Monthly Archives: March 2012

worship wednesday: it’s time to get up

28 Wednesday Mar 2012

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This post is just as much a kick in the you-know-what for myself than anything else. So just know, that I’m not really talking to you, but me.

The Bible says:

O God, You are my God;
Early will I seek You;
My soul thirsts for You;
My flesh longs for You
In a dry and thirsty land
Where there is no water. Psalm 63:1

Give ear to my words, O Lord,
Consider my meditation.
Give heed to the voice of my cry,
My King and my God,
For to You I will pray.
My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord;
In the morning I will direct it to You,
And I will look up. Psalm 5:1-3

David knew how important it was to spend time with the Lord. You can read through Psalms and over and over again David talks about crying out to the Lord and seeking Him. Specifically in these psalms mentioned above David talks about meeting with the Lord first thing in the morning. It was a priority to David to begin each day in earnest conversation with his King and God.

It seems to me that this should be our natural reaction. Think about this with me. Say one night you eat dinner around 7:00 and then nothing else for the rest of the night. When you wake at 6:00 or 7:00 the next day, are you hungry? I’m not talking about whether you’re a breakfast eater or not, I mean on a basic level, after you haven’t eaten for 12 hours, are you going to be hungry? Or at the very least need a drink of water? Or who out there can’t even get themselves moving in the morning without a cup of coffee?

That’s what David is saying about the way he needs the Lord. Look again at the first verse. Do you see how we could be talking about needing refreshment after the night? David is simply laying it out for you. When the morning comes, we should be yearning for time seeking the Lord. Jesus himself did this in Mark:

Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed. Mark 1:35

Jesus had been going from town to town preaching and healing. And in the morning HE WENT AND PRAYED. This is Jesus. Born to be the Savior of the world, who spent quality time with his Father, early in the morning. And then Jesus went about his tasks for that day.

Question: If Jesus took the time, early in the morning, to be in prayer, how important do you think it is that we spend time every morning in prayer?

I’ll go ahead and answer that question for you. It is monumentally important. It is important to seek God early in the morning. To offer up your prayers before the Lord. You can’t do anything apart from Him anyway, so might as well start your day off right. Let this be a challenge to ourselves (ummm, basically to me) to get up, just 30 minutes earlier, and meet God in the morning.

you make me feel so young…

27 Tuesday Mar 2012

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…you make me feel as though SPRING has SPRUNG!

lalalalalal…

Those are all the words I know. Which is okay, because right now they are all I want to sing. Especially that SPRING has SPRUNG! (if you’re not understanding the all caps thing going on here then the rest of this post might not make any sense either.)

Not to beat a dead horse or anything, but I’m from Arizona. I like things HOT. So even though the winter here in the lone star state has been rather mild, it’s been way too cold for me. And windy. We know from this post that I don’t really care for cold or wind. However, when the temperature hits about 75-80 and the sun starts shining I get a hankering to sing about spring!!!

Altogether now! You make me feel so young…

*pauses while you finish*

Around villa Russo there is lots to do. Spring cleaning is coming up in April, my lover’s big two-seven is in May (read here about his birthday party) and that means birthday week, my friend over at chargedtolove will be coming for a visit, finals week, Easter (this year we’re celebrating the resurrection of our Lord for the whole week) and the warrior dash. Not to mention a bachelorette party and a couple of big projects. Whew. I feel like spring is already over and it hasn’t even started yet.

In truth, it has I guess started. Because I did this:

My first spring project of the year!!!! *happy dancing*

AND! It went off without a hitch. That’s never happened to me. They turned out just the way I thought they would. White & crisp, and the blossoms (I went fake from Joann’s) are exactly what I wanted. I’m elated. Things like this never work out for me. At least not the first time around.

I think the photo is self-explanatory, but just in case the following is a little photo-filled tute for ya’.

Supplies:

-clear IBC cream soda bottles (or any glass bottle will work)

-white spray paint

-Blossoms of choice (50% off from Joann’s? I think yes.)

Do:

Make sure bottles are cleaned out and dry.

I have five bottles because my lover accidentally threw out one of them before I got to it. Turns out that’s okay because it looks perfect with the odd-numbered five bottles.

Now take your spray paint. I used Rustoleum’s semi-gloss in white. I wanted it to have almost a clay-pot like finish to it instead of a super glossy ceramic finish. And also that’s what I had on hand and I’m too cheap/lazy to go out and get anything else.

The nice thing about spray painting bottles is you can line them all up on your protective sheet and just go to town.

Your mantra here should THIN AND EVEN. Repeat that to yourself over and over. Otherwise, disaster will strike. And trust me, I know about disaster. Just not with this project. Did I mention that this project went off without a hitch? Your goal here is to mist the bottles with paint. Don’t worry if your first coat looks like this:

Once you’ve gone over them with 2-3 mistings, the numbering on the bottle will disappear and it will be solid white.

Now the blossoms were exactly what I wanted. Something tall, slender, and colorful. Definitely something that would sing my spring song. And these did that. I walked to the floral section and they were already getting warmed up. I did luck out here in that all of these blossoms came on one stem. I had to get hubbers to chop it up for me. He’s so obliging. What a sweetheart.

And voila!

They are so perfect in the kitchen.

And either my lover hasn’t noticed yet that they’re pink, or he truly doesn’t mind. I’m betting he doesn’t realize they’re pink. Finally, color-blindness works in my favor!

And if you’ve got a hankerin’ for more spring-ness, check out Kasey over at …the Stewarts. Seriously, the woman has spring in her blood. Her picture-frame-turned-wreath is to die for!

 

i tried to get him to dress up

22 Thursday Mar 2012

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This conversation actually happened.

Me: “Would you disown me completely if I dressed up for the Hunger Games?”

John: “No.” (he’s texting. I’m lucky if I get more than three words in reply.)

Me: “Okay great! Let’s go as Peeta & Katniss.”

John: “What the….” (see, less than three words)

So sadly to say there will be no dressing up for the Hunger Games. Because I’m crazy, but not crazy enough to do it alone. I do think I’ll wear some dark clothing and braid my hair something crazy, but that’s it. I will have to beg my little sister to take lots of pictures of her costume. Apparently it’s going to be awesome.

I DID however convince John to go to the midnight showing with me. Well actually, I just bought the tickets and “surprised” him by taking him to the midnight showing. Which is probably flirting with the line between manipulation and a firm push in the right direction. I’m okay with that. It got me what I wanted. *clears throat and averts eyes guiltily*

Tonight, greek books in hand, sneak in popcorn and candy packed, at nine o’clock p.m., we’re hitting the theatre. To wait, for like three hours. Which is already a stretch for poor John. Us and all the teenie-boppers. And everybody else crazy enough to do it. Which includes my whole family. They’re going to see it in AZ at midnight (hence the dressing up on my sister’s part) which is technically 2 hours later than the Russos will see it in Texas. Why yes, yes I do intend on rubbing that in.

Let’s bask in Hunger Games glory, shall we?

 

Check out this map of the districts:

panemmap.png

via this website You’ll have to know a little of the Hunger Games history to understand the breakdown. But I can totally understand why Distrcit 12 is coal. Just look at where it’s located.

I identified myself at thecapitol.pn

District 1: Luxury. Whew. That’s good because there ain’t no way on earth I’d be digging up coal.

And you can check out the books on amazon. If you haven’t read them, you are seriously missing out.

I digress.

May the odds be ever in your favor.

worship wednesday: fill ‘er up

21 Wednesday Mar 2012

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Sometimes, I can be a little melodramatic. Just a little. Also, I have a tendency to over-exeggerate. Which I think makes me hilarious (right?) but can make me a small terror to live with. Recently I went into this tangent with John where I claimed that I was the worst wife ever. I used word like “always” and “never.” That’s a big no-no in a marriage. Absolute words like that. Not healthy. Now I’ll be honest (and hindsight’s 20/20) and tell you that my feelings of inadequacy are NOT John’s fault. He’s a wonderful, loving husband who goes out of his way to make sure I feel appreciated, goes out of his way to rave about my homemaking, and just generally praises his wife. He’s a really good husband. But sometimes, I dump all my feelings of inadequacy on his shoulders. I try to make it his fault.

And I can see why. Sometimes I look to John for fulfillment and lose sight of the Lord. Instead of depending on Christ to fulfill every need, including my heart needs, I rely on my husband. As wonderful, WONDERFUL as my sweet husband is, he cannot fulfill like Christ can. It says in Jeremiah 17:7-8

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
And whose hope is the Lord.
For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters,
Which spreads out its roots by the river,
And will not fear when heat comes;
But its leaf will be green,
And will not be anxious in the year of drought,
Nor will cease from yielding fruit.”

Jeremiah has spent the earlier part of this chapter talking about the hard hearts of Judah, and the punishment that is sure to come. He shares verses 7&8 as a contrast to the heart of the man who trusts in man. Jeremiah uses the picture of a shrub in the desert, to portray a man who does not trust in the Lord. Oh, but in verses 7&8, he talks about the blessing that awaits he who trusts in the Lord. He likens it to a tree planted by a stream.

Let me stop for a second and let’s think about this. I’m from the desert. There’s not a whole lot out there. It looks similar to any cartoon you have ever seen of the desert. Most of the time it’s brown and deadish-looking. Everything out there is just scraping by for survival. But if you ever get to visit the desert in bloom, you will remember it for the rest of your life. I can’t even begin to describe to you the colors. It happens during the rainy season, when the desert gets lots of water. The most intense pinks, yellows, reds. That’s what I think of when I read about the tree in Jeremiah. A strong, beautiful tree, that’s been given lots of water. It must look so healthy. It must bend and sigh gracefully in the wind, with roots deep enough to live forever.

That’s what we can be when we put our trust in the Lord! Strong, beautiful, able to endure. When I depend on John for my self-worth, when I look to him to “complete” me, I am like that shrub in the desert. I can tell too. That’s when life starts to feel out of control. When I start to feel like I’m failing. When I look to Christ to hold me up, to encourage my heart, when I find my identity in Him, I get to be like the tree, strong and yielding fruit. My trust is in the Lord, my confidence comes from Him.