HisGirl, this one's for you, my dear. :)
Monday, September 22, 2008
Hurricane Ike Photographs
Words really cannot do justice to some of these photographs. As I looked at each one and read the captions, I thought, 'Oh, I've got to post this one,' but then the next one was more impressive and so on. So to keep it manageable, click on the title of this blog post to link to the photographs. Just amazing.
Daybook Entry
I am wearing a black t-shirt with "OIF OEF WOLFHOUNDS" on it from the reunion and a pair of Adidas capris with some Reef flip-flops, a.k.a. heaven for your feet. Oh yeah, and yesterday's make-up. Ick.I am reading "The Mermaid Chair," by Sue Monk Kidd. So far it's been pretty interesting, but I'm only about ten chapters in. You can already tell what's going to happen, but I'm wondering where she's going to go with it. I've also been listening to "Engulfed In Flames," by David Sedaris and creating a scene by laughing and guffawing in the airports. He's hysterical!
I am hearing the sound of peace and quiet in my house, a true rarity.
Learning all the time that, no matter how hard I try, I cannot be perfect. I may strive so much to show love and concern for people, but it is rarely taken as it is meant. That is hugely frustrating to me.
I am thankful that I did not have to go to work at a job outside the home today. I always need at least one day after travelling to reset and get back on track. I'm also thankful I didn't oversleep today!
I am hoping for God to continue revealing bits and pieces of his plan for my life; for God to continue answering prayers; and, for increased patience while waiting for those answers.
From the kitchen comes the knowledge I've got a boat-load of mail and stuff to get caught up on.
I am creating time to do that catching up and not stressing about the miles on the bike I'm not riding today, or the workout I've neglected for a while. I've got to set the right priorities and set myself up to have more time for those things later on. Huge challenge for me!
Bringing beauty to my home Needing to work on this one. I think very "in the box" in this category, and ever since I decided to boycott summer and declare the onset of fall when school started almost a month ago, I have mentally checked this off my list. I'm so inspired by all of you who regularly incorporate little lovelies into your homes.
Around the house is somewhere I'm trying to make a point to be more often these days. I've often been dubbed, "The Stay At Home Mom Who Is Never At Home." As funny as that may sound initially, I cringe at the thought that this is how my children will reflect on their younger years, and I truly don't want them to remember a mother who was too busy pursuing selfish interests to be there for them or to make moments special and memorable.
Outside my window summer is trying to make a come-back, like an ex-girlfriend who won't go away and keeps trying to crash your dates. Shoo! Shoo!! We don't want you around anymore! We're trying to move on here -- get lost!
I am thinking about how, in a mere 17 days, I will get to be reunited with my dear, beloved CHICAS OF FAITH!!! HOOTY HOO!!! (Oh crap, that means I've got a lot to get done between now and then...)
One of my favorite things fall. The colors, the flavors, the CLOTHES (oh yeah, HisGirl!), the promise of family gathering and the ensuing madness of the holidays. And my 32nd birthday, which I'm looking forward to more than any other birthday I can ever remember.
A few plans for the rest of the week... I, too, will make my yearly pilgrimage to ye olde
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Wordless Wednesday
Don't be a hater. You know you love it!!!
**This was supposed to be posted last Wednesday; don't know why the scheduled posting didn't work, but here you have it.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Did I Forget To Mention...?
Guess who's getting their first root canal? That would be Bud. Yep, my three year old is following in the footsteps of his father. T. would look at a piece of cake and need a root canal. The poor guy had soapscum for tooth enamel.Bud had his second trip to the dentist today. A mere six months ago he had a stellar report -- excellent brushing and no cavities. Today, ironically the brushing is still good. It just turns out that he has inherited crummy enamel and now has three cavities. So, he will get two small fillings and one root canal with a silver cap. This is about par for the course with the kids -- Li'l G had SEVEN cavities at her last appointment, two of which had to have caps. We won't even go into how expensive this is. The real truth of it is that I can praise God that this was found now and not in December. We would've been paying all $900 for this out of pocket if this had come to our attention after 30 NOV.
So if any of you are doing Christmas shopping for my kids this year, you might as well buy them some Grillz. We've decided to turn crunk and really run with it.
Do I Have My Answer???
As I'm sure most of you have grown tired of hearing by now, I have been in a discernment process for over two years now on just how God is calling me towards working in his service. I've mentioned how I tend to be a jack-of-all-trades but master of none, and while I would like to narrow my professional focus to reduce this "calling ADD," I can't help but fantasize about all of the areas in which I think I have potential and skill that could be used for kingdom good.
There are certain areas that feel like a given, a reliable constant instead of a rash variable in my life. One is music ministry, and the other is to be active in the body of Christ as it pertains to serving my church. But is this supposed to be my vocation?
First and foremost, I knew that lovely November afternoon when T. was out on his first field training exercise (FTX) after returning home from Kuwait in 2002 that God had called me to become a mother. I finally felt as though my life finally made sense, and that all of the universe was in balance and groovy. However lovely and emotionally fulfilling this has been in my life (not to mention trying and stressful, but I'm trying to have a moment here), it does not pay the bills. I am fortunate to be able to stay at home with my children and not be pressured into being a single mother whose children spend all their waking hours in the arms of other caregivers. Just as T. made it possible in life for me to stay home (although I'm constantly on the go) to be here for our children, he continues to be our provider even in death.
But there is a day coming when I will have to enter the workforce, and those of you who know me even remotely know that I am one who cannot settle for anything in life, be it for a purse, a man, or a vocation. Not only must I be working at something about which I am passionate, I feel a responsibility, a calling if you will, to have my story "out there." I believe that there are people out there who are in need of someone who "gets them" in crisis situations, that isn't going to judge them, say something completely selfish or rude, and just love them through the life-changing moments they never thought they'd have to live through. I remember sitting with the ladies who met me from the organ donation agency thinking, 'I could do this -- I could help others having to make hard choices when they don't want to have to think about it because I've been there.'
So I've been working on becoming a Certified Lay Minister. It's just informal training, but it's a start, and I'm almost through with my training. I feel as if I could be approaching a fork in the road, although this one doesn't have anything yummy attached to it. It just branches out into foggy oblivion. I wish my life was as easy as an episode of "Dora The Explorer." She comes to a path and gets help from the audience to figure out which path to take. Spoiled brat!
At any rate, I've lost focus on those thoughts running in my head for a little while now. But when I was at Barnes & Nobles recently, my eyes caught the title of a book which I brought home and devoured. I won't give it away yet, as I'm still working on a review blog for it. It was as if I was reading about someone else living my life, and it awakened those thoughts of serving in the capacity of pastoral care and ministry of presence.
The Bible verse on my calendar here in the office for 9/11 was Ephesians 2:10 -- "We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." For some reason, this made me think of people whose lives were changed on 9/11, survivors of those lost in various ways on that date. That was also T.'s birthday, and so I lumped myself into this category. I reflected upon how much my life has changed, how I'm a totally different person than the insecure, irrational brat he married on 1 July 2000, and undoubtedly how those survivors' lives have all changed as well. Then I pondered the last part of this verse, how God prepared in advance for us to do good works. God knew ahead of time who all of us were and who we would become in the moments just before and just after our lives pivoted on that tragic fragment of time. He's been crafting us all along, and for some of us, that crafting includes a massive puncture wound to the heart, complete with surrounding tissue damage and necrosis. The wounds don't mean our demise, but we are no longer the same creations we were; however, we remain his workmanship. Hmmm, OK...
So I had left the calendar open to this page, leaving it there as a reminder to blog on this verse. I'm tired of there being so many hits on the "Open Toed Shoe Pledge" (in fact, I'm not even linking to it!) -- I want people to be reading something of substance when they come here -- that I thought I would blog about it. I never got around to it until today. As I kept a finger on 9/11 and read up to today's entry, this is what I found:
"He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us." -- II Corinthians 1:4
And there you have it. I feel as though I have received a clear answer to my question. I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I have got to pay forward the love and support God showered me with through the presence of the others who ministered to me during my dark valley experience. The strength and clarity and serenity he gave me in those first days were unlike any other experience I've ever had, and while I know I can never be that source for anyone else, I would like to be Jesus with skin on for them, a source for them to find comfort and to hear that God loves them no matter what and is, indeed, closer to them than they could understand, even in a time such as that.
In all my searching and pondering, I swear I have never read this verse before, and it just tumbled off the page like it was spring-loaded, waiting for me to stumble upon it. I'm going to cling to this verse and continue to pray and seek and see where this leads! I just know great things are coming...
There are certain areas that feel like a given, a reliable constant instead of a rash variable in my life. One is music ministry, and the other is to be active in the body of Christ as it pertains to serving my church. But is this supposed to be my vocation?
First and foremost, I knew that lovely November afternoon when T. was out on his first field training exercise (FTX) after returning home from Kuwait in 2002 that God had called me to become a mother. I finally felt as though my life finally made sense, and that all of the universe was in balance and groovy. However lovely and emotionally fulfilling this has been in my life (not to mention trying and stressful, but I'm trying to have a moment here), it does not pay the bills. I am fortunate to be able to stay at home with my children and not be pressured into being a single mother whose children spend all their waking hours in the arms of other caregivers. Just as T. made it possible in life for me to stay home (although I'm constantly on the go) to be here for our children, he continues to be our provider even in death.
But there is a day coming when I will have to enter the workforce, and those of you who know me even remotely know that I am one who cannot settle for anything in life, be it for a purse, a man, or a vocation. Not only must I be working at something about which I am passionate, I feel a responsibility, a calling if you will, to have my story "out there." I believe that there are people out there who are in need of someone who "gets them" in crisis situations, that isn't going to judge them, say something completely selfish or rude, and just love them through the life-changing moments they never thought they'd have to live through. I remember sitting with the ladies who met me from the organ donation agency thinking, 'I could do this -- I could help others having to make hard choices when they don't want to have to think about it because I've been there.'
So I've been working on becoming a Certified Lay Minister. It's just informal training, but it's a start, and I'm almost through with my training. I feel as if I could be approaching a fork in the road, although this one doesn't have anything yummy attached to it. It just branches out into foggy oblivion. I wish my life was as easy as an episode of "Dora The Explorer." She comes to a path and gets help from the audience to figure out which path to take. Spoiled brat!
At any rate, I've lost focus on those thoughts running in my head for a little while now. But when I was at Barnes & Nobles recently, my eyes caught the title of a book which I brought home and devoured. I won't give it away yet, as I'm still working on a review blog for it. It was as if I was reading about someone else living my life, and it awakened those thoughts of serving in the capacity of pastoral care and ministry of presence.
The Bible verse on my calendar here in the office for 9/11 was Ephesians 2:10 -- "We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." For some reason, this made me think of people whose lives were changed on 9/11, survivors of those lost in various ways on that date. That was also T.'s birthday, and so I lumped myself into this category. I reflected upon how much my life has changed, how I'm a totally different person than the insecure, irrational brat he married on 1 July 2000, and undoubtedly how those survivors' lives have all changed as well. Then I pondered the last part of this verse, how God prepared in advance for us to do good works. God knew ahead of time who all of us were and who we would become in the moments just before and just after our lives pivoted on that tragic fragment of time. He's been crafting us all along, and for some of us, that crafting includes a massive puncture wound to the heart, complete with surrounding tissue damage and necrosis. The wounds don't mean our demise, but we are no longer the same creations we were; however, we remain his workmanship. Hmmm, OK...
So I had left the calendar open to this page, leaving it there as a reminder to blog on this verse. I'm tired of there being so many hits on the "Open Toed Shoe Pledge" (in fact, I'm not even linking to it!) -- I want people to be reading something of substance when they come here -- that I thought I would blog about it. I never got around to it until today. As I kept a finger on 9/11 and read up to today's entry, this is what I found:
"He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us." -- II Corinthians 1:4
And there you have it. I feel as though I have received a clear answer to my question. I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I have got to pay forward the love and support God showered me with through the presence of the others who ministered to me during my dark valley experience. The strength and clarity and serenity he gave me in those first days were unlike any other experience I've ever had, and while I know I can never be that source for anyone else, I would like to be Jesus with skin on for them, a source for them to find comfort and to hear that God loves them no matter what and is, indeed, closer to them than they could understand, even in a time such as that.
In all my searching and pondering, I swear I have never read this verse before, and it just tumbled off the page like it was spring-loaded, waiting for me to stumble upon it. I'm going to cling to this verse and continue to pray and seek and see where this leads! I just know great things are coming...
Accountability Post #4: Spinning
I've got a flat tire and my stupid chain has some slack in it right now, so it's slipping around like I'm shifting gears when I'm really not. Rather than utilize my new bike rack and get the problem taken care of this week, I'm putting it off until I get back from my travels. I just did well to motivate myself to get to spinning today.
Report #4: 15 SEP 2008. I was actually indoors today at the gym, and I made a point to get a bike with an odometer on it this time. I think I was really having an off-day because I just couldn't motivate myself to really crack the whip. I've noticed my overall discipline for getting to the gym and getting out there to workout. This is what happens when you allow yourself too many days off from the gym -- it's too easy to get out of the habit, especially when you think, 'I still look pretty good, and all my skinny clothes still fit. I'm too busy today...' DON'T FALL FOR IT!!! IT'S A TRAP!!!
At any rate, I did go approximately 15 miles over an hour. When I divided that up, it comes out to a rate of a 4 minute mile, which I know for certain is not very accurate. Or maybe so, I don't know. Just didn't feel that efficient today.
I am headed off to Pilates this morning, but I have to admit, since I have not bothered to continue my weight training that I was so obsessive about this spring and summer, I'm struggling with positions and skills that used to come so easily to me that I was borderline bored with them. Again, I'm using the whole "I'm too busy" mantra to justify why I'm not spending more time working on it. I love Pilates and can attest to how it has basically given me back as much of my pre-baby body as I will ever have back. I highly recommend it if you want to cry every time you think about the belly button you once had before your children kicked it from the inside out. :)
Hope everyone has a happy, healthy Tuesday!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)