A Word Fitly Spoken

"Do what your king commands; you gave a sacred oath of obedience. Don't worryingly second-guess your orders or try to back out when the task is unpleasant. You're serving his pleasure, not yours. The king has the last word. Who dares say to him, 'What are you doing?' Carrying out orders won't hurt you a bit; the wise person obeys promptly and accurately."

(Ecclesiastes 8:2-5, The Message)

Radical

Beginning Tuesday, September 7, I'm going to be joining Marla over at MarlaTaviano.com in an online read-along of the book Radical by David Platt. (Go here to read more about it.) I know it's going to be life changing for a lot of people, and I'm hoping one of them will be me. Have you guys read this book yet? Heard of it? I'm hearing of it everywhere, and I'm taking those repeated hearings-of-it as an indication that I'm supposed to be reading it.

Here's a blurb from the back cover:

WHAT IS JESUS WORTH TO YOU?

It's easy for American Christians to forget how Jesus said his followers would actually live, what their new lifestyle would actually look like. They would, he said, leave behind security, money, convenience, even family for him. They would abandon everything for the gospel. They would take up their crosses daily...

BUT WHO DO YOU KNOW WHO LIVES LIKE THAT? DO YOU?

In Radical, David Platt challenges you to consider with an open heart how we have manipulated the gospel to fit our cultural preferences. He shows what Jesus actually said about being his disciple--then invites you to believe and obey what you have heard. And he tells the dramatic story of what is happening as a "successful" suburban church decides to get serious about the gospel according to Jesus.

Finally, he urges you to join in The Radical Experiment --a one-year journey in authentic discipleship that will transform how you live in a world that desperately needs the Good News Jesus came to bring.

Hear it from Mr. Platt himself:



I would love for you to join me - in the read-along and on the journey.

You could come over and sit on my new furniture, and we could have coffee and read. :)

Did you notice?

Did you see it down there? In the post about the third day of school? I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself!

Can you tell what it is?



New furniture!



I love, love, love it!

If you ever saw our old furniture, you know what a huge deal this is. The old stuff was awful. Hideous. Appalling. It was so bad that I was embarrassed to invite people over to our house, and I always made sure to pose pictures so that it wouldn't show.

We had a couch, a recliner, and an over-sized chair (I think some people call it a chair and a half?). The couch I bought used from a friend at work. THIRTEEN YEARS AGO. And she got it as a hand-me-down. From her grandmother.

The recliner we got used as a hand-me-down from The Mister's mom....who got it as a hand-me-down from her dad. Mister says it was at least 20 years old. All the springs in the seat were broken and there was a big dent in the middle. You couldn't rock in it anymore because something underneath would snap and you would be stuck at the back of the rock and wouldn't be able to get out of the chair.

The chair and a half we got used as a hand-me-down from another friend at work who was going to take it to Goodwill.

Are we pathetic or what? The sum total for all three pieces cost us $50. But hey, they worked. For a long time. Until, well, they just couldn't anymore.

So we searched and we searched and we searched, and then we searched some more. Agh! It was so frustrating. If we found furniture that looked the way we wanted it to, it wasn't comfortable. And all the comfortable furniture was ugly. And then there's the whole agreement factor. Don't even get me started. {It took us a year and a half to pick out our bedroom furniture because we couldn't agree. Good thing neither of us is stubborn or anything. :)}

FINALLY we found this furniture that we liked - and was comfortable - and wouldn't you know it, they were sold out! (they showed it to us on their website after we described what we were looking for) But wait! They could order it from Oklahoma and it would only take a week to get here! Hooray!

And so....we have beautiful new furniture. The first in all our years of marriage. And we love it.

You guys should come over.

School, Day Three

Wednesday morning, 6:45 a.m.

The excitement has definitely worn off. :)

Tiny Talk Tuesday - Back to School edition

Last night The Mister was tucking Jacob into bed and asking him how his first day of school went.

Mister: "What did you do today?"

Jacob: "Rules, rules, rules, rules, lunch, recess, rules, rules, more rules." :)

For more Tiny Talk Tuesday, visit Mary at Not Before 7.

The Traditional Back-to-School Post

I think most public schools in Texas started back today. Kloe was So. Excited. Jacob....not so much. Poor little guy. Last night when I was tucking him into bed, he said, "I don't want to go to school tomorrow. Why can't I just stay home with you?"

Remember this post (see #4)? Maybe someday....

But ready or not....excited or not....back to school we went. (do not be fooled by the feigned exuberance you see on Jacob's face).





Kloe, my big 5th grader, is excited that she gets to change classes this year, sit in "big kid" desks (where the chair is attached), and "rule the school". Isn't she cute in her tie-dye and leopard print? She's definitely coming out of her fashion shell. :)



Jacob is in 2nd grade this year. He was devastated by that haircut - courtesy of Daddy last night. The whole time it was being cut he kept saying, "Not too short, Daddy, ok?" Poor him. He was so very sad when he saw it. Thank goodness hair grows back. When I asked him what was the best part of his day today, he said, "Recess." Second best part? Lunch. :) BUT - when I asked him if there was anything good about any of his classes, he said, "Science." Yay for that!

In fact, he was so excited about science he wanted to race home and start mixing together chemicals for his own private experiments. Ack! Woah, slow down there, buddy. So glad you're excited about science, but let's try something a little, um, safer, shall we? We compromised by mixing together some vinegar, food coloring, and baking soda instead. :)



After school we celebrated the new year at our new favorite place.



Mmmm, blueberry goodness.



It's got to be a good year when you start off with frozen yogurt!

Our Tiny New Friend

Yesterday morning I heard a big ole ruckus (do you like the way I sneaked in - or is it snuck in? - the word of the day...ruckus...from Word Girl?) going on across the hall from my office (which happens to be the women's restroom). (I mean, across the hall happens to be the women's restroom, not my office happens to be the women's restroom). I went out in the hall to investigate, and it turns out the last person into the restroom had been not-so-cordially greeted by a little house gecko, who had been trapped in there for who knows how long (seeing as how it was Monday morning) and was far more scared than his would-be rescuer. (I'm pretty sure that's not a run-on sentence. I double-checked.)

I created my own ruckus by exclaiming, "I want it! I want it!" Not my most refined moment. But my kids have been wanting one for the longest time, and we've never been able to find one. So we captured the little guy, dumped him into a plastic jar, put in a couple of drips of water and a twig of leaves, and snapped the lid shut. He kept me company, scared stiff sitting on my desk all day (him, not me).

The kids were So. Excited. when I picked them up. We left Mr. Gecko at the babysitter's house so he wouldn't bake in the car, then headed to the pet store to pick up a few necessities. Actually, all we bought was a little plastic cage (because the one that used to house our hermit crabs is currently occupied by Kloe's colony of snails) and some mulch for the flooring. It seems little house geckos like to eat crickets, and our friend is so tiny that he has to have some sort of special, miniature variety of crickets, and the pet store was out of them and wouldn't be getting any until today. (that's probably a run-on). The friendly pet store man told us to "just look around the house for some beetles or cockroaches or something". Um, ok.

So we brought our little friend - now affectionately named Sammy - home and got his cage all set up with some sticks, some rocks, and a water bottle cap full of water. We set him on top of a heating pad (per pet store instructions), and The Mister and I proceeded to spend half an hour outside looking for Sammy's dinner. We found not. one. bug. Can you believe it? Not one! Poor little Sammy. Who knows how long it had been since he'd had anything to eat, and now he was going to have to wait another whole day.

Finally, after work today, I went back to the pet store to buy a dozen of the tiniest crickets known to man. They're called "pinhead" crickets, which is presumably a comment on their roughly-as-big-as-the-head-of-a-pin size, and not their intelligence. We rushed home, praying that Sammy was no worse off for his unplanned fast. Much to our relief he seemed fine, but he was oh so happy to see some dinner hopping around.

The pouring of the crickets:


And here's our sweet friend scoping out his prey:


In case you can't quite tell just how tiny he is? He's just about....this big.


Poor little guy, he was starving! I'm pretty sure he ate all but one of the crickets in one sitting. And after he was done, he had a cute little q-tip sized full tummy.

Guess we'll be buying more crickets tomorrow!

Happy Blogoversary to Me!

Five days ago.

Can you believe I missed my own blogoversary? Crazy, isn't it? Guess that's what happens when life is flying at you at the speed of light and you can hardly see straight. Things fly right by without your even noticing.

Thanks so much to all of you who have joined me on this adventure - I'm glad you're along for the ride!

For the Love of Family

I debated back and forth with myself about writing this post. Nothing exciting, not really the greatest of pictures. Nothing much of interest to anyone except our family. But then I realized that that's exactly who this blog is for....our family. I love all the bloggy friends who drop by here to visit, and I love posting things that sometimes are fun for everyone to read, but really the main point is to document the things our family will want to remember in ten years. Or five. Or next month. And so....the post goes on. :)

Last weekend our little family of four traveled to a town a couple of hours away to visit my uncle, who has been in the hospital. Uncle D. fell a few weeks ago and broke his hip, requiring surgery. Although the surgery itself went well, Uncle D. isn't a young man and also isn't in very good health, so many of our extended family traveled from far and wide throughout the week to visit and spend time with him.

We went down for one night and got to spend some time with two of my brothers that we don't see very often. The oldest, Guy, lives in Washington State, and my kids have only met him once before. I'm so glad we had this chance to be with him again.

We spent a lot of time at the hospital, so I didn't take a whole lot of pictures, but we did take a break for a few hours so the kids could play in the pool at the hotel.



And so Daddy could get his exercise.



My brother, Cary, and his favorite nephew. :)


(This picture makes me laugh because Cary looks so serious or grouchy or something. Actually, he's nothing like that at all!)

Kloe, Josephina (her new best friend), me, the always-serious Jacob, and my brother, Guy.



Why is it that so often families who are far apart only get together for a solemn occasion? Why is it that we can't seem to make the time for each other when times are easy and good and less serious? Something's just not right about that....

Show Hope

From the Show Hope website:

Show Hope is a non-profit organization that mobilizes individuals and communities to care for orphans and provide waiting children with families by giving grants to those adopting.

Established in 2003 as Shaohannah’s Hope, Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife, Mary Beth initially founded Show Hope out of their desire to see more children find their way into forever families. Though many families they talked to were willing to adopt, the financial costs to adoption were simply too high.

Originally named after the Chapman’s first adopted daughter, Shaohannah Hope Chapman, Shaohannah’s Hope has grown far beyond the initial vision of helping a few orphans find homes. In 2009, after changing the name to Show Hope, this organization has seen an amazing explosion in growth. From a six-story caring facility in China, equipped to provide surgeries and medical care to special needs orphans, to multiplying the effects of the adoption grant program by assisting churches in setting up their own adoption funds, Show Hope continues to expand its remarkable worldwide impact.

I feel like I really have to say something about the verse quoted in this video. James 1:27 in fact says "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans AND WIDOWS in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." (NIV)

I get frustrated when so often only half of this scripture is quoted by adoption advocates. The verse says to care for orphans AND WIDOWS. And it also says that part of "pure and faultless religion" is to keep [your]self from being polluted by the world. But somehow the "caring for orphans" part is often all that's quoted as qualifying as pure religion that's acceptable to God.

That being said, I love Show Hope. I love their heart, and I believe in what they are doing. And you know that I L.O.V.E. the Chapman family and all that they stand for. Please pause for a moment and consider what part you might be able to play in caring for orphans (and widows!). Ask God. I'm pretty sure He would be happy to give you some ideas. :)

Tiny Talk Tuesday - An Ode to Perseverence

Last night after dinner, Jacob asked me, "Mom, can I have this pack of Smarties?"

I thought he'd had enough sugar for the day, so I said No.

"Just a few?"

No.

"Just three?"

No.

"Two?"

No.

"One?"

No.

"A half of one?"

No.

"Just a crumb?"

NO!

"Can I just lick one?"

Honor the Texas Flag, and other important PTA matters

I love Texas history. Love it, love it, love it. Can't say that I'm actually a great history buff, but I love hearing it, learning it, seeing it. I loved visiting the Alamo when we were in San Antonio for spring break, even though I'd been there several times before. I could spend hours there just looking at all the buildings, the replicas, the artifacts. Oh wait.....we did spend hours there. :)

[By the way, "Honor the Texas Flag" is part of the pledge to the Texas Flag. I only know this from being in PTA. I'm curious how many other states have their own pledge? I could look it up on Google, but it would be more fun to hear from my bloggy friends! I know we have at least 5 other states represented here in my little corner of the blogosphere, so come on, do share!]

So, considering my great love of our great state, wrapping up our trip to the State PTA Convention in Austin last weekend with a stop at the state capitol was simply dreamy for me (weirdo). After we made it through security that was only slightly less rigorous than the airport, we saw a sign that said "Capitol tours. Next tour starts at 1:45." It was 1:25, so we did a little touring around by ourselves and got back to the front at about 1:43. Then, all the ladies I was with were ready to leave! What? What? We came all this way and waited all this time (all 20 minutes) and we're not going on the tour??

Sensing my hysteria disappointment, they were kind enough to offer me a compromise. Two from our group left to go pick up lunch for all of us, and I and my friend Jen stayed for the tour. And would you like to guess what happened?

I got kicked out of the tour! ME! The one who wanted to go on the tour in the first place! Me - the lover of Texas history. Me - the one who got teary-eyed just taking pictures of the capitol building!

(On a side note, I did have to look up the definition of capital vs. capitol. My English teacher would be horrified. Seems the "a" version refers to the city or town that is the seat of government. The "o" version refers to the actual building. Hmm, who knew? Well, you did, probably.)

Apparently there's some rule that you can't answer your cell phone inside the Senate chambers, or something ridiculous like that. Even when the rest of your party is calling to ask what you want them to order for you at Pizza Hut. Even when there are already dozens of people in the room talking, and it's nothing even close to resembling quiet or reverent like the Alamo would be. Rules schmules. whatever.

And besides, they didn't have to be so rude about kicking me out. Hmph.

I can't talk about it right now. Please enjoy these pictures knowing the sacrifice that was made to get them for you.





As for the rest of our trip....

I had my head stuffed with bucket loads of fabulous info that will be of great value to me both in the coming school year, and also in parenting my own kids.

Got to spend some time with these wonderful ladies - my fellow officers for this year - and get to know them each a little better.



Thoroughly enjoyed my first time eating at this wonderful place. Yummm!


{don't worry....just lemonade :) }

I also got to experience my very first time eating at The Melting Pot. (Forgot my camera though. Bummer.) It was so fun! And delicious, too. But oh my gracious, that place is expensive! That may have been my one and only time to ever eat there!

Got to see the site where some disgruntled man crashed his airplane into an IRS building last February. Really, aren't we all a little disgruntled at the IRS sometimes? And we don't go crashing planes into buildings about it.



We tried out some new fashions.



(Actually these are not my feet, but all of us bought these cute "sleeves" in our local high school's colors to wear to the football games this fall. They're supposed to be sleeves, not a comeback of leg warmers - although I hear those actually are coming back - but aren't they cute? And would you believe....I actually saw a display of these JUST LIKE THIS PHOTO, with flip-flops and all, in Dillard's this weekend! Aren't we just the PTA fashionistas?)

And, to wrap things up, I thought I'd share with you the view out our windows as we drove home.



What? You don't love the view? Not beautiful, you say? Boring, you say? Ahhh, but just look at that sky. We have such great sky here! Makes for enormous, breathtaking sunrises and sunsets. I love it. And see that green stuff in the photo? That's cotton. There are miles and miles and miles (and more miles) of cotton fields in this part of the country. So beautiful. I love that, too.

We had so much fun, learned so much great information, and ate so much wonderful food. And I was SO glad to get home!