Just Like Before Kids. (Almost.)

I don't know about you, but it is a rare day that my husband and I get to go out like we used to BK (before kids). So, when a friend of my husband's told us that he and his band from the mid-1990's said that he was coming into town for Thanksgiving to have a reunion show we called "PaPa" and asked if he would keep the kids for the night.

We prepared for the show by napping the afternoon before, because the music wasn't scheduled to start until 10:30! That is about the time I am usually yawning and stretching and getting ready to go to bed if I am not already asleep by then.

Some of our other friends were going to the show too and we went to dinner with them. We talked about old times, about our kids and about our jobs; basically, the conversation was nothing like the conversations that would have occurred 10 years ago.

We knew that we were a tad early when the mothers of some of the band members walked in after we did. When the show started 30 minutes late, we were rockin' out! That band should have made it big. They were awesome! Talent does not guarantee success, because those guys have some major talent. Never mind that they all have kids and had their pants pulled up too high and are balding. They rocked the house down.

At one point at the beginning of the show, the bass player/singer went to the mic and said "Thanks for getting baby-sitters and coming out tonight." It was funny, because looking around the room was like being at a college party except that we were all OLD and had put on a few pounds. (ahem!) I thought to myself that I wished I could freeze time for a moment, but it was nice to just close my eyes and know that my husband was there and would be there even when we picked up our kids and when our routine starts over again.

I can't wait for the next reunion show. I hope that they don't wait so long this time.

Happy Thanksgiving

So, here's what I want to know...

If you do not believe in God Almighty who made heaven and earth and everything in it, why do you celebrate THANKSGIVING? To whom, exactly, are you GIVING THANKS?

So, my last post was in August

So, my last post was in August.

Great.

Does anyone look at this?

HELLO! (HELLO!)
ECHO! (ECHO!)

Filtering the cobwebs here....

I have some thoughts on this blogging thing and I may actually start up again or start a new one.

Is there any way to blog offline and post later? It seems like I have heard someone say that there is, but I cant remember how they said to do it. I think it is a blog "plug-in" or something.

And before I go, if anyone is still there, I will tell you a hilarious blog I look at daily. It is: cakewrecks.com.

First Day of Bible Study

Today was the first day of my Fall Bible Study. We are doing Kay Arthur's Return to the Garden: Embracing God's Design For Sexuality.

Really? Yes, it is a Bible study on sexuality. Can you imagine?

What I love about this is the age range of the ladies in the group. There are some who have great-grandchildren to new mothers to young adult women. One lady shared that she is 66 years old and is madly in love with her high school sweetheart since being reunited with him after 40 years. They have both been married twice before and lost spouses both from divorce and death. They are keeping themselves "pure" for each other until they are married after the first of the year. Isn't that the sweetest thing you've ever heard?

I love that.

Today was the introduction and it was a general overview of our culture's emphasis on "in your face" sex and what it does to our view of ourselves and our intimate relationships.

Kay Arthur has quite a testimony that she shared bits of in the DVD today. Put it this way: she is qualified to teach this study. There was one moment when I literally thought, "Did she just say that? I can't believe she just said that!" But more importantly, she said that her goal is to teach each of us how to uncover for ourselves what God's Word says by an inductive method of study. Asking the "5 W's and 1 H" questions to each passage, highlighting key words and really understanding what God says. That is a skill that will go on long after this study is over.

One final thought that I had after the lesson today is that WE are responsible for teaching our children what God's word says and that it is ABSOLUTE TRUTH and what we base our behaviors on. If we do not teach our children, they will learn from the world and what the world shows us is the polar opposite of what God teaches. What a tremendous responsibility!

The Invisible Woman

I might be the last woman to see this, but I love it. I hope it blesses you as it blessed me.

One final challenge

Oh, the dreaded exercise. How I hate it. Not so much doing the exercises or being sore, or sweating, or any of that. It is all of the preparation to the exercising. Like putting on a sports bra. And shoes. And clothes.

Carving out time in the day to do the exercising is also a problem. I would like to exercise before showering so that I don't have to waste time showering twice in one day. After all, there are more important things to do during the day like writing self-deprecating blog posts about all of the challenges in my life in order to run off the one person who reads my blog.

What is frustrating to me though, is that I lead such a sedentary lifestyle that I know if I put in a little effort it would yield such a high payoff. But then, you have to put on shoes. and a sports bra.

Putting it in writing is actually helpful, because it makes me see how silly it is not to want to put clothes and shoes on.

To sum up these last few posts, my challenges all boil down to one thing and one thing only. I am LAZY. There is no one to change that, except me and me alone. I will let you know how I progress during the next few weeks, because I am committed to changing some of these (if not all of these) challenges into routines.

Here's hoping.

Still more on my challenges

Time alone with God.

You know, this is really a topic.

I love God. I love Jesus. I believe that the instant I die, I will be present with the Lord. I watch some christian shows on TV, one of which is Wednesdays with Beth on Life Today. Have you ever seen her on this show? Have you ever seen Beth Moore in anything? She always seems to be SO EXCITED to "get a word from the Lord". Sometimes she says, "Is there anything you would rather be doing besides getting a word from the Lord?" and, "Oooh! I'm so fired up right now, I just can't wait to read you this passage from the Bible."

You know, I'm not sure I have ever been that excited about reading the Bible or "getting a word from the Lord".

Is that a character flaw? Is that something I should be worried about? Am I not spiritual enough? Do I not love God as much as I should? What does that mean?

I have heard people say that when you fall in love with a person that you want to be with that person all the time so that you know everything about them. The point being that because we are supposed to be so in love with the Lord that all we should want to do is be in His word or in prayer all of the time.

I don't feel like that. I feel bad that I don't feel like that. But I don't. What does that do for my testimony?

Don't get me wrong, though. I love doing my Bible Study lessons and I love going to Sunday School and church and learning more about the Bible and how it applies to our current lives. I love all of that, but when it comes down to getting up an hour earlier than everyone in my house every. single. day. to have quiet time, I just don't feel it. It's just not something I feel so compelled and excited about. Now, I know, I could fit the quiet time in some other time of the day and I may do that, especially when I am doing a Bible study, but sometimes I don't.

So, I have prayed to get a longing and a hunger for spending time with the Lord. I guess now, the challenge is actually sitting down and doing it.