Power of Life

I'm over at The Internet Cafe today, talking about the Power of Life. I hope you meet me there, I'd love to share this story with you :)

Pivotal Moments

I remember an important rule in art class which is this: if you are drawing an object, ensure that you draw what you see, not what you think it should be.

Inexperienced artists will always place the eyes 1/3 third of the way down from the top of the head, while an experienced artist will recognize that although it goes against everything he feels it should be, he has studied that face long enough to know that the eyes are somewhere at mid point. The nose is longer than he'd like it to be, and the mouth is much lower than he expected it would be. Although the model is smiling there's no upward curve to her lips, but rather a line that rises and dips accross the pink tone of her skin. Her cheekbones gracefully mark the side of her face but remain different one from the other. And her eyes are far darker than one would expect, with a subtle glow reflecting the same light that caused a shadow to fall on her neck.

Look at the two sketches in comparison at the end of the class and you'll see that one is a true reflection of the model, while the other is simply a lifeless graven image without dimension, depth or character, drawn according to the image one thought it should be. One holds beauty and life while the other does not.

Stressful moments and times of unease are pivitol points in our lives that cause us, like artists, to either choose the true image of God or rationalize why that image of God should be changed. What we're left with is either a deeper relationship in a life that reflects the image of the Almighty God Who is and Was and Will be, or we begin to create a golden calf to be worshipped according to our own image of God.

It's important for me to not only study the true image of God, but to trust it enough to leave it alone rather than trying to change it into something I think it should be. To understand the difference that one holds beauty and life while the other does not.

"Every time you make a choice you are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different from what it was before... either into a creature that is in harmony with God, ...or into one that is in a state of war with God. Each of us at each moment is progressing to the one state or the other."
~ C.S. Lewis ~
Mere Christianity

Visit Christine at Fruit in Season who is our host for "In 'Other' Words" this week. And if you'd like to play too, you can write a post based on this quote by C.S. Lewis, then leave your link over at Christine's blog.

School's Out!

School is finally out for spring break. I get to sleep in--wahoo! And the good news is that my children like to sleep in too.

Being that it was a special day, I decided to linger and let the kids play with their friends after school. The weather was beautiful, as were the children as they performed all their tricks on the structure. "Look at this mom! Look at this I'm upside down!" They hollered, from dangling positions that left me breathless.

The puddles were shallow pools that beckoned youngsters to wade through the freshness of spring. Nathaniel in his winter boots followed along splish splashing and giggling in what may be the first spring he remembers--or perhaps the second. I stood in the sunlight breathing it in, enjoying these moments while the kids are still young, still carefree, and still soiling laundry like each pair of pants is a new roll of Bounty.

I love everything about spring: the smell of water in the air, the sounds of water trickling all around, and the way each crystal bows then dissapates for yet another year.

I suppose I enjoyed it all too much today, because once again supermom goofed up. In all the joy, Maddy and Graham each forgot their backpack on the playground. Of all the days I chose to screw up, the last day of school is not the best choice. Argh!

Schools out, the playgrounds empty, and Barbie sits alone with the Ninja Turtles wondering when Momma's coming back to pick them up. A 15 minute drive both there and back is not all that appealing when you've finally put your feet up for a week of hibernation. Thankfully we've recently met a family that lives fairly close to the school, so I decided to swallow my pride, slap on a dunce hat and give them a call.

I'm so warmed by the reaction of this family and their eagerness to help me out. Without missing a beat, the dad said he'd head right over there and pick them up. Isn't that nice? I hope that in return God gives me an opportunity to serve.

That's one more thing that I love about spring. You finally climb out of your cave, give your arms a good stretch and begin to reach out to those around you once again. God is good. Amen?

Thankful Thursday

Once again this is a first for me. The always wonderful Iris from Sting My Heart hosts Thankful Thursday each week, so since I had much to be thankful for, I thought I'd also give this meme a whirl.

Memes are such a wonderful way of meeting new bloggers. In fact yesterday I met a couple of women that I hadn't noticed in the blogosphere before, it was great. So if you pop in through this meme today, then first of all I want to say that I'm thankfull for you. :)

Secondly I'm thankful for Iris, Laurel, and Lynn who stood between me and the enemy last week when I was feeling a little overwhelmed with all that life threw my way. It's such a comfort to know that they cared enough to stand still for a moment in prayer for a sister in Christ. I love you girls and all of the women in Christ.

And on that same topic, I'm thankful for my new friend Lisa who wrote the most awesome post this week about this very same topic of fighting the enemy on behalf of our sisters in Christ. It's such an empowering piece of writing. If you haven't read it, I encourage you to take a peek sometime this week: You Can't Have Her!

And lastly (but not leastly)this week, I'm thankful for Denise from Shortybears Place who never ceases to amaze me with the encouragement she constantly leaves in the prayer room at CWO. Late at night, I see her alone in the room knelt down at the throne before God bringing her sisters in Christ before Him in prayer.

Visit Iris at Sting My Heart to find other participants who are thankfull today.

Works for Me!

This is my first week joining what's known as "Works for me Wednesday." I came accross a cleaning tip that was so good I figured that it would be a good post for my first crack at this meme that Shannon over at Rocks in My Dryers hosts weekly.

It happened by accident. After an attempt by my five-year-old son to brush his teeth solo, the bathroom looked like a flock of birds on the Colgate diet flew through. There were droplets of toothpaste everywhere, and I was armed for the battle with scrub brush in hand.

My toilet was fairly clean, in fact my Dad had taken an sos pad to it only two weeks before. It needed the usual weekly cleaning, so while toothpaste was on my toilet brush, I figured I'd give that a whirl.

I was surprised to see a difference in a toilet I thought was already white. The toothpaste caused me to see it wasn't, I had to call an audience into the room. "Look at that I exclaimed! See the difference?" :)

My newest trick to cleaning the toilet is getting a small cup and bailing the water out, so I did this and contued to clean with the toothpaste. Only a little was needed, but wow did it make the porcelain throne look brand new.

I got a little toothpaste crazy that day since there was much to spare on the counter the floor and the bathtub, and I noticed that it also made the silver taps sparkle.

If you're really lonely, you'll like this one because after you scrub the sink with this stuff it's so clean it talks--just ask my audience. :)

So that's what works for me. Why don't you head over to Shannon's and tell us what works for you!

Works for me Wednesday is hosted by Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer

A Few Days Off

It feels good to relax. Over the weekend I worked ahead so that I could set aside a little time to devote to writing. Feeling rather relaxed, I got to writing this morning and will continue to do so for the next couple of days. I also got to praying--and praying fervently which is leaving me refreshed in the Lord.

Days like this are precious. I took time to really hug my son, and for a moment I considered never letting him go.

Then I took time to embrace my Lord, just He and I abiding in the vine.

God is good. See you in a few days.

Awesome Video

My soul is hushed by this video. Thank you to Just Enjoy the Journey for emailing me the code:

Aroma

I was a foolish young bride who listened to the un-wise counsel of those who advised, “Hide your dishes in the oven, away from your guests.”

I had just finished spreading the dough for our pizza when the doorbell rang. Michael got up to answer while I tidied up the kitchen. Grabbing all of the dishes I could find, I threw them into the oven (ditsy Little Darlene!). It seemed like a good idea at the time since my cupboards were sparking clean in less than 40 seconds flat...

Read the rest of the post over at CWO's Internet Cafe:

Dr. Phil is not an MD

I love talk shows as much as the next housewife, but I do get discouraged when I see people like Oprah wearing the hat of a therapist, or Dr. Phil that of a medical doctor. The hair stands up on the back of my neck when they incorporate pop culture views into Christianity, but when it comes to medical issues it goes way over my head because I don't have the foggiest notion if what they're saying is correct. We're fed things and we accept them as truth because after all, "Oprah is famous, and Dr. Phil is a doctor."

My friend Val at I am My kids Mom addresses this on her blog today. She's upset, and rightly so, due to the ignorant statements of a recent episode on Dr. Phil. This time he hit too close to home for Val.

I encourage you to read her post:

Dr. Phil is not an MD

Too Cute!!

Nathaniel had his first play date with a fellow kindergardener yesterday. I met up with the family at the school around 3:30 which is when I pick up my other two kids. I also had my teenager with me so it was a family affair of sorts.

Being that is was a gorgeous snow-melting kind of day, I let the kids play on the structure until it was time to go. It wasn't till we started thinking of leaving that we discovered that this play date of Nathaniel's was a serious issue on their part. His friend who was exceptionally protective over his new little buddy, wouldn't let "just anyone" take him.

"Leave him alone!!" he shouted in terror at Brendan, "You're not his Dad!" My guess is that this poor little kid thought Brendan was abducting his newest best bud.

"I'm his brother," Brendan looked way down into the face of a concerned little boy.

"No you're not--Graham is!" He shouted and ran to get adults. "Um, um, um," he interupted jumping in front of me like he just drank 12 cans of pop. "That guy is trying to take Nathaniel!"

In all of the curfluffel, Graham made a run for the car thinking we had already left, so man-sized Brendan (over six feet tall) turned on his heels chasing him down the street, to let him know we hadn't left yet.

You can only imagine the look on this little kids face when Brendan ran past--priceless--poor thing.

Hey! I'm guest blogging over at Laced with Grace tomorrow (March 15th). Come and visit me there:

Let God, and Let God

"One of the secrets to a happy marriage is remembering the source of our joy, which is not one another. The source of our joy is the Lord. Yes, we share tons of joyous moments, but we don't expect, let alone demand, endless joy-filled moments from each other. "
~ Liz Curtis Higgs ~
from the devotional: Rise and Shine

When I came accross this quote by Liz Curtis Higgs, the Lite Brite went on in my brain, in full color. "So that's what's going on..." I finally told myself after wondering what the "it" factor was that made marriage better today then it had been in the past.

Before we got married we made a promise to each other, which essentially kept us awake for the first ten years of marriage. That promise was that we agreed that we'd never go to bed angry.

Two people with hot tempers at four in the morning aren't the best mix of company, but instead of letting go of our anger we were resolved to resolve it that night.

Because I was the center of Mike's universe, I also assumed that I was the center of his frustration, his anger, and his stress. So, I'd lay awake in a state of silent treatment, hoping my irregular breathing might cause him to think I was crying or having heart failure, after all, who could sleep when their queen was distressed? Obviously he could, because every once in a while I'd hear a snore or two break through before I'd hop off the bed in a hissy fit.

"You're sleeping! You broke a big promise...!!" was my way of saying, I won.

Until his response one night taught me otherwise, "We're still fighting?" he asked, wiping the sleep from his eyes, "I let it go four hours ago." Those words revealed what I should have already known. Had I focussed on mercy instead of religion, I would have understood true sacrifice.

I've since learned a three-fold lesson which is this: let it go, get some sleep, and work it out in the morning at which time cooler heads will prevail. In doing so, I've had to understand the very lesson that Liz taught--my joy is in the Lord and Him alone.

When your joy is in the Lord, and your delight in His goodness, forgiveness comes easy as does your sleep even at 3 am.

The "it" factor we have is the growing ability to let go and let God. "Yes, we share tons of joyous moments, but we don't expect, let alone demand, endless joy-filled moments from each other." ~ Liz Curtis Higgs

There's a verse that's been big on my mind this week, and as I travel the blogosphere I see that many of us are trying to grasp the same thing--letting go of our worries and grabbing hold of God who is mighty to conquer and comfort. God who is the unfailing source of our joy.

"Be careful (worried) for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." ~ Phillippians 4:6-7

If your playing 'In "Other" Words' this week, please leave your URL with the other participants. And if you're not playing, you're welcome to join :) All you have to do is write a post about the quote and add your name along with the rest. Oh, and if you do, could you also add the CWO icon to your post? You can get the code here: http://www.christianwomenonline.net/BlogMeme.html

The Man at Table 5

I often talk about my three youngest kids because of their everyday hillarity. However, my teenager is equally hillarious, if not more. Brendan is one of the greatest gifts that God has given me in this life, and I've had him for fifteen years. I think it's pretty cool how through the gift of children, God gives us the desires of our heart--yet far more than we'd ever dream of or desire.

Four children, all different yet each one fits nicely into the spaces of my heart, like fingers to a glove.

Brendan's not cool by society's standards, but he'd never be considered a geek either. He's just middle of the road, always has been and is very content to keep it that way. He's brilliant, self taught in reading by the age of three with a photographic memory that blows us away. He's never used his smarts to stand out in a crowd where in his shoes I might have been tempted to.

I remember sitting by him at times in mom/kid groups where tough questions were asked, and I knew that he knew the answers. "Lift your hand, Brendan." I'd whisper, urging him to speak out. Kids would hop up and down with their hands in the air, but he was content to sit back and watch the light shine on the other children around him.

The other day as the two of us sat in the car waiting for the other three to tumble out of school, we got to laughing and talking about the little things in life. Brendan, being aware that he's somewhere between "Cool and uncool" decided to explain it to me. "I'm an extra," he said.

"'Kay, what?" I was confused.

"An extra," he confirmed, with a smile that told me he was more than comfortable in his skin. "Don't you ever watch sit-coms? You always have the popular kids, and you have the geeks--but I'm the kid at table five who orders the fries." Leaning back in his seat, he folded his hands behind his neck, before adding, "Nobody sees him, and nobody seems to notice he's there. He just does his job and goes home--that's me."

Yep, that's him--wise and whacky and comfortable being second in line.

When I was expecting this child, I hoped for the star of the show, the one who triggers the laugh track and gets fan mail by the minute. But God showed me a better way by giving me the boy at table five with the fries, the one who is willing to sit in the shadows while the light shines on the others.

All week, I was reminded of his comment. Smirking and laughing at his goofy ability to come up with this stuff, I got to thinking. His quirky way of handling life reminded me of the spiritual.

The greatest role cast for the man at table five was none other than our Lord Jesus Christ. A stumbling block to the Jews. They had hoped for a King who would conquer their oppressors on earth, but what they found was a gentle servant born in a manger who came to offer salvation to all.

It's pretty cool how through the gift of His Son, God gave us the desire of our heart--yet far more than we'd ever dream of or desire. God showed us a better way by giving us the man who sat alone at table five--one who was willing to die in the shadows while the light shone on us.

"He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief, and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not." ~ Isaiah 53:3

Love is in the Air

Last valentines day, my daughter came home with a card in her back-pack. An inscription scribbled by the hand of a young boy read, "Roses are red, violets are blue, you are beautiful, I know it's true..."

Then this morning while my daughter and I stood on the front steps of the shool, we were approached by another boy. He lowered his head, kicked the snow a few times, then took a deep breath before finally releasing his words, "Mrs. Schacht, the school is having it's pre-teen dance tomorrow, and I wanted to ask if Maddy could go with me."

After swallowing a giggle or two I looked over at my nine-year-old daughter, hoping to capture the look on her face. "That's really nice of him, isn't it Maddy?" I asked while she grinned--seemingly as amused as I was. "Sorry, guy but we're going be busy tomorrow, so Maddy isn't able to go."

He let out a dissapointed sigh, before walking back to his friend on the snow bank. There the two boys devised plans to throw snowballs at her instead.

About five minutes later, the same boy returned with yet one other question, "I have one more question for you," he said, "If you weren't busy tomorrow, would the answer have been yes?"

Maddy smiled and nodded her head.

"Yeah!" he shouted raising one arm in the air. "She would have said yes!"

This leaves me and her father with little to no other choice--we're shaving her bald, feeding her chocolate, and getting her braces--today.

Nathaniel

Nathaniel desires to be grown up like the others. Whatever they say, he says, "Me too." Regardless of what it is their doing whether it be working on calculus or curling one's hair, Nathaniel can do it just the same.

This morning on the drive to school, Madison started talking about the planets that she's learning about.

"I know the planets," Nathaniel chimes in from the back seat.

"Oh yeah? What are they honey?" I ask, encouraging him to be "the grown up he" that he wants to be.

"Jupiter and the sun," he says, and I can sense the grin that separates one chubby cheek from the other.

"Very good," I answer letting him think that the sun is a planet, and quieting those who desperately want to point out the truth. 50% is too close to failing, so I let it slide this one time.

Then Madison starts in about school again. "Mom, we're going to be learning about what's in the earth," she says.

"Oh, oh, oh," Nathaniel pops around the back seat like Orville Redenbocker at the movies, "I know what's in the earth!"

Madison doesn't seem to mind as she listens to her little brother list off cars, and signs, and puppies, and doctor's offices, and Slupees, and mommies and trucks. And I smile feeling the warmth of the sun on the steering wheel, and listening to my little guy rant.

"That's great sweetie, but I think what Madison is saying is that she's going to be learning what's inside the earth--under the ground, not what's on it.

"Oh, that's easy too," he says, "It's Hell."

If you want to read more about Nathaniel and his amazing birth story, I'm writing over at CWO's Internet Cafe today for "In 'Other' Words."

Inspired by the Father...

I'm over at the CWO Internet Cafe today blogging about my tagline, "Inspired by the Father every step of the way..." Join me over there, and I'll tell you why I chose it.

CWO Internet Cafe

CWO's Internet Cafe

CWO just announced the opening of "The Internet Cafe" this morning. We have an awesome team of faith-focused women that I'm humbled and gracious to be writing with. Just reading their bios has already moved me to draw closer to God and to grow in faith.

As McDonald's would say, "I'm lovin it!"



And speaking of McDonald's, I was there again today. Can you believe it? I just finished posting about that place. What kind of terrible mom do you think I am now? Would it help if I told you that my son ate an extra pickle, so technically he had a side salad with his nuggets? I didn't think so.

I'll tell you what my problem is with that place. They don't have gravy. Burger King has gravy, KFC, A&W, why not McDonalds? Blogger Allissa says that the restaurants in Hawaii don't offer gravy. Say what!!!??? I say, you can keep your sandy beaches, umbrella drinks, and oceans at sunset. I'm staying here where I can get a side order of gravy for 99 cents. I'm lovin it!