What's a girl to do?

So the new year is almost upon us, and it's that time again, where we take stock of the past, and make plans for the year ahead.

So I ask you, how have you grown in the last year, and what are your goals for next year?

In the interest of fairness, I'm going to share my thoughts. (if that's ok)

Taking stock of the last year, I can see that I have grown in Grace towards others, and am much more likely to give people the benefit of the doubt than I ever would have. I KNOW this is because my Abba Father has had many occasion to give me the benefit of the doubt over the last year!!!!

I have grown to trust Abba more, through a series of events, and fulfilled promises, after a long wait and many toddler tantrums on my behalf!! (See what I mean about Him being gracious!?)

I have learnt new things about my husband and children, and I have made new friends and had to say goodbye to a few too. Letting go is something I have found hard, but God has smoothed the way when I have given my expectations to Him.

I can honestly say that, although I still have a LONG way to go, through God's grace and patience, I feel that I am a better person now than last year.

So looking forward, my goals are to continue to learn how to feed my family healthy, nutritious meals, to continue to learn about my husband, and the wife he needs and deserves, to try to model to my children a real life with Christ, not a religion, but a relationship and the ups and downs and mistakes and forgiveness that entails.

I want to get more active, (but I say that every year), and I want to read more books, (I say that every year too, but I usually do this one!!) and I want to believe that this year will be another year that the Lord adds more children to our family.

But most of all, my goal is to draw closer to my Abba, because apart from Him, I can do nothing. Without Him, I will be the same next year as this. Without Him, I will be alone. Without Him, I AM nothing.

Praise You Yeshua, my Saviour King. 

How do you stop...

We have so much chocolate in our house!!!!

For Christmas we were inundated with gifts of chocolate, biscuits, sweets of all descriptions, and are now flooded!

My no sugar rule seems to have gone out of the window, and I am feeling very lethargic for it. 

How do you stop people buying sweet treats for gift or for your children???

Does anyone have any ideas? 

I feel mean just getting rid of it all, as the children are old enough to know who bought them it and how much they have left, so I cant even sneak it out!!!

My kids are very good at only having it when they are told, but it's me!!!! there is so much temptation around, it's driving me crazy!!

I can't wait to get back to eating our usual food ALL the time! 

Raw Milk arriving in a few days, so let the healing begin!!

And then it was all over......

How crazy we all get for just a few days a year!!

I hope and pray that your Christmas was a blessed one, but it always amazes me how much pressure we put ourselves under at this time of year!!

I'm thinking about this because I took our trimmings down today. 

For me, Christmas is done on my birthday, which is 27th, and since I don't want to do a lot on my birthday, they usually come down the day after. I was sick yesterday, so I have made the effort after church today to take them all down and get cleaned up in the house. 

As I look around my bare room now, it makes me think of all the fuss that goes into Christmas.

I'm not talking about being prepared, I'm talking of the stress over things being just so for the in-laws, or making sure we have enough this or just the right that! 

I like to spend Christmas just us in our home, after many of my younger years were spent working, but Boxing day is usually our time for visiting with family. This year, we were the guests at my mum's. We usually host her, but with DH work commitments, she invited us to her house, and we had a lovely time. I am very lucky to have a relaxed family, with no formalities or rigid traditions to govern me, and it was a relaxed, lovely time. 

On Christmas day itself, we spent time in the morning thanking Jesus for all the generosity we had been shown with all the gifts we had received and Christmas dinner was ready when it was ready!! 

We had a lovely quiet family day, and there was no stress, just the peace and joy of time spent together and with the Lord. 

As Christmas should be.

I am truly blessed. 

Consumerism gone mad??

Is it just me, or has Christmas just got more and more about "STUFF"???

As we approach this special day, every year seems to become a competition of who can spend the most amount of money on the most amount of stuff for the most amount of people and win!!

When did this happen???

I didn't grow up in a Christian house, so it was never really about Christ, unfortunately, when I was a kid, but we always spent time together, watching various films as a family, and just enjoying each other's company, with good food and a gratefulness for the things we did get!!

Now that I have grown up ( a little....), I want to instill some of the same things in my children; spending time with those you love and a gratefulness for what they have, but also an appreciation for the greatest gift mankind was every given.

A way back to God.

This holiday is not about Stuff. Jesus was given meaningful presents by the Magi, and a small, thoughtful present is the most we have done this year. Instead, our focus will be along the lines of the American Thanksgiving. We give thanks for our family around us, who have thoughtfully given us presents. We are thankful for the special treats and food we can put on our table, and the means to do so. We are thankful for a roof over our heads and heating and lighting. 

But most of all, on Christmas day, Santa falls by the wayside in the presence of the KING of kings and the Lord of lords, our most precious gift, Jesus Christ. 

So there is no mad rush on Christmas Eve in our house, there are no £££££ signs in our children's eyes as they stare at a mountain of useless "STUFF" that will be forgotten by suppertime. There will be fun and laughter, thanksgiving and prayer, and Jesus.

Amen.

Shop til you drop....off to sleep

So It's the Friday before Christmas. 

I'm not just stating the obvious, I'm letting that sink in!! 

Today is the final shop for us, the Food Shop!!!!!

How do we beat the crowds, I hear you ask. It's mayhem, why leave it so late, you say.

Well, my hubby has developed a secret weapon over the years...... nighttime shopping!!!

We go at 11pm when the store is so much quieter, and we can get all we want, in peace and quiet, without getting pushed or shoved or screamed at, and we can get it home and put away before the children are any wiser at the goodies coming into the house!!!

Now there are downsides to this:

• If you have little ones, it may be hard to get a babysitter at that time of night, if you cannot ask a family member.
• The store usually stocks up at night, so they may be out of a few of the things you want.
• You either have to stay up late, or get up REALLY early, and I struggle with both of those options, so a nap in the afternoon will ensure I stay awake for the lesser of the two evils, late night shopping.

We have decided on a pared down Christmas this year, on the food front. For years, we have gone mad at Christmas, boxes of sweets, gallons of fizzy drinks and alcohol, and tubes of crisps. Not so this year. we are spending our money on good fats (goose fat, butter,) Nuts and seeds, and meat. My Bone broth will make it into almost every meal, and so will our good fats, so that when we do occasionally indulge in sweet things, (like at nan's on boxing day) then our bodies are equipped to handle it from the goodness we have been getting the rest of the time!!

That's my plan, now this sweet tooth junkie just needs to stick to it.

I figure, if I don't buy it, I can't eat it........right??........

Christmas time, Mistletoe and wine.....

It's Almost CHRISTMAS!!

Anyone who knows me well, knows that Christmas is my MOST favorite time of the year!!

I just love the cozy nights, the twinkling lights, and the fact that we take the whole of December to do Christmas crafts and watch Christmas films (a hundred times each, much to DH's disapproval!)

So our Christmas craft list looks a little like this:

1. 3D Christmas trees
2. Christmas cards for our church
3. Night time chalk pictures, winter scenes
4. Silhouette Christmas theme pictures
5. baking ginger cake
6. baking Christmas shaped cookies, and of course the good old favorite,
7. paper plate snowmen!!!

Our 3D trees are beautiful, but the refuse to stand up for more than 30 seconds at a time, but our church Christmas cards were a HIT!!! Simple, (just some colored card with a stencil drawn on the front with our Christmas cookie cutters!!) but very effective when colored in with metallic pens and each of the kids' personal touches on!!

I love homemade cards and gifts, I just think it shows you are thinking of people in a personal way. It's extra special when it's your children who make them!!!

So we are having great fun with this Advent, how about you???

Fight the Christmas Blues

I don't know about you, but wintertime brings the germs, and everyone around you is coughing and spluttering, and every child has to be told 20 times to "PUT YOUR HAND OVER YOUR MOUTH!!!!!!!"

This year, after our real food/health conversion, I didn't want to plough us all with the over-the-counter cough and cold remedies, so I turned to my favorite blogs to see what others have used to combat the dreaded Flu season. 

I have managed, with my newly tuned taste buds, to acquire a taste for the good old favorite, Honey, Lemon and hot water, and this help immensely.

I also found, through quite a few blogs, but in particular this one, from Red and Honey, that there are certain essential oils that you can use, to diffuse, but especially to rub on the soles of your feet, that help with this season.

So that's what I did.

I used eucalyptus oil on my feet, and burned Peppermint and eucalyptus oil in my oil burner, and drank my lemony honey brew, and ate copious amounts of satsumas. (abundant at this time of year, of course) and my cold lasted a sum total of 3 days, start to finish!!!!

Very pleased with that, and was able to sing at the local carol concert on the Sunday!! (was getting sick on the Tuesday, and my throat is the first thing to go and the last to come back!!!) 

Very happy bunny!!!

The link above gives SOOO many great uses for essential oils, and they are not just for making the place smell nice!! 

Who knew!!!??