Tongue Tied

A select few of you will appreciate this video. You know who you are. Sigh...I had almost forgotten how much I liked MSR. (If you don't know what MSR is, this will mean nothing to you. Fair warning.) http://erockstudio.net/everything-changes/

Inspired by my pal Jared's blog, I've decided to compile a list of my favorites this past year in the various forms of media. I know you were just dying to know. Sorry I don't have cool graphics like Jared did. Books, fiction: The Mark of the Lion Series by Francine Rivers While I love reading, I admit that I can be a bit put off by a series. I don't like feeling pressure like I HAVE to read this many books. I don't know why, I think it's because I'm extremely lazy by nature. But, after reading everything else by my favorite author, I knew I'd have to bite the bullet and read the much-acclaimed trilogy. Ironically, I had started the first book once before and given up after about 60 pages, but my sister insisted that I at least give it to about page 150. She was sooo right. Never before has fiction affected me in such a way and helped me see my faith in such a light. Anyone who's read these knows that parts are not pretty--there are some very intense...

I openly admit that I am very glad that 2008 is over. Done. Behind me. Gone. It wasn't my favorite year so far. I don't mean to complain or sound bitter, it's just that so much of what happened this year was a trial of some sort. Just about every aspect of my life was challenged in one way or another. Seth and I both lost our grandpas within a week of each other. We faced questions about job security. We dragged around the burden of our growing financial mess. We were forced to adjust to a difficult schedule of Seth working two jobs. We lost relationships. Our parenting decisions were challenged. Our marriage was tested. Oh, and of course the life changing diagnosis of Diabetes. Countless trials. Thousands of tearful prayers. Overwhelming questions. A few of these trials were expected--even old news for us. But I can say there were two that really blindsided me. One was diabetes. We went from being two completely healthy, rarely-using-our-insurance people, to regular doctor...

So, this has been a very surreal few days for me. Full of some major lows, but also incredible lessons that will hopefully keep me out of the mire like this in the future. It's very difficult when someone thinks they have you figured out, and they don't like what they see. All too often, we are so quick to ascribe people motives or ideas that aren't really the case. We see what we want to see, we pick at what we think is a problem, we judge, and we break hearts in the process. I am not immune to this struggle. I have been judged. And I have judged. Double whammy. I'm not really into dramatics. I don't like petty arguments. I loathe heated discussions that are wrapped up in emotions. They never end well. They only make the problem worse. But hating these things doesn't keep me out of these situations sometimes. The other day, I found myself at the point of choosing how to respond to someone who was trying to pick a fight with me. Someone who has hurt me and the o...

I have recently come to a very freeing conclusion. One that has deepened my relationship with the most important parties in my life, namely my heavenly Father, my husband, and my children. My conclusion is simply this: My kids don't have to be perfect. Stating the obvious? Perhaps. But you wouldn't believe some of the ridiculous struggles I've had just because I had some silly notion that my kids weren't meeting certain criteria--keeping up the appearances of a model Christian family. So often, we parent not for our children, but for the people watching. We allow others' notions of acceptable behavior to dictate our standards, our methods, our values, instead of looking only to God's Word for these things. But I'm through with parenting for the masses, with the constant comparisons of my children to others, of pretending to care about things I didn't really care about just so I look acceptable to others. I'll go so far to say that not only do my kids...

Okay, I'm going to get all political. Fun, fun. Truthfully, this post kinda scares me. It's not that I'm ashamed of my beliefs, but with issues termed "political" there's usually the chance of offending someone. I'm not looking forward to any backlash. But this issue was posed to me recently by an acquaintance, and though I'd never given it a huge amount of thought, I promised I would study and blog about my conclusions. The statement I came across was not a new one, but definitely one I did not expect to see from a Christian. The idea was posed that it is hypocritical to claim to be both pro-life and pro-war. That if you value unborn human life as sacred, you should also be as strongly protective of the lives of those affected by a war. Not only that, but that as believers, we should always be against war. Well, before delving into a more spiritual side of the issue, right away, I see errors in accuracy in this statement. The term "pro-life"...

Note: This is a short story I wrote recently in honor of my husband, the love of my life. Purely fiction and romantic fluff. Hope it's not too sappy for ya. It started out as such a good day. My favorite suit fresh from the cleaners. My hair laying exactly right. No traffic on the freeway. Annoying receptionist out sick. My out-box actually more full than my in-box. Not to mention the lavish praise from my boss on my latest project. Nothing like a pat on the back for a job well done to boost the ego and spirits. I probably looked ridiculous, walking back to my office with a big grin on my face, my heels happily tapping on the tiled floor. I was well on my way to that promotion I wanted so dearly. Nothing could ruin this day. And then I saw him. Had I not been so well practiced in wearing high heels I probably would have landed on my backside right then, files flying from my grip and floating down around me as I sat dumbfounded with mouth agape. Thankfully, that didn’t ha...