The Phone Call

"Nevertheless, each one should retain the place in life that the Lord assigned to him and to which God has called him..." I Corinthians 7:17

I received an unexpected phone call yesterday.  It was from one of the Deans from my former law school who was calling to see if I was interested in a particular job offer that had come across her desk.  Despite the fact that the job was not something that I felt qualified for, somehow I made the list of potential candidates.  It was flattering to be considered.  So I thanked the Dean and then explained my current family/work situation.

As I described my current situation to the Dean, I wasn't sure how she would feel about me at that point.  Much to my surprise, she informed me that I had made a very wise decision to not pursue the big firm job right now.  She told me that my work situation was ideal.  And she told me that I had made the right decision as a mother to do what I'm doing.

I almost fell off the couch when I heard that.  Despite the career service lectures that I had heard for 4 years describing the ultimate law career in "big law," someone from career services was agreeing with my decision to not be a big firm lawyer!  Not only that, but the Dean, a mother herself, was actually telling me it was much more important to be a mom right now!  It was a nice confirmation for me to be reminded that I had made the right career choice.

Over the course of the last 6 months, I've come to realize that God wants me where He has me right now.  Despite knowing that I am where I'm supposed to be, I still have days where I wonder what in the world I'm doing.  I really do ask questions like "Why did I ever go to law school?" or "How am I ever going to feel good about doing housework?"  For the record, I don't enjoy housework.  Yet, I know that I'm supposed to be at home doing housework!  And when I start having these kinds of thoughts, I begin to feel sorry for myself and get frustrated. 

Every once in awhile, I need a gentle reminder that I need to accept the place in life that the Lord has assigned to me.  Yesterday's reminder came in a telephone call.  I'm so thankful that God is patient with me and doesn't slap me upside the head every time I start to have doubts or fears.  He is faithful.  He sends His confirmation messages in His own, gentle way. 

Just remember that the next time the phone rings and you don't recognize the number, it might be a telephone call that God wants you to pick up.  That phone call could be a gentle reminder of God's calling for your life.

NFL Pick 'Em Week 5: Playing Like a Girl

Week 5 went very well.  I narrowly lost in my college pick 'em this week but made up my lost point with very successful NFL picks.  I might even pick up another point if Chicago can pull out a win tonight too.  I wish I could say that there was an art to the whole fantasy football thing, but I'm pretty sure there's not.  That said, I've learned a few rules this year that have helped me venture into this male-dominated world of fantasy football.

These are the top 5 rules that I've learned to live by: 

1. All it takes is one lucky week.  That's right folks, in one miraculous week I managed to not only steal the lead, but to OWN the lead in our competition.  But I'm not planning my locker room celebration just yet.  A lot can happen in a little time.  So if you're losing, don't give up.  Time is your friend.
2.  It's ok to make your picks based on team mascots and colors.  Guys often accuse girls of picking teams based on their mascots and colors (or cute quarterbacks.)  And you know what?  I think it's ok to use whatever method you want to pick teams.  You still have a 50/50 chance that you're right.  And in my opinion, those aren't bad odds.
3.  A team that loses one week will sometimes play harder the next week.  Elite athletes don't like to feel like losers any more than the rest of us.  So if they lose one week, they're likely to play better the following week.  Especially if the loss was embarrassing.  (We've seen this phenomenon with Tony Romo.)  So just because a team is on a losing streak doesn't mean you should discount them completely. 
4.  Home field advantage is a true phenomenon.  Teams really do play better at home.  I don't know if it's because of the fans, the referees, or because they're able to sleep in their own beds, but players seem to have a different sort of energy when they play on their own field.  I'm of the opinion that teams are not likely to lose every home game of the year.  So when in doubt, or if you really can't decide who might win, pick the home team. (But stay away from the Colts this season.)
5.  There is no such thing as an expert.  Yahoo and ESPN both have their sports "experts" whose opinions they share in order to help you make your picks.  They pick their games every week and are supposed to have a superior level of football knowledge.  But I've learned that the experts' accuracy is about as poor as Texas meteorologists.  They might know a lot about football, but no one can predict what's actually going to happen on the field.  So unless the expert is also psychic, don't rely solely on their opinion when making your picks.     

Anyone (or man) who thinks that fantasy football requires hours of analysis and strategy is just wasting everybody's time.  I typically spend 15 minutes making my college and NFL picks every Wednesday afternoon.  And then they're done for the week.  By Saturday I usually have to get out my laptop to see who I picked on Wednesday and to start cheering for those teams.  Somehow, this low-stress, matter-of-fact approach has worked quite well.  So the next time you hear a man discussing/rehashing/bemoaning/complaining about/questioning his picks.  Tell him to get a life and play like a girl. 

9 Innings of Hot Dogs, Fireworks, and Squirrels

My oldest son is starting to act like his father.  He's getting really excited about baseball.  He stays glued to the TV when baseball games are on because he wants to see the fireworks that get shot off after homeruns.  In his opinion, baseball is all about the fireworks.

Last weekend, his daddy and grandpas took him to watch the Texas Rangers take on the Tampa Bay Rays in game 2 of the 2011 American League Division series.  This was his first play-off game, and it just made sense that this should be a guy's night.  For days, he was so excited to go with the guys to the game so that he could get a hot dog and see fireworks.

As you can probably tell from the pictures, baseball games don't have quite the same meaning for 3 year olds as they do for their daddies.  My little guy really loved playing with the binoculars.  And then he got really excited about waving his Rangers towel.  At some point, he convinced Daddy to buy him the Ranger hat, a hot dog, a red baseball bat, a foam finger for his little brother, and whatever else he wanted to eat.  This was like a party for the little man.

Last night, my little guy was running around holding his hands up and making strange faces.  When I asked him what he was doing, he told me that he was being a squirrel at a baseball game.  If you haven't seen the footage of the squirrel at the Phillies' game, watch this:

I was thoroughly impressed that my little guy knew about the squirrel.  It obviously made an impression on him when he saw the squirrel on TV. 

Oh to see the world through the eyes of a 3 year old. Everything could be so much funnier.  And baseball games might be so much more exciting.  Who knew that 9 innings could be so much fun?!

Ride 'Em Ranger

My little Texan.  He's riding the horse that Grandpa made the boys, and he's also wearing his Texas Rangers jersey.  Can't really get more Texan than that.  (We'll, I did hear his older brother say the word fixin' the other day.)

This little guy could blissfully ride his horsey for hours.  Oh to be this happy all the time!

Looking Away From the Magic Mirror

"Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity, And revive me in Your ways." Psalm 119:37

I read an article this morning about a lawsuit taking place in Missouri. See Suburban Journal.  A plastic surgeon's patients are suing her for the fact that she had before-and-after topless photos of these women on her website with their names by their pictures.  Although I'm not sure how well the plaintiffs are going to be able to prove damages, I sure do think that in this case, the doctor was wrong.  Not only did the doctor violate HIPAA regulations by advertising her patient's names, but she also completely violated their privacy.  Now the entire world knows about the reconstruction that they've had.  And the world can see it.

There is definitely a time and place for plastic surgery.  Some medical conditions require intervention and reconstruction and I'm totally ok with that.  On the other hand, plastic surgery is, in many ways, a pursuit of vanity.  It's about trying to portray yourself as something idealistic and something you're not.  As a nurse, I had the opportunity to provide post-operative care for many plastic surgery patients.  And I found that many women just wanted the surgery to feel good about themselves. They were discontent, and they were seeking the ideal female image as portrayed in Hollywood. 

Why is it that we, as women, see pictures and think that we have to look like the images portrayed?  Why do we yearn to look like the celebrities that we watch on TV?  Maybe it's because we indulge ourselves by looking at the images in the first place.  Our eyes reveal a false beauty, and we're convinced that we need to pursue it.  We forget to turn our eyes where they should go--God's Word.  And we start pursuing the little rabbit trails of vanity instead.  For some people it's the pursuit of bodily perfection, for some it's materialism, and for others it's a lifestyle. 

I'm sure that if our pursuits of vanity were portrayed for all to see on the world wide web, we'd also want to sue somebody for emotional distress.  Because when all is said and done, our pursuits are pretty embarrassing and meaningless.  They're proof that we're not perfect.

It's not easy to look away from the "magic mirrors" in this world.  I have to work really hard to remind myself to turn off the TV, to stop shopping for clothes online, to stop reading magazines, and to stop worrying about making my clothes fit perfectly.  My life would be so much more meaningful and happy if I would turn my eyes upward and focus on more meaningful pursuits. 

Barnes' Notes on the Bible says it so eloquently as it explains Psalm 119:37 "A man should be thankful in this world that he has eyelids; and as he can close his eyes, so he should often do it."  And women should be thankful that we have eyelids too; so we can close them and forget about the  images of "perfection" that we see.

To the poor women in Missouri whose vanity has been exposed--I hope it was worth it.

A Little Photo of Fall

Doesn't this picture make you feel like picking apples?  Grandpa and his granddaughters are picking fruit in a rural part of Massachusetts together.  They're making some special memories.  When I look at this photo, I just want to make them a cup of cider and a pie!  Too cute.

Country Magazine is having their annual photo contest, and someone I know is a finalist.  My former high school principal (and my first boss) is in the running for the grand prize vacation.  Please go vote for his photo at http://country-magazine.com/Contest-FM11.asp?RefURL=&KeyCode=&tdate=&PMCode=&OrgURL=; his picture is #4.  This man is one of the nicest guys I have ever met, and his photo with his granddaughters is precious.  Please go vote.

NFL Week 4: Feeling the Mojo

I should probably feel guilty for the way I treated my husband last week.  Not only did I smack talk him on my blog page as a result of my wonderful fantasy football score, but I also did it using a quote from his favorite movie.  Shame on me.  This week, I'll take a kinder, more gentle approach.

I love you dear, and I hope you're saving your pennies because my lead is only getting larger.  

Week 4 of our fantasy picks was actually much harder than I expected.  I lost a ton of games.  Fortunately, these were games that my husband lost as well.  The key to doing well at this game is to pick wins that your opponent didn't pick.  And this week, he made the grave mistake in college football not to pick SMU.  I've been telling him for years that TCU football is hugely OVERRATED.  And now that the Southern Methodist ponies are enjoying their iron skillet, they have proved my point.   Plus, I really needed them to win.  I'm an alumna and I felt obligated to pick them.  (Yes, alumna is the proper word since I'm female.)  Somewhere the Mustang vibe was working, because they gained me a solid point in our race to the designer prize.

As far as the NFL picks are concerned, I think my fairy godmother sprinkled her magic dust on New York for me.  It turned out extremely well for me that the Giants won and the Jets lost.  Plus I have talked Buffalo up so much over the last few weeks, that I actually convinced my husband to pick them this week.  That didn't turn out too well.   I think they're one of those teams that manages to win a few times and is suddenly overrated.  It just never turns out well for these teams in the long run.

So the moral of the story this week is that to have good picks, you have to beware of teams that are overrated.  This means that you have to go against public opinion and just go with your gut.  Or maybe you just have to have some good mojo.  But let's be honest here, when you're winning, does it really matter?

The Military Gene

My family is very pro-military.  On my side of the family, I have relatives who served in the Army and the Navy.  And my husband has family members who served in the Air Force and even attended the Academy.  I just assumed that it was the knowledge that we have direct family connections to different branches of the military and the knowledge that our Grandparents served in major historical conflicts that has ignited the interest in military history in my house.  But now I'm starting to think that the military attitude is genetic.  You know, it's just in your blood.

I have this new theory, because last night I found my 1 year old son playing with toy soldiers.  My mom had brought the boys a bag of plastic soldiers the day before and my oldest son was really excited to play with his "warriors."  But last night, my youngest was sitting on the floor by himself and talking to the army men.  When I walked into the kitchen, he had men lined up on different sides of the tile floor. The green soldiers were on one side, and the brown were on the other.  Then I looked at what he was doing.  He was holding a green soldier and he was making it fight the brown soldier with hand-to-hand combat.  Then suddenly, a bunch of brown soldiers got knocked over.  He had created a war.

How does this happen?  How does a 1 year old child understand what to do with toy soldiers?  He probably watched his brother play with them at some point, but this little guy knew exactly what he was doing.  Sound effects and everything.  This is not something that he was taught.  It's like he had this innate instinct how to create a war!

Needless to say, Daddy was thrilled.  His little boy likes to play soldier.  Daddy can't wait until his boys are bigger so we can recreate the Battle of Gettysburg in our living room with civil war toy soldiers and cannons.  I can already imagine the field trips that we'll take to the actual battlefields someday too.  Daddy now has a war buddy.

I tried to take a picture of the little battle in my kitchen last night, but once the little guy saw the camera, he started following me around saying "cheese."  Oh well.  I'm sure there will be many more battles to come. 

How to Shop for a Baby Gift When You Don't Know the Gender of the Baby

It's baby shower season.  My friends and family members are all expecting new little ones soon and it's fun to be able to watch from afar.  I mean, it's about time I got to enjoy watching everyone else be pregnant.  And of course that means it's time to shop for baby gifts.  This, my friends, is easier said than done.

How do you shop for a baby gift when you don't know the gender of the baby?  Let me just get this off my chest--if you choose not to find out the baby's gender for your first baby, don't expect great baby gifts.  Really, this makes baby shower shopping really really hard.  Almost to the point of being rude.  If you want to be surprised on babies #2 and #3 it's really no big deal, because people typically buy you gifts after they're born.  But not finding out Baby #1's gender only results in horrible baby gifts.

To all those "gender neutral" prospective parents out there, let's be clear about something.  Most stores don't carry many gender neutral items.  Even the baby clothing is divided into baby boy and baby girl sections.  You might be lucky to find an orange or red stroller, but blue and pink dominate the baby items.  I even tried multiple stores to find a "gender neutral" blanket this week.  I had such a hard time that I almost bought a red fur throw, until I remembered that this was for a baby.  I'm sure somebody will think that the gift I actually bought is too boyish, but in my opinion, it's not my fault.  Better to buy a baby girl blue than to dress a little boy in pink, right?

So what do buy when you're shopping for a gender neutral gift?  Well, for starters, you could buy off of the mom's baby registry.  I know, this is so boring.  So if you're wanting to do something a little more exciting, pick a theme gift.  Mickey Mouse, Dr. Seuss, safari, or even sports team gear are all great ideas.  Or, buy the baby something cute that relates to the parents.  For example, if daddy is a doctor, buy a pair of scrubs.  Or if mommy is a teacher, buy some books and wooden alphabet blocks.  Be creative.  And give yourself plenty of time, because most of these specialty items will have to be purchased online (Babies R Us carries most of these ideas online although not in store).  Otherwise, you're stuck choosing between yellow or green blankets and sleepers.  And come on, don't we all hate yellow?

If you are or have been a "gender neutral" prospective parent, this blog post really isn't intended to be slap on the wrist.  I've had a baby.  I understand that pregnancy fogs your thinking and makes you do things that you normally would not do.  Trust, me, after birth the hormones only get worse.  But anyway, it's your baby and you have the right to do whatever you want.  Just don't be disappointed when your neighbor gets a really cool Juicy Couture outfit and matching stroller for her baby girl and you only get the yellow Graco stroller.  Remember, it's what you wanted.  All so that you could be surprised for a few seconds at the hospital!

And to all the baby gift buyers out there, I feel your pain.  Just remember the gift giving rule that my mother taught me: always buy gifts for other people that you would want for yourself.  So if you've been dying to buy a pink zebra outfit with a big floppy bow, go for it.  Just make sure that you buy a blue sailor outfit just in case it's a boy.  Or maybe just include a gift receipt.  It's the thought that counts.  And it's all for a good cause.

Shana Tova Umetuka

"The Lord said to Moses, 'Say to the Israelites: "On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts. Do no regular work, but present an offering made to the Lord by fire."'" Leviticus 23:23-25

It is officially New Year's day on the Jewish calendar.  Thus it's time to say "Shana Tova Umetuka" or wishes for a good and sweet year.  If you're still not sure what I'm talking about, check out your calendar and you will see that Rosh Hashanah officially begins at sundown on September 28.  This holiday commemorates the creation of man and his relation to God. It's described in Leviticus as the Feast of Trumpets; a day of rest and new beginnings.

If I were Jewish, tonight I would probably either be at the Synagogue celebrating this holiday or I would be having family dinner with my parents in honor of the occasion.  As a Christian who completely respects the Jewish traditions, I'm not doing either of these tonight.  Instead, I intend to have my own New Year's celebration with my boys tomorrow.

I found the kid's guide to celebrating Rosh Hashanah on the internet along with some fun recipes for the holiday.  Tomorrow, my boys and I will be heading to the grocery store to buy the ingredients for our very own candy apples.  We found a yummy sounding recipe at http://www.chabad.org/kids/article_cdo/aid/354763/jewish/Candy-Apple.htm.  If I get really brave we might even try a recipe for honey cake.

For those of us who did not grow up in Jewish homes, we often forget about the relevance of the Jewish holidays to our lives.  Many of the holidays and traditions come directly out of the Old Testament.  And today, they carry the much of the same meaning as they did back then. 

So on this glorious New Year's Day,  remember to thank God for His creation.  And thank Him for the new beginnings that He offers us.

And if you feel left out because you missed out on the New Year's Day celebration, don't worry.  Rosh Hashanah marks the beginning of the High Holidays.  You'll have plenty more opportunities to celebrate in October!