A Lovely Report

Light My Fire

2018-10-26T10:38:00.002-07:00

Fireside Friday Morning Chat........pull up a chair

This stove. Oi. This stove has been the bane of our existence for the past week. We were so excited when we bought it. We were so excited when we put it in place. We were so excited when we installed it. We were so excited when it fired up for the first time......a week ago.

Since then it's been such a lesson in perserverance and patience.

"Will it happen today? Will today be the day when it actually starts up on its own with no help or fooling-with on our parts? Will it start up first thing in the morning....or will I have to wait yet again until The Bud gets home from work, fools with it, gets it started after much work, only to then have to shut it down a couple hours later anyway....?"

We weren't so excited this week when, every day I'd get up in dark cold of early morning, open the fire box, vacuum out any ashes from our trial-fire the night before, load up the back with new pellets if needed, push the button, only to have it run through the motions AGAIN and show some stupid error code on the computer panel.

They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Well, I don't know about that. I like to think it's actually all about faith, hope, perserverence, and patience.

Faith in that we bought this thing based on its reviews, the price point, and our prior experience and knowledge. We decided it was worth the risk of purchase.

Hope in that, even though it hasn't really worked this week for us, we had experienced it firing up once and so knew it had the potential to work again.

Perserverence in that we decided, based on the faith and hope we had, that it was worth the effort to keep trying to figure out what the problem could be.

And Patience in that as we perservered, exhausting every avenue available to us, continuing to work on it each evening, taking the back off, adjusting this, re-adjusting that, putting it all back together, pushing the button --only to have it show the error code night after crazy night, but yet starting the same process the next day as well.

Last night, The Bud and I worked on it on BIG TIME --we spent the better part of almost three hours after he got home from work and before eating dinner trying to adjust and re-adjust some TINY little ignitor button jussssst close enough but not toooo close to a particular area so that it would heat up properly and light the pellets. **side note --i am now an expert in this stuff; see me if you have any issues with your own

Wonder of wonders, miracles of miracles. It actually worked on the first try last night.

Even more amazing --it actually lit the first time I tried it on this dark cold morning today.

God has a way of showing me His stuff in the everyday things of life.

Have you wanted something in the past and it didn't seem like it was ever going to happen for you? Or are you going through something right now? Does it seem like you keep trying to do something and it's just not changing? It's just not starting? It's not working?

Do not lose hope, dear heart. God has not forgetten you. He sees you. He see the potential in you. He sees the possibilities of "what could be" in you and for you.

His faith is a free gift to you today. His hope is unending. His perseverence is unfailing. And His patience will never, EVER run out. He will always, ALWAYS work toward your good, toward your success, toward your.......igniting.

I used to tell all my girls while they were growing up, "Patience is learning to wait with a happy heart." So, accept the challenges in life gladly. And yes, DO that same thing over and over again and EXPECT that different result.

Happy Friday, y'all. Go out and conquer your world.

A Lovely Report: A Social Experiment....in a Society of One

2016-11-20T16:27:00.001-08:00

A Lovely Report: A Social Experiment....in a Society of One: Back in mid-August, I discovered through a conversation that you could "un-follow" people on Facebook --not un-friend, but just u...

A Social Experiment....in a Society of One

2016-11-20T16:17:00.000-08:00

Back in mid-August, I discovered through a conversation that you could "un-follow" people on Facebook --not un-friend, but just un-follow. I had been feeling very "crowded" in life of late and thought, "gee, this might just be what the doctor ordered." You might think it was from the heated political season, but that stuff doesn't really bother me --I actually enjoy the discussion. I think it was just a culmination of being inundated with technology every where you turn; your phone goes everywhere with you, they now have tv's in every restaurant you go to, and Facebook was just one more place for me to know everything about everyone.

It was time for a change. A new season.

So, over a series of days I went through and un-followed almost everyone except for the two remaining Lovelies who were still on Fb (L#2 deleted her account a while back, a decision I applaud her for). I also deleted the Fb app from my phone so I would have a second layer of insulation; kind of a way of challenging myself.

I have to say, the first few days were weird; my now-limited knowledge of what was going on in everyone else's life was quite different and made my "inner-world" much quieter, something I hadn't had for a looooong time --I mean I have been on Facebook since 2007 --eons of time in the Social Media World. I wasn't sure how to react.

But as time went on, I noticed something interesting. I actually paid attention to the outside world more, because I had to --I didn't know everything in advance. And the bonus of not knowing everything ahead of time from Fb gave me REAL conversation time with people when seeing them in-person! I didn't already know that so-and-so had gone to such-and-such which usually means just getting the highlights of a previously known situation.

Assessment: Pretty Cool.

So this has been my experiment for most of the Fall. It's been refreshing and I really have gotten used to the quiet. I have still gotten on Fb somewhat, but I only see what Lovely #1 and #3 post, along with a couple of Bible-related or hobby-related sites. I rarely commented unless I was tagged in something, because I didn't think it was fair of me --what right did I have to post a lot of opinions (and y'all know I normally did!) if I didn't afford that same space to others in my viewing?

But........the holidays are here (can you hear my whininess here? haha) I miss reading about the latest Thanksgiving trends, seeing holiday decorations, and knowing about any interesting places to visit during the Christmas season. So, today I have UN-unfollowed people once again :)

I will continue to keep the app off my phone --I have enjoyed the freedom and the challenge of looking outward instead of the easy inward pull. But, I will now also look forward to spending time reading about everyone's holiday preps and plans.

Will I stop again come January? I'm not sure. This experiment was a success and I feel like Galadriel in Lord of the Rings when she passes the test given to her: "I will diminish and go into the West and remain Galadriel" I feel like I have met the challenge and Fb no longer has the hold on me it once had.

I now throw down the gauntlet and would love to hear anyone else's journey.

And let the holidays begin! --Oh my gosh, wait what??--it's only HOW many days until Thanksgiving?? Where have I been, under a rock?

"...Like the Corners of My Mind...."

2016-07-12T20:11:00.000-07:00

The phone rang. In my sleep, I heard it and blindly searched for it on the nightstand next to our bed. He always called to let me know he was on his way home anyway, so no need to fully wake up. Just lift up the phone, hear his voice, "Hey, Bubba, I'm on my way home, just letting you know. Love you and see you soon." I would usually mumble a sleepy "Alrighty, love you too....bye-bye" and hang up. So, I picked it up and heard instead a different voice on the other end, "Hi, Bridgette, this is Chief ****, Don's fine, but I'm just calling you to let you know there was an incident tonight. I'm gonna put him on the phone now, but I just wanted to let you know he was alright."

--oh, okay.......

I sat up in bed and listened to my husband's voice as he, too, started off by saying he was alright.

My half-asleep mind only kept wondering "Why is everyone telling me he's alright?"

It was then that I heard him say something about a shooting. A shooting. Someone had shot him, but he was alright.

Again with the "alright".....why does he keep saying that?

He then said he would tell me everything when he got home in a couple of hours. Not only did we live an hour away from the city, but he was also still being checked over and wrapping things up.

I sat up awake in bed until he came home. I don't remember how long we just sat and held each other --have I blocked it out for my own protection?

I do remember him telling me the entire story of what transpired. How my husband, this police officer, ran into a dark alley after a suspect. How the suspect pulled out a gun and shot at point blank range, directly at my husband. One bullet slammed into the 2-inch diameter pepper spray can hanging off my husband's duty belt, right against my husband's upper thigh/hip area. It pierced the can, exploding the contents into the material of my husband's uniform, sending shrapnel and pepper spray into my husband's skin. Two other bullets miraculously did not fire out of the gun, even though the gun was pointed directly at my husband.

My.
Husband.

The same husband who was a 16 year old boy giving this young 17 year old girl a huge chocolate heart for our first Valentine's Day together.

The same husband who was an 18 year old young man who cried in my arms the night his dad died.

The same husband who was my 19 year old groom at our wedding.

The same husband who was a 23 year old first time papa of our beautiful Lovely #1

The same husband who graduated from the police academy as I was pregnant with our beautiful Lovely #2

The same husband who arrived just in the nick of time, in uniform, in the middle of a shift, as I was giving birth to our Lovely #3

The same husband who worked all hours of the day and night, three rotating shifts, missing out on holidays with family, special events our girls were in, weekly church services sitting next to me.

The same husband who made me laugh when I didn't think I could, who held me when I cried, who supported my desire to homeschool our Three Lovelies, who sang silly songs at the drop of a hat, who built stuff out of his head without paper plans, who amazed me at every turn.

My.
Husband.

Their.
Dad.

I had to think of how we were going to tell our girls when they woke up. "Well, there's no manual for this." There's no one I can reach out to to ask, "What's the best way to tell your children that their dad had been shot by someone?"

Pray for wisdom.
Pray for strength.
Pray for a covering of their minds.

God's grace is an amazing thing. It's there right when you need it. It gives you strength to make it through unusual times. It helps block out thoughts that would otherwise bring things crashing down inside of you at the worst possible time. It helps carry you so you can carry others when needed.

Time passed.

About 6 months later, I had just dropped our oldest daughter off at her first Drivers Ed class. I was driving home, when a siren came screaming down the street, passing me by. It was at that moment that it all came crashing home --I had to pull off the road because the blinding tears just would not stop. I cried and cried and cried. I guess I finally allowed myself to think about how close we had come to losing the love of my life, the father of our children, the man of my dreams.

Time passed.

It's now been a little over 12 years. The events of this past week, in particular the memorial service today in Dallas, caused my thoughts to drift back to when our world stopped turning on its axis for a brief moment in time. My heart aches for those wives who will never hear the laughter of their husband's voice again, or be held by his arms again, or see him hug his children again. It breaks as I think of how they had to have a very different conversation with their children than the one I had with mine. I pray for them as they now have to face each new day alone. I pray for their children, as they will grow up without a father.

I tell this story as a gentle reminder. Police Officers are real people. Individuals. They are flesh and blood human beings. They are someone's husband, wife, father, mother, son, or daughter. They have children. They would love to go to church with their wives but can't. They would love to spend Christmas Day with their children, but can't. They would love to go to their kids' choir program, but can't.

They run into dark alleys when everything inside you or me would scream not to.

To protect.
And to serve.

Listen and Remember

2016-05-31T03:07:00.002-07:00

Memorial Day.....a day to reMEMber....a day to meMORialize....a day to pay tribute to all the fallen American soldiers in wars past and present. But how best to do that? I found out today --by simply spending time REALLY listening.

The Bud and I were working on some heavy-duty renovation projects this weekend. In the middle of one of our wall-building events (no lie), our next-door neighbor came over to check on our progress and shoot the breeze. Little did we realize the wealth of knowledge that would pour from this man over the next two days in the form of tips and tricks of construction to make our project much easier, less time consuming, and waaaay better on the stress meter

But... in the midst of all this great info came other conversations as well. We began to understand this man a bit better as he relayed stories from his service during the Vietnam War. As we listened, we really began to HEAR how he lives his life today BECAUSE of his service during the Vietnam War some almost-fifty years ago. He gave reasons for his jumping at various sounds some of our equipment made while working on our project. His sleeping patterns have never been that great because of never WANTING to go to sleep in Vietnam, for fear of being ambushed. Rainy days are better than sunny days, in his opinion --rainy days are less stressful; no one wants to go outside, so there's less chance of anyone wreaking havoc. How a lot of people just will never understand what veterans have gone through; in his words, "no one understands that you have 40 years of nightmares to deal with."

The Bud is wonderful at listening to these men from the generation before ours as they tell their stories. I am learning. I am trying to take a page from his playbook and do this as well. I tend to want to hear the story more quickly and move on to the next thing. He, on the other hand, knows the value of taking to time to listen. He has gleaned much wisdom and knowledge from these conversations. I decided this weekend I was going to slow down and listen as well. So I did.

My God is amazing at timing and He shows love to all, with no partiality. Not only did He help me hone my listening skills, not only did he give The Bud someone to help him with quick tips, but He also allowed us to honor someone for their service to us all on the very weekend that is dedicated to that.....and all just by sitting, listening, asking questions, and hearing answers. .

I've seen lots of reminders for Memorial Day these last few days on Facebook and most of them were reprimands to us all about BBQ's, picnics, and days off. I understand the sentiment behind it, but I also think that taking time to listen to a veteran usually can only happen at BBQ's, picnics, and days off. We didn't have a BBQ or a picnic --in truth we were building walls and using sledgehammers (no lie)-- but I did have a day off and we spent it listening to a Vietnam War Veteran and for that I am one grateful American Citizen.

Thank You to all who gave some, and some who gave all.

Refined

2016-05-19T09:52:00.000-07:00

Next month The Bud and I will be married 32 years. This morning...well, just look at the picture. I cried my eyes out for a good long time, while my amazing husband tried to console me. These rings have been on my finger our entire married life, except for when I would occasionally take them off --as in this instance. Last night, I had been buttering potatoes for baking and figured they'd be safe in the cup of our juicer.....yes, in hindsight that does sound terrible, and writing it even now I'm thinking, "man that just looks and sounds dumb!" but i had done it once before and thought they would be safe there instead of on the kitchen counter. No chance of them being whisked into the sink and down the drain......yeah frown emoticon

This morning I got up and, as part of my morning routine, stuffed the juicer cup full of spinach, then carrots, then apple.....and started 'er up.....it did sound funny, but I just thought it was apple seeds rolling around in there.....but as it was louder than usual, i stopped it after a few more turns, not wanting to wake up The Bud. Then it hit me like a lightning bolt and I looked down at my hand and saw the indentation where rings should be and were not.frown emoticon

Still not wanting to wake him, i just stood there at the sink, weeping as quietly as possible wink emoticon But, being the perceptive man he is, he got up and came out to see what the commotion was, hoping that I had not swallowed a juicer blade or something! I had to hurriedly tell him that I was not hurt but had something sad to tell him.....and proceeded to relay my tale of woe. He, of course, was just glad I had not inadvertently hurt myself and was full of grace and compassion for my goofy mistake. We found the pieces by straining the juice through a sieve and salvaged everything we could find. He even offered to see if we couldn't take all of it to a jeweler, along with his wedding band, and see if they couldn't combine it all and make two new rings! You see, he hadn't worn his since becoming a police officer anyway (he never wanted his "clients" to know he was married), so it would be like both of us would be getting brand new rings wink emoticon What a sweet, inventive, and grace-filled thought. I love him so.

But I did tell him I'm not sure at this point what I may want to do with these remnants. Part of me wants to keep them as they have now become --being the pondering person I am, I figure they are a great metaphor for a real life, long term, life long marriage. It's hard. It takes work, commitment, compromise, and sacrifice. You learn how to not be so naturally selfish after a while if you want the greater good of a healthy marriage full of life and vitality. Life throws every imaginable ugliness at you and your spouse, either from outside or inside, during a life long marriage. But, if you determine that each of you is going to commit to what God intended, no matter what --no matter how life seems to grind you up, then each of you can weather it all --and weather it together.

If you look at the picture closely you will notice the engagement band fully intact and in one piece, as is the wedding band; yes, they're both battered and misshapen, but intact nonetheless. Two separate rings demonstrating one commitment. Both still unbroken, both still never ending. The broken pieces are an anniversary band, given to me by The Bud on our 12th or 13th anniversary....I could consider those pieces representative of times in our marriage where it looked dark and scary and felt ripped apart, but then it is surrounded by those two unbroken rings. And grace even comes in when, several hours later I go and examine the rings more closely, notice the diamond missing out of the engagement band, then go to the kitchen sink and find it in the drain plug, sitting quietly among the ruins of juice sludge and old lemons, teetering ever so slightly between the crevices where it would slip easily down the drain the next time water was turned on, but for the fact that I "happened" to go out there and look in the sink one more time.....yeah, that's my God.

One of my favorite portions of movie dialogue comes from one of my all-time favorite movies, "Yours, Mine, and Ours" --the OLD version with Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball --I think of it often when I read younger women's posts on fb about life and always want to give this as an encouragement to keep going, even when life gets hard with husband, kids, dogs, groceries, homework, etc --so here it is:
"I've got a message for Larry. You tell him this is what it's all about. This is the real happening. If you want to know what love really is, take a look around you. It's giving life that counts. Until you're ready for it, all the rest is just a big fraud. All the crazy haircuts in the world won't keep it turning. Life isn't a love in, it's the dishes and the orthodontist and the shoe repairman and... ground round instead of roast beef. And I'll tell you something else: it isn't going to a bed with a man that proves you're in love with him; it's getting up in the morning and facing the drab, miserable, wonderful everyday world with him that counts."

God is good, my friends, and He loves us so.

2015-12-12T06:14:00.000-08:00

"Patience, Young Grasshoppah"

I made tea in my kitchen today. I rinsed out my tea cup in the sink and made tea in my kitchen today. No, no, no. You don't understand --i made tea in my KITCHEN today. You see, we haven't had a kitchen for over two months and for the first time in a loooong time, i've been able to run water in a kitchen sink, fill a tea pot with water from that sink, and make tea ---all while standing in the same room! It's been a long haul; even the simple task of making tea has meant multiple steps (literally, and figuratively!) and some days it just got old. Sometimes it was a struggle to actually make myself get vitamins, find a cup, fill it with water, and take the vitamins myself, let alone get those same things ready for The Bud, make tea for both his thermos and my cup, and then make our Spinach/Carrot/Apple juice in our NutriBlast. All those simple tasks could wind up taking close to an hour, all because of the various places to find, process, and clean up.

It was a daunting task and some days I needed more patience than others just to make it through that morning routine.

So, as I stood in my kitchen this morning and surveyed the work of The Bud and all that he was able to accomplish (and being very thankful, I might add!), I reviewed all the times I struggled over the past two months with pushing myself to not fall apart, to push myself to go through the motions and make that juice and take those vitamins, to push myself not to run away --wait, did i say that out loud? And with a sigh of relief, I realized that all that endurance took patience, and that I must have had it all along.

And that was only for two months.

I say "only two months" because then the thought flew into my head --think about the boy, Jesus. As we think about Baby Jesus this time of year, also think about the fact that this baby grew up. As He grew into a young boy, there is that one account of where he got separated from his mom and dad while traveling. They found Him teaching in the temple --"I must be about my Father's business"-- and He was still years away from "officially" starting His ministry (post-baptism by John). And I got to thinking how MUCH patience Jesus must have had! I mean, once He had the cognizant ability to grasp the faith needed to step into WHO He actually was for all mankind, wouldn't He have just wanted to RUN into all that The Father had for Him and get it all done quickly? How much patience He must have had to take the time that He did --YEARS!--to grow in wisdom, favor and stature with God and men, when all all during that time, "inside Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily" (Col 2:9). Amazing!

Then, as I was thinking on that, the next thought was so encouraging. I am in Christ. And because I am in Christ, "His divine power has given unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness" (2 Peter 1:3). I already have His Holy Spirit, and I have the fruit of that Spirit, which includes patience. I don't need to "pray for patience" as some say --i ALREADY have it! I have the fullness of the Godhead dwelling on the inside of me, the Spirit of the Living God, and I can do all things through Christ who lives in me.

So, I can do this. I have patience to wait two months to make a cup of tea in a kitchen. I have patience for any and all things life throws at me.

I already have it.

Jesus had it. He didn't run ahead of The Father's plan. He listened, waited, and moved according to that plan. "In the fullness of time"........

When The Lovelies were little, I gave them an understandable definition of the word "patience" --"Patience is learning to wait with a happy heart" --this definition just popped into my head one day, and I dare say it has stayed with me all these years and has meant maybe even more to me than to any of them. I have the same patience Jesus had. I have learned to "let patience have her perfect work so I can be complete and lack nothing" (James 1:4) --a lifelong pursuit to be sure.

What about you? And would you like a cup of tea while you ponder? Come over, I'll make you some in my kitchen.

2015-10-17T05:21:00.000-07:00

Words on The Word

Reading the book of James this morning and something struck me....one of the differences in the writers of the New Testament as compared to the writers in the Old Testament is the amount of times the word "Word" is used in place of the phrase"The Law". Yeah, I know, you've probably already noticed that, but I'm a ponderer and sometimes it takes me a while to stumble upon things because I spend inordinate amounts of time pouring over particular words and phrases and thinking about them.

The Word of Truth
Hearers of The Word
Doers of The Word
The Word
The Word
The Word

.....but, what IS this thing, "The Word"? I mean, it's easy to see what The Law is because it was written down thousands of years ago, both on stone tablets and then on paper. Men could read it (or have it read to them) and turn, go, and do (or NOT do!).

Easy-peasy, lemon-squeezy.

But, The Word is a little more difficult to nail down because at the time the New Testament was being lived out, gospel accounts being jotted down, and the letters in it being written --and thereby the admonition to be a doer of The Word was being declared-- what else was there EXCEPT FOR The Law? These apostles, these followers of The Way, this Jesus....they were all talking about The Word, the "faultless law, the law of liberty" as it is called in James 1:25. People were supposed to live by The Word now, walk in The Word, look in The Word as one looks in a mirror (James 1:23). But many of them had been living by The Law their entire lives, and those outside The Law were at the very least citizens who followed laws of their countries.

....but, The Word??? It's a singular term, for crying out loud. It's not even "The WordZZZ" plural.

So, sitting here this morning, drinking my tea, I started thinking. Okay God, if I lived in the very beginning of the New Testament age, how would I know what "The Word" could possibly mean?

And the answer came.

..."In the beginning was The Word, and The Word was with God, and The Word was God." --John 1:1
...."And The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us." --John 1:14

Boom.

It's Jesus. The life of Jesus. The words of Jesus. The actions of Jesus.

Love.
Mercy.
Grace.
Truth.
Selflessness.

Wanna know how to live? TRULY live? Live the eternal life that God has provided a way for, beginning right now?

Live it through Jesus. Live it by Jesus. Live it because of Jesus.

Read about Jesus in the New Testament. But, you can also read about Jesus in the Old Testament as well, because the O.T. was a type a a shadow of the things to come during the life of Jesus (Colossians 2:17)

And Jesus is the expressed image --the perfect and full representation-- of the Father (Hebrews 1:3 and Colossians 1:15). So, you wanna see a true representation of who God is? Read the life of Jesus.

The Law was good because it showed us how we could never measure up and jump through all the hoops needed, BUT Jesus gave us a better covenant (Hebrews 7:22 and Hebrews 8:6) because He does measure up! And we can trust Him ---The Word--- and his sacrifice for us, instead of trying to trust ourselves and our abilities (and most of the time, our inabilities) in The Law.

Makes life so much easier that way, thanks be to God.

Really.....thanks be to God.

2015-09-11T10:49:00.000-07:00

Pedestrian Signs

"Thus says the LORD, 'Stand by the roads and look, and ask for the eternal paths, where the good, old way is; then walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.' But they said, 'We will not walk.'"
(Jeremiah 6:16)

This verse is both beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time. When I first read it, I was so struck by the poetic nature of it, that it stayed with me. But over time, it has come back to me at different times for different reasons.

Today it comes back to me as I listen to Mel Torme'.

Uh-huh, you heard me right......Mel Torme'.....aka The Velvet Fog.

I have the Pandora app on my phone and my go-to station is Mel Torme because it has a LOT of old standards on there, which i love: Mel, Frank, Bing, Billie, Ella, and all the rest. There's something in those songs and those voices that just makes me say, "Ahhh.....that feels better" when my day is frantic, hectic, filled with uncertainty, or even when it's lazy, stale, and filled with boredom. There's a connecting thread to the past that this genre brings like no other.

And it's that connecting thread of the past that gives us rest for our souls.

Your soul is comprised of your mind, your will, and your emotions. Music speaks to our emotions like nothing else, and music from the past gives us a sense of stability and peace for several reasons:

It reminds us of happy moments of our lives, which makes us feel that things will be okay once again
It speaks to that longing for "community" in our lives; everyone has heard this same stuff at one time or another, so it connects us to people in our past and our present, both in our personal lives and in the life of our nation and the world.
It puts us on that "eternal path" in that it reminds us that we are just part of a generational journey.

It is in this journey that we need to continue walking and remind our children to do the same. We must try to keep connecting with them and reminding them of the great things of past generations, be it our own memories, or the things that were even before us. It can be music, it can be news stories, it can be God's eternal truths; what are the eternal paths you are walking on and inviting others to explore?

I do not want to be the one who fails to pass the torch and then have my children or grandchildren say, "Nah, we don't wanna walk there"

I am committed to stand by the road, ask for eternal paths, walk in them, find rest, and show the next generation how to do the same. I am committed to telling stories of glory days, telling stories of sad times, hard times, great times, and adventurous times. I am committed to sharing music of my generation and the ones before me. I am committed to sharing memories of historic events. And most of all, I am committed to showing how God's love to mankind can change one woman's path forever and how it can do the same for them.

Today, on September 11th, make sure your children and grandchildren hear your memory of what happened 14 years ago. But also be sure to share beautiful music with them. Share the love of God that has been shared with you.

Make that connecting journey.

Stand by that road.

Walk in the good, old way.

Find rest for your soul as they find rest in theirs as well.

Life Goes On....

2015-06-13T11:13:00.000-07:00

Last night, I had the evening to myself, as The Bud is off on an adventure. I got my "have to do's" out of the way and then sat down to watch a movie by myself that I don't think he would have had patience to sit still for: the more-than-three hour marathon that is "Ben-Hur."

(i highly recommend doing this by the way, if you ever get the chance-- sure, you guys are married, but there definitely are movies that I would like to see that I would never subject him to sitting through and vice versa. When I get some time to myself, i like to watch those types of movies.)

Anyhoo, I've never seen the movie in its entirety; I remember seeing parts of it when i was young --the part where the mom and sister are revealed as lepers in the dark courtyard of the family home always sticks in my mind -yikes! And I've even tried to read the book --it's very long and I was busy raising three little Lovelies.......not a good combination, and I've not gotten back to it yet.

In any case, I wanted to see what made it a "classic" from the Golden Age of Hollywood of the 50's and 60's --the time when there were huge studios, making sweeping epics of classic stories, using insane amounts of money, manpower, and time to recreate some of the greatest architectural structures in human history. Seriously. Look up how the whole chariot-race scene was constructed and be amazed. You will never see money spent like that again....not with today's CGI technology available to multiply three people into thousands or create background using a green-screen and computer. Sad, really.....but I digress.

Anyway, as I sat there watching the movie, for all it's glorious cheesiness --I mean, I was almost uncomfortable as I watched Charlton Heston reconnect with his boyhood friend, Masala....as they looked deeply into each others eyes and had tears forming, I thought, "please, dear god, do not kiss him"....that just goes to show you how trained our emotions have become from years of TV and movies in the current day. Sad, really.....oops, but I digress again!

BAaaackk to the glorious cheeze-whiz --lots of silly dialogue, classic use of beautiful foreign girls as the main romantic lead ("can't speak English very well for an English-speaking movie --but she looks good in a toga, so let's do it!"), but awesome sweeping action scenes, and good triumphing over evil. All great identifiers of this genre.

HOWEVER, there was one thing added in this film that was so quietly understated, it screamed out at me --I'm sure this was William Wyler's intention all along as director --it was the fact that all the while Judah Ben-Hur was going through his trials of losing his social status, being drafted as a galley slave, then being shipwrecked and eventually being adopted into highly influential Roman family, all the while this was going on, another Man was living His life too, in the same region. This Man was not out for revenge or his own gain, as was Ben-Hur, but was teaching another way to see the world and your place in it. This Man was teaching forgiveness, to love your enemies, and to enter into the rest God offers mankind because of one man's sacrifice.

Jesus was not the main character in the film.....but then again He was. That's the point --it cannot be helped; whenever God is involved in a life, His grace and mercy permeate the scene whether you realize it at the moment or not.

Eventually in the movie, Judah and many of the people around him receive this new way of thinking and the movie ends very gently and very open-ended. It allows for the viewer to leave the theater (or in my case, turning off the TV) to ponder their own life and where God fits into it.

For me personally, I also suddenly realized that as I go about my daily life with Christ and having His grace and mercy flowing all around me constantly, that there are many people around me who simultaneously do not have that same inward peace. They are living here around me, but aren't as involved with the teachings of Jesus and His love, grace, and mercy as I am. They are constantly bombarded with thoughts of defeat, fear, hopelessness. Situations arise in their lives daily where they struggle to figure out what to do and how to solve the latest dilemma.

They may not be wrongfully accused of trying to kill a Roman governor, they may not be thrown into a dungeon for years and develop leprosy, they may not have to be chained to the galley of a ship to row and row until they die from exhaustion......but, their 21st century problems can feel all the same.

Am I aware of that as I go into Walmart? Am I aware that when I walk into the bank, the teller is worrying about how she will pay her mortgage next month? Am I aware that the mom who just passed me in the aisle of Kwik Trip (--for all my east coast friends, that's like a Wawa here in the Midwest!) is worrying about why her daughter doesn't seem to talk to her anymore and why she seems scared or nervous when she comes home from school all the time? What about the family whose son just got another bad medical report and they don't know what to do now?

These are the Judah Ben-Hur's, the Tirzah's, the Miriam's of our time. And I am the woman who follows Jesus as He goes around the region teaching and extending love and grace. When do the two groups collide?

At
The
Cross

Literally. In the movie, you see Judah's wife bringing him and his family to Jesus, not knowing that Jesus is, at that moment, being tried and then executed. Pivotal moment in the movie.

I need to remember that many people around me know nothing of the peace that the cross has brought to the world. Peace that passes all comprehension, peace that can become part of their reality as they go through what they are going through.

May we try to remember that as we go about our lives, there is life going on around us, but that we can bring REAL life into the situation.

......yeah....all that from a cheesy old movie.

Omni...presents?

2015-06-11T19:16:00.000-07:00

Have you ever pondered about the omnipresence of God? I mean, thinking, like, what does it actually mean? God is the God of the past, present and future --yeah, I get that. But, I think it's actually a little bit cooler than that.

For the past two years, I've had to learn how to communicate through time zones. Now, maybe some of you have had to do this for a while, but I never have. My whole life had always been East Coast of the Good Ol' US of A. Well, except for that summer when I was around 11 and had a pen-pal in Washington State; we wrote a few times, wondered about each others lives, pledged our undying friendship...and then started back to school in the fall and forgot all about each other ;)

But, over the last two years, two Lovelies moved to the Midwest, crossing into another time zone. Mom and Dad followed later, and one Lovely stayed back on the East Coast.

2 times zones + 4 females + 1 dad = LOTS of communication via phone, text, Skype, Fb, etc

The nice thing is that the time difference was only one hour --nothing TOO much to be concerned about except when coordinating a Skype call:

texting to coordinate:
-"6pm MY time tomorrow night, which is 7pm YOUR time?"
-"Sure!"

-Ka-beeba-boop.....Ka-beeba-boop....(that's the Skype ring, in case you didn't know)
-no answer --texting to follow:

-"oops, sorry, i got mixed up and am not home right now....can we try tomorrow?"
-"same time?"
-"which time?"

yeah, that. And that would have been any of the five of us...at any given time.....each and every time.

And now, we've added one more time zone to our little party. Lovely #1 is currently serving as a missionary in Scotland, which is a SIX hour time difference from us here in Minnesota (six hours ahead of us), which also makes it a five hour time difference with the East Coast.

I was making myself some tea today and got to thinking about all the texting that has been going on between my Three Lovelies, The Bud, and myself over the last few days, evenings, and nights, since we've begun this new way of life with three time zones...then, my thoughts turned to God and where He was fitting in, in all these times, and it hit me --the same God who was with me at that very moment of 12 noon at the stove while I was making tea, is the same God who was with Lovelies 2 & 3 at their jobs at that exact same moment, even though it was 1pm there, and He is the self-same God who was with Lovely #1 at her 6pm dinner table at the exact same moment in time. Same moment in time, same God, same present tense everywhere. Even though 1pm and 6pm were still to come at my house, and therefore was my future, it was also the present.

And God was there.
In each place.
Exactly at the same time
Everywhere.

Omni
Present

He truly is the great I Am.

2014-05-16T10:28:00.000-07:00

Trying to start this writing thing back up again........lots of stuff has happened in the last three years --too much to document in this initial blog. But suffice it to say, if anyone's still out there listening, I'm willing to put it forth.

Lots to think
Lots to say
Lots to communicate

Didn't think anyone could grow up once they were grown up, but it happens :)

............thanks be to God.

To begin back at the beginning.......after my initial post-homeschooling days, life began to get VERY busy. I started a full-time job OUTSIDE the home --as opposed to the twenty-plus year job in had INSIDE -- and then after that, my time was no longer my own.

8-9 hours belonged to my unconscious dream state
4 hours each day belonged to a car driving me to and from work
8 hours belonged to my employer
3-4 hours remaining belonged to my family or my tv; whichever i could drum up the gumption for ;)

I had never really experienced any time in my life quite like that. Prior to having children, I did work outside the home but I had nothing else other than my husband and myself to be responsible for or accountable to. Kind of easy. Then motherhood and homeschooling brought challenges for sure, but my time was still mostly my own --or at least I could be in charge of when things got done. This new season brought challenges to my psyche and emotions i hadn't had to deal with before.

But through those first two years of that season, God stretched and matured me in ways I didn't know possible. He gave me favor and wisdom in my job through me relying daily --no, scratch that; moment-by moment!-- on the Holy Spirit to give me new and fresh ideas and a good memory for remembering long-shelved office practices i had laid down prior to motherhood. A great time was had, we were beginning to prosper, The Bud and I were enjoying our newly found "almost-empty-nest" -ness and life was good.

We thought we would just settle into this new way of living and enjoy the ride.

BUT, God has bigger and higher plans that we do...........

Tune in next time for the continuation of this story :)

Falling Leaves

2011-11-13T05:02:00.000-08:00

I know, I know, it has been FOR-E-VER since my last blog; much has happened over the last few months in my little life. Many new things. Homeschooling life has passed, and a new life has begun. I am now a "working woman".....hmmm......wasn't I that before? Well, just for clarification, I now leave my home for work, as opposed to staying in my home to work. Everyday, The Bud and I leave around 6:30am and get home around 6:30pm.

It's quite a different schedule than the one of my last 20 years......

But, I'm lovin' every minute of it. It was time --that's all. It was time to let go of one season of my life stretch out into another and see what comes of it. There are challenges to be sure; who does dinner, when do you do laundry, what things are important and what are not, which routines/responsibilities do you keep and which do you lay down, how do you keep up with friends and family?

Meanwhile, leaves are falling and the season moves forward.....

"Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God" --Ps. 92:13

While the season moves on and my landscape changes, one thing remains constant: my desire to have God's will done in my life as it is in heaven. Psalm 92 reminds me to stay rooted in God and His Word and His will for my life. I'm looking to flourish wherever I am.

How about you?

Goin' to the Wood-Shed

2011-09-03T06:52:00.000-07:00

We have a wood stove. It’s so wonderful to come home in the winter to an amazingly warm home. The warmth just wraps around you like no other type of heat-source can. LOVE-it!

BUT, to have wood stove, this means you must have a wood SHED. And if you have a wood-shed, that means there’s wood to be stacked at some point before the cold weather sets in.

You need people to stack the wood.

That’s where I come in.

The task at hand

Usually each year at some point during the summer, the Three Lovelies and I have gone out each morning and spent about an hour picking up, carrying over and stacking wood into the woodshed. It’s tedious, hard work. It IS worth it in the end, but while you’re doing it, it’s intense. We have a HUGE wood-pile which The Bud adds to each year from his runs to various local mills with the pick-up. Then our job is to take wood from the messiness of the pile and make some order and some sense out of it in the wood-shed in nice, neat stacks --this dries out the wood more evenly, protects it from the coming winter, and generally makes it easier to grab when needed.

My life has changed A LOT this year in the way of who is home on a regular basis. After over 20 years of being a stay-at-home mom, I graduated my last Lovely this past June, and all have moved on to either jobs and/or higher education. This means that most days only 1 of the Lovelies are home at any given time.
This changes our wood-stacking routine, to say the least. What used to be a 4-person job has now been “stream-lined” into a 2-person machine most days. Lovely #3 and I have been diligently working this week on getting the empty half of the shed filled up for winter. However, today being Saturday, she’s sleeping in, so I decided to go out by myself and get some more done.

Of course when I’m by myself, this gives me more time to talk to God. At these times, He usually gives me some little truth from His Word which relates to my task at hand.

What the heck can one learn spiritually from stacking wood?

Is 28:10 “For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept, rule upon rule, rule upon rule; here a little, there a little.” (Amp. Bible)

Now this portion of Scripture is a bit sad, because it is really directed toward a lazy people and how they must learn, instead of entering into the rest that God wants for them (see verses 11 and 12). BUT, since all Scripture is profitable for instruction (II Tim 3:16), we can still glean something wonderful from this verse.
Just as my wood-pile is messy, and work is needed to bring some semblance of order to it in the form of the stacks in the wood-shed, so too is parenting. It’s line upon line, precept upon precept, over and over again until they grow up (and beyond?)

It can be messy and confusing at times; remember having your first baby and wondering how to stop her crying?

The messiness of parenting

It seems tedious as your in the midst of it; reminders, warnings, and follow-throughs of consequences for little things like toys on the floor or arguing with siblings pay off in bigger dividends when they get to be teen-agers and adults and have to obey traffic laws or confront a co-worker.

It takes work to bring semblance of order; you need to be consistent and stop in your tracks when you see something that needs tweaking and deal with it right then. If you get into a habit of putting it off until “you have time” to deal with it, that day will never come.

I know I am not finished in my parenting --I have read that in the Jewish tradition, parents do not fully release their children until they are 30. This makes a lot of sense; the 20’s can be the time when many adult mistakes are made and it would have been nice for The Bud and I to have had some parental guidance/mentoring. I see opportunities all the time for he and I to come alongside and cheer our Lovelies on and give them advice to help them make decisions. Yes, cheerleading from the sidelines now, but there’s still work involved in waving those pom-poms and doing those cart-wheels.

Some semblance of order in progress

…..and filling that wood-shed to the brim J

Rainy Day Reflection

2011-08-25T09:22:00.000-07:00

As I sit and write this on a rainy afternoon, I am reminded of my mother-in-law’s birthday. She turned 83 today. She’s lived through the Great Depression, WWII, the turmoil of the 60’s, Watergate, the advent of the Computer Age, Y2K, and the Internet. I found out recently that she’s had the same bank account for 60 years --not just the same bank, but the same bank account! That’s amazing to me.

But, what’s more amazing to me are the lives she’s seen grow up around her. She raised 6 kids and they all got married --so that’s 12 adults right there that she’s had influence over. Then each of those couples had kids of their own --13 altogether to be exact. She’s been able to see each of these grandkids grow into wonderful adults as well (the oldest is in her 40’s and the youngest is now 18!).

But wait --there’s more! After seeing her grandchildren grow up, she’s also witnessed some of them getting married and having had kids of their own --16 great-grandchildren to be exact.

And just this last year she became a great-great-grandmother as well!

All 52 lives, influenced by her, at one time or another --what a legacy!

Us with the Grandmama

As parents, sometimes we may think that our day-to-day efforts seem tedious, tiresome and never-ending. Those little times of tweaking that take place each day; times when we see a behavior pattern that needs to be re-adjusted, or choosing to sit and read a CS Lewis book out-loud to all your kids when your laundry and dishes are screaming for attention.

Rainy days are good for such reflection…….

We need to remember that we are laying a good foundation that will grow years and years from now. We have a huge influence over several generations to come; let’s take advantage of it, “redeeming the time” as the Word says.

Oh….and Happy Birthday, Mom….Mom-Mom….Grammy….Di-Di J

Daily Word for Your Everyday Nerd

2011-08-12T06:20:00.000-07:00

Well, it's Friday morning! Getting ready for a nice weekend? I know we are; today is Lovely #2's birthday, so we're all going out tonight to celebrate. Tomorrow is a baby shower for my wonderful niece, and then of course Sunday is the Lord's day where we continue celebrating His greatness with everyone else.

Just to give you all a little laugh to start off your weekend, click on the link below. It should take you to a vlog featuring both Lovely #2 and #3. Hopefully they will be following up with more of the same --yes, this is how they are all the time.

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fC_qvCHPSQ&feature=youtu.be

Unattractive and Obsolete?

2011-07-29T03:14:00.000-07:00

The other day, The Bud and I were taking a ride in his old truck. It’s a 1990 Ford F15 pick-up --with no A/C. And it was one of those muggy, hot, late-July days here in the Mid-Atlantic region --very soupy, to say the least! But the greatest thing about that truck is something we don’t even think about anymore with newer vehicles --air vents! You know, those little triangles at the front of the door windows. The kind you have to manually open and adjust? They were a godsend that day! We opened those babies up and pointed the air flow right into our faces for the entire ride --how wonderful!

But, somewhere along the way, someone decided that air vents in windows were either unattractive or obsolete --or both. Look around at any new vehicle today --not one with a window vent. I personally think these added character, as well as a tangible benefit to vehicles, but I don’t work for a major automobile think-tank.

Ever feel like this looks?

Ever feel unattractive or obsolete? Right now in my life, I could feel that way; I just finished 18 years of homeschooling all my children, my youngest just turned 18 which means all my Lovelies are now young adults, and I am waiting for the “next season” to start. I say “waiting” because I’m no longer homeschooling, but not yet working that illusive full-time job --I’ve put in lots of applications, had some interest, but nothing solid…..

I could begin second-guessing myself: Am I too old? Do I not have enough skills to make it in the “real” world? Did I not use the right lingo in the interview?

Can I get an amen? I see that hand :)

BUT, then I am reminded of who I am in Christ. I live in the blessing of Abraham, according to God. He is faithful and true to His promise and will not allow me to stumble. His banner over me is love. His will for me is good. THIS is how God sees me.

Ah…..that feels better :)

So, take heart, dear one! His plan for you is sure. You are neither unattractive, nor obsolete to Him. “He has made everything beautiful in its time” (Eccl. 3:11a) He will continue to work out His will in your life no matter what life throws at you or what you feel like --because “even when we are faithless, He remains faithful, because He cannot deny Himself.” (II Tim. 2:13)

Unattractive or obsolete? Pish-posh! Open that air vent, let that wind blow through your hair, and enjoy your day!

Tis the Season.....for Spittin'???

2011-07-27T01:00:00.000-07:00

Ah, summer…..that wonderful, lazy, hazy time of year when there’s an abundance of local produce for us to choose from --including watermelon! Gotta LOVE that! This year, we planted some of those smaller, personal-sized watermelons -I think they’re called “sugar babies”??? --anyway, I just can’t wait ‘til they’re ripe. Nothing better after a summer dinner than a cold slice of watermelon --it’s so refreshing after a hot, humid day.

And, of course, what goes along with eating watermelon? Why, the seed-spittin’ of course! How many of us have childhood memories of seed-spitting contests, pitting cousin against cousin, friend against friend? Who could spit their’s the farthest? Who could hit a paper-plate target? And of course you HAD to spit the seeds out; we were told that a watermelon would grow in our stomachs if we didn’t…wasn’t sure about that one, but didn’t want to find out…..;)

“Life and death are in the power of the tongue…” --Prov. 18:21
“Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks” --Luke 6:45

Our words can be looked at like those watermelon seeds. Sometimes they’re just spit out into the air in general, sometimes they have a direct target. But, in whichever case, our words do take root and grow something.

Are we being cautious of what’s coming out of our mouths? Do you speak with purpose? Jesus said to let our yays be yay and our nays be nay. Be succinct. Don’t just blather on, just to fill up space in the room. Be purposeful in your conversation. Do you find yourself just going on and on in a conversation, and in your mind you’re thinking, “why can’t I just stop talking?” Yes, I can be like that sometimes. But, my wise husband has taught me over the years to rein myself in --I do not have to fill up the room just because no one else is talking. And I don’t have to give complete explanations for why something is being done (or not done). Yes, that does mean that less conversations are taking place, but the ones that do are actually more edifying, encouraging, and helpful. Ephesians 5 talks about that.

And what about how we speak to people? Do you speak to build someone up? To encourage them? To help them through a crisis situation? That takes purpose of mind to do most of the time. Just throwing a platitude or an insult out into the air does not take much thought at all; but we then spend a huge amount of time trying to take back the hurtful word spoken, and restore a relationship. So much unnecessary “farming”…

What are your words growing?

And what will your thoughts be the next time you slice open that red, ripe watermelon? Happy Summer!
　

Out of the Ordinary

2011-07-07T04:11:00.000-07:00

I consider myself a nice person. I try to be happy most of the time, it doesn’t take much to make me happy, and I don’t get all worked up that easily. I pride myself on being the one who doesn’t fly off the handle, who is understanding and patient when someone needs to talk, who--

Oops! Houston…..we have a problem….

I pride myself…..those three little words there. Yikes.

“Let him who thinks he stands, take heed, lest he fall.” --I Cor. 10:12

The Bud and I feeling just fine!

Last week, my husband began dealing with another bout of a recurring illness. At first we thought it was a side effect from a medication he is on for something else. We went to the doctors, got switched to a different medication, came home, but the symptoms got worse through the day and became exactly like those of his recurring illness. We are currently dealing with the problem from this angle now and things are (hopefully!) starting to move in a positive direction and we expect him to be feeling back to normal in a few days.

HOWEVER, the reason I bring this up is because of my own bout with a recurring “illness”: a lack of compassion. I don’t know what it is, but whenever my husband is dealing with an illness, you could take those first couple sentences up there at the beginning of this blog and change them around with negatives for positives, and THAT would be the real picture of me:

I am NOT a nice person. I am NOT happy most of the time, it takes A LOT to make me happy, and I get worked up VERY easily.

Ugh and grrr…..I hate that about myself. WHY oh why do I act like that each time? I keep telling myself, “you can do this --you can be a good caretaker”, and then I find myself bristling each time he lays on the couch asking for something or just showing the general malaise that comes with a recurring illness. I catch myself saying all the same things in my head each time:

“Men! They’re such babies when they’re sick!”
“Are you kidding me? Try having cramps each month!”
“Hello? Childbirth --me--three times”
“Ginger Ale? Sure….let me stop folding these clothes, cleaning the kitchen, etc.”

I think my response is because of both nature and nurture. “Nurture” because when I was growing up, my poor mom’s way of dealing with us when we were sick (she mustn’t have had a very good nursing example herself!) was to tell us to stay in our beds and not to come out all day. At some point throughout the day, she would come into our room and practically toss a Tupperware cereal bowl of soft-boiled eggs (yes, Virginia, I said soft-boiled!) at us and tell us to eat them --oh joy!

No, you didn’t really want to stay home from school --mission accomplished :) But this never really taught me compassion for the sick either.

One of the most compassionate people I know

And “nature” because I just am not a naturally “nursing-type” of a person. I see other people like this --my own Lovely #1 is a person like this --and I think, “Wow! There really are people who have a gift for taking care of others“ --so compassionate and caring, it’s a thing of beauty to see in action. God working through them so effortlessly; His hand reaching out and giving whatever a person needs to feel better --simply amazing!

“His strength is made perfect in my weakness” --II Cor. 12:9

Thanks be to God --I know that because the Lord’s mercies are new every morning (Lam. 3:23), I KNOW that I can get up today and make a fresh start. I know that I can try to be that nurse that my husband needs me to be at the moment, despite my inabilities.

"I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me" --Phil 4:13

Even nurse The Bud through an illness when my flesh is lazy? YES! Because I am not my own, I am bought with a price, the Holy Spirit lives in me to work out HIS good and perfect will, both in me and through me to others. So, He can give me His thoughts of compassion, His ideas on how to make my mate more comfortable in his recovery, and His will is done on earth as it is in heaven.

THAT’S definitely out of the ordinary!

I’d better go put my nurse’s cap on --I hear another request for Ginger Ale :)

Wellness Wednesdays: Baby Steps; Finding Alternatives

2011-07-06T05:08:00.000-07:00

Several years ago, I began a journey of bringing wellness into my life; spiritually, mentally, and physically. Along the way, I stumbled across several realizations about myself:

1. I like sweets
2. I REALLY like sweets
3. I LOVE sweets (did I mention that?)

Yes, I have a sweet-tooth. But, through reading and research, I found that it can be a vicious cycle; I like sweets, I eat sweets filled with white sugar, the white sugar wreaks havoc with my body and my emotional health, but leaves it wanting more the next time. On and on it goes…..somewhere along the line I had to break the cycle.

Part of the problem lies in the wonderful way we are created. Our bodies work much like a slow-burning wood stove. It processes food like that so we can be on an even keel throughout the day. It is designed to break-down materials we put into it and convert that material into energy (or stored energy for later). The “breaking down” part is the key. That’s why natural, whole foods are so much better for us --our bodies NEED to do the work of breaking down, digestion, and distribution in order for the system to work at its optimum level.

What happens when you put little twigs and leaves into a woodstove? They burn up immediately and disappear without adding to the heat-output of the stove.

Okay, so that’s what it’s like with white sugar (and white flour, btw!). White sugar has already been processed, broken down, REFINED. It goes directly into our blood stream and gives us a quick jolt of energy, sends our pancreas and adrenal glands into a seesaw operation and then we get the big “letdown feeling” from all that craziness! ……Until we drink that next soda, or eat that next candy bar, or two…..and then it starts all over again.

That was me --I was on a constant emotional roller-coaster and part of that was caused by my diet. I had to get off that ride and do something different. First, I took myself off ALL white sugar and white flour. I had nothing that contained either of those two ingredients for a period of time. I never felt so good! It was VERY difficult at first, but I wanted wellness more than anything, so I disciplined myself to do it.

But then, real life started to creep back in and I found myself slipping. Going out to eat, going to a celebration of some sort, not reading the label first; all these played into me not being able to live completely free of sweetness. There had to be another way of doing things!

I found that finding alternatives worked better for me than completely shutting off the world.

Finding alternatives allows not only is healthier, but also allows you to be in control of more of our eating habits and gives you a sense of empowerment. So…what are these alternatives I speak of?

Well, for starters, for white sugar, there is a natural alternative called STEVIA (also called “sweet leaf”). This is the Sweet Leaf plant whose leaves have been dried and crushed. Because of its super-sweetness, you don’t need as much as white sugar. And even though it has been processed, it will not change your blood sugar at all. You can buy stevia (it also comes in a brand name of “Truvia”) in bulk (for baking, etc), liquie, or in single packets --I like to carry around packets in my purse for when we go to restaurants, visit people, etc. This way I always have my “alternative” for drinks needing sugar. Another alternative for white sugar is natural unrefined cane sugar; most stores carry this now as more people are looking for alternative food choices. Honey is, of course, another great substitute; an added bonus for honey? If you buy local honey, it has anti-allergen properties to local plants which help with your seasonal allergies J

Next week --other alternatives to other favorites!

Too-Funny Tuesday

2011-07-05T01:00:00.000-07:00

Here we are at another Tuesday. Blah. What.Ever.

So, again, I wanted to inject a little humor into the day by showing another funny video. I didn't have to look very far for this one --one of my own Lovelies put this together during last semester. She is an English major and became intrigued with the works of John Donne, a late-16th century poet. You really should read his works --they're beautiful. In fact, you may want to google this particular sonnet before watching the video --it is indeed very spiritually uplifting!

This video is actually a recitation of one of his more famous sonnets, "Death, Be Not Proud". The subject matter itself is quite stirring, when read in its intended seriousness, but Lovely #2 was at the end of a long semester and needed to do something to lighten things up a bit.

I can never watch this too many times --it cracks me up each time I watch it!

HAPPY Tuesday!

A Great Read: The Glass Menagerie

2011-07-01T01:00:00.000-07:00

A Great Read: The Glass Menagerie, by Tennessee Williams

As a post-homeschooling mom, I now find myself with extra reading time. For the last almost 20 years I have read many things. MANY things. But, most of them have been for not only my own edification, but also for the edification of others; be they my own children or other students I have taught in co-ops or umbrella schools. Most of the books have been either history or health related, as those were the two main fields of interest I taught, in addition to the “Three R’s”.

Apparently, there are other books out there? This is what I’m told, anyway.

Our Lovely #2, being the English major, has taken it upon herself to develop a reading list for me; a post-homeschooling reading list of sorts. She knows how I love various types of stories but have just not had time to read, just for the pleasure of reading! There are stories she’s been introduced to in her classes, as well as classics I’ve never had time to read --all of these are “going on the list”, she says J

My first one completed was not really a book at all; it was a play. Now, I have stayed away from reading plays since high school. I don’t even know why --I just always have had this notion that they were hard to follow since they were not in paragraph form, or some such nonsense. But, she convinced me to give them a second look.

So I did. Obedient mom that I am, I recently read The Glass Menagerie, by Tennessee Williams. First of all, if you’ve never read a play, I encourage you to just from the standpoint of how time-friendly it is in our fast-paced world. You can read this play in an afternoon; while the kids are out playing, while you’re at the beach, while your little ones are napping --whatever! Imagine how smart and how good you will feel, knowing you finished a “book” in one sitting! Well, at least that’s the way I felt J

The story is a bit melancholy, so get ready for that. But, the characters are each very interesting in their own ways, and you find yourself drawn into the storyline almost immediately. That’s another great thing about plays; whereas “books” take their time to lay out characters and backstory, plays do not. You are given the backstory and personality of each character up-front and you put it into drive and go. LOVE that!

There are only 4 main characters, so your brain doesn’t have to work very hard on remembering a lot of interweaving of story and personality, either. And I found that at various times in the story, each character would evoke the same emotion from me for different reasons: pathos, annoyance, anger, joy. Very cool.

So, if you want a quick, easy, summer afternoon read, I highly recommend The Glass Menagerie, by Tennessee Williams. Read it and let me know what you think!

Movie for the Weekend: True Grit

2011-06-30T01:00:00.000-07:00

Movie for the Weekend: True Grit (2010 version, starring Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, and introducing Hailee Steinfeld)
(each Thursday, I like to give a movie suggestion for the weekend. Why Thursday and not Friday? Because talking about it on Thursday gives you time to put it on your Netflix cue for Saturday, or to at least scour their streaming library or the video section of your local library for one of these great movies!)

So, I’ve been wanting to watch this movie for some time. Back when it was first coming out to theaters, I had heard an interview on NPR with one of its stars, Hailee Steinfeld. She was talking about the making of the film, her role as the lead-female, etc., and I was intrigued at how this new, young (14 at the time!) actress handled herself in the interview. That alone made me want to see the movie; she plays a central character, carries much of the movie and is in almost every scene. Could she pull it off?

Thankfully, yes. This movie is so good. It should be; it is done by the Coen brothers who always have something interesting to show us --“Raising Arizona“, “Fargo“, “O Brother, Where art Thou?” among others -- and is also starring Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon. And what the Coen brothers did most surprisingly was that they did NOT do a remake of the 1969 John Wayne version --they went more with the original storyline of the 1968 serial written by Charles Portis. It tells the story of Matty Ross, a young upstart whose father is killed by an outlaw, and whose goal throughout the movie is to see that justice is served to this man. She employs the help of a codgy, grizzled old US Marshall (played by Jeff Bridges), and together (with the help of a somewhat pompous Texas Ranger, played by Matt Damon) they set out on across the western plains, tracking the outlaw, and running into various other ne’er-do-wells along the way. The title of the movie weaves its way through the storyline beautifully --I found myself looking for and finding “true grit” in various characters (even a horse!).

If you’re concerned about age-appropriate viewing, you can check out various websites to get the scoop on content, language, etc. When my girls were younger, I always checked things out on screenit.com before viewing it as a family or allowing them to see it at a friend’s house, etc. That website is still around (I checked!) but it looks like they now only give info on a “membership” basis (not sure if there’s a cost involved or not). You can always just check imdb.com --that is the place everyone goes to now to get the low-down on past, present, and future releases. It’s info is not as thorough as screenit.com, but it will usually tell you what you need to know.

True Grit, starring Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, and Hailee Steinfeld is rated PG13. Watch it and let me know what you think!

Wellness Wednesday --Begin at the Beginning

2011-06-29T01:00:00.000-07:00

Wellness in every area --mind, body, and spirit -- is God’s desire for us. But God is not a puppet-master, pulling our strings, making us do things that are good for us. He has given us a free will which then leaves a burden on us to look for ways to bring that wellness into our lives as much as possible. Through His grace and Holy Spirit, He gives us wisdom to seek out everything needful to bring wholeness and healing to our lives.

I know this to be true --it has happened in my own life. I am a completely different person than I was a decade ago. I was broken in all areas; mind, body, and spirit --and got sick and tired of being sick and tired in all those areas. God said He had a good plan for me and I wanted to find out what that really meant.

Through this seeking, I have found so many good ways to improve my life. God DOES indeed desire us to have a good life, full of health, vitality, and happiness! Hopefully, my goal for Wednesdays is to bring a little tip of info on improving each of the three areas that make up who we are: mind, body, and spirit. I do not claim to be a professional expert in any of these areas, but I will be able to tell you what has worked for me. I have made some mistakes, but have also seen some great results along the way in all areas of my life.

“Where sin abounds, grace therefore doth much more abound” --(Rom 5:20b)

Doesn’t matter what the Enemy may have in mind for us; God has a plan and it is SUPER-abounding! Let’s strive to find out God’s plan and work to line up with what the Word says is ours in Christ in each area of our lives: mind, body, and spirit.

So let’s start by establishing the fact that God does indeed want us to prosper in our lives. I began my search through the Scriptures by challenging what I had heard from other people: I went to Deuteronomy and saw the list of all the blessings (chapter 28). I was told that these were for us today. But how? We weren’t under the Old Covenant, we weren’t part of the followers of Moses; how could any of this really pertain to us, and if it was, isn’t it all kind of “iffy” anyway? “IF you diligently obey….THEN God will do such-and-such…” How did this work well for us, I prayed. Then the Lord directed me to the book of Romans. Romans 11:17 says that we (New Testament believers) are “a wild olive tree, grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the same root and fatness of the olive tree.” Ah, there it is! We have the same root and fatness of the olive tree (the Hebrew nation), and the finished work of Jesus means we don’t even have to work for it --it is ours through Christ!

Again….”where sin abounds, grace therefore doth much more abound” --SUPER-abounding!

So, that’s where we begin. At the beginning. Meditate on the goodness of God, how much He loves you, that He wants goodness super-abounding in your life. Next week will be our first tip on one particular area.

Too-Funny Tuesday

2011-06-28T01:00:00.000-07:00

Tuesday. Meh.

Not quite the beginning of the week, and no where close to being towards the end of the week, so it can be a blah type of a day, am I right?

Well, let's shake things up a bit. Humor seems to always lighten the load a bit; the Word tells us that "a merry heart doeth good like a medicine" (Prov. 17:22), so I like to purposely look for things to laugh about if needed (or even if not!)

Our pastor showed us this video recently. It's hilarious! It's especially funny if you have a wonderful husband similar to one of the guys in this video --this video hit very close to home in the Dempsey household :)

Watch it and see if some of the items of clothing or other assorted items ring true to your man as well.....and remember to have a HAPPY Tuesday!