Spiders and Spills

Went out on the porch for some quality time with God. Devotional in hand - ready to learn me somethin!

First thing I see is my arch nemeses… a spider… right where I sit on the porch swing.

I handle it… settle into my spot, open my book and reach for my ice water… and accidentally knock it all over the floor.

- I didn’t get a picture so here’s a reenactment:

My immediate reaction…

Geesh, God.

I came out here to LEARN something from You. Couldn’t you have prevented the spider/water incidents so that I could LEARN uninterrupted?? Seems simple enough for the Almighty…… no?

Then I remember… PRACTICE GRATITUDE.

Okay, God. I’ll give it a go. Let’s flip this thing and TRY to see it differently.

Spiders and spills are a part of life. That’s why they call it LIFE and not HEAVEN.

Isn’t it kinda great that I got the spider on my first try (instead of it slipping away from me and then spending the rest of its life secretly lying in wait, plotting my demise) distracting me the whole rest of the time I sat on the porch?

And how freakin’ blessed am I that a practically endless supply of FRESH, CLEAN water is available to me just a few steps away in the kitchen?

The majority of the world does not have easy access to pure, life saving water.

And what about the blessing that the spider wasn’t poisonous… or it didn’t crawl ON me… the glass didn’t break when it fell… or, even if it had, we have a cupboard full of more glasses!

Or what about having eye sight to SEE the spider and hands to SPILL the water!!

Funny… I was so busy being annoyed by the interruptions in my effort to LEARN something that I almost missed the LESSON in the interruptions!

Okay God, I’m gettin’ it!

Recently I heard about Dr. Brown on my friend Lisa’s blog and something she said really struck a chord with me:

She has done over a decade of research and has found that the common thread between every truly JOYFUL person she interviewed was their habit of PRACTICING GRATITUDE.

She elaborated that this wasn’t just an “attitude of gratitude” but something these people actually had to PRACTICE. Work at. Make a point of.

The fact that this message spoke so loudly to me is yet another in what seem to be a series of messages that God keeps trying to get across to me.

First it was through Jenny. She’s a comedian/mom blogger who brightens my day with her joyful, carefree spirit. I was envious of her optimistic way of looking at life until one day she mentioned that she’s actually a PESSIMIST by nature and has to WORK at being light and joyous.

What?! Blew my socks off!

Told myself “Well, maybe ‘I’, too, can find a way to train myself into positivity!”

I tried for awhile - updated my blog with blue skies and bubbly fonts - but my naturally pessimistic ways crept back in after a little time passed.

Then along came God, slappin’ me upside the head by way of Ann Voskamp.

Once again I was back in the ‘thankfulness-begets-joy’ saddle with renewed enthusiasm. Even caught myself writing in my thankfulness journal with her uniquely fragmented dramatic flair: "chirping of birds in oak tree… sing soft” -“sun upon windowpane… warmth of skin and soul.”

Don’t laugh! It’s contagious! ;)

Wrote down my blessings faithfully…got all the way to 262! Then along came The Dark Side and I was, once again, off the thankfulness wagon.

Now to a few days ago when I saw Dr. Brown’s video.

**WHAM** “The key to JOY is GRATITUDE.”

“It’s not joy that makes us grateful… it’s gratitude that makes us joyful.”

So… here I am, once again. Trying to really HEAR God.

PRACTICE GRATITUDE.

Don’t expect it to happen by itself.
Practice it.

graffiti

We keep waking up to find GRAFFITI on our mailbox.

We wash it off but it just keeps coming back.

(persistant little hoodlums)

So today the kids and I decided that if you can't beat 'em... JOIN 'EM!

Honestly (being the realist that I am)  I'm half expecting to see the little rug rats write OVER our artwork...

but hoping they don't.

They've been using what looks like a black Sharpie.

Any ideas if this doesn't work?

Dr. Oz and Garcinia Cambogia

Have you heard about this Garcinia Cambogia stuff? For weight loss?

Normally I'm a huge skeptic. If it's "all the rage" than I immediately assume it's BUNK.

But my mom said she saw it on Dr. Oz...

OPRAH'S Dr. Oz...

and, well, I knew HE wouldn't lead me astray.



So... I ordered some.

I'm only telling you guys because the next time you see me
you might not recognize me.

:)

But seriously... have you heard of it? Do you know anyone who's had success with it? Please share!

yelling goats

This video serves no purpose.

I have no idea if it's even real.

But it made me laugh...

So I'm sharing.

I seriously think that God made goats just to give humans a giggle.

Good work God.