Don't Delay

When God puts someone on your heart, that you should call them or you should go see them don't delay.

I had it on my heart to go and see a lady who was terminally ill. I wanted to go and try one last time to help her accept salvation. I was nervous about what I could say to this lady I didn't know very well. I was praying about what I should say so I wouldn't be too pushy and perhaps end up driving her away. Perhaps that is why I kept waiting for a "better time". I was inspired by a post I read yesterday and decided not to wait anymore. I brought over some cinnamon rolls but I didn't get to talk to her because I had all my little ones with me. I had put off going and I delayed and it is too late.

My heart is heavy. I got a phone call this morning telling me that this lady had passed away in the night. I pray that she did finally accept the free gift that was offered to her.

It is a comfort to me that she enjoyed the cinnamon rolls but how I wish I had heeded the promptings in my heart. God was trying to tell me something and I delayed. I just wrote about not putting things off because there may not be a tomorrow. I should have heeded my own advice.

Is God prompting you to call someone? To go for a visit? Don't delay.

Blessings,

Liisa

Praying for Glenys

My dear friend Glenys from Australia is having heart surgery. Please include her in your prayers today and for an easy recovery in the days to come. Glenys has a wonderful blog that is so encouraging. She has been such a help to me. You can find it at.......
http://glenysrobynhicks.wordpress.com/welcome-to-my-blog/

Blessings,
Liisa

Doing Too Much

In the past few weeks I have had a seemingly endless to do list. There have been great things on that list. Meetings, Bible studies, committees to be a part of, baking to do for events, events to plan and help carry out, shopping to do for events, appointments to keep, etc. etc. etc. The only problem with all these wonderful things that seem so necessary and so fun and so important is that I have had my priorities in all the wrong order. God's word tells me what my priorities should be. They are God, husband, children, home, then outside interests. I have been so busy with everything else that my home has not gotten the full attention it needs, I have been impatient with my son who deserves so much more from me especially in these days as he is growing older and busier and our time to spend together is lessening each day. I should be valuing every second rather than rushing through things or urging him to hurry so I can get on with other tasks I "need" to do. I have also been short tempered with my husband, impatient with him as well and not been displaying the deep love I have for him because I have so much I "just have to" get done. I have also realized that while I am doing my personal devotions and Bible study I am not fully there. My mind is wandering to that to do list. ~sigh~ It is so easy to just say yes to one more thing or think oh I can squeeze that in. There is nothing wrong with any of the things I have been doing or even being busy as long as I keep my priorities in the right order. When I get them mixed up or things are starting to slip in any of those areas I need to be willing to step back and take a look at things and get them back as they should be and that may meaning saying no to some things, or dropping some things but that is o.k. I need to realize that I can't do everything or be a part of everything, nor should I.
So it is on to a better week with a fresh perspective and with my priorities in the right order.
Blessings to you,
Liisa

Our Daily Routine

Alot of people have asked me how I manage to care for the 5 little ones or the 5 little monkeys as I call them and still manage to get everything else done. (most of the time ~wink~)

The biggest factor in being able to do this is having a routine. Not a schedule that keeps you a slave to time but a routine. We do the same things in the same order every single day. The children love this as they always know what to expect.

Here is our typical daily routine.......

I get up at 5 a.m. I come down put on coffee, let the dog out and look after treats for her and the cat as well as her medicine, then I get my husband's and son's lunch ready. I make sure he is up and make the bed and tidy our room and gather up any laundry that may need to be done. I see him off to work then get myself ready for the day. If I am going to wear a skirt and it needs to ironed I will do that now as well. I also clean the cat box and put on a load of laundry.

The first two (monkey- bum and chickie-poo) arrive at 6:45 a.m.

They have breakfast and chat to me about their evening the night before. I tidy up and run the vacuum.

The third (man- a -man) arrives at 7:30 closely followed by the fourth (M) at 7:35.

The fifth (Berry) arrives at 7:45.

I give M breakfast and tidy up the kitchen while she eats and the others are enjoying music time. I wake up my son and get him to bring down his laundry. I get his breakfast and we talk about the day ahead. I change over the laundry.
Once M is done breakfast they all have free play until 8:30. During this time I do my online Bible study via email with my sister, catch up on emails etc.

At 8:30 Man-a-man goes for his morning nap and I get the girls going on the craft project for the day. When they are done that they may play with puzzles blocks, legos or another quiet activity until 9:30 when Man-a-man gets up. During this time I prepare lunch for the girls and do any cleaning, dusting etc. that needs to be done. If I have time I may get my baking done or at least make the cookie dough etc.

At 9:30 I get Man-a-man up, change him and give him his bottle. The girls tidy up all the toys etc. then I change Chickie-poo and M and the two bigger girls go to the bathroom and get ready to go for our walk. I set up the playpens and cot for nap time then I get the little ones ready and off we go!

So 10:00-11:30 we walk around town, explore nature, talk about what we see, work on colors, shapes, counting, animal sounds etc. I also do my errands for the day. We may also use this time to go to the park and on Wednesdays we have playgroup.

11:30 we are back home, have bathroom time for the big girls and change the little ones. We wash our hands and have lunch which I prepared earlier. I feed Man-a-man.

Right after lunch is nap time. Everyone sleeps but me! I am very blessed to have little ones that will nap well for me and I credit that in part to having a routine. They know that every day it is lunch and then nap. During nap time I enjoy some time on the Internet and work on projects I have been working on and I also change over the laundry and RELAX!

At about 2 or so the house starts to come alive again and I get bottom changes, bottle time and snacks going for them.

They then enjoy free play again and then story time and puzzles etc.

I use this time to get supper started.

Monkey bum and Chickie-poo go home at 3:45, Berry, M and Man-a-man between 4 and 4:45.

Dinner is ready between 5 and 5:30.

We eat, I do the dishes, visit with my Mother in law(she has a Granny flat in our house) and plan the craft for the next day then it is time to RELAX!

I am sorry this was so long but I was trying to let you know how I fit it all in. I may have gotten carried away with the details! Oops! Anyway it is what seems to work best for me perhaps someone will find it helpful too!

Things do not always go as planned (sometimes not even close!) but this is the general guideline that I try and follow!

Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails. Proverbs 19:21

Blessings,

Liisa

Dinner Idea

My husband brought in the last of the peppers from the garden and I decided that was a good reason to have steak fajitas last night. We had one steak leftover from a family bbq the night before, free peppers from the garden, salsa I made and froze in the summer and onions so all we needed to buy was some sour cream and two tomatoes.

I make my own tortillas with a recipe I found on Laine's Letters. I just love her site, she is such an encouragement to me. I read her letters over and over. Anyway back to the fajitas. The link to the tortilla recipe is http://www.lainesletters.com/recipe/flourtortilla.html I made double the recipe.

I made those and then just sliced the steak in strips, fried the onions and peppers together and served it with salsa, sour cream and chopped tomatoes. You could add shredded lettuce, cheese, guacamole or anything else you like.

This meal was inexpensive and fed my husband and I as well as my son and two of his friends.

Blessings,

Liisa

Life in a small town

I discovered one of these on my back porch this morning! I was about to let the dog out when I saw a bit of black fur with white stripe. I am so grateful that I have been in the habit of turning on the outdoor light and looking all around before opening the door. I started doing this after being surprised by a very large raccoon!

When skunks are into something they apparently do not want to move. I knocked on the window and he didn't even flinch! I then realized that scaring a skunk on my back porch may not be something I want to do. ~smile~

I tried to get a picture of my own but it didn't turn out. I waited and eventually he sauntered off without a care in the world. So cute, so smelly and all part of life in a small town.

Blessings,

Liisa

Tommorrow

My sister and I were going over 2 Peter 3 in our Bible study and I thought I would share with you some things that occurred to me while I was reading it.

Here is the portion that really stood out for me.....

2 Peter 3:10-15 (New International Version)

10But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.

11Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives

12as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.

13But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.

14So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him.

The end will come as a thief....it could come right now as I am typing this! Am I ready or have I been thinking somewhere in the back of my mind there's time....what does it really matter if I gossip today or say things I shouldn't or watch shows that put wrong ideas in my head I can make it up tomorrow, I'll start being good tomorrow. I'll quit being a glutton tomorrow, I'll quit holding a grudge tomorrow, I'll reach out to my neighbours tomorrow, I'll start being the best person I can be tomorrow.
What if the end comes before tomorrow. Will God know I have been trying my best to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him? Will He see I was trying to live a holy and godly life? Or will He see someone who put Him on the back burner for her own selfish desires and her desire to hold a grudge, be a gossip and someone who kept shoving aside what she should be doing with thoughts of being better tomorrow. I pray that won't be the case. I pray I will live every moment of my life for Him, for His glory and with Him always first in my mind. I know I am a sinner and it is only through grace that I am saved but I also know that God calls us to do the very best we can for Him. Tomorrow may be too late.

Blessings,
Liisa

Beef Stew

My friend called me this afternoon and told me she was making stew which sounds like a great idea. Since it is such a chilly, rainy day here I thought I would share my favorite recipe for it.

Oven Beef Stew

1 1/2 lbs. beef, cubed.

3 large carrots sliced

3 stalks of celery, chopped

1 green pepper, diced

1 can ginger ale

1 28oz. can diced tomatoes

1 envelope onion soup mix

3-4 peeled, potatoes cubed.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix all ingredients in a covered roaster. Cook for 1 1/2 hours.

Option - leave out potatoes and spoon over rice to serve.

Enjoy!

Welcome to my Blog

Welcome I am pleased you have chosen to visit me here! I thought I might post a little about me and I hope you will let me know a bit about you as this blog progresses.

I am very happily married to my high school sweetheart. We have been blessed with one son who is now 16. I had dreamed of a large family but God has had other plans for us however our home is full of children during the day! I care for 5 little ones while their Mommies and Daddies are at work. Four girls and one boy. They are 4 , 3, 2, 1 and 8 months. I love them as my own and have had them since they were all wee babies. I will refer to them by the nicknames I have for them when I write of my day.... they are such a big part of it!~smile~

We live in a little town, in an old house with a big front porch and we love it here. In our family we also have an old yellow lab and a big fat cat who are both loved more than words can say! We attend a small (but growing!) church that is bursting with the love of God and a spirit of family.

I guess that pretty much sums me up! I look forward to having a place to share the happenings in our lives .

Blessings,
Liisa