A Deal on My New Book Praying God’s Word for Your Husband
Our Cool New T-shirts Have Arrived (and there’s a special for Father’s Day, too!)
And a recipe using bacon…
I have a mug that makes me happy.
I know that “things” are not supposed to make me happy. But I kinda love a certain mug – and may be a little too attached it.
This is the mug that my publisher, Harvest House, sent me (and, I’m sure, about 400 other authors,) for Christmas 2009:
So great – right. Great green color. The great big “Think…” on the front. And on the back, has:
Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”
Best mug IN THE WORLD. Right? And I may be a tad possessive…
When our daughter’s boyfriend, Shawn, unknowingly used the mug one night, I couldn’t take my eye off if it. I was distracted from our card game all night.
And then, it happened.
Someone, (not naming names,) broke my mug. I was not a happy camper. And for three days I moped around, whining to anyone who would listen.
One of those who would listen, (or was forced into listening, is Shane White, the National CBA Sales Manager at Harvest House. Poor guy. He was calling to talk about something vital like sales numbers (or my latest posting on Facebook…) and instead he got an earful on the demise of my mug.
Well, what do you know – five days later I got not one, but TWO of those exact mugs in the mail. (One is still in it’s bubble wrap, to be opened only in case of emergency.)
I know the mug is silly, but it is everything I love in a mug: the perfect size and weight not to be tipped over by a wayward cat. I love it. And I love that I have a friend who indulges my non-nonsensical attachment to a mug.
Do you have a “Think Mug”? Something that you have an attachment to that only you can understand. Tell me about it. No judgement. This is a safe space.
If you have kids, you know that there is always some sort of drama around the corner. When you have four, the drama just takes turns. Recently, it’s been with our “easy” child. The one who longs to please, but has been living on the edge in many areas of their life. In a recent conversation, here is how that played out:
“I know you’re disappointed in how I turned out.”
Oh that cuts to the quick of a mom’s heart.
One of my kids actually said those very words to me. Oh the pain to realize that one of my kids, my precious baby, knows this isn’t what I expected.
This child of mine is making choices I don’t love. But there is no way I could love the child anymore than I do.
All of our kids are smart, bright, funny, and questioning. They have grown up with parents who love them, but have not always loved perfectly. They grew up with parents who were broken, and some of that brokenness passed down to them.
When my precious baby said that to me, I had to think for a moment. Did I love where they were at in their life? Did I love the choices they were making? Did I approve of the steps they were making? No. Not so much.But that wasn’t the most important thing I needed to say.
What I did say, (after saying a silent prayer,) was this: “No, I don’t love some of your decisions, but I love you. And I know that you have not “turned out” you are “turning out”. God is far from done with you. You are smart, and funny and amazing, but you are far, far from “done”.”
I have to keep remembering: I’m in the middle of the story.
My favorite author has this to say about where we are with him: “God always meets us where we are and slowly moves us along into deeper things.” – Richard Foster.
As a mom. As a wife. As a woman. I’m in the middle of the story, and so are my kids. So is my husband. When we love God, when we are in fellowship with Him, we need to remember: This is just the middle.
At church, we have been studying 1 John. What a weird and complicated book. It’s a hard book, because while it is so full of life, it is so full of challenges. Here is one of the life-giving parts that I desperately needed to be reminded of:
1 John 3:2 Dear friends, now we are God’s children. What we will be isn’t completely clear yet. We do know that when Christ appears we will be like him because we will see him as he is.
We are still living in a fallen world, and thing don’t go according to plan. We blow it, our kids blow it. But this is not the end. We can pray that Christ would become real to our kids – and to ourselves. While we wait on God, we get to call ourselves his children. We don’t have to be perfect, our kids don’t have to be perfect, God still is with us – because he meets us where we’re at and moves us closer to him.
If you’re looking for some practical ways to revitalize your quiet time with God, pair this post from the archives with Kathi and Erin’s tips for “Creating a Quiet Time Space.”
What is the number one reason you don’t have your time with God in the morning?
I know the obvious answer is time, but I think there is a different reason: It’s our overwhelming need to do it “right”.
I feel like if I can’t have a “good” quiet time — one with prayer, meditation, Bible reading and reading a devotional — then why bother? So I let my overwhelming need for perfection keep me from having a meaningful relationship with God. My quiet time had become like cleaning my kid’s bathroom: if I couldn’t do it perfectly, I wouldn’t even start.
I kept thinking that I would have a chunk of time to really do the kind of devotion I wanted. But that chunk of time never magically happened. And my quiet time suffered. Or didn’t happen.
One of the things I’ve learned in other areas of my life is the principle of 85%: Doing something 85% well is about the best we can hope for or expect. It takes the perfectionistic spirit out of things, while still giving me something to strive for.
So I started to apply this principle to my time with God. I would start off with 10% and work my way up. I figured one minute was better than nothing.
What I didn’t expect was the subtle way that my heart changed during the 10%. At first, I would grit it out, and force myself to do more and more as time went on.
But as I started to spend time with God again after a dry period, just that little bit of time, just one minute, I wanted more. I would tell myself I was just going to spend a minute or two reading Jesus Calling, or praying, or reading in I John, but I kept wanting to linger a little. Wanting to go a little deeper.
Eventually, it became 15 minutes. 15 minutes was a good amount of time: enough to spend some time with God and get my morning right, but short enough that it felt manageable. Often, I spend much more time than that. But I don’t skip it because it’s “too much”.
If you are wrestling with quiet time, could I talk you into trying a one minute quiet time? Does it feel like it would be cheating God? Can I be the one to give you permission to be OK with just getting started? God longs to be with you. One minute, that will turn into 15.
“Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.”
Psalm 34:8
want on small Post-its so that I can move them around to accomodate my family’s schedule. No sense putting stir-fry on Wednesday night when everyone is going to be in and out of the house. Better to have a pot of Chili so people can grab-and-go.Now tell me: What is your favorite way to use Post-its? Next Monday, I will randomly choose one winner to recieve a copy of my new book THE GET YOURSELF ORGANIZED PROJECT!
When companies ask me to try out their products for review, 99 times out of 100, I politely decline and get back to the fascinating stuff I post on this blog about cleaning out your purse and leaving Post-it’s on your bathroom mirror for your hubby.
But this time, it was personal…
You see, I gave up on stainless steel cookware a long time ago. Because in my experience, while it didn’t stain, it did stick. And there is nothing worse than lovingly cooking an egg white omelet and having the finished product stick to the pan. (OK, maybe gout is worse than a sticky omelet, but you get my point.) And since we are trying to cut back on our cholesterol (Doctor’s recommendation) and lowering our food bill be 15% this year, every egg white counts.
So my friends and I are divided into two camps, Stainless Steel vs. Non-stick. And I swore I would never buy stainless steel again. But I have friends who gently persuaded me (IE: mocked me mercilessly) to give it another try. They were convinced that the pans I used before were cheap and ineffective. (Hey, my stuff has been called worse.)
So All Clad sent me a fry pan in exchange for my honest review. And I was ready to give it to them, both eggbeaters a-blazzing….
But I have to say – this pan ROCKS. My eggs don’t stick. Huzzah. And the best thing is that everything cooks so evenly. My chicken didn’t dry out on the ends and stay raw in the middle. Which of course, would never happen to me. (Let’s just say I’ve been known to sneak back to the kitchen to re-cook a piece of chicken that was so pink I could’ve slapped a Hello Kitty sticker on it and sold it to a seven year-old.)
In my book, The What’s for Dinner Project, I talk about building up your kitchen equipment to the best you can afford. Let me tell you, these pans are now on that wish list!
Oh, and I have a gift for you as well. This Chicken Marsala recipe is the best I’ve ever tasted. Easy to make (or for Mother’s Day, may I suggest you have the recipe and ingredients lying around for someone else to make?)
Ingredients
1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves – pounded 1/4 inch thick
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/4 cup finely chopped onions
3/4 cup Marsala wine
Fresh Parsley to garnish
Directions
In a shallow dish or bowl, mix together the flour, salt, pepper and oregano.
Coat chicken pieces in flour mixture.
In a large skillet, melt butter in oil over medium heat. Place chicken in the pan, and lightly brown. Turn over chicken pieces, and add mushrooms and onions. Pour in wine. Simmer chicken 10 minutes, turning once, until no longer pink and juices run clear.
Garnish.
I am on day five of a seven day road trip.
I started by flying to New York on Thursday and speaking on Fort Hood Army Base on Friday and Saturday, followed by church on Saturday night, and then a flight from New York to Arizona to speak to a group this morning, and will be speaking at one of my favorite groups, La Casa de Cristo on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Whew.
In between, I am meeting with fellow writers, event planners, answering emails.
There have been time changes, eating at weird times, traveling in tiny airplanes (when I have to bend down to get into an airplane, you know it’s small,) sleeping in three different hotels, and washing my clothes in sinks.
It’s been a little crazy.
We all have our own version of crazy. Maybe it’s a new routine for your kids, a move, or a change to a summer schedule. Maybe you have out of town guests, an illness in the family, or something else that’s throwing you off kilter.
As I get a few more punches on my life card, I’m realizing that no day is going to be a “normal” day. I need to make myself a heaping bowl of normal especially on the days what are SO not normal.
1 Corinthians 14:40
But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.
Um. Yeah. Order. Routine. These are words that scared me in my 20s. Now, they are what I need to live.
Here are some of my “routine” things that help me keep my life in order when my schedule is anything but:
Is there anything you do, even when life is at it’s craziest, that brings you peace and joy? How do you keep your routine when life is anything but?
Making Your Marriage Rock; DIY HolidaysI walked into the kitchen and saw a box addressed to me. I wasn’t surprised – I get package for my ministry all the time. But when I saw that the return address was one of my favorite stores, I knew something was up.
Roger stood next to me at the table and said “Happy Un-Birthday!” as I opened up the package: a pair of shoes that I craved (and may have posted on Facebook,) that we couldn’t afford but I thought were adorable. Roger ordered them for my Un-Birthday.
If you’ve been to our Marriage Project Retreat, you’ve heard about my Un-Birthday: One day, when a sales clerk was asking my birthday, Roger chimed up with “Oh it’s April…”
I had to stop him right there.
“Um, Roger. April is the birthday month of your FIRST WIFE…”
Gulp.
OK. So I had a decision to make: was I going to hang this over his head, or let it pass. I let it dangle for a few minutes.
We had a good laugh about it, and I would bring it up in conversation every once in a while just to make him a little more uncomfortable.
Two months later, on April 14th, Roger told me to get dressed up. He was taking me to dinner, a movie, and out for a little shopping. I was dumbfounded. Why would he be doing that?
“Because it’s your Un-Birthday. I wasn’t wrong when I gave the guy April as your birthday month, but it was your Un-Birthday, so we have to go celebrate now. “
Ever since then, in the month of April, Roger takes me to dinner and a movie, and either takes me shopping, or buys me a gift. He calls it the most expensive mistake he’s ever made.
And we both love it.
We love having an inside (and now that we’ve spoken on it and written on it, it’s an outside) joke. We love having a silly night that is all just for us.
Why not do the same for the one you love?
Create a holiday all around your husband. It could be an un-birthday, or the anniversary of your first date, or International Taco Night, or your annual viewing of “The Princess Bride”. I’m not saying you give him another date to remember (or forget). You come up with something silly or fun and get the ball rolling.
So, if you were to come up with an off the wall celebration for your and your man, what would it be? Tell me in the comments below by Friday. And let’s do a little giveaway – I will randomly select one winner to receive two copies of THE MARRIAGE PROJECT!
Is there a treat that you personally find revolting that your husband absolutely loves? Get it for him, letting him know through this small act, “This is all for you, baby…” (and if you truly don’t like the treat, he won’t feel obligated to share.)
Even if you do love it, insist that it’s all for him. Don’t let him share with you. This is something special that does not require him to share with his neighbor. (It’s perfectly acceptable to get a matching treat for yourself.)
Stumped for ideas? Here are some thoughts:
