My Generation and the Culture Wars

I'm currently reading a book called, The Reason for God by Timothy Keller. So far, I'm really enjoying it. Timothy Keller is the pastor of a Presbyterian Church in Manhattan. The average age in his church is 30. He deals a lot of with skepticism and yet his church in Manhattan has been flourishing. There was a quote in the book that I think really did a great job of describing my generation:

"I think these younger Christians are the vanguard of some major new religious, social and political arrangements that could make the older form of culture wars obsolete. After they wrestle with doubts and objections to Christianity many come out on the other side with an orthodox faith that doesn't fit the current categories of liberal democrat or conservative Republican. Many see both sides in the "culture war" making individual freedom and personal happiness the ultimate value rather than God and the common good. Liberals' individualism comes out in their views of abortion, sex and marriage. Conservatives' individualism comes out in their deep distrust of the public sector and in the understanding of poverty as simply a failure of personal responsibility. The new, fast-spreading multiethnic orthodox Christianity in the cities is much more concerned about the poor and social justice than Republicans have been, and at the same time much more concerned about upholding classic Christian moral and sexual ethics than the Democrats have been."

Good Friends

"A good friend will come and bail you out of jail...
but only a true friend will be sitting next to you saying... "Man, that was fun!"

TJ was put in time out at nursery during my ladies bible study. The nursery worker said that it was the first time she had seen him exert his will. A little girl was playing with a toy that he wanted so he went and took it from her. The little girl shoved him in return. As a result, both of them were placed in time out. Trent's little buddy, Jonathan (who had done nothing wrong), went over and sat with TJ during his entire time out session.

Everyone needs friends like that!

Midweek Menu

This has not been much of a cooking week. We've been spending a lot of time with friends before we go into 'new baby hibernation' mode. TJ and I are also fighting colds so my energy level has not been great. The veggie box this week was a good one though. Thankfully, it's a lot of things we eat raw so I haven't done much menu planning. We had our share of greens for the last three weeks so I opted out of receiving kale and lettuce this week. Instead, I got a double order of tangerines and tomatoes. We also received a pumpkin and a mix of turnips, carrots and parsnips. I've never made anything pumpkin that didn't use the canned pumpkin so that will be the interesting cooking/baking adventure this week.

Meal time with TJ has become more of a challenge. He just does not want to stop to eat. He is obsessed with balls and cars and would rather play. His snacks tend to be sliced tomato, whole wheat graham crackers, roasted winter veggies, etc. If he's going to be finicky about eating, then when he does eat, it's going to be healthy!

I am now at 37 weeks. My contractions have been ramping up. My doctor asked that I go easy this week as far as exercising in hopes that we can keep the baby in one more week (better chance of lung development). So that's the plan - hopefully baby agrees! Not feeling 100% and keeping busy with friends has made it much easier to keep my mind off exercising.

Blog Organization

I realize that our little blog is all over the place. Basically, that's because we're all over the place. Jesse and I still have our current interests and hobbies, but much of the day is taken up with maintaining a happy household and raising boy(s). Though my need to for completely structured days has relaxed quite a bit, I still do better with order than chaos. So I've decided to try and organize the things I type about on here into several categories rather than being all over the board. I have seen where some people have a theme for each day, but I know it would be unrealistic for me to attempt to blog daily, especially when the baby arrives. So the consolidated categories will be:

Homemaking - Recipes, Cooking, Gardening, Sewing, etc.
Daily Life - Home Improvements, Family Milestones, Cute Kiddo Stories, etc.
Health - Organic, Natural or Healthy Living
Items of Interest (Miscellaneous) - Books, Current Events, Auburn Football
Mama Musings
Hobbies - Crafts, Running, Biking, The Great Outdoors, Travels, etc.

Baby's Favorite Song?

On Sunday, we sang "Do It Lord" (by Tommy Walker) in church. While we were singing this song, my belly started bouncing to the beat of the music. Jesse even noticed my belly keeping rhythm. Even as I type this, the song is playing on You Tube and baby is dancing again!

SEC West Champs and Cam Controversy

Auburn beat Georgia 49-31!!! It was a good game. It looked like all the media distractions had gotten to them in the beginning, but they pulled it together in the second half. This win puts Auburn in the SEC championship game! We still have to play Alabama before that.

I love watching Auburn football. Period. But, this year has been especially exciting to watch our offense. Cam Newton is a very talented player. There has been so much trash talking surrounding him this past week. I hate to see the university I love under attack. I get incredibly frustrated with the media because there hasn't been any proof yet. It's all, "allegedly, allegedly... from an unnamed source." The allegations may turn out true, but the media is always out to blow things out of proportion for a good story. Drama sells so when there isn't much going on, stir things up. It doesn't matter who they slander in the meantime. I hate to see anyone's name dragged through the mud before they are actually proven guilty. The last time Auburn went undefeated was in 2004 and they were left out of the title game. Coming through the SEC schedule is incredibly tough, so yes, I am biased to an SEC team that comes out undefeated in our conference. Teams like Oregon or Boise State rarely play ranked opponents. Auburn faces ranked opponents almost every week. I am excited to see our team play in the SEC championship. I would hope that all the media drama would stop condemning a man that the NCAA has not proven guilty yet, but I am not going to hold my breath. In the meanwhile, I am giving Cam Newton and Auburn the benefit of the doubt. War Eagle!

November - A Month of Thanksgiving

I love November. The leaves change. The weather is cooler and perfect for hot apple cider and nice warm soups. November also brings us Thanksgiving. What a great occasion to have a time a year that causes us to remember our blessings. It's so easy to get wrapped up in a poor economy or daily frustrations, but we, especially as Americans, have so many things to be thankful for.

So... today I'm thankful for my husband. He has been great about doing a lot of the housework so I can get off my feet. He's so good about playing with Trent and doing bathtime and bedtime. He's such an awesome dad. I normally rest during Trent's naptime, but being idle is hard for me. I see things that I want to get done and just do them. Unfortunately, my very pregnant body doesn't always agree with me being on the move all the time. I'm ready for this baby to come out, but I still have a few weeks left. I'm not sleeping well. Aside from the inevitable trips to the bathroom, my feet and legs have been cramping up on me. My lower back has been spasming. I have random contractions throughout the day. So, I'm attempting to take it easy so this baby makes it to full term. I'm incredibly thankful for a husband that's so supportive.

What are you thankful for today?