Saturday, August 03, 2024

Be aware, but not consumed!

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Hello everyone, how have you all been?

I managed to get only one post up last week, which was the Happy Homemaker Monday, and then the rest of the week is a blur.  I was busy, I was tired, I was needing to step back a little.  

Be aware, but not consumed!

This short little sentence has been stuck in my head all week.  With the way things are looking all over the world, I started to feel like I was being pulled into all the negativity.  Everywhere I looked, everyone I talked to, was all about things happening in our country, in the world, the spiritual fight, how everything is so bad, and, and, and......you get what I mean.

During my daily prayers, the only thing that kept coming to my mind was "Be aware, but not consumed".

It's been plaguing me all week, and when I feel this way, I pull back into my shell and disconnected from the outside world.  I needed to go into prayer, I needed to spend time with God, with myself, with my home, and to cut that negativity chain that was keeping me stuck in all the happenings.

It is so important to do this my friends.

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Why?

Because you should know what is happening so that you are informed, but you shouldn't allow it to pull you in, to become so consumed with the bad news, that it starts affecting you mentally and physically.

We are God's children, and He is watching over us, protecting us and guiding our steps.  He wants us to know what is happening, but it is not for us to allow it into our souls.  What we surround ourselves with matters, and it affects us and determines what our days will be.

So I did what I do best, I pulled back and into my homemaking.

The days have been super hot too, triple digits with heat advisories and warnings, and when the temperatures get this hot, all I want to do is close the windows, doors and curtains, turn on the AC and stay in my little cocoon, and that is what I did all week.

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We have a deep chest freezer which is wonderful, but it is always a huge mess.  Things get tossed in there, it is filled to the top but I don't always know what is in there, which is frustrating because I don't like wasting food or money.  If I don't know what is in there, I end up buying more and there's no need for that.

So, I decided to tackle this freezer.  I opened it up and as you can see in the two pictures above, it was terrible.

I pulled everything out, cleaned it, made a list of everything in there, and then bought some stackable baskets to pack things in, making it look tidier.

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It took me a while but I was so happy when it was all done.  I can now see everything in there, and it makes looking for something much easier too.

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Just pottering around the house brings me joy, and peace.  It often makes me feel like I am in an island all by myself, without drama, without craziness, just me and my family, our home, our animals and peace.  It's a good way to live, really, it helps to stay grounded and not overwhelmed.

Mother Theresa once said, "if you want to change the world, go home and love your family."  

How truthful is that?

I've always believed that the reason for so much violence, anger, and chaos, is the heart, the people you surrounded yourself with and how you choose to spend your time.

If more people stayed home, stayed focused on their family, their lives, and keeping to themselves, we wouldn't see the things we do.  I may be completely wrong, but it's what I believe, and since I can't change how others act, I choose to live a life of kindness and positivity myself.

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 I finished another book this past week, and started a new one, the third in the Sweet Black Waves Trilogy.  I also got in some other books that were on the way from Thrift Books.  I now have a nice pile to read for the month of August, I'll share my August Reading List next week, when I'm back to posting daily again.

I also picked up my yarns and crochet hooks again.  I started a project, didn't like it, pulled it all apart, started again, didn't like it, and pulled it apart again.  Sometimes crocheting is like that for me, until I find the one I really click with, it's a constant start and end and start and end.  But I'm sure I'll get it done.

Printed some patterns up, just quick and easy little things to make for the house.  Also printed out a pattern for some fabric mushrooms I want to make, and hopefully share them all with you next week.  

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Nothing much else happened.  Like I said, I really just took the week to re-center myself, to remember not to get so caught up and anxious about what is happening or may happen, and to spend more time with the Lord.

I spent the week also in prayer for those that needed it.  A sweet girl that I follow on Youtube was and IS still in need of much prayer, so if you could please send up a prayer for healing for Juliana.

I have followed her on Youtube for many years, and she is such an inspiration.  She has 2 little boys, a 4 year old and a 2 year old, and was pregnant with the third boy.  He was born last week Friday through a C-section, but unfortunately during the surgery a rare occurrence happened where the amniotic fluid mixes with the mom's blood and in 40% of the cases it is fatal for the mother.

Juliana suffered an embolism and cardiac incident and had to be intubated and put in a medically induced coma.  Her little boy is perfectly healthy.  

So many people have been praying for her, and God has delivered a miracle.  On Wednesday she woke up, by Thursday the doctors had started slowly bringing her out of sedation, and today she is fully awake and off the sedation and oxygen.  She is still very weak and in the ICU while they work on making sure her heart and lungs can fully work on their own.

Please pray for Juliana to heal completely so that she may go home and finally get to pick up and hold her baby boy, for the first time.

And with that my friends, I say goodbye, I need to go get my dinner prepped and check on my chickens in this horrid heat. 

Have a wonderful Saturday, God Bless!
 

4 comments:

Sandy said...

I have prayed for Julianna.
I loved the thoughts in this post. I do the same when the news gets too noisy for my well being. Circling my wagon around my home and my family and taking it all to the Lord makes it feel much better.

Dawn Marie said...

I love everything you said. The noise is all around me and it feels like I'm being forced to be consumed in it but I'm also finding myself in prayer and studying the Word more now than ever. I wrote a long post about my thoughts last week and I sat on it for awhile and prayed but something kept pushing me to share; however, that's probably all I'm going to say on the issue. I love the cozy, peaceful vibe of your blog and the constant reminder of how wonderful it is to be a homemaker.

Billie Jo said...

Hello, and thank you. Thank you for sharing the thoughts I have about the world in such a beautiful way. I absolutely love what you did, remaining in your lovely home, surrounded by things and people you love, doing the things you love, keeping house, praying, puttering. I do the same and often feel like the only one who wants to shut out the world and live in my bubble. I am glad you are there, doing the same thing!

Luludou said...

I will be thinking of Juliana and her family. I agreee and that's the part of the covid lockup I liked... staying home, minding our business and giving time to the planet to regrow.