Look what I can do!

What a beautiful day today...blue skies, puffy clouds, light breeze, 70 degrees...doesn't sound much like Kansas, does it?  A beautiful Spring day and I LOVE it!
Many times I just rush through the day trying to get everything done that needs to be done, yet I realize I need to stop and smell the flowers...or at least stop and breathe in the fresh air!
What makes my blog so hilarious is that I crocheted something else: a matching scarf to the headband I made last month.  Ummmm, when am I planning on wearing those?  Guess it'll be a while before I can actually use them.  But I did it!  I made something else and I love it.  Now, what next?

Something else I've been doing is #4 Cook more seafood (once a week).  This has been a challenge and a little outside my comfort zone.  It will be a while before I feel like I am a seafood expert.  Choosing the right fish, cooking it properly, finding yummy recipes are all things I am still working on.  I've made salmon, tilapia, cod, and shrimp.  I made fish and chips the other night with a homemade tartar sauce (thanks Anne Burrell).  Nothing like taking a healthy food and making it utterly UNhealthy.  But it was delicious anyway.  Don't know why seafood makes me nervous.  Maybe because it's wet, slippery, smells like the ocean, and every once in a while it just tastes funky.  But I am plugging along.

  Why don't you find out something new YOU can do?

Love people more

I want to believe in my heart that people are good.  Deep, deep down I want to believe that is true. Yet, I only have to turn on the t.v to see evidence to the contrary. Stabbings, shootings, kidnappings, murder, wars.

But wait...I also see stories of joy, heroism, perseverance, generosity and love.  What about those stories?  Isn't it so easy to see the negative and dwell on that? Shouldn't we also celebrate the amazing things that people do for others? Yeah, I think so too.

As I've been contemplating #18 Random acts of kindness, I started wondering why did I even put that on my list?  Was it to make myself feel good?  To turn something good into pride?  So people would think more highly of me?  What was my motive?  To tell you the truth, it was probably all of the above.  The problem with that is that I would be doing the acts of kindness for ME, not the other person.  How messed up is that??

I am a Christian and I believe what the Bible says is true.  1 Peter 4:8-11 says

"Above all, love each other deeply, because 

love covers over a multitude of sins.  Offer

hospitality to one another without grumbling.

Each one should use whatever gift he has received

to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace

in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should

do it as one speaking the very words of God.

If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength

God provides, so that in all things God may be

praised through Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory and

the power for ever and ever. Amen."

As a result,  I want to care for people and love them MORE and judge them LESS. May God open my eyes to the needs around me.

I have decided not to post on my blog about the random acts of kindness that God brings my way.  If I did, then I would be receiving the praise and I'm pretty sure that would defeat the purpose.  Just know that I am on a mission...

What I've Been Reading (or NOT)

#12 Read one book a month.  That has been my current challenge, and pleasure.  A few posts ago, I talked about my plan and the books that I had already read.  I finished Divergent and enjoyed it very much.  

Then I made a list of other books I would like to read.  My sweet son, Keegan, works at the public library and he brought one home to me from my list, Life After Life by Kate Atkinson.  If I am being honest, apparently I have been a bit spoiled by young adult fiction.  The genre is filled with amazing stories, yet written a bit more simply.  As I began reading Life After Life, I am ashamed to say that I found it complex and wordy.  Not to the fault of the author, only to the fault of myself.  I am used to just flying through pages easily so I only read part way and then gave up.  I still would like to read it, but not right now.  That was supposed to be my March book, instead, I didn't complete ANY book!  Bummer.

I did just read a children's book, The Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo.  I have loved her other books: Because of Winn Dixie and The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.  I was talking with our school librarian on Friday because I had noticed that her newest book, Flora & Ulysses has been named the 2014 Newbery Award winner.  Joni, our librarian, recommended The Tiger Rising so I brought it home and read in an hour or two.  Please read her books.  I think so many times, as adults, we think that children's books are only for children, but they're not!  This book was beautiful and heartbreaking.  On the surface, it's a book about a boy who finds a tiger in a cage in the woods.  But underneath, its a story about love, loss, grief, and moving on.
                                                                   

 Recently I downloaded my next book on my kindle: A Few Seconds of Radiant Filmstrip by Kevin Brockmeier.  Entertainment Weekly reviewed it and gave it an A- score. Plus, since I really AM a kid at heart, who wouldn't want to read a book about the angst of seventh grade??  I'll let you know how it is as soon as I finish it!
                                                                

Remember, don't wait for someday!  Make a list, set a deadline, and get busy.  You are a unique person with many God-given interests, desires, and talents.  Don't wait!  Enjoy today!