Making My Home Sing

This weekend wrapped up the little league soccer season our youngest son participated in. It was a great experience with lots of fun for the kids and a time of friendship and fellowship among the parents. However, being gone three or four nights a week can reek havoc on a home. I discovred that instead of singing a happy tune, my home is simply croaking along!!

This weekend while searching for some school supplies it became evident that my home although clean on the surface, was in pitiful shape as far as oranization goes. There is a stockpile of items in various places, excess stuff, so that we don't know what we have and continue to get more of the same items until a vicious cycle is threatening to bury our home with clutter and inefficiency.

Yesterday as I looked around in despair at the boys closets, linen closet, school supply chest and other problem areas I thought...how will this ever get under control? But in a few short hours I was amazed how quickly a couple of key things got done:

While having a nice phone conversation with a friend, I cleaned out the refrigerator.
A dresser was cleared out and organized by chatting and reminiscing about old clothes with my youngest son.
While someone came over to do some work on the computer, the office supply cabinet got cleared out.

Instead of despairing and being overwhelmed by the size of these tasks, little steps in the right direction got much accomplished.

So, the plan for this week is to tackle some of these tough jobs, one at a time. A closet here, a cuboard there, inventory what we have, get rid of what we don't need until my home again sings the beautiful song of organization.

Sometimes We Score, Sometimes We Block

Our family is in the midst of little league soccer season. My youngest son is playing and his enthusiasm is contagious. He is pretty good at the sport, but what makes it so great is that he loves it! He counts the days until the next game or practice. He loves his coach and teammates. He has moved up an age level this year and the players are working more like team, passing to each other and watching out for each other during play. During the last game, my son scored two goals, they were the only goals of the game. In today's game the team scored eight goals. My son came up afterwards to me and said, "I didn't score today, but I blocked". What a powerful truth those words can hold. In life, sometimes we score, sometimes we block. Sometimes we do great things, we excel, we achieve, we meet our goal - we score! There are also times we see the needs of others, sometimes they are sad or hurting, we block their hits. We look out for them so they can score. We

Relationships and Redemption

In every friendship or relationship, there is a common hope that they will grow and flourish. There is something inside of us that longs for a 'happy every after' story. We dream about it and work to make that happen. But in reality, relationships are a challenge. The bridging of values, lifestyles, interests and sacrificing for another are simply hard things to do! No matter how much we dream of the perfect fit, some relationships will not endure the stress. When differences appear and tensions arise, prayer can change situations, attitudes and ourselves. For the Christian, we know God can transform, change, heal. We cannot change others, but prayer opens us the door for God to step in and answer. God desires transformation, but does not demand it. The gift of free will allows us to choose to say Yes or No to Him. Romans 12:18 says, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” Take notice of the first two words: “If possible …” This implies that some

Top 10 Workout DVDs

Prevention Magazine is a leader in health and fitness news and products. They recently came up with the top 10 list of workout DVDs. They have examined the many fitness DVDs out there and narrowed down a list of the best ones. There is a DVD for every fitness level. If you are looking to incorporate some exercise into your day in the convenience of your own home, take a look at this list. Here is an additional money saving tip: If you see a DVD that you are interested in, check out Amazon or Ebay before ordering. Many times they have pre-owned DVDs at a fraction of the cost of a new one.

Joyfull Living

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