Now I feel sheepish...

SERVICE!
That's the one that I forgot.
And if I want to let myself off the hook, I can because I'm a mom, and nearly everything I do in any given day can be termed service (don't get paid for it, give till it hurts, etc), but my goal for the next while is to try and be tuned in to others around me who might need whatever small bits of love and happiness I can give them. This is going to be a hard one....when overwhelmed (which is ALL the time right now) it's like I have blinders on (self preservation to make sure that I can focus on making it out of the burning building that is my life) and I miss a lot of what's going on around me.  Going to try and get rid of my blinders.....

Happy and Blessed New Year to you all!

Winding Down....

well, the year is anyway.

Christmas is over, sigh...

the New Year is looming....sigh.

I came across this fantastic poem and thought it was just the thing for me....

From an old English parsonage,
Down by the sea,
There came in the twilight,
A message to me;
Its quaint Saxon legend,
Deeply engraven,
Hath, as it seems to me,
Teaching from Heaven.
And on through the hours
The quiet words ring
Like a low inspiration-
DO THE NEXT THING

Many a questioning, many a fear,
Many a doubt, hath its quieting here.
Moment by moment,
Let down from Heaven,
Time, opportunity,
Guidance, are given.
Fear not tomorrows,
Child of the King,
Trust them with Jesus,
DO THE NEXT THING

Do it immediately;
Do it with prayer;
Do it reliantly, casting all care;
Do it with reverence,
Tracing His Hand,
Who placed it before thee with
Earnest command.
Stayed on Omnipotence,
Safe ‘neath His wing,
Leave all resultings,
DO THE NEXT THING

Looking to Jesus, ever serener,
(Working or suffering)
Be thy demeanor,
In His dear presence,
The rest of His calm,
The light of His countenance
Be thy psalm,
Strong in His faithfulness,
Praise and sing,
Then, as He beckons thee,
DO THE NEXT THING

-Author unknown

What’s happening in my home?….

In my kitchen… Made a batch of homemade rolls yesterday.  No plans for cooking today, other than Shepherd's Pie for dinner.  Yummmmm....comfort food.

With our marriage… just keep swimmin', I always say :) We've decided to make a list of home improvement projects, prioritize them, and work on them consistently so that our home feels better.  Why does this fall under the marriage category?  Well, it will help me reduce my resentment, and/or my feelings of overwhelming chaos..that's gotta be good for a marriage, right?

With the children… Tough, tough, tough.  Things will be less overwhelming once school starts again.  I have one who's exhibiting some compulsive behavior...trying to figure out how to work on it.  One who, understandably, has some real issues, but I hope to teach her to handle them with grace and graciousness.  To have "Good Grace"....(miss you, Verna and Amy :) Other than that....well, I have one who's become a streaker (but she's 2 and has just figured out how to escape from the confines of clothing, so she's normal) and one who's learning to pick out words, and several who've discovered a love of Susan Boyle's music and singing....it's always lively around here. Alanna celebrated her 9th birthday this month, and Isa is preparing to be baptized soon. Sophia toured the Morgan State University campus in Maryland this week, but I'm really hoping she settles on somewhere closer.

Around the homestead… Other than the a fore mentioned home-improvement projects, my goal is to become more organized, one space at a time.  Space is at a premium and it's getting me down, so I've got to reduce and reorganize.

In my “Inner Man”…. This is a tough one, as I've been stagnant lately, with all the sickness, busy-ness, stress, and the like.  I've decided to stop worrying (thanks for the advice Mom) about every little thing that I should be doing, and just focus on doing ONE thing in the spiritual category a day (reading my scriptures), ONE thing in the physical category a day (until January 2nd, it's drinking enough water a day, but once the new year kicks in, the exercise routine does too), and ONE thing....ok, well I forget the third category at the moment, but there IS a third category :) All in all, I'm truly blessed to have my family (both of them) and a knowledge of the gospel, as well as zings from some  benevolent angel's cattle prod to lead me back to the path, hopefully. Not that I've strayed....it's more like I just sat down in the middle of it, and started bawling and haven't been able to get up again. So maybe they're just to pick me up and point me in the right direction and urge me along for a while.

Whatever they are, I'm grateful for them. We really are blessed, and I believe no matter our circumstances, if we can find something to be grateful for, we'll weather the storm better....
with Grace. 

Here are our self-inflicted family Christmas photos taken the Sunday before (when ELSE is everyone's hair done at the same time?)

Truth be told, though....this one is a little closer to reality :)

Wishing all my loyal readers (all 2 of you..thanks guys) the most blessed of new years. Looking forward to spending it with you!