Spring 2016 Sprinting Towards Summer

Easter Sunday.  Lisa, Grandmother Wells and Katie.  

Dad with Lisa and Cindy photobombs in the back.

Coco Puff and Little Kitty before she went to her forever home in December.  Her new name is Ivy and she is in the best home ever.  The Levanhagen's just adore her.  Her brother went to a wonderful home also.  We had such fun bottle feeding those two little ones from the day of their birth until they went to their forever homes.  Long story short, Cindy found these little Siamese kittens at her work warehouse where they discovered the momma had died.  Cindy took the night feedings and I brought them to work with me and fed them during the day for 3 weeks.  Then they became very mobile.

Sandy's 44th birthday (2/15/16)

Sometimes I wonder if keeping up a blog is worth it.  I mean if I am only posting twice a year.....Actually, I just looked and only posted once in 2015.  I guess I am keeping up :-)


These pictures seem pretty random, but I just downloaded them from the camera yesterday--that should speak volumes.  Even Hawaii pictures were still in the camera (that was from October 2015-the same time we had the little kittens).  Then it became 2016, then my birthday, then I painted the dining room and utility room, then Lisa's swim practices and meets, then Lent, then tennis, then Easter and Katie has One Act Play practice too.  THEN all the leaves started falling from the Oak trees.  It's been busy around here.

2015 Recap Before It Is 2016

I thought I should jot something down before 2015 is over.  The picture is from April, 2015.  It was taken by Julie Banks for Lisa's 8th grade graduation/photo.  In this picture Lisa was not happy that we all dressed in jeans and white shirt.  She has gotten over it now.  I think.

Lisa is in 9th grade at LHS.  In the summer she participated in the PREP program at UTSA.  It is a pre-engineering program during the summer that she qualified for.  She finished in the top 5 of her class and got to walk the stage at the graduation at the end of summer.  This year she is on the swim team.  Go Seastangs!  She is doing very well on it, thanks to one of her best friends, Claire, giving her pointers.   She also has a great coach who is very encouraging.  She is maintaining honor roll so far and has adjusted very well to high school.  We will start parent taught drivers ed soon (cannot believe that we are already embarking on this).

Katie is in 8th grade at Concordia.  She kept very busy over the summer volunteering at Threads of Love, VBS at Concordia and in Runge, the SA Mission trip and taking care of Gus and Elmo (the neighbor cats).  She is involved in One Act Play and drama at school.  Last year they went to state for OAP and Katie was a big part of that. They did not win, but it was honor to go. She was hysterical in her role.  It was so much fun and Lisa was also a part of that behind the scenes with the sound.  The play was called "Big Bad" and had a bunch of fairy tale characters in it.  Katie was the good fairy godmother lawyer who was trying to convict the big bad wolf of his multiple crimes.

Mike is working as a float NP for Wellmed and is loving his job.

I am still with Baptist working in the Regional Quality department.

In November, our family ran the Chosen half marathon in Gruene, Tx to help Melody and Zach's second adoption.  Mike and I ran it last year and it was my very favorite half marathon ever up to that point.  This year we signed the girls up to run it too.  It was wonderful and became my very favorite half marathon ever!  Mike, Katie and I finished in 2:39 and Lisa finished in 2:30.  I slowed us down because I had been battling an upper respiratory illness for a week.  Lisa took off and ran with a couple of pacer ladies and chatted it up with them for 8 miles.  We were impressed.

Cindy is living in the Cabana for a while as she gets things situated in her life.  We are so glad to have the space (although her kitties may beg to differ) for her to have her own space and live with us. Recently we got to foster two little kittens that she rescued from the warehouse at her work.  One of them still had the umbilical cord attached.  They turned out to be Siamese kittens and were soooo adorable.  They both were able to find forever homes.  It was a lot of work for the first 3 weeks, then they started to develop little personalities and were so cute.  We are so happy for their new families.

Coco and Lilly adapted to them and ended up really liking them.

Darcy had to go to a new home.  She was about to cause Mike to end her life prematurely.  She basically dug up the back yard, swam year around and liked to shake the water off at the back sliding glass door.  She also chewed up lots of things, would bury her chew toys instead of chew them and steal things from the garage and drop them in the pool.  It was our fault.  She needed a lot of attention and Binxy could not provide it all.  We were so busy with the girls in the play and softball and Prep.  We were gone so much so she did whatever she wanted.  We found a wonderful home for her in Austin.  She is the center of this ladies life and it is a perfect fit.

Frankie and Ellie both died at the ranch and are both buried on the hill.  They didn't die at the same time.

Over the summer we took the girls on a cruise for Galveston.  It was on the Royal Caribbean Navigator of the Seas.  We went to Cozumel, Belize and Roatan.  Snorkeled in all those locations and had a wonderful time.

Mike and I went to Maui the week of our 18th wedding anniversary this past October.  He had a family practice conference that he attended for a week.  I got to tag along.  It was so much fun.  We explored almost the entire island.  The weather was perfect and we didn't have any issues with our flights.  We really want to take the girls with us in the next year or two.

Lisa, Aunt Cindy, Katie    April 2015

Lisa and Claire at 8th grade banquet, May 2015

Lisa's drawing

Lisa

It's Been A While

It has been a while.  We moved into this house over spring break and the move went very smooth.
Katie got confirmed, the school year came to a close, summer came and went in the blink of an eye.  The girls started 7th and 8th grade last Wednesday.

I would put some pictures in here, but I cannot figure out how to download from my phone to the pc. I will have to wait to for Mike to show me because when I googled it, it did not happen the way they said it should.

I facilitated the Women's Evening Bible study for the summer with my friend Amy.  It was Stronger by Angela Thomas and was very good.  I will facilitate the fall study with Beth Ann and it will be No Other Gods by Kelly Mintor. I can tell it will be powerful.  It has already caused me to evaluate some areas of my life and  make some adjustments.

 Mike is beginning his FINAL semester of school this week.  Yay!!  He will graduate in December.  We will drive up to UTEP and watch him walk the stage for his MSN, FNP degree.  He will have to take the board certification before he can work as an FNP.  It seems like he has been in school for so long on one hand and on the other is has been a blink of an eye.  In another blink the girls will be starting college.....

Frankie is still living with dad at the ranch.  He loves is out there and dad loves having him. It looks like he will spend the rest of his life living life on the ranch in doggy retirement.   Meanwhile, we bought a puppy golden retriever.  Her name is Darcy (and as soon as I can get pictures downloaded, I will post some).  She is the cutest thing.  She loves to swim and has stayed wet pretty much all summer.  She will go and just sit on the top step of the pool and hang out.  She loves, loves, loves Binxy.  We call him her "feline friend".  She always looks so happy and when she gets in trouble, she gives you her paw....hard to stay mad at that :-)  Her birthday is the beginning of May (we couldn't remember the exact date, so we say it is May 5--Cinco de Mayo).

Mike and I are training for the Chosen Half Marathon in October (to benefit Melody and Zach's second adoption).  I am up to a good 6 miles, but did run 8 today.  Actually walked the last 1 1/2.  Mike ran 13 today, but he had to walk the last 3 or so.  The girls are in cross country this fall.  In middle school they run no more than 2 miles in a meet.  In high school they run 3.1 miles or so.  We will see how it goes this year.  This is a big year for Lisa--8th grade field trip, picking a high school (which will most likely be LHS, God willing), Spanish 2, Algebra I and she may qualify to take a college credit US History course in the spring if she does well.  She is also taking an elective this quarter that I pray strengthens her faith in Christ.

It is exciting to see their little lives unfold, but very scary too.  I know they will have their own lives to live, their own walk with Christ will have to develop.  They will have their own faith walk, it will not be mine.  My prayer for them is that they choose to walk with Christ, for their lives to honor Him and for them to be "awe-inspired" by Him.  I recently had a conversation with Lisa which she said that the Bible is not "awe-inspiring", that with technology today anybody can walk on water and because she has been brought up with it, nothing is new.  I wish that I could have said something profound, but all I could do was listen.  It broke my heart, though.  She said that she has heard all of this since she was a baby.  True.  I prayed to God that He wants us to raise our children up in Him, this is what He has called us to do, so why does my oldest feel so far away, like it isn't relevant.  How do we do this Lord?

In October we will be a host family for a baby coming from Uganda for heart surgery through Samaritan's Purse.  They had our information from last year and kept it and gave us a call a couple of weeks ago to see if we were still interested in hosting.  We said yes and kept taking the next step and it looks like everything will happen.  We are getting the garage room all ready and the Cabana all ready.  Our hearts are ready and the girls are ready to have a "baby brother" for about 2 months.  His mom and interpreter will be with him.  Mike may get to fly with them back to Uganda.  I wanted to do that until I found out it would be just me, not me and Mike.  I can barely pick somebody up from the airport without getting lost, it would be crazy for me to navigate an international itinerary all by myself.

I hope to blog about our experience with this opportunity.

That is the top layer of our lives at this point.  I really need to start documenting our lives because it goes by so fast and I forget so much.

 

A Day Called Birthday

42 years.

4 decades and then some.

I don't want to sit here and think that my life is half way over--because that could have been 21 years ago...or it could be now.  Only God knows.

We are at an exciting time.  We will be moving from this apartment in 3 weeks and 5 days.  But who is counting :-)  Apartment life has been peaceful.  Except for the parking and the new dings in the doors, it hasn't been that bad.  The lady below us may beg to differ.  She may think that she has a herd of elephants living above her.

I know that there are things that I have taken for granted living in a home that I now have an appreciation for:
Parking: Suburban + small spot + full complex + hill=frustrating moments of parking
A bigger kitchen:  Our pantry here is the depth of a box of cereal.  The good news is that nothing gets lost in the back of the pantry.
A bigger kitchen:  Not more than one person can fit in the kitchen comfortably.  Once all four of us were in the kitchen when I was trying to cook.  Not one of my finest apartment moments.
A bigger kitchen:  counter space is at a premium.
A yard.  We love yard work.  We are moving to a beautiful 1.5 acres.
An indoor washing/drying area.  Our washer and dryer are out on the patio and I keep calling it the garage. Our washer froze when the temperature was in the 20's.  I always took for granted my indoor washer and dryer.  Not anymore!
Our pets:  Coco Puff and Lilly Pie are at Cindy's (learning VERY bad habits and annoying Cindy [and Isabel and Snickers]; Binxy is at the Goff's (they say he is a very friendly little guy and likes to hang out at the dining room window and look in and watch them home school); Frankie and Ellie went to the ranch to stay with dad.  Ellie died on January 21 after getting hit by a vehicle.  We are so thankful for dad.  He took great care of her in her living and in her dying.  He buried her at the ranch on the hill above the pond.  He made a cross and we went out there and he and the girls put the cross in the ground.  Ellie was a good dog.  Frankie seems to be fine.  Every year I think this is his last (for like the last 4 years), now I think he may be eternal.  :-)

We have been running/walking a lot.  It certainly keeps us from being all over one another and the benefit of exercise, win/win.

The girls do have a loft with their bedroom and their own bathroom--that is a life saver.

Today the girls are in a babysitting class all day.  They are learning the "whys and how to's" of babysitting.  A little CPR, Heimlich maneuver, what to do in case of emergency like fire/gas leak/water leak.  How to entertain the children you are babysitting...should be a great class. 
Mike is working today so that left me alone in birthday bliss.  A beautiful, sunny 75 degree Saturday with the whole apartment to myself.   Beth called me early this morning and it was so nice to visit with her. I did my Bible Study (parked on Epaphroditus in Phil 2--what a friend), went for a run, had lunch with Cindy, went to HEB and did laundry.  All by myself--with Pandora on and some essential oils in the diffuser and a cup of coffee.  Bliss.
Mike has something planned for tonight....it will be fun, I am sure.  Last night we took the suburban to a $5 car wash and as we were going through the wash tunnel he looks over to me and says "How do you like this Valentine's Day tunnel of love?"  :-)

Psalm 91:14  Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all of our days.

Psalm 100:5  For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.

Our RVL Conference

2013 will go down as a not-so-stellar blogging year.

2013 went so fast and I suspect 2014 will fly by at the same speed.

We ended this year going to see Ray Vander Laan in Midland, Texas.  We had so much fun and learned so much.  He really reignited the flame to be in God's word and dig in deep, to ask myself as I read God's story, what does it reveal to me from God.  To know that God wants us to intimately not just know the story, but to join His story.  Be the message, not just bring the message.

Our friends Becky and Shawn rode with us and stayed in the same hotel as we did.  It was so nice to catch up with them and then to talk about all of the stuff we learned while at the conference.

We had some other friends who went along as well and it was so encouraging.  I love the people God has put in our lives; the ones who stretch you and make you try to understand just a little deeper; the ones who ask you why you believe that or where do you get your information from; the ones who encourage and help to fan the flame of digging into God's word AND applying it life.

Lisa and Katie had a great time also.  I was wondering if they would be bored, but they were not.  In fact, we had to sit in the first row for the entire conference. 
The front row.  The entire time.

Katie was in line to ask questions during every break there was.  RVL is sending them a couple of tassels for them to wear.  They are very excited for those to come in the mail.  He said that he takes seniors who just graduated from high school to Israel every summer and both girls could come along when they graduate.  How awesome would that be?  

We learned that Christians treat the Bible like it is two stories:  Old Testament and New Testament.  But it is really one continuous story.  We learned to ask ourselves as we did deeper:  why do I need to know this, where does it link, is there a connection? 

 RVL compared Mark 4:35-41 to the story of Jonah.  Jonah was asleep, Jesus was asleep, guys get Jonah up, disciples get Jesus up, Jonah was running away from his mission, Jesus was going towards His-Decapolis.  Then Jesus calmed the storm.  The disciples must have thought of  Psalm 107:28-29 "Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress.  He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed."  Of course, RVL does a much better job and had lots of insight to add, so this is just a feeble attempt to get my notes more organized :-)

There are so many more....to be continued.

A December Walk at the Ranch

Dad, Lisa and Katie on the hill at the ranch.

Walking with dad to check on feeders.

 

Jogging when possible.

Stopping in at Grandpa Baker's and saying "hi".

 

Christmas 2013: Simplicity

 

Merry Christmas

 

 

This Christmas season has been marked by simplicity.  We didn't mail out cards this year, didn't put any ornaments on the tree, except for 7 names of Jesus.  This Christmas season finds us about to move.  We will be living in an apartment for 3 months and then moving into our "new" home.  We are calling our apartment living and "adventure".  Our adventure begins January 6.

 

We weren't planning on moving.  But doors opened and we just kept moving forward.  Our home was on the market for only 1 day when we got a contract on it.  We can't move into the other home until March because the people living in will not be moving until mid-March.  They are building a home in North Texas to live closer to family.  The husband in this family has been a patient of Mike's for three years.  They live here in Shavano Park, so we are staying here, just moving to the other side of the street.  The people buying our home wanted to be in it before Christmas, but there was just no way we could manage that.

 

With a move comes cleaning out and purging.  It forced us to go through all of mom's stuff that had been sitting up in the garage for 5 years.  It was time. 

 

It is a good feeling to live simply.  I have heard Mike say many times "loose grip, loose grip."  That has been our motto along with "We can't take it with us"--meaning eternally.  Seriously, would we want too?  We come into this world with nothing...not even clothes, but yet sometimes I place such value on things.

 

Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.  Psalm 90:12

 

What is your life?  You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.  James 4:14

 

Loose grip.

 

Simplicity.

 

Wisdom.

 

 



Summer Recap 2013

School begins in two weeks and we have two middle- schoolers.  Wow.  

Here is our summer 2013 recap (not in any sort of order, just how it popped into my head):

This summer Lisa ran in a track club.   We all benefited from it, but it made for long weekdays.  She had practice M-Th from 6-8 pm.   I  logged over 72 running (OK more like jogging) miles the month of July.  Pretty good since I am not training for anything in particular.   Mike is training for a rim2rim2rim (R2R2R) at the Grand Canyon in November with Brandon and some other guys.  It is motivational to have something to work towards, or at least have somebody in the family working towards something :-)

Katie played basketball this summer.  Her games were every Wednesday for 7 weeks at 8 pm usually.  Thankfully, track practice was at a high school and BB was at a middle school 1 mile away.

 It made for a busy but physically active summer.  I am extremely thankful for our health and that God has given us the ability to run and walk.  In my job, I review all of the mortality for the hospital system, so I am reminded everyday how precious our lives are and that health is a gift from God.  We honor God not only in the food we choose to eat, but also in maintaining an active lifestyle.  That is not to say we can control every disease or sickness that happens to us, but it really helps me keep food in perspective.  With that being said, I am on day 8 of doing the whole 30 plan again.  I did it back in January and it was awesome.  I kept it up for February and then started eating more bread products.  So back to lots of veggies, lean proteins and fruit.  No sweets/white foods/processed food.  I feel more energetic and headaches have pretty much disappeared (I had a really bad migraine a couple of weeks ago--so bad that it caused capillaries in my eye to burst--not fun).  When I eat healthy, the whole family does too--imagine that! 

Lisa got to sew at Threads of Love with our friend Sheila on Tuesdays throughout the summer.  She made little outfits for the premature babies in the NICU's around San Antonio.  She would hang out with all of these ladies with tons of sewing experience and learn from them the fine art of sewing.  She is very creative and the ladies loved having her around.  She also went on a mission trip with our church to an area of San Antonio where homes needed lots of work and people needed the love of Christ shown.  Her experience was a good one and her pictures were hysterical--for example: stray cats and dogs, the food they ate, the showers they used...Oh the world through the eyes of a teenager.

Katie and Lisa both volunteered at VBS.  This same week  Evie, Lisa's best friend, came and stayed with us for the week.  Her mom Beth, one of my closest friends, came down with Lawton and they stayed with us for a few days.  It was so much fun and so uplifting.

Mike took the girls snorkeling at Canyon lake and Landa Park a few times this summer.  They loved it.  We are thinking about a Caribbean vacation next summer that would involve a beach and snorkeling.

We did go to the coast for a long weekend.  We met Brandon, Lisa and their 4 girls and had a great time.

We have been having a wonderful summer with our small group.  I have been leading the preteens/teens through a Bible study called Follow Me by David Platt.  The adults are going through Ray Vanderlaan's "In the Dust of the Rabbi" and the little one's are being read "The Little Pilgrim's Progress" by one of the adults.  It is awesome.

I also took both girls (individually) through Passport to Purity.  It is a CD kit from Family Life that I highly recommend.  It was a Friday evening and Saturday until about 3 pm (It is recommended for 6th graders, moms take daughters through it and dads take their sons). We listened to the CD's and had discussions and also had projects to complete and then I ended it at James Avery where they picked out a ring.  Their first ring.  I had it packaged and brought it home where Mike got the opportunity to talk to his daughter about how we are responsible to teach her and help her set boundaries in her relationships, how Christ should have preeminence in her life and how He wants her to remain pure until she is married.  He then put the ring on her finger and said that the next man to put a ring on that finger will be her future husband.

Cue the tears.
 
Oh. My. Goodness.  Wasn't it just yesterday we were rocking them to sleep?

Mom Stuff

My girls are growing so fast.  Lisa is about to turn 13 in a few weeks.  How can this be?

It seems like just yesterday I was holding her in my arms as an infant and now she is a young lady.
There are some things she does that really crack us up.  She adores her daddy.  She thinks he is the coolest dad around (unless she is in trouble).  She thinks he is hilarious and will copy word for word what he just said, laugh and say "that is so funny".  Mike and I just look at each other and can hardly keep the laughter in.
I taught her how to shave her legs last week.  She didn't want to learn and that warmed my heart.  But there comes a time in life when a girl needs to learn how to shave her legs and this was the time.  I showed her on about one inch of her leg and she took it from there and got into it.  Then she exclaimed "My legs are soooo soft.  This is great."  She may have said the word "Coolio"  a few times.  I think that means cool.
Katie is at an in between phase in growing up.  She is still a little girl, but is rapidly maturing into a young lady.  In our society it is a challenge to keep them from growing up too fast.  I love that she still likes to play with her stuffed animals (along with the cats whom they dress up in doll clothes).

 

 

Lisa is getting confirmed next week.  She will take her first communion and will verbalize for herself her faith and trust in our Lord.  For Confirmation we let Lisa pick out her own Bible.  She picked out an HCSB Study Bible and we had her name engraved on it.  We picked it up today and she was thrilled.  My prayer is that she has a passion and is on fire for God, His Word and continues to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:13)

 

 

 

This is a picture of Lisa and Ellie (with Pastor Tucker) when they acolyted together a couple of weeks ago.  Lisa got the privilege to acolyte for the Good Friday service. Our Good Friday service is one of my favorite services of the year.  The Pastors each take Jesus's words from the cross and do a devotional on it.  The lights get dimmer throughout the entire service until the end when it is very dark.  There is no benediction, everybody just leaves in silence.  She said that at the very end after the pastors finished stripping the alter,  her and the other acolyte got to go up to the alter with the pastors, bow and leave.  She felt so humble and started to cry.  We came home and she got to watch The Passion of the Christ for the first time.  We all cry during that movie--because we know it is more than just a movie--it was payment for our sins--and we really cannot grasp the depth of it. 

 

We asked her what she thought of it afterwards and she said with tears streaming down her face,  "It was horrible." 

 

Yes, sweet girl, it was.  But this is how we know what love is:  Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.  1 John 3:16





 

 

Stress and Philippians 4

Today at church we started a new sermon series.  Actually they started it last week but that was Easter and we went to the sunrise service, so we missed out on the actual first sermon for this series.  I may go back and listen to it.  Anyway, yesterday I posted that I may write out Philippians when I finish the Psalms because I felt like I was lacking in the joy department.
Well today's sermon was just for me.  Funny how God does things like that!

Philippian 4:4-13

English Standard Version (ESV)

 

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. ⁵ Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; ⁶ do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
⁸ Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. ⁹ What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
¹⁰ I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. ¹¹ Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. ¹² I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. ¹³ I can do all things through him who strengthens me.


(As a side note:  Biblegateway.com does not have the NIV 1984 version anymore.  Mike sent a note to them for which they have not yet replied.)  The following are notes from our sermon and ABC class.

Our sermon series is:  Illusion:  The Devil's Deceptions Revealed.  Today's topic-Stress

Stress affects us mentally, physically, spiritually.  Two illusions of stress is that all stress is bad and there is nothing you can do about stress.  There is good stress (eustress).  It is the zone where stress causes good performance.  Too little and we slack, too much and we get distressed.

Background:  Paul is in Caesar's jail, which was like maximum security prison.  He was waiting for his trial to be in front of Emperor Nero.  Paul was under stress.  The Philippian's at this time were not under stress.  They were experiencing an economic boom, there was lots of agriculture, they were living the easy life.  Why would Paul want to write them a letter about stress?  Because a day would come and they would be stressed.

Seven stress relievers from Philippians 4:

1.  It begins with attitude.  "Rejoice".  It is a command--it is about perspective.  We could lose everything here on earth, but we still have the Lord--and eternal life.  Rejoice is also present tense in the greek language--rejoice right now.  In the greek, rejoice is plural--it is like us saying "y'all rejoice". 
2.  Slow down.  Let your gentleness be evident (in the NIV 1984 it does say gentleness).  Pastor had us touch our eye.  He noted that nobody went at it full force, but did it gently.  The faster we go, the less gentle we become.  I do like the word reasonableness in ESV.
3.  Pray.  That is the antidote for stress.  Prayer is a gift from God.  "Present" our requests to God.  In ABC the illustration was about re-gifting--present.
4.  Take control of your thoughts.  "guard your hearts and minds"  Guard-phroureo-a detachment of Roman soldiers.  The Philippians had soldiers stationed around the city.  They felt safe.  Be in God's Word.
5.  Solve problems, don't marinate in them.  In verse 8-9 Paul list's some gifts:  whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, praiseworthy...think about such things.  It was brought to my attention that this list is not stress free.  In our culture standing up for truth can be stressful.  Living a pure lifestyle goes against our cultural beliefs.  Who are we going to stand up before on the final judgment day?  The world or God?  (uhmm....that would be God).
6.  Practice contentment.  The Philippian's were people who cared and prayed for Paul.  V18 states that he received the gifts they sent and was amply supplied.  When I am stressed, is there someone who helps?  Yes,  my husband, my sister, my friends, my church family, even counselors if need be.
7.  I belong to God.  I need Christ's strength.  There is this philosophy called Stoic Philosophy that people believe "I can do it on my own".  Been there, done that.  It never ends up pretty.

Philippians 4:13 I can do everything through Him who gives me strength. 

Philippians 4:19  And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

Already on Psalm 139 and Other Things

Psalm 139

1  O Lord, You have searched me and You know me
    {most literal translation: You have searched me and you know.}
2  You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar. (about those thoughts from afar Lord....)
3  You discern my going out and my lying down; You are familiar with all my ways.  (help me change those all too familiar ways that are not pleasing to You)
4  Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord.  (put a guard on my mouth Lord--even my tone of voice)
5  You hem me in--behind and before; You have laid your hand upon me.  (so comforting)
6  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.  (I would mess it up)
13  For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother's womb.
14  I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully (unique) made; Your works are wonderful,
I know that full well  {ESV version says 'My soul knows it very well'--I love that}

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am currently writing out Psalm 139.  I cannot believe that I will probably finish writing out the Psalms within the next month.  I started this journey last May and it has been a wonderful experience.  I am kind of sad to see it that it is coming to an end, but am looking forward to whatever else God has in store for me to do.  I have been thinking of possibly writing out/memorizing Philippians.  I have been a little lacking in the joy department lately.

I am facilitating an evening women's Bible study at church.  It just started this past Thursday and it is a new experience for me.  There are about 18 ladies who are going to join me for the next 6 weeks as we study Jonah--Navigating a Life Interrupted by Priscilla Shirer.  On our first evening (which was just 2 evenings ago), we didn't break up into small groups (we will next week), so I had the ladies introduce themselves and say a little about themselves or any thoughts on the video we had just watched.  I think it helped to bring about a spirit of being sisters in Christ.

Lisa and Katie are already in the last quarter of the school year.  I cannot believe how fast this year has gone.  I told Mike the other day that we are in a "sweet spot" with the girls.  They are old enough to stay home by themselves for short periods of time and we don't have to worry about them driving off or any of their friends driving on over.

We are giving them a little bit more responsibility and teaching them how to do stuff for themselves--stuff they will need to know how to do when they go to college.  Mike is better at that than me.  I know they need to learn by doing this stuff, sometimes it is easier to just do it myself-- it is something I am learning along the way--giving up control.

What difference does it make how the dishes are loaded in the dishwasher or how the towels are folded or any number of ways I am set in my ways?

Will they remember a nagging mom or will they remember an encouraging one?
Will they remember a mom who kept a spotless house or embraced a warm home?
Will they remember a mom who loved their daddy?
Will they remember a mom who loved Jesus?


Mike continues to adjust to "retirement" without any problems.  He also has A's in his two classes he is taking (advanced A&P and Law & Ethics).  Next will be advanced pharmacotherapeutics.
First he will have to learn how to spell it.  :-)  

We Are Smart Like That

We have been talking about putting granite counter tops in our kitchen and the girls bathroom for about 5 years.  That would be since we moved here.  We never really made any effort to do it but always said before we move again we would for sure do that to make the house more appealing for a potential buyer.  Why would we want to live in a place that was appealing to us?  Kidding--I love my home.
So Mike quit his job and we got the brilliant idea to move forward with plans for granite counter tops.

We are smart like that.

Kitchen before



Kitchen after

We saw this fluorescent green sign on the side of the road that said "Granite liquidation sale, free estimate".  Mike called that number and we arranged to have this complete stranger come into our home and give us an estimate.

 We are smart like that :-).

We were pleasantly surprised by the estimate and so we asked the counter top dude for references--because Mike is smart like that. (I don't think I would have thought about that).  The reference panned out and we were going for it!



Girls bathroom before



Girls bathroom after

The whole process was really good--except the job was delayed a week, the workers were not punctual and a slight plumbing issue (which was totally on our end).   Mike had to get on Craigslist on Saturday and find a plumber that could come out immediately if not sooner.  We were hosting our small group at our house for dinner and Bible study at 5 pm and had no working sink in the kitchen or the girls bathroom. 
The fun part was that the plumber was at our house from about 5:30 to 9 pm.  Then he had to come back on Sunday after church to finish it up.  He told us how nice it was to here us talking about the Bible and sharing our lives with one another.  We got to talk about Jesus with him found out he was a faithful believer and loves to help the poor. 

We got our master bath counter top done the following week.  It looked great.  The walls, however, clashed with it.  So I went out to the garage and found the gallon of leftover paint from our master bedroom and voila--looks great.  I took pictures with my phone and have not figured out how to upload them to the computer--because I am smart like that.



Delighting in God

Psalm 37:4  Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Delight yourself. 

In our society that means to do what makes you feel good, indulge yourself, do not deny yourself, get what you want.

But what does it mean to God?

Delight yourself- (Hebrew word Pa'ar)-beautify, adorn, embellish, give honor, boast

Boast in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. 

Does that mean if I say "God you are awesome and I desire a new car" that He will give it to me?

Hardly.

What if delighting myself in the Lord means changing what I desire to be aligned with what He desires for me?  What if delighting myself in the Lord means wanting what He wants for me, even when it may not be something I really want at the time.   What if I trust that He knows what is best for me and honored Him with that?

In the past I really wanted to be a flight nurse.  That was my goal since nursing school and I worked hard to get the experience and the credentials needed to do that.  My prayer was always "God if this is not your will, please take the desire away."  My desire grew and grew. I had everything I needed to fulfill my goal.  I had studied for the test, had doctor references and they were hiring.

Then came our darkest hour.  I was at a crossroad and knew it.  Marriage/Family or Career/Flight Nurse.  The decision was not hard to make.  In an instant I knew it was my marriage and family.  A few months later I saw one of the flight nurses I used to work with in the ED and she said that they had hired 9 nurses and had been looking for me.  I went home and cried.  Partly because of the dream that was gone, but mainly because I knew I had made the right decision.   I would not have changed my decision if I had the choice again.

 I wish we never had to go through what we did, but honestly, it may have been the only thing that made me get what God's definition of "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart" means.

Because my hearts desire is exactly what God has graciously and mercifully given us--a marriage built on the foundation of Jesus Christ. 

We honor You, Jesus.

Waiting on God

We know many people who are waiting on God for direction, for clear answers to questions, for things to happen. We know 2 couples waiting for their adopted babies to enter into their homes; a friend whose mom just entered hospice; a friend whose prayer is for clear direction on private vs public school for their children; another friend who needs clear direction on whether to home school or continue private school education for their 4 children; a friend whose daughter married a Muslim whom they are witnessing to.

Waiting for marriages to mend, children to return to the Lord, healing from sickness, jobs and the list goes on and on.


I have waited in the past for my husband to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. For 12 years I prayed for him. For 7 of those years he was on a prayer list at church. Then I got tired of waiting and decided God's answer was no, even though that was not His answer.  Hardest lesson EVER. We were married 10 years and it seemed like God's answer was no. But the issue was not that He was saying no to my prayer for Mike to come to know Him and be saved.  The issue was also my heart.

He had to change my heart. He had to humble me. I had some pride and unbelief that had to be removed and dealt with.

He had to change me.

He had to change me.

It was in His timing, using what He knew would change both of us. And it hurt. It pains me to think of it. It also keeps me humble. One lesson I learned (of the many) was that it is much better to humble myself before God humbles me.  I NEVER want to repeat what we went through. I would rather die than go through that again.

Waiting on God.

Why is it I forget that He is in control? Do I forget this when I want control?

Why is it I forget that He is omnipotent? Do I forget this when I think He doesn't know me?

Why is it I forget that He not only wants what is best for me, but He knows what is best for me? Do I forget this when I think I know myself better than anybody else--my sinful self?

Waiting on God.
Wait-(verb)-to remain inactive or in a state of repose until something expected happens; to be available or in readiness; to postpone; to look forward to eagerly.  (From dictionary.com)

Wait-(Hebrew) Qavah- literally means to bind together like a cord or twisted rope--think woven together; it also means to wait, to hope, to expect, look patiently.  (From Hebrew dictionary)

 How do we wait for the Lord in obedience and patience?

 Why should we wait?

What happens when we take matters into our own hands?

Lamentations 3:24-25 I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him." The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him.

Psalm 37:7  Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him...

Something cool I just picked up from Psalm 37 is that verse 4 says to "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart"  verse 5 says "Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this..."  We have to delight ourselves in the Lord while we are waiting patiently.

What does that mean?


To be continued....

The Best Birthday

I had the best birthday.

I woke up at my normal 4:30 am to get ready for work and leave at 5:00, but before I could get out the door, my husband dragged himself out of the warmth and comfort of bed and gave me a card.  It was so sweet.  I got a call from one of my dearest friends who lives in St Louis and we got to catch up before she had to go to work.  My co-workers brought me fruit--which was cool since I have been doing this whole 30 eating progam since January 1.   I received a text from dad and one from my friend Deb, a call from Cindy and Jenni, had lunch w/ my girlfriends Amy and Lisa, then we had some friends over for dinner who are in the final phases of their adoption process of their little girl from China.  It was a wonderful day.

I am so thankful for this past year.  God has faithfully heard our prayers and continues to grow us.  Sometimes the growth is hard--actually most of the time it is hard.  He is in the market to refine me and I want Him to do that. 

Some areas of growth for this year include: 
To be filled with laughter and joy. 
     Psalm 126:2  Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy.

To work on keeping a lose grip on "things" here on earth.
     2 Corinthians 4:17-18  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Also a few things from Psalm 119:33-37
   -Teach me, O Lord, to follow your decrees
   -Give me understanding
   -Direct me in the path of your commands
   -Turn my heart toward your statutes
   -Turn my eyes away from worthless things.

41.  Bring it on.  Gently though...there are some new aches and pains.  :-)

Catch Up

Random things happening around here:

-Lisa is going to get inducted into the National Junior Honor Society.  I cannot tell you how proud of her we are.  The thought of NJHS never crossed my mind.  Ever.  Probably because I was never in it.  Also because as of this writing she has a 75 in Literature.  Talk about motivation--this has lit a fire in the girl to bring that grade up.  She has A's pretty much in everything else, so I know she can bring it up and not be put on academic probation right out of the gate.

-NJHS has also motivated Katie to stay strong in her studies so she can be invited to be in it next year.  She has all A's except for one F.  In band.  Yes, band.  She has a 37 in it.  How in the world???  She has forgotten her trumpet a couple of times and practicing is not her idea of a good time in the evenings.  We have made some subtle changes to her evening plans and are now are all having a good time when she practices :-)

-Mike's last day with Wellmed was this past Tuesday.  He is adjusting easily to this lifestyle change.  He got up on Wednesday and ran 13.4 miles.  Basically a half marathon.  Plus he did the laundry and made dinner.  If I ran 13.4 miles I would not be able to do anything else that day.  I know that because I have ran 2 half marathons and could barely walk that afternoon, much less do laundry and make dinner.  What a guy!!

-Besides running half marathons,  Mike can also concentrate on school and work home health whenever.

-Katie's basketball team made it to the playoffs.  We were quite surprised by that development, but here we are going on to the second round tonight.  If they win (at 8 pm--that is very close to my bedtime), they play the championship game tomorrow morning at 9.  Two of their strongest players are not playing tonight, so I am thinking we probably will have our morning free. 

-We have been going through a strange season lately, one that will require a post all of its own.  It has been an extremely painful season but one that God has been so faithful in and comforting beyond words.  We have learned so much about the power of a controlling individual.  What makes it all the more challenging is when it is a fellow Christian.  I am barely coming out of this and am processing emotions and trying to see what God wants me to do, if anything besides prayer at this time.
 He is so faithful in his Word;  where I am at in writing out the Psalms--timely;  so comforting w/ random texts being sent to me with a meaningful scripture; a sermon at church that was just for me---It all feels like God's arms wrapped around me.  I cherish this.  I don't want to forget.  Reminds me of Joshua when he put up 12 stones so the Israelites would remember and tell their children what the stones meant.  Joshua 4:24 He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God.

May God Bless Us

May God bless us with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships
                   - so that we may live deep within our hearts.

 May God bless us with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people
                   - so that we may work for justice, freedom, and peace.

 May God bless us with tears to shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger, and war
                   - so that we may reach out our hand to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy.

 And May God bless us with enough foolishness to believe that we can make a difference in the world         - so that we can do what others claim cannot be done, to bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor.
 Amen.
                                                   (Franciscan Benediction)

Happy New Year

Today is the last day of 2012.

It has been a good year.  It had its ups and down, good times and bad times.  Lots of laughter and some tears. Through it all, every single day, God's hand was guiding us, leading us, protecting us.  I trust in Him as we enter this new year of 2013.

**warning--the next paragraph or two is political---I never get political, but it has been weighing heavily on my heart. 

We sit here, so to speak, on the edge of a fiscal cliff that our elected officials are supposed to compromise on today....or else.....who knows...something about an increase in taxes.  What is disheartening to me is what the United States has become.  Millions of people who think it is perfectly fine to kill unborn children in the name of "reproductive rights", to take from those who have worked hard and are wealthy and "redistribute" their wealth to others, for men to marry men and women to marry women and then call those who say it is immoral intolerant.

I could sit here and worry about our financial future, the future of my children and get myself all worked up, OR I can put my trust in God. 

2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

I will take this verse and apply to me, to my family.  I will, with the help of God, humble myself and keep pride far away.  We will teach our children humility, to be hard workers, to be trustworthy, to lean on God, to pray for those with authority over us, but to remain strong and firm in our biblical view of the world.  To hold God's decrees and mandates over man's.  To persevere.  To love our enemies.

Moving on.  The other night Mike found the DVD of Lisa and Katie from ages 2 months until Lisa was 4 years and Katie was 2 years (but she claimed she was 6 on the DVD).  A few years ago we mailed off the cassette tape that we recorded on and the people transferred it into a DVD---however, we never watched it.  Pitiful, I know.  What is more pitiful is that I have not been video taping anything.  Nothing.  Nada.  Zip.  Zero.  Zilch for the last 8 years.

It is not too late, except now my children do not want to be taped--but I will persevere.... and they will be sorry 10 years from now when we are laughing at their pre-teen attitudes.  (insert evil laugh...)

We laughed so hard watching that video of them interacting with Mike and then each other.  I may have shed a tear or two.   I had forgotten so much about them as babies.  They were adorable and hysterical.  Not only that, but because they went to Tiny Tots at Concordia, some of their friends are on the video too.  They had a Christmas program called "A Tale of Three Trees" and they were so cute.  Lisa was a woodcutter (she did not want to be that because she had to dress in jeans and a button down boys shirt) and Katie was a little sheep.  She cried but she stayed on stage (she was about 20 months old). 

My one and only goal for 2013 is to video tape my family and take more pictures.  That is it.  Why put added pressure on myself????

I just have to add that I am currently writing Psalm 119 and it is RICH.  There are a few things I never caught just reading it.  For example, there is repetition of two thoughts throughout the entire psalm:  Teach me your decrees and preserve my life (according to your word, righteousness, love, work).  I have marked up this Psalm so much and I am only on verse 57.

Psalm 119 is such a wonderful psalm to enter 2013 with. 

I challenge you to write out Psalm 119 and see what you learn.

Merry Christmas

We saw this video in church a couple of weeks ago and it is AWESOME.

I have been writing out the Psalms since May and have been so amazed at God's timing over and over again in writing out a certain Psalm and it pertaining to my life or somebody I know who needed to hear a word at that time.  God's word is living and active (Hebrews 4:12).

I just finished Psalm 111 this morning.  Starting at verse 5b "He remembers His covenant forever."  (Thank you Lord).  7 "The works of His hands are faithful and just; all His precepts are trustworthy.  8 They are steadfast forever and ever, done in faithfulness and uprightness.  9 He provided redemption for His people; He ordained His covenant forever---holy and awesome is His name" (And...Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace [Isaiah 9:6].  10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow His precepts have good understanding.  To Him belongs eternal praise."

This has helped me to prepare my heart this Christmas season as I meet Him at the manger.

Merry Christmas.

A Thought

  On Friday after school I told the girls about the shooting because they would be hearing about it on the radio or seeing it on the internet almost immediately.  Lisa was visibly shaken and after a long pause she said "Mom, this is the worst day for their parents, but it is the best day for those little children who are in heaven."

The following I got from Facebook, for some reason it wouldn't allow me to share it on our timeline, but I
thought it was very powerful.  It reminded me of what Lisa was talking about.

Twas' 11 days before Christmas, around 9:38 when 20 beautiful children stormed through heaven's gate. Their smiles were contagious, their laughter filled the air. They could hardly believe all the beauty they saw there. They were filled with such joy; they didn't know what to say. They remembered nothing of what had happened earlier that day. “where are we?" asked a little girl, as quiet as a mouse. “This is heaven" declared a small boy. "We’re spending Christmas at God's house”. When what to their wondering eyes did appear, but Jesus, their savior, the children gathered near. He looked at them and smiled, and they smiled just the same. Then He opened His arms and He called them by name. And in that moment was joy, that only heaven can bring those children all flew into the arms of their King and as they lingered in the warmth of His embrace, one small girl turned and looked at Jesus' face. And as if He could read all the questions she had He gently whispered to her, "I'll take care of mom and dad. “then He looked down on earth, the world far below He saw all of the hurt, the sorrow, and woe, then He closed His eyes and He outstretched His hand, “Let My power and presence re-enter this land! “May this country be delivered from the hands of fools” “I’m taking back my nation. I'm taking back my schools! “Then He and the children stood up without a sound. “Come now my children let me show you around. “Excitement filled the space, some skipped and some ran. All displaying enthusiasm that only a small child can. And I heard Him proclaim as He walked out of sight, “in the midst of this darkness,” I AM STILL THE LIGHT."