WE ARE FAMILY

I have a cousin named Becky (look Becky, you're on the internet). Her grandparents, Joyce and Orville were my moms Aunt and Uncle. I have many memories about them and literally was talking about Aunt Joyce last night with my friend, Tara. One of my bestest memories is when I was younger, Rachel (Becky's older sister) and I would spend the night at Aunt Joyce's (Grandma to Rachel). And Aunt Joyce would let us play for hours with her costume jewelry and clip on earings and her screw post earrings. Aunt Joyce made me feel pretty.

Anyhoo, Beckster (thats my new nickname for her, cuz we're so tight) is a Senior in high school. I don't think we have ever met but if we have it was when she was an embryo and I was about 11. She is gorgeous-can you please take a look at this pic!

Am I right or am I right. Anyways she likes my blog and thinks Im the hilarious. Naturally I think she is very intelligent and she is offically my new BFF. And I can't wait to meet her at Thanksgiving!

Simplify

For the past several weeks I have been participating in a Bible Study with some sweet friends. The book we've been reading is Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper. Its brutal, to be honest. It has smacked me in the face the entire time. It has really challenged me to get honest with myself and find what it is that is getting in the way of time with God. For some it may be shopping, or eating, housework, or children. For me........it's TV. There I said it. All my dirty laundry laid out for all the world to see. Or atleast the 16 blog followers I have :) I AM ADDICTED TO TV!!!!!!!!!!! I can't help it. I love nothing more than to sit on the couch when the rest of the family has gone to bed and watch Real Housewives of Jersey Shore or the (Not-So) Real World. I have even found myself fussing at my daughter because it was more important for me to hear who was kicked off the island than it was to hear my best girl describe a picture she had drawn for me. So I am here to say no more. Honestly whats the worst that could happen? A few years ago Kris and I were die-hard LOST fanatics. Then something happened (I can't even remember what) and we missed several episodes in season 4 and never picked it back up. And (GASP) we survived! So this week I will be driving down Burnside to Cox and turning in our cable box. We will be going from roughly 300 channels to 23. I am hopeful that this "adventure" will help us be more creative as a family and more engaged as parents.
Another thing that spoke to me during the Bible Study has been "what are you willing to give up for God"? If God told Kris and I to move to Napal to tell people about him would we do it? Or would we try to hide and negotiate our way out of it? If he asked us to take up our cross would we say "Uh Yeah I would, but.....I have this purse full of junk to carry and I'm not really wearing the right shoes for a long walk". So in that spirit we are simplyfying our lives. We are purging our lives. We are bringing it down to bare bones. Sacrificing our comfort. I know thats silly to say that having a kitchen full of dishes or 2 hand mixers or 38 bottles of Bath and Body sprays is comforting me but it is. I mean really, do I need 3 different sets of cereal bowls? Or a linen closet full of bedding, We only have 2 beds in the house? Or what seems like a bajillion bath towels? Do I need 14 pairs of flip-flops? What is this "stuff" giving me? What are we "gaining" from all this "stuff"?
The answer: NOTHING. And thats why its gotta go.