This is not the life I should have

Over the weekend, my son and I had the opportunity to work the Compassion table at a youth conference. On Saturday, we were able to hear Lincoln Brewster share a bit about his family life. It struck me when he said, "If they had taken a vote in high school to see who would be least likely to be a worship leader, I would have won that contest."

I could so relate to his statement. I never had any intention of relying on anyone for anything. My goal was to climb the corporate ladder and be one of those 'look, she has it all together career moms'. I know God must have been laughing, because He knew the path my life would take.

Be a stay-at-home mom? No way!

Be a homeschool mom? Not ever in my lifetime!

Minister to children through an organization I had never even heard about in high school? That was something that was never on my radar.

My life is different today than I would ever have thought possible. And I am in awe that God loves me so much that He has allowed me to do things I never thought would be a part of my life. Makes me kind of wonder what other plans He has for my future.

11 For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome.

12 Then you will call upon Me, and you will come and pray to Me, and I will hear and heed you.

13 Then you will seek Me, inquire for, and require Me [as a vital necessity] and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.

Dinner Table Talk

As a family, we are blessed with the opportunity to have a sit down dinner together most nights of the week. One of the things I like to find to keep conversations going at our dinner table is a daily calendar which make us all think. In years past, one of the calendars we enjoyed was based on one of our old favorite TV game shows, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? Since we haven’t been able to find one of those calendars the past couple of years, we have had to venture out to find some new challenging calendars.

This year, we have been going through this top tens list calendar. Some of the lists are rather easy to complete. Others? Well, let’s just say, we sure do learn a lot when we encounter some of these lists. Like the one above. We thought we were doing pretty well when we wrote down the following nine fruits:

• mango
• kiwi
• pomegranate
• apricot
• kumquat
• papaya
• plantain
• pluot
• acai berries

Can you believe we only got one answer right?!?

Now, are you up for a challenge? In the comments below, let me know what fruits you think are the top ten most delicious and least-known fruits. In the meantime, we have some research to do….

Capture Your 365

Ready for a few glimpses into my take on the Capture Your 365 photo prompts from the last week?

sunflower

ISO 800, 50mm, f/2.2, 1/10 sec

Day 223 – Sunflower: I have to admit that some days, I really have trouble figuring out what to photograph. There are many days during the week that we just don’t go anywhere, and to try to find things that fit with the photo prompts, well, creativity can only go so far. Thankfully, I have these fake flowers inside my home since we are not growing sunflowers this year. If I had left the house on this particular day, I could have stop at many different places along most of the roads leading out of town to take pictures of actual sunflowers. Oh well, at least I have this picture.

play

ISO 800, 50mm, f/2.2, 1/60 sec

Day 224 – Play: Kelsey had a friend over on this particular day and they played quite a few rounds of Clue. I figured this was the perfect thing to photograph for this prompt! But now that I am looking at the photo on the screen, I realize I should have focused on Colonel Mustard. Poor guy must have gotten hit over the head with the wrench in the billiard room while trying to solve the crime.

remember

ISO 1600, 50mm, f/2.2, 1/50 sec

Day 225 – Remember: Now, I don’t usually take photos of photos, but my photo wall was the perfect subject for this photo prompt. I just love the memories that are displayed here. Makes me want to be sure to have other photos printed and displayed so they can be enjoyed, rather than sitting on the hard drive of my computer.

bonus

ISO 1600, 50mm, f/2.2, 1/40 sec

Day 226 – Bonus: Two photos in a row of other photos, I am thinking I need to get out of the house a little more often! Okay, but this one really fit the prompt also. Back in June, after completing my two photography classes, I entered this photo of the Bay Bridge into our town arts and crafts contest. I was really surprised when they called to let me know that I not only won a first place ribbon, but I also won Best of Show!

Are you picking up your camera everyday to capture moments of your life?

An Unplanned Summer Day Trip

My husband decided to take the day off today, so we got Kelsey up a little earlier than usual and made our way to this location:

No, we didn’t travel to Philadelphia. We went to the Jelly Belly Factory! We have been there quite a few times, but it is still a fun destination with a free tour and a free bag of Jelly Bellys at the end of the tour.

Then we headed here for lunch:

We don’t have a Chick-fil-a very close to our home, so we made sure to stop here for lunch today. Their chicken sandwiches are so good and I just love their fries.

Before heading home we stopped here (Barnes & Nobles):

The closest book store to us is over 30 minutes away. My one big unrealistic dream would be to have a room with floor to ceiling bookshelves completely filled with books. Maybe one day! The only thing we bought here was a Sherlock Holmes book for Kelsey. If I had unlimited funds, I would have bought a lot of books today!

Question for you: Where do you like to go on day trips?

Priorities and a Day on the River

Every now and then, because of my volunteer work with Compassion, we have conference calls scheduled to discuss various things that I am involved in. During the school year, it is usually pretty easy for me to plan on ‘attending’ these calls since we really should be home making sure school and house work are getting done.

But during the summer, things come up. Like the one day opportunity to save $10 per person to go on a river rafting trip with your daughter and a couple of her friends. The conference call can be rescheduled, but you don’t always have the chance to save money on a day trip like this. Or do you have the opportunity to put your family first like this.

We all had a great time on the trip (a little sore and sunburned though!), but most importantly, I want my daughter to know that she is more important to me than even the ministry that is near and dear to my heart. I don’t ever want her to resent the time I put into helping other people realize the difference they can make by investing into the life of a child living in extreme poverty.

Question for you: How do you balance family and ministry time?