Wicked!

We were given Wicked tickets for Christmas! How fun to go, take the girls for an afternoon, and see a fabulous play.

Words

I remember my daddy saying to me one time that I was fat. Why do I remember that one particular statement, when the only other things he ever told me was how much he loved me? how great I was? etc....

It was just the one time...but I remember just the house we lived in when he said it. I remember where I was in that house when he said it. I remember what I was wearing when he said it. I remember the feeling I had when he said it....like I was punched in my apparently-too-big stomach.

Do we know, or care, the effect our words have on others? Do we even pay attention to what we are saying or do we just proverbially vomit all over those around us based on our emotions and then just walk away?

I am very guilty of saying the wrong things at the wrong times. (is there ever a right time to say the wrong thing?)

Just remembering that today and feeling sad.

Creativity

I was watching some of my kids yesterday and began smiling and feeling quite contented. Why? Because I was watching them pursue things that was a creative outlet for them. Ben and I both have our creative outlets...they manifest themselves very differently.

Ben is exact, detailed, anal (some would say ) :). You can find him drawing doodles, but they are more technically correct doodles. He also loves to make the AWANA Grand Prix cars. But....he puts in dozens of hours (could be hundreds of hours), making sure the details he wants are perfect. His creations are beautiful!

I love to cook and bake. I love trying new things and seeing a bunch of regular ingredients on my counter become something truly delicious. I also have begun to enjoy going to the Paint With A Twist and try my hand at painting. I would never classify myself as a painter, but I realize when I am there, that I am happy and content and I can get lost in my painting.

Yesterday I had my oldest daughter in the dining room with my table completely covered with things to make invitations to her party. These creations are gorgeous! Each one is a piece of art in itself. She also has an eye for interior design and decorating. She can move one piece and voila! the whole room looks different.

My second daughter was outside refinishing a chair that we got for free. She has glued it back together, sanded it, and has now repainted it. Next she has to recover the seat and it's done. She also has an eye for fashion and style. She can put the most different pieces together and all of a sudden, you want to wear what she is wearing!

My third daughter loves crafts and working with all sorts of things...beads, paint, any artwork. She is constantly re-organizing her craft area and room (which I think is very creative in and of itself). She has an eye for fun! She enjoys the pleasure of doing something new.

My boys, so far, are all boys. Haven't seen too much in them, but they are little still. I can imagine that they will discover their own creative heart in a few years.

Creativity is just one more way I connect with God. In my creative endeavors, I can get the smallest of tastes of the joy that God feels in creating. I can get the tiniest of inklings of the pleasure that God gets in creating. I can get the infinitesimal of ideas of how God loves HIS creations.

Kiddos

Darby's birthday was great! Isn't she beautiful?

Rawley...enjoying a carrot cake cupcake...his eyelashes are insane!

Rainey finally decided that he liked carrot cake, but like the ones with frosting better! Now that's my boy! :)

Kally and her ever-so-delicate way of doing things.

Darby at the end of her day! She is now waiting oh so patiently for her new laptop to come in the mail!

Darby Turns 13!!

Darby turns 13 today! What a fun 13 years it's been.

Darby is so very interesting. She is tall, gorgeous, funny, smart, child of God, great friend, lovely daughter, beautiful singer, creative, artsy, imaginative, photographer extraordinaire, budding pianist, has her own style.

Darby...you bring love to our lives. Thanks for these great years and here's to your 14th year! We love you!!!

Music vs. Music

Heard a comment yesterday about music in the church. "We can either make the old guy feel comfortable or we can reach his grandchild." On the surface, we all go..."YEA! We want to reach the young." But...really? It's either or? You can't do both? Those are my only choices? I don't think so. I think that if the church is made up of different age groups, then you view it like a one-room schoolhouse. They ALL have to be reached at some point. They ALL have to get attention. They ALL have to know that they are important. Why would you purposely leave out one group because YOU don't like to play that kind of music? YOU don't feel comfortable slowing it down, pulling from the archives of fabulous hymns that are out there, YOU don't like to listen to that sort of music? Who should be the one to put themselves aside in this case? The audience member or the leader? Traditional music lovers (and I love it too) love to demonize contemporary music lovers (and I love it too). But, I think that contemporary music lovers do the same thing...as evidenced in the statement I heard yesterday. As the fabulous theologian, Rodney King, once said, "Can't we all just get along?"

Paint With A Twist

I got to go to Paint With A Twist again! A few friends and I went out to eat and then to paint. The picture last night was called "Looking Up". Though it was much harder than the last time I went, I had a great time. It's a bit therapeutic actually....and so much cheaper than a real therapist! :)

I can't wait to go back.