The Uncommon Man

"Babies are never common." Anne of Green Gables (the movie)

At church this morning, the pastor brought up the point that babies are so special He asked the congregation who among them wouldn't love to hold Mae. Babies are so important, he said. It really got me thinking. Babies are never common. Each one is such a miracle to us. I can barely fathom the idea that a little more than a year ago Mae did not even exist. Now, she is a unique individual. No one else is like her, yet, not too long ago, she was not even on this earth.

How much more uncommon, then, was the baby Jesus? He was once a tiny baby boy who laughed and cried and rolled over and babbled. His parents probably marvelled at each tiny sigh and stroked his tiny head. To Mary Jesus wasn't just another little boy. He was HERS. Others held him and enjoyed him, but Jesus was Mary's. She hurt when he hurt, rejoiced when he rejoiced, and tears came to her eyes at the very thought of someone hurting him.

Add all this common uncommon-ness to the fact that Jesus was the son of GOD. He was a boy without sin. A boy whose wisdom astounded the teachers in the synagogue. His life and ministry alone were remarkable. His miracles and teachings were revolutionary. Yet this boy went even farther. This boy DIED for multitudes of people who would never care. Jesus was killed in the most unbearable way possible. THEN He defied all human logic and came to life again after three days of being definitively DEAD.

I cannot imagine how Mary felt. I am tearing up thinking of it. This child she loved, this miracle boy, who had done nothing to hurt anyone, was brutally killed before her eyes. When He was younger she could kiss his hurts and make them better. She could hold him and sing to Him and all would be right with the world. Now she could only stand helplessly and watch as His precious flesh was torn and His face was wracked with pain. Nothing could be worse for a mother to bear.

All this makes me stop and again appreciate two things. First, my baby girl is NOT COMMON. No matter how "inconvenient" I may ocassionally feel she makes things, no matter how much it hurts when she pulls my hair, no matter how exhausted I am, it doesn't even matter. She is worth SO much to me. She is a miracle. I can NEVER stop loving her.

Secondly, I truly take my Jesus for granted. Sounds cliche, but it is SO sadly true. I so often forget that He was someone's little boy-- not only someone's, but GOD'S little boy. Mary's little boy. He should NOT have had to die, but He did, because of an unfathomable amount of love.

This is Christmas. CHRISTmas. It's all about celebrating Him. This is Mae's very first Christmas in this world. I pray I will not only love and appreciate her to the best of my ability, but that God will give me the love He has for her. I pray I will never forget that Jesus is my SAVIOR. Not just a good guy, not just a wise teacher, but my REDEEMER, who DIED for ME. He died for Mae.

Merry CHRISTMAS, one and all. May it never become common.

Prodcut Review: Sunbeam Fan Forced Heater (SFH090)

Well, this is an interesting situation. I did not start my blog with the intention of doing product reviews. (Although I don't know why...it seems like a great idea actually.) However, this product is so great that I feel like I MUST share my consumer satisfaction with the world-- or at least the 2.5 people who read this blog.

This heater, the Sunbeam Fan Forced Heater, model SFH090, is AMAZING. The events went like this: It got very cold where we live. I was out of town, and my husband was getting cold at night. Apparently the heater in our apartment is just not working anymore. Out of desperation, Daniel went to WalMart and bought this little guy. Knowing Daniel, this heater was probably the smallest, least expensive one he could find, and he only bought it because he thought he might freeze in the night.

Well, let me tell you again, AMAZING. With our central heat OFF, this fan heats the WHOLE apartment up to 68 degrees, which is where we like it to be. It works SO well, in fact, that we often have to turn it off when we get too warm. Sure, our apartment is pretty small, but this heater is TINY.

If your heater is not quite doing the job I recomend this space heater as a suplementary heat source. It is incredible.

:-)

What About the Poop?

It was my mother who first suggested it to me. And I, like you most likely are, was a little wierded out by the idea. The first thing that pops to mind, I know, is what about the poop? Really, I know. I guess I can address that right now. It's not that gross. Not any "grosser" than changing a disposable diaper. Particularly when the baby only eats breastmilk, the poop is a lot thinner and waterier than you are probably envisioning. There is no extra work involving a poopy cloth diaper for the first six months or so. So yeah. No worries.

Anyway, I was sorta thinking that was an odd thought. But, both because she had some convincing arguments, and because I love my mother so incredibly much, I decided to check it out.

Picture, if you will, the scene in the old Willy Wonka movie where he opens the door into the room where everything is "eatable". Everything is bright, colorful, beautiful. This was my world when I walked into cloth diapering. I realized that it is an incredible thing. Here's some quick nutshell reasons:

*Comfortable

*Easy

*Affordable

*Environmentally Friendly

*Cute

*Healthy

I'm going to go ahead and post the link to my own article about cloth diapers here, just in case you feel the urge to learn slightly more in depth things about the system: http://hubpages.com/hub/Babies-of-the-Cloth-Cloth-Diapering-Who-What-When-How-and-Why

There are MANY resources online about cloth diapering, and places to go to get them. Some of my favorites are:

bumbledoo

Bouncing Woolies

Diaper Decisions

WeeEssentials

Sweetbottoms Baby Boutique

There are SO many more good ones, but these are off the top of my head. :-)

I LOVE cloth diapers and everything that goes with them!! Give 'em a try-- you'll be glad you did!!

Love, CLMW

Cloth VS Disposable

This blog is about cloth. I use cloth diapers for my baby. Some people will think I'm a weirdo for doing this, but that is OK. For now, I just want to share a couple of links, one being an article I wrote on hubpages about cloth diapering: http://hubpages.com/hub/Babies-of-the-Cloth-Cloth-Diapering-Who-What-When-How-and-Why

The other link is a giveaway to WeeEssentials: http://weeessentials.wordpress.com/2010/12/15/giveaway/#comment-306

This company makes cloth things and accessories that are SO cute. Some of the things they make are cloth menstrual pads, nursing pads, wet bags, and soap bits (bits of wipes soap that dissolve in water). The giveaway is for a $15 gift card, and that goes farther than you think!! Check out their Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/WeeEssentials?ga_search_query=weeessentials&ga_search_type=seller_usernames

Stay tuned for more of my cloth diapering story at a later date!! :-)

<3 CLMW

Tolerance VS Acceptance

You are probably thinking I am about to type a long attack on some poor sinful segment of humanity, about how their evil is...evil...and should not be accepted, only tolerated.

I am not.

However, the idea of "loving the sinner, hating the sin", although certainly cliche, is an interesting sort of verbal image for the way I feel right now.

I am not pregnant, but I look a few months along nonetheless. This, in the business, is called baby weight. Admitedly, I have not done as well with my diet after my baby was born as I intended. It's hard, and I love carbs. Yet I have still been a little disgusted with my appearance the last little while.

What can I do? Well, the way I see it, I have a few options.

1. Essentially continue what I am doing now, which is nothing. Less than nothing, I am going downhill instead of up. I usually keep myself from eating junk/sugary things for about 1/2-3/4 of the day. I tell myself I do not need them. I make it to lunch. I eat a pretty healthy lunch generally. Afternoon lures me to its snacky depths, where I again attempt to resist the delights of simple carbohydrates. I fail. Every day. Try as I might, I fail anyway. As far as activity, I used to take Mae for a walk nearly every day, but it has recently been so windy, or else really cold. I could go by myself in that weather, but I won't take her.

2. Go crazy. Regulate myself sternly, and force myself to walk everyday, with or without Mae, regardless of the weather. This would actually work for a few days, I think. I would do it, but then some small tragedy would come along and make me upset, sad, or mad, and I would fall again. I cannot keep that up forever.

3. Tolerate, but do not accept. I think I have determined that I cannot stay the way I am. I am gaining weight-- or at least I feel like it. I am getting more acne again. I don't feel too great. I look FAT. This is not acceptable to me!! Add this to the fact that I know some of the things I eat are just not good for my body. The sugars, especially HFCS, the crazy amounts of salt...etc.... I cannot accept this. BUT I cannot tear myself down. I think I focus a lot on the negativity of the way I am but do not think enough of the positives of myself OR the positive actions I can take.

SO, I tolerate being too heavy and fat for a little while, while I step by step get myself together. I can do this. A little at a time. God help me...no, really.

Santa

Well, here comes Christmas hurtling toward me.

We don't do Santa.

You're probably thinking we are some freaks for sure. We don't like Halloween and we don't do Santa. Well, let me just start off by saying I don't hate Santa. I am not offended by his overly-jolly self. I am not opposed to a bunch of elves helping him gather gifts for children. My problem is that none of this exists.

Santa isn't real. I hope all of you know this, because I don't want to destroy your lives or anything, but really. He's not real.

Someone like Santa may have existed once. I have heard this. But the fact is that he doesn't today, so why are millions of people telling their kids he does and teaching them to believe in him almost like God? Therein is my issue.

First, if you teach your kids to believe in Santa, you are really taking away from what Christmas really IS. Christmas is about the birth of Jesus Christ. The gift He has given us is better than anything we can get for Christmas (from Santa or otherwise). You are training your children to believe in a LIE. Once they find out Santa doesn't exist, how hard would it be for them to begin doubting that Jesus exists? This is true especially because young children are very concrete. It's either true or it's not.

Second, IF you MUST do Santa, I really think you better make very sure your kids are VERY familiar with Jesus and God. I know of some kids who can tell you all about Santa and where he comes from and when he's coming. But these same kids, who go to church nearly every Sunday, can't seem to answer some simple questions about Jesus or God. That really scares me. I know of some other children who have elevated Santa to a status nearly equal with God, such that Santa apparently whispers into Jesus' ear what the kids want for Christmas. Really? Is no one else a little alarmed at this?

Again, I don't HATE you if you do Santa. However, we are not going to do that with Mae, no way no how. And, guess what? Santa doesn't exist, and I am not going to sit there and lie to your kids for you. I won't blatantly say, "Child, Santa is not real." but if they ask me, I will tell them, and if they're discussing it with me, I will change the subject.

Reading back on this, it sounds really mean. I am not really trying to be mean, but this is a really big deal to me. Christmas is SUCH an important holiday for Christians that I can't stand the idea that children might not get the idea of what it truly represents.

No, Virginia, there isn't a Santa Claus, but there is a Jesus.

Thoughts on Halloween

Well, it's here again, that controversial holiday Halloween.

Now that Daniel and I have Mae the issue of whether or not to celebrate this holiday, or even if it can be considered a "holy day", become very important.

We have been discussing this for awhile now, and we have come to the conclusion that we will not celebrate Halloween, such as it is. The reasoning behind this decision is not because Halloween is inherently EVIL. From what we can gather from the MASSIVE amount of information regarding the origins of Halloween, it stems from a lot of different things and practices. Some of these practices could be considered evil, but some of them are relatively harmless. It is truly a mish-mash of a holiday. The reason we choose not to celebrate it is because it does not HONOR GOD. Again, I don't know whether or not Halloween is bad or evil, but there is nothing about it that specifically HONORS GOD.

Consider: Each holiday, or "holy-day", means something. Christmas, obviously, celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ and what He means to the world and all people. Easter celebrates Christ's death and coming back to life again, and what THAT means to the world and all people. Thanksgiving is a time specifically designated for thanking GOD for all the blessings He gives the world and all people. Even Valentine's Day, though not inherently Christian, could be considered a God-honoring occassion, because it provides a specific opportunity to be thankful for your spouse and show them how much you love them. Love, after all, is God. God is love. And God honors marriage.

Halloween represents...candy? Horror? Not sure what we're celebrating here.

Daniel and I feel like celebrating the harvest time is more up our alley. Thank God for the food, the cool weather, etc. We like dressing up. It's kind of fun. Costume parties are fun.

We really don't approve much of trick-or-treating either. Children certainly don't need all the empty calories and sugar. Not to mention the potential dangers which COULD spring from trick-or-treating.

We don't hate you if you celebrate Halloween, but we also don't celebrate it specifically.

Another point: "Celebrating" implies embracing, encouraging, reveling in. Should we really embrace, encourage, and revel in this holiday? Candy for thought...haha.

Happy Harvest.