Author Archives: By Quiet Waters

Goals for February 17-22

17 Monday Feb 2014

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Last week I posted my goals for the week and found that it was much simpler than using the spiral notebook.  While the list was a little out of sight and out of mind at times, I wasn’t carrying it around and continually adding to it.  That is something I had been doing that was adding to my frustration.  The list was never complete because I was adding to it and copying it every few days as the page became full!

Home Environment
Read 5 chapters of Love Does aloud. Read a picture book each day with my granddaughter.
Write a love note to Ben.
Clean the dresser top in our bedroom.
Celebrate Valentine’s Day with our daughters (day full of good food, fun movie in the evening)

Personal Growth
Finish memorizing Romans 12:1, 2, continue working on Ephesians 6:1-8
Walk 3 miles this week.  Start back up on crunches & pushups
Finish reading Undaunted, Say GoodBye to Survival Mode and Alone, Yet Not Alone.
Work on knitting project

Ministry Goals

Prepare and test Perfectly Unique lesson plans
Take 5 photographs & edit them
Email 2 encouraging messages, write & mail 3 cards of encouragement or gratitude

Household Business
Finish Gathering Tax Paperwork
Submit receipts to Health Savings Account
Find a replacement for my current INR testing site
Find & Download the driver for our printer to the new laptop, was able to use the cd to put the drivers on our new laptop with Windows 7.  But I now need to see if there is a driver download for Windows 8


Goals for February 17-22.

I refined the goals just a little.  During the fullness of the week I realized that reading aloud 5 chapters is a stretch, the same with the picture books.


Home Environment
Read 3 chapters of Love Does aloud. Read with my granddaughter.
Write a love note.
Clean all of the filters and drains

Personal Growth
Continue working on memorizing Ephesians 6:1-8
3 Days of Cardio.  Start back up on crunches,pushups
Read Rich in Years, Call of the Klondike, 5 Conversations You Must Have with Your Daughter, and Where There Was No Church
Work on knitting project

Ministry Goals

Work on Perfectly Unique lesson series
Take 5 photographs, edit & process
Write 3 notes, emails of encouragement or gratitude

Household Business
Finish Gathering Tax Paperwork, submit to accountant
Scan in final receipts for HSA reimbursement
Find a replacement for my current INR testing site
Find printer driver for Windows 8

Say GoodBye, and Restore

17 Monday Feb 2014

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As a reader of Money Saving Mom, the blog by Crystal Paine for several years, I have been encouraged and challenged in my pursuit of a purposeful life.  It was a joy to receive Crystal’s newest book, Say Goodbye to Survival Mode, 9 Simple Strategies to Stress Less, Sleep More, and Restore Your Passion For Life.

It is interesting how the book arrived in the mail shortly before the weekend away my husband had planned for me and him.  At that time I was definitely operating in survival mode, and that time away was deeply needed.

Like some of what the author suggests in chapters 1 (Stop Trying to Do It All) and 9 (Sometimes It Is About You) that get away gave my husband and I time to decompress, reconnect and have some great “unplugged” time away from kids and to do lists.

The book is broke down into 10 chapters that repeat and expand on the wisdom Crystal has shared on her blog over the years.  She extends grace to the reader and encourages the reader to extend grace to herself.  We can’t do it all, and we can live a rich purposeful life, wherever we find ourselves on this life journey.

Much of what I found in the book has been said on MoneySavingMom.com over the years, but it is a great resource to have that wisdom and encouragement gathered into print.  This is a book that will go on the reference shelf in our family library.

The publisher, Nelson Books has provided mewith a complimentary copy of this book  through BookLook Bloggers

No Fear

12 Wednesday Feb 2014

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First John 4:17-19

17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. 19 We love Him because He first loved us.

This past year with each event that has come and gone, there has been the absence of a familiar companion.  This constant companion wasn’t even missed for a little while.  But because of the tight hold by which the companion had gripped my mind and heart for several decades, the freedom I have been experiencing has been unmistakable.  

Light and excitement have flooded areas that had cowered in fear and darkness for a very long time.  I’ve been telling my husband over and over “I am not afraid.”  Only he knows how significant it is for me to say this.  That sweet guy has stood by me, trying to reassure me, praying over me for all our years together.

While reading the book “Undaunted” by Catherine Caine I had one of those moments where it all makes sense.  She quotes a portion of First John 4:17-19 and I see it.


 “There is no fear in love; but perfect love cast out fear, because fear involves torment.”

Fear involves torment…

The Love of God has set me free from the torment of fear.

Do you struggle with fear?  Can I pray for you?  Leave a comment, or feel free to email me.

This Day, February 11, 2014

11 Tuesday Feb 2014

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FOR TODAY
Outside my window…another foggy frosty morning.  I sure am looking forward to the sunshine and warmer weather forecasted for later in the week

I am thinking…how the teaching we received this past weekend at our marriage retreat applies to all the relationships in our home
I am thankful…for my husband.  For the strong arm he put around me, that felt like a shelter, during what used to be a very difficult topic for me
In the kitchen…the remnants of the weekend’s untouched food, as we were all absent or busy
I am going…to (in)RL 2014, or at least registered and planning to.  I got so nervous after registering and finding a local meet up, that I clicked off the page before joining the meetup!
I am wondering…where our family is going to end up as this season comes to a close.  My beloved has worked away from home, renting homes and apartments where my name isn’t on the lease, for several years.  This weekend we were asked to “put a stake in the ground” for our marriage.  My stake in the ground was named “under the same roof”.
I am reading…Say Good Bye to Survival Mode by Crystal Paine, Undaunted by Christine Caine, The Art of Marriage by Family Life Ministries,Perfectly Unique by Annie Downs,and  Love Does by Bob Goff
I am hoping… That the lessons I learned this weekend on hospitality, kindness and service take root in my heart and in the hearts of my children
I am looking forward to…Co-op classes! And Valentine’s Day.  I have a different menu planned from our traditional one and am looking for a movie to watch that deviates from the same one for the last 10 years (Lady and the Tramp).  Any suggestions for a good chick flick that is clean and pure?
Around the house…quiet as my daughters work on their school lessons.  And tidiness.  The 2 who were home all weekend while the rest of us were away cleaned several rooms!
A favorite quote for today…”To be able to look forward to a lifelong, thriving marriage, you must have a clear understanding of the gospel.  Without it, you cannot see God, yourself, or your marriage for what they truly are.  The gospel is the fountain of a thriving marriage.”  Dave Harvey, from When Sinners Say “I Do
A picture from this weekend…

linking with other daybookers

Goals for February 11-15

10 Monday Feb 2014

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Seeking balance between margin and productivity has been more like a pendulum swing.  So I’ve taken the outline of Money Saving Mom’s weekly goal list and made a list of my own, putting into the list a couple of refreshing “love to do” activities.

Home Environment
Read 5 chapters of Love Does aloud. Read a picture book each day with my granddaughter.
Write a love note to Ben.
Clean the dresser top in our bedroom.
Celebrate Valentine’s Day with our daughters (day full of good food, fun movie in the evening)

Personal Growth
Finish memorizing Romans 12:1, 2, continue working on Ephesians 6:1-8
Walk 3 miles this week.  Start back up on crunches & pushups
Finish reading Undaunted, Say GoodBye to Survival Mode and Alone, Yet Not Alone.
Work on fingerless gloves

Ministry Goals

Prepare and test Perfectly Unique lesson plans
Take 5 photographs & edit them
Email 2 encouraging messages, write & mail 3 cards of encouragement or gratitude

Household Business
Finish Gathering Tax Paperwork
Submit receipts to Health Savings Account
Find a replacement for my current INR testing site
Find & Download the driver for our printer to the new laptop

This is just a test, to see if posting my goals where I can see them, but not having the spiral notebook in my purse or on my desk all the time, helps me to keep an atmosphere of “balance”.

For a Set Time

05 Wednesday Feb 2014

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Job 14:13-15

New King James Version

13 “Oh, that You would hide me in the grave,

That You would conceal me until Your wrath is past,

That You would appoint me a set time, and remember me!

14 If a man dies, shall he live again?

All the days of my hard service I will wait,

Till my change comes.

15 You shall call, and I will answer You;

You shall desire the work of Your hands.

What blessed hope, all the heaviness, darkness and troubles that press in against us will pass.  One can hide in the shelter of the Most High and wait it out.

Psalm 91:1

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

Last school year we used “The Shelter” copywork book and Scripture memory cards that we made to memorize Psalm 91.  I continued to be amazed at how having the passage tucked in my heart and mind continues to reveal more and more the love of God toward me, and that pushes fear further away.

Daybook, February 4

04 Tuesday Feb 2014

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FOR TODAY
Outside my window…a dark night, with few stars
I am thinking…how blessed I am by the fellowship between my daughters and Sophie.  They are creating wonderful background noise of laughter and chatter while I work
I am thankful…for my Beloved.  He has planned many details into the weekend getaway this next weekend
In the kitchen… chocolate chip cookies.  I struck a deal with the fun loving girls, they washed dinner dishes and I made cookies
I am creating…a new story quilt design
I am going…Student Orientation is planned for our co-op for tomorrow, but the forecast is calling for another dumping of snow over night and all through tomorrow.  So we’ll have to wait and see if we get to go to Student Orientation (and see lots of friends) or we get to go sledding yet again with Sophie
I am wondering…where I saved the piece I wrote yesterday morning.  I’ve looked all through my external hard drive and haven’t found it
I am reading…Undaunted, Say Goodbye to Survival Mode
I am hoping…that it does snow big, but clears out for the all the travel that is scheduled for Thursday.  Builder is flying home.  Sophie and the other exchange students are to fly out to California
I am looking forward to…a weekend away from to do lists, cell phones and laptops, and being with just my Beloved
Around the house… glow sticks (for hide & seek in the dark) uno cards, and children
A favorite quote for today… “Discipline is remembering what you want.” David Campbell as quoted in Say Goodbye to Survival Mode by Crystal Paine (aka Money Saving Mom)
A picture…

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Hidden Falls, an episode story

04 Tuesday Feb 2014

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There is a new trend in story writing.  Episode stories, like a weekly TV series, ending each week with a little suspense to draw you back again the next week.

Hidden Falls by Olivia Newport and released by Barbour Books is one such book. It will only be released in e-book form, and is available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

I was emailed the first episode in January and enjoyed reading the story while waiting for my daughter at an orthodontist appointment.  The story was enjoyable and I am curious about how it will carry on, but I am not sure I like the idea of paying each week to read the next chapter or “episode”.  If there are 13 episodes at $1.99 each (that’s the number I found on amazon), we are looking at roughly $26.00 per complete story.

You can download the first episode here for free.  I would love to hear how others feel about “episode” books.

The ebook was provided to me by Handlebar Publishing in exchange for my honest opinion.

Snow Day Fun!

31 Friday Jan 2014

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This Moment, an answer to prayer and a delight to mom and kids alike!

Our sweet exchange student arrived late Sunday night with snow sputtering just a bit.  Tuesday morning there was enough snow on the streets to cause a 2 hour delay.  Today we woke to enough snow for a SNOW DAY for the exchange students, although the regular students have an online instruction day.

These three cuties headed to the park and 2 hours later I had to drag them home to eat and dry off.  What a treat to have a rare Colorado snow day where there is enough to really play in, and have our newest friend here to enjoy it with us.

Linking with Soulemama