Day 12 Daddy saves the day!

Today I panicked.  I spent the morning exercising and visiting with a friend.  It was great!  I lost track of time and forgot my kindergartner had homework.  She was supposed to glue or draw pictures of things that are important to her.  We had less than an hour to get home, do homework, eat lunch and do hair.  It should have been enough time...but it wasn't.  I panicked.  I called my sweet husband, who was entirely swamped at work, and asked if he could find and print a picture of our family that my little one could glue.  Then I ran to Wendy's, grabbed some nugs and fries, used my friends mirror to do hair and headed to our business.  As we ate in the back room my little one glued the fabulous picture and ate her nugs.  We were only 2 minutes late to school.  I am so grateful that my husband recognizes when I am "crazy" and is willing to help.  He truly saved the day, and my sanity (or what little of it is left)!

Day 11

Tender Mercy today:   Ibuprofen.  What did the pioneers do without painkillers.  Last night I stressed myself into a migraine.  I do that quite often.  I tried essential oils, de-stressing, and everything else I could think of.  In the end, I was so grateful I had another option.  This morning when I woke up I felt soooo much better.

Day 10 Dr. Seuss

I am sure there must be something wrong with me...I've never really cared that much for Dr. Seuss.  But when you have a little darling who has been really struggling with reading for two years and you have all but given up on it, to come into her room and hear her working through Cat in the Hat...brings tears to you eyes!  Thank you Heavenly Father, I needed that today!  I think we're gonna make it!

Day 9 Frozen Tuna

Sometimes our blessings are so obvious.  My goal with this blog and challenge for myself is to find something every day for the next year to be grateful for.  Yesterday was more of a challenge to recognize the Lord's hand.  I was grouchy!  I felt overwhelmed!  I was truly tired!  When I finally went to bed I couldn't sleep!  So this morning I wasn't too optimistic.  I tried something a little new today.

 A friend told me about a conference they were at where Sister Julie B. Beck was the speaker.  She invited the sisters in the meeting to pray when they first wake up, while all things are still quiet (her kids must be grown).  She invited them to ask the Lord what he would have them do that day and to ponder for a few minutes before facing the day.  So this morning I gave it a try.  I asked the Lord to direct me.  A few minutes later I made my "to do" list.  Guess what?  I didn't do anything on my list.  I started a few of the items...but along the way things came up.  A friend called and wanted to visit...My 5 year old wanted to get ready for the first day of school...the girls actually wanted to eat dinner (can't imagine why)...well, life got in the way of my to do list.  But I was so grateful that I listened! It was great connecting with that friend this morning, it was fun to see how excited my little darling is for school, and the kids loved dinner (which they've never eaten when I made it before).  All of these were less obvious blessings.  I had to dig a little to see them.  But after all this, our dear neighbor who is moving very far away dropped by.  "Could you use some food?  Our freezer is full and we can't take it with us.  While you are at it, why don't you use this freezer while we are gone."  Um....ya.  An obvious tender mercy!  Now I just have to figure out what to do with frozen tuna.  The food was an addition to a trampoline her sons brought over yesterday and a really great headboard and foot board they brought over this morning.  The Lord knows our needs, even when we don't ask!

One more thing...not knowing how many school clothes we would be able to purchase and knowing how exciting it is to wear new clothes on the first day of school, I let the girls pick out a pattern and fabric from my stash and was making them an outfit for the first day of school.  I finished one dress last week and had half of another shirt done.  Finishing it was on my "to do" list today.  And quite frankly I was wondering if I would find time today to get it done.  I was determined to sew after the girls went to bed, but I needed to get my exercise in for my challenge and knew I wouldn't be worth much after that.  The girls were getting their pajamas on and were talking about what they wanted to wear.  I asked them about the clothes I had been making.  My newly turned 7 year old looked me in the eye and said "Mom, I don't want you to have to worry about my shirt tonight.  I can just wear something else.  You finish it when you have time."  She didn't know how stressed I was about getting it done.  But I thought it was really sweet and super intuitive that she would realize the pressure I was under.  How does a 7 year old recognize such things?  Did I mention she's pretty close to the Spirit?  Oh, how I love her!  Another HUGE tender mercy!  And though I was a little sad that they won't get to wear what I made them, my husband said "at least you are making them something."  I guess I take for granted the wonderful things my mom created for me as a kid and the things she taught me to do for my own kids.

Do you take time to ask the Lord "What would you have me do today?"  What has been the outcome?

Day 8 Motivation

I don't know about you, but I have a hard time staying motivated to exercise, eat better, and take care of my spirit.  Our relief society started a wellness challenge today in hopes that we could help push each other to be just a little better.  We get points for personal prayer and scripture study, 20 minutes of exercise, drinking out 64 oz of water, and eating 5 fruits and veggies.  I have found a new friend here in my small town (that is a tender mercy in and of itself) and she wanted to take the challenge with me.  But we decided to step it up a few notches.  We added a few more things, such as no sugary sweets or treats for the day, and losing points for raising our voices to our kids.  And we gave ourselves 1 point for every minute we exercise.

Like most people, I exercise better when someone else is expecting me to show up, and if they will talk to me while I am working out-you know so that I don't think about what I am doing.  So this morning to kick off our challenge we decided to walk.  For the past year I have been struggling with an adrenal gland problem and it has been really difficult for me to exercise.  So needless to say, I am really out of shape.  After about 30 minutes I wasn't sure how long I would make it.  But we kept going. I kept going because SHE kept going.  And I am so grateful!  Yep, it pretty much wiped me out for the rest of the day, but I know it will all be worth it.  My tender mercy for today is a friend who accepts me for who I am, but knows I can be better and pushes and encourages me to improve and reach my goals.  I know a loving Heavenly Father sent someone my way to help me achieve my goals.  And I think He's doing the same for her.  We said today that we felt we were being guided by the Spirit, and that gives us the strength to do what we need to do to be better mothers, wives, daughters, and servants.

Has the Lord placed someone in your life that has helped or is helping you reach your potential?  Tell me about it.

Day 7 A Pinterest session?

Day 7:  Now that I am all caught up it's time for today's tender mercy.  This may sound goofy, and maybe it is.  We moved into a great home built in the 80's.  The outside isn't much to shout about but the people before us did an amazing job making this place look "posh" (as my sis-in-law would say).  I really like their taste and I liked that I didn't have to pay to do the things they did!  While the basic interior design (walls, doors, moldings) totally rocks, I have had a really hard time making this house mine.  There is tons of storage-but not where I want it.  It gets very limited natural light because of 4 very large and beautiful trees in the back yard.  It has plenty of room, but it is all closed up and claustrophobic-at least to me.  So...for the last 2 years I have been trying (it feels fruitlessly) to make this thing mine...ours.  It seems that one way the Lord answers my prayers (such as "How do I get more natural light in the kitchen) is to give me a clear picture of how something should look or feel.  So now walls are going to come down and closets ripped out and a host of other things that will make this place a little more open.  But one of the parts I have still been struggling with is how to decorate it so that it is pleasing to me and uplifts my spirit.  I don't like a lot of "things".  I have learned that the less I have the happier I am.  I have made things, sold them to someone else, painted and repainted existing things, moved things around, looked at pinterest...a lot.  And finally something odd happened today.  After church, while the kids were having some quiet time, I had the impression to go to pinterest.  Huh?  Usually that becomes a time waster for me-all be it a fun one.  But ok, I am learning to follow promptings even when they don't make sense.  And boy, did I feel directed.  After browsing for a few minutes I was drawn to a blog that had some very simple, yet perfect ideas for some of the areas I was struggling with.  I could see some clear pictures of what I wanted to do in my home and where I wanted to do it.  I came away from this pinterest "session" with a renewed energy to make my home a place my family and I REALLY want to be.  And now I have motivation to really make it happen.  No, I probably won't post before and after pictures...or maybe I will.  But if anyone wants in on the excitement come on over.  Gotta love pinterest!  Gotta love the Lord even more!

How does the Spirit speak to you?

Day 6 Granny's Apricot Leather

Day 6:  I learned to can fruit and vegetables from my Mom and Dad.  It was a family affair.  Especially since we grew up with very little money and a garden that took up 1/4 acre.  Oh, and don't forget my four brothers that ate like horses (saying pigs would be rude).  I love to eat things that I know I grew, harvested, and preserved.  Until a few years ago, I didn't realize how much money my mom really spent on fruit to bottle.  We didn't have fruit trees growing up but my siblings and I wouldn't eat fruit from a can-just what my mom put up.  This year, funds being tight and all, I wondered how we were going to fill up the cupboards with bottled fruit.  Today a customer at our store (also a friend) called to see if I wanted some apricots.  Apricot leather is one of my MOST favorite treats!  It reminds me of sleepovers at grandma's house.  Love my dear sweet grandma!  Apricots are one of the fruits I refuse to spend money on but have had a really hard time getting my hands on since we moved.  I was floored that this friend (whom I seldom see or talk to) thought to offer ME apricots.   Thank you Heavenly Father for again answering a prayer through someone else.  And thank you Kristen for listening to a prompting.

How has the Lord answered your prayer today?