Monday's Miscellaneous

No big post this morning - just a few things for you to check out!

~ I am participating in Like a Warm Cup of Coffee's Motivate Me Monday, but I posted it on my other blog today.

~ On Mondays, I also like to be a part of Your Life, Your Blog at Real Life. All you do is link up one of your posts from last week. Go check it out!

~ I decided to extend the time on my See's Candies chocolate giveaway through the end of today! Go enter if you haven't yet and check out all the yummy desserts linked up at the same time.

~ It's the first day of summer vacation for us! I'm really looking forward to the break! Oh, I suppose my son is too - LOL!!

That's it - isn't that an easy way to ease into a summer break Monday? :) See you tomorrow for Tea For Two-sday!

Motivate Me Monday ~ Getting Offline

It's time for Motivate Me Monday with Sarah Mae at Like a Warm Cup of Coffee. Stop over there for great motivation for your week!

I had planned to write something completely different today, but stopped and took some time to read a devotional, my Bible, and then the book Passionate Housewives Desperate for God (highly recommended by my friend Kim at Homesteaders Heart). Just from what I read in that book this morning, I am motivated to take my homemaking duties that the Lord has called me to do, a little more seriously. And what that means is that I need to get "offline" today and care for my neglected household.

I plan to stay off the computer until this evening. I encourage you to try it too, if you haven't already! Go and tackle some of those chores you've been neglecting. Be motivated and free to do so!

Have a blessed Monday and I will see you - later!

Motivate Me Monday ~ Time Alone With God

Good morning! I love stopping by Like a Warm Cup of Coffee for motivation to start my week - you might want to stop by - she's having a giveaway too!

I keep trying to find the motivation to get up early to spend time alone reading the Bible and praying. I haven't been doing it as much as I need to! My hubby helped me get up early twice last week and I so appreciate that help - use your loved ones to help motivate you!

As I was reading my devotional Streams in the Desert today, I saw some words that further motivated me to keep on working at getting up early. It said:

"Earnestly desire to get alone with God. If we neglect to do so, we not only rob ourselves of a blessing but rob others as well, since we will have no blessing to pass on to them. It may mean that we do less outward, visible work, but the work we do will have more depth and power. Another wonderful result will be that people will see 'no one except Jesus' (Matt. 17:8) in our lives."

Wow! A powerful reminder of why it is so important to spend that time every day! Thank you Lord for giving me words I needed to hear!

Matthew 6:6 - "But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly."

I hope (with the Lord's help) to spend more time alone with Him this week. How about you? Have you been finding that time?

Have a blessed and motivating Monday, friends!

Motivate Me Monday ~ Simplify

It's Motivate Me Monday over at Like a Warm Cup of Coffee. WELL, I just stopped by over there and maybe there won't be a MMM post, but it sure is a great Monday! Sarah Mae had her baby girl Saturday night!! Congratulations and many blessings!!! :) Please stop by her place and tell her congrats!

I feel motivated lately by the idea of simplicity. It has been coming up again and again. I've seen many a blogger taking a break, scaling back, or trying to find balance with real life. I just talked to my hubby a couple of days ago (I am so blessed that he does not want me to stop blogging!) and he suggested that perhaps I am overdoing it a bit on my blog. What that means is that my household is still not in order - hubby kindly puts up with my housecleaning/organizing issues while hoping for better days ahead - and the behind-the-scenes time that I put in for my blog eats into the household-running time.

I'm not talking about daily posting. I'm talking about baking things late at night just to get a photo for a post or the time spent putting together a giveaway and especially the hours it takes for me to put together my theme weeks. Don't get me wrong - I LOVE doing all those things because I want my blog to be fabulous and fun! But when I put all my effort into those things, I neglect my household.

I need to simplify things. Of course I am all about simplifying my household - it's not all that complicated anyway. But right now, I need to simplify things a bit with my blog so I can focus on my household and be a blessing to my family. I'm not going anywhere - I will still be posting Monday thru Friday and reading blogs and commenting as I have time (and an occasional "tweet" or two!).

Right now, I'm just scaling back on some of the plans that I had for my blog over the next couple of months. I really wanted to host a virtual girls' night this month - sorry, just can't do it. And I had planned another theme week for March (a week of cakes - yum!), but I will have to postpone that. I still want to do it, but it will have to wait until late April or even May. But that just gives you more time to get some cake recipes gathered to link up!

I will be having my 1-year blogaversary in April, so that will be a fun day and will probably involve chocolate - LOL!

Whew - I feel a bit of relief in that. Watch out - I will be on the hunt for as much good info on household systems and organizing as I can find - and may even come up with a way to post about my progress to help myself with accountability. I also ask for your prayers - I really want to be the best homemaker I can be (I'll never be perfect!) and I am capable of so much better!

Thanks for letting me ramble a bit! What's motivating you today?

Motivate Me Monday ~ Christian Women's Blogs

It's Motivate Me Monday over at Like a Warm Cup of Coffee - be sure to stop by for plenty of motivation to start your week off right!

There are so many lovely blogs out in the blogosphere, but the ones that motivate me the most are the blogs of other Christian women. I'm not saying that there aren't great blogs out there by non-Christian women, but I am most motivated by other women who are like me or women that I strive to be like.

I was delighted to see that Internet Cafe Devotions came up with a list of the Top 100 Christian Women's Blogs for 2008! This list was determined only by reader nominations. There are so many wonderful blogs on there - some I know and some are new to me. I plan to visit them all very soon - looking for more motivation!

I was happy, but not at all surprised to see that some of my special blogging friends made the list:

Sarah Mae @ Like a Warm Cup of Coffee
Kim @ Homesteaders Heart
Sarah @ Real Life
Melissa @ The Inspired Room
Alicia @ Confessions of a Snowflake

I encourage you to check out their blogs and say hello! I am always motivated and inspired by these ladies. (I am aware and quite shocked, but honored and humbled that I made the list as well and thank you all for your nominations.)

Click on the button to go see the list and all the wonderful blogs!



Go. Read. Be motivated!

Motivate Me Monday ~ Seek Him Daily

It's Motivate Me Monday at Like a Warm Cup of Coffee. I am a member of the 5:16 AM Gals, though my habits don't show it lately. And that is why I need some motivation!

When I first started getting up early (5 AM! - amazing for me), I was successful only because I sought the Lord's help with it each morning and night. I was happy and amazed that I could get up so early and dedicate some quiet time to the Lord!

Now I have been going to bed too late and not getting up early at all. Why? I thought the Lord already took care of that for me. I forgot (being the sinner that I am!) that the Lord wants me to continually seek Him and ask for His help. I don't get to ask God once for help and sit back and ignore Him the rest of the time, assuming that He will continue blessing me while I try to take care of things on my own. Yes, I can trust in and wait on the Lord, but that doesn't mean that I should stop seeking Him.

In Psalm 105:4, it says, "Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face evermore!"

And in Isaiah 58:2, it says, "Yet they seek Me daily, And delight to know My ways, As a nation that did righteousness, And did not forsake the ordinance of their God. They ask of Me the ordinances of justice; They take delight in approaching God."

In my devotional Streams in the Desert, George Mueller said, "Be assured, if you walk with Him, look to Him, and expect help from Him, He will never fail you."

I know that I will succeed again in getting up early and devoting that quiet time to the Lord - because I will seek Him and ask His help. I trust that the Lord will help me to learn to do it daily.

Motivate Me Monday ~ Tending Our Garden

Back to Motivate Me Monday - trying to get back on track after Christmas! Stop by Sarah Mae's place to read more motivating posts.

I was recently struck by something I read in my devotional - here's part of an entry by Jonathan Edwards:

"In other words, holiness makes the soul like a field or garden of God, with every kind of pleasant fruit and flower, and each one delightful and undisturbed, enjoying a sweet calm and the gentle and refreshing rays of the sun."

I love the imagery of this and it ties in so nicely with rising early in the morning when the sun's rays are first appearing and shining into our window. When we spend this time in the Word, the sun begins to shine into the garden of our soul - bringing back to life the sleeping fruits and flowers of faithfulness, joy, and love, and making clear to us the weeds of sin that grew in the darkness so that we can tend our garden.

I love to see sunshine in the morning - it makes me feel refreshed and renewed. I know that the garden of my soul needs a lot of tending and I can only see to work in it if the light of God's Word shines in. My garden needs to be refreshed and renewed every day!

Isaiah 61:11

For as the earth brings forth its bud,
As the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth,
So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.

I hope you feel motivated to rise early this week and let the sun shine in so you can tend to your garden!

Motivate Me Monday ~ Morning Glory

As part of the 5:16 AM club, I am committed to getting up early and spending time with the Lord before starting my day. The first week I did this, I prayed every night and the Lord got me up every morning without much struggle - it was amazing for me (Miss Extreme Night Owl). This week and last week, I have really struggled with getting up. I had all the usual excuses - too busy, too tired, stayed up too late. But I realized that the real difference was that I didn't make it as important of a commitment...and...I wasn't praying for God to help me stay committed and to help me wake up early! I made the mistake that we sinners so often make - I tried to rely on myself instead of depending on God.

So, I am back to working on motivating myself to get up bright and early and will rely on the Lord to help me do it. If you are struggling with this right now, I encourage you to simply ask the Lord for help. Be encouraged - it can be done! Don't give up!

And though you can spend time with the Lord any time of day, I still like the idea of starting the morning with Him. I found this entry several days ago in my devotional (Streams in the Desert) and was motivated to keep trying to make my time for the Lord in the morning:

First, a beautiful description of the glory of morning by George MacDonald:

"Have you ever risen early, climbed a hill, and watched God make a morning? The dull gray gives way as He pushes the sun toward the horizon, and then the tints and hues of every color begin to blend into one perfect light as the full sun suddenly bursts into view. As king of the day, the sun moves majestically across the sky, flooding the earth and every deep valley with glorious light. At this point, you can hear the music of heaven's choir as it sings of the majesty of God Himself and of the glory of the morning."

And this poem from the same day in the devotional fits our club nicely:

"In the early morning hours,
'Twixt the night and day,
While from earth the darkness passes
Silently away;

Then it's sweet to talk with Jesus
In your bedroom still--
For the coming day and duties
Ask to know His will.

Then He'll lead the way before you,
Laying mountains low;
Making desert places blossom,
Sweet'ning sorrow's flow.

Do you want a life of triumph,
Victory all the way?
Then put God in the beginning
Of each coming day."

As I finish typing this post on a cold and rainy morning, the rain has recently stopped and the sun just started shining - glorious! I hope that even if the sun isn't shining where you are, the Lord will put sunshine in your heart today!

Have a blessed, motivating Monday!

Please stop by Like a Warm Cup of Coffee for Motivate Me Monday and be inspired!

Lisa :)

Motivate Me Monday ~ Be Still

It's another Motivate Me Monday from Sarah Mae - be sure to stop by for a great start to your week!

I wasn't able to be up at 5 AM every day last week with Thanksgiving and not feeling well, but when I was - I saw a verse mentioned in my devotional. From Psalm 46:10, we read "Be still, and know that I am God."

It is in the stillness that we can best meditate upon His word and hear what He wants to tell us. When we are up at 5 AM, the world is dark and mostly still. There is quiet outside and hopefully some quiet inside before our family members awake! It helps our minds to focus more on the Lord and I think it gives our day a better start.

There are other "still" times of the day and night and I encourage you to use those times to read the Bible and pray, but I still feel that the early morning is the best now that I have experienced it!

I pray that you find many "still" moments this week to hear what the Lord is telling you. Have a wonderful week!

Motivate Me Monday

A week ago, I joined up with Sarah Mae at Like a Warm Cup of Coffee to be a part of the 5 AM Gals. The point is to get up early in the morning to have time to spend quietly with the Lord and start the day off right before our families are up and about.

Anybody who knows me well (including my hubby) thinks that sounds like an insane thing for me to do since I am really a night person and can barely drag myself out of bed in time to help get my son ready for school. Many a time I have tried to start getting up "early" - trying to rise between 6 and 6:30 AM and have never been successful. I thought that I needed to get to bed early in order to be successful and have never been able to do that either. So why would I make a commitment to getting up at 5 AM?

I did it because I need to spend more time with the Lord and first thing in the morning is the best time and starts the day off right. I knew that on my own, this would be an impossible task for me, an extreme night owl. But I also knew that I was doing it for the Lord and that He can do more than we ask or imagine. I prayed and gave it a try.

I started last Monday and got up by 5:15 AM, Tuesday by 5:15 AM, and Wednesday thru Friday by 5 AM! Amazing! Praise the Lord for helping me and blessing me with that time in the morning! I admit that I slept in on Saturday and had trouble getting up early on Sunday, but this morning I got up at 5:20 AM(a little late - woke up at 5, but eyelids wouldn't stay open!).

A silly poem even popped into my head one of those mornings:

5AM is a darkly hour;
My body says, "It's night."
But rise I shall,
'Cause I'm a 5AM Gal
And the Lord gives me the might.

I felt comforted each morning knowing that other women were praying for me and also getting up to spend time with the Lord. I know that it has been a blessing for me and look forward to continuing it. Have you tried it? You don't have to be a 5 AM Gal, you know. If you have trouble getting up , try getting up just 30 minutes earlier and using that time to read your Bible and pray. Pray and ask the Lord for help - it can't be done on your own - I should know!

And now Sarah Mae has started Motivate Me Mondays so we can encourage and inspire each other by sharing what we've learned. Stop by there and check out more motivating posts. I am happy to be a part of it! Thanks Sarah Mae!

Have a blessed week and have a wonderful Thanksgiving! I am thankful for so many things, but I am especially thankful this week for the Lord helping me to rise so early in the morning.