Well, despite the fact that I posted nearly every day last week (which if you visit my blog frequently you know is pretty good for me), I've been accused once again of blog-neglect. I apologize to you all, but I just haven't had much to say. Let's see if I can crank out a quick Andrew-pleasing post. Whoops! Did I just say Andrew?
I heard a song today that was new to me...I don't watch American Idol, so I'm sure I'm a little behind the times. It's called "Hollywood's Not America" by Ferras. Besides that fact that it's just a pretty song, I love the lyrics. My favorite lines are "You can make a million dollars/But you might lose yourself." Isn't that the whole world? There's really no limit to how much money you can make, but does it really matter if you don't recognize yourself or your life when you're done? I can spend my life working, but when I wake up, my kids might be 30 and I don't even know them. I know money is important, but not THAT important. Love what you do today, but don't trade your life for it.
"So long girl..."
Lindsay
P.S. Don't forget to comment on what you think the prize (within reason) should be for the upcoming contest
Friday, April 25, 2008
Friday, April 18, 2008
What a Strange Dream!
I awoke at approximately 4:40 this morning feeling like I was sleeping in a waterbed and someone was jumping on it. It was the strangest feeling! I wasn't really sure if I was having a dream, or what (I've been known to have some crazy ones). As soon as the bouncing stopped, the phone rang. It was my husband to confirm that I had just witnessed my first (and probably only) earthquake. According to CNN, it registered around a 5.4 on the Richter scale and started in Southern Illinois. I thought it was a pretty cool feeling, but a little scary at the same time. I almost wish it had lasted a little longer, because it would have been neat to be standing or walking. Another cool thing would have been to look outside at my mini van bouncing around! Can you imagine?! The thought of it just makes me chuckle.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
What's Your Guilty Food Pleasure?
If you read yesterday's post, you might remember that I will soon post the details of a Steward Family of 5 contest. As I try to plan the prizes for the contest, I need some help from you. As the title suggests, I want to know your favorite thing that you might not normally treat yourself to. It can be gift certificates to a restaurant (something small, like Starbucks) or something easily mailable like a Snickers. In case you're wondering, mine would probably be Dairy Queen. We don't have many franchise restaurants here, and DQ is only open certain months of the year which means you have several months to crave it without a way to satisfy that craving.
Another small hint about the contest...the winner will be chosen at random from all entries, but you can receive bonus entries by referring people to my blog. They have to be visitors who post a comment stating who referred them and I will give you the dates that they will count. Well, that's enough for one day. Stay tuned!
Another small hint about the contest...the winner will be chosen at random from all entries, but you can receive bonus entries by referring people to my blog. They have to be visitors who post a comment stating who referred them and I will give you the dates that they will count. Well, that's enough for one day. Stay tuned!
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Proofreading and Presentations
Just 2 1/2 weeks, finals, then the end of the semester! I can't even explain to you how excited I am, but I'll try. I am in the middle of proofreading a 25 page paper that was written by my group. I think a 5th grader could have done a better job, so I'm basically having to re-craft the entire thing. Tough work. After over an hour of working on it, I am on page 9. Ugg. We are analyzing the Walgreens drive-thru pharmacy. Sounds thrilling, doesn't it? It's not. I never want to see another Walgreens again. Unfortunately for me, they seem to be the store that's on every major corner. We drove through a fairly small town a couple of weeks ago and my eyes found 3 Walgreens stores. I'm not sure why they need so many. The paper is due in 6 days and the presentation is due in 8. I've never had a group project this big and I will be glad when it's done. I'm used to having control over my own grade and work. I hate that other people are influence my grade. That's just a scary thought for me, which is why I'm the crazy one who volunteered to proofread the paper.
Another reason I'll be excited when school is over for the semester: I am finishing ANOTHER group project. Luckily for me, there is a girl in the group who is as uncomfortable as me (maybe more so) with other people influencing her grade. She also has a 4.0 GPA, so has been doing the entire project just for something to do. Secretly I think she's as paranoid as me that after working so hard to have a spotless academic record, it could all be ruined by this stupid project. At the moment that paper is 8 pages. I also volunteered to proofread that one. If you're keeping track, that means I am proofreading 33 pages of yuck that I care nothing about, except for its impact on my grade.
Well, it's off to bed for me. Hopefully you'll forgive me for not proofreading this!
Lindsay
P.S. Stay tuned because when I'm done with school I will be celebrating with all of you by having a small competition/give-away. It will be fun, I promise!
Another reason I'll be excited when school is over for the semester: I am finishing ANOTHER group project. Luckily for me, there is a girl in the group who is as uncomfortable as me (maybe more so) with other people influencing her grade. She also has a 4.0 GPA, so has been doing the entire project just for something to do. Secretly I think she's as paranoid as me that after working so hard to have a spotless academic record, it could all be ruined by this stupid project. At the moment that paper is 8 pages. I also volunteered to proofread that one. If you're keeping track, that means I am proofreading 33 pages of yuck that I care nothing about, except for its impact on my grade.
Well, it's off to bed for me. Hopefully you'll forgive me for not proofreading this!
Lindsay
P.S. Stay tuned because when I'm done with school I will be celebrating with all of you by having a small competition/give-away. It will be fun, I promise!
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Faithfulness
Verse first, story second.
"Then Jesus said to his disciples: "Therfore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. Luke 12:22-31
I was only going to use a portion of that passage, but the entire thing is so good. I hope you will be blessed by it. How many times in your life do you look at the facts of a situation and think that it's too big for God to handle? You might not say it exactly in those words, but it certainly colors your vision. I catch myself doing this all the time. I think I need to figure my life out myself and I keep God in a tiny little box for when I need him. Matthew 17:20 talks about if we will have faith the size of a mustard seed we can do things like move mountains. Umm...I think if God can move a mountain or create the world, he could certainly provide money, or food, or employment, etc. You can fill in the blank. God wants to prove himself faithful, but do we let him? Sometimes he does anyway which is where my day began.
My daughter (4) is very picky about her clothes. Her socks are usually the area where we have problems. She has 4 pairs of socks she will wear and right now we only have matches for 2. I had Matt wash them last night so she would have socks to wear today to school. Slight misunderstanding...he didn't put them in the dryer! 5 minutes before we needed to leave I discovered the wet socks smashed against the side of the washer. I ran to her bedroom and began praying that I would find a match for the one clean sock I had. While crawling around on the floor, I found a laundry basket under the baby bed (not sure how it got there) and there was a matching yellow sock. Praise God! I know that's silly, but I had an extra bounce in my step and a hymn of praise on my lips. That wasn't the end of my blessings for today.
When I got to school this morning, I had to go to the Dean's office to follow up on a letter I received in the mail last week. When I got there, they informed me that I was the recipient of a $5000 scholarship. Yes, you read that correctly. The number of 0's was not a typo. I about fell over! I'll be the first to admit that lately God hasn't had His proper place in my life (the center). What an awesome God I serve that he would choose to bless me even when I think I'm the boss of my life.
Today I pray that you will be blessed and reminded of God's faithfulness.
"Then Jesus said to his disciples: "Therfore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. Luke 12:22-31
I was only going to use a portion of that passage, but the entire thing is so good. I hope you will be blessed by it. How many times in your life do you look at the facts of a situation and think that it's too big for God to handle? You might not say it exactly in those words, but it certainly colors your vision. I catch myself doing this all the time. I think I need to figure my life out myself and I keep God in a tiny little box for when I need him. Matthew 17:20 talks about if we will have faith the size of a mustard seed we can do things like move mountains. Umm...I think if God can move a mountain or create the world, he could certainly provide money, or food, or employment, etc. You can fill in the blank. God wants to prove himself faithful, but do we let him? Sometimes he does anyway which is where my day began.
My daughter (4) is very picky about her clothes. Her socks are usually the area where we have problems. She has 4 pairs of socks she will wear and right now we only have matches for 2. I had Matt wash them last night so she would have socks to wear today to school. Slight misunderstanding...he didn't put them in the dryer! 5 minutes before we needed to leave I discovered the wet socks smashed against the side of the washer. I ran to her bedroom and began praying that I would find a match for the one clean sock I had. While crawling around on the floor, I found a laundry basket under the baby bed (not sure how it got there) and there was a matching yellow sock. Praise God! I know that's silly, but I had an extra bounce in my step and a hymn of praise on my lips. That wasn't the end of my blessings for today.
When I got to school this morning, I had to go to the Dean's office to follow up on a letter I received in the mail last week. When I got there, they informed me that I was the recipient of a $5000 scholarship. Yes, you read that correctly. The number of 0's was not a typo. I about fell over! I'll be the first to admit that lately God hasn't had His proper place in my life (the center). What an awesome God I serve that he would choose to bless me even when I think I'm the boss of my life.
Today I pray that you will be blessed and reminded of God's faithfulness.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Perseverance
Here's a post (and you all say, "Finally!!") of a slightly different nature. Since we live in a 2 bedroom house with 3 kids under the age of 5, bedtime can be...interesting to say the least. As I type this post, it is 9:51 and the kids have been in bed since 8:30. They are still awake! If they were lying quietly in bed waiting for the Sandman to take them away, that would be fine. The scenario at our house looks something like this: Madison (4) won't quit talking to Ryan (2), then they start fighting, then screaming, then Ryan slams the door shut which makes Madison scream even more. Aaron (5 mo.) wakes up crying and won't go back to sleep. Then the "I needa" game begins. Ryan wants juice, but settles for Wa-wa (water), then Madison is thirsty, then she has to go potty. Finally I had had it up to my eyeballs and put Madison on our bed. This is usually my last resort and works like a charm. Not tonight. I think I've been up and down the stairs enough times to qualify me for some sort of Guiness World Record.
The first time a child shouts for me, I calmly reply with "What?" After about the tenth time, it turns into, "WHAT!!!" and I'm sure all the neighbors can hear. I finally got smart and pulled out my Bible for some encouragement. I'm sure the battles are different at your house, but with young children, we can all use some encouragement about the role of perseverance.
"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." Romans 5:1-5
Whoo! Talk about some encouraging words! What an incredible promise from God that if we persevere, our character will be enhanced and along with that, hope. I don't know about you, but some days hope is all I have left. Hope that my kids will become God-fearing young people. Hope that my kids will one day respect authority (even if they stick their tongues out at me today). The list goes on and on. I'll take some liberties with the verse and say that our perseverance not only produces character in us, but in our children as well.
Well, it's now 10:03 and I hear no more crying coming from upstairs. Thank you God for the patience and perseverance to win yet another small parenting battle. Now if only I can remember this lesson until tomorrow night when it starts all over again.
The first time a child shouts for me, I calmly reply with "What?" After about the tenth time, it turns into, "WHAT!!!" and I'm sure all the neighbors can hear. I finally got smart and pulled out my Bible for some encouragement. I'm sure the battles are different at your house, but with young children, we can all use some encouragement about the role of perseverance.
"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." Romans 5:1-5
Whoo! Talk about some encouraging words! What an incredible promise from God that if we persevere, our character will be enhanced and along with that, hope. I don't know about you, but some days hope is all I have left. Hope that my kids will become God-fearing young people. Hope that my kids will one day respect authority (even if they stick their tongues out at me today). The list goes on and on. I'll take some liberties with the verse and say that our perseverance not only produces character in us, but in our children as well.
Well, it's now 10:03 and I hear no more crying coming from upstairs. Thank you God for the patience and perseverance to win yet another small parenting battle. Now if only I can remember this lesson until tomorrow night when it starts all over again.
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