Cabin Fever February 23, 2008

The snow is melting, the sun is shining and I want to break out of this house. It is days like these when I feel like I would trade my left arm for a car to get out and do something! I am going stir crazy! Right now, Aralyn is jumping on her bed screaming “Poo Poo” and I am tempted to join her. “Poo Poo” on this snow! , “Poo Poo” to this boredom!, and “Poo Poo” to February!

Today Aralyn and I had “Spa Day”. She had a strawberry bubble bath and lotion followed by her very first big girl manicure with pale pink polish. She loves lotion, especially on her belly! I read an article in Mothering Magazine about Spa Day and loved the idea. It is a great tradition to start weekly with your daughter to bond but also to build into her a healthy self image. We do nice things for our body to take care of what God has given us. I also want to emphasize to Aralyn how beautiful she is just the way she is and that things like make up and nail polish are just for fun and can be nice for special times but her real beauty is in her sweet spirit and loving heart.

So, today I give you one restful and therapeutic bubble bath! Enjoy!

Snow Day! February 22, 2008

I feel like I need to bump my previous post about how Spring is almost here to remind myself. It really is just around the corner! Today; however, it is white for as far as you can see. Schools are closed which means the tea room that I work at on Fridays is closed as well and I feel like a kid with a snow day!

This morning Aralyn and I spent some time at our window seat watching the birds puffing themselves up to keep warm. The cardinals are so beautiful against the background of snowy white. Our yard is the place to be if you are a bird in our neighborhood because we have one of the only evergreen trees to keep warm in.

With the weather the way it is to day, I am dreaming of a fireplace. Maybe I need to get one of those videos that you pop in your DVD player and it turns your tv into a fireplace!

If I could give you one thing today, it would be a big, steaming bowl of tomato soup. So, enjoy! Happy snow day!

The Fruit of the Spirit: Love February 18, 2008

I am going through the book, Naked Fruit by Elisa Morgan for the second time. This morning I was reading about love and I thought it would make an appropriate post since, for many, the stardust from Valentine’s day still hangs in the air. In Naked Fruit, Elisa likened love to the fruit of grapes,

“The quality of a grape is directly related to its host vine. Grapes abide in their vine. Detached from their source, they wither. Grapes offer an example of commitment through the easy and hard times of life. In fact, vine growers report that the sweetest grapes come from the most stressed vines.”

I would never have thought that I would have a problem loving people. I was the child who would cry for the cartoons that got anvils dropped on them, and who made friends with all the underdogs in school. As a women, I figured the love of a husband or child would come naturally and I would say in most situations, it does. There are times; however, when circumstances and people and my own selfishness make it very hard to love. When I am tired, I notice my ability to express love is lessened. I am quicker to temper, or snap out a phrase that should come lovingly from my lips. And when my husband displays a pet peeve of mine for the umpteenth time, all loving thoughts for him can flee. Or when my sweet daughter cries out in the night, the selfishness of my tiredness can keep me firmly lying in my bed.

It is in these tough times that I will often grit my teeth and set myself resolutely on loving them. Unfortunately, my effort is apparent and does not come across as loving or unconditional.

This is where Elisa really challenges me, “Think how you might be ‘working up your own love’ for this person rather than allowing Jesus to love them through you. What does such effort produce in you? Or as Dr. Phil says, ‘How’s that working for you?’ How can you shift the source of your love from yourself to God by letting Jesus love that person through you?”

An interesting thought. How often to I bow my head in prayer and ask God to love through me? When I am catching up with a friend do I ask Jesus, “what does she need to hear to feel loved by You?”

This week I am going to be working on letting Christ love through me. I hope that you will join me as well.

Afterall, “all you need is love. Do Do Do Do Do, all you need is love:P”

Spring is Just Around the Corner!

In my tiny corner of the world, my bathroom never fails to cheer me up. Surrounded by fragile blooms of a pink flowering cherry tree, I have my own sanctuary of Spring even as the bitter winter wind howls outside. Right now, even the frigid temperatures of Missouri can’t get me down because it is February which means Spring is just around the corner! Spring is a time of new beginnings, fresh starts, and for me: simplicity. Time to box up all those winter blues and unpack a fresh perspective! Since I am an extremely visual person, here are some of my favorite inspiring images of Spring to brighten your day and hopefully banish those pesky winter doldrums.