Lost In the Prairies.....Found by God

I was trying to think of what to write about this week.  I know during a discussion with a friend that I had a great blog idea.  I didn't write it down.  Hopefully I will remember it one day.  So today you have pure random thoughts coming from my head (I'm going to put my King Julian cap on).   

While I write this I am sitting outside on my deck.  The breeze is whistling through the new leaves.  My little Sam is humming a song only he knows the words to.  It is a beautiful spring day.  Because that is what season it is, not summer.  The older kids still have school.  This is one of the last few quiet afternoons I will have for a while.  For anyone that knows me to actually admit that I am sitting down during the day is not like me.  I am usually doing something.  There is laundry that needs to be finished and put away.  There is vacuuming that needs to be done.  I could be prepping dinner and setting timers on my oven.  I could be washing the floor so I don't have to do it tomorrow.  But I am outside enjoying my Dr. Diet Pepper, watching Sam and typing.

I know I have blogged about doing the Good Morning Girls' study on Proverbs 31.  I am truly enjoying it.  I didn't think I would.  I have always thought of the Proverbs 31 woman as the 50s housewife - June Cleaver and Donna Reed all wrapped up into one woman.  It appears that she's not.  She is just a woman who is in-tuned to God and His will and ways.  That's a woman I can long to be.  I have been slowly working on trust and praying constantly.  I'm doing laundry, I'm praying.  Thanking God for my front loader.  Praying over my family as I fold their clothes.  Praying for friends who are struggling.  I'm cooking, I'm thanking God for the blessings He has given our family.  I'm studying the word and loving all the twists and turns it is leading me down.  Most of the time the things God is telling me through the study are not at all similar to the book by Courtenay - quite the opposite.  This is because I'm not Courtenay and never will be.  I am Me.  Messy, broken, searching me.  He knows exactly what He needs me to learn and what I need to hear. All who are seeking God and learning to know Him and follow His ways and commands are true Proverbs 31 wives (ok maybe not the men).

This week I tried a Prairie Woman recipe for Chicken Tortilla Soup.  I have tried a few of her recipes before.  Her meatball recipe is really good.  For the most part though I have not jumped on the Prairie Woman bandwagon as a lot of people I know have.  I have written that I'm not a 'wagon jumper.  One could get hurt.  As well, I don't want to be a lemming.  What if there's a cliff at the end?  I may fall and get hurt.  I'm scared of heights.  I mean really ....  Ok, I digress.  I just find that in the bloggy world there is so much gushing around things.  I mean if I like it I will tell you.  If I don't, accept that and be ok with it.  I think that is why I have a rule about following people.  Unless it is a truly exceptional blog (GMG, Time Warped Wife, etc..)  I won't follow.  I may drop in from time to time.  I try to encourage people who don't have a larger readership.  Sometimes it's not about being famous or popular but about what God is telling us.  

WOW did I really digress , anyway back to the soup it was yummy.  I will definitely be making it again during the summer.  Even though it is a warm soup, it has that summer feeling I like.  If you are going to make it be warned that it makes a lot.  I could have feed 6 to 8 people with that soup.  I think I will half it next time. 

I want to thank all the new followers and linkers (I hope that's a word).  I am so blessed that people are sharing and actually visiting the prairies.  Your stories and ideas are awesome and I have been truly blessed through them.  

I think that's all the randomness I have this week.  What's been on your mind?  What have you been making lately or thinking lately?  Come join into the mindful chaos this week. 

This last month I have been hearing the best titles of songs or books. I am not talking about ones that make you think or are quirky, I'm talking about ones that make you want to sit down and laugh. I often wonder what people are thinking when they title something. It's like naming your kid. Take for instance Gwenyth Paltrow and Chris Martin, they named their first child Apple. What were they thinking? Is it an inside joke. Is it that they are hoping that their kid will be sweet like a Golden Delicious (hoping she doesn't grow up to be sour like a Granny Smith).

I know when I name a blog title, I take some thought in the process. What is the blog about? Is it serious? Is it silly? What do I want people to come away with? The same applied when we named our children. Nicole, Thomas and Samuel. We wanted names that weren't that popular. That were traditional and strong names. Names that people would remember. I also wanted names that had strong meanings:

Ok, so Thomas' entomology isn't necessarily a strong meaning, but I have always loved the story of doubting Thomas. Sometimes we need to question so that the answers can be revealed to us.

Sometimes words mean different things for different cultures or regions. Last week while Sam was watching the Wiggles I heard them singing “Let's Have a Barbie on the Beach.” I had to think about it for a minute. What were they having? I thought this show was rated G. Then I remembered in Australia and England barbie is slang for barbeque, not an anatomically incorrect doll or the name of some girl. I had to phone my girlfriend up to tell her what they were singing (she's a linguist major) and we both had a good laugh.

May favourite title though has to be a book I found on Ereader News Today. It was called “If my Body is a Temple, Then I Was a Megachurch!” AMEN brother!  I had to post that on Facebook PDQ when I saw it. I bet from the title you can tell what he was writing about. When I posted it, everyone loved it. It struck a nerve (the laughing one) with many of my friends. How could you not want to read this book? Now if it was called “How a Christian Lost Weight” or “Christians are Fat Too” would it have intrigued people to read the book? Probably not. I notice that the title of a blog post can increase my readership for the day. The more funny or intriguing a post is the more readers I have. With so many of us having 100s of blogs in our Reader, we need to quickly decide what to read, just like a book. If the title doesn't grab me, then I'm not going to pick it up or click on it. Sorry, it's true. I bet you have never thought of it that way. Why do you pick up books? Because either the title intrigues you or the artwork does. Same with a blog. I've written some great posts, only to see that no one has read it. Unfortunately, we are in “buyers market” in the bloggy world. If we can't “sell” our posts to our readers, they won't get read. Good thing that I'm in a year of contentment and just being able to post is good enough for me.

Have you heard of a good post, song or book name lately? What are you're thoughts on naming posts?

Come link up with the randomness today.