681

I haven't blogged on this page in approximately 5 years. That was 1.5 kids ago... 3 houses ago... pre 061715 ...pretty much a lifetime ago.

Crafting words together to make pretty, thought-provoking sentences, which are grammatically and factually correct, is therapeutic. I love reading a book or article or blog post that takes me some place. I'm amazed at the ways authors can weave words together to make a word picture so spot-on. 

Over the course of the last year I trained for and ran two half marathons. During those lonely treadmill training runs (ie. death) I realized how much is bottled up and jarbled up in my brain. From goals, to real estate, to parenting, to Jesus-following... there's a a variety of things going on up there. 

So, from time to time I'm going to drop a line or two on this trusty old blog, to which by some miracle I happened to recall the password. You can read the "old" stuff  down below if you'd like. It's a former me, but it's still me. I'm thankful to be refreshed of those memories from sacred days long gone. 

And now I give you, post "681".

I love a good goal, a SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, time-bound) goal, "Wheel of Life" goals. So, as every Type-A does in mid-December, I laid mine out... some physical, some educational, some work and family related. In total, 8 goals... 3 habitual, 5 achievable.

One of my physical goals is to (again) run 2 half marathons in one calendar year. But, to spice it up and make it a new goal, my running partner and I decided our goal is to run 13.1 miles every week in training.

Week one: Done.
651.86 to go.

But, this morning on the treadmill, something hit me (and it wasn't the duct work 4 inches from my forehead.) As I was sorting through multiple offers on a property I listed yesterday (this pertains to my number-of-homes-I'm-aiming-to-sell-this-year goal) while stuffing reheated leftovers down my throat before enjoying a movie with my people, I realized that it's really not the goals themselves that are so worth achieving.

The goal, in my mind, is not short-cutting other areas of life while going for the goals. 

If I'm eating while working on my laptop at the dinner table, and ignoring the people I share a roof with, what's the point?
If I'm too gung-ho on getting my practice minutes on the piano to help an elderly neighbor shovel the driveway, what am I striving for?
If my financial goals keep me from sharing resources with those less fortunate, why has it been entrusted to me to begin with?

So, week one of 2018 comes with a swift kick in the rear.
Don't let the SMART goals become dumb rules.

Are you ready?

When you waddle around in life 37.5 weeks pregnant, you BEG to be asked that one loaded question, "Are you ready?" It is asked of me multiple times a day, every.single.day. I know that people are being cordial and conversational, but I've run out of interesting responses.

Top three:
"...I think so..."
"...we'll find out..."
and,
"...not really."

But today in the shower, I really started thinking about it. I mean, if all goes as planned, this is Grand Finale Grove. I will never (Lord-willing) never carry life within me again. (My cup overfloweth!) So, I'm rethinking my various answers to that oh-so-loaded question:

Are you ready...

...to no longer carry an additionally 40lbs around? HECK YES! Just ask my feet.

...to never again feel that indescribable feeling of life moving within me? No. It's quite possibly the coolest experience ever.

...to see The Boy and The Girl walk into the hospital room to meet their new sibling? No, not at all. They'll immediately both look 75% bigger, and 3 years older, and I just can't handle that.

... to have more than 6 wardrobe items that I fit in to? Yes, yes, yes. I simply cannot find one more way to accessorize and make them look different. I'm so bored with my options, and too cheap to do anything about it.

... to not fit into anything properly for the next 6 months? No, ugh. Talk about depressing. Maternity clothes are too big. Normal clothes are abnormally small. Bring on the yoga pants... and the treadmill.

...to no longer have an excuse for eating crap-ola beyond any reasonable hour? No, I'm going to miss the special time spent in the evenings with The Hubby, Ken Burns, and some Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Seriously, there's no reasonable excuse for eating that stuff at any other time in my life.

...to not get up and potty fives times a night? Oh yes, I cannot wait to sleep through the night again... oh wait...

...to get up fives times a night to nurse a baby/change a diaper/make sure my child hasn't died of SIDS? No. No. No, not at all.

... to find out if it's a boy or a girl? I'm pumped, but not nearly as pumped as I thought I'd be. I really have no preference one way or the other. I just want to have a healthy baby and simple delivery. I think the not knowing will just be a huge motivating factor when it comes time to push.

... to juggle life with three kids? Not at all ready. I'm OCD. I plan. I like a clean house. None of these things goes along with a newborn, a 2.5 year old and a 5 year old. Praying for lots of Grace!

... to sleep on my stomach again? YES. Oh I cannot WAIT to sleep on my stomach again. I'm pretty sure The Hubby can't wait either... I've been accused of snoring for the first time in 8 years of wedded bliss. How dare he!

...to hold the third piece of worldy evidence of how much The Hubby and I love each other? YES! I cannot wait! Who will he/she look like? Will they have lots of hair? What will their personality be like?

So, Am I ready?

I say, bring it on! This is life. We'll roll with it. We'll figure it out. We'll fail. We'll succeed. We'll survive. We'll thrive. We'll be Carried Along. We'll be exhausted. We'll sleep when we're dead.

12 days.

58: The Film

All I wanted was a simple cake idea. Our Little Buddy is turning two, and I want to incorporate a firetruck into his homemade cake. Where to get quick ideas? Pinterest. Oh. My. Word. Don't get me wrong, I love Pinterest, but my perspective has changed a bit.

It happened on Tuesday.

I love a good documentary. Something well thought. Something low budget. Something with heart and a purpose.

Tuesday night our small group got together and watched "58: The Film" and my world was rocked. (Bonus: It's on Netflix.) We popped popcorn, made cupcakes and poured our delicious drinks-- and within the first 10 minutes no one had an appetite.

"58: The Film" is about a movement to end extreme poverty around the globe, through authentic Christian living, based on Isaiah 58.

In this 72 minute film you see families who live in rock quarries... working to pay a debt that's impossible to repay. You see families of eight who live in shanties... the size of my walk-in closet. You see little girls sold into sex trafficking... so their families can afford to eat.

What I can't understand is that while some kids are left to work in a quarry for the rest of their lives because of their parents desire to put food on the table, we are busy throwing birthday parties for 8-year-olds that cost as much as a mortgage payment! (C'mon, they invited 38 kids!!!)

We (Christians) are so wrapped up in who should be allowed to get married, what gender should be preaching from the pulpit and who has the right to carry weapons, that we've forgotten our mission on this earth. We're distracted.

Point for Satan.

Suddenly, my closet is annoying. My pantry is annoying. The fact that my kids DON'T share a room is annoying. I'm disgusted at my own oblivion.

Point for Jesus.

A few weeks ago I heard an evangelist talk about Western Christians being "spiritually obese." We go to church and feast... we go to Bible Study and feast... we hang out with our Christian friends and feast... but at what point are we going out and exercising our beliefs. How and when are we being the hands and feet of Jesus?

I'm guilty, friends. I'm so, so pathetically guilty. But I'm admitting it, which is the first step towards change.

Ending extreme poverty is not impossible. Changing lives from our small-town Indiana homes is not impossible.

And a simple 9x13 boxed cake mix will be more than enough to celebrate 2 years of God-given JOY.

The War

Brace yourselves. I'm about to go on a major rant. But, this is my blog, so I guess that's allowed. And really, what better platform, right?

We are in a war. What happened in Connecticut last Friday makes it all the more real. It's not just a war of weapons, mental health or security issues. It's much, much bigger than that.

Since allllllllll those years ago when that slimy snake worked his magic in the garden, we have been in a war of Evil v. Good.

As I've scrolled Facebook the last few days, reading reactions to the tragedy of 26 lives gone in an instant, what most frustrates me is the dialogue that goes something like this:

"Dear God, Why do you allow so much violence in our schools?" -Concerned student
"Dear Concerned Student, I'm not allowed in schools." -God

Really? If you believe this, as a believer and follower of Jesus Christ, I think you might be confused.

The God I follow is omnipresent. He is God. He is everywhere, at all times. He is omnicient. He has complete, unlimited knowledge.

Laws and rules do not keep God out of schools. He. Is. GOD! He is in schools because we (believers) are in schools...
... opening our mouths to proclaim His truths...
... loving on others with self-less action...
... praying for the leadership of the school...

It's not a petition or rules that "allows" God into schools. He doesn't need an invitation.

Matthew retells a prophesy of Isaiah (about Jesus) in the 12th chapter of his gospel:

¹⁸ “Look at my Servant, whom I have chosen.
He is my Beloved, who pleases me.
I will put my Spirit upon him,
and he will proclaim justice to the nations.
¹⁹ He will not fight or shout
or raise his voice in public.
²⁰ He will not crush the weakest reed
or put out a flickering candle.
Finally he will cause justice to be victorious.
²¹ And his name will be the hope of all the world.”

People! God does not need human permission to be in schools!

Whether public school, Christian school, home-school, or any other time of educational facility (or movie theater, or shopping mall, or army base), there will be trouble/hurt/violence/thingsthatmakeabsolutelynosense! God warns us of this:

John 16:33 "I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

"...BUT TAKE HEART..."

Ah ha! A different promise!

To me, the bottom line is this: I don't believe in a set of rules. I believe & follow a relational Savior, who loved me so much to die a horrific death on a cross by crucifiction! They'll know we're Christians by our love, not our rules... or complaining... or excuses.

 You want more Jesus in schools? BE HIM!