Socially
My Online World
I have had this blog since 2010. I have always enjoyed writing and decided to share with others what God has taught me. It has been an off and on experience until this past summer. I started listening to podcasts and realized there was a whole other world online. There are women like Heather MacFadyen from the God Centered Mom podcast who is real about her struggles and wants to encourage other moms to be God centered through all walks of motherhood. Then there are women like Lisa Appelo and Jennifer Dukes Lee who I have subscribed to their blogs. But then I was able to take it one step further and joined the Hello Mornings and No More Angry MOB Facebook groups where I get to interact with amazing women of God who wish to challenge and encourage me and others. I began to realize that I wanted to join this community of women through my blog. I found an online course called Christian Bloggers Bootcamp which my mom and dad got me for Christmas. My mission statement is "Challenging and showing women that God's grace and His word can help them through all areas of life". I am excited to see where God takes this next year. Politics and the 2016 Election
If you have followed my blog or even just a friend of mine on Facebook, you can clearly see that I like politics. It started two years ago on my journey of discovering our American Heritage. I am a firm believer that the only thing that will change the direction of this nation is if we go back to the word of God. The founding fathers knew that and we need to realize that ourselves. So this time around I have followed every single republican debate and the candidates that I like. John Adams said once, " Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people". We have to do two things
1) Draw near to God's Word for guidance and direction
2) Research and be aware of current issues or the candidates and what they stand for
If we don't do these things our country will be completely lost. We need to step up as Christians and hold onto God's word.
Owning our own house and Dave Ramsey
As of May, my husband and I are owners of a double side house. But as we lived here, we began to realize that we were not financially ready as much as we thought we were. My husband and I balance each other out. I am a penny pincher and my husband likes to spend money. Luckily we don't live luxurious and buy pretty much everything use but we still like to spend money. We realize that we were going to be in debt for a long time. That is when my husband started to listen to the Dave Ramsey show on podcast. My husband and I began to saw that we really were not good with our money as we thought we were. A few things that I have learned from being a house owner especially of a double is
1) There is always something that needs to be worked on and we have to have the money. In September we had to set up in our envelope system three categories: Christmas, fix our car, and a problem that we have going on at our house. When we took out the chuck of money we needed to save, it was a reality check with what money we had to leftover to distribute to the other envelopes.
2) Not everyone is good as us paying off bills or paying rent. We learned how to show grace but also stick to what was right when it came to the renters on the other side of our house. There are going to be set rules when we get new renters.
3) I can now understand why owners of previous houses we rented from said no animals. They leave such a mess! I don't think I even want an animal unless it is an outside one.
My husband and I are getting use to the "Dave Ramsey way" with the envelope system and realizing even during the times that we think it is hard, it will be worth it in the end.
Relationally
Being a mom changes thingsAt the beginning of the year, my husband and I moved back to where we use to live when we first moved to Pa. I was so excited to go back to my old church which I loved so much. But I soon found out that the things I enjoyed at church I couldn't enjoy as much now since I became a mom. For starters, they don't have nursery for the Sunday evening service or Wednesday service. It was a little easier to go when goober was little but now as an almost 18 month old, it is hard to come anymore because she don't sit still. It was kinda disappointing when I couldn't see the girls I use to work with in the youth group. I am not able to spend much time with them as much as I was able to before. Also all the young moms that have kids the same age as mine, all work. So I kinda feel isolated. I am in the middle where the 20 somethings still see me as a peer and the older moms with older kids still see me as a young married person without kids. But what I have learned and going to try to apply this coming year is:
1) Finding a place where I can serve. There is a children church teacher position during the worship service that I am going to serve in. It is important to try to serve in the areas you can serve even if it is just working in the nursery or ministering to someone in the church through prayer and sending out letters. 2) Teaching my 18 month old to sit. I have to confess I wanted to do that before I had kids but reality set in that it is actually harder than I thought. My little one does not sit still at all. Her personality is very bold and sometimes strong-willed. It is going to take tons of unhappy moments of reading a book and holding her as I read to her for her to learn.
3) Older women with older kids are only a phone call away. Sometimes you might just have to settled with a phone call instead of going out for coffee. I have developed a relationship with a woman at church who actually has done this with me. She even invited me to go walking in the park as I pushed my little one in the stroller.
I am definitely anticipating this next year how I will continue to grow in this.
My relationship with my in laws
As I stated before, we moved back where we use to live in January. But we did not have a house yet. So we chose to live with my in laws. Here are a few things I learned:
1) Communication is the key. No matter how different my point of view is from my in laws, communication had to happen. There were times I had to be straight forward with them which was hard but they were able to hear what I had to say. It made them respect me more as a person.
2) Offer to do things around the house. My in laws are busy people and simple things like vacuuming slipped by. So I did it. I also offered to make dinner a few times. It made it easier to live there.
3) Do things they like to do. My mother in law liked playing games and so do I. So almost every evening we played games. My father in law liked to relax and watch tv. So sometimes I watch his favorite tv show. It was the small things that count.
This next year, I think I need to focus more on my mother in law's mom who now lives by herself who is wearing my mother in law thin.
Spiritually
Learning how to wait on GodI want so much to live a life is grace filled. I want to be able to show it to my love ones. But I always fall short. I am a major people pleaser and I have had enough of it. But I continue on in my strength. It has not been until recently through this Christmas advent season that I have seen Christ as the one who came to deal with my sins. It is through Him that I can do anything. It is through Him that I can make it through the day focusing on the here and the now. But I have to wait on Him. There is going to be more on this in the future on my blog. But here is a video to get you personally thinking
God's word changes people's lives
This is something that God keeps bringing up year after year to remind me. I always try to control the situations I am in. Sometimes it leads me to fear. Sometimes it leads me to getting really angry at my little goober. Sometimes it allows me to think things that are not true where I just get so swept up in emotions where it ruins the rest of the day. God has given me a BIG desire to share God's word through writing but why do I seem to skip out on myself? On my iPad I have verses for every emotion I tend to struggle with.
When I feel overwhelm
Psalm 94:19 and Psalm 61:2
or
When I feel like a failure
Psalm 37:23-24 and Psalm 94:18-19 and Micah 7:7-8
I also would like better my American Heritage study for kids. I don't know but I do know that this year without the word of God I wouldn't have had learned the things I did.
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