Gratituesday: Thankful for breaks

I am partnering up with Heavenly Homemakers' Gratituesday.  I am so grateful for quiet times and breaks in the action.  It has been a little over a week since school has ended.  My first week I felt like I was still on the treadmill from school because I was charging through everything and going here and there.  This week has been a bit slower.  Although that slow pace seems weird to me, it is good.

I have started watching a video series on Christian counseling.  I decided that I do so much counseling at school (even though I'm just a teacher) that I really would like more training.  I am thankful that my church has this amazing free resource for me to use.

I have been reading books!  They refresh me so much.  They've challenged me on many levels.  Each one pushes me a bit farther.  Once again, these were provided free through my local and church library.

The main focus of my thankfulness for this week is my husband.  He is very wise.  Last year I just couldn't handle the thought of staying home over the summer and not having a job.  Actually what bothered me most was the thought that I would have to tell people I was doing "nothing" and that they would have the image of a housewife that sat home and ate bon bons all day (which was not at all what I did last summer).  My natural tendency has always been to fill my day to the brim with activities from start to finish.

However, this is not always good.  My husband really really encouraged me not to get a job.  At first it felt really weird.  But then, all of the sudden in the silence of the day I would just feel the peace of God.  It was wonderful.

This summer has been even better.  Not that God doesn't speak to me during the school year, but it is the quiet of a summer day in the country that forces me to slow down and reassess my priorities and goals.  Even Jesus took time away from the group to go off and be with God.

In summary, I am extremely thankful that my husband is much wiser than I and realized that I need the quiet of the summer to force me to quiet my spirit.  God is doing things in my life that weren't always possible when I would try to hear his still small voice in the din of my life.

Milky Way Coupon for Milky Way Brownies

Money Saving Mom posted today that there is a $0.50/2 Milky Way Brand Bars coupon at Coupons.com.  I've already printed it.  One idea I saw at Recipe Girl I think will be especially yummy is to use them for Milky Way brownies.
Yum!

Photo Credit: Recipe Girl

Homemade Daily Shower Spray

When I started teaching I fell in love with daily shower sprays.  They were so easy and worked so well that I very rarely had to scrub down our shower.

The only drawback was the price.  I searched online a while ago and saw that many people had posted recipes for homemade versions of this cleaner.  I have never used homemade cleaner before, so I was a bit unsure whether this was worth trying.

Today I decided to try it.  I mixed up a batch of this recipe and put it in one of my old daily shower spray bottles.  I'll give you an update later to see how it works.***Update: It works GREAT! I've been using it now for several years.  Saves me money and time scrubbing!***

The cost for this spray would be minimal for anyone, and was free for me.  I had used a coupon a long time ago to get Cascade Crystal Clear (similar to JetDri) for free and had never used it.  If this works I'll be so excited to use some of my stockpile of dish soap (we mainly use the dishwasher).

Have you ever used homemade cleaners?  Did they work well?

Whew! We made it!

Summer is finally here!  My last day was last Friday and I am just now getting a chance to write.  So many wonderful things have happened this spring and I hope that maybe I will get a chance to write about some of them over the summer.

Last year by the time spring break rolled around I was already making my list for the summer.  This year I've been a bit more behind.  I have been pretty much making my list as I go, which is normally not a good thing.  I am hoping that next Monday I will create a big "My Summer Goals List" to post up here to keep me accountable.

The main purpose of this post though has very little to do with any of that.  My husband and I will have been married 3 years!!! this July.  I just keep thinking how crazy that is because it has gone by so fast.  One of the things that I believe has made our marriage as great as it is are all of the books/classes/online audios on marriage that we have gone through.  I believe that we are naturally sinful people and without asking for God's help daily, we start only thinking of ourselves which causes us more pain.  God's plan for marriage is perfect - "Submit one to another".

This summer though I think I'm going to be sneaky and not tell him the challenge that I am involved in.  I am a huge Nancy Leigh DeMoss fan.  This winter she did a 30 day Husband Encouragement Challenge.  Today is day 1.  We'll have to see how this goes.

Part of today's challenge is to say an encouraging word about him to others.  I will be singing at the nursing home today- so I'll probably talk about him then.  However, it wouldn't hurt to say something nice about him on here.

I love my husband because he has had a lot of obstacles in his life and those obstacles are never going to go away.  Yet, each day he pushes through and succeeds despite the obstacles in his path.  And the best part is, he does it without drawing any attention to himself, there's no "look at what I did" when you are around him.

I challenge you to take part in this challenge with me.  Whether your marriage is good, bad, or ugly I believe this challenge can only help things out.