Company Girl Coffee 3.6.09

Welcome! I have to be honest with you and tell you I am still in my cozy bathrobe and a bit sleepy. But the coffee is warm and there is plenty. :) I was spoiled with last week's weather that almost reached the 50's, so this morning I am a bit chilled with it in the low 30's. It even snowed yesterday.

Have you been doing your laundry this week? I have! I'm so glad that Rachel Anne was so generous to let us rake in the points by doing something so monotonous! Laundry is by far one of my least favorite things to do. All the sorting and different types of loads. There's lights and darks and whites and gentles and hots and colds and warm/colds and hand wash and hang dry and oh, the ironing! (Which is non-existent for me if I can help it!)

I have to laugh when I think about a story from when my first baby was born. Laundry was so easy before we had children. Maybe once a week I gathered it up and spent a few hours on it. Then I got pregnant after 4 years of trying, and we found out we were having a girl. Well, the church we were working for had been praying for us so faithfully that they just had to throw me a shower to celebrate. I have never seen so many women gathered at one baby shower! It was actually a little overwhelming, but I was blessed that so many wanted to celebrate with me.

As I opened one gift after another what I found inside was mostly pink, pink, and more pink! I was definitely not going to have any problems with people asking me if my baby was a boy or a girl! :) When we got it all home to sort through it, (luckily we lived on church campus back then) my husband joked about how now when we did laundry, it was going to be a load of lights, a load of darks, and a load of PINKS!

Since then, my laundry has become a lot more diverse in color because I have 2 girls and three wonderfully messy boys. My firstborn still wears pink, but it's LR, my other daughter (4) that loves it the most. She's sitting here next to me, in her warm fuzzy footy pj's, pink from head to toe! :)

Ahhhhh, laundry! It's a labor of love!

Hope you all had a great week. I can't wait to meet with some of you for coffee, but for now, I'm off to get my kiddos ready for school.

~Melissa

The Weather Report

Date: March 5th, 2009
Time: 10:30am
Weather: 33 degrees and SNOW????

Hmm.... I guess we're not quite out of Winter yet!

My husband reminded me that it snowed in June last year. I had to look it up on the internet to believe him. (Sometimes I can be stubborn that way!) Oh well. At least I haven't put away the heavy coats, warm hats, and mittens yet! :)

What's your weather doing these days?

I found WHAT in my kitchen???

Well, it's Monday. Not only that, but the first Monday of the month, which is when I try to get a lot of my once a month tasks out of the way. What's on my once a month list, you ask? Let's see...

• Shine my kitchen sink
• Empty the vacuum cleaner
• Scrub my kitchen counter tops
• Thoroughly mop kitchen and dining room areas
• Clean out the entry way closet

You know, there are more things on my list that I'd like to say that I actually DO once a month, but then I'd just be fibbing! Those five things are the ones that I am pretty consistent about crossing off my list every month. As you can see, the tasks are mostly centered around my kitchen.

Today's Small Thing over at Home Sanctuary was to look at your kitchen through new eyes, or the eyes of a visitor. I like to think of my kitchen as pretty sanitary, since I spend most of my time there. I was shocked to notice a few things that I usually look past from day to day.

• Drawers/cupboards with food that has been splashed or spilled on them
• Appliances that are dusty or have food or drink splashed or spilled on them
• Gunk (there's no other word for it) in the crevices around my stove
• Crumbs in the corners of the counters
• A pile of papers at the edge of the counter (or worse, spread out all over the place!)

Just to name a few! It was a real eye opener for me. Now, I'm not saying that my kitchen or any other room in my house has to be sparkling clean, 24/7. That would be an impossible feat and I am all about manageable cleanliness. I just had to ask myself today "Where else in my home have I looked past some pretty obvious eye sores?"

It caused me to once again re-visit my master task list and do some brainstorming about how to keep a productive cleaning schedule going. It's a work in progress. I usually get this way every year about now. After all, Spring Cleaning is just around the corner. Why not start planning for it now? I'll let you know how things progress!

What kinds of things are a "must" around your home when it comes to cleanliness?

Siesta Scripture Memory Verse 3.1.09

It's time for another Siesta Scripture Memory Verse! Wow! Has God been scribing these verses on my heart. He has really been teaching me about trust these past couple of months, from one verse to the next. Last Sunday my efforts to grow in trusting Him brought me to a passage in Isaiah that I thought might be my next to memorize.

Isaiah 12:2
"Surely God is my salvation;
I will trust and not be afraid.
The LORD, the LORD is my strength and song;
He has become my salvation."

I have been meditating on this verse all week, along with my last memory verse. (Isaiah 26:3-4) After reading Beth Moore's post this morning, though, I believe that I am to join her in memorizing Hebrews 10:35-36. I think that God has a lesson to teach me in confidence. Last night as I was reading my daily passage in the Bible God put a devotion on my heart. (See previous post.) As I read Beth's memory verse this morning, it really rang my bell. It just drove home the point that I wrote about yesterday. Our confidence needs to rest in God.

Hebrews 10:35-36
"So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised."

I love how God works like that. If we listen with open hearts, He is faithful to speak to us through His Word, and other means. I am on my toes, listening, waiting with anticipation to receive what He wants to teach me next!

Blessings to you as you listen to His voice,
~Melissa

Grasshoppers and Giants

And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, "The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them." -Numbers 13:32-33

Have you ever felt like a grasshopper? I mean, have you ever felt like everyone around you was bigger and better than you? I suppose that's how the Israelites were feeling when they were sent to explore the land of Canaan. It was believed back then in their culture that the Nephilim were a race of giants that were created by presumably fallen angels and daughters of men. I have found no biblical evidence of this on my own, but still, I can imagine that the "giant-sized" men were rather intimidating to the Israelites.

There was one man who was bold enough to speak up and think differently though. His name was Caleb.

Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it." -Numbers 13:30

Caleb was a man who believed God would do exactly what He promised... give them the land! He was not intimidated by the "appearance" of the people currently living there. Instead, he was confident that with God on their side, they would prevail.

Oh to have that kind of confidence! I myself have walked into situations where I felt rather small. Or perhaps someone just said something to me or about me that made me feel that way. It's times like those that I wish I could have the positive outlook that our friend Caleb had.

The story goes on to say that none of the Israelites that tested God and grumbled and complained against Him would set foot in the promised land. They wandered in the desert for 40 years where their children served as shepherds, suffering for their parent's unfaithfulness. After 40 years, their children were finally allowed to enter in and enjoy the land that their parents rejected. Only Joshua and Caleb survived to inherit the promised land together with their children.

"But because my servant Caleb had a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it." -Numbers 14:24

How certain are you that God keep his promises, no matter how big the obstacles look, and how small you may feel? Are you willing to follow Him wholeheartedly, no matter what? I am! And I want to pass a generational blessing onto my children. I don't want them to suffer for my mistakes the way that the Israelite's children suffered.

Father, change my heart and give me a different spirit, like your servant Caleb. Create in me the kind of confidence that Joshua and Caleb had in You. I want to follow after You wholeheartedly, unafraid of the giants in my life.

In Your Mighty Name,
Amen

Company Girl Coffee 2.27

"A woman is like a teabag- only in hot water do you realize how strong she is." Nancy Reagan

Good morning! Or for some of you, good afternoon! Grab a cup of your favorite tea. I read this quote on my calendar this morning and had to share it. In fact, it is very appropriate for me this week, and this month in general. If you had come by for coffee yesterday, you would have found me tired, frustrated, and not up for company. But today I am singing a different tune! That's what a good night's sleep and a prayerful attitude can do for you. : )

I will spare you the details and instead, share one of my favorite moments this week. Last night after dinner I popped in my son's library video. I was desperate for the kids to settle down and be quiet. Are any of you familiar with the book "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day?" It's one of my favorites. Well, evidently, they made a movie of it! :) Not only that, but they put songs to it!

Picture me, cuddling with my five kiddos, watching this video. It was perfect. For 29 minutes we watched and laughed together as we chanted with Alexander "I'm having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day! I think I'll move to Australia." By the end of the video I was in a much better mood. I didn't even mind so much that I've come down with pink eye, my youngest has the flu, and Mt. Washmore is taking over again. Because some days are just like that...even in Australia.

This week I am trying to spend less time on the computer so I will make my list brief.

1. Rain. Bye, bye snow! Spring is just around the corner!


2. Coupons. I saved BIGTIME this week on groceries.


3. Sweaters. I'm wrapped up in one that's warm and cozy right now.


4. Our dog Max. He is both playful and cuddly.


5. Ken Griffy Jr. is a Mariner again. Yep. I'm thankful for this because it makes my DH happy!


6. Dimples! They're just so cute!


7. Chocolate...I can't get enough of the stuff!


8. My Company Girl tote bag. It came in the mail yesterday.


9. Nap time. It's when my house is quiet.


10. Hot tea. I've been drinking a lot of it since I got this cold.