"Be Anxious For Nothing"

I know there are lots of commands in the Bible that people struggle with. But Philippians 4:6 is at the top of my list. "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God." 

I think this could easily be the number one place where I am not just becoming my mother; I'm literally 100%, her exact replica. We're both worriers. Well that and stress eaters, but that's another post all together.

I worry about everything, from the insignificant to the major.

My dad is having surgery today, well in less than 15 minutes, and I can't stop the constant thoughts in my head. Worry. Fear. Every possibility, even those that are most ridiculous.

So I'm working on replacing the fears and the worry with a reminder of faith, and that I have a truly amazing God. I'm working on singing this in my head every time I start to worry:

Have faith in God when your pathway is lonely.
He sees and knows all the way you have trod;
Never alone are the least of His children;

Have faith in God, have faith in God.

Have faith in God when your prayers are unanswered,

Your earnest plea He will never forget;

Wait on the lord, trust His word and be patient,

Have faith in God. He'll answer yet.

Have faith in God in your pain and your sorrow,

His heart is touched with your grief and despair;

Cast all your cares and your burdens upon Him,

And leave them there, oh, leave them there.

Have faith in God though all else fall about you;

Have faith in God, He provides for His own:

He cannot fail though all kingdoms shall perish.

He rules. He reigns upon His throne.

Have faith in God, He's on His throne,

Have faith in God, He watches over His own;

He cannot fail, He must prevail,

Have faith in God, Have faith in God.

This morning pray for me, pray for my dad, pray for my family. Pray for us to claim that verse, and truly be anxious for nothing, and give it up to God.

I hate bugs!

This is one way my mother and I are practically identical. We despise bugs. Like, I can't even explain to you how much I hate them. I will never be one of those people who likes to camp or fish or be in any way outdoorsy because I hate bugs so much.

The worst part? I feel like they LOVE me. Especially mosquitos. I can go outside with 20 people and be the only one with a mosquito bite. Only it won't just be one bite; it'll be twenty bites. That's probably one reason why I'll never love summer. That and the 130 degree weather, but I digress.

The one thing I hate most about apartment life (now that my noisy upstairs neighbors are pounding on someone else's ceilings), is my complete inability to control the pest population in my apartment. I can clean for days, but I can't control the people that I share my walls with. The thought makes me a little nauseous.

So when I woke up this morning to Steven informing me that our dog had fleas (again), I cursed Frontline for it's inability to do anything worthwhile, and set out to de-bug my apartment for the millionth time again.

So here's what I need... help! What are your favorite bug killers? We're trying the new Raid Bug Barrier stuff (that's supposed to kill roaches ... don't even get me started on how I feel about roaches). And I have my trust bug zapper and ant/roach traps set. But what else can I do?? Especially for the fleas. My poor baby is bug-free now, but I can't spend the whole summer fighting this battle.

Steven's Favorite Chicken Recipie

Ashley over at Spoonfuls of Sugar is looking for some chicken recipes, so I thought I'd share one of our favorites!

The first thing that Steven's mom ever cooked when I was over was her Parmesan Chicken (not to be confused with Chicken Parmesan).  It's really easy to make and I love it too. Steven likes to dip the chicken strips in ranch dressing. I typically serve with Mac & Cheese and a frozen veggie (I love the steam-in-the-bag kind, because I'm lazy).

Donna's Chicken Parmesan
You Need:
2 Eggs
1 Cup Parmesan Cheese (either finely grated or in cheap powder form)
1 Cup Flour
1 lb Chicken Breast or Chicken Breast Tenders
Butter

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Beat the eggs with a little water in a bowl large enough to dip chicken tenders in.
Mix the flour and cheese together very well (again in a bowl large enough to dip the tenders)
Trim the chicken and slice into tenders then pat dry.
Dip the chicken in the egg mixture
Coat well with the flour/cheese mixture.
Place on cookie sheet and top each tender with a TINY bit of butter or butter spray.
Bake 15-20 minutes, until chicken is no longer pink and the juices run clear.

A Legacy

Can you tell I'm incredibly bored at work today... thus the multiple posts. In thinking about life, and the concept that I am, inevitably becoming my mother in at least some ways, I started thinking back further. To my grandparents, great grandparents, and beyond. How did their lives influence mine? That reminded me of something I wrote during my single-semester stint at the Baylor Lariat during college. There's more to come on this topic, but I wanted to get it started.

Old legacy still guides young lives

April 21, 2006

My grandparents would have celebrated their 54th wedding anniversary this week, but they didn't because when I was only 2 years old, my Papa Bill went home to Jesus.

Being so small, I only understood that he was gone. I had no idea what an effect his life would have on mine.

My father and his brothers and sister still talk about their childhood and the man my grandfather was. I can hear the love he and my grandmother shared in her voice whenever she's speaks of him.

A few years ago at a family reunion, my uncle put together a slideshow of my grandfather's life, and for the first time I realized what a legacy one person could leave behind. Even my siblings and cousins, who never knew him, understand that his and my grandmother's relationship with each other, and eventually with God, is the foundation for our family and for our future.

Sixteen years later, when my other dearly-loved grandfather went to heaven, I saw all of this again, only this time I understood it.

These two men are more than just part of my gene pool. They are figures who guided their families through good times and bad, who probably made as many bad decisions as good ones. And yet it is the good ones that we remember. The moments of laughter, and sometimes of tears, are what make up the history of our lives.

The stories of my grandparents and my parents will be passed onto my children and grandchildren. Stories of the past are what intrigue and entertain the children of the future.

In two weeks I will finish my third year here at Baylor. In one more year I'll be gone, out to make my mark on the world.

That thought terrifies me. I spend most of my time trying to convince myself that I can graduate and get out of college without actually entering "the real world."

But that's reality. Most of my friends are already carefully planning out the next few years of their lives. New jobs, homes and marriages will make up the next few years. The beginnings of a thousand legacies will be born. One of my grandmothers was 17 when she got married; the other was only a few years older. Neither side of my family was ever wealthy, but the wealth of love and history they provided has passed down to their children and to me and the other grandchildren.

I can only hope that I can have as much success as they did.

So here's the "food for thought," what's the legacy of your family? What kind of legacy will you leave behind?

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

I really had no intentions of ever writing anything near a rant or diatribe about anything political. I just wanted to write about my life, and hope that in some way it would be able to touch someone else’s. But over the past few days, I have seen things via email and Facebook that I find simply sickening. As Christians we are called to live in the world and not of it. We are called out to be different. For eight years, my family and friends prayed for George W. Bush, the President of the United States, and asked God to guide his steps through some of the most trying times our nation has seen in recent years.

In November of 2008, our candidate of choice, John McCain, lost the Presidential Election to Barack Obama. From the beginning of his candidacy, many people I know called him out as being everything from a Muslim invader to the anti-christ.

While he is by no means my favorite President, I have tried to look only at the facts of a situation, and tried to believe that he is doing what he believes is right. I may not agree with what he does, but I do believe that, if nothing else, he deserves our respect and our prayers because he is the leader of our nation. The position of President deserves respect, even if you don’t respect the person in the position.

God called us to be His people, to live by His rules in the world He created. I can’t imagine that he is happy with our behavior.

Does this sound like something God would be happy to see in his inbox?

“From a minister:......
We were in slow-moving traffic the other day and the car in front of us had an Obama bumper sticker on it. It read: "Pray for Obama. Psalm 109:8".
My husband's Bible was lying on the dash board & he got it & opened it up to the scripture & read it. He started laughing & laughing. Then he read it to me. I couldn't believe what it said. I had a good laugh, too.
Psalm 109:8 "Let his days be few; and let another take his place of leadership.”
At last - I can voice a Biblical prayer for our president!
Look it up - it is word for word! Let us all bow our heads and pray!”

Do you think that if He saw you join this Facebook group He would “like” it?

“DEAR LORD, THIS YEAR YOU TOOK MY FAVORITE ACTOR, PATRICK SWAYZIE. YOU TOOK MY FAVORITE ACTRESS, FARAH FAWCETT. YOU TOOK MY FAVORITE SINGER, MICHAEL JACKSON. I JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW, MY FAVORITE PRESIDENT IS BARACK OBAMA. AMEN”

I don’t know about your god, but my God believes that everyone, including the dirtiest prostitute and the lowliest fisherman, is worth saving. I’m ashamed that my brothers and sisters in Christ would be PROUD to pass this trash around. I may not like Obama, but I’ll still be praying for him every day of his presidency, and come November 2012, I’ll be praying for God to place the right person in leadership of our country. If you want to reach out to your community, and bring the lost to Christ, don’t participate in this kind of garbage.

I am far from perfect, and don’t claim to do everything right. But I know I have lost respect for some good, Godly men and women, because of their lack of respect for our leadership. I'm sure I have done things that have hurt my witness too, so please don't take this as me judging you. I just think it's time for a wake up call for everyone.

**EDIT**
Please don't get me wrong, I don't have any problem at all with satire or making fun of the President. I think that's just part of the way things are, and should be. What I'm not OK with are the people who are offended when it's someone they support being made fun of, and then doing the same thing when they don't support the person in office. I also think there is a big difference between satire, and praying for someone to die.

Oh dear...

I just ironed 10 shirts in one sitting, because I decided that it just wasn't acceptable to be so wrinkled. Forget mother, I'm becoming my Nonnie!

Seriously though... what's with this domestic streak? I'm actually excited about cooking dinner all week!

I apologize....

I am a very bad blogger. And I'm sorry. I want to say that it’ll get better, but let’s be honest. It’s a process. Maybe I’ll get inspired soon! But hey, at least I’m posting now, right?

Since my last post, some interesting things have happened. My dad is having surgery later this month, we went on vacation, and I changed jobs (again … seriously, sometimes I think that I may have a problem with work-commitment – more like I fall in love with jobs that are temporary).

The entire time we were packing and prepping to leave for vacation, I was excited. Not only because I was going to Disney World (pictures coming soon, I promise!), but because I just KNEW that I was going to prove one way that I was not like my mother. Now don’t get me wrong; most of the time I am beyond proud that I am becoming the kind of woman she is. BUT there are those little things that our parents do when we are children that we swore we would never do. Travel just happens to trigger one of those memories for me.

You see, every time we prepared for a trip, near or far, long or short, no matter what the purpose, my mother cleaned our house, and we were forced to help….. ok, well, no. She tried to get us to help and we resisted at all costs. My mom always wanted to return home from a trip to a clean house. I, on the other hand, could really care less. Of course, those of you who saw my room any time from say… 5 years old until college graduation, would not find this shocking. 

I love my husband dearly, but Steven is not exactly … proficient (?) at packing and preparing for travel, which means that I do the prep work. This consists of me instructing him to count out 7 pairs of socks, underwear, etc, while I examine his selected wardrobe to make sure that it (sort of) matches. We also tend to put off laundry and packing until the last possible second, which leaves very little time for tidying up after the packing is complete. What can I say? I’m a flawed woman.

For these reasons, among others, upon our return from a fun, but exhausting trip to Florida, I came home to my house, that, let’s me honest, looked like a tornado hit it. And that’s when I discovered that, much to my dismay, my mom was right. It’s awful to come home to a dirty house, and there’s nothing worse then having to clean when all you want to do is nap and recover from your vacation!

So here’s to my mom yet again! You were right, and I was wrong. BUT I will still, never ever ever make my children clean on their first day of a break from school.

Oh, who am I kidding? I’m sure I will, and when I do, I’m sure I’ll understand why you did the same thing.