Sobered Up

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. ~~ Romans 12:3 NIV

I usually keep a clean house. I have a cleaning routine that I go through each week for each room of the house in order to maintain a state of cleanliness.

I thought that if cleanliness is next to godliness then I’m doing alright. I felt as I had conquered an area of my life—housekeeping. I have plenty of other areas to work on by now.

So those were my thoughts until this past week when the Lord sobered me up. My husband and I started “fall” cleaning so we can prepare our house to put on the market as he’s hoping for a transfer soon. Part of this process meant we packed up clutter and moved excess belongings to storage. We also painted a few walls to brighten things up.

In the process of cleaning, I had the vacuum cleaner out with an extension hose to clean the collected dust off of the ceiling fan. As I stepped back and looked, I saw dirt stuck in the “popcorn” texture of the ceiling paint, so I used the soft brush on the end of the vacuum extension and cleaned the dirt off the ceiling around the ceiling fan. I thought what a great job I’ve done.

But then, as I prepared to paint the walls, my husband stood at another place in the room and looked at the ceiling and said, “Now you can see the ceiling around the ceiling fan is white, but the rest of the ceiling is brown.”

I realized that even though I regularly picked up items, dusted the furniture, and vacuumed the floors, I never cleaned the ceiling. I confess, I do not normally look up to clean. With my husband’s help, it took about an hour to clean off the ceiling, little by little with the small brush attachment.

I felt the Lord sobered my judgment of myself through this experience. I’m not as good as a housekeeper as I thought I was. It took a lot of work to clean out our house this week. Through the house cleaning process, I realized I deceived myself.

If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. ~~Galatians 6:3 NIV

Deceit can creep in easily. I thank the Lord, He sobered me up. All that I have and all I do comes from Him. To Him be the glory!

You're Right

One afternoon my husband, Eldon and I were out grocery shopping together. He saw a display of Trail Mix and decided that would make a great snack. Then he commented to me, "You'll probably eat all the M&M's and leave me only the nuts and raisins."

After a few days, Eldon sat down in his easy chair with the bag of trail mix he waited to enjoy. As he started snacking away on the nuts and raisins, he said, "All the M&M's are gone."

"You're right," I stated, "And since I want you to be right, I removed the M&M's and ate them."

Funny Cats

I enjoy having cats as pets. I came across this funny cat video on YouTube which made me laugh through it all.

A cheerful disposition is good for your health; gloom and doom leave you bone-tired. ~~Proverbs 17:22 MSG



Engrafted by His Grace--

Bleeding?

Teaching my sixth grade son to write, he methodically outlined the topic he chose to write about. After writing out his outline, I asked him to narrate to me in complete sentences what he planned to write on the paper. After a few short, choppy sentences and phrases, I stopped him.

"Chase, think of your outline as the skeleton. Your job in writing the paper is to put flesh on the skeleton--"

"Oh yeah, Mom, so you can make it bleed."

Engrafted by His Grace--

Four Basic Personality Types

Below is a funny video about the four basic personality types. (The video is not affiliated with the training I received.) If you have never heard these terms before, I'll explain them briefly for clarification.

Sanguine--the talkative, funny person who thinks everything is fun
Choleric--natural leaders, serious, desires control
Melancholy--organizers, deep thinkers
Phlegmatic--desires peace, avoids work



Engrafted by His Grace--

Productive Mom

Now I see how to organize my home so I can be more productive.

Engrafted by His Grace--

Positive Proclamation

A little boy was overheard talking to himself as he strutted through the backyard, wearing his baseball cap and toting a ball and bat, "I'm the greatest hitter in the world," he announced.

Then, he tossed the ball into the air, swung at it, and missed.

"Strike One!" he yelled. Undaunted, he picked up the ball and said again,

"I'm the greatest hitter in the world!"

He tossed the ball into the air. When it came down he swung again and missed.

"Strike Two!" he cried.

The boy then paused a moment to examine his bat and ball carefully.

He spit on his hands and rubbed them together. He straightened his cap and said once more,

"I'm the greatest hitter in the world!"

Again he tossed the ball up in the air and swung at it. He missed.

"Strike Three!"

"Wow!" he exclaimed. "I'm the greatest pitcher in the world.

(Summary of KennyRogers "Baseball Song--The Greatest)

Engrafted by His Grace--

Extreme Approval Addiction

Personally, I like to receive approval. It's part of my personality. But a few days ago my very loving husband pointed out that perhaps I've taken my desire for approval into the addiction realm. He showed me after overhearing a conversation that went like this:

"Hey, girlfriend. What cha doin'?"

"Meow."

"Are you my girlfriend?"

Meow."

"Am I doing good?"

"Meow." [Translates to "you're the best."]

So is training the cat to respond to me in the affirmative an approval addiction problem? It seems sweet as sugar.

Engrafted by His Grace--

Man Talk

Last week, Chase rode with me to pick up some take out food for dinner while Eldon waited at home. We discussed what we needed to pack for our trip. He was wearing a pair of shorts, so I asked him, "Do you have more shorts that fit you?"

"No."

"Do your swimsuits still fit you?"

"No."

"I'm driving. Call your Dad and tell him to add to the shopping list there by his chair shorts and swimsuit for you. " (He's hitting the buttons on the phone and holding it to his ear.) "Tell him how you only have one pair and that you've out grown--"

"Dad, Mom said to add shorts and swimsuit for me on the list. Okay, Bye."

"Why didn't you tell him the reasons why?"

"Mom, we're men. We don't need all the details."

Engrafted by His Grace--

Not a Daawwggg

As parents, my hubby and I are busy and sometimes start barking orders at our kids.

One Sunday morning as we were just about to walk out the door, I noticed my son was not wearing a collared shirt. Wearing a shirt with a collar is dressing in Sunday best and it is the law according to Dad. Well Dad was not home this weekend and Chase comes out with his hoody on over his clothes. I lift up the jacket to see what's underneath. "Chase you know you're suppose to wear a collared shirt to church."

Looking at me with those sweet green eyes and pulling up his Texas drawl, Chase said, "I'm not a daaawwwggg that needs a collar."

I laughed so hard I let him slide. (Bad mommy.)

Then a few days later, Dad volunteered to take Chase for his semi-annual dental cleaning. I hear my dear hubby holler out from the living room to Chase in his bedroom, "Chase, come on, it's time to go to the vet!"

"I'm not a daawwgg!"

Engrafted by His Grace--

The Clam

Last night while driving home after a long day trip, we stopped to fill up the vehicle with gas. While Eldon filled up, Chase asked, "Mom, can I go in the clam?'

"What clam?

Pointing, "Inside the store with the clam on it?"

So for now on we'll be stopping to fill up at the clam.

Engrafted by His Grace--

Life Before Computers

Engrafted by His Grace--

Say What?

One evening while holding our cat, Midnight, Chase stated, "Wow, she's in vibrate mode."
Later that evening while trying to explain a situation in detail to my husband, he looked at our son holding the cat in vibrate mode and said, "She hasn't used up her rollover words yet."

Say what?

Engrafted by His Grace--

Patience Paid Off

We treat our heeler dogs like family. Okay, they’re spoiled. Yes we feed them table scraps. One evening after our family meal of BBQ chicken wings, my beloved went outside to share the bones. Now when my husband does this, he spreads them out or takes turns with the dogs. The alpha male, Banjo becomes very greedy at these times and doesn’t want to share with Zoe. Therefore, Zoe usually just sits and waits her turn knowing she’ll receive food from “daddy.”

Well, my husband threw some pieces out into the yard for Banjo to go fetch. Eldon then set the bowl down for Zoe to enjoy. Banjo realized he’d been had, so he went over to Zoe and picked up the bowl in his mouth. He proceeded to carry off the bowl toward the tree. All the way to the tree, the bones fell out leaving a trail. When Banjo arrived next to the tree, he set the bowl down to enjoy his booty. But then he discovered that all the bones were gone. In the meantime, Zoe started behind him cleaning up his mess.

Patience paid off.

Engrafted by His Grace--

Church Stimulus Plan

Used by permission. ThomTapp.com

Engrafted by His Grace--

What Not to Wear

Last Sunday morning as I rushed to get ready for church, I sprinkled some powder to stay fresh then put on my black, poly-rayon blend slacks with a jacket and rushed out the door. My 11 year old time keeper taunting my habitual tardiness proclaimed, "It's a miracle, we're leaving the house five minutes after class started." I attempt to leave at 9:28 which is two minutes before class starts for we only live two blocks from church. But I always seem to be behind.

I parked. My son headed for his class, and off I walked proudly as I thought I'll still make it in time for praise reports. After class, I spoke to people in the hall before service. Then during the service, I made my way all about the sanctuary greeting many people hugging necks, grinning ear to ear during the meet and greet portion of worship. I took my seat, never noticing a white puff of glory that must have shown about me.

Upon conclusion of the service, I spoke with many people being my friendly, chatty self. My son and I returned home as usual. But as I exchanged my Sunday morning attire for my comfy Sunday afternoon threads I became horrified at what I saw--a big white circle of powder on the seat of my black pants!

Grant it, everyone was so polite to me, but I wonder how many snickers I got off that one? Anyhow, I learned what not to wear--white powder with black pants.

Engrafted by His Grace--