Not So SAHM

Shout out to 5M4M

Thanks to the ladies who run the 5 Minutes for Mom blog my book review and giveaway has just reached a much larger audience (thanks Susan and Janice!). Each weekend they post 5 Minutes around the blogosphere, which includes contests and giveaways (including mine this week!). Please tell me you’re already subscribed to their feed. In fact, I must end my post now to go back and enter some of those giveaways… Btw, have you entered mine?

Taking the steps to be a SAHM

I’ve taken the liberty to share my advice and opinions over at Blogher on becoming a Stay At Home Mom (SAHM). If you’ve ever thought about being a stay at home parent (because the advice is the same for a man) this article will answer those age old questions that are lurking in your mind.

Go there. Read. Stay home if you want to. Taking the Steps To Be A SAHM

Things I’ve noticed recently…

THINGS I’VE NOTICED…

My man hands (not my man’s hands) look like 80 year old grandma hands…or should I say grandpa hands. Except for the fact that there are no liver spots you couldn’t tell the difference. Crafting will do that to ya.
I’ve quit applying lotion liberally and often. Thus the reason for geriatric extremities.
Apparently water is dangerous to my one year old and incites fear akin to sitting in a pile of fire ants. Try cleaning her face. Her hands. Try sitting her in a bath tub. We’re bringing in the exorcist soon.
None of my clothes are cute. This transitional weather period has left me unable to wear nice thick sweaters and unable to wear nice small tops. I have no cute in-between clothing. I look like a suburban mom. blech.
Our trees out back are starting to bloom.
The birds are fiercely eating the seed from our new bird feeder.
Cardinals are awesome (the bird, not the baseball team). Female cardinals rock with their little red tuft on the top, which perfectly coordinates with their orange beak, red wings and red tail feathers. Robins are even cooler.
It’s hard to be satisfied with yourself as a homeschooler. I mean really, would my daughter get so off track and distracted if she were sitting in a class room? Come.ON!
I find Him when I seek Him with all my heart.
I haven’t missed tv nearly as much as I thought I would. And I’ve only used Hulu once. (How do you even pronounce that anyway?)
You don’t need XM or Sirius if you’ve got Yahoo Launchcast…except for the whole in-the-car-without-good-radio-thing.
80s music was so awesome. Except the love ballads. I hated them even back then.
The Woot off going on now is like the longest one in history (in my history). I believe that now means it will end since I just posted about it.
I’ve become really disorganized. Watch for my accountability post soon y’all. It’s bad. And I need help. I just have to get organized enough to write it.

More on Beth Moore’s New Study

All the video sessions with Beth Moore have been good. How could they not be–she’s got such an enthusiasm that you’re bound to catch a little of it.

There are those lessons though that just resonate.

Sometimes they’re on a spiritual level where you feel like you just got a shot of God caffeine.
Sometimes they’re on a practical level where you feel convicted to live a certain part of your life differently.
Sometimes they’re on an intellectual level where you learn something new and profound about God, the Bible, Christ, what have you; and you’re just amazed at how…perfect God is.

Tonight’s Video Lesson got to me on an intellectual level and was right up my alley. We’re going through the Psalms of Ascent and learning what they meant to the Israelites back in the day–and how we can apply meaning to our daily lives. There were three yearly feasts that the Israelites had to travel back to Jerusalem for. They would sing these psalms as they were traveling back. There’s joy, sorrow, hope, love, fear, condemnation, everything. They were honest with God and expected Him to be right there with them through it all.

And He was. And they celebrated. Tonight we learned about the third feast, the Feast of Tabernacles. There was so much detail put into each aspect of the Feast, and it was all dictated by God. It all had so much meaning. God coursed through the Feast and it ended with them proclaiming, shouting, begging, celebrating for the Messiah to come. All the symbology struck a deep chord with the Israelites. And they did this every year.

Fast forward to New Testament times. Each time the Israelites heard certain words and certain phrases, they knew exactly the reference that was being made, whether it was during feast time or not. They would be reminded of certain traditions of the Feast and would act out other traditions if appropriate. I’m not going to steal Beth’s thunder by going into all of it. But God’s timing and humor and wit and awesomeness is on exhibit all through the Bible. Yet, we’re so far removed from those original cultural meanings we don’t usually get it. Beth brings some of that out in this session.

And you end up wanting to rejoice right there with the Israelites. Hosanna!

How To Imprison Your Child

How in the world!

Ashlyn has begun not to climb onto things, but to crawl underneath things. And she tends to get stuck in those places she tries to crawl under. Do you see the baker’s rack in the background of the photo? Notice that there’s only a 4 or 5 inch clearance from the floor to the lowest rack. She tried to shimmy underneath there. Twice. She got stuck. Twice. She screamed. Twice. Just like in this picture. Unfortunately I didn’t get a picture of the baker’s rack crawl. I really was a little more worried for her head…and shoulders…and torso. I thought I would have to unload everything off of that darn thing to lift it off of her, all the while with her screaming like she’s getting a finger sawed off. But somehow her body relaxed and I was able to free her. Twice.

Now, with today’s photo. Reagan and I were doing school in the kitchen. Minding our own business, we were ~~eating a snack~~deep in discussion, when we heard the familiar shrieks. Looking down we saw this. Ashlyn had shimmied underneath the stool and stood up inside it. AND she had gotten her rather large head (which we’re quite certain from these stunts isn’t all brain) stuck between two of the legs. I got her head free and then couldn’t resist. I had to get photographic evidence.

After taking the picture I tried to get her to bend her legs to sit down so I could remove the stool without her falling over. She was having none of that though. Her legs were as stiff as boards and she was not letting go of the legs of the stool. Somehow I prevailed and our daughter is now free to explore once more. Maybe I should have left her in there.

What’s so Good about Good Friday?

Spring is in the air and we can’t wait to dive right in. The grass is starting to hint at it’s natural color. Robins are back searching the thawing earth for sustenance. The air seems lighter, the days are definitely lighter, and our moods, almost broken by the long winter, have begun to lighten as well. The awakening of the earth does amazing things to awaken ourselves again.

The earthly awakening coincides with spiritual awakening as well. Easter falls near the beginning of spring. It’s the perfect time to don new clothes, pet cute little chick and bunnies, celebrate the new season and rebirth. Pastel colors everywhere reflecting how soft and sweet everything is.

Somehow, some time along the way we have allowed the pastel colors of spring to mute out the colors that really symbolize this season, and this Good Friday in particular:

Drab brown: the color of the crown of thorns worn as humiliation. The color of the cross built as an ancient torture device.
Royal purple: the color of the robe the soldiers placed on a man they were also spitting on.
Crimson red: the color of the blood that was shed from the body drained of all life.
Muted gray: the color of the tomb where that dead body was buried. The color of the stone rolled in front of the entrance.

This is what Good Friday is all about! What’s so good about torturing a man until he’s unrecognizable? About humiliating him in front of everyone who had days before lauded him? About forcing him to carry his death device after he’d been beaten almost to death? About nailing nails through his body to hold him onto the cross? About watching an innocent man die while shouting insults at him and dividing up the only clothes he had left?

The Good is something only a heart Spiritually awakened can understand. This innocent Man chose to die on this day, the day we now call Good Friday, so that we would not have to face the same death He did. His physical death we will taste (except for those alive at His return). His spiritual death, we do not have to face. God had to turn His face away from Jesus (Eli, Eli lama sabachthani?) because He became our sin. He took the shame and punishment of our sin and had God turn away from Him for the very first time in His life. This was what He dreaded and prayed for God to take away from Him in the garden. But yet. He. still. did. it. He took the total wrath of God so you and I would never have to face that.

Pure white: The robes we now wear in heaven having been cleansed by that crimson red.
Royal purple: The robe the soldiers forced Jesus to wear is the only color fitting for the Savior of the world and the King.

One thing must have gotten Jesus through this ordeal. Knowing that He would soon be reunited with the Father in Heaven. He would not face that wrath for eternity. He knew on the third day He would rise again. Amen and hallelujah!

It is called Good Friday because of that sacrifice. Oh Good God, thank You so much for that sacrifice, that we may be able to call the worst day in the history of man GOOD.

IN CHRIST ALONE

here sung by Natalie Grant

In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand

In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
‘Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
Til he returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand