My PURSE-onality

While doing the Complaint-Free challenge, I have been having everyone take the personality test.  I am Sanguine, my DH is Phlegmatic with lots of Melancholy (I thought he was the opposite - Melancholy with lots of Phlegmatic - he's almost equal so I guess it doesn't really matter), my oldest son is Phlegmatic (almost entirely Phlegmatic - with little anything else) my second son is Choleric with a lot of Sanguine.  (I haven't analyzed the youngest two.)

It is very interesting to do.  If you would like to take a personality test and find out what you are or try to figure out what someone else is you can go to Cheri's page and link up from there.  The link is about half way down her post (right under the PURSE diagram and above the red words "More Like God Created You and Me To Be").  You can take it online or you can print it off and take it that way.

I am also learning more about myself.  I know that I complain more in the car (she didn't use her blinker, he's going too fast, that person is going to slow, they took my parking spot, you get the idea).  It's something that I am trying to work on.  I have even been switching my bracelet when I think a complaint (I don't always verbalize them).  Because..."Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks" (Luke 6:45).   I feel like verbalization is only a symptom to the real problem - my attitude.  I need to change my attitude and then everything else will fall into place.

The nice thing about this challenge - it is making me more aware of my words, my actions and even my thoughts.  I can start working on my attitude.

I have also found it difficult to not complain around some people more than others.  I don't know if they bring out the worst in me OR if I bring out the WORST IN THEM?!?!  Either way - it is something that I need to desperately work on.

Join me on my journey

I'm about to embark on a journey.  It will be a difficult journey, one filled with many challenges and obstacles.  It will be a journey that I'm sure at some point and time I will question my judgement and want to give up before I reach the end (I hope I can endure).  It is also a journey that once I complete it, I will be a better person for having taken "...the one less traveled by."

It is  journey to try to take my weaknesses and improve them and perhaps turn them into strengths.  It is a journey of self-discovery.

I am taking the 'Complaint-Free Challenge.'  I will try (along with others) to go 31 days without complaining.  I am trying to replace my baditude with God's word and gratitude.  Cheri Gregory has this wonderful idea and I am really excited and a little nervous about this, but I think it will be pleasing to God.  Anytime we try to better ourselves and try to be Christ like, it pleases God.

Go to Cheri's blog and find out why she is Challenging us, get some freebies, listen to some great audios about parenting pre-schoolers, marriage, and the differences in PURSE-onalities and take the challenge too!

Project 5

Project #5
E-flirt.com

Text or E-mail Some Sweet Nothings

“I turn on my computer. I wait patiently as it connects. I go online. My breath catches in my chest until I hear three little words, “You’ve got Mail.” I hear nothing, not a sound on the streets of New York. Just the beat of my own heart… I have mail, from you.”
Meg Ryan as Kathleen Kennedy in “You’ve Got Mail”
Your Project
Send a flirty text or e-mail to your husband.

Getting Creative

• Use an e-card service (hallmark.com or americangreetings.com) to send a cute and flirty note.
• Don’t know how to text? Ask any teenager in the general vicinity.
• Most phones have a camera feature where you can send a photo message. Be sure to keep it G rated so that he doesn’t get in trouble at work.

Project 4

Project #4
Heart vs. Stomach

A Treat Just for Him

 “You can tell a lot about a fellow’s character by his way of eating jellybeans.”
Ronald Reagan

Your Project:
Get a food treat for your husband that he’s not required to share with you or any other family member.

Getting Creative
Stumped for ideas? Here are some thoughts:

• Get his favorite pint of Ben & Jerry’s and hide it behind the frozen chicken. Even if you buy it on Tuesday, you’ll have it ready and waiting for his special night later in the week.
• Is there a certain cut of meat that your husband loves? How about having the butcher cut something just for him? Most supermarkets will even do the marinade for you – one less thing to think about.
• Is there a certain candy that your husband loves from his childhood? Check out www.candywarehouse.com. They have all the nostalgic candy you could want (Black Jack Gum, anyone?) while also carrying any modern favorite you could be looking for.
• My husband’s family loves something called “noodles and mashed potatoes” (we lovingly refer to it as “The Starch Fest”). I learned how to make this special dish just for him.
• My guy loves the smell of baking almost as much as he enjoys eating the treat. Have some brownies in the oven when he gets home from work or working out. (I know, it negates the workout, but isn’t chocolate always worth it?)
• Our friend Scott mentioned that he loves cranberry sauce, but eats it only at Thanksgiving. His wife intentionally made the holiday treat for him this past July.
• Are you a wife who is an expert at low-cal salads and other forms of chick-food? Check out The Ultimate Guide to Man Food at www.kathilipp.com for ideas

Project 3

Project #3
You da’ Man

Spreading Great Gossip About Your Guy

Your Project:
Say something nice about your husband to someone else. Make sure you tell him what you said, and to whom.

 Getting Creative
Who are the important people in your husband’s life? Your kids, his parents, his friends? Be intentional about who you chat with when you brag on him – it’s almost as important as actually doing it.
Having a hard time coming up with something? I still brag on my guy for things he did years ago. He loves when I tell the story of how brilliantly he proposed (there were waterfalls and stuffed portabella mushrooms involved…).

Here are some other areas to think about when crafting your brag:

• His parenting skills
• His patience level
• The way he treats your mom
• His culinary ability
• His job
• His loyalty to you

Project 2

Project #2Back in the Day

Do Something He Enjoyed Before You Got Married

“Lust is easy.  Love is hard.  Like is most important.”  ~ Carl Reiner

Your Project:

Initiate an activity that your husband used to love. Whether it’s his favorite hobby, sport, or pastime, it’s time for you to get involved – be his buddy today.

Getting Creative

• Many a man’s hobby has gone by the wayside due to matrimony. Is it possible that it’s time you learned to golf or fly fish? Don’t try to beat him, just join him.
• Possibly the only thing your husband would enjoy more than playing chess with you is teaching you how to play chess.  Ask for a lesson so he can teach you something that he is an expert at (or really loves). Just your willingness to learn will be a huge boost to your guy.
• Pick up a magazine about your guy’s now dormant hobby. Ask him questions about why he loves it so much. Learn a couple of technical terms so that you are better able to discuss it.
• Do a little research. Find out what the definitive website is on your husband’s favorite subject. Maybe there’s an event in town, a lecture to attend, or a game to watch.

Project 1

Project #1

30 Minutes is All it Takes

Create Some Free Time When He Gets Home

“There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want.”
~Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes

Your Project:

Focus on your husbands transitional 30 minutes today. Would he like to be left alone to rest and rejuvenate, or does he want some undivided attention from you? The point is to let your husband know you value what he does out in the world, and that he has a safe loving place to come home and get refreshed at the end of the day.
Getting Creative
There are plenty of reasons why it might not be easy for you to give your husband some transition time at the end of the day. You need to look at what can work for your relationship. Be creative, like the stories listed below. Brainstorm with your friends until you find a situation that will work for you and your guy.

• My friend, Joann, purposely scheduled her daughter’s dance classes twice a week at the same hour that her husband gets home from work. That way, her hubby comes home to an empty house. He gets some quiet, and she gets a more peaceful man.

• One husband has his workshop out in the garage. His wife encourages him to go and hang out there for a while before dinner. (Since starting this arrangement, her husband has started helping out with the after-dinner clean up. Nice side benefit.)

• Crockpots are The Husband Project’s best friend. Set your crockpot to be finished thirty minutes after your husband gets home from work. Let him know that you don’t need anything until dinner is ready. Don’t know a crockpot from a flower pot? Check out the recipes in The Ultimate Guide to Man Food at www.kathilipp.com

• Does your husband already have a great transition routine after getting home? Find some other little thing to bless that time. Maybe it’s making sure the TV is available, his favorite sweats are clean and ready to be changed into, or there’s a cold soda waiting for him in the fridge. It may be so small that he doesn’t even notice. That’s okay – you’ll know what you did.
• What if your husband works from home? Maybe the best way to help him relax is to ask what he would like the schedule to be. Does he want dinner before or after he gets some time to recharge? Ask him what would make his night better.

How's it going?

How's the challenge going? Have you read James at least once yet? Well, if you haven't and if you don't think you can get it read 3 times this week once, is better than nothing (but try for 3 times).

There are 5 days left this week (including today). James has 5 short chapters (the first 2 are the longest and they have around 30 verses - so they are still not long), read 1 chapter a day starting today and at the end of the week you will have read the book of James.

It was written by Jesus' half brother and has lots of practical advice. And who better to give advice (other than Jesus)? Very useful, especially today.

My Challenge for You

James is my favorite book in the New Testament. It is a short book, easy to read with very practical advise (and instruction from God). I challenge each of you to read it 3 times this week (I've heard that if you read 3 books on 1 subject you are considered an expert on that subject). I don't know if you would be considered and expert on the book of James, but you would obviously be more educated and closer to God.

If you are up for a major challenge. Read the book of James once each day this week. I bet if you do that, you would have read the book of James more times than most people.

My favorite translation of the Bible is the King James Version (it is the most acurate, but not easy to read). My next favorite is the New King James Version (basically KJV, but withou the Thee's and Thou's). When I read my bible I like to have several versions. I usually read the KJV, but if there is something that I'm having trouble understanding, I look at another version to see if it makes things clearer. Beware of what version you are reading, some versions leave things out and some add their own words into scripture.

"Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you."
Deuteronomy 4:2 KJV

"What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it." Deuteronomy 12:32 KJV

"Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.
Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar." Proverbs 30:5-6 KJV

“For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.” Revelation 22:18-19 KJV

Just remember... "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." 2 Timothy 2:15 KJV

So...are you up for the challenge?

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!! This is my absolute favorite holiday. I love fall...the bright colors, pumpkins, leaves (I love leaves), the crisp cool air (not cold), I just absolutely love fall. I love Thanskgiving because I feel we tend to take things for granted and in general are not as thankful as we should be and Thanksgiving makes us more aware of all of our blessings. Family, I love spending time with family too. I also feel like it is the one holiday that isn't commercialized to the max.

Here are a couple of crafting ideas to start the next year off.

1) We did this for the first time this year. We had a Thanksgiving box. (A friend from my MOPS group gave us this idea last year.) We took an ordinary cardboard box (could be a shoe box or whatever you have around the house, and covered it with brown kraft paper (I love brown kraft paper) - and wrote some "thankful" scriptures on it, cut a slit in the top. Leave it sitting in an easily accessible area with 3 x 5 index cards and a pen. Each day everyone writes one thing that they are thankful for and drop it in the box and you read them on Thanksgiving day. My youngest 2 are not old enough to participate (this year I might be able to ask Anthony (3) what he is thankful for and write it down for him). My oldest 2, Lee (9) & Champ (8), did it at first, but then quit. Frank, my DH didn't do it. I did it sporadically (this was our first year - maybe it will get better). I do plan on doing it again. It makes me aware on a daily (maybe I should say 'regular') basis. You could decorate your box anyway that you want to (with wrapping paper, scrapbooking paper, butcher paper and markers, etc.).

2) Don't want to decorate a box? Get a blank book/journal (found in the stationery section of stores) and each day have each family member write what they are thankful for, date it and sign it. You could do a different journal each year and have a whole collection to look back on over the years (to see if our perspectives have changes, to see how our children have grown - handwritting and ideas, etc.).

3) I have also heard of a 'Perpetual Thanksgiving Tablecloth.' I have always wanted to do this (not sure why I haven't). Get a white, off-white or light colored table cloth (use it for Thanksgiving only). Each year have your Thanksgiving guests sign their name, date and one thing they are grateful for with a permanent fabric marker.

I may try the journal idea this year. The nice thing about the box is no one sees what you've written until Thanksgiving day when all the cards are read. (I do plan on keeping my index cards though - if I don't loose them - and we can look back in a few years on those too, I might could paste them in a journal/book). The nice thing about the journal is it is more compact and easier to store. We'll see. Just a thought, you could give each family member a journal of their own for the year (then no one would see what they wrote until it was time - there would be more books to keep up with though). You just have to try something and keep trying until you find out what works for you.

Here are some ideas...you can be grateful for big things (like your health or home), little things (like your child's smile, a wave from a stranger), you can dig deep (spiritually), there are no rules except you should truly be grateful for it and not just writing something down. My personal preference is to focus on the little things (those are the one's we tend to take for granted the most). Click here to get you jump started.

Call me crazy, but I think this would be a great writing assignment for students.

Are you and/or your family already doing this? What are you doing? How long have you been doing it? If you are already doing this, I have a challenge for you. Write down all the things you struggle with or seem like a burden and find a way to be grateful for it. (Example: a few years ago we lived in an older home and we had ants all summer long every summer. I was grateful for the ants because it made me do my dishes and clean my kitchen the very minute we finished eating. I always had a clean kitchen to wake up to, if unexpected company dropped by, etc. and it became a habit that I still do today.) Let me know what you are doing and if you accept the challenge.

Here's another quote...

"Take a lesson from the grass. No matter how many times it's cut or trampled on, it rises again and continues. So get back up, my friend, get back up and rise again." -Unknown

Have a good one and be thankful for all you have.

~Jena