March 4, 2010

Verse of the Day
"Finally, draw your strength from the Lord and from his mighty power. Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil. For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens." Ephesians 6:10-12

Song of the Day
"Cinderella" by Steven Curtis Chapman
This is a song that I listen to frequently, just to keep my head on straight and focused appropriately. If you aren't familiar with the deep tragedy that hit Steven's family, the following is taken from http://www.jillstanek.com/archives/2008/05/maria_chapman.html and there is a Chapman family picture there as well.

May 23, 2008
Maria Chapman

Maria Chapman, 5-year-old daughter of Christian recording artist Steven Curtis Chapman, was killed Wednesday when accidentally run over in the family's Franklin, TN, driveway by one of her older brothers, compounding the tragedy. Wrote the Chapman's manager...

Just hours before this close knit family was celebrating the engagement of the oldest daughter Emily Chapman, and were just hours away from a graduation party marking Caleb Chapman's completion of high school. Now, they are preparing to bury a child who blew out 5 candles on a birthday cake less than 10 days ago.

Last night Artsy said "Mama remember that beautiful picture I made to take to heaven with the pretty scarf on it?" I did remember and have had it for about 2 years. If I remember correctly, she had made it to take and give to her Grandma (my mom) who died 3 years ago. Last night she said "When I die, please don't forget to put that with me." GULP. As my dear friend said "Don't go there." But, I will tell you one thing. When I do have the reality of this life in mind, I am much more kind and loving and patient toward my children. So, I am hoping this was a simple reminder (and nothing more) from God, that every moment is precious and not to let them slip away.

So, I decided to put this song in here today for any of you who are getting caught in the crazies of life and forgetting to stop, watch, enjoy, and hug our children, our spouse, our parents, our friends, whoever is near and dear to us. Do you ever just stop and watch the kids without them knowing you are watching? Hysterical!
Enjoy! And grab a tissue! http://www.stevencurtischapman.com/radio/thismomentframe.htm

Food
It would be hopeless and quite boring to try and catch you up. Let's just say that my girls were pouring through the desserts in the cookbook, figuring out what we should make after Lent. Artsy incessantly talks about her Easter basket.

Joke-A-Lot and Artsy were given a juice box and fruit snacks at their sewing class. Artsy wanted to have them, but then we had a talk about how if we always make exceptions then giving up sugar really won't turn into much of a sacrifice. So, we agreed to put it away until after Lent. I figure in this world of "I want and I want NOW." A little delayed gratification won't hurt at all.

Having sickness in the home didn't help either, as 7-up and Orange Pedialyte are loaded with sugar. What are you going to do? As I am writing this, the neighbor kid just brought more fruit snacks for them. I told them they could save them for after Lent. The neighbor kids looked at me like I was from another planet. I don't think I even realize how many "free" treats the kids usually consume. It never ends.

"Stuff" Detachment
I think I hit a monumental point in detaching. I finally hit an item that I regretted throwing away. My Grandma used to make these beaded dolls. Well, my mom had set aside two of them that I had as a girl. I still have one of them, along with the attached umbrella and poodle, but this one I liked better although it was broken, so I threw it out. For some reason, I feel so guilty and sad. It was easy to get rid of the broken Baby Einstein video, the Farve shirt (we'll that was a little hard, good thing Curly still has his), my black sweatshirt with my maiden name on it back from when I coached volleyball, the black pants with holes worn through, the t-shirt with a picture of the kids on it so worn out you couldn't see their faces anymore, and the "Holidazed" CD, which was a CD about getting through Christmas without stressing out. I don't know, never listened to it, was always to stressed out. But the little purple beaded doll from 30 years ago, spoke to my need to detach from stuff. That somehow there there is a connection with this item, when really the connection is with the maker of the item. I thought that a helpful solution might be to take a picture of something that brings back good memories for me.

Spiritual Growth
This is the part of the post I have been dying to write. I don't think it was a coincidence that within a couple of days of me conjuring up enough courage to send my blog link to everyone in my address book, that our family was hit with the flu (at least half of us). We haven't had so much as a sniffle all winter. And here is the really interesting part. I had been planning to discuss spiritual warfare in my next blog which is now a week later than intended. When you see some of the stuff that I will be sharing it will be clear that there was indeed some spiritual warfare at play.

First, I wanted to talk about being sick and suffering. As I lay there sicker than sick, I was thinking about who I should offer my suffering up for and it was easy, for all those sick like me who don't have a nice bed to lay in, a clean bathroom, towels, drinks, pillows, and all the things that make being sick a little bit easier. I mean can you imagine being sick like that without a roof overhead or a bed to lay in? Interestingly, when I mentioned this to my brother that is exactly who he thinks of when he is sick too. Maybe everyone does. I think being sick once in awhile is good simply from the perspective of appreciating how good it feels to feel good. I felt like I was stepping out into the Land of the Living again today. Kids had the Saturday Night Fever CD cranked. It felt so good to feel good. I know some of you are smirking at our CD preference. This just somehow became the CD of the kids youth. We always dance to it and are goofy. In fact, the same night that Artsy made the comments mentioned above, she also said "Mama, I know what my wedding song will be." You guessed it - "How Deep is Your Love?" by the Bee Gees on that same CD, track 2. I said "I'll remind you of that when you are getting married. But if when you actually get married you decide on something else, maybe you and your daddy could dance to that one."

On March 3rd in my One Bread, One Body meditation, it talked about learning to suffer. I thought it was so good, I would just copy what it said.

God's word shows us ways to react to suffering and pain.
1) Jeremiah resisted not only his sufferings, but also those who caused them (Jer 18:19-21). This reaction to suffering is usually sinful and vindictive. Sometimes it is good to resist those who cause our sufferings. We hold them accountable in order to help them because we love them. However, we must always remember that our battle is not against people, but demons (Eph 6:12). My boldness added.
2) Some people try to escape from suffering. They deny the reality that suffering is an almost inevitable part of life. This makes matters worse and prevents them from building up the Church through suffering (see Col 1:24).
3) Another reaction to suffering is throwing a "pity party." Wallowing in pity, we neither accept suffering nor remove it (see Jon 4:1-3,8).
4) We can also react to suffering by resisting and removing it. This is often the right reaction to suffering. Jesus did this when He healed the sick. We also resist and remove suffering when we heal or care for the sick and oppressed.
5) Finally, Jesus' reaction to such sufferings as persecution, rejection, and self-sacrifice is to freely choose these redemptive sufferings and make them the most powerful expressions of love possible (see Mt 20:18).

In this Lent, may we let Jesus teach us how to suffer by being formed into the pattern of His death (Phil 3:10).

It is interesting that since I have started the spiritual growth portion of my blog, I have been interrupted about 10 times from the kids who are outside. Actually, this doesn't surprise me at all, in fact, I expected to be attacked a bit, but my patience is waning.

Shoot, I didn't even get to all of the good stuff about spiritual warfare and this is way too long already. I will talk about it tomorrow, but I need to tell you one of the quotes that I had planned to write the day before sickness hit. Geez, battery just died, had to go plug in the computer. I will get this out if it is the last thing I do. It is from a section of the book titled "Peace Is Often at Stake in the Struggle". Here is the quote:
"The devil does his utmost to banish peace from one's heart, because he knows that God abides in peace and it is in peace that He accomplishes great things."
There I got it out. I know God is accomplishing great things, at least within me, through this blog and maybe for some of you out there too. So, I felt the devil ramrodded this sickness through to try and destroy the peace. But to know our Lord is more powerful, gives me the strength to perservere. It is hard to get back on track with a blog after a week of absence.

So, keep your eyes open to where the devil is trying to banish your peace. I think being aware is half the battle and the other half is knowing Our Lord is more powerful and calling on that power to help us. We'll see what Fr. Jacques Philippe, the author of the book, says tomorrow as I am sure he has much more helpful information that me.

Today's Menu
Breakfast: Oatmeal made with whole milk, mashed bananas and cinnamon

Lunch: Lipton Noodle Soup, saltines, bowl of fruit (strawberries, blueberries, canteloupe, bananas)

Dinner: Tacos, canteloupe