Random and Unedited

This morning was entirely glorious as I basked in the pure laziness of sleeping in for the first time in months! It felt so good not to have to get up and go coach a game. For four years, I have been the coach of my daughter's cheer leading squad, and for the most part, I have loved every minute of it. But something about this year was different. Somehow, our hearts just weren't in it to the extent that they have been in the past. I probably enjoyed the girls themselves more than any other squad I've ever had, but what very little parental involvement there was seemed mostly shallow and my daughter changed her mind after only a couple of weeks. But for the rest of the season we stuck it out. I needed to model commitment and Faith needed to learn it.

So this morning I forced my regimented internal clock back to sleep at 6:30 to enjoy more slumber until the scared chirps of birds threatened by winds re-wakened me at a more enjoyable 8:30. Then I just lied there a few minutes - because I could. I decided to post since the computer sat right next to my bed where I left it after watching a movie last night. After making a big deal of going to the movie rental store last night and letting each family member make a pick, we returned home to find that our DVD player had officially died. No prior symptoms existed. It's just how life keeps us laughing in irony. (On a completely random side note, there was a well-known song back when I got married called IRONIC. We actually fulfilled the majority of examples in the singer's list of bitter ironies. "Rain on your wedding day." Four inches.....and a record low 44 degrees in late April. "A free ride when you've already paid." The special offered by a local jeweler to receive your wedding ring free if it rains on your wedding day began about two months AFTER our washout. "Good advice that you just didn't take." Duh! We were in our twenties. I'm sure it happened frequently.


Anyhoo, last night my hubby took the kids to the driving range and dinner at our favorite restaurant so I could relax alone and nurse my back. It has been in a precarious state too often lately, and I'm learning that I had better not try to push through. So I watched "The Secret Life Of Bees." Men beware, this glowing testimonial will not impress you in the least. This was a deluxe chick-flick through and through, but I thought it was an EXCELLENT movie. Queen Latifah and Dakota Fanning should both be nominated for the Oscar and I'm not a fan of either the awards show nor Hollywood in general. But, boy! Can those girls act!


Anyway, the movie was almost ended when the family returned and my husband came in needing to watch the weather report. I paused the movie and fell asleep about two minutes into the news. I NEVER nod off that fast! I was exhausted! It's been a crazy (good) week. His teasing woke me up and I decided to look at old photos on the computer in order to stay awake to finish the movie. I ended up perusing the pictures for over three hours! Each and every one held such wonderfully amazing memories of a special, though non-descript day from our lives. I ended up crying in gratitude for the choices the Lord has led me to and all that I DIDN'T miss because of it. There were dozens and dozens of days represented for which I could remember the details of how my heart felt. First zoo trips, swinging at the park, school plays and day trips and grilling out in the backyard on a hot day. And plenty that had no special occasion other than a fantastic smile over a cupcake or a practical joke or bubbles running amok over the edge of a whirlpool tub. I am so glad that I've had the opportunity to stay home with my kiddos and for the examples my own Mom has set on how to have fun and make relationships the most important part of life. They truly are all that we take with us!


My sweet husband got me a professional grade camera for my birthday this year. I have been wanting one for more than three years now, but since December I haven't yet taken it out of the box. I wanted to read a lot of the directions on it before I went messing around on it and messing it up. But last night gave me the bug all over again! (Which is not a good thing as I am knee deep in the middle of some MAJOR, necessary re-organizing of our home and business.) I can not wait now to capture more memories. Just yesterday it was my youngest doing his first ever oral school report. It was on Bill Gates and he did AWESOME! Later today, we're hoping it may be fishing or driving around some small towns in search of an adventure. We've been really concentrating on old-fashioned cheap fun as the consequences of this economy have made themselves felt. But for a few weeks it's been some combination of us and not all of us. That's the goal this evening.

For today, I face the daunting task of going through years of old clothes I have not formerly had the time to purge. And I hate not purging. So while I'm not looking forward to the process (because it has become "mountainess" - is that a word?), I'm only too thrilled for the results! I love organizing, WHEN it actually begins to make a noticeable difference! Then we are going to try to dismantle the swimming pool. I can't afford the water bill to fill it up just yet, but between the tornado of two weeks ago and the 60-mile-an-hour straight line winds last night, it just makes sense that it's not going to last much into the Spring.

Tomorrow is church! And I'll have to write a whole other post on that and how incredible it's been to watch the Lord at work taking old doubts and fears and making His will so ABUNDANTLY clear! Right now we are in a series about family and how you must FIGHT for them. I LOVE this series because it has uncovered so much for both Greg and I about how to turn the great feelings of love toward one another into ACTION that actually accomplishes something wonderful. We both have no trouble with action in and of itself. Amongst our many many sins and shortcoming we are both very hard workers. But we are learning how to become unburdened with all of the well-intentioned, yet totally inefficient action and how to learn the needs of a creature (spouse) who thinks nothing like you. Then we'll spend the rest of the day in a new members class. We are all so excited.

You know, the economy may be going to pot, and my back hurts constantly and my face now bares permanent scarring from the staph infection of last summer that is only now finally gone. Obama is a nutcase who is turning freedom on it's head (yeah, I said it) in a matter of a few short days in office and much of the nation sits back and lauds it happening - for now. But for this day, this moment, this snapshot of memory, I look out the office window, through the tall rustling trees, over the ridge to the small town below and I feel thankful. Life is not perfect, but it is fulfilling. It is not painless, but that only further proves that God's Word can be counted on. It is not flawless, but He is. And He loves me.

I Guess We're Veterans Now?

I'm hoping to have a chance to go out and take a few photos later today showing the tornado damage from yesterday afternoon that destroyed two neighborhoods just three miles from my home. It is sad, yes, and frustrating for those who are spending their day trying to pick up the pieces, including the neighbors immediately next door to my daughter's classmate. Their home was completely leveled while our friend's sustained only a gnarled garage door. But I guess I just viewed it as typical drill for our area until I saw homes I distinctly recognize on national news this morning.

Thankfully, no one in our town lost their life. Not so where another twister touched down two hours south of here where another of my friends lives. (She was the "other K." mentioned in my last post.) Crazy evening, for sure. Although, we were blissfully ignorant of just how close our home came from feeling the fury. (We were directly in the path but it apparently lifted soon after all the damage you might be seeing on the network shows.) I was several miles away in what I've long considered one of the very safest locations in our entire town of 80,000. I couldn't watch TV or a computer or listen to the radio because I was responsible, along with three other adults, for keeping about 30 kids calm and obedient while we took cover. Since they were blissfully ignorant as well (of the proximity of the tornado, not that there WAS one), they all but one stayed calm. We even had fun with endless games of "I Spy." And I knew my own children were being well protected nearby. It's funny, but throughout what was obviously sort of a big deal, my family was completely distracted by our own personal traumas that had marked the day. Our dog, the first real pet ever for our family was diagnosed with a serious health issue and some other deeply emotional stuff had taken place earlier. So it was very good that we never heard the direction of the tornado's location announced. It surely would have been too much. We would've worried when it turned out to be fine.

It reminded me of how out-of-the- loop we felt concerning the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, despite living only 15 miles away and knowing friends of victims and rescue workers. We were too engulfed in the death of my father-in-law a week earlier to recognize the magnitude of the proximity of such a huge event. We probably processed it much more like someone saddened to watch it on TV somewhere in another state. Except this morning, there were roads shut down and all talk is focused on "the tornadoes." Our church was open last night as a safe haven for folks who had lost their home or power to keep their homes heated. We went up to see what we could do to help, but there were only 2 families. They seemed a little shell-shocked, but surprisingly calm and friendly as well. You just never know what a day will bring!

K & K

I just arrived home from dropping the children off at school and I would be overwhelmed, completely, at the amount of work I have to do. Some balls ARE GOING to drop and it would be difficult deciding which ones, except that I feel so completely blessed this morning. All I can think at this very moment is that "it is well."

I'm not sure why, now, these thoughts are so prominent on my mind, although there was some mighty good music on the radio as I drove home. But I'm guessing it's because I am SO EXCITED that at this time tomorrow I will be smiling wildly and thoroughly enjoying your combined company over the perfect glass of raspberry tea. Tuesday and Thursday mornings have become some of the best parts of my week because of the two of you and quite frankly, life in general is so much richer.

It's been almost an entire decade since I've had a friend as close as you two. She was a "K" too! (Not to diminish others who simply don't live close enough for consistent fellowship or who lack the time due to difficult circumstances in their lives. (I miss you M. I pray for your family often.) ) Ones who make me feel safe and loved no matter what my mood at the moment. You two are the real deal. When I'm down, you are not down on me, nor do you allow me to wallow. You choose the more difficult path of taking the time to listen, to not judge, but to pray instead that the Holy Spirit would do any convicting. And you never give up on trying to cheer me up until I am laughing once again.

I love that we are doing this Bible Study together. I love that it has affected each of the three of us in such vastly different ways. So many other people I know would see that as a negative and spend all of their time trying to get me to view it like they do. You both instead celebrate with me that our God is so big and so personal as to use the same material to do very different works in each of us. I love your wisdom. Your strength. And your children.

Too bad they are the wrong ages and genders to ever be potential future mates for my kids. Because whoever weds those seven will hit the marital jackpot! You are patiently raising each of them to be extraordinary future husbands and wives. Seeing their characters gives me hope that there are still people out there who care to foster such fine people for my own children to one day spend their lives with. It's what we seem to pray for them most, huh?

I adore you both. For loving Jesus and for really truly loving me. Just as I am. Warts and all. It is so nice to spend time with women who have it in the right order. You inspire me to be a better person because of your belief in me. I never feel like I must work for your approval. But I'm always inspired to be better because I want to actually become the incredible person that you believe me to be.

Though we see each other often, I never ever run out things to talk about with you. And I pray for all that you entrust to my knowledge. Thank you for that trust. And for your friendship. You are outstanding women and it humbles me to have been chosen to be a part of our trio. No cattiness. No competition. Just a stronger desire to be more like Him because of all that I see reflected in you.

I prayed and prayed for my "Jonathan" - and He granted me two! How lucky am I?