Confessions

• I am loving Happy Endings.  It is not quite Friends good, but it fills my sitcom void...until Troy and I start watching 30 Rock this summer.  30 Rock is going to be the one show that Justin is always asking us if we watch that we are going to try.
• I am getting frustrated with the way women feel the need to compete.
• I am not thrilled with the thought of Troy fighting in the US Open this year.  Jason says he would not put him in the ring if he did not feel like Troy was ready...and I trust Jason...but still.
• I love some of the new friendships that I have the wonderful opportunity to begin.  I also feel like I have let a few intentional friendships become less intentional...to the betterment of one and detriment of the other.  I really want to learn the balance of that.
• Speaking of friends and Jason, I always forget how much I miss talking to him until I have the opportunity to say more than two words to him.  I wish that relationship didn't have so much drama around it.
• I realized one of the reasons I love Bible study and the girls in it so much is my love language, quality time.  I really don't think there is a way to spend time with other people that is of higher quality than discussing the Word of God.  So that time means tons to me...which translates into feeling love for the people there.  I just need to learn to reconcile the emotion when people don't come with my firm belief that God brings who He wants to each study.
• I wrote this in a blog awhile ago and was reminded of it when checking facebook today: The facebook status is a crazy thing. It is fun to update people on life's happenings and makes informing lots of people at once really easy. Sometimes we use them to share something we are learning or encourage someone specific. Unfortunately, so many people have begun using the status as a way to send a hurtful message to someone specific. Sometimes thinly veiled...sometimes thick with mystery. We are creating a passive aggressive way to attack people. God has really been teaching me how dangerous it is...how it can damage relationships. For the one person the message was meant, there are hundreds it wasn't...but they don't know that. If you don't have anything nice to say...

FAB: Things I Love

InStyle

I am loving InStyle right now.  I have a subscription (that I got at a great price through the Girl Scouts yearly magazine sales), but I am also loving their facebook page and website.  If you are interested in fashion, beauty or keeping up with trends, these are great resources.  All three sources have tips and fun things to learn or participate in.  The website even has a game that lets you play fashion stylist!  For me, it is a great escape from things that can weigh me down.  It is pure fun and ends up teaching me tons also.

The Grace of God by Andy Stanley

Our Sunday school class just read through this book together.  I like Andy a lot.  I have heard him speak both live and on video several times.  He is well spoken and very knowledgeable.  This is the first book of his that I have read.  I really loved his writing style.  He weaves the Bible with present day issues.  Each chapter takes a look at the grace of God in the life of a Bible character.  He reminds us that we are not so different than those characters in the Word that we look up to or down on.  God's grace extends to all and covers all.  Stanley brings up aspects of grace that I have not thought about before and reminded me of my favorite parts of God's gift that is grace.  I did not always agree with what he says, but I appreciate being challenged to think.

Biolage Daily Leave-in Tonic

My hair is very fine, but I have tons of it...which is wonderful, but it gets very tangled.  I went through a time when combing my hair was my least favorite part of my day.  I broke several combs trying to tame this crazy head of hair.  I was talking to my mom about it, and she recommended this fabulous product.  A few sprays on wet hair makes it so easy to comb through.  I don't even need conditioner every day.  Sometimes, I shampoo and use the daily tonic in place of traditional conditioner.  I love the product because I don't really put styling products in my hair.  Fine hair does not handle product residue well.  My hair can also tend toward being oily...which also does not take product well.  It will get oily and fall flat quickly so any product is iffy in my hair anyway.  This one works great!  I can comb through my hair easily and not have a greasy feeling in my hair all day.

SOME TIPS TO THINK ABOUT FOR READING THE BIBLE…

Troy found these and shared them with the group at our church that is reading Thru the Bible this year.  I loved them and wanted to share!

• Adopt the motto, “No Bible - No food.” Don’t allow yourself to eat breakfast until you have first read at least a verse from the Bible.
• Take a small Bible with you to the gym…before you start your rigorous workout sit on a stationary bike, pedal lightly and read a few verses during your warm up.
• When your wife asks you to go shopping with her, instead of letting it ruin your day, slide a Bible into your back pocket and find a nice comfortable place to sit and read while she decides between the black pants or the white ones or maybe the red ones. Ladies can also adopt this tactic when asked to go to a gun show.
• Give up one T.V. show to read the Bible
• Go to a place you like and look forward to each week and read your Bible there. For example, go to Starbucks every Monday afternoon, get a tall white chocolate mocha, and read a chapter of the Bible. Great for getting through those dreadful Mondays. Reward yourself with a treat and with God’s truth.
• Download an audio Bible to your iPod
• Write a Bible verse on a 3×5 card and keep the card in your back pocket, occasionally pull it out during the day and memorize the verse. I did this in college while walking across campus from one class to the next, it was a great way to focus on the Bible throughout the day.
• The Bible tells us one of the roles of the Holy Spirit is to teach us the Word of God. Pray that the Spirit would help you see and live out what you read.
• Give it time to soak. Meditation is an important aspect of Bible reading. Read over the same portion of Scripture many times during one sitting for deeper understanding.
• Find someone who seems to know and live out the Bible better than you do and then ask that person questions.
• If you are reading the Bible with a friend or with a spouse, talk about what you are each interested in right now. These topics can really help guide you into what portions of the Bible to read.
• Christian book stores are filled with Bible study guides on a plethora of topics. Some of them are centered on certain topics while others walk you through studying a certain book of the Bible or a certain larger section of Scripture.
• Keep it fresh. Shake things up, instead of reading from the NIV like every other morning spend the week reading from The Message or from the New Living Translation. Or spend a day doing your reading at a park instead of at your kitchen table.
• Set up a consistent time every day to read the Bible. If you try to read through the Bible every year without a consistent time it just won’t happen. If you shoot for nothing you’ll hit it every time.
• Pick out a Bible that will fit your lifestyle. If you are constantly on the go, make sure you have a Bible that will fit in your back pocket or purse. If you are at home and do a lot of your reading at home, get a larger Bible that lays nice and flat with some helpful study notes. If your eyes aren’t that good, don’t buy a Bible with small print, you’ll never read it. Get a Bible that fits your lifestyle and is easy for you to read and understand. 

FAB: Met Gala Fashion

So I don't really know what the purpose of the Metropolitan Costume Institute Gala is but, every year, tons of stars go and fashion is why. So here is my take on the nights big winners and losers.

Big trend of the night was long sleeve dresses.  I liked most of the attempts to pull this off.  Here is my top three:

I love when people have personal style.  I wanted to hate this dress until I realized it is what I should expect from Christina Ricci.

So I also generally appreciate Michelle Williams style even if I don't like it because she is true to herself.  But this time I can't like it because I HATE birds.

I think I would love Alicia's dress if she wasn't wearing the jacket.  I am not sure that I understand what she is going for.

So I looked at this dress for a long time because I think she looks beautiful but at the same time I did not like the over all dress that much.  I tried to decide why and came up with the fact that I think she could have done without giving the illusion that she is showing the world half of her naked body.  She can look beautiful without that.

Ok.  I have to admit that to only choose three worst dressed ladies I had to remove the people who were wearing just plain crazy things and assume that these people were actually trying and missed the mark.

Now for Best Dressed of the night.  Here are my top five looks!



Sounding Off: Breastfeeding in Public

So, tonight we went to Applebees for dinner (after seeing Rio - it was cute!).  I thought that the you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me highlight of my night would be seeing a dude wearing more jewelry than this guy.



But then a group of people walked in - two moms with infants and a family of four.  They came to a large table behind us...leading the group to the table was the family of four with the mom actively breastfeeding a child that is probably a few months shy of a year old.  She was wearing a v-necked sleeveless dress that she had pulled down to leave one breast exposed for the child.  She had no blanket covering herself and made no attempt to cover herself even after sitting at the table.

SO many questions popped into my head.  First, how did this happen?  At what point did she begin breastfeeding....to the degree that she had to walk around the resturant doing so.  Second, why would she make the people with her feel so uncomfortable?  Their whole group became the focus of so much attention.  Lastly, what is up with her man?  Troy would never want me to share with the world something so private.

Let me make a confession.  I did not love breastfeeding.  It hurt, and I hated leaking.  In fact, I disliked it so much with Nate that I didn't even try with Ian.  That being said, I don't have a problem with other people doing it.  One of my favorite friends, Bethany, has breastfed each of her boys for a year, which is wonderful.  I am kind of in the to-each-her-own camp on this one. 

Bethany came up when Troy and I talked about this woman later.  We have both been in the room with Bethany breastfeeding (either at her house or the church) but have never seen it because she uses a blanket.  Neither of us have been offended or uncomfortable in anyway.  But this woman offended me.

I think that I am just still shocked that a woman would be so willing to expose herself in such a way...in public...in front of anyone other than her husband, in fact.  Both Troy and I were happy that our children, specifically our boys, did not see her.  Talk about something you don't want to talk about over dinner.  I honestly don't think I would mind seeing a woman breastfeeding in a resturant if she is using a blanket or some other cover-up for modesty.  Yes, breastfeeding is normal and natural, but they are called private parts for a reason.

Struggling in Faith: No Answers...Only Questions

I heard something on the radio this morning...it kind of brought home or reaffirmed a struggle that I am experiencing.  I listen to Spirit FM pretty much exclusively in my car and on the way to work I usually hear the devotion/prayer time.  This morning they discussed praying for world peace in the context of praying for Japan and Libya.  While world peace is the token Miss America dream, it seems like an unattainable prayer.  But for God...world peace both from wars or tragedy is not only attainable but would take nothing more than a thought.

So here is my struggle...what do I do with a God who can but doesn't?  Whether it is an intimate prayer request like I shared in a post the day before yesterday or something like world peace, if we believe that our God can do all things (and I do) but doesn't act in a situation that causes those He loves pain, what does that say about our God...or my relationship with Him?  I know that He loves but why is He not moved to act on behalf of his people...in, say, Japan or Libya.  The pictures of the devastation in Japan break my heart, and I have no intimate knowledge of or love for the people there...and there are still aftershocks that would be considered sizable quakes in and of themselves.  I just don't understand...so I am seeking an extra measure of faith.

Isaiah 55:8-9 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD.  "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

It Is What It Is

You know how in a relationship when someone else is not doing what you think is right, they are difficult to talk to?  I feel like that right now with Jesus.  I hate it...
I have been praying about something since November...seriously, praying...fasting and praying.  A specific provision for maybe the best person I know...and He hasn't provided it, yet.  I feel like all I really have to say to Him anymore is "please, God, please."  I know that He is with me, and I see His presence in the situation but still...He hasn't changed the circumstance. 
I am trying to understand our relationship right now...it is like a marriage when you aren't necessarily fighting but not really connecting either...seeing someone everyday and still missing them...maintaining a relationship with the intimacy.  I want to scream because I feel so disconnected from my life source, but I also feel like it is His fault.
How do I move on with my Savior...even as He still doesn't provide?