Archive for March, 2010
What I Learned this Week
- My family could survive in a two-room apartment, if absolutely necessary. It would take some adjustment for us to do it happily, but we could do it.
- People can survive just about anything when they know it’s temporary. Think about labor. It’s deathly frightening until you remember that the kid will eventually come out and all the pain will come to an end.
- When two dressers, an armoire and a secretary desk reside in my kitchen, my family eats a lot of take-out.
- Empty rooms make great singing spots.
- Kids love to cuddle when their mamas sing in great singing spots.
- When a floor refinishing company advertises “virtually dust-free,” it means there will still be plenty of dust, but probably less than usually accumulates in my house between dustings. (That may say more about how often I dust than anything else.)
- Nothing is ever “odor-free” if it requires four hours of drying time.
- Considering #6, pay close attention to the weather when scheduling these things. It’s not easy to air out a house when it’s 40 degrees.
- If you must stay out of your house for hours at a time, it is almost guaranteed that THAT will be the day your kids want only to be at home.
- Don’t wait too long to do home improvements. I wish we had re-done these floors years ago. They look SO MUCH BETTER!!! It is definitely worth the price.
3 comments March 30, 2010
Read with Me Check-In
Hey, people! How are we doing? I must admit I didn’t read my Bible this week. I was almost caught up in one of the books last week and making great strides toward catching up in the others. Then this week happened and I got nowhere fast.
The problem isn’t that I didn’t have time to read; it’s that I read other things. This reminds me of a Lenten quote I read recently:
“Lent isn’t about what you give up; it’s about what you make time for.”
The same is true of fasting and simple daily priorities. There is no reason I can’t read my Bible more, if I really want to. So, do I want to? Too often I choose to read a novel or blogs or other less important things instead. What does that say about my priorities? It matters not what I sacrifice, only what I make time for.
So I’ll not ask who is caught up with their schedules. Some of you are doing the 90-day challenge, so if you’ve kept up, you’re nearly done! But I don’t really care how many boxes we’ve checked off. I just want to know if you’re still reading, if you’re deliberate about your time and making room for God’s Word.
For the next two weeks, our check-in will be on different blogs. My life is a little crazy and I GREATLY appreciate these ladies who have volunteered to help out. THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
Rachel offered to take next Friday (Good Friday). Rachel, can you get us your blog? For some reason I don’t have you on my list! 
The week after that (April 9th) you can check in at Becca’s blog: This Crazy Life.
THANKS, again, ladies!!
5 comments March 26, 2010
Because some things are just that important.
You may remember a couple months back when I did a little experiment with pans. I wanted to find the best and hence bought several different kinds to try out for a week before deciding which I really, really liked and wanted to keep and buy more of. Read about the winner HERE. Read about our recent conversation below.
Keep in mind, I am a lover of gadgets — kitchen, craft or otherwise — while my husband is a lover of open-spaces, empty shelves and versatile tools.
~~~~~
Rick: “I thought you hated this pan.”
Me: “I do.”
Rick: “Then why do we still have it?”
Me: “Because I like the way it cooks bacon.”
Rick: “We have an entire cabinet full of pans, but we keep this huge one, which you hate, just for bacon?”
Me: “Yes.”
Rick: “I have no problem with that.”
~~~~~
Could it be that the key to a healthy marriage is an equal love of bacon?
7 comments March 24, 2010
Chaos, meet Stress. Now multiply.
God is good, always and forever. Of this I have no doubt. I know fully that He is in control, and I praise Him hourly for that truth. But even living in the knowledge of that truth, life can be chaotic. Oh. My. I don’t want to focus on the insanity of my week and the weeks to come, but I do want to give you a quick update — and explanation of my absence.
I also want to ask for some help.
Update first. Within the past week, my emotions have run the gamut of extreme discouragement to unbelievable high and utter exhaustion. We eliminated several options from our list of potential new homes, started to fall in love with our current house again and then found a house that we LOVE only to discover we may not be able to have it.
The house is PERFECT. Beyond perfect. And on the lower end of our range, so we’re thrilled with that, but they’re not accepting any contingent offers and (needless to say) we’ve not yet sold our house yet, so we can’t make an offer yet. On top of that, they’ve already received two offers, but haven’t accepted either yet. But that’s not what worries me. We discovered that the family is selling because of divorce. This thoroughly breaks my heart. I’ve actually spent more time this weekend praying for their marriage than I have praying that we would get the house. In all honesty, I would rather have their family restored and we live in a dumpy place, than to see another family (whose bookcases were lined with Bibles) torn apart. Three kids … Oh, it just saddens me so!
Saturday morning we cleaned like mad for a house showing. (Remember the possible for-sale-by-owner family?) The minute they left, we got to work deconstructing our first floor. You see, our hardwood needs to be refinished before we list. In order for them to refinish the floors (on Wednesday) we need to have everything out of there: all the furniture, draperies, nicknacks, books … EVERYTHING from the living room, master bedroom and dining room. It has all been tucked Tetris-style into our kitchen, basement and garage. Rick and I have taken Ellie’s room hostage while the kids fight over who gets to sleep on the floor in Zach’s room. (I’m really not sure why we bought him a bed. They both would rather camp out on air mattresses!) After we moved all the furniture, we then stripped the carpet from the bedroom. (PRAISE GOD the hardwood underneath is in good condition!!) We visited two more houses then drove down to Philadelphia to pick up the kids. (My mother-in-law, being the amazing woman that she is, kept the kids for the night so we could work quickly without pinching fingers, toes or hearts.)
Today is Monday and I am wiped out.
Here is where I need your help.
- Pray for me. And my husband and our marriage and our kids and all of that. I told Rick this weekend that I’m so grateful for him and the strength of our marriage because stuff like this seeps into the tiniest cracks and can create massive damage. I don’t want any cracks. So far we’re doing great, but the Enemy loves us to boast about things like that. He sees it as opportunity. So, yes, I covet your prayers.
- Be patient with the blog. I have so much to say, but very little time to write these days! I promise to post when I can, but I offer no guarantee of regularity in the next couple weeks.
- Read with Me girls: Anyone want to take a Friday Check-in post?? I would love to spread this out, at least for the next couple weeks. I’m still reading — in fact, I’m almost caught up in the New Testament! — but I’ve not been able to post our regular check-ins on Friday mornings. Can you take a week for me? Let me know when and I’ll post a schedule so people know where to go. I don’t want our group to fall apart. We’ve come far together and we’ll only complete it if we stay together!
That’s all I have time for right now. Like I said, I have much more to say and I hope to share it with you all soon. Is it weird to say I miss people who live in my computer? Is it too late to worry about how weird you think I am?
Have a nice day.
6 comments March 22, 2010
Adventures in Real Estate
Not long ago I told you we would soon begin a new adventure: selling our home and finding a new one.
This is our first house. We’ve been here six years. It has served us very well and we like it, but it’s time to move on. The kids keep getting bigger (in direct violation of my instructions). We had never intended to stay here forever anyway. We bought this as a starter home and are ready for a — what do you call the next one? A “settler’s home?”
That sounds a little too pioneer-ish for me. I am no Laura Ingalls. I’m more like the nice version of Nellie, but after she moved back to the city with her husband. What was his name? It doesn’t matter. My in-laws are light years better than hers. Remember the yelling? Ugh! Of course, this relates to the show and not at all to the books. The real Nellie never was nice. Maybe I am Laura, but only after she became an author and moved to the city. Hmm … This is what you call a ridiculous, irrelevant tangent.
If anyone can tell me what the next house is called, I’ll give you a prize.
So last week we had the realtors (Yes, plural. We have a team working for us.) to assess our house. It’s a two-part process. First they come and tour the house, asking a million questions and making a few suggestions. About a week later they return with a massive portfolio filled with all kinds of info about your neighborhood, your competition, what they’ll do for you, and what they think you should list your house for.
In between Part 1 and Part 2, we had some adventures. If this is just the beginning, I’m really not sure how I’ll survive this! Sit down; I’ll tell you a story, hopefully without any more of those awkward tangents.
A friend expressed interest in the house. This is fantastic because we could do a for-sale-by-owner which would save us the realtor fees and commissions. This friend and his wife were supposed to come on Saturday. (Part 1 had taken place Tuesday afternoon; Part 2 was scheduled for Monday morning.) We worked like crazy nearly killing each other and our marriage in perfect harmony to make sure the house looked better than usual its best. Meanwhile, the weather was insane! (You may have seen the storm covered on Nightly News or other worthy reports. Some local schools STILL have no power, four days later. It feels like driving through the aftermath of a tornado. Really nuts.) Just before our friends were due to arrive, Ellie came downstairs very excited about something: “There’s water in my room, Daddy! Come look!”
Now, our roof is fine. Absolutely fine! We’ve had it checked. But there is an attic vent just above the girl’s room that, when high winds combine with torrential rain (once every three years), water goes up the vent instead of down and then she gets a few drops in one tiny spot. Regardless, we do NOT want to show the house with buckets on the floor. Doesn’t quite make the best impression.
Fortunately for us, the storm was so bad that our friends never made it. The highway was closed due to downed wires, trees and flooding, so they made it out of the city just in time to turn around and go back to Manhattan. That was Saturday.
On Sunday we made a list of the open houses we wanted to visit, four in total.
The first two had no electricity.
The third one needed way more work than we can afford.
The forth one (the one that most interested us) looked like this:
Oh, you can’t see it? That’s because there is a GIANT TREE on top of it!!!
Here’s another angle:
They say there’s no damage to the house and once they get the tree removed, they’ll be happy to show it to us. They’re actually thrilled with this development because it will allow more natural light into the library.
TANGENT ALERT: Did you hear that? LIBRARY. It sounds so cool, doesn’t it? “I’ll take my tea in the li-brary, please.” I get giddy just thinking about it. Currently the Dennis Library consists of several boxes and two tall bookcases lining the garage and our upstairs bathroom, so any place that can store our books within actual living space (without needing nice-smelling candles) would be a delightful step-up. So, now, if they could only get that tree off the library …
We came home determined to laugh about it, thank God it wasn’t on our insurance and try again the next day.
The next day, however, was Monday. Monday brought with it all new adventures: the meeting with the realtors.
The meeting went very well. I desperately wanted to pray, but remembered that I was not at church or the kids’ school and therefore not exactly with like-minded Christians. While prayer would have been great, Rick agreed that it was a little too early to pull out the Jesus Freak membership card while trying to get these people to work for us. After initialing a dozen spots, selecting at least four important dates, and signing several papers, I joyfully walked them out before starting to pace and pray and hyperventilate just a little.
That was when my adoring, oh-so-compassionate husband decided to pontificate a few scenarios. “You know, babe, we really don’t have to move. This is a very nice house and if we don’t have any more kids, this works great.”
I glared at him smiled timidly. “What’s that, sweetheart?”
“What do you think? Should we have a third?”
Have you seen My Cousin Vinny? I would post a clip, but the language is deplorable, so you’ll just have to remember the scene at the cabin when Marisa Tomei stomps her foot while mentioning her biological clock. “Is there anything else we can pile on the top of this pressure cooker?!??”
Yeah. That was me on Monday.
After getting me a sandwich bag, a bowl, and carefully walking me to the open front door to get some air, Rick admitted it might have been a bad time to bring it up.
This is going to be a fun adventure.
11 comments March 17, 2010
Read with Me Check-In
Before I ask about checked boxes, I would like to ask for your prayers. My uncle died yesterday. There are some unusual circumstances due to his beliefs and the past, and I don’t want to get into those details. I only want say that we would greatly appreciate prayer, especially for my mom and my uncle’s family. Thanks.
Wow. It’s almost the Ides of March. This year is flying, isn’t it? We’ve traded our snow storms for rain showers. I can hardly wait for those first tulips to pop through the ground.
So, how is everyone doing? I am very excited to say that I am almost caught up in the New Testament! I’ve been trying to read at least two assignments each day so that I can get back on track. I’m feeling good. I’m still behind, but I’m confident in my progress.
How about you? Tell me how it’s going, what you’re learning and any tricks you have for reading consistency.
If you aren’t sure what the “Read with Me” challenge is, check out this link. You can also go there for a list of who is participating.
7 comments March 13, 2010
The one who’ll have me
Any LOST fans out there?
Rick and I have been avid fans since the first episode. We even got into the mythology of the whole thing, tracking our notes and mapping the island and … yeah, we were a bit obsessed. We’re normal now. We tivo the show so we can watch it without commercials, but we only watch it once each week and never in slow motion anymore. This is progress. (I may have shared too much. Please don’t think I’m crazy.)
A number of people have written about the theology of LOST. While obvious parallels exist, I do not believe the writers and creators of the show intend this to be an allegory of anything spiritual. It’s a sci-fi drama intended for entertainment. That’s it.
On the other hand, God can use anything to make Himself known and glorified.
If you’re a fan, feel free to skip the next paragraph while I recap for those who don’t watch every week.
The Island has been ruled by two supernatural characters: Jacob, the good guy who protects the Island and believes people are free to make choices, and an unnamed character, the bad guy who can present himself in different forms, either the body of a dead person or an ominous cloud of black smoke. He believes people are inherently evil and manipulates them to get his way, a way that ultimately seeks the destruction of Jacob and the Island. Benjamin Linus is one such manipulated character. After following and obeying Jacob for years, Ben feels betrayed and kills Jacob at the prodding of the Unnamed. Once Jacob, the protector of the Island, is dead, no one is safe. The Unnamed goes on a rampage killing anyone who refuses to follow him.
In this week’s episode, Jacob’s adopted daughter discovers that Ben is the one responsible for his death. She initially intends to kill Ben in revenge. The Unnamed appears to Ben and promises him freedom if he will only follow him. Ben escapes into the jungle, but is followed by Jacob’s daughter. There he explains to her why he killed Jacob and why he plans to go to the Unnamed (whom he calls “Locke”).* In an emotionally saturated scene Ben acknowledges his total depravity then in the same breath admits his longing to belong. He desperately wants to be accepted by someone, anyone. Yet knowing how he has wronged almost everyone else, he sees only two options: death or surrender to evil Unnamed.
“He’s the only one who’ll have me,” he says.
She hesitates, then deliberately responds, “I’ll have you.”
These two lines echo in my head. I wonder if I love my enemies to that extent. Forget enemies; do I love my friends and neighbors to that extent?
Ben seems beyond redemption. He’s lied, murdered, cheated, deceived and betrayed almost everyone on the Island. He embodies an oxymoron of power-hungry and weak. He is not to be trusted. Yet this woman, who has been devastated by his actions, would rather protect Ben than see him surrender his life to the Unnamed, the evil one. As she walks away, her pain is obvious. This is not an easy decision, but it is one she makes. It is an intentional choice.
I’m going to be brutally honest with you. There are times I don’t reach out to unsaved neighbors because I just don’t think I want to get involved. I see their baggage and their struggles and weigh out whether or not I have the strength to be their friend. Do I really want what may come of this invitation? I am shamed to admit this. It’s an absolutely dreadful way to think! But I do think it. I’ve not accurately weighed the alternative.
If I don’t invite, if I don’t share, if I don’t involve myself, will they go to another who will have them? Is that really what I want?
Jesus said His followers will be known by their love. I wonder if my neighbors know me.
** To watch this clip, visit the official LOST website and select the clip called “What Matters Most” from 3/9.
4 comments March 11, 2010
Ellie’s Cooking Show
This was supposed to go up yesterday for “Mama Loves” because I simply LOVE cooking with my kids!
Yesterday proved … well, it was rather eventful with details I may share at a later date. (Or I may not.) So you’re getting it today instead.
I considering titling it “How We Survive Blizzards.” This is pretty much what we do during every snow storm: the kids put on obviously unmatched summer clothing (Ellie’s skirt/shorts is at least two sizes too small, but when you’re stuck inside for hours, who cares? Then we cook. Usually it’s cookies or brownies that we can frost and decorate. This time it was caramel corn. The kids loved it, and I ate almost all of it.
Without further ado, here is Elle’s cooking show. You may or may not find it entertaining. From my perfectly unbiased perspective, I think it’s absolutely delightful!
5 comments March 10, 2010
I don’t know where I’ve been. And the winner is …
Have you ever thought you did something, but then realize later (days later) that you didn’t actually do it? That’s me. I thought I had posted on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
I didn’t.
I’m sure you all knew that I didn’t, but I didn’t know I didn’t. Apparently I’ve had very active, very realistic dreams and non-blogging days. Sorry.
So let’s start over, this time for real.
FRIDAY: How is everyone doing with their reading?? Are you still with me? Anyone caught up yet? Or beyond?
Someone mentioned last week that she didn’t know she was supposed to check-in every week. You certainly don’t have to check-in, but I do want everyone to feel connected. Unfortunately, the only way I know to do that is to have a weekly check-in. (You know, on the weeks I actually blog rather than just dream that I’ve blogged.) Besides, I need the encouragement and accountability as much — probably more! — than most of you. So, please drop in often, especially on Fridays, to let us know how you’re doing, what’s working for you and how we can all keep pursuing our goal of knowing God. I always provide a Mr. Linky, too, so that if you want to blog about what you’re learning through our journey, you can link up here.
SATURDAY: I had planned to share a cooking show starring my daughter. I’ll post it tomorrow.
SUNDAY: Um … I can’t remember.
TODAY: On Thursday I reviewed two books and announced a giveaway. And the winners are …
Anna and Sandra!
Ladies, email me your mailing addresses (tanyasue (at) gmail.com, and I’ll get your books on their way to you. CONGRATULATIONS!
I think that’s about it for today. My brain is drifting off to that neverland of incoherence again.
3 comments March 8, 2010
Recovering Joy (and a giveaway!)
Have you been attacked by Hafftoos?
Some days I really don’t want to be an adult. Responsibility is great and all, but enough is enough. I don’t like having too many people depend on me because — What if I fail? What if I can’t make everyone happy? What if I don’t fail and then they expect even more? Can I give more? Maybe I’m not giving enough. All this can make life seem like a lot of work. I mean a LOT of work. And then what I always wanted can feel like a burden. Not because I’ve changed my wants, but because I’ve changed my perspective.
I love having a clean house. Not because I enjoy cleaning; I actually hate cleaning. But I love having a home where my family feels comfortable and safe and happy. Cleaning is less a chore when I remember that I want the results.
No little girl enthusiastically proclaims that she wants to change poopy diapers when she grows up. That’s absurd! But almost every little girl dreams of being a mama. We put up with the dirty diapers, the piles of laundry, the stressful job, all because we want what comes with it — a healthy child, a welcoming home, a successful career. Hafftoos want us to focus on how much we hate the task rather than how much we want what comes with it.
In my little fairy tale, the Father tells the princess to “Seek and remember.” That may mean different things to different people. Maybe you need to seek the Father. Maybe you need to seek a new job or a tangible solution to a problem you face. Maybe you need to remember why you’re doing what you’re doing. Maybe you need to remember how much you love your family or your responsibilities or even just the results of the chores you dislike. I don’t know what it means to you, but I know that God wants His children to experience joy. If we seek Him, He will be found. If we remember all He’s done for us, we cannot help but be overwhelmed by His love for us. And therein we find joy.
Sally Clarkson is a wonderful writer. You may know her as the author of The Mission of Motherhood. She has a new book titled Dancing with My Father that addresses this exact issue. How, when we’ve been worn down by life and burdened by both hurts and blessings, can we rekindle our first awe of God, that inextinguishable joy we possessed as new believers? Through biblical insights and real-life stories (more…)
11 comments March 4, 2010
