Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Things you can pick up while watching cartoons:)

My daughter McKayla had a day off of school last week and had the good fortune to be able to come to work with me. I clean houses so she gets to watch cartoons while I clean. I happened to be working in the living room when Handy Manny came on and normally I'll be wrapped up in my own thoughts regardless of whether or not the T.V. is on but this one caught my attention. In case you don't know anything about this cartoon, it's about a guy that is a handy man and his tools are special because they can talk. This particular day they were trying to repair an older mans steps when the hammer fell and landed on his head. The poor hammer was confused after that and thought for sure that he was not a hammer but was in fact a screwdriver. Well this caused a dilemma because for this particular job, only a hammer could get the job done. Handy Manny and the other tools tried convincing him that he was a hammer but he just wouldn't believe it. So finally Handy Manny tried to find another tool that would work. They went to the hardware store but alas, they were fresh out of hammers. So they went back and tried a rock and other things but nothing worked. This whole time I'm thinking "Hey Handy Manny, you're his master you pick him up and just use him to hammer that nail in." But he didn't. Finally the older gentleman came along and found out what the problem was and said that when he was in the army they had the same problem with a soldier. This soldier had gotten hurt and forgot who he was. They really needed him so they convinced him to pretend that he was a soldier, and it worked. So Handy Manny and all the other tools asked the hammer if he would pretend to be a hammer. They convinced him that he would make an excellent hammer and so he said he would try. Handy Manny picked him up and held him above the nail but wouldn't use him until the hammer was absolutely ready. I'm thinking, well this is ridiculous. You've got him in your hand, bring him down! Well, finally the hammer was ready and he hit the nails in perfectly. Everyone cheered and when the hammer had come down on those nails his memory was jarred back into place and he realized he was indeed a hammer. So anyway, what did I learn from this? I realized that God does the same thing with us. He made us for a specific purpose. He could use us like puppets and make us do that job for him. But that's not what he wants. He wants us to take the initiative and with his help, do the work he created us for. He's not going to force us into doing anything. It has to be because we want to do it. Another important factor is that we can't do it without him. We need him there guiding us and encouraging us. And that is what Handy Manny taught me for the day.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Still here

Okay so I kind of fell out of the blog world for awhile. I would stop in every now and then and read others' but simply never took the time to do anything with mine. So much has happened since last August when I did my last blog. Christmas and McKayla's birthday to name a couple. My whole family was able to make it back for Christmas in Iowa this year. The house was very full and noisy at certain times but it was so good to all be together again.

We were able to have McKayla's birthday with almost everyone there. The happy occasion was held at Happy Joe's. If you've never had their BLT Pizza's you must try them next time you are in Ottumwa!! I had a lot of fun decorating her cake. Luke, my brother-in-law, drew the bear free-handed for me and I filled in the rest.
I forgot to bring candles with us to the restaurant so Jason ran next door to the drug store and these candles were all they had. She seems rather impressed don't ya think?






We took a slight break from traveling in January and then this month we took a trip to Gatlinburg TN for Winterfest with the youth. It was a very fast weekend but we had a great time there. Two of my sisters were able to come so I enjoyed more time spent with them. The girls had a lot of fun playing in the snow up in the Smoky Mountains.


Kelsey's coat was malfunctioning :)
We took a 1.3 mile hike to see this waterfall. We encountered some scary signs along the way.
Well that about catches you up to date. I'll try not to take so long between blogs next time :)
I'll leave you with one more picture. Love the look on Kayla's face :D
Well I can't resist adding this next one too.