Mud

Do you ever feel like you are wading through mud? Not just literally -- even though if you live in my area there is plenty of that to wade in. I am talking figuratively.

It seems lately that I have been wading in mud. I can't seem to be able to pick my feet up and move like I want. I am weary from just the basics of life. I just can't seem to avoid dirt.

All three of my sweet family unit are sick. Poor JP is still struggling with his cold. I think we might have to go back to the doctor on Monday. He is like a snail leaving a slime trail everywhere. I am wiping his little nose all the time. It makes him so mad. Nate is sick. He has been hibernating for the last two days so he could make it to work today. I am sick. My head is heavy and so is my heart.

What amazes me is that as I read the blogs of several of my friends, there seems to be a lot of weariness and discouragement going around. I wish I handled mine with as much grace and ease as it seems others do. I keep hoping one day I will finish my growing up and be able to wear my big girl pants.

Well, I am going to keep walking -- all the time singing Isaiah 40 to myself until it permeates my heart.

Worldy Solutions to Spiritual Problems

I was watching Dr. Phil today (I know a guilty pleasure), and his show was all about people who were bullied in junior high school. They appeared on his show still hurting twenty years later. Life had moved on, but these women still carried their hurt.

I myself extremely dislike junior high. I really disliked being in sixth grade, and I was not too crazy about teaching seventh grade years later. As a preteen, I was bullied on the way to school, in class, and all the way home. It is hard being 5'9 and 115 pounds in the sixth grade. Reading that sentence, those sound like model measurements but add in a bad perm, braces, glasses and lack of coordination and -- well, you get the picture. As a teacher, I felt helpless because I knew that many times when I intervened in bullying I was only able to address the behavior and not the motivation of the heart behind it. Junior High is such a hard time, and I believe a lot of that has to do with the age of accountability (a complex subject better addressed by a more competent person than myself).

Anyway, Dr. Phil is talking to these poor, hurt people. One lady went into modeling and another went into exotic dancing looking for ways to improve their self-image. Both of the bullies involved in these cases did not even realize they had hurt anyone until years later when confronted with the facts. Here is the point -- bullying is a spiritual problem because it involves lies that come from the enemy and attack the heart. Dr. Phil as nice as he is, was offering reason to deal with a heart issue. Hurt does not need reason. Hurt needs healing and heart healing only has one source.

Let's continue my story. By the end of high school, I had learned to fly low and unnoticed, but I still smarted from some of the comments I had heard. I had lost the braces, glasses and perm. I was still tall, but fortunately some others had caught up with me (by this time 5'11). I was still very insecure and fearful.

So here is the million dollar question: Why was I not on Dr. Phil?

The answer: Jesus

When I was 16, I went from learning about Jesus to living for Jesus. I gave my life to Him and when I did, He took all the sin, hurt, and pain. I have not forgotten the comments and even how I felt during those times of bullying, but these hurts have lost their sting. Truth about who I am in Christ removed the sting, and even during those times when the enemy tries to throw them back at me, they do not stick because I am covered and sealed by the Holy Spirit until the day when Jesus Comes.

It is funny that even as I write this I am once again struggling with my self-image. New circumstances and new people but same fear. Wonderfully, same source for healing. Thank you Lord Jesus for being the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

If I knew then . . . (part 1)

The other day I was thinking about all the different items I received at my baby showers. If I could go back in time to my 6th month of pregnancy, I would redo my registry list. I would take off somethings and add on others. For example, I would probably have left off the diaper genie and added on the convertible car seat. Sometimes when I am at the store and I see a young, eager, and pregnant couple registering for items, I want to steer them away from certain products and towards others. So many things that I now find indispensable never even crossed my mind. I just knew my kid would be healthy and never need a first-aid kit (ha, ha)!

Sickness

Yes, it will happen. It is not "if" but "when." The hospital gives you a little blue aspirator to take home. This is okay if your child has minimum snot. If you child is like mine and snot pours out like two rivers from his nose, then you want one of these. This little battery-powered dynamo sucks snot like a Hoover.

I also recommend a temporal artery thermometer. It is like something straight out of Star Trek. You run it across a your baby's head and it gives an accurate readying. Much better than sticking a thermometer up you know where. I have one like this. I was showing this to my family one night at the Olive Garden. Everyone had to try it out. All the other customers must have thought we were cray.

Monitors

My husband and I both give our seal of approval to the monitors offered by V-tech. We tried a couple of other brands, but they carried a lot of static. The V-tech monitor was very quiet and had lights on the parent's monitor. It was a little expensive, but well worth the money.

Difference of Opinions

I have noticed that somethings I think are necessary for my son's overall health and well-being are perceived by him as violations of his civil rights. Here is a short list of things I consider necessary and JP considers torture:



1. Riding backwards in the car seat

2. Wearing clothes

3. Changing diapers

4. Sucking snot out of his nose

5. Wiping any part of his face

6. Putting in eyedrops/nosedrops

7. Baby gates


The main reason I think he finds all of this offensive is that it impedes his exploration. I have a busy little boy who likes to go and move and has very little patience for distractions. He is so awesome!

Snot, Snot Everywhere

Well, it is official. JP has his first head cold -- complete with runny nose and cough. Poor Baby.

Shiny Sink

I found out about a great website called flylady.net from a friend. One of my goals since wife and mother have become my full time job is to keep a nicer, neater house. This website gives all sorts of great advice to help the naturally sloppy become better housekeepers. One of the first steps is to "shine your sink" and to make sure it is shiny before you go to bed each night. So before I head off to slumber land, I would like to share the following picture with you.

JP Update!

I am sure all of you have been waiting on pins and needles to know how the whole sleep thing is going. Well, there is improvement. My husband and I actually had two nights uninterrupted. The last few nights we are still dealing with one night waking, but they are getting shorter. Who knows, by the time he is four we might actually have a whole week of uninterrupted sleep.





As far as food goes our son will one day eat us out of house and home. JP loves his fruits and veggies and cereals! We defiantly have a rolly-polly little boy.





JP has also discovered how to move himself around. He crawls on his knees and elbows and can cover quite a bit of ground in a very short time. He is also figuring out how to climb on top of things. The only trouble is he can climb up, but he cannot climb down.

I am such a hard-hearted mother that I chose to take a picture before I rescued my little adventurer.