Long, but I Think it's Worth Reading :-)

No other book has changed my life and the way I think more than "The Battlefield of the Mind" by Joyce Meyer. The book is so empowering. It has taught me that if we do not take Satan's bate, and if we keep our mind firmly on God, Satan will be defeated and eventually give up for awhile! This was such a great thought.

However, there were two things I didn't realize when I learned this fact. #1: When you become aware of it and become empowered by it, Satan makes it his own little game to try to break you and prove it wrong. And #2: Satan puts up a good fight before he backs down.

It is so crazy to think about the fact that there is spiritual warfare going on all the time in our lives. There is a constant battle being fought for our souls. Wow. When I first started reading the book, I felt sort of weird thinking about Satan so much and the fact that He really is trying to do anything he can to break me down and deceive me until I turn away from God or become absolutely debilitated as a Christian. But he is! And I think the more we're aware of that, the better we can guard our minds against that.

I remember the exact night at our Battlefield of the Mind Bible Study when I felt so convicted and empowered. My life and thought patterns began to change that night. it was Wednesday, September 30...Read that post if you want to see how excited I was :-)

I feel like Satan has been trying to beat me down ever since that day. I think that the first thing he targeted was (and is) my health. The very next day I got extremely sick with a stomach bug that lasted a few weeks. Then I got some sort of sore through, stiff neck, flu-like illness. Then last week I had a cough so bad that all of my stomach and back muscles were sore from coughing so much. And guess what...this week I'm suffering from some crazy stomach pain and more problems. (Although I think this time I've chalked it up to the fact that my lactose intolerance is just getting worse...I guess it's time to try some soy milk :-P) I've had a really hard time staying positive and not pitying myself during these sick times.

The next thing that Satan went after was our finances. If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you know that the engine in our new (to us) car died just a month or so after we bought it. It was totally unexpected, and is going to cost more than half of the price of the car. We now have about twice the amount of debt that we had before we took the Dave Ramsey course at our church last winter. After the course, we were completely out of debt for awhile, so that is discouraging.

Next came the attack on my job. I had been having a surprisingly good school year. Until I found out that they are making me teach a phonics program during my planning period. And the program they are making me teach normally takes months of preparation (writing lesson plans, cutting out and laminating literally thousands of word cards, etc). The administration decided to give me 1 week of prep time. Oh, and I'm still getting paid as an aide (barely over minimum wage). I feel sick to my stomach just thinking about how badly they are taking advantage of me. Although I can't really do anything about it except quit. But I can't really do that until the end of the school year because I do need money! Anyway, it's a very bad situation.

And finally, Satan decided to attack some relationships. My sister and I had a bit of a falling out. Although the situation is mostly resolved, I don't know if things will ever be totally the same between us. And Luke and I have been having silly arguments over things that we would normally not care about.

I really do not tell you all of that to complain. Although it did sound that way, didn't it? :-P But this is my blog, and I am not going to gloss things over just because it sounds better (thanks for empowering me, Brittany!) Ultimately, I'm writing this post to share some encouragement. I know, it doesn't sound like it yet, but just give me a minute ;-)

Through all of this frustration, I have been pretty good at letting it roll off my shoulders. SO not me, by the way. But since I read the book, I feel like I could kind of tell what was going on spiritually. Satan was trying to break me down in every important area of my life until I'm so weak that I'm powerless and I just crumble, and cry, and forget that God is BIGGER! I have been good at holding back the tears and not letting Satan see me cry. I did not want him to have even one small victory in my life. I recited prayers, scripture and praise songs out loud to keep the bad thoughts away. I had been doing great!

Until this week. Tonight, more specifically. I was taking a shower when I just lost it. Negative thought after negative thought just kept washing over me. I was crying pretty hysterically and really feeling like things could not get any worse. I was having the biggest pity party of all time. And it doesn't matter at all how bad things are in my life, there is no excuse for a pity party. And let's face it, my life is still pretty awesome. Instead of stomach problems, I could have cancer. Instead of just adding a little more debt, I could be losing a house. And as far as my job goes...at least I have one!

I bet that during my gigantic pity party, Satan was having a party of his own. Glad that I had finally crumbled under the pressure and lost all hope. But during my pity party, I realized something. I realized that Satan had broken me down, but the real trick was that once I was vulnerable, he had given me extreme blind spots in my vision. I could not see past my own sorrow and pity. I could not see God's power and the fact that He could use every little problem and situation in my life, and turn it into something good. Something amazing, even. I forgot that God is BIGGER.

But then I remembered. Again, I actually think I could kind of see what Satan was trying to do. I prayed that God would let me see again, and that I would not let Satan have victory in these situations. And things immediately changed. My attitude, my outlook, and my mood. I stopped crying. I realized that having a pity party is just a way to doubt God's power.

While I was wiping away the tears, I remembered Bible study last night. I had brought my old Bible from a few years ago, because I had been running late. I love looking through old Bibles and seeing all the bookmarks, notes, and underlined verses. As I was sitting in Bible study, I noticed two bookmarks in my Bible. I turned to the first one. There was one, lone verse underlined on the page: Jeremiah 29:11 "'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 a hope and a future." I turned to the second bookmark, and again, there was only one verse underlined on the page: Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." I had thought it was cool last night that those two verses were marked...like God was giving me some hope. But it hit me really hard tonight. Then the weirdest thing happened...The song "It Takes a Little Time" by Amy Grant popped into my head. I'm certainly no fan of Amy Grant, and I've never really liked that song. But there it was, randomly in my head.

Anyway, those verses plus the song made me realize something. God can take any situation and use it for His glory. It may take a lot of TIME, but He can and will do it. Even in these times that just seem so crappy, He has something amazing planned as a result of them. Maybe the mechanic who is fixing our car is struggling financially and our money is going to help him with something big. Maybe through this job that I'm not loving right now, God is preparing and training me for something great. I don't pretend to know what God's plans are, but I know that they are far greater than anything that I could ever dream or imagine.

I know that if Satan is trying to bring me down and defeat me, obviously God must be up to something big. It may not be easy, but I will win this fight. And I know there will be so many more in this lifetime, but God will bring me through all of them, and cause good to come from them.

I know that I'm a big wuss, and the things I'm going through are basically nothing, even if they feel like a lot to me. I know a lot of you are probably going through things that are so much harder or so much worse. Just remember that God will use every situation for good. If we are going through hard times, it must be because God is trying to use us for something big, and Satan does not want to see that happen. So keep your faith and spirits high!

Bitten

I have been bitten by the Christmas bug. Could you tell from my last 5 or 6 posts? I'm trying so hard to suppress it, but I just can't! It's a little bit different now that I'm married and have a home of my own. Growing up, Mom would always plan everything and we were just along for the ride. But now I get to plan and decorate for my own family Christmas and we get to start our own family traditions. So Christmas planning is all I have been thinking about and doing lately.

I have a number of crafty projects that I want to work on before Thanksgiving. That way, they will be all set to be put out and enjoyed for the entire Christmas season! I have been scouring the internet and stores for ideas that I can cheaply recreate. Today I thought I'd share a few of my ideas, because I'm just bursting with excitement!

1. I mentioned last night that my mom is going to help me make a tree skirt this year. I do not want share my inspiration picture, because I don't want you to see it until the big reveal of our project :-) But I'll just tell you that it will involve red felt, lots of ribbon, ric rac, and buttons.

The rest of my ideas came from Pottery Barn

2. I thought these picture frames and black and white Christmas pictures looked so simple and beautiful. I've picked out 3 photos, and switched them to bright black and white like in the pictures shown. I plan on buying some cheap silver frames, and putting some red ribbon around the border like in the pictures below. The frames won't be engraved like Pottery Barn's, but I think it will still be lovely :-)3. I think this will be completely easy to recreate! I'll hang it in the entryway somewhere...maybe I'll even attach a tiny bit of mistletoe to it ;-)
4. I'm loving the bright ornaments in the next pictures. I'm hoping to snag a wreath somewhere, and then decorate with some ornaments...I'll do the same with some garland. This shouldn't be too hard, either! (Just a little side note...I have found that garage sales are EXCELLENT places to find CHEAP, beautiful Christmas ornaments. So keep your eyes peeled next time ;-)).
5. A friend from church gave me a bunch of Christmas decorations for FREE last year for Christmas!! Among them were dozens of tall candles and candle holders. the candle holders are all mismatched and different sizes, but I'm thinking about spray painting them all the silver and placing them on my table. The result will hopefully look something like this! (I bought a red tablecloth at Dollar General today for $6 to go with them!)
6. And I'm loving the whole pine cone thing for Christmas this year for some reason! I will definitely have lots of these in nooks and crannys in my house :-)
Okay, I think that's enough for now! I have a folder on my desktop completely full of so many more ideas. I know there will never be enough time or money to implement them all, but I'm so excited to try :-)

What have you done to prepare for Christmas this year? Am I the only crazy one? ;-)

Retail Therapy

My mom and I went out shopping tonight (and to Steak and Shake! Yum!) I had some birthday money I wanted to spend, and originally went to find a light for my hallway. However, one trip to TJ Maxx, and my priorities completely changed. We spent FOREVER in there, and I'm surprised there was anything left in the store when we were done!

I have been wanting a new comforter for a long time. Ours has just lost that new puffy, comfy feeling. I wanted another one to swap back and forth with the other one whenever I get sick of one :-) It looked really cute in the bag, and I bought a big pillow to match. But I'm just not sure if I like it now that it's on the bed!

Here was the bed before, a little frumpy (although I do LOVE the comforter and pillows!):
And here we are after. My pillows are too small for the shams, and I think they need something to make them pop. Mom said maybe we could add some trim or something around the outside.
If we can do something to fix up the shams, I think I'll really like it! Now I can switch my comforters back and forth whenever I get sick of one ;-)

We went to Home Depot, Lowes, TJ Maxx, and Pier One tonight. All four of those stores were 100% ready for Christmas. And I could not resist...I had to make a couple Christmas purchases (I had more, but decided to use self-control and put them back at the last second!)

I bought Christmas cards for my co-workers (is it bad that they don't get the special ones that I designed myself like my family and friends will get? I'm not made of money, and couldn't afford to print off or order too many :-P) I thought these were really cute, and they were only $4.

And I've been wanting some Christmasy towels and I love these!

While we were at TJ Maxx, I found probably the cutest Christmas tree skirt that has ever been made :-) My mom assured me that we could EASILY and CHEAPLY recreate it ourselves. Project time!! I can't wait to get started :-)

How many of you have started planning for Christmas? I haven't really started celebrating too much, but I have a big chunk of a notebook filled with lists, plans, and ideas. I just can't wait!

December Photo Scavenger Hunt!

I had so much fun looking at the pictures from last month's scavenger hunt! I thought it would be fun to do it again for Christmas :-) So today I will be giving out the new categories!

But before I do that, I'll go over the rules again. I will give 7 categories (yeah, I added 2 more this time!) and you have to take just one photo for each category. Then on the deadline, you will post all the pictures with the categories on your blog. I will post links to all of the blogs who participate on my own blog, and then we will do 2 days of voting for the best overall winner again. Confused yet?? Don't worry, it will make sense...you just need to worry about taking those pictures and everything else will fall into place :-)

Your December Categories are...

1. Peace
2. Deck the Halls
3. Tradition
4. Reason for the Season
5. Joy
6. Together
7. Photographer's Choice

I hope you don't mind that I created 7 categories instead of 5 this time. I just really wanted to use "together" again. I know it may seem redundant since I used it last month, but I just thought that since Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming up, you may have a LOT of good "together" photo ops :-)

And as I was thinking of categories, I though, "What if someone has a phenomenal photo that just won't fit into any of the other categories?!" It was really starting to stress me out, so I decided to add a photographer's choice category. Because we are all photographers for the sake of this challenge! ;-) You can post any picture you want for this category! Whether it's a really thought-provoking photo, or a beautiful one, or even a hilarious one, it's your choice :-)

Just in case you are wondering, the photos do not have to be taken between now and the deadline. If you have a picture that fits perfectly into one of the categories that you took 5 years ago, that still works :-) Just make sure that you either TOOK the picture, or you're IN the picture!

Wow, I almost forgot to tell you the deadline! It will be before midnight on Monday, December 14. To submit your entry, just leave the link to your picture post in my comments or email. Then on Tuesday the 16th, I will create a post linking to all of your entries, and I'll put a poll on my sidebar where you and all of your friends can vote :-) Just like last time.

Oh, and there will be a Christmas-themed prize! I was going to push the deadline back until the week of Christmas, but then I realized that the winner might want to have a little bit more time to enjoy his or her prize! I don't know exactly what the prize will be yet, but I will be sure to keep you posted as soon as I have it ready. So for now it is just a surprise prize :-) If you would rather push the date back a week (to Dec. 21) let me know! It may be easier to take Christmas photos a little closer to Christmas. If a lot of you want to do that, then we'll push it back a week :-)

I think that's about it. If you have any questions, comment or email me! The categories and a link to this post will be at the top of my sidebar until it's time to vote, just in case you forget them!

Now get shooting!! ;-)

List Progress

Today since not too much excitement is going on in my life, I thought I'd do an update on the progress I've made on my 101 goals in 1,001 days list.

Here are some more items that I've completed:

-"Finish all the books in the Twilight Saga." I finished the last one about a month ago. I wouldn't really consider myself a HUGE fanatic fan, but I did enjoy them! And I can't wait to go see "New Moon" on November 20!

- "Laugh Until I Cry." I did this on my birthday at my parents' house. My dad was reading through my baby book just for fun. He read the page about my imaginary friends to everyone. I had at least 4 imaginary friends when I was little. I'm too embarrassed to say anything more about that whole situation, but let's just say it was funny enough that I laughed until I cried while my dad read it out loud. They say imaginary friends are a sign on intelligence and creativity, right? That, or I was just crazy! :-P

- "Switch to reusable grocery bags." While I was at Aldis last Monday I took the plunge. No more feeling guilty every time I waste more plastic bags.
-"Try a new soup recipe." I did TRY one. I tried to make butternut squash soup a few weeks ago. It tasted good, but the consistency just wasn't right. I was going to try again, but haven't gotten around to it yet. I also got this soup mix for my birthday from Luke's mom, and I can't wait to try it!And I think that's about it. So far I have finished 11/101 items. I think I'm making pretty good progress! I've only been working on this for a little over 2 months. It's so exciting to be able to cross off each item!

There are a number of items that will be tackled in the next month or two with the holiday season:

- "Fill a shoebox for Operation Christmas Child." I picked up my pamphlet and shoebox at church today! So this week I will work on filling it up with toys and personal hygiene items. Then it will be sent to a child in need in a third world country as their Christmas gift! Luke told me today that he would help me, so maybe we'll have to make a date night out of purchasing our items and filling our box :-)

-"Bake a pie from scratch." Now that I have my apple peeler-corer-slicer (got it for my birthday!) I am going to try to make a homemade apple pie! I'll probably do this the weekend after next, since Youth Explosion is next weekend and I won't be home! (I'm honestly extremely nervous about this. I'm fairly certain that I will mess it up horribly and be too discouraged to try again. Hopefully I'll surprise myself and it won't be that bad!)

-"Bake lots of Christmas cookies and send them to friends, relatives, and neighbors." I'm already searching for recipes and can't wait to get started on this in about 3 weeks!

-"Go to a concert." We are going to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert in Cleveland on Dec. 20. I. CAN'T. WAIT!!!

-"Read at least one classic novel." I'm planning on reading "A Christmas Carol" in December sometime. I absolutely LOVE the whole story. I've watched so many different movie versions of the story and have watched the play at a couple of different local theaters. I read the book in 8th grade, but thought I might get more out of it now that I'm older. (Confession: my favorite movie version of this story is STILL "A Muppet Christmas Carol." How lame am I?!)

- "Send Christmas cards." They are already designed and ready to be printed out, addressed, and sent :-)

- "Do Project 365." I plan on doing this next year, so I'll be looking for a link to that blog on or before January 1!

And that's it. I love having these goals. It is definitely making me try new things that I haven't done before!

----------------

Before I go, I visited with my mom today, and we went for a walk with the dog, Holly. Call us weird, but we find it peaceful and interesting to walk through the cemetery behind the woods that's behind her house. There's a lot of history there! We don't find it creepy at all, and I hope you don't find us creepy now that you know that about us :-) Anyway, it was such a beautiful, warm day I had to share some pictures from our walk:

All the berries are out on my parents' holly tree! Christmas is its the way :-)

Please come back tomorrow...I will be giving the December scavenger hunt categories and information! There will be a Christmas-themed prize, so you probably want to participate ;-) Spread the word!

25

Today I turned 25. Honestly in the past month things have not been great. I try not to write too much about it in my blog, because I like to stay positive. But we recently found out that the new engine in our car is going to cost more than half of the price of the car itself, and we MIGHT be lucky enough to have it back by Christmas. And I've been getting walked ALL OVER by the people at work...they added more responsibilities to me and took away my entire planning period. And I'm STILL getting paid as an aide (my little sister makes more per hour than me as a student assistant in the ed. office at college :-P I might as well be working at McDonalds with what I'm making!) And I'm sick again. With a horrible cough this time. I don't mean to keep complaining on my birthday, but just wanted to set this up to let you know that things haven't really been going my way lately.

...Which is why I prayed a selfish prayer this morning. I prayed that God would let me have a good day. I felt silly praying it, but I really didn't want to deal with all of this frustration on my birthday :-P

Well God answered my prayer. Work went so well today! Since it was Friday, I let my students play some math games toward the end of class. They were all getting along, and laughing and just having fun together...while doing math!! lol, it was just fun to see them having so much fun learning! (I sound like a total nerd :-P) It made me remember why I DO sometimes like teaching :-P

After work I got to come home and RELAX while I watched last night's episode of Grey's Anatomy. (Bawled my eyes out...did anyone else watch it?) Then Luke and I went over to my parents' house with Grandma and Ellie. We had delicious pizza! Oh, and cake and ice cream, of course :-) Julie was home from college, and her new/old boyfriend was there. (They dated two years ago, broke up, and are just getting back together now). It was fun :-) I laughed so hard I cried a few times. Although this did not feel good due to my cough!

And now I'm going to show off some of my loot...just because it's all so awesome! Everyone knows me well, I guess! I'm so thankful for everything!

These are from my mother-in-law, and I told Luke I wasn't getting out of bed tomorrow. I told him I was going to lie in bed and watch these all day long tomorrow ;-) I've wanted them on DVD for awhile, and plan on keeping them forever! I LOVE Anne of Green Gables! If you've never seen it, you should watch it. Or read it.
And have you ever had chocolate-covered sunflower seeds? This little pumpkin is full of them, and they're delicious! Not to mention adorable. This is also from my m-i-l
Julie, my sister, got me THIS: a giant tub full of cookie cutters!! I can't wait to go to town with these! There are 100 in there!
Oh...and she also got me an apple-peeler-corer-slicer! No more taking 4 hours to make apple crisp or other appley treats! I think it might be time to make some apple pie now!

I had to show off these cute Christmas decorations from Mom and Dad. I asked if it was too early to put them out, and Luke said "yes." :-P Okay, I'll wait until next weekend I guess!
And this pumpkin candle smells almost delicious enough to eat. Makes me hungry for pumpkin pie...good thing Thanksgiving's right around the corner!
Luke got me The Proposal blu-ray, which I can't wait to watch again! And a gift certificate to Old Navy. According to the commercial I just saw, all of their outerwear is 50% off, and scarves are $1 tomorrow!!!! I really hope we can make it out there so I can buy 1 or 2...or 10!

Well that's enough about STUFF. All I can say at the end of today is that I feel so blessed to have spent 25 years here! We are not ever guaranteed tomorrow, and I've had a lot of tomorrows already! Who knows what this next year will bring, but I'm ready for anything!

And the Winner is...

Callie! From Through Clouded Glass! Thanks to everyone who participated in my photo scavenger hunt. It was a close race, and you all did a great job! But congratulations, Callie...you are the winner. Make sure to shoot me and email to let me know where I can send your prize! :-)

The December scavenger hunt categories will be up sometime next week, so I hope we get even more people to participate next time!

In other news, we are finally trying to let Gabby and Ellie be together for a few hours at a time each night. There have been no casualties so far ;-) And honestly, Gabby's being the NICE one, which is soooo surprising to me. Ellie is usually the one to lunge herself onto Gabby's face and start nipping at whatever fur she can reach. I think she thinks that Gabby is just a giant, living toy for her to play with :-)

The reason I want them to get used to each other now is because I found out that Max will be coming to stay with us the week of Christmas!! I thought that if we get Gabby and Ellie used to each other now, then it will be a little less of an adjustment for them both to get used to Max.

What, you forgot who Max is? Let me refresh your memory:
He's the little guy on my lap :-) He's our friends' dog, and I think we have become official pet-sitters. Their family is going out of town this Christmas to visit family, and I'm so excited to be able to watch Max during that time! I watched him last summer for a week too, so you might remember him from then :-)

Have a great Thursday! And come back sometime this weekend when I will recap my birthday...yep, I turn the big 2-5 tomorrow. Officially in my "mid twenties." It's crazy, I think I'm officially an adult, now! I mean, geeze, I'm halfway to 50!! That's kind of scary, so I don't really want to think about that ;-)