Do You Smell That?

So Sundays are my day to run for a long(er) distance, according to my training program. I try to do them outside because I won't be running a half marathon on the treadmill for goodness sakes! 

However, I have entertained the idea of getting Season 1 of Heroes on DVD, putting it in and seeing how far I can run without dying. 

Today was 5 miles. And I did it. And I had some time to think about some things. And to smell some things. And to jump over some pretty disgusting road hazards.

The sun was shining and no chill left in the air. It was a nice day to be outdoors. While there were some really nice woodsy smells, there were mostly some pretty funky ones. At one point in the run, the overwhelming scent of Windex overtook my olfactory cells. I guess that's good? I don't know. 

I have longed to live in a country where I can be proud of our roadsides. I know pride's a sin, but there's just something nice about not having to dodge banana peels, roadkill, condoms (let's just say, NOT IN THE PROTECTIVE WRAPPING), newspapers so soaked with rain that they have ceased looking like newspapers causing me to jump over them thinking they were dead fish--large ones, plastic bottles of-my favorite-FANTA, Cool Whip containers, and other various refuse. 

When I drive along our interstates, I just want to get out and tidy up. Today while I was running, I just wanted to run away from the mess. I guess it's easier to bemoan a problem from your car, but when I was face-to-face with the grossness, I just wanted to get away. I didn't want to pick it up. 

I don't know where I'm going with this, but I know that I will be sure to teach my kids to NEVER, EVER throw something on the ground and wait for someone else to pick it up.

Something New

Our new header picture!  Since Christmas, I've been trying to edit this picture so it would fit and look pretty.  

TODAY, I FIGURED IT OUT!  TA-DA!

This is a picture The Daddy took on a visit out to Utah with his daddy, brother and other men. This year the whole family is going including the girls! We're going to put AE in ski school at least for one day.  We'll see how she reacts. It's the same ski school the Gosselins took their brood to. What? You don't watch Jon and Kate plus 8? For shame!

Anyway...

The Daddy took this picture that I think is just beautiful, and it will be here until Spring has sprung. Speaking of Spring, did I mention that HJ's birthday is on Easter this year? Well, it is. I went to a posh invitation store that is going out of business and got all the party supplies (invitations, plates, napkins, party favors) for 70% off. So exciting! She'll be two. Not a baby anymore.  

SIGH.

Phriday Photos

At the Phillips Homestead, we've been working on the dining room.  We got the table at IKEA and the chandelier at the Restoration Hardware outlet in Dawsonville.  We (The Daddy) painted the lower half of the room for Mother's Day last year.

Recent additions: 

• 4 chairs (need to be reupholstered)
  
• mirror
• table runner (on buffet)

I got the buffet at Scott's last year for my birthday.

Eddie Ross did this amazing update that I think would be beautiful to use as a china cabinet in our dining room. I love that he replaced the glass with mirror.

I'm off to get a haircut and look at fabric swatches for the chairs. Have a great Phriday!

Our New President

Today, AE saw the screen saver on our computer and shouted, "Hey, it's the president! I see the president!" Reminds me to really guard her from what we see on t.v. She saw a few images of him and we told her that he was our new president. Once. What an impressionable mind!

HJ, on the other hand, has taken to AE's new roller skates. Today, HJ even managed putting them on and standing up in them all by herself. She really likes them and calls them "cupcakes".  

***UPDATE***

I don't mean that she needs to be guarded from Barack Obama.  I mean, if she sees anything once, she'll remember it!

His Manhood

This week, for Wednesday's Word, Stormie liked to talk to us about our husband's manhood.

 {Insert uncomfortable silence as each of my family members gets really uncomfortable. Hi, Dad! Hi, Nana, Papa, Uncles C and J! No really, keep reading. It's OK.}

OK.

So the devil seeks to steal, kill and destroy what is good in our lives, while God wants to give us an abundant life. Satan wants to steal our soul, happiness and relationships.  He wants to kill our joy, peace, hopes and ultimately our life. He wants to destroy all of the above as well as our marriage and our witness for Christ.

Meanwhile, God seeks to give us an abundant life. He doesn't just want to give us a physical life, but also He wishes to impart to us a total life: physically, spiritually and emotionally. He wants to bless us with the fruits of the spirit.

If we are living with a negative attitude, we are blocking those blessings not just for ourselves, but also for our spouse.  This point brought me to my knees with regret and repentance. If I don't choose to live life with a more positive spirit, what good am I to myself, my husband or my children, let alone to God? 

We are stealing time from God when we choose to live with a selfishly negative attitude. We are giving free reign to the evil one who seeks to destroy us. We are handing over ourselves and the ones we love to that thief who will just move on to the next victim once he has sucked all he can from us. I'm stealing time from God, when He calls me to praise Him, to extol Him, to boast in Him, to rejoice for Him, to glorify Him and to exalt Him AT ALL TIMES!

So this attitude I have, will I change it?  Will I choose to make it a priority? Will I wake and get my attitude right with God before I speak to anyone, before my feet hit the floor, before the shower goes on, before I look in the mirror? 

Because it's the hardest for me to do, changing my attitude has been a slow step for me. I like to think I'm changing, but sometimes I wonder. Sometimes I feel I am moving at a glacial pace. Every once in a while, I recognize a move in the right direction. Are you going there, too?

So, on to his manhood.  As wives, we have to make IT a priority. It is crucial because God made us that way. God made the husband to want it, and He made the wife to be able to fulfill that want. It is the wife's ability, duty, privilege to comfort and complete her husband.  

There are four things God wants sex (that's me whispering! can you hear it?) to do for your marriage:

1. reaffirm your oneness
2. establish closeness
3. rekindle your relationship/passion
4. protect your marriage

Stormie warns us to pray for your love life BEFORE you HAVE TO!

We are also called to pray for his temptations.  The question is not will he be tempted, but how will he respond to temptation?  We are assaulted every day with temptations. Everyday. Everywhere. By everything. My greatest temptation is to spend more money than The Daddy earns.  My other greatest temptation is food. 

Wives are tempted, and we need prayer as well. Stormie reminds us to pray all these things for ourselves as well as our husbands.  You as a wife are keenly aware of what your husband's temptations are.  We must be warriors to pray diligently for him to be strong, courageous and full of integrity.

Our husband will be awarded a crown of life when he is able to resist temptation. God is faithful. He responds to prayer.  He will give you, me, your spouse a way out of any situation. He wants us to succeed. He wants us to be faithful. He seeks to fulfill us. Is your attitude going to allow you hear Him?  Is your attitude going to allow you to receive His blessings?

With God, there is a happy ending. 

And with the right attitude, my happy ending is in sight.

Merry Christmas!

AE's purchase 

Paired with a princess dress (that is a happy face, believe it or not!)

HJ's purchase

AE tries to help HJ "bounce" on the worm

For Christmas, The Daddy's Uncle J. got each of the girls a gift card to a big toy store. Yesterday, our big outing involved two kid favorites:  the toy store and a fast food restaurant with an indoor playground. Because, YA'LL, it snowed here in GEORGIA yesterday.  For five minutes.  

So it's cold here, I know not as bad as elsewhere in the US right now, but for us Southerners it's been like a real winter the past few days.  So shorts while doing my weekly long-run outside today was a mistake.

Anyway...  We had fun selecting gifts for the girls.  We had fun blocking our arteries.  We had fun on the indoor energy burner.  We had fun playing with our new things after church today, and we're relaxing for the rest of the day.

What's Cookin'?

Frequent post-nap activity

AE supervises as HJ stirs

AE takes over while HJ gets more ingredients

CAPTION, PLEASE!  

Name that last sisterly photo in the comments section!

A Clean Slate

Yesterday, I came up with about 57 different post topics while I was sitting in our Wednesday Bible study.  For some reason I couldn't do it yesterday.  Not one.  Hmmmmm.  What's going on here?

Some days when my husband asks how my day has been going, I can only list the negative things.  I completely forget the positives, or I tack them on as an aside at the end of my list of what went wrong.  Do you do that?

I've been doing it too much lately and for too long.

Yesterday's lesson was a wide open one.  (Remember I said it was a 45 minute a day commitment?  Not so much.  Just 15 minutes.  I'm getting old and have cobwebs in my ears!) The first day of lesson 2 went back to what we opened with:  praying for our husbands with a pure heart.

As ladies who talk, we stayed on that topic for a while.  Remember Condemnation v. Conviction?  So who is trying to tell us we aren't good enough, pure enough and deserving enough to talk to God about our husbands?  Satan.  That's who.

The conclusion I came to from our discussion was that if we are aware of our attitude/resentment/un-forgiveness, we need only turn it over to God.  It's a process, so only when you start really talking to God with all those hidden emotions can you begin to let go of those things.  It's a process so beginning the conversation with God with, "Hi, God.  I know I've been wrong" can open His ears to hear our prayers.   He already knows what is going on with us, but WE need to really understand and discuss with Him what we've been doing and why.  I included the "why" because I think sometimes as women, we don't really figure out where the problem in our marriage began.  We are too easily ruled by our emotions, and I am guilty of saying, "But that's just how I feel."  As children of God, we need to remember that God made us and He thought it was GOOD.  The good came before the sin.

So on to the rest of the lesson.

 

Paul tells us, "Love never fails," in that famous wedding passage from 1 Corinthians.  But we have to make a conscious decision each day to CHOOSE to love our husbands.  It is work.  Not because he makes it hard, but the world makes it hard.  Satan makes it hard.  Does satan want your marriage in Christ to succeed?  NO.  Does satan want you to pray for your husband?  NO. Does satan want you and your husband to grow closer through your faith in God?  NO.  You have to choose to love your husband on a daily basis.  I have felt the pull of satan to pull back and put a wall up between my husband and me.  It is real.  I have to choose EVERY MORNING not to believe the lies whispered in my ears.  

So what else?  We start by praying for our husband's work.  Besides work being one of the places your husband spends a majority of his time and energy, it is a place where he reaps a large amount of his self-worth.  His feelings of success and failure stem from the ability to provide for his wife and family.  

Moses prayed for his people to find work from the Lord.  He says, "May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us-- yes, establish the work of our hands." (Psalm 90:17)  

Folks, Moses prayed it twice right there in scripture.  How many times should we pray it for our husbands?  Pray for fruitfulness in his work.  Pray for meaning in his work. Pray for accomplishment in his work.  Pray for him to be appreciated, encouraged, and to find a sense of worth through his work. Pray for his eyes to be opened to see what God's will is in his work. Pray for God to establish the work of his hands.  Not a salary. Not health benefits.  Not power.  Not prestige.  Not a place to get away from his family. Pray for your husband to find the work that he should do according to his talents, so he will be fulfilled and fulfilling God's will for his life.

And if you also are working, go ahead and pray all these things for yourself, too while you're at it!  Stormie said it was OK.  Because our greatest gift we can give to our husbands is our own wholeness. EVEN IF YOU ARE WORKING AS A STAY AT HOME MOM, PRAY THIS FOR YOURSELF!  You've got an important job!

If you are blessed enough to have a husband who has found God's work for his life, pray for the Lord's presence in his work.

Pray for your husband's priorities to be aligned with what God says our priorities should be.  

1. God (Mark 12:30)
2. Spouse (Ephesians 5:25; Colossians 3:19; Ephesians 5:22; Colossians 3:18)
3. Family (Genesis 1:27-28)
4. Work (Genesis 2:15; Deuteronomy 28:11-13; Psalm 104:23; and so many more!)

Ask yourself: what is driving my husband?

If you don't like the answer, pray for him to find the right priorities.

On the flip side, pray for your husband to have times of rest and enjoyment. Let him go golfing. Let him go play poker with the guys (wink, wink, and a smile). He needs a reprieve from his hard work.

Think of the Proverbs 31 woman.  Yea, doesn't she just make you smile?  Let's look at verse 11 and 23 regarding her husband.  Does she just get a respected husband?  Does he value her for no reason?  What is she doing that helps him be respected?  What is she doing that makes him value her?  Hmmmmm.

It doesn't just happen.  And that's why we need to pray.  

We also talked about praying for his finances, integrity and reputation, but not in depth.  Next week we are praying for his manhood and the memory verse is Psalm 34:8.

We're Dorks!

***UPDATE***

Truly in dork fashion, The Daddy informed me that I misquoted ourselves: It is, "Brrrrrrr! It's cold in here.  There must be some Toros in the atmosphere!"  Thank you very much.

Something on t.v. tonight prompted the following exchange between The Daddy and me:

On t.v.:  It's cold in here.

Mama: It's cold.  It's cold in here.

The Daddy: There must be some Toros in the atmosphere.

Baby, it's cold and we are old!

If you know what movie we were quoting, you can't make fun of us.  If you don't know, count yourselves lucky.

A Fine Day at Scott's

I got to meet them. (Rhoda, me, Eddie)

I bought four of these.

I saw these and bookmarked them in my head for the big girl room.

I bought this with a craft in mind.

I decided against this.

All in all it was a great day.  I got to spend time with my girlfriend, Lou Lou from over at Pack of Ramseys.  Since we both have little ones now, it's harder to get some quality girl time in. Well, Scott's was a great place to do it!  I missed our other girlfriends who couldn't make it this time, but implore them to come along next time.  You know who you are!  I think I might have made some monetary reserves by March, so that's when I hope to go again.

Even though it was just Linds and I, we saw several folks from Marietta anyway.  Sherilyn and Eric were there with baby Nellie and Eric's parents.  We saw Mary Ellen from her car, but she was blocking traffic so we just waved and smiled.  And the sighting of the day:  Rhoda from Southern Hospitality and Eddie of EDDIE ROSS!  I've been reading both of their blogs for a while and they were just so sweet to stop mid-lunch break to speak with me.  Eddie's design buddy, Kerry, was even so kind to take a photo for me!  Rhoda is a former Marietta resident and has a truly Southern design eye.  Eddie's eye for seeing a diamond in the rough is brilliant and I can't wait to see his post on shopping at Scott's.

After I got home, I went to the computer to print out a 40% off coupon for Hobby Lobby and ran right over to get a mirror I've been coveting for our dining room.  The chairs I bought today are sponsored by Poppy.  He sent The Daddy and me a check for Christmas that said, "How about some dining room chairs?"  I got the hint, Poppy!  (and I got a great deal! 4 chairs for $300.  They need some re-upholstery, but they already look beautiful.)

Tomorrow I've organized a Holiday Decor Swap and Shop at our house, so I best get the bunnies up and the dog nose off each window!  If you don't know what I'm talking about when I say Swap and Shop, you don't know what you're missing.  It's a great opportunity to purge and acquire.  Click HERE to read about when we did it with my Wednesday Bible study girls.

We're Crafty!

It's been project time around our house in 2009.  I'm off to Scott's tomorrow where I hope to spot semi-celebrity EDDIE ROSS.  He's a designer/reality t.v. guy (on Top Design, on Bravo, I believe). He's hosting a guided tour of the antique market to explain what to look for in buying furniture, silver and other assorted goodies of design.  I declined paying him $40 to do that. Although if I see him, I might just scream!  I've got a design crush on his work.  And he writes just a downright pleasant blog.  

I'm just hoping to snag a few more things to use for projects around this here house.

Can you guess what this will be?  I got the frame at Hobby Lobby for $6. (reduced from $60.00. There's a few nicks and damages.) The paint for $5.  The spool of ribbon for $1.  I already had the "monogrammed" staple gun.

Check out The Daddy's workbench! (i.e., the wheelbarrow)

What is he making???

And why is he winking?  Have a great weekend!

What's Your Motivation?

Our teacher for The Power of a Praying Wife is Robley (pronounced "ROB-LEE": don't you love her name?)  Because I was late yesterday, I don't know a lot of her story, but I can tell she's got it going on.  I ran into a friend's mother-in-law and when I told her who was teaching my bible study, she had just the most wonderful things to say about Robley.  I mean, the mother-in-law told me that she keeps Robley's emails in her inbox because she writes such inspiring emails!  I look forward to getting to know her.

A few things I learned from yesterday's introduction video:

• The greatest good can come from praying for your husband.
• The disciples asked Jesus how to pray because they saw the power source Jesus could tap into through prayer.  NOTE:  They didn't ask for power or to be able to do miracles; they asked Him HOW TO PRAY.
• There is a connection between power and prayer.
• Pray for God to release His power to do His will for you.
• God's love must be your motivation.
• We can sabotage our prayer by not praying from the right heart.
• Don't pray, "Change him, Lord." (The 3-word prayer)
• Instead, pray, "Change ME, Lord."
• It's often easier to pray for our children, because we have authority over them.
• We don't have authority over our husbands, so sometimes our feelings get in the way.
• We do have authority over satan. God has given that authority to us and the power through prayer.
• When communicating with your husband, pray first.
• Put your expectations in the Lord, not on your husband. Psalm 62:5 "My soul, wait expectantly for God alone, for my expectation is from Him."
• Resentment and unforgiveness will prevent you from praying for your husband with the right heart. Psalm 66:18 "If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear."
• A wall will be constructed between you if you resent him and hold a grudge.  You won't be able to pray the best for him.
• Pray for what God wants him to be.
• Pray first to dissolve your anger.
• Pray first before a talk you know will anger him or bring trouble.  You know those touchy areas, don't you?  Pray FIRST!  For the words, the timing, the heart to discuss like loving adults.
• The closer you as a wife get to the Lord, the less you will be "bothered/annoyed/put out by" your husband.
• 1 Corinthians 10:12 "Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall."
• Stormie gave us this memory verse for next week:  Galatians 6:9 "And Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart."

Don't you know I use a bulleted list when I don't want to have to think to string all the thoughts together?  I'm such a cheater!

Robley led a discussion after the video and brought up an interesting contrast between the words "condemnation" and "conviction".

So often we as wives, mothers, friends bog ourselves down with feelings of negativity.  We know we can do better, and WE condemn OURSELVES for it.  We beat ourselves up for not being the best wife or mother.  We don't have our quiet times regularly.  Robley pointed out that there is a difference between feeling convicted of our sin and feeling condemned of our sin.

Here's my attempt at a chart to show what she illustrated to us:

Condemnation v. Conviction

• from satan..................................from the Holy Spirit
• brings to darkness....................brings to light
• to make you stumble................to correct it
• pointed with evil........................pointed with love
• past, present, future sin............present sin
• keeps you in the sin...................you change to eliminate the sin
• forecasts failure for future.......gives you hope for future
• pulls you away from God..........pulls you to God
• condemns us...............................encourages us

The last thing we did was to create a list of goals for ourselves during this study.  Without a goal in mind, we might just walk blindly through the study.  Without a goal for our time with God, we might just miss His voice. 

It's Ba-aaaaaaack!

Wednesday's Word!

And now back to our regularly scheduled program, folks...

So last semester (love that I think I'm still in college, people?), I took Mom's Club with Mary Tabb.  Well, Mom's Club is again offered for our Winter quarter, but IT DOESN'T START UNTIL MARCH!

In the meantime, I thought I'd take another short study offered at our church on Wednesday mornings.  You may have heard of The Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian.  I thought, oh, I have that book; it was good; I'll do that; nothing like reminding yourself what you could be doing to help out your marriage, but AREN'T.  

Love my thought process?  That's it.  That's my brain.  That's how I work.

Sooooooooooooooo, in this poor economy, I didn't want to have to buy another book for a Bible study, so I went with the one I already had.  And my friends were taking.  Nothing like a little going along with the crowd for spiritual upliftment.  My awesome new MAC has just informed me that "upliftment" is not a word.  I didn't think so.

The girls and I got out the door 15 minutes later than I had planned, but laid-back Mommy (she doesn't exist very often, only comes out to play on very rare occasions and is not often sighted when The Daddy is in range) kept it cool and managed to get to church late but happy.  Walking into a room full of people and a new teacher/facilitator is not my strong suit, but I just walked right up to the front of the room (because I didn't want to sit behind a pole) and sat down.

The world didn't end!  Praise the Lord!  I was late and the Earth still revolves!  Hallelujah!

After surveying the crowd, I noticed a wonderful assortment of women from different age groups, experience in marriage, number of children, etc.  I sensed that we are going to have some great discussions.  

I'll have to share with you our first lesson tomorrow.  I just don't have the strength for it tonight.  I didn't tell you before, but I'm training for a half marathon.  I've been trying to keep it on the down-low (do people still say that?  correction:  do cool people still say that?) in case I got uninspired.  But now I can shout it:  I HAVE PAID MY MONEY TO RUN 13.1 MILES ON MARCH 29th.  No backing out now.

I'll see you tomorrow with some pearls of wisdom.  From the $17 workbook that this study suggests we own.  And spend 45 minutes 5 days a week reading/devoting/praying to.  Aaaawk. Didn't see that one coming!  I thought it would be a review of something I already "knew".  I guess God's got other plans for me.  

Nothing like getting stressed in the new year.  Anyone want to join me?

It can only make us stronger.  

Our Life in Pictures (at least the last few days)

Ice Cream!

I can do it myself!

Now, that's concentration!

Returning from the boat ride

I love this one! (or those two!)

What is AE doing?

AE keeping MOTHER warm

HJ and Poppy

What is wrong with us?

Too loud!

The view from Poppy's house

Could you get used to this?

Serene

Our new camera really did well

The colors were spectacular

At Destin Commons

AE again with the tongue

HJ in a tunnel

And another tunnel

Poppy observing the fun

It's ok, Sharky! You can eat my sister.

HJ in the fish tank

Cheese!

I don't know what this is, but it sure was cute!

What's going on?

Yesterday, we went to Destin Commons, an outdoor shopping mall. It's got a lot of restuarants, an outdoor playground, dancing water, and a Bass Pro Shops. I only mention the Bass Pro Shops because inside is a large tank with HUGE fish. Pictures to come later.

We had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. I hadn't been there in about 15 years, so...

The girls got to see some wonderful music videos by Prince, The Cult, The Pretenders, and The Cure. Interesting reactions. AE's eyes just about POPPED out of her head. HJ danced in her high chair.

Last night we went out to eat at The Old Bay Steamer. We ate...steamed seafood. Yum. Yum. Yum.

This morning this Mama went running. After I sweat out about 10 pounds, we took a boat ride on the intercoastal. The girls loved it! Pictures to come later. Of the boat ride. Not the sweaty Mama.

Poppy's making crab cakes tonight with meat from crabs he caught himself. We return to Georgia tomorrow. Aaaaaaawwwwwh.

At the Beach

We've gone South for a few days to visit Poppy. Don't know when we're coming home. I love it here and my dad is so happy to have us here. Happy New Year and have fun going back to work!