Miss Madeline

What a fun morning I had!  I was asked to do a Mary Kay makeover on a resident at Magnolia Manor, a local nursing home.  Miss Madeline was chosen to be the "cover girl" for all of the Magnolia Manors in Georgia.  Her photograph is going to be taken and put in a flier insert that will go in all the UMC church bulletins in GA.  I just am so grateful to have had this opportunity.  I think I've made a new friend.  I took a picture of her afterwards, but my picture doesn't do her justice.  She is a very pretty lady.  She's very shy, and not too fond of cameras, so I didn't have success getting her to smile for me, so I hope the other photographer will!  I will be eager to see what the flier looks like.  Maybe I can scan it in when I see it in our bulletin at church.  I enjoyed hearing her story.  Her husband was a teacher and administrator in Glynn County for more than 50 years!  Isn't that remarkable?  When her children grew up and left home, she became an elementary school secretary, and I imagine she was a marvelous one.  She told a story about how her school principle had to leave town for two weeks one time, so she basically was running things in his absence.  She was walking to school one morning, because they lived very close by, and she heard two little boys pass her and one whispered to the other, "You'd better behave, because that's the vice principal!"  She said that was a fast promotion! :)

When I was young, my Mom took us to Magnolia Manor in Americus where we visited a sweet lady named Miss Lottie Adams.  We picked her at random because we shared the same last name, and while Carrie Beth had her piano lesson with Mrs. Carswell (aka dragon lady) Mom, Abby and I would visit Miss Lottie, and while I had my torture session, I mean piano lesson with Mrs. Carswell, they would return and visit with Miss Lottie again.  I learned some important lessons from visiting her, probably the most important one of which was to never allow my respect or interest to lessen in someone simply because they are elderly.  These folks in nursing homes are just you and me in a wrinkly wrapping, and I was keenly reminded of that today during my visit with Miss Madeline.  I promised her that I would come back with Olivia and Benjamin sometime, and I truly look forward to that visit.  

You know how there are times in life when you're so aware of God's hand at work in your life?  That's how I felt about today.  This was a moment the Lord had planned out, and He decided that no obstacles were going to get in the way of His plan, and there were some obstacles presented in the last 24 hours.  But as Mike Meyers was known for saying, "Honey, it was like butta!"  It was seemless, and I praise the Lord that I was allowed to be a part of it all.  

Funny Moments with Olivia

Today Olivia was talking to me on our way home from her dance lesson, and she said, " I wish you could be three like me, Mom." I said, "Why is that?" She said, "So we could do things together like take dance." I told her that I thought that was a very sweet thing to say. I know she might not always have that desire, but I'll relish it while she does.

Olivia has always been very particular about how things fit her--shoes, pants, collars on shirts. Everything is rarely tight enough for her liking. She likes her shoes so tight that when you first get them fastened, she walks like a penguin until they loosen up a little. So it was no surprise to me when recently I tried to get her to try on a new pair of blue jeans, and she said, "Mom can I take these off?" I said, "Why, Olivia?" Then she attempted to explain how the pants were feeling to her, and I love it when she does this thing where she kind of makes up words. She said, "Well, these pants are kind of slinkin' and sluggin' on me, Mom, and I just don't think they're gonna work." So how could I argue with such a description?

Another funny thing--we recently attended a kid's birthday party where Olivia got one of those temporary tattoos on the back of her hand, and she's been trying to preserve it for as long as she possibly can, and so every time we wash hands, she says with great anxiety in her voice, "Not the tootoo, Mom, not the tootoo!" The "tootoo" finally rubbed completely off yesterday. :)

Another Great Book

OK, I'm almost done with another really great book that I highly recommend to all moms out there.  It's called Taking Care of the Mommy in Me by Lisa Whelchel.  This has been such a neat book to read, and it is a marvelous resource with a wealth of ideas to draw from.  The book is all about the importance of taking good care of ourselves so that we can be better mothers, wives, friends, etc.  I have to admit that when I first read the title and the little synopsis, I was pretty skeptical.  I think that as a mother it is easy to begin to believe that there is something sinful about taking care of ourselves; we get so entrenched with taking care of our kids, our household, our family, our friends.... that we begin to think that it's just "normal" to neglect ourselves.  Anyway, she has chapter after chapter of topics in this area of how to take care of ourselves--taking care of ourselves through praising God, through recognizing the Sabbath, through exercise, through personal beauty regimens, through friendships, through our marriage, through fun and games, through cooking and cleaning, through organizing....etc, etc, etc.  The thing that I love most about this book is how she has a chapter full of practical ideas that you can choose from to apply in your own life following every topic.  Lisa's voice is so down-to-earth and genuine.  I appreciate how honest and real she seems in her writing.  She talks to the reader as if you were her friend, and by the end of the book, I think you almost believe you are a friend.  I really would love for any and all of you Moms out there to consider reading it.  Mom, I bought mine at that book outlet store near Valdosta, and I think I got it for just like 3 or 4 dollars!  I wish I had known how good it was at the time, I would've forced Abby and Carrie Beth to buy it, too, since we were all three there together.  Check it out, and see what you think.  You can also go to www.lisawhelchel.com to read more about her and what she's up to these days in her Post-Facts of Life, life! :)

Careful!

I think there are seasons of a mom's life during which certain words and topics are more prominent in her vocabulary than others.  

First and foremost is almost always potty-talk.  As soon as you have a baby it begins, and in those first few weeks of the child's life you celebrate every tinkle and movement of the bowels.  In the months that follow you're keenly aware of the regularity or irregularity of all such activities, and it often is discussed at times that you normally would never speak of such things--like over dinner with your hubby.  For example, "I don't think he's had a stinky diaper today.  Did you change one?  Yesterday? What did it look like?  Do you think I should be concerned?  What did he eat yesterday?"  All this while you attempt to enjoy your evening meal!  And it just continues and reaches a fevered pitch during potty training days.  Ladies, you know what I'm talking about.  You talk potty all day long and sometimes into the night. I can remember settling into bed with Stan, and talking for a good half hour about the potty trials of the day, "You would not believe how many times we tried to go tee-tee today..."  This past summer when my family was all together, my sister Carrie Beth and I hadn't realized how much we had been including this sort of talk in our conversations, but my brother Will, who's in college, said something like  this at some point, "It sure seems like there's a lot of talk about folks' poo around here!"  It just happens to us moms; we find ourselves in enthralling conversation about poo (or as we call it B.M.s--this is our attempt at being civilized when discussing rather uncivilized matters).  

Another word that is definitely a seasonal visitor to moms' vocabulary is the word "No".  I am just beginning to reenter this phase with our second child.  It was nice to be free from the compulsive "No!" for a while, but I'm afraid it's back to stay for a while.  Y'all know what I'm talking about, right? I can remember when my little brother was at this age and he had not only his mom telling him no all the time, but he also had three big sisters hammering that one home for him too.  Sometimes Mom would have to sit us three down and say, "Now remember, I am the Mommy, and I'll handle Will.  He doesn't need to hear "No" from us ten thousand times a day, so try to say something other than "No" all the time".  It was good advice, but it is hard as a mom to keep myself from blurting that word out.  Benjamin is 9 months old, and into absolutely everything.  These are the main reasons I have to work at limiting my no's: the fireplace, the fireplace screen, the armoir doors, the piano bench, every cord in the house, any loose tiny choky-like item on the floor, the toilet, the toilet, the toilet, the toilet (did I mention the toilet?  He dove in last week after throwing in his shampoo bottle--hey he had to go in after it, right?)  As you can see, I have to work at saying things like, "OK buddy, let's don't try to climb up on the piano bench and do free-base jumping,"  and "Let's go play over here instead of trying to eat the computer cords," instead of the gut-response of "NO!"

And the third word that comes to mind that seems to frequent our vocabulary from time to time is "Careful!"  I think the period of time when you find yourself screaming "No!" is usually closely tied to the stretch of time when you're also shouting, "Careful!"  I find myself saying it now to my 3 1/2 year old quite often, too: "Careful, don't choke him, don't give him another veggie puff!" "Careful, don't kick him!" "Careful, don't tickle him so hard!" and many times I say it to Benjamin now, too: "Careful, the fire is hot!" "Careful, don't pull the tablecloth off the table!" "Careful, sit down in the tub!"  I've been saying this one so often that I've found myself thinking I needed to say it to Stan, too!  Today he said to me, "Do you know where I put my hatchet?  I need to chop up some of these large pieces of firewood."  I felt compelled to yell, "Careful, don't chop off anything!" as he headed out to the storage shed.  

Of course there are many other words that are part of my vocabulary too--lots of "I love you" right now, lots of "Schmoogedy, boogedy, schmoogedy!" (That is our tickle talk around the Rogowski house). 

Maybe I'll think of more later.  I'd love to hear what words are central in your vocabulary right now and how they hold significance in your household!  

Moments that get me through

Praise the Lord for little sweet moments we have in our day-to-day lives as moms!  They are so often like a cool glass of water on a blistering summer day--just what you needed.  Night before last as I was putting Benjamin to sleep, the two of us were alone in his bedroom.  The room was very dark except for the glow of a nightlight, but we could still see eachother's faces quite clearly despite how dimly lit the room was.  The sound machine was set on "wind", and its whirring, low hum filled the small space, keeping us from hearing much of Stan give Olivia a bath on the other side of his bedroom wall in the hall bath.  I had finished nursing Benjamin, and I stood up with him to burp him as I often do.  Many times this becomes a wrestling match--him writhing in my arms as he tries to work out a burp.  But not tonight.  He just laid his head on my shoulder and talked to me softly, mostly in mmmmmmm, mmmm, mmmmms, and as it continued, he said things like, "gerrrrr, wahyeeeh, buhbuhbuh..."  By this time I had adjusted my hold of him so that I was cradling him with his head resting in the crook of my left arm.  We both leaned in to one another and just breathed, in and out, in and out, in and out, sharing warm breaths with one another.  He smiled and softly said, "mamamama," and I whispered, "I love you Benjamin," and he smiled and started giggling.  And I knew I shouldn't get him overly excited since I was trying to put him to sleep, but I couldn't help it; he was inviting me to play.  So as I cradled him in my arms I started swinging him high in the air, left and right and left and right, and we both giggled and smiled in the shadowy, glowy room that had become like a little cocoon of love for the two of us in those precious moments before bedtime.

Good Follow-up appt.

I was talking to my sister Abby last night when I realized that I hadn't really made sure I let folks know how my first follow-up appointment went with my surgeon this past week.  I know many people have been praying for me, and I'm very appreciative for those prayers.  The visit went well, and he said that he sees healing occurring which is encouraging.  I just pray that it will continue.  This has been a long, frustrating road, and I'm so looking forward to being free of this.  I return to see Dr. Blankenship in six weeks to see how things are progressing.  I'll try to remember to communicate the results of that visit.  Thank you again, for your prayers.

Revolutionary Parenting

My Mom and Dad gave my sisters and I a book for Christmas entitled Revolutionary Parenting by George Barna. (Click on the title to jump to the Barna site where you can purchase the book.) The subtitle is Want to Raise a Spiritual Champion?  What the Research Shows Really Works.  I just finished reading it today, and I highly recommend it to you Moms and Dads out there.  He's quick to explain that this book is not a step by step plan that he has come up with that will supposedly help your kids become "spiritual champions".  Instead, he has done significant research by conducting national surveys, exploring existing literature thought to be of significance in raising faith Revolutionaries as he calls them, and they did more than 10,000 personal interviews to identify people in their 20s who were leading "transformed" lives (much more than just being religious or active in a church).  Through these 10,000 interviews he sought to discover what happened during their growing up years that led them to become irrepressible followers of Christ.  Then he in got permission to speak to these 20somethings' parents, and he asked the parents what they thought they had done that helped their child grow into a mature follower of Christ.  

I was immediately hooked by this new approach of a parenting book being based truly on research.  I'm going to read it a second time with Stan, and I am very eager to have someone to discuss the chapters with, because it's the kind of book that really makes you eager to analyze yourself as parents and work on some new game plans, so to speak.  You may be intrigued to know that when they surveyed young adults and asked them what they felt the most significant mistakes that America's parents have made, the second highest ranked mistake was not spending enough time with their children.  The failure to provide appropriate discipline was the top-ranked deficiency.  

The back of the book reads like this, "If you're like most parents, you think you're doing an okay job--and you probably believe you're doing better than most.  But if your goal is to raise kids with a life-impacting faith, that may not be good enough."

He has an ability to kind of whack you upside your head and really make you say to yourself, "Yeah, you're right.  If I'm honest I do sometimes think like that." But man, I really want to raise Olivia and Benjamin to be spiritual champions.  His definition of a spiritual champion is: an irrepressable follower of Jesus Christ who accepts the Bible as truth, lives by its principles, and seeks ways to impact the world and continually deepen his/her relationship with God. He goes into greater detail in one passage in the first chapter.  

...they possess a biblical world view that shapes their decision-making process because they accept scriptural principles as true and significant.  As an integral part of that world view, they contend that there are moral absolutes that are relevant to our lives and have dramatic consequences if compromised.  They believed that they have been created by God to serve Him in specific ways; acknowledge the continual spiritual war between God and Satan in which both of those supernatural powers can influence their choices; and believe that our lives should reflect the character of God.  Spiritual champions donate unusually generous amounts of time and money to spiritually driven causes.  They carefully screen the media they ingest and have a deep and intense commitment to their relationship with God and other Christians.  On a daily basis they strive to change the world in small but life-impacting ways, whether it is done through feeding the hungry, counseling the bereaved, encouraging the confused, protecting the environment, or other means.  In the context of current American life, spiritual champions lead a Revolutionary existence.  Their life perspectives are uncommon, their relationships are unique, and their emphasis on the centrality of their faith in God is stunning.  Without a doubt, their lives are the product of unusual but intentional preparation.

Isn't that inspiring???  It is also daunting and challenging--that last line about how spiritual champions are "the product of unusual but intentional preparation"--yeah, that's the hard part.  We've got to figure out, with the Lord's help, what that unusual but intentional preparation looks like within each of our own families.  

Anyway, I've really enjoyed the book, and I hope maybe you'll consider reading it yourself.  Abby, Carrie Beth, I'd love to hear what you're thinking of it if you've had a chance to read it yet.  It is challenging.

Christmas Pics from our visit with the Rogowski clan

Click on this to see the pics.

Christmas Pics from the Adams House

Click on this to go to the pics.

Momma Told Me To Eat My Grits

Aunt Abby did a great job teaching a rhythm to the kids at Mom and Dad's this Christmas. Here's one moment that got particularly fun.

Giggle Fest

This was a fun moment when we suddenly realized Benjamin would break into giggles every time this cup banged on the table.  Love these kinds of moments!

Blessed and very much so!

We spent Christmas week with my side of the family at Mom and Dad's house.  It was wonderful.  It was a bit loud at times, because there were two babies, one toddler, a 3 1/2 year old and a 5 year old--not to mention the rest of us who are very capable of being noisy ourselves, but it was marvelous! :)  I am so incredibly grateful for my family.  We are not perfect, but we work at loving each other perfectly.  And while I know it is not Thanksgiving.  I feel like I have so much to be thankful for.  Here's my list of reasons why:

They love me inspite of all of my idiosyncrasies:

I wish I weren't so sensitive to noisy, chaotic events.  

I wish I didn't tend to be so blunt sometimes.

I wish I was a little less "driver's seat" and a little more "ride in the back and enjoy the show".

They encourage me: 

How wonderful to receive encouragement about healing, about how I've dealt with the whole "surgery for the 3rd time" thing.  

What a blessing to receive encouragement from my mom and sisters about being a mom that desires to do the best that the Lord can enable me to do.

They challenge me: 

Thanks, Mom, for the shared challenge of reading through the Bible this year together. 

Even on this busy week, my folks still had their time at the YMCA, and Stan still jogged. Thanks for setting the example and challenging us without saying a word.

They inspire me: 

Dad, I so enjoyed your sermon Sunday--I want to allow Jesus' story of love to be reflected through my life. 

And how absolutely inspiring it was to stand on the lawn in the back yard and watch you open the package that had your soon-to-be-published book inside, Dad!  

Abby & Andy, talk about two persons who are living lives that inspire!  We are so proud of you and we are inspired as you serve your Corp.  

Will, if working the Olympics in China this summer isn't inspiring, I don't know what is! I'm so proud of you for achieving that goal and I am always amazed at how much you know and are learning.  Your awesome book of pictures you made for each of us also was inspiring and moving.  

David, what a blessing to hear you've asked Jesus into your heart!  I was inspired by you!

They keep me laughing and laughing and laughing:

Will, I love it when I'm filming the family singing the Doxology before a meal and as I pan over to you, you're giving me the dead-pan-don't-even-try-to-make-me-smile-look. 

Will, I love it when we get you going on regurgitating lines from some old movie; my personal favorite recitation you made this visit came from Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Summer Vacation. Hysterical!  Will I also loved the Apples to Apples game.  You are the master defender.  What is that magical power you wield over the judge?

Thanks Abby for bringing the Catch Phrase game, and Mom, I can't believe you passed on "Baby Got Back"!

They love my husband like a true brother or son: 

Thank you for the many words of encouragement you gave to Stan regarding his music ministry. Thank you for wanting to know about his life and what's going on with him, personally, professionally, spiritually.

They love my kiddos so generously and sincerely: 

CB, you were too kind to let Olivia shop with you at the after-Christmas sales so that we could have a little shopping time ourselves.

Abby, Olivia will never forget "Momma-Told-Me-To-Eat-My-Grits!"  I don't know that she'll be a percussionist if her Daddy has any sway, but if she does, she'd have an excellent role model in you!

I am blessed and very much so!  God is so good, God is so good, God is so good, He's so good to me....Thank you Lord for times of refreshing with the ones we hold so dear.  May I remember I'm blessed to be a blessing.