The Rise and Fall of America

I'm sure our founding fathers had grand plans for the little chunk of land they called America. A freedom they'd probably never known, a new start. I don't imagine the first Americans had much to speak of, but they got by just fine. We became a very powerful and rich country, based on things like God, family values, perhaps even morals.

Fast forward to today. Wal*Mart. My morning started off with a thought; "Have I gone completely insane?" Here I am waking my sleeping babies up long before the sun is expected to make an appearance. "It'll be quick, no one will be crazy enough to actually get up for this.."

As I turned into the parking lot, I saw the mob of chilly people waiting for the doors to open. The crowd overflowed the entryway and spilled out in a thick line all the way back to the garden center. Other drivers were actually passing me as I waited for the car in front of me to let a load of eager shoppers out. They got out, the car started driving, and people were still passing us. I got inside the door (the food center door wasn't nearly as crowded) and only had to wait a minute or two for the 'doors' to open.

I went for bath towels. I could hardly get to them until someone kindly let me through (after about 5 minutes of me trying to get across the aisle.) I then ventured to the Christmas section to get new ornaments. On the way I got ran into twice, had two or three close calls and had to wait for about 10 people to move out of the center of the aisles so I could even get passed them. I was cut off by a few impatient customers but finally got the items I was there for and made it through the check out in record time.

My point: people are totally ridiculous! I cannot even imagine the crowds at places like Macy's or Old Navy or Target! People get up at (or stay up till) the wee hours of the morning so they can pack into the electronics/home/holiday department like sardines all the while pushing, fighting and in my case, ramming (note slight exaggeration for dramatic purposes) others in order to make sure they get the biggest and the best for the lowest prices. They are rude, impatient, greedy (people stuffing everything they see into the cart just incase they want it, if not they stuff it on a random shelf later) and this is what defines us as Americans. It's sad, but very true. We like stuff. We love to spend money (even when we don't have money to spend) on things we do not need. The guy in front of me at the check stand had what he wanted and was talking to a friend, saw a calendar and the friend said 'its only $7.88' and the guy in line replied 'ah why the hell not' and got it.

I cannot understand how all these companies are going under, how our country is in trillion dollar debt when all we do is buy, buy, buy! There is something wrong with this equation.

Off to bed, I must rest up so I can go eat waaay too much turkey..again..ahh, America the beautiful!

my heart breaks

I sit here thinking to myself 'If SHE got up and did something instead of just telling us what we should do..', 'If HE just changed his attitude, more people would be saved..', 'If they would just grow up and stop choosing the world..'

What am I doing!? I am watching Oprah. My bible is sitting 4 feet away. 'I'll read it in a bit..'

When was the last time I asked how I could pray for someone? (maybe a few weeks ago, asking a friend who is a believer..) I don't ask my non-believing friends. I do try to throw in a 'faith' statement now and then to remind them I believe in God and that's why my life is better (even though I still have so many problems..) Sometimes I feel like the only reason I share my faith is to 'show off' how I have it all figured out. That isn't my intention, but honestly, it makes me stand a bit taller knowing that I have great wisdom to impart on the world.

It makes me so sad, looking into the world and seeing all the 'christians' doing such horrid things in the name of the Lord. How could anyone even think of cheating, hurting, lying to another person? How dare they act less than Christ-like? ..because they're human. What makes me sick is when I realize that the things in my heart are so often just as bad if not worse than the things I'm judging!

I have a list in my journal of names of people I love that either don't know Jesus or they did and have turned from Him. It is top to bottom, three columns across and some added in the top section of the page. Most of the people I have known for probably half my life, if not longer. I made the list over a year ago, so even the 'newest' names on it I have now known for at least a year. I have to admit, I do not pray for these people very often. I try to remember but I just really struggle with it. In the past year, I feel like I have failed Christ, by not bringing these people before Him every single day. He has been more than faithful despite my short-comings. I have seen at least 5 of those people turn back to Christ in the past few months. Some are really still struggling, but so am I. They are coming to church, they are questioning their beliefs (in a good way) and I can see their eyes opening and their hearts softening. Earlier this year on a particular Sunday morning during worship we happened to sit on the 'far side' of the sanctuary. People were slowly filtering in during worship and I looked over..my heart was in my throat! TWO of the people on my list walked in, not together, but at the same time when I looked up..these are two of the 'least likely' to return in my mind. We were also sitting with another person listed, back for the first time in a very long time. I could not contain my joy! I had never felt that sort of ..absolute happiness..ever. I can't even explain it. At that moment, God showed me His promise, His faithfulness to answer prayers, to never leave of forsake His children.

I don't know why I don't pray more often. It is something I struggle with, but I am learning the amazing power prayer holds. I think I have had more prayers answered this year than ever, or maybe I am just more aware of it.

God has blessed me with an incredible amount of compassion and I think sometimes I let it become more of a burden than a blessing. I get so overwhelmed by all the people that are lost..I tend to just give up. But God continues to be faithful and He keeps showing me that if I just draw near to Him, He draws near to me, and that is the only way I can be effective as a witness.

traditions..

Today was probably the 18th time my sister and I have made noodles with our grandma. Every year for Thanksgiving we have homemade noodles with our feast. I think both my grandma and my grandpa's mothers made them when they were growing up, and so the tradition passes on to us.

For the first time, the 'great grands' got to help! Well, Toby mostly. The girls are too little yet, but I got to thinking..I really want to make my own family traditions to pass down to my kids, grand kids, great grand kids..

This is something that has been bringing us together for pretty much all our lives, and even after our grandpa passed away 4 years ago, he's still a big part of the day. Not in a weird way, but memories shared always include him. It seems like the only 'right' time to bring him up that we know it wont bring grieving, if that makes sense..

Ahh, I love the holidays!!

through autumn's golden gown we used to kick our way..

This is why I love my 'job'!! On a beautifully crisp fall afternoon I get to play in the leaves and spend the day with the cutest kids in the world! These are my two and the twins I babysit (in red).
















Molly, Tobias, Landon



















Bella & Tobias















Molly, Bella, Tobias, Landon

Making Your Home a Haven

After reading Rachel's post I decided to also join Monica's challenge to take a week and really work on making my home a haven. It gets overwhelming when clutter piles up and things are disorganized! I really feel like our life would be a lot less stressful if when we walked into our home we didn't see messes and junk piles everywhere we turned! You can read about the challenge here .
I'm starting today with tidying up all the clutter and organizing our spare room, dining room and closets. I'll post pictures later :)

this is me being domestic..

i just made the yummiest most amazing soup ever and i feel the need to share it!! :) a friend taught me how to make it. its super easy and really inexpensive!! you can totally adjust the amounts to suit your needs..

'Pozole' (po-SO-lay)

**12 cups chicken broth (i bought the box stuff, but it was buy 1 get 1 free!!)
**2-3 boneless/skinless chicken breasts
1 (29oz) can hominy
1 small cabbage (green, though im sure red would work)
1 lime
cilantro (if you're like me you need a lot- 1 bunch is more than enough)
3-4 celery stocks
1/2 a med. onion (i like white or yellow)
avocados (again, depends on how much you like..)
ground cumin

finely chop celery, onion & some cilantro (15 leaves ish), throw into the broth (which is simmering on the stove..) the hominy can go in now too.

sprinkle ground cumin (failry liberally) on the chicken, and cook in a pan with a little butter/evoo or whatever you like and the juice of half the lime. when its done, cut it into bite size pieces and throw into the pot.

simmer this until its all heated throuhg (20 minutes?)

in the meantime, chop the cabbage (maybe 1/2 per person..) into long thin strips, set aside. finely chop some more cilantro, set aside. chop the avocado into little chunks, 1/2 in maybe.

To Serve: once the soup is in the bowl, top it with the cabbage, cilantro & avocados and a little (or big!) squeeze of lime over the top!

**you could make the broth out of a whole chicken or bone-in chicken breasts, ground cumin, onions celery, a bit of cilantro. boil till chicken is totally cooked, take the chicken out to cool for a bit, throw the other stuff into the broth and cut up the chicken and add it back in.

..and that is how the cookie crumbles

The lovely Rachel Dowd tagged me in her post of seven rarely known facts about her (as she was tagged by someone else) so here are my seven tidbits, and I now pass the torch to the lovely Rachael Grubb at Semi-precious Metaphors ! (and you should visit her blog to watch Audrey!)

1| I cannot stand things touching my neck. If I wear a scarf or necklace or, heaven forbid, a turtleneck it takes every ounce of control I can muster up not to have an absolute conniption. (Fun Fact - my mom and sister are the same way..weird)

2| I would die a happy girl if I had only avocados & limes for the rest of my days. (and a little cilantro wouldn't hurt!)

3| When I was 4 years old I decided I wanted to go to Brazil as a missionary. To this day, that is still my dream.

4| I love being pregnant. No, really, if I had to choose between being pregnant for the rest of my life and eating only avocados & limes for the rest of my life..I would have a seriously hard time deciding!! (I don't get morning sickness, swelling or much weight gain..trust me, I feel SO incredibly blessed!!)

5| I always wanted to be a dancer. (I dance almost as well as Toby can say 'frisbee'..'shribzee')

6| When talking on the phone I have to have it on the left side. If I try to switch ears, I can't understand what the person is saying. It's really weird, I can hear just fine, it just doesn't register in my brain or something.

7| I have never watched: Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Casablanca, Brigadoon, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Music Man, Scrooge, An American in Paris, My Fair Lady, Guys and Dolls..the list goes on..I did watch Fiddler on the Roof for the very first time a couple weeks ago.. (Rachel - how could I have gotten past this in your family?!)