Porsche racing car at Hockenheim Ring, Jeroen Bleekemolen (driver). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Life… at full speed.

That’s what my days feel like right now. I’m not complaining though- this IS the life I signed up for, this is the life I prayed for. I am so blessed –even in the hard times as a woman trying to live out the reality the bible tells me I can have. Every time I get tired, every time I feel pressure, every time I feel discouraged, I remember those prayers prayed so long ago: “Lord, I want to be FRUITFUL in every area of my life, cause me to grow and bear fruit…” “Lord, I want a LARGE family filled with life and vitality day to day…” Lord I want to be BUSY doing Your work to glorify Who You Are…” & “Lord, I want to CONTRIBUTE to the family finances, working alongside my husband to support our dreams…”

So many other prayers prayed, and one by one I have had the honor and privilege of watching my God answer them. I’m still waiting on others to be answered, but because I have had a front row seat to the faithfulness of God I can confidently say that He will do all that He has promised and that He does not forget one Word He has ever spoken nor does it leave His remembrance of one prayer I have ever prayed.

So, while this earthly body is wrestling with the allotted 24 hours each day given me, I will stop and ponder on the faithfulness of God Almighty. And I will thank Him for bringing to pass His plan in my life and I will offer praise for more to come.  No matter how much I struggle, I know He will guide me into perfect peace and balance as I wait upon Him, this crazy life of mine will be filled with fruit that He carefully cultivated and all of it will be for His Glory!

God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful. (1 Corinthians 1:9)

I do not have posts to share with you this week, I will tell you that if you are following along with the Sweep & Keep Challenge , we are in Week Three of the Pantry and Storage Closet areas of our home. I hope to have those posts up by the end of the week. As you know from my last post, Fruitful vine posts may be a little sporadic as I learn to work with my new schedule. Just stick with me and I will get everything running smoothly again.

Aside from that, I’d like to share some of my friends’ blogs with you this week!

Chrysalis Family Ministries will be one that you’ll want to be watching in the near future. Many treasures will be coming from this site on family, homeschool and the Word of the Lord. You won’t be sorry that you bookmarked them!

Faithful Homemaking is a blog from my good friend Lindsey Swinborne, just what her blog states, she encourages moms like us to be faithful in the home.

Amanda Shade over at Almost Organic is challenging all of us to eat better, I love the unique recipes that she is including in her menu plans that she shares and if you are in an area where game meat is plentiful, you’ll like some of what is in her plans, like Antelope Meatballs.

Amanda Kaake of Kaake Family Blog has an awesome e-book available on wholesome cooking and her blog posts are wonderful.

Adventures In Mothering with Kimberly Eddy is one of my favorites as well.

All right Fruitful Viners, that’s it for now… have a blessed rest of the week and I hope to be posting soon!

Nicci

Happy Purim!

Every year for about 8 years now, I make Hamantashen for the biblical holiday of Purim and I talk to the kids about the story of Esther in the bible, why we remember the story and how it is useful to us Christians today. The longer I walk with the Lord the more I want to know Him and be known by Him. Teaching our children the biblical holidays and what they stand for and symbolize is such a great way to keep the bible alive to our children and to teach them their biblical heritage. Am I trying to be a Jew? No. Although, because I have been grafted into the Root by my belief in Christ Jesus, do I believe that I am one inwardly with a faith in my Messiah Savior? Absolutely! I believe it simply because the bible says it is so. For me, the biblical holidays are not about being Jewish or not, they are simply a way to honor God’s word and teach it to my children.

Up until this year, we’ve kept it pretty simple- bake Hamantashen, eat hamantashen, give hamantashen, talk about the story, maybe enjoy a special meal. This year however, we decided to up our giving and include full Purim baskets as something we’d like to do. Little Prince was my big helper with this and we had so much fun.

He decorated paper plates to put the cookies in while I was doing the baking. This year we included hamantashen, oranges, apples & grape juice as our ‘basket’ along with a “scroll” explaining the holiday of Purim and the reason for the basket gifts.

Our “baskets” were in plastic bags holding all the goodies with a “Happy Purim” tag on the outside of the bag. I purposely kept it simple because I wanted it to be FUN for Little Prince’s first experience- even two-year old Ce-Ce kept trying to “help” by putting more fruit into the bags.

The best part of it all though, was when we were delivering all the baskets: After the third delivery, Little Prince was counting to make sure we had delivered the right amount up to that point and he looked over at me while I was turning onto the next street and said, “We need to make more baskets next year!”

Yes, my mama heart just melted into a pile of love goo. My Little Prince was enjoying this celebration holiday of God’s and he was enjoying giving! We talked about how fun it is to give and happy it must make people to be thought of, and how pleased God is when we do what His Word says.We talked about Queen Esther and how her courage and obedience to God paved the way for this wonderful holiday of rejoicing and freedom for His People– and we discussed it all on his 7 year old level. PRECIOUS.

This year, consider exploring God’s Holidays with your family, keep it simple so that there can be real learning and fun!

If you are interested in exploring Purim today, visit my Pinterest board to learn about the holiday and get ideas for celebrating with your family!

This week’s posts:

March Sweep & Keep Challenge, Week One Storage Closet and Pantry

Little Hands craft & Activity Time: Marble Painted Paper

Crockpot Applesauce

See you next week!

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Transition is tough. I’ve had lots of transition seasons in my life so it isn’t new to me at all, but there is something about transition, that when it  comes, it leaves me feeling edgy, nervous, irritated and frustrated. Sometimes, I even feel a little scared. There. I said it, it’s all out in the open now.

Anytime life takes a turn, or the direction completely changes, it is uncomfortable to this flesh of mine. I am the kind of person who will keep the same cell phone for 8 years because I am comfortable with it. I’ll hold onto the same computer, even when it becomes a “technological dinosaur”, just because I am ‘used to’ the programs and don’t want to change. My hair style is the same that it was in high school, my clothing style hasn’t changed much either- in fact, once I find something that works for me, I can stay with it for pretty much my whole life. I resist change most of the time, and it’s not always a bad thing.  That’s probably why sticking with Jesus hasn’t been too difficult for me either. I mean, times may get hard, but Jesus, and His Word works- why would I try anything else, right?

Sometimes though, change – which brings transition- is needed: Like the cell phone issue- I finally, ages after all my friends had taken the plunge years earlier, invested in what is called a Smart Phone. People, my eyes were opened! Life took on a whole new meaning with this incredible little device in the palm of my hand… but the transition wasn’t all excitement- stress began to settle in with trying to figure out the darn thing! For a good couple of months I was operating on a learning curve that everyone else in the world did not have! It was like being in a foreign country and I didn’t not know the language! The same thing is happening with my website here, I am seriously mystified by all the website talk on how to run this site the way I envision it. Thank the Lord for a good friend who takes the time to explain it all to me when I have questions!

Right now though, those kinds of changes and transitions are easy in comparison to the ones that are staring me in the face now. My oldest child is getting ready to to start life as an adult, the process has already begun and I can feel the resistance rising up in me. I have begun courses for my Herbal Certification after years of wanting to, and while excited, this brings a new season into view- transition. There may be a move in the near future for our family- transition. Ministry is growing- transition. Daily life has new focus with the education of my other children in full swing now, and even all of these do not speak of the changes God is bringing about in my character, mind and heart… transition.

Years ago, I was like a boat without an anchor when change would occur and the tides of transition would carry me to and fro- it wasn’t fun and it wasn’t easy. I gave into chaos a lot and panicked at every rocking of the boat. Now I won’t say that I handle things perfectly now, but I will say that there is much more assurance that the One Who is Captain of the boat knows exactly how to steer it and I trust Him. I’ve learned a few things about the process of transition and how to get through it as painlessly as possible… and maybe with even a little joy in my heart:

1. Put your LIFE SAVER Jacket on: I grew up near the Great Lakes in Michigan and one thing all of us kids were taught early on was Boating Safety. You didn’t dare go out in a boat without your life jacket. It was just plain common sense. Jesus, the Word of God, is my Life Jacket. Without His daily instruction, I am bound to drown when that wave comes crashing or I fall out of the boat, but His Word keeps me safe and brings me back to safety every time. During times of change and transition, I fix my gaze on Him and follow His leading for a safe trip through the uncertain waters.
2. Focus on the destination & fruit ahead: Looking at how hard it is, how much you don’t like this process, how you wish you could just hide from it all etc… will defeat you in the first leg of the race. Trust me I know. If however, you can focus on the finish line, the fruit and outcome of the new change, you are more likely to pass with flying colors than with a white flag. I know it’s hard, but ask the Lord to help you see the fruit and to encourage you along the way.
3. Bring some Crew Mates aboard, Include your spouse and a close friend for support: We all need it, yet we don’t ask for it: SUPPORT. I have a friend who may join the same Herbal Course that I have and I know she will be the one I am calling when I need to figure something out or examine something. She’s also the one that reasons scripture out with me and is a trusted intercessor for our prayer needs as a family. (I have quite a few friends plus my spouse for that) My husband is almost always one of the first people I go to for support and counsel. Aside from them, my pastor and key leaders in my church are also valuable trusted counselors and a support team. You can ask others to pray for you, to talk things out with you- though they should never replace your time with the Lord.
4. Lastly- Cultivate an attitude of thankfulness and rejoicing: When I am in transition, usually at some point I realize the need to be thankful and rejoice over the work being done in my life- most of the time, I realize it at my lowest possible point out of conviction! Regardless, when I finally do come to my senses and muster up some gratefulness and rejoicing, my entire outlook changes and the future seems bright again. And there is something very valuable that comes when joy is given it’s place- strength. I have hit rock bottom in the middle of transition before, felt defeated, like quitting, and utterly weak. But then I would raise my hands and praise God and thank Him and all of the sudden my strength would be renewed. Thankfulness and Joy go a long way during times of change.

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Quite a lot has been happening around here lately so posts may not be as regular as I normally like them. After our trip to Salt lake City, I taught an herbal class and have signed up for my first set of course to become a community herbalist. I am also in the process of overhauling our homeschool routine and preparing for a homeschool high school graduation this spring. Whew! There is much more on my plate than I would care to talk about so I am just going to take it day by day right now and trust in the Lord with all my heart!

I know it is the middle of the week, but I wanted to share how much fun I’ve had in homeschool this week with my boys. So here is a post all about it for you homeschooling mamas out there: (Just click on the photo, I am learning how to put a link on the actual image now, lol)

Little Hands Craft and Activity Time

I’ll see you soon, Fruitful Viners!

Nicci

Regular posts will resume shortly here at Fruitful Vine Women’s Outreach, it’s good to be back!

I apologize for any inconvenience, starting tomorrow Fruitful Vine Women’s Outreach Website will not be accessible for the next week, I will send out a post to let you all know when we are back up and running. Blessings, Nicci

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I had the honor of teaching an herbal class this week for some local ladies here in my town and the timing couldn’t have been more perfect for me because I am working my way through the book Nourishing Traditions and getting ready to purchase my first module toward my herbal certification. To me, nutrition and herbs go hand in hand. One of the reasons why I have so much respect for the herbal and nutritional therapy community is because they do not seek to re-invent the wheel concerning health. God made our bodies and He provided good food for them in the form of seeds, plants, animals and water. If we take nutrition seriously, then these bodies of ours are built to know what to do in response to what we put in them. But our bodies also get confused when we put foreign matter into them that was never intended and this is why we end up with so many unnecessary health problems.

I am totally preaching to the choir here. I have absolutely abused my body in times past through neglect, bad nutrition and harsh treatment. Women tend to be prone to this because we’re too busy most of the time, but lately I have been more and more convinced that the Lord is not pleased with how we treat the bodies He has given us. We slowly poison ourselves with sugar, caffeine and processed foods while trying to maintain a stressed and hectic lifestyle without rest, and yet we somehow expect God’s blessing to be on all that we do. This is simply unacceptable and I have decided for myself that this is the year for change. I want God to be pleased with me in all areas of my life, and I want this body of mine to last so that I will be able to do His work without hindrance.

As a helpmeet and a mom, not only do I owe this to the Lord and myself, but the benefit of a healthy body also extends to our families as well. There have been many a night and day when a little one has come to me wanting to play and I was too tired or stressed to oblige. We are back to the basics of priorities again ladies- which is more important- my stressful life and to-do list or the love of my child?

This year, I’ll be sharing with you things I know and am in the process of learning concerning women’s health and naturally caring for our families. I will also be sharing my own progress as I seek to implement real and lasting change for the care of my own temple. (Deep Breath) I believe that caring for our bodies is directly related to our relationship with the Father so I will also be meditating on and memorizing scripture for my journey.

My first scripture to start with? “I CAN do all things through Christ Who Strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13.

Also a fun quote- Learn it, live it, love it!- favorite quote from the movie The Game Plan.

Soon I’ll be making a section here on the site devoted to this and I pray that you will join me, let’s get healthy for Jesus!

Onto this week’s posts:

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February’s Sweep & Keep Challenge: Master Bathroom: Week One

Make Herbal Vitamin Powder for Smoothies

Make Green Smoothies for Your Health!

We’ve changed our buttons on the site a little- rss feed is no longer available… BUT you can now hook up with me on Pinterest and you can still subscribe via email, so keep spreading the word that Fruitful Vine is great place for God’s ladies! You can also like our articles on Facebook and send out a tweet if you like. I treasure your support and input, so don’t forget to contact me if you ever have a question or suggestion!

Have a blessed week and I’ll see you soon!

–Nicci

Hi ya Ladies! We are back from our wonderful weekend away and now it’s time to get back to business! This is just a quick post to remind you that we are in Week Four of our Master Bedroom Sweep & Keep Challenge:

Week Four is the week to Wrap It Up! By now our rooms should be in MUCH better condition than when we first started. I STILL have some clothes to pack away and store, and some of my projects are on hold till I find the materials I am looking for, but for the most part, I am VERY pleased with my progress!

This is also the week to have hubby finish up the maintenance list and also finish up his to-do list for the room (hopefully- )

The remaining projects waiting to be done will be stored in my home binder so I can refer to them whenever I have all the materials to complete them.

Later this week, I’ll post some pics of my room and we’ll gear up to dive into Week One of the Master Bath Sweep and Keep Challenge, so be thinking about what you would like to accomplish in that area of your home…

Well- How did you do this month? Did you meet some or all of your goals with the challenge? What ever goals you didn’t meet, that is OKAY- just file your plan away to come back to at a better time. What ever goals you did meet- hooray! Pat yourself on the back and give yourself a little reward, like a coffee or tea from a local place you like.

I’ll see you later this weekend!

–Nicci

Doesn’t the above picture look nice and inviting?

I took it on one of mine and my husband’s last summer dates before colder weather set in. Sigh. The winters are long where I live, but I’ve got to tell you, the summers more than make up for it, I am really looking forward to when our warm weather get-aways resume! BUT- there are still get aways- just not as often! This coming week, there will be no posts from Fruitful Vine because our family is taking a break and heading to a big city for some fun! I am excited because there will be malls and Starbucks, ha ha.

I will try to do what I can for the Master Bedroom with the Sweep & Keep Challenge, but the focus this week will be preparing for the trip, cleaning the house and packing. (I sure am glad I allowed for an extra week to finish up each room!) We are going to do a short study on the state we will be visiting in homeschool time, looking at maps and talking about the places we will see. We will visit a couple museums while we are there to add to our learning.

Aside from that, I have tomatoes to can before we leave, an herbal class to prepare for and more Tangerine Topping to make! What a wonderful winter treat! I originally was going to make Tangerine Syrup, but couldn’t stand the thought of only taking the juice from these beauties. So, Chunky Tangerine Topping was born! I plan to use it on ice cream, waffles/pancakes and as a topping for sponge cake. If you are a Bountiful Baskets family and are on Pinterest, you can see all the recipes I’ve posted there for Tangerines on my Pinterest board here. I haven’t tried them all yet, but everything looks so good, I may have to try to get a hold of more tangerines! If you are interested in my chunky topping recipe, you can find it here: Chunky Tangerine Topping

Here are this week’s posts:

Mother Roar Series Conclusion

January Sweep & Keep Challenge: Master Bedroom Week Three

Remember to tell your friends about Fruitful Vine Women’s Outreach and that you can receive out postings right in your inbox by subscribing!

Have a blessed week!

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Well- there have been some technical difficulties around here with my home computing network as well as my printer, hence the late post this week. I would have liked to send this out last Friday, but I was also dealing with others, and then myself, not feeling well over the weekend. One thing I know all too well about myself is that I do not like when my plans are interrupted! When I have a schedule- no matter how ridiculous it is- I have this insane expectation that despite life I will somehow overcome by sheer will and get my checklist done! All of this craziness came to a head today once again as I ran around trying to be it all and do it all and fix it all- yes, this little preacher woman STILL struggles in this area. Isn’t it funny how you can have a message burning so deep in you for others and yet somehow forget that it also applies to YOU? Oh Lord, help! So, earlier last week, I wrote this for you all, just some things on my heart and realized that in the midst of my chaos, He is waiting for me to come away with Him to a lonely place & ‘get away’ before my family’s upcoming “Get-Away”. So, this is all I’ve got for you this week, and I am going to tell myself that it is okay that my checklist isn’t done, it is okay for me to lay a few things down for the sake of the Greater Good and I am going to kneel beside my bed in my freshly cleaned and painted room, and allow Him do do the same for my soul. Have a blessed week everyone!

There are so many forms of  ‘getting away’. Jesus often withdrew to a lonely place to get away with His Father. Sometimes, we ‘get away’ by locking ourselves in our room for a couple hours while our husband watches the children , the Lord bless em! I used to take baths to ‘get away’ when we lived in MI in my nice garden tub- oh how I miss that tub! Here in WY during the summer, we have a nice state park that we can ‘get away’ at during times of need. Some people get away by listening to music, working out, watching tv or reading a good book. Regardless of how we do it, the general consensus among the human race is that it is indeed a NEED to get away and enjoy personal rest and recreation at times.

While I love personal time by myself, what mother doesn’t? , lately I have been sensing the need to pull together and get away as a family. For the last three months, it has been all I can think about. The funny thing is, this is not something I would normally look forward to. Traveling with five kids, MY kids, for more than an hour’s time isn’t exactly- how do I put this? – relaxing or pleasant. Maybe if I had a bus where I could spread them out into all four corners with forms of technological entertainment in each one’s hands, MAYBE it could be pleasant then… but five boys- three of them teenagers, a seven year old who HAS to bug those three teenagers and a two year old that hates his car seat jammed into a minivan – not so relaxing. So when I say I am sensing the need- I really mean it and can only assume that the Lord is leading.

Our family has just come through one of our roughest years, in ministry and as a family. By the end of 2011, I think we all were ready for something different and something new, which the Lord has already begun to do in this new year, to His Glory. My husband and I started talking before Christmas about getting away as a family, knowing that we couldn’t take a full vacation at this point in our lives, but also recognizing that a break and get away was important for the family to do together. Even though each of us personally could use a break, we felt sure that we needed one collectively as well. So, we have scheduled a weekend trip to a city about 5 hours away from our hometown to get away at the end of the month. While everyone is pushing full steam ahead into the New Year, we, the Kilcoyne Clan are taking a small break- and I am so happy that we are.

Sometimes, we need to be sensitive to the needs of each other regardless of our personal and ministerial agendas. As you are plowing through this year, from time to time, just stop and ask- is it time to get away? If you cannot travel, maybe you set aside a few days and have an at-home family camp with the kids, or a day trip somewhere fun. Regardless of what you choose to do, it is important to recognize the right timing. My husband and I can clearly see that this get away is meant to minister to us as a family, to be a blessing to each other, it’s not about just having fun. There were times in Jesus ministry when He too recognized the need to get away with the family (aka -disciples):

Jesus said to them, `Come away with me. Let us go alone to a quiet place and rest for a while.’ Many people were coming and going. They could not even eat.

 ³²So they went away in a boat to a lonely place by themselves. (Mark 6)

Has your family just come through a busy, people-filled season? Then it may be time to get away, rest and be refreshed, no matter how short the duration. This year, pay attention to the needs of your family. Watch for signs of needing a break and learn not to push so hard. Another way to pull together as a family is to have weekly family nights, which I will be posting on soon here at Fruitful Vine. Having a regular exclusive time as a family is vital to the strength of your family and I will be sharing how we do that here in our home. But for the time being, be sensitive to what your family needs right now to meet this New Year on the right foot, for us, it is a quick getaway… what is it for you?

This Week’s Posts:

Sweep & Clean Challenge: Master Bedroom/Prayer Space- Week Two