It is about what I can do, not about what I can't do...or it all started after Jonathan Crombie died

It was two weeks of hanging on, jealousy, anxiety, anger, and a little bit of sorrow.  I have been having some financial disappointments and dealing with more boring grown up stuff.  But now there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  This week found me reflecting on why my previous two weeks that were not so great and not filled with the joy of homemaking.  Much of it stems from wanting to do things I can't afford.  I am struggling with contentment and a little bit of resentment.  So I decided to think long and hard about the things I CAN do.  Here is a list of 7 things I can do with very little or no cost.  

1.  Pray-  If I learned anything during Lent it is that prayer changes my whole day especially if I can pray for others and not myself.  Operation World has a wonderful prayer calendar to take the focus off of myself and on to God, the gospel, and the World.  I am going to do this for 15 min. every day while waiting for my tea to boil.  I can also teach my children to pray.  In this area I have been very weak.  My girls don't seem to know how to pray and that makes me sad.  I don't have much knowledge or resources in this area but I am hoping I get better at this.

2.  Sing with a Smile-  When I realized how horrible and worried I had been over the past couple of weeks and finally had a burden lifted from my shoulders, it had felt like I hadn't truly smiled or sang with my whole heart.  I think we can all agree this is a wonderful habit to retrain ourselves in especially when we don't always feel like it.  So if you see me with a silly grin on my face it is because- it is FREE and JOY comes in the morning.  I love to sing.  I love to smile.  I feel like those have been missing because I let stress and resentment rule.  I am sure things will come and try to steal my joy again, but I will just remember after a little while how good God is and I don't have to be exactly like so and so.

3. Read-  After I finally caught up with my reading schedule my next book took so long to come from the library that I took a reading break.  I am so excited to get back in to it.  I also realized that I am not really sticking very well to my goal this year in the reading department.  I am not actually reading any homemaking books!!!  All my books are Christian non-fiction except for the very first one and the C.S. Lewis one. Yes, I guess I just realized that so that makes me slow, but also the Christian homemaking books can be harder to find from the library.  But reading is indeed fairly free, especially if you have a library close by.  Ours is in another town so we do have to pay a little bit, but for a reader like myself it is so worth it.  I think I am going to have stick to with homemaking goals for at least another year just so I can read more on this reading lists I found recently- HERE


 4.  Garden-  I should be working here more often any way.  It did seem to take a lot of money to get it started, but there is a lot of work I could be doing that doesn't require cost.  There is weeding and pruning and vine training.  I could also work on sowing seeds.  I need to be out there at least 1 hour a day.

5.  Writing-  This might not be my gifted area but I certainly enjoy it.  I would like to write more about my devotions and possibly more reviews.  I don't write much fiction, but I haven't ruled it out as an activity.  My mom has wanted to put more family stories on paper which would be fun.  I would have to jog my memory for that big a project but it would certainly be worth it.

6.   Finishing my Cross-stitch-  It is too bad that this isn't finished.  I should pick up a sewing hoop from... I am sure some one at church has one.  It is hard to say when it will be done and I think it might be one quarter done.  I need to perfect my French Knot.  All I know for sure is I can work harder on this one.  Plus I keep forgetting how relaxing it is once I get going. 

7.  Watch Period Movies I Have Been Meaning to Watch-  With the passing of Jonathan Crombie aka Gilbert Blithe from the Anne of Green Gables and my first crush, I have been wanting to do an Anne movie marathon plus make a list of at least 12 different movies I want to see that I haven't.  I found a great list at the blog Strangers and Pilgrims on Earth.  I have always loved period movies, but I have not watched as many as I wanted for a variety of reasons that I am just like- ENOUGH- I want to do this and I can get pretty much all these movies from the library or Netflix. 

*BONUS 8.  Chores/House work- alright, alright, alright, I do this one every day, but I could always do better especially when it comes to laundry and the garage.  It would be great to get those two things in more order.  I didn't want to add this one but I know I should.

FAMILY UPDATE

We celebrated Uncle Mack's birthday.  Here are some fun pictures- although I only got one picture of the birthday boy- sorry!  Love spring and cousin time! 

 PRESCHOOL FUN