Short physics lesson

2-year old: Mommy, why does everything drop?
me: Gravity.
2-year old: Oh.

My daughter never would have let me stop there. If YOU need more information, try this.

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He is faithful

We are officially (and legally) and two-car family again! Woo Hoo! Confused? Click here and here for the rest of the story.

We received a message from the owners last Friday that they had found the title, and we had it in our hot little hands by Saturday afternoon. It only took me four days, two trips to the DMV, and one very cantankerous fax to complete all the other paperwork. Thank you, Internets, for your prayers. I’m sure they were influential. (Actually, that phone message from the owners had been lost in voice mail hell for at least a few weeks.)

I’m accepting suggestions for what to name this baby. Here’s another view:

She’s a blue 1995 Hond@ Odyssey. (I’m pretty sure she’s a female.)

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You know you’re tired when…

…you put conditioner on your underarm hair. Oh, yes. It’s true. I have the softest underarm hair in the ‘burbs. And I had just shaved; so who really knows? Perhaps I was thinking about this.

It’s germ city around here. I have been trying to scrub and Lysol in between pretending to watch television while drooling too much on the couch pillows and listening to my children argue about whether it’s time for Spongebob or Thomas. (PLEASE, do NOT tell SAHMmy.)

Look Ma, it’s a meme! Stephanie of bad mom AND A-lister has tagged me for yet another meme. This one’s called the Fab Four Meme. I am grateful, for I have nothing else to say at the moment.

4 jobs I have held ~

1. Camp counselor at a music camp in Maine – not great for the pocketbook, but Oh so nice for the spirit. Summer in Maine is like nothing else. Got my first peek at the Northern Lights.
2. Language Lab Assistant – I was the person who started the tapes you had to listen to in your intro college language course. I could even listen in on you practicing your pronunciation; or whisper in your ear if we were pals.
3. Reference Librarian – Doesn’t require that you know everything, just how to find everything out.
4. Second violinist – Because I am a Lutheran. As Garrison Keillor says, “The second violin section is attractive to Lutherans because these people are steady, supportive and helpful, but look who it is they help–they help out the first violins. You want to play second fiddle to that crowd? (No, I hope not.) One thing you may not know about second violins is that the parts are so easy they never practice and they wind up staying out late in singles bars on the freeway near the airport and dancing with software salesmen. But I guess that’s their way.” — from Young Lutheran’s Guide to the Orchestra

4 films I could watch again and again

1. Princess Bride (“Have fun stormin’ the castle!”)
2. It’s a Wonderful Life
3. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory – the 1970′s version
4. The Sound of Music

4 TV shows I watch (if “watching” means listening to a bit every few weeks while I clean the kitchen or cook dinner, or finding a moment on Saturday when no one else requires me or the television) I don’t really watch TV much anymore. And I don’t have cable:

1. Oprah
2. Dr. Phil
3. Real Simple
4. Simply Ming

4 places I have lived (not including my current home):

1. Woodruff, South Carolina
2. Kent, Ohio
3. Chapel Hill, North Carolina
4. Charlotte, North Carolina

4 favorite foods:

1. eggrolls
2. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
3. tempura shitake maki
4. Coca-Cola

4 websites I visit everyday:

1. Google Reader (to check on my blog BFFs)
2. My Yahoo
3. Gmail
4. My blog stats (do I care too much?)

4 of my favorite colors:

1. the many shades of brown
2. the green of God’s green earth
3. the yellow of my childhood bedroom walls
4. pink on anyone but me

4 places I’d like to be right now:

1. lying on the massage table listening to cheesy New Age music and smelling the aromatherapy oils that are being kneaded into my back
2. on a beach in Hawaii sipping a frosty drink with a little tiny umbrella inside it
3. in a cafe on the Rive Gauche sipping a deep red wine
4. on a romantic overnite with my man

4 names I like but wouldn’t or couldn’t use myself:

1. Clyde
2. Naomi
3. Grayson
4. Grace

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It’s baaa-ack…Caption this #6

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Middle name meme

Cindy, over at Still His Girl, tagged me for a meme! I’m giddy ‘cuz I’m still a newbie blogger and I’ve never actually been tagged before. So, pardon my nerdy excitement.

The rules:

List one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. Write your own blog post containing your middle name facts. At the end, choose one person to tag for each letter of your middle name. Then leave them a comment telling them they have been tagged.”

I’d been thinking about doing this one since I saw it at Sincerely Anna’s. (How cute is she in that Rachel Ray pose?) And then, of course, Fried Okra put her inevitable brilliant spin on it. So the tag was just the gentle shove I needed to get to it.

My middle name is Faith. Growing up, no one else ever had that middle name, which I secretly loved. It meant a lot to me that my parents chose a “virtue” name for me, and also that no one else in my family had a virtue name. I felt special.

I always treasured 1 Cor. 13: 13:

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

– fun-loving. I’m the youngest of four girls; and although I was shy, I learned to ham it up in typical youngest child fashion. My husband, also the baby, brings out my silly side.

– artsy. I took to music right away as a young’un, and “taught” myself to play the piano. My mom was so impressed, she marched right out and signed me up for piano lessons, which I soaked up like a sponge. Later, I took up the violin, which I still play like the seasoned amateur that I am.

- introverted. I’ve come to realize late in life that I really do love you people, I just need you to leave me alone every now and then.

– talented. Fried Okra says I have the ability to make difficult tasks look effortless. Unfortunately, growing up, that talent translated into a lazy streak since many things came easily to me. I know, my life is hard; I’m a little high maintenance.

– humble. I’ve always been what you might call meek. But basically I just know when to shut up. I’m still cultivating true humility.

Since, I’m such a newbie, just about all of my bloggy friends have already done this one. But, bad mom, if you haven’t taken a stab at this one, I feel a list coming on. How about you, MamaLady? Emily, I’m waiting on you. Anyone else wanna share? Buehler, Buehler…

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The Lord giveth…and the Lord taketh away – More of the story

Strangely, one of the more popular posts on my blog is this one, titled ‘The Lord giveth…and the Lord taketh away’. Turns out, people like to search for this phrase on search engines and often end up here. I can’t help but wonder how they feel when they find me rambling on about my frugality and the names of our cars.

I have wanted to update this post, and, since I’m me, I’ve wanted things to be all wrapped up in a nice, neat little package before I did so. But, part of the impetus to first write the post was God’s teaching me to hold onto things a little more loosely, to rely on his daily provision, to not need to see so far down the road while still moving forward.

Lots of things have happened since that first post. Blackie has gone off to live at the big junkyard in the sky. And we are not currently considering trading the Hond@ because we found another car that seemed to be a good possible second vehicle. In fact, the possible second vehicle is currently sitting in our driveway. We were able to drive it for several weeks, take it to two mechanics, negotiate an acceptable deal with the owners, and now…things are stalled. The registration is expired, the owner’s can’t find the title, and we wait. We wait, saving on gas and insurance, riding bicycles lots of places, and honing our transportation-planning and communication skills.

I don’t know what comes next. I try not to be impatient. I am thankful for God’s daily provision. It is always enough.

Be glad for all God is planning for you. Be patient in trouble, and always be prayerful. ~Romans 12:12

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“God-posts” #2

During my bloggy break, I had the privilege of again finding His fingerprints in the pages of your blogs. Here are a few of my favorite “God-posts” from the last few weeks:

An Angel Called at It Coulda’ Been Worse – Coincidence, or divine love and care at work?

Perfection isn’t always shiny at Owlhaven – I always marvel at how her and her hubby’s love for their kids so closely mirrors God’s love for us. This short post speaks volumes.

Hello I Must Be Going at BooMama’s – He cares about every part of us and honors the state of our heart. Is it a miracle that BooMama decided not to worry about her wardrobe or the state of her roots? It touched my heart, y’all.

A Rock, or The Rock? at At a Hen’s Pace – Perfect material for pondering while watching “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.”

Birth-Day: Brother’s Story at This Simple Life – She is fearfully and wonderfully made

Not even one stanza of Just as I am at Sincerely Anna’s – the sweetest conversion story you’ll ever read. What a good Mama, and what a good God.

Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. ~Joel 2:13

Thank you all for pointing to Him

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Pimple on God’s b*tt

God has been teaching me about humility in the last year or two. And I have been asking what an authentically humble me looks like.

Yesterday, I stood in front of my church and said these words:

I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

(~1 Tim. 1: 12-17)

I admit, I was embarrassed to stand up there and read these words from the second lesson of the day. I felt naked. I felt like I was confessing my own sins.

Too often, I tell myself, “I’m not so bad.” “So-and-so is a lot worse than me.” But I felt God letting me “try on” Paul’s authentic humility to see what it felt like, to let me practice being comfortable in a humble spirit.

I know that to really be used of God, I have to be comfortable saying, “I am the worst.” Not to dwell there and spiral down in shame, but to be aware of what I would really be without Him; to be aware that He is the only reason I am ever “not so bad;” to shake off the subtle arrogance that whispers, “You’re such a good girl; they’re not really talking about you;” to examine what I really believe about myself; to always and only give Him the glory.

I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord. To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

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Best of Blog in my Eye

for your reading pleasure until there are fresh posts:

Blog v*rgin (my first post)
Blessed Trinity
I am from
My most adventurous moment
Lovin’ ‘em at the grocery store
Jesus Bread (by hubs)
Egg carton car
Motherhood is

Don’t see your favorite post? Tell me about it.

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Nuthin’ t’ say

I seem to have fallen into introvert mode lately. I’m doing what I tend to do in conversations at parties–where I just start people watching, and soakin’ up life, and don’t tend to say too much. Fun for me…but not very interesting to you folks in bloggity-ville. You’ll see me around commenting on your blogs, but I think I’ll just take a little bloggy break here until I have something more to say. My new fall schedule is soaking up my precious little blogging time, and that is as it should be at the moment.

Megan at Fried Okra blogged today about our visit with Jeanne at At a Hen’s Pace last night, which was very fun. Jeanne is so cute and tiny; she looks like a little teenager. I don’t think I’d found a picture of her on her blog, so you’ll just have to imagine her tiny, hip self. We were all bad bloggers, and there was no photo documentation of the evening (and strangely, Emily, no large underwear). I see now that Jeanne has blogged about it too.

I wish that I could go out for coffee with all my new bloggy friends. Y’all are so fun. I’m thankful for the encouragement and wisdom and laughs you have added to my life in recent months.

Sincerely,

Lainey

Here’s some good things to read while you’re thinking about introverts and solitude (if you do such things):

from A Bluebird’s Table

from At a Hen’s Pace

from Queen Heroical 

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