I’ve been noticing something over the last couple of weeks.

I don’t want to turn this post into a gripe session about some of my children, because that’s not really what I want to talk about. However. Let’s just say that some of my children…well…being tidy is not a skill they have in their arsenals, despite my attempts to teach that skill for the last six years. I could go into detail, but then I WOULD be complaining.

The reason this is notable is because I have noticed something with Baby BonBon.

She picks up after herself. She picks up after others. She will take her diapers after she is changed and throw them away. She will pick up scraps or other things off the floor, if they are trash, and throw them away. She will sometimes throw away things that didn’t actually NEED to be thrown away. She will put back her crayons after using them.

BonBon is just a little shy of 18 months old.

My older children, between the ages of 10 and 14, just don’t seem to care to do those things. Granted, they are my stepchildren, but I think it’s possibly evident that what they see at home at an early age determines to some extent how they will be when they are older. It could be noted, as well, that my stepkids seem to have even more of a tidiness problem when they visit their biomom, who has recently complained that they just leave their trash wherever they choose, and don’t pick up after themselves. She asked Hubs if this was allowed at our house. HAHAHAHAHA. No. No it’s not.

So I’m stuck wondering….did my bio-kids get genes that just like cleaning up more, or is it purely nurture rather than nature? Because seriously? My stepkids have been around me for 6 years. In my opinion, that’s plenty of time to have learned the survival skill of not trashing my house. And yet….it still happens.

It’s just so interesting to see how BonBon picks up things, you know?

Our pastor has recently been challenging us with a series he been doing regarding “Groundhog Day Christianity”. He has a knack, our pastor, for giving sermons that manage to somehow apply almost every time he preaches. Today, however, as I sat and listened at home (baby was sick, so I stayed home with her), I found a particular area I need to address.

This morning, after we did a quick service project for the boy scouts, we were walking back to our cars. I had stopped the stroller behind the van to unload the baby, and pack up the stroller. Peeps, our 12 year old, unstrapped the baby from the stroller and picked her up, and then went to walk around me at the back of the van to put the baby in her car seat on the other side. Unfortunately, as many 12-year-olds do, he just wasn’t paying attention. As he went to step past me, he didn’t look, and there was an SUV passing by behind me that, had my husband not been quick to react in yelling and pushing Eric back, would have hit both the baby and Eric. Hubs didn’t think it was speeding, but in the replay in my head, the SUV WAS going faster than it should have been.

Hubs sat Peeps down at the back of the van as I took the baby and strapped her in to her carseat. And then I took a moment and had a small emotional breakdown. Peeps came over to apologize, but as I stood there praying, thanking God for protecting them, and trying to get the image of what could have happened, Hubs came over and hugged on me, and the tears poured out. All I could see was the mental image of what COULD HAVE HAPPENED.

We got into our cars, and drove home. The entire way, I tried to put it behind me. But I couldn’t. I got more and more sick to my stomach as I drove. The more I thought about it, the more I worried about it, the more I built up that mental picture in my head, the worse off I was.

After I got home, Hubs urged me to just go back and take a moment – to give it all up to God. And it annoyed me. What was I supposed to give up? My baby and our son had nearly been killed, and I was dealing with that – what was God supposed to do about it? But the truth is, it was the worry I was wallowing in that I needed to get rid of.

I will be the first to admit, I’m a worrier. I worry about EVERYTHING. Literally. Our life is such that there IS plenty to worry about, if I really want to spend my time doing that. I know there are plenty of areas in my life that I need to give up to God. Consciously, I have tried to do that. But the worrying…it’s a habit, I guess, and I slip into that on nearly a daily basis.

I was challenged, as I listened to today’s sermon, to give that up. Matthew 6:25-34 tells me what my God thinks of my worrying. It’s actually indulgent and self-serving of me to waste my time on such things, and yet, that’s what my “fleash” leads me to do every day.

Our pastor was talking about one of our church members who gave up smoking. He talked about how the flesh, daily, will seek to fill that urge…how the flesh wants that cigarette. But he also talked about how, when we are living in Jesus, Jesus gets us past that.

So that is my task. Now ironically, my first thought, on understanding that I need to stop worrying and start trusting God…”What if I can’t do it???” “What if I can’t quit worrying about everything?”

I know I can do it, because it’s not me doing it. It’s Jesus. It’s a hard habit, that I probably couldn’t do on my own.

But I’m not on my own anymore.

When I originally planned this menu, I had a lot of chicken in it, due to an awesome special on chicken at one of our local stores. Sadly, they ran out of chicken the first day of the sale, so I have two rain checks and no chicken. Also coincidentally, Hubs went to the store to get meat for yesterday’s french dips, and ended up getting a lot more steak than he had originally intended. So, this is kind of a dream week for him, featuring steak at many of the meals!

For hundreds more meals plans like this, check out Menu Plan Monday at Org Junkie.com!

Sunday
Breakfast: Donuts, Family working a clean-up project for Boy Scouts
Lunch: El Potrero mexican restaurant
Dinner: Steak tacos, with a green pepper/onion/lime/garlic/salt “salsa” – FABULOUS

Monday
Breakfast: Waffles. Perhaps even Chocolate Waffles.
Lunch: Ham Sandwiches, apples, carrot sticks
Dinner (Scouts!): Tacos, spanish rice, beans

Tuesday:
Breakfast: Sausage muffin sandwiches
Lunch: Ramen, veg sticks, banana
Dinner: Steak Quesadillas, salad, veg

Wednesday:
Breakfast: Breakfast tacos
Lunch: Mac n cheese/sandwiches, carrots, bananas
Dinner (Church!): Ham, au gratin potatoes, carrots

Thursday:
Breakfast: Bird’s Nests
Lunch: Roll-ups, apples, celery & Ranch
Dinner: Rotisserie Sticky Chicken, lipton noodles, peas

Friday:
Breakfast: Cereal
Lunch: Sandwiches, bananas, carrots
Dinner: Steak, baked potatoes, salad, corn on the cob

Saturday:
Breakfast: Pancakes
Lunch: Ham & Bean soup
Dinner: Pizza

A little about our weekly pizza night…we have the most eclectic pizza night EVER. I have always loved homemade pizza. It started out for me as a dinner we would have with my dad. He wasn’t a great chef, so when we visited him on the weekends, it was always pizza, nachos, or sometimes hot dogs for dinner. As kids, it could have been pizza every night, and I think we’d have been just as happy.

My husband has been known for awhile for his “hot dog pizza”, which is, as it sounds, a simple crust (he generally prefers to make thin crust), ketchup, mustard, sliced onions, and sliced hot dogs. No cheese, but you probably could toss cheese on it and it would still be good. This week, we were short of pizza toppings, and he wasn’t happy with the thought of just cheese pizza (which I am ALWAYS fine with). Instead, he made a “Chicken casserole” pizza (cream of mushroom soup “sauce”, canned chicken, green chilis, and cheese), a korean bbq pizza (straw mushrooms, leftover steak sliced up, korean bbq sauce, cheese), a meatloaf pizza (leftover meatloaf, mashed potatoes, gravy, cheese, pizza sauce), and a black olive, straw mushroom, green chili, and cheese pizza that was TO DIE FOR. He is by far my favorite pizza chef, and one of the most creative pizza makers I’ve ever known!

I am a big proponent of menu planning. I have seen the benefits of planning on our budget, and on the decrease in waste that we have from our fridge. With a family of seven and only one income, we really have to be careful about how and what we buy.

I started out doing a weekly menu plan. Some weeks I get busy or forget, or due to budget constraints I can’t go shopping like I would like to, and it really takes a toll on our family. I am not one who can just whip things up without planning. My husband is excellent at that, but after a long day at work, cooking is often the last thing he wants to have to think about when he gets home. SO I feel like a failure, he feels frustrated at having that responsiblity back in his court, the kids feel our stress, and it’s just not all around a good thing. (NOTE – my husband almost NEVER complains about having to cook. EVER. He’s awesome. I just assume that after a long day, it’s the last thing he wants to do!)

After menu planning weeks, I decided to tackle monthly menu planning. Monthly menu planning offers even more benefits if you can do it. First of all, you can buy a lot more items in bulk. Second, you can do “Freezer Cooking” days, which allow you to have meals ready to go, that all you have to do is pull them out and cook them in the oven. I don’t know about you, but for me, having a day where I can do the bare minimum, and still have a hot, home-cooked meal for my family is an absolute WIN. I also feel better when we’re using more natural, local, organic-if-affordable ingredients. I used to be “Queen of the Box Mix”, as my husband termed me. Almost everything I cooked was processed, convenient, and full of chemicals. I don’t want that for my family anymore. We all enjoy healthier, less manufactured foods in our diet.
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I’m frustrated, I can’t get a post written these last couple of days.

I start writing, and then one of eight bajillion things going on around the house gets in the way, and I lose my momentum, and it’s gone.

I wanted to write about how, when I was out driving yesterday, I was listening to the dj on K-LOVE talking about how being a Christian is about having a relationship with Christ – not about rules, or good works, or following some archaic methodology for how to get to heaven. And the thing is – they have to have been saying that my whole life, you know? Why didn’t I hear it, or really GET it, until last year? Why did I waste all that time? Why did it take so long, not only to find my own way, but to start showing my kids the right way?

I had another post written on how much I appreciate all the pastors’ wives in my life…from the ones at church, to my sister-in-law’s mom, and my cousin’s wife. They all give so much of themselves – they sacrifice time with their husbands, and sadly are the subject of a lot of judgement from other people merely because of who they are married to…and it’s not an easy job! But that post didn’t get finished either.

Homeschooling went great Monday and Tuesday. Yesterday? CRASH and BURN. I found out last night, after Pez had gone to bed, that he never took his ADHD meds, and this child, without them, is unable to focus on ANYTHING. I thought he was taking them when I told him to, but obviously, I need to be better about supervising him actually taking the pill. He literally accomplished NOTHING yesterday, so today we start over and try to move ahead. Sadly, I think he’s going to have to do some work on Saturday to get back on track.

Family Morning Devotions? We’re still doing them, but we’re going to have to change things up a little. Since Lemon Drop started conditioning for Swimming, she is going to school 3 days a week at 6 AM. Hubs is getting up to take her, and since he has something one other day each week at 6:30, he decided he’s just going to get up every day at 5 and go in early.

From an FMD perspective, it’s kind of crushed things. We’re still doing them, but we’re doing FAMILY morning devotions with only half our family! I think we’re going to start doing them at dinner instead, which will only be a problem on Wednesdays when we have church to get to. Either way – it’s not dead and gone. WE’re still doing it. The kids still nearly sleep through it, but we’re doing it.

From a family perspective, it seems like we’ve been a little more disconnected the last few days. I don’t know why – with Hubs coming home earlier from work, we end up being together for more of the evening, but he’s been going to bed early, while I still have to stay up with the kids, so we’re missing that time we used to spend talking before we went to sleep each night. We have always spent so much time with each other that when we don’t, we really start to feel like something is wrong! SO we’re going to try and find ways to fix that.

AAAAAAnd…now BonBon is demanding bubbles, so that’s all I’m going to get written today!

I’m sitting here in the kitchen, “proctoring” the doing of the dishes. Some of our children think that if they just don’t do the job the way they’re told to do it, then they won’t have to do it anymore.

WRONG-O. (Which has been proven time and agian, and yet, they persist. Which earns them the right to do the job again and again for practice!) Anyway…not what the post is about…

Pez was headed down to bed, and Peeps is up here working on the dishes. “I love you, Stinko brother!” he yelled, as he headed to the steps. “Love you too, Pez”, Peeps commented sarcastically.

In that moment, it flashed in my head…seven or so years from now – when they’re 17 and 19…them joking around with each other in the same way. Granted, when they’re in their late teens, I’m sure it will be much more coarse than that exchange – but I totally pictured it. The two of them – almost grown and out – joking with each other….

And my heart stopped.

I know I didn’t give birth to either one of these goofballs, but they are MY boys. Yes, they are their mother’s boys as well, but they are MINE. I have watched them go from pudgy little midgets (Pez was 3 when Zack and I met), to tweens, and I can see them – literally see them – as young men.

I know all to well, from watching Cheesecake evolve into a young woman, how quickly it all goes. It’s LITERALLY in the blink of an eye. Yeah, in the day to day you get bogged down and you don’t see it…but POOF – they’re gone! The babies you cuddled and told stories to and cleaned up barf from and made cookies for and wanted to scream at as they worked your last nerve…they are the most precious gift we are entrusted with from God…and we don’t even realize how quickly the time goes by.

I’m sure one of them will do something in the morning that will sprout even more grey hair on my head, and I will think…”WOULD YOU JUST GROW UP ALREADY!!!!!”….

But for this moment, I can see both the future and the past, and it reminds me how special the right now is.

You know, I’m not usually the dim bulb. I do have my moments, but for the most part, I catch on pretty quickly. I’m not bragging – it’s just how I’ve always been. School was fairly easy for me. I never learned good study skills, mainly because I never had to study. I’m not even kidding – I barely cracked a book, with the exception of math, which has been and still is my nemesis.

Over the last year, on a few occasions, I’ve heard the following quote from St. Francis of Assisi:
“Preach the gospel at all times and if necessary, use words.” (There are differing opinions on the exact wording of that quote, but roughly – that’s it.)

Now, I’ve heard it a lot. And I’ll be honest – I didn’t give it a great amount of thought – it sounded somewhat intuitive.

But I’m here to tell you, I COMPLETELY MISSED THE BOAT.

Yesterday was “Step Out” Sunday at our church. It was a day our church joined together with many other churches around the city to go and serve in various organizations and in our own church community. There were cleaning projects and painting projects and…well…you name it. They had tons of things you could do. On top of that, our church joined with 27 other churches to preach the same message across this city. The message was “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.”

Now, I’m sure that was interpreted mostly the same way across all the churches who preached it. For our church, we had the honor of having a pastor from a church we are affiliated with in Texas come and preach. In the hour or so that he was up there, I realized, I am not the smart cookie I’d like to think myself.

Preach the gospel at all times. Ok, well I can handle that. I’ve read pretty much all of the New Testament. I’ve read a good portion of the Old Testament. I know the Gospels best of all – so really, no big deal, right? I can talk to anybody about those ’til I’m blue in the face. But…what…if necessary use words??? Well DUH….how else would I tell everybody about the good news???

OH.

SO.

St. Francis actually meant TELL people about the gospel with something other than words? Like by LIVING it? Like by SERVING OTHER PEOPLE? Like by reading what Christ said in the GOSPELS, and actually putting it to practice? Not just paying attention to it on Sunday, and trying to remember it through the week, as I curse at people for cutting me off in traffic or get annoyed with my kids and husband for exasperating me??

LIVE it? Let my light so shine before men? You know, by my ACTIONS? Not my big mouth???

Huh.

I’m so smart, why didn’t *I* think of that?

For more menu plans like this, check out Orgjunkie.com’s Menu Plan Monday.

Sunday:
     Breakfast: Cereal for all who are up in time before church
     Lunch: Out.  Somewhere OUT.  Where I don’t have to COOOOOOK.
     Dinner: Pappa’s Pick

Monday:
     Breakfast: Cheese Omelets
     Lunch: Tuna salad/Chicken Salad, baby carrots
     Dinner:  Grilled pork chops, mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables, rolls

Tuesday:
     Breakfast: Oatmeal
     Lunch: BLTs, apples, carrots
     Dinner:  Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, broccoli, pears

Wednesday:
     Breakfast:   Breakfast tacos
     Lunch: Turkey & cheese wraps
     Dinner: Pasta Bake, salad, bread

Thursday:
     Breakfast: egg & cheese sandwiches
     Lunch:  Bagel sandwiches, apples
     Dinner: Tuna Casserole, salad, apple/yogurt salad

Friday:
     Breakfast: Cold Cereal (I think they actually miss it!)
     Lunch: Pasta salad with salami**, rolls
     Dinner: Pizza

Saturday:
     Breakfast: HAHAHAHAHA.
     Lunch: French Dips, Chips, carrots
     Dinner: Baked Ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn

The kids are now coming home from school STARVING, so “Dippers and Dunkers” are our new afternoon snack. D&D are a combination of things to be “dipped and dunked”. Carrots and Celery sticks with ranch, Apples with peanut butter & honey, etc

** Pasta Salad – Just going to wing it on this, but it will be a mix of cooked rotini pasta, chunks of salami, pepperoni, and cheese, green peppers, onions, cherry tomatoes, and a dressing that is a mix of the following:
1 (.7 ounce) package dry Italian-style salad dressing mix
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
salt and ground black pepper to taste

For some reason, I was even more tired than usual this morning. Hubs had an early morning, and got up at the time I normally roll out of bed. I just laid there. I knew he’d be in the shower, so I felt like there wans’t a WHOLE lot of reason for me to get up. When I did get up 15 minutes later, it was to find that Hubs had already started the coffee, and set out all the ingredients for breakfast (waffles), and had even plugged in the waffle iron to get hot. He is awesome.

We can’t use the programming on our coffee pot right now, because it has an attitude and just turns itself on willy-nilly, so I do have to make it every morning when I get up. I will say, though – waking up and walking out here half zombie-like, and smelling the freshly brewed coffee already waiting was like heaven.

So Zack, thank you for being so wonderful this morning. You have no idea how much that was appreciated.

One of Zack’s cousins posted “The Dude Abides” this morning to his fb. Not sure what made me jump down the rabbit hole – God perhaps – but I decided to google it, and came across this blog, by “GodGirl”.  Contained within is an interview she did in 2004 with (at the time) State Senator Barack Obama, regarding faith.  

Given that much has been made over the years regarding Obama’s faith, I dug in, not sure what to expect. I will preface what follows by saying – I am not a Democrat. I consider myself to be very conservative, and identify most strongly with the Republican Party, although I lean more towards a 3rd party altogether, as I feel both parties really are out of line with the needs and desires of the American People. As a disclaimer – I’m putting my own OPINION here, not stating anything as fact, other than the fact that I found most of what I’m referring to in the article linked above. Blah blah blah.

Ok, I dove into the article (You should probably take a moment to go read it…I’ll wait…) and right away started hitting red flags. Example the first:

So, I’m rooted in the Christian tradition. I believe that there are many paths to the same place, and that is a belief that there is a higher power, a belief that we are connected as a people.

Ok, class, can anybody tell me what’s wrong with that statement, for anyone who claims to be a Christian? I’ll help you out.

NO, I’m not reading this with prejudice – that one just jumped right off the screen and slapped me in the face.

Next:

GG:
Have you always been a Christian?

OBAMA:
I was raised more by my mother and my mother was Christian.

You did see there that he skirted the issue, and didn’t say he was a Christian, right?

BUT WAIT!…He is “saved” – he doesn’t exactly remember when, but he went up for an altar call! In the daytime!

So that, one of the churches I met, or one of the churches that I became involved in was Trinity United Church of Christ. And the pastor there, Jeremiah Wright, became a good friend. So I joined that church and committed myself to Christ in that church.

GG:
Did you actually go up for an altar call?

OBAMA:
Yes. Absolutely.

And this, it may be nitpicking, but is he saying he prays TO HIMSELF?

GG:
Do you pray often?

OBAMA:
Uh, yeah, I guess I do.
Its’ not formal, me getting on my knees. I think I have an ongoing conversation with God. I think throughout the day, I’m constantly asking myself questions about what I’m doing, why am I doing it.

It’s just…he seems so unsure of himself and what he believes…

GG:
Who’s Jesus to you?

(He laughs nervously)

OBAMA:
Right.
Jesus is an historical figure for me, and he’s also a bridge between God and man, in the Christian faith, and one that I think is powerful precisely because he serves as that means of us reaching something higher.

And he’s also a wonderful teacher. I think it’s important for all of us, of whatever faith, to have teachers in the flesh and also teachers in history.

A historical figure? just a teacher? Not your God? Not your Savior? Just…meh? This leaves me feeling flat.

And this…it’s just…off…

GG:
Do you believe in sin?

OBAMA:
Yes.

GG:
What is sin?

OBAMA:
Being out of alignment with my values.

GG:
What happens if you have sin in your life?

OBAMA:
I think it’s the same thing as the question about heaven. In the same way that if I’m true to myself and my faith that that is its own reward, when I’m not true to it, it’s its own punishment.

But really, where she gets to the heart of it, is at the end of the interview, with this passage:

GG:
Can we go back to that morning service in 1987 or 88 — when you have a moment that you can go back to that as an epiphany…

OBAMA:
It wasn’t an epiphany.
It was much more of a gradual process for me. I know there are some people who fall out. Which is wonderful. God bless them. For me it was probably because there is a certain self-consciousness that I possess as somebody with probably too much book learning, and also a very polyglot background.

GG:
It wasn’t like a moment where you finally got it? It was a symbol of that decision?

OBAMA:
Exactly. I think it was just a moment to certify or publicly affirm a growing faith in me.

So sadly, my OPINION is that I think if Obama really wants to say he’s a Christian, he’s missed the boat. As anybody who has truly had a “Come to Jesus” moment will tell you – there is nothing symbolic about it. It IS an epiphany – it is something memorable, and meaningful, and life-changing. It’s not luke-warm. It’s not…meh.

We’ve been told many times before, by our pastors, and most importantly by the Bible, to pray for our leaders. I think, after reading this, that I have never felt that more strongly than I do right now that each and every one of us, who has strong faith, should be praying for President Obama.

It’s not hard to understand how anyone who had a lukewarm faith to begin with could be swayed…by other religions, by popularity, by “stardom”. It’s a sad truth, but I suppose understandable.

So I’m going to do something I haven’t done here before…I’m going to pray on my blog!

Almighty God,
I thank you God for the diversity you have allowed to bloom in our country. I thank you for the crazy-quilt that is our nation, with people from every race and belief system all in one place. Thank you for all the blessings you’ve given us here, that we tend to take for granted every day.
I want to ask, first of all, for revival in our entire nation, Father God, for revival that starts here and spreads across the entire world. I want to pray for President Obama, for an awakening within him of who You really are, of what it really means to be a follower of Christ, of what it really means to love Jesus with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Father God, I want to ask that he would have no fear of proclaiming his faith and belief in You in ANY setting, whether it be private or public, political, relational, or otherwise. I ask that he would come to know Jesus as his Lord and Savior, as the one TRUE thing in his life – not as a historical teacher – but as living, loving, relational GOD. I ask for wisdom and discernment for our president as he makes decisions that not only affect each and every American, but that affect our entire world. Father God, I pray for health for our President, for happiness and solidarity within the Obama family, and for peace in our land and throughout the world.

I ask all of this in the mighty name of Jesus.

Amen.