What is Beauty???

At Women's Bible study, we are going through a Beth Moore study of the book of Esther. And, inevitably, the topic of appearance is being discussed. True beauty versus store-bought, skin-deep, fake-baked beauty. And as God knows...my head is very thick! And very often my brain is blissfully unaware of the ugly faults in my heart. So, He decided to teach me a couple lessons this week, OUTSIDE of my study. Oh Lordy! You know how to shake me up! And it usually involves a big swat in the pants! Here's the first story:

"For man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."
1Samuel 16:7

Ok, I'm addicted to social websites, like facebook and myspace and blogs! It's no secret around here...I could get wrapped up for hours if my kids didn't pull on my arm and tell me, "I'm hungry! It's past lunchtime!" Ooops! That's how absorbed I find myself when I'm surfing those websites. Well, I was checking out my myspace account this week, and I noticed that someone had commented on a group topic that I had previously commented on. This person was someone I had never met, but as we began to comment back and forth with each other, I began to think, "This seems like a cool girl! She could be someone I'd really click with!" She didn't have a photo attached to her name, so I had no idea what her appearance would be. All I knew is that she was witty and friendly, and I liked our quick banter. A few days later, this woman posted a photo of herself. And I'm so ashamed to admit, my first reaction was so snotty! I immediately thought, "Oh! I couldn't be friends with her...she's nothing like I expected." What?!? I stopped myself and questioned my unfair judgements. What was I suddenly finding wrong with her?? The fact that she was probably 15 yrs older than I expected?? The fact that she had a head of silver white hair, rather than the young trendy cut that I imagined?? Or was it the fact that she was wearing sloppy 'hillbilly' clothes in her photo, rather than a cute, updated outfit that I was sure this fresh personality would be wearing?? Wow. So, her appearance suddenly changed the way I thought about this sweet, friendly woman?? I was so disgusted with my shallowness. And I know God allowed this situation to happen for a reason: to show me what is really in my heart. Ouch! That's painful! My prayer=Lord, please change my heart. Help me to see others thru your eyes. With kindness and acceptance, no matter what the outer appearance may be. Help me to remember that every single person is a unique, valuable creation that you have breathed life into and placed a purpose within. Amen!

"I don't dare to compare myself with those who praise themselves. I'm not that kind of person. They measure themselves by themselves. They compare themselves with themselves. When they do that, they are not wise. But I won't brag more than I should. Instead, I will brag only about what I have done in the area God has given me. It is an area that reaches all the way to you."
2 Corinthians 10:12, 13

OK, here's my second story. It is a totally different take on the issue of appearance. I admit that I am in the habit of comparing myself to other people. You know, walking into a room and sizing up the competition. Oh c'mon ladies! Don't pretend you don't do the same exact thing! I automatically notice one lady's cute shoes, the next lady's adorable hairstyle, and (yes! I will admit to you!) I will definitely notice the beautiful woman in the corner, and then I will proceed to pick out each and every flaw I can possibly find in her....just to make myself feel better I guess??? Who knows!!! How superficial, I know! It is tied to my own insecurity. And the Lord is showing me, through this study, how deep that insecurity goes. (And how horribly it manifests itself in my own attitudes!) Unfortunately, the comparisons don't stop there! I find myself comparing my mothering skills to other moms, my marriage with other marriages, etc, etc...you get the idea. What this verse tells me is that it is so foolish to compare ourselves with each other. Rather, we should let God's standards be our litmus test. Last week, the Lord showed me...with obnoxious, flashing lights...just why it's so foolish to compare ourselves with other people. When we compare ourselves to others...what we're really doing is comparing ourselves to their appearance. Not the truth behind the appearance. Here's what happened: I was online again (I know, I know...my poor neglected children!) and a close friend of mine opened up a chat window and began to chat with me. Almost immediately, though, she got right to the point. "Can I ask you a question? You and your husband have been together for a long time.....how do you make it work?" I was kinda caught off guard, and I quickly admitted to her that we have our share of struggles too. She responded with, "But you always look so happy." Hmm......

I replied, "I guess everyone smiles in pictures, right?" But, what I realized was that people may look at our photos, see us always smiling, and assume we are always happy. After further chatting, she admitted that she and her hubby are going thru a rough patch in their marriage. It nearly broke my heart to think that she may be comparing her marriage with mine.....or rather, the appearance of mine. No! No! No! How dangerous and disastrous that would be! As a matter of fact, I've found myself in her same position. I've found myself in those 'rough patches' with my hubby, and I've thought to myself, "We just aren't as happy as that other couple...there must be something wrong with us!" Aye! If only we kept in mind the fact that every marriage goes thru those 'rough patches.'

So, I didn't waste a moment in expaining to her that, yes, there are days when I am so happy in our relationship.....but there are also days when I wake up and have to recommit my vows for that day. Marriage vows aren't only made at the altar. They have to be made every day. Especially when you don't feel as happy as other couples appear! My prayer=Lord, thank you for opening my eyes to see beyond the surface. Help me to display an honest perception of my life. And help me to stop comparing myself with others! Amen and amen!!!

So, here's my next question. How does a woman send out an accurate image to others, without airing out all your laundry?? Hmm...this may be the next lesson God teaches me. Hopefully without having to swat me over the head! lol!

Date Night

Ryan & I enjoyed a 'date night' on Saturday night. We joined our friends Michael & Kristi Grove and Vicki & Chuck Prescott for a dinner in downtown Chicago...to celebrate Michael's birthday.

We made reservations for Andy's Jazz club, on Hubbard Street. The atmosphere was really cool. The music was great. And we all agreed that the food was really good! Fun times!

Auntie Danielle was kind enough to come babysit the kids for us, so we could have a night out. The highlight of the kids' night was when they made a fort with blankets and watched a movie inside the fort. ;)

randomness

I was trying on my wedding dress...for the 1st time in over 10 yrs! Yikes! But I may need to wear it again...in a V-Day dinner/theater play that Ryan & I have roles in. So, I was trying it on. And to my surprise, it still fits! When I stepped out of the bathroom, wearing the gown, Marina was immediately before me...and her eyes were sparkling with enchantment! She started gushing about me and my 'princess' dress! "Mommy! You're wearing a princess dress! You're so pretty! Mommy! You look like Cinderella! You're wearing a princess dress!!!" And then she said something that made me melt into a puddle of love on the floor. She said, "But, Mommy.....who's gonna dance with you?" She is such a girly-girl! Because, obviously any girl wearing a princess dress MUST have a prince right around the corner, ready to dance with her! I LOVED seeing the innocent enchantment in her eyes. So sweet!

The other day, I was trying to do some housecleaning while the little kids took a nap. I knew I only had a short window of time to complete my tasks before the busy kids awoke, so I was hurried and stressing and really kinda crabby. I sent Mark outside to play in the snow, not so much for his sake as it was for mine, to get him out of my way. While I was switching the laundry upstairs, I heard Mark run back inside and stand at the bottom of the stairs and shout up to me, "Mommy!!!" I was so angry that he was being so loud and almost woke up the kids from their nap, I raced downstairs and lost my temper on him. "SHHHH!!! Be quiet! What's wrong with you!?! You're gonna wake up the kids! And why did you walk across the carpet with your wet boots?!? What do you WANT!!!" I was fuming! He looked at me with sad, embarassed eyes and said, "I just wanted you to look out the window at me." He had that same look of innocence in his eyes. Like, all he wanted was Mom's attention. And in that moment, all my housework and tasks suddenly seemed meaningless in comparison. I was so ashamed of my behavior. And I reminded myself that his desire for Mom's attention will be short-lived. Very, very soon, he will be too old & busy to ask Mom to look out the window at his snow creations. So, without another word, I followed him to the front of the house, and I sat at the kitchen window for a long time, watching him play in the snow, and thinking about my attitude, and realizing that I need to cherish these moments so much more than I do. They will be gone too quickly if I don't.

LASER TAG BABY!!!

Friday night we had Mark's party. 12 of his friends joined us at Chaser's Laser Tag for pizza, cake, group gaming, and (of course) laser tag! Pastor Michael and Kristi were so kind to join us too! I'm not sure who had more fun...the 10yr old kids...or Ryan & Michael, who couldn't wait to whoop on the 10yr old kids in Laser Tag!!! LOL!

Wow. Boys get awfully competitive when they have a laser gun in their hand!!!

Mark was hoping to score enough birthday cash to buy an ipod-touch. Sure enough, his friends were so kind to give Mark cash and gift cards, and now he has reached his goal! We plan to take him tomorrow to make his big purchase! So, not only did he have an awesome party with gr8 friends...he also is able to buy "the best gift ever!"

Mommy made some Creepy Crawly Alien Cupcakes...complete with one eye and tentacles...

Happy Birthday buddy!!!

We ended the night with a sleepover! The boys played air hockey and sword fights...and a few rounds of "tarantula" (where the boys had to creep down into the dark basement without being caught by the hiding Ryan & Michael! LOL! The boys were so scared to leave the bottom step, but they loved every minute of it!) Then they pulled up their sleeping bags, grabbed some popcorn, and watched a movie (Prince Caspian). They only got about 4 hours of sleep...so we are awfully tired! But it was worth every moment. We all had such a blast!

Happy Birthday Mark!

My baby boy turned 10 years old this week! That just seems so momentous to me. He's excited to be in the double digits. lol. What a sweet birthday week he's had too! We've experienced record cold weather this week, so he enjoyed 3 'snow days' @ home! On the morning of his birthday, I gathered the 3 kiddies around the breakfast table and we sang happy birthday to Mark. Then he blew out a candle that was in his blueberry muffin. So cute! That night, we treated him to his favorite restaurant for dinner...Portillo's. And Ryan watched a movie with him that Mark has been begging us all year to let him watch...Dark Knight. Ryan and I like that movie, but we hadn't allowed Mark to watch it (even tho all his friends claim to have seen it), because of the violence in the movie. But since he had turned 10 that day, and he is growing up so fast, Ryan decided to let him watch it. Of course, Mark loved the movie, and "wasn't at all scared!" (roll my eyes) So, it was a fun birthday for my sweet boy who has turned a whopping 10 years old! Phew!

Uncle Jay Explains the News

"I telled a LIE!!!"

My sweet little Reese has told a couple lies in the past few weeks. This is a new thing for him. The first time was when I sent him downstairs to get his socks and shoes on for church. I was upstairs still getting ready. After a few minutes I hollered down to him, "Reese! Do you have your socks and shoes on?" To which he quickly replied, "Yeah!" With hurried relief, I went about getting ready. But when I came downstairs, there was Reese, playing video games, with BARE FEET! He had a little grin on his face, like, "I tricked you. That was fun." The little stinker! From then on, I knew I couldn't place all my trust in his responses.

The other night, I sent the boys to brush their teeth before bed. They were awfully silly and playful in the bathroom, so as Reese walked out, I asked him, "Did you brush your teeth?" To which he replied, "Yes." Being skeptical of him lately, I narrowed my eyes and said, "Let me smell your breath." He shyly let me examine, and sure enough, he had NOT brushed his teeth! Another lie! This time, I knew I needed to take action, so he would learn that lying is not a game. I told him, "Reese, you told Mommy a lie. You said you brushed your teeth, but you really didn't. That's a lie. It makes Jesus sad. And it makes Mommy sad." At which point, he burst out into tears. It's like he was heartbroken that he had made Jesus sad and Mommy sad. I wanted to cry with him; he was so sincere about it. Quickly I said, "Reese, let's try again." And I went on to ask him if he had brushed his teeth. This time (thru tears) he told me the truth.

As he entered the bathroom, I overheard him tell his big brother, in a sad, sad voice, "Mark...I telled a LIE!!!" What a sweetie!!!! He melts me. Truly melts me.

I swiped this from a friend's website...so deep!

In times of change, the learners will inherit the world, while the knowers remain well prepared for a world that no longer exists. -Eric Hoffer

1st Loose Tooth!!!

On New Year's Day, Reese lost his very first loose tooth! It began to wiggle only the night before. And that quickly, it fell out! He was a little bit afraid, not understanding what in the world was happening to him, so I calmly explained what was going on. And I reassurred him that everyone else has lost a tooth too! Even little cousin Mikayla has her 2 front teeth missing at the moment, so it was comforting to him to see that he had a toothless companion.

Marina, on the other hand, refuses to believe that she will ever lose a 'toof' because she insists that her 'teef' are already sharp!

Morales Christmas

We celebrated Christmas with my side of the family, on New Year's Day. Dinner at Jenae & Tony's house. Board games. Gift exchange. And of course, MUSIC!!! There's always a lot of music involved in our gatherings. I don't mean a boom box or an ipod playing. I mean live music! Somebody is always strumming on a guitar or playing a song on Jenae's baby grand piano. And if there is no instrument around, we start a beat by tapping different patterns on our dinner glasses, until every person is involved, creating a percussion set that even Blue Man Group would envy! And if we're simply scrubbing dishes in the kitchen, someone will inevitably sing out a tune, and soon enough we are all harmonizing. We are a very musical family, and I just love how music is such an integral part of our family times! Here are some snapshots from our Christmas gathering.

Bringing in 2009!!!

True to tradition, we started out the evening by meeting Ryan's family at church for communion. We love to group together around Pastor Ron as he prays for each member of our family (from the oldest to youngest) and for blessings in the new year. Then he passes us out communion and we spend a few moments remembering what Christ has done for us. It's an amazing time of reflection...both on the past as well as the future. How blessed we are. And how grateful we feel for the continous way our God showers us with love.

Then, we headed out to Heather's house to join some of our closest friends in a New Year's celebration!

All Dressed Up...

...the kiddies...all dressed up for church in their Christmas outfits...

Christmas Day @ the Brody's

Brody Family
All smiles (except Marina! My word!)











Another Christmas Day, spent with my sweet hubby!

As every year, Christmas Day was spent at Grandma and Papa Brody's house. Extended family joined us as we ate a Christmas meal and exchanged gifts.

Here is Ryan with his grandmother, 'Mom Riefke.' She spends the entire year gathering special gifts to give to her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren on Christmas Day.