Technology Dilemma?

This morning, as I woke up and went through my morning ritual of checking facebook and twitter from bed, on my phone, I ran across this blog post that was tweeted by a friend.  It immediately caught my attention because I was doing exactly what the blogger was talking about!  Last night, in my post, I mentioned how I gave up my phone time in the evenings while my son is awake.  When I read this, I realized it wasn't just about giving it up for a couple of hours a day, I need to give it up a lot more.  For the same reasons I mentioned last night, I realized I need to axe the phone time when I'm with other people.  It used to annoy me so much when my husband would be on his iPhone at a restaurant, now it is common for us both to be at the same table, on our phones at the same time.  What is this doing to our relationship with each other and our son? It makes me wonder.  I'm sure I'm not the only person with this problem because I see it everyday at restaurants and other places.  I really recommend you read this article by Rachel Mary Stafford.  Then, put it into action.  Don't miss out on your relationships!

How To Miss A Childhood

After all, who would want to miss a moment like this?

New Beginnings

There is something about spring that just screams New Beginnings!  It seems, as our beautiful planet wakes up, we do too!  The flowers, warm temperatures, and especially after last year, the much welcomed rain seem to all work together to give me extra energy and a renewed sense of well being.  I feel extra motivated to get things accomplished.  I want to eat healthier, and do healthier activities.  Every spring simply seems like a new start.

Amongst all of the springtime awakenings outside, I also feel a spiritual awakening.  It may have something to do with my physical disposition, but I think it's mostly because of the extra time spent in the Word.  Every year, I try to set a goal for myself to read my Bible more than I did the previous year.  By the time spring arrives, I've spent a lot more time reading and meditating on the Scripture than I had before.  It's had time to soak in and permeate my being.  It's had time to transform my life just as the warm temperatures and gentle rain transform the earth.  It makes me think:

If I would continue to spend as much time in prayer and in the Word as I do leading up to spring, how much more would I be changed?

I always think of Romans 12:1-2 as a "springtime" passage because the transformation Paul is talking about is the same type of transformation butterflies go through.  I guess I think of the "end result" when it comes to metamorphosis and not the lifetime of change it takes to become that beautiful creature.  The more and more I reflect on that passage and what it means to go through a spiritual metamorphosis, the more I realize how the christian life truly is a lifetime of change and spiritual renewal.

That being said, I've compiled a short, nowhere near exhaustive list of some things to help me keep this "spiritual renewal" going on.  Feel free to share your ideas as well!

1. Spend time daily in the Word.  God's Word has the power to change us.  If we want change and renewal, we must spend time reading and meditating on it.  
2. Find 1 or 2 short scriptures (or more) that lift your spirits and put a smile on your face.  Memorize them, and when you get frustrated, upset, or sad calm your mind and recite one.  Hopefully this will help put your mind at ease and in a better place. 
3. Spend some quiet time with your BFF! 1 Thes. 5:17 "pray without ceasing..."  Throughout the day, I try to find ways to talk to God like I would a friend.  I like to think of this as my running conversation with God.  I like to have little conversations and tell God about the funny thing that just happened.  I imagine Him laughing and smiling about it too.  I like to tell Him my innermost thoughts that I dare not share with anyone.  I simply try to tell God everything through the day, just like I would if a close friend was with me.  The more I do this, the easier it becomes and the more I catch myself in these little "conversations" without even thinking about it. For me, this is how I pray without ceasing.
4. Give something up and replace it with something better.  Recently, I decided to give up phone time in the evenings while Jackson is awake.  Instead of being on my phone facebooking and tweeting, I save it until after he's in bed.  I realized I was wasting a bunch of time doing nothing.  I could be doing something fun and productive with him.  If I don't want my son to be lazy and self absorbed, why would I model that behavior? We can do these types of things spiritually as well!  Find something consuming your time and replace it with something that will help you grow closer to God.
5. Pray, pray, and pray some more!  Find a time to pray.  Since I try to have a conversation with God throughout the day, I try to cap it all off in the evening before I sleep.  Maybe praying in the morning is how you like to start your day.  It doesn't matter when, just do it!  Find a group of friends and pray with them.  Sometimes the best remedy for anxiety is to tell your friends and let them pray for and with you.  It's hard to put a value on how important prayer is in our lives.  It puts our mind on God, gives us comfort and peace, lifts our spirits, and brings us closer together.  Don't neglect it!
6. Meditate.  Meditate on the Word, meditate on God, meditate on the beauty of His creation.  It doesn't have to be daily, but find some quiet time, however frequently you want, and meditate.  One of my favorite relaxing things to do is to find a quiet place in nature, sit and empty my mind, and try to listen and see God.

Is Anyone Out There?

I know it has been almost 2 years since I have posted ANYTHING on here, but I'm working on getting some more stuff going.  In addition to some of my random thoughts, I plan on posting about my new hobbies, like my cake decorating.  Since I last posted, I have taught myself how to decorate cakes.  I would like to share a few of them with you.  Anyway, if you're still out there, I hope you enjoy looking at my updated blog!   

Exile?

As many of you know, Scott has been teaching and preaching 1 Peter.  In his letter, Peter is writing to people who are going through a lot and who would continue to go through a lot simply because they wear the name of Christ.  It is easy to see how christians suffered for their beliefs and the way they lived.  It was even present in their everyday lives, not just martyrdom, but the way they were treated.  Perhaps they were unable to buy goods from some non-christians, or perhaps people wouldn't purchase their items.  Whatever it was, these christians did not have an easy life.  They suffered on a daily basis because of their beliefs.  They truly were exiles.  Later on, people gave up all of their earthly possessions in order to 'suffer' for Christ.  Now, when we apply this letter to ourselves, while we're sitting in our air conditioned buildings on padded pews, we seem to think we too are suffering terrible things.  This thought really disturbs me because as christians today, in the United States, I really don't think we suffer for our beliefs.


As christians, we purchase whatever we want from whomever we want.  We eat whatever we desire, and participate in whatever we think is fun.  We live exactly like the rest of the world except we go to worship when we don't have some other activity planned.  This really bothers me.  Notice, I'm including myself.  If you've been in my home, you know we have some really nice things.  We wear nice clothes, we drive a nice car, and like to have fun just like everyone else.  When reading and studying 1 Peter, I am VERY uncomfortable.  For example, in 1 Peter 1:17, Peter says, "...live in reverent fear during the time of your exile."  Exile?  I don't know about you, but I look around at how I've been so blessed and I don't see exile.  I know I'm not in heaven now, but I really don't see me living the life of an exile.  


I wonder if I would live more like an exile, would I suffer more like an exile?  I wonder if all christians did these things, would we see the church grow?  I wonder if we gave up more, would we be more excited about leaving this world?  I wonder if when faced with death, we would be able to say, "to die is gain" and truly mean it?

"The whole life of Christ was a cross and a martyrdom, and do you seek rest and enjoyment for yourself? You deceive yourself, you are mistaken if you seek anything but to suffer, for this mortal life is full of miseries and marked with crosses on all sides. Indeed, the more spiritual progress a person makes, so much heavier will he frequently find the cross, because as his love increases, the pain of his exile also increases."  -Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, Book 2, Chapter 12

Letting Go

Most of us have probably either seen an episode, or at least have heard something about the A&E show "Hoarders."  In cause you know nothing about the show, each episode follows two compulsive hoarders as they try to "clean up" their homes.  Sometimes these people have lost their children, or they are an inspection away from it.  Some people are forced out of their homes, and many lose their spouses over their disease.  During the episode, each individual works with a professional who attempts to organize, and help the hoarder learn new behaviors.  Large trucks and dumpsters are brought in, along with several workers to help the individuals sort and clean their homes.  The show ends with significant progress or failure of the person to change.


I've watched horrific scenes of clutter and trash being shoveled out and sorted by men in rubber suits and masks, and I have always wondered how the home owners could let their problem get so out of control.  This question is almost always answered by the person saying they just can't let go.  They can't let go of shopping habits, stray animals, trash, or home improvement items.  Whatever it is, they can't let go, and eventually they are trapped in a very destructive behavior.  


Every time I see an episode of this show, I am encouraged to do some type of house cleaning.  I sort through clothes to give away one more time, or I clean out my "scrap booking" items that will probably never actually go into a scrapbook.  I am always terrified of becoming a hoarder.  This morning, as I was washing dishes, I thought about the show a little differently.  I wondered if I'm a secret hoarder.  I thought about when we moved and how much "junk" we were able to get rid of.  I decided I don't have a problem with hoarding physical things, but I began to wonder if I hoard anything else.  


I thought back to the days in college when I was going through a really tough time.  I felt trapped in sin that I couldn't escape.  Just like all of the hoarders on the show, I was trapped in a destructive behavior that was slowly killing me.  No, I wasn't physically dying, but I certainly was spiritually.  Then one day, I realized I couldn't clean up my life on my own.  I knew I needed help, so I turned back to God.  This was not easy for me.  I'm a very prideful and stubborn person.  Having to accept the fact that I failed and couldn't fix the problem myself hurt really bad.  


Once I humbled myself to ask God for help, the first thing I needed to do was purge my life of everything I had trouble letting go of.  God knew I would need help, so He provided a clean up crew, my brothers and sisters in Christ.  This was very humiliating because all of my garbage, the skeletons in my closet, the very things I tried to keep hidden from everyone, including myself, was just laid out and being slowly sorted through and thrown out.  When I say slowly, I mean R-E-A-L-L-Y S-L-O-W.  I remember for weeks on end, night after night, of not going back to my dorm room until it was so late, there really wasn't anything to get me into trouble.  Instead, I would hang out at the UC with several people singing, talking, reading the Bible, and just being around each other.  I avoided all the things that triggered my destructive behavior, and eventually these things weren't a temptation for me anymore.  


I truly believe we all need a cleaning crew to help us sort through the stuff and throw it out, but without God being there to show us how to change the behavior, we are just going to get trapped again.  I also think it takes us being completely broken and our souls laid bare before God can teach us to let go.

"The LORD is near to the brokenhearted

and saves the crushed in spirit."

Psalm 34:18 (ESV) 

The Curtains; Pt.2

On Tuesday, I put in a couple of hours at the sewing machine and finally finished Jackson's curtains!  It's about time huh?  After finishing, I felt a sense of accomplishment.  I finished something I had been putting off for far too long.  While I was hanging the curtains, Jackson didn't even try to help!  He was too proud to do anything but look at them.  I think it is safe to say he likes his new curtains.  I've attached a couple of pictures so you can see I actually did finish! 

Jackson and Sheriff Woody are enjoying a book together.

Jackson's room doesn't stay clean for long...

5 Reasons Why I Choose Organic

Several people ask this question, "Why do you spend more money to buy organic?"  I have often wondered the same thing.  It does seem like many organic foods are quite a bit pricier than the non-organic varieties.  However, some items are pretty much the same price.  To me, price doesn't matter as much when I see the benefits to eating organic.  I'll try to explain some of the benefits as I explain my reasons for choosing organic.  To preface this, I will be working on additional articles that will go more in depth on some of the subjects addressed.  These reasons are not in any particular order.


1.  Buying organic supports the local farmer.  Organic foods are not filled or sprayed with preservatives so they do not have the long shelf life other foods have.  For this reason, many organic products are purchased from local, or almost local farmers (even in the large chain stores).  Therefore you are helping someone close to you.  In addition, organic farmers are not subsidized by the government so you are helping farmers who are not over producing their crops for a larger paycheck.


2.  Organic foods are more like God made them.  By law, organic foods can not be genetically modified (the seeds made in a laboratory).  In addition, the animals cannot be given antibiotics, hormones, or be offspring of cloned animals.  Vegetables and fruits must be grown without being GM, without the use of chemical pesticides, chemical fertilizers, sewage sludge (I don't want my strawberries to be grown in sewage sludge, do you?), or irradiation (basically chemo for produce).  I will write a bit more on the problems of these things later.


3.  Organic foods have serious health benefits.  Some of the benefits include:  Strengthened immune system, improved sleeping habits, reduced cancer & heart disease risks, and they also promote weight loss.  I don't know about you, but I need all the help I can when it comes to weight loss!


4.  Organic farming is better for the environment.  Since plants can't be doused in chemical pesticides and fertilizers, the chemicals are not poisoning our air, water, and soil (not to mention our bodies).


5.  Organic foods often contain more nutrients.   It has recently been shown that many fruits, veggies, and even meats contain more vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and other nutrients than their non-organic versions.   Perhaps this is because they are grown in nutrient dense soils, and are fresher.


Like I said before, I will be expanding on some of these areas soon.  I'll probably start with GMO's.  It's shocking what I have learned!