The Confessing Lunatic

When I was a little girl, our family would go to Kentucky to visit my Dad's parents. All the little kids would sleep on the couch bed in the living room of my grandparent's house, a double wide trailer on the side of hill. My Dad, the oldest of seven children, would get up early and have coffee with one or more of his brothers. I loved waking up in my grandparent's house. Rather than get up right away, I would lay there quietly and listen. I closed my eyes so I could tell which voice was my Dad's. I don't know why but it was important for me to know to which voice one I belonged. It was tough because my Dad and his brothers sounded so similar but I would eventually be able to pick out my Dad. Fast forward thirty something years...I woke up hearing Jim talking in the kitchen. As I lay in the bed, I strained to hear who he was talking with. As the memory of my Dad and his brothers flooded my brain, I could have sworn he was talking to himself. Did Jim's Dad come o...

I confess...I dislike making new year's resolutions because I have such a hard time keeping them. In 2007, I resolved to continue the weight loss I began in 2006 only to gain most of it back. In 2008, I resolved to cook at home more to save calories AND save money only to continue going out at least once a week. In 2009, I resolved to keep my house picked up -- especially my bathroom -- only to take my first trip of the year in late February and blow it once again. Now as I approach 2010, I am faced again with the dilemma of making a resolution and trying to stick with it or skipping it all together. While Googling "resolution" I ran across the following quote by Benjamin Franklin: "Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve." This quote puts the whole idea of making resolutions in a new light: 1)The first part is very clear -- do that which you should do. I don't have trouble doing what I'm supposed to do: go to work, c...

On November 22nd we held our annual "Harvest Dinner" at church, complete with all the traditional Thanksgiving foods. As in years past, I complained about this dinner ruining my Thanksgiving dinner. I know, I know, that isn't a very thankful spirit to have but let me explain... I am very particular when it comes to turkey, how it tastes and the dishes that are served with it. And I'm not that crazy about turkey so I'm content to have it once a year, eat it for left overs for several days in turkey sandwiches with copious amounts of Miracle Whip, lettuce and pickles and then not touch it again until the next year. I've suggested for several years that we should have a different theme to celebrate our thanks -- like Mexican or Italian. But alas, no one at the church is particularly fond of that idea! When the list went up for the dinner, I complained yet again to Jim. After a couple of weeks of grumbling, I finally signed up for the "other meat" catego...

If you're a parent, gather your kids and kiss them. Tell them how much you love them. Hug them so tight they beg for air! If you're a grandparent, call your grandkids and tell them you miss them and just how much you love them. What has prompted this? I confess...after 14 years of parenting I didn't realize just how blessed I was to have healthy, happy, well-adjusted kids. In 14 years, not one overnight stay until now. It wasn't until I was walking back into the hospital after staying one night at home while Jim stayed with Cali that I understood just how blessed Jim and I are. Sure, we've had our bumps and bruises. We've had our sleepless nights. We've even had multiple trips to the Emergency Room (more with some kids than the others). But nothing that compares to this recent illnes of Cali's. And in the grand scheme of things, Cali's illness is nothing compared to other children. Don't get me wrong, it was scary enough. I never left her side u...

I confess...this has been the strangest September, a September of firsts. Many of you know how extra difficult my job is during the months leading up to and including September. In fact, this year I started working overtime in May so yeah, it's been a difficult year. There hasn't been a September in 13 years (except the one or two while I was a stay at home mom) when I didn't work a lot of overtime in September. Then this year I have been wearing three hats at work since I got a promotion -- my new job, my old job (because we haven't hired anyone) and that of Section Chief since that Chief deployed to Afghanistan. To top it off, Jordan is in the high school marching band...HIGH SCHOOL. I am still freaked out about this since I only have four years with him before he goes to college. I am quite certain I'm not ready for this -- heck, I cried the day we discovered he was officially taller than me! And, Cali started pre-school three days a week. I can't bel...

Thank you for your prayers for Cali. For those who haven't heard, Cali has been in the hopsital since Saturday. We learned on Thursday that she had pneumonia. She was given a shot of antibiotics and went home from the doctor's with an oral antibiotic. On Saturday (September 12th) when she looked like she was getting worse despite the antibiotics, we took her back to the doctor where she got another shot. Despite that, we still ended up at the emergency room. After taking x-rays, they admitted her due to the complications from the pneumonia. Her right lung was completely white-ed out on the x-ray. We were told that we should expect to be here a week to 10 days. As medically advanced as we are, pneumonia is just not a disease that goes away quickly. Today was an improvement, Cali felt well enough to play with dishes and play dough. Now though, as the fever has come back she is sitting in her big hospital bed shivering. What I'm beginning to understand about pneumonia is that...

I recently read a Facebook post from one of Jim's younger cousins that shows a Godly wisdom beyond the earthly age of many. She was describing how God is teaching her that her view on service is not as God intended (my take on what she said) and that Jesus Christ should be the object of her heart -- not service. Part of her post included a quote that I was almost certain that I had read before so being the curious one, I Googled the quote and discovered that C.A. Coates had written an article entitled, " Occupation with the Object " is where the quote came from. I am struck in particular by the thought that we become restless and discouraged when our service isn't doing any good. Consider what Coates says, " Very often young believers who have not even peace with God are encouraged to take up service, and they become so occupied with what they are doing that they are not at leisure to learn or to take their place in the favor of their Father. Hence, so long as th...