to my committed readers...

To all of those to who await my new posts, I greatly apologize. Many new changes have come about in my life within the last few months. I started working full time again. I have been quite busy with settling into our new home and community. Not to mention, I don't even know when I will have internet service in my home again. The internet is a very useful tool, but it's not a necessity right now. I haven't found the time to knit or do my favorite things other than just enjoy my new space with my family. On the other hand, I have been using the gym at work, and eating much better...sometimes frugal life and priorities make you do that :) Occasionally, I may get the chance to post on my lunch break at work. But not to worry, this is not the end of my blog. I will try to continue to post. I am still all about being frugal and learning new things, but I think a lot of that has switched over to Tim for now since I am away from home all week.

9 years of marriage

Nine years ago today, Tim and I stood in the middle of a pretty flower garden in the sweltering heat committing the rest of our lives together. We didn't even notice that if the pastor took one step back, he would have fallen into the water fountain. Thinking back through the last 9 years, we have been through a lot together. We have many more years to go, but it seems to get easier each year. Marriage really teaches you to humble yourself and become less self-centered. If we had never allowed God in our relationship, it never would have became so easy.

long journey

We have been on a long journey. I have often compared to myself to the Israelites wondering in the dessert for 40 years before making it into the promise land. I can't say that we are to that "promise land" yet, but we are going onto a bigger step. Three years ago we sold our house, and move in with Tim's parents. Our goal was to stay here a short time while searching for a smaller community to settle in. Many changes have gone through our lives in the last years that were definitely not easy, but for the good. Ruben came into our lives, and I had the opportunity to stay home for a little over a year. God has shown me how to slow down, be patient, build relationships with my children and submit to my husband. Many people think that submitting to your husband means doing everything on his command, but that's incorrect. Submitting to your husband means trusting his decisions and respecting his judgement.
Tim left his job 10 months ago in search for another in a smaller community. It may have not been the best idea, but it has really given our family an opportunity to build relationships, sit back and see what our true desires are and most importantly learning to submit to God. We have had many insults and nasty comments from others around us, since we have lodged in my in-law's house, but only we truly knew...and only tid-bit pieces at a time...what God was leading us to do. It wasn't always easy and there were many times we wanted to leave, but we also knew it wouldn't be wise without God's will. But if you really get down to it...only in America is it unacceptable to continue living with your parents in adulthood.
I have recently accepted a full time job back where I worked before Ruben was born. It was a very hard decision for me to make since God had just spend the last year preparing my heart to be a frugal homemaker. But since then, God has shown me that he is going to use me as his instrument while I am at work. I am so excited! And I am so excited for Tim because God is continuing to work in him while he is at home. Removing yourself from everyday work life and continued interaction with the world can really do a change in you. Since I stayed home for a while, I have more confidence in myself. Tim is learning to trust God and doesn't have the day to day peer pressure. Now I'm NOT saying to become a hermit. I am saying that sometimes it takes removing yourself from the world for a short period to see things from a different perspective. And sometimes God puts you in situations to make you trust Him to stay sane. Since going back to work, I have struggled with insecurities, but this time it's different. I have learned to be strong in prayer and to not let the devil overtake my mind.
This weekend we are finally moving to our own space...an RV in the driveway! Just kidding. We are moving to a smaller, local community. We are purchasing a home that we can pay off in a few years. It's funny, we traveled all over the state trying to figure out where to move, but we ended up just a short drive from where we are already living. But we did get to see a lot of beautiful places we never would have gone. We now have a different perspective on life. Screw the American Dream! We can survive with less space and items. We don't need shiny new cars or the big fancy house. Those things would just put us into debt. We have learned the value of our family, and how to survive without relying on worldly things. And most importantly, we are trusting in God, following His will and allowing him to work in our lives.

knitted butterfly wash cloth

I knitted this butterfly wash cloth for my mom for Mother's Day. My sister and I made a lasagna dinner for her, and Makayla even picked a cute "grandma" Mother's Day card out for her. BUT I forgot to give her the wash cloth. I found it in my knitting drawer a couple of days ago. I got the pattern from Wicket Stich. My mom recently bought herself butterfly decor for her bathroom so I though this would be a great surprise for her.

P.S. When I gave my sister her knitted lighthouse wash cloth for her birthday, my mom thought it was for her and attempted to take it home with her so, of course, I had to knit one for my mom. By the way, here is the pattern for the lighthouse wash cloth. I didn't post a picture because I used a mulit-color yarn which made it hard to see the design.

low-budget eating

I want to share the article "Feeding a Family for $300 a Month" through the Pioneer Thinking newsletter that I received through email. With the price of groceries and everything going up, this article gives great tips on shopping and feeding your family frugally. Many people are already familiar with this procedure, but it's still refreshing to read and just may give you a few more ideas.

james cash penney

James Cash Penney (a.k.a J.C. Penney) is the article of the month in our Electric Coop Extra. He is the founder of J.C. Penney department stores. He led his life as a devout Christian. His father, a Baptist minister, taught him to live by the Golden Rule...

"Do undo others as you would have do unto them..." (Matt 7:12)

His hometown is where I lived the first five years of my life - Hamilton, MO. Reflecting back, I can remember going to the J.C. Penney Museum adjacent to the library countless times. They moved his boyhood house into the center of town. I also remember going to the J.C. Penney department store downtown before it closed. I used to beg my mom for a penny so I could have a gumball out of the shiny red globe stand. I can still visualize the chairs in the back of the store where people would sit to have their feet measured, and someone would assist them in trying on shoes. They even sold fabric by the yard.

It's said that James C. Penney did not practice selling items to customers using credit, but ironically today J.C. Penney department stores have their own line of credit that they provide to their customers to which they make most of their money.

my first knitted pair of socks

My goal in learning how to knit has been to make socks. I finally took a step toward that goal. I intended for these to be mine, but they ended up as Makayla's. I looked for a pattern specifically for short socks, and came up with this One Skein Sockettes pattern which I found on the Knitting Pattern Central web site. While making the second sock, I realized that I did not knit the correct number of rows for the heel flap on the first one which is why they became Makayla's socks. This pattern was not written for a beginner, but with the help of the tutorials at KnittingHelp.com I at least accomplished a pair of wearable socks even though they don't look that nice.

human video

Mary sent the human video below to me. The youth at her church preformed it. By the end of the video, I was very moved by the message. It truely shows how God takes care of us.

...I can't get the video to embed into my post so you'll have to go here to see it.

God's will for change

I am weighed down with making a major decision in our family life. This is a change that I was not expecting to come so soon, and was quite unwilling to accept. Tim and I talked about it Sunday night as we ran to town to do some errands. I was feeling very heavy that I needed to pray about it so when we got home I went into my bedroom alone and prayed.

Did I pray that God would give me what I wanted? No. I prayed for God's will, and that he would close the door for this opportunity if it wasn't His will. While praying, God reminded me that my doubt for this change was not of Him, but from Satan. I felt that I could not make this change because I was inadequate or not up to par for it. Only Satan would put those thoughts in our head to keep us from accomplishing something God wanted. God would give a warning or simply close the door for the opportunity. God does not tear us down or make us feel unworthy.

The next day, I was listening to Charles Stanley on the radio. He was talking about people acting on their feelings rather than waiting on God. It was then that I realized that my reasons for not wanting to make this change was mostly selfish reasons.

missouri river

Makayla, my little photographer,

took a great landscape picture one day when her and Tim went exploring.

Tim is facinated with rivers and large bodies of water,

Makayla could play in water for hours,

And I...well...I find water useful.