The Journey-2 Years Later

Between the every day activities and to-dos of homeschooling, housework, actual work (facepainting, projects and so on) and then speech and doctor visits, bible study and such; I guess it's time to give you all an update of what is going on!

2 years ago my personal journey changed.  It got redirected.  God has such a funny way of orchestrating all His handy work.  What's funny to me is that the last post on here to you all actually weighs a very large amount of significance to this particular journey!!! I didn't even know what my last post was til I decided to see if this blog was still up and running tonight.  Love it.

The last almost 2 full years now I have been seeking how God is wanting to use me.  I discovered in that time what it meant to believe Him and what He says about me.  I have learned and embraced my identity that He created, not what others labeled me or that I participated in agreeing with believing I was for the last 30 plus years of my existence. I have discovered the spiritual gifts He has strengthened and the ones that He occasionally pulls out for me to work on.  I have had lots of down days trying to stay motivated through a sometimes pretty harsh season of pruning.  The best thing out of all of this though has to be the closeness that has occurred during this journey with my Father who made me and my husband he gave me and my kids he entrusted me to take care of for Him.

So, what does this all have to do with Aimee Of All Trades?  EVERYTHING.  I wouldn't have this if it wasn't for Him providing me with the different skills it takes to do the face painting or custom shoes or the rest of it.  All of this is because it opened a door to even more trades. (oh boy! more to come! I am sure you are stoked!)

LET'S TALK OILS

Through all of this I have been learning, essential oils have been one of the most exciting additions.  I am so beyond blessed by them and all I have learned about them through the last 2 years!!!

Another business venture?  Yes and No.  I have been waiting for something I could use to help others for anything and everything.  This is that something!  Our family has been so blessed by the results of learning about them and utilizing them correctly.  My hubs is still being worked on.... He is a tough cookie on natural remedies.... BUT OUR KIDS on the other hand beg for them because of how well they have worked for us.

So I would say this is a great addition to Aimee of All Trades and I am excited to get to help you find out more if you would like in the future!

Funday Sunday and getting rid of my "Frogs"

Wow.  This last year has flown by me.  It feels like yesterday that I wrote my last blog, but yeah.... it's been way tooooo long.  

In a nutshell our household has consisted of homeschool, church, activities, a couple out of town trips, new business ventures, lots of face painting and fireworks, unexpected funerals, birthdays and the normal family functions, grocery store trips, tons of kids' stuff and tons of other stuff.... like unfinished projects, family disagreements, parenting drama, nose picking, nail biting, stitches/trips to the ER, kid bickering, girl drama, car issues, AC issues, health issues, and all the other stuff that comes with living in a fallen world.

With all that put aside, do you know what the best thing about all of this fun chaotic life stuff is?  It happened yesterday, 5-minutes ago, a year ago, 30 seconds ago, 7 hours ago, 6 months ago..... do you see where I am going with this?  Bottom line is: Everything that has happened to us is in the past/yesterdays.  

I went to a great event at Lifechurch.tv called Sisters this last week.  I was stoked to get to go because not only was a getting a Mom's Night Out with some fun friends, I was going to get to see Chris Caine.  For those of you who don't know who she is you really need to get with the program here, because she is absolutely one of the most amazing women of God that is on this planet (So get with it and click her name to see what God is using her for already!)!  Free food=no cooking, no kids (we love them, don't get me wrong), no husbands (yes, we love our men too), no chores, nothing but Sister time getting some Jesus! Woot Woot!  Crud, now I got myself all amped up again with no where to go. 

Okay, so now that the scene is set I will carry on. Chris came out to speak and I was fired up and ready to receive it. She started talking about frogs. Remember the story in Exodus 8 where God sent a plague of frogs throughout the entire city?  She carried on reading the entire story, rather impressively fast, and then stopped at the very end where in vs. 9 and Moses asked the Pharaoh when would be a good time for them to pray for the plague to end.  Then in vs. 10 you see that Pharaoh answers with "Tomorrow."  Chris expresses this craziness in such a way that you are on the edge of your seat waiting to hear where she is going with this.  This guy's entire city has frogs literally crawling EVERYWHERE and instead of facing the issue right then in the time it was happening he says it can wait until tomorrow.  I bet his people were super pleased with that. NOT.

So, this leads me to today.  I thought the last few days about things that could be a potential "frog" in my life.  Something that I am continually waiting on a tomorrow, that in reality will never come, to rid myself of.  The big one that hit my heart that very evening of Sisters was that I had become a skeptic/pessimist.  Not just any glass half empty kind either.  The worst kind.  The kind that says she truly believes God can heal us in today's time, God can move our mountains, God can change the hearts of the unbeliever's but then doesn't really fully allow herself to see those things through. 

Example A: My husband is an amazing man.  He has been through so much and has come so far.  He is a man of many talents and has ambition that you will rarely see in anyone these days.  He has been seeking the Lord for years now on where He wants him to take his career.  He has jumped through every door he believed God opened with lil to no hesitation.  It's something to admire to be honest with you.  I mean, I don't know about you, but I tend to hesitate when my financials are on the line and I have a family of 6 to tend to.  Well, he has been patient with this journey.  There has been so many doors shut along the way and that started to get to me.  I could see him discouraged at times and I became frustrated because I thought we should be doing things differently work wise.  I wanted him to do what would make the money come in while he was looking for what God had planned for him.  He tried that for a while.  Needless to say, God was right, I was wrong, my husband needed to surrender it all not just some of it.  He felt our Dad tugging towards his passion for photography.  He opened the door and Aaron dove in after much prayer.  (which is important. pray first. then dive)

Let's wrap this up.  What's the "frog" I am dealing with?  Well, the pessimist and skeptic wife I had become because I wouldn't let go of the financial struggles we have endured in the yesterdays,  basically became a "Dream Crusher" on what God had in the works for my own husband.  That's a HUGE frog if you ask me.

THE CONCLUSION: 
A few years ago Sheri Yates from IKAN Ministries spoke at a convention I attended on something called a "Dream Wall".  The concept I took away from it was to allow your family to dream and dream big because our God is a God that does the impossible and He can do anything so with Him and his guidance we can see and do the impossible.  No dream is too small, silly, stupid, unreachable if it is what God has planned for your life.  Who am I to say no my kid can't become the best reader in her homeschool group because she has something called a "learning disability".  Who am I to say my husband can't be one of the most amazing photographers that I have seen!  Who am I to say that all of our children can't become highschool graduates and go to college.  Who am I to say we can't become free of debt.  Who am I to say anything against a dream that another might have!

FUNDAY SUNDAY:
God told me to finish the project he told me to do after that convention a few years ago.  He told me to create a Dream Wall like Sheri had talked about.  He wanted me to make one and teach our family how to live out our God given potential and dreams.  BUT WHAT DID I DO-I answered like the Pharaoh and said "eh, I'll get to that tomorrow."  That choice to be disobedient caused the growth to be stunted in our family.  Which in turn meant that we all missed out on what could have been experienced those last few years.  NO MORE TOMORROWS.  No more holding on to the past or avoiding it.  We stopped at the Home Depot on the way home from church and got the paint and came straight home and created a beautiful Dream Wall that we now can sit down and start living out.

 "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do!!!" (Ephesians 2:10)

Don't live in your yesterdays.  Tomorrow never truly gets here.  Today is all your are guaranteed.  Teach your family how to believe and live in their Dreams.

This is our family's new Dream Wall.  Yours could be different.  I wanted something to hang on a wall we could all see and not have to put up.  

Sometimes a BREAK in not just a "want" it is a "need"!!!!

My Ideal Wants:

• At least 1 completed blog a day!
• Home-school completed above our goal NOT under.
• Spic and Span House
• No arguing with the kids
• Bible study done EVERYDAY
• Menu posted weekly
• Naps taken
• Workouts done and my calories to not be over for once.
• Break from life.

My Realistic Needs:

• Quiet time with Jesus EVERYDAY and sometimes ALL DAY
• Home-school done as the individual need of the child was that day NOT what my planner says their need is for the day or week or month.
• Tidy house but not necessarily ready for a military inspection
• Food on our plates for the day and understood that if I can get a menu planned that will help that happen with the result of a less stressed dinner.  (Having a menu helps me breath because it is something a don't have to add to my to-do list every day-just has to been scheduled 1 day)
• Naps are sometimes just a luxury for my day.... not always a need.
• Workouts are extremely beneficial for my mental health-but I had to realize that it just is not always going to be able to "work out" every day on certain weeks.
• Now to tackle NO arguing with the kids...... well that is where my QUIET TIME with Jesus comes in as my #1 NEED!!!  If I can set my heart and mind in the right place to START my day then it makes FINISHING my day with at least a bit more peace more REALISTIC. I can NOT do it without Him.
• Breaks are definitely needed-but let us remember it should not be used as a justification for you QUITTING something that God wants you to do.

So bottom line:  I took a much NEEDED break from a lot of MY to-do list and made more time for GOD's to-do list lately.  Yes, there has still been running around like crazy and days with many things I felt unfinished.  BUT, with that said, the overwhelming feeling that life was winning with drowning me in it's everyday nonsense has slowly been melting away.  It's amazing what happens when we actually set back and let our Dad come in a direct, isn't it? lol

Challenge for the weekend:  Take a break from life's to-do's and make more time for God's to-do's for you. And yes, this may mean you have to miss something on your calendar.... or you may have to say NO to something you really think you need done.... Ask Him to guide what your real needs are for you AND your family.  Maybe you are right where he wants you.... Maybe you need to use that big fat sharpie to scratch some things off your list though instead.

"But SEEK FIRST His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.  Therefore do NOT be ANXIOUS for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own."  Matthew 6:33-34 NSAB

Thank you Jesus for these wise words for us all today.  Your way is the way of hope and peace for all of our future.  We love you and thank you for your words of wisdom and guidance in our life! Amen.

It's all about the follow through...

Hey everyone!  Wow this week was a BUSY one!!! I wish I had an easier way to post for you all!  I am going to have to spend today updating EVERYTHING for you all!  This week I didn't get to accomplish as much as I had PLANNED.  This morning I woke up to look at my planner and it was closed and the title really caught my attention "A Well Planned Day"... ha.

It's awesome to have a plan for your day or life, but a "plan" is NOTHING without the FOLLOW THROUGH. You can plan your menus, schedule, events, activities, doctors appointments and more..... You can fit whatever you find important into your schedule.... What is your #1 thing on your daily "To Do"?

Going from Public School events to the not so eventful Homeschooling

So as most of you know, we have been homeschooling for the last 2 years.  At first it was fine because we were going and going and going.  The girls were running around like crazy and loving the new schedule!  Well, now just a couple years in it seems like we are going, going, going but not really enjoying the kind of busyness that it is.  Holidays come around and then kids biggest thing this year was they missed the CLASS PARTIES!

AMAZING DINNER for the ALL types of eaters!!!

I don't know about your household, but our household is filled with a bunch a different types of tastes in food.  Sometimes I feel like a short order cook.  This last menu I made my goal was to come up with meals that we could all eat but maybe in different ways.

Tonights dinner was AWESOME!!! Southwestern Chopped Chicken Salad from an awesome site called "Greens and Chocolate"!!! YOU HAVE TO TRY THIS ONE!

BREAKFAST HEALTHY FIX and so YUM

Shocker- I was on Pinterest again last week. Okay, now that that's out in the open I will carry on to tell you about my new favorite breakfast quick fix and the site I found it on!  This is a PERFECT on-the-go meal for you working mamas or just really busy ones!  This is also something great for kid's breakfast to get away from everyday cereal!  We LOVE them!