Daybook Monday {September Edition}

  

September 8, 2014

Outside my window...

Still somewhat dark, and still. This week is supposed to bring a fall-ish cool front and I can't WAIT!

I am thinking...

 about last night's sermon from Revelation 2. The Church at Thyatira was a church full of "love and faith and service and patient endurance", a growing church, and yet they were condemned by Jesus because of their tolerance. They were turning a blind eye to, and even accepting, sin. Our society sees tolerance as a virtue, but when it comes to sin, tolerance is condemned as evil by Jesus. 

I am thankful...

 for my husband's leadership in our home and care for our family, for the growth, spiritual and otherwise, that I'm seeing in my kids, for our dear church family, for praying friends.

In the kitchen...

Finally feeling like I'm getting a grip on menu planning again! 

On the menu over the next two weeks:

Quinoa (Trying this for the first time; would LOVE to hear any tips or great recipes in the comments!!)

Chicken and Dumplings

Chicken and Rice Soup 

Crock Pot "Rotisserie" Chicken (Can you tell I got a great deal on chicken at Sam's yesterday?? :))

Sausage/Potato Skillet

Twice Baked Potatoes

Saloon Beef

Salmon Burgers

Enchiladas

I am creating...

Working on a new "bullet journal" notebook for the rest of 2014. I've been wanting to try this for a while, and my current "daily lists" notebook is almost full, so with the beginning of fall semester, I decided that it was time to "bite the bullet" (LOL!) and put this together. 

I am going...

I am not going anywhere today (that's the plan, anyway!) 

I used to really carefully protect our Mondays. Mondays were intentional "home days". We've gotten away from that in the last year or so, but I've decided that for this season, we need to move back to that as our plan. We have to "go" the rest of the week, and we really need one long, uninterrupted day at home. 

Mondays may become my favorite day of the week! :)

I am wondering...

about the week ahead. Usually when I get a good schedule in place (on paper), some catastrophe occurs. Praying that that isn't the case this week and that we can have a good, solid, productive week! 

I am reading...

A Woman After God's Own Heart

GTD for Homemakers (The "Getting Things Done" system tweaked for SAHMs)

Educating the WholeHearted Child

Real Learning: Education in the Heart of the Home

and I plan to get back to Wresting Prayer this week.   

I am learning...
about Swype texting. Now, realize that up until a little over a year ago, I didn't text. At all. Then I activated an old phone of Peter's so I could text the kids and others when needed. I didn't have free texting and the keyboard was HORRID. Every other letter the keys would stick and either not type at all, or type 3 of the same letter. Ugh! I was so excited when I got my new phone, not only to have unlimited texting, but also to have a great, responsive touchscreen keyboard.

Then a few weeks ago, I discovered that my phone has Swype texting. OH. MY. Where has Swype been all my life??? Aside from the fact that there are a few words in my usual vocabulary that Swype doesn't begin to recognize (homeschool being one of them, along with two of my daughter's names...giggle), Swype is amazing.

I am hoping...

that we have a really pretty fall this year. It looks like it's going to cool down this week, and we've had a rather wetter than usual summer, so I'm hoping for a long, gorgeous fall! (It's my favorite time of year!)

I am looking forward to...

spending some time Scripture journaling this week. I've had a wide-margin Bible for several years, but I've just recently been inspired to jump into art journaling in it. For more on Bible Journaling, see Shanna Noel's blog and Bible Journaling on Pinterest. 

Around the house...

Hoping to do some serious "fall cleaning" over the next few weeks. 

I am pondering...

Ann Voskamp recently posted that "September 1 is the new January 1". A quick Google search revealed that she's not the only one who's said that lately. :) I've always felt like I have three distinct "re-start" times during the year, when I spend a lot of time assessing, planning, and preparing: the last week of December, the start of our fall semester (usually the end of August or first of September), and the week after homeschool testing in April.

This year I'm running a bit behind on our fall planning, but revving up from our soft start the last couple of weeks to more of a hard start this week. I had great plans for September 1 in lots of areas, and then the first week of September was just non-stop "hamster on a wheel" (keep running so you don't fall off!)  So...in reality, September 8 is the new January 1 for us this year. :) Stay tuned for updates!

A favorite quote for today...

This quote is quite different than my typical favorites; however, it is apropos for our week this week and frankly where I am in life right now. I have no idea where I got it or where it originated; I saw it online yesterday and wrote it on an index card that is sitting in front of me on my desk:

Reminding myself of that often this week!

One of my favorite things...

Waking up to sweet notes from my kiddoes... :)

A few plans for the rest of the week:

The usual school, chores, work, TKD, gym, church stuff, and hopefully a smooth week settling into the draft version of our new fall schedule. :)

Cool field trip Friday with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, plus Billy took off to be able to help with the field trip, so it will be a vacation day for us...yay!!

A peek into my day...

New journal, ready to be transformed into a super-tool for productivity, aka my bullet journal. :)

Linking up with The Simple Woman's Daybook here. Thanks to Peggy for hosting!!

***

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Welcome to Ponderings of an Elect Exile!  Whether you are new here or a faithful friend and regular reader, I'm glad you're here!  If you aren't already following, I'd love to have you join us for the 2014 Ponderings.  It's easy to do, in a variety of ways!  You can follow via  Facebook, Twitter, and/or Pinterest, or  find me on Instagram as Jenbh68. You can also sign up in the sidebar to receive new posts by email. 

7 Truths On Which to Dwell on the Hard Days {And Every Day}

This is always a hard day for me. The story behind that is not entirely mine to tell, and therefore I'll leave it at that. These thoughts are pulled from something I wrote several years ago on this date which had far too many details for general publication. This year as I was re-reading it, I decided to pull out the important parts and redesign them into something post-able, leaving out the more personal bits that don't need to be shared.

There are many memories associated with this day...memories that used to be good, but that now bring  a grapefruit-sized lump in the throat, a dagger-like sensation in the chest, and a frantic feeling of needing oxygen upon the slightest attempt to remember.

A wise older man once said to a friend of mine, “There are things worse than death.”  I think of that this morning as I sit wishing that the good memories weren’t tainted with such horrible, horrible stains, like photos that have mildewed under a leaky roof.

Things worse than death indeed.

This day always brings up questions...lots of questions. Questions that, if I let them, could send me into a lasting catatonic state. 

They flit into my head and I have to immediately shuttle them back out. I cannot dwell on any of them. Like another recent tragedy that has hit very close to home, I know there are no answers, and that there will never be this side of Heaven. Therefore, the questions must not be allowed to invade.  The truths I must dwell on, today and always, are these:

*God knew every jot and tittle of every circumstance that has occurred before any of it came to be. In fact, He knew this before the foundation of the world!

*God is not taken by surprise…not one iota…by any of the circumstances that shock us and send us reeling. 

*God loves our children even more than we do, and He has a plan for them…a plan for good and not for evil, a plan to give them a future and a hope. (Jer. 29:11)

*God loves those who have done evil to us. Their sin is not past being forgiven. They are no more and no less sinners than I am, or than any other person on earth, alive or dead. We are all sinners.  Our sin...all sin...is heinous…even though some may not appear as heinous as others. The difference is, we have experienced His grace and mercy, and been transformed into new creatures...not because of anything we have done, or any good in us, but because of His work in us.

*God is sovereign. God is good. God has already triumphed over evil. And He tells us in His Word that He carries us in the palm of His hand. He never left any of us for one minute during the worst of the dark days. He promises us that in His Word…that He will never leave us or forsake us. 

*He has kept our tears in a bottle! (Psalm 56:8) He cares for our pain! And one day, He will wipe away all tears from our eyes. There will be no more death, or mourning, or crying, or pain. (Rev. 21:4) What a tremendous thought for those who belong to Him.

*My responsibility now? To worship and obey. To be the wife and mother God has called me to be. To be ready and willing to share Him at any opportunity. The words to the chorus we’ve sung so often this year flood my mind again this morning. When I don’t understand, my response should be worship. The things I don’t understand…the unanswered questions that are always just below the surface…these are constant reminders of His greatness, and my weakness. His ways are higher than our ways. He is holy, and sovereign, and all-powerful, and all-wise, and I am not.  He sees the past, present, and future clearly, and orchestrates it all in His power, while we see through a glass dimly. 

Worship, obey, believe, and press on. 

“Bow the knee.  Trust the heart of your Father when the answer goes beyond what you can see.  Bow the knee.  Lift your eyes toward Heaven and believe the One who holds eternity.  And when you don’t understand, the purpose of His plan, In the presence of the King, Bow the knee.”

~Chris Machen

But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3: 13-14

***

If a post or posts on Ponderings of an Elect Exile has been a blessing to you, would you do me a huge favor?  Please share the link to Ponderings with your friends using the social media share buttons below or the "pin it" button above.  Thank you!  

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Welcome to Ponderings of an Elect Exile!  Whether you are new here or a faithful friend and regular reader, I'm glad you're here!  If you aren't already following, I'd love to have you join us for the 2014 Ponderings.  It's easy to do, in a variety of ways!  You can follow via  Facebook, Twitter, and/or Pinterest, or  find me on Instagram as Jenbh68. You can also sign up in the sidebar to receive new posts by email.