My sister is coming this weekend (with husband and daughter in tow!) to speak at a ladies retreat I'm doing for the women in my Wednesday night Bible study. I am so excited to see them, as a family and I am so excited to hear what the Lord has placed on her heart. I'm really praying that the women will come (I already know 2 who aren't...) and that they too will be excited to see what God will teach them tomorrow.
When was the last time you took time to retreat from this crazy world? It's been a while for me. I'm looking forward to a day dedicated to learning more about God through my sister (both familial and spiritual).
I hope you have a great weekend! I'm sure I'll have Sophia stories to share later! :)
Friday, May 30, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Gardening for all the world to see....
...or so it seems! Most of you get to garden for the simple pleasure of doing so. You pick out what you want to color your yard, plant it, watch it grow. If some weeds add to the mix, eh, that's OK. You'll get to them. If your bushes don't get trimmed "in time," eh, that's OK, they'll live. Oh to be able to simply garden! :) One of the "joys" of being a pastor's wife (and living in the parsonage) is everything I do is watched and, sadly, judged. Some think I do everything right and have the attitude, "if the pastor's wife did it, I can too." Some judge because they don't like ANYTHING I do and I can't do anything right. Sigh...neither view is a good one. But, all that aside, it does produce some funny stories! :) When we first came to Bankers there was much discussion on the fact that I hadn't yet trimmed the bushes in the front of the house and it was already spring! Ghastly mistake! :) :) (side note: I like to have flowers and such, but my passion is not gardening, so some maintenance things don't always get done when they "should.") That same summer (can you believe this is our 3rd summer here???) on the church's cleaning day a lady promptly told me that she had pulled the sweet pea out of the front--very proud she was. I promptly asked why? I was looking forward to seeing that grow--I think sweet pea is pretty! She then curtly responded that it's more a weed and will take over everything--I felt if she had been a teenager and not a 70+ old woman she would've added a "duh" to the end of that statement! :) I was offended at first and then realized it wasn't worth the energy...we have since learned that this woman complains about everything and feels she's right about everything...hindsight is always 20/20, right? :) Glad I didn't waste too much time on that trivial matter.
The next summer, David and I were sure to trim the bushes in the fall (apparently, that's the appropriate time...), got all the dead flowers pulled before it snowed, raked the yard, basically did what we could to eliminate complaints/comments on the yard. This year we've decided we're here to praise the Lord, do what's pleasing in his eyes and if the yard gets done, then it gets done. With all that said we did get our garden planted and the flowers planted as well. To work out anger David hand-trimmed/whacked away at the bushes a few weeks ago! :) Amazing how anger can full great energy!! :) :) Last night I heard some discussion about the front bushes (who knew bushes could be so controversial?) but couldn't hear what exactly was being said. Oh, if life were only so good that all we had to complain about was the pastor's wife's lack of a green ANYTHING! :)
I heard a cool quote today. It's from Albert Einstein: "If you can't explain it simply you don't know enough about it." Hm...just thought that was interesting!
I encourage you in your gardening endeavours and may you have fruitful crops and gorgeous flowers! :) :) :)
The next summer, David and I were sure to trim the bushes in the fall (apparently, that's the appropriate time...), got all the dead flowers pulled before it snowed, raked the yard, basically did what we could to eliminate complaints/comments on the yard. This year we've decided we're here to praise the Lord, do what's pleasing in his eyes and if the yard gets done, then it gets done. With all that said we did get our garden planted and the flowers planted as well. To work out anger David hand-trimmed/whacked away at the bushes a few weeks ago! :) Amazing how anger can full great energy!! :) :) Last night I heard some discussion about the front bushes (who knew bushes could be so controversial?) but couldn't hear what exactly was being said. Oh, if life were only so good that all we had to complain about was the pastor's wife's lack of a green ANYTHING! :)
I heard a cool quote today. It's from Albert Einstein: "If you can't explain it simply you don't know enough about it." Hm...just thought that was interesting!
I encourage you in your gardening endeavours and may you have fruitful crops and gorgeous flowers! :) :) :)
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Losing Control
I have been stressed about our upcoming vacation Bible school at the church. Why? Simply because I'm not the one in control/leading it this year. It's not being done the way I would do it, things are getting done when I would get them done...but does it matter? No. The kids will come and hear the Word of God and have a good time anyway. I have to lose control.
Isn't it funny how the less we feel in control the more frantic, stressed, etc we become? It doesn't even have to be anything tragic, it can be as simple as being stuck in traffic or having to wait a bit longer in the check-out line. I am a person who likes control. Ask my friends, family, sister. I'm bossy, I like to be the boss, and I like to be in control. I don't know why. I suppose some would say it's because I'm the oldest child in the family, or because I have a type-A personality, or because of different events that have happened in my life. But, you know what? I think it's simply my sin nature. I think the other reasons are simply excuses that those in the physchology world have come up with so we don't have to be responsible. A feeling of no control leads to worry, stress, fretting, being grumpy, getting angry for no reason. There doesn't seem to be a good side-effect to not having control. I don't care who you are, we all struggle, on some level, with wanting control. Whether you're like me and you just want to control every little detail, or you're one who wants to just let life take you where it will, we all struggle when things don't go the way we think it should.
As a pastor's wife, I have had my eyes opened to what wanting control can do to a person. We have women in our church who feel they have no control of their personal life and the things that go on in their home so the church becomes their domain. You don't even THINK about coming in on "their" territory without consequence. Some women have rotten marriages, or kids gone astray so they want to control everyone else they encounter. It so sad. We, as Christian women, struggle with control in our homes. Didn't God tell us that man would rule over us and that our husband is to be the head of the home? I don't know about you, but sometimes that's hard to swallow--especially when I'm not getting what I want.
In my weekly Bible study we're going through the Old Testament and I see time and again people in Scripture who try to control their own life outcome and refuse to do it God's way. Look at the mess with Abraham and Sarah! She wanted kids, they weren't content to wait on the Lord, she takes matters into her own hands, has her husband sleep with her maidservant and then gets MAD when the servant conceives!!! Brother. Women wanting control is a running theme through Scripture--Sarah, Rachel, Leah, etc. They all wanted it done THEIR way and weren't willing to do it God's way. Look how it turned out for them. Their lives were basically miserable because they didn't just WAIT on the Lord and his timing.
What a lesson this is to me! I always want to know what will happen, when it will happen, why it'll happen, etc. I can drive myself crazy (and my husband) sometimes worrying about the details. Don't we have a God of details, though? Doesn't take too long to figure that out! Just look at all the different flowers, trees, birds, animals, people! He is a God of detail. He knows what needs to be done better than I do. He knows the outcome of the things I plan versus the things He plans. It's my job to be obedient and do HIS will!!! You know what verse is always running through my head? "Be still and know that I am God." Hmmm...coincidence? I think not! There are obvious reason this verse is so familiar to me. Daily I have to BE STILL and remember and KNOW he is God! I can't do it on my own, I can't solve my problems, let alone someone else's on my own (or at all, really, if we're honest). Only God can do this and I have to KNOW he is God!
Go ahead...lose control today! I dare ya! :)
Isn't it funny how the less we feel in control the more frantic, stressed, etc we become? It doesn't even have to be anything tragic, it can be as simple as being stuck in traffic or having to wait a bit longer in the check-out line. I am a person who likes control. Ask my friends, family, sister. I'm bossy, I like to be the boss, and I like to be in control. I don't know why. I suppose some would say it's because I'm the oldest child in the family, or because I have a type-A personality, or because of different events that have happened in my life. But, you know what? I think it's simply my sin nature. I think the other reasons are simply excuses that those in the physchology world have come up with so we don't have to be responsible. A feeling of no control leads to worry, stress, fretting, being grumpy, getting angry for no reason. There doesn't seem to be a good side-effect to not having control. I don't care who you are, we all struggle, on some level, with wanting control. Whether you're like me and you just want to control every little detail, or you're one who wants to just let life take you where it will, we all struggle when things don't go the way we think it should.
As a pastor's wife, I have had my eyes opened to what wanting control can do to a person. We have women in our church who feel they have no control of their personal life and the things that go on in their home so the church becomes their domain. You don't even THINK about coming in on "their" territory without consequence. Some women have rotten marriages, or kids gone astray so they want to control everyone else they encounter. It so sad. We, as Christian women, struggle with control in our homes. Didn't God tell us that man would rule over us and that our husband is to be the head of the home? I don't know about you, but sometimes that's hard to swallow--especially when I'm not getting what I want.
In my weekly Bible study we're going through the Old Testament and I see time and again people in Scripture who try to control their own life outcome and refuse to do it God's way. Look at the mess with Abraham and Sarah! She wanted kids, they weren't content to wait on the Lord, she takes matters into her own hands, has her husband sleep with her maidservant and then gets MAD when the servant conceives!!! Brother. Women wanting control is a running theme through Scripture--Sarah, Rachel, Leah, etc. They all wanted it done THEIR way and weren't willing to do it God's way. Look how it turned out for them. Their lives were basically miserable because they didn't just WAIT on the Lord and his timing.
What a lesson this is to me! I always want to know what will happen, when it will happen, why it'll happen, etc. I can drive myself crazy (and my husband) sometimes worrying about the details. Don't we have a God of details, though? Doesn't take too long to figure that out! Just look at all the different flowers, trees, birds, animals, people! He is a God of detail. He knows what needs to be done better than I do. He knows the outcome of the things I plan versus the things He plans. It's my job to be obedient and do HIS will!!! You know what verse is always running through my head? "Be still and know that I am God." Hmmm...coincidence? I think not! There are obvious reason this verse is so familiar to me. Daily I have to BE STILL and remember and KNOW he is God! I can't do it on my own, I can't solve my problems, let alone someone else's on my own (or at all, really, if we're honest). Only God can do this and I have to KNOW he is God!
Go ahead...lose control today! I dare ya! :)
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Oh the things we see...
David and I have realized that just because we live in the parsonage by the church doesn't mean people still don't do strange things in front of the church or the house, or our fellowship hall--as though there's no one there to see. We always have folks turning around or stopping to talk on their phone, or to ask us for directions--this happens daily. We had a lady strung out on drugs and alcohol once, called the cops, had 3 cop cars, 1 ambulance, a narcotics car and K9 unit all in our little parking lot late at night. We've called the police on kids who are in the field across from the church (belongs to the church) who had pounding music going at 2am! But, nothing was so funny as what we saw last night at 11:00!!! Yes, at 11:00. It seems the strange always come out late at night! :)
We're getting ready for bed, Molly's outside doing her thing, I'm in the batheroom doing mine and David is upstairs. He yells down not to go outside as there was a van and people parked in front of the church and he didn't want me out there getting the dog, just in case they were up to no good. So, I waited, and waited and finally asked if he would just go get Molly or go out with me. He promptly says, "No! I don't want to miss the show!" To which I'm instantly curious as to what's going on outside! I ran to the office window just in time to see a huge van drive off with a queen-sized mattress on the top. Ok, odd, yes, but what did I really miss? David comes down, we get Molly and he proceeds to tell me what he saw. When he looked out the window he saw a VERY LARGE woman walking along the van with the box springs to a queen-sized bed on top of her head and was proceeding to try to jam it into the van. This wasn't working very well, so she calls out her friend, who is also a VERY LARGE woman. The second woman helps, they get the box springs in and then somehow the 2nd woman is ON TOP of a mattress, which is ON TOP of the van--David has NO idea how she got up there. The 2 women proceed to throw what look like sheets back and forth to each other, we think to tie down the mattress. The whole time they're VERY loud and talking very fast at each other. David then mentions that the woman on top of the van becomes "quite agile" and slids down the windshield and rolls the rest of the way off the van. They get back in the van and drive off. Oh, what a Redneck place we live!!!!! Today is trash day, they probably saw the mattress set sitting out and decided they wanted it. Where/how else do you get a mattress at 11:00 at night? When David was telling me this story I was laughing so hard I was crying and doing the silent laugh. Maybe it's not so funny to you all, but to us it was hilarious--maybe we were just tired, I don't know, but it sure was funny at the time! :) :) Sigh...what a place we live!
Hope you have a great day!
We're getting ready for bed, Molly's outside doing her thing, I'm in the batheroom doing mine and David is upstairs. He yells down not to go outside as there was a van and people parked in front of the church and he didn't want me out there getting the dog, just in case they were up to no good. So, I waited, and waited and finally asked if he would just go get Molly or go out with me. He promptly says, "No! I don't want to miss the show!" To which I'm instantly curious as to what's going on outside! I ran to the office window just in time to see a huge van drive off with a queen-sized mattress on the top. Ok, odd, yes, but what did I really miss? David comes down, we get Molly and he proceeds to tell me what he saw. When he looked out the window he saw a VERY LARGE woman walking along the van with the box springs to a queen-sized bed on top of her head and was proceeding to try to jam it into the van. This wasn't working very well, so she calls out her friend, who is also a VERY LARGE woman. The second woman helps, they get the box springs in and then somehow the 2nd woman is ON TOP of a mattress, which is ON TOP of the van--David has NO idea how she got up there. The 2 women proceed to throw what look like sheets back and forth to each other, we think to tie down the mattress. The whole time they're VERY loud and talking very fast at each other. David then mentions that the woman on top of the van becomes "quite agile" and slids down the windshield and rolls the rest of the way off the van. They get back in the van and drive off. Oh, what a Redneck place we live!!!!! Today is trash day, they probably saw the mattress set sitting out and decided they wanted it. Where/how else do you get a mattress at 11:00 at night? When David was telling me this story I was laughing so hard I was crying and doing the silent laugh. Maybe it's not so funny to you all, but to us it was hilarious--maybe we were just tired, I don't know, but it sure was funny at the time! :) :) Sigh...what a place we live!
Hope you have a great day!
Monday, May 26, 2008
Frustration in a small town
For all the complaining that the locally owned businesses do about Walmart and other big guys, they sure aren't helping themselves. We went out to get our flowers and veggies for planting only to find that Gleis is closed for Memorial Day! Who ever heard of such a thing? This would be a great day to make $$--everyone is home, have the time to plant and garden. Brother. How ridiculous!!! So much for the little guy being there for everyone. Yeah, we hear this argument a lot. However, our experience has been that the little guy, or locally owned business doesn't do too much to keep their customers. You have all the little greasy (heavy on the grease) diners in Hillsdale. The service is slow, the food is fair (or below fair) and the employees give you great attitude. But, they can get away with it because we have no where else to go. They are it! Why are they it? Well, because they have worked out some kind of deal with the county/city commission to sell limited liquor licenses so the bigger restaurants don't come in. It's ludicrous if you ask us. Why should I spend $3.00 for a toothbrush at the local mom/pop store when I can get it for $1.50 at Kroger or Walmart? Can you blame the community here for wanting to go where they have to spend the least? Remember, this is a community that is struggling to make it from day to day. You can't very well expect these people to buy stuff at your little store just to support the local business because it's local. How ridiculous! And, don't the big stores hire locals? Aren't the big guys more capable to offer jobs and benefits to the community then the little guys? Why are we so against them coming? Quite frankly, I would love for a Target or something else to come to Hillsdale. It would sure make life a little easier. Sigh...I suppose this will be a never-ending battle. The little guys not wanting the big guys to come in, but the big guys coming anyway. I think it's a thing we just won't ever solve.
Well, that's enough ranting for today! :)
There's something in the chimney!
Last night David and I were watching TV and kept hearing this strange noise. We often hear weird things due to the property behind our house being a place where a lot of machinery is kept. After muting the TV I knew I heard the sound coming from the chimney! David wasn't too sure. I convinced him to take a look. :) I cleared the cobwebs out, we got the "sun" (our giant flashlight) and saw nothing, but the sound got louder. David finally believed me that the sounds was coming from the chimney. This morning our friend and church trustee, Fred (Mr. Fred to Molly), came over and helped us get a little black bird out of the chimney. I was relieved that it wasn't a bat! :) Thankfully, the little bird wasn't dead and was released back to the outside, where David said it took off like a dart!
Why didn't I see any of this? Well, I was in the shower discovering that I had a tick crawling on me!!!!!!!!!!! GROSS!!!!!!!!!! We get a lot of ticks in this area, what with all the woods and such. We keep stuff on Molly but they still manage to come into the house. Usually, David is the one who finds them and flushes them down the toilet, but today, I had the "privilege" of finding one.
We're off to Gleis (said "gliz") today to get our veggies for planting and flowers for planting. We're looking forward to being farm-like! :) :)
Hope you all have a great day! I"m just happy not to be at work today!
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Happier thoughts
I decided that my last blog was pretty down on Hillsdale. Though I still think those things are all very true, I thought it might be nice to come up with things that are GOOD about Hillsdale. Yesterday David and I drove out to a meat place that sells wonderful quality of meat for way less then the stuff you buy in the grocery store. We got about 75 + servings of meat (pork, chicken, beef, steaks, roast) for under $200!!!! WOW!! Though the initial bill feels like a lot when you look at how long this meat will last it really is a savings. There's no traffic in Hillsdale. This is nice, especially when going to work. You don't have to time your drive to miss traffic. The restaurant owners know you and you have a chance to get to know them too. This has opened up a few relational opportunities for us, and a way to be a light and witness to the community. Where we live is very quiet--save for the scooter man! :) He rides his scooter at all hours of the day/night. We're never sure where he's going...he's probably not sure either! :) Our church is on the smaller end, and this is nice. Everyone knows you, there is a great sense of family involved.
I hope this has helped to give you a more well-rounded look at Hillsdale. It's not all bad! :)
Happy Sunday to you! May you be blessed with the message you hear at church today!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)