I've decided to blog on a regular basis (at least 2 posts a week). I hope I have something to say that will interest people. But if not, I guess I'll talk to myself :) I made a personal goal last year to start writing. It's taken a while to proceed, but I'm finally doing it. For now it will be tidbits of life that I find interesting. Later, I may take those bits and put them together.
I'd love to know who (if anybody!) is reading my blog. So I decided to have a contest. It's easy to enter. Just comment to this post. At the end of the month, I'll put the names in a hat and have one of the kiddos pick a name and send a surprize. Be sure to include your e-mail address.
In the mean time, I'll keep talking to myself.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Experiencing the Heart of Jesus
Tomorrow night I begin teaching my first Life Changers University (LCU) class at our church. I'm teaching Max Lucado's book, "Experiencing the Heart of Jesus". I'm excited about both teaching (what can I say, I was born to teach!) and going through this book. I've completed most of the first week's lessons (5 lessons a week). This week's theme is "Experiencing the Care of Jesus". Growing up in church, I've always *known* that Jesus loved me and that He cares for me. But sometimes it's difficult to get that knowledge from my head to my heart. Each week, I'm going to try to summarize some of the things that hit me about the lessons.
Here are some tidbits from this week:
* If you're not sure what to do, get out of God's way!
* God will fight for us. Our job is to trust Him.
* God's power is great for those who believe.
* Jesus promises us the Holy Spirit so He can care for us in our time of need.
* Other Christians can give advice, but only God can help us.
* The dwelling place of God is IN us!
* No matter how out of control things appear, we are not to fear.
* God has kept all of His promises.
* Nothing and no one can thwart God's promise to save us.
Here are some tidbits from this week:
* If you're not sure what to do, get out of God's way!
* God will fight for us. Our job is to trust Him.
* God's power is great for those who believe.
* Jesus promises us the Holy Spirit so He can care for us in our time of need.
* Other Christians can give advice, but only God can help us.
* The dwelling place of God is IN us!
* No matter how out of control things appear, we are not to fear.
* God has kept all of His promises.
* Nothing and no one can thwart God's promise to save us.
Thursday, September 06, 2007
When expectation and reality clash....
Have you ever wanted something so bad you could taste it? When it finally happened, where you satisfied....or did it leave you wanting?
My 9 year old son had surgery on his foot last month. (He was born with a club foot and had a series of casts as an infant. We recently noticed some turning, and he had surgery on July 23rd.)
After 6 weeks (and 2 days) of absolutely NO walking on the foot, yesterday was the big day. WALKING DAY! When I met Daddy and Chewie at the doctor's office, I was greeted with, "This is the best day of my life since I got Star Wars Lego 2 (for the Game Cube)".
Dr. B. checked him out and everything looked good. He can start walking (with the boot on for one week) now. Chewie handed me his walker and asked me to "throw it away!"
Then the moment of truth...
Chewie took a step and fell. He expected some pain, but it was worse than he imagined. Now he is afraid to take anther step. His confidence is crushed. He knows it won't get better until he uses it. He knows it hurts because it hasn't been used in 6 weeks. (Not to mention the trauma tendons of being cut and moved around.) But knowing doesn't make it any easier to step out. To take a step of faith.
You can see where I'm going....In life, sometimes I get hurt. Sometimes it is intentionally inflicted, other times a thoughtless comment. But nevertheless, I am recovering. It's painful to take that first step....and the second....and so on. But I know if I don't start working the injured area, it will never get better. I have to take a step of faith and trust that God will not let me fall. (Or at least I won't fall too hard.) Wounds run deep, and healing takes time. But it will come.
Chewie's doctor predicted that next time he seems us (5 weeks) Chewie will come running in. I hope so.
My 9 year old son had surgery on his foot last month. (He was born with a club foot and had a series of casts as an infant. We recently noticed some turning, and he had surgery on July 23rd.)
After 6 weeks (and 2 days) of absolutely NO walking on the foot, yesterday was the big day. WALKING DAY! When I met Daddy and Chewie at the doctor's office, I was greeted with, "This is the best day of my life since I got Star Wars Lego 2 (for the Game Cube)".
Dr. B. checked him out and everything looked good. He can start walking (with the boot on for one week) now. Chewie handed me his walker and asked me to "throw it away!"
Then the moment of truth...
Chewie took a step and fell. He expected some pain, but it was worse than he imagined. Now he is afraid to take anther step. His confidence is crushed. He knows it won't get better until he uses it. He knows it hurts because it hasn't been used in 6 weeks. (Not to mention the trauma tendons of being cut and moved around.) But knowing doesn't make it any easier to step out. To take a step of faith.
You can see where I'm going....In life, sometimes I get hurt. Sometimes it is intentionally inflicted, other times a thoughtless comment. But nevertheless, I am recovering. It's painful to take that first step....and the second....and so on. But I know if I don't start working the injured area, it will never get better. I have to take a step of faith and trust that God will not let me fall. (Or at least I won't fall too hard.) Wounds run deep, and healing takes time. But it will come.
Chewie's doctor predicted that next time he seems us (5 weeks) Chewie will come running in. I hope so.
Monday, September 03, 2007
Lazy Day
Here it almost noon, and I'm still in my jammies. What a lazy day! Good thing today is a holiday!
But, I think I deserve a rest today. This weekend I got a lot accomplished. The last (of many!) loads of clothes is in the dryer. (And there are only two baskets of clothes to put away! The rest I finished yesterday!) I went to Farmer's Market early Saturday morning. And I filled an entire shelf of the freezer with produce.
Last time I told you you wouldn't often hear me talk about gardening. Cooking is another topic you won't usually find with my name attached to it. I've been married 20 years and I still don't cook. I married a many who likes to cook. I can follow a recipe, and I wouldn't starve to death if I was alone. But I don't create. I don't know what goes with what, or what can be omitted or substuted. (One time I made chili, but didn't have any cumin But, I do know how to find recipes on the internet.
{{{{We interrupt this blog for a Mommy alert! Clean up in the sitting room. Clean up in the sitting room! Urgent!}}}
Now...back to our regularly scheduled blog....
So, this weekend, I filled a shelf in the freezer with:
* 18 cups (2 cup portions) of shredded zucchini
* Gallon bag of breaded zucchinin strips
* 8 cups of sliced and blanched* yellow squash
* 6 cups of blanched squash sticks
* Gallon bag of sliced, breaded okra (yucky!)
In addition to the freezer stuff, I....
* Peeled and chopped 4 cantalope
* Peeled and sliced 6 cucumbers.
* Cooked and stored 4 yellow squash for immediate use.
I'm working to put more vegetables in my diet. I figured if they are sitting on the counter whole, they aren't going to do any good, and I'll just have to haul them out to the trash when they start smelly funny. Hopefully, having easy access to the veggies will cut down on the excuse.
Okay....lazy day is over. I've got work to do!
But, I think I deserve a rest today. This weekend I got a lot accomplished. The last (of many!) loads of clothes is in the dryer. (And there are only two baskets of clothes to put away! The rest I finished yesterday!) I went to Farmer's Market early Saturday morning. And I filled an entire shelf of the freezer with produce.
Last time I told you you wouldn't often hear me talk about gardening. Cooking is another topic you won't usually find with my name attached to it. I've been married 20 years and I still don't cook. I married a many who likes to cook. I can follow a recipe, and I wouldn't starve to death if I was alone. But I don't create. I don't know what goes with what, or what can be omitted or substuted. (One time I made chili, but didn't have any cumin But, I do know how to find recipes on the internet.
{{{{We interrupt this blog for a Mommy alert! Clean up in the sitting room. Clean up in the sitting room! Urgent!}}}
Now...back to our regularly scheduled blog....
So, this weekend, I filled a shelf in the freezer with:
* 18 cups (2 cup portions) of shredded zucchini
* Gallon bag of breaded zucchinin strips
* 8 cups of sliced and blanched* yellow squash
* 6 cups of blanched squash sticks
* Gallon bag of sliced, breaded okra (yucky!)
In addition to the freezer stuff, I....
* Peeled and chopped 4 cantalope
* Peeled and sliced 6 cucumbers.
* Cooked and stored 4 yellow squash for immediate use.
I'm working to put more vegetables in my diet. I figured if they are sitting on the counter whole, they aren't going to do any good, and I'll just have to haul them out to the trash when they start smelly funny. Hopefully, having easy access to the veggies will cut down on the excuse.
Okay....lazy day is over. I've got work to do!
Saturday, September 01, 2007
Lessons from the garden
No....not the Garden of Eden.
If you know me, you may be surprised to see me talking about gardening, and I promise you won't often seen posts about gardens. I grew up in an agricultural area and many of my classmates were part of FFA (when it still meant Future FARMERS of America!), but I am not a gardener. I tend to have a "black thumb" rather than the proverbial "green thumb". I make plants die.
So, why I am I writing about gardens? My mother-in-law likes to garden. Every summer she plants tomatos, peppers and squash (and whatever else tickles her fancy that year. The problem comes when she and Dad, inevitably, leave in the middle of the summer to visit their other boys or some friends. That leaves me, the non-gardener--to tend the plants. One year, I just about killed the tomatoes, but my sister-in-law revived them.
This year, my in-laws didn't leave town until mid-August, so much of the garden-tending was finished. We had already enjoyed many vegetables from the garden, so if I failed, it wouldn't be too bad. Also, the plants were mostly mature, so all I have to do is give them some water every few days and pick the ripe ones. Even I can handle that.
Okay....here are the lessons I've learned this week:
1. Two tomatoes, with the exact same nourishment and care, can develop at different rates.
I am amazed when I see a cherry tomato vine that had a shoot with 4 tomatoes. Two are green and two are bright red. They have had the exact same access to the vine, and exactly the same amount of water. But they are completely different in development.
The same is true for us. Two people can face the same circumstances and react completely differently. We can be fed the same spiritual food, but absorb it different. And, just as neither tomato was "better" than the other, those who are more mature spiritually, are not "better" than those who develop at a slower rate. Both will develop--in their own time.
2. Some branches had living fruit AND dead leaves.
Even though the branches were *close* to the vine, those branches and leaves were not taking in the nourishment of the vine. Instead, they were brown and dying.
With us, we can spend time *near* God---so busy with "church stuff" that we can't find time to receive our our own refreshment from the Vine. And the refreshment needs to come on a daily basis. One "fill up" on Sunday, won't last all week.
3. It's not over 'til it's over.
I had given up on the zucchini and squash plants. It didn't look like any more were going to mature. But, just in case, I watered them along with the tomatoes. This morning I bought zucchini and squash at Farmer's Market because I was certain I wouldn't have more. But this afternoon, I found two ripe, mature zucchini. I'd given up too soon.
In the same way, God isn't finished with me yet. And He has promised to finish the good work He started in me--but I won't be finished until God takes me to Heaven. I am still a work in prorgress. Even if it seems that all signs of life are gone, it's not over yet.
If you know me, you may be surprised to see me talking about gardening, and I promise you won't often seen posts about gardens. I grew up in an agricultural area and many of my classmates were part of FFA (when it still meant Future FARMERS of America!), but I am not a gardener. I tend to have a "black thumb" rather than the proverbial "green thumb". I make plants die.
So, why I am I writing about gardens? My mother-in-law likes to garden. Every summer she plants tomatos, peppers and squash (and whatever else tickles her fancy that year. The problem comes when she and Dad, inevitably, leave in the middle of the summer to visit their other boys or some friends. That leaves me, the non-gardener--to tend the plants. One year, I just about killed the tomatoes, but my sister-in-law revived them.
This year, my in-laws didn't leave town until mid-August, so much of the garden-tending was finished. We had already enjoyed many vegetables from the garden, so if I failed, it wouldn't be too bad. Also, the plants were mostly mature, so all I have to do is give them some water every few days and pick the ripe ones. Even I can handle that.
Okay....here are the lessons I've learned this week:
1. Two tomatoes, with the exact same nourishment and care, can develop at different rates.
I am amazed when I see a cherry tomato vine that had a shoot with 4 tomatoes. Two are green and two are bright red. They have had the exact same access to the vine, and exactly the same amount of water. But they are completely different in development.
The same is true for us. Two people can face the same circumstances and react completely differently. We can be fed the same spiritual food, but absorb it different. And, just as neither tomato was "better" than the other, those who are more mature spiritually, are not "better" than those who develop at a slower rate. Both will develop--in their own time.
2. Some branches had living fruit AND dead leaves.
Even though the branches were *close* to the vine, those branches and leaves were not taking in the nourishment of the vine. Instead, they were brown and dying.
With us, we can spend time *near* God---so busy with "church stuff" that we can't find time to receive our our own refreshment from the Vine. And the refreshment needs to come on a daily basis. One "fill up" on Sunday, won't last all week.
3. It's not over 'til it's over.
I had given up on the zucchini and squash plants. It didn't look like any more were going to mature. But, just in case, I watered them along with the tomatoes. This morning I bought zucchini and squash at Farmer's Market because I was certain I wouldn't have more. But this afternoon, I found two ripe, mature zucchini. I'd given up too soon.
In the same way, God isn't finished with me yet. And He has promised to finish the good work He started in me--but I won't be finished until God takes me to Heaven. I am still a work in prorgress. Even if it seems that all signs of life are gone, it's not over yet.
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