Help Wanted

We have been abundantly busy this month, working on a remodel project in our home. We had mold in our master bedroom and bath to irradicate. The remodeling makes a depressing mess and disturbs the whole house. But now with it restored to a fresh, new look and orderliness, makes one sigh with satisfaction.

Our new master bathroom

I have also not been feeling well these past months. Next to zero energy levels spins ordinary work into looming mountains. We’re still trying to navigate roads leading to what might be the cause. I would like a device to attach to myself that would spell out the exact issues- like reading a temperature device. (If you know of someone who invents these, let me know.) The idea of mold being a culprit, at least in part, is quite likely.

And so your thinking, “ahh she needs help with her housework, or another remodel project or cooking or some other thing.” I could definitely use help especially in the cooking department. We’re only a family of four but I continue to be amazed at the effort it takes to keep a supply of decent food around. Dietary restrictions and lack of inspiration can sometimes make cooking feel more joblike than joyful. Then there’s all the ordinary effort it takes to keep a household running moderately smooth. But no, I’m not asking for help in these areas. “What, is she even trying to say”?!

I’ve been struggling to get blogs out like I would like to or that I feel are chipper enough. I’ve felt like some of my recent ones bordered on lame but I sent them anyway and hoped somebody was inspired. I’m working on another but it’s a vast subject and requires more details and gathering information than I’ve had time. So I pushed it off again and kept thinking “what could I send out? Nothing really clicked or worked to write about presently. So I decided to do this one to ask for your help.

Awhile back I had a reader request tips on traveling with children/toddlers. We probably all have our own ways of doing things to make traveling more smooth. If y’all chip in and share your tips, I’ll compile them and make a later post and we can all enjoy the tidbits of other’s advice!

So what are your tips on how to stay organized when you travel with your children? Do you pack or load a certain way? How do you organize their books, toys, blankets, and pillows? How do those of you with scholars organize and work at their school work? (if you take that along.) How do you do snacks without the vehicle looking like it’s not been swept in 2 1/2 years, after the first go around of snacks? Do you make particular homemade snacks that are non messy? Do you make some healthy, homemade foods in an effort to help guard against not getting sick as quickly? How do you keep everyone’s hands at least halfways sanitary? (This particular one really has been a huge one for me to deal with, with my children because I’m way too germaphobia. I’ve had to back down ALOT from my phobias!) Share your healthy snack/food recipes too, if possible. Tips for traveling by air are welcome too because I know some of my reader’s most common form of traveling is by flight. If you have other traveling tips outside of what I mentioned here, feel free to share those too!

You may email your tips to me at jeraldsflower@gmail.com (do not reply to this blog post) Having them to me by February 8 would be appreciated. Thank you for your help!

Why Hast Thou Made Me Thus?

This is an article I wrote for the Inspiration Emails several years ago, so bear with me for those of you who’ve read it before. This topic is something I have really been struggling with again lately. I was doing an extensive fast the other week, only to weigh myself and discover I had not lost a single thing but instead, gained a whole pound!!! A woeful predicament indeed!! Obsessing over weight sure doesn’t bring happiness. But why does it bother me so much? There’s various reasons of course, but I conclude the bottom line is simply pride. It humiliates me that I cannot at least be a little less fleshy than I once was back in my new bride days…

And so it is, that I endeavor to resign myself to the body God has given me…. Perhaps it’s not your weight that bothers you. Maybe it’s a self acceptance of your personality, your looks, your health, whatever it is for you, know that God created you exactly as He thought best! You can serve Him the best just the way you are! (Who needs this reminder more than the writer herself!) 🙄

I heaved another big sigh as I began dressing for church. “I don’t want to hear it!” my husband quickly replies. “I know what you’re thinking!”
Yes, my dearest on earth knows me quite well! “But why can I never be thin?!” I grumble inside. “I try so hard to lose weight and the stubborn pounds cling on for dear life! And often, when I do lose a few, it isn’t long till they’ve found me again.” Dark thoughts continued to torment me as I tried on one sweater and then another hoping one would at least make me appear a little thinner than I really was.
I have a bigger build and never owned a cute sized waist. Plus, several full-length stomach surgeries have left me with bumps and bulges that I call mini Appalachian Mountains. I can’t imagine me with a lovely smooth tummy and I’ve murmured discontent way too often.
“Honey, I love you just the way you are!” Sweet words from my sweet man! I know he wearies of my complaints but how much more does God? Nay but, o man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay? (Romans 9:20, 21)
Shame on me! Being discontent and not accepting ourselves is sin. When we struggle to accept ourselves, we are focusing on ourselves instead of God! Our evangelist this fall spoke one evening on man being the crowing glory of God’s Creation. “We are here to bring honor and glory to God and one of the ways to do that is to accept ourselves the way God made us. Take the focus off yourself and serve God the best where He calls you!”
It’s okay to try losing unnecessary pounds but when it becomes obsessive, it becomes wrong. Let’s accept ourselves the way God chose to create us and remember He made us exactly like he wanted us to look! Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! (Isaiah 45:9)

365 New Days

A brand New Year ahead of me-

What it will hold I cannot see.

Let it NOT be the year of a turning away,

From the LOVE of Christ to seek the world’s way.

For this MAY be the year of our Lord’s return-

“Is my heart ready?” Should be our concern.

Or this COULD be the year that’s the last one for me-

Eternity’s ahead, let’s live carefully!

Regardless what comes, let’s do Christ’s commands

We surely can TRUST our lives in His hands!

-Violet Rhodes