Lessons from Gideon

I've recently been attending a women's Bible study group on Tuesday mornings and we've gotten to do some really awesome studies. The first one was the Law Of Love by Beth Moore it was lessons from Deuteronomy, and we've just begun A Study of Gideon by Priscilla Shirer. I'm in love with this wonderful time of fellowship with other women. It's been such a gift to have this two hours every week to make a special connection not only with other women, but with God.

In our Gideon study Priscilla mentions that Gideon was found being faithful in the mundane things of life. God didn't reveal Himself to Gideon in a mountaintop megaphone kind of way He came to him in the wine press while Gideon was faithfully doing his duties. I wonder how many moments  I may have missed in my lifetime that God was speaking and because it was ordinary I didn't hear. I have always expected God to speak to me in a megaphone grab my attention kind of way I've never thought about Him coming to me in my ordinary tasks of life. I never thought about the fact that being found faithful in the ordinary of life may be preparation for a greater calling.

It definitely made me look at my mundane everyday tasks with new eyes. If I can't be faithful to get up and serve my family everyday then how can I be expected to handle any big calling God may have for my life. Being a wife and mom often comes with a lot of mundane daily tasks and often I only do the bare minimum to keep up but that is not being found faithful in the small things. I should strive to make my home a place of comfort and warmth a safe haven from the scary world outside. If I'm not going to the extra mile to make my home inviting my family might find other ways to seek comfort from the outside world and I definitely don't want that. I have for a long time believed that my greatest calling in life is to serve others without expectation and what better way to exemplify that than to my own family. The one's I hold most dear and yet often take for granted. If I can be found faithful in the mundane of life perhaps God will call me to be a servant for Him.

Until Next Time,
Mrs. A

Fall Fun 2013

So this past weekend was spent enjoying our Halloween festivities in our community and in our state. We spent Friday night at Storybook Forrest at Lake Arcadia and Sunday was our church's Trunk or Treat Event.

In keeping with the tradition of family costumes I asked Carys what she wanted to be and she of course emphatically stated "CINDERELLA"!!! So with that in mind I set to work coming up with costumes for Mr. A and myself that fit the theme. We decided that Mr. A would be Prince Charming, and I would be the Fairy Godmother. I bought Carys's costume from the Disney Store but didn't want to spend all that much money on my and Mr. A's costumes. So I perused Goodwill and the fabric store and I was pretty happy with how our costumes came out.



For Mr. A's costume i just took a white collared t-shirt and added braiding and some gold buttons that looked like medallions, a red and white badge made of ribbon and another gold button, and a red sash, for pants he just wore his black dress pants.

For my costume I took a plain blue hoodie and cut the bottom of it off cut the wrist bands off and slit the sleeves so they were more like a cape, I took the string out of the hood and replaced it with pink ribbon, I used a long white maxi skirt out of my closet, and overlayed a light blue fabric on top with a layer of sheer glittery tulle on top.

My sweet Cinderella was all smiles for both events. She loves dressing up like a princess.



When I envisioned my life as a mother I never thought of myself as the type to make Halloween costumes, I always thought I wouldn't have enough skill to do such a thing. But when I lifted my hand sewn skirt from the sewing machine I realized just how far I've come as a homemaker. It was a beautiful realization that I am on my way to being the homemaker I've always dreamed of being. Granted I bought Carys's dress, but hey everyone's got to start somewhere.

I hope we get several more years of dressing up as a family, before Carys thinks it's not cool anymore.


Until Next Time..

Mrs. A

I'm Ready!

It's been several months since I posted here and a few years since I've been a regular poster. I've been handwritten journaling instead of writing here. I've had some dark times in my life and I just feel as though they weren't meant to be shared with my corner of the internet. I sit here today at my computer a different woman than the one who excitedly typed the first blog post here. For one I'm a mom and that in and of itself is a huge change, I'm stronger and weaker in the same breath, I'm wiser and certainly not as naive as I was 6 years ago when I began this blog as a newlywed. I'm 6 years into my marriage now, I'm nearly 3 years into motherhood, I'm just a different woman. Not better, not worse just different. For a long time I struggled with that. Becoming a mom and then losing my own changed me in profound ways and in ways I never expected. I clung desperately to the wide eyed newlywed I was before those things happened and I tried to choke out this new woman that was emerging. See I don't deal well with change and that's all my life has been over the last few years is one series of changes after another. After much struggle I've finally embraced this new me, the one who's a little more cautious about who I share my heart with, the one who's known great heartache, the one who's known immense joy, and the one who knows that sometimes the two go hand in hand.

I'm both stronger in my faith and weaker as I realize the immense challenges motherhood has presented to me for winning my child to Christ. I'm a woman with strong convictions that have been tested, I'm also a woman who's been worn. All that to say I'm ready to return to my little corner of the interwebs. I'm ready to document my life here again. I'm ready to be a regular poster, and to share what God might be teaching me, what I might be experiencing in my motherhood and wife journeys, or simply what might have happened over my weekend. I'm not going to blog with an agenda or in a certain niche, I'm just going to blog what's in my heart and hopefully daily or at least a few times a week. I'm finally in a place where I feel like I can spill onto my keyboard what's crying out from my heart.

Til next time,

Mrs. A