clean closets say a lot about me

So in my earlier post I mentioned how I was back to the Fly lady to help me keep this house of mine under control. Also in my earlier posts I showed a picture of my shoe closet. Yesterdays "10 minute clean" thing was to straighten the shoe closet. AGHHHHHH!! This is my worst nightmare. But after much thought I decided to jump in. I got the 3 boxes she told me to get (throw away, give away, and things that go into another room) It took a bit longer than 10 minutes, but my shoes have been straightened. Each shoe is with it's matching partner, and I even got rid of 5 pairs! (2 were my husbands. STILL COUNTS) It does make it a lot less exciting to get the shoes in the morning, but oh well.

I also have cleaned out from under my bed. Wow! I was not aware of the items that had been under there. I could make a sweater from all the cat hair I swept out.

I found my old sewing machine under there for goodness sake. I just wish I knew how to sew. I would love to make little outfits for my kids. The only time I ever tried to sew I ended up with something that looked like it belonged on the Flintstones show. AWFUL. My sweet daughter did wear it, but I noticed it came up missing a few days later. hmmmmm

My house is slowly coming together and for that I am thankful. I am a huge control freak, and when my house is messy I can't breath. I have to have order in my life.

On a completely different note, a few months ago my Jordan had a birthday party and instead of people buying her gifts we decided on a charity to have people donate money to. She raised 275 dollars for Teen Challenge of Arizona. She was very happy with this charity because it helps keep teens off drugs. She knew she did a good thing and it made my heart feel good too. I wrote them a letter and sent off the money. I must admit that I expected them to at least send her a thank you card, but here it was June and nothing. I was ticked off, and had decided just 2 days ago to throw out their address and we were not going to use them as a charity in the future. BAD MOMMY! Well, I got home yesterday and there was a message on my machine asking for me to call them. I did and they said that they were so touched by what Jordan had done that they wanted to throw her a party to show their thanks. After all it was not everyday that a 9 year old gave up birthday presents. I was so touched I cried. I told them when she got back from Texas, and they put in on the calendar. I told them it was really unnecessary, and all she really would like is a card of thanks instead, but they insisted on doing something special for her.

I am pretty sure this was a God thing. He was showing me that it was supposed to be a sweet thing in having Jordan give money to charity, but I had made it ugly by wanting recognition for her. Shame on me.

Anyways, I thought I would share that story to be held acountable for my actions.

The Frantic Reader

I have recommitted myself to the flylady again. I tried to listen to her in the past, but the constant emails and testimonies, and suggestions drove me crazy, I stopped and asked myself if I even really did want to shine my stinking sink everyday! I have put these past thoughts behind me, and signed back up for her help. I don't want to spend all of my time cleaning, and she really is a life saver. I chose the option to get all the emails at once, and on one email. Not 20 emails in the box, just one with that days items in it. Thank you FLYLADY

Jordan has been gone for 1 week now, and her absence if felt by all. She is the talker in the house, and now we all kinda look at each other for them to like to start up a conversation. She called today to let us all know how much fun she is having and that she was not drinking too much soda, and was being a very sweet girl to all her friends. See, the power of a parent who comes before the Lord on their child's behalf is heard.

That is about all the news I have here.

OH, I did get the laundry room painted and we are going to hang the shelf and mirror in it tomorrow! I love home improvement. ok, I really dont, but I do like the finished product.

I wanted to close this on something I read the other day while skimming through Homeschooling help books. It actually made me cry. (could be hormones)

"God is so smart. I think He knows that if He told us all ahead of time what was to be in store for our lives, we would all certainly opt out earlier.He knows that if we stick with Him and do what He has set before us- because we know it is a rough job but somebody has to do it, Because we know that He is able even when we are not -He is always able to pull off great things in spite of us."

It went on to say that if you are feeling like you can't handle homeschooling your child,and that you don't know where to begin or what you should teach, then perhaps you are thinking about "you" and not God or your blessed child.

Thank you God for knowing my struggles and being there for me to cry to when nobody else is around. Thank you for my sweet Aspen, who has taught me so much these last couple of months. Thanks you God for Jordan, for all her witty humor, her sweetness to anyone, and the art of conversation. also thank you for Micah, who is proving to be both entertaining and enjoyable during the schooling hours. I see him learning to pray with the family, and my heart cries out with happiness.

You are an awesome God

Amen

I have been doing a lot of reading in my bible the last couple of weeks. I have been brought down to my knees and my sin has been exposed to me. I feel a tight feeling in my chest as my heart tries to come to terms with just how bad I really am. And yet, I have a loving Savior who died so that I can put my sin behind me and know that when my day of judgement comes, I can be welcomed in to my home with Jesus.

Having said that.....


I was humbled today by someone I feel is a close friend, and someone I really admire. I know that this person would never try to hurt me with words, but yet something she said cut deep. So deep, that when I got home I got out my bible and prayed for God to help me see that what was said should be an eye opener for me. This friend did not think that what she was saying probably even registered, but it did. I think that perhaps God was using her words to let me see what I had been doing. She was confessing a sin that she had done the day before, and how she needed to say she was sorry for it.

I was hit like a ton of bricks!

I had been sinning in the same way. I had not said I was sorry to the person I was hurting. This Godly woman, this friend, was openly admitting she was wrong and I was not brave enough to do the same.

I must go and confess my sins, and pray for forgivness, not only from her, but also from God.

Jesus said that His grace is deeper than my sins, and no one is happier than the one who has sincerely repented of wrong.

bathroom done too!!!

I felt so encouraged by showing my last post of Micah's room being all done that I got out the paint and finished another room. Now my bathroom is a nice cottonwood color instead of plain jane white. I think putting anything white in a childs bathroom is a joke. It is a true sign that the person who owned the house before us did not have kids. So anyways, my bathroom looks wonderful, and will not show as much of the children's fingerprints.

Now there is still the office and my bedroom to complete, but no rush.

I still need to write about my trip to Colorado, but it still all kinda stings, so I will wait to write about it later when I can fully put all thoughts down.

finished room

So, I forgot to put up pics of Micah's room now that it is all done. Floors are polished, walls are painted, and rug is all steam cleaned! We ROCK!!!!

I still have to put up the curtains, but I think I like it the way it is for now.

I will write more later.