Selfish Sally

Selfish Sally is most of us. She goes around only concerned with her own life, her own kids, family, her own job, friends, activities. Oh, her intentions are good, they are worthwhile but she just doesn't get it. She may weep when she hears a sad story about someone in need, a lost child, a homeless family, a horrific event...but what does she do? She may see the needs in people's lives, the hurts. She cries, she hopes, wishes someone will do something to help the people so desperate for love, peace, hope.

Lord, help me to not be so involved in my own life, my own affairs, even my own ministries that I don't reach out to the people around me. Help me to really see people, see inside their hearts - pay attention to their actions and words and to simply love them, do something for them, show them Your love. Convict me Lord when I fail at this, help me to be broken for people, to show compassion to those who need it most, to those who everyone passes by, writes off, ignores...help me not to be Selfish Sally.

What a Day!

Today was District Music Contest for Missouri High Schoolers. Christian, my 15 year old, is a freshman at Warsaw High...he took a solo, a quartet, and a Mixed 8 group to contest. The judges give out ratings, 1 being the best, then 2, 3, 4, and 5. I've never seen anyone receive a 5 before and not today either. Christian got a 1 which means he gets to compete at State Music Contest in April. I am so proud of him, he sang great this morning, he was a little nervous but didn't let his nerves get the best of him. I was so nervous I thought I might throw up, whew, glad that I didn't and that he made it through smoothly.

Meanwhile, Cameron had a birthday party to go to at the Skating rink from 1 to 3 so I ran him over there in between listening to performances. He got knocked down a couple times and got a nasty bruise on his knee but I think he is going to make it and he still had a good time.

At 3:16, Christian sang in his last group and then we headed home to prepare for company. We had invited the youth pastor of First Baptist Lincoln and his family over for dinner along with another couple and their baby. I got home around 4 o'clock and started getting things ready. James cooked out on the grill, hamburgers and hot dogs, with all the fixin's. It was all good. We sat around the table to play a game when about an hour in, I suppose, and one of our guests asked where the bathroom was. He was gone for quite a while, upon return he informed me that I would probably need to wash my bath mat because he had thrown up. This, of course, did not stop our game playing, he had cleaned up the bathroom so it wasn't all that bad...a little while later that game had been won and our guests had returned to their homes. I cleaned the bathroom, threw the mat in the washing machine, took some vitamin C, and sat down to blog this. What a day, full of accomplishments, fun, and upchucking.

The difference between 13 & 15 year old boys

13 and 15...two years...doesn't seem like much unless you're a teenage boy. They are sooo different, of course they always have been due to their personalities and such but these stages in their lives are definitely at different ends of the spectrum.

My oldest son, Christian, is 15 years old and he has a bonafide driving permit. I let him drive after school today, we ran some errands and then went home. He got a good 20 to 30 minutes of driving in and we made it home in one piece with no "extra" scratches or dings. My point is, he is growing up, he acts grown up too unless he is in one of his adolescent moods which have been rare as of late, thank you Lord! Then there's my youngest son, Cameron, who is 13 years old. He doesn't even pretend to act grown up, I don't think he wants any part of it yet...again, thank you Lord. We stopped at Sonic after school and Cameron got a large orange slush. He had the best time giving himself brain freezes, it was so weird, who does that? I don't think that can be good for you but he is still functioning. When we got home I noticed that those formerly stinky feet didn't burn my eyes...I didn't smell anything and he had his shoes off and propped up in the recliner. I said "hey, your feet don't stink like before, what happened?" His reply..."oh, I washed them this morning". Now I'm thinking that's weird because he takes a shower every morning so I share this with him. He said,"yeah but I used soap today."
Such fun! The serious grown up 15 year old and the goofy 13 year old, but I wouldn't change a thing. I have learned to cherish every moment. Thank you Lord for these remarkable children.

Am I Living Well?

Every Thursday I attend a Bible Study called 'Your Whole Life'. The theme is Eat Right, Live Well, Love God. Each week we talk about how we ate that week, lived well, and loved God. We know what to say about eating right and we "try" to love God by showing love to others, our family, serving...but I want to talk about the Live Well part. This is supposed to be something that we do for us, for instance, getting fresh flowers for your table, getting a pedicure, a massage, going to a movie with the girls, etc. We have had many good discussions but this week when the Live Well portion came up this blog popped in my brain, this is something I am doing for me, and for all of you, okay...just kidding. But perhaps someday I might have something insightful to say. I have been thinking about this blogging thing and if I'm gonna do it, then I'm really gonna get into it and do it! I need to pour my heart into it! And this brings me to my realization tonight about how I have been participating in this bible study.

I go to two Bible studies on Thursdays, this one (Your Whole Life) led by a lovely redhead from church and another one at 7 pm that I lead with a different group of women, I am sure I will talk about that sometime or another. Tonight I was thinking how disconnected I've been to the 'Your Whole Life' study, I have been eating better, reading my daily devotions, filling out my food log, and sometimes exercising which has had its benefits, I have lost about 5 lbs in the last 5 weeks but I have not been committed to it. I haven't answered any of the questions at the end of each day's devotion and I haven't memorized the scripture reference for the week. What's worse, I have barely even tried!?! I know what I should be doing, I don't want to just go through the motions, I want to be all God wants me to be, to be used by Him to accomplish His plan, to bring Honor and Glory to Him in everything I do. I don't know why I have been "rebellious" on this but His mercies are new every morning and I'm going to cling to that.

10 Ways to Cure Stinky Rotten Smelly Feet

My son, Cameron, has the stinkiest feet! Last night he was sitting at the table doing homework when I walked in the room, YOWZA, they were bad! I said, "Man your feet stink!" Then my other son walked in and he too mentioned the hideous odor. Shortly after, Cameron too could no longer stand the smell of his own two feet. I told him to take off his socks and put them in the laundry room. He did but that wasn't enough, dad told him to wash them in the bathtub so we could all breathe, whew, that helped a lot. Well, this morning I opened the laundry room door and got a whiff of those socks, ugh, I threw in a load right away so I wouldn't have to smell them anymore. What it boils down to is, I have got to find a way to cure those stinky feet! Here is some info for such a cure...

Tired of never being able to kick off your shoes and kick up your heels because every time you do your friends and coworkers mysteriously disappear? The reason may be right before your nose. Stinky rotten smelly feet may be turning them off. Put an end to stinky foot odor once and for all!

Tea. Brew two tea bags in one quart of warm water and soak your feet for ten minutes every night for a week. The tannic acid in the tea helps to prevent the feet from sweating and causing odor. If symptoms return, simply soak your feet in tea for a few days. Once the problem is under control, soaking your feet once week will keep the odor at bay.

Zinc. Make sure you are getting plenty of zinc. One of the symptoms of a zinc deficiency is foot odor. Taking 50 mgs of zinc a day, for 2 weeks, will cure any foot odor if the odor is caused by a zinc deficiency.

Apple Cider. Soak your feet several times a week with natural apple cider. Remember to dry your feet thoroughly after soaking.

Jell-O. Soak your feet in lemon or lime Jell-O. Mix Jell-O with hot water. Add cold water to get a nice warm footbath. Soak feet in Jell-O until the Jell-O begins to "set". Wash feet with warm soapy water and rinse. Dry thoroughly.

Vodka. Myth Busters tested the use of Vodka in a foot bath to remove foot odors. They confirmed that vodka does work to eliminate foot odors. (I am definitely not going to go out and buy this so this one is out!!!)

Bleach. Pour ¼ cup of common household bleach in a foot bath with warm water. Soak feet for ½ hour. Rinse and dry feet thoroughly.

Vinegar. Pour ½ cup white vinegar into a warm foot bath. Soak feet for ½ hour. Rinse and dry thoroughly.

Listerine. Saturate cotton ball with Listerine. Apply to your feet. Do not forget to get between the toes. Dry thoroughly.

Rubbing Alcohol. Apply to feet with clean cotton balls after a shower. Dry thoroughly.

Alum. Wash your feet with warm sudsy water. Dry thoroughly. Dust with powdered alum.

LadyBug Blues

I have the LadyBug Blues
Every fall we are overrun by ladybugs, I don't care what ya call 'em, asian beetles, whatever...what I do know is that they are obnoxious creatures. They dive bomb, fly haphazardly wherever they please with no regard to people. Not to mention they stink if you smash them. We have to cover our glasses and cups all winter long due to unexpected visitors in our drinks, and that is no fun at all.
I long for summer when they will retreat to the wild and I can have some reprieve from these misfit creatures. Anyone have a foolproof solution to getting rid of these vile ladybugs? I only know to vacuum them up and I do this at least once a day, sometimes more.

Good Grief

Well, I DID have three blogs on here but I accidentally deleted all of them, what a goob! Back to the drawing board. Fiddle sticks...

Why do they say those things anyway?
Good Grief
Fiddle Sticks