Lean not on your own understanding

   I have talked about how the Lord tends to come through     the back door with us at times…
The Back Door
In November I wrote this in my journal:

So after all this - you once again came in through the back door!!!! You showed me all this in a round about way…. Just showed in my heart that I do fear in these areas and you are really wanting to bring healing there. That you really do delight in me and delight to give me the desires of my heart and you do want to remind me that I need to be wise with not only handling these desires but trusting you with them… That I can trust you with the desires of my heart. I can trust you with meeting them.

and then today this was my latest entry on back doors and trusting:
Proverbs 3:5-12

Trust God from the bottom of your heart;

    don’t try to figure out everything on your own.

Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;

    he’s the one who will keep you on track.

Don’t assume that you know it all.

    Run to God! Run from evil!

Your body will glow with health,

    your very bones will vibrate with life!

Honor God with everything you own;

    give him the first and the best.

Your barns will burst,

    your wine vats will brim over.

But don’t, dear friend, resent God’s discipline;

    don’t sulk under his loving correction.

It’s the child he loves that God corrects;

    a father’s delight is behind all this.

So we are in another back door journey (Hubby & I) in learning to trust…
I love how the message version says… don't try to figure out everything on your own (lean not on your own understanding).
              I ask my self often why you go through the back door so often…  perhaps this is my answer.
    I like to figure things out on my own and have it all planned out… to map it out.
Did this with our finances. You opened the door to give us some security in that area…
            Then I took it on and made a plan…  mapped it all out…   had it all figured out.
Then you came through the back door…
And…
          shook that security up a bit… so here I am again…
Trying to figure it out on my own… to reajust the plan… to map it all out again.
Yet…
             You are meeting a desire of our hearts…
a desire for redemption for me… a desire for a prayed second chance…
                a desire for release for him… a desire to do something new… a desire for deeper things to be fulfilled.
                                                Sooner than we thought…    Soon than the mapped out plan
But…
       It takes trusting you… with all our hearts
and not trying to figure it all out… how it will work… how it will look… how we will stay on track.
                         A daily walk… a daily running to you-


  To honor you with all I have… with all I am…
    to give you the first… the best…
        Not to resent your hand… your discipline…
                    your back door entrance…
for your love…     your desire…
   your desire to fulfill-      
              our deeper desires are your aim…
behind that back door.
Keeping the back door open~

Monthly Menu Plan–January 2014

 January Menu Plan

I have talked before about our days of the week menu plans before:

Menu Plan Forms

Menu Planning

I have revamped it a bit to fit our needs for this new year.  I have not made any significant changes as this plan seems to work fairly well for us.

Menu Plan
Meaty Monday

Tortilla Tuesday

Casserole/BFD Wednesday

Pasta/Italian Thursday

Freezer/Pizza Friday

Bar/BBQ Saturday

Soup/Sandwich/Salad Sunday

Having a daily assigned theme helps me complete my monthly meal plan quickly.  During the week we can switch things around if it better suits our needs for that week or we can skip the planned meal and replace it with something else.  Having the monthly plan helps me to prepare and have the necessary ingredients for the meals.

Hubs and I are needing to make some changes in our diet due to some health issues.  But with this plan I can easily make a simple protein, potato or rice, veggie and salad meal for us as an alternative to what is scheduled.

Example:

Pizza or calzone night might be to high in sodium for us so I would make frozen fish, with steamed veggies and potatoes for us. I am also trying to have a lettuce salad available for each meal for us.

Meal planning is a must for our family, and the little effort it takes to plan ahead pays off tremendously.

Enjoy~