No Higher Calling...Love Being A Momma

Organizing and My Favorite Spice Brand

This morning I took about fifteen minutes to organize my spice/seasonings cabinet.  We live in an apartment, so space is limited, but I like to keep my seasonings and spices close by.  I didn't take a before photo, but I will notice the difference, because I won't have to stop a falling bottle every time I open my cabinet!  It took my garlic power landing in egg yolks for me to make this a priority today!

My favorite brand of spices is by Badia!  The prices are so much lower than most other brands and there are so many options.  It's easy to find them at WalMart, Publix, or other grocery stores.  You also cannot beat the quality!  

I love opening and closing my cabinets after I have organized.  You do that too, right?  :)

Happy Sabbath!

10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord)"

[Chorus]
Bless the Lord, O my soul
O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before
O my soul
I'll worship Your holy name

The sun comes up, it's a new day dawning
It's time to sing Your song again
Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me
Let me be singing when the evening comes

[Chorus]
Bless the Lord, O my soul
O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before
O my soul
I'll worship Your holy name

You're rich in love, and You're slow to anger
Your name is great, and Your heart is kind
For all Your goodness I will keep on singing
Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find

[Chorus]
Bless the Lord, O my soul
O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before
O my soul
I'll worship Your holy name

And on that day when my strength is failing
The end draws near and my time has come
Still my soul will sing Your praise unending
Ten thousand years and then forevermore

[Chorus x2]
Bless the Lord, O my soul
O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before
O my soul
I'll worship Your holy name

Jesus, I'll worship Your holy name
Lord, I'll worship Your holy name

Sing like never before
O my soul
I'll worship Your holy name
Jesus, I'll worship Your holy name
I'll worship Your holy name

Take Five

It doesn't take much these days to make any woman feel like life is just...busy.  We find ourselves running from place to place between work, errands, and taking children to various activities.  Or how about frantically trying to finish housework before our husbands get home and supper isn't even close to being finished.  In our busyness, we may find that we don't take time, or feel like we have the time, to tend to our child one-on-one.

There are days when I find myself like this and I have to remind myself to just take five.  Take five minutes, get on my son's level, and show him that in my busyness, he is still my boy and he is my delight. 

So I encourage you as a parent, stop and take five.  Sit down with them in your lap.  Pick them up and dance with them.  Lay on the floor with them and tickle them.  Instead of just giving them five minute warnings (ie five minutes until bedtime, meal time, bath time, etc.), truly give them five minutes of YOU even when you don't feel like you have the time...because you do!

Learning How to Like Oatmeal

If you would have told me three years ago that one day I would LOVE oatmeal, I would probably say that you don't know me well at all.  In fact, up until after my son was born, I hadn't eaten oatmeal since I was a little girl.  Even then, anytime my mom would fix it for us for breakfast, I would tear up my buttered toast and each bite I took had to be accompanied by a piece of toast. 

It's amazing though what you will do for your children.  I was struggling with lactation and kept reading over and over to eat oatmeal to help with my milk supply.  So reluctantly, I made my first bowl.  Y'all, I crammed everything in that bowl I could to get down the oatmeal.

Some ingredients I added to my oatmeal to make it tastier were:

Raisins
Sliced apples
Honey
Brown sugar
Cinnamon
and of course, two slices of toast on the side.

 Thankfully, over time I was able to go from nearly gagging, to eating oatmeal not just for lactation, but because I actually enjoy it.  In fact, I only add cinnamon and raisins now.  So, if you know the benefits of eating oatmeal, but can't stand the taste or texture, I promise that if I can eat it, anyone can!

Hand-Held Captive

I was sitting in Sunday School class this past Sunday, as my teacher's words spoke directly to my heart.  He said, "What has God been telling you to do, but you keep telling Him 'not now?'  It didn't take a thought for me to know EXACTLY what God has been telling me to do.

You see, I have fallen into the enslavement that so many do these days.  It's the overwhelming need to have a small electronic device attached to me at all times.  For most it is their phones.  To save money, we don't have smart phones, so for me it has been my IPod Touch.  It's very similar to an IPhone, but requires Wi-Fi to access the Internet, and while it can, it's primary purpose is not to make calls.  Actually, it's primary purpose is for music, but for me it was for social networking and e-mail.

While these things are not "bad" per se, for me it has become a hindrance.  I would find myself constantly picking it up, and browsing Instagram while doing housework.  Or I would check to see if I had just ONE more notification from someone who liked my Facebook status.   I always thought of myself as multitasking, but the truth is, I was time wasting.

So my resolution was to take a week off from my beloved IPod.  I sent texts to all my friends, stored my IPod in a drawer, and limited my time to FB Messenger and e-mail on the computer for business only.  There have been so many times when I have gone to reach for my IPod on my night stand first thing in the morning, or the last thing at night, to remember it's not there.  I feel like a smoker who just needs to have that cigarette in hand, even more than smoking it.

Perhaps this all sounds a little crazy, maybe a tad dramatic.  Or maybe it sounds all too familiar.  Do you find yourself enslaved to an object similar to IPod?  For months, I could hear the Holy Spirit convictions, but I just kept saying  "not now."  Last Sunday I finally said "I submit to you, Lord!"