Today my son has a sore neck.

Last night my husband and I found our son sleeping in a Rubbermaid box. Yup, my son really is showing his genius now, isn't he? This happens to be the box that we keep all of his stuffed animals in- at least it was comfy right??? To be honest, this isn't the first time we have found him sleeping in unusual places.

Naturally, we have found him in the hallway when he didn't want to miss out on anything going on downstairs. We have also found him in the bathtub, his sister's bed, and under our pillow shams. Thankfully, we have never found him completely stripped down sleeping in his closet like we used to frequently find our daughter (that one still alludes me).

Now my son is a little bit of fun to play with when he is sleeping. Come on, I know you all play tricks on your kids too. Don't tell me you never gave them a lemon when they were babies just to see their faces. It wasn't just us right??? Playing with our son when he is asleep is really hilarious. You see, he talks in his sleep- a lot. We can usually get him to answer just about any question like "did you enjoy the hot dog in your bed or How was the red lollipop stuck to your nose?" All interesting answers to be sure.

Well, when my son "unexpectedly" began to stir as I snapped his picture with the flash... I asked him why he was in the box. Nothing... I asked again and still no answer. Boy, I was really looking forward to telling you all the insane answer he gave me while he was asleep. After several attempts, I finally changed tactics and asked "do you know why you are in the box?" "Yes" was the only response- talk about disappointing.

You know that I wouldn't give up on something this entertaining. So I asked him again this morning when his eyes were open. He responded that "he was easier next to the door". My daughter kindly translated that he wanted to be closer to the door. It was then that I realized he was toeing the line last night- literally. He knew that he wasn't allowed out of his room because it was time for bed, but he didn't want to miss out on what he thought was going on with everyone else. Truthfully, there was nothing interesting happening in our house last night, but my son thought there might be something he would miss.

Wow! How many times do I toe the line myself? How many times do I know what the right thing is, but get as close to sin as I can without actually sinning? Hmm, it seems to me that there is a word for that- perhaps, justifying? Ooh, did I hit a nerve with you too? Even though my son technically stayed in his room, his intent was not to completely obey. How many times do I technically obey but have a different intention in my heart? I pray that God will show those times to me and gently put me back in my bed and back on track.

Today I am forced to let go of my type-A personality.

Today I am going through a rather uncomfortable time. People have described me in many different ways: friendly, helpful, thrifty, pretty (OK, that last one may be a self-description but it still counts right????). But there is one word I hear a lot when people talk about me - organized! Yup, I take pride in my ability to plan ahead and maintain control of all situations. You will notice that spontaneity is not listed. Have you ever notice that I usually add new postings on Thursdays? Yeah- organized... Now I know there other words for it, but we will just stick with organized!

I was particularly thrilled with my idea of organization at the beginning of the school year. Each member of my family was given a magnetic plastic pocket that hangs on the refrigerator in which all of their items of paper remain until needed. You see this idea actually came out of desperation. I would leave some paper work on my husband's "pile" and then he would promptly return it to MY pile. This was very frustrating as I had already checked that particular thing off my to-do list. Well, the pockets have solved that problem- now it is clear that I am done with items and he needs to deal with them. Good solution right? OK, I may have taken things a bit far when I next introduced the file folders inside the pockets labeled "homework", "school info", "projects", "girl scouts"- you get the idea. And yes, I do have a label maker and no one is allowed to touch it... Hey it is good to have a plan- right???

Please don't get me wrong, I have plenty of toys, dirty dishes, clothes and candy wrappers (thanks to my son covertly stealing candy) laying around my house at any give time. Come on, I can't do everything... While I would really like a clean house, I am also a realist and understand that my hobbies are important too.

I think you are beginning to get the picture of how my mind works. Now I think you will also be able to understand the incredibly difficult situation in which I now find myself trying to function. Because of the economy, my husband has had to radically change his small business. He went from a few employees to none. Tomorrow he is moving out of his office into our home, did I mention he would be home full-time?!?! We hope he can find an office soon but we have no way to plan when that will be. Did you catch that NO WAY TO PLAN? Tomorrow he will no longer have a vehicle and we have no plan of attack for getting another one. Did you get that NO PLAN OF ATTACK? We have no long term business plan. We don't know what jobs he will get and when they will come. Again, did you notice NO LONG TERM BUSINESS PLAN? I think you are starting to get the idea that I have no control over organizing anything right now.

There is just one word that will describe what we have ahead of us- F A I T H.

I do know that God will provide (of course your prayers along those lines would be appreciated too). We have already seen God providing and I will spend some time in the near future documenting all HE has done for us. However, I think there is something else for me to learn here too. I have known for a while that my super organized schedule has kept me from ministry opportunities. I am happy to serve if I know ahead of time of the needs. Guess what? Many needs you can't plan for. Many times people need help during an emergency and I need to learn how to go with the flow, drop my plans and be there to help whenever God calls. Right now I am working on letting go of the plan. I am trying a little bit of a type-B personality on for size. Hopefully I can grow into something that God can use.

But for now, I have got to run. My kids come home in 10 minutes and I have unloading the dishwasher and a load of darks scheduled to go in the wash before they come home.... OK, I may need a little more practice with this letting go of a plan thing....

Today I am 35 years old.

Last week I turned 35. This means several things. First, I am now closer to 40 than 30 and I don't even want to go there. Second, I am supposed to have more self-confidence than ever (I guess if looking back and now seeing some really stupid mistakes I have made could lead to more self-confidence that might be true???) and third, I have been writing this blog for exactly a year. For those of you who have been following this blog from the beginning, you already know that I have had quite a year. My daughter cut an artery in her leg, my dogs ate my daughter's guinea pigs (twice), I cleaned my son's pet frog to death, I successfully relocated a lizard back outside and I even found a giant can of soup. For those of you who haven't been following the blog since the beginning, I encourage you to go back to the archives and read some of my more exciting adventures. And yes, they are just as crazy as they sound.



I wanted to give you a few facts about my blog. I average about 50 hits a month. I have over 40 entries and I even have some followers (Oh Shucks, thanks you guys- I'm flattered). However since it is my birthday, I wanted to ask all of you for a few things. First, I really, really, really want to hear from YOU (yes YOU). Please post any comment you feel like making. I would love to know of any topics you would like me to give my opinion about- I know it is hard for all of you to believe that I have an opinion about things (LOL) but I do... You can just send me an email through my profile or make a comment on the blog. Finally, I am asking that if you ever read an entry that really hits home for you to please email this link to a friend. I believe we all need more laughter and encouragement in our lives and God knows I provide a lot of that!


Now on a completely different subject. My husband and I have recently learned that we are going to be going through some huge changes in our life. We are taking a leap of faith and jumping into the dark. I plan on using this blog to publish the ways that God has taken care of us in the coming months. So keep reading and hopefully you will find some encouragement in your trying times too.

Today I have a giant can of soup in my house.

Yup, today I have a 3 foot tall can of soup in my house. Doesn't everyone? You know you want one too! OK, I may not have obtained the huge soup can by completely legitimate means, but you have to admit that it looks kinda cool in my son's room.

You see, we were innocently traveling down the interstate yesterday (*days may have been changed to protect the not so innocent) looking forward to a happy family day. Suddenly, I spotted this gigantic soup can lying on the side of the road. I asked my husband about it and he said "Gigantic soup can, what soup can???". Yes, he was the one driving at the time but honestly how do you miss such a large soup can?

Well naturally I had to go on and describe this unusual site to him and I was pretty excited at this turn of events. My husband, being the good husband that he is, asked "do you want to go back and get it?" I looked at him stunned; I couldn't believe that he even asked me this; .... OF COURSE I wanted to go back and get it. What was he thinking?

So we took the next exit and got back on the interstate heading the other direction. At this point my kids are starting to ask me why we turned around. I simply tell them that we are going back to pick up a large soup can. I was hoping for a little more than an "OH". Seriously, you would think these kids have strange things happen to them everyday- then again, they do live with me...

As we were heading in the wrong direction on the interstate, we saw someone stopping at the exact same spot, getting out of their truck, and walk to the side of the road. I was devastated. I really wanted that humongous soup can for my house. We then had to get off at the next exit and turn around again. As I was chatting with my husband, I suddenly yelled. Not knowing what was wrong, he gave me one of those looks. I quickly explained that we just drove by the gigantic soup can AGAIN! I'll ask you again, how can you miss a giant soup can on the side of the road??? Well my devoted husband pulled his Avalanche over to the side of the road and backed up to the soup can (luckily he saw it this time). Apparently, the other people couldn't get it strapped to their truck so we are now the lucky owners of an enormous soup can. I'm a happy camper.

My husband jumps out and I quickly give my kids a very, very stern lecture about never getting out of the car on the interstate because it is very, very dangerous. Then I jump out. We get the can in the back of the truck and I hop back in. You know what is coming next. My precious daughter asks "mommy, if it is so dangerous to get out then why did you get out?" Thanks. I really just wanted to tell her to ask her father. Instead I redirect her by explaining how much practice my husband has had walking on the interstate because of his job and soon she forgets the original question (whew). We really did have a happy family day.

At this point I began to wonder about the 100's of people who drove by the very large soup can that didn't give it another thought. I can't believe that it was still there waiting for me. Why didn't anyone else take this opportunity to grab a super cool, super big soup can (say that 10 times fast). This makes me think about all of the other opportunities I have not taken note of this week. How many times did I loose the chance to encourage someone? How many nice words did I not say? How many good works did God set before me that I just chose to drive right by and never do? I think there are probably a lot. "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:9-11 Today I am going to look for those good works and thank God that he has prepared them for me. How about you? Have you completed any good works that God has prepared for you today?

Today I believe that my behind has deflated.

I told you that I would post the good, the bad, and the ugly on my blog and today is the ugly. And before you ask, NO there will be no pictures posted of my posterior!!! You see I recently had a reason to take a very close look at my backside in a mirror and quite frankly was shocked at what I saw. OK, I admit it- you can even call me vain- but I have always been somewhat proud of my rear end. It was one of my better features, and when I saw the cold ugly truth, it hit me pretty hard. After all, I am in my mid thirties and I have had two children but if the truth be told, I never even contemplated the idea that gravity would actually take affect on MY derriere. Those things just happen to other people, right??? OK, so maybe over the summer I did not exercise as much as I had before. It is possible that I was a little lazy, but could things really change that fast???

At some point in the last few days, I must have been bitten by a spider on the back of my leg. It itched. I mean it really itched, and I probably looked rather ridiculous to the man at the red light watching me squirm around on my seat trying to drive my car- but that is another story... So once I had the chance, I decided to look in my full length mirror and see exactly what was causing me so much discomfort. At first my attention was placed only on the red itchy bump, but then I noticed it, I had that sinking feeling- no wait, it wasn't a sinking feeling- it was a sinking body part! Not just any body part but my best body part. (Yes, I realize that we have already covered that- but it really did surprise me.) I realized that things really can change fast.

Well, I went to talk to my next door neighbor about this complaint, as I do with all complaints, hoping she could give me some comfort. She did give me some encouragement and hope. We talked about the fact that all was not lost. For instance, we have been walking together in the morning wearing our "special" shoes. These shoes have a rounded sole that really does help get your gluteus maximus working hard but they sure are ugly! Thankfully, I talked my neighbor into buying a pair for our walks so that now I am not the only one on the road looking "special". Between walking, more Pilate's, and squats, we determined that I can indeed get that junk out of my trunk. In truth, it will take a little time to build up the muscle again but it can be done.

That is when I started thinking about other areas of my life that have become deflated. The truth is that when we do not work on our relationship with God, it too will loose its strength. Let me tell you- it can happen fast! When I don't set aside time for prayer, Bible reading, or even meditation on the holiness of God, my spiritual life will inevitably deflate too. Our relationship with God needs to be deliberate and something we work on. It is hard to be reminded of but just like lack of exercise can cause certain body parts to droop, not spending time with God will cause our strength in Christ to droop. So how are you doing today? Is your spiritual life deflated or are you strong in Christ? Set aside that time to keep yourself strong because finding yourself deflated is a surprise you don't want.

Today I killed my son's frog- oops!

Yes, I have missed another mother of the year opportunity by killing my son's pet frog. For those of you who have been following this blog for a while, you already know I have long history with animal tragedies (just one example would be when our beagle completely consumed my daughter guinea pig last year). If you haven't already read these accounts, you can find them in the archives of the blog. I believe the sheer number of problems I have had with animals really isn't my fault. After all, anyone who has so many animals would statistically have the same number of problems as me - right???



OK, I won't lie... I don't really miss the frog. This thing was ugly, I mean really ugly. So ugly that kids would come over for play dates just to look at this strange looking frog. It was some sort of albino, African, bumpy, paper-like skinned water frog. Thankfully it didn't smell, but the tank would grow a lot of algae, this frog laid copious amount of eggs almost every month and once the frog food somehow hatched these ugly white worms in the water!!! With all of that being said, would you believe me when I tell you I honest forgot that you aren't supposed to use soap to clean the tank? I'm telling you the truth, really!!!



You see, I like to use OxiClean. It works pretty well and I had mixed up a bucket to clean some spots on the carpet. Well, I had some left over and being Dutch meant I was required to use the rest of the bucket- I couldn't throw it away (the horror). I looked around my house and saw a filthy frog tank. It was perfect. I knew the OxiClean would go right to work on all of that algae. Somewhere in the back of my mind said that this was not a good idea, but why on earth should I waste the half full bucket of soap?



I carefully scooped the slithering, jerky, frog out of the tank and put it in a container for holding. I (OK, really my husband- that tank was heavy) moved the tank to our shower so I could fully wash it out. Let me tell you, I was feeling rather brilliant when that algae just disappeared with the mix of OxiClean and the tank virtually sparkled! I did have a little trouble rinsing it though, and that is when I remembered that these frogs have very fragile skin that absorbs any chemical present in the habitat (by the way, habitat is a third grade vocabulary word- you are impressed aren't you?). I did try and give the tank an extra rinse and thought it would be OK. I returned everything to the tank, including the frog, and all seemed well.



Now the tragedy, later I went into my son's room and actually said to him "Whew, look at how clean that tank is! I don't think I have ever seen it so clean!!!" At this point I was feeling pretty good about myself. I have never claimed to be able to cook, but I can get things clean if they need to be. I was thrilled with myself, that is until I noticed that the frog was swollen to about two times its normal size. Oh, no. I told my son that "mommy may have done something to hurt your frog accidentally." He asked "do you think it might die?" I had to respond "NO, it might not die, I think it already did". Fortunately, he was not too upset. We are currently in negotiations with Daddy about getting another animal for the fish tank. He thinks we have too many animals already- can't understand why...



Since my son's frog croaked (you knew I had to throw that joke in there), I started thinking about how, as mothers, our houses may look clean but we are all hiding a lot of junk. You see, I thought having a clean looking tank was best, but it really ended up killing the frog. I am studying the book The Power of a Positive Mom with a good friend on Wednesday nights. Last night we looked at the idea that a positive mom is not a perfect mom! What? Is that idea Biblical? You bet, and we need to tell each other that more often! How often do we clean our "tanks" trying to show everyone how good things are at our house, only to discover later that the very act of sparkling our houses up caused more harm than good. We need to be honest with our friends, we need people to support us, we need people to pray for us. I deeply value my time with this very good friend each week because she knows the dirt in my life and loves me anyway. It is because she knows the dirt in my life that our relationship is so deep! The strength that God has provided for me through this relationship is amazing. I encourage you to let the dirt show in your house because God will bless that vulnerability. Don't be tempted to just let people see a sparkling life today, not showing the dirt might just hurt you even more.

Today I am using clocks to punish my kids.

Today I have finally had it with my kids fighting with each other, trying to talk me out of punishments, or not obeying me the first time I ask them to do something. So my husband and I have come up with a new form of punishment using these clocks. When the kids misbehave, we take the clocks off the wall and throw them at the kids. OK, I'm just kidding!!! But don't tell me you haven't thought of throwing something at your children at some point in their lives. If you tell me no, I know you are lying. The simple fact is that our kids need us to set rules and boundaries for them to keep order in their lives.

Recently, a friend of mine told me about a new system of discipline she is using. She told me about a poster she created with house rules, free spaces, privileges, and X's. While I completely agreed with this idea of discipline, I also knew that I couldn't be consistent enough to make it work in our house. So I came up with a simpler method of discipline.

I purchased these inexpensive clocks, took the plastic covers off of them and hung them in our kitchen. The clocks are reset to the kids' bedtimes each morning. Whenever we need to speak to the kids about not behaving or obeying, they move the hands of the clocks back five minutes. Consequently, their bedtime moves back and they may miss cartoons with Daddy or even bedtime snack.

This has worked out pretty well for us. There have been a few occasions in public that I simply had to say "five minutes" instead of yelling and it really got their attention! In fact, it has been a miracle for us; you'll notice that on the picture above their clocks are still set at the original bedtimes for the day. You know I didn't change the times just for the picture, don't you? Because my kids would never do anything like stand in the open front door complete naked waving at the people walking by; or argue at school so loudly that all of the people in the library stop talking just to stare at them; or continually throw a sticky rubber rabbit in the air so that it would stick to our kitchen ceiling; or sneak up behind me with a dead roach shoving it into my face (wait that was my husband)- well, you get the idea. No, our kids would never do any of those things. But just in case they would, we are going to try our new clock system.

We have all been told that God is a God of order and that is true. Just like we need our house rules orderly, we need our lives orderly as well. I have said this before and I will say it again. God does not give us rules to live by to make our lives more complicated; His rules are for OUR good. If you gossip about someone and they find out, you are in trouble. If you overspend and aren't a good steward of money, you are in trouble. If you loose your temper and yell at your boss, you are in trouble. Next time you discipline your children to keep that order in your house, remember that God disciplines us to help keep order in our lives also. Don't make Him take a clock off the wall and throw it at you today!

Today my baby is back home after being in Kindergarten for just one week.

Today I am conflicted. You see, last week I went through one of those moments that every mother hates to face: I said good-bye to my baby. It has taken me several weeks to come to grips with the fact that my little buddy wasn't going to be at home anymore. After all, I had gotten used to the preschool schedule which left Mommy time in the afternoon! I talked to all of my friends about my feelings; I had lots of people praying; I understood I was entering another stage in my life. You know what? I actually did OK saying good-bye that first day. I didn't even cry until I said "I love you buddy" and then I dashed from the room leaving my husband and daughter to finish the good-byes. That day my son entered elementary school and I realized that nothing would be the same again- or so I thought.

First, let me give you a few highlights of last week. On the first day of Kindergarten after meeting his teacher, my son looked at me and asked "why didn't you tell me she was going to be a little kid teacher?". Huh??? Is it just me or is that not something a mother is supposed to instinctively know to tell her child entering kindergarten?

On the second day of school, my son came home talking about even and odd numbers. Of course I was impressed thinking (like every other mother on the planet) "my son sure is smart". I then went on to ask him to give me an example of an even number. He quickly said "two". Then mother of the year that I am, told him "no, that is odd". OK, give me a break, I was cooking dinner at the time. Fortunately, my son argued with me and I was able to correct my mistake- I admit it, he may be smart but I'm not.

On the third day, I walked my son into the classroom and realized that I had completely forgotten to put the kids lunches in their backpacks. I explained to the teacher that she would have to help my son buy lunch for his first time. Well, just as I was saying this, my son pulled his lunchbox out of his backpack. What??? I then learned that my third grader had taken it upon herself to pack the lunches. Yes, another mother of the year moment trying to explain this to my son's new teacher.

On the first day of the second week, my son was sick. He was sick on the second, third, fourth, and fifth days also. My son just had a fever and truthfully, really wasn't acting all that sick. He was home with me again, a little cranky, and bored. Now, to be honest, I know I'm not supposed to admit it but I had a pretty good week that first week. My neighbor (yeah the one who keeps bailing me out of trouble) took me out for breakfast. I had breakfast with another friend the second day; I went shopping; I got some work done around the house; I was able to think clearly again! And now, my son has been home for a whole week with nothing to do.

Does this seem ironic to anyone else? I mean it took me weeks to accept the fact that he is growing up and it was inevitable that he would leave me. Now one week later, he is home again!!! What is going on here? Maybe God knew he needed a little more mommy love; maybe God knew that I wasn't as ready as I thought; or maybe God is just up there laughing. The only thing I do know is that God will be with me through every step of the way. God is there whispering encouragement to me through good-byes and sick days too. I pray that you will hear God's encouragement in your life no matter what irony you might find in your day.

Today I am wondering just how many people I flashed at the mall!

Yes, I flashed all of the back to school shoppers in the Augusta mall yesterday. You see, when I went back to Ohio a few weeks ago, my sister was talking about that beautiful royal blue color and how much she liked wearing it. That conversation led me to think about how much I liked the color and how I should look for more clothes that color. It really is a nice color to wear. Don't you agree?

So when I saw a royal blue shirt at Target (on clearance, in fact), I was thrilled. I love getting deals. I get a high off of finding great deals and I was flying high! I did, however, ignore that little voice that said "there may be a reason why such a good looking shirt is SO cheap". Since I had the kids with me, I decided purchase the top without trying it on and continued to ignore that little voice. Um, looking back at things now, I realize that it may have been a mistake.

Now to the flashing... We had a full day yesterday: haircut for my son, pictures and then shopping at the mall, and a run to our local chocolate store. To be honest, I am not sure when the flashing started, but I can tell you that we went many places before I noticed that half of the buttons on my shirt were undone. We successfully got my son's haircut and ate lunch. We then headed to the mall. This is where I believe the problem began. The man taking the pictures was acting oddly and quite honestly I thought it was because there was a very strange odor in the studio. Now I realize that wasn't it. He also took only a few photos, much less than usual. In fact, I had to ask him to take some more. I wondered if they were trying to save money- no, that wasn't it. When reviewing the photos, he put very little time into selling me those expensive packages. I thought that my no-nonsense attitude told him I was a good steward of my money (aka, cheap). Could it be that my frugal ways were causing him to sell the photos so quickly? No, that wasn't it.

We left that store and went to a children's clothing store. A young father buying something for his son distinctly turned his back on me. Was he embarrassed that his son was so mouthy? No, no, that wasn't it. When we left that store to head into the glass elevator, I saw it. To my utter dismay, a number of buttons on my beautiful royal blue shirt were unbuttoned. These buttons just happened to be the ones directly over my chest!!! Now all I can say is thank heaven for a Wonderbra! It is fair to say that I am not well endowed and if I am going to flash everyone in the Augusta mall, at least I could show them something! I desperately tried to remember that this was a good learning experience for my daughter. I told her that I was indeed embarrassed but that it was also funny. Do you think she noticed that I wasn't laughing?

Now I think you can understand why this is all my sister's fault right? Even though she is several hundreds of miles away in Ohio, she really is to blame for suggesting to me that royal blue is a nice color to wear- right? Am I wrong here?

I recently had an experience where someone I knew made a simple mistake and called me to apologize. She could have ignored what happened or blamed someone else, but she didn't. Even though what happened wasn't a big deal, she took responsibility. I was so impressed with her character that I am looking forward to working with her again.

This person reminded me that the act of asking God to forgive our sins is more about attitude and less about going through the motions. Truth time: a humble attitude is all that God really wants from us. He doesn't expect us to be perfect; God doesn't get mad when we make a mistake. He just wants us to acknowledge that He is God. It seems so simple but sometimes it is so hard. Our job isn't to play the blame game or try to fix things. Our job is to admit that we can't do everything perfectly and we just simply need God. We need to be humble enough to acknowledge that God is the one who knows best. God is the one who will perfect us, the One to complete us. OK, I admit it- my sister really is not to blame for my embarrassment, and I will wear the shirt again, but with a few safety pins in place next time.

Today I would like to give you a penny for your thoughts.

I know it is still July, but in this part of the country we are beginning to think about the kids going back to school already. Somehow 90 degree weather and buying school supplies just seems wrong. In fact, it is such a contradiction I believe that it is shorting out my brain waves. Today I would like to declare that it is the schools fault that I can be so scatter brained. You believe me don't you? I think someone, somewhere could probably prove the fact that since summer is so short it causes things like forgetting to make dinner, not remembering the wet laundry in the washing machine and sleeping through the alarm. It really can't be my fault. Right?

Well, I guess I must accept the fact that summer is over and both of my kids, including my baby, will now be in school for the entire day. As I thought about that fact, I have also reflected on the things that happened to my daughter last year. As I mentioned before, my daughter was caught up in some girl drama and to be honest it was difficult to watch her go through that experience. After some prayer and reflection, I realized that I hope my daughter can turn the other cheek.

In the Christian community we have been taught to turn the other cheek for so long that I think the concept may have been skewed. When Jesus told us to turn the other cheek, He was talking about forgiving another person. Christ was not telling us to just sit around and allow other people to walk all over us. Christ was telling us to forgive other people and not spend our emotions and time worrying about something that is not important. That is what I want for my daughter. I want her to have wisdom to know what is important and what is not important, to easily forgive because she has the wisdom to see the offence from Christ's persective.

So I sat down with my daughter and a jar of pennies. I explained that in life we need to budget our time, money and yes, even our calories. I also told her that we need to budget our energy. We can gain emotional, spiritual, and physical energy from all sorts of things. I took the pennies in my hand and listed several things that we can do to earn energy pennies. As I listed things I slowly dropped pennies in her jar. Some things I listed were: depending on God to take care of problems, getting a good night's sleep, developing friendships, eating well, prayer, trying her hardest when practicing a difficult piano piece, exercising.... We talked about how it is hard to earn these pennies and we don't want to waste our energy on things that don't matter. We want to spend our pennies carefully and wisely. I told her that when other girls try to make her cry they are really trying to take her pennies; I told her that when she doesn't cry she will then take their pennies. Now when she begins to get upset about things that aren't really a big deal, I remind her to spend her pennies carefully. I hope that this idea of budgeting her energy will help her gain perspective on what types of things are worth her pennies. We talked about how you need to spend your pennies on friendships, trying your best at school even if it is difficult, time with God. She came to see that spending her pennies on the right things would give her more pennies in return.

Now the real question is "what are you spending your pennies on?". I think the time is coming for us as Christians to start spending our pennies on more important things. Maybe it will take a lot of your pennies to stand up to someone who is trying to take away your rights as a Christian; maybe we need to love someone and show them who Christ is; maybe we just need to get back into the habit of going to church. Wherever you choose to spend your pennies, please spend them wisely. I would love to hear from you. Please post any comments you have. In fact, I'll send you a penny for your thoughts. I know your thoughts are worth much more than a penny, but we are in a recession you know!

Today I'm sharing 45 rules to life.

A friend of mine passed this email along to me and I thought I would post it. I hope you laugh, relate and enjoy it as much as I did. By the way, I starred the ones I really liked.


Written By Regina Brett, 45 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio

"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me.. It is the most-requested column I've ever written.

My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone...

4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and
parents will. Stay in touch.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

*8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

*10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

*13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

*15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.

16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

19... It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

*21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

*26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?' (My dad taught me this one)

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything.

*29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30... Time heals almost everything.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

*32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

33. Believe in miracles.

*34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood.

38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

42. The best is yet to come.

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44. Yield.

45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

Today I would do anything for my daughter.

Today I am downloading a video of our family playing piano at my daughter's recital. Now the funny thing is, I haven't played piano for 25 years. In fact, I am still trying to figure out how I got myself into this situation! I vaguely remember my daughter asking me if I would play a trio with her for the recital. Thinking that she was confused and I wouldn't really have to do it, I smiled and answered "yes"; after all, who would expect me to play again after 25 years... Guess what? She wasn't confused and once I committed she wouldn't let me out. Now you need to understand that I really, really, really don't like to get in front of people. My daughter really, really, really likes to be in front of people. So I went through with it. My husband is also taking piano lessons from my daughter's teacher and he had to do it also. I hope you enjoy our performance and remember that no matter what we will do for our kids (even take up an instrument again after 25 years and do IN FRONT of people), God is willing to do so much more. He was willing to be separated from His own child just for us!

Today I caught a glimpse of myself in a mirror and did not like what I saw.

I know that all of you have had that unfortunate experience of looking in a mirror and seeing something you might not like. It isn't just me right? For example, I now avoid looking at my reflection in car windows at all cost especially when I am in bright sunlight. You see, the last time I accidentally looked at my reflection in direct sun light, I saw wrinkles on may face where I didn't even know people could get wrinkles. I tried to tell myself that the light was refracting into distorted wave lengths that made the wrinkles appear when they weren't even there. It sounds impressive doesn't it? Well, there really is no such excuse and I have just come to the conclusion that not looking is the best way to deal with it.

However, what I saw the other day couldn't be ignored. I saw a glimpse of myself through my daughter. This past year in school my daughter was harassed, bullied, thrown into drama with two other girls; however you want to label it, it was painful for all of us. I'm not ready to write about the entire experience yet, but I will do that in the next few months as God teaches me more. For the time being, I just want to share with you this one lesson.

Being the experienced, wise, perceptive mother that I am... OK, I am those things (honest) but I learned that I'm not always those things. Here's what happened. I decided that what my daughter needed most was to have a female role model demonstrate how to deal with people when they offend you. She just needs to know how to speak to someone if she isn't treated justly. Of course that female role model was me!!! I began praying for opportunities to show my daughter how to stand up to other people. I can teach her how to act successfully in life- right! Do I even need to tell you that I was wrong?

I know you can't imagine this, but sometime when people do strange things, I have a few comments to make about their behavior. I have a hard time overlooking offenses. I like to talk about how shocked I am about what other people just did to me. This weekend I had a chance to see my daughter repeat things that I had said and saw how bad it sounded. At that moment my world came crashing down, my ears began to ring, I thought I would pass out. OK, it wasn't that bad but I was embarrassed to know THAT is what I taught her. I have come to realize that even though I believe in grace I need to show it more. Whew, I'm glad this paragraph is over- it was tough to write.

After I saw myself mirrored in my daughter, I vowed not to make anymore comments when someone did something offensive to me. Yeah right! The next morning we were eating a buffet breakfast and I had just turned to my daughter as we were standing in line and asked her if she wanted a sweet roll. A lady in her 60's cut ahead of my daughter, grabbed the tongs, and yelled "well I was going to take the last two sweet rolls but fine I guess you can have one". She then proceeded to throw the tongs onto the plate bouncing them once in the process. Now at that time I was remembering the vow I had made to keep my mouth shut. Well, who am I kidding? I write a weekly blog, do you really think I could refrain from comments? Of course not. I did however try to put a more positive spin on my comments. Instead of being offended, I talked to my daughter about how silly that grandmother looked throwing a temper tantrum like a 2 year old. Do you know what? We both had a chuckle.

My insurance agent has a quote at the bottom of her emails: "Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle." I really do believe that, but sometimes I forget. For now, I am just trying to remember that people are always strange AND people always need love. Showing grace is a better thing for me to teach my daughter than trying to give her words in dealing with an offensive person. I learned that I need to choose to be offended by something worth it. I need to be offended when God is not respected. I need to show grace when someone just acts human. The Bible tells us that a man who looks in the mirror and forgets what he sees is a fool. Hopefully the next time I catch a glimpse of myself mirrored in my daughter, I will like what I see better than what I saw this time.

Today was the last day of swimming lessons- they didn't work.

Today my son finished a 6 week session of swimming lessons. Apparently, I had unrealistic expectations about what he would accomplish in these six weeks. For those of you who have been reading this blog for a while, you know that my son wouldn't be called an "easy" child and this blog will come as no surprise to you. For those of you who don't know the character of my son, let me describe the last six weeks for you.

You need to understand some background. My son has been swimming in our neighborhood pool now for 3 years; however, he has never, I repeat never, been willing to try and swim without a floaty, life jacket, or inner tube to help. I decided that I wanted him to swim on his own this summer; after all, he is five now. Sounds like a reasonable goal right? Well it isn't if you are talking about my son! Before the first week of swimming lessons, I had purchased this swimming dog my son had seen on TV as motivation for trying his best. Of course I agreed to this idea- how much could this little toy cost anyway? Well, $30 later I had really high hopes!!!

For the first swimming lesson, I had to sit on the side of the pool with my son the entire time because he wouldn't even put his foot in the water. All they were asking was for him float around on two long noodles; honestly, this wasn't something new to him. My son just didn't like being told what to do. All of the other mothers, all my friends, were over on the bleachers chatting and having fun- but not me. Do I need to tell you that I wasn't very happy?

The second swimming lessons were even worse. For the first hour, he wouldn't even go anywhere near the water. We were given permission to stay for the second lesson because he did nothing during the first! A very kind teacher tried his hand with my son but with little success. After 15 minutes, I finally walked over to them and told my son "GET IN THE POOL" through gritted teeth. Then the teacher looked at me and asked "has he been in a pool before?"; I answered "yes, for the last three years". I knew I didn't want to hear anymore but the teacher then explained that my son had told him that he had never been in the water and this was a first. OH, do I need to tell you I wasn't very happy? The man asked if he would be OK to grab my son and hold him in the water. I was happy. I thought someone needs to take charge of my son and then things would change (right?). Well, the very kind, but now deaf man, grabbed my son and just held him while he walked through the pool. My son screamed NOOOOOOO, NOOOOOO, NOOOOO for and entire thirty minutes!!! Yup, everyone in the pool heard him screaming at the top of his lungs their entire lesson too. Do I need to tell you I was very very unhappy?

Later that night, my husband took my son into his bedroom alone and "motivated" him to obey. With the threat of no stuffed animals, no cartoons with daddy and more "motivation", the subsequent lessons went a little better. Throughout each lesson though my son still managed to get the teacher to hold him, give him all of her attention, and make sure people were always watching. Will he be swimming by himself this summer? So glad you asked. No. Before swimming lessons, my husband and I made a really big deal about taking his life vest away. This vest worked great last summer and probably would have served us well this summer too. However, we picked our battle with him and now we must win. His life vest is gone and I will not buy another one. He does however, have a new noodle to swim with around the pool. I know it may look like he won the battle but he didn't!!! You believe me don't you?

Even though I know my son inherited this stubbornness from my husband (honest), I realize that I can be like that when God is trying to teach me a lesson also. I may not be learning to swim in a pool but I am still trying to learn how to stay afloat in this crazy world. There are so many habits and hang-ups that keep weighing me down that sometimes I start to sink. All of us, my husband, myself, his teachers, tried telling my son that this was for his own good; but he still doesn't see it yet. I feel so passionately about the idea that all of the rules that God gives us, are really for our own good. God is NOT a mean ruler, but a Father who looks out for us. I just hope that next time God tries to teach me how to stay afloat in this world, I am diligent at learning the lesson rather than screaming at the top of my lungs NOOOOOO for everyone to see. How about you? Is there something God is trying to teach you that you are stubbornly refusing to learn? I want to hear about your victories today.

Today is the day after.

Yesterday was a momentous day in my life. You see everything happened: my son (and baby) graduated from preschool; my daughter got her stitches out; and oh, the baby I just mentioned, also turned 5! The graduation ceremony was nice but let me tell you these mother (I'm certainly not one of them) can get vicious to save good seats for a preschool ceremony! We were allowed in the sanctuary at 10:30 for the 11:00 graduation and I was waiting in line at 10:25 to get in. Honest, I'm not one of those crazy mothers but I did get a pretty good seat. I didn't cry, but then I didn't have time either! My son got to choose a restaurant to eat at to celebrate graduation and then we whisked home to clean the house for his party on Saturday.

I then waited for my daughter to get home from school so I could give her some Motrin in preparation for getting her stitches out. My very kind neighbor offered to take out the stitches from last week on the specified day so that we didn't have to wait and pay for a doctor to do it. Once again, I want to give my neighbor a shout out for helping us out so willingly! Of course my daughter, who like most eight year old girls, can be quite dramatic. She squirmed, squeaked, and skirted around while my neighbor patiently took the stitches out. After it was all over, my daughter said "hey that didn't hurt; I wish putting them in was that easy too". Of course, that isn't what she said as the stitches were being removed. Then you guessed it, we quickly ran home to clean the house some more for my son's birthday party on Saturday.

Before we left for his birthday dinner, my son was allowed to open one present. He chose the one that had arrived via Fed Ex Overnight earlier in the day. It was an entire fleet of very, very, very small Star War characters and ships. I have been searching for this and finally found it on ebay this Tuesday! The ebay seller, Tunafeathers, was kind enough to accommodate us and sent the winning bid Fed Ex. I'm happy to say that my son loved this birthday present more than anything else he has ever received. I uploaded a video so you can see this for yourself. We ate dinner out (again) and to my frustration my son ate absolutely nothing because he was so busy playing with the Star Wars men; at least the meal was free because it was his birthday. We quickly left the restaurant to go home and clean the house for his upcoming party- Oh, just kidding... we left the restaurant to go to my daughter's school and see her artwork. Then we went home to opening presents, cut the grass, and take baths.


I don't have any deep thoughts today. OK, let's be honest- I'm not have many thoughts at all today. But I am thankful for one thing. God has promised us that He will never change. Today I find a lot of security in that promise. I can see clearly that the time I take in getting to know God will never be wasted. He will always be right there through school graduations, physical traumas and even emotional traumas brought on by the inevitable birthdays. Today I am trusting God to carry me through it all. I think my son summed the day up best when he said "I had a really good birthday, even if I did have to take a bath."

Today I have bloody footprints in my garage!

Yes, that is right- I have 7 bloody footprints in my garage. No, it isn't a crime scene; but it sure was a scene straight out of your nightmares.

You see, my daughter and I share many wonderful qualities; however, athleticism isn't one of them. On Monday night, she demonstrated this fact by a rather forceful collision with her scooter. I was upstairs when my husband started yelling for me. I ran down the stairs as fast as I could and saw him carrying our daughter inside. To be honest, it was a little hard for my brain to comprehend the scene. But let me try to describe it for you... There was blood everywhere- we are talking actual puddles of blood! My daughter had a three inch gash on her shin that taught me more about human anatomy than my physiology classes ever did. I was actually able to identify fat, muscle and yes, bone. By the way, did you know there is an artery that goes up the front of the leg??? I do now!!! Yes, that explains the copious amounts of blood. Once I started focusing again, I see my son trying to apologize to my daughter (we still haven't figured out why because he wasn't anywhere near her when it happened). My daughter was rather glassy-eyed through the entire thing. I quickly called my neighbor, a nurse, and told her she HAD to come over NOW because we had had an accident. As she told us later, after following the trail of bloody footprints through the garage and then encountering not only one but two LARGE puddles of blood, she knew there was a problem. She agreed that my daughter did need stitches and she was kind enough (and coherent enough) to offer to drive us to the emergency room.

My husband and I were both happy to accept her help as well as her daughter's help (our regular babysitter) when she stayed with our son at home. I was particularly grateful for my neighbor's expertise when my daughter started to get groggy on the way to the hospital. My neighbor dropped us off at the emergency room and parked the car; she waited with us for the entire 2 and 1/2 hours; she asked all of the right questions to the doctors; she watched over the not-so-practiced resident apply 12, yes 12, stitches; she cheerfully drove us home. Thank you doesn't seem to be enough but THANK YOU!

We had no idea what Monday night had in store for us, but God did. The Bible promises us that God will always provide for us. God certainly did provide for us Monday night. I honestly don't know what we would have done if my neighbor wasn't home. God knew we needed them and allowed everything to work out in His timing. I'm thankful for two things today. I'm thankful for my neighbor's willingness to help and I'm thankful for God's provision. I just hope that someday I will help someone too when God has put me in the right place at the right time. Maybe that day will be today.

Today my daughter was on TV!

OK, I'll admit it- my daughter isn't on a network television show or even on a cable channel but rather on a closed circuit TV morning news show in her school. Of course, there are still 800 people watching so what happened really was a big deal to her. Usually only a few select 5th graders get a chance to appear on morning news so when the opportunity arose, I jumped at the chance to get her on the show. You see, my daughter wants to be a reporter. Most girls her age get things like clothes, video games, or baby dolls for Christmas, but the only thing my daughter wanted from Santa was a typewriter. That is right, an old fashioned, black, manual typewriter. Well you can imagine Santa had a little problem with that (especially since it was only a week before Christmas); he did however, manage to deliver an electric, grey one instead. How did my daughter get the chance to be a reporter so young? I'm glad you asked... I paid for it! Her school PTO sponsored a silent auction and this was something we could bid on. Now let me tell you, the bidding process alone was a new experience for me. I would like to give a shout out to the other mother who gave me the courage stand my ground and took turns watching our bid sheets to allow our children this opportunity. After all, the bid was for hosting the morning show for an entire week!!! Without her, I think I would have crumbled- if looks could kill... Now that you know how much my daughter wants to be a reporter and all of the effort I went through to get her this chance, you would think this would be the perfect experience for her right? Ummm, nothing is ever easy is it? On Monday morning we went to school early and began to prepare for the show. A very well meaning 5th grade student exclaimed "Why did you wear green??? You will look like a ghost and everyone will laugh" Oh no, my daughter was a little nervous and this was not a good start. I quickly pulled off my cream colored wrap and gave it to her. Being a desperate mother, I had actually offered her the blue t-shirt I was wearing until I realized that I would be next to naked at the school! She got one chance to rehearse and then broke down into tears. Oops, what have I done? You will be happy to know that once on camera, she did great. That is until Daddy watched her on Wednesday. I still haven't gotten the full story, but somehow the microphone broke apart while on-air, she missed the script rolling on a nearby computer screen and finally did cry on camera. Yes, all 800 people saw the entire thing. Of course, I had no idea any of this happened until she got off the bus with puffy eyes and tears streaming down her face. Apparently, the incident didn't seem like a big deal to my husband and he failed to warn me!!! We sat down at the kitchen table and talked. I started out singing "Mama said there'd be days like this, there'd be days like this my mama said..." and then I got a violent stare back from her. I quickly changed tactics. We talked about being embarrassed and having the courage to continue on even if we didn't want to. You will be happy to know that she did go back today. As a parent, I want her to face challenges. I want her to gain the confidence from overcoming embarrassment. I want her to grow and in the process become more Christ-like. However (and it is a BIG however), I don't want to see her go through pain. The Bible tells us that God loves each of us more than a parent loves their children. I know God allows difficult things to come into my life to help me in the future. Unbelievable as it seems, God loves me more than I love my own daughter. The challenges God has allowed for me in my life have indeed made me stronger, more compassionate and even more humble. Can you think of a challenge God allowed for you that in the end made you more like Christ? I want to hear from you. Post your comment and encourage someone with how a difficult time in your life has made you better.

Today I built a fence.

Of course you guys know that when I try to do something as simple as repair a fence, it never ends up being simple. Our beagle has been getting out a lot. Yes, this is the same beagle that has been the topic of several other blogs as of late. After finding both of my dogs in the Walmart parking lot, I finally decided that it was time to fix the broken pickets in the fence. You see, our beagle (the same one who yelps from neck pain almost daily) has found a new way to fill his time. He headbutts each and every picket of our fence until he finds one that is weak. He then contorts his head and neck around to be able to chew the bottom of the weakened picket. He will continue to work at destroying the picket until he makes a hole large enough for him to escape. The fact that this behavior is causing the neck pain has yet deterred him. Is there such a thing as an obsessive compulsive dog??? I began this week replacing the broken pickets and let me tell you it is not as easy as it would appear. First, I had to use the back of the hammer to pry the old pickets off of the fence post. Now that doesn't sound too dangerous but let me share a few warnings with you. For instance, when the picket unexpectedly breaks loose, it can cause one to land quite forcefully on one's backside. Also, using one's foot to push the picket down, can cause one to awkwardly straddle a fence post; this is particularly uncomfortable when neighbors are watching you. Of course, these things didn't happen to me... The second step was for me to walk around the other side of the fence to attach the new picket. Once again, you would think that merely going to the other side of the fence really couldn't be too hard- but you would be wrong. For example, at one point there were several pickets in a row that had to be replaced. Once I pried the old pickets off, I thought it would be a lot easier to crawl through this hole in the fence than walk all the way around to the gate. As it turns out, the hole wasn't as big as I though it was. When my son walked by, he asked me what I was doing. I thought it would be too difficult to explain to him that I belatedly realized that I wasn't as flexible as I was in high school and, well, I was stuck. I simply asked him to give me a push and finally made it out of the fence. Fortunately, the only thing that was hurt was my pride. Lastly, I had to screw all of the new pickets back on and I still can't explain how the pickets were absolutely, perfectly, unquestioningly straight when I screwed them in but were rather crooked when I stood back to see what I had done. I know it wasn't my problem- right? Well after working at this project for a few days, I thought I was done. I had just walked by the front door when I saw it- that white tipped tail running through the front yard! Oh no he didn't! Yes, my beagle got out again. I retrieved him from the neighbor's bushes and marched over to the fence to find his latest place of escape. Finally, I found it... umm, I had forgotten to close the back gate! I guess I kind of made it easy for him- didn't I? Then I started to think about my life and about how I thought I had everything all nailed up. Just when it seems like I have it all together- I'm having my quiet time, depending on the Lord for my needs, being accountable to other people, I realize that I have left the back gate open for temptation to walk right in. I think about the words of the Lord's prayer "deliver me from temptation" and I realize how I need God to do that for me too. Today, I am humbled. Today, I realized that even when I try to fix things up myself, I still need God to close the back gate.

Today I want to know why this bird is so special.

Last week we visited Callaway Gardens during the kids' Spring Break. Callaway is a great place for families. We stayed in a cabin; my husband enjoyed a morning of guided fly fishing; we walked through the butterfly house with butterflies flying all around us; we took a ferry across the lake and saw turtles. We were so busy having fun we couldn't possibly get into trouble- right? Well, those of you who know me, know that I tend to find unusual circumstances. I would argue that these things find me, but I've been told that isn't totally true. No matter which way you would argue my predicament, I still found myself in an awkward situation. While my husband was on his guided fly fishing thingy, the kids and I went to the nature center. We walked around for a while and I spotted a bench where I wanted the kids to have their picture taken. Now, you do have to walk across flowerbeds to get to this bench and there isn't exactly a path to get there but why would they put a bench out if they didn't want you to sit on it? This bench is just a few feet from some bird feeders, a lovely spot. It just so happened that a very large bird, yes the one in picture above, was sitting on top of the bird feeder. I did notice the bird and made sure my kids walked very slowly and quietly to the bench. I did notice a few people taking pictures of the bird and courteously waited until they were done before we approached it. I, however, did not think about the fact that no one else was getting close to the bird. Well you will be happy to know that we got to the bench just 10 feet from the bird and the kids took a great picture (don't you agree?). I decided to sit on a nearby chair and enjoy the scenery for a few minutes. That was when I noticed all two dozen people staring angrily at me. Yes, two dozen- OK, I didn't really count them but there were a lot! Behind a fence stood this very large group of people all wearing the telltale Callaway green shirts, glowering at me for having the audacity of getting so close to this special bird. I had no way of knowing they were there and that I might be disturbing them. They were hidden behind a fence and I couldn't see them until I had already committed the act. I personally think those angry looks stemmed from jealousy; after all, I was only 10 feet from the strange bird and they must have been at lest 30 yards away. It wasn't because I was somewhere I shouldn't have been, kids and all- right? Well, you can probably understand why I didn't stay too long. I sternly whispered to the kids that they needed to slowly and quietly walk back to the sidewalk. And then it happened. As we stood, the bird lifted it's wings and prepared to fly away. Then I heard an audible OHHHH and felt the utter disappointment of the dozens of people behind the fence. Oh yes, I wanted to run and hide but we kept walking slowly. And thank God, I mean Thank You God. The bird decided to sit back down and I didn't have a mob running after me! I was tempted to go inside and ask someone what the bird was and what made it so special, but I didn't dare. I felt it wasn't wise to draw any more attention to us that day. So if you know what this bird is and why it is so special, please let me know. Oh, and what did I learn? I was reminded that people are always watching how well or poorly we represent Christ. I had no way of knowing that dozens people were behind the fence, but they were sure watching me. It is easy to think no one will know if I just say a little white lie, if I don't help that person, if I loose my temper- but people do know. People we don't even know are watching and we have the chance to make an amazing impact on someone's life. People will notice we are different and that is a wonderful testimony.

Today we have a new guinea pig- now ask me why.

You see it all started last Friday when we decided to go to Walmart to purchase one of the kids' favorite movies- Bed Time Stories. The reason why the kids like this movie so much is because the guinea pig in it looks just like one of ours, Dorothy. My husband was away on a fishing trip and the movie seemed like a great idea. When he left that morning, I was glad that he had the chance to do something he enjoyed but rarely had the chance to do- that was until the accident happened. After returning from the store, I opened the door expecting to see the dogs. The dogs always wait right there for me; but they weren't there now. Something was terribly wrong. I ran upstairs and found my worst nightmare. We had been gone for about an hour and during that time, the dogs had found the guinea pigs, tipped over the cage and destroyed my daughter's room. I found our beagle under my daughter's bed. No matter how loudly I called him, he wouldn't come out. My first thought was that he had hurt his neck again and couldn't move... but then I noticed the smile on his face. Honest, he really was smiling. He clearly was not in pain. Finally, I noticed it- the body. This lifeless body had been the favorite guinea pig; this was the one who looked just like the guinea pig in the movie, the entire reason for leaving the house in the first place! I started screaming to my daughter that I was sorry, I was so, so sorry. My daughter, son and I all started to wail; I'm surprised no one called the police with the amount of noise we were making. Then I realized that my husband- the one who hunts and fishes and can chop off the head of a snake without flinching- was hours away from home. The questions flooded my mind. Why, oh, why did this happen the only day he wasn't home? What am I going to do with the body? Where is the other guinea pig? How am I going to help my children??? Soon the answers came. My beagle got out from under the bed, covertly grabbed the "evidence" and ran outside with it. My lab followed him outside and helped (we'll just say) dispose of the body. I found the other guinea pig in the room my lab had been patrolling. I took my daughter upstairs (away from any window to witness the "disposal" of the body) and told her to take care of the guinea pig who survived. My son curiously watched me clean up the mess. That, of course, was when I remembered that I was out of carpet cleaner. By the way, that Pledge for everything really does clean everything. I made my kids grab a snack and we hopped into the car to find another guinea pig. Oh, and we also found a cage- with a lock. How did I take care of my children? I just kept telling them to thank God that one guinea pig did survive. To be honest, I don't know who I was trying to convince of God's love more- my kids or myself. Even though I knew what happened was terrible, really terrible, God was not to be blamed. I hope that at some point in the future they will remember that even though bad things happen, we can still thank God for being God. He may not provide for us in the way we would like (i.e., a husband being home), but He will still provide.

Today I was a slayer of dragons.

You see it all started a few nights ago when I was getting ready for bed. I went to turn off the lamp and suddenly felt something on the switch. Living down south, I've learned to jump anytime I touch something unexpected. You can find anything from tree frogs, to lizards to my worst nightmare- roaches, crawling in unwelcome places inside your house. I hate these roaches! My husband tries to convince me that these unbelievably large things are not roaches but rather something called "Palmetto Bugs"; he claims that they live in pine trees but accidentally get stuck in our house, blah, blah, blah. No matter what he says I know they are still HUGE roaches. It is like a living, breathing nightmare when they fly around because you don't have any idea where they are going to land! I once had one land in my hair while I was walking up the stairs; it is a true miracle that I didn't fall to my death at the bottom of the stairs trying to get it out! After all, it is hard enough for me to walk without tripping up the stairs anyway- I sure don't need a roach to push me over the edge. Thankfully, when I was turning out the light, I was not grasping a roach but rather a dragon. Yes, you guessed it, my four year old has been at it again. My son placed his dragon under the lampshade and on top of the light switch. Why he did this will always be a mystery (he forgets these things as quickly as he does them), but the dragon was left for me to find. That miniature dragon was an unexpected surprise for me but I also have other unexpected dragons in my life. These dragons come in the form of worry, negative thoughts, and anger. These dragons creep into my mind without me even realizing it. Today I decided to slay these dragons and try to focus on God's perspective. However, I do know that these dragons will keep coming back and daily I will need to take up my sword and slay them again. It is not an easy process but one that God will reward. So next time you see a dragon attached to your lamp (this happens at your house too- right?), remember to look for the dragons in your life that sneak in and don't hesitate to slay them every day.

Today I took our beagle to the vet.

It all started two weeks ago when our beagle, Pete, could barely walk up our deck stairs. He whined the entire day and I was devastated. He couldn't lift his head or even move in anyway that could be considered normal. Now, two weeks later and I finally accepted the fact that things weren't a whole lot better. I had done my Internet research (always reliable- right?) and thought I figured out the correct medication to give him, but something was still wrong. I called the vet and prepared them for the trial they would have in getting him out of the car. I told them that every time I touched his neck he would whine terribly and walk around like a hunch-back for hours. When I arrived at the vet, they were prepared to get a stretcher out and carry him inside. The vet came out and calmly put a leash around his (enormous) middle and the tech carefully lifted him out of the car. There was no problem. OK, I was a little embarrassed at this point because I had been quite explicit about how difficult it would be to get him inside. Now I had one of those thoughts, you know- the ones you wish you had more often. I realized that perhaps the experts may know a little more about this than me- go figure. We got Pete inside without a problem and they even got him onto the exam table. Wow, how did they do that? I showed the vet what pills I had decided to give him for the last two weeks and she looked worried. Apparently, you are not supposed to give dogs both aspirin and steroids together. Hmm, maybe I should have asked an expert sooner. As it turned out, Pete does have a pinched nerve. According to the well qualified vet, he does need to loose another 10 pounds. But with a little rest, he should be OK. I won't elaborate too much on my experience getting him back in the car. It had to do with me climbing into the back seat of my minivan, begging him to get in, bribing him to get in and then ending with several unsuccessful attempts of trying to lift a 40 pound beagle into the back. Oh, all with the experts watching. Maybe I should have asked them for help- someday I will learn. It may already be obvious to you that I try to fix things myself. Sometimes fixing things ourselves isn't such a good idea (i.e., guessing at what medication to give a dog when you aren't a vet). God has never asked us to fix our problems alone. God wants us to come to him for a solution. I know that God's solution is better than anything that I could plan, but I don't always follow that truth. You see, it takes faith to follow God's plan instead of our own. I'm still working on the faith part, but when I trust God, He always comes through. What plan are you following today? Are you trying to medicate your problems yourself, or are you asking the expert? Don't forget that God is the ultimate expert.

Today I asked, "why is there a harmonica in our bush?".

No, the title of this post isn't the first line to a county music song I am writing; rather, it was an actual question I posed this morning. You see, it is beautiful here today (don't you want to move down south too?), and my son and I went outside to enjoy the weather. That was when I notice something red in our bush. Huh? OK, I knew I had to take a closer look and that was when I found the harmonica. Yeah, our bush sprouted a harmonica. I asked my son why it was there and he, of course, had no idea. To be honest, that question didn't seem all that strange compared to the questions I have been asking God lately. What is going on in our world right now is just plain scary. Our family isn't exempt from these fears. My husband makes a living by designing subdivision and other new construction. Unless you have been living in a cave, you know that no one is building new things and that means my husband is having a hard time surviving. We have also had a number of other strange things happen that have become quite a challenge. Just like everyone else, I have a lot of stress. I have recently been able to talk to a number of women and naturally the topic of stress came up. So many women were talking about panic attacks, severe symptoms of stress and just feeling such a strong sense of being overwhelmed that they could not function. I have come to realize that even though I am not handling the stress in my life as well as I would like, I'm making it through. I still cry, I am still scared, I still feel overwhelmed at times, but I still have a sense of security too. Even if that sense of security is sometimes VERY scarce- it is still there. I would like to think that it is just my ability to withstand our challenges, but if I told you that I would be lying. That sense of security comes straight from God. It is the Holy Spirit whispering to my heart that God is still in control even if I don't see it. I was surprised to see in my life that there is something different about me, and that gives me great hope. I know without any doubt that God is the only thing keeping me sane. He wants to do the same for you too. Go ahead and ask the Holy Spirit to whisper to you today.

Today I wanted to share with you my son's new bed.

As you can see by the picture of my son's new bed that isn't finished- not even close. You see it all started by my son repeatedly asking if he could have a big boy's bed. Now he is almost five so we figured that it was really past due (we've been busy...). On Monday, I decided it was time to shop around. I can hardly describe my excitement when I found the perfect bed on CLEARANCE! This was the same bed I had been eyeing for him for almost 5 years. Now you need to understand that I come from a Dutch family, raised with Dutch values and one of those defining values is being thrifty; I feel the need to explain that we are not cheap, rather we are just very good stewards of our money (OK, go ahead and laugh). I dragged my husband to the furniture store to look at this perfect loft bed with a slide and a hideout underneath. He then had the poor sense to say "I'm not really excited about it, how about this much more expensive one". OK, he didn't really say much more expensive but that is what the other bed was! I was stunned. I've always been cursed with a very readable face and I'm sure the emotions of horror, confusion, and shock were written all over my face. Those of you who also understand the thrill of finding the perfect thing on sale will understand what I was going through. Well after some discussion, we did decide to go with the perfect (well priced) bed. It was to be delivered yesterday. I was told that I had to be home for the entire day with not even a four hour window of delivery time (yeah, I thought it was a little extreme too). About 10:30 the customer service called me (at home) and informed me I was not at home. Huh? Apparently the delivery men were in front of my house and I wasn't there. Huh? Well, about 20 minutes later they did show up- at the right house. About 45 minutes after that, I was asked to come upstairs. They explained that it doesn't normally take 45 minutes to screw together 6 pieces of wood together but something was wrong. They concluded that the screws would not line up and I needed two new railings. They then took the railings away and left everything else from the bed in my son's room. I knew this was going to devastate my son because he had really been looking forward to the new bed. He was disappointed, but I came up with a compromise. You see, the delivery men had left everything else including the tent, tower and hideout pieces. Me being, well, me, I decided to put together these accessories. I accomplished the task and was able to set the tent part up over his new mattress on the floor. I realized that even though things looked a mess and my son was extremely disappointed, he could still get a vague idea of what his bed would look like. (The fact that he woke up in the middle of the night because he was stuck in his tent is another blog all together.) Sometimes (in reality, a lot of times) it looks like our life is a mess, and things are well beyond our control. It is really hard to see any plan that God may have for us. These are the times that faith is so important. I read this morning in the Bible that it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God without faith. To be honest, that is not what I waned to read- but truth is truth. I will pray for you today, and hope you will pray for me, that we all have the faith we need when our lives look a mess. He will put our lives together even if he has to leave the pieces unscrewed for just a little while.

Today I want to share something really funny with you.

This is a video our pastor showed in church a few weeks ago. I hope you laugh at this as hard as I did. It is an actual ministry team trying, note- I did say trying, to rap. Have a good laugh today.

Today I confessed my sin to a friend (and now to you).

I'm sorry to disappoint you but I don't have a major, juicy sin to confess. I just had one of those everyday, mom moments. Of course it had to do with my four year old BOY (do I need to say more?). OK, I guess I do need to tell you more. On Monday I just couldn't get my son moving to leave for preschool. It was one of those days that he found every reason to not get dressed. You know those kinds of days. He put his underwear on his head; he hid under the couch; he tired to make the cat fly; he tried to fly himself; and finally, he did the naked hiney dance for me (this was really not pretty- do yourself a favor and don't try to picture it). After some very stern words, he did manage to put on his clothes but that wasn't the end of his procrastination. We had shoes yet to go. My son thought it would be a good idea to have me put his shoes on while he was doing a headstand. Yeah, not such a good idea. Let me tell you that putting his shoes on upside down and backwards with only ONE cup of coffee in me wasn't going to happen. I felt like I was back in school taking the SAT's again. I flashed back to those math problems and froze. If you have one shoe pointed in the wrong direction and the feet are opposite of what you are used to, then which shoe goes on which foot? You can clearly see my problem with the shoes- right? (Just agree with me, it will make me feel better). Finally we were ready to go and I took a quick peek at my email- oops. I had received an unexpected email that, quite frankly, made me angry. It was too much and when we got in the car and he was again procrastinating, I yelled at my son. I knew what I was doing was wrong, but I couldn't seem to stop. I quickly apologized but he still had tears on his face. I can really relate to Paul when he wrote in the Bible about doing the things that he didn't want to do and not following through the way he wanted. Do I need to tell you I felt terrible? Well this morning, a friend told me she had done the exact same thing to her four year old son who wouldn't get in the car and she felt terrible. I just want to grab her and tell her that it was OK. I knew how bad she felt. I hope I gave her some encouragement in telling her I messed up to; I certainly received some encouragement knowing that I wasn't the only one to loose my temper with my son. God has told us to confess our sins to others. I wondered this morning if one reason for that was to give others encouragement. It can give you courage to try and be better next time when you know you aren't the only one struggling. It is so easy to be discouraged when you see all of the wrong things you do. It is nice to know you aren't alone. I want to thank my friend today for being transparent with me. If she hadn't shared her story with me, I would probably still be feeling guilty for my actions. When you know that someone you respect also struggles with sin, it helps to put things in perspective. I know that next time I will take a breath before yelling at my son. I may still sin and yell when he doesn't deserve it, but I will not give up in my attempt to please God. Can you be transparent with anyone today? Can you give someone encouragement? Let them know that you have been there but you know next time they will do better. On behalf of all tired parents, please share your story- God may just be wanting to use your mis-step to help someone else today.

Today I think my son saw a ghost.

Today something very strange happened. My son took a nap. OK, while my son doesn't take too many naps anymore, the fact that he took a nap is not the strange event. It is what happened while he took a nap. You see, I was thoroughly enjoying myself, drinking a cup of coffee, really soaking in the fact that the house was quiet and I wasn't working (yes, all of those things happening at once is strange- but that still isn't the strange part I want to tell you about). My son had a stuffy nose so I wasn't surprised when he started making noises in his sleep. He still likes to suck his thumb and becomes very grouchy (like an angry Incredible Hulk grouchy) when he can't suck his thumb because he has to breath with his mouth open. We have been woken up many nights with a terrible scream to attest to this frustration. These screams start with a tiny squeak and then slowly grow louder, soon becoming a deafening roar that must wake the neighbors too. I waited for these noises to disturb MY quiet time and grow to the piercing screech I was so used to hearing. The noises did grow but they soon became a laugh. The laugh went on to become an actual cackle. What??? I knew he was asleep because I had just looked in on him, so I couldn't understand what was going on in his room. I checked the usual suspects: two dogs downstairs (check), cat with me (check), guinea pigs still in their cage (thank goodness-check), water frog still swimming (check). These outburst continued for about another 10 minutes; I finally couldn't stand the suspense anymore and decided to risk waking him. I had to find out what was making him laugh so hard. I walked in his room and saw him looking in his open closet with a very satisfied smile on his face. He was intently watching his closet- that didn't make sense! I slowly walked around the closet door and looked inside to find... nothing. He was just staring at it, clearly captivated by something. He doesn't have a TV in his room, so what was it? Let me tell you this was very strange and made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. He was certainly watching something! My first thought was night terrors, but he wasn't upset. What is going on? If it wasn't a night terror was it a nap hysterical (OK, I've not actually heard of such a thing but I did come up with a pretty good name for it don't you think)? When I called his name he tried to stand up and fell flat on his face. I called his name again and he fell flat on his face- again. He was obviously still asleep. Finally, he seemed to recognize me and then had a look of panic on his face. Believe me, it was a look that any parent would recognize. I simply asked him if he had to go to the bathroom and he nodded yes. Then he just stood there. Even though it seemed self-evident to me, I decided to prompt him with "well, then you had better go". He slowly woke up as he went into the bathroom. When he once again could focus his eyes on me, I asked him if he knew what he was laughing at and he said "no". I then asked him if he knew that he was laughing and he said "no". He then picked up a blanket off the floor and went back to bed. I really have no idea what he saw in his closet and realize it probably was not a ghost masquerading as a stand up comedian; I'm assuming he was dreaming. However, whatever it was made him happy. This strange episode caused me to remember my friend, Tilla Willomen, who took me under her care in college. She was about 80 years old when I knew her and she had had a lifetime to fall in love with the Lord. She once told me that she saw real, live angles in the clouds one day. At the time I dismissed the idea, but now I realize that it was not for me to judge. Life is truly hard and it is sometime difficult to believe that God really does care about the everyday problems. Let's be honest, we have all become cynical about the fact that God will show Himself to us. Let me share something with you. I have a friend who lives 700 miles away but inevitably whenever I cry out to God (literally in tears) that I need a friend she will call within hours. No one can convince me that God didn't hear my prayer and He gave her the urge to call me. I wonder how many other things God has done to show His love to me just today that I dismissed as a coincidence. I want all of you to know that I am saying this with PASSION: God cares about even the little things in your life. God will act and prove to you that He loves you. I really don't know what my son saw and I'm not convinced it was an angel sent to amuse him- but you never know. What I do know is that we are to have faith like a child. I am asking that for just one day you suspend your adult cynicism and really look for God to show you how much He loves you. He will show you when you have faith. I hope you find your angel sent to make you laugh today.

Today I am dealing with the consequences of dying my own hair.

Today I am walking around with an unintentional hairdo. Yes, I will admit it- I dye my hair. I am 34 years old and have grey hair. To be honest, I have a long history of dying my hair. In high school, my best friend and I highlighted each other's hair for fun. However, when I started going grey in my mid-twenties, I knew it was time to take action and have been trying to cover the truth ever since. I started off having my hair highlighted at a salon. While I wasn't too happy about the price, I continued to go. One day I was told that I not only needed to highlight but I also needed to lowlight my hair. What? The stylist went on to explain that the highlighting was getting too light and she needed to darken my hair. Now this really didn't make a lot of sense to me. I had to first pay for her to make my hair lighter and then I had to pay for her to make my hair darker. Couldn't she just not highlight my hair as much? Let me tell you, this was a lot of money and I decided I could do it myself. Highlighting my own hair wasn't too hard but as more grey grew in, highlighting was not enough anymore. After each pregnancy, I lost handfuls of hair. As I mentioned before, that hair grew back curly- it also grew back grey!!! Isn't the unruly, curly hair difficult enough, did it also have to be grey? Well, about 4 years ago I moved to dying my hair. I have always thought of myself as blond; so I bought blond dye. I knew it didn't look quite right but I didn't think it looked that bad. I had deluded myself until I met someone for the first time and she said the dreaded word- orange. Yeah, I had been trying to convince myself that my hair wasn't really orange, but I couldn't deny it any longer. I told this person that I had attended Clemson University and she replied (yes I still remember every word) "at least you have the perfect hair for it- Clemson Orange". Oh my, there are no words to describe what I felt. I think I turned completely white (which of course, made my hair look even more orange). I knew I had to make a change. At that point, I decided to use a light brown and have been quite happy with that color. On Monday, my daughter said to me "Wow mom, I can really see your grey hair now". There was no doubt that it was time to dye again. Not a problem- I'm an old pro (LOL). The problem came when I decided to change colors and brands. Why, oh why, can't I stick with what I know? My first mistake was when I decided to go darker. I thought "if my hair normally gets darker in the winter, I should probably go with medium brown- it will certainly look more natural" (ha, ha, ha). Do I even need to tell you it did NOT look more natural? My second mistake was when I grabbed a color that was permanent. I had decided a few years ago to stick with the color that washed out after 28 shampoos because it was less risky, but apparently I had forgotten this. I wish I could tell you that my son was with me and was distracting me when I bought it, but then I would be lying. I was by myself and have no excuse for my bad judgement. Before I used the color I did take note of it being permanent but ignored that little voice that said "be careful". My third mistake was leaving the color on for just a little bit too long. The box said to rinse the color after 10 minutes but leave on for 15 minutes for resistant grey. It did actually warn not to leave it on too long or the color would be too "intense". Well, I figured I am a smart, logical woman. After all, who could reason better- a box or me? Let me tell you- the box won. I stepped out of the shower and looked in the mirror with a shudder. My hair was black. Yes, it was black. My son told me that I should not buy that stuff again. My daughter just looked at me and tried really hard to say something nice- she came up with nothing. The best thing my husband could say was "it doesn't really look bad". I have tried washing my hair several times since and it can now be called very dark brown. I have seen the looks of shock. I have heard the tactful (but insincere) comments. But I know, it was a mistake. I try to walk with my head held high and know this too shall pass. While the results of trying something different with my hair was not successful, sometimes it is a good thing to try something different. My daughter is studying fairness this month at church. This week the devotions have been about accepting someone who is different than you and treating them fairly. I started to think about someone different who I could get to know. Maybe there is a new mom in the neighborhood, maybe there is a mom you don't normally chat with at school, maybe there is a child who needs to feel some extra love, look around and find someone different today. Perhaps, there is someone different who you could try to show God's love to. It is worth the risk. After all, finding someone different to share God's love with must yield better results than finding a different hair color did this week for me.