Works for me Wednesday

I've been lurking over at Rocks in My Dryer for sometime, and love reading what "Works for [Others] Wednesday! So today I decided to also jump in!

A great thing that has proven to work for me (and I kick myself on mornings I don't do this) is every night before bed, I run the dishwasher. The next morning I RACE the coffee maker and try to empty the dishwasher before the coffee is done. One thing I've discovered about myself is I have a real competitive side, and I actually try to make a race out of most chores around my home (works great with my preschooler too!). Also, I'm such a coffee junkie, that my reward for quickly emptying the dishwasher is a nice cup of coffee (or 2 or 3!) Then once I'm done with my coffee and my kids are done with breakfast - the dishwasher is all ready to start filling up with those dishes.

It works for me!

Blessings!

Jen

Though Your Riches Increase

Psalm 62:10b "though your riches increase, do not set your heart on them."

I am blessed that situations in our life have changed so that in many ways our riches have increased. Because of a change in job for my husband, and because we sold a home, we now have "more wiggle room" as the saying goes. A day hasn't passed since this happened last fall, where I have not dreamed about what to do with this increase in our riches.

Today, WHAM! I came across this verse. It hit me hard that my sight is set on all the earthly things I want to do with this increase - but here it is, God plainly tells me not to do that. What then is my heart to be set on? Deuteronomy 6:5 and 6 say to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts." My heart is to be set on God! Psalm 37:4 says "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." My focus on this verse tends to self-centered "...and He will give you the desires of your heart." I realize that the real point of this verse is in the first half - "Delight yourself in the Lord." James 4:3 says "When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." Here is the problem, when I ask for the desires of my heart, I would dare say that most of the time it is with the wrong motives - it is for self-gain. As I delight myself in the Lord, my desires will become more God-centered and less self-centered, and only then will my motives be right and pure.

So there is the challenge for myself this week - to set my heart upon loving the Lord my God with all my heart, soul and mind and to stop focusing on earthly riches.

Celebrating My Home, My Life

As we reflect on the resurrection of our Lord, write a post that celebrates life.

Last fall my husband and I sold our first home. Our realtor told us that our counters and refrigerator had to be bare and our house had to be decluttered. Much of my kitchen got packed into boxes, and for a few months, I didn't miss any of it! How many useless extra appliances did I HAVE to have, that just took up valuable space? Also, about 2/3 of my kids toys got packed, and they didn't miss any of it. Two positive things I learned was A. how much we really do NOT need; and B. by keeping my home free of clutter, clean up time was super quick.

But let me be honest. If you walked in my home during that time - it was lifeless. No personal pictures of family and friends. None of my kids artwork on the fridge. No toaster on the counter revealing what my family has for breakfast most mornings. As free and easy as it was on one hand, my house felt dead to me. So while I learned some practical things that I continue to do as an attempt to keep my house clean and decluttered; on a spiritual sense, I learned that your home is where your family is. During that time, my home was not together. My husband was away working during the week. When my son brought art projects home from church, they went right in a box to be packed. Nothing in that house represented our life. I learned that your HOME is the daily companionship of your family, the daily messes, the never-ending laundry, the bills that need to be paid, the pot soaking in a sink from a delicious meal that fed your family-home is your life and not the four walls and roof that you call your house.

So here I am in my new house, its cluttered again - not entirely with useless things but its cluttered with things that represent our life - my kids' muddy shoes are sitting by the door. I have their artwork displayed with pride - not only on the fridge, but on windows and bedroom walls. The playroom never looks like it belongs in the current issue of an organizational magazine, but its because my kids are playing there. There are sippy-cups in the sink at any given time. We have our towels from this morning hanging on a hook to dry, and our toothbrushes are sitting on our upstairs bathroom sink. All of these are major no-nos when selling a house, but it is our home. Yeah its lived in, and I love it!

Blessings,

Jen

This article is my submission to the blog challenge sponsored by Art Bookbindery, "Empowering Writers to Self Publish."