Another Great Mac App

I’ve trying out a little app called iNotebook and I REALLY like it. It’s nice looking, simple yet has some great features. It’s a simple note organization program. You can keep lists of information, thoughts, passwords, articles – whatever. You can even encrypt private stuff or export info to the web or your iPod.

http://www.vojousoftware.com/inotepad.html

I am the Center of the World

The winds they whip me around
and the more I try, the more I lose ground
I scratch at the dirt and reach for the trees
anything, anything that seems stable to me

my hopes, my dreams
they all fly around
in a dizzy array
as if, as if I have no say
but that’s just absurd
because haven’t you heard

I am the center
the center of my world
and everything I do
everything I see
is simply for the
betterment of me

but I find it’s so hard to stand
and it’s all out of hand
everything seems to be moving
outside of my plan
I reach for good things
as I see them fly by
but slowly, so slowly
I’m wondering if I

I am the center
the center of my world
if everything I do
everything I see
should really be for the
betterment of me

yes everything seems to be moving
in a different direction
it’s drawing me in
drawing me in
what will happen if I let go
what will happen if I let go
what will happen if I let go
what will happen, here I….

You draw me in to this glorious peace
so still, so quiet I hear my heat beat
I’m afraid to speak, but there’s so much to say
this amazing peace just takes my breath away

Oh You
You are the center
the center of this life
let the winds rage around
but I’ll never know
because you are the center
the center of my storm

so let everything I do
and everything I say
only ever  be
for the glory
of your name

Music lover? You’ve GOT to check out this site…

I just discovered www.pandora.com. It’s seriously cool. You just enter the name of your favorite artist and they make a “radio station” of similar music. If you don’t like a song they play, you just click a button and they tweak things so that the music they play meets your musical leanings.

It’s not perfect (I entered Bethany Dillon and I got a Sinead O’Conner song…hmmm…) but I’ve heard a few new artists that I’d not heard before.

It’s pretty cool. Check it out.

A Couple Great Quotes by Helen Keller…

“Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.”

“It is a terrible thing to see and have no vision.”

“It is hard to interest those who have everything in those who have nothing.”

“It is wonderful how much time good people spend fighting the devil. If they would only expend the same amount of energy loving their fellow men, the devil would die in his own tracks of ennui.”

Three Keys to Happiness…

My children are sick. We all have colds, but my eldest (a preschooler) has it the worst. She’s past the scratchy throat, runny nose part, but she has a terrible hacking persistant cough. It’s been keeping her up some at night and if you know anything about the preschool set, you know that lack of sleep = cranky kid.

So, while my eldest is usually quite the angel, we had some definite struggles today. As my husband was holding her and praying with her after a period of time out, I overheard him say, “Now remember, today we’re going to say yes mam and yes sir, we’re going to obey and we’re not going to whine.”

It struck me that what is true at 3 is really true for our whole lives. If we would just respect others, obey what God call asks of us and stop complaining about things that may not “seem” fair, I think that’s a guaranteed recipe for the good life.

My husband and I would have loved to have taken the kids out to eat at a fun restaurant today, but we didn’t because of all the whining and disobedience. We were disappointed because we really wanted to give them a treat.

I wonder if that’s ever true with God? I wonder if He’s ever sad because He had something good that He really wanted to give us, but we’re so busy complaining and ignoring Him that we miss it.

A New Way to Struggle

My life has generally been pretty easy. I had some tough times in my youth, but these day’s my life is pretty idyllic. It’s in stark contrast to those around me who seem to be endlessly facing various stuggles. I’ve often wondered why my life is so simple.

I don’t exactly know why, but I’ve decided that I never want to stop struggling. We often think of struggle in a negative sense. “She’s struggling with her weight.” “They’re struggling to stay together.” “I’m really struggling with sin.”

But why does it need to be defensive? Why do we tend to always look at it from the negative? If I’m struggling to lose weight, we’ll that’s a pretty sorry and low goal. It’s  negative goal. In essence I’m saying, I don’t want my weight to conquer me. Well, I don’t want to live like that. I’d rather say, “I’m struggling to run a 5k.” Yes, it’s just a matter of semantics, but semantics are important. Why bother to have negative goals? Turn them around and make them positive and inspiring.

Somebody Stop Me…

All I have to do is just click…and they’re only .99 each! I tell you…..iTunes is positively addicting. Addicting I tell you. Everytime I find a spare dollar or a few quarters….off to iTunes I go.

Somebody stop me.

The American Church has a Wedgie.

I’ve been reading over at Shaun Groves blog lately and it has been extremely thought provoking. He often asks questions that I’ve always been afraid to ask and he says things I’ve often been afraid to say. Reading his blog and reading Madeleine L’Engle books seem to have the same effect on me – they stretch me and challenge me. I don’t always agree with everything they say, but they make me really evaluate what I think and not just regurgitate the things I’ve been told all of my life.So, what does that have to do with the title of my blog? Well, one thing that’s been discussed is the recent article about Bono in Rolling Stone magazine. Several commenters wondered about Bono’s faith because of various statements he made, including the use of the “f” word and his reference to God as a “force.”

I completely understand where all of those people were coming from. About three months ago, I would have questioned how much of a Christian Bono could possibly be if he’s cussing and referring to God in rather vague terms. But now, I’ve been thinking that the American Church (as a whole) really just has a big wedgie. We’ve gotten so bent out of shape about the little things and have completely forgotten the big things. We’ve so familiarized and rationalized God, that we can’t handle anything outside of “the box.” I’m not say this to insult anyone personally, but more to comment on the state of the Church in America.

I’ve never cussed in my life (out loud anyway) because I was taught that cussing is a sin. So, this is really a revolutionary thought for me – I don’t think there’s anything wrong with cussing. To speak negatively about someone else and to “curse” them is definitely wrong, but I don’t think there’s anything inherently sinful about certain words. If I said the “f” word in Uzbekistan, I don’t imagine anyone would be offended, because they’d have no idea what I was saying.

Here’s another revolutionary thought for me – I don’t think God is a He. Gasp! All my life I’ve been taught that God is most definitely a He and that to even question that is a bad almost sinful thing. Well, I’ve been thinking and I think that God is God and doesn’t need to procreate and therefore has no need for gender. God is not a he or a she. God is God and not limited by our standards. So, to call God a “force” is completely accurate. Now, I do refer to God as He simply because He loves us personally and intimately and wants us to know Him as our “Abba” Father. Saying, “My ‘force’ loves me, just doesn’t quite cut it.

Let’s not worry so much about others and what they say or do, let’s focus on Jesus and listen to what He says and wants us to do. One person focused on and following Jesus can make more of a difference in the world than one hundred people focused on Bono and trying to make him say and do what we want.

I challenge you to think outside of the “box” that you’ve been taught. God is amazing and mysterious. Unpredictable yet faithful. Unfathomably huge yet intimately small. Whatever you’ve thought Him to be, He’s more.

Thoughts anyone?

Great Project Management App

I’m a web designer by trade and I also happen to be a program junkie…if you haven’t noticed. I’m always looking for the best programs to solve all my problems.

One problem I had was managing all my clients, their information, invoices, to dos,  yada, yada.

Then I found Studiometry and I love it almost as much as my Mac. It actually prompted me to buy my mac because although there is a PC version, some of the really handy features are only available for Mac.

I can time my work on a project and then send an invoice with just a couple of clicks. Then in Studiometry I can easily see what invoices have been paid and which ones haven’t. I can also have all my most important client info – ftp, cms logins etc. in one place.

I tried lots of different programs, but this one was by far the best for my needs.

A blog that will help you read through the Bible this year

I’ve been thinking about how I want to read through the whole Bible this year, but as each day went by I still hadn’t laid out my plan.

Well, then I came across this site and I’m now all signed up and ready to go. They even provide all the verses so that I can read the day’s verses right from my computer. It doesn’t get any simpler than that!