twice and done

I've been looking at my progress this year, in terms of blogging, and it's sad. I am averaging two posts a month. just two. it's not like things aren't happening. things are HAPPENING. too fast perhaps. but that's why I blog- to catch some of the action before it fades into a distant memory.

my precious and ridiculous Lily turned 6 last week. two hands people. fortunately not two full hands. but two hands nonetheless, as my friend Cindy pointed out to me earlier today. and then my sweet boy Topher is turning 5 tomorrow. man, march is so busy. and to boot, we are going to celebrate tomorrow by going to watch The Croons with Topher's birthday twin- Barb. it's gonna be a great day. it's gonna be a busy day. but it's gonna be a busy day.

so, I should probably get some sleep cause it's already almost midnight, but I wanted to check in and let you know (grandpa, grandma, steph, michelle) that we are still alive!

we went to Monterey last week to visit the malloys and had such an incredibly incredible time. that's a whole post on it's own. then I have to remind myself of what we did for lily's b-day in another post. and then I will have to post about topher's half-decade celebration. AND I am reading a book and I am almost finished and it is altering my brain, so that is something I should share, cause it's not often that I read so I really need to chronicle those momentous occasions as well. all in due time.

hope you are all doing great and getting ready to celebrate the magnificence of Easter.

from my morning devotion yesterday:

"Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down.
And we thought his troubles were  a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins!
But he was pierced for our rebeliion, crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
He was whipped so we could be healed."
Isaiah 53:4-5 nlt

maurice's journey

we have a new member in our family.

well, he's not that new. he's been around since november 8th of last year.

lots of you have seen him around, and he is growing much faster than our kids.

that's right. maurice is chris' beard.

 

we, no, i decided to give it a name because it is big and crazy enough to warrant one. it eats as much, if not more than the kids do, so it's a part of our family.

i chose maurice cause chris has a distate for the french and i feel similarly towards maurice. but i don't hate him. i could just live without him. maurice. not chris.

 

i get lots of questions about maurice, so i thought i would give him his own blog post today and give you some frequent Q&A regarding him:

 

-Q: why is chris growing maurice?

A: because he can.

but, i need to remind my husband that

"Everything is permissible but not everything is beneficial." 1 Cor 6:12

 

-Q: does chris have to grow maurice for work?

A: no.

BUT

the other day he bought some couches off of craigslist, and the house he went to happened to be occupied by people who had a history of narcotic abuse. we know this because the lady looked at chris, shared that her husband was going to be down in a second but was upstairs throwing up. chris asked her what her husband was on, and she said anti-depressants, but he used to be on everything. chris made a comment that made it sound like he was a drug abuser too, and she said: "yeah, i got that vibe from you."

score!

kinda...

 

Q: when is chris going to shave again?

A: november 8th, 2013.

the last time a razor touched his face was on the same day in 2012 and he said he wanted to grow his beard for  a year. now, come november 8th, chris will shave

BUT he might just shave a bit and have a goatee WHICH happens to be my favorite look on him

BUT he says he is not planning on trimming the goatee, it will just be as long as the beard gets but be a goatee. i don't think that's going to be a better option... we'll see

 

Q: is chris going to donate maurice to Locks of Love?

A: people who have lost their hair due to chemo have already suffered enough.

why on earth would we make them suffer more by having to wear maurice on their head????

that would be the definition of cruel and unusual punishment.

 

here are pictures of maurice's journey thus far:

 

December 11, 2012

January 21, 2013

March 3, 2013

 

stay tuned. cause there will be more. oh yes, there will be plenty plenty more.

ergo

ergo. not argo. i haven't seen that movie yet, and let's be real- it's not a romantic comedy so i probably won't watch it unless chris decides he wants to watch it one day when it shows up as an option in a redbox.

anyway, this morning, i was reading mark chapter 6 and i was struck with many crazy verses and some thoughts (which at 6:30am, doesn't normally happen.)

the first one was this: "And he could do no mighty works there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief." (6:5-6a. ESV)

but the first time i read it, i read it in the NLT and it said "And because of their unbelief, he couldn't do any miracles among them except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their unbelief."

chapter 6 of mark should be called 'a few miracles dispite unbelief' whereas the chapter before would then be called 'much faith = many miracles!'. chapter 5 has the story of Jesus raising the little girl from the dead, but while on his way to raise her, the bleeding lady touches him and is healed:

"And he said to her, daughter, your faith (your trust and confidence in me, springing from faith in God) has restored you to health. Go in (into) peace and be continually healed and freed from your (distressing bodily) disease." (5:34 Amplified)

it's amazing what faith can do, ergo the opposite is true too- it's amazing what a lack of faith won't allow the Lord to do. God is all powerful, i absolutely believe this. but how often do we prevent the Lord from being Master of our lives and our situations- no matter how big or small? i often see the Lord at work in my life- especially when he saves me from impending doom from my bad choices, but how many times have i missed what he has done? especially when things are going well.

in this lenten season, i am feeling so refreshed because of my early morning times with the Lord. i haven't done this in... my whole career as a mother?... i don't know. a long time. i make all these excuses of being too tired, but it's better to sleep less and have the Lord guiding my day as opposed to sleeping  plenty and being solely in charge of mine, and my 3 kids', days.

my days haven't magically gotten better or easier. i have raised my voice and lost my temper. but i've done it LESS! and each morning gives me more hope and wisdom for the day. as i said in my first post of the year- but am finally puting into practice is more of Him ergo less of me.