Hmm...

I am really not sure how to begin this posting. I am not a confrontational person but sometimes I feel like I should take a stand. I have been praying for boldness and I think this is one of those times that I should be bold for my beliefs.

This morning, I happened upon a posting from a blog that I have been following. The blog is 31 Rubies and the posting that I read can be found here. Please take a moment to read this so that you will understand where this is coming from.

After I read this posting, I went to their “About” section to remind myself of the mission of the blog. I knew that it was based on Proverbs 31:10 but I wanted to see again how the administrator stated what the purpose of the blog was. Here is what I found: “The purpose of 31 Rubies is to glorify God while encouraging, educating and inspiring mothers from all walks of life.” This is a GREAT mission. However, I am struggling with how this posting upholds to that mission.

One issue that I have with this posting are the references to beer and drinking beer. All over this blog, in general, are statements of Christian beliefs, bible verses, and again ensuring that they are glorifying God. The bible tells us that we should not be “drunk with wine” specifically in Ephesians 5:18. Now, I know that most of our flesh minds would say “that says to be ‘drunk’ ”. However, in Romans 13:14 it is written, “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” So, should we not drink at all because that does gratify the desires of the flesh? I don’t think that should be a question that I should answer but something that one should pray about and discern with God.

The other thing that I find hard to swallow about this is the fact that this is a mothering blog. The writer mentions of drinking beer on the beach where I would make the assumption that her children are there also. As Christians, we are to be Christ-like. We are to separate ourselves from worldly things and things that are unclean. “You shall therefore separate the clean beast from the unclean, and the unclean bird from the clean. You shall not make yourselves detestable by beast or by bird or by anything with which the ground crawls, which I have set apart for you to hold unclean. You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine”, Leviticus 20:25-26. I just don’t see this as being the best example we can be for our children or any one else that may walk in our path.

The main point that I am trying to get across is our image. Again, we are to be Christ-like. If someone walked past you on the beach as you were slurping down a beer and knew that you were a “Christian”, what type of image would that portray? I would hope to think that you would believe it wouldn’t be a very good one. The person walking by doesn’t know that you aren’t “drinking in excess” or “to get drunk”. What if that person was very close to becoming a Christian and then they see you drinking? Would it be enough to throw that person aback and not want to make the awesome change in their life of becoming a Christian? What kind of Christian example does this leave for your children?

As I close on my thoughts, let me just say that I have really enjoyed following 31 Rubies. I think the ladies have had very valuable information from all walks of life and have given great ideas/suggestions from several different family types. It’s also fun to get a good chuckle from some of the stories that are shared through the postings. I would just like for all of us to ponder on and pray about our “unspoken testimonies”. They show a lot more than we think!

Cakes

Just when I thought things were looking down again on our financial end, God steps in and takes control and I am so thankful. He continues to bless and take us through each and every day. Even if it is through me simply making cakes. I have 5 orders coming up in the next month -- the most I have had in a long time. The Lord definitely knows what he is doing!

I guess I would kind of say that I am a hobbyist (sp?) when it comes to making cakes. For the most part, I enjoy doing them, but I don't see myself ever quitting my job, opening a shop, and baking for the rest of my life. However, there are people out there that love my cakes so, I often take a random Friday night (or another night) and spend it in my kitchen -- to prepare a wonderful masterpiece. Well, at least I'd like to think they are masterpieces. :)

I am really excited about the next month. It all begins with my father-in-law's 60th birthday cake, to be prepared for this Saturday. Next weekend is another set of birthday cakes for a young lady turning 86. She has 5 children and they all have birthdays in March so they are planning a big shindig and I get to make the cakes. For April, three more birthday cakes to prepare for. I am extra excited about one of them because it is going to be a real challenge for me. However, I am ready to take that on... I love a challenge. Just for a bit of back-ground information: About a month ago, one of my co-workers asked me to make his son's second birthday cake. Ever heard of Yo Gabba Gabba? If you haven't, click here to find a wealth of information about the show! Apparently, my co-worker's son (Austin) loves this show and he wants a Yo Gabba Gabba birthday party. I had been searching the internet for a good picture of the whole clan and couldn't really find anything that would be clear enough to put on a cake. So, I created my own... Here is the proposed look of the cake...
I will be sure to take lots of pictures of this one and post for you to see. You will just have to wait until the end of April.

I've never seen him do this before!

Jackson was eating his dinner tonight and then all of a sudden he started singing... Yes, he has sung before but not ever this clear or even this song! Enjoy!

I am sorry you have to turn your head to see him correctly... but at least you can hear him! :)

One Saturday Morning

There is a hands-on science/children's museum in a neighboring town to us. Jackson and I were able to go with a group from our church today. Jackson was really excited because his friend Bennie was able to go as well. They really had a great time. Jackson made sure that he stayed with Bennie -- wherever he went.

Jackson did fall asleep on the way to the museum so it took him some time to wake up and be ready to play. At first he didn't want to do anything but hold Mommy's hand but shortly after he saw Bennie running around and playing he wanted to get into the fun.

Here they are building with some blocks.

Here they are sitting together on a spaceship. It was very hard to get a picture of them both looking at us (Bennie's mom and myself)!

Look at that iguana!

and the turtle too!

They took some time playing in the play room and sliding down a slide.

and back to the blocks!

and back to the spaceship!

We really had a great time this morning! The group went to lunch afterwards except for Bennie and his mom. They went home to watch the Carolina/Clemson game. More on that later in a later post...

we have a wanderer...

I woke up to find Jackson not in his bed, yet again. Mom told me that he may be like his uncle and wander around in his sleep. I guess it is good that I keep his door cracked open at night. Otherwise, I would have to search the house for him.

You really can't tell what kind of perdicament he is in through these pictures. His glider rocker is to the left side of his crib blocking some stuffed animals and toys. He has gotten behind that glider and is laying UNDER his walking toy that he used last year. I hope your comfy, buddy!

A day late and a dollar short...

Okay, okay, so, maybe I am not a dollar short (right now), but I am definitely a day late.

I have decided to partake in what some may believe in to be called Lent. This 40 day venture acutally began yesterday on Ash Wednesday and will go through Easter -- minus each Sunday. However, I have decided to include the Sundays because not including them will definitely get me off track.

What are you removing from your life for these 40 days, you ask? I have decided to give up fried foods... including potato chips, Bojangles' chicken supremes, fried chicken in general, and... you said it... french fries! This will be a challenge for me as I really do enjoy eating each one of these items! However, I pray that as I turn down these items when offered to me, it will be a constant reminder of what Jesus Christ did for me. He endured so much suffering for me and all of us by being tried, beaten, hated, and eventually crucified. For me. For us. I believe this is one of the small things I can do to give back to Him.

It is my prayer that through these next few weeks, I will give Him an extra 'thank you' for what He did for me as I choose not to eat fried foods.

Wordless Wednesday

Ever play "Where's Waldo?"...

...With your son?

I went in to check on Jackson this morning while I was getting ready and I found this... An empty bed. I have been leaving his door cracked in the evening just in case he gets up, he can get out of his room. No, he hasn't learned how to turn a door knob yet. I count that as a blessing too, sometimes. I will tell you that after finding the empty bed, my first emotion was worry... Where could he be? I kept thinking that he might be curled up under the blanket on his pillow but then my next thought was he was much too big for that little spot. I opened the door a little more and I could hear his congested breathing. I knew then he was in there some where. But, where? Just to the right side of his bed, we have all of his toys, so I opened the door a bit more to see if I could see him in that corner. No luck.

Not until I looked all over the room did I find him... Lying flat on his belly with his arms underneath him in the opposite corner of the room. I am really not sure what happened from the time I went to sleep last night til the time I woke up, but it looks like he had a hard night. I asked him if he fell off the bed and he shook his head yes, but I would hope that I would have heard him... He did still seem very exhausted this morning so I am not sure how much good sleep he got. He was right under the window... hopefully he wasn't too cold. Glad I had his footie pj's on.

He did change positions right before I took this picture. That is why he is all curled up in a ball.

He's doing some more growing up...

Since Wayne was off last weekend, I decided that I wanted to go ahead and convert Jackson's crib to a "toddler" bed. To be honest, I was quite hesitant because I wasn't sure how he was going to react for one thing, but on the other hand, I didn't know if he would "behave" and go to sleep like he was supposed to. However, I was going to give it a try anyway.

Jackson made sure that he gave his Daddy an extra hand while he did this task for his Mommy. I am not sure if it was all that much of a "helping" hand, but he definitley wanted to pretend like he was doing something. I was sure that I continued to be very excited about it in hopes that Jackson would take on that same excitement. He did.

Getting him to bed for the night has been easier than getting him down for a nap. I will say though, it has not been hard getting him down for a nap. He definitely got his sleep traits from his daddy -- once his head hits the pillow, he is out! I count that as a blessing! For both naptimes this weekend, he cried a little bit, but once we laid him down, he was fine. All in all, I believe this was the perfect time for the "upgrade". It's definitely great not to have to jump out of bed when he calls in the morning to get him out of the crib!

Times like these are so bittersweet. The little guy really is growing up too fast. I am so excited to see him reach all of these milestones though. I say that, not having reached potty training yet... that chapter is for another day... maybe next year?!?! We'll see.

Go and tell...

'A little girl goes to the doctor to have a checkup. She is a very quiet and seems to be quite shy. As the doctor is checking different areas of her body, he asks just a few simple questions to hopefully get her talking or at least a little more relaxed about the visit. As the doctor is checking her ears, he asks, "Is Elmo in your ear?" She quietly replies, "No". He moves to her mouth to check her throat. "I think I may see a cat down there! Is there a cat in your throat?" "No sir", she replied. Then he pulls out the stethoscope to listen to her heart. In hopes to really get her excited, knowing that most little girls know about Dora, he listens to her heart. As he is listening, he asks her, "Is Dora in your heart?" She quickly exclaims, "No! Jesus is in my heart! But, Dora is on my underwear!"'

Oh, to have the boldness of this little girl. For most of those that know me, know that I am a very shy and reserved kinda girl. I do love my Lord and I love moments that I am able to praise and worship him. However, when it comes to sharing Him, or even meeting new people to present Him or our church, I clam up.

There have been 2 specific incidences recently where I have had the opportunity to just plainly introduce myself and my family at our church – both times involved younger couples that were visiting the church for the first time. Side note: we don't have a very small church but we don't have a "mega" church either. So, usually, when a new face or faces visit, the majority of our church body is able to recognize that we have guests.

The first couple visited our Sunday School class. I seemed to did find every excuse in the book to avoid them. After the fact, I was devastated. The Lord definitely convicted me of this. The two of them were new to the area and were looking for a church home. They were getting ready to get married and wanted to find a church where they could join and begin the next chapter of their lives in. We are trying to increase numbers in our Sunday School class, as our attendance has seemed to drop quite drastically over the past year, and I can’t even introduce myself to potential new members?!?! But, beside the numbers fact, I should have even been able to introduce myself and thank them for coming! Needless to say, they haven’t been back. However, I often think of what kind of image I, or even our church left for the two of them. I know that I do not need to dwell on matters such as these but I am definitely burdened by the fact that I avoided them. Would things be different if I, and/or another member of our class (other than the teacher) had spoken to them? Would they have, at least, come back for another Sunday?

The second incident involved a young husband and wife and a little boy that looked to be about 1 or 2. They came into our morning worship service just before it was to begin. It just so happened that I was to play my flute for the worship songs that morning, so I had to be in place about 3 minutes before the service started. I saw them come in and sit down in the pew in front of us, at the other end. A voice told me to go and introduce myself and let them know that we did have a nursery if they were interested. Especially knowing how I felt about the first time I encountered a new couple. BUT, I told myself that I had to get to the platform to prepare to play. In my mind, there just wasn’t enough time – but there really was. So, I had a plan to speak to them right after the service and to let them know about some of our young adult things going on. However, I missed my golden opportunity. Turns out, the baby got fussy and the husband took him out. During the sermon, the wife seemed to get a little frustrated that the husband hadn’t come back so she left as well, for them both not to return for the service at all.

Our spring revival is now taking place and our Associate Pastor has partly made it a Regional Evangelism conference -- which is great! We will be having several diffent evangelists come and speak over the next few days. However, today we had Marty Dupree (Evangelization Team Leader of the Baptist State Convention of NC) come and speak 4 different sessions on Lifestyle Evangelism. I have definitely been convicted on sharing the gospel today. However, I know that I am going to have to have daily, earnest prayer about becoming more bold. I will need to make myself understand that everyone in my neighborhood, city, county, state, etc... are just plain people. They put their pants on just like I do, day in and day out. Some may just put their left foot in before their right foot! There are just so many of them that are lost and going to die without Christ. I wish that things like this were easier for me, like for the little girl in the story that I mentioned earlier in my posting. However, I know that it won't get easier until I just start doing it, after lots and lots of prayer of course!

Lord,
It is my prayer that you will help me to become more bold for you. To find it just a little easier to speak to someone on the street, at work, and even at church about You. You have done so much for me that I don't deserve and this is the least I could do to give back to you, as you have commanded. In your name I pray, Amen.

Can I just tell you one more thing?

Everytime I look back at my blog and see the second picture that I just posted of my husband, my heart just flutters and I have to smile at that crazy man! Sappy I know but the picture just captures everything I love about him. His sense of humor (can't really remember what he was laughing at himself about, but I do remember laughing with him), his warm heart, and (although I may be partial) his good looks! I pray, everyday, that we will be this much in love and more at 90 years old.

By they way, I am now able to use my cell phone as a "hot spot" (so they call it). You will see lots more of me now... If you can't already tell!

I've been so excited to tell you...

Another credit card down!! We have actually had the account paid off for about 2 weeks now but, we used our rewards points and ordered some gift cards. We wanted to wait for the receipt of those before actually closing the account. You don't know how good it feels to have one more of these credit cards paid off. I am sure my mom is really tired of hearing us tell her! This is definitely going to be the year of getting out of debt. I am so excited! Two more to go! It's kind of funny to see how excited I get over seeing that notice at the top of my online accout: "This account is closed..." I tell ya... it's the little things in life!

My Helpmeet

There is something very special about the man that I married. I haven't given him lots of love on my blog in a while, so there is no better day than today. Please don't be mis-understood. Just because I don't give him love on my blog, doesn't mean I am not showing love in life!! Oh, I am sorry, was that TMI?!?! :)

My mom's only wish for me when I was choosing a mate was to choose a man that made me laugh. Boy, did I grant that wish for her. Now, there aren't many people who can't make me laugh cause from what I hear, I am just a "smiley" person. However, Wayne just makes me laugh at all the right times and sometimes even the wrong times. The worst is when I am angry at him and he finds every way he can to make me smile and/or laugh ... when I just want to be mad...

Over the past six or seven months, I have seen him change so much for the better. He has become so passionate about being the best father he can be. It's kind of amazing what a little one will do in someone's life. He has really cleaned up areas in his life that needed some maintenance and it has flowed over to being a better husband. Not that he wasn't a good husband before, but all of us need some "updating" sometimes. He kinda makes me look bad! (Okay, Sweetie, you can quit mumbling under your breath now!)

He is just an awesome husband and father. Marriage is no easy thing -- add a child to the picture and it just gets harder. I think any one who is married and with or without children would tell you that. We have had our ups and downs, but all in all it has been a wild but great 6 and 1/2 years of marriage. I can't wait to see what the future holds.

Oh, and just for a word of advice... Don't ever ask him to smile for a picture! You will get the fakest smile ever... as shown below:

The best thing to do is catch him off guard when he makes himself laugh. You will get the most priceless expression ever! I love this man!!

Do we really love our enemies?

Wayne and I went to see Grace Card last night at the movies. I really hadn’t heard anything about the movie other than my Mom saw it Saturday night and she cried. I knew if she cried, I would come out bawling because she never cries at movies – I am always the crier. But, she did tell me that it was a very good movie and it was about two police officers. Hmm… that kinda hits home. :) I told Wayne Sunday night that he needed to keep either Monday or Tuesday night open so that we could go see it. It just so happened that we were able to go last night.

Wow, what a powerful message this movie lends. It is so easy to accept grace but so much harder to give. There is so much truth in that. The movie did get me thinking. Do I, or can I really love my enemies? At this point in my life, I don’t think there is any one person that I would consider my enemy. However, that doesn’t mean it won’t happen.

I hate to give the details away about this movie, but a tragic accident does occur and a child is killed. If I were in the parents shoes, it would be very hard for me to hand over grace and say to the person that did it, “I love you and I will pray for you daily”. However, that is what the Lord commands in Matthew. Chapter 5 verses 44-45 it reads, “But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust.”

The Lord does treat everyone fairly. He does the same for each and every one of us. Shouldn’t we?