The Preacher's Wife

Respect.

Today I tried to vote early.  At first I got to the library an hour and a half early.  So I went to Target for a while.  When I got back, only 20 minutes after they had opened the doors, the line was out the door and into the parking lot.  The lady in front of me told me there was a 2 hour wait.  I only had an hour before I had to pick up Elijah.  I guess I will try later.

I must say that I will be so glad when election season is over.  I am sick to death of all the negative ads on tv.  I feel like I am being lied to by both sides and that makes me have no faith in our system.

I taught school for 3 years and I was forever hearing teachers talk about how kids are not taught respect anymore.  And it's true.  But I think that this is just a trickle down effect.  Why would a kid respect their teacher when their parents don't respect each other, or their authorities?  We talk bad about our bosses, and our leaders, even our president.

I know we have freedom of speech and we can say whatever we want about our president but I am just not sure that it teaches our kids anything but disrespect.  I know that whether McCain or Obama becomes president, they will say and do things I disagree with.  This doesn't mean that I have the right or place to be disrespectful of the leader of our country.

So sometime between now and Tuesday I will stand in line and vote.  And come Wednesday, a week from today, I will be so glad when my television is not bombarded with politicians bashing one another. 

Moms that cheat

A few days ago Tiffany posted this comment on my blog entry, Painting Pumpkins.
Your boys are looking older. We didn't carve or paint our pumpkins. We colored ours with markers b/c I was too lazy to clean the mess. They would have loved to paint them.

I got such a great laugh when I thought about all the times we have to cheat to keep our sanity.  In the pumpkin painting post the pictures don't show the paintbrush that was dropped on the floor multiple times, or the paint that Elijah wiped on his face and hair, or Graham dying to hold the bursh by himelf and dip it in the paint.  On a different day, a "fun" activity such as this could have made me lose my mind.  We all do things to keep our sanity.  If you have to use markers, they won't know the difference.

So I have a confession to make.  Sometimes I cheat too.  Sometimes I save dessert until after my kids have gone to bed, and I don't save them any.  Sometimes I let Graham play in his crib after he wakes up if he is not crying.  But here's the worst one... I have told Elijah that he is not old enough to chew gum.  You see, I hate gum.  I never chew it.  I hate the smell, the look, and the feel.  Most of all I hate cleaning it out of things like carpet and clothes.  Elijah told me he ate gum at my mom's house the last time he was there.  That's fine.  But not in at my house, not until he's at least 18.  If he is ever around you, please do not give him gum as a favor to me.

I don't think moms should beat themselves up for putting an uncrustable in their kids lunch instead of making the sandwich themselves.  These are thing we do to keep everything running smooth and every one as happy as possible.

So now its your turn to confess, how do you cheat?

Monday Morning (or Afternoon) Commentary

Today I have two comments...

1.  How about my husband's hair!  I think he looks so good.  The first 9 years that I knew my husband, he had a bald head.  I always told him his hair would look good longer with a little bit of gel (hair products are one of God's greatest gifts).  I begged him to go blond about a year ago.  We loved it.  Several months ago I started prepping him for yet another change.  Fierce black.  Well, he looks as good as I always new he would.

2.  And more importantly, I thought yesterday's message was so inspiring.  I feel so privileged to be a part of a church that does not shrink back during a bad economy.  In a time where so many ministries/charities that depend on gifts from people, churches and businesses are hurting, we are able to be a light in a dark world by giving to our strategic partners within the city of Charlotte and in return help reach our city.  It feels good to be generous.  It feels good to know that my money is being used to do so much good.

Listen to the first message in our new series, The Real Change Campaign (and see the new look) here.

How to Pray Part 4- For Our Children

The past few weeks I have been doing a series on how to pray for your church (you can see all parts under the category "prayer" on the right side bar.)  Today I want to give a list of suggestions on how to pray for our children. 

My dad was a pastor all of my life.  I think my parents did a great job balancing ministry and family.  I did not grow up hating the church.  Yes, hurtful things happen in the ministry, but my parents helped me to understand that hurtful things are a part of life.  There are so many perks to being a pastor's kid.  People love pastor's kids. 

Many of the prayer suggestions are things we should all pray for our children, no matter what our profession is. 

My greatest prayer for my boys concerning ministry is that Steven and I would instill in them a love for the church because it is the hope of the world. 

In light of this, pray for our children...

• to grow up to love God and love the church
• to remain healthy
• to make the right friends
• to come to know God at an early age
• to embrace the role God has given them
• to be positive leaders among others their age
• to find places in the church where they can serve and use their gifts
• for them to focus on all the positives of ministry and not the negatives
• for them to understand and regularly practice forgiveness
• for them to love people

Psalm 71:17  Since my youth, oh God, You have taught me, and to this day I declare Your marvelous deeds.

Pumpkin Painting

Last Friday our plans to visit a pumpkin patch got rained out.  But Steven and Elijah braved the cold rain and the crowds at Harris Teeter (you know how we avoid grocery stores) to purchase a pumpkin.

We decided to paint the pumpkin since our kids are a little too young for knives.  Elijah wanted to make sure that our pumpkin was scary enough to scare people that come to our house. 

We snapped some great shots, the last one is my husbands attempt at getting all of us in the shot.

      

Music to my ears

Every now and then I hear this...

"Mom, I pooped in the potty!  Come see!"

We are getting close.  I can smell it.

Monday Morning Commentary

Ok, so I know that it is no longer Monday morning, so here comes the Monday afternoon category...

Yesterday my husband wrapped up our Visionary Love, Dream Sex series.  It was great.  If you were there, you would know I enjoyed the message because he painted me to be a saint and God's gift to our marriage.  Oh if only I were really like that everyday.

The truth is there are days when I am selfish and lazy when it comes to our marriage.  Selfishness and laziness are a really bad combination, they never accomplish anything good, especially when it comes to marraige. 

One of my favorite bloggers once gave me a really good piece of advice:  Fake it 'til you feel it.  Here's how this looks for me...

Its 4:45, dinner time is nearing and my husband will be home soon.  The house is a total wreck and I don't feel like doing anything.  Its been a really long day and I would like to kick my feet up and call it a day.  Nobody took naps and I am done.  However, I go against my feelings and I decide to start straightening up, once the house looks better, I feel better.  Maybe I can tackle something simple for dinner?  Fake it til you feel it.

Its a lie for me to believe that throwing in the towel is the easy way out.  The fact is, I will end up with three grumpy, hungry men if I don't find something for them to eat.  And if I am in a bad mood, everyone will be in a bad mood. 

Fake it 'til you feel it!

Great Things

I came across these the other day.  The Snack Trap.  Wow.  What a great idea.  Basically, the hand goes in, the snack comes out but you can't spill it (unless you shake it kinda hard).  The best part is the tether.  I don't know why this isn't considered one of the best inventions ever.  I mean, right up there with the wheel (ok, almost).

I  no longer have to worry about losing this $5 cup in the mall or getting into a car accident because Graham dropped it and is crying.  It straps to the car seat and stroller.  Love it.  I think I am going to buy the sippy tether too seeing as how we did lose a sippy in the mall this week because it was not attached like the snack cup.

A bit of financial relief

Last week Graham drank his last bottle of formula.

Today I paid $2.78 a gallon for gas in South Carolina.

Gotta focus on the good. 

(Sigh).

A day at the fair

Last Saturday we took our boys to the Cleveland County Fair.  This fair comes to Shelby (where we lived for three years before moving to Charlotte) every year in the fall.  It was a big deal for my husband to do something on a Saturday because usually he goes to the office in the afternoon to work on his message.  It is was the last day of the fair and he really wanted to take the boys but had been out of town all week and unable to go.

We had such a good time.  Elijah got to feed a goat a bottle.  Funny, the goat's name was Dee Dee and that's what my kids call my mom!  Graham loved the goats.  Elijah and Steven rode a bunch of rides and went in the fun house several times.  It was a great trip.