Decluttering the Closet

     I'm getting the spring cleaning bug, and wanted to start some bigger projects. Today I decided I would declutter my closet. With full intentions of going through every single peice of clothing in our house (before my birthday in Sep.) I figured, why not start in my own closet. I set up my space with a bag "To Donate", a bag for "Trash", a box "To Sell", and a box "Mom's- Doesn't Fit". The last box I am only allowing myself because I am in the middle of losing the last final pounds from having my 2 wonderful kids, so I figured I can hold on to a couple things that don't quite fit me yet.

     Normally this would have been done with loud girly pop music blaring, but Piper was occupied watching TV, and my music would have called her intention in to bug me. I set my timer for 45 minutes (I knew I'd have to speed through in order not to dawdle on decisions). I went through everything that was hanging. Then  I went through socks and tossed the warn out ones. Our MOPS group is donating gently used bras, so I got rid of a bunch of those too. I even went through the underwear drawer and tossed a TON of those (and many, many thongs from my high school days)!

     I'm pretty happy with my final results. Now I just have to stay motivated to tackle Mike and the girl's closets as well. How about you? When was the last time you went through your closet??

Trust: Earning and Rebuilding

    Trust is a funny thing. It’s probably the thing most taken for granted by people, especially in today’s society, with information so easily at our fingertips. Some feel that trust should be earned before it is given at all, but the problem with that thought is that it is SO hard to earn in the first place.

    You can probably think of more than one time that a person has lost your trust, but thinking of times when someone has earned it is much more difficult. Trust is generally earned over a long period of time with consistent results and obvious actions on their intentions. In an ongoing relationship, like a marriage, this can be difficult because day to day life is on auto-pilot. Your spouse consistently provides the same results (earning a paycheck, doing the dishes) without you even realizing it. When it comes to intentions, it’s a matter of communication. A lack of good communication in any relationship can mean a gradual breaking down of trust. And we all know how a single simple event can completely break down trust in one swoop.

    So how do you earn/gain trust? Proper communication on a daily basis is key to rebuilding trust. Since trust in relationships is a two-way street, both parties need to be working at it. It doesn’t matter how hard you are trying to earn trust, if the other person involved isn’t actively trying to trust you. Communicate! Don’t break your word, and don’t intentionally lie. Don’t assume things either. Talk about everything till your blue in the face. Being obviously open, shows the other party that you are actively trying to have good intentions with common expectations. It’s a daily task that is well worth the effort.

    Take your steps toward rebuilding trust today and everyday by communicating your intentions and making sure that you both have the same expectations. And when you hit a bump in the road, communicate some more, ask for forgiveness, and be willing to start over again. Any real relationship is worth the work- from both sides of the relationship.

http://locolife.hubpages.com/hub/achieving-and-developing-trust
http://www.kansas.com/2012/12/05/2592773/earning-trust-from-different-personality.html

My best is good enough.

Happy New Year friends! Did you ll make resolutions? When I started thinking of resolutions, I ended up with a huge list (as usual) and then decided I didn't want to post them because it would be more obvious and public if when I fail. After some more thought I narrowed the resolution down all together.

I will do MY best, for God, my family, and myself. As long as it's my best, it's good enough.

I've got so hung up in the past on things being done "right" or getting things perfect, and I'm through with that. All it gets you in the end is a couple great things and a ton of half done projects...not to mention the things you think about doing, but get scared away from because of perfectionism.
I'm through with allow people's thoughts and judgement of me rule my every waking emotion. I guess another way to word my resolution is "I don't care what anyone thinks about anything that I do". ...but that just sounded rude and callus, and that is not the goal at all with this.
So here I go, off to a new year, trying my best in everything I do, and simply satisfied and happy, knowing that my best is good enough.

Blessons ...The blessings that are constant lessons.

“Children are such a blessing!”

“Congratulations on the blessing of your marriage!”

These things truly are blessings from God above, however they don’t always seem like it do they?  The Bible clearly states both marriage and offspring to be a blessing.
Ps 128:3 Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
    In the very heart of your house,
    Your children like olive plants
    All around your table.

I don’t know about you, but the type of vine my spouse represents seems to be more of a weed than a fruitful vine most of the time. Why is this? The fruitful vine in the passage is a slender plant that grows across the ground unless placed on supports. Our spouse could be that fruitful vine we are looking for, but maybe we need to look on the ground, and lift them up and support them.

Gen 2:18‭ ‬And the Lord God said,‭ “‬It‭ ‬is not good that man should be alone‭; ‬I will make him a helper comparable to him.‭”

A supported spouse is more likely to be fruitful, and the kind of “vine” that we all seem to be looking for. Stop looking elsewhere admiring better “vines”, and don't point out the flaws of your own if you've neglected to support it. Start at home and take care of the fruitful vine that God has already placed at your feet. Take this blessing and learn all the lessons you can from it. Marriage is hard, but when you let Christ lead you through it, the blessings are wonderful.

Ps 128:3 Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
    In the very heart of your house,
    Your children like olive plants
    All around your table.

In the time the Bible was written, olive plants were practically priceless. I’m sure my children are priceless... (I know that deep down) but more days than not, I feel like I would pay someone to "borrow" them for a moment of my own sanity. When you look further into scripture you understand that not only was the olive plant priceless, but it was an essential part of life for the rich and poor. The wood was hard and used in special furniture and statues. The oil was used to anoint kings and prophets. It was also used in cooking, cosmetics, and medicine. The olives themselves were pickled and an important part of yearly food storage. When you owned an olive plant, it could bless your family in all these ways.
    My children are priceless not because they are geniuses or will compose the next great musical master piece.  (Heck I’m even dreading the years of piano lessons). Our children are priceless because God has given each of them the talents and abilities to be able to further bless our family. The lesson comes in the fact that we as parents need to cultivate each of our precious “olive plants” into the young people and adults that we want them to be, as a blessing to us and as a blessing to society.
    Let’s stop with the selfishness of materialism for ourselves as parents but also for our children. Raising a child is a non-stop learning process for both the child and the parent. What are we doing to love and teach our children right now? They should be our focus. We need to focus on the children in front of us and remember that it is solely our jobs as owners of these “plants” to raise them.