Psalm 84:2

I am participating in the Proverbs 31 Made to Crave online bible study. This is the second time I have been through this study with Proverbs 31. As I began, again, I wanted to make this time different. For me, it is not so much about diet and food as it is craving other things in place of God.

One way I decided to enrich the study for myself, is to participate in the blog hop and focus on the verse mapping.

Psalm 84:2 is the verse for the first week.

My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord, my heart and my flesh cry out for the  living God.

soul = the spirit, inner man
yearns = longs, desires, craves
faints = grows weak
cry out= shout
*www.biblegateway.com, www.merriam-webster.com, www.blueletterbible.org*


This verse means to me:

My inner person craves, grows weak with desire, for the presence of the Lord, my heart and flesh shout for the living God.

 My soul was created by God to need Him. When I am craving other things, it is because that inner person, my soul, is weak with desire for the presence of the Lord in my life at that moment. My soul is literally shouting out with desire to fill the void. I need to take those opportunities and reach out to Him in prayer and study His word to see what He has for me instead of reaching for food or technology to fill the void.

I am looking forward to more learning in this study and my prayer is that I will seek Him to fill the void and not try to fill it with other things.

Lord,
Thank You for being a God who hears our cry. I pray that during this study, and each day after, I will turn to You when I feel that void and begin to crave something. I pray that I will seek You daily so that I will not have an emptiness in need of filling. Help me to see You and the work You are doing in my life. I pray for Your wisdom and direction as I dig into Your word. Thank You Lord that You are a God who sees and desires to meet with me.
In Jesus Name, Amen

Our homeschool space transformation!

On the second morning of January, I saw a friend post about her newly organized school space! It was beautiful! I began to covet her space and searched until I found the right shelving unit at Ikea. I even talked my hubby into going with me to get it! We made a date out of it and even bought the little princess a table and chairs for her tea.

I wanted to share our transformation. I do not have a school room because we don't have an extra room to use and it is easier to have everyone downstairs near or at the table. We do have a large space for bookshelves and such. Because I am a bookaholic, I have lots and lots and lots of books that fill up the shelves. We usually have our working books mixed in with the rest and it created a mess after many hands removed and replaced them. I wanted something more functional.

This is what we started with:

The rolling tote and the Large Utility Tote so that we could have our CC items ready for Tuesdays. The other two boys had their books mixed in with everything else in the bookshelf. And the preschool stuff I wanted to use with the little princess was somewhere on the shelf too.

I bought one 2 X 4 Expedit unit and one 2 X 2 at Ikea. I bought the white because it was cheaper and I figured it would match almost anything.

This is the 2 X 2 unit

We had to move the big bookcase over to make room for both units and the corkboard. My hubby and the boys were good sports and seemed to enjoy putting it together. While they did that, Chloe helped me put together the table and chairs for little princess.

The little princess using her table

The process took Dan and I until after 11. At that point, all the pieces were put together and the cork-board re-hung.

I spent most of the next day filling it up and rearranging. It is still a work in progress but I am so pleased with the way it is now.

I love my new space!!!

Happy 2014!!!

Happy New Year! 

We rang in the New Year as we do almost every year, with movies, junk food and sparkling cider at midnight. I fell asleep a few times but managed to be awake for the strike of 12. And I was able to speak with my mom and sister too!

At dinner last night, we were discussing our favorite parts of last year. Caitlin walking was at the top of the list for me and Dan. Moving here, new friendships, zoo birthday party and sleepover, and new friendships and opportunities were on the list for everyone as well. The thing I am most grateful for is that we are all together as a family.

I love the new year because it is a time for new opportunities. I can close the door on all I fell short on last year and begin anew.

This year, I am choosing to focus on more time with God in prayer and in His word. I am also going to focus on Grace, for myself and others. I am going to focus on my family and the things I enjoy and I am going to set a goal to blog about our life here more often. Not that I think anyone else really is all that interested but because I think it is an easy way to keep track of life and I have a dream to write a book too so this is a good way to start.

Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. John 1:16

My prayer this year is for a renewed fire for God and His word. I pray my words and actions will show His love and grace. I pray that I can encourage and comfort others.

Thank you Lord for all that You have blessed me with. Thank You for new opportunities, new years and new days to start new. Thank You for the work You are doing. Help me to give Your love and grace to others. Help me to be an encouragement and support. 

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Do you have goals or hopes or dreams for 2014? If you post them in the comments I will pray for you and them this coming year.

Blessings,

Christina