staff meeting

we had a staff meeting this morning...thank goodness it didn't go like this one.

not forgotten, but remembered

there have been days in my life that i have felt forgotten--because a friend picked her over me, because my idea was not chosen, because i was overlooked for someone else...at the time, those moments felt like the end of the world. (that comes from the perspective of a middle-class teenager/young adult that had known little outside of her own little world.)

fast forward a few years.  being  forgotten means something far different than it did in years past.  it's based more on the idea of someone remembered--there is a ten year old girl, living in the middle of one of the largest cities in the world.  she no longer is just one of the many children in the city, trying to press on to another day.  her family has always loved her, but she now also has someone half a world away who now thinks about her and loves and prays for her every day.  there is a boy who lives in a village close to the equator who has lost his parents to hiv/aids, but there is a family that loves him and cares for him even though they've never met. these are two children that are not forgotten, but remembered.

forgotten are the millions of children and adults who feel hopeless.  people waiting for help and are waiting for those who have much to share with those that have little.  forgotten are the ones that will not wake up today after they went to sleep beyond hungry.  forgotten are the ones that will dig through garbage heaps searching for scraps to eat or to sell for money.  forgotten are the ones that struggle with the decision to drink contaminated water or go without drinking anything at all today.  forgotten are the families that are piled into a single-room home with raw sewage running by its only door.

this is where i'm infinitely grateful for a ministry like Compassion International.  they give us the opportunity to remember and help the forgotten.  we can sit comfortably in our air-conditioned homes with our filtered water, stocked refrigerators and pantries and clothes and toys and things to amuse us with our focus being centered on ourselves and our own comfort level, or we can get involved with Compassion by making a small committment--by taking a small portion of what God has blessed us with and make a life-changing difference in the life of a child.  a small financial committment and time to write and encourage someone miles away--God can use that act of  remembering to literally change the course of another human being.  we can forget that there are so many struggles in this world, or we can remember and make a difference.

God created each child, each person with infinite worth and value.  i don't ever want to forget that.

pomp and circumstance

chewy (our dog) received his certificate tonight for completing his puppy kindergarden class.  we have worked on 'sit', 'down', 'leave it', 'come', 'stay'...are in the starting phases of loose-lead walking.  i have to admit that he's a 'B' student--he does very well at home in a familiar, comfortable setting--but throw him into a classroom of ten other puppies and well...I'M EXHAUSTED!  he's all over the place, distracted by the smallest thing and will only obey me if i'm flashing treats in front of his nose.

so, just like the real world, the classroom is just the opportunity to gain a few tools that mean very little until applied out in everyday life.  let the adventure begin!

at the same time

coming up, there is a day where i am to be at two places at the same time.  obviously, one thing will have to trump the other and take priority.  unfortunately, the one i want to win won't get to...so i need to deal with the fact that i have to miss something that won't happen again and that breaks my heart.  hoping that things like this will be a once-in-awhile type occurance instead of a regular part of my calendar.

picking shoes

i'm in the kitchen watching my three-year-old play a very intriguing game.  we're picking shoes.

he goes into his room, slides under his bed with all the dustbunnies and is finding shoes of days gone by.  he comes out with one on one foot and a 'match' from another pair and asks me 'which one do you like best?'  i point out the one i like, ask him if that one feels funny because it is on the wrong foot, he replies 'nope', heads back to his room to come out with the next 'pair'.

it's been going on for about ten minutes now and he's had a different combination each time he comes out.  i'm avoiding going in his room at the moment...there are shoes trailing from his bedroom, down the hallway, into the living room, into the kitchen.

(i'm praying he's not picking up my behavior of trying on about four different things before deciding what to wear.  we'll never make it out the door in the mornings!)

a.maz.ing!

ooooooooohhhhh

shiny new toy.  definitely not a need, but a want.

(i've learned that whatever you buy, the second you buy it, it's outdated.)

think i'll have to wait a bit on this one.

a ha!

you ever have those a-ha moments?  those ones that pull all kinds of seemingly unrelated loose ends together and you see not only how they all fit together, but the purpose of all that stuff?

i think i'm having one of those moments.  it's good.  there were some things that i have been struggling with--not sure how to deal with all of it, not wanting to leave it all in some pile in my life like the box of stuff in the basement that just doesn't have any place to call its own (other than the box).  i'm learning it's okay to let all of it go now because God has used it to serve a purpose in my life.  nothing grandeous, just a day-to-day buffing, shaping, molding, sometimes chipping away to get me be a little less like me and a little more like Him.

i need to let something go.  i think i'm doing it...it feels strange, liberating, a little sad for some reason...most importantly, it feels right because it's something that Jesus is asking me to do.  don't know what it all means for tomorrow, but today--a ha!  all of this was never about me in the first place.  (i've always known that, just forgot to live that way sometimes.)  it was about a God that has higher plans and used some day to day things to achieve it.  just glad my eyes have been opened to see and i can look for the next lesson.

actual writing

spent some time writing some letters today, actual get-out-paper-and-write-with-a-pen-kind-of-letters.  it was nice.  e-mail is a wonderful thing, but there is something about a hand-written, i'm-taking-a-few-extra-moments-to-think-of-you, letter.

i hope that people don't forget that craft, of physically writing.  it almost sounds old-fashioned, doesn't it?

unspeakable things

today has been a day full of poop, literally.

started the day with doggy diarrea...i know, gross.

twice on the carpet and then plenty outside.

came home from work to find a coated kennel with a coated dog in it.  ugh.

trying to get that cleaned up while he got some on carter--who freaked out--ugh.

bathed the dog and then cleaned up the tub from it all.

had to run the dog outside to have him go again.

(praying that someone else volunteers for poop patrol in the yard tonight.)

shoveled lunch down my face so the dog could go out again.  sigh.

sat down for a moment, trying to collect my thoughts to hear this:

'MMMOOOOMMMMMMM...oh gross!!!!!!  MMMMOOOOMMMM, the cat threw up in colin's room and i stepped in it.  MMMMMOOOOOMMMMM'.

so i head into his room armed with the spray and the last of this roll of paper towels.

i have no words at that point.

i clean it up, clean carter up (again) and am escaping to the computer for just a bit.

(yes, i'm being a fabulous mom and am letting the boys play gameboys...)

no poop for the moment.

(and for those of you concerned about my dear sweet doggy...he was at the kennel for the weekend--they informed me as i picked him up that they fed him a different food.  "he may be loose for a few days, but this food is so much better for them."  thanks...no really, thanks.)

counting is fun!

a prayer

i pray it every day...'God, help me to be more like Jesus today than i was yesterday.'

help me to be more loving, more compassionate, more forgiving, more understanding, more caring, more patient.  help me to see others as you see them.  help me to trust deeply and leap blindly in faith.

amazing thing is, when i pray that prayer, i am surrounded by people and things that are hard for me to be patient with or loving with or understanding with.  God doesn't just fill us with love and patience and kindness and goodness and faithfulness and gentleness and self-control.  He takes us on a journey where those characteristics are tempered in our lives.  you can't truly be loving until you love someone that is hard for you to love.  you can't be patient until you experience something that stretches you beyond your limit of patience.  you can't be more like Jesus just by wanting it...He takes us on a journey where He stretches and reshapes and remolds us and it will not be easy, but it will be wonderful and we will grow into an incredible reflection of all that Jesus is.

i think so many people use the excuse of 'that's just the way i am.'  it's a license to not be loving, to be impatient, to put my needs first, to act how i want to act despite the impact it has on those all around you.  it is so easy to write things off on our 'temperament' instead of admitting out loud that we need to allow God to work in our lives to help us overcome our shortfallings.  it is so hard to admit that we need help or the ugly parts in our life, isn't it?

we are all works in progress.  Jesus is not finished with us here on earth and His desire is for each of us to be all that God made us to be--to be loving, caring, patient, understanding, thoughtful, selfless people that love and worship Him and love each other for the unique creatures He made each one of us to be.

i will pray it again...'help me to be more like Jesus today than i was yesterday'

despite knowing that i have much to work on today, that i have a long way to go in my journey.

improv mirror

this is one of my favorite groups.  incredibly creative, funny people.

you have to go visit their website @

www.improveverywhere.com

Human Mirror from ImprovEverywhere on Vimeo.

for the dog

okay...we are official 'dog owners' now.  chewy has been with us since mother's day weekend and we've conquered potty training and 'sit.' ('come' on command...well...we're working.)  he knows who to sit by at supper to catch the most 'leftovers.'  he LOVES to go on walks and hunt down innocent little bunnies and squirrels. sprinklers and the baby pool are absolutely irrisistable and he has mastered the sweet, you-need-to-come-be-with-me puppy eyes.

we are headed to visit my sister soon and need to kennel him for two days.  i am dumbfounded as i have been researching boarding in our local area.

1.)  boarding is not cheap.  it costs almost as much as day care for children.

2.)  location, location, location--everything is about as far away as you can get from our house and still say that we live in the same town.  (there are some lovely acreages that offer lots of playspace for your pooch)

3.)  webcams--did you know that some kennels have webcams so you can check in on your sweet puppy?

4.)  it's all about the upgrades--you can pay for extra play time, special snacks, doggie suites for canines that have distinctive tastes (seriously), spa treatments--like special pedicures, massages and accupuncture.  i don't pay for lots of those services for me, let alone my dog! :)

i've narrowed it down to two kennels.  i'm waiting to hear back on availability...if my puppy will make the cut.  yes, i'm going to pay a small sum for them to love my dog for a few days, but i'm definitely skipping on the massage option.

you can't feed them all, but you can help one

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