"Never"

I found this "poem" over At the Picket Fence. Vanessa and Heather are sisters who blog together and do a regular Simply Sunday post that I enjoy!  This one was so great I just had to share it.



Never

I will never have it all together.
“Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing.
Know that the Lord, He is God;
It is He who made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.”
Psalm 100:2-3

I will never have the most perfectly clean home without toys strewn about and cracker crumbs ground into the carpet.
“A woman who fears the Lord, shall be praised.
Give her of the fruit of her hands,
And let her own works praise her in the gates.”
Proverbs 31:31
I will never have all the answers.
“Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!”
Romans 11:33
I will never know just the right thing to wear for every occasion, have the cutest haircut or be a trendsetter.
I will regularly leave the house in yoga pants, even though I don’t do yoga, and my hair will be in a pony-tail.
Hopefully I will have showered.
Do not let your adornment be merely outward-arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel-rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.

1 Peter 3:3
I will never enjoy doing laundry and cleaning toilets, especially ones that are used by little boys.
“In all the work you are doing, work the best you can.
Work as if you were doing it for the Lord, not for people.”

Colossians 3:23 I will never have a body that does not have dimples in all of the wrong places.  “I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made,
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.”

Psalm 139:14-15

I will never be a perfect mother. And I will never be a perfect wife.
I will make mistakes.
“A soft answer turns away wrath
But a harsh word stirs up anger.
The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly,
But the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness.”

Proverbs 15:1-2
I will probably never be viewed by the world as a success in my chosen role of Homemaker. “She watches over the ways of her household,
And does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children rise up and call her blessed;
Her husband also, and he praises her:
Many daughters have done well,
But you excel them all.”

Proverbs 31:27-29


 
I’ve never been someone who looks at the world through “rose-colored” glasses. But I’m pretty sure that I look at myself through “world-colored” glasses. I put them on and walk around looking through lenses that reflect all of my faults and flaws. It’s a miracle I don’t bump into things more often with such distorted vision! But, what if I took them off? What if I saw myself as He sees me instead of how the world sees me? Perhaps my vision would be restored and I would see that I am… 


Always beautiful to Him

Always loved by Him

Always the daughter of the King!

 -Vanessa, At the Picket Fence - Simply Sunday

Bring on the Summer Projects!

There's something about blue sky and a warm breeze that makes me wanna get stuff done. It also makes me want to get dirty. Seriously. I've been wandering around the place with dirt on my feet and grass on my knees for weeks! (I do shower....sometimes) My legs are also covered in white spray paint because I have caught the reno bug once more!

I say "once more" because when you buy a fixer-upper like we did.....somedays you feel like fixing things....but most days you really don't.

It has been fabulous.  WE FINALLY PAINTED OUR HOUSE!  Let me remind you of what it used to be.

Garden hose turquoise. That's what color that is.

And now....it's "Cracked Pepper".   LOVE. LOVE. LOVE Behr Paint and Primer in one. The pigment is so thick and rich we could've gotten away with only one coat. For serious!

Look how the purple irises POP against the grey! So beautiful.

I also bought a can of Rustoleum Flat white and went to town on our old screen door, mailbox , and our house number too!

The only thing left...which I'm sure you can see in the picture....is the trim under the gutters. Oh how I am NOT looking forward to that.  The reno train just rolled in to Procrastination station.

I'm linkin my sweet before'n'after to:

- Dittle Dattle's Amaze Me Monday
- Thrify Decor Chick's Before and After Party
- Anything Related Tuesday's

Monogrammed Mailbox

I found this CUTE cheap mailbox fix-up over at Full of Great Ideas.

Since I've been on a huge fix-up-the-outside-of-our-house rampage, I knew my old mailbox was in for a treat.  It's funny how when you do one fix-up it sorta snowballs into hundreds. Kinda scary actually.

On my hunt for the perfect monogram font, I came across this really cute monogram stamp set at More Than Paper

It was the middle one that jumped out at me...the other two are too fancy-dancy for us.

Anywho.

Unfortunately, I am not blessed with a Cricut or Silhouette machine so I printed off an enlarged version and painstakingly drew it, free-hand, on to my newly spraypainted mailbox. 

Needless to say, it's not perfect.  My hand on the paintbrush was less than steady.  BUT, from a distance you can't even tell!  Don'tcha just love it! I do!

I'm linkin this bad boy up to: 

OH and also:

Morning Reflections - dealing with some bad news

Outside my Window - the sun is shining and it's already 20 degrees at 8:30am. Looks like she's gonna be a warm one today!

I am Thinking - about my best childhood friend and maid of honor AC that just informed me that she has breast cancer at the age of 26. My heart is breaking for her. She is so vibrant and strong. On the upside....she often shaves her head for the fun of it so losing her hair won't be a problem! There is always an upside - we just sometimes have a hard time seeing it.

I am Thankful for - a faithful God who gently guides His children through the good times and the bad times. He is my Rock.  I am nothing without Him.

From the Kitchen - NOTHING! I have the house to myself for the first time in 3 weeks so I think I will grab a book and enjoy the sun in my backyard.

I am Creating - a few projects all at once. Lamps, a wreath and a cute little side table that I picked up for $8. It's been hard to get things done with another woman in the house to talk to all day!

I am Reading - The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent....but I've only read the first few pages so I don't have much to say on it.  I am also reading a commentary on 1 Peter....still.  It's slow going but I enjoy having something that makes my brain work a little.

I am Hoping - that all the times I was able to share with AC about Jesus in our younger years would have planted the seeds of hope and strength that she needs to draw on now. I am sad that I've been bad at keeping in touch the last few years.

I am Hearing - precious silence of an empty house.

Plans for the Week - it's gonna get crazy around here. We're helping our friends move and I have to create some order in the house before my parents and grandparents arrive on Thursday. I also have a never ending list of baking to do.  It's unreal how much food two men can consume when it's there for the taking!

A Picture or Two:  ... or three....of my friend AC and I. 

AC is on the left, I'm on the right. Vising our friend LB at UVIC.

Always quirky. We love going spelunking in our home town Grand Forks, BC

My bridesmaids - we've been friends since the age of 8. AC is on the left and my maid of honour.

Organizing the Linen Closet

Oi Vay, things have been pretty crazy around here lately. As I mentioned a while ago, we have another couple living with us this month. It is really nice to have another wife around to share the cooking and cleaning duties. I might actually miss them when they're gone!

To make them feel more at home (instead of nomads?...gypsies?) I thought I would organize some of our spaces to make things easier to find.  There's nothing like having to ransack someone elses closets/cupboards when they're not home and you need something. Yikes.

The biggest problem was my linen closet. Sheets and towels and tools and electronics...oh my.  How are they supposed to find a towel when they want to shower?!

I love the idea of beautiful baskets to hold my sheet sets and towels but lets be honest - I am FAR too cheap for that.

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Instead I used things that almost every woman has a stash of:

GIFT BAGS

Yep, gift bags.  I grabbed some bigger ugly ones I would never give to anyone (that I know ..tee hee) and added some fun little labels tied on with twine!  They're the perfect fit for a sheet set and pillow cases.

Now I don't have to worry about our master sheet sets winding up on our guests bed .....eek! Call me strange but that wierds me out a bit.

The towels got rolled up neatly and fit perfectly on the shelf below the sheets. The face clothes live in the basket in the middle along with a yummy smelling vanilla sachet to keep things fresh!

I couldn't manage to get a full length picture of the whole closet but the bottom shelves contain our electronics.  I labeled a ziploc bag each for camera accessories, cell phone accessories and various chargers and batteries.  I also have two other labelled gift bags for tableclothes and napkin storage!  Works like a charm!

How do you keep your linen closet organized?

I'm partying at A Bowl Full of Lemons and At the Picket Fence

Gentle and quiet? Who me?

In my daily devotions, I've been studying the book of 1 Peter - which lately has included slogging through Tyndale New Testament Commentary by Wayne Grudem.  While some of it is just a load of "Greek"...haaaa pun intended....there are some really great insights as well.

This morning I got to study 1 Peter 3  - aptly titled Wives and Husbands.  How fitting that I am a wife! With a husband! I tell ya, this passage has ruffled more than a few feathers in its day but it's one that I cherish and I was so excited to see what Mr. Grudem had uncovered.

Let's revisit the first few verses of 1Peter 3:

Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior or their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. 1 Peter 3: 1-4

I don't want to hit on the submissive bomb too much.....maybe that's for another post.  Mr. Grudem had some great things to say about that too.   But anyway.....

What I want to touch on is the last two verses regarding the beauty of a woman.  It's often hard to just be a woman in today's society.  Media and Hollywood constantly impress on us the "ideal" image. As wives we feel "judged" by our ability to keep house, raise children (for those who are blessed in that way) or be that perfect loving wife. Perfect. Ick.

Unfortunately when we internalize these ideals, we often project them on to the people we love the most - our spouse, our children, our family. It's really hard to be perfect when the rest of the crew isn't keeping up, eh?

Some people say that the Bible doesn't translate into today's age....but I disagree! I think these verses hit the nail on the head. 

"Your beauty should not come from outward adornment" - I don't believe that Peter is suggesting that we dress like slobs, wear our hair in a way OTHER than braids or go without jewelry. He is saying that our value and worth are not from outward adornment.  We've all met a woman that is beautiful to look at but has an ugly character, right?

"Instead it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit..."(vs 4)

According to the Tyndale New Testament Commentary, the adjective "gentle" (praus in Greek) is defined as:

- not insistant on one's own rights
- not pushy
-not selfishly assertive
-not demanding one's own way

(I don't actually need to say anything about that list, do I?.....Didn't think so )

Mr. Grudem goes on to say, " Such a spirit is the result of a quiet and continual trust in God to supply one's needs."

That's all it is ladies.  When we are looking to someone (or something) other than God to meet our needs.....they won't! They can't!  Our poor husbands are not able to meet our EVERY NEED ladies. They're human and sinners saved by grace.  But if we choose, every day, to cast our cares on our Creator and let Him fill us up (like only He can) then our hubbies are free to be who God made them to be.

I betcha if we stop putting so much pressure on our husbands to be who "we" want them to be, they'd be more inclined to try.   Get it?

And I betcha when God fills in all the gaps, you'll find your husband meets more of your needs than you realized :)

I'm pretty bad at this....for the record. "Quite" and "gentle" are hardly in my vocabulary. But I've seen the changes in MY life, when I stopped looking to my husband and I started looking to God. And it's funny, I'm starting to see the changes in my hubby too. God works in wonderful, sneaky ways. Who knew?!

Courtney over at Women Living Well wrote two great posts about dealing with p*rnography in marriage and cited a number of really great resources. Maybe one day soon I'll share our story about how God is making a dirty, jaded mess into something beautiful ....I know He is....I can feel it.



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Beautiful on the inside :)

Edit: I'm linkin this post up to Courtney's Women Living Well Wednesday

Better For Ya Fried Chicken

Just a quick tip for all the fried chicken lovin' American mama's out there ('cause I heard it was more popular down there than up here in Canada....is that true?)

Nate Berkus featured chef Rocco DiSpirito this morning who shared this wonderful "healthy" fried chicken tip:

The amount of fat absorbed by deep-frying is a function of time (...and also temperature of the oil....but we'll focus on time)

SOOOOO

In a deep frying pan or dutch oven, POACH your chicken first.  Put an inch or so of water, chicken broth (I usually add some white wine) to the bottom of your pan and bring the liquid up to a simmer.  Add your chicken and cover.  Let cook for 10-15 minutes. Always use a meat thermometer to make sure your chicken reaches 180F. That way you know it's cooked through.

Now that your chicken is cooked, you can use your favorite ingredients for breading and then pop into the deep fryer for 10-15 seconds. Just enough time to crisp up the outside!

Check out Rocco's Flash Fried Chicken Carnitas using this method.

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