Wow-ful Women Wednesday

Oh what dread! I am holding you in suspense. Here it is, after lunch, and I am just now posting this week's video! I am so sorry. I'm sure you had set your alarm to wake early for the sole purpose of being inspired by a Wow-ful Woman or two...

My apologies.

However, without further ado: today's selection.

When asked "What is the first song you sang harmony to?" I will answer "Blessed Assurance." I recall my mom playing that hymn on our organ (oh yeah. We had 2 organs in our house...) and my sister singing lead (of course) and I singing alto. It is one of my very first harmony experiences.

Yet, beside that is the memory of listening to this album on our record player while doing some form of quasi-step aerobic/ jazzercise routine in our basement with the carpeted pillars (sweet).

These women are wowful. As evidence I direct you to their vocal talents, their hair volume, their eye shadow, and outrageous amount of shiny lip gloss. I was hooked. I was starstruck. If I had any hard feelings towards them, it was that they reinforced my belief that only blondes could be in the lime light. And that brunettes had to primarily be in the shadows (yes, my beautiful sister is blonde...I'll begin counselling someday. snort). I wanted to be the third girl (despite the fact I was 5) in ABBA (wow, too bad I can't make that B backwards...).

Enjoy....this is my favourite of all time:





Of course you knew they'd get 2 videos (my second favourite...highly inappropriate for a 5 year old, but I digress)...

Heard At My House: Two for One Edition

two funny-ish things have been said within hours of each other and it is only 8am. I thought I would share them both.

First:

Setting: 1:59am really windy outside, the first snow of our year is falling accompanied by some sleet.

6 year old daughter, tiptoeing toward our bedroom: "Mommy, I'm scared of the wind. It is so windy it is making my hangers shake in the closet".

"No precious girl. That is the sleet hitting the window."


Second:

Setting: me, noticing the still folded and not-put-away laundry in my children's bedrooms, and knowing that in only a few hours I would be adding to that pile with still more laundry that was washed and dried yesterday.

"You may want to put that laundry away this morning because after breakfast the amount you have there is going to increase excrementally....I mean exponetially."

I am not useless!

Look look! My friend just had her first baby, and I was wanting to give her a beautiful pink something to celebrate with her. So I got all brave and went to Wal-Mart (which as you know has been very difficult for me in the past! If you don't know what I'm talking about, go read this...after you read today's post of course. It hasn't been moved over to my new blog here yet, so don't be alarmed that everything looks different when you follow the link.).

Anyhow, at Wal-Mart I found this entirely gorgeous fabric and made a blanket for the wee girl. This photo does not do the colour justice but trust me when I say that the pink is hot and the check is clean. Lovely to look at.

My sewing skills leave a bit to be desired in the accuracy department, but these blankets are easy to put together in very little time. It was really fun to do, and slowly but surely I am getting better. So if any of you would like to have a baby so I can practice making gifts, I would appreciate it!

Watching Movies is Good for You

My darling husband and I have been watching the HBO series "Band of Brothers" lately. I already briefly mentioned a couple benefits of doing this. First, I get to snuggle with him for a whole hour while watching the DVD. Second, I get to imagine my husband being Lt. Speers running like crazy, somehow dazzling the Germans into inactivity, and saving the entire mission by just being that brave. My Chris could absolutely be that guy. He is amazing.

So that's good enough right? Some snuggles and an even moreso elevated view of my husband's excellence.

Now before I go on, I have heard a shocked reply from one of our guy friends at church about all this: "What? Barbara watches war movies with you? Incredible. But does she actually like them or does she just tolerate them to make you happy?"

I truthfully really do like them. Once upon a time I was a history major (a really bad one mind you) and I do find all these war movies fairly fascinating. Lots of character traits to be inspired by and to try to emulate.

And that is the biggest thing I am learning from watching Band of Brothers. How, you might wonder, does a housewife get inspired to improve in her duties at home by watching a war movie? I'm so glad you asked....

Numerous times in the story the men are hunkered down along the side of a ditch or in the relative safety of their fox holes. Some body who is taking charge for the moment does some little hand motions and next thing you know all the men are up and running full tilt. There is no hesitation. There is no second guessing. There is no waiting or counting the cost. All that has been done before they ever enlisted. They are there, in position, knowing what is required and what needs to be done. And they know that if they don't get up off their behinds and run right now, the mission will fail, their friends will die, and they will live with the shame of inactivity the rest of their lives.

So now, imagine me, the happy housewife, sitting on my bed with my laptop on my legs, happily typing this post, or reading yours. I see the mission ahead of me. I have counted the cost of having children and staying home with them and choosing to homeschool. I see the task at hand; the dishes in the sink, the pot of soup to make, and the applesauce to puree. And yet, here I sit. Inactive. Wishing there was another way of getting it all done.

What I need is that drive that says "now is the time to move. So go." What I need is the focus that I am fighting a battle here, not only against my own flesh, but also a battle for my childrens' hearts. My inactivity can be just the thing the enemy uses as the foot hold and the opportunity to weaken them and their faith.

Lord give me the courage and the focus to just get up and do the very obvious things you are showing me to do. I want to not have to convince myself to get up and do the next thing. Give me feet that move and hands that serve quickly, willingly, consistently.

Right now I am holding the line. Things are okay. I'm not retreating. But I'm not advancing either. Lord give me the faith and the character and the desire to conquer the next hill.

Wow-ful Women Wednesday

I first saw this video on Randy's blog. When I saw it, I (shock) got all choked up thinking about how something like this was supposed to be done by Kristina, and Cheryland I. Then Kris and I tried to sing with Laurie, which was quite lovely, except now none of us live anywhere near each other. Then of course I had the incredible privilege of singing with Joy...oh my word. And yet as nice as it was to sing together (despite her barefootedness!) we are no longer together to sing except for a rare living room experience. Now Kate and I can sing on occassion when the Sunday morning schedule is favourable to us, which is nearly never.

So I wait for my missionary friend Kristina to return so we can sing with Martins tracks that cut out and microphones that sound like spaceships.

I wait to sing with Joy even though we pick "slow songs" instead of "something the women can clap to".

I will try to sing a grace with Laurie this weekend over our belated Thanksgiving.

I will hope for another Kate date.

oh. And I will thoroughly enjoy these Wailin' Jennys. They are delightful.




Beautiful Dawn by the Wailin' Jennys

Take me to the breaking of a beautiful dawn
Take me to the place where we come from
Take me to the end so I can see the start
There's only one way to mend a broken heart

Take me to the place where I don't feel so small
Take me where I don't need to stand so tall
Take me to the edge so I can fall apart
There's only one way to mend a broken heart

Take me where love isn't up for sale
Take me where our hearts are not so frail
Take me where the fire still owns its spark
There's only one way to mend a broken heart

Teach me how to see when I close my eyes
Teach me to forgive and to apologize
Show me how to love in the darkest dark
There's only one way to mend a broken heart

Take me where the angels are close at hand
Take me where the ocean meets the sky and the land
Show me to the wisdom of the evening star
There's only one way to mend a broken heart

Take me to the place where I feel no shame
Take me where the courage doesn't need a name
Learning how to cry is the hardest part
There's only one way to mend a broken heart

Heard At My House: the Grandparent Edition

Setting: At WOW:Surf's Up! (a kids' program at our church)

TL (our Children's Ministry Director): Did you know that our bodies are 70-80% Water!?


My mom: (leaning quietly over to me) "So you mean I'm not fat; I'm just really wet!"

The Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY... Monday, October 20

Outside My Window... a leaf castle complete with many bedrooms and even a bathroom along with lawn chairs and other stuff that likely should not have been taken out of the garage.

I am thinking... that it is so funny when, at our Christian Homeschool Co-op, our deaf Sign Language teacher talks to me using swear words in front of the students and they have no idea.

I am thankful for... Veggie Tales and the 40 minutes of down time they just gave me as I wind down from said Homeschool Co-op. I *heart* Mondays...

From the kitchen... the call of dishes waiting to go in the dishwasher that I should not have ignored for these last 40 minutes.

I am wearing... a sweater the colour of Kristina's eyes and my favourite trouser jeans.

I am creating... a new set of abs. Can you say "Tae Bo Boot Camp with Billy Blanks"? yikes.

I am going... to not cry with exhaustion the rest of today.

I am reading... way too many blogs.

I am hoping... my husband doesn't have to work late tonight.

I am hearing... my 2 babies not waking up yet. Thank you for nap time.

Around the house... boxes of school books that I should weed through, but can't bear to part with.

One of my favorite things... playing UNO with my kids, and giving them the freedom to be "mean" to me with all their plus 4 cards.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: Laundry, painting baseboard and trying not to eat the rest of the Nutella in the cupboard.

A picture thought I'm sharing today: Brothers are Good for Each Other


http://thesimplewoman.blogspot.com/

Heard At My House

Background Information:

I have a precious 2 year old daughter named Victoria. We call her Tora or Tori. When she was born we considered calling her Vicki, but it just didn't suit her. So she gets Tora alot. And Victoria, when I'm serious of course. Any how, this wee two year old smartie pants has recently begun pointing at her self and saying "I Vicki". To which I respond, "No, I thought you were Tora". "No, I Vicki".


So, after a brief negotiation, she now says "I Vicki too". She has come to the compromise that she will respond to either Vicki or Tora or Victoria. How congenial of her.

Now onto Heard At My House: The How to Talk to Yourself Edition.


Tora: Aaaachhoooo (sneezing)

Tora: Bless you Tora.

Tora: Thank you Vicki.

Tora: You're Welcome Tora.


Wow. What was that about talking to yourself being the only way to get intelligent conversation?

Wow-ful Women Wednesday

For Kate. And for me, as I am reminded of the process the Lord is taking me through. I am not who I was. I can be who He is making me. Each moment He is making me a new creature. I will not be like this forever. In a blink He can make me His wholly, completely, entirely. I will be found in Him.




Brooke Fraser singing Shadowfeet

Walking, stumbling on these shadowfeet
toward home, a land that I've never seen
I am changing, less and less asleep
made of different stuff than when I began.
And I have sensed it all along
fast approaching is the day


When the world has fallen out from under me
I'll be found in you, still standing
when the sky rolls up and mountains fall on their knees
when time and space are through
I'll be found in you

There's distraction buzzing in my head
saying in the shadows it's easier to stay
but I've heard rumours of true reality
whispers of a well-lit way

You make all things new

When the world has fallen out from under me
I'll be found in you, still standing
Every fear and accusation under my feet
when time and space are through
I'll be found in you

Matthew 5:16

I saw it today on the road. Walking through town. It was the temporal image of the converse of Matthew 5:16.

Didn't that make sense to you?

Okay. Let me try to be a little more clear. What I saw today was a pair of maybe 12 year old girls, both quite overweight, both dressed like prostitutes, both with unkept hair and poor physical hygiene, both walking down a busy street in a questionable area of a biggish city, and I said to Chris, "Where are their parents? What kind of mom do they have?"

And that is exactly the reaction I DO NOT want people to have when they see my life and hear that I'm a Christian.

"Wow. What kind of God are you obeying? What kind of faith is that?"

Jesus said, "Let your light shine before men that they might see your good deeds and praise your Father in Heaven."

I was NOT praising the parenting of those little girls. I should be praying for them rather than my knee-jerk reaction to judge them. I understand that. But the point of the lesson to me is the same as I look at my life. Am I living in such a way that others glorify my Father in Heaven? Do I make God look good? Do I make Him more Glorious by my life, my attitude, my actions,....?

Lord, I do ask that you would give me the discipline and the grace to live in a way that shows what kind of Parent I have. Let it become clear that when I am a jerk, it is the rebellion in my own heart, not a short-coming of Yours. Forgive me for the times that I have given Christianity a bad reputation, and in turn, given You a bad name. I pray that in some way You would give me the chance to make up for that, and instead show the world (or at least the world immediately around me) that you are great and greatly to be praised. That You are good, and a joy to follow.

Give me a light to shine, and let me shine it like crazy.