Procession

Imagine a hero entering a bright city. His armor shines as he sits tall in his horse, hands extended, waving at the crowd. Children run alongside his steed, tossing flowers in his path and calling out his name, hoping to catch even a glimpse of him. For his faithful service and loyalty to the king, a reward awaits him inside the city. This triumphal procession pulses with life and anticipation and joy.

Now imagine our same hero, only this time he has been captured by his enemy, fallen prey to his foe's deception which lead to a trap. Rather than riding in atop his horse, he is bound and dragged behind the beast of his nemesis. He stumbles and falls, trying in vain to keep his bloody feet under him. The jeering crowd jockeys for position alongside the road so they can kick dust at him, spit on him, hurl insults. Children run near and throw rotting fruit and stones which hit him on his already beaten body. Following this display, only death awaits him beyond the city gate. This funeral procession pulses with bitterness and hatred and fear.

The gospel is said to be either the fragrance of life or the smell of death to those who hear it. For those who listen and believe, what awaits them is this triumphal procession of life, beginning now, but carrying into eternity where the King of Kings will welcome him into His glorious city, as a son finally come home. But for those who reject the mercy and grace God offers, their road leads only to destruction. We all begin with this terrible separation from God, a chasm forged by sin itself, but to those who refuse to believe the gospel, that chasm remains and the prince of this world shares his doom, bitterly victorious in his successful deception.

Have you shared the good news of the gospel with someone recently. Will you be there, as if with fresh flowers in hand, the sweet fragrance of life to offer? When we fail to do so, we might as well be standing idly by, rotting fruit in our hands, the stench of death in the air, indifferent to the horror that awaits them.

I am personally challenged this week by the Spirit in me that reminds me that I have an urgent responsibility to share Christ with others. In John 6, Jesus asked his disciples if they, too, would leave Him after He shared some hard teaching with them. Peter replied, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."
I am praying that God will give me many opportunities to share those words of life.

Two are Better than One

You’ve seen them in the check-out lane at Meijer. They whisper sweet somethings in your ear as you slowly roll your cart along the conveyor belt. As you turn your back on them, you look at your food, satisfied with the fruit and veg on the belt and plan for tonight’s quick supper as you eye the box of pasta and jar of sauce. Still, sometimes it is impossible to ignore their siren song and the inevitable happens. A candy bar ends up in your cart. You slip it in your purse as you pay, and you polish it off before you pick up the kids from preschool. There are perks to being the grown up. One of them is that you don’t always have to act like one and nobody needs to know!

A favorite of mine (and let’s face it, there are lots of favorites when chocolate is involved!) is the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. You can’t go wrong with chocolate and peanut butter and you can’t go wrong with the sweet, two for one deal in that little package. Two are better than one. Seriously. Twice as nice.

Enjoying my treat, I am reminded of a great passage from Ecclesiastes, penned by the wise King Solomon, divinely inspired by the Living God. I believe the broadest application of the verses is for friendship in general, but I can’t help but see how it applies to our closest earthly relationship, our marriage.
Two are better than one,
   because they have a good return for their work:
10 If one falls down,
   his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls
   and has no one to help him up!
11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
   But how can one keep warm alone?
12 Though one may be overpowered,
   two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. Eccl. 4:9-12

Two are better than one. In the garden of Eden, when God created Adam, He saw that it was good, but He also said it was not good that Adam should not have anyone like him. So God created Eve to be like Adam. More than that, she was created to help him. What a lovely, wonderful plan God had! He foreknew the need Adam would have to experience the close, human connection with one like him in marriage, and God also understood that He was calling Adam to do some big, important things and he would do well with someone to come alongside him as he endeavored to obey his Maker. The simple fact is that God, Himself, is sufficient for all that we need. However, He saw fit to give us others in our lives to be one avenue through which He meets those needs.

As wives, we have the special privilege of walking alongside these men God has given us and holding their hands, eyes on theirs, and saying to them what God says to each of us, with conviction and commitment, “When we work together we will accomplish much, so let me help you. When you stumble, I will be there, not to point one finger at you, but to reach down with all five, hand spread, grip firm, and pull you back to your feet. When the shadows and dark invade and you can’t see what lies ahead, and you face the frightful, swirling storms of life, I will be there beside you to help fight off the bitterness, the biting wind, the fear, the cold. I will warm you with my words and with my presence. When you do battle, and your foe is too great for one, I will not desert you. We will fight, shoulder to shoulder or back to back and together we will defend ourselves, our marriage, our family. When we go forward, day by day, moment by moment, into the perilous, exciting, sometimes dangerous world, I will not leave your side. When the going gets hard, I will stay. I will fight for you. I won’t quit. Instead, you will hear my words in your ears, reminding you that together we can face what comes. I will remind you most importantly, that together means not just you and me, but you, me, and the awesome, powerful, sufficient, changeless, Mighty God who made us and gave us to each other, forming a three stranded cord that is not easily broken.”

Truly, peanut butter cups are a sweet treat and two are definitely better than one, but marriage is sweeter, and though, like chocolate, there can sometimes be a darker, bitter side, we will stick. Like the peanut butter on the roofs of our mouths, we will stick and remember that indeed, two are better than one.

A Wise Man Once Said...

1 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

It wasn't just any wise man that penned these oft-quoted words. No, it wasn't The Byrds. It was King Solomon. His wisdom was a special blessing from God and these words are God-breathed, inspired truth from the very heart of God. It would seem almost foolish to try to mess with these timeless and profound truths, but if you will indulge me, I am struck with some personal applications. Consider it my effort to apply the truth of this particular passage of Scripture to my life this week.

1 There is a time for everything, (but, I fear, not nearly enough time to do everything! What am I missing?!)
and a season for every activity under the heavens (there seem to be seasons when there are almost too many activities under this family's roof!):

2 a time to be born and a time to die, (and a time to grieve with friends who face the latter rather than the former)
a time to plant and a time to uproot, (and a time to rake and rake...and rake)
3 a time to kill and a time to heal, (and a time to admit defeat with the houseplant in the other room, pitch it, and start again)
a time to tear down and a time to build, (and a time to do both - we are nearing the end of our addition! Hooray!)
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, (I love the times when one turns to the other - this usually means I am with dear friends)
a time to mourn and a time to dance, (I mourn with my friend, and I remember that we do not sorrow as those who have no hope. I think I will refrain from dancing, lest I cause anyone else to mourn)
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, (a time for a ground breaking, perhaps...I just participated in one recently...A wonderful new facility for the elderly, where Christian hearts will put their hands to good use loving the aging saints)
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, (it's always a good time to embrace my husband and children...and praying and trusting God for each of our faithfulness in our marriage - in here lies the refraining)
6 a time to search and a time to give up, (Black Friday anyone?)
a time to keep and a time to throw away, (I'll be moving into a new closet soon!)
7 a time to tear and a time to mend, (this is my mom's job - thanks for all the altering and fixing you've done lately!)
a time to be silent and a time to speak, (Have you heard the words of Emerson? Let us be silent that we may consider the wonderful works of the Lord? Or perhaps with words of James, "Let us be swift to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry," Lord, may my words be few and filled with truth)
8 a time to love and a time to hate, (love God, one another; hate evil, sin...)
a time for war and a time for peace. (maybe it's a war on stains? a war on tub scum? War on mildew? or, elevating things, a war against pride, selfishness, temptation, an unbridled tongue...If it be possible, as much as is in you, live peaceably with all men)

Seasons change. Here in the chilly north, we've seen hail and snow already. The leaves have lost their vibrancy and made their brown beds in heaps in yards and ditches. Our pumpkins awake kissed with frost and the last of the fall mums shiver as they raise their heads to the far-off rays of November sun. The freshly sharpened pencils that once graced school desks have been replaced by their homelier cousins, all stubby and bitten and bereft of erasers. Mornings dawns with a persistent, blaring alarm with no accompanying wake-up call from the sun. It is sometimes hard to say goodbye to the crisp sweetness of fall, bracing myself for the long cold winter ahead. This year, will you join me in my effort to embrace the changes and trust God to get us through whatever season of life in which He places us, reaching for His guiding hand, trusting Him for each step, whether they be through cheerfully rustling leaves, muddy puddles, uncertain icy patches or deep drifts that threaten to hold us cold and fast in one spot?

How majestic!

When was the last time that you had a moment when you stopped to truly appreciate the marvelous creation around you? I think we often take for granted this grand display that is before us, wherever we are on God's green earth. I took this picture while on vacation in Tennessee. You know how people sometimes call a place, "God's country?" While there may be places, like these misty mountains, that remind us with a louder proclamation that we have this great Creator, let's try to always remember that the evidence of His handiwork is all around us. Perhaps you hear the Creator's whisper in the stillness of morning, dew fresh on your grass and garden. Maybe you discern His voice in the cry of tree frogs as dusk falls. Some might witness the majesty of His greatness as the sun heaves itself up and over sky scrapers, dwarfing them with its grandeur. Wherever you live, whatever you see outside your window as you scrub dripping dishes or fold seersucker sundresses or file mountains of papers, join me in praising the One who spoke the world into being with the power of His Word.

LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
in the heavens.
Through the praise of children and infants
you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.
When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?[c]
You have made them[d] a little lower than the angels[e]
and crowned them[f] with glory and honor.
You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
you put everything under their[g] feet:
all flocks and herds,
and the animals of the wild,
the birds in the sky,
and the fish in the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.
LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Psalm 8

What do we know?

There is a song, What do I know of Holy? by Addison Road. I have not always loved the song, but my heart does resonate with the truth that the more I know about God, the more I know Him, the more I realize that there is much much more that I don't know. The songwriter suggests that at one point she thought she had God figured God out, and I confess that I have never presumed to say that. The plain truth is that I am far from understanding the vastness of who my Creator and Savior is. I love the line in the song that says "Where have I even stood, but the shore along Your ocean?" The thought that I have barely dipped my toes into the depths of His Holiness and Love and Sovereignty leaves me a bit breathless.

As we begin a new year, I wonder if you, like me, have contemplated New Year's resolutions that involve more vegetables and water and less bread and hot chocolate? Have you considered moving more, TVing less, and simply adopting more healthy habits? I think those are all good ideas. However, I am beginning to wonder.

What if I were to resolve to pursue holiness instead of skinniness, purity rather than perfection, godliness and not good habits, intimacy and not organization? I venture a guess that the Fruit of the Spirit, which includes love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control would be more noticeable in my life and these other things that are constant themes in my New Year's Resolutions would become non-issues.

So, join me, won't you, as I ask God and trust God for the changes He wants to make in me, rather than the changes I think I would like to see.

What do I know of Holy? I only know the One Who calls me to be holy as He is Holy. I know that Christ's holiness, along with His perfect righteousness clothes me because I am His.

What do I know of Holy?
by Addison Road

I made You promises a thousand times
I tried to hear from Heaven
But I talked the whole time
I think I made You too small
I never feared You at all No
If You touched my face would I know You?
Looked into my eyes could I behold You?

(CHORUS)
What do I know of You
Who spoke me into motion?
Where have I even stood
But the shore along Your ocean?
Are You fire? Are You fury?
Are You sacred? Are You beautiful?
What do I know? What do I know of Holy?

I guess I thought that I had figured You out
I knew all the stories and I learned to talk about
How You were mighty to save
Those were only empty words on a page
Then I caught a glimpse of who You might be
The slightest hint of You brought me down to my knees

(CHORUS)
What do I know of You
Who spoke me into motion?
Find More lyrics at www.sweetslyrics.com
Where have I even stood
But the shore along Your ocean?
Are You fire? Are You fury?
Are You sacred? Are You beautiful?
What do I know? What do I know of Holy?

(CHORUS 2)
What do I know of Holy?
What do I know of wounds that will heal my shame?
And a God who gave life "its" name?
What do I know of Holy?
Of the One who the angels praise?
All creation knows Your name
On earth and heaven above
What do I know of this love?

(CHORUS)
What do I know of You
Who spoke me into motion?
Where have I even stood
But the shore along Your ocean?
Are You fire? Are You fury?
Are You sacred? Are You beautiful?
What do I know? What do I know of Holy?

What do I know of Holy?
What do I know of Holy?

For now...

So, as most of you know, we went to Togo in August. It seems like so long ago, and it certainly feels like it was worlds away, but we have so much to share that I realize I need to just start somewhere! Fraulein Maria says that the beginning is a very good place to start, but I find my mind working in scattered snippits this evening and I want to post something, so please hang in here with me!



Togo is an impoverished West African nation. The people live on so very little, and their fetishisms and tribal religions, their Islam and empty ritual leave them with little hope for the future. However, we find the people to be friendly and sometimes very open to the gospel of Jesus. What a privilege to go and share our family with them for a couple of short weeks.



While we understand that we really don't understand what it is truly like to live in Togo, either for the Togolese people or for the faithful missionaries who serve them so lovingly, we love it there and we love the opportunity to shepherd our children in serving our Almighty God. Tonight I will share some photos and later I will share my heart. For now, will you join us in praying for God's name to become famous in this tiny nation and for the missionaries there, that they would continue to serve Him well.

It's No Secret

I love comfort. If you know me at all, you know that I love to have my toes in the sand or tucked under me in the cozy corner chair. You know that I like to have a book in my right hand and a tea in my left (iced and sweet in the summer, hot and creamy the other nine months). I read books over and over if I love them because I delight in returning to the fictional places that please me. I enjoy studying my Bible with lovely piano or cello music quietly playing or in the simple stillness of my screened in porch on a crisp morning or hazy afternoon. Movies that transport me and food that excites me...these are the things I enjoy. My husband who loves me and likes me and my children who trust me and teach me...these are the people I enjoy. I have friends who understand me and I know I am blessed. All these things and people and experiences add layer upon layer to my comfort. They are good things. They are blessings. I am thankful for each one on many levels. However, I know for certain that I love them too much. I love comfort. The Bible says to live is Christ and to die is gain. Die to self. Take up your cross and follow me. The first shall become last and the last first. In this world you will have trouble. Scripture is riddled with reminders that we will not always have comfort in this world, not if we belong to God. We are reminded to sacrifice our own comfort and set before us instead the purposes God has for us, which may call us out of our comfort zones and into the faith-requiring unknown. Praise the Lord that the steps of faith are into a future that are not unknown to the all-knowing Righteous One in heaven who holds my hand!

Still...I confess that I know that I love comfort more that I should and it often keeps me from stepping out in ways that I should and moving not out of guilt or obligation but out of obedience.

Pray with me as I ask Him to show me how to strike a balance between, on one side, the peace that fills my heart and leads me into a series of wonderfully quiet days (yes - even with our busy lives we enjoy a good measure of restful quiet and simple pleasures) as well as the joy that leads to utter contentment and simple satisfaction, and on the other side, the sadly selfish pursuit of only those things that please me. I want to be content only in the things to which He has called me and I want the discernment to know when to step off the porch and into the uncomfortable places that require my total reliance on God.

Isn't it fun?

Isn't it fun when there is so much snow outside that large snowmen can be built without depleting the snow supply on the ground, leaving plenty for a full afternoon of sledding?

Isn't it fun when your mom lets you have a pajama day, even if you plan to play outside, and she helps you stuff your pjs into your snow pants?

Isn't it fun to come in and discover that you had completely forgotten you were in your jammies?

Isn't it fun when your children have such a good time together that they are reluctant to come inside, even for just-delivered fresh, hot pizza? (half pepperoni, half Hawaiian)

Isn't it fun to see hot chocolate mustaches on four faces at the kitchen counter?

Isn't it fun to squeeze four kids and their sleeping bags into one bedroom so they can continue their day together?

Isn't it fun to kiss soft cheeks, brush back blonde curls, tuck in small feet, and know that these four special people are yours?

Isn't it fun to anticipate the return of a traveling husband and know he missed you as much as you missed him?

Isn't it fun to watch one more "bonnet movie" stretched out on the couch with a cup of tea?

Isn't it fun to have this super day called Saturday tucked in at the end of each week?

...trust in... the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. 1 Timothy 6:17

December Dawning

Can it be December? September days were full of freshly sharpened pencils and shiny new two-pocket folders. Fresh, tart-sweet apple cider washed down our October days and cups of frothy hot treats accompanied our many days at the soccer field. Our fall went sailing past us on the ever cooling winds of the changing season. But November seems to have escaped me altogether! Have you seen my Veteran's Day? My National Peanut Butter Month? ;0) I blinked and we seemed to have leaped right off the neighbor's doorstep (trick or treat anyone?) right into our seat at a heavy laden dinner table! Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Were you, like us, more stuffed than the turkey when the last drip of gravy was swiped off the table!

In spite of my apparent daze last month, we have landed in the precious month of our Savior's birth and I don't intend to miss a thing. The kids eagerly opened their first advent treat yesterday. They, like me, wish to savor every delectable minute of this special season.

How will you purpose to enjoy these next weeks? Will you carefully read your way through the book of Luke (did you know there are 24 chapters? Perfect for one per day until Christmas!) Will you open a special advent calendar each morning, counting down the days until the much anticipated 25th? Perhaps you will use your December weekends to go on a Christmas light tour, do some shopping, walk about your neighborhood caroling, hailing the newborn King! Whatever you do, may I challenge us all to make our plans carefully, choosing wisely the things that will bring our families together, and will point everyone to the One whose miraculous birth we celebrate? Join me in a slow, steadfast resistance to the bustling pace of the world around us this Christmas season!

Christmastime is here. Let's keep our eyes on the heavens, glorying in every precious snowflake on our faces, each sent by the One who drew us to Himself through His perfect Son.

Radical Transformation

The leaves are turning. I love autumn, with its colorful dance and crisp revelry. Like peacocks displaying their finery and vying for attention, the maples dazzle with their fiery reds, daring the other trees to match their display. The gold and orange and even purple that greets me when I step outside reminds me yet again that nothing in God's creation is stagnant. Creation is constantly changing, drawing our attention to God' handiwork in new ways. The season we're in also reminds us that the grass withers and the flowers fade but the Word of God stands forever. He alone is eternal. He Himself is a fixed point, and yet He is constantly working and making changes in us. Jesus turned water into wine, death into life, slave into free, lost into found, stranger into son. He is able to transform my life for His glory like he transforms the bright greens of summer into the varied and vibrant hues of fall. However, unlike the leaves, which eventually fall and die, the life that Jesus gives is an abundant one that is eternal, that never fades. I praise Him for this glorious, glowing season and thank Him for His redemptive work on the cross, transforming me into one whom He calls His own, and clothing me in His finery.

Firsts

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. (Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen)

There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it. (Voyage of the Dawn Treader, C.S. Lewis)

In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines lived twelve little girls in two straight lines. (Madeline, Ludwig Bemmelmans)

When he was nearly thirteen my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow.(To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee)

The first line of a great book is like the first few words of an interesting conversation. That for which we hope in a story or a friendship is the same. We want to be drawn in and have our hearts touched. For those of us who are lovers of the written word, when we first read sentence after sentence that entice us, we have high expectations for a delicious adventure between the pages in our hands. For those of you who thrive on relationships, you love the taste of conversation on your lips, for it is sweet to you and you savor the moments spent with a kindred spirit.

Today was a special first for my daughter, who stepped into academia today. Scoff if you like at my referring to Kindergarten in the same way one might name the hallowed halls of their college alma mater, but it truly promises to be a year rich with learning for her. Today she entered the sticky sweet world of glue-sticks and story time, but at the end of the year, she will emerge a READER! What delightful little delicacies await her.

The first line of her story was written long ago, and Jesus Himself holds her future in His hands. May He alone write the story of her life on her heart. May she [fix her eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of her faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2]

Take 5

As many of you know, I have had a few opportunities to speak in front of groups such as MOPS, and I have been asked to give the same particular talk at a women's conference in September. I am humbled and excited about this opportunity to once again share some things from my heart with a group of ladies. As I prepare and pray this summer, I am asking God to fill me with His grace and truth and to protect me from the evil one who delights in coming between God's people and the work to which He has called them.

The topic of my talk is loving and encouraging one's husband and I use chocolate to help make my points. If you have not heard it, I won't spoil it by telling more here (look for more information here is August about the conference), but as I prayed for my husband this afternoon, I decided to share with you one of the most important points I will share with the ladies in September.

Pray for you husband! Consider these five points as you intercede for him.
1 - Pray for his relationship with God: If he is a believer, praise God for that and if he isn't pray for his salvation and pray that he would find in you a woman who fears the Lord and who provides a quiet example of godliness that might win him without words; pray that he would do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God; pray that he would be a man after God's own heart; pray that he would seek forgiveness when necessary; pray that he would hunger and thirst after righteousness; pray that he would find time in his busy schedule to spend time in prayer and in God's word
2 - Pray for him as he leads your family: pray that he would step up and be the spritual leader God has called him to be; pray that you would recognize that only God can stir his heart and give him the desire to do this and no amount of nagging on your part will ever do it; pray for godly men to come alongside him and encourage him in this area and keep him accountable
3 - Pray for his protection from temptation and sin: pray for a hedge about your marriage and family; pray that your husband would not be decieved by the lies of the world that offers pleasure with no price; pray that he would have Christian coworkers and Christian friends who would encourage him to walk the path God has placed before him rather than be lead astray by the lies of Satan and those who seek to destroy; pray that he will carefully weigh the consequences of his actions; pray for his thought life, that it would be pure
4 - Pray for him in the workplace: pray that he will be bold in his witness for the cause of Christ; pray that he will be a man of integrity, one to whom his coworkers look as an example and from whom they take encouragement; pray for his reputation, that he would be known for his honesty and trustworthiness, his skill and dependability; pray that he will be a hard worker known to put everything he has into his job when he is at his job, but that he would not become a "workaholic"; praise for continued provision in his job, or for the provision of a job!; pray that it would be known in his workplace that he is a godly man who loves and is faithful to his wife
5 - Pray for his physical health and safety: pray for protection as he travels back and forth to his workplace; pray that he will remain healthy so he can continue to care for and provide for your family; pray for continued strength and praise God if your husband is healthy and able to take care of you; pray that none of you would take this for granted and pray that you would remember that there are men who are not able to work or care for their families this way and that each day of strength and health is a gift from our Creator and Great Physician

As the kids and I embark on three months of vacation, and we watch my husband go off to work each day, my hope for myself is that God would remind me daily to bring my husband before my Father in prayer. I am thankful for him and need to remember to praise God for him and pray for him regularly.

Curious

I offer my long absence from this keyboard as evidence that I have had a busy few weeks! My husband and I have decided that May rivals December for the most busy month. Calendar squares sport scribbled engagements and scrawled events until there is no more room to be found! Do you find your spring equally hectic? I say, bring on the lazy hazy days of summer! Yes - bring THEM ON!

In the hustle of programs and projects, field trips and field days, graduations and grandparents days, spring soccer and Saturday showers (the bridal and baby variety), I have discovered a few questions rolling around in my foggy brain along with dates and time, deadlines and destinations.

Here they are at complete random (not sure I have the braincells to organize them at this point!)

How is it possible that my fifth grader is still forgetting to take his trumpet to school? They have been at this for a good nine months now...

Who keeps using up all the toothpaste/toilet paper/Kleenex/milk/cereal/bread when I feel like we are NEVER HERE?

Isn't it too much to ask for my family to expect to be fed three times a day? Really.

When the squirrel eats a hole in the blue plastic garbage bin, isn't his little tummy too full to eat the refuse within? What is the point, then, of all that work?

Why does my boys' room smell like a bologna sandwich (we don't even eat bologna!)

How can it be 32 degrees and 72 degrees all in one day? Is God joking? I know He has a great sense of humor. I have four children.

Why is the maid such a slacker on the stuff that I hate to do the most? (Emptying the dishwasher, putting away clean laundry) Doesn't she know she is making it that much more bothersome for me? (You understand, that she is a hypothetical maid that has yet to show her face or fanny)

Why can't teachers at one school talk to each other so I don't have to choose which field trip to attend on an given day?

Why do I still have to get on the treadmill, when it feels like I have been on one all week?

When I do work out, why do I want to take a nap when I am done - where are those endorphins that are supposed to energize me?

How does my husband still think I am beautiful when I know I need a shower/clean shirt/swipe of lipstick? (I know...because he loves me - still, it is great and it boggles my mind!)

Why do I get to live in this great country full of freedoms that people had to die to ensure?

Why did God choose to bless me so abundantly?

Why do I forget to trust HIM?

Why do I sometimes neglect my time with God, when I know that is the most important thing I can do with my time?

Why does my two year-old talk so much about the potty, but can't seem to actually use it?

Why is a bed of lettuce and greens with some veggies and dressing so much yummier when someone else makes it (like at a restaurant)?

Why does my neighbor still have a Christmas wreath on her front door?

When do I get to take a nap???

Ten Things

There's a silly teenager movie called 10 things I Hate about You. (Yes, I have seen it - I happen to enjoy silly romantic comedies of all kinds) Of course, the hero and heroine fall in love. Theirs is a love/hate relationship. They have chemistry. They have spice. They explore the best and worst of each other and come out with the expected happily ever after that I enjoy every time.

I have a love/hate relationship with spring. The season so often personified as a blossoming, blooming young thing full of promise is not my favorite. It is cold and wet and just for fun (it is currently 39 degrees and raining - can you tell?) I have made a list like the movie's title;

10 things I hate about spring

1 Mud - the snow is melted and beneath those mammoth piles lie inches of winter sludge, just waiting for an energetic two year-old to step in (my energetic two year old)

2 Rain - this is no refreshing summer rain I am talking about, but the kind that soaks into my jeans and sweatshirt at an early soccer game and gives me bad hair for the rest of the day

3 Brown - There is no green in my spring yet. We have bare trees and piles and piles of wet, ice-crusted oak leaves that fell after the snow flew

4 Busy - the calendar is ramping up with end of year programs and projects, conferences and concerts, and indoor soccer isn't over and outdoor has begun!

5 Cold - it may be sunny, but yesterday it was 28 degrees.

6 Middle - mine is thick from warm winter comfort food and cup after cup of hot cocoa

7 Floods - people all over the country are contending with swollen rivers, pregnant with rain water and melted snow and ice - in my little corner of the world, the floods are on the pants of my kids, who have no suitable clothes to wear because they have grown six inches over winter

8 Yard Work - see #3

9 Coats - the kids have holes in elbows, gloves, boots, and yet it is too cold for no coat, no matter what they would like to think when they see the sun finally shining

10 Squirrels - they have eaten a hole in the top of my blue roll-to-the-curb garbage can (not sure what this has to do with spring, but...)

Okay - If you know me at all, you know I am not really much of a complainer. I am actually quite content! It was actually hard for me to come up with ten things up there. I could have summed it up with cold and wet, and I know this, too, shall pass! Where I live, the spring comes late, stays briefly and makes way for an awesome summer, so why am I whining? :0)

10 things I love about spring
1 Walking/running - outside instead of on the treadmill - hallelujah!
2 Kids - riding bikes and playing with sidewalk chalk
3 Dates - this has nothing to do with spring, but I just had a date with my husband and I loved it ;0)
4 Flowers - I bought my first pansies last week!
5 Cleaning - I love the smell of fresh lavender in my house after I have mopped and scoured and wiped with Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day
6 Purging - Hooray for sorting and sifting and getting ready for a spring yard sale!
7 Birds - they are everywhere! We had two bald eagles in one tree in our yard the other day!
8 Soccer - in spite of the busy practice and game schedule, our kids love it and it is so good for them!
9 Green - there are actually buds on some bushes and trees already!
10 Easter - Resurrection Sunday - I serve a risen Savior - no other religion on earth can say that! My faith is in the One who makes all things NEW!