bullet-point prayer list

please join me in praying for dr. bud in these next few days.  he has been working LONGGGG hours (like.... 5:30am till midnight-ish)... and even though is feels so blessed to do what he loves and learn soooo much.... he still needs lifted up to the Lord.

please pray that:

•  when first seeing a patient, he'll form a differential diagnosis in his mind
• that he'll communicate, communicate, communicate EVERYTHING to upper-level residents and attending surgeons
• that he can work quickly and efficiently
• that he the Lord will help him recall & remember everything he needs to know
• that he won't make the same mistakes twice!
• that the Lord would give him steady hands in the operating room
• that the Lord would be his STRENGTH and give him sooo much ENERGY!

 thank you for joining me in prayer---- our God is FAITHFUL!

ETSY!

just made my first purchase ever on www.etsy.com!

i have always LOVED looking around on Etsy--------- a huge portal of designers, traders, sellers, and buyers of all sorts of handmade and/or vintage goods. :)

i have a list of "favorites" that i keep going back to... and finally today made the purchase of these BEAUTIFUL little coasters!

link to the AMAZING designer's page :)

aren't they the cutest things you've ever seen?

don't they melt your heart with all things LOVELY? :)

ohhh i can't wait to see mr. darcy's proposal to elizabeth bennett sitting on my coffee table!!  :)

[extreme] couponing

ever seen the shows on tv with the "extreme couponers"?  these women (and sometimes, men!) who go into stores and buy HUNDREDS of dollars worth of groceries/toiletries/cleaning supplies/you name it... and then walk away with a whopping $5.61 bill (or some ridiculously low number). 

bud and i just caught the end of one of these shows the other day. (on tlc).

my reaction: how do they do it? how can i make that happen?

bud's reaction: these people have a problem! look at their basements! and closets! they have some kind of psychiatric issue! they have a compulsive hoarding disorder!

isn't it fun to watch tv with a doctor? :)

anyway..... as a newlywed single-income couple who's "just trying to make it," i'm alllllllllll about saving money.  however, sometimes i look at these shows or read certain money-saving blogs and i think, i could spend my whole life working on this stuff... do i really have that much time?

maybe couponing is another one of the many things that fit into the "this requires a balanced approach" box.  it seems like one of those situations where you ask yourself, what is more precious... my money?... or my time?  and we all know that either answer could work, depending on the week/month/whatever.

i think, though, that i just need to continue to trust the Lord with my money.  it's fun to cut coupons, read adds, figure out where i can get the best deals, sign up for free product giveaways, etc... but ultimately, if I'm spending more time thinking about saving money than worshiping JESUS--- the giver of our money & resources........ there is a problem.

as with everything in life... i believe couponing is a heart issue.  if my heart is to save money--- great.  if that's all backed up and supported by my continuous motive to trust the Lord-------- great.  but if saving money becomes some kind of performance-based, competitive game that i play with myself..... and spend so much time thinking about it/doing it that it becomes what i think about most... worry about most... WORSHIP..... then i need the truth and grace of my sweet Shepherd to herd me back into reality.

what about you? :)

how do you help yourself/your family save money?  are you a coupon-cutter? :)  know any good/easy/low-commitment websites that have great printable coupons?

do you see your budget as something that could really take control of you--- this whole concept of saving money and budgeting as a heart issue?

feel FREE to leave a comment----- i'd loooove to hear from you!

prepare to have your heart melted.

mmkay, this vid is totes presh. (that's an abbreve [abbreviation] for "this video is totally precious." you might have to get used to the lingo in order to continue reading this blog in future posts.) :)

anyway.  i saw this on my friend taylor's blog, and it was about all i could do not to run and post it on here.  but tuesday's post was already up, and it was about praying for bud's self-image.  as sweet as this video is, it was super-important to leave that up.  cause i wanna be praying for him.  legit.

but now that it's 12:25am and i'm still up, and it's technically not tuesday anymore... i decided it was ok to have a new post.

so here you go, get ready to SMILE from ear to ear :) :) :)

as much as I LOVE adele singing to us!!... before you watch this vid, you'll have to pause the music on the playlist to the right ------>

Oh dear Jesus, let my babies be like this someday!!!! :)

praying for his self-image

My friend Lynn is seriously God's provision for me.  I am REALLY thankful for her.

We are reading through "Power of a Praying Wife" by Stormie Omartian, and this little book is such a fantastic tool for me to learn how to pray as a wife for my husband {Bud}.  :)  The author has TONS of different things that wives can pray for their husbands-- for example: "his work," "his purpose," "his emotions," etc.  Tonight, I read through the chapter entitled "his self-image."  

I sat in my living room and prayed alone for a while, but then I remembered this blog... and I just thought, "I want to include the Body of Christ in praying for my dear, wonderful husband."  So. :)  From time to time, I will post specific prayers from chapters in the book.

Thank you for joining me in praying for my dear husband!  This prayer is a combination of my own writing & Stormie's (pg. 192 in her book). :)

Lord, I pray that Bud will find his identity in You.  Help him to understand his worth through Your eyes and by Your standards.  May he recognize the unique qualities You've placed in him and be able to appreciate them.  Enable him to see himself the way You see him, Father, for I know "The LORD looks down from heaven; He sees all the children of man; from where He sits enthroned He looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth; He who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds" (Psalm 33:13-15).  Father, You see Bud; help him know that You are a God who sees... AND who responds!  Let Bud have patience to wait on You, for as his soul waits on You-- you are "our help and our shield." (Ps. 33:20).  Give my husband ears to hear Your voice above all others, gently reminding him that it will not be his own perfection that gets him through life successfully, but it is Yours.  Remind him that You are the Shepherd, and he is a sheep; that You are the vine and he is a branch; that You are our loving Father and we are your kiddos, who can run to you and trust you with everything.  Give Bud the peace and security of knowing that he is accepted, not rejected, by You.  Free him from the self-focus and self-consciousness that can imprison his mind and emotions.  Help him to see who YOU really are so he'll know who he really is.  May his true self-image be the image of CHRIST stamped upon his soul!  In Your name I pray, Jesus--- Amen.