FROM ALASKA WITH LOVE

We have some precious friends who live in Alaska, Josh and Janelle. I am sure I have mentioned them before but can't find that post. Anyway, Josh and Janelle and their two kids moved to Alaska to serve as missionaries. Josh is a pilot and Janelle is a Precept teaching mad woman. They have hearts for people, pray like crazy, and love like Jesus. You can read about them here. Did I mention they are adopting? Oh yes they are! A child from Ethiopia. Can you imagine the transition from the desert to the tundra?
Nelle (that is what I call her since I am prone to give random people nicknames, just ask brother-in-law Chuckie) sent HH a little gift from Alaska.

All I can say is well done Nelle and I laughed my head off.
That and HH ain't getting no sugars from me anytime soon.
Have a great weekend!

SOME LIKE IT HOT

HH and MC 2 are connoisseurs of fine hot sauce. Honestly, HH wishes I was from south of the border. Actually he wishes he was from south of the border sometimes. He loves the challenge of the "hot" sauce. Loves it. It thrills him to no end to prove he can eat it when the wait staff tells him it is too hot for a "gringo". (Yes that has happened before). Every time they do it, I want to whisper to them-

"Those are fighting words my friend."

The man will literally sit and sweat during a meal because it is so hot.
MC 2 has not developed his "hot" tolerance, but oh, how he loves him so hot sauce and chips.
So imagine his great delight when we made this yesterday from P-dub.
Like some many other times, if I had been thinking I would have had my camera.
When we finished and taste tested, MC 2 declared it

"THE BEST COOKIN' EVER!"

HH won't be fond of it, not hot enough.
But I must say it was pretty darn tasty. And easy which is always a requirement for me.
Hope you guys have a great Thursday.

ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS

A couple of great links for today.

#1. Priscilla Shirer - Feeling limited?

#2. Carlos Whittaker - aka Ragamuffin Soul - has a new Cd out.

They back story is really good.

Watch it until the very end - it is worth it.

Let it download while you do something else.

You have 8 minutes to let your soul be encouraged,

and it will,

I promise.

SMT RECAP

*A little nugget on Deliberately Delivered from Crown Laid Down*

This picture describes my trip to Houston in more ways than I will talk about here. Sister and I headed to Houston Friday afternoon. We made good time and were looking for our hotel when the inevitable happened. Apparently Map Quest did not know that when I typed in "N" I really meant "S". After a quick call to the hotel and LOTS of prayer we found our way. Just in time to shower, get prettied up, and head to the church.

See, here we are. As excited as I was to see Beth Moore, I was more nervous and excited about meeting this one:

Isn't she gorgeous! This is Keri. We have been blog friends for the better part of a year now. The SMT trip provided the perfect opportunity for us to meet. Praise the Lord we did. She is awesome and more endeared to me now than before. The Internet is amazing tool in the hands of God. Of course the reason we were there was to see this gal:

This is how close you can get when there are only 507 of you. It honestly did not even feel like that many. You can read a play by play here at the LPM blog. We were not at the Omni, but had a good time all on our own. Sometimes it is nice to be away from it all, and have the pizza delivered to your door. I also got to meet Gran Jan (aka Georgia Jan) who is a lovely woman of God, physically and spiritually. She was very gracious to me and I was glad I met her. On the way home I got to hold this one as well:

A girl filled weekend for sure. Except for Travis Cot-trell (not Ca- trelll as we like to call him). Came home to the men children who had visited the local Harley Shop with HH. The house was still standing, no thanks to the nay-sayers who doubted (MOM!) I am still mediating over the words Beth spoke. I have lots going on in the head and heart that needs to be sorted out (like you couldn't tell). But it is all good. I will be memorizing my scriptures next time around so I can go back. Except I think I'll make a weekend out of it. Ahh...the whole weekend ....

"BETH"LEHEM

This past weekend I was fortunate enough to attend the Living Proof Ministries Scripture Memory Team Celebration in Houston. Whew.. that was a mouthful. My sister and I got to go together. So all last week we were telling the men children that mom was going to go see Beth Moore. So one night MC 1 was saying his prayers and I heard this,
him : and Jesus please be with mom as she makes her trip to Bethlehem cause I am going to miss her.
me : What? Where did you say I was going?
him: To Bethlehem.
me: When did I tell you I was going to Bethlehem? ( I thought maybe he was being prophetic)
him: You said you were going to see that lady.
me: Beth Moore baby Beth Moore.
Ohhhhh.

The trip was fast and furious. My mom-in-law asked if I was refreshed. No. No warm fuzzies this weekend. Lots to process and sort and let heal my heart.
I did get to finally meet Keri face to face. She is as stunning in real life as she is in her pics. Sweet as can be and funny and I love her to pieces! And she is leaving us:( But we will not talk about that.
So give me time to think on this weekend and I'll get back to you.
Hope yours was great!

BABY SISTER'S BABY

There is really nothing to add.

She is just too cute!

Off the "Beth"lehem.

Have an awesome weekend.

AT LEAST IT IS SOMETHING

The last couple of weeks around here have been pretty yucky.

I don't know why I am telling you that.

You read it, you know.

If they haven't been yucky then I have.

Attitude and all.

But today was different.

Today I woke up with something I have not had in a while.

Excitement.

In the midst of what appears to be nothing.

In the nothing, He is still God.

Out of the nothing He formed the universe.

Nothing in the hands of God can be crafted in to a something that will blow your mind.

And that my friends is SOMETHING!

DO YOU LIVE HERE?

Heard in our front yard last night:
Me: MC 1 shut the gate before MC 2 gets there.

HH: He won't go out the gate will he? (As if it were the most ridiculous of suggestions)

Me: (Inside my head) - HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA (gain your composure girl, gain it now)
Uhm.... yes he most certainly will.

Seriously, I think HH has been on one to many hunting trips and has forgotten the offspring he produced. I mean really, this kid tried to shut himself in the fridge... a gate is an open doorway.

SHUT IT

I don't have much for today.

My fingers are hurting from having figurative doors slammed on them.

I gave the decision over to the Lord and am at peace with His will.

(so big of me isn't it? To be okay with what God Almighty wants to do. Seems silly even to say it.)

He knows best after all.

It was just disappointing.

Oh well, the door He opens will be so much better;)

Right?

Tell me I'm right.

Oh, never mind, I know I am.

The Bible tells me so.

(sing that song for hours now)

HARPER

14 minutes long, but so worth it.

Praise God, praise God.

Harper

Get the Kleenex while

you wait for it.

PIGGY BACK

I am going to ride on the shoulders of Big Mama today.

Click here to see more links to help with the recovery in Haiti.

If you can't give financially, you can give spiritually.

Pray, pray and pray.

For the Haitian people.

For the relief workers.

For safety.

For wisdom.

For grace.

For peace.

For Jesus Christ to be known.

He is still on the throne.

That has not changed.

Have a blessed weekend.

SILENCED

Pioneer Woman has an awesome giveaway for Haiti.

Just leave a comment on her post here.

These ladies have provided links to help in Haiti.

Big Mama

Boo Mama

LPM Blog

Bring the Rain

And that pretty much trumps any complaint I have today so I will be quiet now.

IN THE MIDST

UPDATE: BABY SIS HAS HAD HER BABY GIRL! WOO HOO!

In the midst of all my blahhhhhhh, a couple of exciting things are happening.

First, my baby sister is having her second baby today.

She was induced at 5-something-ish this am.

Of course nobody is expecting great speed.

It took baby sis 36+ hours of labor before she decided to grace her with her presence,

so any length of labor is, well, payback from mom.

Second, MC 1 has "qualified for dyslexia".

Does not sound so good, but actually is.

Now we have some explanation for the gaps in his IQ and reading level.

So he will now get the tools he needs and

hopefully we will see some major improvements.

PLEASE!!

Baby sis if you read this I have one word-

PUSH!!!!!!!

BACK

Dear God,
I don't get it.
I know it is trivial in the grand scheme of things. I know there are people facing much harder challenges in their lives, much bigger obstacles. I have faced some of my own. This one seems to be eating away at me piece by piece though. Just when I think I am past it back we go again. Back to being ticked off that I am even in this boat in the first place. Back to being hurt by words that were said and those that weren't. Back to being confused. Back to feeling disillusioned. Back to not trusting. Anyone thing or anyone. I see their lips moving and I think to myself- I do not believe a word you are saying. What self - seeking motive are you after? Back to not even trusting myself to discern what is true and what is false. Feeling like I have to pick sides yet totally unequipped to do so because I blew it so bad last time. Back to FORCING myself to trust You when I can't see it or even comprehend it. Back to feeling bad that something so trivial is tearing me up inside. Feeling like an immature little girl who needs to grow up and in the same breath thinking grown-ups shouldn't act like this. Back to wondering what happened to integrity.Then looking deep into my own life to see if it is there and loathing myself when I find the places it wasn't. I hate roller coasters Lord and it feels like I can't get off of this one. Yet fully aware that this is a baby one in the the scale of roller coasters.

So this morning (because the above was written last night), I am back on my face before You. Praising You, trusting You and seeking You. Remembering that You told us we would need endurance. To hold fast to our confidence which is Christ Jesus. To forgive and to show grace. To love. Above all else to love.

From a grateful girl who was loved before she ever loved.

May I do the same out there.

I'M LETTING GO

To borrow from the song All In by Toby Mac,
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
That is totally how I felt this weekend.
I had a big long post written last night
that explained everything.
Auto save failed me and I am too tired to re-hash it all again.
So here is a synopsis, between church drama, potential job drama, and raising a man child who comes up with stuff to do that I never even thought about (like trying to shut himself in the fridge with a flashlight) and explaining the dangers to him,

I really wanted to scream.
Even cry.
Which I did a little bit.
But I am letting go.
Praying.
All in for what God has.
* Before anyone jumps on the "this is why I don't go to church blah blah blah bunch of hypocrites blah blah blah" bandwagon, let me say this. We will always have some church drama because we have people in church. The Bible never tells us church people will be perfect or that there will never be church drama. It actually tells us how to deal with it. So don't use that as an excuse.*
That is all.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Happy Birthday sister!

Hope you have a good one.

Love you!

I WANTED TO BE A PINK LADY

So last night I started making PW's cinnamon rolls. Sounds exciting right? Except I started about 8 and if you read the recipe you will see that was a bad idea. Plus, HH was late getting home. Late as into early Thursday AM. The boys made homemade pizza which wasn't done until about 8 as well so it was 9 before they even bathed. AND Grease 2 was on which is one of my all time favorites. With all that being said, this is the end of this post. I am going to take a nap.

GOD DON'T TOLERATE NO SMACK!

Don't you hate when you are lecturing your kids about something or telling a moral story and you get kicked in the gut with it?

We were talking about different events from the bible last Sunday on the way home from church and we got into David. I was telling them how Goliath was talking trash and how David was fighting in the name of the Lord. I made the comment that God doesn't like any trash talking about His people and I promise you it nearly hit me in the face.

How often have I criticized a brother or sister in Christ because of how they did or didn't do something. I don't mean the "truth in love stuff" I mean flat out criticized. How many times have I continued to talk smack about it when it was over and done. Too many is how many. Like I told the boys, God don't tolerate no smack talkin' about His kids. He didn't from Goliath and he won't from me.Thank goodness His grace is there to cover me and warn me. The good news He won't tolerate it about me either. Not from Satan. Not from man. Not from myself.

So I will take my measure of chastisement and be grateful for it.

For it means that He loves us when He corrects us.

Here lately, I have been feeling a lot of love.

THE Y CHROMOSOME

Last night I got a glimpse of one of those special genes on the Y chromosome.

We, being girls and XX not XY, don't have it.

Mom: MC 1 go do your spelling words.

MC 1 : Mom can you read this word for me?

Mom: d-u-t-i-e-s, duties

MC 1: HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA!

Mom: Really, son, really?

I just feel really bad for his teacher who has only three girls in the class of 15+.

I am sure going over those spelling words for the rest of the week will be AWESOME!

(The very reason I don't teach elementary or junior high;)

Oh and just an FYI - I totally made brown gravy from scratch today and it rocked! Thank you. Thank you very much.

GO YOUR WAY

First, MC 2 informed me that he was not "naughty", he is FUN! Ohhhhh.....okay.
Second, do you just get sick of yourself?
Frustrated with yourself?
Moments where you go "duh- you dodo brain!"
No?
Well then I guess you will have to live vicariously through me, because I am having one.
I went on a rant a few weeks ago about how nothing I wanted to do for Christmas happened. I was pretty upset about it all. In the weeks since the Lord has brought some clarity about many aspects of my life.
Here it is in a nutshell:
The life I desire is not going to just happen. (Seems a no brainer for a chica who named her blog I CHOOSE and talks a lot about being deliberate; I have no explanation other than I am a flawed human).
See, I had all these grand ideas about my year off from work. All the things I would get done. All the holiday stuff I would do. Visualize a cross between Caroline Ingalls and Proverbs 31. Naive- very. Dreamy, pie in the sky- you bet. I guess I thought I would get up everyday all this stuff would happen. It doesn't. I thought having all the time I wanted would make all this stuff happen easily. It doesn't. What makes all the things I wanted to get done come to pass? Me getting out and doing them. Me being deliberate in managing all the time I have. Me making the effort and planning for them. Don't misunderstand. I am not naive enough to think I can plan out every moment of my life. The Good Lord likes faith way too much for that to happen. On the other hand, I can't just get up everyday and expect stuff to magically get done. I have to do it. If I want Christmas cookies and candies next year, I have to make them. If I want certain memories for my kids, I have to be purposeful in making them. If I want my kids to know Christmas is really about Christ, I have to be deliberate in making that the point. God has shown me where I fallen short in some areas regarding this. Financial freedom will not be ours unless HH and I are deliberate. I will not grow with Christ unless I am deliberate. For the past few months, I have been letting life happen. I have rationalized to myself that I was getting used to being home, or MC 2 needed my attention, or this or that. MC 2 does need me, but he can have me while we work on the pens in the front yard. He can have me while we trim the grape vine that has overtaken my front fence. The boys and I can have meaningful talks while we fold towels. We made fudge the other night. They helped. They had already folded clothes and helped load the dishwasher, a rare feat for them both. When we finished with the fudge, MC 1 asked "Can we just talk?" Sure baby we can. I know those days will go by very quickly. As Kelly said the days are long but the years are short.
So for 2010, however you want to say it twenty- ten or two thousand and ten, I purpose to be deliberate. In many areas. Deliberate in what I do, deliberate in what I pass on. Deliberate in choosing God first, husband second. Deliberate in managing our household, deliberate in keeping the laundry up (that one I have done pretty well on till last week).
It reminds me of the blind man at the end of Mark 10.
He is crying out when the Lord Jesus asks him " What do you want me to do for you?"
The man replies restore my sight.
Jesus replies "Go your way; your faith has made you well."
Christ did not say sit here, your faith will get things done.
Go your way.
Go my way.
Get up and move forward on my journey.
Quit sitting by the pool, get up and get moving, because my faith will make me well.
Holly has a great post along the same lines. Judging by the comments, God is calling a lot of us the be more purposeful in our lives.
May we encourage each other.
May we challenge each other.
May we go our way for our faith has made us well.

TWO FOR ONE

Two blogs, one post. On a Saturday at that.
Have a great weekend!

THAT DREADED "S" WORD

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Welcome in 2010.

Happy Birthday Baby Sister.

Hope you have a great one!

Theme for this year...

DELIBERATE.

In worship.

With family.

In finances.

In health.

In responses.

Deliberate.