Praise in the Storm - Literally

Just wanted to say, "Thank you, Jesus" for saving my extended family from harm yesterday in the M'boro tornado. They pretty much lost everything, but my niece, nephew and his girlfriend were not harmed when it hit the house.

BzzAgent Report - Chili's Guiltless Grill Entrees

My friend got me interested in this great word-of-mouth marketing program called BzzAgent. I get to try out great new products and then tell my friends about it. I'm pretty quick to give my opinion on things, so this was the thing for me!

As a BzzAgent, I was given the opportunity to try out Chili's new Guiltless Grill entrees. These are Chili's 6 new menu items that have less than 750 calories, 25 grams of fat and 8 grams of saturated fat.

Our family went out for a multi-birthday celebration and I used my free entree coupon to get the Guiltless Cedar Plank Tilapia. It was a perfect portion size of fish and came with a side of broccoli seasoned with carrot curls and parmesan cheese. Unfortunately, my fish was cold, but I think this was a restaurant-specific problem rather than a problem with the entree itself. The fish came garnished with pico de gallo which added some great flavor. The broccoli was steamed just right and retained some good crunchiness.

Overall, it was a great entree for those wishing to watch what they eat. It was a healthy meal, but not very filling. If it had been all I'd had that meal, I would have been hungry afterwards. The four of us split an order of chips and salsa preceding the meal and ended the meal with a dessert split 3 ways. After all that, I was just barely full (those that know me can attest that I don't typically pack away a bunch of food in a single sitting). I guess the chips and dessert negated the benefit of that "less than 750 calorie and 25g of fat" meal!

Perhaps they could increase the size of the veggie side. Another option would be to add a side salad with a light dressing. This would increase the volume of the meal without adding too many more calories or fat. As far as the price, I would consider it too high for the amount of food I received.

I would give the entree a 9 of 10 for taste (assuming it would be hot the next time), a 7 of 10 for portion size (needs more veggies), and a 6 of 10 for price. I would certainly order off the Guiltless Grill menu again but would opt for a less expensive item.

The Love of Jesus and Football

I heard this story read in its entirety on the radio this morning and I just had to share it with as many people as I could. Tears flowed as I listened to this tale of how some high school kids and their coaches and parents lavishly showed the love of Jesus to a group of kids most would have shunned.

My desperate prayer is that God would help me love people just a fraction of how He does. My nose is in my navel far too often and I fail to see the people around me. If I do see them, I tend to see them through the lens of what they can do for me or why they're in my way. Brandon Heath's song, Give Me Your Eyes, fleshes out my heart's prayer. The chorus says, "Give me Your eyes for just one second, Give me your eyes so I can see, Everything that I've been missing, Give me your love for humanity."

I went to a Beth Moore conference several years ago and one thing has stayed with me ever since. She spoke of when Jesus healed the blind man in Mark 8:22. When Jesus touched the man's eyes the first time, He asked him what he saw and the man replied, "I see men like trees walking around." Jesus touched his eyes a second time and then the man saw everything clearly. His healing was not complete until he saw people clearly. If I just see people as "trees walking" and not as individuals, I'm not completely free of my blindness. Having my eyes completely opened means seeing people through the lens of Jesus' love.

The kids, parents and coaches in that story didn't see the other team as just a bunch of thugs they had to play one night. They saw them as hurting souls in need of the love of Jesus. They then put their faith into action in a simple, practical but powerful way. It was so easy to do, yet so incredibly "forever."

I want to be able to do that. My prayer, then, is the cry of blind Bartimaeus who said, "I want to regain my sight!" I don't want to see people as trees, objects, obstacles. I want to quit being blinded by my self and see people like Jesus does.

Snow Day!

Snow fell unexpectedly last night after a day of cold rain. I actually remembered about the possibility of making snow cream, so I put out a pan gathered up enough snow to give it a try. Not sure it was the breakfast of champions, but it was fun! We learned to not add as much sugar and vanilla as the recipe called for, but it was good for the first few bites anyways. (Mom, we did eat a 'real' breakfast right after!)

After sufficiently chilling our insides with a snowy breakfast, it was time to go outside! Snow angels, snowball fights and a mini-snowman were all the order of business while I tried to shovel off the sidewalk and driveway that never get the sunshine. Shoveling takes on a whole new dimension when you have to dodge snowballs at the same time!

As the sun came out, the ice and snow began to melt and fall off the trees and houses. The neighbor boy came over and he and J had fun throwing snowballs at each other, but mostly at me! We've not had this much snow in a long time and J's finally at the age to actually enjoy it for a decent amount of time.

Frosty's got nothing on our little snowy mini-man.

With the little bit of thawing that occured, we were finally able to create a "real" snowman...something we've never really had much luck doing. Gravity took over unfortunately and he fell over, but after a torso-ectomy, he gained new life, though at the price of a shorter stature. Here are the before and after pix. Knowing that this is the south and snow never lasts more than 24 hours around here, these guys will be best remembered in pictures and we'll try again next time!

Give Thanks In All Things

My buddy Jennifer challenged her FB friends to post 10 non-cliche items for which we're thankful. Here's my list:

1. A husband who loves God first
2. A daughter who is truly a blessing
3. Not always getting what I pray for
4. Forever forgiveness I didn't (and still don't) deserve
5. Starbucks coffee with vanilla chai creamer
6. A car with relatively few problems and a functional heater
7. Fantastic in-law's
8. Blue Bell Ultimate Neapolitan ice cream
9. Fabulous friends...seriously, you're great
10. Not having to have it all figured out (He knows the plans He has for me)
11. Parents who are still together after almost 40 yrs of marriage
12. A brother like no other - he makes me laugh, loves me, and brought an awesome new sister into our family
13. Modern appliances
14. Two children I'll get to see in heaven
15. Living on a street where the neighbors watch out for each other

Obviously that's not ten. I'm indecisive and at times unable to follow directions, so you get 15. They're also not in order of importance, so please don't read anything into how they're presented. There are so many other things I could mention, but I think this is a good start.

I challenge you to make your own list. I really helps you feel more content by moving the focus from what you don't have to all the blessings you do possess.

I Thess 5:18
Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

I THOUGHT It Was Dark Outside

I don't have a battery in my watch so I never really know what time it is. My body is pretty good at waking itself up at the same time each day and I have neighborhood cues to let me know morning is here. Well, yesterday I woke up and thought "I'd better hurry and get a shower before hubby needs it." I thought I'd heard the neighbor leave for work, so it should be getting up time anyways. It had rained all night so the darkness wasn't surprising. I got showered, dressed (make up and all) and went to let the dogs out. As I passed the microwave, the glaring LED showed "4:25". Crap. I could've slept for 2 more hours! I'd never done that before and honestly hope to never do it again! I chalked it up to God getting me up. I was able to complete my week-long BSF lesson that I'd been remiss in completing and was able to have a nice little quiet time before going to wake up kiddo. I actually had a pretty good day after that and was thankful for the time God and I got to spend together. I'm feeling the sleepy aftermath today, but this should serve as a good reminder to me what a positive difference a morning quiet time can make.

Voices in My Head

I'm guilty of carrying on conversations with others in my head. Let me just say upfront that this is a BAD idea. No, I'm not schizo (I'm pretty sure). Here's what happens - I think of what I would say to them, what I imagine they would say back, my reply to that, and on and on. This can take place over the course of days and even weeks. All the while, I'm experiencing the emotions that would go along with the conversation were it truly happening. Come on now, I know some of you know what I'm talking about! Usually, the unfortunate soul with whom I've been carrying on this imaginary conversation is completely clueless that anything is wrong until BLAM! I actually say something aloud.

I did it again last week and snapped at someone after a seemingly minor comment was made about a situation I'd been stewing about for a couple of months. So when they said something that to them was relatively harmless, I let them have it. Oops. I had to apologize and we did get to discuss the root core of my anger a bit. It would have been so much better to have addressed the issue early on and talked about it calmly.

I hate confrontation so much that I usually choose not to address issues with people early on thinking that things will just magically get better. The problem is that this almost never happens! I hope one day soon I learn to speak up early and honor Christ in my relationships by exhibiting love and respect for people by being honest with them.