Wow today is the day!  

You can now purchase Messy Beautiful Love by Darlene Schacht!!


Titus 2 Tuesday are all about growing closer to God and follow the plan he has laid out for our life as wives, mothers, and women.  Darlene's new book does just that!

As a member of her launch team, I had a chance to preview the book and let me tell you it's real, raw, and life changing.  Darlene takes an open honest look at marriage, sharing with her readers details of her real life struggles.  

As I dug through her book....her story
I found myself compelled to look at my own marriage...

am I living my life with the purpose assigned to it by God?? 

"To love our husbands, raise our children with intent, and manage our homes well.  In doing so, we strengthen the bond of marriage and glorify God (Schact)."

One glance at that sentence and I realize NO!!
But Darlene's book isn't focused on shaming you into being the wife and mother God intended you to be.  It's about helping you grow and pursue the woman God has designed you to be.  She opens her heart and pours out personal examples of struggles she has faced in her marriage to help you learn 3 things...
1. You are not alone in your struggles (no matter how horrific you think they are)
2. God called YOU for YOUR FAMILY (no one else can do His will for your family)
3. Prayer is vital! (Seek God at every opportunity)

Darlene ends the book with 31 ways to pray for our husbands & a challenge.
Now I challenge you...do you want to strengthen your marriage and grower closer to the Lord??
If so, take a moment....purchase the book...READ IT!!!  And then come back and share how it has affected your life & your marriage!!

Or better yet you can win a copy!!


a Rafflecopter giveaway
Until we meet again....God bless you & keep you :)

Caci

We got married on one of the hottest days in July of 2005.  

In Georgia no less.

Which my bridesmaids loved 

(they were all wearing full length black gowns :)   

We had an afternoon thunderstorm 

which created some humidity to say the least.

But it was an amazing day full of family, friends, and fun.  

I am so amazed that God created someone so loving, patient and kind.  

 Fast forward a few years, kids, and cars later.

I am more in love with him now than I was then.

He has taught me so much over the years.

And the amount of grace and love he has shown me could float Noah's ark again. 

Statistics show that most people drop their New Year's resolutions within 30 days!  

So basically we don't even finish the month of January before we throw our hands in the air.  

I, for one, can completely understand why.

It's cold outside and all I want to do is sit on the couch and watch "Bones" on Netflix,

which by the way I think I have now successfully replaced "Transformers" and "Superman" with "Bones" as most watched....I'm sure Wyatt will remedy that soon and cuddle these two kiddos.

Anyways this year I have set 14 goals for myself.  I didn't necessarily lay out a plan for how to accomplish each on but I'm working on them daily.  So let's check in and see how it's going.

1. Pray about EVERYTHING!

This is a huge commitment for me.  Please don't get me wrong I pray regularly, daily, some days hourly however I don't think I have ever taken everything to God in prayer.  I'm trying.

2. Study Scripture Daily

I'm not able to spend an hour each day in God's word.  I would love to spend HOURS each day but that's not practical, however I am immersed in His word daily.  

3. Tithe 1st, not last.

I do all my budgeting with Excel and I have redesigned our 2014 spreadsheet with tithing 1st.  Now to lots of folks that's not a big deal however to me it's huge because where you fall in the spreadsheet is how it comes out of my account.  So right off the top my tithes are accounted for and checks written.  

4. Memorize 12 verses of Scripture.

I have already began working on this.  My first verse is 1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."  

5. Organize my life

This is going to be a difficult journey however I have been working towards it by working on completing my Home Management Binder (future post), dusting off my calendar, and setting up my notebook.  I have even gone paperless for some bills and started scheduling payments based on my budget. 

6. Declutter our house

Umm...does mopping the bathroom floor count as decluttering??  I haven't really tackled this one yet.  This month's room is the bathroom.  I have been pinning some great ideas on how to better organize our 1 bath however there hasn't been much clutter busting.  This is a one room or area/month goal so I still have 25 days to accomplish this!

7.  Set a daily schedule and stick to it..

Yeah, no...really need to set that schedule so I have an idea of what to stick to :) 

8. Pay off Debt.

I do have our budgeting done based on our current salaries for the 1st 1/2 of the year.  By June 1st we should have paid off a large chunk of our debts and be able to pay extra monthly on the remainder all the while putting money in savings!

9. Put at least $1000 in savings for a rainy day

Like I mentioned above we are working on this through budgeting at the moment and we are on track to be 1/2 to our goal by June 1st.  

10. Put $200 extra into each boy's savings account

I have been confounded about how to do this without just handing money over to our sons.  Obviously the baby can't "earn" his money yet so we will just be padding his account but our oldest can "work" for his.  We are researching the best way to do this.  If you have any suggestions please let us know!  I don't want it attached to chores as we believe those jobs are part of being a family and helping out...not something you get paid for.  

11. Do a family outing once a month

This might be harder than I originally thought however we are still working on it.  We haven't done one yet this month but plenty of time to still to fit it in. 

12. Exercise 3 times/week (include the boys)

So in 6 days I believe I can count 3 that were exercise if I can count rolling out bales of hay and feeding square bales as exercise.  I have logged one formal day of exercise as well.  Wyatt and I have a workout date schedule for when I get off the 8-5.  

13. Go on a date night (just William & I) once a month

I still have 25 days to make this happen right??  

14. Post 60 blog post.

Have 2 down and 58 more to go :) I do have a few things up my sleeves and a couple already schedule.  I'm excited about this!  Plus my new favorite app is Flipagram!! Here's one I made about the farm :) 

So there you have it...I've made it 6 days and haven't completely shredded the list yet.  

Caci

Faithful Fridays are a new addition to the blog this year!  I thought it might be great once a week to post on how I am trying to remain faithful to God.  This post keeps me accountable for my daily time with God.  It also gives me a chance at least once a week to focus on the blessings God has bestowed upon our family.  Some weeks that is much harder than others!!

So how have my faith based goals gone the first 11 days in the new year??

Goal 1: was to memorize 24 verses of scripture.  I am still working on my 1st verse of the year but will be adding number 2 next week!  I do have the basics of the verse hidden in my heart and will continue to work on it.  I have found myself turning to my index card binder often over the past 11 days to remind myself of the verse and to go before the Lord in prayer.  

Goal 2: was to spend more time in prayer and allow God to guide me.  I feel that I haven't spent nearly as much time in prayer  as I would have liked.  I need to be more dedicated and purposeful with my prayer time.  I catch myself praying throughout the day about little things but I feel that I also need to set aside some quiet time morning, noon, and night to do some focused prayer time.  As far as letting God guide me...well there are many times when I am not sure if I am doing my will or God's.  I try to make sure that what I am doing is pleasing to the Lord and that I am looking to him in all aspects of life not just in the big stuff.  I want to make sure that I am living my life for him all the time not just when it's easy.  I think my biggest struggle here is deals with finances.  It's hard to give up control to God and know that he will provide for our needs.  

Goal 3: was to read through the entire Bible in a year.  This one has been a little difficult as it requires you to set aside time each day to read between 4-5 chapters of the Bible.  I have gotten behind a couple of times but I am happy to say that currently I am caught up and have completely read the book of Ezra!  1 book down and 65 to go!  The weekends seem to be the hardest for me as we don't have a structured day on the weekends.  

In addition to these goals I also spend other times with the Lord.  I was blessed this week to get together with my WIC group on Wednesday night for a good girls night.  We enjoy a meal together, pray together, and study God's word.  We are working through Beth Moore's "David, Seeking a Heart Like His."  I have really enjoyed this study.  God has used this study to guide me in many ways!  I also really enjoy just spending time with the ladies in my group.  The majority of us are all in the same stage in life...we are 30ish, married, with kids and have full time jobs.  We do have ladies in our group who don't fit that description and I think that it's great!  Those ladies offer us a different insight into how God's word works in their life.  Many times we are so caught up in ours we forget that the same scripture may work differently in one life than the other...but the idea is the same...God is working in their life!  

Next week my Good Morning Girls group starts their study in Luke!  I am very excited for this study.  It's an 8 week study.  I am leading a Facebook group through the study.  I have tried this before and it worked out ok but I lost motivation because other's in the group weren't interacting.  I pray that the new group helps to keep up my motivation!  

I also try to work a little each day on vacation Bible school (VBS).  I do this so that I don't feel overwhelmed later in the year, which this year is even more important as we are expecting baby #2 in March.  I am happy to say we have dates set, starting to line up volunteers, and working on set design already!

So right now my typical day includes multiple small burst of time with the Lord.  I am thankful for the time I can spend with him alone but I also enjoy the time I spend with him and my family and friends.  Each type of interaction with the Lord blesses us greatly.  

Oh and by the way...I have to say HAPPY NATIONAL MILK DAY

So take a moment and let me know how are your faith based new year's goal going?  

Caci