My Birthday

Welcome!  Come in on this beautiful Sunday.  It’s supposed to be in the low 50’s.  Hopefully Spring weather is here to stay.  The roller coaster in temperatures is getting old.  Anyway, grab what you would like to drink.  I would suggest a cold glass of milk because there is some of my birthday cake left – angel food cake with chocolate frosting!  Yum!  There is still some left only because we had dessert on my birthday and I was gone on Friday night.  So, we had it Saturday.  You may want to grab a piece quickly before it’s gone.

As you can guess, my birthday was on Thursday.  I have amazing friends and family that made me feel so loved and special.  I took a long nap, relaxed and finished the day when the family went to Carrabba’s for dinner.  It is a happy place for me.  I love their bread and herbs, lasagna and, to top it off, the Chocolate Dream dessert.  Oh, my, word!  It is good!

My oldest bought me a special present.  It’s a “Veggie Tales Silly Songs” CD that places my name throughout the recording.  My boys grew up with Veggie Tales and I grew smitten with Phil Vischer, the creator (in a platonic way only – he’s a married man).  I love his humor and creativity and we even took the boys to be used in a video they were shooting (my oldest was used on an online piece).  I wrote Phil telling him how my oldest had acted out the videos for years and had read his autobiography, “Me, Myself and Bob” (he was five, I think).  He was obsessed.  They invited us to come to his office. When he walked in the door, my youngest was still being interviewed but my oldest was in the waiting room.  Phil started acting out some of the scenes from Veggie Tales with him and when my youngest walked out, he joined right in.  He then took us on a tour of Jellyfish Labs, his project where they filmed “What’s In the Bible?”.  Anyone who will do that for my child gains a special place in my heart.

I spent some time doing knitting on a loom again.  It’s been awhile since I’ve done this and it was enjoyable.  I love to be creative.  It’s a part of me.  I usually work on crafty things for a time and then I give it up because I feel like I’m wasting time.  I’ve come to realize, though, that it calms me and creating something is never a waste of time (as long as it’s not harmful).  God Himself is a Creator – THE Creator.  For me to say I was wasting time by creating just seems wrong when I think about it now.  I think I’ve finally given myself permission to start creating again.    I found this to be a very freeing decision.  As I thought back, I remembered that the one I loved began making comments about my doing crafts being a waste of time.  It happened a few times and it became stuck in my head.  Now, though, I look back and realize all we were doing was watching TV at the time.  If I didn’t do anything else while watching, how was that any better or worse.  I realize now that it was another attempt of his to control and knock me, and what I liked to do, down.

I’m sorry.  I need to excuse myself for a minute…OK, I’m back.  I had to leave for a moment to capture and release a huge spider.  We don’t have the heart to kill them because they’re so beautiful, but now that it’s warmer outside, it is a perfect time to move him outside.  My youngest will be happy.  He’s scared of them for some reason.

I’ve decided to try something new this week.  I am going to go to the library for a few hours a day to write.  I just get too distracted at home.  We’ll see how it goes.

So, how was your week?  I’d love to hear from you.

~ Joanna Lynn

(Weekend Coffee Share is part of Emily’s blog.  Drop by to read her blog and check out her website.)

(“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” (John 3:17)  – He loves you that much.  For whom would you die?  You would die for those you love and care for beyond explanation.  He loves you that much and more.)