106

One hundred and six, that's how old Auntie Jean is. Her birthday was actually last week and I finally dumped the pictures on to the computer. Auntie Jean is Mr. Dunbar's great aunt. She is the oldest living person here in our city of almost 300,000 people.

I am constantly trying to figure out how she has lived so long. Because to this day, there is nothing wrong with her. She has no major health issues. No cancer, no alzheimers, no major arthiritis, nothing.

Here are my guesstimates on how she has lived so long:

She is and always has been content with her life.

She is a loving person, inside and out.

She is a caretaker of the earth.

She excercises her mind.

She knows that God is in control.

Would you want to live this long?

Sunday Thought

My child, never forget the things I have taught you.

Store my commands in your heart.

If you do this, you will many years, and your life will be satisfying.

Never let loyalty and kindness leave you! tie them around your neck as a reminder. Write them deep in your heart.

Then you will find favor with both God and people, and you will earn a good reputation.

Proverbs 3:1-4

PS Aren't those roses pretty? Mr. Dunbar gave them to me on Friday for helping him get through this past quarter. And they smell divine.

Please continue to pray for the Lamberth's.

The Prayer Chain

This is an unexpected post.
I hopped over to my friend Heather's blog and I found out about a family that was part of our church way back in the day. The husband, Mark, was in an accident and the outlook so far looks grim. They have a young son and my heart is just breaking for them right now.
You can read the short story here.
Please pray for them.

UPDATE<> UPDATE Sunday, afternoon.
Mark has been airlifted to another hospital where the trauma care is excellent. Please continue to pray for him, his wife Angie, and their son Nolan.
The blog link above is being updated everytime something happens. Check it out and let them know you are praying for them. Thanks.

Tree Trimmings

I have a pretty traditional tree. Colored lights. Colored ball ornaments. Gold reindeer, snowmen, and trees. And then there are the sentimental or keepsake ornaments. The ones who remind of our family pastimes...

The ones we received our first year that we were married.

The ones received for our dogs. Hey, they were our kids before we had any.

This is my favorite ornament of all. It actually clips on to the tree branch. And it says 2003. So fun.

Family Pictures

We had our family pictures taken last weekend. I think they turned out pretty good.

www.calhounphotography.com

Great photographer, totally prepared and capable assistant, really reasonable prices.

I still wish they had done my wedding.

Simple Joy

My sister-in-law invited me to a Women's Tea at her mom's church. The theme was Simple Joy.

HUH? Simple joy in the month of December~ impossible you say? Well, I would agree. It is pretty darn impossible.

Us women like to do it all in December. We like to show off our decorating expertise, our hospitality skills, our baking abilities, and that we are gift shopping extraordinares. Especially for ourselves right? The speaker for the evening challenged us to focus on family relationships, giving of yourself, and JESUS. The last one, I know, is totally original, especially since this whole chaos was created because of Him. The king, the king who was born in a stable. Who's mom rode in on a donkey. I think, even me and my Honda exceed the donkey...

So why do I already feel so fed up, and it's only the 9th? Because I have missed the point. I have given in to the world. I like the world. I am consumed by the world and its shiny wrapping paper and silver Nordstrom boxes. I am also consumed with sugary snacks, can I tell you that I have eaten 12 cookies for dinner? Yes, I said 12 cookies. And yes, they were my dinner. With milk. But I am overwhelmed with baking, hosting, attending, decorating, and ignoring my kids and my King.

But no more.

Tonight is it.

I am going to enjoy my holiday season. I am going to love my boys, my husband, my family, my home, and I am going to focus on the true and perfect reason for this season.

Care to join me?
(Thanks for the invite Amber.)

Sunday Thought

Accepting what's best

I always liked the quote "Motherhood is learning to live with your heart outside your body."

Bogie is starting to crawl. Monkey is at the Pre-School age where he can do just about everything by himself, and that's the way he wants it to be. I just pray that they would know how much I love them, how much I plead with God to protect them from physical and emotional harm. I want them to appreciate my prayers for their souls, their brains, their hearts, their wallets, and their future wives. (Those wives will someday hold the power to almost all of the above.) I pray for their friendships and the souls of those friends. I pray for their time and how they spend it.

And then sometimes I pray that I would truly understand that they are not really mine and that someone bigger than I knows what's best for them. In my womanhood, I don't like this prayer very much, I want to control this, too. I want them to be mine always always. But I am raising men. Somehow, God knows what's best. I still don't like it, but I am accepting it.

E's Insight- Guest Poster

I am at a lull. I don't know what it is and I can't pinpoint any one thing. So let's just call it a lull. I don't have any words today, I haven't in a few days, probably more. Have you noticed? Anyhow, my non-blogger friend, sent me an email... she called it her Non-blog, Blog.
So here you go. I'd love to know your thoughts...

Thankfulness and counting your blessings are themes that people seem to throw around at random this time of year. However, what does that mean??? Does that mean that we don’t fill out our Christmas list because we are seriously content to receive nothing? What girl is okay with not getting at minimum one pretty wrapped package? Does that mean that we are submissive to our husbands and actually stick to a holiday budget? Or does it simply mean that we look at what we have and reflect on not being spoiled brats compared to the rest of the world, where so many have so little.

This year I have had to deal with this issue quite a bit through my study of Moses and his life. I am not far mind you, he just got the 10 commandments. However, I realized that I am extremely quick to judge the Israelites for their dumb decisions, and whining. I need to stop. You see, I whine. I complain, and if God isn’t giving me exactly what I want, when I want it, I usually am pissed off.

I have grown in this area as well. I ironically am surrounded by fertile myrtile friends, I am NOT in their league, neighborhood, or state when it comes to that. I had to learn to wait, and be content on HIS timing, HIS plan, and if it came down to it, dealing with the reality of having only one child (NO Cal**** has one kid! We multiply people it’s in the name), or possibly in the early days having no children to call our own naturally. I had to come to the place where even though I was extremely unhappy, that I had to believe that although this place was hard, it wasn’t the hardest I would have to face yet. It was quite simply a place that was preparing me for what was to come.

I had to grow again being a stay at home mom. Many days I fail in this area financially. I want to spend money as if I were still making booku bucks teaching, even part time. I want to spoil my children when I find the “just right thing”. I want to spoil my husband, who coming from a family of seven has a different history with gifts, and therefore is a gifts person. I want the latest fashions, name brands, shoes, handbags (not purses, those are for men). I struggle with greed. Yet in my struggles, I also want to see my kids leave for school, be the one to pick them up, and provide for them the calmness of home that is, when I am home. I want their sheets to be clean, our house to be in some sort of order, and for me not to be frantic over what isn’t being done, because I am taking care of someone else’s kids. I want my cake and eat it too with Starbucks on the side! These things don’t have a price tag. Oh sure there are sites that you can go to that put a price on a stay at home mom, but who are we kidding, it doesn’t in the long run matter if the check isn’t coming in the mail. I don’t think California is going to start paying us for raising responsible, healthy, and morally sound children (not in the budget this year for CA).

So to count my blessings means what? It means to be thankful to a God that has more in store for me than I can see. To continue to strive to be obedient in my spending even when I don’t want to. It means that when I don’t want to count my blessings, I give the respect to God that HE deserves because HE is the one who gave them to me in the first place. I am not in Africa fighting malaria. My kids are not dying of cancer, or spending tonight in some strangers hell taken from me. I have a puppy. I have a family. Now things might not be how I dream of them to be, and there is always someone who has more, but I need to be content on what I do have, so that I am not a bitter, angry mom, who stays home with her kids, and focusing on the things that I am giving up, so they can have new underwear. I need to be content and count my blessings so that I am a happier person who never regrets my decision to give up earthly possessions in order to hopefully be growing Heavenly possessions. I need to be thankful for all God has given me so simply I don’t forget the struggles of wanting something I almost physically couldn’t have. I need to count my blessings, because even though I might want more blessings, they probably aren’t coming unitl I am truly thankful and content with what HE has already given me.

If you've read this far, WOW! It's me again... I'll be back tomorrow with my own post and my own thoughts. I've got some things on the brain.
I have just one question. Why can't Christianity be EASY?!?!?!

We went to see Santa