"Birdgate"

What happens when you leave on a Saturday for three hours to attend a shower? You come home to find a "surprise" waiting for you on the dining room table. I've come to the conclusion that me and surprises aren't big fans of each other. Well, most of the time. I like to KNOW what is going to happen in advance. If Mike is getting me a present, I like to know what I'm getting. Terrible, isn't it? It takes the fun out of things but that's the way I am. So, I came home from this shower to see my husband and Jules beside themselves with excitement. "Come here, Mommy, we have a surprise for you!" I looked around the corner and I thought I saw something that looked like a birdcage. "Please," I thought, "not a bird. Please may it not be a bird. No bird, no bird." Turned the corner, and lo and behold, there stood a blue parakeet in all its glory in a birdcage sitting on my dining room table. My heart fell. How could my husband do this to me? Buy a bird WHILE I WAS AWAY WITHOUT CONSULTING ME AHEAD OF TIME???? It must run in the family for I remember when I was a kid, we got our puppy when my mom was away in Holland. Males, I tell you! I was pretty bummed out, but eventually my thoughts about the whole thing changed. I'm not a fan of birds in birdcages - there's something about being wild and free and all that good stuff - so it just doesn't seem right to this animal-rights activist. On the other hand, every kid wants a pet, and a bird is quite a low-key one. The benefits of the whole thing have become more and more evident. I actually like the bird (christened "Bluebell" by Jules) and my goal in life is to have the thing tamed. If you come over and hear some ridiculous chirping sounds, don't assume it's Bluebell; it could be me! So that's my exciting weekend. Mike and I have titled this chapter in our lives as "Birdgate."

Saying Grace

On Saturday Juliet decided she needed to inform her cousins who were over for the day on when they had to pray for their food. "You don't have to pray for brownies," she declared emphatically. But on the other hand, "You have to pray for toast and pizza," she clarified. Yesterday, she insisted on praying over her snack (who am I to argue with that???)and so the confusion continues.

Something to Read

Here is a great article I just read (taken from Tim Challies blog). Give it a read. I found it convicting (especially the example of the Mom wanting to keep her house clean). http://theresurgence.com/2011/02/07/how-does-worship-transform-us">

Last Try

Here's my last try at being coherent on a subject that I've had difficulty writing clearly about. Here goes: I remember giving advice to a soon-to-be married couple at a bridal shower. The guests were asked to write down one piece of advice for the married couple. Me, not even dating at the time, wondered what in the world to write. "Love each other." That seemed a little...basic. I wracked my brain. There had to be some tidbit of advice I had floating around in my brain. Something! At last an old adage I had heard before came back to me. "Never go to bed angry with each other." I glibly wrote it down, satisfied that I had given a good piece of advice. Years later, as I think back to that incident, I have to laugh. Personally, that advice hasn't worked for me. It may work for some people, but not everyone. I've learned that sometimes it's best to let time do it's work. Sure, don't go to bed yelling and screaming at each other("let not the sun go down on your wrath" comes to mind), but on the other hand, does every problem that comes up have to be resolved immediately? Touchy subjects should probably be discussed when touchy people are a little less...touchy. I've been mad at Mike before, brought it up at the wrong time, and been furious about twenty other things as a result of two angry people butting heads. Better to have waited till I had cooled down. What I'm trying to get at, is that everyone is different. If you marry Mr. Calm-and Cool-Headed Who-Never-Blows-His-Top, having discussions at any time probably works for you. But if you are married to Mr. Short-Fuse you might be better off waiting till the morrow. There is no one size fits all solutions out there! Well, hardly any. Look at the Bible. How many verses are there that specifically talk about raising children? I'm talking SPECIFICS. Like, "You must punish all of your children in the same manner when they are disobedient" or "You must not allow...etc." You get the drift. The point being, the Bible isn't nitty-gritty specific when it comes to child-rearing, marriage, and many other aspects of life. So that's my beef (if you will) about marriage books, and child-rearing books, and all the rest out there. Many times, it's the author's experience that he/she is relying on. So going back to my memory at the beginning of this post, how useful one's advice is depends entirely on what you do with it. If a book promotes principles from God's Word, it's worth a read. But if all sorts of expectations and recommendations are promoted without Biblical credence, use caution. You know, maybe I don't have to run to the bathroom, slap on my makeup, and try to look BEAUTIFUL every time the hubby comes home. Maybe it's okay to wear my sweats once in awhile. For that matter, (in my case), maybe he LIKES me in sweatpants. Ever think of that?

Jules's Latest

We had just arrived home after church yesterday. I busied making coffee for myself while Jules wandered around the kitchen. After awhile, she looked at me and asked, "Mom, can I watch a video?" I'm not sure she remembered it was Sunday, so I told her, "No, sweetie, it's Sunday, and we don't watch videos on Sunday." This just happens to be one of the ways Mike and I want to keep Sunday different from all of the other days of the week. Jules looked at me and asked seriously, "God doesn't like videos?" Hmmmmm. This left me fumbling around for an explanation. "No, it's not that, Jules, but it's just a day where we want to worship God and go to church...." Jules-"God is in the church? The minister?" Me - "NO! The minister is NOT God!!! He's God's servant!" Jules, still confused dropped the subject while Mike and I looked at each other. This explaining business can be quite difficult. This morning Jules got into an argument with me while we went over her Book of First Questions by Carine MacKenzie (an easy version of the Westminster Confession). We've memorized the first fifteen questions or so, but she resists the question "Can I see God? The answer given is: "No, I cannot see Him but He sees me." Jules gets upset with this convinced she CAN see Him! He's the picture of the little boy in the book!!! So then I try to explain that God is in heaven and point up above. Now she probably thinks God lives in the attic or something! Sigh....... I suppose some things must just wait till she is older. I remember hearing as a kid the term "backsliding" in church and was convinced the minister was praying against those disobedient kids that slid down the slide on their backs at the public pool in town!

My Favorite Blog

Lately I've been enjoying Tim Challies' blog so much! I don't remember how I ever came across it, but I'd highly recommend it. If your interested in anything reformed, check it out. Today he had an article titled "The Strange Phenomena of White Pastors Listening to Rap Music" or something along that line - very interesting. What other good blogs are out there? I better not become aquainted with too many or I'll be sitting behind my computer all day! Anyway, I've been much too busy to blog lately. Some other day, perhaps?

Monday Night Surprise

I don't know what it is about Mondays, but I always seem to have a ton of energy! It's great! I get up, start on the laundry, and accomplish all sorts of jobs around the house. As the week moves along, my energy for house-cleaning wanes, and I make up for my zealous over-the-top chore-packed Monday with more relaxed...activities. It never fails. It is such a good feeling to get a lot accomplished. Yesterday was like any other Monday. I rushed around during the day, cooked a meal for dinner (chicken wings, anyone? We eat em' for dinner and love em'!) and at around seven-thirty, it was off to the grocery store. Jules wanted to go with me, so I had company. After our trip, it was home again. I walked in the door, not aware of the major heart palpitations and the agonizing struggle that was in store for me. My livingroom had turned into a giant tent...of sorts. While we were gone, my dear ole' hubby made the entire living room into a fort for his little girl. (Can you tell he loves her?) I confess when I saw it, I had to bite my tongue. My beloved livingroom! The only neat room in the house! The one "sacred" room that I try to keep half-way clean. Well, Jules had her fun. While I busily put the groceries away, I kept thinking about when I was going to clean up the various blankets and sheets that seemed to be everywhere. But then I started to remember what it was like to be a kid - forts were the BEST! Endless hours of fun could come from a simple blanket thrown over a chair and made into a fort of sorts. On the other hand, we made them in the basement when I was a kid - slightly less visible, no? But we don't have a basement! And what better place to build a fort than in the room where the most chairs and various articles of furniture are situated? I consoled myself with the fact that once Jules was in bed, I'd clean it up as soon as possible. Then I heard Mike cheerfully announce to Jules that, "She could play with it in the morning and get more fun out of it then!" My heart sank. I'd have to go to bed knowing my livingroom was a disaster. Would I even be able to sleep? Somehow I kept my mouth shut. And you know what? Mike got me to go in the tent and pretend to be a lion and I don't know what all. In the end I kept my mouth shut and was a.) glad I had a husband who wanted to surprise his little girl b.) glad my husband cleaned it all up at night on second thought c.)and glad that my girl was happy! What do you say? Can you sympathize with my plight or am I a nut-job?