Now Hear This.

So coming unglued, that's what we are talking about, right? ... I wrote about this in January (I didn't call it that, but that is certainly what I was doing). Yelling is a choice. A choice. And I am desperate to choose joy, to choose gratitude over Satan, to choose not to come unglued ... but HOW? 

And how, when I already feel like such a failure every time the harsh words erupt in the vanishing calm in my home. 

So we have 11 more chapters to talk about how. To chart our imperfect progress together. 

In the meantime ... I still feel like a failure, my anger echoing in little ears. 

And then ... I hear this. From chapter one of the study, but really from Scripture. (And from Shannon, on the podcast:) 

Lysa references the adulterous woman Jesus saves from stoning in John 8. 

Beloved ... hear this. 

Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more” {John 8:10-11, ESV}.

... He didn’t say ... “Come back when you’re done sinning.”

Christ meets us in our sin. He is not waiting for us to change in order to embrace us fully. He loves us right in the middle of our ugly mess and offers up the truth and hope of the gospel as a lifeline. Our imperfect progress is a direct outworking of His grace and our acceptance of it. 

So when failure feels imminent, know that you are loved, you are cherished, and you have hope. 

Tune in friday morning at 9:00 am for our discussion of chapter 2. 

~Molly 

Unglued Giveaway

God's timing is perfect. After the radio show this morning, I logged onto FB to post the link to the podcast. I came across a post from Lysa Terkeurst about these fabulous key tags she has. What a great way to remind us that we do not have to allow our emotions to dictate our behavior.

So, since I LOVE to give things away. I am going to giveaway a copy of Lysa's book, Unglued and a set of the key tags.

To enter is simple. Leave a comment here about your journey through week 1 of the bible study. What has spoke to you during the first week of the study?

To get additional entries, you can tweet about this giveaway and leave a link to the tweet in the comments below.

A winner will be drawn next Friday. (October 26)

What are you waiting for? Tweet and comment away!

You Don't Know Me

Greetings fellow F.R.A.Z.L.E.D. wives. I'm so excited to be here, to "meet" you. I am new to the family, new to blogging here, but oh-so-excited. 

Shannon asked me to introduce myself before we dashed headlong into studying Unglued by Lysa Teurkerst. 

So here goes. 

I am an Army bride, one-time helicopter pilot, compulsive writer, friend seeker, and lover of color and all things textile. My current occupation is ringmaster of the Huggins family circus, (party of four). I have a B.A. in English from Covenant College and a passion for meeting young married women right in the middle of their own messy stories. If you know me in real life, most often I am shoes off, ungroomed, coffee-clutching, feet up, tucked into my beat down kitchen table, oversharing my little heart out. 

I have my own messy story. Being a soldier, loving a soldier, carrying and miscarrying his beautiful babes. Saying goodbye a thousand times, a thousand ways. And all the while, the gospel of grace poured out on every second of our life together. 

I am a storyteller. Which means I am dying to hear yours as we make our imperfect progress here. 

When I'm not here, you can always find me spilling my guts sporadically at www.allthegracebetween.com. 

Friends, please join us here as we blog about coming unglued, raw emotions, and imperfect change. 

Love. 

~Molly

Unglued Week 1

Feelings should be indicators, not dictators. WOW. Every time I read that I realize how much power I was allowing my feelings to have over I act. There have been many mommy moments when I sat back and thought I could have handled that better. Or I would wonder what is wrong with me that I can't get my emotions in check.

In the first day of individual study I love how Lysa writes "She doesn't change in order to receive Jesus' approval; she changes as a response to His love." After I read that I sat wondering how many times I have offered to change or thought of changing something about myself because I was seeking approval of someone else.

I also wondered how many times you have done the same thing. How many times did you beat yourself up over something you said or did? How many times did you wake up and say today is the day of change? How many times did you go to bed feeling like a failure?

I can say I have beat myself up thousands of times, offered to change many times, and more often than not go to bed feeling like a failure in one way or another.

My goal throughout this study is to remember that change is a journey not a destination. Change happens gradually and I will not be perfect but I will make progress. Another goal I have is to react from a place of love and not from a place of anger, frustration, hurt, or any other emotion I am feeling at the moment.

So, share with me, what are your goals for this study?

Hello Frazled Friends!

WOW! It's been a long time since I have said those words! I apologize for our extended absence. We have had several difficult issues to overcome in order to get back on track.

We will start having live shows in about a month. October 5th to be exact!Our first show will be just a live chat, catch up with y'all, and about how the Blog Talk show will start. We will be limited to 30 minute shows on Blog Talk Radio.

We will be going through the series Unglued by Lysa Terkeurst. You can purchase the book from that site or many of your local book stores should have it as well. We will be covering the bible study portion of this series. I have found it beneficial to have the book and the bible study but I will leave it up to you as to how you want to purchase your books.

I can't wait to hear all the great things God has been doing in your lives. Until then...........


(all of our content that was on the previous website will be slowly transferred over to this new site. For now it looks like our last post was 2 years ago, but it was just a few months ago. Please hang in there with us as we transfer all the data over to this site. thanks)

Team

I went back and was reading some articles and actual came across a blog post of mine from a while back. It spoke to me today just as it had the day that I wrote it so I thought I would share it again.

Today is a crazy day for me. It seems I have those more and more these days. With my husbands unpredictable schedule and the kids having to run 3,000 directions it's a wonder my hair doesn't turn gray faster.

I was driving to the post office from the unit today and had the Christian radio station on. I wasn't really listening it. I was constantly breaking up the fight in the back seat. The part that I did hear made me sit up and pay attention. Like God was breaking up the fight in my head. Clearing out the long list of to do's so I could hear him.

The DJ was talking about sports teams and how some people feel that when you speak of a team you shouldn't say we. Like 'we need to get a new quarterback.' You should say them or the team name. A well known sports person(I don't remember his name-it's not important in this story anyway)said that he felt like he could say we. Simply because he supported that team through tickets sales, merchandise and watching them on TV.

The DJ said we can apply this to our life with Christ. We go to church and we talk about the church and the pastor like we are a part of the team. We cheer on the worship music, listen to the pastor and leave. Are you really on the team? Are you simply a fan of Jesus or are you really in the game? Are you actively spreading the word of God? Are you on God's team or cheering from the sidelines?

That hit me. It made me sit up. I would like to think I am on the team but am I really? God got my attention. It was another of those frying pan to head moments. I challenge you to think about your walk with God. Are you on the team or just a fan?

How I save Part 2

Grocery shopping has gotten a makeover at our house. I have done fairly well with saving money but still felt like we are spending WAY to much on groceries. I have been feeling like there has to be a way to save even more.

In addition to clipping coupons and ordering from the sites I have mentioned, I have almost eliminated all processed foods. Which keeps me out of the middle aisles of the grocery stores.

Let me share some of our ideas.

1. We no longer buy cereal. With a family of 6 buying organic cereal we were going through 8-10 boxes a week. Even with a coupon the cereal would still be almost $2 a box. So 8-10 boxes x $2 a box is $16-$20 or more a week. We now eat eggs, pancakes, waffles things that are much healthier and I typically have on hand anyway.

With the pancakes and waffles I no longer buy pancake and waffle mix. I have found some great easy recipes for things I already have on hand. It's much cheaper and it tastes better too.

2. I have become much better with making a menu and buying groceries based on that list. In the past I have gone back and forth with menu making. I am trying to be very diligent about this.

3. I have a calculator with me. I use the one on my Blackberry. I add up everything that goes into the cart. I have an idea of where I would like to be budget wise based on what I want us to spend a month. Last week I had a goal of $80. I spent $90. This week I wanted to spend $140 I spent $154. I over spent this week because I needed Clorox Wipes and they were on sale for almost $10. My overall goal for this month is $500-$600. Which is about $200-$300 less than it has been.

4. I have decided that no matter how crowded the commissary is, I have the right to be there. I have the right to take my time and save my family money. In the past I have always felt rushed when the aisles are full. No more being rushed.

5. I am shopping once a week instead of every other week. Regardless of if I only did big grocery shopping every two weeks or plan it out for each week it comes out about the same. I actually think I am saving some money this way. I get what we need for the week. When I would grocery shop every other week I was still in the grocery store for milk, bread, etc. and would end up with more in my cart because I thought we needed it or it was on sale.

6. As I mentioned earlier we don't buy hardly anything from the middle aisles of the grocery store. I used to buy the Keebler prepackaged cracker packs. They are easy to grab and better than some alternatives. But it's so much cheaper to buy a large package of crackers and have real cheese or peanut butter on those crackers than to have all the preservatives.

I now bake almost all of our bread. I'm not sure how much, if anything, we save but I can control what's going into the bread. I used to think this was difficult or not worth the time. I was wrong. It is fairly simple and while it does take time for the dough to rise, I am here anyway. Plus the house smells so good on the days I bake bread.

I also bake our cookies and sweets. Since I home school the boys we can use this as a learning lesson.

7. We don't buy fruit drinks or juices. Our kids drink diet consists of water and milk. They RARELY get Capri sun or anything like that. If I have coupons I will buy orange juice. Juice is expensive and can make your budget fat before you know it.

8. I am trying to buy meat when it's on sale and use what I have. Right now boneless skinless chicken breasts are on sale for $1.70 a pound. I stock up on sales like that. Normally they are $1.95 or $2.05 a pound.

9. I triple coupon at Harris Teeter. You can get a ton of stuff for next to nothing on triple coupon days. Most of it is processed foods. I do save coupons for these things in case I can get them on sale during triple coupons. Things like Chex Mix Bars, granola bars, soup, all the middle aisle stuff. If you don't have a Harris Teeter by you check out the local grocery stores to see if any of them offer double or triple coupons.

10. I am willing to adapt for the benefits of our family. As our family ages our needs change. The kids are older and eat more. Which means that our food budget goes up. I am basically feeding 4 adults and 2 children now. Some days it feels like I am feeding 6 adults. The boys usually eat more than I do for dinner. (not to worry, they are healthy. They are not overweight)

I feel a bit of victory when I walk out of the grocery store and stay close to my goal. Before I never had a goal I just threw it in the cart. But by paying closer attention to what is going into the cart it does save us money.

Share your money saving tips!