Thursday, October 25, 2012

Descaling

RIP Dear Keurig

Yesterday,I went into the kitchen to make myself a second cup of coffee only to find that the water from the reservoir of my keurig was all over the counter and the "descale" light was on. I had no idea what this meant, all I knew was I couldn't have a second cup ! I looked it up online and found the instructions for descaling. I attempted the descaling several times until finally we called customer service for help. They of course were no help because the first thing they asked was "when was the last time you descaled it ?" the answer of course was "never". So needless to say they said it is done and we need to buy a new one. You see the nice little instruction book says that it should be descaled every 3-6 months, well 3 years later.....So needless to say it might be a good idea to actually read the directions next time.

I don't know if its the psych degree or the preachers wife in me but this "descaling" issue got me thinking about my own need for descaling. The reason the machine needs to be descaled is because of hard water build up inside the machine that has left some nastiness on the heating element that I would prefer not to think about and thus needs to be cleaned. So I got to thinking about my own hard water build up or my hard heart build up. The last year has been a tough one for us, my husband resigned from his church and we moved twice. I had a lot of bitterness about the situation, I stopped going to the church we were serving at until our last sunday, I stopped reading my Bible, I stopped praying and the "scales" built up. I took out my anger and bitterness on my family and was miserable. We had to figure out what to do, we were about to be homeless and everything fell together and we moved to Nashville for a few months and during that time the descaling process began. We attended a great church, my husband started seeking advice and counsel from the pastor of that church and I was back in the word and was slowly losing my bitterness. By the time may came we were basically tired of being "pew sitters" and wanted to get back into church work so chris started sending out his resume again. When he got his first response and I was scared to death of moving again I finally started praying again. When you truly talk to God, not just a quick thank you for this meal prayer, there is a peace and a comfort you feel through your entire body. It is amazing how something simple as praying can take those scales away. It was during the time that I stopped praying and stopped reading the Bible that they started building up (coincidence ? I think not). Now a few months later we are in Newcastle Wyoming and excited about this new adventure. It only took a couple of months for those scales to build up and I am so thankful that they are pretty much gone. I miss Tennessee but missing people and places is a whole lot different then being bitter and hard hearted. I still have a few scales left that need to go but I am working on it. My poor keurig has no hope and because it wasn't descaled is now in the garbage can outside. If you are reading this and need a little descaling it isn't too late, you have hope through the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't know where he may lead us, what obstacles he may throw in our paths but if we trust in him then we know he will be there and help us through it.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge him, And HE shall direct your paths." Proverbs 3:5-6

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Daddy's girl

This morning Chris made Leah her favorite "eggycheesy" for breakfast, after eating what he had made she then wanted more. So she asked daddy for more and daddy said "no I'm done cooking". So I proceeded to teach leah the art of getting her way with her daddy. I took her over to daddy, had her give daddy a big hug, look at him with her big blue eyes and say "please daddy, I love you, please make me more eggycheesy". Of course, being a daddy's girl myself, this ploy worked and daddy did indeed make her more.
How could he not, I mean look at her.
 My sister and I are daddy's girls ourselves, even in our 30's, so we have had a lot of time to perfect the art. The Lord has blessed us with a wonderful earthly father who would do anything for us and spoiled us rotten. When we were kids he would always have some kind of treat for us in his pocket. He also took some of our friends under his wings, throughout childhood and teen years we had friends who did not have good father figures in their lives so when we would have them over he treated them as his daughters also. Sadly there are a lot of children who don't have father figures, especially with the rise of extramarital pregnancies and divorce. I just want to remind people that we do have a father in heaven who loves us more then anything, and wants us to know him. God doesn't promise any of us an easy ride but he can promise that if you know him he will always be there and will never let us fall. There's a song by the christian group, Group 1 crew called "He said" that I really love...here are the lyrics.
 So your life feels like
It don't make sense
And you think to yourself
I'm a good person
So why do these things keep happening?
Why you gotta deal with them
You may be knocked down now, but don't forget
What He said, He said

(Chorus)
I won't give you more
More than you can take
And I might let you bend
But I won't let you break
And no, I'll never ever let you go
And no, don't you forget what He said

Who you worrying, and what you're going through
So don't let it get the best of you
'Cause God knows everything you need
So you ain't gotta worry
You may be knocked down now
But just believe what He said

Chorus

Don't fear when you go through the fire
Hang on when it's down to the wire
Stand tall and remember what He said

Monday, October 15, 2012

You're Worth more than gold

My youngest baby is in school twice a week so the days she is home I really really enjoy her. I know before long she is going to be in school all week and then before I know it she will be a teenager, which scares me more then anyone could possibly know. My teenage years were not the prettiest and I had some serious issues so I pray and pray she does not take after her momma. Leah loves music, loves to dance and lately on the days she is not at school we like to have dance parties. The album currently on repeat is by Britt Nicole, who if you don't know is a contemporary christian artist. Her music is very inspirational for young people, especially girls. There is a song on her newest album "Gold" called "Gold" and the here is a little look at some of the lyrics.

This, this is for all the girls, boys all over the world
whatever you've been told, you're worth more than gold.
So hold your head up high, it's your time to shine.
From the inside out it shows, you're worth more than gold.
So don't let anybody tell you that you're not loved.
And don't let anybody tell you that you're not enough.
Yeah, there are days when we all feel like we're messed up.
But the truth is that we're all diamonds in the rough.
So don't be ashamed to wear you're crown, you're a king, you're a queen inside and out.

The song has a very upbeat tempo and is great for our little dance parties in the kitchen. I sing this song and dance with Leah in hopes that I can drill this into her pretty little head. I want her to know that she is in fact worth more than gold, she is priceless, she is a beautiful creation of God. All three of my children are perfect, even though one was born with a birth defect he is still in fact perfect. However I worry the most about my daughter because of how horrible I felt about myself as a teen and how horrible this world and our media can make girls feel like they are less then perfect. At 4 Leah has the best self esteem imaginable, she will flat out say "I am beautiful". I wish I could put all three of my kids in a bubble and block them from all evil and negativity but since its not possible I am going to do my best to let them know that they are in fact loved, perfect and a gift from God. Every single one of us is worth more than gold, and don't let anyone tell you that you're not. Pray for young people daily, the threats to them are so much greater then they were when I was young.

"I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are your works, And that my soul knows very well." Psalm 139:14

Hello blog world !

For a long time I have considered starting a blog and finally today have decided that here I go, ready or not world ! When I was a teen ( a looooong time ago) I was encouraged to journal and I also enjoyed writing poems, so I thought I could give it a go on the world wide web. I have always enjoyed writing and one of these days some of my random thoughts may be put together into a book, who knows right ? The title of my blog is what it is because I do have random thoughts, usually at random times like while washing the dishes. Some of these thoughts are silly and some are serious, some may be used to encourage or help others and some may just be to entertain. So here goes.....enjoy !