by leaps and bounds

When I was in high school, I hated taking notes. 

I remember having a lot of notes and diagrams to copy off of the projector in biology class. A semester worth of notes was almost an entire single subject notebook and we had to turn it in each six weeks for the teacher to review and then grade. 

I usually got a decent score but because I didn’t have the neatest handwriting and I didn’t take the time to go back and use colored pencils to make the diagrams look pretty (which I thought was pointless) or recopy the notes like some of the others did, I didn’t get the high grade that I felt I should have. I thought that since I had the same basic notes that it was good enough…but it wasn’t. I didn’t follow through and do the whole assignment for the notes.

As I have gotten older, I’ve realized the importance of notes and their details. I have become a great note taker and maker. I have notes for meal planning so that I have all the ingredients on hand and know what I am making for dinner so the kids don’t have to eat cereal or order take out. I have notes/lesson plans for homeschool subjects so the school day is efficient. I make notes for important meetings and appointments. At the urging of my kids, I even switched from paper notes to electronic notes.

I opened my Bible as I sat down to write this blog and I noticed all the notes inside of it. I had sermon notes from last Wednesday’s service and prayer requests from my friends on our ‘Mopping up the Blessings’ group page. I also found the little cards that you get with flowers that my husband and kids have sent me. I also noticed how the pages in the front and back were worn and partially torn from when the kids were younger and would pick up my Bible by the cover and bring it to me. But the one thing that stuck out the most was the sticky notes of prayer requests from my friends.

These notes caught my eye because of the importance of these requests to the person who gave them to me. They have entrusted me to pray over their friends, themselves, and their families. I do take these seriously and Jesus does as well. I will admit that people posting ‘thoughts and prayers’ on social media really does irk me. It isn’t just a trendy thing to say and I feel you are better off not saying it if you don’t really mean it, because you are telling someone you are going to do this for them and if you don’t pray for them, you are not keeping your word to them. My daddy always said, “A person is only as good as his word.” 

James 5:16: Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.  The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

Just like in high school, it is important to follow through with the whole assignment. If you tell someone that you are praying for them, write down the request and make a note of it to remind yourself to actually do it.  Please follow through with your promise to pray and say those prayers from your heart.

Tammy Bassett is a speaker and the author of the Mopping Up Your Blessings blog. She was born and raised a country girl who’s roots run deep in the mountains of Appalachia. She has worked a wide variety of jobs ranging from radio to insurance agent. She is now a stay-at-home mom, who along with her husband, are raising five daughters (ages 10 to 25), seven cats and one dog. She uses her accounting and business administration degree to help run her busy household.
She loves spending time with her family and homeschooling her two youngest children. She spends a lot of her day trying to conquer the obstacles in her home. With four of her children still living at home the laundry pile (nicknamed Mt. Wash-more) is her nemesis. Some days she wins and some days she doesn’t, but she always gets up the next day and tries again.
She also loves camping with her family as long as there is a camper with air conditioning, a comfy bed, and indoor plumbing. Her downfall is her obsession with iced coffee. Thankfully the closest Starbucks is an hour from her home, or she would be broke. She also loves reading and learning new skills such as homesteading, being more self-sustainable, gardening and foraging.
She relates the most to her favorite animal, the alpaca. They are both kind of weird and look like they are two months past due on a haircut. Much like alpacas she makes a gentle humming noise when happy and if irritated she often stamps the ground with her feet. Her husband has refused to buy her an alpaca much to her disappointment.
But more than anything, she loves the Lord and is growing more in her faith each day and hopes to inspire others to do the same. She wants everyone to understand that God’s grace is truly amazing and has changed her from the inside out and he can do the same for you.

This week’s blog has been very difficult to produce. I have prayed and listened patiently (or maybe not so patiently when I passed my deadline to turn it in to my editor) but nothing was really laid on my heart to write about. I became frustrated and opened up and spoke to my husband that I was going to miss posting a blog this week and how upset I was. I then began to pour out my heart to him about how the enemy has attacked me so hard this week and has used my own insecurities against myself.

My husband then suggested that maybe the blog this week should be about not being able to write a blog. The idea was crazy enough that it made sense because I have struggled with self-esteem for most of my life. When negative things were said, I gave up or didn’t follow through with an idea, job application, career change or a number of other things.

When God calls you to do something you must have some stick-to-it-ness so that when the enemy attacks, you don’t give up. I really don’t like stepping out of my comfort zone but I promised God that He can use me how he wants and I will obey. Saying it is one thing but doing it is not always easy and that is when you need to pull your stick-to-it-ness out of your back pocket (that’s where you keep those nuggets) to follow through.

Maybe some of you have been like me where you are minding your own business and your brain starts replaying that wrong answer you blurted out in history class in fifth grade and how everyone laughed at you and you were embarrassed in front of the whole class?  

I have been fighting these thoughts and others like them for the last week! When I started this blog, I had one person ask me if I really thought that I could write a blog every single week. The enemy has taken that thought that has been laying around in the back of my brain and thrown it in my face saying, “You know you couldn’t do it; you should not have even tried!” 

After I wrote a few blogs, another person asked me what was going to happen when I ran out of personal stories to share… he threw that arrow at me as well. All week I felt as if the devil had constantly been attacking me and I began to feel like Swiss cheese after all those arrows.

This calling seems kind of minuscule compared to what God has called others to do. They had to overcome huge obstacles, kings, pharaohs, life and death and would have rather suffered from having writer’s block!  I’m sure Elijah was kind of nervous facing off against the prophets of Baal and calling down fire from Heaven to set the bull on fire and Moses went face to face and toe to toe against pharaoh and demanded his people to be set free… or else.  If that was me, I would probably be throwing up before, during, and after those encounters.

In 1 Peter 5:6-9 we are reminded of the following:

   Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.  Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.  Be self-controlled and alert.  Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of suffering.

So, I am taking all of these arrows the enemy is throwing, stacking them in a box, duct taping it shut and handing them over to God. I am viewing this as a test, no matter what man says, or the enemy says, I won’t quit. God has put me in this position for a purpose even if the purpose is never completely revealed to me. So by faith I am going to say, “Next week, God is going to do something amazing.”

Tammy Bassett is a speaker and the author of the Mopping Up Your Blessings blog. She was born and raised a country girl who’s roots run deep in the mountains of Appalachia. She has worked a wide variety of jobs ranging from radio to insurance agent. She is now a stay-at-home mom, who along with her husband, are raising five daughters (ages 10 to 25), seven cats and one dog. She uses her accounting and business administration degree to help run her busy household.
She loves spending time with her family and homeschooling her two youngest children. She spends a lot of her day trying to conquer the obstacles in her home. With four of her children still living at home the laundry pile (nicknamed Mt. Wash-more) is her nemesis. Some days she wins and some days she doesn’t, but she always gets up the next day and tries again.
She also loves camping with her family as long as there is a camper with air conditioning, a comfy bed, and indoor plumbing. Her downfall is her obsession with iced coffee. Thankfully the closest Starbucks is an hour from her home, or she would be broke. She also loves reading and learning new skills such as homesteading, being more self-sustainable, gardening and foraging.
She relates the most to her favorite animal, the alpaca. They are both kind of weird and look like they are two months past due on a haircut. Much like alpacas she makes a gentle humming noise when happy and if irritated she often stamps the ground with her feet. Her husband has refused to buy her an alpaca much to her disappointment.
But more than anything, she loves the Lord and is growing more in her faith each day and hopes to inspire others to do the same. She wants everyone to understand that God’s grace is truly amazing and has changed her from the inside out and he can do the same for you.

Have you ever visited someone’s home and thought, ‘Man, their house is a mess’ even though you know your home is way messier?

Sometimes I clean houses as a side job and the last house I have been cleaning is way cleaner than my own home, which is a weird thing to say as a house cleaner.  Working this job has got me thinking about how we look at dirt.   When we look at someone’s home we look at their dirt differently than our own dirt. Their dirt looks dirtier than our dirt because it isn’t our dirt.  I then began thinking about how we look at our own sin verses how we look at other people’s sins.

Sometimes when we look at others it is easy to pick out their sin and just like other people’s dirt, it can seem way worse than our own sin.  But is it really? 

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brothers eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?  Matthew 7:3

My spiteful self says that there are a lot of people I know that I would love to recite this verse to and then ask them if they would want ice for that burn.  Often I am the one who needs an ice bath. 

Jesus is teaching us in this verse that we often overlook what we have done and judge other people’s sin.  Their sin may look larger to us but God doesn’t look at it that way.  Sorry, but sin is sin.

I once heard a preacher talk about a prostitute who came to church and was saved.  They welcomed her and then told her that now she had to make a drastic change in her life and change her occupation immediately.  Which is true, but she didn’t know how she was going to feed her children and desperation is what had driven her into that profession in the first place.  With her newfound faith she trusted God to provide and left the church to go home. 

As she walked across the parking lot, she noticed one gentleman was smoking a cigarette as he got into his car.  She questioned why she had to change drastically but it was understood that he needed time to wean from his addiction.  The next car over were two older ladies whispering and gossiping about a church member who was struggling in their marriage.   As she drove by the local buffet there was a family trying to convince the cashier that their child was only eleven when they were almost old enough to drive so they would pay less for their lunch.  There had been a man in leadership positions in the church that morning who she had seen at the bar a few nights ago with a woman that wasn’t his wife. 

I’m sure everyone in that church was aware of her profession and after the service many were texting each other ‘spilling the tea’ about what they had heard about her.  I would rather like to think that the church would have one member who could help her get a resume together, the food pantry would drop off food to help her out till she gets on her feet, the clothing ministry would help her find outfits to wear to an interview, another member would teach her how to look for jobs on the internet, and someone would offer to help with babysitting so she can go to a job interview.

As Christians we are representatives of Christ to the world.  What impression do you want to leave?

You can reach Tammy Bassett at:  moppinguptheblessings@gmail.com or on her Facebook page and group.

Tammy Bassett is a speaker and the author of the Mopping Up Your Blessings blog. She was born and raised a country girl who’s roots run deep in the mountains of Appalachia. She has worked a wide variety of jobs ranging from radio to insurance agent. She is now a stay-at-home mom, who along with her husband, are raising five daughters (ages 10 to 25), seven cats and one dog. She uses her accounting and business administration degree to help run her busy household.
She loves spending time with her family and homeschooling her two youngest children. She spends a lot of her day trying to conquer the obstacles in her home. With four of her children still living at home the laundry pile (nicknamed Mt. Wash-more) is her nemesis. Some days she wins and some days she doesn’t, but she always gets up the next day and tries again.
She also loves camping with her family as long as there is a camper with air conditioning, a comfy bed, and indoor plumbing. Her downfall is her obsession with iced coffee. Thankfully the closest Starbucks is an hour from her home, or she would be broke. She also loves reading and learning new skills such as homesteading, being more self-sustainable, gardening and foraging.
She relates the most to her favorite animal, the alpaca. They are both kind of weird and look like they are two months past due on a haircut. Much like alpacas she makes a gentle humming noise when happy and if irritated she often stamps the ground with her feet. Her husband has refused to buy her an alpaca much to her disappointment.
But more than anything, she loves the Lord and is growing more in her faith each day and hopes to inspire others to do the same. She wants everyone to understand that God’s grace is truly amazing and has changed her from the inside out and he can do the same for you.

There are days that I feel like I am rocking the homeschool mom life.  Kids are up early, eat a semi-healthy breakfast, and are ready to start school on time.  School work is done by 1:00pm and we spend the afternoon at the park having a picnic lunch and playing.  Other days the dog yaks on the floor while you’re trying to explain how to multiply fractions, the other kid is mad because they think science class is stupid, the cat is trying to shred my curtains, and you feel like you can’t win for losing.

I do love homeschooling, but it did take us a while to figure a few things out.  I have one child that would just refuse to work on certain subjects.  No matter what I grounded her from or threatened to punish her with she would just put her head down and refuse to work.

I began praying for God to fix this child because I was about to lose my mind. Then he opened my eyes to the fact that she wasn’t being disobedient as I initially thought but was struggling and didn’t want to admit it.  I felt like I was a total failure; how could I misunderstand this with my own child?

I turned from using force to get my point across to compassion.  I started asking her questions such as how she was feeling about what she was learning and if I was rushing her through the lessons too fast.  Come to find out she had so much anxiety about wanting to be perfect and if she didn’t understand the concept immediately, she would just shut down.  With this new knowledge we came up with a game plan to help her get over her anxiety of making mistakes and our school day improved drastically.

The incident made me stop and think about how many times over the years have I made this mistake with other people.  Customers who would be huffing and puffing over paying for their groceries.  I would think they were just being cheapskates and cranky but maybe that was their last $20 till payday. Maybe they were upset because they didn’t think the food was enough to last for their family until the end of the week and really weren’t mad at me for ringing up their groceries, after all.

I also have been on the flip side of this.  A few years ago, I had a friend who is a Christian upset over a situation that I was indirectly involved in.  One afternoon she began blowing up my phone with accusations and talking in a derogatory manner about how we were handling things.  After about an hour of dealing with them I told them that I did not have time at the moment to talk about it because I was dealing with a tense behavior issue with my special needs kiddo at the school.  They stopped and texted that they were praying for me.  I responded with a thank you and was relieved.  That peace lasted for about five minutes before they started blowing up my phone and bashing me again.  For two hours this person threw Bible verses at me, told me what I was doing wrong, what my husband was doing wrong, and even what my dog was doing wrong.  I have never had someone quote Bible verses to me in such an incompassionate way.  I did end up blocking them for my own sanity. 

Ephesians 4:32, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

But then there is that one person that God puts right in your path when you need them. 

When all the kiddos were living at home, my oldest was playing high school softball and needed items to wear when they play in cold weather.  I rounded up all five kids and we headed to Walmart.  I was exhausted but had no choice because this needed done that day.  I got the double stroller out for the littles and started getting the other three kiddos out of the car when my ball player decided that she wasn’t going in.  I explained to her that she had to go in and try the items on because we didn’t have time to return anything.  She refused to go in if I was taking the whole crew because it embarrassed her having so many siblings.  I stood in the parking lot having lively discussion with her that nobody cared how many sisters she had, and we just needed go get the stuff, try it on, and leave but teenagers aren’t always logical.

I finally get everyone into the store and get a buggy to start shopping and a random lady came over to me and asked to give me a hug.  She whispered in my ear that I was a good momma and teenagers are the reason why some animals eat their young.  That one moment made me feel like maybe I wasn’t a total failure as a mom and that this is a tough job to have.  Her compassion changed my whole outlook and gave me confidence.

I have no idea who this woman was and never seen her again.  I have no idea if she was a Christian or not, but her kind words and compassion I still remember 10 years later.

Remember that you never know what someone is going through so choose to show them kindness and compassion, even if they may not deserve it, you may be the only person that day who does.

You can reach Tammy through her email:  Moppinguptheblessings@gmail.com or through her Facebook group:  Mopping up the Blessings.

Tammy Bassett is a speaker and the author of the Mopping Up Your Blessings blog. She was born and raised a country girl who’s roots run deep in the mountains of Appalachia. She has worked a wide variety of jobs ranging from radio to insurance agent. She is now a stay-at-home mom, who along with her husband, are raising five daughters (ages 10 to 25), seven cats and one dog. She uses her accounting and business administration degree to help run her busy household.
She loves spending time with her family and homeschooling her two youngest children. She spends a lot of her day trying to conquer the obstacles in her home. With four of her children still living at home the laundry pile (nicknamed Mt. Wash-more) is her nemesis. Some days she wins and some days she doesn’t, but she always gets up the next day and tries again.
She also loves camping with her family as long as there is a camper with air conditioning, a comfy bed, and indoor plumbing. Her downfall is her obsession with iced coffee. Thankfully the closest Starbucks is an hour from her home, or she would be broke. She also loves reading and learning new skills such as homesteading, being more self-sustainable, gardening and foraging.
She relates the most to her favorite animal, the alpaca. They are both kind of weird and look like they are two months past due on a haircut. Much like alpacas she makes a gentle humming noise when happy and if irritated she often stamps the ground with her feet. Her husband has refused to buy her an alpaca much to her disappointment.
But more than anything, she loves the Lord and is growing more in her faith each day and hopes to inspire others to do the same. She wants everyone to understand that God’s grace is truly amazing and has changed her from the inside out and he can do the same for you.