Home -- A Perspective

Flashback 6 years - My new husband and I, along with 4 of the 6 children, were moving into a brand-new house. Not just ‘new to us’ but BRAND NEW! Wood floors, stainless steel appliances, textured walls, recessed lighting, walk-in closets, etc. There wasn’t a scratch, a stain, a mar ANYWHERE and it was beautiful. A short while later we even added a yard (thanks to sod!) and a garden. Fast-forward to today. The wood floors are scuffed and dusty, the carpeting is matted and stained (thanks to a dog who joined the family several years ago). The cabinets are scratched up, the walk-in closets are NOT as big as they appeared when empty. The walls are marked up, scratched and dirty and the yard is dry and dead in some places (thanks to two very hot & dry summers). Keep in mind, the house is not falling apart. There are no broken windows, no doors hanging off of the hinges, no holes in the wall, no busted plumbing. Just normal everyday wear-and-tear. I no longer see a beautiful house, but I see an amazing HOME.

The difference between men and women: My wonderful husband looks around the house and will become upset about the way he perceives people treat the house. “They treat it like a disposable home.” He believes they are being disrespectful to him by not keeping it as pristine as it was when we moved-in. He gets frustrated with me for not following guests (family and friends alike) around to keep them from accidentally or carelessly scratching something. My opinion is the opposite of his. I believe the children (the ones who live with us and the ones who are grown), our grandchildren and our guests actually show they feel welcome in our home because they feel safe enough to be “at home” with us. I’m not raising a house and I don’t want to live in a museum. I’m raising children, I’m entertaining family and friends. Even if I’m alone in the house I look around and see them. The toys left out after the grandkids left. The kitchen where the kids and I make Christmas cookies and the evidence of dishes put away in a hurry. I see the fingerprints all over the sliding glass door that leads to the back deck where my husband makes his family famous ribs. I see the stained carpet and remember the joy the dog brings my husband (which is the ONLY reason we still have the dog). I see a glass coffee table covered with a thick blanket to protect it and the grandkids from each other. Every mark, every scratch, every dent is a memory I wouldn’t trade for anything. It’s all in the perception.

Thank you God for a home, not only for me but for those whose receive shelter there, whether for a moment or for a lifetime. I pray you will bless every scratch, every speck of dust, every fingerprint and every dirty area. I want my home to be a haven for those who enter it.

Proverbs 14:1

 I pray for wisdom to build the HOUSE in a way that honors my husband and pray my husband embraces the HOME that provides a place of refuge for our family.
Today, as always, I pray you will remember blesses outweigh stresses!

It's the Weekend!

Sorry I've been MIA with my outfits, but I am back with another outfit. This time it's weekend wear!

Obviously you don't want anything too fussy so jeans it is! Along with a tee, tennis shoes, and a few accessories you're ready to go! I chose the bright colors and white and brown accessories because I thought they'd look good on my mom and because they look nice and put together while being super simple. Heck, the more I look at this outfit the more I want it!

bracelet $16
t-shirt $25
jeans $37
bag (similar) $16
earrings (similar) $16
bobby pins $10
shoes $33
watch $35
nail polish $8
socks $1

total: $197

So, I went WAY over on this one. In my defense, most people own jeans and I probably wouldn't spend $25 on a tee. Either way, it's a cute outfit :)

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Is the outfit for you or for me? For you I think it's adorable. If it's for me...not so much. I don't wear anything that bares my upper arms (although the color is awesome). The earrings aren't really my style. The jeans are good and if my husband would let me wear a color besides red I would LOVE to try the color nail polish.

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Okay, since I was off on this one I made some changes that she suggested. I think she'll like these.

tee $10

sandals $50

earrings $36

God Answers Prayers

Do you wonder if God answers prayer? I don’t wonder, I know.

Years ago I was a divorced mom. My life consisted of work, church, and my children. I was finally overcoming the pain, low self-esteem, and baggage that come with divorce when I felt God calling me to be married. But dating… Uh, no thanks.

 I told God “I don’t know how to do this. If you want me to be single, please give me that desire, if you want me to be married you’ll have to bring him to me because I’m not looking!” However if God wanted me to be married and if he had someone for me, then I had some requirements. Isn’t that funny? “It’s in Your hands, but…”

Being a protective mama bear I was concerned for my cubs! My prayer request “Heavenly Father, I want a protector, someone willing to defend me and my cubs. Someone hard-working, able to provide for himself, mama and the cubs. He should be generous and serving, aware of the needs of others, giving of his time, talent, money, and/or abilities. Let him be fun. Someone who can relax and enjoy a blessed, but stressed life. A Bible believing, church attending, born-again Christian. A father-figure for my cubs; to encourage, discipline, teach and love them. To hold them accountable and care for them like their mama bear does. I want a partner I can share my secrets, hopes, and dreams with. Someone I will willingly submit to, honor, respect, love and commit myself to ‘until death do us part’. Someone I can disagree with, work out conflict with, and still trust with my heart. God, I want my husband to be bear-y.”

via

Within months of my prayer request, I was introduced to the “bear-y” man I had requested from God and today we are celebrating our 6th anniversary. Guess what? God has a sense of humor! BARRY and I have our ‘good times and bad times’, ‘sickness and health’, ‘happiness and sorrow’, ‘richer and poorer’, but we are more devoted and in love than ever.

Yes, God answers prayer. If you’re struggling with trusting God’s plans for you, I want you to know something. God is good and able to provide for us above and beyond what we ask. I know. I married proof! My Bear is answered prayer! Today, as all days, the blesses outweigh the stresses!

Prayer

I find it easy to pray for others. After speaking to my friends, hearing the concerns of my family, watching the news I pray.

Just recently I prayed for healing as both my father and step-mother had surgery. I pray daily for safety in regards to my son-in-law as his job is not safe and he works outside (in 100°+ heat). I prayed for a friend who has a relative with legal trouble. I prayed for the victims and families of the Aurora, Colorado shooting; I prayed for the shooter too.

Confession time: I have trouble asking for prayer. Why is that? It makes no sense. I know that prayer is a gift and I fully trust that God answers prayer. I will pray for my needs and the needs/wants of my family, so why do I have difficulty asking others to pray for those same wants/needs?

The Bible says "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." (Phil 4:6-7) There are many scripture verses on prayer; it is evident that prayer is important to God. One of my favorite Bible verses is Matthew 18:20; "For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." I’m taking a leap of faith today and requesting prayer from my readers.

My husband and I are doing what we believe is in the best interest of Jesi, my husband’s youngest daughter. We are in mediation before court trying to obtain residential custody. I’m not asking that you pray for us to receive the residential custody we are seeking. I’m not asking for prayer that we “win” custody or have favor with the judge. I only ask that you pray for God’s will to be done and that the counselor, the attorneys, the parents and the courts will follow-through with Jesi’s best interests.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and for your prayers. I pray for each of you as well.

I remember; I’m still more blessed than stressed!

CAS

Keyword: Accessorize

Hello again :) It's Breenah and I'm back with my response to request number two: a way to spice up a work uniform, but slacks or khakis are required. This could also be applied to school uniforms! (You can see request one here)

My mom's work has polos with her department, not polos from A&F, but I figured it'd work for a stand in :) The key to not looking blah when you have to wear what everybody else is wearing is accessories!

For the shoes, I know my mom would like either of the heels and yes she'd wear them even on a casual day. I'm not sure she'll like the yellow ones (those are more my style), but I'd get her to try them on at least. I like the flats a lot because they're simple, but cuter than your basic ones.

Jewelry (again in gold tones for mi madre) is another great way to stand out. You can put fancier pieces with a casual uniform to make it not feel so blah. Same with nail polish. If you're stuck in a polo and khakis (whether it's for retail or school or an office job) wear some bright or unusual for you polish. Greige was super trendy last year, but I'm still in love with it. I picked the magenta and pink for CAS though :)

Something I don't think I've ever seen my mom do is use a scarf as an accessory. I think these two fit her style perfectly and they're lightweight so they can still be worn in the summer. Except maybe not right now. I don't know about you, but I don't want to wear anything extra when it's 104F outside.

polo $25

khakis $25

yellow shoes $36

teal heels $50

pink/black flats $29

black heels $11

magenta polish $7

greige polish $7
pink polish $7
pink scarf $8
brown scarf $16
earrings $14
bangles $20
cross bracelet (similar) $8
necklace $40

total: $303 (for 14 items!)

Obviously you can't wear this all as one outfit. Nobody has that many feet! My mom already owns polos and khakis and everything is under $50 and most things are under $25, so I don't think I did too bad on pricing. This accessories are probably a little more out there for my mom than the other outfits I picked, but I'm hoping she'll still like it.

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Not sure about the yellow shoes…but the rest is SPOT ON my taste. I might even have to try the scarves! (How’s that for stepping out of my comfort zone?)

Are you sure the heels aren’t too dressy for khakis? I love them, but was afraid of putting my heels with such a casual outfit. How about the next time you’re over, I try a few things on and you help me ‘shop my closet’? :)

Fashion by Breenah

It's busy time for me with school, work and families, so for the next few days I've asked a very special person to be my "guest blogger". I'm learning to take it one day at a time and focus on being more Blessed than Stressed...but I don't want to ignore my blog either. I'm happy to share my blog for a few days and I think you'll be happy with her posts, I'm really looking forward to them!!

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Hello Blessed readers! My name is Breenah and I blog over at By Breenah. My blog is mostly about random happenings with my daughter, but I also do a fashion link up every Friday with Long Distance Loving called Friday's Fancies. You can see my past ones here. My mom sent me a list of five different outfits she wanted me to create for her:

1. Date night with hubby
2. Casual Friday at work (slacks or khakis)
3. Jeans day at work (still professional)
4. Weekend wear
5. Special occasion


She also asked me to try and keep each outfit under $100, which is hard to do when you're on Polyvore! Here is the first outfit I chose for her for a date night with her husband.

This dress is not something my mom would normally choose, but I think she'd look great in it. She prefers to not wear things too short and to have sleeves and this dress is great for coverage while still being sexy (which is kind of weird to say about my mom, haha!). 

Her (and my step-dad) love heels and red nails. The shoes have a 4.5" heel, but my mom's barely over 5' so she could use the height. The red polish is OPI's Not Really a Waitress and I'd call it my mom's signature color and it matches the lipgloss perfectly.

She wears gold jewelry and hoops are her "thing" as well and I think she'd like the bangles. That's also why I chose the clutch and if you've read my blog at all you know why I chose the sunglasses (I'm addicted!).

The drink is just for funsies :D

dress $47

clutch $17

shoes $21

sunglasses $6

polish $7

earrings $5

lipgloss $12

bangles $8

total: $123

Okay, so I went a little over. In my defense, my mom already owns the earrings and the nail polish so it's only slightly over.

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It never ceases to amaze me what a wonderful eye for fashion she has! Yes, definitely my favorite nail color and I love the shoes (I have heels that are higher, so these would be no problem!). I love the dress, but she'd probably have to convince me to try it on. As most women are... I'm my own worst critic, but I don't think she would steer me wrong. All in all, you hit the nail on the head. Great job Sunshine!

This Man’s Worth

 

How do you list the value of this man?

I have a ‘way with words’, but I don’t think I can.

A smile sweet with genuine concern,

An eager spirit, always willing to learn.

Encouragement he offers to every friend,

Loyal & supportive – to the very end.

Devotion to God and true love for his wife,

Faith, family & work – a truly balanced life.

So caring, generous & helpful – it’s true.

But never a boastful word…he’s humble too.

Working through the weeks, days & hours

Thousands of trees, bushes & flowers

Playgrounds installed and parks well tended,

Walking paths created & courts now mended.

Projects well started are now complete

A busy “to-do list”- becomes a blank sheet.

Years gone by – January thru December

Now just thoughts to ponder, and remember.

Enjoying the work that was done

Meant having a job that was more like “fun”.

A duty once demanding became a labor of love,

To the citizens of Wichita & the Heavenly Father above.

With all the love for my brother in Christ, Tim Martz.
Colleen A. Shirley (aka CAS) September 17, 2010