Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Thanksgiving ramblings

Wow! so a friend of mine invited my WHOLE FAMILY over for thanksgiving this year, and we are in prep mode, getting ready to go. I need to make the "Lutheran Corn", the "Pink Goop" the Thanksgiving tree, and a variety of misc. items for dinner, so i'm praying i don't forget anything as I tend to be flakey. No, let me rephrase that- I INVENTED flaky. If you look up "flakey" in the dictionary, you will see a picture of me! same with "Gullible" ;-)

Anyway, this is such a treat for me because, i HATE cooking. I just REALLY REALLY hate cooking! In fact, i have a deal with my family that i'll make real food on thanksgiving, but Christmas is finger food and perhaps pancakes in the morning- since its totally not fair for ME to never get a break on holidays!!! And Since JoAnn likes things to be "just so" She's doing the vast majority of cooking! And i have to admit, while i do HATE cooking i LOVE homecooked food!! I really need to get over the whole hatred of cooking thing. Anyway, Going to the Kuhns' for Thanksgiving is much more than about food though. For several years when my BFF Teresa And my friend Amy, and whatever of Teresa's family could make it, came to Federal Way, and we had thanksgiving at the Matz' church. it was SO MUCH FUN. Just seeing all the children playing together, all the women gathered together cooking, all the men watching the tube and the babies. It felt so REAL so "thanksgivingish" Its HARD to be away from family on thanksgiving, and God is really opening my eyes to "God Family" or the people that God provides for us to act as family, when biological family either isn't available or just plain lets you down. I LOVE THAT about God! if you look deep enough, you will see that He NEVER leaves you without enough! Sometimes our own human greed makes that hard to see, but i'll tell you, i am a blessed woman. I have a LOT on my plate, and i have a LOT of baggage to deal with, and i'm not going to sugar coat all of it- its HARD. but i have a very very FULL life, and i KNOW that my father in heaven KNOWS that that's how i roll- i'd never be satisfied with a simple, basic life. I'm a doer- an achiever- and God's created me that way! And as a result my life reflects that! Someday i'm going to make a mark on the world- i can be sure of that.

So today, i'm thanking God for the gift of "God Family" And all those special people in my life who help make me complete- you KNOW who you are! I love you! and i'm grateful for your presence in my life!

Friday, November 12, 2010

To write love on her arms day!

Today is a special day, its "to write love on her arms day"

This is a day to raise awareness for people with depression. It has a lot of meaning for me because i struggle with depression. I have had a very difficult childhood, was sexually abused since toddlerhood and psychologically abused pretty constantly. I get post-partum depression SEVERELY, to the point where its really a life or death situation when i am post-partum, and i have 7 children :-) God is GOOD, and i'm alive! I also struggle with general mild depression when not pregnant or post-partum. I have post traumatic stress disorder as well which is under control but i think contributes to the depression issues I have. Anyway, one thing about people who have dealt with depression is that often we feel marginalized, since there are very very REAL effects that cause us to view the world differently, and get affected in weird ways that can be embarrassing, etc.

I am participating in this challenge because i hope that people will ask me what the words on my arms are about. I love having the opportunity to share God's love with others, and what better opportunity than this!



here's the blurb from the facebook page
To Write Love on Her Arms is a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide. TWLOHA exists to encourage, inform, inspire and also to invest directly into treatment and recovery.

To Write Love On Her Arms Day is a day where anyone can write the words love on their arms, to support those who are fighting against depression and those who are trying to recovering. On this day, just write love on your arms, and show it off, other people will ask why you have love written on your arms, and you tell them you are supporting to write love on her arms day, and how its benefiting a non profit organization helping stop depression, and make love the movement ♥

on November 12-13th write love on yours arms, and upload pictures here to show your support