New Years Resolution--Serious Inquiries Only

Contrary to what I heard in the sermon yesterday at our church, by our minister, Bruce, who preaches to my heart pretty consistently, and with whom I pretty consistently agree, I am going 2008 expecting some new and exciting things. (Bruce said that he thinks most of us don't make New Year's resolutions anymore, because we pretty much think that the coming year will be just like the last or a little bit worse....) I never think that. I always expect better. I always make New Years resolutions. Every year. For most of my 53 years. And I am still fat....in spite of the fact that, as far back as I can remember, not being fat anymore has been in the top 2 of my New Years' resolutions. However, I do not think that says anything about the power of God in my life. It might say something about the power of my resolve and the pride of my spirit.....I think it has a lot to do with my scattered focus and lack of attention (selective discipline)....rationalization, denial...sin. I'm not saying that being fat is a sin. But for me, refusing to give my diet and exercise daily attention is a sin. Because I know I am hurting myself. Happy New Year. This sounds hopeful, doesn't it? Throw the confetti and blow the horns! Honestly, I am a little tired of horn blowing and confetti throwing. But I am hopeful. Because I know in Whom my hope lies. But I can hope in Him until the cows come home....even here in No. VA where, hopefully the cows never really do come home....and come the year 2525, (if Jerri is still alive, which she won't be) I'd still be writing "Lose 100 lbs" on my New Years' Resolution list, unless I give over my sin to Him. So, I'm putting this out there....all two of you who read my blog....no, I know there are more...I'm just kidding. Christians and non-Christians alike....I am committing myself to this one goal this year. And I am committing myself in the Presence of Jesus Christ, by whose strength I have been promised I can do all things. (Philippians 4:13) I am going to lose the bulk of the weight I have to lose....consistently every day for the year 2008. I am going to eat 1500 calories a day--every day--in 2008. I am going to do one hour of exercise every day--unless I am sick in bed, which doesn't happen often. I am going to report on my blog every day in 2008. The committment I am making is to God, the power I am going to rely on is the Holy Spirit within me, and the testimony I am going to make is to the power of Jesus Christ in my life. My friends and family who are unbelievers, watch what the power of my Savior who wants to be yours can do! It is absolutely not about me! I cannot do this on my own--even if others can. I cannot. I have proven that fact for 53 years. If I break my promise, call me on it. My Christian friends, remind me not to use the name of Christ in vain. My desire is to proclaim Him....and to allow Him to transform me in a way that I have not been able to transform myself. I am hopeful. Pray for my deliverance from this burden that I have been carrying for far too long. I appreciate your prayers and the accountability. Happy New Year!

Conner and Santa

This picture of Conner and Santa was taken on December 11th at Fair Oaks Mall. I had to keep it a secret until Christmas, because it was a present for Chris and Cam and Cam's parents. Dec. 11th was Little Man's three month "birthday", and believe me he has GROWN. That day I didn't have the stroller, so I lugged Conner and his car seat across Fair Oaks mall to the cart section, which is right near Santa. My plan was to go back to Sears and get some booties. (His mom had brought him in a sleeper. I had bought the outfit as a surprise, but didn't find booties to go with them yet.) I was so exhausted by the time I got to the cart area, and I noticed the line was short, so I decided Santa's little elf would be cute barefoot. Conner woke up just long enough to smile and then he went right back to sleep. (Grandma had him out during naptime!) Of course, we would have preferred to have our home grown Santa, John Schackleford, but the setting and everything was perfect. This Santa was really patient, too. The baby before Conner was horrified to be in Santa's lap. Conner NEVER has wet through his diaper when I was caring for him--over it, yes, under it, yes--but never through it. But when I handed him off to Santa, I found my blouse was soaked! Santa never even flinched! He was a great Santa!!

How was your Christmas? Ours was warm and wonderful with the new baby. Our kids came to Christmas Eve service and stayed a long time....except for Steve who didin't get off work from his security job until 10. We spent Christmas Eve at Chris' and Cam's, Christmas morning at our house, and then Christmas dinner at a friend's house--Chris and Cam went back home for their Christmas with Cam's family, and Steve had to go back to work.

Two days later I had some sort of stomach plague/lupus flare up. I just got out of bed this morning after over 36 hours of throwing up and then pain. Our friend's toddler had a stomach flu the day before we all got together, and passed it on....ugh! I still feel like someone punched me in the stomach a bunch of times. I haven't thrown up in years....still is no fun....for me or Don. Next year we will have a health screening before holiday celebrations! :) Luckily Conner, Cam and Chris didn't get sick....son Don did, husband Don did, and I really did. (I always get sicker than everyone else!) But I was okay knowing that Conner was okay.

Today, I woke up feeling better, and Don had to work a double shift, so I declared this "Jerri's Do Whatever She Wants to do Day". My plan was to use my Starbucks Gift Card and my manicure/pedicure gift card, compliments of my thoughtful hubby for our engagement anniversary. As I was sitting in Starbucks reading my book that Don bought me for Christmas, my cell went off. At first I decided to ignore it, but I noticed I had received a voice mail from Nathan, my youngest--albeit completely adult aged son. He and his brothers had gotten together for basketball this morning, and Nathan's message to me was, "Mom, I dislocated my shoulder. Please call me back." Did I mention that Nathan, who just rejoined the electrical union, won't have health insurance for another month? I ended up taking him over to our friend's house--Dan Robinson--and he put Nathan's shoulder back in place, AND adjusted my back and Nathan's girlfriend's back, too. (She had come over to drive Nathan to the ER or Dan's or wherever he needed to go, since he couldn't drive with his shoulder, and I initially didn't answer my cell....) Did I mention that Dan is an angel?....I got to see his kids, who I've adopted as my own, while I was there and did a few things for Dan and Darla while I was there. By the way, we need to be praying for Darla's mom who may be dying right now. (Dorothy Mason)Darla is in Louisville, Ky. with her mom right now.

We have a lot to be thankful for this year. We need to be praying for Bob Roth, for Darla's mom, and for Rhonda Krawczyk, Lauren Schwamb and Bennett Speck. God is good, and I am so thankful, as I'm sure you are too! Happy New Year, friends and family

Parenting--it's not for the faint hearted!

Mike Miller posted the following article on his blog. I commented on it, and Mike suggested I post my reply on my own blog. I decided to follow his suggestion, so here are the article and my response: (Thanks, Mike....)
Is there a magic cutoff period when offspring become accountable for their own
actions? Is there a wonderful moment when parents can become detached spectators
in the lives of their children and shrug, “It’s their life,” and feel nothing?
When I was in my twenties, I stood in a hospital corridor waiting for doctors to
put a few stitches in my daughter’s head. I asked, “When do you stop worrying?”
The nurse said, “When they get out of the accident stage.” My Dad just smiled
faintly and said nothing.
When I was in my thirties, I sat on a little chair in a classroom and heard how
one of my children talked incessantly, disrupted the class, and was headed for a
career making license plates. As if to read my mind, a teacher said, “Don’t
worry, they all go through this stage and then you can sit back, relax and enjoy
them.” My dad just smiled faintly and said nothing.
When I was in my forties, I spent a lifetime waiting for the phone to ring, the
cars to come home, the front door to open. A friend said, “They’re trying to
find themselves. Don’t worry, In a few years, you can stop worrying. They’ll be
adults.” My dad just smiled faintly and said nothing.
By the time I was 50, I was sick & tired of being vulnerable. I was still
worrying over my children, but there was a new wrinkle. There was nothing I
could do about it. MyDad just smiled faintly and said nothing. I continued to
anguish over their failures, be tormented by their frustrations and absorbed in
their disappointments.
My friends said that when my kids got married I could stop worrying and lead my
own life. I wanted to believe that, but I was haunted by my dad’s warm smile and
his occasional, “You look pale. Are you alright? Call me the minute you get
home. Are you depressed about something?”
Can it be that parents are sentenced to a lifetime of worry? Is concern for one
another handed down like a torch to blaze the trail of human frailties and the
fears of the unknown? Is concern a curse or is it a virtue that elevates us to
the highest form of life?
One of my children became quite irritable recently, saying to me, “Where were
you? I’ve been calling for 3 days, and no one answered I was worried.” I smiled
a warm smile. The torch has been passed.
-Author Unknown
My reply:
1. Jerri Harrington Says:
December 10, 2007 at 8:14 pm
Exactly! That article says it all! The advantage of believing in the God of the
universe and Jesus, our mediator between us and Him is that we have hope, even
when our kids disappoint us, when they scare us, when they render us (almost)
speechless by their seemingly thoughtless choices! The difference is that
instead of worrying, we can decide on a minute by minute basis to give over our
worry to our all knowing and powerful God, all of the while we are trying to do
what He would have us do as parents. I’ve noticed that every stage of our
children’s lives has its worries and concerns. When they are newborns, we are
constantly checking to make sure they are still breathing. When they are
crawling around on the floor, we spend our mornings scrubbing and inspecting
those floors for hidden germs and dangers. When they are almost walking, we
wonder why they aren’t yet. When they are walking, we run around doing
interferance with all of the things they might fall down or climb up and then
fall down. Before school, we agonize over which school they should attend and
how these strangers might influence their lives. In school, it’s a constant
concern about whether they are learning at the right speed, whether they are
being damaged or influenced by people around them. When they are beyond our
daily reach, we insist on knowing their friends–but even at that, do we really
KNOW their friends? We have to decide how much to trust each child–and to not
treat one child unjustly because another one has pushed our limits in the area
of trust. When they disappoint us, we have to remember that we probably have
disappointed them, too. And listening is so important! So how many times do you
listen to the same excuse? And if you think you are being manipulated, you
probably are…. Then they are adults and you think you are finished….you, are,
really unless they come to you for advice and with their own concerns. But you
never stop worrying/giving your worries over to God!! Just don’t be like me and
get more creative with your worries than you have to be. For instance, “What
if…..you fill in the blanks….” I can have a family member dead, buried and me
wracked with guilt over a seemingly innocuous decision that I MADE….like, “Sure,
you can go over to John’s house, spend the night and then go with him to his
grandfather’s house and ride 4 wheelers.” Wait, that one actually DID almost
result in the death of my son, Nathan, who by the way, is the one who just about
made the stock go up in the company that sells the dye I use on my hair. I wish
I could say that being a Christian parent takes away all of the worry! I can say
that being a Christian parent makes you expect more of yourself and your
children, your marriage and your friends…..sometimes that is a hard thing to
live up to and even a harder thing for your children to live up to. Grace has to
be taught and given on a daily basis, along with the teaching about right and
wrong. And no matter how tempting it is to speak your mind about people who come
into the realm of influence in your children’s lives, don’t be judgemental.
Teach your children to judge behaviors, not people, and don’t ever pronounce
judgement on another person, especially another Christian….even with your
attitude. Our kids, more than anyone else, are hurt when we don’t love one
another (and them) the way Jesus wants the church to love one another. I think
that right there is what breeds cynicism, doubt and unbelief in our kids. Good
luck with all that! Having said all of that, I wouldn’t trade being Don’s wife,
the mother of our four sons, and the grandmother of our little grandbaby for
anything. I only would choose to do it all better!

Who does he look like?

Okay, I got this from Jaime and Murray's blogspot, and basically spent most of my Saturday trying to get it to work. :) It turned out the way we all thought....Conner looks equally like his mom and dad. I did it with Grandma and Grandpa Harrington, too and it turned out he looks equally like both of us, too. I wish they would have had this when my kiddos were babies. I would have had evidence that all of them, except Don Jr. look JUST like their dad. Don looks more like me....go figure, we finally name one of the boys after Don, and that one ends up looking like me! Luckily he has his dad's height/weight. I am crazy busy as I'm sure most moms/grandmas are this time of year. Conner is beautiful....he has doubled in weight and is 95% on height--100% on weight. He is a cutie. He loves me to read to him, and I do almost every day. We also sing songs together, and he smiles at me. I can't tell if he's laughing at Grandma's voice or if he really likes my singing! :) I know what his daddy and uncles would say..... Merry Christmas! I am going to write a Thanksgiving blog soon. I have so much for which to be thankful!

Here are Grandma and Grandpa's results....

...and now for who Chris looks like....surprise! surprise! more like Don! I'll do the rest of the family later.