Raw Honest Holy Week

But for the grace of God I made it through this week.  I didn't feel holy.  I didn't feel productive.  I didn't feel kind.  I didn't even feel very loving or patient.  It might have been because we were coming off of Spring Break and getting back to routine was harder than expected.  It might have been Satan at work- stirring the pot- breaking my spirit causing doubt and confussion.  It might have been plain old exhaustion.  Whatever it was- it made this week feel less than Holy.  It was not how I pictured it at all.  I feel like all I did was run errands and everyone was going to bed too late.  I was expecting too much again.  I was trying to do too much again, and let me tell you....it is not worth it.  I am telling it like it is and well I have to confess. 

I drank 3 Monsters, ate fast food, had so many treats I can't even count, haven't quite finished two books I was hoping to finish by Easter (technically still have a few hours on that one), yelled at the kids, and did very little house work.  Out of all this I still believe in God and in the power of Jesus' death.  I might not understand it perfectly, but I can not live without it.  That being said here is my week in pictures (Lent Project).

Simple Meal- Lenten cooking is a challenge especially when you are not sure of the family being on board or not.  I have a much better plan for next year though.  For this meal I made Tuna Helper (a meal all the family will eat), bread, green beans, and cherry tomatoes.  No, not homemade.  No, not very healthy, but simple.

My Prayer- Despite some disappointing things this week, my prayer life has been intense.  God has met me where I am and I am understanding things so differently.  God's judgements and seemly violent nature in the Old Testemant has become clearer to me than ever before.  Right now is not a post for theology or necessarily a well thought out understanding, but I just wanted to share the hope I have in Christ and a new prayer I want to pray for all nations and peoples to hear about the atonement, righteousness, and glorification in heaven.

Palms- Palm Sunday is not a big deal for service but it is a big deal for Sunday school.  We made some palms with paper.  I took cute pictures of the 3 year olds in my Sunday school class.  Here is Lucy with her best friend Madison.

Passion- My passion is my family- especially traditons.  It is what is sometimes also the death of me as I go out of my way, spend way too much time and money on things that I don't know are making a difference, and just often feel deflated when the experience is over.  But I found this book last year at a used book store and thought- maybe...  We did do a few of the things but there were a lot of things my family is not ready for yet.  Praying that my craziness does not turn my children away from God!  I big fear of mine. 

Humility- I have been on my knees a lot this week- gardening, wiping little bottoms, cleaning up spills (and accidents), and in prayer.

Garden- Speaking of gardening...I just started a few things better already ahead of last year so that is good.

Bread- a simple home communion bread made last minute.

   


Cross- I came up with this idea after seeing something similar on a homemaking website but much more fancy.  It kinda distracted me too.  I only intended to make maybe three and then maybe one for each of my kids and then it turned into making one for all the cousins and those of us spending Easter together.  I made a huge mess, but it was beautiful.  I have high hopes to bring these out every year. 

PASSOVER- After all the cooking this was really relaxing and fun.  Eating with family, recounting God's redemption, and just loving this tradition.  I only took two pictures, but I wish I had taken a piture of Hermione trying the horseradish- it was priceless!  She kept silent, turnned red, looked like she was going to choke, and I just kept giggling.  Hermione also read one of the four questions.  I was so proud of her.  Ariana sang Dayenu really loud which was adorable.  Ruby and Ariana continually washed there hands in the lemon water and Lucy slept through the whole thing.  Plus lamb is delicious by the way.  It was so fun!

 

This Saturday Grandma Cheri is taking the kids for the night and boy am I ever grateful.  I didn't reall think I needed a break but now I know for sure that I do!  Praise God for knowing exactly what I need and providinng.  I have all the girls dresses ready so now I have to take care of me.  I hope you have a wonderful Easter/Resurrection Sunday with your family.  I can't wait to see pictures of girls in spring dresses and handsome boys in suits.  Don't forget to greet your brothers and sisters with "Christ is Risen!"  Peace out!

Lent Playlist

Just a Quick Note

I was afraid this was going to happen.  I do not have time for a regular update today!!  Booo!  But I will try tomorrow, still can't make promises though.  We are preparing for Seder Passover over here.  My kitchen is a mess.  My hands are still covered in some kind of gritty sugar/flour paste.  I still have a butch of vegetables to chop up and I have been holding off going to the bathroom for the past 20 minutes at least.  I am so excited!  I love Passover.  I have mixed feelings about celebrating it as a Christian.  It would be more appropriate to observe it with a Jewish family in context because Jesus' Passover would not have been "exactly" like the one we observe.  But so many of the rituals point to Christ it is hard to feel like I should be bound by certain rules for celebrating it.  I don't know if what we do offends Jews or belittles communion.  I don't "feel"  bad but I would like to be respectful of this ceremony.  It would be fun to go to a Jewish Passover Seder or one in Israel.  Any way I am so busy and can't wait to update on Holy Week.  Have a Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday especially if I am not able to update till next week.

 

Spring Break

Apparently to my kids Spring Break = Trash the House so there will be a lot of chores to do after this post.  I am going to be writing this all day because I have so many things to catch up.  This week was Spring Break for the kids and we don't usually go any where because we already had our vacation (Pastor's Enrichment Conference), but we of course relax and just have fun hence the house getting trashed.  Spring cleaning will be next week, right?  It is HOLY WEEK after all.  I better get moving.  One can only hope.

I think my husband and I did come up with a new tradition though.  Spring break is now green smoothie detox week.  For the most part that was all I had to eat this week.  I wasn't super strict about it, but I did pass on pizza and peanut butter cookies- two of my most favorite foods in the world- so I am getting better at self-control.  If you remember I did green smoothies for a month about this time 2 years ago so it already feels like a tradition.  We used the book Green Smoothie Retreat a 7 Day Plan to Detox At Home by Victoria Boutenko.  I picked up a couple new recipes plus used some kombucha for the first time- yum.

So the rest of this post is explaining my Lent Photo project.  I did do some of the pictures out of order but I have not missed one yet and that is the most important thing to me- complete the project!  I have a hard time completing things if you haven't figured that out already.  Here goes:

Wilderness- Matthew 3:3  For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord;  make his paths straight.’”  Lucy and I went for a quick walk to the park where we took this picture.  It is not a desert wilderness but it is a forest wilderness.  Just a reminder how God can take us out of our comfort zone and work on our hearts.  

Empty Plate- Isaiah 30:29 You shall have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept, and gladness of heart, as when one sets out to the sound of the flute to go to the mountain of the Lord, to the Rock of Israel.  Honestly I think this picture was suppose to represent fasting but I was running out of time and St. Patrick's Day and St. Joseph's Day were coming up fast.  The food was so good I cleared my plate.  It made me think about how God does desire us to eat with gladness and how He provides for us.  This was my plate after St. Patrick's Day.

Faithful- Psalm 89:1 I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord, forever; with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.  This one easy.  The moment I saw faithfulness I took a picture of our fridge.  I, confess, that I can be a worry wart about God providing although I try not to let it show.  God has been so faithful when it comes to the basic necessity of food and I am overwhelmed by His care.  That is why I took a picture of the fridge.

God's Love- Deuteronomy 7:9 Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations.  Here is where I tried to get a little creative because I see God's Love every where in my life.  I am so blessed and especially love to teach God's Love to my children.  Here are my girls signing God Loves Me.

Practice- Philippians 4:9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.  I am constantly learning and practicing to keep up.  I hope this picture is self explanatory.

Green- Psalm 52:8 But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever.  This was St. Patrick's Day which I posted about last week.

Listen- Psalm 61:1 Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer;  During this Lent season I have put together a a playlist on Youtube based on the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship.  It is not complete and some of the songs I could not find, but I have spent a lot of time listening to these wonderful songs.  I tried to make it full of variety of styles and singers when possible.   

Giving- Proverbs 15:31 Whoever heeds life-giving correction will be at home among the wise.  As a mom with one preschooler and two in lower elementary school I feel like my main job is constantly life-giving correction.  I am giving my time, my energy, my braincells, and my sanity to this job.  Most recently I have been teaching a stubborn 3 year old to use the potty.  That is where the idea for this picture came from.  By the way we have FINALLY had GREAT success after months and months of begging.  Praise God!  It is the little things, right moms?  Can I get an AMEN?

No Meat- This one was easy because it was the day after Saint Joseph's Day so I had a lot of pasta and spaghetti sauce.  Awesome leftover lunch!

Blossom- Spring is very much in the air here in the Willamette Valley.  The tulips have just started making their appearance.  This is just outside our house.  I was planning on doing some gardening during spring break but that kinda fell through.  Hopefully next week.  

Serving Others- I snapped this picture a little secretly but I wanted to show my awesome church again.  We have a serving table between Sunday school and second service full of yummy snacks.  I am always so grateful for the people who do this.

Direction- This was the picture I hadn't figured out exactly what to do, but as always God has a plan.  My husband told me about a Lent activity happening across the street from his favorite coffee place.  I was SO glad i checked it out and that my husband was so thoughtful to think about me.  It was a labyrinth with prayer stations.  It was PERFECT for showing direction.

Blessed- This one was tough because I am SO blessed.  I have a wonderful family, right now I have my dream job, a house, plenty of food, and so many resources to occupy my time.  But when it comes down to it family is my biggest blessing.  I wish I could have taken a picture of my husband too.  Here the girls and I went to see the new Cinderella movie.  Also another blessing- to have extra money to do fun things like this.

Compassion-  I couldn't think of a good picture for this so I thought back to the Lent prayer labyrinth.  At the center of the labyrinth was a wall of confessions.  It was beautiful.  It made me think of our God and His compassion and mercy and grace to cover us.

Remember- Took me awhile to think of something for this picture but while I was cleaning I stumbled across my first picture Bible.  It was dearly loved, taped together, and falling apart.  It jolted my memory of Easters Past.  I mostly remember new clothes and going to church on Good Friday to hear Mrs. Taylor sing Via Dolorosa.  I remember a few scattered egg hunts.  I remember my mom making a homemade cross out of backyard sticks and dripping red wax down it look like blood.  I remember sunrise service at Makakilo, Hawaii where we literally saw the sun rise while we experiences worship through hula.  I love Easter and I want Lent to be an important part of my children's lives too.  I hope we are making memories.

So that is it!  In between typing I helped the two older girls finally clean their rooms and the bathrooms- it was a big chore.  I had to make a fast food run, but it was worth it to get some cleaning done and my project up to date.  Now to prepare the apex of our journey- Resurrection Sunday.  I bless you, reader, and hope you have a wonderful Holy Week.  I will check in on Good Friday with a shorter post as I have much to prepare for and I am sure you do too. 

A Week of Feasts

I don't have much time to write.  I had to spend my writing time taking my Lent pictures and uploading them.  So I will not be reviewing them like I have been doing- I guess I am saving that for a HUGE post next week or do an extra post tomorrow.  But this week, we had St. Patrick's Day (March 17) and St. Joseph's Day (March 19).  I couldn't believe I only had one day to recover between feasts and on a week day no less!  So for the first time since the beginning of Lent I did a whole lot of cooking.  It will be tough to pick a favorite recipe but I think it was the zeppoles (more on that later).

First our simple Saint Patrick's Day meal- corned beef, garlic mashed potatoes, Irish soda bread, and cabbage and carrots in cheese sauce.

Prepping the Table for Saint Patrick's Day

Yummy!

 

 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Second, until this year I was not aware of St. Joseph's Day.  I did a little research and discovered it was in honor of Jesus' earthly father.  There is more to it, but I gathered the necessary food items.  The basic symbolism is breadcrumbs to represent sawdust as Joseph was a carpenter.  I kept it very simple because I didn't really know what I was doing, but I ended up making easy breadcrumb spaghetti, spinach salad with Italian dressing, crescent rolls and zeppoles.  Zeppoles are Italian doughnut holes made with ricotta.  I figure I was born in Italy so I am basically Italian- should be easy!  Turns out- they ARE!  and they are delicious!  I used this recipe.  I am SO doing this again next year, but I need to share the extra with neighbors because I ate all the rest this morning. 

 

 

Saint Joseph's Day Feast

I am so tired from all the cooking and cleaning.  I might do an extra post tomorrow because I have so much more to say.  I hope you all are feasting in your homes with love and simple food.  What did you do for Saint Patrick's Day?  Oh and Happy First Day of Spring- so excited for Spring Break next week!!

Home Sweet Home

We have returned from our trip at the coast and so far I have not missed a week of updates this year!  I better jump right in and get posting.

I am so greatly privileged to be a part of CB Northwest's Annual Enrichment Conference for the fourth year.  It is for Pastors associated with CB and their families.  We get to listen to a keynote speaker, spend time at the coast, catch up with fellow families working in ministry around the state (and some from other states), and praise God for the work we do in His name.

Love in Action- Preparing for the trip was pretty easy since I got my spring wardrobe (still super excited about that btw) and the two older girls wanted to pack themselves.  I still packed for them because I knew they would forget stuff.  I did the smart thing that I learned from my mom, which is to make sure you clean up as much as as you can before you leave for a trip.  You do NOT want to come home a mess.  This is the best I ever did on this- kitchen clean, trash completely emptied, living room vacuumed and picked up, and dining area cleared of clutter.  It was so awesome to step into the house yesterday!  Thanks, Mom, for a lesson learned.  I love serving my family.

Hunger- Lent has led me on up and downs in the hunger department.  I have failed miserably some days and have been victorious other days.  It has taught me dependence on God and so much self-control.  I knew the conference was going to be during Lent so I allowed myself grace to eat in moderation whatever was available and dessert on the special dinner night.  We were really blessed not to worry about preparing meals.  The Friday night before our trip I made a trip to McDonalds for my husband and the girls.  I did not order anything for myself.  For some of you that maybe so easy and maybe, like me, you would find this tested your will power.  God is blessing this journey every step of the way.

Purple- Okay, so honestly I didn't look for purple but my husband took us to Mount Angel Abbey to see the church.  It has beautiful architecture and I can't wait to visit for Mass or prayer sometime.  The Abbey looks over part of the Willamette Valley and you could just feel spring pressing in all around us in all its color, smells, and feeling the warmth of the sun.

Sabbath- Unless this is your first time reading you will know that I am not Catholic.  I am a Christian.  My husband works for a Baptist church.  I have attended Baptist churches my whole life, but I deeply adore Lent and all it symbolizes for me as a Christian and follower of Christ.  My day of rest and praise is spent every Sunday at Bethel Baptist Church.

Hope- I don't think God works in coincidences, but when I was looking for a picture to represent hope I was not disappointed.  This was the first day of the conference and one of the first songs we sang was "Our God Saves".  Here is the song if you are unfamiliar with it. 

I snapped a picture the slide with the lyrics (it was a little blurry) and a few of Pastors worshiping.  It brings hope knowing we are not alone in our ministry to see many reached for Christ.  

Weakness- Again, not coincidentally, Hermione woke up with a stomach bug so I was instantly weakened to having to take care of her and put my personal plans aside.  I took her with me to the upper area so I wouldn't miss the morning session, but the rest of the time I spent in the hotel making sure she got enough rest.  Another appropriate song played while I took the picture.  "Here in our weakness you find us."

Poor kid, at least it only lasted for the day and I only missed one session.

Creation- We were blessed with gorgeous weather on our check out day so we drove back home slowly.  We stopped to climb the Astoria column, visit the maritime museum, stopped at a lookout, and got ice cream at the Tillamook Cheese Factory.  Ariana and I even saw a bald eagle.  It was the perfect time to look for a photo of creation.

FAMILY AND HOMEMAKING

While I wasn't at home Hermione was sick for a full day on our trip which gave me a lot of time for cross stitching.  I am so glad I decided to take it with me.  I have been debating whether cross stitching is really a worthy homemaking hobby, but it is so calming and relaxing for me that I think I will stick with it.  

We got to eat out a lot this trip so both me and my husband probably will be on some kind of detox diet.  We had fun family time swimming and watching a lot of TV (not really my choice family time activity, but weather and illness kept us in most of time).  

Girls at Mount Angel Abbey

 

Dundee Donut at Seaside

Before getting sick we had a nice walk on the prom

Seaside, OR

 

 

So Lent is about half way over and I still feel excited as ever, which is a big deal because if you know me I would have given up or moved on by now.  I have a lot of reading to catch up on and have no idea what homemaking things are in store this week, but that is half the fun.  I guess there is St. Patrick's Day and gardening to look forward to.  Next time I post will be the first official day of spring! 

Catch Up, Fun Clothes, and Only a Dash of Guilt

This weekend I had a cold, binge watched Season 3 of Call the Midwife, and the Internet went down.  It was a great week though.  To play catch up with my Lent pictures (soup, alone, sacrifice, path, returning, grace, love in action) I took Lucy with me to my old college.  That place is FULL of stairs and great little paths, walking around, remembering, and enjoying the warm winter day with a 3 year old was a unique and fun experience.  She wanted to see everything.  She was a trooper and fell asleep almost the instant we got back in the car.

 

I have been getting up ridiculously early to be alone with God, to memorize my prayers, and read the Bible.  I love this time so much, but it can really wear me out by the middle of the week.  The only reason I am awake right now is because of Monster.  I haven't had an energy drink in a long time so I am slightly ashamed but honestly right now I feel really good.  So I have mixed feelings...

I got my Spring Wardrobe on Wednesday.  I was SO excited!  Now I am in eager expectation for spring though I will probably bring some of it with me for CB Northwest Conference next week.  I only need a couple of extra pieces that I hope to get this weekend.

The dash of guilt is from my failure to fast from sugar during Lent.  I keep suffering from symptoms of reactive hypoglycemia from high carb foods.  This is a health issue, a self-discipline issue, and a heart issue.  I need to keep the blender clean.  God needs to move into focus instead of my own personal goals being the issue.  I have succeeded in no snacks after dinner though- so praise God!  It is for His glory.  I am praying for a better way to fast that is healthy for me and a way of  being consistent. 

All this to say- no homemaking progress.  I keep making plans but circumstances keep me from seeing them through.  I didn't count on Lent taking up so much of my time and plans.  I did make this soup for Lent, though.  It was a little bland but with a pinch of salt and piece of toast it made a perfect, simple meatless meal. 

Next week I will be in Seaside so another week with not much homemaking, but it will be relaxing, a chance to get away, and refreshing for our family.  I hope you are having a great Lenten-tide.  Keep fasting, praying and giving.