Merry Christmas

Now I know why my parents would send us kids to Mamaw and Papaw's house and then go back home to chill. A house without screaming children is pretty darn peaceful. 

Paul and Anna have been in a rare form this week. I am blaming all the sugar that they seem to be getting at school. Or maybe I should blame the excitement of Christmas. Or, well, lets be honest, when it is cold outside and it gets dark so early there is not enough inside play to burn off the amount of energy a 8yr old and a 5 year old have. I blame the weather and the sun.

Either way, they have been nuts. Just ask our friend Tyler. He stopped by last night after work and, I kid you not, as soon as he walked in the door Paul jumped on his back and Anna started attacking him from the front. And of course the dog joined in on the fun.  It was a mad house. A MAD HOUSE.

This morning after sending the kids off to school I curled up in the fetal position in the middle of the living room floor. It felt nice blocking out, for just a split second, all the stuff that needs to be done before the children start arriving back home at 2pm.

My 3rd semester as a full time Grad student has come to an end and I am beyond giddy. I managed to finish the semester strong, unlike last semester in which I cried myself to sleep nightly and daily threatened to quit. I guess you could say that I am getting the hang of feeling overwhelmed and pushing through? 

I don't know. . . maybe not. 

I did call Roger just about every Monday at lunch crying. The call usually consisted of me telling him how stupid I was and how hard it is to be me. I get VERY dramatic, can you tell?

Anyway, the semester is over, I am giddy, the children are crazy, and Roger, like most ministers around this time, is super busy. It makes for very interesting days.

And for the heck of it, because I like sharing pictures, here is a photo of Anna and Paul playing dress up.  The back story: we decided that Roger was working too late and needed to come home so the kids dressed up and I drove them over to the church. I let them loose in the building to go find their dad, scare him, and kidnap him. 

  So I guess this post is random and has no point . . .  MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Let Everyone Be Himself

A church member pointed this children's poem out to me. It comes from the book Peace on Earth: A Christmas Collection which was put together by Mary Engelbreit. The poem is written by James Freeman Clarke. 

Let everyone be himself, not try to be someone else. God, who looked on the world He had made and said it was all good, made each of us to be just what our own gifts and faculties fit us to be. Be that and do that and so be contented. Reverence, also, each other's gifts; do not quarrel with me because I am not you, and I will do the same. God made your brother as well as yourself.

He made you, perhaps, to be bright; he made him slow; he made you practical; he made him speculative; he made one strong and another weak, one tough and another tender; but the same God made us all. Let us not torment each other because we are not all alike, but believe that God knew best what he was doing in making us so different. So will the best harmony come out of seeming discords, the best affection out of differences, the best life out of struggle, and the best work will be done when each does his own work, and lets everyone else do and be what God made for him.

Paul's Writing Assignment

Paul had an assignment in the 1st grade to write about his mom's hands. 

I guess it somehow got lost because his 2nd grade teacher sent home some papers that his 1st grade teacher had found.

As you might imagine, as I read his little writing my breath was taken away.  

What a sweet boy we have! 

I remember my mom's hands holding mine as we jumped off the diving board.

We walked on the bottom of the deep end.

It was like walking on the moon.

I remember my mom's hands on my shoulder. 

I looked at the body of my grandpa Levi.

He died.

Tears came down my cheek.

I remember my mom's hands buy me minecraft.

Which I wanted so bad.

She made me happy.

The simple day to day things, those are what mean the most to your children.

Those are the things that they hold dear.

May we never forget that.

  

The Body of Christ: His Church

When I most need it, I run away from it.

Monday I tried to run away. I feared it.

But in the end, I went.

I sat in the back, trying to be alone, but no matter how far back I went I was still amongst them.

It has a way of doing that.

That's why during times like this, I run.

But this time was different, I didn't run. This time I leaned into it.

As I walked down to recieve communion by intinction I felt an arm wrap around me. A fellow Christian reaching out, consoling me, acknowledging that it was okay, in this place, at this time, to grieve, to seek comfort in the community of believers. 

As I took the bread, dipped it into the cup, placed it within my mouth, I was filled. 

God was with me.

His body was surrounding me.

The tears that flowed were not of sadness, but of gratitude. Even at such a time as this I can find rest.




 

A Sunday Afternoon Ambulance Ride

Hello Everyone!

Because I don't want anyone to worry I will quickly update you on what is going on.

Monday I wasn't feeling well after my 1st class so I decided to skip out on the rest o the school day and head home early.

Tuesday I woke up peeing a little bit of blood, but by the end of the day I was peeing a LOT of bright red blood and was begged by my husband to do to urgent care.

At urgent care I was diagnosed with a Kidney Infection.

Being that I had no other symptoms besides the blood in my urine, they wanted to later check for kidney cancer.  Just a precaution.

Starting Thursday I begin to have mild discomfort in my upper abdomen.

By Sunday afternoon the mild discomfort began to turn into pain. The pain started in the middle of my chest and radiated up through my left side and left arm.

By 4:30pm I could take it no longer so I headed to Urgent Care.  I figured it was either a gallbladder attack, very bad indigestion, or a possible side effect of the medicine.

While at Urgent Care I was so uncomfortable with the chest pain that I started to break out in a sweat. When the doctor walked in the exam room I tried by best to explain my symptoms. At that point it was hurting so bad that I could no longer hold back the tears of stress.

Once the Doctor say my medical history they gave me an aspirin, hooked me up to a monitor and oxygen, and called the ambulance.

I refused the ambulance, saying that I would drive myself to the ER, but they were insistent that I did not drive.

So I had them call my husband to come pick me up.
Roger arrived with the kids in tow.  

The doctors were still insistent that I take the ambulance.  So, In the end I took the ambulance and felt like a total idiot. I just KNEW it had nothing to do with my heart but whenever people see my heart history, on top of me having chest pain, they freak out. 

Once in the ER I refused all medical tests involving my heart. As I signed the papers saying that I would not sue the hospital if I indeed died of a heart attack, I explained to the doctors and RNs that it WAS something in my stomach area.

Little Anna refused to get near me, while Paul stood in the corner praying. I could see that this whole ordeal was upsetting the kids so I asked Roger try to find someone to come get them.

Our good friend Carla, who has 2 children of her own, got our kids and our house key.  She fed them dinner, took our dog out to pee, grabbed all the stuff that the kids would need for school the next day, and took them to her house.  Such a BIG help!

After a million tests the verdict was . . . "We don't know why you are hurting, but here is a prescription for some antacids."

Damn it.

That was the WHOLE reason I went to urgent care.  I knew I probably had something simple like that.  Since I was already in the ER I requested an ultra sound on my aorta, kidneys and gallbladder. That seems to be all ruled out so I am feeling mentally MUCH better.

Well, minus the bill from the ambulance and the ER.

Laughter.

 A few days ago Roger and I had our first real fight in a while. I honestly have no clue what it was even about. I do however remember the tension that was in the car as we drove the kids to school.

Oh wait, now I know what the fight was about!  

It was about something incredibly stupid. 

You'll laugh when I tell you.

Roger, who was driving at the time, was taking a different route than I usually take and was trying to tell me that it is quicker. I was telling him that he was a "Mr Know it all" and to stop, "my route is faster."  That spiraled into one of those crazy random marital spats that inevitably bring up past mistakes and end with that odd tension in the air.

Once the kids were dropped off we headed to the fitness center. Roger, having put the car in park, placed my water bottle on the seat next to me. Being that it didn't have a lid on it and that I had no clue he was putting it there, the water bottle tipped over, spilling water all over my butt.  

So, there I was, mad and getting ready to walk into the fitness center with a VERY wet butt.  As I was walking in, sulking, I noticed that I had at least half of the water bottle left. What did I do with it? Well, I ran up to Roger and poured it all down the front of his shirt.  

Yep.

I did.

What did Roger do?

He gave a little chuckle and said "ok. that's fair."

Right then and there we realized how insane our little marital spat was.  We apologized, giggled some more, and headed on into the fitness center.

Of course, when we got inside the people at the front desk asked why we were both so wet.

"he spelt water on me so I poured water on him."

***blank stare from behind the counter***

Why am I telling you this personal story?  

I have no clue.  

Maybe it is because I want to share the importance of being able to laugh at yourself.  Laughter is what gets me through so much. SO MUCH. 

Don't take life too serious. 

Laugh.  

Sometimes I forget that.

 Fortunately I am married to a man that NEVER forgets that. 

Yes, sometimes it is annoying, but in the end it is good.  

  I am pretty sure the key to a healthy marriage is laughter.

Yep. I am almost positive.

I know Roger and I have only been married 9 years, but all the people I know that have been happily married for a REALLY long time laugh a LOT.  

 

There MUST be something to it.

Go forth and laugh! 

Take a look at this video. I think you will really like it.

A touch of Joy

I went to class this morning unprepared for the cooler weather. Being that I live 2hrs from campus I couldn't just run home to grab something. This afternoon, with time to kill between classes, I ran (drove) to the local Goodwill in search of a sweater.

As I walked through the back door of the library I caught a glimpse of myself. Everything that I had on, literally from head to toe, was either bought at Goodwill or given to me out of the goodness of someones heart. 

My hair- Two lovely ladies at the church bought me a VERy generous gift certificate to the local salon I use. I have had free haircuts for almost a yr now, including the kids. Best Christmas present EVER.

My glasses- My Mother works for an eye doctor and gets a 2 free eyeglasses a year. The doctor, out of the goodness of his heart, gives me a free exam and my WONDERFUL Mother gives me one of her free pairs of frames.

My clothes- Goodwill finds

My umbrella - Goodwill find while we were on vacation (yes, I hunt out the goodwills in the expensive neighborhoods)

My Shoes- My Mother-In-Law knew how much I wanted Chacos, but could not afford them, so she got them for me for my 25th birthday.

My backpack- A VERY kind woman in a church was selling a backpack that she had originally gotten for her daughter, but said daughter didn't like the color. I offered to buy it off of her, for a reasonable price, but she refused to take the money, saying it was a Seminary gift.


My purse- I would say this is out of the kindness of her heart, but, in all honesty, I think my mom got tired of my carrying around crap bags so she bought me a very nice 31purse. Thanks Mom!!!

As I stood looking at my reflection, like a crazy person, I was humbled.  I am so incredbily thankful for the wonderful people that our in my life.  Joy!  Joy is what they bring me.