I Caved

I needed another pair of black shoes besides my high heel boots, so I bought these:

I held out for a long time buying Crocs, even though my kids have "moc crocs" and love them. I know understand the rage! They are so comfy and I am so thankful to have them! So, am I the last person to get them?
How many pairs of crocs have you owned?

You Must Be Kidding Me!!!

I took this picture out my van window this afternoon! I can't believe they are here already! Of course, if everything goes as planned, we will have one next Friday:)

Boys and Girls

I have really been struggling with understanding boys lately. They are so much more aggressive than girls, louder than girls, I think more talkative than girls too! I have one sister. No brothers. I love my boys, but I don't get them!

A few nights ago the boys were playing Nascar on our rug. Manly Man got under it so that he could be the hill...

After his turn was up, he asked me if I wanted to do it. I looked at him like he was crazy. I told him that I would lay on my tummy and let them drive cars on my back so I could pretend that I was getting a massage!

See boys and girls are different. Very different. I need to work on my "playing with the boys" skills. Thinking about getting the book Bringing Up Boys also, so I can understand them better.

Have any fun stories about boys and girls?

More Truth

As I got ready to go out to a nice dinner with Manly Man on Monday night, I went through the "I hate all my clothes" song. Are you familiar with that you? I am. All to well. It never ends well. It has even ended in a change of restaurant destinations because all I could fit were a pair of jeans, not very nice ones either.

Well Monday evening went a little differently. As I stood in front of the mirror, I became very frustrated with my turtleneck sweater because it made my big boobs (sorry if any guys are reading this!) look even bigger and it hit at a place in between my hips and waist that wasn't flattering. I started to nit pick at how it looked, how I looked, how I felt. All the while Manly Man had told me at least twice how beautiful and wonderful I looked. I felt a moment of truth flood into my heart. I said aloud, in the mirror, "I am a child of God and that alone is enough. I might have big boobs, but I am still a child of God. I won't nit pick anymore tonight." It felt great. I felt peaceful. And I didn't criticize any more. That night.

As I learn to lean wholly on the Lord I was confronted with hard truth this morning. I wrote that I wanted to be healthy for the Lord. I have written about that a lot on this blog. A lot! The Lord asked me a question this morning. He said, "Do you really want to be healthy for me, or do you just want to look good for the world and for yourself so that you 'feel' better about yourself?" (gulp.) I confessed to Him, that I use health as a disguise. I told Him the truth...that I just wanted to look good, to fit into a certain size, to weigh a certain number. I asked for forgiveness. I also asked Him to help me to be comfortable in my own skin.

The irony of it all...Jacob's verse in Cubbies, at Awana this week:

I am...wonderfully made.

Psalm 139:14

I do love that the Lord has a sense of humor, even though it doesn't always feel so funny!

My Kids NEED Your Help!

My boys are "sandwiched out." They can't take another sandwich for lunch. We've done the nugget thing too. Cheese quesadillas. Apples with peanut butter and crackers. Please help me come up with something new and maybe even fun to feed my kids! They would love it! Know that I don't really want to "cook" a lunch...heat up quick is OK but no major cooking allowed. So my question...
What do you feed your kids for lunch?

Humbling

Today is Manly Man's birthday! Happy Day Manly Man!

I arranged for Grandma and Papa to keep the boys last night so Manly Man and I could go on a date! He was so surprised when I asked him to get the stuff out of the back of the van (their pillows and suitcases)! We had a wonderful date...we went to dinner and a movie and then for coffee. It felt really weird not trying to rush home. It felt really weird getting ready for our date and not having children around. It was VERY quiet in our house yesterday afternoon. It was the first time in almost 4 years that we were in our house and the boys were not...almost 4 years! We so needed it!

We have been wanting to see Fireproof since we knew it was coming out, but actually making it to a movie is very hard! We are always interested in movies that have firefighting in it. From Manly Man's perspective, they did a good job, overall. There were a few things we noticed, but all in all, the fire scenes were good. We chuckled at the firehouse humor, and were grateful that the language was MUCH better than it tends to be in a "real" firehouse. Manly Man has to deal with hearing the foul mouths every time he is on duty. It is hard!

We wanted to see the movie for other reasons...it is a Christian done movie, and as a few folks have said, it was well done and not "cheesy." We have also had our fair share of hard things to deal with in our marriage over the last seven years. We learned about the movie when we were going through one of those patches. We have been having honest conversations a lot in the past few months, which have been good, but hard too. Manly Man asked me if I thought that I loved him well. My answer was immediate, "No." I thought that I didn't love him well because I wanted him to meet expectations that weren't fair, especially since he wasn't made to meet them, or even told about them from me! I have been struggling with that the past couple of weeks. While watching Fireproof, I felt the Lord stirring in my heart. I didn't love my husband well because I didn't love the Lord well. It was such a resounding chord in my heart, that I knew it was from the Lord, not the enemy trying to attack me. I cried through most of the movie. I cry thinking about it now. I think that the Lord has been using the past few weeks to soften my heart so that I could actually hear from him! How wonderful that He knew what needed to be done, so that I could be ready to hear the message that I needed. Me loving my husband doesn't come from me...it can only come from an overflow of the love of the Lord. I am humbled now at my need for Him...I always knew that I needed Him, but I thought I could do much of it on my own! It is my prayer that I can lean wholly on the Holy One, instead of just saying that I do.

I am waiting for some answers from the Lord. Perhaps as I do lean wholly, I will start to hear a few more answers!

Are you leaning wholly on the Lord?

On Trying to be Quiet, and Thankful

I'll start with the "thankful" first...just one. My sweet Jakey...every time, and I mean EVERY TIME you give him a kiss, he rubs it in! Seriously! Could he melt my heart anymore than he has? Check him out trying to be all bad!

I have been trying to be still. To be quiet. To be. That is really hard with boys inside the house. And nasty wet weather outside. It seems that I long to "be still and know" in the morning, but it keeps getting upset by the rising children or Manly Man heading out to work. Last Thursday, I actually felt wooed out of bed by a still, sweet, and ever so quiet whisper, to come and sit with Him. It was truly beautiful. To just sit with a cup of coffee and Jesus. I have been trying to stop rattling off my concerns and requests to the Lord, whether they be for others or my family, and trying to listen, to feel. I am not sure what I am hoping for...a stirring in my spirit towards something, an almost audible answer spoken to my heart, a passion to be revealed. I just feel strongly that for me, right now, I need to just sit and listen. For now. Not for later. Now.



I may continue to be quiet in the blog world, as it can be a bit of a distraction at times. Or, I may use this as a tool to work out the stirrings whenever they may come. But for now, I will be quiet.

Blessings to you. And thank you all for your wonderful encouragement in your comments to my previous post! You are awesome!