Extreme Couponing

Have you seen TLC's new series called Extreme Couponing? I heard about it and was finally able to watch several episodes yesterday. I do think they are going to need a follow on show on how to use all those items purchased. For those who may not be aware of the concept, people collect massive amounts of coupons and after many hours of careful planning head to their grocery store and get tons of products for huge savings! In some cases they save 98% of their bill. We're talking about getting 46 containers of mustard and when you see their stockpiles, it is absolutely unbelievable!

So I got to thinking, what if I tried to concepts to at least save money on our usual grocery bill? It would help to have several of a product, but not 46! As my mind kept thinking and my family was discussing, what if we applied some of the principles for the purpose of feeding our community or filling the shelves of our local food pantries? I know I can't use 46 mustards, but I suspect they'd be gone in a week at our food pantries.

It also has me thinking about Lisa Downing's retreat session. She is a couponer and has wanted to start a coupon ministry at our church. I know I don't need the diaper coupons in my Sunday paper, but I suspect there are some of you who would love to have them.

So ladies, what do you think? What would you like? Would you want to have a coupon ministry where you could bring coupons you won't use to get some you will use? Could we help each other when we spot a great deal at a local market and a corresponding coupon? I doubt any of us has the 20-30+ hours that the Extreme Coupon participants do to plan, but what if we helped each other? And more importantly how could we impact our community without taking much money from our already tight budgets?

I'd love to know your thoughts and any tips you have that would be helpful to others in our church. Do you know of a great coupon website? Let us know!

I hope this spurs tons of dialogue - we could post our savings to encourage more of us on the bandwagon!

Happy Couponing!

It's About Time

"It's About Time" is our retreat theme for this year and I am constantly saying to myself "it's about time you..." The blank has been filled in many, many times and yet I haven't done many of the things that it's about time I do. Can anyone identify? Like take this blog for instance. It's about time I updated it. I suspect many stop looking at it because it is so outdated.

It's about time I go to be as it's going on 2 am and we have church in the morning, but I have a headache and have to send my oldest back to college tomorrow morning. Maybe if I stay up tomorrow won't come...but it already has. I'm actually dreading him leaving more this time than back in August when I was a college mom newbie.

It's about time my life settles back into a predictable routine, but that didn't really happen this week. My dad was hospitalized (he's home and doing well), my husband was away, I woke up to a very swollen, unexplainable swollen face. I'm sure if I could talk to you (though I do hope you are asleep) you would have your own list of things that were unpredictable this past week.

It's about time I get all the details lined up for our annual women's retreat the first weekend in March. I will be getting information out at the beginning of the week and please hold me to it! :)

What are your "it's about time" issues? I'd really be interested in knowing as I want our retreat to be as applicable as it can be. Many of you want to learn better time management skills. Take a minute and read through Ecclesiastes 3:1-8.

Post a comment answering this: "It's about time I..."

Moving In

Many things come to mind as I think about the phrase "moving in." Of course there is moving in to a new home and in this area we have military families moving in often. We recently moved our oldest son into his first college dorm...so many things to fit into such a small space. For our middle and high schoolers, they are moving into their school lockers and settling into their new schedules. In the fall we have our own rituals that help us move into the new season.

Another place we need to move into is our Bibles. This past spring I purchased a new study Bible and while I opened it for Bible study, it just didn't feel right. It was hard to feel at home when I opened its new crisp pages. I realized what was missing...I wasn't leaving reminders of where God had taken me along the pages. I decided to go through my old Bible and made many of the same markings in my new Bible so I could see what God has taught me throughout the years. It was an amazing journey as I reflected on many of the studies I have done. Now, my Bible feels like home. I realize that sometimes it is good to read from a clean, unmarked page, but sometimes we need to have home-like remembrances.

How do you mark your Bible or keep a record of what God is teaching you?

Failure

Do you ever get so frustrated with yourself that you decide to do nothing? Do you ever fail so often that you just give up? I'm that way with many things, this blog being one of them. I get so bogged down by my failure that I do absolutely nothing, except berate myself. I feel that as a blogger, I should have something to offer, if indeed there are any who actually follow me. And, recently I don't feel like I have anything to offer...part of the failure thing. I've been so dreadfully inconsistent, those who may have followed have probably given up on me, sorry!

God has repeatedly brought Romans 12:2 to my mind. "Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect."

I am learning that in many ways I copy the behavior of the world (I see a lot of this in the expectations I have for myself as a wife, mom and ministry leader) and am praying that God will change the way I think. I am being stretched and challenged in many ways that I will share as God leads me to. I'd ask for grace as I may not be posting routinely and encourage you to subscribe to my posts so you'll get an email notification when I post.

Perhaps today you need to give yourself a dose of grace and ask God to change your way of thinking. If you do, let me know and I can pray for you!

Mama Bear Moment

This morning it is will a very heavy heart that I send Caleb, my soon to be high school sophomore to school. We received word last night that one of his classmates (and her mom) was murdered by her father. It's been all over the news and is especially shocking when you can put a face to such a horrific news story. Joy was part of Caleb's group for an English project that the kids have been working on for a couple weeks. They all met here at my home and I had the opportunity to meet the friendly cute, polite young Joy. Actually all the kids in the group were great and very appreciative. The group met on Sunday and Joy didn't show up. They repeatedly called, texted and tried to contact her via facebook, but they never received a response. Now they are left wondering...was she in trouble then, was she already dead, etc.

The Mama Bear in me wants to protect my children from such terrible things. It is difficult when someone takes their own life or dies unexpectedly in an accident, but murder?! I cannot begin to know what drove Joy's dad to such an act. It is incomprehensible to me! And while I cannot prevent my children's lives from being exposed to these things, I do have the power of the Almighty to call on, which I have done. Would you join me in prayer for the freshman class at South County? Pray for comfort as the kids try to make sense of something so senseless. And pray for opportunities for believers to share God.

My week will hold many more mama bear moments...I'm thankful God will be by my side!

Self Control

You might see the title and just moan - I know there are many times I've done the same thing. There are many things in my life that would not be a problem if only I had more self control. And how does one build up their self control...I'm not sure I want to be tested. My past track record reveals a rather large deficiency of self control. I've been struggling with my weight since about the 8th grade. I've tried many diets and have gained and lost the same weight far too many times to count. Then there is the area of self control over my emotions, especially around that not so "special" time of the month.

As I was praying before I fell asleep last night God interjected a thought...what I need is the Spirit's self control, not Sherry's self control. Sounds so simple and yet for me so profound. You see I'm one of those who likes to be in control and rely on my own strength far too often. I might lose a few pounds with my own self control or willpower, but I believe I won't ever make lasting changes without God's help. (And I still have far to go in regards to having faith that God will help me conquer this weight issue once and for all - though I suspect it will be a life long dependence on God with this one!)

So, last night I prayed for Spirit filled self control. And isn't is just God and His perfect timing that we have been learning about the Spirit on Sundays at LCC?! I hope Pastor Steve has some insight on this on Sunday.

How about you? Do you need to pray for the Spirit's self control? Will you join me? Please let me know how I can pray for you!

As is typical for me, I need to apologize for my unfaithfulness in blogging...just realized though that faithfulness is also a fruit of the Spirit...something else to add to my prayer list! Please bear with me, the next two weeks will be busy for me as our family prepares for the graduation of my firstborn, Josh. I'm not sure where the last 18 years went, but do know that God has been good though it all!

Oh, and just in time for Father's Day I'll be doing a series of posts from Lillian's awesome devotional from our Mother's Day activity. You'll receive some fashions tips as well as how God wants us to clothe ourselves.

My Life as a Supermodel...

I am looking forward to our annual Mother's Day Activity this Saturday, May 1st. The theme has been fun to work with...My Life as a Supermodel. It has also been very challenging because my life and my appearance are so far from what I think of as a supermodel. And while we are not in any way advocating adopting the appearance of a real life supermodel, we are attempting to realize that as moms we are models to our children. I don't know of anyone who could the expense of high fashion, but I do know the Father who paid the ultimate price so that I could be clothed in righteousness. One God can adequately equip me to be the model mom for my kids.

Would you be surprised to know that the Bible says how to clothe ourselves? Lil will be sharing some insights from Colossians on this topic. We'll also have some fun with current fashion trends.

Does anyone know the new "hot" color for this spring? What are your favorite trends? Leave a comment and share your thoughts. I'll announce next week what the "hot" new color!

Weeds and other garden work

I mentioned a few posts ago that I was looking forward to seeing the result of all the bulbs I planted last fall. And, I have to report that I was sorely disappointed! I obviously have some type of pesky varmint who came along and ate most of my bulbs. I'll have to look into it if I want to plant more bulbs in the fall - I definitely don't want to do all that back breaking work for nothing!

Speaking of work, as I look at my perennial garden in the backyard, I am reminded of the maintenance required to keep it looking good. There are the usual weeds that need to be pulled and then there is the bee balm that is trying to take over so I need to pull that (let me know if you want some...I can bring it to church on Sunday.) I can't help but think of spiritual parallels when I think of my garden. First, it requires work. It is easy to see what needs to be done in the garden but not so easy to get my fanny out there and do the work. It is going to take time and I don't always have huge blocks of time and, as you can see it is easier for me to blog about!

In my spiritual life there are weeds that need to be pulled and things that are trying to take over. I often don't see these things, but I believe I don't see them because I don't look or as I say to my children don't "look with my eyes open." I get discouraged often when I invest time in something (like my bulbs) and don't see the results. Then, there are seasons when I am just so busy that only the urgent things get done and in the case of my garden it waits for my attention.

So, what am I trying to say? I'm not really sure except that I know when we take time to weed and cultivate our lives, there will be a beautiful harvest. I encourage you to ask God where to start and to start small. Let me know of your gardening projects (both physical and spriritual) so I can encourage you!

Life Inspiring Faith Enriching

One thing you may not know about women's ministries is that we have the tag line of "Life Inspiring Faith Enriching." As we plan and execute each activity, Bible study and event, I try to keep this thought in mind. Are we inspiring the women of LCC in their unique roles in life? Are we enriching our faith or just adding to our to-do list? Of course what inspires or enriches me is totally different from what inspires or enriches you.

These are great words, but I wondered what they really meant. Inspire means "to fill with an animating, quickening, or exalting influence." We have the most exalting influence indwelling us - the Holy Spirit. Inspiration is at our disposal at any given time.

Enrich means "to supply with abundance of anything desirable or to add greater value or significance to." (Definitions are from www.dictionary.com) Oh, how I desire that with all we do, we add greater value or significance to our faith.

So, this brings me to my question of the week. What inspires or enriches your life? What could we do as a women's ministry to inspire or enrich? I look forward to your comments.

Spring Excitement

I love this time of year...getting outside and seeing new growth in my garden. My favorite flower is the tulip and I planted a bunch this past fall and can't wait to see how they look. I am praying that my spring excitement will also translate into my spiritual life. I desire to see growth there as well. The women's retreat was a wonderful opportunity to shed some spiritual weight and prepare us for that new growth we see in our physical world.

So, I'd love to know what your favorite flower is and what you are currently studying in your spiritual life. I look forward to your responses.

Taking some time off...

I had the opportunity to go to a Catalyst church leaders conference this past Monday. There was a lot of great information that quite frankly, I need time to fully process. There was one thing that really stood out to me...that I should be the best wife and mom that I can be as those are the roles that only I can do. With this in mind, I will not be updating the blog for a few weeks. My husband is having shoulder surgery in a few hours and I need to be a full time nurse and as Thanksgiving arrives, I want to be fully focused on my relationship with God and my family. I trust that you too want to be the best you can be for your family in the roles that are uniquely yours. I also pray that you count your many blessings as we celebrate Thanksgiving. Look for a post the first week in December. We are planning a great Christmas activity for December 5th!

Catching up

This morning it was so great to sit in the newly refinished auditorium at church. I was a bit sleepy as I sank into the comfortable chairs, but something Pastor Steve said really caught my attention. You see, I do want to be a genuine Christian and want to be growing in my faith. But being real and genuine, I have to tell you that this past week I faced a few trials and instead of growing through them, I checked out. I didn't spend time in the Word or in prayer like I know I should do. I wasted time that could have been more productively used and I took naps instead of calling on friends to give me hand. I'm thankful for our pastor who is willing to preach the truth of the Word even when it is convicting.

That brings me to the topic I would have blogged about last week. October is Pastor Appreciation Month or ministry appreciation month. I like to use this forum to thank Pastor Steve, Josh our worship leader, Donald our youth pastor, Sherri our Children's ministry director and all the others who serve faithfully in our church. Even though it's November, it is never a bad time to thank those who minister to you and your family and I encourage you to do so!

I also want to remind ladies of our upcoming activities:
FP4H Bible study Saturday, Nov 7th from 9-11 am at the church office
Celebrate Life Open House this Saturday, Nov 7th from 2-4 pm at the church office
Under Grace and Over Coffee with Jessica Ellison Sunday, Nov 8th from 7-8:30pm at Wegmans.

You can get more detailed information on the church website!

Feedback is always welcomed and wanted...

I often wonder if we are meeting the needs of the ladies at LCC. While I know we can never meet every need, I also know that we can't attempt to meet those needs if we don't know what they are. At LCC we have a great group of ladies who serve on the women's ministry leadership team. We spend a great deal of time thinking about activities and Bible studies and then in planning. This fall we have had quite a few opportunities for women to connect - we have three Bible studies and several activities throughout each month. Recently however, we have also had a decline in attendance at our activities and I always wonder why when this happens. I also realize that no one can attend every activity - life happens in most unexpected ways!

What I would love to know is what activities appeal to you, what are the best days and times to meet and any thoughts you'd like to add.

What I'd also like for everyone to know is how thankful I am for all those ladies who are serving in women's ministries. We have two new Bible study leaders this fall, Michelle Boice and Jessica Ellison. They are both doing an outstanding job! Lisa Downing will be starting another First Place for Health group the end of this month. Jessica recently planned and led our prayer walk which Lisa Downing hosted for us. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate, but God blessed just the same! I appreciate each one who serves the LCC women as well as each of you who attend.

So, thanks and please share with us!

Daddy

This morning I got up with my boys, then decided another hour of sleep would be welcomed in my very busy life. I woke up to Maryn singing. She is in that phase of making up her own songs. She was singing about her Daddy. Her song starts off with "Only a boy named Daddy..." (to the tune of Only a Boy named David) that's as far as the song goes, but she repeats it many times. She was also just singing the word "Daddy" over and over. When she came out of her room she was all smiles and helped her daddy get all the things for his pockets. Rich is a great father and I love watching him interact with each of our children!

As I laid there trying to fully wake up (still working on that about 90 minutes later) I thought of God as my Father and how He must love when we sing praises to Him. Our songs can be as simple as Maryn's or borrowed from our worship time at church.Today or at least this week, let's sing a song of praise to Our Father.

This Week's Laundry Blunder...

Lest anyone think I have it all together I share yet another blunder and the following adventure that followed. Keep in mind that I'm a bit overwhelmed with the 2 weeks of construction that was going on at the house (two bathroom remodels, painting outside and other outside work). The dust from the construction was mounting by the day and starting to drive me crazy not to mention the sneezing that went along with it. So Friday I set out to start cleaning our bedrooms.

My oldest son wanted to start his laundry before he left for school (just so you don't think I'm a tyrant, he is a senior in high school and going to college next year). I told him I needed the washer during the day that he'd have to wait. But in the midst of all the cleaning I decided to throw his clothes in the washer so they'd be ready to dry when he got home from school. I patted myself on the back thinking what a nice, thoughtful mom I was. It turns out that it wasn't such a helpful thing to do...I washed an entire pack of gum which had made its way onto most every article of clothing in the load. My poor son, he was so upset but realized I was just trying to help.

So, last week book washing, this week I'm on to stickier situations! This story had an easier ending when my mom came and jumped right in to help get the gum off the clothes. I truly don't know what I'd have done without her. She and my dad even took the more difficult clothes home and worked on them, laundered them and returned them about 14 hours later. I'm not sure how they slept.

I will not tell you that the moral to this story is not to help your children, but I do suppose we need to learn our children's routines before we step in and "help."

Tip of the Week...

If you need to wash a book, I'd recommend a damp paper towel. Why you ask? Well last week in my hurry to get a load of laundry in the washer I accidentally left a book in with the clothes and it went through the washer. You can only imagine my surprise when I lifted the lid to transfer the clothes to the dryer and saw all this white stuff on my clothes. I first thought I left a tissue in one of my pockets, that's certainly been known to happen, but this seemed a bit...well not just a big more...like perhaps an entire jumbo package of toilet paper!

I could not imagine what had caused so much mess until I discovered the plastic wrapper of the book...in case you didn't know, the card stock cover is covered with a plastic film that has the picture and information on it. My washer had totally obliterated the entire book into the tiniest little shreds you can imagine and it COVERED everything...especially the darkest clothing.

When I say covered, I mean after the first pass through the dryer, it was still covered. Oh, and just to give you some context, Caleb's marching band show shirt was one of the worst hit items and he needed the shirt in about an hour. He was so angry and frustrated! I ended up vacuuming the shirt to get as much off as I could and then used one of those lint removers, lots of elbow grease, patience and about 90 minutes or so to get it good enough to deliver (late) to the game. When I discovered the mess I literally stood over my washer and dryer and prayed for God's help, well begged for his deliverance from this terrible situation!

I couldn't bear to deal with anymore of the mess until the next day. I had my contractor (who was here all that week) to look at my washer to see how I should best proceed. I took the offended laundry outside to shake as much off as I could. My contractor offered to string up a clothes line, but I decided that I didn't need to share my undergarments with the neighbors! After repeated washing and drying most everything is back to normal. I had friends tell me last week that some day this will be funny...I know it will, but it was a trying experience.

Over the weekend, I resumed my normal laundry...my younger son left some money in his pants pockets. Interestingly, the money remained in tact. My contractors though could not pass up the opportunity to tease me about not only book laundering, but money laundering! :)

So, the lesson learned that I'd like to share with you all is...don't put your books into the laundry! Oh, and for those wondering the book was Missing by Beverly Lewis and yes, it's really missing now!

Kids...

Two weeks ago we had our kick off for our new kids programs at LCC! I was away so I got my first taste of it yesterday and I must say I was impressed! I was impressed by one of our young moms who had her two little ones in tow, an infant who was having her first nursery experience and her two year old...who showed up early to be ready for our elementary students. I was impressed by our little staffer boys who have to come early with their parents, yet they did so well in their classes. I was impressed by the preschool staff who look on my little girl for the first time. When I peeked in on the class they were having a blast with our teen helpers building towers!

And speaking of teens, I think LCC has the best teens in the country...I wonder if there are any other churches who have such a great group of kids who serve their church and their Lord, like ours do! I am so thankful for them as they help care for my little one and because I get to serve right beside them and because God has blessed me with two teens as well!

I know there has been lots of talk about where you are serving. I hope you don't turn a deaf ear to it, because it really does take everyone one of us doing out part to make our church function properly. I also have to tell you of the untold blessings that come from serving. Yesterday I was blessed seeing a husband and wife serving side by side in the nursery...who can say they know a dad who loves to sing Veggie Tale songs?! I saw joy and contentment on the mom who got to hold that precious little infant and rock her to sleep. I saw laughter when our littlest ones smiled. Personally, I got to see little toddler faces light up when I sang their name! And I absolutely love to see when little ones make the connection that our story is from the Bible, God's Word. Yesterday we learned about creation and after every day God said it was very good.

I'd have to echo, very good indeed!

Sometimes you just have to laugh...

What do one (hopefully) potty trained toddler, a niece's wedding in Colorado, a stuffed suitcase - that did meet the 50 pound requirement, barely, on the way out, and a high maintenance mom have in common? That would be me! To keep with the commercial we all know and love, the priceless part was being able to be at the wedding and seeing Becca's bridesmaids gather around her in prayer right before she walked down the aisle!

I did get a lot of flack about all that I packed and I'm sure someone out there has to know what I went through and can identify. You may not want to admit it but...there is just so much one has to take! My boys would disagree, but you never know when you might be cold or when your toddler becomes un-potty trained, which has happened several times. Another necessity is a variety of food and play activities for said toddler, well and the high maintenance mom as well. Can I just say hair product and make up?

I can also report that the hopefully potty trained toddler did excellent with NO accidents so I didn't use all the articles I took "just in case." I did use almost everything else that I packed. I even suncreened the inside of my suitcase on our west bound trip...what? you say. I guess the lid came off and my full bottle of sunscreen was almost empty when I got there. Either I protected the inside of the suitcase or the TSA checker helped himself.

Anyway, the way I figure...it was only 10 pounds a day - that can't be that bad! Right?!

Who is God to you?

This morning I ended my quiet time thinking about who God is, His character and how He manifests different aspects of His being in my every day life. For the most part, I think I miss these various manifestations, but they are there none the less. I took a few minutes to jot down a few. Jesus is our Bridegroom...our niece is getting married this weekend. God is our Healer...He has healed my neck from whiplash. God is Creator...isn't it absolutely beautiful outside this morning!? The air so crisp and refreshing. There is so much to learn about God and we will barely scratch the surface this side of Heaven, but we can sure keep trying.

Who is God to you?

A New Recipe

I am typically one to see a magazine at the check out counter of the store, purchase it and then let it sit in one of my baskets until I get frustrated by the clutter and then I usually throw them away. Or, I may look through them, but rarely if ever try and new recipe. Well, aside from trying to limit these unnecessary purchases, I'm trying to use the magazines that I do have. I came across this recipe a few weeks ago, tried it out on my family this week and for the Feehs family it it a keeper. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Brown 1 pound of ground beef, add salt and pepper to taste. Put in bottom of two quart casserole dish. Mix in a jar of spaghetti sauce (I didn't write the amount down). Top with broccoli (the recipe called for a 10 oz package of chopped frozen broccoli, but I had fresh and that worked well.) Then top with 2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese and finally roll out a refrigerated pizza dough crust on top and seal the edges. Bake in 375 degree oven for 20 minutes or until dough is golden brown, let stand for 10 minutes before serving. Mine bubbled over in my oven so I'd recommend putting a baking sheet or something under your casserole dish. Enjoy!