Young Mom in the Big World

Is It So Much To Ask?

2009-07-10T14:19:00.001-07:00

I'm not obsessed with keeping my diet sugar-free because I eat fairly well and don't worry about it.
But I admit that I've tried all of the sugar substitutes...that's because of my addiction to coffee and tea. With that many cups of caffeinated heaven I know I'm consuming more sugar than I want to be in my drinks.
I'm searching for that elusive calorie-free non-sugar that tastes EXACTLY like sugar. You'd think that we'd be advanced enough to have gotten this right by now people! I know some people swear by Splenda and stevia, but both have this funkadelic aftertaste I can't escape. Aspertame is controversial and gives me a stomache ache.
So, I decided to try Truvia (which to me seems to be stevia w/ a different name. Is that true??). I was once again mightily disappointed. Oh yeah, and I'm cranky because of the drawdown in my sugar intake. Blah!

Any thoughts or suggestions? Do you think honey, brown sugar or demerrera sugar is better than the straight white goodness? Anyone else curse the bitterness of the substitutes?

There Is Nothing New Under The Sun

2009-07-03T19:14:00.000-07:00

Do you ever look at joys and trials and think, "Hmm, kinda seems like a wheel."
I see both come and go and come back around again. The set of circumstances shift slightly, but they center on the same core issues. I'm having a week where things are circling around again. I'm amazed, looking back, on how much we've learned and thanking Him that He's prepared and sat with us through every turn.

"Two things I asked of You,
Do not refuse me before I die.
Keep deception and lies far from me,
Give me neither poverty nor riches.
Feed me with the food that is my portion,
That I not be full and deny You and say, 'Who is Lord?'
Or that I not be in want and steal and profane the name of my God.
Do not slander a slave to his master, or he will curse you and you will be found guilty."

Proverbs 30:7-10

RIP

2009-06-30T15:06:00.000-07:00

We are gathered here today to mourn the loss of some very important members of our family. To the front tree/bush (Stumpy) you provided many a play club and I know you are much happier to not be a confused bush/stump anymore.
To the back dead tree (aka Hammock Holder), thank you for leaving enough of you left so that we can keep enjoying the hammock.
They are survived by Big Boy who continues to keep our A/C costs down and the Black Sheep (a tree that's attacking our telephone pole and serves no purpose other than oxygen production).

Know you will remembered fondly by those little children who counted you shady and useful.

Rest in...wood chips.

Lectures are Fun!

2009-06-29T09:34:00.000-07:00

This last week has been hands-down what I look for in a summer...I've done nothing! The kids and I have barely left the house. What have we been doing?
Well...

-I've been reading outdoors and indoors and anywhere in between.
-listened to a plethora of podcasts and lectures (I'm listening to lectures from Reformed Theological Seminary)
-I've played guitar.
-The kids have played with their friends in our yard, our house, the neighbors yard and the neighbor's house.

They've had their moments of being bored, but it doesn't take too long (if I ignore the whining) for them to figure it out.

It's a good thing I've had time to read and listen since I'm teaching my Wednesday group on the subject of canonization of the scriptures. It's an infinately fascinating subject. Amazing how God planned the Word out and has kept it as He wants it for the last 1900 years!

FIFA Baby!

2009-06-28T12:58:00.000-07:00

I don't know if any of you watch soccer...but I came to enjoy it beause of my husband who played soccer through his college years. I still don't understand a lot of the rules or formations, but I can now appreciate a clean, skilled match.

All that to say, did you watch the US vs Brazil today?! What a game! Why can't we play like this all the time?!

DCLA 2009

2009-06-24T14:57:00.000-07:00

If your teens are in LA this week for the DCLA conference tell them to wave at the security team. My hubby's the serious looking one with the beard!

Terminology Overdrive

2009-06-14T14:46:00.000-07:00

Is it just me or do we seem to be moving hyperquick through definative words these days? I was struck by this with some religious terminology today. In the early 2000s there was a lot of talk about the seeker-friendly movement and now it seems that this term may be applied to a movement called the emergent church...not sure what the term was before seeker friendly, but it seems like a good applicable word ought to be a part of the common vernacular for more than a decade.

We seem to have national word fads on a yearly basis and I for one cannot keep up...how in the world are you supposed to be conversant and educated if you have to research a new term for a movement every year. Though, I guess in reality, when it comes to philosophy and theology, many of the movements could be called by any number of terms since the time of Christ.

I recommend researching this term "emergent" church. There's also the "emerging" church which is somewhat different...but if you want to be up on the conversation it may behoove you to do the legwork.

Anyone have thoughts on the emergent or emerging movements? I'd love to hear them.

Your Average Ho-Hum Day?

2009-06-05T16:29:00.000-07:00

The first part of my day today was highly unusual and enjoyable. My friend Jess (whom I first met when we were babies in the church nursery) was in town with her hubby. They stayed at our house last night and we spent this morning catching up on life. I haven't seen her much since I moved here after high school. I love her steady and deep character and her sense of humor that reminds me so much of my husband.

The latter part of my day had an all-too-familiar hectic hour in it.

It's rent day.

We're short again.

This means I need to try and turn in the rent check in just before the office closes so that hopefully they won't try to cash it until Monday...at which time we'll (God willing) have it covered.

The added white knuckle aspect to driving the 20 minutes to the office today was that the car I was driving had an indecipherable amount of gas...all I could tell is that it was close to empty.

But, God's hand was on us and we made back into Golden before the low fuel light turned on.

That latter part...that's typical. So, I wait with hope to see how God displays Himself in providing for our needs this week.

Quotes of the Day

2009-06-04T16:47:00.000-07:00

" I fear there are some who preach with the view of amusing men, and as long as people can be gathered in crowds, and their ears can be tickled, and they can retire pleased with what they have heard, the orator is content, and folds his hands, and goes back self-satisfied. But Paul did not lay himself out to please the public and collect the crowd. If he did not save them he felt that it was of no avail to interest them. Unless the truth had pierced their hearts, affected their lives, and made new men of them, Paul would have gone home crying, 'Who hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?'...
Now observe, brethren, if I, or you, or any of us, or all of us, shall have spent our lives merely in amusing men, educating men, or moralizing men, when we shall come to give our account at the last great day we shall be in a very sorry condition, and we shall have but a very sorry record to render; for of what avail will it be to a man to be educated when he comes to be damned? Of what service will it be to him to have been amused when the trumpet sounds, and heaven and earth are shaking, and the pit opens wide her jaws of fire and swallows up the soul unsaved? Of what avail even to have moralized a man if still he is on the left hand of the judge, and if still, 'Depart, ye cursed,' shall be his portion?'
-C.H. Spurgeon (great preacher of the nineteenth century)

"The pragmatic philosophy...asks no embarrassing questions about the wisdom of what we are doing or even about the morality of it. It accepts our chosen ends as right and good and casts about for efficient means and ways to get them accomplished. When it discovers something that works it soon finds a text to justify it, 'consecrates' it to the Lord and plunges ahead. Next a magazine article is written about it, then a book, and finally the inventor is granted an honorary degree. After that any question about the scripturalness of things or even the moral validity of them is completely swept away. You cannot argue with success. The method works; ergo, it must be good."
-quoted in John MacArthur's "Ashamed of the Gospel"

What's Love Got To Do With It?

2009-05-20T13:57:00.000-07:00

I'm a nerdy type person and LOVE to study...so funny that I haven't gone to college yet huh? Yeah, I think it's strange too, but He has His timing. (hopefully His answer won't be "Never" to me)

I've been listening to a lot of theological material recently ( sermons, lectures {go Reformed Theological Seminary Online!} and conversations with various church-related small groups) and I'm coming to the realization that defining your terms is VERY important.

Here's a couple examples of what I mean:

Food-kids think candy, anorexics shudder, addicts salivate, I think of my food favs

Sad- some think pathetic, pet lovers think dead kitten, refugees think of their dead family members and war-torn country

Love- kids think parents always saying "yes", teenagers think constant togetherness or maybe sex, males think sex, females think emotional needs met.

That last word is one that I've been considering lately. We toss around the phrase "God's Love" often without defining what that means. Why do we do this??? Why do we give people something so profound as the infinite truth of His glorious love with no context and no Biblical definition.

This was brought to my attention in the passage 1 John 4:7-21. I have always taken the word love in this passage to mean kindness to those around me. But, if you read the passage carefully the love he's talking about is only given to those who are believers (know God). So, it can't be kindness.

If you look at verse 9 I believe it holds the answer of what Love means. In this passage love refers to God saving those He's written in the Book of Life from deserved death! That realization caused me read the whole passage in a new light. Whew! I would love to go on and on about how cool this passage is, but this post would get very rambly.

I fly home from Nicaragua tomorrow...I've been here visiting Dawn since Sunday. Ah, nothing like flying standby.

This was brought to my attention in my own reading of Scripture a couple of weeks ago. 1 John 4:7-8 is often quoted without context and I've often heard it implied that it means:

Gone But Hopefully Not Forgotten?

2009-05-11T08:09:00.000-07:00

Hey all,

Life keeps getting in the way of me posting. I have so much life that blogging about it would take too much time away from it right now.
Highlights:

-I found out my son get FREE all day kindergarten next year! He's psyched and I'm mixed since I was planning on having him home half day...but, God knew this would happen when He put Caedmon in that school, so I trust it's the right choice.
-This means I could clean more houses (again mixed feelings) and I could stop being a lazy parent and maybe start volunteering around my kid's awesome school.
-Might be going to Nicaragua next Sunday-Thursday to see our one missionary that's still down there.
-I finally got our clothesline up! (woo hoo!) But the posts aren't in solidly enough yet to hang many clothes on it. (boo!)

That's all for now...how are you? I miss hearing from you my lurkers!

Thoughts

2009-04-27T14:36:00.000-07:00

Thus says the Lord of hosts, "Consider your ways! Go up to the mountains, bring wood and rebuild the temple, that I may be please with it and be glorified," says the Lord. "You look for much, but behold, it comes to little; when you bring it home, I blow it away. Why?" declares the Lord of hosts, "Because of My house which lies desolate, while each of you runs to his own house.
-Haggai 1:7-9 (great book of the Bible, BTW)

Then the Lord said, "Because this people draw near with their words and honor Me with their lip service, but they remove their hearts far from Me, and their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote. Therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous; and the wisdom of their wise men will perish, and the discernment of their discerning men will be concealed."
-Isaiah 29:13-14 (also quoted partially in Matthew 15:8-9)

Mrs. Clean

2009-04-24T06:05:00.000-07:00

I'm a funny cleaner...not like I make people chuckle when I clean, but I'm quirky. I attribute this to getting married and having kids. When I was a kid I spent hours organizing my room...a place for everything and everything in its place. But my kids and husband don't seem to be wired that way...and since I love them more than I do a perfect house I've fallen into some interesting middle ground. That means I love it when the house is clean, but it may take 2 weeks to get that way if other family/life things take priority.

This gets even weirder because I clean houses as a side job. I'm really good at it and I think it's a good outlet for my neat side. Hmm, maybe my house would be cleaner if I didn't get my jollies cleaning other houses??

Anyway, my system is simple: start on the highest surface and work my way down to the floor. I also do tile floors before carpet so that I can vacuum while the tile's drying. I'm the worst at windows and mirrors...why can't they come with built in wipers?!

My cleaning advice is this: clean when you can, but make sure it doesn't own you!

This post was written for the weekly Blog Blast for the Parent Bloggers Network who is teaming up with Pledge this week to ask bloggers how they deal with cleaning! Go check it out and write your own post for a chance to win a prize!

A Castle Without Its King

2009-04-23T20:39:00.001-07:00

Two days...two days until my husband ought to be back in Colorado. I'm tired...this trip has been hard for me.
I want him here with me.
I don't like single parenting.
I don't like him not being near the internet and phone.
How in the world did missionary wives manage when their spouse would leave on a boat for a year with a sporadic letter?! Argh!
My son is going through a phase of lying and I hate being the stern one. Jason is much better at it than I am.
I do get extra lovings from both kids though since they only have one parent to dole it out to.
You know you love your husband when a friend describes an argument she had with her hubby and you wish your hubby were hear to fight with!

Where's the Snow???

2009-04-18T15:58:00.000-07:00

Greetings from quasi-snowy Denver. Just once I'd like the weather people to get it right. They predicted a couple of feet of snow by today. BUT they didn't account for the wetness of said snow. It's been raining for half the 2 day snow and the accumulation is disappointing and soaking. Good for the ground, bad for playing.
I can't complain too much because my hubby was able to fly out for Uganda today since the weather wasn't back. I'm a little nervous about this trip because the area he'll be in will be so remote. I won't hear from him much (if at all) between now and next Friday.
Pray for my sanity this week...I expect it go well though since I have the church Women's Retreat to look forward to next weekend.

How are you??

Home, A Day Late & a Couple Hundred Dollars Short

2009-04-08T13:15:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't updated you on our travels...lots of laundry and catching up on life has kept me hopping. The title of this post sums up the end of our trip.

The flights into Denver were full, so we bid the team a fond goodbye in Atlanta and flew to my in-law's house in Nashville. This actually made for a very enjoyable detour and we made it home the next day with no incidence... hence, the day late part of the post.

And now, the part where God displays His infinite wisdom and ability to be over all. We mailed the rent check in hoping they wouldn't deposit it before we got home because we weren't even close to having enough to cover it. When we stopped at my in-laws I checked the account and they'd deposited it! Thanks be to the Author, the bank took the check!!! We owed the bank a small overdraw fee, but it was an answer to not getting evicted. God also provided all the money we needed for rent this week and to be back on the positive side of our bank balance.

"For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about yourl life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink: nor for your body as to what you will put on. Is not life more that food, and the body more than clothing? ... for your heavenly Father knows that you need all of these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." Matt. 6:25, 32b-33

Update

2009-04-01T16:30:00.000-07:00

We are 3 days into being with our friends in Nicaragua...my kids are learning a lot:

-how to make sure a high boy doesn't invade their bubble

-how to still love said high boys and let him get hugs sometimes

-how to walk all day and still have energy for running around in the evening.

-how to (ever so slightly) expand their eating horizons

-how to sleep in the same twin bed and enjoy cold showers.

It's been great to be able to give our friend's 4 kids some playmates. I truly think that may be the predominant reason that I'm here. Also, I feel pretty cool because this is the only language that I have kicked butt in. It's nice to see my hubby be the one to smile and nod while I translate. hee hee! Gracias Senora P y Senora from Brazil who taught me everything I know.

Now to update you on what God's doing for provision. The project will continue to run as long as there's funds and it's looking like the church might pull through on that front. We called my sis and told her to mail in the rent check...we still don't have it, but the worst that can happen is that we'll be evicted. I'm prepared for whatever may come. I admittedly panicked for an hour today before my brain convinced my emotions of the truth: I have no control over what happens, my job is simply to lean into the one who lifts up mountains and causes countries to diminish.

Shnow

2009-03-28T15:40:00.000-07:00

We here in the Denver area were lambasted by a spring snow on Thursday and it's finally melting today. It was glorious and so needed for the water table here. I spent 2 hours outside yesterday helping the kids build a couple of snow forts. I LOVE building snow forts... things like that you tend to forget in your adulthood.

I'm all packed for Nicaragua tomorrow... no money for rent, for our trip or (apparently) any money for the project down there to run past next week. Do I doubt God in this... so far I haven't. We'll see how I feel the rest of the week.

Please, continue to lift up the glue boys, our friends involved in the project and the team that's going down there. I'll keep you posted.

Overseas We Go

2009-03-22T16:40:00.000-07:00

The hubby, kids and I are going down to Nicaragua next Sunday with 3 other people from our church. We'll be visiting our worship pastor, his family and my friend Dawn, who have been down there for the last year working to clean up some of the street kids who are addicted to sniffing glue.
We need around $1,500 to cover our expenses and rent by next Sunday. Jason and I just today were chuckling about it because this is one of the many times that we've sat in this place. It's a place we've become familiar and slowly more comfortable with. The reason I pass this information on to you is twofold:

1. We could use your prayer for the trip to go well and that His glory would be seen through the actions of the team and the Body in general.

2. So that you all can see the hand of God in the way that He continues to sustain us. That may mean we DO NOT get the funds we need to cover our expenses. But I do know that either scenario will be to further His glory. In that, pray for wisdom for us and a right response.

If you'd like to hear my husband's desires you can read his post here.

Maybe the Militias Are on to Something

2009-03-22T16:22:00.000-07:00

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me!! And I have been wretched! I spent the precious time I was given yesterday watching a depraved TV show...I'm not making a blanket statement about all TV shows mind you. Some are fine, but THIS one, was awful! Yet, it took me 2 hours to stop watching it. Shall I go on sinning so grace may increase??? May it never be!

Anyone who knows me, knows that I've never been all about the End Times or being really a doomsday type. But with all that's been going on, the end of America is something that has become a part of my thought process. What I find interesting in my discussion about this with other believers is their comment is usually, "Psh, America deserves it! Look what has happened to this great nation! It isn't a Christian nation anymore!"
While I agree with the sentiment, I'm concerned with the focus. If Christians are admitting that they've bought into the American dream as much as the next guy and SWANDERED what He's given us, then we missed something. I fully admit that in our marriage, our focus manhy times is on our own selfish gains. Here is this world of people starving physically and spiritually and He gave us the resources to help them. How much of my resources have I used for His glory? How much of your resources have you used for His glory??? How much of His resources have we dumped down the crapper for our own comfort?!

Thoughts?

Betcha Didn't Know...

2009-03-20T09:36:00.000-07:00

...I love entering contests. Kidding, if you don't know that by now, you've never seen nor heard from me. The wonderful lady over on Barking Mad is holding another great contest. She asked us to spill something that no one knows and I've been wracking my brain to think of something that would fit...I'm a pretty open person, so most people know even the unusual things about me. So, I'm giving you two, the first being one that many (but not all) of my friends know and then second, something out there:

1. I used to sychronize swim. For four years starting in jr. high I swam for a synchronized swimming team in Montana. I also admit that I still like to do some of the moves when I'm the deep end of a pool.

2. I have a pretend split-personality named Igor! I loved to try my friends crazy in high school by hunching my back and cheerfully lisping, "Yeth Mathstur!" I don't pull him out often unless I'm talking to my sister or I want to make my youngins think mommies gone nuts.

Phew, so glad I got that off my chetht...I mean chest.

White Trash Happiness

2009-03-17T13:42:00.001-07:00

I'm currently typing from a VERY comfy, overstuffed recliner that's in our carport. Eeee!!!
Does it look tacky?? Of course.
Do I care?? Nope
This was the solution to me wanting to be outside while the kids are playing, but cursing the plastic chairs we had out there.

In other news, it looks like whole family might be headed to Nicaragua over Spring Break. We haven't taken our son out of the country since a hellish trip to Turkey around his 1st birthday. The fact that he's now 5 should make a difference, plus he doesn't have to even deal with changing time zones.

I'm excited to go see the street boys and my dear friend Dawn who's been their teacher.

Question of the Day: Can spiritual revivals still happen in the western world? Do you see any leaders rising up that may start a revival? Thoughts?

Quote of the Day

2009-03-11T15:27:00.000-07:00

"If He should determine to do so, if He should gather to Himself His Spirit and His breath, all flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust." -Elihu (Job 34:14-15)

I Dreamt...

2009-03-08T06:40:00.000-07:00

...of the fall of America. It didn't go well and I woke up wanting to buy more ammunition for my birthday. Seriously, are we ready if it all fell apart next month?
Jason sees weekly how irrational and erratic people get when they miss a flight or something gets canceled. Do you really think all those people would take the loss of their work, finances and sense of control well???

Someone Steal Our Cars!

2009-03-06T10:30:00.001-08:00

If you've been reading my blog for any length of time, you know about our struggle with our cars. We have 4 cars from the 90s that seem hell bent on making sure only 2 of them run at a time.
Around Christmas we had the "nice" car (1991 Lincoln Town Car) fixed from its stuttering problem. Yeah, it started stuttering badly again today. So, I'm currently risking my sanity driving our Buick Regal with the busted up front and a chronic coolant issue. One car is down (possibly for good) and the hubby has to take the Rodeo (the only quasi-dependable car right now) to the airport for work 35 miles away.

Honestly, the timing was impeccable...we have other big things happening in our life right now that are leaving us spiritually and emotionally drained. Throw in car issues and I'm living off of a stress sandwich today.

Here's the cool part: Jason and I are doing really well right now as a family and I know God is holding us in His hands. Yes, I'm freaking out emotionally, but it's nice to know that the reality is God allowed the cars to have issues. Therefore, what have I to freak out about?