My Dear Printer

Anybody out there ever had a printer that didn't have problems?

I'm just wondering.

Cause I've lost hope. I figure this is my new normal. I don't think it matters how much money I spend on a printer. I. Will. Have. Problems. With. It.

We have phones that tell us where we are, manage our finances, and 100,000 other make-your-life-easier apps.

Yet, nary a dependable printer in sight.

Somebody. Tell me there's hope.

Hope for a project without delays. Without paper jams or nozzle head cleaning maintenance.

Cause even when the stars appear to align in my favor. I run out of ink... The paper is out.

My dear printer, your error message, it just may be my demise...

Hi, will you be my ministry?

Somebody excitedly called me a couple years ago (yeah, a couple years, it stuck with me) and said, "We'd like to make your family our ministry this Christmas season."

And you know what?
I felt pretty lame...
....and really, really small.

Know what else? The girls and I were tremendously blessed through this person. I'm not hating. I realized at the time I had to move my pride out of the way and let someone help. I am still grateful. They did for me what I was unable to do.

Nonetheless, as Christmas is approaching, and we head out to the homeless shelters, etc. (Better yet, go do something nice for someone in October, too.) Please don't make someone feel like they are your ministry. Meet needs? Yes. Shower them with love? Yes. Be a friend? Yes. Disciple them? Yes!

Words, tact, and body language matter. Seems to me there is an air of separation when someone dubs another their ministry or service project.

Here's an interesting perspective....



Photo by Ballistik

Perseverance

On the road of life, there are detours. Then there are more detours.

So why am I surprised I was handed more information yesterday that may make for, yet again, one more detour?

I'm afraid to even say what happened. I want to be sure this is the last of the sharp lefts or curvy rights, if only for a couple days.

And while I often deal well with change, the word that reverberated through my mind yesterday was perseverence. I ended up looking the word up in dictionary.com, then in my Zondervan's Compact Bible Dictionary.

Perseverance- Steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, or a state, especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles or discouragement.

Pair this with the Bible dictionary's:

Perseverance- (Sidenote. My bible dictionary is now missing. So I'm paraphrasing here.) When the word perseverance is used in the Bible it is used in connection with prayer.

Exactly what I needed to know yesterday. And today too, for that matter. More to come, as this has been quite the week...

Photo by xerezh

How To Avoid Marrying A Jerk

I'm not entirely sure many single lady's read this blog. However, I'm gonna pass this information on to you married types because chances are, you know someone who is single. And you love them. And you want the best for them.

Plus, you can play the neutral party and say, "I read on some blog somewhere about this one book. And heard it was pretty good or something. And think maybe you should read it." All the while knowing (and trust me on this one) they are going to learn something about themselves that you knew all along... They are making some bad choices. Good people make bad choices. Christians sometimes are the worst. What with all the grace we give to, well... jerks.


Whether or not your friend is divorced or never married, I HIGHLY recommend them read How To Avoid Marrying A Jerk. My counselor recommended I read it. (No, you delightful friends of mine, I'm not getting married.)

It is filled with practical advice, behavior patterns, ways to protect yourself, warning signs, etc.

There was a bonus. I was also able to identify what was going on in some of my friendships through this book. People respond in certain ways to other people. There are reasons for this and it was nice to have words for various behaviors (from myself and others).

So make the world a better place. Keep your friend from being the fool. Pass the word on. ;)

Hey Fall!

So glad you made it! Have a seat, stay for a while...

Conversations

Lord, why did I do this yard sale this morning? I hardly made any money. Hardly any people here. I could have gotten work done, could have went and taken care of that smog check for my car, could have.....

If you didn't have that yard sale this morning, you wouldn't have spent all morning in the beautiful weather, wouldn't have poured over that amazing book about me, wouldn't have heard those birds chirping, wouldn't have felt that breeze on your face, wouldn't have relaxed. All those things I know you love. You haven't spent a Saturday morning like that in a long time.

Oh. (smiling)

I almost missed out on the gift he'd given me today.

photo by takomabibelot

I deleted...

...my last post. However, if you're reading this blog from Bloglines or Google reader... then it is still there. I realize that post made little sense. It was two separate thoughts that I hadn't fleshed out... yada yada yada. My apologies if you stared at your screen in bewilderment. ;)

That's the problem with the internet, once you put something out there... it's out there. ;)

This and THAT

We all have those sound bites of advice we carry with us from others. They strike us at the time as important, hold a place in our life, then we share the same with our kids. Here's a few of mine:

The food you eat off your kids' plates- those calories don't count. -My mom
Yup. Tried and true. ;)

Never make a decision "on the table." -my Dad
Kept me from signing up for that whole savings-tied-up-in-your-life-insurance-thing.


Always take care of your skin. -my Mom
I could use help on this one from time to time, but my mom has beautiful skin and she's in her 50's.


Always go through your writing and get rid of the extra "that's." -My mom
That's a good thing that my mom told me to do that. I've expanded it to getting rid of all the "anyways" and "just's" I use also.


Don't make any major life changing decisions for a year after a crisis hits. - My neighbor
This one kept me from leaving my church right after divorce.


Love hurts.
-My mom during intense bear hugs. Pretty sure she got this one from Bill Cosby. ;)

Do share some of yours...

Photo by Grzegorz Lobinski

Life and Such

This is what my life in the future looks like:

Muddled. Unsure. Completely and totally without clarity.
********

Here's the kind of clarity I have for today:

photo by: tipiro

I spend so much time trying to figure out the future when the next step is right in front of me... and all I really need to know. I have a sneaking suspicion all this connecting the dots, rhetoricals, and what have you for my future have taken away far too much time from the beauty of today.

Just enough light for the step I'm on.... right God?

War. Post script

This afternoon my 9 year old ran up to me excited about a chapter she'd just read in:

Lives of Extraordinary Women: Rulers, Rebels (and What the Neighbors Thought)

I share because it is profoundly apropos on the heels of yesterdays post, War. Her extraordinary woman of choice? Joan of Arc.

K said, "Mom, you've got to read about Joan of Arc. This is an amazing story."

After my heart melted at my daughter's excitement of reading a bibliography. No seriously. She could have asked me for anything in that moment and I woulda done it- I sat down and read.

I've heard a little about Joan of Arc before. Not sure where my mind was during history class, because not a whole lot about her life ever sunk in.

The Story: God gradually showed Joan her call to leave her village and save France from English invaders. By 13 years of age (!), she was absolutely positive of this mission through a voice that was accompanied by a blaze of light. She heard the one voice at first, and later on, history tells us she believed she discerned three different voices, who she identified as St. Michael, St. Margaret, and St. Catherine.

At the time of this voice, she was kneeling in the prayer garden, a place she could be found daily. However, she didn't leave right away on her mission because her father wouldn't allow it. Then, at 16, she left under the cover of night, and quickly thereafter convinced French authorities she was appointed to lead France to victory. Once leading, the book says:

It seemed as though Joan had been studying battles for twenty or thirty years. She used military strategies not common until centuries after her lifetime. Her army scored one remarkable victory after another...

Keep in mind, Joan did not know how to read or write. She grew up on a farm and learned everything she knew from her mother.

In a turn of events, Joan was captured and burned at the stake. She was 19. She did not lead France to ultimate victory, although she was well on her way there when she was captured 22 years later, France did finally defeat the English forever.

Other notable mentions about Joan:

1. Was known to personally console English soldiers as they lay dying.
2. Only killed others in self defense.
3. Because of her courage and ability to remain on the battlefield though wounded many times, her soldiers accepted her as a leader.
4. Known for her unselfish generosity. (Giving up her bed for others to sleep on....)
   

Was she crazy? Hallucinations? Or was she truly being driven by God?

Truth is, I don't know. I guess what I like about her story is that it's not perfect. And I'm left with questions.

How this story has encouraged me (even if she is crazy). ;)

1. God uses our children.
2. Be bold in faith.
3. Lead through serving, generosity, humility, self-sacrifice... I could go on.
   
4. God is teaching me perseverence both personally and through my role as a parent. Now Joan was a woman who persevered through disciplines. She could be found kneeling in the prayer garden every day. No doubt this would have been the foundation to her unmatched courage and sheer boldness.

And again, I'm reminded.... we're at war. These trivial areas I know I've got to follow through with seem small, but they aren't. They are the foundation to small lives which are I pray are self-sacrificing to a God who is good.

***Wow, this is long. I guess this is what happens when I don't post in months. Hats off to you if ya read all the way through.

picture by pwbaker