M to the Izz-A sleeps with sandpaper

Listen, no one's ever accused me of being a foot model.  I've got my dad's feet, which means long and bony and fingers for toes.  And unfortunately for Kate (and maybe Hamp, I can't tell yet) it appears that I've passed that sweet trait on to her. 


But long toes have become the least of my worries.


While I've always been one to get pedicures, that little splurge has recently taken a seat on the back burner.  Being a stay at home mom with two kids has moved a lot of my priorities around, to say the least.  Well, it's looking like I may need to bump that pedicure back up near the top, at least for M to the Izz-A's sake. 


The other night we were joking around and I put my cold feet on him to warm them up a little, and through his laughter he says, "Get those sandpaper feet off of me!"

Oh. no. he. didn't.


But wait.  Yes he did.

Ya'll, I wish you could have seen my face.  Better yet, his face - because at that point, I smashed it between the two nearest pillows.


And since in all reality it's not looking like monthly pedicures are gonna make it back into the budget anytime soon, please share if you know of some excellent foot cream that softens even the highest grade of sandpaper.  Because dang, apparently I could save a carpenter a lot of money just by providing the services of my feet.



On a happier note, I went with my pals to LNO last night and had a blast.

Don't forget to sign up for the giveaway by midnight tonight, if you haven't already!  Winner announced tomorrow!

LNO and a little more

I actually typed up a pretty lengthy post two nights ago but my aggravating loving husband accidentally contributed to it's unplanned deletion.

I had about four paragraphs and was actually doing one of my few and far between serious posts when he comes in from outside holding a pan full of charred ribs. His mother gave him a meat smoker for Christmas and it has become his new passion in life. He's always smoking something and while it helps out with the cooking, I'm starting to get a little tired of arriving at my destinations smelling like I just got off a long lunch-shift at Sonny's BBQ. So as I was finishing up my post he wanted me to look at the burnt mounds of what used to be ribs. I politely told asked him to please wait for one second while I finished up, but he overlooked my request and stuck one in my face, because he's understanding and patient like that. I, of course, being the graceful, calm, and collected person that I am frantically starting flailing my arms and pushed him away.

And that's when I looked down and noticed that every single word on my page had been deleted except for a single little 'a'. I hoped it had been previously saved but had no luck. I got a little frustrated and had no desire to retype it all. So, long story long, that's what happened.

My original post was on being faithful. Over the past couple weeks I've been really thinking about faithfulness and how I want my loved ones (especially Kate) to find me faithful. I want her to think of me as someone who loves the Lord with all my heart, soul, and mind. And not because I just tell her that I do, but because she sees it in me. Some people call it their legacy, as in what type of legacy do you want to leave behind? Thoughts like this have filled my head and heart lately.

It's been said that God speaks to us in echoes, like a repeated theme or topic that somehow keeps coming up. It'll be in your thoughts and then maybe you'll hear a song about, or it will come up again in a conversation with a friend, or a sermon may touch on it. That's happened to me recently. And then last Sunday our music leader sang Steve Green's "Find Us Faithful" during our morning service. It was the perfect song. The lyrics sum up every thought that's been running through my head lately.

Becoming a mother has changed me in ways I didn't really expect. I mean, I totally expected the unfortunate physical changes and even anticipated becoming more emotional (or maybe I should say hormonal?) but it's also made me start caring about the impact I have on others and whether it's positive or negative. To be completely honest, I'm not sure I ever thought of or cared what people would say about me after I was long gone, but now I think about it and realize that it IS important. I want Kate to be proud to have me as her mommy...and not just because I have a unique ability to make most nursery rhymes sound like 80's-style rap songs, or because I let her dump the entire bag of cereal all over the kitchen floor, but because I have a genuine love for the Lord that she sees through my daily living.

So here I am with this goal that seems kind of far away. I mean, I find myself going to God with the same ol' sins. "It's me again God... " And I know I fail miserably at always being faithful. But it is my desire that when I do lack faith, or when I am quick to make the entirely wrong decision, that Kate sees me handle it in prayer and seeking God's guidance. I want to be a living example for her to not only look up but also to learn from because I know that I'll always make mistakes, but it's how I handle them that she's going to be watching.

Rhonda, the host of LNO, talked about several topics last night. And while the majority of the topics are on parenting, I found myself learning about things I need to work on within myself just as much as with Kate. I cannot expect things from Kate before I expect them of myself.

She also spoke about dealing with hard situations (such as job loss, etc) with your children. Use those situations as opportunities for your children to see God at work. "Let's see what God's going to do!" We know that He is working all things for our good. We know it. We just need to believe, accept it, and live it already! Now that is good news! It goes back to having faith. Something I need to continually work on.

Rhonda is part of an online ministry and I found out last night that anyone who wants to tune in and listen to our LNO sessions online can do so just by going to the website! I'm running late this morning (when am I not?!) but will try to post the link today. I am so excited at the thought that some of you may join us next time!

Here's a few of my favorite lyrics from Find Us Faithful:


Let us run the race not only for the prize
But as those who've gone before us
Let us leave to those behind us
The heritage of faithfulness
Passed on through godly lives
Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful
May the fire of our devotion light their way
May the foootprints that we leave
Lead them to believe
And the lives we live inspire them to obey
Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful
After all our hopes and dreams have come and gone
And our children sift through all we've left behind
May the clues that they discover
And the memories they uncover
Become the light that leads them
To the road we each must find



Oh my all who come behind us find us faithful

Where's Waldo? Oh wait. That's me.

L to R: Jobeth, Abbi, Sal Gal, Rhonda, me, Tracey, Kerri

Until morning time

Too late to post tonight
Just got back from LNO
Learned a lot as always
Motivating and inspiring fo sho!
Gonna post about it in the morning
I even snagged a pic!
Now tell me, who can go to a bible study and pull that kind of trick?

LNO: Edition 2

Last night I attended my second Ladies Night Out (LNO) and had an absolutely wonderful time.

The host, Rhonda, talked about several topics related to parenting and living the life God has planned for us. The funny thing is that the part that made the biggest impression on my heart was not one of her main topics, but rather something she just happened to touch on.

When I was pregnant, I always wondered what Kate would be like as she grew up. My friends and I would talk about how we hoped our children would be smart, talented, beautiful, funny, and every other character trait that the world deems as important. And then I realized that what the world sees as important is not always what God sees as important. Lately God has revealed to me (a lot of it through LNO) that more than any of those things I had hoped for her, I want her to have a deep love for the Lord and an unquenchable desire to serve Him.

Rhonda talked about raising our children to be selfless, putting others first. Now that's not to say that we want our children to be taken advantage of nor do we want them to be a push over, but selfless in a way that they have a desire to put others before themselves and to have a serving spirit. In a world full of "it's all about me" (I've even seen that phrase printed on baby onesies), and the fact that we are all born with a selfish nature, I know it's one of the more difficult traits to develop in a child, much less ourselves. It really made me think of who I am as a person and I was broken at the fact that I haven't always acted in the most selfless of ways. I want to be a role model for Kate in so many different ways and being selfless is one of them. I want her to see me putting others before myself and having a genuine desire to help and serve other people.
Easier said than done, I know. I found myself getting a little upset thinking of how I've failed in this area so many times already. The good news is that God is a forgiving God and that he sees our deepest thoughts and loves us just the same.

Rhonda spoke about the importance of teaching our children to rejoice when others are rejoicing and to mourn when they are mourning. And not to judge people based on our own (or others) benchmarks. The best way for our children to learn this is, of course, by seeing us live it. Nothing like a little pressure, huh?

The Lord has also shown me lately that there is a fine line between sarcasm and being judgemental. Saying something we think is funny and light-hearted may indeed be judgement in disguise. And if I'm going to be the selfless, serving, non-judgemental person that God wants me to be, I need to know the difference between the two. I pray that the Lord will keep me aware of this throughout my days.

The past two LNO's have left me feeling inspired, motivated, blessed and broken, all of which I feel are healthy emotions and necessary if we are to grow in Him. I find myself wanting to praise His name and thank Him and at the same time wanting to fall on my knees before Him and ask for forgiveness for my sins and shortcomings as a parent and as a child of God.

I'm learning as I go, and like the childhood song says, "He's still workin' on me."

LNO

Last night I went with two of my friends, Kerri and Jobeth, to a local church's Ladies Night Out (LNO). Rhonda, the sweet lady that hosts it, has six children of her own (she's more of a woman than I'll ever be!)and opens up her home each month for women to meet up and talk about parenting and growing our children up in the Lord.

When Jobeth told me about LNO, I immediately wanted to go. For one, I can use all of the wisdom and parenting advice I can get. And two, it provides me with much needed girl time.

Upon arrival we enjoyed some homemade chicken taco soup. It was heaven in a bowl! And if you know anything about me, you know that I wanted so badly to get a second helping, but refrained so as not to look like the human garbage disposal that I am.

After eating, we gathered into the living room with coffee and dessert and started the night's discussion. We all sat around and talked and listened to Rhonda share what the Lord put upon her heart. It was inspiring and motivating, as well as comforting. She gave me a lot to think about and several ideas that I could start using immediately.

One thing that really stuck in my head was when she talked about how we speak in our home. What do we want the atmosphere to be in our home? Take note of the tone of your voice. Not only soften your tone, but she also noted that we need to 'soften our face'. The look on our face says a lot. The tenseness (or softness) it shows has a lot to do with how other people take what we say.

She also spoke about lightening up and taking time to laugh together. Laughing together builds confidence in our children. Not to mention it just feels good!

There were so many good points discussed about last night and I'm not doing them justice like she did. Everything we discussed could be applied not just to our children, but also to other relationships in our life. One of the most important points was to just pray for God's guidance, listen for his promptings and obey.

I am so thankful that I got the opportunity to attend last night and am looking forward to next month's get together. I learned so much in such a short amount of time and loved being able to share stories and advice with other gals.
Thanks for letting me tag along Jobeth!