Josh is asleep and more praises

Wow, Joshua is asleep. PTL!!! I was nervous as we had church tonight (dinner 5:45-6:30 and then adult, youth, and children's classes 6:45pm-8:00pm.) But he did not get up from bed or anything tonight. He will actually get to play his video games tomorrow. It has been awhile for that. Jason is also in his bed almost asleep as well.

I am going to make lunch for co-op; straighten up for about 20 min.; and then do some homeschool paperwork and preschool co-op prep. This will be 10:00pm-11:00pm. Next, I will read in my bed. I am reading an old western love story. Finally, I it will be lights out by 11:30pm, so I can get up at 7:30am. This is still such a struggle for me.

Another praise is that I have all of Sept.'s bills paid in full. I also prepaid Oct.'s phone and gas bill. I managed to get through the months even giving a few small gifts for the many Sept. birthdays we had. I even was able to send money for my sponsor child so they can purchase him a Christmas gift (they ask for the money by the end of Oct., you don't have to give, but I want him to have a Christmas gift.)

Also after all the fiasco and another $101, I now have hot water again and my washer and dryer hooked back up (thanks Scott.) I will try and get that $101 back though, we will see about that.

God is so amazing to us. We have an awesome home, our health, plenty to eat, an amazing support system in my family and friends, a running car, no debt, money in savings, this computer that I type on, toys and books galore, a working tv, vcr, and dvd player, and the list goes on. I am so thankful for all of this.

But I can never thank Him enough for His love for us, and Him sending His son Jesus Christ to this earth to die for my sin's (and yours as well.) I don't deserve that, but He loves me that much (and you too.)

I pray you are reminded of His love for you every single day. I pray you try and share Him and that love with all you meet.

-Becky

Early Night

Kids were asleep by 10:30pm. That is a good night for us. Josh did get up so he did not earn video game privileges for tomorrow though.

After boys were asleep I wrote in my prayer journal (which I highly recommend, it helps keep distractions while praying to a minimum.) Then I read the first day of Becoming the Woman I Want to Be by Donna Partow. It has a daily verse to memorize, scripture reading, prayer, and questions to help you grow in the Lord. Plus it gives you assignments to help treat your body like the temple God intended. Today's items were:
-drink hot lemon water (1/4 a real lemon steeped in hot water, then squeeze the lemon and drink-yummy)
-take a good multi vitamin and vitamin c (which I still have to get the vitamin c)
-eat as many raw/steamed veggies from list as possible
-jump on rebounder (mini trampoline 2-3 min.)
-walk 15 min.

This study is meant to be done in am, so I did not eat any veggies and I did not exercise at all, but tomorrow my goal is to do study in am, so I can get all the mini assignments in.

I feel good. I am off to bed. This is an early night for us, I may actually get a full 8 hours of sleep (I plan to be up at 7:30am to pray on the phone with my friend Kristen and start my study.)

-Becky

Cheering Up

My younger brother, Kevin took the boys and I out to the China Buffet. That was nice. I feel a bit better.

After I put the kids to bed I am going to start a 90 day devotion, Becoming the Woman I Want to Be. I am really excited about that.

Duane is still in the air and will arrive in NE about 10pm tonight (he had two connecting flights today-yikes.) I will be excited to talk with him later as well. After I spend time with the Lord that is.

Off to put the boys to bed.

-Becky

Help out my baby sister

My sister, Samantha (who just turned 20) is now selling Avon. I love Avon stuff (I used to sell it as well.) Go to her website and browse. You can now have things from the website sent directly to you and she still gets the credit (you must order through her site though.) Thanks so much!

-Becky

Obeying God is hard

It is not easy for me to write as I am so sad today. Duane left on a plane back to NE this afternoon. He and I met online just over two years ago. We have been dating on and off for about a year and a half (mostly long distance.)

In Feb. of this year he had moved here to try and get work. He rented a room from my brother. After about 6 weeks he left (ran out of money.)

He came again in July for a brief visit and then again at the end of July to try and once again get a job. Again he was unable to find work. So out of money he had to return home.

I feel him leaving was positive because we both felt that it was from God, however I enjoyed having him around.
And I will miss him.

Obeying God is so hard, I am not sure why as His ways are always better than our ways, yet still my old sinful heart wants what it wants, NOW!

Honestly, having Duane around was a huge temptation and my walk with the Lord has suffered because of it. I do not blame Duane, I am responsible for all my own decisions.

I will be real here, being a single mom is hard, and staying pure after having already had experiences is hard as well. Maybe not for others, but certainly for me. So having Duane in NE is a good boundary for me right now. Pray that I will use this time to get reacquainted with the Lord. I desire to put Him first in all I do.

Even though I know God has amazing plans for my life, yet I am still sad today.

-Becky

I am mad

We discovered our hot water was not working some time last week. Odd since it was replaced by a licensed plumber no more than a year ago. I called the same plumber who charged me $101 just to come out and diagnose the problem. Why did I have to pay them? They bought the hot water heater. Anyway they said it was a faulty part on the unit. I could pay them another $165 to replace it? Huh? So I called Whirlpool and they said they would send a tech out to fix it (they knew about the faulty part.) He came today. He was supposed to come between 8am-12pm and he came at 1:00pm (after I called to see where he was.) Since he was not a plumber he could not touch my washer dryer unit. This has to be moved before you can get to the hot water heater. This is why I always call a plumber in regards to this stuff (I don't want to mess with the gas line.) He told me once I get the washer dryer unit moved he can come back and fix the hot water heater. I called Whirlpool again and asked them to send a plumber but they do not do that.

I am so so upset. We have been without hot water all week. Tues. night I took a cold shower. Yesterday I went to my aunt's to shower. It has been since last weekend that the boys have showered.

I paid about $1,000 last year to the plumber to purchase and install a new working hot water heater, thinking I would not have to think about it again for 5-7 years. Not 10 months. Yet, here I am without hot water and $101 more dollars. Plus now I have to pay a plumber to move the washer dryer unit and then what pay him again to put my the unit back?

I guess I am done venting. I will be in prayer about my heart as well as what to do.

What would you do?

-Becky

Getting Organized

I just went through and organized all my papers in my file cabinet (bills, taxes, etc.) I have needed to do it for awhile and had a huge pile of papers that needed to be filed. It feels good to do so. About 1/4 was no longer valid and I was able to toss. About 1/4 was daycare stuff that I can box up and keep it attic as I am not currently doing in home daycare. I will keep all that stuff though as I was told to save any IRS stuff for 7 years. So my file cabinets are much more spacious now. It feels good to get a boring task out of the way. Plus now when I get a paper to file I can file it right away as all folders are set up and labeled. This really helps. Hopefully this will eliminate paperwork piling up.

I also have been going through one room or area each night and filling one box for my yard sale. I know in a previous post I have mentioned that I have not been very successful at my yard sales. However, a few family members, friends, and I are going to attempt a multi family sale. Plus my grandmother has moved from her home into a senior apartment and has some items that she no longer needs. So this sale may be a bit more successful. We are planning it for Fri. Oct. 9th & Sat. Oct. 10th. It seems to be a trend in my area to do yard sales Fri. & Sat. They seem to be more successful; plus the weather should be nice for a yard sale. I LOVE the fall weather (probably because I was born in the fall.)

I have no problem getting rid of stuff, as I got rid of about half my stuff when I moved in this house 2 years ago. But we still have managed to gather more stuff than we need. I am trying to weed out anything that was used for the in home daycare, as we no longer needs toys for any child under 6. If a baby comes over I will give them a box and some tupperware to play with, they like that batter anyway. For any preschool friends we still have our wooden trains and train table which my boys still play with.

I also need to weed out some of the homeschool stuff. It seems to multiply, we have so much. It is hard, because I think, "Will I use this?" or "What if I need this?" But since we have a very small space to work with I want to declutter as much as possible. Flylady taught me, "You can't organize clutter!" It is so true. By the way check out the Flylady website for some awesome help in cleaning and organizing your home and your life. Fly stands for Finally Loving Yourself. It is a great, practical, helpful site. It starts with babysteps to get you in the right direction, instead of diving in head first which can be really overwhelming.

Have you been doing any major cleaning or organizing lately? What are some helpful tips you have?

Thanks! -Becky