In Honor of Presidents Day

Holiday Series
In Honor of Presidents Day
by Sandra Gilmore

"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." II Chronicles 7:14


Ever made history? Ever changed history? This week you can - -with your prayers. In honor of Presidents' Day, please pray for the direction of our country, and as you do, you will participate in one of the most critical times in our nation's history. This week's devotion series is a reflection of the times we are in. We've compiled a collection of prayers from former presidents throughout our nation's history. Some will surprise you. Some will touch you. Hopefully, all will motivate you to pray for this great nation!

And for our international friends, please take this opportunity to pray for your own political leaders. The world needs God's love and wisdom!

See if you recognize the following plea for prayer. Check back tomorrow to see who actually offered this plea for prayer for our nation's leaders.

Pray for the people in public office. . .I ask you to pray for us. . .Pray for the people in public office that we can rid ourselves of this toxic atmosphere of cynicism, and embrace with joy and gratitude this phenomenal opportunity and responsibility before us. Do not forget people in the rest of the world who depend upon the United States for more than exhortation, and most of all, remember that in every scripture of every faith, there are hundreds and hundreds of admonitions - - to not forget those among us who are poor. They are no longer entitled to a handout, but they surely deserve and we are ordered to give them a hand up.

copyright 2010

Declutter Tips to Start Your Simple Life

"Out of clutter find simplicity; From discord harmony; In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity." - Albert Einstein

I have shared a few pictures of my decluttered closets. I hope to share more as I work my way through our home decluttering and bringing order to my chaos. I work from home a lot and that can add to the chaos. I have learned that a decluttered home helps me maintain this simple life that I find great joy in. Some of my friends have asked, "How do I start?" I started by reading about order in my home, talking to one of my BFFs (Sandra) who is very organized, and searching sites about order in the home. Here are some of the best tips I have ever found and the site I found those at:

1. Clear Off a Counter: Ok, I hate cluttered kitchen counters! It is a pet peeve of mine, so start there. Clear them off, clean them, and see how much better you feel. It will inspire you to go further in the declutter process.

2. Load up the Car for Charity: Declutter your counters and your closets. Take the stuff to a charity right away so you won't be tempted to keep it! Run. . .go now!

3. Learn to Crave Clean: Once you have an area uncluttered. . keep it that way. Enjoy the way it looks so simple and clean. Learn to love that look!

Read more: http://zenhabits.net/18-five-minute-decluttering-tips-to-start-conquering-your-mess/

It's the journey that matters the most. . .

"It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters in the end." - Ursula K. LeGuin

I can't believe that it has been a little over a month since I sat down to blog. I did this by choice. Life gets busy and requires too much of us at times. I have found that I am the one who puts these demands on myself most of the time. I have been on this journey to a simpler life and instead of writing about it all of the time I just wanted to enjoy it for a while. It turns out that for my own health . . .just enjoying the journey is exactly what I need to be doing.

The women in my family live with quite a "curse". It is called diabetes. Several months ago I was diagnosed as being insulin resistant. That is just fancy talk for pre-diabetic. I was instructed then to take better care of myself. I did so at first and then my diligence began to slip a bit. Last week I had to return to the doctor because the symptoms were worse. I am now on medication to help keep my glucose levels steady and have been put on a stricter diet. I will also begin exercising on a more regular basis. These things are all needed so that I can enjoy my "simple" life.

We take the simple things in life for granted. When is the last time you took the time to savor an ice cream cone? Enjoy it. . .and consider yourself blessed that you can eat it without becoming sick. When is the last time you enjoyed the wonder of God's beautiful sunset? Take the time and consider yourself blessed that you are still here. . .with your family. . .and able to view it!

Look for me to share some inventive "diabetic" recipes to add to your own simple life:

The Wisdom of Noodles. . .

"We have but five loaves, and two fishes." (Matthew 14:17)

Our little high school sent another wonderful class out into the "real world" at the end of May. It is always such an exciting time for high school seniors. They experience their first real tastes of freedom at the same time that they swallow a big gulp of responsibility!

I stopped by the school on Monday and had the opportunity to chat with the wonderful mother of one of our best and brightest. Her daughter is headed to Troy University on scholarship (Yayyyy. . .Amy). Her daughter is excited and will be living alone for the first time ever. Mom is of course excited as well as a bit worried. We began to talk amount how college students can learn to survive on a very tight food budget. She told me that her daughter had it all figured out. She told me that her "little girl" planned to load up the car with mama's canned beans and tomatoes when she came for a visit. The conversation progressed as we shared our tips on eating cheap when she shared a nugget of wisdom from of all people her little girl. She said, "Do you know what she said? She said, ya know mom, I like noodles. I can eat a lot of noodles!" I smiled and agreed.

I have thought about the wisdom of this young woman in that little statement. Do you hear it? She is not fussing about what she doesn't have or can't afford. This young woman is wise enough to realize that sometimes loaves and fishes (noodles) are plenty! We forget to be thankful for the simple things that bring us joy and sustain us. Who doesn't love hot noodles sprinkled with Parmesan cheese?

So tonight in honor of this wise young woman (shhhhh. . it is Amy Bishop), I took simple noodles and made a feast. We had noodles topped with cherry tomatoes, cucumber, purple onion drizzled with Light Italian and sprinkled with Parmesan. It was simply abundant with flavor!

I have another favorite with noodles: Take hot noodles and toss with high quality sun dried tomato pesto and sprinkle with Parmesan. Your family will think you have taken an Italian cooking class and all you have done is spend less than $10 and boil a little water. Now that is simple abundance! P.S. Best of luck Amy!

This is a good one:

The Wilson's Lemonade Stand

"When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. I have several stands around here." -James Brady

Hahahaha. . I love that quote. On Facebook the other day someone posted, "If life gives you lemons and expects you to make lemonade. . . why doesn't life give you sugar and water too?" I have to agree!

Joking aside, lemonade is a simple "Joy of June" that you just cannot pass up. On this journey to simple abundance we have to learn over and over again to enjoy life's simple pleasures and lemonade in June is high on my list. It just simply tastes like summer to have a large, ice-cold glass of lemonade.

I want to share with you a little Simple Joy tip that we do in our house. . .we have a lemonade stand. We always have a large container of lemonade made ready for thirsty little boys, friends, and back-door neighbors. I usually prepare it when I see that we only have a serving or two left. Now, it has to be simple for it to fit my life and bring me joy so I use Crystal Light (Country Time is great, but my mom is diabetic and doesn't need the sugar). To add variety I sometimes cut up a couple of limes and mix in the lemonade or add 1/2 cup (thawed & mashed) frozen raspberries. . .yyyuuuuummmoooo! I keep small paper cups beside our "stand" so the boys can serve themselves. . .an added plus in my book.

So bring a little June Joy into your home and set up your own lemonade stand. . . .then simply enjoy!!!

I love this old fashioned lemonade dispenser. . .check it out!

My Sanctuary!

"If I were a psychiatrist, I think I would like to inspect my patients' bathrooms before investigating any other area of their lives." -Mark Hampton

I have a little "joke" about my bathroom. I refer to it as my sanctuary. I am a wife, a mother of three boys and two dogs, a writer, a full time college student, a substitute teacher, and a new Mark representative. . .the bathroom is the only place I can go to actually pray. Don't think "uuuggghhh". . .the Creator has seen you naked, so get over it!

It came to me recently that this was no joke at all. It was the real me screaming out to make my bathroom a joy to be in. Don't you find joy when you walk into your sanctuary every Sunday. . .I walk into mine every day. . .LOL!

Organizing the bathroom is tough. Here is the first thing you need to do: Throw away the old medicines that your kid was prescribed two years ago and don't act like it's not in there. . I know better! Throw away it all. Throw away that $14 lipstick that you bought but hate; you are not going to wear it. It is just cluttering up your space and robbing you of the joy you could be finding in your own at home sanctuary. Next, really look at what all you have in there. Why do you need 20 towels? Do you have 10 kids? Are you going to go a week without doing laundry? We often clutter our lives with too many things that we think are necessary. I have come to learn that most of us could throw 1/2 of the stuff we own and be just fine.

Clean it all out. Clean your bathroom from top to bottom, slap on a fresh coat of paint if it needs it, update the hardware, and fill it with the essentials that you just love. Look on my counter. That is my makeup bag full of the Mark face cleanser, moisturizer, mascara, and lipstick that I use. The silver tin holds my hair supplies. The vanity set is a treasure to me. It belonged to my mother-in-law and brings me joy each time I walk in my bathroom. On the back of the toilet is a scripture prayer book by Beth Moore. . yes, I really pray there!

Make your bathroom your personal sanctuary. Clear our the unessential so that the Essential can speak to you. Remember this: if an item in your bathroom is not bringing you joy then it is robbing you of joy!

This is the Beth Moore prayer book I mentioned: Praying God's Word Day by Day (click to follow link)

Confessions of this clothesaholic. . clean out the skeletons!

"When we are authentic, when we keep our spaces simple, simply beautiful living takes place." - Alexandra Stoddard

I have been on the road all day and I was wondering which part of my day to share with you, then I read an e-mail from a friend. She asked me about my household organizing and inquired as to what had inspired me to begin on this journey. So. . .here it is!

I am a clothesaholic. . .well shoes too. This is not a joke. This is not to be funny. I am very serious. When the recent recession hit God began to deal with me hard about my addiction. He brought to mind all the money I have wasted over the years on clutter that did nothing but fill up my house and clothes that never got worn. I usually went and purchased something else when I had something at home. . I was just so unorganized that I did not know where to look. I could go to my closet, but that was like finding a needle in a haystack. All the colors and seasons just ran together and I would seriously stand there and say, "I have nothing to wear." There was one point in my life when I shopped on average 2-3 days per week spending at least $150-$200 each time. Let's see 2 days multiplied by 52 weeks is 104. If I spent $150 each day for 104 days. . .correct me if I am wrong, but I get $15,600. I just threw up. .that is almost a year's college tuition!!!

I was not a good steward of the money God had entrusted me with. I am ashamed. Praise be to God that He opened my eyes and is helping me every day. Sooo. . .skeleton out. . .now what about your closets? She asked me how I started. . .I started with the closets. Today's post has a picture of Matthew & Nathan's closet so you can see that their closets have been streamlined too. Start by taking it all out and cleaning your closet. . add great smelling sachets! Throw away or give away everything that you have not worn in the past 12-18 months. . just do it. Try on the rest. . if it doesn't fit. . .it goes. OK, now inventory. . .do you need 8 pairs of jeans. .can you wear them all at once? Do you really need 5 different pairs of . . ok. . breathe. . .cute red pumps. .NO! If you are now mad at me and feel attacked. . that's because you are as guilty as I am. If you decide to take on this journey and simplify. . .just jump in and start with one closet. . .just one you can do it! Need help with getting more organized. . . follow this link. . .Eliminate Chaos: The 10-Step Process to Organize Your Home and Life