8.28.2006

It's Monday

I had a great time at Brennan's sales conference. I met some of my graphic design customers, and somehow got more.

I know some of you (well, of the 3 of you who check this), may be wondering what I thought of book 2, "She's Out of Control." I was able to sit down in one afternoon and read the whole book. No children climbing on me. No one needed a snack Well, except for me, but I was prepared with Ghirardelli incredibly dark chocolate. It was also fantastic, and I have to keep this short so the girls and I can run to the library and get the 3rd book, "With This Ring, I'm confused."


The girls had a great time at Grandma's house, so all parties are happy. Except Brennan, who had to get on a plane and head to Chicago without even seeing the girls.

And that's all I have to say about that. Today anyway.

8.22.2006

I blame it on Nita

I get lost in books -- novels in particular. In an almost unhealthy way. Like a children using me as a jungle gym and I can't help but turn the page kind of thing. I'm usually stuck in the middle of some sort of historical Christian romance that's 7 books long. This time it's a series by Kristin Billerbeck, and I blame it on Nita. Nita is a very dear friend of mine who has just up and moved to North Carolina with her family so that her husband can attend seminary, and one week she handed me this book and said I had to read it. As her moving day got closer and closer, I decided I'd better read it quickly so I could give it back to her and tell her I liked it. I had no idea.

The book is "What a Girl Wants" by Kristin Billerbeck. I enjoyed this book like nothing I've ever read. If I had the patience and talent, this is the book I would have wanted to write. It is so real, and so funny. I completely appreciate the main character, Ashley Stockingdale. Ashley is living a real person's life, just trying to figure out what on earth God wants for her. I can't even say much about it. Just please read it. I laughed out loud on more than one occasion, which is sort of embarassing when your husband already thinks you have issues with novels.

I'm taking book 2 "She's Out of Control" on a trip later this week, where I will actually have the chance to read it without children climbing on me or demanding that they need silly things like food & attention from Mommy. It has taken all the self-discipline I can muster to not open the book until I arrive at my destination.

I miss Nita, by the way.

8.16.2006

Lost -- A Mommylogue

Good news -- there are no perfect people. Hope Covenant Church in Chandler, Ariz., has a sign outside the building that says, “No perfect people allowed.” I know with all certainty that I am not perfect, but it often seems like other people are. Sometimes it feels like everyone is a better Christian than me. I look around and think, that person’s got it all together. Particularly when they don’t act like they are perfect. We put on our happy faces on Sunday morning, and politely smile at each other in church. “How are you?” “I’m good, thanks. You?” “I’m good.” Sometimes it leaves us all the more lonely, and all the more distant.

But we are all sinners who have fallen short of the glory of God. Our lives are full of sin with none greater than any other -- all of our lives. It’s only through His gift of grace that we are forgiven. And what of this forgiveness?

No matter how many times I’ve heard the truth, there have been times in my life when I thought, “I’ve asked for forgiveness and I believe myself to be forgiven, but how can the all-knowing God possibly see through this thing that I have done, and see me as his blameless child?” Jeremiah 31:34 says “...I will forgive them for the wicked things they did, and I will not remember their sins anymore.” But how can that possibly be? I know that He operates under a different logic system than human understanding can ever hope to fathom. But it still seems so odd to me that He could just essentially forget what we’ve done, even when we are forgiven. It’s hard to believe that in His eyes, it’s as if it never happened. I mean, this is the all-powerful, all-knowing God we’re talking about here. He knows the deepest and darkest part of us. How can He not remember our sins once we are forgiven?

It was at four in the morning when I heard my two-year old calling. When I opened her door she whimpered, “Mommy, I’m lost.” So I sat on her bed, rubbed her back, told her where she and that she should go back to sleep. As I was laying in bed trying to hurry up and fall asleep again, it was like God tapped me on the shoulder and said, “that’s it.” When Ella said she was lost, I forgot when she didn’t listen to me yesterday, or when she knocked her little sister over, and even when she rolled around on the floor of the scrapbooking store -- my heart had melted -- my baby thought she was lost.

At one time or another, we all feel lost. We all feel detached from God, perhaps because of our sin. Not one of us is perfect. When we cry out to God in our darkness, how much more does He put his arms around us and say, “oh, Honey, you’re not lost. I know where you are, and I am here with you.”

8.13.2006

Rainy Reflections

What is it about rain that makes you feel reflective? We haven't seen rain in a long time, certainly nothing that will actually help our lawn grow back. So of course on my way home from church today with the munchkins, I started to think about the rain. It seems like even when you're in the middle of a drought, every rain makes a difference. And it doesn't have to rain long before you start to see the benefits. No matter how much I run the sprinkler (never enough by the neighbor's standards), it's not the same as a good rain. Which got me to thinking. I can try and make it rain in my life, but that's just me trying to have control and make something happen. No matter how long of a spiritual drought you have, you reap the benefits immediately when you are back in the fold. The wonderful difference, is that we don't have to wait for the spiritual rain. We just have to ask.

Heard a wonderful sermon today about the difference between knowledge and wisdom. We are smart, but are we wise? Knowledge is what you know, wisdom is what you show. The pastor also asked how our lives would be different if we relied on the Bible as much as our cell phones. Use it in an emergency. Check it several times a day. Don't leave the house without it. Go back if you forget it. Always have it on a trip. Check the text for messages. (Immediately went to the Super Wal and bought a wee little Bible to weigh down the mom bag some more. Decided I'd better get to memorizing so I don't have to carry it with me. In the meantime, weight of tiny Bible will be a good reminder of the goal.)

Time to drop my own agenda, and let God rain and reign in my life.

I'm a blogger. I blog now.

For 3 years I've been wanting to write a book called "The Mommylogues," followed by the one woman show after a rousing success on the New York Times best seller list. I now know that I will have to wait until the girls go to college, and I am reintroduced to that little thing called "spare time." Plus, then I'll be having an identity crisis, which will only make the book more riveting. In the meantime, this will have to do. Keep your eyes peeled for pictures -- coming soon!