Letter

To Girls Who Want to Date My Son,

I apologize that you have been left uneducated in the art of social skills. So, in order to save you from enormous amounts of embarrassment I have written up a list of common courtesies you might like to employ.

1. Never assume that you have an open invitation to our home.

2. Always treat my husband and me with respect.

3. Speaking in complete sentences is mandatory. If you can not speak in complete sentences, than most likely conversation is not what you are after, you can leave now.

4. If I see boob, thong, or excessive bare skin, I will point it out and make adjustments as necessary, therefore always be clothed in modest attire.

5. Windows are for fresh air and a glimpse of God's beautiful creation, not a doorway for you. I will kick you out if you fail to use the front door.

These are just the more obvious rules that most people have figured out but I have a few extras: Stalking our home is creepy, go away. Eye rolls make you look like an idiot. Lying to your parents makes me very angry, I will not stick up for you. Christianity is a lifestyle, not a cliche, bumper sticker or tattoo. Live it or leave it, but stop the act.

Sincerely,

The Mama

Drama

Drama should be reserved for movies.

But I thought you were my friend...

I can't believe you said that...

Did you see what she was wearing...

I think I might cry...

For pity sake, girls...err, and women...have way too much drama. I know, I'm female. I'm sure I have been involved in my share of emotional outbursts, fits of ridiculous rage and of course the eye rolls, hair tosses, and the occasional, "Nothing is wrong, I'm fine." But really, there should be a limit to the madness.

So on that note, I am changing channels. The drama network has been cancelled. It is comedy central now! If women would unite (which we all know will never happen) and agree to disagree without name calling, back stabbing, and wicked gossip, enjoy the differences in personality, find joy in the odd peculiarities that make us unique, and stop trying to make everyone like ourselves-wow, what a happier family, community, and church!

Changing channels and tossing the remote. Click!

The year has flown by

2011 is coming to an end, and I still have things to do. I would have liked to have lost another 20 pounds...well, not lost, I certainly don't want to find them again. I would have preferred that I had organized my house a little better. I dreamed that my home would have completed windows, insulated garage, and a yard that boasts beautiful craftsmanship.

I realize that all of the things that I have mentioned are of absolutely NO eternal value. I do not believe that God cares what shape my lawn is in, whether or not my windows are complete, and certainly not how organized my desk drawers are. So then what is it that matters? Do I follow Jesus throughout every day? Do I find myself meditating on the Word daily? Do I pray without ceasing? Are my children being taught the way of the LORD? Does my husband receive the honor he deserves? Am I charitable, hospitable, kind, and generous? Do I look towards the needs of others rather than to the needs of myself?

Wow, I guess that I have many more areas to grow in the upcoming year.

This year has been one of many ups and downs. My health was compromised, but I rallied and am quite healthy. Friendships have been torn and mended. My marriage has seen good times and bad. My children have loved me and hated me. But here I am at the end of the year, and I honestly can say, I loved 2011. It wasn't perfect, but it was what God intended.

As I look forward to 2012, I realize that there will be many more challenges and hurts that I will go through. There will be days that I will wish I could undo. But with each of those hard days, God is gracious and will grant me peace for the moment and a joy to face the next step in a line of many steps towards the goal. Holiness. To be more and more like Christ.

Dear LORD, as I face the end of one year and march towards the next, I realize that a day is nothing to you. A lifetime is but a vapor. So rather than focus on the timeframes that man so desperately clings to, let me focus on Jesus Christ. Let me learn of His ways. Grow in His Word. May each moment be saturated with Jesus, so that in the moment when I face God Almighty, I might hear, "Well done!"

Food Obsession

We have become a people obsessed with food. There is the Food Network, cooking magazines, cookbooks, food blogs, and restaurants galore. Not only is taste a consideration, but presentation and aroma. Cupcakes have become an unnatural phenomenon. Cakes are looking like buildings, people, and animals. Burgers have become gourmet.

I don't like to cook. In fact, I find it nothing more than a monotonous chore. What to cook? That is a question that haunts me daily. On very rare occasions, I get slightly enthusiastic about a meal. Usually, I'm not the one cooking it.

Can you imagine what the world would be like if we took all the energy obsessing about food, and placed that passion towards something of true value, such as our walk with the Lord?

Teens

The teen years have got to be some of the toughest years of life. Not a kid. Not an adult. Stuck in limbo. People telling you what to do, and at the same time expecting you to mature and make your own choices.

I don't miss those years in the slightest. As I watch my kids fight their own personal battles during these years, it reminds me how grateful I am for parents that supported my accomplishments, pointed out my faults and loved me the same no matter what.

I pray that as my kids have up days and down days, good grades and bad, accomplishments and failures, I love them more and more through each one.