Give a little, get a little.

Alright, this crazy thing happened today.

I'll briefly tell you how we got here.

  Yesterday my mom came to visit.  I bragged to her how I sold 4 things online within 2 hours.  She tells me “Well don't you think you priced your stuff to cheap then?  You need to try to get more out of your stuff.  Quit wasting all of Chad’s money.. blah, blah blah”.  I think that’s how it went anyway, right mom?   I explained to my mom, who is exactly twice my age... The more you give, the more you get.  Plain and simple.  She knows this, but she likes to give me a hard time about my crazy spending/giving habits.  Good thing too, or imagine how much worse off I'd be! 

So last week at church the sermon was given by our music director, who talked about his experience with helping a man on the side of the road.

Not like a man with a broken down car on the side of the road, flashers going, just needing a quick jump start or a can of gas.  But a man who was sitting on the side of the road with a cardboard sign crying out for help.

He tells us that the first time he got in this situation he ignored the guy, and it haunted him.  He felt so terrible about it that he vowed the next time he was in this situation, he'd respond better, and he did.

That second time, he blessed a man with a package of socks, just as this guy’s sign had requested.  The man tells him “God Bless”.  They were both blessed!

Today we made a run through McDonalds.  On the way there was a guy in the median with a sign.  I couldn't read it, but as we drove past I saw in my rearview mirror that people were handing cash out their window to this guy.  I was happy to see that not everyone yells “get a job” and flips these people off.  There are still caring people in this world. 

We went through the drive-thru (because who takes 3 kids out of their car seats and into a fast food joint just to order a burger? not I!).  I ordered the guy a couple burgers, some fries and a sweet tea.  mmm.  I love me some sweet tea.  We each only got a burger for ourselves, but I wanted to be sure this guy's belly was full and he was ready to tackle whatever life gave him after we left him.

Once we were at window #2 and our food was handed to us my husband checked the bag.  We were missing a McChicken.  They asked us to pull around to spot #1 to wait.  While we were waiting I was complaining to my husband that he should just go inside and get his damn sandwich, since it was taking so long.  I know, I get impatient some times… 

About another minute later a guy comes out with a sack and says he was on break watching us out the window and wondered why we were there so long.  He went back to check on it and said they had forgotten about us.  He handed us the sack with a coupon for a free meal! 

So we drive away, dropping the guy off his food and drink.  I wrote a little "God Bless" on the bag, and my husband verbally said it to him.

We get about 5 miles down the road before it hit me.

WHOA!  You work FAST God!  We just gave a meal to this man you created, and you gave a meal back to us.  Bless you, Lord.  You are good!

Now- This story wouldn't be complete without me telling you a little truth, that I wish hadn't crossed my mind.  The guy, sitting there asking for help, was smoking a cigarette.  Now, I tend to believe that if you have the cash for cig's, you have money to handle your needs.  Or you should be saving your money for your needs, not spending it on your wants. But- I knew, it was NOT my place to judge.  And just to be sure I really understood, I said it out loud, "This is not my place to judge God, please don't let me judge him". 
Judgment dropped, and I freely gave.  The man didn't say thank you, in fact all he said was "alright, alright" as I handed him the food.  But whatev, I mean, I didn't do it because I was looking for a thank you.  I did it because God wanted  me to.  He wants us to do good deeds for each other.  Happiness.

 

 

 

Matthew 6:1

Be especially careful when you are trying to be good so that you don’t make a performance out of it. It might be good theater, but the God who made you won’t be applauding.

 

*I'm sharing this story with you because I want you to be encouraged to help others, without reservations or judgment. 

Worry Not.

 

“It’s not only wrong to worry, it’s infidelity.

Because worrying means we don’t think God can look after the practical details of our lives, and it’s never anything else that worries us.”

 

 

These are the words from a blogpost I just read.  I clicked on it from Facebook, because I saw a beautiful picture of flowers.  It is so fitting that I would see this just as I'm headed out the door to snag a clipping of my very own snowball bush to put on the dining room table, in hopes of bringing good cheer into the home.

  God knew that would catch my eye. 

He knew I needed this, as I slept on the couch last night, just sick with worry after an unnecessary, repetitive, attacking argument where no conflict was resolved.  Pointless.  That's easy to see now in the daylight. 

Read the post if you wish, here's the link.

Worry need not have a place around here.  We've got plenty of other stuff taking up space. 

Uncensored

Please let me preface this with saying someone asked me for a raw "real Q" post...

On our way home tonight we were sifting through XM radio when the voice on the speakers said "show me proof God is real, I don't believe it!!!". This was after we learned that a few of our favorite songs actually have really naughty words in them.
We got to talk about non believers and how they sometimes eventually come to believe.  We also got to explain about censorship & how XM just doesn't have it.  
This post does not contain censorship either....
Here it comes....

I was so frustrated today! Down right discouraged & pissed. I tried my darnedest to get a few pictures printed... that's it.

First I went to the digital photo place here in town.  They didn't have bluetooth capabilities, so I had to upload all 1400 pictures from my phone onto their machine with a dinky cable that thankfully I had in the van... because they of course didn't have one.. .
What the crap?  You're a digital photo store..get with the times!  After 25 minutes and several "kids quit touching...insert: each other, the merchandise, the floor, etc" someone else came in and needed the machine so I gave up and went on my way. I'm wondering if my pictures are still on their machine, as it appeared to be saving them.. oy!  They'll either love the pictures that contain no censorship, or be terribly offended by them.

Then I waited a few hours & tried to get my pictures printed at Walmart 45 minutes away.  I used their handy kiosk to bluetooth.   It went smooth for the most part.  It prints me a slip saying wait 11 minutes and another saying wait 13 for my other pictures, then scan them at another kiosk to print.
done.
I went and scanned it right away to call it's bluff.  Nope.. they really weren't   & I was getting impatient as my husband kept phoning me while he was in the car with the two youngest kids.
I asked at the counter & the lady says she shuts the machine off at 8pm.  So if it wasn't done by then I just needed to come back in the morning.

Well lady, this Chica don't do squat in the morning.   & I sure as shit ain't wasting another $15 in gas to go pick up less than a dozen 4x6's.

It was 7:40 p.m. so I decided I would wait another 20 minutes and see if they were finished at 8 o'clock like she suggested to do.
I got to browsing and went back to the counter at 8:04 pm. Shop closed up at 8 o'clock.. Which I knew because she told me but I thought I would ask.
Yep, pictures weren't done yet, so I'd have to come back for them... I apologized, but let her know we weren't from town, so I wouldn't be coming back for them.

By this point, in my head:
  *That lady was worthless at her job & I needed outta there before one of the rude comments in my head slipped out.
  *My husband was ticked I went in there in the first place, so I dreaded returning to the van.  I especially hated to return empty handed after what he says was an hour in there. So I bought toilet paper.
  *Where will all this TP get stored?
  *My pictures would NEVER get printed in time.
  *I kept validating that this is why small town businesses close, Walmart sux & why I pay a company in China to print my pictures and mail them to me.

After we get home my oldest daughter, who is 16yrs younger than me & about 20x's more mature tells me something like this:
"You know how sometimes you lock your keys in the house, and it makes you late? Or something like the pictures thing happens? Maybe that stuff happens because God is protecting you from something worse. So, I think He protected us, ya know?"
My mind shifted.   I felt terrible for my selfishness, bitterness and anger.  
She's right.   No denying a little girls understanding of our great God's love. 

I hope I can remember this the next time this sort of thing happens again, because I know it will.

DIY Designs: Clock Wall

I'm not a designer or decorator by any means (trust me on this one, it's bad).  But I do love all things DIY, cheap & pretty.  That's just what this one is to me. 

 

We'll make this quick. So I saw this pin:

 

Pinterest "Stop the clock when your babies are born. A moment in time, changed forever. Love this idea!"

 

& I created this:

 

I looked for a couple of months and couldn't find 3 coordinating clocks that I loved.  So instead, I bought 3 that matched!  The clocks were $5 each at Shopko.

I cut the names using black vinyl and my Cricut machine.

 

I didn't measure distances (that's sort of obvious, isn't it?), and I hung these little guys with tacks.  It worked.  I'm happy.  And if I later on decided to, I can paint the clocks different colors and move them somewhere else.  Or I can throw them on the garage sale pile, because that's what I sometimes do.  ;-)

 

Total cost of the project: Under $20.

Never wake a sleeping baby, right?

Here's the deal... The baby just woke up barely long enough to fill her pants & went right back to sleep.  The stench is filling my bedroom. Eww.  But the house is quiet.  The rule never wake a sleeping baby still applies, right? ;)

She's the 3rd baby.  I'm much more relaxed now than I was a few years ago. Obviously, she's napping in her seat... I never would've done that with the last baby. The tag probably even says not to let them sleep in it. & last time around I read all the tags. Crazy person.  

It's okay. I'm right here & I needed sleep too.   I'm a much better momma when I get enough sleep.

I'm letting her sleep through this one.  It may be a full 24 hours before the house is this peaceful again.   I'm sure as soon as I roll over to put my phone down she will wake up form her little slumber  & I'll wish I had just gone back to sleep for a couple more minutes.