Devotions of a High Heeled Warrior

I just celebrated my (mumble, mumble) birthday.  No one needs to know exactly how old, right?  If my daughter were here, she would squeal and make sure the whole world knew exactly how ancient I am.  See, that's the thing.  Every year, I grow a little older, but in my head, I still feel like that twenty-year-old college student.  It's the sore muscles and achy joints that tell me differently.  The defining moment of knowing the full extent of my age was when I came into my living room  to see one of my daughter's examining a VCR cassette.  I asked what she was doing to which she replied, "I'm trying to find the directions."  So being the good mom that I am, I chose to take a seat and watch the show.  I watched her trying to shove the cassette into the VCR/DVD combo.  Eventually, she gained success and that's when the fun really started.  She stood in front of the television and asked why it wasn't doing anything.  I had ...

Christmas has finally come, and we are faced with signs of it everywhere.  People are rushing to get last minute gifts.  Last night, I noticed that the Walmart parking lot was full, but the Lowe's and Home Depot parking lot was empty.  I told my husband that was because the wives had already bought their husbands gifts three months ago and the men were in Walmart desperately looking for their wives a present.  I can say this because my husband was one of those desperate men.  But now all the gifts are bought and my least favorite thing to do has come- wrapping Christmas gifts.  I've contemplated just giving them in the Amazon boxes they came in but was shot down by my children.  Even though they are teenagers, they still want to unwrap the gifts for Christmas.  I've watched them grow from little toddlers who played more with the boxes than the gifts to young adults that are becoming interested in clothes and grown-up things.  This had me th...

The picture at the left describes the craziness of today.  If you're thinking that it looks like a cheesy Star Wars set, then you are right!  My church Christmas program was today.  I usually write the programs, so I had to pay homage to the newly released Star Wars.  Thus, A Dysfunctional Christmas Dinner-Star Wars Edition was born.  I had to frantically costume our cast, cook a ton of food for the potluck, and wash a gazillion loads of laundry, and quiz my kids because, of course, it is semester test time on Monday and Tuesday.  Late last night, I was cooking 150 cookies, cutting potatoes (with my daughters help- maybe a little guilt was involved), and sewing a gold C3PO suit out of a tablecloth found at a birthday party I had been to earlier that day.  Yes, that is me in the shiny, gold suit.  I was hot gluing black yarn to a pair of headphones for Princess Lea, cutting off reindeer ears and replacing with green felt to make Yoda.  I eve...

WARNING...you may be challenged.  Read at your own risk.  After last week, this week has been a bit anti-climatic. How can you top meeting a President?  I've been trying to practice my surprise instrument, but finding the time to play has been hard.  I'm recalling how I nagged my son to play his French horn.  It's amazing how empathy comes in when you've been in his place.  This brings me to my topic for this week.  Should we give to others over the holidays?  There's a wide range of beliefs on whether you should give to the needy.  What if they use the money for drugs or alcohol?  Should you buy food instead of give money that way you know it's going to something good?  Should you assume the people who are asking for help are all conning you?  Let me take you back in time to my college days.  I lived in a duplex with a girl that attended church with me.  I thought my place was amazing.  Now, as I drive by the ...

 Friends, this week has been a rather eventful week for me.  A couple of minutes after I finished my blog last Sunday, I decided to visit the little girl's room.  Imagine my horror when I found a very large mouse swimming away in my toilet.  I looked down into the frightened eyes of the little mouse and did what every big girl would do.  I jumped up and down and yelled for my son to come rescue me from the mouse.  Yes, I admit that I'm a big chicken.  After ten minutes of screaming my son's name, it dawned on me that my son would not rescue me.  I stomped down the stairs and demanded to know why he was not running to my aid immediately, only to find him completely engrossed in a video game.  I then laid on the guilt of what was more important to him, saving a pretend world or protecting his mother.  I regret to say he took a pause in which he had to seriously think about which was more important.  I then pulled him up the stairs...

I was very thankful to get the opportunity to spend Thanksgiving with my parents.  They are entering their mid-seventies, but are still very active.  My mother was proud to tell me that she completely pulled out the floor in her guest bedroom, rebuilt floor joists, and put down flooring.  When I asked her why she didn't ask me or my brother for help, she said she wanted to prove that she could still do it.  So after seeing this side of my mother, I was sure that Black Friday shopping would be a piece of cake.  I was wrong.  Last Christmas, my mother woke me up before the crack of dawn to stand in the freezing cold and face Walmart fifty percent off Christmas items sale.  After waiting an hour, facing the high chance of a stampede of little old ladies with shopping carts, and running through half the store, I made it back to the Christmas section in time to see my mother put five or six boxes of Christmas ziploc baggies in her cart and proceed to tell...

I think the picture of my cat sums up my week.  Have you ever felt like you were just drifting through trying to catch a little rest somewhere?  My son has been in a basketball tournament all week, so between supporting him, trying to make it through piles of never-ending laundry, working on my new instrument (not telling what it is yet!), and preparing food for our church's Thanksgiving potluck and youth bake sale, I've felt a little worn down.  My husband and I entertained our church with our superior acting skills (we had to read from our scripts).  We portrayed a couple that was gathering around the table for Thanksgiving.  The wife seemed to focus on everything she didn't have.  The turkey was dry, plates and silverware not good enough, and the pie overcooked.  Meanwhile, the husband was trying to give thanks in prayer with his wife complaining the whole time.  It was a fun part to play, but made me think about how I go to God in prayer....