Tagged...

I have been tagged by my friend Amy:)

Here are the rules:
1) Choose the 4th folder where you store your pictures on your computer.
2) Select the 4th picture in the folder.
3) Explain the picture.
4) Tag 4 people to do the same. No cheating (cropping, editing, etc.)

And here it is!




This was taken in 2004 at a Christmas party. I'm obviously pregnant with Myla and Kip is lookin' pretty yummy! Sweet Mason is about to turn 3, what a cutie in his sweater vest.

I'm tagging Kristen Sunna, Sammi Ferguson, Julie Hart, and Andi Stubblefield

Happy Birthday Mason!

My baby is 7! We love you MASON!

The View from here

Seeing: Well, I can’t help but notice that my sweet family is growing. The new family picture helped me stop and take notice that each one of the kids are really blooming. Mason is 7 next month! He excels at school and especially loves math (word problems, geometry, it is amazing what he can do already!) and spelling. At home I would say his favorite hobbies are jump roping and paper crafts?. I don’t know what else to call them, but for a while he was really into dot to dots, and then there was a paper airplane phrase, and now he is into cutting out snowflakes… He tells me that jumping rope is a great exercise for the whole body, so he works out often. Then we have Myla. She is my sweet girl with some mean looks. We are really working on smiling at new people instead of staring them down. She loves playing with Maddox. Dressing him up in her princess skirts and forcing him into closets to play with flash lights are some of her games. He doesn’t mind too much. Lil bubba's nickname is Mad Max. He is really turning into a toddler. He understands when I ask him to find his blanket or cup. He is a mess and will literally open drawers and pull everything out. Take a look and see what I see.

Hearing: The other day when Maddox was pulling everything out of my drawer and the other two were chasing eachother through the house I turned on my Christmas Mix and Mindy Smith was singing. Her music helped calm the chaos. So I’m listening to her a lot lately.

Tasting: I eat sandwiches everyday usually and when winter comes I crave soup. This year I have treated myself to homemade instead of canned. I just make a batch on Monday and heat it up everyday. My favorite has been White Chili with navy beans and chicken. The recipe is super easy and on the back of cans of Busch’s Navy Beans. My batch only lasted 3 days it was so good. Yum!

Smelling: This one was hard. Besides, my soup and the new scented trash bags I bought I can’t think of much. My favorite smell this time of year is the fireplace and cinnamon. I love those cinnamon pinecones. And I love walking Mason home from the bus when it’s cold and smelling the fireplaces burning.

Touching: These hands are usually bathing, tickling, cleaning up after, wiping noses, changing diapers, doing laundry, claening ect! This last weekend Kip and I got to stay in a hotel for the first time in over 2 years. He had his work party downtown and we got a room in the hotel. We stayed up late, drank a little, ate really good free food, talked with adults, and slept in a cozy bed until almost 10 in the morning! (Betcha thought I was gonna get graphic) It was amazing.

Faith: I’m listening to Matt Chandler’s Ecclesiastes series. He says that faith is our sixth sense and our world without it is meaningless. I love the possibility that this sense may actually grow stronger as I age even though the others are sure to weaken. Yet since my entire view on life hinges on this; the future is very bright. Most of all I love that I can’t mess it up and that it’s very existence in me depends on someone else’s work which is complete.

Just for Fun

Anyone up for blogging a survey? Here's mine...

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Yes, my mom’s best friend Angie, but I didn’t inherit the “e”
2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Yesterday, not yet today, but there is still time…
3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? No
4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Boar’s Head Maple Glazed Honey Turkey
5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? Oh yes
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Sure I would
7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Sometimes
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Never!
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Granola
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Nope
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Strong willed maybe and sometimes that effects my physical strength
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? It has to be soy, but I love Brownie Fudge
14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? Their countenance
15. RED OR PINK? RED
16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? I’m too critical
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? Amy P!
18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? I hope they blog it!
19. WHAT COLOR SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Asics
20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? Pasta for Lunch
21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? A little girl that should be napping yelling “mommie”
22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? A cool shade of blue
23. FAVORITE SMELLS? Cinnamon and fresh flowers
24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? My mom
25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Love her!
26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? Are reality shows a sport? Football I guess?
27. HAIR COLOR? Brown (has gotten darker with each child, I’ve thought about going blonde so I look like my kids)
28. EYE COLOR? Bright Blue
29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? Yep
30. FAVORITE FOOD? Chocolate
31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? happy endings
32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Baby Mama, too funny!
33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Navy Blue
34. SUMMER OR WINTER? Can't wait until summer now that we have a pool
35. HUGS OR KISSES? Yum, I love them both!
36. FAVORITE DESSERT? Chocolate Cake
37. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? ???
38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? ???
39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? Om Paradise Drive by David Brooks
40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? I don’t have one
41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT? Amazing Race and My Own Worst Enemy 42. FAVORITE SOUND? That rolling laugh that when the kids get really tickled
43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Beatles
44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME??? Antigua
45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? I can talk in a weird squeaky voice (is that a talent?)
46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Dallas, Texas
47. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK? everyone's

Giving Thanks To God

And on to Psalms 105, "Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name; make known the nations what He has done".

Today God has seen fit to act quickly in my life. A few awkward conversations, then an affirming one, hours of twitter updates and some Tylenol and life is renewed and totally different. New doors are opened for deeper relationships and healing both physical and emotional has already begun. Praise the Lord! Since the last post I can't stop singing...

Bless the Lord, Oh my soul and all that is within me bless His holy name.

Seeking...

I'm reading Psalms 104 today. Babies are in surgery, children are sick, family members are suffering, friends are struggling; my heart is in distress. I need a God that "cloaks himself in light" , one "that stretches the heavens out like a tent" and rides the clouds like a chariot. The Truth says that He makes the water to quench the thirsts of beasts and grows plants for the cattle. The lions powerful as they may be cannot hunt alone, they must seek their food from God. The earth trembles with one glance from Him and with one touch the mountains smoke.

My mind cannot fathom your might and your undieing love. I beg you Lord, open your hand and satisfy those who are hurting. Send your Spirit to renew the weary. The glory of the Lord will endure forever. Praise the Lord, O my soul.

Something to think about...

CODEPENDENCY AND CHRISTIAN LIVING

On the surface, codependency messages sound like Christian teaching.
"Codependents always put others first before taking care of themselves." (Aren’t Christians to put others first?)
"Codependents give themselves away." (Shouldn’t Christians do the same?)
"Codependents martyr themselves." (Christianity honors its martyrs.)
Those statements have a familiar ring, don’t they? Then how can we distinguish between codependency, which is unhealthy to codependents and their dependents, and mature faith, which is healthy.

Codependency says:
I have little or no value.
Other persons and situations have all the value.
I must please other people regardless of the cost to my person or my values.
I am to place myself to be used by others without protest.
I must give myself away.
If I claim any rights for myself, I am selfish.

Jesus taught the value of the individual. He said we are to love others equal to ourselves, not more than. A love of self forms the basis for loving others. The differences between a life of service and codependency take several forms.

Motivation differs. Does the individual give his service and himself out of free choice or because he considers himself of no value? Does he seek to "please people"? Does he act out of guilt and fear? Does he act out of a need to be needed (which means he actually uses the other person to meet his own needs; the helpee becomes an object to help the helper achieve his own goals).

Service is to be an active choice. The person acts; codependents react. Codependents behavior is addictive rather than balanced. Additions control the person instead of the person being in charge of their own life.

Codependents have poor sense of boundaries; they help others inappropriately (when it creates dependency on the part of the other person rather than moving that person toward independence). They have trouble setting limits for themselves and allow others to invade their boundaries. A codependent’s sense of self-worth is tied up in helping others; Christianity says that a person has worth simply because he is a human being God created. Ones self-worth is separate from the work one does or the service one renders.

Codependents have difficulty living balanced lives; they do for others at the neglect of their own well-being and health; Christian faith calls for balanced living and taking care of oneself.
Codependent helping is joyless; Christian service brings joy.
Codependent are driven by their inner compulsions; Christians are God-directed and can be free from compulsiveness, knowing that God brings the ultimate results.

As I thought about this article it brought to light some anger I have with churches. I defintely feel that codependents have been taken advantage of in the very place that should be shedding light on this life sucking sin disease. Then it just made me sad. There are so many ways to stay busy and blinded in this world. Lots of prayer and accountability are required to make sure we are serving Jesus and not some idol or unmet need. And most of all let's just admit our need and listen to him when he says, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest."