Simple Definitions

Patience (Amended)

A recent post here gave a simple definition for patience. Patience is waiting without complaining.

Then, not long ago at our ballroom dance class, a new meaning was dropped into my heart and mind. You see, ballroom dancing is a great way to learn more about leading and following. In dancing, the man is always the leader, the woman, always the follower. (Quite a concept, don’t you think ;-) And man! Is it ever hard to learn to follow in dancing, because as a follower, you must learn to WAIT for the lead.

My new definition for patience?

Patience is waiting without suggestions…..

Enough said?

At least Dirk didn’t stomp on my foot!

Tips for Staying Young (at heart)

I just had a birthday this weekend. It’s hard to believe I’m as old as I am!! Rather than ignore it, I’ve included some

Tips for staying young (at heart)

Do have your hair colored!
Do trust your hair stylist
Do hang out with younger people
Do serve in your church’s youth group
Do eat right and workout (OK – I do one of these pretty well)
Do get outside as often as possible
Do have a myspace and a facebook and a blog!
Do let your daughters (or nieces, or a friend’s daughter) help you shop
Don’t pay any attention to the creaks, pops and groans of your joints
Don’t take yourself too seriously
Don’t, don’t, don’t look in the mirror any more than necessary!!

Smile LOTS!!

I’ve decided denial is the best policy in growing older. Not much I can do about it anyway---guess I’ll just enjoy it! It is much better than the alternative….. ;-)

******************************************
My daughter Ali has a birthday one day before mine. Do you have family members with the same, or very close to your own, birthday?

******************************************
Stay tuned for more posts on husbands!

Friday Finds

Series that began last Monday, February 4….don’t miss it. It could change your life. And stay tuned “for one of the most shocking photos you’ll ever see on annameadows.com”

Since we’re talking about Numero Uno….a humorous glimpse into your husband’s mind... OR a glimpse into your husband's humorous mind....
Hints for Women

Some great Motherhood lessons—it’ll make you smile

*******************************************

Ballroom Dancing tonight---we’ll be there!
Transformations Center, south of 33rd on Kelly, come in the west door
7-9 pm
$15 couple
Beginner class every Friday (except the 3rd one)
It’s fun!!

******************************************* picture from September, 2007

Something fun for some of you to look forward to in a few years---I had lunch with three of my daughters today (missed you, Katie). It was a delightfully fun, refreshingly wonderful time! We like each other.

Numero Uno

Next to God, who comes first in your life?

It should be your husband.

Sure, there are times in our lives when our babies or young children require the bulk of our time, the majority of our mind (what’s left of it). But, where is our focus? Are we really thinking about our husband and his feelings, or are we just allowing the circumstances of life to pull us along? How important is he?

Ask yourself:

*When I have exciting news, who do I call first?
*If I have some free time, who do I want to spend it with?
*Am I willing to learn about or participate in football games, shooting guns, watching a war movie, golf, or car races? Or is that “his thing”?
*Do I check with him before I make plans for our family?

I challenge us all to make our husbands our best friend. If he’s not already, start now. Even if he is, what are some new and creative ideas that will show him he’s numero uno for us? Come on…share!

The King is in the Castle!

When Erin, Andrew and Ali were very young we were learning about authority and obedience. We made crowns and I let them dress up as kings and queens. We learned several things about castles, knights, ladies, princesses and all manner of kingly things. We said things like, “yes, your majesty”, we played servant and master. When daddy would get home from work, I would announce, “The King is in the castle.” He would be seated in the seat of honor (the head of the table) and his food was served to him. It was great fun.

The interesting thing about that learning time is that I think I learned more than my kids. (Isn’t that how it goes with home education?)

I learned that my husband was indeed the king of our castle, and that he not only deserved the honor of that position, he relished it. He loved being pampered, served and most of all, honored.

Honor is treating others well because they are important.

For the next few posts, I want to discuss ways we can honor our husbands and show him how important he is. Hope you’ll stay tuned and add your ideas.

Simple Definitions

Responsibility

"‘Ponsipility is doing the thing you should in the time you should"

Ali was so cute when she was about three years old (she'll be 24 this week!) reciting the definition of responsibility in her sweet, little girl voice. Ask any of my kids…they’ll still be able to rattle this one off—most likely including the shortened version of the word, since we repeated the story so many times!

***********************************************
Don’t forget to vote today. Here’s a quiz on the issues---might help you decide if you haven’t yet.

Hope your candidate wins----unless you’re voting for someone I’m not!

***********************************************
Check out Anna’s blog this week at annameadows.com
She began to tell her story yesterday morning….one I think you’ll find interesting, and she’ll need your input for some future writing she’ll be doing. Add her to your reader or e-mail. Let her know what you think.

Crazy Peace

We had just finished eating black-eyed peas (for good luck, of course!) on New Year’s Day. We were sitting around a jig-saw puzzle, the four of us. The remaining ten of our noisy, lively group was scattered around the house, watching a football game, reading, playing video games. One of Anna’s three friends that had been spending time with us over the holidays quietly commented, “You don’t scream at each other here. How does that work?” Another of Anna’s friends replied, “They don’t allow it.”

I had never really thought about it. I guess we don’t allow it. It all comes down to respect, kindness…..love, really. Oh, there are the occasional harsh words, disagreements, usual sibling rivalry stuff that we continually work on. But, it was nice to know that at least for this girl, our wild-mayhem-crazy-sort-of-family was a place of peace and rest.

May we all find peace amid our mayhem.

*************************************

Col. 3:15-17 (The Message) Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.