Forwarded to me by my friend Tom I.
20 Ways To Maintain A Healthy Level Of Insanity
1. At Lunch Time, Sit In Your Parked Car with Sunglasses on and point a Hair Dryer At Passing Cars. See If They Slow Down.
2. Page Yourself Over The Intercom. Don't Disguise Your Voice.
3. Every Time Someone Asks You To Do Something, ask If They Want Fries with that.
4. Put Your Garbage Can On Your Desk And Label it "In".
5. Put Decaf In The Coffee Maker For 3 Weeks. Once Everyone has Gotten Over Their Caffeine Addictions, Switch to Espresso.
6. In The Memo Field Of All Your Checks, Write "For Smuggling Diamonds".
7. Finish All Your sentences with "In Accordance With The Prophecy".
8. Don't use any punctuation.
9. As Often As Possible, Skip Rather Than Walk.
10. Order a Diet Water whenever you go out to eat, with a serious face.
11. Specify That Your Drive-through Order Is "To Go".
12. Sing Along At The Opera.
13. Go To A Poetry Recital. And Ask Why The Poems Don't Rhyme?
14. Put Mosquito Netting Around Your Work Area And Play tropical Sounds All Day.
15. Five Days In Advance, Tell Your Friends You Can't Attend Their Party
Because You're Not In The Mood.
16. Hav e Your Co-workers Address You By Your Wrestling Name, Rock Bottom.
17. When The Money Comes Out The ATM, Scream "I Won! I Won!"
18. When Leaving The Zoo, Start Running Towards The Parking lot, Yelling "Run For Your Lives! They're Loose!"
19. Tell Your Children Over Dinner, "Due To The Economy, We Are Going To Have To Let One Of You Go."
20. And The Final Way To Keep A Healthy Level Of Insanity ...
Send This E-mail To Someone To Make Them Smile.
It's Called ... therapy.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Monday, January 29, 2007
Priorities
My friend Sherene presented a workshop last weekend about getting balance in our life. I have heard her present the information before, and in fact when I have my monthly lunch date with her we encourage more balance in our lives. But I still get challenged because it is a continuing struggle to keep my life balanced!
One of our exercises was to list our priorities for our Spiritual Life, Family life, and Work. I smiled to myself at having listed the "right" priorities (oh, the perfectionist student in me still lives!). I mean, I have made improvements. I'm learning to focus on what is within my "sphere of influence" at work, for example. I get asked to be on committees or take on projects often, and I'm saying no so I can focus on what I am really great at doing. I'm also refusing to take on others' responsibilities or to take the blame if they don't get their work done.
But then, Sherene said "now - evaluate whether how you spend your time is reflecting your top priorities". Uff! If you looked at how I spend my time outside of work, you would think my top priorities are Sudoku, television, and the internet! Sudoku can be good to keep the mind sharp - but once in awhile! Television can offer some entertainment and even some education - but do I need as much as I'm taking in? The internet is great - I'm connecting with people I may not otherwise be able to. But what about connecting with Martin?
So, in this first month of a new semester, I am trying to change my schedule to reflect what I truly want to prioritize in my life! As another speaker challenged us at the same conference - we are looking at taking out some good to get to GREAT!
Where are your priorities? Post a comment!
One of our exercises was to list our priorities for our Spiritual Life, Family life, and Work. I smiled to myself at having listed the "right" priorities (oh, the perfectionist student in me still lives!). I mean, I have made improvements. I'm learning to focus on what is within my "sphere of influence" at work, for example. I get asked to be on committees or take on projects often, and I'm saying no so I can focus on what I am really great at doing. I'm also refusing to take on others' responsibilities or to take the blame if they don't get their work done.
But then, Sherene said "now - evaluate whether how you spend your time is reflecting your top priorities". Uff! If you looked at how I spend my time outside of work, you would think my top priorities are Sudoku, television, and the internet! Sudoku can be good to keep the mind sharp - but once in awhile! Television can offer some entertainment and even some education - but do I need as much as I'm taking in? The internet is great - I'm connecting with people I may not otherwise be able to. But what about connecting with Martin?
So, in this first month of a new semester, I am trying to change my schedule to reflect what I truly want to prioritize in my life! As another speaker challenged us at the same conference - we are looking at taking out some good to get to GREAT!
Where are your priorities? Post a comment!
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Walking in Valleys
(cross posted on my MySpace account)
I find myself attracted to spiritual songs that juxtapose the ideas of valleys and mountains. I love the song "Mountain of God" by Third Day, the song I'm currently playing on MySpace. It is about realizing that though we may think we are alone, we are not. It is about the journey we are on, and that He has gone before us and will lead us through. It reminds me of a portion of "Sacred Romance" by Brent Curtis and John Eldredge. They talk about the book "Pilgrim's Progress", and about how taking the road that is the Sacred Romance can be foggy and difficult. But it is the road that is worth taking.
Caedmon's Call has a song from a few years ago about being in the valley ('Valleys Fill First'), and realizing that it is in the valley that we are surrounded by God, where we are baptized. We long to be on the mountaintop, but the times in the valley are a necessary part of our journey with God.
That reminds me of the book "Hind's Feet in High Places" by Hannah Hurnand (sp?). I can't give it away - the allegory is just so beautiful. You must read it! But it is about a journey from a valley up a mountain that seemed confusing and despairing, but in the end was perfect.
Stephen Curtis Chapman wrote a song called The Mountain many years ago. He wrote from the perspective of being on the mountain, and knowing he needed to go back down to the valley. It ends with a prayer that God will help Him remember all he learned on the mountain. I think I have learned as much or more in my times in the valley.
This last year has felt at times like being in a valley under a dark shadow, with lots of fog and cold. Other times, it seemed clear and beautiful. But I was never alone!
I find myself attracted to spiritual songs that juxtapose the ideas of valleys and mountains. I love the song "Mountain of God" by Third Day, the song I'm currently playing on MySpace. It is about realizing that though we may think we are alone, we are not. It is about the journey we are on, and that He has gone before us and will lead us through. It reminds me of a portion of "Sacred Romance" by Brent Curtis and John Eldredge. They talk about the book "Pilgrim's Progress", and about how taking the road that is the Sacred Romance can be foggy and difficult. But it is the road that is worth taking.
Caedmon's Call has a song from a few years ago about being in the valley ('Valleys Fill First'), and realizing that it is in the valley that we are surrounded by God, where we are baptized. We long to be on the mountaintop, but the times in the valley are a necessary part of our journey with God.
That reminds me of the book "Hind's Feet in High Places" by Hannah Hurnand (sp?). I can't give it away - the allegory is just so beautiful. You must read it! But it is about a journey from a valley up a mountain that seemed confusing and despairing, but in the end was perfect.
Stephen Curtis Chapman wrote a song called The Mountain many years ago. He wrote from the perspective of being on the mountain, and knowing he needed to go back down to the valley. It ends with a prayer that God will help Him remember all he learned on the mountain. I think I have learned as much or more in my times in the valley.
This last year has felt at times like being in a valley under a dark shadow, with lots of fog and cold. Other times, it seemed clear and beautiful. But I was never alone!
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Can he motivate you too?
This video spot is a few years old, but still important!
If you want to help eliminate "stupid" poverty, visit ONE.ORG
If you want to help eliminate "stupid" poverty, visit ONE.ORG
Baby Steps
It just dawned on me that the title has a double meaning. I meant to convey that we are taking small steps on adoption...also taking steps toward a child!
Our hearts and our goals have been changing with all we have been through for the last year or so. We had considered domestic infant adoption for awhile, but we seem to have lost interest in being one couple out of 100s that a potential birth Mom selects out of profiles and photos. There seem to be more than enough families for children in that situation. But what about the children around us who don't have a stable loving home, and who think no one wants them?
So, we are now investigating what it takes to adopt domestically a child who is harder to place. From the beginning, we have said that we are more motivated by what we can offer a child than what a child would do for us. We liked the philosophy of an agency we encountered who said "we are not in the business of finding children for couples, we are finding families for our children!".
So, please pray for us to move forward with discernment and with obedient hearts!
"In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps". Proverbs 16:9
Our hearts and our goals have been changing with all we have been through for the last year or so. We had considered domestic infant adoption for awhile, but we seem to have lost interest in being one couple out of 100s that a potential birth Mom selects out of profiles and photos. There seem to be more than enough families for children in that situation. But what about the children around us who don't have a stable loving home, and who think no one wants them?
So, we are now investigating what it takes to adopt domestically a child who is harder to place. From the beginning, we have said that we are more motivated by what we can offer a child than what a child would do for us. We liked the philosophy of an agency we encountered who said "we are not in the business of finding children for couples, we are finding families for our children!".
So, please pray for us to move forward with discernment and with obedient hearts!
"In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps". Proverbs 16:9
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
We are back!
We have decided to revive this blog! We have not updated while on a health hiatus, we just updated Care Pages.
This picture was taken on our 4th anniversary. We were at my Mom and Danny's house. For a Christmas/Anniversary present, they gave us a gift certificate to Anthony's, an amazingly good seafood restaurant. We got dressed out and had a photo session (reminded me of prom night) before we left.
It has been an amazing 4 years, much more eventful than I would have expected. Martin is a great husband - loyal, dedicated, thoughtful, caring, generous. And HOT!
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