Wordless Wednesday - Happy Birthday to ME!

OOOOH! I love me some toys!

Worship and Fiesta

Mr. Travis Cottrell can lead some worship, can he not?

But guess who else was there.

Kelly Minter!!!

So not only did she bless my friend K and I immensely this summer as we did the No Other Gods study together, but she blessed us on Saturday with a song.

And Mr. Cottrell gave us a sample of what is coming on his Christmas Album this fall. I tried to get some video of that, but it wasn't working. So, you'll just have to wait and see. But friends... it was INCREDIBLE!

I went to LPL with my friend K and her mom. They are the sweetest most gracious people. When I was trying to figure out where I was going to sleep on Friday night, they immediately had a roll-away bed brought up to their room. I just love them so much.

The idea of the Fiesta was for some of us bloggers to meet one another and have a seperate time with Beth Moore and her daughters after the conference was over. Being fairly new to the blogging world, there were only a few people that I "knew" or even knew of.

I met Kate for the first time on Friday evening as I sat next to her. She is just darling and being from Colorado, was amazed at our heat and humidity. Bless her heart.

I desperately wanted to at least touch base with Holly who is a fellow Aggie. I got that opportunity and she is just as sweet as she can be.

I felt honored to get to meet Annette, whom I read and enjoy a lot, and Melanie of BigMama fame, who is also a fellow Aggie. Aren't they both so gorgeous!?!

As I said in a previous post, I missed out on some of the other events because of circumstances over which only God was in control. So, while I had a "drive-by" meeting/hug with Gayle, I didn't get the chance to talk to her.

And, yes, I did hug them. Some of them anyways.

Oh, and there was a girl that looked an awful lot like Sophie of BooMama fame on my flight home... but I was too embarrased to walk up to a stranger and say, "Are you BooMama?"

This is BigMama, BooMama, and FryDaddy trying, but not succeeding at some banter.

Our time with Beth, Amanda and Melissa was really sweet. The three of them took photos with all of us in groups, then gave away some prizes and did a question and answer session. The one thing that really touched me was how Beth recognized people's "blog identities." She commented that when her "Supperman" (because he cooks) is gone and now that the girls are gone, sometimes the blog give her a sense of community and she reads the comments often. I tell you, that encouraged me to continue to comment and give encouraging words.

And here's our Siesta Mama with Miesta Moose that made the journey from... Wyoming, was it?

The entire weekend was so full. Full of friends old and new. Full of the presence of the Living God. Full to the brim and overflowing.

The Inheritance

The message that the Lord delivered to us through Beth Moore this weekend was about inheritance. Our inheritance as children of God and co-heirs with Christ.

This is a term that I have heard all my adult life. However, I never gave a lot of thought to it. Probably because I never truly understood it. Beth Moore is so gifted in digging down and getting to the root of the principle she is teaching about so that it really starts to make sense. And much like the message at Living Proof Live in Baltimore, MD in 2004 on Jealousy (Godly jealousy vs. human jealousy), inheritance has become a concept, no, a precept, that I am beginning to grasp.

We, as women, are heiresses.

At one point she quoted Paris Hilton, our most famous heiress here in the USA. “There is no sin worse in life that being boring...” from her book Confessions of an Heiress (2004).

We all had to repeat, I think several times, “I am an heiress, and I am NOT a bore.”

We looked at Psalm 16, specifically verses 5-6 in the English Standard Version (ESV):
The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.
The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

She gave us 8 basic points:
1. I am an heir of God. My life is not left to chance.
2. I am an heir of God. I am inheriting a kingdom.
3. I am an heir of God. He is my portion…. And I am His.
4. I am an heir of God. The down-payment has been made.
5. I am an heir of God. My boundary lines form a pleasing place.
6. I am an heir of God. The will has been activated.
7. I am an heir of God. I can be secure.
8. I am an heir of God. I have a beautiful inheritance.

We worked hard during these 3 sessions. She kept coming across scripture after scripture and we turned literally from Genesis to Revelation and just about everywhere in between.

In fact, I was standing next to a lady in the concession line on Saturday morning, while trying to get some caffeine since the Starbucks line at the hotel was reeeediculous. This poor woman said, “Whew, I am out of practice. Last night was hard.” I just had to snicker to myself and thought, “Doesn’t she realize I am totally going to blog about this conversation?” (You know, I had my Siesta Fiesta t-shirt on and everything.)

Anyways, Beth would come to one scripture reference after another and say, “Oh, we’re not going to go there because we just don’t have time. Oh… yes, we have to. I’ll just read it to you.” And just about every time what does she say, “Oh, I’m just going to have to back up to verse .” You could just feel the energy and excitement from her. It was contagious.

So, the things that really spoke to me? All of it. But let’s see if I can boil it down a little.

My life is not left to chance. Although I have always known this and believed it to an extent, I have lately been realizing that I struggle with trusting God’s purposes. Out of bad stuff that has happened in my life, I tend to ask, “Why?” A natural reaction, to be sure, but I am finally beginning to understand (years and years later) that I will likely never understand and I just need to trust that He is in control and does not act except in His perfect character of goodness, love, grace and mercy.

I am inheriting a Kingdom. One of the things that I so often miss is that the kingdom is NOW. Yes, in the future, we will eventually be in it and take possession of it in a physical sense in heaven. But I need to take possession of it now in a spiritual sense. Although we are not in the Kingdom right now, it is IN US.

He is my portion…. And I am His. Of course the “He is my portion” statement refers back to the Levites who had no inheritance (portion of land) in the Promised Land. God told them He was their inheritance and portion. They were consecrated by God and given back as a gift to the people and lived among all the peoples of Israel. But then she brought in Ephesians 1:18 and pointed out the phrase, “the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints.” His inheritance is us. Is me. His child. His treasured possession is people. That was just so convicting to me because I tend to put so little value on other people comparatively.

The down-payment has been made. Beth talked about Ephesians 1:11-14 and the deposit of the holy spirit guaranteeing our inheritance. Her quotes that stuck with me here were: “The deposit of the holy Spirit trumps anything earthly that we’ve inherited.” and, “Stop trying to be someone else. Be full on in the Holy Ghost and you will not be able to miss your calling.” She threatened, “Don’t make me start Holy Ghost talkin’!” Maybe you had to be there… it was funny.

My boundary lines form a pleasing place. She gave us this diagram and it really spoke to me about my territory. My intimacy with God sets the highest boundary. I can’t go any further than my intimacy with Him. My past is behind me and is unchangeable. My life experiences may be good, bad, or ugly (I’ve had them all) but they are mine. I need to own them for what they are.

The will has been activated. Someone has to die for there to be an inheritance. Enter Jesus Christ. See Hebrews 9:15-17 and Galatians 3:29-4:7. She also brought out that part of our inheritance includes His presence. The only way there can be an inheritance with that person’s presence is for there to be a death and resurrection. Hallelujah!

I can be secure. If we can get our identity in Christ, we will not seek approval/affirmation from others. She talked about how our young girls are taking on behaviors that previous generations of sexually abused girls would exhibit, even the ones who have never been physically abused. They are seeking affirmation and identity dependent on their sensuality and making choice after choice based upon that view of themselves. Her point was that we have been sexually mauled by our culture. So true. So true. This reality just makes me more vigilant about how I raise my own daughter.

I have a beautiful inheritance. 2 Timothy 4:6. Beth Moore's quote, “We have a beautiful inheritance in heaven before God, but until then, we have a beautiful fight.”

A beautiful inheritance… and until then, a beautiful fight. And I pray for the strength to give this beautiful fight my all. I will look in the mirror each morning and say,

“I am an heiress. A little rough around the edges. But I am an heiress, and I have a beautiful inheritance.”

Providence

So, the trip.

It was as excellent as any trip could be.

Today I will share some logistical things that just really shows how God had his hand on me, provided for me every step of the way, and put me exactly where I needed to be in miraculous ways.

I’ll share other things about the weekend in later posts.

We (my dear friend K, her mom and I) flew out on Friday morning with basically no delays. This in and of itself is a miracle as I found out later that there were so many delays later on in the day due to the weather there in San Antonio. The Lord put us on the right flight at the right time, Hallelujah!

As we landed I found that I had a voice mail. It was from my friend Beth who I was supposed to spend Friday and Saturday nights with. She is currently pregnant with TWINS (YEA!) and her message said that not only was she having some difficulty which was causing her to be on some bed-rest this weekend, but her one year-old was also sick.

I had already been concerned about them having to come downtown to get me and trying to get back downtown early in the morning, etc. In fact, I had emailed a Siesta from the LPM blog to see if I could catch rides with her. But at the moment that I got this voice mail from Beth, I knew that I just needed to not stay with them on Friday night and began praying and believing that the Lord would provide so that I would not have to add the stress of a house guest for Friday night on them and that any transportation issues for Saturday would be taken care of.

He abundantly provided.

I called my man and gave him the task. He was up to it. He’s so good that way. Using points, he was able to get me a room there at the Marriot Rivercenter where my friends and just about everyone else from the conference were staying. It cost me a grand total of $15. And I had a room with a king sized bed all to myself.



I don’t have to tell you… it was a blessing.

Then, after wandering around the mall and finding a super cute blouse on sale at Macy’s, I hung out back in my room, all by myself, for a while. Lo and behold, I had an email from Siesta Lori Anne that she did, in fact, live near my friend Beth and she could absolutely give me a ride. So I called her, told her of my change in plans and we then made plans to meet up and I could get a ride from her out to Beth’s house on Saturday afternoon.

He abundantly provided!

Well, back up a little to a couple of weeks ago as I was finalizing (or so I thought) my plans. By the time I finally had time to think about this trip and the Siesta Fiesta, I had missed out on signing up for the PJ party that some of them were having on Saturday night.

So, although I would have loved so badly to hang out with some of you playing games and gabbing all night on Saturday night, I played with Beth’s one year old son and gave Nick, his dad, a little bit of a break. I got to play “Aunt” Donna and laugh when he misbehaved because, hey, I’m not the mom. Woo hoo! It was a blast. And he is just a doll! I also had the privilege of cooking for them so that they could have a meal for a day or two. It wasn’t much, but I think it helps a little and that was definitely where I needed to be.

He so abundantly provided!

Travis Cottrell told us on Saturday afternoon that he would be at Oak Hills Church at Saturday evening and Sunday morning services leading in worship. Their pastor is someone you may have heard of before… Max Lucado. He was going to be preaching this weekend, which he doesn’t all the time. And it just not so happens that Beth and Nick live, oh, 10 minutes from Oak Hills Church. So, I went this morning and was so incredibly blessed.

And yet again… He abundantly provides!!!

My flight home left on time in spite of weather. And a woman, who obviously needed to talk through some religious issues made it on to the flight and sat next to me. I wasn’t sure at first how the conversation was going to go, but it was good. And it showed me that I could depend on Jesus and the Holy Spirit to give me the words that needed to be said. Whatever I did say didn’t seem to turn her off, because we talked for the entire flight. A divine appointment, to be sure.

So the point of this story (*gasp* there is a point?) is that God provided for every logistical detail so that I would be where I needed to be when I needed to be there.
And to quote Beth Moore from this weekend:
"Providence is the FACT that God works as powerfully in the every day as in the miraculous."

The weekend... it was providential.

What ever will you do?

There will be no Foodie Friday this week.


I KNOW... it's SO distressing.


But there's a good reason... I promise.


I plan on spending this evening at parents' night up at the school hearing from Sarah's teacher and trying to convince the other parents in our class that helping me out with all the room-parent responsibilities is a worthy cause because I don't have endless amounts of time or energy to do it all myself.


We'll just have to see how all that will go over.


Like a lead balloon, I'm sure.


Then I plan on going home and seriously trying to spend some time in preparing physically, mentally and spiritually for a conference that I am attending this weekend. Yep, tomorrow I get on a jet plane.


It's just a little conference with a really good Christian speaker and Bible teacher. Maybe you've heard of her... Beth Moore.



:)



So, yes, I'm on my way to Living Proof Live in San Antonio and looking forward to a WORD!


I've been planning on this since March or so... not long after I entered the blogging world. It was at that point that I started reading the LPM blog and found that there is going to be a Fiesta of LPM readers (AKA Siestas) and bloggers at this LPL event. The more I got to know some of the ladies that frequent the LPM blog by reading their comments, the more I couldn't wait to at least shake their hand... because you know, I'm not much of a hugger.


Or maybe you didn't know that.


I'm not so much a hugger with you unless I know you really well and for quite a while. I'm not sure why, but I have personal space issues.


In fact, I'm a little concerned about the Fiesta because all the ladies keep talking about giving everyone a big hug. More than likely, they are just talking to those other bloggers that they have known really well and for quite a while and I have nothing to be concerned about.


But I digress.


SO, my point is (as if I EVER have one) I'm headed to San Antonio and I may even do a little "live" blogging throughout my weekend.


Let me know if you're going. I look forward to seeing you.

Wordless Wednesday - 1st Day of 2nd Grade

Of course we had to have our friendly neighborhood peacock in the background. The 1st day of school wouldn't be the same without him.

You can see more Wordless Wednesday posts at 5 Minutes for Mom.

The Potty Training Chronicles: Stubborn Trumps Logic

Surprise.

I’ll bet you thought you weren’t going to see any more of these posts.

But my son is stubborn. And here we are again.

We went on vacation in July and it was so good. The boy had no accidents in the course of the entire 12+ hour car ride and days spent on the beach. He told us every time in the car when he needed to go to the bathroom.

Of course, we’re convinced that a few of those were just so he could tee-tee in the grass. It’s an exciting thing, apparently.

He even told us when he needed to poop. One of those times being when we were headed back to the car from a public beach that we went to because our beach at our condo was too over-run with seaweed. We were lucky that there was a port-o-potty right there.



An important first in life is your first port-o-potty experience.

It changes you forever.

But then we got home and it’s been chaos ever since. Especially after spending 4 days at Nanny’s house having “Nanny Camp” while big sister was at camp. I’ll swear that he lost his ever-lovin’ mind.

It got really bad at the end of last week. We were beside ourselves after 2 accidents at day-care and then one at home also. All in one day. And it’s the #2 side of things that’s the problem… #1 has never really been the issue.

So here’s where we are: He can do it. He has proven it. Logically, I should be dancing in the streets and shouting, “WE’RE DONE!!” But he, for some reason, is being stubborn and choosing not to.

Here’s where it gets funny, weird, and quite frustrating.

We are trying to help him by telling him when we think he needs to go. Maybe this is our problem, but when left entirely up to him at this point, we have days like we had last week and it’s not pleasant.

So last night, Mike tells him to go sit on the potty and try to poop before getting in the shower. Nathan doesn’t want to and says so. It goes on and really turns into an obedience issue of dad told him to do something and he’s balking at it.

In fact, he is apparently over at the potty puts just one cheek up on the toilet and then looks at Mike as if to say, “OK?” Mike gets on to him again and so this time he barely has both cheeks up on the edge of the seat, but not enough so that he can be productive in any way. He looks at Mike this time as if to say, “THERE, I’m ON the potty.”

Daddy’s hand, please meet Nathan’s bottom.


We laughed about it later. He's just such a little toot sometimes.

The thing is that once we get him sitting down and give him some privacy, he usually goes. He’s excited, we’re excited, he gets praise and candy and stickers.

But it seems, at this point, that no amount of prizes or sticker charts for success or toys taken away for messes is going to make a difference.

He knows what to do and how to do it. Logically it’s a no-brainer. But stubborn trumps logic.

Every time.

Monday report

I don't have a lot to share today except that my little man has croup. Good grief.

And my princess is starting her 2nd week of 2nd grade. Yikes.

And I'm just trying to keep up with getting back into our "normal" routine of things. I have stories to share, just no real time to "write" them down. Soon, I hope.

Have a good week and I hope to be back some... probably just not as often as I would like.

Foodie Friday - Beijing 2008

I know I haven’t been around much this week. I have just been so incredibly busy.

I’ve had Olympic swimming to watch, Michael Phelps’ iPod to think about, gymnastics to watch, Michael Phelps’ freestyle stroke to analyze, medal counts to compare, smashed Olympic records to consider, Michael Phelps’ iPod to think about some more.

You know… super important stuff.

Oh, and getting my daughter started on her first week of school as a 2nd grader, laundry, aerobics, feeding my family, work and other various activities of much less importance.

And by the way, many thanks to my friends The G’s (Rock Chalk!!) who gave me some enlightenment about Michael Phelps’ iPod (lyrics warning – reading this may damage your delicate sensibilities). This pretty much lined up with my man’s prediction of what Phelps probably listened to. But you have to admit, the thought of him listening to a motivational speaker is kind of funny. Well, I guess you don’t have to admit it… but it’s a fact… it’s funny.

*** updated to add this link about the Phelps playlist... It's an obsession. I admit it. ***

So, as we have been so entrenched in all things Olympic over the last week, I thought it appropriate to do a Foodie Friday post as a tribute to the Beijing 2008 Summer Games.

My whole family loves to go to Pei Wei. It’s not specifically Chinese, but it is Asian “inspired.” Here are our favorite standard menu items (we rarely venture out from these): Mike – Kung Pao Chicken w/brown rice; Donna – Orange Peel Chicken w/brown rice; Sarah & Nathan – Honey Seared Chicken w/noodles. All of us also enjoy edamame and our complimentary fortune cookies.

The kids love their Honey Seared Chicken so much that I decided to try to make it at home one time. It’s a little involved, but this recipe is about as close as I’m going to get without spending hours upon hours in the kitchen testing and re-testing recipes. I’ll leave that to the experts at America’s Test Kitchen and Cook's Illustrated.

So if you are so inclined and you want to force your children to be a little adventurous, go get some edamame from the freezer section of your grocery store (they're soy beans you know - so look in the vegetable section), and make that along with the following recipe for Honey Chicken Teriyaki along with some noodles or brown rice (seasoned with key lime juice, dried orange peel, dried tarragon while cooking).

Honey Chicken Teriyaki

(it looks like I found this at some place called cdkitchen.com)

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
2 eggs, beaten
oil for frying


Glaze
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup honey
1 tablespoon dry sherry
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
2 tablespoons sesame seeds, optional

Directions:
Pour 1/2 inch oil in a wide frying pan; place over medium high heat. Cut chicken into 2 inch squares. Combine flour, salt, and pepper. Dip chicken in eggs, then coat with seasoned flour. When oil is hot, add chicken half at a time. Cook, turning as needed, until chicken is golden brown. Allow total of 6 to 8 minutes.

Meanwhile heat soy sauce, honey, sherry, garlic and ginger in small pan. Lift chicken from oil. Drain briefly. Dip in honey mixture, then place on a rack set in a baking pan. When all chicken is cooked and dipped, sprinkle with sesame seeds, if used. Bake at 250F for 20 minutes. Brush with glaze after 10 minutes.

*****

Now... we all know that I never end up doing anything exactly like the recipe. So, here's how this recipe usually goes down in our house:

*****

Honey Chicken Teriyaki

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup all purpose flour
salt & pepper
2 eggs, beaten
oil for frying (mostly Canola & a little Sesame Oil for taste)


Glaze
1/4 cup soy sauce (approx)
1/2 cup honey (approx)
1 tablespoon dry sherry
1 clove garlic, pressed
teaspoon ground ginger

Directions: Pour 1/2 inch oil in a wide frying pan; place over medium high heat. Cut chicken into 1/2 inch squares (it's got to be small enough for the kiddos to pick up with chopsticks). Combine flour, salt, and pepper. Dip chicken in eggs, then coat with seasoned flour. When oil is hot, add chicken half at a time (actually ends up being about 3 batches). Cook, turning as needed, until chicken is golden brown. Allow total of 6 to 8 minutes.

Meanwhile heat soy sauce, honey, sherry, garlic and ginger in small pan. Lift chicken from oil. Drain briefly. Place on foil covered baking pan. Once all chicken is cooked & on pan, spoon about half of the honey mixture over and slightly toss. Bake at whatever temperature I happen to decide on for whatever time I have left before it all needs to be on the table. Toss in remaining honey mixture (as long as your husband hasn't come behind you and poured it out so that he can put the pan in the dishwasher - I love you honey!)

*****

By the way... I made this tonight (Thursday) for dinner. I had every intention of taking a picture of it for you, but time and getting dinner on the table took precedence.

Sarah told me it was like having Pei Wei at home. And Nathan, my 3 year old, told me, "This is delicious." For a minute there, I thought we weren't going to have enough

Burning Question

We have diligently been watching the olympics in the evenings. And, since my man was a swimmer in middle/high school, we're watching a lot of swimming.



So, my burning question is this...



What is on Michael Phelps' playlist on his iPod?



The way he has his earbuds in his ears the entire time he is outside of the pool I figure it's motivational material. You know what I mean. That soothing voice that says, "You are a great swimmer. You will take the gold," over and over again.



What about you? What do you think? Any ideas/suggestions? What is on Michael Phelps' iPod?