Be Real

  You all know that if I story I tell has anything to do with our MaKayla, it's usually pretty funny. Well the story I'm going to tell about something she said the other day is funny, but to me it had a much deeper meaning then the incident itself. What she said was so profound & great reminder tome to "be real". Here's the story... I was dressing her & she had discovered a jumper (dress) that she had never worn before. She wanted to wear it, but I couldn't find a shirt that matched to wear underneath it. So I tried to explain to her that I had no shirt to match, I said "you need a red or blue one to wear with it". Not to be put off she pulled an orange shirt out of the drawer & said "Let's just say this one is red". The shirt was clearly orange, & she knew that it was, but she wanted to say it was red!!! Think about that- we can be just like that. We have gotten to the place where we know truth, but we want to change it to suit our liking. Or sometimes we try to convince people we are something that we're not. Or another way to look at it is, sometimes when someone asks us how we are doing, we reply "I'm fine" when we are really NOT fine. We have decided that like MaKayla we will try to convince ourselves & others to see us or things the way we want them too & not really the way they are. All the while we know it's not true, but we hope they don't notice. Or we simply hope to convince them that it's red and not orange.
  Dutch & I both try to live our lives so that people can see our "true colors". We don't want to twist the truth, or try to make things appear the way they are not. It is so important to be REAL. No one is perfect, we all know that, so why try to appear to be. If you want to wear the orange shirt that doesn't match, then wear it, but don't try to convince people that it's red!!
 **Credits to MaKayla who in her own little way inspired this blog. It was a great reminder to me...

To exercise or not, that is the question!!??!!

  The Holy Spirit & my husband have been talking to me about healthier living, eating, etc. The Holy Spirit has been coming to me about the aspect of eating healthier foods, reading labels, making healthier choices at the grocery store, etc. And it's not the first time I've felt convicted about this. Every so often I read another book about it & then I make a conscious effort to do better, but eventually I succumb to being like everyone else again & go about my grocery shopping without a hitch. But I am always fascinated with people that make everything from scratch, & live off the land, etc. That whole bit of healthier living appeals to me, in fact I've tried my hand at making some of my own healthier foods lately instead of buying them & it was fun, I had a real sense of accomplishment about it. BUT it's the whole bit (the part that my husband has been talking to me about) about exercising that has me a little worked up. I just don't like it. Guess I'm just not very driven when it comes to that. And while I know that running is the exercise of choice these days, I just can't seem to get on board with it. So when my husband sweetly mentions that I need to exercise more, I'm not very thrilled about it. First of all is he concerned about my health or is he implying that I'm a little on the fluffy side? Should I be offended about the comment or thankful that he cares?? Well I love what Madison said when he overheard Dutch mention my needing to exercise, he said... "Dad, don't you remember the song that Matt Lapp sang at the Talent Show a couple years ago? He sang a song that said "If you want to live a long and happy life, these are the things you don't say to your wife- hey honey have you gained some weight in your rear end??" Thanks Madison, that's such a good reminder for your dad!!!!
  But on a serious note- I have been making a conscious effort to eat better, & to see that my children do too. And another goal is to see how we can cut the grocery bill down, so we've made our own yogurt, granola, & cornmeal mush. We've been eating rice more too. It has been fun to make tasty, healthier meals all the while spending less. The other night, I marinated cubes of deer steak that we made in the skillet, found a pretty tasty rice recipe online, & steamed some broccoli. We loved it & it didn't cost much at all to make it!! For dessert we had homemade waffles & Lapp Valley ice cream!! (not sure how healthy the dessert was)!
  And on a serious note about the whole exercising bit- I know that if I would ask the Lord, He would give me the will-power to exercise. I guess I've been putting it off to ask Him because when He gives me the will-power then I won't have any more excuses!!