A Good Read

I cannot watch the news or hear someone talk about the news without getting frustrated, scared, or shocked. Even in our midwestern town violence has increased due to the stress of the economy. The situations seem hopeless. The circumstances look dire. The solutions are temporary. We condone murdering unborn children and using their cells for research. We encourage young teens to have sex when they are ready instead of waiting until marriage. We are sensitized to so much corruption in the world and blinded by a blanket of acceptance and political correction. I cannot watch what is going on without thinking, What is going on and What kind of a world will future generations be living in?

I bought the book, What on Earth is God Doing by Renald Showers as Christmas presents for Hubs, my father-in-law, and my brother-in-law. When Hubs opened his, it already had creased covers and pages since I was a little anxious and started reading it prior to Christmas! He hasn't seen it since, because I've been hogging it. Lately, I started reading it more and can't put it down.

I've listened to Renald Showers speak at a conference and I found that his books are as easy to read as is listening to him speak. I don't get lost in an overwhelming vocabulary; rather, he explains things perfectly & simply and gives great sources to all his facts.

Now, to the content. This book starts at the beginning of time and puts history into the perspective of what God and Satan are doing in the world. It makes complete sense and helped me sort out a lot of things in my mind. We have to remember that God is in control of what is happening, and this book helps us understand how and why. As to what is happening on earth now, that also gets discussed. He covers the past, the present, and the future.

If you are hesitant to take my word for it, here are some reviews from amazon.com:

Historical events are seen, at last, from a meaningful perspective: the long conflict between God's plan and Satan's revolutionary plan to spoil it. This is a gigantic work of synthesis of historical events, all flowing to an inevitable conclusion. But if it was (it is) inevitable then "why does God let the rebellion go on so long? Why couldn't He have demonstrated His sovereignty by crushing Satan as soon as he rebelled?" Well, the answer comes out pretty obvious at the end of the book. If you are the kind of history buff that always wonders why we still have so much evil in our crazy world -despite all the efforts against (apparently)- then this is your book.

One main stumbling block to my faith was why there is so much evil. This issue has been prayerfully answered with this book.

Did you know?

That Starbucks ice cream now makes little individual size containers of Java Chip? A great way to treat yourself after carrying 6 bags of groceries, plus 2 giant boxes of Pampered Chef items up the 3 flights of stairs to your apartment. You would have taken the elevator, but it moves at a whopping speed of .02 mph and you are just too impatient for that.

That when left alone in the apartment for an undetermined amount of time, I can read through 2 entire books and still have too time to spare?

That as a soon-to-be dentist's wife, it is completely acceptable to buy 2 liters of mouthwash in one trip to the store? It is also totally normal to have a shelf in the bathroom dedicated to random samples of toothpaste, whitening gel, and other oral care products.

Numbers

6 - the time I woke up on my day off (I just can't sleep in anymore)

5 - the number of miles I ran yesterday (the farthest I've ever run)

60 - the temperature outside when I ran yesterday morning (perfect)

48 - the number of minutes it took for me to run 5 miles yesterday

100 - the number of muscles that ache from my run yesterday

3 - the High School Musical movie that I watched yesterday (sooooo good)

2 - the number of toilets I cleaned yesterday

1 - the time when I finally got in the shower yesterday

0 - the number of hours I spent at work and thinking of work yesterday

There's no place like home

When I think of "home" I think of a few different places...

Home our apartment. After a long day at work or a long vacation, this is where I want to be. There is a welcoming feeling when I walk in and immediately I am relaxed. It's comfortable. Its having Hubs there with me. That's home.

Home is the town where we live. Knowing every aisle of my grocery store and my way around the city. Our church family. My job. Familiar surroundings. That's home right now.

Home is being with my family. Bickering with my brothers. Laughing with each other. Lots of comotion and some confusion. Cuddling with the dog. Knowing everyone cares for each other and cherishing each moment together. Just being together. That's also home.

Home is surrounded by trees and hills. Although I have come to appreciate and enjoy the wide open spaces and beautiful sky, I feel "at home" enclosed by the woods and the hills. The serenity of the forest and the calmness of a lake. That is where I will always feel at home.

Home is not here. As a believer, my home is in heaven waiting for me. It is meeting my Savior face-to-face. I will go home someday.

What is home to you?

Happy Birthday Pop-pop!

They tell me I came up with the name Pop-pop. It stuck and that is how his is known in our family. Today is his birthday.

My childhood is filled with great memories of times spent with Pop-pop and Gram. He taught me about the center of gravity while I built towers with my blocks. He took me fishing and camping and to Disney World! He tells me about his adventures and I love all his stories.

Sadly, I don't see them very often anymore. They enjoy the warm Texas weather while we freeze. I have wonderful memories of times when we all lived in the same town, though. And, I am very excited that we get to visit them over Thanksgiving this year! It seems so far away.

Happy Birthday! I'm so glad you are my Pop-pop and I love you.

A song I made up

I sometimes make up songs to sing to Hubs in the morning. It helps him get out of bed. I think it is because the songs are so pretty he wants to thank me for waking him up in that way. It's probably because he knows I'll stop singing once he's out of bed and he wants to shut me up.

I made up a song in my head this morning. It goes something like this:

Hubs passed his boards. Yeah, yeah.
Hubs passed his boards. Yes he did.

He's gonna be a dentist. Yeah, yeah.
He's gonna be a dentist. Yes he is.

I think I might just sing this one all day long.

Phase 3

I love playing games. I love playing games when I win, or at least am somewhere near winning.

I was excited for our game night on Saturday. We were playing a competitive game of Phase 10 with our flock. We set up 2 games, 6 people at each table. Each person had their own scorecard to keep track of their points, and their phase. After each hand, the two people with the lowest score from that round, switched tables - to make it more interesting.

I didn't really want to win. I bought the prize gift certificate so it would seem a bit tacky if I won. I did not, however, want to be the loser.

But, we don't always get what we want.

The theme of this scorecard is not Phase 10. You'll notice this scorecard got nowhere near phase 10. Instead, phase 3 was the game I played most of the evening.

The first 5 tries, I had a good laugh about it. The 6 & 7 times were depressing and I started receiving sympathy from the rest of the table. I became irritable by the 9th try, and I just wanted to go home after the 10 try. When I finally passed phase 3 (on the 11th time), I believe the rest of the players were at least to phase 7 and I had no chance to catch up. So, I sucked it up and had fun in spite of my pathetic situation.

Hubs, on the other hand, fared much better.

He brought home the winning scorecard by 10 points in what turned out to be a very close contest.