Sometimes I lie awake at night just thinking of topics to blog about. It's not like I'm straining to come up with ideas; I wouldn't have one of these things if it were a chore. I'm just always thinking about tons of different things. And about 7 out of 10 of those things are followed by the thought, "I should post about this."
The problem comes when I barely have enough time to do the dishes in my sink, let alone sit on the computer and type for hours. So, here's a brief list of the topics that will soon(ish) be making an appearance:
1. Won't You Be My Neighbor?* -- on the "eccentric" people that live in the Heights.
2. Summers in the World of Stars--on where my family and I spent the majority of the summer days throughout childhood.
3. Matthew: "A Gift from God" --on the weekend celebrations of my husbands birthday
4. New Title--on you helping me pick a new title for this blog. (The one I have is boring. Be thinking.)
*The names of the post titles may be subject to change based upon the flow of creativity to my imagination.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Saturday, April 24, 2010
I Must Confess...
...that I'm a hopeless blog-stalker. It's true. And don't you even think about judging me, because if you're reading this, then you are too. HA!
I read the blogs of people I have absolutely never met and probably never will meet. Sometimes I feel a little weird about knowing the ins and outs of the lives of completely random people. But hey...it's interesting stuff. And I've always loved a good biography.
So yes, I read random people's blogs...a lot. But I also have a habit of reading the blogs of people that I do kinda know. I think it's still considered "stalking" because they have no clue that I'm reading their stuff, but at least I have had some interaction with these people.
So today, I was perusing the blog of a friend from several years ago. We were both student leaders in Chi Alpha and were in the same small group for a short time. Honestly, I never really had a high opinion of her...maybe because I just didn't know her that well. So, I was stalking her blog today and was, in a word, astonished. I could sit here and try to explain or paraphrase what she wrote. But may I suggest you go here and read for yourself?
It's a bit long, but I doubt you'll be disappointed. And leave a comment killing 2 birds with 1 stone: Let me know what you think of what she wrote. And let me know that you are a reader of my little bloggy-blog. :)
I read the blogs of people I have absolutely never met and probably never will meet. Sometimes I feel a little weird about knowing the ins and outs of the lives of completely random people. But hey...it's interesting stuff. And I've always loved a good biography.
So yes, I read random people's blogs...a lot. But I also have a habit of reading the blogs of people that I do kinda know. I think it's still considered "stalking" because they have no clue that I'm reading their stuff, but at least I have had some interaction with these people.
So today, I was perusing the blog of a friend from several years ago. We were both student leaders in Chi Alpha and were in the same small group for a short time. Honestly, I never really had a high opinion of her...maybe because I just didn't know her that well. So, I was stalking her blog today and was, in a word, astonished. I could sit here and try to explain or paraphrase what she wrote. But may I suggest you go here and read for yourself?
It's a bit long, but I doubt you'll be disappointed. And leave a comment killing 2 birds with 1 stone: Let me know what you think of what she wrote. And let me know that you are a reader of my little bloggy-blog. :)
Friday, April 23, 2010
2 years!
I can't believe it's already been 2 years since I started working with the Cashins. This really is the BEST "job" I have ever had. Ever. I knew as soon as I talked to Kate (mom) on the phone to set up an interview, that I was gonna fall in love with this family. And ohmygoodness, I did. Can you believe we actually found each other on Craigslist??? I know. Poor website gets such a bad rap.
My time with this family has not been without it's frustrations and sad days. LOTS of bumps and bruises and scrapes and gashes (Jack is pretty clumsy). And loads of bad attitudes and disobedience and disrespect (both of them are sassy).
But the days of laughing, creating, learning, playing, singing, dancing, exploring, cuddling, etc. have more than made up for the not-so-great moments. These kids love me so much and tell me all the time. I've been to birthday parties, gymnastics classes, 100th day of school parade and so on. And I wouldn't miss any of it for the world.
I've watched them grow up so much. Kids change A LOT in 2 years. When I first started watching them, Jack was sitting in high chairs and I was spoon-feeding him. He couldn't say any words at all yet. We were all actually kinda worried about him. And Caroline couldn't say "three." It was more like "fwee." She was in this huge stage of testing any and all boundaries. She made my life hard.
But now, Jack and I have real conversations all day long and he's potty-trained and sleeps in a big boy bed. And Caroline is in Kindergarten and helps me clean up around the house and is such a sweet and respectful and smart little girl. They both have very obvious and individual personalities.
I'm gonna cry. I love these kids so much and am so grateful to have gotten to watch them grow up. I don't know how much longer I'll be with them, but I know I'm gonna enjoy every last minute of it.
My time with this family has not been without it's frustrations and sad days. LOTS of bumps and bruises and scrapes and gashes (Jack is pretty clumsy). And loads of bad attitudes and disobedience and disrespect (both of them are sassy).
But the days of laughing, creating, learning, playing, singing, dancing, exploring, cuddling, etc. have more than made up for the not-so-great moments. These kids love me so much and tell me all the time. I've been to birthday parties, gymnastics classes, 100th day of school parade and so on. And I wouldn't miss any of it for the world.
I've watched them grow up so much. Kids change A LOT in 2 years. When I first started watching them, Jack was sitting in high chairs and I was spoon-feeding him. He couldn't say any words at all yet. We were all actually kinda worried about him. And Caroline couldn't say "three." It was more like "fwee." She was in this huge stage of testing any and all boundaries. She made my life hard.
But now, Jack and I have real conversations all day long and he's potty-trained and sleeps in a big boy bed. And Caroline is in Kindergarten and helps me clean up around the house and is such a sweet and respectful and smart little girl. They both have very obvious and individual personalities.
I'm gonna cry. I love these kids so much and am so grateful to have gotten to watch them grow up. I don't know how much longer I'll be with them, but I know I'm gonna enjoy every last minute of it.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Real Estate Roller Coaster
My husband and I have a (used to be) very fun habit of watching tons of home-buyers shows on HGTV. We could truly sit for hours making comments and comparisons on the different houses, the people buying and their various lists of must-haves. The one thing they almost all have in common is that they always "whine" of how much an emotional roller coaster home-buying really is. We really used to make fun of them because we thought they shouldn't be making such a huge decision with their emotions anyway.
Can I just say that the last couple months...and more specifically...the last two days have had us both eating our words and even choking on them a bit.
I'll try to spare you the details. Matt and I have been looking at houses since the beginning of the year. We've looked at probably 10 and absolutely fallen in love with 1. It was very quickly sold before we could even say, "down payment." So, this past Sunday after church, we sacrificed our ritual Sunday-Afternoon-Nap in the name of Obama's $8,000 gift. We had 1 house to look at on the agenda.
It was ugly. Disgusting. Trashed. I wanted to cry...and vomit. No lie. Why? Because I knew even before we got out of the car that my darling husband was gonna buy it if he could. I walked around the massive (and did i mention it was trashed?) building with a half-smile plastered to my face while the owners sat staring at us as we opened their closet doors and pulled back their curtains. I don't have a single clue of what it costs to fix this or redo that, but out of nowhere numbers just began filling my head. There's no way.
After a few minutes of curling up in the fetal position in a not-so-clean corner of the house, our realtor, her daughter (a friend of mine) and my husband began talking me down off the ledge. They tried to help me imagine what it could be if we just did some hardcore cleaning and painting. (I wish that was really all this house needed.)
Before I knew it, we were driving home and talking about putting in an offer. Okay, you'll have to excuse me in advance here, because I truly haven't the foggiest idea what is involved in buying a house. We talked about the certain conditions the sellers would have to agree to in order for us to be able to go through with it. We went home. And I napped. I told the LORD as I put my head down on my pillow that I didn't wanna do anything that that HE wasn't in. So, if this was the right house, it was gonna have to be crystal clear. I slept restfully.
Until our realtor called me. The seller had accepted our offer and ALL of our conditions. Umm...excuse me. We hadn't actually even put in an offer. She had just called to see what the chances were. Turns out the chances were spot on. We drove to our realtor's house to sign the contract. My eyes were glazed over the entire evening...and on into the next day.
I started dreaming of all that needed to be done to get this house in working order. I'm a planner-extraordinaire, right? Oh my goodness! LOTS of plans and thoughts and ideas. Paint colors, artwork, carpet, appliances...the list could keep going. Needless to say, the image I had of the house I saw on Sunday rapidly began to dissolve, while visions of my new castle danced around in my imagination. I was getting excited.
Skip a BUNCH of details that I couldn't even begin to explain...because I don't know squat about buying a house. And here we are today. I get home from work and find out that we're walking away based on an outrageous, unrealistic technicality. Talk about an emotional roller coaster.
In the last 2 days I've gone from being sick to my stomach at the thought of just being inside this house, to being terrified that we were actually going to buy this junk, to actually starting to fall in love with it, to watching it slip out of our hands. I take back every single time I ever made fun of those couples who get stressed out and cry on T.V.
Folks, house-buying emotions are for real. Not my kind of roller coaster, thank you.
I will, however, take a ride on this guy. But that's another post for another time.
Can I just say that the last couple months...and more specifically...the last two days have had us both eating our words and even choking on them a bit.
I'll try to spare you the details. Matt and I have been looking at houses since the beginning of the year. We've looked at probably 10 and absolutely fallen in love with 1. It was very quickly sold before we could even say, "down payment." So, this past Sunday after church, we sacrificed our ritual Sunday-Afternoon-Nap in the name of Obama's $8,000 gift. We had 1 house to look at on the agenda.
It was ugly. Disgusting. Trashed. I wanted to cry...and vomit. No lie. Why? Because I knew even before we got out of the car that my darling husband was gonna buy it if he could. I walked around the massive (and did i mention it was trashed?) building with a half-smile plastered to my face while the owners sat staring at us as we opened their closet doors and pulled back their curtains. I don't have a single clue of what it costs to fix this or redo that, but out of nowhere numbers just began filling my head. There's no way.
After a few minutes of curling up in the fetal position in a not-so-clean corner of the house, our realtor, her daughter (a friend of mine) and my husband began talking me down off the ledge. They tried to help me imagine what it could be if we just did some hardcore cleaning and painting. (I wish that was really all this house needed.)
Before I knew it, we were driving home and talking about putting in an offer. Okay, you'll have to excuse me in advance here, because I truly haven't the foggiest idea what is involved in buying a house. We talked about the certain conditions the sellers would have to agree to in order for us to be able to go through with it. We went home. And I napped. I told the LORD as I put my head down on my pillow that I didn't wanna do anything that that HE wasn't in. So, if this was the right house, it was gonna have to be crystal clear. I slept restfully.
Until our realtor called me. The seller had accepted our offer and ALL of our conditions. Umm...excuse me. We hadn't actually even put in an offer. She had just called to see what the chances were. Turns out the chances were spot on. We drove to our realtor's house to sign the contract. My eyes were glazed over the entire evening...and on into the next day.
I started dreaming of all that needed to be done to get this house in working order. I'm a planner-extraordinaire, right? Oh my goodness! LOTS of plans and thoughts and ideas. Paint colors, artwork, carpet, appliances...the list could keep going. Needless to say, the image I had of the house I saw on Sunday rapidly began to dissolve, while visions of my new castle danced around in my imagination. I was getting excited.
Skip a BUNCH of details that I couldn't even begin to explain...because I don't know squat about buying a house. And here we are today. I get home from work and find out that we're walking away based on an outrageous, unrealistic technicality. Talk about an emotional roller coaster.
In the last 2 days I've gone from being sick to my stomach at the thought of just being inside this house, to being terrified that we were actually going to buy this junk, to actually starting to fall in love with it, to watching it slip out of our hands. I take back every single time I ever made fun of those couples who get stressed out and cry on T.V.
Folks, house-buying emotions are for real. Not my kind of roller coaster, thank you.
I will, however, take a ride on this guy. But that's another post for another time.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
San Antonio Sisters
I just got back from a wonderful weekend with some of my sweet sisters from the good ol' college days. Amy and Beth both live in San Antonio and also do college ministry with Chi Alpha.
Amy was one of my small group leaders at Sam Houston and pretty much the reason I walk with the LORD today. She was the first person whose life I watched resembled what it's really like to have a continuously growing and deepening relationship with the LORD. It's such a cool thing now to be serving in the same ministry (different city, different school) alongside her. It's always such a refreshing time when I get to sit and catch up with her and talk about the joys and woes of college ministry. And she still has that uncanny gift for challenging me to grow deeper in my relationship with the LORD. I guess that's what happens when you leave room in your heart for spiritual authority. And now, she has one of the most beautiful daughters on the face of the planet. A whole new challenge of life and an area where I will someday be able to follow her example.
Beth is, simply put, one of my best friends. We have the coolest, most carefree type of friendship. She lives in a completely different place and we almost never see each other or even talk to each other, but there's never that ugly awkwardness that usually happens among girlfriends. We are both so incredibly confident in our "no-matter-what" love for each other, that we just magically and naturally just skip over all the finger-pointing and get down to business...sharing about life.
One of the coolest things about our friendship is that we seem to always be in the same area of life at the same time. She encourages me to complain a lot less and to be honest about what's really in my heart. And for some reason, we always feel like the other is truly the only other one that will listen to the outpourings of our hearts and not give off any kind of judgment or ill-thought. Such a friendship is rare, indeed.
I love these women and consider my life all the more rich because of them. My heart breaks for all those who have never welcomed in these kinds of relationships. Sisters are one of the sweetest gifts of life.
Amy was one of my small group leaders at Sam Houston and pretty much the reason I walk with the LORD today. She was the first person whose life I watched resembled what it's really like to have a continuously growing and deepening relationship with the LORD. It's such a cool thing now to be serving in the same ministry (different city, different school) alongside her. It's always such a refreshing time when I get to sit and catch up with her and talk about the joys and woes of college ministry. And she still has that uncanny gift for challenging me to grow deeper in my relationship with the LORD. I guess that's what happens when you leave room in your heart for spiritual authority. And now, she has one of the most beautiful daughters on the face of the planet. A whole new challenge of life and an area where I will someday be able to follow her example.
Beth is, simply put, one of my best friends. We have the coolest, most carefree type of friendship. She lives in a completely different place and we almost never see each other or even talk to each other, but there's never that ugly awkwardness that usually happens among girlfriends. We are both so incredibly confident in our "no-matter-what" love for each other, that we just magically and naturally just skip over all the finger-pointing and get down to business...sharing about life.One of the coolest things about our friendship is that we seem to always be in the same area of life at the same time. She encourages me to complain a lot less and to be honest about what's really in my heart. And for some reason, we always feel like the other is truly the only other one that will listen to the outpourings of our hearts and not give off any kind of judgment or ill-thought. Such a friendship is rare, indeed.
I love these women and consider my life all the more rich because of them. My heart breaks for all those who have never welcomed in these kinds of relationships. Sisters are one of the sweetest gifts of life.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
This is why I don't cook...
So, I was all excited earlier this evening because I've been planning all week to make a yummy-looking new recipe I found in a magazine. The recipe was for a homemade calzone...and let's be honest, I LOVE a good pizza-type food.
I got all the ingredients together (Matt likes Italian sausage and pepperoni and I like pepperoni and mushroom...and lots of cheese) and stuffed the Pilsbury pizza dough to the brim. I stuck it in the oven and set the time for 5 minutes less than what the recipe said. Then, I picked up the phone to call a friend while it baked.
Twenty-five minutes later the timer went off. Five seconds later Matt opened the door and asked if I had set a timer. I hung up with my friend, walked into the kitchen, opened the oven door and said a substitute curse word. They were black. Not completely black, but black enough to make me lose my appetite. I ate ice cream for dinner instead.
I was, and still am, pretty sad. Apparently, I followed the magazine recipe's directions when I should have followed the dough package time. It'll definitely be something I try again. Just not anytime soon.
I got all the ingredients together (Matt likes Italian sausage and pepperoni and I like pepperoni and mushroom...and lots of cheese) and stuffed the Pilsbury pizza dough to the brim. I stuck it in the oven and set the time for 5 minutes less than what the recipe said. Then, I picked up the phone to call a friend while it baked.
Twenty-five minutes later the timer went off. Five seconds later Matt opened the door and asked if I had set a timer. I hung up with my friend, walked into the kitchen, opened the oven door and said a substitute curse word. They were black. Not completely black, but black enough to make me lose my appetite. I ate ice cream for dinner instead.
I was, and still am, pretty sad. Apparently, I followed the magazine recipe's directions when I should have followed the dough package time. It'll definitely be something I try again. Just not anytime soon.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Late-Night Motivation
I'm not really sure what came over me last night, but as I was walking into the bathroom, already slightly exhausted, to wash my face and brush my teeth, I suddenly became overwhelmingly disgusted at the state of my bathroom. I mean, let's just be honest here...it's a super tiny, super old closet of a bathroom that will NEVER, i mean NEVER, be completely cleaned. And honestly, I have found myself in a position of giving up on it. I can scrub and scrub and scrub and use all the latest magical wonder-working cleaners...and nothing really does the trick. Useless. Pointless. Waste of time. I've just been ignoring it all for the last year and a half or so.
I know what you're thinking: EW! And I guess that's where I found myself last night, as well. And even though it was WAY past my bedtime, I just couldn't let it go on for another minute. So, I armed myself with my new yellow cleaning gloves and some heavy-duty bleach cleaner (so not "eco-friendly", but then again, neither is my entire bathroom) and 3 or 4 different scrubby-brush-spongey things.
Here are few things I learned through my late-night adventures in bathroom cleaning:
1. The reason I never clean my bathroom in the first place is because it's too small. I don't fit in there...and certainly not in all the different positions you have to get into to really clean a bathroom.
2. I use way too much hairspray. Oh, don't be worried for the O-Zone layer. No, it all lands on the top of the toilet seat anyway. There was about an inch-thick layer of it on the lid...it looks like we got a completely new toilet once I was done with it. And I have sore muscles this morning.
3. I'm still not used to living with a boy after almost 2 and half years. Not sure I ever will be.
---P.S. He got a good (kind) "talking to" about what goes on when that lid is up. "You see," I told him, "I never, ever lift that lid up to see what it looks like under there. But you do that several times a day. Please don't ever let it get to lookin' like that again. You don't have to clean it yourself, but please just at least tell me when things start growing on it." We'll see what happens with all that.
4. I still think cleaning the toilet is one of my all-time favorite household chores. No, seriously. I used to pick that one when it was chore-time as a kid. Even as a child, I could tell there was something awfully satisfying about cleaning a toilet. You could really see the results of your hard work. Of course, I grew up with sisters and we shared a bathroom with my mom. I now completely understand why the 4 of us always had to share and my dad got his very own bathroom in the very back of the house. And can I tell you a secret? I was always terrified to go in my dad's bathroom. Ugh...still sends shivers down my spine thinking about what all lived up in there.
5. I slept way better last night, having exhausted myself from cleaning right before going to bed. I may be onto a new bedtime ritual. We'll see how long that one lasts.
Just out of curiosity...what is your favorite household chore?
I know what you're thinking: EW! And I guess that's where I found myself last night, as well. And even though it was WAY past my bedtime, I just couldn't let it go on for another minute. So, I armed myself with my new yellow cleaning gloves and some heavy-duty bleach cleaner (so not "eco-friendly", but then again, neither is my entire bathroom) and 3 or 4 different scrubby-brush-spongey things.
Here are few things I learned through my late-night adventures in bathroom cleaning:
1. The reason I never clean my bathroom in the first place is because it's too small. I don't fit in there...and certainly not in all the different positions you have to get into to really clean a bathroom.
2. I use way too much hairspray. Oh, don't be worried for the O-Zone layer. No, it all lands on the top of the toilet seat anyway. There was about an inch-thick layer of it on the lid...it looks like we got a completely new toilet once I was done with it. And I have sore muscles this morning.
3. I'm still not used to living with a boy after almost 2 and half years. Not sure I ever will be.
---P.S. He got a good (kind) "talking to" about what goes on when that lid is up. "You see," I told him, "I never, ever lift that lid up to see what it looks like under there. But you do that several times a day. Please don't ever let it get to lookin' like that again. You don't have to clean it yourself, but please just at least tell me when things start growing on it." We'll see what happens with all that.
4. I still think cleaning the toilet is one of my all-time favorite household chores. No, seriously. I used to pick that one when it was chore-time as a kid. Even as a child, I could tell there was something awfully satisfying about cleaning a toilet. You could really see the results of your hard work. Of course, I grew up with sisters and we shared a bathroom with my mom. I now completely understand why the 4 of us always had to share and my dad got his very own bathroom in the very back of the house. And can I tell you a secret? I was always terrified to go in my dad's bathroom. Ugh...still sends shivers down my spine thinking about what all lived up in there.
5. I slept way better last night, having exhausted myself from cleaning right before going to bed. I may be onto a new bedtime ritual. We'll see how long that one lasts.
Just out of curiosity...what is your favorite household chore?
Saturday, April 10, 2010
A bit of randomness...
1. I'm really missing my exercise, due to my royally messed-up knee.
2. Only three more weeks left of this school year. Crazy.
3. My husband's birthday is this month. What should make him for dinner?
4. I've really been enjoying the vase of beautiful pink hydrangeas currently sitting on my coffee table. They look like this:
5. I could use a nice piece of carrot cake right about now. But I'd settle for a teacup of ice cream...any flavor.
6. I'm so stoked to get to go to Phoenix, AZ this summer!!! I've never been west of the Texas Hill Country, so I'm excited to go broaden my horizons. Plus, it doesn't hurt that we'll be staying in a luxury spa resort with many of our good friends...most expenses paid!
7. I've got a running list of ideas for new blog posts, but for some reason, this list of random things won out.
8. I get really bothered when I realize that the majority of this list has been started with the word, "I."
9. It's not okay with me that my 4 month old phone is deciding to just shut off whenever it feels like it...for no reason. What bothers me even more is that every time it gets turned off, it puts all the settings back to default. So, I spend a few minutes to return it to my preferences...and then it shuts off again. UGH.
10. Speaking of a 4 month-old: I've been given the privilege of watching Saoirse's baby brother, Daniel, ever so often. He is a chunky-monkey, happy baby. And I am in baby-heaven!
11. Just can't end with an even number, and although I'd love to continue on to numbers 17 or 18, it's way past my bedtime.
So...goodnight.
2. Only three more weeks left of this school year. Crazy.
3. My husband's birthday is this month. What should make him for dinner?
4. I've really been enjoying the vase of beautiful pink hydrangeas currently sitting on my coffee table. They look like this:
5. I could use a nice piece of carrot cake right about now. But I'd settle for a teacup of ice cream...any flavor.
6. I'm so stoked to get to go to Phoenix, AZ this summer!!! I've never been west of the Texas Hill Country, so I'm excited to go broaden my horizons. Plus, it doesn't hurt that we'll be staying in a luxury spa resort with many of our good friends...most expenses paid!
7. I've got a running list of ideas for new blog posts, but for some reason, this list of random things won out.
8. I get really bothered when I realize that the majority of this list has been started with the word, "I."
9. It's not okay with me that my 4 month old phone is deciding to just shut off whenever it feels like it...for no reason. What bothers me even more is that every time it gets turned off, it puts all the settings back to default. So, I spend a few minutes to return it to my preferences...and then it shuts off again. UGH.
10. Speaking of a 4 month-old: I've been given the privilege of watching Saoirse's baby brother, Daniel, ever so often. He is a chunky-monkey, happy baby. And I am in baby-heaven!
11. Just can't end with an even number, and although I'd love to continue on to numbers 17 or 18, it's way past my bedtime.
So...goodnight.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Not for the faint of heart...or stomach.
Wanna hear a cool/gross story? Just a warning...it's a long story.
So, yesterday morning I woke up feeling fairly sick to my stomach and I fought the feeling all morning long as I continued to get ready for work. Somehow I could already sense an "off" day coming, but I just can't leave those cute little ones to themselves...also, I gotta pay bills.
Anyway, I try to shove a bit of breakfast down my throat, and surprisingly, it really helped. I got my things together and headed out the door. On the last step, I tripped...lost my balance...and very un-gracefully clamored to the ground, sending the contents of my huge bag flying.
I could not even look down at my knee for a few minutes because it truly hurt SO bad. I have a pretty high pain threshold, but the tears just automatically began to flow without my permission, and I immediately began feeling nauseated again and could feel my face going completely white. I've never broken anything in my life...I thought that's what had happened. So, I just sat there for a bit (what seemed like half an hour) in the middle of my front yard on the busiest street in my neighborhood...awesome. Finally, I mustered up the courage and looked down at my right knee (the one that had already been giving me tons of trouble) and found lots of rich, red blood just pouring down my shins into my shoes. Amazingly enough, I did not give up my breakfast.
Instead, I just bravely got up, left everything from my back laying all over the yard (nothing too valuable) and very slowly hobbled back into the house. Did I forget to mention that my husband has been outta town? Great. So, I take a few moments to sit it out on the couch, and I call my two bosses to tell them that I'm gonna be a little late and explain why and apologize profusely. Then, I get up and gently clean out the GASH taken outta my knee. And I very painfully, very slowly continue on my way to work.
Now, doesn't that sound like such a nice place to end a story like that? Well, fortunately for those of you who rather enjoy the pain and suffering of others...it does not end there. On no, my friends. My day continues on. Complete with 2 very adorable (and independent-spirited) three-year-olds and a kitten.
So, just a little before lunch time, the three of us were outside playing a game I like to call, "Frisbee Fetch." Coming from my own imagination, it's truly an ingenious game, perfect for the purpose of absolutely wearing out a couple of toddlers before nap time. I throw these frisbee-like discs all over the backyard and it's a race to see who can collect the most. Well, though it's not at all part of the game, they both enjoy standing up on the 2ft. high brick wall separating the patio from the yard. They also enjoy dancing around on it.
And that's just what they were doing when my precious Jack lost his balance and fell into the HUGE granite patio table. My heart absolutely stopped. At first, he didn't make a sound...it's amazing how many of the worst things you can think of in a split second. Then, (THANK YOU, JESUS!) he started screaming beyond the top of his lungs. I went to pick him up and saw the blood gushing from his mouth. Y'all, little kids bleed A LOT! (I warned you in the title...not for the weak.) I thankfully remain calm and take him inside to start the clean-up, calm-down process.
What I need for you to know is that the written word cannot even begin to do justice to what all occurred in the next 15 minutes, but I'll give you a clue or two. It involves me yelling at the other sweet little girl to "get outta the house and just stay outside for a while...no, it's not lunchtime right now and i have no clue where the kitten is!" I will NOT admit to maybe locking the door so she couldn't come back in for a minute.
So here I am, hobbling around on my own bruised and bloodied knee, trying to get this screaming kid cleaned up when I hear him start actually saying words to me. I can't understand him. He's screaming-crying and has a mouth full of blood. Finally, I figure out that he's telling me that he needs to go potty. So, upon lifting him up off the kitchen counter where I've been playing doctor, I feel a few droplets hit my toes. Then the flood gates opened...all over the kitchen floor...and all over me.
Poor guy. My heart just broke for my sweet little Jack. He wasn't even phased anymore by the scraped up chin or by the fact that he had bitten THROUGH his bottom lip. He was just so embarrassed and upset that he had wet pants.
You know what? I'm just gonna go ahead and stop right there. Yes, unfortunately there is MUCH more to this absolutely horrific and bloody day...if you can even imagine. But the point is, that even through all this, there was something in me that just kept laughing...after all the tears, of course. I guess, when it came down to it, I never once had to call 911. And though ALL of us got pretty banged up in some form or fashion yesterday, we all remained alive and mostly still functioning. I guess it just kinda made me think about my life lately.
The enemy is gonna try to knock me down. He's gonna give me wounds (metaphorically and literally), but he's most certainly not gonna have defeat over my life. I won't let him. And neither will CHRIST. I may walk away with a bloody knee and a bruised spirit, but I'm gonna get up and walk away. And I'm gonna walk right into the arms of the ONE whose hands will heal my wounds. The LORD gave me strength and grace to make it til the end of that day and HE'll give my joy and wisdom for this day.
So, yesterday morning I woke up feeling fairly sick to my stomach and I fought the feeling all morning long as I continued to get ready for work. Somehow I could already sense an "off" day coming, but I just can't leave those cute little ones to themselves...also, I gotta pay bills.
Anyway, I try to shove a bit of breakfast down my throat, and surprisingly, it really helped. I got my things together and headed out the door. On the last step, I tripped...lost my balance...and very un-gracefully clamored to the ground, sending the contents of my huge bag flying.
I could not even look down at my knee for a few minutes because it truly hurt SO bad. I have a pretty high pain threshold, but the tears just automatically began to flow without my permission, and I immediately began feeling nauseated again and could feel my face going completely white. I've never broken anything in my life...I thought that's what had happened. So, I just sat there for a bit (what seemed like half an hour) in the middle of my front yard on the busiest street in my neighborhood...awesome. Finally, I mustered up the courage and looked down at my right knee (the one that had already been giving me tons of trouble) and found lots of rich, red blood just pouring down my shins into my shoes. Amazingly enough, I did not give up my breakfast.
Instead, I just bravely got up, left everything from my back laying all over the yard (nothing too valuable) and very slowly hobbled back into the house. Did I forget to mention that my husband has been outta town? Great. So, I take a few moments to sit it out on the couch, and I call my two bosses to tell them that I'm gonna be a little late and explain why and apologize profusely. Then, I get up and gently clean out the GASH taken outta my knee. And I very painfully, very slowly continue on my way to work.
Now, doesn't that sound like such a nice place to end a story like that? Well, fortunately for those of you who rather enjoy the pain and suffering of others...it does not end there. On no, my friends. My day continues on. Complete with 2 very adorable (and independent-spirited) three-year-olds and a kitten.
So, just a little before lunch time, the three of us were outside playing a game I like to call, "Frisbee Fetch." Coming from my own imagination, it's truly an ingenious game, perfect for the purpose of absolutely wearing out a couple of toddlers before nap time. I throw these frisbee-like discs all over the backyard and it's a race to see who can collect the most. Well, though it's not at all part of the game, they both enjoy standing up on the 2ft. high brick wall separating the patio from the yard. They also enjoy dancing around on it.
And that's just what they were doing when my precious Jack lost his balance and fell into the HUGE granite patio table. My heart absolutely stopped. At first, he didn't make a sound...it's amazing how many of the worst things you can think of in a split second. Then, (THANK YOU, JESUS!) he started screaming beyond the top of his lungs. I went to pick him up and saw the blood gushing from his mouth. Y'all, little kids bleed A LOT! (I warned you in the title...not for the weak.) I thankfully remain calm and take him inside to start the clean-up, calm-down process.
What I need for you to know is that the written word cannot even begin to do justice to what all occurred in the next 15 minutes, but I'll give you a clue or two. It involves me yelling at the other sweet little girl to "get outta the house and just stay outside for a while...no, it's not lunchtime right now and i have no clue where the kitten is!" I will NOT admit to maybe locking the door so she couldn't come back in for a minute.
So here I am, hobbling around on my own bruised and bloodied knee, trying to get this screaming kid cleaned up when I hear him start actually saying words to me. I can't understand him. He's screaming-crying and has a mouth full of blood. Finally, I figure out that he's telling me that he needs to go potty. So, upon lifting him up off the kitchen counter where I've been playing doctor, I feel a few droplets hit my toes. Then the flood gates opened...all over the kitchen floor...and all over me.
Poor guy. My heart just broke for my sweet little Jack. He wasn't even phased anymore by the scraped up chin or by the fact that he had bitten THROUGH his bottom lip. He was just so embarrassed and upset that he had wet pants.
You know what? I'm just gonna go ahead and stop right there. Yes, unfortunately there is MUCH more to this absolutely horrific and bloody day...if you can even imagine. But the point is, that even through all this, there was something in me that just kept laughing...after all the tears, of course. I guess, when it came down to it, I never once had to call 911. And though ALL of us got pretty banged up in some form or fashion yesterday, we all remained alive and mostly still functioning. I guess it just kinda made me think about my life lately.
The enemy is gonna try to knock me down. He's gonna give me wounds (metaphorically and literally), but he's most certainly not gonna have defeat over my life. I won't let him. And neither will CHRIST. I may walk away with a bloody knee and a bruised spirit, but I'm gonna get up and walk away. And I'm gonna walk right into the arms of the ONE whose hands will heal my wounds. The LORD gave me strength and grace to make it til the end of that day and HE'll give my joy and wisdom for this day.
Friday, April 2, 2010
a bit of a rant, maybe?
I was scrolling through good ol' facebook this morning. (Yes, I am one of those that will read through every new posting and status update on my feed until I get back to the ones I've already seen...too much time on my hands? probably.) And I found myself growing very sad and honestly, a little sick to my stomach.
This is Easter Weekend and more specifically, today is Good Friday. And on some level I do think it's cool that everywhere around this nation, people are aware and maybe even in some sense celebrating the Easter holiday. Even those that don't believe in and/or follow Jesus. It's kinda like when people sing Christmas carols about the birth of Jesus, but don't even have a clue that their hearts are worshiping the Newborn King.
But can I just tell you what makes me sad (okay, borderline angry) and sick to my stomach? The fact that people, who should know better, are so excited about this weekend for various other reasons, but not the fact of what JESUS did on the Cross...and that HE rose again.
Here are a few things that Easter Weekend is NOT about:
1. Dresses
2. Four-day weekends
3. Bunnies
4. Candy
5. Family
Not that any of this stuff is bad. I thoroughly enjoy spending time with my family on Easter. And I look forward to Cadbury Eggs and wearing a pretty spring-y dress. I'm even enjoying the day off I have today (the first in a LONG time).
But this isn't it. The FATHER sent His Son. He lived a completely sinless, pure life. He healed the sick and brought hope to the hopeless. He revolutionized the Law and the way we love. He was betrayed. He was wrongly accused. He was beaten and mocked. He was thrown up on a cross. He became sin. He died. He was laid in a grave.
He lay in that grave for 2 nights. Only 2 nights. He got up. He removed the clothes of death from His body. And He walked out of the grave, past the stone that had been rolled away.
Here are few things that Eater Weekend IS about:
1. regeneration
2. hope of eternity
3. LIFE
4. righteousness
5. repentance
Thank you, JESUS for what you did. Thank you for Who you are. Help us to think rightly about you and about what Easter is about.
This is Easter Weekend and more specifically, today is Good Friday. And on some level I do think it's cool that everywhere around this nation, people are aware and maybe even in some sense celebrating the Easter holiday. Even those that don't believe in and/or follow Jesus. It's kinda like when people sing Christmas carols about the birth of Jesus, but don't even have a clue that their hearts are worshiping the Newborn King.
But can I just tell you what makes me sad (okay, borderline angry) and sick to my stomach? The fact that people, who should know better, are so excited about this weekend for various other reasons, but not the fact of what JESUS did on the Cross...and that HE rose again.
Here are a few things that Easter Weekend is NOT about:
1. Dresses
2. Four-day weekends
3. Bunnies
4. Candy
5. Family
Not that any of this stuff is bad. I thoroughly enjoy spending time with my family on Easter. And I look forward to Cadbury Eggs and wearing a pretty spring-y dress. I'm even enjoying the day off I have today (the first in a LONG time).
But this isn't it. The FATHER sent His Son. He lived a completely sinless, pure life. He healed the sick and brought hope to the hopeless. He revolutionized the Law and the way we love. He was betrayed. He was wrongly accused. He was beaten and mocked. He was thrown up on a cross. He became sin. He died. He was laid in a grave.
He lay in that grave for 2 nights. Only 2 nights. He got up. He removed the clothes of death from His body. And He walked out of the grave, past the stone that had been rolled away.
Here are few things that Eater Weekend IS about:
1. regeneration
2. hope of eternity
3. LIFE
4. righteousness
5. repentance
Thank you, JESUS for what you did. Thank you for Who you are. Help us to think rightly about you and about what Easter is about.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
What I'm Drinking
Remember that one time when I stopped drinking coffee? I have never really been much of a hot tea drinker. I mean, I've enjoyed a cup or two every once and a while, but I typically would choose a strong, black cup of joe over it's cousin, hot tea. But now that I've broken up with "joe" (kinda weird, cuz that's my dad's name...ha!), I've discovered how much fun it is discovering new tea flavors. Here's my new favorite:
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this stuff! It was kinda on the expensive side, but it contains 50 bags! Which means, that I will probably not have to journey out to buy more any time soon...well, maybe. It's just that good! If you love a good fruity hot tea, (I typically don't even care much for the fruity ones) then please do yourself a favor and spring for this. So yummy!
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this stuff! It was kinda on the expensive side, but it contains 50 bags! Which means, that I will probably not have to journey out to buy more any time soon...well, maybe. It's just that good! If you love a good fruity hot tea, (I typically don't even care much for the fruity ones) then please do yourself a favor and spring for this. So yummy!
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