Try this...

A friend sent me an email with this challenge. The email simply said, "Click on the ball to make it change colors." and then it said, "This may ruin your life." 

Disclaimer: 

It will indeed change colors if you click on it.

(I've done it.) 

However, the process may elevate your stress level somewhat.

What we're reading this week...

I got some good reading in while I was in Texas. I highly recommend "The Shack" by William P. Young. It is a fiction book, but will give you much to ponder.

Happy Reading!

(Click on the image to link to Amazon's website.)

Jason's reading (my recommendation)...

I'm hooked on this author...

total chic books and easy reading!

Emily really likes this series...

a mischievous pig who LOVES toast!

One of Ben's current favorites...

Abby has requested this book 

every night for the past 4 nights...

This Old House

I'm beginning to feel a little bit more at home. At least the mess is our mess, so it's familiar. Unpacking a house with a high maintenance 2-year-old is quite a challenge. I gave up this afternoon and we walked to the park. 

I'm not even going to set unrealistic expectations on myself this time, you know, like trying to be unpacked by the start of school. I don't think it's going to happen!

So, we are really liking our house. It's very different from our house in Texas, the first difference being it's about 65 years older than our Texas home. But, here are two very cool features...

Mail drop...

no more trips to the mailbox at the end of the street

Laundry chute!

Don't worry, Abby doesn't fit!

Happy Birthday Ben!

I can't believe Ben is 5 years old! His birthday happened to be while I was in Texas, so we are celebrating this weekend with a family trip to Chuck E. Cheese. And, of course, we are also in the middle of unpacking in our new house, so poor Ben's birthday fell this year in the midst of much chaos.

Ben is a special little boy. He is happy, funny, sensitive, smart and very perceptive. He tends to be more on the shy and reserved side, but loves his family and friends very much. He loves music but not so keen on performing. He is an amazing and loving brother to Emily and Abby, always very concerned when one seems to be hurt or sad. Ben loves to cuddle and one look from those beautiful blue eyes melts my heart instantly! Ben loves to play with dinosaurs and cars, but his most recent favorite toy is the Wii.

Happy birthday, Benner! 

Your family loves you very much!

3 months old

1 year old

2 years old

3 years old

4 years old

Haven't seen the movie, but loving the lightsaber!

Dancing Wall-E...

5 years old

The Chapmans

You probably heard on the news about the tragic accident involving two of Steven Curtis Chapman's children, resulting in the death of their youngest daughter. I can't even imagine the depth of their grief. Their first public interview since the accident was with Good Morning America this week. I watched it last night with tears in my eyes, just trying to picture myself having the faith they have and choosing to hold on to that faith and light when it would be so easy to sink into the depths of darkness. Please continue to pray for their family.

Disoriented...

We are back safe and sound from our visit to Texas. My new little nephew is so sweet and a great little baby! I did night duty a couple of nights while we were there...man, I forgot how tired those early days are with a newborn. But, gazing in that sweet little face makes it worth it!

My tastebuds were satisfied with a couple of meals of Tex-Mex...Pappasito's, Willie's (best fried jalapenos ever!) & Los Cucos...yum! 

Texas was HOT...now, I know, everyone knows Texas is hot, but this summer is ridiculously hot! We were there for 8 days and I think all but 1 day was over 100 degrees. Add in high humidity and it's a recipe for a day inside with the A/C cranked. Needless to say, the cousins got a little stir crazy, but they loved seeing each other.

I haven't blogged much about our house situation in Texas. Not going into much detail here, we still have our house there. We leased it last year and the entire year was a nightmare. Our tenants abandoned the house in early July and it's been such a relief to have them gone. However, God is taking care of us as he's provided new tenants that are friends of ours who have recently moved back to Texas. Jason's parents have been awesome in helping get the house ready because we are so far away. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

So, we've returned home...um, well, sort of. While we were in Texas, Jason supervised our move to a new suburb of Cleveland. So, returning home was to a different house on a different street in a different city and not to mention, loaded with boxes patiently waiting for me to unpack them. 

I feel a bit disoriented at the moment... 

In the meantime...

We are still in Texas, which explains why I haven't blogged in a few days. I will catch up when we return home, but in the meantime, click here for a fun brain test. These are my results, which are very true:

Your Brain Usage Profile:
Auditory: 60%
Visual: 40%
Left: 50%
Right: 50%

1. Your hemispheric dominance is equally divided between left and right brain, while you show a moderate preference for auditory versus visual learning, signs of a balanced and flexible person.
2. Your balance gives you the enviable capacity to be verbal and literate while retaining a certain "flair" and individuality. You are logical and compliant but only to a degree. You are organized without being compulsive, goal-directed without being driven, and a "thinking" individual without being excessively so.
3. The one problem you might have is that your learning might not be as efficient as you would like. At times you will work from the specific to the general, while at other times you'll work from the general to the specific. Sometimes you will be logical in your approach while at other times random. Since you cannot always control the choice, you may experience frustrations not normally felt by persons with a more defined and directed learning style.
4. You may also minimally experience conflicts associated with auditory processing. You will be systematic and sequential in your processing of information, you will most often focus on a single dimension of the problem or material, and you will be more reflective, i.e., "taking the data in" as opposed to "devouring" it.
5. Overall, you should feel content with your life and yourself. You are, perhaps, a little too critical of yourself - and of others - while maintaining an "openness" which is redeeming. Indecisiveness is a problem and your creativity is not in keeping with your potential. Being a pragmatist, you downplay this aspect of yourself and focus on the more immediate, the more obvious and the more functional.

We need your support!

Jason and I just accepted the challenge to raise funds to support the Komen Northeast Ohio Race for the Cure on September 13, 2008 in the fight against breast cancer. One in eight women will be stricken with breast cancer in her lifetime and the more we raise, the more the Northeast Ohio Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure can give back to fund vital breast cancer education, screening and treament programs in our own community and support the national search for a cure.

Please join me in the fight by pledging in support of my participation in the Race or contributing generously to Komen Northeast Ohio. Your tax-deductible contribution will fund innovative outreach and awareness programs for medically underserved communities in Northeast Ohio and national breast cancer research. It is faster and easier than ever to support this great cause - you can make a donation online by simply clicking on this link. If you would prefer, you can also send your tax-deductible contribution to me so I can turn it in with the rest of my sponsorships/pledges on Race Day. Whatever you can give will help! I truly appreciate your support and will keep you posted on my progress.

Thank you so much for your time and support in the fight against breast cancer! Every step counts! 

To visit our team page, Team Laurel School, click here.

Load 'em up...

The last box will be packed today...yippee! 

Do you think I need a bigger box?

Emily and I leave for Texas tomorrow. The movers will be here on Friday. Jason will handle the move (with much help from Ben & Abby, I'm sure!) Emily and I are going to meet Mr. Miles Kirby Nelson, who was a week old yesterday and is a very good baby, I hear! We are very excited.

I'm not sure how much blogging I will do over the next week while we're in Texas, but I can assure you, I will definitely have time to eat Tex-Mex! My mouth is watering already...

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Maria, for all your help in packing! It was much, much more fun with your company!

BTW, the Hannah Montana 3-D glasses didn't work so well, 

but we sure did look cool wearing them!

Be Free...

Freedom...something we all take to heart, I'm sure. I bet if I surveyed several people, I would get different views on what freedom truly is, probably depending on age and spiritual and life experience. Jason and I were talking about freedom and boundaries this week. We have two dogs, miniature dachsunds, and bless their hearts, they drive us crazy! They need so much attention and just don't get all they need. In Texas, we had a backyard fence, so the dogs could easily go outside and play. Here in Ohio, we do not have fences. Homeowners who have dogs install an invisible fence that will shock the dog if they are too close to the line. Not having this invisible fence in our yard has been challenging with the dogs. We were letting them play on the screened porch, but they must have felt too confined and ate through the screen. We then set up a lead in the backyard so they would have plenty of room to run around, but again, feeling confined, they chewed through the leashes. So, the result for them has been spending more time in their crate. They didn't realize the freedom they had when they had it and because of their pushing the boundaries, they are now more confined than ever.

As Jason and I talked about this observation, I could immediately relate to my life as a sinner. We are all born into sin. Most think the definition of sin is a wrongful act or deed. But, for just a minute, think of sin in this way...sin is a separation from God. Many people who are not Christians tend to view Christianity as a palette of rules and regulations and they tend to not want to have to follow such guidelines. However, those of us who are Christians have learned that what others perceive as rules and regulations actually becomes our act of obedience to the One who gave his very life so we could have eternal life and be with Him; an act of obedience that is a result of our love for our Savior. In Christ, there is freedom; the freedom of hope, the freedom of forgiveness, the freedom of grace, the freedom of love, the freedom of eternal life.

True freedom is not being able to live life as one wishes, but rather, true freedom is found in Jesus Christ, accepting Him as your Lord and Savior and having a relationship with Him. Let's look at this passage from John 8:31-35:

To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, 

"If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 

Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." 

They answered him, "We are Abraham's descendants 

and have never been slaves of anyone. 

How can you say that we shall be set free?"

Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, 

everyone who sins is a slave to it. 

Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, 

but a son belongs to it forever. 

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."

Do you wish to be set free? If so, what price are you willing to pay to gain this freedom? There is a man who loves you so much that He wanted to give you this freedom and did so by giving of His very life in a very painful, torturous, horrendous death. But the story did not end there! Three days after his burial, He rose from the dead. Friends, this is what He offers us...we, too, can be raised with Him. How? Let's look at John again, this time, John 14:6, Jesus says...

"I am the way and the truth and the life. Noone comes to the Father except through me."

Jesus is the answer. Accept Him as your personal Lord and Savior, begin a relationship with Him today and your life will be changed. Hardships will come, but will not conquer you; you will know a hope that you've not experienced before; and you will find safety in the arms of the most loving Savior. I am still a sinner: my very nature will be to sin. But, I have accepted Christ as my Savior and through Him, I have received forgiveness. Jesus bridges the gap between myself and God; the gap that sin creates.

These words are for you:

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. 

Trust in God; trust also in me. 

In my Father's house are many rooms; 

if it were not so, I would have told you. 

I am going there to prepare a place for you. 

And if I go and prepare a place for you, 

I will come back and take you to be with me 

that you also may be where I am. 

You know the way to the place where I am going."

John 14:1-4 (NIV)

You can have one of those rooms that are being prepared...

I'd love yours to be next to mine!

Is it time to give your life to Christ?