Weigh In Wednesday
Posted: July 17, 2007 at 6:46 pm
So tomorrow is weigh in day. I’m not looking forward to it nearly as much as I was last week. I haven’t done terrible but I also haven’t done as well as I did week 1. I’m a little afraid that my numbers may not drop – it just doesn’t “feel” like I’ve lost anymore weight. Oh well, there’s always next week.
Right now Carter is in his room having a fit because I closed and “locked” the door. Believe me, it is for his own safety right now. We had a great morning shopping and playing at the Mall until it was time to leave. When I told him it was time to leave the play area to go home, he RAN FROM ME! I didn’t chase him – I usually don’t, as a rule. Instead, I put Gracey in the stroller and waved goodbye to Carter as I walked away from the play area. This usually works like a charm.
He immediately came running and calling for me but when I stopped, he turned around and ran back to the play area. (I guess the little booger has finally caught on to my trick) So off I went again. (I had a friend still in the play area who was keeping an eye on him from a distance.) He would run to me and then run away before I could get him and we did this a few times. Finally, I said forget it. I turned around and walked off and didn’t look back. Not only did I not look back when I heard him calling for me, but when I turned the corner, I hid behind a wall so he couldn’t see me when he made the turn. Surely, he’d freak and run right to me when I stepped out, right? WRONG! He did freak, but when he got close to me he refused to get on the stroller and would not get close enough to hold my hand. So I walked out of the mall. I could hear his little footsteps trailing behind me, just far enough to maintain his independence, and I walked towards the parking lot. I didn’t know what I would do when I got to the parking lot because I couldn’t let him walk far behind me with all the cars. Thankfully, he must have been thinking the same thing because he came and got on the stroller when I stopped at the edge of the parking lot.
Mommy definitely needed a time out at this point. But we were all stuck in the car for another thirty minutes. He must have known I was pretty upset with him because when I said, “mommy needs some quiet time on the way home – no talking” he actually kept pretty quiet. He went straight to bed when we got inside and I told him his door would stay open as long as he stayed in his bed. Guess how long he stayed in his bed? 5 seconds.
So here we are. He’s screaming and crying and having a total fit in his room and I’m blogging about it. But I’m not irritated anymore. I’m just shaking my head wondering why it is so hard for him to submit to authority….then I remember he’s my son afterall and the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. I’m sure God is wondering the same thing about me – why is it so hard for me to submit to His authority sometimes?
I know the end result will be the same for me as it is for SPeedy. I’ll be the one throwing a fit and crying and all upset and He’ll be blogging about it. No wait. That’s probably not exactly how it will work. 
On a brighter note, this morning Carter finished his toast and asked for more. I very non-chalantly said, “go poop on the potty and I’ll make you another piece of toast”. Off he went to the bathroom as I remembered I didn’t have his little seat set up. By the time I got to the bathroom, he was balancing on the big potty and POOPING! Go Carter, go!
tags: Carter, Obedience, Parenting, Potty Training Add a comment
Obedience
Posted: February 5, 2007 at 8:33 pm
Yesterday and today Carter has really been pushing the limits. He’s got a little cold and I guess that makes it difficult for him to hear what I’m saying or something. After correcting him for what seemed like the millionth time this afternoon, I thought to myself that life would be easier if he would just blindly obey me.
If only he would always do exactly as I say, when I say it, not only would my life be eaiser, but his would, too. In fact, while it may seem to him that I am restricting him, if he would obey me completely, he’d actually have a lot more freedom. Afterall, I’m implementing rules and regulations just to torture him, everything is for a reason – either safety, basic life skill training or even character building, but it is all for a purpose. Why doesn’t an almost 3 year old get that?
Hmmmm
Why can’t I get that? I mean, my Father wants me to obey Him blindly. I even understand and know that I will have more freedom if I do. Yet, still, I don’t always listen and obey. He’s not out to get me anymore than I’m out to get Carter.
Funny how I can feel so exasperated with his behavior at times, but he’s only 2 (almost 3) years old. Imagine how exasperating it must be for our Father?
_______________________________________________
Conversation with Carter after reading a todler Bible story:
Me: The best gift God gave us is Jesus. Carter, what is the best present you’ve ever gotten?
Carter: Mommy
Me: Mommy? I’m the best present you ever got?
Carter: Nooooo
Me: Okay, so what is the best present you’ve gotten?
Carter: Mommy!
And before reading one of our favorite books, “Happy Adoption Day”
Me: Carter, what does ‘adoption’ mean?
Carter: JUDGE!
Me: What will the judge say?
Carter: Happy Family DAY!!!!! YAY!!!!
tags: Carter, Love for us, Obedience 1 comment
Do WHAT?
Posted: February 2, 2006 at 11:25 pm
The book of Hosea tells an amazing story of obedience and of God’s unconditional love for us. It starts out with God telling Hosea to go and marry a prostitute. Yes, you read that correctly, God told Hosea to marry a prostitute. Bet you didn’t see that one coming. 
See for yourself: Hos 1:2
2 When the LORD first began speaking to Israel through Hosea, he said to him, “Go and marry a prostitute, so some of her children will be born to you from other men. This will illustrate the way my people have been untrue to me, openly committing adultery against the LORD by worshiping other gods.”
NLT
Can you even imagine what Hosea thought when God told him this? I have faith and it grows stronger all the time, but how much of my faith is dependent on my being able to understand WHY God wants me to do what He’s asking me to do? But wait….this is only the beginning of the story! It gets worse….or better, depending on your perspective.
He marries a prostitute named Gomer. She has three children and she leaves Hosea to return to her life of prostitution. Hosea was a real, in-the-flesh man; how would he have felt to see the wife he took in and loved go off and do this? After some time, God gives Hosea further instruction: Go and get your wife – you’ll have to buy her out of slavery to get her back.
Hos 3:1-3
Then the LORD said to me, “Go and get your wife again. Bring her back to you and love her, even though she loves adultery. For the LORD still loves Israel even though the people have turned to other gods, offering them choice gifts.”
2 So I bought her back for fifteen pieces of silver and about five bushels of barley and a measure of wine.Â
NLT
Notice that God didn’t just tell Hosea to get Gomer back - He told him to love her. Not an easy command to follow, I’m sure. But Hosea did so that God could demonstrate His great love for the Israelites and for us. Hosea is not just a great love story of a man who loved his wife unconditionally, even when she didn’t deserve it. It is also, in fact MORE SO, a story of a God who loves His children so unconditionally that He would be willing to buy them back even when they betrayed Him over and over and over again…..even if the the payment required His life.
The next time someone says, “God loves you,” remember Hosea.
God, help me to be obedient to You even when I don’t understand, even when it may not make sense, especially when I don’t understand and when it doesn’t make sense.Â
tags: Love for us, Obedience 1 comment
Taming MY Tongue
Posted: February 2, 2006 at 4:25 am
Oh geez. Have you ever opened your Bible to a particular passage of scripture and felt like God had written it just for you? Sometimes it is a wonderful experience….and sometimes not so much. Tonight was one of those “not so much” nights for me. To be honest, I don’t even want to write this post but feel like I need to for the sake of accountability.Â
See, I’ve got this thing inside my mouth that seems to have a mind of its own; my tongue often forgets to check with my brain before it leaps into action and gets the rest of me in trouble. Speaking the first thought that comes into my head is a habbit that is almost impossible to break.
God is very clear about what He expects from those who are leaders in the church. He’s straightforward about the accountability of teachers and how they are held to a higher standard. As a Sunday School teacher, the following scripture really hits home with me. But it is my upcoming role as a parent that has me even more concerned. Little eyes and ears watching my every move; the ultimate teaching profession.
James 3:1-12 says:
Don’t be in any rush to become a teacher, my friends. Teaching is highly responsible work. Teachers are held to the strictest standards. 2 And none of us is perfectly qualified. We get it wrong nearly every time we open our mouths. If you could find someone whose speech was perfectly true, you’d have a perfect person, in perfect control of life.
3 A bit in the mouth of a horse controls the whole horse. 4 A small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain sets a course in the face of the strongest winds. 5 A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything — or destroy it!
It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. 6 A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell.
7 This is scary: You can tame a tiger, 8 but you can’t tame a tongue — it’s never been done. The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer. 9 With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in his image. 10 Curses and blessings out of the same mouth!
My friends, this can’t go on. 11 A spring doesn’t gush fresh water one day and brackish the next, does it? 12 Apple trees don’t bear strawberries, do they? Raspberry bushes don’t bear apples, do they? You’re not going to dip into a polluted mud hole and get a cup of clear, cool water, are you?
(from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)
Father, please help me to think before I speak and to speak only what brings You honor.
tags: God, Obedience Add a comment
Baptism
Posted: June 22, 2005 at 7:27 am
This is my nephew Wes. He was baptized last Sunday and we are SOOO proud of him. He spent a few days with us a few weeks back and we had a blast. He’s such a great kid and so much fun to be around! We love you, Wes!