I’ve been thinking more about my previous post on dieting. Why can’t I make it work? I know the rules, it’s not that. I know what I need to do: burn more calories than I take in. Whether I eat better or exercise more doesn’t matter. But I notice when I’m thirsty, I grab a pop instead of water which will satisfy my thirst. When I’m craving food, I eat chocolate instead of an apple or other nutritious food that my body needs. When I am lacking energy, I “rest” instead of exercising to revive myself. I make poor decisions.

I was thinking today how easy it is to do that in our spiritual lives, too. Instead of going to God and His Word to fill up with truth when we are fearful, angry, depressed or unsure, we turn to the world and its “wisdom” and feed those emotions. And again, it’s not because we don’t know what we should do. It’s just a matter of doing it. The result of living in a sinful world with a sinful nature that is constantly being encouraged, ahem not by God, to disobey Him. Garbage in, garbage out.

But God has the answers, all we need to do is fill ourselves with His truth, to become so farmilar with it so that we can defend ourselves from these attacks, whether from the world, Satan or even yourself.

“If you abide in My Word … you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:31-32

On New Years’ Eve, I took the kids ice skating with some friends at the Crystal Ice House. It was the first time, and what did I forget? My camera! Thankfully, our other friends were not so thoughtless and they took lots of pictures for me. They also were very helpful. I knew it would be a challenge to take TWO kids ice skating when I hadn’t been skating in a decade myself. After getting over the initial discomfort (and exchanging skates for a size up), Avery had a blast! Charlie was quickly a natural (as much as a two-year-old can be anyway). We see hockey in his future! About 45 minutes and he was “done” though. Avery overcame her fear of being with anyone but me just so that she could go around the rink a few more times. We’ll have to bring dad along next time!

Try as I might, dieting doesn’t seem to work for me. I.like.food. Junk food. I like pizza and chocolate and hot dogs and Cheetos. I can come up with all kinds of excuses, I know. I have spent most of my life worrying about my weight and I am no better off today than I was the first time I thought, “Am I fat?” In fact, in every stage of my life I look back and think about how great I looked then. I keep trying to remind myself that will never look as good as I do right NOW. In other words, be thankful for what I have and the body that God gave me.

Thanks to Mama Rehema for hosting this week’s Fun Monday: Diets.

I don’t even know when this picture was taken. But it’s of me and my childhood best friend Martha after I moved from Rugby, ND, to Iowa. We had gotten together at her parents’ cabin near Brainerd, Minnesota, I believe, one of just a few times that we got together after the 3rd grade. Anyway, we are both so serious playing a game of Boggle (after a day of swimming it looks like)! Funny that Boggle is still one of my favorite games. And I love that when we got in touch after several years, we both ended up in the writing/editing profession! We were definitely quite a match for each other. What a fun picture.

For more Wordless Wednesday entries: WordlessWednesday.com and 5 Minutes for Mom.

My countertops are installed! They are not hideous, embarrassing or ugly in any way. Woo-hoo! They are, however, more gray than brown in overall color. But, I already knew that so I am not surprised. The contrast with the yellow walls and white cabinets, either way, is beautiful. And Heartland did not disappoint. The installers were friendly and helpful, and they cleaned up when they were finished. I am more excited about this than the historic inauguration that is taking place as we speak! I will post a picture as soon as I can but my camera is broken (I can take a picture just not download it).

As for the inauguration, I will say that Obama taking office is a remarkable event in the history of our nation: How Conservatives Should Celebrate the Inauguration. But I am sad to see Bush go. As many blunders and mistakes that he made over the years, he has done well for our country, as a man of integrity, character and steadfast leadership (despite the mocking opposition over every little detail). He overcame ferocious opposition against a Democratic-controlled Congress to win key battles for faith, family and common sense. Thank you President and Mrs. Bush! I pray God would bless you for your service to our country and protect you in the years to come!

As the 36th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision approaches, the White House proclaimed today, Sunday, January 18, as National Sanctity of Human Life Day. With Barack Obama taking office on Tuesday, it may be the last such proclamation of its kind for the foreseeable future.

We talked about abortion from a Biblical perspective today at church (In case you are wondering, unborn babies are created by God and He has a special plan for each and every one. But abortion is not the unforgivable sin! Seek counseling if you or someone you know has been traumatized by abortion). But even more profound, I think, is looking at it from a scientific perspective. As surprising as this may be to some people, there is no debate within the medical community as to when life begins.

A 1981 U.S. Senate report states, “Physicians, biologists, and other scientists agree that conception marks the beginning of the life of a human being – a being that is alive and is a member of the human species. There is overwhelming agreement on this point in countless medical, biological, and scientific writings. No witness raised any evidence to refute the biological fact that from the moment of conception there exists a distinct individual being who is alive and is of the human species.” No witness raised any evidence to refute the biological fact that from the moment of conception there exists a distinct individual being who is alive and is of the human species. (Subcommittee on Separation of Powers, Ibid.)

“Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him.” Psalm 127:3

Sadly, I didn’t get a picture when Charlie returned the favor (heeeeelarious!), but I just couldn’t get over how cute it was that Avery gave her little brother a horsey ride. They were having a blast!

For more Wordless Wednesday entries: WordlessWednesday.com or 5 Minutes for Mom.

I’ve got a part-time job, just a few hours a week, helping a friend with some marketing for a business intelligence consulting company that is launching a Chicago office. It’s a lot of phone calls, but I also was invited to attend monthly roundtable discussions and quarterly summits to help greet people, mingle and take notes. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but to a SAHM, this is awesome! I have desires to go back to work, even though I don’t plan to actually act on them, and this is just the right opportunity to get me out of my usual routine, get out of the house and out of my “mommy uniform” and into a new environment where I can be a professional again. I spent a lot of time at conferences and trade shows as an editor, so I get an adrenaline rush from the experience. I’ve also found that the business intelligence topic intrigues me just enough to keep me interested.

Anyway, today was the first monthly meeting downtown Chicago. So, the plan was that I would meet my friend on the Metra, though he was getting on an earlier stop than me. I was so nervous about making it to the train on time (had to catch the 6:34am!) that I was there plenty early to park, buy my ticket, use the restroom (definitely want to avoid the train bathrooms at all cost) and sit for about one minute before the bell began to ding. I didn’t even give it a second thought that it might not be the train I was to board. When he wasn’t in the agreed meeting spot, I began to panic. I walked all the way through the train in case I misunderstood which end he’d be on. No Jeff! ACK. It never even occurred to me that we wouldn’t meet up on the train so I didn’t know what I was going to do. I knew the association where we were meeting, but not the address, other than South Wacker Dr. Even if I plot my routes thoroughly, I get confused in the city (why can’t the streets just be numbered?!?) I don’t know whether they run north/south or east/west. Unless I can see the lake, forget it. Anyway, I figure there’ll be map at the station. So, I found a seat, sat down, prayed it would work out, then cracked open my book.

When the train arrived, I prayed again, pleading. But I don’t see a map anywhere, so I head out the main entrance at Ogilvie Station and … just start walking. I finally found a bus stop with a map, looked all over for Wacker Dr and realized it was about 10 steps in front of me! What a relief. Now, the problem is finding the right building. I remembered, thankfully, that it was near the Sears Tower so I headed that direction. I stopped in three buildings (first crossing the street several times and going north and south without a lot of rhyme or reason) before I found the right one, and had a friendly chat with the building concierge for a few minutes just in case they might be of help (not really) and to warm up. Not a good day to be wandering the streets of Chicago! It was like 10 degrees outside. When I saw the building, about a block off, I just knew it. I had a huge grin on my face and just started praising God. I was so excited! As I was riding the elevator, I just smiled and said to God: “You, you are … something else.”

I know this was a long story, but it’s important to me. Because … everything turned out okay, and I exercised my faith that everything would turn out okay. I stayed calm, which is so unlike me! Picture, if you will, Elaine from the episode of Seinfeld where she’s taking a crowded subway to a wedding and it stops, starts and then stops again. She’s gritting her teeth and screaming inside: “Why is this happening to ME?!? What’s going on?! Get me outta here!!!” That’s me in a nutshell in frustrating situations where I can’t see the big picture. When I come up against big challenges, I seem to have less trouble exercising faith, but I’ve often struggled with God in the “little things” because I don’t see reason for them. I’m not sure of all the details, but I experienced important spiritual growth today, in that 30 minutes between the train and the 15th floor of the building at 200 South Wacker Dr.

“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.”
Luke 16:10

It’s my birthday. I’m 33 today. I was making plans a couple months ago to get together with my girlfriends and I actually couldn’t remember how old I was turning. 31? 32? I’m thinking it’s gotta be 32, because I know I’m not 30 now. But when I got home and asked my husband (he can always be counted on to do the math), I found out I was turning 33! EEk. I lost a year! Hard to imagine how much time has passed since I was my kids’ ages, or in school.

I have been having so much fun with facebook, catching up and reconnecting with those old school friends. I’ve also been going through old photos (for a secret scrapbooking project) and video (to finally convert VHS to DVD). So, I have been reminded of many memories from my high school and college days. So much fun as I think about silly songs that I made up about umbrellas on rainy days or crazy things that I did with friends, like strap sleds to cars or “borrow” food service trays to sled down hills.

There’s been a lot of embarrassing and painful memories, too, though, which I find it hard not to dwell on. My passionate personality tends to dramatize the past, and the teenage years were so full of emotion and hormones. I was selfish and immature, to be sure. Thankfully, God protected me from a lot so I don’t have major regrets, but a lot of little ones I guess. I am so embarrassed when I think about things that I said or did (and I’m not talking about poorly executed cartwheels and silly faces in the camera, although I find that I did a lot of that, and I do mean A LOT) around others or how I treated them. I was so unsure of myself and concerned with how people saw me–ironic, I know!–that I didn’t think about anyone else. If I could go back and do things differently, I would hope that I’d see people through God’s eyes. I would have more confidence, at least, which I think would allow me to be a better friend. And to not expect so much from others. I know I was hurt by my own expectations, wanting to control of those around me. But, that’s all in the past.

I pray that God would help me forgive others and that others would forgive me for mistakes I made. And then, let. it. go. You cannot change the past, and the Devil would love to have you focused on what can’t be changed. God wants me to focus on what can be changed, the future.

I see more of myself in my daughter all the time, and it makes my flaws stand out all the more. Avery has such a hard time moving on when she’s not in control or making mistakes. And I know that’s exactly how I am. It’s good, though not pretty, to get a fresh perspective of yourself from time to time. May God use that to prune me and make me more like Him so that I can be a better person in the present and the future.

“But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14

Avery and I made a kitty mask with a paper plate and some foam stickers. Thanks to dad’s inspiration, we each took a turn wearing it and had quite a laugh!

For more Wordless Wednesday entries: WordlessWednesday.com and 5 Minutes for Mom.

The tech from Heartland came by today to measure and template the counters (he had a very 90s-era Tom Cruise-esque look to him). He also kindly offered a few suggestions (some of which my husband didn’t appreciate, although he did add that he thought that Matt had done an excellent job hanging the cabinets) for the cabinets, hardware and trim. It was nice, considering they didn’t have any stake in those things. It was an interesting process, using an electronic templating device. He used stickers and ceramic? plates with coding on them to measure the space and then took pictures with a special camera. I didn’t ask too many questions so I don’t fully understand, but the kids and I were fully entertained. He seemed confident that the counters would be ready to install before our estimated January 19 date. I hope so!

Dear Lord,

In Jesus’ Name,
AMEN

Much to my delighted surprise, while I was out running errands and visiting friends yesterday afternoon, Matt pushed the refrigerator into place. He had cut the necessary hole for the water the day before and the electrician had come on Wednesday to finalize the outlets and switches. That means: No more extension cord! The refrigerator was powered via extension cord in the dining room; I would step on it coming down the stairs, ouch! Overall, what an amazing difference. The kitchen seems so spacious again!