Ironic

Because Chris and I watch our TV through the TiVo and skip most commercials, it is rare that I catch a good one. However, I thought this was interesting. Chris and I are sitting in bed watching TV trying to wind down and there is a commercial on that says, "Most great nights don't end with TV." (The commercial is for an upscale SUV and the kids are falling asleep in the back after star gazing with their Dad out in the middle of no where.) But, it's 11:30 at night... and we're watching TV. How do you think our night is going to end?

Recently...

I have been busy. Very busy.

My youngest son has been sick for over a week now. Uhg! Poor Little Guy.

One of the things that I'm working on is painting my good friend's daughter's room! They are in the process of moving and I get the privilege of creating a new place for Rachel. She asked for an underwater room with a squid! What fun! So far I have painted the room light blue. Tomorrow I am hoping to get the darker blue painted on the bottom of the wall and the orangey-yellow of the sand along the baseboard. Then, I'll tackle the animals! I am not above prayers for God's inspiration and skill for that!

Another activity that is taking some time is leading Christ Life at my church. I am facilitating one group alone and co-facilitating another. I am continually amazed by how great God is! He is faithful, when so often we are not. It is such a joy to be able to be present and a part of what God is doing in my groups' lives. If you don't know what Christ Life is, check it out at www.christlifesolution.org.

I must heed my body now and go fall asleep. Goodnight!

WWDJ Update

I found myself in a pickle today. I work at the airport and asked God for the opportunity to share Him with someone today while on my way in to work. And I believe I got that opportunity but failed in my goal. A woman came up to the table and we were chatting about the music. She had decided to wait and not purchase a CD today because she was having a hard time making a decision. She then shared with me that it was because she was here for a funeral. I wanted to ask her if I could pray for her, but I didn't. I wanted to say God bless you, but I didn't. I let my fear keep me from voicing my beliefs to her. What might God have done through me if I had asked. I have been praying for her periodically since then and believe that God can minister to her even when I don't follow through.

What held me back? I was concerned about sharing my beliefs while I was working. I doubt that Jesus would have been held back by that. Does anyone have words of wisdom about being at work and sharing Jesus?

Wouldn't it be nice to work at Northwestern Book Store!

Food Tracking

So, I've learned over and over that tracking the food that you eat is a great way to be healthy and attain your weight goals whether they be to loose, maintain or gain. I don't keep it up for long though. However they have been talking about this website on KTIS recently so I went and checked it out. Here it is: www.dailyplate.com . I thought it looked promising and wanted to share it with any of you who might be interested as well.

Faithfulness

There are so many times that I have had the best of intentions and meant to do something only to be distracted, for it to take longer than I thought, for it to be more involved than I thought it would be or be harder or seemingly impossible and not finish the task or accomplish my goal.

What has been striking me this last week in my prayer time is that God finishes the work that he has started! He knows what is needed, He knows how involved it will be, He does not get distracted, and nothing is hard for Him to do. And He is patient. He will wait through the process and not give up if it doesn't happen quickly. Of course, to God time is insubstantial. What feels an eternity to me is merely a blink of His eye.

I am so thankful that God is faithful. I am so thankful that I can count on Him.

My Matrim

My son mentioned when I congratulated him on a test score yesterday, that getting good grades on his tests was a characteristic of being a nerd. He didn't sound very positive when he said this (which in the past he has seemed to be proud of) so I asked him about it. He has in the past, seemed indifferent to other people's opinions of him and so I was surprised to hear him voice concern over how other people saw him and treated him. Not that I haven't wondered in the past how much of his indifference was for show, his coping mechanism. But it makes me wonder what is happening at school that he is voicing this concern now. How do I respond? Do I talk with his teachers about this? Do I wait and see? Do I start a more concerted effort at teaching him social skills?

Sometimes being a mother is very hard. I don't always know how to balance taking care of and protecting my child with preparing him to face and deal with the world.

John 5:19

We started discussing this verse in small group this last week.

John 5:19 ¹⁹Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. ²⁰For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does."

I have been pondering and meditating on this verse a lot since then. What would me life look like if I were constantly listening to God about what He wants me to do? I have also started reading the book In His Steps which was written in the 1890s. It is the story that started the WWJD thing. If I stopped and thought before making any decision about what Jesus would do, and consistently listen for God's voice to give me direction, how would my life change?

I like to think that I live a life that is pleasing to God, but I know that there is plenty room for change.

I make a commitment now, here, publicly, to think about what God wants from me and what Jesus would do before I act. I will do my best to live by this commitment and will write about how it is going on here.

As always I welcome your comments.

Back to normalcy

Well, We finally got up to International Falls and back and school started up today. Ahhh... normalcy.

Thank you to all of our friends and family who spent time with us over Christmas, New Year's and Chris' birthday! We have had a wonderful Holiday Season this year!

I will try to get pics posted soon.