Sunday Afternoon

When I was growing up, Sunday afternoon was almost as sacred as Sunday morning. You may as well not ask to go anywhere or do anything in those hours after Sunday dinner and before night service. Worldly activities such as shopping or participating in any other non church sponsored function was strictly prohibited. My dad was usually snoozing in front of the TV while the screen blared a football game to no one in particular. My mom, never a napper, took all afternoon to read the paper. She had a strange fascination with the classifieds and love to read each one. Occasionally she would make comments as she read like "Huh, a 1975 Buick for sale for $3,000", as if any of us where in the market or even cared. My sisters and I started off the afternoon by doing dishes. We were pastors kids, which meant without a doubt there was fried chicken on the menu and this called for seemingly tons of dishes. An hour or two later, with the fridge crammed with leftovers that would be devoured after night service, and the counters sparkling, we would make a dash to the fight over the comics. We would spend the lazy afternoon reading the antics of Dagwood and Blondie. We either slept the afternoon away, with our bellies full or turned out attention to the library book that would know doubt carry us the a faraway land of make believe. Not a care in the world. Sabbath, a day for rest and refilling.

I try to keep that habit now in my own house. Sunday afternoons are for reading or napping. A fantastic meal after worship service is always followed by a nap and then lazy piddling around the house. No life altering decisions will be made this afternoon. Only rest and refilling. It's Sabbath day.

I've had better weeks

This has been a rough week. I lost a really good friend to cancer, I have been neck deep in flu at work. I didn't run the first time. I've stress eaten enough sugar to sweeten a third world country. I've been inconsistent in almost every spiritual area in my life............

So glad it's Friday........
So glad that this time next week I'll be enjoying my whole family.........
So glad His mercies are new every morning........
So glad He doesn't keep track of my failures..........
So glad Ginny wanted to ride to Walmart with me tonight........
So glad Wayne thinks my shrimp chowder is the greatest.......
So glad it's gonna be cool in the morning and I can run, and breathe.........
So glad for clean sheets on the bed........

Banana bread

I generally suck as a cook. I can make a decent lasagna. I can make roast and potatoes, home made mac and cheese and shrimp chowder. Beyond that, the only other specialty I have is banana bread and pound cake.

Tonight, (Tuesday my favorite night of the week) I am getting ready to dig into a beautiful golden brown piece of banana bread with a big slab of butter and a huge glass of good ole cold milk. I'm taking the rest to work with me in the morning. My girls at work love it. It's always good for my ego when I bring it. I pretend to protest when they tell me how delicious it is but I secretly love it!

If you were here, I'd cut you a big piece and pour you a steaming hot cup of coffee. We could pretend it's winter because my living room is freezing cold and my children are wrapped in blankets while watching "18 and Counting" on TLC. I think Wayne has the thermostat on 57 degrees!

heaven

A friend of mine went to heaven this morning. As I drove over to see his family, a solitary cloud hung in a brilliant orange summer morning sky. As the rays burst through that cloud, it sprayed blue tinged lines all across the morning. I imagined that he for the first time in many years, is enjoying the feeling of being absolutely free from pain. Physical pain and the pain of missing someone you love. I imagine that he thought, " I am so glad these last few weeks are over with". I imagine that he looked up some friends and family of mine that I asked him to say hello to for me.

How foolish to think that he thought anything other than the overwhelming intoxication of Jesus. Jesus. As if there were anything else of any importance. Jesus. As if he wanted to tear his attention away from what met his eyes........ This is what he saw, according to John, the beloved disciple that is now there with him:

Revelation 4

I was caught up at once in deep worship and, oh!- a Throne set in heaven with One Seated on the Throne, suffused in gem hues of amber and flame with a nimbus of emeralds.

Twenty-four thrones circled the throne, with twenty-four elders seated, white robed, gold crowned. Lightening flash and thunder crash pulsed from the throne. Seven fire -blazing torches fronted the Throne (these are the Sevenfold Spirit of God). Before the throne it was like a clear crystal sea.

Prowling around the throne were Four Animals, all eyes. Eyes to look ahead, eyes to look behind. The first Animal , like a lion, the second like an ox, the third with a human face, the fourth like an eagle in flight. Four Animals were winged, each with six wings. They were all eyes, seeing around and within. And they chanted night and day, never taking a break:

Holy, holy, holy

Is God our Master, Sovereign-Strong,

The Was, The Is, The Coming.

Welcome home friend!

Crest White Strips

If you drink as much coffee as I do, you understand the battle against yellowing teeth. At first I could have sworn it was the Clinique Cranberry Apple lipstick, but I am out of denial. No it's the 4-5 cups of java that I consume like a caffeine junkie that I am. Should I have to choose between a stunning smile and my daily java habit? I think not! Tonight while taking my Saturday night soak, I decided to apply a set of Crest White Strips that I found in Leslie's drawer. OK either they are so far past the expiration date that the cleaning chemicals have started to break down, or my saliva has a bad interaction with the whitening properties because it feels like I just spread Elmer's glue all over the front of my teeth. The gel that is dissolving into some sort of slime is dribbling all over my lower lip and causing a foam that doesn't just tingle.....I think my lip is going numb! Wayne just asked me if a rabid dog bit me!

All this for stellar white teeth. When I turn out the lights off and lean over to kiss him tonight, he'll flashback to Ross on Friends. Remember that episode?

in 15 years.......

I can retire. A friend asked me tonight what I wanted to do when I retire. Interesting question. Didn't have to think too long. I am going to go overseas as an IMB masters missionary. Coolest program you've ever seen. You sign up to go wherever they send you for 2 years. I can't wait. I figure as a nurse practitioner with a husband that can build anything in the world we should score a really cool place in Africa, or some tropical island somewhere.

John Piper's book "Desiring God" talks about wasting your life. In that book he gives an example of an older couple who retire on the beach and collect seashells. Once in heaven, when asked by God to account for their golden years, they show Him their beautiful seashells. I've never forgotten that story. I want to do more than hold up seashells, or pictures of my trips or trinkets I bought my grandkids. I want to do as much, if not more in my "spare time" than in my "full time"

There is couple in my church that I adore. Wayne and I want to be like them when we "grow up". They are both retired and have a blast doing kingdom work. They are always busy in our church doing everything from teaching classes, to disciplining new believers, to seeing about the old lady who has no family to care for her. They volunteer in local missions and are always laughing! Somehow in the midst of all their giving, they have time for fun camping trips and grandkids.

Lord, let tomorrow be the best day yet. Let me always have a reason to look forward to tomorrow. Let me never utter these words, "We used to ......." Make me always excited to see the next thing you bring my way. Life with You is an adventure! Let me live my day believing that!

Lost and found

Leslie and I took a little overnight trip this week. We only got lost once, ate a bunch of junk food and got to talk and laugh. Very therapeutic for both of us. Since it was a quick overnight trip I threw all my junk in my gym bag. As I searched in the pockets for my toothbrush I found these:

My absolute favorite pair of earrings in the entire world! They had been missing for over 6 months. I had literally moved furniture, looked through the vacuum cleaner bag etc. etc. and no where could they be found!
Any women who has found and reclaimed missing favorite jewelry can relate. I smiled all day as I wore these earrings. They go with everything, and match anything. Made me so happy.

Priest-Friend

But if anyone does sin, we have a Priest-Friend in the presence of the Father, Jesus Christ, righteous Jesus. When he served as a sacrifice for our sins, he solved the sin problem for good-not only ours, but the whole world's.
I John 2:1-2
The Message

first thoughts

The first five minutes that you wake up have always been magical. You are in between two worlds of reality and dreamland. During those first few moments of awareness you drift between delicious sleep and the urgency of what awaits you. Those first few moments can be the difference between a good day and a total dealbreaker. As the fog of nighttime burns off and your thoughts begin to form logical meaning, what do you think of?

Most days, my precise schedule does not allow for five more minutes in this warm bed next to my warm husband. But some days, like today, I wake up and realize, it's Saturday, I can lay here a few minutes.......and my mind has the pleasure of waking up slowly and imagining the smell of fresh coffee and frying bacon....


When my babies were small I would think things like...if I lay real still they won't hear me stirring. I would smile under the covers while I listened to their sweet baby voices jabbering and cooing as they entertained themselves.

Somedays I replay the bizarre dream I just woke from and try to remember every detail so I can figure out the meaning. Other days, I lay there and think about what ever current crisis is rocking my world.

If I'm feeling especially spiritual, I talk to God about nothing...and everything...

Somedays, like this morning, I look over at Wayne and listen to his soft snore. I study the lines on his face that I already know by heart. I think about what life would be like without him and can't imagine it. I decide he deserves bacon and french toast...right after I run....

Health Care

I am not a really politically motivated person. I don't picket abortion clinics. I don't attend rally's at the capital building. However, call it distrust of government, right wing upbringing, or what ever you want to, I haven't seen much good from Washington in my lifetime. I vote, I have in every election, and I did not vote for Obama. It wasn't that I was that enthused about John McCain. I just could not bring myself to cast my vote for someone who was so blantently for things that were against my moral and spiritual values (i.e homosexual marriage, abortion, big government and against small businessman, of whom I am married to....a small businessman that is!)

I haven't worried about the state of politics since November too much, I mean, what are you gonna do? Spend every evening scanning Fox news and letting my blood pressure go through the roof? Then came the Health Care reform. As a woman that is also a health care provider, Obama's Health Care reform scares me to death! If that weren't enough, as a daughter of retirement aged parents I am worried about how they are getting screwed---big time!
I will be the first to admit that health care in our country is a mess. I volunteer at an indigent clinic for uninsured people in my community every month. You don't have to tell me that things are really bad for people w/ no insurance, but socialized medicine is not the answer. Government regulation of services, test and procedures can't be a good thing. Certainly when you are the one with unexplained headaches and the MRI won't be approved by Uncle Sam for 6 months!

OK, so much for my soapbox. Isn't it cool that you can read this and totally disagree? Isn't it great that the USA is where I live and I can say I really hate the President's attempts to fix my health care and no one locks me up in jail? Now I gotta go write my congressman.....

Dear Neighbor Dog,

Why do you hate me? Does it really make you insanely angry that I run by your house everyday? If I have never bothered you yet, do you really think that I am a real threat to your well being? I really wish you would just chill out and relax. We go through his same routine everyday. I run by, ipod blaring so as not to hear your vicious barks. As I chant my mantra "The dogs on a chain, he can't bite you." over and over, you rise up from your dirt patch, lunge against your chain and bare your huge saliva covered fang teeth at me. You bark over and over until it sounds like you are hoarse. You continue until I am around the corner and down the hill.
It's not good for your nerves, or mine. I'm more than willing to try and be friends. Tomorrow if I throw you a treat will you just lay there and shut up? That kind of behaviour is exactly the reason you are spending your life on the end of a chain, in a dirt patch in someones backyard. There are sweet dogs in this world who spend their evenings curled up in a recliner getting their ears scratched. It's all about making friends.

Kindest Regards,
Your neighbor, the middle aged runner

but then again

I could be sad that my girls are headed back to school as a junior and 8th grader... but then again....they get up all by themselves these days and I sleep in an extra 15 minutes.

I could be sad that there there are no more lunches to pack in brand new Barney lunch boxes......but then again...they pack their own lunches now and I don't have to worry about making anyones lunch but my own.

I could be sad that I can't help them with homework anymore because they are taking classes like chemistry, geometry, and life science....but then again I'm glad they can do homework all by themselves so I have time to run after work.

I could be sad that they are driving themselves to school now.....but then again.....I get control of the radio for a change. That means no more Beyonce at 8 am.

I could be sad that this is the last first day of middle school for Virginia and only one more first day of school for Leslie.....but then again..me and Big Daddy are one step closer to a new Corvette and mountain roads.

It's all in how you look at it, at least that's what I keep telling myself!

Where in the world

Do you ever look at your child and think, "Where in the world did that come from?" I'm not talking about being disappointed in them, I mean when they wow you with a skill, a loving comment or look so pretty, you wonder how that came from the gene pool they were given.

Leslie has been dabbling in photography and she's pretty good. I know, I'm her mom, but seriously, she didn't get the creative gene from me. Must be her daddy, the can make-repair-invent-dismantle- anything-with-my hands-man that I married. Creativity comes in many forms and Leslie's form is pretty good for a 16 year old. Take a look:

If Wayne and I were monkeys......

10 words

The Ivey League is a fun blog I discovered last week, so I'm linking to Bridget's post from yesterday. What are 10 of your most favorite words? Very interesting........ Here's mine:

1)Chocolate- Not sure if I'd classify this as my most favorite word, so I'm not sure if it should be #1, but since I am typing while I polish off chocolate covered peanuts, it seems an appropriate place to start. Who doesn't love chocolate beside my husband, and his lack of estrogen lets him off the hook.

2) Harmony- I sing alto, and rarely if ever do I sing the melody to a song. Even when I hum to the radio, it's usually the harmony part, and there's nothing I love better than tight harmony!!!

3)Relish- not as in a hot dog, but more like I really enjoy something. Not sure why I like the sound of that word, but it is strictly a phonetic thing.

4)Lovin'- not "loving" but "lovin"...Around our house we ask each other if we need some lovin, and if you've had a bad day you are allowed to declare to anyone that will listen "I need some lovin" someone should come to the rescue, even if it's Ginger to lick your face.

5)Forgiveness- If you've been as bad as I have been, and know what it's like to be forgiven I don't need to explain.

6)Steady- This is my favorite descriptive word of my husband (and oldest daughter). Steady. Nothing aggravates them, not too much excites them. They are both rock steady.

7)Bunny- It's a family nickname. I smile whenever I hear it.

8) Vacation- It's the best week of the whole year, and we love to plan it and talk about it...all year long. We talk about where we want to go and what we want to do. Everyone gets a vote, and it means uninterrupted family time, whether we are on a cruise, or in a camper.

9)Nap-nap- A relic from the baby days, we still call naps nap-nap at our house. Every Sunday afternoon, I announce to everyone that I'm hoping to take a nap-nap, and the girls roll their eyes. Some mornings, if I'm lucky they stumble out of their beds and into my arms for a hug and back scratch, and in their sleepy ears I'll whisper, "Did you have a good nap-nap?"

10)I love you- I know, it's more than one word, but said together, this phrase can make your day, and even change your world!

What are your favorite 10 words?

Would You Rather......

Spend your time machine free pass on.......

A. Reliving any 24 hour period of your life to date? You cannot change the outcome, but only relive and enjoy an experience you have already had.

OR

B. Adding 24 hours to the last day of your life? It can be used any way you want, anywhere you want with anyone you want.

Welcome to 2009

I have never said that I am technologically literate. I just found out that I could download sermons by Matt Chandler at Village Church the last few months. My kids set my cell phone for me. It's a miracle I can get on here and post a blog. I get jealous when I see fancy polls and quizzes on other peoples blogs. It took me a week to quit bragging about uploading pictures.

This week I took another giant step in the Internet world. Can I say, Craigslist rocks! Last week my mom and I had a yard sale. She has perfected second hand shopping, swapping and selling to an art form. Despite all all her finesse, I could not unload my pool pump and filter, liner and polaris on anybody! My last customer suggested I try to sell it on Craigslist. Wait a minute! Isn't that the online prostitution solicitation website? She reassured me that despite recent happenings, it was legit and I could probably sell my junk, er, second hand quality pool supplies at a great price.

Can I tell you that I am in love with Craigslist? I sold my stuff this morning and not only that but I have logged countless hours this last week perusing the site for all sorts of second hand junk, er quality space occupying items that look interesting. I think you can even sell food on here!
Good bye forever yard sales! You are so 2000 and late!