Thanksgiving 2009

10:30 am on Thanksgiving morning, we got a phone call that Paul's dad could not quit throwing up, that his chest was hurting, and that an ambulance was on it's way.

Great! Happy Thanksgiving!

Paul immediately left to be with his mom and dad, who only live 5 minutes from our house. He spent the next 2 hours at the hospital while I was wondering what I was supposed to do by myself to get ready for the 33 people who were eating dinner AT MY HOUSE at 2 pm. Especially since all that was left to do was put up enough tables for 33 people.

I was so worried about it that I sat down on the couch and read. For real. It didn't take long for Paul's dad, after finally getting to see a doctor, to be diagnosed with a probable kidney stone. They took some other tests as a precaution... checking his heart, etc.. But, once I knew he was ok, I knew the rest would get done. See, how weird am I? I get more worked up wondering what to order at a tapas bar than I do about 33 people descending on my house expecting to eat Thanksgiving dinner.

Would you expect any less than this kind of story from me?

We got everything set up. Here is a tour of my dining room and living room. This is how I set up to feed that herd.

Clearly, someone did not get the message that I adhere to Old Testament food laws. For real. I do. My uncle walked in and set that abomination on my table. I gagged. Yes, abomination. It sounds like a strong word, but you can take that up with God.

How beautiful is that turkey? I was totally going to take full credit for that bird. I was until my mom commented on the growth that was coming out of it's back end. I told her it was Rosemary. She replied back, "I don't care what her name is. She's ugly!" My mother-in-law made that turkey. How do you do something like that running to the hospital thinking your husband is going to kick the can? She's Martha Stewart... or at least a Martha wannabe.

My turkey was not worthy of a picture. He basically looked like we peeled him off the road. That's what happens when you cook your turkey upside-down.
Hiawatha or my niece, Rylan. She found that outfit in my basement. Who knew? Very appropriate, huh?

Uh, yeah, out of the 33 people at my house... 15 were kids. It made for a quiet meal:-)


A blurry picture of my cousin Shannon and her beautiful baby boy, Carsen.
That is my new nephew, Chase. He's already started training for Ironman. He's 4 months old... just wait until you see him next to Emme. The should have named him (please read with Austrian accent) Arnold.

Emme is very much partial to the men in her life. She loves my dad.

I like standing in between my two brothers. They make me feel little.

We played Ninja. If you don't know... don't worry. You're not missing anything in my book. Everyone else loved it. Paul told me I was a dirt sandwich. The other day when I didn't want to do the Christmas walk in our little city, as I was walking in the house he told me to go put jelly on my dirt sandwich.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say... he's not thinking I am too fun these days.

See, who wants to stand around like that waiting to see if someone can hit your hand?

That's my brother. He's a doctor. Don't you think his orthopedic group and his patients would love to see that picture?

Ahhh!! More ninja!

Emme loved, loved, loved Damon. I am pretty sure he love, love, loves her back. How could you not?

See what I mean... Chase is 4 months old. 4 months!!! That's approximately 120 days he has been out of the womb. Emme is 27 months old. He could eat her for a snack.

What do you say about us? I got nothin!

My dad, Damon (my brother) and his wife, Kelly. I took at least 10 pictures of Kelly. In EVERY picture... I am not exaggerating.... EVERY picture she closed her eyes. I wanted to beat her up.

My cousin Lyndsey and my Aunt Vicki and Arnold (I mean, Chase).


Can you have Thanksgiving without having wrestling? I don't think so.
Don't you just want to kiss those cheeks?? I heart him!

I LOVE Thanksgiving!! For real.

Chicago Part III- the end, finally

Are you ready for me to wrap this up? Seriously! How long does it take to tell a story?

I'm going to give you the highlights so I don't bore you to tears: Sunday and Monday........

Gina's husband, Nick, works in a building where a business was selling off it's stuff. So, he was going to buy some of it, but before he could purchase it, they threw it in the trash. Nick, being the frugal, thrifty guy that he is, dug it out of the trash.

Gina liked one of the pictures, but it totally clashed with the rest of her stuff, so I suggested we paint the flower part of the picture. So, that's exactly what we spent the afternoon doing. We bought some paint and some brushes and painted away. It looked SOO good when we were done. (Except we hung it before it could dry and some of the paint ran... nothing that can't be fixed.) We looked up the picture online and a smaller version of it was around $250. Hey, we've got no shame digging through the garbage.

They had another picture just like it and Janae brought it home to hang in her house.

After our painting, we watched Kevin James Sweatin the Small Stuff. And, if you haven't seen it, you must! We died laughing.

Then we went to Giordano's pizza for some Chicago stuffed pizza. We got ours with spinach and it was fabulous. Mmmm....

After that, we rented Dan in Real Life- one of my favorite movies. The main character is Steve Carell, but he acts totally different than he does in any other role. It's great to see him do something besides make me really uncomfortable. I love the office, but it seriously makes me uncomfortable... for real. I am stressed every time I watch it, but it never seems to stop me. Anyway, Dan in Real Life... it's a feel good movie. I have watched it at least 4 times and it never gets old.

Monday, we got up early and Lewis and Clark began their trip home. Yep, made a huge mistake and once again Lewis got us back on track. Our random stop on the way home was at a place called... well, I can't remember the name. (I can remember the exit #. How bizarre is that?) But, it had a cool name and it looked like a great stop. It was a dairy with a gift shop and a Starbucks, food, etc... The buildings were made like barns... even the gas station on the property looked like a barn. But, I gotta tell you, I don't know how in the world that place stays open because I have never seen a more overpriced place in all my life. Seriously, there was this little set of measuring spoons- $23.75. They had a candle that I know I have see for $6 priced at $18.50. We used their restroom, got some coffee and left. Sometime during the stop, Janae seems to remember me saying, "This place is in the middle of nowhere!" Which she proceeds to tell me later, in an email, that it was her favorite line of the weekend. I mean, haha! She acts like all farms are in the middle of nowhere.

It was a great trip. One of the best weekends ever! I can't remember a time when I have laughed that hard for that many days. I was so ready to see the kids, but sad the time had to end. I have come to the conclusion that all moms need some time like that. We hope to do it all again in the spring!

Lucy- that girl sleeps 23 hours a day. I could not get a picture of her with her eyes open. She's so cute though!

Janae reading to Anthony. He loved her.

This is what I get for not getting my real camera out. Janae had one request in Chicago- to eat a Giordano's. So glad we did! Yum! She even brought 2 pizzas home.

Yep, that was our pizza!

The one hanging was the one we painted.

Downtown- Chicago Part II

Chicago- Part II

Poor Janae! She has a broken internal GPS- which basically means she gets lost every single time she gets in the car. BUT, put that girl in the passenger's seat and give her a map and all of a sudden she's like.... Lewis... and that would make me Clark. Lewis and Clark, haha! And, despite the fact that we missed some major expressway, Lewis and Clark carried on. And, I will have you know... we made it to Gina's house without having to make one phone call for clarifications.

I got the formality out of the way and hugged Gina. Then I went straight for the baby. Sometimes... I'm afraid I am going to squeeze a baby until it's head pops off. Why do I want to do that? Janae had brought a gift for Anthony, who's 2 1/2, and so she was instantly a hero. It was so great to see where Gina lives. You know what bothers me? (A lot of things, I know, but...) when I talk on the phone with people and I can't picture where they are live. It was great to see Gina and her little family. I love those little ones of Gina's, Anthony and Lucy. Isn't it funny how much you can love your friends' babies... just because of how much you love your friend?

We ate a little lunch and pretty quickly decided that we were ditching Nick (Gina's husband) and the kids for the night. We were going to go paint downtown red. Well, about as much as some uncultured Ohio girl can. What we originally thought about doing was just riding public transportation the whole time because there's some kind of rumor going around that when I am part of an equation... something is bound to happen. I have no idea where people have come up with that. But, I think Gina and Janae decided pretty quickly that me, public transportation and it's passengers... don't mix.

We weren't even on the first train yet, also known as the L, and Gina called me "Ohio"... like it's

so obvious that I am from Ohio. Well, I can't help it when "interesting" people walk by and I look a little too long or raise my eyebrows as they pass. Why do people have to look so"interesting"? If they don't want me to look, they should try to blend in a tad bit more. Really!

We managed to take all the right L's and end up downtown somewhere.

Janae on the L reading the map.

So, here's what we were working with.... me (aka Ohio), Gina who hasn't lived in Chicago long and the time she has lived there she's been pregnant. So.... she can call me Ohio... but it's not like she gets out much. And, then we've got Miss Broken GPS. Scary! Who let us downtown?

Janae did live in Chicago for a year. She was on a dance scholarship. (I told you she could move those hips.) So, once again I found myself at her mercy. And, I am very proud to say... she got us... places.

Places like Anthropologie. All of a sudden I heard Janae and Gina exclaim, "Anthropologie!!" like it was their long lost friend. And I was all, "huh?" I thought we were going to some museum or something. Isn't anthropology like some scientific study of something? But, no... they lead me into some clothing/stuff store. I just know is took me two seconds to figure out that I couldn't even afford to look at the price tags. I mean... I guess the clothing is hip and all. Hip if you're Janae and you're tall and thin and have really cool spiky hair. But, not so hip for her friend who is definitely not tall, definitely not thin, and definitely not adventurous with her hair styles. (I've never even colored my hair.) I just wanted to know where the Ralph Lauren store was located. Not that I can afford Polo, but I'd certainly feel right at home there. I mean I saw one thing in that store that I might have purchased. It was a letter on a stick. I might have thought about buying the letter I for my fireplace... but, oh no, they had every letter BUT I. Big surprise.

See the letters on the shelf in the background? One shelf ends on H, the next one picks up at J.

We finally left that swanky store and I was looking for anything that would make me look cool. You know, Tommy Hilfiger... Gap.... Target. Instead, I hear them get all excited about a shoe store called Aldo. Why have I never heard of these places? Janae was even walking around in some really cool boots from Aldo while I was walking around in my black flats. They were all looking at the shoes and drooling. And, then one of them had the nerve to hold up a pair of shoes that looked like the ones below and say, "Don't these look just like April?" While the other one says, "Yeah! They'd go perfect with her Polo." Well, haha! I mean those two just met and they were totally ganging up on me.

We left there (none too soon) all so we could look across the street and they could get all excited about Urban Outfitters. Do I live under a rock? Apparently! Because a) I had maybe, maybe heard of the place?? b) I had certainly NEVER been in the place and c) after being in that store for a good hour, I concluded that the only thing I might have bought was this t-shirt that had a zebra jumping through the air with it's legs apart and it said WHITE TRASH (and I am totally apologizing right now if that means something really bad... because it could. I'm not really sure but I thought it was so funny) or I might have bought this book that made a whole bunch of different fart noises... I mean, only because the kids would have thought I was really cool. And at that point, I would have taken anyone thinking I was cool.

For some reason Gina tried on hats in every store... of course, we thought it was so funny!

Up to this point, we had laughed so hard that I had to declare a no laughing rule until we got some water and something to eat. I don't know what was so funny except that everything was so funny. I also know all that laughing was giving me a horrible headache.

So, Somehow we decided to eat at a topless bar. Ok, not really. We ate at a tapas bar, but every time I say tapas people think I say topless. So, I thought for at least one second you too should think I ate at a topless bar. Do they even have food at topless bars? DON'T ANSWER THAT!

We tried to put our names in to be seated and the hostess told us it would be 30 minutes. She said we could wait inside and while we were following her up the stairs, she turned around and said, "I can seat you now." We thought that was so funny. "We can seat you anywhere from 0 to 30 minutes" we said. It's been a week and the three of us are still writing it and laughing about it.

Trying to decide what to order at this place was really stressful. I don't know why. The dumbest things stress me out. We made some decisions and, when it was all said and done, Janae and I loved our food. Gina, poor thing, basically got two plates of feta cheese. Which was also really funny.

This was the picture behind us... topless? tapas? No wonder people get confused.

We laughed our way out of that place and decided we needed some Starbucks. As we were walking to Starbucks, Janae was messing with her hair. She turned to me and said, "Does my hair look messy enough?" Of course, I doubled over in laughter. I've had lots of people ask me if their hair looked ok, but I have NEVER had anyone ask me if their hair was messy enough.

We made it to Starbucks and tried to order some decaf coffee. Starbucks informed us that after 12 noon, they quit brewing decaf. I am not sure Gina was hearing any of this information. The Starbucks lady proceeded with the information and said, "Can I offer you a decaf Americano?" All of a sudden Gina piped up and said, "Now, why would you offer us that?"

I walked over to the creamer/sugar/ stir station to find Janae doubled over in laughter at Gina's question.

I realize some of this may not be funny to you, but it's my blog and it serves as sort of a journal for me as well, so I have to have a record of the things I am sure we will say for the rest of our lives. Just quit reading if you want. I'll never know:-)

We got back to the L station and got on only one wrong train. It was Gina's fault. Janae had actually said we should take a different one and once again, Janae was right. Her friends and family who have known her for so long would have been so proud of her.

We found our car. We drove past a car that was on fire- interesting. And, we made it safely back to Gina's. Pretty good for an Ohio girl, a girl with a broken GPS, and a postpartum mom.

This was supposed to be the car that was on fire. One of these days, I'll pull out the real camera instead of trying to use my phone.

There's more.... stay tuned!

Random stopping-Chicago Part I

Have you ever watched icarly? It's a Nick show about 3 kids who produce a web show. I watch it because the kids watch it. But, I'm not gonna lie to you, if I didn't have kids and I knew about the show, I'd still watch it. It cracks me up! (Hang with me, there's a point.)

So, very early last Saturday morning, I picked up Janae, and we drove to Chicago to visit my friend Gina. Gina had a precious baby girl 5 weeks ago and I had to go meet her. And, I wanted Janae and Gina to meet because they both hear about each other all the time.

Want to hear about my trip? Well, you're going to whether you want to or not.

Sooo... we set out on our long drive. Two hours into our trip, Janae grew very concerned about herself. She feared she was getting old because she kept reading billboards out loud. Apparently, Janae is a student of the elderly and she has frequently observed this behavior in them. I don't know...I'm just saying....

Since she was reading all these billboards, I decided we should incorporate a little icarly into our trip. One of my favorite things on icarly is when this deep voice comes on and announces, "Random dancing!!!!!!!!!!!" Carly and her best friend, Sam break into random dancing. I laugh every single time. So, I decided every time we take a road trip we should incorporate, "Random stopping!!!!!!!." I mean certainly one of the signs she reads is going to appeal to us.

Our first random stop: an Amish furniture store/antique barn. I think we really wanted to head to the antique part of the stop, but instead we found ourselves surrounded by a bunch of old Amish men. They seemed very desperate to sell something. I mean they were nice and all

BUT add furniture salesmen to the list of things that get on my last nerve. "For crying out loud, if I want something, I'll come find you!!" As a matter of fact, when furniture people start following me around, it makes me not want to buy anything.

We were walking around looking at bedroom furniture and this little old man, started talking all quiet under his breath and lead us over to a set that was on special. Who said we were buying bedroom furniture?? Then, Janae found the bed of her dreams and got into this conversation about Frank Lloyd Wright with an Amish man! I think the bed had something to do with this guy. I don't know. It doesn't seem that the worlds of some architect named Frank Lloyd Wright and the Amish should ever collide, but what do I know? I am not even sure I have ever heard of this Wright guy and Janae's having a conversation about touring some of his houses in Oak Park, Illinois.

So, we escaped the Amish without the purchase of any beds or desks or any other furniture and headed back to the antique barn behind the Amish furniture store... which is where we really wanted to go in the first place. Once inside the doors, we headed straight for the bathroom. It just so happened that this little antique store was having an Open House.

And, now that I think about it....if you were a business having an Open House, don't you think you should tell people when they walk in the door?

"Hello!! Welcome to our Open House! If you take a left and head down that hall we have coffee and refreshments!" (I can't believe that I even just wrote the word refreshments. I hate that word more than about any other word in the world. Why? Because I am quirky, that's why.)

The point is... no one told us. So, we walked into this little room that housed the bathroom and it was laden with store bought pastries, cookies, cakes, etc... and really, there is no point in telling you all this except to say: 1) Gross! It was way too connected to the bathroom for me. 2) What in the world is fruitcake? I think it is melted plastic... for real. 3) In the sulfur smelling bathroom, there was a cleaning product called Fabulouso. Can't people come up with better names? I wouldn't buy it because I hated the name... even if it was the best cleaning product ever invented. 4) Janae was pretending to eat the fruitcake when I came out of the bathroom. Totally fell for it.

We walked around the antique store while Janae picked up all this fancy pottery sort of stuff. She knew the name of it and everything. So, basically, I left that exit 215 in Indiana feeling.... well, I am not really sure. Uncultured? Frank Lloyd Wright. Antique pottery. I mean... I got nothin'.

The best I could come up with in the car as we left was, "Hey! Want to listen to some Taylor Swift?"

Stay tuned.... oh, it gets better!:-)

It's OSU Michigan Week

GO BUCKS!

What have YOU done this week to beat Michigan?

I don't even know what that means; I just know Paul asks me that every day during Ohio State Michigan game week.

Sometimes when he asks me that, I'll just raise my eyebrows and ask in a very uncertain tone... something like..."Brushed my teeth???"

That seems to be an acceptable answer which makes the whole thing that much more confusing to me. What in the world could I possibly do to beat Michigan this week? And, how in the world is something like "returned my library books on time???" an acceptable answer?

Please! I don't want to hear how girls aren't easy to understand.

So, what have you done this week to beat Michigan?

Starbucks

Ok, so.... I know this is going to shock you.... but, sometimes I read other blogs. I mean sometimes I like to read my own blog. Sometimes I make myself laugh really hard. I am not sure what that says about me. But I do have a list of other blogs that I scan through. Sometimes. Daily.

So one day, I was reading this blog and this lady was talking about a drink at Starbucks that I had never heard of. Not that I have heard of everything... but I do have a really weird mind that functions as a steel trap for all sorts of useless information... and I am positive if I had heard of this drink or even read it on their menu, I would have remembered it.

Ready?

Salted carmel hot chocolate.

I can't decide if this makes me want to hurl or run to Starbucks RIGHT NOW and try it.

I am going on a road trip this weekend (no husband, no kids) and I could not be more excited. MAYBE... I'll get really crazy and try one. I'll let you know when I get back. OR, you can let me know if you've ever had one.

I'm a Sucker!

Here's my friend, Janae, at the Zumbathon we went to.

Yeah, it was for Halloween. People were supposed to dress up.

(I know she's not going to be too happy about the picture, but she owes me from this past Monday. Please... read on!)

In case you don't remember, I took up Zumba. I very much have a love/hate relationship with this latin- inspired dance-fitness... workout... exercise... madness... whatever. I love that I am soaking wet when I leave. BUT, I hate, hate, hate some of the moves!! Some of them, I just refuse to do. I'm so weird! Plus, my hips... they just don't move like that.

Anyway, that's really neither here nor there. I don't want to talk about the ways in which my body will or will not move. Let's just say....it's not pretty. What I do want to do is talk about is how my friend, Janae, has turned an exercise class into a ministry.

She teaches this amazing exercise class. I knew the first time I took the class she was amazing... the best. It was confirmed at that Zumbathon we went to. Hands down... she's the best. Anyway, she always has some worship music somewhere in her selection of songs for the evening. And, when the hour long sweatfest is over, any one who wants can stay and hear someone give a talk about God's word.

Do you remember this summer when Janae was really sick? (She's doing great by the way! BUT, you can still pray that her heart makes a full-recovery, that she gets a definitive diagnosis, that the right treatment plan is prescribed, that she wouldn't need to keep taking steriods and that the doctor's would continue to be amazed by her recovery and God would receive all the glory! Yay God!)

ANYWAY...

When she was so sick, I felt sorry for her. I hardly knew her but something possessed me to go up to her and volunteer to do the devotion. It didn't seem fair for someone so sick to try to teach an exercise class for a ministry.... and then also prepare and deliver a devotion. Even though I hardly knew her, I sensed her sadness on one occasion when she couldn't hold that part of the class.

I HATE SPEAKING IN FRONT OF PEOPLE!! But, if you walk with God, you KNOW when he tells you to do something. He's taught me so much and I knew I could stand up ONE TIME and talk about Him and His amazing Word.

Soooo... that was way back in July when I did what I thought would be the first and only one. Apparently, God or Janae or both have other plans for me. And since I am kind of a sucker for both, I thought I'd share with you the second one I did last Monday. (Nov 4). I won't even tell you that this past Monday morning at 8 am I received an email from Janae asking me if I could have another prepared by 6 pm THAT NIGHT. (Um... this would be #3 ... if your counting. I thought I'd agreed to one??) All of a sudden she thinks I am Beth Moore or Joyce Meyer.

Please!

I'm going to have to come up with a speaking fee.

Well, here was the second one:

How to Fight.... God's Way

I always feel an urgency to share with people what I am going to share tonight. So, if you are close to me, I apologize for you having to hear this again. It’s a lesson I learned the hard way and I hope someone else might learn from my mistakes. I also always feel an urgency to share this because in all my years “in church”, I was never really taught how to fight my way through things that had a strong hold on me.

Since I was 19 years old, I have been fighting a battle. That’s half my life. It has not been a physical fight, although, sometimes I wonder if that wouldn’t be easier. Instead, this battle has taken place on the battlefield that is my mind.

Way back in 1990, our family experienced a string of tra and deaths, which for me resulted in anxiety attacks. The attacks acted themselves out with physical symptoms such as a racing heart. This is turn made me so nervous I couldn’t relax. I’d often feel like I was going to have a heart attack or like I was losing my mind. This panic disorder lead eventually to depression and a vicious cycle of one playing off of the other began. Medicine greatly helped but even with the medication, I felt like it was always lurking around the corner trying to rear it’s ugly head. I have never been completely disabled by it, but it has no doubt played a major role in the way I functioned from time to time.

I know that without my relationship with Jesus I would not be standing here today. There would have been no reason to fight through such an awful war. God has been so faithful even when I thought for sure he had fallen off the throne. For the last 19 years and especially the last 6 years, I have been educated in the power of God and His Word through this field trip of my own failure, weakness and bondage.

So, I am going to try to sum up in 5 points what has taken me almost 2 decades to learn.

Think About it and Power Verses:
1. It’s important to understand that we are all in battle. Ephesians 6:12 says, “ For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” This battle is not one we can see but that doesn’t make it any less real. In fact, not seeing it, makes it even worse.

2. In the battles we fight, Satan’s main line of offense comes by setting up strongholds. A stronghold is anything that exalts itself in our minds, “pretending” to be bigger or more powerful than our God. It steals much of our focus and causes us to feel overpowered. Controlled. Mastered. Whether the stronghold is an addiction, unforgiveness toward a person who has hurt us, or despair over a loss, it is something that consumes so much of our emotional and mental energy that abundant life is strangled- our callings remain largely unfulfilled and our believing lives are virtually ineffective. Exactly what Satan wants.
3. We are instructed to fight these battles and we have only been given two weapons. One is a sword, Ephesians 6:17 “.........the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Then the next verse, verse 18 says, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” Our two weapons are prayer and the Word of God.

4. We have to use our weapons. . The most common way today that a modern “fortress” is demolished is by strategically placing dynamite in the building and then detonating it. Imagine the demolition crew showing up at the building with sticks and stones. They could holler at that building with all their might and throw sticks and stones until they fainted from exhaustion and it would still be standing. No one would doubt they had tried, They simply had the wrong tools. What they needed was dynamite. You and I are about as effective as the crew with loud mouths, sticks and stones when we try to break down our strongholds with carnal weapons like pure determination, secular psychology, and denial. A stronghold has to be demolished. God has handed us two sticks of dynamite: prayer and The Word. What is more powerful than two sticks of dynamite placed in separate locations? Two strapped together. We need to take our two sticks of dynamite- prayer and the Word- strap them together and ignite them with faith in what God says he can do. In other words, I believe we have to find scripture about whatever we are dealing with and pray that scripture over our lives.
5. I think the scripture needs to be confessed out loud. The enemy can’t read our thoughts. Besides, Jesus fought Satan in the wilderness by quoting scripture when he was being tempted. What makes us think we can silently pray a quick prayer in our minds and defeat the enemy. Here are some verses that I believe reinforces speaking aloud. Rev 2:16. “...I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.” Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword...” Psalm 103:20, “Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, you His angels, you mighty ones who do His commandments, hearkening to the voice of His word.”

Apply it:
Speak God’s word over your problem areas. Scripture should be applied like medication. If we are bleeding, we don’t run and take an aspirin. We apply pressure and bandage the wound. Scripture is to be used the same way. I use two books that lists scripture for things like anger, anxiety, control, forgiveness, insecurity, power, prayer, trust, wisdom and worship. These two books are the very things God has used in setting me free... albeit one link at a time.
Praying God’s Word by Beth Moore
The Secret Power of Speaking God’s Word by Joyce Meyer


You can’t defeat Goliath with your mouth shut. I Samuel 17:42-48 tells us that when David was preparing to do battle with the giant Goliath, he ran toward him confessing out loud what he believed the end result of the battle would be.

Then said David to the Philistine, You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the ranks of Israel, Whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will smite you and cut off your head. And I will give the corpses of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.

David’s example shows us how we should approach the enemies we face in our own lives. We must open our mouth and speak the word of God.

God, I pray for each person who reads this blog. I pray that you would show each them how powerful, alive and active your word is. I ask that you teach us how to use your word to fight whatever Goliath we are facing in our own lives. Thank you for giving us your word- because only your word has the power to transform lives. May this week bring some kind of transformation for every person because we have applied your word.

Thank you Lord! In the life-changing power of your name, AMEN!!

Last nerve

Things that get on my ever-lovin' LAST nerve:

IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER:

1. Fruit flies- They apparently have nothing else to do but breed BECAUSE I can NOT get rid of them. And, lest you forget, I am the Queen of Google so... yep, I've tried it!

2. Cleaning out containers of old food in the frig- I'd rather have a barbed-wire enema. It's so disgusting! Don't tell, but someone brought a dip to my house on Oct 9.... and I just cleaned the container out today. And, the part that makes no sense is, the longer it sets in the frig... the worse it smells. I have smelled that nasty dip all day!

3. Dust pans- The crumbs... they never all make it in. I go through all the trouble and get my vacuum cleaner out just so I don't have to use a dust pan. Or, I sweep it in the corner and wait for Paul.

4. People who talk to me when I am trying to write..."SILENCE! I kill you!"

5. Trying to drink a smoothie and ice gets stuck in the straw. I have had a protein smoothie every day for the last... who knows how many days. I put in skim milk, banana, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and spinach. Paul swears I puree all my food these days.

6. People who call me one their way from point A to point B.... but only do it to kill time. If you've got something to say... that's fine... but don't call just because you've got nothing else to do.

7. Paul picking off his fingernails and leaving them... well... Let's just put it this way. Right before we left the college we had worked at for 4 years, I decided to have someone clean our couch. The couch has been up against the same wall for 3 years. When the lady went to move the couch to clean behind it, the wall was lined with a pile of fingernails Paul had picked off his fingers and dropped behind the couch. I was mortified.

8. Feeding Emme. It's such a chore. She doesn't want to eat and I have to fight her off the liquids the whole time.

9. People who get mad because you don't call... but they don't call you either

10. When I can't see someone talking on their cell phone because it's CONNECTED to their ear... and they are standing by me in a store and I am the only one around SO I am SURE they are talking to me or they are cracking up

11. When you can't get off the phone with someone. And, about 21 times, they act like they are going to let you get off... "Well listen, I gotta go... did I tell you about Bertha's cousin?"

12. Socks -where do they go? For real?

13. When people try to talk to me before I've had coffee in the morning.

14. ANY repetitive noise. Makes me want to run through a glass window.

Sadly, there are more. I just can't think of them right now. What gets on your last nerve??

TrIcK oR TrEaT.... yum!

I haven't been trick or treating with a friend in a long time. Paul and I just usually take the kids out by ourselves. But, this year, Paul was out of town FOR THE THIRD WEEKEND in October! What?! (I'm not bitter.) (I just leaving next weekend and going to Chicago to visit my friend, Gina and meet her new baby, Lucy.) (And, then.... I may or I may not come back?)

So, the kids and I went over to my friend, Janae's to trick or treat. They grilled out some hamburgers and hotdogs. We got the kids dressed up. Janae's husband, Michael, and I walked around with the kids begging for candy. Then we went back, the kids ate who knows how much candy... while we adults sat out by a bonfire and talked. It was so fun!! Here are some pics:

Michael thought Emme should have gone as a Chinese take out container... so he gave her one. VERY soon we are going to have to stop the silly jokes because she's going to start understanding... but, until then...
Michael, eating the contents of the box. I think he was going to try to stuff Emme in it, but her forgot.
Emme and her best buddy. I hate that this picture is blurry. Why, oh why, do I have so many camera issues? At least I remembered my camera, batteries and the camera card. Nothing short of a miracle.
Emme LOVED wearing her costume. I have had to put it back on her several times this week.

Janae making her youngest into Sharpay from High School Musical.
Jackson.... Clearly, the mask wasn't working out so well for him. I feel like in every picture he is holding his head at an odd angle.
A skeleton, a 50's girl, a doctor and a bee... interesting combination.

Throw in a jockey and Sharpay!

This is my favorite picture. Michael in the background trying to get Janae's grandpa to come to the door.

Some lady saw Emme in the road waiting in the wagon... so she comes running out of her house, "Is that a baby??? I've got stuff for a baby!!" She gave her Goldfish, Teddy Grams, Applesauce and peaches. That should do Emme for... a good week. Emme was very content sitting all smug in her wagon.

This guy in the orange barrel cracked me up. I want that costume!

Soo... it was a great night BUT because it's my story... there always has to be some drama. I mean .. what would one of my stories be like without the weird drama?

I pulled in the driveway. The kids were tired and cranky. I'm tired from being a single mom... blah, blah, blah! I push the button to get the garage door up, it goes up about 6 inches and comes back down. I did it about 261 more times because... well, you just never know what the magic number might be. About that time, it occurred to me that I didn't have a key to my own house. I called my neighbor. We had given them a key to hold for us in the past, but we needed it once and never gave it back. Surprise!

Our neighbor came over anyway with a bag of keys and low and behold, one worked!! THe Hallelujah chorus started playing in the background! 20 minutes after pulling in the driveway, we were in the house.

We found out yesterday that our garage door needs a new $200 coil. It's a good thing my Father (in heaven) owns the cattle on a thousand hills cause he's gonna have to sell a few and give out of his glorious riches to his kids down here. We're not setting the financial world on fire right now!