“Living the dream” through the eyes of a middle school boy… What might that look like?
I was at my favorite creek one day and got a thrilling glimpse of boys being boys. One of the boys I recognized from the youth group. I have met his mother so I thought of her while I was watching the two boys exploring the creek.
As cold as the water was, they were up to their chests and using sticks to figure out just how deep the water went. They were having a blast! I was too watching them! It was a perfect example of what John Eldredge writes about in Wild at Heart. Boys and men want to be in the wilderness engaged in creation and part of a great adventure.
If I was a boy, I would want to be in the middle of the creek sopping wet too - with no thought of Mom’s laundry pile. I lived vicariously through them for a few minutes – lost in the notion that boys will be boys if we will let them. I fought the urge to tell them to be careful. I didn’t want to be a killjoy. They know to be careful...
This summer, all you moms out there, please let your boys get good and dirty or wet as the case may be. It’s good for their soul – yours too if you’ll let yourself watch and enjoy them live out their desires to be wild at heart.
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Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Living the Dream
All this talk of living the dream, makes me think of my reoccurring dreams, both of which reoccurred twice in one week.
In the first dream, I about to go on stage or I am on stage and I have no idea what my lines are. In this past dream, I wasn’t even sure what character I was in the play. All I had was a script with lines that I was suppose to read in front of a large audience. I didn’t know who I was! I think I was kind of embarrassed by that.
Each time the feeling of not knowing what I was suppose to say, or in some cases what the dance steps were, kind of overwhelms me. Yet, sometimes there seems to be someone off stage that says, “Just get out there!” or “Wing it!” and there is this faint feeling of “What have I got to lose…” Sometimes I just go for it. Sometimes I wake myself up because I can’t stand pressure!
My other reoccurring dream is about M., my old best friend from grammar and high school. She stopped talking to me after our first month of college so I have not heard from here since October, 1992. (Although I have be in contact with her mom.) If I were to list the people who have broken my heart she would be in the list. More than likely if M. were to list the people who have disappointed her I would be on her list as well.
In this dream, I see M. sometimes in the mall, sometimes on the street, and sometimes I am at her house where I am visiting her mom. I try to get M. to reconcile with me. Sometimes it happens very easily. We will see each other, embrace and all the years just slip away.
Forgiveness settles in. Sometimes I have to work hard to convince her that we can be friends still despite where we are and who we have become. Sometimes I will have to remind her, “We are friends again remember? Please don’t shut me out.” Sometimes the dream centers on our renewed friendship and we’ll call and talk and visit. I will feel so completely thankful for the restoration and I praise God.
I’ll wake up and pray for M. and again ask the Lord to make this dream come true. Give me a chance to right wrongs, give M. a chance to see who I have become and let us both witness God’s restoration and reconciliation in our friendship.
This is definitely a sleepy time dream I’d like to see happen someday – unlike some of my other bizarre dreams. But like the deep desires of our heart, some dreams are a long time coming and this may be one I have to keep waiting for. But I do take comfort in the fact that God does keeping bring her to mind in my dreams. This keeps me praying for her and about her which makes me think he may be up to something in our journey toward reconciliation.
With any luck… if I should run into M. at the mall or the store or some local theater, I won’t be stuck wondering what to say!
In the first dream, I about to go on stage or I am on stage and I have no idea what my lines are. In this past dream, I wasn’t even sure what character I was in the play. All I had was a script with lines that I was suppose to read in front of a large audience. I didn’t know who I was! I think I was kind of embarrassed by that.
Each time the feeling of not knowing what I was suppose to say, or in some cases what the dance steps were, kind of overwhelms me. Yet, sometimes there seems to be someone off stage that says, “Just get out there!” or “Wing it!” and there is this faint feeling of “What have I got to lose…” Sometimes I just go for it. Sometimes I wake myself up because I can’t stand pressure!
My other reoccurring dream is about M., my old best friend from grammar and high school. She stopped talking to me after our first month of college so I have not heard from here since October, 1992. (Although I have be in contact with her mom.) If I were to list the people who have broken my heart she would be in the list. More than likely if M. were to list the people who have disappointed her I would be on her list as well.
In this dream, I see M. sometimes in the mall, sometimes on the street, and sometimes I am at her house where I am visiting her mom. I try to get M. to reconcile with me. Sometimes it happens very easily. We will see each other, embrace and all the years just slip away.
Forgiveness settles in. Sometimes I have to work hard to convince her that we can be friends still despite where we are and who we have become. Sometimes I will have to remind her, “We are friends again remember? Please don’t shut me out.” Sometimes the dream centers on our renewed friendship and we’ll call and talk and visit. I will feel so completely thankful for the restoration and I praise God.
I’ll wake up and pray for M. and again ask the Lord to make this dream come true. Give me a chance to right wrongs, give M. a chance to see who I have become and let us both witness God’s restoration and reconciliation in our friendship.
This is definitely a sleepy time dream I’d like to see happen someday – unlike some of my other bizarre dreams. But like the deep desires of our heart, some dreams are a long time coming and this may be one I have to keep waiting for. But I do take comfort in the fact that God does keeping bring her to mind in my dreams. This keeps me praying for her and about her which makes me think he may be up to something in our journey toward reconciliation.
With any luck… if I should run into M. at the mall or the store or some local theater, I won’t be stuck wondering what to say!
Thursday, June 08, 2006
Clean Your Home in 19 Minutes
Busy with summer? Still want to keep your Proverbs 31 status? Housework doesn't go away, so let's see if we can make it more manageable...
KITCHEN: 4 1/2 MINUTES Wipe down the sink after doing the dishes or loading the dishwasher (30 seconds). Wipe down the stove top (one minute). Wipe down the counters (one minute). Sweep, Swiffer, or vacuum the floor (two minutes).
Tip: Always start with the sink. "Keep it empty and shining," says Marla Cilley, author of Sink Reflections, and creator of www.flylady.net, a housekeeping website. A sparkling sink becomes your kitchen's benchmark for hygiene and tidiness, inspiring you to load the dishwasher immediately and keep counters, refrigerator doors, and the stove top spick-and-span, too.
BATHROOM: 2 MINUTES Wipe out the sink (30 seconds). Wipe the toilet seat and rim (15 seconds). Swoosh the toilet bowl with a brush (15 seconds). Wipe the mirror and faucet (15 seconds). Squeegee the shower door (30 seconds). Spray the entire shower and the curtain liner with shower mist after every use (15 seconds).
Tip: Make cleaning the basin as routine as washing your hands. But don't stop there. Get the most out of your premoistened wipe by using it to clean around the edges of the tub and then the toilet before tossing it.
BEDROOM: 6½ MINUTES Make the bed (two minutes). Fold or hang clothing and put away jewelry (four minutes). Straighten out the night-table surface (30 seconds).
Tip: Make your bed right before or after your morning shower. A neat bed will inspire you to deal with other messes immediately. Although smoothing sheets and plumping pillows might not seem like a high priority, the payoff comes at the end of the day, when you slip back under the unruffled covers.
LIVING ROOM: 6 MINUTES Pick up crumbs and dust bunnies with a handheld vacuum (one minute). Fluff the cushions and fold throws after use (two minutes). Wipe tabletops and spot-clean cabinets when you see fingerprints (one minute). Straighten coffee-table books and magazines. Throw out newspapers. Put away CDs and videos (two minutes).
Tip: Start with the sofa -- as long as it's in disarray, your living room will never look tidy. Once you've fluffed the pillows and folded the throws, you're halfway home. If you pop in a CD while you dust, you should be able cover the whole room by the end of the third track.
Hat Tip to Crystal.
KITCHEN: 4 1/2 MINUTES Wipe down the sink after doing the dishes or loading the dishwasher (30 seconds). Wipe down the stove top (one minute). Wipe down the counters (one minute). Sweep, Swiffer, or vacuum the floor (two minutes).
Tip: Always start with the sink. "Keep it empty and shining," says Marla Cilley, author of Sink Reflections, and creator of www.flylady.net, a housekeeping website. A sparkling sink becomes your kitchen's benchmark for hygiene and tidiness, inspiring you to load the dishwasher immediately and keep counters, refrigerator doors, and the stove top spick-and-span, too.
BATHROOM: 2 MINUTES Wipe out the sink (30 seconds). Wipe the toilet seat and rim (15 seconds). Swoosh the toilet bowl with a brush (15 seconds). Wipe the mirror and faucet (15 seconds). Squeegee the shower door (30 seconds). Spray the entire shower and the curtain liner with shower mist after every use (15 seconds).
Tip: Make cleaning the basin as routine as washing your hands. But don't stop there. Get the most out of your premoistened wipe by using it to clean around the edges of the tub and then the toilet before tossing it.
BEDROOM: 6½ MINUTES Make the bed (two minutes). Fold or hang clothing and put away jewelry (four minutes). Straighten out the night-table surface (30 seconds).
Tip: Make your bed right before or after your morning shower. A neat bed will inspire you to deal with other messes immediately. Although smoothing sheets and plumping pillows might not seem like a high priority, the payoff comes at the end of the day, when you slip back under the unruffled covers.
LIVING ROOM: 6 MINUTES Pick up crumbs and dust bunnies with a handheld vacuum (one minute). Fluff the cushions and fold throws after use (two minutes). Wipe tabletops and spot-clean cabinets when you see fingerprints (one minute). Straighten coffee-table books and magazines. Throw out newspapers. Put away CDs and videos (two minutes).
Tip: Start with the sofa -- as long as it's in disarray, your living room will never look tidy. Once you've fluffed the pillows and folded the throws, you're halfway home. If you pop in a CD while you dust, you should be able cover the whole room by the end of the third track.
Hat Tip to Crystal.
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Merging Laundry, Life & Blogging
Liz & I are trying to get our blogging legs. So far it's been pretty stiff stuff. I apologize, but encourage you to hang in there. We'll get it. You might even end up liking it.
I vacillate between the desire to write thoughtful, inspiring posts which take time & more effort than I can muster most days or to write about everyday homeschool mom of four, who pretends to be a magazine editor that manages to scrape together a new issue every 3 months, stuff. The former is more lofty, the later is far (far, far) more practical. I think you can figure out which is winning out up to this point. I'm trying to figure out how to marry the two so that you might be amused and inspired.
It takes a certain type of person to blog in the first place. My husband Rich has zero desire and his own opinions of such people. Liz isn't much better, but she's caught the vision I've tossed her. She's game to try. (Have I ever mentioned how much alike they are?) Unlike them, I enjoy reading others' practical ideas, solutions and thoughts on Christianity from a personal perspective. Blogging appeals to me, unless it's just someone's diary of events. I like tidbits I can walk away with and chew on while I'm putting in the laundry.
When I have time to cruise the blogosphere and read what others are doing, I'm often inspired, challenged, prayerfully minded, wonder who would care and sometimes gasp in horror. You can generally tell what type of person someone is by their entries. There's the serious theological ones, the so true to life that it's painfully funny ones, the journal ones, the "look at my fill in the blank" ones, the theme driven ones, the "oh my! Did she really write that?" ones and the ones that are a nice balance of all that. I've never been good at balance, but here goes...
What do Iowa achievements tests, youth choirs, a friend's new love interest, laundry and Jean-Claude Van Damme movies all have in common? They are all things that keep me relatively humble and activity seeking God.
It's easy to find people blogging about stuff that would make a "sailor blush" as the old saying goes. I usually limit my list to Christian blogs. Since I'm a homeschooler, I often hit the homeschool blog community for a good read or two. I can find other moms who are sweating at the thought of having their kids take year end Iowa Achievement Tests or those rabidly against standardized testing at all. There are ones that joke about their laundry pile formed by 11 kids, conquered weekly with 2 washing machines and incredible determination. It encourages me to suck it up, face reality and joke with myself because I don't know what a real laundry pile looks like. It's easy to read blogs and gasp in horror too.
I remember reading an entry a couple months back by a Christian homeschool mum who was sharing her passionate love for Sex in the City. I've always figured it was probably utter garbage. Knowing today's current culture, it wouldn't be a stretched assumption. I was horrified that a Christian would watch something like that regularly, let alone "love it". My mind started racing to the current state of Christianity and how it must grieve God, blah blah blah. I mentally went off down the prim rose path of how I don't get caught in that. {whew!} I got to check holiness off my list that week.
No, I don't have a splinter or sawdust in my eye. I have my very own, custom carved, Paul Bunyan sized log, complete with retro styling and durable synthetic bark. Yes, Matthew 7:3-5 is alive and well in my heart, or eye as the case may be. I really thought I'd conquered that one. I confess that I'm out of touch with what's currently on television. We don't have a TV. Yup, now I'll bet you think I'm really weird. But (and don't we love that but!) we've watched our share of questionable movies, via DVD on the computer.
If I had my way, I would watch nothing but 'the good stuff'. What do I classify as 'the good stuff'? Period movies, chick flicks, family tales, fairly tame adventures like National Treasure and numerous Food Network & HGTV reruns. Unfortunately, there are 4 males at our house that really enjoy good martial art movies and other less then frilly action adventures. I often wonder if they didn't secretly collaborate with John Eldredge to write Wild at Heart.
With Rich's martial arts background and because some action movies are just cheesy and full of stunt doubles, he appreciates that Mr. Van Damme is a real, trained martial artist who does his own action scenes. Yup, there's some seriouslyquestionable objectionable content in his movies that I could very well live without. But I've learned why I can appreciate the quality of the other parts. I suppose it takes a certain type of woman to love a karate man anyhow... But what must watching Van Damme movies look like to the outside world? Or to Christians? I shutter to think. Write me off as heathen and have a nice day.
God instructs us to, "Abstain from all appearance of evil." (1 Thess. 5:22 KJV) Sometimes that's harder than it sounds. If you look Amish, people think you are out of touch and overly idealistic, which of course isn't good. But looking like the world, with multiple piercing and being the electric guitar player for a Christian rock band, isn't going to look at all swell to some others either. If you try to simply look 'normal', there's yet another group who will think you're complacent! The bottom line is that things sometimes aren't really what they appear to be and there is always somebody who thinks you look evil.
Jesus had his own share of problems with evil appearances and he was God. "John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon.' The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners." (Matt. 11:18-19) Poor guy. Jesus goes on to finish that verse by saying, "But wisdom is proved right by her actions." Jesus' actions proved right in line with the truth of God's word. How do our actions measure up? I suppose it depends on Who is looking.
Yes, movies, laundry, testing, children and friends keep me on my knees seeking God to show me what is wise, good and acceptable in his sight. He helps me pull the custom log out of my eye and moving forward and working on the appearance thing. As for youth choirs and love interests, I need you to pray for me. I love the company that hosting houseguests holds, but hate the work involved. I want to see my friend happily situated in her own home, but the implications of an 'evil' looking situation surrounding new said interest, are discouraging to some. But I know the plans I have for you says the Lord... Just don't forget they'll probably look evil to someone out there.
I vacillate between the desire to write thoughtful, inspiring posts which take time & more effort than I can muster most days or to write about everyday homeschool mom of four, who pretends to be a magazine editor that manages to scrape together a new issue every 3 months, stuff. The former is more lofty, the later is far (far, far) more practical. I think you can figure out which is winning out up to this point. I'm trying to figure out how to marry the two so that you might be amused and inspired.
It takes a certain type of person to blog in the first place. My husband Rich has zero desire and his own opinions of such people. Liz isn't much better, but she's caught the vision I've tossed her. She's game to try. (Have I ever mentioned how much alike they are?) Unlike them, I enjoy reading others' practical ideas, solutions and thoughts on Christianity from a personal perspective. Blogging appeals to me, unless it's just someone's diary of events. I like tidbits I can walk away with and chew on while I'm putting in the laundry.
When I have time to cruise the blogosphere and read what others are doing, I'm often inspired, challenged, prayerfully minded, wonder who would care and sometimes gasp in horror. You can generally tell what type of person someone is by their entries. There's the serious theological ones, the so true to life that it's painfully funny ones, the journal ones, the "look at my fill in the blank" ones, the theme driven ones, the "oh my! Did she really write that?" ones and the ones that are a nice balance of all that. I've never been good at balance, but here goes...
What do Iowa achievements tests, youth choirs, a friend's new love interest, laundry and Jean-Claude Van Damme movies all have in common? They are all things that keep me relatively humble and activity seeking God.
It's easy to find people blogging about stuff that would make a "sailor blush" as the old saying goes. I usually limit my list to Christian blogs. Since I'm a homeschooler, I often hit the homeschool blog community for a good read or two. I can find other moms who are sweating at the thought of having their kids take year end Iowa Achievement Tests or those rabidly against standardized testing at all. There are ones that joke about their laundry pile formed by 11 kids, conquered weekly with 2 washing machines and incredible determination. It encourages me to suck it up, face reality and joke with myself because I don't know what a real laundry pile looks like. It's easy to read blogs and gasp in horror too.
I remember reading an entry a couple months back by a Christian homeschool mum who was sharing her passionate love for Sex in the City. I've always figured it was probably utter garbage. Knowing today's current culture, it wouldn't be a stretched assumption. I was horrified that a Christian would watch something like that regularly, let alone "love it". My mind started racing to the current state of Christianity and how it must grieve God, blah blah blah. I mentally went off down the prim rose path of how I don't get caught in that. {whew!} I got to check holiness off my list that week.
No, I don't have a splinter or sawdust in my eye. I have my very own, custom carved, Paul Bunyan sized log, complete with retro styling and durable synthetic bark. Yes, Matthew 7:3-5 is alive and well in my heart, or eye as the case may be. I really thought I'd conquered that one. I confess that I'm out of touch with what's currently on television. We don't have a TV. Yup, now I'll bet you think I'm really weird. But (and don't we love that but!) we've watched our share of questionable movies, via DVD on the computer.
If I had my way, I would watch nothing but 'the good stuff'. What do I classify as 'the good stuff'? Period movies, chick flicks, family tales, fairly tame adventures like National Treasure and numerous Food Network & HGTV reruns. Unfortunately, there are 4 males at our house that really enjoy good martial art movies and other less then frilly action adventures. I often wonder if they didn't secretly collaborate with John Eldredge to write Wild at Heart.
With Rich's martial arts background and because some action movies are just cheesy and full of stunt doubles, he appreciates that Mr. Van Damme is a real, trained martial artist who does his own action scenes. Yup, there's some seriously
God instructs us to, "Abstain from all appearance of evil." (1 Thess. 5:22 KJV) Sometimes that's harder than it sounds. If you look Amish, people think you are out of touch and overly idealistic, which of course isn't good. But looking like the world, with multiple piercing and being the electric guitar player for a Christian rock band, isn't going to look at all swell to some others either. If you try to simply look 'normal', there's yet another group who will think you're complacent! The bottom line is that things sometimes aren't really what they appear to be and there is always somebody who thinks you look evil.
Jesus had his own share of problems with evil appearances and he was God. "John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon.' The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners." (Matt. 11:18-19) Poor guy. Jesus goes on to finish that verse by saying, "But wisdom is proved right by her actions." Jesus' actions proved right in line with the truth of God's word. How do our actions measure up? I suppose it depends on Who is looking.
Yes, movies, laundry, testing, children and friends keep me on my knees seeking God to show me what is wise, good and acceptable in his sight. He helps me pull the custom log out of my eye and moving forward and working on the appearance thing. As for youth choirs and love interests, I need you to pray for me. I love the company that hosting houseguests holds, but hate the work involved. I want to see my friend happily situated in her own home, but the implications of an 'evil' looking situation surrounding new said interest, are discouraging to some. But I know the plans I have for you says the Lord... Just don't forget they'll probably look evil to someone out there.
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