Learning How to Save Money, Parent with Grace, and Cook Southern Style

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November was a good month for reading!  Here are the books I read last month.

• The Money Saving Mom's Budget by Crystal Paine.  I'll post a review of this book soon, but suffice it to say that I read the entire book in two days!
• Southern Plate by Christy Jordan.  Yes, this is a cookbook you actually read!  It includes stories about many of the recipes and is one of the few cookbooks that I'd actually like to own.
• Grace-Based Parenting by Tim Kimmel.  Since I tend to err on the side of truth rather than grace, I found some helpful advice in this book.
• EntreLeadership by Dave Ramsey.  I'm certainly not a business owner, but I still enjoyed Dave's newest book.
• Sophie's Heart by Lori Wick.  A church friend loaned me this fiction book and it occupied me over the Thanksgiving holiday.

What have you been reading lately?

Links in this post are Amazon affiliate links.

Selfish

I am selfish.

Being a mom seems to reveal just how selfish I am.

I want the children to go to bed so that I can have some quiet time.  I want them to obey so that I can be spared the trouble of disciplining them.

I want them to sit quietly in church so that I can listen to the sermon and not be distracted by their behavior.  I want them to instinctively do the right thing so that I don't have to use my time to train them.  I want their tastes and interests to align with mine so that I don't have to stretch outside my comfort zone.

However, I need to want what's best for them, not necessarily for me.  It's not in me to overcome my selfishness, but it's in Him.  I am trying to ask daily for this help, to at least see progress in overcoming my addiction to my own desires.  This is a spiritual struggle and begins with surrender of myself to God so that He might help me put others' needs ahead of my own. 

Through His power, may I become more selfless each day.

Just What We Needed

Just as every child is different, so each birth story is unique.

Nine years ago, this day began at an early hour with a labor induction and ended late in the evening with a C-section.  At 9 pounds, 1 ounce, a precious baby girl entered our world and enlarged our hearts.

Like the tinsel on a Christmas tree, she adds sparkle to our lives.  In her hands, every empty box can be repurposed into something new, each scrap of paper has the potential to become a masterpiece. 

Her enthusiasm for life knows no bounds.  Her generosity puts me to shame, as does her willingness to reach out to anyone in need.

God builds our families, intertwining each personality, meshing our strengths and weaknesses that we might complement, improve, and encourage one another.  So this youngest daughter came with all the curiosity, joy, and sensitivity that we needed.  How rich we are because she's here.

Happy 9th birthday, "baby!"

Christmas Around the House

The weekend after Thanksgiving, our family goes to Lowes to choose a Christmas tree.  Our daughters love decorating the tree and, except for the lights, can almost do it by themselves.  They get so excited as we unearth ornaments that they made in past years and find a special spot on the tree for their favorites.

I'm not a fancy decorator by any means, but I try to spread a little Christmas throughout the house.

 

 

 

Is your home looking "Christmassy"?  If you've posted pictures on your blog and would like to leave a link in the comments, I'll be sure to visit.  I'd enjoy seeing how you decorate for Christmas!

It's Passing So Quickly

It's the way your eyes sparkle when you're about to reveal a special secret.

It's how grown-up and sophisticated your voice sounds when you and your sister pretend to be "fancy Southern belles."

It's your wide smile when you tell a joke and hurry to get to the punch line so we can laugh together.

It's the short distance I have to look down to see directly into your eyes.

All of these and so much more show who you are and who you're becoming.

Along with that comes the exciting fruit of maturity.  It appears when you willingly share your espresso ice cream with your sister or as you play along with her when she tries to trick you.  It's the diligence you show in doing your school work and the responsibility displayed when you complete your chores without a reminder.

While a birthday is just a day on the calendar, it reminds us of the swift passing of time, that the years we have living full-time in the same house are likely more behind us than ahead of us.

But when I slip in to check on you before I go to bed, and the moonlight slicing through the blinds lands softly on your cheek, I see the same sweet face that I first gazed upon eleven years ago - and the love that I feel spills from my heart and trickles down my face.

I love you, my dear daughter.  Happy eleventh birthday!