In Which I am Whiney

It is Monday.

It has been Monday--

all. day. long.

(Pictures are from Victoria…)

I was late for work,

and I hate being late.

(and are of places I’d rather be…)

It’s raining and turning cold again.

(…than here feeling grumpy.)

I am tired of teenagers,

and repeating myself

(and even those two are redundant),

and unknowns,

and people who don’t know grammar writing practice  test booklets.

Are you tired of me whining yet?

I am, so I promise to stop.

What’s happening at your place?  Was your Monday

Mondayish

or Fridayish,

or somewhere between?

Be blessed (and I know I am, even though I’m grouchy at the moment),

Ginger

In Sympathy

All around Blogland,

I have met beautiful sisters in Christ

with whom I have felt heart connections.

I imagine

that if we lived in the same town,

we would sit on each other’s porches,

and gab and drink coffee

and talk about life,

and decorating,

and our children,

and Jesus.

When hard or sad things happened,

we’d sit and pray and maybe just listen,

just like “real life” friends.

All the way across the country,

my blog friend Elizabeth

lost her mom this week.

It feels strange to me that I can’t jump on a plane

and go and see her

and sit and pray and just listen.

I don’t know if I will ever meet Elizabeth here on earth.

How amazing, though, that though Christ, we

will one day meet.

Maybe we’ll gab and drink coffee,

and talk about life and our children

and Jesus,

and she’ll introduce me to her mother.

Be blessed today,

Ginger

 

Out of the Comfort Zone

A friend handled me a book to pass along to Big Red.

It never made it to him.

It landed on my nightstand

and has hit my conscience like a brick.

I don’t know anything about the author,

Dudley Hall,

beyond the title of the book,

Out of the Comfort Zone: the Church in Transition,

but this book is giving me

things to ponder.

Consider this:

“When you have a lack of love—or let’s call it what it really is: selfishness—you are not focused on others, as Jesus is; you are focused on yourself.  Such a refusal to focus on others with the love of Jesus is selfishness, and selfishness will block your hearing of the Word of God….

Selfishness causes blindness, which causes fear, which often causes pride to arise in reaction.  Those who are selfish…put up a false front of pride that prevents them from asking the needed questions.

Why are they afraid to ask Him?  They were afraid He meant what He said.”

Can I get an ouch amen?

As I ponder God’s call for me to believe Him,

I need to repent for the times

my pride and fear

prevented me from asking the right questions

for fear I already knew the answer.

So today,

I pray for open eyes

to believe

He means what He says.

Be blessed,

Ginger

 

I Will Always Have Hope

Yesterday was not a good day.

I mean, really not a good day.

After insomnia

and the briefest of fitful sleep Friday night,

I awoke to a suspicious

drip-drip

coming from the laundry room.

Water all over the floor.

Then,

I dropped a bowl of

pancake batter

all over the floor.

It was all downhill from there.

So today,

I NEED this verse.

I NEED to remember that

He is ALWAYS GOOD,

ALWAYS FAITHFUL,

ALWAYS TRUSTWORTHY.

Be blessed,

Ginger

Linking up with Scripture and a Snapshot

Of Delays and Dave Ramsey

A post of small thoughts. . .

{1} We are on a two-hour delay here but finally back in school!  I think shall have to introduce myself again to my kids.

{2} Although I did some schoolwork while I was home, I probably didn’t do enough. 

{3} Instead, I ORGANIZED.  Yes, that’s right.  No drawer, bookcase, or basket was safe. 

{4} Now the goal is to keep them that way.  Hmmmm…..

{5}  In the interest of full disclosure, I may have skipped a few drawers while I read Jan Karon’s new one, In the Company of Others. (fabulous), and some other books.  It was fun.

{6} In anticipation of some things we see looming on the horizon, Big Red and I have made the big move to the Dave Ramsey cash-only budget.  LOVE it so far.  (Accountability, here we come.)  Anybody else out there?  Any tips?

Happy Tuesday!

Be blessed,

Ginger

 

Scripture and a Snapshot

(This is supposed to be a blog hop at Scripture and a Snapshot, but I can’t figure out how to add it!  Tech assistance, please!)

In Triumph: Siesta Memory Challenge 2

(Snow and sunshine: the view from my deck)

Much has been written around Blogland about a “word” for 2011. 

I’ve thought about a few choices, tossing them back and forth in my mind like so many pebbles.

This morning, lying in the bed and and watching the sky lighten and talking to my Savior, I knew the word He whispered to me.

Believe.

At first glance, this is cheesy and overused and fraught with fluffiness.  After all, one could attach just about anything to the end of that.

Take “believe in yourself,” for example.

I get that, in one sense, but if you are like me, I’ve had about enough of “myself”, thankyouverymuch.

No, this year, that word is firmly attached to GOD.

Believe GOD.

Take HIM at His Word.

2 Corinthians 2:14 (NIV):

“But thanks be to God, Who always leads us in triumphal procession

in Christ

and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him.”

Did you get that?

Always leads us triumphantly in Christ.

Always.

And when I follow, what’s left in my wake is the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ.

Not the aroma of “me”, which smells suspiciously like fish, as in selfish.

(Okay, okay. Corny, I know, but you get my point.)

In 2011, I’m believing God.

Be blessed today,

Ginger

 

When You’re Snowed In

When you’re stuck in the snow, it’s time to clean (remove a mess) or create (make a mess).

I choose creating.  It’s more fun.

This organizer was a Christmas gift.  I love the features (and would highly recommend the calendar), but I didn’t love the cover.  I don’t know any of these people.  I don’t want to look at them 365 days this year.

Since I had oodles of time, I braved removing the twisted binding thingy.

Then I dug around in my scrapbook paper stash and prettied up the cover.

All the papers and the days of the week stickers are from Creative Memories.  Stamps are from DD#2’s stash; I have no idea where they came from.

I cut and taped a page protector over it to give it a little more coverage.

Now comes the part where I wondered what I was thinking.

Retwisting the twisty thing…

and twisting…

almost done…

TA-DA!

One beautified organizer!

I was so inspired, I used the leftovers to make a matching journal.

Now if I’ll only USE my organizer instead of forgetting about it halfway through February!

(Today I really should clean.)

Be blessed,

Ginger

Stopping by a Blog on a Snowy Evening

We are snowed in here at the ‘House for the long haul, it seems. 

Observed this morning:

Blue sky, how I heart thee.

Now to the point of this post. 

I’ve spent waaayyy too much time finding fun things to read and drool over online this week, and I thought I’d share.

This gal has a giveaway going, but take the time to read her other posts.

 

This one had me at the blog header.

Old home renovations make me happy.

Judging from the 111 (and counting) comments on her last post, I’d say that most of you have already found this place:

Eye candy galore here:

and here:

and here:

Today I must do something productive online, like make 254 Social Studies power-points.

Stay warm.

Ginger

 

Good News/Bad News

Good News: Five inches of snow! Power still on!

Bad News: Ice accumulations still in forecast.

Good News: Chicken soup in crock-pot; Pw’s cinnamon rolls safely in freezer; plenty of half and half

Bad News: Forgot to add butter and chocolate chips to emergency supply list

Good News: All laundry clean

Bad News: Laundry not folded

Good news: No school today, tomorrow, probably the next day, maybe the next. . .

Bad News: May will be a LONG month.

Good News: God is TOTALLY trustworthy.

Good News: He is TOTALLY crazy about me. 

Good News: And about you.

Be blessed!

Ginger

Burrowing In

Meant to be here today with a Scripture and a Snapshot.

However we are in the path of snow and (ugh) ice tonight and tomorrow, so I am beavering away at chicken soup and chili, while Big Red is double-checking our propane supplies. 

If you don’t see me this week, you’ll know that the power’s out.

I am fervently praying against that.

Could someone please remind me how to make campfire coffee?

Thanks!

Be blessed (and warm),

Ginger

Track 16

Couldn’t resist sharing this with you.

With everything, we will shout for Your glory.

Be blessed,

Ginger

By the Numbers

6,523

(give or take a few)

Number of yummy, fattening, delicious things I ate over Christmas break

141

(approximately)

Minutes it took for me to recover from doing Level 2 on the Thirty Day Shred workout this morning

17

Actual number of days that I did Level 1 of Thirty Day Shred in December

22

Times I’ve listened to my new Hillsongs CD, This is Our God

16

The track that’s on repeat

4

Books I read over Christmas break

$5.00

My library fine

2 3 4 ?????

Caffeine intact needed to enliven holiday-stunned 7th graders tomorrow (for the teacher, not the students)

2

Loads of laundry awaiting my attention

1

Number of spoiled cats who live here.

3

Number of extraordinarily important people in my home—Big Red + two girls

^{What made your list of numbers today?}

Be Blessed,

Ginger

 

Is there anything. . .

quite so hopeful

as a bouquet of daisies

and

early morning sunlight?

This moment of cheerfulness is brought to you by

Ginger

Be blessed.

 

Blessing

What to write about?

My goals to be clutter-free,

to post a picture a day,

to memorize scripture,

to exercise this middle-aged body into submission.

I’m probably going to get to those eventually.

But, on this rainy start to the new year, I’m praying first that this will be a Year of Blessing. 

Not a year of receiving blessing, but a year of giving blessing.

I want my words to bless, to edify, those in their hearing.

My first verses in the Siesta Scripture Memory challenge are Psalm 1:13-14:

Psalm 19:13-14 (New Living Translation)

¹³ Keep your servant from deliberate sins!
      Don’t let them control me.
   Then I will be free of guilt
      and innocent of great sin.

¹⁴ May the words of my mouth
      and the meditation of my heart
   be pleasing to You,
      O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Though I am learning them in the NLT, this morning I read them in The Message:

Clean the slate, God, so we can start the day fresh!
      Keep me from stupid sins,
     from thinking I can take over your work;
   Then I can start this day sun-washed,
      scrubbed clean of the grime of sin.
   These are the words in my mouth;
      these are what I chew on and pray.
   Accept them when I place them
      on the morning altar,
   O God, my Altar-Rock,
      God, Priest-of-My-Altar.

There. Can’t say it plainer than that.  When I start doing my “Holy Spirit” imitation (without any Holy Spirit leading) , I end up sinning stupidly. 

This year, I want the Lord to keep me from “stupid sins”, the dumb stuff that I KNOW doesn’t work or yield good fruit in me or in my victims family.

All swirled up in this are the things God is teaching me about His faithfulness and His desire for me to be fearless and free. 

He wants my words—and the thoughts behind them—to reflect Truth and trust in the only One Who really knows what 2011 is all about.

So be it, Lord.

Be blessed in 2011,

Ginger