To Blog or Not to Blog

This morning I got an email from my mom. It was one sentence.


I check your blog every day.

 I know I haven't been blogging much of late. But I have my reasons.

10. I've run out of topics. I already showed you pictures of my Dicken's Village and shared my Sugar Cookie Recipe. There just aren't that many interesting things in my life to blog about.

9. I have a weekly newsletter. For about a month now I've been sending weekly e-newsletters to the members of SWALC (Southwest Area Lutheran Chorale). I don't put tons of time and effort into these, but enough to make #9 on my list of excuses.

8. I'm a pen pal to prisoners. For the past year or so I've been writing to 3 gentleman who are in prison. I generally do that on Saturday mornings...which used to be my "write my blog" time. I figure the inmates appreciate the letters more than my blog audience appreciates my blogs, so they come first.

7. I write my mom every week. This is something I've been doing for several years. And I only mention it because my mom is my biggest blog fan, and she was the one complaining about my lack of new blog posts, so I thought I'd throw some of the guilt back her way.

6. - 2. My new job.  I sometimes make light of my recent promotion, but the truth is I am now in charge of a small business, 100's of thousands of dollars in merchandise, and three employees. Thanks to the Lord looking out for me, and lots of hard work I haven't made any major blunders...yet. But it's pretty much all I think about. And not just my blog is suffering for it. My house is dirtier, my stuff is more disorganized, and I'm a few pounds heavier than I've ever been before. (Pregnancy doesn't count.) This whole transition from a woman of leisure to a working mom has given me a new appreciation for working women everywhere. You go girls!

1. Who cares. Whenever I blog, the goal is to be clever, or cute, or wise. I fear I only succeed in being overtly pretentious or annoyingly preachy. The fact is, most everything I say in my blogs has already been said by others, with more eloquence and skill than I possess as a writer. I don't know if the effort I put into it is worth it...to anyone.

Disagree? Tell me. If my mom is the only one missing my blogs, (as I suspect) I'll cease and desist.  But if there are others of you who actually enjoyed them and maybe even learned a thing or two from them, I'll just put it on my list of New Year's Resolutions and get it done - period.

If I don't get a response from anyone...it's been fun. Vaya Con Dios!

A Thanksgiving Prayer

Every Thanksgiving I take a moment to pray my annual Thanksgiving prayer, where I enumerate my many blessings, usually in alphabetical order...Amanda, Butterflies, Choir, Danica, the Earth, Friends...

It was going fine until I got to J, for my Job. 

Mentioning my job in my prayer got me thinking about work. And thinking about work got me worrying about work. (Something I do all the time now since my promotion in October. No, since I started training in for my new job in September.) And soon I had abandoned my prayer completely as my mind went over all the things I've got not only on, but spilling over, my figurative plate at work.

Several minutes passed before I remembered I was in the middle of a prayer. So I mentioned a few other things I'm thankful for (in random order this time) and laid there thinking about my many blessings, wishing my gratitude was more heartfelt.

But then a thought occured to me. Everything I just thanked God for was "of this world." I didn't mention one blessing that was "from above."

It was then that a passage I had memorized this past summer popped into my head:

"Since then you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated on the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ, in God. When Christ, who is your life appears then you also will appear with him in glory." Col. 3:1-4

So I did. I set my mind on things above. 
I thought of my God and how much He loves me. I thought about those wonderful moments when I've felt his undeniable pressence in my life. I thought back to Grandpa's funeral and what a huge comfort it was to know Grandpa was with the Lord. I thought of the day I would be with him too.

And a funny thing happened. My work anxieties, well they sort of lifted. All those things on my plate... I suddenly didn't care if a few of them slipped off. Instead of looking at my overloaded plate of earthly worries, I thought of my overflowing cup of spiritual blessings, and I felt truly grateful.

So today my goal is to celebrate Thanksgiving, not worrying about work, or the meal, or the sales, or anything this side of heaven, but to set my heart and mind on things above! May God help us all to do so, this day and every day. Amen and HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Shopping - A Photo Journal

10 $ Questions

1. How much do you make?


























2. Is it enough?


























3. Do you ever wish you made more than you do?



























4. How old are you?



























5. How many days in your life have you had to go without food?



























6. How many days in your life have you had to go without clothing?




























7. When's the last time you've been homeless?


























8. How many days have you gone without a person who loves you?

































9. Could it be that God has been providing everything you really need every day of your life?






























10. Is it time for an attitude adjustment about money, stuff, and God's Generosity?
















Note: Several of these questions came from a devotion I read recently in Mark Jeske's book, "Time of Grace." Pastor Jeske also sends out daily email devotions that are short, meaningful and applicable. If you'd like to sign-up for these just click on the following link: Grace Moments

Fruit Fly Infestation

How was your weekend? Mine was okay. But I spent a large portion of it battling our fruit fly infestation.

I don’t recall ever having a fruit fly problem like this before. Sure, we’ve had a few hovering around a banana from time to time. But this fall it seems like they are everywhere! I’ve put our bananas in a bag and I’ve been tossing any smelly trash we have into a sealed slop bucket under the sink. But they still wouldn’t go away.  So this past weekend I went on the offensive!

My first weapon was that old farm remedy for flying pests, fly paper.  On Saturday morning I went to my local hardware store and picked some up. They come in boxes of 8, which seemed like 7 more than what I needed, but I got them anyway. I was both determined and optimistic that this would do the trick.

Soon after I brought home my purchase, I ripped open the box and strategically placed the gooey strip of death in my kitchen window.

 Then I waited,

 and watched,

 and waited,

 and watched.

Unfortunately, I was more interested in the fly paper than the fruit flies.

Sunday morning I found a significant number on the paper, but just as many happily hovering all around it. So then I googled, “How to get rid of fruit flies.” One suggestion was to make a fly trap. You place some bait in a clear plastic container and punch a few holes in the lid. The flies go in, but can’t find their way out. That sounded easy enough.

The best bait, according to the website, is red wine (which we do not have), apple cider vinegar (which we do not have), prunes or raisins (nope), or a piece of rotting fruit. I had to improvise. My recipe for fruit fly bait consisted of orange juice, honey, ketchup, and a few craisins. Later I also added liquid dish soap, which they seem to be attracted to, and a banana peel. 

The trap wasn’t as successful as I’d hoped, but no less effective than the fly paper. I decided to keep both the fly paper and the fly trap out and hope that by Monday I could declare my victory.

Well, it's Monday, and we're not quite there just yet. There’s still a few stragglers here and there. But I’m confident they won’t last too much longer. Fall is here, and winter is only a couple of months away.  If my traps don’t get them, the falling temperatures certainly will.

I guess winter is good for that, if nothing else. It keeps the bugs down.

 And that is the end of my blog. For those who read the entire thing, I commend you. You either have a fascination with killing small insects, or you're my mom. Hi, Mom. See you at Chrissy's wedding on Saturday!

In Training

There’s a lot of training going on in my life this month. 

I’m in training at work. I have until the end of September to learn my new job as manager. So far so good.

I’m also training in 3 work study kids this month. That’s going well too. But I’m glad we have 3 more weeks before they “go solo.” There’s a lot yet to teach them.

And finally, I’m in training for a race. If all goes as planned (and my aging body doesn’t give out on me) I’ll be participating in the Herman 5K Run/Walk on Oct. 6^th. My goal is to run most of it. I’m sure I’ll end up walking the 10^th Street hill. That one’s a killer. But the rest of the race is mostly level or downhill, with a few steps thrown in there for fun.  I think I can do it.  I hope I can do it. I really want to do it.

And I know what it will take to do it.

Training.

This isn’t my first road race. About 10 years ago I ran in a couple and I did fairly well, all things considered. The key to a good race, I’ve found, is not the effort you put into it the day of the race.  It’s all those days leading up to it. It’s the hours and hours you spend running in the weeks and months before the race that really count. The race itself is always tons easier than the time spent training for it. It’s a lot more fun too, with fellow runners sharing the journey, and crowds cheering you on to the finish line. But what really makes a race fun is coming to it physically and mentally prepared. And that, my friends, is why I am in training.

Hey! Why don’t you train with me? 

I don’t mean side by side necessarily, but you can certainly train with me in spirit. 

You can even run (or walk) the race with me! Here’s a link to the registration page.

Hermann 5K Run/Walk 2012 Registration Form 

Any takers?

Labor

According to the United States Department of Labor website...

“Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.”

To be honest, I’ve never really celebrated Labor Day as defined above. I simply thought of it as another one of those annoying and meaningless holidays when banks are closed and there’s no mail.

But this year I’m feeling differently. For a couple of reasons. Number one, I got a promotion at work recently. I’m now being trained in to be the new MLC Bookstore Manager. Up to this point, most of the jobs I’ve held were lacking in either significance or prestige. Or both. But for the first time in my life, I feel like I can answer the question, “What do you do?” without feeling embarrassed by my answer. Or at least I assume this will be the case once my new title is official (Oct. 1) and once someone asks me this question.

The second reason I’m enjoying this Labor Day Holiday like never before, is that I’ve been working a lot lately. I’ve put in between 5 and 9 hours a day August 20^th to August 31^st. And even over the weekend there were a few loose ends I had to tie up, (emails to write, people to see) leaving work duties forefront in my thoughts.

I know it sounds like I’m complaining, but really I’m not. It's likely most of you put in more hours than that each week. But this is a new thing for me. The last time I worked full-time I was home from college, working a summer job. And now, nearly 30 years and 4 babies later, I’m excited to finally have what I consider a real job. It’s challenging and interesting. And it’s keeping me humble too. I’ve so much to learn. But I’m willing and eager to keep at it until I figure out everything a bookstore manager needs to do and how to do it. And I’m prayerful that the Lord will assist and guide me down this new uncharted and at times overwhelming path. In short, I’m not afraid of hard work. I enjoy it.

A few months ago it was pointed out to me that when God gave his people the Commandment to keep the Sabbath Day holy, it wasn’t just a command to rest on the 7^th day of the week. It was a command to work for 6, and then rest on the 7^th. 

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. Exodus 20:8

God has given us what we need to work. In the simplest of terms:  a body, a mind, and time. He wants us to use these gifts and WORK. We are blessed when we do. Work is a good thing. 

But God knows we need rest too. So this commandment, like all of his commandments, isn’t a rule to be obeyed grudgingly. It’s the will of our loving Father, who knows what ‘s best for us. We need time to rest, and time to remember why we work. 

So I am celebrating this Labor Day with an attitude of gratitude for my new job, and for a day off to reflect on how good God has been to me. 

I hope you are celebrating it likewise.

 If not, perhaps this song will help.