Four Dollars

I gave four dollars to a homeless woman yesterday. 

I saw her and knew I had to do it.  I got out my wallet.  I pulled out two dollars.  Then I pulled out the other two.  Four dollars-all I had.   My heart conversation with God went something like this:

God- “Give her your money.  She has a child to feed.”

Me-“But God!  I have been saving those dollar bills.  You know I don’t have a lot of extra money.  I was going to use that for me!”

God- “She needs it more.”

Me-“Fine.  I’ll give her two.”

God- “No.  All of it.”

I argued with God over four bucks.  FOUR measly bucks. 

You see, I often like Starbucks more than taking care of the least of these.  

And that is pathetic. 

The act of giving money to the homeless or to beggars that frequent the major intersections of every city brings out opinions in people.  I have an opinion about it myself.  And my opinion is different from what it used to be. 

For years, I ignored the cardboard signs filled with sad stories.  I busied myself with the radio.  I checked my phone.  I found comfort in having on sunglasses where they couldn’t see my eyes.  

After all, they are the HOMELESS.  They could be dangerous.   They could be lying.  I don’t even know them.  

But my God knows them… by name.  

Andy and I had our hearts changed about giving to people on the street while we lived in Waco.  You see, in Waco, next to that beautiful, large Christian university that costs $30,000 a year, there are a lot of homeless people.  Go figure.  We had two sets of friends that modeled and inspired us to change the way that we believed.  We saw these friends give food, friendly conversation, and money.  We saw these friends be obedient.  We saw them love. 

I’ll admit, the money really bothered me at first.  You know why.  We have probably all thought it…I don’t know what they are going to buy with that money!  I mean, they might by BEER.

Um, so what.  

Here is what I learned and truly believe:  As a Christian, I cannot ignore these people.  They are exactly who Jesus would spend time with.  All of my hiding behind my sunglasses leaves me ashamed.

Instead of hiding now, I pray.  I listen.  I don’t give every time.  Sometimes I don’t feel like God wants me to.  Sometimes I just don’t have any money.  

As for worrying about what they are going to do with the cash, I just DON’T.  It's a beautiful freedom. If God says to give, I give.  

Really, I just feel like that "they'll buy something bad" excuse was just that-a big, fat excuse for myself.  Thank goodness others don’t sit around and worry about how I spend the money in my bank account. Because sometimes, I BUY BEER. 

It's true.

I fully realize that what I gave out of my car window was a small gesture.  I didn't change the world.  But for a second, I loved someone else more than I loved myself, and it was right.  

I gave four dollars to a homeless woman yesterday.  And I’ll do it again.

February 14th

Happy Valentine's Day!

There’s a party in their tummies!

I read Kelly’s Korner Blog every day, and have finally decided to participate in one of her “Show Us Your Life” posts.  Today it's about what you feed your kids.

I am a fan of her sweet blog and I am a fan of food.  It's a perfect match. 

I am lucky.  I have never had too many problems feeding my kids.  They aren’t too picky (Although Hayes is pickier than Bella.)  I also don’t stress too much about it.  I think that is key.  There is sooo much we can stress about as moms.  While food and nutrition are important, I choose not to be consumed by it.  Pun intended, y'all.

Bella-Age 4

Breakfast-Bella loves cereal for breakfast.  She eats many “adult” cereals without complaint-Honey Nut Cheerios, Honey Bunches of Oats with Strawberries, Frosted Mini Wheats, etc.  I do let her have some “kid” cereals too.  Important note-Read the food labels!  I recently saw that Cocoa Puffs (which she loves) had less sugar, fat, and calories per serving than an expensive healthy granola brand of cereal.  She also eats waffles on occasion.   If we are in hurry, she will eat yogurt and a banana.

Lunch-Bella loves peanut butter and jelly!  I use whole wheat bread and use a conservative amount of peanut butter and jelly.  I use cookie cutters to make sandwiches in fun shapes.  She also loves turkey and cheese, all white meat chicken nuggets, pasta with tomato sauce, mac and cheese, corn dogs, or chicken noodle soup. I always give her a veggie or fruit with lunch.     I do not stress about the type of veggie or fruit.  She doesn’t really like citrus fruits.  Fine.  She loves strawberries, bananas, watermelon, and apples “with no skin”.  She won’t eat carrots or corn.  Fine.  She can have broccoli or green beans.  With sandwiches, I like to give something crunchy, because I like that too!  I usually give pretzels and she occasionally has chips.  

Dinner-She eats what we eat.  I only make an exception if it is too spicy (This was really when she was younger.) I will substitute a side.  The other night we had asparagus.  She has tried it and doesn’t really like it.  She had raw broccoli instead.  I didn’t have to prepare it.  I just snapped it off, put it on her plate, and everyone was happy.  I also got more asparagus for myself, because I think it’s delicious!

Hayes-10 months

Hayes’ primary nutrition is breast milk.  I believe strongly that this is what babies need the most until they are a year old.  He does eat oatmeal, baby food, bananas, and snacks like Puffs, Yogurt Melts, crackers, etc.  I have given him stuff from our dinner table that I know is soft enough, like parts of my yummy pot roast.  I look at all of this as learning to eat and rely on his milk to give him what he needs.

At a year, he will go to whole milk and 3 normal meals a day.  I will try what worked with Bella.  I started with small soft stuff-pieces of turkey and cheese, mixed fruit pieces, Gerber Graduates ravioli (Which smell gross, but I have seen so many kids love them!), and soft veggies.

Tips for a Success

Gosh, this makes me sound like some expert, and I am NOT!  This has just worked for us:

1.        Don’t stress.  Kids will not starve themselves. 

2.       Also, an occasional French fry will not kill them.   We love Chick-fil-A and Whataburger.  We just don't eat it too often.  This helps my waistline and wallet too. 

3.       Offer controlled choices-“Do you want strawberries or apples?”

4.       Realize that it’s ok if they eat the same lunch 3 times a week. 

5.       Realize that it’s ok if they don’t like every vegetable or fruit.  I don’t eat broccoli or cantalope.  So what?  There are other foods that can give me the same nutrients. 

6.       For babies, offer the good stuff first.  I give Hayes the banana before the Puffs. 

7.       When they are older, let them help prepare it or buy it.  Bella ate broccoli after she picked it and put it in the bag at the grocery store.

8.       Have fun!

Technology has sucked me in.

I used to criticize people who were "in love" with their cell phones.  Now I have an iPhone.

I get it.  I'm sorry I was critical. 

I love that I can check my email and Facebook so easily, wherever I'm at.  I need easy, because between email, Facebook, digital pictures, and blog reading, I can barely keep up with my technological life.  Whew.

Recently I kept hearing everyone talk about the Words With Friends game.  I thought I would try it.  I do love word games.  And I do love winning at things.

Y'all.  I am addicted.  I might never be productive again.

Although, I did make an awesome pot roast the other night.  Hayes was a huge fan.

 He signed "more" four times.  The carrots were his favorite. 

I am doing so well at trying new recipes, like I wanted to do here.  The pot roast was great because I did it in the Crock Pot.  So simple.  It really freed up my evening time, because dinner was done.

And yes, that gives me more time to play Words With Friends.

It's raining Kens...

...and Barbies too.

Let it begin.  My daughter has a new love for a classic-Barbies. 

My parents, who are pretty dang smart sometimes, saved my Barbies.  They have spent years in a big trunk in their attic.  They recently brought it to our house.  It went straight to our attic.

Now that Bella is really interested it seemed like the perfect time to get them down and check out what 20 year old Barbies look like.  It also helped that Andy was in the attic putting away Christmas stuff.  I don't do attics.  At all.  Things live up there-I'm sure of it.

So, the trunk came down.  And despite the mildew smell from years of ridiculous Corpus Christi humidity, my Barbies (and Kens, Skippers, and Kellys too) were GLORIOUS!

Look at those bangs.  The 80's, baby.

I was in heaven.  They looked exactly the same in the cute little coordinating outfits I had last left them in.

Ok, this one wasn't so glorious.  She lost her head.  It had been hot-glued on due to an accident, which probably involved on of my brothers, and let's face it ...hot glue can't hold up in an attic.  (Although Barbie can't face it, her face is gone.  Ha!  I am totally the funniest person I know.)

And just for fun...

I have no words.

I also found this in with the Barbies...

What is it, you ask?  It is/was my Barbie family organizational book.  I had every doll named (Um, they can't all be the name Mattel gave them.  Way too confusing.) and organized into families.  They were listed together, complete with ages, jobs, hobbies, etc.  This is proof that my OCD started at an early age.

And no, I won't show you a picture of the inside.  Let's have Barbie with the 80's bangs be embarrassed enough for the both of us.

 After Bella went to bed, I went through everything and here are the results...

I told you it was glorious.  There are ice skates.  And roller blades.  And a life jacket. And outfits for an entire wedding party. There are many more dolls too, but Bella had already taken some up to her room.

Today, Bella and I dressed the Barbies for a wedding.  Everyone was so fashionable.  There was dancing and cake, too.

 The Guests

The Bride and Groom

This Barbie can no longer sing, "It's raining Kens."  She has to just stick to this one now. 

I guess I will do it too.

 It’s the new year.  Or is it New Year?  Should that be capitalized?  I don't know.

Anyway, I didn't really think I was going to make a resolution.  Too cliche.  Too easy to break.

Then, I just started thinking about things I would like to do, things I would like to change.  Isn't it funny how a new year can do that to you?  It's just another day really, but it feels like a fresh start.

I like fresh starts.

Here is my list that I came up with.  It is in no particular order. Not all of them are amazing or unique, but I thought I would share regardless. 

10 Things for a Better 2011

1.  Use my china at least 4 times this year.

2. Try two new recipes a month.

3.  Read through the Bible in a year. 

4.   Realize that it’s ok to do nothing once in awhile.  I don’t have to fold clothes while watching a movie on TV.  I can just sit and watch TV every now and then.

5.   Do pilates again.  I have come to realize that my stomach is not going to fix itself.

6.   Send notes to people for no reason-a simple “I’m thinking of you.” makes a big difference.  I will also do this for my husband.   I used to do that all of the time.  Funny how life gets in the way.   

7.   Spend more time outside with my kids.  I am just not an outdoorsy person, but I will try, because fresh air is good.

8.  Drink more water.

9.   Not spend my gift cards on my children all of the time.

10.  Worry less.  

PS-I have no idea why it's doing this funny paragraph indenting thing or why the font is weird.  I am just leaving it.  I don't have the energy or know-how to fix it.  I will not let it drive me crazy.  Remember, I am worrying less.

In the middle of the night...

My son woke up in the middle of the night last night.

Instead of waiting to see if he would go back to sleep, I anxiously went upstairs.  I wanted to be with him.

Long after he fell back asleep, I sat and held him.  I didn’t even rock.  I just sat still and held him close and felt him lean against me, secure and peaceful.

I thought about how he is safe right now from so many things, in his current state of babyness.  

He doesn’t yet know that people can be mean.  Or that sunburns really hurt.  Or that the mail is mostly filled with bills.  He doesn’t know the sorrow a heart can feel after experiencing death.

Part of me wants to keep it like this forever.

But then I also thought…he doesn’t know what it’s like to have a friend stick up for you.  Or how delicious ice cream tastes on a hot summer day.  Or how Jesus paid our debt and this brings victory over death.

I prayed for him to grow.  I prayed for him to experience. I prayed for him to know Him. 

And I can’t wait to be his Mommy through it all.

He is my best gift from 2010.