The Bag Lady.

I have purchased 2 bags lately that I absolutely love.  

First Up.....

This Utility Bag from Thirty-One

I purchased this bag because several people I know have them and fill them full when they go to the pool.  I purchased this bag because with 3 kids three and under I was constantly having to run back in the house for things I had forgotten.  This makes for a cranky mommy and kids.

So I load this bag full of everything we will need on our errands (deposits, library books for return, things to mail, drinks, ergo carriers, returns, purchases....you name it).  And when we get home I have everyone grab a handful of "junk" and put it back into the utility tote so that I can get everything into the house in one trip.  I find that sippy cups, shoes, toys....you name it always end up on the floor of the car and then I spend way too much time picking all of this up.  This also is helping to teach my little ones responsibility for their things and cleaning up.

The Thirty-One representative that I ordered my bag from is a friend of a friend.  I don't personally know her but I can tell you this bag is awesome in quality and I had my bag in my possession in less than a week from order.  I also had our family name monogrammed in hot pink on one side of this bag and they did an excellent job.

Here is the link where I ordered.  https://www.mythirtyone.com/SummerV/

Second Up......

This wristlet from The Pleated Poppy. 

 I love my huge purse but with a utility tote, a diaper bag, and three kids I do not have enough shoulder space anymore.  I have admired The Pleated Poppy's work for quite sometime.  I decided to order this wristlet for my own personal belongings.  I ordered through her site and had my purchase in 3 days.

The quality of this bag is durable.  It is larger than I thought it was going to be (which makes me happy).  And it is handmade by The Pleated Poppy herself.

So far these two purchases have changed my life as a mom of 3 littles.  I guess for this season of life, you can just call me the "bag lady"!

Prayer Circles

"Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him."  

Psalm 34:8

My husband and I purchased a rental property late summer 2006.  The market was good and we purchased this home for "investment/retirement" purposes.  We prayed about it and felt really good about our decision.  2007 the market changed for the worst and we wondered "did we really hear God correctly?"

This property has been a continual burden to us.  It reminds me greatly of Paul's thorn.  This property has really been nothing but a big ole huge thorn in our flesh.  We had to put french drains under the crawl space, a new roof, new windows, new paint inside and out, new carpet x2, new bathroom tile, new kitchen floor, new fixtures, new sliding glass doors, repair of the back deck, semi-new HVAC, septic tank repair, new appliances....

We have had 3 sets of renters since 2006 and only this last family has taken care of our home.  In the fall of 2010 we arrived to find our renters had vandalized our our property and abandoned it.  And when I say vandalized, I mean to the tune of $15,000/$20,000 dollars worth of damage.  I quickly learned we did not have the "vandalization" portion on our renters insurance and therefore our insurance would not cover the cost of repairs.  Needless to say....we do now!

BUT GOD has been faithful to us.  He has always provided the funds that we needed to take care of that home.  We have never missed a payment and have paid cash for every repair.  Do I wish those funds were in a savings account somewhere, YES.  But would we have learned all we have learned through this process, NO.  We have come to truly live in the fact that ALL MONEY belongs to God and He can do with it what He chooses.

Over the last year my husband and I have prayed "Circles" around that property.  We have physically walked every inch of it and prayed that God would remove it from our plate.  We read "The Circle Maker" a year and a half ago and truly began to put that house to continual prayer.  We did not know how God was going to do it in the current market.  We prepared ourselves to not only lose the $40,000/$50,000 we had personally put into it but also the difference of what we paid and what it would sell for now.

We have literally been on our hands and knees begging God for release.  We have spent many nights tucking our kids into bed and ending the prayer with "God, you know we have a rental house and we believe you can release it from our plates.  Please remove this burden.  We trust you to continue to be the Great Provider."

We listed our rental property again 2 months ago.  We had a lot of traffic through it.  And then we got the call that the back deck had literally ripped away from the siding with all of the rain during May.  We had to take it off of the market and do a $1500.00 repair immediately.  God once again provided the finances through a Segway my husband bought for $300.00, cleaned up and flipped for $1500.00. There is a back story to why he even bought a Segway in the first place (maybe that will be another post someday).

The repairs were complete and the house was placed back on the market.  May 30, 2013, during labor with our son, my husband was on the phone with our realtor learning of a contract that was coming in on the rental house.  Let's just say....God has a way with timing!

For the last month, our realtor has jumped through so many hoops for us and the sell of this property.  There have been days we thought it would close and days that we thought it would fall through.  Here is what we know

1.  The contract is for our asking price (a few thousand over what we owe the bank)
2.  The buyer is a cash buyer
3.  The buyer did not want an appraisal
4.  The buyer did not have a formal inspection (just sent on of his "guys" out)
5.  Our renters were willing to break their lease and God provided a new home for them
6.  Our realtor charged us no fee for the sell of this home 

And so today, Monday July 1, 2013, we close on this property.  And we know that GOD answered our Circle of Prayer.  We would have chosen closure to this a lot earlier than today but God knows what he is doing.  We are THANKFUL for the burden/thorn that He has removed from our plate.

I often read the verses below and think they apply only during times of adversity but God reminded me the other day they apply to times of joy and answer as well.  I think it is crazy and unheard of that all six of the things noted above have happened but I will rest in this Word.....

"For my thought are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord.  "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9

Sibling Shirts Revealed

Before baby boy was born I posted this tutorial on making Sibling shirts.  

Here is how they turned out.

Baby boy was not much on the photo session

but as you can see Big Sister and Big Brother were right there to take care of him!

I hope you have a great weekend!

Up Next Week: 

Basement Organization Project 

Radical: David Platt

Radical by David Platt was not on my summer reading list.  I have heard A LOT about this book both positive and negative.  After reading Jenn Hatmaker's 7, I decided to read Radical for myself.  We had a copy of it in our home so I did not read this book on the Kindle app.  I actually flipped pages during nap times.

Like I said in the previous post, I am not an endorser of prosperity gospel or poverty gospel.  I believe there is a balance between the two that honors Christ.  There is a natural bent within humans to take things to the extreme and to point fingers at others who are not doing things the way that we think they should be done.

I can relate to David Platt's heartbeat for every nation to hear the Gospel.  I can relate to his challenge of making disciples.  I can relate to his belief in the sovereignty of God.  I think that Radical, for the most part is a good book and a good challenge.  I believe he paints some really big brush strokes that may or may not be true, but I can appreciate his work and his heart.

I encourage you to read it for yourself.  And if you are a believer, I encourage you to see other believers as "on the same team".  Unless a believer is doing something against the Word, we are all on the same team.  God chooses to use each of our talents and gifts in different ways and it doesn't mean that one is necessarily better than the other or more Holy.  I think we will all be surprised when we reach Heaven how short we truly fell.

"Don't try to get rich by extortion or robbery.  And if your wealth increases, don't make it the center of your life." Psalm 62:10 

1000 Gifts App

A book I loved is 1000 Gifts by Ann Voskamp. I learned so much about thankfulness through her writing and seeing the beauty in the small moments of life.  I was excited the other day to find out that there is a 1000 Gifts App.  Did you know this?

The App allows you to keep your list of 1000 Gifts right at your finger tips.  I used to keep my list in the notes section of my phone (and once it got deleted....sad day).  This App allows you to keep a running list.   If you are a picture person, you can link a picture to your gift as well.

You can share your "gifts" with others through email, text, twitter, facebook or flicker.

I have LOVED this App, as my phone is usually always close by (not so much for pen and paper).

Summer Reading List: 7

I don't know how I did this, but I finished not one 

but TWO books in the first 2 weeks of new baby's life!

Really, I know how I did it....

I read them on my Kindle for iPhone app.

Greatest invention EVER for moms who are up at night.

So like I told you in this post, I have a summer reading list. 

First Up: 7 An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess

by Jenn Hatmaker

I read this book because several of my friends have read it and recommended it.
I also read it because Bloom Book Club did a series of videos with the author, Jenn Hatmaker
And I love reading books through with Bloom Book Club.

I am not an endorser of prosperity gospel nor am I an endorser of poverty gospel.
I believe there is a balance between the two that honors Christ.
I think it is incredible the "fast" journey that God took Jenn Hatmaker and her "Council" of seven girlfriends through.

I appreciate greatly her honest raw heart through this work and her ability to not "pin" this as a must for every reader.  She truly allows room for God to speak to the individual reader in areas of excess.  I believe her thoughts and words to be deep and personally heart felt.

I believe there are areas where her words can pierce deep into the hearts of the American church family.
I also believe there are times that she draws huge lines in the sand and groups every American church into one category and those parts I don't necessarily agree with her but I can still appreciate her work.

I believe we all live in excess.  I believe I live in excess.
But I also believe that we each can channel our excess to something beyond ourselves.
And that process will look different for each individual.
I DO BELIEVE there are American church families who are giving to causes greater than themselves.

I love this experiment.  I think God can personally tailor it for your life.


What My Seven Looks Like:

Food:  Shop at Aldi for a month.  What I save in groceries each week will not go into savings or eating out envelope, but will go to Nothing But the Truth Food Pantry.  At the end of the month I will take my kids to the store and buy with what we saved for kids in our county (who without school in session) have nothing to eat for the day.


Clothes: Clean out my and my husband's closet and give to a local church's  Clothing Closet.  I usually just donate to Good Will but Jenn encourages you to give to a cause.  I know this local church has a great ministry and I am thrilled to take our excess in.


Possessions:  We recently moved and I have a lot of stuff in the basement that I have not gone through and organized.
Stuff that I know I could sell in a garage sale but feel compelled to give toConexion 1040 (an organization that was birthed in the hearts of some of our dear friends).
One thing I am most excited about is giving my daughter's baby bedding to a family
 who will deliver a baby girl end of July.Can't wait to write our the story behind her bedding and the JOY it gives me to pass it along.


Media: Don't be on Internet while my children are awake.
I'll admit this is going to be hard....but I need and want to be present with them for the moments I have been given.


Waste: Buy a larger trash can for our recycle items.
We are great at recycling but lately it is running over and we need a bigger bin.
Use more plastic containers and less ziplocks to store food.


Spending:  I just need to be better all around with my Dave Ramsey envelope system.
 I have to make it a point to go to the bank and divide up the cash.  I CAN DO IT!


Stress:  NO PHONES at the dinner table, kids bed times, kids dates, or family worship nights.
We have a lot going on right now with some real estate properties and it feels like the phone always rings at these crucial moments with our children.
They need to see my husband and I present in the few hours we get each night.....
present with THEM!


Hope you get a change to read 7 and follow along with Bloom Book Club.
I feel I got a better understanding of Jenn Hatmaker
and her book through listening to her via Bloom Book Club Videos.

What we have been up to and what I am learning.

We welcomed Baby Owen into our family

May 30, 2013.

We are adjusting as well as can be.

I am learning A LOT.

1.  Laundry will NEVER be done

2. STUFF will forever be laying out and not in it's place

3. BOYS are different than girls

4. Discipline is HARD!  HARD!  HARD!

5.  Cleaning of our house will NEVER be complete in one day

6.  iPHONES were made for Mom's

7.  I can't please everyone

8.  Jesus is my ONLY way

9.  Do FUN things

10.  Give the dogs some GRACE

I think I "learned" all of these things 2 times before.....

BUT.....

I am learning them again!

#three3andunder