My 2 cents worth

 

I am a sinner,  I know it and I accept it. I can honestly say that I try with my whole heart not to judge others and the the decisions they make in their life.

I will be thirty in October and have set a couple goals for myself. 1. I am wanting to run a 5k in a decent time. 2. I want to be both physically and mentally at my best. I want to eat better, exercise more, be more active with Abby, and I also want to be pushing myself as a Christian.

Awhile back one of the sermons at church was about making decisions that are in honor of God. As Christians we are constantly watched and our actions are not taken lightly. We are called to set ourselves apart from the world and those who conform to what society says is right rather than what God has shown us to be the truth. Our pastor explained that God has already shown us how to make good, Christ like decisions. He said when making big or little choices there are three simple steps to live by.

1. Am I biblically free to do this (i.e. having an affair, not so much. )

2. Will my actions bring myself and OTHERS closer to God

3. Am I honoring God

I have truly tried to live by this ever since I heard that sermon. I have tried to apply it to all aspects of my life…what I watch, read, and listen to.

I also feel like, for me at least, there are two other rules I should try to live by

1. Am I honoring my husband

2. Am I honoring my daughter

So, here is my view, and yes I know its not conforming with most, on the whole Fifty Shades/Magic Mike stuff going on.

I am completely against it, all of it, no questions asked. I do know lots and lots of amazing Christian women who have read/watched these and that’s fine for them. Like I said, I am trying to be mentally healthier and cleaner, so for me I know that reading/watching something like that WILL NOT bring me closer to God. I also know that it WILL NOT bring OTHERS closer to God, and I know that I am in no way HONORING God, my husband or my daughter by reading/watching those. Don’t get me wrong, there was a time when I would have been all for this. I have watched every episode of Sex and the City (plus both movies), and plenty of other movies I had no business watching. I have listened to plenty of music I would never in a million years let my daughter listen to. But that was then. I love (and try to live by) the saying “ When you know better, you do better”. I will also admit that I still have not so nice music on my ipod that I run to. I am not proud of it, but it does keep me running which is making me healthier. There are no bad words, its just not uplifting in any way. I also try to live my life by thinking “ If Jesus was here, walking with me in my day to day life, would he be smiling or hurt at the choices have made”. I know to many people this may seem lame, and not a big deal. That’s fine, and for them it may be nothing. I just get sad when I see how far we have come from making Christ like decisions. Have you heard the phrase Americanizing Jesus? Sometimes its just easier to go along with what everyone else is doing, saying, reading or watching.

Like I said, I am a sinner and will always be. I also know that God forgives me for my sins and he has already shown me the way to make better, healthier choices in my life.

When Daddy’s in Charge

 

Since the second Dave became a dad I knew Abby was the luckiest little girl in the world. I have literally never seen a dad so proud and beaming with pride. I have never had to worry about her when he's in charge. I think we (as moms) get so used to doing things our way and get so stuck in a routine, we forget that our husbands are perfectly capable of taking over baby duty. I remember when Abby was a baby and Dave would take her out on Saturday mornings. I always thought it was crazy that he could be gone for hours with her and never need or even take a diaper bag. I couldn’t take her to the mailbox and back with out a fully loaded diaper bag on my shoulder.

So, last night I went to dinner with a couple friends and Dave was in charge. Before I left, Abby had a popsicle while she was playing outside. I never have to tell Dave what to do or when to do it when it comes to Abby, plus she can tell him what he needs too.

I came home around 9:30 and a little to my surprise she was still up. In her jammies, but still up. No biggie, I was actually happy I could put her to bed. Here’s how our conversation went

Me: did you have a lot of fun with daddy tonight

Abby: yep, I went swimming with daddy

Me: wow, that’s a lot of fun. what did you have for dinner

Abby: ummmm, nofin.

Me: what? did you have yogurt, or chicken

Abby: nope, not yogurt and chicken. I had nofin for dinner. o, yes I had a popsicle.

Me: you had that when I was still here, what did daddy eat for dinner

Abby: ummm, nofin like me

Me calling to Dave in the living room” hey honey, what did Abby eat for dinner

Dave: o whoops! I totally forgot.

I think it is so funny how as moms we stress about so much stuff when really it DOES NOT matter! I know Abby had a blast with Dave and obviously was not starving.It really made me reevaluate myself and all the “important” things in our day to day life. Sometimes I think we put too much emphasis on what “needs’ to be done rather then just hanging out and enjoying life and the time we have with our children while they are still small and want to be around us. It also made me realize that sometimes I need to learn to let go and let Dave be Dave and not try to turn into me or make him do things my way. As moms we put so much unnecessary stress on us simply because we wont let go . Abby wont remember what she had (or didn’t have) for dinner the other night, but she will remember staying at the pool with her daddy until dark. Isn’t that what childhood is about?

Ah-Mazing

 

God is GREAT!

Last week will not go down in the Wells family book of fun, but it will definitely be one not soon forgotten.

I had been dealing with a pretty nasty case of vertigo, that finally got bad enough for me to go to the doctor on Wed. Yes, I know there is nothing he can do, but sometimes you need to whine, and since we have no co-pay I can whine for free! So he told me what I pretty much already knew and sent in a script for me to help me sleep. Well, first it got sent to the wrong pharmacy and then when they were just about to locate it, the computers crashed! O yep! They sure did friends, and this was after Dave and Abby had gone up there twice. I finally found some medicine I had left over, again, I like to save money, and took some of it because I was really up a creek at that point and knew I would not be able to sleep without some sort of magical intervention. Literally five minutes later the pharmacist calls to tell me everything is ready.  it was 9pm! I had walked out of the doctors office at 5. Lesson learned: when the dr says he will e-send (or something like that) your prescription over, ask for it in paper and wait the extra ten minutes at the pharmacy.

Thursday morning around 9am I get a call from Dave. It went something like this…” I have some bad news, Kohler is shutting down the rental department and come the end of Sept I will be out of a job”.

Yep, did not see that one coming…like at all.To say we were thrown for a loop would be a complete understatement. I felt horrible for Dave and all the people and families affected by this. I am not angry, there is no point to be angry, it would not help this situation at all. But, like I said, God is good and watches over His children. By 11am this (Monday) morning my husband had two, yes 2, interviews lined up!!! Go God! If you have know me longer than a minute you know I despise don’t like change very much. Much to my surprise, and I am sure those around me, I am super excited to see where God is leading us. Yes, I know that we may have to move, and yes, I even know that things could get a lot worse before they get better. None the less, I am still excited for the changes coming for our family.

Saturday morning we awoke to a phone call from Dave’s mom. His Uncle had passed away during the night. He was suffering from cancer and the Lord took him home, took him from the pain he was living with, and he gave him wings. It was definitely a rough end to a rough week, but again, things can always get worse. We are so blessed to have a loving Father who shows mercy and goodness even in the uncertain and unknown.