Seriously...a Million Directions

I promise I have pictures coming soon. I've just been a complete slacker about uploading and organizing. I have GOT to get control of my photo albums and pare things down!

In the meantime, it was my birthday on Friday. I had a lovely day. I spent time with my kiddos and ran a few errands. Then, my friend Sarah came over and brought me some goodies. Joel had planned a little weekend getaway for me. What a treat! (Hence the errand running, to get some last minute things for the kids while they would be home with a friend of ours. Also, Sarah brought me some yummy food that I wouldn't splurge on myself that I could take with us to the ranch where we were staying.)

Joel and I left around 5pm and drove up to Sherman, Texas, which is about an hour away. Parents of a friend from church own a ranch that has a converted barn and we stayed there for the weekend. As a bonus, we went to church and out to dinner on Saturday night with the owners, an incredibly sweet couple who love Jesus and people!

So, why in the world did I title my post "a million directions"? Hmmm...

Well, I feel like my brain is going a million different directions and I can't seem to lasso anything down to share on this blog. So, I'll just tell you a few of the million things and then if you want to know about something particular (before I write about it), you can ask me in a comment!

I mentioned the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan a few weeks ago and how I'd like to blog about the book. So, I'm sort of reading back through it. It is carried around in my purse with intentions of re-reading chapters in my spare time. [ha!] I managed to read back through two chapters while I was eating my yummy slice of cheesecake one night when Cheesecake Factory was giving Facebook fans slices for $1.50 [i know, insane!]. I seriously ordered my slice and a glass of water and ate it all by myself while Joel took the kids to play in the mall's play area. [he doesn't like cheesecake and i really do and i'm pregnant and he loves me and was fine with me splurging for a whole buck fifty.]

So, there's the book Crazy Love.

Then, I've written some about what God's doing to my heart in regards to women in Asia and how missionaries supported by GFA are reaching out to them. Well, last week I was asked to work on that a little more, so my head and heart are swimming with ideas and thoughts and desire.

So, there's women of Asia and research and all that entails.

Then, I wrote about it being hard to keep focused on Asia while living in suburban America. My friend Shelly read the post and loaned me a book that I've been trying to read. It's been my bathroom reader, except now I want to read more of it. So, it competes with Crazy Love right now. It's called Death by Suburb by David L. Goetz. So much of what I'm reading ties into other things God has been teaching me, namely Crazy Love and a teaching series.

So, there's the book Death by Suburb.

Then, Joel and I started listening to a teaching series by a Birmingham pastor, David Platt. It's called "Radical" and it's really good. Joel and I listened to the first lesson together and then he downloaded more for our weekend getaway. We listened to lesson #2 yesterday morning. [Ugh. That was me getting punched in the gut.] What's especially crazy to me is that much of what he said echoed what I've recently read in Crazy Love and also the teaching of the pastor from Saturday night at the church we visited with the people who were our hosts for our weekend getaway.

So, there's Radical.
Oh, and there's the message from that pastor.

Then, I've been struggling with some behaviors of my kids. Namely, it seems there is a lack of results of training which most likely means I haven't been so consistent in training. (duh) We're talking a little attitude, some rudeness, and lots of me getting annoyed by a kid who can't seem to be still. Some of this is due to the fact that I was very tired and somewhat nauseous throughout the months of June and July and laid down and lot and didn't have the energy to do what needed to be done. So, now I'm trying (with just a mild case of fatigue) to regain some ground.

So, there's that whole parenting thing.

In the mix of all these bigger things, I've been learning new things about couponing, have been trying to redecorate the girls room, and have had house guests. Just a few more things.

So, sorry I haven't blogged much lately and you've been stuck with just reading and not "seeing" our lives. But, bear with me. I have a feeling there will come some clarity soon.