If I were homeless ...

Darren (my bro-in-law) has been taking a homeless guy out to dinner during his breaks at work. After a fabulous meal at Carl's Jr., the guy asked Darren if he had any money to "buy booze." Darren said, "Sure," and handed him $5 bucks. My first response, which sort of surprised me, was, If I were homeless I would want to drink too. I am definitely one of those people who used to think that I couldn't give money to people begging or standing on street corners because they were just going to go by alcohol with it ... and that was just not good! Without Christ where does any warmth or hope come from for the homeless population who curl up on a park benches, cover up with newspapers and go to bed? For them it most likely comes in the form of a bottle which might even warm their insides and numb the pain of being homeless and having no where to go. Without Christ and without a roof over my head I think I would hit the bottle too. Too often I think I have judged first before empathizing and seeking to understand why someone is at a certain crossroads in life (i.e. homeless). I have judged the label on the bottle before daring to really try the liquid content. If a homeless person ever asks me for money to "buy booze," I hope that I have the courage to sit down with him and ask why he wants booze in the first place and then maybe even share a beer with the guy. Now that would be revolutionary (for me, at least).

Paper Plates Vs. The real thing

So ... we use paper plates -- a lot of them. I think we use paper plates for every meal. There are various reasons for this, one of them being that paper plates = less dishes = happier wife and mom. But, I have to ask the question, is this good for the environment? What is the greater cost, more waste from paper products or the amount of electricity and water used to clean real plates?

Fire Updates

This website lists all the fires currently burning, what counties affected, number of evacuations, etc. It also gives the name of each fire so you can search for updates on the Internet if needed. Ryan's uncle lives in Escondido and still does not know whether his house is standing or not. Be praying for miraculous wind shifts and a drop in temperature to combat these fires! Be praying also for the firefighters and their families.

http://www.nifc.gov/fire_info/nfn.htm

Lazy Day

We haven't had one of these in a while. After church we had a little engagement party for Darren & Kate and then after the kids took naps we hung out and kept updated on the Malibu fire and watched a movie. We didn't go outside because the air conditions didn't seem great, but being confined to the house was sort of nice. It just felt good to not have to be anywhere for an entire afternoon. And now the kids have gone to bed for the night and we get to watch a movie that we have been trying to watch all week, Transformers. Lazy days are a requirement to living sane lives : )

I'm thinking of ...

Do you ever play the "I'm thinking of," game? It goes something like this .... (we were outside while playing this)

Me: I'm thinking of something that is red and has white windows ...
Sage: It's a barn!
Me: Right!
Sage: Okay, I'm thinking of something that is purple and it's a circle with a hole in the middle.
Me: (I see the hula hoop) Is it a hula hoop?
Sage: No ...
Me: Oh, okay then ... is it hard?
Sage: Yes
Me: Is it outside?
Sage: Yes
Me: ?? (there's nothing else outside that is purple)
Sage: (smiling) It's the hula hoop mom. I was just kidding with you.

The Resurrection

A while ago someone asked Sage what her daddy did (for work) and she said, "He plays!" This is actually a pretty accurate description considering we usually only see Ryan at church during the game and song-worship portion of youth group. So, last night I explained to her that after the songs are over (after we leave to go home and go to bed) Ryan teaches the kids about Jesus and also encourages the kids to be more like Jesus. Fast forward a few minutes later in the conversation and Sage and I were somehow discussing how some people like Jesus and some people don't ...

Sage: But, some people didn't like Jesus and so he died.
Me: You are right, Jesus died.
Sage: But then he rose again!
Me: (super duper proud mom!) You are right Sage! Jesus rose again.
Sage: Well, there was probably a wand and someone probably waved it over Jesus and then he came alive.

I wanted to start cracking up ... but she was so sincere in her add-on to the story. I gently explained that wands are just pretend and don't even work when Dora uses them on T.V. I went on to say that it was God who rose Jesus because He is so powerful. Not sure if she got it but she didn't mention the wand again. Needless to say, this story will be told for many a generation to come!

Moldy Bread

How many times have I gone to make some toast only to find that the bread was moldy? My first inclination is to be irritated because I was probably looking forward to a piece of toast and now I would have to switch to some other non-molded food. I am not quite sure who I am irritated at, though. Am I irritated with the bread? Am I irritated at the store from where I bought the bread? Maybe I should be irritated with myself for overbuying in the first place. We live in abundance. Our refrigerators can house a week's worth of food which is good, but is it? How often do I forget what is in my fridge only to find week-old leftovers stuffed in the back corner ... molded? I recently read that we should keep a log of what is in our freezers. In order to do this I had to go through my freezer ... that was interesting. So, what's in your freezer and do you have any moldy bread in your house?

Balance

Sewing, or rather, learning to sew, has been a wonderful addition to my life. I no longer have to throw away items that, "if I only knew how to sew," could have otherwise been saved. Like Sage's toy stroller, for instance. It came with a seat cover and eventually, no doubt from Aspen trying to sit in it, the straps broke off. For months the kids have been playing with an empty toy stroller. That's kind of funny all on its own. But now that I have some basic sewing skills I was actually able to fix it. And now comes the hard part -- balance. How do I choose projects that won't cost more in time and money then just going to Ross and picking out a toddler dress on clearance -- then marked down 50% more?? I am not even a good enough sewer to know how long it will take me to put together a pair of pajama pants from a pattern. I think I saw a 2-pack of fleece pajama pants (super cute) from Costco which were priced at $12. So Ryan told me I better be able to make Sage's pajama pants for less than $6.
Well ... a couple of yards of pink and purple pegasus material later, plus some elastic and thread put the project costs well over $6. But Sage is so excited about her "pegasus pants" which definitely makes the project worth it. Like anything, balance will be the key to this hobby lasting.

Bowling

Tonight we went bowling with some friends from our church. I think we all got some strikes at some point, but in between there was Ryan trying to get the fastest bowling speed and Gina doing her jump-rope cheers. We laughed a lot at ourselves and at each other. My arm is really tired now ... I am sure to be sore tomorrow.
p.s. I must brag that in the 3rd game I bowled a 154 -- an all-time personal record.

Ugly Boots

Sage: Mom, I'm going to put on my ugly boots.
Me: Huh? Ugly boots?
Sage: Yeah, my ugly boots.
Me: (chuckle, chuckle). Sage, go show daddy your ugly boots.
Dad: Ugly boots, huh? How about Ugg Boots?