Five Minute Friday: Real

Are you "real?" 

When the world suggests that we be "real," they actually mean, "do/say whatever you want, d*** the consequences." 

As Christians we need to be a different kind of real. 

We should not be concerned with getting out all that's inside us, but really loving others, really reaching out. 

We live in a real world, with real people, who are really possibly going to spend a real eternity in a real place called Hell. 

How will they hear the truth if we won't speak it? 

Why would they listen to us if we won't love them? 

Real Christianity hurts. 

It's painful. 

Our hearts break when those we love reject what we are trying to say to them. 

But that shouldn't stop us from being real. 

Only real people will be able to impact this really evil time for Christ. 

Be real.

Obedience and Submission to Authority--Days 2 & 3 of 21 Days of Prayer for our Sons

I did actually write something up yesterday but I didn't like it much and was too tired to change it by the time we got home from AWANA. Since obedience and submission both stick in the craw of a red-neck, I guess I'm not too far off putting them together in one post. :)

In all seriousness, we red-necks just simply cannot stand to be told what to do. We don't like the government doing it, and, unfortunately, we don't even like God doing it. Like many people, we ignore the parts of scripture that bother us and enjoy the parts we feel benefit us.

After spending most of my life doing that, God has finally brought me to a place where I realize that not only is it wrong, it's extremely detrimental to my children. Over the past year we have actually been learning to submit together. It hasn't been easy, but lately it's been better. 

It's amazing to watch God work and change people's hearts, especially when those hearts belong to your children. They aren't perfect, and I remind them that I know they never will be, but that God forgives them. 

Our children do need to learn to obey and submit or they will have a hard time in life (trust me, btdt). Sometimes we get so caught up in making them perfect in the eyes of those watching, family members, church leaders, teachers, etc., that we forget that, while the reality is that people will judge us based on our children's actions, we should not so much worry about what others think, but whether our children are truly submitting and being obedient, or just doing it because they have to. We don't want them to be sitting down on the outside while standing on the inside.

Yesterday one of the moms at the 21 Days of Prayer high school FB page talked about how she had made bad decisions when she went off on her own because her parents weren't there to lecture her. I really liked her idea that we need to help our children understand that their disobedience is not so much against us as it is against God. I can really see how this can help prepare them to make right choices on their own when Mom & Dad aren't around. Our children's decisions in life should be based, not on experience, but what God's word tells us.

I think the best part of this advice is that it is a constant reminder to me as a parent that these children are not mine. God has entrusted them to me to raise for Him. Like Hannah with little Samuel, one day I will have to release them and go home where all I can do then is pray for them. Wouldn't it be better to start that now than wait until the time comes? Then I can more than "hope" they will do OK, I can trust them to do the right thing. I think I might sleep better at night. :)

Heart Change--Day 1 of 21 Days of Prayer for Our Sons

While I don't know if I'll blog every day, I had a few seconds and hadn't blogged in a while so...:D

When I read through the list of things we'd be praying for each day, this, more than any of the others, stuck with me. Obviously, none of the others matter, or can happen at all, without this, but that's not the reason. The reason is, well, to be honest, I wasn't raised that way. I love my grandparents very much, and do not doubt their salvation, but to them being a Christian was sometimes akin to being an American, it was just something you were. Being a Christian wasn't something that radically altered your day-to-day living. It didn't really change the way you looked at the world (that was politics) and it didn't change the way you treated others (that was rearing, and we were rednecks).

After I was saved, or returned to the Lord, or whatever you want to call what happened to me when I was 19, I knew there was more. I saw it in the people at my church. I heard it from the pulpit. There was something else. Unfortunately, like an addict, I stayed around the people who had influenced me prior to this point and their version of Christianity was similar to my grandparents', so I never truly kicked my bad habits.

This continued into my marriage, into my parenting, and right on down the line until about 3 years ago. It was then that things began to happen that forced me to see that I was in great error. After that I began to pray for change. And, not surprisingly, change happened.

As I wrote earlier, this experience is why I signed up for this round of the 21 Days of Prayer for Our Sons. I have seen God work amazing things and I know that as we pray through this month for our sons even more amazing things will happen. We serve a great and powerful God who can even change the heart of a stubborn, willful, etc., woman after 40 years. If He can do that, He can do it in my kids too. :)

And Everyone Said, "It's about Time!"

So, my free spirit decided to become a conformist. If, by conformist, you mean that he did it when he was good and ready. In our family, conforming means that we take ballet class, just like everyone else. :) Yeah, we are a little different around here.

He had a great time. Made a new friend, another boy in pre-ballet. And all around enjoyed himself. He's looking forward to next Monday. :)

I was glad we had an old pair of shoes, jazz pants, and a white t-shirt for him. OK, so I wasn't surprised. ;) At least I didn't have to buy anything new for him. And I got to have a nostalgic moment as I thought of all the boys who have worn these clothes before him, including our friend who gave us the pants.

Here's Braniac "testing out" his ballet shoes. You'll have to turn the volume way up to hear the music, I'm afraid. I forgot to turn up the TV when I recorded it.

Projects Finished

OK, so they aren't so much projects as they are edibles. ;)

A few weeks ago a friend of mine from my Hello Mornings Challenge Twitter group posted something about doing a Pinterest challenge. (You can check out hers, here. Mine really aren't for gifts so they'd probably fall into this type of challenge.) It sounded interesting so I determined that this month I'd start trying to move several pins over to my Pinned and Done board. The first week I had bronchitis. Figures. :D

So for week two of April I completed the cupcakes & cake recipe, as well as a new decorating technique with an icing that wasn't exactly up to snuff. I also made this tasty dish.

Yes, that's her picture. I was too hungry to wait for a picture. ;)

I embellished a bit since I feel the need for meat in all my pasta recipes, and more cheese is just a given. (See point in previous post about how I haven't been thin since my first kid. :D) Here's what I ended up with:

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp minced garlic (I buy my garlic by the jar, which is why I changed this.)

1-lb ground beef
2-14.5 oz. cans diced Italian seasoned tomatoes (saves one step & the seasoning has been on them longer so they have a better flavor)
1 tsp. dried oregano
S&P
1 lb. pasta (tubes) (Gluten Free, Trader Joe's brand)
8 oz. mozzarella cheese, cubed
parmesan cheese to cover each specified layer.

Directions:

Start water for pasta. After pasta is added, heat oil in skillet. Add garlic and cook over medium high heat, 1 min. Add ground beef, and brown. Add tomatoes and oregano, and simmer rapidly, stirring occasionally until thickened, 15 min. Add S&P. Preheat oven to 400F. Toss pasta with sauce. Place half of pasta in an oiled 9×13” dish.Cover with parmesan (I covered the whole layer until I couldn't see it. :D) and half mozzarella. Top with remaining pasta, then parmesan and mozzarella. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes.


If the visuals are too confusing, copy it and paste it into word where you can easily change the formatting.


So that's five pins in one week. Not sure how successful I'll be this week since there are no birthdays. :)