Tuesday Daybook: February 4, 2014

Outside my window:
It's bright and clear and a steamy 25 degrees.
I am thinking:
about my high school kid and the pressure of GPA, PSAT, SAT, sports, AP classes, time management, social activities, lack of sleep and college options.  About self-motivation and parent driven motivation, about helicopter parenting and completely hands-off parenting.  About failure and success and really what defines success or failure?  About what is important and what is just not important.  About what is my pride and my desire for my child (ouch) vs. what is God's desire for my child.  About how he is a freshman, for the love.  About getting a grip or a life or perhaps, getting on my knees and knowing that it will all work out because He knows the plans He has for us.
I am thankful:
my husband and his simple, very simple, words of encouragement.  He does not do facebook or twitter or instagram or any of these other new fangled things.  He does not comment on blogs and doesn't gush over much at all.  I appreciate every kind word, every encouragement, every pair of eyes that reads my words and finds even a shred of meaning in them and then let's me know.  But getting a text from my man with the simple phrase nice work, kid after he has read something I've written makes my cheeks flush and my heart flutter like a teenage girl.
In the kitchen:
coffee
I am wearing:
pjs
I am listening to:
The Today Show just told me that after the break Giada will tell me how to take my lasagna to the next level.  Dear, Giada - my lasagna is at the level where you peel the plastic cover off the Stouffer's Family Size Frozen Lasagna.  I'm not sure I have reached Level One yet.
I am reading:
I have just finished both The Promise:  God's Purpose and Plan for When Life Hurts by Father Jonathan Morris and The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.  Both were very good, thought provoking and heavy.  Perhaps next I'll look more into The Diary of a Wimpy Kid genre.
I am going:
to buy The Antelope in the Living Room by one of my favorite bloggers, Melanie Shankle.  It is a book on marriage that comes out today and y'all, she is a Texan whose work is pee-in-your pants funny and smart and insightful.  Yes, she is an Aggie, but I have found some of my favorite people are Aggies.  It's shocking.  I know. (MUCH better than The Diary of a Wimpy Kid)
I am hoping:
to get some high school baseball coaches to sign up to host a Diamond Dreams Game night to raise money for Kyle's Kamp.  If you know a coach, send them my way!
I am looking forward to:
Hollywood week on American Idol.  This man has completely sucked me into the show again this year.  You had me at It Had To Be You, Mr. Connick, Jr.

I am learning:
so much from my study of Romans including:
A quote for today:
"[Romans 8:35-36] leaves no doubt that victory takes place through suffering, not apart from it.  God works through the harsh realities of a fallen world.  The assurance of victory obviously cannot depend on our own courage or performance.  The victory is due instead to God's constant love.  It is not our determination or endurance that will sustain us in the battle, any more than it is our works that earn us salvation.  It is God's work, from start to finish." - Community Bible Study Romans Workbook
I am praying:
for so many in the battle - that they might know God's constant love and that they will be assured that victory, though it seems out of reach, is ahead.
A verse for today:
"For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 8:38-39
On my Ipod:
I Am by Crowder
I am pondering:
very insightful words from my friend here:
"Nothing accelerates crabby mommy syndrome faster than a disrespectful child. When our children are rude to us or when they disobey, it’s easy to forget that they aren’t put into our lives to make us feel good about ourselves. No doubt, they are commanded to honor us. No doubt, they must learn to obey. But they are to do so for their spiritual health, not for the health of our egos. Occasions of disrespect on the part of our children are occasions for us to control our passions and to correct with patience so that both parties grow in virtue. In the face of stinging disrespect, though, it’s easy to fall prey to bitter crankiness." - Elizabeth Foss (emphasis mine, because the need for these specific words is most definitely mine)
One of my favorite things:
my little man on the court.

A few plans for the week:
basketball practices and games, indoor baseball workouts, Kyle's Kamp work
A peek into my day:
Based on these fabulous action basketball photos, perhaps it's time to look into getting a new camera.

 

 

Daybook idea from http://www.thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/