Shannon Yee

Last night was the most amazing and rare treat in our backyard. We were able to see stars! Since the Wal-mart and Target went in around the corner, with their excess of lights, we have had very few nights where there is not a single cloud to deflect light and allow us to see the sky in all its glory… Even more amazing was the lunar eclipse, which I was able to shiver and share with my husband, the geek. In my opinion, there is nothing more clear than seeing the wonders of the heavens to inspire praise for God and His magnificent creation! I hope you were able to enjoy it too.

Of all the things that I do, like taking care of my children, cooking, cleaning, exercising, reading, attending meetings, hanging out with my husband, etc. The thing that takes the most time and is the least productive must be anything related to the computer.

No matter how quickly I plan to check something, it invariably leads to something else and I spend 20 minutes looking at random things that were not at all related to what I intended to do on the computer, which I may or may not have actually done.

Facebook, reading blogs, and checking email are my serious down falls. It is easy to waste away hours just looking at what other people are doing and then reading about what people they know might be up to… Oh well. I’m allowed several guilty pleasures, right? As long as they don’t get in the way of my responsibilities… Does the bathroom really need to be clean?

Appetizer

Name one thing that is unique about you.

This is surprisingly hard to specify. I know that I am definitely not like anyone else, but it isn’t just one thing that makes it so, but the combination of all the various parts and traits that make me me. To identify one thing, I can only think of the relationships that I have, namely I’m Brian’s wife and Eila and Josiah’s mom.

Soup

Fill in the blank: My favorite _________ is __________ but I like _________ too.

My favorite cookie is chocolate & peanut butter chip but I like oatmeal cookies too.

Salad

What type of wood do you have for your home’s furnishings?

All different, but our bedroom is cherry wood.

Main Course

Who do you talk to most often on the phone?

Probably my husband.

Dessert

What level of responsibility do you have in your job?

I can’t get any more responsibility in being a mother or wife or daughter or friend.

Enjoy the meal; join in here.

Last year was the first time I “gave up something for Lent”. Having grown up in a Baptist and then Presbyterian church, I didn’t really know much about Lent at all except that my Catholic school friends didn’t eat meat on Fridays or eat chocolate in the month or so before Easter. It seemed strange, but sparked no further musings at that time.

In college, I read Richard Foster’s fabulous book The Celebration of Discipline, which made me start to think about fasting and prayer as more than just something that real fanatics would do. More recently, as a nursing woman fasting isn’t really a healthy option for me, so I wanted to do a sort of modified prayer and fast. In the end, I decided to fast from something that I had regularly and use that time to meditate on Scriptures and pray. I realized that this is exactly what Lent is all about.

Fasting is a way to focus on Christ and the sacrifice He made for people everywhere to have a right relationship with God. Giving something up for Lent is really fasting and preparing for the celebration of Christ’s death and victory over death and all evil in His resurrection – a time when many people who might be really in need of hope might be likely to look in the only place they’ll find the real deal.

So, again this year, I’m fasting and praying with a focus on family. Last year, I gave up cookies, which was really tough. This year is proving to be an equally well-chose vice: hot chocolate. Apparently, I have been drinking a cup of hot cocoa every night this winter and so now I won’t be drinking my hot chocolate, but I will be enjoying a time of refreshing and warmth with my God despite the cold around me.

Are you giving anything up for Lent?

So, I’ve been wondering about how much worse things could get in this crazy world before the end is here…

Every time I turn around, I hear about someone else who is dealing with some horrible situation. The problems range from spousal abuse to sexual infidelity to freak accidents to drugs and addictions to hopelessness and depression. It is sad and scary to hear about friends who are dealing with such serious issues – that really hurt.

I was thinking about what I could and should do to help. First, I’m praying for them and for real and lasting change in their situations. Also, I’m trying to be a friend, whether that means listening or watching kids or providing meals or money or a safe place – whatever physical needs I can meet, I will. And, then I realized that I could provide some resources for help. I enjoy researching and so it makes sense that I would find the help that others have already provided and point those who need it in that direction. In my opinion, the best source of info is always the Bible and talking with God!

Here are some of the sites that might be interesting to anyone or helpful if you know someone going through a really hard time right now:
Bible
Are you an Abuser? (Quiz)
Are you being abused? (Quiz)
Suite 101
You are a Target, not a Victim
Living with Someone in Depression
Addiction Help

You know you’re getting old (and have young kids) when:

Your husband’s co-worker thinks his iPod is an antique collectible.
You go to a kid’s play cafe to get out on your birthday, and you enjoy it.
Shoveling the snow makes you huff and puff.
It’s 10am and you are ready for bed.
The only birthday gift you request is a quiet night out.
You forget all the birthday gifts you get at the party.
And, finally, your father jokes that you are only an acquaintance now because he doesn’t have kids THAT old!

I’m now 30 and proud of it.

Appetizer
How many times per day do you usually laugh?
at least 5, but probably more – those kids of mine are pretty funny!

Soup
What do your sunglasses look like?
If I could find them, it would be a lot easier to know.

Salad
You win a free trip to anywhere on your continent, but you have to travel by train. Where do you go?
Somewhere in the Northwest U.S. or Canada, with numerous stops along the way

Main Course
Name one thing you consider a great quality about living in your town/city.
It’s close to my parents and in-laws.

Dessert
If the sky could be another color, what color do you think would look best?
I like it when it’s a purple and orange and pink combo thing, with a beautiful sunset, so maybe I’d like that all the time.

Appetizer
What is your favorite beverage?
Water

Soup
Name 3 things that are on your computer desk at home or work.
A large box of papers, picture of Josiah, several kid’s books

Salad
On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being highest), how honest do you think you are?
7

Main Course
If you could change the name of one city in the world, what would you rename it and why?
I’d change Phoenix to Fenix for ease of spelling.

Dessert
What stresses you out? What calms you down?
Whining stresses me. Talking (with God, friends, husband, anyone who listens) calms me.

Appetizer
What is your middle name? Would you change any of your names if you could? If so, what would you like to be called?

Michelle. No, but as a kid I wanted to change my name to something much shorter – I think I was just lazy…

Soup
If you were a fashion designer, which fabrics, colors, and styles would you probably use the most?

Probably bright silk colors for going out type of attire. This would assume I was creative and could sew, which are not the case.

Salad
What is your least favorite chore, and why?

I hate cleaning, that includes vacuuming, laundry, dishes, bathroom, dusting, mopping, sweeping, etc.

Main Course
What is something that really frightens you, and can you trace it back to an event in your life?

I am terrified of being abandoned by my husband – traced back to my dad leaving when I was 5 years old.

Dessert
Where are you sitting right now? Name 3 things you can see at this moment.

I’m at the computer (go figure) and I can see the large box of papers next to me waiting to be filed, a cute french board book, and a map of Paris from 1615 that Brian and I bought on our honeymoon.

Eila’s preschool curriculum has a large portion devoted to teaching her about stewardship. When I started looking at it, I really liked it but didn’t think it was so important to start with that principle when being kind and respectful are so lacking in the average preschooler. However, the more I think about the idea of stewardship and with what I’ve been learning as I teach her and study on my own, I realize that it is very important. In fact, it was one of the first commandments really. God told Adam and Eve to name the animals and care for them and the garden (and to be fruitful and subdue the earth) – that is what stewardship is all about – taking care of what God has given us.

Until recently, being a good steward for me meant being smart/thoughtful about how I spend money. It might include how I use the gifts God has given me, like organization skills to help out with needs at church along those lines, but it didn’t involve being environmentally conscious at all. Now, that seems like a tragic misunderstanding of this term as well as a horrid undervaluing of all that God has created and entrusted to us. I often thought that those who were interested in taking care of planet earth didn’t have their priorities right (and sometimes those folks do not, but it’s not for me to judge…) because they must care more about this world than the people in it or God. Lately, though, I am beginning to see that caring for God’s creation in nature is not separate from caring for God’s creation in people or loving Him, but really an extension of that and obedience and respect to Him.

I am glad that the preschool curriculum has stewardship has the first character trait being taught and learned. It is exciting to understand that stewardship conducting, supervising, or managing of something; especially : the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care m-w.com I still have a long way to go toward being a good steward (with money or anything else) and I’m taking little steps each week, sometimes being pushed into it and sometimes dragging others along.