Monday, September 29, 2008

If It's Monday... It Must Be Menu and Musings!

First, the exciting menu:

Monday: Porkchops, zucchini, mashed potatoes

Tuesday: Spaghetti, salad.

Wednesday: Chicken, green beans, garlic bread

Thursday: Steak, grilled green beans, and garlic bread

Friday: Pizza made with left over spaghetti sauce, and salad.

Saturday: Bratwurst

And there you have it... the meals for the week. Subject of course to change as needed due to circumstances or food cravings beyond my control. :)

Musings:

Dd spent most of the day at church yesterday for dance practice, and performances at the three services. She had a good time. The girls devotion was on Grace. Not like me... but like SolaGrace.

The focus was on how it is so freely given. The instructor told them about visiting MS when she was a young girl, and ordering breakfast. She was worried because the breakfast came with grits and she hadn't ordered them. Her family was poor and only had a certain amount allotted for meals on this vacation. The waitress looked at her, and said, "Why honey, you don't order grits, grits just come." She went on to liken this to grace. We can't order grace, it just comes.

Now... the story is lovely. And it is an illustration of how freely grace is given to us. It does, however, gloss over the necessity of accepting the free gift of grace. If she'd insisted, the grits would have gone back to the kitchen. If we insist... the free gift of grace can pass us by. We still have to choose to accept it.

We might think we don't need grits. We might think we don't need grace. We do, though. And thankfully, He continues to offer it more than once. Thanks Lord!

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Thankful Thursday!

Today I am thankful for:

Good friends who offer support advice, and encouragement when dealing with teens and life in general.

Prairie Homemaker ... change is challenging, but stagnation is death. We cannot, as C.S. Lewis says, go on indefinitely just being good eggs, we must hatch... and that means growth and change. Never easy... but always worth it.

My current favorite motivational quote says: There will come a day when I will wake up and I will not be able to do this, but TODAY is not that day. Thank God!! I can get up run, type, work, do the laundry, etc. Today is not that day.

My darling husband, who provides for our family, both in spiritual and physical ways.

My kiddos... challenging and growing in belief. Sure, it is hard to deal with at times, but... it means that they are working out their own salvation with fear and trembling.

Have a blessed day!

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Wistful Wednesday!

Ah... today I am somewhat wistful. A bit nostalgic if you will for the good ole days when my children accepted what they were told and were satisfied. Those days are gone.

Today's bit of wistfulness stems from my ds, Alex's, age 15, struggles and attempts to reconcile the concept of the Trinity, a doctrine that our church holds dear, with what appears to him to be clear cut biblical instances of Jesus in subordination to the Father. He would argue that means that the 3 in 1 concept therefore does not work. And, at 15, "it's a mystery." no longer satisfies his questions.

It's not as though he questions the reality of his Savior, or that Jesus came to do the will of God. He just doesn't get this doctrine right now. And, frankly, I don't have any issues with that. However, confirmation is coming up... and he's not sure if he can be confirmed in a church that disagrees with his biblical understanding. I'm not, either, quite honestly...

and that my friends, poses issues with dh, and his parents, and all sorts of others. *sigh*

Lord... I need wisdom. Wisdom on addressing this with dh, wisdom to explain the trinity... and most of all discernment to see my son's heart in this. Any who'd like to come in agreement with me on this... I'd surely appreciate it.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Terrific Tuesday!!

Morning...

I am just in the best mood today. I've been down and out with a cold bug for the last week... and it really sapped my energy and left me exhausted. It was awful. I found it hard to breathe, and would get winded going up and down a flight of stairs!

So today... when I was able to get out and RUN... it felt glorious. It felt amazing, and it hurt-- a lot. I'm thrilled that I haven't lost any off my time for a 2 mile, and thrilled to run with dd. It's such a joy to do that in the early a.m. hours. George Sheehan said... the hardest thing to remember in the beginning is that the race isn't about beating the other runners. The race is about beating the little voice inside you that wants to quit. Wow!

Talk about a bit of inspiration. So... that got me thinking... Paul calls our Christian life a race. He says that he has run the race. I wonder how often we get caught up thinking and wondering about beating the others in our Christian race... and we forget the race is about beating the little voice inside us. It doesn't matter if a sister can run the race faster or is slower than us, wears a running skirt or shorts... the race is really only about one thing. Beating the voice inside us that wants us to quit.

Not running or religion related: This week's menu plan a day late... eh, it happens!

Monday- mexican coleslaw, black bean and burger burritos.

Tuesday- crockpot beef stew, and hm biscuits.

Wednesday- bratwurst, sauerkraut

Thursday- Steak, grilled mushrooms and zucchini, garlic toast

Friday- Porkchops, green beans, and garlic toast

Saturday- beef brisket, greens, and garlic toast

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Why Not Wednesday!

So yesterday I looked at the way many of us, myself included, get in the habit of saying "No" to our dh's. That creates a problem... and saying yes, not just to sex, but to other things builds an environment where he feels respected and admired. How about with our kids?

Indeed, it is all too easy to say no. It's quick and fast, but also leaves them hitting their heads against a brick wall. Especially in the teenage years, NO seems like a dare, or a challenge for some of them to try to get around.

Picture this scenario: "Mom, can I go to the mall? " "NO. You haven't cleaned your room." Does this seem likely to encourage the teen to clean their room?

On the reverse: "Mom, can I go to the mall?" "Yes, as soon as your room is clean."

Which of the two seems more likely to engage the child on our side? So... I'm making an effort to find ways to say Yes, even to my kiddos. Yes is a much better word than No. I'm not saying there aren't times to say No, what I am saying is... Why not say Yes as much as possible. We don't want to provoke our kids to wrath and using Yes more often will help us with that.

Okay... that's today's ramble. Now I'm off to take dd to orchestra, and then to take ds to the dentist. Hope everyone has a blessed day!

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Tackling it Tuesday!

Today's Tackling it Topics... first my omnipresent to-do list, followed by the tough topic o' the day!

To do: Laundry, dishes, put up window treatments upstairs after washing them this weekend. Make my list for Christmas giving, and put together budget for the Holidays! :)

Tough topic o' the day: I read a great blog (thanks, Leah!) on the importance of not rebuffing but rather encouraging our husband's romantic advances. Essentially the author discusses the impact of a healthy sex life on marriage. She does this much better and with more dignity than I could ever hope to have... I'm including the link here: http://www.makinghome.blogspot.com/

It made me wonder though.... how many other times do we say "no" to our husbands when we could really say "yes"? Isn't an attitude of "Yes" something we should cultivate in all areas of our marriage? Say for example, you've been planning a weekend at home to work on the house, and garden, etc., and your husband comes home Friday night and announces he wants to go camping with the family for the weekend. Do you say yes? Or do you say no?

Saying yes means you trust him to make good decisions. Saying no indicates a lack of trust, and of fear about his leadership and decision making. Now, obviously, there are times to say no... when we have a good reason to due to a check in our spirits about something, or because we feel extremely strongly about it.

However... I'm issuing a challenge... let's say yes more often. Saying yes is a beautiful way to express love, confidence and admiration for this wonderful man God has given us. I have been working on being a "yes, let's" girl for the last 12 years of my 16 years of marriage. I so wish I had been clued in sooner!!

So... when he asks... say, Yes!

Monday, September 15, 2008

Monday Menus and Musings!

Menus first:

Monday: beef stirfry, oriental veggies, and buckwheat soba noodles.

Tuesday: Blackbean, rice, and groundbeef burritos/enchiladas, salad.

Wednesday: Bratwursts, ww buns, and salad.

Thursday: Spaghetti, salad.

Friday: Porkchops, grilled squash, and ww bread

Saturday: Bbq chicken, grilled greenbeans, and ww bread.

Sunday: Leftover spaghetti sauce morphs into pizza!!

Musings:

Oh... how easy it is to be so certain of our "rightness" that we fail to see the pain we cause others. How hard it is to put ourselves in others shoes and walk without judging. Why do we always assume that there is more they "should" be doing in order to keep things the same? Why can't we accept change?

Lord, help me to be focused less on my "rights" and more on those of others. Help me seek, in the words of St. Francis of Assissi -- less to be understood and more to understand.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

What's your Bag?

LOL...

Mine right now is a hand-beaded patterned bag that has some fringe. I love it... and it looks great for summer. I'm hunting down a new bag...

http://www.ourfamilyjournal.com/2008/08/welcome-to-uptown.html This in fact might well be the one I'm looking for... oh, and don't forget to enter the contest! This is beautiful craftmanship... and even if I don't win... I might still need one.

Or not...