Extra in The Ordinary

Spring break has never been so fun! This year I rented a suburban, left Husband at home in Houston, and took my girls, my sister, and her 3 kids on a road trip. In case you didn't catch that....that's 5 kids. And no daddies to help. Yes, it was a brave trip, but it was SO much FUN!! It's like the thing you're really supposed to do on spring break- usually we don't travel very far, and/or we try to get too much done at home. This year the theme was definitely:"Get out of town!!" 1) Thank you to husband for letting me and the kids desert him for 6 days . The fridge had no food in it when we left. I just didn't have time to grocery shop. So he ate out of the pantry and slim pickings of the fridge for the week. Why do men prefer that to going to the store for food? Anyways, he made like 3 batches of soap while we were gone, so I think he had some fun. 2) Round trip, this was 1200 miles. I drove it, but my SWEET sister was the parental referee. Oh m...

This week my family has been enjoying this song, because I have been playing it over and OVER! I think they call the a brain itch (when you can't get enough of a song). Any ways, this song is so beautiful, and full of truth. I think you will really enjoy it, but first I'll explain it a little bit, and why it speaks to me.  The song is a metaphor, showing how learning to trust God can feel like walking out into an ocean of water. Have you ever felt like you were in over your head? Like you were thrown into the deep end of the waters, and it felt like your feet couldn't touch the bottom? I've felt like that when my dad left my mom for another woman, and we found out he wasn't who we thought he was. I was about 27, but I felt like a 7 year old, crying for her daddy. My family lost a strong spiritual leader. The ground beneath my family broke apart, and we could either fall, or find something to hold on to. It was only at that time, and in that situation that I figur...

Recently I had a mommy moment that was out of the ordinary for me. My 8 year old daughter, IPK, said something entertaining yet ridiculous, and I happened to have something of substance to say in response to her. To God be the glory for that. Ok, so we are pulling into Walmart (not my favorite moment of the week), and Bella is telling me about a new thing at school. I'm trying to hear her and really pay attention, but I must admit, I was barely listening as I'm trying to find a parking space. Her enthusiasm built, and she finally caught my ear.... " Mom , every one at school has a Ferbie Boom. It's so cool. It talks to you and dances and it's TIE-DYE. Everyone has one and it's just awesome." I hear her say this, and I'm not excited. I'll need to tell her something along the lines of "That's ridiculous and you aren't getting one", but I'll be careful to try to say it in a kind way...I said I'd TRY.  Then she says ...

A couple of weeks ago I learned a lesson from my kids in courage, and I just have to share this. It's a precious memory I'll keep with me forever. So, it was a hectic Saturday morning, the Saturday before Easter, and we were getting ready to go out to eat breakfast. IPK (our 7 year old precious daughter) wants to put on her magnetic earrings. Ok, I tell her. (She'll take them off in about 10 minutes because they pinch her ears, but until she has the courage for real piercings, this is what she likes to wear). So she puts them on and looks happily in the mirror. Big smile, and then she trots off to her room. 5 minutes later..... Punkin (our 5 year old daughter) goes into IPK's room and notices the earrings and wants to put them on, too. There's only one pair, so the conversation isn't getting very far. Mr. Extraordinary (husband) hears this conversation, and says- "Hey IPK, do you want to go get your ears pierced?". She gives me a look I'll ne...

Winston Churchill said- "Courage is the foremost of virtues, because upon it all others depend." Think about that for a second. What are the other classic, Biblical virtues, and how do they depend on courage? Integrity. Yes, it takes courage to have integrity. You may risk losing a friend or being popular.  Honesty. Yes, it takes courage to be honest with yourself and others. You could risk offending someone or saying the wrong thing.  Patience. Oh yes, it DOES take courage to be patient. Waiting is not easy.  It takes courage to wait, especially to wait patiently.  Fear, if we let it, can paralyze us and prevent us from doing what we KNOW is the right thing to do. Fear is a healthy emotion, but when we let our emotions stop there and live in fear, we stop living. Essentially, we can die in Christ, because we won't make the right choices. We won't step out in faith and take a virtuous risk. We just stand there, thinking about what could go wrong....

This week a family at our church lost their 15 month old baby boy, baby Henry, and so today I'd like to start out by saying my heart goes out to them, and I think I've prayed for them at least 3 times today already. Their loss causes all of us to recalibrate, stop for a moment and ask ourselves, what are we doing here? If life can be so short, how are we redeeming the time to make every second count? What's the point? How can God allow such pain and loss? This past summer I read a book, Heaven is for Real, and today I'm so glad to have that story under my belt. It's a story about a little boy who has an experience during a traumatic surgery, and afterwards (about a year later) he starts gradually telling his parents about seeing Jesus. Then he starts to tell them about heaven and the others he saw there, including his miscaried sister he never knew about. Now, I don't claim to know if that little boy really went to heaven or not, but the book gave me chills. I...

Ya know what's hard for me? Stillness. I can't sit still through a movie. I can't sit still for a long meal. I just can't be still. I need to be moving, working, or at least writing and thinking. Right now I'm washing the clothes, washing the dishes, and cooking oatmeal bars in the oven while I write this. Being still and alone is really hard for me. I'm bad at still. Do you struggle with this, too? Do you try to plan the grocery list while making cookies while reading that book? Are you looking at this on your phone while driving or walking? (yikes if you are driving please check back later!!) Well, I know in this fast paced world we live in, God wants us to occasionally slow down and just sit still. That's the only way we can experience His peace and the recalibration we need from remembering that HE is GOD. (blessed be HIS name!).  This morning in my Bible reading God called me out like He always does with just the thing I needed to hear. Psalm 46: ...

Sea shells: Have You Heard the Story?     Legend says there was a man, walking on the beach, picking up seashells. Of course, most of them are broken, but he wants to keep as many as possible, so he picks up one after another. Finally his hands are full, and he has to drop a broken shell or two to make room for a new broken shell, but he keeps going on and on. Finally, he finds the most beautiful shell, completely whole, but he doesn't have room in his hands. He is unwilling to drop his broken shells to pick up the one whole shell, so it stays on the beach, and the man walks away sad with regret.    Why do we pick up broken shells? What's your broken shell? Is it worry? Is it a broken memory from your past that you can't let go of? Is it an expired dream? A broken heart? Is it the notion that you can do it all? Sometimes I think I can fill my hands with 50 broken shells, and then I have to remind myself to keep an eye out for the shells that count, an...

Ordinary: Bath time frustrations with kids Extraordinary: Hearing God's voice among the noise My daughters like to test my patience at bed time. Well, they don't do it on purpose, but they are really good at it. I, on the other hand have had plenty of bed time opportunities to cultivate a very refined patience level. God chooses moments such as this to teach me lessons I'll never forget. On one such occasion, my oldest girl, IPK, was finishing in the bathtub, and while competing with the usual background noise in the house, I told her it was time to "pull the plug please, and get out of the bath". I'm sitting right there with her, so I didn't yell. My voice was firm, but I was competing with the background noise which was much more attractive to her ears. A show on TV, daddy's computer, and sister's story telling from the bedroom. She didn't even look at me, so I knew she wasn't listening. I said it again, and then a third time. I took...

It's 5:36 am. Kids are up. Molly (our boxer) throws up. Good morning to you, too, Molly. I almost throw up. I'm trying not to rush the kids to get ready, but I've already told IPK (oldest girl) to drink her health juice, get dressed, tie her shoes, brush teeth, and brush hair (and if she said she had to potty I also went through that check list, too). However, I hear her fumbling with a toy. It's the Bop-It. Loud and clear. Oh, and then there is the ZuZu pet that won't die. Yep, she is playing with that too. Really? Ok, so I take a breath, very deep, and I wait about 5 minutes to say anything. Maybe she is just distracted. 5 minutes later.....Nope- still playing. So, I craft a very careful question for her. "IPK, sweetie", I say. "What are you worried about?". I don't know why I said it that way. Maybe it was a new way of asking her what she was doing, but when I heard myself ask the question to her, I simultaneously heard God asking ME th...