Do we realize what we are allowing?

Today I was volunteering at my children's school. I was helping serve ice cream at an Accelerated Reading Party. The table was loaded with everything yummy; sprinkles, nuts, chocolate chips, oreos, M&Ms, chocolate syrup, whip cream and cherries.

It was so cute to see the children's eyes as they saw everything on the table. I really enjoyed getting to help out.

I had my eyes opened today. As I was serving up the scoops of ice cream one little and let me stress little girl said she really shouldn't. To which I replied, " Oh you can't pass up ice cream especially on a rainy Monday." She then proceeded to tell me that she shouldn't because she was dieting because she really looked horrible in a bikini. I looked at her and my heart literally broke. I told her she did not need to be concerned with things like that at her age.

Isn't that the classic "old lady" thing to say. I was at a total loss of words. I told the lady with me that I couldn't believe what I had just heard. I told her it was the saddest thing I had ever heard.

The truth is the little girl who is in the 5th grade is really beautiful. I mean outwardly she is a very beautiful girl and it breaks my heart that at the age of 10 or 11 she can't see that. All she can see is that according to some crazy Hollywood image, she doesn't measure up.

What are we allowing to happen to our daughters?

The enemy is lying to us and we are believing it!

Do you know why this makes me jump up on my soap box? When I was about that little girls age a boy said he wouldn't like me because I was fat. Up to that point, honestly I really didn't know that I was fat. But believe me once he said it, well I fell for it hook, line and sinker. Do you know what happened as a result? I began dieting and I have been dieting ever since.

As long as we look to this world for our worth, we will never measure up. There will always be someone skinner, prettier, smarter, funnier, you name it. But do you know what I have found out...that girl who looks like she has it all together really doesn't. She thinks her thighs are fat too! And I have yet to meet a women who likes the way she looks in a bathing suit.

I so do not want my daughter to go through the image issues I have. I want her to know that her worth and value comes from Jesus Christ ALONE! And He says that she is beautifully and wonderfully made in His image!

Last year our church hosted The Real Me Conference for teen girls and women. We are starting now to plan for this year's conference. Today confirmed for me how great the need is for a conference like this. Please mark on your calendar The Real Me Conference - Friday, September 17th and Saturday, September 18th. I really hope that you will come and bring a teen girl with you.

It's A Comin...

I have to tell you what I did today because I am very proud of myself. I went outside and trimmed my rose bushes. My mama is gonna be so proud of me. She told me on Sunday that it was time. When I talked to her on Monday she just casually mentioned that she had trimmed her's that day. I knew she wanted to say "Girl, go trim your rose bushes!" but my mama wouldn't do that. So I can't wait to call her and brag!

I noticed as I was trimming my bushes that I had no idea what I was doing. I really had no idea how much I should trim, so I just started cuttin. I stopped when I thought it looked pretty. I mean isn't that why we go get a haircut. My rose bushes are no different...they want to look pretty. Here's hoping that I didn't stunt their growth! I'll keep you posted...

We had a beautiful weekend with lots of sunshine. I loved every minute of it. And here is something to shout about...my dog is permanently outside. Honestly, I hear the hallelujah chorus in my mind as I type this. We got an invisible fence installed last week and we love it. Except for the fact that our dog really doesn't mind being shocked. They have had to come out twice to "turn up the juice". Today the man came out for a second time and he said we have a stubborn, hard headed dog. All I could say was "well, at least he's cute." Don't you agree?

All this beautiful sunshine has made me so ready for spring! I can not wait to pull out the flip flops and put these socks away! I am busy this week preparing for my daughter's sleep over party this weekend. She is turning 7 on Friday and she is pretty much beside herself. I made big tissue paper flowers today to decorate with. Do you know what I love about having a daughter...she gets so excited over pretty decorative things. I am not trying to generalize genders here, but in my family my husband and son could care less about these things.

The other day I picked up some curtains for my living room. I really invested heavily in them...they each cost $3.74. And they look really good on top of that. I tucked them into my blinds just so I could see if I liked them. My daughter came in from school and the first thing she said was "Oh mama they are beautiful!" I didn't even know what she was talking about until I saw her gazing at the windows in the living room. I just smiled and thought to myself about all the fun we have in store.

I'll post some pictures one I get my decorations complete.

Have a great day!

Hey There...

Well from the date of my last post, one would think that I was so overwhelmed and might begin to worry about me. I guess I have been a little overwhelmed but with really good things like snowball fights with my family and winter break from school.

It is hard to think and write a really great post when you are the entertainment consultant for a 6 and 9 year old all day. I should probably keep my day job!

I do plan on continuing the topic of being overwhelmed. I think it is something that strikes a lot of us and I have had some real progress on my end that I want to update you on. But it will all have to wait until next week.

Stay Warm!

Overwhelmed...

I am overwhelmed. It is a place I have become very familiar with over the last several weeks, months or more truthfully, years. My feelings of being overwhelmed are often chased by feelings of failure because I feel so overwhelmed that I become stuck.

I will give you an example. I never feel "caught up" around my house. I can walk in any room in my house and begin to see lots of stuff that needs to be done. It may be something simple like clutter in the kids rooms or something a little more time consuming like organizing a closet. I have such grand and lofty goals for my home that most days they all seem so overwhelming that I don't tackle any of them. (Aside from the easy stuff like picking up dirty clothes) To be honest, I just figured this was a way of life for most people and I am not convinced that it isn't. However, I did have a friend tell me that she has nothing really to do at her house.

That statement is mind blowing to me.

Another area that I feel overwhelmed in is this new assignment I feel I have from the Lord to write a Bible study. Can I just tell you that it is so overwhelming to me that I do not even know where to begin. I had decided that I needed to carve me out a special place that would solely be for writing. I saw visions of cute girly decor in colors of green, pink and black. I said to myself..."Once I have it all organized then I can just sit down and get started."

That was two weeks ago and my upstairs desk is still as cluttered as ever.

Why?

Why am I content to live like this?

Why do I feel so at home in the land of Overwhelmness that I don't just pack up my bags and leave?

Well, I believe that I have stumbled onto some answers but first I want to hear from you.

Do you ever feel overwhelmed?

Girlfriends

Every month my church has a night out for the ladies called Soup-n-Salad. We eat, talk and are challenged by the Word of God. Last night was our monthly meeting and it was right on time for me.

My day yesterday started out really good but by 5:00 it was tettering on "Mama's gonna loose it!" I had things going on the stove, the kids homework needed to be done and don't forget my four legged baby that constantly has to be watched. Around 5:30 my husband comes home from work and instead of being greeted with a sweet hello, I threw all my frustation at him. I know secretly he was probably wishing he had not opened the door and I felt really guilty.

My family was probably as ready for me to get out of the house as I was to go to Soup-n-Salad. I headed out the door feeling like I was the worst wife, homemaker and mother. But do you know what I quickly learned when I got around all the other women?

I found that I was not alone. As conversations started and progressed I quickly realized that they shared many of my same struggles and that made me feel good. Then, for the few of us that lingered probably way too long (I did not get home until after midnight)...well, let's just say that we might not have solved all the world's problems but we sure did solve a lot of mine.

I left thankful for the girlfriends that I have in my life. Thankful that they are not afraid to speak truth to me. They are not afraid to tell me that I am boarding on Crazyville and need to come on back home.

The reality is that God created us for friendships. You can see this through several passages in the Bible. I immediately think of Mary and Elizabeth. Remember when the angel appeared to Mary and announced that she was going to be the mother of the Messiah. Remember that included in the message was the fact that Elizabeth was also expecting. Why was this included in the message? Why was this important?

It is important because our Creator knows that we need girlfriends. He designed us that way.

So, do you have girlfriends in your life?

Do you have someone who can bring you back from Crazyville?

And do you have those that you help tote back from Crazyville?

I encourage you to invest in the lives of the women around you. Be a friend today. Take a few minutes and pick up the phone. Show your girlfriends just how much you love them today!

Have a great day!

Hello My Name Is...

I feel like I should reintroduce myself to you. Hi, my name is Laurie and I am a horrible blogger. Even I can not believe that it has been over two months since I have posted. Apparently, my grade school journals are more telling than I knew. I have one journal that spans over five years because I have so few entries in it. I hope to do better this year!

So much has happened in the past couple of months. We added a new four legged member to our family. He is a chocolate lab and I have to say he loves to be kissed on the nose by his mama. His name is Drake and he really is adorable. My son turned nine in December and we celebrated by having 6 boys over at our house for a sleepover. I am happy that I (and all 6 of them) survived!

God has been doing some major changes in my life over the past several months. I have stepped down as the Women's Ministry leader at my church to pursue writing a Bible Study. Which is almost laughable given my commitment to writing on my blog. I am truly relying on God giving me the ability because clearly it is not with in me. I will keep you posted on my progress. I am excited about what God has instore for me this year!

God's Blessings to You

Farewell to the Beat of Eye of the Tiger

Tonight we bid a fond farewell to Sunny. She was gold and had fins and was such a delight. She was not noisy and she minded her own business. She was a delightful little gold fish.

I regretfully had to deliver the news to my daughter who fell out in the floor when I spoke the words "Sunny is no longer with us." It was a very impressive display of grief especially since she had only had Sunny just shy of two weeks. She won Sunny at the Fall Festival at church. Apparently their bond was deeper than I thought.

I suggested that we have a funeral to help ease my daughter's grief. My son escorted my daughter to Sunny's final resting place (a.k.a. the toilet in our hall bathroom) As they walked, he hummed the wedding march. I told him it was a wedding song and not a funeral song, but he just kept on a singin.

I spoke some kinds words on behalf of Sunny and then asked if anyone had anything they would like to say. Mind you we are all gathered around "the sea". My son delivered a very, very moving eulogy. It went something like "So long Sunny, we will miss you even though you weren't very smart. In fact, you were pretty dumb." (He did not understand why she couldn't swim through the treasure chest. She would get right up to the hole in the chest and then swim around it.)

My daughter had very few words. She just say goodbye. At this point her grief had turned to laughter.

I said that we should have a song or something to end the funeral. My son suggested Eye of the Tiger. My daughter loved that suggestion and so we ended the funeral by humming Eye of the Tiger.

My son did the honor of flushing her to the deep blue yonder.

Please let us know if you would like us to handle any of your farewell arrangements. Clearly we know how to do it up right!