Monday, October 25, 2010
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Naps, muscles, and spells...
Nap-time is sacred! To me it really is! I will even admit that on occasion I have been known to take the phone off the hook. When the afternoon rolls around, I mean with all my heart that two little ones are going to go in their rooms, lay in their beds, stay there, and hopefully go to sleep. At that time, I am going to go in my bedroom take a very deep breath, sit at the computer, read, have my devotion, and enjoy the silence. Very, very seldomly do I actually sleep, but just the time alone does wonders for my sanity! Some days lots of days unfortunately I also have to take care of things that are not so much fun such as pay bills, etc. etc. Anyway, like I said, nap-time is serious business for me! I NEED it! My family needs me to have it! BUT lately John Luke is not feeling the same need. We are working on this small issue. If things don't turn around soon, me and Mr. "I'm not tired" are going to have a "come to Jesus meetin'!"
Although me and John Luke are not seeing eye-to-eye right now on the nap situation, in all other areas he is a super sweet boy! He really does have a sweet spirit and I'm really thankful for that! {His sister---let's just say---is another story!} It seems that in the last few months they have started to actually enjoy one another. It is fun to watch them "play". And the strangest thing is not only can they play but they can also fight like you wouldn't believe!
Now the "not so sweet" little girl I mentioned earlier is also a "she-man"! She is a pee-mite in size, but her attitude is huge! And her muscles are even bigger!
She is literally pulling him across the floor!
This would belong to the "not so sweet" little girl. There has never been any truer words!
Have I ever mentioned how much I love the sky?
I heard an encouraging speaker the other day {during the infamous nap-time!} As wife and mother we are constantly serving our families. It can sometimes be a struggle. Nancy Leigh DeMoss says, "You are never more like Jesus than when you are serving."
Although me and John Luke are not seeing eye-to-eye right now on the nap situation, in all other areas he is a super sweet boy! He really does have a sweet spirit and I'm really thankful for that! {His sister---let's just say---is another story!} It seems that in the last few months they have started to actually enjoy one another. It is fun to watch them "play". And the strangest thing is not only can they play but they can also fight like you wouldn't believe!
Now the "not so sweet" little girl I mentioned earlier is also a "she-man"! She is a pee-mite in size, but her attitude is huge! And her muscles are even bigger!
She is literally pulling him across the floor!
This would belong to the "not so sweet" little girl. There has never been any truer words!
Have I ever mentioned how much I love the sky?
I heard an encouraging speaker the other day {during the infamous nap-time!} As wife and mother we are constantly serving our families. It can sometimes be a struggle. Nancy Leigh DeMoss says, "You are never more like Jesus than when you are serving."
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Friday, October 8, 2010
Saturday, October 2, 2010
The newest member of the clan...
His name is Bo. John Luke named him.
And he's very funny.
This is one of the coolest rides around. Just ask these two...
"Hold on sister."
And now there's another cool dude that gets to join the ride...
But most of the time he gets to ride here...
And these two are inseparable already...
I cannot say enough about how much I love this weather! It is so totally awesome! Happy Fall Y'all!
Thursday, September 30, 2010
I'm a....
The Invisible Woman
Excerpt By Nicole Johnson
It started to happen gradually…
One day I was walking my son Jake to school. I was holding his hand and we were about to cross the street when the crossing guard said to him, “Who is that with you, young fella?”
“Nobody,” he shrugged.
Nobody? The crossing guard and I laughed. My son is only five, but as we crossed the street I thought, oh my goodness, nobody?
I would walk into a room and no one would notice. I would say something to my family, like “Turn the TV down, please.” And nothing would happen. Nobody would get up, or even make a move for the remote. I would stand there for a minute, and then I would say again, a little louder, “Would someone turn the TV down?” Nothing.
Just the other night my husband and I were out to a party. We’d been there for about three hours and I was ready to leave. I noticed he was talking to a friend from work. So I walked over, and when there was a break in the conversation, I whispered, “I’m ready to go when you are.” He just kept right on talking.
That’s when I started putting all the pieces together. I don’t think he can see me. I don’t think anyone can see me.
I’m invisible.
It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I’m on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I’m thinking, “Can’t you see I’m on the phone?” Obviously not. No one can see if I’m on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all.
I’m invisible.
Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more.
Can you fix this?
Can you tie this?
Can you open this?
Some days I’m not a pair of hands; I’m not even a human being.
I’m a clock to ask, “What time is it?”
I’m a satellite guide to answer, “What number is the Disney Channel?”
I’m a car to order, “Right around 5:30, please.”
I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude – but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again.
She’s going…she’s going…she’s gone!
One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself as I looked down at my out of style dress; it was the only thing I could find that was clean. My unwashed hair was pulled up in a banana clip and I was afraid I could actually smell peanut butter in it. I was feeling pretty pathetic when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped
package and said, “I brought you this.”
It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn’t exactly sure why she’d given it to me until I read her inscription. “To Charlotte, with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.”
In the days ahead I would read, no, devour, the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I would pattern my work:
• No one can say who built the great Cathedrals—we have no record of their names.
• These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished.
• They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.
• The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.
A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, “Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.”
And the workman replied, “Because God sees.”
I closed the book, feeling the missing piece just push into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, “I see you Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one else does. No act of kindness you’ve done, no sequin you’ve sewn on, no cupcake you’ve baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can’t see right now what it will become.”
At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn, pride.
I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who will show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.
When I really think about it, I don’t want my son to tell the friend he’s bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, “My mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for 3 hours and presses all the linens for the table.” That would mean I’d built a shrine or monument to myself. I just want him to come home. And then if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, “You’re gonna love it here.”
As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we’re doing it right. And one day it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.
*The book that Nicole used in The Invisible Woman is Churches (2001) by Judith Dupre. For more information, visit www.judithdupre.com.*
© Nicole Johnson, Fresh Brewed Life, Inc. 2006
***Sounds like a great book to put on my list!
Excerpt By Nicole Johnson
It started to happen gradually…
One day I was walking my son Jake to school. I was holding his hand and we were about to cross the street when the crossing guard said to him, “Who is that with you, young fella?”
“Nobody,” he shrugged.
Nobody? The crossing guard and I laughed. My son is only five, but as we crossed the street I thought, oh my goodness, nobody?
I would walk into a room and no one would notice. I would say something to my family, like “Turn the TV down, please.” And nothing would happen. Nobody would get up, or even make a move for the remote. I would stand there for a minute, and then I would say again, a little louder, “Would someone turn the TV down?” Nothing.
Just the other night my husband and I were out to a party. We’d been there for about three hours and I was ready to leave. I noticed he was talking to a friend from work. So I walked over, and when there was a break in the conversation, I whispered, “I’m ready to go when you are.” He just kept right on talking.
That’s when I started putting all the pieces together. I don’t think he can see me. I don’t think anyone can see me.
I’m invisible.
It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I’m on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I’m thinking, “Can’t you see I’m on the phone?” Obviously not. No one can see if I’m on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all.
I’m invisible.
Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more.
Can you fix this?
Can you tie this?
Can you open this?
Some days I’m not a pair of hands; I’m not even a human being.
I’m a clock to ask, “What time is it?”
I’m a satellite guide to answer, “What number is the Disney Channel?”
I’m a car to order, “Right around 5:30, please.”
I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude – but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again.
She’s going…she’s going…she’s gone!
One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself as I looked down at my out of style dress; it was the only thing I could find that was clean. My unwashed hair was pulled up in a banana clip and I was afraid I could actually smell peanut butter in it. I was feeling pretty pathetic when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped
package and said, “I brought you this.”
It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn’t exactly sure why she’d given it to me until I read her inscription. “To Charlotte, with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.”
In the days ahead I would read, no, devour, the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I would pattern my work:
• No one can say who built the great Cathedrals—we have no record of their names.
• These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished.
• They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.
• The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.
A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, “Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.”
And the workman replied, “Because God sees.”
I closed the book, feeling the missing piece just push into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, “I see you Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one else does. No act of kindness you’ve done, no sequin you’ve sewn on, no cupcake you’ve baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can’t see right now what it will become.”
At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn, pride.
I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who will show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.
When I really think about it, I don’t want my son to tell the friend he’s bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, “My mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for 3 hours and presses all the linens for the table.” That would mean I’d built a shrine or monument to myself. I just want him to come home. And then if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, “You’re gonna love it here.”
As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we’re doing it right. And one day it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.
*The book that Nicole used in The Invisible Woman is Churches (2001) by Judith Dupre. For more information, visit www.judithdupre.com.*
© Nicole Johnson, Fresh Brewed Life, Inc. 2006
***Sounds like a great book to put on my list!
Monday, September 27, 2010
Good Morning Sunshine!
Kind of a familiar look according to her daddy...
These babies l-o-v-e their bac-bacs {blankets}...
Praise the Lord for the rain! And cooler weather! WE are super happy about it!!
These babies l-o-v-e their bac-bacs {blankets}...
Praise the Lord for the rain! And cooler weather! WE are super happy about it!!
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