Dying in the moment

Have you ever had a period in your life when God was working on driving a particular point home? Of course, we should always be growing, maturing, but I'm talking about one of those times when you have the perfect storm, as it were, that opens your eyes to an issue you didn't really see as an issue. I've just had one of those. One of those moments in the rock tumbler, as Rachael Jankovic would call it. My ladies book study group is reading Elizabeth Elliot's Because He Loves Me. It's pushed me a little, but most of it I sort of took as, "I've heard all of this before." I suppose that's where it started. Then we covered women's roles in a sermon at church. That chipped away a bit more. Then I read this article from over at the Femina Girls blog. Ouch. I was getting poked in a sore spot that needs a lot of work.

                                          
Woman and a child on a walk through a forest, a photo by State Library and Archives of Florida on Flickr.

That sore spot has turned out to be quite a surprise for me. When women's roles are talked about, I'm right there with you. When loving your family comes up, I'm all over it. When I read or hear of the cruciform life, I couldn't agree more. But, what I've realized is that I've been lined up in the macro line and I've been simply ignoring the micro line. Let me explain. I get the big picture - the macro. Die to yourself. Love your husband and family. Serve them. Sure. Got it. I love God. I go to church. I had quit my job to stay at home, care for the house & my family's needs, and to home school. I bake and make crafts on top of all of that, for crying out loud! I mean, I get it. I was dying to myself. Now, you would think that a girl with a blog by the name of Eating Elephants (you know...one bite at a time) would not have the problem of missing the trees for the forest, but I did. I wasn't striving to die in the moment.

I haven't been seeing my huffiness over the 3rd spilled cup of juice before 10am as sin. I haven't been considering my lack of self-control in staying on the computer "just 15 more minutes" as a problem. Most of all, I haven't been seeing the little people. My tone. My lack of compassion at times. My not treating childishness differently than willful disobedience. The effect has had dire consequences in those little hearts. That hurts.

God is gracious. Not only has He brought me to the place of recognizing this, but He has been patient with my disobedience. What a loving example. And He brings me here knowing that this is what is best. Knowing that in dying, I'll find a more abundant life. Well back to eating those elephants!

Valentine's Day

So, I decided that the best course of action on Valentine's Day was to pump my kids full of sugar and red dyes before taking them off to a preschool/grade school Valentine Party at the local inflatables joint - amazing idea!

Pink pancakes with strawberries & sugar, chocolate sauce, and PILES of whipped cream.

Yummmmmm...

Our heart-shaped milk ice cubes (We ran out of red food coloring...)

IKEA ice cube trays - tons of fun! I put one drop of food coloring in each heart, filled it with milk, and froze it overnight. I'm not sure I would recommend doing this with a plastic ice cube tray, though.  I had to work pretty hard to get the hearts out of this silicone tray.

And, though a little late, here's an idea for a FREE (don't you love that word?) card or gift for your wife or hubby for next Valentine's Day.

Just use your wedding band in the valley of an open book and a bright source of light.  The shadow makes a heart!

Random fun & a craft

If you don't mind a lot of running around and laughing, this one is a hoot!  They are called Wobble Balls.  If you have kids, you probably already have way too many of the supplies on hand to make them.

I know, they just look like balloons.  Here's what you do. Take about a 1/4 - 1/2 inch ball of clay or 

Play-doh and roll it into a "snake." Put it into the opening of your uninflated balloon. Once it's completely inside, work it back into a ball and blow up & tie off the balloon.  The weight of the clay throws off the center of gravity of the balloon just enough that the thing goes all over the place!

Needless to say, it kept them occupied and happy for a bit!

This was just a fun craft that I wanted to try out from Pinterest. The link originally came from a blog called Cotton and Curls. This blogger claimed that you could cut out a cute design onto freezer paper, then iron the waxy side of the freezer paper onto a shirt. This supposedly sealed the edges of the design tightly enough that you could paint fabric paint onto the shirt with a sponge brush and it wouldn't bleed.  I had my doubts, so I tried it on a shirt that I was planning on donating anyway.

Guess what? It worked! I'm thinking that this may be the perfect remedy for all of the boys shirts that got past me and into the washing machine and dryer and now have stains forever set down the front of them.  I could paint on little ties or mini bodies with their regular-sized heads coming out of the necks! Awesome!

And, well, this was just a random shot, but it made me smile.  I hope it does you, too. Julius saw this and asked me to take a picture.  At first I didn't see it.  The tissue paper ball is making the shadow of a heart on the wall. :)

Pastor Smith's Exhortation 11/9

My Pastor sends out a weekly email to all of our members.  At the end of each email, he gives an exhortation for the week.  I have been to make sure that it was OK with him that I share these exhortations, since they are such a blessing to me.  I just remembered to do that.  I'll be sending out more than one a week to try and "catch up," as it were, and then it should be weekly from there.  I hope that these encourage you as they have me.


"Thinking more about what we learned yesterday, marriage is a good gift of God intended for the joy of those married as well as the fulfillment of the mission given to us in Christ. We are, in our marriages, witnesses of the redeeming power of God who puts our lives back together the way he intended and will do completely in the future. In our marriages we are in, what I believe Luther called, "a school of love." Here we learn how to really love one another; bearing with the weaknesses of one another, encouraging when discouraged, lovingly correcting when correction needs to take place, learning to honor and respect one another. As we love one another in our marriages, like our Triune God himself, our love "spills over" to others outside of our families, bringing them in and teaching us how to love "outsiders." Continue, therefore, to persevere in working on your marriages for the glory of Christ and the advancement of his kingdom."