Joanne Heim

I invested $14.95 in my marriage

Some of you may remember reading something in Living Simply about needs vs. wants. And about how Emma yelled for me one day to come watch an infomericial for some spinny kitchen storage stuff that she was certain we NEEDED. And how I kind of mocked it.

Look what came home with me the last time I was at Wal-Mart:

I was in desperate need of some new containers--where do they all go?--and saw this and bit the bullet and got it.

You see, Toben and I don't fight a lot, but when we do it's usually about something small and, well, stupid. 

Like the cabinet where all the Rubbermaid is stored. Do lids get stored with the container, or in a separate section? Do all the round ones get stacked together, or do we mix shapes and go with sizes?

Lots of important questions.

Questions we answer differently.

Which is a problem, because I put leftovers away and Toben puts dishes away. So I'd organize everything MY way, and he'd put it all away HIS way. Conflict, conflict, conflict.

So now, we have this. They stack neatly, and just like Emma said years ago, "It spins!" Totally worth $14.95. And so much cheaper than counseling.

I'm back!

Excuse the pjs and no makeup! Couldn't wait until after my shower...

Spring Break Plans

So it's Monday morning on spring break week for me. (The girls have spring break next week, which is actually going to work out okay.) And while I wish this was what I was doing this week:

(Ahh...I love Kaui!)

Or even this:

(I haven't touched my machine since I started seminary!)

Instead, I will be doing this:

And dealing with this pile on my desk:

(Sorry for all those blurry photos, let's hope my thinking is a bit clearer!)

I'm going to tackle some papers and get lots of reading done for the second half of the semester. And speak at chapel at the girls' school on Thursday morning. And get my hair cut. And go shopping on Friday with my mother as a reward for doing all that other stuff. 

And in order to do that, I'm going to uplug. Not the whole computer, since I need that to write papers and do research. But I am going to take a blogging break for the next week. And a Facebook break. And a break from my Google reader.

I'd appreciate your prayers--for clear and critical thinking, for discipline to use my time wisely, for good communication with the kids on Thursday morning. And I'll be back in a week!

Memory Monday: I blew it!

Remember how I said I was going to gather all the verses I'd learned so far and get them printed on the same sized cards and all organized and beautiful and reviewed and everything?

It didn't happen.

I'd love to give you a long list of excuses and reasons and whys and wherefores, but the simple truth is that I just didn't do it.

This is why accountability is so good for me--it's uncomfortable to admit I didn't do what I said I'd do, and makes me resolve to do better next time.

Not that we're grading each other or keeping score. Not at all! 

But knowing I'm going to check in with all of you makes me that much more resolved to do what I said I'd do. To choose to work on my verse before I sit down to do something else that doesn't really matter.

So, for all of you thinking of joining, come join us. We aspire to memorize, but sometimes it doesn't happen, sometimes it's hard and we need an extra week. But we always encourage one another and cheer each other on!

Leave a comment with your Memory Monday post; if you don't have a blog, you can type out your verses here in the comments. And if you'd like to join, click on the button over there in the sidebar and you'll get all the information you need.

***

On another note, remember how I decided to pray my birthday wish verse every day? I have. And God is answering left and right. When it comes to the girls and communicating with them about being care-full with each other, about the kinds of words we speak, about why our words matter, God has been so good!

He's given me patience, the right words to speak, word pictures that Audrey and Emma seem to understand and grasp.

Hallelujah!

Been loving these books

My friend Kyle has been lending me all of the books in this series by James Patterson and I LOVE THEM! (Okay, so Kyle's only in the fourth grade, but we trade books back and forth and have so much fun doing it.)

He gave me this one on Thursday (well, he gave it to his little brother, who gave it to Emma, who gave it to me--really, it's like a secret book drug deal) and I didn't even peek at it until I got into bed last night. Two hours later, I put it down.

Remember a while ago when Audrey kept misreading the clock and we stayed up way too late reading? Well, I was reading the first book in the series. And Kyle's kept me supplied with each following book in the series. There are five and each one has been a blast.

They're a little science-fiction-y, which isn't usually my thing (half birds/half kids? really?) but I've gotta tell you that they're great. Fast-paced, fun, and super well-written.

Technically, they're for kids. So if you have a tween or teen, these would make a great "Happy I Love You Day" gift. Or if you love to read, go get them for yourself.

From a literary perspective, the voice in these books is terrific. First person, sarcastic, and consistent through each book in the series. James Patterson writes the voice of a teen girl perfectly.

Want to learn more about the series? Click here.

Frugal Friday on Saturday morning

I took Audrey to get some skin care stuff at Ulta a couple of weeks ago. I'm not sure I'm ready for her to be ready for that, but her skin was starting to get a few little blemishes and it seems like a good idea to get her in the habit of caring for her skin before it's really necessary.

Anyway.

The gal told me that one of the best things for exfoliation is a sugar scrub. And not a brand you buy, but just plain old sugar from the kitchen. Make a paste with some water and use it on those areas where you need a little extra help.

So I put some sugar in some pretty jars (I made one for me too) and have been using it on those areas where I tend to get blackheads or dry skin. And I have to tell you I could feel an IMMEDIATE difference. In just a week or so, my skin is much softer and smoother. I can see a difference too! (Just be sure to rinse really well!)

Next up on my list to figure out? Homemade Lysol wipes.

When I keep wipes in all the bathrooms, the bathrooms stay clean. The girls are great about wiping up the counters and sink when there are wipes quickly available. Otherwise? Not so much. But they're so expensive.

As I was waking up this morning, I was thinking how I used to make my own baby wipes and thought the same idea might work. So I'm off to see if I can't find a recipe. 

Happy Saturday!

I thought I'd Google it quick and found a great site. Click here for all kinds of recipes. I am SO making these!

Thursday haiku

We're studying Hebrew poetry in my biblical interpretation class. So I've got poetry on the brain.

Thursday morning, dark

Here comes a day to study

Midterm tomorrow

 Or how about this one?

Coffee, milky tan

Mug warming my hands, don't spill!

First sip is the best

Or this one?

Quiet time is peace

Praying, reading, journaling

Starting the day calm

And one more...

If I don't stop this

I will go to school stinky OR The girls won't have lunch today

Must take a shower! OR Sandwich making time

And, no, I don't think there's such a thing as Hebrew haiku in the Bible, but this was all I could come up with this early in the morning!

And in the words of Winnie the Pooh, "A very happy Thursday to you!"

(Did ya notice the rhyme? Totally unplanned!)

I went for the wedge sandal instead

The green flip flops weren't the right green and, surprisingly enough, these 4-inch wedges are more comfortable for my toe. Not as much bending and flexing going on.

Of course, I am SUPER TALL in them. In my bare feet I'm about 5'10"ish--so how tall is too tall to wear heels? That's one of the questions I'd ask Stacey and Clinton if I ever got the chance. I do love high heels and wore them every day when we lived in California, but since moving to Denver I've become more of a flats girl. But I miss them.

Toben likes it when I wear them. And speaking of him...

Didn't he do a good bandaging job? (And please don't look too closely at the rug. I clearly need to vacuum.)

I also clearly need to stop rambling and get some homework done.

Later, gator.

So...

I should be getting in the shower because I need to take the girls to school this morning (Toben usually drives them AND picks them up) in order to meet my cookie mom to finish up dealing with all the Girl Scout cookie money. And then I need to go to the bank. And then I have a department lunch at the seminary.

And there's a midterm on Friday to study for.

And as much as I say I'd like to, I really don't want to go meet with professors and other students in my jammies.

Instead, I thought I'd pop in to say good morning. "Top of the morning to you!"

(I really should be working my way through my email inbox, but oh well. I'm in a little email rebellion, I think. I got an email from the seminary telling me to go activate my "dmail" account so they can send my email there too. NO! I already have two email accounts and it's plenty, thankyouverymuch.)

I accidentally kicked a desk yesterday afternoon when I went up to talk to my professor. I just kept on talking, trying to ignore the pool of blood on my new gold flip flop. Turns out the nail is loose and wiggly--kind of like one of Emma's teeth. Gross!

Toben bandaged it all up for me so I don't have to look at it, but it hurts like crazy and is making me limp. Which is making my back hurt. I think I'm falling apart.

So that's why I'm avoiding a shower too. Because then I have to get dressed. And the only shoes I can possibly wear today are flip flops. And I don't remember if they'll match what I picked out to wear today.

Emma keeps telling me you can't begin a sentence with "and." Which you clearly can. You can break rules if you know them and know you're breaking them on purpose. Which works in grammar and writing, but falls completely apart if you try to go for any kind of spiritual metaphor.

I'm rambling now (like I haven't been since you started reading!) and need more coffee and a shower.

Have a terrific Tuesday, ya'll, and don't forget to wear green.

(Oh no, there's no green in the outfit I picked out! Did you notice I've already picked out my clothes for the week? After three or four weeks of intending to do this, I actually did! It really makes mornings so much better for everyone. Even if I'm going to have to rethink it all to include green and flip flops today. Maybe green flip flops...?)

Memory Monday: Birthday wish

I did finally pick a verse to memorize this past week. Though I suppose it would be more accurate to say that it chose me. 

The psalm for last week was Psalm 27 and each morning I was struck by verse 4. Well, by the beginning of it.

Here's what it says (from memory!):

One thing I ask of the LORD,
this is what I seek:

And then the verse goes on to say what the psalmist's one thing is.

But I stopped each morning to wonder and write down in my journal, "What's my one thing?"

I had a hard time answering, because I wasn't sure I could pick just one thing to be my one thing for the rest of my life. Yes, I could go with the obvious answer to love God more, to be more like Jesus. But I came up with a whole list of really specific answers! And I couldn't pick just one.

As it got closer and closer to my birthday, and more and more people asked what I wanted, I had a little a-ha! moment. I don't ask for the same thing every year. So maybe this could be my birthday wish verse.

What is the one thing I ask of God, the one thing I seek for this next year? What's my birthday wish?

That made it much easier to pick. Because I can ask for this one thing this next year, and then something else next year. (Which will be 38, not 40!)

So for the next year, I'm going to pray this verse each day.

One thing I ask of the LORD,
this is what I seek:
to be a wise mother.

Here's a peek from my journal yesterday morning:

For this next year, my prayer is to be a wise mother--to teach Audrey and Emma well, to communicate God's truth clearly, to know what to say and when to say it. Please grant me insight into each one of them, I pray. Fill me with love for them and prompt me to action. Help me love them the way you do.

For next week, I think I need to do some review. So my goal is to make sure I have all my verses printed on cards and know where they all are! (Some are on pretty paper, some are scribbled in my prayer journal, some are on index cards. They're all over the house and on all different sized paper. It's driving me crazy!) I'm going to review what I've learned so far and keep them fresh in my mind.

This is not a great picture of me. But I did not catch my hair on fire and I did blow out all the candles at once--3 on the top row and 7 on the bottom--37 candles!

We went to Mom and Dad's for lunch after church and sat around the the table just visiting. Mom made a huge and delicious Sunday dinner, the girls created gorgeous place cards, the table was set with china and crystal. And that's a chocolate/raspberry cake. Mmm...!

One of my birthday cards talks--Wonder Woman. I can't tell you how many times Emma opened and closed it. (Okay, I did too!) And thank you for all the birthday wishes on yesterday's post--each one made me smile.

***

Leave your Memory Monday link below!

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Oops...happy anniversary a day late! And happy birthday to me.

I missed it yesterday--my THIRD blog-o-versary! 

It's been three years of blogging for me, and I can't imagine NOT blogging now that it--and YOU--are such a part of my life.

Here's where it all began...

And happy birthday to me! Today I'm 37.

Oh my, I did it again. I typed 38 and then had to go back and fix it. For some reason, I've been convinced for the past many months that I would be turning 38 today. But my friend Ann pointed out to me that I've been all wrong about that.

So I'm actually A WHOLE YEAR YOUNGER than I thought.

Which, I suppose, is a pretty good gift. Even if it means that despite being a year younger than I thought I was I'm clearly already losing my marbles.

Mom and Dad called and sang to me early this morning. Well, not too early, but early enough. Then Kristen and her family called and sang. It's a Friedenstein thing. (Yes, that's my maiden name. And that's why when anyone asks me if I ever thought about hyphenating, I just snort and roll my eyes. I love being a Friedenstein girl, but I do not miss trying to fit in all on one line when signing a receipt.)

We're off to church here in a bit and then to Mom and Dad's for birthday lunch. I'll go set my camera out to take a picture of my cake. Audrey and Emma spent much of yesterday at Gran and Papa's getting ready for today.

And before I forget... Happy birthday too to Kimberly and Melissa--my bloggy birthday sisters! Any one else have a March 15 birthday?

Simplify Me: Quiet time

Every time I think about Lisa I get the biggest smile across my face. And then I read this post from Melissa too and it just makes me grin too! Making small changes can make such a big difference!

I love that Melissa talks about God's work in all this. God is the God of order (as my mom is wont to say) and as we put things in order we reflect his character too.

Anyhoo...

I think Lisa and I are going to tackle the topic of quiet time next. More than anything else, the discipline of spending time alone with God each and every day has changed my heart, grown my faith, and made the biggest difference in my life.

If you do nothing else to simplify your life, nothing else to create order in your home, do this one thing. I believe it will change everything else--because it will change you.

I suppose we should have tackled this one first. Oh well. But part of me was waiting for Misplacing God to release--because that's what this book is all about.

So how do we even start?

If you've grown up in the church, or been around the church for very long, my guess is that you've tried some things in the past.

So.

• What have you done in the past?
• What worked?
• What failed miserably? 
• What are your biggest challenges to quiet time?
• What questions do you have about it?

Creme Brulee French Toast

(There really should be little accents in the title, but it's too early to try to remember how to get them over those "e"s and the "u"...so just know that I know they should be there. My French degree is safe!)

::imagine a picture::

I wish I had a picture to share, but we ate it all too quickly yesterday, so you'll just have to use your imagination and trust that yours looks perfect.

Creme Brulee French Toast

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

2 tbsp. corn syrup

1 loaf French bread or challah or even sourdough, sliced (I like thick slices)

5 eggs

1 1/2 cups half and half (I used the fat free kind yesterday and it was fine)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. salt

Melt butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup together until blended. Pour in the bottom of a 9 x 13 casserole dish, making sure the bottom is covered. (I was in a hurry the other night and melted the butter right in the casserole pan in the microwave and then stirred in the sugar and corn syrup. It worked perfectly and saved me from washing a saucepan.)

Arrange the bread slices in the pan over the syrup. (Mine don't usually end up in a single layer, but more overlapping each other a little. I like it this way, because then the bottom of the bread is all gooey and yummy and the top is a little more crunchy.)

Whisk together the eggs, half and half, vanilla, and salt. Pour over the top. 

Cover with plastic wrap, pressing down to make sure the bread soaks up all the cream mixture. Refrigerate for 8-24 hours.

Bring to room temperature and bake at 350 for 40 minutes.

Serves 6. (Or 4!)

I've put it in the freezer instead of the fridge and baked it from there--turns out perfectly. I've also added peaches or blueberries to the recipe. And I suppose you could sprinkle the whole thing with powdered sugar and raspberry sauce too. It's best served with lots of bacon, in my opinion. Because, well, who doesn't love bacon?! And it's a nice salty contrast to the sweetness of the caramel in the French toast.

Want some free coffee?

For those of you who've been following our Simplify Me project...

 

Lisa's doing a giveaway here to celebrate. Go leave a comment by Friday to win some Starbucks!

Clothes, kitten, eyeshadow

I meant to add pictures to yesterday's post, but they just now came off my camera...

Piles from the closet. I've promised Toben to get them out of our room this week. I need to itemize them for tax purposes before loading them into bags and taking them to Goodwill. It's been a while since I've taken the time to do that, but my parents reminded me that it's worth the time it takes come tax time.

Pumpkin likes to help me put on my makeup in the morning. She was in the sink, but by the time I got to the camera, she'd moved up to the counter. See? There's my new eyeshadow--it's Cover Girl, for those of you who asked. Browns and golds.

(And the hairspray is mostly for the girls--they hate it! But there's nothing like it to keep their hair in place!)

I remembered to put on mascara after I took this picture, but couldn't get another picture to turn out as well.

Happy Tuesday! I'm having a secret club meeting with two of my girlfriends this morning. Yvette and Kristin are coming over to watch movies, sit by the fire (it's snowing!), and eat Creme Brulee French Toast and bacon. I am so looking forward to today!

Quick update on review copies

Hey all, 

Thanks for your patience! I heard from my publicist; she mailed out your review copies of Misplacing God today. So if you sent me an email way back when, your book is on its way!

Joanne

Simplify Me: Hooray for Lisa!

It was been way too long since Lisa and I have had a back and forth Simplify Me post. But when I read this post of hers here, I just had to comment and let you in on it too.

Seriously, it's short, so click here and go read it. Then come back. I'll wait.

::elevator music playing::

As I told her, it's not really the planets aligning just so. It's that she's done some hard work to make some choices about her days and weeks and what she wants them to look like. Some easier than others. Some pretty hard. 

It's worth remembering that a good choice doesn't always equal an easy choice. Sometimes the best choices are the ones that are the hardest to make.

Sure, she'll still have days when things aren't going so well, but I'm guessing they'll be fewer and far-er between.

WAY TO GO, LISA!

This may sound like complaining, but it's really not. Well, maybe it is. It's too early to tell.

I realize I forgot to pick a verse for next week. I don't have one in mind, so I'll think on it and get back to you.

Oh, I slept bad. 

We usually lock Pumpkin in Emma's room at night, but that requires another litter box and makes her room smelly at times, so we've kept Pumpkin out the past two nights. Joey does not like it and chases her away every time she comes into our room. Then they tear all over the house and wake me up. It wasn't until 3:30 that they made peace and both settled down. Then the alarm went off just as it felt like I was finally nice and sound asleep. Hate that!

Especially because today is FULL. Way too full for my liking. We have Brownies after school, which means I won't be home until after 5 o'clock. And I need to leave at 10:30, which feels like a really long day. I have chapel at the seminary, then class. Plus I need to go to Curves this morning before all that.

The good news? Toben is cooking dinner and I'll come home at the end of a long day and sit down to a delicious meal I didn't have to cook. And he'll clean up too.

I've been stuck in a mess of PMS and I'm having a hard time coming out of it. I don't know why it's been so bad the past few days, but I can't seem to shake it. I feel totally sucked down into feeling gross and not having a thing to wear.

I cleaned out my closet on Saturday and feel like there's nothing left. Which I know is not true, because this is all stuff that I haven't worn in way too long, doesn't fit, or just doesn't look good on me. 

So everything left is the stuff I wear, but I feel stuck in a clothing rut--after changing clothes as many times each day as I did in high school I'm feeling like I wear the same thing again and again. What Not to Wear is coming to Denver, and my mother and I are thinking about nominating ourselves for a mother-daughter makeover. We both feel ready for change. It might just be PMS, or spring fever, or who knows what. But it's feeling like a good idea.

I've been praying the PMS prayer a lot--Please, More Spirit!--and it was good to go to church yesterday and then spend time with friends and family. To get my mind off myself, which is where it's been stuck.

You know, it just occurred to me that my life has been a little quiet lately. I've not been listening to music much--not even in the car. And that's something that helps. Note to self--put on some praise music in the car today.

On a happy note, I bought some new eyeshadow the other day at the grocery store. And it really stayed put yesterday. Even better than the expensive stuff I had been buying.

And something else? I've kept the groceries under $100 for the past few weeks. For a family of four--three meals a day. Not bad.

Oops...it's 6:40 already even though it's still DARK, DARK, DARK. I need to get the girls up for school and pack lunches and get going.

Thanks for listening.

P.S. Thanks for all the sweet 1,000 blog posts comments!

Memory Monday: Psalm 119:45

Good morning! Here's the verse I learned this week:

Psalm 119:45
I will walk about in freedom,
for I have sought out your precepts.

Can't remember if I shared why I chose this one. If so, just ignore me for a minute. If not, here's why.

We experience freedom within healthy boundaries. Freedom is not the absence of boundaries, a life without structure, order, and rules. Freedom comes within the safety of limits. And I believe that best place to discover the best boundaries for us is in God's Word. 

Psalm 119 is a wisdom psalm--all about the wisdom of God's Word. It's full of words like precepts, laws, decrees, statutes, word, truth. In fact, the psalmist uses eight different terms like these in the original Hebrew and almost all of them are used in each section of the psalm.

If we want freedom in our lives, we need to live within the healthy and appropriate boundaries of God's laws. Some of those are pretty obvious--the big picture kinds of boundaries. Others we must seek out, as this verse says.

This goes hand in hand with another one of my favorite verses about daily living. Psalm 90:12 says, "Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." God cares about the details of our days--the things we do and don't do, the way we schedule our time. And here's the good news. We don't have to figure out it on our own and hope we're getting it right. He's willing to teach us!

***

Don't forget to leave a comment with a link to your Memory Monday post today. That way we can visit you and you can go visit everyone else too. 

Want to join us? We'd love it! Click on the Memory Monday button in the sidebar for everything you need to know.

Grand!

Post #1000. Can you even believe it?!

I've tried and tried to think of something fantastic to do in honor of my thousandth post, but I've got nothin'.

Hmm...

Yep, still nothin'.

(And since it's taken me all day off and on to get this far, I think I'd better just stop and move on!)

Frugal Friday: The Richest Man in Babylon

The Richest Man in Babylon is a little book of parables on the topic of wealth, thrift, and financial planning. My dad gave this book to Toben for Christmas in 2004; I picked it up a month or two ago and read it since it's been in my "to read" pile for a while. 

I'm glad I did.

It's not so much information that I didn't know, but it's presented in an easy-to-read format in a such a way that it makes a lot of sense and is easy to remember. As I've started handling our finances in the past few months, I've already put some of the principles into action and am seeing a big difference.

The book presents seven principles that will give you an idea of the tone of the book:

1. Start thy purse to fattening.
2. Control thy expenditures.
3. Make thy gold multiply.
4. Guard thy treasures from loss.
5. Make of thy dwelling a profitable investment.
6. Insure a future income.
7. Increase thy ability to earn.

As you can tell, the language is a little flowery and a little bit hokey, but it's worth your time to read. Especially if you're concerned with saving, getting out of debt, or just being smarter with your money.

Wonder Woman

When I was a little girl I wanted to be Wonder Woman when I grew up. I practiced twirling, had the Wonder Woman set of wristbands, headband, belt, and golden lasso of truth. I even had my very own invisible jet, though you'd be hard pressed to see it yourself.

(I had Wonder Woman Underoos too. Wish they still made them so I could get some for Audrey and Emma. But look at these. I may have to put them on my Amazon wishlist!)

The girls and I spent a bunch of time watching old Wonder Woman episodes from Netflix. We cancelled our Netflix back in December to save some money every month, so we've been Wonder Woman-less for a while.

But my friend sent me a couple of websites the other day for free movie/tv downloads and I found Veoh, that has a bunch of Wonder Woman episodes you can watch for free!

Check out these websites too:

Joost

Hulu

Fancast

You may have known about these, but they were new to me. Especially in these days of cutting back financially, it's great to find something fun for free!

What's your dream?

A couple of weeks ago, Waterbrook sent me an email asking if I'd like a copy of Robert Benson's new book, The Echo Within. "Um, yeah!" I typed back as quickly as my fingers could move. Of course, they wanted me to review it in exchange, which I totally would have done anyway. (And I would've bought the book for myself anyway too, but shhh! don't tell them that!)

If you've read The Simple Wife for very long, if you've looked at my bookshop over on Amazon, or if you've read any of my books, Robert's name should be familiar to you. I like to quote him. A lot. 

(Totally an aside here... I can write; I consider myself a writer. But Robert can WRITE. He's definitely in the poet class of writers. And someday, I'd like to write even a little bit as well as he does. I'm sure he may read this and blush, but it's very, very true.)

I'll just tell you to go buy every single one of his books, because I promise that you'll love every single one of his books. You'll underline and highlight and feel that yes in your heart as you read and scribble in the margins. You'll want to lend them to your friends but hesitate because you'll be desperate to get them back. And be sure to get a copy of The Night of the Child on CD for listening to on Christmas Eve too.

I'm blessed to know Robert in real life and wish he lived close enough to come for Sunday dinner and perhaps a walk down by the creek. And as I told him, I really did intend to read this book slowly, to savor it as it deserves. But I devoured it all too quickly as usual. Which simply means that I'm excited to go back for slow seconds. Because the books we love are meant to be read again and again.

Here's what this book has meant to me. It's made me stop and think about my dreams. Those kinds of dreams deep in my heart that I'm almost afraid to tell anyone about. Those "in my wildest dreams" kinds of dreams.

It's made me consider that those dreams were put in my heart by God, that different parts of my life are working together to bring those dreams to reality. That those dreams are part of not just who I am but why I am.

In the past week or two since I read the book, I'm seeing how those dreams are being fed by my experiences, by what I'm learning in seminary, by the things I love. I'm seeing that God doesn't waste anything--and that he's using all the bits and pieces to build into those dreams he dreamed in me.

"We dream a dream, and it does not easily come true, and we conclude that perhaps it was not what God meant for us after all. But I suspect far too many of us give up on our dreams far too soon."

Memory Monday: Psalm 116:12-14

Psalm 116:12-14

How can I repay the LORD

for all his goodness to me?

I will lift up the cup of salvation

and call upon the name of the LORD.

I will fulfill my vows to the LORD 

in the presence of all his people.

Isn't it interesting that one of the ways we repay God for his goodness to us is to continue to call upon his name for more help?

For next week, I'm going to learn Psalm 119:45: 

I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts.

I have some thoughts on that, but need to get my Monday morning going here. I didn't open my computer at all yesterday and the little email envelope is staring me in the face. And I need to print out our calendars for the week so I know what's going on around here and what to take out of the freezer for dinner.

Don't forget to leave a link to your post! (If you want to join in, click on the Memory Monday button in the sidebar and you'll find all the information you need. We'd love to have you!)