Spring Freshening

Here we are at the end of March and spring has definitely arrived! Around here the flowering trees are in full bloom, and the pinks, whites, and purples add so much beauty to the landscape! In addition, daffodils and tulips are blooming. The lawn has already been mowed once and is in need of it again. This is a great time of year to do some freshening in the way of cleaning and perhaps adding some small new decorating touches throughout your home. I've been busy doing just that, and in this post I am hoping to inspire you!

When it comes to spring cleaning, think in terms of those jobs that you don't get to very often and that need doing after a long winter of your home being closed up with the heat and perhaps a fireplace going. Below are a few suggestions to get you started:

Whole house:

• wash window sills and windows
• clean light fixtures and ceiling fans
• replace light bulbs and smoke alarm batteries
• shampoo carpets
• clean baseboards

Kitchen:

• clean  and re-organize the pantry and toss expired items
• clean the oven and the freezer
• clean cabinets inside and out

Bedrooms/Bathrooms

• wash bedding and put away extra blankets
• clean closets and donate unwanted items
• clean out medicine cabinet and toss expired items
• clean and re-organize linen closet

How about those jobs that need to be done outside? Sweep the deck or patio of all the debris. Paint the porch or trim, if needed. Clean the patio furniture. Clear the flower beds and pick up sticks and debris. Clean the garage.

Are you worn out yet? How about the fun part - adding some small spring touches in the decor of your home? For me, that means putting away my snowman collection (which is extensive - between New Years and March, I have the living room, foyer, and kitchen filled with snowmen!) I replaced the snowmen on my fireplace mantel with a vase of tulips and some pastel accents. I put away my winter dishes and got out my spring/summer ones. A couple things that I bought that weren't huge or expensive, but made a surprisingly big difference: a new spring/summer table runner for the dining room table ($10 at a home discount store) and some new throw pillows for my living room furniture. I found these in a pretty, lively blue and yellow spring print at TJ Maxx, and I love the difference they made!

While we are talking about cleaning and refreshening our homes, it reminds me of the need to do a spiritual housecleaning as well. Hopefully you are already spending time with God and in His Word every day. But let me throw out this idea to you: how about taking some time to get away alone, outside, for a special time of spiritual renewal? I realize that depending on your stage of life (if you have little ones at home) or your schedule (if you are working a job outside the home), this might be easier said than done. Maybe you can make it a goal for the near future. I guarantee it will refresh your spirit! Acts 3:19 tells us that "times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord." If getting away for a couple hours is doable for you, choose a pretty day, grab your Bible along with a notebook and pen, and a bottle of water and maybe a snack, and take off. Spend the time reading, meditating on what you read, asking God what He wants to reveal to you, and then being willing to be obedient and act on what He speaks to you about. I like to read and pray through various Psalms, and an especially good one for spiritual housecleaning is Psalm 51, verses 10, 12: "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with thy free spirit."There's nothing like being outside enjoying God's beautiful creation and the presence of the Creator.

Happy Spring!

Kathi

Abundant Praise

Psalm 103:1-2: "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits." These verses have been going around and around in my head this week.

This is Easter week! Just reflecting on that alone gives us reason to praise the Lord. It was His great love for us which motivated Him to give us who are so undeserving a Savior, His Son Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for our sins. But Jesus arose, and He lives forever more! Without that, we would still be separated from God and would have no hope.

There are so many other reasons to give praise to our God! This morning I was truly "counting my blessings." The beauty of spring is everywhere here with trees and flowers blossoming. I got a good report from my doctor. Even the everyday things that we take for granted are blessings for which to thank the Lord. As I was making the bed this morning, I thanked him for a warm, comfortable bed. As I stepped into the shower, I thanked Him for hot water and nice-smelling shower gel. When I washed dishes, I thanked Him for plenty of food to eat. When we don't have praise in our hearts, we begin to focus on what we don't have that we want, and that discontent is the first seed sown in our heart that turns into disappointment, anger, and eventually, bitterness.

These thoughts have been on my mind since returning home from attending a Ladies Prayer Advance last week. It is called an "advance" instead of a retreat because we advance in our relationship with God as a result. I confess that I was not super excited about attending. The timing was such that I had just gotten home from a weekend speaking engagement and a week away, and I did not feel like getting out my suitcase again and taking off on another trip, especially without my husband. As usual, though, God's timing is perfect. He is so faithful to minister to my heart just when I need it the most. It was such a blessing to be there singing with 460 other women, sharing burdens and joining together in prayer, and sitting under the teaching of some wonderful speakers. We heard 9 messages and I filled a whole tablet with notes. A few of my favorite quotes are as follows:

• Worry is assuming God's responsibility.
• God doesn't love you because of who you are, but because of who He is.
• When you are committed, you are the one in charge. When you are surrendered, God is.
• My ministry is not based on my ability, but on God's grace. 
• It's not in trying, but in trusting. It's not in running but in resting. It's not in worrying but in praying.
• Putting bars up doesn't keep people out of your life, it builds a prison which keeps you in.
• Always use what you know to navigate through the unknown.

Lest you get the wrong idea about my praising the Lord, I want to assure you that my life is not a bed of roses. There are trials and unknowns and hurts in my life right now. However, it is during these times when I most need to make the decision to choose to praise the Lord. Praise helps us to focus our attention and thoughts on the blessings. It changes our focus from the problems to the character of God. Gratitude is a discipline and needs to be a lifestyle.

What is your mindset this week? Are you consumed with thoughts about the problems, negatives, and uncertainties in your life? Do you remember what the key word I chose for 2016 is? Perspective. Perspective is the ability to see the relevant information through eternal eyes of faith. We are constrained by what we can see and understand, which is very limited. I am asking God to help me remember there is much more going on than what I can see. He is in charge. And He has given me so much to praise Him for! 

Gratefully,

Kathi

Take a Picture

Hello there! It's great to be back at the blog after a 2 week absence! During my time away I had the privilege of speaking at a wonderful Ladies Conference,  enjoyed some much-needed "girl" time with my closest friend and a lovely day with our daughter and her family. That was followed by a week with my husband visiting our younger son and his family to meet our newest grandson, Owen, who is now 4 weeks old and growing like a weed! We also got to spend a lot of time with our granddaughter Olivia, 2 1/2. We had a GRAND time but it is always good to get home!

When I walked into the YMCA my first morning back, I saw something different. There was a banner on the wall that said "Save a Tree - Take a Picture!" All of the many informational flyers, event calendars, and exercise class schedules, etc. were posted on the wall underneath. The idea is to just take pictures of them with your smart phone to refer to later, rather than them having to make and distribute hundreds of paper copies. Pretty good idea, I thought. These days I use my i-phone to take pictures of everything! If I am shopping and see something for the house that I want to think about or come back to later, I take a picture of it. If I am out shopping for clothing or other items for someone else and have choices, I take pictures of the items and text them to the person so they can see them and tell me their preference, instead of me just guessing. I take pictures of products that I want to remember to look for. I also take pictures of recipes and instructions, rather than copying them down. SUCH a convenience!

Of course, I do also take pictures of family, events, celebrations, and trips. Actually, I take a LOT of pictures. I have become known as the person who can be counted on to always be snapping pictures. My husband is used to me hurrying to catch up with him because I stopped to take a picture of something. However, I also am a scrapbooker and to date have created approximately 16 albums which are very special to us. The grandchildren as they are getting older especially love them. And my philosophy is, the more pictures you take, the more good ones you will have available to use when scrapbooking!

Our recent trip was no exception, so here I am posting just a few of my favorite pictures:

In spite of the many memories that I captured by taking pictures, there are many more moments that I simply have preserved in my heart. The beautiful afternoon at the park with my granddaughters and them sitting on the bank of a creek with branches pretending to "fish" and "reeling them in" with shouts of glee and laughter about how many they were catching. Talking with my friend until the wee hours of the morning. Looking out into the audience at the ladies' conference and seeing the faces of  friends I had not seen for a long time. The moment when I saw my husband standing at the curb of the Delta Arrivals at the Atlanta airport, after I had navigated my way alone through the Atlanta city traffic to pick him up. Seeing our tiny newborn grandson for the first time. The imaginary play and funny conversations I had with my toddler granddaughter. And on and on they go, replaying in my mind.

I think this is what the writer of the Gospel of Luke had in mind when he penned the words in Luke 2:19: "And Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart." I have always loved that verse. The word "pondered" means to "treasure" or to "store up." Mary the mother of Jesus was obviously a woman after my own heart. She loved to treasure the memories, to tuck them away in her mind where she could recall them time and time again.

In order to "keep all these things and ponder them in our heart" we have to be intentional about living in the moment. So many times we are thinking about our to-do list, our plans for the rest of the day or for dinner that night, and our minds are a million miles away rather than on the here and now. And in the process, we miss out on so many things. We become so focused on the days that we miss the moments. We have to determine that we are going to focus on enjoying the moments and make a conscious effort to store up precious memories in our hearts.

So moms and grandmas, don't be too busy or too distracted to enjoy the moments. Leave the dishes or the laundry and play a game. Go for a walk, color a picture, listen to a song, go down the swing or on the slide. Hug your husband,  talk to your teen. Take a picture - with your heart. You'll be glad you did.

Joyfully,
Kathi