Five Question Friday

1. Did you have a favorite blanket or toy as a kid? If so, do you still have it?

Yes, I sort of did, and yes, I still have it. In fact, my daughter is now very attached to it, and sleeps with it every night. It's really sweet.

2. Do you dream in color?
I think so. I don't recall that my dreams are in black and white, so I assume they're in color?! I don't remember my dreams very much, except when I'm pregnant. :)

3. How tall are you? Do you wish you were shorter or taller?
I'm around 5'7", and I do wish I was taller. I'd like to be...maybe 5'10" or 5'11". But then I might find it annoying because I assume it's hard to find jeans long enough if I was that tall? I have a hard enough time as it is, and I'm just AVERAGE. ;)

But, I am who God made me to be, and I'm learning to embrace that!

4. If you could have anyone's (celeb or other) voice as the guide on your GPS, who would it be?

It's a toss up. Either...

 

Dennis Haysbert. He's one of my and Chris's favorite actors ever since we saw him as David Palmer on 24 (oh, 24...how I love thee and will miss thee!). His voice commands respect.

or as my husband just shared, his choice would be...

 

Maggie Wheeler. You know...Janis off Friends? And Chris just gave an example of what she would say as the GPS guide: "Oh. My. Gosh. You JUST. missed. your turn." I am laughing my BUTT off right now!!

5. Do you return your shopping cart to the corral or leave it wherever in the parking lot?
I always always always bring it to the corral. Always. I'm nice like that. :)

Before & After: Masterpiece

A month or so ago I looked out our window and noticed that God was creating yet another masterpiece in the sky. I loved how bright the moon appearted, despite how tiny it was in the huge expanse of the sky.

I cropped and rotated the photo so the horizon was straight, increased the contrast & saturation, then added a watercolor effect, then a canvas filter (both in my PSE7 standard filters), then rounded the corners.

Make sure you check out the REAL talent over at the Pixel Perfect blog hop!

Site-Seeing

This marriage post is a must-read for any person or couple who desires to have a pure marriage amidst our sex-saturated culture.
http://www.epm.org/blog/2010/Jun/21/pursuing-sexual-purity-your-marriage

If you're like me and you don't get to visit a spa regularly (or, um, ever, as is the case for me), make sure you check out Sarah's recipe for doing your own facial. I cannot WAIT to do this! Hopefully this Sunday!
http://www.kingdomtwindom.com/2010/07/foodie-facials.html

And of course, another amazing post by Ann Voskamp at A Holy Experience.
http://www.aholyexperience.com/2010/07/letters-to-wounded-when-you-wonder.html


Something Beautiful by NeedToBreathe. I love this song. And the video is cool because it's all clips submitted by fans.

The Night I Met a Man Named Mr. Moon

{Note: this post was originally a guest post at my friend Tyler's blog. Be sure to visit her blog and read some of her inspired writing. I promise you'll be glad you did!}


I turn down the bread aisle and scan the shelves for my favorite bread.

What time is it anyway?

7:45. I need to get the kids from Vacation Bible School in 30 minutes. Hurry.

I locate the bread I want, and as I start piling loaves into my cart, the cheerful old man sharing the aisle with me strikes up a conversation....

“You know, my doctor told me I needed to stop eating so much bread because of my high blood pressure. He told me I can only have one slice at breakfast time, but you know that’s just not enough to fill me up…”

He chatters on, and as he’s doing so I notice his unkempt gray beard, his scraggly gray hair, his thin plaid shirt, his raggedy blue suspenders. I smile and exchange pleasantries as he continues on, this time about ice cream, all the while thinking about how I don’t have time for this.

I’m SO going to be late. How do I ditch this guy?

A few moments later, someone I barely know comes walking down the aisle, and I cringe inside.

I hope she doesn’t think I know this man, or that I’m friends with him.

I finally find enough of a break in the man’s stories to excuse myself and wish him a good day. A wave of guilt comes over me, but I shrug it off.

Oh well…I’m a busy mom. I don’t have time to chit chat with him.

I look at the clock and realize I really need to hurry so I’m not late picking up the kids, and I grumble to myself.

Great…a rare hour away by myself, and I have to rush because an old man doesn’t know when to take a hint and stop talking.

I get some beef and ham from the meat counter and head to the last aisle. As I’m loading gallon after gallon of milk into my already full cart, I notice the old man shuffling towards me with his almost-empty cart. He eyes all my groceries, then says with a smile, “It looks like you have a pretty big family.”

“Well, I have a husband and four kids, and two of them are growing boys so this milk’ll be gone in less than a week!” I laugh and busily load more necessities into my cart, hoping he’ll see that I don’t have time to chat. Wrong.

“Oh! Four kids huh?! Well…I’m just an old bachelor…” His voice trails off like he’s ashamed of what he’s just admitted, and I’m not sure how to respond.

I reassure him, “Hey there’s nothing wrong with that either!”

“Yeah…” He stops to think what to say next, or maybe he’s working up the courage to admit a sad truth, but his expression prompts me to slow down - and then stop - so I can listen to this man who has seen so many years. He looks me in the eyes, and with a smile that fails to hide the sadness, he continues, “…but in my old age it sure would be nice to have family around me…”

And for the first time, instead of looking at his eyes, I look into them. I watch as the rims redden and wetness threatens to take over. He blinks and gets nervous, and I do the same. My throat tightens, my nose starts to tingle as I fight back the tears, and I realize that I’m not here to get groceries. I’m here for this man. Or maybe it’s the other way around.

And the words that come out of my mouth surprise me, because I know they aren’t my own, but the Spirit’s.

“Well, you should have dinner with me and my family sometime! Do you live here in town?”

He looks at me as if he hasn’t heard me right. “What?”

I repeat the question, and he tells me he lives in Attica. I smile even bigger as I realize what God is up to. I tell the man that we also live just north of Attica, way out there in the country, and that I’m going to call him and invite him for supper. His humble, quiet response breaks my heart.

“Oh, you wouldn’t want to bother with an old man like me.”

And I look into his eyes, no longer seeing the defects for which I had judged him before, and I tell him gently, “It would be no bother. We’d love to have you. Please…what’s your name so I can call you?”

He shares with me his name - Mr. Moon - and I assure him that I’ll be calling him. He smiles at me, and the look on his face makes me think he’s seen an angel.

I tell him goodbye and as I drive away from the store, I sob. Tears stream down my cheeks.

Tears of regret. How could I have been so judgmental?
Tears of shame. How could my thoughts have been so callous?
Tears of redemption. Thank you, Savior, for a second chance to love that man.
Tears of gratefulness. Thank you, Father, for a family with whom to grow old.
Tears of excitement. Lord, how will You use us in the life of this man? How will You use this man in our lives?
Tears of appreciation. Thank you, God, for helping my blind eyes to see little better tonight.

I think again about the way Mr. Moon looked at me, as if I were an angel. And I wonder. With all that I’ve learned about myself and about the love of God - all because of a brief interaction with this old man – is it possible that he is the angel?

Keep on loving each other as brothers. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. -Hebrews 13:1-2

Or, I wonder, is God showing me how to love someone that I initially deemed unlovable? Is God teaching me how to love “the least of these”?

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'  -Matthew 25:34-45

Tonight, I met a man named Mr. Moon. He needed a bath, a haircut, and new clothes, but that matters not.

For he’s a human being.
With feelings.
A soul.
A heart.
Hope.
Made in the image of Almighty God.
A person.
Just like me.

Before & After: Storm Wall

I took this photo last spring. There was a huge storm wall southeast of our home, and it looked like huge white cumulus clouds were just kind of hanging out right on top. And then the clouds broke and it was blue skies. It was gorgeous!

What I loved about this photo is that it shows how the clouds & storm wall dwarfed the tree and building next to the fields. What I didn't love about the photo is that it had electrical lines cutting right through it. Plus, the colors weren't true-to-life. The color of the sky and the fields...all were so robust and vibrant in real life, and I was disappointed when I uploaded the photo to discover such bland colors. (I was also disappointed with the clarity but until I get a zoom lens, there's not much I can do about that!) So, I tweaked it. :)

(removed electric pole/line using the clone tool, adjusted contrast, increased saturation, added vignette)
Sweet! This is pretty close to what I saw with my eyes that day. The color of the fields versus the storm wall versus the blue sky...all of it just captivated me. What an amazing God we serve!

Make sure you check out the REAL talent over at the Pixel Perfect blog hop!

Goals Progress

I have 14 months left to complete my 90 goals. Ay yi yi!! Here's an update on my progress...

The List:
(Italicized items are in progress. Struck-through items are completed.)

Spiritual/Charity:
1. * Have scripture reading & meditation, and prayer time every day for 30 consecutive days. (2 times) [2/2]
2. Seek out families to bring a meal to. (4 times) [1/4]
3. Lead our family in sending an evangelistic care package to a man or woman serving in the U.S. Armed Forces.
4. * Read through the entire Bible at least once.  (I'm not nearly as far on this one as I should be.)
5. Clean the trash out of the ditches from our house to the end of the gravel road.
6. * Share the gospel with 30 people (can use gospel tracks). [1/30] (Wow. Shameful.)
7. Send 10 cards of encouragement. [6/10]
8. Sponsor a Compassion child. April 2009
9. * Read a chapter in Proverbs to the children each day for 4 weeks. (2 times) [2/2]
10. Unplug (no TV, computer, or radio) for 2 days. (4 times) [1/4] (This one is hard to do when my hubby isn't enthusiastic about it. I'm weak!)
11. Walk/run a race for a good cause. (I have two different races in mind for this fall!)
12. * No complaining AT ALL for 3 consecutive days. (2 times) [0/2] (I'm a complainer, what can I say.)


Marriage:
13. Watch the Lord of the Rings trilogy with Chris (Why is this one in “marriage”? Because if I can suffer through this, then we know that our marriage can withstand ANYTHING! Haha!).
14. Have 10 dates with Chris (can include “home” dates…as long as they are kid-free and fun/romantic). [8/10]
15. * Make Chris’s lunch every day for 4 weeks straight.
16. * Establish regular Bible study and prayer time as a couple.
17. Wash Chris’s feet in an act of love.
18. * No nagging for 7 consecutive days (doesn't count to do this one during a week when he's working crazy hours).


Kids/Family:
19. Take a 5+ day vacation. (This one might not be financially feasible for us for a few years, but we'll see.)
20. * Reinforce chores for 4 weeks straight. (2 times) [2/2]
21. Take a mini-vacation. (2 times) [0/2] (Mini-vacation in t-minus 11 days!)
22. Have 6 one-on-one dates per child. [5/18]
23. * Be 100% consistent in discipline for 7 days. (2 times) [2/2]
24. Have a “girls’ night” with Emmy after she’s turned three. (2 times) [1/2]
25. Go biking at The Lake with the family. (8 times) [0/8]
26. * Don’t raise my voice or show anger at all for 3 consecutive days. (2 times) [2/2]
27. Go camping as a family.
28. Start the boys on music lessons.
29. Enroll the boys in one extracurricular activity per season for one year. [4/4]


Relationships:
30. Get involved in a couple’s Bible study. April 2009
31. Get involved in a women’s Bible study. (I think I'm going to sign up for an online study. It just works better for this season in my life.)
32. Open my home to someone (friend or not) once per week for 4 consecutive weeks. (2 times) [2/2]
33. Have a shopping day with Mom – ALL DAY! – complete with breakfast, lunch, supper, and coffee. (2 times) [0/2]
34. Send an “update letter” to grandparents that we don’t see often, complete with pictures and kids’ creations. (10 times) [4/10]


Financial:
35. Build our Emergency Savings Fund.
36. Reduce unsecured debt by 25% using Dave Ramsey’s plan. (Down 13% so far! This makes me happy!)
37. Get Disability Insurance for Chris.
38. Get better Life Insurance.
39. * Have bi-weekly financial meetings with Chris for 3 months straight.
40. Open a Health Savings Account for me and possibly the kids.
41. Don’t dine out for 1 month.
42. Don’t use the clothes dryer AT ALL for 14 consecutive days (read: use the clothes line. Thought I'd better throw that in there so I'm not tempted to accomplish this goal by letting the laundry pile up!). (2 times) [2/2]


Health/Wellness:
43. Lose the 52 pounds. (Half-way there!)
44. Run a 10K or more. (Next spring, I think. Not sure if I could swing a 10K this fall.)
45. * Work out 30 minutes, 5 times a week, for one month straight.
46. * No soda for 30 days. (2 times) [0/2] (Tried, failed, tried, failed, tried, failed. But I'll keep trying!)
47. * No sugar/carbs for 2 weeks. (2 times) [0/2] (I've technically removed this one from my list. I don't physically handle no sugar/carbs well, so what's the point?)
48. Have a yearly physical exam. (2 times) [0/2]
49. * Take my multi-vitamin daily for 4 weeks.
50. Learn how to make a GOOD homemade whole wheat bread.
51. Learn how to make a GOOD homemade pizza.
52. * Try “Whole Foods Only” for 30 days.


School:
53. Start teaching the boys either Latin or Spanish.
54. Make 30 new learning centers or learning books. [2/30]  (Hoping to get quite few done before we start up full-time school in September.)
55. Take 15 field trips. [3/15] (We'll be buying a yearly family membership pack to a local Science Center/Zoo/History "Museum". I'm so excited about it!)
56. Find a History/Geography curriculum we like.
57. Teach Emmersyn how to read. (She's all about this one!)


Homemaking:
58. * Stay on top of laundry for 1 week straight (Laundry washed the same day a full load is available, and folded & put away within 24 hours of being washed. Doesn’t include partial loads.) (4 times) [2/4]
59. Organize my recipes. Completed 2009.04.13
60. * Do 30-day “make ahead” meals for 3 consecutive months. (Not doing 30-day meals anymore as it just wasn't working for our family schedule.)
61. Finish hanging wall décor.
62. Plant evergreen trees.
63. Try 5 new vegetables. [0/5]
64. Plant a garden. Completed 2009.05.03
65. * Make bed every day for a month.
66. Make a detailed house cleaning schedule. Completed 2009.05.05
67. Plant 10 new bushes/perennials in our yard. [0/10]
68. Shampoo the carpet on the stairs. (Might not do this one as we're hoping to replace the carpet soon. We'll see.)
69. * Have supper on the table by 5:30 p.m. for 10 consecutive days. (2 times) [0/2]


Intellectual Growth:
70. Read 10 Pulitzer Prize-winning novels. [4/10] (I'm really enjoying this one!)
71. Re-read/study the Constitution.
72. Re-read/study the Declaration of Independence.
73. Read newspaper from front to back (excluding sports/comics). (5 times) [3/5]


Misc:
74. Finish each of the kids’ “first-year” scrapbooks. [0/4] (I'm actually going to sell all my scrapbooking stuff because I finally admitted to myself that scrapbooking will never happen for me. But I AM hoping to digital scrapbook their first year.)
75. Start and finish Chris’s Marine Corps scrapbook.
76. Finish and legalize our wills.
77. Take household inventory for insurance purposes.
78. Sell or give away “the pile” of stuff in the basement. (Just when I come close to finishing this one, I purge more and the pile grows again.)
79. Paint kitchen ceiling.
80. Get our honeymoon photos developed & put into an album. (I can't seem to locate my film rolls...hmmm...)
81. Put the kids’ greeting cards into scrapbooks. [4/4]
82. * Back up important files/photos at least bi-monthly. [15/15] Installed Carbonite, which automatically backs up everything!
83. * Keep inside of van clean for 30 days.


Just for Fun:
84. Get my old blog put into “book format”.
85. Get this blog put into “book format” for the year 2008.
86. Dress up with the kids for trick-or-treating.
87. Practice shooting Chris’s pistol. (6 times) [0/6]
88. Go to Red Lobster with Chris.
89. Blog every day for 30 consecutive days.
90. Make my own custom blog background.

Site-Seeing

Here are some links I've found recently that I thought were worth sharing:


If you don't read Ann Voskamp's blog, you're really missing out on a blessing.  I thought this one was so beautiful. This one is excellent too. I promise you'll be glad you read them!

"Whatever Floats Your Tote" has these ADORABLE little girls' dresses (and more). You can find them on Facebook and on Etsy (but the Etsy shop doesn't have any of the dresses as of today...shoot!). I love the twirly dresses and want to buy some coordinating (but not MATCHING) ones for the girls!

My friend Tyler shared this link on Facebook yesterday, and I just had to share it too. Kalyn's Secret is a book that releases TODAY. Here's a snippet from the website:

From sexual abuse to teenage rebellion and teen addictions such as cutting, depression, suicide and eating disorders, our children need our help. Parents and Teens can find help with Kalyn's Secret. The battle for our children is real and the trials our teens and children face are devastating.

I'm not a parent of a teenager yet, but I know many of you are. Make sure you watch the video at the top of their website. Wow.

This song has been out for quite awhile but I just love it. It is so powerful, and maybe a little dangerous because every time I hear it on the radio while I'm driving I just want to close my eyes and lift my head towards heaven and worship! :)

Five Question Friday

1. Do you collect anything?
Um, dust.

Oh wait, that probably doesn't count. Hmmm...I have a collection of Willow Tree figurines and Precious Moments but I don't really collect them anymore per se. So maybe that doesn't count either. Hmmm...

Books. I'm intentionally trying to collect good quality literature to use in our future years of homeschooling. So that's what I collect.

I know...I'm way cool... :)

2. Name 3 celebrities that you find good looking.
Britt Nicole, Francesca Battistelli, Natalie Grant. (Can you tell that I'm totally clueless when it comes to celebrities? I just named three female Christian vocalists that I know and think are pretty!)

3. Do you have any scars? If so, what's the story behind it/them?
I have a surgery scar from when I had a hernia as a wittle bitty baby. And I also have a scar on my toe - the one next to my left pinky toe. The scar goes all the way around my foot, and I've also had that one (the scar, and I guess the foot too) since I was a wittle bitty baby. The story behind that one is kind of bizarre actually. My mom noticed a hair very tightly wrapped around my teeny tiny little toe, and it was so tightly wrapped that it had actually cut into the skin. Apparently it was almost all the way down to the bone, thus the scar. I had to go to the hospital and everything. Isn't that weird?


4. What is a food that you like to eat, but others might think it's gross or weird?
I can't think of anything. at. all.  Ramen noodles? Medium rare steak? Peanut butter pickle sandwiches? McDonald's french fries?  I like all those but they're not all that weird or gross. I guess I'm kind of boring.

My husband likes alligator. And he's eaten bugs and drank his own urine (though he didn't necessarily enjoy either one). And now I feel the need to clarify that my husband is a former U.S. Marine and he ate/drank those things in survival school. That might be a post in and of itself. :)


5. Have you ever seen a tornado in real life?
I haven't seen a tornado on the ground or anything but I did see a funnel cloud this summer. I'd really like to see a tornado in person, as long as it's not coming towards me or my husband & children. Or anyone else's children. Or anyone. I just think the power behind a tornado is unreal...and to think that God is infinitely more powerful? Whoa.


Check out all the other answers at Mama M's blog!

Before & After: Walk with Daddy

I took this photo of the kids walking down the road with Daddy a couple months ago. This photo triggers an emotional response for me, and the "finish" of the photo doesn't match my emotions. So I tweaked it a bit:

I'm really blessed... :)

Make sure you check out the REAL talent over at Pixel Perfect's blog hop!

Five Question Friday

1. What is one food you could eat everyday?
Ice cream. Or chocolate. Or pasta. All very healthy choices, no?


2. Are you working in the career you thought you would be when you were 18?
Um, NO. Before I had kids, I thought I'd be a working mom. In fact, I thought I'd be a computer programmer making six digits, blah blah blah. What can I say...my priorities were a bit off. :)

The moment I met my first-born son, I knew I was meant to be a stay-at-home mom. The very idea of leaving him to go to work made me feel ill, so I didn't. And I've never, not once, ever regretted that decision. It's the hardest job I've had, but the most blessed.


3. What is something that you wish you would have done when you were younger and you didn't?
Travel. I wish I would have gone on as many overseas mission trips as possible. Maybe God's saving those opportunities for my golden years?


4. What color are your kitchen walls?
February Gold. Which I don't understand, because what does gold have to do with February?  And I'm sick of the color already. Actually, I'm ready to repaint almost every room in my house, and when I shared that with Chris, he wasn't surprised, and then reminded me that about 1-2 years after I've painted the walls in every room in every house we've owned, I've been ready to change it. It's a sickness. But hey, I look at these walls 18 hours a day. Can you blame me? ;)


5. Do you remember what your very first favorite song was?
Oh yes. Yes, I do. Born in the U.S.A. by the Boss himself. At the time I had no clue what the words really meant.  Anyway here it is (not much of a video). You're welcome.
 
 
 

Join in the 5QF fun over at Mama M's blog!
 

Book Review: Same Kind of Different As Me

The book, Same Kind of Different As Me, is by far one of the best books I have ever read. The style of writing changes from one author to the other, and it transported me, making me feel like I was listening to the authors themselves speak. This is an amazing true story that has taught me so much about myself, not because it is preachy, but because it is inspired. I’ve had certain prejudices and preconceived notions towards the really wealthy (like Ron Hall) and the homeless (like Denver Moore), and after reading this book I realize how very wrong I’ve been.

I wept through the entire book: for the depravity of life; for my ignorance; for my own judgments; for the amazing power of God Almighty; for the darkness that is contained in this earth; for the light that still shines forth; for loving the "unlovable"; for redemption; for restoration; for transformation.

The final paragraph truly sums up the moral of this book, and of this life: “The truth about it is, whether we is rich or poor or somethin in between, this earth ain’t no final restin place. So in a way, we is all homeless – just workin our way toward home.” I cry again just typing it.

This book is an instant classic, in my opinion, and I will read it with my children one day when they're older. I will highly recommend this book to everyone I know, because the world needs to read stories of hope, just like this one.

Disclosure: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze book review program. All opinions expressed herein are mine.