ian in 85 years

ian had eggs and turkey bacon tonight for dinner. i think i've mentioned this before...but the kid LOVES turkey bacon.  as in, there is NO other alternative for breakfast (or the occasional brinner).  so anyways, him begging for eggs and turkey bacon this evening reminded me of this terrifically funny video clip from "grumpier old men."  this is ian, 85 years from now...still eating his bacon, but hopefully NOT drinking his dinner.

(this video always makes me laugh out loud.  i hope it makes you giggle, too.)

one - hit wonder

i love looking at the feedjit link to see how people arrive at my blog. alot of europeans find me while looking for "swingers".  (uh. no. that's a totally different website.)

at any rate, a texan found me on saturday after googling "birching panties".

hmmm. birching panties.  birching panties.

i can't even venture a guess...

brennan manning

i read brennan manning's the ragamuffin gospel several years ago. in fact, the title of my blog was initially "just a ragamuffin", because i so deeply identify myself as such. but it wasn't until last week that it ever occurred to me to look for manning on youtube...

there are a limited number of video clips with brennan manning, but i've posted one below that spoke to me... specifically at the 2:39 mark with the following...

[jesus] lovingly comes to your seat, and says, "I have a word for you. I know your whole life story. I know every skeleton in your closet. I know every moment of sin, shame, dishonesty and degraded love that has darkened your past. Right now, I know your shallow faith, your feeble prayer life, your inconsistent discipleship, and my word is this:  I dare you to trust that I love you just as you are, and not as you should be, because you're never gonna be as you should be."

i recognize that manning's thoughts on faith result in polarization:  people are either comforted by his words of Christ's mercy, grace, and love, or they believe that he (manning) simply "makes it too easy".  as a perfectionist who tends to beat herself up for the simplest of missteps, i find myself an enthusiastic member of the first group.

so thanks, brennan.

i choose kindness. . . i will be kind to the poor, for they are alone. kind to the rich, for they are afraid. and kind to the unkind, for such is how God has treated me. - max lucado

i was reminded this weekend, from more than one person, that no kind action ever stops with itself.

stuck

my poor nephew, ben! the little fella had the toughest time walking back up the hill today after sledding down. i think everyone had to take turns dragging him back to the top...

Ben gets stuck... from Jodi Gillen on Vimeo.

twice in one week

i took kate, ian, ben, and chloe sledding again today at my aunt vickie and uncle jake's house.  vickie and jake are such troopers for letting us invade their home for the afternoon!  the kids had a blast, of course. 

(and yes, jake, they will alway remember coming to your house as children and spending this wonderful time with you and vickie.  thank you for loving us the way that you both do.)

the science of snow days

my most recent mathematical theorem:

"the number of inches of snow is directly proportional to my desire to eat for no reason which is then multiplied to the nth degree by the fact that I am dieting and should absolutely not be eating for recreational purposes."

mathematically, it looks like this:

s = d^n

in latin, it looks like this:

"numerus of inches of snow est directus congruens ut meus votum essum pro haud causa quod est tunc multiplicatus ut nth inhonestus per quod EGO sum dieting quod should absolutely non exsisto eating pro recreational voluntas."

or simply put:

"i just want to make homemade brownie batter and eat it right out of the bowl.”

first snow day of the decade

one day back at school.  then a snow day.  arggghhhhh! 

the girls and i at work were rejoicing yesterday at being back in our classrooms.  no kidding!  we were all happy to resume a routine.  and, we all admitted, we understood the lyrics of a certain christmas carol which states, " and mom and dad can hardly wait for school to start again."  our own children were driving us crazy!  sounds weird, eh?  but man, when i saw my junior high boogers yesterday, I hugged them and told them how much i missed them.  of course, they'll drive me a little bonkers eventually, but that's okay.  i just love my job so stinkin' much.

so anyways...snow day.  jill and i attempted to take the kids sledding this afternoon at vickie and jake's.  there wasn't a ton of snow, but it was still slick.  the wind chill was horrible, however!  i don't think we lasted thirty minutes.  of course the kids didn't mind the cold temperatures at all.

below is a video of my nephew ben (who looks like a masked auburn bandit) tangled up in the ropes of his sled while his giggly mother attempts to free him.  if you would like to see more snow-day/sledding videos, click here.

stay warm, y'all.


Ben and Jill from Jodi Gillen on Vimeo.

starting the new year with a smile

okay, i'm sure that many of you have seen these before, but while browsing the web yesterday, i came across these very well-intentioned gospel album covers...and proceeded to chuckle out loud. the album designers/promoters certainly had a penchant for utilizing individuals with disabilities. which i'm sure, was meant to be inspiring. but gee whiz. blind women? folks missing hands? little people? hmmm...

oh, and i have no idea if "joyce" is a gospel singer. her album cover just "spoke" to me, so i included it anyways. you go, joyce.

(p.s., no matter how many times i've played with the html, i can't get this crazy slide show to center on the page.  perhaps god is punishing me for my sarcasm!!!)