David was sitting at the table making his PB&J sandwiches for lunch with Kyle (6) and Joshie (4) looking on. Kyle was telling David about a time when he was 1 and threw up a PB&J. (I know...way gross!) David looked at Joshie and said, "I think he's pulling my leg." Joshie looked down, looked back at David, and said, "No...that's the dog."
Maybe it's one of those "you had to be there" things...or maybe you just have to know Joshie...but it's been making me smile all morning.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Do They REALLY Get It?
I was just reading an article about the Big 3 automakers' plea to Congress to get bailout money to save their companies. I noticed that they drove fuel-efficient cars rather than flying in on their company jets. I noticed, in fact, that at least 2 of them said they'd sell their company jets. I noticed, too, that the United Auto Workers president was there, rallying for the car companies to get their money. The thing that hit me the most, though, was that they are asking for more money this time than they did the last time.
There was a time when I thought the *help* we needed was money. I thought if I could get a little bit of money to help with this problem, then we'd be ok. And for a while, we had friends and family that thought that, too...at least, they gave or loaned us money at the time. But about 5 years ago I realized that *money* wasn't really our problem. To be honest, I'm not sure exactly *what* the problem has been...but it wasn't having or not having money. There was something we had to change about the way we handled money...although I'm still not sure I know what that *something* is. But I digress....
The point is...I see the same problem here. More money is NOT going to help the Big 3. I agree with those who have said they just need to declare Chapter 11 Bankruptcy and move on from there. Granted, I don't understand all of the details...and I CERTAINLY do NOT have the experience of running a company to back me up. But I do know that when something isn't working right, it is simply INSANITY to try to do the same thing and expect it to change. I see the same issue with Wall Street. MORE MONEY isn't going to help. Things need to CHANGE!!!
Just my not-so-humble opinion.
There was a time when I thought the *help* we needed was money. I thought if I could get a little bit of money to help with this problem, then we'd be ok. And for a while, we had friends and family that thought that, too...at least, they gave or loaned us money at the time. But about 5 years ago I realized that *money* wasn't really our problem. To be honest, I'm not sure exactly *what* the problem has been...but it wasn't having or not having money. There was something we had to change about the way we handled money...although I'm still not sure I know what that *something* is. But I digress....
The point is...I see the same problem here. More money is NOT going to help the Big 3. I agree with those who have said they just need to declare Chapter 11 Bankruptcy and move on from there. Granted, I don't understand all of the details...and I CERTAINLY do NOT have the experience of running a company to back me up. But I do know that when something isn't working right, it is simply INSANITY to try to do the same thing and expect it to change. I see the same issue with Wall Street. MORE MONEY isn't going to help. Things need to CHANGE!!!
Just my not-so-humble opinion.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Advent Calendar
This is our Advent Calendar...with a twist. I had one growing up, and I loved counting the days until Christmas. I did not want to make 5 separate calendars...so we made 1 big one. And rather than having candy attached to the calendar, we wrote out clues for each day for each child. So they will have a treasure for the day's candy or treat.
Christmas List
I don't usually do these...but here goes anyway...
1. Real tree or artificial? Real
2. When do you put up the tree? Last year we put it up after Thanksgiving....but this year we're waiting until 2 weekends before Christmas.
3. When do you take down the tree? Sometime between the day after Christmas and New Years...depends on how ready I am to have my living room back.
4.Wrapping paper or gift bags? Paper.
5. When do you start Christmas shopping? As soon as I have the money.
6. Who is the hardest person to buy for? Kaelyn
7. Easiest person to buy for? Noelle
8. Angel on top of the tree, or star? Star.
9. What is the worst Christmas gift you ever got? I don't remember a worst.
10. What is the best gift you received as a child? A dollhouse when I was 7.
11. What is your favorite food to eat at Christmas time? Turkey and sweet potatoes
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
15 Years
Where does the time go?
Fifteen years ago I was at MRMC in Ocala, FL...hugely pregnant...and very disappointed that my contractions had petered out overnight. We were waiting on the doctor to come in and check me to send me home.
At 7:00 AM, 15 years ago, my water broke. I was standing next to the bed watching the TV...David was standing next to me...and I heard, more than felt, a huge splash. I couldn't see past my belly, but I told David I thought my water had just broken and he looked down and said, "I think you're right!" LOL He called the nurse and I headed to the bathroom. A friend had had a hard time delivering because she didn't empty her bladder, and I was determined that wouldn't happen to me.
As I was sitting on the toilet I had my first contraction...and I was PRAYING that I could just go down the toilet with the water it hurt so bad. When it was over I hobbled back to the bed and tried to lay on my stomach. Here comes another contraction...OUCH!!!! And there go my glasses...I threw them across the room!
The next 4 hours are kinda fuzzy. All I know is that those contractions hurt like nobody's business. I sent David on a wild goose chase to find an anesthesiologist so I could get an epidural. But it was the day after Thanksgiving...and there weren't any to be found...not as quick as *I* needed them, anyway. David would come in the room to tell me he couldn't find one...and I remember at one point grabbing him by the belt buckle and telling him to get in the car and drive til he found one! I'm pretty sure I sounded like the girl from The Exorcist at that point.
My father had driven us to the hospital and had sat in a chair quietly watching. One time when David left he came over and rubbed my arm and asked how I was doing. I very sweetly said I was just fine. David wasn't so lucky...he really got the evil twin treatment.
At some point they offered me Demerol and I accepted. They said it would take the edge off the pain. It may have affected someone else's pain...but it did nothing for mine. It allowed me to drift off to sleep in the 30 seconds between contractions. And there's nothing like being jolted awake by a labor contraction...let me tell you!
Finally the doctor said I was at 10 and asked if I wanted to push. Honestly...did he need to ask???? Three pushes later our first son, David Chandler Freed, was born. He was 7 lbs. 8 oz. and 20 in. long. He was beautiful (and still is). He looked very much like David's baby pictures. They cleaned him up and brought him to me, but I was too out of it from the Demerol to nurse him.
By the time I saw my beautiful boy again his eyes were brown. He took to nursing right away, which I was concerned about because I had had so much trouble with Kaelyn. He was so good that the nurses kept telling me not to let him nurse so long at a time or I would be HORRIBLY sore.
I only spent 24 hours in the hospital. I wanted to be home with my family. Chan-man (as Kaelyn called him) was an incredibly easy baby. By 10 weeks he was sleeping through the night...going to bed at 8...waking at 5 to nurse...then drifting back off to sleep until 8. He took wonderful naps and was a very happy baby.
Fifteen years later I am amazed at the young man Chandler has become. He is smart and talented and a joy to be around. I'm so very proud that he is my son!
Happy Birthday, Chandler! I love you!
Fifteen years ago I was at MRMC in Ocala, FL...hugely pregnant...and very disappointed that my contractions had petered out overnight. We were waiting on the doctor to come in and check me to send me home.
At 7:00 AM, 15 years ago, my water broke. I was standing next to the bed watching the TV...David was standing next to me...and I heard, more than felt, a huge splash. I couldn't see past my belly, but I told David I thought my water had just broken and he looked down and said, "I think you're right!" LOL He called the nurse and I headed to the bathroom. A friend had had a hard time delivering because she didn't empty her bladder, and I was determined that wouldn't happen to me.
As I was sitting on the toilet I had my first contraction...and I was PRAYING that I could just go down the toilet with the water it hurt so bad. When it was over I hobbled back to the bed and tried to lay on my stomach. Here comes another contraction...OUCH!!!! And there go my glasses...I threw them across the room!
The next 4 hours are kinda fuzzy. All I know is that those contractions hurt like nobody's business. I sent David on a wild goose chase to find an anesthesiologist so I could get an epidural. But it was the day after Thanksgiving...and there weren't any to be found...not as quick as *I* needed them, anyway. David would come in the room to tell me he couldn't find one...and I remember at one point grabbing him by the belt buckle and telling him to get in the car and drive til he found one! I'm pretty sure I sounded like the girl from The Exorcist at that point.
My father had driven us to the hospital and had sat in a chair quietly watching. One time when David left he came over and rubbed my arm and asked how I was doing. I very sweetly said I was just fine. David wasn't so lucky...he really got the evil twin treatment.
At some point they offered me Demerol and I accepted. They said it would take the edge off the pain. It may have affected someone else's pain...but it did nothing for mine. It allowed me to drift off to sleep in the 30 seconds between contractions. And there's nothing like being jolted awake by a labor contraction...let me tell you!
Finally the doctor said I was at 10 and asked if I wanted to push. Honestly...did he need to ask???? Three pushes later our first son, David Chandler Freed, was born. He was 7 lbs. 8 oz. and 20 in. long. He was beautiful (and still is). He looked very much like David's baby pictures. They cleaned him up and brought him to me, but I was too out of it from the Demerol to nurse him.
By the time I saw my beautiful boy again his eyes were brown. He took to nursing right away, which I was concerned about because I had had so much trouble with Kaelyn. He was so good that the nurses kept telling me not to let him nurse so long at a time or I would be HORRIBLY sore.
I only spent 24 hours in the hospital. I wanted to be home with my family. Chan-man (as Kaelyn called him) was an incredibly easy baby. By 10 weeks he was sleeping through the night...going to bed at 8...waking at 5 to nurse...then drifting back off to sleep until 8. He took wonderful naps and was a very happy baby.
Fifteen years later I am amazed at the young man Chandler has become. He is smart and talented and a joy to be around. I'm so very proud that he is my son!
Happy Birthday, Chandler! I love you!
Monday, November 24, 2008
Generosity
What part does gratitude play in generosity?
This is a thought that has been running through my mind for the last week or so. At this point I think gratitude is absolutely necessary for generosity. You can't give away what you don't have - or what you don't THINK you have. Gratitude is the acknowledgement that you are blessed - at least to some degree. Therefore, you do have something to give.
That being said, I don't think generosity is an automatic outflow of gratitude. For those of us who have been challenged with gratitude issues in the past, I think it's definitely part of the process. But expecting to "feel" generous immediately can be setting yourself up for disappointment.
Yesterday in church the pastor said something that has stuck with me. No matter how little, everyone has something. So now I am trying to envision how to give out of what I have. I have to be honest....I'm stuck here. At this point, even though I am working on gratitude, I am having a hard time envisioning all of my financial obligations being met. Because I can't see HOW, I doubt. (Lord, help me in my unbelief!) It's hard to be or feel generous in that state of mind.
So this week I work on seeing through God's eyes.....allowing myself to entertain the idea that He really will provide my needs....and more, as I step into generosity.
This is a thought that has been running through my mind for the last week or so. At this point I think gratitude is absolutely necessary for generosity. You can't give away what you don't have - or what you don't THINK you have. Gratitude is the acknowledgement that you are blessed - at least to some degree. Therefore, you do have something to give.
That being said, I don't think generosity is an automatic outflow of gratitude. For those of us who have been challenged with gratitude issues in the past, I think it's definitely part of the process. But expecting to "feel" generous immediately can be setting yourself up for disappointment.
Yesterday in church the pastor said something that has stuck with me. No matter how little, everyone has something. So now I am trying to envision how to give out of what I have. I have to be honest....I'm stuck here. At this point, even though I am working on gratitude, I am having a hard time envisioning all of my financial obligations being met. Because I can't see HOW, I doubt. (Lord, help me in my unbelief!) It's hard to be or feel generous in that state of mind.
So this week I work on seeing through God's eyes.....allowing myself to entertain the idea that He really will provide my needs....and more, as I step into generosity.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Faith
The definitions of faith are too numerous to list. Different people have different ideas about what *faith* really is.
In Hebrews, Paul defines faith as believing that God exists and that He cares enough to respond to those who seek Him. (Paraphrase of Hebrews 11:6, Message.)
The first part is easy, really. Most (if not all) people who go to church believe that God exists. It's the second part many are challenged with.
For me, the reason the second part is more challenging, is because I've been taught/led to believe that He responds only when I please Him. Now, taking into account that earlier in that same verse Paul says that it's impossible to please God without faith, it seems that I am in a pickle: He only responds when I please Him, and I can only please Him when I believe that He responds. So where does that leave me???? FRUSTRATED!!!
I think a big part of this for me is to realize that the verse says that "He cares enough to respond to those who seek Him." It doesn't say HOW He will respond...just that He will. So if I'm looking too hard for one thing, and He answers in another way...I'm stuck!
That seems to be part of the difference I've seen lately. I've allowed God out of the box of *this is how I want you to respond to this* and just let Him be God. And He has responded in both expected and unexpected ways.
So today I'm grateful that I can *see* God's responses to me...that He is helping me to be aware of these responses. My prayer today is that God will open my eyes to see even MORE of His responses to me!
In Hebrews, Paul defines faith as believing that God exists and that He cares enough to respond to those who seek Him. (Paraphrase of Hebrews 11:6, Message.)
The first part is easy, really. Most (if not all) people who go to church believe that God exists. It's the second part many are challenged with.
For me, the reason the second part is more challenging, is because I've been taught/led to believe that He responds only when I please Him. Now, taking into account that earlier in that same verse Paul says that it's impossible to please God without faith, it seems that I am in a pickle: He only responds when I please Him, and I can only please Him when I believe that He responds. So where does that leave me???? FRUSTRATED!!!
I think a big part of this for me is to realize that the verse says that "He cares enough to respond to those who seek Him." It doesn't say HOW He will respond...just that He will. So if I'm looking too hard for one thing, and He answers in another way...I'm stuck!
That seems to be part of the difference I've seen lately. I've allowed God out of the box of *this is how I want you to respond to this* and just let Him be God. And He has responded in both expected and unexpected ways.
So today I'm grateful that I can *see* God's responses to me...that He is helping me to be aware of these responses. My prayer today is that God will open my eyes to see even MORE of His responses to me!
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