Tic Tac Toe

3 in a row! I'm not saying I'm committing to this blog thing but I've had a good week!! Honestly? I don't really do the blog thing often because, well, those of you that do it, I'm totally jealous of you & you seem to have it so together. And I just don't feel like I have it together.

Some examples of how I fail on the "having it together":

1. I don't do baby books for my kids. Printing pictures & actually putting pictures in my frames is a stretch, people. (Our new camera will hopefully help alleviate this!)
   
2. I don't write down a lot of the cute, impulsive things my kids do. I think about them in blog form, though. Like, I literally think the commentary through in my head & about the pic that would have shown the heart of the story.
   
3. I'm a "messy" as in if I took pics of cute random things you would see clutter in all the pics & that's just not cute.
4. I'm not a good decorator.
5. I'm super cheap: I color my own hair, get it cut at the beauty college (when I get it cut, every 6 months or so), most of my clothes are hand-me-downs or SHOULD be handed-down, lol!
6. I don't do organized craft time with my children.
7. I don't plan a lot of traditions for holidays. And even when I try, it seems something goes wrong that makes me think that's why I don't do these things!
8. (This list has to have 10 to give the numbers purpose, so I need to think of something else...)
9. Ya know what, stopping with 9 proves the point again! lol

But one of my problems--change background music from light-hearted to serious here--is thinking negatively about myself. I am a harsh critic of myself. And I'm making an effort to be kinder to myself. So I thought blogging a bit might be a good addition to this effort :)

I know I don't have to do the things I listed above to be worthy. And I could do all of the above and STILL not be worthy, so my perfection scale & standards really don't matter a hill of beans. So, I'll just try to be honest & be ok with that. It's a good starting place :) And lowering my expectations for myself and even for others is a healthy thing to do. All too often we set ourselves up for failure by having unrealistic expectations, including for our spouses. When you set yourself up with realistic goals & are able to exceed them, you encourage yourself & bless others :) There are godly standards that we must follow (in order to be godly) but I don't need to follow cultural standards in order to measure up! And neither do you :)

Kiddo Korner: Just a quick mention of how cute my sweet loves are right now...

- Isaac loves chocolate milk now. He calls it, "tok-lit nuh." He also loves cocoa. In a mug. WHY did I start this? I don't know--I'm trying to serve it in his spill-proof cup now; he's coming around, thankfully. But I have little lovely tok-lit nuh splatters all around his train set in our living room. :) Funny, though; even the little splatters are endearing to me b/c I know how quickly he'll be able to drink w/out spilling, so I'm taking in every minute of his toddler years :)

- Sweet Neena-pie :) She met a lady named Neena (spelled the same way!) at the old folks' home the other day, when my choir was singing. They were just mesmerized with one another. My Neena sat in big-Neena's lap during the songs & when we were done, she helped push her walker back down to her room. She isn't afraid to let the elderly people talk to her & make over her. I joked that she likes to talk about herself, so with the old folks, she has a perfect audience :) And I know that's part of it. But she REALLY has a heart that loves people. She loves serving others, even at home. Chad & I can't hardly pick out our own clothes for Neena trying to get them out for us--even our underwear! lol And most nights, she not only gets HER cup of water before bed, but she gets a glass of ice water for each of us & puts it by our bedside. (Except Isaac's goes straight into the crib!) She gets out her & Isaac's pj's when I start catching their bath water :) This could REALLY be an ad for having kids a little ways apart. They are 4 1/2 years apart. And we are so blessed by them & their love for one another :)

Slap-Hapy]py

I was trying to type it for the title but after multiple attempts of failing at it I decided it was appropriate to just leave it that way. I've had a GREAT night! And I thought I would share it :)

There are just SOME THINGS in life that are worth getting slap-happy about. I am somewhat subdued now but just a few moments ago I was ready to run & sing & dance on the table. I settled for waving a makeshift flag on the sign-in table at the church & singing the Star Spangled Banner. I swear, getting in God's word is exciting. And I just can't contain it all.

Do you ever have trouble trusting God b/c He just seems far away? I am in a Bible Study that is correcting so many lies I've been believing! And I feel like my perspective of God has grown SO MUCH! The principle one is that God's REDEMPTION IS COMPLETE!! When you believe what Christ did for you and receive the forgiveness He offers, your forgiveness & restoration to Him is complete. I know, that's the simplest founding Christian principle out there...but when you see people hurting for their sins or you are hurting over your own sins and you are reminded that He LOVES you to the CORE, it's life-altering! Satan wants us to believe the lie that our sins should be treated as "You made your bed & you have to lie in it" but Jesus redeems us beyond that. Yes, there are earthly consequences to many sins but His grace is still complete. And in His body, the church, there should be complete forgiveness. I know we're human & we have to work on this one...but we are striving to live in this.

Praising Jesus!!! Gonna go hang with my hottie-hubby now :)