For real pretend-like

An overwhelming theme of "stop playing church" has reverberated my world over the past couple weeks.  Interesting how I've gone from coast to mountains in this time frame and it remains all around me.  I mourn for community at this point.  Why don't we like to hang together as friends, neighbors, church families, etc. anymore?  Have we busied ourselves right out of sincere relationships?  Is the closest person we have the teller at the bank or the lady in the drive-thru?  Not that they are very nice people, it's just that it seems as though many would rather have the convenient relationships rather that the ones that take work and frankly a little more time to nourish.  "I don't have time in my life to commit to so-and-so because little Jimmy has underwater basket weaving at four then tai-kwon-do-do at five, then our happy meals await on the way to my "how to simplify your life conference" so I won't be able to come to help you move your elderly mother into your home.  Can't you hire someone to help?"  Yes, I realize that seems a little dramatic and far-fetched, but in all honesty its not far off from the truth.  WE are the church.  Not the building or the temple or whatever you happen to gather in, but the people are the church.  The place where the Holy Spirit took root in your heart is where the sermons are spoken and the word of God is brought forth to the masses.  By reaching out to your neighbor and your friend and wanting to hang out with those in your church family.  I want to stop pretending and let people know how very much I care and love each and every one of them!  I want those around me to know the love of Christ in my life through my compassion for how their day went.  I want to be God with skin on. No more playing dress-up Christian, I want the real thing......

Just sayin'.........

What about you?  Any areas in your life you're tired of pretending? 

Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."

—John 4:23-24

 ¹Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.

—Romans 12:1

Whew......tomorrow!

Why do today, what you can put off 'til tomorrow?

I was wondering why I wasn't feeling very creative, now I know.

Thank goodness for fortune cookies or I'd be toast!

God bless your fortunate selves!

writing, righting, wrote, writ, w/e

I want to write!  I want to blog here.  i have brain fuzz and can't seem to get rid of it!  It's really ticking me off too!  I want to write with the eloquence of Maya Angelou and Marianne Williamson.  I want to be passionate like David Platt and Frances Chan.  I want to make a difference in my life by getting out all the blah in my head.  When I don't write it gets ugly in there.  Like constipation of the cerebellum.  Do they have some sort of medication for that?  I'm sure they could make one up, but the side effects are probably worse than the illness.  See what I mean?  Drab rambling.  Who cares about that stuff anyway?  It's not being honest to who I am and what I want to regurgitate onto the screens of millions of readers...ok, thousands...ok, hundreds....ok, you two!  Satisfied?  

I want the words that swim around in my head to land softly and swiftly onto the pages of my blogger editor and soothe my soul like a eucalyptus lavender mint poultice salve.  OOOOhhhhhh, that sounds amazing.  Anyway, here we are in the midst of the drivel that excretes from my thoughts and wastes yet another moment of your time.  

Pray that I regain some brain cells to achieve a good post or two to save my sanity and my blog!!!!

For now, ponder this:

Isaiah 453:1b-2:

"Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you." 

A fleeting moment, a warm breath on the cold air, lights go on and off in the darkness.  Things that make me understand that which haunts me more now than ever is the ever-so-small amount of time that this life offers us on this earth.  Store up treasures in heaven.  You can't take it with you.  Life's little lessons.  I hope I've checked them off one by one.  

My new favorite song by Revive is "Blink".  Some of the picture painted in each line of the song go something like this:

"It happens in a blink

It happens in a flash

It happens in the time it takes to look back

Slow down, slow down

Before today becomes your yesterday..."

I want the molasses days.  The days when I watched paint dry.  The times I wasted watching water boil.  When was that?  Oh yea, never.  The joy with five kids is that there is never a dull moment.  It also means that life tends to go by at such a speed that you don't realize how fast your going, officer.  It's like having my own little Maserati under the hood of my Excursion.  

Yesterday, John was two and climbing into my picnic basket and grinning from ear-to-ear. Saturday he leaves on a jet plane for the adventures of the west and life as he sees it.  Hanging out with the big bro, working like a dog and carving out the powder at Wolf Creek.  Hmmmm....... life is good.  I pray that the lessons stuck in his head and he will call on them from time to time.  I pray that God gently sets his feet on solid ground in the great state of Colorado.  I pray that he will know God deeper than he knows him now, which is pretty deep, by the way.  

So, in the wise words of my favorite 80's rock band, Styx, here is some last minute advice:

It's six o'clock

Good morning sounds are everywhere

The warmth of spring, a gentle breeze blows through my hair

I hurry through my life never stopping to see

How beautiful it was meant to be

I'm just a prisoner in a king's disguise

Broken dreams as we shuffle by

It's six o'clock it's quitting time I'm done for the day

Out on the streets I overheard a lady say

We now have everything or so people say

But now this emptiness haunts me every day

We seek the lion's share never knowing why

Come alive spread your wings and fly

Pieces of eight

The search for the money tree

Don't cash your freedoms in for gold

Pieces of eight

Can't buy you everything

Don't let it turn your heart to stone

(Air guitar solo here for approximately 2 minutes)

Pieces of eight

The search for the money tree

Don't cash your freedoms in for gold

Pieces of eight

Treasures filled with emptiness

Don't let it turn your heart to stone

Not Personal, Just Business

The future of America right there, folks.  These two are hard-core
recyclers!

Very cool operation.  That's a lot of recycling there!
 (Too bad you can't see the sludge
dripping out of the bottom of this truck.....ewwww.)

Miss Paula working the visuals!  Go, Paula!

Marionettes?!  Really?!  You do know I'm a high schooler?

My phone camera didn't do the colors in these
bales justice at all.  They were quite beautiful, really.

First of all, thanks to the mom, a.k.a. Grandma D, for organizing this way cool field trip!  You rock.  Why, you wonder?  Because I didn't have to do anything but show up and those are my favorite field trips of all time!


We are in such odd times right now.  Everyone is very business-like when it comes to, say, business.  Yea, that totally makes sense. If you visited the recycling center in our area you would understand.  It's a totally cool homeschool field trip with cartoon character public service announcements all singing to Aretha Franklin's R-e-s-p-e-c-t tune, but using r-e-c-y-c-l-e instead. Quite a catchy tune and it sticks in that spot in your mind til 3 a.m. There were marionettes, too, people!  This place has got it going on.  Lots of primary colors on the walls and recycled projects displayed and an awesome viewing area of the whole shabang in the processing center.  Large windows where you could watch the trucks dumping out the materials and front end loaders pushing it around onto the conveyor belts for sorting then the stacks and stacks of awesomely colored bales of crushed aluminum cans and the like.  All very cool and very interesting.  Sarah was in awe of the soda pop chadelier inside the front door.  "Mom, we could totally do that!"  Of course, my reply was, "Well, honey, that means we'd have to start drinking soda."  Hmmmmm....not sure that project will make the cutting floor.  


I just was a little saddened by the lack of environmental statistics or green information.  I thought there would be more.  Like some Living Like Ed pics on the walls or a stationery bike hooked to a toaster made of recycled materials.  Lots of talk about how much money it costs to recycle and how much money the county gets for selling their recycled material bales and etc.  Just not very informed on how recycling is good for the earth and what the impact to the landfills have been since starting the program.  I'm sure once the economy settles down, Ed Begley, Jr. will drop by for a green makeover and educate the educator.  Til then I encourage you to not only visit the closest center in your area, but recycle.  It's good for the earth, and it's good for you, although I don't know why........JK.  Trying to be funny.  

Job 12:7-10

 ⁷ "But ask the animals, and they will teach you, 

       or the birds of the air, and they will tell you;

 ⁸ or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, 

       or let the fish of the sea inform you.

 ⁹ Which of all these does not know 

       that the hand of the LORD has done this?

 ¹⁰ In his hand is the life of every creature 

       and the breath of all mankind.

Homeschool Buffet

The view of this table when it's littered with books and schedules brings tears to my eyes.  I adore it.  I love it.  I want to remember how I longed for this day to be here and now God has granted the mercy, patience and provision for us to be here in this moment.  I praise Him for answered prayers.  I remember the agony of year one, year two and year three and here we are in the most glorious of years, number 4.

Thank you God for your tender patience in me.

Help me to extend that grace and patience in teaching my children.

May the peace and joy of the Almighty Father be in your dining room today!