In times of trouble we can sometimes forget to trust in the Lord. We tend to make our own plans and don't always trust in Him like we should. This song is a great reminder.

Trust And Obey


1.           When we walk with the Lord

in the light of his word, 
 what a glory he sheds on our way! 
 While we do his good will, 
 he abides with us still, 
 and with all who will trust and obey. 

Refrain:
 Trust and obey, for there's no other way 
 to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. 

2. Not a burden we bear, 
 not a sorrow we share, 
 but our toil he doth richly repay; 
 not a grief or a loss, 
 not a frown or a cross, 
 but is blest if we trust and obey. 

Refrain:
 Trust and obey, for there's no other way 
 to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. 

3. But we never can prove 
 the delights of his love 
 until all on the altar we lay; 
 for the favor he shows, 
 for the joy he bestows, 
 are for them who will trust and obey.

Refrain:
 Trust and obey, for there's no other way 
 to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. 
 

4. Then in fellowship sweet 
 we will sit at his feet, 
 or we'll walk by his side in the way; 
 what he says we will do, 
 where he sends we will go; 
 never fear, only trust and obey. 
 
        Refrain:
 Trust and obey, for there's no other way 
 to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. 

Once I find something I like, I tend to keep making it until I find something else I love.  I had these at Christmas, but just now tried to make them myself.  I love them and eat way too many, so I can't make them too much!

Vanilla Peanut Butter Crackers

1 pkg. CANDIQUICK
1/2 box Ritz crackers
1 jar peanut butter


First you make peanut butter crackers


 Then you melt the CANDIQUICK in a pot


 Then you dip the crackers in the vanilla in the pot


 Place the dipped crackers on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper


Put the cookie sheet in the fridge or freezer for about 5 minutes

Then enjoy! 

Sometimes life gets so busy with taking care of my children, my husband, and the household chores, that I forget to take care of myself.  Even worse, there are times when I don't spend time with God's Word like I should.  I find that reading a devotional can give me encouragement at the times I need it the most.

Moments For Mum is a collection of 61 daily devotions written by Narelle Nettelbeck of Australia.  Each devotion is only about a page to a page and a half long, so it's really easy to find time to read.  I really love the way that Narelle opens up about her struggles and her joys.  Each day she shares a story on such topics as our children, anger, trust, love, jealousy, priorities, and so much more. 

I know it's supposed to be read as a daily devotional, but sometimes I find myself reading more than one.  It's kind of like she's talking to me.  I love that it's written by another mother who has been through a lot of the same things as I have.  Narelle also includes scripture relating to each day's message.


 Narelle is a busy wife and mother to two boys.  You can find her online at her blog Moments For Mum.  I am encouraged each time I visit there.  You can also buy her book there and at Amazon and  Revival Nation Publishing.

Would you like a chance to win a copy of Moments For Mum?  Narelle is giving away a copy to one of my readers! There are 5 ways to enter:

• Leave a comment on this post.
• Follow me on Google Friend Connect for an extra entry.
• Follow me on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway for an extra entry.
• Put my button on your sidebar for an extra entry.
• Blog about this giveaway for 2 extra entries.

Please leave a separate comment for each entry.  Giveaway will end Thursday night February 4th at midnight.  Good luck!

Thanks Narelle for giving me a copy and also offering to give a copy to one of my readers!  You are the best!

My friend Colleen at Mommie Daze has started a campaign to make Superbowl Sunday National Man Day.  Go check out a vlog she did to drum up support for it here.  She has some great reasons!  If you haven't visited her blog yet, be sure to do so.  I always enjoy my visits there.

My husband only watches football maybe once a year, on Superbowl Sunday.  Strange, huh?  So this would be a great day to celebrate him!  My husband is into Nascar and motorcycles and anything that goes fast. So he can't wait for Nascar to start back up around the same time as the Superbowl.

I have definitely been counting my blessings lately. So, when I came upon this song, I thought it was very fitting for today, even though I haven't heard it in a long time.

Count Your Blessings

1. When upon life’s billows you are tempest-tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings; name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.2. Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings; ev’ry doubt will fly,
And you will be singing as the days go by.[Chorus]
Count your blessings;
Name them one by one.
Count your blessings;
See what God hath done.
Count your blessings;
Name them one by one.
Count your many blessings;
See what God hath done.3. When you look at others with their lands and gold,
Think that Christ has promised you his wealth untold.
Count your many blessings; money cannot buy
Your reward in heaven nor your home on high.[Chorus]
Count your blessings;
Name them one by one.
Count your blessings;
See what God hath done.
Count your blessings;
Name them one by one.
Count your many blessings;
See what God hath done.4. So amid the conflict, whether great or small,
Do not be discouraged; God is over all.
Count your many blessings; angels will attend,
Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.

[Chorus]
Count your blessings;
Name them one by one.
Count your blessings;
See what God hath done.
Count your blessings;
Name them one by one.
Count your many blessings;
See what God hath done.

 Around lunch time yesterday,  I started reading The Raven Saint by M.L. Tyndall.  Once I started, I couldn't put it down!  Well, except to chase a 2 year old every once in a while, lol!  Since I couldn't stop reading, I was offline all day.  That never happens!

The Raven Saint is the third book in the Charles Towne Belles series.  This one is about Grace Wescott, who has spent her life serving God by helping the less fortunate.  On one such trip to deliver medicine, she is kidnapped by a French mercenary who is planning on selling her to a Spanish Don in Colombia.  Grace sees this as an opportunity to try and spread God's word to those on board the ship where she is being held hostage.

On her quest to change others, Grace faces the realization that she needs to change  also.  Sure she was always helping others, but she was also looking down on them and judging them.  She has to realize it's not her place to judge others, only to help.

Grace ends up falling for the same Captain who kidnapped her.  He has his own demons to face and wants nothing to do with the pious Grace until he realizes she could be the one.  The one who would love him and not hurt him.  There is trouble on the sea, though, and Grace is kidnapped once again by someone far worse than the Captain.

I have read the whole series and each time I think the next book can't be as good as the last.  But, each time, I have been wrong.  I believe this was the best of the three since I couldn't stop reading.  I love them all because each one has a different heroine and hero.  The lessons learned in each book are very different also.  I highly recommend The Raven Saint and can't wait to read another book by M.L. Tyndall. 

I was sent The Raven Saint in exchange for review by M.L. Tyndall.

 I know y'all have probably heard me mention that my van broke down a couple months ago.  My husband tried and tried to fix it, but there was always something else wrong with it.  He finally gave up because we didn't have the money to fix one thing after another.

It was around that time my husband asked my cousin what he was doing with a car that he owned that was broken down and they weren't using.  My cousin told him we could have the car since they had a van now.  The car is actually newer than my van or my hubby's truck.

So, for the past few months, my husband has been doing a little at a time to try and fix the Neon.  He has replaced the water pump, timing belt, and all the other belts.  We spent around $200 altogether, and last Friday we were finally able to put it on the road.  We still have a few minor things to fix, but we can drive it now!

It is so awesome to be able to go somewhere as a family again.  My husband's truck only seats 3, so we couldn't really go anywhere together.  I am so thankful that the Lord helped my husband to fix the car!  He is so good to us!

One Day At A Time

I'm only human, I'm just a woman.
Help me believe in what I could be
And all that I am.
Show me the stairway, I have to climb.
Lord for my sake, teach me to take
One day at a time.

Chorus:
One day at a time sweet Jesus
That's all I'm asking from you.
Just give me the strength
To do everyday what I have to do.
Yesterday's gone sweet Jesus
And tomorrow may never be mine.
Lord help me today, show me the way
One day at a time.

Do you remember, when you walked among men?
Well Jesus you know if you're looking below
It's worse now, than then.
Cheating and stealing, violence and crime
So for my sake, teach me to take
One day at a time.

Chorus:
One day at a time sweet Jesus
That's all I'm asking from you.
Just give me the strength
To do everyday what I have to do.
Yesterday's gone sweet Jesus
And tomorrow may never be mine.
Lord help me today, show me the way
One day at a time.

 I know everyone knows about the 7.0 earthquake that struck the nation of Haiti this week. I wasn't planning on posting about this, but after seeing the images on MSNBC, I felt led to try and help. We don't really have any money to give right now, so I thought there was nothing I could do. But, after reading on Crystal's site, I decided I could help.  She and her husband are giving $10 for every person who links a post to her blog about how they are personally helping the people of Haiti.  That is so generous of them!

I've been praying for the people there ever since it happened.  It doesn't seem like enough after seeing those images.  I found out today, I could donate my Swagbucks and they would then convert those donations into a cash donation to these organizations:

* American Red Cross
* Doctors Without Borders
* Yele.org (Wyclef Jean's relief effort)

When I told my son and husband about being able to donate their swagbucks, they both told me to donate all the swagbucks that are in their accounts.  It was then that I felt so selfish!  I was planning on only donating a portion of my swagbucks, as I was going to  trade some in for Amazon gift cards today.  I decided if my son and husband could give so freely, I should too!  So I am donating all 102 of my swagbucks.  My son gave his 29 up and my husband gave all 39 of his.  So, we are donating 170 total.  I know it's not much, but every little bit helps.

If you want to see how other bloggers are helping visit Money Saving Mom.

I was tagged by Narelle from Moments for Mum to post 10 things that make me happy.  If you haven't visited Narelle yet, you are missing out!  She is a published author of a devotional book for mothers and her blog is very encouraging also!

1.  God - Because without him where would I be?

2.  My husband - He works hard so I can stay home with our children.

3.  My kids - They make me laugh!

4.  My chickens - It is so fun to watch them peck around the yard.

5.  My blogging buddies - I love visiting y'all and reading your blogs!

6.  My laptop - I love being able to visit with y'all while sitting in my recliner.

7.  My friends (Mark and Barbara) - They lift me up when I am down and still like me when I'm crazy!

8.  My cousins (Kenneth and Cora) - They treat me like I'm their daughter.

9.  My chihuahua - Bear is so sweet, I love cuddling with him!

10. My home - I am so happy to be able to live in the country.

If you would like to play along, let me know in the comments, so I can see what makes you happy!

We had another death in our family, another cousin.  It's weird, I saw him on Tuesday at my other cousin's funeral and he was fine, then he died on Thursday.  You just never know when it's your time.  That is why I hope each of you know Jesus as your Savior, so that even if I don't get to meet you down here, we can meet one day in Heaven!

His Eye Is On The Sparrow

1. Why should I feel discouraged? 
 Why should the shadows come? 
 Why should my heart be lonely 
 and long for heaven and home, 
 When Jesus is my portion? 
 My constant friend is he: 
 His eye is on the sparrow, 
 and I know he watches me. 

Refrain: 
 I sing because I'm happy, 
 I sing because I'm free, 
 for his eye is on the sparrow, 
 and I know he watches me. 

2. "Let not your heart be troubled," 
 his tender word I hear, 
 and resting on his goodness, 
 I lose my doubts and fears; 
 though by the path he leadeth 
 but one step I may see: 
 His eye is on the sparrow, 
 and I know he watches me. 
 (Refrain)

3. Whenever I am tempted, 
 whenever clouds arise, 
 when song gives place to sighing, 
 when hope within me dies; 
 I draw the closer to him, 
 from care he sets me free: 
 His eye is on the sparrow, 
 and I know he watches me. 
 (Refrain)

I mentioned before that I was adopted by an older couple when I was a baby.  Therefore, a lot of my cousins are much older than I am.  My cousin's husband died on New Year's day, he was 77.  However, he had a stroke 27 years ago and lost the use of half of his body.  He was confined to a wheelchair and his speech wasn't clear anymore, but she always knew what he was trying to say.

For all these years my cousin had taken care of her husband.  I never remember hearing her complain at all.  She took him to church every Sunday.  At the funeral on Tuesday, her preacher told a funny story.  He said my cousin was on her way to her church in the pouring rain, but decided it might be too dangerous to continue.  She pulled in at the first church she came to, and worshiped there.  It was his church that she stopped at, and she has been going there ever since.

She has been a very strong woman throughout the past 27 years.  She never once stopped going to church, she never stopped taking her husband everywhere he wanted to go.  They still came down to SC to visit family as much as possible.  She took him to tent revivals that lasted weeks and would be there faithfully.  Her husband died last Friday and she was still in church come Sunday morning.

As I sit there in the funeral and thought about how faithful she had been to her husband and how she never lost faith in God, I wondered, could I do that?  I don't think I am that strong.  It doesn't take much for me to not go to church on Sunday morning now, let it pour down rain, and I might not go.  If I had to get a wheelchair out and put my husband in it, then load the chair up again, would I do it?  Or would I just use it as an excuse and stay home? 

I am in awe of everything my cousin did for 27 years.  I was only 12 when it happened, so I guess I never gave it much thought until the other day.  She has shown so much courage and faith and I only hope that I could do half of what she has done.  She is really an inspiration! 

The other day while cleaning out our big closet beside the master bathroom, I found a Halloween costume with a lot of holes in it.  I looked further and I saw mouse poo!  We had a mouse in the house, and not a cute one like Mickey Mouse!


I was a little scared to keep looking, not wanting to meet the mouse face to face.  I waited on my husband to get home from work, so he could help me.  We had the closet almost all the way cleaned out when I saw the mouse run to the other side of the closet.  I screamed and he ran back the other way.  My husband kept pulling things out and handed me a box.  I looked in the box and the mouse looked right back at me.  I screamed again and threw the box back at my husband.  The mouse ran out of the box while I screamed some more.  He started to run out of the closet when my husband trapped him with the box.  We didn't find any more mice after that.


Our next problem was to find out where the mouse came in the house.  There were no holes in either of the closets.  We have a big garden tub in our bathroom and I had been feeling cool air coming out around the edges.  When we pulled a panel off, we saw this huge hole pictured above!  We bought our home a little over 2 years ago, and I guess this hole has been there ever since then!  I can't believe they didn't cover that up!  That really explains why our room is the coldest one in the house.


We knew we needed to cover that hole if we wanted to be rid of any more mice.  My husband found some hardware cloth and nailed it down over the hole.  Then he covered it with that expanding foam to seal any cracks.  It doesn't look pretty, but it should keep the mice out.  I feel lots better about sleeping in there now!

My son is in 7th grade right now.  So I have a couple years before I have to worry about high school.  However, it's been one of the things I worry most about homeschooling a teen.  I have fears about not being able to teach him as well as he should be taught and exactly what to teach as far as requirements go.  I have been lucky enough to have been sent the Knowledge Quest: Upper Level Homeschool Course by Terri Johnson to help me out with all these questions I have.

This is a 13 week course that takes you through all the steps needed to successfully teach your teenager during the high school years.  At the end of each lesson you are given some homework to do.  For example the first lesson is about learning the requirements for your state and planning a 4 year course of study.  So, for that week you find out the updated requirements for your state and make a course of study for your teen. 

The course goes over such things as different ways to earn high school credits, what to do if you need help teaching a subject, all about transcripts, and SAT/ACT testing for your high school student.  They also cover such topics as CLEP testing, which is something I had never heard of and financial aid for college.

This has been extremely helpful for me.  I really need the step by step directions that are in the Knowledge Quest: Upper Level Homeschool course.  I am feeling more confident about teaching through high school now that I know the steps to take. 

Knowledge Quest: Upper Level Homeschool course is $45, which isn't bad for something that will help guide you for four years.  I think this course would be great for parents who are feeling a little unsure about homeschooling through high school. 

I was sent this course for free by Terri Johnson and Knowledge Quest in association with Mama Bzz in exchange for a review of the product.

We all need to lift up our voices in praise, just like this song says.

Come, Christians, Join to Sing

Come, Christians, join to sing
Alleluia! Amen!
Loud praise to Christ our King;
Alleluia! Amen!
Let all, with heart and voice,
Before His throne rejoice;
Praise is His gracious choice.
Alleluia! Amen!

Come, lift your hearts on high,
Alleluia! Amen!
Let praises fill the sky;
Alleluia! Amen!
He is our Guide and Friend;
To us He'll condescend;
His love shall never end.
Alleluia! Amen!

Praise yet our Christ again,
Alleluia! Amen!
Life shall not end the strain;
Alleluia! Amen!
On heaven's blissful shore,
His goodness we'll adore,
Singing forevermore,
"Alleluia! Amen!"

I hope y'all have a wonderful Sunday!