The incoherence continues

I ran across this post today over at My Crazy Adoption, and I felt like I'd fallen into a breach in the space-time continuum, where time stood still and I sat frozen to my chair, unable to breathe or move or speak. I sat there for what seemed like hours, reading all of her mission trip posts, following links to the blogs of people who've been on her teams in the past, looking at pictures, reading testimonials. Actually, I don't remember what it was that caught my attention first, or what it was that lead me from one thing to another to another, but what I do remember is Kari saying this:

I waited 42 years before I went on my first missions trip. I had yearned, and dreamed, and prayed for years, but never had the courage to really go! I LOVE kids and love traveling… why did it take me so long to go on a missions trip? I hate to admit this, but I was intimidated and it was never convenient for me to go. I’m a stay at home mom and the timing just never seemed right for me. My hubby was supportive, but not in a “do it now” kind of way. I always had an excuse. The money was usually my down fall.... I prayed and prayed that God would give me a creative idea. I pushed my old fears down and moved forward with a plan.

If your heart is stirring, don’t wait – start the ball rolling, especially if you feel excitement and joy and yearning when you read our itinerary.

Here’s 3 Crazy Reasons why you should come with me to Ethiopia & Uganda:

1.Orphans desperately need you to come and simply love them. BASICALLY Haiti is happening to children all over this world….the media is just not covering it. They lose their parents suddenly to HIV, malaria, malnutrition, starvation and other horrific ends to a life. Or, they are traumatized as they are just abandoned and left with a feeling of worthlessness, feeling forgotten and not knowing the consistent love of a parent or anyone else. Some orphans never even get to see outside of the building of their orphanage. Orphans in this world, unless visited by God’s people, will not know their Savior as their Abba Daddy. He is their Father and He is the only one who in our absence can give them the consistent love they were created to receive. If we don’t go…who will go for us?

2.Lose some weight with me. Are you loaded down with the weight of mommyhood? The busyness of your life as a mom - the comfortable, conveniences of structure, playdates, Target runs, carpools, sports events… well, mission trips do a great job at shaking things up and forcing you to let go and serve out of your comfort zone.

3.Be part of a God-Inspired Adventure - this means doing something RADICAL (emphasis mine God's), out of the normal, daily routine we get stuck in as moms. You get to see God work in others lives and in your own life on a mission trip.

If you are on the fence, trying to make every mommy detail perfect before you make the decision to go, I challenge you to jump down and pray forward. ...I promise you that this trip will change your life. Your family will benefit from you doing something soooo RADICAL (emphasis mine God's)… you’ll be a crazier mom!

When I read that word - you know, the big, bold, blue one up there - I felt like my eyes were somehow melded to it and couldn't move forward. I'd try reading on, but my eyes just kept going back to that word over and over and over. Remember in the final scene of Sleepless in Seattle how Annie just keeps looking over at Sam again and again, like she's trying to look away but just can't? Yeah, like that.

And then. And then....I followed one of the links on Kari's blog (can't remember to where, but I think maybe it might have been to this blog), and read these words, "I just finished reading Radical by David Platt...." Ugh.

Later today I was thinking about my wardrobe for the cruise, and trying to plan what I need to buy and what I need to take for each occasion, and all of a sudden I realized that I wasn't planning clothes for different aspects of the cruise, I was trying to figure out what clothes I would need for different aspects of a trip to Uganda.

I am seriously messed up.

No Ordinary Family Night

We were having a hard time scheduling Family Night this week. Lots going on. We planned it for Monday, but life got in the way and we didn't get started early enough. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday nights already had plans, so it looked like Tuesday was our only option unless we wanted to wait until next week....which will be even busier.

Tuesday, however, was the long-awaited and much-anticipated premier of the new series, No Ordinary Family. (Which, in 20-20 hindsight, turned out to be not such a wholesome, family friendly event. ahem. Live and learn.) Some in our family had been waiting weeks for this premier and couldn't bear the thought of missing it. Hmmm, what to do?

No Ordinary Family?

or Family Night?

No Ordinary Family?

Family Night?

HEY....

And so was born....No Ordinary Family Night.

No craft. No themed dinner. No decorations. No scavenger hunt (gasp!). Instead, we each took turns showing off our super powers (did you watch the show?), and challenging the others to try it. :) Then we watched the premier. Not fancy, but fun and laugh-filled. At the end of the night Jacob said, "That's it? That's all we're doing? This isn't like our other family nights."

Nope. It was definitely No Ordinary Family Night.

Daddy started off the Feats of Strength with one-armed pushups.



We all aced that one (ha), so he upped the ante with one-eyebrow pushups.



Pretty clear Mom came in last on that one.

Next it was Kloe's turn, with her death-defying hula-hoop stunt.




Apparently I can't hula-hoop either. Mom's not doing so well.

And, um, Daddy's "jump roping your own leg" feat? We're not even going there.



This was Jacob when it was his turn to challenge the family....



So we gave another turn to Daddy, who is a semi-expert juggler.


(it looks like Kloe has a ball stuck in her teeth)

And for my turn? Oh...um...well...ah...since I seem to have no recognizable talents that we've been able to identify (I can 10-key with the best of 'em, but you know, that's not cool), I chose to do the only thing I could think of that my family might not be able to copy - a flashback to my sorority girl days - saying the Greek alphabet before a lit match burned my fingers. Yep, I won that one. Since no one else in the family is allowed to play with matches, and all.



Oooooo, I'm good. :)



We topped off the evening with No Ordinary Brownies. Actually they were very ordinary. From a box. But still extraordinarily yummy. :)

My half-brother, Brandon

Isn't he cute? NFL Redzone commercial on Dish Network.



Now you can say you know somebody famous. Almost. You almost know somebody who's almost famous. :)

Fashionista

Yep, this is what she wore to school today. :)

Guess where we've been?

What...? Hills? I don't think we're in West Texas anymore, Toto.



Look at this sky. Isn't it so, so beautiful? Almost looks like an oil painting. God's amazing canvas....



Any guesses....?





Yay! Our trip to Schlitterbahn!

We had so. much. fun. Even though it rained off and on all day (we were wet anyway). And even though the water was FREE-ZING (we didn't really ever have to be submerged in it). And even though Jacob hated probably half the day (he just wanted to swim....sound familiar?) We still had a fabulous time, and I'm so thankful we got to go.

We got to eat at this very fun (and very yummy!) place.



And the next night we had our first experience with the cutest, funnest (is that a word?) little town I've ever seen. Ever. Gruene, TX. Cute, cute little German town, with lots of shops, people walking everywhere, fun entertainment district with little white lights strung everywhere. We ate at the Gristmill, where there is seating outside right on the river (think much more au natural than the river walk), or you can sit inside (where we did) next to the giant, floor-to-ceiling windows that fold open and make it feel like you're sitting outside. Right in the trees. We did miss Casa Rio (again! can you even believe it?), but I loved Gruene.



And on the way home? It was like deja vu all over again....







I so love the architecture in our state capitol.





The end.



P.S. And just for the record, this sign says nothing about cell phones. So there.

Radical, Ch. 1

I actually wrote this post last week, but never published it because I couldn't quite seem to get it to say what I wanted it to. But after writing and rewriting, and typing and deleting and trying again, I decided I'm probably never going to get it to sound just right, so I'm publishing it anyway. So here goes.

In my own little world it hardly ever rains.
I've never gone hungry, always felt safe.
I got some money in my pocket, shoes on my feet,
In my own little world, population: me.

I try to stay awake during Sunday morning church;
I throw a twenty in the plate, but I never give 'til it hurts.
And I turn off the news when I don't like what I see.
Yeah, it's easy to do when it's population: me.

What if there's a bigger picture?
What if I'm missing out?
What if there's a greater purpose
I could be living right now,
Outside my own little world?

Stopped at a red light, looked out my window.
I saw a cardboard sign said, "Help this homeless widow,"
And just above that sign was the face of a human.
I thought to myself, God, what have I been doing?

So I rolled down the window and I looked her in the eye.
Oh, how many times have I just passed her by?
I gave her some money, then I drove on through
And my own little world reached population: two.

What if there's a bigger picture?
What if I'm missing out?
What if there's a greater purpose
I could be living right now,
Outside my own little world?
My own little world.

Father, break my heart for what breaks Yours.
Give me open hands and open doors.
Put Your light in my eyes and let me see
That my own little world is not about me.

What if there's a bigger picture?
What if I'm missing out?
What if there's a greater purpose
That I could be living right now?
I don't want to miss what matters,
I wanna be reaching out.
Show me the greater purpose
So I can start living right now.
Outside my own little world.
My Own Little World by Matthew West

My brain is mush.

I've been putting off writing this post about the first chapter of David Platt's book, Radical, because I can't seem to form a coherent thought about it.

This is so much what I have been feeling God pulling me toward (the concept, not the book) for the past few years -- but haven't been able to put into words -- that all I have been able to find myself doing is shouting, "YES! EXACTLY!" (ok, not shouting) and alternately whimpering, "Oh, Jesus, help me."

See? Still not a coherent thought.

Remember all of these posts? It's been almost two years ago that I began hearing God whisper to me, "Do something." It's been even longer ago that I began to feel uneasy with the disconnect I was seeing between going to church and being the church. I've been talking to my sweet friend, Ashley, about it for longer than I can remember, and it seems like I'm always saying, "I don't know what it is. I can't put my finger on it. I don't know what to DO. Maybe it's just me."

And I opened this book, and there it was in black and white.

This is it. This is what I've been trying to put my finger on, and David Platt has put his finger right smack on it. I'm ready to stop just going to church and start being the church. I want to stop deluding myself by being only a hearer of the Word, and start being a doer (James 1:22). I want to stop merely saying I have faith, and start showing it by my actions (James 2:14). I'm ready to be done with the pretty, Americanized version of church, and be the body of Christ.

I desperately want to learn to offer my life as a living sacrifice, to GO and DO and GIVE and SERVE. But here's the rub. Here's the question David Platt is asking us to consider. And the one I really don't want to think about. Am I willing to give it all? Really, am I willing to literally lay down my life - to walk away from anything and everything I know - to follow Jesus? That's what the disciples did. They left their homes, their jobs, their families, their communities....everything that was familiar and comfortable and secure. Jesus called them to abandon their plans, their dreams, their possessions....and ultimately, themselves (paraphrased from p. 12). Do I want to serve Jesus that much?

Ok. Well. When you put it that way, um, probably not so much.

I was feeling all goody-goody about myself for all of my great desire to do something grand and self-sacrificing for God (how's that for hypocritical?), and then I read Ali's post about chapter one from the read-along. (Thanks, Ali. I needed to hear what you had to say.) I reallyreallyreally wanted to shamelessly shamefully copy the whole thing right here into my blog. Because Oh.My.GOSH. did she ever hit my big fat nail right on it's big fat head. But I know that's not nice bloggy etiquette - even if I gave her full credit - and so I'm just going to ask you to click on over there and read her amazing post. Please. Go ahead. Go now. I'll wait for you.

Did you go? In my not-able-to-form-a-coherent-thought confusion, let me just say ditto.

So.

Even though my Africa dream is a little bit different....handing out food in a food line, or helping build a clinic or a school....the basic premise is the same. I've realized it's really more about me than it is about Jesus. It's all about me. What I want to do for God. Where I want to go. How I want to help. Me me me. Gag.

Jesus, forgive me. I am so sorry that I've taken Your call to feed the poor and to serve those in need, to be Your hands and feet to a hurting, lonely, dying world, and turned it into a big fat freak show all about me. I'm so sorry. Please help me. I want to learn what it means to love You with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love my neighbor as myself. I want to love You so much that I'm willing to take up my cross daily and follow You. I pray that You would become greater, and I would become less, until it's all about You. I DO want to be Your hands and feet, to BE the church and not just play church. I want to be different. Create in me a clean heart, Oh God, and renew a right spirit within me.

Want me to buy some lottery tickets for you?

I'm so excited - it's only 32 more days until I leave for my cruise. Can't even believe I WON IT for free! Free....except for plane tickets, and ground transportation, and hotel, and shore excursions, and a passport, and spending money, and an on-board beverage card. (um, that would be for carbonated beverages, not alcoholic beverages) But you know, mostly free. My mom is going with me (it is all girls, ya know), and we leave on October 13. Thank goodness it's a Wednesday and not a Friday. I'm not superstitious or anything, but I'm just sayin'.

On a different but related note, I usually listen to our local Christian radio station as I'm getting ready for work in the mornings. All summer long, a day or two each week, they would give away tickets to Schlitterbahn. You could always tell when the giveaway was coming because they would play a Schlitterbahn commercial first, then do the giveaway. Every time, I would somehow space out on the commercial, and when they would say, "We're giving away 4 tickets to Schlitterbahn. We'll take caller #4," my phone was always in the other room and I would think, "Crud! I missed it again."

One day about a month ago, I actually noticed when the commercial was on and ran to get my phone. When they announced that caller #2 would be the winner, I dialed and got a busy signal. I thought with the winner being #2, that by the time I dialed again I surely would miss it, but what the heck - I tried again anyway. And gues what? I WON! Can you even believe it? Two trips within a month of each other! AND - one of them to my very favorite place in the world (no, I don't get out much). And this time we are SO going to Casa Rio.

When I told my cousin I won Schlitterbahn tickets (he already knew about the cruise), he jokingly asked me if I would buy him some lotterty tickets. He said, "Man, you win everything!" That got me to thinking.....I actually have won more than my fair share of fun prizes recently.

In the past year and a half, I've won:

• a year's subscription to 3 family devotional magazines and a t-shirt from D6 Ministries


• a Memorial Box from Linny at A Place Called Simplicity


• 1/2 off corrective laser eye surgery (Oh, how I would LOVE to do that! Unfortunately, even at half off it's not in our price range.)


• a cruise


• 4 tickets to Schlitterbahn


• and most recently, this fabulous cookbook from Meal Planning Magic

Oh, and for San Antonio? A friend of mine gave us his Marriott Rewards points, so our hotel will be free too! So fun! I'm wondering if maybe I should reconsider my stance against playing the lottery. :)

Y2K and Y2010

Anyone remember Y2K?

Remember the hype, the scare tactics, the impending doom? Remember how the world's food supply was supposed to be cut off by failing computers in the food delivery systems? How the stock market and world banks were going to crash, planes and trains were going to crash, computers around the world were going to crash....yada yada yada. Anyone besides me sit up on New Year's Eve, watching the news and waiting to hear about all the disasters?

Well, we all know that none of that happened. Y2K (in and of itself) didn't bring disasters or shut-downs or famines. No doom, no gloom. Instead, this is what Y2K brought to us....

(Ok, I know photos of photos are stinky. Sorry, we don't have a scanner. Sorry too about the bright spot from the overhead light.....but you can still see how cute she is, right? Just look at those cheeks! Don't you just wanna squeeze 'em?)

(6 months / 1 year)


(2 years / 3 years)


(4 years / 5 years)

And now our Y2K baby looks like this....





Ten years old.

TEN.

TEN.

Seriously, how does that happen? 'Cause seriously, I don't know how TEN WHOLE YEARS have flown past me in a mind-numbing blur. The blink of an eye. A whirlwind. Are there any other metaphors I missed? 'Cause I just don't feel that three can adequately express my stunnedness (yes, I just made up that word to complement my metaphors).

And so.

In honor of the monumentous (apparently I just made up that word, too) occasion of the passing of a decade, and against my better judgement, I caved happily agreed to let Kloe host her first sleepover (formerly known as a slumber party, to those of us you in the over-35 crowd).

I am an introvert to the core, even in the company of 10-year-old girls, so this was quite a stretch for me. I only panicked a little bit when the girls went out in the backyard, then all stood around staring at each other not knowing what to say or do. Thankfully, that didn't last too long, and by the time we were ready to eat they were all getting along famously - just like, well, a bunch of giggly 10-year-old girls.



I made sure we had lots of activities planned to keep them busy, but pretty much as soon as we were done painting and decorating wooden letters for their initials, it was heavily suggested to me that I leave them alone so they could do their own thing. Ahem. Well, ok then.

And so there are no pictures of the rest of the evening.

Except for the ones of them sleeping. But we won't talk about those. They're not pretty. Perfect ammunition for future embarrassment.

Later in the evening while the girls watched a movie and ate bags and bags of popcorn, I made the cake.s. Cakes. Two. One chocolate and one vanilla. And also made my first attempt at using fondant. It turned out pretty cute, don't you think?



And if that wasn't enough stress for one birthday, we also had a regular party the next day at the place where Kloe takes gymnastics.





Take-out pizza, a really cute cake, individual servings of ice cream, and someone else to organize the kids....now that's my kind of birthday party. :)

Last but not least, I would be remiss if I didn't introduce you to Josephina, Kloe's new best American Girl friend. (Thank you, Grandma.)

Josie, meet bloggy friends. Bloggy friends, Josie.



Josephina took the party as an opportunity to shed her traditional, historical New Mexican attire for a little 50's flare.

She's obviously not intimidated by six 10-year-old girls.