Break Time

I take a break from our previously scheduled program of moving and packing to say...

"AHHHHHHH!"

So not fun.

We've spent the last 3 full days painting the new house. Ok, that was fun. And today, we're moving appliances. Tonight, after trick or treating, I'll be cleaning the kitchen and adding shelf paper.

But the boxes, stuff, and more stuff, after already haven gotten rid of so much - just a bit overwhelming.

Ok, break time is over. Bye!

Facebook 2

I lied. I'm totally and completely hooked. *sigh* Oh well! I should have known.

Do you want to get hooked too? It's easy! See you out there! :)

My hobby, my plague!

I want to take a moment out of my packing to shout out a loud "Thank You" to Shutterfly and the Digital World!

While packing my office, I discovered yet another tub FULL to the top of photo albums. Huge Ones. I already have these packed up elsewhere. This tub is about 4x3x2, no kidding. It's so heavy I can't even drag it across the room. It has been sitting there just about forever.

I HATE PHOTO ALBUMS! I've always been picture crazy, and it shows. I have my entire life documented in pictures. Add them to my journals, and you have a long, boring script for a 3 part epic length movie. Sheesh, I have so many pictures you could probably skip the filming process and just flip them like a flip book to make a movie.

And they plague me, because I just can't throw them away, but I know in my mind that my children will never want to sit down and look through a hundred albums of old mom. I need to consolidate my life into one book. What a cute baby, yes I styled my hair like that in middle school, that's my first boyfriend, the gold sash at graduation means I was in the top 10% of my class in high school, this is when daddy and I got married, and here you are.

So what to do with them now? Move them, I guess, until I get a spare, oh, month with nothing to do but sort through pics, scan them in, and make a cute book.

So why do I want to thank Shutterfly? Because now for the last few years I've had them make my books digitally and I have such cute, thin little books that barely take up any space on a shelf. I still get my yearly album in, but it's ever so much smaller!

So thank you for simplifying my present - just need to figure out how to clear out the past...

Facebook

Well, I finally joined Facebook. It stinks to hear about something and not be able to check it out without being a member. So I did a quick profile and began looking around.

My review: It's only been a few hours, but I don't think it is something I plan on getting addicted to anytime soon.

A Home for Coco

We are looking for a new home for our adorable pet bunny, Coco. I tried listing him on Petfinder, but because he is not neutered, they won't accept my post.

Here is a picture of him playing outside on his harness:



Coco is a one year old brown and white Mini Rex. He has been greatly loved in our basement by our children. However, we are moving to a home w/o a basement and are afraid Coco won't be safe from our dog. He'll come with toys and accessories, but no cage.

He is a very playful bunny who loves to run, but then gets tired and likes to be cuddled. He is not a fat and lazy rabbit.

Do you know of anyone who would like another member of the family? Let me know!

The Declutter Challenge

I was looking up decluttering websites for a friend (and myself) and came across a really cute one. You can read the whole article here: Real Simple Article

Here was my favorite line: “You can’t move forward into the future when you’re constantly sucked back into the past.” I always get down when I look through my memory box. All emotionally constipated. Not sure why. I narrowed it down to just one box this time around! YEA for me! But I see where she’s coming from. Anyway, it’s a short cute article.

Her challenge - get rid of 50 things, and make a list, writing down what you're getting rid of. Magazines, even a hundred of them, only count for 1.

So, I'm going to give it a try. Here goes! :)

Becoming a Runner

Here’s the excerpt out of “A Beautiful Offering” by Angela Thomas. She’s going through the Beatitudes, and this is in the chapter of “Blessed are the Pure in Heart.”

“I have always wanted to be a distance runner. Three miles without heavy breathing would be long distance for me. I had tried in the past, but the intense pain underneath my ribs would always sideline me in a matter of minutes. I used to joke that I don’t run because I want to be sick when I die. But that was a joke and I still really wanted to run. All my friends run, and it seems like the perfect exercise for a woman who can’t find an hour to get to the gym.

So, it finally dawned on me that I probably won’t wake up one day and be a runner. Nothing will happen unless I actually get out there and do whatever it takes to become one. About a month ago, I started trying. I wish I could tell you that it happened in a matter of weeks. But I am forty, and becoming a runner is going to take a little more time. I walk fast to warm up, run until that side thing is unbearable, walk it out, and then run a little more. I feel like such a pansy. But if I give up again, I will still never become a runner. I want to run. I have dreamed that I am a runner all my life. I could quit, but something inside me doesn’t want to this time.

The path of my offering is very similar. I want to bless God with my life. I could dream about what God could do with a woman who was devoted to Him. I could talk about being pure in heart. I could intensely desire a righteous life. But until I get my shoes on and try, I will never know the great blessing of running alongside God.

Getting your shoes on to try means getting on your knees when you’d rather just run out the door. It means being accountable when it’s embarrassing. It means telling the truth to others and to God even when it makes you uncomfortable.

Sometimes I will have to press through my fears and respond to God and people with a humbling vulnerability. Running alongside God means that I am learning to confess immediately and cut out the days of waiting for restoration and forgiveness. It means that I try to push through my hesitancy and do the right thing before God. It means that I make an effort to keep asking God to make me pure.

There are so many ways I could spiritually run faster, and I don’t want to get older without trying. I don’t want to just dream about being godly. I want to keep moving in the direction of God, running toward maturity instead of away from it.”

Stuff

Have you ever seen the Veggie Tales Movie, "Madame Blueberry?" It's about a blueberry who wants more stuff to make her happy and goes on a shopping spree at Stuff Mart. In the end when the stuff weighs down her treehouse, all the stuff falls in the river and her home sling-shots over the forest and crashes.

The show is really designed for adults because the stuff she is tempted to buy is adult stuff - new dishes, air compressors, bungee cords... you name it. I'd probably say my Stuff-Mart is Target. I walk in and the lights compel me to look and ooh and ahhh over stuff I didn't think I needed.

We have this thing in us that is looking for satisfaction. Fulfillment. Completion. We know we won't get it in stuff, but it's like we get a high off of the feeling of getting it for a moment. But it wears off, and we look for the next high. An addiction to the feeling of happiness.

The Bible says God has placed eternity in the hearts of men. We want something eternally satisfying. Lasting enjoyment. Not the fleeting stuff... but we keep trying the fleeting stuff, filling our lives with more stuff.

Sometimes it isn't physical stuff. It's a vacation, or decorating a room, or a big event, or a ministry opportunity, or.... you name it. Whatever the next high is we are trying to achieve. And we struggle living in the normal quietness of everyday life.

Two more thoughts on this, that actually spurred this to begin with. My sister in law just went overseas where the people have nothing yet share everything - they open their doors, welcome you in, and treat you like a King. They serve tea, sit and talk, and enjoy you. They aren't plagued by the stuff of life so they can spend their time on what matters - relationships.

And then I was at another family member's home today who has way too much stuff. There's a path through the home where the carpet is worn from walking, and there are piles and piles everywhere. It is not as bad as some stories I've heard, but given time, it will probably get there. Hoarding, buying, not purging....

Stuff - less is more. What if I tried to not buy another non-consumable thing for one year? I wonder if I could do it? It would certainly be a challenge. I'm not sure how I'd handle Christmas. Or maybe I could do something where we only get new things at birthdays and Christmas. I'm just talking off the cuff here. What are your thoughts on that?

Like a buying fast. Fasting from buying anything non-consumable. Maybe it would be better to start with a month.

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:19-21

A Beautiful Offering

I'm reading a great book, "A Beautiful Offering," by Angela Thomas. (Author of another book I've mentioned, "Do You Think I'm Beautiful.") It's about the beatitudes. I'm through 'Blessed are the Peacemakers' and am loving it. I think it's a book I could keep beside my bed and re-read occasionally. I'll let you know when I finish it. (You know I'm bad about finishing books...)

I'm still trying to finish a few others... but this one I'm more inclined to get to the end of. I just love her writing style. I think we'd be good friends. :)

Man in the Hole

Check out this video that I love:

http://www.bluefishtv.com/ProductDetails.aspx?cid=1005&id=1617

Enjoy!