This Parris{ian} Life: January 2007

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Friends of God?

this evening, jamie and i watched the HBO documentary, Friends of God, by speaker of the house nancy pelosi's daughter, alexandra.

pelosi traveled across the country filming evangelicals in a variety of venues and settings...a drive-through church, a christian wrestling federation match, a rural family with 10 children, christian theme parks, and a host of congregations. the synopsis of the documentary on tivo describes it this way: "evangelical christians become a formidable force in culture and democracy." i am already somewhat in a state of disillusionment with the whole political scene and how christians, especially, behave themselves in this "war" to which people so often refer. this documentary only added to my quandry and left me sad and irritated.

i commend pelosi for not ridiculing evangelicals or lampooning them in any way. she was inquisitive and dispassionate, posing non-judgmental questions.

we were shocked by the number of times the war metaphor was used. it was absolutely pervasive. this warfare is portrayed differently than the one presented in the bible. if i were a nonbeliever watching this documentary, i would assume that the war that christians talk about is against me. we are communicating hatred to those we are commanded to love. maybe some would say alexandra pelosi edited her documentary in order to bring these specifics out, but sadly her portrayal is pretty consistent with my experience in the evangelical church.

the most striking comparison in the documentary was the between the former ghost writer for jerry falwell (who is gay christian activist) and the old man who drives his scripture plastered truck around town. the gay man is shown weeping in church while the truck evangelist stated that Christians are winners, and all non-believers are losers!

this really should be required viewing for every christian in the united states so that they can better understand how we are perceived. each christian could then decide for themselves whether this is the message we want put forth. our primary concern as christians shouldn't be how the world views us, but that is not the compelling thing about this documentary. "Friends of God" holds a mirror up to the church and we should think about whether we are accurately representing Christ to the lost world.

cute t for mommies to be

i was browsing here for a baby gift and came across this adorable T in the "just for mamas" link. it caught my eye because out of my 11 bridesmaids, 6 of them are either expecting or just had a boy!! it's definitely in the water again...these little guys always come in groups :)
so, i dedicate this post to all my sweet friends who have princes in progress on board!

Thursday, January 25, 2007

scrapbooking. what?

Part of my purpose in this blog is to archive memories in an easy and accessible manner. It's just so much easier than breaking out all the paper, stickers, glue and endless supplies that go along w/ scrapbooking. I used to be pretty good at it...and hope to one day be good at it again. But, this is just not the season for it. So, maybe this will suit for my online scrapbook and I'll have these cute little snipets of life to show my children when they are older.

So, then...a couple of quotes:

Sumner- "Mom, did you know that God knows our thinks?"
(so precious and really difficult to keep a straight face through this one.)

Sumner asked Jamie what he was about to do when Jamie tucked him in tonight. Jamie replied that he might watch a show (tonight is OFFICE night!) and Sumner replied, "Are you the wizard of 'I can watch TV whenever I want, but I only let my son watch it sometimes?' "

Sumner's friend Carson was over today for a playdate. They were talking about State Troopers b/c one had visited their class today as part of their lesson. So, this brought up occupations. Carson told Sumner that his daddy was a police officer, to which Sumner replied, "My dad is a phone collector for people who don't have cell phones."
(I wonder if Jamie knew his job was charity work? :)

Friday, January 19, 2007

the birmingham wedding planner

i'm so excited for my friend cheryl walker! she has been written up in this month's weddings issue of portico magazine. you can find the article about her on p.p. 21-23! she is a "work at home" mom like myself and has spent 6 years creating a very unique resource for brides-to-be. it is called the birmingham wedding planner. i so wish i had access to something like this when planning my own wedding over 7 years ago. we recently did a holiday show together and i got a chance to look through this fabulous planner. i must say, she has thought of everything! you would be hard pressed to find anything else quite like it. it absolutely full of helpful tips, recommendations and guiding principles. cheryl's gift for event planning and organization, as well as her love for people, really shines through in her consulting. so, if you or anyone you know is headed to the altar soon, tell them to contact cheryl at riggswalker@juno.com!

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

baby's got blue eyes

one of the many the fun blessings of having a new niece in the family is that i have a whole new precious bundle on whom to practice! i'm still trying to get the hang of my new lens...focus is an elusive and ever daunting challenge with such large apertures (and i still have so, so much to learn), but the result was so precious, i couldn't resist posting these baby blues. so, here's one of my favorites from k's 4 month session.

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

health(ier) after school snack

i'm always looking for ways to lighten recipes or use healthier ingredients. mainly due to my battle to keep this post 2 kiddos, five foot three, thirty year old, metabolism plummeting frame under control... and goodness knows if the boys and i bake something, i'm going to indulge, too :)
so, i was pleased to find this recipe that in it's original form was already pretty good for you!
it's got a whopper of a name...they may as well have listed the entire ingredients list...
oatmeal cranberry white chocolate chunk cookies.
kind of like what some of my friends like to call an old recipe entitled chicken broccoli crescent roll surprise. but, that's another recipe for another time.

so, here is that yummy cookie recipe for you to try:

2/3 c. softened butter
2/3 c. brown sugar
2 large eggs
1.5 c. old fashioned oats (not the quick cooking variety)
1.5 c. whole wheat flour
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1 (6 oz.) pkg. dried cranberries
2/3 c. white chocolate chunks or chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Beat the butter and sugar together. Add eggs one at a time. Mix all dry ingreds. together and then add to wet mixture. Stir in chips and cranberries. Bake for 10 mins.

I dropped these with a small melon baller scoop and it made enough to take to a friend and have plenty left over for this week's snacks.