Incognito

SORRY!

I have been out of the loop this week...

or two.

I am behind on my quilt-along.

Well, I am behind on POSTING

the quilt-along blocks.

I have blocks 3 and 4 finished.

I just need to post the pictures.

Every block I finish is my new favorite!

I will probably take a break from the blocks then

until after the holidays.

After the Holidays, I have

SEVERAL

projects to announce for the New Year!

But no announcements yet...

 SOON.

Fasting Day One

I am HOURS into my first fast ever...

and I'm totally

MODIFYING! 

First of all, I just don't feel that juice

and milk is going to cut it.

Perhaps if I had access to pure, raw milk

right out of the cow I would not have a

problem.

But this ULTRA PASTEURIZED crap is,

frankly, not even milk.

All the good stuff is missing.

By good, I mean nutritious.

I decided this wasn't going to work when

I picked up Orange Juice to counter-act

the fact that I can't get REAL milk...

only to find that

EVEN ORANGE JUICE IS PASTEURIZED!

I don't have a juicer and I don't have the

money to buy enough oranges to squeeze

into juice anyway...

So I'm modifying.

Just a minor tweak, really.

I'm including anything liquid (well,

except alcohol...I think that would kind of

defeat the purpose of spiritual purity...)

If I can liquefy it, I'm gonna drink it.

SMOOTHIES ARE IN!!

Thank God for that.

Another reason the whole milk only thing caused me

concern is...well...

MY BODY IS PERSNICKETY.

Headaches are my body's symptom of choice.

I get headaches for ANY reason:

Stress

Too much sleep

Too little sleep

Too little food

Too much caffeine

Too little caffeine

Sustained loud noises

Thinking too hard

Low barometric pressure (I'm serious)

High humidity

Low humidity

Sitting on the couch funny...

if you can think it, it'll probably cause me a headache.

You can imagine my concern about feeling

like crap for the next 25 days.

I did the math on the milk and at only 130 calories

a cup, I'd have to drink 9 glasses of milk

just to reach 1200 calories.

If I am awake for 16 hours,

I'd have to drink 8oz of milk

EVERY HALF HOUR

from waking to sleeping.

Can my body even assimilate all that milk?

I just don't think I can do that.

What else would I even be able to do?

I'd be constantly drinking milk.

And peeing...

Then, let's face it, there is the boredom

factor.

While I thought it would be fun to abstain

from food so I didn't have to fret over what to eat

all day...

I like food.  AND I have to fret

anyway because I'm the feeder of the fam.

The last concern hit me this morning.

My daughter.

She didn't want to eat her breakfast

until I ate my breakfast.

That kind of threw me for a loop.

Should I not be doing this?

It's kind of hard to hide from the people I live with.

I don't want her thinking I'm doing it for

weight reasons - because I AM NOT.

Does it matter WHY I am doing it?

I think it does. 

And fasting practices are in the bible.

I should probably find them.

Those are my concerns...

But I still want to focus on GOD

and for some reason I feel that fasting is

tied to me focusing on God...

So here are my modified rules:

1. Nutritious liquids only

milk, fruit juice, homemade smoothies, broth, etc

2.  If I start feeling sick or head-achy

I am outta here!

Being violently ill isn't spiritual.  lol.

3. If my daughter doesn't "get" what I am doing

and refuses to eat, I'm done.

I do not want her mis-understanding

my motives in any way or getting

stressed about this.

This will probably be the last

post about the actual

fast...

If I'm really taking a spiritual

journey, I am not to draw

attention to myself...

so...

Toodles!

Just Amy

Is God Calling...or Am I Just Crazy?

Ever have a completely

HAIRBRAINED

idea and wonder if

you're losing your marbles

or

if God is calling you to

do something odd?

I HAVE

Then I start wondering:

If I did it, would it not end up

being odd at all?

I really hate when people do weird

stuff and say God called them to do it.

But here I sit wondering if I'm

about to be one of them!

What is this hairbrained idea, you ask?

Well, it's like this...

This crazy idea keeps surfacing.

It keeps coming up.

I keep wanting to research it.

I keep wondering if I could do it...

If I SHOULD do it...

GO ON A MILK AND JUICE FAST

I'm not sure if that's what I would call it.

Milk and juice FAST

makes it sound like I am going

to abstain from milk and juice.

What I'm considering is

ONLY consuming milk and juice

UNTIL CHRISTMAS.

Before you go weird on me,

I want you to know I've already

gone weird

on myself!

One reason I am wondering if God

wants me to do this is because, well,

I kinda LIKE FOOD.

I have NO SELF CONTROL.

and

I can't imagine being able to

actually do it - NOT EAT

for almost a month.

THERE IS NO WAY.

I've looked into it a little bit.

There is a diet out there called

the Milk Diet

where people literally only drink milk.

But they drink raw milk, which is

not practical for me, so I would

need to drink O.J. to compensate.

The other important part about the

"diet" is that I am supposed to rest

as much as possible while on it;

as if recovering from illness.

This piqued my curiosity.

This is the point where my engines

started working overtime and the idea

started getting obsessive.

WHAT A MARVELOUS IDEA!

What better way to prepare my heart

for Christmas!?

REST and reflection

on the past year.

REST and single-minded focus

on the year to come.

I've often admired various

religions for their emphasis

on

NO DISTRACTIONS.

The Amish

and

Tibetan Monks

for example.

Without having to wonder what I'm

going to be eating every moment of the day

I will free up that part of my brain

to focus on God

and the birth of his only son.

By AGGRESSIVELY resting, I am

taking care of and listening to

my body,

which (in theory) should help me

to differentiate between my own

HAIRBRAINED

ideas...

and God's.

I think I may have just

talked myself into this

CRAZY JOURNEY.

I'll start December 1,

and I'll end with Christmas Eve dinner

(because no way am I missing

potato dumplings!)

Maybe I'll blog about it.

Maybe I won't.

So what do you think?

Hairbrained?

Or God?

What would YOU do?

Just Amy

Prim Stacking Boxes Giveaway!

Head on over to

A Primitive Place

for this cute Christmas

stacking Box giveaway.

Then stick around just because

the eye-candy is SOOOO yummy!

Happy Thanksgiving!



Quilt-along Block Two FINISHED!

I am done with block two!!

AND EARLY EVEN

I know...don't faint.

Maybe blogging the progress

was a good idea after all.

Guess what?

Not only did I get Block Two finished,

But

I made a BONUS block too!

Doesn' that just take the cake?

Hope I don't need those pieces later

or I may cry...

and you will have to listen to me.

So here are the pictures:

Block number Two

I actually like this block even better than

the first one:

Block number One

However, I do not like them TOGETHER,

if that makes any sense.

I put them next to each other and

I didn't like it.

So NOW I am working strictly on

FAITH

that the finished product will have

a cohesiveness that I do not

yet see!

It HAS to...I am using a Jelly Roll

after all.

Then after I was done with the block,

I noticed several elements left over.

SEW...

I tossed 'em together to create

THIS

(and have NO idea what I'm going

to do with it)

Bonus block

There were SEW many ways

to fiddle with the left-overs,

but this way won.

I love to play spin the block!

How about you?

Did you finish?

Did you make a bonus block from the

left-overs?

Are you saving the left-overs until

a later time?

DO TELL!

For those of you following

along...(chirp, chirp...awkward silence)

find Block Three in 

the series

HERE

Thank you so much to

Moose on the Porch Quilts

for coming up with the

idea and blogging this first!

You rock, girlfriend!

Really, you should check her out.

Toodles for now.

Just Amy

Soap Making 101

I was running low on the laundry soap

and had to make more.

SO...

I thought, why not try to document the

very simple process and

post it for all of you who say you

can't do it.

First of all, I got my "recipe" here.

I also got the soap from them as well.

There is a recipe for powdered soap - which

would be even less time consuming than

liquid soap, but I don't make it that way

because I have a machine that wouldn't

be able to use powdered soap.  Just

FYI.

I actually do all the grating and measuring

of the product one time.  I just place the grated

soap in a quart size baggie, the powders in another

baggie and toss them all together into a gallon

freezer baggie. 

I probably should have taken a picture of it

all together, but I'm new at this and

didn't think of it.

Next time it's a cinch!

So here we go:

I take my bar of grated fells naptha...

Not that you care, but next time I am going to use

ZOTE.  It's pink and more fatty and smells a little

like citronella.  I currently use it only on stains,

but I am going to try it in place of the Fells...

ANYWAY...

I put it in a medium sized saucepan and cover with water.

Do not freak out about how much water like I did

the first time. 

Just cover the soap by an inch - like you're

making chicken stock or something.

I put it on the stove on low.

You don't want to COOK the soap, just

melt it.

After a few minutes it looks like this:

Yum!  Fight the urge to whisk it.  Just gently stir or

you will end up with too much foam on top and

won't be able to see if the soap is melted.

Once the soap is melted into a clean-smelling watery

concoction, it's time to mix it all together.

I haven't looked at the actual recipe for probably

a year, so I do this step differently every time.

It usually turns out the same.

What I do at this point is:

I take my Borax

 you can find this at your grocery store laundry isle.

and I take my Washing Soda, which is in the same area.  I

am sorry I don't have a picture...I don't

currently have a box handy.

DO NOT CONFUSE WASHING SODA WITH BAKING SODA!

It is NOT the same thing.

I dissolve them with very hot water from my tea kettle in

this bucket:

I DO use a whisk here just to make sure it's good and dissolved.

While I'm doing the whisking, I am simultaneously filling up

my clean dishpan with hot tap water.

When the powders are dissolved or when my pan is overflowing

(whichever happens first)

I add the melted soap to the powder,

give it a few whisks to make sure it's

combined well...

And then add the dishpan full of hot water to the bucket.

I usually have to fill up a couple of pitchers too...

to get it nice and full.

And stir, stir, stir to make sure everything is all combined.

How do you like my fancy stir stick? 

Hubby made it for me.  It's a 1X4 (I think)

and he was nice enough to duct-tape the other end

so I don't get splinters when I am stirring my "cauldron"

as he says. 

We are all about SIMPLE here. 

At this point you could use it right now if you want to.

I usually do not need it immediately, so I cover it and let it sit

in my kitchen until someone big and strong comes home to

move it to my second story laundry room...

OR

sometimes it will sit there until I trip over it one too many times

and I will carry it up myself, cursing all the way up

and apologising to my Lord all the way down...

But that's just my house.

You are surely more organized and less

LAZY

than I am!

I am not quite organized enough to be able to tell you exactly how long

it takes us to get through a 5-gallon bucket of laundry soap.

I would say it's more than a month...but less than 6?  I should really

keep track.  But I won't.  I just know that

I have been doing this for over a year and I have only

had to purchase more washing soda and Borax

once.

With this last batch, I did use up the Borax, so I will

go get that and washing soda again.

I ran out of Fells Naptha as well, but as I said at the beginning,

I will be using another bar of laundry soap

next time, and if it works I will

have 8 more batches ahead of me before I need

to purchase any more soap.

I really like making my own laundry soap.

I hope you found this at least a little helpful...

if not, well, you can always follow the directions. 

Hehe.

Toodles for now!

Just Amy

Maximize Your Mornings Challenge Week Two

UGH!

I know it is only the second day

of the second week, but

I am ready to

THROW IN THE TOWEL!

First of all, I get up, uh, well...

GROUCHY

INCOHERANT

and

HATING THE WORLD

That's just how I am. 

I need at least 30 minutes

to resemble a human being.

I doesn't matter WHAT TIME

I get up...

Second of all, this is not the first

time I have tried to work through

the maximize your mornings program.

I've tried numerous times on my own

and twice with Kat.

Because I know that for me to be a good mom,

I need to be up before my kids. 

I do not want them to see me

acting like The Beast.

SO, there are two options I am going

to try before I completely give up

FOREVER.

One option is that I will just get up

at 6 or 6:30, but not plan to do

anything until the kids go to

school.

Kat promised me that my kids

would learn to respect my

quiet time, but that ain't happening!

I can't even get to the quiet

time without losing it.

I've tried going outside.

I've tried LOCKING MYSELF outside.

I've tried planning my day in bed

so I can pretend to be sleeping

when they come check on me...

It all just makes me ANGRY

because the kids are pounding

on the door or lifting up

my eyelds "Mommy?  Are you awake?"

People laugh and think I'm kidding.

I AM NOT.

So I thought if I just get out of bed,

make lunches and breakfast,

dress myself and take them to school...

and save the planning and the God and

 the exercise until they're gone,

maybe that would work.

AND IT MAY.

But thats Plan B for now.

This is because not only am I useless

when I arise in the morning...

I also peeter out in the early afternoon!

So if I'm gonna get stuff done,

I need to start as soon as I'm human

and haul tail, or I won't get

anything done.

That means: waiting until the kids

are in school to start my day is

the equivalent to waking up at noon.

Personally, my most productive hours are

from the time after dinner to about

2-3 in the morning.

THEN I'm like the energizer bunny.

But for obvious reasons, that doesn't work

in this life I've chosen.

Plan A will be (for now):

Da da daaaaa:

I'm going to get up at 5 with the hubby.

He's been complaining that he needs

a good breakfast anyway...

I figure, I don't even have to do anything

until 6-ish, so I should be my

regular good-natured self by then, right?

(unless I make him breakfast, but I can do that

half-dead as long as he doesn't talk to me)

I may even have my planning and God

out of the way...and I can

exercise with the kids

I just need that half hour to become

human...and the kids REFUSE

to allow me that.

So there you have it.

5am tomorrow.  No easing into it.

5AM

I'm going to do a lot of planning

before bed!

Toodles for now.

Just Amy

Quilt-along Block Two

Here is the information

for our next block,

courtesy of

Moose On The Porch Quilts

Block Two, here I come!

Follow along with me.

It's more fun with friends.

Whatever you do,

Be sure to check out

She's WAY more inspiring

than I am.

Just Amy

Quilt-along Week One DONE!

Check ME out!

I finished my first block.

I think I am in love! 

She's so purdy.

The 9-patch in the middle is

accidentally made with the same

print on dark and light fabrics.

I didn't notice that until

I was done.

Then the border is almost

a blown-up version

of the darker squares.

SEW PRETTY!

If you're following along,

you will notice my version

is less scrappy than the original.

I'm all for scrapy, but

I liked it this way better.  lol.

Now we have two weeks

to complete block number two.

I'll post that info next.

Toodles for now!

Just Amy

Discoveries of the day

1. Sandwiching a quilt makes me feel like an old lady.
2. I really love the color combination of pink and brown.
3. or mint and brown
4. or turquoise and brown...I'm quite possibly obsessed.
5. I am more like my grandmother than I care to admit.
6. The back of the van (where the kids sit) is disgusting.
7. I eat entirely too much sugar and sugar-like products.
8. To get a "mother's ring" like my grandma's, we'll have to save for awhile.
9. I have way too much stuff.
10. I am SO tired of the "alpha male contest" in my house.

Maximize Your Mornings, Step One

Well, I did it!

Drum roll please...

I got up at 6 a.m.!

For the first time since...

uh...high school?

Surely I've gotten up that early

since, but this is the first time

I've done it WILLINGLY...ish.

I plan to get up even earlier,

but the book says I don't have

to just yet.

I already did more than

the book recommended

for week one...so

I don't want to take on too much,

get overwhelmed and give up.

Like I did last time.

The ultimate goal is 5:30.

Then I will spend a half hour

with God,

A half hour exercising, and

a half hour planning my day.

Then the kids will be in my hair. 

Then my perfect spawn
will arise to make my day
complete.

Get the book, get your purpose...

and stop by Kat's awesome and

inspiring website too.

Jelly Roll Quilt Along Block 1

Okay, I have my

material picked out!



The Jelly roll is from Moda's

Civil War Homefront

by

Barbara Brackman.

LOVE IT! 

I kinda have a "thing"

with Civil War era fabrics.

And furnishings.

And life...

I may have to get

another one for a

disappearing 9-patch quilt...

ANYWAY

The background fabric

is going to be

unbleached muslin.

I have what I believe

will be enough, but

if I get stuck, it's

only a couple of bucks

a yard AND easy to

match if I need more.

I have not picked a border

yet, but I have a possible one

in my stash.

Never occurred to me to take a

picture, but it's a red toile

printed on off-white.

I LOVE TOILE!

Also have not picked a backing,

but will more than likely

go with more muslin.

So there you have it.

And what did YOU choose?

Here is the link for the

materials list.

See you in a week with the finished

block!!  Whoo-hoo!

Jelly Roll Quilt-A-Long

I am going to do it.

The actual quilt-a-long is actually over.

It ended in August.

She does have a new one going now,

But I have the materials for THIS one.

So here it is.

I'm going to do the



From http://moosequilts.blogspot.com/.

I can't wait!

I looked ahead at all the different blocks.

I'm a little nervous about one or two,

But like mama always said:

I'm "taking it one step at a time!"

How about you quilt along with me?

We can be the Quilt Along Procrastinators Club!

I'll link to http://moosequilts.blogspot.com/

each week so we can be on the same page

and I'll blog about my progress...

and YOU comment about YOUR progress!

Okay?  Okay!

Cheers!

Just Amy

Coming soon...

Thanks for stopping by!

Just a few notes on things

to come in

November

Don't expect this EVERY month...

I'm generally not this

"organized"...

That's right. I consider this

to be organized!

First, in a few days I'll let

you all in on a little secret.

I'll give you a teensy hint:



Okay, that was probably MORE

than teensy...but that's all

you get.

Second, I will be working through

some Holiday Resources from

Passionate Homemaking...

to hopefully add some

PURPOSE

to the holidays.

Love that site...check it out!

Third, I will also be working through

a couple ebooks from Kat

at Inspired To Action:

AND

Mission Statements For Moms

Let me just insert here

how much Kat has

truly inspired me

and dare I say...even

changed my life!

There.  I said it.

I originally wanted to do the

"mornings" one first,

because that's the one

she is focusing on

over at her BLOG.

I have, however; decided to do the

Mission Statement

first because

that should help me focus

my time wisely when I'm

attempting to get up before

my rugrats children

every morning.  Right?

RIGHT!

This is all a little

scary for a self-professed

lazy procrastinator.

Telling you what I plan to do.

Now I'll have to do it

or you will find out I'm really

not joking when I call myself

that...

This cannot happen!

That's why I'm doing it!

ACCOUNTABILITY!

GO ME!

Anyway...stay tuned.

Mom-iversity Week Three: Parents Don't Need Permission!

You're back!

Thanks for stopping by.

As a re-cap:

I am reading the book

I got the digital copy at:

http://www.borders.com/online/store/TitleDetail?sku=0307514188

Here are the nuggets:

(there weren't as many because

a lot of the subject matter

didn't pertain to my circumstances...)

Children should wake up to an alarm clock, not a parent

The reason for this IS partly for responsibility reasons.  I mean, are you going to wake up your 20 year old son for work every day?  I don't think so.  But also to avoid YOU being the one to drag them from their warm, cozy nest and sweet dreams right away in the morning.  Then you are the bad guy and FIGHTING ENSUES!  Tsk. Tsk.

"When children are hurried, they take their time"

I have been whining about this one for 13 years!  The faster you need them to go, the slower they move.  It is not your imagination!  It's good old passive-aggressiveness at work, people.

"It's important not to let a child decide the parent's response or mood"



Yeah. I have a tough time with that one.  It makes sense, it's just hard for me.  I let EVERYONE determine my mood...my kids, my husband, the postman... Now I know better and I will do better, right? 

Respond to complaints by acknowledging the child's complaint.

I guess it bears repeating here:  DO NOT ARGUE! (I repeat this only because I personally need to remember it!) If you try to "fix" or even offer your opinion, it will likely end in an argument.  If you acknowledge, you leave the impression that you understand...and leave it up to the child whether to enter into a discussion.  Plus I wonder if you just keep acknowledging and mirroring...the child will probably figure out her own solution to the complaint...maybe even while thinking YOU did all the work!!

Here's an example of acknowledging the complaint:

Child: you NEVER buy me anything

Parent:  There is something you would like me to buy you.

To be honest, I sometimes wonder if this is going to come off sounding a little FAKE and maybe a little INSULTING to the child...but I am willing to give it a try as an experiment.

It is not realistic to expect a child to put cleanliness ahead of playfulness.

This was already a no-brainer in my observation...but I was maybe a little bit disappointed by this statement. It burst my bubble.  I've always suspected that I'd have to wait until the children were 18 before I got to have a nice, neat house with everything in it's place...and everything coordinating and beautiful.  Now my hopes are dashed.  Now I just want to remove the furniture, buy cushions and bean-bag chairs and embrace ugly once and for all. Plus, it makes me really angry when I see another mother's house looking worthy of a spread in Better Homes, while I'm still trying to work the "Hand-me-down-chic" look because I don't dare buy anything lest it get ruined, pronto.

Helping is better than haranguing.

Uh-huh.  I'm guilty of this.  My instinct is to say: "I didn't get the blocks out or play with them.  Why should I help you clean them up?"  That unfortunately turns into my children saying that to each other...and then me having to play the detective game to find out who got them out so I could harass the correct child to pick them up...fighting and arguing ensues...and I go to bed with a migraine.  That was really draining - and the detective stuff was just too much work.

It's just easier to pick up the stupid blocks...WITH the child of course.  And don't keep track of how many you pick up versus how many they pick up.  I'm pretty sure that won't end well either.

After school, instead of asking "How was your day, dear", make statements that convey your understanding of the trials and tribulations at school.

For example:  "You look like you had a hard day" or "You seem glad to be home"

Those were the two I thought sounded most plausible for me to say.  There were more examples, but I just couldn't see them sounding genuine coming out of my mouth. 

 Again, these chapters challenged my acting skills a little bit.  I want to be comfortable in my home.  I do not want to be one of those mothers (and I know you've seen them) who are constantly "ON". You know what I mean.  They are the sing-song-y mothers who always operate in a perpetual excited state...as if everything they do is SO MUCH FUN!  Come and join me!  

"C'mon!  Let's scoop the dog doo from the back yard!  Yay!" 

"Whoo-hoo!  It's laundry time!  Who wants to sort the underwear!?" 

 I half expect them to bust out with a cheer or do a back flip.  I am not one of those.  I was BARELY one of those when my children were babies...when it's just natural to talk that way to your kids.  So, some of the things they suggested were a little bit "ON" for my taste.  I couldn't even bring myself to pass them on to you.

In case you haven't figured this out yet:

"In most situations, making statements is preferable to asking questions"

Questions make children feel as if you are interrogating rather than trying to understand.  This is a good  example of how it is different talking to children than to adults. 

"It hurts to share a parent"

Because:  "in a child's experience, sharing means getting less, like sharing an apple or a piece of gum."

Really?  It's that simple?  Who would have thought?

When a child's desire for our undivided love is acknowledged, the child is reassured.

That is about the only "technique" offered in the fight against sibling rivalry.  There either weren't a lot of examples here or I need to go back and read it again. 

It seems simplistic.

It is important that a child's life not be ruled by the adult's need for efficiency.  It drains the child's resources, prevents growth, stifles interests, and may lead to emotional meltdowns.

This is another area I would like to go back to read again.  I'm not an ultra-efficient person by nature, so I think I skipped over most of this thinking it didn't apply to me, and now I have questions. 

This last statement I really thought was a gem.  Especially now, in this parenting culture.  I actually have issues with today's parenting culture...but I'll save that for another post.  I just think that the line is blurred a lot between parent and child these days.  Parents are trying so hard to be EVERYTHING to their children...and I think sometimes children are permitted to make decisions they have no business making...whether overtly or inadvertently.  So here it is.  Feel free to write it on a post-it and carry it around with you when you need back up.  And remember, don't talk too much.  it shows weakness. 

"Parents do not need permission or agreement from children on how to live their lives!"

So there you have it.

I will probably go back and read

these three chapters again.

It was very challenging and

overly simplistic to me...

on subjects that aren't simple.

On to next week's assignment...

Progressive Dinner, Blog Style!

Remember

The blog hop tomorrow!

It Wouldn't Be Fall Without Pumpkin Patch Pictures!

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Lydia's trip was rainy and cold...and muddy.  It didn't stop the class from having fun though.  We learned that the pigs are employed at the farm to buldoze certain areas so Miller's can plant more apple trees...how awesome is that?  I couldn't get a picture of the cows, whose job it is to "mow the grass" because they were too far away.  I love that everything on the farm has a job and a purpose.

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Nate's trip was sunny and chilly, but not too cold.  It had rained the previous few days, so there were still muddy spots...again:  mud=fun, so the kids didn't mind a bit!

We Are Called To Love. We Are Not Called To Harass.



I am going through something...

CORRECTION:  I am not going through it.

I am witnessing someone I love

very dearly go through it.

It just FEELS like it is happening to me

sometimes.

As a Christian (a follower of Christ and his teachings), I am called to "love others as myself".  He even went so far as to call this the greatest commandment only after putting him first and foremost.  So:

1. Love God first and most
2. Love others AT LEAST as much as you love yourself.

Seems simple and straightforward, right?

Love is all we need

Love makes the world go round...

I'm feeling very loving and fluffy now.

It CAN be very straightforward and simple.  But it can also get complicated.  For example, under the "love umbrella" I am called to do some pretty hard, often unpopular things.

Like point out to my fellow Christians when they are sinning or about to sin.

Ouch.  That feels a little like a

picker in my fluffy cotton ball.

I dislike conflict.

But I'm all about the love...

Doing this should never assume or imply that I am sin-less myself, or that I am "better than" anyone.  We quite literally are all equal in God's eyes. 

If you mull that over a bit...

it's a hard pill to swallow.

I want to be SPECIAL!

I want to be MORE special than...

SOMEone...

I feed the poor. 

Surely that makes me

"BETTER THAN"

Someone, right?

So, where do you draw the line?

I'm supposed to point out when my sister in Christ is sinning.  Fine.  I'll do it.  I'll be grudgingly obedient to my Lord and Savior.

But how many times do I point this out?  Once?  Twice?  Do I point it out every time I see her commit this sin?  Do I call her in the middle of the night when I have another example/argument/idea about how to MAKE HER STOP this train wreck?  Do I text her this one last time to DRIVE THE POINT HOME?

Does this remind you of any

Christians in your life?

Bible thumpers?

Jesus Freaks?

STOP THE MADNESS!

Here is what I think.  Take it or leave it...or you can comment and pass this along to your friends so someone will actually READ this blog...and we can discuss.

1. I am to love others as myself.
2. I am NOT to point out to a non-Christian her sins (that is a whole other rant, my friends)
3. I AM called to point out the sins of my fellow sisters in Christ
4. The above point assumes that I have a RELATIONSHIP with said sister that is intimate enough to have any business opening such a discussion in the first place.
5. IT IS NOT UP TO ME TO SAVE MY FELLOW CHRISTIAN FROM THE SIN!!!
6. Repeat number 5 while banging your head into a wall because it is THAT IMPORTANT to remember.
7. Maybe repeat number 4 too...and think about that.  Hard.

My own interpretation of people who continually bring up the same sin over and over again?



visions of rabid pit-bulls

are dancing in my head

now.  So much for

fluffy love.

1. It is harassment
2. It demonstrates a complete lack of faith in God
3. It takes the focus off God and puts it on you.

Just FYI, #3

is a no-no.

To God be the glory

and all that.

(Christian etiquette 101)

Hold on a minute!  Harassment is a pretty strong word to be using, don't you think?  Where do you get off?

Harass:  –verb (used with object)

1.

to disturb persistently; torment, as with troubles or cares; bother continually; pester; persecute.

2.

to trouble by repeated attacks, incursions, etc., as in war or hostilities; harry; raid.

 

Thank you Webster's Dictionary.  I love you.  http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Harass

 

Hey!  Love is a verb too!

Funny.

 

Do you think harassment fits the bill now?  I thought so.

 

Have the discussion.  Then let it go, and let God do what God does.  It is not up to you to stop the sin...it is up to God.  Get out of his way.

 

...and get out of MY way

'cause I'm looking

for the fluffy

love.

Just Amy