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Grace filled Sunday { a continuation of learning the proverbs 31 wife}

Remember when I did a devotional on being the woman God wants me to be? It was an interesting 90 days, where I took a second shot at the devotional by Donna Partow. Basically, she broke down the Proverbs 31 woman into daily reflections and small changes to make to start becoming the woman God wants all of us to be.
I think I am long overdue for a refresher.

If you are not familiar with this verse, God is describing, really the "perfect" woman/wife. Don't take the word perfect too seriously. We are not going to be perfect-because if we are not perfect that means God isn't finished yet. Maybe ideal would be a better word. Better yet, a guideline, yes let us go with that, God's guideline for women.

This is not something that happens over night, nor should it. However, I firmly believe that studying this verse will bring us closer to God.

When I first did this devotional, the bible translation was the NIV. Looking at it from a catholic translation, which you can find here at the USCCB website, puts the challenge in a whole new light.

This week, I am going to focus on the first part few verses, 10-11. The verse in the New American Bible says "Who can find a woman of worth? Far beyond jewels is her value. Her husband trusts her judgement; He does not lack income"
In the NIV, the verse is translated as "A wife of noble character, who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value."
For purposes of my study, I will use the NAB as the primary, and the NIV to help clear up the language, hopefully making it easier to understand.

What is a woman of worth? What does noble character mean? To me, this woman would demonstrate the following virtues;
-Humility
-Responsibility
-Integrity
-Honesty
-Wisdom
-Citizenship
-Perseverance
-Courage
-Friendship
(these are the virtues that my children's school bases their culture on, if you live in Arizona or Texas, I encourage you to look for a Great Hearts School)

What does it mean to be worth far more than jewels or rubies? When Proverbs was written, jewels (especially rubies) were rare, expensive and only worn by royalty. We are all daughters of God, royalty in the Kingdom of Heaven, shouldn't we place the value on ourselves to be worthy of that place?

Her husband trusts her judgement and has full confidence in her (they go hand in hand). What kind of wife does a husband not trust? Why would a husband not have full confidence in his wife? Does your husband trust you with the budget? Grocery shopping? Raising children? Does he have confidence that you would be okay if he were gone?

He lacks nothing of value/he does not lack income. This one I will admit was hard for me. My husband was unemployed for two years. Even now that he is working, I make more money. This isn't a competition or bragging session. What I think this verse is saying is "is the husband worthy of such a wife?" I will leave it at that.

This week, my main focus will be on praying and practicing the virtues of an honorable, worthy characteristics. How can I be more (fill in the blank)?

Until next time:

Here's who I am linking up with this week! Make sure you check them out!

A Proverbs 31 Wife
I just discovered this blog and love it!

Please leave a comment!

Five on Friday {Favorite Podcasts}

It's time for Five on Friday!

Every week, one of the fabulous blogs I read, A Liz Adventures (click here) has her readers post five things; whatever is on their mind! I always find this fun, especially when a writing prompt just doesn't cut it for me.

This week I would like to share with you my FIVE favorite PODCASTS.

First, a disclaimer. I spend 8+ hours a day in a cubical maze. I am not a call center employee, but due to spacing my team sits among the call center folks. So it gets loud and very distracting. I don't always care to listen to music, mostly because it is really, really hard to not burst out and sing a long. So I started listening (or re-listening) to podcasts.

Normally, I like the story telling ones, like Serial . Sometimes, I just like some information, or something fun. That is the neat thing about podcasts, most are free and you are given a wide variety of genres to listen too.

So, here is my TOP FIVE (in some order)that I listen to almost daily...or often at least, because you can go into a podcast binge, just like Netflix. I am not going to go into detail over what they are about just my opinions as to why I think they are just plain awesome.

1.

As I mentioned, Serial is my number one favorite. Although it is in between seasons, I got hooked last December and listened to ALL OF SEASON one in about 3 days. Season 2 I binged on for about 2 days and then was caught up-so I had to wait...for a week. A whole week! Now I have to wait for hopefully not too much longer for Season 3. Sarah Koenig tells a story, from all aspects, her intelligent research and captivating voice along with some really good journalism, it's no wonder this was iTunes top podcast. 




2.

I am not a fan of horror movies. It is more so a love and really, really hate relationship. I enjoy movies like "World War Z" and "The Village" (I know).  I love the tv show LOST and I do enjoy Supernatural. That being said, horror would not be my go to for genre. However,  I came across LORE and like Serial, I binged listened and now am stuck waiting each week for a new episode.  Adam Mahnke tells the stories of ghosts, monsters and other supernaturals,  that are truly terrifying, making the shows tag line sometimes the truth is more frightening than fiction enough to send chills down your spine.

3.

Coming in on a very close third, Unexplained , host Richard Maclean Smith tells the stories that we are not sure are true or not. These are the stories that our brains cannot wrap around, yet at the same time gives us the explanation, or part of one. These are the stories that you tell around the campfire to scare the living daylights out of the younger crowd, or heck the older crowd as well.


4.

I think it would be fair to say that this podcast along with LORE and Unexplained would fall into the number two spot. I am not sure of the hosts name, I am sure I just missed it. He is Australian, and a lot of the Case-files are true crime stories from Australia. Some of them are just down right horrific, and this is not something to listen to with children around.  The stories range from a dead body found on a park bench and the mystery that surrounds it to a horrible story of child murder.

5.

To get out of the terrifying stories that make me jump and look of my shoulder constantly, and also the reason behind my motivation, Dave Ramsey is number 5. Let me say though he is not my number 5 favorite podcast, this is my number 1 non horror or story telling podcast. On the list of "Things I wish someone told me when I was younger" would be to listen to and live by Dave Ramsey. His no nonsense approach to callers questions and his sincere happiness when listeners call in or visit his office to do their debt free scream.  I have to tell you that my husband and I have a lot of work to do, but I hope that in the next 5 years we are able to call in (or better go to Nashville and meet the man) and say loud and proud "WE ARE DEBT FREE!!!"

Honorable mention:
I really can not put these in order of favorites, Serial is my favorite if I had to pick one, but really the rest are all my favorites.

The History Chicks. A fun, down to earth history lesson of some of the greatest women of all time. These ladies go beyond what we learned (or in some cases did not learn) in history class.

Myths and Legends. From Grimm's fairy tales to Viking lore, and all of the stories in between. You will hear a story, the origins and some other cultural versions along with the mythical creature of the week. 

Hailing from my hometown, the windy city, comes a hilarious trivia news podcast brought to you by NPR. I love NPR, but besides for news, I love the comic relief Wait Wait Don't Tell Me! brings.

The Black Tapes Podcast goes into my "lets scare the living hell out of Liz" category. It is like the X Files and Serial merged together (in fact that is from a review I read). There are parts that are kind of slow, and then there is this seemingly underlying love story between the host Alex Reagan and Dr. Strand (or that may all be in my head).







Well there you have it folks!
If you are a podcast listener, and have any to recommend, I would really appreciate it!

Until next time!

Five on Friday {Books I have read}

It is FINALLY Friday, and Lord knows I could not be happier! This week has been trying at best. Tim started his new job last week, but this was his first full week and is working in the evenings. I will come home from work and we have about a 1/2 hour before he leaves. At work, I have been placed on two more projects, and I am happy to be involved in them, as I get to learn more and show my leadership skills. Stressful, yes. Yet, all of this is a blessing, so I am not complaining.
Thankfully, I still have time to do one of my favorite things, and that is reading.

Here are my top 5 favorite books for the month of April;

1. When the Moon is Low by Nadia Hashimi

I am not going to write nearly as much as I did in my Goodreads review, nor am I going to give a book report on it either. However I will say this book hit my heart and soul and I will never be the same. The story is about a family in Afghanistan, trying, desperately to get to England to escape the Taliban and the war. The story is about their journey, and really the journey that many refugees take to get to a better place. 
It is a sad, beautiful, inspiring and hopeful story all in one. If you have not read it I encourage you to pick up a copy.










2. The Dinner by Herman Koch

If you read or saw the movie Gone Girl and enjoyed it's twisted plot, then you will enjoy The Dinner. This book is crazy and hits the deep dark pits of humanity. However it leaves you with the question "would I have done the same?"








3. The Forgotten Room by Lincoln Child

I listened to this one on Audible, which is an amazing App I just recently discovered. You can try it for 30 days for free, but you only get one credit which is good for one book. None the less, if you like to listen to books on tape, this is a pretty good deal and it's on your phone. 
The story is a great thriller, mystery and adventure. I enjoyed how the plot and characters developed and you really don't see what is coming next.  I would listen to this on my way to work and had a hard time turning it off.



4. The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

I read this book a long time ago, and burned the midnight oil for almost a week to finish it. It is also a mystery novel, and is well, creepy. 









5. Saint Mazie by Jami Attenberg

Saint Mazie is a fun read, about a time in the distant memory of our history. Mazie is a fun character, and the book is written like a diary, which can get confusing because it is many characters view of the same story. None the less, a fun one.

Well, there you have it. Make sure you pop on over to http://alizadventures.blogspot.com/ to link up with her and other pretty awesome blogs.


Until next time....

Focus {Five Minute Friday}

There has been a mass panic among our family and friends. My husband and I deactivated our Facebook accounts.
{shock}
For me, it started in November of last year. I was on my Cursillo, and was cloistered for 3 days. Three days of not knowing what was going on in the world. Which of course meant no clock (because really who has a watch anymore). To know the time, I would have to listen for the church bells, and most of the time, I was listening to a talk and could not hear the bells long enough to catch the beginning or end.
When I came home, I took Facebook off my phone. I instantly saw how much my productivity increased, not only at home but work as well. It was amazing.
Over the holidays, I would go on Facebook via the computer, but would log off quickly. I wanted to see how my friends were doing, how their babies were doing, look for an occasional post that was interesting...but then the constant bs of negativity or worse flooded my feed. I was over it quickly. My husband followed suite (not by my doing at all!) and then a couple of weeks ago, we clicked the hidden "deactivate" button.
Maybe for a year, maybe for longer, maybe forever.

We are now able to focus on what is important. Our family & friends. We have to actually talk to them, rather than catching up on social media.  The difference in our own house is amazing. We can watch a television show together (and no spoilers!). My husband and I go to bed together, and rather than seeing what someone had for dinner, or a rant of some sort, we see each other and it is peaceful, loving and intimate.

Focusing on our family and real friendships has been a blessing.  We interact how God intended us too. Now don't get me wrong I am still all over Pintrest and obviously blogging, but the time I spend on social media now is not even half the time I spent on Facebook.

Until Next Time

Quiet {Five Minute Friday}

Even though the beginning of the year was 29 days ago, I really do not feel that the year truly begins until February. There are still holidays and events going on in January, and I usually need a 2 week recovery time from Christmas-New Years (aka Winter Vacation).  If you ask my husband, the holidays are over after the Superbowl,
Two days ago, I spoke with my older brother, T. We started with our normal conversation of life, he wants to move to Arizona, my nieces etc. Then he threw a curve ball at me, "Do you think we did the right thing with Dad?"
What? Why are you asking me this now, 5 years after he passed? Of course we did. He was on life support-something he specifically told us for years he never wanted to be on. All the doctors said was he would never fully recover, physically or more importantly mentally. He was half way gone already, you could see it in his eyes, he just wanted us to let him go.
Today, our dad would have been 75 years old.  Five years ago, he was struggling to walk on his own, and eventually became dependent on a wheel chair. He could not shower on his own, or even clean himself after using the bathroom. He was miserable, and told all five of us that he was just waiting for the end. He had good days, where he was optimistic about life, however it was all sadly a dream in his head. He knew there was no real hope of a normal life again, he was in assisted living (another thing he hated) and was slowly loosing his mind.
I answered T, "You know we did the right thing. He would have killed us if he could because we let him stay on life support for a week."
"I know, I just miss him"
"I miss him too."
Silence. Quiet.
Happy Birthday Dad. We love you and miss you.

Five on Friday {actually 6}

Well friends it is FRIDAY! The kids all survived their first week of school {well I am assuming so, as it is not yet noon}. This week has been a real doozy for me. First, I will start with last weekend my #1 son was sick with strep :( Then on Monday, I started to feel a little under the weather. I had the day off, so I called my boss and told her I would probably be out on Tuesday. Tuesday, I went to the doctor and they started to treat me for strep (hey if it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck). However, Wednesday I was worse. I was having problems breathing and really just wanted to die. I went to the ER and turns out I have pneumonia.
All I have to say is I am not thrilled by this at all. I hate being sick.
Today, I am feeling a tad bit better, although walking around the house gets me winded.

OK so back to the post! I have 6 favorite PEOPLE I want to highlight this week. My darling children!

#1- This kid is in 8th grade? WHERE did the time go? He will be 14 at the end of the month and is already looking for a job?
Seriously, I cannot handle this.

 #2- Welcome to Junior High! Although I have only had him in my life for about 2 years, I have to say I am so proud of how he has grown. He is going to be an amazing man, just like his father.

#3- This firecracker is going into the big kid grade! While he is still a goof ball, he is definitely showing signs of maturity and I think he is going to rock 4th grade!

#4- Look out world, this girl is making waves! The spunky monkey is on her way to showing everyone that she is in control of her own destiny!

#5- Don't let her small stature confuse you, this young lady is proof that great things come in tiny packages! She is ready to take on the world, one step at a time!

#6- This beautiful girl has grown up so fast in the past two years. She has shown us all that she is smarter than she gives herself credit for and is definitely going to shine.

Watch out world, these kids are coming full force!