Blessings arrive in unexpected packages—in my case, cancer.Those of us with potentially fatal diseases—and there are millions in America today—find ourselves in the odd position of coping with our mortality while trying to fathom God’s will. Although it would be the height of presumption to declare with confidence What It All Means, Scripture provides powerful hints and consolations.

The first is that we shouldn’t spend too much time trying to answer the why questions: Why me? Why must people suffer? Why can’t someone else get sick? We can’t answer such things, and the questions themselves often are designed more to express our anguish than to solicit an answer.I don’t know why I have cancer, and I don’t much care. It is what it is—a plain and indisputable fact. Yet even while staring into a mirror darkly, great and stunning truths begin to take shape. Our maladies define a central feature of our existence: We are fallen. We are imperfect. Our bodies give out.

But despite this—because of it—God offers the possibility of salvation and grace. We don’t know how the narrative of our lives will end, but we get to choose how to use the interval between now and the moment we meet our Creator face-to-face.

Second, we need to get past the anxiety. The mere thought of dying can send adrenaline flooding through your system. A dizzy, unfocused panic seizes you. Your heart thumps; your head swims. You think of nothingness and swoon. You fear partings; you worry about the impact on family and friends. You fidget and get nowhere.

To regain footing, remember that we were born not into death, but into life—and that the journey continues after we have finished our days on this earth. We accept this on faith, but that faith is nourished by a conviction that stirs even within many nonbelieving hearts—an intuition that the gift of life, once given, cannot be taken away. Those who have been stricken enjoy the special privilege of being able to fight with their might, main, and faith to live—fully, richly, exuberantly—no matter how their days may be numbered.

What is the one thing you hate to clean the most? What is thing you put off time and time again? Whatever it is, I challenge you to take it on today.

My most dreaded job (toilet scrubbing is a very close second) is cleaning windows. In fact, I’ve never done it. You heard correctly – I have never washed a window in my whole life (pathetic, and scary, I know). I constantly put it off because it seems like such a huge job to me. Today, I am going to give you (ahem, me) some tips on cleaning your windows, just in case any of you hate to clean them as well!

Get Yourself Some Cleaner

Soap in a bucket will do – your dish soap is fine. If you want to make your own window cleaner, here’s a “how-to” from the site coupons and Refunds:

Ingredients:

½ tsp liquid soap

3 tbs vinegar, 2 cups water

spray bottle.

What to do: Combine the ingredients and put them in the spray bottle. Use like any window cleaner.

Tip: Use newspaper to dry your windows. It’s cheaper than paper towels and it leaves windows shiny and streak free. (If you’re going to use newspaper, where rubber gloves so you don’t get ink hands.)

Prepare to Scrub

Grab a wash cloth, old t-shirts (husbands have plenty, they just don’t want to admit it), or an actual squeegee. These are your tools of the trade.

The Actual Cleaning Part (evidently, this is an art)

“When scrubbing a window, start with the edges. Scrub back and forth, up and down along each edge. Then, start scrubbing from the top and work your way down to the bottom using small circular motions.” Do-it-yourself Window Cleaning

For in-depth squeegee action and tips, go here.

Don’t Forget the Window Sills

You can do this with warm, soapy water and a rag.

Apparently, “window cleaning should not be drudgery! In fact, with the right tools, it can be a relaxing and enjoyable activity!” Hmm…never thought of it that way. Still don’t.

What is your most dreaded cleaning job?

June Fuentes is the author of the blog A Wise Woman Builds Her Home. She is happily married to Steve and is joyfully raising eight special blessings. Here are her words of wisdom:

Sarah: Why did you choose to be a stay-at-home mom?

June: Because it is one of the greatest and highest callings of a woman to stay home and raise the next generation who will change the world for Jesus Christ.

Sarah: What kinds of kinds of things did you do to train your children in the Lord?

June: We try to keep the Word central in our home, prayer and Christian character training are very important. We try to be consistent in our training–this is a very important key, but must be done hand-in-hand with love, shepherding and discipling. We made mistakes along the way—no one is perfect in their parenting—but it is important to not give up and to ask for forgiveness when we do fail (and we will)–I always like to point to Jesus because this shows how much I need Him–not just for my children sake but also for myself. Also, we must never underestimate the power of our own daily example—it speaks and teaches volumes. I also think that it is important to challenge them to be ‘world-changers’ for Christ. They can help change the world–even at a young age–we just need to raise the bar in regards to expectations.(Note: I must emphasize that anything good you might see in my children is a work of God and not us. I am still learning as a mother–but grateful the Lord always continues to gently guide us.)

Sarah: How did you discipline your children – what worked best?

June: We believe in shepherding and disciplining our children according to the Word of God. With eight children you quickly find that what might work with one child might not work with the other. That goes also for each incident. One event might need grace while another might need a more severe punishment. One might need just a verbal warning and the other much more. Everything needs evaluation, each child is unique—I ask God everyday to give us wisdom so we might be a good judges regarding this topic. So I don’t think one ‘method’ worked best for us–except the method of God’s Word, consistency and love (I Corinthians 13).

Sarah: What are some “tools” in your tool kit of parenting that have worked for you?

June: My most important tools are:

1. Jesus

2. His Word

3. Prayer

I do recommend the book “Biblical Parenting” by Don Gilchrist for those who need help in the practical application parenting. I have learned a lot from people like SM Davis, Nancy Campbell, Vision Forum, No Greater Joy, The Maxwell Family, Lydia Sherman, Ladies Against Feminism, JR Miller, etc.

Sarah: What would you do over if you could?

June: If I could go back and get saved at an earlier age and live my life for Christ—then perhaps the struggle to live the Christian life would not be so challenging in my older years.

Sarah: Did you have family worship/devotion time? If so, how did you do this?

June: Yes, we have them. and they have taken on all kinds of forms. But basically we like to sit around the living room with our Bibles with Dad teaching and children asking lots of questions. Many times we’ll include a worship time beforehand. The babies are allowed to play quietly if not we lay them down for naps. We have used coloring sheets in the past that synchronize with the passage or worksheets. Once we even held it in a park and sang by a creek, with dad teaching us at a picnic table. That was a beautiful memory– the little ones just loved it and so did we! Occasionally, our children would also love to act out various Bible stories and/or dad would act parts out. Personally, I always liked when he started off the study with a very challenging question. Oftentimes my son, Stephen, who is 8, will get his pulpit out that Dad made and preach to us after Dad is done. We like to interrogate him with a doctrinal Q & A time afterwards—he loves it.

Sarah: Any advice for stay-at-home moms who feel like theyʼve lost themselves as women?(“I feel like Iʼ’m only a mom” etc.)

June: Yes, control your thought life!!!! Satan would love to have you wrapped up in a pity party to incapacitate you. Don’t abandon your posts—know who you are in Christ Jesus and know how greatly your role as a mom affects the course of history of generations you might never see. Remember, we are not just ‘moms’ but we are world-changers. For more inspiration, check out my blog A Wise Women Builds Her Home, Above Rubies Magazine and Ladies Against Feminism.

Sarah: How did you make time for your husband when you were exhausted with little ones?

June: It wasn’t always easy but we would try to connect when he came home from work for 15-30 minutes. I would try to rest up before he came so I might be fresh when he arrived. I would also try to eagerly anticipate his arrival to create a nice welcoming when he came home. You definitely have to be purposeful. Having a date night is great, but not always feasible, then we would just rely on putting the children to sleep earlier so we could spend the extra time together. Some days we would just have long conversations on the phone if he was away, but we always tried to connect with each other.

Sarah: What is the greatest thing youʼve learned in how to be a good wife?

June: Just try to be his best helpmeet—find out what he would like from you instead of what the world wants you to be. Find out what he likes to eat, how he likes the house, what he likes you to wear. Some husbands don’t care if the house is immaculate but they do care if there is not a hot meal waiting for them when they get home. Also ask him in the morning- “Is there anything you need me to do today?” and then put that first on your list–after your Bible devotionals, of course. Even if that means pushing aside your ever- urgent ‘to do’ list. And lastly, I should have probably put this first—RESPECT. Be sure to love him by respecting him. I also highly recommend the book “The Excellent Wife” by Martha Peace.

Sarah: What is your favorite “cheap” date?

June: Hmmm….probably hanging out in the bookstore and having coffee—there we can sit quietly and talk about our favorite subject–church planting. I simply enjoy his company and just enjoy being with him anywhere. He is a fun person to be around and has a great sense of humor.

Sarah: If you could only pass on one piece of wisdom for young wives and moms, what would it be?

June: Trust in God no matter what.

Sarah: Thank you so much for your time! I pray that your words of wisdom will encourage us and penetrate us so that we will learn and grow as godly women.

Read more “Lady of Wisdom” interviews here.

It’s nearly black! The good news is it washes out in 28 washes. (My husband says I have to wash my hair everyday!)

To join in on My Husband Rocks! Friday, head over to The Great Adventure!

Sincerely,

Husband searching for new wedding picture spot.

But…

They get messy very easily. The place can get a bit crowded. Let’s talk organization, shall we?

Getting Your Pantry In Order:

Empty everything out and take an inventory

-Check for outdated items (I had a one item that had expired in ’04!)
-Write down what you need to stock up
-Get rid of anything you know you aren’t going to use (donate them to a food bank)

Keep like items together

-For example, it is helpful to have the sugar with the flour and other baking supplies
-You will find things much more easily

Evaluate your pantry space

-Is it big enough to hold what you have? If not, you may need to consider other storage options, such as:

3-tier Cabinet Organizer: This is great for spices.
Pantry Door Organizer: Utilize that pantry space by hanging one of these on the door.
Soup/Can Rack: Keep your cans in order.
Plastic Bag Organizer: Okay, so you could just stuff them somewhere, or you could get one of these.
Kitchen Wrap Organizer: Holds your tin foil, wax paper, and cling wrap!

Put the most used items in the front

-This just makes life easier!

Want a more detailed list? Check out 10 Tips For Organizing Your Pantry - there are some great tips here, such as:

“Store all your baking items separately. Use baskets, wire or wood to contain all your baking items, everything you use to bake like your flour, sugar, vanilla, baking soda and powder and getting them to the counter and back is a snap.”

Have fun! And let’s do pictures – what do you say? Just add your pantry pics to your blog, link back to moi, and then paste the link in Mr. Linky. I can’t wait to see!

Do you want to work on getting organized and “clean?” Well then jump in here (you don’t have to go in order!) If you like what you read and don’t want to miss a day, become a subscriber here (it’s free)!

My before and after pics:

Let me ask you a question: what does your inbox look like? If it is anything like mine you have 500 e-mails just taking up space (and, incidentally, making your computer slower). Wouldn’t it feel great to have those “put away” or thrown out? Having e-mails just sitting in there is clutter – just like junk mail sitting on the table by your front door. It’s messy. Let’s straighten up.

Today challenge is to go through ALL your e-mails and either delete them or create folders for them. I tend to leave e-mails in my inbox that I want to respond to but don’t want to do it right away. The temptation is to leave them, but many times I know I just forget about them. Create a RESPOND folder so you know what you have to respond to but it doesn’t clutter your inbox. The goal is a clean and tidy inbox.

Here are some great tips for organizing your inbox!

31 Days to Clean – Jump in here!

Listen to me, you don’t have to do it
I’ve been there and I know you can get through it
We have one chance at this life so do the right thing
Sacrifice for love and not regret anything
Don’t live your days knowing he never had a chance
To smell a sweet flower or feel the wind dance
You can be strong and you are not alone
One day he will thank you at how through adversity you shone

You get to see your pictures right away; it’s like Polaroids on steroids! You can upload them and have them on your computer or a CD in no time. I have found only one problem…

I haven’t had pictures developed since 1972.

Alright, so maybe I wasn’t even born in 1972, but the point is, since going digital, I don’t develop my pictures and I can’t possibly be the only one (am I?). I have hundreds of pictures on my computer and Cd’s, and only lonely photo albums waiting to filled with life.

Why develop?

It’s great to have your pictures in albums on your computer, but what if your computer crashes and you lose everything? All those memories…gone. We’re also talking space here. The more pictures you have, the slower your computer can become. You can put your pictures on Cd’s, but then you can’t look at them on a whim. I’m all about real albums with real pictures.

Perhaps you do develop your pictures. Perhaps you still use a…a…what the heck do you call non-digital cameras anyway? Maybe you have a drawer full of pictures like I do that are in desperate need of a real home. Today is the day.

Your challenge for today is to begin to develop and organize your pictures. For some, this may be a huge job (for scrapbookers, today is surely a free day for you!). I’m not expecting that you finish today, but at least get started. If you want to save some $, here are a few sites that offer free digital prints when you first sign up:

Snapfish (50 free prints)

Clark Photo Labs (30 free prints)

My Photo Album (20 free prints)

York Photo Labs (40 free prints)

CVS (50 free prints)

Have fun strolling down memory lane – but don’t get too distracted!

I happen to have a cheese wagon (with a spoiler – oh yea!)

A cheese wagon collects cheerios, cheese, chicken nuggets, toys, cups, clothes, and sticky stuff. It also collects things a regular car does, such as dust, goo, hair, and random papers. Maybe you are the type that keeps your car clean (applause), but is the dashboard dusted? The radio wiped down? How about vacuumed (speaking of vacuums…check back later…)?

Today’s challenge is to clean out your vehicle – make it sparkly and new! Get yourself a nice little good smelly thing and stick it in there too! I can’t wait to hear if you find anything crazy! Do tell!