A Few Good Songs

Today is my birthday, and if you've followed me in the blog world before, you may know I have a tradition of posting some of my favorite music on my birthday. Enjoy! :)

Bluegrass Gospel







Contemporary Worship







Hymns

Proud of My Honey

First of all, I want to give a big shout out to my honey, who just got a big promotion at work! So very proud of my amazing husband - and very glad that they are acknowledging all his hard work and dedication to the job. It isn't the best job but he does his best at it every day. In fact, that was one of the first things I noticed about him when we met that made me respect him deeply. I respect him all the more now after all this time and love him dearly, and I'm so proud of all his accomplishments! He is truly an amazing person and I'm honored to be his wife.

A recent photoshoot, credit JCPenney

Unfortunately, however, with the promotion came a shift change. He now works graveyards, and I see him about 4 hours a day.

For anyone who has never worked an opposite shift as their spouse - let me tell you, it is rough.

#3 snuggling with her daddy

For one thing, I've forgotten how to sleep alone. It's hard to get to sleep, and when I do, I sleep restlessly. I wake up in the night because night because I'm reaching for him and he's not there. I've spent the last 8 months snuggled with him every night, feeling safe and warm, and now sleeping alone feels empty and vulnerable. #3, bless her heart, does her best to keep me company by curling up beside me and protecting me, but it's just not the same.

But the worst part is all the time we miss out on. Budgeting 4 hours a day together is difficult. Do we run errands or do we take a nap so we can both get some rest? I miss the days of snuggling on the couch to watch a movie before work or lounging in bed just talking and laughing.

The good news is that it's not forever. He may be switching to another shift soon, and when that happens I may be able to change my work hours to correspond with his. This too shall pass, and many other couples go through similar situations and come out stronger.

Until then, I put on some quiet worship music at night and fall asleep snuggling his pillow. I miss him terribly but try to let him know how much I appreciate everything he does for us. I usually have breakfast on the table when he comes home so we can enjoy as much time together as possible. Every moment is precious!

credit JCPenney

Food Musings

Let me start with a confession.

I like food.

Triple chocolate brownies, fresh from the oven

Ahh food. So much good food in the world.

But sometimes I swear all I have to do is look at food and gain weight. My wonderful husband, on the other hand, could eat a horse, burp impressively, and never gain a pound. He blames a fast metabolism and a job that involves walking 5-8 miles per day. I just say it's not fair and keep trying to feed him.

Pizza is a staple in our house, as are easy and quick meals like wings and pizza rolls. My amazing husband and I regularly collaborate on meals like orange chicken, breaded tilapia with rice, hamburger

mac'n'cheese, barbecue pork, etc. And

My honey cooking chicken while camping

casseroles are great because they provide a meal now and several more servings that I can divide into containers and pack in our work lunches. Yes, food is a big part of our lives.

And then there's dessert. Oh how I love dessert. Ice cream. Chocolate. Muffins and donuts and cookies, oh my. Basically everything containing sugar, but my body hasn't been handling it very well anymore.

So I tried a juice-type cleanse to try to flush some of that stuff out of my body and start the year out right. Let me tell you, for a food lover there are few things worse than

Fruit, vegetable, and yogurt smoothie

taking a combination of foods you like and foods you don't and pureeing them into an unappetizing brown slurry. Spinach, kale, bananas, yogurt, carrots, strawberries, lemon juice, sweet potato, cucumber, apples, apple cider vinegar, grapefruit... I found a few combinations that weren't as bad as they sound but they were still, quite frankly, disgusting. They sure did flush out my body though!

And then tonight I blew it. I couldn't face another greenish brown smoothie. Brownies happened. Chick-fil-A happened. And so did happiness. Because in my heart, I'll always be a foodie. Always.

Eggs, bacon, potatoes, oh my!

The Church Search

My honey and I have lived in our current location for over 6 months now, and unfortunately we still haven't found a home church.

Part of my previous church family in California

I miss it. I miss having a church family. I miss the chance to encourage and uplift one another, to worship together, to turn to each other in times of need. I miss the fellowship.

After all, that's what church really is - people, not a building, denomination, or set of beliefs. Church is people fellowshipping, all servants of the same Master...or at least, that's what it is supposed to be.

You see, we've visited several churches in our area so far and just haven't found what we're looking for yet.

There was the church that was so worried about money that they repeatedly reminded congregants that the building was up for rent - it was mentioned in the bulletin, the announcements, and from the pulpit. Oh, and the pastor declared from the pulpit that tithing any LESS than 10 percent is sin, although MORE than 10 percent is certainly allowed.

There was the huge church whose pastor, via video screen, reassured the congregation that, at the end of the sermon, everyone would understand the reason behind communion... I was more confused at the end of the sermon than at the beginning.

There was the church that had a good service...that lasted over two hours. It's probably the best we've found so far but there are a few issues we're not entirely comfortable with, besides the fact that we both work night shifts and fell asleep during the long service.

BLUF:* After visiting several local churches, we still haven't found what we're looking for. Not to mention that working weekends, and particularly working night shifts and overtime, makes it difficult to get time on Sundays to keep searching. Sometimes a few weeks will go by before we get another chance to visit a church.

And that makes me sad. Because:

As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. Proverbs 27:17

We live in the midwest - there are churches practically on every corner. Yet so many churches are completely different from God's design for the church. I wonder how often God is grieved by what church has become.

A country church tucked away in the trees

So many of the people around us go to church simply to fulfill a perceived social obligation, without a second thought about what church is supposed to be. Their lives reflect nothing the rest of the week, but they checked that box on Sunday morning.

How many churches are involved in their communities? How many churches are doing anything for God's people outside the building on Sunday morning? How many churches actually look anything like Jesus?

When Jesus was here, he didn't isolate himself to the religious leaders of the day, the people that were convinced they were righteous by making everyone else look dirty and sinful. In fact, He condemned those people.

Instead, He hung out with the prostitutes, the tax collectors, the fishermen, the people His society considered outcasts and not worth the time of day. He reached out to the people who didn't even know they wanted Him. He went out of His way to help the people who thought they were unworthy even to touch Him. He healed, helped, raised the dead - and people flocked to Him in record numbers. People saw what God really looked like, what the love of God really felt like. And when they found love instead of judgment, healing instead of condemnation, faith grew on that foundation.

So what would God have today's churches to do? Instead of spending money on every new Sunday school program, perhaps we should reach out to the people around us. Instead of gathering three times a week to gossip and socialize, maybe we should help the widows, orphans, poor, and downtrodden in our own communities. And though international missions are crucial, what happened to the mission field around our homes, our schools, and our workplaces? Why are we neglecting the least of these that are right under our noses? Is that what God intended for the gathering of His followers? Is that what church is supposed to be?

And so the church search continues...


​*BLUF=Bottom Line Up Front​

A Resolution

2015.

Weren't we supposed to have hovercrafts by now? Seems like it wasn't too long ago that 2015 sounded so futuristic.

Now that it's here...well, maybe it snuck up on us a little too fast. 

Sometimes in the process of living this wonderful, messy, unplanned, completely amazing life, it's easy to forget about the passage of time...until suddenly it's gone and you wonder what you have to show for it.

Did I make a difference?

New Years resolutions are a standing joke in our society, as everyone knows these resolutions are rarely kept. Yet the very word implies a firm and resolute decision.

My New Years resolution is to be real. To be honest; to be open-hearted and compassionate; to make wise decisions; but above all, to be real. 

So many people wear a mask, only showing what they want everyone else to see. I can't live like that. Not in my personal life and not in my personal faith.

He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?Micah 6:8 NASB

So often we declare man-made ideas to be Biblical mandates and require so much more from ourselves than God does. His direction is simple: do justly, love mercy, walk humbly, walk with God.

He would rather have someone who is genuine than someone who is only pretending.

In 2015, let's keep it real. You are a person made in the image of God. Take off the mask and don't be afraid to be who you really are. 

Hubby and I on a Christmas carriage ride