Long weekends…

I love long weekends….really, really love them. It feels like all of the pressure is off when you don’t have to fit everything into just 2 days – laundry, shopping, catching up on sleep, church, spending time with your family, cleaning. You know, all the things that don’t get done during the busy week.

Last night we took the kids out for a surprise “family fun night” and took them to a paint your own pottery place. We got take out pizza and let them pick a piece to paint. They loved it! It was really precious family time.

Slept until after 9 this morning and then cleaned the house.The laundry is mostly done…and there are still 2 days to go until the weekend is over.

We are having a family cookout tomorrow after church and then hopefully taking the kids swimming. All in all, I think it’s shaping up to be a great weekend….what are you doing with it?

Filed under: Family Stuff , cookout, family, long weekends

Kindergarten….

The first day is over…and I’m glad! I was dreading the emotions of “letting go” for days and in truth? It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Yes I cried and yes I felt sad but she was so excited that it was hard not to be excited with her.

Here is a picture of the kindergarten girl the night before:

And here she is in the morning all dressed up and ready to go:

Is it okay that I’m a bit distressed by the fact that she looks….oh I don’t know….about 14 years old in this picture? Aren’t kindergarten age kids supposed to look a little more like….babies? Don’t tell her that I said that, but she looks WAY to grown up for me! My goodness….give her a few more years and some make-up…. and I think I might be officially freaked out!

So there you have it….another hurdle in our lives leaped over. It’s a never ending adventure for us….and we love it!

Filed under: Family Stuff, Kids , first day of school, Kindergarten, new adventure

Not everybody looks good naked!

The other night I was watching this show:

Now in all fairness…..I’ve only seen this show once. I’ve heard about it, but had not watched it until the other night. That being said, however, I have a few thoughts about what I saw…..

1. You could pay me LARGE amounts of money and I wouldn’t agree to being on this show….no way…never going to happen!

2. The woman who was featured on this episode? She actually DID look good naked….although, just to squelch any nasty rumors about my TV watching habits….they never actually show the people featured completely naked….tastefully and artfully draped or covered in the….umm….necessary areas, but not completely naked…..but enough to see what they really look like. My point? This particular women really had nothing to worry about.

3. Do they ever put people on the show who actually maybe *don’t* look good naked and try to convince them that they do? Let’s face it…..some of us….including myself…..just look better with clothes on! Admit it people…..you know it’s true!

4. If you truly didn’t think you looked good naked….what on earth would make you think getting on national television in your underwear (or less) would help?

5. Why is this entertaining? I’m by no means a prude….but I fail to see the draw here…..truly!

So….there is my 2 cents……what do you think? Thoughts? Opinions? Sarcastic comments?….Come on people…..let it all hang out! *snicker*…..

Filed under: Faith and Culture, Seriously?, Stuff that proves how fun I really am , How to look good naked

I’m just disappointed….

There has been a lot of buzz going on for the last couple of months surrounding a song written by Mike Guglielmucci called “Healer”. The first time I heard it I was captivated by it….and it stirred me. Much of the buzz about this song, however, surrounded the fact that the man who wrote it was dying of cancer…and he wrote it as a heart-cry to God in response to that news – he believed that God could heal him. That faith, that belief touched many as they heard the song and saw the video clip of Mike leading the song, sick and with oxygen tubes in his nose before a huge crowd of people…..it stirred them too!

Fast forward……and the news breaks here that Mike lied. He was never dying….he made it up. My personal blogsphere circles and twitter were BUSY yesterday with commentary and reaction to this news. People are sad….disappointed….angry…..turned off….compassionate…..cynical….there were a lot of emotions flying around.

And my response? I’m disappointed in Mike for feeling the need to lie and make such a story up when the song he wrote would have had an impact just because it’s a great song and it’s TRUTH….God can heal….God does heal. But bigger than that disappointment is the sadness I feel at some of the reactions coming out of the body of Christ in response. One person’s response that I saw was “I think the church should stop just showing grace to these nutjobs (like Todd Bentley) and start distancing ourselves from them…..Just admit you are a liar and repent. You don’t need therapy. You need a swift kick in the ass.” Wow guys, I was under the impression that it is ALWAYS the Church’s job to show grace to people who fail, and let us down, and sin. Showing grace doesn’t imply that we agree with what they did. Showing grace doesn’t send the message that it’s all okay and there aren’t consequences for our actions. Showing grace is, however, in my opinion not an optional part of the life of a Christ Follower…it’s what is required of us. The Bible was written by and full of stories of men who failed, lied, cheated, murdered, sinned in myriads of ways….and God showed them grace….and he shows us grace.

I think that what Mike did was serious….and sad….and disappointing, but it’s not an unforgiveable sin. God can redeem Mike and God can use this in ways that we can’t imagine. And my thoughts? Let’s pour on the grace church…..

Filed under: Faith and Culture , Compassion, Disappointment, Grace, Healer, Mike Guglielmucci

Kindergarten Kickoff…

Last night they held this county wide “Kindergarten Kickoff” at the Children’s Museum in downtown Raleigh.  It was free to the public and we decided to go and check it out since our Abbie starts kindergarten in *gulp* 1 week.

I don’t know what I expected from this free event….but it wasn’t at all what I thought it would be. There was a huge line stretching all the way around the building of families with rising kindergarten kids. When we got inside they warmly welcomed our kindergartner and gave her a “ticket” which she turned in to a table behind the entrance for a free backpack stuffed with school supplies and books, coloring activities etc. along with a t-shirt that read….abcdefgh I’m going to kindergarten!

And it just got better from there….she got to meet several of the PBS TV characters, got to go through a “cafeteria line” and was given a nice dinner. She was able to get on a school bus and sit down for a bit so that she would know what to expect. They had a bookmobile there and a table set up so the kids could sign up for library cards and then check out a book…..in short it was a fantastic and exciting event for her….and blew us away with how well done it was!

I’m thrilled to live in a city that offers such great resources…..

Filed under: Family Stuff, Kids , kindergarten kickoff, marbles childrens museum, raleigh

Questions….

I ran across this fantastic article entitled “Knocked Up..Knocked Down” here – and it shook me more than a little. I know that nobody likes to think about the harsh realities that face people on the streets, people who are unseen and make us uncomfortable….but it’s hard not to rethink everything you thought you knew about justice when you read something like this.

So I’m left asking….what does justice look like? What should our response look like? Why does Jesus highlight the poor so often….why don’t we hear more….do more….love more?

If you made it this far after reading the article linked above….read this FANTASTIC blog post by Shaun Groves on this subject here…..it will flip your world on end just a little bit.

Filed under: Compassion, Faith and Culture, Justice , homeless, Justice, the kingdom, the poor

Searching…

                                                                                                     

People find my blog through some funny search engine terms….but sometimes they make me sad too.

To whoever is out there and can’t love your husband….ask for some help before it’s too late! It may seem hopeless, but it isn’t….love can come back from the dead! The God who made you can rescue your marriage too…and wants to.

Filed under: Marriage Rocks

Quick thought…

I only have a few minutes left in my lunch break but had a quick thought/question to ask you all….

Do you ever look back on your life and think of all the things you would do differently if you could know then what you know now?  

I guess I’m not talking so much about regret or guilt, but just an honest “wondering” of what things would look like if you could redo some stuff from the past…

I was laying awake at 1am last night (stupid insomnia!) and thinking back over my life…and wondering what I would do differently now…and how it would change things.

Ponder…..and leave a comment!

Filed under: Apparently Random Thoughts, Thoughts I thought.... , redo, regret

Big….

100_2396, originally uploaded by worship.fan.

I’m planning on posting a few pictures from our recent vacation but thought I would give you a sneek peek! She looks awfully small next to that great big ocean….

Filed under: Uncategorized

This is a new twist on Spam…..

I got this email the other day….I love how they take the typical spam/scam and put a new “Christian” twist on it…..Do you think they get better results that way?  Funny thing is….I don’t lead a church…..but shouldn’t she know that since she wants to give me a huge pile of money “for the church”?

From Mrs.Grace Wisdom
ABIDJAN COTE D’ IVOIRE
05 B.P 107 ABIDJAN 05.
 
Dearest in Christ,   
              
I am Mrs.Grace Wisdom from island, I am married to ARCH DEACON Wisdom  who worked with  蛃land,embassy in Ivory Coast for nine years before he died in the year 2003.We were married for 25 years without a child. He died after a brief illness that lasted for only four days.
 
Before his death we were both born again Christian.Since his death I decided not to remarry or get a child outside my matrimonial home which the Bible is against. When my late husband was alive he deposited the sum of $(2.5million) in a security company  here in Abidjan.
 
Recently, my Doctor told me that I would not last for the next Eight months due to cancer problem.  Having known my condition I decided to donate this fund to a church that will utilize this money the way I am going to instruct herein. I want a church that will use this fund for orphanages, widows, propagating the word of God and to endeavor that the house of God is maintained.
 
The Bible made us to understand that “Blessed is the hand that giveth”. I took this decision because I don’t have any child that will inherit this money and my husband relatives are not Christians and I don’t want my husband’s efforts to be used by unbelievers. I don’t want a situation where this money will be used in an ungodly way. This is why I am taking this decision.
 
 I am not afraid of death hence I know where I am going. I know that I am going to be in the bosom of the Lord. Exodus 14 VS 14 says that “the lord will fight my case and I shall hold my peace”.
I don’t need any telephone communication in this regard because of my health hence the presence of my husband’s relatives are around me always. I don’t want them to know about this development.
 
With God all things are possible. As soon as I receive your reply I shall give you the contact of the security company  in Abidjan. I will also issue you an authorisation letter that will proove you the present beneficiary of this fund.
I want you and the church to always pray for me because the lord is my shephard. My happiness is that I lived a life of a worthy Christian. Whoever that Wants to serve the Lord must serve him in spirit and Truth.
 
Please always be prayerful all through your life.Contact me on my  email  any delay in your reply will give me room in sourcing another church for this same purpose. Please assure me that you will act accordingly as I Stated herein.
Hoping to receive your reply.
 
Remain blessed in the Lord.
Your’s Sister In Christ
 Mrs.Grace wisdom

Filed under: Seriously?, Spam sucks, Stuff that bugs me , christian spam, Email scams, Spam