Finally Taking The Plunge

I've been on the internet for the past couple of months following all of these wonderful blogs created by these Christian women who posess so much grace, peace and faith. It has been a true blessing. I've been thinking about creating one for a while just to chronicle the turn our lives have taken.  A digital diary of the amazing change in our lives, in our marriage, in every breath that we take. Our God is amazing!  All of the knowledge and power in the universe, and still the love and compassion to take the time to work in the hearts of sinners like me.  It takes my breath away every time that I think about it.
I never was very good at being a homemaker, and I entered into it rather reluctantly.  It was almost like a fun idea rather than a lifelong commitment.  The closer I got with the Lord, however, the more I realized that this is his plan for me.  This is where I am supposed to be. This is what I am to be doing.  Not with half effort, either, but with everything in me.  I am to praise the Lord with my life, to be my husband's helpmate, to train my children in God's ways, to be the keeper of my home.  Anyone who knows me, will know how hard that last pill was for me to swallow! I am learning, however.  I'm learning not only to survive as the woman God expects me to be, but instead to thrive.  To manage my time better, keep house better, enjoy my family more, and praise the Lord and really get into His word and understand it more often.
I aspire to be like the woman in Proverbs 31, and have learned that if I want to be like her, I need to change my heart, not my skills...they will come with diligence and patience. My heart needs to be changed before my family will rise up and call me blessed.  That is what I am doing...changing my heart.  At church this past Sunday our wonderful teacher told us that grace is pardon and power, and that the Lord provides us with the specific amount of power that we need for every circumstance.  I can't look up and say, "Oops, I messed up again, I guess you didn't change my heart yet!" I have the power within me. I need to make the change, and it's through his grace that I have the power to make the change.  What an amazing thing to be smacked in the face with! The power is within me. He provided me with the power...it's been there all along! I've been waiting for a light to click on, when I was the one who was holding the power cord!  Now I know that, and am plugging it in! 
So let me just share with you all that I am a novice when it comes to sewing, knitting, crocheting, baking, etc...but I am desperate to learn! So if anyone out there has any good advice or tips for me, please leave a comment!  I would be so blessed by it!

"Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised."
 -Proverbs 31:30