembered meeting my mom. I love this. I need this.

What are you thankful for this Gratituesday? Write about it on your blog, then come link up with us here.
If you don’t have a blog, be sure to leave a comment letting us know what you’re grateful for!

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Gratituesday: Short But Sweet Visit

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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.

What are you thankful for this Gratituesday? Write about it on your blog, then come link up with us here.
If you don’t have a blog, be sure to leave a comment letting us know what you’re grateful for!

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Gratituesday: So Far, So Good

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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!

 

What are you thankful for this Gratituesday? Write about it on your blog, then come link up with us here. If you don’t have a blog, be sure to leave a comment letting us know what you’re grateful for!

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Gratituesday: Calm Before the…Structure

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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!

What are you thankful for this Gratituesday? Write about it on your blog, then come link up with us here. If you don’t have a blog, be sure to leave a comment letting us know what you’re grateful for!

 

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please copy and paste the following sentence into your post! Thanks!

Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!

 

 

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Gratituesday: Oh, Hello Summer

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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! :)

What are you thankful for this Gratituesday? Write about it on your blog, then come link up with us here. If you don’t have a blog, be sure to leave a comment letting us know what you’re grateful for!

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please copy and paste the following sentence into your post! Thanks!

Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!

 

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Gratituesday: Cooking for Three

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We’re experiencing something this week we haven’t experienced for 12 years – we have only one child in our house.

Yep, Asa’s at church camp, and Justus and Elias are spending a fun-filled week with grandparents. Left at home with the parents:  Malachi.

It’s quiet, there’s not nearly the volume of laundry or dirty dishes and wow – I can’t believe the tiny amount of food we’re eating. Yesterday I got out eggs for our breakfast, automatically getting out an entire dozen. Oops. All of our biggest eaters are away right now. We may actually have leftovers this week!

I got to visit with Justus and Elias on the phone this morning and it sounds like they are having a blast. Papa had bought some fireworks, Grandma Tacy had made cinnamon rolls and “a really yummy egg casserole thing”. There had been a potluck after church yesterday and last night they got to eat pizza.

Funny how much of the conversation revolved around food. See? Told ya my biggest eaters were out of town. (I’m sure Asa’s doing a pretty good job of chowing down at camp too!)

So what’s Malachi doing? Well he’s got big plans to invite over some friends this week to play with, he’s getting a little more PBS Kids time than normal – plus we’ve played at least six or thirty rounds of Blink. We’re reading Mr. Popper’s Penquins together and last night, he fell asleep in my arms while we read. Bliss.

As the youngest boy, Malachi hasn’t had much one-on-one with the parents. He’s living it up!

I’m thankful for this time with him, and so grateful that our other boys are being loved on and are making great memories this week.

What are you thankful for this Gratituesday? Write about it on your blog, then come link up with us here. If you don’t have a blog, be sure to leave a comment letting us know what you’re grateful for!

If you are linking up a blog post for Gratituesday,
please copy and paste the following sentence into your post! Thanks!

Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!