Home Chapel part 1

Say what??

A HOME CHAPEL?

Yes.

So, this is something that I have wanted to do for a while now. Our downstairs is one of the messiest parts of our home and I hate going down there. Why?

Well, our rec (recreation) room is always chaotic, thanks to the numerous bits of toys and books which we try so hard to keep organized and stored away in our "toy library" (something I have to post about later). From the rec room to the laundry room is a narrow hallway that is so narrow, that even a hair band on the floor is, trip'able on. It also stores our deep freeze, so I have no choice but to brave this area of the house. Ugh!

Our laundry room, which has the best system in the world (also something I will post about on a later date), collects shreds of random paper crafts, among other annoying stick-to-the-sock bits, how on earth... I don't know?? I need to figure something out as soon as possible! Needless to say, the downstairs is a cold, unwelcoming place which I will tackle soon.

I have thought through and tried numerous ways to make the rec room more inviting, practical, spacious, soothing and restful. I have always failed. Whatever we try, fails. It ends up being "trashed" by the kids and we have to face the agonizing task of cleaning it up every Thursday, to welcome our children's piano teacher on the Friday. Gah!

No thanks!

But, ahha! Then it dawned on me, Simon has daily devotions with our children at least once or twice a day! Usually we have morning Bible study around the breakfast table and prayer time in our living room. What if, we had a room purposely designated for something great. I mean REAALLY great? What else could be greater than coming together in worship, learn about and pray to our God?! Jesus in the midst of us!

Could I really contemplate turning our messy TV room into a "chapel" with couches and lounge chairs for future Bible studies (women's breakfast or our church's youth gatherings) , our morning and post dinner devotionals? Would this room hold our precious prayer box and hymn books? Could we Youtube our favourite worship songs with lyrics on the TV and actually have a gathering in the middle of the week? Why, yes we can!

Why was I second guessing myself? What would people think?

Who cares! This will be amazing, I just know it.

So then I asked myself, what does a church outside of church look like? Does it need an altar of some kind, a cross, seating (preferably comfy), access to Bibles and prayer boxes. How, where? We already have our piano and guitars downstairs, so music will be sorted!

Where will I get the cross from?

Obviously I won't be buying it since I've already made a commitment with Simon to be frugal,  and a cross is not in the budget. So.....

You guessed it (or did you??), I made it!

This post is part 1 because I have not transformed the rec room into our "chapel" yet. Keep posted by subscribing and you'll see what the finished product will look like in part 2, -the BIG reveal!

Simon was so kind to cut out the cross for me from a sheet of Styrofoam which we had several pieces left over from my previous craft session (will blog later, too).

I found some gold adhesive to cover the Styrofoam with. Not easy, that's what duct tape is for. In Finnish we call duct-tape "Jesus tape" because it can do miracles. How fitting!

Next, I added burlap to dim down the shining gold. After all, we didn't want it to resemble the "golden calf". Just kidding. The glue gun was my best friend.

Now the fun begins.

Gluing the flowers. This was tricky. I didn't want to cover the cross completely with flowers, but I had so much I wanted to use!

I stuck with white flowers to resemble His righteousness. Purity. Holy. The red resembles the blood he shed for us, giving us new life. 

The gold that shimmers through the burlap, resembles the "golden city" and crown that awaits for us. The burlap resembles the humility and meekness that we need to put on, and let the gold (Jesus' light) shine through. 

Finished product, but not at it's final destination.

Click on the photo to view larger.

In part 2, I will show you the before and after pictures of our renewed and re purposed room.

Stay tuned!!!

Don't forget to visit my YouTube channel to see my vlog on this project (up soon!)

Managing Your Home Part 3

A little while ago I wrote this:

..."Organizing your home is quite the task. It takes a super mom to herd her little monkeys and get everyone and her home in order at all times. This, however is unrealistic and will only bring frustration and disappointment to those mothers who thrive on this.

But there is hope for us all, even for me as I write this in the midst of a chaotic moment in my home. I write down lists for my kids of chores that need to be completed before we begin our day. "Build the home, before we play in it" is somewhat what we are after. Well, I have my eldest back chatting and rebelling, my daughter in cloud 9 dreaming of butterflies and singing, and my littlest one, causing havoc as she trots along. Not the haven, I was hoping for.

I put KLOVE on for motivational music, to help us focus and plug in, only to find out it's just adding to the chaos. I really am starting to feel hopeless now, how does anyone teach their children to contribute to the family life"...

And now, finally! 

We're done scheduling for now! It took some time, figuring it all out because no day in the week is the same for us. But we're done for now. We're on trial mode right now, just to see how well the master schedule will work out and I already have a feeling, that I'll be doing a few minor changes here and there, but all in all, I'll say it again - We're I'm DONE!

Here's an example of a day during our week. Oh yes, I went to dollar store and purchased 7 frames and some magnetic strip to minimize our fridge clutter. It looks nicer...

I've noticed better behavior in the kids and especially in me, holy moly, less of that tensed up wicked witchiness! The kids have been back chatting less, and it seems that they cannot argue with a schedule on the wall, but they can argue with me. If it's written, it goes and I've noticed an attitude change in them, I really have.

We get bible time each morning, and it can last from 15 to 30 minutes. I'm using this book with them, and we're enjoying it. The kids sit still, even our youngest who is 2 and these lessons lead to some deep conversations and it has really helped us bond. It gives a good start to the mornings and focuses our attention to the one who gives us time. Jesus. 

I must admit, I'm more flexible than maybe some other mothers are, using this method, and it's ok. Sometimes we decide to do other stuff instead of what's on the list, however, I've still noticed that everything gets done and we have plenty of rest too. It takes practice and consistency to create a new habit, a new schedule. We'll get there, I know it!

Another thing I have noticed is that the kids argue and bicker less. One, they don't get too bored and end up in each others faces, and two, I have the time to teach and take the time to guide them when I see a problem arising. I also believe that our bible time in the mornings places our hearts in a way that our minds are tuned with doing what is right. This is my opinion.

One thing I like about colour coding the schedule is, that my middle child doesn't yet know how to read, but by knowing the theme of the colours, she memorizes them quickly.

More on Organizing your home and scheduling HERE!

More on Fun With Kids HERE

More on Managing Your Home HERE

What are your tricks for keeping on top of things, or semi? :)

Routine -How It's Done (currently)

This is how I manage homeschool, housework and "us/me" time etc. 

2014 we will be focusing more on the heart issues rather than on how much we can achieve. Instead of reading a ton of books, we'll absorb in fewer books, fully. Instead of quantity in school, relationships, food -it'll be quality.

Is that me, or what!

And, that's okay. 

So, I'm back making schedules. I'm okay if this schedule works out for 12 weeks... I mean well, I'll aim high and I will be content with the outcome.

(( To be honest, I probably won't be attending the 6 a.m. Hot Yoga. I might do some Pilates at home, if I feel overwhelmed with my plan. Tuesday mornings is ladies bible study anyhooo :))

For those who are wondering,

L.A: Language Arts

Loru Piiri etc: Finnish Language Studies

Piiri: Circle Time

Jump: Daycare at the gym

S.T: Social Studies

TKD: Taekwondo

Ecclesiastes 3:1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven; 

Sometimes our studies are stretched out throughout the day, so my intentions here are, that they are "done" by noon.  For those who do not homeschool, and are wondering why homeschool days are so "short" -have a read HERE! And many more answers to your questions!

Just for some inspiration and guidance,

Luke 10:38-42

New International Version (NIV)

At the Home of Martha and Mary

³⁸ As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. ³⁹ She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. ⁴⁰ But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
⁴¹ “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, ⁴² but few things are needed—or indeed only one.^[a] Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

I repeat : "it will NOT be taken away from her!"

How We Got Out of Debt - Why and How We Manage Our Finances

My husband and I have not been brought up with a healthy relationship with money. We have both had "bad" role models on financial stewardship, but life isn't always so black and white. We were never taught to save, and money burned a hole in our pockets. If we had it, we spent it. If we wanted to buy something and didn't have the money for it, we simply borrowed or took loans for them. Some home items were bought on a monthly payment system, thankfully in Finland, but they too add up on bill day (The price tag doesn't change)! Anyhow, it seemed like our intentions were good, we tried to save up, but those savings too were spent eventually. We seemed to be eating our future paychecks and the pay was gone before we ever got to see it. We always tithed 10% regardless of our financial situation.

It wasn't until we moved to another continent that we were really put to the test. Money was sparse, we had a few maxed out credit cards (nothing major) that needed paying off and we were visiting the food bank on a regular basis. Our faith was put to the test. We even contemplated halving what we tithed until things settled a bit.

God was teaching us to trust in His timing with things that we wanted and needed. He taught us that His way would free us from our debts and loans. We watched the Financial Freedom Seminar (20h, 1h x 20 days) by Embassy Institute, in the evenings while the kids were sleeping. God showed us a lot, not just what the Bible says about finances, but also on other areas too. One major thing that I took with me was, "if you're moving in the right direction, it will be blessed", God blesses the right road. So my husband and I put that all to the test, what was there to lose?? First, we started to tithe from our first fruits, before tax. Secondly we made a promise to buy anything on credit. Thirdly, we aimed to pay off our debts and loans before we made any new purchases.

 We really needed a car. We didn't have money to buy a car and certainly not for another 5 years if we were to pay our debts off first and then pay the car in cash! Well, like I said -God DOES bless the right direction.

We had a few temptations along the way, to deal with the matter ourselves. One was increased credit on our credit cards. I had a letter and an email that said all I had to do is dial this number and press "9" for instant credit. Oooh that was tempting, especially because I wanted all our bills in one country (it would've saved us hundreds of over seas fee) which some of us know as "debt consolidation". But we were determined and we did recognize it as an attack, something good was coming and we were not going to blow it by accepting "worldly" ways. I'm so glad I deleted and threw that letter in the bin. Why?

Because, a few months later, while we had our taxes done and wishing for only enough to cover the service fee, God blessed our direction. We got enough taxes back to cover all the credit card bills and loans in Finland, and the sending fee -to the penny. Not kidding. It's true. It didn't make sense, and it didn't have to. We knew, it was all God!

So this is how we manage our finances. No living off credit. We have credit cards to pay for things that can only be paid by credit. If you can't afford it in cash, you can't afford it on VISA either. We will save up for everything. If we can't afford it there and then, then we don't buy it. We don't lend money, we give -if God puts that on our hearts. We tithe from our first fruits, not our seconds. We put some into savings, what ever we can on any given month. Our food budget is higher for a good reason. Quality over Quantity. Organic over Contaminated and so on... We are working on the savings part, we are still learning.

How did we purchase our very first car a few months later? Read all about it, here

My Top 10 #2

1. Shellac nail polish. I really like this stuff! I can't really afford or manage acrylic nails, so this technique really gives me a lasting polish, SHINE and it keeps my nails strong.
2. Frozen Cherries (COSTCO). I love eating these sweet delicious cherries, especially when I start craving for sweeties at night, or late in the evening.
3. Woolly socks. It's autumn, rainy, cold...
4. Juicer. After watching THIS with my hubby, we both went on a two weeks cleanse. We took this time to fast and break the unhealthy eating habits we had created. This was a great way to "kick start" our liver and kidneys and clean our tubes. We give our cars a good service once a year, why not our bodies?
5. The Shelter of God's Promises, Bible Study by Sheila Walsh
6. Hemp Hearts, the nutty omegas! On my salads, in my porridge, on my fruit and veg, in my smoothies...
7. Liver Sausage. Reminiscing my childhood and Finland. I'm home sick.
8. Herbal Medicine and Remedies, from my kitchen! I have been a busy bee, in my kitchen making "arthritis"salves, lip balms, herbal body scrubs, fruity body scrubs, "tummy-soothing" tea, nursing tea, "hot flushes and night sweats" tea, varicose vein gels, and cold feet oil. I am attending Christmas markets to sell.
9. Genesis 1:29 and 2:9 " Through a testimony of life change and challenges, Nutritional Therapist and mother of 3, Cathy Rose will talk about how to improve your health and vitality through better food choices, and deeper nutritional knowledge. In addition, Cathy will help you build a tool box of recipes, ideas and tips in order to expand your understanding and enhance your health for not only you, but for your children and whole family.
   Cathy will discuss topics such as:
   - raw food and other remedies
   - benefits of organic
   - vitamins and enzymes in food
   - food choices today"                                                                                                                            I gave a talk on this and I'm looking forward to many more coming my way. All glory to God!
10. Women's Ministry. I'm really enjoying this season of life right now, where I am able to attend a few Bible studies and ladies events at church. It's soul food. I'm blessed! 

Click here to see my Top 10 #1