Fashion NONsense

I don't normally do this kind of thing, but I received a catalog in the mail today (I don't know how I got on their mailing list) and I couldn't help myself. They were featuring their new line of lightweight wool business clothing... including a picture similar to this one:

The reason for this little bee in my bonnet? They paired a wool suit coat with a jersey hoodie. (And can I just say how much I dislike the word hoodie?) This seems like a really strange combo, as it looks like she just got done at the gym and simply threw her blazer on over her workout clothes and headed in to work. Just seems like a fashion faux pas to me.... granted, I'm not exactly a fashionista... what do I know.... I'm just sayin'...

More like Christ

This morning I was kind of yelling at my boys. I'm not proud of this. Let me explain the situation.

I get up early (like 5:45) to have time with God before everyone else gets up. However, my boys are early risers, and they have started waking up earlier for some reason! Sigh. So the rule is that they need to stay in their rooms until 7:00.

So while *I* was trying to have a QT and *they* were supposed to be in their rooms, they keep coming out... Brandon (our 5-year-old) has many "important" things to tell me, like, "Mom, I got my socks on" and "Mom, I finished those almonds" ...while Ryan (our 3-year-old) just keeps coming out and running down the hall. And my QT is getting interrupted.... repeatedly. So I was frustrated. Not freaking out, but irritated and speaking in a less-than-kind voice with them. (Actually, I did yell once, "Get back in your room, Ryan!" when I heard his door open... trying to manage them without coming out of my room. Not real effective.)

After I got them settled back in their rooms AGAIN, I sat down and thought, "Oh Lord, You really are bringing this muck—these impurities I wasn't even aware of before having kids—to the surface in me so you can refine me, aren't You?" And instead of feeling like a loser, I felt God's grace and love, knowing His plan is for me to be more like Christ.

Snow day

Minnesota got hit with another big snowstorm yesterday... the weatherman said we got 15" in our suburb! Here are two cool pictures of a drift that formed over the roof of our garage...



So what's a family with two young, active boys to do when snowed in? How 'bout something creative! Like this...


And this...


Are you noticing a common theme? Most crafting in our house revolves around such boyish ideas. :)

One wonderful thing this weather affords us is natural opportunities to bond and have fun together. Hurray! :)

Life is kind of like a cake...

This concept is from Deborah Wuehler, senior editor of The Old Schoolhouse magazine...

...that life is kind of like a cake. The individual ingredients might not taste good by themselves (think flour, baking soda, etc.), but God knows what our life needs and has a recipe that's going to make a masterpiece for His glory.

Love it! Sometimes there are things in our lives that are like, yucko! They don't taste very good in and of themselves. But we need to always remember that our loving God has a "recipe" for mixing all the ingredients of our lives together "for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purposes." (Romans 8:28)

No matter what your mood... pray.

This paragraph from 31 Days of Praise was SO convicting to me! I should pray no matter how I feel—and perhaps especially when I'm not feeling like it!!

>>We get in trouble when we depend on our feelings in prayer. We start thinking we have to be in a praying mood to pray. Or we call our petitions "good prayers" if they give us a certain feeling. It's much better to just decide to pray, as God commands—regardless of how we feel. Charles Spurgeon wrote, "We should pray when we are in a praying mood, for it would be sinful to neglect so fair an opportunity. We should pray when we are not in a praying mood, because it would be dangerous to remain in so unhealthy a condition."<<

Myers, Ruth. 31 Days of Praise, p.193

Got prayer?

Yesterday I pulled 31 Days of Prayer (by Ruth Myers and Warren Myers) off the bookshelf. After a brief scan, I decided to make it my quiet time companion for the next month or so.


Actually, I'm a little surprised I didn't read it at the time I purchased it about 8 years ago. I have loved and re-read several times the Myers' previous book, 31 Days of Praise, and it ministers to my heart in new ways every time. But this book... a book specifically about prayer? What's there to know about prayer? You just tell God what you need, right? Well, yes... but there's so much more to it...

To quote from the book, prayer "brings us into a love relationship with God, rooted in our realizing how much we need Him and our choosing to depend on Him. Prayer also links our lives with God's exciting purposes and power." I want that!! I could use some help in this area! I want my prayer life to go beyond what I call vending machine prayers... "God, I need this" and "God, help me with that"... like putting my prayer into the coin slot and expecting an answer to drop into the basket.

So I read day 1 this afternoon, and boy did God move my heart! The prayer brought up being an ambassador for Christ in all areas of my life... asking God to work in me and through me... and recognizing that God alone can give true significance to my work and activities. It just made me realize how narrow my focus has become (i.e. too inwardly focused on MY mothering responsibilities, MY kids, MY issues).

Oh, how I want to walk closely with Him and rest in the joy of His presence. All. Day. Long. I hope this book will be a springboard into a greater prayer life—not just for mySELF, but for others (known or unknown)—and to experience God freshly and more deeply in seeing Him move!

The pinings of a 5-year-old boy

As heard around our house today: "Mom, I want to be a construction man when I grow up. But what if I don't know how to drive a backhoe?"

I love him! :)