HIS delite!

It is the third day of February today.  Yesterday I went to Aldi to spend part of the allotted $100 food budget money.  I spent about $47 and in that purchase were MANY avocados!  They were .29 cents!!  That is unbelievable.  Today I took my friend to the store (Dillons) and there I saw their advertised avocado price of $1 each.  WOW is all I can say!  No wonder I don't shop at Dillons anymore!  Although, while my friend did her shopping I looked around and came up with some bargains I could not pass up.  I bought some live lettuce on clearance for $1.  I also got some fresh corn on clearance for .99 cents and I splurged and got 10 boxes of Mother's Naturals boxed cereal for .99 cents each.  I really debated over the last purchase because all my readings AND Willy Wonka say boxed cereal is BAD and way too expensive but it is "Mother's Naturals" and it was only .99 cents a box and my boys LOVE cereal!! So far, for the month I have spent $67 and feel pretty set.  Yesterday I made homemade granola bars in my dehydrator, dried lots of cranberries and apples.  One of my lesser goals of this $100 budget is to get rid of all processed foods in our home and to eat almost all things made from scratch or raw. My boys are doing great with this transition and are eating better than ever!  We still have processed foods and probably always will but the majority of stuff is my goal. 
In the picture is a huge bag of basmati rice that my co-worker gave me.  It is about 10 pounds!  She had bought a big bag at Sam's and offered to give me the other half.  I went to go pick up the rice after I dropped off my friend at her house today.  While I was at my friends house I saw 2 green glass jars with tight sealing lids on them.  My friend is getting rid of almost all her stuff because she has to move....anyway I thought to myself I could use those jars ("You know my every thought when far away" Psalm 139:2)  but then thought I don't "need" anything & maybe she can sell them along with the other things.  Then my friend walked into the room, went straight to the jars and said, "could you use these jars?  I thought you could use them and might like them?"  I smiled and said, "you know I could use those jars!".  A great reminder to me that God delites in me!  He is involved in every detail down to the very container I store my rice in.   He delites to fill my "needs", He delites in ME!! Psalm 147:11 says, "The Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in HIS unfailing LOVE."  I choose to spell delight delite because the basmati rice bag is from the brand Nature's Delite and when I saw that I immediatly thought about how He is delited with me. He knows what I "need" or "want", "the Lord is my shepherd; I have everything I need" Psalm 23:1.  That always gives me great comfort, He knows!!  He has His eye on me...."I will advise you and watch over you" Psalm 32:8 and 1 Peter 5:7 "Let Him have all your worries and cares, for He is always thinking about you and watching everything that concerns you.", I  plan to buy peanut butter and oats next from Great Harvest as peanut butter is super duper expensive!
 I start work tomorrow at Cabela's.  A little nervous about being stuck in a retail store with the general public for 8 hours + straight but the thought of being surrounded by big,live, swimming fish and giant, dead, stuffed animals comforts me!! My plan is to keep working at Great Harvest as well.  That has been a huge blessing for me and the boys!! 
I didn't get to post this yesterday- ran out of time!  So now today is day 4 of the month and today was my first day at Cabela's.  We aren't in the store yet but train at another location. We get to go work there and see the inside for the first time next Saturday.  Can't wait as it is gonna be an AMAZING store!   I have to train all week for them at another location and work at the bakery some as well so things are gonna get crazy around here!  The good news is I get fire arms training:-)  FUN!!   More good news is that at the end of the day I commented to my group that I just wanted a sticker!  I love stickers and always have.  Then they gave us a special edition Cabebela's wichita opening team hat and a sticker!! FUN!! A man made the comment today that working at Cabela's is like working outside inside.  Good way of looking at it.  I am gonna get to hear adventure stories and help people enjoy and celebrate their lives in the great outdoors.  Again FUN!  People come to Cabela's to help them enjoy the best parts of life.  Everyone needs a good pair of hiking shoes or the perfect tent to sleep under the stars!  I am looking forward to taking the boys when we get to have a private shopping experience before it opens.  They are gonna think their momma works at the greatest place on earth!!  They already think I am great for making the world's best cinnamon rolls!

Need to make a retraction-  It is "mom's Best Natural's" not Mother's Natural's!  Naaman and I were just discussing the cereal as he was eating it.  Want to mention that it is made with real honey, brown sugar syrup, whole grain oat flour and no artificial preservatives.  Wonder what Willy Wonka would think of this brand?  I told Naaman it was onlt .99 cents a box and he asked how many I bought.  I said eight!!  Sweet Naaman's reply was, " I love you, Mom!".  So glad there is laughter,joy and LOVE in my house!!

1958

My friend and I drove this 1958 Ford pickup to Halstead, the biggest little city of Kansas and boy did it look little coming from the BIG city.  It was an adventure as it has no power steering but sure makes lots of noises.  So grateful to have an extra set of eyes with me as it only goes 50.  We went there to get my freezer from my old store, now Kaleo Cafe & Bakery.  Kaleo looks fabulous!  It looks like Loulu was never even there except for the little bits of pink paint here and there and a few stickers still on the wall. Almost as if I dreamed up that time in my life. But it was real... people recognized me so it must have been!
This week I have been discovering the joys of dehydration! "There truly is almost no limit to the value of dehydration." a quote from Independence days (a guide to sustainable food storage & preservation) book.  I have learned how to dehydrate uneaten scraps of food like carrots, corn and even meat from my boys' plates.  The idea is to dehydrate and put into a soup jar and reuse for soups and stews.  Love it!!  This week I dehydrated spinach leaves, uneaten pieces of apple and orange peels.  No I am not gonna put the orange peels or apple in my soup jar but I am gonna use them for baking and other things.  There is a recipe for dehydrator apple granola bars in this book that I plan on making.  This book also talks about buying in bulk especially oats, which is something I am working on.  Then I can make ALOT of granola bars.  This book is on loan from my baker friend.  He shared with me the idea of taking some wheat berries and sprouting them so we can have veggies in our diet when we are out of veggie money.  The month is coming to an end and I have to say it has been fun and educational!  I have learned lots of interesting food facts and ideas now to implement them into daily life.  Reminds me of James 1:25 "But if you keep looking steadily into God's perfect law-the law that sets you free-and if you do what it says and don't forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it."  DO and not forget. Just gotta make sure what I DO is based on TRUTH.
 I guess I get to go to the store on Wednesday....little overwhelmed thinking about it.  So I am preparing a list now:-) 
This week I have also been working on the second annual "Run for their Lives" race/walk fundraiser for House of Hope Wichita.  This year, as long as I get approved at the city council meeting Tuesday, it will be held at Andover Central Park again but this time on Saturday May 26th from 7 to 10:30.  I am feeling much more prepared to take this on this year and hope to increase our money raised from $8,000 to over $20,000!!  If any readers would like to support me in my attempt to lap the lake many, many times please let me know.  Participants of this race are encouraged to get sponsors for each lap completed with the goal being to run (or walk) for the lives of hurting teens! Next Saturday I start working at Cabela's so I am trying to get as much done now while I have the time.  Gotta get trained on proper hiking, fishing and hunting footwear so I can sell some shoes come March when they open!! His ways are definitely not my ways but I am standing on the fact that God has a plan and last night I got a glimpse of it.  If someone would have told me a year ago that I would be selling shoes at a non-existent Cabela's, making cinnamon rolls and leading a non-existent CR group I would have thought them crazy!!  But I trust He has a plan because He say so.."For I know the plans I have for you," Declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11.

tricycles & piggy tails!

Today I am closing a door from the past.  A door that has been ajar slightly for over two years now and it has cost me way to much!!  Today I get to close my credit card account for Loulu's in the Valley!  I will spare you all the details but closing this means I no longer have to pay fees and I finally get to close my business bank account!  Crossing this off my list brings me great relief.  Last night I went to bed mediating on Psalms 73:28 "But as for me, I get as close to Him as I can!  I have chosen Him and I will tell everyone about the wonderful ways He rescues me."  As I was on hold with the credit card company I was asking God to "rescue" me from this burden.  Contracts and business dealings get complicated quickly but He granted me favor by allowing me to close this account early and be done with it. So this is a huge praise for yet another way God rescued me! 

Loulu's in the Valley's, my shop in Halstead, logo was drawn by one of my favorite artists, Mary Lee.  It is of an old tricycle and a woman(me) pedaling it while wearing a knitted hat and flip flops.  Symbolism is something that my mind seems to automatically figure out.  I am a visual person and understand things better when I can put a picture to it.  The tricycle symbolizes childlike faith to me.  I used to see images of a little girl(me again) riding a tricycle through the valley and over the hills.  Tricycles are supported on both sides.  To me the little wheels represent your support system in life...friends, church,support groups, etc.  My mentor and friend has told me many times just to pedal and let God change the gears.  So I got to thinking, tricycles don't have gears.  Tricycles are actually pretty hard to ride for long distances and they are really hard to ride when your a grown up!! You can't switch into an easier gear to go up the hill or a harder gear when going down.  So if I am pedaling and "let" God change the gears then the ride gets easier.  But if I'm riding a tricycle then God can't change the gears because there are none.  I have been pedaling & pedaling & pedaling my tricycle the last 6 months in a desert not in a valley.  My piggy tails have not been blowing in the wind cause I haven't been going down any hills or mountains.  Deserts are flat which can be good cause I don't have to pedal up hill but they can also be sandy.  I've never ridden a bike in sand but I have walked in it and it can get hard to move forward fast.  Boy I could break this down into lots of different aspects of symbolism but I think I'll lose my point.  The point is bikes can be modified.  I know this for a fact because I own a mountain bike that I purchased in Colorado 1994.  It was used as a rental bike...it has been around the block and up some mountains, even more symbolism in that  My bike is not what it was in 1994.  It was black but now it is pink.  It didn't have shocks on it but now it does.  My bike used to have an uncomfortable seat now it is nice and cushioned.  My bike has been modified so I can ride longer distance and with greater ease.  All this said but my bike has a flat tire right now and is unridable!  I can do lots of things but I can never seem to fix flat tires!  So my tricycle is mental, symbolic.  It isn't real but imagined.  I can picture it with gears if I want to!  I can "let go and let God" change the gears on my tricycle but I must keep pedaling.
When I was pedaling my trike as Loulu it was different!  My wheels were spinning and I was going up and down hills and mountains.  One moment exhausted and another screaming with delight with my hands up in there giggling.  Lilylu pedaling produces a different image for me.  I am determined and I am not going up and down but I am pedaling through the sand and going straight!!!  No longer wearing flip flops but mud boots!  More will be revealed and I am excited to start sharing where God is leading me.  "Forget all that- it is nothing compared to what I'm going to do!  For I'm going to do a brand new thing.  See, I have already begun!  Don't you see it?  I will make a road through the wilderness of the world for my people to go home, and create rivers for them in the desert!" Isaiah 43:18  But not yet-back to today, now!

The date today is the 12th of the month!  I have spent my $100 on groceries for the month.  I am feeling the challenge and actually loving it!  My boys are in on this and think it is fun.  It is teaching them value and gratitude!  By the end of this month I should have my freezer from Loulu's plugged in and ready to stock.  Pumpkin bread and soups have been cooking in my kitchen.  My son is catching on and has started saving his trail mix bags from Aldi so I can refill them with my homemade trail mix. Reduce, reuse, recycle- a song they learned!  Earlier I grabbed a reference book off my bookshelf.  As I was browsing through it for an answer to a nagging question, I found a dollar bill.  I laughed out loud!!  I have found a five dollar bill in my garden, a one dollar bill in a book and a man at Aldi gave me a buggy so that's a free quarter!  God has given me $6.25 which I have decided will be used for any other future food purchases this month.  The thing that tickles me is that I get to share this with my children.  They will hear of how our Father in heaven provides, cares and loves us!  "How we thank you, Lord!  Your mighty miracles give proof that you care." Psalms 75:1 TLB.  I just got home from Nana's where I got 3 HUGE bags of free dog food for Levi and a free box of cuties(oranges) and a big can of pumpkin.  God not only sends money from heaven but He uses lots of people to bless me as well!!

Celia The Great!

I can't imagine my life without a few key characters!  God has blessed me with a few, select heart buddies!  Pulling out the Lord of the Rings symbolism, I have a Sam!!  Not everyone has a "Sam" in their life but it seems that everyone needs one.  Sam is a faithful & true friend.  He watches where you step when you are climbing to the top.  He speaks truth when no one else will or can.  Sam goes with you where ever and cries when he "can't go where I can't follow"!  Thinking of that scene and line in the movie makes me want to cry!! Not only do I have a Sam but I have a Legolas, Gandolf, Merry, Pippin and many others.  For the last few months I have been trying to identify more with other characters than with Frodo....but for now the Frodo analogy is helping make my point!  I am not a professional writer, professional anything really!  So grace is much needed and appreciated when reading my blog.  I misspell, (soo funny, I just spell checked and I mispelled misspell!2 s's not 1 I guess), I use incorrect grammar and have also been known to change subjects at anytime- sometimes I do that intentionally and with purpose to get the attention off of me and sometimes I do it because my head starts to spin and completing a thought or sentence seems almost impossible!!
OK here comes the point of the title- "Celia the Great".  Celia has been a constant, stable and Godly woman in my life for 17 years now.  In May of 1998 she gave me my first copy of "My Utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers.  When I first tried to read this book I thought very little of it.  To be honest, it went way over my head.  It ended on my book shelf and sat for years and years......8 to be exact!  It was in 2006, when the bottom was falling out in my life and I was desperately searching for wisdom, answers and help by searching my books (including my Bible) that I returned to my dusty bookshelf.  The bookshelf wasn't as dusty as you might imagine because by then I had moved 5 times but this book always made it into a box!! So today, January 4, 2012 I woke to read my now 4 morning books.  I underline and mark different parts each day of each year as I feel led.  I do this with my Bibles as well.  I highly recommend it because it is a great way to journal without journaling.  Sometimes when I am reading I will see how I marked a certain verse with a certain date and quickly my mind will reflect back to that time in my life and not only can I usually recall external things but internal as well. Here is an excerpt from today's reading...."There are times when you can't understand why you cannot do what you want to do.  When God brings a time of waiting, and appears to be unresponsive, don't fill it with busyness, just WAIT.  The time of waiting may come to teach you the meaning of sanctification- to be set apart from sin and made holy- or it may come after the process of sanctification has begun to teach you what service means.  Never run before God gives you His direction.  If you have the slightest doubt, then He is not guiding.  Whenever there is doubt- wait."  Someone asked me last week if I had heard from Cabella's.  I interviewed for a job there about a month ago as they are opening a new store here in spring.  No, I haven't heard from them and yes, I could call them and check in but I have doubt.  Is that where I should work?  Is that where I want to work?  Why aren't they and all the other jobs I applied for, calling me?  Why???  I don't know... I have doubt so I will wait.  That was my answer to the second question they asked.  "What is God saying to you?"  With all the wonders that verbal processing provides... I said "to wait!!!".  I'm not a waiter, but a doer!! Yet this is a season of waiting for me.  I now know that but 3 months ago that was not so obvious to me.  I was confused, hurt and sometimes even bitter that jobs, relationships, & LIFE were not working out at all! There were times when there was absolutly nothing to "do" but wait & pray.  Those two go hand and hand!
This is getting really long and I still have so much to process:-)  Another selfish reason I am blogging other than to process is for prayer.  I have some wonderfully faithful women of prayer in my life.  Women that I know have been consistently praying for me for years and years.  There is tremendous power in prayer and indeed the prayer of a righteous man(or woman) is powerful and effective, referring to James 5:16.  Women that I know are reading this and therefore have more insight into how to be praying for me and for my boys! I need all the prayer I can get!! So back to Celia... love her!  She is a prayer warrior!  She is my friend.  She is a gift from God.  She is a blessing.  She has influenced my life and walk with Jesus in unspeakable ways.  Celia the Great has provided a much needed place to rest and recharge in the beautiful mountains of Colorado!!  Celia has been an agent of change in my life by giving me this wonderful book.  Celia took the time to write in and date this book when she gave it to me, May 29,1998 saying "This book has meant alot to me through the years, bringing me ever closer to Jesus.  I hope it blesses you. Love, Celia"  I LOVE you Celia!!  Thank you for caring for me and the wellfare of my soul!  Thank you for being a faithful follower of Jesus!!!
Last week, a friend sent me an email and signed it, "trying not to be to insane"!  I LOVED that!  I thought I was the only one who signed off on letters (emails now a days) by some personal senitment of where I was spiritually or personally.  Like "in the valley" or "in the desert"- that's how I used to end emails but stopped doing that cause sometimes I, like he said, try not to be too insane!  But 2 Corinthians 5:13 reminds me that others may think I am crazy or insane but my purpose is to bring glory to God so sometimes what others think is of no importance!! Last week at CR, Celebrate Recovery, I led on the topic of sanity/insanity so I have been thinking and feeling much on this topic for weeks!  More on this subject some other time.... I am off to meet a new friend for lunch!!  Thanks for listening (reading) & praying, if you so choose!  I haven't spoken with anyone today except my boys and Jesus and life is really not LIFE without relationships, LOVE and community!!
I just remembered that I forgot to add the very insighful observation my 12 year old, whom my dr. just told me yesterday was statisically the tallest 12 year old boy (he is 5'8 now-I think grew 2 inches in 2 months)!  Evan "River" said we are all Frodo!  We are all the main character in our own lives but that doesn't mean we don't play a supporting role in the lives of others.  I have a "Sam" but that doesn't mean I can't be a Sam or Legolas in someone else's movie of a life!  That thought encouraged me to really think outside myself.  This life isn't all about me!!  And I don't really live in the shire but sometimes I can pretend!!

Verbal "blogger" processor!

I am a verbal processor!  At any given time, I have a million thoughts in my head.  My friend calls me a "sparkle brain".  I sometimes don't know what to do with all the thoughts and ideas but it helps when I say them outloud or write about them.  I am enjoying blogging and I am trying to remember that people are reading this.  That is a little weird.  The blog gives you stats of where people are that view this.  Obviously most are in Kansas and Seattle(hey Victoria!!) but someone in Germany read this- fun!!  Keeping in mind that who in the world knows who is reading this helps me not to get too personal!  My purpose in this is to share what He is doing in my life, process, encourage and most of all give glory to God!!

Today my verse is from 1 Thessalonians 4:11 "This should be your ambition: to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we commanded you before.  As a result, people who are not Christians will respect the way you live, and you will not need to depend on others to meet your financial needs." I am pretty strong willed and independent so not depending on others is appealing to me.  I have to watch that I don't become to independent and isolated.  I have a tendency to isolate and self protect but God has been challenging me to "plow up the hard ground of your hearts" Jeremiah 4:3.  My heart has been softening but for years it was hard as stone!! "And I will give you a new heart- I will give you new and right desires- and put a new spirit within you.  I will take out your stony hearts of sin and give you new hearts of love." Ezekiel 36:26.  One of my memory verses..... new hearts of love!  Love that!!
My dads birthday was New Years Eve- I gave him a bag of home grown cow peas- very similar to black eyed peas.  My parents eat black eyed peas every year on New Years Day.  I don't know why...I guess it is superstition.  It made me happy to give him something that I had grown, picked and shelled.  I love to give gifts that I have made with my hands!  I grew cow peas this last season instead of green beans.  I really didn't know what they were but the name had "cow" in it(love cows) and the picture was of a beautiful purple bean.  So when they were ready for harvest I picked and cooked them.  I cooked them like I would have green beans- sauteed in some butter then I served them.  They seemed kind of tough and not really like a string bean and not really good to eat! I guess I didn't realize they were PEAS, hence the name cow PEA.  They are to be shucked and the peas cooked not eaten whole!  Live and learn and LOVE!!!

Day 1

Sunday January 1, 2012.....the boys and I took a walk to the Dollar Store this afternoon and I got this wonderful vegetable organizer for only a dollar!  So I have begun my challenge and in the pocket for January I have put $60 dollars cash (didn't have a hundred).  Friday I got an email from Westar saying I had a positive balance and didn't need to pay my electric bill this month.  I thought, hmmm must have paid it twice!  But then they sent the paper statement Saturday and I have a credit for $375 because I have lived here for 2 years now and they are refunding my deposit! So I won't have to pay an electric bill for January & Febuary!  Sweet!!  After paying 400 and 500 dollar heating bills in Halstead, I learned a few things.  The thing I did as soon as Westar would let me, was I went on the average monthly payment so my $150 electric bill(I am all electric here) is a welcome change! God always provides in unexpected ways!
Anyway, I have a deer roast marinating for tomorrows soup!  I was rereading some of my Nourishing Traditions cookbook and in there she quoted someone else in that 1 carrot a day cuts your risk of lung cancer in half and eating 3 carrots a day lowers your cholesterol by 25%.  So there will be lots of carrots in tomorrow's dinner!! I love this book by Sally Fallon.  All about the benefits of eating raw and healthy foods and what sugar and processed foods does to children and adults alike.  Learned today that I can ask my fish butcher for free carcasses and heads to make delicious and healing fish soups and that adding deer feet and part of the antlers to make your broth is a great thing! I learn something every single day!  Grateful for that!!
Keep hearing something my pastor said weeks ago.... fighting IS winning!  Today was about change and control!  One thing he said that really struck a chord with me was that it should be easier to live in trust than in fear as we get older.  God has proven Himself faithful to me time and time again so why should I fear the future?  I have resolved to trust Him with my next week and life.  I don't know what next week will bring, I know I work Tuesday and Saturday I make the cinnamon rolls.  That's about all I know.  I don't know who will call me or won't.  I do know that a guy from work brought me a Four-season Harvest book and living off the land is not only possible but is practical.  I also know that it is my job and responsibilty to prepare and to learn and to PRAY constantly!  Reminds me of the Serenity Prayer and how I need the courage to change what I can (me) and accept and trust God with the rest!

Day1

Sent from my iPhone