Community

The Father knew we couldn't make it on our own.
So, He birthed us into families.

But He didn't stop there.

Once we've been born again,
He sets us up
with a loving community that
laughs with us and
cries with us and
prays us on to forever.

--from Hugs for Friends

Cleaning House & Mind

Today is clean up day....

First~I would like to thank the kind HippieAnge83, for sharing her blog page setup skills.
I hesitantly declare that my previously boasted about links are now operational.

Second~ Question to fellow bloggers: Am I supposed to ask permission before I add someones blog link to my own blog page? (Now that I have already done it?)

Third~ Cleaning my mind. AKA - The Hills Have Eyes.
Friday I did something so stupid. What really makes me mad is that I knew better.
I investigated first, had appropriate information, and then decided to do the stupid thing.

My daughter and I had a movie night. We both wanted to see the horror flick remake: The Hills Have Eyes. I've seen Wes Craven movies before. Some of them are more funny than scary.
After inviting friends to go, I decided to lookup the review of the movie on http://www.dove.org
This review site give great reviews including a Christian Worldview, language, violence, sexual scenes, etc.
Every possible thing I read in that review told me that this was not an appropriate movie for us .
I decide to leave my brain at home and go see the disgusting movie.
Loaded with fresh buttered popcorn and cherry pepsi, we barely live through the first few minutes of the film, showing bombs exploding and mutated human beings, 2-3 per second.
Jokingly, I ask her, Do you want to leave?
Another 30 minutes and we are jerked into an experience of violence like I have never seen before. Now, honestly, I read in the review:

Content Description:Sex: Woman brutally raped. Another woman sexually molested.
Language: F-15; D-3; GD-2; JC-3; BS-1; S-3
Violence: Many gory scenes so graphic at times, this reviewer could barely watch.

So I told myself, we will close our eyes for the rape scene. Is that INSANE? Yes, Of course it is.
And, we stay and watch the human prey hunted down by the mutants, and brutally killed.
This was so assaulting and violent to my eyes and ears, I could not make myself get out of my seat and leave. After 5 minutes of the rape scene, I realize that my daughter is begging me to leave. ( have one hand covering my ears, and one hand covering her eyes, so that she can use both hands to cover her ears)

We get out of the theater, (only about 8 people watching the movie) and get in the car.
Both of us, emotionally and spiritually devastated. I was sick to my stomach for making such a ridiculous and grievous choice. The theater is near our friends home, the ones who wisely opted out of the experience. We call and beg them to go to dessert with us. We go to Red Robin (Yummm!) and attempt to purge the experience from our hearts and souls.

The sweetest older man came to our table. A magician! Now, usually I have no patience for these annoying people. But I wanted to be distracted. Get some new information into my brain.
This sweet man told the corniest jokes. It was just what we needed. He stayed with us close to 30 minutes, I bet. Before long we were laughing and working hard to salvage the evening. I believe God sent him to us.

I know better than participating in such a thing under the false title of "entertainment"
The Hills Have Eyes, is entertainment for the likes of Hell and its kingdom.
Whats worse is that the Holy Spirit counseled me against this, and I gave Him a VETO.
I Vetoed the Holy Spirit! Now I repent for my sin. I hate when I do that to myself, and hate it more when I do it to my Lord.
My choice hurt my daughter and myself. Our souls are scarred. We've talked about this and decided we will use it as a lesson in trusting the Holy Spirit. I hate to admit that sometimes I have to experience pain in order to learn a lesson. They're the lessons I remember the longest, the ones I never want to repeat.

I'm No Einstein.....

Today is the day...

That I realize I am a computer GENIUS!

I mean, it wasn't that long ago, that I was required to take a computer tutorial on how to: "Click & Drag".

Last Friday I decide that I refuse to be left out of the blogger world. Even though I have NOTHING profound to say. (But I do like to respond to other peoples blogs.)
I decide I cannot go to sleep until I try and set up my very own blogger page all by myself.
So, I get it started, and thought I put out my first entry. Turns out I left it in 'draft' stage, and never 'published' it. So Fridays blog entry became real on Monday.
Today, I decide that I better blog something new, or all my fans will get bored and move on to other Einsteins blogs. Instead, I get caught up in trying to add links to my page.
Evidently, I'm some sort of computer-coding genius because I actually read the directions and was able to do just that! (Thanks Hippie Ang for the inspiration!)

Now, my life is full and complete. I have email. I have instant messenger. I'm a blogger.
I know how to create the lines around the boxes in Excel without clicking the icon over and over and over and over and over... (like I used to do about six months ago)

I'm sure there are still 3 or 4 things left for me to conquer in life.
Like taking better care of our finances. Then I'll be a financial genius!

Life Groups

Today is the day... That I excitedly brag about our awesome Life Group .
Let me explain.
So, we have this Life Group. A group of people from our local church, (http://www.metrosouthchurch.com) meeting at our house twice a month.This is really a great way to keep our church feeling small as we grow. We open our homes to anyone who would like to get to know new people and be a part of one another's lives.
We usually discuss a Sunday message, sometimes watch a video or do a Bible study.
We always eat a meal together, chat for awhile, and pray a bit.
In the summer we swim and bbq.
Over the past year we have had the most awesome people in our lives as well as our home.
This Life Group has really been a growing, living, changing thing. Its so exciting to be part of a group of people willing to get to know one another. Really, strangers, coming together in the common name of Christ, attempting to know and be known.
So what's so great about us? How about this: Great FOOD! The past few get-togethers, we've had no dinner theme really, someone suggested pot-luck and we went with it.
Would you believe we have a gourmet-chef/builder-home fixer guy, brought home made Sushi, and almost everyone tried it? So that was just one week. This is really the week to brag about- so we send out the email, POTLUCK!! And here is what comes in the door:
Fried Chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy
Baked Beans
BBQ Ribs
Homemade Chili
Desserts
Shrimp and scallop appetizers wrapped in bacon
Mexican Dip and chips
Salad
Sausage and cheese
Lo Carb Cheesecake
Now, I know I am forgetting something. You can't imagine the food we had!! But thats not the only thing. So people are arriving, letting themselves in (I love that) putting their coats wherever they want them ( I love that too) setting their food down... and getting right down to life. Everyone catching up on one anothers lives. Someone got the cutest haircut EVER, and most of the ladies noticed. A youngster broke his toe, and it turns out my dog stepped on his foot and broke it... (but they still love Prince, the wonder dog-thats what friends do)
We are checking up on our soldier, who has been in Iraq about a month ago, a dear friend of one of our group members. She is now adopted by all of us and we are learning how to send her care packages and notes of love and encouragement. Someone is telling a hilarious story of how she stepped in the biggest pile of poop in the world ( its true, I actually saw it and should have taken a picture for the rest of you) and how that experience affected her day and those around her. Find the poop story here:
(http://praisemycreator.blogspot.com/) March 22nd entry.
Why is all this so great??? Because over the past year, we've changed a little, brought more people in... but the best part is seeing Gods people working hard to be the church and to do life together.
And it really works!! Great conversation: (home made chess sets, holes in the ceiling, closets torn out, macaroni stuck in the nose, Great Danes wandering around pooping, CDs stuck in car stereos, cats being brought home from the vet, shoes being chewed by dogs, vacations in Dominican Republic, kids running around playing hide and seek, sweet pets that are aging, working out at the gym)

All this is DOING life together and I love it!! Gods people are awesome.

PS Remind me to tell you someday about Macaroni in the Nose

BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN

Today is the day...

I remember my promise to myself. I guess I forgot to remind myself that I am not at my best when I am addicted to carbs, over weight and wasting money on fast food.

Thanks to my accountability crew, today I made a one year financial and personal commitment to myself at a health club. So for the next 13 monthes, (1 month free with a paid year) I'll be walking, running, gazelle-ing, weight lifting, crunching, weighing, sweating and shrinking!
(Possibly also whining, tripping, and blistering. ) By the way, if anyone is thinking of joining, let me know, if we sign up one more person we get a year for FREE!!

Today I look forward to the following perks:

1. Enjoying time with my husband exercising together.
2. Spending time with my accountability crew. (Hoohah!)
3. Feeling tired from exercise vs tired from stress and bad food.
4. Teaching my kids that health is important.
5. Honoring God with my health choices.

Today is also the day, I join the blogger world. I'm not really sure why, except that I do love to get my two cents worth in.