Summed up thoughts on a Sunday

We went to The Mystery Castle in Phoenix today.  Take 7th street as far south as you can go, take a right and you're there.  There's a fee to get in, but I think its worth it.  The man who built that place must have been a bit odd, but definitely interesting and innovative.  I wouldn't want to live there, but it was a really intriguing place.  My dad and grandfather would LOVE it!  They too are self-made masons.

I made homemade meatballs this afternoon. A top pick among the homemade foods in this house. Served over spaghetti squash "noodles" in a simple tomato and basil pasta sauce. Buon Appetito.

I need to delete my food blog.  It's just not going to happen.  To many things I want to do, not enough time- scratch that- not a priority right now.

I have been wanting to post over at My 145:4.   Next post should be: The 6 Days of Creation, but I have an answer to the child-asked-question, "What's a Christ?" in mind.   The blog is turning more into a journal /commentary on the Bible for my boys.  That's fine too.  Not exactly what the title implies.  Maybe I should re-title the blog: A Journal Thru the Bible for My Boys.

I am not a very educated person.  I have an A.A.S.N (associate of applied science in nursing).  The people of Pathway are very educated people.  I love them and I feel very...elementary compared to them when it comes to knowledge in any arena.   I would love to go back to school to get a higher degree in nursing (or a culinary degree) but that too is just not a priority right now.  Maybe one day I can be smarter.  

A lesson or 10 in pedagogy is a priority though.  I don't have a higher education, but I am a student of the Bible and enjoy teaching it to my children, the children at Pathway, anyone who will listen, and most recently in a women's Bible study.  I would like to know better how to teach.  As I'm approaching 40 I think I've figured out what I want to do when I grow up: teach.  Even as a nurse, one of my favorite aspects of nursing is teaching.  I love helping kids, parents and school staff learn health-related things.  But when my knowledge is limited, its hard to teach.  You can't teach what you don't know.  As a nurse, my teaching realm is pretty small.  When it comes to the Bible I may have an opportunity:

But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong... -1 Corinthians 1:27

I think teaching and cooking are similar.  I like to do both very much.  Neither do I have a formal education in.  When I'm researching something, be it the Bible or a health-related topic, I pull out the ingredients.  When I prepare to teach it to someone else I mix, bake (pray), wait and taste-test. When I deliver a teaching I feel like I'm serving up something good, something palatable though taken from raw ingredients.  Something that will help another grow.

I decided this weekend at practice I'm going to have to become a baseball savvy woman.  I saw Trouble With The Curve a couple weekends ago with my husband.  I'm 100% confident I will never be as savvy as Clint Eastwood's screen daughter in that movie.  But I'm going to have to learn to keep score (which in baseball involves a lot more than just how many runs there are), how to run a line up, how to read where the players go on the field and how to do some basic hitting, fielding and throwing.  I want to be a good backup for the head coach.

Quieted,

Sheila

"Thanksland" and a test in hupotosso-ing

It's been three days of prepping for our road trip tomorrow plus the daily things a mom of two boys home on summer vacation do.

I know it sounds kind of goofy, but the Parent For A Day game was a such a success so I went with it and we played "Thanksland" on Monday.

 I am weary of the constant complaining in my house and am aware of my own lack in giving thanks. Ann has really inspired me to pay attention and receive everything as a gift of God's grace for my good and His glory. So I told the boys Monday that we were going to play "Thanksland" from breakfast till lunch. In "Thanksland" everyone speaks Thanksese. Whatever your choice of words, it had to contain a verbal giving of thanks. So it began, "Mom, thanks for the cereal, but can I have eggs?" And when the complaining wanted to start coming (about the same time as the chores started), warnings were handed out like citations. Three citations equaled an unpleasant chore.

It was funny hearing us give thanks out loud in literally every sentence, but I noticed two things:

 1. There was no complaining.

2. There was a lot more smiling and laughing.

I need to give thanks out loud more often! What would it be like if literally every sentence I spoke contained some form of saying "thank you" or "thank You Lord" or "I'm thankful for..."? I'd probably get some raised eyebrows but there'd be less frown lines around my brows.

Today I attended a "total conditioning" class at the gym. It was 75 minutes of non-stop movement. I'm completely spent. Crossfit leaves me feeling the same way but in only 30 minutes.

I feel really bad for my husband. He had filling fall out a few weeks ago and a week ago his dentist put a temporary crown on it. Yesterday he went in to have the permanent crown put on but somehow, in the yanking off of the temporary one, some of the build up fell off and after painful attempts at re-building, they told him he'd have to live with another temporary for a couple more weeks while they send off the new mold of the broken, but rebuilt stub under his crown.

He said the appointment was sheer torture. He's not one to complain of pain, but tonight, while eating, his tooth pain brought him to his knees. He said the 2nd temporary crown is now loose. And we're leaving in the morning for a road trip.  Not good!

I despise dental pain! I really hope his tooth isn't killing him the whole trip. You know the saying if momma aint happy... Well in my house its daddy who keeps the thermostat for that. I'd be a grump too if I had a stabbing pain in my tooth my entire vacation! On the up side, maybe he'll get to eat some good clam chowder.

I'm looking forward to being with my sisters, brothers, parents, grandparents, and nephews, but I am really going to miss my Pathway family.

Connor's All Star experience was an experience. When parents act like tantrum-throwing toddlers regarding their 9 year old's baseball I realize who so many kids are so disrespectful to each other and adults. His team lost both of their tournament games pretty badly. The coach is a very patient, nice guy, unlike some of the dad's of the kids on his team. He choked back tears after last night's loss, saying people told him if he coached All Stars he'd loose friends. I couldn't bear the silence and spoke up amongst the disgruntled, but respectful parents gathered round to listen. We all felt the same way- we felt he'd made wrong choices for the games, but we respected him as the coach, kept our opinions to ourselves, and cheered our kids on. The adult toddler had yanked his son out in cursing rage on Monday night and wasn't there to hear this well-meaning man explain. I offered, "We appreciate your patience Coach! Good work!" My husband clapped in support and the kids he coached came running to give him a good hug.

You can disagree and still show respect for the person doing the leading. That's what it means to hupotosso. It's easy to tear down a person in a position of leadership or authority. It doesn't require any strength to cuss and yell and make a scene. Strength under control is displayed when you voluntarily carry a burden of living with the decisions of a person in authority.  Lord give me the grace to do just that!

Quieted,

Sheila