Clutter vs. Contentment

From Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer:

"Contentment
is not something
that accidentally happens to you,
it is something
you actively decide upon. 
And you lay hold of it,
re-deciding
every day
that enough
is actually
plenty."

Amen and amen. Enough IS plenty. In fact, we have more than enough in this house, and it is more than plenty.  When does the blessing of prosperity become a curse? When you have so much stuff that you don't have enough storage space to put everything away.  When you don't want to get rid of it, even though you never use it.  When clutter steals your peace of mind!  When six people step over the same toy/piece of trash/clutter/thing repeatedly and no one cares enough about it to pick it up and put it away.

There was a day when our family of five lived on the road in a 30' travel trailer. All we owned was what we could carry with us, with the exception of some seasonal things that had been stashed in a warehouse somewhere. Even then we had too much. Then we moved into a two bedroom apartment, and we acquired a bit of furniture.  And then we moved into a two bedroom house with a full basement, and we accumulated more furniture and enough other stuff to fill the house up.  Five years later, we are in an 1700 square foot house with all our accumulation and ADDED accumulation over the years.  I think we had PLENTY about eight years ago!  Truly the Lord has blessed us, but we have not been very wise stewards.  You don't have to say, "Yes!" just because something is free.

So.  Does anyone have any tips for de-cluttering?  I am not talking about the three-bag method: keep, toss, and give away.  I am talking about how to do it and still maintain healthy family relationships.  I am talking about how to go through your children's bedrooms and throw away all the "precious" stuff that is really worthless, without them feeling violated. (It's simple to throw away someone else's junk.  I have my own closet full of "valuables"...)  And, do we really need stacks and stacks of scrap paper just in case someone wants to color or make a project? How long is it practical to hang on to old clothes that could be made over into something for my younger kids?  Why do I still have the entire set of PowerGlide Spanish books and cassettes, when we have never used it?  Why am I hanging on to an entire shelf of old A Beka books, just in case? And stacks of CD's we never listen to?  Why is my closet full of clothes that are too small for me, just in case I lose some weight?

When did I quit trusting the Lord for our DAILY needs??!?!

I do not want my kids to be held hostage by STUFF when they are wives and mothers.  Anyone have some good suggestions for training children to use stuff, but not love it?  Oh, I hear you.  I have to set the example.  Okay, but in the meantime, do I just  leave town with the girls and let Dad go through the house with a dumpster? (I know someone who did this. It's tempting, lol! And scary!)

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness;
and all these things shall be added unto you.
Take therefore no thought for the morrow:
for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.
Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. 
Matthew 6:33,34

Can't Even Cry Right

There's something about the ocean that makes me cry.  I don't know what it is; I have spent some time trying to analyze this thing and I decided to forget the analyzation.  I might find out something about me that I don't want to know.    It's as if the sight and sound of the water pull weeping up from way down in my toes, tears that I have suppressed for weeks or months, maybe even longer.  It's kind of cathartic, in a way.  Normally I'm not a crier -- well, no, that's not exactly true.  I cry ALOT (seems to be more frequent the older I get. Can it be The Change coming?), but I don't use tears to manipulate my husband, so I always try to hide them. Even when it is OBVIOUS that I am weeping, if he asks me I will deny it.

There we are, whizzing along I-5 on our way to the San Diego Zoo last Tuesday.  For just a few moments the view is clear to the ocean, and the waterworks are immediately threatening.  I grit my teeth to keep the tears in check, and bury my head in my book.  Going home it's the same thing.  That night as we lay in bed talking about our plans for the next day (shoe shopping, playground, etc), I told my DH I wanted to go to the ocean to cry. He was a bit puzzled, but he didn't dig.

So the next morning we arranged for a little lunch date, just the two of us, and we drove the short distance to Seal Beach, which is where I spent quite a bit of the summertime as a kid.  Since DH's leg is still oozing when he is on it too long, we sat on a park bench on Ocean Avenue, not even on the beach or on the pier. Sure enough, in about ten seconds the tears were streaming down my face. I felt pretty silly sitting there with my DH, crying my eyes out like we were having a fight or something.  It sure did look that way -- I was sitting at one end of the bench, and he at the other, with my "stuff" between us.  He appeared to be ill at ease and no wonder, with his wife blubbering away at arm's length, right there in front of the whole world.  Okay, I wasn't really blubbering. I was actually trying very hard to KEEP from blubbering, which sort of restraint gives me a tremendous headache, and just one more reason to cry.  But I did thoroughly soak my one tissue.

DH said he didn't understand how I could make myself cry like that, and I told him that I WASN'T making myself cry.  It just happens when I see the ocean.  After about 15 minutes of not doing it right, (I mean, to have a really good cry, you have to be able to just wail if you want to, you know?) I decided that I had to be alone, maybe out on the pier somewhere, or down near the water, far away from everyone including my dear, sweet husband.  It just wasn't going to work this time.  So I dried my tears and we went home.  We didn't even have lunch.  (Who can eat when they're crying?)  Maybe next time.


PS. Does this count as one of my quirky random things?  Someone tagged me. Was that you, JM?  I'll try to come up with five other quirky things that are at least as entertaining.

Peace

Top 10 Predictions No Matter Who Wins the Election


1. The Bible will still have all the answers.


2. God will still answer prayer.


3. The Holy Spirit will still move.


4. God will still inhabit the praises of His people.


5. There will still be God-annointed preaching.


6. There will still be singing of praise to Jesus Christ.


7. God will still pour out blessings upon His people.


8. There will still be room at the Cross for you, and for everyone you love.


9. The blood of Jesus will not have lost its power.


10. The Lord Jesus Christ will still save the lost when they come to Him.

ISN'T IT GREAT TO KNOW THE ONE WHO IS REALLY IN CHARGE??

(copied and edited)

Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.
Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God. Psalm 146:3,5

Stuff

Falling farther and farther behind all of you, my friends, in the blogging world.  I don't know what I do all day, but I don't seem to have the time to cruise around and see what everyone is up to.  So if you are in the same boat I am, I won't blame you at all for not going back to take a look at my post about loving the desert, which continues to grow, or the one about the ESV, which has generated a few more comments lately.  Just wanted to let you know there is activity going on there, just in case you are interested.

Emily has the BIGGEST smile on her face most of the day today since this is her last day of being four years old.  Tomorrow we will have chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, decorated with yellow icing by Emily herself.  And some fudgsicles -- those are more fun  for a little kid than a scoop of ice cream is. As for me, I'd rather have a bowlful of Moose Tracks!  I am so relieved to have switched to this plan.  For 362 days this year Emily insisted on another popcorn cake for her fifth birthday, and then suddenly she matured and asked for chocolate.  Yea!!  Oh.  Maybe that is not a good thing.  We already have two chocoholics in this house...

Pete Falcon (see previous post) is under the attack of mega doses of antibiotics, and after a week of being on them his digestive system is finally rebelling. Yogurt helped for a while, but no longer.  We might have a now-you-see-him, now-you-don't preacher tonight if he is running to the bathroom between scripture passages.

We are doing out best to wrap up our first quarter of the school year, so we can go to Grammy and Grampy's for a few days for a combination birthday celebration and trip to the San Diego Zoo.  This trip was supposed to take place this week, but Pete Falcon couldn't walk around the house, let alone the zoo.  He has a few days left to heal, and we're praying for a very quick and complete recovery now.

Seems like I had something important to tell you all... sorry, the brain is kaput.  There's nothing left!

Well, that's the news from the dry and thirsty land.  Have a great weekend, everyone!


O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;
To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.
Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.
Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.
Psalm 63:1-4

My Superhero's BooBoo

WARNING: NOT FOR WEAK STOMACHS!!

My DH, known around here as superhero Pete Falcon (not the Marvel Comic -- we didn't even know about him!) tried to do a trick while he was walking quickly, and attempted to step up and over a 2' brick wall.  As you will see, he missed. Poor Pete. This is the wound on his shin, two weeks after the fact.  We thought he just had a bloody scrape.  After several days it was badly infected, so off to Urgent Care we went.  He had to have the "scrape" debrided.  "Debrided" is one of my new vocabulary words, and it means that they scrubbed all the gunk and dead flesh out of the hole -- they un-debris'ed it., right? Same root word?  (Thank you, Carol!) "Avulsion" is my other new word, which is how you describe this sort of a wound. It's easy to remember because it sounds like "revulsion", which is what my DH's reaction is to seeing his own wound. The dark part in the center is dried blood, of course, and you can be thankful it is there.  The scene prior to this one shows the fat layer under the skin. Before that, the fat also was missing, so he was down to severely bruised muscle tissue. You wouldn't want to see that. The amazing thing about this is that Captain Falcon was wearing long pants when this happened!!!  I don't think he'd have a leg left if he had hit that block wall with his skin. Modesty pays off!

Now, Pete Falcon is a man who is hard to keep down, but this did it.  This fall was his Kryptonite.  But  take heart!  Pete Falcon is gaining strength! He has been chomping at the bit, wishing to get moving again.  God has given him a great measure of grace, and Pete has been a wonderful patient.  As you  can see , it will be a while before he is back on his bike.  (You know how that is when your pedal comes up and whams you in the shin... we don't want that to happen.) 
Until he flies again ~ 

A Month in Review

In the past month we had a birthday:

Made palm frond dollies:

Saw Indian petroglyphs (I think this one says, "Three Feathers loves Sitting Fawn," and "Class of  1574"):

We played:

Fooled with the camera:

And did a science experiment or two:

Most photos by Booklover

Overnight Baked Oatmeal, by Request

We Arizona blogging gals were recently discussing the fact that we are more than ready for fall to get here.  I told Kristy and Shani that I have given up waiting, and that I have already begun my winter cooking -- soups especially, and baked oatmeal. "Baked oatmeal??" they said.  If you have never had baked oatmeal on a cold morning, you are missing out.  It is so good and satisfying, and so easy to make!  Try adding chopped apples, walnuts, dried cranberries, or raisins. Top it with warm milk or cream, or hey, even rhubarb sauce!  Enjoy.

Overnight Baked Oatmeal

2 eggs 1 C brown sugar 1 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla  6 tablespoons butter, melted 1 C milk 3 C oats optional: walnuts, chopped apple, raisins, dried fruit, chocolate chips??

Grease a 1 1/2 quart ovenproof dish.  Beat the eggs in it, then add the brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and vanilla, and stir until there are no lumps.  Whisk in the milk and melted butter, then stir in the oats.  Cover and refrigerate overnight. Next morning, preheat the oven to 350.°  Bake until set in the center and crisp around the edges, 35-45 minutes.  Makes six regular sized servings, or four great big man-sized ones.

And yes, Merlynn, it is rather like a warm oatmeal cookie.  I am weakening in my resolve not to add chocolate chips!  No. No. No. Don't do it!

If you enjoy this, try another variation -- Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal.

How to Cut a Mango -- Photo Tutorial

I am editing this entry to post a bit of information on mangoes.  Mangoes are considered the world over as "the king of fruit," and for good reason!  They are so good, and good for you.  A ripe mango is slightly soft to the touch and will yield to gentle pressure. At the stem end, it has a full, fruity fragrance.   Also, the skin of a ripe mango will separate easily from the flesh. Don't depend on the mango's color to determine its ripeness. If you have ever tried mango and you didn't like it, the fruit was either not ripe enough, or it was overripe.  I can't imagine anyone NOT liking mango!

Mangoes are a comfort food.  They are good for the digestive system, high in dietary fiber, low in calories, full of Vitamins A and C, and a good source of potassium and beta carotene.

If you can keep them long enough to cook with them (I can't -- we love them the way God made them!), mangoes are very versatile.  They can go into smoothies, breads, cakes, chutney, salsa, salads, and even omelets!  Try  this recipe site for some ideas.

Yum!!!