Welcome to all of you familiar cyber-friends as well as those of you who have made your way here by way of today’s Proverbs 31 online devotional. If you missed that post, you can hop over and read it here.

And…..speaking of hopping…..beginning today I am linking up with my friend Lysa TerKeurst, president of Proverbs 31, as we participate in a “Swap and Hop” on organizational ideas. Here is the game plan:

First, hop on over to Lysa’s site, where you will be given complete instructions for participating. The Reader’s Digest condensed version is that Lysa will show us one area of her home that is an organizational challenge. I will attempt to fix it for her below. (FYI–Her payment to this Michigan gal will be in free Chic Fil-A coupons and a Starbucks decaf, skinny, mocha-mint latte that I will consume at this summer’s She Speaks Conference in Charlotte, NC. Did I mention that part to you Lysa? Oops!)

Anyhow, after seeing Lysa’s problem area, you will get the chance to click on the handy-dandy Mr. Linky button and post your own area that needs help, complete with an uploaded picture for all cyber-friends to see! This will be a sistah-bonding time ladies. We ALL (me included!!!!!) have organizational ‘hot spots’ in our home that need attention. If someone has a home that is organized 100% of the time…..well, I get suspicious! Either:

A. They have no kids, no job, no hobbies, no charity work projects and unlimited time

B. They have kids whom they are ignoring

C. They are very rich and hire everything done

D. They are foreign spies living an assumed life, seeking to wow and impress we average American women so we will sit at their feet, drinking in their wisdom and, in the process, inadvertently spill our national security secrets

But I digress.

Now, if you don’t have the means (or are computer-challenged like me and don’t know how) to post a picture, still leave a comment describing for us your area of difficulty. We then will spend the weekend hopping and swapping ideas to help offer solutions to our cyber-sisters in the areas mentioned. In addition, we will choose a few gals to win a copy of my new book The Complete Guide to Getting and Staying Organized . Golly, I’ll even sign them so they will be worth a quarter more at your garage sale someday!

 

Now for dear Lysa’s recipe disaster: I had the same dilemma at my house about 6 years ago. I was tired of the cluttery mess that held all of the family-favorite recipes as well as the ones I’d clipped from magazines to try out “someday”. So, here was my solution. I purchased a 2-inch three-ring binder and some scrapbooking pages protectors. Some were full-page ones so I could put entire pages from magazines in them. Others were designed to hold photos. I bought some in both the 4 x 6 and 3 x 5 size to house my recipe cards. Then one Friday night, a friend and I worked from after supper til past mid-night while the kids ate pizza, played games and had a sleepover. We sorted, trimmed and ruthlessly weeded out our overflowing boxes, getting rid of recipes we never tried and probably wouldn’t, as well as ones our families really didn’t like. The ones that were yet to be tested and still looked promising, we kept along with those we used regularly. Then we placed them in our brand spankin’ new handy dandy binders by categories: breakfast foods, breads and muffins, soups and salads, main dishes, side dishes, deserts, birthday cake and party treat ideas, holiday foods, misc, etc… This solved our dilemma in a few ways.

• The recipes were now in logical order and easy to locate.
• They were protected so splatters wouldn’t ruin them as the binder lay open on the counter and, best of all…
  
• No more dumped recipe box disasters!!!

Now, my only dilemma today is as I said, I am so computer challenged that I cannot get the picture I took of it to upload on my computer and my kids, who could assist me, are all still sleeping!! (I’ll try later)

By the way, this weekend, while you are getting revved up to tackle the areas of your homes that need tidying up, give attention to your heart and soul as well. Couldn’t we all use a little spiritual sprucing up too? So, please spend time with the Lord first. Hit your knees and open your Bible before you hit the computer. Pinky-swear sister promise?

Good.

Although I love to help women learn to better manage their time and organize their stuff, I know that God is much more concerned with the condition of our hearts than the condition of our homes.

Spring cleaning blessings—the home and heart kind,

Karen

Todd, the boys and I just returned from a quick trip to the Detroit area so I could speak to a wonderful group of gals at Immanuel Lutheran in Utica, MI. This group went all out to insure that we were well taken care of. Since this event was nearly two hours from home and in the evening, it required an overnight. So they secured a hotel for us. Now, this happens often in my speaking travels. It is one of the many blessings that God has showered on my family as we’ve said yes to the call to be a family with a mom who shares God’s encouragement with other women through written and spoken words.

When the clan comes along, we have several ‘hotel traditions’ such as the kids riding the valet cart along with the suitcases up to the room and, upon entering the room, calling the front desk to ask permission to jump on the beds. (That request usually has about a 50% success rate.) They enjoy eating the free continental breakfast downstairs barefoot, in sweats or in their swimsuits, before jumping into the pool and playing keep-away with dad.

Yep, when these hometown hicks (who reside in the boondocks halfway between Maple Rapids –population 622 and Eureka—population unknown since it isn’t even on our Michigan map) hit the hotel, ….well…..watch out Jethro and Ellie May. We’ll give you a run for your money! We’ve ‘heard told’ that for years Webster’s dictionary defined hillbilly as a Michigan farmer. And we wear that badge proudly. (Okay, so we’re not actually farmers, but we do grow a mean herb and tomato salsa garden!)

So you can imagine how the momma hillbilly felt lugging our garage sale quality suitcases into the Hyatt hotel in beautiful, BIG, Detroit suburb Utica. She instantly noticed the marble floors, granite counters, sleek, contemporary furnishings and obvious lack of fellow hillbilly families running around in naked feet ready to jump and splash.

Nope. It was business suits, laptops and ear piece cell phones everywhere you looked. And all humans in sight had their professionally shined shoes covering the bare, but beautifully manicured feet that we knew were hiding under them somewhere.

So we straightened up and adjusted our method of operation. Well, we still let the 10 year old ride the luggage cart up to the room. We just were rather stealth about it. There were no phone calls to secure jumping permission. (They are all too big now anyway) And we did our best to blend in.

Really.

Shoes on for breakfast even! We did have to advise our boys that the fabulous display of fresh foods and goodies under glass at the front desk were not free like the cookies at that other budget hotel chain. Nope. They required a credit card swipe before being consumed. I didn’t want a repeat scenario of the time Mackenzie and Mitch, when said hillbilly mom’s back was turned, poured themselves big bowls of soup at the new grocery store salad bar thinking they were free.

We were stuck paying for $5.38 worth of clam chowder that they thought was potato soup!

At any rate, we did our best to be stealth. We waited until all lap-swimming professionals were out of the pool before starting our ball-throwing shenanigans. We enjoyed the wonderful, and deliciously filling, complementary continental breakfast that was so top-notch no one ever felt the need for any of the ‘food under glass’.

We had a glorious, family-bonding time of fun. And we weren’t even offended when upon departure we said, “We are checking out of room…..” And the sweet front desk attendant finished the statement.

“Room 302. The Ehmans,….ah yes.”

Yikes.

Thanks Immanuel Lutheran!!! Can we come back again some other time?

Pretty please with a crawdad on top?

Down-home blessings,

Karen

 

P.S. Okay, after days of anticipation, it is almost here! Tomorrow I’ll be participating in an organizational challenge area “Swap and Hop” With my friend Lysa TerKeurst. She’ll post all the instructions, the Mr. Linky linking tool and photos of her own organizational challenge area in tomorrow’s post. I will be picking some blog entries to win a book or even a possible makeover!!! Put your thinking caps on and go ahead and take some photos, if you can, of the messy areas of your home that are in desperate need of some help. Then hop on over to Lysa’s site to post them. If you aren’t able to upload and post photos, you can still participate by leaving a comment describing your organizational hot spot. We’ll spend the weekend hopping and swapping ideas to help each other solve our dilemmas. Be sure to tune in tomorrow and happy spring cleaning!!!

Sunday afternoon I had quite a scare. (Now if you read my entry yesterday, you also know I had quite a nap. The scare came just before the nap). Our friend Duane and his children came over for Sunday supper as a belated celebration for both his birthday and mine. We ate Mexican and his favorite desert, Boston Grahams, and then the kids did their normal scattering; two boys went downstairs to play Nerf basketball, the girls hopped in the car to head to town to hang with their teen friends in the sunshine at the park before heading to church for the evening service. The adults headed to the deck to visit and our son Mitchell and Duane’s son Johnny—both 13—asked to go ride bikes two miles down to the local country elementary school. The dads said yes. I, being the only mom in attendance, wanted to add, “Just be sure to wear bike helmets!” (An unspoken rule at our house for over a decade now). But I said nothing and of course, the daring dads gave no such admonition. So off they went down our busy paved road—where the speed limit is 55 mind you—to frog around at the school

About 15 minutes later. We heard an unfamiliar sound. A siren; one heading straight in the direction that the boys had gone. Now, during our nearly 20 years of living in town, we heard sirens all the time. But out here in the sticks? Never once in the 2 ½ years we’ve lived here! So naturally, what was my conclusion? Yep! Two boys hit by a car. Dead on the side of our quaint country road. I made Todd and Duane hop in the car to investigate (yes, made them. No time now to win “quiet and submissive wife of the year” My baby and his buddy lay dying!) Off they went as I paced in the side yard and began both praying and planning the funeral. (You moms know what I am talking about!) I was through begging God and halfway finished picking the pallbearers when a fire truck suddenly whizzed by headed in the same direction.

“Thank God. It was only a fire!” Okay, that was my first thought that came with a big sigh of relief.

With my next breath came panic as I concluded……. “and Mitch and Johnny probably started it!!!!”

Back to praying and now planning a prison break from the local juvenile jail. (Can you still bake a file in a chocolate cake?)

Now least you think I have a delinquent son, let me set the record straight. He is a delight. Tender hearted. Usually obedient. Good with animals and small children. But the child has this thing with fire. Couple that with the fact that he is somewhat sneaky and you have a recipe for stealth disaster!. Our other son is naughty right in front of your face. Yes, Spencer would walk right by you with a blowtorch to announce that he was going to the woods to see if he could start himself a fire big enough to send smoke signals to his friend down the road. Not Mitch. He’d stick some off-limits matches in his pocket and quietly, without drawing attention to himself, head out in the field to see what flames he could secretly conjure up. Which he actually attempted once….when he was only five!!!!

But in his defense, he comes by it innocently. He gets it from his dad who once drew the fire department’s attention in Stevensville, MI circa 1972 by attempting to light little piles of pine needles on fire. Then he decided to see if the fire could travel from pile to pile—with a little help from dad’s gasoline tank in the garage. Oh, and he dripped gas from the woods back to the garage before he lit the piles on fire. You finish the scenario. I just don’t remember if that was before or after he attempted to see if a trash bag in the kitchen would burn if lit with a match. That day, his mom, who worked nights, was sound asleep. When Todd panicked and woke her up, she, being a quick–thinking mom, grabbed the first thing she could find in order to smother the fire, cutting off the oxygen and putting it completely out. Unfortunately, she grabbed an heirloom family quilt.

Oops.

So, my mind feared the worst. As I was again asking God redeem my son’s young life, at least calling him to be a Bible study leader in his cell block in the soon-to-be slammer, Todd and Duane pulled back in without the boys.

“Was it a fire?” I frantically asked?

“Yep”

“Did the boys start it?” I fearfully inquired.

“Yep”

My heart skipped a beat as I envisioned Mitch and Johnny now being handcuffed, donning black and white stripes and headed off to a remote quarry to smash rocks ‘til they were 53.

Just then, they said. “Just kidding. Some guy was burning leaves and the flames got away.”

Not funny.

Fellow mommas, can I tell you the many emotions that raged through my being in those short ten minutes?

Concern- I should make them wear their helmets.

Fear- What if something happens when they are riding?

Panic-Oh no! A siren!

Terror- What if they are injured, or worse, dead?

Regret- I should have said “No bike riding today. Go hang with the other boys.”

Worry­-What if they are so terribly injured that I can’t look at them without upchucking?

Relief- Oh, there goes a fire truck. It is just a fire!!

Panic- (again)- Maybe they started the fire!

Anger- Those felonious boys! When I get my hands on them…

Embarrassment- I can now add “mom of a criminal” to my speaking and writing bio!

Anticipation- Here comes Todd and Duane driving up with the report.

Horror- It was them who started the fire!

Relief- (again) No, they are just joshing me. It wasn’t them. Praise God!

Wait a minute…here comes one more….

Anger (again) Now directed at my dear hubby and his grinning friend, both of whom will have the next pan of brownies I make for them laced with Exlax.

Can anyone relate?

Why, oh why, at times like this do I not focus my being on one of the first verses I memorized as a new believer?

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7

Gotta go….time to re-memorize this verse. After I hide all the matches.

Blessings,

Karen

P.S…….Keep checking back to my site for an organizational “Hop and Swap” I’ll be hosting this Friday in conjunction with my friend Lysa TerKeurst president of Proverbs 31 Ministries. It will be designed to help each other tackle those areas of our home that are in need of a desperate organizational overhaul. And yes…there will be a prize too! Details coming soon…

Have you been tired lately? I mean, plum wore out; can’t keep even your eyes open. You know, that kind of tired that has you longing for a soft blanket and comfy pillow so you can drift sweetly off to sleep and forget your worries for a while? I was that kind of tired this afternoon. It was a lazy, sunny Sunday. We’d had a wonderful service at church and some dear friends over for Sunday supper. After they left, I joyfully anticipated a phone call from my best friend Kelly from college. We haven’t chatted for months and had plans to catch up this afternoon. But I was tired.

Our wireless Internet went down after lunch and when Spencer wanted to get on to search for something—what, I don’t remember, but it was something important to a 10 year old boy–we had to use our back up dial-up connection to access the Net. Well, it got left on all afternoon, thus tying up the phone line. After our company was gone, I sat down on the couch to wait for Kelly’s call. Then I decided to put my feet up for a second. That lead to me stretching out, blanket and all, and falling sound asleep. For TWO HOURS!!!!

Needless to say, with the dial up connection running, I missed Kelly’s call. We had to reschedule for later this week. All because I was too tuckered out.

Maybe you aren’t physically tired, but most women I know are emotionally exhausted. With the demands of life and the people we must serve beckoning for us moment by moment, it is easy to become totally overwhelmed. Sometimes on Sunday night, just looking at my ‘to do’ list for the upcoming week can send me into a tizzy. And I really try to be intentional and not put too much on my plate. But even then, life happens and we often face a pile up of activities that have deadlines that fall right on top of each other.

Just this weekend, I had to get the house “realtor ready” to show Friday night(aka—spotless even in cupboards and closets and the never-visited furnace room, for crying out loud!). I was in charge of my son’s basketball year-end shin dig that same evening and then Saturday morning, I had a coffee date with my daughter to “figure out her life” (plan her senior year homeschooling/community college schedule and look at college brochures) Today was church and company for dinner and then the too-long-put-off tax preparation. (It is 2:00 am and I just now finished!) Tomorrow holds school…… and a friend’s family passing through town who will stop for a visit….. and a radio program to record….and my Weigh and Pray group at church at night……. All good–but all activities whose times cannot be changed. It leaves me tuckered out and makes my brain spin. I know you’ve all been there.

But Jesus’ words beckon us:

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Matthew 11:28-29

The Message paraphrase version says it this way:

Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.

I don’t know about you, but ‘worn out’ and ‘burned out’ unfortunately are very accurate words to describe me right now. I need some serious time away. Not to go shopping or have cappuccino or get my nails done. No, I need time to reconnect with someone even more important than my best friend from college. I need to spend unbroken, unhurried time talking and listening to the Lord. And I need to put it down on my calendar and keep that crucial appointment. No excuses.

How about you?

Sweet Soul-soothing Blessings,

Karen

P.S…….Keep checking back to my site for an organizational “Hop and Swap” I’ll be hosting this Friday in conjunction with my friend Lysa TerKeurst president of Proverbs 31 Ministries. It will be designed to help each other tackle those areas of our home that are in need of a desperate organizational overhaul. And yes…there will be a prize too! Details coming soon…

 

As a mom, have you ever stopped to ponder just how many hats you wear in the course of one simple day? You are a maid, chauffeur, nurse, chef, secretary, coach, teacher and, at least at my house, a referee!! Sometimes keeping all of these hats straight can be a daunting task indeed.

At a recent Hearts at Home conference, I presented an encore performance of a skit I first did in 1999 entitled Hats. It chronicles one mom’s attempt to keep all of the hats in her trunk on straight and in the right order. Hearts at Home just posted this drama on You Tube so click here if you’d like to take a peek. And if you want to leave a comment, tell us what is the most difficult hat for you to sport these days. Or, if your kids are grown, the hat that you miss the most. And if you can think of another hat that we moms wear in our lives, let us know that too. I’m sure there are many more.

Now, if you are wondering if I ever found the time to finish our taxes, well, the short answer is no. You see, we received a phone call today informing us that we needed to have our house ready to show by a Realtor in a mere 24 hours and 18 minutes. (We have our house up for sale in hopes to move closer to town and to a smaller place. Oh, and we are supposed to be given at least 24 hours notice before a showing. Gee, thanks for that extra 18 minutes!!! )

Well, I quickly stashed away the piles of tax papers in my roll top desk and started cleaning the house. The boys organized the garage and swept it spick and span and then picked up the yard, now finally visible after the Michigan snow melted just a day or two ago revealing twigs and trash; assorted sports balls and formerly frozen mittens. Todd is at work and Kenzie and her friends took in a concert tonight, so the boys and I must go it alone and wait until tomorrow for reinforcement.

Oh, and I am in charge of our son’s end of the year basketball awards celebration and father-son basketball game that is tomorrow night.

Anybody know the fee for filing your tax return late? I just might need to know……

Hats off to you moms and happy weekend! Don’t forget leave a comment about your mommy hats.

Blessings,

Karen

P.S…….Keep checking back to my site for an organizational “Hop and Swap” I’ll be hosting next week in conjunction with my friend Lysa TerKeurst president of Proverbs 31 Ministries. It will be designed to help each other tackle those areas of our home that are in need of a desperate organizational overhaul. And yes…there will be a prize too! Details coming soon…

Well friends….I would love to have something profound or funny to post today but alas, our taxes still call. I was interrupted too many times to count yesterday and only managed to get all of the receipts sorted and added. Today I will get the data entered into the computer.

 I hope.

Also, I have a question out there to my blogging friends in cyberspace. I have had a request to speak at a MOPS group in the western suburbs of Chicago next year on both a first and a third Thursday of the month. The month is yet to be determined. However, I am looking for other churches in the general area who have women’s groups that meet on the first or third Thursday evening or first or third Friday morning so I can make my trip more worthwhile and so the groups can split the mileage between them. Anyone out there know of such a group? Leave a comment and let me know.

Back to the books….

Blessings,

 Karen 

P.S…….Keep checking back to my site for an organizational “Hop and Swap” I’ll be hosting next week in conjunction with my friend Lysa TerKeurst president of Proverbs 31 Ministries. It will be designed to help each other tackle those areas of our home that are in need of a desperate organizational overhaul. And yes…there will be a prize too! Details coming soon…

This morning our kitchen table is sporting a new look. No, not a new, cute striped table runner in the pretty, pastel shades of spring, complete with an attractive bowl of fresh fruit and a flowery scented jar candle. No, today I’ve opted for a different look—piles of paper, a few ink pens, a calculator, some government forms and a huge bottle of Excederin.

Yep…today is the day I will do our taxes. Now mind you, I have had all of the needed forms, documents and papers in my tax folder for over a month, but there was just one item I simply could not find. And it is always the most important component to my yearly fiscal chore. I usually spend days looking for it. This needed component? The right time. And by right time I mean that perfect, lazy Saturday when Todd hasn’t worked the night before at his late shift at General Motors so he is more than happy to get up early and take all three of the darlin’ dependents out to a father-child bonding breakfast at the local Big Boy restaurant for their famous breakfast buffet. Then, they’d participate in further family bonding by either taking in a movie—if anything decent were showing—or perhaps burning up lucky lane three at the Redwing Lanes bowling alley where they’d laugh more than they’d bowl. Yes, my kiddos would have a fun, memory-making day with dear ole’ dad. All the while, I would be at home busily hunting and pecking at my keyboard, entering in the much needed data for the Ehman family to get their tax form in the mail and their rebate on its way.

Yep…in a perfect world, that would be the scenario.

This year, however, there has been no, I mean NO Saturday thus far in 2008 that would have supported such a set-up. So yesterday when I turned my calendar to April and glanced it over, still spying no Saturday that would work, alas, I had to declare today our official tax day. So, I am up early sorting receipts and papers into their proper piles, loading the software on my computer and counting the hours I have to get this done—in the midst of doing school with the boys, cleaning out my freezer before my upcoming quantity cooking day with my friend Julie, and attempting to finish it all before Kenzie returns home from classes and youth group at nightfall when she will promptly expect some computer time. YIKES!!!

You know, I used to read in the New Testament about the way the tax collectors were viewed. It was not so nice. They usually were lumped in with the pagans, prostitutes and other assorted sinners. I used to think it was because they were so dishonest, holding back some of the money they collected for themselves rendering them cheaters, liars and thieves. Well, I’ve changed my perspective. I know now it was because no one wanted to be around them since they were so grumpy and irritable, trying to deal with their W-2’s, 1099’s and other hostility producing documents while the April 15, 28 A.D. deadline loomed in the near future!! Argh!

Quick…somebody get me some hot coffee and a lot of dark chocolate. This is gonna be a looooooong day!

Number-crunching blessings,

Karen

P.S…….Keep checking back to my site for an organizational “Hop and Swap” I’ll be hosting next week in conjunction with my friend Lysa TerKeurst president of Proverbs 31 Ministries. It will be designed to help each other tackle those areas of our home that are in need of a desperate organizational overhaul. And yes…there will be a prize too! Details coming soon…