Happy Monday:Moments from my Weekend

Sipping my coffee and remembering moments from my weekend:

My new ESV study bible came in the mail. I am excited to dig in and have explanations and cross-references. I’d better get finished with my homework for tomorrow!

My youngest flew in for a break before Spring semester. We stopped at the Nordstrom café for lunch. Love their Crab Bisque and the squash ravioli was yummelicious too.

Sydney had a tummy-ache and sort of went on a food strike. (That huge bone I left with her to keep her occupied Friday afternoon while I was picking up Sarah at the airport was not a good idea.) Time to have rice for breakfast and settle that tummy…I wish I could stop eating when I know I should.

Saturday night we went to dinner with friends and then to cheer on the Whitworth Pirates who were in town for a basketball game at Pacific Lutheran University. Yay! Bucs won!

Great message at church yesterday on marriage; submitting in love…I went to first service for the first time in years since I had to drop off Mr.C at the shuttle early.I saw a whole different group of my church family and heard the choir instead of our modern worship band. It’s good to occasionally hear traditional hymns!

I watched “An Affair to Remember” for the first time! Love Cary Grant, that time era and the sound track. As I looked on Netflix for something similar I ended up starting “The Kennedy’s” mini-series. 

I spent ALL day yesterday going through seven of my billion teaching boxes (I started teaching in the eighties and have files and projects for 1st grade, kinders and preschool. Did I mention I'm a hoarder who is trying to become a minimalist???)  I’m purging, making piles to donate to our local elementary and church preschool, putting aside a few things to try to sell and keeping just my favorites in case I get to teach preschool again someday. (Next fall?!)

Despite the rain, little Miss Sydney wanted/NEEDED to get out for a walk, so we tried out her new nifty slicker.

I’m a little bit  selfish so the fact that Mr. C is in Phoenix at a swanky hotel and the weather isn't sunny and warm helps. I get to spend the week with questionable weather but with my baby girl!

How was your weekend?

In His Grip, Jane

Family Friday: Tags

Last Saturday Mr.C and I were beginning our quest to purge excess junk stuff and straighten our garage a bit. We brought our doggie Sydney outside with us. I looped her leash around her neck (thinking it would remind her to stay near me) and tucked my cell phone in my back pocket.

Sydney did well for a little while. She’d venture out to the driveway, and then come back inside the garage to “check in” with us. Then she got a bit too curious…The piles for Goodwill and the garbage were growing, but I realized my puppy was nowhere to be seen. I was looking up and down our street when my cell phone rang. A neighbor we hadn't met yet had Sydney.They also, had been out in their garage. Thankfully he called the number on her cute tag right away. Within minutes she was back under our care, and put safely on a tie-out rope. (We are renting our home right now and it doesn't have a fence or an “invisible fence”.)

If only it was that quick & easy when my kids or I decide to go or do something that’s not in our best interest. We step outside God’s design for us, we’re caught, God is notified God SEES and He comes to rescue us.

Actually, it does sort of happen that way. God has “tagged” my heart. I belong to Him. If I quiet the other noises around me and pay attention, I can hear Him calling me back to Him.

I’m thankful for dog tags, my “God-tagged heart” and that God uses people to help…

The world beckons us and not everything that intrigues us is good for us. Sydney is still learning her boundaries and I’m still a work in progress.

Are your pets tagged (and micro-chipped)? How about your heart?...

Enjoy your weekend friends!

In His Grip, Jane

What Helps Me in the Daily Battle

Are You in a Fur Fight? We have entered the season of shedding. Everywhere I look on our wood floor I see dog hair. Or is it cat hair?...

It could be either since both of my pets have red fur. Our rental home has Brazilian Cherry wood floors. I thought red pet hair would blend in. Wrong! (The scratches from Sydney are a whole other topic…) It’s inevitable that animals grow more hair/fur in cold weather. It’s also very likely that unless you own a Labradoodle, you might also be experiencing a hairy house. It takes weapons to fight this never-ending “battle”. 

 My weapons of choice are the Swiffer Sweeper, a vacuum, a lint roller and the FURminator.

You probably own the first three items. They are all familiar and and all can be found at Target. 

The FURminator? Now THAT is a very special, a little bit pricey but oh so worth it, de-shedding tool that every pet  parent should own. It actually gets the undercoat loose fur before it gets a chance to fall. (Picture fur flying and swirling in the air every time my dog shakes… Imagine my black leggings after I hold my cat…Now do you understand why it’s good to get rid of the fur before it can fall?)

People need their own type of “Furminators” and although it’s not a brush, it IS a type of "de-shedding" tool. In addition to tending to our hair, we need to work on shedding our old attitudes and allowing God to beautify us from the inside out. Spending time reading scripture is like a trip to the groomer. People around us will notice a difference.

"You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness" (Ephesians 4:22-24).

Lesson Learned: Armed with a Furminator (available at pet stores, and on Amazon) and God’s word (available in any bible and now even on my smart phone!) I can be equipped to face the daily battle; whether it’s pet hair or a world that needs peace, love and hope. Happy "Shedding"!

In His Grip, Jane

Photo sources: Target.com, Amazon.com, and Sydney's FURminator.

Cooties on the Corner

I've caught a bug. It must be a mild strain of the flu that is racing across America. This is one event I really didn't want to participate in.  I now understand why I felt so out of sorts Tuesday. Hopefully I didn't infect any ladies with my "cooties"... I’m doing the recommended things; liquids, the B.R.A.T.’s diet, sleep, and Tylenol. My sweet friend is dropping off some groceries and “plumbing pills” since my man is out of town and I shouldn't leave "Carver Corner" right now.

Bugs just aren't fun. When we lived in Illinois we had REAL BUGS in our house. We cut a tree down that was a mansion for ants and they marched into our house. We called the exterminator and the truck came.  the "bug man" came, in his car. Bill was an older gentleman who was, shall we say, not gifted in the good-looking category. (Sort of like certain people should be on radio vs. television.) He always seemed to arrive early and would sit out in the street in his car until I would walk over and tell him it was OK to come in and begin. It was awkward and he sort of gave me the creeps.

He did his “thing” with the sprayer foam and powder in the windows & basement and put traps in the detached garage (yep, we had mice too). He put us on an every-other-month treatment schedule so I had the task pleasure of greeting Bill several times in the following year. Since I am shallow & immature  prone to making up jingles for everything, I made up a song in my head about our “bug man”.

“Bill! You bug me so, you always will…” (I just changed a few lyrics from Wedding Bell Blues by The 5th Dimension.)

When I see a spider I sing that silly song in my head, then I think about how I hope Bill felt appreciated for a job well done. This week I've been wishing I could rid myself of guilt and my bug just by dialing Bill. 

Lessons Learned:   I might not have enjoyed Bill’s visits, but I did reap the benefit from his work ethic and successful results. Did I engage him in conversation? Did I act different around him just because of his appearance? He did his job well and the ants and mice went away. 

“People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at a person’s thoughts and intentions.” 1Samuel 16:7

Stay healthy my friends, and when I take myself out of quarantine I’ll be heading out to get that flu shot…

Go Seahawks!!

In His Grip, Jane

Photo sources:skinjunkieblog.com and famouslogos.org

Word of the Year: Diligent

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.  I wish I could give a good excuse for why I've let weeks go by without writing-I've had several topic ideas enter my heart and mind but I never took the time to form them into a semi-cohesive blog post.

If I were to list a few reasons for not writing, I suppose I could claim the following as my distractions; my four children plus daughter-in-law converged on our house, cookies and candy were made, we threw our annual party, hot tub and bath towels needed washing, last minute shopping errands were run, I planned and prepared meals, wrapped too many gifts, walked the puppy dog, saw friends, ate out, celebrated the birth of Christ and 2013, made trips back and forth to the airport and packed away the decorations.

If I am honest though, I really have just been lazy and unproductive. The book Slowly, Slowly, Slowly, said the Sloth comes to mind…It was too hard for me to get started. 

Although we didn't do anything super exciting while the kids were all, we just enjoyed hanging out together. We plugged in the old VCR machine and watched some old home videos. It was the first time my grown kids have watched themselves as babies and toddlers. (I got exhausted watching how busy four little ones kept me!) The photos today are from a Christmas morning  filmed nineteen years ago.

And now...the house is quiet. The kids are all back at college or work and I need to get motivated. I started a list of goals for the year but I also am choosing ”my one word” for 2013. “Journey” and “joy” were my words for 2011 and 2012. Check out the link below that describes the concept and book written by Mike Ashcraft and Rachel Olsen.  http://myoneword.org/

I've spent days trying to narrow down to just one word.  It’s a recurring problem; I have trouble making decisions, then when I do I second-guess myself. (You’ll often find me ordering the combo platter at a restaurant...) I almost changed my mind about the word I picked but I think it will be a good challenge and theme for me so I'm sticking with it! 

There were so many words I was drawn to; trust, intentional, deliberate, steadfast, simplify, forward, listen, restore, discipline, and honor… I finally chose the word DILIGENT to guide me in the coming year.

I looked up different definitions...

Diligent (Webster’s New World College Dictionary) 

1.  persevering and careful in work; industrious

2. done with careful, steady effort; painstaking

The Blue Letter Bible defines the Old English meaning of diligence, "with love”.

I want to learn to be diligent about getting healthier (body, mind & soul), spending daily time studying God’s word, finally purging all the items our family no longer needs and organizing what we have, improving my blog, and being frugal. I desire to be diligent whether I’m working part-time, caring for my family, spending time with friends or serving my church.

Have you chosen a “word” for 2013?

In His Grip, Jane