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Your voice counts!
Brand New Ebook...
FEARLESS TEMPLATE TINKERING
A Guide For the Faint of Heart
By Carrie Rella
$6.95/ebook
If I can learn how to create and tweak templates without any technical training or knowledge, you can too! It's fun and easy! I'll show you how! Includes lots of
online and periodical resources, HTML coding and other aid.
From My Family To Yours...
"FEEDING YOUR FAMILY ON LESS
How To Cut Your Grocery Bill By At Least Half
Without Sacrifice Or Discomfort"
By Carrie Rella
$5/ebook
Learn how I am able to keep costs down for feeding our family of ten to under $150 bi-weekly. It's easy! Includes several helpful printables for your own personal use.
On Our Menu...
Thursday's Meals
Breakfast: Pancakes, milk
Lunch:Ham salad sandwiches on my whole wheat bread, sliced cantaloupe, iced water
Supper:Chicken and Wild Rice Soup, corn muffins, iced water
Friday's Meals
Breakfast:Cornmeal mush, milk
Lunch:Ham & Bean Chowder, sliced wheat bread, iced water Supper:Skillet Scramble, lettuce salad, iced water
Saturday's Meals
Lunch:Order in (Saturday treat!) Supper:Peanut butter & jelly sandwiches on whole wheat, carrot sticks, air-popped popcorn, iced water
Remember! You can eat well on a small budget! Your family's health is worth it!
Cape dresses, infant items, headcoverings/hanging veils, handmade washrags, greeting cards, and more!
NEW STOCK THIS WEEK: Modest girls' dresses, Hair bun tool, more sewing patterns,and crocheted newborn booties in a variety of colors and styles!
If you have any experience with miscarriage, stillbirth or neonatal death and would like to share your story with others, please contact me. I am looking for contributions
for a (publisher printed) book I'm working on. I will be happy to send you the outline if you're not sure your experience would be a "fit". Thank you in advance!
Get your creative juices flowing! Make your own! It's fun!
"Clean Fridge Casserole" is an ABSOLUTE prerequisite to frugal cooking!
Never, ever again throw away those leftovers from last night and the day before. Make them into a meal.
Afraid your family will grumble, scoff, gag or refuse to eat because it's "Leftovers"?
Well, then... Shhh! Don't TELL them! They'll never guess!
You will never learn to keep the costs of your food bill down until you learn to make your dollar stretch.
Throwing leftovers away when there's only a wee bit is still pitching money!
A woman in the kitchen is an artist. Truly she is!
I can make this personal, for you. I can illustrate it with today's adventure in my own kitchen.
May my (typical!) experience, today, ignite your own sense of determination and fearlessness!
Our lunch plans were abruptly changed when I went in to the fridge to begin retrieving the items I needed to prepare this afternoon's meal.
You see, I saw that there were two hamburger patties left in the freezer. There was a pot of leftover creamed peas in the refrigerator. And... there was leftover mashed potatoes and steamed carrots in there from last night, too.
By greasing a 9x11 pan, and pressing the leftover mashed potatoes into it, I had the beginnings of a new meal on the way.
Creamed peas, freshly seasoned, went over that along with those carrots. Then... the hamburgers, crumbled.
Wait! I wasn't through, yet!
I shredded a cup of cheddar cheese and topped the whole dish off, attractively.
A little bit of fresh parsley was snipped to "dress" the top of my "Clean Fridge Casserole" and it was popped into the oven for ten minutes until hot and bubbly.
Ta-da!
Something even tastier than what I had planned on serving, this afternoon.
Best yet, it cost us nothing, afforded me an extra meal for next week, AND was raved over by my family.
Talk about a win-win situation!
Now, what are YOU waiting for?
Put that nose of yours in your fridge, freezer and pantry and create something beautiful!
I wanted to share a letter with you that I recently received.
I'm responding publicly to an excerpt of it, because I've gotten a lot of these notes, and DO NOT deserve them!
They make me smile, but they're way off the mark!
Hi Carrie,
I think you're absolutely amazing. How do you do it all? You must be a miracle woman. You seem to do everything from scratch, make your own family's clothing, and keep the best house. You're probably a dream wife and perfect mother.
My response:
Anything good that might eventually come of my child-rearing, as I've said countless times, is only because of the Lord's intervention and aid!
My children have the same stubborn wills and sinful flesh that yours do!
As for my being the best wife... I do try. But I so often fall short! Day by day I'm learning to do better!
True confession time: I like frozen pizza! My meals aren't fancy, and sometimes they're pretty boring! (See my left sidebar!)
As for my house... well, my lower floor always looks neat, but if you look "beneath the surface", you'll see it's not completely spotless or deep-down clean!
I focus on the lower floor, and half-way through the week, work hard on cleaning the upper floor. But it's never perfect! Ask anyone who's visited me, here!
I have eight children, and they're busy! They have far more energy than I do!
If you stop by during the day, don't be surprised to see a few toys out. My children play.
Or maybe you'll come by as I'm folding laundry. My sofa gets piled with it!
Homeschooling causes us to litter a room with books, pencils and papers, temporarily, too!
I am just a Christian woman trying my best to honor God with the time the Lord has blessed me with!
Listen, That Schedule/Routine Stuff Just Doesn't Work For Me!
Your life feels chaotic and out of control, and you feel helpless to change that.
Your children don't behave, and half the time you don't even know where they are or what mischief they've gotten themselves into because they're good at "escaping" your eyesight.
Your husband wishes you were more cheerful, and your house is a disorganized wreck.
You're convinced that schedules won't work for you.
You say you're not a "list" person. That's too rigid and structure never works for you.
Your life is too busy and wild and unpredictable for binders and regular routines.
And plus, every time you've tried schedules and routine set-ups in the past, you couldn't keep up with it. Eventually, like a bad weight-loss diet, they were tossed aside.
That schedule/routine stuff just doesn't work for you.
You sit in your home, stressed and unhappy, wondering why you don't have the joy that other women say they have.
Your relationship with the Lord feels scattered and without rhyme or reason. You hunger for Him, but never seem to find time to "fit" Him in.
You'd like a satisfying prayer life... but are lucky to get in a quick prayer before closing your eyes for the night.
Surely life should be different, you think.
Well, it can be.
Indeed it should be!
Your life will continue to be a wreck until you take an honest look at precisely what needs changing.
Are you always behind on the chores? Don't make excuses, set up a SCHEDULE and rotate the needed work. Delegate, too!
Schedules might feel "rigid" and unmoving, but they're not! They're a lifesaver! And they do leave room for the unexpected!
You need to keep your children with you. If they're always finding trouble, that means you're not watching them as you ought to be.
If they're constantly escaping, that only means your attentions are focused where they shouldn't be.
Get off the computer and keep track of them!
Get off that phone!
Move away from the television!
Children will get into mischief, sometimes. They're good for that. You can't be everywhere at once. But if it's a constant issue... look honestly at yourself as a parent! Be willing to make changes!
Get busy doing things with the children, and find activities to keep them constructively entertained while you do things (like pay bills or knead bread!) that cannot be done with them. Have them file along after you and help with the necessary cleaning! It's fun!
If you think schedules, routines and binders are simply not for you, think again.
They are.
Avoiding them is merely an excuse to do nothing.
Or, in the very least very little.
A routine need only be a loose sketch. Not an immovable, minute-by-minute plan.
Keep a desk calendar where you most often sit. You won't be able to miss another birthday, anniversary, or appointment!
Put those library books on a shelf all their own, and keep a clipboard there with an attached sheet to record all incoming library books on it.
Check off the ones that are taken back and list due dates on the ones still in your possession. Train your children to keep track. It's super easy to avoid late fines!
Keep a small notebook in your pocket at all times to note things you might otherwise forget -- a grocery item you just ran out of, a phone call that you need to return before the day is through, something you want to remember to note in a letter to your friend, a job you just noticed needs doing...
A life as a godly wife, mother and keeper of the home is a busy one.
You might as well accept that.
With pen and paper in hand, determine to write up a loose routine and plan for change.
It feels like "just any other day". A day like all the rest.
Sibling squabbles. Messy rooms surrounding me. Laundry piles growing. Food to be cooked and served. Dirty diapers to change.
Yes, today is just a day like any other.
My voice rises and the stress increases within me.
Surely one day these "pressure points" will cause some sort of heart attack.
It cannot be good for my high blood pressure! Why can I not quit reacting!?
Why don't these children learn!?
There's too many of them, and too few of me.
They deserve so much more! So much better!
I am not the mother they should have. I'm hardly any better than some of the careless women I've observed while out and about, scolding their children... exasperated... obviously lacking enjoyment of them...
How am I any different?
How are my children any better off than other children who might be carted off to daycare every day with relief? How are my children any better off than others who are sent outside to play so Mom can watch a favorite TV show in peace?
Doesn't God think these children under my roof deserve better than what I have to offer? Wouldn't they have been better off with another set of parents? Another mother?
I make so many mistakes!
I'm so utterly impatient and hot-tempered!
I'm overwhelmed and look forward to 8pm when the day can begin to draw to a welcome close.
What good mother thinks like that!?
As I sit here typing, I can hear the wind chime my oldest two girls bought me for Mother's Day, tinkling away outside.
I did not deserve that gift!
I've been less than pleasant so far, today. I've felt sorry for myself more than once. I've raised my voice impatiently a few times. I even threatened to throw away a wreck of toys that wouldn't be budged despite countless requests and reminders.
Ohhhh, my two-year-old just came up to me and hugged my knees tightly and said, "MMmmmmmum!"
I hugged him back, gladly.
"Mmummmmmm! I love you!" His grin melted my heart.
I glance over at the two little ones on the couch reading books to one another. One smiles up at me, proudly. She's so happy she's learned to read!
The baby is crawling about by my feet, occasionally using me as a support to stand up against. Sucking her little fingers while looking about, innocently.
Sweet!
And now...
Now the oldest three children just returned home from church.
The front door opened unexpectedly and their cheerful faces and happy greetings reminded me of the love I hold for these precious, albeit often perplexing, challenging children!
I thank God for blessing me with them.
I look forward to the rest of today, and am resolved to be the parent they do deserve with God's strength, grace and wisdom.
The difference between my children and those of other women who do not appreciate their children, I decide, is my faith in God. My absolute reliance on Him. And hopefully, my example.
Surely my children will see my frequent stumblings. How could they not?
But I'm equally convinced that they will also notice my willingness to repent to them and God ... and my determined effort to raise them for His glory.
If anything good comes from my efforts at parenting... it will only be because of my Lord and Savior's hand in it!
FREE DEVOTIONAL FROM STILLWATER MINISTRIES
Not only does Still Waters offer practical, godly devotions for every day, you'll find their booklets extremely helpful in reading your Bible through in one year.
Their plan is easy and fun!
