Where In The World Are You From

I have this really cool thing on my blog that shows me where people are from who visit my blog. Country, state, even down to the city and internet provider. I have had people from all over the world stop by - from places like Hungary and other European countries, Canada, Africa, India, China, Turkey as well as throughout the United States.

So now that you're stopping by my blog, I'd love to know who you are and where you're from. Feel free to leave your blog site (I allow shameless promotion of your blog on my blog!) so myself and others can check it out.

Sherri, you wanna go first...?!

The Writing On The Ground

I had an interesting conversation with my mom today when she joined me on the drive to take my son to visit his cousin for the week (2 hours each way, so plenty o' time to chat). I guess I've always had this idea that when I get to heaven there will be time each day where it will be like one big 'Q & A' session. I'll ask God about all the 'mysteries' of life and he'll finally tell me the answers. It'll be the ultimate 'Ah-Ha' moment.

In my mind, one of the biggest mysteries in the bible is in John 8. You know, the story where the sneaky-dirty Pharisees bring the adulterous woman to Jesus and tell him that 'the Law according to Moses' states she should be stoned to death. It was a trap so that they could have a basis to accuse Jesus. Like I said, sneaky and dirty. But Jesus was on to them and instead, bent down and began writing on the ground. He also threw a great verse at them; 'let he who is without sin, cast the first stone.' And then he wrote on the ground some more.

So what did he write on the ground? The bible never tells us, so this is where I have to use my imagination and take a wild guess. I'm pretty sure that Jesus didn't just all-of-a-sudden have the urge to doodle ichthus', or start a rousing game of tic-tac-toe or that dot game where you try to make boxes. No, I think, based on how quickly the Pharisees 'disappeared' that Jesus may have been writing their names and sins on the ground.

Will I ever know the answer? Like I said, I've often thought that we'll have to opportunity to ask when we get to heaven. My mom on the other hand had an interesting comment about that. She thinks we'll just know. Her belief is that because we will have new bodies, minds and the ultimate knowledge of Christ that we may very well just know the answers to what mystifies us. I have never thought about it like that but she definitely has me thinking now.

So what's your take on this? What do you think Jesus wrote on the ground?

Will there be the ultimate 'Q & A' session or will we just know?


PS - On a different subject... As some of you know, my mother-in-law (Loretta - which is interesting because that is my mom's name also) suffered a severe stroke in early July. She is in a nursing home and totally dependant on others for all of her needs. It has been so difficult emotionally for the family because Loretta has always been such a giving and loving person and there is always the question 'why her?'. We have to trust that the Lord is in control and has this precious person firmly in His loving arms. My husband has started a web site about his mom with updates, a 'blog' and a place for visitors to sign the guestbook. He would love to hear from you and share any encouragement with Loretta that you would pass on. You can visit Loretta's website here and we always appreciate prayers and words of encouragement from you.

Cake and Goulash

So my day started off at 5:20am when Jon got out of bed to literally throw the 'stupidog' out the door. We have hardwood floors and(apparently he needed to go outside since about, oh, 4:30 or so)for an hour he was running across the floor - 'click..click...click..click..' up the stairs to our room, down the stairs, across the floor, 'click..click..click..'. You get the idea. Once the coffee is started there's no going back to sleep, so... I'm up!

I wanted to make Helen's Hungarian Goulash and have the folks over for dinner as well as test out a new cake recipe and since I was up...

The cake I was going to attempt was from my latest issue of Bon Appetite. It has like 42 layers of chocolate cake, ganache, white chocolate something-or-another and marshmallowy stuff on top. (Disclaimer: I have a passion for COOKING, not baking). I whipped up the devils food cake from scratch and in the over it went. About 15 minutes into baking I smell the smoke. Dang. The cake is over flowing and next thing I know it's like 'smoke-a-palooza' in the house. Seriously. Every fan is going and all the windows are open. Did I tell you I have a passion for COOKING and not baking? I had stuck a cookie sheet under the cake pans and this is what I pulled out of the oven. Yeah...looks like something from the 'stupidog'.

I like to take any opportunity I can to mess with and freak out my 16 year old daughter - because that is the kind of gal I am - so I took some of the cake from the cookie sheet and planted it on the floor of my daughter's room (See Exhibit A). Ignore the mess, she's 'reorganizing' her room. But take a look at the 'pile' near the stool. When she got home, first thing she did was yell to Jon that Boz had pooped in her room so Jon takes a napkin, picks up the pile, and takes a bite. It is most unfortunate that I don't have a picture of her face, but it was priceless. And that is how we mess with our kids.

Needless to say, the cake turned out fine and was kind of like a death by chocolate type of thing. It was supposed to have this marshmallow, peppermint frosting, but since I don't really like either, I made some whipped cream and topped it with that. Yum! (See Exhibit B).

The real highlight of the evening was having my parents over for homemade goulash. 'Helen the Hungarian' was kind enough to share her recipe (here's a shout out to my Hungarian sistah!) and my dad gave me the ultimate compliment when he said 'my Grandma Szabo's tasted just like this.' Well, Helen, here are some extremely happy Hungarians with a big ol' plate of incredibly tasty goulash(and a fabulous wine to go with)!

And more happy family...(Mini-me, my mom and dad).

Good food, family...

Good times.

Part Deux Of The Challenge To Love

What an interesting day in my little corner of the world and as I was thinking about it on my way home from work I couldn't help but practice my new habit of being thankful - and today, I have a lot to be thankful for.

I was reading through all of the comments from my earlier post and couldn't help but laugh (I know, it's a SERIOUS situation) because of the irony of it all. What the enemy intended for evil, God literally threw it right back in his face(I love it when he does that). And I have some wonderful friends out there who are extremely generous with their encouragement and love - and that my friends is hope.

As I turned the final corner before reaching my house do you know what I saw? A rainbow. Seriously, a RAINBOW. It was like God just said 'Hey, I'm big, and loving, and here, and protective and I will take care of you. Always. I've got your back.' And you know what? There was an army of 'got your backers' out there today. I am so thankful for Sherri, Bo, Helen, Mare, KATDISH and Beth and all of the emails, and prayers and encouraging words. I felt an incredible amount of love being poured out and yes Bo, I did have a pretty awesome day! The really cool thing in all of this is that I have a circle of friends that extends clear to Africa and it just proves to me how little I am compared to the incredibly big God I serve.

The Challenge To Love

Today I was challenged in a way I have never been before and quite frankly, it stinks. I was told flat out by an individual, "I hate you". And to be honest, that is the first time that's happened and I hope it's the last. I could 'feel' the extreme degree to which it was meant as I read those three words and in my mind, I pictured the person as they were saying those incredibly hurtful words.

To me, a heart full of hate is the death of a heart. A heart full of hate can have no room for love, joy, peace or hope; four things that contribute to a truly abundant life. I am extremely saddened by this and for this person because the hate is like a cancer that has affected everyone in this persons life. Hate is the epitome of evil and when I think of what it does to one's heart and how it seeps out and destroys people, their lives and and those around them it's a sad realization that this world is full of this horrible thing - and it hit very close to home today.

I know from experience that it is easier to hate, be bitter and store up unforgiveness than it is to forgive and to love. And to be honest, in my extreme humanness, there was a part of me today that wanted to curse this person out of hurt. But I don't want to be like that again. I've dealt with some very harsh realities where unforgiveness and bitterness are concerned and learning to deal with it and give it to God is one of the best things I've ever done. For me, for my husband, for my children and all of those around me. I'm not 100% totally out of the woods so-to-speak, and I daily lay those things before God, but I recognize when I'm under attack and today was one of those times. I have come a long way and I'm not going back.

I know that the Bible says in Proverbs 10:12 - Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs. To me, living in love sounds so much better than living in hatred and I want all of the love I can get. I want to be greedy when it comes to love and I think God is OK with that because He's willing to give as much as we'll take. I pray that this person who is hurting will allow themselves to start being filled with love and learn to let go of the hate. I don't know if we'll ever make peace, I can only hope and pray. I do know that God is huge and bigger than this and no matter what he loves us both and I find an amazing amount of peace in that.

In The Spirit of Thanks

There are things in my life that I sometimes take for granted. I don't mean to, but I get into the groove of everyday life and it just happens. I don't want to live a 'granted' life, I want to live a thankful life. So, I have decided to start a new habit of taking a moment each day to really reflect on what I'm thankful for. I hope that it will lessen the grantedness and help me to see just how lucky I am and what blessings I have.

Here are a few things that I am thankful for.

1. That I love my husband more each day and we we have a great time together no matter where we are or what we're doing.

2. Being able to wrap my arms around my kids and feel their arms wrapped around me.

3. The awesome relationship I have with my parents.

4. Sitting around with my whole family and laughing about growing up in the small town of Bend.

5. That my kids are secure in knowing how much I love them.

6. Being in perfect health.

7. Lifelong friends that no matter how long it's been since you've seen them, it's just like it was yesterday.

8. 70 degree sunshiny days in November.

9. A coffee pot that always works when I push the button first thing in the morning.

10. Hearing my children laugh.

That's just a few on my list and I could go on and on now that I've gotten started. So what totally awesome things would you have on your list? I'd love to know.

Here's to new habits!

Arizona Here I Come

So I'm off to Arizona to visit my friend(that I've known since 5th grade) and her awesome family. It's 80 degrees there. Niiice! Steph told me tonight that she's treating me to a spa day on Saturday at some fantastically uber-gucci resort (uber is not normally in my vocabulary, but I've wanted to use it like cool people do and it seemed appropriate here) and then it's girlz shopping trip. Yesssss!

In my absence, please feel free to wander on over to a blog written by my very clever, witty and yes, sarcastic(I knew I liked her) friend Sherri. She likes to have fun, so a word of caution to the fun-haters...beware!

Carry on...check.
Ticket...check.
Shades...check.

See ya in a few!