Mister won’t be joining us, which means I’ll be flying with a toddler, unassisted.

I must be crazy. 

I’ll be taking a bloggy break to focus on family while we’re there, and I plan to post the super-easy meal plan with slow cooker recipes next week.

God bless,
Megan

Mama, meet your new best friend.

My slow cooker and I are in love.

Okay, maybe the feeling’s not mutual.  My slow cooker has never actually professed its feelings for me.

But at any rate, I am in love with my slow cooker.  In fact, I use it so often that my dear husband has been known to light up like the 4th of July over a humble grilled cheese sandwich, just because it didn’t come out of the slow cooker.

Yeah, I use it that much.

So mama, if your slow cooker is collecting dust in the back of your pantry, if it’s in the section of the basement dedicated to unused wedding gifts, or if you {gasp} don’t own one …

It’s time to bust it out and get your slow cook on.  This little guy will help you feed your family, even on the crazy days, without turning to frozen pizza or Burger King.  Not that I’ve ever done that.  {Ahem}

Here are just a few of the reasons I love my slow cooker:

• It’s forgiving.  If you’re tossing ingredients into the slow cooker and you have to step away to change a diaper, then soothe a boo-boo, then rescue a beloved fire truck that got stuck under the couch, no harm done.  The slow cooker will be there when you get back, and your meal will taste just as yummy.

• It’s easy.  Literally, anyone can cook with one.  Most recipes just require you to put ingredients into the pot and stir.
• It’s flexible.  Slow cooker meals leave a lot of wiggle room as far as when they’re “done” cooking.  So if your husband gets home from work late, the meal will still be hot and ready for him.  It’s not like it’s a chicken cordon bleu fresh from the oven that will be cold and rubbery if it’s not eaten immediately.
• It frees up your time.  I don’t know about you, but 4pm – 6pm is the most stressful time of day for me.  (There’s a reason they call it “the witching hour.”)  Little Man is cranky because he’s hungry and tired, my husband isn’t home yet, and I’m usually exhausted by then.  The last thing I want to be doing at that time is standing over the stove tending some high-maintenance dish.  On slow cooker days (which is just about every day, if we’re being honest), I just toss in all the ingredients in the morning and I can spend the rest of the day getting other stuff done.
• It saves money.  Slow cooking tenderizes even the toughest of meats, so you can get away with buying cheaper cuts of meat.
• It’s cool.  I don’t mean “cool” as in “hip” or “sexy,” although I suppose that point could be argued.    I mean it doesn’t generate a lot of heat.  I hate, hate, hate to be hot — which is why I eschew the stove from June to August and cook with my slow cooker all summer long.
• It’s versatile.  I’ve whipped up everything from pot roast to banana bread in my trusty o’le slow cooker.

The slow cooker works around your schedule, which is why it’s so great for busy stay-at-home moms.  Later this week, I’ll share a super-easy weekly meal plan that even the busiest mama can handle, with plenty of slow cooker recipes.  Stay tuned!

God bless,
Megan

Four years ago, my husband and I had just packed all our belongings into a Penske truck and left our families behind.  His job had taken us from Phoenix to Connecticut, and we were about to face one of the biggest trials of our married life.

New town, new apartment, new jobs, new church.  Like an earthquake, the big changes we were experiencing shook us up and brought all the problems in our relationship to the surface.

And suddenly I found myself questioning my marriage.  With no friends or family anywhere close.

I had never felt so alone.

There were moments when I thought it was all over.  Broken beyond repair.  Completely without hope.

“Never underestimate my Jesus.  You’re telling me that there’s no hope.  I’m telling you you’re wrong.” Relient K, from “For the Moments I Feel Faint”

I can’t tell you how much I cried during those dark months.  Or how much I prayed.

“God, help.  Redeem this marriage.  Only You can save it, God.  Only you.  Help.”

“I waited patiently for the LORD; He turned to me and heard my cry.  He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. (Psalm 40: 1-2)

This is what God did.

He turned to me.

He heard my cry.

He lifted my marriage out of the slimy pit, out of the muck and mire.

He saved our marriage.

We didn’t wake up one morning and suddenly everything was just peachy.  But slowly, things began to change.  Healing entered into our relationship.  Peace entered into our home.

And today, our marriage is stronger than ever.  Not because we’re awesome, but because He is.

We learned, in that trial, that only a marriage built on the firm foundation of Christ will stand.

I share this deeply personal story with you for one reason — to give you hope.

If you are facing a hopeless situation today, I want to encourage you to invite Jesus into that situation.

Where He is, there is hope.

The pain you are feeling is real, and it is big.  I know.

I also know that…

Jesus is real, and He is bigger.

Just ask the demon-possessed man who lived in the tombs until Jesus delivered him (Mark 5: 1-20).  Or the woman who had suffered with bleeding for 12 years until Jesus healed her (Mark 5: 25-34).  Or the synagogue ruler whose little girl was dead until Jesus raised her to life (Mark 5: 35-43).  Or the disciples whose boat was sinking fast until Jesus calmed the storm (Mark 4: 35-41).

No situation is without hope, if Jesus is there.

Invite Him in, dear one.

God bless,
Megan

Truth that I’ve been sharing with Little Man since he was three months old.

And yesterday, this –

“Bah-buh!” {pointing to the Bible}

“You want to read the Bible, sweetie?  You want to read the Bible?!?!”  {Little Man nodding}

Now, I know, at 21 months old, that he was asking to read the Bible pretty much because it’s part of our daily routine and he’s come to expect it.

But I also know that although he understands very little of what we read today, these seeds of truth are nourishing his little spirit and they will bear fruit later.

I can’t put into words the joy that washed over me in that moment.

Or the panic that followed.

Because daily Bible reading isn’t the only thing that Little Man has picked up from his mama.

The smallest smudge of peanut butter on his pudgy little finger can spark a three-alarm meltdown.  Music of any kind sets his feet a-dancing.  One of his first words was “llama.”

Where’s he getting this stuff?  {ahem}

Our children are sponges, mama.  Sticky, loud, adorable sponges.  They soak it all in.

Everything we do, everything we say … they absorb it all, and their little hearts translate –

This is the way things should be done, this is the way things should be said.

The enormous weight of that responsibility sends me to my knees.

Please, Lord, when he looks at me, let him see You.  Let him see the joy, the peace that comes from knowing you.  The sin that I struggle with … let it not touch him, Father.

When my son looks at me, I want him to see a woman whose heart is on fire with love for the Savior who redeemed her, whose knees hit the floor daily on behalf of her family.

What do you want your children to see?  What are you modeling for them today?

God bless,
Megan

Healthy, peaceful, Spirit-filled.  If you asked my husband or my son to describe me, this is what I hope they’d say.

Anxious, frazzled, stressed out.  If you asked my husband or my son to describe me, this is what they probably would say.

(Well, Little Man would probably say, “Mama!”  But only because of the limitations of his 21-month old vocabulary.)

I want to start each day in His power, not my own.  To wake up, reach out my hand, place it in Christ’s, and count on His power to pull me out of bed.  To kneel before Him and place all my burdens at His feet, before the day has even started.  To trust Him for the strength to take care of the body He’s given me.  To submit my time and my plans to Him and allow Him to direct my paths.

“In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.” (Psalm 5:3)

And so…

I’ve signed up for the Hello Mornings Challenge.

Hello Mornings is a movement created by Kat over at Inspired to Action.  The idea is that you commit to waking up for your children, instead of waking up with your children, and spending focused time in three areas.

God.  Exercise.  Planning.

Now, Kat inspires my socks off.  Her Maximize Your Mornings e-book gave me a fresh vision for my mothering.  I love her because she encourages us to be better for God and our families, but she doesn’t promote a perfectionist, all-or-nothing way of thinking (which is a trap that I fall into all the time).  Instead, Kat encourages women to start small and focus on creating a habit.

Which is exactly what I intend to do.

I want to develop the habit of waking early, to spend time with my God and let Him transform me into the wife, mama and woman He created me to be.

One of my excuses for not getting up early has always been the darkness.  Especially this time of year, when the sun doesn’t come up until, oh, 7:30-ish, it is just. so. hard. to get out of bed when it’s dark out.  It just feels unnatural.

So I let a few sessions of the Hello Mornings Challenge go by without signing up.  And each time, I’d think, maybe next time I’ll sign up.  I’m just not ready yet.

And then I came across this passage of scripture.

“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” (Mark 1:35)

Okay, Lord, I got the message. 

So I will count on Him to help me get up very early in the morning, while it is still dark, to go to a solitary place and pray.

I won’t do it perfectly, I won’t always do it joyfully, but I will do it.

This year, I will allow Him to develop a holy habit in me.

Do you have a fresh vision for 2012?  What will you allow God to do in you and through you this year?

God bless,
Megan

It must be January.  Everywhere we turn, the message is there.

New year, new you!  

The diet plans, the gyms, the makers of those revolutionary skin care products.  They’d all like us to believe that we can be that beautiful, that healthy, that youthful.

The power to change is within us!

(Well, we might need a little extra help with the whole “change” thing, which is where the pills, creams, and plans come in.)

But here’s the thing, mama.  Don’t fall for it.

The power to change is not within you.

It’s within Him.

Only Jesus can make us new.

Do you want to be a more loving wife?  A more patient mama?  A more effective teacher to your little ones?

Do you want to be healthier?  Leaner?  More well-rested?

All your hopes and dreams for this new year are possible, if you place them in His hands.

This is His promise to you –

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean.
I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols.
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you.
I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
(Ezekiel 36: 25-27)

On Friday, I’ll share what I’m trusting Jesus to accomplish in me this year.  What hopes are you entrusting to Him in 2012?

God bless,
Megan

Bad blogger.

It’s been more than a month since I’ve posted.  A month since my life got swept up into the vortex of holiday busy and travel crazy.

Turns out, my blog-by-the-seat-of-my-pants strategy didn’t hold up well to the increasing demands on my time. (Shocking, I know.)

But it’s a new year, and here’s what I love about the month of January.

It feels like a clean slate.

And here’s what I’m writing on it –

My time is a gift from God, to be used as He leads, for His glory.

Sometimes it seems there aren’t enough minutes in my day to accomplish all the stuff on my to-do list.

But I serve a God who created time, and He — and He alone — is able to help me manage the minutes to His glory.

So here’s my goal for BrandNewMama in 2012.

This blog is for His glory, created to encourage new stay-at-home moms and point them to the Savior who alone is able to gently guide them through these (sometimes overwhelmingly hard) days.

And here’s the plan that He placed on my heart to carry this out.

• Three posts a week — Monday, Wednesday, Friday.
• Three hours every Saturday morning for writing posts — preferably somewhere out of the house, where I can work without interruptions while sipping something caffeinated and yummy
• Half-hour a day — for social media, responding to comments, commenting on my favorite blogs, and technical issues.

By his grace, and with His help, I can do it.

And how about you, dear mama?  He’s placed a clean slate in your lap.  What’s He leading you to write?

God bless,
Megan

Having a baby added a lot more of everything to my life.

A lot more laughter.  A lot more love.

A lot more laundry.  (How can such a tiny little person produce such copious amounts of laundry?)

Here are 10 easy ways to clean your clothes without breaking the bank:

1. Use less detergent.  I used to fill the detergent cap all the way up.  The more, the better … or so I thought.  And then my mother-in-law clued me in to this groundbreaking idea — you don’t need to use that much detergent!  Now I use about 1/4 cup of detergent for moderately soiled loads, and the clothes come out just as clean.
   
2. Cut dryer sheets in half.  That’s right.  Just bust out the scissors and cut all the dryer sheets in half.  Then use a half sheet per load.  Your dryer sheets will last twice as long, and your clothes will be just as soft.  I promise.
3. Stop using dryer sheets altogether.  I know, this is a bit extreme for some of you.  A couple of years ago I would never have considered this.  But after Little Man’s bout with eczema last winter, I stopped using dryer sheets on his clothes because the fragrance chemicals can irritate sensitive skin.  And we’ve never looked back.  His clothes are plenty soft and smell just fine.  In fact, they smell … like nothing at all.  Which, when it comes to baby clothes, is the best smell of all, if you ask me.
4. Wash with cold water.  We wash all of our loads, except for sheets and towels, with cold water.  Why?  Since most of the energy used to wash a load goes toward heating the water, you’ll save $60 – $100 a year if you wash 80% of your loads with cold water.
5. Play the drugstore game to get detergent for cheap … or possibly for free.  Never heard of the drugstore game?  It’s a savings strategy that combines sales, coupons and store rebates to score smokin’ deals at CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid.  By playing the drugstore game, I’m able to get laundry detergent for $2 or less.  (Hint: If you’re interested in trying this out, I highly recommend exploring Money Saving Mom.  That’s how I learned how to “play the game.”)
6. Make your own homemade laundry detergent.  I haven’t tried this yet.  But I’m on quite the crunchy kick as of late, and in my quest to eliminate toxic chemicals from our home, I’m planning to try this recipe for homemade detergent once our current supply runs out.  It’s ultra cheap, easy to make, toxin-free, and from what I hear … it works.  (I’ll update with a review once I’ve tried it myself!)
7. Grease stain?  Don’t throw it out until you try this.  Time was, if a grease stain was found on one of my shirts, that shirt was headed for the trash can.  See, I thought that grease stains were the terminal illness of the laundry world.  That for which there is no cure.  And then, one fateful day, I had this “a-ha!” moment.  If Dawn dish soap cuts grease on dishes, will it also cut grease on clothes?  Now, when I spot a grease stain, I wet a dish cloth with warm water, add a dollop of Dawn, and scrub the heck out the stain.   Then I toss it in the hamper and wash as usual.  This has worked for me almost every time I’ve tried it, the exception being a very sad orange t-shirt that no amount of Dawn could save.
8. Don’t toss it … fix it.  Mister will laugh when he reads this.  One of his shirts lost a button a few months ago, and it’s been sitting there in the closet ever since, patiently waiting for some sweet li’l housewife to come along and reattach its button.  Poor shirt.  The sweet li’l housewife is on her way.  She’s just been wrapped up in toddler-wrangling lately.
9. Air dry what you can.  Clotheslines make me happy.  The sight of crisp, clean clothes soaking up the sunshine and blowing in the breeze is truly divine.  Alas, I don’t have a clothesline, so I use the old throw-it-over-the-chair-to-dry method for my delicates and anything I don’t want to shrink.  Turns out, the dryer is actually quite damaging to clothes.  They are much, much happier air drying, the way nature intended.
10. When clothes shopping, avoid anything with a “dry clean only” label.  In my working girl days, I used to spend about $20 a month on dry cleaning.  I now find this to be incredibly amusing.  $20?  On dry cleaning?  The very thought!  Now that my “work clothes” consist of jeans and t-shirts, that’s money in the bank.  Or money in the diaper fund, if we’re being honest.

What are some of the ways you save money on laundry?  I’m always open to new money-saving ideas!

God bless,
Megan

Hop on over!  I’m linked up at Time-Warp Wife, Far Above Rubies and Growing Home!

He doesn’t mean it, I promise. It’s just a passing fancy, an aberration … like the week he randomly decided to hate bath time.

Little Man will return to you, I’m sure of it.  The table just represents being a big boy, and we both know he’s been showing off his big boy skills lately, so that’s all it is.

He’s only 19 months old, for goodness sake.  So he’s clearly not ready for the table.

We’ve had some good times, high chair, and I’m not ready to let go yet.

Remember the good o’le days when he’d eat anything I put in front of him? Prunes, sweet potatoes, even lentils were all received with a big gummy grin.

We’ve stuck together through the tough times, too.  Like when he hit 13 months and suddenly discovered his own will. Things haven’t been the same since he fell in love with the word “no,” but we’ve pressed on.

You’ve been smothered in runny carrots, smashed Cheerios and who knows what else, and you’ve taken it like a champ.

Don’t tell him I told you, but Mister is ready to relegate you to that dusty corner of the basement where the infant swing and the Exersaucer live.

Don’t worry, I won’t let that happen.  Because if Little Man is too grown-up for you, high chair, then where does it end?  The diapers?  The sippy cups?  The CRIB?!?!

No, no, no.

You’re staying right where you are, in the kitchen, where you belong.  He’ll come around, high chair, just you wait.

It went something like this –

Thank you, God, for our home.  (What if we can’t afford to stay in our home for much longer?)

Thank you, God, for plenty of food to eat.  (What if we won’t have enough food next month?)

And so it went, all day long, thankfulness and anxiety battling it out in my head.  Until, finally, the anxiety won out and my mind was clouded with thoughts of worry and doubt.

This is a lean season for our family.  We’re making big financial sacrifices so that I can stay at home with Little Man, and sometimes the weight of these sacrifices seems almost too much to bear.

And yet …

Abundance.

This is the plentiful feast we enjoyed on Thanksgiving day.

And yet …

Joy.

These are the boys I get to love and serve each day.  What did I do to deserve such blessing?

The enemy seeks to steal my joy.  He whispers lies, plants seeds of doubt, and sometimes … yes, sometimes I give in.

And yet …

Truth.

“And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)

This is a promise we can stand on, mamas!  If you’re worried, if you’re wondering whether God will meet your needs … Know this.

He has, He is, and He will!

God bless,
Megan