swirls

So many thoughts swirling in my mind. Waiting on God to help me make sense of them. Not quite sure what they all mean. Incompleteness. Patience; not one of my best qualities. Like Paul I can say and really believe.......

For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. (Phillippians 1:6)

captivated

I think I'm in love! I haven't felt this way since the first time I saw Steve Nash play for the Dallas Mavericks. He was so little and so cute I couldn't help myself. A few days later I found out "Little Stevie" was taller than my 6 foot 1 inch husband! Now for the record, the love of my life is my husband Donald, and always will be. He understands, or at least I'm pretty sure he does.

I absolutely love my new washer! I have used it a total of four times since yesterday afternoon. That would equal 7-8 loads in my old one. It's amazing the way it works. In fact, I just stood there yesterday afternoon and watched it wash clothes. Donald came in from work and found me doing that very thing. I have been as happy as a kid in a candy store.

That thought brought back memories of when I was a little girl. We lived in a very small town, but at that time we had our own grocery store. I can remember when there were two! My mom would let me have candy when we went. I remember walking up and down the glass case, trying to decide what I wanted most. If I had fifteen cents to spend I thought I was rich. You could get a whole candy bar for five cents. There was so much penny candy to choose from. Some of the penny candy even had five pieces inside the package. They were small squares, but so yummy and chewy. The chocolate were my favorite! After many trips back and forth in front of the case, I would tell Miss Vivian or Miss Ruby what I wanted. Then my mom would pay for it when she paid for her groceries.

I can remember going to the other store also. Their candy was not in a glass case but in easy reach of a young child's hands. I guess since I usually got candy when we went I didn't think anything about choosing a piece. When we got to the car my mom asked what I had in my hand. I showed her the candy and she made me march right back inside and give it back. I can honestly say I have never shoplifted since! I guess I was always certain I would get caught. I thank my mom for teaching me that valuable lesson at a young age.

What does that have to do with this? Probably nothing, but I feel young again!

laundry and dishes

I met Donald at lunch and we bought this washing machine. We have been looking and researching and praying and finally took the plunge. My old washer is 14 years old now and I figure we have done 15,489 loads of laundry; that is a very conservative estimate. I'm sure if our old machine could talk it would tell you it did many more loads than that! I'm excited because it's much larger than our old one and is supposed to save on water and electricity. Hopefully it will do those things and we'll be able to see a difference in our bills. On top of that we saved over $400 on it by buying a "damaged" one which means it had a few dents and dings in the sides. That's not an issue for me since they won't show anyway. Just don't ask to see them when you visit though or I'll act like I don't know what you are talking about. My kids are always telling me I need to just not tell about some of the flaws I tell about. Well, these flaws are definitely worth saving $400 and telling you about!

The only downside is I'll have a black washer and a white dryer that obviously don't match. We don't need to replace our dryer. It is newer and last week when I had them checked out it was working perfectly. In the future we will try to replace it (another chance for my kids to tell you it really won't happen until it absolutely has to be replaced). Anyway I have half of what I've wanted for a long time now. I'm happy. They will deliver it tomorrow and haul our old machine off......for free. Now that's a deal!

Ben is grilling his yummy burgers out tonight. They are so GOOD! I need to clean the kitchen again. As soon as I finished cleaning it this morning Hannah came in to eat breakfast. I no more than get it cleaned until someone eats and the dishes start collecting again. Another benefit of having a large family with different schedules! I wouldn't take anything for my husband, my kids, and my life. Life is good.

the wonderful cross

I woke up today with these words going through my head.....

O the wonderful cross, O the wonderful cross

Bids me come and die and find that I may truly live

O the wonderful cross, O the wonderful cross

All who gather here by grace draw near and bless

Your name

They are from "The Wonderful Cross" by Chris Tomlin. Sometimes on Easter I have to stop and make myself think about what it means. Not so this year. I started having thoughts in my heart that I didn't at first connect with Easter, but oh, they fit so perfectly. I wish I could keep these thoughts swirling around in my mind for a long time! I belong to a living God who loves me and wants me to live!

When I survey the wondrous cross

On which the Prince of Glory died

My richest gain I count but loss

And pour contempt on all my pride

See from his head, his hands, his feet

Sorrow and love flow mingled down

Did ever such love and sorrow meet

Or thorns compose so rich a crown

O the wonderful cross, O the wonderful cross

Bids me come and die and find that I may truly live

O the wonderful cross, O the wonderful cross

All who gather here by grace draw near and bless

Your name

Were the whole realm of nature mine

That were an offering far too small

Love so amazing, so divine

Demands my soul, my life, my all

no longer a slave

Romans 8:2
A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death. (The Message)

Galatians 5:1 Christ has freed us so that we may enjoy the benefits of freedom. Therefore, be firm [in this freedom], and don't become slaves again. (God's Word Translation)

As I got dressed today I was thinking about what I'd wear to church tomorrow. After all it is Easter Sunday. I have a friend who refuses to wear anything new to church on Easter. I'm a lot like that. I don't like how commercialized Easter has become. Easter doesn't require a new outfit! So I decided I'll probably wear my usual.....my jeans and a decent blouse. Then I started thinking about discovering the freedom Christ has given me. Now I'm not coming down on anyone if you wear a dress or dress up to go to church.........that is a personal decision; maybe even one that God has directed you to. But I have found that I can worship God just as well in jeans as I can in a dress, even more so if I'm led to move around a bit! I'm not trying to be controversial. I'm just talking about me. I no longer have to "get dressed up" to worship God. I love the freedom that brings me.

II Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (NIV)

simply human

"Life is not the way it's supposed to be. It's the way it is. The way you cope with it is what makes the difference."

I received this in an email several weeks ago. It is very profound. As far as I can tell the author is Virginia Satir, an American psychotherapist and educator, 1916-1988. I did find it as "author unknown" but I don't want to take the time to do a lengthy search.

Pastor Paul sent an email several weeks ago with this:

"Life becomes precious and more special to us when we look for the little everyday miracles and get excited again about the privilege of simply being human."
Excerpt from "You Gotta Keep Dancin" by Hansel

My little day miracle today was sitting in my new chair for over an hour and a half watching the Home and Garden channel with Rebekah. She was off work today and we both slept late and ended up in the living room together. Donald got me a wonderful chair and ottoman for my birthday. It seems we have torn all the chairs up in the house; our family is very hard on furniture. Or maybe it's because someone is home all the time and it gets used so much. When Billy spent the night with us several months back he thought he had broken our chair. I explained to him it was already broken, but I'm sure he got quite a shock when he tried to lean back in it! We finally moved it into our bedroom and moved another broken chair in it's place. The first broken chair went out with the trash yesterday and the second chair is back in our bedroom. It's a rocking chair that we bought when we were expecting Rebekah and the wicker bottom has broken. It simply cannot be thrown away as there are many memories of rocking our babies associated with that chair. I intend to have it fixed someday.

It is quite unusual to find me sitting anywhere that long during mid morning. There is always so much to do that I just don't sit down unless it's at the computer. And it's never for that long. So that is my little miracle that got me excited about enjoying life with my wonderful daughter today. Then she took me out for lunch and we ran an errand. Since I'm not hungry and Donald had pizza today at lunch can you guess who's not cooking dinner again??

I am totally excited about being human today!

Can you see me now??

I just received an email explaining how I can go to a Dallas Maverick basketball game for free~!
This is all I have to do.......


Want to attend the Mavs game for free? Paint your face and/or body and join the Party on the AT&T Plaza with Ali D and Ro Parrish starting 2 hours before every home game. The rowdiest, loudest, and proudest fans will receive free tickets to the game.

Now those of you who have watched basketball with me already know I can get pretty loud and rowdy and I'm already proud of my guys! It's worth a shot, don't you think??

a handfull of quietness

There is no one here but me and the dog. That is weird. With a large family you don't get much "alone" time. We are on spring break and the three youngest all have plans; Donald and the girls have work. They did come home for lunch. We had leftover brisket, potatoes, and salad. It was so good, even the second time around. Since I outdid myself last night I'm not cooking tonight. We have hot dogs and sandwich meat so we won't go hungry. Right now there's still leftovers, but if the boys get in and hit the refrigerator it will be gone by dinner. It's my spring break also.

I've missed so much church lately because of being sick. I am listening to one of Pastor Paul's messages from several weeks ago. It is awesome! It is about God's kingdom being now and not letting circumstances dictate our joy or lack of it. He says we either act or react. We need our eyes opened because God is bigger than our circumstances. He also said that complaining is being selfish. Ouch! We need to speak the truth. We are over comers; Christ has overcome the world! We are champions! We need to stop letting the things of the world run over us. God is in control. We need to choose to believe what He says. Our feelings change from moment to moment. We think we'll be happy if things change, but we won't, because our circumstances are dictating our happiness.

What an awesome message. It is one I'll need to listen to again and again.

Psalm 16:11 (God's Word)
You make the path of life known to me. Complete joy is in your presence. Pleasures are by your side forever.

I need to get clothes out of the dryer and finish the ironing. Then I'm either going to clean the living room carpet or watch a movie. I'm leaning toward the movie. Spring break is calling.

August Rush

I actually cooked dinner last night......meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and steamed broccoli. Then after the tornado warnings Ben and Hannah went to rent a movie and to get cokes from Taco D. None of the stores had what they wanted to rent so Ben ended up buying the last one at Hastings. If you haven't seen "August Rush" and want to see a good movie please consider it. It was awesome~! I love movies that end right~! It's one of those I could watch again immediately.

It's dark and cloudy and supposed to rain all day. It's a good day for sleeping in since we are on spring break, but Ben has an orthodontist appointment. He lost his splint and his jaw is hurting so we are going to get another one. We have a super orthodontist if anyone needs a recommendation.

I guess I need to get dressed so we can leave in a few minutes. I wonder if anyone would notice if I just wore my robe?

chili and cheese, plus a hot dog

I think I've had a relapse. I had two really wonderful days this week. Of course, I did too much because it has been about three weeks since I've felt good. Last night I went to church to help with our give away. It's tomorrow and it's like a big garage sale except everything is free! It's so much fun, but I think I'll have to miss it this year. I think the dust or something from last night got to me. My throat is all yucky and my asthma symptoms kicked in and I'm not a happy camper right now. I'm so ready to feel good.

We are on spring break next week. I have some things I really want to get done, but it will depend on how I'm feeling. I may have to take the week to rest and recuperate. I went to the store after enrichment classes and bought hot dogs for Donald to grill tonight. They are pretty good that way, especially if you cover them with chili and cheese. I even bought chips and ice cream to complete the meal. I'll probably chop the onions and let Donald do the rest. Hannah is spending the night with Danielle, Rebekah isn't home, Ben has dinner plans, I'm not sure about Bethany, but I'm pretty certain Daniel will be happy that we are having dinner.....even if it is just a hot dog.

After dinner I'm taking a bath and going to bed. The Mavs play tonight so I'll watch the game and maybe some NYPD Blue if I don't fall asleep too early. I'm starting out my weekend with a bang.

an awful lot of thought went into choosing this.......

This is the "romantic" birthday card Rebekah sent Donald to get for me. I laughed my head off and thought it was great. She told Donald he better be glad he chose me~! I suppose she didn't find it as funny as I did and thought most wives wouldn't either. LOL

day of surprises

Yesterday was my birthday. Our family loves birthdays. The presents were set out on the hearth with great care. The cheesecake Rebekah made was prepared lovingly and chosen by me. The girls took me out for lunch and Ben took Daniel to work so I could go. Little did I know. After lunch we ran by Rebekah's work because she needed to do something; later I found out she was stalling. My friend Nancy had asked me to come by her house because she had a treat for my birthday. I should of known something was going on when Hannah, Bethany, and Rebekah all went inside with me. I wondered why they were going in, but Nancy is such a gracious person I knew she wouldn't care. Imagine my surprise when the sun room doors were opened and a roomful of my friends begin singing, "Happy Birthday." There were balloons and cards and two cakes and pie and cookies and crackers and dip and diet coke.

Guess who didn't cook dinner because she wasn't hungry?? Yep, that's right.....me! We had cheesecake and I opened my presents from my family. I received a collage picture frame, DVD "Out of Africa," a can of cashews, Crunch and Munch, a bag of bath stuff with a bath pillow and dino-fizz stegosaurus egg, and some face wash and day creme that promises to make me look years younger. You probably won't recognize me after I use it! I'm not sure if I'll look quite like the lady in the picture, but she looks great.

Rebekah made Donald go to Wal-Mart Monday night to get me a birthday card. It wasn't "exactly" what she had in mind, but it made me laugh and I loved it. Maybe Hannah can take pictures of my gifts later.

When Donald and I got in from Celebrate Recovery Jeffrey jumped out and surprised us. He is on medical leave from the Air Force and it was just great to see him. Jon and Johanna's Josie was born on my birthday also. What a perfect day~!

sleep and more sleep

I guess it's time to say something. I really haven't had much to say. I know you're tired of hearing about how I don't feel well and how much I cough, etc. Geez, I'm tired of it also.

I did go to church yesterday. I had nursery and my friend, Connie, kept it for me. I decided to go into the lounge and listen to the message on the speaker. I ended up falling asleep and sleeping through most of the message. I came right home, went back to bed, and slept all afternoon. It didn't keep me from sleeping last night so I must of needed it.

I did go to Tyler Saturday for a wedding. Bethany's childhood friend, Rachel, got married. It was very nice. They married at Villa di Felicita and it was spectacular. Bethany was a bridesmaid and a very beautiful one at that. She went down Friday for the rehearsal so we waited on her so she wouldn't have to drive back by herself. I was so tired by the time we made it home. I took a bath and went straight to bed. See there I go again........

On the positive side, I just had a couple of Rebekah's homemade chocolate chip cookies for breakfast. They tasted so good. Nothing has tasted good for days now so I decided to take advantage of something that tastes wonderful. Maybe I'll have a couple for more lunch; if there's any left that is.

Warning please read

Please be careful. If you see a comment left with a name ("meziic" on mine, but different on Hannah's) and then it says See here or here don't click on any of that info (highlighted words). Someone left a comment like this on Hannah's blog day before yesterday and when I clicked on it to see who it was, our virus protection showed a major virus warning. I was able to delete it and ran the virus scan again to be sure it was taken care of.

It just happened on my blog right after I posted today. The names were different but both had the see here or here underlined to click. I didn't fall for it today and have reported it to blogspot.

Choosing life again

One thing seems to lead to another in my life. I have been having trouble sleeping because of nasal congestion. All day I blow and blow and at night it stops up. Go figure. I decided I'd had enough and took some Sudafed about 11:00 last night. Wrong move. My head unstopped, but I couldn't sleep. That is one of the side effects listed on the box; it has happened before but usually I don't have that problem.

I finally got to sleep sometime after 4:00 this morning. Hannah had an orthodontist appointment at 9:00 and I started one of my coughing fits there and had to go to the car. I had forgotten to take anything to drink so the receptionist handed me a cup of water on my way out. God provides.

I'm really getting tired of this and fighting discouragement. I have three pills left of my second round of antibiotics. I sure hope they do the trick. I miss my church family. I haven't been to CR or Wednesday night services for the last three weeks and missed the past two Sundays.

Okay, enough whining and feeling sorry for myself. God is in control of my life. I choose to trust Him.

Isaiah 66:13-14 (The Message)

As a mother comforts her child, so I'll comfort you. You will be comforted in Jerusalem. You'll see all this and burst with joy - you'll feel ten feet tall - As it becomes apparent that God is on your side and against his enemies.

Zephaniah 3:17 The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing. (NIV Bible)

Rhetorical questions and their answers

Why me?

Why not me??

How much nasal mucus can one person produce? (give me a break, i could of said "snot")

Not sure yet.

Who goes there?

Open the door and find out.

What's for dinner tomorrow night?

What's for dinner tonight?

Why am I the one who usually changes the roll of toilet paper?

Maybe it's a special gift only a choice few can handle.

Why does the trash can fill up so fast?

So I can empty it.

Why am I sitting here making this stuff up?

To avoid algebra. (sorry I couldn't resist this one)

Why did I get hundreds of calls regarding the election when I'm on the DO NOT CALL list?

They liked to hear me scream before I let the answering machine get it.

How long has it been since I've dusted the furniture?

Old Wolf brand chili commercial.........well, it's been too long!

long ago and not so far away

When Donald was a little boy he had to be hospitalized. He lived in a very small town and the same nurse who helped deliver him took care of him while he was in the hospital. She had a reputation of being very gruff, yet had a very tender heart. She gave Donald his very own chocolate Easter bunny as a gift! Now Donald has a twin brother, an older brother, and two sisters. I don't imagine they got very many chocolate bunnies.

Donald's mother took the chocolate bunny home (huge mistake) and put in the refrigerator. His two brothers got in the refrigerator and ATE his chocolate bunny while he was still in the hospital. I guess it was a very traumatic time in his life because he told me the story quite a few times.

Fast forward many years and Donald is married with his own five children. Being the wonderful caring wife that I am, I found a huge chocolate bunny on clearance after Easter. We were on our way to our parents' and I gave my scarred for life husband a chocolate bunny. He didn't have to share it with anyone, not even his own deprived children. They only received candy Easter eggs, not ever a chocolate bunny. :o(

He gave me a huge smile and started eating the chocolate bunny. I think he bit the head off first, if I remember correctly. It is so funny to hear him tell the story. Short version he got very THIRSTY from all the chocolate.

Of course his account of the story varies slightly. He said I threw the rabbit in his lap and told him to shut up about it because I was tired of hearing about it. Funny I don't remember that. I like my version much better anyway.

Yesterday Ben bought him an early Easter gift. Can you guess what it was?? "Was" as in past tense because he has already eaten it. I guess he knew better than to put it in the refrigerator.

illustrated definition

Bronchitis is the inflammation of the bronchi, the main air passages to the lungs, it generally follows a viral respiratory infection. Symptons include: coughing (until you throw up), shortness of breath (and chest pain when you pull a muscle or something isn't working right), wheezing (try telling your kids you are okay when you can't breathe), and fatigue (most definitely this is a huge problem).

The parts in red are what I added to give a better understanding of this illness. I even have a picture for you.................





Job 33:4
"God's Spirit has made me. The breath of the Almighty gives me life."