Wednesday, October 31, 2007

I Did It!

I made it all the way through Halloween without eating one piece of candy! Everytime I'd hear a knock at the door and I'd have to carry the bowl over I was tempted to just take just one, but I knew that if I gave in to one, then I'd give in everytime the doorbell rang!

So my husband took the little one around the neighborhood tonight and they came back with their pillowcases half full. Time to bargain. "I'll give you five bucks and you can keep 10 pieces of candy, but if you choose to keep all the candy it has to be gone by Sunday," says I. Last year it worked, but this year, no go. The 8 year old...he's good. He haggled his way to a better deal. The going price? $10 bucks and 15 pieces of candy, with two bite sized bars counting as one.

Seems silly to pay them to go out trick-or-treating, but the payoff is mine in the long run. They get to dress up and have fun. They get money that they can use for Christmas presents. The doctor and dentist bills would add up to far more than the $$$ I had to fork out right now, and best of all, the candy is out of the house. I pack it up and send it to work next day with my husband for all his employees.

Happy ending to a Spooky Day!

Monday, October 29, 2007

It's All Up From Here

I had 4 nightmares last night. I'd wake up from one and fall back asleep right into another one.

This morning I stepped on the scale and it was up 4 pounds from yesterday. Could it be one pound for each nightmare? Or it could possibly have been the donuts from the ward party, or perhaps the cheesecake from yesterday that my chef husband made for me just because he loved me. Or more probably that monthly thingie that started yesterday.

This morning for breakfast I had a piece of toasted homemade bread, spread with butter and apricot jam, a glass of orange juice, and a small glass of eggnog. So I announced to my two older girls that I had had my grain, fruit and protien, after which my middle daughter chimes in "and your fat!" She was, of course, referring to the contents of the eggnog, but the look on her face was priceless when she realized what it sounded like! We laughed ourselves silly for a good 4 minutes!

Friday, October 26, 2007

Attack of the Donuts

It's that time of the year when the treats start to roll in and if I'm not careful I will acquire a few rolls myself!

I've gotten pretty good about passing up the candy, it's the homemade treats that do me in. Not store-bought-homemade. I don't know about other areas of the country, but here people are so busy that instead of bringing homemade items to ward events, they usually run by the store and pick up some cookies from the bakery section so as to appear homemade. But you can always tell that they aren't (That is my husband's pet peeve. This is a man who has his own cookbook and whose favorite store is William Sonoma!).

So when I prepared myself mentally for the ward Halloween party tonight I figured it wouldn't be too hard to keep away from the treat table... that is, until I walked into the gym and saw this cute little grandma making donuts...yes, homemade donuts... right there in the gym! She had a whole little set up with a big bowl of dough and a rolling pin, and a cute little donut cutter. She had a pan of oil right there and she'd fry them up, dunk them in glaze and pass them out to the eager crowd that was continually around her table. That's what saved me; the fact that I had to keep getting back in line if I wanted another one and that the line was always pretty long.

Talk about not playing fair, they go from not ever having homemade treats to making them right there--fresh and piping hot!

Well I didn't do too bad considering. I got away with only eating three...or was it four...

Too Many Hats

I'm still here. Just been playing wife, mom, chauffer, teacher, librarian, hairstylist, cook, butler, therapist, etc...

What's been keeping you busy?

Saturday, October 20, 2007

You Can Come Back

“And it shall come to pass in the last days, when the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths.” Isaiah 2:2-3.

A couple of years ago a temple was built near us, a mere 35 minute drive across town. Previous to this we had to travel a whopping 2 hours to the nearest temple! I remember growing up in Oklahoma and my parents being excited that a temple was being built in Dallas, which was about 6 hours away. Before that the closest temple was in Salt Lake City. I just read an Ensign article of a family who had to save and then give all they had to go to the temple; they traveled several days and didn’t even know how they were going to return home.

Before the temple was dedicated I was able to take my children through it. My husband wasn’t able to be there which was disappointing because when we went into the sealing room I was overcome with the sight of my children and I standing there looking in the mirrors. We missed having him there because a piece of our family was missing, yet, never before had the reality of the sealing ordinance been so strongly made manifest to me. I can still see in my mind’s eye the sight of my children mirrored for eternity. It was breathtaking.

When our temple was finished I didn’t take immediate advantage of it. I’m ashamed of that; I just allowed the cares of the world to take up my time and kept neglecting to call and make the appointment. But when I finally did go, my excitement could hardly be contained. This temple was my temple, built for my use in my town! The emotions I felt as I went through the endowment were overwhelming. I have never had a temple experience quite like it. I especially needed it because that period of my life was such a trying time for me(it still is). The demands of motherhood and homeschooling were about to do me in (they still are). I just wanted to run away from my family and pretend they didn’t exist (I still do)! Motherhood is hard no matter what age your children are, and I was trying to be the sole educator on top of that. I remember finally getting into the Celestial room and I just sat there feeling the peace and drinking in the beauty that surrounded me. I prayed and pondered on some of my situations at home. I thought about the peace I felt there in the temple with the adversary and all the worldly frustrations locked outside. I told Heavenly Father that I just wanted to stay there forever. I didn’t want to go home. I sat there for awhile basking in the peace and serenity of my surroundings, and then the thought came to me, “You need to go home to your children now, but you can come back.”

My life is so busy right now with homeschool, church calling, homemaker, wife, chauffer, etc. etc. etc. I have so many demands that are either put upon me or that I put upon myself. I am also a person that has a hard time focusing on more than one or two things at a time. After awhile I find myself ‘fragmented’ so to speak. Lists are floating about in my head and on my counters. My brain has a hard time processing all the “to do’s” and after awhile my progress slows.

A few weeks ago my dad came to visit. My dad is a computer scientist and since I am pretty much illiterate when it comes to maintaining my computer I am always happy when he comes. He cleans it up, arranges files and puts it through a “defrag”. Now, being technologically limited, I can’t explain very well what a “defrag” is. It was simplified for me in this way: in the inner workings of the computer, files get moved around and this creates a lot of space in between each file. After awhile this inhibits the processes of the computer so that it begins to slow down. A defrag lines up the files and eliminates the spaces so that the computer then runs much more efficiently. (Clear as mud and probably not completely accurate, but for our purpose here we’ll go with it.)

People are like computers. They need to be maintained on a regular basis. Going to church every Sunday is like organizing the files we can see in our documents. It’s best to arrange, delete and make changes regularly in order to keep our desktop clean and in good working order. But we have callings to do and children to keep still. We are not always able to sit and nurture our souls. The temple is different. There we are free from distraction. Going to the temple is like the big defrag. It cleans up and organizes us on the inside, it puts our life back into perspective and it pulls the scattered fragments of our soul together.

“You can come back.” Never were sweeter words whispered to my soul.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Mystery of the Missing Template

Solved!

So what happened is when Matie Kay discovered that she was essentially redistributing the Shabby Princess papers, she must have erased the place where she had uploaded all the pages thus making the url invalid, thus erasing the pages from my template.

But...I still have the template and I know how to fill in the pages, so I have been experimenting...redecorating actually and you all know how much I love to decorate! This is by no means what I am leaving it as; I was just experimenting with some paper I had saved, plugging it in to see where it would end up (I can't read HTML that well). So it will be Under Construction for awhile until I find the perfect paper, but for now I am out of time!

This and other things have kept me from posting and commenting lately. I have been reading all my favorite blogs and laughing and crying, just haven't had time to comment on most of them. I do have a couple of posts almost ready, hopefully I can find some time to get them finished this week.

Meanwhile, have a great day!

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Hey, what's up with the empty background?!?!

I came here to do a little posting and found that my background has disappeared! And if I want to put that one back on all my little widget thingies on the side will disappear, and I don't want to have to redo them all...it's a pain being technoligically illilterate.

Well this is just a sampling of how my day is going so far. I actually had something else to post today, but it will just have to wait until tonight. I'm taking my ball and going home...oh yea I am home. And dinner needs to be fixed and the house straightened up and kids picked up and...

I liked my template... I'm bummed!

Monday, October 15, 2007

Up and Down

“I feel thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread.” ~Bilbo Baggins to Gandalf, The Lord of the Rings.

Friday, October 12, 2007

I'm feeling uplifted today


Upon bestowing this award to me PJ said thus, "I am so glad to be able to read her blog, but I am most fortunate to know her. She is my husbands older sister (NOT OLD:), she is the heart of his side of the family. She leads by example, she loves genuinely. I love her voice and the way she talks, it is uniquely Mindy. If you know her, I bet you agree. So, I give the You Lift me Up award to my Mindyluwho!"

Thank you PJ and I just have to say that if I am the heart of the family, PJ is the funny bone! She cracks us up with her hilarious stories and quirky ways. She makes the mundane interesting and keeps us all laughing. She's a treasure and I think I'll keep her!

When I saw this award I knew exactly who to give it to. If you haven't read Calamity Jane, you must. She lifts me up...out of bed, off the couch, from the table! She blogs about her experience of losing 70 pounds and how she used the gospel and prayer to get her there. What I love about her is that although she predominately shares her motivation for losing weight, the principles she shares can be applied to all of life and the choices we make in our quest to become better people all around. I find myself thinking of her blogs in a lot of situations I find myself in throughout the day. So Calamity Jane, I give the You Lift Me Up award to you.

"Ouch!"

(Day two at the gym.)

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

No More Dross

“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image…And again: Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them; for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God.” (Mosiah 13:12-13)

The Lord is jealous and with good reason. Our very breath each day is a gift. He created us and gave us everything we have and all he asks is that we love him and obey him. But insert the Natural Man with all his worldy inclinations and graven images...decorating magazines, sewing machines, computers, books, food (strictly speaking of myself here, feel free to insert your own dieties). We forget the Lord way too easily and on a daily basis. Fortunately he is a loving and merciful God. He recognizes that we will fall short. "For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still” (Isaiah 9:12), meaning that he will not deter the consequences, but will stretch forth his hand and wait for us to take hold so that he can guide us back to the path or pull us out of the deep pit we have dug. Sometimes, however, our focus is so blurred or the pit is too deep that we don’t see his stretched out hand, so he uses other means of recalling us to our sense of duty.

“And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away they dross, and take away all thy tin” (Isaiah 1:25). The reference to turn is ‘return, or repeatedly chastise’.

Chastise: To correct by punishing; to punish; to inflict pain by stripes, or in other manner, for the purpose of punishing an offender and recalling him to his duty. To correct; to purify by expunging faults.

Sometimes it is painful to be recalled back to our duties. It’s embarrassing and humiliating. I was humiliated when I read that article on the second commandment. I hadn’t realized how engrossed I was until it was so blatantly pointed out to me. Being chastised is not pleasant. But the Lord doesn’t do it to be unkind. He is expunging our faults and trying to perfect and purify us.

In my first Isaiah post I spoke of having ingrown toenails. On one of them I had to cut off the side of the nail, all the way down to the root (sorry for those with queasy stomachs!). It grossed me out to do and it really hurt! But taking out the offending part of the toenail that was digging into the flesh and making the wound fester was the only thing that would give it a chance to heal. It still didn’t heal of its own accord after that, I had to keep applying alcohol and every time I did so, it stung. It was a very unpleasant experience to say the least. But within a couple of weeks the infection was gone. It still didn’t look so pretty, but over time it has healed and now you can’t even tell I had one. A couple of years later I got another ingrown toenail. This time at the first sign of it I began applying alcohol right away. It never got to the point of my previous one; this time it was gone within a few days.

I still love to decorate my house. I still get carried away. I still need to apply the alcohol now and then. Decorating my house wasn’t a sin. The sin came in the form of putting that before my other duties. I have received my share of chastisement, but with chastisement comes change and healing. I welcome it because it does two things. First, every time it happens a little bit of dross is purged out of me and I am a better person for it and second, I feel the intense love of my Savior as I am “encircled about eternally in the arms of his love.” (2 Nephi 1:15).



Well, I hope you have enjoyed our Isaiah study so far. As you can see I didn’t try to decipher every verse, my intent is to immerse myself in the beauty of Isaiah’s language looking for little gems that I can apply to my life. My knowledge isn’t perfect, but with each chapter I study, my soul and mind are expanding and I am finding the sweetness in his words. Alma expresses it best:

and this because you know, for ye know that the word hath swelled your souls, and ye also know that it hath sprouted up, that your understanding doth begin to be enlightened, and your mind doth begin to expand… And because of your diligence and your faith and your patience with the word in nourishing it, that it may take root in you, behold, by and by ye shall pluck the fruit thereof, which is most precious, which is sweet above all that is sweet, and which is white above all that is white, yea, and pure above all that is pure; and ye shall feast upon this fruit even until ye are filled, that ye hunger not, neither shall ye thirst.”

Happy pondering!

Duhh

I finally figured out why it's called a Qwerty keyboard..."qwerty"...go on, type it...

Monday, October 08, 2007

This and That

Happy Columbus Day!

I guess most of the public world doesn't celebrate this day, but my son's private school does. I know this because I drove him over there today (40 minute round trip) only to discover that it was closed.

Which is a good thing because he had a 2000 word report due today that we stayed up working on last night until past midnight and of which he only had 864 words. Guess what he is working on right now?

In other news, I have been working on an experiment this month. I can't tell you what it is until November 1st. But here's a clue.

Happy Thanksgiving to all you Canadians!

Did you know that there are only 77 days 13 hours 34 minutes left until Christmas?

Sunday, October 07, 2007

More Scribbles...

Morning Session

President Eyering. Oh President Eyering, I LOVE to hear him speak! It seems that every talk I have ever heard him give was written especially for me, and today was no exception. He spoke of an experience when he was told, “I’m not giving you these experiences for yourself, write them down.” He says when he received that inspiration he began that night to record with this question in mind, “Have I seen the hand of God in our lives today?” And he never missed a day. He said that when we begin to write these experiences we see the hand of God so clearly that we come to love him and in time we come to know him. I’ve never been good at journaling, but lately I have been doing a lot of writing; recording inspirations and answers to prayer. In answer to his question: “Did God send a message that was just for me?” Yes, and President Eyering gave it to me.

Quentin L. Cook. What is required in any calling is to be comfortable in bearing witness of the divinity of the Savior. We must live by faith and not by fear. I live by fear a lot…it’s hard to live by faith, but he says if we will live a principle, we will gain a testimony of that principle, and as we follow counsel our faith increases and our fears decrease.

Claudio R. M. Costa made me want to be sure I live for today. The past doesn’t come back and the future might not come. We can lay down our lives for our family by giving of our time. Small acts such as a hug and “I Love You” are small steps that we can do today.

Wow, Julie B. Beck gave an awesome talk on what mothers need to be doing. I cringed a bit in some places because boy do I need some work! In essence: When mothers know who they are and who God is, they will have great powers over the forces of darkness. Children are our greatest jewels. There is eternal influence and power in motherhood. Am I pointing my children toward the temple? Home is where women have the most power and influence. Make a home that creates a climate for spiritual growth. Be selective about outside influences. I want to be known as a “Mother Who Knew”.

Christoffel Goden Jr., by small and simple things are great things brought to pass.

When David A. Bednar was newly called and I heard him speak for the first time, I was given a powerful witness that he was appointed by the Lord. He said that both clean hands and a pure heart are required by the Lord. To have clean hands is to have a remission of sins. To have a pure heart is to walk spotless before God. “Sporadic spurts of intense spiritual activity” will not get us where we need to go, rather it’s small steps of continual progression.

Wow, can you imagine giving over 200 talks in General Conference? That doesn’t include the countless other meetings President Hinkley has spoken in. I remember when he gave this talk the first time. It made me think of Elder Packer’s talk on Saturday where what we testify of doesn’t change. This talk was just as powerful to me this time as it was the first time. If we accept the truth of the first vision and subsequent restoration, then this is the most important work we can be involved in.

Afternoon Session

Robert D. Hales told us that personal revelation is the way we know for ourselves the truths of our existence (doesn't that sound beautiful?). Prayer provides the firm foundation for personal revelation. Then we need to study it out in our mind. However revelation comes with the Lords timetable, so we need to move forward in faith seeking to do the Lords will and trusting that he will direct us.

Richard G. Scott won second favorite talk because he quoted from my favorite passages of scripture, Moses 7(President Eyering was first). I love how he extrapolated on the creations of God from the atom to the outer reaches of space. “All things are numbered unto me, for they are mine and I know them.” Whenever I am feeling down I read Moses 7 and know that out of all Gods creations, which are infinite, he still knows me.

Daniel K. Judd quoted from D&C 50 which made him my third favorite speaker because those scriptures were given to me as a direct answer to prayer once. “Unto what are ye ordained?” We are to teach by the spirit of truth. We need to focus on the fundamental doctrines and take great care to nourish those we teach and those we lead.

Octaviano Tenorio, wow, when he spoke of his baby dying I was shocked, I didn’t expect the story to end that way. And he still passed out chocolates! Would I be able to do that? The principle behind is of course that he knew he would see his daughter again, what a blessing to know that. I remember when my mom died I was very sad, but I was also filled with joy for her. I remember feeling a closeness to the Savior that I hadn’t ever experienced before because she was with him. I could almost feel his arms around me as I imagined they were around her.

Claudio D. Zivic says we are more than ordinary people. I like that, I am extraordinary! And, the Lord is responsible for all that is good in our lives.

Do you know that you know that you know? Douglas L. Callister wants to know if you know that you know? It’s necessary for us to find out for ourselves that the gospel is true. There only has to be one witness, but it must be yourself. There are proxies for ordinances, but not for the acquisition of a testimony. It is a grand thing to know, and to know that you know and that the light has not been borrowed from another. I know, and if I were chopped up into little inch size pieces each piece would cry out, “I know that I know that I know Mormonism is true!”

The only General Authority I have met is Dallin H. Oaks. I even shook his hand! My son went through the line twice! He spoke at a stake conference once and was hilarious. It's fun to see them with their hair down now and then...oh yea, he has no hair! But he even joked about that so I'm ok. He says that just because something is good is not sufficient reason for doing it. Good, Better, Best. Think Martha and Mary. Lots of times I am a Martha. I want to be a Mary. I guess that I don’t have to fix dinner anymore, because what my children really want for dinner is me…

And last, we got to hear a last little remark from President Hinkley…he’s 97! When our temple was dedicated he came out for the occasion. I had never been in the presence of a prophet until then. When he walked into the room I could visibly feel a change. I KNEW that he was a prophet of God. The youth all started cheering and almost screaming, (in a reverent sort of way) and I thought, “here’s this little old man who, by the worlds standards, is nothing special, yet he’s being cheered by all these youth with the same adoration they might for a rock star”. It gives me chills just writing about it. I love him.

Well that concludes my scribbles of Conference. Have a great week!

Saturday, October 06, 2007

Were you there?

Here are my scribbles from Conference today. I didn’t take notes on every talk, just ones that had meaning for me. As I wrote them here I added a few of my own thoughts as well.

Morning Session:

Boyd K. Packer spoke about how his testimony is the same abiding testimony now as it was years ago, before he became a General Authority. Nothing has really changed except for the fact that it is easier to hear answers from the Lord. When he said that I realized how true it is. What I testify of is the reality of my Savior and Redeemer, and that he died that I might live, the belief that Joseph Smith saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and that the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored in its fullness to the earth. Ten, twenty, thirty years from now I will testify of those same principles. It’s my faith in those principles that deepens. Over the last few months I have received many answers to prayers. Most of those answers come through the scriptures, but some have come through other people or even through circumstances and events that have transpired in my life. I find that the more I study and immerse myself in the Word, the more receptive I am to the whisperings of the Spirit.

Mary N. Cook spoke on patterns of righteousness. It is hard sometimes to break out of old habits and patterns, but we need to break the incorrect traditions and install new ones. What patterns do I need to change that will help my children to grow in truth and righteousness?

I loved Spencer J. Condie’s talk about Rachel. “And God remembered Rachel.” Sometimes I get so impatient that things aren’t happening how I want them to. We were supposed to be in our new house on our property last year, but we won’t even be building for another year. For awhile I couldn’t understand what was taking so long, but as I look back over the last couple of years I can see the Lord’s hand in our lives. My children needed to be in this ward, and I needed to learn some lessons before we moved. As God remembered Rachel, so will he remember us.

I love to listen to Dieter F. Uchtdorf speak. I just like his accent! He also gives a great message. Enduring to the end is not passively hanging in there, it’s an active participation in our covenants; a process filling every minute of our day. Our membership in this church is a reason to rejoice. The Lord knows our circumstances and challenges. The message of the gospel lifts us above the despair and darkness of our lives.

Thomas S. Monson always has such great poems and stories. I was too engrossed in his story to write anything except, "The Lord hears our prayers and our cries for help". Very nicely illustrated by his story today.

Afternoon Session:

M. Russell Ballard’s talk is a must read over to get it all, but the basics were how to explain to people, not of our faith, what we believe in a simple format: Facts, Faith, Families, Fruits of the Restored Gospel. After I reread his talk, I’m making a little card to carry around.

Joseph B. Wirthlin. What can I say? I love this man. Here’s what I wrote: “Love is found in the simple acts of kindness we do for one another……………watching him struggle to stand and speak, but not give up is a profoundly moving experience.” I don’t even really remember much of what he talked about after he started to shake. And I can’t really even express what I felt except that as I witnessed his great love for the Lord as he struggled through his talk, doing what his Savior asked of him through great personal trial, my heart filled up and spilled down my cheeks. He could have asked for a chair, he could have stopped and said he couldn’t go on and no one would have thought any less of him. But he struggled valiantly on, testifying of his Savior and Redeemer. His example alone made me desire to press on through whatever I am called to do.

Bruce D. Porter asked “What is a broken heart? And why is it considered a sacrifice?” I listened, but didn’t write anything down, except this quote, “When we yield our hearts to the Lord, the attractions of the world lose their luster.” That quote could fit very well into my last post.

Eric W. Kopischke made me want to go and read “Preach My Gospel”. I liked his idea of using it for FHE and having the teenagers teach from it as a missionary would.

Michael J. Teh: Am I My Brother’s Keeper? He said that to some degree we all depend on each other to make it back to our Heavenly Home. I was inspired to: Give More, Serve More, Spend Less.

I put a star by Keith K. Hilbigs because I wanted to definitely reread his talk right away. “Quench Not the Spirit”. Whatever level of spirituality we are at there is always a higher level we can obtain. Time is an asset we must use to increase our level. The more I read and study Isaiah, the more I learn, but the more I see that I don’t know! We draw nearer to the Savior as we keep his commandments with exactness. My thoughts are: there are some commandments that are easy to keep with exactness. Tithing is one. Others require more effort and a continual need to focus on our Savior so that we don’t veer off the path…another thought that fits into my last post!

I loved Jeffrey R. Holland’s talk on the Godhead. He very logically expounded the facts and fiction of the Nicene Creed versus biblical based doctrine.

And last, Russell M. Nelson…alas, all I have written down is “Scriptural Witnesses”. Guess I’ll need to reread his as well. What can I say, it was the last talk…

Have a nice Sabbath!

Of Terebinth Trees

I posted this last week, but found a couple of errors so I pulled it and reworked it. However I am only publishing half of the original. I decided to keep the posts shorter so they are more easily digestible. I think with Isaiah you have to be brief!

In the previous Isaiah post I mused on what it meant to reason with the Lord. The Lord loves us and he wants to give us every opportunity to come back to him. “For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” (Moses 1:39). But what happens when we don’t? And furthermore, what are the reasons that caused us to veer off the path in the first place? They are many and varied, but I think they all contain one common element.

“For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens ye have chosen.” (Isaiah 1:29) The footnote for oaks refers to the terebinth trees and gardens used in idol worship.

Several years ago we built a new house. It was the first one we had owned, we had lived in rentals up until that time. I was so excited to be able to decorate that I spent an inordinate amount of time, money and energy on that pursuit. I bought all kinds of magazines and spent hours perusing them, dreaming about what my house was going to look like. One day as I sat down to read I pulled out a stack of Ensigns that I had been neglecting for some time. One cover caught my eye as I was glancing through, but I passed over it. I leafed through the stack, rearranged the pile and then randomly selected one. It was the one I had passed over. On the cover was a picture of Moses with the Ten Commandments and the article depicted was entitled, “The Second Commandment Today—Refusing to Worship Graven Images.” At that point I began to connect the dots; I was being told something. As I read the article, I was filled with a deep sense of shame for there were some points made in the article that seem to be specifically put there for me to read. I recognized that I had been putting the Decorating God before my Savior. Decorating my house was my garden of worship and I had been neglecting my other duties of wife and mother.

Both the first and second commandments instruct us to put God first. I can’t think of any sin that doesn’t begin by disobeying those commandments. The aforementioned article states that worshipping modern images results in confusion, corruption and a divided heart. When I was so immersed in my decorating I was confused about my priorities. My children were neglected, dinner wasn’t ready on time (if ever) and my relationship with my husband suffered. Because God was not first in my life, my focus was askew and it was easy for Satan to lead me down the wrong path.

This experience happened several years ago, but as I write this I can think back on this last week and see too many times that I allowed a little graven image to distract me. It is a never ending battle. In fact I should be in bed right now rather than writing this post! But there is hope. The Lord is always there to guide us back to the strait and narrow. Sometimes it’s just a nudge (toward the bed), but other times it’s not always a pleasant experience…

But you'll have to wait for another post to get the scintillating details.

Happy Pondering!

Monday, October 01, 2007

Oh Happy Day!


I got an award! My very first. And I’m going to do what my mother always said to do when people compliment you…

“Say Thank You”

Thank you Joey! She was the first person outside of my family to comment on my blog, and hers was the first blog outside of my family that I commented on, so I think it’s cool that she’s the first person to give me an award.

“Smile”

:) :) :) :) :)


and


“Shut up”!


Ok, that’s the hard one. I just have to say that I’m honored to know that I make someone smile. Joey makes me smile because she writes about her day to day life with her children which I love reading about. I don’t blog about my day to day because I’ve never been able to remember at the end of the day what I did. She inspires me to be a better mom.


The creator of the award had this to say -

"The thing that I love most about blogging is that I learn so much about a person just by reading their blog. I have met MANY wonderful people with wonderful stories to tell, and I am grateful every day for each person that I have the pleasure of crossing paths in life with. I wanted to create something special for the people who have inspired me through their blogging; the stories they tell, and the lives they lead with grace and dignity. I visit their blogs for inspiration and encouragement...Please grab your badge and wear it (with a smile) proudly, and pass it on because you inspire and encourage me---thank you!"


So now to pass it on…I’m the kind of person who feels really bad if I don’t include everyone (that’s why my Tweenager had NINTEEN 12 year old girls over for her last birthday…), but I’m going to restrain myself and limit this to one person.


The award goes to…


Betsy –my sister whom I admire because she is a mom to three and is working full time to put her husband through school. She doesn’t get to blog very much because she is so busy, but I love it when she does as she makes me laugh and think about life a little more out of the box, which is out of my comfort zone! So here you go Betsy Bo Betsy…Love you!


(By the way, her name is Elizabeth, so you will want to refer to her as that, but she will always be Betsy to me.)