Sunday, March 21, 2010
Spring Break 2010
Between all the various activities, I tried to get as much done in preparation for our move as I could, but I'm afraid it wasn't nearly enough. Chris is taking next week off so hopefully together we get a whole lot done. And maybe, just maybe my next post will be done from our new address.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Lamentations of a Brunette
Matthew 10:29-31
29Are not two sparrows sold for a pennya]">[a]? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. 30And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
The Bible tells me that God knows the number of hairs on my head so I often wonder what He thinks when I stand in front of the mirror plucking out all the grays. I don't really have many all over my head, but having dark hair makes the ones I do have stick out like a sore thumb. The gray is mainly concentrated in one patch above my right eyebrow and at my temples. You know, the places that make a man look distinguished, but just make a woman look old. I don't feel old and I'm not ready to look old. I know the simple solution is to start coloring my hair, but that takes time and money. Both of which always seem to be in short supply. I haven't found the hidden blessing in this situation. I know I should be grateful that I have hair, but if I keep plucking out the grays I might risk that as well.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Love Languages
The month has passed and we still have accidents, but much progress has been made. But the most progress has been made in the ways I show my love for the two precious girls that God so generously blessed me with.
Psalm 127:3
3 Sons are a heritage from the LORD,
children a reward from him.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Holding Little Hands
Somewhere between the 3rd and 4th birthdays of both my girls, something magical happened: When out running errands or such, I could just dangle my hand behind me and a little hand would grab it. Before that magical moment, I would always have to search out the little hand and grab it before crossing a street or stepping away from the the car in a parking lot. I remember a conversation with my cousin where I told her that I always held Abigail's hand and walked her to her preschool teacher instead of pulling up and letting her hop out of the car. My cousin told me to enjoy it because she knew from her own experience with her Kindergarten aged son that my days were numbered. I made a point from then on to cherish every time that Abigail let me hold her hand and I began the habit of telling her, "I love this little hand." I braced myself for the dreaded day that my dangling hand would be met with the inevitable "Mom! I'm too old to hold your hand!" that my cousin warned of. Well, Abigail is 8 1/2 years old and it's been quite a while since it has been necessary to hold her hand before crossing a street, but every once in a while she blesses me by grabbing my hand. When she does, I send up a little prayer of thanks and even though that hand has grown to be not so small, I still squeeze it and tell her, "I love this little hand."
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Daily Miracles
John 10:10 "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. "
The author compares the wilderness that God's chosen people wandered in to our current trials and struggles. While the Hebrews wandered in the desert they grumbled and complained about their circumstances despite the fact that they had been liberated from slavery and were experiencing God's miracles on a daily basis. At one particularly terrifying moment, the people cried out to Moses: "Didn't we say to you in Egypt, 'Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians'? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!" (Exodus 14:12).
Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14 The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still." (Exodus 14:13-14)
In this life, when we find ourselves facing an impossible situation or even our every day trials, the author encourages us to be the 4 thing that Moses told the Hebrews to be:1. Be fearless (Trust God)
2. Be still (Let God do His job)
3. Be watchful (Open your eyes to what God is doing)
4. Be quiet (Guard yourself against complaining)
One of our study leaders gave us a challenge this week. She encouraged us to pray that God would heighten our awareness to His activity and then look for those daily miracles, even those little things that could be chalked up to coincidence. Not only am I going to take this challenge, I am going to take it a step further and look for the blessings in those situations that seem at first to be only negative. I'll keep you posted.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Heaven?
Sometimes, I find myself dreaming about what heaven will be like. I know a little bit about what the Bible says heaven will be like, such as streets paved with gold and no more sorrow and no more pain and that sounds amazing and wonderful, but I also like to believe that heaven will also be a place where I am never in a hurry.
I really don't like always being in a hurry and that is pretty much a given during the school year. I hurry home from working out to hurry up and take a shower to hurry up and get Abigail up so she can hurry up and get ready while I hurry up and make her lunch and prepare breakfast. Then I "encourage" her to hurry up and eat so that we can hurry up and make it to school on time. Then I spend the day hurrying around trying to get laundry done, errands run, emails returned, before I have to hurry and make lunch. After lunch I try to hurry Rebecca down for a nap so that we can hurry up and be at the school by 3:00 to pick up Abigail. After school we hurry to piano lessons and sports practices and we hurry to finish homework and cook dinner. I hurry to get to PTA meetings, doctors' appointments, play dates, Bible Studies. After dinner we hurry through baths and stories and prayers so that it is not too late when we get to sleep so that we can wake up the next day and hurry, hurry, hurry all over again. Don't get me wrong. I like to stay busy. It's the constant state of being rushed in my busyness that I can't stand.
The past 4 days have been a little like what I hope heaven will be like. Thursday, we got 11 inches of snow that almost completely shut down the city. Schools were closed, extracurricular activities were cancelled and the streets were a mess so there were no errands to run. Were we bored? No way! We stayed busy playing games, making soups and chili, baking, watching movies, shoveling snow, playing in the snow, reading, updating long neglected blogs, etc. But we were never in a hurry and it was WONDERFUL!!!
Tomorrow we will be back to hurrying around and I will be back to dreaming of what it might be like in heaven.