Well, I had the most frustrating time today at a McDonalds. I had just gotten together with another mom of young children and had a wonderful time of Christian fellowship while our kiddos played at the playland. Well, of course that is when my 2 month old chose to explode. When she goes, it is always bad, so I knew it would be.
Our two families parted ways and I made my way to the bathroom to what I knew would be a mess. Of course, what could go wrong, did.
I found out that this particular restaurant did not have a changing area that was mom friendly. The table faced the wrong way. The end of the table was right over the toilet. Therefore, my baby could kick anything into the toilet, so as a mom trying to keep everything as clean and sanitary as possible while I changed what looked like a bomb went off in my baby's diaper, I had to also keep everything on the table. To make matters more interesting, my two three year olds were trying to peek over the table to watch me change the diaper as that is very fascinating to young eyes.
Before we were done, the wipe container had fallen into the toilet twice, the paper towels that I laid underneath the baby were soaking wet, of course making any clothes that had survived the explosion wet.
I had to change every inch of clothing on the child, and she ended up with no onsie, because it had gotten wet in the ordeal.
Whew!! I need a nap.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Women's conference
This past weekend our church had our first annual women's conference. The keynote speaker was Holly Stratton, the wife of the president of Clearwater Christian College. It was a wonderful conference.
Here are some of the highlights . First of all, the men served us and they even wore aprons. Nothing like a man in a uniform. The food was incredible. When we first arrived last Friday there were mountains of all kinds of delectable desserts that we could partake of during the entire conference. The decorations were incredible. I took part of them home in the form of a Betta fish vase. I have wanted one for quite some time, but did not know what kind of plants to put in them, now I have one that someone else put together and I just had to pay for it. Can't get much better than that.
The first session was given by our pastor, Pastor Bob Bixby. His main points were that we are not perfect and we will not reach perfection on this earth and that we were made in God's image.
Sin destroys our relationships and He saves us so that our relationships can be restored to a new creation.
He also said that " we are not wholly woman until you are wholly Christian and that you are never wholly Christian until you are wholly woman." Because again, we are created in the image of God.
We are called to be like Christ
We are to return to the shepherd of our souls
To be like Christ we are to submit to our husbands
The next speaker was Tricia Brown and she spoke on modesty. A subject that has some gray areas. She had to remind all of us that it is her opinions and she is not trying to judge anyone and that she had no one in mind when she wrote her notes. The title was Modesty Matters.
Her text was 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit.
Our choices reflect our hearts. At the root of every problem is a problem with our Theology.
We should ask ourselves how we can bring honor and glory to God's temple.
It is our job to edify and protect--keep stumblingblocks out of the way
Because we are representing Christ, even if on a deserted island we need to be modest, even
if it is all women.
If you have physical clothing trouble spots, you should pool your resources and spend a little more money on those trouble spots and DONT trust the clearance racks.
The third session was by Suzanne Altizer on Hospitality.
She gave some great ideas on how we can entertain others on short notice. A couple of my favorite examples that she used was the tea light in the apples and the triple candles on a plate with stuff around it like Jelly beans, mint balls, beans, or coffee beans. We could use anything that we want for centerpieces for the tables.
Also, we do not have to apoligize if our house is not in order when people come over. Sometimes we can do the best we can and still not get it perfect. I was so glad to hear that, but I will still be embarrassed if someone came over on short notice and saw my house messy. I was convicted to try harder to keep it clean on a regular basis so that it will not be as hard and time consuming to pick the extra things on short notice.
The fourth session was by Holly.
Her points fell under the question : What is Righteous Thirst?
1. righteous thirsting involves righteous waiting,
2. righteous thirsting is always God centered and never man centered,
3. there are cheap substitutes for righteous thirsting.
a. anything that we are substituting for the Gospel
b. three specific substitutes for righteous thirsting
1). Intellectualism:
focus on the mind, hunger for knowledge and love books on theology
2). Passivism/emotionalism
emphasis on emotions, we do not always make choices based on God's word.
3). Moralism
emphasis on the will and the purpose to do right.
c. problems with cheap substitutions
will only get us so far and cause selfishness and pride.
The more we grow, the more we will see how sin prone we really are.
Then we had a wonderful meal (after eating all those delectable goodies. I probably gained 5 pounds (like it will matter anyway on this body that still contains lots of baby weight).
On Saturday we were greeted by those men in aprons again and a nice continental breakfast.
Holly spoke again on thristing for God.
Only God fully knows and understands our needs, abilities, emotions, and our mind (I am glad that somebody knows THAT).
I. A righteous thirst revealed
I desire most to understand than to be understood.
I can't figure out myself, how can I understand anyone else.
I focus on understanding God's will.
There is a difference between fact and truth. talk about the facts and focus on those facts.
Keep our attention on the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is fact.
Because I have a righteous thirst, I do not have a dependence on man.
I know my identity and I know that God has accepted me into His family. No matter how others see me, my identity is in Jesus Christ.
My sister in law, Anouk, a financial and budgeting genius, talked about the benefits of keeping finances in order, saving money, and budgeting. Because she is related to me, she had given many of those pointers to me before, so most of it was not new. I also had the inside scoop on one of her favorite freebees, she calls them. We should make a budget (it does not have to be ridged, but should have some type of saving in it. She has found that the best way to save is to catagorize her savings into several categories, such as car, clothes, groceries, etc..., that way if something goes wrong with the car, for example, there will be money there so you do not have to go into debt with credit cards (been there). Also, she talked about coupon shopping and rebates, e.g. Walgreens rebate program. It really works. A couple books she mentioned are both by Mary Hunt. They are DEBT PROOF LIVING and LIVING LIFE AT HALF THE PRICE.
I was feeding my infant during the last session with Holly, so I missed most of what she had to say, but over all it was a great conference and am looking forward to next year.
Here are some of the highlights . First of all, the men served us and they even wore aprons. Nothing like a man in a uniform. The food was incredible. When we first arrived last Friday there were mountains of all kinds of delectable desserts that we could partake of during the entire conference. The decorations were incredible. I took part of them home in the form of a Betta fish vase. I have wanted one for quite some time, but did not know what kind of plants to put in them, now I have one that someone else put together and I just had to pay for it. Can't get much better than that.
The first session was given by our pastor, Pastor Bob Bixby. His main points were that we are not perfect and we will not reach perfection on this earth and that we were made in God's image.
Sin destroys our relationships and He saves us so that our relationships can be restored to a new creation.
He also said that " we are not wholly woman until you are wholly Christian and that you are never wholly Christian until you are wholly woman." Because again, we are created in the image of God.
We are called to be like Christ
We are to return to the shepherd of our souls
To be like Christ we are to submit to our husbands
The next speaker was Tricia Brown and she spoke on modesty. A subject that has some gray areas. She had to remind all of us that it is her opinions and she is not trying to judge anyone and that she had no one in mind when she wrote her notes. The title was Modesty Matters.
Her text was 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit.
Our choices reflect our hearts. At the root of every problem is a problem with our Theology.
We should ask ourselves how we can bring honor and glory to God's temple.
It is our job to edify and protect--keep stumblingblocks out of the way
Because we are representing Christ, even if on a deserted island we need to be modest, even
if it is all women.
If you have physical clothing trouble spots, you should pool your resources and spend a little more money on those trouble spots and DONT trust the clearance racks.
The third session was by Suzanne Altizer on Hospitality.
She gave some great ideas on how we can entertain others on short notice. A couple of my favorite examples that she used was the tea light in the apples and the triple candles on a plate with stuff around it like Jelly beans, mint balls, beans, or coffee beans. We could use anything that we want for centerpieces for the tables.
Also, we do not have to apoligize if our house is not in order when people come over. Sometimes we can do the best we can and still not get it perfect. I was so glad to hear that, but I will still be embarrassed if someone came over on short notice and saw my house messy. I was convicted to try harder to keep it clean on a regular basis so that it will not be as hard and time consuming to pick the extra things on short notice.
The fourth session was by Holly.
Her points fell under the question : What is Righteous Thirst?
1. righteous thirsting involves righteous waiting,
2. righteous thirsting is always God centered and never man centered,
3. there are cheap substitutes for righteous thirsting.
a. anything that we are substituting for the Gospel
b. three specific substitutes for righteous thirsting
1). Intellectualism:
focus on the mind, hunger for knowledge and love books on theology
2). Passivism/emotionalism
emphasis on emotions, we do not always make choices based on God's word.
3). Moralism
emphasis on the will and the purpose to do right.
c. problems with cheap substitutions
will only get us so far and cause selfishness and pride.
The more we grow, the more we will see how sin prone we really are.
Then we had a wonderful meal (after eating all those delectable goodies. I probably gained 5 pounds (like it will matter anyway on this body that still contains lots of baby weight).
On Saturday we were greeted by those men in aprons again and a nice continental breakfast.
Holly spoke again on thristing for God.
Only God fully knows and understands our needs, abilities, emotions, and our mind (I am glad that somebody knows THAT).
I. A righteous thirst revealed
I desire most to understand than to be understood.
I can't figure out myself, how can I understand anyone else.
I focus on understanding God's will.
There is a difference between fact and truth. talk about the facts and focus on those facts.
Keep our attention on the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is fact.
Because I have a righteous thirst, I do not have a dependence on man.
I know my identity and I know that God has accepted me into His family. No matter how others see me, my identity is in Jesus Christ.
My sister in law, Anouk, a financial and budgeting genius, talked about the benefits of keeping finances in order, saving money, and budgeting. Because she is related to me, she had given many of those pointers to me before, so most of it was not new. I also had the inside scoop on one of her favorite freebees, she calls them. We should make a budget (it does not have to be ridged, but should have some type of saving in it. She has found that the best way to save is to catagorize her savings into several categories, such as car, clothes, groceries, etc..., that way if something goes wrong with the car, for example, there will be money there so you do not have to go into debt with credit cards (been there). Also, she talked about coupon shopping and rebates, e.g. Walgreens rebate program. It really works. A couple books she mentioned are both by Mary Hunt. They are DEBT PROOF LIVING and LIVING LIFE AT HALF THE PRICE.
I was feeding my infant during the last session with Holly, so I missed most of what she had to say, but over all it was a great conference and am looking forward to next year.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
What's behind door #2
It is a hard thing to do. If you have been there, you know that you wait and pray for something to happen to change some circumstances in your life. A door opens up somewhere and you want to walk through it because it sounds sooooo good. Then, it closes in your face. You then assume that is not the direction God wants you to go, so you wait some more. For what, you wonder? What could be better than that possibility? Isn't there a verse that says "A trial of our faith works patience"? Enough trials all ready. What more do I have to learn to keep trying my faith which I will admit that I don't have enough of.
A new door opens a few months later. Oh, that may be better than the original plan, so you go for it, then another door of opportunity opens up right next to the first one. Okay, now what?
You quit pursuing the first door because the second door looks better than the first one. You get your hopes up for the better circumstances that the second door would allow, only to get your bubble deflated because the opportunity was not as good as it seems, so now both doors are closing and the waiting begins again.!! Oh the frustration and let down. I wonder what doors God will open next to test our faith. What would he want us to do? What may be behind door #3?
A new door opens a few months later. Oh, that may be better than the original plan, so you go for it, then another door of opportunity opens up right next to the first one. Okay, now what?
You quit pursuing the first door because the second door looks better than the first one. You get your hopes up for the better circumstances that the second door would allow, only to get your bubble deflated because the opportunity was not as good as it seems, so now both doors are closing and the waiting begins again.!! Oh the frustration and let down. I wonder what doors God will open next to test our faith. What would he want us to do? What may be behind door #3?
Friday, April 13, 2007
Wow, busy times
Wow, I have a busy six weeks ahead of me. I just thought of what is going on. I think I just overwhelmed myself.
This weekend, I have a pampered chef show in the Chicago area, so that will take the whole day. Then church on Sunday. On Tuesday I have been invited to be a guest at someone's party, but my husband has a meeting, so I don't know how I am going to coordinate that one yet. That next weekend is our Ladies conference with our church, so that will take two days.
The weekend after that I have another scheduled pampered chef show. The next two weekends I have more shows. Then a graduation in the beginning of May sometime. A bridal shower on the 15th of May. Then a wedding on the 19th of May.
So many things to do along with trying to keep my own house. We'll see how I manage all that stuff.
This weekend, I have a pampered chef show in the Chicago area, so that will take the whole day. Then church on Sunday. On Tuesday I have been invited to be a guest at someone's party, but my husband has a meeting, so I don't know how I am going to coordinate that one yet. That next weekend is our Ladies conference with our church, so that will take two days.
The weekend after that I have another scheduled pampered chef show. The next two weekends I have more shows. Then a graduation in the beginning of May sometime. A bridal shower on the 15th of May. Then a wedding on the 19th of May.
So many things to do along with trying to keep my own house. We'll see how I manage all that stuff.
Who Are You?
Has anyone else out there watched the tv show "Identity"? I know, I am a game show junkie (thought I hate the older ones like the price is right and wheel of fortune). The first time this show was on, it intrigued me. It seemed so easy. I think I got them all and I never do really well at Jeopardy or Deal or no Deal ( I would think that 50,000 is a good number to go home with).
The premise of Identity is to see how stereotypes work. Are they actually true or not? Most of the time they are. However, tonight the show seemed harder as who could guess who was in a biosphere or who was the mail order bride? Certainly not me! It is just fascinating to see what kind of people they come up with for the contestant to guess.
It was off the air for a while and I missed it. I thought that it was probably not a hit or something, so I was happy that it came back on. It gives me something else wholesome (except for the occasional scanty clad woman) to watch while I feed my baby.
The premise of Identity is to see how stereotypes work. Are they actually true or not? Most of the time they are. However, tonight the show seemed harder as who could guess who was in a biosphere or who was the mail order bride? Certainly not me! It is just fascinating to see what kind of people they come up with for the contestant to guess.
It was off the air for a while and I missed it. I thought that it was probably not a hit or something, so I was happy that it came back on. It gives me something else wholesome (except for the occasional scanty clad woman) to watch while I feed my baby.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
follow up
This is a follow up to the post on Saturday, April 8th, about the bad commercial timing on ABC during The Ten Commandments.
I received a gracious e mail from our local ABC affiliate. She seemed very sincere as a parent herself, concerned as well. She suggested I contact ABC corporation. She gave me the 800 number and the e mail, so I just may do that. In between feedings and changings of my infant.
I received a gracious e mail from our local ABC affiliate. She seemed very sincere as a parent herself, concerned as well. She suggested I contact ABC corporation. She gave me the 800 number and the e mail, so I just may do that. In between feedings and changings of my infant.
Monday, April 9, 2007
The day after.....
Well, Easter, or should I say Resurrection Day is over and a new week has begun. We met in our new church building yesterday and that was great. What a great day to move to a new location -- the day we celebrate our Lord's resurrection.
The new paint, the new carpet, the new nurseries, the new offices, just everything so new. It was wonderful.
We even made the newspaper .My daughter's picture was in it (the online version) even. She is now a local celebrity (not that I really wanted that). That is part of her 15 minutes of fame.
The new paint, the new carpet, the new nurseries, the new offices, just everything so new. It was wonderful.
We even made the newspaper .My daughter's picture was in it (the online version) even. She is now a local celebrity (not that I really wanted that). That is part of her 15 minutes of fame.
Saturday, April 7, 2007
No Easter Bunny
HAPPY EASTER!!
I am writing about Easter a day early because we have been invited over to some friends' house after church tomorrow so I may not get a chance to wish everyone happy Easter.
When I say Happy Easter, I don't mean little bunnies (though I do like bunnies ). I don't mean little chickens and eggs, though the chickens and bunnies are cute. It is not about the sale at the department store, though it is always great to save money on material goods.
As a family we do some of the commercial traditions of egg hunting and coloring, and the baskets with goodies in them. That is the FUN of it all. Last night we colored eggs and had a marvelous time doing it. This morning we had an egg hunt. It was my kids first time doing this and they had a great time. We loved to see them laugh and squeal with delight when they spotted the chocolate eggs. Tomorrow we will have baskets set out with all kinds of goodies in them.
We do not, however, get our kids pictures taken with the Easter bunny. One reason is that it is not the real meaning of Easter. The other reason is that if you want to keep the picture they are so incredibly expensive, especially when you would need three different pictures. Seriously, have you ever thought of who might be inside that costume? What if it is some wierdo trying to get his or her hands on children, HMMM? Probably not, but you never know.
Easter for our family is the day that we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We try to make Him the center of our day. He is the Jewish Messiah. He is the Hosannah. He is the Great I AM. He is God.
He made Himself manifest to us in the form of human flesh and was born of a virgin Mary (which we celebrate at Christmas). He lived a sinless life and suffered horrible, immense and anguishing pain in His death on the cross and then three days later, on the first day of the week, He rose from the dead, making Him the only religious leader to have done that. This is the basis of my Christian faith.
I am writing about Easter a day early because we have been invited over to some friends' house after church tomorrow so I may not get a chance to wish everyone happy Easter.
When I say Happy Easter, I don't mean little bunnies (though I do like bunnies ). I don't mean little chickens and eggs, though the chickens and bunnies are cute. It is not about the sale at the department store, though it is always great to save money on material goods.
As a family we do some of the commercial traditions of egg hunting and coloring, and the baskets with goodies in them. That is the FUN of it all. Last night we colored eggs and had a marvelous time doing it. This morning we had an egg hunt. It was my kids first time doing this and they had a great time. We loved to see them laugh and squeal with delight when they spotted the chocolate eggs. Tomorrow we will have baskets set out with all kinds of goodies in them.
We do not, however, get our kids pictures taken with the Easter bunny. One reason is that it is not the real meaning of Easter. The other reason is that if you want to keep the picture they are so incredibly expensive, especially when you would need three different pictures. Seriously, have you ever thought of who might be inside that costume? What if it is some wierdo trying to get his or her hands on children, HMMM? Probably not, but you never know.
Easter for our family is the day that we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We try to make Him the center of our day. He is the Jewish Messiah. He is the Hosannah. He is the Great I AM. He is God.
He made Himself manifest to us in the form of human flesh and was born of a virgin Mary (which we celebrate at Christmas). He lived a sinless life and suffered horrible, immense and anguishing pain in His death on the cross and then three days later, on the first day of the week, He rose from the dead, making Him the only religious leader to have done that. This is the basis of my Christian faith.
Bad choice commercial on national network.
I have a disappointment that I really have to share. I LOVE the movie The Ten Commandments (the 1950 whatever it is version with Yul Brynner and Charleton Heston). It is a classic. I love the idea that the network puts out a story about a very well known Biblical event such as the Jewish Passover which we, as Christians, look at as a sign of the then future sacrifice of our King of Kings, Jesus Christ whose resurrection we celebrate on our holiday--Easter.
I usually try to watch the movie every year, which I always miss the first half as it is usually on Sunday. I forgot about it being on tonight since it was a Saturday, but I did try to enjoy the parts that I did get the opportunity to watch (I should just buy it so that I can actually watch it from the beginning some time and when ever I want, commercial free). Which brings me to the main point of my post tonight.
I was disgusted tonight when I had to endure the horrid commercials. I think that the networks had really bad taste in commercials they ran during a Biblical story. I personally am not interested in seeing those kinds of commercials when I choose to watch tv and I certainly do not need my husband, or my children, watching previews for upcoming episodes of shows where there are women taking off their clothes and talking about seducing someone e.g. Desperate Housewives. We try to be discerning (especially since we have young children) about the kind of tv and movies we watch and this is partly why we do not watch much tv. So much of the commercials we have to endure during what "wholesome" family programming we can find are just awful and as far from wholesome as we can get. I am glad I don't have to explain all of this to little boys. That would be scary.
I actually took the time to write to my local ABC station to let them know of my disappointment. If any of my readers (all one of you) out there are also concerned, I encourage you to do the same. Lets let them know how we feel as families.
I usually try to watch the movie every year, which I always miss the first half as it is usually on Sunday. I forgot about it being on tonight since it was a Saturday, but I did try to enjoy the parts that I did get the opportunity to watch (I should just buy it so that I can actually watch it from the beginning some time and when ever I want, commercial free). Which brings me to the main point of my post tonight.
I was disgusted tonight when I had to endure the horrid commercials. I think that the networks had really bad taste in commercials they ran during a Biblical story. I personally am not interested in seeing those kinds of commercials when I choose to watch tv and I certainly do not need my husband, or my children, watching previews for upcoming episodes of shows where there are women taking off their clothes and talking about seducing someone e.g. Desperate Housewives. We try to be discerning (especially since we have young children) about the kind of tv and movies we watch and this is partly why we do not watch much tv. So much of the commercials we have to endure during what "wholesome" family programming we can find are just awful and as far from wholesome as we can get. I am glad I don't have to explain all of this to little boys. That would be scary.
I actually took the time to write to my local ABC station to let them know of my disappointment. If any of my readers (all one of you) out there are also concerned, I encourage you to do the same. Lets let them know how we feel as families.
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