If you're a bird, I'm a bird

"Covet" according to Webster is to want something (that you do not have) very much. While my husband and I were in the mountains this past weekend, Joe asked if I thought looking at Pinterest was like coveting. The 10th Ten Commandment comes to mind as quoted from Deuteronomy 5:21: 21  “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. You shall not set your desire on your neighbor’s house or land, his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” Coveting is wanting something that we do not have. When we look through Pinterest, we find a lot that we like (and want), right? Pinterest is like a filing cabinet of home decorations, party planning, craft projects, recipes, etc. I have 20 something boards of ideas I am collecting myself. Is coveting the socially acceptable sin? R

 2003 was the first time I had ever heard of Lent. A teacher at the school I was teaching had a a black smudge mark on her forehead. I told her about it and she said it is for Lent. I didn't know what that was then and didn't really know until last night. Curious, I did a quick Internet research last night because a couple facebookers made posts about it. One is Catholic and the other went to Assemblies of God Bible college with me. My family never celebrated Lent so the whole concept is foreign to me.  According to Wikipedia:  "Lent   ( Latin :   Quadragesima   - English:   Fortieth ) is a solemn religious observance in the   liturgical calendar   of many   Christian   denominations that begins on   Ash Wednesday   and covers a period of approximately six weeks before   Easter Sunday . The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer through   prayer ,   penance ,   repentance   of sins,   almsgiving ,   atonement   and   self-denial . This eve

I heard several people this year mention they had a word of the year. The first word I thought of was "free". Free from mental, physical, and financial bondage. Clutter...stress...weight...debt...habits... Joe has been telling me for over a year that he wanted me to do Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University with him. He had listened to the CD series in the van when he was traveling with his job. When we heard our church was offering the class during a small group on Wednesday, we asked Joe's mom and dad to watch the kids and made plans to attend. We completed the 8-week course, met great couples, and walked away with a plan and resources. We don't use credit cards anymore. We've eliminated bills and asked companies to decrease the ones we had. Verizon went from $176 to $90. CenturyLink went from $70 to $35. Netflix was cut from $16 to $8. We still have areas we need to work on-grocery shopping, eating out, and a cash budget. The van will be pai

Readers, I just ordered three books from Amazon. So recently that they haven't even been shipped yet. Happy Women Live Better by Valerie Burton Married to Distraction: How to Restore Intimacy and Strengthen Your Partnership in an Age of Interruption  by Edward Hallowell, MD The Well-Behaved Child: Discipline that REALLY Works! by John Rosemond I used to be BIG on self-help. That was all I read for a while. Then I moved away from it and started reading stories, love stories, fiction. I used it to escape; get away; take a vacation. I have a couple fiction books on my bookcase waiting to read now. The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks and Love Letters by Debbie Macomber. Joe and I were talking about doing some studies together in the evenings and I could see us doing any of these. Burton and Rosemond had segments on the 91.9 HIS Radio. One book is about overall happiness and well-being, one is about improving marriage, and the last one is focused on parenting. We could b

I have been going to counseling once a week since December 29 for my adjustment disorder. I meet with a psychiatrist in the evenings at 7:30pm on Lady's Island. She works at Coastal Empire Mental Health during the day and does individual counseling at night and weekends. I was referred to her from the hospital because she is in network for my insurance. She has a cozy little office with dim lighting and upholstered chairs. I sit on the couch with a bottle of water or cup of decaf coffee brought from home. I enjoy my meetings with her; the one-on-one conversation. Reflection is good for me. We talked about blogging/writing a few weeks back. This blog, 'If your a bird, I'm a bird' is so important to me and important for me. I write to get thoughts out of my mind. Sharing verbally with people doesn't come as easily. I'll share thoughts and feelings with my husband and with my counselor, but not with too many other people. It bothers me less for strangers to rea