Back in high school, I used to try and find different places to do my schoolwork around the house - mainly with Grammar and English. My favorite spot for a while was on top of the big freezer in the garage. It was perfect. After a while though, I grew somewhat tired of going to the same spot every time. Plus if you dropped your pencil it was a bit of a hassle to get it back. Then one day, as I was taking my laundry out of the dryer, I was like, "This would make a nice spot to do schoolwork in. It's warm, it's cozy, it's secluded . . . Just keep the door open and you'll have light and no one will accidentally turn it on when you're inside it." So I got in. And continued to get in multiple times after that. And not just for schoolwork. It was great to just hang out in. It was a very lovely spot, and I fit quite well. My kitties would join me sometimes too ^.^
One day, as I was sitting all cozied up in my dryer, my dad came out to get something from the laundry room . I think I startled him when he realized I was in there. He asked why the dryer and I explained my reasoning to him. He then paused, smiled, shut the dryer door, and turned it on. I now know why cats have died in dryers before. He didn't leave it on for long though, just once or twice around. He then opened the door again, with a huge, giddy grin on his face. Hehe, I love my dad X) I'm pretty sure my dryer phase ended soon after that though . . .
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i·den·ti·ty I'm finding that this is something I'm becoming quite passionate about: the subject of identity. More specifically, the differences between our worldly identities and our identities in Christ. A friend asked me a little while back what the difference was between the two. My answer: Our worldy identities are the ones that the world (people, ourselves, the enemy, media, etc) give us. Our identities in Christ are the ones that God has given us - our TRUE identities. Pretty simple, yeah? You'd think it would be . . . Here's the problem though: So often our worldly identities are the ones we take on for ourselves, but our worldly identities are often based mostly on lies. And the lovely thing about lies is that they're made to seem as much like the truth as possible. Great. So here we are, basing our identities off of lies that we have claimed to be "truth". You know what I'm talking about. That subtle facial expression someone gives you that feeds the lie that you're a burden; the way people look in movies or magazines that feed the lie that you're ugly, or not good enough; that sarcastic comment or joke that feeds the lie that you're not intelligent; that grade that feeds the lie that you're a failure. It happens with everyone. Maybe not in those specific ways, but in others perhaps. And if it doesn't . . . then share with me your ways. Think about it though. What are some things that you've believed about yourself, or that you've been told about yourself, that may be lies? It's way more difficult to think about & realize than you'd think. It's taken me 20 years to come to the realization that thinking I was stupid was a lie, and that I am in fact not stupid. Huzzah! Yay truth ^.^ It's taken me 16 years to realize that I have value. This is something that might sound like some sort of self-pity party, but I can assure you, it's not. I got blown off by friends growing up A LOT. People forgot about me more times than I'd care to remember. Though I'm sure nothing was meant by it, it greatly affected how I viewed myself. People - friends - didn't find it important enough to spend time with me, or tell me that they weren't coming, or decided to do something else instead? Must mean I'm not important enough. And that's how I viewed myself for quite some time. I was focusing on my worldly identity; letting media, false perceptions, the enemy, people & their thoughts define who I was. When I was little - about 6 or 7 or so - my mum, sister, and I were on our way home from school. As we sat in the van, mum & Abi in the front, me in the back, I asked my mum, "Mommy, who am I?" I took her by surprise with that. I often asked her the questions that no one could really answer. That was a question I asked myself a lot growing up. It's taken me 20 years to get through the lies, the false perceptions, and the damage to see who it is that I really am; who it is God made me to be. Who it is that He's shaping & molding me to be. I can't begin to express how overwhelmed I feel about that sometimes. Overwhelmed with joy, and excitement, and gumption, and a release that's like no other. I've finally been able to start shedding off the false perception of myself that I've been carrying for nearly 20 years . . . This is something God laid on my heart to do as a visual representation & reminder for myself. It surprisingly helped a lot when making it. Hopefully someone else will be able to find some sort of encouragement or be able to relate to it ^.^ P.S. if this is something that interests you, I'd super love to talk about it! Just sayin'. . .
So, I have this knack for finding different ways of getting myself into ridiculous situations. Back in the day I never used tweezers to maintain my eyebrows. It was tedious, and time consuming, and I just wasn't that patient. I had come up with a brilliant way to get around that time consuming act, and yet still maintain two eyebrows. Solution? Tape. Just put tape over them, smooth out any parts that may not be sticking, and rip off. Repeat as many times as necessary - usually 2-4 times. I thought it was genius because it would only take out the hairs that were ready to come out, so there was no worry of creating a bald spot. Up until that point I had used Scotch tape, or masking tape - not too sticky, but just sticky enough. After a while, I mastered the art of eyebrow sticking and decided to step it up a bit - with Duct tape. I applied it lightly, so that the adhesive wouldn't get too comfortable with the hairs that needed to stay in my forehead. I was getting pretty good at it, until one fateful afternoon . . . It was right before a big event; I hastily applied the duct tape to my eyebrows, as I had done many times before. Only this time I guess I pressed down too hard, cause when I pulled it off a huge chunk of my eyebrow came with it, creating an oh-so-lovely bald spot smack dab in the center of my right eyebrow. And it wasn't like a few hairs gone, it was a bald spot. I have since mastered the art of patience, and tweezers.
Ever have those moments where, even though you've always known it, you have a re-realization of something? That happened the other day for me. Guys, my mum is amazing, and I am beyond blessed to have her. I could go on & on about this for a looong time, but I'll spare you the ramblings. I do want you to know my mum a little better though, cause she is an amazing woman, and I love her OODLES. Here are just some things about my mum:
* She grew up a huge tomboy: dirt biking, softball every day, forts, hiking, fishing, camping, farming, etc. * She has 5 autoimmune diseases: Rheumatoid Arthritis, Adrenal issues, Thyroid issues, Early onset ovarian failure, and Raynauds Disease. Thankfully, due to eating Gluten Free & a surgery, the first 4 have been reversed. * She has a form of Muscular Dystrophy called Charcot-Marie-Tooth. * She has Sleep Apnea. * She has a bad back and pelvis too. * She was always there to comfort me in the middle of the night when I had night terrors (which happened frequently). Also, when I fell out of bed or ran into the wall in my sleep. * She always (when she's able to, which is pretty often) makes me homemade chicken soup when I'm sick. * She's a Marriage & Family Pastor, and she's darn good at it. * She's super duper creative and has a knack for taking the old & ugly and giving it beauty. * She's never bias, which I love. * She gives wise, biblical advice on a daily basis. * She also has severe Celiac Disease. * She processes THOUSANDS of pounds of produce for us every year. * She does all the food research, which is extensive. * She's really creative with the foods that we can eat, and finding new ways to eat them. * She grows her own tea, herbs, an assortment of veggies, and some fruit (the last two will increase quite a bit). * We go on mother-daughter dates every Saturday, most of which being garage sales & thrift stores. * She doesn't watch movies very often. But when she does, it's more than likely to be: The Incredibles, Cars, White Christmas, The Pacifier, New in Town, Mulan, Narnia, Spy Kids, Around The World in 80 Days, or Star Wars. * She watches the original Star Wars trilogy every Christmas. It's now a tradition in our family because of her. * We always decorate the house & tree for Christmas together (usuallyy while watching Star Wars or White Christmas). * She has a servants heart, and is always serving someone in some way. * She's a truth speaker, always speaking & reminding us of God's truth, and always pointing to His word. * She is both a spiritual warrior and a prayer warrior. * Her nickname used to be Carebear BEFORE they created "Carebears". * She homeschooled my sister & I from 3rd/5th grade through high school. This in itself is a demonstration of how patient & loving she is, as I am NOT academically minded and I had brain fog from Gluten for most of my schooling. * She's an awesome organizer and has an eye for decor. * Whenever she says something funny, whether intentional or not, she excitedly exclaims, "I popped a funny!" When it's unintentional she sounds more surprised, hehe =] * She LOVES IKEA. We've gone on many a dates there. * She sews! She made most of our outfits when we were little, she's made dolls, quilts, blankets, and hems my clothes that are too big. * She (with my dad of course) successfully raised two (awesome) girls, who couldn’t have been much more different from each other, which in itself is something only a miracle worker could have done. She is one of the quirkiest women that you'll ever meet, and it's just wonderful. She's stubborn as all get out, has a fire in her that ain't nobody can put out, and she's humble. She's not perfect, and she'll be the first person to tell you that - which is one of the many reasons why I love her so much. She's faced many challenges that most people don't ever have to. And though her body may be weak, she's got a strength to her that I hope so desperately to have some day. She's by far one of the greatest gifts that God has blessed me with, and I love telling people that she's my mum. Happy Mother's Day, Mum! <3 So my mum & I were doing a little shopping in Trader Joes one early Spring afternoon. I can't remember exactly how old I was, though I do know I was in my teens. Anyways, it was a pretty typical visit there. We walked in, I looked for those awesome little kid carts, then I headed for the free coffee station. As per usual, while I was there an elderly person made some comment about how they were surprised that such a young person drank coffee, and how it would stunt my growth. I proceeded to tell them that I was naturally that short and the coffee had nothing to do with it. As I was making my way back from the coffee station, searching the different aisles for my mum, I noticed that there was someone behind me. That someone was the Easter Bunny. I kid you not.. Not sure if I was just being paranoid or not, I weaved through random aisles to see if it would follow me. It did. I finally found my mum in the center of one of the aisles, and as I approached her I whispered, "Mum, please look up". She did, and needless to say, she was rather startled. There stood some dude in a giant purple Easter Bunny suit. Didn't say hello, didn't say anything - he just stood there in silence holding out an Easter egg. Do you have any idea how disturbing it is to be stalked through an entire grocery store by the Easter Bunny, just so he could, without making a sound, extend to you an Easter egg? It's REALLY creepy.
So, I really like chickens. Like, a lot. They're silly, and awesome, and fun to catch & cuddle with. Roosters, however. . . roosters are a different story. I've had only one encounter with a rooster, but one was enough. We were at my friends house, my two friends & I, and the three of us were walking around his land, talking, and just hanging out. We came to the area that the chickens were at and he pointed out the rooster, warning us about it & instructing us on how to not threaten it : don't stare at it, don't go near the hens that are near it, don't make noise at it, don't charge at it, etc. And if for some reason it does attack, just kick it in the head.
So there we were, chillin' with the chickens, minding our own business, not making any threatening moves or noises. I was making good friends with some of them, when all of a sudden this rooster struts over to me and straight up attacks me! Which, by the way, rather hurt. Roosters have quite the painful talons. So what do I do? I try to kick it in the head. Does it work? NO. I was too short & it was too tall for me to get my foot at the appropriate height without falling over and subjecting the rest of my being to the beasts aggression. So my friend stepped in and kicked that sucker in the face, warding him off. Now you might be asking, "Why would that rooster want to attack little Lew? What did it find threatening about her?" The answer: my pants. Apparently it was feeling a little jealous that my sweats were red, drawing the attention away from himself. So let this be a lesson to whomever reads this : don't wear flashy colored pants around roosters. They don't like to be outstaged. Also, if you're going to get attacked by a rooster, don't be short. |
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