Winter Has Finally Arrived In All It's Glory

Snow has been lightly falling since Friday night. Saturday morning I looked out the window and prayed, "Lord, it would be so nice to have a good, lasting snowfall for a change instead of just skiffs here and there. Please?" Throughout the day I would look out the window and sigh when I saw the "insignificant" snow dust still falling; just enough to make the horizon look misty.

This morning we have drifts over two and a half feet high in our yard! It didn't seem possible on Friday, but the kids have been outside already this morning sledding on our hill, and just reveling in being in all the snow. I think someone said we got 10 inches in our area. It's beautiful!

The Lord has been showing me this past year that accomplishment is achieved through faithfulness in the smallest endeavors.

For instance, I do not enjoy cleaning bathrooms. I dread the task and I put it off until Josh gets upset about it, or company's coming. Both of which are usually simultaneous. Not fun. LOL So rather than getting overwhelmed by cleaning all three bathrooms in one day, I clean just the toilets in all three bathrooms, or even just the guest bathroom toilet one day; the next day I do the sink(s); the next day the mirror(s), and before I know it, my bathrooms stay clean pretty much all the time. And (Praise the Lord!) it's no longer an issue. My perfectionist nature has a tendency to get frustrated from not just completing the task so I don't have to think about it anymore, but somehow this is what works for me in spite of that. I can't have my cake and eat it, too. :) It just so doable this way.

I've learned to apply this to many different areas of my life. I am forever singing "Little by little, inch by inch, by the yard it's hard, by the inch, what a cinch. Never stare up the stairs, just step up the steps! Little by little, inch by inch. It's a cinch!" My downstairs has been clean for over a year because of the habits that I have established thanks to the Lord's help and Flylady. (Although I no longer receive her emails because they were just adding to my frustration. It contributed to my mental clutter, so per her training, out they went! :))

Last night I saw a license plate that said "Go & Do". I instantly thought that mine would say "Stay and Lay." :) I'm so tired of going all the time. I long to simplify my life. The more I can stay at home the better. In every respect.

Completely off the subject...last night Josh read Proverbs 20:19a to the kids before bed. "He that goeth about as a talebearer revealeth secrets." To illustrate the effects of gossip, we played "Gossip" with the kids. Josh whispered to me, "Jeffrey got two twinkies out of the kitchen at church. He ate one, and gave the other one to Alia." I whispered to Jordan, Jordan to Dillon, and Dillon to Alia, and Alia jumped up and said, "Jeffrey ate a teapot!" It was hilarious, and illustrated the verses about a talebearer perfectly. Jordan and Dillon were practically falling off their chairs they were laughing so hard, and Josh and I weren't much better off. Alia just sat there looking confused until we told her what was actually said. I don't think the lesson will be forgotten anytime soon. :D