Having a Large Family

Some of my favorite bloggers have large families.  Now many of my friends consider my family to be large.  I have heard the same comments as other large families.  "Are they all yours?"  "You are done now, right?"  "You have your hands full!"  "Better you than me."  As a mother of four daughters there are times when I feel my family is large.  For example, when they were 9, 8, 4 and 1, and I had to dress them and fix each one's hair for church! Or when we were in a restaurant and one needed to use the bathroom and we all got up to troop off because I didn't want to repeat this three more times! I especially notice in our van when they are all talking!  But compared to these moms of 6, 8 or 12 my family is not big.

Today the 4 Moms answer the question, "How did you know you wanted and could handle a large family?  I encourage you to read their responses if you are praying about having children or having more children or just in case you are curious and won't need to ask that family in the grocery store! LOL

Hannah a few years ago with her large family of babies! :)

For the last several years I have been wanting more children.  Reading these posts has reminded me that none of these women planned for large families at first.  God doesn't necessarily give every family lots of children.  He blesses as He chooses and not always with children. 

I am encouraged by these ladies and would be even if I only had one child and so did they, because they are seeking to grow in grace and be the mother God would have them to be. 

My heart's desire now is to be the best mother to these four that I have.  If God should bless us again through adoption or a physical miracle, I would be thrilled.  But if He does not give us any more children, I praise Him for blessing me so much already.

For any friends, or readers, who may be considering these things for your own family planning, I would encourage you to do nothing permanent  to prevent you from having children.  I would also encourage you to look in God's Word for your answers!

For those who haven't or can't have children by birth, I pray that you would consider adoption.  It is a wonderful, difficult, scary, joyful process much like giving birth!  If you think you can't afford it, neither could we.  God provided every single penny for our adoption through His people! It was an amazing thing to watch. 

Today, and every day, I want to be thankful for what I do have, and strive to be worthy of the responsibility God has given me! 

   

With All My Heart~







(recent photos by Sarah and Mary)

2012 Changes Update

I mentioned back in January that there would be some changes in my life and our home for 2012. 

I have wanted to be more committed to reading my Bible in the morning.  My morning devotions have been so helpful.  Having the time to pray and talk with God before I start my day is so important.  I have to admit that the last couple of years, I have enjoyed sleeping in until the girls were awake.  Then it is just too difficult to have quiet time.  We pray and study the Bible together, but it isn't the same as private prayer and study time.  I am so thankful to be developing the habit of getting up early. 

Another change I mentioned was going back to work.  Most of you know that I have been working as a substitute teacher for Montgomery County.  Since I was officially listed last week, I haven't had a day off.  I am thankful for the work, but it has been challenging!  First of all, most of the jobs have come in the morning of, or the night before, and so I am stressed waiting.  Also, the jobs are in grade levels I haven't worked with in the public school.  I am thankful for my experience working with my own children as a homeschool mom since it gives me an idea of the abilities of younger children.  This past week I have worked as a 1st grade teacher in one class, a 3rd grade teacher for 3 different teachers, and a special education teacher working with 2nd, 3rd and 4th graders.  This time has really made me appreciate the elementary grade student and I may seek to recertify in elementary, as well as middle, if that is possible.

One of the greatest challenges has been endurance.  For the last ten years I have gotten spoiled for sitting with my children as we did school.  You just can't sit when you need to check the progess of 20 students.  Needless to say I have only made it to the gym one day this week and even then I was pretty low key - no jogging for this tired girl! 

Even greater than the challenge of long hours on my feet, has been the challenge of missing my girls.  For the last 3,650+ days my time was spent with them ALL of the time.  I find myself comparing likenesses and differences between my children and my students.  Also I find myself mentioning my girls quite a bit!  Today one student was amazed that I had four children.  He said, "My mom would think that is too many!"  I told him that for some people that may be true, but not for me!  I love coming home and getting welcome hugs from the girls. :)

This new schedule has certainly made home schooling different.  I try to give the girls all my attention after I return home before they go to bed.  It is hard because I am so tired, but it is so worth it.  I still need to hear about each ones day and listen to their narrations of their readings, or answer questions about math problems that stumped them, or just enjoy as we go to the park to fly kites!

Yes, literally we flew kites.  Today, after I got home from PS, I changed clothes and took the girls to the park.  It was still in the the upper 50's and quite windy.  I was tired, but I had promised the girls that we would go.  I didn't want to fool with the kites, but they had been waiting for a windy, and not rainy day, like today.  I knew that I needed to do this with them.  Not that I have to give in and do anything they ask, out of guilt for being gone all day.  But I did need to not let my selfish desires (for a nap, mostly) disappoint them.  They had worked hard also. 

So we are all adjusting and thankfully it is going pretty well.  Again, I am SO thankful to Rose.  We could not do this without her and she is doing a great job!

As for the challenge to lose weight. I lost TWO pounds this week! WooHoo! :)  I am not drinking the water I want, because I can't just run to the bathroom anytime at school, but I have kept to my nutrition goals and have fought temptations of being stressed and wanting to use food for comfort!

I am thankful for the changes and how everyone has been able to handle it so far.  I trust God to continue to lead us through this year!

With All My Heart~

Eva's Biggest Loser Year: Week 7

So last weeks goals were:

• drink 80 oz of water each day  (It was more like 50 oz)
• record food daily to stay within nutrition goals  (I did stay within my goals! )
• walk/run 1 15min. mile; bike 5 mi.; and walk 2 mi in 25 min.or less  (After walking biking the 5 mi in 15 min. and walk/running 1 mi. in 15 min. I was way too tired to walk another 2 mi!  I did walk 1/2 mi to cool down.  I was able to do this three times this week and I did the Jillian 30-day shred today for the first time.  Very pleased my ankle was able to handle the jumping exercises. ) 
• go to bed at no later than 11:30PM and get up at 6:30AM  (Half success and half fail.  Boy I am just so out of practice at getting up early.)

I had a good week.  Since avoiding bread and other starchy vegetables for the last couple of weeks, I am really enjoying not feeling hungry all the time.  There has been a delicious sugar filled dessert in our fridge since Sunday and I have not thought about it for days.  As a matter of fact, I only thought about it tonight because I made dinner (not my jurisdiction any more) since Rose was gone to a class! ;)  Now, you might be thinking, well, she doesn't cook anymore so she wouldn't be tempted.  Oh yes I would.  When I am eating bread and starchy veggies like potatoes and corn, I am constantly thinking about eating again.  I could have just eaten an hour before and start thinking about what other items I could eat.  Now, I go much longer without even thinking about food and because I feel better (not bloated and not as tired) so I am keeping this up!  The few times when I am tempted, I have immediately prayed for strength and God has answered!

I am pleased to say that I lost 1 pound which makes my total lost 10 pounds! :)
It doesn't sound like much, but after not losing for two weeks, I was just happy to see a move in the right direction.  I look forward to a greater loss next week as I continue to increase the intensity of workouts. 

I am going to keep the same goals with minor adjustments:

• drink 60 oz of water daily
• continue to record nutrition goals
• for exercise I plan to do the gym plan from before 3 times per week and also the Jillian Shred 2 times a week.  I don't think I can handle it daily right now.
• bed at 11:30PM and waking up at 7:30AM

Thanks again for praying for me dear friends and sending encouraging messages.  This accountability really does help.  Is there anyone else that wants me to be praying for you?  Any other suggestions about losing weight?  A dear friend was telling me about Dr. Stork (from the Drs. show) who suggests drinking water at certain intervals through the day.  I kind of already did that but I have tried more diligenly to follow the guidelines she mentioned and it has really helped!  Has anyone read his new book?  I am wondering if it would be worth buying.

  I also have two friends that both lost weight this week and am so glad for them!  Are you losing?  Share with me so I can celebrate with you!

With All My Heart~

Eva's Biggest Loser Year: Week 6

     

Life is such a roller coaster sometimes.  You are going along getting in your workout, recording your food, anticipating weight loss and then suddenly, zoom.... the bottom falls out.  Now you are having kidney stone surgery and interviewing for jobs and life just gets crazy busy with things interferring with your workouts and eating plans.  Last week I gave myself immunity, so that is why you won't see a weekly report for week 5.

As for Week 6 it was Valentines week and I feel that over all I did pretty well.  I didn't lose any more, but at leat I maintained.  I also used greater self-control at the two dinners out and a candy filled kid's party!  I was very pleased with that.  Doing what is good for the long term success, instead of immediate satisfaction, is my definition of self-control.  I thank God for helping me to keep my head and do what I need to do instead of what I want.  The one area this past week where I didn't keep my goal was in exercise.  I was very unmotivated when I had time, which wasn't very often. 

But we enjoyed visits with Mamaw in Culpeper (and all the Atkins crew) and a visit with the Lillydell Short crew!  Those were time well spent and I don't regret them. 

On Thursdays I have been going to the healthy eating/cooking class and we weigh in there as well, so I think I will postpone these updates until Friday from now on.  This way I will only be weighing in once a week.  Ironically our class last night was actually about exercise.  The instructors wanted to take a night to focus on this side of healthy living.  We all felt really motivated and challenged to try some of the exercises and equipment they demonstrated.

So for our first day of the new week, Rose and I added strength training with weights.  We want to eventually get the stretch bands, but this was already handy at home so we used it.  I am so proud of Rose.  She is really doing great!  Since neither of us lost last week, we are both looking forward to a loss for next week.   Today, I tried to walk my first mile in 15 minutes.  I don't have a stop watch but it looked like it was a bit over 15 but less than 16 min.  I was very pleased.  I was even able to jog part of the mile, and my foot didn't hurt!  WooHoo!  That feels so good.  I can't tell you how thankful I am for two good feet and knees and legs!  I really liked lapping all those walkers that used to lap me as I was recovering from the broken ankle! LOL

So this coming week's goals are

• drink 80 oz of water each day
• record food daily to stay within nutrition goals
• walk/run 1 15min. mile; bike 5 mi.; and walk 2 mi in 25 min.or less
• go to bed at no later than 11:30PM and get up at 6:30AM

Thanks dear family and friends who have been keeping me in your prayers.  There is a reason this is my biggest loser YEAR.  It is going to take that long at least and I appreciate those who are there to encourage me for the long haul! :)

I have some success stories that the people want to remain anonymous, but congrats to two of my dearest friends who have lost 10 pounds in the last two to three weeks.  Keep going ladies!  I love you!

To my B.L. partners - time to let me know how you did this week, ladies! I have been praying for you!

With All My Heart~

Eva's Biggest Loser Year: Week 4

 

      Goals for Week 4

• Drink at least 80 oz of water/clear liquids per day. Record food and keep calories @ 1,200.
• This week is crazy with doctor's appointments, 2 nursing home music sessions, and a birthday party for my mom, so I am not making an exercise goal except to do it as possible.
• Go to bed by 11PM each night.
• Lose 3 lbs. I am hoping to lose the 2 I gained plus at least 1 more.

This has been one of the those weeks.  I did drink at least 70 oz for the first 4 days of the week.  As for the rest, it was around 50.  I also didn't keep my food calories.  I really need to enter it on the website before I eat it.  I always think, "Oh, I will enter this in a few minutes.  Several hours later I am having a hard time remembering what I ate, or regetting eating something unplanned.  Bed time has also been hard.  I am such a night person.  I have been able to sleep in though so I have gotten at least 7hours sleep. So are you wondering how I did on the scale?

I met my goal! Woohoo! I lost the 2 I had gained and 1 more!  I know this seems kind of trivial to celebrate, but I am looking at the big picture.  Even if I gain 2 and lose 3 every other week, in a year I will have lost 26 pounds! LOL  I haven't lost that much in several years.  Also I know that many weeks I will do better than that. 

One of my down falls with eating has been emotional eating.  I want to eat when I am happy or something particulary nice is happening, and I want to eat when life is stressful or sad.  Learning to control those urges and pray, read my Bible, play piano or just talk about the emotions with someone are some of  the ways I break the snacking habit.

This week has been one of those weeks.  My mom had a birthday party on Friday and we had a wonderful day celebrating with her.  I did pretty well curbing my appetite, but I was sure glad I didn't bring home any of that butterfinger cake. I would have continued a party of one!

Then on Saturday I get a notice in the mail about substituting for the local schools.  We have been seeking God over our finances and feel that now is the time for me to go back to work outside the home in order to get out of our debt, but it has been stressful waiting for all the events to unfold.  Now I have a list of items I have to complete and more forms to fill out and the stress of it makes me want to calm myself with food. 

Typing here or writing in my journal helps me get a better grip on those urges, but I can't always write when I have the urge to eat.  I find that at least thinking about writing this down helps me fight those urges. Praying has also been so helpful.  I know that it sounds cliche but God does want me to remember to lean on His strength for all things.  The girls and I are reading Hinds Feet on High Places, by Hannah Hurnard.  One of the parts that resonates with me is how long Much-Afraid suffers from her fears and those trying to lead her away from the Good Shepherd before she finally calls on him.  She knows He will come immediately.  She has called on Him before, but she always waits longer than she should to call him.  She begins to be plagued with her doubts and fears.  I relate to that.  When I am tempted to eat or skip exercise,  I often try to rationalize it.  Really, I just need to immediately seek God's help in prayer.  I am too weak.  I fail to easily.  I need the One who is so much greater than I am.

So my goals for Week 5:

• Pray every time I have the urge to eat. Ask for guidance and help.  Pray for help to mortify my fleshly desires.  Pray for peace to enjoy that which is good for me.  Food is not bad.  Eating to take away fear or even to make the joyful feelings of a celebration last longer is wrong.  My peace and joy must come from God.  Anything else is just false, won't last, and has terrible side effects!
• Write down my food before eating.
• Drink 80-96 oz of clear liquids.

Eva's Biggest Loser Year: Week 3

Eva's Biggest Loser Year: Week 3

Goals for Week 3:

Drink more water and measure it for an average of 40 oz. per day.
Walk 2.5mi each day and bike 5 mi on 2 of the 4 days.
Go to bed by 11PM each night.
Lose 3lbs.

I did well on the first two goals.  I also made it to bed by 12AM at the latest.  However, I certainly did not make the 3lb loss.  As a matter of fact, I gained 2 pounds this week.  That really stinks.  I don't know if it was from the medicine from the kidney stones or not.  I hope so.  I didn't even eat for nearly 24 hours and have been trying to eat less all week.  I didn't take the time to record it though.

Goals for Week 4:
Drink at least 80 oz of water/clear liquids per day. Record food and keep calories @ 1,200.
This week is crazy with doctor's appointments, 2 nursing home music sessions, and a birthday party for my mom, so I am not making an exercise goal except to do it as possible.
Go to bed by 11PM each night.
Lose 3 lbs.  I am hoping to lose the 2 I gained plus at least 1 more.

I appreciate your prayers for me.  I know stress can make you gain weight or at least not lose it.  I am just trying to remember that this is only 1 week out of a entire year.  It will get better!

Congrats to Leah for losing 2 pounds this week!  I haven't heard from partner 3 and 4 this week!  Let me know how you are doing ladies and I will update your ticker! :)
 
With All My Heart~

Eva's Biggest Loser Year: Week 2

My motivations for this week are God, my family and friends encouraging me, and a special little encouragement from my baby girl, Lydia.  She brought me a note on a hello kitty paper that Memaw wrote as she dictated it.  This is what it said:

Welcome

to Biggest Loser!

You can get your hair fixed.

To get your hair fixed

you have to go the room

with the door with the castle on it, Eva

Lydia

She said I could turn it in whenever I was ready!  I told her Makeover week is usually week 12 or so! :)

Goal:  Average of 1,100 calories per day
Tuesday = 1503
Wednesday = 1161
Thursday= 1258
Friday= 1544
Saturday= 1423
Sunday= 1466
Monday=1455
Average per day = 1,401

I feel better about this after I read an article on finding your Active Metabolic Rate.  An average of 1300 calories per day should result in 2lbs. lost a week, at least.  I am happy with this for this week.  I am setting my goal for next week at 1300 and want to be more consistent. 

I also did better with exercising this week.  I am able to walk longer and faster and I even biked 5 miles one day when I had already walked 2mi.  This is what I was hoping to do after I got my cast off!  I am so thankful that God has helped me to heal and get better day. 

So I was very pleased when I lost 3 pounds this week! 

Goals for Week 3: 
Drink more water and measure it for an average of 40 oz. per day. 
Walk 2.5mi each day and bike 5 mi on 2 of the 4 days.
Go to bed by 11PM each night.
Lose 3lbs.

Telling the Story of Jesus

This is a picture of one of our "God book" shelves.  When the girls were little we made a rule that on Sundays we would focus our reading or video time on godly books and movies.  I use to tell them, "Let's read one of these books.  It is God's day, so we will read a God book."  That has stuck!  We call these picture books God books because they are all about Him or living like Him! We have added chapter books and devotionals to our bookshelves as the kids have gotten older in order to strengthen our children's understanding of the Bible and the gospel message. 

Yes, we are book junkies! ;)

This past week friends asked me for a book recommendation.  They wanted to give their 5yo niece a book about Jesus.  They were looking for a fairly simply written book that presented the gospel without watering it down.   So I began rummaging through our shelves and found many different options.  I thought I might share these on the blog for anyone interested.  

Make your plan!
Before making a selection, it is important to think about what the reading setting will be.  If you are going to be reading to multiple ages (such as in family worship) then you may want a more difficult book that will speak to the oldest, but can still be helpful to the youngest.  When we had the first 3 girls they were all within three years of each other.  Once they were all above age 3 it was pretty easy to find a book that they could all relate too.  Then God gave us our baby girl.  She is four years younger than the youngest "older girl."  There is eight years between the baby and the oldest "older girl" so it can be hard to find one that challenges Hannah and still helps Lydia.  I keep reminding myself that we will repeat many of these books for Lydia so I try do not feel too bad for her.  So what we try to do is have a varitey for our children.  Some days we read short stories with a godly moral.  Other times we read a biography for the older ones.  Also a few nights a week we read right out of the Bible.

Choose the best style!
How often you read will also influence what type of book you pick.  We do family worship at least 3 times a week.  We usually read a biography one night, a short story another night and then the Bible then next night or two.  We also sing 3 songs before reading and end with prayer, if you were wondering.  If you are looking for something to read off and on when you get a chance before bed, you may consider a short story book where it won't matter if it has been two weeks since you read it.  If you are more interested in a book to be read in one sitting, then you would probably want a picture book.  Your child may request it often or you may make a habit of reading it every month or so. 

Do it together!
I generally don't recommend finding a book the child can read to themselves for a couple of reasons.  For one, it is sometimes hard for parents to determine a reading level.  You may think because the book has primary looking pictures that it is appropriate for a child to try to read.  Even though it may have fairly small words, the syntax (word arrangement) may be too difficult for a young child to read with comprehension.  Second, and more importantly, we are instructed in the Bible to be directly involved in our children's learning about God.  (Deuteronomy 6:6-9)  If your child has a question you will be there to answer it.  As you see your child living through out the day you can remind them of the things you have been reading.

So here is the short list! ;)

My favorite picture book is from John MacArthur. It is lovely and very gospel oriented! It would definitely need to be read to the child(ren) by an adult, but it could be finished in one sitting.  There is a Kindle edition, but I would really miss holding the book with my child.  If you buy the hard back then they can flip through the pictures and enjoy that on their own.

Allegory is another wonderful way to teach children truths in a form that will keep their attention.  RC Sproul, Sr. has written this book which we also love!  Our girls often select this book to read during quiet time even though they have read it before.  You can also buy the audio book if you don't have a lot of time to read it yourself.  You could listen to it together in the car possibly.

My last favorite picture book for teaching about the gospel is this large paperback book.  The pages are glossy but the pictures are black and white.  I love the lessons taught in this book.  My only critique is that the little girl asks some pretty deep questions.  They sound more like questions from a youth or adult, but my girls didn't seem to be bothered by that when we read it.  It uses allegory also to help the child understand the grace, mercy and ways of God.

If you are able to do family worship at least once a week, I recommend this chapter book.  There are 35 chapters in this book, but each is only a couple of pages.  There are no pictures, but if your child enjoys being read to it is easy to imagine the story and characters. When you visit the link, you will see that the author is a mother who wrote these to illustrate Biblical truths for her young daughter.  Our big girls all love this book. Actually we will be reading it with Lydia starting next week.

My last recommendation is for an audio book that we have listened to at least 5 times through in the last 4 years since we bought it! 

We have several versions of this wonderful book.  We have the very abridged children's book that is barely recognized as this story; we have the modern language version in comic drawing style that goes with our Pilgrim's Progress board game.  Then we also have a slightly abridged version for adults still with much of the original language.  By far, we all prefer this version.  We have listened to it just before bed for story time.  We have listened to it during the 15 minute drive on the way to church.  Sometimes the girls ask to borrow it and listen to it for an hour or so.  Again the allegoric style is very appealing and leads to some great discussions. 

If you are still reading, thanks for staying with me.  I hope this is helpful to someone.  It has been great for me to look back at some of these books that we need to read again with our girls!

With All My Heart~

Tearing Down the High Places

In our homeschool Bible class we have been studying the two kingdoms of Israel before captivity and exile.  It is like watching a movie where the person is in danger and instead of doing the smart thing, they walk right into the pitch dark basement with a bat for defense.  You wish you could stop them.  You might even scream out to try because you already know the danger they are in and how this scenario will play out!

2 Kings 15:1-5
15  In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Azariah son of Amaziah king of Judah became king. 2 He was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. 3 He did right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. 4 Only the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. NASU

Did you hear us scream?  We just want to say to the king, "Go all the way.  Obey God completely!  Tear down those high places!  Stop allowing the people to sacrifice (this was typically children) and burn incense to false gods!"
  Every once in a while we do read the happy ending.  This week we are studying one of the godly kings of Judah. (Israel, the northern tribes, had NONE, ever!)  Anyway, it was so nice to hear that again there was a godly king over Judah.  It makes you look forward to a happier chapter.

2 Kings 18:1-6
Now it came about in the third year of Hoshea, the son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah became king. 2 He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah. 3  He did right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father David had done. 4  He removed the high places and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah. He also broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the sons of Israel burned incense to it; and it was called Nehushtan. 5  He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel; so that after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among those who were before him. 6 For he clung to the Lord; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the Lord had commanded Moses.
NASU

Now, do you hear us cheering?  We were so pleased to see a godly leader and we could hardly wait to read how God blesses Judah through him.  For the first 14 years there is great blessing.  Then the trouble begins.  The Assyrian king starts trouble.  He takes over the fortified cities of Judah and then requires great tributes (payments) from Hezekiah.  Things don't seem to be going so well for Hezekiah, but Hezekiah again does the right thing!

2 Kings 19:14-19
14 Then Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. 15 Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said, "O Lord, the God of Israel, who are enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16 " Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and listen to the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God. 17 "Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have devastated the nations and their lands 18 and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but the work of men's hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them. 19 "Now, O Lord our God, I pray, deliver us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, OLord, are God." NASU
Did our cheering stop?  No way!  Read this!

2 Kings 19:35-37
35  Then it happened that night that the angel of the Lord went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when men rose early in the morning, behold, all of them were dead. 36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home, and lived at Nineveh.
NASU
So now you might think all was good for Hezekiah.  Nope!  He becomes deathly ill.  Again, we cheer as he does the right thing again by going straight to prayer!

2 Kings 20:3-4
3 " Remember now, O Lord, I beseech You, how I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart and have done what is good in Your sight." And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
NASU
God then graciously gives him 15 more years of life and promises to protect his city during that time as well. 

As we were reading this, it made me appreciate many things about God and His faithfulness.  But it also made me want to be like Hezekiah and tear down the high places of sin.  You know, the sins that are hard for others to get to, that few people (except probably your closest family) will see.  But God sees them.  No place is too high, or too low, or too dark, even the sins that are mostly in our heart. 

Help me, God, to tear down the high places of hidden sin in my heart and to obey your precious words, and to go to you in prayer when the enemy is at my door and I am weak and I am sin-sick.  May my legacy to my children be that I was a godly mom!

With All My Heart~

Eva's Biggest Loser Year: Week 1

I had some specific goals for this week.
* No soda at home. 
* 50% of my plate at church dinner would be vegetables
* Exercise at least 4 days of the week. 
* Spend more time standing and walking around during the day.

So how did I do?
* I only had 12 oz one day while we were out running errands.
*I did eat small servings of everything that wasn't vegetable and I had a large salad. 
  I also only ate half servings of dessert, though I did have two types. 
* Walked 1.8 miles on Tuesday and Wednesday, pool on Thursday, and walked 2 mi on Monday
* I made at least twice as many trips up the stairs per day and am trying to do more housework and standing during school time as well.
* I lost 5 lbs. this week !!!




My sister-in-law, Leah, is working on things with me.  She has agreed to a weight loss tracking ticker on my sidebar.  Maybe she will let me put an update picture with it in a month or so!  Also working on some others to join me!  If you want to be a part of my Biggest Loser Circle just let me know your stats and I will be happy to celebrate with you!


Next week I plan to record what I eat and the calories.  My goal is an average of 1,100 calories per day.
http://www.sparkpeople.com
This is where I can record and calculate certain factors.  This should result in at least a 2 pound loss this week.  Hoping I can burn more off since I am getting better with my walking.  On Tuesday when I walked it took me an hour to limp around the track for 1.8 miles.  Monday I did the whole 2 mi. in 50 minutes.  Hoping to go longer this week!

Thanks for reading my blog to help hold me accountable.  If you want to leave a message for me here I would appreciate the encouragement!  I thank God and all my family and friends for helping me!

With All My Heart~

My Cup Runneth Over!

Thursday~

We went to Grandmom and Granddad Short's house for our annual Christmas cookie party!  It was great!  We made the cookies the day before and then packed them up for travel.  We (I can say "we" because I handed ingredients, LOL) also made fudge!

 This was a regular treat in my childhood home and it is funny how just certain sounds and smells bring back such wonderful memories.  Lorilyn and I both noticed the tap-tap-tap sound when Mom had stirred the fudge and was then getting the excess off her spoon.  In that moment, it was like I was 8 years old again waiting for the fudge to be ready! :)

Lorilyn was present, just not photographed! :)

We enjoyed rootbeer or cherry coke floats with our treats too!  It was a delicious compliment!  The girls had not had a float before and they really enjoyed them!  After dinner we headed off to see my nephew, Ben, in the Christmas band concert.  Isn't he handsome?! So hard to believe he is graduating! (My other nephew, Brandon, is also a senior and shares the same Short good looks!)  

We really enjoyed the concert though I would have liked more Christmas music!  Lydia is now enamored with flutes and Mary wants a trumpet even more! :)

Friday~

It was so nice to have Daddy home!  He headed off to study at the church and we cleaned house before heading out to the pool.  Oh how we have missed the swimming, sliding, jumping and splashing!  (It is so frustrating to pay a membership and not have time/ability to go!)  Since Mary's eye is all healed and I am feeling more mobile, it was nice to go back!  That night the girls were blessed by a visit from Aunt Leah!  She brought a Christmas surprise including chocolate chip cookies, craft kit, and Kung Fu Panda 2!  She even left her copy of the movie so the parents could watch it when we came home! ;)  We were playing at Due South for the evening.  It was a great night of gospel bluegrass and bluegrass Christmas!  We met some people from Eastern VA, Vermont, Ontario, and even South Africa!  That was really neat!

Saturday~

The girls spent the morning playing Poptropica!  This is an online game they love, but it takes so long to play that I don't usually let them play except on vacations.  They were very excited! It is too hard for Ldyia to play so I signed her in to a new site she had never played called Kabongo.  She loved this!  It is also free and educational.  We then spent the afternoon watching The Sound of Music.  My family was sweet enought to put up with my signing along! :)

Sunday~

Sundays are the best day of the week!  Together with my whole family and our closest friends to worship God and to encourage each other in faithfulness and holiness!  This time of year it is also special because of the children's Christmas program and our church family dinner. Since I broke my ankle in early November, the program was quite short, but very sweet!  One of the things my girls loved to do at our former church was to play in the bell choir.  Memaw Rose ordered a set of bells and all of the girls really loved it!

http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=FEMMJFNU

http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=FEMM9CNU

After dinner we all enjoyed some delicious food and warm fellowship! 

I gave Sarah the camera and she snapped a few shots for the blog.

 

Oh, I forgot to tell her no picutres of me! LOL

Then our church did the annual "pounding" of the pastor and family.  This was a tradition started years before we came and we are so blessed by their giving.  They abundantly gave to fill our pantry to the brim!  It is even more special because we know it is motivated by great love for God and His servants.

Here is the table loaded down with the goodies!  There were even treats for our doggie! :)

As usual, I am so moved by God's gracious love and care for me and my family.  We have been blessed to be a part of three wonderful churches and feel great love during and even after we were called elsewhere to serve.  It reminds me that in Heaven we will really be united in Christ as His precious Bride.

With All My Heart~

Advent Atkins style

Did you know that there is nothing in the Bible about celebrating Christmas?  Christians are commanded to be baptised and to remember Christ through the Lord's Supper or Communion as some call it.  I certainly don't think it is a sin to celebrate Christmas, but I do think if you are a Christian you must guard your heart carefully. 

We are not to have any other gods before the true God.  We are not to make graven images to worship.  We are not to take the Lord's name in vain.  Sometimes I wonder if at Christmas many people break those commandments in the way they choose to celebrate.  If Christmas is more about looking good in the eyes of man for the gifts we give, or the way we decorate, or even good deeds we do, instead of being amazed and awed that the all powerful God sent His Son way from the holiest and happiest realm, to come and live as a humble man of dust, then I fear we are breaking those commands.  I am not saying that gifts are wrong.  I am not saying that decorations are evil (though some may be pretty tacky LOL).  I am not saying it is wrong to do good deeds for the needy. 

But what is truly our motivation?  Do we give to the canned food drive because we feel guilty?  Do we get more excited about looking at the tree or wrapping the presents than we do about reading our Bible or praying to God?  Are we really thinking about Christ's birth when we wish others a Merry Christmas?

Again, I know this is not a commandment in the Bible, but there is a commandment that applies.

1 Corinthians 10:31 (NIV)  So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

A few years ago I was convicted of these things in my heart.  We actually didn't put up a tree at all! I gave away all my Christmas village pieces. We got rid of all Christmas movies that weren't the actual story of Christ's birth.  I needed to do that.  I needed to repent of worshipping the traditions of Christmas instead of Christ himself.  It was hard.  I missed those traditions.  Christmas didn't seem as special without those things.  That is how I knew I had been in sin!  God worked on my heart in many ways the year after that and I grew in awe of Him and all the things that He did, does, and is!

When we began to add back some of the traditions that ensnared my heart before, I was afraid.  I didn't want to be a pagan worshipper.  I didn't want to tempt myself with idols. Praise God, I realized that it wasn't a temptation anymore. 

Now I love to put up the tree because I am spending time with my family and talking of the greatest gift God ever gave anyone!  I redeem this time by using decorations that remind us of things of God.  We spend more time listening to Christmas music that sings of the real Reason for the Season!  We do activities that remind us of that too. 

One of the new things we added to our family traditions is an advent wreath.  If you aren't familiar with it, here is a good sight for information and suggestions: History of Advent  Some years we have done it at home as part of family worship.  This year we did it as part of Sunday School. The girls also made an advent book.  This is to remind them of the verses of promise and the gifts of the season! 

Each girl decorated the front of the book.  Some of these may be given as a Christmas remembrance to a relative, so if you see these again in real life, act surprised! (hint, hint) :)

Mary, Sarah and Hannah working on the front page design.  Hannah was already finished. (see below)

We had some pretty glitter letters, card stock and Christmas ribbon at the church to tie together each week's page!  I found the pages at ministry-to-children.com if you are interested in some coloring pages about advent.

I am so thankful that the memories our girls have of Christmas will center around Jesus' birth. 

*************************************

On another note, one of the girls favorite memories about Christmas and winter time is sleeping (I call it that with tongue in cheek!) in the living room.  These impromptu slumber parties usually occur on the nights that it is really cold (24 tonight) and we are conserving electricity by only using the fireplace.  We shut off their doors and pile them all in the living room. 

The room prepared!

Little one didn't make it.  Looks like she will be taking Daddy's empty spot tonight!

In the "quiet" hour before lights out, they are talking, reading, playing guitar and just enjoying being sisters!

With All My Heart~

Handling Disappointments

Last night at bedtime, Lydia and I were reading in her Bible story book about Joseph and the jealousy of his brothers.  Then we talked about how we can sometimes feel jealous when we see others being blessed with gifts and cards.   (It is birthday season for her two oldest sisters.) 


Then Lydia said, "Mom, do you know what really disappoints me?"


 After I stopped giggling over her grown up speech I asked, "What?" 


"At the dentist office yesterday, I was very good and all I got was a toothbrush and toothpaste." LOL  Our dentist office used to give out toys and she would be with us and see the girls get them.  Oh the disappointments that a nearly-5 year old ponders! :) 


So we talked about the things she could be thankful for at the dentist office.  Being with Memaw (who took her so I could do school with the big girls.) and going shopping with her after.  Memaw buying her popcorn chicken for a treat.  Best of all, no cavities!


After all this counting her blessings she was feeling much less disappointed!

With All My Heart~

Evidence Not Seen

Since I did this:

I have had lots of time for this:

I really have enjoyed the reading time and not feeling guilty for so much "me" time. When DH went to a pastor's conference in October, he brought back to me a wonderful gift.  He asked one of the bookstore ladies to recommend a book for his wife.  The dear lady recommended Evidence Not Seen, an autobiographical account of the 4 years American missionary, Darlene Diebler Rose was one of the captives in a Japanese prison camp in New Guinea.


The girls and I have been studying WWII and this was a wonderful perspective of some of the hardships for the neighbors of Japan as they invaded and tortured much like the Nazis were doing.  The book does describe some pretty disgusting and heartbreaking events that were hard to read, but her faith in God and trusting Him through everything was so encouraging.


Be prepared with tissues!  If you are feeling like you have greater trials than you can bear, read this book.  It has definitely helped me keep perspective through my very small trial.


With All My Heart~

Lots of Time

Usually, I feel like I have no time.  Or at least little time to complete all that I need to do.  For the last several days I have been spending a great deal of time with my mom in the hospital.  Thankfully she is doing well.  We have had lots of time to talk.  It has been time uninterrupted by my four girls or schedules.  I am thankful for this time.  I hate that Mom has to be in the hospital but I am thankful for these moments to talk and to do things for her.  She has done so much for me all my life.  She spent 2 years of her life taking care of my first two girls while DH and I worked.  I could never repay her for all she has done for me.  So I am feeling very blessed to be with her.  I may only be turning off a pesky alarm, helping her to reach the things she needs, keeping her clean, or listening to her talk.  Or I type notes to friends on facebook and update my blog! (Did you notice the new title and look?)  It is all time well spent.


I am so thankful for Memaw and DH, as they do what I would normally do at home.  I really appreciate DH's understanding that I need to be here for my mom.  It has also given me time to think about my life and how blessed I really am.  I will be turning 40 this coming birthday and I have had a happy life.  I look back and see so many ways God has blessed me and I am amazed.  And then I remember that this life, that seems to be so much time, is only a vapor.  That really is mind boggling!  It is the next life, the eternal life, that will be lots of time.  No end to the time! And all eternal time will be spent in total joy and happiness.  What a time to look forward to for those who love God!


With all my heart~