Archive for Deep Thoughts
I don’t do New Year’s resolutions, but I am looking towards this new year as a time for improvement over the last. I pray that in 2010 I will be:
A better disciple – I’ve gotten so lazy. Inexcusably lazy. God has blessed me so much and I spend so little time focusing on His Word and prayer, using the demands of two children as a lame excuse.
A better wife – less argumentative, more respectful and helpful.
A better parent – more self-control, more simple enjoyment of my children, more patient and wise.
A better steward – of our finances, my body, our home
Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Hebrews 12:1
I’m so grateful for the health of my children today. For some months, I’ve been following the blog of Jennifer McKinney about her family and specifically her son Stellan who has had a heart condition since before he was born. He’s doing very poorly today and because he sorta reminds me of my sweet Little D, I can’t help but empathize strongly with them. Blogs and Twitter are wonderful things. You can connect with people in ways not possible before we had these tools. I’m sitting here distracted, waiting for each Tweet to find out what is happening with a family I’ve never met, and never will. Thankfully, they are trusting in God’s sovereignty no matter what happens.
I can’t imagine having to deal with the prospect of losing one of my boys. So grateful for them.
When I was in 8th grade I had a wonderful English teacher named Mrs. Daniels. She had beautiful big brown eyes the size of saucers, and hair that was styled with perfect early 80’s big fluffy Farrah Fawcett feathers sprayed to ensure the Texas humidity would not make a dent. We joked good naturedly that you could throw a golf ball into Mrs. Daniels’ hair and lose it. We loved Mrs. Daniels. She stands out as one of my favorite teachers, and not because she made us memorize all the prepositions in alphabetical order… aboard, about, above, across, after, against, along, among, around, at, before, behind… funny how that stuff sticks with you. Mrs. Daniels was a big Zig Ziglar
Here’s what I’m wondering though: do you think we are naturally wired as “half empty” or “half full” kinds of people? Or, is that something that we become depending on the home life we’re raised in? If you think we’re pre-wired, do you think you can overcome your natural wiring and choose to see things differently?
Ok, I just don’t get it. What is all the fuss over Susan Boyle? I mean, she’s got a really nice voice and maybe if she were a little less nervous and that vibrato calmed down, a really awesome voice. Is it just because she’s unattractive? Isn’t that a sad comment on society? That’s the main message I’m taking away from all this hype. The audience booed her because of her appearance when she walked onto the stage. How sad is that? Then everyone suddenly loves her because she can sing, and she’s a world-wide phenomenon and it’s a big love-fest.
This is really not surprising, in a world that values beauty and wealth above all things, but it really shines a spotlight not on Susan Boyle, but on the unbelievably awful tendency of the majority of people to assume that someone’s outward appearance has anything to do with what’s inside waiting to be discovered.
I’ve been busily decorating my walls since we moved in, and had been at sort of a loss as to what to put in the boys’ room. I didn’t want anything too “cute” and don’t care for most of the typical kids room stuff. I finally hit on an idea this weekend and am so excited to have found some awesome vintage artwork in a transportation theme. I could look at vintage posters all day- they’re so beautiful. I already had two Tin Signs
And, this awesome print
and finally, this amazing “Ballooning Over Paris”
How cool is that??? Big J loves “Hot Hair Balloons” as he calls them, so I think he’ll like it.
My parents have become snowbirds, and are down here in the South to escape the Ohio winter. The house they’re staying in has a little toy closet that Big J enjoys raiding. Among the toys are these biblical action figures. They’ve always sort of bothered me for some reason. Not so much the Moses figure, but somehow a Jesus action figure just seems wrong. Here they are, waiting for the Elijah action figure so they can reinact the scene at the Mount of Transfiguration.
I was curious to know if there were other Bible action figures out there, so I checked out Amazon, and sure enough, there are many to choose from. The worst of these was the Deluxe Miracle Jesus
Speaking of transfiguration… it’s about time (well really LONG past time) that I did some transfiguring of my own. I’m trying a new diet. My mother and aunt have had great success with it. It’s called the Idiot Proof Diet. Basically, you choose from a list of foods and it spits out a menu for you of 4 meals a day. You get almost no white stuff (like my beloved potatoes), and it’s designed to keep your body from going into diet mode and hanging onto those unwanted pounds. It’s 11 days on and 3 days off too, so you get to take regular breaks. Sounds pretty good huh? Well, I’ll let you know.
I thought this was an interesting discussion. They’re both difficult, but I think parenting is far more difficult than being a spouse. Maybe this depends on the kids you get and the man you’re married to. What do you think?
