Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Just Enough

God came near.

And that ain't all He did, friends.

He shook things up a bit. Knocked me completely on my big pregnant fanny. Probably laughed about it a bit. Set me straight on a few things. Picked me back up. Dusted me off. Rested me up. And then I hope He "looked over all He had made and saw that it was good!"

Because it WAS good. And it was VERY needed.

But I never would have invited Him to do some work in me in quite the manner he chose to do it in. (Doesn't it always seem to work that way?)

He is so mysterious. I like that about Him. (And then again sometimes I don't.) It's funny how out of no where, He's there. I can be in an intense season of real doubt and wondering - dealing with serious faith questions and mad about it - when all of a sudden He's just there. Just near. Sometimes He's not speaking. Sometimes He's not even coming close to doing things my way. But He's there. And that is enough. It's enough to quiet the questions, drown out the doubts and tote my tears for a while.

Through a series of weird and difficult events during the past few weeks - God has done A LOT in me. And ya know, there are times in my life where, if I read a statement like that one, I might be prone to doubt it or even scoff at it. Thinking that what happened to that person wasn't God at all - but just life. I have to tell you though - the next time I find myself doing that (and I know I will) I must remember the realness of His closeness right now.

God came near and it was enough, y'all. Just enough.

As Jeremy Camp puts it:

"All of you is more than enough for all of me

For every thirst and every need
You satisfy me with your love
And all I have in You is more than enough"

Oh God, continue to be so real to me - to all of me. My mind. My heart. My soul. Let me be a woman who welcomes you in whatever way you like. Hush the worries and quiet the fears just enough for me to hear and see You. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Wash Your Hands

Hi Friends :)

I'm so sorry for not posting anything in over a week! Please forgive me. Last week, my son came down with a very nasty stomach virus. My husband and I got it this weekend, as well. We are doing better - but still very much recovering. It was a rough one.

I'll be back in action soon :)

It's a dirty germ-filled world out there kids...y'all thought I was obsessed with hand sanitizer before?......you should see me now.

Love and health to you all!

Monday, January 19, 2009

Be Inspired

Let's start the week off with some encouragement :)

"Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart. Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow." from Words to Warm a Woman's Heart

"Faith means being sure of what we hope for...now. It means knowing something is real, this moment, all around you, even when you don't see it. Great faith isn't the ability to believe long and far into the misty future. It's simply taking God at His word and taking the next step."
-Joni Earechson Tada

"The greatest gift we can give one another is rapt attention to one another's existence." -Sue Atchly Ebaugh

All who seek the Lord will praise Him. Their hearts will rejoice with everlasting joy. -Psalm 22:26

Have a good week, sweet friends.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Yummy

It is freezin' outside, y'all.

So I have decided to whip up a little homemade goodness. This morning, I fired up the crock pot to make some White Chili Soup. I thought it would be very homemaker-ish of me to share the recipe with you :)

White Chili Soup from The Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook

3 15-15 1/2 ounce cans of Great Northern, pinto, or white kidney beans, rinsed and drained
2 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken
1 cup chopped onion
1 1/2 cups of chopped sweet bell pepper
2 fresh jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 teaspoons of ground cumin (I never add this in!)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano, crushed
3 1/2 cups of chicken broth
Shredded Monterey Jack Cheese (optional)
Broken Tortilla Chips (optional)

1) In a 3 1/2 or 4 quart crockery cooker combine the drained beans, chicken, onion, sweet pepper, jalapeno peppers, garlic, cumin (if you added it), salt, and oregano. Stir in chicken broth.

2) Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 8 to 10 hours or on high-heat setting for 4 to 5 hours. Ladle soup into bowls. If desired, top each serving with some of the cheese and tortilla chips.

It's yummy. And pretty good for you, too. Sure to warm up some cold and hungry bellies :)

And a little later, if I'm feelin' real froggy - I just might make some Carrot Cake. But I dunno - it may have to wait for tomorrow. I might have had enough of my inner Mrs. Cleaver for one day. But mmmmmm......it sounds so good :)

Stay warm, Sweet Ones.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Cashier Crushes

There I stood.

Hot pink slippers. Heart-patterned bathrobe. Hair in a high bun. No makeup. Tired. And hungry.

In all my glory I watched my husband bring in the groceries. He does the grocery shopping these days. Thank the Lord. In my condition, if I were to go to the store - I would end up spending our entire budget on bags of Barbecued Fritos, ice cream sandwiches, kosher dill pickles, and orange pop. Because that is what I'm craving these days :)

So as my wonderful hubby is bringing in the groceries - I notice that he has a mischievous look on his rather handsome face. Hmmm. After he gets all of the food inside he takes off his coat, still grinning, and says, "I have a funny story for you."

"Alright", I say. "Let's here it."

He begins, "As I am putting the groceries in the back of the car, the boy that bagged my stuff walked up beside me."

At this point, I'm thinking, "Oh, he must have left something in the store and the nice bagger boy brought it out to him. How sweet."

But then he continued , "Now, don't get mad or anything, hahahaha.....but...."

Uh huh. "Go on", I say.

"Well, the bagger boy said that the cashier girl thought I was like hot or something and she wanted me to have her number. Hahahahahah! I told the bagger boy to tell the cashier girl that I am happily married and not at all interested. But isn't that hilarious?"

Ahem. Let's see here....I have a growing belly, acne on my face, dark circles under my eyes, hair in desperate need of some color, and crazy hormones raging. At any other time I might have laughed and said, "Awww that's cute! The little cashier thinks your handsome." But you see, I'm not exactly sane these days.

Soooo, after I downed a few of the snacks my hubs bought at the store, I went back to our room - actually got dressed (something that doesn't happen a lot these days), put concealer on all of my zits, brushed my hair (which doesn't happen all that often anymore, either) grabbed my purse (and a cookie) and headed for the door.

My husband says, "Oh no. Where are you going?"

I said, " Where do you THINK? The grocery store."

I pull into the parking lot - dab on a little lip gloss, of course - and head inside. I go through the store and grab some things my hubby forgot and I start looking for "Kaitlin the cashier." I know her name because I went so far as to look at who the cashier was on the receipt. Yeah. I did.

I didn't see her anywhere. "Darn it. She must be on break." So I buy my things and as I'm heading out the door I see "Kaitlin". I wanted so bad to stop her and say, "Didn't you see the wedding band on his hand, Miss Thing? Don't you think it was kinda childish to send the bagger boy out to the hot guys car to give him your number? Isn't it against company policy or something to hit on customers?"

But then, Jesus must have taken over or somethin', y'all. Because psycho pregnant chick wanted the cute little cashier to know who's husband she was messing with. But instead, I smiled at her and headed to the car. It would be a much more interesting story, I know, if I would have said something. But, it's good I didn't. We go to this grocery store a lot and I will probably run into little miss "hit on all the married guys" again. I'm sorry. That was uncalled for. I should just be thankful that I married a man who would never accept a phone number from a cashier (or anyone, for that matter) and who is hot enough to be pestered by one. Yeah. I'll take the high road on this one.

As long as I have me some fritos and orange pop to go along for the ride.



Friday, January 2, 2009

Pregnancy Power

Pregnancy makes me feel a lot of things.

It makes me nauseated, exhausted, irritable, undesirable, and moody. It makes my face break out in acne. It makes me have dark circles under my eyes. It makes me complain...a lot. It makes me very, very sleepy. And it makes me weird.

But....

It also makes me feel capable and able. It makes me want to do silly things like ride roller coasters and take random road trips. It makes me want to do big things like start a business or write a book. It makes me feel strong. It makes me dream.

And since I'm super hyped up on all kinds of hormones - it makes me crazy enough to actually believe that some of those big dreams could come true one day.

It's amazing really.

While it is true that pregnancy can make me feel .....incapable. It also makes me feel like I can do something.

On those days when I find it near impossible to even get my hair brushed - its nice to feel like there are lots of things that are possible.

All these feelings of power and possibilities in pregnancy - get me through the yucky stuff. And I'm real thankful for that. :)