Lets Give Them Something to Talk About

One of the major bummers about technology is if you don’t “save” something that you just worked on it is gone forever.   This Sunday we had an awesome message at church.   Pastor Evan was cracking us up as well as giving us practical lessons from the Bible about how to use and spend our money wisely.   A lot of times when that topic comes up, I just start to tune it out because I married the world’s best money handler EVER so I never have to worry about budgeting or too much month at the end of my money, but this week, I listened and it was really good.   Alas though, my kindle, and the app I was note taking on didn’t save my note properly and now it isn’t there anymore for me to access and look back on.   It was because I didn’t hit the save button on the application.   (I swear I did, but you know). How many times do we let something go in one ear and out the other?   How often do we forget to hit the “save button” when we find something really great in life or have a great time?  

I was very blessed to go over to some new friend’s home last night and talk with them and others about life in general.   As the topic turned solely to missions late in the evening (as this couple used to travel around bringing the good news to kids around the world, and then lived in a different country for 3 years sharing the gospel) I said something like, it must feel amazing to be right in the center of God’s Will.   To have to rely on Him for protection from the most random events; to have to rely on God to take you out of situations that are dangerous; to rely on Him for every provision that you are given; and most importantly, to be brining the message of Christ to all nations under heaven.   Can you imagine?   Knowing that you are supposed to be right where you are, doing what you are doing, right when you are doing it because you have to, and have chosen to, rely on God for every little aspect of your life.   Well friends, I am not out spreading the message over seas, but tha

I think that I have ruined myself for movies lately.   I watched a movie last night, in the theaters even- it was even a chick flick, and I was surprised at how little I ended up liking it.   I watched a movie the other day on Netflix (yes I am finally doing my free trial) that I had been dying to see because it looked so funny, but I couldn’t get into it.   I was actually disgusted by it.   I have ruined myself for movies and I think that I am okay with that.   Movies today have so much moral delinquency.   Sex isn’t a big deal, living together isn’t a big deal, being naked isn’t a big deal, cussing is a big deal, divorce isn't a big deal, hurting someone isn’t a big deal….   The list goes on and on and on.   I remember when I was younger people living together before marriage was looked at as a scandal.   Your parents cared about what you did and wouldn’t allow it.   You respected your parents enough to not do it.   More importantly, you respected your self and your God enoug

I have always been looking for something that I am really good at, something that I can shine at.  Unfortunately, this morning in bed, I realized what it is.  I am really great, amazing actually, at procrastinating.  I am the queen of procrastination.  I hit the snooze button at least 2 times when in bed.  I put off calling doctors or dentists until the problem is really bad.  I put off taking stuff out of the car until tomorrow, or put off the laundry.  I have put off mopping my floor so it hasn’t been done in over 2 weeks (yuck!  I will do it today, I hope…).  I am really good at putting things off.  So I am really great at something that I can’t be proud of.  I was laying in bed and God threw it at me.  He said – lady, get your butt out of bed!  Get started, today is a beautiful day that I have made, rejoice and be glad in it.  Don’t waste your time in bed or doing things that aren’t glorifying to me…  in everything, do it as if unto Me today.  Well, when God tells you something li

My house is COLD!   I mean it is COLD! My husband has programmed the heater to turn down at night since we are all under blankets.   It makes sense, but I need to go and play with the programming a bit so that it starts warming up again BEFORE I get out of bed.   I hate being cold.   I don’t even like cold drinks most of the time!   It is the worse feeling to me.   It is so hard for me to warm up.   In college, my roommate and I had a room right next to an open stairwell and the dorm would not turn on the heaters earlier enough.   I remember sitting in our room with gloves and hats and coats on trying to get our homework done.   It stinks when you are cold.   In one of those “would you rather” games.   Someone asked me if I would rather freeze to death or burn to death.   I didn’t hesitate a moment, I said I would rather burn!   I would be warm, it would be over much faster and I could be a torch for someone for a small amount of time.   It would also be much louder, and I am not a

My daughter loves her breakfast.   The first thing that she does in the morning is ask to eat.   There is no “morning mommy” or even a “hi” that escapes her mouth before she says “I wanna eat.”   She then will sit there for an hour and eat, and eat.   She would eat all morning If I let her. It is usually a 30-minute ordeal, which would go longer, if I didn’t have to get her out the door for preschool.   Thirty straight minutes dedicated to eating.   I usually have to wake her up so that she will have time to eat before we leave.   She is a slow eater, takes her time and enjoys every bite.   When she has finished what is in front of her, she sits at the table and asks for more.   If I take her from the table before she is full, she cries and throws a fit.   She can eat more than I do.   It is like she is filling up her tank for the entire day in one sitting.   There are some days that breakfast is all that she will eat, she will pick at lunch and eat hardly any dinner (unless it is b

In the past month I have read a lot of status updates on facebook that are distressing to me.   I didn’t realize why they were so distressing, other than they made me feel bad for the person.   They usually go something like this…   I am sick of doing so much for people, giving and giving and giving and getting nothing in return.   I am done with all this kindness. In many of my friend’s updates, there have been curse words laced through there too.   It seems that people have started the year with the right intentions.   They want to be more giving, more helpful, more loving…   but when they don’t receive it in return, they get angry.   When they put themselves out there and then nothing comes back, they get angry. Well, I understand that emotion.   When you get that feeling that you are being a door’s mat.   Being everything to everyone is exhausting and usually isn’t feasible.   Please don’t think that I am telling anyone to be a door’s mat.   I am simply saying that when we do g

Blessings….   The word is a great word.   To be blessed is defined in Webster’s as “Holy; enjoying happiness.”   I can sit and count my blessings, or how I have been blessed and get a big old grin on my face.   At the same time, I can sit here and look at what I am not blessed with, and get more and more angry.   I know a girl who’s mother-in-law doesn’t understand why they choose to live in a small house (that they have no debt in), drive old cars (that they have paid for) and don’t try to “better” their situations.   They are happy with what they have.   This girl on the other hand, can’t see how her mother-in-law can’t be happy with what she has, always has to strive for something bigger and better and always has to be trying for the next best, one up, thing on her list.   Although they love each other, this conflict is something that comes between them.     My mother and my mother-in-law both see blessings as something to be grateful for and relish in all ours, but although my m

I hate waking up to tears in my eyes.   To knowing that God has taken another wonderful person out of this world.   It is just so hard to look at beautiful and wonderful people and watch them suffer and pass away.   It is hard to see the suffering of the family and the friends and know that there is very little that you can do to help them.   It is hard to BE those family and friends suffering.   It hurts, it is hard to come to terms with.   You see people that leave behind families and children, young children even that will be growing up without a mom.   You question.   I know I do.   I question everything.   Mostly, I question God.   I ask over and over again why did He choose that person and that time?   But inevitably it comes back to the fact that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and that the wages of sin IS death.   Not that the person was a sinner (look at babies), but the world is a sinful place and the wages of that sin IS death.   We live in a fallen

Last night we had a battle of wills at our house.   I have decided that we will start to eat healthier at our house.   With that resolution in mind, I bought kale and baked it up to make chips.   (They were surprisingly good!)   My 3 year old looked at them and decided that she was not going to eat them.   They do look a little weird, but ultimately taste a lot like potato chips.   So my daughter ate her tuna fish sandwich and then said she was all done.   We informed her that she had to try two bits of the kale chips.   Two hours later, she was still sitting crying at the table.   She did NOT want to eat them, refused to try them and is a very strong willed child, so decided that she was not going to give in AT ALL.   All she had to do was eat two little pieces of kale (it sounds gross but it really isn’t) and she could get down and play and have a snack later etc… How often do we do that?   How often do we sit and throw a HUGE fit insisting that our way is the BEST and only way.  

I have had 4 puppies and 2 adult dogs living at my house for the past 2 months, almost 8 weeks to be exact.   That makes 6 dogs at my house for those of you at home keeping track.   When they were newborns, it was easy to take care of them.   They couldn’t see, I just had to make sure that their mom could get into them and we were good.   Then their eyes opened and they started to get curious.   I was still okay because they couldn’t get out of the enclosure that we put them in, unless we would take them out for their daily play time.   They then learned how to escape said closure and I would find them in some interesting places around my house.   It was interesting.   During this time, my adult male dog decided that   he wanted to claim my house as often as the little ones have had accidents.   The mommy dog was too afraid to leave her puppies and would just do her business wherever she felt fit.   So between puppy potty, markings and adult dog “accidents” I have had a very smelly hou

I heard one of the best quotes this weekend.   The speaker said: “the grass isn’t greener on the other side, it is greenest where you fertilize it.”   I am as guilty as the next person thinking that the grass is greener on the other side.   I have wanted to move closer to my family for years now.   I am sure there would be annoyances and heartache and issues that came up and we might regret the move, but to me, it always looked like a better situation.   Now I have a great set of in-laws here in Illinois and I love them and they love us.   We have a great time when we hang out with them and they aren’t overbearing.   They help us when we need them and we help them when they need us.   It is a win-win situation.   But I was always looking at the other situation and dreaming.   Now I am not going to totally take away that dream, as I would love to move closer to home with hills and scenery and my family close by and my old high school friends just a phone call away, but the reality is, i