From Inmates to Playdates

Posts Tagged ‘Church’

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!

—–

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

This great guy…..

Loves to go Off-Roading with the guys in the WV Jeep Club.

  Is an awesome dad to our boys.

   Joined the WV Air National Guard in 1991 (he was still in High School).

  Is the web-master of our church web-site.

  Was commissioned as an Officer (2^ndLieutenant) the same year he was commissioned as a husband.

  Is a Principle Service Specialist for Honeywell. That’s code for “Control Systems Genius.”

 Just completed a 6-month deployment to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

 Works at home a few days each month.

 Travels for work more than he would like.

Likes to ski.

  Loves, loves, loves chocolate chip cookies.

  May not be able to tell you when or where something happened, but could definitely tell you what we were driving when it happened.

  Runs the sound-board at our church.

 Makes sure I have the cleanest minivan in the carpool lane.

 Comments on all blog posts involving his heap (ahem! I mean JEEP!)

 Had LASIK surgery 6 six years ago.

 Does it right the first time.

 Plays the drums at our church.

 Has a lot more patience than his wife.

Loves to ride his motorcycle even though he doesn’t get to ride it as often as he’d like.

 Would do anything for anybody.

 Watches Ice-Road Truckers, Grey’s Anatomy, Amazing Race, Desperate Housewives, Extreme 4X4 and Criminal Minds.

 Currently holds the rank of Major.

 Is the oldest of 5 kids.

 Would rather me write about someone other than him.

 Is adored by his wife.

Has a birthday today!!!

Happy Birthday McDaddy! I hope you have a wonderful day! Thanks for sharing your life with me!!!

I Love You!

I am unemployed, however, I am busier than a raccoon in a trashpile most days.

I feel like I should be on somebodies payroll by now because I don’t feel like I EVER have a day to do nothing.

Between the PTA, church stuff, domestic duties, my fellas, the PTA, the blog, the e-mail and the facebook, I! NEVER! STOP!

And speaking of The Facebook, do y’all find yourselves spending ridiculous amounts of time on there catching up with the stinkin’ status updates? Seriously, it is enough to keep me coming back for more.

And I check in often.

Because I was born with a nosey gene.

And because some of them are just great.

For instance, my current status update on facebook says, JMC is watching Grey’s Anatomy with McDaddy and writing tomorrow’s blog post which oddly enough is about status updates…

Intriguing? Yes, I think so. It would be enough to make me click over and see what the blog was all about if I were them.

Some of my prior status updates say,

Love Dare: Day 14 – purposefully neglect an activity you would normally do so you can spend quality time with your spouse. Do something he or she would love to do or a project they’d really like to work on. Just be together.

Is headed to Revival after a fun-filled hour with the Cub Scouts!!! The boys had a great time scrapbooking!!!!

has given away the sippy cups, the high chair and the potty seat… just about every trace of baby has been removed from our house…. *sigh*

4 years ago today at 11:29am I gave birth to a 10 pound,5 ounce baby boy. The nurses Nick-named him King because he was the biggest boy in the nursery! Happy Birthday Alex Ryan!!!!

Some of the other updates (and my mind) say….

A is back from California. The week went by too fast! (What did you go to California for?)

D is wishing I had an episode of House DVRd that I haven’t seen at least 3 times already.

S – How could you cheat on Fergie? Josh Duhamel is an idiot!!!

G - Eating fresh figs. What could be better?

J – is watching Gilligan’s Island. (Rock on! Party at your place, huh?)

J is counting down the minutes until parent- teacher conferences are over. There’s never a mad rush to talk to the music teacher. I did get some things caught up in the meanwhile.

J – is hoping Scooter feels better soon. (Me too!)

A – just received rave reviews and praise during C’s parent/teacher conference. Atta girl! (I think all of us went to parent teacher conferences tonight! The world over!)

B – happy day…such a happy happy day. (and why is that?)

M Squared – Getting ready to drive to AB; weirdly excited to talk about orthopaedic injuries.

W – Finishing up the yard work tomorrow…. One last time until spring. I like the snow, not just “cold” weather! The holidays are great because of the joy it brings to my loving wife A…   (Oh, me too! I love the holidays too!)

See, it’s all so very intriguing!!! My noseyness just loves it!!!

What about you? What would your status update say right now? I’d love to hear from you!

C’mon, speak up!

Well, if that title doesn’t grab your attention, I don’t know what will.

I’ll let y’all know how many visitors stop by Inmates via Google for searching for something to do with a wet t-shirt. I suspect there will be plenty. More on the wet t-shirt contest in a bit.

Last week, I mentioned I was attending a ladies retreat. Fifteen women from my church (and one visitor) enjoyed a weekend of food, fun, and fellowship. Oh, and did I mention food?

It is interesting to note that the retreat started at 5:00 pm on Friday and ended at 5:00 pm on Saturday.

Did I mention there was fun, fellowship and FOOD?

Oh internets.

We ate and laughed and ate some more. We talked into the wee hours of the night about fashion, shoes, our kids, the new cherry Dr. Pepper, and Deb’s yummy no-bake cookies.

The theme was “Garden of Friends” and everything was centered around flowers. Our retreat was based on this book by Penny Pierce Rose. Basically, each presenter was assigned a flower and we presented the flower based on its characteristics and related them to friends in our “garden of friends.”

I was assigned the sunflower. I love sunflowers. I have them all over my kitchen. I love sunflowers both for their size and their color. There are three characteristics of a sunflower. They stand strong, they seek the sun (Son), and they sow seed. In my garden of friends, I have several sunflowers. McDaddy is a sunflower.

As each flower was presented, we were to think about the qualities of the flower and write the names of friends in our “garden” that had the same qualities of the flower being presented. After each presentation we placed the post-it notes bearing the names of our friends on the flower that they represented.

As you can see, we have lots of Violet friends. Characteristics of the violet are humble, unselfish, go out of their way for others and often work behind the scenes. McDaddy is also a violet. (He is a great friend to have!) 

We also made these cute candle holders / coaster / whatever you want to use them for things.

We also made a picture frame, but for some reason I didn’t get a picture of those.

Anytime we have a shin-dig, I am in charge of games and entertainment.

I could just sit and read my blog to them, but I’m guessin’ that would get old. So, I try to real hard to come up with some great games and some great prizes.

The first ice-breaker we played involved those a snack pack of M&Ms. Each lady opened their snack pack and had to answer a number of questions based on the color of M&Ms that were in their pack.

Red = tell 1 fact about your childhood per red candy

Green = tell 1 fact about one of your hobbies

Blue = tell 1 fact about one of your job

Yellow = tell 1 fact about your dreams and aspirations

Brown = tell 1 fact about your last vacation

Orange = tell about something you like to do

It was a fun way to learn about each girl and as you can see from my snack pack, there were 18 M&Ms in the pack. It took a sweet forever for fifteen girls to get through 18 or so M&Ms.

After we went back to the “lodge” for the evening, we played a couple more games and then I made a grand announcement.

We were having a wet t-shirt contest.

Instructions – fold a t-shirt and place it in a ziplock bag. Fill the ziplock bag full of water smoothing the air out as you go. Repeat with a different t-shirt in a different ziplock bag. Freeze both ziplock bags. Remove the ziplock bags and announce that you are having a wet t-shirt contest. The first team to thaw their shirt and wear it wins.

First, you can try running warm water over it. 

 Just for fun, you might try cracking the ice on the side-walk.

Next, pull like crazy! 

Finally, wear it!

It was loads of cold fun!

Like I said, there was food, fellowship and lots of fun!

I could have titled this post, Thursday Three Hundred and Twelve.

Because that’s approximately how many things are on my to-do list this week. And, with all that I have to do, you can imagine the mess that is swirling around in my brain.

My brain is certainly a busy place.

Sheesh.

I keep thinking maybe next week I’ll get a break. But, it’s been weeks and there’s not a break within a thousand miles of this place. I seriously need to introduce my lips to the word, ”NO!”

So, in no particular order – except for the order that they throw themselves from the brain to my fingertips, I present to you at least 13 things I need to get done this weekend.

1. Plan games for a bus trip I will be taking with my church to the Amish Country on Saturday - I love games and I enjoy doing them, however, I would love to have some fresh ideas. Got any?

2. Put the finishing touches on Pastor Appreciation gifts for our two, wonderfully different pastors. Seriously, we are so blessed!

3. Picking up chips or 2-liters for the pumpkin hunt on Sunday at our church. Our sweet boys always have such a wonderful time picking and painting pumpkins with their friends.

4. Laundry, laundry, and more laundry. Oh, and don’t forget the laundry. Because the laundry is never done!

5. Visit and catch up with my aunt who is visiting from California before she heads back home on Sunday.

6. Pack for Amish Country trip. We will travel up and back in the same day, however, I never leave home on a trip without ample underwear, a change of clothes, snacks and anything else I think I might need before returning home.

7.  Wrap ‘door prizes’ for bus trip. Are they called ‘door prizes’ if there isn’t a door involved?

8. Read a big, honkin’ 200 page Closure Hearing Document dealing with the stupid school consolidation.

9. Flood our local Board Of Education and WV State Representatives with letters regarding the school consolidation.

10. Work on the basement. – McDaddy and I are currently in the midst of extensive renovations to our basement here at the McResidence. It could take us months to finish it.

11. Download (or is it upload?) pictures to the Wal-Mart web-site that will be used to design a scrapbook for a special friend.

12. Go to bed as early as possible. Seriously, I need some good sleep. And, I should start right now.

13. Copy our church bulletin. I’ve been doing our church bulletin for years. I typically copy it on Saturday. Since I’ll be going to the Amish Country, I’ll need to copy it early.

Like I said, Busy Weekend….

What’s on your agenda this weekend?

Whatever you’re doing, I hope you enjoy it!

Typically, I have a tough time coming up with something different that works for me each week because I feel quite sure that y’all don’t want to read about Dr. Pepper and Little Debbie cakes each week. Although if I’m being honest, I can’t say those things actually work for me. It’s just that I consume more than my fair share of both of those.

Anyway.

I did hear harps this week when my hair dresser introduced me to a super, new product, but I’ll save that for next week, you know, because Works For Me Wednesday will come around again before we know it.

Instead, I thought I’d show you something neat that came in the mail today.

I received 200 of these.

This happens to be a post-card announcing Revival at our lovely, little church.

One of my blog sponsors, Uprinting.com, offered 200 free post-cards to one of my readers. In addition to that, they offered me 200 free post cards, also.

They were simple to design and the end product is a high-quality, glossy post card.

Uprinting.com works for me!

Not only does UPrinting.com print business cards and a bunch of other things, they also do sticker printing and custom labels. That’s all kinds of fun in one place! You can view their sticker printing page for some great ideas or you can design your own from scratch. Did I mention the easy design process?

And now, they are offering one of my readers (and me, too!) 250 custom stickers/labels.

Giveaway Prize Details
250 Stickers/Labels for One (1) lucky winner

Sizes: 2” x 3.5”, 2” x 4”, or 3” x 3”
Paper: 70 lb Label Matte
Specifications: Full color front, blank back; 4 Business Day printing

FREE UPS Ground Shipping in the USA (Canadian residents need to pay shipping and taxes). This offer is not available to residents outside the US and Canada.

To enter the contest, simply leave a comment telling me what you would use the stickers for. For an additional entry you can blog about the giveaway at your place and link back to this post and to UPrinting.  A winner will be chosen by the accounting firm or Random.Org on Sunday, October 25, 2009 by 11:00 pm EST.

———

In adherence to the FTC ruling on Blogger Reviews and Sponsored Postings – I WILL BE RECEIVING 250 stickers/labels from UPrinting.com for hosting this give-away.

Works For Me Wednesday is sponsored by Kristen over at  WE ARE THAT FAMILY.

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Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

2

Timestamp: 2009-10-23 00:11:28 UTC

The Winner is Commentor #2.

Tara at Minnesota Mama. Congratuations, Tara! UPrinting.com will be contacting you with information about how to claim your prize!!!!