My Truth Project

This semester in our ladies Bible study I'm doing The Truth Project.  It is a video series that is sponsored by Focus on the Family and when the video is over we break up into small groups and discuss it.  From the beginning of the study I have been praying that God would show me what He wanted me to learn.  Doing The Truth Project as a Bible study is a bit complicated for me because sometimes I feel like I need to go read an American History book then I might be ready to discuss what they talk about in the video.  I have also been pondering on the small group God put me in.  I love hearing different view points about topics and getting to know women I wouldn't meet any where else.  I'm sure my husband loves it too because when he comes home I'll rack his brain about our discussions too.

But today was different for me.  Like I said, throughout the study I've been wondering what I am supposed to learn from this except the fact that I don't know enough American history.  It was as if I finally saw the writing on the wall today.  While listening to women speak passionately about Christians not standing up for what they believe my thoughts automatically went to Christ's love.  There must be a balance between showing Christ's love and taking a stand.  People are often turned off by all Christians because of the hand full that protest at military funerals, bomb abortion clinics, or have book burnings.  None of those things show Christ's love.  It makes me sad to think non-Christians look at those things and put us all under that umbrella.  Even as I typed the words, "non-Christians," I'm reminded they are not simply a people group.  They are a people group that will spend eternity away from Christ.  The One that can truly love them more than they ever imagined.  The One that can bring true peace and hope to their life.  The One.

Sanity

A couple of weeks ago I tweeted about a song that would forever be my anthem during motherhood.  The song is called, "Mystery," by Charlie Hall.  The first two lines of the song are my favorite:

"Sweet Jesus Christ my sanity

Sweet Jesus Christ my clarity."

It seems lately the lies of the world are infiltrating everything.  We hear so often how we need to live for ourselves, make ourselves happy, buy this thing and your life will be so much easier, buy these clothes and you'll feel better about yourself, have this surgery to make you feel good about yourself, read this book, buy this CD, hear this speaker, and on and on it goes.  I know the word, "lies," sounds a bit hard core but they are lies.  The only satisfaction we can ever have in life will come from Christ.

Throughout my life I have had some awesome opportunities to meet girls in all stages of life.  When we lived in Arkansas I taught a Sunday School class with great girls that I still keep in contact with and see God doing great things in their lives.  After we moved to Texas I worked with a friend of ours doing Disciple Nows for smaller churches.  My friend would organize everything and bring all the help and I always worked with senior high girls.  God really blessed those weekends because these girls didn't know me from Adam yet inevitably every weekend God would put a girl in my life that was sadly believing the lies of the world, or some cases the lies her own family told her, and she would be seeking.  She was seeking for something, anything to fill the loneliness in her heart.  Since moving to College Station I get to walk side-by-side a couple of girls as they search God's will for their lives.  I also have the opportunity to meet other mothers through Bible studies and other events.  These girls and mothers are no different than anyone else.  Christians are not immune to wanting easy answers.  We would all love for God to write the answers to our questions on the wall in black spray paint so there would be no wondering if we were doing the right thing.

However desperate we may be in our lives at all ages we are always seeking.  Like the song above says to me, "Sweet Jesus Christ my sanity."  He is our sanity in this crazy world.  He is the one that will bring true clarity to your life.  Seek His face and you will find His peace, His comfort, and His hope.  I truly believe God wants to see us seek Him because He knows it is where we will find true contentment.

Comparison

Let the comparing begin!  Now that I'm pregnant a second time I'm already comparing the two pregnancies, "I didn't have this with Eli ... I had this with Eli ... etc."  Last week a woman at church told me, "Now that you're going to have two kids you can't compare them with each other."  I nodded, "yes," and said with a smile, "I know."  Pretty sure that's like parenting lesson #1.  But I accept most church lady tips with a smile and nod.

Fast forward a couple of days and I'm sitting in the waiting room (for an hour) at a dentist's office and wondering why all these other people are going back while I'm still sitting here!  Again, I'm comparing my situation to theirs.  Don't they know my son is with a sitter.  Don't they know this waiting room is freezing.  Don't they know I made an appointment for 1:30 not 2:30.  And on and on.

I believe it is in our sinful nature to compare.  However, I came across a series on a blog I read regularly and it referred to comparison as such a dirty word--envy.  Ouch.  Seriously, comparing myself to that other lady can't be envy...I'm just comparing myself to her.  Honey, that is pretty much the exact definition of envy!  In the series they talk about the story of Peter comparing himself to John (John 21:20-21) and basically the response Jesus gives Peter is, "what business is it of yours?"  Trust me, that is a hard pill to swallow.  But there is light at the end of your envy filled tunnel:  No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.  Psalm 84:11b

How do you walk uprightly?  Well, our good buddy Peter answers that question in 1 Peter 2:1, "So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy, and all slander."  Just put it away...just like your shove all that nasty food down your garbage disposal shove your envy in there too.

We can't envy and obey at the same time. 

It's Time to Wake Up!

I'm going to preface this post with a disclaimer:  I have NOT seen "Eat, Pray, Love," or read the book.  I do not care to support either with my money. 

Now on to the post:
I feel like I have seen the movie, "Eat, Pray, Love," simply because I saw Julia Roberts on Oprah and saw so many movie clips.  After hearing about the movie and book I get a little scared that this is what some women think life is about.  Watching the previews you get the idea that the main character is having a, what she thinks is, a boring life.  What do you do when you're life gets boring?  Go to Italy of course!  In my life it may be Olive Garden but not Italy.  I do notice in my own life when I get in a funk it usually always goes back to how much time I'm spending my Creator, or lack there of.

Julia Robert's character says at one point, "I want to go some place where I can marvel."  When you want to marvel at something go outside and see creation, look at your kids and remember where they have come from, marvel at God's creation not man's creation of temples and gods and such.  It saddens me to think people will watch this movie and think they can find true happiness by following the example of this book or movie. 

If anyone belongs to Christ, there is a new creation.  The old things have gone; everything is made new!  All this is from God.  Through Christ, God made peace between us and Himself.  2 Corinthians 5:17-18

Ultimate freedom comes from Christ...not from world travels or Italian food or hot guys.  It comes from the Creator of the universe, the life giver, the faithful Father, the beginning and end...God.   

$827.00

The other day I was at Target and had the opportunity to witness a mother paying $827.00 to get her daughter set up in her college dorm.  I could not believe it!  Apparently, I saved my parents a lot of money by going to a local school and living with them.  It was crazy.  On my way home I was thinking of all the things I could do with $827.00.

1.  Pay for a baby's birth.  Our responsibility after Eli was born for his medical bills was $751.00.

2.  Buy a new couch. 

3.  Make two car payments.  When we had car payments they only equaled $470.00.

4.  Buy 48 cans of Eli's formula. 

5.  Sponsor 21 compassion children for one month OR sponsor one child for 21 months.

Those are just some of the things I thought of.  That list, of course, does not include the mindless spending on shoes or clothes that could also take place.

Have a great day!

Chaotic Grace

These days I'm starting to feel like Maria in the Sound of Music when she's in the field spinning around and around with her arms open.  There is so much stuff in my mind and in my life God is really forcing me to take one day at a time.  Better yet, one second at a time. 

When I think about everything going on around me God really starts putting things in perspective for me because occasionally we humans can be pretty self-centered.  It's usually in times of suffering people's true colors shine through--for better or worse.  Sadly, during suffering it's usually the worse that comes before the better.  In his book, Desiring God, John Piper says, "All experiences of suffering in the path of Christian obedience, whether from persecution or sickness or accident, have this in common:  They all threaten our faith in the goodness of God and tempt us to leave the path of obedience."  This is so true!  It is in days of chaos and suffering that we tend to spend less time with the Creator when, in fact, we should be spending more time with Him.

"Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death.  But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead (2 Cor 1:9)."  By no means, am I saying that my suffering compares to the persecution of Christians in Paul's day but the same God that raises the dead and created the solar system can handle my chaos.  If only we would trust Him more and not ourselves. 

Preserving Salsa and Your Soul

Recently, I started canning, or preserving as some people call it.  Actually, the only thing I've canned is salsa.  We eat a lot of salsa at our house and it is so annoying to run out.  So one afternoon I made three batches of salsa which filled 13 small cans.  I have given some away and we have opened two cans at my house.  One day we are out and I asked my husband to get another jar from the cabinet.  "What did you put in this salsa?"  He asks with a weird look on his face.  I explain nothing out of the ordinary, then I look in the jar and there is mold!  How could this be?  All the cans popped when I put the lids on, there should not be mold there.  We opened another jar and there was no mold and it smelled like salsa.  All is well with the world.  Except I did give about 4 cans away and I'm hoping none of them had mold in them.

"As for you, O Lord, you will not restrain your mercy from; your steadfast love and your faithfulness will ever preserve me!"  Psalm 40:11

According to dictionary.com, preserve means to keep safe, to maintain, to keep from harm.  When you preserve food you are keeping it safe, keeping it from mold (except my one can).  When God preserves you He's keeping you safe, He's maintaining you, He's keeping you from harm, and sometimes He's just keeping you company.  The tricky part about God preserving you is He wants to do it.  He truly loves you and wants to help you.  BUT you have to let Him, you have to let Him in, You have to let your guard down and be willing to give up control.  Often, we don't want to do this because, like in my case, you are admitting defeat.  You are admitting you can't handle it.  In my own life I know if I keep feeling I can do it all alone God's going to do something to bring me flat on my face begging for Him to take over.

As I read through Psalm 40 this morning I was thanking God for that passage almost after reading every verse.  If you get a chance today prayerfully read through Psalm 40.

Radiance

I love the word, "radiant." I don't know why but I love it. Disclaimer: If I ever write a book it will be titled Radiance. A prayer I pray often is that God would make me radiant. I love the way Christy Nockels sings it in her song, "Life Light Up," "Let my life light up like the city lights."


Living in Bryan the city lights are not that bright but when we lived in Plano we would travel to Dallas often for hockey games or concerts and those city lights are crazy bright. Those are the kinds of lights you want to shine like. I think we often make our radiance hinge on our moods. I believe radiance, just like our moods, is a choice. Now, before you quit reading this. Hear me out. I know we all have sucky days but ultimately we are the ones that choose our mood for the day. Even if you are having a bad day you should not hide Christ's radiance behind your crabby mood. He gave you this day so let His love shine from within you.


Here's the deal. In the Bible when it talks about radiance it is always God's radiance. It's His. Not ours. If we are living in the flesh we cannot be radiant. We must be living with God to even have radiance as an option for us.

"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden." Matthew 5:14

UPDATE TIME!

While I was uploading pictures it occurred to me that there are a lot of things that need to be updated on here:Eli spent his first Easter in Arkansas.

Me and my mom made Pioneer Woman Cinnamon Rolls. Yes, they are as good as they look!

The recipe makes 50 cinnamon rolls so we gave a lot of them away.

Eli got a new cousin! Mackenzie Berlynn Oaks was born while we were in Arkansas! That is one proud Daddy and Granny!

Yes, I have become one of "those" people. I started making most of Eli's baby food. The main reason was because all those carrots cost about 1.29 compared to 5.00 if I would have bought the store baby food. I did buy store baby food for as long as I had coupons for it just so I could use the containers.

Those are frozen bananas straight from the ice tray, then placed in glass baby food jars. Which are still in the freezer because Eli doesn't really like bananas at all. Which is ashame because that is the cheapest food to make. The above cost about 39 cents!

Eli went to his first Aggie tail gate. It was a baseball game tailgate. As you can see he was very interested.

A couple of others things that we don't have pictures to represent:

I have about four more inches before I cut my hair off for the Beautiful Lengths charity. I also have five other people that are going to cut their hair too (It takes 6 pony tails to make one wig).

Oh yes, my on again, off again love affair with running has started again. If you want to read about that lovely journey visit my new blog just for running info.

Time to Play Catch Up

I know, I know. I didn't give you leadership stuff everyday last week. Between celebrating my birthday, getting the apartment ready for my parents, and getting ready to move I didn't get to it everyday. I'm sorry. Can you find it in your heart to forgive me?

If you can, then read on. If you can't forgive me then stop reading!

First up, Mister Mister turned five months old on March 14th. Isn't that crazy!? It is so hard to believe that he's been here for five months! So far he's still eating almost 8 oz five times a day. However, now he's also eating cereal and some baby food once a day. So far he's had sweet peas and applesauce. He's not really a fan of sweet peas but when you mix them with cereal he's okay with it. I know, you want to try some. I'll pass. The smell alone kind of makes me gag. He still sleeps through the night. He goes to bed around 7:00 PM and wakes up around 7:00 AM. He still loves the Johnny Jump Up also! I like the JJU because it makes him tired so he takes a good nap. Speaking of naps, he's not really a fan of naps. That goes right along with him being stubborn. He will still fight a nap and yell to keep himself awake. While we're on the topic of things he doesn't like he still does not like baths. I bought some bubble bath today to see if he likes the bath any better with bubbles.

Secondly, we're moving! We found this great house in Bryan (about 10 minutes from where we live now). This week while Chris is gone I'm moving some things to the house. I can't wait to get moved in!

Lastly, on a weird note, I've been watching Thirtysomething on Netflix. You know, now that I'm 30 years old. I have to say, I don't really know why that show was so popular. It kind of got on my nerves. But just like any sitcom I had to see how it ended so I watched the final episode on Youtube. The things I realized about that show: Hope is a baby. I understand being a little nuts after a baby is born but she was insanely selfish throughout that series, her husband seemed to be a bit of a push over and they never seemed to really talk about anything important. Speaking of not talking Elliot and Nancy drove me up the wall. Basically, if you want to know how not to act in your marriage watch Thirtysomething.

Leader by Default?

This Friday I will be three decades old! Crazy to think I’ve been alive for 30 years! As I reflect back on my life I see an ironic twist. As a young child I was dreadfully shy. So shy that people often thought I was a snob because I didn’t talk and most of the time I didn’t even make eye contact while others spoke to me. When I was in seventh grade my parents made a decision to change churches.

The church we had been going to, since I was born, was a small country church and I liked it just fine. I knew everyone, they knew me. It was easy. What church did my parents decide to try first? First Baptist Church of Greenwood—the biggest church in town. I felt a little betrayed by my parents. Didn’t they know I was shy? Didn’t they know how hard it was to make friends? How could they do this to me? The torture continued when they made me go to the Wednesday night youth services. Again, didn’t they know I was shy? I would get to church right on time, sit in the back of the room, and leave as soon as the service was over. More often than not, I would cry when I got home. I don’t really know if I was crying because I didn’t have any friends there or if I just wanted to be someone different. Needless to say, at some point I became friends with older students that were leaders in the ministry. But when it came to school they went to the high school and I was still at the junior high.

Between the transition of junior high and high school I had to make some decisions regarding the friends I was going to keep. I knew what some of my friends in junior high were doing things that were wrong and I needed to find some new friends. However, I was shy so making new friends was not the easiest thing to do. When I moved to the high school I was able to become better friends with the older students that were leaders in the youth ministry at our church. Fast forward to my senior year I was President of our Youth Choir at church, President of Partners in Christ at my high school, organized See You at the Pole, and had even entered a speech competition. It was crazy but God was at work. Years later I married a minister to college students which gives me the opportunity to disciple and teach young girls every week.

I love my life and wouldn’t change it for anything. I can look back now and see how God has guided every area of my life. I remember while in high school a woman told me she thought I was a natural born leader. I’m pretty sure I thought she was crazy, given my previous history, but I can see it now. It seems ironic to me that God keeps giving me leadership opportunities.

Like most leaders a constant struggle for me is lack of confidence. As a result I’m trying to make every effort to keep reading and studying to make me better at what God calls me to do. In another decade I do not want to be where I am now. I want to be 40 years old (ouch) and still learning and still doing.

This week I will have a new post everyday about some of the anxieties I hear most from leaders and what you can do to make the most of those anxieties.

MONDAY: "But, I'm not really a leader."

March is the Month of Cary!

I told Chris today that it was the last day of Heart Awareness Month. He then asked what March was and I didn't really know anything March was famous for except for MY BIRTHDAY! I'm turning 30 this year. I know, you thought I was older--I get that all the time. No seriously, I do--it's kind of annoying but I'm used to it by now.

It's crazy to think I'm going to be 30 YEARS OLD. That is three decades! A third of a century! 10,950 days! What am I going to do for my 30th birthday? Hopefully, I'm going to Madden's for breakfast with my husband, son, and parents :) Then Chris leaves for Virginia the next day for mission trip.

COMING SOON TO A BLOG NEAR YOU:
Coffee recipes! Oh yes! I know you are excited! I recently purchased a new espresso maker and next to my God, my husband, and my son I'm in love with this thing!

Have a great March 1st tomorrow!

Three Month Update

Well, it has been three months since Eli's arrival. This time three months ago I was reaping the benefits of a magical epidural and waiting. Then he arrived at 3:20 a.m. on October 14th!

Here are some updates for the past three months:

First up, Mr. Eli: he is holding his head up really well, he has rolled from stomach to back but I think he was so mad he was on his back he's not going to do it again, he still has all his hair, he doesn't pee on himself everytime he gets his diaper changed (I think he finally figured out that stuff doesn't taste good), and he still thinks bathtime is the worst thing on the planet.

Next up me, Cary, my Couch to 5k plan is more like couch to kitchen. I don't make exercise a priority and I don't enjoy it so if I get it in twice a week I feel like I accomplished something. My doctor recommended I do yoga to help keep my blood pressure low and also help when we're ready for baby #2. I received a mom and baby yoga DVD for Christmas and we have done it a couple of times and Eli's not really a fan. He just gives me this look that looks like Chris if I were to say, "Hey Honey, let's do yoga together." I also quit my job to be a stay at home mom (web talk is SAHM) and I love it! I'm not super good at the SAHM thing but I think I'm getting better at it.

Chris-graduated from seminary in December with his masters degree. He is staying busy at Central getting ready for the Spring semester to start and also getting ready for a mission trip to Virginia in March. Now that he is out of seminary he is also reading a lot of books. The whole time he was in seminary read books that were assigned to him and didn't enjoy all of them but now--Katy bar the door--he's a reading machine. He received an Amazon giftcard for a graduation gift and ordered some more books :)

Now I will leave you with some pictures of Eli from the past three months:

2010 Has Started

Happy New Year AND Happy New Decade! There has been a lot of people talking about what they are going to do in the new year but I was thinking about the past decade of the Plunkett life. It has been a wild ride.

2000

Chris & I were engaged throughout 2000 and we all survived Y2K and all the horrible things that were supposed to happen when the new year started. Chris was working with the middle school ministry at FBC Greenwood.

2001

Chris & I were married in May and I started officially working for St. Edward Mercy Medical Center (up until this point I was working through a temp agency at St. Edward).

2002

Chris & I got a new addition to our family: Parson! The construction of our house also started.

2003

We moved into our house!!

2004

Put our house on the market because God was calling Chris to attend seminary in Fort Worth.

2005

Our house sold and we downsized from a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house to a 1 bedroom apartment, 1 bathroom apartment.

2006

Chris moved to Fort Worth to start seminary while I stayed in Arkansas to finish my work at St. Edward Mercy Medical Center.

2007

I moved to Fort Worth to live with my husband. We had to leave Parson at my parents house beause the only dogs allowed on the seminary campus is Dr. Patterson's dogs. I worked at the Walsh Counseling Center in Fort Worth while Chris worked at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano. We also moved from Fort Worth to Plano and started working in Dallas for UT Southwestern. AND we got Parson back!

2008

We moved to College Station, TX where Chris accepted the position of Associate College Minister at Central Baptist Church. I got a job as a Collections Lead at St. Joseph Hospital in Bryan, TX.

2009

We got pregnant and had a baby! Eli Duane Plunkett entered the world. Chris also graduated from seminary with his Masters degree.

The end of a decade is complete!

Tis the Season...

This past Sunday the following two questions were posed at our Freedom table group: 1). What are you most looking forward to this Christmas? 2). What are you not looking forward to this Christmas? Not surprising the answer to these questions can sometimes be the same answer: Family. As much as we love to see our family during the holidays sometimes it is that very family that also drives us crazy at the holidays.

I like to say that I have plenty of crazies in my family but they are my crazies. Most of them I wouldn't trade for anything (haha). It's sad that we don't think about everything we missed with our families until there are less and less of them around. Recently, it seems like every time I open my e-mail or get a phone call it's to tell me something bad about someone I know. One of my good friends from Southwestern lost her brother-in-law in a car wreck, another friend also lost her brother-in-law in a wreck, too many people are diagnosed with terminal illnesses, and then there's always someone you hear about that's just not talking to their family for some reason or another. You only have one family for better or worse God gave them to you.