A Good Laugh! I Love My Kids!!!

I love my kids! They are a constant source of joy for me! ...Well, unless they happen to be having a teenage attitude or back-talking me... But that doesn't happen too often!!!

I thank God often for allowing Kirk and I to be the parents of such wonderful kids. They truly are a blessing!

AND...they keep me laughing! I was working on adding to the list of funny things they have said through the years, so I thought I'd share some of them with you.

Jynna (2007)--After hearing an organ was donated to the church, she said, "EEEEWWWW..who would give an organ to a church????"

Jynna (2007)--Said she needed some "Ag neick" medicine (...acne)

Kyrie (2007)--Looking at old pictures of Kirk and I, she saw one with Kirk wearing his class ring. She said, "Ohhhh...there's Daddy with his mood ring!"

Jynna (2007)--When we were discussing going on an airplane and being on a runway, she said, "But runways are for models???"

Kyrie (2008)--When explaining to hear what internal bleeding is, she said, "Just how would you put bandaids on your vines?" (she mean veins)

Tra (2008)--Asked the waitress at Olive Garden for more "Craytons" (...croutons)

Tra (2008)--After watching the news, came to me and said, "That city has 7 square people per mile!"

Kyrie (2008)--While drinking milk, Kyrie said, "Don't bother me, I need all the vitamin C I can get!"

Tra (2008)--Kirk said, "I need to eat to get some sustenance." Tra responded with "Sustenance...what language is that???"

Tra (2008)--When doing homework, he said "6 minus 4...is that even possible?"

Kyrie (2008)--She was told her new glasses made her look sharp. She was then wondering why she looked "Pointy"

Tra (2008)--Told him to right-click the mouse on the computer. He proceeded to type the word "Click"...

Kyrie (2009)--"I'm kinda mad Adam and Eve sinned, but I'm kinda glad too. Cuz now we have all these cute fashions!"

Jynna (2009)--Wanted me to make cookies from "Scrap"....(scratch)

Kyrie (2009)--Told us the moon has only been around since the 1800's.

Kyrie (2009)--"My teacher had us get out paper and practice with our compass and chiropractor"

Kyrie (2009)--"Why did we skip the year 1920?"

Jynna and Tra (2009)--Jynna says, "How do you ask for a coffee with no foam?" Tra-"You ask for no foam."

Tra (2009)--I asked him if it is pouring or drizzling out. He said, "A little bit of both."

Kyrie (2009)--"In 1992, Columbus sailed the ocean blue."

Tra (2010)--"I made a vow to myself. When I get my own place, I'm going to buy canned toothpaste cuz it never runs out!"

Tra (2010)--Told us we were good candidates for the show "The World's Strictest Parents"

Kyrie (2010)--Was microwaving a TV dinner and needed it to be heated for 1-1/2 to 2 minutes. She asked me how to type in "seven fifty" on the microwave.

Jynna (2010)--"Does W come after Z in the alphabet?"

God-Confidence

I have gone backwards in my confidence...relying on others instead of God.
...since when did it matter what other people thought.
...since when did I need someone else so much.
...since when did I need someone's approval.

Where did my God-confidence go?

I should be a blazing a trail...not a trail of comfort
...but a trail of absolute dependence on God.

Where there is comfort...there I depend.........on the comfort....on myself.
...Do I even need God then?

When I step out of the boat, in COMPLETE faith......then there is only dependence on God.

I can no longer rely on the familiar.
I can no longer do it in my own strength.
...It's ALL God.
Trust.
Absolute faith.

Why would I want to remain in the familiar?
It might be easy.
...but why go through the motions?
...That's TOO easy!

God is calling me (us) to be uncomfrtable.
He is calling me (us) to blaze a trail.
...to walk in His path.

no matter what

When I don't understand what He's doing, I simply trust.
I simply follow.
No questions asked.
Blind trust.

Step out of the boat.
Trust God to do HIS part.
And He will never fail you.

Cheese...The Latest Addition to Our Garage

Never a dull moment in the Brown household...that's for sure! Whether it's tackling 10 loads of laundry....or catching our dog after he escaped to the neighbor's horse arena....or having a Just Dance competition....or belching the ABC's...or spelling our name in pretzels....there always seems to be something interesting going on in our household!!!

And tonight was no different!

It started as a trip to go to Walmart. Yes, my second home. It seems like I am forever running to Walmart for things that I have forgotten while grocery shopping. It's not that I don't have a list when I grocery shop. I do. I just somehow forget things still.

Sometimes I forget the very thing that prompted my trip to Walmart. Sometimes I forget to give the cashier my stack of coupons that I spent 20 minutes sorting out and organizing BEFORE my grocery shopping adventure.

Today was different. I actually remembered everything I went to the store for. WHOA! When has that ever happened????? I even remember to get my hubby the queso cheese dip that he loves! Success!

And.....(hold your breath...this is unbelievable...)..............I only spent 45 minutes in the store! GASP!!!! Normally my Walmart trips consist of me going back and forth from one side of the store to another as I keep remembering items I forgot. For instance, I'll go to the health and beauty side of the store and then remember I forgot to get milk. GRRRR....

Not tonight! Tonight it was quick and easy! Walmart was not even busy! The aisles were clear and I power-walked with my cart.

I found a check-out lane with no one waiting.....BONUS! Then I loaded my vehicle and drove home...pleased it was only 6:30 pm!!!

I arrived at home, honking as I pulled into the driveway...which signified to my family that it is time to help mom unload the groceries. I quickly went to the back of my SUV and opened the trunk.

The next events happened so quickly that there was absolutely nothing I could do to stop it. Apparently there was a bag that shifted while I drove and found itself leaning ON the door that I was now opening.

Before I knew what happened, a bag came rolling out of my trunk and landed on the garage floor with a load THUMP. I looked down and saw 2 boxes of cereal in this bag. My immediate thoughts...."No big deal...just a few boxes of cereal." So I quickly picked it up to carry inside.

However, to my shock I realized that the cashier had placed the glass jar (and yes I bought the large size one) of queso cheese in WITH the cereal. Yes, that THUMP I heard was actually the glass jar breaking into several pieces. I looked down and realized that the garage floor had a very large area of queso cheese on it....well, queso cheese mixed with glass. Along with that was the boxes of cereal that were also covered in cheese. Yippee. Just what I want to deal with on a cold winter day.

Just then my loving hubby came to the rescue. For the next few moments he cleaned up broken glass and then used a broom to sweep the cheese into the nearby snow bank. Next he brought some snow INTO the garage and used that to clean the floor of the remaining cheese stain.

Then my daughter emptied the cheese covered cereal boxes into the plastic cereal containers we have....of course the cheese ended up all over the counter and microwave, but that was an easy clean-up.

So, now the queso cheese is no more. That means I will have to go to Walmart again soon. I can hardly contain my excitement....

Sometimes things in our lives don't go as planned. Sometimes things spin out of control and suddenly we have a mess. Sometimes the unexpected happens. Sometimes things don't go our way. Sometimes we don't understand what God is doing. Some days our garage floors may get covered in cheese. Some days we may be faced with things that are just not what we expected...or even wanted.

It's in those moments that we need to remember that God is in control. There's nothing hard enough that He can't handle. It's easy to panic as we try to deal with the unexpected. It's easy to be fearful.

But God never makes messes. Those unexpected things in our lives are there to teach us something. They are there to build character. Problems aren't a bad thing...instead they are what makes us strong.

The only way to get around our problems is to go through them. Too many people quit right before their breakthrough..... Next time you get some cheese on your garage floor, look at it as a blessing and an opportunity to learn something.

And...if you come to our house in the next few days, please disregard the cheese covered snow....

The Facebook Weight Loss Challenge

January. The month for starting a weight loss program.

February. The month for forgetting about the weight loss program you started.

Why is it that losing weight is so hard? As I look at my "This is My Life" goals, I know that I need to start taking better care of my body...and this includes getting back to my goal weight. Reflecting back to past weight loss programs I've been on, I thought about what it was that I did in the past that had the best results. What was it that helped me to lose 40 pounds?

Accountability.

Hands down, accountability was the thing that produced results in my life. Accountability to the people around me....AND accountability to God.

Being accountable to those around me means that I have someone to answer to. Someone will be checking up on me. I must do well so that I don't have to report bad results...or failed attempts.

Being accountable to God means that I don't just try this on my own. Instead, I surround everything I do with prayer. I bathe my whole day in prayer. When I am in a moment of weakness and really would like to devour the Oreo cookies in front of me, I turn to prayer instead. "God please help me to take care of my body...please help me to resist this temptation."

So before I even begin a weight loss challenge for this year, I know I needed a way to be accountable. I already have been taking this need to God in prayer. But I need the help of all of you. I need those around me to help hold me accountable. And how can you do this? Well, God gave me an idea....

(drumroll please...)

The Facebook Weight Loss Challenge!

I encourage everyone out there to participate in this if you are wanting to lose a few pounds. Years past when I have done "The Biggest Loser" with our church, it SOOOO helped me to stay accountable. I knew that people would ask me how much weight I lost during the week. I wanted to do a good job. I wanted to accomplish my goal.

Yes, this is kinda like Biggest Loser where we will weigh in once a week. But the difference here is no one will know your weight. That is something you will keep private.

Sooooo....if you wish to participate, here are the directions.

1) First, go weigh yourself now. Don't wait until tomorrow. Don't wait until next week. Why wait? There's no better time to start that in this very moment!!!!! Record your weight somewhere private.

2) Then begin to work on getting a healthier body. That will probably consist of eating better, exercising, etc. I find it very effective to count calories and never go over my max for the day. You can find many weight loss calculators online that will tell you how many calories a day to consume to reach your goal weight in a certain amount of weeks/months.

3) Every Sunday morning, weigh in. Then look at your previous weigh in numbers to determine the amount of weight lost/gained.

4) Post your results on Facebook. Don't put your actual weight...just put the amount lost or gained.

Now, let me answer 2 questions I know you are asking yourself.

First off, why Sunday? Why weigh in on Sundays???? Well, I look at it as what better day to check on our progress than on God's day? It is a good reminder to me that my body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) I need to honor God with my body. I need to take care of His temple.

Secondly, why post the results on Facebook???? The answer to that is ACCOUNTABILITY. Look at how many friends you have on Facebook. Each one of them will know your results. That should be motivation to do your best!!!! Who wants to report a weight gain? This should keep you on track to try your very hardest!!!

So who is with me???? Anyone out there brave enough to do the Facebook Weight Loss Challenge with me??????????

This is Your Life...Are You Who You Want to Be?

New Year's Day. The day in which everyone makes New Year's resolutions.....

Resolutions that start out with good intentions but often time fade off into ancient history by the middle of February....

Personally, I have made many different New Year's resolutions in the past. Sometimes I accomplish my goal. But mostly my well-intended goal becomes something I forget about after a few months.

So this year I am not making New Year's resolutions. Nope. No New Year's resolutions for me. Instead, I am going to give myself some "This is My Life...Am I Who I Want to Be" goals. These aren't just trivial things that I am going to forget about. This isn't a list of 49 different things that I will easily forget I even wrote down. These are things that will truly change my life. These are things that I have seen in my life that I want to change...things that will make me a better person.

I got this idea from two things. First of all, I love the song by Switchfoot called "This is Your Life". Secondly, I recently was talking to my daughter about the jewelry she likes. She made the comment that she loved this pair of earrings so much but she could never wear them. Why I asked why not, she said it was because she never wore earrings like that. Right away I responded with, "Why don't you change that?" I use to never wear bracelets or big earrings. I just didn't like how they looked on me. I liked how they looked on others though. But one day (several years back) I just decided to break out of my mold and change my pattern. And guess what? To this day I wear bracelets and big earrings!!!

That got me thinking...what else about my life do I want to change? What other things have I just been doing over and over again....things that could be changed...things that could be improved? Sometimes we get stuck in a rut and forget that we have the ability to get ourselves out of our rut!!!

So here it goes.....here are my "This is My Life...Am I Who I Want to Be Goals"....not the complete list...just some that I have jotted down for now.....(in no particular order)...

1) Draw closer to God....not just in a "temporary..last 2 weeks" burst of passion. I want a true passion that consumes my life and becomes the very foundation of my life...my reason for living...the thing I base EVERYTHING in my life on....a relentless love.

2) Take care of the body that God has given me. This goal means I need to get back to my goal weight. In the last 2 years I have lost a lot of weight, but I have become lazy in maintaining my goal weight. This goal will involve both exercising AND eating healthier.

3) Beat my 5k time and participate in longer races. In 2011, I participated in my first ever 5k race...and I LOVED IT! The whole process of racing made me prepare by taking care of my body and becoming a healthier person overall. It was scary to run my first race, but it truly took me out of my comfort zone and into something that stretched me. I don't run races to finish in the top...I know that I run too slow for that. Instead, my goal is to continue racing and to continually better my personal best time.

4) Better myself musically. I will admit...in the past I have been so busy that I failed to practice music and my instruments faithfully. God has put a renewed passion...a fire...inside me for music. I want to flourish musically and nurture these talents that He has put inside of me. They shouldn't go to waste...and they shouldn't go by the wayside and be something that I don't give attention to.

5) Spend more time in worship....and prayer....and Bible reading. These are the foundation of my relationship with God. I will draw closer to God naturally with more time spent with Him. This goal means turning off the TV, computer, etc...and purposefully spending time with God.

6) Become a better wife. Yes, my husband and I have a great relationship now...but I know it can get even deeper. He is my best friend...but I want to get even closer to him.

7) Become a better mother. My kids are growing up soooo incredibly fast! This goal is about becoming closer to my kids and doing more with them...spending more time....being a better role model.

8) Become a better pastor's wife/friend to those around me. I want to be the best friend I can be to those around me. I want to be the best pastor's wife I can be. But none of this is possible without God's help.

9) Become a true "woman of God"....one that God is proud of. I want to get rid of any areas of my life that are hindering my walk with God.

10) Get back to writing. Yes...I am writing on my blog more already. But I have failed to work at getting my writing published over the past year. I want to nurture this talent!

11) Learn to make deviled eggs. You may laugh at this one. But this is more than just being about eggs. This goal involves all those things that I previously thought I couldn't do. Deviled eggs aren't hard to make. I just have never succeeded with it! But why stop trying???? Why not keep trying until I succeed???

So there you have it....11 of my "This is My Life...Am I Who I Want to Be" goals. This list will continually change and grow as the year continues...and as the rest of my life continues. But the basic point of this is that we don't have to stay the way we are. We have the ability, with God's help, to change who we are...to better ourselves.

Think about this....This is YOUR life...are you who you want to be?