Random Throwbacks and/or Inspirational Thoughts (aka Facebook Dump)

Marriage and Parenting
When a group of women who became widows during the 9/11 tragedy were asked what irks them today, they answered, "hearing women complain about their husbands." They would gladly welcome socks left on the floor, toilet seats left up, or having their men watch ESPN all weekend long just to have their husbands back. When we look at our spouses from a widow's view, we only see the good they bring into our lives and into the world. (Ideas taken from Gary Thomas' book, Sacred Influence.) The same could be said for our children if we could dare imagine losing them. Let us treasure those we love from a widow's perspective. That was my mantra as I dug through the overwhelming clutter and chaos in my kids' rooms.
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 Quotes  by Gloria Furman from Treasuring Christ When Your Hands Are Full

"When I view motherhood not as a gift from God to make me holy but rather as a role with tasks that get in my way, I am missing out on one of God's ordained means of spiritual growth in my life. Not only that, but I am missing out on enjoying God. No amount of mommy angst can compare to the misery that comes from a life devoid of the comforting, encouraging, guarding, providing, satisfying presence of our holy God." (Philippians 4:9) 

"The gospel stands above and beyond all the the most practical, family-friendly, or cost-effective philosophies of mothering....because the greatest problem a mother has is not a lack of creativity, accomplishment, or skill, but her inability to love God and others as Jesus loves her (John 13:34)."

"Jesus saves, and the fruit of the Spirit [one being LOVE] is far sweeter than the fruitless flowers of mere moral living. God transforms us from the inside out."

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A loud atheist I hardly know just friended me on Facebook. Does he realize how much I love apologetics?  I pray for the Lord will give me loving, yet truthful words should debates arise.

 

Point to ponder:

Throwback Thursday
Who remembers these things we called fortune tellers or cootie catchers? I found my kids playing with them while we ran errands. Now that's what I call a throwback on Thursday.

Since it's Grandparents' Week at our kids' school, I thought a photo of some of my grandparents would be appropriate for Throwback Thursday. Maw-Maw left this world surprisingly when I was in high school, and Paw-Paw joined her before Jeff and I got married, so our kids never knew them. Oh how they would have loved the joy, spunk, and kindness these two brought into the world. I sure do miss them. This photo was taken shortly after my adoption on the morning of my dedication  (Well...they called it a "baptism", but my theology declares it a "dedication", for I was baptized by immersion [Green work 'baptizo' means 'full immersion'] as a believer after reading the Scriptures for myself and realizing that giving witness of what Christ has done for me in the act of baptism is a command that should immediately follow belief, and I was too young to understand faith at this age.)

College...as Bryan Adams liked to sing, "Those were [some of] the best days of my life"