Lately...

A few weeks ago I complained about a nasty canker sore I had on the inside of my cheek.  It's long gone now, but I still can't help but think about it.


It hurt that bad.


In comparison to my body, it was minuscule in size.  The rest of my body felt just fine, in fact. Healthy as a horse.  Yet...it made my days miserable.  Especially one of the things I enjoy most...eating.


It's like that in life though, isn't it?  So many things to be thankful for.  So many good things happening, and all it takes is that one little thing to distract us from the rest.  To somehow make all the other great things suddenly seem less enjoyable.


It's like that in churches too.  Ask anyone who goes to a church and they can likely think of a situation they've experienced.  Maybe they enjoy so much about their church...but there's that one little thing they can't quite get over. Ask those in ministry and you'll likely receive a faint smile and shrug of the shoulders.  Either because they're doing all they can to hand over everyone's one little thing to their Savior who promises He has the shoulders to bear it...because they do not, or because although so many people in their church are faithful and encouraging and growing in their faith and are joyful...there's that one...


It was tough to ignore the canker sore.  Sometimes, I just decided I would not be able to enjoy food until it was gone.  Totally and completely gone.  


And other times, I resolved to eat things that didn't bother it so much...because really, one little canker sore surely cannot ruin everything...that would be ridiculous.


God's teaching me to {isolate} things.  To take captive the things that seek to destroy joy.  The things that distract me from Him.  And it's hard.  And it's constant.  Because isn't it true, there's always something.


Am I saying that people are sometimes like canker sores?  Yes.  Yes I am.  


Praying today that God helps me not to be that canker in someone else's life...and that I learn to not let the canker in my own life steal the joy from all He's doing...because He's doing some really amazing stuff.

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Messy-Messerson

I sorta always thought my boys were dirty and grungy looking because, well, they were boys.  And then I had Lucy...


I can't keep this girl clean.  


Before church:

Don't let her big, sweet smile fool you.  She hates that hat.  She rips it off her head immediately.

Sunday night, Ben was putting the boys to bed, and I was sitting on the couch with the laptop...a big red chair obstructing my view of a very quiet 17 month old.

We found why she was so quiet.  We keep forgetting she can reach everything off of the table.  It was a fitting way for her to end the day, since at lunchtime she carried Jake's half-full bowl of chicken tortilla soup over to the shag rug and fed herself in the same manner pictured below.  We're still digging black beans and corn out of the rug.

Maybe our genetics just produce messy kids.  Good thing they're cute.  




PS - Don't forget to go HERE and not only register yourself for a chance to win, but spread the word so that $ can be raised for those precious kids in Africa!  Pretty please.

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Make a Difference & Giveaway

If you haven't read yesterdays post.  You'll want to...unless you're one of those people who can jump into the middle of a movie and keep watching till the end, not even caring that you have no idea what happened in the beginning.  Not that I mind that *cough*


Yesterday I mentioned that I am SUPER excited about something...mostly because I love it.  A lot.  And I think you will too.  


Haleigh (from yesterdays post) is going to be going on a Christian Missions Aid trip to Kenya in November.  They'll be working in orphanages and doing other CMA relief and developmental projects.  You can learn more about it here.


To raise funds for the trip, she has put together a lullabies CD called Lullabies for Africa.  There are several different ways you can purchase it for download, all of which you can check out at the website  HERE.  And if you'd like to purchase the CD and case (below) you can here.

I downloaded it last week.  I can't even tell you how much I adore it.  It's a compilation of songs that Haleigh, her friends, and her sisters wrote and sing and it simply blows me away.  Every time I listen to it, I think of those babies in Africa...and I think of my own kids...and I just love it.  It's beautiful and fun, we've been listening to it all day long around here.


I just think it's such a great, creative way to not only raise money, but minister to people.  


It's the perfect gift for yourself, a friend, anyone...and the bonus is that it goes to such a great cause. 


The Lullabies for Africa website will have all the information you need to buy as much as you'd like.  Super simple.  You can even listen to some of the songs first.  We have some favorites in our house.  Bugga Boo is the song we sing non-stop around here.  Even my hubby is humming and singing it.  Right now, as I type this, I can hear (through the baby monitor) Ben whistling it.  For Real.  We also love Rest Your Head, One Two Three, I Love Ya, and Rest Your Head for the Night...you get the idea, we like it. 


There are also some ways you can help get the word out, so that everyone everywhere (go big or go home, right?) can get their hands on this music and fund this ministry opportunity.  I can't go to Africa to do the work needed.  Haleigh can.  The least I can do is help...and listen to music. ;)


I'm also excited to be GIVING AWAY a CD as well!  There's a few ways to enter.  For each way you enter, just leave me a separate comment telling me what you did.  


1 - Go to Lullabies for Africa and "Like" on Facebook. (you can also do this from the Lullabies for Africa website.


2 - Mention and link to the Lullabies for Africa website on your blog.


3 - Share the link on Twitter


4 - Purchase a copy or download it from the website (enter yourself twice for that!) and if you win, then mark someone off your Christmas list. ;)


5 - Listen to Bugga Boo and tell me you too cannot stop singing it.


Ok, I think that's it.  


I'm gonna leave the chance to win open till Friday.   Now it's your turn.  Spread the love.


Isn't this fun?!?  

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Back-Story

I am so excited to share something with you.  I mean SUPER excited.  


But first, I must fill you in on the back story, because isn't that the way to hook you?  Make you emotionally attached?  Oh wait, maybe that just works for me...


I'm from a small town.  Not nearly as small as tiny town where I currently live.  Small town is about 10,000 times bigger than tiny town.  Confused yet?  So, in a small town, it seems that every one's lives criss-cross in some way or another.  Growing up, I found that rather annoying.  But as an adult, I've come to adore it.  It's a part of me.


Growing up, I had a friend from school (who also lived close to me) we'll call her Shera...because that's her name.  I loved going over to her house.  Shera had a little niece named Haleigh.  Haleigh was seriously the cutest little thing I'd ever seen.  I remember I couldn't get over how tiny and petite she was.  Isn't it weird the things your mind remembers?  But I remember loving the atmosphere in their home.  


Shera went to a parochial school with me.  At that stage, I knew about God, but I didn't know Him.  Neither did my family.  But Shera's did.  


I switched schools in fifth grade.  Parochial school turned out to be a bad fit for me.  Just what you want to hear about a pastor's wife, eh?  Shera and I lost touch...new friends and such.


At the end of eighth grade, my mom received a call from the pastor of the church we attended, informing her that I would not be getting confirmed with my classmates because I had not been accomplishing my work...on purpose. My lost, distraught mom, decides to accept the invitation of a friend and try a different church.


*side note* 8th grade was not my finest moment.  I also managed to fail band on purpose because my mom would not let me quit.  I knew if I was failing she'd let me drop it.  And she did.  I'm quite sure the band teacher still hates me.  


So we go to the church.  I think the pastor is crazy and inform my mom we are not going back.  But, we go back...and I met Jesus there.  My heart changed.  And most certainly the direction of my life changed...significantly.


Turns out, Shera and her family were also coming to that church.  We had so much fun in youth group together.  And we may or may not have completely stalked DC Talk.  Youth group was crucial in my life.  It was my favorite place to be.  At the end of my youth group years, Shera's brother and his wife (Haleigh's parents) became our youth leaders.  I loved them...still do.


Life, always intertwining.


Little Haleigh is now a beautiful grown young woman.  And she's got a project going on that simply amazes me...and I can't wait to let you in on it. 


Tomorrow.


Brutal, I know.  But I'll leave you with a little something...there will also be a give away. Yippee!  


See you tomorrow :)

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I'm Rude Like That...

I'm so rude.  I totally left everyone hanging on my flesh-eating-canker/no-sugar-insanity post.  I hope none of you lost sleep.


Never fear.  I salted the thing like a mad woman and in a few days it was good. to. go.  You guys gave me some great advice.  Who needs Google when you have blog friends?


Also, I'm on day 18...or 19 (I've lost track) of very VERY little processed sugar.  I cut my carbs down too, because when I eat them, my body ends up craving sugar even more.  By about day 8, I wasn't craving it nearly as bad...and by day 10 I knew it wasn't quite long enough to break my addiction...one pumpkin spice latte and I'd totally fall off the wagon.


It's empowering to tell myself no.  I feel better.  I only ran once the past couple weeks (I'm on a lazy-sleep-loving streak right now) and I still managed to lose eight pounds.  Eight pounds of sugar!

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Riveting Stuff

I bit the side of my cheek with my molars.  It happened about a week ago, and now I have the biggest baddest canker sore evah.  I think it may actually just eat a hole entirely through my face. Can they do that?  Wait...don't tell me if it can. I don't wanna know.


I've tried gargling warm salt water (because this is what my Grandma has made me do since I was a toddler) but it's not helping all that much.  I've also been spraying it with sore throat numbing spray, and that helps for about 1.5 seconds.


Any tips for me?


On a totally other topic about me I am on day 4(of 10) of my low sugar/carb detox. I'm less cranky, for sure.  But I'd still love me a bowl of cookie dough...and by bowl, I mean mixing bowl.  I will admit, the food I am eating now is keeping my belly full much longer than the usual junk I eat, but at the end of the day, I'm just not eating all that much because, lets face it,  if I can't have sugar, I'd rather not eat.    


Also, yesterday on my morning run, my body was like, "What the heck?!?  Where's the sugar? Where's the carbs? I quit."  It felt terrible.  So tomorrow I'm gonna give my body what it's used to having before a run: peanut butter toast and coffee.  


Wow...aren't you glad I'm blogging again...riveting stuff here folks.  Riveting.

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Oh Kid...

Jake started Kindergarten this fall.  He turned 6 in June, and was more than ready for the challenge.  He's a little bummed though...apparently Kindergarten is not as difficult as he was hoping for.  This kid kills me.  He's so serious...and shy, but his eyes and expressions say all that his mouth does not.  He's a thinker.  He's always...and I mean ALWAYS listening, and repeating what he's heard.  Even when I'd rather he not.   I tried to explain that right now his teacher is just reviewing what they'd learned in preschool, and soon he'll be learning new sight words and reading books.

His response:  "Mom.  We had to learn about a chair.  What good does that do?  I think they're trying to make me stupider."

Did I mention he doesn't always believe me?

Seriously, kills me.  Love that kid.

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