Camping with the family

Camping is one of those vacations that we have not done with our family.  Its not really because we hate the idea of it but because we don't have the equipment to make it a successful trip!  We are not a rustic, roughing it type of family!  Ha!

I was given the opportunity to look over Camping Gear Outlet and honestly, I got a little excited about all of the equipment they sell for your camping pleasure!  The biggest purchase for our family would be a tent.  I really love the idea of the SwissGear Montreaux Family Dome Tent.  With our family of 5, this tent would give us room to spread out and not be on top of each other at night when it tends to get hot.  Plus it would be great for those backyard sleep outs!  I'm so excited about doing that with my kids this year!

Do you enjoy camping with your family?  What are some of the "must have's" that you take with you?  If your wanting to refresh your camping equipment or just get started like our family, check out Camping Gear Outlet!

Stand by your man

Have you smiled at your husband today?  Have you placed a gentle hand upon his chest and looked into his eyes and said "I love you"?  Ladies, our men want us to connect with them.  They hunger for us to acknowledge them and respect them.

Wives today can get so caught up in being busy that they forget about the man in their lives.  As women, we are commanded to make our husbands feel respected.

However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. Ephesians 5:33

When we go out and do things without our husbands blessing, we tend to see discontent in him and in our lives.  If I don't search my husband out for counsel my life becomes one of stress.  God gave me my husband for a purpose.  To love me, lead me and pray for me.

"A wife of noble character is her husbands crown." Proverbs 12:4

Are you a jewel in your husband's crown?  If not, make it right.  Its not too late and its important! God blesses the wife who honors her husband.

She brings him good not harm all the days of her life. Proverbs 31:12

Remember to love God and love your husband!

Getting Healthy

If your a blog world reader, you see a whole lot of people out there getting healthy.  It can be eating healthier, exercising, cleaning your home as naturally as possible, gardening to living off of the land.  My family has decided to step it up in the whole foods eating and really reading our labels, putting in a chicken coop.  We all are feeling better, though it did not start out that way! Ha!  Our bodies purged out all of the junk in our systems and that tends to make you feel kinda yucky.

With our household budget, we plan on putting in a garden to help out with fresh produce cost.  I'm scared to death because I do NOT have a green thumb!  LOL  I'm planning on planting a salsa garden to start out.  That means tomatoes, green, yellow and orange peppers, jalepenos, garlic, onions and cilantro.

Source: apartmenttherapy.com via Kristy on Pinterest

We are also looking to pick up a juicer after watching Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead! You want a show to inspire you to eat healthier?  Watch this!  Its on Netflix on demand...seriously, check it out!

How are you eating healthier, if at all?  Do you have an great websites you'd like to share?  Put them in the comment section.

Until we meet again...

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I'm super excited to be receiving a copy of ABC Bible Memory Verses in the mail to review but while I'm waiting YOU can check out the amazing sale Sonbeams.com is offering right now!  Up to 40% off some of their amazing products like Let's learn the ABC's, normally $19.95, discounted to $10.17

Sweet, Beautiful Home

"The woman who makes a sweet, beautiful home, filling it with love and prayer and purity, is doing something better than anything else her hands could find to do beneath the skies." ~J.R. Miller


Home.  What does Home mean to you?  For me, home is my safety net.  The one place I can go and know that I'm a perfect fit.  Home is where I recharge and reconnect. Home is where the people I love the most dwell.  Home is my Father God, spiritually roaming my halls and my rooms, filling our place with His peace.  Home is where my husband finds respect, refuge and release from working in the world.  


Home is a quiet corner in my room, with my comfy chair and my bible.  Home is my children, learning, laughing, playing, loving.  Home is the new planting of a precious family tree, one that is built upon God, Love, and New History.


If you could paint a sentence on the heart of your home, what would it be?  Mine would be...

But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.  Joshua 24:15

MAC Makeover

I love to mess around with makeup.  I'm an avid follower of Marlena at Make Up Geek and Leesha at xSparkage.  I just love the way the do make up and they are both big fans of MAC!  When the opportunity came up for my daughter and I to go get a makeover I jumped!

I wasn't a huge fan of the lipstick but I really liked everything else.  The foundation really made my skin look smooth and I felt younger.

Tori looked just gorgeous!  I ended up splurging and bought her the foundation and foundation brush.  For myself, I got this super amazing eyeliner, MAC Pearlglide Intense Eyeliner in Undercurrent.  It glides on so smoothly and the color is pretty intense.  We'll be going back for the other products as we have money.

What make up line do you wear and love?  Or do you not wear any makeup, which is totally cool because I was there for a long time!?

Obedience

I sometimes believe I am one of the hardest headed women alive on the face of this earth.  God tells me to stay home, love your husband, love your children, love Him!  And then I take a couple of steps out of where I'm supposed to be and whack! The world is right there to slap me in the face.  Satan is right there to remind me of his ugly existence and that when I'm disobedient to God, he's right there waiting for me to come on back to the dark side.

I had a beautiful Valentines day with my husband and children yesterday.  The opportunity to go out and serve in the community was presented to me and I jumped on it.  I was headed out to hand out roses and cake pops to the women on the streets.  Honestly, I was excited about going.  We met with two other couples and walked over to the Lord's Diner to say hi to some of the people waiting outside and give out treats.  It was fine and we headed back to the van to drive around for a bit.  We ran into some other women and handed out the treats we had but this is where satan stepped in and revealed himself to me.

Let me preface this by saying, I envy those people who are equipped to help the broken on the streets.  I pray for them regularly and care about those whom I call friend.  But I am notone of these people.  I need to just say it out loud, or here on the written page, I do NOT have mercy for this kind of ministry.  When I looked into the faces of these women I did not see beauty.  I saw darkness and fear.  I saw satan's minions roaming the dark places of the streets.  I saw ugliness, addiction, and pain.  And I did NOT want to be there! 

The last person we spoke to made my skin crawl.  You know that feeling of goosebumps upon goosebumps on your flesh that tell you "Get out NOW!"  That's what I felt.  Then my body seemed to revolt at where I had placed myself.  I became physically ill.  The Holy Spirit stepped in and gave me the words to tell the others that were checking out street ministry to be safe, to not jump into this outreach without a mentor with experience and then I got out of the van.

Truth is, and I'm putting this out here for accountability, I will never go minister on the streets again.  Does this make me less of a Christian?  No!  And I can say that because of a precious woman God placed in my life a couple of years ago who spoke truth into my heart, mind and soul today.  God removed ME from the darkness.  HE DOES NOT WANT ME TO GO BACK!  I don't belong out there.  I don't see light and it is not my ministry. 

The biggest reason for this post is because I needed to write this out.  The blessing of discernment will not allow me to go into the world of sexual immorality and abuse.  I see way too much "truth" to walk out unscathed. And I have no desire to allow that darkness to touch the lives of my family through me.

Even more so, I want to offer encouragement to those out there struggling with not doing "enough" for Jesus. Do not place yourself into someone else's shoes and try to make them fit.  It won't feel right, ever.  If its not your Jesus calling then let it be.  Pray for those who are in there working for God, but that doesn't mean YOU have to be in the trenches with them.  For those who's ministry is loving your husband, raising and educating your children and being a friend to those who need and want you, its enough.  Please know that God looks down on you and smiles for your obedience. 

Scripture that helped me today:

For you have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of life.  Psalms 56:13


Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns." Matthew 16:23


Walk in obedience to all that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess.  Deut. 5:33

I pray for you daily and I ask that you pray for me.  Pray that I am strong and steadfast in my ministry.  That I quit letting satan sneak in and cause me to doubt.  That God will give me the strength to fight the good fight for Him in the place that I am supposed to be.