once again... a theif :)

i'm sorry, but some things are too good to pass up. i just have to share them... the following was taken from my friend kendra's blog... she's a cool cat :)

The Mayonnaise Jar (from Aleighopolis. This is a story I've heard before and wanted to share this version)

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle,
When 24 hours in a day is not enough;
remember the mayonnaise jar and 2 cups of coffee.
A professor stood before his philosophy class
and had some items in front of him.

When the class began, wordlessly,
he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar
and start to fill it with golf balls.

He then asked the students if the jar was full.
They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured
it into the jar. He shook the jar lightly.
The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.
He then asked the students again
if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand
and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else
He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded
With an unanimous 'yes.'

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table
and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively
filling the empty space between the sand.
The students laughed.

'Now,' said the professor, as the laughter subsided,
'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.

The golf balls are the important things - God, family,
children, health, friends, and favorite passions
Things that if everything else was lost
and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the things that matter like your job, house, and car.

The sand is everything else --
The small stuff..

'If you put the sand into the jar first,' he continued,
'there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.
The same goes for life.

If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff,
You will never have room for the things that are
important to you.

So...

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.
Play with your children.
Take time to get medical checkups.
Take your partner out to dinner.

There will always be time
to clean the house and fix the dripping tap.

'Take care of the golf balls first --
The things that really matter.
Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.'

One of the students raised her hand
and inquired what the coffee represented.

The professor smiled.

'I'm glad you asked'.

It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem,
there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend..'

i'm a theif

not really. i just think this blog is awesome.

i'd love for you to share what you think about it.

tears and perspective

i think i probably come across like i have it all together a lot. that is because of my God. my God has instilled in me this little thing called perspective. i lost my dad when i was 13. so, everything i see is through the eyes of someone that lost their dad when they were 13. i had a great relationship with him, and even after he died i continued having really good relationships with really good people. but sometimes when i'm alone... that perspective isn't always at the forefront of my mind.

so today, i go into maz's preschool for this thing called muffins for moms. i hung out with a couple of other moms and a pastor, his wife, and a teacher. the other moms kept talking about all of their kids... and how fun it is to watch their interactions. the whole time i'm smiling, nodding, laughing with them. i am happy for them. i really am. but at the same time i am suffering because it wasn't in our plans to just have maz... though he is near perfect so what can we complain about? :)

but, yeah... we would have loved for our home to be filled with children. laughing...giggling...playing...fighting...hugging...loving... but that's not what God had planned for us right now. and that's okay. we are blessed. there are much more difficult places to be in life. so, i smile and enjoy what i have. i thank God every day for what he has given me.

but sometimes it's hard. and sometimes.... sometimes i cry. and give it to God. and that's okay too.

getting in shape

okay... so, maybe i should get in shape. be healthy. at least a little bit. i am inspired all of the time. commercials, people, blogs, my fat, my kids endless energy, you get the drift... anyway, on this particular evening i was inspired by my friend who was talking about running in the rain. i used to run. in college. and i run here and there, but never consistently.

i've decided that i'm going to have to start slow. so, i grabbed my sons soccer ball that was sitting in the porch and kicked it outside. i ran after it.... ran across the street to the park, and kept kicking it... kicked it down the little hill (multiple small hills) all the while kicking it and keeping up with it... then i kicked it up the big hill (one large steep hill) trying to keep it going forward and making sure it didn't go back down the hill. it was fun. and, now i'm dead tired. breathing like crazy. but, like i said. i'm going to start slow. maybe i'll go down the hill and up the hill one time for a week. maybe next week i'll be able to go down and up 2 times. maybe 3 times the following week, and so on and so forth.

we shall see. now it's time for ice cream :)

more on teddy...

if you haven't read my previous post already you need to read it before you read this one. this one is a comment my good friend jen crum left in regards to the last post.

I was thinking about this on my very long drive last night. You forgot about poor Teddy. I mean...

Here we are going through life, things are good. We're loved and secure and safe. Suddenly, for not aparent reason, it feels like someone's dangling us out of a window on a highway - YIKES! How scary is that? Then we realize that the wind on our face doesn't seem so bad, "hey, I can handle this"

Suddenly.. OH NO! We've fallen onto the hard pavement, we're lost, alone, and afraid. Things have gotten really scary now and there's suddenly little hope. But then, just when things seem black, you see a friend, there is hope afterall. Here he comes!

Wait, no, you can see your friend.. but... THERE'S A SEMI DRIVING STRAIGHT AT YOU! Somehow, when you know things can not possibly get any worse. You are about to lose everything. What can you do, but lay there and shake?

Somehow the semi straddles you. That can only be the grace of God. And then, in the moment that you sigh relief, your friend really does come and pick you up. You're not safe yet, you're still on a highway. But you're not alone. Your friend takes you back to the car where you are once again safe, secure, and loved.

how do we relate?

i was driving down the highway today. mazerick, who is now 4, asked me to put his window down while we were driving so he could feel the wind on his fingers. so, next thing you now... window is down and maz is enjoying the wind. not 5 minutes go by when i see a teddy fly out the window. maz has used the same teddy since he was born. so, what is a mom to do other than turn around and go look for the lost teddy. so, i pull to the side of the road, and turn back. there it is! it the middle of the lane that we just left. oh no! there is a truck coming. we pull to the side of the road, across the street from where teddy lies. the truck is coming, and goes right over teddy. teddy is safe. the truck stradled him. ;) so, i get out of the car, and run to get teddy. my son is crying by this time, but eventually he has teddy safe and sound in his arms. a lesson is learned.

for mazerick the lesson was simple. if you put things out the window while a car is moving you might drop it. and that could be bad.

for me the lesson was a bit more profound. (and not many things are profound in my life) :) that teddy could be me. or any person really. dangling out the window. we've got hope, but we're also scared. scared that we may fall onto open road and get hit by a truck. and well, mazerick... he would represent the problems in our life. the things that we are allowing to hold us, the things we need to physically let go of, or he could be our safety. and, i thought to myself, "what is holding onto me? is it good? is it bad? do i need to hold on for safety, or do i need to rip myself away for safety? would it be better for me to hang on tight and never let go, or would it be better for me to start prying away.. find the safety in the road?"

and in the end is God driving? would i represent God in the story above? God will turn around. he will pick us up and place me up and put me back into his safe arms. and, even if i made the wrong choice... if i let go when i should have clung or if i clung when i should have let go, God will make everything okay. he will. i will trust in him.

do you find yourself in the story? do you see yourself holding on for dear life to something that God might want you to let go of? do you see yourself trying to rip yourself away from something that God has in place to keep you safe? trust God. he'll take care of you.

"The Den"

"The Den"

*your home away from home

the den exists to create a safe environment for teenagers to hang out, be real, be taught, and be loved.

just a quick update to anyone that cares...

right now the Spirit is totally leading me and it's awesome. i've been praying and brainstorming and God is helping me form a board of directors! at least on paper :)

are you interested in being a part of this vision that God has given me?

i wish

i was motivated to clean the house... to exercise... to cook... to do the dishes... to do the laundry...

but, i'm not.

but i am an awesome mom :) and, i would even venture to say i'm a pretty dang good friend. and a pretty darned good person. and i love Jesus. a lot.

one thing i learned from my son today

Mazerick is 4. He frequently comes home from preschool and sings his favorite songs, or a new song that he learned.

Today he said. "Mom. There is a new song."

And, he proceeded to sing it....

"On the cross to calvary.

The stone was rolled away.

He is Risen!"

I'm sure those aren't all of the words, but it makes me so happy to know that he is not only being taught at home and at church about Jesus and his love, but he is learning about him at school too. It's awesome that my little guy is learning about Easter the right way :) (nothing against the easter bunny... he's cool too :) )

and, we did pictures with the cousins today and they all did great. i'm excited to see what we got... good times.

and maz can recite the first stanza from psalm 23... caust i'm teaching him... i can't wait until he's got the whole thing memorized like this girl it will be awesome. this is what i want to instill in my son :)

true FREEDOM

is awesome. are you living in true freedom?

i mean, i'm sure there is even more than what i've got, but i feel pretty darn good. i feel like God is allowing me to see the world through His eyes. i believe i am learning more DAILY. sure, i screw up. i'll be the first to admit. but, my eyes are on Jesus, and that is why i think i'm living in freedom.

so, when you hear the words, "true freedom" what do you think? do you think it' s possible for anyone to live in true freedom? i think true freedom is just the ability to look towards Jesus at all times, and be willing to follow Him wherever He leads. and being open to HIS calling.

where are you? are you free?