Not Mine, but I had to share.

You know you are Floridian if...

• ..Socks are only for bowling.
• ..You never use an umbrella because you know the rain will be over in five minutes.
• ..A good parking place has nothing to do with distance from the store, but everything to do with shade.
• ..Your winter coat is made of denim.
• ..You can tell the difference between fire ant bites and mosquito bites.
• ..You're younger than thirty but some of your friends are over 65.
• ..Anything under 70 is chilly.
• ..You've driven through Yeehaw Junction.
• ..You could swim before you could read.
• ..You have to drive north to get to The South.
• ..You know that no other grocery store can compare to Publix.
• ..Every other house in your neighborhood had blue roofs in 2004-2005.
• ..You know that anything under a Category 3 just isn't worth waking up for.
• ..You dread love bug season.
• ..You are on a first name basis with the Hurricane list. They aren't Hurricane Charley, Hurricane Frances...but Charley , Frances , Ivan and Jeanne.
• ..You know what a snowbird is and when they'll leave.
• ..You think a six-foot alligator is actually pretty average.
• ..You were twelve before you ever saw snow, or you still haven't.
• ..'Down South' means Key West
• ..You think New York drivers licenses should only be valid in New York .
• ..Flip-flops are everyday wear.
• ..Shoes are for business meetings and church...but you HAVE worn flip flops to church before
• ..Sweet tea can be served at any meal.
• ..An alligator once walked through your neighborhood.
• ..You smirk when a game show's 'Grand Prize' is a trip or cruise to Florida
• ..You measure distance in minutes.
• ..You have a drawer full of bathing suits, and one sweatshirt.
• ..You get annoyed at the tourists who feed seagulls.
• ..A mountain is any hill 100 feet above sea level.
• ..You think everyone from a bigger city has a northern accent.
• ..You know the four seasons really are: hurricane season, love bug season, tourist season ,and summer
• ..It's not soda, cola, or pop. it's coke, regardless of brand or flavor, 'What kinda coke you want?'
• ..Anything under 95 is just warm.
• ..You've hosted a hurricane party.
• ..You go to a theme park for an afternoon, and know when to get on the best rides. ( Space Mountain during the Electric Light Parade!)
• ..You understand the futility of exterminating cockroaches.
• ..You can pronounce Okeechobee, Kissimmee , Ichnatucknee and Withlacoochee
• ..You understand why it's better to have a friend with a boat, than have a boat yourself.
• ..Bumper stickers on the pickup in front of you include: various fish, NRA, NASCAR, Go Gators, and a confederate flag.
• ..You were 5 before you realized they made houses without pools.
• ..You were 25 when you first met someone who couldn't swim.
• ..You've worn shorts and used the A/C on Christmas.
• ..You recognize Miami-Dade as ' Northern Cuba '

Too Serious

Man I have been way too serious lately. I am way in my head these past few weeks. Hopefully I can find some new material to lighten this up a bit.

Blessings

I have been intrigued by this idea of God's blessing lately. I started this year reading "The Prayer of Jabez". But something new caught my eye as I read again. In the verse it says "Bless me indeed". The word indeed in this verse is the same word for the word bless (barak in Hebrew). So Jabez is asking God to bless him twice. He is in essence begging God to bless him. What an interesting thought.

I don't think our current church culture understands this idea of being blessed by God. We tend to minimized it by associating blessing with being meek or weak in spirit or any of the Beattitudes. (Which, if you are interested, do a New Testament word study on the word blessed. You may surprised at what you find! I know I was!) Or we tend to associate it with greed and material blessings. Are we really that small minded or do we think God is? When in fact blessings are something God asks us to ask him. It is not a negative thing. It is a GOOD thing!

And here I go asking that same question again. Why are we limiting God in our lives? He is saying, 'Here take this good thing (whatever it may be) and do good with it.' The catch is, God is the ultimate gentleman, he won't force anything on us. We must ask him, and maybe even beg him. And then ask him to open your eyes to the blessings around you.

God Of Abundance

Last night I was reminded of a trait of God. He is a God of abundance. I am reminded of this through the story of Jesus feeding the 5000. After feeding these people with only some fish and bread, there were twelve baskets leftover. God knew how much food would feed these people. Yet he chose to have leftovers. This little tidbit of information is put into scripture to illustrate God's complete and abundant provision.

This is a comfort to me. There are times in my life that I forget how big God really is. I put him in my version of reality, instead of allowing him to feed the masses with a small lunch. He is able to do so much more than I can even imagine! Yet I hold on to my life protecting it and guarding it, and from what? The God of abundance?

Small Confessions

Not many people know this little tidbit about me. I love to organize! I don't usually tell people this little obsession because they look at me as if I had two heads. And these past few weeks have been absolutely fabulous in the world of organizing. I have cleaned out closets and thrown out stuff and given stuff away and filed papers. I feel absolutely liberated! Just wanted to share my victories with you all!

Big Butts...

When I originally started this blog, I thought it would be rather serious. But my children just give me to much fodder to write about. Here is one piece of tidbit that I must share. A teacher at school had to tell me this.

My oldest son Trey, 10, was in an art class and they were drawing black widows. The teacher was explaining the difference about the male and female, the hourglass, etc. My son drew a picture of the spider. She asked him if it was a male or female. He said female. She said how can you tell? He said, "Because it has a big butt. And females have big butts." I thought it was very funny, because most of the females in his familly have big butts, so it is only natural to assume that you are not a woman unless you have a big butt. I am simultaneously pleased and not so pleased with this. I am happy because he has not bought into our cultures view of perfection. I am not so pleased because, frankly, I am a "female in his family".

My Motto for the Year!

I have decided on a theme for this year. After a look back at last year, I realized I did a lot of crying for various reasons. So this year I want it to be different. My motto for this year is "No whining. Lots more laughing." (see Phil.2:14).