Other Blogging

New political post here today.

Recent postings on Mom 4 Life:

I'm So Thirsty
I've Got People

Redefining the Strong-Willed Woman

She was speaking in a soft, sing-song voice, and I suddenly felt like a first
grader again. I tried to focus on what she was saying; her personal testimony
was interesting, and many in the room, indlucing me, were moved to tears. But
then she began to tell us how we can become more
godly women, and I once
again found myself tunig out. It's not that I disagreed with her
scripturally based instruction, and I honestly wasn't trying to find fault
with her delivery style........but I kept waiting for her to say something that
would compel me to think about God as something besides a deity who wanted me to
be a...quiet woman.

Several months later, I attended a very differnt
kind of women's conference. This one was sponsored by a high-profile secular
university and had several corporate cosponsors....the speaker I was listening
to was articulate and spoke in a firm, commanding voice, but her message
troubled me. She told us she had been given the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity
to
meet a celebrity she had always admired....he gave her some advice, and
she couldn't wait to tell her husband about what had happened. ....he told her
the celebrity probably told everyone the same thing....."You know what I did? I
divorced him!" The room broke out in spontaneous
applause.....

I
realized I do not fit into either group of women. I am not a quiet, unassuming
woman who is content to simply blend in and become the silent partner for her
husband's success. Neither am I a loud, in-you-face female who believes men need
to be conquered and put in their place. I do have a strong will and firm
convictions. I'm not afraid to speak my mind, and when I am committed to
accomplishing a goal, I'll move heaven and earth to get the job done. I've
gotten in trouble more than once for being too pushy, and I've unintentionally
offended others who thought I simply railroaded them into doing what I wanted.,
I am not afraid to take risks, and I don't have much patiencde for people who
won't try to make their lives better without depending on someone else to do it
for them.

That was just part of the intro of the book I just finished by Cynthia Ulrich Tobias: Redefining the Strong-Willed Woman.

I so needed this book at this time in my life. It didn't have as much Biblical content explaining God's view on the topic that I would have liked to have read. It was more one of those books that I could read knowing that there was someone else out there that could put words to my state of mind...someone that "got me."

This book brought up some wonderful points, and here are some of the things it got me thinking about:

1. When a strong-willed woman surrenders herself to God, she doesn't become week-willed and quiet as she matures. She simply becomes strong in God's will, rather than her own. She will go to the death for the cause of Christ and willingly lay herself down. She will hold her tongue in her personal defense, but would willingly confront the President if He assaulted the name of Christ.
2. Where the liberal church has thrown out the roles of the sexes altogether, the conservative church has overly defined them. Many mistakes have been made in deciding what the personality of a woman and the personality of a man should entail. In the effort to encourage woman to be feminine, we have told her how to behave, how to feel, what interests to enjoy, and definitely where to serve. By encouraging the man to be masculine, we have told him how to lead, where to lead, how to roar and what he should be hunting on his day off.

Based on that last point. Where exactly do some go for encouragement and mentoring? -when the husband is quiet, gentle, artistic, and musical -when he would rather golf than hunt, go for a drive than play tug-of-war, or sing in the choir than ever speak in public. Is he not masculine? Mine sure is!!

What about the wife? the one that REALLY wants her own hand gun and can't stand the thought of having her nails done...the one that cannot get into scrapbooking, doesn't even save her kids' teeth, and chases trespassers off her property...the one who has spoken in front of audiences of thousands and is thrilled when people just "get to the point!" Can she not still be feminine?

I think for years I've confused my feelings of "not knowing how to be a girl" with the simple fact that I didn't understand that my personality had nothing to do with being a girl. God made me who I am. I've spent most of my life trying to understand why He would make me this way if it was against His will....and I think I now get it. It's not against His will. Duh! (slaps self on forehead).

Meek (strength under control) and Quiet Spirit (at rest) is far from weak and quiet (mouthed).

Konversations with Kids

Hayden: "Dear Jesus. Thank you for my mommy and that she is beautiful and that she'll be beautiful tomorrow." Pause. "Mommy, will you be beautiful tomorrow?"

Me: I don't know. What do I need to do to be beautiful?

Hayden: Wear a dress and jory (jewerly) and stuff.
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Riley gave me a pen drawn picture recently that said, "You smell like a Magnolia tree."

On Mother's day, Riley gave me a placemat that said "You are beautiful like a flower."
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Riley: We learned Spanish today. You know how you say Buddy in Spanish? Lobo! If you want to tell him to come here, you say, "Lobo! Banah-cah!"

Mom: Hon, I think it is ven aqui! (bane ah-key)

Riley: Noooo! Its NOT Bikini!
-------------------------

Ian: Guess what? We're all part animal. I'm part cheetah because I'm fast, and Riley is part bear because he is good at fishing and stuff. Mom, you're part mountain lion.

Me: I am? How do you figure that?

Ian: because of your arms. Let me see your fur. (pulls my sleave up). Yep, you're a mountain lion because your fur is so light and you're not crazy. You take good care of your kids and stuff like a mountain lion does.

This is your...

This is your Mother's Day

This is your day after Mother's Day

Any questions?

Mother's Day

Guess how I spent Mother's Day?

It's been awhile again.....Here's some of what we've been doing around here:

Celebrating purchases

Catching Beetles

Coloring our hair green

Finding giant night crawlers

Picking Flowers

Catching Newts

Looking for this fabric....any ideas?

Curtains

I started on some projects around here while Bill was in Phoenix. It kept me busy in the evenings. :D I wanted to add some color in our home, with all these brown, all-wood walls and ceilings. I decided to add some window treatments.

I started with three simple valances for Clayton and Riley's room that I made by just tearing apart the bed skirt that came with Claytons's new bedding - since bed skirts aren't needed on bunks. :D

The easiest room was the bathroom...just hanging a bamboo shade (and of course painting the bathroom, hanging a new shower rod, and a few new fixtures).


Then I experimented with a design all of my own for Ian and Hayden's room. Honestly, I didn't want to spend money on more rods. So for about $2.00, I got enough cup hooks to try something new.




Our bathroom has needed help for a long time, and I finally just started messing with it and designing it as I went. I shortened it a couple of time. :D My favorite part is the string of rocks I found.


Last, but not least, I finally - today- finished the troublesome kitchen shades that have taken me all over town looking for supplies. So, several hardware stores, fabric stores, a jewerly department, a bead store.....and a willing helper later ...



This was my first attempt at a roll-up shade. These Swedish shades were pretty easy to do - once I found all the supplies! It is also my surrender to the salmon orange kitchen cabinets that won't be going anywhere anytime soon.




I never found any shade pulls, other than the ordinary white plastic ones, so decided to string some beads on the end. It was a great finish.

Easter - from several perspectives

The week leading up to Easter pre-occupied my mind with many things - very few of them really having to do with Easter. Our dryer gave out. We had to decide weather or not to register Clayton at Charter again. We needed to get tires changed out. A brother had a birthday. Tornadoes terrorized friends in the south.

Friday, we went to church, but I never made it to service because I served the first hour and had a missions team the second hour. Realizing I was going to want to go back on Sunday, so I could attend an Easter service, I picked up a shirt for Clayton (since he has nothing even close to appropriate) and hose for me (since I haven't had use for any in quite some time). We went to an egg hunt in the pooring rain and then came home and prepared for Easter lunch with friends and a birthday party with family.

Riley was dragging himself around and complaining of sore legs. We figured he was over-tired and needed a nap, but after his nap he was still dragging and complaining and saying his side hurt. We discovered he had almost a 104 fever, so we called triage at the children's hospital where he had his surgery and they advised we have him screened for a kidney infection. Several hours later, after the ER and a long wait for a prescription, we came home with the simple diagnosis of Strep - though his throat still doesn't hurt. We are extremely grateful that the odd symptoms had nothing to do with his kidneys, but highly contagious strep suddenly cancelled all of our Easter plans.

So...to all of you who are missing the days festivities for motherly duties, take heart! God still has a Word for you.

This morning, I cuddled up on the couch to watch the account of the crucifixion on our Matthew DVD. We had put it on for movie night Friday night, but noone stayed awake long enough for the crucifixion. Something new about the Easter story hits me every year. This year, I was struck by Jesus' grief in the garden.

I wondered what was really at the root of all of his deep grief. He said he was sorrowful to the point of death. He was sweating drops of blood and pleading with God the Father for this cup to pass from Him. I wondered what about all of this was causing such deep grief? He was God in the flesh. He knew all things and I believe had inner strength unlike anyone on earth.

1. Was He simply grieving over the dread of the torterous pain He was about to experience? I know I would, but I have a hard time believing that was really the major thing on His mind?
2. Was He grieving over knowing that the sins of all mankind - past, present, and future, would all be laid on Him....the guilt, the emotional sorrow, the sickness, the dirty feeling, the heart-pounding consequences. He knew no sin, and yet was about to experience all of the sin of the whole world. That had to be agonizing.
3. Then I wondered....if all of that wasn't enough, was He grieving because He knew that when all of that sin was on Him, He would be separated from His Father. Having never sinned, He knew no such separation. Everything He did, His Father did through Him. The were intimately and uniquely connected.

I've never experienced that kind of physical pain. I know what kind of grief and guilt and sickness overtakes me when I am sinning, but I can't imagine the weight of the sin of the world. What really strikes me, though, is that I often don't even sorrow over being disconnected from the Father. There are times that I feel disconnected, and just apathetically assume it is just a phase or a season that will pass. I'm not sure I truly grieve over it. But our perfect, innocent Jesus (I'm convinced), couldn't bear the thought of knowing He would be separated by sin from His Father, even for a short period of time.

Oh, how I want to be grieved by that.

Fun with the kids

Our fun little treat this year was to make cream puffs. They really are quite simple, and it is fun to tie some illustrations to them.

To make the dough:

Bring to a boil:

1/2 c. butter, 1 c. of water, and 1/8 t. salt

When it begins to boil, quickly stir in 1 c. flour until it forms a ball. Take it off the stove and let it cool for about 10 minutes. Then stir in four eggs, 1 at a time, until you have a smooth dough. Drop by small spoonfuls on to greased cookie sheets and bake for about 25 min. at 400 degrees (or until golden brown).

The kids will love seeing the little plops of dough puff up. Explain how they remind you of little tombs. Then cut the tops of and show that they are empty on the inside. (They may not be completely empty...and you will have to hollow them out a little).

We then used aerosol whipped cream and squirted them full and put their tops on. You can explain how we are so empty without Jesus, but He fills us up with good stuff. If you want, you can even go further when you put the tops on and explain how we are sealed with the Holy Spirit. Then simply sprinkle with powdered sugar or drizzle with melted chocolate.