Before the heat set in....

Yesterday the goal was to get the sweet potato slips in the ground before it got too hot to work in the yard...

We donned our work attire...

Yes, I also have matching pink Croc's and gardening gloves..Except hers are "John Deer" gloves and cost twice as much as mine because gardening gloves for 3yr olds are hard to find.

While I pulled a mountain of weeds, Sara harvested the red Onions...
and nagged me non-stop "I wanna play in poop...I wanna play in poop"

Translation: We need to empty the compost bins into the garden before we plant the slips..

The onions are a little on the small side but I needed to keep nagging McPita child busy and we need the garden space for the sweet potatoes, so up they came.

Though we did get the weeding, harvesting and one compost bin emptied, we still have one more bin to go, THEN I can finally plant the slips...Maybe today before it gets too hot??

Off the subject of gardening...I am still working HARD on my serving heart...Part of which is forcing myself to have more patience to serve Sara by training her...Following thru with punishments and enforcing the family code of conduct....Please continue to pray for me it is going to be a long day.

Blessings Kelsie

Sharing today for:
Tuesday Garden Party @ http://www.anoregoncottage.com/
Outdoor Wednesday @ http://www.asoutherndaydreamer.blogspot.com/

My Serving Heart

Today we had a special 140th year homecoming service at Pine Grove Baptist Church...Had the delightful pleasure of hearing/seeing The Pickerings perform live...A wonderfully talented family group of Gospel singers that is now in it's 3rd Generation having being started in 1944 by Grandpa and Grandma Pickering.

We also had a guest speaker Rev Rick Lawrence...His message was wonderful and left me convicted and inspired to face this week (and life) in a new way.

It followed closely behind me reading the blog entry "what-you-are-really-telling-your-kids" this morning, convicting me of my attitude...

My BAD attitude about doing things for my family...Feeling annoyed and put out at having to take care of them...even though this is my job...I have been getting resentful about doing it and therefore doing it poorly and grumbling rather loudly about having to do it at all.

AND THEN today I got a big slap in the face from this quote...

“Children learn early in the life that life is either a gift to be enjoyed or a burden to bear.”
~Dr. John Bowlby

Followed by a church service with a message tailored for me on how to work on fixing how I tackle the burden I bear and turn it into a joyful gift.

Worship - Walk - Witness

If I do these 3 things right, then the rest will fall into place and I can start by having a serving heart towards my family and to work at being a better Daughter of God, Wife of David and Mother of 2....Which is of course much easier typed than done...Pray for me.

Blessings Kelsie

The Purpose Driven Life

My church is currently doing a "40 Days of Purpose" program inspired by the book by Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life.

I am a little behind on my reading after lil Sara and myself being sick, but have already received so many little gems of knowledge and insight from the first 6 day chapters...I would encourage anyone, Christian or not to pick up a copy and give it a read...Read it with an open mind and heart..

On day three I read the following which really spoke to me on a personal level...

"Knowing your purpose simplifies your life. It defines what you do and what you don't do. Your purpose becomes the standard you use to evaluate which activities are essential and which aren't."...then it goes on to say "People who don't know their purpose try to do to much - and that causes stress, fatigue, and conflict."

This has totally been me lately...I am culling back and refocusing...I like the idea of a simplified life lead by God and his purpose for me.

So with that said, I am off to try and get my chapters caught up before tonight's study group...Hope you are all having a wonderfully blessed week.

Kelsie

Showing the love...

Today we had a guest speaker at church and got to see the amazing work he and his wife are doing as they plant a new church Montana..

But the main focus of his sermon today was love and the commitment we need to make to share and show our love to others..

He shared testimony from his own life about how this is not always easy and sometimes it down right hurts to open up and love.

BUT without love we labor for nothing.

1 Corinthians 13

¹ If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

It is also not enough to say "I love you" we need to invest and show with our actions that we LOVE..Now that part really spoke to me...

Often I forget to show my family how much I love them...and I don't mean show them with the everyday stuff, like cooking for them, picking up after them or running errands for them, because lets face it, for kids and husbands the small subtleties in life go unseen most of the time...So I need to SHOW them I love them in other ways...

Then a little voice asked me,

When was the last time you took an entire day just to talk with your teenager, took her out for coffee and just hung out...Piled the little one into the car and took her to the park "just because"...Stopped in the middle of what you are doing to say "Thank you Lord for today"

So I am going to work on showing the love, starting with my family...

Blessings Kelsie

Keeping with today's theme, the photo is of the lovely welcome gift basket I received from my new Church today...and yes, it makes me feel both welcome and loved.

Tea in the Parlor

I wanted to share a wonderful verse that jumped out at me last night...

It seems a perfect prayer to start a new year.

Psalms 51 v:10 -12
Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

I did not get time for tea again this week, just quick cups of instant coffee between Dr's visits for lil Sara...So instead I am sharing a doll diorama photo from my archives...This photo contains 3 Silkstone Barbie dolls enjoying a lovely afternoon tea in the parlor...

I hope to stop in and enjoy some of the lovely tea post out there in blog land this week, I hope you will visit some of our lovely hostess' below also.

Rose Chintz Cottage & Inspirations - Tea Time Tuesday

Lady Katherine Tea Parlor - Tea Time Tuesday

Wander Lee and Pam's - Tea Pot and Tea Things Tuesday

and party Co-hosts:

Martha's Favorites - Tea Cup Tuesday
&
Terri, Artful Afirmations - Tea Cup Tuesday

And lastly

Marty, A Stroll Thru Life - Table Top Tuesday

Could This Be Our New Church?

Today will be our second time at the Pine Grove Baptist Church, our first visit was lovely and I honestly felt like I had "come home" but would like to attend a few more services before making a decision to move...Lil Sara had a wonderful time in the nursery which was full of other toddlers and since she is in desperate need of socialization this is a very good thing.

I am excited to see what the regular preacher is like as on our previous visit he was away and his son gave the sermon which was very good and spoke to my heart, I am hoping today will be the same...I was also warmly received by the members and did see a few familiar faces since most of our immediate (5mile radius) neighbors attend Pine Grove...It is only a 5 minute drive from our house v's the 15 minutes to our other church...one of the many reasons for the change.

Yesterday was an exceptionally trying day with Lil Sara, whom got out of bed in a bad mood and was cranky and whinny all day...I am in desperate need of a spiritual lift this morning so today's service could be the deciding factor to if we have found a new home church.

I have also being "trying" to meditate on Psalms 91 during this rough spiritual season in my life though meditating on anything with a toddler demanding attention can be a challenge...For those of you praying for us, I thank you and ask you to continue to do so.

Blessings and Love
Kelsie