Meditations for daily tasks

Posted on June 3, 2007 by Barbara Harper

I don’t know who compiled this list, but I enjoyed the meditations.

Sunday: The Lord’s Day
Acts 20:7 And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them.

Monday: Wash Day
Psalm 51:2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

Tuesday: Ironing Day
Ephesians 5:27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

Wednesday: Mending Day
Mark 2:21 No man also seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment: else the new piece that filled it up taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse.

Thursday: Cleaning Day
Ps 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

Friday: Shopping Day
Isaiah 55:1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

Saturday: Cooking Day
Luke 14:13-14 But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee.

Works-For-Me Wednesday: Messies Anonymous

Posted on May 30, 2007 by Barbara Harper

Some years ago I read and enjoyed The Messies Manual by Sandra Felton. I don’t remember how I first learned she had a web site called Messies Anonymous and sent out a daily list of e-mail tips, but I signed up for them. Each e-mail contains a message for the day — one thought or perspective or thing to put into practice — a word of encouragement, a quote (like “Not everything you face can be changed, but everything you change must first be faced” and “Clutter is the result of postponed decisions”), and family reminders (“In our family, we put what we need the next day by the front door the
night before” and “In our family, we don’t drop our things when we come in the door. We take them and put them where they belong.”) There is also a segment called “In the trenches” with a note from someone from one of Yahoos “Messies” groups about something they learned or tried. At least, these things were in the e-mails that I received when I was subscribed to the list.

The e-mails are repetitive by design — sometimes it takes hearing things over and over before they become a part of our thinking. I would copy and paste the things that particularly spoke to me in different sections (one for quotes, one for family sayings, one for tips, etc.). When it got to the point that the daily e-mails were familiar to me, I unsubscribed, but I did glean a host of helpful tips during my time on there. I highly recommend it.

For more tips, head over to Shannon’s place at Rocks In My Dryer.

Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt: Cooked/Cooking

Posted on May 19, 2007 by Barbara Harper

Theme: Cooked/Cooking | Become a Photo Hunter | View Blogroll

This is Jim, Master Griller. 🙂 You can see part of Suzie, the dog, to the left waiting for her portion.

Jeremy and Jason several years ago helping to make Christmas cookies:

And Jesse, making a “rainbow cake” for a contest. Our church has “family camp” on Wednesday nights during the summer, with a fellowship afterward with different types of foods each week. On certain nights, like cake or pie nights, there is a contest for different age levels, and this was Jesse’s entry for the kids’ division. If I remember, you just make a regular yellow cake mix, then divide it into 3 parts and put different food coloring into each bowl; then pour each bowl into a bundt pan, and as it rises and bakes it looks like a rainbow. I am not sure why Jesse’s expression is such as it is. Maybe he is protecting his creation from predators before the contest. 🙂

And with my hands in the middle picture and me in the background in the picture above, there you have the whole family cooking.

Works-For-Me Wednesday: “Thy list be done”

Posted on May 9, 2007 by Barbara Harper

The following is from A Lamp For My Feet by Elisabeth Elliot:

I am a list-maker. Every day I make a list of what I must do. I have an engagement calendar and an engagement book. I have a grocery list on the wall beside the refrigerator, last year’s Christmas list in this year’s engagement book (so I won’t duplicate gifts), a master list for packing my suitcase (so I won’t forget anything), a prayer list (a daily one and a special one for each day of the week), and several others.

Recently a wholly unexpected minor operation badly interrupted my list of things to be done that week. But because God is my sovereign Lord, I was not worried. He manages perfectly, day and night, year in and year out, the movements of the stars, the wheeling of the planets, the staggering coordination of events that goes on on the molecular level in order to hold things together. There is no doubt that he can manage the timing of my days and weeks. So I can pray in confidence, Thy list, not mine, be done.

When I first thought of posting this today, I hadn’t intended it for a WFMW post. But it is one of the best tips or reminders for me. I can get very frustrated when my list, my carefully thought-out and even prayed-over plans and goals, are thwarted, and that can lead to anger at the people or circumstances that hindered them. I have to remember that everything I have is the Lord’s, including my time and my schedule. He either directly intervenes or allows for those speed bumps or road blocks along the way. When I remember that, I can handle them with grace and seek His will and wisdom about what He wants the next step to be and what really needs to get done.

See Rocks In My Dryer for more WFMW tips.

Heart collection

Posted on April 27, 2007 by Barbara Harper

Kelli from There’s no place like home has begun a “Show and Tell Friday.” She says, “Do you have a something special to share with us? It could be a trinket from grade school, a piece of jewelry, a new antique find, an old love letter. Use your imagination and dig through those old boxes in your closet if you have to! Feel free to share pictures and if there’s a story behind your special something, that’s even better!

If you would like to join in, all you have to do is post your “Show and Tell” on your blog, copy the post link, come over here and add it to Mr. Linky.”

I thought it was a lovely idea! I decided to show my collection of heart-shaped things — I hope it is ok to show a collection rather than just one thing. This is something I have been wanting to do for a long time. These have been collected over the years: some were gifts, some were souvenirs, some were just found treasures.

I have a few shelves with pegs like this for heart-shaped ornaments to hang from. The one on the right is a souvenir from Charleston, SC.

Various heart-shaped things or things with hearts on them collected through the years, many of these from craft shows. The hanging ornament on the left is a souvenir from Charleston, SC.

The little wooden houses have hearts on them. I love the house shaped potholder with the heart in it — couldn’t use it for it’s designated purpose because it was too pretty for that! That design reminds me of Psalm 101:2b: “I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.” That’s a very convicting verse, but so needed.

A button wreath I made.

A little heart-shaped vase, but it looks lovely without flowers.

Heart-shaped shelves from Home Interiors ages ago.

Little shabby chic planter from ebay.

Heart-shaped jewelry.

Heart-shaped serving platter.

Heart-shaped muffin pans.

A sample from the muffin pans. 🙂

Heart-shaped bowls in the Tea Rose pattern from Pfaltzgraf.

Little pillow from clearance section at the Hallmark store.

Visit Kelli’s for more “Show and Tell” and to share your treasures.

An Interview and a Book Give-away

Posted on April 26, 2007 by Barbara Harper

On Wednesday, May 2 I will be hosting an interview with Lynn Bowen Walker, author of Queen of the Castle: 52 Weeks of Encouragement for the Uninspired, Domestically Challenged or Just Plain Tired Homemaker AND I will be giving away a copy of her book to a commenter on that particular post that day. You do not have to have a blog to enter — just comment on that post. I will draw names from among all the commenters on Thursday morning.

I had one friend who is a “super-homemaker” think this book was not for her since she didn’t feel uninspired or domestically challenged. Well, I think there are plenty of tips, thoughts, great quotes, and ideas that even super-homemakers would benefit from the book. 🙂

Hope to see you Wednesday!

Works-For-Me Wednesday: Redeeming the time

Posted on April 25, 2007 by Barbara Harper

Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of. — Benjamin Franklin

Learning not to squander time is an ongoing precess for me, but here are a few things I have found that help.

Use “waiting time.” Keep a book on hand, or verses on cards to memorize, or note cards to jot messages in or a craft project to work on when you are in a doctor’s waiting room or waiting to pick up a child from an activity. Or use the time for things you’ve been needing to think about (what to get someone for their birthday, how you want to redecorate a room, etc.). Or witness to others. Or just relax and enjoy a little down time.

Group errands together when possible, such as doing everything you need to do in a certain area of town in the same afternoon.

When possible, work with your “peak” times. Save tasks that need energy and creativity for those times when you feel awake, energetic, and creative. When you are not feeling as alert mentally, do those mindless but necessary tasks.

Don’t feel guilty about taking a nap or a rest when needed. You’ll be more efficient and less stressed with adequate rest.

Use those “mindless tasks” like cleaning the kitchen, dusting, or ironing to listen to good music, memorize verses, listen to an audiobook, or listen to a sermon. Many churches now record sermons and there are many places online to download them: SermonAudio.com is one (I’m not suggesting this replace church, but sometimes I benefit from listening through a message again, and sometimes I enjoy hearing from other speakers on certain topics).

Multi-task when you can, but don’t fret if it doesn’t work for you. There are some things I can multi-task, but certain tasks or times everything falls apart if I try it. It’s better to do one thing well than several things poorly.

Special note: One week from today, May 2, I will be hosting an interview with Lynn Bowen Walker, author of Queen of the Castle: 52 Weeks of Encouragement for the Uninspired, Domestically Challenged or Just Plain Tired Homemaker AND I will be giving away a copy of her book to a commenter on that particular post. So I hope you’ll come back and visit next week! 🙂

See our WFMW hostess, Shannon, at Rocks In My Dryer for a round-up of great tips.

Dinner by any other name still tastes good :-)

Posted on April 23, 2007 by Barbara Harper

I made Mrs. Wilt’s Quick and Easy Pizza Rolls seen at The Sparrow’s Nest for dinner tonight, and they were a great hit. Quick, easy, and delicious — can’t beat that combination. I used provolone instead of mozzarella because that’s what I had on hand, but we’d had pepperoni and provolone together in another dish and knew we liked it, so it was all good.

My husband came in from work late, after the kids and I had eaten, and I told him I had made something I had seen on someone’s blog.

He said, “Blog food?”

Hmmm. That makes it sound not quite as appetizing. But he liked it, too, and we had a good laugh over “blog food.” I’ve found a lot of great blog food out there — keep it coming!

Works For Me Wednesday: Shower Curtain Repair

Posted on April 10, 2007 by Barbara Harper

When your shower curtain develops a little tear like this:

You can take a few inches of clear plastic packaging tape, put the first few inches over the tear on one side like this:

Then fold the tape over to the other side and smooth out. Use a hole punch to make a hole for the shower curtain holder-upper, insert said holder-upper, and — voila!

Almost good as new.

See Rocks In My Dryer for more tips or to share yours.

One of life’s little pleasures….

Posted on April 3, 2007 by Barbara Harper

…..is a crossed-off to-do list:

“The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul…” (Proverbs 13:19a). I had originally desired to accomplish those things by last Saturday, and got all but one of them crossed off. But I just couldn’t get the remaining one taken care of til this morning.

It’s funny how things that have been needing attention for ~~weeks~~ months get taken care of with ease once they are on a list. I had been needing to sew a couple of buttons on clothes here and there and remove a patch from Jesse’s old Awana shirt before giving it away for ages. It only took me a few minutes to take care of that — I just kept forgetting about it.

Of course, I need to make another whole list for this week. But it’s nice to savour that moment of getting things done.

I don’t know why it always seems to happen this way, but so often when we schedule one event when the calendar looks clear, as the time approaches then the calendar seems to fill up. We signed up to host a teen fellowship after church April 15. We had never had one since living in this house because, though the house itself is not small overall, the individual rooms where you’d have company are. We had a family of five over once and ended up with people sitting on the floor. So having a big group over just wasn’t something we felt we could handle. But this year they are splitting up some of the teen fellowships into smaller groups — jr. high and sr. high or guys or girls or one team or the other. So we’re having the junior high over that night.

Then the seniors at our school sponsor a “Spring Fling” on a Friday and a yard sale on a Saturday as a fund-raiser for their senior trip. I’ve known for a long time that I wanted to participate in this year’s yard sale — and found out a couple of weeks ago that it is Saturday the 14th, the Saturday before the fellowship. Aaauugh!!

One problem with going through things in the attic and shed that we know we want to get rid of is that the prime times for doing that, when there is not much else going on, are summer and winter after Christmas. But that’s when those areas are the hottest and coldest. Spring and fall, when it would be easier to get into those places, are busy times on our calendar.

I think what I have resolved to do is spend this week sorting through things for the yard sale as much as I can, reminding myself it’s not likely I’ll get through the whole attic and shed — will just have to have another yard sale later on, maybe, or take the remainder to Salvation Army when we can. Then next week I’ll be getting ready (read: more than basic cleaning — you know how it is when company is coming) for the fellowship. Because I know if I clean the burner pans on the stove today, I’ll have a major boil-over between now and the fellowship and will have to do it again. 🙂

Jesse is on Easter break this week and was going to sort through some things in his room as well as have a friend over one night. Sunday evening he said he had a sore throat and a few sniffles, but we thought it was just allergies. He even had a friend over yesterday with plans to spend the night, but felt progressively worse during the day, then started running a fever, so I guess he has a full-blown cold or flu. We sent his friend home to hopefully come back later in the week. Then last night Jesse asked for the “throw-up pan” because he felt sick — and lost his lunch. I don’t know if there is a stomach bug, too, or is just the gunk in his throat is setting off his gag reflex. Jeremy used to have problems with that when he was younger, too. We were doing cold medicine and acetaminophen on an as-needed basis yesterday, but today I am giving it to him every four hours, so hopefully he’ll feel better than he did yesterday. He hasn’t eaten much — a little applesauce, Jello, and Sprite — and he’s the only one of us who doesn’t have any extra to lose.

The “throw-up pan” is a bigger pan that I don’t use much — somehow when the older guys were little we’d let them keep it near by when they were sick in case they couldn’t make it to the restroom. Once we got alliterative with it and called it the vomit vessel, the barf bucket, the upchuck urn….

Then they’d get really grossed out when I’d use that pan for things like corn on the cob. I’d assure them it had been well-cleaned and sterilized since they last used it.

One thing I am dearly hoping to be able to get done before the fellowship is to get the curtains up in the family room that I mentioned here and here. I did finally order fabric this morning — that was the last thing on my to-do list from last week. In case anyone is waiting on pins and needles to know this ( 😀 ), I decided on this fabric –the blue check with the toile as an contrast lining for the valance — and this pattern (bottom right-hand corner). All the other fabric I looked at around town was more expensive (even at outlets) and I just didn’t like it as well. The pattern is fairly simple, so I am hoping I can whip them up. By the way, Fabric.Com is a great site — easy to use, and no charge for shipping on the first order.

I guess I have rambled on enough and should get busy. 🙂 I’ll post a couple more Easter quotes in a separate post. Oh, and I want to remind you that a month from yesterday, on May 2, I’ll be having a Q&A session with Lynn Walker, author of Queen of the Castle. She’s doing a “30 Blogs in 30 Days” author tour, and I am delighted to be one of her stopping-places. I am jotting down questions as I think of them, but if you have any questions you’d like for me to ask, let me know!

Have a great day.