spending my time

hello, dear ones.  

this is me, hiding behind my coffee.

i have missed chatting with you, but i can assure you, you've been on my mind a lot.  :)

this summer is challenging me in different ways than i expected.

our new home school year is right around the corner, taunting me to plan and organize it, but i'm trying to squeeze every last ounce of summer lazy that i can.

i am craving fall already, which is amazing, seeing as i feel like summer just started.

God is so amazing like that.

He knows when i need prompting and change, and somehow each season is so welcomed by me in all of it's newness and beauty.

fall means apple cider and pumpkins, tube socks and sweaters, jeans and my fave boots.

it's organized days of school, getting up on time, and feeling like we've accomplished big things.

i am sort of scared for all of the responsibility, yet excited for the push it gives me.

is this all random?

why yes, yes it is. :)

i was challenged earlier this summer by this verse.

"we spend our years as a tale that is told."

Psalm 90:9 b

i heard a sermon on this verse once, and it was so interesting to me.

we spend our time.

spend  (spnd)

v. spent (spnt), spend·ing, spends

v.tr.

1. To use up or put out; expend: spent an hour exercising.

2. To pay out (money).

3. To wear out; exhaust: The storm finally spent itself.

4. To pass (time) in a specified manner or place: spent their vacation in Paris.

5.

a. To throw away; squander: spent all their resources on futile projects.

b. To give up (one's time or efforts, for example) to a cause; sacrifice.

like i take my time and divvy it out according to importance, 

carefully counting my coins(hours) and separating them into piles, to see how much i have and how i want to spend it.

that is what we do with our time, too.

except i have been very bad at divvying out my time in the areas that it should be.

my 'time' bank account has been in the red and i have been learning more about spending my time with Him. and part of that means focusing more on them...

...being more of a 'yes' mom.

that's why i haven't been around here much.

i am not the person who is good at time management.

i am challenged to be better.

God wants my best and my family deserves it. :)

so yah.

that was a bonus for you...just something that has been on my heart.

how do you spend your time?

three of our kiddos went off to camp this summer.

for a WHOLE week!

it was super relaxing, and i was able to spend some awesome time with my youngest...just focusing on him.

it was so wonderful.

while i missed my other children, i knew they were well taken care of, and only 10 minutes away.

we went junking, ate out a LOT, went retail shopping, painted, played, and i learned a lot about that sweet little red head.

time well spent.

my mother in law hosted a family reunion at their home a few weeks back.

it was a blessing to see some of the extended family, and especially to spend time with nathan's grandparents.

his grandpa's health is declining, so the fact that they made the trip was amazing.

father daughter love right here.

time well spent.

if i've said it once, i've said it a hundred times.

my oldest is a for real teenager now.

#stopgrowingup

but i know that's not possible.

she is changing just like the seasons and she is so very beautiful, inside and out.

it stops me in my tracks some days.

time spent with her is a blessing and i love watching her blossom into a sweet, Godly young woman.

dipping my toes through the dewey grass early in the a.m. is time well spent.

battling all of the spiders that have built homes into my hydrangeas, snipping their blooms and enjoying the increase that God has blessed us with, even through a partial drought, is something i truly relish in.

chatting with the birds and hanging laundry on the line...

add a lemon verbena candle and a cup of hot coffee and i've got a perfect morning.  :)

flower picking with two of my nieces.

time well spent.

#lovethis

now i don't want to lead you all into thinking i have spent all of my time like i should, because that would be so far from the truth.

there have been wise transactions and very poor ones, but i am trying to focus on the positive, and keep pressing forward into using the time that God gives me in my day to honor Him, and not end up like a frazzled mama mess.

because that happens.

a .lot.

so, i think i'm going to keep focusing on becoming more like the definition of spend

5b:::sacrifice...i want to give up my time and efforts on the things that really matter.

so that i don't end up like 

5a:::throwing away and squandering my time with futile, unimportant things.

i want my tale to be one that is pleasing to Him.

 ^"So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom."

Psalm 90:12

xo,

mary

it's all a blur

the weekend, that is.
with all the swirl of NBT(Neighborhood Bible Time) starting, Father's Day, and the general busyness of life, the weekend seems to have come and gone so quickly, leaving only the messes behind that there wasn't time to clean up.

i wanted to do a father's day post yesterday, but of course, i woke up late and got home late, too.

i am so very grateful for the fathers that God has placed in my life.
my husband and i both had the privilege of being raised in Christian homes.
although not perfect by any means, the Godly heritage of those who have come before us has made a huge impact on who we are today.
by the grace of God alone.

i am thankful for my father, who taught me not to ever forget 'who you are, and what you are',
and drilled psalm 19:14 into my brain at family devotion time every morning before school.
of course, i thought it was lame then, but years later i remember and i am changed because of it.
not having the freedoms that all the other kids had growing up protected me from so many potentially disastrous situations.
not that there haven't been any, because there have, but the effects were lessened because i knew right from wrong.
God's Holy Spirit was living within me, thanks to my dad leading me to the Lord at a young age.

my husband's father became a Christian early enough in his life to raise children in a good solid Bible believing church, teach them hard work, honesty, respect and integrity.
it has shaped who my man is today.
were it not for the pleading of nathan's parents to PLEASE go to Bible college for ONE year, and then consider the military, he may never had accepted Christ as his personal Savior and given his life to the Lord.
we may have never met!

it's humbling to think of the impact we have on our children and future generations.
what we do today, doesn't just affect today.

that leads me to the father of my children.
he is a man of prayer.  deep, intense, prayer, full of faith and believing.
he is a man of study.
he studies God's word and teaches it to our children.
he is a man full of grace, compassion and mercy.
just like our Heavenly Father lovingly chastens us, and likes to give us good things,
my husband does the same for our children.
he is a picture of a Godly father.
is he perfect?
definitely not, but he claims God's Word as Truth and clings to it with his whole being.
he and i didn't always follow the straight and narrow, no siree!, but by God's grace and Him ALONE,
we seek to serve the Lord together, and raise our kids to love and know Him, too.

i am a big planner.
i love to give gifts.
i do believe that gift giving is my main love language!  :)

we wanted to make father's day special for nathan, and so we started planning early.
the kids all made cards, and we created some fun stuff throughout the week.
i ordered some special gifts.  things that i thought would mean something to him.
he specifically asked for NO PRESENTS, but come on now!?
that wasn't happening!

i got this crazy idea to make a vintage tie banner.  

we bought 42 ties(for $5.00) and hung them on rope.

the lady at the thrift looked at me like i was nuts when i checked out.  :)

it was super cool that he actually wore one of them yesterday.

 homemade cards from adoring children.

i bought mine, because i ran out of time.

i wanted this flower arrangement to look sort of like it was in a trophy(#1 DAD!), so i dug out an old treasure i had.  

it is simply ferns, hosta leaves and weeds with some red dogwood and curly willow branches.  

i knew nathan would appreciate one thing about it...it was all free!

speaking of free...so was the banner we made out of vintage book pages, foam stamps, a hole punch and twine.

i love making these!

we made halvah, one of nathan's favorite 'healthy' desserts that i make.

my whole family goes gaga for this raw treat!

HALVAH

*********

1 cup almond meal

1/2 cup tahini

3 T honey

1 tsp vanilla

shape into balls and roll in unsweetened coconut

VOILA! 

hello healthy, delicious treat.

i cannot even tell you how much these kiddos love this man.

i custom ordered a leather Bible cover for his Bible that is falling apart.

it even has his name on it! 

it is beautiful and the man that made it does amazing work.   

you can find him, here. 

i highly recommend him.

i'm so thankful for this guy.

and today starts a new week.  

i can feel it in my bones that it's gonna be a blur, too.
want proof?  i left the conditioner in my hair in the shower today because i was in a hurry.
did i go and wash it out?  noooooo.

can you all say a prayer for me?

Neighborhood Bible Time(VBS) is this week and i am teaching the pre-schoolers and kindergarteners.

it is quite the ride, i tell ya!  

16 kids last night, and there will be more tonight.

pray that i can say mephibosheth a million times without getting tongue tied.

#kindness #kindness #kindness is the lesson i am teaching and i need a lot of it myself.

and patience.  

a LOT of patience.

hope you have a great week lovelies.

xo,

mary