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So as I am attempting to tackle this messy house, I am reminded of how far away our house is from being a "museum house."
You know the ones I am thinking of...everything in its place. No dust anywhere.
How do they do it? And it is just always beautiful.
I still get embarrassed at times when people come over and the house is far from clean.
But then in that moment when I feel bad, I remember what is important to me and my family.
And it reminds me of the Martha/Mary story in the Bible. Where Jesus goes to their house and Martha is busy cleaning and prepping for dinner and Mary is just sitting at his feet.
Martha, of course, is agitated b/c Mary isn't helping her. And Jesus gently informs her that Mary chose wisely. Dirty dishes you will always have...but the Savior's feet to cling to?
Mary chose wisely.
In 30 years, will my kids remember a clean house or will they remember more -the fun mom who loves them and will put almost everything and anything aside just to spend time with them? You bet they will remember the fun mom.
Now, I don't want my kids to grow up to be slobs. It is more than frustrating when you can't find something- and it's just because you can't remember where you (or your spouse) left it last.
There is a level of importance to cleanliness, there really is. But obsess over it? Well, there is a fine line.
My season of a clean house will come, when my kids are too big for "The Biggest Train Track Ever to Go Across the Kitchen Floor!"- but why spoil memories now?
Sure my kitchen is a mess. Be careful how you walk, but what you see is learning and fun in process. And most of the time, it's the Johnson 3 (or 4 depending on if it's a weekend) learning how to be a team, how to work together and how to build a family. And because of our time together, we learn how to love each other better.
And that is more valuable to me then clean baseboards and a shiny floor.
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So Enoch, in Genesis is taken from earth by God. He "walked with God," the scriptures say. So he doesn't die. He gets a ticket to heaven without the pain or suffering of the dying process. Pretty cool.
And that is about all the scriptures say about Enoch.
That's pretty funny to me. In the Bible, we hear all kinds of things about all kinds of people, and the man who "walks with God" and does not die gets a sentence or two. Well, Elijah did not die either- but this is about Enoch.
So we can look back at history. There are people who get their names recorded, who will be remembered for a time. Some in recent past, some further back. And most likely, their names have been, will be recorded because of impact, negative, or positive.
And how long will they be remembered?
But how about the people whose names we will never know, but make big impacts on a heavenly scale. The ones who may perhaps walk closer to God than most on this earth. And their names are recorded on the hearts of people they have touched.
I can remember times where people have done or said things that have impacted me- but I don't even know their name.
So think about it from what you and I do on a daily basis, and what impact we could have- just by making life personal. wow. |
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All men are made in God's image. Says so in Genesis.
This really hit me the other day. How can we hate something that God Himself created in His own image?
There are a few people on this earth that are not my favorite people. Few others really make me mad. However, when I say God created (so and so) in His own image, it really demands a level of respect and Christian love, doesn't it?
Not only am I created in His image, but so is everyone else.
If I turn my thinking toward positive, then my heart is tenderized towards even the people who test my lack of patience.
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It's 9 am. It has been a long morning already.
My kids were up before 7. Not such a big deal, but we had a good storm last night and it took Carrie a while to get to sleep.
And I'm just not used to getting up this early in the summer time.
So in my morning I have dealt with the pains of my child not getting to eat cereal out of the Spiderman bowl. Luckily we have 2 and I could find the other one.
And Walter gave up his Spiderman bowl long before I found the second one just to please Carrie. What a great kid!
We finished one of our Lego Speedracercars- which can be its own fun in itself with kids fighting over the small pieces that are vital to the car- the ones that can get lost in a New York minute.
The kids fought over the Speedracer car, so Mommy is asked to build the other car so they can each have one. (sigh)
Not enough coffee yet. Those kits can take me an hour!
So I dig into the instructions.
Then I hear the sounds that curse the morning. The sounds of my dog, Sampson, or his stomach, rather, as he then proceeds to barf on the nice carpet in the living room. Why not the hardwood or even the linoleum kitchen floor?
Not enough coffee in my system for this yet.
And I think Sampson tried to tell me last night. We gave him the leftover bone from Jeff's Father's Day T-bone steak. Sampson didn't eat it at first. He looked at it and it almost looked like he was saying, "no, thanks."
I guess he knew. And I told him it was okay- b/c it looked like he was asking for permission last night.
He tried to tell me.
Good dog.
But can we barf on the kitchen floor instead? Or how about outside?
Yep, I'm having that kind of morning.
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So I'm reading in Genesis this morning- reading with my son, Walter.
We read about God taking Adam's rib and creating woman.
What didn't occur to me before this morning, is that Adam doesn't call her "Eve" until after they had disobeyed God and eaten from the forbidden fruit.
She is called "woman," and "wife," but it's not until after God tells her she will have pains in childbirth that Adam names her, "Eve."
"Eve" comes from the word, "living."
However, if we want a wise crack out of it, perhaps he nicknamed her "Eve," short for "Evil."
But why does he wait so long to name her? Does he wait b/c he wants to be careful how to name her? Not rush this beautiful "flesh of my flesh?"
He named the animals, gave them their specific name according to what they were. But to only Eve did he name what she is "woman" and WHO she is "Eve."
Interesting. Names are so important. So naming a child should not be taken lightly. Walter's middle name is "David."
Walter- powerful ruler
David- beloved
wow- that's pretty cool. A leader who is loved.
Carrie Evelyn
Carrie-"lively, pleasant"
Evelyn- from "Eve"- "living"
She is definitely "alive" and can be loads of fun
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I guess we learn from an early age how to fight over the dumbest things.
Why should it surprise us later in life when we still fight over dumb things?
Be it political, be it marital, be it over whatever, it's still sometimes equivalent to fighting over a piece of lint.
"I had it first!" my son, Walter (almost 6) would scream at my daughter, Carrie (3 1/2)
And so the screaming match begins quickly progressing to arms joining in.
Over something so silly. If they could just learn to wait 5 minutes and the one is tired of it and it's all theirs.
It could be ball, a pen, a rubber band, a piece of LINT for crying out loud. But b/c the one has it, the other MUST have it as well.
Or how about pushing in line. I always had to remind students that they will all get to where they need to go and there is no need to "cut the line" or even push. Didn't matter if they were 5 or 15. Crazy.
So why should we be surprised when later in life - while driving, someone cuts you off at a merge?! I see it all the time a half a mile near our house. If you drive Nolensville Road southbound from Old Hickory, it takes only about 15 yards to enter this spot.
It's right after the stoplight at Ace and Walmart.
That's the dividing line - the piece of lint...that causes drivers to be so angry at another car- that almost caused an accident.
Because they "must be first"
Really? One car ahead? We are going to be so childish over something so stupid.
The piece of road that divides. Same piece of lint.
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(please read part on first to understand what I'm trying to tackle here)
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It's interesting, he'll be 6 in two weeks. He just finished his first year of kindergarten. We haven't seen name calling this year at all from him.
I think the only time he called anyone a name was he time where he called Carrie (our 3 year old) an idiot...she called Sampson, our dog, girl. This was fall 08, shortly after kdg started.
"He's a boy, you idiot!" and he knew right away what he did. He went to his room for some
time alone, and that was the last we had to deal with that with him.
And that's saying a lot considering he's going to a metro Nashville public school where all kinds of cultures and languages and lack of "mouth filters" are introduced.
Perhaps it's just an age thing at preschool?
I say this b/c my daughter has been at preschool this year and we are in this territory again.
"Sillyhead"
Not a bad name...but she started calling everyone "sillyhead" trying to be funny and fun.
And it got old. Fast.
What Jeff (her dad) did is tell her she can call him "Papa Bear" since we call her "Care Bear."
And explained that was different from name calling.
For a while I thought, Carrie can be permitted to call only me, her mother, "sillyhead." Maybe that would allow her to have some fun and get it out of her system. That was a few months ago. Since then we have only heard "sillyhead" a few times. It seems to have died away.
With two bachelors with a little mouth on them living near us, I figured they'd pick up some words. Haven't heard anything worse than "stupid" or something near to that. And oddly enough, the word "stupid" was something Walter learned when a kid said it at church!
I told Carrie some time this spring when I heard her say "stupid" - not to use that "not nice word." She is a rebel and wanted to see what would happen. I warned her I'd wash her mouth out with soap.
So she said it again.
I put a teeny tiny dab of liquid hand soap on her tongue and it took her a while to wash that taste out. Walter was yelling and crying in the hallway b/c he thought I was hurting her b/c soap was bad to eat. I explained later what little drop I put on her tongue.
But, since that event, we haven't heard any "not nice" words since from either kid.
But what I have also done, is pause a movie when watching at home (we never go to the theater) - (and I will add that just because it's a "G" rated kids movie doesn't mean it's educational and "nice")...
but I'll pause the movie and point out that the character was not being nice.
But whatever we've done or not done...the name calling has slowed down to almost ceasing.
As far as the name calling, maybe she'll pick it back up again when near her classmates when school starts up again in the fall.
Who knows. We'll tackle that when we get to it.
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So we have this robin who built a nest under our porch. She had 3 babies and I figured she wouldn't be back. Just a couple weeks later she has 3 new babies. I have learned alot about robins.
Like, they are one of the few birds where the babies leave the nest before they can fly. So taking a step and falling from the nest is quite an act of courage!
I have been able to sit on my porch, even walk closer to the nest and the momma robin knows I will not hurt her or her babies. She keeps on doing her thing, never minding me.
I wanted so much to be able to see one of the babies leave the nest. I can sit by my window inside for a closer view, and today while I was on the phone, I decided to watch the birds while I was talking.
And one of the babies took their step of faith and fell from the nest. It was so awesome to see!
And how many people get close enough to view this kind of thing from 5 feet away?
Amazing!
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So last night was not one of our most memorable nights as a couple. We were both tired, frustrated, and it made conversation and working on website stuff tough.
Now, we didn't exactly go to bed angry, but I knew we both needed to just stop and get some sleep.
This morning I moved an inch- to say, "I want to talk about last night" and to rehash it in a healthy, sleep refreshed manner. It was healthy and good. And moving that inch was not easy, I just wanted to leave it alone. No need to bring it all back up again.
But I did. And I think through that --we went a mile.
Which is neat, b/c today I am organizing my blogs and placing them in the appropriate categories with Bondware's new blog module.
And I come across some where I speak lovingly of Jeff. And I am reminded of just how important he is to me and why an inch is so very, very important.
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So I thought my story of catching a fish without a worm or any sort of bait would be one of a kind. I did so when I was 8. Honest, my cousins are witnesses and can testify to it.
It's not one of a kind anymore. Yesterday Walter caught a fish with just a hook. Call it luck, call it the dumbest fish, call it skill at making a hook look like bait, ...call it what you will...but the legacy has been continued.
That tickles me. So he thought he'd just continue sticking his hook in the water. Good thing I convinced him that only happens once, he could have been one disappointed fisherman waiting and waiting for another dumb fish!
But that was just one of the many highlights of a fantastic, memorable couple of days spent with my kids out on the boat and camper- hanging out with my father-in-law....but I call him Dad. I have 2 dads- one from birth, one from marriage. Both are wonderful, fun Godly men that I look up to and love to hang with.
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So Wednesdays are hard. Not anything extremely difficult or challenging happens on Wednesdays...it's just that middle of the week hump.
After the hump you've got Thursday which reminds you of Fridays which we can all tolerate.
So I decided this morning to accompany my morning coffee this Wednesday morning with a cupcake. And a Publix cupcake, at that. That butter frosting that so far I have found no one can hold a candle to. It was just the sugar to help the medicine go down, or just the right thing to help bring in the mid week morning.
Sure my poor physique -that hasn't felt the tone from running since April- could use some healthy fiber something. And it really didn't need the extra calories. But my taste buds are still thanking me and it's almost 6 o'clock.
ahhhh.... |
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So I am beginning to think sharing a desk is like sharing a bathroom sink.
There are a few differences- paper everywhere vs the tiny hairs, hopefully no foul smells coming from the desk- although, depending on who ate Indian, that can be argued either way.
But honestly, can two people share a desk?
My parents have one sink in their bathroom and they seem to coexist just fine. And they both share a desk and a computer at times.
So how is it that it is so difficult for us to share a desk?
I have a desk in our bedroom, but honestly, we have come to the decision that we need to take our bedroom back. It has become the "upstairs family room" and it has been a long time since it was anything close to a nice sanctuary.
But it will be a learning process- just like we are newlyweds sharing a bathroom. Sharing a desk. This is mine, this is yours.
But it gets trickier. Unlike the bathroom, where you finish what you start- I am constantly interrupted when I am working and set my things aside or leave them to attend to my two children.
And I am a mom first. Period. Almost everything else can wait.
So again, two people sharing a desk. Like two people sharing a bathroom sink. If I could finish what I start and clean up after myself every time, it wouldn't be this hard! |
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