Reverence

1 Thessalonians 5:16
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

In 2 Samuel, we hear about David bringng the ark of the covanent to Jerusalem. He brought it there so he could know God was near. David focused his prayers and praises on celebrating God's nearness. It was just enough that God was near. They risked SO much just to be near God.

Those men could have been, and some were, easily killed just by moving the ark. One touch, and they were toast. They were willing to risk their lives. What do we risk? Sleep?- no. Food?- ocassionally. Our agenda?-hmmm. Thursday night tv?-not usually.

And, when they were near the ark, 2 Samuel doesn't say God revealed himself to the thousands of people in the processional. They weren't healed or blessed or given great power. And still, because they knew God was near, they gave a HUGE paradee, played music in worship, and danced so much that later in the day David was called out because of it by Michal.

I suppose we dance and worship. I mean, if we aren't up too late on a Saturday night, we might move a little, stand for a bit when Pastor tells us to, and maybe we raise our hands if the words of the song are "I lift my hands." Oh, well, I almost forgot; we give God a BIG G! That IS something.
Sometimes I wonder if God really misses the good ole days.

You Might Be a Redneck

If your husband is also boiling a dead deer head in a hole in the ground of your backyard. No? Hmm. Must just be us. Awesome.

More Funnies From Pearl The Squirrel

On some level, I feel it is weird that so many of us still call Addison Squirrel. The other day Addison said, "why in the word shampoo is there the word poo?"

Music is a Part of Me

I don't know if everyone can understand this statement. I mean, I know you all get what I am saying (I like to think i attract an educated audience), but I don't know if everyone can relate to what music is to me. Music has always been a major part of who God created me to be. It is a love. I hope it is like that for other people. It is probably, but possibly about other things like sports, carpentry, art, and the like. Anyway, I was reading my biblio this morning and jotting down prayers in my journal, and this came to mind. I like when God just gives me a song. I thought I would share. It doesn't happen often, but when it does, it isn't like I am writing a song. It's like I am writing down something someone just said. It usually comes out about that fast. Then it sits in my journal. So, I will share this one. I can't so much sing it to you though. Dang technology.

Let me worship you
with more than singing.
Let me worship you
with more than bringing.

For you are
God in heaven.
For you are
God in heaven.
For you are
Lord, here with me.

Let me worship you.

More than words on a page
More than here on this stage
Let me worship you.

To my Peeps

Thanks for the prayers, Friends. I found the verse. I don't think finding Psalm 91 was a mistake though. I came home and found it underlined in all of my Bibles.
Isaiah 54:17

"No weapon that is formed against you will prosper; And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their vindication is from Me," declares the LORD.

Numbers

2- number of children upstairs sleeping
1- number of children I am homeschooling these days
19- number of classes I have left until I am a graduate
1- number of couches I still need for my loft
37- number of shows I DVR each week
5- number of children my husband needs babysat next Wednesday night so he can leave early for his hunting trip
5- number of days said husband will be gone on hunting trip
7- number of miles I cycled this morning at the Y where I am now a member
12- number of children who now live on our street
2- number of quilts I am currently working on
4- number of books I am reading
1- number of pets we now have- Mocha the hamster died..sniff. :(
30- number of days until Halloween (nearly my favorite holiday)
5- number of ginormous candy bags I have in my pantry just awaiting young trick or treaters
13- number of years ago that my husband proposed in this very month. (I bet my mom a taco that he wasn't going to. I still owe her a taco.)
100- the note streak I got on Guitar Hero last night while playing I Love Rock and Roll

These pictures are a few months old, but they are fantastic, so I had to share.

Dwight Schrute Wisdom

"I am not a hero. I am a mere defender of the office. You know who's a real hero? Hiro, from Heroes. That's a hero... Also, Bono."
Heroes started last night. I am worried I will be let down because I love that show oh so much...Also, The Office.

Love on the Down Low

Here is a tidbit from the book Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell. He is an amazing writer and I recommend everything he has written or said in a sermon. You can find his teachings under Mars Hill (the name of his church) at iTunes in podcast form for free.

I thought this passage was inspiring. I felt challenged to find what I can be doing in my own area and neighborhood and church.

I am learning that the church is at its best when it is underground, subversive, and counter cultural. It is the quiet, humble, stealth acts that change things. I was just talking to a woman named Michelle who decided to move into the roughest neighborhood in our city to try to help people get out of the cycle of poverty and despair. She was telling me about the kids she is tutoring and the families they come from and how great the needs are. Some other women in our church heard about Michelle and asked her for lists of what exactly the families in her neighborhood need. (One of the families wrote on their list "heat".) They then circulated the lists until they found people who could meet every one of the needs. It's like an underground mom-mafia network. Michelle told me at last count they had helped 430 families, and they are making plans to expand their network.


What can you be doing? Maybe you can't move to the ghetto, but surely there is something you can be doing to love on your neighbor.

Ideas:

Spend your fast food money on the homeless guy with a sign.
Find a church that does outreaches of this type, and get involved.
Start a clothing closet at your church for families in need.
Start a food pantry at your church.
Take your family to the local shelters and serve a meal once a month, a week, or as Part of your Sunday Sabbath.
Buy a case of water and hand out bottles to anyone you come in contact with. Who couldn't use a drink?
If you go to Hillside, pray and get involved in the ministries already in progress.
Pray for God to reveal people in your area that need help, then help them.
If you know a single mom, dad, or kids who are home alone often, do something to help- make dinner and bring it over, invite the kids over to just be, bring some fall decorations (or whichever season you are in), buy an extra coffee for a neighbor, buy bulk and give a food basket with your extras, send your kids over to pull weeds when they are naughty (your kids not the neighbors), etc.
Volunteer anywhere there is a need (neighbors, neighborhood schools, cleanup projects, community centers, church, shelter, Crisis Pregnancy Center, and on and on!)

What do you do already? Or what have you done in the past that may give someone a new idea of how to love others?

CHEEEESE!! This is my Sam Fisher. My little bitty baby. Isn't he seriously soooo cute?!

We Heart Guitar Hero!!!

Hopefully you can see how fantastic Eli's outfit is. This is what he put on for his Guitar Hero set the other night. He cracks me right up! Okay, well it isn't just him; we all have our own little rocker wardrobes. Mine mostly consists of my rocker hair fringe, the girls hike up their skirts just enough to stand in a rockstar stance, and The Man wears his regular clothes, but is the best player in our house, so when he finishes rocking out, he slicks back his hair or kicks the air, or throws up rockstar signs. I love it. We are usually his groupies while he plays.

S.O.S!!

I walked in to my little son yelling, "HELP!" He was apparently not in the mood to eat these. Sigh. They are gold fish crackers- you know the ones, baked and not fried.

Blackeyes (not to be confused with black guys) and Bedtime

Both apparently very exciting. Layla Grace was playing at the neighbors when the little boy introduced her to GI Joe (GO JOE!). He also introduced her to a favorite childhood game: war with dolls (I mean figurines @@). They lined up their people and he told her where to stand. He should have told her where to look, because when he launched the bomb that was a rock, she mostly watched it hit her in the eye. Poor kid. He was grounded for the week! I told his mom that wasn't necessary, and that we mostly cracked up. She was beside herself. She is a good mom :)

And aren't bedtime just the most humorous. I mean, sure we are in a hurry to be free from all the shortness, but I just love tucking my kids in every night. Everyone has their own little ritual. Eli pretends to be a statue or sneaks Sam into his bed and tries in vain to keep from giggling. We have a knack for finding his butt cheeks through the cover and grab on for dear life. OR The Man takes to severely whacking him with a light saber. Sounds painful, but he misses perfectly every time. It always freaks Eli out!

Layla and Addison hide under their covers hoping no one will notice them. We pretend to be outraged at their disobedience and slam doors. The Man and I call to one another to get the spanking spoon, which always gets them giggling. And, by the time we finally pull back the blanket, their hair is so curly cue from the heavy breathing. They squeal as only little girls can, and then insist we wrap them up like a taco (layla) and a taquito (Addie).

Sam Fisher is my favorite because he wants a lullaby. We sing Rock-a-Bye Baby which he refers to as the baby song or I sing the Hebrew alphabet. Eli usually chimes in for a second round of the alphabet, then pretends to fall asleep midway through.


Izzy, doesn't realize it, but the whole time I am next to her bed, she is holding on to me. :) Sometimes The Man will throw her in her bed, but she is so knobby these days, she tends to gt hurt. Now he just pretends to jump on her, which freaks her out and makes me laugh. We recently decorated her room, and one wall is completely chalk board. So, I spent my time writing rotten things about her, and threatening her with punishments if she gets out of bed to change them.

Regularly we feel like doctors making the rounds, but I love it. I love how much my husband gets involved, too.

Why I like Mike #17

He is taking me and the big kids to the rib cook-off tomorrow even though we are poor because tradition is important. Most of you know our story of moving to Reno after many years of prayer. Many of you have heard us say we moved here because of the Rib Cook-Off and the lemonade they have to offer. It really is all true. Well, I don't eat ribs of any sort, but I love going every year because it was part of what made us fall in love with this place. One weekend, about 7 years ago, our friend Joelle left her car in our care while she and her hubby went out of town. She said have fun, so we drove to Reno. (Please note, it was a lease she was soon to return and bitter about the number of miles she still had yet to burn. We would not normally steal your car and drive it to another city.) We knew the Cook-Off was happening, and because we had been the year before, we knew what we were missing. We went to the Cook-Off three times that weekend even though we were only here for two days. So, if you are needing to get ahold of The BrewCrew tomorrow, just head on down to Victorian Square. We will be the fools in bibs.

Too Tired!

School for the children and my husband started this week. I am sooooo tired. That is all I have to say about that.

Seriously!!!

The Giver by Lois Lowry

My review

rating: 1 of 5 stars
Not at ALL for children. This book was recommended to me by many teachers. They must secretly hate me, because about three hours into listening to this book on tape with my children, I had to turn it off. The writing was excellent and the story thought provoking until it detailed how the father killed a little baby. My kids were very upset!! Then, the ending was not nearly great enough to redeem this story. Sorry, but I do NOT suggest this story.


View all my reviews.

SIGH

I feel like this is me. Out here all alone. I need a date with my husband. We keep trying to just sit and talk, and that doesn't work either because there are so many other mouths needing to say something. Then we yell. Then we give up because we are tired of trying to finish the same sentence twelve times without success. I need a date with my husband.

Don't Roll Your Eyes at Me (aka Why I Like Mike)

The other day at Target, I was supposed to go to the Customer Service desk and pay my bill. I didn't bring the bill in with me, so I stepped out of line just as the worker lady was summoning me to come to the counter to call my husband on my cellular telephone. I stepped aside and told the man behind me that he could go because I think it is rude to be on the phone when you are conducting business with someone else. The obviously really joyfilled worker lady gave me the dirtiest look, rolled her eyes, and shook her head over what I can only interpret as her inability to understand what courtesy is. My answer was to point at her with my arm extended and say to Isabelle in a loud voice, "Izzy, do you see that lady? Now, I was trying to be considerate and let the man behind us go so I didn't have to talk on the phone while she was helping us, and because she is small minded, she rolled her eyes and gave me a dirty look instead of giving me the benefit of the doubt. That, Isabelle, is very rude behavior. Please do not grow up to act like that." While I was saying all of this, my husband had picked up his end of the telephone and listened quietly. Then HE said, "oh my gosh, can that lady hear what you are saying? You are so rude. Please stop talking." To which I cracked right up in laughter.

A super fast update

Not really an update at all.Just a quick note to say I got home a few hours ago from visiting the fam and I am tired. Also, I feel like a schmuck because I was supposed to work in the nursery this morning, only I was stuck in an airport and couldn't get home. awesome. Dana, if you are reading this, I am more sorry than I can say. I left Virginia yesterday morning at 11:02 and though I was supposed to arrive to my door around 7 last night, I got in at 5 this afternoon. awesomer. My trip was great. I am still working at taming my hair from the humidity, but I am oh so glad to be home. I missed The Man the most because he worked a ton before I left and then I was gone. He is downstairs vegging out his brain from the chaos that is five children and an only parent. That means I get to check blogs. :) I am beyond exhausted.

TwoGive and FourGet

Forgiveness is such a tricky thing. We all have to do it at some point, and we all beg for it at other times. Sometimes we aren't literally on our knees begging, but we can become consumed with needing or giving forgiveness. We dread our next meeting, we worry about running into that someone unexpectedly, we constantly play and replay the incident in our minds until we have either justified our actions or added more dramatic flair than a scene from Hairspray the musical. Or, if you are like me, you have sarcastic lines ready for anything the wrong-doer throws at you. I don't think this is how God intended me to use my gift of wit, but it happens. It then becomes up to me alone to choose my path. Both paths lead to the inevitable end where I meet Jesus, but one will take me the long way around (thanks for this phrasing Tom). I will have to crawl under things, over bumps, around rotten logs, maneuver over missing pieces in the path, and most likely stumble more than if I were on the path God originally intended for me. The good route sure may still be a little bumpy, and the Bible ensures me I will stumble at times, but this path is concise and close to God. The chances of me hearing God are far greater because there are less distractions. The path on the left offers serenity, whereas the path on the right offers obstacles. I am a great multi-tasker, but I will no doubt have a hard time focusing on God's still small voice while I am busy mumbling swears about the struggles I am going through. Okay, I am not really a swearer, but you know what I mean.
This Sunday we had a guest speaker. He isn't a guest really, but a guy who goes to our church every Sunday. I love that our Pastor chooses people like this when he is away because when you are part of the community you are speeching to, you know better what that community is going through. No vague sermon necessary. This one was all about prayer; a teaching I have heard various ways and times through my 27 years of attempting to be a Christian. My favorite part was the side bar.
Tom spoke of the Hebrews and their grumbling. The word he used is 'murmuring.' To put it not mildly, our church has been experiencing some changes and there is much murmur which, in my mind, leaves little room for prayers. Exodus tells us~ "And Moses said, This shall be, when the LORD shall give you in the evening flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to the full; for that the LORD hears your murmurings which you murmur against him: and what are we? your murmurings are not against us, but against the LORD." ew. ouch. dang it. That means when we gripe rather than pray, especially about our Pastor or church happenings, we aren't really grumbling about them at all. So every time I have complained about something my church is or isn't doing, every time I think of how much better I could be doing things, and every time I sit around with my friends and roll my eyes at how much the church spent on fill in the blank, I am really saying, "God, you seriously suck at this; I could do such a better job." Pride can be so big it hurts sometimes, huh?
For weeks I have been digesting the changes and the areas that sometimes bug me at church. I felt badly at first, but then someone wise reminded me questions aren't sinful. Doubting isn't even sinful. But what I do with it can be. Another dig into my giant pride again. Sucky. I am not through this trial. I am really in the middle of it, but I am past the deciding what to do phase and on to the start-moving stage. This seems to be the one that hurts the most. But I feel in order to keep my mind focused on being a non-grumbler and support my church, God is asking me to serve more. He said I am part of the problem because I am not part of the solution. To that I roll my eyes and say whatever, because I like to pout before I obey. Now that that is done, I am going to give a little more of myself to my church through prayer, participation, and leading where God wants me. Lucky for me, my pastor is out of town so I have a few days to stew over it before I really get started.