Soap box…

:::::pulling up soap box:::::

:::::jumping up on it’s top:::::

:::::DEEP breath:::::

That’s your warning.  What I’m about to say may step on toes.  I may drag your shoes off your feet and stomp on them.  I may dance on them a time or two as well.   If I do, I sincerely apologize for hurting your feelings.  However, I do not apologize if your feelings are hurt out of guilt from the Holy Spirit.

If this is irrelevent to you, carry on, dude.

When in the world did we start having to ENTERTAIN people to keep you in CHURCH?  Are our attention spans THAT short that we cannot commit a handful of minutes to sitting in a church service without putting on a juggling act, food to feed your family, and throwing something in someone’s face??

Why do we have to have GAMING SYSTEMS or Ipods or COMPUTERS for teenagers personal usage while they are at church??

Why do we have to plan countless special events JUST to get you to ATTEND?  Spend large sums of money for big name speakers, when the Pastor’s wife, or the little old lady with the blue hair and hosiery who sits on the same pew every Sunday….could give you the SAME message?

Oh but WAIT…

If that event doesn’t meet your criteria, or the right people aren’t there, then forget it…I’ll sit this one out!

WHY DO WE HAVE TO ENTERTAIN YOU?

If you find Christ boring, I have some news for you….IT AIN’T CHRIST’S FAULT!  He already DID His job!

Seriously?  Christianity BORING??  Have you READ any of the Bible lately?  WAR all over the place!  Sex, drinking, nudity….RAMPANT in there!  Have you READ Song of Solomon…with the goat hair and the pomegranate breasts….REALLY NOW….!  It’s FULL of sinners in there!  People that aren’t perfect either, but are darn sure trying to please God!  With the intermittant peeping on nekkid ladies while they sunbathe on their roof….really….oh yeah, and sending her husband into war on the FRONT LINES so he’ll die and stuff…..ya know, IN BETWEEN all of that stuff….The Bible is FAR from boring!

So what’s boring?  Music not loud enough?  Not fast enough?  Not hard enough?  Oh, do we say GOD too much?  What if we met at 2 in the afternoon on Sundays instead?  Maybe if we meet Friday nights at 10….everyone seems to be JUST FINE with that time….well for everything else….

Maybe the lessons aren’t INSPIRING enough?  Let me don my sparkly leotard and juggle flaming batons while giving the lesson!   Maybe setting Jeff on fire in the Youth dept would be more up to speed!  That would bring the Youth in then!  We wouldn’t be BORING then!  “Let’s see who Dana sets on FIRE TODAY!”

I’m just DONE with it all.  I’m done with the mediocrity that people are settling for!  I’m SAVED!  That’s it right?  I don’t really HAVE to do all that OTHER stuff right?  It kind of puts a damper on the guys I want to date.  The whole “no-sex-before-marriage” really turns guys off….oh and no drinking?  Like, foril?  (for those that DON’T know….I guess that’s the new way of spelling FOR REAL, 35 years of spelling it the other way…I guess I’m old)  The OCCASIONAL drink is alright, right?  Drinks after 11 on Friday night don’t count….right?  And if I only drink HALF the beer, I’m clear!  Oh and God doesn’t REALLY mean for me to watch my mouth….hell isn’t a bad word, it’s a PLACE!  I only meant the PLACE…..and the Bible says ASS….I’m talking about the DONKEY, then it’s OK….right?

And it counts as PRAYING if I say “THANK GOD” when the pregnancy test is NEGATIVE right?  We’ll just forget the whole “no fornicating” thing…. I PRAYED!

COME ON!  FORIL!

(my spell checker is having a FIT over that word by the way….    )

Christ is NOT boring!  The Bible is NOT boring!  If church is boring then find a way to either help out and give up some of your time to make it better, or FIND ANOTHER ONE!  Staying home because church is “boring” is NOT an excuse!

A FULL life in Christ is WORTH IT!  It’s WORTH IT!  Trust me, giving up alcohol or sex before marriage, or bad words, is WORTH a full life in Christ!  And you WON’T even miss all that crap!  I PROMISE!

Seeing your husband change, and your kids picking up their Bibles to READ it and no one PAID them….it’s WORTH IT!  Watching a 3 year old pray over his food before he eats, is WORTH IT!   Being able to give up part of your kids CHRISTMAS so you can help other people….and somehow the bills STILL got paid….is a MIRACLE worth waiting for!  Seeing an unborn baby given a death sentence, and then born PERFECTLY HEALED AND WHOLE…it’s LIFE changing!  Watching a power point of orphans in Cambodia, and seeing how Christ is changing THEIR LIVES….it makes you SOB!   Seeing a family only a YEAR ago in the deepest part of hell because of drugs and alcohol, and now SO ON FIRE for God that they carry tracts and any other sort of evangelism item with them, so that at ANY given moment, they can share Christ with them….I’m telling you….it’s a SIGHT TO SEE!

CHRIST IS NOT BORING! If I may be so bold….I’d say it’s YOU that’s boring….and lazy.

Oh I WENT THERE!  I crossed that line….danced over it….cartwheeled over it and did a little jig on the OTHER side!

Taking that 15 minutes a day to READ GOD’S WORD…will change your life.

Uttering those first words of a prayer to the Creator of the Universe who is LISTENING, WAITING, and KNOWS YOUR NAME…will change your life.  You don’t even have to say THEE THOU SHALL SHALT SMITE or pray with a British accent!  I’ve called God DUDE before!  I’ve even YELLED at Him before!  (it did have it’s context though…trust me)  I talk to Him like I talk to my Mom….I don’t have to put on airs….I just talk.

I guess I’m just done with excuses.  If Christ isn’t who you thought He should be…maybe you need to look a little closer at yourself.

Christ DIED for us.  That’s not boring.  And He did His part…

The rest is up to US.

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:::::stepping down off soapbox:::::

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Prayer for Stellan for Not Me Monday

First and FOREMOST, I want to offer up special prayers for MckMama and baby Stellan.  He was a miracle that we saw play out right before our eyes, and now he is terribly sick.  Above all else…all the fun, all the laughing, all the goofiness and sillyness, we need to pray.

Lord, I cannot thank You enough for the miracle that Stellan is!  And that we  were all able to participate in it even in a LITTLE bit has been an EXPERIENCE!  Lord, I ask that You be with him now as he lays in the hospital, with what, they are unsure of just yet.  Lord, give the doctors WISDOM  to diagnose the problem and KNOWLEDGE to treat him correctly.  Give MckMama and her family PEACE as they go through these scary scary times.  Heal his tiny body.  Stay close to him.  Touch his tiny heart that is beating far too quickly and regulate it.  Touch his body as he is battling this cold, or RSV, or whatever it is that he has, and heal him.  His breathing will be improved, in Jesus name.   You knit his body together in his mother’s womb…you healed his heart already, Lord, we humbly ask that You do it again, please.  He’s so little….he’s just so little.  Lord we BOLDLY ask in Jesus mighty name!  Amen!

Gosh, now I don’t know if I have the heart to Not Me….maybe later…til then, just pray for the tiny baby Stellan:

Please head over to MckMama’s blog for any updates!  But remember to pray!

Just as I am.

As a little girl, the story of baby Moses in the bulrushes was probably my FAVORITE one. We had several Bibles at home, and I’d look through them for the illustrated pictures of baby Moses floating down the river in that basket. And some would have the sister in the background somewhere watching from the reeds.

It’s a cool story, and one that shows us just how God orchestrates our lives. Even as a baby, God was there making His ways happen in Moses’ life.

God had a PLAN for Moses. God watched, protected, and made things happen in order for His plan to be carried out. The Isrealites, His chosen people were in slavery, and Moses was going to rescue them with God’s help. That’s a pretty BIG plan!

In Exodus 2:23-25, it says, “During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Isrealites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. God HEARD their groaning and He remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. So God looked on the Isrealites and was concerned about them. “

I’ve said it before, but that’s just freakin’ cool. God hears our cries! He HEARS those desperate cries for help! Those silent pleas for mercy. The agonizing prayers for someone to hear and help! When you think no one even sees you or cares…. Those prayers that you think no one hears….alone in your bed….the tears in the pillow, or in the shower so no one will know….the kind that shakes your body and makes your knees jelly….Christ hears those.

And I think that’s important for us to know and remember.

In this story, God heard a NATION of people, and He called Moses to help. And the way He did it was pretty awesome! LOL Moses, tending a flock of stupid sheep, comes across a bush, ON FIRE, but not burning. Read THAT one again…on FIRE, but not burning. Wood kind of burns if it’s on fire! I’m kind of smart like that…I know these things…

Moses goes closer to the bush to see, and God Himself, the Creator of the Universe, calls out to him by name! That’s significant. He didn’t call out “Yo! You there…with the sheep! Come here….” He called Moses by his NAME. In case I’m not typing clear here, let me point that one out: HE KNOWS US BY NAME; INDIVIDUALLY. Each of us. That’s you…..your cousin Bob, the weird Aunt…ALL OF US. He knows us by NAME. He wouldn’t call out to me with “Hey! Girl with the pink in her hair! Lady with kids all over the place! Yo, BLOGGER!” He’d say my name….and just typing that statement gives me goosebumps all over the place…He’d say, “Dana!”

Seriously, I’d wet myself if God called out my name in an AUDIBLE voice.

But, in my Bible, all Moses does is answer Him with “Here I am.” Boy, that’s kind of a letdown isn’t it? Where’s Moses with the wet tunic? Where’s the screaming like a girl and the running? The freaking out? Cuz yeah….that’d be me….just so ya know….

Anyway, their conversation continues on, “The Lord said, I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering.”

(I put in bold all the words I REALLY wanted you to notice.)

“So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

Let me tell you….there are some things in my own life, that I knew I was supposed to do, and yet didn’t do them. I’m not perfect. I used to sign for the worship services at our old church, but quit because I thought I was too fat to do them. I just figured no one wanted to see a large woman up there signing….yeah, I know…..also sang on the praise team for our old church too, but didn’t pursue it after we left there, for the same reason….

When God first called me to teach in the Youth dept with the teenagers, I was working with the TINY babies in the nursery and quite honestly, I thought He had gone nuts. My education is young children, preschoolers….that’s my experience….why in the world would He send me to work with the teenagers?? I am a big DORK, they would HATE me! I don’t really like teenagers….they are rude…..

And funny…..Moses had excuses too. “Who am I?” “What if they ask me questions…what do I say?” “What if they don’t listen?” “What if they think I’m crazy?” “I can’t talk very well…I’ll mess it up.” But God’s reply is simply beautiful…

“I will be with you.”

That’s the lesson for all of us, if God calls us to do something, He’ll equip us with everything we’ll need to accomplish it.

Kind of like when I started this dumb blog, I knew what God had told me to do (share my faith), but I was afraid. I don’t want to look dumb. I was afraid of saying the wrong things. I’m not that bright, Lord, really I’m not. Type what I tell you then. It won’t be very popular, Lord, people don’t like to hear this stuff…. I will send who I want to see it. And the blog was born. I have been able to reach people I never imagined, in ways I never could have imagined. And I’m still not the brightest, still not a Bible scholar, and it doesn’t seem to matter.

When God calls us to do something, He equips us with everything we need to do it.

Our job is to LISTEN and be obedient. I don’t want to be the person that misses something HUGE because I was too busy shopping for Gymboree or watching reality tv. My job is to be where God wants me to be….doing what He wants me to do.

Just as I am.

I QUIT!

Seriously…I can’t do it anymore….no matter how many people beg, I’m DONE! I wipe my hands of it! I am NOT gonna do it again!

I QUIT!

….baking that is…

You didn’t actually think I’d quit running my mouth in my blog did you?

But seriously, I’m done with whole BAKING nonsense. After Thanksgiving, I tried my hand at a pecan pie with the reassurances that it was a WONDERFUL recipe….and it is….when someone ELSE makes it.

I burned it.

Then, I made Christmas cookies for my beautiful 3 year old daughter to leave for Santa….

And they looked more like starfish with legs all over the place, but none resembling a STAR at all….

And then Christmas Eve, I try my hand AGAIN at the wonderful pecan pie recipe. I learned my mistake from the LAST time…I will NOT overbake it again…

….so I made pecan soup instead. Really now….eat it with a spoon…pecan soup.

My beautiful 13 year old niece agreed to make the 2nd pecan pie for me Christmas Day so I could sit down for a little while. She used the SAME ingredients as I did. She baked it in the SAME oven as I did. And hers turned out BEAUTIFULLY….perfect yummy pecan pie.

The kicker…after everyone went home last night, Mike asked me what in the world Emily did to that pecan pie she made….it was TERRIBLE! Runny….soupy…..gross! How could she have messed up that pie!

I just looked at him.

But I did NOT spit on him….even though I wanted to. And then explained that the pie he loved so much was NOT the one I had made….and I held up my Pecan Soup…..”This dear, is the pie I made.”

He was a very quiet man after that. Even helped clean the kitchen…but I did see him sneak another piece of that perfect pecan pie later…. grrrr…..

So I have given up on baking….I won’t be doing THAT nonsense anymore! Sheesh….

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On a much HAPPIER note, Christmas was wonderful. We had my family over and that was so very very nice! I gave my parents some magnets of the kids pictures I had had made and a beautiful photo book of all the kids and grandkids.

The boys are on CLOUD 9 with what “Santa” brought them and they have played together wonderfully! Brooklyn has “cooked” and served everything and everyONE under the sun on her new play kitchen. And that is the SWEETEST thing to see! She took her turkey and placed it in a pan on her stove and “cooked” it and ate it….or shared with whoever was closest to her.

And Guitar Hero tournaments are going on….even I got in on the action, however slowly I played. Austin informed me that he BREATHES faster than I play. Hush it, kid….I gave you LIFE!

Oh and Austin’s drum set that God gave him has been a tremendous thing to hear. Seriously, it was from God Himself….and we thank the people that were involved in letting God give them. Austin is a very grateful young man.

But overall, the very best Christmas presents this year were the ones we GAVE instead of received. I am so proud of my dear boys that embraced the idea and did all they could to help do MORE! Austin gave personally of himself TWICE during this season to someone who needed it.

We have been in the place where we needed help, so for God to bless us and allow US to help other people is a miracle in itself, but the biggest gift to ME above anything else.

It doesn’t mean that I gave freely without worry, and that is a shame and probably a sin and I’m working on it. God is molding and shaping ME into the person that CAN freely give….I just am holding onto my fear still. But I’m trying…and I trust God with all of my heart…or almost all of it…there is still that little portion of fear I’m working on…but my BILLS are paid! YAY!

And my handsome honey was kind enough to paint my kitchen for me today. Well half of it. And as I was watching him paint, the Lord gave me a portion of a verse as a reminder….”He makes all things new”.

I blogged quit a ways back about my adventure with ripping off wallpaper in my kitchen and equating it to exposing all of my hidden things, all my inner ugliness to Christ. I ripped it all off and exposed all those nasty things I had tried to keep hidden. But you can’t paint over existing ugly….you HAVE to rip it off of there in order to do a proper job. So off the wallpaper went….and on with the fresh coats of paint.

Christ is again, making me new and fresh again. I have tried so hard to follow His word and allow God to make me into the person He wanted me to be, and seeing that paint go up on the walls just brought a tear to my eye….still does if you want to know the truth. And it’s been so worth it.

And the color of the wall is a crimson/burgundy color….kind of fitting huh?

I encourage everyone to be open and honest about themselves, and ask God to make you into the person HE wants you to be. Not what YOUR idea about yourself is. And see what GIVING more than getting does to your heart….

God is SWEET!

I mean that with the utmost respect, I just can’t seem to come up what my heart is screaming to say….and SWEET fit the bill….flippin sweet works even better….

Let me begin with the irony part first…I shared last month my struggle with tithing. I know it’s required, but every time we do, something bad happens, usually a FEW things. And last month, I felt God calling me to TRUST Him.

And I did. I gave my tithe willingly, with a giving, cheerful, TRUSTING heart.

And Brooklyn fell and had to go to the hospital to have her head glued up.

And Mike got REALLY sick.

But it changed NOTHING. I still gave that tithe, and I still trusted and everything was just fine.

This month, I took the same tithe and with a giving, trusting heart, I gave my tithe AGAIN.

And Mike got very sick AGAIN, this time with STREP and had to miss 2 days of work. NICE.

AND, they are sending him to an ENT to schedule him to have his tonsils out. EVEN BETTER! Nice little hospital stay, hard recovery for an adult, but HEY, it’s just his TONSILS! It’s FIXABLE! Thank you, Lord, it’s just his TONSILS!

We are blessed. In the grand scheme of everything, we are BLESSED, and I will gladly give back. I am not deterred and I will not WAIVER. I trust God. I TRUST Him!

Speaking of……

Our family has decided to participate in Heidi’s 12 days of Giving and it’s been an unbelievable experience. It meant our family received LESS in order to give MORE, and some days were difficult for the kids to understand that, but most days they were in it with their whole hearts!

One of our days of giving was helping a family for Christmas. I wasn’t able to help as much as I wanted to, but I was able to help and I was HAPPY to do it! However, there was another family that I was unable to help and I was so upset not being able to do anything.

I have a sweet friend (yes, one of my idiot friends ) who was helping a family for Christmas. A single mom on the list for a new heart and lungs with 4 children. Because of her condition, she was unable to work and her kids would have nothing for Christmas, so Hannah enabled the help of several people and their Christmas will be WONDERFUL! However, I was unable to do anything and I was so sad.

She called me Monday to say the kids had WONDERFUL things, however, the mom had nothing. So she called the mom Sunday to find out what she would like….guess what she wanted? Never gonna guess….

A FAMILY PORTRAIT!!

I couldn’t believe it!! THAT I can do! I can do that for her! I would be HONORED to do this for her! I could not imagine the pain she is going through…a family portrait so her kids will remember her…I am excited to do this for this family, and I thank GOD for the opportunity to do it! I only hope that my photography skills will not fail me that day. I want to do them justice!

Oh yes….it just keeps getting sweeter….

Then TODAY, I went to Old Navy to see what I could find for my handsome honey, and I wandered to the back of the store where the boys department is and I knew I was supposed to help another family. Their youngest child’s handsome face flashed in my mind, and I knew I was supposed to help them.

I do not like credit cards, honestly. They scare me, and especially for ME, I fear something happening and not being able to pay them off, so I try very hard never to charge anything. And I JUST paid my Old Navy credit card OFF…but here I was charging clothes for this family…and when I couldn’t find anything for the 2 oldest girls….I headed to Fashion Bug….with my only OTHER credit card….yes, that I just paid off as well….

I don’t know how I’ll do it, but I have a job, so it will get paid off eventually, I have no doubt. I will not worry, I will not stress. I will TRUST! And I will thank God Almighty for giving me the ability to GIVE when in my head it doesn’t seem possible!

Last one….and I promise I’ll stop….

My kids do not have money. They very seldom ever have money of their own to do anything with. I just don’t ever have that extra money to GIVE them for allowance, so they just don’t have it. So when we went to the Youth Christmas party and there was MONEY and gift cards given for the gift exchange, I KNEW those were the ones that my boys were going to go for! And boy did they fight to get that money! LOL They “stole” it in the game and challenged and won and lost many times, and in the end, Chandler lost and went home with another gift (slinky and bubbles and something else) but Austin was ELATED to go home with a $10 Walmart gift card! He was on CLOUD 9 over FINALLY getting it AND being able to take it home! And I heard so many wishes and ideas on what he could buy with his $10….I was so happy for him to be have it.

Then today, when I went to Fashion Bug to pick up gift cards for the older girls in the family, Austin asked me if he could run to Walmart to spend his gift card. So off he goes…

He comes back and informs me he wanted to buy something for the youngest (and only boy) in the family. He proudly opens the bag and pulls out a toy he bought for him.

I simply cried. My son who was so happy to have money to spend…gladly gave to someone else so they could have a Merry Christmas.

I couldn’t be prouder.

God is FLIPPIN SWEET!

My son, who doesn’t like to smile for the camera, but has a heart of gold…

I have IDIOT friends! YAY!

Oh yes…I went there! I not only CROSSED that line, I danced over it, cart-wheeled over it, and did a little jig on the other side. And I’ll say it AGAIN:

I HAVE IDIOT FRIENDS!

Thank you, LORD, for my idiot friends!

Oh no, WAIT…..don’t go! They KNOW they are my idiot friends! I TOLD them! Uhhh….I don’t think that helps my case any, does it?

Let me start by saying, here is my lesson from Sunday morning. Does that help at all? Although, one of the Youth girls was kind and gracious enough to actually TEACH it! She studied Job in her Hebrew class! And she did a MARVELOUS job! I was very proud of her, I know she was scared. And since she taught, I didn’t prepare a big lesson, just a small one, and then Jeff hit a point that I really liked, so I’m going there, too.

I know I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been through some really rough times in my years. Loss of jobs, loss of job AND home at the same time, illnesses, near death experiences, fear of losing our home when we JUST bought it! Loss of friends, wrongful persecution, etc etc, you get the idea. Some of these trials, I did really well….stood like a Warrior defending her country, praised God anyway, stormed the gates of Heaven with prayers that shook the house!

Well, and then there are the OTHER times. The times that I would rather have just curled up and died, crawled in the corner, in the fetal position, sucking the thumb and wetting myself….waiting it out….times that I fought back, but not in a Godly way. These times I am NOT particularly proud of, but they are me. They make up a part of who I am, or who I WAS. And I would be a big fat liar if I was not honest with myself and admitted, YET AGAIN, that I am not perfect. I do not always have the correct response for every occasion.

But this is where I’ve grown. This is where I learned, about myself, about my God, and about who I am in Him.

Job, obviously had some ROUGH times. I don’t even know if rough is a good enough word to describe what Job went through! Loss of his ENTIRE family (except his wife), all 10 kids, servants, livelihood, his health…..there was not ONE area of his life that was not damaged to the point of BREAKING a person. I do not know if I could have withstood all of that. Just losing ONE of my children would have put me in a place I don’t think I could have recovered from. And that’s me putting it totally out there for you.

BUT, Job, In all this, Job did not sin in what he said! He was DEVASTATED! Tore his clothes, shaved his head, and then he fell on the ground in worship and said:

Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.

In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.

That is significant. He praised God for all that he had, all of his wealth, the time he was able to spend with his children while they were there, he thanked God for all of his blessings that he had! The Lord GAVE them! He was BLESSED to have them! And he recognized and gave thanks for all of it. He would have nothing if God had not blessed him with it. THAT is important.

Oh don’t get me wrong, he questioned God! But that’s part of his relationship with God! He was no stranger to Him! He wanted to know WHY! Our Heavenly Father is not some far off old man with a beard and long robes, sitting in the clouds eating Philadelphia cream cheese and has NO idea what we are going through down here! He’s right HERE! There is nothing on this earth that happens that He doesn’t know about!

So wait….why would God let all this stuff to happen? My theory, and please know, I am far from a great Bible scholar, but I do read it. We go through trials and hard times for 2 reasons:

Correction: we’ve been doing stuff we shouldn’t have been doing. Come on now…we’re grown ups, we can be honest with ourselves here…we KNOW when we are doing things we shouldn’t be doing. Call it Jiminy Cricket, conscience, inner voice, whatever, it’s the Holy Spirit, and we KNOW when we are doing things that aren’t right! God is a Gentleman and He tries to get our attention, and we don’t listen, He has to get our attention in ways that aren’t pleasant! That’s why we need to keep the communication OPEN with God, and keep ourselves in a place we can HEAR His still, small voice before it gets ugly.

It builds our faith: It makes us stronger people. Our purpose is to GROW in our faith, and the truth of the matter is, how many of us would DO that on our own without trials to test us? I find it really cool that in all these horrid events, Job STILL maintained his faith, his integrity, he was still honest and patient, trustworthy! That’s really cool! And hard times are meant to help us build our faith! Make us STRONGER in our relationship with God and when we recognize that for what it is, we’ll do better.

Hard times do not MAKE good character, it just brings it out.

Now, onto my idiot friends….

Job had some FRIENDS didn’t he? It was bad enough his wife telling him to curse God and DIE! And then his SWEET friends come to him, when he’s lost everything else, and tells him in every imaginable way, You must have done SOMETHING wrong! Nice! I’ve lost my children, my job, and I’m sitting here with boils and gross covering my body, and you come to cheer me up with I must have sinned in some way! Pass the queso! SWEET!

BUT, we ALL need those type of friends! The ones that come over because they LOVE you, they CARE about how you are, and they come to you in your biggest times of need.

NOT the fair weather friends….ya’ll know those people, I’m sure. The ones that are there for the GOOD stuff, the fun and the casseroles and the card playing, come watch my kids while I go shopping…but the HARD times come and suddenly they have DISAPPEARED! Oh I have tons and tons of those friends…all over the place. There for the funny stuff, stuff that I can help them with…but when it comes times for ME to need something, WOW….the speed in which they leave is shocking. And in my wisdom (not age…heh) I’m learning to let them go, and not to put myself in the same position to be hurt by that again.

I want the friends that are there for all of it. Call me all hours of the day and night to check on me. Come over to the house and can take the no-make-up, hair a mess, no shower. Take me out to dinner to get me out of my stress-funk….

….and can TELL me when I am being an idiot. Oh YES! There it is! I WANT to know when I am wrong. I want to know when I do things that are just plain stupid, mean, wrong, etc. I want to have friends that are GOOD enough friends that can correct me. And vice-versa. I want the friends who, when I can’t seem to get out of the bed, will crawl in with me. Who will hold me when I need it. Will cry with me. Will tell me that those pants make my butt look HUGE!

…..those are true friends and I need to surround myself with. They will help me in my Christian walk and encourage me to stay faithful and trustworthy and patient.

And in the end of Job….we see the rewards for Job maintaining his integrity. We see the blessings that he is rewarded with from God. God didn’t leave him in all of his misery, God stayed right there with him.

Lord, help me to be the kind of person who goes to You for my help. Help me to keep praise on my lips instead of the ugly. Help me to stay surrounded with GOOD friends and keep the fair-weather ones at a distance. Help me to be a woman of Your word and integrity. Help me look to the POSITIVE and not the negative. And thank You for always staying near me…even when I don’t deserve it…in Jesus name…

Just some fun playing monopoly with the kids…but I thought it was fitting for this post. LOL

Not me Monday and an UPDATE 12 Days of Giving

Another day….more confessions of my imperfection. And let me just say, I’m NOT a perfect person. I’m well aware, but I do ask forgiveness of my Heavenly Father….because in my flaws, I have forgiveness if I but ask….

So in the spirit of Christmas…and Not Me…Here we go…

I most certainly did NOT go out Saturday morning before Mike and Brooklyn were awake to go and PURCHASE pre-lit Christmas trees. Oh yes…you read that correctly. I did NOT purchase more than one of them. And they are DEFINITELY NOT only 4 foot tall a piece.

We did NOT decide the night before to go out and purchase them because we seriously did NOT want to wrestle with our big monster of an 8 foot Christmas tree that has seen it’s 16th Christmas and wants to die a natural Christmas tree death. So in the meantime…it does NOT shed it’s needles on a constant basis while it is up in protest of being hauled out YET AGAIN.

Translation: We need to buy a new, easier to manage, regular Christmas tree. But until the time that we can spare an extra hundred dollars for one, these midget trees will suffice.

We are NOT extremely happy with our 4 foot matching, midget Christmas trees.

I did NOT accidentally brush the butt of one of the young men at church yesterday, and then ANNOUNCE to him that I think I just touched his butt. And we did not laugh hysterically over it for the rest of the Meet and Greet at church. I am NOT in Junior high school, I am a grown woman that laughs over stupid things like this.

UGH, Mike did NOT just read that above statement and find me odd that I would find it funny. I did not have to explain to him as a modest woman, and to other modest women that do not go around randomly touching the derrieres of other men, it would strike them as funny as well.

No, Mike is NOT home again from work because he is AGAIN sick as a dog. And he is most CERTAINLY not missing another family holiday because he is sick…so yes, he really is going to the dr before he gets worse.

Please head on over to MckMama’s blog and see that I am not an insane woman….

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I am SO very excited and very humbled that my family embraced this idea of (from Heidi’s blog). I am so happy that they were WILLING to do a smaller Christmas for ourselves in order to help someone else. They were compassionate before…but this has bumped it up a notch! I am truly honored to have done this!

1.) take goodies into the firestation DONE! And it was a HOOT! Our firemen have such great senses of humor!

2.) take in clothes to the clothes closet. HAVE, just need to GIVE them, even found a nice boys winter coat to GIVE too! I ended up with a HUGE amount! Only by the help of Mike, will I get this bag to CHURCH!

3.) give money to Jeff for his mission organization. It’s an incredible organization and we are ALL proud of him for what he’s done and has been able to accomplish. (oh and Jeff, you aren’t supposed to know about this because it’s a surprise. SURPRISE! LOL) DONE!! I was worried that the money was not there, but I choose to live by FAITH, and I’m honestly not worried a bit. Our bills are PAID, every one.

4.) give a gift to Austin’s incredibly GROUCHY sweet bus driver who picks on him obsessively takes him to and from school SAFELY.
DONE! And in the blog previous to this one, you will see how God orchestrated that to HIS liking, NOT mine. Pretty cool!

5.) Adopt a family for Christmas. We can’t say WHO because they read my blog…and that really IS a surprise. I was not able to do AS MUCH as I wanted to, but we were able to do SOME, some is better than none. And it’s already been WRAPPED AND GIVEN! YAY! Now there is another family that I SO WISH I could do….

6.) Take goodies into the police station Well, this one CHANGED….instead of the firestation, Chandler decided if it was up to HIM, he’d rather give 2 gifts to 2 different teachers at school, so that’s what we did instead. This one is DONE as well.

7.) Give goodies to our church staff. I love my church and I’m so thankful for all of them and the sacrifices and work that goes into running a good church. DONE! and GIVEN! YAY!

8.) And I’m printing off all the baptism photos I’ve been able to take and giving them all away. DONE! and GIVEN! YAY!! I even included a couple of extra photos for one of the ladies that I was able to do pictures of, that probably would not have bought them. So they were given as a gift.

I encourage everyone to look around you this Christmas, even though it’s approaching FAST, and see what you can do for someone else around you! Our salvation is a GIFT and I am forever grateful to be loved so much by Christ!

This has truly been an eye-opening experience!! Instead of stressing over EVERYTHING, and working my hiney off to get a horde of presents for each child, each child gets 3 presents (same number that Jesus was given as a baby), and the money saved was able to teach compassion, giving, and the love of Christ. I would love to continue this, and make is a nice tradition every year!

Photo Friday!

I figured it was TIME to produce some vacation photos!

Let me say it again, Branson at Christmas is AMAZING! There is NOTHING like it! Let me also warn though, GO DURING THE WEEK. If you go on the weekend, don’t say I didn’t warn you. You will hate everyone around you. TRUST ME. Normal, sane humans LOSE THEIR MINDS on the weekends in Branson, it’s just a fact.

But during the week….sigh….

We had SUCH a good time! We went to Silver Dollar City Thursday AND Friday, and, I am SO NOT KIDDING, it was PURE HEAVEN! It was BITTER cold, but you didn’t even FEEL it! You do so much walking everywhere, that you really don’t feel the cold.

And because we are THAT family…we had to do this…and it only took us 2 tries to get it right! HAAA!

We celebrated Brooklyn’s birthday at Fuddrucker’s just simply because I ADORE Fudd’s…yes. It’s all about me, I guess. I can deal with that.

At Silver Dollar City, one of the first things you see is this AMAZING, HUGE Christmas tree that is timed with music. The entire square is full of lights and all of it goes with music. It’s amazing. One of the neatest things I’ve EVER seen! I hope this video works, it’s only like a MINUTE long, but SO cool!

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Well pooh, I guess not.  

Anyway, the vacation was so nice, and it was SO GOOD to get away from all the stress I’m under at home. 

One of my FAVORITE photos of the entire weekend:

Just enjoy this coming week with your family.  Remember the good things…forget the bad things, and enjoy each other.

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 UPDATE:

Kind of cool, although honestly, I didn’t think it was cool at the time.  Mike’s water pump (?) is going out on his truck (there’s ALWAYS something going out on that truck though. Grrr) so he has been taking my car back and forth to work, which leaves me with no vehicle during the day, and limited times I can do errands. 

I had decided NOT to make Austin give the box of chocolates to his GRUMPY bus driver in front of all of his friends thus embarrassing him for the rest of his school years, and take the box of chocolates t0 her instead.  My PLAN was to take them to the transportation office early in the morning and just leave them with a card for her to pick up.

Yes, cowardly.  Yes, I’m OK with that.

But apparently GOD had other plans.  UGH…

So I take the box of chocolates with the beautiful card attached to the ribbon it’s tied up with to the transportation office this morning.  But when I get there, I realize the CARD is gone!  DANG IT!  So I quickly grab my pad of paper and write out another note to put with the box.  I get the note halfway written and the pen runs out of ink. WHAAA?  Ok SERIOUSLY NOW! 

I have to go INTO the transportation office and ask for a PEN.  UGH UGH UGH.  I get the note finished and I’m folding it and putting it with the box to quickly leave in the office window and RUN, when in walks….guess who?  No, really…..GUESS WHO! 

Oh YES!  The grouchy sweet bus driver herself!  NICE!  Thanks GOD!  Grumble grumble grumble….

So I hand the box to Ms. Barbara and tell her Merry Christmas and she asks who I was.  (The mom of the young man you like to torture on a daily basis.  The one you screamed at on the phone and then had to call back and apologize to because you realized you were WAY out of line.  The mother of the son you have kicked off the bus more times than I can COUNT for the most ASSANINE things ever thought of on the planet.  Sitting sideways in the seat is NOT an offense to get kicked off for.  OH YES!  I am THAT lady!)  But God, in ALL of His wisdom, seals THOSE words out of my mouth. 

Me:  I am Austin’s Mom.

Her:  Oh!  I didn’t think he even LIKED me!

Let me interject a little HUH???  These are probably not words you should SAY to someone else when they are giving you a gift.  SERIOUSLY now.  God, maybe hold Your hand over HER mouth next time too.

So I explained our plan for Christmas and doing 12 days of Giving, the purpose, the reason (sorry Heidi, I left you out and how I copied YOUR idea.  I just left all that out. Heh.).

She got all TEARY on me and actually……gulp……HUGGED me!   REALLY!  She said thank you…and tell Austin thank you….and then Blessed my heart. 

Well…..

NOT what I was expecting at all!  NOT what I wanted to DO at all either, but God, again, in all of HIS wisdom, brought things about exactly as He wanted them done. 

So there ya go….the sweet bus driver now has her gift.  We did the firemen last night.  Oh yes…we LOVED the firemen!  They are hilarious!

I think that’s all.  Now I don’t know how to end this….uhhh….

That’s all folks!

Convicted

Alright…I’ve been convicted. UGH. Although God did not SAY the words “load of crap“, I feel His burning stare and know that my thankful list from the before post was just that….”a load of crap”. I didn’t FEEL thankful….still probably don’t, but I’ve been convicted to look DEEPER and do better.

Here are my struggles right now, that I’m looking DEEPER into:

Austin-I am THANKFUL for Austin. I am thankful that he is smart and FUNNY! I am thankful for his company. For his maturity (even though it is fleeting at times, it IS there). He is a JOY to spend time with. He has a GIVING heart that is matchless in boys I see his own age, or even remotely CLOSE to his age! He still talks to me. Even though I’m grumpy and short with him, he will still TALK TO ME. I’m a dork of a Mom and yet, he loves me. He DOES help me, not always how I want, or when I NEED it, but he DOES help. I need to appreciate him more.

Mike-I’m thankful he hasn’t just thrown in the towel completely with my moodiness. I know he wouldn’t, and I’m thankful. He is a GOOD man. He is good to other people and has a giving heart! He is an INCREDIBLE Dad! Simply INCREDIBLE! I do not fear him in any way. He is INTELLIGENT! Even though I don’t want to constantly to hear about Richard the Lionheart or Wars or Politics or Greeks, I am thankful that I have a husband that has a PASSION for life and a hunger for constantly learning. And that he talks to me. I am thankful for that. I am thankful that he takes enough interest in ME, to talk to me. I am thankful he takes the trash out and folds laundry, puts his clothes away and cleans up after himself. It may not be on MY time, but he does it and I need to appreciate him more.

Chandler-I am thankful for his smile. His happy heart all the time. The constant dancing around and flippant attitude may get on my nerves, but I have a son that is ENJOYING the stuffin’s out of life, and doesn’t mind expressing it! He isn’t OVER THE TOP, but he is JOYFUL! I am thankful that he still comes and curls up with me in my chair. I am thankful that he still loves me enough to desire to sit with me. I am thankful that I am the one he seeks out to tell his day to. I need to listen closer and not shoo him away when I’m in the middle of doing something. I need to appreciate that he does still come to me to tell me stuff.

Brooklyn-she is my GIRL. She was my precious gift when I didn’t think I’d have one. She let me dress her up and put bows in her hair for 2 YEARS! Now, she has an opinion and I need to respect that. She is 3 now and wants to do things HER way. She is frustrated with herself and her surroundings and it is a part of her development that makes her throw those fits. I know this, and need to be more patient with her. She is intelligent and FUNNY and has the sweetest voice EVER! She still let’s me cuddle me with her and she calls me her “Snuggle Mom”. I am thankful for this little gift.

I am THANKFUL I have a J*O*B . The kids may get on my LAST nerve, but I am thankful I can earn money and stay home. I am thankful I am earning money. Christmas may seem tight sometimes, but we have MORE than enough, we will not go without, and we were able to GIVE more than we receive. That is the biggest gift EVER. That is the lesson I wanted my kids to learn! And they may NOT understand it all the time, but they are children. Children do not understand everything all the time. But they will remember THIS year. And God will bless them. Yes, I am thankful for my JOB. And they act like babies because they are babies. I need to find my patience again. They take their socks off and eat them because they are BABIES. I will find new chew toys for them to chew on THOSE and not their socks. They cry because that is the only voice they have. The only form of communication they can use. If I am tired, I will just go to bed earlier. What doesn’t get done, just does not get done. And I will be OK with that. I am THANKFUL I have a job.

I do have my thankful thursday post after this one, that is alright, if only half-hearted. But the 12 days of Giving are listed and that is important. I just had to redo my Thankful Thursday list.

I feel better.

EDITED to add the video at the top from heidi’s blog. I just seriously needed it. I seriously need me some David Crowder cds. Desperatly.Want.David Crowder.Cds. Worship and otherwise…

Thankful Thursday

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I can never seem to get that dumb button right.  Grrr…

Today’s Thankful Thursday is whatever we choose.  I am thankful for lots of stuff, so here goes….

~I am thankful to have sweet friends that just know the right things to do and say.  They call at the perfect times, they make me laugh when I’ve had a rough day.  And they give me chocolate.  And beautiful blue nightgowns that are so soft and comfortable!

~I am SO thankful school is BACK IN TODAY!  UGH!  Why they were out yesterday is a mystery to me, and I can’t seem to get things done when they are HOME (ie:  wrap Christmas stuff).

~I am thankful that God has provided enough for me to do the 12 days of Giving that I committed to.  My paycheck was $200 SHORT and that puts a damper on Christmas, but I was still able to do the 12 days of Giving. 

~I am thankful that even when I’m grumpy and short-tempered, I am still loved.  I have yet to find my Christmas jolly anywhere this year, and I am a grump and I don’t know why.  Well I do know why….but the Christmas jolly has not come by and bit me yet, so I am still waiting.

I guess those were pretty lame huh?  LOL   Maybe there’s better ones over at Laced with Grace

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12 Days of Giving Update

Follow Heidi and her

1.) take goodies into the firestation    HAVE them, just need to GIVE them!

2.) take in clothes to the clothes closet.   HAVE, just need to GIVE them, even found a nice boys winter coat to GIVE too!

3.) give money to Jeff for his mission organization. It’s an incredible organization and we are ALL proud of him for what he’s done and has been able to accomplish. (oh and Jeff, you aren’t supposed to know about this because it’s a surprise. SURPRISE! LOL)

4.) give a gift to Austin’s incredibly GROUCHY sweet bus driver who picks on him obsessively takes him to and from school SAFELY.     HAVE, just need to figure out a way to GIVE to her.  Austin does NOT want to get on his bus and give the gift in front of everyone.  If anyone has any suggestions, I’d LOVE to hear them!  LOL

5.) Adopt a family for Christmas. We can’t say WHO because they read my blog…and that really IS a surprise.   DONE!  Now I need to WRAP and give!

6.) Take goodies into the police station  HAVE, just need to GIVE

7.)  Give goodies to our church staff.  I love my church and I’m so thankful for all of them and the sacrifices and work that goes into running a good church.     DONE!   and GIVEN!  YAY!

8.)   And I’m printing off all the baptism photos I’ve been able to take and giving them all away.   DONE!  and GIVEN!  YAY!!  I even included a couple of extra photos for one of the ladies that I was able to do pictures of, that probably would not have bought them.  So they were given as a gift.  And they are GORGEOUS photos!

I encourage everyone to look around you this Christmas, even though it’s approaching FAST, and see what you can do for someone else around you!   Our salvation is a GIFT and I am forever grateful to be loved so much by Christ!