For Such a Time as This

 

Hi all! It's been awhile. I am realizing that, even in the midst of the chaos that is our world right now, making our homes a haven is more important than ever! And that waiting for things to "settle down" in life is just not an option. Once the holidays are past, I plan on blogging regularly once again.

For now, I will leave you with this short, sweet, and to-the-point Bible verse that's been weighing on me lately, and is for ALL of us living during this weird time in history:

"For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" ~Esther 4:14

He is Risen!

 

Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.  But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.  Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.  Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?  He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee,  saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’”

 And they remembered His words.  Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.  It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles.  And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them.  But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.
~Luke 24:1-12

Hallelujah!!! Christ is risen indeed!!!

No matter what is going on in this world, no one will be able to take away the fact that our Lord and Savior, King Jesus, has risen from the dead! The Living God is on His throne. Amen!!! 🙌

I hope this post finds you in good health and rejoicing spirit! Have a blessed Easter, everyone!

When Life Ain't Perfect

 

Hello and welcome! I realize I have been on a long blogging hiatus. After a lot of busyness on the home front, I struggled for quite awhile with my old friend Perfectionism. I could say I had writer's block. But really, I didn't feel like I had that perfect thing to share with anyone. Then I had hiccups with my camera, so I couldn't, you know, take that perfect picture if I ever did come up with a post. But I've missed writing and interacting with you all, and have been feeling a stronger and stronger tug on my heart to just. start. up. again. already! So, here I am! If you are new here, welcome! I hope you enjoy your time here at my little corner of the internet. If you do, please consider hitting the Follow button over on the sidebar. If you are a returning visitor, welcome back! And thank you for your patience with me. 😉

A world of chaos?

I also realize I've returned to blogging in the middle of a world-wide pandemic. I pray you are all doing well! Please let me know if you have any prayer requests in the comments below. I would be happy to pray for you, and I would love it if we could all pray for each other!

There have been quite a few changes around my home. My oldest has temporarily moved back in until things have leveled off. My Hubby is an essential employee at both his full-time and part-time jobs, one being a first responder. That in itself presents a whole new level of precautions and prayers in our home. Especially since I myself am in what is considered the "high risk" category, being diabetic and having an autoimmune disease.

It has not been easy, but I have found a few ways to find peace in the midst of all of this chaos.

How I make my home a haven for my family in the midst of a troubled time

• Prioritize your focus! I'm not gonna lie. Last month, I started losing my focus on Jesus. There was so much going on, so much information (and disinformation) coming in, so many things to do, adjustments to make. I started losing sight of the One that was needed more than anything else. While I was keeping up on my Bible schedule, I came to realize that that's pretty much all I was doing. Keeping up. Checking it off the list. So I could move on to the next thing. I became weary, exhausted, both in body and spirit. When I realized (finally!) what was happening, I asked the Lord to help me bring back my focus to where it needs to be. I now wake up in the morning excited again to spend time with my Father. And I am definitely feeling His peace again.
  
• Love on and care for my Hubby. His already hefty jobs just got heftier. Plus, with my being high risk, he has taken on the task of going out to get things when we need them. I always try and make sure I'm taking care of our home and family in a way that will lighten his load, while making sure I still have more than enough energy for him when he finally walks in the door at night. Now, I'm trying to be even more diligent. I'm definitely not perfect, but I'm keeping GRACE in my mind and on my heart.
  
• Routines! Oh, these are so, so important right now! I think it was a little before Christmas or Thanksgiving of last year that I jumped back in hard core to the Flylady method. And I am still going! Not 100% perfect at being consistent, but most of my morning and evening routines are automatic by now. Which is great, because it brings a sense of stability to our home life. Even though we are in a time where we can't have guests into our home, I still try to keep things "guest ready." Except now, I say that it's "family ready!" With my routines on autopilot, I do it without even thinking about it.

Make your haven a place to relax!

With the exception of not being able to go places, not much has changed in our homeschool. I do relax on it at times right now, however. Some days, we all have the energy to speed along. Other days, it's more like we have to chip away at it. And some days, we just plain need a brain break. I really think God is using this time to show me that our homeschool doesn't have to be an all-or-nothing thing. There's a flow that is unique to each family, and it is GOOD to go with it!

Besides school, it seems like everyone in my family is really learning more to enjoy each other's company. And at the same time, respect each other's space when it's needed. I really believe these times are also making us more thankful for so many things we have previously taken for granted.

How are YOU doing?

I would love to hear below some good things happening in your life, in general, or maybe specifically because of having to shelter in place. I also welcome prayer requests and I would love us all to be praying for each other!

Thank you, friends, for stopping by and reading! I hope you all have a blessed Easter weekend!