In tennis, the term love means nothing. It's the only place I know where love is empty and scoreless. The proper way to describe a score of zero to zero is to say love-all. With our Savior, it's different; love means something. It means a lot. Jesus teaches us to love at all costs even if we don't get love back; we love because He first loved us.
The Jews despised the Romans because they oppressed God's people, but Jesus told them to love their enemies. Such words turned many away from Christ. Jesus, however, led by example. Jesus loved the whole world, even though the world was in rebellion against God. And Jesus asks us to follow His example by loving, no matter the cost.
Love means action. One way to put love to work is to take the initiative in meeting needs. This is easy to do with people who love us, people whom we trust; but love means doing this even for those who dislike us or want to hurt us. Let us not allow an empty version of love to dictate the the way we treat others. Love should mean something, not nothing. Let us love how Jesus taught us to love: sacrificially and without expectations.
*not sure who to credit for this one. It was posted on a Facebook feed and I thought it was to good not to share. If anyone knows where this comes from I would be happy to post the proper credit.
Thursday, January 29, 2015
Friday, January 23, 2015
Devotional from Friday January 23, 2015
When was the last time you had a really good belly-aching, tear-dripping laugh? Or just some plain old fun? For that matter, what is your theology of fun? Perhaps you’re thinking it’s not spiritual to have fun, or that it’s not important in a Christian’s life, so you don’t make the time. I believe God created fun and humor because He knew that we would need the soul medicine it would provide in a fallen world.
There’s something that God built into creation that is enjoyable. Imagine the fun God must have had when He created all the animals. Next time you’re at the zoo just look at all the zany creatures; there can be no doubt that we have a fun God and that there is a purpose for laughter in our lives. Since we are created in the image of God as Genesis 1:26 says, then having a sense of humor is part of how we’re wired.
If you have a hard time discovering fun, surround yourself with those people who live life joyfully. My life has been lavished with people who enjoy life. And they are contagious! Even when there has been nothing to laugh about, God has helped me to find the humor in some small thing.
If you look around, there is always something to laugh about or enjoy. Ecclesiastes 3:4 says there is “a time to weep and a time to laugh: a time to mourn, and a time to dance.” We have the “time to weep and the time to dance” part down, but unfortunately not necessarily the “time to laugh.”
Fun is simply having a sense of humor or lightness; taking a recess from the responsibilities of life through recreation and relaxation. It’s making time for ourselves and others. Play and rest need to be given a proper place of dignity because we have been designed by God with a need to play.
How can we enjoy life when it seems like a never ending stretch of work? All work and no play makes for a very heavy existence. God fashioned us with a need for enjoyment and fun. He not only gave us a weekly day for our bodies to rest and relax, but on top of that He declared it “holy.” So give yourself permission to have some holy fun!
There’s something that God built into creation that is enjoyable. Imagine the fun God must have had when He created all the animals. Next time you’re at the zoo just look at all the zany creatures; there can be no doubt that we have a fun God and that there is a purpose for laughter in our lives. Since we are created in the image of God as Genesis 1:26 says, then having a sense of humor is part of how we’re wired.
If you have a hard time discovering fun, surround yourself with those people who live life joyfully. My life has been lavished with people who enjoy life. And they are contagious! Even when there has been nothing to laugh about, God has helped me to find the humor in some small thing.
If you look around, there is always something to laugh about or enjoy. Ecclesiastes 3:4 says there is “a time to weep and a time to laugh: a time to mourn, and a time to dance.” We have the “time to weep and the time to dance” part down, but unfortunately not necessarily the “time to laugh.”
Fun is simply having a sense of humor or lightness; taking a recess from the responsibilities of life through recreation and relaxation. It’s making time for ourselves and others. Play and rest need to be given a proper place of dignity because we have been designed by God with a need to play.
How can we enjoy life when it seems like a never ending stretch of work? All work and no play makes for a very heavy existence. God fashioned us with a need for enjoyment and fun. He not only gave us a weekly day for our bodies to rest and relax, but on top of that He declared it “holy.” So give yourself permission to have some holy fun!
Thursday, January 22, 2015
A Kitchen Cabinet Makeover
I know there are a ton of blog posts out there about painting your kitchen cabinets, but I'm posting this anyways cause I'm just so darn happy with how they turned out!
Our cabinets were not horrible, but they were just your standard builder grade oak. Plus there are a million different wood finishes throughout the house so it was driving me CRAZY!!! There is also not a lot of natural light in our kitchen so I knew when we moved in they would need to be white to help reflect for light.
This is after the first coat of primer. Can I just tell you how terrified I was? I mean look at that! It's horrible!!!
After like 3 or 4 coats of primer, I realized this was going to be a lot of work. This is when I took a break and made french fries. I told myself I was being an awesome mom to make homemade fries for my kids while doing the kitchen cabinets, but really it was just for me. I was already "over" this project and needed some serious comfort food to keep me moving forward.
And no I did not take my cabinets off to paint them. I had 1 week to finish this project and that would have slowed me down. It worked out just fine and my kitchen didn't look completely disheveled when I wasn't working on it. This is about the worst that it looked. And I'm ok with that!
After the primer it took about another 4-5 coats of paint and a million episodes of watching Bones while working and it was done! I LOVE how it turned out and my house feels so much cleaner and brighter. My only recommendation is to make sure you add Flotrol to your paint to help eliminate brush strokes. I used a cabinet roller, but it will still leave some texturing behind, but the Flotrol gets rid of that! Don't forget the Flotrol!!!
Devotional from Thursday January 22, 2015
Oh my goodness I say as I walk into a friends house. “Look at her super clean house? Why isn’t my house always this clean? No one will want to come to my house cause its not as cute!”
I’ve always struggled with comparisons. We might have a sister we've adored and wanted to be just like her. We might have had a friend with cute freckles on her nose and we wanted freckles too. We played tournament tennis and we wanted to perfect the backhand and make it look like my Wimbledon idol.
It’s so easy to look around at the friends we have and find an inordinate desire to walk like them, talk like them, witness like them, pray like them, and know the scriptures like them. But be careful! It's a trap! A comparison trap- and unfortunately I have found myself all to often caught securely in it. Have you?
For me, half of the problem was my own insecurity. Another piece of my problem was a sincere desire to be the very best for God, and when I saw someone doing that, I tried to copy her. Comparisons usually lead to copying and that is not all bad if you copy the principles and not the particulars.
You can’t copy spiritual gifts, however, even if you have gifts in the same area. God has made us uniquely and intends for each of us to be ourselves. Escaping the comparison trap is a question of being sure of your own identity.
The most freeing thought for me has been, “If I were them, who’d be me?” Why would God make me one of a kind if He wanted me to try being a clone? No matter what, just smile and insist on being you!
*modified from http://justbetweenus.org
I’ve always struggled with comparisons. We might have a sister we've adored and wanted to be just like her. We might have had a friend with cute freckles on her nose and we wanted freckles too. We played tournament tennis and we wanted to perfect the backhand and make it look like my Wimbledon idol.
It’s so easy to look around at the friends we have and find an inordinate desire to walk like them, talk like them, witness like them, pray like them, and know the scriptures like them. But be careful! It's a trap! A comparison trap- and unfortunately I have found myself all to often caught securely in it. Have you?
For me, half of the problem was my own insecurity. Another piece of my problem was a sincere desire to be the very best for God, and when I saw someone doing that, I tried to copy her. Comparisons usually lead to copying and that is not all bad if you copy the principles and not the particulars.
You can’t copy spiritual gifts, however, even if you have gifts in the same area. God has made us uniquely and intends for each of us to be ourselves. Escaping the comparison trap is a question of being sure of your own identity.
The most freeing thought for me has been, “If I were them, who’d be me?” Why would God make me one of a kind if He wanted me to try being a clone? No matter what, just smile and insist on being you!
*modified from http://justbetweenus.org
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Camping
We had such a fun time camping with a few of our homeschool friends at the end of August. We actually slept in a tent. If you know anything about me that is quite the feat. I'm not a big camper. But we ended up having a really good time.
In the morning, our two oldest girls decided to go exploring without telling mom and dad. They came to the tent slightly giggling calling for us to come help them. When I opened the tent door this is what I found. I was less than amused, especially since we didn't bring extra clothes!
The mud was SERIOUSLY CAKED ON!!!
The mud had to be scraped off!
This is the creek they decided to explore...
And this is where they got stuck! Thankfully a nearby camper heard there cries for help, got a stick and pulled them out.
Once they were all cleaned up there was no shortage of snake hunting . . .
and frog hunting. SO MANY FROGS!!!
Porkchop shot his first bb gun.
I think he liked it!
We were sad we couldn't stay the full weekend with our friends, but the hubby had an international flight he had to get back in time for. But on our way home I was able to snap this shot of the Manti temple. So beautiful! Can't wait till we can do this again. Hopefully we can stay the full time!
Devotional from Tuesday January 20, 2015
We all have good days and bad days. Often, a really bad day follows a really good day. God, however, is always the same, whatever our days may bring. David found that out.
One day young David had arrived at the battle scene where he heard the giant Goliath, from the Philistine city of Gath, defying God’s people. So David bravely killed him (1 Samuel 17:32-51).
King Saul took David to his palace as his servant, but became madly jealous of David and tried to kill him (1 Samuel 19:9-10). So David became a fugitive. He traveled to the camp of Achish, the king of Gath, and threw himself on his mercy. The servants of King Achish did not trust David, and David was afraid.
David had killed the king’s giant, yet he was afraid of the giant’s king! How can we do so well one day and so badly the next? I know, don’t you? David gives me courage to know that I don’t kill a giant every day. Some days the giant gets us, and we fail badly. Then we may feel like running away. We may lose all sense of focus and feel so down that we have no energy to do anything. As with David, our days will be filled with victories and defeats.But remember, God didn’t give up on David, and He won’t give up on us. So we mustn’t give up! We need to repent, redo, regroup – whatever it takes – but not let the giant drag us down. God loves us, even in our failures. Don’t ever forget that.
*found on http://justbetweenus.org/pages/page.asp?page_id=316793
Monday, January 19, 2015
A Wedding!
This past summer my amazing sister got married!
I'm so happy for her and her new hubby! They are perfect for each other and can't wait to get to know my new brother in law better.
The decorations at the reception were perfect! Most of what we used to decorate with came from the company my sister used to work for Lights for all Occasions.
And everyone got to take their glasses home as a thank you favor.
And it's a rare moment when my kiddos are in coordinating or matching outfits so I tried to take the opportunity to get a picture, but our youngest kiddo was full of attitude that night.
See what I mean!
My sister asked if I would make her cake and cupcakes and this is what I came up with. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out!
She also asked if I would make cupcakes. They were SUPER tasty! And the role brownie bites with caramel frosting weren't half bad either. Not bad at all! :)
And even though she was being super spunky, at least I got this super cute picture of these two! They danced the night away and ate more sugar than I want to know about. It was the perfect day!
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