April 7, 2010

• {a kite. some cupcakes. and those darn pagan eggs!}

  
  While on our date Friday night Shayne was telling me that the blogs he enjoys most are ones written in “bullet form.”
  Short. Concise. Straight to the point. Easy to read.

  “Oh…”

  So. I attempted the bullet blog method with this post.
  Honestly I did, babe!!!
  But what can I say -
  I.just. like. words.
  and apparently, a lot of them.

  
   
  And while having this conversation about enormously long blogs,
  we were crushing and ripping and tearing apart our meal.
  Literally.
  We had crab legs.
  Which neither of us had ever had before.
  And I surprised myself by liking them!
  I didn’t think I’d be big on the whole “work for your food thing….”
  having to crack and dig to get every bite didn’t appeal to me.
  But it was actually fun~
  and not nearly as hard as all those other people I’ve watched across the restaurants through the years made it look!

  I had lamb for the first time too, on Easter.
  I’m not sure I’m a fan of that though.
  There’s times when I can’t seem to get past the mental picture of what it is exactly I’m eating. :/
  Quickly throwing this food lover into a instant vegan.
  Even times eating a plain ole cheeseburger I suddenly look down and go, “this is a COW!”
  eek!

  We talked too about homeschooling.
  Groan.
  This just has never been an easy subject for me the entire 13 years of marriage.
  I do it because my husband wants me to..
  and because there hasn’t really been alot of other affordable options available.
  I’m not sure the k12 we’re using is going to cut it for their high school years~
  and as Kate is about to go into 7th grade {did i really just write that? seventh!!},
  I know we need to decide which route we’re going.
  so – - we’re back to where we’ve been a hundred times with this stuff.
  Praying.
  Planning.
  Thinking.
  Figuring.
  Fighting.
  Not so much that last one anymore.
  Although there’s always some.
  We both just have different perspectives on it.

  Some times I wonder who came up with this whole homeschooling thing anyway? {kidding. but then, not}

  I know God will give us wisdom.
  As I’ve said before…
  teaching will never be my thing.
  but my kids are!
  So I want to make sure I’m giving them the best I can.

  
      

  Our Easter weekend was absolutely beautiful.
  In every way.

  
      
       
  Lots of special memories….
  and eating chocolate and cupcakes and doughnuts and all kinds of other yummy sugary stuff.

  How come things seem more fun when sugar is involved?

    

  The kids loved these cupcakes…

  The little bee is made from peanut m&m’s. tootsie rolls. and gum drops.
  Super easy to make.

   

  We dyed eggs too.
  And painted them.
  And poured glitter all over them.
  and all over everything else in the kitchen along with them.

  Things are still sparkling in there.

  

  Someone told me a few weeks back that coloring eggs was pagan!
  I had never really thought about it before.
  But suddenly I was.
  and then I found myself thinking maybe we shouldn’t do it.

  The kids kept asking me about it…
  and I kept putting them off.

  Then, my Sunday School teacher told this story in class….
  {not aware of my egg coloring hesitation}.

  “There was a couple that moved into a new home.
  When the wife’s friends came to visit her, one of them told her that her bedroom should be the first room she organized and decorated.

  “It’ll show your husband your marriage is important to you.”

  The woman felt awful.. because she had focused on the living room and kitchen and her bedroom was a disaster!

  So, in the days that followed the wife jumped in and began trying to make their bedroom what it was “supposed to be.”
  Taking the excess clutter from that room out into the other rooms already done.
  One afternoon when her husband came home from work and saw all the boxes once again filling the living room he asked what she was doing…
  When she explained that she was trying to get their room in order so that he would feel important and loved,
  he looked at her and said…

  “Where in the world did you get the idea from the I wouldn’t feel important if our room was messy?”

  When she went on to tell him what her friend had said, he laughed.

  “That is actually the furthest thing from what I want… I prefer the main living areas to be in order.
  I could care less what the bedroom looks like. It’s where I sleep – and that’s mostly done in the dark!!”

  The wife instantly saw that she had allowed someone else’s opinion to govern her home.. and her life!
  It was not from God. Not based upon His Word. Nor directed from her husband. {her husband actually opposed it}
  But she had ASSUMED since it sounded right and good it must be the “godly” thing to do. 

  Sure, there’s nothing wrong with hearing others opinions and ideas.
  We should and need to.
  But we can’t just take it and run.
  We have to make sure it’s what God has for us…

  And when we seek His Word and the way where we should walk~ He will not only lead us..
  but there will be rest and ease and peace in what He gives.

  God’s ways are not burdensome but freeing.

  And anytime we find more oppression than joy in trying to carry something out -
  perhaps we need to stop and look at THE SOURCE who we have listened to.

  Is it truly the Lord?
  Or just man?

   

  

  

  
    

  And I guess that’s a bit how I felt with the Easter eggs.

  My only reason for hesitating to do them was because I was taking on someone else’s “rules.”
  Which is absolutely fine for them {I’m not knocking conviction against decorating Easter eggs}…
  if that is what they feel God has told them to do then by all means they need to do it.

  But if He hasn’t given it to me then it’s not HIS conviction on my heart,
  only my own fear of what others might think masked as some super spiritual sounding thing!

  So I don’t need to throw my eggs in the closet when certain people come to visit.

  When we know we’re listening and following the Holy Spirit there is freedom.
  Genuine freedom for the believer is found in obedience.

  Besides. The only reason I’ve ever really liked decorating eggs is because I happen to think they’re just really pretty!

  

  

  It’s been great kite flying weather lately.

  Kate is about my only child with the patience for it.
  It’s kinda like fishing.. waiting for that perfect wind to come along.
  But if you are patient. Oh, the fun when that thing sores up in the sky!

  I don’t know what it is but I love kites.
  They’re are right up there with bubbles and balloons and Hubba Bubba chewing gum.

  Some things just kinda evoke that happy feeling in you.

  
  

  We started the Dave Ramsey financial seminar here last night for our area…

  I wasn’t exactly thrilled about going.
  I thought Shayne could just go for the next 13 weeks, or whatever it is, and bring home the info.
  {And that had nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that I would miss American Idol every week!}

  But I’m glad I went..
  I can see that it’s going to make a difference, a whole whole lot of difference, to hear this stuff for myself.

  The fact that’s he’s hilarious helps too!
  Yet even his humor is packed with so much truth.

  At one point he mentioned how that our whole culture seems to have ADD…
  People talking on their cell phones as they put on their make up while driving with their knee!!

  Apparently I’m not the only one.

  But even in hearing this – realizing how easy it is to get caught up in all the craziness.
  Everywhere you turn.. so.much.busyness.
  It made me see the need to slow down.
  To be making those deliberate choices that matter.
  And not letting the important things get drowned in the urgent~

  

  My immediate thought goes to my kids.

  Maybe because they’re with me 24/7 and see the crazy flustered part of me that can flip out over the urgent,
  and be so blinded to the obvious important right under my nose.

  Like the other day..
  I had lost my temper with Emma and snapped at her about something.
  As she headed out the door to play I saw the remnants from lunch still on her face,

  “Come here a second…” I said from the kitchen sink where I was washing dishes.

  “Why?” she asked as she came over.
   
  “I want to get that gunk off your face.”

  As I started to wipe away the crusty few hour old ketschup,
  she looked up at me and broke out into a huge smile…
  saying in that sing songy little voice –

  “And your saw-wee?”

  My heart instantly softened and I felt like God splashed the cold water of “this is what’s important. this is where it’s at.” straight in my face.
  So I knelt down and hugged her.

  “Yeah. and I’m sorry.”

   
  {thank you Cindy for this quote. I love-loved it}

  Ya know, when it’s all said and done the Christian life isn’t too complicated.
  It’s that listening and obeying part that seems to trip us up so often.

  This morning I read:

  “Be merciful to me, O Lord. for I cry unto you daily.
  For you Lord are good, and ready to forgive;
  never ending in mercy to all those who call unto you…
  Teach me your way and I will walk in your truth.
  You are a God full of compassion,
  gracious, longsuffering, and over abundant in mercy and truth.” Psalm 86

  So glad for that daily abundance of mercy.compassion. and graciousness.

  I use my fill {and then some} that’s for sure!

   

  amber.

  • 11:04 am
  • 68 Comments