Little Irritations

Do you ever feel that the circumstances of your life interfere with your plans? Do you believe that God has your life under His control? That would include circumstances. He may use circumstances we don’t like; those that are hard, painful, or even traumatic. Other times, they may just seem like small annoyances. But do you believe that God authors even these? Even the little irritations?

Yesterday I had a number of things I needed to work on. Regrouping for homeschool, adjusting the overall “life schedule,” editing articles for the newsletter, laundry, dishes, meal plans, along with myriad other little things.

I reached an impasse with the newsletter because I don’t know what software will be used. Without the framework I have no idea if I have enough articles, if they’re too long or too short, how much filler and photos I need, etc. I tried and tried to get the answer to this question. But the people who might know have been entirely unavailable.

Then it occurred to me that maybe God didn’t want me working on the newsletter at that moment. Maybe my focus needed to be homeschool and our schedule. Yes, the newsletter has deadlines. Such deadlines often cause me to get priorities out of sorts. Sometimes I work too much on one thing to the detriment of something more important. Like homeschool. It is my number one ministry in life right now. But it’s been relegated to the very flexible back burner recently. So I think that God was gently redirecting my path. In fact, if I remember correctly, He does say something like, “in all your ways, acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:6. My favorite redirection yesterday? He caused my computer to go to sleep right in the middle of responding to an email! Very funny!

So I put aside the newsletter and went to work on the life and homeschool schedule. I decided I should pay attention and not to wait for Him to have to crash my computer. He uses whatever means are necessary. For me, it was those little irritations that moved me onto the correct path.

My Lonely Blog

If my blog were a child, I'd probably be in big trouble for neglect right about now. While I've been busy, it's not even that I've been SUPER DUPER busy. I did write a fairly rambling lengthy post yesterday, but didn't post it until tonight. By then, my perspective had changed a little.

Last night at church, our worship leader talked about how he'd been to a concert the night before (not a Christian group) and that while he'd enjoyed the show, he left there feeling somewhat empty. The songs and music were good, but without God, there really wasn't anything of substance there for him. He was so hungry to be in church this weekend, to worship God with the Body of Christ. In that, there is meaning, significance, and value. These are songs being sung in praise and worship to our Lord.

I realized that yesterday's post, while rambling around, talking about both nothing and everything, complete with YouTube videos was kind of like that. I enjoyed writing it. I had fun reminiscing with videos of music from my past. But really, it was empty. Not to say that all my posts are deep and insightful, or even full of godliness. Even though I felt lead not to post it, I did. I decided it wasn't all that harmful and besides, my poor blog child needed some fresh material. So I posted it tonight. Then the YouTube videos wouldn't load. Hmmm . . . maybe God was trying to tell me something. Something he'd already told me.

I know that in this life here on earth, not every thought, every decision, nor every action will be righteous, holy, or about furthering the kingdom of God. But I pray that each day I come a little closer to the goal. That I'm a little more Christ centered. A little more refined. So I'll start here, listening to the leading of the Holy Spirit. I may not always understand, but that's okay. God is faithful and true and I can always trust Him.

"Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is in the Lord. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit."

Jeremiah 17:7-8

May I love God, love others, and bear fruit that lasts.

Wordless Wednesday - The Cows

For more WW, go here.

Fall Five Kodak Printer Give Away

There really are a lot of fun contests out in the blogosphere. This week, my sweet friend, Sprittibee is hosting an opportunity to win a Kodak EasyShare 5300 all-in-one printer. This is one of those really cool machines that have CHEAP INK! Yes, you heard that right, CHEAP INK!! The black cartridges are $9.99 and the color are $14.99! What a concept!! Sprittibee has one on her desk and says that it rocks.

Since it's such a big and cool prize, there is a little more to this than just leaving a comment. You have to actually get out and take some pictures, post your projects, and link back to the contest. Check it out quickly - there are only 2 weeks to complete your assignment.

We are SO in! I think the boys & I will have fun, fun, fun with this one!

Homeschool Blog Awards

I am excited to be a part of a new team of 15 ladies who are site contributors for the Homeschool Blog Awards. There will be daily posts with interesting tips, devotionals, stories, interviews with homeschool bloggers, blogging advice, articles, links, photos, information, product reviews, and more! We hope to make the site a hub of useful information and encouragement for the homeschooling community. We will be actively preparing for the 2007 Homeschool Blog Awards this fall, and hope to wrap them up by the end of the year.

Here’s what you can do to help:

• Start writing down the names of homeschool bloggers that you would like to nominate for the awards


• Grab the 2007 Homeschool Blog Awards button and post it on your own site, with a link to the HSBA website


• Let us know about vendors that you would like to see donate prizes for the awards


• Stop by and see what our writers are posting daily


• Last, but not least - SPREAD THE WORD!

btw - credit for the writing of this goes to my teammate, Dawn, at My Home Sweet Home because I liked what she wrote . . . and I was having writer's block. LOL! Oh, she also gets credit for our HSBA button up there and over there. Nice work and thanks, Dawn!