And Keys!

When Mali's grandfather, Tito, goes off to work each day, Nana always asks him right before he leaves if he has his phone, keys and glasses. She always asks him about these 3 important things because it is a big inconvenience to not have them. Yesterday, as Tito was walking to the door to go to work, Nana noticed he already had the keys in his hand, so asked, "Do you have your phone and glasses?" Mali was there and was sitting watching TV seemingly not even paying attention when suddenly she peeks her head out from the big chair she is sitting on and exclaims, "And keys!!" What a crack up! So young, so smart.

A Nice Little Life

John Eldredge, in his book, Walking With God, says this . . .

I want two things that are mutually opposed--I want to live a nice little life, and I want to play an important role in God’s kingdom. And it’s in those times that I am trying to live a nice little life that I make decisions and choices that cause me in small and subtle ways to live outside of Jesus. The shepherd is headed one direction, and I am headed another. Not some flagrant sin—that’s too easy to recognize. Instead, I’m simply wandering off looking for the pasture I deem best. I don’t even think to ask God about it. A very dangerous way of thinking. As Christians we don’t get to live a 'normal' life, and accepting that fact in all the details of our lives is what allows us to remain in Jesus.

When I read this, it really irked me. . . because it is true and truth sheds light on the dark places in our lives. This is my struggle. Sometimes I want this nice little life. You know, the kind that doesn't involve too much pain or sacrifice. The kind that is comfortable and secure. The kind that comes with things, like a nice house, nice vacations, nice "issue-free" people in my life so I don't have to carry other's burdens, nice things like that (not that these things are necessarily harmful, but they can be if they are the focus). But then I also want to live passionately for Christ. I know that my life is not my own, but Christ's.

For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Col. 3:2-3

I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me . . . Gal. 2:20

And in the end, I really don't want a nice little life, because there is no such thing. It is a lie from the evil one. There is only the adventurous life found in Jesus or a meaningless, selfish life. Sounds harsh, I know, but it is true.

Choosing Tragedy Over Safety

This is a great quote I just recently came across . . .

To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries, avoid all entanglements, lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket -safe, dark, motionless, airless - it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy is damnation. The only place you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell. ~C.S. Lewis

Don't Judge Too Quickly

We were on a mission; a mission that took us deep into the indigent neighborhoods of Atlantic City. If you've never been to Atlantic City, you know that although the touristy section is extremely posh, there are also some areas that you should avoid. Those are the areas that we were headed directly to the day my sister and I were on a mission to find recao (the secret ingredient in any good Puerto Rican dish). Recao is awfully hard to find in the north. After stopping at about 4 stores, we FINALLY found it . . . the beloved recao leaves. As we were walking to the car, my sister was explaining to me how we wouldn't want to hang around there at night when a guy (stereotypical for that neighborhood) yells, "Hey, you guys dropped something!" He was holding up a piece of paper that looked about the size of an envelope. Right away, all my red flags went up. I couldn't remember bringing anything with me like that. I quickly looked to see if we had everything we came with. It appeared we did, so I gave the guy a dirty look and yelled, "Whatever!" We got into the car and sped off.
Fast forward about 2 hours. We were in a grocery store in Ocean City when my sister says, "Do you have the grocery list? I can't find it." It then dawned on me that the envelope-sized paper was exactly the same color and size of our grocery list and the poor saint in Atlantic City was just trying to help.

Financial Guru

I never thought of financial magazines as a good read for toddler age children, but apparently I was wrong. When Mali's Aunt Sarah and Uncle Todd came for a visit, Mali sat on the couch with Uncle Todd for over a hour reading with him. She really gets into it too. She even ripped out a couple articles she didn't agree with.

Our Big Helper

Lately, Mali has been our big helper! Here's a couple pix of her helping Papi mow the lawn. She also likes to "help" unload the dishwasher and fold laundry.

Plastic Ice

Today I am very thankful for my icemaker. I know, this seems like such an insignificant thing, but to me, it is WONDERFUL! I happen to love fresh brewed ice tea, but haven't been able to make it very often due to not having ice readily available all the time, and I hate dealing with ice cube trays. That problem is now solved with our new refrigerator which has an ICEMAKER! You have no idea how psyched I am. Now to figure out how to work it . . . last time I had tea, I found little bits of plastic wrap floating around in it. Apparently, I had something wrapped in plastic in the freezer which was pulled into the icemaker and VOILA, plastic ice!

M&M Tax

We have been attempting to potty train Mali. So as a sort of incentive, we give her two M&M's each time she goes. This has been working pretty well. Whenever she goes, I get all excited, shout, "YAY!!!" jump up and down, clap and tell her she gets two M&Ms. So the other day, her grandfather (Adrian's dad), whom she calls "Tito," went to the bathroom. She goes right up to the door to listen (poor Tito, no privacy). As soon as she hears he went, she shouts, "YAY Tito!!! Two M&Ms!" and claps for him. As he is washing his hands, she goes over to Nana to get two M&Ms for him. Unfortunately, both the M&Ms did not make it to Tito. I guess she figured there needed to be a delivery tax, so she ate one on the way and gave one to Tito.

I've Changed

I've changed and I didn't really even realize it. Yesterday, I turned on a Christian radio station I used to like to listen to and agreed with mostly, but I haven't listened to it in a couple years. I was listening for awhile and suddenly realized I didn't agree with this station anymore. The couple programs I listened to painted the picture of Christianity far too negative. It made me not want to be a follower of Jesus. It seemed complicated and burdensome to be a Christain. The whole of Christianity was painted as constantly being worried about sin, falling into it, or trying to stay out of it. Wow, that is not it at all! In fact, that is just the opposite. Christ has made me free from all that and sees me as His precious child without sin (through His grace and Spirit). Being a follower of Christ means being free, declared righteous, not bound by a legalistic system of checks and balances. Check out Galatians 3! Condemnation causes fear and comes from the evil one, but Jesus sets us free and makes our lives bright! The funny thing is I kept listening awhile. I think because I was glad to learn that I've changed.