They May Kill Me...

They might just kill me for posting this picture...most of them didn't even want to pose for it in the first place! If I'd had a blog at the time it was taken, they probably wouldn't have let me do it at all! But, I'm going to take the risk, and pray God grants me favor with each of them :) I have to post the picture...you have to see them. These are the ladies (the core group)that I meet with every other Tues. night for Bible study. They are truly amazing...each one. They have blessed me in so, so many ways.
I never really wanted to be a pastor's wife...seemed like a pain in the butt to me :) I also thought it must be a pretty lonely profession...after all, who can really be themselves around the pastor and his wife!?! Seriously! And, I was positive that as the wife, if I were myself...I'd probably scare them all away! And then...God proved me wrong (which He always does.) He totally went above and beyond what I ever could have imagined. Instead of the loneliness I had anticipated, God has surrounded me with friends. Not just women who are nice to me, but genuine friends. There are no pretenses in this group...no pretending. We are who we are. Each of us are at a unique place in our walk with God...and He uses that to help us learn from one another. I am one of them. Not the pastor's wife. Just Sarah. I don't want to take for granted, this amazing blessing in my life. So...guess what I've learned...being a pastor's wife really isn't a pain in the butt...and, you really can be just yourself around your pastor and his wife! WHO KNEW!?!?

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We're Just That Fun...

What do you do for Spring Break, if you live in a tiny town where there's still snow on the ground? Well, if you live in our house, you wear your pajamas all day with a pair of rockin green flip flops! I really must make him get dressed today...we may actually leave the house, and go 1 block to the tiny post office and then to the local hardware store...for light bulbs! Good times.

I've started a new mantra for myself....no Bible, no blogging :) I stole the idea from my husband. His men's Bible study decided they would do no Bible, no breakfast...this works for them, they like their breakfast. I had originally thought no Bible, no coffee...but it just didn't sound as cute, so I picked another love...blogging. No Bible, no blogging...catchy isn't it:) Boy has it worked!!! I came across a verse yesterday, that was so good, I had to think on it a bit before sharing. So...here's the verse. 2 Peter 1:2 (The Living Bible) "Do you want more and more of God's kindness and peace? Then learn to know him better and better." LOVE THAT! So simple, and so deep...so what I need.

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Mystified

This picture actually has nothing to do with my post...but I always feel a need to include a picture...so, I thought you should look at my purchase from last week :) Exciting...I know. The cookies are looong gone...I ate 90% of them...uncooked. I know, I know, I have a problem!

• On to the point....I've been in the blogging world for about a month now, and there are still several things that mystify me! (Those of you who read, but don't blog, trust me when I tell you...you are not going to care about anything else in this post :) I like a good mystery. And most of the time, I really like not understanding some stuff....just being in awe of the magic of it. Like telephones! and TV! and Electricity! No matter how many times its explained to me...I just go back to the good ol standby...magic. There are some blogging mysteries, however, that are driving me nuts! Here goes...
• Site Meter: the timing and days is all off...A.M. is P.M. and by midday it's a day ahead...so confusing. I have no idea how to change it.
• Site Meter: Sometimes, it shows a persons visit length as 0.00. How does that happen? Do they click on my site, and then are so repulsed immediately that they have to leave before even staying a millisecond?!?
• I have a scanner, but I have no idea how to upload photos to my blog unless they are digital...I am in constant awe of those of you who post anything predating digital cameras!
• Which web pictures are really free?!? How do I know they're not copyrighted? I don't' want to steal! I'm a pastor's wife, the last thing I need it to be stealing pics for my blog :) HA!
• I also have no idea how people change the size and formats of their blog. I mean the fancy kind! Here's me...with my generic blog layout...all because I have no idea how to change it (other than what blogger offers:)
• How so few people leave comments...compared with the number of readers. I mean, I get it, but still a little mystified.

So, my more experienced blogger friends, help me if you can :) I also should warn you that I need very detailed instructions, or I'll never get it :)

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She's Still There...

Have you ever had a moment...when you realized that there will always be a 15 year old girl living inside of you? I did...today. I think I've known it for awhile...but today, it all came flashing back to me...so, here's the reasons I know that girl still resides in me.

• Before any event, I always call a friend to see what she's wearing!
• I still love borrowing/lending clothes! It makes me giddy as a school girl! Better than shopping!
• When shopping with my friend, Jenni, on Saturday, I actually said "I think I smell" and of course, being a good friend, she leaned in, sniffed me, and reassured me that I in fact did not smell.
• When I get a big zit...I actually think of ways to avoid leaving the house or try to avoid face to face contact with anyone I remotely know.
• Secretly hope that I will not run into ANYONE I know while running errands on a day that I thought it was too much work to shower :)
• When going out, I still try on 10 different outfits before finally settling on something.
• In the past week I have said "I will if you will" and "I dare you"
• Still sometimes feel like I'm on the outside looking in...or like a 3rd wheel.
• Sometimes wish my best friend could work as the middle-man again, and "break-up" with people for me! HA!

See, I told ya...she's still living in there! Who knew?!?

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Funny...But Not Really.

Most of the time, when my 2 1/2 year old pitches a fit, I am not amused. Mostly because it happens often and it's usually because he has a different plan on what he wants than I do. The battle of the wills is on, with this child.

Yesterday, however, was different. Jakob had gone outside to play while my hubs did some grilling for lunch. When it was time to come in...melt down. Oh the drama! Who needs girls!?!? I've got plenty of drama with boys. He threw himself over the dog, laying on the couch...then the floor. It must have been the cute red boots that made this tantrum seem amusing...either that, or the fact that it wasn't in public helped too. I had to get the camera out. This just made him more mad...which made it even funnier to me! What is wrong with me?!? By now, I have learned, that in my life, I either laugh and find the humor in it...or spend a lot of time wanting to cry :)

The rest of us finally sat down for lunch, and Jake, of course snapped out of it as though nothing had ever happened. Sometimes, as I watch him throwing a tantrum, I'm actually a tad bit jealous. Wouldn't it be nice, to just roll around on the floor crying...just get it all out, and then pop back up like every things fine! Truth is...I throw fits too, they're just the grown-up, dignified kind. It dawned on me, that when I do this, (which is hardly ever *cough*) I look as ridiculous as my two year old. So, this week, as my kids are on spring break...I will try to be the grown up who does not throw dignified tantrums. Here's hoping that this week goes by fast!

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Love at First Sight

Sometime this winter...probably January, I fell hard for the color yellow. Generally, I've never been a huge fan of yellow...until this winter. Now, I can't get enough of this sunny, happy color! It seriously brightens my mood...so now, you can find yellow flowers, dishcloths, shirts, a jacket and even a pair of yellow ballet flats at my house. I'm also waiting till my husband has a week of vacation so I can paint the home office a lovely shade of creamy, buttery, yellow (from which I found in the Pottery Barn catalog!) I do have a tendency to overkill stuff a bit...we'll just call that a cute little "quirk" about me, rather than the really annoying quality that it is :)
This weekend I was in a little shop, and happened to find the CUTEST plastic plates for the kids to eat off of! They were a lovely shade of yellow, with stripes and polka dots. So. Stinking. Cute. Images of summertime and lemonade and burgers on the grill all flashed though my mind (yep, all inspired by the yellow plates) It was pretty much love at first sight....until, for some weird reason...I turned the plate over...and read, "not safe for dishwashers or microwaves." WHAT?!?! I think I may have shed a little tear. Who does that?!? Who makes plates that cannot go in EITHER the dishwasher or microwave!!! Isn't that the sole purpose of a plate? For a second, I tried to justify them...I can wash them by hand....I don't really use the microwave that much. Yeah. Right. I had to put the cute little plates back. At our house, 98% of plates at every meal involve both the dishwasher and microwave. Sometimes, you just have to let go of the ones you love...goodbye little plates...hopefully I can find a new love soon, ones that enjoy the microwave and the dishwasher!

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Who Am I, Really?

This is from 2006. It was the last time we tried to pose together, as a family, for a picture. Sure, we've gotten candid snapshots of the 5 of us since then...but that's it. Why? Because it is a huge pain, and frankly, it does not bring out the best in me. We did end up with a shot we could send out in the Christmas cards (thanks to my friend, Jenni's persistence.) Now, as I look back at all the shots, I smile...because this is what we look like. This picture does capture who we are and the stage we were in...but at the time, I just wanted it to look like the family portraits on display at the mall....perfect smiling faces, in the perfect position...that will not happen, because that is not us.

• Looking back through these pictures made me take a look at my family in a new way...take it for what it is...the good, the bad...and the crazy silliness! Its also reminded me that I need to look at myself in the same way...not through a filtered lens of who I think I am, or say I am...but by what my actions reveal I am. Sometimes we think our everyday actions match our beliefs...but they don't. I know that apart from Jesus, I can do nothing. I know that I want to live my life, day in and day out, with Him in first place. Because my husband, children, family, friends, church, and strangers don't care what I say I believe...what I truly believe is revealed in my priorities. Ouch. If I want my boys to grow up and love the Lord with all that they are, I need to be showing them how real Jesus is...not just telling them. It's so much more about what they witness me doing , and so much less about what they hear from me. Here's what I'm asking God to help me to do...
• show by example, a love for people that are hard to love.
• make my priorities match my beliefs.
• remember the reasons why we go to church. We need the encouragement and support of other believers, we need their prayers and accountability, to worship Him together, to outwardly show He is a priority...and they need the same thing from us. We don't go...for show, to be entertained, to judge, out of habit or to win favor with God or people. We go, because Jesus established the church before He left...He knew it was important, that we needed it...and that is reason enough.
• help me to be in His Word, and in prayer, so that I can hear His still, small voice above all the other junk and voices. It's through that, that I gain the wisdom and discernment I need.
• to help me not to rely on myself or past victories to sustain me. They're not meant for that. I can look back on them and praise Him for what He did, but those victories do not give me the strength and mercy I need for today...only time with him today, does that.
  Lamentations 3:23 Great is his faithfulness; his loving-kindness begins afresh each day.

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