Does God Care? Part 2

Just to let ya'll know, I made it! I stayed awake long enough last night to put that load of laundry in the dryer, so I had clean undies for church this morning! I know everyone was just dying to know this!

Every summer we go to the Outer Banks with my husband's college roommate and his family. Johnny and I have the same dumb sense of humor that just makes people shake their heads. This morning my husband said that when we go to the beach this year, he's going to hold an intervention for Johnny and I!

Does God Care?

I had just shut off my computer for the night and was about to go snuggle down in my bed with a book. We have church tomorrow, so we'll have to get up early. Then I realized that the 2 loads of laundry I did today didn't include any underwear. I have no clean skivvies for tomorrow! I then thought, "Does God care if I wear dirty underwear to church?" After a debate with myself, I decided that no, He wouldn't care, but I certainly would! So I headed to my laundry room and threw in a load of wash. Now I have to stay awake long enough to get it into the dryer.

If I fall asleep before the washer is done and then forget to throw the load into the dryer first thing in the morning, it'll be dirty underwear for me! If this happens, I'll let you all know if God cares! (Perhaps I shouldn't sit too close to anyone else in the pew in the event that I'm struck with a lightening bolt!)

Miscellaneous Topics

I received a comment yesterday from Cindy about my blog. It was just the jolt I needed to post on here again. (Thanks Cindy for your kind comment.) I get so busy during the school year with work and my family that I don't get around to posting on a regular basis. If you've noticed, I mainly blog during the summer when I'm off and during my Christmas break. So here are just some random things going on in my life.

Since I work for a Christian preschool, our staff participates in a Bible study every school year. We've been doing Beth Moore's study on Daniel. It is FASCINATING! The first half is about integrity and the second half is on prophecy. Last school year our staff went out to Sight and Sound in Lancaster and saw their performance of Daniel. It was wonderful as are all of their shows. I've really enjoyed learning about prophecy and the end times. As you can see on my book list, I've recently read Armageddon, Oil and Terror and What in the World is Going On? I've always felt completely ignorant about what all the hoopla is about concerning the Middle East. These books helped me understand it a bit better, as well as, giving me a better grasp on the end times. I'm getting ready to read Jerusalem Countdown by John Hagee. I know he preaches on TV, but I'm not one to watch televangelists, so I'm not sure how reputable he is. If anyone has any knowledge of him, please let me know.

Here's a funny.........Our Bible verse at my school this month has been on the Fruits of the Spirit. At the end of each month, we ask each student to try to say the Bible verse on his/her own and then we give them a little certificate and a sticker. Well, one of my little girls was singing it to me and she replaced gentleness with easiness! I just cracked up! (These kids are only 4.) And did you know that one of the books of the Bible is Jennifer? One year when we were teaching the verse Genesis 1:1, one of the kids kept saying Jennifer 1:1. Very cute!

My younger son, who is 11, admitted to me the other night that he likes a girl! He turned red and giggled. What's a mommy to do?! My 14 year old still isn't into girls yet and claims he's never getting married. My younger son is my self-proclaimed mama's boy who always wants to live with me or near me. And now he has set his sights on another "woman"! I'm devastated! Well, if he has to have a crush, at least it's on a girl I like and know. We know her family too.

Eric and I celebrated our 19th wedding anniversary this week! We went out to dinner by ourselves. It was the most expensive meal we've ever had! The waitress even put my napkin in my lap for me! How swanky!

I went to my first dog agility competition this week. One of my acquaintances from church choir (I'm just getting to know her) was competing with one of her dogs. I've always wanted to see one of these in person. I've also always wondered if our dog could be trained to do agility. It was fun and interesting, but I don't think I have the time to do the training. Plus a competition can take up an entire weekend. Maybe once the boys are grown.........

I know I still need to do part 2 of my "Fall"ing Down post. I just haven't been in the mood to do it. Hopefully, I'll get to it soon.

Oh, one of my neighbors sent me this really cool YouTube link today. (It has a Christian message.) I'm going to try to put it on here. We'll see if I'm successful. I just bought the book Google Blogger for Dummies because every time I try to do something on my blog it doesn't work!

For now just know, "He is before all things, and in him all things hold together." Colossians 1:17 (Click on the YouTube link and you'll understand this.)

Frugal Friday

I can't stand paying for kitchen trash bags and have been trying to come up with a suitable alternative. When I ordered a coat for my son for Christmas, the envelope it arrived in was more like a large plastic bag. I was thrilled because I realized I could recycle this "envelope" and use it as a trash bag. (It takes very little to thrill me.) Ladies (and gents), we just have to be on our toes and be creative!

Another way to save on kitchen trash bags is to just have less trash. My church has a dumpster in the parking lot for recycling paper. The church gets a certain amount of money for every pound of paper it collects. So I can stretch my dollars, save the environment and "give" to my church in one fell swoop!

I also like to find creative ways to disguise birthday and Christmas gifts for my children. At Christmas I used a round tube like box that originally held dishwasher detergent concentrated packs. I put the gift in the box with some tissue paper for padding and wrapped it up. I've saved the box for future use. I think I may be able to make a sort of gift bag out of it if I put a handle on it and cover the box with some pretty wrapping paper. I've also saved an empty racquet ball container that I'll probably use to put a gift card and some candy in the next time one of my kids has a birthday party to go to. I am not an unusually creative person, so if I can think of these things, so can you!

Oh, scroll down to my post entitled Kings and Queens of Cheap to see what a few people in my local area are doing to save some dough.

Frugal Friday

I've been away from my blog and Frugal Fridays for quite awhile, so forgive me if someone has posted something similar recently.

Today's economy is going to the dogs. Well, at least our pets are feeling the pinch too. The last time we bought dry dog food, we bought a different brand because it was on sale and half the price of our dog's regular food. We usually add a spoonful of canned dog food to Otto's meal to give it some extra flavor. Lately, we've been trying some alternatives to the canned food in order to save a little money. (I know, you could argue that we don't need to give him canned food at all, but have a heart!)

Our 11-year-old likes soup for lunch but never seems to finish his bowl. We just put it in the fridge and spoon some over Otto's dry food at meal time. I know this may not be the healthiest thing for a dog, but on occasion I think it's okay. My husband made a pot roast in the crock pot for our Christmas dinner. He put carrots and onions in with the meat. I can't stand carrots, and our kids don't like cooked carrots, so Ots has gotten a few of those too. This is just a small way we can stretch our dog food budget.

We also have a rabbit. The litter can be expensive, especially if you want some odor control. I recently read that some people just use shredded paper for litter. My husband works from home and has a paper shredder, so I think I'm going to try this. I'll probably use have litter and half paper and gradually see how far I can go before odor becomes a problem. Plus, I'm a little concerned as to whether shredded paper is healthy for the rabbit.

We received some seed catalogs in the mail this week, and my husband began plotting out this summer's garden. He has decided to grow carrots (again, not my favorite) in order to feed the rabbit.

On another note.......when you visit your local Salvation Army or Goodwill stores, remember to check out their dishes & knick-knack section. Just before Christmas I found a Norman Rockwell Christmas mug for $.99 (I love Norman!) and a cute snowman cookie plate for $2.99. I was thrilled with these finds!