Light of the World

Joining Lisa-Jo and others this morning for Five Minute Friday, where we cut the words loose for just five minutes, and see where they fall. No editing, just encouraging the others who play along. The topic today is Light.





GO

Ye are the light of the world--a city set on an hill cannot be hid, neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, where it giveth light unto all that are in the house" (Mat 5:14-15)

Jesus tells us that we are the light of the world. Because we are Christ followers, because we have been given the light, we must share the light. How short sighted is it of us, when we know the truth, to remain behind our safe church doors and refuse to go out into the world to share the light with others?

Jesus also said, "I am the light of the world, whoever believes in me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have light of life." (John 8:12) He has promised to go with us as we shine our candles in the darkness. This Jesus, who gave everything he had down to the last drop of blood, has promised to be with us.

He didn't promise that being in the world would be easy, in fact he told us quite the opposite. "In this world you will have tribulation." (John 16:33) But he did promise to "never leave us nor forsake us." (Heb 13:15)

It is resurrection Sunday in just a few more days. Today is Good Friday. Today we remember Jesus' death on the cross, a brutal death he choose to save us from the darkness of our sins. It is a dark day. But Sunday, this Sunday, is Resurrection Sunday. The day our Savior conquered death and hell. The day that the Light shown brightest in the world. May that light, through our words and testimony, keep shining.

"Let your light so shine before men that they [...] may glorify your father which is in heaven." (Mat 5:16)

STOP

Edited to add verse references (I'm terrible with remembering where verses are in the Bible...)

Organizing the home: Day 4

On day 4 of the Organize Your Home challenge over at MoneySavingMom. Even though we're only 4 days into the challenge I'm already seeing measurable progress. It's exciting to see the house looking better little by little, especially in ways that are long-term improvements. Here are the assignments she gave for today:

• Get dressed in something that makes you feel great
• Sit down and make a list of no more than 5-7 specific things you want to accomplish today.
• Complete your morning routine
• Set the timer for 15 minutes and do a quick-clean of your bathroom.
• Clean out underneath your beds and furniture. Remove clutter and trash and put it away or throw it away. Move the furniture (if possible) and vacuum underneath.
• Find 7 items to get rid of today. Throw them out, stick them in a donate or garage sale box, give them to a friend who can use them, or list them on Craigslist or eBay.

This morning was a slow start because we very late night last night (we were up a good hour or two later than usual). Without the challenge I probably would have been  in my PJs a lot later than 9:00, but as it was I was up and moving around (although slowly) at a good time. 

Here is a fuzzy snapshot of my "to do" list: 

As you can see, I didn't exactly stick to the "5-7" things limit. But I've found that putting a number of steps down that can be checked off is much more effective for me than only putting down major tasks. I've always been a list gal, and I love the feeling when I can scratch something off my list. Checking off 5 bigger things from my list isn't as satisfying to me as checking off 10 smaller things. So... I tend to have longer lists. :-)

I did clean the bathrooms, it was a quick clean but they look much better now than they did! I also did a series of 15 minute blitzes on several other areas of the house. This worked so well yesterday that I decided to give it another try. Again--it worked great! The house is measurably improving. 

I didn't clean under the bed/furniture, mainly because it wasn't really necessary. I cleaned under the couches recently, and we just got our bed up off the floor a week or two ago. So.... no problems there.

And there is my pile of things to get rid of. Again, I'm working on clearing out the excess in our master closet. I'd expected my hubby to keep his old choir polos for sentimental reasons, but when I asked him he just wanted to keep the one that still fit. Guess I'm the sentimental one. :-P

MoneySavingMom's Budget

I grew up in a frugal home, with a mom who knew how to creatively make the budget work even when it was a challenge. Because of this there were a number of concepts in The Money Saving Mom's Budget
 that weren't new to me. But even with such a great example in my mom, Crystal packed a lot of creative tips that I'd never thought of. She challenged me to think creatively in every area of our life to use our finances most effectively.

Perhaps the thing that I appreciated most about this book is how achievable Crystal makes budgeting. She doesn't encourage night-and-day changes that are extreme and don't last long-term. Instead she outlines achievable guidelines to gradually add self-discipline to the budget. These guidelines are doable for anyone.

In addition, she doesn't insist on a certain formula for financial success. Aren't interested in coupons? There are plenty of other tips you could use! Aren't really one for cooking every meal from scratch? You'll still benefit from this book. Don't really have time to consider outside work or working at home? Crystal still has some GREAT ideas for effectively living well on one income.

My favorite chapters were the first three. In these chapters Crystal emphasizes the importance of organizing your life and home before organizing your budget. This aspect of the book was something I didn't expect to see in a book about finances, but makes the whole book far more effective and life changing. Crystal isn't just encouraging budgeting or couponing, instead she is emphasizing a complete lifestyle makeover.

I enjoyed listening to the audio version of this book. The recording is well done, and listening to it being read by the author was a treat. I definitely can recommend this to anyone who is interested in streamlining their finances effectively and permanently.



(Note: Some of the links in this post are my referral links. Read my disclosure policy here.)


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Litfuse Publicity as part of their Blogger Review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Organizing the home: Day 3

Yesterday was quite the day for getting things done around the house! I'm pretty proud of my progress so far. I got up in the morning and "got dressed in something that made me feel good." I made my to-do list, and then completed my morning routine of QT, breakfast, etc.

An addition to the morning routine is getting in at least 15 minutes of walking each morning. My husband and I started our birth class earlier this week, and the knowledge that next week I'm going to have to share both my progress in keeping up with exercise and my (healthy) eating log is huge motivation to make sure I do well in both areas. Accountability is a very good thing.

Instead of doing a 15 minute clean on the bedroom, I did four 15 minute blitzs on four different areas of the house--kitchen, bedroom, living area, and fridge. I went a little over on my time (ended up being closer to 20 minutes per area) but it was amazing how much progress I made in just a little over an hour! It was very encouraging. When I started the bedroom was pretty awful (the piles of clean laundry needing to be put away weren't helping):

Here is what it looked like when I'd finished:

Instead of doing the freezer, I decided to work on the fridge (Day 2's assignment that I missed due to tornado excitement). I do a lot of freezer cooking and tend to organize my freezer on a pretty regular basis, so it isn't too bad anyway. The fridge is a different story.

Looks like a lot of stuff in there for two people, yes? I was amazed at how many expired jars and past-due veggies were in that fridge. Here's the after picture:

It was so much better!!! If I can make progress like THAT every day during the challenge, my house is going to be amazing by next month!

A project I've been working on little by little is cleaning out our master closet.  Here is a pile of clothes that no longer fit. I'm sure there are seven things in there, though I didn't actually count:

Organizing the home: Day 2

I got up this morning and packed breakfast and lunch for my man, and had my own morning shake. I did my quiet time, went on a walk with my brother, and got dressed for the day (not in that order!). The maternity shirt is a new-to-me top, and I love the cheerful colors. The pants are the last pair of pants that still fit me.... When I blissfully went maternity clothes shopping several months ago it truly did not occur to me that I might actually outgrow my maternity clothes also. :-P

We had a bit of an adventure this afternoon, when about three storm systems complete with I'm not sure how many tornadoes, came through the area. It was a crazy, crazy day--but what I'm hearing on the news is that while there is a great deal of property damage in our area, there have been no major injuries reported. Considering the severity of the storms this is nothing short of a miracle. 

As a result of the excitement, the fridge was not cleaned today. I did do the "15 minute blitz" of the kitchen, but it was more of: 2 minute blitz, check the radar/news, 2 minute clean, check radar/news, etc. Again, crazy crazy day. 

I way surpassed the 7 item goal for the day. In addition to returning my parents electric keyboard, here are some of the things going out the door:

10 Weekly goals

This month I am going to join in Crystal's challenge of 4 Weeks to a More Organized Home. With baby just around the corner, I'm organizing anyway--and having some set goals each day will probably help me get it all done. Here are my 10 top goals for this week.


Family
1. One quiet evening with my hubby
2. Attend first birthing class, keep up with homework!

Personal
3. Walk every day for 15-20 minutes
4. Send two thank you notes, one birthday note
5. Finish listening to MSM Budget, post review

Home
6. Work on master BR closet, toss or properly store anything not used frequently
7. Prepare Easter dishes

Work/Church
8. Close first Shelf Reliance party
9. Prepare next keepers project
10. Write first two posts of next blog series

Stepping in Faith

I look back on this past week, and where I was last weekend, and I can't believe all the living packing into the last seven days. It's been an extreme week, full of highs and lows and everything in between. A week in which how I felt about things wasn't always an accurate reflection of reality. In the movie Fireproof one of the characters has a line:

 "don’t just follow your heart, man, because your heart can be deceived. You gotta LEAD your heart.”

That's been this week. It hasn't been an easy week, but it is good to be reminded that Faith isn't a reflection of our feelings, it's a reflection of reality. It is choosing to believe the reality of God, over the temporary feelings of our deceitful hearts. We need days like that.