Meet Bruiser!

This is Bruiser, and he's the newest member of our family. Bruiser is a teacup chihuahua and yes, he is full grown. To give you an idea of just how big he is, that box he is in is made of one foot squared puzzle pieces! He weighs between 2 and 3lbs.
Bruiser came to us from my brother's house where he's been a happy member of the family for, I believe, around 3 years. They felt that Bruiser needed a new home, though, for many good reasons, and so, he came home from vacation with us!
Bruiser is the most fun! He chases the cats & barks like mad at them. But, the second they turn to hiss at him he cries like a wounded baby! I think they're all starting to get along. Even though my oldest girl is allergic to dogs, she doesn't seem to have a problem with small dogs, especially chihuahuas, so he's a great puppy for her! She's done great learning to be gentle with him. I even caught the baby this am stroking him gently with one finger, just as Mommy had instructed her sister to do.
We're sad that Bruiser couldn't stay with his original family, but we're glad to have him with us! And, we're glad he didn't have to completely leave his family, just move in with an Auntie!

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Why I Submit: My Pastor

I've had very few pastors in my life. That's the lot of a pastor's kid. Most of my life my pastor was my father, which is an interesting experience, but it doesn't teach what the proper relationship between member and pastor should be. I've had to learn this over the past seven years since I've joined my great church, Here.
I will tell you the honest truth, I had great difficulty submitting to a pastor that was not my father. In fact, I had difficulty just referring to him as "Pastor." Instead, I would call him, "Pastor Brenneman." Over the past seven years of sitting under his ministry, I've grown to greatly respect Pastor Brenneman and his wife. Unfortunately on July 24th they served their last Sunday with us, as God has called them to another ministry.
Partially, I feel apprehensive will I respect and care for my new pastor and his family as I did my old pastor and his. It's a new experience for me. But, my greatest desire when he arrives is to be a blessing. I would like to be an easy sheep to shepherd.

Contacts or Glasses?

I've been wearing contacts or glasses for eleven years. I started with contacts and a horrible pair of "back-up only" glasses. (They were horrible because I let my mom pick them out while my eyes were dilated. Don't ever let my mom pick out your eyeglasses. Sorry Mom, you make an excellent chicken caccatiore, but you're terrible in the optometrist's office!)
Eventually, I got a different, much better pair of glasses. (These are my back-up glasses now.) I hardly ever wore glasses at this point.
And, then, when I was expecting my first child I woke up in the middle of the night because my eyes hurt like crazy! I tried to open them, but it was so difficult. I was alone because my husband was working, so I stumbled to the bathroom. I turned on the light, and that made it worse. It was like being poked in the eye and you just can't seem to open it, only one hundred times worse. I had to force my eyes open by hand, and then I realized I was wearing my contacts still. I thought for sure I'd removed them, but even still, I'd slept entire nights with them in my eyes and never had anything like this happen. I had to re-wet my eyes to remove them, but I finally did. (It felt like ripping scotch tape off of my eyeballs!) I thought, certainly this is just extreme dryness, I'll go to bed and it will be better in the morning.

The Queen of Baby Gadgets takes a Trip

I like to post about the many gadgets I accumulate, and to let you know which ones are worth their salt. Here's a great one. I don't use it terribly often, but when I do, I truly appreciate having it handy and think it was well worth the cost.
When you open my van doors you may see clutter, what I see is a treasure trove of on the go necessities:
There's a travel diaper bag that hangs on the back of the passenger seat. Great for storing extras. (It needs restocked.)
There's a shopping cart cover. Have you ever seen the studies about what kinds of microorganisms are found on a shopping cart? That knowledge makes it a must! (I will be blogging about it at some point.)
There's a box containing an Ergo Baby Carrier! (I will MOST definitely be blogging about this one, but I won't give any of that away, it's too awesome for sneak peeks!)
There's a sit & stand stroller.
A tray made to affix to a car seat.
And a host of toys.
But, there's also one little item that sometimes gets forgotten, it gets stuffed behind seats, it gets tossed out of the way, it gets man-handled beyond compare, but I'm ecstatic that we made this purchase.
It's my travel booster seat.
I can't really post a pic of it right now, but I'll encourage you to check out the link.
I love this thing! It folds super compact and is super light. You don't even notice it when you're carrying it.
The best part is, when you're away for a while like we recently were, you can use it as a highchair away from home.
When our older daughter was 10 mos. old we chaperoned our youth group at church camp and found this seat to be indispensable! These past two weeks as we shuttled our children to OH, PA, & MD. AND, then back again, I used this seat so often.
I'll tell the truth, I don't use it when we go out to eat because I use the restaurant's high chair. However, in these situations, when you're miles from that good ole staple high chair that sits splattered with peas in your marker stained dining room, this chair is a must. It's not too expensive and as I noted above, it just happily sleeps in my van being tossed about until it's necessary. But, when it's necessary, it's really necessary!!!
Again, here's a link to the item on One Step Ahead (One of my favorite sites ever!
Travel Booster

Saul, First King of Israel : Before the Crown

I know you're all anxious for me to begin another blogging series, am I right?
I've decided to do one about Saul, the first king of Israel. I've always been intrigued by him, and I feel that he's a misunderstood character that receives worse critique than he deserves. After all, he tried to murder David, but, we all love David and forgive that he, along with other Bible heroes like Moses, were in fact cold-blooded murderers. I'm not saying that Saul is an excellent example for the Christian. There are reasons we try to emulate David and reject Saul's example, however, I believe there is a lot to be learned from Saul, especially in the climate of lukewarm Christianity in which we now live!
This is my preface post:
We'll briefly look at the Saul before the Crown:
Saul was the son of Kish, and he was a mighty handsome man. He looked the part of a king. The Lord was going to use Saul to show the people of Israel that the world looks beautiful, but following their ways lead to unhappiness.
When we first meet him, Kish has lost some donkeys. He sent his son and a servant to fetch them. Saul's reaction was to dutifully venture out and search far and near for them. He doesn't seem like such a bad guy, now does he?

"And the asses of Kish Saul's father were lost. And Kish said to Saul his son, Take now one of the servants with thee, and arise, go seek the asses. And he passed through mount Ephraim, and passed through the land of Shalisha, but they found them not: then they passed through the land of Shalim, and there they were not: and he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they found them not" - I Samuel 9:3&4
Finally, when Saul and the servant had exhausted themselves, they sought a man of God that he might help them search.
"And he said unto him, Behold now, there is in this city a man of God, and he is an honourable man; all that he saith cometh surely to pass: now let us go thither; peradventure he can shew us our way that we should go" - I Samuel 9:6
This is a right reaction isn't it. He's seeking guidance from the Lord. The only problem is that he didn't seek the Lord first. This is the tell to what Saul's life and reign shall be. He does seek the Lord. He does want to honor Him, but not first.
Before we judge him too harshly, is this not an overwhelming problem in the lives of nearly all Christians? I know it is in mine. Perhaps we're all a little more like Saul than we think...

A Church Full of Lots

This post has been brought about by a conversation I had with my sister who was pointing out some verses to me earlier today.
Most Christians today, when listening to a sermon featuring the story of the ill fated Lot, will think Lot foolish and wicked. How could he depart from his righteous uncle, Abraham, and stay in the plain of Jordan near Sodom:


"Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom." - Genesis 13:12
The next time Lot enters into the story of Abraham he is sitting at the gate of Sodom. No longer was his tent pitched toward Sodom, but his home was in it & he was in a position of leadership.
He finally had to be dragged from the town of Sodom to avoid destruction:


"And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city." - Genesis 19:16
Finally, he lost his wife as she did not heed the warning of the angels that came to save them from this terrible fate.
So what do we take from the life of Lot? Do we merely see footprints in which we do not wish to follow? Or do we see a warning that we've pitched our tent toward Sodom, or perhaps we're sitting at the gate?
When we look at this scripture we're given a great insight and admonishment:


"And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)" - 2 Peter 2:7 & 8
We see here that Lot was just, therefore he was a born again man. His sins had been washed by faith in the Lord. We see that he didn't participate in the sin that was all around him, but only saw & heard it. But we learn even more, it vexed his righteous soul. It was a torment to him. It was a torment to the Lord whom he served. Immersing himself in that culture even if he didn't participate in the sin. It was wrong, it led to his destruction. Was Lot happy at the end of his life that he'd pitched his tent toward Sodom? I think not.
Here is the warning to Christians: We are living in a modern day Sodom, the sins of our nation are many! We are in this culture, but have we sanctified ourselves? Or are we immersed in the society watching and listening to the sin of it? What have we allowed our eyes to behold? Eyes that should be surrendered solely for the Savior. What have we allowed our ears to hear? Do we fill them with sounds that would appall our Savior?
I'm reminded of a song that I sang as a child:
Oh be careful little eyes what you see, Oh be careful little ears what you hear...
Are we a church full of Lots?


"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." - Romans 12:1&2

Back from Vacation!

Hello Blog world!
I've been fairly silent over the past two weeks. I've spent them traveling with my lovely family!
We started out on Tues., Aug. 9th. That evening we went to Ohio to stay with my awesome Grandma for a couple of days. We got to enjoy her fabulous cooking. (MMMMM Roast Beef & Homemade biscuits!) On that Thurs., the 11th, we left for Pennsylvania (near Reading) where we stayed two nights at my big brother's house & then, we were off that Saturday to Ocean City Maryland!
My girls and I had never seen the ocean. (My hubby's an army brat so he's seen everything.) *I've got to tell you the truth, I fell completely in love with the ocean. So beautiful & loud & fun!! I'm now a champion boogie boarder! Well, at least, that's how I see it!
We had such a fun week with my brother, his family & his sister-in-law & her children. We went to the ocean, ate sea food, relaxed in the evening while looking out over the bay from our deck. What a great vacation. (My brother made it all possible, we couldn't have afforded it otherwise!)
We returned to PA on Sat., Aug. 20th. We left my brother's on Mon. (Spending Sunday visiting his church & eating at an awesome brunch buffet!) Spending one more night with my grandma, a quick biscuit stop. You'd understand if you've tasted one!
We finally made it home to the great state of Indiana yesterday, Aug. 24th! I'm not used to leaving home, so two weeks felt like an eternity! But, it was such a great two weeks.

I've already felt the sting of reality as our older daughter has been sick with a tummy bug all day & I've been cleaning, sorting, unpacking, laundering & catching up on all my normal projects for church & etc. Whew! What a lot of work, but SO happy to be doing it again.

Ocean City, MD 2011