Nothing says, "I'm a Texan" like....

Proclaiming it on the back of your trailer.

This photo was taken on our 36 hour road trip to Lubbock for Creighton's high school reunion.

Thinker/Feeler

I had an interesting comment thread on my facebook wall. The Myers-Briggs personality inventory was kicked around a bit. We talked about the differences between Thinker and Feeler.
MBTI says that this is how people make decisions: Either as a thinker: logical, rational and based on what is believed to be "right", or as a feeler: subjective, emotional and based on how one feels about the situation.

I am a major FEELER.
Situational Ethics probably to a fault.
I don't give up on people.
Empathy and compassion rule.
I trust my gut and care about how actions affect the hearts of others.

I really appreciate my husband, a THINKER, who reminds me that our God set the law into place for a reason. He reminds me of the value of being realistic, objective and practical.

Was Jesus a thinker or a feeler?

New idea for Production Staff photos

Is this cheesy?
I like the idea of the video monitor since we are the technical arts group. It may be on the verge of cheese but I think we're going to go with this - or something similar. Your thought?

Reflections on Father's Day weekend with dad

As I reflect on my time at the ranch, I have tried to put my finger on what is going on in my heart while I am there.
The picture I have is Me looking down at a version of me - or maybe it's the other way around - a version of me looking down at the real Me. I don't know which.

Being there should be relaxing and restful. The beauty and purity of being out in the country does calm my soul. The wide-open space, the delightful smells that waft through the clean air, the gorgeous view.... I love the thought of it.

However, it seems that when I am with my dad, his opinion of me takes over, and I move around with angst. I fear disappointing him - particularly when it comes to my kids.
He and his wife didn't have kids together. He was not around us much growing up either, so they have very little experience with small children. They do however, have lots of opinions about how children should behave. If my kids delay in obeying or make a bad choice, I freak out because of what they might think of me. I kept praying when I was there that God would help me release myself from anyone's opinion but my heavenly Father's. I want to be excellent - to give my whole self to God and not be affected by the opinions of man (not just any man - - my dad).

I feel like I turn into an ugly, impatient witch-mom when I am there. I had to apologize to my kids on the car ride home. Told them I wasn't very patient and gentle with them while we were there. Of course, they were like, "its ok mom."

They are always extravagant with grace and forgiveness.

When the kids were younger (little bitty), I simply felt clumsy and awkward. But now I often feel inadequate. I go through seasons of success and balance with the kids where I feel like I am shepherding them well. And then out of the blue - I'm out of control with no balance. Herding cats. Deaf cats. Cats with no common sense.

I could go on and on.

I'm not flogging myself about it. Just want to articulate these reflections so that I can continue to build awareness of certain tendencies. I just hate it when my flesh rears its nasty head. What's so good though - is that it reminds me of my need for God's transforming love, grace and power.

My Wisteria!

So happy to discover I have a wisteria vine in my back yard.
I have had a love affair with wisteria since I first moved to Dallas in 98.
Here is a smidge of God's beauty - right outside my upstairs window.

Getting over myself

In march, I wrote a post titled, "Those People". These 2.5 months I had all but demonized the neighbor who we unaffectionately named, "deputy-no-bark".
Today when I got home, my children we over at his house, playing perfectly nice with his children. I was forced to make a decision. Do I watch out my back window, waiting for my kids to come back? Or, do I grow a pair and go over to their house and introduce myself.
You'll be proud to know that I watched from my back window. Just kidding. I swallowed my judgemental-self-ness and walked over there.
Not only was deputy no-bark friendly, he invited me into their home to show me around! His wife and I chatted about church and I invited her to Church of the Resurrection and we all had a jolly old time.

Glad to say that we're no longer "Those People".

My friend likes to kill chipmunks

I shared my loathe for bunnies with my friend Twila (whose name has been changed to protect the fact that she is a ruthless killer).
She shared with me the pre-meditated fashion in which she traps and kills the pesky chipmunks around her yard.
After calling pest control and getting nowhere on her chipmunk problem. She decided to google up herself another option.

Twila's recipe for a dead chipmunk:

Ingredients: 5 gallon bucket. A long 2x4. Sunflower seeds.

Fill the bucket with water (about half full so the chipmunk won't know what you up to).
Lean the 2x4 on the edge of the bucket. This gives the chipmunk easy access to the top. Drizzle the sunflower seeds all the way up the board and atop the water in the bucket. Creating a layer of floating sunflower seeds makes the sucker-chipmunk think he will be able to stand on it.

The chipmunk will blissfully enjoy your sunflower seed gift. He will get caught up in the moment. You can imagine his surprise when he plunks into the watery grave you have prepared for him!

Incidentally, chipmunks are terrible swimmers. "They drown instantly", remarks Twila, "unlike mice who can swim for hours."

I cut me some bangs this morning.

Woke up with Whitby's voice ringing in my ears, "Mommy, you have stripes on your forehead".
So I went to the desk and pulled out a pair of scissors. Cover the stripes, I will.
No big deal, they are only evident when my hair is straight.