It's been a while since I've been on here. Every once in a while, when I start to feel too vulnerable on a blog, I seem to withdraw. It might not appear vulnerable to others, but merely my perception of myself. Therefore, I've been off for a while.
Today however, I was perusing FB for a while and came across a number of 'arguments'... I put that in quotes because they probably weren't arguing as much as sharing very opposing views of various topics. However, that kind of stuff just bothers me. I think sometimes that I spend so much time not trying to offend anyone that I may be missing my calling as a follower of Christ. But at the same time, I just wish we could all get along. It reminds me of that song "Why can't we be friends?". I feel like most people I know and am friends with that are not Christians have made it pretty clear they don't want to hear anything about Jesus and therefore, I usually don't share anything than the normal happenings in my life and things that I normally give glory to God for. Don't get me wrong, people know I'm a Christian, but they never have that "I want what she has" mentality.
It bothers me to see America as a whole so divided on so many issues. The bible says, "If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand." Mark 3:24. My father once got an email about the similarities between America and the Roman Empire... of course, relating to how the Roman Empire fell. It was interesting to note the similarities between us and history. I just wonder, if America keeps heading in this direction, what will we end up with? What will our children end up with? It's interesting too to note that America isn't really found in the bible. People have made speculations about certain phrases etc, but it's not "clearly" in there. All this division just has me deep in thought.
What should I be doing? That's my thought for tonight and my prayer for the near future.
Monday, July 30, 2012
Saturday, July 7, 2012
A Personal Gift
Many years ago, a close friend of mine gave me a very special gift for a birthday. Because she knew it was my favorite dessert, she simply made me a plate of Rice Krispie Treats. It was such a small act, but it meant so much to me. Even to this day, I remember it as one of the best birthday gifts I ever got. It showed that she really knew me and wasn't concerned about money or anything, but wanted to get me a gift that I would love. Something personal.
Tonight I was sitting watching TV in my living room. One of my twin boys was scared, so I let him come sleep on the couch by me. A few hours later, the other twin woke up and wanted to know why he wasn't allowed to sleep on the couch. As I was holding him in my arms and watching the other one asleep on the couch, I was overcome with gratitude. When God gave me twins, He gave me such a personal gift. I have always had this fascination with twins. I kind of assumed it was in everyone, and to some point I think it is. When I married my husband, an identical twin, I thought it was ironic. I put some sort of connection between my fascination and the fact that I ended up marrying Him. Knowing God and that He has a plan for me, it's very easy to put a connection there.
Once I started having kids, I wanted twins, more for the fact that it was a "two for one" sale. Two babies, nine months, what could be more perfect? When it didn't happen the first or second pregnancy, I thought it just wasn't going to happen. I'm not even sure I expected it with the first or second, but I think I had my hopes up that one day the doctor would say, "oh look, it's twins". It wasn't the slightest bit of an expectation by my fourth pregnancy. If anything, we were having a fourth to even things up and be done.
The point is, I feel like they are such a gift from God. Not just a blessing like other things, but a personal gift suited just to my personality straight from God. Just like those Rice Krispie Treats given to me for my birthday.
What a personal and amazing God He is. It's amazing when you feel like God, the creator of the universe, has reached down from heaven and done, or spoken, or given something directly to you. You! A measly speck in the span of all time. He is amazing and worthy to be praised!
Tonight I was sitting watching TV in my living room. One of my twin boys was scared, so I let him come sleep on the couch by me. A few hours later, the other twin woke up and wanted to know why he wasn't allowed to sleep on the couch. As I was holding him in my arms and watching the other one asleep on the couch, I was overcome with gratitude. When God gave me twins, He gave me such a personal gift. I have always had this fascination with twins. I kind of assumed it was in everyone, and to some point I think it is. When I married my husband, an identical twin, I thought it was ironic. I put some sort of connection between my fascination and the fact that I ended up marrying Him. Knowing God and that He has a plan for me, it's very easy to put a connection there.
Once I started having kids, I wanted twins, more for the fact that it was a "two for one" sale. Two babies, nine months, what could be more perfect? When it didn't happen the first or second pregnancy, I thought it just wasn't going to happen. I'm not even sure I expected it with the first or second, but I think I had my hopes up that one day the doctor would say, "oh look, it's twins". It wasn't the slightest bit of an expectation by my fourth pregnancy. If anything, we were having a fourth to even things up and be done.
The point is, I feel like they are such a gift from God. Not just a blessing like other things, but a personal gift suited just to my personality straight from God. Just like those Rice Krispie Treats given to me for my birthday.
What a personal and amazing God He is. It's amazing when you feel like God, the creator of the universe, has reached down from heaven and done, or spoken, or given something directly to you. You! A measly speck in the span of all time. He is amazing and worthy to be praised!
Heat Wave!!
After a week of 90+ temps and sitting through a little league baseball game this afternoon, I am so thankful for air conditioning. We live on the second floor of a house and have a window air conditioning unit for the main living space of our house. In temps like these, it barely keeps up, but even still, I am thankful! It's a roaster out there today!
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I was sitting at the computer the other day next to one of my sons, when he asks, "What is sex?". I immediately am thinking, where did this question come from!!! Then I noticed that the computer was on the homepage for Facebook and on the main page are the fields to register. One of them is 'sex', referring to gender. WHEW!! Tough question averted!!! Made me laugh afterwards!
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I have officially been asked by one of my children to no longer share stories about them. At first, I was like, really??, but I want to honor their request, individuality, and dignity, so I will oblige. I have a good friend to tries to tell all her stories in a gender neutral way without identifying which child, and now I can better understand why. I will try resorting to that on my posts.
It's interesting, because when I heard this request, I thought about the book of Luke. When reading the first few chapters of Luke, I was struck by how many times it said "And Mary hid these things in her heart". I didn't understand why it emphasized that so much. I think Mary realized there would be a proper time to share stories about what was happening with her and her Son. Just as this child has requested me not to share stories, in their proper time, they may not mind as much. They will understand that I share stories because they were cute and not to embarrass them. Probably not totally related, but that's what it made me think of.
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We celebrated a great fourth of July. A friend invited us over for back yard fireworks from their neighbor. Everyone was raving about how great this guy's show was and that it rivaled any city fireworks they had seen. We went and checked it out. After getting completely poured on for a little bit in a heat storm, we got to see the show. Wow!!! It really was as good as everyone said. This guy must put quite a bit of money into this every year. We were thankful that the kids got to see some fireworks (after our city fireworks got rained out the previous night) and enjoy it with close friends!!
Guess that's all for now.... until next time!
___________________________________
I was sitting at the computer the other day next to one of my sons, when he asks, "What is sex?". I immediately am thinking, where did this question come from!!! Then I noticed that the computer was on the homepage for Facebook and on the main page are the fields to register. One of them is 'sex', referring to gender. WHEW!! Tough question averted!!! Made me laugh afterwards!
__________________________________
I have officially been asked by one of my children to no longer share stories about them. At first, I was like, really??, but I want to honor their request, individuality, and dignity, so I will oblige. I have a good friend to tries to tell all her stories in a gender neutral way without identifying which child, and now I can better understand why. I will try resorting to that on my posts.
It's interesting, because when I heard this request, I thought about the book of Luke. When reading the first few chapters of Luke, I was struck by how many times it said "And Mary hid these things in her heart". I didn't understand why it emphasized that so much. I think Mary realized there would be a proper time to share stories about what was happening with her and her Son. Just as this child has requested me not to share stories, in their proper time, they may not mind as much. They will understand that I share stories because they were cute and not to embarrass them. Probably not totally related, but that's what it made me think of.
_________________________________
We celebrated a great fourth of July. A friend invited us over for back yard fireworks from their neighbor. Everyone was raving about how great this guy's show was and that it rivaled any city fireworks they had seen. We went and checked it out. After getting completely poured on for a little bit in a heat storm, we got to see the show. Wow!!! It really was as good as everyone said. This guy must put quite a bit of money into this every year. We were thankful that the kids got to see some fireworks (after our city fireworks got rained out the previous night) and enjoy it with close friends!!
Guess that's all for now.... until next time!
Monday, July 2, 2012
I love change!
Yes, I am a person who loves change. I like to change things up just for changing's sake. Right now I'm trying to figure out how to better organize our clothes and all the in-between sizes that are stored and sorting laundry etc. I'm contemplating changing our walk-in closet into a family dressing room like the Duggars have. (I have not seen the Duggars, although I have heard from friends many times about it). The nice thing about our closet is that it used to have a hallway entrance as well as an entrance from our room. I think at one time it might have been a baby nursery. We closed up the hallway entrance when we were living in just the upstairs part of my parents house, pre-addition, because we needed a pantry desparately. We currently use that closet as a linen closet, but we actually have 3 linen closets in the house, so we can easily eliminate one. Only problem is there is "stuff" stored in the closet currently that would have to go somewhere in order to make all the clothes fit.
I'm also contemplating teaching piano lessons. I keep going back and forth on this decision, but I'm closer than ever to making the dive in to do it. This decision would require emptying out my office/school book room to put the piano in there for teaching. In order to find a place for the desk and book shelves to go, I was contemplating moving my boys rooms into our existing office/toy room, so all four boys would be in one room, moving my daughter to my older boys room and making the two bedrooms (my daughters current and twins current) office and school room space. This would require basically moving our entire house around. Hmm... I wonder how thrilled my husband will be about this??? LOL. We actually don't have all that much furniture, but still moving things around just gets crazy. We'll see. Maybe I'll spread it out over time.
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On another note, I am cooking bacon right now for cabbage and noodles for lunch. YUM!! In order to not get grease all over my clothes, I'm wearing an apron. I don't normally wear an apron in the kitchen so when I do, it makes me feel so domestic. Don't know why but it does and I love that feeling!!!
I'm also contemplating teaching piano lessons. I keep going back and forth on this decision, but I'm closer than ever to making the dive in to do it. This decision would require emptying out my office/school book room to put the piano in there for teaching. In order to find a place for the desk and book shelves to go, I was contemplating moving my boys rooms into our existing office/toy room, so all four boys would be in one room, moving my daughter to my older boys room and making the two bedrooms (my daughters current and twins current) office and school room space. This would require basically moving our entire house around. Hmm... I wonder how thrilled my husband will be about this??? LOL. We actually don't have all that much furniture, but still moving things around just gets crazy. We'll see. Maybe I'll spread it out over time.
___________________________
On another note, I am cooking bacon right now for cabbage and noodles for lunch. YUM!! In order to not get grease all over my clothes, I'm wearing an apron. I don't normally wear an apron in the kitchen so when I do, it makes me feel so domestic. Don't know why but it does and I love that feeling!!!
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