An experiment for myself (getting me closer to God's Purpose)

So a few posts previous I blogged about time and how we should best use it. God has really been convicting me that I spend way too much time doing nothing on the computer (facebook mostly). So here is my plan from now until who knows when. I plan to Blog 1 time a day because I really think that it is a ministry God has given me to share this journey with others. I also plan to check my facebook one time in the morning and one time in the evening because I have a ministry there as well that I don't want to abandon completley (at some point I will share it and all the blessings that have came with it but for now I would like to keep it to myself). Anytime I feel the need to use facebook because I am "Bored" or have nothing better to do I will #1 pick up my Bible and begin to read and or #2 find something constructive and beneficial to do to help benefit my family or others around me. My Blogs will still be posted to my facebook daily as well because I think that is where most of my readers come from. I really feel that this is the right thing to do at this point in my life. It's very hard to search for God and his plan when you spend so much time doing almost nothing in front of a computer. God wants us to focus our attention on him and I am 100% ready to take the time to spend with God and find out what it is I need to do to better serve him. 

Goal left out but not forgotten

"Let all things be done decently and in order." 1 Corinthians 14:40 (KJV) 

about 2 years ago two wonderful friends came into my home and helped me get it clean and organized and everything they did is still visible in my home. I am blessed and thankful for them.  Well we didn't do the whole house that week so some of the areas that were not worked on are still in quite bad shape and need a lot of work. So the missing Goal form my first post is Get home all the way organized. So how am I going to go about this without the help of my wonderful friends who helped me 2 years ago? Well I have already started and so far it is working great! I am using a book called Survival for Busy Women by Emille Barnes and in it it suggest organizing 15 min at a time I am quite busy so I usually only fit one 15 min session in a day but on a good day I may fit 2 or three I have successfully organized my desk so far as well as my bathroom,  TV stand and video cabinet. My next project will be my bedroom then I need to do the closet dining room dresser and basement. As it will take a few months I am sure I will update on my progress whenever I can. God will be able to work so much better in our home when we are free of the clutter that surrounds us! :o)

Everyday seems to have a lesson.

Well I asked God to help me find my purpose for him and he sure is doing it. since I have started this journey I have learned something new about myself or God everyday! :o) Today I have a sick little lady at home and she gave us quite a scare this evening when her temp spiked up to 104.8 and her breathing was very quick and clearly she was struggling. As I am on the phone with the Dr telling him all her symptoms and what led up to them at the same time I was praying for my little girl. The Dr advised a trip to the ER so we packed her up and took her there and we were in and out with a diagnosis very quickly. She is not fixed but hopefully in a few days time she will be much better.

So my learning experience here goes back to my theme verse Romans 8:28 "And we know that in ALL things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."  You may also want to know what good could come from an ER visit with your child. Well I am going to tell you. First of all we know that Rebekah will be fine, and second I was able to pray for a friends daughter who had to be brought in as we were leaving. I truly believe God puts us in the right place at the right time and that I needed to pray for that little girl and her mom. So lesson learned today make sure you are paying attention so you don't miss the opportunity to help someone or pray for someone in their time of need.

Time! What does God want us to do with our Time?

This past weeks I had two situations that cam about and both involved time. Both were misunderstandings and I handled both incredibly well as it would have been easy not to. The first was a case of mistaken pick up time at the gym and when I went and saw Lizzy had been sitting in the lobby for 25 min waiting for me and no one had called I was very upset. I could have easily went straight to the source and showed all of my upset and angry emotions but instead I decided to go home and cool off before I approached anyone on the subject. After a while of thought I wrote an email saying I would have liked if someone called and I got a very nice apology explaining the misunderstanding back. The second incident was with practice at the church on Wednesday night for the kids we got an email on Tuesday about time being 7pm then at 4:30 wed I got a facebook saying 6:30 I was quite upset and had an angry reply all typed out ready to send and decided not to worry about it to just have my kids at the church and be glad I wasn't late if I was early. and I am glad that I didn't reply because 15 min later came a reply that they were mistaken and it was 7.

So why do I tell these stories about time? In these cases I took the time to thing about what I was going to do or say in a situation and no one got hurt or offended by an angry outburst. Time is important because God only gives us so much of it to use. So what does God want us to use our time doing? This has been a struggle with me because I like doing things for me I will admit it. I am working on a Bible study right now on purpose and one thing I have learned is that God wants us to be our best FOR him. In every thing we do! There are things that need to be done every day but what you do with your extra time is what is important. There is time for you do do stuff for you too you just have to watch what it is you are doing if you are for instance spending money you don't have to get a pedicure it's probably not good me time or if you choose to read or watch something that may not be pleasing to God that most likely wouldn't be good either. 

You see I say these things from experience I have begged my husband to take me out when we didn't have money in the past just because it would make me happy and that is a selfish use of his time. Looking back a better alternative would be a trip to a park to talk a walk together or a night in with home made diner and a video. So as I am taking this jaunt towards knowing God's purpose time is one area I would like to work on. What are some ways you can see someone like me using their free time to glorify God? 

Ever had one of "those" days?

So my journey is to find God's purpose. Well this morning I am sure I figured out what it isn't. It's Saturday and not much was scheduled for our family today except gymnastics from 10-12 so I set my alarm for 7:45 am in hopes to get a little "extra" sleep. Well to make a long story short I was awaken at 6:30 am (not by a child) and that started the attack of the grumps. I forgot to do my Bible study and prayer time and that didn't help either I could just feel the attacks coming all morning . I know one purpose I have is to be a loving and caring wife and mother and this morning I messed that up quite a bit. It was like someone took over my whole self I was grumpy and yelling and just not nice. 

So what have I learned? #1 Don't forget quiet time in the morning and #2 I really need to make more of an effort on the wife and mom side (if I must admit more on the wife side Johnboy got the brunt of my meanness this morning) This is a short post but I thought that by sharing my struggles maybe it will help the lessons learned sink in just a little more. 

Fun WIth Chore Packs

Chore Packs I can not take credit for this idea but I love it and although there are some glitches in my system I am excited to see how it goes. The first place I heard about Chore Packs was in the Duggars book 20 and counting and I also saw them used on the show a couple of times. In the back of the book is the resource they found the idea in and it is a book called Managers of Their Chores by Stephen and Teri Maxwell and when I saw that my system I had came up with by reading and seeing the Duggars use it I decided that I would purchase the book online and I am anxiously awaiting it's arrival at this time. 

However even with my flawed method my kids are doing so much better at keeping up with their responsibilities. I break them down into three parts of the day 
morning (includes all of the stuff to get ready for the day like eat breakfast and get dressed and brush teeth) 

Afternoon (homework clean room and the room they are responsible for that week) Let me take a moment to say that I have had a few people say that I shouldn't have my kids cleaning my house and I should let them be kids and I must say that each of their chore pack for the afternoon ends in Free Time so it's up to them how much they get If they work well and steady it only take them a little over an hour to complete their chores depending on how much homework they have. 

Bedtime is all the stuff that needs to get them ready to sleep (devotions, pick out clothes, pack up book bag ect.). So many people may doubt that my kids don't have any fun because I make them clean the house they really have plenty of time for fun and are learning to contribute to a household and be responsible at the same time. 

How does this go with finding God's purpose for me you may ask? Well I am a mom and God entrusted me with these three beautiful children to raise up and become responsible adults who love the Lord. This really helps in that process. :o) 

here is the website where you can find the Maxwell's book
http://www.titus2.com/ecommerce/products/prod_listing.php/1150

her is a link to the Duggar family website where you can find their book and lots of other resources as well

http://www.duggarfamily.com/aboutus.html

Welcome

Starting a blog can be a big deal, I have tried it once or twice and failed miserably because I wasn't devoted enough to keep up with it. Not with this one though because you see I have started a new and wonderful journey that I would love to invite people to read about. The Name of this blog is Roman's 8:28 and it is my theme for this journey I am partaking in and it reads "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." That last word Purpose is what my journey is all about discovering and finding what God's purpose is for me in my life and the life of all in my family. 

Now you may say how do I plan to partake in this adventure? What steps will get me to the goal in the end? I think to know your purpose first you need to work on truly knowing God. The only way to do that is through Study of his word and prayer. So for the past 2 weeks I have been starting and ending my days in bible study and prayer I have laxed on two different days and slept in or fell asleep without my study time but for the most part have done quite well at this. Although due to problems that may come about or health concerns I may have my days may not all be truly wonderful (may I add that god never promised that our lives would be easy) The time in study and prayer have truly mad a difference in the way I approach each day. I find myself remembering this I have read or just praying to God in the middle of the day like an open phone call that never ends.

Romans 8:28 starts out with the phrase "in all things" I truly believe that all aspects of my life need to line up with God and Glorify him so here are some Goals I have for the month . 

Memorize one scripture a week
Drink plenty of water
walk everyday and be up to a mile by the end of the month
let me add that this one is leading towards a goal of running a 5K
Work with my kids learning their new chore pack system
I will blog about this in a seprate post

So hopefully you can see that in all areas of my life I would like to better serve him by being healthier having more energy helping my kids learn service, responsibility and obedience and most importantly learning his word and hiding it in my heart so that I can know him better and find his purpose for me . 

I hope you will find this journey interesting and that you will follow it closly Many Blessings to you all.