It must be hormonal....but please come visit me at http://pinkexplosion.wordpress.com we are moving!
Please bear with me over there....I am still trying to figure wordpress out, I hope I end up liking it because it is a good amount of work to move.
Also look around and see if you notice anything (wink wink)!
Our friends daughter has recently started doing hippotherapy, what an amazing opportunity for her and we are all anxiously awaiting to see results.
I had never heard of hippotherapy (another link) until her mom told me about it and I felt like this newer version of therapy needed a light shined upon it. It is used for occupational therapy, speech therapy, as well as physical therapy. There are locations across the country and the trained licensed therapists are amazing individuals with a true talent and blessing from the Lord.
Here is an excerpt from AHA's website: Equine movement provides multidimensional movement, which is variable, rhythmic and repetitive. The horse provides a dynamic base of support, making it an excellent tool for increasing trunk strength and control, balance, building overall postural strength and endurance, addressing weight bearing, and. motor planning. Equine movement offers well-modulated sensory input to vestibular, proprioceptive, tactile and visual channels.
Most centers have waiting lists because the research has been so promising on hippotherapy and there is such a need for more therapists.
The girls and I have been asked if we wanted to watch a session and we are so excited to see this amazing and invaulable resource in action!
We love spring in this house, we really do. Hubby, Claire and I love getting our hands dirty getting rid of the dead and planting new life. This past weekend we carried out part one of our yard plan, to include re-shaping the garden, laying new sod in some areas, and re-vamping the dog run.
An extra plus was the addition of our new frog and goldfish pond, Claires FAVORITE project! We had trouble deciding where to put it, do we put it in the front for all to see (and risk a child falling in) or do we put it in the back for our own selfish enjoyment. We decided we are selfish people. If you use tap water it takes 7 days to dechlorinate the water, so we will probably wait until after Easter to go buy our new friends. Hubby says that if/when we move and we decide to do another pond we will be using the pre-fabricated ponds as opposed to the kind you shape and make yourself.
We also have made room for our new herb garden. This was hubbies idea because I cook with fresh herbs so much he felt it would be more cost efficient to grow our own. We have never done fruits and veggies either but we are going to give it a whirl this year too. Our fear is that Texas has a drought every other year or so and I don't want to have a high water bill because we have a huge garden. Oh well I guess we will have to wait and see.
Phase two will be carried out in a few weeks since Easter is next weekend and the following weekend we will be helping our friends move here!! Phase two will consist of laying flagstone around the pond (to hide the tarp), adding critters to the pond, and I am thinking of even adding a few water lillies. We will also be adding color to the front yard garden, planting the herb garden, and planting any veggies we decide to go with. Hubby is itching to re-stain the fence (though this project doesn't necessarily suit my fancy). Last year we were given a GIGANTIC picnic table by our friends who moved and hubby would really like to give it away and make a smaller more feasible picnic table. I am hesitent but our friends encouraged us to do so, in turn I guess we will not have a 9 foot table but rather a 6 foot table. I am sure phase two will consist of other odds and ends but I know these are the definites. Pictures will come when everything is finished and looking lovely!
Anyone else doing a garden?
is another persons treasure! Last week as I was leaving to take Claire to class I saw one of our neighbors had a Little Tikes house in pieces out by the road the day before trash day. I immediately called hubby and he said he would check things out on his way home, it turns out they really didn't want it, so he loaded it up into his truck and brought it home. He refused to take it to the back yard until he knew all the pieces were there and that it wasn't a disheveled mess. It went together easily, the phone is missing and the "stove" has some wear on it, but other than that it was all there. I seriously think these people threw it away because it was "dirty" and indeed it is dirty but elbow grease has fixed all of that. You can buy the parts for it, but I don't really think that it is necessary, neither does Claire apparently because she hasn't mention it.
Anyone else find a great find?
The Resurgence has an article written by Wendy Alsup that I think anyone in womens ministry should read because these four things are often done and people are left scratching their heads as to what happened.
1. Make women's ministry your first priority.
I'm not saying to forget your husband and kids. I'm just saying to think of them as less fulfilling than women's ministry. I had a time in my life when I would drive to church praying intently that the Lord would bless my ministry there, guard my words, and guide my responses. Then one day, the Holy Spirit convicted me that I never prayed the same as I drove toward my house. Women's ministry at church had assumed the place of God's Big Thing in my life. And yet I knew that my ministry to my husband and boys was even more important than my ministry at church. Why was I allowing myself to find fulfillment in one and drudgery in the other?
I think this is Satan's big tool in ministry at every level. I hear about it from church planters and pastors all the time. They get their priorities out of order and sacrifice family on the altar of ministry. I want to be used by God to further His kingdom--but I must always remember that my kingdom influence begins in my home. How can I be a help to my husband in his obligations? How can I minister to my boys? And, from there, how can I minister to those outside of my home in a way that is a blessing and not a burden to my family? Whose needs get sacrificed first? I must be willing to say NO to church things if they interfere with my God-given obligations toward my home.
*****I have experienced rule number 1 before, and I vow to never allow that to happen again, thankfully I am blessed with a husband who will tell me no when I discuss doing ___, or when I have over extended myself. ****
2. Become territorial.
If you are approached by church leadership about restructuring your current pet project, take it personally, resent the leader, and stealthily sow discord among your coworkers in the ministry.
This is SUCH a temptation. I've watched it happen in many ministries over the years. I'm thankful that our elders have done a good job of modeling the exact opposite response. I really got a vision for this as I read Pastor Mark's book, Confessions of a Reformission Rev. It showed me that our pastors are serious about reaching those who need Jesus in our city, and they are willing to step out of their comfort zone to do it. They have all had pet projects that have been sacrificed over the years because they simply weren't the best use of our limited resources. But they take it in stride because they love Jesus and value the mission to reach Seattle above their personal interests.
I've had my fair share of opportunities for bitterness in ministry over the years. All were temptations to me to take it personally, wear hurt feelings on my shoulder, and project disunity about the ministry to others. Instead, I needed to respect God's sovereign right to administer such things as He saw fit. We women can be some of the worst at being territorial and tearing at each other when we feel our territory threatened. But be warned--this is how women's ministries are fractured and destroyed. And women who participate in such sowing of disunity, in my humble opinion, need to step aside from leadership until they get a grip on the importance of humility. You cannot lead without it!
3. Resent your God-given authority structure.
Don't seek your elders' input ahead of time for a big decision in ministry and resent their concerns when expressed. And if your husband asks you to pull back from a ministry opportunity because it interferes with family responsibilities, make him feel your disapproval whenever possible.
In reality, our God-given authority and accountability structure is there for all of our good. Each elder, deacon, and lay leader at Mars Hill has an accountability structure in place for their good and God's glory. We all need someone who can tell us when our enthusiasm has run ahead of our good sense. This is hard to take when you have a vision for something big. But if you believe in God's good hand in directing such authority structures, you'll soon see the safety net they provide for each of us in leadership.
4. Ignore life issues or stages of life that you haven't experienced personally.
We tend to identify and empathize with people that share similar backgrounds to us and therefore are burdened to equip people in the areas with which we have struggled. But will your ministry only minister to people like you? Are you even aware of the people in your sphere of influence whose background and struggles are different from yours?
*****This is SO HUGE TO ME! Until now we have never attended a church that really didn't ignore stages and issues and it has been terrible to see! A woman struggling with something needs to be able to work thru her issues!*****
My advice is to surround yourself with counselors at different stages of life from you. Our current women's ministry team has singles and marrieds, with and without kids, including a grandmother. Our team also has ladies from different ministry departments. One is involved with community groups and can speak to the issues raised in this ministry. Another is involved with our addiction recovery/redemption groups and raises issues concerning the struggles these members face. Another represents our counseling ministry and speaks to the issues she sees there. We've only just begun using this system but believe it will help us keep a well-rounded perspective of the needs of our women as a whole. There are women crushed under the weight of raising their kids sitting by women crushed because they just miscarried or can't get pregnant. There's the woman struggling because she feels abandoned by the men in her life, while another is trying to figure out how to deal with a husband she despises. There's the 65-year-old childless widow and the 65-year-old grandmother whose husband was just diagnosed with prostate cancer. Are you aware and responsive to the variety of forms women's suffering and struggles take?
****I feel like another rule should have been gossip and slander. Far to often the leaders are the ones with the most loose tounges telling their sister, mom, daughter, friend just because they felt like they should tell that person to "pray for the other person". People say that, but that isn't what they are trying to do, they are using prayer as masking tape over the true issue....they just want to tell someone.
Proverbs 18:8 "The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to a man's inmost parts." ****
