Simple Woman's Daybook

For Today, Sunday, August 28th

Outside my window...way...too...hot. I'm super excited for Fall weather. I love East Texas trees in the fall. Ready for bike riding, walks, pumpkin patches, etc.!

I am remembering...how much kindergartners don't know when they come in. I forget how much I have to explain!

I am thankful for...my husbands help this week! The first week of school is torture. I've had bus duty this week (which entails riding the bus with the kids in the heat). So needless to say I have wanted to just fall out when I get home. Jeff has given baths, fed, clipped toenails, changed diapers, dressed kids and taken kids to school. He's a good man.

I am creating...a blog post. Sorry...that's all I got.

I am going...to go insane if I get another Medical Bill in the mail. Pooo!

I am reading...Redeeming Love. Almost done! I would have finished it a long time ago because it is such a fast and easy read. But I started school this week and had no life. Hopefully I finish this weekend because the kids will be with their Granny and Pops!

I am hoping...Carley will stinking walk. I'm not worried because I know she can. I've seen her take a few steps. But the girl is almost 14 months old and will not walk! She just doesnt want to. Stinker.

On my mind...Leadership lesson to teach tonight.

From the learning rooms...Routines and Procedures all week. I have a great group of kids. They are very sweet. We are just working on the fact that school is not all play. We have to work a little too! Looking forward to seeing them grow.

Noticing that...Colin will be in kindergarten this time next year. Makes me sad! Colin's teacher has been talking to them about "getting ready for kindergarten" and Colin came home and asked, "Mom, when do I get to go to kindergarten?" Ummmm...no thank you.

Pondering these words... "Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” -Lamentations 3

From the kitchen...I baked potatoes in the crockpot while we are church this morning and we had BBQ baked potatoes.

Around the house...Phineas and Ferb, Jeff asleep in the recliner, Carley asleep in her crib, and Colin fighting sleep!

One of my favorite things...these days...my bed!

From my picture album... my teammates!

Recognizing God as Creator

From the time we were wee little tots we have been drilled in church with recognizing God as the creator. We have all made those cute little crafts with handprints that say, "God made me special!" In fact Colin has memorized the right answers to this daily conversation that we have.

Me: Colin, who made you?
Colin: God
Me: How did he make you?
Colin: Special!

When he wants to be humorous and shake things up a bit, he will replace the word 'God' with 'Carley' and 'Special' with 'Goofy.' There is much truth in that second answer...

Anyway, I think because we have been taught this at such a young age that is unable to process complexity, its become nothing more to us as adults than it is for Colin right now. Its a memorized concept. We know God made us and made the universe and we choose to leave the thought at that. Heaven forbid we ever think further and stretch that thought from a memorized saying to possibly a new outlook on life.

Why should we recognize God as creator? Well why should we recognize anyone for who they are? Because we treat people differently depending on who we recognize them as. As a child you did not treat your best friend and the principal of your school the same way. You recognized that your principal had authority over you, and had power to do whatever they judged was best, and that they were just a heck of alot smarter than you were!

Why do we not think of God in this same way? Recognizing God for who he is as the creator changes alot of things.

1. You know longer see yourself as the one who knows you best. You see God as that.

2. Because of the above statement, you make decisions differently too. Instead of basing your decisions on what you want or how you feel, it would only make sense to consult with the one who made you and already knows your thoughts and desires and knows whats best for you.

3. You will begin to be a better steward. You acknowledge that your stuff, your family, your accomplishments, and even the brilliant ideas and thoughts you've had... are not yours! You didn't make yourself so you can't take credit for anything that you've done.
*Side note: I have a hard time understanding why we do birthday parties for this very reason. Its just weird to me! Its not like we can say, "You are so awesome because you ripped yourself out of you mother's womb on this day 28 years ago!" If anything, we should be celebrating God as the creator when we have birthday parties...not the person! I do like birthday parties though...I promise I'm not going to deprive my children of them in the future.

4. You realize that your "being created" is not done! I don't think God ever intended for us to say, "Thanks for making me! See ya later!" We are still a work in progress.

We have heard the lyrics, "You are the potter and I am the clay." Those cute little pots at Ellis Pottery in Marshall weren't just whipped up real quick and thrown on a shelf! The pots were first prepared for wheel throwing, then accurately shaped and trimmed on the wheel, then dried, then glazed and fired, then painted, etc. Its quite a process to get a lump of clay looking like a beautiful jar.

Sometimes we feel like a lump of clay. (I'm not just talking about physical beauty...I'm talking about our character.) Remember God is not done with you! Sometimes we take credit for being a beautiful jar. Remember that you used to be a lump of clay and you didn't put yourself on that wheel to be perfectly shaped and trimmed. He makes beautiful things out of us!

I pray that I would begin to take on this mindset and recognize and acknowledge God as my creator. I pray that Colin and Carley would one day understand this too.

Check out this blog post by Michael Gungor (Christian artist). You will especially appreciate this if you are a musician or just appreciate music!

Creativity and Music

Frustrated.

I will probably regret this later, but I am allowing myself one post to "vent" and be real about what frustrates me. I have already decided that I will end this post by remembering what God has done for me and counting my blessings. I guess ending that way will make me not feel so guilty about this?

I'm frustrated that LSU STILL has not called me back. Colin's paperwork is there and now I'm waiting on a call. I know Colin is not the only patient but today was a really rough day for him. Lots of "seizures" ...some were even longer lasting than normal. (I put that in quotes because he has not officially been diagnosed with that...even though in my heart I feel like that is what is going on). And I hate how much these seizures even seem to effect his mood. On days that he has a lot of them, he just seems unsettled, irritable, and doesnt want to do anything.

I'm frustrated that every time he has a seizure it makes me think of my sister. I'm frustrated that she is gone.

I'm frustrated that I cannot seem to give equal attention to both of my sweet children. I've been closely watching and tending to the needs of Colin lately and I feel like I can't give Carley enough attention. She is precious...and never seems unhappy or neglected but it bothers me.

I'm frustrated that my budgeting skills stink. I take that back. My budget on paper is beautiful. Executing it in real life is always a fail. EVERY month we go over. This month we went way over.

I'm frustrated that there is never time... Never time to catch up on anything, never time to just sit and enjoy eachother as a family, never time to go on a date with the man I love, never time to do things I enjoy. I want to sew, I want to be crafty, I want to read books, I want to play the piano, I want to learn a new instrument, and if it were even remotely possible I would go back to school because I want to learn.

I can't keep enough clothes clean in this house. I can't remember to take my medicine regularly. I can't pee without a child walking in or little fingers sliding in under the door. I can't ever be on time because I can't ever find my keys. I can't.

Ok. I feel better. I am all about being real, but I know that it is detrimental to my spiritual health to complain like this all the time. I have been striving to be filled with the Spirit...and there is no room for the Spirit in a heart that is full of negativity, fear, and anxiety. God is good all the time. My circumstances may not be good all the time...but He is. There is so much to be thankful for. I have 2 beautiful kids, and wonderful husband, a job, a house, a dishwasher (hey! the dishwasher is important! A few months ago I would have said I was frustrated that I spent 2 hours a day washing dishes!) The most important thing I have to be thankful for is that He saved me. I am a changed life because of His love. I think differently, feel differently, act differently because I am not who I used to be. God is good all the time!

Old Faithful

Faithfulness...

When I think of the word "faithful" I think of the word "always." I think of consistency and stability. I think of a single solid tree that has continued to fulfill its duty to stand even through the fiercest of storms.

I can't help but wonder if that describes me or not. It's easy to be faithful when I'm comfortable and happy. But what do I do when discomfort or negative emotions come about?

How can I learn to be faithful to God always?

Why not start with His example. We always say, "We love because he first loved us." Why not say, "We are faithful because he was first faithful to us."

"Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name." -Psalm 86:11

I cannot rely on my circumstances or emotions, for they always change. I must rely on His faithfulness, for it never changes. My actions and decisions should be in response to His faithfulness not on what is happening in my life or how I feel.

"Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." -Hebrews 11:1

This is the mindset of the faithful. The faithful do not depend on what is seen or on results. They depend on what God has promised.

If you continue to read Hebrews 11, we get a running history of the faithful. We read, "By faith Enoch..." and "By faith Abel..." and so on and so on. I can't help but get chill bumps when I read this chapter...reading about the actions that came from faithful hearts. This chapter has 40 verses. But my sweet friend told me the other night that someone told her that if you could add a verse 41, would it include your name?

So...I wrote in a verse 41 to my Bible. *Gasp!* I know! I wrote in my Bible AND added a verse. Verse 41 says, "By faith, Sarah _________." Sometimes we forget that this story does not end in the Bible. We are the extension of that story.

I hope that at the end of my life I can fill in that blank and that my God will say, "Well done, good and faithful servant, well done."