Day before race day

Today Cindy and I took the girls and headed to the Alamodome to get our race packs for tomorrow's race. We are running the relay. I was so thrilled to get the packet and the cute little baton which is actually a drum stick. It is light and can fit down the back of your sports bra if you are so inclined to put it there. I may. Or I may not.

I will take the first leg of the race and to tell the truth, I do not feel ready. I am bloated and do not feel energetic. The last part could be because I sat in the hot tub with Mike and have taken a melatonin to get a good nights sleep.

While at the expo, Cindy and I got a chance to shop a little and to laugh a lot. At one point I am on my cell phone with Melody and Cindy is mouthing to me "What did I do with my phone?" I look to make sure I am not using her phone and see that she has something that looks suspiciously like a cell phone in her hand, her cell phone. Yes, she was holding it asking where it was. We laughed so hard. It is typical what happens to us at least one time when we are together. :-)

Lisa and Katie were very playful with each other today (to the point of picking on each other) and this evening Lisa came up and said, "Katie is really getting on top of my fingernails today." I am pretty sure she meant that Katie was getting under her skin today. :-)

Yesterday the girls were playing outside and Katie went to rest. Lisa said "Katie come back and play." Katie replied, "I have some bodily aches right now Lisa." :-)

Cindy, Melody, Lisa and Katie

A special service

November 7 was mom's one year heavenly birthday. I cannot believe how fast this year has gone. It seems just like yesterday we were sitting at her bedside, laughing, talking, praying.

Mike was on team for the Men's STARS retreat again this year. Dad went, Gary Williams went, among a couple of other close friends. If you have never been on a retreat before, then I ask that you do not read any further.

Mom died last year on the day of Candlelight service for the men's retreat. It was incredibly special to think that she received the ultimate Candlelight service on that day and I will forever be touched by this service. This year we had Grandmother Wells there for dad, Cindy came, Mike was there, Lisa and Katie of course. Sheila came for Gary, Rhonda came for her husband Don, Crystal came for her husband John. Plus, my church family. The people I love the most in the world were there. It was such a gift from God.

I have much more to talk about...I am not working right now, our other house has a contract on it (praise the Lord) and how big Lisa and Katie are getting. But it will have to wait for another time. Getting ready to go on a date with Mike--yeah!! And the relay 1/2 marathon is this Sunday. Lots going on.

Catch up

I cannot believe that October is almost over.

It has been a very busy month.

October 4 was dad's birthday. He is going on the men's STARS retreat the first weekend of November (it is the opening of deer season--but he is still going--reluctantly).

October 6 was Mike's 43rd birthday. In the new bible (NASB Greek/Hebrew Study Bible) I gave him I put for his 44th birthday. I guess I am a year ahead of myself:-) Not that he looks older that 43!! Because he doesn't. Really. He looks no older than 40. I better keep going.

October 8 Pastor Jaeger passed away. He was my patient. I wanted to quit doing hospice prior to him coming onto our hospice services. He was discharged from Vitas and still met the criteria for hospice under another diagnosis, so we took him and I became his nurse. I didn't want to quit while he was still with us. I didn't think it would be as hard as it was, but I became really hard on myself. As he deteriorated in condition I would question my nursing skills. My head knowledge told me everything was going the way it was supposed to, but my heart was not. They were too close. It was almost like taking care of family.

October 14-17 was the women's STARS retreat. I was on team again and got to be the nurse and a table leader. It was an incredibly busy time, but at least I didn't have to spend the night in the ER like the last retreat. However, we did have a lot of issues needing medical attention. I felt like a nurse the entire retreat. I was even calling them my patients instead of retreatants. It was fun to serve again and I did get a couple of moments that were appointments by God. One was with my friend Crystal and the other was my friend Scarlet's (who passed away in June) mother-in-law, Yvonne. God is in the details.

October 18 was Katie's birthday. My little 9 year old. She got a new little fish aquarium for her room and her beta fish "Lucky" proceeded to die in it 2 days later. He was named "Lucky" because Katie got him from Wal-Mart. She saved his little life because Wal-Mart really does not care about the "pet" department. Note to self: Do not get anymore fish from Wal-Mart.

October 21 was our 13th wedding anniversary. We have not done anything special for it yet, but I am so thankful for another year with this man (who is 43 not 44). Pastor and Mrs Jaeger celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary in June and it was so impressed upon my heart and so special. I told Mike that we have 13 down, 48 to go!!

I am training for the relay half marathon. I will run 7.7 miles and Cindy is going to run 5.4 miles. Maybe "run" is a bit of an exaggeration. Perhaps jog would be a better word. Walk-really-fast maybe?? Really I have been training. My goal is to run my part in 1 hour 15 minutes at the most.

My last day at this hospice job is October 28. That is this coming Thursday. I do not have another job lined up at this point. I felt peace about our decision when I gave my notice. Funny thing is our friend Gary Williams had given his notice at the funeral home he was working at for the same day, October 28. I think God wanted me in hospice for a season. I don't know where He wants me now. But I plan to slow down, be still and wait for God to lead me. I pray I do not get worried and anxious but to have clear understanding where I am to be.

September Already

I cannot believe how fast time is going this year. School is now in full swing. BSF starts very soon and I will be a group leader in October after the STARS retreat.

Lisa has started 4th grade with Mrs. Moody. Mrs Moody was also Cindy's 4th grade teacher many, many years ago. It is really neat to think that Cindy and Lisa had the same teacher!

Katie is in the 3rd grade and has Mrs. Fincke. We already love and adore her from last year.

I am still doing hospice. I am going through a tough time right now. I love the philosophy of hospice, I am just not too sure I like to company I am working for. The communication is poor and I find myself stressed out more than I should be. I like most of the nurses I work with and I really respect our medical director. I am very fond of my patients...some of the family members are very selfish. A couple of the families want the family member to die so they can sell their stuff and get money. It just makes my heart sick.

Mike is still with Gentiva. He absolutely loves his job. He is very good at what he does. His patients love him. He gives safe patient care and is so competent at what he does.

Sometimes I think of when we go to heaven and everything will be perfect. No more need for doctors, nurses, police officers, lawyers. What a world that will be.

I have thought about what I want to do in heaven:

*worship God by playing the piano fluently

*worship God by gardening

*worship God by cooking for the banquet

*worship God singing with a beautiful voice

*worship God by dancing like a ballerina

My Wedding Dress

My sweet friend Sheila Williams is doing something so touching and special, that maybe one day I will do it too. She just started this over the summer with her daughter-in-law. They knit baby blankets for the babies in the NICU. They are called Kangaroo Blankets. It is so the baby and the mom/dad can have skin to skin contact. The babies seem to respond and get better faster.

Another neat ministry she is doing, called Threads of Love, is much more heart wrenching. It is to sew outfits for the tiny pre-mature babies who die. Many of them do not fit into anything for their burial. She told me that women donate their wedding dresses for the cause. So that is what I did. I did not get my wedding dress heir loomed like most do. It was tucked away in my closet. It was fun to try it on one last time--there were no photos for this!! I am not the size I was back then, but at least I could get it zipped.

It was fun to let the girls put it on. They had a blast.

Here is Katie in her momma's wedding dress.




And here is Lisa.
It was so much fun to see my girls wearing my dress.



I bought that dress for $200.00 at Bride's Mart back in 1997. It is a cream-colored dress that was perfect for an island wedding. It fit almost perfectly except the length. The funny thing is that when I went to put it on for our wedding, it still had that "do not steal from the store" alarm thingy in it. I wonder if the lady who altered my dress thought I stole it.


Our wedding was anything but perfect, and so has been our marriage. God has performed mighty miracles in our lives and I am so thankful for this man whom God gave to be my husband.



Mike and I on our wedding day (we look so young--I was 25 and Mike was 29)
October 21, 1997
St Thomas, USVI.



This is my very favorite picture from our wedding.

It was not hard to want to donate my dress. My prayer for Lisa and Katie is that they get to wear white dresses for their wedding, that they do not conform to the world or follow their "hearts". That they remain pure until their wedding night.

Create in them a pure heart, O God, and let that purity of heart be shown in their actions. (Psalm 51:10)

Jury Duty and a good book

On Monday I had to go fulfill my civic duty. Of course I really didn't WANT to, but after getting there, it was not so bad.
I was potential juror #15. It was in civil court over a custody battle between a mother and a father who both claimed to love their elementary age boys. Neither parent had major issues, one may have had a bout with depression and the other was wealthy. The attorney asked me my opinion after hearing everybody else give theirs. I thought how selfish this mom and dad were being. I essentially said that and needless to say, they did not pick me.

I lost my parking ticket while fulfilling my civic duty and had to fork over $16. I could not believe that. I would have only had to pay $8 for all day parking. I know I lost it when I had to empty my pockets to get into the justice center. I cried. I just did. Crying did not make me feel any better, and knowing I get $6 for the day did not help. It is robbery--I bet the parking lot attendant makes minimum wage, plus it is not like the whole parking lot was empty (or full). The person/people/city are making money on parking. To have to pay DOUBLE--that is insane.

OK, enough of that.

I am reading a wonderful book by the president of World Vision called "The Hole in our Gospel." I am only half way through, but it is humbling and inspiring. Richard Stearns talks about his own journey from a corporate CEO to the CEO of World Vision. He talks about how in America we have a shallow and diminished view of the world and poverty and advancing the kingdom of God. That is so true, as I sit here behind a computer in an air conditioned home with running water and electricity and a refrigerator full of food and a closet full of clothes.

I think it is going to boil down to this- obedience to God. After all, is not obeying God the way to tell if we really know God?

Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. 1 John 2:6

We do sponsor 2 little girls in Honduras through World Vision, help the homeless here in San Antonio, and also do "microfinancing" through Kiva, but it is not enough and we can do more.

Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality, as it is written: "He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little." 2 Corinthians 8:13-15

There is a quote from John MacArthur in this book: "The true gospel is a call to self-denial. It is not a call to self-fulfillment."

Learning about God's faithfulness

The summer has gone by so fast. Tomorrow we go get registered for school. It already starts in two weeks.

Today we came home from our "one last hoo-rah" before school starts.

We went to the coast for a short get-away. It could've been shorter as far as I am concerned. It started with a stinky RV--whoever used it last didn't empty the sewer line, so Mike came to the rescue and emptied it at 1:00 in the morning (my hero). I don't know if that had anything to do with the roaches in there this time. I HATE roaches. Can't stand the little suckers. They freak me out. Then the flip flops I wore rubbed my feet the wrong way and I had two sores on the tops of my feet. Good times.

But I must say, the beach was clean and the girls had a blast. Yesterday I got a free coffee from the restaurant we got our food to go from. That is always fun. The air conditioner was working in the RV. We are home now and that is good.

This morning I got to have my quiet time on the beach and God really showed me how faithful He has been in my life. The song on Pandora was "It is Well With My Soul" and I turned in my journal to two years ago in August when we had mom at the coast with us. That is when she fell and fractured her hip and everything seemed to go downhill from there.

In light of the uncertainty and moments of wondering if we were doing the right thing, God was there carrying me through those times. He was reaching for Cindy, He was showing me how to love my mom in her state of dementia, He was teaching me patience with Lisa and Katie and mom. He was showing me what kind of husband He has given me. Most important, that He loved my mom.

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
2 Corinthians 9:8