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

 

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:

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!

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

 

So many projects under way here in the Kilcoyne Home!

 

This year I will be focusing on some much needed personal health goals, and I’ll be sharing along the way on nutrition, fitness, and personal thoughts as the months go by. I am also preparing my home for a possible move by the end of the year, Lord willing, which means, de-cluttering, cleaning, organizing and a little decorating just for fun! Homeschooling will resume shortly, which means Freezer Frenzy will be included in our weekly schedule to keep our freezer stocked with good meals so mom won’t be wasting precious time in the kitchen every day, and believe me, with five boys and a husband, I can easily spend hours in the kitchen keeping up with demand!

 

I have goals for just about every area of life, and it doesn’t take a New Year to get me going on them! For those who are close to me, they know I am always after something, working toward something, whether tangible or not. I wasn’t always like this, it wasn’t until I began seeking the Lord for His Plans that I began to realize how fruitful he wanted me to be in every area of my life.  A fruitful vine is ‘ever-producing and ever-bearing’ and I’ve learned to be on the lookout continually for areas that need my attention, need pruning, planting, watering, etc… it truly has become a way of life for me. In recent years though, I have come to see that it is not the ‘seen’ things that are so important as the ‘unseen’ things happening in our lives. Our God is a God of the heart. I love when my efforts produce outward results, but more so these past few years, I have been discovering the joy of my inward heart efforts producing inward heart results.

 

Galations 5: 22-25 says:

 

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. ²⁴ Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵ Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

 

To have the fruit of the Spirit in our hearts is true freedom and fruitfulness. To have crucified the flesh in an area where you have previously been held in bondage is a joy to the soul. Working out the weak areas of my flesh before a loving God, asking Him to change my heart, deciding day by day to listen to the Holy Spirit whose presence is a true comfort and strength- this is real fruit to me. Simply put, it is a Relationship with Him.  No matter what I do outwardly in life, it cannot produce results like this! The more I learn to walk after the Spirit and not my flesh, the more I know Him, the richer my fellowship with Him, the more confidence I have in Him, the more I sense His Love. Isn’t that what this life is all about?

 

I want to encourage you this year to not just look at the outward things that need to be done, go to Him with your heart and talk with Him about it. Learn to listen to the Holy Spirit and to follow Him. Seek after REAL FRUIT this year that will have lasting, eternal results!

 

This week’s posts:

 

 

Sweep & Keep House Challenge Introduction – How I will begin a clean sweep through my home to get it in top shape for the year and ready for a possible move!

 

Sweep & Keep House Challenge – Master Bedroom- This is my most neglected room so it is number one on my list!

 

Freezer Frenzy Time! – Time to stock up the freezer with yummy meals!

 

Mother Roar Series – Part Four: A Wise Woman Builds

 

Book Highlight:

 

This month I am going through the books Nourishing Traditions

 

 

and

A Love That Multiplies: An Up-Close View Of How They Make It Work

From time to time I'll be sharing what I am reading this year. I love books that give real information and guidance, and that lift the spirit, and these two are no exception. Nourishing Traditions is an education in food all by itself, if you are wondering where to start when it comes to healthy eating, look no further! A Love That Multiplies is the newest book from the Duggars, and is filled with parenting wisdom for today. I am enjoying each book very much.

Remember to tell your lady friends about Fruitful Vine and that you can now sign up via RSS feed or email subscription! We also hope to join the ranks of Facebook and YouTube this year, so be on the lookout for exciting developments!

Over the next couple months we will be diving into herbal care for the family, marriage, women's health and much more. If there is something you would like to see posted here at Fruitful Vine, please don't hesitate to let me know!

Have a blessed week! --Completely His, Nicci

 

 

 

Happy New Year from Fruitful Vine!

2012 Has Arrived!

 

It seems like these days are flying by at warp speed around the Kilcoyne home. Christmas and New Year’s Eve are a blur to me- actually 2011 was CRAZY busy, exciting, challenging, and exhausting all at the same time… but now here we are in 2012! Whew!

 

The last time I posted I asked, What does the New Year mean to you?  I love planning and I love making goals, but I can also quickly become overwhelmed by them. I am such a visionary that I often bite off more than I can chew and this year is no exception. When I looked at all I wanted to accomplish this year I realized I was once again in the land of Too Much! My husband laughs at me often about this tendency of mine- I don’t just want to clean my house, I want to decorate too- all within a week’s time! (Yes, I am one of THOSE women!) I don’t just want to plant a garden- I want a small farm operation! Everything is BIG with me, and I wouldn’t change that about me at all, neither would God. I firmly believe that He gets a kick out of His Children who dream big dreams, we are crazy enough to think we can achieve them, and that sisters, is called FAITH.

However, big goals and dreams don’t get achieved by taking on too much at once. If you’re a visionary like me, then you know that you can quickly burn out speeding toward your goals. The key for sisters like us, is that we need to learn to take our visions and PRAY about them, asking the Lord to show us the step-by-step process of achieving those goals. He gives us the baby steps and shortcuts we need to see the vision through to fruition. Do you want to be more healthy this year? Take a few weeks every day before the Father to ask Him how you should approach health for your body. Keep a notebook close by and jot down the ideas He gives you. Do you want to be more connected to family this year? Do you want to run your home more efficiently? Write that book? Compose that song? Start that bible study? Sometimes, He’ll even tell you to lay a dream or two down because it wasn’t His Plan or His Timing for that thing. It is so important that, in everything, we acknowledge Him, consult with Him and follow Him. Only then can we have real success in life.

If you are just starting to seek the Lord for 2012, try listing all of the goals, dreams, & aspirations on paper. Take that sheet of paper with you to your prayer closet and pray over each individual thing. Ask the Lord what He would have you focus on this year, ask Him to give you scriptures to confirm His Will. I usually spend about three-four weeks on this process, and I usually do this in late September of every year, seeking the Lord about the coming year, but this past year has been a little different and I find myself doing it now rather than four months ago! Regardless of the timing, one thing I know without a doubt, is not to move forward without my guidance from Him.Take the time to seek Him now, and you will ensure success throughout the year!

All of that being said, God says, “For I know the plans I have for you…” (Jeremiah 29:11) He knows… it is important for us to ask Him what His plans are for us, amen? I remember one year, all He spoke to me in prayer about the coming year was that He wanted me to love my husband and children, stay home and keep my priorities in order. Seemed simple enough… ha! I sure learned a lot that year about how difficult it can be to keep priorities in order! But you know what? Had I not obeyed what He spoke to me, I do not believe that Fruitful Vine Outreach would have been birthed and my heart for God’s Woman would have never ran this deep. That was a year of divine revelation for me about what the Lord considers valuable in His sight, and He has continued to minister to me every year since then about priorities, family, women and ministry – what if I had not sought after and  listened to His plans? Sister, He has wonderful things in store for you this year- He is simply waiting for you to come to Him so He can tell you.

The following song is one that the Lord has laid on our family’s heart for the year and we feel it is not just for us. God is calling His people to Him and He desires to show His Plans to us. I encourage you to seek Him, you’ll not regret it!

embedded by Embedded Video

YouTube DirektAway With Me

 

So, come away with Him this New Year, open up your heart and let Him in to show you what He has in store for you!

Regular posts from Fruitful Vine will resume shortly, I am excited about the coming year and all that will be coming into fruition here. I’ll see you soon, but until then, here’s an older post that I think applies to this time of year:

On My Heart, Do You Fast and Pray?

Have a blessed week! Completely His, Nicci Kilcoyne

With Christmas here, I’ll be taking a short break from posting until after the New Year arrives. I look forward to spending time with the family and church members in the coming days and I am especially looking forward to making plans and goals for the coming year. I don’t know if it is because we are women and we know what it means to birth new life, but women seem to understand the need for fresh starts and new beginnings. Something inside of us regularly pushes us to plan, set goals, aspire and achieve.

New beginnings are exciting- what will this year hold? For me it is a chance to do better, to be better, to love more, and to live more… what is a New Year for you? Right now for me is the time for reflection, what do I want to do differently, what do I NEVER want to do again? It is time to pray and plan for my goals and dreams. Once the New year arrives, it is time to get in gear and implement my goals.

This coming year will be one of my busiest ever. From graduating my oldest into adulthood in his final year of formal homeschooling, to starting basic preschool with my youngest, I have five sons that will all need me to be on the ball as mom. I have organizational goals for the home this year, as well as scheduling goals to help my household run more efficiently than it did this past year- and I plan to share what I am working on week-to-week here at Fruitful Vine if you’d like to follow along. There are personal aspirations for health, and music ministry and of course, for my writing. Our entire family is already underway with goals concerning our relationships with each other and with our Lord.

The truth is though, a fresh start doesn’t have to wait for a New Year to roll around… some of our goals are already being worked on, some have a personal deadline throughout the year. With the Lord, His mercies are new every morning, and every day with Jesus is a fresh start! Don’t feel like you have to wait for a special moment or day to begin anew, right now is as good a time as any! What would you like to see happen in the coming year? How would you personally like to improve as a person, wife, mom, etc? Do you want to spend more time with others, or more time on projects important to you? It’s a great time of year to reflect and plan to be more fruitful in your life, but remember- January 1st. isn’t the only day that fresh starts are available to you, trust in Him and He’ll give you one every single day!

We will continue with the Mother Roar Series after the New Year. May you be blessed to the fullest measure this Christmas and I’ll see you next year! –Nicci

This week:

In the Kitchen with Mama Nicci

Fresh Homemade Everyday Bread