Now, where is my M.Y.?

My girls asked me what I want for Mother's Day and I said I want my M.Y. back.  They were very confused with that for a little while....I enjoy letting them wonder a little bit :)  All my girls are calling me "mom" now and not "mommy"....it is kind-of sad that those days have passed.  I start getting all sentimental around Mother's Day because I start thinking about what a great privilege it is to be a mom and then I start to think about how fast my kids grow up and then I start thinking about how much time I have left with them at home....and, even though some days it seems like for-ev-er....it really is just a short amount of time.  So, I asked for my M.Y. back for a day :)  I'd ask for a cake, but I might get this...

Too funny!

I spent a little time wondering how I lost my M.Y., but then I came to the conclusion that it is just part of being a mom....you have to learn to let go of the "my".  Some days, that may seem really hard to do and your mind may be tempted to wonder what life would have been like for you in other circumstances, but...if you are like me, you will come back around to understanding that the things you have given up....all the "m.y.'s" you let go of for the love of your family are not lost! God has a way of transforming them all to blessings that are way better than if you had...let's see....maybe tried to be a famous actress or singer, or pediatric heart surgeon, or geneticist, or chef, or attorney, or journalist, or fashion designer....I went through times in my life when I wanted to be all these things....but, being a mom is super important.

Have you ever heard the "Mom Song"?...it is hilarious...I have tried for several years to get all the words down, but I can't seem to say them all as fast as Anita Renfroe in this video.  Anyway, this is to celebrate all the ways we guide and train our children!  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do....I watch it every year and laugh because I really have said all the things she says :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxT5NwQUtVM

Your life speaks volumes to your children!

Spoken Like A Fox

I am pretty sure it feels furry...don't you think?!

I just read an article that explains why I am still talking, at length...when I finally realize Brad has been sleeping for quite some time...ha!...ever had that happen?  Foxp2 protein...women have more of it than men and it is located in the language area of our brains...funny!  That could explain my extra 13,000 words a day...and how come many of them are not responded to :)  Blogging definitely helps me get some of those extra words out.  Anyway, I thought that was interesting and decided to share it...I guess the fox has a lot to say! :)  Isn't that a cute little fox?

Who Moved My Cheese?

Do you ever say things to yourself?  Well, I try not to say things audibly very often because I know how it can look to others...but, I do have conversations going on inside my head and sometimes they slip out....don't worry, it's not with different people or personalities....it's just me in here :)  So, I was at the grocery store recently and I was looking for the Colby Jack sandwich cheese and it wasn't in the normal place in the cheese aisle because they had moved it to an end cap....so I started having this conversation inside my head about my cheese being gone and then I started to talk out loud as I walked around looking for it and I caught myself saying..."Someone moved my cheese!"  Then, I had that thought..."did I just say that out loud?"...."yes, yes I did."  I wasn't even thinking of the book at that moment...What a perfect title, right?!

I laughed about that, but it got me thinking about how frustrated I get sometimes when I am challenged by change.  My close friend who has been my coworker at work for the last 7 years recently changed positions at the university where I work....and I have not had the greatest attitude about the changes that have resulted.  For one, I really miss her....we had desks that faced each other for all those years and would chat all through the day as we entered data...we really "did life" together.  So, there's the emotional part of change....and then, the loss of her as a coworker has overwhelmed me as I have a part-time schedule and am now trying to complete all the work we used to do together and begin to train her replacement.  It gives me a lot of anxiety and I have this constant "rushed" feeling...because every moment I am prioritizing my 4 hour schedule....how much time can I use to train today and how much do I need to devote to getting the work accomplished so I don't start the day tomorrow "behind the eight ball"....yikes....the reality of making the change and some things seem impossible to accomplish in 4 hours.

Anyway, I've been trudging through...getting the work done, but my heart has not accepted the change.  I realized that yesterday when a different friend from work sent out an email asking if some of us wanted to get together and pray for some things about our jobs and responsibilities...at the moment I got the email I really didn't want to pray...in fact, I even thought..."I don't have time"...."do these people even know the amount of info I enter in a day?"...it was a stinky cheese attitude :) and later, I had to question myself over why I did not want to commit these frustrations about the changes in my life, and specifically in my work,...to prayer.  I don't think the situation will change for me...it will still be really hard until I am able to give some of the workload over to someone else, but my attitude toward it can change and should change.

There is a statement Christians like to make about God not giving you more than you can handle...but, many times that is taken out of context.  The verse they use for that statement is actually talking about temptation...and that no temptation can overtake you...that God provides you a way out...but, that doesn't mean that some things in life will not seem unbearable.  In fact, on my own, many things can overwhelm me.  I like how this blogger phrases it:

Isn't that a great perspective!?  I am praying that I approach my fears and anxieties of the "impossibles" with my knowledge of a, not only "POSSIBLE" God...but, "ALL POWERFUL" God.  If you are facing a "giant" of your own....I pray this gives you some encouragement :) Now, off to do some laundry....(talk about an impossible task, right Brad?....haha!...I like that blogger's domain name.)

He's a God of the Impossible....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kBSB_5ogPc

Enjoy this song!  Absolutely love the very beginning of this song...it reminds me of a music box or the song playing on a carousel...or the jewelry box ballerina song...anyway something familiar and wonderful.  If only we could see our "impossibles" as we did when we were kids :)

To Alma Mater, Olivet...

To Alma Mater, Olivet, We lift our voice in praise....For noble standards which we'll hold till ending of our days.  The time we spent within these halls will ne're forgotten be, for here we learned to know of truth, and truth will make us free.  My Olivet, Our Olivet! Tho' life may lead us far apart, I'll still revere you in my heart.  My Olivet, Our Olivet.  I'll love the Christ you gave first part, and you, old Olivet! ~Byron Carmony '39

That was my college song....I know it won't mean much to you if you didn't go there....and it is probably frustrating to read words to a song and not know the tune....at least that is one of my pet peeves...so, that makes me smile to think there may be someone else like me out there who I am bothering right now.... :) Anyway, we were able to take our girls to "Old" Olivet on our way back home from my grandma's funeral...only, Olivet isn't so "Old" anymore...they are experiencing some major expansion and it was really terrific to see all the new buildings on campus.  I don't know if any of our daughters will choose to attend ONU, but it was fun to take them on a tour.  They were done with the tour, however, before Brad and I were....you know what I mean, right? We were done looking around the campus, but Brad and I were still showing them all these places around town and where we lived with different roommates in apartments after school, the church we went to and got married in, the Steak and Shake where we went on our first date, our first home down by the Kankakee River, the building downtown where Brad worked for Youth For Christ ...and the girls just said, "Can we start the movie again?"...and, "When are we going home?"....So, I guess the tour is over, folks! haha! :)

Here are some pictures from our little stop down memory lane...maybe some of our girls will make their own memories at Olivet Nazarene University someday :)  Then we can bore them again with all the details of our memories there :)

Taming the Tiger

Field House attached to McHie Area.....absolutely huge....the picture doesn't even show the expanse of it...

A brand new chapel...I really wanted to go in, but it was closed as we were just stopping by on a Saturday.

Future Olivetians?

Biggest rock wall I have ever seen

The new pool area also offers a lazy river...the girls were sad we did not have time for this.

One thing that was funny to me was that the girls started questioning how life would have been different if we didn't choose to go to ONU....one of the girls asked us who's kid she would be....it is weird to think about how much one decision made differently would have totally changed our lives.  I'm pretty happy with the life I've got :)

A Funeral Dinner at a Truck Stop?

I  mean, really,...why not?  At first I laughed that that was the only restaurant within miles of the cemetery where we could meet up as a group...but, then I thought, it does punctuate the reality that we are all just "passing through" !  After I got over the initial "you might be a redneck if"....feeling...I was cool that we were having the funeral dinner at the Dixie Cafe and when I went to the restroom after standing outdoors at the cemetery for the graveside service, I realized I was a redneck...haha! :)  My first sunburn of the season.  I LOVE GOD'S SENSE OF HUMOR!!...Have I ever blurted that out to the blogosphere?  HE IS SO FUNNY...EVERY DAY HE GIVES ME THINGS TO LAUGH ABOUT!

We remembered my Grandma Billington's life yesterday and buried her body at Mount Joy cemetery beside my Grandpa...she lived to be 88 years old.  It wasn't an easy life for her....there were health reasons that caused her pain and depression and that made it difficult for her to cultivate close relationships with people.  BUT, I did learn that she loved to go dancing with grandpa....she loved Hershey's chocolate...and, even when she needed much care toward the end of her life and she wasn't too talkative,...she would still play BINGO whenever she had a chance :)

Elizabeth (Betty) Billington

She was born in Farmer City, IL and the cemetery is not located too far from her hometown.  It was a sweet moment for me when we were in the middle of the graveside service and a large tractor started to come down the entrance road to the cemetery to work in a field across the street.  The driver must have realized we were all there burying my grandma, because the tractor stopped on the road and waited for us.....there was this sound of idling farm equipment that rang in my ears as a wonderful salute to my grandma.  Sometimes, when I have needed to grieve for someone, I have wished the whole world would just stop for a moment to let me do that and that tractor stopping in the middle of the road and waiting for us to finish before starting into the field was just about the perfect example of what I always wish for.

The flowers that were supposed to be delivered...oh well...gotta figure out what happened with that.

Can I say it was a wonderful time?  Well, I will.  I have realized that life gets so busy that you really can't see aunts, uncles, and cousins as much as you wish and sometimes the only thing that brings you together is weddings and funerals....and when the wedding season is over....it's the funerals.  I love seeing cousins...isn't there just something about cousins that brings such a kindred friendship even if you can't see each other very often?....we laughed so much with my cousin and his wife, we wondered if we should really be having that much fun at a funeral.  I even got to ride in my cousin's new Mustang to the Dixie Cafe :)

I told my family that might be my car of choice in Heaven...that is unless Grandma already grabbed the keys to the Mustang. In that case, I call shotgun :)

Wendy's Night...dun...dun...dun!

Kassi came up with the title for this one :)  I said, "Why do I need to add the "dun, dun, dun"?...she said, "because it is scary that dad is helping serve people"...."Mom, it's dad behind the counter, what could possibly go wrong?....Everything!", added McKenna.  Our Youth Group had the opportunity to help work at Wendy's tonight and a percentage of all sales will go toward their mission trip this summer.  It was kind-of fun to take over Wendy's with Village Hope Church members....I actually think we should do it more often...it was great seeing everyone meeting up there.  Brad received the job of filling drink orders... and, "smiling at everyone in a creepy way"...Savannah and I thought.  They...err I mean we, are so hard on him, aren't we?!  Really, they are all daddy's girls...they just like teasing him.  I am just hard on him.  Here are a few pictures from the evening.

Brad...getting the hang of the soda fountain...he didn't want me to include this pic because it looks like he doesn't have teeth..."Kids, this is what too much soda will do to you!"

Notice the pinky?  Yes...I am the Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger Princess.

Kassi "photo bombed" her sister's picture and then later, Savannah decided she would "fry bomb" people...that is stealing a fry when they weren't looking...(while she was supposed to be working).

GO BIG or YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO SEE OVER THE DRINK MACHINE

You missed a spot! Doesn't it look like Savannah is cleaning the wall?  Savannah with Josiah Fitch cleaning trays...they had a lot of fun working at Wendy's and Wendy's loved having them....they are invited back any time...It was definitely a WIN WIN!  We don't know how much money they raised yet, but it was definitely a great experience and Brad and the kids were able to meet a lot of people from the community and invite them to church.  

We Are a New Creation

Really, the cross means absolutely nothing without the power of the resurrection behind it....the Truth in the words of the King of Kings.  If He was a liar, then the cross was just an ugly piece of wood that served as an instrument of death.  Nothing to celebrate!

I attended a funeral this weekend and I will be attending another next weekend because my Grandma passed away last night.  I am so thankful that Jesus's words were true....that He did conquer death and rise...that when the women went to the tomb and the disciples were out of breath to check on the situation...His body was not there....that an Angel confirmed this to be true and Christ, himself, appeared to many to show them what he had said was TRUE....that his body was not stolen... because why would body snatchers carefully fold the clothes that were dressing Christ's body and place them nicely in the tomb?...I am thankful for the POWER of the RESURRECTION and the POWER to TRANSFORM a LIFE.

The funeral I attended this weekend was for a man who had only recently come to Christ.  At one point in the service an opportunity was given for loved ones to share a memory and one of this man's brothers stood and told how He had watched his brother's life totally change because of His new belief in Christ.  It is wonderful to celebrate Easter and to think about the reason our faith is alive...the reason it breathes...but this living faith needs to fly :)  The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is available to us today....do you realize that you are now a butterfly?