all’s quiet on the western front
I was so excited last week, having made some preliminary tweaks to this blog, and having really gotten a good plan for the direction I want to go. I had planned to spend a big chunk of last weekend while Chris was at work finishing the revamp and writing some new posts…
Unfortunately, our internet access went bye-bye sometime Friday afternoon, and won’t be back till probably next week. I’m writing this from a remote computer, and while my sturdy little laptop has wi-fi and is fine for posting, it lacks the tools to do the upgrades I wanted to do.
So anyway, in case you were wondering why I dropped off the face of the earth after my last post–I’m not depressed! LOL. I’m just “unplugged” this week. It’s actually been mostly a good thing. I think I needed a little unplugged time this week.
You may have noticed that the categories have changed. They’re actually still mostly the same categories, just renamed and a few of them combined where there was duplication. The Daily Brew is still all the odds and ends and miscellaneous details of our lives. The Inspired Life is about creativity. The Obedient Life is about living out your faith and following the Way of Christ. The Ordered Life is about managing your blessings of time and stuff well. It’s more or less Organization and Productivity, but “organization” can easily become “perfectionism” and “productivity” can be about getting more done, faster, without a lot of thought given to what you’re getting done and why.
The Soulful Life is about caring for and tending your soul, whether that means therapy or a retreat, or spiritual direction, or a long walk in the park, or a fudge brownie. The Writing Life is about needlecrafts. Now, seriously, if you can’t figure out what The Writing Life category is for, I can’t help you.
So anyway, starting next week, look forward to more frequent (and possibly more focused and entertaining) posts.
stuff i never thought i’d hear from my kids #132
(From Maddie, after watching a new Chips Ahoy commercial)
Don’t you want a baby? Don’t you want one? OooooOoooooOooooohhhh…
Don’t you want a baby? Don’t you want one? OooooOoooooOooooohhhh…
come unto me, all who are weary, and i will give you … an iphone?
Church by the Glades in Florida is giving away $15 iTunes gift cards, and raffling off a new iPhone, as a way to promote their current sermon series “i: living in a self absorbed world.”
I heard this news story on my local Christian radio station. They were actually promoting it as good news. Because clearly, bribing people to come to church is just “creative evangelism.” And they’re definitely gonna be open to the idea of denying yourself, taking up your cross and following Jesus when they’re only there for the schwag… Read more
it lives!!!!! or, how mexican restaurants are like methodist churches
I experienced a moment of great joy on my homeward commute today. The Sugar Shack, aka Rainbos, aka the Palmyra alternative to Subway, is re-opening soon under new management. This time as a Mexican restaurant, La Palmas.
I’m of two minds about this. On the one hand, I fear for any restaurant that attempts to serve “real food” in that building, as it’s a remodeled bungalow. To say that it doesn’t exactly have a commercial-grade kitchen is being pretty generous, no offense to those who’ve admirably attempted to make a go of it there. I think Sugar Shack lasted as long as it did because they stuck with what they could execute well–soups, sandwiches, salads and frou frou coffee.
On the other hand, I would LOVE to have a decent restaurant in town, and I adore Mexican food. There is another restaurant in town besides Subway and the local pizza joint, but I swore I’d never go back there after they received a “C” from the health department this year. I’m sorry–there’s just no excuse for that. You know they’re coming! The fact that they now have an “A” just means that they managed to clean up their act for one day for the follow-up inspection.
Regardless, this is just more confirmation of my theory that Mexican restaurants are becoming like Methodist churches: there’s no town too small for one.
happy happy anniversary
We had our 16th anniversary party last night. It was a great time (at least, I thought so). Poor Chris was stressing out about the food, about the state of the house, about all the details–I don’t think he actually ate anything till everybody left. But he really enjoyed talking to everybody. I really hope everybody had a good time–I tried to talk to everyone, but I probably didn’t.
We’re very blessed, and very grateful, to have our friends. Everyone thought it was odd that we wanted to surround ourselves with other people on our wedding anniversary. Well, we spend all kinds of time just the two of us throughout the year. It really does take a fellowship to make a marriage last these days. There’s a reason that in most church weddings, there’s a point at which the officiant asks the people assembled there if they will continue to affirm and support the couple. Too often, when the rains come in a marriage, your Christian “friends” disappear.
I understand this–it’s scary and painful, watching your friends deal with marriage troubles. But I am grateful that our friends have been willing to get over their own discomfort and step into our mess, being there with us and for us.
Now, my big conviction is that I need to be getting together with my friends more often than every three years. (Although, probably not all at once!) This summer has been crazy, between two funerals, trying once again to get our other house sold, possibly going back to school (hit a speedbump this week–more later), and everything that everyone else had going on, it seems like we hardly saw each other.
Hopefully with fall coming on, the pace will slow a little and allow for a little more fellowship. 
stuff i never thought i’d say to my kids #176
“Joshua, you are NOT trading your sister for a Wii…”
“Madeline, stop licking your shoe.”
but seriously, i really LIKE my thirties
… However, I really also like I Hate My 30s, a new series on VH1.
It’s not appropriate family viewing, and has no socially-redeeming qualities whatsoever, but if the kids have gone to bed and you want to watch something stupid and funny, it’s pretty enjoyable. I particularly loved the Grease “Summer Nights” parody musical number.
change happens
I feel like I ought to clarify. It would be easy for someone who doesn’t know me (and possibly easy for someone who does, I guess) to take my recent posts about the changes I see in myself as a lot of patting myself on the back and “hey look at how great I am.” That is SO not the point.
The point is simply this: we look around this fallen world, and everywhere it seems that the Adversary is screaming at us “Things never change. People never change. At least, never for the better.” Why does he scream this so vehemently? Because the implication is that he is running things here. We can talk about a sovereign God and yammer on about the Kingdom, but for now, he’s running the show.
Except he isn’t. And those screams are lies, just like everything else that comes from the Adversary. Lies meant to disable us and cause us to give up hope and just quit. If he can’t kill us, his second most important mission is to make sure that we stay put and keep quiet. Read more
i’d like an order of McCarrot’s with a side of McMilk, mom
I read an article in a couple different advertising trade newsletters this week about a study that showed preschoolers preferred the taste of even carrots, milk and apple juice if it was in a branded container from McDonald’s. Dr. Tom Robinson, the author of the study, said the kids’ perception of taste was “physically altered by the branding.”
That’s pretty stinking scary, is it not? The kids were aged 3 -5, and the kids taste-tested identical McDonald’s foods in branded and plain packaging. The kids said the branded foods tasted better in every instance.
As an advertising professional, it’s my job to help companies make a personal connection to their customers. But as a parent, I think physically altering the senses of preschoolers is flat-out crazy.
as promised, i’m not who i was
To fully appreciate this, you’ll need to watch the video for Brandon Heath’s song, I’m Not Who I Was.
Go ahead. I’ll wait here.
(You should probably know that I have the song playing in the background as I write this.)
I’ve mentioned that this song is really speaking to me lately. It’s become increasingly apparent all this summer that I’m not the person I was two years ago, or five years ago, or ten years ago. I know that I did not accomplish this change. Read more
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