Farts, Snot & Trash...Oh yeah!

The Faith Youth Group at Faith Crossing Baptist Church like Farts, SNOT and Trash, now wait before you throw your nose in the air, cast judgment and have to repent, keep reading and let me explain.

At Sunday School nearing the end I shared one of the verses the Lord used to work on my cold, hard heart in bringing me to Him…when out came a small poot! Followed by silence as all the eyes were directed in the direction of that small poot (thankfully, it wasn’t in my direction). Then as the eyes begin to look back and forth at each other, laughter erupted, students begin to bounce in their chairs, some tears were even present! It was such a moving experience! When the friend of the Pooter (who happened to be a guest) picked up his chair and moved away. No joke! I didn’t think we would ever stop laughing. Then the Pooter looked at my husband and said, “I’m sorry, I feel asleep!”. Which brought on a whole new wave of laughter, in which my husband said, “See what happens when you get comfortable?” Yes, when we get comfortable little things slip out. After we all quit laughing including the Pooter we did our best to assure him and make him feel okay; after all, we all poot! I am not sure what that says about this small piece of my testimony other than it puts people to sleep; but I’d like to think it was because I have such a soothing voice. God’s Word is true “laughter is good medicine” but as I have mentioned I have difficulty remaining focused for too long, so as our Pastor was preaching on the Cross, the pooting incident kept replaying through my mind resulting in me trying to hold in laughter…no I didn’t poot, but resulted in my shoulders bouncing up and down, somewhat uncontrollably. Bouncing so much, I had to have a talk with myself! This is what I said, “Dione! Pay attention! Stop laughing right now! We’re talking about the cross! Think about blood not pooting!”. Do you ever have to have a talk with yourself, a talk like what you would have with your 2 or 10 year old? Probably not, it’s just me.

Fall Break Weekend - Missing Alex and Aaron!

Fast forward to Sunday night when we remembered the FART and celebrated SNOT, don’t you wished you were in our youth group? I am not talking about the SNOT that is the gooey, gross, slimy junk that irritates us, but SNOT that sticks together, involves green and is healthy. What a great riddle! So what is SNOT? Ready? SNOT is an acronym that stands for Sunday Night Out Together, isn’t that obvious? I love that! So creative of the former Faith Family Youth Ministers (Scott & Kim) and it obviously fits perfect working alongside youth. SNOT is a time to break bread with each other usually at a mutually agreed on restaurant, green - because you need money to eat and healthy because assembling together creates unity and love for one another. Well unity for the most part, if you think trying to agree on a restaurant with your spouse is difficult, try 8 to 10 youth!

But after celebrating the FART and before indulging in SNOT, we went dumpster diving! Yes, literally. We (well some of us) dove in to the big dumpster. Why would anyone dive into the depths of a dark dumpster? Hellllloooo? Youth looking for unopened boxes of iPads! No, we didn’t tell them though we thought about it! Of course it was to get coupons!! Joking, again. One would think I have a lot of experience in dumpster diving, but actually my experience is being pulled out of the dumpster…that is the hellish dumpster of a corroded life of sin and death. Actually, our physical dumpster diving did have a purpose, which was to salvage unbroken bricks to either sell on Craigslist or build a fire pit on the land to sing Kumbaya Okie style of course. Fortunately, there was no rotting food or anything foul smelling; it was mostly dirt, tree limbs and bricks; but yet it was still a dumpster.

He huffed and he puffed but he could not blow the house down!

There is nothing more sexy (insert my kids saying “ewwwwwww”) than my husband sharing his heart and the Word of God with young people. On with the theme of Trash to Treasure, Darryl spoke about building our lives on the one and only true foundation. How Christ removes the dirt and filth of our sin, pulls us out of the dark pit of death and cleans us up and makes us into a new person with a new heart, new desires, new outlook, new future, new everything! While we abandon and throw things away that are broken, dirty and useless, Christ never abandons or throws away His creations. Rather, He continually is calling us to be a people who, have been reclaimed and re-made. Christ doesn’t waste anything, He doesn’t look upon us and see all our imperfections and discards us, but He sees possibility. He sees life. He sees hope – all because He loves us!

Just like Jesus’ calling of fishermen - stench, fish guts, and all, dumpster diving took me down that familiar path of memories and hurt of being looked down on and used. It brings to the surface a dark truth about the prevalence of perfectionism that shackles so many in our prosperous society. Living in a world that tells us often that our outsides don’t measure up…we don’t dress right, we aren’t skinny enough, we’re too dark skinned, not educated enough or not pretty enough is cruel, but even crueler is when the church jumps in on the attack. Judgment and criticism in the church is sung about often by Casting Crowns, a few phrases of their lyrics is proof that it is probably an epidemic “lofty glances from lofty people”, “judgment looming under every steeple”, and “plastic people under plastic steeples”, I know in the past decade I have been wounded and I have witnessed heartbreakingly others wounded by fellow “Christians”. Our challenge is not to find “a church that shows no favoritism”, but to become the church that extends favor to all through love and acceptance, by doing life together regardless of any outward appearances. Because with God, He shows no favoritism, but extends favor to us by His grace and because of His truth we should strive to live up to His character. He doesn’t look on the outward appearances, He looks at our hearts. I want to be that follower who sees the true value and worth of all that I meet, not tossing out any, because they don’t measure up to our idolatrous ideals. God doesn’t make junk. And He doesn’t promise prestige or prosperity, but He has given us the perfect gift of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.

We are so excited for what God is doing within the Faith Family and the youth group. We agreed to serve as interim youth ministers for three short months and that time will be gone by the end of November. In the beginning the class was quite small, about four regular students and the past two weeks we’ve been running between 8 and 10 and Wednesday night we had 11, with no empty chairs. We’ve had visitors in the youth group every week. Students are inviting friends and the gospel is being shared. God is so good, I marvel at Him! Sure, there are still many students in the youth ministry and visitors that don’t know Him personally, yet; but, that is our calling to be fishers of people, and a true follower of the One and Only True One who did the ultimate dumpster dive from the heights of His throne to the earth, to the cross, ultimately to the grave, and back to His righteous position on the throne. All to rescue me out of my sin. To put a new heart, life and purpose in me. He has captured me and I am forever His.

On Sunday one of our youth, stepped up and asked if we could meet earlier on Wednesdays to pray! No joke! So arrive early and pray we did and we will continue with a goal to not grow weary in seeking His face. God is moving and we are praying that the Lord will indeed move in the lives of our students and church family in tangible ways that we can see and only attribute to Him.

“We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring. This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering— since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed. To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Thessalonians 1:3-12 –

Good stuff!!

This past Sunday, my pastor used a term that took my mind down that familiar trail of…squirrel!

As I have confessed before these side trips happen often and it is only by God’s grace, I don’t bust out laughing, especially in the middle of church or at work meetings. If only you could live in my mind for a day (okay, an hour), I am pretty sure your empathy and prayers would grow for me! Oh, the word?

Glory Hog.

Isn’t that a funny word…initially? Ready for the side trip?

First, I went to motorcycles. Hogs! As I have heard them referred to, not sure why people or how motorcycles acquired the name hogs. I don’t come from a family that has had any dealings with hogs, either on two wheels or four hooves. Perhaps the name came from rolling around in the mud, maybe like the motor cross ones? If you know how they gained that name please share!

Next, I went to the Muppets Miss Piggy the prima-donna pig who is absolutely convinced that she's destined for stardom, and nothing is going to stand in her way. Glory Hog in the finest!

Then I finally landed with the truth of a Glory Hog as the word was being presented as a person who takes all the glory for themself. Which reminded me of conference calls; see, I told you I chase squirrels for a living. Professional squirrel chaser, that’s me; but I find value in these side excursions! Conference calls. I really *dislike* conference calls. This is bad, because the majority of my day is spent on conference calls. Listening to government officials fight for control of the presence of speaking, for the joy of hearing their voices heard. Interruptions galore and over talking each other…leave me begging for solitary confinement at the end of the day.

As frustrating as those calls are, isn’t it true that we all seek praise for something…anything? Paul David Tripp, the Executive Director of the Center for Pastoral Life and Care in Fort Worth, Texas, says “All of life is geared toward a warfare with idols of the heart.” In other words, we have to battle against life, the things in this life that fight to take our attention and love away from Christ. We human beings are good at making idols out of just about anything, jobs, pets, sports, social media, and yes, our children, families and ourselves. We don’t have to erect a golden calf in the wilderness to have our own golden calves.

Truth hurts. But, truth can also set us free. Yes, what we do or don’t do matters. Yes, God requires obedience and with obedience comes blessings; but it is more than “just doing right”. What matters more is what drives of our obedience. Obedience is necessary and crucial, but is our obedience driven to keep up with appearances or to gain praise? Or is our obedience driven by a heart of love and gratitude? Obedience that doesn’t come from a heart of love, is obedience that is rule driven for Glory Hog purposes of “look what I am doing”. It is usually masked by “I always… or I never…”it is legalistic. It is a sad way to live and it’s a lie, because we are human and we can never “always do” or “never do” anything.

I'm so indebted for the freedom of the gospel. Because I am saved only by grace through faith and not by works, I am free! I cannot earn or merit God's favor, nor can I un-earn His favor by forsaking my duties and responsibilities. It's all grace. My worth is not somehow tied to what I do, thank goodness, because then I would be in control…and that is a scary thought.

I loved what Pastor Craig shared, “God is not looking for people with reformed behavior, but people who love Him more.”  Simply put, when we love Him more our desires and behavior will follow.

Thank you Jesus that you came that we might have life and have it abundantly, but help me not to become comfortable in the abundance you have given me. I don’t want to set up idols in your rightful place or fall trapped to believing that I have to earn your favor. It’s grace. Nothing more.  All grace. All you Jesus. Your complete work on the cross, nothing of mine (I have none). It is finished and you did it all for the joy that was set before you and I was in that joy, thank you Jesus! I will strive to run, keeping my eyes fixed on you and your finished work on the cross. I love you!

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” – Hebrews 12:1-3

Twenty-One Benefits to Deactivating Facebook

Warning: This could get ugly.

I’ve left FB (FB), yes I am using acronyms, after all I work for the government, and acronyms are my friend. My intentions were for a week, but it has been so good, I was  gone for a total of 30 days and my mind and fingers have been retrained not to type www.fac  when they hit the keyboard or to slide straight over to the FB icon on my smart phone. I am partly joking, but I did notice I was spending more time with virtual friends and family rather than with my living, breathing present family. I know shameful and I am not proud of it, but it is somewhat true. l actually noticed when my family begin to dust me off on cleaning day as if I were a permanent fixture. Seriously though when I sit in my 2 Corinthians 5:17 chair, it just molds me into comfort, another fault of mine, I am a comfort addict, but who isn’t, right? Comfort, the one reason, I will never understand why people would want to go camping, when there are perfectly good, vacant hotel rooms.

Yes, I stray, not a good trait, but one that has led me to find great treasures. So back to my FB hiatus, I had no intention of being gone for so long, but it has been so refreshing, physically, mentally and spiritually.

Seventeen days into my hiatus from FB, our family pet of 11 years went missing. I reactivated my account to see if I could get the word out to others by asking people to share his picture/story on their wall. I read on Yahoo Finance that on average FB can reach an average of 150,000 other people through their friends! That’s a lot of free advertising! My hope was if Señor Harjo’s picture reached enough people someone may see him and say I have a friend who just posted she found a Chihuahua and doesn’t know what to do with him, because he is punked out with blue nail polish and is super laid back, true story! But it was actually through Craigslist that we were reunited…and yes it felt so good, reunited because we understood (“song drop” it my head and yes, I am that old). After our prodigal son came home, we clothed him with his Sooner wear, put a ring on his claw, shoes on his paws and we killed the fatted calf (Pizza Hut). Okay, maybe the truth is we celebrated with Pizza Hut and the only two who were truly joyful for his return were Jayden and I. So now, that Señor Harjo was lost and now was found, Operation Deactivate FB began again.

Some (okay a few) people have asked why I deactivated from FB. There are a lot of reasons for my FB Hiatus. First, it is a time guzzler. If you have been on social media you know this is true, some of you I know have even burned meals and flooded sinks, because you have a few minutes to check in on FB and forget you had something else going on and dementia sets in. I truly believe we’ve reached a new level of wasting time and it’s called Social Media. Is social media all bad? No, I don’t believe so, but as I was warned when I first set up my account, it is highly addictive. After all, knowing someone else’s business, one-uping friends statuses by showing off your knowledge, work, home, or family, or playing the hundreds of games can be an obsession. How many “likes” can I get? It is reported by FB that 2.6 million minutes are spent on FB each day! That is over 43,000 hours each 24 hour period, that’s a chunk of time, even with 200 million users, okay minus one. For the most part I am on the computer at work all day, I don’t know why I would want to go home and sit on it all night? Sad to say, outside of cooking dinner, helping with a little bit of homework, that is what I was doing. Sure, I sat in the living room with my family, but I was not tuned in.

Secondly, how do I put this? It was becoming nauseating with the vanity boost, I need to worry more about what God would be hitting the like button on, not others. I need to grow in God-pleasing, not man pleasing. My fulfillment must come from being Jesus’ beloved daughter, not from people’s thumbs up. If I am living to be fulfilled by digital comments or likes, I have totally missed the mark. Oh yeah, that’s really hard stuff, told you it was going to get ugly!

Thirdly, all the perpetually superficial or woe-to-me updates were also nauseating.

Lastly, people were using FB to be ugly towards and hurtful to our family. I was becoming attentive and outwardly focused on what others had to say, rather than what He, the Righteous One, has to say about who I am.

Anyway, my FB hiatus was all personal and not an indictment on other FBers, this is just where God has me at right now. It has been refreshing time away from the virtual, superficial relationships to the real, rich world of reality, where dinner conversations, bedroom chats and evening strolls (or chases) happen. This time away has helped me to gain new perspectives, to be entirely present to my family, intentional in my relationships and most importantly more in tune with my Father. I totally agree with Anne Jackson in her essay, “Why I kissed FB Good-Bye” when she said, “Unplugging has become essential to my spiritual journey and truly hearing God.” Let’s say, it’s been a digital fast that may continue to last. I may be going a poke to far, but my family is giving it a thumb up, we like it!

Some of the benefits:

1.       Cooking lots of new Pinterest recipes, mmmmm.

2.       Refabricated a lazy susan.

3.       Chased rabbits ….literally. There are stray rabbits in our neighborhood and Jayden’s dad told him if he catches one, he will give him $100! He totally cracked us up when he turned to us one evening hushing us and said, “Be vewy, vewy qwiet, I’m hunting wabbits!”

4.       Painted some shelves for Bry-bread’s and our bedrooms.

5.       Working through an insightful Bible Study on the Sermon on the Mount in my own time - no rush, no time frame, no deadlines, no group, just me and the daily discipline of exploring God's Word, giving Him time to marinate it in my spirit and soul.

6.       Sat up Nana’s Photography studio with Little Brave.

7.       Attended the National Night Out, Jayden produced the last laugh for our neighbors when he blamed the much needed rain on global warming! He also had a conversation with the Moore Police Officer about gang activity in our community. The officer actually thought he was being quizzed by my 10 year old, when he said in his Barney Fife voice, “Wait a minute….do you already know all the answers?” Plus we got free pizza and crazy bread!

8.     Had a great visit with a Pastor and church member from one of the churches we’ve visited.
9. Framed my autographed Billy Mills Olympic Gold Medalist in the 10,000 meter race poster. Billy Mills remains the only American to win the Gold in the 10K, he is an American Indian and he credits God for his abilities.
10. Framed our caricatures we had drawn over the past year.

 

11.   Helped our son move again, he is following in my steps…a proud mommy moment! Since writing this blog I've discovered he is moving again. One year I moved like 6 times! It is a true miracle we’ve been in this home for 8 years.

12.   Made some freezer meals – big accomplishment for me!

13.   Got back into couponing.

14.   Sold five things on Craigslist – part of my purging of stuff we don’t need or use – makes Darryl really happy.

15.   Had some deep conversations with Jayden about romantic marriage proposals. He totally keeps us laughing.

16.   Had some BIG APPLE, as in New York fun and teaching with Darya on the word “relative”. I bet she will never forget what that word means!

  

17.   Watched a few movies with the family, for the most part even the TV has been off at our house.

18.   Completed four Pinterest Projects! Count them four! Super fun and rewarding projects! 1) Created two super cheap large poster sized fun photos for Darya and our bedrooms; 2) hemmed up Darya’s new jeans keeping the original hem using the European Hem method. I wished I would have known this when I was hemming up Megan and Brandon’s jeans; 3) took a t-shirt that was too big for Darya and turned it into a shirt that fits; and 4) did the picture transfer to wood thingy.

19.   Had three crazy dreams, I will never forget, that paralleled my devotion and bible study and established my word for now, which is “steadfast”. So it is plastered all over my office, computer, car, mirrors, because I don’t want to get spiritual amnesia and start trying to do things on my own.

20.   Most importantly more conversations and time spend with my husband, children, grandchildren, and my Father.

21.   Lastly, rest and freedom. J

I was asked when I deactivated my FB account did I have withdrawals? Maybe the first couple of days my thoughts went to checking in on FB to see what was up, but it passed quickly. I even deleted the App off my iPhone – completely cold turkey!

Do I think FB is evil? No, like I mentioned it was personal for me to deactivate for a time and I checked back in over this Labor Day Holiday weekend to update my Picture of the Day. I am thankful for my picture of the day project, it is a simple way for me to go back over time and quickly find a picture I want to reprint and/or identify a date when something happened. I used it to find my pictures I printed into engineer prints.

And now if you’ll bear with me, I’d like to share something that’s completely unrelated to all that stuff, not that any sort of cohesive narrative structure has ever stopped me before. After a year and a half of praying, God has moved our little family from our comfortable church home of 12 years, I didn’t like it. Remember, I am a comfort addict. It was much more comfortable being where faces, processes and life are familiar and easy, but God. Yes, don’t you love but Gods? No, I did not just call God, a but God, but wait, maybe I did. Every time our previous pastor would say, “But God” our little family would get a chuckle, I know we’re weird, but God is a but God, because when we feel like there is no hope, no help, no understanding, scripture tells us differently with the “but Gods”. Here are a few…

But God did not allow,

But God gave it to Abraham by promise

But God will be with you,

But God meant it for good,

But God will surely visit you,

But God delivered him,

But God has taken away my justice

But God will wound the head of his enemies

But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever

But God is the judge

But God knows your hearts

But God spoke in this way

But God was with him

But God has shown me

But God has raised Him from the dead

But God be thanked

But God has chosen

But God has revealed

But God gave the increase

But God has called us to peace

But God is faithful

But God composed the body

But God is one

But God, who is rich in mercy

But God had mercy on him

But God who tests our hearts

But God, who also has given us His Holy Spirit

And one of my favorites:  But God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Rom 5:8) Who can forgive sins? But God alone. I was incomplete and lost, but God found me and made me whole.

It’s been two months since God called us out on faith to the Land of Uncomfortable, but God has been faithful. After all He did not call us to be comfortable, to be stagnant in our service and worship to Him. He came in and interrupted our lives but He is starting a new thing. One word that came to me about year and a half ago was to “allow God to MESS up your life so the MESSiah can show you more than you ever thought possible.” As painful as it has been, God is making a way in what seemed like a wilderness, He is showing us rivers in the desert. He is giving new relationships and overwhelming us with His grace. I hope to share more on this new work He is doing in and through us later. There is so much that has happened in the past to bring us to where we are now and it is so exhilarating because ONLY God can do the things that He has done in our lives over the past year and a half. He is taking our inadequacies and filling our lack with His grace - I must stop now, or this will turn into a novel! To God be the Glory…great things He has done…and is doing…and will do!

“And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” 1 Peter 5:10

Husband's Delight

This past week I made "Husband's Delight" a meal that I made often when Darryl and I were first married, that is once I learned to venture out beyond the box. Since I have not made in a long time, I thought it would be good to make again. Guess what? It is still good and the dish was empty at the end of dinner. I looked for it online so I could put on my Pinterest Board “Recipes I’ve Tried and Liked”, but all the ones I found were different than the one that was given to me, thus this blog. I wished I could remember who gave it to me, or where I found it, but that little piece of information has completely escaped me.

Husband’s Delight

1 pound of ground turkey

2 cans of tomato sauce

1 ½ tsp. Salt

1 ½ tsp. Pepper

1 ½ tsp. Garlic Salt

1 medium onion chopped

1 container of Weight Watchers Whipped Cream Cheese, softened

1 8-ounce carton of fat free sour cream

1 8-oounce package of elbow or penne noodles

Grated Cheese

Cook noodles according to directions on package. Brown meat in skillet. Add tomato sauce and seasonings to the meat and continued to heat on medium. In a separate bowl combine chopped onion, cream cheese, and sour cream and mix well. In a baking dish layer cooked noodles, ground turkey mixture and top with sour cream mixture top with grated cheese and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Serve with salad and French bread.

It kind of looks gross, but it is creamy yumminess = comfort food!

We had a salad and French bread with the Husband’s Delight, but since we received some monstrous sized home grown tomatoes from family in Shawnee, I decided to try another Pinterest receipe as a side dish. It is called Cheesy Tomatoes that was pinned by my friend Heather Dorsey and they were yummy too!

Proverbs 5:18 says: "Let your fountain be blessed,
         And rejoice in the wife of your youth."

for she makes Husband's Delight and Cheesy Tomatoes.

So the Bible doesn't say the last part about Husband's Delight and Cheesy Tomatoes, but it does instruct men to delight in their own wife, and let him be very fond of her, not only because she is the wife that he himself has chosen and he ought to be pleased with his own choice, but because she is the wife that God in His providence appointed for him and he ought much more to be pleased with the divine appointment, pleased with her because she is his own. Let thy fountain be blessed and delight in the food she prepares for him. <Smile>

Lazy Dione? Not today! Lazy Susan? Yes!

I’m on Pinterest. Pinterest to a woman is like a honey to do list for men, in that there are so many things that don’t get done. I have so many items pinned. Creations I want to mimic, new recipes to try, outfits to recreate, haircuts to dream of, places to visit, my to do list grows and grows. I have however done many recipes that I created another board titled "Recipes that I have Tried and Liked". Partly because I need organization in my life, but mostly because I am getting older and I forget that I pinned it and then I pin it again.

Friday, Darryl and I hit a few garage sales and I found this really useful Lazy Susan. I wonder how in the world they named this handy little rotating tray a Lazy Susan? Do you know?

The problem is there was a letter L etched into the wood. We don't have any L's in our household. I suppose I could say it stood for Lazy, but after being indoctrinated into all the creativity that Pinterest affords I decided to put some of that knowledge to use. I have seen all kinds of really cool items refurbished with fabric, scrapbook paper, and other items, so why not our Lazy Susan? So off to Hobby Lobby I went!

I bought some scrapbooking paper, four sheets total for a whopping $1.18.

I then decided I wanted the crosses for the background and the words for the cross. I used a cross off my wall and laid it on top of the Lazy Susan and it fit, so I traced the design on the paper.  The cross was bigger than the 12 x 12 scrapbook paper, so I had to overlap it on another one. Next, I cut the cross out and set it aside.

Since the scrapbook paper would not fit over the Lazy Susan and I only had two pieces of paper I had to cut the paper in quarters. Most people would have probably used a compass or some other mathematical way to determine how to cut the paper, but I am one of those people who think the world would be fine without numbers. I elected to turn the Lazy Susan over and put the corner of the paper in the center of the Lazy Susan and marked a couple of pencil marks on the paper, then I put the Lazy Susan on top of the paper, lining up the marks and then traced the outline. Then I cut it out and used that pattern to cut three more.

Then I laid it out all to see if it fit and how it looked. It fit, but the two colors did not contrast at all and I thought the outline of the cross was getting lost in all the crosses. So I took my trust black Sharpie pen and outlined the cross. Laid it out all all again and I liked it much better. Then I took the Mod Podge and put it on the back of the paper and then put them on the top of the Lazy Susan until the entire Lazy Susan was covered with the cross scrapbook paper and let it dry. Then I put the cross I cut out with the words on it and mod podge it on top, let it dry and then added a second coat and wa-la...our new Lazy Susan that will sit on our new custom made stone table.

Now when you need something on the other side of the table, just give it a whirl. So for $3.18, we have a new Lazy Susan. I also seen on Pinterest that some people put the Lazy Susan in their fridge with all their condiments on it and they can just turn it and get what they need, but this one is too pretty to put in the fridge, so it will sit on the table for now.

Going for the Gold...It's Serious Business

I don’t know if you have been watching the Olympics, but we have been trying to catch some of it here and there. Not only are we watching the Olympics, but we are having our own Olympic Games XBOX 360 Kinect Style. You should see the world-class athletes in action on my living room floor; the athletic abilities are flying off the couches!

It's true the Lord gifts all of us in different ways, and after careful consideration of our God-given talents, I do think that there are several areas where our family could possibly compete on an Olympic level:

1. Darryl – the amount of loaded grocery bags he can carry from the car to the kitchen table in one swoop – Gold Medalist!
2. Darya – mispronouncing American words and names.  It all began when we were singing at church “He is risen!” and she was shouting at the top of her lungs, “He is freezing!” In her world  KFC is known as Kifs and most recently she thought a lady on the Olympic’s name was Camel, not Camille.
3.  Jayden – eating pizza playing Halo Reach and impersonations, there are Jayden’s Gold, Silver and Bronze.
4. Bryleigh – Counting her rice grains up to ten.
5. Maddex – Olympic napping!
6. Me - Googling on YouTube, I know it is a rare talent, but I have it!

Future Rice Counting Gold Medalist

In training for Olympic Napping

A disclaimer: we have not consulted with any professionals (yet), but we are certainly willing to consider additional training under the supervision of a serious coach and/or mentor. The Harjo’s are going for the GOLD! What would you receive your Gold Medal in?

July Status Update

Sitting...in my 2 Corinthians 5:17 chair. It was once tossed to the curb, thrown-away and counted as useless; but, through a work of restoration at Truman’s it is beautiful, comfortable and useful! The very reason I have named it my 2 Corinthians 5:17 chair, it is reflective of the restoration work that the Trinity (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit) is doing within me.

Drinking...the last bit of my dandelion tea, cranberry, lemon water

Realizing....that it is quiet at home when my kids aren’t here and that July is almost gone

Pondering…the fleshly struggle within to not be the one who stumbles, sins and offends; but rather the one that is found faithful every day in every way. Instead I struggle with spiritual ambivalence, as Paul, desiring to do right but not doing it. I never claim to be perfect, I am a sinner, a shameful no good hypocrite, saved by the glorious grace of a sovereign loving God. I am set free through Christ’s gift of forgiveness and will continue to strive to do all which is right.

Grasping…first hand why a lost world doesn’t want anything to do with “Christians” or “churches”.

Loving... the joy of seeing and experiencing pastors who live out Godliness in practical, everyday ways in the lives of their flock.

Humbled…by true believers and followers of Christ who choose not to slander, gossip, criticize and backbite; who don’t pass judgment based on one side of a story; who have reached out and supported our family as we follow His leading.

Thanking...the Lord for what men (or women) have meant for evil, God has meant for good.

Excited...about the new journey and adventure the Lord is taking our family on!

Enjoying...working through this study on the Sermon on the Mount. I'm only into it about a month but so far, it is so good and it was free! My plan is to work through it in my own time. No rush, no time frame, no deadlines, no group, just me and the daily discipline of exploring God's Word, giving Him time to marinate it in my spirit and soul.

Transitioning...slowly into blogging again. Thanks to national planning events being cancelled, my life isn’t as crazy as it was this time last week.

Remembering…watching Joseph live on stage at the Sight and Sound Theater in Branson with my family.

Wondering…if I would remember my password to even post this status update.

Happy July (what’s left of it)! May you enjoy the simplicity of a summer!

Benefits of Cancer

Cancer sucks. You see that statement on silicone wristbands, t-shirts, bumper stickers, and other places. Yes, cancer sucks; but, what I think is worse is watching people who call each other family and friends fight and argue or watching people cast judgment on others through their words, deeds or looks. Pride, selfishness, and hate are all around us, consuming us like cancer. Being selfish, doing whatever it takes to get what you want in life regardless of the cost to others.  Believing and living as if your wants, desires, and needs are more important than everybody else’s. As long as you are happy and content then life is good. Pride, judgmental attitudes and selfishness are SO ugly. To me, it is uglier than cancer. I can see why God instructs us to do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility considering others better than yourselves. (Philippians 2:3)

Pride, selfishness and a complaining or judgmental attitude are all around us, just read 10 statuses on Facebook or listen to people talk for 10 minutes and you’ll hear it. It doesn’t matter if it is a big or little complaint; the root of the complaining is pride and self. Yuck. Complaining because we feel violated and mistreated or we feel as if we are entitled to something. Listen up folks! Life is too short. In the light of eternity it is all little stuff, completely petty and meaningless.  I can see why Rodney King asked, “Why can’t we all just get along?”

I am embarrassed to say but God has been dealing with my petty complaining attitude for some time. In fact, about three weeks ago as I was driving in to work I was complaining about the traffic. I said, “this is taking foooorever!” God gently spoke to me and said, “No, it is not taking forever. Eternity is forever. You don’t know what eternity (forever) really means but one day you will, but this traffic Dione is not fooooorever.” Okay, well maybe He didn’t hold the “foooooorever” out like I did but that is what He told me. I quickly asked for forgiveness and repented for my complaining attitude with a promise to try and do better. First with memorizing, “Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,” (Philippians 2:14-15) I can’t shine like a light if I am shooting out complaints. I am learning that my sinful flesh wants to please itself and because of that, I complain. Ouch. I am so thankful God is patient with me.

Another lesson these past 11 days as I have watched my dad very graciously without complaining battle two forms of cancer, enduring the pain of failed procedures, broken bones, the prodding of the nurses and nursing assistants, the many mishaps of the café, even the mess ups of the doctors and nurses; yet, through it all I haven’t heard him complain. I have only seen him keep his sense of humor and very graciously extend grace to those who have messed up, noting we are all human, we all make mistakes. Isn’t that the truth!?

Even through watching my dad suffer is hard, even though the earthly physicians’ prognosis for my dad is not good, and even though it is difficult watching my strong and courageous dad become physically weak because of the cancer there are some positive things the cancer has done.

Yes, positive.

Cancer has confirmed that our family loves beyond self.

Cancer has sharpened our eternal focus of glory.

Cancer has strengthened and displayed our love for each other.

Cancer is perfecting our hope.

Cancer categorizes what is truly important.

Cancer although the enemy has meant it for evil, God has brought us all these good things through it all.

God is faithful. He is good, there is none other like Him. He is our Strong tower. He is our Rock. He is our Comfort. He is our strength. He will continue to perfect us in and through this cancer, so that in the end the cancer does not win, but through our Lord Jesus Christ we remain the victors. We have been saved from eternal separation and wrath from God because of His gift of reconciliation and because of that we have eternal hope. We don’t have to panic or fear death because perfect love casts out all fear and we are perfectly loved.

So with that said, I am so thankful and grateful for my family. For parents who have exhibited to us through over 50 years of marriage what it means to love unconditionally, to be committed and dedicated through the good and bad times, in sickness and in health. I am thankful for siblings who aren’t selfish, who love beyond self. Together with God’s grace we will prevail and through it all become stronger for His glory.

One of my favorite verses that helps move away from
that ugly complaining spirit.

God has been so good to show me my ugly, complaining attitude and so loving to help me change it. He is so crazy good to me!! Do you struggle with a complaining spirit too? If so will you join me in aiming for a life of less complaining, a life full of gratitude? If we are grateful we won’t be complaining.  Please inbox or message me, I would love to have someone walk through it with me, keeping each other accountable through prayer and messages.

Monday Minute Memories, February 6, 2012

Out in Blogland several bloggers do a Friday’s Favorite Five where they name five favorite things about the past week. Or Wordless Wednesdays where they just show pictures of the past week. Here I am introducing my own version of a once a week blog called, “Monday Minute Memories” of memories of my past week.

Pollyanna or Ninny-hammer? Anyone else know what these words mean? As I have mentioned earlier I am reading One Thousand Gifts A Dare to LIVE FULLY Right Where You Are by Ann Voskamp. I told you it would probably take me an entire year. I am enjoying the slow read savoring the learning and accepting the challenge of being a Pollyanna and not a Ninny-hammer. Do you know these words? I didn’t I had to look them up, I am such a Ninny-hammer! That one I guessed pretty accurately only because on Elf and his self-proclamation of being cotton headed ninny-muggin because they are pretty close; but Pollyana? I’ll wait to see if you know, without going to the dictionary to look up Pollyanna leave me a comment on what it means. Next Monday, I will share with you some of my Pollyanna moments.   

2011 or 2012? As I hit save of this document I just realized that the past five Monday Minute Memory posts were all saved under the name of 2011, I am such a ninny-hammer! February 2012 has arrived and I truly believe winter skipped Oklahoma. This time last year we were all uncovering ourselves from the big snow storm that hit our state. The effects of cabin fever were being posted all over Facebook. I know I am weird, but I loved the snow storm, because it forced some capital Q “Quality” family time.

American Heart Month Once a year I get to wear civilian clothes to work and it is on Wear Red Day and it is a Friday, which means casual day - which means jeans! During February's American Heart Month, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) reaffirms its commitment to increasing awareness about heart disease among women and helping women take steps to reduce their own personal risk of developing heart disease.

Facebook Follies Thinking about the virtual word slams that I have seen on FB this past week. Virtual land, I believe, increases boldness in people to create controversies, conflicts, criticism and confrontations that they would never do face to face. An acquaintance of ours through one of our child’s extra-curricular activities from years ago, asked if anyone knew where to get information about homeschooling. I shared the homeschooling information we use. Needless to say another person not a friend of mine, whom I later creeped on after they made this statement, “Most of the home-schooled kids I have met have been pretty creepy. So be careful.” I found myself in a nasty turmoil of “I am going to give it to him/her” after all; I had ammunition from my creeping skills. However, the Spirit of God that lives within me quieted my vindictiveness and quickened my desire to be still and know that He is God and the only Righteous Judge.

Heavy and mourning I know technically this one should go on the next week’s post, but my soul is hurting for a precious family in our church family who suddenly, unexpectantly lost a husband and dad by a heart attack. It was not the news I expected as I was getting ready for work this morning followed with the heartache and pain that physical death leaves us here with. I know that precious in His eyes is the homecoming of the saints (Psalm 116:15); and I know that we do not grieve as others do who have no hope (I Thessalonians 4:13); but we still grieve and only through the lens of God’s Word can we press onward. So thankful for His Word and the Hope we have in Christ Jesus. We are told that we will face difficulties in this life. In my study of learning eucharisteo the question comes up “Who would ever know the greater graces of comfort and perseverance, mercy and forgiveness, patience and courage, if no shadows fell over a life? Without God’s Word the world warps.” If we never had pain, we would never know God’s comfort. If we were never weak, we would never know His strength. If we always got what we wanted, when we wanted, we would never know the benefit of patience. Without trials, we would never experience God’s courage in and through us.

Monday Minute Memories, January 30, 2012

Out in Blogland several bloggers do a Friday’s Favorite Five where they name five favorite things about the past week. Or Wordless Wednesdays where they just show pictures of the past week. Here I am introducing my own version of a once a week blog called, “Monday Minute Memories” of memories of my past week.

1. Action Packed Movie. I must admit that I am not a huge fan of action packed movies, but the rest of my crew are, so every once in a while I get dragged into watching an action packed movie. I think I may have used up all my testosterone up as a tomboy way back in the day, when all I cared about was anything round, that I could throw, catch or hit. Speaking of testosterone reminds me of Shark Week on Animal Planet which we watched while on vacation last year at the beach, probably not the best idea! But did you know that sharks have the highest serum testosterone levels than any species on the planet, with bull sharks having the highest? No, I don’t have ADHD, I call it mind mapping…back to the movie I was forced to watch, even the name shouts MAN MOVIE...Real Steel. It’s about big robots, smashing metal in a UFC style competition. Yes, I really stretched myself. Surprisingly it was a fairly good movie. There were certainly “educational moments” as in my opinion there are with all movies. MY review of educational moments…while it was violent, metal smashing metal, and there were some tight fitting clothes and disrespectful attitude; there was still a human story of reconciliation between a father and a son and the realization that as a father he wants to do and be better. It was a nice reminder that the most important things in life aren’t always things….or in this case robots and a big win…but family.

2. Youth Teacher Planning Meeting. We spend a good portion of Saturday afternoon planning some upcoming activities and events for our youth at the church. Let’s see…pizza…red Kool-Aid…pizza….red Kool-Aid….throw in some outrageously fun events and we were done. I did try two new recipes, one from Pinterest (Crockpot Italian Chicken) and the other (Chicken Parmesan) from a trusted recipe site (SkinnyTaste) that have not proven wrong yet. I know it is stupid to try something new when you have people coming over, so I probably won’t do that again; I was stressed about what if it doesn’t turn out right. So I did a backup plan of pizza. After all, eating pizza and drinking red Kool-Aid are a prerequisite to working with the youth. I highly recommend both. That is the recipes and working with the youth. On my Pinterest Boards, I have a board of recipes, these are the ones I want to try and I have a board of recipes I’ve tried and are good. Both of these have moved to that board. My new culinary out is "pinterest made me do it!"

3. Sock Blessings. Let’s just say the past three and half years have been the most stressful time of my career. Work has been difficult to say the least. I won’t get into details, but I recently received an “eviction notice” from my office on the second floor to a new office on the first floor, which I love. So it wasn’t really an eviction notice, just my humorous way of dealing with the move and it was all for good reasons too, other than my exercise. Not much of a change, I still have an office with a window, just not a view of the pond and the cute ducklings. To tell you the truth I laugh about it, simply because God is teaching me to be content in whatever state “or office” I am in. So even if I would have been moved to a cubicle, life would still be good, because I have a job and I love my job. The blessing part? One of the ladies in the new area where I sit came in to my office last week and commented to me that she noticed how hard I work. I said, “thank you it is nice to be noticed. It is because of that reason (and I pointed to a scripture I have hanging on my wall in my office) is the reason I work hard.” The scripture? “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for me.” Col. 3:23. My big sis gave it to me and it is a great reminder, it has given me encouragement through these hard years and helped me keep my perspective straight. Even though it wasn’t a big accolade, it was appreciated and I know it was orchestrated by my Heavenly Father to bless my socks off.

4. WeightWatchers. 3.4 pounds this week! I left the My FitnessPal because one pound a week for me was not cutting it. I was used to see 2 pounds or more a week with WW; so I am back on the path to get back to my healthy BMI. I’m just thankful I haven’t gained all 30 pounds back that I lost in 2008. I am a big fan of WW. I have tried at least a hundred different diets over my lifespan, but I don’t look at all those times as failures, but a hundred ways that didn’t work for me, in other words an education. To me, keeping the right perspective about failure is important. I like what Margaret Thatcher said, “You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.” For me, WW works, but it is more than just WW but a battle with my mind and flesh. I am determined that my belly will not be my God. (Phillipians 3:18-20)

5. No Spend January. Have you heard of this? I know someone who took the challenge and you can read about her family’s “No Spend January” journey at Just A Little Happy. Ours was more of a Quit Eating Out Too Much January. Our goal was to eat out only one time a week. I am happy to say we’ve accomplished that. I know for some that is a lot, but for us we had fallen back into the convenience of eating out two to three meals a week. Eating out is expensive and not that nutritious. As I look back over the month, we have said no many times to eating out requests, , actually we have said, "I said no, quit asking!" I am happy to report everyone is still alive. Let’s see if we can keep it up!

Happy Monday Everyone, enjoy your week and remember He is faithful!