Hindsight is 20/20

I can't believe tomorrow is the last day before school begins.....IT WAS A CRAZY FAST SUMMER!

We finished our basement shelves and installed them....I am glad we are finally done with shelving (at least for this go 'round :)  Brad's MAN CAVE is turning out really nice :)  One of the cabinet installers was poking fun at us for ordering cabinets that were new, but looked old....He thought it was funny that we asked them to sand the edges a little to make them look worn...I figure why not make them look lived with already...we'll break them in soon enough and it is easier to say that is how we meant them to look :)

 Now we just have to trim them out

These are the two cabinets we ordered for the basement and a countertop 

I finally got Brad to agree to let me list a bunch of stuff on Craigslist that has been on our property since we bought it 2 years ago....The guy who lived here before us was in construction and there were so many extra construction materials laying around our property and in the pole barn.  I said, "this is part of me learning to be a Proverbs 31 woman" (remember, she buys and sells things, right?)...."don't hold me back" :) So, today we have been hoppin' with texts, emails, and calls from people that are interested in the items we are selling.  I kind-of like listing things because of the really interesting people you meet that are looking for bargains.  We have not had a bad experience yet....it is like some kind of adventure to see who will respond for certain things :)  I always make Brad try to guess which item will get the first call.  He was so excited when this guy turned into our driveway with (I think it was a 1964...I can't ask Brad right now because he doing a dude's only thing...MOVIE NIGHT....hey, I could text him....haha!  WHAT IF I INTERRUPTED HIS MOVIE TO ASK ABOUT THE YEAR OF THE CAR :) Corvette convertible....he told the guy he would take his car as collateral :)....and the guy said, "I already paid you!"  OH YEAH....right!  I guess we can't work the car into the deal this time. FUNNY!

I worked at the Parma church again today...now we are at the point of cleaning and clearing out all the work mess :)  That feels good!  One week from today we will open for services. I pray God uses this building in wonderful ways  :)  It is still surreal that it was just given to us....and, at a time when we already have so much going on at the Jackson church with our building campaign.  This is kind-of funny as in the timing of it all, but we have been waiting and waiting for our loan issues to be resolved at the Jackson church....since November of last year.  SO, then we are given a second building that we needed to work on....now have been working on for a few months.  Now that one is ALMOST ready to open next week and our loan is finally approved so we can start the construction on the other building.  Sometimes it feels like things are really messed up or out of order, but we still need to have faith and keep walking with GOD.

Won't it be interesting to have the whole picture of our life at the end and be able to look over it all and see some things make sense that never seem to fit together right now?  

But, for now, I'm hangin' with Kooper....playing Angry Bird and making one mean pasta salad :) 

 and.....it doesn't have to make sense, right Koop?  

A Classy Lady

Five daughters have me talking a lot about clothing/beauty....what's appropriate....what's not....and why not and BACK TO SCHOOL shopping can get those conversations rolling.  Where I do not believe clothing or beauty issues are "mountains to die on"...(sometimes I feel like I come close to it :P) I do think a right heart puts a lot of things in perspective....and clothing issues-attractiveness are some of those things that girls have to surrender to GOD as they mature and figure out what it means to be a Godly woman.  We have to counter culture on so many levels to see ourselves as beautiful in God's eyes and come to an understanding of how God defines beauty.

The first thing I want my girls to know is that GOD made them and so they are valuable and exquisite despite any other way that they perceive themselves differently from day to day.  I found a sign for their bathroom that says....BE. YOU. TIFUL and I love that as the beginning to addressing this fact.....thankfully, there have been others who have made wonderful statements like this....

Thanks, Audrey!

We also talk about modesty and appropriateness....at first, when the catch phrase "modesty is hottesty" came out, I loved it.  It is clever (which I always enjoy) but, it also defeats it's own purpose...in a way.  If you are practicing modesty, then you are probably not concerned with what's "hot" and what's not because to embrace modesty you are starting to realize the value and power of your inward beauty...to think in terms of making the world around you more beautiful...and not just focusing on your outward appearance...you start to realize that is a waste of PRECIOUS time.  I love to see girls/women discover that....it changes them...it frees them.  

There is a transition that happens for many females from trying to be a super model/woman....to an abiding woman....I saw this contrast list the other day and checked myself against it.  I have to admit, I still have a lot of areas to allow GOD to work in me and change my perspective because there are points in this list where I see myself going back and forth between lists.

To "HAVE CLASS"?....now it is starting to make me think you never really "have class"  you're IN CLASS

....so, who's your teacher?

And Then She Said....

Have you ever thought... there are probably people out there who, when they speak of something you have said, use a certain voice?  I think that would be fun to overhear.

I guess if they have worked so hard to impersonate you.....they must really love you, right?  :)  Imitation is the highest form of flattery...but, does that still hold true in cases of mimicking?

I realize anyone can read these blogs.  I started them mainly for family and friends....somewhat for myself because it always helps me to get my thoughts out and to recall things that I have learned or reasons I am blessed. I hope my kids will love to have access to these thoughts someday and it thrills me that they enjoy reading them now.  BUT, it has struck me powerfully over the last few days that I have had readers from places like Russia and Turkey.  It is my prayer that through all the silliness that happens in my daily life and my thoughts to it all...that I BRING YOU CLOSER TO GOD.

  

(An Instagram sensation...the travelling couple)

Above anywhere else, that's where I want to TAKE YOU.

As a Matter of Fact

I have some good news....my voice is improving.  I have had a solid week of a pretty strong speaking voice.  Today, I was working at the Parma church and, at a point in the day, all the other workers left and I was alone in the building.  So I took a break and laid down on a pew in the sanctuary staring at the ceiling (hoping I wouldn't get caught laying down on the job :)...it is such a beautiful, quiet little sanctuary...of course it is hard for me to rest in a quiet sanctuary for very long without testing the acoustics :)...So, I started singing Amazing Grace and my voice didn't feel strained.  That is a praise :)

I have mentioned some of my feelings about not being able to sing a few times in my blogs....I have gone from sad to frustrated....to thinking about what it would be like if I never could sing again to wondering what else I would do...what else I could find that much pleasure in as an expression of worship.....to asking God to show me if there is anything specific He wants to teach me through this....to thinking....

(Ha!  I just got pulled away from writing this blog to pull a tooth ;)....I am happy to say it was a success and there were no tears....DANIELLE is great at losing teeth! She is writing a note to the Tooth Fairy right now....they always want to ask the Tooth Fairy questions when they put the teeth under their pillows.....we have quite the collection of Tooth Fairy responses to questions about what it is like to be a Tooth Fairy... :) Hmmmm....I'll have to think on that too :)

Anyway, lots of things can start to matter a whole bunch to us as we live....we start collecting things that matter (other than teeth :)....stuff that matters, people that matter, ideas that matter, songs that matter, talents that matter, places that matter (like the little sanctuary)....but, what if we lost it all?....all that stuff.... gone.... that we find so meaningful....or, are we willing to give it up if we are called to do so?

Having to take a break from singing has really helped me listen to the words...and listening to the words has made me so overwhelmed at times by the messages that I would ask myself if I live by and believe all the words I sing.  They are so easy to sing....pretty sounds that make pretty songs, but are they REAL to me....so they translate to FACT in my life?  What moves me?  Is it just the emotion I feel or am I moved by the ONE WHO REALLY MATTERS?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFjWOeyFUho

My love is chaotic, but HIS is constant.

The Truth is Worth More to Me Than the Blinds

Ever struggle with getting your children to tell the truth....to fess up to things?  Three of our daughters share a large bedroom and whenever we have had to confront them on an issue between the three of them....or ask "who dunnit?"....there always seems to be a lot of finger pointing, or, "I dunnos".  I was starting to think of the pink bedroom as the Bermuda Triangle for truth... I mean, it was getting really frustrating because I was not seeing any improvement with the issue even with all the talks about Truth being so valuable and lying being a sin....about how trust in our family needs to be based on our truthfulness....  I had been praying for God to give me wisdom in how to teach the girls to love the Truth.  Just the other day, I went up to the pink room to tuck them into bed and I realized the blinds had been broken.  I started my inquiry with, "I realize someone was probably trying to fix these and pulled a little too hard, but does anyone want to admit to breaking them?" (I figured I would get the same response....."it was her!", "no, her!", "no, it was her!....nah ahh! ")

BUT, I heard the sweetest little shaky voice say, "I did it." 

THAT WAS MUSIC TO MY EARS :)  

Truth is worth more to me than the blinds!

Eh Hem!

We were eating dinner and Karly was being very dramatic about not liking her pasta.....she was acting like it was making her sick and she was trying to tell us about it, but she had yuckies in her throat so it sounded funny.  All the girls started quoting from The Princess Bride...."The Pit of Despair....don't even think about....eh hem....don't even think about trying to escape..."  Every time someone has to clear their throat that line seems to come up :)

So, after Karly had cleared her throat she thought it was her turn to say the line...but she messed up the words little bit and said, "Welcome to the Pit of Day Spa!" 

 (OH PLEASE, can I go there?...haha! LOVE IT!)

 HI MOM!  I thought you might like to see our new desk while it is still clean :)

 This was delivered yesterday with the cabinets for the kitchen....today our basement countertop was delivered and we are still working on painting the "made in Indy" shelves...but, we are SO CLOSE to being done with those....maybe tonight, if we can muster up a little more energy.

You can kind-of see the fridge surround, but that empty space in the bottom left is going to be a place for Kooper's crate....hopefully he will adjust to his new room.....he will be able to see out the windows in the kitchen....so I am not sure yet if that is a bad thing or a good thing....time will tell....well, Koop will tell us in his own way. :)

I painted some more at the Parma church today....got the second classroom accent wall finished :)

I was just going to do the sunbeams and then I liked the hanging stars so much from the first room....I wanted something hanging in this room too...I know, weird... and probably unnecessary, but I got a BRIGHT IDEA last night that I could add some hanging light bulbs in front of the sunbeams.  Light bulbs wouldn't be too hard to draw, right?

I had a little girl that was hangin' out with her dad at the church help me decide if I should just do one hanging light bulb or a few and she thought more was better :)  SO, I added three....but only one is shining brightly.  THAT WAS FUN!

It's been a busy day....I am kind-of liking the whole idea of the Day Spa....but, maybe not in 

the Pit of Despair :)

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace;

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is discord, harmony;

Where there is error, truth;

Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

And where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, Grant that I may not so much seek

To be consoled as to console;

To be understood as to understand;

To be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;

And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

 -Attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi-

Make The Devil Sing The Blues

Today was declared a home improvement day....actually, almost the whole sabbatical has involved some kind of project that we just haven't quite had time to get around to.  We've had scheduled breaks in between projects for silliness, but we have still been quite productive.

Do I want to build or paint more shelves anytime soon?

Today, some things were delivered to our house that we have been waiting on.....a cabinet surround for our fridge.....a built-in desk (I won't have to remove three laptops from the dining room table to get ready for meals :)  UNLESS, I fail at the behavior modification part with my family.....maybe I should put a bowl of candy on the new desk.....yep.....that was Pavlov, right?....give the person a piece of candy immediately after they sit in the correct location :) That should work!....either that or zap them when they sit in the wrong place....that could be more fun.  AND, we got some cabinets delivered for the basement...so, Brad and two guys from the cabinet place installed them today.

We also stopped by the Bat Cave....aka Parma church for a while and worked on the two classrooms....we painted stars and blue sky and outlined everything because I was not satisfied with the way it all looked on a wall with so much texture.....it looked too messy to me (I know, I am sooooo picky)....it is much better now.

I want to publicly THANK my husband for coming to help me...even when it takes a while for me to be satisfied with the stars!....and for making sure we had tobyMac with us.....

I can paint better to his music :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6G0boTYx-yA

Here's a peek at the wall in the nursery.....I still have some work to do in the toddler room.

I am happy with the way the artwork turned out....it reminds me of a storybook....maybe, "I Love You To The Moon".....or something.  I wanted whimsy and I loved that I could make it look like the sky was a mobile in the nursery....especially using the verse, Every good and perfect gift....(comes from above).

Somewhere in the middle of it all....we were listening to some jazz music we picked up at the Indiana Fair and I thought some Christian band (Brad thought Third Day could do it right) should record a really great blues song about making the devil sing the blues....maybe that sounds cheesy, but this guy, Brian Wallen, has some great blues/jazz songs and one of them is called Devil Blues (it's about the devil chasing him)...BUT, I think someone should change it up a little bit and make the devil sing those blues :)  I WOULD LOVE THAT!

Driving home after all our errands, the SKY was magnificent! PAINT THAT SKY?.....yeah, right!  That's the type of sunset that proves there's a GOD....makes the devil practice his 1-4-5 chords :)

You Have Chosen.....Wisely

I took Savannah to pick up a present for a friend, so she decided to buy her a bag of cookies (we both agreed this friend would appreciate the cookies  :) .  We actually bought two bags...one Oreo, the other some type of Reese's Peanut Butter cookies.  When we saw her friend, Savannah said, "I have a present for you....but, you have to choose!"  She presented the two choices and her friend said, "This is the hardest choice EVER!" 

OH, TO BE FOURTEEN AGAIN! (Who'm I kidding....that is a tough choice :)

SO TRUE!  Before you toss it you are saying, "Eh (with a shoulder shrug), I don't really care."  BUT, then you toss it and the voice in your head screams, "HEADS, HEADS, HEADS" and you try to control the coin with your mind on the way back down so it will land on the side you want. :)

Why is that?

Unless, of course, the other person has already agreed to HEADS, I WIN; TAILS, YOU LOSE  :)

 Then the flipping coin is just pretty and shiny :)

I had the privilege to attend 6th grade orientation tonight with McKenna....talk about choices!  She will have so many things to start choosing this year with all the extracurricular activities available at school.  She is excited about this NEW SEASON of MIDDLE SCHOOL.....we practiced the locker combo about a million times so she would feel confident with it and we walked the route to her classes AND the CAFETERIA.....that was very important!  Did you ever have bad dreams about forgetting your schedule and ending up in the wrong class or your locker combo not working....or wearing something that everyone made fun of or forgetting your backpack or falling in front of everyone or having someone stick a "kick me" note on your back?  

...yeah, me neither :P

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZYRj4CKuA4

Hot Diggity Day of Summer

ONLY A FEW SUMMER DAYS LEFT TO BE WILD AND CRAZY...make the most of them!

Vannah and Celeste after diving for marshmallows in flour during some youth group games :)  

A family from church offered pool time to us during our sabbatical, so we took them up on that today and had a great time keeping cool :)  I got out for a while and was laying out in a hammock and Brad got out and tried to sit next to me on it.....it was a double-wide hammock, but as soon as he sat down it broke and we both hit the ground....OUCH and OOOOOOOPS!  Don't you hate when something like that happens when you are over at other people's houses :)  UMMMMM, we kind-a broke your hammock....was it an antique?

Now, I am searching for a hammock breaker's diet :)  I figure it would probably have some asparagus in it, so I bought some to add to dinner. No reason really....just that most diets allow this vegetable.  My kids were disgusted with it.....BRAD smiled while he ate it, but it was that one smile.

I started singing....."This is the dawning of the age of asparagus....age of asparagus....A-SPAR-A-GUS..." Apparently, Brad had never heard that song before... I had him going for a little while that I could just whip up a song about asparagus on the spot :)

Fine Dining on the Veranda

One of my children asked us the other day to tell her which part of the pig is the hot dog part.  

 I just wanna say, if she still doesn't know that....what are they teaching her at school? :P

Once Upon A Time

WARNING: This might get deep....or not...it's late....so I am not sure.

We worshiped with South Church this morning and the sermon was on the topic of scripture being alive.  I tried to listen to all the points, but sometimes my mind wanders when a certain subject triggers the wandering.  I was very interested in where my mind was taking me with it so I journeyed a little ways into my imagination.

So, what if you were an author and you could create characters to fill your blank pages with lessons, wisdom, beautiful promises?....You just called your book TIME (not like the magazine :) BUT like something that has a beginning and an end and only what these characters do or think in this amount of time is recorded.  You could really enjoy (we really don't have good words to express how much delight you could find in them...at least I am not thinking of any that suffice at the moment) your characters.....I have heard that some authors actually start to think of their characters as real and imagine what they would do in each situation because they are all extremely different in how they perceive their surroundings....life....how they react to their feelings...I read that one author joked about feeling like looking for the FACEBOOK statuses of her characters because she had lived with them in her mind for so long :)

Anyway, say at some point, the author decides to set the characters free..... no longer write what they will do, but let them choose.  But, the author assures them he is always there over and over and over again, giving them the open-ended offer to hand him the pen just by asking for him by name.  He dedicates the pages to them and hands them the pen.  They take the pen with great enthusiasm and start writing up a storm....figuratively and literally....they write about everything they desire, they write themselves pages and pages about stuff they want, they write about their plans for their future, they create other characters to enter their pages, they write about love pretending to be experts, they write so much about life that the pages accumulate and the book becomes heavy.....so they rip out the sections that bore them and the "useless" information in the beginning of their story, so the book will be easier to manage and more interesting to share with people that seem important to them...the dedication page gets torn out in the process. They write and write wanting to impress, but they never feel like they are LIVING....they hate their story and one day....they don't even feel like writing anything....they are tired and just want to lay the pen down.

They have a fragment of a memory of the author, but....by now....they can't remember his name.  They turn to the front of the book and realize they have ripped out the pages with his name on them

and they experience utter hopelessness.

  

So they say to themselves...."WHAT WAS HIS NAME?".....when no answer comes, they find themselves asking out loud, "Author, are you here?" as if he could hear them. (insert SMILE here for those of us who already know.)

I think the first prayer is always quite simple....don't you think most of the time it is something like, "Can you really hear me?"  It's like the first toe that hits the water in the ocean of faith.

Then the answer comes. (Isn't is great when you not only receive the answer, but it is YES!)

For no matter how many promises GOD has made, they are "YES" in CHRIST.

And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of GOD. -2 Corinthians 1:20

The pen is surrendered to the AMEN.

The creativity part continues, though....SO BE IT is the beginning of the power of the creator, the author, empowering us to write with meaning....and we can only connect because of Christ.  We can take each idea....delight, struggle....each prayer to HIM only because of the AMEN.....the one who puts a stamp of approval on the 

SO BE IT, so it WILL BE

In The Trenches

We watched God's Not Dead for the second time last night and all the individual stories intertwining into one bigger story just reminds me of how vast GOD is...especially how the pastor in the story was connected to each person and never thought he was "in the trenches" making a difference.

CELEBRATING the GREATNESS of my GOD....ASKING HIM to open my eyes so I can see HIM in the ordinary and PRAISING HIM that HE allows me to be "in the trenches" with HIM.

Garage Sale Fever...oh yeah, oh yeah!

When I traveled with a PR team in college we made up a song called Garage Sale Fever to pass the time in the van together when we were going to sing at a church that was pretty far from campus. We would list off some really random items that you might find at a garage sale when it was our turn to add something to the song....something macrame was usually included :)

I am pretty sure I have a distant memory involving this item :)

Anyway, when I was at my parent's house last week, we had the opportunity to go garage saling and thrifting ...I am adding this because it was such a coincidence and sometimes I think God puts two and two together for me.

I just saw this picture...

Isn't that TRUE!?  After a while a bunch of stuff builds up in our attitudes that we need to clear out and get rid of so we can GO ON loving people.  Grudges make us so critical, bitter, and unforgiving.

We cleared out closets today....it is a big job and nobody ever really looks forward to it....with 5 daughters it is one of the things I dread about "back to school" time...but, once it is over....we are ready for a new season and that feels good.  

This is one of the things God has been talking to me about for this sabbatical time....A NEW SEASON  Church stuff can be wonderful, beautiful, inspiring, encouraging....but, there's also a bunch of negative things that come up.  Brad doesn't tell me everything he has to deal with in the life of the church....obviously, there are things that come to his attention that need to remain confidential, but, even without knowing those things, there are still a lot of things that come up in the life of a church that do not make me happy or that flat out make me stinking mad because in my mind it has nothing to do with someone's name being written in the Book of Life.  I say that because of a verse in Philippians where Paul is urging some believers to help two women resolve an issue and he makes a comment that the people's names he is mentioning are written in the Book of Life.  I think he really wants everyone involved to remember that...that is what it is all about...what affects eternity.  Some issues are temporal and we really shouldn't get all upset about those things....that is one lesson.  Another one is that the names of the women who were totally frustrating the believer in the situation Paul is addressing were written in the Book of Life and, it seems to me, Paul wanted to remind them of that as they dealt with the issue because that part of the issue was eternal.  We are all in this together :)

That's why sometimes we need to do the necessary work to have a grudge sale.....we need to let go of the temporal things that are frustrating us and remember to focus on the eternal parts of life.

Continuing the Sa...BAT...tical

We got to attend a LANSING LUGNUT'S game....(I am far more IN FAVOR of that type of bat encounter.....except for the pop fly foul balls that make me think they might hit me or someone else who may not be paying attention....then I am a little jumpy like with the other kinds of bats :)  It was such a fun time....if only my family could have been a little more involved :P (J/K!)

Brad got to be introduced at the beginning of the game...AND BY OUR FRIEND FROM SMILE.FM :), Brian Dumont....aka Mr. Cratchit....because they call out the names of all the pastors in attendance...Brad wanted to trip and fall and do a somersault to be funny....but, he is still taking it easy due to that lingering bronco-itis :)

I was coming back to our seats from our first bathroom trip at the beginning of the game with Kassi and Karly and was approached and asked if they wanted to play a game between innings.  They were interested, but were a little apprehensive about what game it was.....so, I asked her and she said...."it's like Corn Hole"  They proceeded to jump up and down and scream because they just played Corn Hole last week at G-ma and G-pa Billington's house and they think they are at expert level now :)....so, that was super exciting!...Thanks, God, for that coinkydink :)

 Kassi's tosses....1 off....2 on (but look at that form!)

 Karly's tosses...1 in the hole...2 on (she holds the corn bag in the middle...I took note!)

 Kassi telling Karly, "I just wanted to go a little easy on you." (I love their faces at this moment!)

Karly telling Kassi, "I don't believe you."  BOTH WITH SMILES....AND MOM IS HAPPY NO ONE IS IN TEARS!  GOOD SPORTSMANSHIP RULED!

Four men from our church were asked to sing "God Bless America" So, I got to go down to the locker room and listen to them practice with my friend Chrissy.  We saw Big Lug in the locker room and were joking because Brad has a Big Lug bobble-head on his desk, but he does not have my picture on his desk. (He does have a picture of our family on one of his shelves, so I don't want to make him out to be a horrible person....he is anything but...I was just messing with him)  Anyway....the guys told me I should start a fight with Lug over that...LUG, you didn't do right by me! :)  

Then, Chrissy and I went out to check on the inning and the score and we asked if we could stay out by the field since we were hoping to get some pictures of the guys when they sang at the 7th inning stretch.  So, we got to sit right behind home plate....field level....fun, fun.....except for the pop fly fouls.....those do scare me a little.  So, then BIG LUG came out and I am happy to say we worked out our differences....there was forgiveness and reconciliation....I mean, that would be the right thing to do....and it was a beautiful thing and on Christian Family night, at that.  Besides, who can stay mad at him....the BIG LUG!?

We're ALL GOOD :)

I wish I could have captured the sound from the practice room for the crowd because the guys sounded incredible.....it is just super difficult to really hear them and their blend when they are on the field...but, they had a fun time singing!

Our guys waiting to go on the field....KNOCK 'EM DEAD.....or, should I say KNOCK IT OUT OF THE BALLPARK?.....yeah, that's better :)

BATTER UP!

They did a great job!

AND, I always love being at those ballgames.  It was so fun to see a bunch of friends and church family.  I have been missing them....it is kind-of weird going to different churches for a few weeks, but my parents really appreciated that we could visit their church last weekend since we are hardly ever free on a Sunday and I think it is beneficial to worship at other churches just to experience a different perspective in styles.  BUT, mostly it makes me really thankful for the friends and family that God has blessed me with! To what length will He go to make his love, goodness, mercy and faithfulness abundantly explode into our lives?  He comes all the way to where we are to be with us....

AND, He lights up the sky to show us!

A Sea of Apathy

I had a weird dream last night.  I think it was because I was thinking about being a good neighbor yesterday.  In the dream, I was with a bunch of people in boats and this sail boat capsized, the mast hit a man as it fell and he went overboard.  There were other boats that were closer to him, but no one was helping.  I remember I yelled "HE IS NOT OK!"  because I could see him floating a little bit, but he wasn't moving and I thought he might have been knocked unconscious.  People were just ignoring it....so, I jumped and swam over to him....I was able to lift him up a little bit to get his head up out of the water, but I was asking people nearby to help me get him into their boat.  NO ONE WAS OFFERING TO HELP.  Do you ever have those really frustrating dreams where you feel a sense of desperation?

So, I'm sure I did a lot of swimming last night :)  I had to get him to shore since no one was helping me.

One thing I am thinking about this morning that is a challenge to us in our commitment to be good neighbors is APATHY....for whatever reason, there is a strong spirit of APATHY in our culture.  When I was studying Sociology, I had an amazing professor that would show us how cultures and societies would waver and fall based on their systems of beliefs and he told us way back in the mid-90's to watch out for the concept of "tolerance".... that was beginning to enter our cultural thought and language because tolerance and apathy are companions.  I have always found it fascinating that ideas are so powerful....you can't touch them....but, they can totally infiltrate our minds and hearts.  I have definitely been seeing that happen in our culture and even in our churches.  Look what Aristotle said...

We need revival....I don't like to add things to the blog that make people feel overwhelmed or helpless....but, the good in the feelings of desperation is the cry for help that results.  We need Jesus to come to our rescue!

That "Love Thy Neighbor" thing....I meant that! -God

We are starting to get in back to school mode around these parts.  I know because I woke up early all this week and just stared at the ceiling trying to decide what I wanted to dive into to get accomplished.....making the girls try on all their shoes?  Trying on school clothes to make sure they fit?  Changing out some summer stuff for fall stuff?....buying school supplies?  Stocking up the fridge and pantry now that I will be back to cooking a lot more than in the summer months?  Yesterday I felt a little overwhelmed when I realized we only have one week left....ahhhh!  So, I decided to divide and conquer.  I made the school supply list into a game for the girls to run around the house and find things we already have so I don't buy them again.  That went really well, so I didn't have to spend nearly as much money on supplies.  The two oldest are all finished with the clothing/shoes parts of the tasks and I took the youngest three to buy their school supplies.

I love that they get super excited about getting ready for school :)  Now, I just have to flip and do it all again with the other girls.

 I don't return to work officially until September 2nd, but there is always a campus-wide meeting in August that I attend and try to catch up on any changes that have happened while I have been off for two months.  That meeting was today.  The devotional time was about being a good neighbor....and the speaker drew her insight from the parable of the Good Samaritan. 

I got to catch up regarding some work changes, but I also found out some tough news about a couple work acquaintances /coworkers who recently went through divorces.  They both kept their personal issues very private, so it was a shock to find out they had been dealing with all of that over the last year or more and it broke my heart that I was not able to be more of a friend or a prayer support to them.  You know how people usually respond like this.....

even when there is often a lot more that is less than FINE under the surface. I'M GUILTY!

Anyway, today's devotional and that news reminded me to make more of an effort to live outside of myself and my family.... to be more intentional to pray for people I come into contact with.....I don't have to pry to pray...you know.  And, to always choose kindness regardless of what I receive on the other end.  One of the quotes I wrote down from today's talk was..."Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle."  Sometimes we really have no clue what others are going through.....but, that doesn't mean their life is just peachy....everyone needs prayer for something.

Being a neighbor isn't just something about proximity....Jesus explains that so well...it is about showing mercy.....seeing needs....reaching out.....compassion coupled with commitment....really, GOING THE DISTANCE (even when it takes us outside our "neighborhood"....let's think of that as our comfort zone).

Because we are supposed to love our neighbor as much as we love ourselves.  (Totally awesome image!)

 It is such a perspective changer to think of ourselves as the ones bleeding and half dead on the road....instead of wondering if we would be a person to stop and help.  Have you ever been in a situation where you desperately needed help?  

I think the question should not be so much "who is my neighbor?".....because that is more of an inward focus....like, how far do I HAVE to extend my kindness?  as it should be, "Like a good neighbor, AM I THERE for others?"  I don't want to be one who just passes by.....I want to be a neighbor who sticks by.

Oh, My Stars!

Tonight Brad dropped me off at the Parma church to paint stars in the nursery area...I was working on it but I kept seeing a shadow on the wall (which, now that I think about it, is ironic because I am using part of the verse James 1:17 in there....every good and perfect gift....then there is a part in the verse about who does not change like shifting shadows....GOOD ONE GOD! :)

Anyway, I looked toward the door of the room and realized a bat was out in the hallway/lobby swooping by the door of the room I was working in and then into the ladies restroom.....I did the 1...2....3....I NEED COURAGE count and ran and shut the door to the room I was in.  Then I realized I needed to shut the door to the adjoining room because it was still ajar to the hallway as well.....so I ran in there and did the same thing.  Both doors have windows in them, so I could still watch the bat from the security of my solitary confinement :)  I watched it for a little bit and then called Brad and told him what was going on and to please come soon and remove the bat....actually it went more like this....he said, "Are you done already?" and I said, "Get over here NOW....there's a bat and I am stuck in here."  we only live 4 minutes away....so I figured I was all good for a few minutes.  At the end of my brief conversation with him I said, "You don't think it could get in here with me, right?"  He said, "Well, it probably could, but it won't."   (WHATEVER!  NEVER SAY THINGS LIKE THAT!)

So, I had this wave of peace at that moment....like, I was thinking.... it's out there....I'm in here....both doors are shut....I'm just going to enter into my artistic zone and paint these cute little stars...and I even started thinking happy thoughts about the bat that couldn't bother me....like, oh he is probably just a sweet little creative bat and he is just curious to see what I am doing in here and I kept working on my stars and entering my ZONE....that is, until the bat decided to create it's new orbit around my head!!!!!

Get it?  I like that one :)

I was up on a chair painting a star and it flapped right in front of my face.....so now I was confined into a small room with the bat because I had closed off all the exits that a human could fit through....I have no idea how it got in with me.....there was only the small opening at the bottom of the doors unless there was some kind of vent that I didn't think of.  SO I SCREAMED A FEW TIMES  quite loudly and ran with my star stencil and sponge through the building and into the parking lot of the church and just waited there for Brad....laughing at my really quick heartbeat, thinking how ridiculous it would be for someone to pull into the parking lot right then and find me there with a wet paint sponge and star stencil, and telling my heart to be still...haha!

I was staring at the REAL stars while I waited for Brad with my little star stencil and yellow paint all over my hands.  Don't you love those moments when you are all freaked out and trying to self talk yourself to your happy place and then you just start laughing so hard about what actually happened and how you reacted and are still reacting :)  I was kind-of scolding GOD for playing that prank on me, but He knows I love it deep down.  It always feels like He is picking on me :)

....and would you believe that when Brad arrived to take care of the bat he couldn't find it.....MURPHY'S LAW, right!.  He even questioned if it was my imagination..... HUSBANDS!

So, he grabbed my phone out of the room for me and we headed home....we pulled into the driveway and I realized I had also taken my computer with me because there was a picture I wanted to pull up to look at the design I liked....so we had to return to retrieve it.  Brad ran in to get it and he was in there for a little while....then he came out and motioned that he had had an encounter with the bat too...
bat 0, Brad 1.....YES!.....I am not crazy!

BUT, there may be a fault in my stars :)  When I jumped off the chair I am pretty sure I made one of them a shooting star :P  I will not fix that by starlight, thank you very much :)

But Somebody's Gotta Do It

It was one of those "Dirty Job" days....we changed a wax O ring for one of our toilets....then we worked in our garage sorting junk...(finding a mouse :) and trying to put a storage shelf back together that we had removed from the old church building in Parma where we have been working.  They were going to tear it out and dispose of it and so we salvaged it for garage shelving.  This comic reminds me of Brad and I....only there were no directions to put it back together....there were only pictures of it in it's previous place of residence on Brad's phone....so we kept consulting the pictures to try to determine where each little piece of wood might have been. FUN TIMES!

What I learn from these days...(but really I never learn) is that I think of totally different ways to skin cats then Brad does....(don't you sit around and think of ways to skin a cat ? :) that girl bird in the picture is SMART....she is just practicing patience and not squawking.

  

I would totally be telling him what he could do with that last twig.  

PATIENCE....I know.  PATIENCE.

You Don't Rush A Miracle Man

Today, McKenna and I were travelling to Chelsea for her Orthodontist appointment...trying to make it on time since last time we were late....aaarrrgg....but, anyway... we got behind a slow moving pick-up truck loaded high with pallets full of Miracle Whip.....I said, "Need a miracle?" and she said, "I'll whip one up for you." LOVED THAT! :)

That is one of the things that is really fun about your kids getting older :)  They start to think on your level....should I be concerned that she is 11 and already thinking on my level.....she is just a brilliant child, right?

Don't rush your miracles....you'll get rotten ones :)

Every Nanosecond

I saw that picture and remember playing that game a bunch of times....FUN!  The time crunch created so much anxiety (but it was addictive)...every second counts!

Isn't it wild that when you have to do something you are fearful of....or doubt yourself in....or that makes you anxious.....so many times you tell someone about it and they give you a horror story :) That makes me kind-of laugh now.  I see it all the time...for example....an expectant mom is about to have her first baby and someone decides to tell her all about their 48-hour labor and excruciatingly painful delivery.....WHY?  

What does that benefit anything?

We all know something about fear....we feed it or we let others feed it and then it stops us in our tracks with road blocks like doubt, anxiety, feelings of inadequacy...regret, guilt....shame.  

she is scared--

though her poise and speech cast confidence

she is weak--

though her discipline and manner show strength

she has doubts--

though her wit and debate exude certainty

she has fallen--

though she dances with grace and clings to integrity

she feels guilt--

though she is forgiven and seeks holiness

she is blind--

though she advances toward the light and prays for wisdom

she struggles with lust--

though she confesses her sins and pursues purity

she battles envy--

though she knows her GOD is the only source of contentment

she is SO IMPERFECT

BUT

HER GOD IS HER SALVATION

SHE IS ME

BUT, I AM HIS

and HIS strength is made perfect in my weakness

It truly isn't about the many times we fall....it is all about knowing and loving the one who picks us up....

HE IS ABSOLUTE LOVE and perfect love casts out all fear.  Where I have fears, I have not accepted GOD'S perfect love or allowed HIM to teach me all HE has for me to learn at that place. AND, GRACE....WOW....it didn't just SAVE US (past tense) it is SAVING GRACE (past, present, and future....REJOICE IN THAT!)

When I am listening to HIM and really allowing HIM to work on issues in my life,...because LET'S BE HONEST....no matter how long we have been a Christian we still have issues.  AND, at some of our weaker moments (when, ironically, we think we are hulk-ably strong), something that we thought could never have any power over us somehow manages to affect us.  WHERE DID THAT COME FROM?!  Well, it was probably because we were coasting on our own strength....at least that is usually how it happens for me and then I realize I have not been drawing my strength from HIM.

WE NEED HIM EVERY NANOSECOND....every one of them counts!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuvfMDhTyMA

So, teach my song to rise to YOU.