Spring Cleaning

So, here I am, doing a little spring cleaning--desperately trying to organize our second bedroom for once--when I come across one of the notes Jordan and I wrote to each other when we were dating. I'm glad that I held on to every little note and missive that passed between us because of my sappy sentimentality. I need to make them into a book for us...a crazy book that only he and I would ever understand. :)

Anywho, I discovered this little gem that I wrote to him when we were first dating:

My Top Ten List


Jordan,


Once upon a time, you made a list of reasons why I might be "the coolest kid ever", probably hoping that it would make me laugh and feel better (which it did), since I was having a rougher week. :) Well, I think it's my turn now--if you can make your small gestures, I can, too! So................


The Top 10 Reasons Why Jordan "Rocks My Face Off":

1. He bales hay...and enjoys it (what's up with that?).
2. He hangs out with Sabrina, even when she annoys herself [I really thought he would get sick of me at some point.].
3. He laughs at just about everything and has a great wicked cool sense of humor [Yes, I crossed out great and replaced it with "wicked cool". What can I say?].
4. He has a great smile that makes it so that you can't help but smile, too. :)
5. He has an amazing desire to serve the Lord and anyone else he can--and does it, too [He doesn't just talk about doing things, he actually sees them through.].
6. He is willing to take the chance of getting lost in the woods--IN THE DARK.
7. He has a heart that seeks after God and has compassion for those around him.
8. He works out like crazy sometimes but never lets it get to his head.
9. He is chivalrous and then some but lets others serve him, as well.
10. You are you--darkness, hilarity, and everything in between--and I wouldn't have it any other way [When I met him, he had a dark streak in his sense of humor which still pops up from time to time. I think he just likes to shock people. :)].

Cheesy? Perhaps. Funny? I hope so. True? Oh, sure. Thanks for just an amazing time of getting to know each other. God has been stretching me through you, and I praise him for every bit of it.

In His everlasting love,

Sabrina

I just had to laugh at myself during my walk down memory lane. I suppose it's good for you to look back on your own dorky-ness every now and then. And I am sure that I am the only one who ever feels that way....

Product Review: Butter Boats!

It's time for another product review!

This is one of those things which, once you have it, you cannot live without.

The first time I had ever seen anything like this was when my friend, Janelle, received something similar from her husband when he proposed to her. He gave her a ring, as well, but the ring was inside a "butter bell". When she told me about it, I had no idea what one was--but it's ingenious (and, apparently, leads to happy marriages)! Here's how it works:

Source

Butter bells, or crocks, are a little harder to find than your average butter dish, but they surprisingly come in quite a few varieties. When looking for one myself at a local kitchen store, I stumbled upon this little number:

"All aboard the Butter Express!"

Lo, and behold, there are butter boats, too! I read about how they work, and it's the same basic principle. You don't have to smush your butter into the lid; you just place the whole stick into the butter dish. You fill the outer dish with water to the fill line, then place one into the other, top with the lid, and "Voila!" you have softened butter whenever you like. "The porcelain keeps the water cool, and the water in turn keeps the butter cool. This results in soft, spreadable butter without allowing it to spoil. The butter boat can be kept on a kitchen table or countertop indefinitely. Changing the water in a butter boat every few weeks is recommended."

I have always been a margarine girl--mostly because that's what we grew up on--because I like having something that is spreadable. Now, my dilemma is solved and I can put something more natural in my body. The best news for those of you who do not frequent kitchen stores? They also sell them at local stores; although, you will not find as much variety.

So…The Ship is on Fire AND it’s Sinking

Selfish shellfish.

Many an anemone sees an enemy anemone.

Can you imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie?

If one doctor doctors another doctor, does the doctor who doctors the doctor doctor the doctor the way the doctor he is doctoring doctors? Or does he doctor the doctor the way the doctor who doctors doctors?

It’s easy to get your tongue twisted or all tied up, isn't it?

Loose Lips Sink Ships

Source

Apparently, the phrase “loose lips sink ships” stems from the World War I and II eras. When sailors were on leave from their ships, they would of course talk about what ship they sailed on, where it had come from, or where it was going. If they talked too much (had 'loose lips'), they might accidentally provide the enemy with anecdotal information that might later cause their ship to be tracked, bombed, and sunk.

Consequently, this seems to apply to our lives (or my life, at least), as well. If we let our lips run loose, so to speak, they can ruin acquaintances, friendships, and even households. As for "providing the enemy"...well, it does seem like an area we can far too often allow Satan to gain a foothold in.

I have been thinking about this subject a lot lately, as I have often been convicted about the words that are coming out of my mouth--especially at work. It seems as though we all develop that sarcastic, witty banter that sometimes makes the day go by faster. And while that's fun and all, I keep asking myself, "Is it profitable?" What am I building up? Who am I encouraging? What relationships am I building into? Am I being purposeful?

This is something that I used to ask myself all the time:  Are my conversations purposeful? Life goes on, and we concentrate on some things, getting sluggish in others, and I find myself wondering what kind of a legacy I am leaving with the things that I say. James 3 says it this way:

We all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way. We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth. And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong. In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches. But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself. People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right! Does a spring of water bubble out with both fresh water and bitter water? Does a fig tree produce olives, or a grapevine produce figs? No, and you can’t draw fresh water from a salty spring.

What is springing forth from your tongue? Clear, refreshing, life-giving water? Or salty, bitter, spirit-crushing water?

Shiny Apples

"A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver" (Proverbs 25:11).

Saying just the right word at just the right time can be something beautiful. But knowing just the right words to say can be difficult. Do you want to know the secret? It's at the heart of all gracious speech. To be a gracious speaker, you need to be a gracious listener. If we really pay attention to people and love them, taking the extra time to really absorb the details of what they are saying, we will be less likely to find ourselves at a loss for words.

"[A woman of noble character] opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue" (Proverbs 31:26).

I am mentally wiping the sweat off of my brow because I am so glad we have another way to make sure we have the right words to say! We can speak in wisdom that comes from the Word of God and the teaching of kindness that comes from the Holy Spirit. We already learned from James that we cannot tame our tongues on our own--good luck with that venture. We need to rely on the Spirit to help us recognize when to quench that instinct to curse, malign, or revile (or in many cases, simply mock, tear down, or belittle) and to give us those words that would instead bless, encourage, and spur others on to a better knowledge of Christ.

For many of us, like me, this is a lifelong battle. Why lay down in surrender when the victory is promised and so clearly worthwhile?

I'm Pressin' On

In an earlier post, in respect to this weight-loss challenge, I said, "as I discipline my body, I pray that God will use it as a parable in my life as to how I can better run the race He has set before me."

I've been thinking a lot about the different areas of life we set goals in and how we plan to achieve them.  Whenever I have a physical goal to meet, I always worry that I am going to get too focused on how I look and get caught up in my external person, rather than cultivating my inner character.  So, when that started happening this time around, I decided that I was going to stop obsessing  about it and just put exercise and eating right in its place. Then I felt like I started failing--big time. Exercising was going well, but self-control toward eating? Not so well.

So, I asked myself, "How do you strive to meet a goal?" You visualize the finish line, you think about all of the hard work and sacrifice it will take to get there. In your mind, you measure out how you should be doing at each mile marker if you want to finish the race in time. It is okay to think about what you would like to look like or what you want your "final number" to be. In fact, it is important to mentally pace yourself and set smaller goals or milestones along the way that help you to understand that you are on your way toward meeting your goal (you just can't get so focused on one goal that you lose sight of all others). That's why Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9:26, "So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air." We have to have something to strive toward.

Likewise, I think that in our Christian walk we have to have something to strive for. We cannot go aimlessly about performing tasks that seem "Christianly" or hope to soon reach that plateau where we have "arrived" and can now relax in our mediocre Christianity.  An athlete always reassess his body to make sure that he is in the shape he needs to be for the next race. This means he is always living in light of the next race. We should saturate our minds with Christ and be living in light of heaven. If our minds are not saturated in this way, how are we going to be motivated to take the hard paths of self-sacrifice and others-focused living? If our minds are not saturated in this way, how are we going to have the strength to choose honoring Christ over honoring self? Our hearts and minds need to be trained up to that like-mindedness of Christ so that, just as the athlete's body will react to the stimulus without any instructions, we will be able to respond to situations as Christ would without thinking. Not that we won't stumble or suffer injury. We just might be able to run without getting one of those terrible side aches. :)

Ah, Yes, the Random Catch-Up Post...

Busy, busy, busy!

And, at times, lazy, lazy, lazy!

It always seems like a lot is going on, and then, when I am home, I just want to catch up with Jordan or on housework. What's been happening? Well, lots of working and ministry stuff, then one weekend, lunch with some of my favorite ladies, then a girl's night out with my friend Jessy! Sunday, of course, was the Super Bowl. This past weekend, more working and getting together a travel care package for one of my friends that is moving across the country. This Thursday, I am having one of my best friends, Ruth, and her husband of five months, Matt, over for dinner. Hopefully, I can remember my camera and document some of my kitchen adventures. :)

With all of this busyness, the dieting aspect of the challenge has not gone so well! :(  My original thought was to have five to six meals a day for a total of 1200-1500 calories a day. At first, I thought, "This is easy!" But, as usual, life gets in the way, and it's hard to be social when everyone is eating and you're not; however, I did see something today that encouraged me. It said that, while eating less more often works for some people, it does not work for everyone. The key is making smart choices, cutting calories, and making sure that the calories you do eat are the kind of fuel your body needs.

On another note, there is a video I have wanted to share with you all for awhile. It has absolutely nothing to do with this post, but perhaps you will find it as funny as I did. It's good to make fun of ourselves every once in awhile, right?