Monday Night

March 8th, 2010 by Ashley

For Today… March 8, 2010

Outside my window… MORE mud and puddles everywhere. Every time things start to dry up another storm blows in.

I am thinking… an early bedtime would be wise. The one area of my life I have an extreme lack of discipline.

From the learning rooms… Had fun today making H2O molecules with Miss A out of grapes. We’ve been moving through our schoolwork at a more relaxed pace this year…taking time to enjoy learning, instead of just getting it done. I was feeling real great about it until I calculated today and realized we won’t be done for the year until the end of June! Oh well. When we take too long of a break the kids get bored.

I’m thankful for… my hair. I know it’s silly. I hate my hair most of the time. It never works how I want it to. But I saw an older lady at the store the other day who had extremely thinning hair, like I could see more scalp than hair. And I realized I would be really sad if that were happening to me. And that I should be thankful for my full head of hair even if it doesn’t look quite how I want it to.

From the kitchen… I don’t know if there’s a Trader Joe’s where you live. But if there is you should go there. And buy “Trader Jose’s Salsa Autentica”. I’m really picky about salsa, and this stuff is SO good. You need to get some.

I am wearing…

I am reading… Stepping Heavenward by Elisabeth Prentiss. It’s been so long since I’ve read a fictional book (other than children’s books) and just enjoyed it. I’m loving this one.

I am creating… a birthday crown for Princess Darling’s 1st birthday! Can’t believe it’s already been a year!

I am hearing… Hombre discussing website domains on the phone with the hosting company he uses. Pretty exciting.

Around the house… caught up on housework. Now if I can just get the week’s worth of clean laundry put away we’ll be doing great. I need to get ahead because as soon as the mud dries out I must move my attention outside. All this rain has the weeds sprouting up in a nice thick carpet.

A few plans for the rest of the week… Just an average week. Nothing major. Although I thought the same thing last week, and then we ended up going to our first hockey game! It was so much fun. Miss A danced and made her way onto the jumbo-tron, and we were thoroughly entertained by all the die hard fans sitting around us.

So who knows what fun things could be awaiting us!

For more daybooks, or if you’d like to participate, click here.

Or leave me a note in the comments… I’d love to hear about your day

In Daybook and has 2 comments »

Sharing Saturday

March 6th, 2010 by Ashley

In Sharing and has no comments »

Thankful Thursday

March 4th, 2010 by Ashley

Sweet promises…

If you extend your soul to the hungry
And satisfy the afflicted soul,
Then your light shall dawn in the darkness,
And your darkness shall be as the noonday.
The Lord will guide you continually,
And satisfy your soul in drought,
And strengthen you bones;
You shall be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water,
whose waters do not fail.
Isaiah 58:10-11

In Thankful and has no comments »

Paper Plates

March 3rd, 2010 by Ashley

I don’t buy paper plates.

I’ll just be honest. I think they’re a complete waste of money. I think it’s so silly to pay for something that is made to go in the trash.

Does this view extend to every single disposable product in my life? No.

But for some reason paper plates have come to symbolize the ultimate waste for me. And if I start thinking very hard about all of the trash piling up in landfills and threatening to overrun our lives, then of course my feelings only get stronger.

However, as I cleaned the kitchen this afternoon, and noticed the limited amount of time we have to finish chores, take showers, eat dinner and be ready to leave for church tonight on time, the thought passed through my mind “wouldn’t it be nice to just use paper plates so the kitchen could stay clean?”.

Instantly my rule abiding self took over. Of course it would be easier, but that doesn’t make it okay. Using paper plates is just never okay.

I have a point, I promise.

Some verses I just read yesterday came to mind:

And He entered again into the synagogue, and there was a man there who had a withered hand. And they watched Him to see whether He would heal him on the Sabbath day, that they might accuse Him. And He said unto the man who had the withered hand, “Stand forth.” And He said unto them, “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath days, or to do evil? To save life, or to kill?” But they held their peace. And when He had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said unto the man, “Stretch forth thine hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored whole as the other.
Mark 3:1-5

My thought was this: how often do I let my rules get in the way of what I should do?

My rules are all good. Very well thought out and purposeful.

But if I let them dictate everything, is that okay?

I don’t think it is.

Maybe paper plates are a waste of money. And bad for the environment. And not very glamorous to eat off of.

But, if using paper plates one night a week when things are hectic would mean less rush, less mess, and me being less grumpy to three innocent little girls…wouldn’t it be worth it?

I can think of a million other things in my life where this applies.

The problem is I tend to have an all or nothing personality. Either do it all the way or forget it. This results in a LOT of “rules”.

And maybe most of the time my rules are okay, and even good to follow. But there needs to be grace. The rules cannot overrule what’s most important.

We read this today for school:

And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the first commandment of all?” And Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: `Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength;’ this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this: `Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Mark 12:28-31

All I can think is, am I checking all of my rules against the greatest rule of all?

In Inspiration / Philosophizing and has 6 comments »