Everyday Life

Happiness is Simple

Happiness is simple.

Maybe I should say it like this instead-Simple makes me happy.

Simplicity makes me happy.

I am not saying that happiness is easy. (But it definitely isn’t as hard as people make it)

I am saying that keeping things simple is a key to my happiness.

I can say this as a fact:

I AM TRULY HAPPY

It’s that simple! Or maybe I’m simple (okay I know, enough of the word play with the word simple)

I am happy!

Definition:Happy-characterized by or indicative of pleasure, contentment, or joy.

I am content, I am joyful, I love my life!

I am grateful!

Happiness is a choice, it is not a destination. I decide that I am going to be happy and it’s not some place that I am going, it is right where I am.

I FIND JOY WHERE I AM.

That is what brings me contentment.

I find real joy in the everyday. Simple things. Not in material worldly things like what the commercials on TV tell me I need to be happy, but in the amazing beauty of the gifts that my God has given me.

First and foremost, the gift of salvation. I have the gift of eternal life because my Savior died for my sins.

My husband.

My marriage.

My children.

My family.

I am surrounded by things that make me happy. That brings me joy. I take the time to appreciate them and that is another key to my happiness.

Something else that I find joy in that makes me happy is- sharing it with others.

That can be done in many ways. Some as simple as just smiling at someone while I’m out and about or telling my kids a goofy joke(I have a lot of them). But I feel that I share it the best in my photography.

No, I am not a professional photographer, I am just a simple county gal who sees beauty in the world around me and I try to capture that to share with others. Most of the pictures I share here on the blog I took on our farm. The picture below I took over looking our farm, I finally found the perfect quote to describe it and that makes me happy.

Perfect isn’t it?

Don’t get me wrong my life isn’t perfect, no one’s is, but it is perfect for me.

I choose to roll with the punches, to find blessing in everything and

I choose to be happy.

I am not perfect, I am perfectly imperfect and I am perfectly happy.

Isn’t that simple?

I’ve Been Planted

I AM BURIED. SURROUNDED BY DARKNESS.

It has been the longest winter. Cold, dreary, mundane. It is the time of year that we are stuck inside. The sun seems to be hiding and the wind chills you to the bone.

Cold, dark, depressing.

I AM COVERED IN DIRT. I FEEL IT’S WEIGHT ON EVERY SIDE.

As we are stuck inside in this cold, grey weather it is easy to contemplate all that we feel is going wrong in life. We feel the pressure of this world envelop us.Everything seems so much harder in the cold. We are dirty and exhausted from our daily struggle. It is the weight of this world.

I AM TRAPPED, STUCK IN THIS HOLE OF DIRT.

Will this winter ever end? The cold? The sicknesses? Will I see the sun soon? The winter is so long! I need to get outside! Feel the sun on my face and the warm breeze through my hair. I am restless. I am ready to burst out of this cold and darkness. I am ready to see the sun. To grow. And not just to survive but to THRIVE.

I will push through this dark season.

IT IS RAINING. I FEEL THE WARMTH OF THE SUN ON THE SOIL.

When I feel the darkness and cold of this world I know where to turn.

I turn towards the SON!

When I feel as I am stuck, weary or just had a bad day, I know where I can revive my soul.

I go to the Bible. I read and study God’s promises, linger in His presence and learn of His love for me.

It warms my heart and nourishes my soul.

I AM BREAKING THROUGH.

Instead of letting this long, cold winter bring me down, I will use my time stuck inside to study His word and reflect on all of the blessings He has provided. I will not contemplate on what is going wrong, but I will rejoice and be grateful for what is going right. I will break through.

I AM GROWING AND READY TO BLOOM.

I am me. I have had a season of struggle, but it has not defined me.

I am not one to stay in the dark, stuck inside to drown in my sorrows. I always see the bright side, I always have faith and hope. I know there will be hard times but I also know that the good times will outnumber the bad times.

I will raise my hands and give all GLORY and PRAISE to my God who is always with me and who will always rescue me from any pit that I may fall in.

No matter what.

I WILL BLOOM.

I will bloom. And when others see His beauty and love in me I hope it plants a seed in their heart that will grow into a desire for a closer relationship to Him-our Redeemer, our Savior, our God.

Grow with me!

Have you been planted? Did you think you were buried in the darkness?

Join me as I grow.

Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. I want to use the next 40 days to grow my relationship with Jesus.

Every day until Easter I am going to spend time in His word and reflect on all He has done for me. How I can be more like Him and how I can share His message of Salvation with others.

Will you join me?

The Random Sock Drawer

Up early ✔️

Fixed your family a big nutritious Sunday breakfast ✔️

Cleaned up all the mess and have stuff prepped for dinner✔️

Got showered and ready in record time✔️

Ready to walk out the door✔️

Do you ever have that fleeting moment when you feel like you finally seem to have it altogether?

All your ducks in a row.

You have been working so hard on organizing around the house, everything is falling into place. Even your mornings seem to be going smoother.

You are feeling great!

It is gonna be a great day!

You feel a smile come across your face, you hold your head a little higher.

You are ready to take on the world.

And then…..

you try to get your family ready for church.

Now, somehow although you asked the kids to start getting ready an hour ago they are still in their pajamas, eating their second breakfast.

When you give them “the look” they can’t understand what they did wrong and after a calm but to the point motivational speech they begrudgingly….. head….. upstairs…… as…. slow…… as……. humanly…… possible.

Now that they have hiked up Mt. Everest (or at least that is how they make it sound by all the complaining), no one can find anything they need to get ready.

You (thought) you were pretty much caught up on laundry. And by caught up I mean washed, dried and actually put away. But somehow no one can seem to find that one thing that they wanted to wear today.

You now feel like YOUR HEAD IS GOING TO EXPLODE.

It is 10 minutes until you have to leave to make it to church and now there is no way that you are going to make it on time.

You start to raise your voice.

Why can we never be on time for anything?– you yell.

Your mind is racing about all they things that you could have done to ensure that you left on time but you didn’t.

I think, I mean you think-

Why can’t I be like those perfect moms who really do have it altogether?

You run back downstairs to find your purse and your keys while they are finishing getting ready.

Then one of them yells down- “I can’t find any socks.”.

That is it.

It is time to throw in the towel.

Why? Why? Why?

You feel defeated.

I will NEVER be that perfect mom– you mumble to yourself as you stomp back up the stairs.

And then you remember,

How could you forget?

THE RANDOM SOCK DRAWER

Socks had been the enemy for way too long. They never seemed to match up, they would disappear and reappear without a match. So much time was spent trying to perfectly match every pair. Just like your mom did. Just like those “perfect moms” probably do.

Until last week.

You changed the game.

Ok, enough of this “you”. By now you all know that it is me.

I changed the game.

If I can’t find a matching pair of socks right away they go in the random sock drawer.

Yep, not matched and not folded.

Not perfect.

The random sock drawer.

And that random sock drawer just (figuratively) hit me in the face.

As I got to the top of the stairs I asked “If you can’t find a matching pair, did you look in the random sock drawer?”.

“Just did. Found some. Thanks mom. I’m ready.” I heard.

Well, I guess that is one thing that I did right, or at least it made this morning a little easier.

Sometimes I guess it is ok to not be perfect. -I think to myself.

And that is when it hit me.

I’m not perfect and I never will be.

And that is okay.

Actually- I really don’t want to be one of those “perfect moms” (Do they really even exist?).

I am imperfect in so many ways.

But it is who I am and I know that God, my husband and children love me just the way I am.

Flaws and all.

I just need to give myself more grace. I will always be a work in progress.

I just need to find the balance between perfection and grace, one day at a time.

I am perfectly imperfect and I love that.

I guess it is the beauty of being me.

There is no real beauty without some slight imperfection

-James Salter

We did make it to church.

A little late but we made it.

And, I didn’t walk in looking down in embarrassment for being late (again) this time.

I walked in with a smile on my face, with my head held high because I am happy to be me, flaws and all.

Imperfect as I am, I know that I am welcome there. Actually, I always have been no matter how late I show up or how much of a mess I am.

How is it that the random sock drawer taught me so much?

Letting go of perfection.

Giving grace.

Picking up pieces and moving forward towards God. The way I am. Perfectly Imperfect. And loved for it.

Does that sound familiar?

Isn’t that what being a Christian is about?

We are not perfect. But God loves us anyway. He forgives and gives grace.

He loves us no matter what. No matter how imperfect we are.

Christians are not perfect, just forgiven.

And church isn’t a museum for saints but a hospital for sinners.

Have you ever thought about it that way?

Isn’t it funny or ironic (or whatever you want to call it) that my random sock drawer triggered all of these thoughts for me?

Or, is it not ironic or a coincidence- but God talking to me in my perfectly imperfect world?

Home

Home.

Is there any better word?

But, Home is so much more than just a word. Isn’t it?

It is a feeling, a sense of belonging.

Actually it is hard to use other words to properly explain or express what it is.

If you have read my past few blogs you will know that in the past year my family moved across the country for my husband’s work. We left our farm, our home, something that we never thought we would do. It is only a temporary move. We are very fortunate and are able to keep our farm while we are away and we plan on moving back home permanently as soon as possible.

Today we are traveling home to our farm and it has me thinking about everything that home is to me and trying to put my feelings into words.

As much as I feel that I can’t adequately put it into words, I’m gonna give it a shot.

Home is…

Where your family is

Where your heart is at peace and where your soul finds rest

A place where you are free to be you, the unedited you

But it is more than a place-

It is a feeling-the feeling of relief when you get there after a long absence

The longing and feeling that something is missing when you are away.

It feels like the sunshine on your face on warm summer day

The feeling of your bare feet in the grass on the cool ground for the first time in the spring (and every time after)

It just feels right.

It is part of you

You are part of it.

It is exactly what you need.

It is exactly what I need.

The Only Thing That Stays The Same is That Everything Changes

Have you ever just had one of those days?

No, I mean weeks?

Ok, really it has been one of those months.

You know what I’m talking about. The kind that you don’t know where it went but you really don’t have anything to show for it and you can’t even recall what you did.

Yeah, that’s where I’m at.

I would like to tell you that I was very productive last month and organized my whole house, made an amazing dinner every night for my family and was a all around SuperMom but that isn’t the case.

I have been the good enough to get by Mom.

Everyone and everything (for the most part) has been taken care of but I haven’t been my usual optimistic-I see the good and beauty in everything-I can take on the world-woman warrior self.

Actually I haven’t been a warrior at all, actually I’ve been more of a worrier.

You see at the end of April I was hit with some news that is life changing. When I say hit, I really mean knocked over and I’m still trying to get up. It is not anything bad, actually it is something good, but it definitely will be life changing.

My husband got a promotion (I could honestly go on and on about how proud I am of him but he is very humble and doesn’t like it when I brag about him). He called to tell me and I was so happy and proud of him I was starting to cry, and then he told me- We will have to move. He will be working out of the company’s corporate office in Denver.

After the long pause, he assured me that it will only be short term, possibly a year or two. We will keep our farm and return as soon as we can.

When I was finally able to speak I told him how proud I am of him and that as long as we are together we can get through anything, wherever he and the kids are is home.

That has been over a month ago now and it is still sinking in.

We don’t want to move.

I really don’t want to move.

We have everything we could ever want here at our little piece of Heaven.

Our family and our farm is my life.

It is part of who I am.

I am The Perfectly Imperfect FARM Wife!

I truly feel that my life has been turned upside down.

BUT…

I am the Wife and the Mama.

And I understand what a great privilege and responsibility that is.

I know that how I react to this change will set the tone for how my family will deal with it.

I can feel sorry for myself and be difficult about it or I can embrace it and look at it as the next adventure and make the best of it.

I choose to do the later because it is what is best for my family.

It will be an adventure.

I know that God has a reason for this. I don’t know what it is yet, but I will put my trust in Him and I will thank and praise Him for this opportunity.

I never thought I would leave the beautiful hills of West Virginia. Blue and Gold run through my veins and no matter where I am I know that Once a Mountaineer, Always a Mountaineer. One day (hopefully sooner than later) these country roads will lead me home to the place I belong.

After a few weeks of internal conflict and a roller coaster of emotions I have came to the realization that just because we are moving across the country and leaving our farm for now I don’t have to change who I am.

I will still be The Perfectly Imperfect Farm Wife.

We will be living in a suburb of Denver but that doesn’t mean that I have to change.

It will be different, but that doesn’t change who I am.

I am and always will be

a child of God saved by His amazing grace

a wife to the most amazing man

a mama to the best kids in the world

and the manager of my blessings from God.

I choose to embrace this adventure and have faith that God’s will be done.

I will be a warrior not a worrier!

Crockpot Lasagna

Happy Monday 😁

It’s time for the Meal Planning Monday Recipe! Crockpot Lasagna- I serve with a salad and garlic bread. It is a family favorite and sooooo easy!

I always use crockpot liners when I use my crockpot and it makes clean up a breeze!

Here is the recipe:

Crockpot Lasagna

1 lb. ground beef

1 large jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce (approx. 30oz)

8 oz pkg. lasagna noodles, uncooked

4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

15 oz ricotta cheese

Directions

1. Spray the inside of the crock-pot with cooking spray

2. Brown the ground beef

3. Stir the spaghetti sauce in with the ground beef

4. Spread 1/4 of the meat sauce on the bottom of the crock-pot

5. Arrange 1/3 of the uncooked noodles over the sauce (I usually break them up so they fit better)

6. Combine the cheeses in a bowl. Spoon 1/3 of the cheeses over the noodles.

7. Repeat these layers twice

8. Top with remaining sauce

9. Cover and cook on low for 4hrs

10. Let the lasagna stand in the crock-pot with the lid off for at least 10 minutes

If April showers bring May flowers, what does April snow bring?

If April showers bring May flowers, what does April snow bring?

Is this a joke????

No, if I remember it correctly the joke went like this:

If April showers bring May flowers, what do May flowers bring?

Pilgrims!

It didn’t say anything about snow in April. It is supposed to be spring. Sunny warm days. Not cold snowy ones! And definitely not on the first day of spring break!

Today is the first day of my children’s spring break. They go to a private Christian school so their schedule is different than our local county’s schools who are back in school this week. The county schools had a 2 hour delay so far today (to early to know if it is canceled yet) so they get to sleep in a little. My children on the other hand got up anticipating the first day of spring break and the looked out the window, saw snow and frowned.

Well, while it is disappointing to wake up to snow when you are expecting spring, it will definitely make us appreciate the spring weather when it does show up.Whenever that will be. And I sure hope it’s soon. It has been a long winter.

I guess if I like the warmer weather I should go farther south 🙂

Visit not move 😉

I could never leave the beautiful mountains of my home state.Even if the weather is crazy at times.It is where my heart sings while I’m here and when I’m gone my soul aches for it.

It truly is Almost Heaven!

Well back to my original question.If April showers bring May flowers, what does April snow bring? I think I just may have figured out the answer.

It brings grateful heart when spring does arrive.

Making Beauty From The Scraps

Making Beauty From The Scraps

I should have know that something was up.

Through out last week both of my children kept asking to help feed the horses, muck the stalls, clean the barn-anything that gave them some time in the barn. I thought they were enjoying the spring weather or just being out of the house.

I was wrong, they were not out there enjoying spring.

They were both out there up to something else.

Sometimes they were together, other times just one of them.

They were working hard.

It was a labor of love.

I’m not sure when they finished it.

But, I was presented with the beautiful, precious gift today. The day after Good Friday and the day before Easter.

My heart was bursting with thankfulness and love. My eyes teared up. I was (believe it or not) speechless.

And here it is❤️

It is a masterpiece and fills my heart in so many ways.

My children made this from scraps that they found around the farm.

Pieces that were broken, no good, of no use. So they were thrown away.

But my children made those broken, useless pieces into something beautiful.

Something beautiful that represents The One who takes the broken, the no good, the ones thought to be useless, worthless and He makes them beautiful.

What an amazing expression of love!

They took those scraps and built the symbol of my Savior. The cross that He died on for my sins and yours. The very symbol that takes my broken undeserving worldly ways-my sins, away. It takes them and turns it in to beautiful loving forgiveness- an amazing grace.

What an amazing gift of love- a symbol of the greatest act of love.

“Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” 1 Corinthians 15:3b-4

Because He died for our sins we are a made new. We were broken, sinful, no good and He makes us in to something beautiful.

He died for you. For the forgiveness of your sins. Because He loves you.

Do you know this amazing grace? The unending Love of our Savior? Have you asked Him in to your heart and given Him your sins, your brokenness?

He will make beauty from the scraps.

To learn more you can visit:

https://peacewithgod.net/