Monday, March 31, 2008

Is there an interior decorator in the house?

I do not have the decorating gene. Not even a little bit. And my home looks like it. Jeff says it looks like we just moved in! (No comments here, Josh. You've seen it :-))

Anyway, one of Jeff's buddies in Raleigh moved into this house that has lots of color on the walls, and Jeff saw it and got the bug: it's time to do something about the interior of our house. With three boys running around, there are scuff marks, crayons, and dirty fingerprints everywhere. Our walls do seriously need some paint. And photos. And curtains. But I digress...

With the high ceilings, we are NOT painting much of it ourselves. We're both a bit clumsy, and I just don't see us on a scaffolding. Jeff's favorite painter just happens to be free this week. And we have to pick colors. For the entire first floor. To go with rugs that haven't been bought yet. By tomorrow evening.

And my non-decorator eye has to try to figure this out alone. (Well, I have Jeff, but still.) So, I repeat: Is there an interior decorator in the house?

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Prayer Requests

It seems that poor health is just a "thing" around here right now. I just want to toss these prayers requests out there, because I know some prayer warriors will join me in covering these requests.

Please pray for:

1. Tim's dad Marvin: multiple major health issues
2. Marvin's family: peace and comfort
3. My nephew Cody: major issues
4. My buddy Sandra's husband Mike: having open heart surgery next Monday
5. Coworker David: still hospitalized with multiple issues
6. Friend/coworker Beth: recovering from surgery

I'm sure there's more that I've forgotten, but I thank you for any prayers you lift up on behalf of those listed above.

Have a great week!

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Spring Cleaning


Well, for those of you who have noticed that the blog has been quiet lately, here’s a post just for you! And thanks for missing me :-)

I wish I could say that I’ve had tons of good stuff going on that’s eaten my writing time, but that wouldn’t be true. This week has been extremely busy at the hospital where I work, and as a result I have been pretty useless when I get home. I’m physically and mentally tired.

With signs of spring all around, I’ll admit that Spring Fever has set in. I’m longing for warm, sunny days with light breezes. I’m noticing the dust on the baseboards, the dead bugs in the light fixtures. I am ready for some serious spring cleaning!

I thought about it every day this week, but was so pooped by the time I got home that thinking about it is all that actually got done. Until Saturday. I warned my family to leave me alone. No trips to the park. No playing games. I was cleaning.

Boy did I ever! Remember that cabinet from the organization post where I hide stuff when visitors arrive? Well, I threw so much junk out of there that we’re good to go for a few more years. I had to double-bag a lawn-and-leaf trash bag! The rest of the dining room got a good scrubbing, too. I thought my back was broken from bending to wash table legs, chair bottoms, and baseboards. (FYI: dried-up ketchup is like caramel, and requires a table knife to scrape it off of chair legs!) It was hard work, but it made me very happy, and I felt so much satisfaction when I was finished. Anyone want to come over? :-)

But while I’ve been dreaming of a clean house and nice weather, I thought of something else that needed cleaning out. My spirit.

We’ve all been there. You think you’re OK. You truly believe that you forgot that angry word someone spoke to you, that hurt you suffered. You thought you’d repented for all your sins and that all was well.

But on closer examination you find that, no, that hurt still stings. You didn’t really forget at all. Maybe you’re bitter about something. Resentful. Frustrated. Angry. Vengeful. Worried. When you look closely, the cobwebs in the corners still hold captive all those things that you thought you’d let go of.

We must have truly repentant hearts if we want to commune and fellowship with God, and to do that we have to clean out the junk and wipe away the dust and grime. Out with the old (junk) and in with the new (God’s voice)!

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Phillippians 4:8 (NIV)

I can’t think of a better day for it than the very one when we first became able to be washed clean, in the blood of the Lamb. So, this Easter, I will really look inside myself. The things that don’t belong there anymore I will need to deal with. If it’s settling an old argument, asking for forgiveness, sharing the depth of a hurt, whatever – it may not be easy, but it needs to be done. I spent hours on my dining room, and that’s mostly just my cabinet! I think my soul might require a good long look as well.

I hope you will join me and take a peek inside your heart. I pray that we all come away from it with renewed hearts and minds, and a fresh commitment to Christ!

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10


Happy Cleaning!!

Hallelujah!



Praise God! This was the beginning, and not the end...

Celebrate like He's Risen, because He is!!


PS: I will actually write a post this week. Promise :-)

Monday, March 17, 2008

Mr. and Mrs.

Thanks for your prayers for Cheryl! I know she felt them. No bride could be as calm as she was when it's raining cats and dogs, thundering and lightening on you wedding day.

No bride could be as calm as she was when the space heaters blew the circuit breaker and the church lost power.

No bride could be as calm as she was when 30 minutes before the wedding she was still in jeans and a ball cap, and still had to GO HOME, get ready, and come back to the church.

No bride could be as calm as she was when she got stuck in the mud and was 45 minutes late for her own wedding!

So Thank You! See what a precious family y'all prayed for?

Friday, March 14, 2008

Organization? At my house?


My buddy Lysa is having a "Swap and Hop" here, and today it is about organization.

Well, that's not my thing. I wish it was, but it's not. We won't discuss how many piles of books, papers, knitting patterns, etc.....that I have in my house. But Lysa was honest (with PICTURES even!), so I can be too. But without pictures.

When we are expecting company, we have spots where we hide things, too. It either gets hidden in the dish cabinet, or our bedroom. If we're lucky, it gets sorted and properly put away later. More often, it sits there for months until we have company again, and then the new piles of stuff cover up the old piles of stuff.

So now you know my secret. So don't ask to see my bedroom if you come over. That room will be left off the tour. :-)

Say a Prayer for Cheryl!

My friend Cheryl (and her main squeeze Kevin) are getting married Saturday! Would you say a prayer for her? As if "wedding week" isn't stressful enough, she's got lots of things going on.

1. RAIN! She'd planned an outdoor wedding, but with the weather forecast, she decided to move it indoors. That made her very unhappy.

2. The beautiful photos of their children in their "Sunday best" will have to be retaken. The film got ruined between the photo studio and the photo lab. That made her very unhappy.

3. Her injured knee. Wow. Where do I begin?
a. Her original doctor is not very respected by his peers. We'll stop there.
b. It isn't healing as quickly as they would like.
c. She also has a cyst in her knee which will need to be evaluated.
That made her very unhappy.

4. She needs her wisdom teeth taken out. That made her very unhappy.

Let's pray for calmness and peace, no pain from teeth or knees, no more film failures, a knee that doesn't buckle during the wedding, and a beautiful indoor ceremony! And no more things to make her unhappy!

Thank you!!!!

Monday, March 10, 2008

A Day with Daddy




See that? It's my dad. (He's 80 years young, by the way!) His truck broke down at my house a few days ago, and today he came over to fix it in my yard. He brought his tools, and cardboard to put on the ground to cover the mud. Now I know why I seemed to be in slow motion this morning - God was having me wait for my Daddy! (He knew I was going to get dirty today!)

And that's OK with me. In case you couldn't tell, I'm a Daddy's Girl. :-) He's a mechanic, and sometimes I used to "help" him as a little girl. I'd push on brake pedals while he bled the air out of the lines. I learned how to check my oil, and can rotate my own tires, with an air gun :-) Really.

The smell of his garage is a favorite of mine. Oil, grease, brake fluid, acetylene torches, and Tide all commingled into this smell that just screams "Daddy." A thin layer of grease coats much of the contents of his workspace: the anvil, the drawer knobs, the tools. His antique cash register with the big round buttons still sits in the corner, so dirty you can't read the keys.

Everything makes a clanging sound in there, too. Wrenches clink against each other, jack handles bounce off the concrete floor, wash tubs grate across the wood stove.

I loved spending time in Daddy's garage. So today with him was a nice treat, even though the surroundings were different. His tools still clang when they hit each other, and I still got grease and anti-freeze on my hands. He still wore his navy blue work clothes, and I could still smell the oil. And his coffee. Gotta have lots of coffee. :-)

I had some quiet moments with my heavenly Daddy today, too. Holding on to the radiator while my dad disconnected hoses, I watched the clouds go by overhead. I listened to the hawks scope out a good spot for their nest. I felt the warm sun on my back, in between the cool breezes that blew.

It was a good day, even though I didn't do anything I had planned. But I did do what God had planned for me. And it was way better than what I would have done on my own...

I hope you find a way to enjoy time with your daddy too, whether it's your earthly one or your heavenly one!

Friday, March 7, 2008

Why I Should Be Your New Favorite Blog


If you've never been here before, then, "Hey!" You probably got my party invitation at 5 Minutes for Mom, so I'm real glad you came. I hate having a party and no one show up.

If you have been here before, do you like the new look? I remodeled for the Ultimate Blog Party. Not that I wouldn't remodel just for you. I love my readers. Both of you. :-)

So now that you're here, let me give you a little tour and tell you why you should visit. A lot.

I'm a wife, mother, medical technologist, writer, and obsessive knitter. Makes for an interesting life, and occasionally some interesting blog posts. :-)

My preacher says I'm "insightful," and a preacher wouldn't lie. :-)

Lysa Terkeurst of Proverbs 31 Ministries even talked about me on her blog.

Becky says "I never know what I'm going to find at Beth's and I mean that in the best way! Some days it's deep, sometimes it's personal, and sometimes it's about knitting."

And sometimes it's about my kids thinking that they're hamsters, or about how I'm trying to keep my sanity raising 3 boys, plus my husband. :-)

Other times it's about my Jesus. I hope you see Him while you're here. He's around :-)

So check out the rooms in my old posts. Click the links, read the comments, get to know me a bit.

And in the immortal words of the Beverly Hillbillies, "Y'all come back now, hear?" And subscribe to my blog. And tell all your friends. There just might be a surprise here soon!

And finally, Enjoy the Party!

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Everyone Welcome Here


I've had a few surprises blogwise this week, so let me share. A fun read of mine is also a regular reader of my knitting blog Givin' Knit Away. Her language gets a bit rough sometimes, but she is good hearted and quite funny. I don't condone her language, but I don't judge her for it. She's not writing anything I haven't said myself.

So one of her posts this week involved taking one line from many blogs and sharing them. Let me tell you something: even the most innocent sentence can sound quite dirty/devious/funny all by itself and when taken completely out of context.

Especially my own.

That was blog surprise #1. Surprise #2 came just a few minutes ago, and it is what prompted this post.

I have it set up to be emailed whenever someone leaves me a comment, so when I got one from "sexkitten" today I thought it was spam.

It was not.

You may have noticed that I did not spell it s.exk.itten or anything like that so search engines don't pick me up with that phrase. Here's why.

On hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." Mark 2:17

Since the day I started this blog, it was meant to be a ministry. To everyone. Not just for Christian readers, but for anyone who might stumble across it. "Sexkitten" just created her account, and does not have a blog, or profile, or email address. I can't guess what she does by her blog. I can't respond to her in a comment or an email. I can guess by her screen name that she has issues, or values that are very different from mine. Maybe she just has a funny sense of humor. I don't condone her screen name, but I don't judge her for it.

But she is still welcome here. (She actually left me a nice comment.)

I try to let others see my Jesus here. Get a glimpse of Him for themselves. Maybe "sexkitten" needs to see Him. So I'm glad she came by. I hope she found some encouragement, enlightenment, or something to make her think.

So, if you see a commenter or visitor that makes you raise an eyebrow, don't judge me, and don't judge them. Be glad they took the time to visit a place where they can meet Jesus instead of a place that pulls them further from Him...

Thanks for stopping by, sexkitten.

The Flu Is NOT the Only Nasty Around Here

The flu is finally getting it's horrible little self out of my house. Assisted by bleach, elbow grease, and a washer and dryer working lots of overtime.

Unfortunately, there are some new "nasties" in my house now, and I'm still trying to figure out how to get rid of them. Clorox is useless here. I'll share the symptoms below and if these sound familiar to you, let me know how you deal with it.

Nasty #1: The Opposite Bug

3 year old: "I want my white Spiderman shoes."
(White Spiderman shoes go on.)
3YO: "NO! I want my black Spiderman shoes!"
(Black Spiderman shoes replace white Spiderman shoes.)
3YO: "I don't wike deez. I want my udder ones."
Repeat this cycle until you almost lose your mind.

At this point, the grown-up responsible for dressing 3YO either:

1. Continues switching between black and white shoes from now on
2. Screams
3. Spanks 3YO
4. Removes whatever Spiderman shoe is on 3YO foot and throws it out the window
5. Sighs
6. Gives up completely and walks away
7. Any combination of the above

Oh. I guess there should be some calm, rational adult way to deal with this. I haven't found it yet. And this Opposite Bug also appears when choosing breakfast cereal, shirts, pants, socks (even though ALL the socks are IDENTICAL) and anything else 3YO feels like arguing about.

THIS IS A VERY NASTY BUG. WARN EVERYONE YOU KNOW. IT MAY BE CONTAGIOUS. (See Nasty #2)

Nasty #2: The Choosy/Attitude Bug

6 Year Old brother has developed attitude of teenager. Consists of smart mouth, eye rolls, and "I know it all and you don't" mentality. Upon recognition of symptoms, grown-up tries to remove "bug" from 6YO and is told, "I choose how I want to act."

Yep. He just admitted to being a brat on purpose.

At this point, the grown-up adressing 6YO either:

1. Gets on 6YO level and is a brat right back
2. Screams
3. Spanks 6YO
4. Revokes TV privileges
5. Sighs
6. Gives up completely and walks away
7. Any combination of the above

I'm thinking the CDC or the Surgeon General or someone should be sending us a warning about these bugs. They are going to be very hazardous to someone's health, and SANITY!

Saturday, March 1, 2008

We Have the Flu :-(

I am writing this in one of the rare moments I feel like getting out of bed and my head is only at a dull roar. Ugh. My mother-in-law, my baby and me all have this nasty high-fever-feel-like-crap stuff. I truly hope none of you get it. It's awful.

To bring a little cheer to this germy post, I thought I'd share my baby's newest creation: his "nest." He thinks he's a hamster now.



This was taken in a moment when heactually felt good. He got the idea from our new pet, who has a new name every day. Furball seems to be the most popular.



Hope you all have a germ-free weekend!

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