From Inmates to Playdates

Posts Tagged ‘Church’

Are you feeling guilty because you forgot your child’s dentist appointment?

Have you ever been overcome with embarrassment because your child made a grand announcement in a public restroom that “you stink when you use the potty?”

If so, then you are in the perfect place for Not Me! Monday. A blog carnival that was “created out of a desire to admit some imperfections and reveal a few moments you would rather forget”.

It seems my life was full of Not Me! Monday imperfections this weekend while we were camping with several families from our church.

For instance, it wasn’t me who stood perfectly still for the better part of 30 minutes with camera aimed and ready during a lightning storm with hopes of getting the perfect picture.

Unsuccessfully, I might add.

Well, I probably wasn’t perfectly still because the words me and perfectly and still could never be good friends. But, you get my drift, right?

It’s also not me who misplaced that same camera making it impossible to share the cool pictures I did get of the sky and the rainbow because me? I never lose stuff.

It most certainly wasn’t me who considered herself to be “roughing it” at the campground because my precious iPhone wasn’t able to perform in 3G mode therefore making it impossible to play Words With Friends for most of the weekend.

I did not make another one of these cakes for the third time in as many weeks. I also didn’t eat any of it.

There’s no way I decided to skip out on the laundry today, opting instead to write tomorrow’s blog post because I am not lazy. Nor am I a procrastinator.

I would never roll my eyes when reading that someone excepts something when really they should accept it.

What can I say? I’m full or quirks. Pet peeve alert, people.

It is not me who has killed more than her share of ants over the past month and who still found herself killing ants in the camper this past weekend.

Where in the heck do they come from, anyway?

And finally, it isn’t me who completely forgot to write a father’s day post before going on our camping trip this past weekend so that it would automatically post on Father’s Day. McDaddy is a great father and is totally worthy of his own personal blog post.

And so is this guy. My own daddy, Jimmy.

For more Not Me! Monday posts, head over to MckMama‘s place.

I enjoyed my first full week of summer with my fellas very much!

I usually give summer a hard time.

There’s the heat.

The humidity.

The stupid flying, stinging, insects.

Not to mention the humidity.

But one thing I love about summer is the extra sleep it affords.

I drop-kicked the alarm clock out in the front yard about nineteen minutes after I picked Stevie up on his last day of school and it hasn’t been seen or heard from since then.

We’ve had a couple of playdates because hello? Remember the whole From Inmates To Playdates thing? We love playdates around here. Especially indoor, air conditioned playdates.

The boys are taking (indoor!) swimming lessons and when I signed them up, I was careful to choose a class that wouldn’t conflict with anything else in our schedule.

Basically that means I didn’t want to get my lazy butt out of bed before 9:00 am, so I picked the 11:15 am class.

Priorities, people.

I was a bit apprehensive about the swimming lessons because while my boys love to frolic in the pool, they are not big fans of “going under” or getting water in their eyes. Swimming lessons could have been a big freakin’ mistake. McDaddy shared a story with them the night before lessons about a little boy named Daddy who had a mommy named grandma, who had swimming lessons, but was too scared to actually learn to swim. Then, I added my four cents about bravery, and the cost of the lessons, a threat that might or might not have included the loss of certain electronic devices for not trying their hardest, as well as a bribe for an “Iron Man Mask” IF they are able to actually swim at the end of their lessons.

Upon arriving at the University of Charleston for swim lessons, we pause before getting out of the van. We hold hands, sing “Kum Ba Yah” and then we pray that God will help them to be brave and safe in the water.

While I am not sure they will actually learn to swim, I am pleased to report that they are giving it their all and actually trying to learn. I can’t help but think of my boyfriend, Michael Phelps, and how his mama must have felt as she sat on the sidelines and watched him take his first lessons in the pool. Do you think she had any idea at the time that he’d be breaking records and taking names in the 2008 Summer Olympics? I’m not clinging to the hope that my boys will be Olympic Swimmers some day, but by golly, if they do, I will say the $108.00 (after coupon) was totally worth it. They have seven more lessons, so we’ll see what happens.

McDaddy is working out of town for part of the week, so I’ve planned and schemed to find me and the boys some fun things to do to insure that I won’t be sitting in a fetal position in the corner rocking back and forth answering for the eleventh time why it is that they can’t play the Wii or watch Tom and Jerry the whole entire day. They do enjoy playing outside but seriously, in the heat of the day in the hills of West Virginia, it’s approximately 97 degrees with about 285% humidity, so playing outside is kept to a minimum until the sun goes down.

The other thing I’ll be busying myself with this week is packing.

It seems like all I’ve done the past month is packing, washing clothes to pack, or unpacking. I’m not necessarily complaining, because I don’t complain. I’m just merely making  a statement.

I just got the laundry caught up after our gloriously fun, but hot quick weekend in Florida for the wedding, and now, I”m at it again.

This time, I’m packing for a camping trip. The McFamily will accompany 10 other families from our church and we’ll spend four days eating, fellowshipping, laughing, fishing, boating, eating, and eating. It is a logistical nightmare for the ones who organize the camping spots and the food which is planned several weeks ahead of time. We eat breakfasts and dinners together and spend the other hours of the day deciding who will go on the boat, who will fish and who will stay back with the nonboating, nonfishing kids. I am so thankful for our church family. I’m looking forward to a short (hopefully not too hot!) sweet camping trip.

Oh, and I guess since this is Monday, I should let you know that it certainly wasn’t me came home from church last night and fixed pancakes for my hungry little fellas because anyone with half a brain knows that eating pancakes slathered in butter and syrup at 9:30 pm is never a good idea.

And it also wasn’t me who squealed like a little girl when this thing hopped across my foot on our front porch late one evening last week.

It also wasn’t me who walked three miles out of the way to get into my house and get my camera.

And before you ask, it was not me who crouched down like she was a professional photographer for National Geographic just to snap a picture of the nasty little sucker for the blog. Nope. Not me. Not scared. At all.

And since I’m confessing all the things that I didn’t do, it is not me who visits Google weekly to find out proper spellings of words like Kum Ba Yah, and crouched for the blog.

Not me. No way.

Have yourselves a lovely Monday. I plan to enjoy mine fully, in between the swimming lessons, the humidity, the laundry and whathaveyou.

This post is linked to Not Me! Monday over at MckMama‘s place.

It’s a beautiful Sunday afternoon. McDaddy took Stevie to a Scout activity and my sweet Alex is on the couch giggling at the antics of Tom and Jerry. He spent the last twenty minutes wollerin’ me in my big, blue, bloggy chair.

Am I the only one out there that uses the term ‘wollerin’?

When that game got old, he asked if he could watch Tom and Jerry, so I figured I should get started on my Not Me! Monday post so I’m not up half the night blogging after church. (As if I ever stay up half the night blogging, ahem.)

-First, it WAS NOT ME who TOTALLY FREAKIN’ FORGOT to link up to Not Me! Monday last week after being Number one and Number two the previous two weeks. Instead, I was Number 58.

-I will not be up half the night blogging because I will be up half the night selecting some songs from iTunes for my new work-out playlist that I will use STARTING TODAY IF IT KILLS ME in the gym, because I did NOT drop my jaw at my annual appointment on Friday when the scale laughed at me.

Stupid scale.

-I’m not real big on the whole self-diagnosis thing, so there’s no way I mentioned to McDaddy that my ear was infected, or my eardrum was busted. All I know is that somethins’ not right.  (The grammar police have a big time over here at FITP, Inc.)

-Minutes later, I did not ask McDaddy to “look under my chin and tell me if that red place look like poison ivy” because I’ve not been anywhere to actually ‘get’ poison ivy. Still its an aggravation and I’d almost bet the farm that it is, in fact, poison ivy.

-I’m not an emotional type, so it couldn’t have been me who constantly wiped tears this morning as we were reminded of God’s grace and God’s blessings throughout the twenty year history of our church. We ARE for sure blessed!

-On the way to church this morning, there is no way that we drove half-way there before realizing that we left the dessert and salad for the homecoming dinner at home on the counter.

-I keep three (hear me, THREE) calendars, so it makes no sense that anyone with THREE FRIGGIN CALENDARS would arrive 45 minutes EARLY for youngest child’s Doctor appointment and then be scrambling to get out of there in time to pick up the oldest kid from school because the appointment was scheduled for 1pm instead of 12pm.

Seriously, no sense whatsoever.

And yes, I said friggin.

Don’t judge.

-And just when I didn’t need ONE MORE THING to occupy my time, there’s no way I went and let myself get hooked on Twitter. If you too, are hooked on Twitter, you can hook up with me at @JulieAtInmates.

-I most certainly never complain when McDaddy is out of town on business, but if I did, I’d be complaining because he is gone again this week.

Dang.

- And speaking of Twitter, it WAS ME who dropped her jaw on Saturday morning when I clicked on Twitter to discover that I had won a prize at the Ultimate Blog Party sponsored by 5 Minutes For Mom. A really cool prize that my boys will love!

That’s enough stuff I didn’t do for one week. Head over to MckMama‘s place for more Not Me! Monday posts.

This week’s You Capture challenge is Comfort.

Too bad this week’s challenge is not discomfort because the pollen and I are not getting along and it is making my pitiful little nose a bit miserable with all it’s itching and running and whathaveyou. Not to mention the fact that I’ve felt like plucking my eyeballs out today.

With forks.

Tis the season, I suppose.

My first thought was to capture the fat box of tissues nestled here beside me. My second thought was to capture a picture of the darn Sudafed box. It provides a bit of comfort in the midst of the madness.

Just. a. bit.

But enough about my pollinated woes.

Coincidentally, this week’s challenge was very easy for me. I could have filled this post with pictures of my sweet fellas, but I wanted to be more creative than that. And you know, actually shoot some new stuff.

Have a look.

I washed the bedding on all of our beds this week and flipped the mattress on our bed. You can imagine how shocked I was to find this on the floor under our bed. Alex was a passy junkie. When he was small, he called it a ra-rosh. I don’t know why. He just did. The passy comforted McDaddy and I him many-a-night. I had to include it this week.

Easter weekend provided the perfect setting for a comforting kind of weekend.

This was my view during Sunrise Service at our church.

When I need comforted, I turn to The Word.

Without fail, I read something that soothes my heart and calms my fears.

I enjoyed capturing comfort this week.

I can’t wait to visit Kidnapped By Suburbia to see where others find comfort.

Next weeks challenge: FRESH

As we entered our little church on Good Friday, the lights were dim and the sanctuary was silent. The sign on the door read, “Enter humbly, worship deeply.”

We approached the communion table and then made our way down the center aisle to our seat.  Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus was softly playing through the speakers and as I listened, I thought about that fateful day.

“What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?” Pilate asked. They all answered, “Crucify him!” Matthew 27:22

It was Good Friday and our church was having our annual Tenebrae Service.

The word ‘tenebrae’ is Latin for shadows, or darkness. The purpose of the Tenebrae service is to recreate the emotional aspects of the crucifixion. For that reason, this is a solemn service. The purpose of the service is to recreate the betrayal, abandonment, and agony of the events.

In the end, it is left unfinished, because the story isn’t over until Easter Day.

There are seven purple candles burning and one white candle.

As each reader made his way to the microphone to narrate their part of the crucifixion story, weeping can be heard throughout the sanctuary. After each reading, the reader snuffed out their candle until eventually only the white candle (which represented Jesus) was shining.

And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him. Mark 15:20

The readers, many of who were emotional and crying recounted scripture leading up to Jesus being brutally beaten and ultimately dying on the cross. The last reader, (McDaddy) began reading Psalm 22 which Jesus quoted on the cross. When he finished, he snuffed out the white candle. A single drummer pounded on a snare drum and then a final crash of the cymbal.

When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. John 19:30

The sanctuary was left in total darkness—and near total devastation.

There was no benediction.

There was no talking.

Our church family departed in silence with heavy hearts.

But, the story is far from over…..

And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.  I Corinthians 15:4

He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Matthew 28:6

Without Easter, we would not have victory in the Christian life. A popular Easter hymn – “Because He lives” – reminds us that we can face tomorrow.  Because He live, we have victory. Because He lives, we have eternal life through Jesus. 

I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand upon the earth. Job 19:25

Because He lives, we have a hope and future.

Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. Jude 1:21

And most of all, eternal life.

Because He lives.

I….

have prayed…

and am ever so HOPEFUL (and this guy probably is to) that the white stuff….

will STOP IT ALREADY!

Because our driveway….

is a pain when there is snow involved.

Grrr…

Head over to I Should Be Folding Laundry for more HOPEFUL You Capture posts.

Come now, let us reason together,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. Isaiah 1:18

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe. Hebrews 12:28

What better day to tell you thirteen things I’m thankful for than today on this Thanksgiving holiday.

I love Thanksgiving. I have fond memories of waking up very early on Thanksgiving morning to the smell of turkey and pumpkin pie baking in the oven. And, no Thanksgiving is complete without the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.  So, yes, I will watch it even today. I will watch it while I dig through the pile of advertising debris as I plot my course for the black Friday shopping extraganza. Yes, I am one of thosepeople. I will rise at O Dark Thirty to hit Kohls, Target, Wal-Mart and probably Sears in search of bargains that likes of which we only see once a year. I’ll be lucky to come away with my sanity. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy the hubbub. I’ll let you know how that goes.

Now, back to thirteen things I am thankful for, in no particular order. When I say no particular order, I mean just that. It is more a matter of how they popped into my head as opposed to order of importance.

1. My three fellas – This one is a given, but certainly worth mentioning right off the bat. These fellers are the light of my life. (And yes, we do say fellers around here!)

2. Our Home – With so many people losing their homes these days, I sure am thankful for our home and the joy that fills it.

3.  SLEEP – Sweet mercy, this probably sounds silly, but believe me when I say that I am certainly thankful for sleep. The boys rarely crawl into bed with us anymore and it is glorious to wake up at 6:40am when the alarm clock goes off instead of 3:40am when someone needs to be fed or changed. [Not sure why this picture is so small or how it will look once its posted!]

4. The Blog – The fact that The Blog made the short list of things I’m thankful for will probably leave some of you shaking your head. The fact is that I really enjoy blogging and people love me here. So, its a great place to come and blow off steam or just say hi!  I have also met a lot of people who I consider to be URL Friends (the opposite of IRL – In real life friends). [Hey, remember that princess?]

5. The United States of America –  I have to say that deployment, coupled with our trip to Guantanamo Bay left a lasting impression on me. I will NEVER EVER AS LONG AS I LIVE look at the American flag without thinking about the honor, sacrifice, and courage of the thousands of soldiers stationed all over the world.

6.  My Parental Units – I am thankful that I have my parents and that they live close-by. I had a great childhood with two loving parents.

7.  The In-Law Siblings - When I married McDaddy I gained a truck-load of in-laws because he is the oldest of five children. His two sisters and two brothers (and their spouses) are also our friends. I am thankful most especially for four great sisters-in-law!

8. Deployment Is Over – I am so, so, thankful that we are done with deployment. This time last year we were preparing for deployment. We filled out a will, a power of attorney, and all the other stuff that comes with your husband being out of the country for six-months. I am THANKFUL to have him back at home!

9 . My In-Laws- I LOVE my in-laws. They are living in Florida where my FIL is serving on active duty and I miss them terribly. And I’m not just saying that because my sweet MIL, Jean  reads From Inmates To Playdates daily. She is one of my biggest bloggy fans and frequently makes references to my book. The book that she wants me to write. Someday. If the opportunity were to present itself. Not at all sure what I’d write about. I’m guessing it would be filled with crazy, crazy, and well, more crazy. [Keep in mind that it was a hot August day when McDaddy returned home. My hair kept its flip for all of three minutes in the humidity.]

10.  Our Church – The Lord sent us to our sweet, little church about two months before we were married. We have been worshipping there ever since. Most of our friends are from our church. I have no doubt that I could call any of them at any hour of the day and they would drop what they were doing to come to our rescue. I am thankful for the love I feel when I enter the church doors. I look forward to going to church for each service.

11. My new job- Okay, so its not a new job. Its a job that I’ve been privileged to hold since 2003. While there are days that I miss the craziness that happened in jail, I am so appreciative that I’m the one who is there everyday with my boys. When they are sick it’s me who holds them, when they want to make lego chapels, it’s me who gets to help them design it, when they want to play outside on the swingset, its me who gets to sit and listen to them make big plans about pretend repairs and super jumps off of the swings. I am thankful for the chance to be home with them every day.

12. My twin brothers – While I am not as close to my twin-brothers as I would like to be, I am so thankful they are my brothers.

13. A tie between my TiVo and my iPhone – I know this probably sounds silly! These two little gadgets make my life easier and happier. They save me time and just make my world a better place.

That’s all.

Happy Thanksgiving, y’all!

You may or may not have seen this movie with Kirk Cameron.

Remember Kirk Cameron? From Growing Pains?

Well, Mike Seaver is all grown up and now and he starred in the movie Fireproof as Caleb Holt. A married fireman in Albany, Georgia, Holt firmly keeps the cardinal rule of all firemen, “Never leave your partner behind.” But Caleb’s home life is an altogether different story; his seven-year marriage to his wife, Catherine is on the verge of implosion. Neither one understands the pressures the other faces. Throughout the movie, Caleb leans on his dad for advice and ultimately accepts a challenge from his dad before giving up on his marriage completely. The Challenge is The [40 day] Love Dare.

Through the guidance of The Love Dare, and as a result of his new commitment to Christ, Caleb begins to understand the importance of marriage and sacrifice. Each day for 40 days, Caleb is challenged to recommit and reconnect with his wife even though his efforts are rejected, rejected and rejected some more. Throughout the dare, Catherine’s heart is opened to his efforts and she begins to slowly reconnect with Caleb.

Ultimately, Catherine begins to understand that Caleb really wants to save their marriage and is truly committed to her and the movie ends with the two of them recommitting their lives to one another within the bounds of a Christian marriage.

Three weeks ago, our Sunday School Class began The Love Dare.

Currently, we are on Day 16 which says….

Begin praying today for your spouse’s heart. Pray for three specific areas where you desire for God to work in your spouse’s life and in your marriage.

Thankfully, McDaddy and I are not experiencing trouble in our marriage. Still, it has proven to be a valuable resource for me. Often, I am selfish and needy. I also can be ungrateful and selfish.

Selfish?

Yes, I said it twice.

I’m just keeping it real.

The Love Dare has caused me to think about my motives, my thoughts, my actions and the things I say. It also makes me think about how I say them.

Am I at 100%

Nope.

But, I’m in a better place than I was 16 days ago.

I appreciate our Sunday School teacher for leading us on this journey. It has been thought provoking and has helped me gain a better understanding of the way McDaddy thinks. It has also reminded me how blessed I am to have a Christian marriage with a loving, Godly husband.

There are some tough lessons along the way.

Day 7- For today’s dare, get two sheets of paper. On the first one, spend a few minutes writing out positive things about your spouse. Then do the same with negative things on the second sheet. Place both sheets in a secret place for another day. There is a different purpose and plan for each. At some point during the remainder of the day, pick a postive attribute from the first list and thank your spouse for having this characteristic.

Day 5 – Ask your spouse to tell you three things that cause him or her to be uncomfortable or irritated with you. You must do so without attacking them or justifying your behavior. This is from their perspective only.

AHEM!

I thought it would be difficult for McDaddy to narrow this one down to just three things. Surprisingly, they were three minor things (a couple of which I already knew would be an aggravation!) As I made my list, I was almost ashamed to write my three things down. They seemed so trivial, I hated to even mention them to him. Still, we did the assignment and now I try to keep my van clear of clutter and debris. Notice I said, TRY!

Day 13 - Talk with your spouse about establishing healthy rules of engagement. If your mate is not ready for this, then write out your own personal rules to “fight” by. Resolve to abide by them when the next disagreement occurs.

This one was tough, because McDaddy doesn’t necessarily fight. Still, I made some rules of my own and hopefully, I’ll abide by them when the time comes.

It’s not always been easy, but The Love Dare is working for us!

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This post is linked to Kristen’s Work For Me Wednesday Carnival over at We Are THAT Family!