Refiner's fire

He sat by the fire of seven-fold heat,
As He watched by the precious ore,
And closer He bent with a searching gaze
As He heated it more and more

He knew He had ore that could stand the test
And He wanted the finest gold
To mould as a crown for the King to wear,
Set with gems with a price untold.

So He laid our gold in the burning fire,
Tho we fain would have said Him, "Nay,"
And He watched as the dross that we had not seen
And it melted and passed away.

And the gold grew brighter and yet more bright,
But our eyes were so dim with tears,
We saw but the fire - not the Master's hand
And questioned with anxious fears

Yet our gold shone out with a richer glow,
As it mirrored a Form above,
That bent o'er the fire, tho' unseen by us,
With a look of ineffable love.

Can we think that it pleases His loving heart
To cause us a moment's pain?
Ah, no! but He saw through the present cross
The bliss of eternal gain.

So He waited there with watchful eye,
With a love that is strong and sure,
And His gold did not suffer a bit more heat
Than was needed to make it purest gold.

The poem above meant soo much to me after my mother's death.  It reminded me that while the struggle seems long, He does not ask us to bear one bit more than we must to make the finest gold.

A song that Steve Green sings has words that remind me of my desire.

"The Refiner's fire has now become my soul desire, purged and cleansed and purified, that the Lord be glorified."

Isn't that the final end we desire?  That the Lord would be glorified.   Isn't that what man was created for - to bring Him glory? 

I think at times I have to keep reminding myself of a couple things throught the storms that rage in my life.

• God is good. 
• He doesn't allow the fire to burn hotter or longer than necessary
• and it's all for His glory.

Remembering those things is difficult at times, but when I'm going through a difficult time of waiting or watching someone I love get sick, or losing someone to death, I keep these truths in my mind as a constant reminder that God is in control. 

When I feel like I'm drowning, and suffocating under all the pressure, I remind myself that He is right here with me and He is in control.

For His glory,
Steph

Day 37 - Laundry Room



Appropriate plaque for our family

Almost always laundry.  Once a week or so, I do get caught up.

Caught up means there isn't enough laundry in any one basket to justify a full load. There is ALWAYS laundry.

 A look at the shelves

I decided that since I go down to the laundry room at least four times a day, I should do a bit every time, instead of making a special trip.  So today the plan was to do as much as I could while the washer fills, just to give me a stopping place.  As I walked down, I looked at the shelf with the detergents and softener, and thought I would work on that one part of the shelf.

So I started the next load of wash, and put all the lego pieces, marbles, batteries, and other kid junk that probably came from pockets into a coffee can.  All the trash went into the trash bag from the bathroom downstairs.  That served as double duty as that trash DID need to go.  Then I wiped off the shelf and straightened the detergent, the pot that I used to use for making my detergent and the softener.  Done, and the washer isn't even half filled. 

I decided to head back upstairs and do more on a different time downstairs. 

I came back down to start another load, and decided I could handle the other two shelves.  One of the shelves has a cooler on it, so I didn't need to do anything there.  The shelf above the detergent is where we keep TP and paper towels for downstairs.  I got the cobwebs down and the shelf wiped off in record time, so I straightened the shelf with all the tools and parts for when the dryer gets moved downstairs.  I don't dare throw any of it away, for if I do it will certainly be the part that he desperately needs. 

So another room done and just a few minutes per load of laundry for that. 

Making the most of today,
Steph



Day 36 - Christmas stuff

Totes in the attic will need to be brought down to sort through. 

I went through the lights and stuff to make sure everything was in order and worked.  I found one set of lights that doesn't work.  I did make a list of things to pick up to prepare for when we get started with setting up Christmas stuff.  I need labels for presents and hooks to hang up the ornaments.

I plan to go through Christmas stuff when Christmas is over every year.  It's easier than doing it in the middle of the year when it wasn't out anyway.  Since Christmas is around the corner, it could have waited until then, and really seems (to me) to be unnecessary yet.  I mean why get all this stuff out twice?  But in order to have forty days, it works for me. :)  So use this day to catch up on something else, or put it in your pocket to do when you DO get out all this stuff, or do like I did and get it out anyway.  The kids had a blast and wanted to play Christmas music.   It also got me started on my shopping. 

Making the most of today,
Steph

Day 35 - Homeschool supplies and backpacks

See the drawers in the back there.  That's my school supplies. 

The backpacks for my "outside" school kids go here under their coats.

Stuff that doesn't belong in the backpacks

Such a great idea to go through homeschool supplies.
Now I know better what I have and I won't buy extras - maybe.

Making the most of today,

Steph

Day 34 - Garden shed

As you can see there is a lot of stuff in here.  Some of it I cannot take out, but I certainly can find 10 things to remove from this shed.

I mostly just pulled out the trash, as this is where we store it.  You can't really see all of it.  But it's off to the side.

The person taking the picture did a much better job than I.  I see that there is still a lot to be done.  But I am waiting for my husband to help me get the metal out of here that he wants to sell.  And I do need to find a place for the feed bucket right up front there.  It's holding the hose that's being stored for winter.

Making the most of today,
Steph

 

Titus 2 Tea - FLYLady - Week 2

Titus 2 Tea - FLYLady - Week 2

The place I found all this information was www.flylady.net .  Please go there to find more information on all these topics.

Discussion Topics

 

• Establish a morning routine

 

• • Make bed
• • Laundry 
• • Swish and Swipe
• • Timer – 15 min job and 15 min break
• • Mail

 The swish and swipe routine in picture.

The equipment

 Areas to work on:

The mirror

The sink

The toilet

The floor around the toilet and any other spots on the floor.

First, spray the mirror with window cleaner
then the all the other surfaces with a multi-purpose cleaner
and put shampoo or toilet cleaner in the toilet.

Change the trash bag
Leave some bags from your shopping in the bottom. 
It makes changing the trash easier and your trash can does not have to leave the room
Can you tell this might be a problem here?
Sometimes the trash can does not come back.

Choose your weapon wisely. 
The washcloth on top will wipe your mirror clean without much fuzz, if any
The washcloth on the bottom will leave all sorts of fuzz.
You don't have to use paper towel on the mirror, unless you want to.

 I find it easier to wipe the mirror with the washcloth, and then continue to use it on the sink, then the toilet, then the floor.  Then, it goes into the laundry basket

Last swish out the toilet, and let your helper flush.

Our children at the pre-school age, especially, love to help.  But they don't want to be sent off to do a chore.  They want to do it with you, most times.  And that, really, is the best way.  You can work alongside of them and help them.  It helps them learn how to do the chores and we can be consistent in teaching them how to do them.

Making the most of today,
Steph

Day 33 - Toy shed

Uggh!  This is a space that needs some work. 

There are a lot of us, but I don't think we need that many bikes. 
The boys pulled out all the stuff and sorted it into piles. 
My job was to put it back and decide what goes to the dump.
Almost nothing is salvageable for passing on to someone else. 

Nice, "clean", dirt floor.

The bikes where they belong.
On the to-do list: make a bike stand for all of these

The chairs and sleds.
I saved a few small trikes for the kids I babysit

I know it's still full-looking, but I put about three or four bikes in the back of the red van for taking to the dump.  There was also a bunch of trash that needed to be burned and balls that are flat, and other things to go to the dump as well.

Yeah, we are so close.  Tomorrow, the garden shed.  I'm putting all the stuff to go to the dump in the red van.  I can do that now.  We use our new van for hauling kids around, so the red van is available to store trash in, until I can get this finished and get it to the dump. 

Inevitably, when I've finished the trip to the dump, there will be more.  There's always more!!!!!!

Making the most of today,
Steph

Baking with the Little Chef

Tonight is our Titus 2 Tea study group.
So the Little Chef and I are whipping up something to go with our tea.

Our first ingredients and utensils

A sink full of water for dirty dishes.  Do 'em up right away!

Of course, our favorite recipe

"I am the "Witta Chef".  You're not the chef.  You don't stir, you just put stuff in."

Wow!  More flour?  I'm impressed.

This is hard as nails!

His favorite job

 

Ready to start baking

Yummy goodness!

Waiting. Is it about the journey or the end?

Waiting.

The process which seems like it will never end.

Especially when you don't know an end date.

What you do know is how long you've been waiting. You count the minutes, hours, and days, or if it comes to it, the months and the years.

11 months and 17 days

It's too long.  How much more can I bear, Lord?  I ask Him because I know He's in control. 

I rant and rave about how unfair it is that people can take so long to decide things and that I don't care what the outcome is, I just want to know.  Hmm, it doesn't sound like God is in control.

I want to plan and figure things out, but all I can see is dark right now.  I don't know what the plan is, and I need to know.  Really?  Do I really need to know? 

Because if I really needed to know, it would seem that the God who is in control would let me know.  So I must not need to know.  At least not yet.

Why isn't He telling me?  What am I doing wrong?  Doesn't He hear my cry?

One of my favorite things to say is:

It's not about the end, it's about the journey.

God isn't so much concerned with the end so much as the journey we are on.  Are we learning what He has for us?  I'm sure it's not always because of sin that we have to wait, but because He's teaching us something or even someone else something. 

For me this time, it's about patience - that process of enduring under stress.   Like gold in a refiner's fire.  The process is what makes the end beautiful. 

Job is a picture of someone who is righteous learning patience.  I'm sure there were days when he wanted his journey to be over.  He didn't have an end date. 

I want the end to come quickly.  I want to know the answer to the decision that is being made, so I can figure out how it all works.

He says to me, "My grace is sufficient for you.  I am not finished yet.  You need to continue on this journey a little while longer." 

I can't wait. I want to be gold now, but that's not how the process works.

Let me say with Job, "When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold." 

Walking the journey He has for me,
Steph

Day 32 - Nursery room

This room needs some straightening and organizing

First I need to assess the damage.  What needs to be done?  How do I "eat this elephant" that's been hanging over my head?  Again, because of urgency, I switched my plan around to get this room done as soon as possible.  Company coming this weekend makes this a must



Bed must be made.

Changing table is needed until Friday so this looks fine for now.

Ugh, toys everywhere.  We store them here and bring them to the living room for the babies or the pre-schoolers play in here with their "big kid" toys that aren't safe for the babies.

A bit at a time things got done today.  When I had a spare second I ran into the nursery and did a couple more things.  So we are ready for company.



Making the most of today for His glory,

Steph