Mid-Week Motivation

Starting Your Day Out Right!
Scripture, Short Devotion

“Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.”
~ Psalm 27:14

Have you been guilty (like I have) of pushing to get your way? Making things happen? Forcing that square peg into a round hole? As I wait to join my husband at his current contract location, I found myself growing impatient. Part of me wanted to settle for any rental we could get just so the waiting would end. When I finally resolved to the fact that I would just have to wait, God provided much more than I would have settled for and it appears He’s not going to make me wait as long as I thought.

I laugh as I think on this, recounting in my mind all the times “He’s told me to wait”. I would typically take the news with a mini temper tantrum but I’ve often found that if I’ll give in to the wait, accept it as His will, things go so much smoother. Often times I end up with far better than I would have settled for. On the flipside, when I stay impatient, I typically do something stupid and end up with a mess that is much more painful than merely waiting.

Is God telling you to wait on something? If He is, trust that He has your best interest at heart. Wait for Him.

Is Your House in Order?
Cleaning, parenting, marriage, organization tips, etc.

Alright, our sinks show our reflections and we’re feeling more organized by practicing our Morning and Evening Routines. So, what’s next? Remember, we’re taking this really slow because I don’t want to become overwhelmed any more than you do. FlyLady has what she calls “zones”. Basically, you divide your home into five segments (zones) and then you work in one zone each week of the month. Your task this week is to develop your zone lists. For some examples, you can visit the Flylady link above or I have some lists on my site you are more than welcome to check out. While you’re making out your lists, be sure to keep that sink shined and your routines…routine.

Afternoon Pick Me Up

Writing inspiration

Do you remember that one paragraph summary you wrote two weeks ago? It’s time to pull that out and make it grow. Ingermanson tells us to “take several hours and expand each sentence of your summary paragraph into a full paragraph.” That’s it – seems rather simple after last week’s character building doesn’t it?

Source: The Snowflake Method

What's For Dinner?
Quick dinners, crock pots, etc.

I’ve decided to change up the steps a bit from what is laid out at the 30DayGourmet site. I do agree there are five steps, I would just classify them a tad differently is all. So, let’s take a peek at step four shall we?

Step Four: We Cook!
You’ve shopped, you’ve chopped and now it’s time to put it all together. This is typically called “assembly day” as you now follow the recipes and assemble your entrees. If you take a look at their recipe for Grilled Chicken Parmesan, you can see that all of the assembly and freezing instructions are included. I’ve prepared this at every session. It comes together very easily (even the kids can help with it) and while these are flash freezing, you move on to your next recipe. By having all of your prep-work done, it should just be a matter of combining ingredients and placing them into your freezer containers.

Some recipes do recommend pre-cooking before you freeze them so you’ll want to pay close attention to the directions. Even with the prep-work completed, you will likely be looking at a full assembly day to put 30 entrees in your freezer. As you get more efficient at it, you’ll be able to complete it faster.

If you use freezer bags – be sure to get as much air out as you can and then freeze them flat. They take up a lot less room this way.

Well, you’ve been on your feet all day cooking but there is one last step and we’ll cover it next week.

Source: 30DayGourmet

A Restful Night's Sleep
Scripture for a restful sleep

“Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation…”~ 2 Peter 3:15a

This morning we pondered waiting on the Lord. Tonight, before we sleep, let us consider the patience of our Lord with us. All those times I’ve pushed ahead with my own plan, He still welcomes me back when I realize my error. His time here on earth, knowing what was to come and then the three days that followed must have felt like an eternity to the Father. And even now, He tarries His coming so that more will have the opportunity to choose Him. Yes, His patience means salvation; and tonight we should praise Him and thank Him because He waited…for us.

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J. Blair Lane, founder of the child-loss support site, A Treasure In Heaven, is passionate about faith, family and writing. A resident of Texas, she travels with her husband of eleven years, Erik and homeschools their four living children. You can visit her blog at Scribblings by Blair.