Joss Whedon is Looking for Scriptwiters....

It appears that I have caught the cold all 4 kids were working on last week. Except, instead of catching just their cold, the germs have banded together to form some sort of a SUPER COLD and all I want to do is die.

Perhaps if I fashion a little cape for my NyQuil bottle and write a superhero song that I sing whenever I take it? 

Maybe I should turn the plain flowered box of tissues into NyQuil's HealthyMobile and it can drive all over my house wiping noses and administering medicine! With its trusty sidekick, Vicks Vapor Rub. 

Working together, this team can take on this SUPER COLD and drive it far far away, never to return. It may be a messy battle but the cleanup crew of Lysol Disinfecting Wipes is standing by, prepared for the challenge. 

On second thought, maybe I should just go back to bed and check for a fever. 

It's Your Turn

I have been part of a book club for a little over 3 years now. The first time we met, Charlotte was 10 days old and she tagged right along much to the delight of the roomful of strangers surrounding me. We meet monthly, actually talk about the books we read and can have anywhere from 2-20 ladies on a Friday meeting night. I never thought I would enjoy it as much as I do. We take turns picking books and it is my turn to pick!! The pressure is getting to me. I have read some REALLY good books lately that I would love to reread and get to discuss with my book loving friends! So, I'm making a list....maybe writing a little bit about these books will help me decide??

  All the Light We Cannot See

This is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read. The prose is lovely and feels like it was carefully woven together to tell an amazingly deep story. I purchased it so I could lend it to other people. I wanted to make sure everyone I knew who loved books read it.

  What Alice Forgot

We read some Liane Moriarty for book club and then I read everything else she wrote. And What Alice Forgot was my absolute favorite. Take a moment, what if you woke up and you had forgotten the last 10 years of your life? How would you catch up? What would have happened? Great book for discussion!

  The Martian

Oh man. This one I read in about 3 days and then got my non reading hubby to read it and it was SO funny. Better than the movie, as always. But I will say that the movie did a wonderful job capturing the spirit of the book!

Landline

This was another interesting premise: While staying for a few days in her old bedroom, Georgie discovers that her old landline connects her to her husband in his childhood home back when they were dating. Since she and her husband are currently floundering in the marriage a bit, this chance to fall in love all over again is one she wants to take.

Station Eleven and Ready Player One

 

Both set in a post apocalypse world. One world wiped out by a virus and another in decay while a free virtual world has taken over. In Station Eleven we follow the path of the virus and see how society is attempting to rebuild. Gas, electricity and modern resources are gone. Ready Player One follows a young man who is in a race to win a contest but the race is in a virtual world. the pace is quick and exciting and coming to a theatre near you in 2018.

The Kind Worth Killing

Kind of a twisted "Throw Momma From the Train" but with much less Billy Crystal and many more twists and turns. It was fascinating and a great ride.


Do you see how hard it is going to be to choose?! And these are only a few of the books I have tackled in the last 6 months. Sigh. Help me, Internets.

Let Us Not Grow Weary....

There is always someone around you in need of help. 

A friend had a hard day, a neighbor with a parent who is ill, a family at school who lost a job. 

But what do you do when all of these people not only need help but need YOUR help? How do you respond? 

There is the logical answer of "Boundaries" and "You can only do so much, God will do the rest."

The other side of that is to throw every bit of yourself into helping and hope that someone will pour help back into you or the family you may be sacrificing will understand.

I have gone both ways before. I have scrolled quickly past requests for help on Facebook or bookmarked a Meal Train website but never returned to sign up to bring a meal. I have decided a family probably doesn't need help and they can manage themselves. I have offered to bring a meal  only when what was really needed was one on one time. 

And I have cooked a full meal for a family and driven it across town while my family ate leftovers and frozen taquitos. I have brought on extra kids and made it so my children didn't get the help with homework they needed 

No matter which path I choose, I find myself weary. Burnt out. Feeling put upon. 

So, what's the solution? 

My experience has shown me that it's only when I am helping where God has led me that I am able to give without becoming weary. Running away from helping or setting up false fences around myself isn't being obedient to what God is calling me to do. Likewise, over committing and neglecting to minister to my family before helping others is also a disobedience of God's calling-especially as a mother. 

Our acts of kindness lose their full effectiveness and depth of meaning when they are not offered at God's urging. 

Therefore, the next time you see a place to step in and help someone, take a beat. Examine your heart. Is your hesitation or eagerness to help a directive from God? Or is He leading you to action that will not only show His Love but also put you in a position to reap that goodness back into your life?

Go forth with confidence, Dear Friends. God is ready to accomplish His work through you and will not leave you weary. 

PSA

Because I love you, the faithful reader of my unfaithful blog, I have decided to start off this NaBloPoMo with a Public Service Announcement.....

Whilst cooking and turning on the oven, be careful to avoid bumping the crock pot that is sitting on the stove. For bumping that crock pot might mean you have bumped a stove top burner into an "on" position. 

And then the smoke may begin. 

Which would then be followed by a smoke detector making a most unfriendly sound. 

Upon investigation, you might then discover that the burner that was bumped on has melted the foot of the crock pot completely off. And you may be forced to right the crock pot tilt with a metal tulip cookie cutter. 

Just, don't.