Joanne Heim

Celebrating Advent: Lighting Advent Candles

Lisa wrote about the holidays a while ago, and I decided it was my turn to tackle it this morning for a couple of reasons.

• The Christmas tree is up and twinkling next to me and so it's on my mind.
• I spoke about simplifying the holidays at MOPS on Tuesday.
• Advent begins tomorrow.

The primary way we have simplified the holidays (and birthdays and anniversaries and the like) is to celebrate the story, rather than the stuff.

Stuff gets lost, broken, forgotten. Stuff can cost money we don't have, take up space we don't have, and be things we don't even want or need.

(Did you know that Americans spend $450 billion on Christmas every year? And $1.2 billion of that is spent on Christmas ornaments imported from China? And that it would only cost $10 billion to provide clean water for everyone on the planet? Check out adventconspiracy.org for more information.)

So how do we celebrate the story of Christmas? We tell the story of the first Christmas and we tell the story of our family's Christmas--in as many ways as we can think of. 

For our family, celebrating Advent is a big part of telling the story of the first Christmas. And for young families trying to balance parents and in-laws and all those expectations, Advent is a great way to come up with some traditions just for your own little family.

The season of Advent begins four Sundays before Christmas (tomorrow is the first Sunday of Advent) and at its simplest involves lighting candles and reading Scripture. You need five candles and a Bible--pretty simple!

 

I keep a bookmark in my Bible and one at the dining room table with a list of Advent readings. Here's a file if you'd like to download and print it. Download Advent bookmarks

Want more information on Advent candles and wreaths? Look here or here. Or as my girls would say, "Just google it!"

Each Sunday, we light an Advent candle and read the Scripture for that candle. Then for dinner every night that next week, we light that same candle and read that day's Scripture. The next week, we light the next candle, and have two candles lit each night. And so on, adding candles until we come to Christmas day and the fifth candle, Christ's candle.

The readings are short and even small children can participate and listen.

We also celebrate Advent in some other ways too. I'll be highlighting some different things over the next few weeks that help us celebrate the story of the first Christmas--Advent calendars, books that tell the story, Advent devotionals, nativity sets, music, and more.

(I did update the Advent page on The Simple Wife bookshop at Amazon. Just click on the button over there ---->. It is Amazon, but organized in a way that allows me to share some of our favorite things with you.)

And I'd love to hear how you have celebrated Advent as well. I said it a lot on Tuesday at MOPS--we are each other's greatest resource for simplifying the holidays and telling the story of Christmas.

So, do you celebrate Advent? How? Or do you have any Advent questions? Ask away, and we can all do our best to answer and share what's worked for our families.

***

It snowed last night, so I just have to show you the view from the kitchen window this morning:

And from my quiet time chair in the living room, next to the Christmas tree:

Psst...doesn't the tree look great?

I broke down and decorated for Christmas the day BEFORE Thanksgiving. I took down all the autumn decorations (with Pumpkin's help) and thought that since I was making a mess, I might as well go ahead and decorate for Christmas.

I use the dining room table as my staging area, getting everything out and unpacked and then decorating from there. The dining room gets done last--and I think I need some garland and maybe a table runner to finish it.

The great news is that the tree fit in front of the living room windows and I didn't have to move any furniture! I just tilted my big chair a little and everything fit perfectly. So I've had my quiet time for the past two mornings by the lights of the tree!

I took some other pictures, but I'll wait and join in Sophie's Christmas Tour of Homes on December 15.

The girls put up trees in their rooms too--I got new trees for them this year--their three- and four-foot trees weren't big enough for their ornaments. So $20 at Big Lots! got them six-foot trees--I'm wishing I got a couple more to go around the house. 

They're not too big--and kind of skinny so one would be great in my room, and in the dining room too. Maybe next year...

Camp recap

Oh my goodness, Monday morning feels like forever ago.

First I have to say a HUGE THANK YOU for all your prayers--for camp and for yesterday morning's MOPS meeting. I could totally tell you were praying and can't tell you how much I appreciated it.

So...camp.

I didn't sleep much. Two hours on Friday night and three hours on Saturday night. But I didn't freak out and panic about not sleeping, so it was okay. The girls had a ball and were great. 

Highlights of the weekend?

I braided lots of heads of hair after I did Audrey and Emma on Saturday morning--"Mrs. Heim, will you braid my hair too?" Lots and lots of zigzag parts, French braids, and some fishtails thrown in for good measure. I like to do hair so it was fun. And a chance to talk to girls one on one.

I met some new moms and loved seeing moms meet and connect with each other.

I mattress surfed. (We stack those slippy-slidey mattresses up high, run down the hall as fast as we can, and launch ourselves on top, sliding down the length of the big room. Fun!)

I built the best campfire ever. Really. I wish I'd taken a picture!

I had a discussion with a six-year-old about the fact that we do not become angels when we go to heaven. And that the Bible is not "just a bunch of old Bible stories," but that it all really happened and is the Word of God. 

We were crafty--and earned the Art to Wear try it. Face painting, sock decorating, pillow cases, and more.

Bedtime prayers. We sit around in our sleeping bags and share requests and pray together before lights out. I love hearing what's on little girls' hearts.

Farm tour. Petting and feeding animals. Always a hit with the girls.

The scenery. The camp we go to is just plain beautiful! (Sorry for the small photos--I borrowed them from one of the mom's Facebook albums!)

 

Okay, gotta go eat some breakfast. More later about the MOPS group yesterday!

Memory Monday: Psalm 16

From memory:

Psalm 16

Keep me safe, O God, for in you I take refuge.

I said to the LORD, "You are my Lord; 

apart from you I have no good thing."

As for the saints who are in the land, 

they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight.

The sorrows of those will increase you run after other gods.

I will not pour out their libations of blood 

or take up their names on my lips.

LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup;

you have made my lot secure.

The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;

surely I have a delightful inheritance.

I will praise the LORD, who counsels me;

even at night my heart instructs me.

I have set the LORD always before me.

Because he is at my right hand, 

I will not be shaken.

Therefore, my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices,

my body will also rest secure,

because you will not abandon me to the grave,

nor will you let your Holy One see decay.

You have made known to me the path of life;

you will fill me with joy in your presence,

with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Okay, time to check it. I think I may have forgotten some of the punctuation and maybe some of the verse breaks. I'll put corrections in red.

Yep--I missed some punctuation and left out a whole verse! No wonder I wasn't counting 11 verses.

I think I'll keep working on it this morning and come back later to add it from memory again later.

I'm not sure what I want to memorize for next week. I'm thinking Mary's Song in Luke 1: 46-55. I'll let you know when I come back to try again on Psalm 16.

Did you do your Memory Monday? Leave a comment with your blog post address--and, as always, if you don't have a blog, leave your verse in the comments! (Seems like that's easier than the Mr. Linky thing.)

Meet the Brownie Bus

Do you name your cars? We do, though I'm not sure why. We've not named every car we've had (and we've had a lot of cars), but my current car is The Brownie Bus.

Why Brownie Bus? Because my Pacifica (Hi Ho Silver) was not big enough to haul the Girl Scouts and all their stuff around. So Toben (sweet man) bought me an Expedition again. (I had a blue one--Big Blue--before Hi Ho Silver). 

Brownie Bus is almost all packed and ready to haul the Girl Scouts up the mountain to camp after school today.

Thank you for your sleep prayers--I slept much better last night. And though I did wake up a few times, I rolled right over and went back to sleep. I was even sleeping when the alarm went off at 5. And I'm even feeling excited about going to camp, which is nothing short of a miracle. So thank you. And keep praying.

I love you all so much!

Quick, quick

I have a list a million miles long today, starting with taking the girls to school this morning for chapel and then prayer group followed by a zillion things to get done for Girl Scout camp. But I wanted to say hi.

I so didn't stay up last night--not sleeping well has taken it's toll on me and I was out by 8:04! Then up at 10:30, 11:45, 1:30ish, and again at 3:30. It didn't help that the cats decided to see who could run fastest all over the house. Cats are not light on their feet, no matter what anyone says!

And that was with a hefty dose of Nyquil.

I was so glad to get up at 5 o'clock and just have the night be over.

I mentioned earlier this week that I'm spending some time in Psalm 16 this week for my quiet time. I'm also memorizing the whole thing (!) for Memory Monday. (I'm getting there and need to go print it out--finally--to put in the car as I run errands today.) Anyway, I've been looking at the original Hebrew (blueletterbible.org) and learning so much. I'd love to share some of it with you--but I've got to go get dressed.

Anyway, just wondering...what have you learned in your quiet time this morning or this week?

I have got to stay up later

What is the difference between morning dark and night dark? I can get up and out of bed when it's dark in the morning, but I can't stay awake past 8:10 when it's dark at night. I'm in a terrible rut of falling asleep early and then waking up at 3:30 each morning. I so need to break this cycle. I have great intentions of staying awake until 9, but just can't. I need some serious help! How do you stay awake at night when it's dark? HELP!

Especially since I'm headed to Girl Scout camp this weekend. Though I am in charge and that means lights out at 9 p.m. so there'll be no super late nights there. I am not a fan of letting little girls stay up half the night. They are cranky the next day and then come home on Sunday afternoon and have major meltdowns. So I strictly enforce bedtime and I'm pretty sure their parents are glad I do. (I also make them eat vegetables at camp--everyone has to take at least three bites. Brownie bites!)

I do have fun with the girls at camp, but I don't typically sleep well so I'm dreading this weekend a little bit. If you think of me this weekend, I could use some prayers. Especially since I feel a little cold coming on, and PMS is scheduled to strike. Please More Spirit! (Beth Moore blogged that at one time, but I can't find the link and I'm running out of time to be searching this morning.)

Speaking of colds... It's coming from Audrey who sits next to a kid who's been coughing and sneezing all over her for a week now. Why, oh why, do parents send sick kids to school?! A little cold is one thing, but if your kid is spreading germs with reckless abandon, keep him or her home!

Okay, it's time to get off my soapbox and get the girls up, but I wanted to say a quick good morning!

Celebrating Dad's birthday

As I mentioned on Saturday morning, we were off to Estes Park and the Rocky Mountain National Park for my dad's birthday. Since it was a certain birthday, he qualified for his Golden Age Passport, which gets him into all the National Parks for a one-time fee of $10. Not a bad deal!

He hopped right out of the car when we drove up to the park entrance, standing in the car line between us and the car in front of us. When it was his turn, we unrolled the windows and sang "Happy Birthday" at the top of our lungs. I think the woman thought we were a little weird, but Dad was pretty excited!

It was a beautiful day, as you can see reflected in the window above, but cold and windy as you can see in the blowing snow on the top of the mountain below:

We did get him a gift as well, some new binoculars to use while spotting wildlife in all those national parks. He put them to good use right away!

We saw (and heard) hundreds of elk on Saturday. Toben and the girls got out to see them too, but Mom and I stayed in the car where it was warm and took our pictures through the window!

They didn't stay out very long.

We headed to the Dunraven Inn for dinner--it's one of Dad's favorite restaurants in Estes Park. We ate lots of steak and then all the girls slept the whole way home, while Toben and Dad talked about, well, I don't know, since I was asleep!

One of the highlights of the day was stopping at the visitor's center and meeting a park ranger who clearly loves his job and loves talking to kids. We all learned about "skulls and skins" and Audrey and Emma picked up their Junior Ranger guides for the park. There's talk of camping next summer so they can work on it!

It was a great day!

And just for Ava: We missed you and sent you a postcard and thought about you all day!

Memory Monday: Psalm 16:5-6

From memory:

LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup;

you have made my lot secure.

The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;

surely I have a delightful inheritance. (Psalm 16:5-6)

I had a pretty easy time memorizing this week. Psalm 16 was the psalm in my prayer book for the week, so I read it a couple of times every morning as part of my quiet time. I started off my quiet time journal each day by writing out these two verses.

How'd it go for you?

Because I can't figure out which week I should be on in my prayer book, I'm going to stick with Psalm 16 this week, studying it more in depth--(love that blueletterbible.org site!) and I'm going to memorize the whole thing for next Monday.

Here it is in its entirety:

Keep me safe, O God,

for in you I take refuge.

I said to the LORD, "You are my Lord;

apart from you I have no good thing."

As for the saints who are in the land,

they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight.

The sorrows of those will increase who run after other gods.

I will not pour out their libations of blood or take up their names on my lips.

LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup;

you have made my lot secure.

The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;

surely I have a delightful inheritance.

I will praise the LORD, who counsels me;

even at night my heart instructs me.

I have set the LORD always before me.

Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;

my body also will rest secure,

because you will not abandon me to the grave,

nor will you let your Holy One see decay.

You have made known to me the path of life;

you will fill me with joy in your presence,

with eternal pleasures at your right hand. (Psalm 16)

What are you going to memorize for next week?

As always, feel free to "recite" your verse from last week in the comments here, or link to your specific post (not just your general blog url) using Mr. Linky.

P.S. Any of you Typepad users figured out how to put the links from Mr. Linky right in the post? I followed the directions on their site and can't get it to work. Am I going to have to upgrade to a higher membership on Mr. Linky?

Simple celebrations

Today is my dad's birthday and so I have birthdays on the brain. We're headed up to Estes Park later this morning for the day to celebrate. Dad's getting his Golden Passport for the National Parks and couldn't be more excited. I'll take lots of pictures and share more about our day later, but wanted to talk about simple celebrations for a bit.

I wrote a whole chapter about this in Living Simply because celebrations--birthdays, holidays--are one part of our lives where it's easy to go completely overboard. Excess tends to rule celebrations and we've somehow accepted that "bigger is better and better is bigger" (to quote Sharpay in HSM3) and that each year has to be more than the previous year. (Think Dudley Dursley's birthday at the beginning of the first Harry Potter book.)

(I just learned that Americans spend $450 billion on Christmas. Every year. Providing clean water for the planet would cost $10 billion. Puts it in perspective, huh? Check out this link and the video there to learn more.)

How do we simplify celebrations?

We celebrate the story--not the stuff.

The story of Christmas. The story of Easter. The story of a person's life.

Sure, gifts are great and we still give gifts around here. Gifts that are needed, gifts that are fun, gifts that are practical. Gifts that have meaning rather than things that we buy and wrap just to have something, anything to give. (Don't you hate that feeling? Buying stuff just because you need to give a gift?)

But we also try to give experience kinds of gifts rather than things that will get lost and broken. 

Some experience gifts aren't cheap. And so they vary with what we can afford at the time. But Toben and I often think of them as investments. We could easily spend the same amount of money on lots of things--things that will be outgrown, broken, lost, forgotten. The memories of these experiences last forever.

I got to be a trainer for the day at Sea World for my birthday one year:

Dad took Toben high speed go-carting for his birthday one year:

Audrey went indoor skydiving for her birthday one year:

So today we're going to spend the day together, celebrating Dad and making some memories that will last forever and can't be bought or wrapped. But will be cherished and remembered for years to come.

In today's economy, lots of us are cutting back this year out of necessity. Figuring out ways to simplify the holidays. But with that need, we have an opportunity to get back to the story and to celebrate what Christmas is really about. 

I think we're each other's greatest resource for ways to simplify and cut back. What's working for you?

Hint, hint (and where should I put the tree?)

I love letters. Initials. Flashcards with words and letters on them. And so that's inspiring some Christmas-ing that's been going on around here.

But that's all I'm going to show you!

The snow has all melted, except for in the shadiest spots. The sun came out yesterday by midday. Had it continued to snow, I think I would have been compelled to put up a Christmas tree or two!

Though I'm not quite sure where it's going to go. Our living room has gone through some changes recently, and the important tree question has yet to be answered.

Moving in:

First arrangement with old and stained red couches:

We then moved it all to the garage for the Girl Scout tea party last May (and once Toben saw the couches in broad daylight he agreed we couldn't put them back in--so the living room sat empty for a few months):

New couches! But very monochromatic...we need color:

I redid some of the pillows that came with the couch and made a cloth for that table that holds the lamp between the couches:

The other end of the room:

Another view. But we need a rug and a window seat cushion:

And the view from upstairs this morning--rug and window seat--done:

In the past, the tree has gone in the corner by the fireplace. But that huge, comfy chair is where I have my quiet time. So I don't want to move it. Maybe slide the jelly cupboard to the right and put the tree a little in front of the window...?

I could move the desk and put the tree there, but it's my desk and I spend a lot of time there. And I really want the tree to go in this room. We spend lots of time in here--plus I don't ever close the curtains and it's important to me that people driving by can see its lights--even just a little.

What do you think?

(Hey Holly, did you notice the sewing box? I painted it and it stores all my quiet time stuff and holds my coffee in the morning. Thank you again--I love it!)

The snow is snowing

"Though your sins are like scarlet, 

they shall be as white as snow" (Isaiah 1:18)

I woke up to a cold morning and just before dawn it started to snow. It's coming down and the girls left for school in snow boots and hats, mittens and scarves.

I'm off to Curves in a bit. Mom and Dad gave me a much-needed early Christmas present. So this morning I have to get weighed and measured. I'm not looking forward to that part. I'm sure there's some sort of spiritual metaphor about confession and repentance and such, but it's cold and I'm not going to attempt it!

Hope y'all have a lovely Friday. More later today, perhaps. I've some more Christmas-ing to do and may share a glimpse. We'll see...

Growing up...

Do you ever look at your kids and it's like you're seeing them for the first time in a long time? Yesterday I looked at Emma and then had to take another look because it's like she grew up over night. 

Wasn't she just a little girl?

(And, yes, it's very clear that God has blessed her with GOOD hair!)

How do you memorize?

Also known as "Memory Monday on Wednesday."

I was thinking about this yesterday as I was driving down C470 at 75 MPH singing "I Just Wanna Be With You" at the top of my lungs with Troy and Gabriella. (I think that's my favorite song on the soundtrack, what about you?) 

Anyway, I'd heard the song in the movie and then a couple of times since, but after listening to it twice in a row yesterday, I know all of the words just about by heart. How is that possible when it takes me several days to get the gist of a Bible verse?

Learning words to music is a whole lot easier than just learning them in a regular talking voice, don't you think? But I already know most of the kids' songs from Sunday school that teach Scripture, as well as "The 10 Commandment Boogie" from Go Fish! and I can't find a song for the verses I'm learning this week.

Would someone maybe please put the whole Bible into song for me? Travis? Anyone?

In the meantime, I was thinking about how I've helped the kids learn their verses for school:

• We write them out in different colors with pictures and underlinings and such to help our visual memory.
• We learn hand motions along with key words to help our kinesthetic memory (is there such a thing?).
• We write the verse by hand a couple of times each day. 
• We read it out loud to see it and hear it at the same time. 
• We put it on 3x5 cards and take it with us in the car, put it on the bathroom sink, and at the kitchen table. 
• We write it on the chalkboard in the kitchen. 

I've not typed out my verse for this week onto a card yet--something I need to do this morning. I had last week's printed on pretty paper because it made me want to look at it more than my handwriting on a plain old index card.

So, what about you? How do you memorize a verse?

Happy I Love You Day

I came home from shopping with Mom today (she needed some retail therapy after crying at the airport this morning so we visited some antique stores in downtown Littleton and had some yummy lunch at Toast) and found a "Happy I Love You Day" present on the computer from Toben.

Look!

The note says:

A sweatshirt to keep you WARM while you study

A coffee mug to help keep you AWAKE in class

And a bumper sticker so you can SHOW OFF!

The sticker's on the car, the sweatshirt is on me, and the mug is in the dishwasher getting clean for tomorrow morning.  Pretty neat, huh?

And just because I downloaded (uploaded?) some pictures from my camera, here's some kitty cuteness...

Joey

Pumpkin

Memory Monday

From memory...!

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. (Colossians 3:17,23-24)

What about you? What did you memorize? Feel free to type it in the comments if you don't have a blog. And don't forget to mention what you'll be memorizing for next Monday.

I opened up the prayer book this morning and saw that the psalm for the week is Psalm 16--which is what Beth Moore taught on at Living Proof Live in San Antonio in August. She challenged all of us to learn verses 5 and 6--something I've yet to do. (She used the ESV that weekend, but I'm more of an NIV girl, so that's what I'm going with.)

So for next Monday, I'm learning this:

LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure.

The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. (Psalm 16:5-6)

Okay, I've added Mr. Linky so you can link your Memory Monday post to this one. But I'm so not sure it's going to work. We'll give it a shot! I think you click on it and then it'll show you the list.

Been Christmas-ing

Not putting up decorations, but crafting! I headed down to the basement (aka the Mad Workshop) this morning after my quiet time, and came back up at about 2 o'clock, at which point I decided I should brush my teeth (I'd forgotten! Gross, I know!) and get showered and dressed.

I made tons of progress on some Christmas gifts and I'm so excited. I'd show you, but, well, it's a secret, you know!

We headed over to Mom and Dad's for dinner tonight and are all having dinner together again tomorrow night before Wade, Kristen, and the kids (and dog) fly to NYC on Monday morning. 

It seems weird that it's here and time for them to go. We've had this date on the calendar for so long, and for so long it's been way off in the future. But now it's here and I'm not sure I'm ready for it.

I meant to take some pictures of everyone together tonight, but I was busy working on a few projects while we sat around and completely forgot.

I'm off to bed and will see you on Monday!

Staying home

I am staying home today. All day. Unless I decide to run out to a sewing school that's going out of business and having a massive sale. Which is VERY tempting. Sewing supplies for $1 is what the Craig's list ad said. I may not be able to resist!

As I told those of you on Facebook, I was home for a total of 47 minutes yesterday. After chapel and prayer group at the girls' school, I ran to the post office, which is right by my mom's house. (They are home again--hooray, hooray, hooray!)

The post office doesn't have a bathroom, which I desperately needed, so I stopped by to use hers and stayed for the next five hours.

My sister and her family are leaving for New York--MOVING to NY--on Monday. And there was lots of packing still to be done. (They've been living at Mom and Dad's while my parents have been touring the leaves in New England for the past eight or nine weeks.)

Anyway, there were boxes to be packed and clothes--grown out of and to be grown into--to be sorted and so I stayed. (My back is certainly feeling it this morning after carrying some big and heavy boxes up the stairs that I should have left for a man! I need some Advil.)

Anyone out there live near Rye, New York? If so, I have someone for you to meet. You'll love her, I promise!

For some crazy reason, my whole family was up and out of bed by six o'clock this morning. Emma brought me a plate of toast and said, "Happy I Love You Day, Mom!" It was store bread and had so much Brummel & Brown slathered on it. But I ate it anyway and loved every bite. Sort of. 

Reminded me of making instant coffee for my mother once--hot water and about six heaping spoonfuls of coffee. She drank it. At least I think she did.

Have a great Friday!

Small changes sometimes have the biggest impact

Lisa just posted about some of the changes she's making with her family's schedule here. I am so excited for her and her family! Go read what she has to say about the big impact some small changes are making.

**THE NEXT MORNING**

When I woke up this morning, I saw that she'd written another one here. Go check it out here too and say hi.

Checking in after checking out

Well, I sure didn't mean to check out for so long after Monday's post. Life just sorta got a little bit busy.

reeeee e333E

(That's from Pumpkin. She just jumped up into my lap and then onto the keyboard. She is a Mac kitty and loves to walk all over the keys and type. Or lay down and go to sleep. Silly girl.)

First, thanks for all the great response to Memory Monday. I've got my verses printed up on a pretty card that is quickly getting pretty bent and beat up as I carry it here and there. I also wrote the first verse up on the blackboard in the kitchen so I see it when I walk by. 

I'm reading it whenever I see it, which is a good way to start memorizing for me. The Sunday school teacher Toben and I just had said this (again and again!): Repetition is the key to long-term memory. I think he's right.

If you want to participate and don't have a blog, you can type your verse out each Monday in the comments of my post and pick your new one there too. Let's not forget to pray for each other as we learn. That God would write his law on our hearts and that the Holy Spirit would remind us of what we have learned--both things God has promised us in his Word. 

That doesn't mean--unfortunately--that it will be easy all the time. But it does mean that he works with us as we memorize.

Second, thanks for all your prayers for Tuesday morning. It was a small Mommy and Me group (I think there were six of us) plus the cutest twins in pink fuzzy jammies who came along. Made me want another baby! Sort of. But not really.

We talked about bearing fruit since their theme for the year is the fruit of the Spirit. We looked at Psalm 92 and talked about how where we're planted and what we're proclaiming affects the fruit we bear.

Yesterday I got my official acceptance letter from Denver Seminary. I start school January 5! I've been assuming I'd be accepted and telling everyone that I'm going to seminary; it's nice that's it's really official!

And I've been proofing the typeset version of Misplacing God which comes out after Christmas. I just realized that it needs to be back at the publisher by tomorrow, which means I need to Fedex it today, which means I need to go finish proofing the two or three chapters I have left to go.

Making a book is a long process. It's strange to me that I wrote it a year ago and it's just now at this stage. Patience is definitely a virtue when it comes to publishing!

As I've read it, I'm so thankful--again!--for all of you and the responses you gave when I asked for help and insight into your own quiet times with the Lord. Thanks again!

Okay, I'm off for another cup of coffee and my handy-dandy red pen! Ya'll have a great day. I love you!

Announcing "Memory Monday"

Okay, no more delays. I've been meaning to do this for, oh, say three or four months. And I just can't put it off any longer.

I've been so convicted lately that I need to write God's Word on my heart. Which is a fancy way of saying I need to memorize some verses. There are all kinds of reasons for this, and all kinds of verses that support it. Simply put, as believers, we need to know the Word. By heart.

And without a deadline, without accountability, I am a hopeless case and my motivation stops with the thought each and every day that "I really need to do this." 

So.

Here comes Memory Monday.

Each Monday my goal is to pick a verse or passage to memorize for the upcoming week. And the next Monday, I'll type it out BY MEMORY and choose another one.

Wanna join me? Here's the button:

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So, to start off I thought I'd pick a passage I sort of know, but get mixed up whenever I try to say it by heart.

And whatever you do, 

whether in word or deed, 

do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, 

giving thanks to God the Father through him...

Whatever you do, 

work at it with all your heart, 

as working for the Lord, not for men, 

since you know that you will receive an inheritance 

from the Lord as a reward. 

It is the Lord Christ you are serving. 

(Colossians 3:17, 23-24)

Planning menus and grocery shopping

I mentioned before that EVERYTHING goes on the family calendar. Including what we're going to eat for dinner every night (and where the recipe is located). Because my least favorite question in the world is "What's for dinner?" (In fact, I'd go so far as to say it's my most hated question!)

When I don't have an answer right away, the first thing out of Toben's mouth is "Let's go out for dinner!" And while I enjoy eating food someone else has made, it gets expensive awfully fast. And it just doesn't work on school nights very well.

My mom taught me to plan menus and make grocery lists. Her advice, "Never buy something that's not on the list." That and don't go to the grocery store if you're hungry!

I try to plan menus for the upcoming week on Saturdays, making my grocery list as I go along. That way it's all ready to go on Monday, which is the day I shop. (I also have a wipe board on the fridge--for keeping track of random things I run out of like lemon pepper or dijon mustard.)

I don't usually plan for breakfast and lunch. During the summer when we're all home, I will come up with lunch options--and make up a list that everyone can choose from each day. But during the school year, I just keep things like yogurt and string cheese and fruit and crackers on hand.

Mostly I sit down with a pile of cookbooks and flip through until something sounds good. I also ask everyone if there's something they're really craving. Then it goes on the calendar. 

I put all the ingredients on my list--unless I know for sure I have what I need. If I'm not sure, it goes on the list. The last step is checking the pantry, freezer, fridge and taking off those things I have that I wasn't sure about.

Pretty simple.

As I plan, I take into account what's going on during the week. For example, on Monday, we have an all-school Girl Scout meeting and I know I won't be home until at least 5:00. I will be tired and I won't want to cook. So that's a good night for something quick and easy or a crockpot meal. Not the night to try anything complicated or something like risotto that requires, say, constant stirring and standing at the stove for an hour.

I also try to vary what we eat. Beef, chicken, pasta, soup. As well as kinds of food. Asian, Italian, French. 

And I take into account what we already have on hand. Since our beef was delivered (thank you, Kurt and Sharon!) on Wednesday, that means we have plenty of beef available. And since I just went to Costco and stocked up on chicken, we have lots of that too.

When I first started planning menus, I went so far as to have a set schedule. Monday was chicken. Tuesday was pasta. Wednesday was soup. Thursday was beef. Friday was seafood. And so on. While I don't stick to that anymore, I will go back to that periodically--especially when NOTHING sounds good to me as I flip through cookbooks!

In addition to putting the main course on the menu, I plan side dishes. Rice, potatoes, salad, vegetables. I keep sides really simple and try to be as specific as possible, though sometimes I'll just put "vegetable" and wait to see what's on sale at the store or what looks good. (I hate it when I plan on asparagus and then the stuff at the store isn't very nice looking!) So sometimes the grocery list has something like "vegetable to go with roast chicken" on it.

I don't know about you, but I shop at the same store every week. (Costco is a once-a-month trip around here.) I don't really care if another store has something I need on a better sale. It takes me too long to find everything else I need to be worth it!

Because I know where everything is at my store, I organize my list according to the path I take, grouping like items together. And since my list is on the computer, I can cut and paste pretty quickly. But even when I used a paper list, I'd rewrite the list because it saves so much time.

So fruits and vegetables are always listed first, followed by deli items, dry goods, canned goods, and so on until I get to the milk. That way I avoid walking back seven aisles for something I forgot. (Well, most of the time anyway!)

I organize my cart as I shop too. Something that caused Toben to mock me incessantly last Monday when he went with me. Ya'll think he's nice, but he was so awful that he's now banned from going to the store with me. Forever. And ever.

Anyway, I keep like items together in the cart so they get bagged together. That makes putting everything away much easier and faster. (Have to say, I sure wish they'd teach the baggers at the store how to do that and not put my eggs on top of my lettuce, or the bag of canned goods on top of my produce bags. I'm always happy when there aren't enough baggers and I get to bag my own groceries!)

I know some of you have blogged about how you do this and there are all kinds of resources out there for menu planning and shopping. What works for you? And if you've blogged about it, be sure to put a link to your post in the comments.

And the winner is...Cindi!

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

46	

Timestamp: 2008-11-01 13:06:15 UTC

That would be Cindi. Congratulations to you! 

Send me your address and I'll get it in the mail!

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