Fashion Diva.....me???????? Hmmm.....

     A few days ago I was called something I had never been called before.  A fashion diva.  At first I laughed.  Thought about it a second time and laughed again.  In fact I laughed about it every time I thought about it for the next day or so.
     As the week progressed I started to realize something.....being called a fashion diva had somehow snuck into my brain and subconsiously I was matching boots with leggings with dresses and skirts.  Each sweater or jacket had to compliment the rest of the ensemble.  Earrings had to work with necklaces which had to match bracelets and rings.  What was I becoming!!!!!!
     New combinations of eye shadow colors were applied every morning and touched up at noon.  Mascara was put on layer by layer.  Lips were not without lipstick for very long.  Oh my....was this really me?!?!
     Each morning I speed to work.  Too much mirror time before I leave.  Should I maybe get up a little earlier?  I doubt that would help as I would probably spend even more time primping, matching, accessorizing. 
     I wasn't always this way.  When I was a kid my grandmother made almost everything I wore and most outfits were identical to ones worn by my sister.  I never even had a pair of store bought jeans until I was 14 or 15 years old.  To this day I still don't understand sizes because everything was made to fit, not taken from a rack.  As a teenager I would pick something out of a catalog or draw a picture and within a week I had that exact outfit, made to fit only me, one of a kind and made with love.  Hmmm....was that the beginning of diva-hood?
     As a young mom, I spent most days in t-shirts or sweatshirts and stretchy pants.  Because money was so tight, there were times I went more than a year without buying new clothes for myself.  Could that have caused a craving inside of me for new, fashionable clothes?
     Whatever the reason, I am enjoying my diva status.  It's really fun!  Don't know how long it will last, but I'm thinking it may be getting on my kids' nerves a little bit.  Awwwwww......and that is a bonus!  :)

Newfangled Gadgets I Love!!!!!! (And Sometimes Think I Can't Live Without....)

     Ok so maybe I didn't grow up with an outhouse for a bathroom.  And we did have running water.  We even eventually had an ice maker!  But we did survive several years without a phone.  When we did get a phone, it was on a line shared with several other households and called a 'party line'.  We made coffee in a percolator on the stove; relied on road maps to get us where we were going and actually had to get up and walk to the TV to change between the 3 and sometimes 4 channels we got.  It was a more simple time in some ways.  And my kids consider those times the dark ages.  Sometimes I kinda agree with them!
     Last night a text came in that started me thinking about all the newfangled gadgets that I absolutely love.  Sometimes I am amazed (and even embarrassed) at my reliance on my cell phone.  It does everything from keeping me connected to my family to giving me directions to reminding me of appointments to keeping my grocery list to timing my 5ks.
     That text last night, though, was something special.  It was started by one of our sons who is at a conference almost 9 hours away.  He was eating at Rainforest Cafe' and wanted to share a picture of it with us all.  That got the ball rolling.  It was almost like enjoying a meal around the family table as we each voiced our opinions and attempted to make the others laugh.  Six people.  Four different locations.  Family conversation.  Newfangled.  Priceless.
     As I type this on my laptop computer, not my manual typewriter, I drink delicious coffee made in a matter of seconds in our Keurig.  And by the time I finish this one cup of coffee, I will be ready to post this blog on the internet instead of placing it in paper form in a large manilla envelope and mailing it to a publisher hoping it will be published.
     Another amazing newfangled gadget that I love is the DVR.  As I have said before, I have a very short attention span most of the time.  My family can attest to the fact that I regularly walk out while a movie is being watched on TV and go take care of some urgent task that has popped up in my mind.  Many times they have stopped the movie and waited for me to return because they know that, when I get back, I will be asking them what I missed.   But I also use the DVR to record and watch shows that my family thinks are goofy.  I must admit, I've come to understand their frustrations with me though.  While watching those recordings (usually 30 minute sitcoms with the commercials cut out) I find my mind wondering and I have to replay what I've daydreamed thru!
     I know there are drawbacks to some of these gadgets.  Like phones that can't get signal or the price of Keurig K-cups.  And I guess the biggest drawback to the DVR is when a certain someone watches a football game and replays the instant replays, in slow motion, frame by frame, analyzing every move of every player.  But I wouldn't trade last night's family text for anything right now.
     Just finished my cup of coffee.  Perfect timing.  
   
    
    

Mercy Bertha

     After blogging last night about grace, it has been on my mind a lot today.  We have a sign in our kitchen that reads "Grace is when God gives us what we don't deserve.  Mercy is when God doesn't give us what we do deserve."
     While I was running this evening I thought of that sign.  I thought about God's grace.  Then my thoughts naturally progressed to Mercy.  
      Mercy. Quite a few years ago Veggie Tales released a movie about Jonah.  Some of our kids were still young enough to want to go see it.  (Now I'm almost to the point of hiring kids to go to movies like that with me!  While our kids' tastes in movies have changed, they tease me by saying I only go to movies that are animated or have talking animals!)  During the Jonah movie, one of the characters stated "God is a God of second chances and that's mercy!"  That started me thinking.....
     Prior to going to the movie, our family had been discussing getting a new dog.  We knew it had to be a small dog, one we could keep in the house and one we would love.  The kids were so ready for a dog. It had been a couple of years since our last dog but we had a gold fish named Snoopy!  As we watched the Jonah movie and I thought about God being a God of second chances, mercy, I leaned over to the kids and told them that would be a good name for our next dog, Mercy.  So we prayed about that dog and waited for an answer.
     One day a co-worker told me about a shih tzu named Bertha who needed a home.  I met Bertha.  We had a family meeting and voted Survivor Tribal Council style.  Yes!  We had a new dog!  And we changed her name...to Mercy!
     Mercy stole our hearts.  What we didn't know was that she was already 7 years old when we got her.  But that didn't really matter.  She was our little sweetheart.  No one could turn her away when she begged at the dinner table.  She was included in family pictures and Christmas news letters.  The boys called her their second sister!  And she loved us no matter what.
     While we didn't leave her very often, there were a few times over the 10 years and 3 months she was with us that we had to have others stay with her or we had to board her for a few days.  Every time we returned home, she just loved us like crazy and was so happy to see us.  She never held a grudge.  She was never upset with us.  She just loved us.  But unfortunately at about the age of 15 doggie dementia began to set in.  She began to lose her hearing and vision. She was still our dog.  No matter what, we loved her.
     God taught us so much thru our little Mercy. She lived to be 17 years and 4 months old.  It's been 6 months since we lost her and we still miss her so much.  One of the boys said he never wants another dog.  He asked why he would ever want another when he had already had the best.  I have sweet kids.  :)  And I think they will all want another dog eventually. 
     Luke 6:36 instructs us to be merciful, just as our Father is merciful.  Our God is not only a god of second chances, He's THE GOD of second chances.  He forgives us when we don't deserve it.  All we have to do is come to Him and ask.  Can we forgive that way?  When God forgives, it's just like what we did never happened at all.  His forgiveness includes His forgetting our sins.  Wow........Mercy. 
    

Grace and a Fall Afternoon

     It is officially fall although the weather hasn't fully decided that's what it wants to be just yet.  However, this past Sunday we got a little sample of what a cool autumn day can be.  It was beautiful!
     Late that afternoon I started off on my first run in fall weather, donned in my yoga pants to protect me from the 'cold'.  I hadn't gone far before I realized I had a bit of a problem.  Although I had purchased these new yoga pants on clearance and in a smaller size than I had previously worn, it soon became clear that they might not have been such a great buy after all.
     While I am getting used to being watched when I run, I haven't figured out for sure why people watch me.  Is it because I'm older and people are shocked? Or is it maybe that I just run really funny and people don't know what to think?  Usually I don't know the answer.  But this time I figured out pretty quickly why I was being watched.  My pants kept falling down!!!!
    Do they make suspenders for yoga pants??????  Every few steps I was pulling my pants back up!  There was quite a bit of traffic that afternoon and I'm surprised I didn't cause an accident or two!  No one was actually bold enough to point and laugh....although I would have understood!
     Deciding it wasn't worth getting arrested for indecent exposure or causing an accident, after the first mile I chose to walk the rest of the way in hopes of having better wardrobe control.  Not quite the workout I had planned, but it was much easier to keep my pants up!
     There must have been something else floating around in the cool air that day.  For some reason every dog in every back yard decided to let me know he was there and protecting his territory.  I was growled at, barked at and even chased from the other side of fences.  Yet I persevered!  
     That afternoon reminded me that 1. I need to test out my running wardrobe before actually running.  2.  That I like dogs but loud barking dogs are not something I enjoy or even want to be near.  3.  That when life throws things at us like pants that won't stay up and dogs that won't stop barking, we might as well laugh and enjoy.  Giving up is not an option.
    These little things may drive us crazy at times.  But we are so fortunate to serve the only God who provides lessons in such occurrences.  His grace is there to regenerate, to sanctify, to endure.  It isn't a matter of cause and effect.  We do nothing to deserve it.  It's right there.  It's free.  All we need to do is believe.
     "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the GIFT of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast."  Ephesians 2:8-9