Tagged by Randomness

So I was tagged to list 10 random things about myself.

1. I always like to have on socks.
2. I always like my socks to be anklets.
3. I only buy Hanes anklet white socks.
4. I also only buy white towels.
5. I only like really thick extra large towels.
6. My glasses are also really thick, I'm legally blind.
7. I'm pretty much night vision blind even with my contacts...aren't you glad I drove to the party?
8. In fact I don't really like to drive at all, it makes me want to fall asleep.
9. I get really hot when I sleep, so snuggling is on an as needed basis and don't have to be touched all night long from lack of room.
10. I especially don't like anyone or anything to touch my feet, which is why I even wear socks to bed.

sox. Oh wonderful sox. You can enjoy them in the morning, you can enjoy them during the night, you can even enjoy them in the afternoon for a little fun delight. They come in all styles and colors, but I prefer mine plain white. You can have sox on the floor, or in the bed, you can even have sox on your head. Oh, wonderful sox.

Fear of the Lord

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise." Psalms 111:10

The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, and wisdom helps us know His Will, and by knowing His will, we can then fulfill His purpose. We as Christians often say that we fear the Lord, but does our life show it? And if our public life shows it do we fear Him enough that our private life and our public life are one in the same?

I was doing a little heavy reading to the kids this morning, as they have to read the entire book of Job to earn a patch, and in the words of my 7 year old. "That's a lot of sad words." But as I read Job 11:13-15, His words convicted me just how important it is to live a life consistent of the fear of the Lord vs the fear of judgement of man. "Yet if you devote your heart to him and stretch out your hands to Him, if you put away the sin that is in your hand and allow no evil to dwell in your tent, then you will lifet up your face without shame; you will stand firm and without fear." To be better at asking the question "If Jesus sat here in the flesh, would I talk to my kids that way? Would we watch this movie inspite of the few cuse words? Would I eat a 2nd helping rather than showing self control?How can we increase our fear? By the Bible itself. It is the best medicine. The more we know about God and confident of His words the more we can grow in His wisdom.

A Time to Laugh and A Time to Weep

The pastor this past week mentioned that there were 28 comparison and "times" mentioned in the 3rd Chapter of Ecclesiastics. And he felt not by coincidence that there are 28 days in the Hebrew calendar and that in any given day we experience at least one of these "times". I thought that was really interesting. And I have to say with a family of 6 we experience several of these "times" each day. Having a new baby the year after my grandmother passed. Someone builds a Lego tower and someone else tears it down. The neighbors plant some beautiful flowers, the kids uproot them. Makensie kindly saves a cricket Brian kills it under foot. One child mourning at from losing another dancing in victory. Daddy gathering gravel, Brian scattering them at daddy's truck. Me giving the umpteenth embrace to little people while my baby pushes away in quest of freedom. Us searching for that one Barbie shoe and then having to give up to start supper only to find it in a pocket. The kids wanting to keep, me wanting to purge. Makensie tearing a dress, grandma mending it back up. Me still trying to figure out after 9 years of marriage when to speak and when to be quiet. I think the love and hate times are ongoing in our marriage and sometimes hard to tell which time we are actually in. Most times if I've declared war, he didn't get the message and is still living in peace.

So this was a day of laughing and weeping. As I watched Brian and was laughing at the fact that he still was wearing his new work goggles he got at the Lowe's workshop (now on day 2). I just had to laugh, not only did he look funny but I'm sure they were hot. He was SO serious about that he was a working man and had his working goggles on. So when he left the room and I laughed again, reminiscing of the days we had to wear the police helmet everywhere we went for a couple of weeks. But the laughing was interrupted by the weeping. As he rounded the corner I recognized the flow of blood as a head wound. I grabbed the red washcloth (every mom needs some red wash clothes so that kids don't know how bad they are bleeding) and when I inspected the wound right in the middle of his head I realized it was a puncture wound, a small one at that. When he hit his head (thanks to sister pushing him) a little piece on the inside of the goggles that was shaped like a small ball broke the skin. He was fine, just shaken and when it was over and Cars was on to distract the bruise all of life was good.

I hope your day is filled with laughing, new life, planting, healing, building, laughing, dancing, gathering, embracing, mending, loving, and peace. And if you are on the downside of those things, know that joy comes in the morning and you will soon be on the upside in this spinning life.

Am I Truly Thankful for My Husband?

Sunday afternoon, I sat in the front room looking across the street as my husband, with absolute joy on his face, squealed the tires on our suburban. I prayed the chains that were connected between our hitch and the Semi that was stuck in the mud in our neighbors yard didn't break. It was a beautiful afternoon and this was a great day for him. In between naps and Trick My Truck (one of the kids favorites), we even watched a show called, "Extreme mobile Home Makeover" on CMT. If all that doesn't tell you we are from Arkansas...lol.

I couldn't quit watching it because I was so entranced with the couple. They were fairly young, 30's, smart and clean. They had 6 kids, 3 boys and 3 girls. They all lived in a mobile home. A 2 bedroom mobile home. A falling apart, old, 2 bedroom mobile home. The girls shared a bedroom and the boys slept on the couch. The oldest looked all of maybe 12-13 years old. Cabinet doors were falling off, the roof leaked, everything that could have been duct taped together was. I lot of the problems could have been fixed with a little elbow grease, yet this wife seemed so happy and content with not only her house but her husband. Of course they were on TV and they were getting ready to have the nicest double wide in the park, but still, she didn't say a single negative thing about her husband. I craved what she had...true thankfulness and contentment. I had to wonder if our house was in shambles (more so than it is) and the skirting needing to be put back up if I would still be giving high fives to my husband and all smiles at him or if I would be duct taping him to something.

At one point the wife asked her husband all excited, "can you believe we are getting a new house? Do you think I'll get a new dishwasher?" He smiled and shook his head no, "the other one wasn't scratched up." When the family came home, they were all tears and so excited to have their new home. They went from a single wide 2 bedroom to a double wide 3 bedroom. Now with 6 kids, this still isn't a lot of space. They weren't coming home to a new EXTREME home makeover from Ty, but you would have thought they were. She said, "It is more than I ever dreamed of having for myself, and everything my kids deserve."

I grew up in a family that was big on dreaming and while having hopes and dreams are not wrong, we were also taught to be so discontent with our situation so that we'd always have a reason to work harder to achieve more to have more. It was on the wall to have big dreams, we'd go shopping for brand new cars and houses and fur coats and know exactly how much they would cost. Try them on, drive them, tour them. Write out everything we wanted and how much it would take for us to make that kind of money to earn it and just become sick with what we had wanting more. I now want the opposite. I want less so that we can give more. I want to have a grateful heart for just having groceries on the table vs a grain of sand in my heart wanting steak instead of hamburger. This has been an issue of struggle in our marriage too.

I hope you all have a wonderful week and find plenty to be thankful for with your family, home, life and spouses. Write a letter to your spouse this week and share just 5 things with him that you are thankful for him about.

Fear Not

Deuteronomy 20:1 "When thou goest out to battle,..be not afraid...for the Lord thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt."



While it is invaluable to have the Holy Scriptures etched on our minds, remember that during those times of battle when we are running from the enemy, trying to catch our breathe, that it is God Himself running along beside us.

When I'm an Old Lady

This is a poem I received via email from a friend and thought it worth sharing:


When I'm an Old Lady

When I'm an old lady, I'll live with each kid, And bring so much happiness ... just as they did.
I want to pay back all the joy they've provided. Returning each deed! Oh, they'll be so excited!

When I'm an old lady and live with my kids. I'll write on the walls with reds, whites and blues, And I'll bounce on the furniture wearing my shoes.
I'll drink from the carton and then leave it out.
I'll stuff all the toilets and oh, how they'll shout!

When I'm an old lady and live with my kids. When they're on the phone and just out of reach,
I'll get into things like sugar and bleach.
Oh how they'll snap their fingers and shake their heads,
When I'm an old lady and live with my kids.

When they cook dinner and call me to eat,
I'll not eat my green beans or salad or meat,
I'll gag on my okra, spill milk on the table,
And when they get angry... I'll run ...if I'm able!

When I'm an old lady and live with my kids I'll sit close to the TV, through channels I'll click,
I'll cross both eyes just to see if they stick.
I'll take off my socks and throw one away,
And play in the mud 'til the end of the day!

And later in bed, I'll lay back and sigh,
I'll thank God in prayer and then close my eyes.
My kids will look down with a smile slowly creeping,
And say with a groan, "She's so sweet when she's sleeping!"