Salvation Sunday: Mary Spirit in a Martha World!

I am a lot like my Grandma....neat, clean, organized. I am more like my Grandma than my own mom. Sometimes all you have to do is watch someone else to know that you do the same thing; that is how I am with my Grandma. We went to my Grandma's house for Thanksgiving week this year. As usual, she cooked for us, cleaned up after us, and pampered us even though she moves a lot slower than I remember.

This year it was especially fun to watch her and Judah interact. Judah followed her around like a shadow talking to her and showing her his toys. They watched many videos together and played together. It was when Grandma would be washing the dishes and Judah would make his way into the kitchen to get Grandma back into the living room that particularly caught my attention. Grandma would follow him back out to the living room and then stand for a minute before returning to finish washing her dishes by hand (without help of course). The disappointment on Judah's face was pretty clear as he would walk back into the kitchen asking for "Ma, please, please."

This reminded me not only of myself but of the story of Mary and Martha in the Bible. You remember the one where Mary sits at the feet of Jesus to listen to him and Martha is frantically running around trying to prepare for her dinner guests. How often am I like Martha, busy with what life throws at me, that not only am I missing out on special moments with my son but God as well.

Luke 10: 38-41

38As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

41“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42but only one thing is needed.^f Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Judah could not have reminded me any better on what is important. Lord, help me to discern when to work and when to stop and enjoy life with you and your blessings.

Shuffle Saturday: Telling Christmas Stories!

As you decorate the Christmas tree this evening, listening to carols or watching old black and white Christmas favorites with the kids and stringing the popcorn next to the fire, take a few minutes from the Christmas bustle to reflect on fond Christmas memories from your own childhood. I trust and hope you did have one Christmas that is very special to your heart. Why was that Christmas year so special? What toy were you the most excited about? Who came to celebrate Christmas with your family? When did you celebrate Christmas? What sights and sounds make you think about that time today?

Earlier today, I was thinking about such a story I wrote in junior high. Our assignment was to explain the sight and sounds of our own family traditional celebration from the eye of an object in the room. Naturally, I told my story from the old, wind up clock that still sits on the mantel at my grandpa and grandma's house. Of course that clock no longer runs since my Grandpa is not there to wind it up but to this day, I still think about what it saw as it looked down at us on Christmas morning.

With detail, I described my favorite Christmas when we made homemade Christmas ornaments, cut from cookie cutters and painted with bright colors with glitter on top. I still display those now brittle ornaments that my Grandma, cousin, and I decorated in a frame on the wall. We also strung popcorn and cranberries to hang on the tree. that year I remember all my aunts and uncles being there and I sitting on the couch with my Uncle Gary (who is still the crazy bachelor Uncle), begging him to play paper dolls with me. That was also the year that I received my original Cabbage Patch Preemie Doll. I am almost positive that I received the next anticipated book to my Laura Ingalls Wilder series as well.

What made that year particularly special though was we bundled up and trudged out in the back field so Grandpa could cut down a Christmas tree us kids selected, right their on their own farm. He even teased my dad about climbing up to cut down the top. Somehow Grandpa and dad managed to chop that very, very tall (it seemed to us kids), white pine, cut the top off, and drag it into the living room, using the rest for firewood. Looking back at the pictures, that tree really looked like a lop-sided Charlie Brown tree. Oh how much fun did we have though and it is still may favorite Christmas memory.

While I did not find the actual story digging through old papers, much to my disappointment, I did find one I wrote later in high school about my first Christmas with now my husband who I was dating at the time. The journal entry reads about how my husband took me to his house to cook me a candle light dinner of pork chops, green beans, and rice. The decorated card table was set in the living room across from the big, gaudy Christmas tree and beside the freshly painted wall (that he painted that day because he decided it was dirty). His family remained banished to the basement for some privacy while we ate except to take a few pictures. I then opened my first Christmas gift from Kay Jewelers, a necklace. I still laugh at how young we were.

Nothing is more fun to your kids to hear these stories told about your childhood. You know how you and Uncle Dan found all the presents and secretly unwrapped them to find out what you got for Christmas. That is until Uncle Matty told on you. How about the time that mom made you eat that yucky oyster soup every Christmas Eve until the year she decided to add chili just for you kids. Then one Christmas Eve, I remember my five-year old brother sat at the dinner table talking about the Christmas Eve church service while we ate our soup for supper. He had questions about the Christ child, wanting Christ to come live in his heart.

As I tear up at his small, humble and innocent little heart, I am reminded but what that is what Christmas is all about, right? A story...A story about a child coming into the world for us...God sending us His one and only Son to save us from our sins... Make sure to share not only your own stories but this most important one as well during this season that often tends to be a lot of shuffling around. Your kids need to hear it!

Food Friday: Leftover Ham

My mother in law likes to make a large spread for Thanksgiving. We're talking turkey AND ham AND chicken and noodles AND...AND...so there are always plenty of leftovers. But what is one to do with all of them? A week of tasty and easy dishes are ahead, that's for sure.

But you can only eat so many ham sandwiches. Besides, the ham is never really sliced thin enough for a good ham sandwich. You can always heat it up with eggs for breakfast or tear it up and put it in omelets. So you've got breakfast covered...but what about the other meals?

One night this past week, I was working on writing and the ever so popular question, "What's for dinner, Mom" popped up over and over. I knew we still had some leftover ham, and knowing that writer's block could hit anytime, I needed to make something fast.

I grabbed two boxes of scalloped potatoes out of the cupboard. I mixed it up as directed on the box, tore the remaining ham into bite sized pieces and popped it back in the oven. I served it with beets and dinner rolls and we were good to go! A warm, hearty meal that everyone loved that was quick, easy and cleaned some leftovers out of the fridge!

Toy Thursday: No! Stop! That is not a toy!

It might backfire on me but up until now, I have been teaching Judah not to touch things by saying it is "icky" and that we do not play with it. You know items like electronic cords (his particular favorite), cords to the blinds, outlets, a piece of used trash outside on the ground, and so on; things that are dangerous in nature.

Well now that Judah can talk, everything now becomes "icky" from the smallest fuzzy to pieces of food on his hands. He walks by something on the ground and you here this "ICKYYY." Glad to know we cannot touch it Judah (but of course mommy removes it, picks it up, or moves it to keep him from getting it which defeats the point).

Anyways, Judah still has gotten into things that are not really toys. Imagine my horror when Judah found the piece of claw from the cat laying on the floor only to pick it up and eat it. I got there too slow. I had prepared myself for the cat food (which we went for even after lunch time) and someday probably the cat litter (yuck!) which is currently gated off. You are still never quite prepared for your kid to eat things like potting soil by the mouthfuls which you realize after the fact might be poisonous as it contains fertilizer.

I know I am biding my time until Judah really gets into stuff that are certainly not toys to play with. I have only to think about our friends and neighbors as we share the embarrassing stories. My personal favorite story is still about our best man's four-year old daughter. While mommy and sister were still taking a nap (and because she was not sleeping), she decided to get out the nail polish and paint her nails pink. And her toes. And the floor. And the magazine. And the bathroom rugs. Then on her way to the makeup drawer, she somehow decided that the toilet with the lid down looked like a big giant toe. At least that is what she told mommy. After that came the mascara. Mascara on the doll house. Mascara on the play dishes. Mascara all over her face. Next came the sunblock. Sunblock all over the bathroom floor. Sunblock on the dolly because "she was hot." By this time, mommy woke up to find her eating a snack of frozen blueberries and shredded cheese. You know all that talent makes you hungry.

You laugh because you are currently in the bathroom trying to picture how your toilet looks like a big giant toe. And you realize that it does look like a big giant toe. Thankfully we can laughingly share these moments (after discipline of course) between moms. That is if we are not too embarrassed to admit that our child was that child that ate poop or played in the toilet when you were not nearby.

Laughter aside though, perhaps this is a good, simple reminder to have safety precautions around the house. You know the phone number for the the poison control center (which is very helpful by the way), locks on the cupboards, chemicals put up high, or the blind cords cut short. As a new mom, I am still learning as I turn each corner but for the time being at our house, it is "Icky." You never know when the child will turn it into a toy!

Find your local Poison Control Center!
Take a First Aid Course!

Wash Wednesday: Keeping the Dishwasher Clean

It's destined to happen. You're busy. You quickly empty the dishwasher and put the dishes away without even looking. You have company showing up in five minutes and you haven't even plated the snacks!

The company has arrived and you start to mingle. Someone asks for a drink and your husband offers to get it. You hear the ominous, "Honeeeyyy?" and start to worry. He's standing in the kitchen with a glass. Speckled. Spotted and crusty. Ew.

You frantically pull all of the glasses out of the dishwasher. Dirty, dirty, dirty, dirty. You explain to your husband that you JUST pulled them out of the dishwasher. They're clean, you know it. But they're all gross. Bits of last nights lasagna, maybe a leg of a giraffe from an animal cracker and some sort of apple sauce that has dried into a crust all over every glass.

You return to your thirsty guests with their water...in a Star Wars glass. No offense to Yoda, but his all knowing face really doesn't fit in with your dinner party theme.

So what's a girl to do?

1. Remove all of the food particles from your plates before putting them in the dishwasher. Sure, it should wash them off, but they've got to go somewhere. Be sure to clean the bottom of the dishwasher and make sure there are no food bits stuck in the drain trap. It's a yucky job, but one that must be done.

2. If your dishwasher has a Jet Dry rinse agent section, use it. It will help reduce water spots on your dishes. You don't need to fill it every load, but be sure to top it off every few weeks.

3. Helping your dishwasher run it's best by running warm water before starting a load. Think of it as priming the pump. You can catch the water in a jug and use it to water plants around the house. It doesn't take a lot of water to get it warm, but it will allow your dishes to get the warmest water and best clean.

4. Check the spinning arms before each load. They need to move freely in order to get a good clean. Often I find a fork or sippy cup lid stuck in mine.

5. Run the garbage disposal before starting the dishwasher. Dishwashers often drain into the same pipe as the sink, so it's important that the pipe be clear. If you don't have a garbage disposal, use a strainer in the sink drain to stop crumbs and debris from accumulating in the pipe. Remember, always run warm water before, during and after running the disposal.

6. Don't overload the dishwasher. While it's best for saving water and energy to run a full load, and overloaded dishwasher doesn't get as clean. Make sure the items are not touching each other and water can get to every nook and cranny of the dishes.

Follow these few tips and hopefully you won't have Yoda making an unwelcome appearance at your next dinner party.