Zoo day!

So today we went to the zoo and we had a some pretty interesting experiences:

1. Saw a polar bear eating a rain boot (DUH! Why did I not get a picture of this?), also it had a tire in the exhibit?

2. Saw 4 people in one of the cat house rooms... not zoo keepers, workers, but pedestrians with the cats

3. Played with Bonobos and one of them gave Inara and me a high 5.

4. Inara got to pet a itty bitty baby penguin...so did I and it was so soft and fuzzy

5. Had fun "pacing" with Joseph the Cougar

She kept saying "I'm pacing with the cougar!"
 

She was trying to give it a hug

She LOVED being able to get real close to them!

Love is kind

Today's love quality is that love is kind.  Inara was really excited about reading our bible and making our craft. When I asked her if she would rather go outside or make a craft she said "I want to craft and hang ornament" :)

Verse: 145:8- The lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love

Craft: we made heart garland found here and I let her pick out the colors. This kiddo loves Christmas and chose red, green, and brown.  I didn't take any pictures. Ours definitely didn't look as nice as others I've seen, but they worked and it is hanging proudly over our door :)

Apply:  Throughout the day I tried to point out ways that Inara was being kind, and really stress that doing kind things are love. I want her to see the correlation between how she acts and how God views her actions. And since we did the same verse 2 days in a row. She has part of it memorized! Early in the day she was playing with Marley and I reminded her to be patient with Marley, and she turned and said "Ok, love is patient". It was awesome. Its funny on the day that we were talking about love being kind was the day, I felt most unkind to Inara. I am thankful to be reminding my self daily of how great God's love is for us :)

Love is...

So with Valentine's Day around the corner, I have been doing some thinking.  Justin and I don't really celebrate Valentine's Day. Not because we think its evil, but because I dunno... we try to make showing our love for each other something we do through out the year.  And candy and flowers (while nice) is not love. Love works hard, love pays the bills, love takes care of you when you are sick etc.

But while thinking about VD and what to do with Inara, I remembered reading this post by Mark Driscoll around Christmas time.  We wanted to redeem Christmas, and after talking with Justin that's what we will be doing to with VD.  When we did the Truth in the Tinsel with Inara it was super great!  Inara loved making the ornaments. She has remembered some of the stories that go with the ornaments and has talked about it a lot lately.

Soooo, Justin and I sat down tonight to get some ideas and I am SUPER DUPER excited. We really wanted to show Inara what TRUE love is. So we went to scripture to 1 Corinthians 13.  Coincidentally there are 15 qualities of what love is/does. So every day from now until February 16th (when we will have our family Valentine's Day party), we will read some scripture and make a little craft. And I'll be writing the full verse out a big piece of poster board today.  I am super excited for the verses we picked out and some of the crafts we are doing....so without further adieu....

LOVE IS PATIENT:

Verse

Psalm 145:8- The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.

Craft

I seriously just drew some hearts on a paper, we colored, and TRIED to add some other stuff...but I honestly just don't have a lot of crafty stuff

Inara coloring the heart

Inara really liked "hanging" the ornaments at Christmas,
so we are hanging our crafts on our door. *Please
disregard the hideous fountain in the back yard*

Apply

Inara (like us all) has a problem being patient when she gets frustrated with someone/something. She will hit said person, or throw object of frustration.  We just talked about what being patient is, how God is patient towards us, and how she can grow in patience.  PRAY! She has since walked around all morning saying "Love is patient"....its awesome!

I am really excited about doing this with her and sharing more of Christ with her. I already have the days/crafts planned out, so if you are interested let me know and I'll email you the list.  So how will you redeem Valentine's Day? Even if you don't have kiddos, just think about it. What is love? TRUE love?

Food for thought

So its been 5 days since I've had a sugary drink or caffeine.  I guess I have never had this kind of experience before and I'm glad I am.  While I have been "good" about keeping my fast, the Lord is so gracious to me to show me how sinful my heart really is.  My friend sent me this worksheet on fasting and it really helped to put into words the state of my heart.

1.  What did you hear God saying to you during your time of prayer and fasting?  Its funny, because I fasting bionically is always linked with prayer or worship...and I've done neither.  Probably why its been so hard.  God has shown me, how I REALLY do only need him. And how I DON'T "Hunger and thirst for righteousness" and there for I am NOT satisfied. I really didn't see how food played such a vital role in my happiness. It's humbling but I am thankful for God making it clear to me.  For example, this morning I went to the Zoo...well tried to. I got all the way there and forgot my pass. I drove home, got my pass, and needed gas. So I got gas...and a little "pick me up"...a Nutty bar and some juice.  And shamefully as soon as I started eating my snack...I felt better. I wasn't as annoyed or frustrated...God showed me that was bad.  I know God gives us food to enjoy, but not to idolize. I honestly had never thought I did...maybe its because I'm not overweight and super unhealthy...but my heart IS.  God also showed me how ridiculous I am. 


2. What did God bring to light about your own sin? What and how did you see more clearly how you've been sinning against God and others.  God is showing me SO many things about my wicked heart in just these last few days. 

-I am NOT content in my circumstances. Last night we went to quiznos after the gym, and I was honestly pissed that I couldn't have their delicious strawberry lemonade, and had to drink water.  Yes, instantly cold water, that was easily accessible, and I didn't have to walk a days journey for 1 jug to take care of my starving family...and I was upset.  I even snapped at Justin to fix our ice maker because if I HAVE to drink water...I only want it ice cold....diva much.  Looking back on last night I am disgusted...which I guess is good. I want to be changed and not be like the fool described in James 1.  And in light of yesterday and today behavior...I am adding no sweets to my fast.  Not as a punishment, but because I obviously run to sugar in all forms to feel better.

-I run to everything/everyone else first before God.  Yesterday while I was driving I was listening to a sermon by Mark Driscoll about marriage. He said something that really stood out to me "When you idolize someone, then you'll end up demonizing them". Point being when I want someone/thing to be Jesus and it can't..I end up being really mad. Its foolish, idolatry, and pride...great qualities to see in yourself!

I am very thankful that the same God who convicts of sin (NOT condemns Christians) is the same God who empowers to changed. I don't hear him beating me on the head and saying "you loser! you are so selfish and and awful daughter of mine. Just go away". No I hear his tender yet firm voice singing over me saying "come here little flock. I love you and I will change you to be more like me. You can trust me. I will never leave you and I will be with you always. When all the things of the word disappoint. I will not. Come with me. Trust me"...then just as a parent kisses a "boo boo" and makes it all better...so does God.

Desire

*I wrote about half of this on my phone, so excuse the lack of punctuation /capitalization*

So a few weeks ago I read a friend's blog. you can find it here. basically as i was reading it, i felt like most of it could have been written by me. i felt convicted about how much sweet tea/coke i drink. Every month during my special time I think "I needed this caffeine now, but I'll stop later". I never do, then repeat the same reasoning the next month. so i thought about going on a fast briefly, and even told my friend "i just need to pray about it and talk to God first to make sure I have poor motives"... what a load of crap! I had neither prayed for direction or talked it out with God. I just kept suppressing my convictions...ouch seeing that in writing is so ugly.

well one night recently i was laying in bed and out of no where God showed me how the way i thought about my sweet tea/coke was sinful. i used it as an escape at the end of the day thinking "ugh, I've had a bad day...i DESERVE my huge fountain coke". i was spending money unwisely by having my drink nearly everyday. it went from something sweet to have as a treat, to something i had to have. so think about this, if i felt this way about having alcoholic beverages...i would be diagnosed as an alcoholic.  When Go showed that to me, I saw my behavior for the first time for what it truly was...sin. I was relying on something created instead of the creator...gross.

So as of Friday January 27th, I am sweet tea/coke/sugary drink free. I decided to fast not only from tea and coke, but also other sugary drinks because I think the problem in my heart would still exist.  I plan to fast for 1 month. I told Justin about it too and its helpful to have his accountability.  Feel free to ask me how I am doing, and hopefully I can tell you of how God is helping to fix my sinful heart!