no words of my own…

like i’ve said before…

my heart literally hurts for the orphaned and poverty-stricken people in this world

but i’m not doing enough….

not caring all the time….

and blinded by my prosperity….

it’s so overwhelming

i don’t even have the words to express……

so i’ll read His words and
trust the One who knows each cry

and who will help them in their despair.

……………………………………………………………………………..

“blessed is he who who has regard for the weak;

the Lord delivers him in times of trouble.

the Lord will protect him and preserve his life;

He will bless him in the land

and not surrender him to the desire of his foes…“

   –Psalm 41:1-3

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

   –James 1:27

“He raises the poor from the dust and
lifts the needy from the ash heap;
he seats them with princes and
has them inherit a throne of honor.
For the foundations of the earth are the LORD’s;
on them he has set the world.”
  — 1 samuel 2:8

source

“Because the poor are plundered and the needy groan, I will now arise,” says the LORD. “I will protect them from those who malign them.”

  –psalm 12:5


The poor will eat 
and be satisfied;
those who seek the LORD
will praise him—
may your hearts live forever!
  –psalm 22:26

……………………………………………………………………..

i certainly can’t solve the problems of this world…

but i can rest in the promises God has made to those who love him and seek to do His work

what a message today by pastor minter!–
all about his trip to the amazon,
and how God can literally set people free with nothing but the simple Gospel truth.

if you would like to discover way you can help the amazon people,
visit ray of hope (the organization pastor Mike works closely with) to find more resources.

to read other spiritual encouragements, click over

blessings, friends

milestone monday–move "home" to Indiana

~if you are new to milestones & memories, each (or i should say,) most mondays, i do a post that updates you on how we are doing at accomplishing our family goals/milestones.  here’s a complete list if you are interested.  thanks for stopping by~

***milestone:  move “home” to Indiana
while there are no actual plans to move from our current home in the suburbs,
we did visit my family and the home i grew up in this past weekend.

 i have so many wonderful memories of growing up on a farm,
the smell of freshly cut hay,
cold mint tea (from the garden),
riding on the tractor,
being woke up by the sound of a horse’s hooves on the back country road,
and hours and hours of exploring our 40 acres.

before i get too old (and forgetful),
i figured it would be a good idea to document some of my fondest childhood memories:

spinning on the tire swing

pulling weeds in mom’s garden
(maybe that wasn’t one of my fondest memories, but a memory nonetheless)

climbing trees

(and falling out of them—that’s a story for another day)

 running around our big yards

(those are great until you are old enough to  mow them)

hayloft + 40 yr old ropes + a slab of wood = 

the most dangerous swing imaginable

(but lots of fun!)

looking for kittens and rocking them to sleep

 chasing, clipping, and showing sheep

climbing this huge rock

and just enjoying the quiet life of the country.

will we ever move back to Indiana?
i don’t know….but it sure is fun to see our kids’ faces when we pull into the farm.
they appreciate it’s awesomeness even more because it is so different from our daily lives.
i am happy where my family is
and wherever God leads……there we’ll be.

oh and who’s going to be my 50th follower?  go ahead, you know you want to!….
 

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milestone monday–move "home" to Indiana

~if you are new to milestones & memories, each (or i should say,) most mondays, i do a post that updates you on how we are doing at accomplishing our family goals/milestones.  here’s a complete list if you are interested.  thanks for stopping by~

***milestone:  move “home” to Indiana
while there are no actual plans to move from our current home in the suburbs,
we did visit my family and the home i grew up in this past weekend.

 i have so many wonderful memories of growing up on a farm,
the smell of freshly cut hay,
cold mint tea (from the garden),
riding on the tractor,
being woke up by the sound of a horse’s hooves on the back country road,
and hours and hours of exploring our 40 acres.

before i get too old (and forgetful),
i figured it would be a good idea to document some of my fondest childhood memories:

spinning on the tire swing

pulling weeds in mom’s garden
(maybe that wasn’t one of my fondest memories, but a memory nonetheless)

climbing trees

(and falling out of them—that’s a story for another day)

 running around our big yards

(those are great until you are old enough to  mow them)

hayloft + 40 yr old ropes + a slab of wood = 

the most dangerous swing imaginable

(but lots of fun!)

looking for kittens and rocking them to sleep

 chasing, clipping, and showing sheep

climbing this huge rock

and just enjoying the quiet life of the country.

will we ever move back to Indiana?
i don’t know….but it sure is fun to see our kids’ faces when we pull into the farm.
they appreciate it’s awesomeness even more because it is so different from our daily lives.
i am happy where my family is
and wherever God leads……there we’ll be.

oh and who’s going to be my 50th follower?  go ahead, you know you want to!….
 

var addthis_config = {“data_track_clickback”:true};

milestone monday–planned a family summer vacation

~if you are new to milestones & memories, each (or i should say,) most mondays, i do a post that updates you on how we are doing at accomplishing our family goals/milestones.  here’s a complete list if you are interested.  thanks for stopping by~

***milestone:  plan a family summer vacation 
summer vacation?—-check
family summer vacation?—-not quite

technically, last week was a beach vacation to the outer banks (love!) and there was 
sand, 
sun, 
a private pool, 
great food, 
good company, 
cute kids in bathing suits 
and the smell of sunscreen everywhere. 
but we were missing our complete family, because jon wasn’t able to come with us…….booooo, hisssss. 
there was a major event going at his work that he just had to be there to help with 
and he was sad,
we were sad, 
but such is life.  
nevertheless, i took both kids (with the help of some great friends) and drove the 6 hours to have our vacation anyway. 

i learned a few things in the process about beach vacationing and vacationing with children (without a spouse):

1.  go the outer banks before schools are all officially out for the summer—we had NO traffic and it was wonderful!

2.  pack as much food and plan meals to save big money—i spent a total of around a $150.00 dollars for the whole week’s meals/snacks, etc.  

3.  buy a wonder wheeler and use it every time you go to the beach—i’d really like to kiss the person who invented it and i already hugged the friend who purchased it for our trip this year 🙂

source

4.  drag your 2 year old to the beach the first couple of days kicking and screaming, because by the end of the week she will not want to leave.

5.  let your baby eat sand—it’s just too cute to resist

6.  take great (and helpful) friends with you to assist in the child corralling and feeding adventures—thanks so much brian and sarah.

7.   drink a lot of coffee and diet coke

8.  put the kids to bed early–they’re tired and so are you!

9.  wear a little bit of sunscreen on your back/shoulders even if you think “i don’t burn”—note: you do.

10. and thoroughly enjoy every minute (even if you are wishing your husband was there) 

*by the way, kudos to all you single parents or moms/dads with a spouse who is gone often (deployed, traveling for work, etc).  it’s really hard work! 

on another milestone note:  
both of my kids are sleeping the same room—-
all night long!  
hallelujah, hallelujah!  
i hope i didn’t just jinx it.  

happy monday! 

var addthis_config = {“data_track_clickback”:true};

milestone monday–planned a family summer vacation

~if you are new to milestones & memories, each (or i should say,) most mondays, i do a post that updates you on how we are doing at accomplishing our family goals/milestones.  here’s a complete list if you are interested.  thanks for stopping by~

***milestone:  plan a family summer vacation 
summer vacation?—-check
family summer vacation?—-not quite

technically, last week was a beach vacation to the outer banks (love!) and there was 
sand, 
sun, 
a private pool, 
great food, 
good company, 
cute kids in bathing suits 
and the smell of sunscreen everywhere. 
but we were missing our complete family, because jon wasn’t able to come with us…….booooo, hisssss. 
there was a major event going at his work that he just had to be there to help with 
and he was sad,
we were sad, 
but such is life.  
nevertheless, i took both kids (with the help of some great friends) and drove the 6 hours to have our vacation anyway. 

i learned a few things in the process about beach vacationing and vacationing with children (without a spouse):

1.  go the outer banks before schools are all officially out for the summer—we had NO traffic and it was wonderful!

2.  pack as much food and plan meals to save big money—i spent a total of around a $150.00 dollars for the whole week’s meals/snacks, etc.  

3.  buy a wonder wheeler and use it every time you go to the beach—i’d really like to kiss the person who invented it and i already hugged the friend who purchased it for our trip this year 🙂

source

4.  drag your 2 year old to the beach the first couple of days kicking and screaming, because by the end of the week she will not want to leave.

5.  let your baby eat sand—it’s just too cute to resist

6.  take great (and helpful) friends with you to assist in the child corralling and feeding adventures—thanks so much brian and sarah.

7.   drink a lot of coffee and diet coke

8.  put the kids to bed early–they’re tired and so are you!

9.  wear a little bit of sunscreen on your back/shoulders even if you think “i don’t burn”—note: you do.

10. and thoroughly enjoy every minute (even if you are wishing your husband was there) 

*by the way, kudos to all you single parents or moms/dads with a spouse who is gone often (deployed, traveling for work, etc).  it’s really hard work! 

on another milestone note:  
both of my kids are sleeping the same room—-
all night long!  
hallelujah, hallelujah!  
i hope i didn’t just jinx it.  

happy monday! 

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where i’ve been

anybody missing me, yet? 

i’ve been meeting a milestone this week (well kind of—-more on the technicalities later)

also, can’t forget to remind you about tomorrow’s photo friday link party~
come on back with any photo/photography-related post to share your work with others and hopefully learn a few things as well.
the topic is iso & shutter speed.
see you tomorrow!

var addthis_config = {“data_track_clickback”:true};

where i’ve been

anybody missing me, yet? 

i’ve been meeting a milestone this week (well kind of—-more on the technicalities later)

also, can’t forget to remind you about tomorrow’s photo friday link party~
come on back with any photo/photography-related post to share your work with others and hopefully learn a few things as well.
the topic is iso & shutter speed.
see you tomorrow!

var addthis_config = {“data_track_clickback”:true};

milestone monday–becoming a debt free family (through lowering our grocery budget)

 ~if you are new to milestones & memories, each monday i do a post that updates you on how we are doing at accomplishing our family goals/milestones.  here’s a complete list if you are interested.  thanks for stopping by~

these pictures have nothing to do with today’s post 🙂

***milestone:  become a debt free family
A big way we try to tangibly save extra money is through couponing, menu planning, and shopping discount stores like aldi, to lower our monthly grocery budget.

here’s the totals for may’s grocery trips: 
aldi  $114.33
harris teeter super doubles coupons $28.23
bloom $25.65    $-10.00/25.00 coupon
bloom  $46.01  $-10.00/25.00 coupon
harris teeter  $38.21  triple coupons (would’ve been $87.61)

Total:   $252.43
* fyi: it includes household items like cleaning supplies but does not include personal toiletries like makeup or contact solution.

this is again almost $100.00 less than our budgeted allotment of $350.00.   
can i get a “woot, woot~!”

and though it’s a few days late, i am gladly sharing  my monthly menu guides, etc for june:

here’s everything for you to download and adapt for your own family:
click on file-download as–word–save as

june’s monthly meal guide 

june’s updated meal categories list

what do you do to keep your grocery budget in check?  have you tried any of the recipes and liked them or hated them?  i want to know!  leave me a comment with your tips and i’ll give them a try this month!

var addthis_config = {“data_track_clickback”:true};

milestone monday–becoming a debt free family (through lowering our grocery budget)

 ~if you are new to milestones & memories, each monday i do a post that updates you on how we are doing at accomplishing our family goals/milestones.  here’s a complete list if you are interested.  thanks for stopping by~

these pictures have nothing to do with today’s post 🙂

***milestone:  become a debt free family
A big way we try to tangibly save extra money is through couponing, menu planning, and shopping discount stores like aldi, to lower our monthly grocery budget.

here’s the totals for may’s grocery trips: 
aldi  $114.33
harris teeter super doubles coupons $28.23
bloom $25.65    $-10.00/25.00 coupon
bloom  $46.01  $-10.00/25.00 coupon
harris teeter  $38.21  triple coupons (would’ve been $87.61)

Total:   $252.43
* fyi: it includes household items like cleaning supplies but does not include personal toiletries like makeup or contact solution.

this is again almost $100.00 less than our budgeted allotment of $350.00.   
can i get a “woot, woot~!”

and though it’s a few days late, i am gladly sharing  my monthly menu guides, etc for june:

here’s everything for you to download and adapt for your own family:
click on file-download as–word–save as

june’s monthly meal guide 

june’s updated meal categories list

what do you do to keep your grocery budget in check?  have you tried any of the recipes and liked them or hated them?  i want to know!  leave me a comment with your tips and i’ll give them a try this month!

var addthis_config = {“data_track_clickback”:true};

milestone monday–helping the poor and orphaned #2

 ~if you are new to milestones & memories, each monday i do a post that updates you on how we are doing at accomplishing our family goals/milestones.  here’s a complete list if you are interested.  thanks for stopping by~

saturday was our church’s all time largest mission event/outreach ever!

i was so excited to be part of it.
and so proud of my friends, evan and stacey, for being a big part in making it all happen.  (check out their blog and adoption story that has really inspired me.  they have exciting things happening in the upcoming week on their journey!) 


that’s me on the right but you can only really see my awesome aqua hair net!

and….it was such a tangible way to help orphans and children who are hungry and malnourished.
over 700 volunteers packed 24,000 bags of rice, soy, dried vegetables and vitamins.
they will be sent by the organization Stop Hunger Now to swaziland, africa in the coming months.

 i loved how they let kids of all ages help in the process. they were so excited to be there!

my prayer is that God will use each one of these meals to touch, not only the stomachs, but also the hearts of the precious kids and draw them closer to Himself.



if you would like more information on how to host your own meal-packing event, click here~


have a blessed monday, friends!

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