A few things...

1.) Wow! I drank caffeinated coffee this morning! I feel like the insides of me are having a "jump on the bed like a little kid" party. I very rarely EVER drink more than a couple sips of caffeine. I usually drink decaf coffee. Apparently this is why. I think I'm typing much faster than normal. And talking faster. Moving faster. Washing dishes faster. Which brings me to...

2.)My dishwasher is broken. I almost panicked when I realized that Caleb would not be fixing it in 5 minutes so I could wash the huge load of dirty dishes that was crammed into it. Strangely, though, I am enjoying (?) washing dishes by hand.

I can't believe I just said that.

Some days it's the only time I stand still and do one thing and just think. Well, except when Ava's attempting to climb my leg and screaming. But still, it makes me stand still for a while and every now and then I get a chance to think without all the noise that usually surrounds me.

3.)I LOVE diapers.com!!! I ordered a pair of shoes for Ava yesterday afternoon. Twenty five dollar shoes for ten bucks.

And free shipping.

The Fed Ex Man just dropped them off by my front door.

Less than 24 hour shipping- FREE!

How cool is that!

I'm going to buy alot of stuff from there from now on I have decided.

4.)I love free shipping from anywhere actually. I have done almost all my Christmas shopping on-line so far. I hate to pay shipping. I'd rather pay $20 for something and get free shipping than pay $10 for the same thing and have to pay $5 for shipping. There's something wrong with that, but it's how my brain works, I guess.

5.)We FINALLY got a family picture taken this weekend! Hooray! I'm entirely too excited about that! Wanna see?

Ok. You talked me into it...

Caleb had to photoshop the good picture of Ethan into this pic. It's impossible to get a picture of all of us looking the same direction at the same time. But I figure 5 out of 6 is pretty good! =)

6.)I am having a really hard time getting into "the Christmas spirit" this year. Usually I have Christmas music playing (secretly when Caleb's not home) long before Christmas. And as soon as we get home from Thanksgiving, I'm dying to buy a tree and put the decorations up. But this year it just sounds hard. We don't have room for a Christmas tree.... Who needs a bunch of sugar sitting around their house? And I'm tired of turkey. I've been playing Christmas music trying to make myself feel Christmasy... So far it's not working. I think I need to go to church and sing Christmas hymns with everyone else. Surely "O Holy Night" and "Joy to the World" would do the trick.

7.)We're going to look at a house today. An out-in-the-country house.

Great location.

Great potential.

Which is code for - this house is trashed. I don't think it's been mowed in 2 years. The house needs some - ok alot - of love.

But it's cheap! =) Everyone thinks we're nuts for even considering it. We probably are. Maybe I'll take pictures while we're there today and then you can decide for yourselves whether or not we've lost our minds.

Wow.... Apparently caffeine makes me talk alot.

I'll quit now.

Called to the impossible

A guest speaker at our church last week spoke about Moses. He led us to Exodus where God calls Moses to free His people.
Moses argues.
He feels inadequate.
He wants help.
And then he goes anyway.
He obeys.
The call of God is impossible for him to escape.
So Moses gets to Egypt and begins ordering Pharoah (probably the most powerful man in the world) to "Let my people go." Pharoah doesn't like that so much and makes the Israelite slaves' lives more miserable than they already were. Moses obeys God's impossible call on his life and fails. He goes to God to ask some relevant questions. I imagine Moses' side of the conversation like this:
"Hello! God? Remember me? The guy who was happily married with two kids and a bunch of sheep, living in a tent in the wilderness? You went out of your way to ask me to leave my life and do an impossible job for you. I was a little worried that you hadn't thought the plan through very thoroughly, so I asked you a few questions and You promised to help me out. So here I am, and, well Your genius plan isn't working out so great. Now Pharoah AND Your people that You sent me to deliver hate me. I've made Your people's lives more terrible than they were before. I'm a failure. Are You SURE You know what You're doing??? When are You gonna let me in on plan B?"
And instead of striking Moses with lightening for questioning His plan, it's like God has Moses right where He wants him. God doesn't tell Moses to try harder or give him a better plan to "win friends and influence people." He says:
"Now you shall see what I will do."
"I am the LORD."
"I appeared."
"I also established."
"I have heard."
"I have remembered."
"I am the LORD."
"I will bring you out."
"I will deliver you."
"I will also redeem you."
"I will take you for my people."
"I will be your God."
"I am the LORD your God."
"I will bring you to the land."
"I will give it to you."
"I am the LORD."
Exodus 6:1-8
Getting the point yet?
It's like He's saying, "Hey! Look at Me! You just sit back and watch Me work. I am God. I will do it. By myself. I have promised. You watch and see."
Ever feel like Moses?
"Pretty sure you've given me an IMPOSSIBLE job here, God! Have you noticed? Do you care??"
I feel that way practically every day.
It's so encouraging to me to know that that's exactly where God wants me. Helpless. Utterly dependent on Him and His power.