Braggart Disclaimer

"I'll never again post on Facebook how great everything is!"

This is what I left my house saying one morning this week. You can guess that things were not so great that morning.  It was a bit of a rough week for me.

At another time, I found myself  mindlessly scrolling through FB on my phone, and said to Cecil, " If I see one more post about how much they accomplished in one day.........."

 At that point he kindly took my phone, and in his usual encouraging way, reassured me how great I am.  Trust me on that day, I wasn't great! Not. Even. Close.  He just encourages, it's what he does.

Facebook can make us feel so horrible about ourselves.   It's hard not to compare ourselves to the statuses that tout amazing feats that go something like this:

Laundry done, floors vacuumed, 25 freezer meals  ready to go in the freezer, cows milked, vegetables harvested, eggs gathered.  Now, coffee with my feet up having a little me time.  Then I'll wake the kids to begin our homeschooling lessons for the day.  

Maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but not a huge stretch of some updates I see.

Then there are these:

Wonderful weekend with my spectacular family planned.  First, a stroll in the park, then a picnic.  A little sightseeing in the city, a hike in the mountains, and we'll watch the sunset on the beach.

Again a bit of a stretch.

The first thing that comes to mind is " How do you have time for all that?  When do you clean your house and prepare for the week ahead?"

Now, I will be the first to tell you that I believe that often when we consider people to be braggarts on Facebook, the problem, the bragging, is usually in the eye of the beholder.  And I realize that my response to these posts are purely my issues.  I'm not blaming the posters of these glowing statuses for trying to make one feel like a loser.

That being said, bragging posts can sometimes be very discouraging.  And I don't want my status updates to discourage anyone so here's my disclaimer:

If ever I post anything that remotely makes it seem that I have it all together, that I'm being crazy productive, or that I'm in the running for 'Mom of the Year', it's likely that the event that I'm posting about is the only thing I've gotten right so far that week.  

It's possible that I left late for work every day that week.
I may have had to stop at Wal-greens on one of said days to buy toothbrushes and toothpaste because one or more of my kids didn't brush their teeth.
I may have forgotten about Crazy Hat Day at my daughter's preschool.
I may have had an epic argument with one of my girls that may or may not have had to be mediated by my husband.
Maybe I didn't cook a single meal that week, and we ate out every. single. night.
It's possible that I said some really unkind things to my husband.

* All of the above hypothetical, of course.....maybe...I'm telling y'all it was a rough week.

Once I posted a picture of our family watching a movie outside with a projector and a make-shift screen set up.  The kids thought it was the coolest thing.  One commenter stated that she loved that I take time to do special things my kids.  Truth is, that was probably one special moment in a week of harried chaos.

Of course, we are going to write about the things we get right. Let's remember this: 

How a three-year old packs for vacation

Ava has been telling us for days that she has her bag packed and is ready to go to Great Wolf Lodge. She was so proud of herself.

I opened her bag this morning as I was packing to see what she had planned to bring. Cecil and I both cracked up when we saw what she packed.

She had all the necessities... A dress-up outfit, three outfits for her baby doll, one bathing suit, a set of pajamas and her toothbrush.
It was priceless!!

Slow Cooker Herb-roasted Chicken

One of my family's very favorite meals is a whole roasted chicken.  This meal used to be a weekend only meal since in the oven, it takes a good hour and a half to cook. I rarely have that much time to cook a meal during the week.  That was until I discovered that it's just as good in the slow-cooker.
Here's the recipe that I use to cook chicken that my husband brags about and that has been the main dish at Christmas and Thanksgiving get-togethers in our family.

Ingredient List:

1 whole chicken (3-4lbs.)
2 TBS butter, melted
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. ground sage
1/2 tsp. dried thyme, crushed
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp lemon pepper or black pepper

Mix all dry seasonings together.
Ball up three pieces of foil and put in the bottom of your slow cooker so your chicken isn't sitting in the juices all day.  This sort of acts as your roasting rack.
Rinse chicken inside and out. Dry well with paper towels.
Fold the wings down behind the back.

Drop chicken into the slowcooker.
Brush on melted butter.
Rub chicken with garlic and sprinkle with seasoning mix.

Here's a picture before it's cooked...sorry no cooked picture...

it never seems to last long enough to get a picture:)

I let my chicken cook for about 8 hours on low because that's about how long I'm away from the house.  You could try it on high for less time.

The juices from the chicken make a terrific gravy.  Note:  The gravy recipe is not exact...it's one of those eyeball-it recipes for me.  But here's what I do:

Just pour the juices from the slow cooker into a skillet and let them come to a boil, add about 1/2 cup flour and stir for a few minutes, about 3 I guess..  It will be thick at this point but you want to let it cook for a few minutes or your gravy will taste like flour.  Add a large container of chicken broth and maybe some cracked pepper.  Whisk as you add the broth and continue to whisk as it comes to a boil.   You may add more water if it seems to thick for your liking.

Enjoy!

Does God Care About Football?

It's hard not to hear about Tim Tebow and his clutch wins these days.  I don't watch sports a whole lot, and I certainly don't sit down to watch the commentaries or analyses of the games of the week.  But I still hear the sports personalities commenting on Tim Tebow and wondering how he pulled off the win this week.  He wasn't a first-round draft pick...he didn't even go to the draft ceremony, you know, like all the really great players do.  But from before the draft, when some of his story was coming to light, he has been my new favorite player-aside from Drew Brees, who is also a man of God. (See a great interview with him here.)

Tebow has made it clear, every chance he gets that he is a Christian and loves the Lord.  From the pro-life commercial that he and his mom made, to his thanking his Savior during and after each game, to the way he handles the ridicule he received from those in the media and his fellow players.  He is living out what he believes on a very big stage and has, thus far, remained faithful.

A question that I hear over and over is, "Does God really care about football? Does God really care whether Tim Tebow wins his game on Sunday?" 

ABSOLUTELY HE DOES!!

Is it because He's a Broncos fan and wants nothing more than to see the Broncos take home the Lombardi? Nope.  It's because Tim Tebow is His child, His obedient, faithful child.  He is faithfully allowing himself to be used by God to further His kingdom.  Not that God needs a platform, but Tebow is in a position to reach a lot of people for Christ.  And people are noticing, talking and wondering...about God, and what it is that Tim Tebow has that they don't.  And isn't that what we are all called to do.  Very few of us will ever be on Tim's mission field, but we are all called to be witnesses for Him, to be obedient, to be used for the glory of GOD.

Furthermore, I wake up in the morning, knowing that my God cares about every mundane detail of my life.  He loves me that much!  I am not unimportant to Him!  So why, why would I presume that just because another of God's precious children happens to be a quarterback, that God doesn't care about his life, or his career?  You see, it's not that God is a football fan, or a Broncos fan....He's a Tim Tebow fan. Just like He's my biggest fan and He's your biggest fan.  He LOVES us.  He wants us to include Him in all the details of life.  But more than that, He wants to be the center of our lives.  God has a perfect plan for all of our lives.  He has laid out every day, every detail of our lives.  And I believe that he has laid out the path that Tim Tebow's career and, in effect, his life will take.  That means that his wins/losses, yards gained, fumbles and interceptions are not out of God's grip or outside of God's interest.  With that said, does it mean that if Tim Tebow does not win the Super Bowl, that God has stopped caring? No, it's just another piece of the intricate puzzle of Tebow's life that God is perfectly weaving together.  I think Tim would agree.

Whatever you do, do it for His glory.  Whether you are a minister, a janitor, a teacher, or an NFL quarterback.

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