"Look What I Can Do.....Thank You David!"

And so it is that I'm back once again doing what my heart loves.....writing. And through that writing - -sharing and encouraging (hopefully) others with God's love, God's blessings, God's faithfulness and life in it's realness. :)

My life, as it looks today, is winding down a journey.

A journey that has had laughter, smiles, happiness, amazement, thankfulness, surprises, love, joy, accomplishments, togetherness.......as well as tears, anger, frustration, disappointment, fear, impatience, and non-comprehension. I speak of the words - raising children.

You see, our youngest child, who is Levi, will be 18 in less than 2 weeks, and graduating 7 weeks after that.  Our second child, who is Savannah, will be walking the aisle in marriage in 6 weeks. And our oldest, who is Heather, is on God's timetable to make straight her paths. If you would, please pray for each of our children for they truly need it.....and who of us doesn't?

And so that brings my journey - as Mom - to a close. I know you're going to say "You never stop being a Mom." and that would be correct. But, I don't believe everyone is called to keep being the "Mom" you were the first 18 years of their lives. Instead I see it as I step out of their lives.....letting go of all preconceived ideas that I have ever had any power to stop what they chose to do or not do.....continue to trust and pray that God has his own timetable and plans of turning them each one back to him.....asking him to stand the TRUTH, his truth, so firmly planted undeniably in front of them that they cannot see around it or through it and must deal with it in God's way and not their own..........

AND.........

I CONTINUE ON loving the Lord my God with all my heart, soul and strength.....and loving the beautiful gift of his love to me through my beautiful husband, David!!! 

My life started, almost 48 years ago, with God. And almost 27 years of those 48, God brought along my David to join me in this wonderful adventure we call LIFE. And so it is.....my life will begin and end with God and my David. Yes, added blessings along our adventure that we call children.....and hopefully someday called GRANDchildren. But nonetheless.....my life is......God and then my David. And I wouldn't have it any other way!!!

I have wanted to write a Blog dedicated to my David along the way of my Bloggings, but I didn't want it to come off as me just bragging about what I have. My intention and goal is to NOT have that come across to anyone.....for we are ALL blessed in God's blessings of who he has placed in our lives (even if you don't see it). But rather my desire to share comes from a heart that is so FULL of gratitude and complete LOVE for a gift to me. And in that gift of my David is the very heart of God himself. For my David shows forth the very nature and character of God daily to me. So please read this in the way that it is given.....through a genuine heart of gratitude.

David and I have been doing some renovating of our home. Renovations are fun, cool and exciting....I love to see new things take place, shape and form! And in those "Renos" <<the home shows call them that.....David has taught me many skills along the way. As I was learning each new skill, I began taking pictures. As I took more pictures, I began thinking back to all the MANY things David has taught me in life. I scanned back through many pictures of days gone by and came up with a collection of various things. Although certainly not all; these are some. . . 

Demolishing is super FUN!!! I yelled every single time I swung this sledgehammer!!

Thanks David. :)

We are hand sewing curtains in this picture! David has always been our seamstress in our family. And now with his guidance, I can sew too!!

Thanks David. :)

I can now say I have stained furniture as well as varnished too!! This is our handrail up the stairs.

Thanks David. :)

I am also the designated "roller-painter" too! David is the detailer and I'm the roller. 

Thanks David. :)

And yes, sometimes, I do trim work too!! Although this looks BAD - - we were coming back with a main color for walls. :)

Thanks David.

David has taught me a real LOVE for adventures of ALL kinds!! Our adventures lay before us daily (yours too)! Seize the opportunity whatever it may look like....you'll be glad you did!! :)

Thanks David.

Adventures even in the smallest sizes can be O so FUN as well!!! :)

Thanks David.

David has taught me to love exercise through walking too!! We walk everywhere and often. :)

Thanks David.

David has taught how to do yard work and make areas pretty by planting flowers! I seriously enjoy the accomplished feeling when you have worked HARD all day in the yards and look back to see something was done and know that you were a part of that something! :)

Thanks David.

I can now say I also know how to use a crow bar to remove an entire wall of paneling and base/crown moldings too!! Which had about a 100 nails AND glue on it!! And take it ALL down the stairs and into the garage myself!! No small feat!! :)

Thanks David.

And although these are David's hands and not mine....I learned how to sand spin along with him!! :)

Thanks David.

David has taught me how to even play golf....believe it or not!!! Although we never fully became accomplished at it, we had FUN!! :)

Thanks David.

Although technically full credit should probably go to my Dad for this one, for he started me off very early in life loving this adventure....my David is the one that renewed it's desire once again. :)

Thanks David.

But David gets full credit for the bow and arrow lessons! Haha! 

Thanks David. :)

As well as the cooking lessons!!  

Thanks David. :)

AND......I can shoot a gun now too!! 

Thanks David. :)

Hey I can even peel and eat a crawfish now....although very S L O W L Y!! 

Thanks David. :)

David has taught me the love of a good hike up a very TALL mountain....to reach the tippy top and feel the joy of accomplishment while praising the very Creator of our Universe!! 

Thanks David. :)

David has taught me to be ME..... like me.....to enjoy being me.....to accept me. That even in all my quirkiness and weirdness.....I can be ME.

Thanks David. :)

And he has taught me to enjoy each and all of our moments......together. For in those times we are at our happiest!!

Thanks David. :)

As wonderful and great as each of those things are (and there's so much more he's taught me).....I know with all my heart that the biggest and greatest of lessons are these . . . .

To love and forgive completely in it purest form. And what it truly means to do both.

To let it ALL go and give it ALL to God.

Three of those "All" being our children.

To understand what real faith is and assuring me that we can trust God even when it doesn't make since.

To know that FAITH is the answer always...no matter what. For our God is in control.

As he has often reminded me.....when is there ever a time to worry??

And it is in these last lessons, I have shared with you, that I value the most in him......"Thank you David." 

I am beyond blessed to be your wife, support, encourager, lover and very best friend!! :)

And so it is that I bring this to a close......a closing of a Blog......a closing of a chapter of my life as "Mom". 

But sure as God IS coming back again (and He IS!)....I'm off to a brand new and wonderfully joyous adventure and journey with the two most important in my life.......God first.....my David second. :)

Thank ya, Jesus!!!!

"A Day of Disappointments or a Day of Blessings??"

Ever had one of those days when your entire day was full of plans that kept changing? Ever had a day when you were actually excited and looking forward to those plans you made - only to seemingly keep being met with disappointment?

That's pretty much how my past Thursday was playing out.

It began with plans to go to Kemah Boardwalk and enjoy our delicious and much anticipated meal of pizza and Cesar salad. If you've known anything about us then you know we that we look forward to each week of driving a hour away to enjoy one of our most favorite meals of the week. We never eat anywhere else while in Kemah - only this one place. If you are wondering why I keep elaborating, it's because I want to emphasize the excitement it holds for us! :) Are you with me? This place is a true highlight to our week!

David dear remembered that he had not called about a recall on our washer. What better day to remember?! He makes the call, and long story short, he agrees to a open window time of 1-5....on our Kemah day. Wait a minute.....did you possibly forget how important this day is, dear??!! Surely not.
I was just a little set back.....ok NO I was VERY setback!! And yes....I had to pout for a time. I mean c'mon, let's be honest here. Much of my pouting is simply amusing to dear husband.....and rightly so. I'm sure I'm a pathetic case. He calmly and nicely told me "We can do Kemah tomorrow." It wasn't just no Kemah that upset me - we also had plans to do our training we are in for an up and coming adventure we are taking at the end of September. Those plans would also be put until tomorrow.

Sooo....I decided (after a bit) to make the best of it. David gave me two choices of what we could eat and I
UN-excitedly chose one. I texted our oldest daughter, before we left, thinking that she was at work. I thought I would just let her know our plans anyway. Turns out....she wanted to meet us there. Hmm...how bout that!

We met her there and had a very nice lunch as well as good fellowship.
Was this lunch a blessing? Yup!
I had previously told her of our plans to go to Kemah and she had declined saying she needed to go into work. IF we had followed through with our plans then we would have missed this blessing of food and fellowship with a daughter that needs us in her life....and we need her too.

Setback # 2- After lunch, we went our way and daughter went hers. I knew we had to stay close to home due to waiting on repairman coming. That's when I thought that hubby and I would go to the woods and train. Uhh....hubby had another idea up his sleeve. He told me "Do you want me to surprise you or do you want to know where we are going?" I normally would go for the surprise, but today, nope give it to me up front. He said "We are going to the gym and training." Did I mention I know how to pout?!?

Here we go again.....
Seriously....the gym is considered in my top 5 most  boring places to exercise!! It literally makes number 1 on the list!! We are working out on the treadmills. No beautiful scenery around you. Absolutely NO reward or incentive is given while you are sweating and exerting your full energy. I need scenery, people, like the WOODS. I need a reason to have exerted that much energy by seeing something really awesome in the woods such as a waterfall, deer, mountainsides, rivers, trees falling down....something!! Ok you get the point again....I don't like the gym.

We drive to the gym and I very glumly walk inside. And just about as glumly, I began to workout on the treadmill. My super, wonderful husband tries to make me smile and have a decent attitude. He is so super wonderful....but even so. The girl goes glumly on. During this time, a girl approaches us. That girl turns out to be our second daughter! She had come to work out also. Neither of us knew the other would be there. We were both pleasantly surprised. This second daughter we see so very little of as it is, so you can maybe imagine the surprise. As we continued our workout, she visited us for a time. She was waiting her turn on one of the machines. Once she was able to workout, she did in fact come back our way and continue the visit. She delighted herself in increasing Mom's incline as well as her speed, however. Make that dramatic increases!! Much to Mom's frantic exclamations and trying her best to keep atop this crazy machine...she laughed merrily on. O gee!
Was this encounter a blessing? You betcha!

Afterwards, we took our tired bodies home.

 - Showers done - we waited. Yes....for the repairman. To which, as you can guess, he never called and never made a showing. David called and guess what they said? "O we can schedule you for tomorrow." I shouted out "NO!" I wasn't about to give up another beloved Kemah day!! David told them that he only would allow them to come out IF they would come before 11am. No later! They could not guarantee it and required him to call the repair company himself the following day to confirm it. Yada-yada-yada......

Setback #3 - Now...it was time to decide where we were going to eat dinner for the evening. We chose a place hoping that it wouldn't be too crowded. Something about Thursday evenings makes people want to go out, I'm tellin ya. The more I thought about this place....the more I really wanted to try it again. Guess what? We were met with "It will be a 30-40 minute wait." And to think this was BEFORE 7pm and on a week night!!
Here we go again....
Ok, so I only pouted a tad. But, I really was NOT excited about going to our next choice. It was close by though and my David was really hungry. We got in line and I decided to call our son to let him know where we were at. While talking to him, I casually said "Do you wanna come?" all the while expecting him to say no. To my surprise....(lots of surprises on this day) he says yes! He very rarely enjoys eating out with us and we eat out alot! He either is working, with friends, or sleeping (his favorite hobby). He met us up there and once again we were having a very nice meal and fellowship with yet another one of our children.
Was this dinner a blessing? Absolutely!

Later that evening, as I'm relaying the day to myself, I came up with the very profound assumption - - God wanted us to be with our children today! I voiced my thoughts to David and he quite agreed. He also brought light to my thinking when he confidently shared "There is going to be a Blog in here somewhere." The man knows what he is talking about. Through his enlightment of helping me to see the grander side of things AND as always God helping me to write and share.....a Blog surely did come forth! :-)

Together God, David and I put together these 3 points resulting from our day:

1. God's plans are stronger than ours.
2. God's plans are better than ours.
3. We can't screw up God's plans.

I don't think I need to spell it out for you any, for it is quite clear. :-)
We make plans - God has the  plans. We get disappointed - God shows us better.

If you would allow me, I would like to share the verses I have found to support these points. . .

Proverbs 19: 21 "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails."  
Proverbs 20:24 "A man's steps are directed by the Lord. How then can anyone understand his own way?" 
Psalm 25:11 "He will instruct him in the way chosen for him."
Psalm 32:8 "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you." 
Psalm 33:11 "But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations."
Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
Psalm 75:2 "You say, 'I choose the appointed time...."
Job 42: 2 "I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted."
Proverbs 21:30 "There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord."

So, we see that God always has the plans. He directs and instructs us in those plans. And....we canNOT screw up those plans. Thank ya Jesus!!

At times we must wait to see the plans unfold. What does God ask from us during this time?

Psalm 130:5 "I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope."
Psalm 37:7 "Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him." 
Psalm 38:15 "I wait for you, O Lord; you will answer, O Lord my God."
Psalm 33:20-21 "We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name." 

We wait with hope and patience and rejoicing.....knowing he will answer us in his appointed time.

For we know that he "The Lord is faithful to all his promises and loving towards all he has made." Psalm 145:13

Thank you, God, that you turned this girl's day of disappointement into truly a day of BLESSINGS!!!

"That's My Boy!"

Today....many parents, along with me, are saying it's my son/daughter's last first day of school!
Yes, my son is a Senior today, August 26, 2013. He not only is just my son approaching the milestone of graduation, he is also my baby. Woo-Hoo!! the very last one of three!! {Waving our hands in the air excitedly} For the past continous 20 years (1993-2013) we have had a child attending school. It's time to celebrate, people!!! :-)

And today, I celebrate my Levi . . .

From the days of Pre-School 2000

 The first days of Kindergarten 2001 . . .

The first days of Kindergarten 2001 . . .

 The first bus ride home 2001 . . .

The first job 2012 . . .

The first car/truck 2012 . . .

The first happy drive 2012 . . .

The first change of wardrobe for new 2nd job 2013. . .

Second new job 2013 . . .

Second new job 2013  . . .

Second new car within a year 2013  . . .

To the second new car being in a Nismo-Fest Cruise with my baby driving speeds up to 120 mph and taking hairpin curves through mountainous roads on a 7 hour journey!

And all the very wonderful memories made in between . . . today I celebrate you, my Levi.

I love YOU with a sincere heart and I am proud of YOU my son.

__________________________________________________________________________________

For my readers reading along, I share something with you . . .

I am proud of my son . . .

No, he isn't excelling in any sports. He doesn't participate in any. When he was participating, he wasn't the best, nor the second, and nor the third. He was average.

No, he isn't excelling in academics. He isn't taking any "Honors" classes. His grades aren't A's and B's. He doesn't love to read. He has no great thirst to succeed in school, but rather just to get by. He is average.

No, he isn't serving and participating in youth mission trips, evangelizing, and being "on fire" for God as a youth can be. He doesn't even attend the same church we do, but rather has chosen to go with a friend to another. He is average.

No, he doesn't have great and wonderful plans for after graduation. No, his desire isn't to go to college. He possibly is considering joining the Air Force, but in that undecided. He is average. 

No, he isn't a perfect child who has never struggled, nor strayed from what he knows to be right. No, he isn't full of obedience and respect all of the time. He is average.

But what he is is my son and God's gift to me. . . a thankful and proud mother. 

You see I've had to learn a thing or two {or three} in this life. One of them is it gets you nowhere good when you stop and compare your child with another child. Your child may excel at everything he tries and my son may not. Your child may excel at academics and my son may not. Your son may have great and grand plans for after school and my son may not. Your son may be involved in youth groups and my son may not. But does that really change the fact that your son is a blessing to you and my son is a blessing to me? I would like to think not. 

I know that my God has given me this son and placed in life where HE wants him to be. All my hopes, dreams, desires for all that I want my son to be mean nothing when they are wrapped up in the external things. What truly matters - is he seeking to live his life for God where God has placed him? I pray that he is. Is he desiring a closer fellowship with God in his daily average life? I pray that he is. Does he understand what it means to be devoted to God in this average life? I pray that he does. 

Friend, don't get caught up in comparing. It will lead you down a road you don't want to travel. 

Rather set your heart and mind on thankfulness. Thankful for who your son or daughter IS and all the beautiful blessings they bring to you.....whether they are high excellers.....or just plain average. 

For in both God has promised in Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." and also in Philippians 1:6 "Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." 

TRUST those plans and good works, that God has for your child, whatever they may be....average or not. 

"Those Darn Shower Hooks!!"

As I was thinking and praying and drawing a blank today on what to write....I decided it wasn't going anywhere. I called my Mom and she encouraged me that I just needed to wait. It's hard to wait at times, especially when I have the perfect opportunity to write, I have the desire to write, and I've asked God to help me to write. Sometimes it's just not the right moment and we haven't waited long enough.

Sooo....I waited......

Tonight, I decided I would change things up and clean a bathroom instead of my normal routine of Tuesday afternoons. I had the time, I was alone, and I wanted to hang a new shower liner for the bathtub - so why not. We recently had bought new shower hooks and David had hung the curtain himself. When I attempted to unhook these heavy metal rings only a few would cooperate and unhook for me. I kept trying though. I tried standing one angle, and then another, all the while balancing myself on the tub. I tried with all my might - they still wouldn't budge. I would take breaks and give it another try. I started praying telling God "God you know how to do this. Would you please help me?" The more I tried, the more determined I got. The more determined I got, the more I prayed. Still....I ended with the same result....only a very few hooks unhooked. I decided this just wasn't going to happen no matter how hard I tried. It was best, yet again, to just wait.

And soooo.....I waited.......

Later, my son came home, and I asked him to come and see if he could help me with something. I showed him the problem. He started to tug and pull at the hooks himself. They were definitely hard to come apart, but he did manage to unhook the rest once he figured out the pattern. Sidenote for Mom: She has NO upper body strength. :) After his task was complete, I was able to take old liner off and put new one on. All the while, being able this time to snap hooks shut. Re-hung curtain and liner and job was complete!!

As I thought back over the course of events for the evening, I began to realize a Blog was taking shape here! And that's always a good thing!! :)

You see I believe God was showing me something here in my frustration. There are times in our life that we may call upon God to help us with a certain situation or problem and maybe it seems that he isn't helping the way we thought he should be. Maybe just maybe it's because he asks us to wait on him first of all and secondly maybe he is sending that help/encouragement through another human being to lift us up and show us a better way. Don't get me wrong here - I fully believe without a doubt that God and God alone is able and is big enough to meet any of our needs. He alone rescues, He alone saves, He alone delivers, and He alone sustains. And I also know there are times in our life that we need encouragers to lift us up and tell us "You're gonna be ok." "God's got this." "You can trust him all the way, all the time." We need others to keep our focus on what is positive and what is true. When our thoughts get twisted and misguided, God can bring others to us to help straighten them out once again and see that there really is no reason for fear, doubt, or worry. I still believe that God can and will take care of all this alone in his timing and in his will....but maybe there is something beautiful and assuring when he allows others to help guide our life as well.

 

I know for a fact that God has truly blessed my life in immeasurable ways when he gave me my David. I praise God first and foremost - for he is worthy of ALL my praise for ALL that he is in my life. And I praise God in my David secondly - for I know it is God in him that exemplifies God's love, grace, mercy, compassion, faithfulness and patience to me. Through God - my David has helped me, led me, loved me just as I am, accepted me, and assured me....time and time again.

So friend....know that God is able to rescue, to heal, to deliver, to help in whatever your circumstance may be - and he ALONE can do it. But know to that there are times he may bring those along such as a friend, a spouse, a parent, a relative, or even a child to encourage us and graciously point us back to God himself - - for HE alone can save. See the beauty of God's blessing on your journey. And remember to thank God for those he has allowed to brighten and enhance your walk with a God who loves YOU just as you are!

"How Many Times Can She Jump??"

Today I was watching out my window at something I hadn't seen before. It was a Mother squirrel and her baby, about 15 feet up in a tree. I've seen squirrels plenty of times in our trees, but what she was doing caught my attention.

We have three trees relatively close to one another and the squirrels often hop from one tree to the next with such ease. They have such TRUST that they will land safely on the other side. It would appear, at times, that they look like they are literally flying! As I was watching, I began to notice the Mother was repeatedly jumping to the same tree....over and over again. She almost always would run down the tree jumped to, land on our shed, and back up once again to do the same thing again. As she would run up the tree, she would always find her baby and hug him as if to communicate with him. And then as she coaxed him to follow along, she would jump into the air landing on the next tree. The baby would only go so far and stop. You could see he was clearly hesitant, fearful and not trusting himself to make the jump. Annnd once again....Mother would travel back up the tree to begin again. She was patient. She was loving. She knew the best way. And yet the baby would not follow.

Finally, because of exhaustion and not knowing what else to do, the Mother decided to safely lead her baby down the tree, across the shed, and up the next tree. She always made sure he was with her, and when he seemed lost she would go back and reassure him once more.
At last....success! They reached their destination!
And they lived happily ever after!
The End.

Nice squirrel story huh!

But like so many times, as I was sitting there watching them, I began to wonder if there was a Blog in this episode. And I believe there is! :) Through this I believe God is sharing this one simple fact - -God is in control and His will will be done. This Mother squirrel knew she had a will and that was to get her baby safely transferred to the next tree, and NOTHING was going to stop her, not even her baby's doubts, fears, and mistrust. God also has a will, a plan, for our lives and NOTHING is going to deter, stop, or hinder His plans from being done! I believe there are many people who have the thought process that it's all about their own choices and decisions they have made as to whether or not God's will is being done. This baby squirrel clearly chose not to follow his Mother's leading to go as she was showing. But that didn't stop her plan from being done. It only served to make the journey longer instead of the shorter, straighter path they could've traveled.

I know that God is in sovereign control over every single part of our daily lives. His ways, His thoughts, even His plans seem unfamiliar to us at times. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts; neither are your ways my ways." Isaiah 55:8. But we can trust Him still for it says "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11. I do believe that our choices can make the journey longer and keep us from enjoying all the many blessings God has for us. But, I also believe that God allows us to delay the journey to sharpen us, strengthen us, and mold us into more of the person He is creating us to be. In saying all of this, and hopefully in not too many words, there are times in life when we triumphantly "jump" from point A to point B in God's plans, trusting as He leads us. But, there is also those times that we stand fearfully, doubting, not trusting looking over the edge of the limb saying "God, I can't do this." As we do, He quietly continues to lead, wait, love and reassure. And sometimes, He allows us to travel the longer path taking us rather from point A, to point A 1/2, and finally to point B. All the while reassuring us of His love, "Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall." Psalm 56:22. Also, "When I am afraid, I will trust in you." Psalm 56:3.

Friend, if God has taken you to it - He will bring you through it. God sees our tomorrows before they are our todays. Trust Him. God can keep us from bad decisions and choices - but He uses them to make us into the beautiful person He designed us to be. So KNOW.....no matter what ------ God's will WILL be done. Not you, not me, not satan, not ANYONE can stop it.
And.....He will get you safely to the other side. : )

Happy Jumping!!



"Ever Have One of THOSE Days?!?!"

Ever have one of those days. . . .

When you wake up at 6:05am to get the boy up for school. . . . and you have NO idea what lies ahead of you, only to be "pleasantly" surprised as you meet your challenges of the day head on? Let's just say I'm thankful not everyday begins this way!

In a "shortened" and not so detailed story - I will tell you that I was met with cat vomit as I proceeded downstairs. Not just cat vomit alone, but smeared in cat vomit on my beautiful area rug, as well as other various nice places around the downstairs. Seems Heather came in last night and unknowingly walked right through it. *YUCK!* Going back upstairs I also noticed the nice little kitty hit my other area rug 3 times as well. Well, now I'm trying to best decide how to clean up this whole mess. I grab 2 bottles of spray, a knife, paper towels, plastic bag and go to work. One spray was for the wood floor and the other was for the carpet rug. You know when they say "Test spray in an unconspicous place before using." <<They ain't lying. Without seeing any such place on this rug I grabbed a bottle and begin to spray. Not knowing I grabbed the wrong bottle! I blotted that up quickly and used the UN-tested one. As David says . . . it's not noticeable unless you're looking for it. Well. . . .

Mess #2: Levi needs Mom to clean up a bed sheet and his clothes. Seems he fell asleep yesterday after school with GUM in his mouth. When I asked him HOW do you get gum everywhere while sleeping, his simple reply "Gum stretches when you take it out of your mouth and unknowingly leave it in your bed....half asleep." Thank you dear son.

Mess #3: After taking boy to school, I return to go back to bed. When I get up for a second time, I met once again with the O so lovely vomiting and this time it's WORSE. He has now managed to hit even more nice rugs as well a path around the entire downstairs - which I had just freshly mopped yesterday. At this point I had to make a decision of Vet or no Vet. We have not had very good experiences with Vet dealings so I was really un-decided. I went with Vet seeing this just wasn't going to stop. I once again start cleaning,  mopping, and vaccuming.

While I'm talking on phone with David relaying the run of the day so far, our pet bird KiKi decides to take a nose dive in her cage to the bottom of the floor. This is NOT a usual occurence and usually means it is in distress. I recently even went through an episode with it where it was rolling around sqwacking in pain with blood getting everywhere. I had NO clue whatsoever to help him. All I could do was pray for him. God very graciously took care of him for bleeding stopped and wounded leg healed by itself by next day. As I'm telling David about nose-diving bird who apparently is going to die now while I'm on the phone, I remember that it was late in the morning well past feeding time for our two dogs and I hadn't fed them yet! Our oldest dog had recently knocked on death's door as well and we thought this was it. God also very MIRACULOUSLY turned her around 180 degrees and she is doing much better.....if she is fed that is. Ha!

Now we have 1 dying cat, 1 dying bird, and 2 dying dogs < due to starvation. As sad as that all sounds, it really hit David and I as funny. Funny in that David said "Well, I guess I know where we are going for my birthday in a couple of weeks - Romance, Arkansas." We have a new show that we have started watching. The guy runs a taxidermy place in Romance, Arkansas and it's not your ordinary taxidermy. He also is called a Pet Preservation guy. He stuffs people's dead pets so they can keep them around forever. Actually, we find it rather comical, so you can see why the comedy here. Well, maybe you can. :)

I made it to the Vet and of course they gave me "We have 2 options...the conservative and the aggressive." speech. I had told David before I went that I was choosing the conservative view. . . and I stuck with it. The doctor had informed me that she hadn't seen this kinda mass in the stomach area before and that it was very firm. She went on to say "if it were a 18 year old cat we would call it Cancer, but not necessarily in a cat this young." Hmmm.....
I get cat home and read her remarks on paper of which state that she thinks the treatment we chose will help him feel a little better but not solve the problem. She leaned more towards the X-rays and possible surgery instead. Did I choose the right decision?? God knows. I'm trusting God to take care of him and to guide us. So far all he has been doing since coming home is . . . .sleep. He is supposed to be getting medicine but I NEVER have been good at waking up sleeping people or pets. Haha!

Later, David comes home and gets ready to go golfing with me and Levi. I decided my day had already been a little TOO eventful and chose a nice hot relaxing tub instead. Yes, Mother.....a hot bath.....your remedy for ALL things known to mankind. :)

Now - - I tell you all that story to share with you that even during all of the chaotic messes and decisions to be made, God helped me to keep a right perspective. He even influenced that perspective when earlier this morning I could hear that familiar song by Mandisa playing on the radio - "Good Morning".
It's a good morning!
Wake up to a brand new day
This morning,
I'm stepping, stepping on my way
Good morning,
You give me strength,
You give me just what I need
And I can feel the hope that's rising in me.
It's a good morning

It was a brand new day! And I was stepping, stepping (although carefully) on my way! God did give me strength and gave me just what I needed to accept the challenges before me and carry on. He has given me hope that he will see us through. . . .and it was not just a good morning but pretty darn good day too!

So, my friend, what is your perspective of your day? Are you bogged down by all that you see, hear and feel or have you chosen to turn to the One who can give you the strength to face come what may? Amist the chaos you too can feel hope rising up. Let go and let God.

Maybe this was why I came up empty this past weekend when I sat down to Blog and nothing came. Possibly it's because I was supposed to wait. . . .wait to give you a perspective check and maybe even a laugh or two! :)



Before being so sick.
I love this picture. . .
Ever feel like you're being....WATCHED?!
I looked up from where I was sitting in kitchen to see this! :)





"Life: It's All Around Us!"

I am searching for a new Blog topic....praying.....asking.....believing.....but all the while just getting all kinds of snippets spinning around in my head. Maybe I'm supposed to write a bunch of short stories!

Like there was one day last week that I decided I wanted to TRY my hand at swinging a golf club, on the driving range, with my guys. I guess a weird sensation overcame me when I actually connected with the ball and convinced me that ALL things really are possible! For the very next day I was convinced I was ready! David and I played 9 holes of golf on a real golf course....and I did better than expected....from both of us! :) I had always believed that I would essentially always be the awesome golf cart driver who did her darn best to read the thoughts of my men golfers and always stop at the EXACT location of hit ball as well as take off with just the right speed giving them the right amount of air breeze to cool them off. (Yes writers have permission to use run-on sentences when needed.) BUT.....there was more....so much more! You have to understand that I have had a firm outlook to the game of golf as being the LESS than fun game and would be right up there with the game of chess. Boring to say the least. Pointless to make it even more descriptive. But then I began to see it with a new set of eyes....a new perspective and it became so much more just as I said! It was something that David and I could find enjoyment in, share an interest in (we have MANY of those) as well as a great tool builder of self confidence! All I needed was some encouragement. My David encouraged me and off we went! I have a ways to go, of course, but I know with my husband's support, love and encouragement...as well as God helping out with maybe just a tad of natural ability (heehee)....we can have a shared hobby that can take us who knows where! A funny sidenote: a man at our church heard that I was now playing golf with David and Levi and said his wife had really been wanting to get into the game as well. He said we will have to get together and find a time to play! All the while I'm giving him one of those "yeeeeeaaaah....thats a nice thought, but not really" head shakes. As I related the story back to David he said "We could have a golf ministry." I told him I had never seen this guy's wife with him at church....hence the golf ministry idea. David dear also said almost in same sentence....."We are solitary golf game players." my sentiments exactly! :)

Some may know and some may not that my Levi has been enroute to Hawaii for the past couple of days. We started out as "Hey Mom...Cody wants me to go to Hawaii on Friday. Is that alright?" and this particular day was already Wednesday.....which turned into hearing no more whatsoever regarding it all day Thursday which would become "Hey Mom...it's on now. I'm going with them." and this being Thursday NIGHT. Friday came and went with no departure....flights looked bad. Saturday at 4 they decided to try again. They're flight to California did actually take off this time landing them that night at 9. And that brings us to today, Sunday, with yet no word of any flight taking them to their much anticipated location of .....Hawaii. I'm sure whatever the situation, they are making the best of it. I know that if God wants them in Hawaii....they'll get there. It will definitely be an experience that is most likely once in a lifetime and one that this Mom doesn't plan on ever making. I told Levi "Remember it all for me!" Me and planes do not have a compatible liking.

Instead of continuing on with my "short" stories and making this Blog longer than necessary I will come to the conclusion. In sharing with you, I sense that God is saying ..... Life is happening all around us and it comes in all kinds of packages. There are surprises- -finding a new interest that you never dreamed having! There is encouragement to help you become a better you - - David giving me the confidence to keep trying no matter how many times I didn't connect with the ball! There is God who wants us to share a life of enjoyment with our spouse and not just live in a mundane everyday existance - - a new shared interest is discovered! There are new opportunities awaiting - - Levi given the chance to go to an island we certainly will never take him to! There are setbacks in life and times of waiting on the unknown - - Levi waiting to see if and when they do make it to Hawaii. There are simply the times of making the best of what is given - - Although Hawaii is absolutely wonderful (or so I've heard), California can be pretty amazing as well!

We see that in any and every circumstance of what life can bring us. . . God is and will always be in control. His blessings are countless. His timing is perfect. He is forming He is shaping each and everyone of us into exactly what He wants us to be. Sometimes we need to have the right perspective to see Him at work in all of life's happenings....for He is surely there.

For Life Is What God Makes It!!  :)