Perspective

Unloading the dishwasher used to be my least favorite household chore.  After living without a dishwasher for almost a year and doing dishes by hand until we got a new dishwasher this past weekend, it has become my most favorite!

I have a friend who named her dryer Lorraine after living without one for a long while.  I am so pleased with my new dishwasher, I may just name her too!

Any suggestions?

World Water Day 2011 — How Can Clean Water Make a Difference?

When I was in Peru, our trip leaders were continually handing us bottled water every time we exited our bus or prepared to go on a home visit. The water there could have been our worst enemy, yet the kids there drink it everyday. It was weird to think that the clean water that my son snubs every day when I offer it to him is the very thing children his age are walking miles to get to in other countries. When it rains here, I find that I can no longer complain about it, because I think about the farmers in Africa who pray for enough rain to grow their meager crops, so they can survive.

Today is world water day. The Compassion blog today addresses the need for clean water across the globe in this post World Water Day 2011 — How Can Clean Water Make a Difference?

If you think that children should be able to go to school, instead of spend a great portion of their day transporting water, which is still often filled with contaminates, there is something that you can do. You can contribute a monetary donation to Healing Waters International, Sponsor a Child, or you can simply share the needs of those who are struggling with lack of substantial water with others.

Techno Trap

Shaun Groves blog today has caused me to put down my phone and my iTouch and engage my kids more.  It is so easy to fall into the "Techno Trap" or to feel like I can't miss a call, text or email. There have been times I have felt isolated when around someone else who is texting or using some other social media, but I never really considered how much I do it to my kids.  Since I am around them so much, I tell myself that they don't mind that much.  But I realize that I do it more than I would want them doing it, if they were teenagers and had phones or mobile devices.  If I want them to interact with me, I need to be "all in" to interact with them.

Check out Shaun's post: Dumb Phones are for Dumb People

Tea really means too much to me!

I introduced the love of my favorite tea in this blog post and then I found out, just days later, that Twinings discontinued it in this post. Then I discovered that I could get my beloved Cinnamon Apple Breakfast Black Tea  in  this post, but at 5 times the normal cost!

For all of you who have lost sleep worrying about me and the loss of my favorite tea, which was so inconsiderately discontinued and then black marketed through Amazon, I have found a new favorite! 

It has taken me over a year and many, many boxes of sub-par, sometimes nasty, trial teas, but I have finally found one that compares to my precious Cinnamon Apple Breakfast Black Tea.

My new favorite is Chai Spice made by Stash.  I am sure you all will sleep better tonight knowing that my drinking dilemma has been solved.  Now, if I go to the store and find they no longer sell this tea at some point, I am not sure if my fragile nerves will take it!  So all of you go and buy a box (or 10), so that Wal-mart will know how wildly popular and necessary this tea really is!

Uncluttering

I've had some very productive days lately.  This past Saturday, I had the most industrious and enjoyable "Spring forward" day I have had in my life!  I felt like I gained an hour, instead of lost it. 
It was the first Saturday in many months, that we had nothing on our schedule the entire day.  Not only did we have a full day and the weather allowed the kids to play outside, but Josh wisely set our clocks up mid-morning, so that we operated on the new time all day.  I had a list of things I wanted to get accomplished and got basically all of it done!  And in the midst of the cleaning, organizing and repairing we did, we actually took time throughout the day to take breaks to rest and to show each other attention.  We even had a big breakfast and a nice dinner. 

Josh started getting a headache as evening approached, the kids came inside from playing and began pulling things out, and I thought I wouldn't get everything finished and started to get grumpy.  But just when the grumpy feelings came, God nudged my heart and told me to check my attitude.  Bad attitudes are something we have been battling with the kids lately.  So, I decided to take a deep breath and take the break I needed, instead of pushing on and getting increasingly more disgruntled.  I then could speak to the kids and Josh with a better tone and figure out what I could get done in the time I had left.  So, even though a few minor things were left for another day, the day ended with peace in our home, instead of frustration and angst.  It definitely was a gift from God and one that I have not allowed myself to have enough of lately.  I love to clean and organize when there is undivided time to do it and I love to be home and to feel my mind unclutter at the same time. I am also grateful for feeling the nudge from God and my ability to respond quickly to it. I really think I have my lack of chocolate to thank for that - and I am being completely serious!  My mind feels clearer and my heart more open and I remember the lessons that I have learned before even more.

I am far from a clutter bug, but it is amazing how much clutter can sneak up on you when you are busy, metaphorically and physically.



Side note to my friend Jill - I wish I had taken pictures of my bookshelves before and after I went through them. They looked so much better.  I know you'd be proud!  ; )

Living on $1.25 a day

During this Lenten season, there are a lot of people who are giving up this or that.  Sometimes we give up a particular food or television or social media.   I have decided to give up chocolate, since I consider it both a luxury and a vice and something that is a part of my daily life that I will definitely feel the absence of.  So if you are eating anything chocolate related around me and I either leave the room or slightly snarl at you in the next few weeks, don't be offended!

We have a friend from college who is doing something different, even if it is not exactly for lent.  Matt decided a couple weeks ago to live on $1.25 a day for a month.  He readily admits that it is really impossible in America, since he will really only be eating on $1.25 a day and all of his other needs are cared for - like his home and clothes, etc., but it is still a daunting task!

If you would like to read about what he is doing, you can visit his blog $1.25 a day.  It would be best to start with his oldest posts first, since they explain more of the process he is going through to do it and his goals behind it.

Have a little talk with Jesus

Many people would be surprised at how quiet I am at home.  I really am.  When I am out with people, sometimes I feel a little like Jacob Marley on that old version of "The Christmas Carol" where he has to tie a cloth around his head to keep his jaw from flapping open.  That is me when I am with people.  I actually don't want to talk as much as I do and I often regret it when I leave, but I just can't seem to keep my mouth shut.  I have tried counting.  I have tried to recite the Bible verses about this topic to myself.  I have read books about it. I have tried to be an active listener. Yet, still, my mouth remains always ready for words to spill forth.  It started early in my life.  My first grade teacher told my parents, "Jennifer is a delightful child, but how do you get her to be quiet?" I have often been embarrassed and frustrated over my inability to shut my mouth in public and it will be something I constantly have to work on.
But at home, I like quiet and I need quiet.  I rarely turn on the television or music when I am home. I am a closet "home-body" and have to be home to recharge.  I enjoy traveling occasionally, but I would much rather sleep in my own bed, in my own surroundings. I had a friend in high school who always wanted us to stay at each other's houses for several days in a row and I would look forward to her mom finally saying that I couldn't stay or she couldn't stay with me any longer.
But I have realized lately that my quiet is so clouded by worry and anxiety, that I have no real quiet.  I find myself looking for ways to escape my own thoughts, but they catch up to me all the time.  As I mentioned before, I ruminate on thoughts often.  If it isn't my own shortcomings or concerns for my family, it is someone else's heartaches or the church or our society or something.  I let the devil give me a ticker tape of all the things that I should have, would have, could have done.  I think that if I don't save the day for this or that person their lives may never be the same and it will be my fault that I didn't do more for them.  And at the end of the day, I go to bed too late, with my heart too heavy, and my mind too full.  I know this isn't going to help me or anyone else.  I know because I have seen it slowly eat away my mother over the course of my life.  I am determined that it will not destroy me in the same way.  I know the answer is to cast all my anxieties on the Lord.  You would think after all these years that would be easy to do, to understand - it used to be easier.  But as my intellect and abilities increased through the years and as my understanding of the magnitude of hurt and sin in the world has increased, my ability to trust and depend on God has become less.

Why are the simplest lessons the hardest to learn? I need to work on talking with Jesus more and ruminating less.

This is a song I remember singing when I would go to church occasionally as a child.  I know that it is an old-fashioned, but sometimes these songs just make me smile and make my heart feel a little lighter.

Have A Little Talk With Jesus

Chorus
Now let us have a little talk with Jesus
And we'll tell him all our troubles
He will hear our faintest cry
and He will answer by and by
Now when you feel a little prayer wheel turning
Lord you know a little fire is burning
You know a little talk with Jesus makes it right.

Verse 1
I once was lost in sin but Jesus took me in
And then a light from Heaven filled my soul
It filled my heart with love and wrote my name above
And just a little talk with Jesus makes me whole
(chorus)

Verse 2
I may have doubts and fears, my eyes may fill with tears
But Jesus is a friend who watches day and night
I go to him in prayer, He knows my every care
and just a little talk with Jesus makes it right.

Oh, the irony!

I have been busy today and getting reacquainted with my treadmill, which has been being neglected for far too long, so I was not planning on posting anything today.

But then as I was reading my blogs this morning while blow drying my hair (I rarely do one thing at a time, just ask my husband.  It drives him crazy.), I had to LOL - but for real.  I actually laughed out loud, unlike many other times I have used lol and not even broke into an audible chuckle.

The reason I laughed is because it seems like Jon Acuff and I have aligned in the blogosphere universe.  My past two posts have included information about his blog, "Stuff Christians Like" and a Lord of the Rings reference.

The title of his blog today was, "Making obscure Lord of the Rings references". 

Many of you may not find this as perfectly ironic or funny as I do, especially since my Lord of the Rings reference was far from obscure - though I should get extra credit points in regards to his item number 2 for mentioning the classic Veggietales version Lord of the Beans. But since the chance that Jon Acuff knew that I wrote about him and the Lord of the Rings in my two preceding blogs is about zero to none, I just think it is worth mentioning and appreciating a minute.

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Okay, the minute is over now.  Back to my day!

We are living in a material world & I am a material girl

Lately, I have felt like I have been saturated by excess.  I feel a little like a sponge who has soaked up all it can and I feel heavy, saturated.

We have known since January that we were going to get a pretty sizable tax return.  We also have a list of things we thought we would like to do with that sizable tax return.  The list began with a new dishwasher, since mine has not worked properly since we have lived here and I had stopped using entirely in July of last year.  But then there were so many other things that we added, subtracted, pondered, and priced.  Since most of our appliances are older and I am not crazy about their off-white color and have chosen to get a black dishwasher, I thought it might be a good idea to just get all new appliances at once.  We have also talked extensively about getting Josh a new car.  His car is functional, but has had some past mechanical problems and isn't as convenient or safe as the van when having to transport the kids.  Plus, since he has to get to work in bad weather, we thought a AWD or 4WD would be helpful.  Then are dining room chairs are starting to break, so we know we need to replace them sometime in the future, since they've already been repaired a couple times.  And if we get new chairs, maybe we would be better off just getting a new table too.... 

And the list goes on. When I get into "the zone" of thinking of buying something new, I can feel a little crazed.  It is like I am on a drug that keeps me tied to the thoughts of it and I feel a little bit like Gullum from the "Lord of the Rings" with "my precious" or like Billboy Baggypants from Veggietales "Lord of the Bean" when he says he is tired and that he is, "...feeling stretched like chocolate pudding spread across too much ham." (Veggietales humor is my favorite!)

There are no yachts or villas in Tuscany or anything wild on our wish list and I can justify pretty much everything that is on my list.  But all these thoughts of what I need and what I want and how much can I get and how much should I get and "WWJD", have been invading my time and energy to the point that I don't even want the money anymore or the choice to get anything - because I WANT EVERYTHING and know I can't and shouldn't have it all and that, in the end, it all will eventually be my old stuff and I will move on to the next things I want or need to buy next year.

My thoughts also include all of the ways we could donate the money, and there are so many causes worthy of donation. - So, how do we chose how much to who?

On top of this, we have been eating out way too much.  It is from of lack of time or meal planning and because we have been going out a lot with friends or meetings and traveling some.  But, no matter the reason, I am so sick of eating out!  It makes me feel like that saturated sponge all over again (physically - I am starting to get very spongy around my middle - and emotionally)!  The excess of money spent, calories eaten, junky food, and time in the hustle and bustle of the public and time away from home feeling "at home" has made me feel very out of sorts.  A friend suggested that she would bring take out to my house the other day for our lunch and I honestly had no temptation whatsoever to eat food from a restaurant.  I really would have loved to have a bowl of cereal or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  We were supposed to go to Elias' basketball banquet tonight and they were serving pizza. Elias was sick last night, so won't be able to attend.  Even though it is free to us and I am bummed that Elias has to miss that experience, I am so glad that we get to eat at home!

So we bought the dishwasher and a stove, because those are the appliances that are in true need of replacement and have decided to hold off on all other buying decisions for a while.  In the meantime, I will try to wring out all the stuff that has been making me feel full and bloated from this life and take in more of what I need.

"I make myself rich by making my wants few." - Henry David Thoreau

Stuff Christians Like

I read the blog "Stuff Christians Like".  If you don't know what it is, it is a satirical view on the funny things that Christians do and allows us to laugh at ourselves a little (and maybe take a hard look at ourselves in the process).  Some have varying views of his blog, thinking it might invite criticism of Christians from outside of Christianity.  I think the criticism is already there and it helps us to see it in perspective.  Sometimes the posts are just silly and don't have much meat, but others really make me think deeply about the things I do and say in my life. 

Two posts lately have been particularly poignant.  If you would like a good chuckle and possibly a few deep thoughts, take a few minutes to peruse these:


Saying you are having a hard time "connecting" in church.

The secret about ideas.