Six Days to Create a World, Dealing with Life's Problems

Earlier today I mentioned how my home must be the only place in the world where things like onion powder and garlic powder are locked up tighter than Ft. Knox because J loves the taste of them. It's true! He tries eating them straight from the bottle and sometimes mixes them with water (again. In the bottle. *sigh*) because a) someone left them out and b) he's decided he's hungry. I love his sense of independence but yeah, being busy doing something else and then detecting the overpowering smell of garlic in the house is so not fun. J? Really. It's okay. I'm not that busy, I can fill your tummy with something a lot more filling. On the plus side, vampires, were they real, would never go near him. He'd be totally safe. 
  But I digress. A friend commented on my sense of humor on that post. It got me to thinking how I got that one down, but I still have so many life lessons to learn:patience, hospitality, frugality, not worrying...I could probably go on and on, but you get the picture. It occurred to me though, as I was thinking about what I still need to learn, is that God does not expect us to learn all these lessons at one time. We may feel at times that a whole laundry list of trouble gets dumped into our laps all at once sometimes, but life lessons don't really get resolved in tidy little packages. 
  Take worry, for example. Johnny needs braces, Susie is close to flunking algebra, the car needs two new tires, the bills are all coming due, and in three weeks is Cousin Erma's wedding, and tomorrow is...  STOP! Slow down, sister! Go back to Genesis chapter one. God decided to create and POOF! He did it all it once. Right? Wrong! He took six days to create all of this. Each day had its own task. On the seventh day, He rested. I think he did it in this way as an example to us, especially us Mamas who try to tackle the whole world in one day. 
  First of all, our heavenly Father had a plan in mind. He knew how he was going to set up this world and the way he wanted it, and he set about doing it. We need a plan of action as well. 
  And are we content knowing that all is (relatively) well at the moment? If you're like me, not likely. If I have too much time on my hands, I start thinking about tomorrow's (or even next year's) problems. Okay, it's good to plan ahead a little, but coming up with lists of things to worry over is not productive. First of all, when we (I) do that, I'm forgetting that I'm not in this alone.      Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5. 
  When asked to teach his followers how to pray, in Matthew 6, verse 11 says "Give us this day our daily bread." That means if we ask, we will be taken care of each day. Will we be given all the answers and get all we want accomplished? Maybe not, but what is needed for each day will be taken care of. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (NIV). Why borrow trouble? God gave us seven days each week, and each day we have enough to attend to without adding more on ourselves. 
  So what do you have planned for today? Will you be cleaning the living room? Finding a tutor for Susie? Or is today a day of rest for you because of your work schedule? Whatever it is you choose to do today, have a plan, but don't take too big of a bite. Take care. 
  And lastly, Matthew 6:24 says 

Some Ado About...Some Things.

 I missed yesterday's blog time. I think it's harder sometimes when The Hubby is home on his weekend. But today I've been gently reminded that I need to get busy writing instead of playing on the internet. The short novel I'm working on is staring me in the face, and inspiration just isn't coming right now. So I thought I'd share a few tidbits here and see where my brain takes me. Forgive the disjointed blog here, but it just didn't seem worth writing several tiny little blog posts with all this stuff.

AUTISM
 J is in the midst of a meds change lately. He ran out of one med, and will likely be put back on it on Friday. Meanwhile, his neuro, in response to seeing how "uncooperative" J had been, put him on Adderal. He's been on adderal once before, briefly.  I couldn't remember why we took him off of that particular med at the time ( I highly recommend keeping a journal of your child --meds and when taken, reactions, eating/ sleeping habits, routines, doctor visits, all of this. I've started a notebook for this purpose a few times, and am still working on making it a habit. It makes things much easier in the long run. Learn from my mistake in this instance.). 
     During the short time we gave J the prescribed dosage, he went from our happy, hungry boy to withdrawn, tired all the time, and barely eating. In short, he was a zombie. He cried easily, began "Yarping" more than normal, was easily agitated. We stopped giving it to him. While he's less focused, he is more playful, has a fairly decent appetite, and sleeps sometimes without melatonin. He wants more interaction. I like my J like this. I think he may need a little something at times to help him focus, but he seems to be more engaged in the world without it. 

FALL CLEANING
  Back to school time seems to be a great time to get the house cleared out, straightened up, and ready for winter and the holidays. After a summer of carefree eating and playing, I want something different. This month, Heavenly Homemakers is blogging about creating a Funky Fresh Kitchen. Laura is hosting giveaways, giving tips, and helping us get our kitchen in order for fall. This week so far she has issued us a challenge to throw something out and replace it with something healthier, here.  If you would like an ebook of Do the Funky Kitchen for $2, go here.  This price is available for one week so hurry and get your copy.
    I've been enjoying Laura's series, and giving a lot of thought to what I need to toss out to have a healthier kitchen. I've made a deal with myself that premade cookies and brownie mixes wont be coming into the house. If I want those goodies I can make them from scratch. It's less expensive and a bit healthier because I can control the ingredients. Which leads to the next topic...

HEALTH
  My anemia is still a concern. I'm working with the doctor on that, trying to eat more healthy and trying to remember to take my iron supplements as often as he wants me to. Not always easy. But in order to take care of my family, I have to take care of myself. Because food prices are going up just like everything else it seems, I've decided that my family needs to incorporate a few vegetarian or meatless meals each week. I'll be researching this a bit more , as I need to be sure to get enough iron in my diet.
 
HOUSEWORK
  I need motivation in this area. I think I'm going to list three things each day that I need to get done. Most likely not here, but just for myself. Today, though, I need to do laundry, do my dishes, and pick up in the living room. 

How about you? How are you doing these days? Are you motivated to get the house in order, have a healthier kitchen? Are you figuring out the ins and outs of autism? Trying to take better care of your health? Let me know how you're doing. 

Monday Morning Report

 Beautiful morning out here in my neck of the woods, not too chilly at all. In fact, outside it already feels really nice. I've already been outside to drop off my netflix dvds in the mail --got some great ideas from Martha Stewart's Classic Thanksgiving. While I was outside a man stopped by, seeing my trail of kitties following me. His wife had been down in the dumps lately because her kitten died, so one of my younger ones got adopted. I'll miss the little guy, but I'm so thankful he's found a new home. Still looking for homes for one more kitten and a few adults.
  Speaking of being thankful, if you are on Face book, you may have noticed some of your friends posting each day in November what they are thankful for. You may be doing that yourself. I am, and while there is so much that I am thankful for each and every day, I think it helps to write things down, and it starts the day on a positive note. 
 The hubs is continuing to look around locally for a job. He has a job already, and we are thankful he has it, but right now we live 52 miles away from his work so financially we really need to either find a job closer to home or else find a home closer to work. We are trusting God that something will become available one way or the other. Truthfully, I like the area we live at now, and I love the congregation we are a part of. However, our plans are not always God's plans so we shall see what happens.
 I've got my list of chores I need to do for the day -cleaning the kitchen and laundry being at the top of the list. I think those are never ending things though. I also have to look for some paperwork that was mislaid. That should be fun. 
 Sometime this afternoon I will be going to my mother's house to talk a little about Thanksgiving and see what needs to be done. I know she's already bought some things, and we need to decide who is going to cook what. I think she's planning on making a pie or two, and maybe handle some of the veggies. I'll take care of the turkey and hubby will make his dressing. Yummy! I'm hoping to make a cheesecake as well. Oh, how I love all the foods for Thanksgiving!  I love having the family together even more than the food, though. My dream is to one day have a home big enough so that the entire family can be together for the day. 
 Well, I'd better get to moving if I'm going to get anything accomplished today. How is your day shaping up? Are you preparing for the holidays?