Thursday, January 19, 2012

alien behavior...

image credit: buydisneycostumes.com

You know those moments that you never ever really ever want to remember ever again?
But yet you know you will never ever be able to forget?
We had one of those today.
In the diner parking lot...mama was craving a big fat juice burger. Yep, no shame here.
And as we're walking out, she and daddy are walking a little a head of mama, as the burger may or may not have slowed down mama's speed on the walk out.
Mama got about two steps away from the 3 yr old alien-exploring her new planet with strange and impulsive interactions and behaviors, I mean girl, and noticed that she had missed a split second bow down to the ground with a return prize in the hand of said child.
The prize, you ask? What might that have been?
Oh well, just a simple little half used portion of a tampon applicator.
The purple kind.
Does that make it Tampax or Playtex?
I'm not really sure.
Because all I could think of, if you could call what I was doing at that point clear thinking, was how close I was to vomiting on said child's shoes or her daddy's, if he walked any closer.
They still, both, to this point, didn't know, or understand, the horrors of what she was holding in her hand.
You see, I had been let in on the small secret as we entered the diner and saw the other half of the applicator and wondered what kind of sickness someone would have to possess to leave a remnant like this behind, in a public place.
And the horror that rushed through my blood, when realizing my darling golden curly-locked girl was now discovering this secret at a closer distance than I had allowed us on our walk in, was UNSPEAKABLE.
All I could think of at the moment was....GET it OUT of your little squishy germ and STD-free hands right.this.instant.
So, I did what any mother in her right mind would do...started hitting the purple offender with my car keys to knock it out of her hand.
I sure wasn't going to add to the horror by touching it myself!
It took 3 swift tries...and down it fell.
Back to it's destiny it should have discovered already...road kill under this mama's tires.
Blast!
The little alien and her daddy are still gawking at the mama at this point, wondering why in tarnation mama was dry-heaving and swinging her keys madly in the air at the small child's precious tender left hand.
She was only trying to show me her parking lot surprise!
I couldn't produce speech to let them know the grave offense to everything that was holy, that she had just committed.
All I could ponder was if I had left poison control's number in my phone the last time I had to use it...because couldn't they help me with some sort of answer for this sort of travesty?!
Aren't these just the calls they are waiting for, with sheets of cleansing power tips on how to rid the child of the terrors of someone's past refuse?!
Oh my.
All I could do after the heaving settled and the teary eyes (from shock or death-by-freaked-out-laughing, I'm still not sure which) stopped was huff at the dad to put the violated child in the car while profusely scrubbing her body with hand sanitizer 4 times over, vowing to continue the scrub down the second we entered the homestead door.
The cleansing did continue for about 30 minutes in the sink, while the dad kept saying the mom was highly unnecessarily grossed out, as he was sure the rain and previous car encounters had washed off any gross previous remains.
Okay, sure, I said...well then leave me alone to my freakouts!
I'm sure there's some other mama out there who has been through some horror of the sort who will encourage my weary mama-of-daily-alien-behavior-heart or at least freak out and heave with me!
I was right.
Team mama to the rescue!
My handy texting machine rallied the troops and the small gathering of us all lost our lunch together and promised to watch our little aliens more closely while in the local diner parking lot.
Watch them mamas.
The little aliens in our lives will stop at nothing short than total child-imposed/intended freakouts for the mamas who love their little dear hearts.
After a full shower down cleansing, (because following the "incident" and subsequent scourings, there was a need to scoot around the whole toilet seat with a poo-soiled bottom, to see if the whole seat would really turn brown--it did, if you were wondering and the heaving and scouring continued on) we have entered into nap zone in these parts.
Do you think she'll give me an extra long pause and deep breath to myself today?!
Probably not.
Father help us mamas, for they know not what they do, these aliens you have put into our supervisory territory.
We love them deeply and dearly nonetheless.
And what would we do without our recognized moment-by-moment need for You and hearty doses of mama patience, settled nerves and tummies, gentleness and grace?
Amen.
Thank you for joining me for this regularly crazily scheduled moment in my Irwin-adventuresome day!
Never a dull moment here with this darling alien-exploring-her-new-planet on the loose!

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

that’s all it takes?!

DSC_0143Mr. Bubble and

 DSC_01444 varying size bowls?!

 

and a fave-o-rite baby doll?!DSC_0134

Why didn’t anybody tell me the giggles and oodles of non-troubling finding fun we’d have?!
We’ll be making these messes much more often in mama’s kitchen!!

DSC_0132DSC_0135DSC_0128

“Do you think she likes it mama?!”DSC_0136DSC_0138DSC_0130DSC_0139DSC_0140DSC_0141DSC_0142”Oh honey, I think she’s in love with head dunks…wouldn’t you be?! I’ll try it on you in the bath tonight, and you tell me how you think she felt!” “Okay, fun!”

It doesn’t take much folks!

I don’t know why in tarnation we think they need all these new-fangled gadgets!

Oh the joys of the simpler things!

AND an added bonus…a spickin’ span floor after clean-up!DSC_0145

Monday, January 2, 2012

holding HIS words dear...

Luke 2:19, 51
...Mary kept all these things to herself, holding them dear, deep within herself.
...His mother held these things dearly, deep within herself.

Even her, the chosen mother, the mama who carried Him within, till the fullness of His birth time, the one who wiped up skinned knees, and cupped handfuls of little boy tears knew the importance of treasuring her Son's, her God's, every word deep within her being, to roll around over and over, and allow them to tenderly penetrate and thus change her life forever.
Shouldn't we have meditative Mary hearts, all the more?

      (image credit: redletterchristians.org)

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Giving thanks for the valley...

After speaking of a particularly trying season in her life of deep lack, author Jan Karon speaks of God's goodness in the midst of it all...
"What I learned mostly, however, is that God is faithful. He really does love us. And here's what some may have trouble believing:
HE REALLY DOES WANT THE BEST FOR HIS CHILDREN.
If you're on a painful journey through the valley, ask Him to walk through it with you. Make some chicken soup from chicken bones, and give thanks. And when you finally get to the mountaintop, give thanks for the valley you've just been through. Because you will almost certainly go there again. And again, it will be hard.
But it will be good."
Learning to look for and taste His goodness in times of little and much.
-just a little sheep, following hard after my Good Shepherd, down in the valleys and up and over the mountaintops

Friday, December 2, 2011

through her little lookingglass...

My theory is that sometimes it's just good...
to get a three year old's perspective
on life
through her lens.

It doesn't matter if it's not perfect, off-kilter, and a little hazy,
as long as it brings a smile...
is all that really matters in her little 3 foot world.

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Grace or Law...

What are you living under?
You already-saved Christians!
Did you begin in the Spirit and are now trying to live out by the law-driven flesh?!
Check this chart to find out and see...

The Grace List
by Tim Kimmel

The Obedience-based Life vs. The Grace-based Life
You live to impress God vs. You live to trust God
A performance vs. A relationship
A duty vs. A delight
Predictable vs. Fluid
Promotes fear vs. Promotes faith
Creates worry vs. Creates calm
Masked vs. Transparent
Critical Spirit vs. Compassionate Spirit
Sense a lot of guilt vs. Sense a lot of freedom
Inclines you towards pridefulness vs. Inclines you towards humility
Outside-in management vs. Inside-out surrender
For “church” people vs. For everybody
More natural vs. More supernatural
Focuses on being good vs. Focuses on being connected
Lends itself to self-righteousness vs.
Lends itself to organic obedience


 Praying He makes me a grace-based live-er, more and more. I need it. And so does my family!

 "And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace." -John 1:16
 

Thursday, November 24, 2011

a baby, an aunty and her cousin!

What a sweet sweet joy it's been to snuggle this little for the past few days!


Does God give any gifts more precious than these itty bitty lives?!
I truly think not.


Children are a GIFT from the Lord, they are a reward from Him.
-Psalm 127:3

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Happy Falloween to you!


Have you manuevered through the maze yet?!
Go get out there and do it!

Why don't we play crazy with them more often?!
Don't they make life a heap more enjoyable, these littles in our lives?!
And a lot less, "life...just get it done, and get through it."
Seeing more of it down at their level and through their eyes, 
sure makes it all seem more grand.
Of such is the kingdom of heaven, in this mama's book.
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Saturday, October 15, 2011

twins!

Any happy hen that can labor & deliver
could-have-been-twins in the form of
a hurkin' huge golden egg,
in my urban farmyard,
deserves a big fat badge of hen honor in my book!

Go Happy Hen!!!
And go happy breakfast eaters!

Let's get True-Faced here...

Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, 
Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy...  
-Ps. 107:2

Who's got junk in their life?! (big personal hands-up)
Who's got really big messes that need a lot of clean-up?! (big personal hands-up)
Who knows they aren't perfect and really needs a really perfect Savior to get them through life, for pete's sake, through every day for that matter?! (big personal hands-up)


So, I figured if the people whose lives we are around and a part of every day have seen the real true-faced me...why not the worldwideweb?!

I told the hubbs and the pastor, that if only 1 life, 1 family could be enlightened, freed, impacted by the story of a big God fixing a measly little fearful-which-produces-control-or-angry girl...
then it was all worth it. 
Worth all the honesty, all the realness, all the ugliness, all the humbling it took, all the courage that had to be drummed up in Him,
to share the beauty He can make out of my ugly mess.
TO HIM BE THE GLORY. 
SERIOUSLY.

Which means He can more than make one out of yours too.
He's a more than enough kinda God, that's how I know it's true.

View on and see how I know how (interview done with my hubbs and my pastor for our FearLess series at church this fall)...



Krystal Irwin's full interview from Larry Whitaker on Vimeo.

There is no fear in love; 
but perfect LOVE casts out fear, 
because fear involves torment.
But he who fears 
has not been made perfect in love.
-1 John 4:18

Let Love, Jesus, cast out all fear.
So you can live in freedom
and have abundant life.
In this is perfection, 
nothing else.
That IS what He went to the cross for.
If I don't know much of anything else...
I know this much is true.

Friday, October 7, 2011

the transformation...

is happening before my eyes!
Posted by Picasa

The adventures of happy girl and her Happy Hen...

Meet happy girl's favorite friend...Happy Hen
Meet happy girl and her daddy's favorite activity with Happy Hen...

Slide Time!

Happy Hen says "it looks kind of yellow and high and slippery"...

"Are you sure about this happy girl?" -Happy Hen

"I'm sure. Now would you just, ugh, work with me here, Happy Hen?!" -happy girl

"What in tarnation just happened to me?!" -Not so Happy Hen

"Blaaahhhh!!!" -Not so Happy Hen

"What.was.that?" -Not so Happy Hen

"Do my wings look like hers?!" -very happy girl

"Whoa! That was awesome!" -still very happy girl

"Can we talk about this?!" -Not so Happy Hen & happy girl's daddy

"I don't feel so happy anymore." -Not so Happy Hen & still very happy girl's daddy

"Now let's try that one more time Happy Hen." -very very happy girl

"Blaaahhhh!!!" -Very Unhappy Hen

"Why I oughtta!" -Very very Unhappy Hen

"Humph. Do my wings still look ok? I'm so going back to my roost." -Very very very Unhappy Hen

"Here I come Happy Hen, let's try that again!" -very very happy girl

"Why are you running away from me Happy Hen?!" -very confused happy girl

"Oh well, there's always 5 other happy hens to go try again with!" -happy happy girl

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Sunday, October 2, 2011

Jesus FIRST...

I am listening to my little right now as she cleans up a monster mess she just intentionally dumped on the floor (carpeted floor) with her potato soup lunch.
I could be totally irritated that she would intentionally do this to MY clean floor, right?
But by the grace of God, it is not one of my usual-reactively-freaked out-responding moments.
And by His grace, as I told her to simply go get a wash cloth and take care of the deed herself (because that's what the consequence chart says she is to do, and who can argue with a chart, eh?)

And by His grace, He decided to bless my heart with songs of joy and praise coming out of her mouth while she worked to re-do, fix up and do it right....
"Jesus First
Jesus First
Jesus First in my life."
This must have been a new Sunday School song today because I haven't heard it around these parts before.

Man alive...why can't I remember these moments?

Cuz isn't their reactive-response usually a mirror of ours?!
Big person Freak out = little person freak out
Big person Hooting and Hollering = little person hooting and hollering
Big person Shame = little person feels even more shame
Big person Intimidation = little person feels fear, not love
Big person Condemnation = little person screaming and tears

Big person LOVE and gentleness and patience in the discipline =
gentler, less freaked out and riled up response (not always a given, but much more of a trend)

Responding, not ReAcTiNg...that's what this mama wants to have more of a heart to do.
And I'm sure this girl appreciates it too.
I want her heart to still worship while she works to do right and well and try agains.

Trying, one step at a time, to put Jesus First, over in these here parts.
Mama leading and girl, prayerfully following.
That way, all the rest just seems to fall into place too.

photo credit: chromenstuff.com

Thursday, September 29, 2011

a good friend...

is worth much much more than even fine gold!
Do you have one of these matchy-matching, soul-connecting, smile-evoking,
giggle-sharing, kindred-spiriting girlfriends?
No, you say?
Why then I say...
please do go out and find you one.
Girlfriends,
they do your body good.
my mini learning the sweet sweet joys of a girlfriend!
(photo credit: Blessed and Beautiful Boggs' Blog)

this shout-out goes out to all my dear girls out there...you's know who you's are!