Weirded Out

A few weeks ago my mom said she was going to Florida and wanted my family to go.  She had told me this before, but this summer has been impossible to schedule anything with Hansel, Gretel and Prince Charming's schedule.  I told her that I was the only one free and I could not go without them. I had to hold down the fort.  My mom really urged me to go and I went to each person in m family and asked them if they minded.  My darling said he would be having finals, but he would be fine.  Our kids are older and they could make it.  The only one who really objected was Gretel because she's a mermaid at heart and she longs to be in the waves.  However, she was kind and said go, but "I am going next year."  So I texted my mom to tell her and she cried.  I was super "weirded out" though.  The last time I had spent a week with just my mom and dad was well, probably when I was in high school.  Don't get me wrong, they are great people and we get along very well, but I am a mom and wife with two teenagers.  I am a part of another tribe now.

Three days before we were to leave for Florida, I was attending a professional development when I received a text from my mom that stated my dad woke up with chest pain.  My mom had taken him to the hospital because he couldn't even put his shoes on and he was in so much pain.  He said it was like an elephant or a truck on his chest and he was not objecting to going to the doctor.  This is a guy who does not have a primary care physician because he does not get sick.  It was bad and I knew it.  I waited though because I was not sure if I would be in the way or if they needed help.  I shared with my husband and a couple of co-workers and they said I should probably go.  They said there is always a chance something could happen even though he made it to the hospital and was being given good medicine.

Finally, my mom called and I left the presentation.  I'm sure the speaker thought I was the most distracted attendee he's ever had and I was sitting on the second row.  Sigh.  I walked out to grab her phone call.  She said that my dad was doing fine, but I probably should come to meet him at the hospital because he was traveling by ambulance and she was having to go home to pick up some clothes and take care of her many pets.  She and I were discussing her newest addition to her cat clan when she gasped and the phone went dead. . .
                                                           and the phone went dead. . .
                                                                        she gasped and the phone went dead.
I cannot tell you how many thoughts went through my head.  My mom is the glue.  My mom holds the answers to most everyone of my questions about everything.  My mom is the one person that no matter what day it is, what time it is, what it has to do with, she is there.  She is there and then she's not.  I almost lost my mind. I immediately prayed with fervor, prayed with ferocity, prayed with fire.  I am beseeching you Lord Jesus Christ to take care of my mom and send angels to help her. I prayed over and over again, gasping for breath.  I called her phone over and over and over again and the phone was still dead.  It went straight to voicemail.   I called my husband in the middle of class telling him what happened and he just said keep calling.  I kept calling and finally it rang and a man answered.  My heart hurt.  I squeaked out, "Is she ok?" He said, "she is ok." Someone in the background asked my mom if she wanted to go sit in his truck.  He said, "can you walk?"  She said "I need to talk to my daughter" and I heard her voice on the other end.  I heard her voice on the other end.  On the other end I heard her voice. "I am ok. I need to go and I will call you later.  My phone's almost dead."

I walked out of the professional development building changed, not because of the speaker, but because my mom was ok.  Sorry, guy.  The Lord continued to show His face in the events that happened next.  Some may say they were meer coincidence, but I think God cares about the details and He wanted to show that to me and my parents.

I called my friend of 23 years whose mom happens to be friends with my mom and lives about 30 minutes from my mom.  She told me her mom was going to Little Rock tonight and she could come get my mom and drive her to Little Rock.  I wasn't sure of anything yet, but I held it out as a possibility.  I went home with tears in my eyes and my poor little Gretel was at home crying because she was so worried as I had called her to give her a head's up.  She had candles lit and had done all of the things I asked her to that day.  I packed a few days worth of clothes and I have a "ready to go bag" that I take on all my trips that contains the contents of a small convenience store.

Finally, I got a call from my mom when I got about halfway on the road.  She still insisted she was ok, but the doctor came in to talk to her while I was on the phone with her and said she had a cracked rib, a mild concussion, and when I finally saw her she had a gash on her head and a ridiculous amount of bruises.  In fact, she was taken by ambulance where my dad already was.  Can you imagine my dad's face when he saw someone in a wheel chair coming in to his room and it was his wife who had just left for home?  I am thankful he was on heart medicine and was mildly sedated when he saw her.

I told my mom that Joann could come and get her and take her to Little Rock.  She was planning on going home and getting my dad's truck after totaling her car and having a mild concussion and cracked rib.  I think there was something more cracked than her rib.  She agreed to let Joann come get her.

I made it to Little Rock before my dad's ambulance.  I was there when he was wheeled in.  My dad  has never missed an opportunity to help me or guide me.  If my mom is the glue, he is the mod podge, he seals the deal.  He looked like Aslan tied down.  I followed them up to his room and we proceeded to wait.  My mom arrived soon with Joann.

As my mom and Joann walked into the hospital they met my mom's former pastor's wife going out the door.  She realized Joann also knew her pastor's wife.  Another church family had been brought into the hospital with chest pain.  Then my mom and dad's current pastor's wife just happened to be coming to Little Rock and stopped by too.  In the meantime, my dad had a heart cath and ultrasound to discover that he indeed had a mild heart attack or "a heart event."  He had been having heart pain still into the night, but after the heart cath he woke up feeling fine.  The doctor stated sometimes that happens to help the clot to move through.  (At least that is my interpretation of what he said).

So the big question is, even with all that happened will we/should we still go to the beach.  I think my parents need to go to the beach!  We packed up a half day early and took my car to the beach.  We split driving and we have been here a full six days.  Did it feel weird; not at all.  It is right where I needed to be. 

Tend to Your Own Weeds

Yesterday I found myself in a rather generous mood.  I had been given the task of tending to my neighbor's garden while they were away.  The main thing  they asked me to do was to pick their vegetables.  As I was strolling over to their garden I realized that the previous night's storms had blown their trashcan over so I tipped it back to where it was supposed to be.  As I glanced down I looked at a little overgrown flowerbed.  I was alarmed at the weeds growing and before I knew it I was down on my hands and knees weeding veraciously.  I couldn't believe how my neighbors had let this get out of hand. 

Fast forward to this morning, I was doing a few painting projects for my classroom for the upcoming year in the garage when I remembered my roses had some extra shoots growing the last time I looked.  Prince Charming had hinted around that needed to be taken care of.  I grabbed the clippers and prepared myself for the task.  As I started looking around, I realized there were some places behind the over zealous rose shoots where the weeds were out of control.  I couldn't believe this.  I am the queen of weeding and there were hidden weeds everywhere. 

The Lord tapped me on the shoulder and reminded me that I am in charge of my own weeds.  While I was over at my neighbor's yesterday tending theirs, I was missing my own hidden ones.  Isn't He good and rude!  :) Thank you Lord for giving me such a visualization of this.

This year will be a big year for me to tend to my own garden.  I have a big guy, Hansel, who is graduating this year as well as a beautiful young lady who need me to stay over here at my own house making sure they flourish in every way.  Lord, help me to find the weeds that are holding my family back, tend to those weeds, and beautify my own little garden.

Muddling Through

Recently, I attended a professional development on teaching students with dyslexia.  The professional development was supposed to help us know how to use a curriculum for students with dyslexia.  I have been using this program for several years and have never been formally trained.  The first day of training I realized what an error this was.  There are 10 parts to the program.  I may have been doing half of them with fidelity.  Our speaker, Mrs. Mona, said that it is a must that you teach with fidelity to get the most out of the program and for the students to make the greatest gains.  Wow!  When I confessed to the class and to our blessed teacher of the errors I had been making, she said, "it sounds like you have been muddling through."  Mrs. Mona, you have no idea. 

I think it is safe to say that I have also been "muddling through" life the last few years as well.  Things have not been straight forward for me.  I have not known which way to turn at times.  There have been high points and low points, but one thing is for sure it has not been easy.  Having two teenagers and a busy husband, both in work and in school, I have struggled to know what path to take on daily decisions and overall life's journey.  However, one thing is for certain, I have always felt God's presence.  Whether it has been in the classroom, in beauty from flowers, in a co-workers kind words, in a friend's hug, in my extended families' love for us, God has always given me glimpses of Him.  He loves me.  He really does.

I know the muddling won't really go away for a while.  Mrs. Mona says that I will muddle better now.  I think she is right.  I think it is better to muddle than not do anything, so I will keep on.  

Fresh Steps

After several years of not posting a single thing, I think I am ready to go back to my Clappy Shoes!  Yay!  I am celebrating with my cup of coffee and a bowl of Malt o Meal honey nut clusters!  Very proper celebration I am having.

A new story. . . a new chapter. . .

Last night I had a consultation scheduled for the gym that I just joined. . .10 fitness.  That's right, $10 a month to work out on their state of the art equipment.  My intention on joining was to just have a place to run when it was cold or bad weather.  The consultation was a complimentary service that they give you when you sign up.  I got a call last week that asked me what time I would like to come in and honestly I did not really feel like I needed their consultation since I have been in a dozen gyms and worked out on all of this equipment before, but he said that he would check my BMI and I really wanted to have an accurate baseline. 

Yesterday was a gorgeous day and I thought since I had to go in for a "consultation" I would just go for a run before my "consultation" that way I got my work out in.  I show up at the gym and while I am waiting I posted "Sitting in a Chair LOL" at 10 Fitness on Facebook.  You will discover that I was not "Sitting in a Chair" for long.  Consulter aka "Muscle Head" starts off with my BMI and let me tell you that I was really shocked at my percentage of body fat!  What was most disturbing is that I just lost 20 pounds and he was telling me that over 1/3 of my body was STILL made up of fat!  That was disturbing.  Needless to say, my motivation for working out increased.  Then Muscle Head went on to say that I needed to be lifting weights if I wanted to decrease my body fat.  This is the last thing that I want to do or to hear because I love running.  It makes me feel like a million bucks when I am finished.  Weight lifting makes me hungry, tired, sore and all together Mrs. Cranky Pants. 

Muscle Head decided to show me a thing or three of what I needed to be doing as far as my work out each day.  His consultation is getting more intrusive which I boldly state that I have already ran today.  In fact, I just finished before I got here.  It was like there was muscle wax in his ears because he just plowed ahead.  He gets me on my favorite machine, the treadmill.  He proceeds to have me alternate running and sprints for 10 minutes.  I am feeling pretty good about myself because I aced the test.  I feel like he should know that I am an expert at this gym thing and he should just move on to his next client. 

"Let's move over to the weight room," Muscle Head states.  I am already feeling uncomfortable in this new location because he did not take me to the girly weight area where I am knew that my sisters would have a little pity for me.  He took me to the open aired area where all of his other Muscle Head friends were.  He grabs a 20 pound weight and has me do 5 squats and hold for 5 seconds on the last squat.  He did this a few times and then he moves me to the rowing machine where he sets the weights to 70.  He sees that my form is so bad that I look like my back may crack at any point.  He gradually moves me down to 50-well isn't he sweet?  At this time, I make several smart alec retorts like, "I actually like my body fat and I would like it to stay where it is, you must be friends with Jillian Michaels and my favorite . . . this consultation seems to be more of a deterrent to the gym."  I think he liked my statements because he decides to move me back to squats.  I knew that I had upset the gym gods when I started feeling this awful knot in my stomach.  He moves me back to the row.  I am sweating more than I have in 90 degree weather running a 5K.  I stand up and I am sure that I looked like a ghost.  He states, "let's move on over to the arm press machine."  I asked for a water break where I walked slowly over to the back of the gym to rest my head in the water tank.  I thought maybe I could shake the feeling if I moved really slowly.  Making the trek back to the arm press, I realize that I am not getting better.  I sit on the arm press where he starts telling me the correct way to position myself for bulging muscles like his.  I look at him and tell him that I am either going to barf or pass out.  He matter of factly said, "Oh it's ok, you won't be the first one this week."  He proceeds with the plan.  I state, "You do not want me to pass out or barf."  He said, "move over, I will show you how to do it."  As I am watching him, my eyes go crossed and I am sure that I was white as a ghost.  He said, "Go" and pointed to my relief - the bathroom. 

I wrap myself around the public toilet like I have never known a better BFF and I gagged my way to relief.  I know, the details. . .sorry.  I stayed in there for several minutes getting my bearings.  I go back and he continues to show me what I need to do to lost that fat.  I politely listen and watch him do the exercises that I am supposed to be doing, typing out everything he has taught me on my phone and pray that I never see this guy again.  I walk out without my dignity, but I am pretty sure my percentage of body fat has decreased. 

Today, I am sitting here with my pajamas still on and very reluctant to squat to go to the bathroom.  I think I will hold it as long as I can.  My new facebook post should state, "Sitting in a Wheelchair LOL" at home.

Until next time my friends. . . .

Dear Blog

Dear Clappy Shoes Blog,

I miss you.  Do you miss me?  We have not had much time together this year.  Why do you think that it is so difficult to make time for each other?  I know, I know.  Don't give me that guilt trip.  I am sure that we will spend more time together soon.  I have a few things to do to get things back in order and we will have an afternoon together.  How about that?  Would you like that?   You, me and a cup of coffee.  No work, none of those rascally kids running around, and some time together.  Pinky promise.  :) 



 

Did I Really Say Yes to That?

I am sitting on the beach kind of caught up in all of the scenery around me. There are lots of cliche things that I could make my subject line. My heading could be, something like "The Waves of Life" or possibly even "The Sands of Time" from a popular soap opera that I don't even know if it exists or not anymore. But my predominant thought right now is, "did I really say yes to that?". No, I'm not talking about my marriage! That was very naughty of you to think ;)

I guess I have been feeling a little guilty about us leaving Hansel and Gretel out on this vacation. We have felt overwhelmed by life as a married couple so we really needed to get away. However, they did get to go to their grandparents which is not exactly solitary confinement unless you count hiking, watching the Lord of the Rings Trilogy and getting paid big bucks for doing minimal work solitary confinement. It still feels a little off balance since I am having so much fun.

So when Hansel called me from Pet Smart to ask if he could have a mouse, I said "yes." You have to know we have six cats so I imagine it will not last long. Is that bad to say? The last time I saw a mouse near our home it was in the mouth of my cat that was about the size of our cat! I was cheering the cat on!

I do have a bad feeling that this was not my smartest move. Why do I think that this mouse is going to make the Guiness Book of World Records for longest living rodent?

Have you ever made a rash, guilt-based decision? Such are the waves of life, right? ;)


-- Clappy Shoes

Location:Santa Rosa Blvd,Fort Walton Beach,United States

My Concern

This is the email that I sent to McGuires earlier today. It is the follow-up from my last year's visit.

Last year my family and I went to the beach in Perdido Key. I was so excited to find a McGuires in Pensacola as I frequently visited the one in Destin when we traveled to the beach in years past. My husband, mom, dad, and two kids (10 year old son and 8 year old daughter) all visited your restaurant, ordered some of our favorites and were having a great time.

My son needed to use the restroom and we felt like it was ok for him to go on his own since he was ten. He came back to the table and reported that there were pictures of naked women in the restroom. We were kind of surprised at his report so my dad went to go see what he was talking about. Sure enough, the pictures were not necessarily artwork, but more what you might see in a copy of "Easy Rider."

Honestly, knowing that I had taken my son to a restaurant that exposes children to these images ruined not only my appetite, but any interest in dining at any of your restaurants ever again. In my opinion, you have great food, but pretty lousy taste in decorating your restrooms. I understand that it is a pub/bar, but you have a children's menu.

I am sitting in Destin on the beach thinking where I would like to eat on one of my last days here and honestly I would love to come to your restaurant, even if there are no pictures like the one in Pensacola, but I cannot. It's not about the food anymore, it's about the principle of it and standing up for what I feel is right for my kids. Thank you for allowing me to comment.

Sincerely,

P.S. I promise to update this post if I get a response from them.

Break My Heart for What Breaks Yours, but . . .

Check out me latest post, "Break My Heart for What Breaks Yours, but . . ." on 5 Minutes for Faith. I hope that it encourages your heart today.


-- Clappy Shoes

Don't Be An Ostrich, Be a Stork

I wrote this devotional for 5 Minutes for Faith. I hope that it encourages your heart today!

The Importance of Winter

The Importance of Winter is something that I wrote for 5 Minutes for Faith. I hope that it encourages your heart today.

Prayers Caught in the Trees

Have you ever felt like your prayers were not being heard? You cry out every day the same prayer and it seems like there is no response. Not even a "no, I am not answering your prayer."

The other day, my eleven year old son walked in and had a scroll tied to some helium-filled balloons that he had received the day before. Quite curious, I asked, "What in the world are you doing?" He said, "I am sending a note to God." If you have read much about my son, you know this is a little odd because he usually just prays. He asked Christ into His life at a very young age and I sincerely thought that he knew all he had to do was to just speak to God. There are literally no strings attached, just open your heart and pray.

Being the science whiz that he is, he realized quickly that the note was too heavy to allow the balloons to get very far with the note. He decided to reduce the letter to about a sticky note size. It honestly looked like a scene out of the movie, "Up." The balloons were large and very colorful. He just had to get the right weight balance between the balloons and the note. Finally, the work was finished and the balloons were about to be sent to God so that he could get his very important note to Him.

I did not really ask what the note was about, but I thought it might be pretty important since eleven year old's very rarely take time for important things (aka baths, homework, piano practice).

A few minutes after he had stepped out of the door, a very disappointed eleven year old came back in from the cold. His balloons had gotten caught in a tree and his message was intercepted by the dead limbs on the tree. I was so sad for him to say the least.

I was sad for him for several reasons. For one, that just stinks to have a goal of getting something to someone and it not happening for whatever the reason. Another reason is that it is just somehow wrong for such a beautiful experience as sending a letter to God via balloons to get interrupted. And lastly, I know how he felt.

I have felt that my prayers were hanging in dead branches on trees many times in my life. Did I not pray hard enough or loud enough? Have I sinned so greatly that He has fingers in His ears blocking out the sound of my voice? What is going on? Where are you? Where is your hand of protection or Your voice that is supposed to be leading me?

David felt the same way in Psalm 4: 1 and 3

"1Answer me when I call to you, O my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; be merciful to me and hear my prayer. 3 Know the the Lord set apart the godly for himself; the Lord will hear when I call to him."

We can be assured that He does hear us when we call out to Him. It says in my all time favorite Psalm, Psalm 34 "The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles."

Obviously, the Lord knew my son's prayer, without the balloons making it all the way to Him. In fact, God is in my son's hear. Just sometimes it does indeed feel like the Lord is far away. When you feel like your prayers are being intercepted by a bunch of dead limbs, know that the Lord heard you. He will deliver you out of all of your troubles because He is so good and His love endures forever.

As a side note: I went to Wal Mart the next day and looked for some kind of helium balloon that was big enough to take up a big prayer on big paper. The only one I could find was a birthday balloon and I figured since it was almost Jesus's birthday that a birthday balloon might work. I left it in Hansel's room and when he found it he said, "Oh, that is perfect, that is all I really wanted to tell Him anyway."

I found the larger note that he wrote in my office today confirming the fact that Hansel just wanted to say Happy Birthday to Jesus and asked God if He could possibly heal him from this cold or fever that he has.

By the way, Caleb is at school today with no fever and really not much of a sniffle. God is good and hears you when you pray even if it feels like your prayers are caught in the dead branches of a tree in your front yard.

My Thankfulness Runs Deeply

I have a new post up at 5 Minutes for Faith. I hope you will check it out. I am sorry that I have not posted much here, but I have lots of hope that one day I will be back to regular blogging. :)

This is My Town!!

A major football rival and our town go up against each other. There is one minute left in the game and the other team is winning by three. The opponent has the ball on the five yard line and they are about to score. The announcers are casually stating the facts and then go ballistic when there is an unexpected scoop at the end. Check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh-d3CEkl-4

Putting Aside My Prison Clothes Devotional

I have a devotional up at 5 Minutes for Faith today. I am sorry, but this is the only writing that I can get to lately. I hope that it encourages you in your pursuit to look more like Christ each and every day.

Sin in My Shoe

I have a post up today titled, "Sin in My Shoe" at 5 Minutes for Faith. I hope that it encourages your heart.

The Real Facts of Life

A couple of weeks ago, Lisa Whelchel, aka Blair Warner from the "Facts of Life", came to a town really close to us. My friend, Shanna and I (pictured on the left), had both read Creative Correction, loved the book, and had to go hear her speak. Another new couple of friends from church went as well. It was really fun. We could only go that evening, even though she was speaking the next day too.

On the night that we went, she spoke mainly about her real life and time playing Blair on "The Facts of Life" and many of the obstacles she faced. She is a really neat Christian lady. I want to share the link to her website for any resources that you might need. Her older books are mainly about homeschooling and creatively correcting young children. Her later books are about raising teenagers, taking care of yourself as a mom, and the friendships of women.

I encourage you, that if you are struggling with finding good, creative Biblical ways to correct your little ones then this is the website and book for you. She will give you the real scoop on "The Facts of Life" as a mom. Enjoy!

The Kind of Flower That I Am

Isaiah 40:8 The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.

This morning I had an opportunity to do a little jogging, listening to music and thinking. I went by one of the houses in my neighborhood and I almost gasped. Not because I was gasping for air (which could have possibly been happening too), but because I saw the most beautiful flowers.

One of my neighbors decorated their mailbox by planting Morning Glory's right beside it. It takes awhile for these flowers to shoot up to the top of the mailbox, but they were definitely there this morning in full presentation. They had such amazingly beautiful bright bluish purple petals. They were alive in all of their morning glory! I started thinking about those flowers. I think I am a lot like those Morning Glory's.

I wake up in the morning all bright and chipper (after a cup of coffee). I am ready to face the world. I feel beautiful, even if I don't look it quite yet, and I am bursting to show the world just how beautiful I am. I am full of life and energy; just asking the world to bring it on. Now the problem with all of that is it wears off by around 3:00 when I pick up my kids from school. Then my flower changes.

The flower I change to is called an Impatient! :) It is so sad how my once lovely flower petals change into a foreboding Impatient who wants to seek shade and comfort in her bathtub. :) I try so hard to be such a good little flower, but unfortunately I am parched by 3:00. I need the gardener to come along and give me some fertilizer and maybe some root stimulator (I think we call this caffeine). :)

I thought you might like to tell me that you identify with the way that I am or maybe we can make it goal to try to be Evening Glory's together. Have a glorious day! I'm going to pick up my kids from school now. :)

5 Minutes for Faith Post - My Daily Choices

I have a post up today at 5 Minutes for Faith titled My Daily Choices . I hope that you are encouraged by it. Many blessings!

A MAZE

The last few months, I have felt like I was in a corn maze. I would go one way and it was a dead end. I went another way and yet another dead end. Finally I feel like I am going in the right direction. All of this began last year when my daughter, my precious Gretel, decided she was ready for public school. I have given in reluctantly feeling that the battle was not worth it.

Last year, I worked full time and home schooled her and let me tell you that is no easy task. Since my Prince Charming and I still feel that I need to continue the full time work I knew that Gretel was going to get the shaft again. I enrolled her in school early this summer and it took all summer to realize what I really was doing. I was relinquishing control of every detail of her day. What she eats, what she hears, what she does with her friends, what she learns. . . .everything until 3:00 pm. Man, that is hard! When you go from knowing every minute detail. . . .even if they are using the bathroom enough, to not being in the know about anything.

While my heart aches, I know it is just part of the growing up process and entering a new season of the maze! The other part of the confusing journey was knowing which job to go with. Should I go back to teaching in brick and mortar, set out on a new career all together, or stick with my virtual world of teaching. The Lord provided clarity to that just this month. When I was fretting about finances earlier in the summer, my friend asked me when my last paycheck was for this year. I am on a 12 month contract and so I said August 15th. She said the Lord will show you around that time. She was right, I just found out yesterday the last piece of my full time job August 20th. The Lord was a few days late in my book! :) Right on time in his I suppose. :)

This year I am working with the Virtual School again teaching Special Education part time and another part time role that I am not sure that I can discuss just yet. Both pieces are with the Virtual School working with 1st -8th grade. Wow! What a maze of obstacles, dead ends, and waiting. The Lord was faithful once again though. He showed us the way and provided for our needs and the desires of our hearts once again.

Now to figure out how to teach Special Education and the other piece of my job while keeping my head on straight and my family from being neglected. I am sure that the Lord will be faithful to A MAZE me once again when I call out to Him.

5 Minutes for Faith

I have a devotional up on Faith Lifts today. I hope it is an encouragement to your heart.

http://www.5minutesforfaith.com/1197/when-god-says-no/

Back Porch Writing and Waiting

This has to be the dreamiest part of my whole day. I have a glass of iced tea, my Bible, my computer and I am on the back porch/deck that my hubby built. It is the late afternoon and the cicadas are really loud. I love it!

I have had a couple of weeks off of work. It has been so good for me! I have transferred all of my work energy into my house and I have just about all of the spaces just about where I want them. The exception being my office where I really need to channel a tornado full of energy!

My job situation is in limbo this year. There is potential, but its really hard to say exactly what I will be doing in 3 months. I know that the Lord has a plan, but I don't like this lighting my path one step at a time thing! It is really hard for me. Hmmm, maybe that was part of the plan! :)

Anyway, I don't like being in limbo because I am a planner and I like to know what I am doing at all times so I can check things off of my list. Right now, my list looks something like this. . .

1. Wait
2. Wait
3. Wait
4. Wait
5. Repent, because I am frustrated and disgusted with waiting!
6. Wait

and on it goes! The Lord is good and He always keeps me on my toes.

Meanwhile, I will sit back, have a glass of tea on my back porch and listen to the cicadas. and oh yeah, I will wait. :)

Crazy Painting Day!

Honestly, I cannot think of another time I have taken a picture of my fingernails. On Friday, I had a French manicure, but today it looks more like a Circus Manicure.

The last few days I have painted my son's room orange and off white, repainted the bathroom blue, and refinished a piece of furniture for my bathroom.

I am smoked! I think I am in need of a bath in mineral spirits!

His Voice . . . How do you know it's God?

Last year, I became a contributing writer to an awesome website, "5 Minutes for Faith." I have a post up there today. Please check out their sister sites as well. I think you will find them really encouraging!

His Voice . . .How do you know it's God?

Many Blessings!

Our Trip To Florida in Pictures