lazy Sunday

OK call us heathens. We skipped church today. My little girl had to stay home anyway. She has had a cough this past week and a fever on and off all weekend. She didn't need to be spreading her germs. My little drummer boy and I went to the Cardinal game last night (the Cards finally broke their loosing streak and kick some Cub b---!!). He kept me out a little too late. That boy knows that stadium better than he knows his school. I had the grand tour. He even showed me Jim Edmonds gold glove award. We stood by an outfield camera man and found seats in the bleachers right above the bull-pen. The best part was that the Cards beat the Cubs!!! We had a wonderful time. I hope little drummer boy grows up with fond memories of going to Cardinal games with his mom. I know he enjoys the games with his PawPaw too. As wonderful a night as it was....it was a late night. Needless to say it was hard to get up this morning. He actually got up and then fell back asleep in the recliner. Its hard to get one kid going when the other one gets to stay home curled up on the couch. So, we all stayed home.

About the time I started feeling guilty and missing my worship time, we saw a doe and her fawn in the yard right next to the swing set. What a wonderful, time stopping moment. I bet we watched them for about a half hour. They were nibbling from our yard and we even witnessed the fawn nursing from her mother. We haven't seen deer in our yard for awhile. It was so peaceful.

After the moments with the deer, I was lounging on the couch with my coffee, in my pj's watching an episode of HGTV's Curb Appeal listening to the sounds of little drummer boys snoring and an acapella jazz version of "Show Me Your Ways", one of our praise songs. My bass playing husband spent about a half hour going over music for our Praise band.

I still miss the fellowship and worship at First United but it is nice to have these spiritual moments at home with my family. We have so few moments at home to relax in our pj's and do nothing that maybe just maybe God planned this for us, to remind us to slow down and enjoy the simple things like a doe and her fawn, the sounds of peaceful rest and joyful music.

Great and loving God, thank you for time to worship, at church and at home, in our Sunday best and in our pj's. Amen

MaryMartha night

Tonight is one of my favorite nights of the month....It's MaryMartha night. Mary Marthas is my Presbyterian Womens group. We are just a group of moms, all different ages, who come together once a month for a lesson, treats and a short meeting. We spend a lot of time sharing our lives with our friends. We help each other with problems, we pray for each other and we play. We might go to a movie after the meeting or we might go out for a drink together. We have made some great friendships. Our fearless leader asked us to think about 3 things we can share about ourselves that nobody else knows. hahahahaha, I'm not that deep. Most people I know, know what there is to know about me. But I did come up with a few things. It wasn't easy.

1. I would love to go up in a hot air balloon someday.

2. I would love to sky-dive someday.

and last but not least.....3. I would love to be up on stage singing with Rascal Flats, Vince Gil, Chris Tomlin and especially with Darlene Zschech With Hillsongs.

I don't know how if that's really what she was looking for, like I said...I"m not that deep.

If anyone reading this wants to share three things about your self that nobody knows, please comment. It could be fun.

Driving Home

Driving home from work is usually a way for me to get my thoughts back to home. Once I am over the bridge, I try to leave work behind. Last Friday it wasn't that easy. We all had been praying for rain for so long. It finally came. But with the beauty and need for rain comes the dangers of rain. Lots of bad car accidents. About 2 hours before the end of my shift a beautiful blonde headed boy came in after a bad accident. His mother went to another hospital. His father came with him. By the time I was leaving for home it was apparent that the boy probably wouldn't survive. His mother might not either. I left home knowing my family was safely in their beds also knowing a husband and fathers life was surely about the change. I felt horribly guilty. Between the rain and the tears it was difficult driving home. I found myself yelling at cars speeding by me to slow down. They had no idea what this poor man was going through. I didn't want anyone else to have to go through it. Knowing they couldn't hear me I started yelling at God. I knew God was listening. It took me awhile to feel like I could go to bed. The hugs and kisses I give my kids when I get home from work took much longer. I didn't want to let go. It was a rough night. Saturday, I was physically and especially emotionally exhausted. It was a long tiring day. My heart was not totally into my little girls birthday party with our families. Sunday came and it felt like I was getting back to normal.

I did find out on Monday, when I went back to work that the beautiful blonde boy had died. It helps to know he is with God. How can he not be. So, pray for this family and the nurses and Drs who took care of him. I was only on the sideline but I hope my prayers for the dad have helped in some way. Driving home Monday night was much better. I was able to bring my thoughts back home.

WEDNESDAY

Yah!!! It is finally Wednesday, September 12th. PYC or Presbyterian Youth Club starts today. My little girl will be joining PYC this year. For the past several years since little drummer boy started PYC, I have been picking up my two kids as well as my niece and my friends two kids and taking them to PYC. It is the highlight of my week. I love to listen in on the conversations of these wonderful children. Sometimes they sing all the way to church. Don't get me wrong...I'm still not sure how mothers of more than two survive. But I love it. In 6th grade, my niece is now too old for PYC, so she won't be joining us anymore :( however, another one of my friends daughter will be joining us. She is also a good friend of the rest of the carpool. I am really looking forward to this afternoon. The kids are excited too. :)
Its also an exciting day for another reason. WNL or Wednesday Night Live starts tonight. The praise band...The Four Legged Lambs....that my husband and I are in, will start a new form of worship tonight. We will play and sing for the first part of the hour and then our senior pastor will start a BIble lesson. Tonight it is about Dysfunctional families. We are looking at Adam and Eve. It should be good. I will miss our intimate, just the praise band rehearsing Wednesday nights, but if we can share what we all experienced on rehearsal Wednesdays, I am all for that. Its going to be an exciting day!!!

September 5, 1998

Nine years ago today at 9:16 am a beautiful red haired baby girl was born. My little girl came quickly into our lives. I often call her my saving grace. My mother has always said..."Every mother needs a daughter". For my friends who only have sons, you will someday have daughters-in-law that hopefully will bless your lives.

My little girl is 9. That is hard to believe. She is beautiful, bright, has the most incredible giggle and knows how to make me laugh when I am angry. She also knows how to push my buttons...as my mother would also say. She has a beautiful singing voice and uses it daily..especially in the shower. This summer she has began growing and changing from a little girl into a third grader. My 6lb 12oz baby is now reading at a fifth grade level. Wow, how fast the time goes. We have gone from buying baby dolls to Nintendo DS. At least she still likes to snuggle with her mommy at bedtime. I hope she never grows out of that.

Happy 9th birthday my sweet girl. I love you more than you understand...Until you have a child of your own.

a bass guitar

A little more than two years ago I was at praise band rehearsal. Our fearless leader said something like....we sure need a bass player, If anyone knows of someone please let me know. My husband had been tinkering around with his acoustic guitar for awhile and had been playing around with little drummer boys drums. So, I went home and said something like....The praise band needs a bass guitar player. You need to learn how to play bass. He didn't say NO. After playing around with the churches bass, working with our fearless leader and starting lessons his new hobby began.

He is now a pretty great bass player if I do say so myself. As I have said before, music is a huge part of our family life and a lot of the reason for that is my husbands love of playing the bass. For 15 years or more I had been praying for a way to get my husband interested in something with church so he would be as active as the kids and I were. Little did I know it would be music and a bass guitar.

Yesterday my husband purchased a new bass. He's feeling a little guilty about spending the money. Not me, it made my heart leap for joy that he loves being a part of this praise band so much that he wanted a better instrument. He is so happy with that bass in his hands and I'm happy he is using his talent to praise God.

Sometimes we have to wait for what seems like forever for a prayer to be answered, but when that prayer is answered, it is definately worth the wait. Little did I know that the answer would be in the form of a bass guitar. Thanks be to God.

Thank Goodness

I haven't blogged in a few days. It has been a sucky week. That's the only way to describe last week. Just a few minutes before praise band rehearsal with the Four legged Lambs last Weds. my husband and I found out some pretty bad news about someone close to us in his family. Its about the worst news anyone can get. Pretty sucky. Things are still in limbo but we hope to find out more this week. On top of this bad news, my back took me out for a couple of days. Thank goodness for chiropractors and new shoes. My back is still achy but much better than last week. I was hoping for a better week this week but my husband received some bad news about a co-worker this morning. Sometimes life just sucks!!!
You would think with all this bad news I would be mad at God. However, I realized last night even before this mornings bad news that I'm not mad at God. "She" as a good friend would say, didn't make these things happen. I am angry at cigarettes, chemicals in our food, cancer and guns. I'm angry that Dr's. don't do more to get sedentary people up and moving. God is not responsible for this stuff, we are.
Thank goodness for friends and co-workers who support us, love us and pray for us even when they don't know what is really going on in our lives. Thank goodness for the blessing of a praise band who unknowingly is therapeutic through a truly dark time. Thank goodness for a Senior Pastor and an Associate Pastor who are good friends as well as our pastors. Thank goodness for parents and family who support us through everything. Thank goodness for our kids who love us even when we are crabby and short tempered for reasons they don't really know. I am going to focus on all my blessings and continue to hold onto my faith. God will get us through this. As the Tinman reminded me, not to long ago, God suffers when we suffer.
Thank "GOOD"ness!