A Little This & A Little That...

We have kept pretty busy the last few weeks, and I’ve thought of several things I’d like to write about. But sometimes this blogging kind of overwhelms me…I always want to write things in just the right way and it is pretty time-consuming. So I just avoid it all together.

Here is a little of this & that…a few things that have been going on in the Beechem family…they really don’t go together but I want to remember these little events of our lives in January 2010…

1. Martin Luther King Jr Celebration…
A few weeks ago, Eric had the opportunity to sing at the MLK Celebration at Johnson Chapel in Malakoff. We were the only white people in a small crowd of about 75, but we had a blast! At first, I did not plan on going with Eric, but the boys were visiting Grammy & PawPaw in Texarkana, so I decided to go. And I’m so glad I did!

He attended last year but didn’t sing a special. This year, the lady in charge asked him to sing as well. They had about 10 specials—groups & solos from various churches in the area. There was even a church choir from a Missionary Baptist Church in Dallas! I find it interesting that white people & black people worship in such different ways. I love the way they worshipped that night! It was so neat to hear the congregation encourage the singers throughout each song…with clapping, “amens,” & singing along. Eric sang “I Am Not Ashamed of the Gospel.” They encouraged him with amens throughout the song and by the end, the entire congregation was singing along! It was great! When we left that night, we were uplifted and had truly worshipped God!

2. Jehovah-Jireh…The Lord Will Provide
God has been bringing this name to mind a lot lately—the preacher at the MLK Celebration used it in her prayer and then another choir sang a song with it in there. Jehovah-Jireh is the name that Abraham gave God when he was on the mountain about to sacrifice his son, Isaac. At that moment, God provided a ram in the thicket (Genesis 22:13-14). How many times do we need to remember that God is our Jehovah-Jireh? He WILL provide for all of our needs!

3. Curry Chicken
I was motivated by a few bloggers to participate in the “Eat From Your Pantry” for the month of January. I wasn’t perfect but I was more intentional than I’ve ever been. I inventoried my freezer & pantry, and I looked through my favorite cookbooks. I’ve enjoyed cooking some new recipes, I kept way under our budget on groceries, and I’m motivated to keep doing more! On Monday night, I made a new recipe from my Betty Crocker cookbook…CURRY CHICKEN! It took a lot longer to cook than I thought it would, but it was SOOOO good! It reminded me of the curry dish that I had when I was in college at Ouachita. My BSU director and his wife (Ian & Sharon Cosh) were from South Africa, and I remember them having a group of us over for dinner where they served some type of curry dish. I don’t even remember why we were there, but I have always remembered how good the food was! Maybe some day, I’ll see them again and ask for their recipe. :)

4. Ethan’s Frowny Face
At Kids First, Ethan has a take-home folder that has a calendar on it. Each day, he gets a little face indicating what kind of day he had. He usually gets a green happy face, meaning he’s been a good boy. A few days last semester he got a yellow face, saying that he had to get a warning about his behavior, but Thursday, he got the worst: a RED FROWNY FACE! We could not imagine what our perfect little boy could have done! :) (Please note sarcasm here.) Daddy asked his teacher the next day, only to find out that he was building towers with blocks & knocking them down…but not just knocking them down…hitting them as hard as he could to see if the blocks would fly across the room. (Actually, this is a “trick” that his Uncle Kevin has taught him. My brother is going to be in trouble now!) His teacher said she warned him not to do it again and then Ethan gave her a very dirty look. I know the look. He’s been giving it to us a lot lately! I guess the “terrible twos” have finally hit him…at about 3½! After Daddy & I both talked to Ethan, I was working with Evan on his homework in the kitchen. I noticed that Ethan had been quiet for awhile, so I went to look for him. I went in our bedroom and said, "Ethan, where are you?" He said, "I'm up here." I couldn't believe he had figured out how to climb up on my bathroom counter! Then, he had to show me how he did it! He's our little dare-devil!

5. My Lips
For the past few weeks, my lips have gradually gotten worse and worse. It’s way past being chapped! Last Sunday & Monday I looked like I had a bad botox job! I guess some people pay good money to get their lips to be plump…mine were swollen & they HURT! I was so miserable & embarrassed on Monday that I called the doctor but he couldn’t get me in until late Tuesday. By then, the swelling was gone & I felt stupid going then, so I cancelled. Then, on Wednesday the infection hit the corners of my lips and they seemed to be growing across my face now. So I called my dermatologist in Texarkana and went to see her on Friday afternoon…we were going to visit our family there anyway. Well, she diagnosed me with big & yucky words like “dermatitis” & “fungus.” Lovely! And she prescribed these creams to put on them for the next THREE weeks! So…$88 later, I may be on the road to recovery. So do you think I could have gotten real botox for that much money? I wonder if that hurts as much as this does?

OK, those are my random thoughts for this week…

I’ll be back tomorrow for our next memory verse! I can’t believe it’s already going to be February! I hope you are thinking of the next verse you’d like to “hide in your heart!”

Until tomorrow…