Pride does not wish to owe and vanity does not wish to pay. --Francois de la Rochefoucauld

So until this past weekend, this has been my skin care regimen:

 $8.49 at Walgreens (or even cheaper if you get the generic brand from Wal-Mart).

Some of you are thinking, "yeah, so?"  and some of you are thinking "that's ALL????!!!!"

I'm more with the "yeah, so?" club.  I really haven't given this a shred of thought up until now.  I mean, I brush and floss my teeth each night and wash my face.  Isn't that enough, for crying out loud?  All of these night creams and the like just seem so foreign to me, and I wouldn't even know where to start.  And how 'bout the prices on those babies, huh? 

Well, I just so happened to be in need of some makeup, and my friend was hosting a BeautiControl party, which is the brand of makeup I use.  AND she was offering a 25% discount on purchases. 

Well, I am vehemently opposed to these types of parties, and have managed to boycott them for the past several years.  But I found it difficult to pass up that 25% discount.  I know.  Total hypocrite.  It's shameful, really.  But desperate times call for desperate measures....and all that stuff.

So...


I found myself to be the ONLY lady at this party who doesn't do a skin-care regimen.  I was the "elephant in the room," so to speak, and of course, the peer pressure was too great.  Not only did I come home with $86 worth of skin-care products, I am now in line to host one of these dreaded parties.  Because that was the only way I was walking out with the aforementioned products for $86.  Otherwise, they would have cost me twice as much.

How ridiculous is that?

Did I mention that I was the model for the party and got to try out the products and have my makeup done?  And I won the drawing for the Lamp Berger?

Unbelievably ridiculous.

After one day, I asked Handy Daddy if I look 10 years younger.  He said, "You better not, because you're already 10 years younger than me and I don't want to look like a pedophile."  At least that's what I think he said.  Sometimes I hear words coming out of his mouth that are entirely different than what he's actually saying.  I do that.

I don't know, I just never really worried about this stuff.  Other than being the oldest child in my family, I've somehow been younger than everyone else who surrounds me.  I've always been the youngest person wherever I worked, the youngest person in my Bible study, the youngest person in my group of friends.  Well, I actually have one friend who is a year younger, but she's been married longer and has more kids than me, so she has more experience being a grown-up than I do.

I love being the youngest, because it gives me an opportunity to be treated like the "baby," which, of course, I never experienced growing up as the oldest of four children.  It's really fun being the baby.  Everyone around you simultaneously wants to be you because you're young, and pities you because you're dumb.  It's flattering to have people want to be like you and it's sometimes nice to be pitied because people want to take care of you.  And I'm all about being taken care of.  That is my love language, people.

But who am I kidding?  I may be the youngest in the group, but I'm in my 30s.  Being the youngest in the group doesn't make me forever young.  And while I don't yet have any [very noticeable] wrinkles, I'd better get on the ball if I want to keep it that way.

The funny thing is I really don't care about that stuff all that much.  I don't give wrinkles or gray hairs much thought.  The thing that worries me is that all these lovely ladies who surround me do (apparently, as I learned this weekend).  I don't want to be the dummy that sits around shriveling while they're all preserving themselves. 

Uh-uh...

I will not be out----er----preserved....

My First Commitment to You....continued...

With regard to my last post, here are some I was reminded of and more I saw today:

Diligently Favored Auto Paint & Body Shop

Bayou Some Stuff

Let's Go Two Grandma's

Da' Set (clothing store???)

Holy Spirit American Catholic Church

I'm tellin' ya, friends, I think I just created myself a new hobby.  Now, to pick a name for it...

My first commitment to you...

I went to Wal-Mart this afternoon and, when I returned to my car in the parking lot, found this gem on the windshield:

Oh, Mr. [owner of Honesty & Pride Lawn Care Service], how my funny bone delighteth in thee...


My friend, Jodie, and I have a little tradition of texting each other with names of businesses we find....uh....for lack of a better word....funny.

Now, be forewarned, you will either find these funny....or you won't get it at all.  If you don't get it, do not despair.  It is probably in your best interest not to find these funny.  I actually envy your innocence.

This volley of ours has been going on for years, and I haven't kept an accurate log, but these are the ones that I've committed to memory:

Got 'Em Talkin' Hair Salon

Daz's Fades with Blades

Clyde's Hair Designs

Shear Indulgence (hair salon)

Ram in the Bush Ministries

Sirius Stylz

Gary's Fashunz for U

Anointed Kutz

There are probably dozens more that I can't remember, and it is my quest to keep a more accurate log.  There are two for sure that I can actually picture the business, but the name just won't come to me. So rest assured, this list will be supplemented at a later date.

And I'm sure you'll all be waiting with bated breath, right?

In that case, my friends, I shall deliver.  All it takes is a wedding or a funeral in another town and I'll be scouring the business signs.

Until we meet again...

The best birthdays of all are those that haven't arrived yet. - Robert Orben

One of my BFFs is currently great with child.  (This is my new favorite phrase to be used in the place of "big and pregnant.")  I think it sounds better.  Your thoughts?  I mean, it has to be better, because I found it in the Bible.

And Joseph also went up from Galilee...unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem...to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.  Luke 2:4-5 (KJV)

 I love it.

Anywho...

Coincidentally, nearly every time I'm on the phone with her, she has Braxton Hicks.  Being the good friend that I am, I just reassure her that everything's okay, and it's just that her baby is leaping in her womb at the sound of my voice.  Not that I'm comparing myself to Mary or anything.  It's just that I'm "too spiritual," as my pastor once told me.  Oh wait -- he was talking about Handy Daddy when he said that.  Nevermind.

So anyway, she's great with child.

The last time I was great with child, the Bug was rollin' up on 3 years of age, so she wasn't exactly in tune to what was happening with Mama.  She knew that there was a baby in Mama's tummy, and she knew the baby's name.  That was about it.

Well, I guess she's been getting curious about my friend's baby, because we had this conversation today:

Bug:    Mama, is Londyn's baby sister here yet?

Mama:    No, not yet.  She's going to be born in March...next month.

Bug:    Why she's gonna be born in March?

Mama:    Because that's when the doctor says she's gonna come out.

Bug:    (Thinks about this for a minute)  Well, when did I come out?

Mama:  You came out in June.  On your birthday.

Bug:    I came out on my birthday??!!

Mama:    Yes.  Your birthday is the day you came out of Mama's tummy.

Bug:    Well, when did Tootsie come out?

Mama:   When is her birthday?

Bug:    In June.

Mama:    That's when she came out.

Bug:   She came out on her birthday, too???!!!

Mama:    Yes, Baby, your birthday is the day you come out.  For everyone...

As funny as this little exchange was, it was also quite gratifying.  It seems the Bug has reached the age where she knows everything, so it was quite wonderful to be able to enlighten her a bit.

This is the Bug on her birthday...

...and Tootsie on her birthday...

...and all three of us on Tootsie's birthday.

Those birthdays weren't exactly a party for Mama, but they were the best birthdays of my life.

What is love? And, no, this is not a Valentine post...

Y'all.

I got hit in the head with a load of bricks this morning.

Not literally, of course, because I'd probably be laid up instead of typing this right now, but, anyway...

I have a Bible study in my home every Tuesday morning.  We're doing Beth Moore's study, Jesus the One and Only. 

Have I mentioned how much I love her studies? 

I am a Bible reader.  I read the Bible every year.  I am not a studyer....studier...Is that a word?  Anyway, that's why I love her studies so much, because she does for me what I cannot seem to do for myself.  Don't get me wrong...I know my Bible.  In fact, when we play Bible trivia games in our Supper Club, everyone wants to be on my team.  Now, I'm not saying I can go toe-to-toe with a Jehovah's Witness or something like that.  And I'm not saying that I have the Bible memorized or can tell you exactly where to find a scripture.  I can just tell you "who," "what," "when," "where" and sometimes "why."  Now, actually applying all this to the way I live my life....well there's the tricky part.  And I am far from mastering that part.

So I tell you all this to tell you that Beth knocked me in the head with a load of bricks this morning with something she taught me.  And I know I've read this scripture probably about a thousand times.  But, boy, have I missed the message.

She was teaching on the Sermon on the Mount, which was recounted for us in Matthew 5 and again by Dr. Luke in the sixth chapter of his Gospel. 

But I tell you who hear me:  Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.  Luke 5:27-28 (NIV)

Okay, so how many times have we heard or read this?  About a zillion.

What does it mean to you?

Well, in my own mind, it meant I was to suck it up and not retaliate.  Don't seek revenge.  Take it and be a "good Christian" and let God handle the rest.

After, all, there's this verse to support my thoughts:

If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.  In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.  Romans 12:20 (NIV)

So, I conclude, I will do the good "Christian" thing and do good towards my enemies and the Good Lord will "get" them for all the wrong they did to me.

Whoa, whoa, whoa....wait a minute.  Back up a bit.  What does Romans 12:9 say?

Love must be sincere.  Romans 12:9 (NIV)

So, when My Lord gave His sermon on the mount, and He told us to "love" our enemy....He meant we have to really love them???  Not just put on a smile and act like we love them.  Love must be sincere.  

We aren't allowed to just put on a show.  That's not good enough.  We are to really love them.

But, Lord, I can't help the way I feel!  This person hurt me.  How can I actually love them?  I can forgive them.  I can be kind to them.  That....I can do that.  But you want me to love them????

Wow.

Maybe this was obvious to you, but this was just eye-opening for me.  

Beth went on to say that it may seem impossible to love your enemy, because we may not be able to control the way we feel.  But we can control the way we think, which will affect the way we feel.

Boy, do I have some work to do.

And what about the "burning coals," Lord?

You know, I think about this a lot.  Because Lord knows I've hurt people.  We've all hurt people.  Is the Lord gonna dump burning coals on all of us?  

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.  Romans 8:1 (NIV)

Now, I am far from a Bible scholar, and I'm not saying I really know anything here.

But here's what I think about the burning coals --

If I did something to hurt someone, and they, in turn, loved me -- really loved me -- how would that make me feel?  I would feel terrible.  I would feel like the scum of the earth.  I would kick myself and beat myself up and almost want them to do something to retaliate.  God wouldn't even have to punish me, because I'd probably do a good job of punishing myself.  

Now, the Lord would in no way want me to drown in self-condemnation. After I dump the burning coals on my own head...

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  1 John 1:9 (NIV)

It's that easy.

We serve a good God, y'all.