Ten Things Tuesday

(It's really Wednesday, but Ten Things Wednesday doesn't sound nearly as clever)

1) Our mechanic called on Monday to let us know that our car was finished. He originally thought that the transmission needed to be rebuilt and had given us a quote of $1700. Turns out it was a wheel bearing making all that noise and it only cost us $125.

2) I now have Weaver volumes 2-4 in my possession. A woman in our home school group offered them to me. I don't know yet how much she wants for them, but I'm sure it will be a huge savings.

3) Since we saved so much on the car, I was able to purchase a new vacuum cleaner. A good one! It's an Electrolux model that is supposed to be really good for sucking up all that pesky pet hair.

4) I would say LOST is on tonight, but since it is actually Wednesday and I've already watched it... LOST was on last night, but we had some running around to do, so we recorded it and I got to watch in sans commercials.

5) I figured out how to make our Wahl hair trimmer work a little better. It is amazing what you can do when you take the time to read the little pamphlet that comes with a product.

6) We have had the opportunity for some great fellowship lately. It is wonderful to sit down with people and have them support us and really know what it's like being in our shoes.

7) I get to go on a date with my hubby and some friends on Saturday night!

8) Last Saturday, we attended a sock hop put on by the local Methodist church. We had a good time and then ate at Uncle John's Restaurant here in town. I love building these kinds of family fun memories with the kids.

9) I am sitting right now, resting and taking it easy. The kids are in bed. Rob is watching a silly movie and I am just Michelle playing on the computer. Don't get me wrong. I absolutely love my husband and kids, and love spending time with them. However, by the end of the evening sometimes it's nice to not be needed.

10) On Sunday, we are leaving for Joplin and we won't come back until Friday! We get to see family and friends. We get to relax...ahhh.

A New Story To Tell

A New Story To Tell

I'm a very busy girl. I am the wife of a minster to a small church which usually means that if the church is doing something we are heading it up. I am a home schooler which means I have lessons to plan, school outings to attend and teaching to do. I am mom to two children involved in 4-H & Boy Scouts which means there are meetings to attend, projects to complete and badges to be sewn. I am a babysitter which means there are snacks to be given, wills to be battled and love to be given (often through gritted teeth). I am the church fellowship ministry leader, Sunday school superintendent, Sunday school teacher, children's church director/teacher, Home Extension secretary/treasurer and the sole driver in the household. I am a Christian, a wife, a mom, a daughter, a sister, a friend.

So often, I look at this list and at my very full calendar and think to myself that I am really doing a lot. Poor, little, under-appreciated Michelle. Shouldn't there be a day where everyone just stops what they're doing and applauds my noble efforts? Hmm, maybe not...

I came across this blog today http://kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com/. Wow! I was taken for a loop. I feel humbled and ashamed. I'm sure she's not perfect or infallible but she does what she does for Christ. She sheds real tears for those around her and then takes action to help. She is probably much busier than I'll ever be. She has given all and continues to look for ways to give. I admire this young woman, but I sincerely doubt that she wants or needs my admiration.

So, am I ready to jump on the next flight to Uganda? Probably not. That is the way God is using her life for the Kingdom. Do her gifts and sacrifices make mine any less important? No. So what is the lesson to be learned here?

The first is this...

I need to come down from my self-constructed pedestal where I worship my time and my efforts and me, me, me. Christ needs to be on the throne in my heart and all I do should be for him and him alone.

Col. 3:23-24

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

The second is this...

I am very busy and do a lot, but so much of that is just busy work because I do not do it out of love. It's true that some people are very hard to love. We all are! But, I am called to love. I am not called to keep busy and have resentment and anger in my heart.

1 Cor. 13:1-3

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

So, this is my prayer; to be used by Christ for Christ and to do it all in love.

Okay, so I've become a bit of a complainer. Snow - blah. Car issues - blah. Interruptions - blah. Sewer issues - blah. Blah, blah, blah. I really don't like being like this. I used to be such a sunny, silver-lining-seeker of a girl. So, instead of sitting around complaining about the fact that I'm complaining, I thought I'd take steps to change. In my opinion, the best way to stop griping about what's wrong is to focus on what's right. Here's an idea that I'm swiping from a facebook friend of mine, Julie Swaim. (http://www.pearlsandjulesofwisdom.blogspot.com/)

Ten Things Tuesday

What I'm thankful for today...

1. Our kitties lost their social standing and their front claws and are recovering nicely. As an added bonus, the bill was considerably less than we thought it would be.

2. I recently discovered we are not behind in school as I once feared. At the pace we're on, we could be done by mid-May.

3. We had a houseful of people on Sunday! This is something I have been missing for a while now. I hope it's the start of a trend.

4. I've recently started to see glimpses of the kind, tender hearts I thought my children had lost.

5. My house is company ready and it's been that way since Saturday! If you rang my doorbell right now, I would let you come all the way in.

6. There is someone voluntarily and unexpectedly clearing the snow out of my driveway as I type! He's now finished and is moving on to bless someone else. I love to see the generosity and kindness of others.

7. My car is in the shop and will hopefully run much smoother and quieter when I pick it up later this week.

8. I think I know what I want to be when I grow up - a nurse. I will finally be going to college when Rob is done. I'm excited about it and a little fearful.

9. Someone offered to give us a piano. We have a space ready. Now I just need good weather, some burly men and a truck to get it over here. Then Megan can practice every day and we will not miss lessons because of my forgetfulness.

10. LOST is on tonight!!!

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Chistmas

Things are a little different this Christmas around the Petersen household. For starters: no tree. We have two young kittens and I'm quite certain that a tree would spend more time lying down than standing up. So, since I like the kittens, my ornaments and my sanity; we chose to be tree-less.

We began home schooling this year so the kids and I have had extra time to make decorations and ornaments. We have garland all the way around the living room and will soon have home made ornaments hanging from it. They've made Nativity dioramas, wreaths from their hand prints, and paper trees to count down the days till Christmas. So who needs a tree anyway?

We also will get to string the gifting part of Christmas out for a few weeks. My parents hope to come to visit the weekend before Christmas, (Shh, don't tell the kids. It's a surprise!). Of course the kids will be opening presents then and hopefully presenting gifts to Grandma and Grandpa as well. We have a few things we've purchased that they will get to open on December 25th. Also, because of emergency car repairs, we will be finishing present purchasing some time after Christmas.

So to sum up - Petersen Christmas, 2009: different but maybe even better than the normal.

Buttons

I began planning our children's Christmas program for church, today. I found a really cute one about "Happy Birthday Jesus" buttons. We get to make buttons for all the kids to wear and buttons to hand out to everyone who comes to watch. There are even some children in the program who dress up as buttons. It got me to thinking, what kind of button do I wear? Do I announce good news? Complain about life? Offer encouragement or just crude humor? When people pass my way what does my life shout out to them? I think too often that I'm wearing one of those holographic images. Look at me from one side and you see a happy little picture with an uplifting message written in an elegant script. Shift your position a little and a whole new image comes forth. It's dark and grim and the doom and gloom statement screams out at you in bold red caps. How does a person balance this out? When I'm down do I still pin on the yellow smiley face offering a "Nice Day" to all who meet me? Or is it better to lay it all out there with a button that would frighten small children? Perhaps, I'm looking at this all wrong. Maybe my button should have nothing to do with moods or which direction the reader is coming from. Perhaps, it has nothing at all to do with me. I think regardless of the picture on the front or the state I'm in when wearing it, my button should always say the same thing. Jesus. That's it. That's the message I want to bring to everyone I encounter.

Where has the year gone?

Wow! Has it really been almost a year since I last blogged? That's just crazy!

This year has flown by in a whirlwind of failures and successes. I am now home schooling the kids which has been great. We are still in Edinburg and Rob is still working on his Masters at Lincoln Christian University. We are busy with church, school, 4-H, Boy Scouts, babysitting and camp. I hope to be on here more so that I can share, vent and work out my every day challenges.