Sale!!!! At Vision Forum

Vision Forum is having an amazing sale.

Large Family Logistics for $10.80 and Joyfully At Home for $3.60. (Joyfully At Home is only on sale today, 3/28 for that price)

Click here to see what else is on sale, over 400 + items.

I just love a sale!

Blessings, Tracylea

Let Him Lead

Hello sweet girlfriends. I pray this wonderful spring day is productive and God pleasing for you. This morning I was reading some of my favorite blogs and came across this one at Women Living Well. Mmm, mmm, that Courtney is right on.~!

Give your husband room and time to mature. Pray for his leadership rather than criticize it. Take note when he does do something right. Your husband is in a place of inescapable leadership. That is a tremendous burden to carry. Lighten his load, step back and let your husband lead.~ Women Living Well Blog

Do you have a mental checklist? I sure did. My husband is reserved and quiet by nature and I am loud and demanding, lol. We are complete opposites, as the Lord knew, and therefore our styles of living life are different.

Over the years I have learned, often the hard way, to respect my husbands leadership by using my personality to lighten his load not to cause him burdens. This did not come easy and I don't always do it right. But through much trail and many errors I have learned the the role of leadership in our home is not one I want, nor am equipped, to have. And I praise our Lord for that.

The Lord created us to be different. Your husband was created to be the leader in your home, you were created to be his helpmeet. Do you have a mental list? If you do, pray about it, seek God's word, learn your role and throw the list out. Sit down with you husband and see how you can help him most today. Pray for him, pray for yourself. Praise God for making your husband who he is.

Ladies, let you husband lead, that is what he was created to do.

Blessings, Tracylea

Easy Peasy Table Decorations for Spring

This one you will always see at my home. It is one of my favorites. This is a ball jar kerosene light with a place-mat helper. The light gives a soft warm glow to the room on a cloudy day or in the evening. It makes your room feel so homey!

Easy ideas for spring decorations for your table! This one is a scarf and a canister. Each purchased for a quarter at a rummage sale.


Just a sweet table runner from Target, on clearance for Christmas, and a mason jar with wooden spoons. Less than $3.00 for all three.


A $5.00 flower will brighten any table. This is a bargain tablecloth, a place-mat and a hyacinth. Total for this is $10.00, a bit high for me.

This is a tablecloth and two cake stands topped on each other with the flower just sitting pretty on top. These cake stands are antiques found at antique stores. I have done this for parties and put cupcakes on the plates or even a cake. Food can really make a pretty table decoration!

Just a basic flower and place-mat. This can be done with a nice napkin or piece of cloth.

The easiest one of all. This just makes my kitchen look cherry all by itself, doesn't it look clean too? Wonder what is going on behind the camera, lol? I always open my back blinds but for the pictures had to shut them to help with the picture quality.

I hope you enjoyed a look into my home.

Blessings, Tracylea

Circling The Wagons

circle the wagons :

To take a defensive position; become defensive.

We are circling the wagons at our place this week. What does that involve you ask? Well it sure doesn't meant to be defensive as the above definition shows. But it does mean to defend. Last night DH and I talked about bringing the family in, circling the wagons as such. For the last 6 or so months it seems we are going in 100 different directions, some of them good most of them not so good. We have become busy, short sighted and we are all lacking drive. Our service to the Lord is slowing and we are getting luke warm, and we all know that aint good! Actually I am getting down right discouraged and that just isn't normal for me.

So then what is this circling the wagons all about, you ask? Well we are going to start today with some home cleaning and organizing. I already have a large bag ready for the thrift store. We are going to eat every meal this week at home, make from scratch and made by mom. No more eating out every day, sometimes twice a day. We aren't going to go, just to go, this week, we are staying home. We are going to sit as a family each night and study His word, we will discuss it until we are done, not until something comes up. We are going to spend time as a family and enjoy this wonderful world the Lord has provided. Home is going to be our center, and we are staying there.

The world can come in to our lives in many ways: tv, computer, reading, friends, family, church, work, clubs. This week we are going to take a step back and stop the world from leaking in. We are going to defend our camp, we are going to take a defensive position for our home.

What about you sweet friend, is it time to circle the wagons at your place? Take a look around: are people arguing, is your home out of sorts, are you and dh simply passing in the night, was dinner last night, and the night before and so on fast food? Is your bible getting dusty? Hmmm, might be time.

Blessings, Tracylea

Bible reading for 3/19/11

Isaiah 5:20-21 (King James Version)

²⁰Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

²¹Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!

Helping or hurting?

John 5:19 (King James Version)

¹⁹Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.

My spiritual gift is the gift of encouragement. I am drawn to encourage, lift-up and praise. I cannot help myself. One of the side effects of this gift is the need to help; solve problems, loan money and give time I don't have. Lately I have been reading alot about "helping" others. And I have learned that I need to determine, with prayer, weather I am really helping or getting in God's way. Am I assuming I am the only "one" who can help when I know God is truly the only one to help. He may and can use me, but He is the giver of all help. I must seek His will.

In most situations before I would go ahead and give, and give. But lately I have stepped back and prayed and prayed. Seeking Gods will in these things. And you know what, it is working. I no longer go stumbling in where God is disciplining or helping a person grow. I feel good and encouraged about my helping. All this by simply seeking the Lords will. Easy!

Blessings, Tracylea

Facebook break update~~~!

Hello and good day dear sweet friends. I wanted to stop in and give a quick update on my facebook "break". Things are going great. Many thought I had broken it when my last blog showed up, but my blogs automatically post to facebook. So, still going strong. I did want to add a funny, we also are without cable this week. Not a good idea to loose two media sources in one week. But I am doing grand, and feel like I am getting alot more done. Which means...........facebook may be gone for good. Someone suggested that I may want to block facebook from comments, mean and nasty people everywhere. And I think I am going to, if you have the desire to contact me please do here at A Mother's Apron or on my yahoo group A Mother's Apron or via e-mail.



Blessings sweet friends! Tracylea

Facebook

Proverbs 25:28

²⁸He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.

Remember the good old days when you never heard of the word facebook? I used to get it confused with my space and call it myface or spacebook~! Oh the good old days.......... Well this week my dear husband asked me to take a break from Facebook. And it has been hard, really hard. I think I am addicted. But I am doing it (Well not until I caved after 24 hours the first time.) But really it should be ok, right?...Right?....RIGHT????!



We all have our things we really enjoy. Things we just can't live without. But a social media site really should not be one of them. I am embarrassed to admit, even to you dear friends, how often in a day I get on to check things out. I am embarrassed to admit the number of things, INCLUDING COOKIES, that I have burned "playing" on facebook. It is terribly embarrassing to tell you of my total lack of self-control in this area.




Sisters am I preaching to the choir about this? Do you have a little harmless addiction that you could stand to take a break from? Then I want to encourage you to do just that. Ask this one question, "Am I honoring God with my time?"




I think dear husband has it right. This week I am going to step back and see how truly addicted to facebook I am. Can I live a healthy, God honoring life without it. We will see. I imagine I can, but at this point I am that fool in Proverbs 25:28 and have no rule over my own spirit and my city is getting broken down or in our case my cookies are getting burned.

Blessings, Tracylea

(Update: for those of you who see my post via facebook, no I haven't already broken down, this automatically post there!)

Shocking or not

Hello sweet ladies. I pray your day is going right. We are doing our house keeping today, so I thought I would take a little break and stop by.

I don't know how many of you were able to catch the morning news show that "highlighted" a guest who decided to leave her family and walk away from being a mom. I did and I was shocked, not so much by her selfishness, but by the justification and support she is receiving. Have we really come to this in our society? A mother abandoning her God given responsibilities to pursue her own selfish goals, applauded and supported on national television?

You can see the interview at Your Sacred Calling . Mrs. McDonald sums up my thoughts on this situation with more elegance than I can muster at this time.

Ladies, you are given a Biblical mandate in Titus 2:5. A life "description". Varying from this mandate will only cause you shame and unhappiness. Use this lady as an example to remove the plank from our own eye. Do not let society determine your value, let the Lord.


Blessings, Tracylea