Just Stop!

I was reading another blog this morning and a good portion of it really struck me as something that I needed to hear and I thought everyone else could use too! Now my "stop it" moments are not necessarily in the primary examples that were given but I sure have them.

Sometimes we just need to STOP IT. Just plain stop it. We don't need to keep praying over it. We don't need to keep deliberating it. We don't need one last shot at it. We don't need five more years of counseling over it. We flat need to stop it. Like, for instance,

*If we're married and we're flirting with somebody at work (calling it harmless), we need to stop it.

*And, Lord have mercy, if any of us are having affairs, we need to stop it NOW. With every second that goes by, the consequences are mounting. Please do not let the enemy trick you into thinking you're getting away with it. You're not. Don't rationalize it. Don't tell me what a jerk your husband is and how you're finally in love for the first time. Get some fear of God and stop it.

*If we're being a brat about something, we need to stop it.

*If we're still punishing somebody for what they did to us, we need to stop it. Enough is enough. Let God deal with them.

*If we're trying to do God's job with somebody, we need to stop it. No Scripture says it more succinctly and exactly than Isaiah 1:16b: "Stop doing wrong." Hear the voice of God say, "I've warned you and warned you and warned you. STOP IT." I say this as a woman to whom sometimes a brief, "STOP IT NOW!" works better than anything.

I know I needed that - how about you?

Me, I've been a long time gone...

Forgive the music reference once again in the title...it is just the way I am wired. Seriously people if they taught engineering classes to music, I probably would have enjoyed college a WHOLE lot more...and done a whole lot better at it! At any rate, I'm sure you've been wondering where I took off too...or maybe you haven't (let's not be too narcissistic here) but I have missed my blogging. After nine days away from home, seven of which were spent traveling by myself with a 7 month old and a 4 year old a total of 27 hours and 1650 miles in the car - I'm feeling a little like I need a vacation from my vacation. I could post a thousand pictures and tell a thousand blog worthy stories from our trip, but to be quite frank - I'm tired. The thought of having nothing on the agenda for this weekend just sounds heavenly. Okay well not "nothing"...speaking of heavenly, my oldest son will be attending Vacation Bible School for the first time. Brings back a flood of memories for me....I just LOVED to go to VBS as a kid. That was probably because nothing could have been geared more towards me - I mean c'mon people, aside from the Bible teaching, which granted is the most important part, VBS can basically be divided up into three categories: 1. Snacks (food - good, like it) 2. Crafts (yep, that's me, love it) 3. Music (um hello - perfect!, teach me anything). It should be fun for me...oops I mean him (wink wink). I will post pictures of it (and everything else) as soon as I can. Did I mention that I came home to a husband with mono?!? Hmmmm....I wonder if there is a church around here who has VBS for adults!?!?

Lake Lessons

We went with a group of 22 adults and 19 kids to Lake Conroe this weekend (sounds scary doesn't it - we were quite the crew). It was tons of fun and here are some pictures and some observations from the weekend.

1. The best way to tire out your child is to spend the ENTIRE day swimming.
2. Fish do not eat grapes for breakfast.
3. The volume and octave of women's voices is exponentially more than men's.
4. Men become boys instantaneously when surrounded by video games or water balloons.
5. If you are over 35, your limbo days are numbered...on one hand.

The incredible group at Incredible Pizza...

OUR incredible group!

Kid Karaoke...

Fishing from our balcony with Great Grandpa's rod and reel...

An old fashioned sack race...

Time at the pool

A Lifestyle fast...

Our church is involved in a series right now called "One Prayer". It has been really interesting and this past Sunday we got to hear a really good speaker named Craig Groeschel who said that his one prayer was for the church to be united, not distracted by all the things around us. As part of that for this week, we are participating in what he calls a lifestyle fast. Here is the church's explanation of it:

"What is a Lifestyle Fast?This week, we’re going to fast from
those things that may consume our time and resources and stand in our way of
truly connecting with God. For many of us, this will mean fasting from
technology. Not necessarily all technology, but those things that keep you from
spending time with God. Maybe you watch too much television or surf the web
aimlessly. For others, it could be shopping, sports or another hobby or pastime
that can distract you from what’s most important. Whatever that thing is for
you, take a week off. And instead, give that time to God."

In an effort to do that, this post will be my only one for the week as I am going to fast from television and the Internet. Don't miss read me, I don't think blogs are bad, or technology is bad, it was just something that I do spend a decent amount of time involved in and could manage to do without for a week. So if you are a person who reads this blog regularly (I may only be speaking to my husband here) than I would encourage you to take the time you would have spent reading this blog and instead, as they say, give that time to God. I will let you know next week how it all went for me!

Like I said...

I was engaged in casual conversation this morning and found myself using the word "propensity", to which my coworker confirmed that I have been using that word with an odd degree of frequency. He said that it seemed to have replaced another one of my common phrases "of some description". Being a wordy person by nature, I'm not surprised to learn that I have a few staples in my vocabulary. It reminded me of my pastor who did a recent post on his blog about his "go to phrases". It got me to thinking - what would make someone utter the words "...now that sounds just like something Kara would say..."?? Some of these words and phrases may have originated with other people, but in an effort not to point fingers, I will take the blame for my own excessive use:

• "Seriously..."
• "People..."
• "C'mon People" or a combination of the two above "Seriously people"
• "Clearly"
• "Shut up..." (used to express shock - never as a way to tell someone to be quiet)
• "...as the case may be"
• "A. ___ and 2.__"
• "Ya think?"
• "a propensity for"
• "of some description"
• "Dude" (just like the commercials - this can be used as several parts of speech and in several instances depending on the vocal inflection)

Can you think of any others? I'm sure there are words or phrases of mine that I don't even realize I use. And don't kid yourself people - we all have them...what are yours?

Wet Weekend in the Woodlands...

I finally got my pictures uploaded from our trip to the Kane house for Matt's graduation party. They have a gorgeous pool in their backyard and it was Jackson's first dip (or shall I say PLUNGE) for the season and boy was he excited. I think we were there a sum total of ten minutes before he ask if we could get in. You will see from the pictures that they have a big shallow area (a perfect combination of "zero entry" and "steps") and Jackson could have spent all day there "swimming". I couldn't find his goggles on our way out the door so I picked up a cheap pair and while he insisted they fit fine and wanted mommy to leave them alone, they pulled his eyes so tight that his nickname could have been the Shanghai Kid! (you will note the red marks they left around his eyes). I did take the opportunity to try teaching him to dive and to my surprise he did pretty good. We start formal swim lessons this Friday so that should be exciting...for everyone. Our other water boy enjoyed the pool as well. Good ol' Aunt Debby had gotten Gavin a Cars float to ride around the pool in and he looked like he was an old man just out for a Sunday drive. When he started looking a little prune-y around the edges we got him out but if we hadn't, he was content to just sit in the car all afternoon and watch the boys play football in the pool. A very fun and wet weekend in the Woodlands!

Swimming and Diving













Cousin Matt at Quaterback...Cousin Mike at Receiver







Gavin crusin' and hanging with Uncle Tom

Everybody loves lists....

Yes, it has been a while since I posted but between being out of town for my Grandpa's funeral and a nephew's graduation, reaching the summit of Mount Laundry, and side stepping a landmine better known as "the flu", I am trying to ease back into my normal routine... of being out of town, climbing to the summit of Mount Two Kids, and side stepping a landmine better known as "my life". I know what people mean when they say, I need a vacation from my vacation. I look at my friends too and it seems like everyone is in the midst of some sort of controlled chaos at the moment and we are all just putting on the happy face and walking around like we've got it all under control...we aren't fooling anyone - least of all ourselves! My kids' school is closed today (someone will have to explain to me sometime the actual definition of "professional development" because it sure seems like these teachers have a LOT of it!). At any rate, I am taking the "second shift" at home and I am hoping today to do the one thing that makes me feel on track - make a list. I'm not sure why it is, but for me there is something so powerful about writing down everything that needs done. No matter how long the list is, writing it down seems to make me feel better about it. Some might argue that it stresses them out to see just how behind they are but for me, the longer the list, the more assured I am that nothing is getting left out. Strange I know but it is almost as if just the act of making the list is an accomplishment. I even go so far as to make the first item on my list:

1. Make List

See - already I can cross something off!! And in case you are wondering, yes it is absolutely acceptable, in fact desired, to write down things on your list that you have already done....crossing things off can be soooooo therapeutic. It is my version of encouragement and takes away that feeling of "where do I start" when well looky there (something my Grandpa used to say) I've already started! So for those of you in the midst of chaos...and if you are under the age of 75 - trust me you are not fooling anyone - you're right there with me...my advice today, is to make a list - grocery list, errand list, Christmas list, bucket list (I really want to see that movie - maybe I will add that to my list)...but whatever the list is I know it will make you feel better because everybody loves lists!!