Friday's Funny

Earlier this week, I hung out with Adam's class for lunch and recess. They're a fun and funny bunch of kids and I'm amazed at how well all of them get along.

I was chatting with one of the little girls at lunch and she showed me where the dentist pulled a tooth. Ironically, I am missing the same tooth. So I showed her. Then I said, "Hey! Maybe we're sisters!" She giggled and nodded.

Then, the funny thing happened.

One of the little boys says, "You ARE sisters in Christ!"

I told him he was exactly right and it brought a huge smile to my face and his. So sweet to see a little child recognizing God's family. And funny to boot!

Three Things of Thanks

Today I am thankful for:

1. Being mechanically minded. Both Gracey and Adam take things apart. Thank God for making this mama mechanically minded so I can fix things before Daddy gets home.

2. Sore feet. When my heels are throbbing at the end of a day, I know I've accomplished much.

3. At-home exercise videos, games, machines. I'm not a gym-goer. I despise gyms actually. They are filled with germs and sweaty people. Yuck. But I would so like to get back into the shape I once was. (side note: I often remark that I've lost all the baby weight from Gracey but still have 20 pounds of Adam's baby weight hanging around 6 years later!) So thank God for creative minds who created Wii games, pilates videos and the gazelle.

Monday's Musings

Today was not a manic monday, so I thought I'd post some thoughts that have been rolling around in my head:

1. I love my life. I love being a stay-at-home mom, especially when I actually stay home. The first 3 years as a SAHM, I bounced from event to event, playdate to playdate. I was unhappy. I was exhausted. My house a mess. Doing that stint as Avon manager made me realize all I wanted to do was keep my house, spend time with my kids and be a good wife.

2. Pilates. I used to do 30-45 minutes of pilates every day before we got married. It worked wonders for my sore back and really built up my strength. I saw an infomercial for a pilates program last week and decided it was time to start up again. Well, I'm lucky to finish 15 minutes. I guess 8 years and 2 babies have a way of kicking one's butt.

3. I'm really, really mad at congress. I won't continue writing my thoughts and feelings, that's how upset I am.

Seems like I had more to muse about earlier. Now I'm just tired.

Friday's Funny

The funny thing about today is that I have nothing to say. And I can't think of anything funny that either child or parent did this week. Oh wait! I just remembered a funny!

Gracey is in the early stages of potty training. She loves to sit on the potty, wears pull-ups and will grab her crotch and say "pee". But, we have yet to have success with actualy pee in the potty.

However, last night I put her on the big potty after her bath because that's what she wanted to do. She sat there a few minutes and then was ready to get up. So I went to scoop her up, but somehow, her rear end landed in the potty! She didn't think that was very nice but I had a good chuckle.

Three Things...

...for which to be thankful.


1. Medical care. While our medical system may not be perfect (I mostly blame insurance and pharmaceutical companies), it is still an amazing blessing. Thank you God for medical science and for the men and women who practice it.
2. New friends. I am revelling in the joy of two new friendships. Neither expected but both a blessing. Thank you Lord for Heather and AnnMarie.
3. New opportunities. May they be at work, church, or at home. Thank you dear Jesus for all things new.

God's Lenses of Grace = Our Sense of Purpose

Happy St. Patrick's Day! My corned beef and cabbage is ready to cook later today. Yum!

Now as for Wednesday's Wisdom. This week, the video I'm talking about can be found here.



Recently, I've spent a lot of time thinking about high school. High school wasn't really the sitcom experience for me. Sure, I was 70 pounds thinner and a cheerleader, but I thought I was fat. I was friends with all the "crowds" but I never felt like I fit in with any of them. I went to all the social events but always felt lonely. I got good grades but school didn't come easy. I could go on and on but you get the picture.



Sometimes I wish I could send an email to my teenage self and say, "Hey, don't worry. You see yourself that way, but God doesn't. God made you the way you are for a purpose."



And that's still true today. There are things we don't like about ourselves. But if we take off our glasses of self-deprecation and put on God's glasses of grace, we'll see how He sees us: perfectly created for our purpose.



"Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need." Hebrews 4:16



A few weeks ago someone said, "Some people peak in high school." That's humanity talking. God says, "You peak when my work in you is complete."

Tuesday's Trivia

Did you know that when writing a screenplay, you can dictate the importance of each character based on their name?



For example, someone who has very little importance to the plot of the movie, yet has a speaking part, will simply have a title like "Janitor" or "Nurse." If there is more than one janitor, then there's "Janitor 1" and "Janitor 2."



Likewise, the main character is often assigned a first, middle and last name. This means that this character is crucial to the storyline. And then lesser characters may have a first and last name, and even lesser characters just a first name.



Kind of cool?



So, what does it mean then if yours truly has 5 names? Allow me to tell you what my names mean to me:



Kristina (aka Kristy): Heritage. On both sides of my family there is either a Christin(e/a) or a Christian in every generation dating back generation upon generation. I am the last to date. Gracey's middle name is Christine and technically my sister or my cousins could still have a child and continue the tradition.



Ruth: Fairy Godmother/Angel. Ruth was my mom's mom, my Baba. I was very, very close to her and though she died 15 years ago, I still miss her everyday. I think of her as my Fairy Godmother, as my own personal Angel.



Louise: Perseverance. Louise was my dad's step-mom, however since she raised him and his brothers, she was just "mom" to him and "grandma" to us. Two weeks after Grandma married Grandpa, he shipped off to Korea, leaving her with 3 wild hooligan sons. She had no children of her own and was the sweetest woman you'd ever meet. When parenting gets hard, I think of Grandma. If she could survive those 3 boys, I can survive my 2 kids.



Wolfer: Home. Growing up I hated my last name. No one could pronounce it right. It always came out "woofer." I always had to spell it. But now that we live in "Wolfer Country" -- my dad's family is from Linton -- I feel like I've come home.



Rose: True love. I know I'm lucky to have such a lovely married name even if the clerk at Gateway pharmacy continually asks me for my last name even after I've said "Rose." And most folks up here think "Kristy Rose" is my given name. Perhaps because of the Catholic heritage?Every rose has its thorns; this one is no exception, nor is the one I married. I found true love the moment I read Scott's first email some 11 years ago.



So now you know.

Manic Monday

The Bangles had no idea what a Manic Monday is. Not unless they had children.

As far as crazy days go, today has been fairly mild. Adam's out of school today. Gracey isn't too rumbunctious. My flu bug seems to have finally passed. The house is clean.

But, my dad is in the hospital.

My mom called at about 7:30pm on Sunday to describe my dad's leg. She thought he either had a blood clot or a pulled muscle, both of which he's had before. I told her not to mess around, just go to the ER. She agreed, however my dad was resistant. So she put him on the phone. I quite frankly said, "Dad if you to go ER and it's just a pulled muscle you're only out a copay. But if you don't go to ER and it is a blood clot, that could be it for you."

He went to ER.

Sure enough he has two blood clots in his right lower leg. So they admitted him and started him on some blood-thinners. He'll be there 2-5 days. He's doing better today and the long-term prognosis is good.

Your prayers would be appreciated.

Friday's Funny

As you can tell by my recent posts, I've been inspired by DakotaPam over at It's Time For More Coffee. I love the way she themes her posts each day and thought this would be a great help to me. I've been struggling lately with my "funk" and also with what to post on my blog. So, thank you dear friend for your inspiration.

Now, for today's post: Friday's Funny. Today's funny is this picture of Gracey taken last week-end on our Rapid City get-away.

Thursday's Three Things of Thanks

This Thursday I am thankful for:

1. God's financial providence for our family. Though I often lament not having more money, there's always enough. God is good.
2. Gracey who is currently kissing my hands repeatedly. Thank God for strong-willed, independent litle girls. May that carry her through adult-hood.
3. Scott's new job/promotion. He comes home happy. Praise God.

Wednesday's Wisdom: Forgiveness

Often on Wednesday nights, I speak at our church's worship service, The Alternative. It's a way-cool multimedia worship service featuring short message videos, worship videos and short personal messages from 3-5 different speakers. I really love being a part of the service and sharing with others what God has done in my life.

The best way for me to prepare is to write out what I'm going to say as if I were writing a story or an article. It dawned on me last night that I could also blog that! Voila! Funk over!

March 10: Forgiveness

Several weeks ago, Adam and Scott had an argument. I don't remember the details, but basically Adam had done something Scott didn't like. So after many tears, Adam went to Scott and apologized. A few minutes later, I found Adam sitting at the kitchen counter crying. I asked him what was wrong.

"Daddy didn't say I forgive you," he said. Adam's kindergarten teacher always reminds the children to say "I forgive you" when a freind has apologized. So Adam thought his daddy didn't forgive him because Scott didn't say it aloud. But they worked it out.

Forgiveness is a touchy subject and a hard thing to comprehend. Even as Christians who recognize the importance of being forgiven by God and the importance of forgiving others, we often miss the mark.

I've learned that forgiveness doesn't mean I have to endure being mistreated. The Bible says "turn the other cheek" and to me that doesn't mean to let the assailant slap you around some more. To me, it means to look the other direction, not to dwell on the hurt, to move on.

I've also learned that forgiveness doesn't mean ignoring the situation, moving half-way across the country or hoping I'll never see the person again. But, sometimes it does help to remove yourself from the situation so you can heal and eventually forgive.

And I've also realized that the act of forgiveness is more like a crock pot and less like a microwave. Just saying "I forgive you" does not make everything go away. Praying for God's help for forgiveness also can take time. Though both actions are vital to forgiving others, neither one give instantaneous results.

For me, forgiveness is a constant process of conscionsentious actions. Every day I have to say "I forgive you" and every day I have to pray for God's help to forgive. And in time, the anger and hurt give way to forgiveness and then hopefully love and reconciliation.

I'm still working on forgiving people. It's something we can never give up because God doesn't give up on us.