www.sandraevertson.com
10 years ago
Posted by
Victoria
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I have come to the conclusion that Facebook and I have somewhat of a love/hate relationship. I love being able to connect with friends from my past and get to know new friends better. I love seeing the photos. Photos of vacations to places I may never get to go, photos of holidays, decorations, and fun activities that people are enjoying, photos of new babies and children playing and growing. I love that I can see who needs prayer and sometimes even pray for them right at the time they need it most. I love that my family in other parts of the country and friends around the world can be connected and feel as if they are close even when they are far away. Facebook has a lot of things to love, but the flip side of that is that are also a lot of things that are frustrating and aggravating and sometimes I find myself having to exercise a lot of self-control when hanging out on Facebook. Sometimes Facebook is a lesson in restraint.
I have been memorizing the book of James in the Bible. I wanted to hide God's word in my heart and be an example to my children and prove to myself that you are never to old to learn new things. I mean if I can learn the jingle to the latest advertisement on TV, and quote senseless movie lines, then I can learn God's word. James spends a lot of time talking about how we need to rein in our tongues, control our mouths and what comes out of them, in fact he makes some pretty strong comments about how evil our tongues are and how harmful our lack of self-control can be to ourselves, to our witness, and to others. Since I have been committing these words of his to memory, I find that I am much more conscience of what I say and the word of God pops into my head at times when I am thinking of saying things and it causes me to rethink what I may or may not be saying.
This brings me to the things I hate about Facebook. I hate that so many people lack restraint and self-control about what they type and what they make public. I hate that Facebook can be a breeding ground of hostility and disrespect among people who are supposed to be friends. I hate that social media makes it so easy to type out anonymously what you think, about pretty much anything, and that because you are not face to face people think that their words don't mean anything. People type the first thing that pops into their heads, whether it is hurtful, angry, resentful, sneaky, manipulative or disrespectful and then they click on to the next thing. I hate that friends of friends, who are no friends of mine, can see photos and posts and comments and can sometimes even comment on those things without even knowing me personally. I feel that if I have not "friended" you on Facebook you have not earned the right to see my children, my family, my activities. I have truly tried to have self-control from the very beginning of my time on Facebook. I try to be responsible for what I say and how I say it. My intent on Facebook is to enjoy my friends and enjoy the similarities and the differences in our lives, to be a Godly example, and to show the same restraint in my typed comments that I would show them if I was face to face.
There are some areas of Facebook that I have to really work to show restraint and hold my comments on. One is politics. I hate that everyone debates politics on Facebook, I was raised that your political views were your own and not anyone else's business. I may not like a politician, I may not like a law, I may not agree with a vote or an agenda or a friends opinion, but Facebook is really not the best way to get that point across. God calls us to respect those who are in authority over us and I don't think that bashing the candidates, posting false information, copying and pasting rude jokes, crude cartoons and fake ads are in line with God's word. The president did not cause every problem in the country, there are a vast number of politicians from the community level, state level, senate, congress and courts that all play a part in what gets passed and what gets voted down, so bashing the president and blaming him for absolutely everything is not a very good use of your time. Facebook and the Internet are full of lies, shocking, I know, and when you copy and paste things all over your wall that you have not bothered to check out and verify as fact then you are only hurting your own cause and at least some of your friends in the process. I feel it is important to restrain myself when it comes to politics on social media, I rarely comment on anything political, I don't engage in useless bantering and hurtful commenting, it is not worth losing friends and hurting those you love over a political opinion. My friends know that I am a Christian, they know that I am a conservative Christian and that I hold conservative Christian values. I do not feel the need to argue or be hurtful or disrespectful to those who I am friends with who don't share those values. I can agree to disagree and not love them less for not being me. It can be hard sometimes to read the opposing view or see that someone I respect or love doesn't feel just like me on certain issues, but embarrassing them, debating with them and making rude remarks is not going to win them over to my side, it is only going to further distance them from my opinion and myself.
Another area I struggle with is family issues. Yes, family, and I know some of my family and maybe some of Jason's family read this blog so I am going to show restraint even here, but this is my personal little blog space that I use to journal my own thoughts and opinions and this is an area I struggle with. Family on Facebook can be difficult. I love keeping up with them and I love seeing what they are up to and sharing our lives and our children's lives with each and every one of them, but just like the family I live with here in my own home don't always share the same views and opinions, family on Facebook doesn't either. I do honestly struggle with some of the things that family members post sometimes, some family members may not share the same values or morals or opinions that I do and it is easy to want to comment and insert my opinion, but just because I am sitting in my den and not facing them does not mean I get a free pass to say whatever I want or that I get to make public my differing opinion. I still love them even when we don't share the same opinion. There are also family members we aren't close to or who we don't really communicate with on both sides, but they are friends with other family members that we share our lives with, and this creates a little bit of a sticky mess for me sometimes because I don't necessarily think it is fair for those people to see our photos, share in our posts, or be able to follow our lives through someone else. I struggle when I see comments and posts from people that I am not friends with personally and who I may not talk to, on photos of my family and my children. It is hard to read them and not comment back or say what I think, but Facebook is not the place and it would be wrong for me and angering or hurtful to my husband, who doesn't usually see any of it, and doesn't need to. I think about how much of our lives are shared with people who have not really earned the right to share it with us, strangers, friends of friends of friends, and although I have nothing to hide and don't share things on Facebook that I don't want the world to see, it still takes restraint to not comment back or engage in conversations, that although may be linked to me through Facebook, are not really my business. The family I am connected to on Facebook, I love very much and would never want to say or post anything that would be hurtful or disrespectful to them, and I hope they would do the same for me, it is about having enough respect for someone's feelings that you exercise restraint.
Facebook... the place where everyone comes together and yet never sees each other, the place where lives can seem perfect and a perfect mess all in the course of an hour, the place where everyone thinks that they can say whatever they want no matter the consequence, a place where out of the same mouths can come both praise and cursing. The verse that has stood out to me the most this week from my memory work is this " With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come both praise and cursing, my Brothers and Sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water."
Facebook.....a lesson in restraint!
I have been memorizing the book of James in the Bible. I wanted to hide God's word in my heart and be an example to my children and prove to myself that you are never to old to learn new things. I mean if I can learn the jingle to the latest advertisement on TV, and quote senseless movie lines, then I can learn God's word. James spends a lot of time talking about how we need to rein in our tongues, control our mouths and what comes out of them, in fact he makes some pretty strong comments about how evil our tongues are and how harmful our lack of self-control can be to ourselves, to our witness, and to others. Since I have been committing these words of his to memory, I find that I am much more conscience of what I say and the word of God pops into my head at times when I am thinking of saying things and it causes me to rethink what I may or may not be saying.
This brings me to the things I hate about Facebook. I hate that so many people lack restraint and self-control about what they type and what they make public. I hate that Facebook can be a breeding ground of hostility and disrespect among people who are supposed to be friends. I hate that social media makes it so easy to type out anonymously what you think, about pretty much anything, and that because you are not face to face people think that their words don't mean anything. People type the first thing that pops into their heads, whether it is hurtful, angry, resentful, sneaky, manipulative or disrespectful and then they click on to the next thing. I hate that friends of friends, who are no friends of mine, can see photos and posts and comments and can sometimes even comment on those things without even knowing me personally. I feel that if I have not "friended" you on Facebook you have not earned the right to see my children, my family, my activities. I have truly tried to have self-control from the very beginning of my time on Facebook. I try to be responsible for what I say and how I say it. My intent on Facebook is to enjoy my friends and enjoy the similarities and the differences in our lives, to be a Godly example, and to show the same restraint in my typed comments that I would show them if I was face to face.
There are some areas of Facebook that I have to really work to show restraint and hold my comments on. One is politics. I hate that everyone debates politics on Facebook, I was raised that your political views were your own and not anyone else's business. I may not like a politician, I may not like a law, I may not agree with a vote or an agenda or a friends opinion, but Facebook is really not the best way to get that point across. God calls us to respect those who are in authority over us and I don't think that bashing the candidates, posting false information, copying and pasting rude jokes, crude cartoons and fake ads are in line with God's word. The president did not cause every problem in the country, there are a vast number of politicians from the community level, state level, senate, congress and courts that all play a part in what gets passed and what gets voted down, so bashing the president and blaming him for absolutely everything is not a very good use of your time. Facebook and the Internet are full of lies, shocking, I know, and when you copy and paste things all over your wall that you have not bothered to check out and verify as fact then you are only hurting your own cause and at least some of your friends in the process. I feel it is important to restrain myself when it comes to politics on social media, I rarely comment on anything political, I don't engage in useless bantering and hurtful commenting, it is not worth losing friends and hurting those you love over a political opinion. My friends know that I am a Christian, they know that I am a conservative Christian and that I hold conservative Christian values. I do not feel the need to argue or be hurtful or disrespectful to those who I am friends with who don't share those values. I can agree to disagree and not love them less for not being me. It can be hard sometimes to read the opposing view or see that someone I respect or love doesn't feel just like me on certain issues, but embarrassing them, debating with them and making rude remarks is not going to win them over to my side, it is only going to further distance them from my opinion and myself.
Another area I struggle with is family issues. Yes, family, and I know some of my family and maybe some of Jason's family read this blog so I am going to show restraint even here, but this is my personal little blog space that I use to journal my own thoughts and opinions and this is an area I struggle with. Family on Facebook can be difficult. I love keeping up with them and I love seeing what they are up to and sharing our lives and our children's lives with each and every one of them, but just like the family I live with here in my own home don't always share the same views and opinions, family on Facebook doesn't either. I do honestly struggle with some of the things that family members post sometimes, some family members may not share the same values or morals or opinions that I do and it is easy to want to comment and insert my opinion, but just because I am sitting in my den and not facing them does not mean I get a free pass to say whatever I want or that I get to make public my differing opinion. I still love them even when we don't share the same opinion. There are also family members we aren't close to or who we don't really communicate with on both sides, but they are friends with other family members that we share our lives with, and this creates a little bit of a sticky mess for me sometimes because I don't necessarily think it is fair for those people to see our photos, share in our posts, or be able to follow our lives through someone else. I struggle when I see comments and posts from people that I am not friends with personally and who I may not talk to, on photos of my family and my children. It is hard to read them and not comment back or say what I think, but Facebook is not the place and it would be wrong for me and angering or hurtful to my husband, who doesn't usually see any of it, and doesn't need to. I think about how much of our lives are shared with people who have not really earned the right to share it with us, strangers, friends of friends of friends, and although I have nothing to hide and don't share things on Facebook that I don't want the world to see, it still takes restraint to not comment back or engage in conversations, that although may be linked to me through Facebook, are not really my business. The family I am connected to on Facebook, I love very much and would never want to say or post anything that would be hurtful or disrespectful to them, and I hope they would do the same for me, it is about having enough respect for someone's feelings that you exercise restraint.
Facebook... the place where everyone comes together and yet never sees each other, the place where lives can seem perfect and a perfect mess all in the course of an hour, the place where everyone thinks that they can say whatever they want no matter the consequence, a place where out of the same mouths can come both praise and cursing. The verse that has stood out to me the most this week from my memory work is this " With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come both praise and cursing, my Brothers and Sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water."
Facebook.....a lesson in restraint!
Posted by
Victoria
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A couple of weeks ago I was reading a blog that a friend of mine writes and she had shared some memories she had been thinking about and it was so sweet and I thought I need to do something like that, it is fun to think back every now and then, but I have been busy with holiday preperations and haven't thought much else about it until yesterday.
Riding in the car for long periods of time causes me to have a lot of random thoughts and observations which I usually like to share with others in the car whether they really want to hear it or not. Jason has learned that if we are on a car trip, I should either be driving (which keeps me focused on the radio and the road) or stocked up on candy and snacks (which keeps me focused on eating and sharing with the children) because if I am just riding, boredom kicks in quickly and everyone gets to join in on my randomness, which could include anything from "why do cows always face the same way in the field?" to " Did you know that you cannot really go a whole day without seeing a cow or an image of a cow?" ( try it out, it is almost immposible). I read billboards, change the radio station every five minutes, count license plates, look for antique malls, and generally drive everyone crazy.
Yesterday was no exception, as we traveled to see family and I was just riding along, all of a sudden I began to think about the holidays. I realized that for my husband and I this will be our twenty first Christmas together. I had to add that one up three times just to make sure I was right and yep, that was correct...21. I began to think back to that very first Christmas we were together and amazingly, I remembered it quite well. Jason says it is because girls remember weird firsts... first dates, first kisses, first anniversaries of all kinds of things, in other words, it is a girl thing. He didn't remember much of it at all, which didn't surprise me, since he doesn't remember what we did last week. I began thinking of our holidays together and how many things have changed over the years, and how many things have stayed the same.
That first Christmas, we were just teenagers, we had only been dating about two months. I had never met a single person in his family except for his brother, who I already knew from school, and his Grandparents, who I knew from church. I had never even been in his house when anyone else was home. We went out on a date a few days before Christmas, we ate out, saw a movie, Hook, I think, and then we went back to his house. His Dad was working, and I am not sure where the rest of his family was, but no one was home, at least none that I saw. We were both nervous because I had only been to his house a few times. I am not sure his parents knew about me yet and my parents weren't thrilled about me dating a younger guy who they didn't really approve of or know. ( typical parent, daughter dating, anxiety ) Looking back, that seems so funny. We sat downstairs in the basement room and exchanged our little gifts. I honestly can't remember what I got him (but I am sure it was good, because I always give him good presents...haha) but he got me clothes, which I remember thinking that he probably did not pick out, maybe his Grandmother, since he was not a shopper, and knew nothing about clothes, but they were very nice. I even remember what they looked like and what color they were. I was surprised he had bought me anything, since he wasn't working yet and we didn't know each other very well. It was late, we mumbled our thanks, it was an awkward teenage moment, but I went home that night...happy.
Who would have ever dreamed, that 21 years later, we would still be spending our Christmas' together. Life has changed so much in those twenty one years. Our love has grown, our family has grown, our Christmas traditions are very different from those early days, we have a home of our own, the faces around the tree have changed, our hair is grayer, we have children. It amazes me how far we have come and how much God has brought us through and how much He has changed us. I still love exchanging gifts and Jason now has two little shoppers to help him out. I feel like that young nervous girl with the butterflies in her stomach, tentatively opening a present in front of a cute guy is a lifetime away. I feel like that young nervous girl with the butterflies in her stomach, tentatively opening a present in front of a cute guy was yesterday. I may be older, I may be fatter, I may be a lifetime removed from that first Christmas with my love, but I still am that girl, with butterflies in her stomach, opening presents in front of a cute guy except it is no longer awkward and I am already at home but I am still...happy.
Riding in the car for long periods of time causes me to have a lot of random thoughts and observations which I usually like to share with others in the car whether they really want to hear it or not. Jason has learned that if we are on a car trip, I should either be driving (which keeps me focused on the radio and the road) or stocked up on candy and snacks (which keeps me focused on eating and sharing with the children) because if I am just riding, boredom kicks in quickly and everyone gets to join in on my randomness, which could include anything from "why do cows always face the same way in the field?" to " Did you know that you cannot really go a whole day without seeing a cow or an image of a cow?" ( try it out, it is almost immposible). I read billboards, change the radio station every five minutes, count license plates, look for antique malls, and generally drive everyone crazy.
Yesterday was no exception, as we traveled to see family and I was just riding along, all of a sudden I began to think about the holidays. I realized that for my husband and I this will be our twenty first Christmas together. I had to add that one up three times just to make sure I was right and yep, that was correct...21. I began to think back to that very first Christmas we were together and amazingly, I remembered it quite well. Jason says it is because girls remember weird firsts... first dates, first kisses, first anniversaries of all kinds of things, in other words, it is a girl thing. He didn't remember much of it at all, which didn't surprise me, since he doesn't remember what we did last week. I began thinking of our holidays together and how many things have changed over the years, and how many things have stayed the same.
That first Christmas, we were just teenagers, we had only been dating about two months. I had never met a single person in his family except for his brother, who I already knew from school, and his Grandparents, who I knew from church. I had never even been in his house when anyone else was home. We went out on a date a few days before Christmas, we ate out, saw a movie, Hook, I think, and then we went back to his house. His Dad was working, and I am not sure where the rest of his family was, but no one was home, at least none that I saw. We were both nervous because I had only been to his house a few times. I am not sure his parents knew about me yet and my parents weren't thrilled about me dating a younger guy who they didn't really approve of or know. ( typical parent, daughter dating, anxiety ) Looking back, that seems so funny. We sat downstairs in the basement room and exchanged our little gifts. I honestly can't remember what I got him (but I am sure it was good, because I always give him good presents...haha) but he got me clothes, which I remember thinking that he probably did not pick out, maybe his Grandmother, since he was not a shopper, and knew nothing about clothes, but they were very nice. I even remember what they looked like and what color they were. I was surprised he had bought me anything, since he wasn't working yet and we didn't know each other very well. It was late, we mumbled our thanks, it was an awkward teenage moment, but I went home that night...happy.
Who would have ever dreamed, that 21 years later, we would still be spending our Christmas' together. Life has changed so much in those twenty one years. Our love has grown, our family has grown, our Christmas traditions are very different from those early days, we have a home of our own, the faces around the tree have changed, our hair is grayer, we have children. It amazes me how far we have come and how much God has brought us through and how much He has changed us. I still love exchanging gifts and Jason now has two little shoppers to help him out. I feel like that young nervous girl with the butterflies in her stomach, tentatively opening a present in front of a cute guy is a lifetime away. I feel like that young nervous girl with the butterflies in her stomach, tentatively opening a present in front of a cute guy was yesterday. I may be older, I may be fatter, I may be a lifetime removed from that first Christmas with my love, but I still am that girl, with butterflies in her stomach, opening presents in front of a cute guy except it is no longer awkward and I am already at home but I am still...happy.
Posted by
Victoria
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I love holidays, maybe this is part of the reason that Fall is my favorite season, because there are lots of them crammed into a few months, and each one is fun and special in its own way. I love cook-outs and end of Summer fun on Labor day. I love pumpkin patches and dress-up and the candy that comes with Halloween and I love sparkly lights, the smell of pine and the celebration of the birth of our savior that comes with Christmas, but one of my favorite holidays of the Fall season seems to be getting lost in a sea of red and green retail madness.
Thanksgiving....I love Thanksgiving. It is one of my very favorite holidays. Thanksgiving is the Macy's parade, the smell of pumpkin pie, the kitchen full of activity, family. It is one of the only holidays where no one expects a gift, you don't have to buy anything, wrap anything or feel pressured to have more or do more. There are no expectations to live up to. You can decorate as little or as much as you like. You can cook a huge spread or head to a local restaurant and eat out with no prep and no clean-up. You set the expectation, you get to choose what and how to celebrate it. The only requirement?... be thankful.
I have enjoyed the 30 days of Thankfulness that Facebook friends participate in, it is one of those Facebook fads that I normally wouldn't be a part of, but it helps Thanksgiving to not get lost and forgotten. I love reading what others are thankful for, and what they consider their blessings to be. I thank God, everytime I pray, for the many things that He provides for me. I list things out to Him everyday that I am thankful for from the little things like heat on a cold morning, to the big things like answered prayer in my life and in the lives of others, but having to stop and think and focus in on one specific thing everyday and share it with everyone, helps me remember what is truly important. I am thankful for so many things in my life from my salvation through Christ to family and friends, my health and my children's health, the list could go on and on and on. We should be thankful everyday of our lives for the many blessings we have, but Thanksgiving helps us to remember not to take things for granted, to think about what is truly important. The whole intention of Thanksgiving is to be thankful to God for the blessing he has poured out on you over the past year, no matter the difficulties, no matter how things have gone for you this past year, good or bad, there are always things to be thankful for (like the fact that you have the sight to read this post), we can always find things to praise God for and we should never let that get lost. In the middle of the shopping, decorating and running around, just stop, be still, enjoy the little things, like a good meal with family or friends and a good nap and most of all, give Thanks to the one from whom all blessings flow!
"In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." 1 thessalonians 5:18
Thanksgiving....I love Thanksgiving. It is one of my very favorite holidays. Thanksgiving is the Macy's parade, the smell of pumpkin pie, the kitchen full of activity, family. It is one of the only holidays where no one expects a gift, you don't have to buy anything, wrap anything or feel pressured to have more or do more. There are no expectations to live up to. You can decorate as little or as much as you like. You can cook a huge spread or head to a local restaurant and eat out with no prep and no clean-up. You set the expectation, you get to choose what and how to celebrate it. The only requirement?... be thankful.
I have enjoyed the 30 days of Thankfulness that Facebook friends participate in, it is one of those Facebook fads that I normally wouldn't be a part of, but it helps Thanksgiving to not get lost and forgotten. I love reading what others are thankful for, and what they consider their blessings to be. I thank God, everytime I pray, for the many things that He provides for me. I list things out to Him everyday that I am thankful for from the little things like heat on a cold morning, to the big things like answered prayer in my life and in the lives of others, but having to stop and think and focus in on one specific thing everyday and share it with everyone, helps me remember what is truly important. I am thankful for so many things in my life from my salvation through Christ to family and friends, my health and my children's health, the list could go on and on and on. We should be thankful everyday of our lives for the many blessings we have, but Thanksgiving helps us to remember not to take things for granted, to think about what is truly important. The whole intention of Thanksgiving is to be thankful to God for the blessing he has poured out on you over the past year, no matter the difficulties, no matter how things have gone for you this past year, good or bad, there are always things to be thankful for (like the fact that you have the sight to read this post), we can always find things to praise God for and we should never let that get lost. In the middle of the shopping, decorating and running around, just stop, be still, enjoy the little things, like a good meal with family or friends and a good nap and most of all, give Thanks to the one from whom all blessings flow!
"In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." 1 thessalonians 5:18
Posted by
Victoria
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My daughter is growing up at a rapid pace. I see the changes in her almost daily and it is scary sometimes when I think of all I am responsible to teach her and I have so little time to accomplish it all. Now that she is in third grade I feel the challenges are becoming more frequent. Friends become more influential, peer pressure starts to creep in and the exposure to worldly viewpoints and values begin to invade her, so-far, sheltered exsistence. I have had more challenges and situations to explain in the last few months, than any other time before in her life. I knew it would get hard, I was just unprepared for how quickly and how young it would happen.
One of the challenges I have had lately came in the unexpected form of a school project. The assignment of a Family Tree and history project. Researching your roots, interviewing a family member, making a family tree. It sounds easy on the surface, no big deal really, an easy assignment for most, but I was stressed. Stressed, because when family is messy, it is confusing to an eight year old and to be honest, it is confusing to a thirty-eight year old, and because we chose to shelter her from the confusion early on, the family dynamics became somewhat of a vague mystery. This project made my heart pound and my head hurt. How was I going to explain that some people who she had been raised to believe were her family really weren't? and how was I going to explain who the people she never knew exsisted really were? I decided to put off the family tree part of the project until the last minute, she worked on the interviewing of her Nana, which was fun. She worked on picking out her cute scrapbooking papers and poured over my colored pens to write her findings with, which was fun. She never said a word about the family tree until...
"Mommy, who should I ask about the family tree, you or Daddy?" The time had come. My family is easy, I am an only child, I have parents who are still together after 40+ years and all my Grandparents had passed before my children were born, no problem. My husband's family is harder, he has family members he doesn't see or visit, people that he is reluctant to talk about or share stories about, there is divorce, and step-parents, and step-siblings. There are people who aren't actually related in any way, but who we love and enjoy and who my girls believe are family, and cousins, and Aunts, and Uncles. There are people they know only by name or photo that are key members of the family tree, but who have never been discussed or explained other than by name. I went to bed that night praying for God's wisdom on how to delicately explain, on an eight year old level, family.
God's word tells us that if we ask for wisdom, it will be given, and somehow God came through. I decided that everyone should know their roots, even an eight year old, and that it wasn't fair to her to not know exactly who is who. Family isn't always about blood, it is about the people who care for you, the people who love you, the people who build you up and support you and make you feel good about yourself. It is the people you spend time with, who watch you grow. The family legacy doesn't have to come only from your blood relatives, the family legacy that is passed down, comes from love. God laid on my heart to be open and honest, to explain and answer any questions she may have, to be truthful. The family tree project turned out to be the best thing we have done. I found that she had been wondering for a while about certain people and that she was very confused about how everyone fit together. I found that our sheltering her from the confusion had just caused more confusion, and that she was afraid to ask about it because she sensed that it was a touchy subject, but she really wanted to know. I found that through sharing stories and forcing ourselves, both my husband and I, to focus on positive things and funny moments and to relive positive experiences instead of negative, that we replaced anger and hurt with laughter and joy. I also found that the children at school had been talking about theirs and she had questions about their family situations as well and wanted to know what that meant for them. It has opened up opportunities for prayer, not only for our own family issues, but for her friends and schoolmates too. It is amazing to me how God uses something as simple as homework to show me what I need to be doing as a parent. God saying to me that it was time for my children to know where they come from, the good, the bad, the ugly, the messy. It was a weight lifted for both Jason and I, sometimes I don't know if God gave me my children for me to teach them or if he allowed me to have them so that they could teach me. Either way, I am blessed beyond measure and thankful for all those we call family.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
1 Corinthians 13:7
One of the challenges I have had lately came in the unexpected form of a school project. The assignment of a Family Tree and history project. Researching your roots, interviewing a family member, making a family tree. It sounds easy on the surface, no big deal really, an easy assignment for most, but I was stressed. Stressed, because when family is messy, it is confusing to an eight year old and to be honest, it is confusing to a thirty-eight year old, and because we chose to shelter her from the confusion early on, the family dynamics became somewhat of a vague mystery. This project made my heart pound and my head hurt. How was I going to explain that some people who she had been raised to believe were her family really weren't? and how was I going to explain who the people she never knew exsisted really were? I decided to put off the family tree part of the project until the last minute, she worked on the interviewing of her Nana, which was fun. She worked on picking out her cute scrapbooking papers and poured over my colored pens to write her findings with, which was fun. She never said a word about the family tree until...
"Mommy, who should I ask about the family tree, you or Daddy?" The time had come. My family is easy, I am an only child, I have parents who are still together after 40+ years and all my Grandparents had passed before my children were born, no problem. My husband's family is harder, he has family members he doesn't see or visit, people that he is reluctant to talk about or share stories about, there is divorce, and step-parents, and step-siblings. There are people who aren't actually related in any way, but who we love and enjoy and who my girls believe are family, and cousins, and Aunts, and Uncles. There are people they know only by name or photo that are key members of the family tree, but who have never been discussed or explained other than by name. I went to bed that night praying for God's wisdom on how to delicately explain, on an eight year old level, family.
God's word tells us that if we ask for wisdom, it will be given, and somehow God came through. I decided that everyone should know their roots, even an eight year old, and that it wasn't fair to her to not know exactly who is who. Family isn't always about blood, it is about the people who care for you, the people who love you, the people who build you up and support you and make you feel good about yourself. It is the people you spend time with, who watch you grow. The family legacy doesn't have to come only from your blood relatives, the family legacy that is passed down, comes from love. God laid on my heart to be open and honest, to explain and answer any questions she may have, to be truthful. The family tree project turned out to be the best thing we have done. I found that she had been wondering for a while about certain people and that she was very confused about how everyone fit together. I found that our sheltering her from the confusion had just caused more confusion, and that she was afraid to ask about it because she sensed that it was a touchy subject, but she really wanted to know. I found that through sharing stories and forcing ourselves, both my husband and I, to focus on positive things and funny moments and to relive positive experiences instead of negative, that we replaced anger and hurt with laughter and joy. I also found that the children at school had been talking about theirs and she had questions about their family situations as well and wanted to know what that meant for them. It has opened up opportunities for prayer, not only for our own family issues, but for her friends and schoolmates too. It is amazing to me how God uses something as simple as homework to show me what I need to be doing as a parent. God saying to me that it was time for my children to know where they come from, the good, the bad, the ugly, the messy. It was a weight lifted for both Jason and I, sometimes I don't know if God gave me my children for me to teach them or if he allowed me to have them so that they could teach me. Either way, I am blessed beyond measure and thankful for all those we call family.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
1 Corinthians 13:7
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Victoria
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For the last 8 years when someone asked me what my job was I have answered with the words " I am a Stay at Home Mom". I have been home taking care of children since the day I found out I was pregnant with Emma. I didn't intend to be a stay at home Mom, I never even imagined that I would be home at all. I had worked since I was 16, and at the time I became pregnant, I worked over 40 hours a week as a hairdresser, and most weeks earned equal to if not more than my husband. I payed bills, paid for Summer vacations, bought what I wanted and had a car and credit in my name. I told everyone I was coming back to work as soon as the daycare would take them, but God had other plans. I had a difficult pregnancy that started with bedrest and ended with that baby going back to be with Jesus, so when I surprisingly became pregnant again just a few months later, the doctors wrote me out of work immediately. They didn't want me on my feet and breathing in chemicals, just to be safe, and this is when my stay at home adventure began. I didn't think we would make it, I didn't think we could afford it, I didn't think I could handle it, but God said otherwise. I prayed daily that God would provide our needs and each month I would consider it a success when the bills were paid and nothing had been repossessed or shut off. We downsized cars, we bundled bills, we canceled luxuries, we quit shopping for frivolous items and we realized day care is expensive and for us it was becoming more and more unneccessary. The weeks turned into months and the months turned into years and another child, layoffs, another town, another house and through it all God remained faithful and here it is 8 years later and I am still home and we are still making it, not always easily, but here we are.
Now my children have both grown past the preschool years and we have entered a new chapter, the elementary years. This presents me with bit of a problem because now I am no longer a stay at home Mom, I am still a Mom and I am still at home, but for 8 hours a day I am not a stay at home Mother, I am just a stay at home.... what? housewife? unemployed hairdresser? Now when people ask me I don't know what to say, I am just at home. Alone. I feel differently now. I always felt like I was working even though I was home because I was always busy, always had a child who needed something. They needed dressed, washed, played with, taught, kissed, bandaged, bathed, changed and something always needed cleaned, made, cooked, bought, but now the cleaning is less, the children only need early in the morning or late in the afternoon, lunch is whatever I eat. It is strange, this housewife exsistence. I feel like I am more accountable for accomplishing things so Jason doesn't think I am not productive enough, I feel like I need to be busy so I can justify my staying home. I feel the need to follow up that I stay home with "but I am going to look for a job soon". I shop with the retired ladies at the grocery store. I am a stay at home.... ?
But then God has been laying in my heart that this is the perfect time for me to be useful, both for my family and for His kingdom. I have time, time for volunteering, time for Bible study, time for me, to find who I am again outside of children and chaos, I have time to reconnect with Jason on his days off without children, and it has been great. I have time to organize my house the way I have wanted to for so long, I have time for making bread and planning meals, I have time to serve at the soup kitchen, and help out at school, and pray. I can have a whole conversation with God in peace, quiet time with Him, everyday, uninterrupted. I can hang out with my husband like we did when we were young, go out to lunch and talk. This has made me an even better stay at home Mom because now when the girls get home, I have time to play, time to listen, and since I have had time, I have more patience, more kindness and more love to share with them. I feel like a better wife, a better Mother ,and I think I can now provide a more Godly example to my family and those around me. I am so lucky to have a husband who works hard to support us, who never says a word about what I do during the day, even when he comes home and the house is still messy and the laundry isn't done, he never says get a job or asks when I am going to go back to work. He just thanks me for taking care of them, and tells me to enjoy this time and that I will always be a Mommy whether they are here all day or not, and this past week when Lydia was sick all week I realized that I am still thankful to be home and available to care for her and that they still need me here even when they are at school. I am still thinking about a job even if it is part time, but for now I am just going to enjoy this new normal. God's timing is perfect and I am thankful he allowed us to have our children when He did and that He provides for us daily so that I can be a stay at home...something. I pray I use this time He has given me wisely for both my family and for Him.
The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. Proverbs 16:9
Now my children have both grown past the preschool years and we have entered a new chapter, the elementary years. This presents me with bit of a problem because now I am no longer a stay at home Mom, I am still a Mom and I am still at home, but for 8 hours a day I am not a stay at home Mother, I am just a stay at home.... what? housewife? unemployed hairdresser? Now when people ask me I don't know what to say, I am just at home. Alone. I feel differently now. I always felt like I was working even though I was home because I was always busy, always had a child who needed something. They needed dressed, washed, played with, taught, kissed, bandaged, bathed, changed and something always needed cleaned, made, cooked, bought, but now the cleaning is less, the children only need early in the morning or late in the afternoon, lunch is whatever I eat. It is strange, this housewife exsistence. I feel like I am more accountable for accomplishing things so Jason doesn't think I am not productive enough, I feel like I need to be busy so I can justify my staying home. I feel the need to follow up that I stay home with "but I am going to look for a job soon". I shop with the retired ladies at the grocery store. I am a stay at home.... ?
But then God has been laying in my heart that this is the perfect time for me to be useful, both for my family and for His kingdom. I have time, time for volunteering, time for Bible study, time for me, to find who I am again outside of children and chaos, I have time to reconnect with Jason on his days off without children, and it has been great. I have time to organize my house the way I have wanted to for so long, I have time for making bread and planning meals, I have time to serve at the soup kitchen, and help out at school, and pray. I can have a whole conversation with God in peace, quiet time with Him, everyday, uninterrupted. I can hang out with my husband like we did when we were young, go out to lunch and talk. This has made me an even better stay at home Mom because now when the girls get home, I have time to play, time to listen, and since I have had time, I have more patience, more kindness and more love to share with them. I feel like a better wife, a better Mother ,and I think I can now provide a more Godly example to my family and those around me. I am so lucky to have a husband who works hard to support us, who never says a word about what I do during the day, even when he comes home and the house is still messy and the laundry isn't done, he never says get a job or asks when I am going to go back to work. He just thanks me for taking care of them, and tells me to enjoy this time and that I will always be a Mommy whether they are here all day or not, and this past week when Lydia was sick all week I realized that I am still thankful to be home and available to care for her and that they still need me here even when they are at school. I am still thinking about a job even if it is part time, but for now I am just going to enjoy this new normal. God's timing is perfect and I am thankful he allowed us to have our children when He did and that He provides for us daily so that I can be a stay at home...something. I pray I use this time He has given me wisely for both my family and for Him.
The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. Proverbs 16:9
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Victoria
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I have to admit, there are times when I am a confused Christian. You would think that I wouldn't be, seeing as how I was born and raised in a Christian family. I have gone to church my whole life. I attended Christian school. I have taught Sunday School to children, memorized countless scriptures with the children at AWANA and GA's. I do devotions with my children every night and teach them all I know about Christ and his ultimate sacrifice and the precious gift of salvation that He gave them. I have participated in Bible studies and read my Bible. I should be crystal clear on everything, but Christianity is a journey, a process. The actual moment of salvation is crystal clear, the minute I realized I needed Christ and I wanted Christ and I chose to follow Him forever, that is crystal clear, no doubts, no confusion, but then came life and people, saved people, Christian people, unsaved people, lost people, decisions, trials, peaks, valleys, and this is when things begin to muddle and can sometimes bring confusion, and this is where Satan begins to get a grip, he loves our confusion.
Confusion this week came for me in the form of a chicken sandwich. I have to admit, I am completely out of the loop on anything political. I don't watch politics, I don't listen to political speakers, I don't watch CNN or MSNBC. I can tell you who the important players are politically, but don't always know what is going on behind the scenes. I try to research who I vote for and who the candidates are before I vote, but once the winners are in office and the losers are forgotten, I no longer keep up with what is going on. I don't trust any of them, I believe voting for the lesser of two evils is still voting for evil. I pray for our leaders, whether I agree with them or not, I don't speak bad of them because I believe they are all there for a reason and out of respect should not be ridiculed and disrespected. I haven't had to do their job, I haven't had to shoulder their responsibility and I am not there when they are alone and making decisions, so I stay out of it and trust that God is still in control and this too will pass.
This is what led to my confusion about my chicken sandwich, I don't see much media, I don't watch TV so until I saw Facebook posts going crazy about the Chik-Fil-A issue, I had no idea what it was even about. One post saying this and another post claiming that one to be a lie, Christian people divided on the issue, non Christian people divided on the issue, articles copied and posted that were later proven false, photos photoshopped to be deceiving. confusion! How did this get so crazy? I mean didn't everyone know what his beliefs were already? It isn't like he has hidden them. Is it so far fetched that a conservative Christian man who publically states that his business is founded on conservative Christian principles would state that he gave to conservative Christian causes...and did anyone not know that he would be against gay marriage? I didn't quite get the uproar, but I did get confused because now if I eat at Chik-Fil-A am I sending a message of hate? If I don't eat at Chik-Fil-A am I a bad Christian? Am I supporting hate groups? What groups are the money going to that are hateful? and who determined they were hate groups? I saw an article that listed Fellowship of Christian Athletes as one of the hate groups, I personally know people who are involved in this ministry and they are a sweet, loving, kind family. I can't imagine them hating anyone, they have a heart for Christ and a love for those who are lost and they would never be a part of a hate group. I was confused, yes it is a conservative Christian group with conservative Christian values...but a hate group? When did disagreeing with someone's choices or ideas automatically equal hating them? I have friends on both sides of the issue. Friends, people I care about, people I spend time with, people I love, people I maybe don't agree with, but people I love nontheless. How can anyone be witnessed to or see God's love or come to know the Saviour if we never speak or have anything to do with the people we disagree with? Isn't that exactly what Satan would love, for us to be ineffective at witnessing because we start to think we have to agree with someone in order to befriend them or we can't associate with that person because they must hate us since they have a different belief than me? Satan wins when we get muddled and confused.
Here is where my clarity came in. If I take everything else out of the equation. If I just go back to how I felt a week ago before I started getting sucked into the photos and the blogs and the media mess. If I just really block out Satan's attempts at confusion and focus on what I believe, here is what it comes down to for me ( not anyone else and I promise you don't have to agree with me and that is o.k.) I like Chik-Fil-A. I like them because when I go in the workers are always smiling. I like them because they are always helpful. I like them because my children love their cow and going to Daddy Daughter Date nights where the restaurant is decorated and candle lit and it makes them feel special. I like them because they donate huge amounts of time, money and food to people and to the local communities they are a part of. I like them because they have the best peach milk shakes in the summer and the best chocolate cherry mint ones in the winter. I like them because they also support children, poor families and they own and operate foster homes and give to lots of great causes that seem to get overlooked in the media. I don't eat there to make a statement, I don't eat there to hurt anyone, I simply eat there because I like to, just like I eat at a million other places that maybe support things I don't believe in or agree with, just like I buy products or shop at stores that have differing opinions than me on all kinds of issues. I eat there because I believe that a person that owns a company has the right to support what they choose with their money whether I agree with it or not.
So next time you see me buying Oreos or eating at Olive Garden or buying my daughter a backpack at JC Penney please don't think bad of me as a Christian because I am not trying to make a statement or question my beliefs and if you see me eating at Chik-Fil-A or buying craft supplies at Hobby Lobby please don't think I am trying to hurt you or send a statement that I hate you, I simply like their product. I know what I believe and people who know me know what I believe, and people who just meet me figure it out pretty quickly I am sure. I understand if you don't want to patronize a company you don't agree with and that is o.k., but for me I just don't have the energy to trace every dollar every company spends on a cause and then determine if I support it. I give more to people I support and less to people I don't but in the end, I just can't research every product and every cause. It is way too confusing :)
Confusion this week came for me in the form of a chicken sandwich. I have to admit, I am completely out of the loop on anything political. I don't watch politics, I don't listen to political speakers, I don't watch CNN or MSNBC. I can tell you who the important players are politically, but don't always know what is going on behind the scenes. I try to research who I vote for and who the candidates are before I vote, but once the winners are in office and the losers are forgotten, I no longer keep up with what is going on. I don't trust any of them, I believe voting for the lesser of two evils is still voting for evil. I pray for our leaders, whether I agree with them or not, I don't speak bad of them because I believe they are all there for a reason and out of respect should not be ridiculed and disrespected. I haven't had to do their job, I haven't had to shoulder their responsibility and I am not there when they are alone and making decisions, so I stay out of it and trust that God is still in control and this too will pass.
This is what led to my confusion about my chicken sandwich, I don't see much media, I don't watch TV so until I saw Facebook posts going crazy about the Chik-Fil-A issue, I had no idea what it was even about. One post saying this and another post claiming that one to be a lie, Christian people divided on the issue, non Christian people divided on the issue, articles copied and posted that were later proven false, photos photoshopped to be deceiving. confusion! How did this get so crazy? I mean didn't everyone know what his beliefs were already? It isn't like he has hidden them. Is it so far fetched that a conservative Christian man who publically states that his business is founded on conservative Christian principles would state that he gave to conservative Christian causes...and did anyone not know that he would be against gay marriage? I didn't quite get the uproar, but I did get confused because now if I eat at Chik-Fil-A am I sending a message of hate? If I don't eat at Chik-Fil-A am I a bad Christian? Am I supporting hate groups? What groups are the money going to that are hateful? and who determined they were hate groups? I saw an article that listed Fellowship of Christian Athletes as one of the hate groups, I personally know people who are involved in this ministry and they are a sweet, loving, kind family. I can't imagine them hating anyone, they have a heart for Christ and a love for those who are lost and they would never be a part of a hate group. I was confused, yes it is a conservative Christian group with conservative Christian values...but a hate group? When did disagreeing with someone's choices or ideas automatically equal hating them? I have friends on both sides of the issue. Friends, people I care about, people I spend time with, people I love, people I maybe don't agree with, but people I love nontheless. How can anyone be witnessed to or see God's love or come to know the Saviour if we never speak or have anything to do with the people we disagree with? Isn't that exactly what Satan would love, for us to be ineffective at witnessing because we start to think we have to agree with someone in order to befriend them or we can't associate with that person because they must hate us since they have a different belief than me? Satan wins when we get muddled and confused.
Here is where my clarity came in. If I take everything else out of the equation. If I just go back to how I felt a week ago before I started getting sucked into the photos and the blogs and the media mess. If I just really block out Satan's attempts at confusion and focus on what I believe, here is what it comes down to for me ( not anyone else and I promise you don't have to agree with me and that is o.k.) I like Chik-Fil-A. I like them because when I go in the workers are always smiling. I like them because they are always helpful. I like them because my children love their cow and going to Daddy Daughter Date nights where the restaurant is decorated and candle lit and it makes them feel special. I like them because they donate huge amounts of time, money and food to people and to the local communities they are a part of. I like them because they have the best peach milk shakes in the summer and the best chocolate cherry mint ones in the winter. I like them because they also support children, poor families and they own and operate foster homes and give to lots of great causes that seem to get overlooked in the media. I don't eat there to make a statement, I don't eat there to hurt anyone, I simply eat there because I like to, just like I eat at a million other places that maybe support things I don't believe in or agree with, just like I buy products or shop at stores that have differing opinions than me on all kinds of issues. I eat there because I believe that a person that owns a company has the right to support what they choose with their money whether I agree with it or not.
So next time you see me buying Oreos or eating at Olive Garden or buying my daughter a backpack at JC Penney please don't think bad of me as a Christian because I am not trying to make a statement or question my beliefs and if you see me eating at Chik-Fil-A or buying craft supplies at Hobby Lobby please don't think I am trying to hurt you or send a statement that I hate you, I simply like their product. I know what I believe and people who know me know what I believe, and people who just meet me figure it out pretty quickly I am sure. I understand if you don't want to patronize a company you don't agree with and that is o.k., but for me I just don't have the energy to trace every dollar every company spends on a cause and then determine if I support it. I give more to people I support and less to people I don't but in the end, I just can't research every product and every cause. It is way too confusing :)
"Our culture has accepted two huge lies. The first is that if you disagree with someone's lifestyle, you must fear them or hate them. The second is that to love someone means you agree with everything they believe or do. Both are nonsense." - Rick Warren. How true this statement is, this was the best Facebook quote I saw this week. Satan, the Father of lies, relishes our confusion, he loves it, he basks in it. He wants us to be confused because as long as we are in a state of confusion and as long as we are disagreeing and as long as we are fighting each other then we are exactly where he wants us, confused, divided, questioning and useless for God's kingdom.
For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. 1 Corinthians 14:33
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Victoria
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It has been a very long time since I had a puppy, 15 years to be exact. Growing up we had lots of dogs but they were already grown by the time we acquired them, they stayed outside, and I was a child so other than feeding them and loving them, I had no responsibility for them. When Jason and I got married we had a miniature schnauzer that I had "rescued" from a friend of mine's neighbor. He was already a year old and was very smart He was quiet and nervous, but potty trained and neutered so we really didn't have a lot of work to do. After several months of marriage I was feeling maternal and we had not been blessed with a bun in the oven, so I began pleading my case for a puppy, not a dog, I wanted a puppy. Jason soon caved and we went to pick up my first bundle of joy, a miniature pinscher, whom we named Grace. She was six weeks old when we brought her home, she weighed only a few ounces and fit in the palm of my hand but soon we discovered that she could produce a lot of terror in that tiny body. Never having a puppy before I was completely unprepared for her shredding, peeing, pooping, eating, whining, howling, shredding, destructive, (did I mention shredding?) ways. Jason and I both worked full time. We lived in a small apartment and Grace wrecked it in just under a month. We had to rip out carpet, replace tile, fix cabinets, paint doors. We tried crate training to no avail, she would pee and poop in the crate and then wear it all day until we returned, and she didn't even care! She ate a million things she shouldn't... towels, wipes, medicine bottles, clothes, shoes. We made multiple trips to the emergency vet in those early months. Jason and I argued about getting rid of her. He thought she should go, but then she would be good for a short time and I would convince him to let her stay. I would joke that her name, Grace, was fitting since it took all the Grace I could muster not to kill her. Jazz, our sweet schnauzer would look at us like we were crazy and treated her like she had the plague. I swore that I would never, not ever, get another puppy, ever again.
15 years later and life has changed tremendously in our home. Grace, our little terror, is now a great-grandma. She can't hear, her eyesight is failing a little, she has arthritis and she spends most of her days lying in the sun spot on the carpet and cuddling in your lap under a blanket. She still has her moments of craziness, but the memory of those wild puppy days has faded.
This is where it gets bad, the faded puppy memories, because just like you forget the pain and sleepless nights of babyhood with your children and begin to long for more even after you swore at 2am that that baby was going to be an only child, you forget those wild puppy days of 15 years ago. I forgot about the constant chewing, I forgot about the howling nights, I forgot about the potty traing, and the teething, and the hyper- high energy, and when I walked up to the Walmart door and saw the sweet white puppy with the black spots and the sad eyes I forgot that promise I made all those years ago and all I saw was my little girls pleading face and all I thought about was how much I loved having a big yard dog to follow me around and grow up with me when I was a child and how my girls haven't really gotten to experience that with grumpy Grandma Grace... and I caved. I didn't cave right away, oh no, I said no and we left and came home, but then I called Jason, expecting him to be the strong one and confirm my doubts, but he didn't, he just said "well go get it if you want." That's the problem with him, he always gives in to me and it is not always good, but love is blind and off we went to get the puppy.
I now remember vividly the chaos that puppies cause, but it is too late, because he looks at us with his sweet eyes and he whines for us to come play and I remember why, through all the craziness, teething, chewing, digging, and howling, we kept Grace all those years ago. love. simple, God made little things like puppies and children so cute and innocent to show us how to love unconditionally. Just like God loves us when we create chaos in our lives, just like he loves us when we are being frustrating, hard headed and whiny. God created things around us to demonstrate what love is supposed to look like. I see it in my children, who wear me down and wear me out, but no matter how many times they cause trouble, I still love them and I see it in this new puppy, who is crazy and untrained and frustrating, but no matter what, we will love him and take care of him, because God loves me even when I act crazy! All I can hope for now is that it takes another 15 years before I forget about these crazy times because I am getting to old to handle any more puppies.
We love because he first loved us. 1 John 4:19
15 years later and life has changed tremendously in our home. Grace, our little terror, is now a great-grandma. She can't hear, her eyesight is failing a little, she has arthritis and she spends most of her days lying in the sun spot on the carpet and cuddling in your lap under a blanket. She still has her moments of craziness, but the memory of those wild puppy days has faded.
This is where it gets bad, the faded puppy memories, because just like you forget the pain and sleepless nights of babyhood with your children and begin to long for more even after you swore at 2am that that baby was going to be an only child, you forget those wild puppy days of 15 years ago. I forgot about the constant chewing, I forgot about the howling nights, I forgot about the potty traing, and the teething, and the hyper- high energy, and when I walked up to the Walmart door and saw the sweet white puppy with the black spots and the sad eyes I forgot that promise I made all those years ago and all I saw was my little girls pleading face and all I thought about was how much I loved having a big yard dog to follow me around and grow up with me when I was a child and how my girls haven't really gotten to experience that with grumpy Grandma Grace... and I caved. I didn't cave right away, oh no, I said no and we left and came home, but then I called Jason, expecting him to be the strong one and confirm my doubts, but he didn't, he just said "well go get it if you want." That's the problem with him, he always gives in to me and it is not always good, but love is blind and off we went to get the puppy.
I now remember vividly the chaos that puppies cause, but it is too late, because he looks at us with his sweet eyes and he whines for us to come play and I remember why, through all the craziness, teething, chewing, digging, and howling, we kept Grace all those years ago. love. simple, God made little things like puppies and children so cute and innocent to show us how to love unconditionally. Just like God loves us when we create chaos in our lives, just like he loves us when we are being frustrating, hard headed and whiny. God created things around us to demonstrate what love is supposed to look like. I see it in my children, who wear me down and wear me out, but no matter how many times they cause trouble, I still love them and I see it in this new puppy, who is crazy and untrained and frustrating, but no matter what, we will love him and take care of him, because God loves me even when I act crazy! All I can hope for now is that it takes another 15 years before I forget about these crazy times because I am getting to old to handle any more puppies.
We love because he first loved us. 1 John 4:19
