Bible reading update- There's an app for that!

Okay, so I have started in on my second week of reading through the Bible in 40 days. The first week was kinda stressful, to tell you the truth. I was falling behind. Friday night I realized I have the Bible on CD, so I could listen in the car. Saturday morning I realized I could move those to my iPhone and listen even more. Later that day, my friend Becky told me about this great app with an audio Bible. (Lo, and behold, I had that app!)

So now I listen to the Bible, and if I can sit and read, I read along with the author on the iPad. Jeff asked me last night if I'm truly listening, and I said that yes, most of the time I am. There are times where I realize I have just zoned out and didn't "get" it, but I do that when I am reading anyway. Last night I was at the grocery store listening and the narrator said something that sparked my attention. I had to rewind a chapter and listen again. Yesterday something else stood out to me, so I paused the reading and grabbed my physical Bible to highlight the verse and write a note. I am getting so much more out of listening than I would be getting from reading right now, because sitting down to read is not always practical. Yesterday I got laundry done, lunch made, and the kitchen cleaned while listening to the Bible being read to me. Having a 13 and 12 year old is great for that because they can let me know if I'm needed, since I can't hear everything going on with earbuds in! Last night I actually "read" ahead by 6 chapters. It helps that I've read it all before, so much of this is familiar. When I get past Isaiah I wonder how it will go.

The kids have been great through it all. Spring has truly sprung here, and all they want to do is play outside. That's not all I let them do, but since summers are so miserable here, I think it's best to let them play while it's still nice out. I haven't let them in on the secret yet, but as of tomorrow, we are going down to just math and our literature so they can have more time to play. I was planning to teach through summer anyway, so we will do more work when it's hotter. In the car they haven't had problems with me listening to the Bible reading. (The phone plugs into the car radio.) But I don't do it the whole time.

In case you're slightly curious and aren't familiar with Eastertide (the time between the resurrection and Pentecost) here is my timeline:
Mon Apr 1 - Sat Apr 6 -- Genesis 1 - Numbers (Sunday rest)
Mon Apr 8 - Sat Apr 13 -- Deuteronomy - 2 Kings 5 (Sunday rest)
Mon Apr 15 - Sat Apr 20 -- 2 Kings 6 - Psalm 50 (Sunday rest)
Mon Apr 22 - Sat Apr 27 -- Psalm 51- Jeremiah 18 (Sunday rest)
Mon Apr 29 - Sat May 4 -- Jeremiah 19 - Malachi
Mon May 6 - Sat May 11 -- Matthew - 1 Corinthians
Mon May 13 - Wed May 15 -- 2 Corinthians - Revelation

That gives me 3 days at the end. I would like to finish on time, but maybe I'll need those days to finish, maybe not.

OH! and in case you're curious- the app is YouVersion Bible app.

Finally reading the whole thing!

I haven't really mentioned that I was doing this, I suppose, as a way of getting out of it if it proved too difficult for me. I'm still not convinced it's possible for me in the "season" I'm in. However, my heart has been hungry for the Word for so long and if I can read as many books as I do, what is my real excuse? I have started reading through the bible a couple of times. Beginning in Genesis I have gone as far as Isaiah. Starting in the New Testament I usually fizzle out in Romans or Galatians. Now, I think some of my problem is a lack of goal-setting. Sure, I want to read the whole Bible, but when will I finish it? Whenever. But that doesn't work for me. For someone who procrastinates, time unfolds into years with no progress. For someone who works well under pressure, then pressure must be good. (Sometimes, anyway.) And what better thing to pressure myself to do?

So here's the plan. Out in the open. Not to be judged if I don't make it, but maybe to make it a real goal for me. I am reading the Bible in 40 days. Insane? Yes. Unattainable? We'll see. Not very convenient at the end of a school year where I'm homeschooling 4 kids among other things. But I will try.

I heard about such craziness through our Deaconess at HopePointe. She follows this blog: http://margaretfeinberg.com/our-gift-to-you-free-reading-plan-for-the-40-day-bible-reading-challenge/#more-13905
Margaret followed this plan for Lent. During Lent I was reading through the Proverbs and thought maybe next Lent for the Bible. But somewhere along he line I felt like now is better. So during Eastertide, which is actually 50 days, I decided to take on this challenge. I rewrote the dates on a checklist for myself but kept the readings the same.

So far I have had difficulty at night finishing between 2-4 of the final chapters, so I start the morning catching up and then some. My regular reading time is bedtime, so I am adjusting to reading at other times. That is improving day by day. I am not getting to spend much time "soaking in the Word;" it's more like "breathing" it in. You'd be surprised what a fresh breath it is! There is even fresh breath to be had in Leviticus. (That's today.) So I must be on my way. I won't promise to blog about my progress, but maybe some Fb status updates. As of this moment I'm slightly surrounded by little people vying for my attention. And maybe a little breakfast. So I should go. :)

Vitamix

Jeff & I recently ordered the Forks Over Knives movie along with the companion book, cookbook, & Engine 2 Kitchen Rescue. If  you haven't seen this movie, I highly recommend it! So many of the recipes would be easier with a blender, or at least a food processor. I have a Kitchen Aid stand mixer, a toaster, and some knives. We have purchased 2 blenders and they have always just made me mad. :)  Both blenders are long gone, so Jeff suggested I go buy one. I thought another blender was a good idea, but he really wanted a good one... He wants homemade plant milks and nut butters. So we got the Vitamix! I didn't realize it functions not only as a blender, but as a food processor, ice cream maker, juicer, and it heats up soups- ready to serve! It also cleans itself...as if it is its own dishwasher! It came with an instructive dvd and a huge hard cover cookbook! It was pricey, but it takes the place of multiple appliances. (At least it does in my kitchen!)
So our first go with the Vitamix was a wonderful recipe on wholefoodmommies.com, a chocolate smoothie with spinach. This is the kids' FAVORITE! I promise you canNOT taste the spinach!! Today I made two more smoothies, berry for breakfast and mint chocolate chip (with spinach, of course) after lunch. Tonight's dinner was roasted veggie tomato sauce with noodles. YUM!!

Here's what I did:
1. Lay veggies on a roasting pan and put a bit of olive oil on them. (I added onions chopped by the Vitamix too!)
2. Roast these at 350 until the onions are done.
3. Place in Vitamix with oregano (I used YL oil), tomato paste, garlic, basil (from my garden), salt, and purée. This was hot from the blender and ready for the noodles.

Next time I might use less carrots, but it was really good! It also feels great to use food from the garden. (both basil & bell pepper came from there.) The little kids weren't so fond of it, but I'm sure I just need to find the right combo for them. This recipe was my variation on what I found in the Forks Over Knives cookbook and the Vitamix cookbook, based on what I had on hand.

I am not good at getting dinner on the table for the family, so I hope this will help. Dinner was super easy tonight, and I'm looking forward to many more!

Paper clutter solution!!

I have researched ways to solve my issues with paper clutter time and time again, each time coming up with very few solutions that work for me. The biggest problem with my paper clutter is that I have many "active" papers that I cannot complete for a time. I'm sure there are many out there like me who wear many hats. As for me this school year, I homeschool four at home, teach between 1-2 classes per week in a Classical co-op, am a unit leader twice per month in my daughter's AHG group, and also have responsibilities as a nursery pastor at the church. We have papers! I purge as much as I can, file less than I should, and stack, stack, stack. You (ok, I) cannot file active papers. My active papers include unread mail, periodicals, coupons, receipts (lots of returns at the finish of projects when not all supplies were needed and I will be reimbursed), stacks of non-consumable pages we use each week in co-op, and the books, supplies, and name tags for AHG. To organize these items, I found the perfect place!! I suppose it's a dresser, but to me, it's an "active paper file." (It's my new indispensable piece of furniture!)
Each drawer contains a different stack of papers. I even used a labeler to identify (discreetly) the papers that go in each drawer. This way, my entire family is privy to my system. ie: they can help. :)

Advent Conspiracy Promo Video

This is something we have been praying about this year. Seeing this video today is confirmation.

Jeff

Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I had to post more pictures than words to "talk" about Jeff, the love of my life... I've been thinking about how amazing he is and how much I appreciate who he is and how comforting he is to me and how caring he is to our family. But to do him justice, less words will mean more.

Kailyn's birthday dinner with Daddy

Korbin and Dad working on his derby car

keeps me laughing. this is so gross :)

Jeff with the kids at Sea World

Roses he grew and cut for me by my bedside table

Before...

After.

This project was conceived and completed in less than 6 hours. (I painted the next day)

This is my craft closet for our classroom/studio.

Before...

closet has a weird angled space...

After.

Now the weird space is useful!

This is our entry closet.

stole Kailyn's bike :)

6 a.m. on a Sunday morning

Koi pond

thoughts while tidying up

These were my thoughts a few months ago, posted to my FaceBook. If you have read them before, sorry for the repeat, but an update from this post is that that quick prayer had a lasting effect. I can say that I have continued to improve on my reaction to situations; and that is comforting.

Thoughts while tidying up

by Stephanie Sneed Sparks on Sunday, April 18, 2010 at 1:56pm

I really lost count of how many minutes I kept setting the timer for in order to clean my kitchen today. It needed every second of the time! Yesterday was filled with camping with our AHG troop, which was loads of fun, but quite tiring. (Especially when Daddy was working and Mommy was the one herding the flock!) Knowing that my house was in high disorder was really disheartening upon coming home from church. Lacey turned out to have a fever (101.3) and was sleeping on the couch as I panned from living room to kitchen and beyond with only mound after mound of "stuff" in front of me. "Stuff" is just a neat little word for all that it is. Stuff I need to do, stuff I'm thinking about, and stuff I'd rather be thinking about! So at that moment I realized the motivation I lacked could be found in my friend, my timer!
My first thought was, "I think I can get the breakfast nook straight in 5 minutes." Progress! "Hmm...this corner of the kitchen will probably be 10 minutes," and so on, until my sparkling kitchen smiles back at me. :) Lacey wakes up cheerful and lively, so now I can relax with another cup of coffee (bad! bad!) and have a bit of "me" time before getting to it on the living room and the study. (And the laundry. And the sheets. can't forget the sheets....) No timer here. Sounds like a flylady testimonial. :)
Anyway, I've been really talking to the kids lately (the past couple of months) about how your mood is your choice. This morning, after last night's hard crash after 12 hours of campfires, dirt and whining, the thought of waking up 4 kids who desperately needed to do more than just clean behind their ears was daunting. But a quick prayer and an hour later, we were walking out the door with mostly cheerful faces. There was a snag. There was that point where I could feel it happening... I considered not going. Maybe I should have stayed home, in hindsight, given Lacey's condition among returning home... but there was this point while getting ready that I knew one child had no clean underclothes, one child was dying because I was actually running a brush in their hair, and whatever else was happening, and I wanted to get mad. But I heard this voice in my head that my children hear my voice and later will associate God's voice in a similar way when the Holy Spirit begins to speak to them. I'm God's first impression. Lord knows I've made over my fair share of mistakes. Yikes. But I needed to "hear" that. I prayed for calm in my heart, and turned the brush over to Daddy and continued to do what was necessary to leave. Happily. I had to make the choice... and perhaps I wasn't truthful to the kids. I didn't do it on my own. The choice was mine, yes, but the ability came from God. :) Thank you, Lord for speaking to me and giving me ears to listen and a heart to follow. God has authored my journey and I am happy to follow Him where it leads.