Friday Funnies

In honor of Friday funnies I am giving a shout out to a blog that I enjoy visiting whenever I get the chance. This weekend while baby and I were on our own (dada had drill), I had made my bed and was working on something in the kitchen. He decided to drag all his stuff into my room and pile it on the bed. He's been doing that a lot lately. ALL blankets and animals MUST leave the crib and wander around the house with kiddo!!:) He has learned how to climb up on our bed by himself, and although he has never slept in our bed, he enjoys "paying" there. Precious! I have learned that when things get quiet, I need to go and check on him pronto!! This is what I found this weekend when I rounded the corner. I grabbed my camera and tried my best to catch the hilarity of the moment, but I missed the really good shot!

Recognize that book?? That is Lynnette's book. He had it open and was pretending to read it like such a big boy!! I couldn't help but laugh, it was such a genuine moment. I encourage you to visit Lynnette Kraft at her blog. The desire to enjoy the richness and beauty of life in ALL ,and I do mean all:), matters is expressed daily here. Lynnette is no stranger to pain and loss. I am reading her book because not only has she been faithful to write it, but also because I am finding myself surrounded by people who have and still are experiencing loss. You can read about them here, and here and then there is my coworker who's husband committed suicide a year ago who I blogged about very briefly. I am good at praying for these people, but often find myself unable to find words when speaking to these folks. These friends understand this I know, and sometimes would just prefer my silent hugs, but sometimes I would much rather just cook an asparagus casserole. I'm sure you can relate.

When big boy and I are BOTH finished reading this book heehee, I plan on passing it along to our friend who lost their child from SMA (mentioned in the link above). I think about her on just about every page and I have cried on just about every page so far. I am just that way and No I don't think it's pms:). But first I have to figure out where the bookmark was before kiddo threw it across the room!!

ok, so laugh at the pics and the sheep feet!! Visit Lynnette and buy a book if you can!! Enoy your Friday and Have a great weekend! And if by chance I made you cry, I didn't mean to. Just scroll back up to the sheep feet and that infectious grin and that ought to cure you right up!! :)

Meredith

Virginia, sweet Virginia!!

This is a post I started back before Christmas but never had the time to finish. I'll share it now and you can all have fond memories of your near distant fall holidays.

Okay, so did I tell you that Virginia is my new favorite state? Besides the one I live in and the one I hail from? For Thanksgiving we drove to Massachusetts . Yes, you read that correctly. WE DROVE!! We went to visit Paw, my husband's grandfather and also my husband's uncle. Hubby, kiddo, and I packed up our car and on a Monday afternoon we left our home in central AL. We enjoyed a stop at Starbucks where I tried out the peppermint holiday drink. I don't drink coffee, so when I do try it out, it has to be fancified. I tried it again on the way home and I tried the carmel one as well on day 2 of our trip. We had a lovely trip until we hit Penn. and then later the New Jersey turnpike. These made hwy 280 look like child's play!! But we did see the night-time New York City skyline, something I have never seen before!!

We spent the night in Virginia. Where our near perfect room left us rested and well for our 2nd day of travels. I am easily amused by small things. The free cookie from the front counter and the rubber ducky left in our bathroom made my day (and kiddo's also). The scenery was wonderful. I kept saying, "these hills remind me of parts of Germany". Which explains why you find so many German influences in these parts. Mix in some Scottish highlander ancestry and I'm sure there are some fiery characters in the parts we passed through. I didn't sleep much, I was too busy being plastered to the window. It was a perfect beautiful sunny fall day!

In Massachusetts we stayed at a nursing home. No really, it was an assisted living home. We actually stayed in the room reserved for guests so it was much like a hotel but we had a good time making a joke out of the situation. We had a wonderful time. Paw of course, had to take us around and introduce us to the staff and residents. Hubby is his only grandson and kiddo is of course his only great grandchild. Not sure who had more fun, Paw or us. We arrived on a Tuesday and left on a Friday night. We ate well, enjoyed our wonderful Thanksgiving week, and our special time with Paw. Needless to say we were very thankful!!

We left in the snow flurries and drove all night and by Saturday, we were passing through Virginia again. Once again Virginia was our place of refuge and the Cracker Barrel did not disappoint. We were weary, and probably stinky, but our bellies were full and a nap through Knoxville came very easily for both kiddo and me.

We were almost home when we had a flat tire. We found ourselves in a church parking lot just off the interstate. We had to laugh a little. It was cold, but not snowing nor was it raining. We finally pulled in our driveway exactly 24hours from the time we left the nursing home in Mass. I went to bed that night thankful for a safe, full, and rich journey to the North. I couldn't help but think about, if only for a second, those wonderful buttermilk biscuits with bacon at the Cracker Barrel, in Virginia .......Sweet Virginia.

The pictures include "a walk with Paw", "a walk through the apple orchard", and "hotel fun". Those are situps we are doing with daddy, by the way, in case you couldn't tell.:)

Friday Funnies

Shouldn't eating always be this much fun?

Ahemmm.......more on that topic some other day!:)

Thankful Thursday

In this season of Thanksgiving, I am thankful for many things: My home, my husband, my two jobs, my church, my friends, my saviour. Soooo many things.

But when your baby boy, who came to you despite the diagnosis of infertility, collects these leaves just for you?........it is a teary eyed thankful heart that puts them in a vase and takes a picture.

Just thought I would share. :) Have a blessed day!

P.s. He collected this bouquet back in September, I am just late in finishing my draft.

Because Kids Live Here and a Picture Challenge.....

I am participating today in a challenge hosted  by Lynette whose blog I visit often.   Stop on over to read a bit of her humor and view her awesome photography.  She also has a wonderful testimony and a book published!!

I chose to laugh at these minor irritations, even though I am growing weary of cleaning up toilet paper collections!!I managed to catch a few on film.  Kiddo is a very busy bee!!

In my pics you will see:

1. Mutiny--all Men overboard!!

2. Refrigerator raid--(that's Ketchup and we have not yet completed our Church ensemble-close call)

3. Toilet Paper on the Move

4.  TP Collector Extraordinaire

Major Dad

                




We had a good Father's Day.  We went to church,  ate ribs afterwards, took  naps, and played with the baby.  Hubby went running in the late afternoon.  I advised him to wait until after 6pm(heat index)  but it was what he wanted to do and afterall, it was his day.  Now that I have the house to myself, I'm going to brag on him a little, even if it is Monday.

Even though he is not perfect by any means, he is perfect for me. God really knew what he was doing.  He is decent, honorable, and hardworking.  He serves his country and the people of this state.  He could have gone to work somewhere for a lot more money, but he chose not to.  He's good at what he does and genuinely loves the people that he works with.  He loves the Lord and his family(photos).   If you knew half of what I do about what he grew up out of and overcame, you'd be in awe of him as well.  Especially when you see him at the table in the mornings drinking his coffee and reading his bible.

Last year on Father's Day my husband was serving in the "great hot sandbox".  (photos) It was his first Father's Day and his 2nd deployment.  He spent most of his time losing sleep.  He never slept more than 4 hours at a time for the whole 7 months he was there.  No one wanted to share a room with him for all the knocking on doors.  The constant "sir, there's a problem....." tended to cut sleep down to a minimum.  

 He briefed, he met, he ate foreign food, he socialized, he solved problems, he secured, he promoted, he was always a target,  etc etc......a long list of etc.  He even stood on a HumV and gave speeches to Iraqi's about not quitting just because they had not yet gotten paid.  He believed in what this village was trying to establish.   It worked. 

If you were to ask him out in public about some of these stories, he would probably play them down.  He wouldn't brag about how he got promoted or how he received the highest honor any artillery officer can receive.  He wouldn't brag about how ALL his men returned home safely from TWO deployments.   He probably wouldn't mention how the spiritual lives of his marines were affected while under his command.   He probably WOULD tell you about how doing the Experiencing God study while there in the desert affected him.  He probably would tell you how God honored his obedience in many matters.

Recently, on a Friday, my husband received a job offer.  He had to give an answer by Monday.  It was military related.  It was an artillery officer's dream job.  It was flattering to be asked.  Very Complementary to be considered for such a job as this.  He had to turn it down.  He could not leave his wife and child again.   For no amount of fame or history making, can he leave his civilian job again.  He would have to quit in order to volunteer.   The job would mean more money.  He sounded excited when he called to tell me about it.  I asked him if he was tempted.  He said he was, but only for a few.  I am so thankful!!

  Someday he might let me tell you the story of the bibles.   Just know that at the end of the chaos those bibles caused,  God's plan ruled and there are 100 arabic bibles that were not there before.  Will a remote western village be changed?  It already has been.  Only God knows the end of that long story.

My husband probably worries about being a good father.  When his own father died at a very young age, he was sent to live with an aunt and an uncle.  At the funeral, with future unknown, a pastor put his hand on a very young man's burdened shoulder and told him, "son, you are embarking on a great adventure, your journey is just beginning".   How prophetic were those words!!  

As you can tell, I'm a big fan!  I respect and love my husband for all that he is and will be.  As for my own father?  I'm going fishing with him this week, I'll post about that later!!!

Happy Father's Day!!

I was running.....

Well, here we are.  Sweaty and red faced.  I posted previously that I was in training for my first ever 5k, and although our time was not exactly stellar, it was pretty good for first timers.  We finished together at exactly 0:47:06. Keep in mind that my training never went past 2 miles and most of my training in the last 3 weeks had been railroaded. 

 I am sure that the temperature was the highest we have experienced so far this year.  We were told to expect the 80's, but out on that pavement, it surely felt like the 90's.  The course was a nice, relatively flat course, not many slopes.  At mile 2 and 3 there were large signs marking our progress and from the 3rd mile marker, you could see the finish line!!  I was ever so happy to see marker #2 and even more overjoyed when I could see the finish line in the distance!!

My friend Kelly made the run more worthwhile, and frankly If she had not been there I probably would have just walked the whole last mile.  If I had run the race alone with just me and my ipod, I am confident that the end result would have been different.  There is spiritual significance here. 

 Although, we have divinely been given a race to run, there always is and was someone else who is running a similar race.  There will always be someone else who "understands" your circumstance.    There is a reason that scripture supports fellowship, both fellowship with other believers and with Christ.  During the 5k, there was certainly some pain, but there was more importantly sweet fellowship and support........it was a good run.

Please be watching for a post from Kelly.  She has a great blog with lots of insight and some funny stories.   You can find her on my sidebar at 'Where's the Beef?'.

Easter thoughts...

This perhaps was one of the oddest Easter Weekends.  Saturday felt like Sunday.  We went to church for a youth pancake breakfast (fundraiser) and an egg hunt.  The rest of the day I was plagued with the urgent need to take a nap (or naps), which I usually reserve for Sunday afternoon.  The cubs have started their baseball season, so you can guess what channel our tv stayed on all weekend!!  I love to watch Cubs baseball, but the drone of the crowd puts me out! Perfect napping conditions....

On Sunday, the baby had a fever that I thought we were finished with!!  It is not wise to close up a child in a nursery with a fever and lots of other little children, so I left my husband at home with the baby  and attended Sunday Easter service  on my own.  I also had some nursery duties to take care of.  During my 30 minute drive, I listened to worship music and praised the Lord for what Easter really means.  I enjoyed my ride alone in the car, and the springtime scenery along the way.  I thought about the cross, and about my savior and what must His scenery have looked like.  This is all in sharp contrast to the phone calls my husband was getting all weekend.  I don't like it when he is on call.  There is "lostness"  behind these calls.  The phone rings at  strange hours and it is usually not good.  There is sleep lost and then usually a discussion about people who can't be nice to one another.  About the evil that exists just over the hill so to speak, and about how law enforcement and others who work the long night hours even on Easter weekend.  My husband appreciates these guys on the frontline.  They usually go without thanks and they miss out on time with their families.   I mean really, is it wise to commit crimes on a holiday? 

 

 Lostness.....it is the reason Jesus came afterall.  It is the reason for the cross.  Do the prayers I utter for the families behind these phone calls really help?  Although at times the task at hand seems despairingly without hope,  I know different.  I know that lostness is conquered one heart at a time.  I know Jesus came for all of us and I know that I  have a job to do.  

So, I enjoyed my drive home alone and I thought about all the folks at church honoring the Lord with their Easter finery and the beautiful music and about the folks who went down front after the sermon for a profession of faith and baptism!  I thought about how the Holy Spirit stirs around the room in ways I can't even imagine, amongst hearts and heads, and how even my few tired thoughts of despair for the lost cannot stop His power.  I know that there were distracted hearts there yesterday who most likely did not hear anything, but I also know that there were a few, including my own, who sat humbled at the foot of the cross, even for just a moment. 

He is risen!  He is risen indeed!

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesdays

Homecoming

The picture below was drawn by my mom's good friend Joan Jolley.  If you would like to see the original photo you can visit Michelle's blog.  This was taken before I became a blogger:)!

Yesterday was 3-9-09.  I thought about it all day.  4 months ago on this day, my husband returned home from his deployment. I thought about how God was merciful and brought my husband home to his little family.  And about how God's strength got me through this very long year.  And I thought about how I should be sharing testimony  and the enemy whispers...."it's old news, nobody wants to hear about your drama"  and "move on cause they are tired of hearing about it" etc etc   A different kind of war, but a war indeed!

How is it that ONE year can shape destinies? shape friendships?stories? hearts? Deserts? Villages?  eternity?

Burning Bushes people, Burning Bushes!!!!  (from a previous post)

I haven't really blogged much about it yet, and those that know me best know parts of this testimony already.  So today I will just keep it simple, but I promise to share some more about the journey of this past year and give God the glory.  There is a lot in my tender heart and to share those parts  will take time.   

I sought the Lord and he answered me;

he delivered me from all my fears.

Those who look to him are radiant; 

their faces are never covered with shame.

This poor man called, and the Lord heard him;

he saved him out of all his troubles.

The angel of the Lord encamps around those

who fear him, and he delivers them.

Taste and see that the Lord is good;

blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

Psalm 34:4-8

 

Wordless Wednesdays

Wordless Wednesdays

Wordless Wednesdays

Wordless Wednesdays