I mentioned in this post that I was working to figure out what activities I needed to cut out of my life in order to stay sane remain healthy and be able to maintain my home and family the way I need to.

(And, NO I’m not thinking about giving up blogging!)

So here are some of the extremely profound thoughts I’ve had since I’ve spent a few more weeks praying about and giving thought to what is important for me to focus on and what God wants me to be doing with the time he’s given me.

And you know when I say extremely profound thoughts, I’m talking about the kind of profound thoughts like I’ve previously had about the banana.  Extremely profound thoughts.  Brace yourselves people.

Here we go…

Today, I must draw your attention to the apple tree.  Just a common, regular apple tree.  The kind that grows in many a back yard and makes…apples.  That’s what it does.  That’s what it’s job is.  To produce sweet, crisp, delicious apples.  Every year at almost the exact same time each year.

Most years, an apple tree will produce a pretty decent harvest of apples.

And some years, the apple tree will produce so many apples, that it seems that there’s more apples on it than leaves.  It will sometimes be so full of apples that some of the branches will break off and fall to the ground because of the heavy load of apples on it.  And we say to each other, “Wow…that apple tree sure had a good year!”

But that very next year, that very same apple tree may not produce even one apple.  Not one. 

Because guess what?  Apple trees need to rest.  They can not continue year after year after year to produce tons and tons of apples without occasionally just sitting out a year and letting the other apple trees produce the apples for the people. 

And after a year of rest, an apple tree can come back the following year and produce a great crop of sweet, crisp, delicious apples again.

That, my friends, is the way God designed…apple trees. 

So…for all of us “apple trees” out there who think we must do all and be all and look all and take all and show all and have all….all at the same time…we’re not really being a very healthy apple tree.

If you are at a season in your life that you have more time to do more and be more beyond your home and family responsibilities…then by all means…please be the apple tree that has a bumper crop.

But if you have a husband and/or children, or other family members that need you…then enjoy serving and loving and caring for and being with them.  Because that is enough.

And if your “apple tree” needs to take time off to rest…then please do rest.  You will be able to produce more apples later, after you have rested.

Because it is simply not up to you or me alone to make sure everyone always has enough apples to eat.  Sometimes, I can sit back and focus on other priorites and let other people produce the apples for a while.   And then when it’s my time again, I can let others rest while I produce apples. 

 And those, my friends, are my extremely profound thoughts about apple trees. 

And that, my extended family who live in other states, is why you no longer receive adorable handmade birthday cards from me anymore.  (And why you’re lucky to even receive a phone call…four to seven days after your birthday.) 

So while I still don’t have a complete understanding of what all I should be doing and what all I should be taking a rest from…I do know that absolutely my most important job and focus is my husband and our four boys and taking care of our home.  

I guess I’m ”pruning back my branches” so that I’ll be able to give more of the best of me to my family.  And God is helping me figure out which branches to prune. 

Okay, now I’m going to go eat an apple.  Which has nothing to do with my profound thoughts about the apple tree, except for the fact that thinking profound thoughts made me hungry.

Anybody else need to prune back a little?  And if so…what kinds of things can you prune back?
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Works for me Wednesday here.

I just finished having a most wonderful visit with a friend of mine who stopped by unannounced. 

She needed to drop something off for me, and she was ready to say a quick hello and then be on her way…but I’ve wanted more time with her lately, so I made the quick decision to invite her in to have lunch with us. 

Immediately after the words, “Come in and have lunch with us!” came out of my mouth…my head began to spin with all of the reasons I might not should have just hastily asked her into my home.  Things like:

*We were almost finished eating, and like usual, there wasn’t much food left!
*School had erupted all over our living room floor in the form of books and pencils and notebooks…and all of Malachi’s toys from the morning.
*I was in the process of making tomato sauce, and all of the dirty dishes from that…plus our breakfast and lunch dishes were ALL OVER the kitchen. 
*Dirty tomato sauce towels were hanging out in various places on the kitchen counters and floor.
*Fruit gnats were having a party in my bowl of tomato compost.  They invited the whole neighborhood of gnats to join them.  And…
*For Pete’s sake…what if my guest needs to use the restroom?  I’ve gone way too long without cleaning it (anything longer than two days without cleaning the bathroom when you have four little boys is too long).

It’s amazing what thoughts can go through your mind in the matter of 30 seconds isn’t it?

And yet, I resisted the huge urge I had to apologize for my messes.  We’d been working hard all day with school and tomato sauce.  I did not need to apologize for doing life. 

And my friend didn’t see messes.  She saw school.  She saw tomato sauce.  She saw lunch.  She saw our life. 

And so…in the next 30 seconds that it took for me to come to grips with that…I relaxed and forgot about the messes and sat down with my friend for lunch.  And for two hours we enjoyed one another and shared our lives. 

And that…is what true hospitality is all about.

More Kitchen Tip Tuesdays here.

Last weekend at our family reunion…two of my cousins and I were visiting and sharing about some of our recent struggles. 

We talked about how in the midst of our struggles….Satan is going to tell us lies.

Lies that he really wants us to believe.  Lies that make us doubt what we know to be truth.  Lies that cause us extreme pain.  Lies that break our hearts and challenge our faith.

Even though we know God’s truth…when we’ve been hurt or when tragedy occurs in our lives…the lies can cover up the truth and take over our minds and hearts.

Which is exactly what Satan wants.

And we usually don’t even recognize it.

So my cousins and I talked about how we need to ask God to expose the lies. 

And then we need to listen.

Just listen…so that our eyes can be opened to see and understand what the lies are.

Because when we know what the lies are…we can re-learn what the truth is.

What God’s truth is.

We are whole.  We are loved.  We are taken care of. 

God never fails us. 

God IS truth.

And the Truth will set us free. 
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More Works for me Wednesday here.

When we hear that our friends or family members have lost a loved one…we often don’t know what to do to help them.  Should we go visit…or leave them alone?  Should we take something to them?  If so, what should we take?

It’s hard to know what to do sometimes…but we all want to do something. 

Having experienced a loss in our family last week, I was reminded of some wonderful ways you can help someone who is grieving. 

First….just go be with them.  If you can’t decide whether or not you should “bother” the family…just know that the ministry of “being there” is a wonderful one.  Even if you don’t know what to say and how to act….just go.  The family needs to be surrounded by people who love them and care.  Stay for as short or as long of a time as you feel is right once you’re there. 

Next…should you take something?  If so, what should you take?

You don’t have to take anything.  Just offering a hug and encouragement is enough.  I can’t emphasize enough the importance of just being there.  But, if you’d like to take something to help the family…here are a few suggestions:

*Food*

The grieving may not have much of an appetite…but they do need to eat.  Take a nice bunch of fruit…some muffins…a jar of trail mix…yogurt…anything that is easy to eat. 

Take food that will freeze well.  If lots and lots of people bring food, yours could get wasted if it doesn’t freeze easily.  Sloppy joes, casseroles, breads or cookies freeze well and are great to have on hand. 

Take food that will make an easy breakfast for the family.  Cinnamon rolls, egg casseroles and quick breads are perfect because they are easy for the family to eat in the mornings…yet they also freeze well if they aren’t needed yet.

Drinks such as bottles of water or juice are very nice for the family to have on hand also. 

*Non-Food*

When my mom died a few years ago, someone showed up to the house with a big package of toilet paper.  I kind of cracked up….as I would never thought of that.  But, wow was I ever glad they had brought it!  With many, many people coming and going for several days…we went through a lot of toilet paper…and certainly none of us would have felt up for a Wal-mart run. 

Other non-food items that are helpful:  paper plates, napkins, paper towels…plastic containers, food labels and baggies for freezing leftovers…kleenexes (both boxes, and purse sized pouches).

Also, postage stamps and blank thank you cards are needed as the family will need to send many thank you notes out after the funeral.

*For Kids* 

Most likely there will be children who are also grieving, and/or hanging around a bunch of adults who are distracted and distraught.  Consider taking some fun snack foods that kids would consider a treat, cereal, granola bars, crackers, popcycles or juice boxes.  You might also take some inexpensive quiet items like new books, puzzles, coloring books, or even a new DVD for the kids to enjoy.

I hope these lists were helpful, but remember…you don’t have to take anything.  Just praying for the family and being there is enough. 

Please feel free to add to these lists as you leave a comment.  If you’ve ever been through the loss of a loved one, you know how helpful it is to be surrounded by those who care. 
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Check in with Tammy’s Recipes for more Kitchen Tip Tuesdays. 

It seems that time just stopped for a few days as we were out of town with family and dealing with the news of my cousin’s deaths.  I have no idea what day this is…and I’m not sure what’s for lunch.

While we were gone, two of the clocks in our house actually stopped.  Weird. 

And yet, time did not stop.  Life goes on…even when you’re in the midst of tragedy and grief and you feel like everything else needs to stop and wait for you to catch up.

So we’re back home now, and reality is setting back in.  

Because we left in such a rush on Saturday…there were a few things that normally we would have taken care of  before leaving for a trip that just didn’t get done. 

As a result, we came home to a stinky house.  :)  Somehow there was wet laundry that had gotten put into a pile in the bathroom…and we all know what wadded up wet laundry does in the course of five days.  And…the dishes in the sink had begun to grow fuzz…which of course added to the stinky house situation.  And…there’s just a lot of moisture in the air from all the rain and humidity…so everything just feels heavy and wet…and stinky.

So, today…I’m working to de-stink my house.  Several loads of laundry and a few open windows later…things are starting to smell better.  (Oh, and I handed my boys the toilet brush!)

The lawn looked like we’d moved away for good….with it’s 3,457,982 dandilions and only 12 blades of grass….all long enough to clog the mower.  Sheesh. 

But we also came home to this:

And it proved to me in a joyful way that indeed, life does go on.  And for those of us remaining on this earth, God will continue to bring about changes and death and new life. 

He is real.  He is unchanging.  He is steadfast.  And because of Him…life goes on.

It’s funny how great and how horrible you can feel at the very same time.

I’ve noticed that irony every time I go through something difficult.  At the same time you can be experiencing something so hard you think your heart is going to explode with sadness, you can experience a joy and comfort and love so intense you can hardly keep yourself from shouting out to God!

I love how God does this for his people.  How He offers the same level of comfort to match the level of dispair you are feeling. 

As we celebrated the lives of my cousins during their funeral yesterday, I was so struck by the mixture of pain and joy.  As a congregation, we sang several songs focused on heaven and God’s promises.  How amazing to be able to worship the God who feels our pain with us and is loving us through it during the time we are grieving and sad and angry and falling apart. 

As we sang “Blessed Be the Name of the Lord” together, I was struck by the power of the song:

Blessed be your name
In the land that is plentiful
Where the streams of abundance flow
Blessed be your name

Blessed be your name
When I’m found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed be your name

Every blessing you pour out,
I turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say…
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your glorious name

Blessed be your name
When the sun’s shining down on me
When the world’s all as it should be
Blessed be your name

Blessed be your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there’s pain in the offering
Blessed be your name

Every blessing you pour out,
I turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say…
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your glorious name

You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, Blessed be your name

Though we’ll all have times in our lives when we are walking through the desert and the darkness is closing in…we can praise God…because He is so good.  No matter what we are going through, God’s goodness is just so, so good.

Thank you all so much for your prayers, love and encouragement during this difficult time for my family.  The most wonderful part of this awful tragedy was how our family was all brought together.  It was an incredible blessing to be surrounded by so many of the people we love.

And although God chose to take Gary and Kim from us now..we bless His name.  He is so good.

Hope you’re enjoying these great articles about women!  It’s wonderful to have great women around us who challenge us to be better! 

I received this email from Anne.  Here’s what she wrote about a young mama named Jenny:

I would like to share with everyone a little something about a young mom I know. Jenny has three small children, and she, in my opinion, is one of the most humble, sweetest mamas I know. Like too many young ladies of our day and age, Jenny grew up with dysfunction that left her emotionally scarred. Rather than turn to the world for her answers, she turned to our Almighty Lord and Savior for guidance and healing. And God has been faithful to her.

What an inspiration she is to me, and countless others. She serves her husband and children selflessly every day, and God has blessed her for it. Whenever she struggles with insecurities that her past has left her with, and the worry of ‘breaking the cycle’ rears its ugly head, I will always point to her children and her wonderful marriage as testimony that she is, indeed, breaking the cycle.

Oh my! If you could see her babies! They are sweet, confident children without a care in the world. They are completely free to be children.

I guess the one word I would use to wrap this up is joy. They have a home full of the joy of the Lord, and I am truly blessed to have this family in my life.

Beautiful!

Be sure to stop back by tomorrow as we continue to celebrate women!

I’m so excited to share this first story with you! 

I was thrilled to receive this email last week from Faye in Nevada.

Faye had this to say about her daughter-in-law Charlene…who just happens to also be one of my very wonderful friends…

I would like to mention Charlene. I know she doesn’t think she’s a great mom, but I think she is. Of course, you have known her much longer than I have, so I think you would share my opinion. I realize I am prejudiced because I am her mother-in-law. But from the first time I met her, I was impressed.  She had adopted a baby boy after feeling (and being told) that she could not have children.  Samuel was so well behaved.  At such a young age, he was very polite, with his please, thank you, and your welcome.  Then when she became part of our family, what a blessing.  Then we all have been blessed with two more children.   And I think she is too hard on herself.   She is a Christian woman who has a husband, three children, and multiple businesses online.   AND she helps others with their online businesses.   She reads to the children and sings Bible songs to them; goes outside with them to play; comforts all of them when they get booboos; spends time with them when they are not having a good day, even though she may have multiple emails waiting for her attention.   So her house isn’t Better Homes and Garden, spit-polished clean!  So what!  Her husband and her children, (and her in-laws), love her dearly.  What more could one ask for?
 
Thanks for listening to my feelings about your friend.
 
Sincerely, Faye

Well…I just couldn’t help but start with that letter…

Faye, thank you for sharing these beautiful and oh-so-very-true words about Charlene!

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Everyone be sure to stop back by to read more!  And…get right to work writing your own!!  We want to hear more!

Here we go!!!!!!!!!!!!!

God made women wonderfully….so let’s spend the week celebrating!

1 Peter 3 describes the beauty of a woman…her INNER beauty… “the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.”

When you picture godly women that we read about in the Bible…don’t you picture them being beautiful!? 

Who knows what they really looked like…but I always picture Ruth and Esther and Mary…with a smile and with poise and with…beauty.

(And we’re talking the kind of beauty that shines through after gleaning grain in a field all day and riding on the back of a donkey while nine months pregnant.)

 I want to be beautiful like that.

And guess what?  God has made us all beautiful!  We are His creation.

Let that beauty shine through you…while you go about “gleaning grain in your field…”  You are of great worth in God’s sight.

Let’s celebrate womanhood!!!
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I’ll be posting the first of our “Celebrating Women” stories later today!!  Be sure to join us so that you can celebrate these women with us!!

Write a post of your own on your blog…and let us know about it so that we can read about a special woman you’d like to honor!

Or email me…and I’ll post your article here!

WOW!!

I am SO excited about the upcoming week as we feature all of the women in your life who are WONDERFUL!  (your mom, your mother-in-law, your friend, your sister, your daughter, your neighbor, your online friend, your second cousin twice removed…)

If you haven’t read about this celebration…please read about it here!

Then please…email me…telling me a bit about the women you want to honor!

I’ve already heard from some of you…and I have to say…as the emails keep rolling in…I keep getting more and more excited!!  It’s so great to hear about these wonderful ladies!

AND…can I just tell you a little about all of the fantastic PRIZES and GIFTS we have for these ladies!!

We’ve got gifts from Kristy over at Homemakers Cottage…and they are AWESOME!!!!

And, we’ve got gifts from Char at Digi Scrap Chat….and they are AWESOME!!!

And of course, there will be gifts from right here at Heavenly Homemakers too!!

Remember:  EVERY LADY MENTIONED receives a gift!! 

Don’t hold back!!  Tell me about as many women as you wish!  I am SO EXCITED to surprise these ladies!  Won’t they LOVE it when they come over and find us talking about how great they are!!  And when they hear that they are receiving awesome gifts!! 

Give this some thought…and then send me an email!  (laura @ heavenlyhomemakers.com) 

I’d appreciate hearing from you by Sunday…so that I can organize all the special features for next week!!  SO HURRY!!  (If I hear from you after Sunday…I’ll still feature the ladies you mention…it’ll just be easier for me if I hear from you over the weekend!)

Can’t wait to hear from you!