Erin Thoughts: April 2012

It's been a while since I've done this, thought it was time to break out the ole' 2012 Thoughts:

*Sometimes I like to collect random junk I find from the road because I tell myself that it will make a great pinterest project someday. As it stands, I have a whole lot of unfinished potential pinterest projects sitting in my garage.

*I've always been against new technology, but I gave in and finally let my husband by a new tv as the last time we bought one was 2002. 3 weeks later, I still find myself yelling things at the new tv screen like "Wow, that looks so real" and "I can't believe I waited so long to get a new one of these." Yeah, I eat my words sometimes, it's how I roll.

*I'm still coming to terms with turning 30. You'd think I'd have gotten over it by now, but every now and then I cry about it... still. I can't imagine what 50 will look like.

*I know absolutely nothing that is going on in the world of celebrities. Last week when I was standing in the check out line, I audibly gasped and gaffawed when I read the covers of all the magazines. I'm fairly confident the checker thought I was certifiably nuts.

*I own "Bridesmaids" on blu-ray. I don't even know why since the diarhea scene is not exactly something you want to watch in high definition. But hey, the outtakes are good.

*I really want to make a music video to this mommy song I wrote, but I feel like I'm in junior high for wanting to.

*I just got an updated version of photoshop only to discover that pixlr.com has the same software for FREE. palm to face.

*I finally figured out hashtags, after several years of not understanding hidden sarcasm. I've been missing so much.

Raising Prince Charming

Noah James Age 2: 

"Okay Mama, you be de pwincess and I be de pwince. You go to sweep and I kiss you but first I fight de dwagon and save you. Den you wake up and dance and we sing:I know you I walk wif you once pon a dweam. I know you de gweam in you eyes is so famiwar a gweam"

Noah, you are prince charming. You are my knight in shining armor, who protects me from dragons and sweeps me off my feet as we dance the night away at the ball. I don't know how you got in the habit of playing this game, but it's very real to you and you desire to be my prince charming all the time. My prayer is that you will not lose this desire. I pray that though girls will break your heart, or ignore you, or not even give you the time of day that you will never lose this charm. I pray that your father and I will be able to direct you on the path of righteousness and that with every year you will grow more and more gallant. I promise to teach you how to eat properly at a table and how to always put the toilet seat down so that your girlfriend can take you home to her parents and you can charm them too. Noah, the world (including the christian world) puts so much focus and emphasis in raising princesses. And I'm sorry for that because it's just as important to raise a prince and that's exactly what you are. I pray that when you grow up you will be a Godly man, full of integrity, wisdom and self control and that you will be just as delightful as the 2 year old prince charming I spend my days with now.

One day you will rescue a fair maiden and make her your princess, but until then I don't mind one bit keeping this title and all the kisses that come with it.

I love you so very much my prince charming. Love, your mama.

Dream Big or Go Home

 It's no secret that in my life I've seen God to do some pretty miraculous things, things I really never thought possible. But this past week, God has taught me even more about his provision. My friend Ronda is a fellow mommy and believer. She, along with her husband and 3 kids, have moved around a lot over the past few years and this last year they moved to a very nice house in a new town that they love. Because they had recently moved, I was a little surprised to hear her say that she had found her dream home one day while driving. I thought about it for a minute and then thought, well hey God can do anything, why not? So I told her that I couldn't wait to hear how God gave her that house.

Weeks and even months went by and I had all but forgotten that comment. Until last week when Ronda emailed me to tell me a crazy amazing story. Through a series of incredible events and circumstances that can really only be deducted as God's plan, she was given the money to be able to build her dream home. PRAISE THE LORD!

This absolutely challenged me. I guess because I am such a practical girl, I am only ever asking God for what I need. I never feel like I deserve what I actually want. But watching Ronda's faith, hearing how every T was crossed, every I was dotted; how everything she ever NEEDED and DESIRED God gave to her, because she asked, I felt like I had been limiting God all this time. I never think of God as the one who supplies our every want. Mostly because, we're taught that he supplies our every need. I think of the woman in the bible with the jars in her kitchen enough to make food for a few days and God supplying enough each day for her to be able to eat. I think of the mannah from heaven God sent to the Israelites when they were in the wilderness. The lesson is always the same: be content with what you have and grateful that God provided. I have always tried to live my life that way.

But I was looking through a foggy window. God is our father, our daddy. He doesn't just put food on our table, or provide the amount of money to pay our bills. He loves to see his children happy, to inspire them, to encourage them, to stand beside them as they grow and dream. I never thought of God as a God who provides for our dreams. And it was like He was telling me, if you ask me, I will give it to you. So it dared me to ask God for the impossible, like really really impossible: to be able to own a home that I love in a wonderful neighborhood. This is an outrageous request, but I'm no longer going to limit my God or his desire to see my dreams come true.

I don't know where you are in your faith, or  what you've been going through, but I encourage you to DREAM BIG DREAMS. Don't let the reality of your circumstances limit the almighty.I challenge you, just as I was challenged, to not be afraid to dream or to ask for the impossible. He wants you to succeed and he's calling you to have the faith to ask, just as Solomon did:

1 Kings 3:5-15
At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”
⁶ Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day.
⁷ “Now, LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. ⁸ Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. ⁹ So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”
¹⁰ The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. ¹¹ So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, ¹² I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. ¹³ Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both wealth and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. ¹⁴ And if you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.” ¹⁵ Then Solomon awoke—and he realized it had been a dream.