Firmness & Boldness

In Mormon chapter 2, we read about a group of Nephites who are in the midst of fighting many battles with their enemies.These particular Nephites were a wicked and unbelieving group, living in the city of Shem, being led by the young & righteous army leader/prophet, Mormon, when, in verse 22, it says, ". . .they (the Lamanites, their enemies) began to come upon us again."

This word again, really stood out to me as significant, because it made me realize that, just as these Nephites had faced the same types of battles with the Lamanites over and over again, so do I face the same kinds of battles in my own life over and over again. Some of my most recent battles include:

1. discouragement (I recently wrote about waging a war against it, but I haven't won the war yet)
2. confusion about how to raise & nurture my children in a challenging world
3. being overwhelmed at the sheer amount of: food that needs to be planned, bought, put away, cooked, served & cleaned up daily, clothes that need to be washed, folded & put away daily, children that need, demand & deserve individual attention daily, and many, many other tasks that face me every single day.

I know that it is valid and perfectly normal to feel these things, but it is not okay to allow myself to be beat up, daily, by these challenges. So what can I do about it?

What did the Nephites do, even in their state of ignorance and willful disobedience?

They looked to their righteous leader, Mormon, who, in verse 23 says, "I did speak unto my people and did urge them with great energy that they would stand boldly before the Lamanites and fight for their wives, and their children, and their houses and their homes."

v.24 - 25: "and my words did arouse them somewhat to vigor. . .that they did not flee from before the Lamanites, but did stand with boldness against them. .  .and we did stand before them with such firmness that they did flee from before us.

My ability to stand before these particular challenges with firmness & boldness, and look to my leader, Jesus Christ, for encouragement and strength will be the determining factor in the way I face these battles and not allow them to beat me. I know that as I choose to do things each day that will bring peace to my heart, I will be:

1. energized & happy in the face of discouragement
2. given specific instructions through the spirit to know how to help & encourage each of my children in their specific needs and situations
3. blessed with the ability to see mundane tasks as essential & necessary for an organized, Christ-centered home, and to see that completing them, daily, with happiness is a great way to serve those in my home.

Spring Cleaning

I've never been one for spring cleaning, but I do appreciate a cleaned-out garage, an organized closet, and a large box of discards in the back of the car ready to donate to the local second-hand shop.


But how does one overcome the hate of organizing? Well, finding these two rules has helped this hater:

The two questions are:

If I needed this item, where would I look for it? (take it there)

If I needed this item, would it ever occur to me that I already have one? (If not, get rid of it because I’d just buy a new one if I needed it.)

Rules found here. Also, love this post: laugh out loud about de-slobbing your life and the real challenges that one might face while trying to do it. Very helpful. 

Garden 2012: Part 1

 
In the past month, amidst all the rain, and even one freak snowstorm that dropped 6 inches of heavy, wet snow, I have found the inspiration to get my garden beds filled with fresh compost soil and ready for planting.  

This is the before--leaf mulch and black plastic for months to stave off weeds:

This is the after: filled to the gills with compost, and leaves tilled in with my brand new pitchfork. Also, cabbage and broccoli planted with garden cloth to protect those tender leaves from snails and pouring rain.

Also, found still planted in one bed were these wintered-over carrots: a little stunted in their growth, but extremely sweet and crunchy probably due to being in the cold ground all winter long. That was a fun surprise.

Just a few thoughts

• Lately it seems I get the inspiration to blog once every month. I wish it was more often, but I have been trying to limit my time on the computer and focus more time on the kiddos. Also, during the little free time I have each day when babies are napping and older kids are at school, that time that perhaps was once used for blogging, I have been trying to focus on having a real, meaningful personal scripture study time everyday. I am here to say that has made all the difference in my attitude and the ability I have to really learn how to be a better person and mother. 
• But that's not to say I want to give this up, because I really enjoy reading past posts, and I love reading other people's blogs and keeping up with friends and family in this way.
• Henry is finally potty trained and Thomas is finally sleeping through the night and I am remembering how it is not to feel completely sleep-deprived and short-fused all day long. How glorious it is to get 6ish hours of continuous sleep. Glorious, I tell you.
• The winter rains here in Oregon arrived later than usual, but have just been relentless and about this time of the year, when I look at the whole country forecast and see that so many other states are having a real spring with 70 degree temps and sunshine I have moments of real frustration about our climate.
• But that's not to say that I don't love living here, because I do, and I would rather deal with rain, rain, rain than tornadoes and hurricanes. 
• Also, to anyone who loves podcasts, do you know about the mormon channel? There are so many amazing, inspiring podcasts that you can download to computer or ipod. I particularly love conversations, stories from general conference , and ces firesides.

Handmade Replacements

Owen and James both made valentines for their classmates this year. The actual making of the valentines was such fun and great time spent together, I hope to do it every year even with the little boys as they grow up.

Owen's idea came from here except instead of handing out little animals, he drew his using this great book as a helper. 

James came up with his own idea, of which I don't have a picture. It went something like this: I (picture of a mustache) U a question. Will U B Mine? 

Another handmade replacement idea came to me during a middle-of-the-night nursing session. I really, really didn't want to participate in the buying of trophies for every player of James's basketball team this year, as I think they're too expensive and kind of a silly tradition, so I was trying my best to think of an alternative. 

 

Fortunately the other moms on the team were supportive of the idea, and it turned out to be a lot of fun to make. I used this frosting, as my regular go-to cream cheese frosting would have been too soft, and sewed the blue webbing to the plastic bags.

Wage a war against discouragement

Six hours into this work day and I'm feeling like I chose the wrong career. This feeling is not new--evidenced by the pages of frustrations recorded over the years in my journal, this feeling is a frequent visitor. Potty training failures, trying to dry laundry with a dryer held together by duct tape, hearing my name spoken a minimum of 100 times just this morning, and rushing the three littles into their clothes and to the school to cheer on the oldest in a battle of books competition, only to hear "why did you even come, mom?" are just a few of the items contributing to this today.

I know that discouragement is a strategy of He who wishes to see us fail, and sadly, it is effective in accomplishing what He desires: that is, to make us feel angry, depressed, selfish and irritable and like our lives are horrible.

I also know that this is just not true. My life is wonderful, and I am thrilled and blessed each day with the family and things that surround me. So, today and in the days to come, in my moments of selfishness, when all I want to do is lace up my Sauconys, turn up my ipod and run away, I will remember that I did not choose this job to bask in my selfishness and wish for more moments to do only what I want. I chose it, though I didn't know it at the time, to learn about that essential attribute of godliness: UN-selfishness.

Today and everyday I will wage a war on discouragement. I will choose to believe the words and feelings poured into my soul during my moments of scripture reading and meditation that this work is so important, that I am loved, that I am forgiven, and that my failures will be made strengths. I will choose to believe the words of living prophets when they tell me to "be thankful for all the small successes in your home, your family relationships, your education and livelihood, your Church participation and personal improvement. . .these successes may seem tiny to you and they may go unnoticed by others, but God notices them and they are not small to Him."

I will accept that many more days like this are up ahead, but I will dig deep, pray hard and win.

Spending Freeze

Perhaps like some of you, we overspent a little this Christmas, and decided to put ourselves on a spending freeze for the final two weeks of our fiscal month. For us, spending freeze=staying out of all stores, restaurants, and buying nothing that wasn't absolutely essential, so we didn't stop buying milk or gas.

We are now two days away from being able to spend money again, and, although, at the beginning of this, I was so sick of stores because of all the shopping done at Christmas, I'm at the point where I could use a good trip to Target. I think having a shopping fast was good for me in several different ways. I have never been so resourceful in my meal making as I have these past two weeks. We don't eat out a lot, but we definitely do a trip to Costco or Taco Bell for lunch or dinner here and there, and I am missing the convenience of that. I love to cook, but 16 days in a row with no help can make you dream of a gut-buster Costco food court hot dog merely for the fact that someone else cooked it and we can throw away the mess when we're done.

In other news, I am more than a little obsessed with this caramel corn/moose munch recipe. I made at least 4 batches to give away to neighbors at Christmas, but since then it has been made about 4 more times just to eat. I have made it with and without chocolate and can shamelessly sit and eat almost the whole batch all myself. The difference with this and other caramel corns that I have made is the honey. It adds a whole new layer of flavor that is unique and addicting.