My Buddy Max

I love Max Lucado, and jumped at the chance to get one of his books, Outlive Your Life, via Thomas Nelson’s BookSneeze program.  And my buddy Max did not disappoint!  His book is based on a series of sermons on the book of Acts.  His message?  Outlive your life through your words and actions.  Do not only contribute to make your life better, but to make the world better.  Live beyond your personal ambition that will die when you do for something greater, live your faith in ways the world can see.

Through his normal conversational style and questions for reflection located in the back of the book, Lucado challenges us all to pray, think, and act with greater compassion.  To become aware of and attempt to met the needs of others.  To become the hands and feet of Jesus to this world.  And you can not read his writings, any of them, and not be changed.  You do not read Lucado to be entertained, you read his writings to be changed.

I highly recommend How to outlive Your Life: You Were Made to Make a Difference, or any Max Lucado book, to anyone who wants to grow in their faith, to be encouraged, to be transformed.  And then, live your faith out loud.

Algebra

I am two days into my algebra class, but have done so much work by way of assessments, assignments, and reading.  I have to work everyday to stay on top of my classes, and I was really afraid of this class because math of any kind if not my strong suit.  I have found that I am enjoying it, however.

There are answers.  Correct ones.  And specific ways to get those answers.  I spend so much of my time struggling in my life to find answers to daily problems, like how to have a clean house and home school.  How to get my children to where they need to be.  How to pay our bills with only one income.  Where am I going to get clothes and a coat for David?   Problems with no easy answers, maybe even no right answers.  But I keep trying, keep plugging away trying to find our way through this journey.

And then comes College Algebra.  With complexities, sure, but I already deal with those.  With problems and variables and inequalities.  Deal with those daily too.  But now there are formulas to help, specific and correct answers that are achievable by even me if only I follow the specific directions.  Wow.  What a relief!  Instead of open ended questions and never ending problems, there is one specific thing I am looking for.  One right answer that is out there somewhere, I just have to get it.

And this is what used to drive me crazy about math in general.  I had opinions and thoughts that did not fit a formula.  I had multiple opportunities that would energize me.  And you want me to settle on only one method, the search for only one answer that is not even important in my life?  HA!  And then I grew up.  Got married.  Had children.  Had more children.  And now those opportunities and thoughts and opinions can seem overwhelming.  There are too many questions and no “right” answers or methods.  And the most math I do is trying to balance my checkbook, which resembles an upside-down funnel.  (Just take a second to picture that…)

I know that God is good, that He is in control, and that He loves me abundantly.  I see His hand daily in our lives.  I do not know the answers, and I know He does.  It is simply nice to do something that there are correct answers for and that I can know them.

A Moment of Sheer Terror

So I just had one of the most terrifying moments of my life.  The kids were all in bed.  Andy had gone upstairs a while ago.  Faith came to me complaining about hearing a weird scratching sound.  I told her she was imagining it.  I sent her back to bed so I could go back to watching a creepy episode of Destination Truth on You Tube.  Stress on the word creepy.

All of a sudden there was a horrid noise, accompanied by scratching and scrambling around, then pierced by a terrifying scream. I almost swallowed my tongue.  I turned around slowly, thankful I was not in the broken chair, in time to see Faith and Isaac chasing the cat and screaming.

Our local escape artist, Cheeky Cheeser the hamster, got free of his cage and was captured by Ferocious the cat, who earlier today brought a mostly dead mouse to Angel.  We scared the cat enough that he dropped Cheeky Cheeser who began running all over and biting us.  We finally caught him in a toy bathtub from Angel’s doll house- do not let her know that- and got him back into his cage.  In doing so I had to wake up Andy to fix the door.  Then for good measure I duct taped it shut- in red, which is all the rage in rodent decor this year.

This moment was only second in terror, being topped by the night I was up late typing a paper in my basement/school room and heard a scurrying above my head, some thumping, and then the ceiling tiles fell on my head, complete with the cat.  Same cat.  Fell on my head.  In the middle of the night.  FELL ON MY HEAD.  I almost had a heart attack.  I jumped up pretty high and actually threw the whole mess across the room with ninja like reflexes while screaming in terror before realizing it was the cat.

Giving Thanks!!

So there have been lots of status updates, emails, and posts about thankfulness.  Some people are daily listing things they are thankful for, some are listing them in ABC order.  I know that kind of list, a daily one, is way more follow through than I have at this point in my life, so I have hesitated to even begin.  Classic case of perfectionist procrastination.  So here, handily located in one very thankful, very alphabetized blog post are the things I am thankful for this year.

A- Andy, Angel, Amber, apples, alligators, and antibiotics

B- Boys that play so rough and tumble (of which I have two and many nephews- HI LUKE!!), bon bons, books, and bedtime

C- Chocolate, cookies, coffee, and chocolate coffee. The best things in life start with “C”

D- Dads, Dan, dominoes, door bells that work, Doritos, and dinosaurs

E- everything God has given me (a cop-out, I know)

F- Faith (both my daughter and the in God variety), finger foods, firefighters and friends

G- God, grandparents, grapes, glue and Gatorade

H- my home, healing, hamburgers, humor and happiness

I- Isaac, iguanas, ice cream, Italian Sweet Cram coffee creamer, and igloos (because I would love to see one)

J- Jesus, Josh, Jesse (*grin*), joy, jammies and jelly, especially strawberry

K- kids, kites on the beach, Kit Kats and kettle corn

L- lollipops, love, lights, lipstick, and language arts (just kidding!!)

M- mothers, movies, MP3 players, music, maids (on my Christmas list, by the way)and monkeys

N- Ninjas, night, new books, naps, Nintendo, and noodles

O- old friends, old comfy slippers, online school, and open doors- the figurative ones

P- Pepsi, pizza, pastors, police, pasta salad, and pie

Q- quiet (at least from what I remember of it), quilts, and quill pens

R- Raehls, roots (of people, not plants), reading, robes, and rubber bands

S- Scott, silly string, socks, snakes, and superheros

T- Theresa, tigers, teeth, and I would say Tony, but he changed his name

U- unicycles, unicorns, and uniqueness

V- vehicles that run, values, and villages

W- water, worship, and watermelon

X- x-rays and X Files

Y- yaks (the dream kind), yogurt, you tube, youth, and Yahoo groups

Z- zippers, zeros, zebras, and ziggurats

And there is a completely incomplete list of all the things I am thankful for today.

Now Showing...

Andy and I like to watch movies.  Our whole family does.  We do not have cable or anything, so we watch movies or episodes of shows on DVD or the computer.  We have been quite discouraged at the quality of entertainment that can be found today. There are lots of great stories out there, but they are bogged down with either gruesome violence, sexual images, off color jokes, or profanity.  Shows that interest our whole family fare better, but when Andy and I are ready to watch a grown up movie, we have been quite discouraged at the choices that we can find.  We settle for something that ends up with some things in it that we would rather not see or hear.  It is not only one genre of movies either, as I love action adventure, romance, comedy, and even some scary stuff.  They all leave a bit to be desired and the Christian versions are lacking the budget to compete, or are too far between.

Every once in a while I am surprised at what we can rent at the local Redbox, however.  Last night we watched a movie called Rust.  Incredible. It started out kind of slow, but soon I was intrigued by the mystery surrounding a fire that killed a family in the town, and the role an outcast citizen had to play in the fire.  And as the story unfolded that characters began to fill out and I was hooked.  It was a great movie.

Even better were the special features.  There were several that told the story of how local people were cast as leading roles in the story, the meaning behind the dedication at the end of the film, and the story of Lloyd.  After seeing the man who plays the character of Travis in the story, I fell in love with him.  His life story brought tears to my eyes, and his determination, courage, and integrity are unparalleled.  If you want to be inspired, to be moved to tears, to be encouraged, to be challenged, as well as entertained, check out Rust.  And watch the special feature about Lloyd.  And I will guarantee that he will change your outlook on life and on people.  And he will become your favorite hero.  I know he is now mine.

Things I Do Not Understand

There are somethings that my kids do that I totally understand, like avoiding bedtime.  They don’t want to miss anything, which I  understand since I frequently stay up late doing all kids of crazy fun stuff like writing papers on illegal immigration, stripping paint, washing dishes, folding laundry, and , if I am feeling all kinds of crazy, scrubbing the kitchen floor, a type of fun that I can only handle every so often.  Who could sleep with all that fun and excitement occurring under the same roof?  (In all honesty I do have to confess that as soon as we tuck them in Andy runs for the ice cream.)

They avoid school like it may in fact give them the plague.  That I also understand, as evidenced by the fact that David is taking a rare morning nap so I am blogging.  Instead of doing school, mine or theirs.

And I even understand the avoidance of certain activities that I enjoy, such as napping, taking a bath, and reading.  These things all take away from the job they should be doing, playing.  I get that, because most of those things I do for play, especially reading.  And yet, there are some activities others do for play that I do not enjoy, such as bungee jumping, sky diving, cooking, and golf.
What I do not understand is the effort some of my children will go to to avoid the things they are required to do.  For example, putting dirty laundry in the hamper.  To me, it takes much more effort to hide dirty underpants in creative locations than to toss them in a laundry basket that is conveniently located directly beside you.  Or to running to a different floor of the house to toss a toy into the closet instead of walking to the next room and putting it in the bin.  Or putting the trash in your hand directly outside of the trash can when it is the same amount of effort to put it in.  Or using a napkin that is right by your elbow to clean up the four drops of milk on the table instead of running to the bathroom and getting four bath towels that are still warm from the dryer and tossing them somewhere close to the spill.

The same children who spent ten minutes jumping on bubble wrap are too tired to run to the bathroom to get a baby wipe refill when I am up to my elbows in a dirty diaper.  They jump on the couch while watching a movie but can not get up to push play on the DVD player.  I have a child who will get out bread, peanut butter, a plate, and a knife and come find me instead of making her own sandwich.  I have a child who will bring a gallon of milk and a cup all over the house looking for me instead of pouring it himself.  This is the same child who will climb to the top of the fridge to get a piece of gum, but will not open the fridge to get his own yogurt.

I was never the child who would rather do something half way.  I was always a perfectionist.  It was all or nothing.  Now, most cleaning activities were nothing, but if I had to do them I certainly did not hide my toys in a different room.  I hide them in the same room, like under my bed.  I would never exert more effort to avoid an activity than it took to complete it.  I had a brother who would have walked to the ends of the earth for a new video game, but would not walk to the trash can to put anything in.  (Oh, you, and your wife, know who you are…)  He would do anything to get out of something he was supposed to do, no matter how much effort it took to avoid it.  That always drove me crazy.  Apparently I was standing too close to him when my mother cursed him to have children just like him, cause it effected me as well.  And it still drives me crazy.

Thankfulness

Since having children I have found there are things I am thankful for that I always took for granted or never quite appericated, like showers.  There are things I never would have though as things to be thankful for, they were always so basic, like pencils that stay where I left them.  And then there are the things  I am thankful for simple because they keep my children entertained.  That being said, here is a list of all the things I can think of that right now that I am thankful for that I have taken advantage of or not used properly in my life pre-children.

1.  Paper cups.  No, I do not mean drinking out of them.  David loves to stack them, unstack them, and restack them.  This has kept him entertained for over 15 minutes at a time.  He gets so excited if I have a stack of one color with only a few of a different color thrown in.  It’s like finding gum in your lollipop.  Amazing.  As for the 15 minutes of distraction, even more than amazing.

2.� Tape.  Silly me, I thought it was for such mundane things as holding paper together or torturing cats.  Nope, it can also be used to tape your brother’s mouth shut, turn your whole body into a robot, or collect fingerprints.  All those uses, and I was simply taping paper.  And another reason to be thankful for tape is that it comes in a two pack at the Dollar Tree.

3.  Live birds in WalMart.  When I worked there they were irritating.  Now they are the ultimate distraction.  Kid wants a toy, candy, or huge flyswatter??  No problem, simply point out the bird perched above their heads and they forget to throw a fit.  Or maybe this only works with kids who have ADHD.  Either way, I am covered.  I now love those birds and would smuggle them in if they were not there.

4.  Pennies.  I used to only use the pile of change stacked up on Andy’s dresser for vending machines, mostly at the ER, or milk and Pepsi between paydays. And I always left the pennies.  No more, I tell you.  Now I can dump the pennies on the floor and tell Isaac there is money hidden somewhere in his room and he can have it all if his room is clean.  He cleans up and I do not even have to yell once.  At him.  Has never worked for the girls though.

5.  Chocolate chips for cookies.  I hesitate to include this item on a list of things I have only been thankful for in the last decade, but it has new meanings for me, so I chose to include it.  We use chocolate chips for a number of things that have nothing to to with baking.  We use them for math to add, subtract, multiply, divide, show fractions, etc.  And then that kid gets to eat them.  Score one for less tears at math.  And I also give them to David one at a time to keep him quiet.  This only works in small intervals, because he never stops talking, but I take what I can get.

6.  The number 3.  It is magic.  All I have to do is start counting and by 3 they do whatever I was asking them to do. Has never worked for the numbers 1 or 2.  Three really is the magic number. Yet another thing I should have learned from Schoolhouse Rock.

7. Scarves.  I currently have at least three I am using daily.  One ties the fridge shut, one for the pantry, and one for the cupboard under the sink.  I used to use rubber bands, but little fingers have actually learned to pick them off already.  Soon he will master the complexities of the knot, but for now my food and feminine products are safe.

8.  Coffe cans.  Silly me I thought they were for holding coffe or playing kick the can.  Nope.  They current hold legos, flowers, seashells, and live worms- not in the same can.  And that is just in my dining room.  One from Sam’s is the perfect size for David to wear on his head.

9.  The words “Do Not…”.  They have a mystical power that forces the child hearing them to try it at least once.  I used to think this meant I should never say them.  As in: “Do not hit your sister.”  “What, you mean like this?!”  Now I just follow those powerful words with things I secretly want them to do.  For example, yesterday before church the kids were piddling around instead of finishing breakfast.  I simply said:  “Do not finish eating, we are out of time.”  They inhaled all the food, slammed back their drinks, and were done.  HA!

10. Clean undies.  As a child my mother always told me to wear clean undies everyday.  I do the same for my children.  Despite enjoying having clean undies myself, I know know they serve a greater purpose than hygiene.  If they each have six pairs of undies, and change them everyday, I know how long I can go without washing clothes just by taking a quick peek in any kid’s underwear drawer.