Bewitched!

1 Samuel 15:23
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry

     I had a great opportunity to attend a ladies conference this weekend. In all honesty it really hadn't been on my mind much as to what God would have for me to learn. I was just going because I thought it sounded nice....yea I know I am not that spiritual at times. 

  The theme for the the conference was "...Teach Me Thy Paths." Ps 25:4. The first night was really more than I wanted to hear about myself. The speaker Angie Gaddis spoke on, "Teach me thy paths in being a wife". If you would have asked me before last night if I was a good wife...I would have told you...I am one of the best wives I know....I mean really did you have to ask? LOL. I stay home and care for the kids, I cook, I clean, I organize, I pray for my husband. That is pretty good don't you think? Better than most wives out there right?? 

Of course Mrs. Gaddis had to break out Ephesians 5 on me! 

Ephesians 5:22 "²² Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.

²³ For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body."

     I realized I have been extremely rebellious in this past year after my husband separated from the Air Force. I had been on my own for a year making all the decisions, controlling the budget, the child training, the home keeping everything! It was a little harder than I thought to take the submissive role when he returned from Afghanistan. Here is a break down of how I rebelled and how God used my husband to protect our family from hardship by not listening to my great wisdom...lol.


Exhibit A)  I wanted to take out a mortgage for a home. Chris said No. I said "whine, whine whine, and then Fine do whatever you want to do we will live in a tiny house with a bunch of unruly kids roaming the streets!"

How God used it for good.
1) Taking out a mortgage could have financially ruined us because we had no income for about 9 months!

2) Moving to this neighborhood gave us great opportunity to witness to people who would have otherwise never stepped foot inside a church building!

3) Of course those unruly neighborhood kids have become the main focus of the bus ministry at Bible Baptist Church. I have grown to love each one of them no matter how unruly they are because I am sure God sees me just the same and still loves me =)

Exhbit B) I told my husband to get a normal job; not commision only. We went down to $2 in our checking and savings account and God showed me that I not only didn't trust my husband, but didn't trust Him either. I began to think really really bad thoughts like I should have finished my degree and got a steady job and not had kids, I should start a daycare to pay the bills, I should start waiting tables at night .....just crazy things....

How God used it for good:

1) Chris is self employed and can set his own hours and even take the children to work with him when I feel overwhelmed.

2) Chris only has to leave the home 2-3 days a week for his job. He does the rest from home. 

3) Our family now has the opportunity to earn passive income the longer he stays with his insurance business.

Those are just 2 examples of my rebelliousness towards my husband. I thank God for a husband who unlike Adam didn't hearken unto the voice of his wife! Ladies submit to your man!!

And the Winner isssssssssssssss............Judith Schimdt

     The Winner to what I am sure you are asking yourself???  We are expecting our fifth child! I had been thinking I was most likely pregnant for a month or two but finally really confirmed it with a pregnancy test last week. I was feeling pretty sleepy almost everyday, the veins in my legs were enlarged and I was maybe a little grouchy.....but no morning sickness Praise the Lord. This will be the first birth not funded by tax payer money via Tricare. My husband is self employed now and our insurance is a bit ridiculous paying $500 a month with an $8,000 deductible....so basically we will be paying cash for every medical expense short of  a serious life altering health problem. With all that being said we found a really great midwife for a great price! For $2,800 we get a christian woman with 19 years of experience! She has seen it all; breech babies, twins, short cords, cords wrapped around the neck multiple times, face presentation and delivered all of them in a home! I will be getting a sonagram to confirm the due date but right now it looks like we might have 5 kids while the oldest is still only 6 years old! Here is her website if you want to check it out and read some of the birth stories on there including some twin home birth stories!

http://homebirthbaby.net/experience/

Organization Inspiration: Entertaining Guest in a Small Space!

My sister and her 2 girls came for a visit a couple weeks ago! They stayed for almost 2 weeks. Our home is smaller than the average american family with 4 kids measuring at 1268 sqare feet. How to fit 3 extra people in for 2 weeks.....without having our living room taking over by luggage! There is no spare bedroom and the laundry room is not quite big enough to fit an air bed...lol. So I came up with a great idea....I emptied out our coat closet and made it into a guest closet! I re located the coats to our bedroom closet and the mop and vaccum supplies to the garage temporarily! This is how it turned out!

I put blankets and pillows on top.

Then a laundry bag and gift bags on the hangers!

We made a welcome banner out of an old gift bag.

 

 Noah is such a gentlmen helping his cousin Jayla  carry her luggage.

Everyone was super excited!

Noah drew some portraits of my sis and nieces on their welcome banner.

Rachel started warming up to having the two divas in the home.

I put some toiletries and goodies and the gift bag =)

How do you guys usually set up your home for guests without a guest room?

Go Aunt Zetta Go! 74lbs lost!

My mom is inspiring people all over to loose lots of weight too! I talked to my aunt a few weeks ago to wish her a happy b-day and she told me she was not going to let her little sister weigh less than her so she has been loosing weight too!

Aunt Zetta at Christian and Joshua's Bday party in April 2011 weighing 260lbs.

 Now at 186 I think !

My mom has lost almost 90lbs now!!!

Up Next is my cousin Tyler (Aunt Zetta's son)! 

3 John 1:2 "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth."

Go Sound the Horn, Strike Up the Choir A Sinner is Saved...

     
Our computer had the "blue screen of death" and so I have been absent from my blog, but Praise the Lord it is fixed now! Anyway the best news to blog about is that the mother of some of our church bus riders has been taking a bible study at our house with the pastor and his wife, and came to the conclusion she was a sinner and in need of a savior, she prayed and asked God to save her through the blood of Jesus Christ! I am so excited for this woman, she has 5 children who now have a mother who is on her way to heaven. This is especially important to me because her children sometimes tell me they believe she will die soon because she has lung cancer; but God is merciful and has sustained her life thus far to hear and receive the gospel! I am praying God gives her many more years here on earth to bloom into a beautiful child of God. I am so thankful that God allowed our paths to cross and our family could be a part of this wonderful act of God! It encourages me so much to continue to reach others with the gospel of Jesus Christ! 


I love this song it is about what could be happening in heaven when someone repents of their sin and calls on the savior!

verse one: 
Could it be that up in heaven, 
God is sitting on his throne 
Anticipating another sinner 
will soon become his own. 
Years of wasted living and 
years of toil and strife 
are just about to be over 
as he receives the gift of life. 

Chrous: 
Go sound the horn 
strike up the choir. 
A sinner is saved. 
Saved from the fire 
no more in darkness 
he's received my son 
all heaven rejoices 
that's the value of one 

verse two: 
the holy spirit has been working 
to soften up a heart 
all he needs is a willing servant 
to simply do his part 
can you imagine up in heaven 
the joy there is that day 
as a sinner bows his head to pray 
can't you hear the father say... 

verse three: 
start construction on the mansion 
there on hallelujah street 
he doesn't know yet what is waiting 
when the savior he'll meet... he'll meet 

Go Mommy Go! 70lbs Lost!

 This is my mom in 1980, 3 years before my sister Charlotte was born and 4 years before I was born. For as long as I can remember my mom always told me that I was the reason she was fat!

This is 1988ish. As you can see I am just so upset that I made mommy fat!

This is 2009 20 years later mom hadn't lost too much baby weight!

 This is my mom last weekend 70lbs lighter!

How did she do it? gastric bypass, liposuction, diet pills, weight watchers? Nope just old fashioned exercise and eating right!

Not even a Second!

     How Long does it take for a child to get into something dangerous? In my house not even a second! One day last week we woke up to an ant invasion in the pantry. The ants had gotten into everything that was opened. I was especially sad about my organic peanut butter granola that had only been used once! I read somewhere before that lemon scent will break the ant scent trail. We had this bottle of Lysol lemon scent in our home from the previous home owners. This is not something I would usually buy, but you know me if I didn't pay for it might as well get some use out of it =). 

     Well while I was pouring a little bit at a time on each shelf and then wiping I put the bottle on the counter right next to me. The kids were in their room playing with race car tracks. All except Joshua who had taken the bottle off the counter and drank the remainder of the Lysol! I turned around and saw him holding the now empty bottle about a centimeter from his lips and he let out a burp and had a dazed look on his face. Of course I panicked and tried to call the number on the back of the bottle it was just a recording. Then I remembered that you should give milk to drink so I poured a big cup for Joshua and he drank most of it. 

     I didn't have time to load up the computer and google "what to do if your child drinks Lysol." So I dialed 911 and the EMTs came out right away. To my surprise Joshua was fine and didn't need any medical attention. Thank God for His protection! I know as a mother of 3 boys we are so blessed to not have had any major incidents. It is nearly impossible to have my eyes on all 4 of my children at all times and so I am so grateful that God watches over us! I will not be buying any bottles of products like this ever and now I have poison control saved in my phone!

This is Joshua who is a very active and fearless 3 year old!