January 6 - Things I like

Words you like to hear: "I am SO happy at this job." Paul is LOVING his new position.  Has goal to be top therapist in system this year.  Growing clinic like crazy, and had staff member say yesterday, "God is all over you being here."  Woo Hoo!

Smiles on all three of my kids faces as they trotted off to school this morning.

It's the weekend & we're going exploring & shopping for bookshelves & birthday present for Paul.

Panera - thanks for coffee & wifi; Am very glad Monday & home internet is coming.

Prayers of friends & family - especially for this ridiculously crazy journey on the road to selling our house.  It seemed like such a simple thing...NOT!!!! Please pray SOME BANK, SOMEWHERE, will fund this German's loan & close by the end of January.  God bless Marcile. And give the owners of our home in Rome patience & understanding.

Max is terrified & in hiding.  Which is not funny, but it kind of is.  He experienced the actual "shock" yesterday for the first time when he tried to venture past the flags marking the underground fence.  I've never heard a dog SCREAM before.  It's not even turned up high.  Apparently he's very sensitive, my dog.  Anyway...he won't be trying that again, for a while, I'm sure.  There's a lesson in there for my kids, I think.  Boundaries & punishment when you cross them with the purpose of keeping them safe & out of harms way & staying where you'll be happy....table discussion for this evening.

Am taking the camera this weekend & will post pics.
Love ya'll!!

January 4 - School, kids, & Starbucks

Good Morning!

The kids are officially registered, enrolled, all are IN school today & I have made it to Starbucks!!  Hallelujah!!!
 
It was a lovely sight yesterday to drive into school pickup & spot my "Eeyore" A in a group of kids, laughing & smiling. He had to approach my car from the rear & didn't know I could see him, but as he walked away from the group & toward me, there was an unmistakable GRIN on his face.  Life is good.  And this am the words were, "I really like it up here."  Thank You, Jesus!!  He had more homework last night than he's ever had in his life, a whole 45 minutes!!  He's finally going to be challenged.  He gets to take band & PE & informational technology along with core classes this semester, & is in advanced math & language arts as well, so his plate is full.

M1 started today, after a hard campaign for homeschool on her part, so there were some tears & fears, but she had found a very nice friend to show her around this am, and I'm looking forward to the report this afternoon.  Shopping for school supplies perked her up, and the possibility of getting to decorate a locker seemed especially wonderful. She, too, gets to take band & PE with her classes, so she's seeing that as a positive. We're going to a "real" salon this afternoon for a "Zendaya" haircut.  If you don't know who that is, be grateful you don't have knowledge of the Disney channel stars.

M2 slept almost 13 hours last night after her first day of school and only roused with much encouragement!  She's got a great group of teachers & feels like a big girl changing classes. She got to play dodgeball @ PE so all was right with her world. My hopes that she would decide to sleep in her own bedroom in the new house since we are all located upstairs have been dashed.  It is not to be.  However, she is taking her showers in her own bathroom instead of mine, so I feel progress has been made.  Thankfully, most nights M1 doesn't mind a bed partner.

P is busy at work.  He's interim director of the Calhoun clinic (about 30 minutes away) until construction on his Rome office is complete in June/July.  He's enjoying getting to do more "hands on" care & likes the marketing.  His company hosted a mani/pedi party for nurses of the referring doctors last week, and his toes look very lovely. He left the house this am in a handsome suit & tie, ready for a big lunch with the doctors.  My husband appears quite the professional!!

Random thoughts for which I'm thankful today:  Much is unpacked at the house; we are functional.  Much is left to do.  I'm so enjoying a basement!  Max, the dog, is staying in his invisible fence without issue (hooray! - now to keep him out of the garage..).  Cats are nesting.  Nights are COLD.  Frost is pretty in the morning.  Getting lots of exercise going up & down 2 flights of stairs a bazillion times a day. Two lovely neighbors on either side, one also with a German Shepherd to stare at Max, since they can't get to each other to play.  I'm able to drive around without constantly staring at the GPS on my phone...that's a plus for the drivers around me. Ran into my realtor in Staples yesterday while school shopping.  Love a small town...I know one person & that's who I see while out & about!  Who would have known how much I adore the laundry room being upstairs IN the master bedroom?!  Laundry is being done at the speed of lightning...it's phenomenal!  The population includes a lot of Hispanics here.  My husband is relearning his Spanish quickly & maybe I will have bilingual (sort of) kids.  I will have to smile a lot & try not to appear lost. Coffee & writing are therapeutic.

Great is Thy faithfulness,O God, my Father,
There is no shadow of turning with Thee
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not,
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.

Great is Thy faithfulness
Great is Thy faithfulness
Morning by morning new mercies I see
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy faithfulness
Lord, unto Me.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to shield & to guide
Strength for today, and bright hope for tomorrow
Blessings all mine, with 10,000 beside.

January 2

Apparently I’m not supposed to comment on resolutions (or lack thereof) because I just lost the entire paragraph & I don’t know why!  One second it was there, the next it was gone.  I’ll take it as a sign.  Maybe I’ll try a different direction.

I’m tired of making NY resolutions that are so high & lofty that I can never possibly reach them.  I doubt I’ll ever be the weight I was when I married, or that I’ll ever be the perfect housekeeper & organizer.  I won’t be the perfect wife, mother, daughter, sister, employee, friend, volunteer, even though I desire to be…well, sort of.  I can’t be all that…certainly not at one time. And what I’ve come to realize is that I DON’T want to be perfect. Who decides what “perfect” is anyway? Aren’t you tired of putting on a show for everyone else around you?  Don’t you want to have friends who appreciate your weirdness, puffiness, bad hair, & lack of taste?  I do.  Because none of us is “all that,” and I’m tired of trying to put on a front. 

I DO want to surround myself with other people who realize their desperate need for grace and mercy.  I DO want to surround myself with people who care more about worshipping God from their heart & soul than what they look like to others when they do.  I DO want to make time to invest in deep friendships, the kinds that take the effort of actual one on one conversation face to face, versus 500 facebook “friends” or occasional texting. I DO want to purposefully invest in my marriage & relationships with my children, recognizing that it will require saying “no” to some good things. I DO want to worship God & put Him before all others…people & things & food.  I DO want to be still before Him, so I can hear His voice clearly. 

I’ve made some colossal mistakes in the past 2 years because I allowed myself to get so busy, I didn’t stop to listen.  I DO want to hear what He has to tell me.  There were decisions that made such “sense” from a human, earthly perspective, but took our family far from His good & perfect will.  So this year, instead of a list, I have but one resolve: to sit at His feet & hear His voice & do what He tells me, worshipping Him with my whole life.  Because really, won’t that take care of everything else?

“O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; my soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, in a dry & weary land where there is no water.  Thus I have seen You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory.  Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips will praise You.  So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.  My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness (the richest foods), and my mouth offers praises with joyful lips.  When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches, for You have been my help, and in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy.  My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me.” Psalm 63: 1-8

Today, I’m thankful for my God, who supplies all my needs, and gives me rest for my heart & soul & body in the shadow of His wings, and who delights in me when I sing praises to Him.

January 1

I was standing at my kitchen sink this morning, preparing the first pot of coffee for 2012 (we know there will be a minimum of 364 left to be made), and was looking out the window.  There is a beautiful large window over my sink…well, I say “my”,  but we still haven’t been able to close on our house in Mobile due to the crazy mortgage company & holiday issues, but hopefully we will close in January because the German has switched to our mortgage comp & they say it can be closed in three weeks.  So back to the window that the owners of our home in Rome have so graciously allowed us to rent until the closing goes through.  Are you confused yet?  I know I have been.

Where were we?  Ah, yes, the window…ANYWAY…there is a lovely large window over my kitchen sink that gives me a wonderful view of the back deck & yard.  We sit near the top of a hill, so everything slopes down from the house.  It’s a high & lofty feeling, I tell you.  I could see the sun rising on the first morning of 2012 and saw clouds literally RACING across the sky.  It came to me in a moment that we are so like those clouds. 

Clouds don’t get much say so in where they get to fly; they are blown about at the mercy of the wind, coming & going.  They are heavy & present & voluminous, dripping one minute, but can dissipate the next like a warm breath on a crisp cold morning. What a cloud can know for sure is that each day will bring changes.  Sometimes it’s a lazy summer day…still & peaceful, slow moving & warm.  Other days are tumultuous, like a hurricane wind that blows with force & and anger, destruction & uncertainty.  Some days they get to hover & watch from high above, staying out of the fray; some days it’s foggy, and they’re down in the bottoms dealing with life from the depths.

The other thing a cloud can know most definitely is that if it does make it through the night intact, the sun will most certainly rise in the morning.  A new day will dawn.  There will be a fresh start, a great adventure, never before seen places to explore.  And especially at this time of year, who doesn’t love the sense of new beginnings?

All this holds true for us as well.  There are things I know for certain no matter where I am: the sun will rise each morning, the SON has risen, indeed, and I will be blown into challenging, sometimes unexpected places.  I’m ever so grateful for that constant knowledge. 

Today I’m thankful for family that drives long distances to show love by helping us unpack at feverish paces, a husband that works hard to provide for his family, children that are bending & trying to stay upbeat with all the uncertainty of their new lives, the past, the future, old friends.

May our new year & yours be blessed because we have the ever present SON in our lives, no matter where we are or what we face.

“Yet those who wait for (hope in) the Lord will gain NEW (fresh) strength;                              They will mount up (sprout) with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired,                They will walk and not become weary.” Isaiah 40:31