Good Eats

My kids asked me this afternoon if they could snack on tomatoes.

"Do you want me to slice some up for you?"

"No, mom. Whole tomatoes."

"Sure."

Because that's how we roll...

Warm fuzzies

I found this hat today and took the kids outside to snap some pictures. I just love hats and scarfs and mittens on little kiddos. Seems so warm and cuddly.

I also got this cute shot of Josh. Such a handsome little dude!

And then there was the first shot. Gillian was not as excited as I was about taking pictures with the hat. She wasn't crying, just pouting. I need to get the name and number of her acting coach. I'm almost glad she wasn't happy. This shot is priceless... I could set my drink on that lip!

I surrender!

Have you ever been confused during worship as to what all those people are doing when they lift up their arms and hands? I know that when I first started attending service, I certainly was. I didn’t feel particularly moved to do it so I was a little worried that maybe I wasn’t worshipping my Lord right because I didn’t know what all those people apparently did.

I asked around and someone told me that it was like a small child who lifts up their arms when they want their parent to hold them or carry them.

I was so moved by this picture that I attempted to raise my arms the next weekend in service. All of a sudden, it felt pretty natural to be saying “Hold me, Daddy.”

(For the record, I don't think you're any less spiritual or worshipful if you don't lift your hands. I don't believe that by not doing it, you're disappointing God. Or that by doing it, you're impressing Him.)

I heard something recently that has really made sense. There is a story in the Old Testament of when Joshua defeats the Amalekites. Exodus 17:10-13 says, “So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. 11 As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. 12 When Moses' hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. 13 So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword."

Now, imagine what your first reaction would be if someone were to point a gun at you? You might scream, gasp, or close your eyes. In the movies, everyone puts their hands up. It’s like the universal sign of surrender.

It must have been strange to see Moses up on that hill, arms in the air. It probably would have seemed like he was trying to surrender. And that would have been really confusing if he hadn’t been totally surrendering to God…

Jesus Glasses

I keep hearing this phrase passed around. Catch the Vision.

As if it’s barreling down the railway with all sorts of like-minded people aboard and that if I don’t jump onto that particular bandwagon, I will be left behind, blinded by the cloudy exhaust of confusion and missed opportunity.

So I’d better catch that vision, right? What’s that look like? I imagine those who do catch the vision carry around a butterfly net of sorts, sneaking up on this vision and catching it so that they can dry it out, pin it down, label it and display it for others to observe.

A little twisted, I know. But I’ve never claimed to be normal, so don't look so shocked.

The only vision I really care to catch is Jesus’. If I could have a supernatural wish granted, I would wish for Jesus’ vision. I want to see people the way He sees people. I want to see their worth. I want to see the ideas of this world for what they really are so I will know whether or not to invest my time in them. I want a pair of Jesus glasses.

So what would I do with these glasses if my wish came true? I would tell the people of the world how much they mean to God. I would tell them that they are beautiful. I would tell them just how much they are worth.

But I don’t really need a divine pair of glasses to do that, now do I?

Ten Little Piggies

I've been taking pictures of feet today. I'm not normally drawn to those particular parts of my kiddos, but for some reason, they are adorable to me today! I also really loved this picture of Josh with Spaghetti O's and yogurt dried up on his cheeks. And Gillian with her new Webkinz, Toonces the cat, courtesy of her Papaw Rogers. My favorite picture of this bunch would have to be the one of Josh sitting on his chair, which he put on his daddy's chair. He's pulling his cute little toesies up and reading my scrapbook catalog upside down. He'd been sitting like that for a good 20 minutes before I even touched my camera. So stinking cute!

*enjoy*

God Chases Us

There was a book a few years back called the “God Chasers” saying that we should passionately pursue God, desperately chase Him.

As if He is going anywhere.

I’m not bashing the book. To be honest, I’ve never read it. Maybe the author says what I’m about to. I think that God has watched us wander, drift and outright run away from Him. He has been the one chasing us.

He chases us when we run. He finds us when we hide. He forgives us and loves us when we break His heart.

Who am I that He would even bother to chase me down after I had turned my back on Him and everything He’d ever done for me?

He is chasing us all down to love us, to blindside us with mercy, to bathe us in forgiveness and grace, and wash our filth clean off.

One day we will all be gathered up. No matter how far away we run from Him, He will absolutely catch us. But it must feel nice for Him to look down now and see some of us desperately clinging to Him, holding on tightly, whitening our knuckles with our faith…

Daughter after my own heart

Oh, sigh. I have the COOLEST kids ever.

Yesterday, we were driving to Target after dropping some stuff off with a friend. I told the kids that I would get them some popcorn or a pretzel before we started looking around if they wanted. So Gillian says, "I don't want to wait to be in that store. I want to be there right now."

We've had many, many conversations recently about patience. She wants no part of it.

I suggested that she invent a teleporter if she doesn't like to wait. That way she can just be there in an instant.

She says," Ok mom, I'll be an inventor."

I laugh and say, "Gillie, if you invent a teleporter, you will be a very, very rich inventor."

She turned her nose up and groaned, "Mommmm! I don't want to be rich. I want to give my money to the poor!"

Oh, swoon. What a heart! This girl is amazing. I told her that God probably giggled at that one. She said "Yeah, I like to make Him smile."

Mistakes

I am very adventurous with my foods. I love trying different flavors and techniques. I'm not the best chef, but I can hold my own in a kitchen nowadays. Much better than when I first married my husband. I endured 4 years of embarrassment because I was always calling my mother-in-law to remind me how to boil an egg.

I still can't remember how long to boil those suckers...

Tonight, I tried out a new recipe for Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas. I had tried one recently, and everyone liked it, so I decided to go all out and find a fancy version. I shredded the chicken, chopped the green onions, even cooked some spinach to sneak in there. After all was said and done, we all liked the first recipe better. No harm, no foul. The other recipe was extremely simple with fewer ingredients.

But that's not all I experimented with tonight.

I had seen a recipe for plantains in thick cream that made me think I might could pull it off and finally impress my mother-in-law. (Thank heavens she wasn't here tonight!) Plantains are like bananas only bigger and firmer. So I cooked the plantains in butter, sprinkled all the right amounts of vanilla, brown sugar and cinammon on them. I made the Creme Espesa and served it warm.

Then proceeded to spit it all out like I'd just taken a bite out of a hampster.

Oh good gravy, those things were nasty! All but my son begged me to just peel a couple of regular ol' bananas, sprinkle some of the brown sugar and cinammon on them and let them have that instead. My son is the easiest to please of our bunch, but I spared him and replaced his plantains with bananas. I thought that it would have to be much better. I poured a little of the cream over the bananas, and yet again spat it out. Ewwwwwwwwwwwww!

Oh well. You can't completely fail when trying something new because at least you tried. That's gotta count for something, right?

As my favorite cartoon character, Miss Valerie Frizzle, from the Magic School Bus always says, "Take chances, make mistakes and get messy!"

Yeah, that was one big honkin' nasty ol' mistake right there! Ewwwww!

Boy after my own heart

This morning, my 2 year old son, Josh, became a boy after my own heart. He was playing next to me and said, “Once upon a time, there was a little choo choo train.”

Sigh. Writers. :)