Fall has definitely arrived in Denver. The leaves are amazing shades of red, orange and yellow. The sky is a clear backdrop of stunning blue and the mornings are crisp and cool. Emily and I walk Sarah to school each day. We have been watching certain trees' progressions into Fall. The first tree we spotted with yellow leaves is almost bare now, and the maples have burst into brilliant reds.
I don't remember loving Fall this much as a child. Maybe it was because I saw it each year and took it for granted. After having lived for 11 years in Miami as an adult, I now long for and savor each Fall. I know I drive Pete nuts as we drive around town. I am constantly pointing out trees of various colors, leaves falling, blooming mums and pumpkins adorning people's front steps. (Recently I pointed out a brown leafed tree, and Pete informed me that it has been dead all summer).
Anyway, I love it! I decorated our house a few weeks ago with Fall wreaths, yellow mums and pumpkins. There are two scarecrows sitting on my front swing whom Sarah has named Rose and Bushy. The kitchen has gone into Fall mode as well. I have started making those comfort foods that our whole family loves like beef stroganoff, chili and cornbread and roasted turkey. Yum!
With all the things there are to love about Fall - here are 5 of my favorites. What would your 5 favorites be?
1. Einstein Bagels pumpkin muffin and pumpkin bagel
2. Walking on crunchy fallen leaves
3. Pulling out my favorite sweaters
4. Hot apple cider
5. Harvest festivals
My favorite things about Fall
A servant’s heart …
A few weeks ago at a church dinner, I watched my friend Wendy's daughter Greta holding three cups by the drink coolers. Our church puts out those large orange coolers full of lemonade, sweat tea and water. I saw that Wendy was busy getting meals for her two girls, so I went over to see if I could help. I asked Greta if she needed help. She said "No, I am getting the drinks for my mommy and sister." Well, you see Greta is three, so I thought I better help anyway. She was very thoughtful in her selections, taking her time to make all the right choices. Sweat tea for mommy, lemonade for her sister and herself. I helped her fill up the glasses, but she was bent on carrying them herself. She was a little girl on a mission. I told her to take two and come back for the other. By that time Wendy had come looking for Greta and I told her that what she had been up to. I have been thinking about Wendy's response for the last week. She said, "Greta, thank you for serving me!"
Thank you for serving me. What a beautiful response. It hit the nail on the head. Wendy could have said, "thank you for being my helper." Or "that was very nice Greta." But Greta wasn't just helping or being nice, she was serving and it was beautiful to watch. I don't know about you, but I want my children to grow up to have servants' hearts. I want them to grow into women of God who look around their world and serve it with the love of Christ. I want that, but all that week I was wondering what am I actually doing to cultivate it?
For starters I wasn't sure that my girls know what the word "servant" means from the Christian perspective. Second, I knew I hadn't taught them that we are called to follow Christ's example and serve with love, "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve," (Mark 10:45). So those would be the first two things I needed to work on.
But the third thing is so much bigger. I need to model it. As a mostly stay at home mom, I spend much of my days serving my family. But how much of that serving is done through love? Honestly, not enough. I pack lunches, do laundry, clean toilets and tie shoes from the mindset of a worldly servant (think sad 17th century maidservant). My attitude frequently reflects my worldly servant mindset; I'm grumpy, worn, and resentful. Over a cup of coffee, I day dream of maids, laundresses and nannies who will come to my rescue. I need to wake up! What a horrible example I am setting! Is it no wonder that when I ask Sarah to set the dinner table she sighs the weariest of sighs as if she is being sent back to a coal mine?
Our whole family needs to shed our worldly servant mindsets and claim our blessed position as servants of Christ. So for the last week, I have started to change my mindset and the vocabulary that goes with it. The girls and I have been talking about having a servant's heart and how we can live that out at home. But a heart level change like that is not something we can beat into our kids or shove down their throats, its something we have to encourage and cultivate. So now when I see Sarah putting on Emily's shoes for her, I don't say, "thank you for helping Sarah." I say, "thank you for serving your sister with love Sarah." Today when I caught Emily helping Sarah clean up her Webkinz, I said, "Emily, thank you for showing the love of Jesus, by helping Sarah clean up her Webkinz." It's amazing how this seemingly small shift has made a really huge difference in our attitudes about being helpful toward one another. It has been a really neat thing to watch.
The big 100!
Morning routines
Thank you all for your ideas and general support for my disorganization issues last week. Well, I told you to send me your own organization issues and I had requests for help in one area over and over again – morning routines. I received requests for ideas for making school day mornings more organized and less tense.
Mornings have traditionally been something that we have really struggled with. Sarah and I are definitely NOT morning people and when the two of us both get in our grumpy morning moods, it can be ugly. Last year, Sarah started school at 9:00 and I think we made it to school on time about 6 times. This year, we have to leave the house at 7:40, so I was very worried all summer about how it would go. About 4 weeks before school started I sat down and figured out a new morning schedule for our family, and by the grace of God it has worked out beautifully.
After you all gave me such wonderful tips last week, it's time for me to share some. When I say "by the grace of God" our mornings are working out. I literally mean it. This summer I started getting up before the girls to spend a half an hour reading the Bible and praying. Now with school in session, I get up at 5:50 and spend 30-40 minutes each morning reading Scripture and praying. Through feeding my soul before I wake the girls, I am equipped to wake them with patience and a smile. It has made all the difference in the world (thank you Joanne and Cindy!) There are a few things that I do the night before that helps our morning run smoothly as well.
- Clean out the backpacks: Every afternoon I clean out the girls backpacks, put in whatever needs to go back to school the next day, and set them by the door.
- Pack the lunches: I pack everyone's lunches before I even make dinner. I normally do it while the girls are having their afternoon snack. I find that if I put it off until after dinner, it just doesn't seem to get done.
- Lay out the clothes: I lay out my clothes as well as the girls before we go to bed. The girls know that the first thing they need to do when they wake up is put on the clothes that are at the end of their beds.
- Fifteen extra minutes: When I figured out our new morning routine, I added 15 minutes to give us a little cushion each day.
Everyone had such great ideas last week, I can't wait to hear how you get your families out the door each morning. Keep the ideas coming. They are great!
The mobile playroom/kitchen/laundry room/garabe can
Thank you all for your great ideas on getting my office organized. My friend Joanne is coming over today for lunch and I am looking forward to getting her two cents in person. When I get some of your suggestions implemented, I will post a new picture of my office. Doesn't that sound like a HGTV show? "Stay tuned for the big reveal of Wendy's new and improved office, where she can actually find things!"
Okay, so are you ready for organizational issue #2? The car. Out of respect for Pete and in order to not ruin my father's entire day, I am not posting a picture of the inside of our minivan. Instead, I'll give you a true story from last weekend which will illustrate the state of our car pretty well. Last Saturday after Sarah's soccer game we headed downtown to Elitch Gardens (an amusement park). On the way there, Sarah decided she did not like the outfit she had picked out. I said, "I'm sorry, that's too bad." Sarah replied, "Isn't great that our car is full of stuff, I'll just find another outfit." And she did - shirt, shorts, and even another pair of socks. Sarah was thrilled, I was horrified. Why is all this stuff in our car!
Twice this summer, when we have been out of town, my wonderful father has completely cleaned out our car. Within, days it is full of stuff again. My dad likes to tease the girls that they shouldn't bring anything they like out to our car because we must have the rule that once something goes in the car it can never return to the house. Ahh sometimes it feels that way.
So here are my questions; what does the inside of your car look like? If it doesn't look like mine, what family rules do you have in place to keep it cleaned up? Do you have any nifty car organizing tricks to share? Bring on the suggestions, I can't wait to read them.
I have got to get organized!
Okay, I mean it. I have to get organized. Many of you who know me are laughing, and that's okay. I hope some of you are saying, "Amen, me too sister!" And, I hope a few more of you are saying, "I can help you with that." Praise you if you can, the good Lord knows that my parents tried for years. They still try. My poor mother-in-law who is a very clean and orderly lady, is frequently appalled by me. In her house, everything has a place, and she puts it back there. She has tried to create this system in my house, working herself ragged when she visited, but sadly it never sticks. Now don't get me wrong, my house is clean, it's just not organized. We waste so much time as a family looking for lost shoes, shin guards, library books, phone numbers – you get the picture. It drives me nuts.
For the next week or so I am going to talk about some organizational challenges I am having, and I hope you'll share your ideas and solutions with me. If you are a big mess like me and you have an organizational challenge you would like some help with, write to me and I will include it.
It's been awhile since I have had a monthly drawing, so I am going to host a drawing this month for a $10 gift card to Target. Use your gift card to buy file folders, labels, plastic tubs, whatever you may need to help get organized too! Every time you leave a comment between now and Oct 10th, you will be entered in the drawing.
So today's challenge – my office. I have wanted my own office for 10 years. In our new house, I finally have one. It has a great walk in closet, plenty of room and opportunities, yet as you see – it's a big mess. It seems to be the dumping ground for school, church and house paperwork. There are piles of the kids' artwork mixed in with books for writing projects, crafts and family photos. So how do you organize your home office or workspace? Start sending in those ideas, and get entered in the drawing.
A review of The Faith of Barack Obama by Stephen Mansfield
A few weeks ago, Michael Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Nelson, announced the release of The Faith of Barack Obama by Stephen Mansfield. He offered a copy of the book to bloggers who would read the book and post a review. Here is my review.
The book cover of The Faith of Barack Obama reads in part, "In this fair-minded but inspiring account of Obama's faith, New York Times best selling author Stephen Mansfield takes you inside the theology of Barack Obama, inside the church that has been his spiritual home , and inside the battles of faith that have shaped his politics." If Mansfield had written a book to fulfill that description, it would have been a useful and insightful tool for voters seeking to understand Obama's faith this election season. Yet, Mansfield's surprisingly brief book falls significantly short of this goal. The book is notable for what it lacks nearly as much as for what it contains. Namely, the book lacks any interviews with Barack Obama, his family, his former pastor or his current one. A void that is evident throughout the book.
While I applaud Thomas Nelson for publishing a book about the faith of a Democratic candidate, at times I wondered what the motive was behind publishing this book. The editing is clearly biased. One pullout quote reads, "Barack accompanied Lolo to a nearby mosque on Fridays and prayed at his side for the blessings of Allah." In the text, that sentence actually starts with the word "occasionally." It is an important word, as Mansfield asserts that Barack is not and never has been a Muslim. But a reader scanning the book would be left with a very different impression.
Mansfield spends an inordinate amount of time covering the black theology of the 1960's. If Obama's own faith statement was framed through the vocabulary of black theology than the time spent elaborating on the roots of this belief system would make sense. But since it does not, this section of the book can leave suspicious readers believing that Obama studies James Cone's Black Theology and Black Power instead of the Holy Bible.
In the fifth chapter, Mansfield compares the faiths' of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John McCain and George W Bush. The comparisons are written along predictable Republican Party lines (Mansfield is very open about the fact that he's not voting for Obama.) McCain's lack of comments regarding his faith is painted as the stoic and gentlemanly demeanor of a man from a bygone era. There is no mention of the fact that he cheated on his first wife and applied for a license for his second marriage eight days before his divorce was final. McCain has never been baptized into nor joined the North Phoenix Baptist Church where he attends with his wife Cindy. Instead of using this information to take a critical look at McCain's faith, Mansfield instead endearingly calls him a "maverick." In the concluding paragraph of the chapter Mansfield says in referring to Obama,
"His face stands out among them all. It is black. It is under fifty in 2008. It is Christian in a nontraditional sense…. It is progressive and social justice and the most liberal face of all." (pg 127)
Any reader who had gotten through the first four chapters of the book thinking this was an unbiased look at Obama, should have no misconception about that by page 127.
In conclusion, if voters want to understand Barrack Obama's faith, they should go straight to the source. Either one of Obama's very well written books will shed light on who he is and what he believes. His website is also a good source of information. Although this was not a glowing review, I commend Thomas Nelson for even publishing this book. They have received an unbelievable amount of negative reactions from the Christian Right for publishing a book about a democrat. I was shocked to see the level of anger and hatred personally aimed at Michael Hyatt when he announced this book on his blog. It is vital to the democratic process that information is made available through all sorts of venues about the candidates our country is considering. When publishers are corporately and personally attacked for publishing a book about a candidate affiliated with the "wrong" party, our nation is in a very sad state. It is made even sadder yet that the attacks are done in the name of Jesus Christ, The Prince of Peace.
