Like A Warm Cup of Coffee

Pictures!

SarahMae — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 17:29:29 +0000

The move has been great…

We are so happy and feel extremely blessed!

So, the tour…

Here is the living room…

The dining room…

The out-of-control playroom…

and the soon-to-be family room!

The babes seem to be entertaining themselves while we unpack…

After Nester and Kimba give me some decorating tips, I’ll post more pics! :)

Dependence

SarahMae — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 04:00:34 +0000

“On Thanksgiving Day we acknowledge our dependence.”

-William Jennings Bryan

A Misunderstanding?

SarahMae — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:46:20 +0000

It seems as though the coffee line thing being put on hold confused some people. The coffee line was a for real line of coffee, not a sneaky name for my blog. I am just happily busy unpacking and giving life to my new home…and I must say, being unplugeed has been quite wonderful.

Anywho, not going anywhere.

Pics to come.

Where’s the Coffee Line?

SarahMae — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:05:34 +0000

I am so sorry to share this crummy news, but the coffee line is put on hold indefinitely at this point.

-Sarah Mae

A Big Thanks To Like a Warm Cup of Coffee Sponsors!

SarahMae — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:26:52 +0000

Abraham Piper did this on his blog and thought it was simple and nice…so I’m copying.

Check out these super businesses!

List Plan It (great organizing lists/ideas/tools)

The Vintage Pearl (beautiful unique hand-stamped jewelry)

Flowerz in Her Hair (the cutest hair pieces for children)

Red Letter Words (very cool word art)

Color Incorporated (Christian owned printing company)

October Belle Designs (sweet kiddo art)

They pay for my coffee addiction. I heart them.

Three Boys & Autism

SarahMae — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:00:26 +0000

Today’s post is from the lovely Arianne…

I sit on my couch watching my boys play, and I can’t believe it still.

Three boys, all on the autism spectrum, yet today we rejoice. Each one of them at a different place in their journey, and each one of them succeeding. They make progress, they laugh, they LOVE.

All things we never knew if we’d see or not.

The youngest sits next to me, cuddling, and I am reminded I never got to cuddle with his older brothers like this. By the time they liked to cuddle (a little) they were too big to fit in the curve of my hip on the couch and squish down under my arm.

Every little thing, is new to me.

I often wonder — do moms with typical kids realize the amount of love they receive every day? That smile, that hug, that look, that playtime, that regular meal, that relaxed bedtime, that quick-leave-the-house-on-a-whim. I notice everything. All of it. Because I once didn’t have it.

I sometimes live as though those moments will be taken away. I know this fear is not from God, so I remind myself to trust that the progress my boys have made will stick. Will reside forever. But a mom of autism is used to regression, even still, used to regression that doesn’t get better. A weekend trip may take months to recover from, but we always recover. God always help us recover.

These boys brought a depth to my soul so deep, and bright, and sometimes dark, but always closer — to Him. The God of gods, King of kings! He who is my only refuge when I feel so profoundly inadequate as me. The wife, mother, daughter, friend. He who reminds me that He made me their mom.

I am His, and that is everything.

When I had my first boy, I thought I knew myself. I thought I understood. But now, I realize it was as if I was living on the first floor of a house, not understanding that house was actually twenty stories high. Never exploring more, never seeking. Staying comfortable. There was SO MUCH MORE to live, to see, to feel, to experience. To believe.

Woe that I had become so comfortable, going to church, attending small group, reading my never-scratch-the-surface devotionals, never understanding that I had settled in, waiting to be fed, and not risking anything. I was being obedient, yes, but had stopped thirsting, thinking I was doing all the right things, but not understanding it was *just* enough. Not extra. Not further. Not understanding that I could be so much more with Him.

I thank God for my precious difficult boys who remind me how to be MORE. How to be intentional and specific with my parenting, show me that I can really handle much more than I realized, turned me into an advocate for them and children like them, and who reminded me that LOVE can be found in the tiniest of tiny.

In a smile, a hug. A twinkle in the eye that is not there by accident.

In every strand of hair, and in every single heart.

Oh yes, how we rejoice!

Arianne is a freelance writer who blogs at To Think Is To Create and is the Fit & Healthy Editor at Lifetime Moms. You can also sometimes find her on Twitter. She just recently packed up her Chicago-land home and moved to Charleston, South Carolina, where she plans on drinking sweet tea on her new front porch and finding her inner steel magnolia.

Are You A Bond-Servant?

SarahMae — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:00:32 +0000

“The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able

to teach,

patient when wronged,

with gentleness correcting those who are the opposition,

if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth…”

2 Timothy 2:24, 25 (italics and bold mine)

You Can Find Me Behind The Boxes

SarahMae — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:47:46 +0000

Friday is MOVING DAY!!!

I’m pretty excited.

Oh,

and just because it makes me happy…

Where Does the Time Go?

SarahMae — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 04:00:07 +0000

Today’s post is from Rachel Cohee, a non-blog owner, but soon to be one. :)

If you’re like me, by the time you get kids to bed each night your brain is tired and all you want to do is wrap yourself in that Snuggie your husband bought you last Christmas, sit on the couch and watch whatever mindless shows come on the TV. It just seems like it might be too exhausting to actually pick out a book and find a quiet corner to read or tackle a Bible study with hours of “homework.”

So what do we do when we have an evening stretching in front of us with not much to do…I’m afraid all too often I fall victim to a night of watching some not so great “reality” television. As women these shows seem to speak to our interests—fashion, gossip, friendships, and lifestyles that seem better than our own. On the surface it seems fun to get “carried away” with Rachel Zoe as she styles Demi Moore for the Oscar parties or maybe watch another group of “Housewives” get in a cat fight in the middle of a busy restaurant or dare I say take another quiz on Facebook.

Recently God has been showing me that I need to get proactive about filling my time with things that are better for me and most importantly please the God I claim to serve.

Here are some ideas that I’ve tried…

Ladies Book Club
I actually used my contacts on Facebook and sent out a post asking if anyone was interested in joining me for a book club. I got about 10 responses so I chose the latest Joni Eareckson Tada book, typed up a meeting and reading schedule and hosted the first night at my house. We had about 7-8 women come on a regular basis and we met every Thursday night for 6 weeks. Sometimes we met at a local Panera Bread and other times we met at someone’s house. The hostess would provide a few snacks and coffee and we discussed the book and more importantly got to know each other even better and shared in some sweet prayer time each week.

My Own Little Bible Study
I’m not very good at just reading a chapter of the Bible and then trying to dissect it on my own…my mind tends to wander. I found a Beth Moore Bible study workbook I had started back before I had kids and never finished so I’ve been working through it just completing as much as I can in the time I set aside each day. It’s amazing how refreshing it is when I know I don’t have to get all of the homework done before the next Bible study meeting. I can take my time and if I don’t finish a particular day’s assignment, I just pick it up the next day and continue on.

Photo Organizing (Not Scrapbooking!)
I am one of those people who likes to buy all the cute little scrapbook supplies…stickers, paper punches, fancy papers, etc. but I don’t seem to ever sit down and actually complete scrapbook pages. The Type A personality in me gets really annoyed by this but then that natural tendency to procrastinate rears its ugly head and next thing you know I’ve accomplished nothing and feel like a failure! I finally figured out that if I spend even an hour each week just organizing family photos by date and category, I feel like I’m moving in the right direction. The other thing I’ve done recently is purchased some small purse size albums and used each one for a different theme…for example, all of our pictures from a recent trip to the pumpkin patch went in one small album and my daughter and I decorated the cover with some of that fall-themed scrapbook paper and stickers I just happened to have on hand. It felt good to actually finish an album!

These things definitely shouldn’t take the place of spending some good, quality time with your husband. He needs to feel loved and one of the best things you can offer him is your time. It’s easy to shuffle your man to the back burner when the kids demand so much of you each day. My husband and I work together to get kids bathed, books read and in bed so that we have time to spend together and time to spend doing what we like to do individually.

Take some time to consider how you spend your hours each day and you might be surprised by the extra hours you find when you get intentional about how you spend your time.

Rachel Cohee is a wife to Mark and mommy to Katelyn and Lucy and recently became a full-time stay at home mom after years of working in Human Resources. She counts it a real joy to get to spend each day with her little girls. She’s also enjoying getting back to writing and putting her Journalism degree to use! She hopes to launch her own blog in the very near future.

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Tommy Nelson iPod and Library Winner Announced Here!

SarahMae — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 21:44:29 +0000

Out of 173 responses, a winner has been chosen! Congrats to…

Carey from La Casa Garcia! Yay! :)

Carey just won an iPod and full library of Stephen Elkins’ product! Here is her sweet winning comment:

I honestly don’t remember my mom ever singing to me, but that didn’t stop me from singing to my kiddos! We have the same tune (something my hubs made up on the spot and it stuck!) for each of our three kids but with different words.

For Gigi:
Gi-bo rocking with Dad, rocking with Daddy
Gi-bo rocking with Dad, rocking with Daddy
When she rocks, she goes kick! kick! kick!
Rocking with Daddy!

For Claire:

Claire Bear rocking with Dad, rocking with Daddy
Claire Bear rocking with Dad, rocking with Daddy
When she rocks, she goes waa! waa! waa!
Rocking with Daddy!

For Deacon:
D-bud rocking with Dad, rocking with Daddy
D-bud rocking with Dad, rocking with Daddy
When he rocks, he goes Kung Fu! Fu!
Rocking with Daddy!

Very silly, but the kids loved it, and they still smile and giggle whenever they hear those songs today!

Everyone else, check out the Tommy Nelson Facebook page for another chance to win an iPod – just in time for Christmas!