All I Want For Christmas Is Mason Jars

I have a problem. I'm totally addicted to mason jars. No really. I'd be totally thrilled if everyone got me mason jars for Christmas. I use those suckers for EVERYTHING. I'll bet you had no idea just how versatile mason jars are. So in honor of my favorite dish/organizing tool/candle/craft supply/etc I will do several posts on how I use mason jars...yeah...go ahead...run to the store and get some. Trust me. You'll want to. If you can find any that I haven't bought already. Um...yeah.

If you're looking for even more ideas than I give, just Google "mason jars" or look them up on Pinterest (another of my addictions...maybe I have an addictive personality...hmmm) The possibilities are absolutely endless.

First up...the glitter jar. Shake the jar then watch the glitter settle. This was originally recommended to give to children when they are getting wild and out of control. (Which of course would NEVER apply to my little angels. haha) Sit them down and let them shake the jar. When all the glitter has settled, they can get up and are usually much more calm and ready to go. I think this would work for one...or maybe two of my kiddos. The third...forget it. He'd be trying to figure out how to drink the glitter.  To see how to make these jars go HERE. 



Another neat kid idea is a star jar...


There are tons of ways to do this, but this one is my favorite. Just get some glow in the dark paint and splatter it around inside the jar. Seriously. How simple is that? And how fun for sleepovers, campouts and playing in homemade forts!

See...two simple unconventional ways to use mason jars. There are millions I think. I'll give you another one later. ;-) Check back.

Evidence of Grace

I have said many times that I was so thankful for a God who loved me just as I am, but loved me too much to leave me that way. As I was thinking back over the past year, or even past few years this thanksgiving, I realized that God's grace in not allowing me to stay as I was is very evident. I don't want to at all sound as though I am bragging, because the journey has been painful and I can claim no credit for my growth. It is only by the grace of God that I have seen these changes in my life and perspective. But I want to share just how God has provided and worked on me recently.

Seven years ago I was losing my grandpa to cancer. He was in a lot of pain, and he was one of my very best friends. And I was angry. Really angry. I remember in his last days that people would come to the house and want to pray with our family and I would leave the room because it made me so angry that they would continue to talk to a God who wasn't fixing my problem, who was allowing my Papa to suffer.

His death was traumatic for our entire family. It was a very long, painful ordeal. I had nightmares almost every night for months. I was still in college, trying to finish up my degree and had just gotten married. As I began my senior year, they decided that our entire senior class would be studying the topic of death for the entire year. I was in total disbelief. Here I was trying to escape the memories of death and now they were going to force me to study it for an entire year??

They made us go on a retreat and watch a movie that depicted someone dying a horrible, painful death from cancer. I had a complete breakdown and Ward had to come get me. The nightmares resumed in force. Honestly, I'm not sure I've ever forgiven the college for that. I was so angry and slipping into a pretty serious depression. How could a "Christian" college make me relive that kind of pain? Weren't they supposed to be comforting, supportive, compassionate? How could they? I was even more angry with God.

Then in December I got pregnant. We were so thrilled that finally we had something to really be excited about. We bought little baby clothes and painted the nursery. Then in February I lost the baby. I felt like the whole world was crashing down around me. I was in my last semester of college. I went to several individuals within the college and begged them to let me do something other than the "death class". But they insisted that I couldn't be exempted and that I had to finish it to graduate.

I was devastated. This was so unfair. Why was life so hard? Why was God not listening to me? Was there even a God at all? I decided at this point that if there was a God, he was cruel and I wanted nothing to do with him.

But God loved me in spite of my foolishness and selfishness and in spite of my bitterness toward Him. He loved me exactly like I was, but loved me too much to leave me that way. He gave me a wonderful, faithful husband and an amazing church family that slowly dragged me out of my selfish way of thinking.

Seven years later, I have had what has undoubtedly been the most challenging year of my life. Multiple illnesses, Kaytie's asthma, an incredibly tense and dangerous pregnancy, the possibility of losing my own life and having to say goodbye to my children and husband, a painful recovery and less than ideal birth, having a child in the NICU, post pregnancy complications that have dragged on for four months, and then finding my baby suffocated in his bed and having to do CPR to revive him...it's been one thing after another all year long. And yet, my faith has remained. In fact, in stark contrast to the trials of a few years ago, my faith has grown immeasurably.

Many people have said how they feel so sorry for me and that they just think it's horribly unfair that I've had to go through all of this- that I don't deserve it. And seven years ago, that's exactly what I thought too. But it startled me to realize that this thought had never crossed my mind this year. My immediate thought upon hearing this was "you've got it all wrong."

You see, I am a wretched person. Really. I've rebelled and gone against what I've known to be right. I've questioned God and blamed him for everything bad in life- ignoring the fact that this is a fallen world we live in and the consequences for our sin is death. God is absolutely perfect. He can't associate with imperfection because it is contrary to his character. And it broke his heart that we would live apart from him and in such pain. He was willing to give his son to take our place. We didn't deserve that kind of grace. No one made him do it. He did it because he loved us just like we were and to bring glory to himself.

As I've realized just how undeserving I am to have a God who cares about me and for me, I have gained a new appreciation and outlook on my circumstances. The world sees that I'm sick...I see that I have been given doctors, knowledge and technology to find a solution.

The world sees that I had to tell my husband and babies goodbye...I see that it wasn't goodbye. Only God could have allowed me to live. He loves me.

The world sees that I had a painful recovery...I see that I had a recovery. In less recent times, all women in my situation would have been doomed to die. He loves me.

The world sees that I have undergone test after test and I'm tired. Yes, I'm tired. But I'm blessed because these tests are not only showing what needs to be done for me to be alright, but also what God is doing to make me alright. His healing has been miraculous, even by medical standards. He loves me.

The world sees that my baby suffocated in his crib...I see that he's grinning at me today. Only God could have made it so that I turned on his monitor even though he wasn't going to sleep...that I had the monitor in the first place...that I knew how to do CPR...that I was able to get him to breathe again. He loves me. Trial after trial...sure...miracle after miracle...absolutely.

So while everyone thinks that I'm so undeserving of these many difficulties, I see that I am so undeserving of this many miracles. Why God has loved me so much that he has chosen to show his power so obviously in our lives this year, I do not understand. I certainly don't deserve it. So looking back over this year I am so thankful for the change in my perspective. And I am so thankful that my God loved me exactly like I was, but loved me too much to leave me that way.

Yay for FREE Soda!

So, I'm apparently nesting now, since I didn't ever get to that late pregnancy stage. At least that's what Ward says is the problem. :)

Last weekend we completely rearranged our room. I'm totally thrilled because our room has always been the room that gets forgotten. No one is ever really in there but us, so it tends to get neglected. Terrible, I know. But after moving around furniture I realized what a big, beautiful room we have. It never seemed that big since the space wasn't well used, but now it's a place I can go to get away from the craziness that is the rest of the house.

Having this semi-quiet space has led to being able to catch up on other things as well- like writing, and couponing. I outgrew my previous coupon binder, so I purchased a larger one and gave my coupon system an update. It runs much more smoothly now. I know a ton of people have been asking me to teach them how I coupon, so although I tend to think that it isn't a one-size-fits-all kind of thing, I will try to do a few posts in the near future on the topic.

As a quick note along those lines, I got my Early Edition Sunday Post-Dispatch today and found that there is a coupon for a free 2 liter of Dr. Pepper Ten. This is the new ten calorie Dr. Pepper. This is exciting to me for two reasons. One- I just tried the new Ten last week and loved it. (If you're a Dr. Pepper fan, I would encourage you to try it, and give yourself at least two cans to see if you like it. The first tends to seem weird since you're expecting regular Dr. Pepper, but by the second I was hooked. Just my opinion.) Two- the coupon is for a FREE 2 liter...and from what I can see, there's no purchase requirement. That means you walk in the store with your coupon and walk out with your 2 liter. No money required.

Now, a quick note on redeeming these kinds of coupons. I have found that Walmart is the easiest place to redeem "get one free" coupons that have no other purchase requirements. Most other stores have some kinds of restrictions on these purchases. But you shouldn't get any problems doing them at Walmart. Also, because of the size of most Walmarts, you have a better chance of finding them in stock, especially if you can't get to your shopping until later in the week.

So there you have it. A coupon tip for your weekend. :) I promise I will do more posts on coupon shopping later, but wanted to throw that one out there so that you can purchase a paper tomorrow if you're interested. (If you don't live in the St. Louis area, I have no idea if your insert will have these coupons, but it's worth checking out.) Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

A blog that is NOT a baby update. :)

I know it's been forever since I posted much on this blog besides pregnancy updates. As anyone who has read those updates knows, it's been a crazy few months. The year started off with the best of intentions so far as blogging goes...but life doesn't go according to plan. So hopefully now that life is somewhat returning to our own unique form of normal I will be able to do a better job at keeping up with writing. As you can see, I've simplified the blog a bit. Simple is just better for me these days. A big thanks to lovely and talented Sarah Lough for the gorgeous picture of the sweet miracle baby who has been monopolizing the blog content for the better part of the year. I've been overwhelmed by the number of people who have visited this blog from all across the country- all across the world, really- to check in on us. We are blessed to have each one of you.