just a few :)

Scattered Friday Thoughts

Hey Hey and Happy Friday!
*You can scroll down for pictures if that's all you really want anyway! :)

We were digging the sunshine yesterday, and we're hoping for another sunshiney day today! Not too much to report around here. I've been able to get out (or have people over) a lot more lately, and I've definitely enjoyed that.

There's a lot on my mind this morning for some reason. I've been thinking about discipleship (specifically among women) and how it's neat that you are passing on the baton in the race of the Christian life. And, it's also scary in that I think it's tempting to make your goal - whether intentionally or unintentionally - to make a clone of yourself, instead of pointing others to Jesus.

Our friends (Cuthbertsons) are also heavy on my heart as they travel overseas to pick up their adopted son. They've been sick all week, so stop & say a quick prayer for their health, especially since Laura (the mom) is pregnant as well!

I've been thinking about my sweet friend Becky whose precious grandmother died recently. I'm encouraged by how Becky has counted the cost of following Christ, in their case to spread His glory among the nations. And, how that cost includes missing a funeral (and being with family) due to being across the world because of the Gospel. Like the guy in Luke 9:57-63. Jesus means what He says. He is worth it. This very text was in a sermon (I told you this was scattered) Dustin and I recently listened to (here).

So, (if you are even still following) we've also been inspired/encouraged/humbled by 2 movies recently. I know...movies? Really though. Nope. Not Food Inc, although that was interesting, and we did finally watch it. ;) The 2 movies are The Soloist and Hotel Rwanda. The latter gave us a stark reminder that we, to put it bluntly, do NOT hold a global vision of life. We forget about the rest of the world. The first one, The Soloist, made me remember that we live like KINGS compared to SO many in the world, so many even in America. Not only are we fed, clothed and sheltered - we are WELL fed, WELL clothed and WELL sheltered.

Anyway, I guess all of Nate-Man's sleeping has provided me some more sleeping time, which has got my brain (semi) working again. Speaking of, sweet Nathaniel is 4 months old today. He's sleeping through the night (for a week now) and having happier, longer waketimes as a result. I'm a big fan of this age. We even went on our First Date Since Nate! Dustin and I got to talk for 2 hours at Panera over coffee/dessert. Yippee! So, yup, we love our little man soooo much! I love all of Nate's smiles and how he "talks" so much. It's fun that when you blow on his face, he blinks his eyes about 3 times and then flashes a HUGE smile. A million other things are special too. I am so thankful to be his mommy. Undeserving. Thankful.

Oh... so scattered! Oh yes... my friend Cheri (my former co-teacher at CAL and she was the music teacher at my middle school/high school - back in the day) came over and helped me finish up Nate's room. Design on $6 (+ the cost of spray paint) because that's all it cost. She is that good, people. There's also a pic of Nate in the tub (LOVES it) and with one of his girlfriends, Libby Byers. :)

2010 Reading List - Updated

Keeping House: The Litany of Everyday Life - Margaret Kim Peterson

Passionate Housewives: Desperate for God by Jennie Chancey and Stacy McDonald

Practical Theology for Women: How Knowing God Makes a Difference in Our Daily Lives - Wendy Horger Alsup (Women's Group)

Relationships: A Mess Worth Making - Tim Lane/Paul Tripp (Home Group)

Church History: A Crash Course for the Curious – Christopher Catherwood

Whiter Than Snow: Meditations on Sin and Mercy – Paul David Tripp

Heaven on Earth: Capturing Jonathan Edwards’s Vision of Living in Between – Stephen J. Nichols

Women & Evangelism – Sharon Beougher and Mary Dorsett

The Mystery of Marriage: Meditations on the Miracle – Make Mason

The Hidden Art of Homemaking – Edith Schaeffer

War of Words: Getting to the Heart of Your Communication Struggles – Paul D. Tripp

The Truth of the Cross – R. C. Sproul

What is a Healthy Church Member – Thabiti Anyabwile

Receiving As Gifts The Homes We Have

I'm sadly almost done with a book I borrowed from a friend. I have enjoyed it so much, I'm kind of bummed it's almost over. Ha! Keeping House: The Litany of Everday Life by Margaret Kim Peterson was a great book by an intelligent woman who apparently loves God, her family, her home, her church and the lost. She also has an outstanding way with words, and she passes on fresh perspective that motivates you as you aim to tackle the most ordinary of tasks (ex: laundry). I was suprised how helpful it was to us, us because I read aloud a good chunk of the book to Dustin.

The book actually hits on everything from attacking your dirty dishes to clothing a household to contentment to giving things away, even things you might enjoy or use. Two particular quotes stood out to me. Actually more than 2, but these will get you started...

There has surely always been a gap between the way people keep their houses and the way they would like ideally to keep them. But many of us, I suspect, are demoralized by the task of keeping house in part because we know that our houses, no matter how well kept, will never look like the palaces in the dream house publications. And so we give up, preferring unattainable ideals to less than perfect realities.
An alternative might be humility and gratitude that in a world in which not all are decently housed, we have been given the gift of a home, plus a willingness to aspire to a more modest ideal and to work to achieve it. Instead of nurturing dissatisfaction with the shortcomings of our present home, whatever we may perceive them to be, perhaps we can turn our energies toward receiving as gifts the homes we have and to creating in them enough order and tidiness to promote convenience and peace and hospitality.

When there are limits to the numbers of things and the kinds of things there are in a house, the house can become a place that moves back and forth comfortably between being messy to being tidy. Houses inevitably become messy because people live there, and they are busy with all manner of things. But if there are places to put things and it is simple and convenient to put them there, then picking up the house becomes a kind of active meditation, like putting a favorite puzzle together and seeing the familiar picture – the tidy house – appear anew.