Driving Lessons

Today, like so many other days, I took advantage of the coincidence of bad attitudes and a short drive in the car to lecture my children. God did the same thing. Here's how it went down, my thoughts in italics:

I can't believe how unbelievable self-centered these kids are being! I'm so sick of hearing this! "All I keep hearing out of you guys is so selfish! It's all about what you want. 'I want to sit next to them.' 'I want that.' And if you don't get what you want then there's whining and crying. That's not okay. If you don't get to sit next to someone, it's OKAY. The world won't end. In fact, you can be HAPPY for the person who gets to sit next to them. Can we do that? Is it possible to be happy for someone else?"... a couple mumbled yeses come from the back... "What if Jesus only did whatever He wanted to do? What if one day He said, 'I think I'm just going to sit by the lake here, maybe do a little fishing, and just rest today.' And then sick people came to Him and said 'Please heal us!' Would He just say, 'No, not today. I don't want to.'?" Hmm... That's true. He was always serving others. Not just when He felt like it. "And what about when Jesus died on the cross? He had all of God's power. He didn't have to die, but He did. Do you think it felt nice to hang on a cross?"... mumbled noes... "No! Then why did He do it if He didn't feel like it?"... some vague answers are given... Love! Love! One of you say LOVE! Don't you know how much He loves you? And me too. How could I forget how much He loves me? I am living like He loves me a little... But the reality is so different. His love is just so much deeper than I can really even grasp. I should be living according the reality of His deep love for me!... "He died on the cross because He LOVES you. He didn't want to feel the pain and suffering and loneliness that He did, but He loves you that much. I don't know about you, but when I think of what Jesus gave up for me, I don't feel so bad about giving up some little thing I want for someone."... I notice the song on the radio and turn it up... Amazing love, how can it be that you my King would die for me? Amazing love, I know it's true, and it's my joy to honor You.... Amazing love! It's my joy to honor You Jesus....

Proof that Sunday School Alone is not Enough

My 5-year-old, who has recently taken to verbalizing every thought, was playing outside and started talking to my husband who was working nearby. This is what I heard: "No one else knows more than me and no one else is more powerful than me. I know more than everyone else and I am the most powerful. Except for God. He knows more than me and He is the most powerful. But I am more powerful than everyone else except God. I know that God is powerful. Psalm 147:5 says "Great is our Lord and mighty in power." Only God is more powerful than me."

We've got our work cut out for us...

New Blog

No, I'm not replacing this one. But I have started a new blog to record my adventures in bean-making. Check it out!

From a 3-year-old's mouth...

In response to my asking what she wanted to do when she grows up: "I want to cook things. I want to change lots of things. I want to fold laundry..."

Why I Have Never Been Popular...

Eating Right

Here's some video of Elijah for his Aunt Cheri (and whoever else wants to see).

Eye of the Tiger

A hilarious cover of one of my favorite songs of all time...



HT: Family Jules

Four-and-a-half months later

Let's see if I still remember how to do this.... This won't be a full catch-up type of post--though I do want to post some recent pics soon. Right now I'm at Pismo Beach hanging out in the hotel room with the sleeping baby while the bigger kiddos are on the beach with Dad and Grandma. I think this is my favorite part of going to the beach--watching the ocean and feeling the cool air while I read or write from the room. While I love the outdoors, I'm not big on the sand or the wind.

For some catch-up... I gave birth to Elijah Stephens Edwards the morning of March 11, as planned. The delivery went well--better for me than any of the other deliveries. I knew what to expect and I knew that people were praying for me. He was and continues to be healthy. At four months old, he is becoming more and more fun everyday: smiling, laughing, "talking", and even playing with toys. He's not sitting up like his two-day-younger cousin yet, but he does like to roll and scoot all over. Big brother and sister love him and (usually) are big helpers.

Like I said, I hope to post some more pics later.

Wrong Date

Well, I'm getting ready to have my baby. In fact, in just three days I'll be holding my new little one, after an early morning C-section delivery. Early on in the pregnancy, many people mentioned that it was a possibility that I have the baby on Leap Day, Feb. 29. Since I was a kid, I have wanted to give someone that birthday (since I didn't have it myself). I was so excited about that option, that I completely overlooked a much more realistic option: Pi Day. In fact, this upcoming Friday, March 14, was one of the days I was considering when I was choosing my surgery date. Instead I chose the 11th, not realizing I could have given my child the birthdate of 3/14 and he would also have shared his birthday with my all-time hero, Albert Einstein. Boy, did I blow that one!

Interesting Cross-Reference

I was presented with these two scriptures in my Bible study this morning. Read and discuss.

Genesis 28:10 - 12
Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

John 1:48 - 51
“How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.
Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”
Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.”
Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that.” He then added, “I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

Unmentionables

This post isn't about underwear, but about things I haven't mentioned recently. That was just a cheap attempt to get you read this. And it obviously worked!

First of all, I haven't mentioned here yet that I am pregnant. I am four months along with a quickly-growing belly. I don't yet know the baby's gender but will hopefully find out in a few weeks. I am due in March, about a week after my sister Cheri.

I got a new computer about a week ago. It is my first laptop. I am loving it so far. This thing may never leave my house, but I've already used it in four different rooms since getting my wireless network set up two days ago!

I have hardly been playing my guitar lately. Last fall and spring I was leading worship for my Bible study so I was constantly practicing. Then came summer. Then we decided to omit music for this fall. Hence, I haven't had a reason to practice and have really slacked.

I have also done very little crafting lately. Very little scrapbooking. No cardmaking. No random other stuff. Again, a lot of slacking.

Not much blogging lately either as you may have noticed. Wow. I'm starting to feel like a real slacker!

Actually, I have enjoyed taking a break from these last few things but I'm ready to start doing more of all of them.

Oh, I also haven't mentioned anything about the Fantasy Football season. For the last few years, my family has had a league together. I always love it, even though I'm usually near the bottom. This year, so far, I'm 0-5, last place. Yes, that's no wins and five losses. It's not quite as much fun this way. You want to know who's number one, at 4-1? My mom. She picked her team based on their names. And her strategy is working.

Well, there's a little catch-up (not ketchup) on my life!

Dancing Queen - For Real This Time!

Well, I did it the old-fashioned way and went through YouTube (instead of uploading through Blogger like I was trying to do last time) and it worked! Now you can see my silly dancer...

Back to Blogging

Q: How does one know when it's time to start blogging again?
A: When one finds herself with more to say than her husband wants to hear in one sitting!

So here I am, ready to blog some more. First of all, under the headline of Blog World Collides With Real World: Last Friday, I was at McDonald's, a place for Food, Folks, and Fun as the advertisements used to say. And we had all three: in addition to seeing a friend from church there, I saw a little girl running around who I knew I knew from somewhere. I just couldn't place her face, even after scanning all the adult faces in the kids' area where we were. Finally, it hit me. I've seen her face at Hale-Yeah!--that's Brian Hale's daughter. Looking around the room some more, I recognize (again from pics at his blog) his wife (Jacinda) and younger daughter! Unbelievable! Of course I had to go say Hi to this complete stranger who I already felt like I'd met! You can go meet her too at Jacinda's blog!

During the same visit to McD's: As I mentioned, we were sitting in the kids' play area where they have the big play structure for the kids to safely climb up in, across, and slide down. Unfortunately, it's safe because it is totally enclosed, with very few "windows". So when I (rather unwisely) allowed my two-year-old daredevil to go up, while there were about ten or twelve other loud kids swarming, I lost track of her. I sent my four-year-old up. Did you see her? Yes. Where is she? (Pointing up high) Right there. Was she happy? Yes. Okay, fine, if she's happily playing up there, no problem. But I was still searching for her through one of those "windows". Finally, as I got closer, I heard crying over the noise of the other children, and another mom asked if that's my daughter, that she's been crying and is over there, pointing up the stair case. The tight spiral staircase that even a five-year-old couldn't stand up in. After quickly determining there was no other choice, I crawled through the small entrance and up the stairs to find my daughter at the top of the stairs, scared and crying, just sitting there while other kids stared at her, wondering if they should do something before continuing on their journey through the bright plastic cavern. Of course I felt terrible that I had let her go up there and then didn't even know she was crying for I don't know how long. I inched my way down the stairs with her on my lap. One really little girl coming up the stairs stopped when she saw me and just stared. Finally she (rightfully) laughed and went on. We emerged and I tried to comfort my poor little girl who I was certain had been traumatized for life. But she wouldn't let me. The tears had stopped and she wanted to go back and play. Is this what they mean when they say kids are resilient?

Cool Geek

That's right! I'm a cool geek. A cool technology geek, actually, according to nerdtests.com. I may not be able to compete with NerdDad's scores but at least I'm cool.





Did I mention the quiz said I was cool? I already knew about the geek part, but no one has ever officially verified my coolness.

Dancing Queen

Two blogging firsts: 1) My first home video post and 2) my first post in a long time!

I avoid dancing in public. Others who know me well enough to have seen me dance will attest to my lack of rhythm. I have higher hopes for my daughter. She has always loved to dance and never ceases to entertain us.

UPDATE: From my first look, the video isn't showing up. Can anyone see it???

UPDATE 2: I have tried again but again it seems to not work!!!

Neat Video

I just watched this. It is very powerful. It might look cheesy at the start, but hang in there.



HT: Blog Hero

What Accent?

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
The West
Boston
North Central
The Inland North
The South
Philadelphia
The Northeast
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

I'm not from the "Midland" area though I do distinctly remember a college dormmate who lived down the hall and around the corner saying that when she heard me talking from my room it sounded like I had a Midwest accent. (That was probably her way of telling me I was too loud, too.)

I also can't resist posting something saying I have a good voice for TV and radio. I always thought it would be cool to be a radio DJ. But I think I would have trouble talking to myself--I think I need a live, physically present audience. Hmmm.... I'll have to work that one out....

So, what's your accent?

HT: Tales of a Music Mama (who I don't have a link to yet but read all the time!!! Sorry Flo!)

Give Me a Sign God

Conversation with my almost four-year-old son on our walk home from Starbuck's tonight:

Him: Mom, what's that sign say?
Me (helping him sound out the words): Right turn only.
Him: Right turn only. That's going to be my memory verse for today.

Little Laugh From Sara

After teasing my husband about not liking to have lights on in the house at night...

Him: Has anyone ever told you you're mean?
Me: No! (pause) They're too scared.

Ha! Well, I thought I was funny.

After Years of Mystery...

There is no more wondering about which Springfield the Simpsons' home is in.