What's Troubling You?

Poor Hannah can't catch a break from her husband's other wife (it's like Sister Wives, but Peninnah isn't exactly playing nice). She is constantly provoking her because she can't have a baby. Hannah is heartbroken. For years her rival has been irritating her, even when she goes up to the house of the Lord. She is provoked to the point that she won't even eat.

Hannah is deeply troubled. She breaks down. She weeps bitterly while praying, to the point that she is accused of being drunk. She is quick to defend herself. Pouring out her soul to the Lord, she has been praying out of her great anguish and grief.

What I love about this passage is what comes next (before the great part where God answers her prayers and she becomes pregnant). The Bible tell us in this great story that Hannah goes on her way, has something to eat, and her face is no longer sad. Some versions say her face was radiant and no longer downcast.

Now, I'm no scholar. Maybe, her face is no longer sad because she's had something to eat. But, I'm pretty sure that has nothing to do with it (in fact, I think the point is that she now could eat because she was relieved from her distress). I mean, unless it was chocolate, then maybe. Hannah has poured out her soul before the Lord. He has made her radiant and she is no longer distressed. That's better than chocolate my friends.

What's troubling you today?

Are your feelings hurt? 
Is your bank account too low? 
Have you been betrayed? 
Are your children driving you crazy? 
Are you in need? 
Are you physically ill? 
Have you lost a loved one?

Whatever it is, I hope you will pour out your soul before the Lord as Hannah did. And before your circumstances have a chance to change He will make you radiant. Ask Him to transform your mind and renew your thinking. Tell Him in all honesty whatever it is that's hurting. You're not going to surprise Him. You might not think it possible, but He may just surprise you when you walk away and feel made new again. I know because I've done it.


"You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."
Jeremiah 29:13

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."
Romans 12:2

The story of Hannah starts in 1 Samuel 1.

Do you have a personal relationship with God?  

It's more than calling yourself a Christian, or growing up in a church home. 
You can read my personal story here. 
If you'd like to know more about this personal relationship this is a great resource.

Vancouver Pre-Day 1

aka: travel day

Our flight was set to leave at 11 am. We were delayed before we left the house. We checked our bags, went through security and settled down at a restaraunt to wait it out. (I think security and bag checking took a whopping 20 minutes).

"RRRRiiiinnnnngggggg" blared my phone. "Hello, this American Airlines and um, by the way, you've been like 3 more hours." Or something like that.

My best friend headed back to the airport and took us back to her house. We had lunch with her and her husband and headed back to the airport. Again. Back through security. Back to the gate to wait. By the time we left we were four hours delayed.

I thought the 4 hour flight would be a big tedious, but really it wasn't too bad. I was excited when they said they'd be showing "Parental Guidance" on the screens. Then they turned on "Life of Pi." In Spanish. I crocheted a scarf and The Officer... Um, I don't know what all he did, nothing exciting! Oh, and I ran out of yarn about 4 stitches from the end. Eventually it's going to be a cowl.

The flight was beautiful!

We got to our place around 6:30 pm Canada time.* We took a few minutes to soak it all in and unpack our stuff before heading out to find a place to eat. We walked, and walked, and walked. Mainly because we saw all sorts of cool places but couldn't decide where to go! We ended up at a BBQ joint. Yup, that's right, we went all the way to Canada to eat Memphis BBQ. It was actually really good! And, I whole-heartedly agree with their sign:

Before heading back to our place we stopped off for some milk and cereal to "save money and eat in the room." Right. That happened once. And, did I mention we paid over $5 for a box of Honey Nut Cheerios? The organic milk was $9 a gallon. We went for a half gallon of the cheapest we could find!

*Note to self: The place was beautiful. For just the two of us we probably would have preferred a hotel, but the views couldn't be beat. There were a few communication hiccups with the host and there were a few little things not working in the loft (we used Airbnb for booking), but overall it was a great experience.

Vancouver - Day 1

(Ok, day 1 we traveled, so technically this is day 2.) Check out first night in Vancouver here.

As is typical in our house, I was out of bed way before The Officer. I woke up not feeling so hot so I grabbed some cereal and made my way to the couch (after I took a bath, a big girl bath all by myself). I read through an entire magazine in one sitting and watched the news about the Boston Marathon bomber being caught the night before. (If you're a  mom, you understand why these two things are worth noting.) It was a rainy day and I really wasn't feeling the motivation to move from under the covers.

Once my Knight in Shining Armor we bought some bus passes and headed out to the must-see Granville Island.*

 

We walked around the city for quite some time, making our way through the kids market (read: pricey toy store with play area, but a cool place), and many other little stops along the way.

 One of the most unique was this broom making store:

 

Granville Island is home to a cement company. We saw several unique trucks.

They also had set up an extensive marble type track outside the cement plant.

We were slowly making our way to lunch, getting hungry, but unable to pass up all the neat things to see. Like where they carve totem poles:

 

 And where you can pick noses:

We meandered into one last little shop where I asked the owner for a recommendation. He recommended the place just above his shop called the SandBar. We were already considering eating there so that sealed the deal. The man was so kind and helpful. We found this all over Vancouver. People were so nice.

We meandered around a while longer taking several pictures. We're kind of obsessed.This boat was about 150 years old:

 

We made our way to the old-school (read: it only moves if you hold down the button to the floor you're wanting) elevator and up onto the third floor patio of the SandBar.

 

If you know me at all you know I don't eat seafood so this place wasn't exactly my first pick. Would you believe I decided to order salmon? If it hadn't been such a nice restaurant I may have licked the plate clean. This was hands-down my favorite dining in Vancouver.

Did I mention the patio is adorned with heaters and BLANKETS on every chair? This is my kind of dining!

That doesn't even include the view over The Officer's shoulder:

Or the cozy arm chairs we sat in:

Here is one of the inside:

 

That tiny little corner under the bridge is where we ate. So glad we took the recommendation!

We wandered over to the market where there was fresh everything. I'm certain my children would have eaten straight from the bucket on this one:

We started scoping out souvenirs and a little something for our mamas. We didn't buy much. Vancouver is pretty pricey. I was holding out for something unique. If The Officer hadn't been with me I would have certainly bought him this "Freeloader Fork." We had a good laugh about it. I've always joked that I should have known he had no money when I met him. The first night we went out with a small group of people he didn't order and ate off my plate. He's still eating off my plate, love that guy!

I got to see an original Heidelberg press in action. Very cool for a graphic designer!

We made our way back to the Granville Island Brewery for a tour, only it was full! The Officer settled for some samples and I went straight to something I knew I'd like, a Heffeweisen a Hefeveisen, a hefferveisen. Sheesh, I had to look that one up! 

I left The Officer with the camera for a bit while I went and asked directions to a cigar shop he wanted to visit. He was wanting to find a place he could sit and have a cigar on site.

So we started the trek, and I do mean TREK. Shortly into our trek to the bus stop we realized that our bus stop was closed for construction (feels like home to me). The next bus stop was the direction of the cigar shop so we headed towards it. We walked, and we walked...

...and we walked. The bridge up in front of him says "WHY". This seemed really appropriate to me at the time. As in, WHY am I following you up this very long road to find a cigar shop? We finally found our bus stop and decided we would rather keep walking than wait. Just as we spotted the cigar shop we spotted the bus we didn't wait for whizzing by us and stopping right in front of our destination. We proceed into the cigar shop to find out that there is no smoking inside in Vancouver. Awesome. And, why did we walk all this way?

They gave us directions to a few places with heated smoking patios so he could take his cigar and go. The Hilton was highly recommended. Apparently it has a great patio. (Read: apparently this girl had no clue what a great patio was. It was tiny. And closed. And rainy. And WAY out of the way. We had another good laugh.)

After the TREK we headed back to the room and found that the rain had gone! Suddenly we could see the view from our room. So we did what do, we took more pictures. (Like I said, we're obsessed).

And we facetimed the kids while we were on wifi.

Since we missed the tour at the Granville Island Brewery we headed over to Steamworks Brewery in Gastown.

As with most places in Vancouver, the views were great. It seems like everything there is built with the view in mind. 

There was going to be a wait so we asked for a table right by the front door that was open. Based on our seating the place was pretty forgettable. However, when I made my way down to the restrooms I realized the downstairs of this place was pretty awesome! Speaking of restrooms, this shared stall gives a whole new meaning to girls going to the bathroom together.

Gastown was a neat part of Vancouver. Lots of little shops and places to eat like the other neighborhoods. But, also bricked streets and old timey buildings.

We went for our first taste of Poutine: hand-cut fries, gravy and white cheddar cheese curds. (Did I lose you at "curds". Sounded pretty gross to me, but it was actually good. In fact we ordered again in Whistler).

Again, I went with my trusty Heffe-whatever.

After Steamworks we made the cold trip to the "best smoking patio." I've already told you about that one! This concluded day one. A fun and full day. Read more about our trip here!

*(Note to self: we bought a day pass, but really the book of tickets would have made much more sense. We later bought the book and barely used any of them. Nobody checks your tickets on the train and you only have to pay one zone on the weekend days. Of all the expensive things we saw in Vancouver, public transit was not one).

Wish I Had

A few months back we came home with this paper monster robot thing in a happy meal. It's one of those that requires a lot of parental guidance a parent to do it for them. Beemer picked it up several times and asked me to do it with him. "Not right now baby," "Not today," "Mommy can't right now." Here we are a few months later and that robot is still sitting there. Untouched. After a while he forgot about it. Occasionally he picks it up and I throw out another too busy excuse.

Days like today are harsh reminders that I don't want to wish I had. I don't want to wish I had finished that robot the first time he asked me.

I don't want to wish I had taken more pictures, or been less worried about them being perfect and more worried about capturing the moment.

I don't want to wish I had volunteered less to others and more in my home.

I don't want to wish I had read the book he picked instead of picking a shorter one for him.

I don't want to wish I had done laundry instead of laying in the middle of the garage floor, on a stray piece of carpet when I was invited there by my children.

I don't want to wish I had been more tender and less irritated.

I don't want to wish I had spent less time looking at a screen and more time looking at real life.


I've always tried to live this way with my children. I don't want to live in fear, but I often ask myself how I would feel about this decision if tomorrow didn't come for someone in my family. I try to live this way with my husband. When he became a police officer I realized I could make the most of our time together by picking my battles and not wasting time fighting. We don't have much of it and if the worst ever happens I don't want to wish I had.

Like many of the rest of you, I laid in bed and snuggled my little boy a little longer tonight. Tomorrow morning, I'll be making a robot. Because I don't want to wish I had.

What's your Verse?

What would your life be like without your favorite verse? Or without your Old Testament? Or without your Bible all together?

What if you had never drawn strength from Philippians 4:13?
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"

What if you didn't know that you could believe in Christ for your salvation from John 3:16?
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

What if you had never sought comfort from the 23rd Psalm?
"The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever."

What if you never knew you could trust in God from Proverbs 3:5-6
"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight."

There are groups of people all over the world who don't have the common luxury of a Bible in their language like we do here in America (something we take very for granted might I add). This afternoon I received an email from a friend with Pioneer Bible Translators. They are asking God to provide the specific funds to complete the Bible in the Bundeli language. They have already completed the New Testament and are working to complete the Old.

The cost? $5 a verse.

Would you join me in considering a gift to Pioneer Bible Translators today to keep the momentum going for this project? Would you share this with your friends? $5 is really easy to let go of,  I wonder how many verses we can pay for together? Consider your Bible and what it means to you and please consider making a small (or large!) donation to help make it possible for someone else.

You can read about annual gift giving opportunities through PBT here:

http://pioneerbible.org/annual-gift-giving-guide

You can donate to PBT here:
https://dlq4.donatelinq.net/qv10/default.aspx?MerchantID=PBTI
If you specifically want to give to the Bundeli Project you can select "Annual Gift Giving Guide" and then choose "Bundeli" in the subcategory once you are on the Giving Page.

The Poop Tree

Undoubtedly, the quote of the week:

"Mommy, I pee peed on the poop tree"

My response, of course was "You WHAT?!"

"I pee peed on the poop tree"

 Given his location by the back door I had just heard close, it didn't take me long to figure it out.

"You the mean the tree out back where the dogs go poop? You pee peed on it?"

Yup. He walked outside my back door, to the back of the yard, and took his morning pee on a tree.

The. Entertainment. Never. Stops.

Boys will be boys. I hope the neighbors weren't awake!

How to sleep with a 2 yr old

First of all, rewind four years back in your life and swear you'll never let your unborn children sleep in bed with you. Ok, carry on.

Blissfully drift off to sleep. Alone. Stay this way for some time.

Feel your cat sleeping on your face. Remember that you don't have a cat. Assume your four-year-old has crawled into bed with you. Realize your two-year-old Houdini has somehow escaped her closed and locked bedroom door and is now in bed with you.

Groan. She is not easy to sleep with. Attempt to go back to sleep.

Whatever you do, do not take her back to her bed. You are far too tired and half asleep for this. Lie to yourself and tell yourself that maybe you'll both fall asleep soon.

Push her off of you a few times. Roll around in bed to avoid sleeping next to her. Pat your husband's (empty) side of the bed to see if he can take her back to bed. Do this for some time, eventually you will drift back to blissful fitful sleep.

Wake up and search frantically for the pillow that used to be under your head. Ponder how it is that you have ended up smack dab in the middle of the bed, entirely too close for sleeping comfort to your husband.

Find your pillow. Under the body of said two-year-old. Don't dare move it. You do not want this process to start all over and you are still too half asleep to take her back to bed. Find one inch of pillow to cautiously slide under your head. Roll back into sleeping position.

Groan. Kick Nudge the dog out of your way who has taken up residence where your knees should be.

Drift back to blissful fitful sleep. Attempt to roll to your other side. Get kicked in the face. Reclaim your pillow. Realize you have an hour until wake up time. Contemplate taking your now perpendicular toddler back to bed. Give up and try to sleep.

Wake up and search frantically for your phone. Don't dare let that alarm wake up two-year-old in your 15-minute snooze window.

Concede defeat and get out of bed. Proceed with your day.