Everyday Spectacular

Imperfections. Ramblings. Life to the Full.

18 May 2012
4 Comments

National Security

After 15 years of crossing back and forth between the Canada and US border, you would think I would have this down by now.

And, really, I’ve come a long way since my “I’m in the process of becoming a landed immigrant in Canada” days, which were quite nerve-wracking as I always feared I would be denied entry back into Canada and forced to be separated from my husband indefinitely. (Which might be a good made-for-tv-movie, but not exactly the life I had been hoping for.)

I’ve been asked lots and lots of questions by border officials over the years, and on some occasions, I’ve been asked absolutely no questions at all, which is perhaps a bit frightening when you think about it.

In March, my husband realized he had been traveling back and forth across the border on an expired passport for close to a year, with NOT ONE comment from any of the dozen or so customs officials that he had contact with during that time frame.

Then this week I crossed the border for some grocery shopping without the kids and this is what happened to me…

I pull up to the booth and hand the official my passport. He scrutinizes it and then asks to see some additional ID, because MY HAIR IS DIFFERENT NOW THAN IN MY PASSPORT PHOTO.

I then had to launch into a detailed description of how the bangs in the photo just didn’t work for me and the color was a bit dark too.

OYE-VEY. I ramble when I get nervous.

Yes, it’s true, my hair is a matter of national security, but my husband is allowed to travel freely with an expired passport.

I just thought you should know.

Posted in Life, Random and tagged , ,
04 May 2012
11 Comments

Do what you can do

I’ve really wanted to write something, anything, on here to inform the world that my little life has changed again, but wasn’t sure I was allowed to. No, I haven’t joined some freaky religious cult or the CIA, but I have entered into new territory, for sure. This new “thing” is surrounded by lots of guidelines, rules and privacy, but apparently I am allowed to discuss my experience without giving too many specific details. SO……

I AM OFFICIALLY A FOSTER MOM!!!

WE ARE A FOSTER FAMILY!!!!

This process has been over a year in the works and much longer in my heart before we ever officially knocked on the door of The Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton and said, “What do we need to do to care for children that really need a home?”.

There have been lots of hoops to jump through and at times I have wondered if there would ever be an end to all the interviews, training, and safety checks. I have continued to see the notices in our local paper that the CAS is in desperate need of foster parents, and found myself thinking, “We’re right here!” I have prayed, “God, when will this process be DONE already?”.  I have kept my excitement at arm’s length for over 13 months, trying to patiently (ahem) accept that these things take time.

And now, She is here. And She is absolutely the one we were meant to have first. I brought her home from the hospital just days after her birth, marveling that her name means “God’s messenger”, knowing  that when I look at her I am seeing God’s hand at work in her life and ours.

But here’s the thing. I’m sort of getting annoyed about something, something I didn’t anticipate….the response of all those I come into contact with that are oohhing and aahhing over Her and then turn to me and say emphatically over and over again, “I could never do that.” or “I could never give her up after having her from birth like that.”  or “It’s going to be so difficult when she goes.” or “This is going to be so tough on your family.”

I am kind in my responses. I am, I promise.

But in my head, I get onto my soapbox and want to say, “Well, I didn’t become a foster mom because I thought, “I will have no trouble giving up a child, I’m pretty calloused and aloof with my own kids, so, hey why not?” NO, OF COURSE NOT!

I really want to tell these people that it’s time we start making decisions not based on our fears of the future, but on our faith in our God.

If you are a Christian, if the spirit of the living God dwells inside you, if the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead inflates your mortal body, then I have some good news for you…

YOU CAN DO HARD THINGS.

Yes, you.

You don’t have to stay on the path of least resistance. In fact, the Bible pretty clearly says that life is hard and that we shouldn’t seek to isolate ourselves from troubles and difficulties. Those nuisances are simply part of living on this planet, but we do not need to live in FEAR of them. When the Bible says in Romans that we are more than conquerors, I am pretty sure it means we have been equipped to go out and fight and win some difficult battles. How else can we conquer something unless there is struggle and learning and challenge?

I will most likely be a wreck when the time comes for Her to move on from our home.  Absolutely. But I would not trade these moments of caring for Her in for a more comfortable, safe life. I am choosing to believe the Word of God that says I can do ALL things, even this, through Christ who strengthens me.

She is my starfish, my first one (http://www.starrbrite.com/starfish.html), and this makes a difference for Her. Thank you, Jesus, for your strengthening. I am so honored to have Her.

I don’t think foster parenting is for everyone. (Although, if you think it might be for you, BY ALL MEANS, contact your Children’s Aid office immediately! Oh, the need is so great.)

But I can’t help but think that Jesus might be asking you,  ”Then what WILL you do, if not this?”

We can do hard things. We just have to stop thinking we can’t.

Please, do what you can do.

Posted in Life and tagged , , ,
11 Apr 2012
3 Comments

Burned

Last night I asked my husband if he would be interested in an Americano and a little treat. He said, not surprisingly, “SURE!”

I stuck some break and bake cookies in the oven and decided to make them into giant cookies of 4 each instead of breaking them completely apart.

Then I set about preparing his specialty drink with our fancy espresso machine. This is as close to being a barista as I will probably ever come and the least I can do is make his drink the way he likes it.

(Yes, I suppose I was seeking extra wife-points. I’m not ashamed.)

As the cookies were nearing completion, I got the idea to up-the-ante and make the cookies into sundaes with ice cream and chocolate sauce as a lovely surprise for my belly, er, I mean, Jeff’s belly.

I pulled out a new jar of chocolate sundae sauce and decided to warm some of it up in the microwave. I found a small white ramiken, scooped the sauce in and then popped it in the microwave for 30 seconds.

Then I reached in, eager to build my masterpieces, and grabbed the cup of sauce.

As I was making the journey from microwave to counter, my brain, all delayed-reaction-like, registered the SCALDING object in my hand. When recognition was complete, my hand tried to get rid of the cup as quickly as possible, which only resulted in chocolate sauce mass-exiting the cup and repositioning all over my hand.

Much screaming and crying ensued from this point on, and I will spare you the details of  my poor response to pain, the blisters on my thumb, and the details of my night spent trying to sleep on the couch while keeping my hand submerged in cool water so as to avoid the continual feeling of my hand being ON FIRE.

No, no. You don’t need to know THOSE details.

What you do need to know is this…

1. My husband was very sweet to me through all of it.

and

2. It’s official…Chocolate can be hazardous to your health.

Posted in Life and tagged , ,
01 Apr 2012
1 Comment

Donna-Hey!!!!!

My parents are ridiculously generous towards us. I tell them often, you don’t really have to be so amazing towards us, but they love to be a blessing. So, by now, after years of this spoiling, I have decided to just graciously, humbly accept their gifts.

The latest blessing was a Spring Break trip for the four of us Johnstons with the two of them, the doting grandparents. We flew down to Miami and then did a four night cruise on the Carnival Destiny. Jeff and I love cruising. LOVE IT. But we have always cruised without the kids, and so I couldn’t wait to take them on their first cruise. And I have to say, it was more amazing than I had even hoped for. Not only did we get to spend time with my parents, but the kids were extremely well-behaved, and they adored everything about the experience, especially their beds that had come down from the ceiling and the towel animals.

The cruise stopped at the port of Cozumel one of the days and we went to swim with the dolphins. This is one of those experiences that just sounds so unbelievably COOL, but yet had previously been on my “Something-I-will-only-do-if-one-of-my-children-is with-me-And-probably-only-if-someone-else-pays-the-fee” list.

(What? You don’t have one of these lists?!?!?)

It was my lucky day. I had both of my children with me and my money got to stay in my wallet, so dolphin-swimming it was.

Carter and Grandpa went first and we watched as they did all sorts of tricks with the dolphins. They even got to lay on a small boogie-board and then the dolphin pushed them back to the rest of the group. My face was in a perma-grin watching my son fist-pumping excitedly over and over.

When it was time for Mykah and I to get into the water, I was praying she would be ok. She tends to need some time to warm up to new experiences and people, so this was quite a bit out of her comfort zone. And let’s be honest, any time I have to get into a swimsuit, I am quite a bit out of my comfort zone too.

We were in a group with only one other lady and we were given a female trainer who took us to spend time with a baby dolphin, Donna-hey (okay, that’s probably not how THEY spell it, but that’s the best I can do!)

I’m thinking thoughts of “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Embrace every single minute of this. Share this special moment with your daughter to the fullest.”

Then a little while later as I am standing on the slimy platform in the water amidst small swimming fish, holding up Mykah because she couldn’t comfortably stand up, “Ok, this was not exactly what I was expecting.” But we shook Donna-Hey’s fins and kissed her and offered up our cheeks for her return kisses. Mykah was pretty quiet, but I could tell she was proud of herself for what she was participating in.

And then the TRUE once-in-a-lifetime-experience occurred.

Donna-Hey was upside down so we could see her underside again.

Our trainer was distracted by something momentarily and had turned away from us.

“Ummmmmmm….excuse me,.” I say while waving my free hand that was not wrapped around Mykah’s waist. “Is that what I think it is?”

Oh yes.

Our sweet baby dolphin was POOPING.

And then the trainer just smiled apologetically while swishing and swirling “it” around in the water, not 12 inches in front of us.

Now, I ask you…How many people do you know that can say they paid to watch a dolphin poop?

One.

You now know one.

 

Posted in Life and tagged , , ,
29 Feb 2012
4 Comments

Crazies

I recently found myself defending my Pentecostal views in terms of “I try to avoid crazy at all costs.” What I was trying to explain was that I think things in church should be done in an orderly manner (1 Corinthians 14:40) and that there have been a tremendous amount of abuses in charismatic circles over the years that have made a lot of people leery of anything that has to do with the supernatural.

But the more I think about it, the more I find that, while a bit humorous, my own statement isn’t really accurate.

Because as much as I don’t want to be labeled “crazy”, I’m thinking that maybe that’s exactly what I am. I do believe in order in the church and in avoiding the abuses that I have seen over the years, but I understand that what I really do believe makes me quite the minority in today’s society.

I believe in salvation through Christ alone.

I believe in a God that comes and dwells within me, and that having the power that raised Jesus from the dead in me, absolutely changes the way I am. (Romans 8)

While not a “requirement” for salvation, I believe that people today can have an Acts 2:4 experience in which “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues  as the Spirit enabled them.” (I experienced this for myself for the first time over 20 years ago, and this prayer language is still as mysterious to me now as it was then.)

I believe that healing through Jesus can and does still happen in our day.

I believe in heaven and hell, and a whole lot of other unpopular things the Bible addresses.

Being me just may be the new crazy. And I guess I’m going to have to be ok with that because the more I study the Bible and invite Jesus into my every-days, the more I realize He is asking me to live a crazy-life for him.

Matthew 16:24-25 “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.  For whoever wants to save their life  will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.”

Posted in Life and tagged ,
17 Feb 2012

The audit

This week has found me spending a lot of time with a new man in my life… the auditor assigned to the Kingsview 2011 financial audit.

Somehow along the way I have become the person that is “in charge” of all the day-to-day financial goings-on at the church. There are lots of safeguards in place and double-checking by the church treasurer, so it’s not weird that the pastor’s wife is filling this position. And thankfully, I don’t have anything to do with anyone’s individual giving records. I am not the tithe-police, thank you, Jesus.

No, I don’t have a long extensive accounting background, although I did work in the Trust department of a bank for a short stint over a decade ago, doing important work like filing and entering figures into spreadsheets that I could not explain.

I think I got this current Kingsview gig because I work cheap. As in, I work for free. Zero. Zilch. Nada.

I also do a pretty good job. (Just being honest, folks.)

But this is the Week of Reckoning.

And I cannot be the only one out there that gets a little nervous at the prospect of all my hard work being exposed and questioned and laid bare.

I think it went ok though. The man that came and exposed, questioned and laid bare the books was a really nice guy. He was wearing a nice suit but driving an old jeep, so I decided that maybe after he gets home from his day job, he eats chips, Facebooks and has a sense of humor.

And let’s be honest, I use humor in most situations that I can get away with it. And while I never felt like I could inject humor into the 2010 auditor’s visit, I decided to use a little with the 2011 guy.

So I said, “Hey, I bet being a pastor’s wife is a lot like being an auditor…you don’t want anyone to find out because they treat you differently after that.”

I am happy to report that I made the auditor smile and that there may have even been a small laugh trailing along behind.

No matter what happens now with the books and the official reports, I think it’s safe to say my work here is done.

And now I have a full year to work on my material for the 2012 audit guy.

 

 

 

Posted in Life and tagged , , | Leave a Comment
31 Jan 2012
4 Comments

Flawed

I have been so excited to start the new Bible Study at Kingsview with the 50+ ladies that have signed up.

Yes, I said 50+.

Is that even possible for a church our size?

Anyway, I’ve been so humbled and excited that so many women are ready to start creaking open parts of their Bibles that they may not have even known were in there. We are going to be studying the book of Daniel which is a bit intimidating and scary, in my opinion. I am so glad that Beth Moore will be teaching the material and that I don’t have to have all the answers. I am ready to learn.

The video we watched on opening night last night (ok, in all honesty, I got to watch only 10 minutes of this video, but more on that in a minute.), had Beth saying that if we do this study and put the thought and effort and time in to really ingest the material, we are guaranteed to be smarter by the end of the course.

Well, I need to be smarter., that’s for sure.

(Wait, is it “smarter”? Or “More smart”? Or “Less dumb”?….See, I NEED this.)

Here’s just the latest in why I KNOW that I need to be smarter:

I ordered 43 members and picked them up on January 19th.  (I have since then also placed a second book order because I can do the math…43 books will not work for 50+ ladies!)

So these books have been in the box (that I was given when I picked them up) in the office since then, just crying out for the ladies to come and get them and get smarter.

Only last night did I realize that the crying from the box has not been, “Oh, ladies, we can’t wait to come out of this box and enrich your life!”

The crying, had I listened, was actually, “Hey, Carrie, how can you possibly think that there are 43 big member books in this box!? Perhaps you should COUNT us.”

Oh, yes, at 6:40 last night I realize that I was only given 23 of my books.

Can anyone sympathize with me? Just for a second?

You should see these women that I have to face in the other room…chomping at the bit to start this Bible study, throwing their $20′s at me, snatching books from the table…and now there are 20 less books to snatch.

And, here’s the real problem. Even though I called the store where I had ordered the books and they found my other box in the backroom, I was already over the edge.

I don’t think I handled it very well.

I was snippy and stressy and short with all the lovely ladies who were re-assuring me that it would all be ok.

I didn’t start the night on time.

I messed up the announcements. (Um, yeah, I talked all about the FOOD for the upcoming retreat I want the ladies to attend, without really talking about the conference itself.)

I did not create a very welcoming atmosphere.

Then I also couldn’t get the DVD player/projector working, which didn’t help the whole “I-feel-like-I-am-having-an-anxiety-overload.”

The good news is that I finally did get the video going, drove to Burlington to claim my long-lost, though just-recently-noticed-their-MIA-status, books and returned to the church in time to make sure all 20 were handed out so the ladies could begin their homework this week.

I am such a mess. So terribly flawed. So obviously in need in grace.

Thank you, Jesus, that you are making me more smarter/less dumb all the time.

But I just have to ask, does it have to be so PUBLIC all the time!?

But I get it. I do.

THIS, all of this amazing-ness that is happening at our church, is SO not about me.

Thank you for choosing to let me lead. I am so unworthy. So humbled. So in need.

 

Posted in Life and tagged ,
27 Jan 2012
2 Comments

Books

Back in 2006 I decided that my New Year’s resolution would be to read 100 books. I don’t usually make resolutions and I don’t remember why I thought 100 was a do-able goal, but that year I read 97 books. I didn’t quite reach my lofty goal, but I came a lot closer than if there had been no goal in the first place. Since that first year of charting my reading, I haven’t actually set a number goal for myself, but I still keep track of the books I’ve read. These books are always a combination of Christian living books, Bible studies, parenting and financial books, and lots of fiction thrown in because I love getting lost in a good story.

In 2011, I was surprised to see that I ended up reading a total of 63 books, not including all the little-kid books that also flow freely around here.

These are my top ten+ reads for the year…Just in case you were looking for some recommendations for your 2012 list.

1. Crazy Love by Francis Chan (I had heard this was a “must-read” and it lives up to that status, in my opinion.)

2. The Total Money Makover  by Dave Ramsey (yes, we are drinking the kool-aid. It tastes good.)  I also read Entre Leadership which was fantastic too.

3. My Bangs Look Good and Other Lies I tell Myself by Susanna Foth Aughtman

4. The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs (I don’t think most Christians I know would like this book, but I liked it. So there.)

5. The Help by Kathyrn Stockett

6. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

7. The Bible Story – Volumes 1 (and Volume 2 was completed this year too and was equally good) by Arthur Maxwell (These are the Bible stories I am reading through with Carter. They are teaching ME.)

8. Parenting Beyond your Capacity by Reggie Joiner and Carey Nieuwhof

9. Out of the Spin Cycle by Jen Hatmaker

10 (& 11 &12). The Hunger Games Trilogy (again, not sure these are for everyone, but I truly enjoyed them.)

Have you read any excellent books lately that I should add to my 2012 book list?

 
Posted in Life and tagged
27 Jan 2012
1 Comment

Guilty-Momma-Conscience

I wrote “the kids don’t seem hungry…think they would notice if I don’t make dinner tonight?” as my status update on Facebook yesterday.

Seven of my friends “liked” this, and I wondered if I could blame them for any complaints I did receive from my children.

One of my friends wrote “They wouldn’t notice until bedtime. Then they would be suddenly starving. “, which really is about the truest thing I know about kids and eating.

They want to eat at the most inconvenient times, like at least three times a day. And usually when I have another agenda for that time frame, like a nap. For me.

I did feed them, by the way.

Eggs in a basket and leftover roasted vegetables.

And they ate.

Ok, they ate a FEW bites.

Internally I screamed, “I KNEW IT! I KNEW YOU WEREN’T HUNGRY. WHY DID I TAKE THAT SILLY MOTHER OATH TO ALWAYS TRY TO CRAM FOOD INTO YOU LITTLE PEOPLE?”

Externally I said, “Eat your vegetables.” (Ok, truthfully, I had to say this several times.)

Next time, I am SO not bowing to my guilty-momma-conscience.

She is WAY too bossy and I hate the space she takes up in my head.

Next time we are SO having ice cream and chocolate.

Now that’s a dinner we can all agree on.

Posted in Food, Life, Random and tagged , ,
24 Jan 2012

Daniel Fast

This is a repost from awhile ago, but thought it might bring some encouragement to my Kingsview friends who are slugging it out right now…You can do it!!!!

God is at work IN us…in me…in you….And THAT my friends, makes it ALL worth it.

(Oh, and I feel slightly convicted since it’s been a LONG time since I’ve even been to the gym, but…here it is anyway…)

—————————————–

For the past several Januarys I have been doing something I have a really hard time doing…a three week Daniel fast. This fast is basically choosing to eat only fruit, veggies and all-natural foods for 3 weeks. It is a food-restriction fast versus a 100% food withholding fast.

The first time I attempted this fast was the worst. I am a diehard coffee-lover for one thing and the withdrawal headaches seemed unbearable. On day two of the fast, Jeff fixed us a lovely stir-fry, but something rose up inside of me, and I just COULDN’T eat them . Yep, it’s true, I spent the dinner literally crying into my vegetables. It was that night that I realized I had a big problem…as embarrassing as it is to admit, I had (have?) a food problem. I enjoy eating whatever I want, whenever I want, without even thinking about the consequences to my body. I am guilty of only caring about the outward appearance of things. As long as the time I spend at the gym ensures I can still fit into my size 8′s, or even better-my 6′s, I figured I was ok.

News flash: when the thought of eating a plate of vegetables brings you to tears, you are not ok.

The Daniel fast re-alligns me, both physically and spiritually. I find myself telling the Lord, “I want you more than I want _____________ (fill in the blank with any number of food items).” “I want to be hungry for you, above everything else.” “You are in control of my life, my body, my all.”

If I really believe Matthew 5:6 – “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” , I have to wonder what exactly I am hungering for and then in correlation, what am I being filled up with? Am I filling up physically and spiritually on empty calories versus life-sustaining food?

Jeff preached a sermon recently in which he talked about having “leanness of soul”. This is a concept we read about in Psalms 106:13-16 KJV speaking about the Israelites in the wilderness, even after all they had already experienced of the Lord’s miracles and provision…”They soon forgat his works; they waited not for his counsel: But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert. And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul.”

Ouch. For those of us that want God to truly be in control of us, these verses should feel like a slap in the face. Oh, how I don’t want a lean soul! I don’t want to persist over and over again in demanding my own way, only to end up actually getting it. I’m like any woman out there who wants to be thin on the outside, but Oh Lord, I want a fat soul! Help me to be more and more hungry for you.

_________

A few yummy recipes for those who are also on the Daniel Fast…

1. Roasted Fall vegetables… Cut some potatoes, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, carrots and red onions up into bite size chunks. Toss in olive oil with some fresh garlic and salt and pepper and whatever other seasoning you might like. Cook at 450 degrees for 45 minutes, stirring halfway through.

2. Peanut Sauce stirfry Use whatever vegetable you like to stirfry (peppers, zucchini, carrots, mushrooms, califlower, beans…) and cook them up. Make some brown rice to go with it. The sauce that you mix the veggies in at the end of their cook time is: 1/3 cup Natural Peanut butter 1/3 cup water 1 tsp garlic powder 2 tbsp Bragg’s soy sauce (all-natural) 2 tbsp lemon juice Cayenne to taste (optional) Stir all and then microwave for 30 seconds to heat. Pour on veggies and enjoy! (we usually double the sauce recipe because we cook a lot of veggies at once.)

3. Carrot Soup

2 tbsp olive oil 1 large onion (about 2 cups), chopped 3 stalks celery (about 1 cup), chopped 4 cups sliced carrots 32 oz. vegetable broth (I use 2 organic vegetable buillion cubes with water) 1 teaspoon whatever seasoning you want 1 teaspoon dried basil 2 teaspoons chopped garlic 1/2 teaspoon pepper 1 teaspoon salt

In a large pot put the olive oil and saute the onion, celery, and carrots, garlic and all the seasonings for about 10 minutes. Then add the vegetable broth. Cover and simmer for 25 mins or until the carrots are tender. Let soup cool a little and then blend in a blender in batches. This is actually quite delicious and I suggest doubling the recipe as well.

A few good websites to check out for recipes… www.ultimatedanielfast.com – so many great ones and encouragements for the fast as well.

I welcome you to check out a bunch of recipes I have pinned to my board here as well… http://pinterest.com/carriejohnston/daniel-fast/

Posted in Life and tagged , , , | Leave a Comment
20 Jan 2012
1 Comment

God’s Call

I cannot stop listening to this song. Ok, well, of course, I COULD stop, but I just don’t really want to.

I need this reminder every day that God is present in my life and desires me to Come to Him.

There are so many things that are calling for my attention, calling for my focus, that it sometimes can feel like I have no real say in what occupies my time. This is such a lie of the enemy. In fact, if I can be distracted all on my own, I am actually making the enemy’s work that much easier. Why bother tempting me with sin when my distractions are doing a good enough job all on their own from keeping me from the heart and presence of God.

Do you need a reminder today?…

Posted in Life and tagged ,
19 Jan 2012
6 Comments

Giving up the ghost, er, dog

There are many, many things that I do well.

Thrift-shopping and drinking un-godly amounts of coffee come to mind.

Apparently I can now officially add something new to my list of “Things I’ve tried to do and failed miserably at”.

I cannot be a dog owner.

Or I should say that I can not be a dog owner while I am also a parent. I just can’t seem to find peace with it all.

Here’s the facts: We got a puppy, Harley, on Halloween. He is a beautiful golden retriever / lab mix and will be an absolutely wonderful adult dog, of this I am sure.

Here’s the rest of the facts: I am not really a dog person.  It’s been a long 3 months.

On Sunday this dog will be “relocating” to live with Al, my father-in-law. We are keeping Harley in the family, we can visit him and Al can do all the work of actually being Harley’s owner. He can walk him daily, feed him lots, fight with him over slippers and shoes, worry over his walls and furniture being eaten, and clean up the hair tumbleweeds that materialize everywhere. As an added bonus, I will no longer have to mend my children’s war-wounds that Harley seems prone to inflicting during “play” time.

(I sure hope Al doesn’t read my blog. Oh, wait, he is a retired man with no internet….see why he NEEDS a dog!)

I am just a teensy bit relieved.

Ok, no, I am A LOT relieved.

Thank you, Jesus, for answering the prayer that I was too scared to pray.

Oh, and, Jesus, if you could help Children’s Aid to not read this blog as well, I would be so appreciative. We are getting so close to having our home officially opened for foster-ing and I really don’t want them to think I will do the same thing with their precious babies.

Babies are still definitely on my “List of things I do well.”

Posted in Life and tagged , ,
16 Jan 2012

Manna

Lately the word “manna” seems like it’s been coming at me from all directions. Considering no one knows exactly what manna was, and that the word itself literally means “what is it?”, there’s a lot I’ve been learning from it nonetheless. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manna)

In the wilderness when the children of Israel cried out to God for food, he provided them with this daily supply of manna. Exodus 16 records the amazing conditions of their provision. They were to gather only enough for each day and a double portion the day before the Sabbath. If they tried to hoard the manna it would become maggot-y and stink. (Think of your Green Compost bin in the heat of summer…Oh, you don’t have one? Well, think of MY Green Compost bin the heat of summer then.)

And, here’s what I’ve been thinking about…

Many of the people of God have got it all wrong these days. We act like we can get all of our spiritual nourishment on Sunday mornings, enough to last us all week. We go to church and casually approach the banqueting table, sample a little of this, a little of that, and walk away mildly satiated, expecting that little bit of food to last us through all of the week’s challenges, joys and adventures. And then we wonder why we are so burned out, so stressed out, so never enough all week long.

I speak for myself when I say, I have been maggot-y far too long.

What if we went back to believing that the children of Israel learned, that I need to

eat every day

and then

rest on the Sabbath.

I really believe that our lives would change if we began to gather nourishment for ourselves on a daily basis, to actually have to go out and find sustenance for our souls, food from heaven, enough for the day, each day. Then maybe our Sundays together would actually feel like a celebration of our faith, a true gathering of those that hunger and thirst after righteousness. Perhaps if we came together FULL, we wouldn’t leave feeling only slightly less-empty than we came in.

I need manna for my journey. Sometimes it may be hard to define, hard to pinpoint what exactly that manna is. “Time with Jesus and His Word” sounds a bit abstract, but it is vital that we do our part to go out and gather. God promises to fill us up.

Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. “

 

 

 

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15 Jan 2012

Self Control

We’ve been having some wee troubles with Carter and school as of late, well, as long as Carter has been attending school.

And, all I can really say about this is that Jeff and I are ON HIM about this, like A LOT.

“Carter, you need to listen to your teacher.”

“Carter, please try to sit up and pay attention today.”

“Carter, please try to get your schoolwork done at school so that it doesn’t have to become homework.”

Ok, you get the picture.

Soooo, when our kids pastor told me today that Carter had been especially attentive during Sunday School today, I was thrilled.

Clearly, he is reaching a huge maturity milestone.

All our talks have finally found good soil in his heart.

My life as a parent is about to get easier. THANK YOU, JESUS.

Well, tonight at dinner, Carter very sweetly informed me, “Mom, when you yell at us, you don’t have self-control.”

Considering that self-control has been the Sunday School lesson the past few weeks, apparently the way to get my son to pay attention in class is to present material that can be used against his mother.

Who knew?

 

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25 Dec 2011
4 Comments

Christmas Baking

I just wanted to get and post a few of the yummy, fun Christmas treats I’ve made in the last couple weeks…

I found the inspiration for these at http://www.skinnytaste.com/2011/11/vanilla-snowman-cupcakes-with-vanilla.html#more and made them for a little party at our house.

Carter was asked to bring treats for his class Christmas party so I had some fun with these North Pole cupcakes that I had seen at http://jennycookies.com/2010/12/ally-hudsons-gingerbread-party/.

Here’s how mine turned out…

I also made these Sweet Swirl Marshmallows and called them “Snow Cubes”.

On top of all these, I also made peanut butter balls, turtle pretzels candies, white chocolate peppermint pretzels, ginger molasses cookies, sugar cookies, hot chocolate marshmallow stir sticks, Giardelli truffles, candy bar squares, and a couple more treats.

I love Christmas baking, I really do.

But after it all has been given away and just a few (ahem) been eaten by yours truly, I have just one question….

When does the diet start???

Posted in Food, Life and tagged , ,

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