Thanks, Mom

My mom surprised us with a visit this past week. Since she was only scheduled to work 2 days at Macy’s, she found substitutes and hopped in her car for the long haul to PA. Selah’s face said it all when she walked up from our basement! She sure does love her Mimi. Adden began bonding with her also, which was an adorable sight. He only screamed himself splotchy for a few hours – he’s making great strides!

We enjoyed laughing with the kiddos, baby storytime, trading recipes and stories, a hayride to the pumpkin patch, yummy eats, Dunkin D’s coffee, cardmaking, and cheering on our beloved Sox (even when the guys had fallen asleep.) She ran our washer all through the night, completed tons of shelved projects, babysat, and encouraged me. Mom, I don’t say thank you enough. I love you and thank God for you. As Boppie would say, “That was quality time.”

Find Me Listening

“This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.”
-Isaiah 66:2

To be esteemed by God is life lived with purpose. It is turning our relentless striving into redeemed stillness. It is coming to grips with our Maker – asking questions, seeking truth, finding peace. If Jesus esteems humility and contrition, I want that. Humility serves the world but credits God. Humility asks for forgiveness. Humility admits need and runs to the source of life. God, forgive me for my pride and apathy. Find me listening to your Voice.

Brilliant Dove Film – Onslaught

The newest short film in the Dove “Real Beauty” campaign is live, and is absolutely stunning and breathtaking and powerful. Girls, please check it out. What subtle message are we receiving and sending to our daughters just by having the tv on?

Some important stats:
– The average person sees between 400 and 600 advertisements per day – equivalent to more than one message for every waking minute.
– The average US girl sees an estimated 77,546 commercials by the time she is 12.

The Dove Self-Esteem Fund/Seventeen Body Image Survey also revealed:
– 93 percent of girls and young women report feeling anxiety or stress about some aspect of their looks when getting ready in the morning
– more than 70 percent of girls and young women avoid activities when they feel bad about their looks including giving their opinion, attending school and even going to the doctor.
– 76 percent of girls and young women admit to partaking in unhealthy activities when they feel badly about their bodies
– 58 percent of girls describe themselves in negative terms, including words like “disgusting” and “ugly,” when feeling badly about themselves.
– Nearly four out of 10 engage in unhealthy eating behaviors, such as anorexia or bulimia.
– More than one out of 10 girls has used cutting or self-inflicted injury as a coping mechanism.

Pac Man

My dermatologist lobbed off Pac Man today. Pac Man used to be a tiny circular brown mole till it morphed into an 80’s video game icon following the birth of my son. We are obviously praying that Pac Man had no trace of melanoma in his pellet diet:) I guess we’ll find out in a few days.

I only mention this because I want to spread awareness about melanoma. It is the deadliest form of skin cancer and is completely preventable. Last month, I had another biopsy that revealed stage 2 melanoma. If the cancer was not caught it time, I would have had to say goodbye to my husband and kids at too early of an age. I am 32.

Melanoma can be identified with the help of an ABCD acrostic. A = asymmetry; B = border irregularity; C = color (the darker they are, the more concern there is); D = diameter (it shouldn’t be larger than a pencil’s eraser.) If you see any kind of change in your moles, please see a dermatologist immediately as a precaution.

Apparently, America is one of the least informed countries about this disease. We still frequent tanning beds, we scoff at SPF, and we think that tan is beautiful. I fell prey to ignorance. As a result, I will have scars everywhere and the lingering fear that one of my moles is quietly harboring cancer. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. Pac Man, please be good to me.

Worth Every Penny

Our beloved Red Sox played less than 2 hours away from us last night in the ALCS. And we indulged in a splurge. Though we’ve been cutting back on stuff, selling what we can, and attempting to live more simply, we decided to soak up a once in a lifetime opportunity. Paul found comparably cheap tickets on Craig’s List (so cheap that we were delirious when they worked to get us into the stadium!), we dropped the kids off at their grandparents, and we headed to Cleveland in long sleeve t’s (the weather was gorgeous!) Sitting six rows down from the top of the Jake, we donned our Boston hats with quiet pride, ate great ballpark food, attempted to befriend our Indian neighbors (to minimize the inevitable jeering), and squinted to see every pitch. And though we missed out on “a Manny stand and watch the ball fly out of the park moment,” a big Papi bear grin, and the exhilerating feel of a win on the road, it was worth it. To have a night out with Paul – just the two of us (and a hungry tribe of crazed fans) – standing on every pitch of playoff baseball – was incredible. Thanks for a great night out, honey. I loved it!

Give Me Words to Speak…

“Give me words to speak
Don’t let my spirit sleep
‘Cause I can’t think of anything worth saying
But I know that I owe you my life…” – Aaron Schust

So, here goes… I am finally going to start one of these blog things. I never understood why people wrote their thoughts for others to read via this avenue. Being a more private person, I would rather just hide my ramblings in a journal. However, I am delving into this new endeavor for the following reasons:

1. I haven’t journaled in years and I so want a record of this time in my life. I want to be held accountable to something so that I don’t forget God’s wonders in these days. My children are so young and precious and my husband is amazing. There is beauty in our ordinary lives that I don’t want erased by my feeble memory.
2. I have been reading some blogs lately that have challenged, educated, and encouraged me – a family dealing with the death of their young son to cancer (gomitchgo.com), a woman in Haiti serving in medical missions (sleepydoctor.blogspot.com), and a good friend of mine who is passionate about our God of rescue (orrangetypepad.com). I am just a random passerby to these blogs, but they have increased my awareness of joy and pain, poverty, and social justice. If I can provide a bit of the hope and perspective that they have given me for another passerby, then this will have been worth it.
3. I am horrendous at keeping in touch with people that I love. Please forgive me, one and all. Hopefully this avenue will help inform our friends and family of all that is going on with us. Imagine with me that we are sitting at Starbucks, enjoying a nice warm brew, and sharing our musings on life. Thanks for listening to my ramblings. Now just make sure you share with me yours.
4. I need to write. Writing is a great outlet for me. And I need an outlet after spending the day communicating to two kids under two! If I really want to undertake the writing of a book, then I sure better start somewhere. This may as well be the starting line. So, here goes…