Little Okie Homestead

Sometimes having a thankful spirit can be difficult. We go through seasons where it's easier to say "Why me?" than it is to see the positive things in our lives. I have been through many in my seven year marriage and honestly those are the worst memories of my marriage! So how do you change? You make a choice! Yes, it really is that simple! You might think, "OK this lady doesn't know anything about living a hard life!" And in many cases that would be true! But I have had many of my own struggles. I didn't have good role models growing up to teach me how to be a good wife. The first 3+ years of our marriage was awful! We fought all the time...through our honeymoon phase! We almost split up several times! But we didn't get married to just divorce and move on. We made a commitment to each other and we were going to stick it out! You know when it started to change in a big way? When I started letting Hubby be the leader of the household an...

In the beginning of the book, Created to be His Help Meet, Debi Pearl asks you to make a list of 10 things that you want to see change in your marriage so I will share a few with you. 1. My heart & attitude I've been resentful and angry lately about things regarding my hubby and my role as a homemaking wife. I want to change my negative feelings with positive ones. I really do love my hubby and being home to help him and raise our boys. 2. His heart God promises that my hubby can be won over by my actions, not words (1 Peter 3:1-2) and return to Christ! This alone should motivate me everyday! Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be win over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. -1 Peter 3:1-2 That's all that's on my list at the moment. I plan on praying for guidance on what else needs work. I can think of plenty ...

The Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him".... So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep...he took one of the man's ribs.... Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. Genesis 2:18, 21-22 We were created to be our man's helper! It's a great thing to be because when we help our husbands, we are helping him complete the purpose God had created him for! How awesome is that? But "being a perfectly fit helper does not make one inferior to the leader." Being a helper just means we are helping our husbands do their jobs-- better! You may not be the one controlling everything and making the decisions in the house but if your husbands knows he can trust you he's going to come to you and value your opinion. He's going to take on account your feelings and do what is best for everyone! As Debi Pearl says, ...

So I know that I haven't completed this book study but I am still working on it. I have been going at a slow pace so that way I can make sure and get the most out of it. I have been praying my way through things and learning more and more about myself. One thing that I have just noticed about myself is that this week has been very stressful for me and instead of spending time in the Word to help get answers and help me through this particular couple of days I have been ignoring my God time. By doing this I have been craving more things and although I'm still praying my way through them and still eating somewhat healthy its been more difficult.  This week in chapter 6 Lysa says "Being ruled by something other than God diminishes our commitment and will make us feel increasingly distant from Him."   Which  has been very true these past few days. Thankfully I am aware of this and I will be making changes first thing tomorrow since today is almost over. I may try...

I'm still reading the book but this week has been so busy and crazy that I'm just trying to keep up with my normal things like raising Rex and cleaning and cooking that I have not been able to actually read it this week. I'm hoping that I will have some down time tomorrow. I have however been actually reading the Bible and even my Bible study that I'm currently doing with my mom's group so I have been reading.  With most of the things I have written I'm going pretty well with. I have been praying most times I craving and only given into temptation about 2 maybe 3 times which is good for me. I have been staying off the scale as much as possible but I can say this I have been dropped about 2 pounds and I'm fluctuating another 2. I'm not letting the number discourage me though because I'm using this time to get closer with God not to get thinner (although if that happens that will be great).  I did notice that the couple times I have given in to temptat...

First I have to say that the praying is really working for me. I am completely relying on God to take away my hunger. A couple days last week I did even feel hungry. I spent one evening making meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and corn on the cob and I didn't even feel like eating even after cooking all of that. It smelled good and Rex and Miah enjoyed it so it must have been. I just ate a few cherries later that night and I was fine. Then we were out car shopping and we had to get something for Rex to eat and we went through A & W and I didn't even want anything there either. I have been asking God to fill me up with His Spirit and to help me want to eat the things that are good for me and He is. I know He's faithful and if you do things to glorify Him that he will give you what you want. I'm so excited to see it happening. So just so you know I have had a few times where I over eat. I know that I'm full but I still want more so I do it. I'm doing the best I can t...

So today is going pretty good. I'm making healthy choice and have been praying a bunch today for other reasons than just food. I'm excited that it has been somewhat easy and after reading chapter 3 I have a renewed sense that this will not happen without work and that it will take some time to see the results but I'm going to do my best to keep up with it.  In this chapter Lysa talks about having a eating plan. Most of the things that I plan fall apart. Anytime I plan a house cleaning overhaul something always seems to come up and get in the way. I have noticed that there is one area that a plan has worked very well for me in the past and that is meal planning. Normally I just plan dinners but I'm thinking that I'm going to start planning a healthy breakfast and lunch for my family and myself as well. This way the food that is in the house will be healthy. I have also decided that my plan is going to include God made food instead of man made. God makes good things f...

A four page chapter sure can stir up a bunch of stuff inside. The best quote in the whole chapter was, "It had to be about something more than just me." Yep! That sums it up. I don't have the motivation or the strength to do it on my own for just me. I should because God will be glorified through the works I could and would be able to do if I had less of a weight issue but then again that wouldn't just be for me, it would be the for the glory of God. I have all these things in my life that should motivate me, a cruise that's coming up very quickly, a son that has so much energy he wears me out and I need nap time just as much as he does, and then their is the issue in not trusting and relying enough of God to provide everything that I need.  I also figured out that I really don't eat for emotional reasons. I normally eat for two reasons: 1.) I'm bored. I either have nothing to do or more often I'm trying to avoid doing things that are not so enjoyable ...

WOW! Really good! God is definitively trying to teach me some things. So there were a few things that stuck out to me this chapter and I have to tell you they will be big life changers if I stick with it.  The first one is believing that God created us to crave. He created us to crave HIM! God doesn't create something that is bad or evil. The world just turns it that way. So what I'm going to remember is that God created me to crave and that I'm to be craving more time with Him. My plan is every time I have a craving (whether it be food or something else like new shoes) I'm going to spend time in prayer and talking to God before I fulfill that craving. I want to have all my needs met but I know that I can not do that alone, only God can fill me up completely. The second one is that satan uses 3 ways to get me to crave things outside of God and he tempted Jesus the same way. 1st with " cravings: meeting physical desires outside the will of God."  2nd with ...

So I have heard great things about this book and have started reading it and I would love to share what I'm learning through it will everyone. I'm not sure about all of you but I know most of the people (women) I know struggle with weight/self-image issues. I have decided to read this book because I would much rather be happy where I'm at and have a deeper relationship with God. I know that I want to lose weight I'm not going to be able to do it without Him!  So.... The introduction was awesome! I love it already and it makes sense. I also love her writing style so far. It's like listening to a friend talk to you. It's very laid back and real. She talks about her own struggles.  Quotes from the book that mean a lot to me : " God made us capable of craving so we'd have an unquenchable desire for more of Him, and Him alone." This explains why I have cravings for certain foods/things in my life. I'm trying to fill the void that I feel but that can...