Yes, this is the book I stole my profile blurb from. Isn't it such a good title? It just sums up life all in one phrase . . . marvelous! I just finished the book actually and I really enjoyed it! So much so, that I started a book club with it.

Amali-Tales Part 2

1) One morning Amalia told me she is getting big and will soon be big like me. I said, "That's right Amalia. You are getting big. But Amalia, don't get big too fast. Mommy will miss her little Amali-Bear very much." Amalia comes over, puts her arms around me and says, "Its ok Mommy. Don't cry."

2) We use the spanish word for kisses sometimes which is "besos." But the other day Amalia said she wanted some "kissos" before bed.

3) Random Conversation with a 3 Year Old - This Scares Me!!!
Amalia: (proclaiming out of the blue) I love Noah.
Me: (after getting over the initial shock) Really. What Noah are you talking about?
Amalia: from soccer
Me: Oh. Why do you love him?
Amalia: Because he loves me and he's a nice guy.
Me: (trying not to laugh) How do you know he loves you?
Amalia: Because he thinks about me everyday.
Me: (trying REALLY hard not to laugh out loud) How do you know?
This is where she conveniently changed the subject on me. Where does she get these things?!?!?!?! I honestly don't think she has ever even had a conversation with this little guy! Crack me up!!!!

4) Amalia's Prayer Last Night:
"Dear Jesus, thank you for my family and friends and for a fun time at soccer. But God, we didn't go to the park today and Riley couldn't come over, but that's ok because it was too late anyway and she can come over tomorrow. Amen."

The Header

This morning I woke up with a million things on my mind and to tell you the truth, the thought of it all stressed me out, and right away I was already looking ahead at my day with a sort of dread. There were things waiting to get checked off the "to do" list, so I started in on them full steam ahead, and the tyranny of the urgent consumed me. You know when you're reading along in a book and you see a small number beside a word, you go down to the bottom of the page, find that number and voila, there's a little footnote to explain that word or sentence. A reference. It's always helpful, but very minute and not actually part of the main document. That's God in my day sometimes. An, "oh yeah, and this is where I squeeze God into my life" kind of note. Right in the middle of all of that, God told me to stop and spend some time with him, and I have to admit, this is the last thing I wanted to do. I was telling God, "Oh God, do I hafta? I've got a million things to do today and this is really going to slow me down." But I sat down to spend time with my God. And as I was praying, the world I was just consumed in started to fade. The urgent didn't seem so urgent anymore and God's agenda which was farthest from my mind a minute ago came to the forefront.

The God of the Bible is certainly not a footnote. He is the header in our life's story. He is the main idea, the bottom line, the meat and potatoes, the essence, the conclusion and the crux. He is the nitty-gritty. He is the nuts and bolts. Deuteronomy 4:24 says He is a consuming fire. In John 15:5, Jesus says, I am the vine; you are the branches . . . apart from me you can do nothing." He is the bread of life (John 6:35). He is the light of the world (John 8:12). He is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6). He is our life source. HE IS! Romans 11:36 says, "For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever! Amen."

That said, the whole of what it means to follow Jesus can be summed up in just one verse, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and love your neighbor as yourself . . . do this and you will live (Luke 10:27-28). We are to be consumed in God and his purpose to show his love to others. Try writing that in your daily planner each day. It changes your schedule just a bit, doesn't it? I know, there are still those day to day chores and troubles we all have to deal with, but it would keep us from getting buried in those things. Instead, be buried in Jesus Christ. "Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God" (Col. 3:2-3). It is like entering another reality. You're in the world, but not consumed by it.

When I plug into my life source (Jesus Christ), I am filled with peace and joy, and my day doesn't seem so daunting after all. In fact, I look forward to the adventure. It makes me think of that old hymn,

"Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace."

This is what God has been teaching me. What has he been teaching you?

Amali-Tales

1). When Adrian calls, I answer my phone, "Hey babe . . . " so after I got off the phone with him the other day, Amalia asks, "Was that babe?"

2). She LOVES the song "John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt." She likes to sing it with me every night before bed.

3). I was teaching Amalia a 3 part song in which one of the parts goes, "one bottle of pop, two bottles of pop, three bottles of pop . . . " I sang it and then asked Amalia is sing it back to me. She piped in, "one lollipop, two lollipops, three lollipops . . . "

4). She loves to "help" bake cookies and do laundry

5). Amalia is a bit of a drama queen when it comes to bumps and bruises so when she hurts herself, I pick her up, dust her off, give her a hug and tell her, "You'll be ok. See, there's no blood." So the other day we were swimming and I was trying to show her how to do a back flip under the water and I smacked my face on the bottom of the pool. Amalia comes over and puts her arm around me and says, "You'll be ok. There's no blood."

6). The last two consecutive mornings the very first words out of her mouth were, "Mommy, I want to play Candyland." She LOVES this game right now. There is a character called "Gramma Nutt" but she calls her "Peanut Gramnut."

7). Amalia just told me this morning that she likes freckles and wants to someday have freckles like me.

8). While driving around doing errands yesterday, Amalia proclaims (out of the blue) from the back seat, "Mommy, the park makes me happy." I was wondering if this was a hint . . .

9). She loves broccoli right now. Everytime we're in the store, she wants to pick out her own broccoli. She also likes to help me wash it when I'm making it for dinner and later I notice little nibbles out of the top.

10). Yesterday, Luci and I were going over our grocery list of what we need at Costco. Amalia pipes in from the backseat, "And toys! They have a lot of toys."

Rain

I love this little video by Rob Bell. Rain always comes . . . in our lives. It just does. Its a fact. But atleast we know the Lord is near and that He can see the end and knows the way out.

This Is All That I Have

I was having coffee with a friend just recently. She was looking for some answers to relationship issues she is having. So I was thinking of what I could say to encourage her. I am not in the least bit an expert on this. Maybe I could suggest one of those self help books. I have read my fair share of them, mostly christian ones. You know, the ones that have a seven step process to wedded bliss and the ones that tell you ___ + ___ = the perfect life (you can fill in the blanks). The formula ones. Or the ones that give you a list of rules to follow and then everything will turn out alright. To be honest, I have met people who are quite good at following rules, lists and formulas and some of them are jerks. And those books usually just frustrate me more than anything. I finish the book determined to "get it right this time" and then mess up big time soon after and I am back to square one. And on top of that, I eventually forget what I have read and must continually relearn things. Maybe a marriage seminar or retreat? I come away from them so encouraged, but to tell you the truth, as soon as I get home and into the schedule, I slip right back into former ways. Plus, they are really expensive! Maybe I could tell her that she needs to go to church more, listen to hymn cds in the car and find more Christian friends who also listen to hymn cds in the car . . . no, not that either because I don't even listen to hymn cds in the car. So where can she find answers? Are there any answers or are we all just swirling around in confusion only achieving success by pure luck?

The only thing I could come up with worth telling her about is the only thing that has ever brought any transformation in my life . . . that being my relationship with the living God and Creator of all things including me (a.k.a Jesus Christ). The one who came to heal the broken hearted and set the captives free (Isa. 61:1). I'm not talking about going to church and reading the Bible. That would be like saying I'm best buds with Abe Lincoln because I visited his house and read his biography. No, I'm talking about an actual day-to-day relationship with Jesus Christ. He talks to me, I talk to him. Sounds crazy, I know. But when he speaks truth into my life, all of the sudden a light goes on and I am forever set free from that struggle.

I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won't have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life. ~Jesus (John 8:12 NLT)

I don't know of anyone else who can do that, so just maybe the answers aren't in a formula or in a set of rules or "religion" and God actually created us to be relational to have our needs met by closeness with him. Just maybe this Jesus is a whole lot bigger than we think and just maybe we can depend him to get us through life.

Pink Umbrella - Part 2

I went to pick up Amalia at Nana's yesterday and guess what she came home with from Wal-Mart . . . yes, you guessed it, a new umbrella complete with princesses and ruffles (Grandparents are such softies!) Later that night when I was putting Amalia to bed and she wanted to pray, I said, "Why don't you thank Jesus for your new umbrella." So she starts praying, "Dear God, thank you for . . . thank you for . . . " and then turns to me and whispers, "I forgot." I whispered back, "umbrella" and then she continued praying, "Thank you God for french fries and my umbrella."