Summer Camp......

Next week my two oldest leave for Baptist Hill Church Camp. Not knowing if they'll know anyone else, with the pastor and his family, totally on a whim.................I don’t anticipate they’ll be homesick.  They've been away time and again with family, with friends, etc................ But as any camp veteran can tell you, there are always kids who really, really wish they could just go home. 

(I received the following from our Campus President)

 Diane Falanga’s new book P.S. I Hate It Here! is a compilation of 150 humorous letters written by kids at summer camp. Here are a few excerpts:

• Dear Mom and Dad, I have a really, really, REALLY BAD ingrone toenail. It is killing me. When we get home get a doctors apointment PLEASE. Lots of love, Piper P.S. DON’T sign me up for next year!

• Dear Mom, Why haven’t you sent me a letter? Everyone else has gotten at least one but I haven’t. I am really worried. Who died? What happen? Is anithing wrong? WRITE BACK!! Love, Meredith

• Dear Dad, STOP telling me all the good things you guys are doing! Like the boat going to their house for dinner or the first block party! You made me very angry! Love, your mad daughter

• I’m still alive! Love, Stanton

• Dear Daddy, Ew! The food is yucky! I need you to send food to me. These are choices: doritos, mentos, oreos, soft chew cookies (not required), chips, hostess cake thingers. Please?!! This is how you wrap the food—in a box with wrapping paper, then put a card on top that says HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Then they won’t check for food. Love, Samantha

• One letter included a huge clump of hair with the note, “Dear Mom, guess what? Love Leslie.”

• Another letter from a girl named Olivia simply said, “Take me home Mommy. Take me home Daddy. Take me home Mommy. Take me home Daddy. Take me home Mommy. Take me home Daddy. Take me home Mommy. Take me home Daddy. Take me home Mommy. Take me home Daddy. Take me Mommy. Take me home Daddy. Take me home Mommy.”

Homesickness, of course, has a long Biblical history. For forty years in the wilderness, the people of Israel longed to enter the Promised Land. When they lived in the land, every Israelite’s heart stirred to go to Jerusalem, to their true home in the Lord’s Temple. In exile in faraway Babylon, God’s people ached to return to the land of their ancestors. Every believer in Christ yearns now for the final Promised Land, the new Jerusalem.



Our hearts ache to go to our true home, heaven, and to see the One we love face-to-face, and we cry out with the Psalmist, “How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of Heaven’s Armies. I long, yes, I faint with longing to enter the courts of the Lord. With my whole being, body and soul, I will shout joyfully to the living God . . . What joy for those who can live in your house, always singing your praises.” (Psalm 84:1-4, NLT)



On your difficult days—and there will be difficult days—you may feel like writing a letter to God saying, “I hate here.” It’s more than bad food and ingrown toenails—the prayer list below serves as a constant reminder that cancer, car wrecks, heartbreak and loss constantly afflict us. In the midst of this world’s pain, remember the good news: this place is not our home. This is temporary lodging. We are only here for a time, and one day our Father will arrive to take us where we really belong. What a day of rejoicing that will be! So hold on, and don’t give up. We’ll be home soon.


Father,
When this world beats us down, fill our eyes with a vision of heaven that will lift us up. Thank you for the wonderful promise of life forever with You in that heavenly City, and we pray that, even in the midst of hard times, we can “be joyful in hope” (Rom 12:12). We look forward to the day You take us home.

Men vs Women

***Be sure and turn off the playlist before you start this up**


Thank YOU!!  Mark Gungor

1 Peter 5:10-12

And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever.

Amen.

SOOOOO much to be Thankful for!!

My God reminds me daily of things to be thankful for:

Good Food!

GOOFY KIDS!!

FAMILY!!

My mom and dad were here this past weekend!! We had a great 4 days!

A BOUNTIFUL HUNTING SEASON!

(264lbs and $305 worth.......OUCH!!! That'll leave a dent in the wallet right now but will last us all year!!)

Most importantly, My GOD!!!

He never ceases to amaze me!!

I Will CarryYou!!

There were photographs I wanted to take
Things I wanted to show you
Sing sweet lullabies,
wipe your teary eyes
Who could love you like this?

People say that I am brave but I'm not
Truth is I'm barely hanging on
But there's a greater story
Written long before me
Because He loves you like this

So I will carry you
While your heart beats here
Long beyond the empty cradle
Through the coming years
I will carry you
All my life
And I will praise the One whose chosen me
To carry you

Such a short time
Such a long road
All this madness
But I know
That the silence
Has brought me to His voice
And He says...

I've shown her photographs of time beginning
Walked her through the parted seas
Angel lullabies,
no more teary eyes
Who could love her like this?

I will carry you
While your heart beats here
Long beyond the empty cradle
Through the coming years
I will carry you
All your life
And I will praise the One whose chosen Me
To carry you!

We Cry Holy!!

We fall down

We lay our crowns

At the feet of Jesus

The greatness of

Your Mercy and love

At the feet of Jesus

And we cry holy, holy, holy

And we cry holy, holy, holy

And we cry holy, holy, holy

Is the lamb

We fall down

We lay our crowns

At the feet of Jesus

The greatness of

Mercy and love

At the feet of Jesus

And we cry holy, holy, holy

And we cry holy, holy, holy

And we cry holy, holy, holy

Is the lamb

And we cry holy, holy, holy

And we cry holy, holy, holy

And we cry holy, holy, holy

Is the lamb

Well, STINK!!!!!!!!!!!!

Doc just called, my HCG numbers went down from Wednesday.

No baby this time! Just not meant to be, my God says! (and I'm ok with that, just again saddened!!)

Will keep trying!

As the song says, "I Will Rise!"

Thank you for your prayers! Keep 'em comin'!!!!

I'm re-secheduled for surgery December 10th.

POOPS!!!!!!!!!!

OK, sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Wednesday!!!!?????!!!!!

...........went in to have a lump removed from my left breast, dr walks in before surgery------but after i'm already iv'd and dressed in booties-cap-gown, etc.......and says,

"We have good and bad news! Good news...................

YOU'RE PREGNANT!!,

bad news...............we can't do the surgery!"

The first question they ask you prepping for surgery is "Have you had your tubes tied or a hysterectomy?" and that was a tricky question for me to begin with. Then the nurse made me pee in the cup because my tubes are currently open.

Then the blood draw thing.........they had to come back in and draw a second time, so you woulda' thought I would pick up on something, but NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Those of you who don't know..........we have been trying for 3 years for this! You can read previous posts and/or original post to catch up if'n evah ya' care to.

We had switched meds September and, well, I guess they did their job!!!

I went in Thursday for a sono and I am early----last cycle was october 22nd. He said the measurements were right on time with the calendar. Wednesday my titer (? i hope i've called/said that right) # was 1800 something and I will be going in on Sunday to do another blood draw. Then, I'll go back in on Tuesday for him to do another sono to make CERTAIN that things are where they need to be. (with the tubal and reversal chances of ectopic)

We will be watching the lump for 3-4mos and then will decide whether or not to go ahead and take it out. I have had this lump for 15 years now, I have just switched doctors. They biopsied it 15 years ago and it was nothing. It hasn't changed, it hasn't moved, it hasn't gotten more tender nor larger, it's still just there. My new surgeon dr. just wants to remove it to know what it is.?.

It's all just CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

--------we've waited sooooooooooooooooooooooo long. I had pretty much given up. My oldest daughter turned 14 this year ------so, what makes it ok for me to still be wanting a baby myself. Plus, I turned the big 4-0 last month and I just gave myself until I was 40 to keep trying and then that would be it.

Come Tuesday, when we find out for sure if it's in the right place and all, my heart will be more at ease. With my track record, I usually don't tell anyone I'm ever preggo until at least 3 sometimes 4 months. I just have a hard time with telling everyone and then if/when something happens, having to retell everyone.

My cousin and aunt and a friend were all signed on to do my anesthesia, OR nurse and recovery nurse so when I got ready to leave the hospital, my aunt says, "Ok, now what are we going to tell people? How can you walk out of here with no recovery-no stitches-no soreness? yadda yadda yadda! (Joe's family is very close here and very large!!!) She said we may as well level with them and tell the truth. THAT IS SO HARD for me so early. Annnnnnnnnnnd, it's going to be a LONG 9 months with everyone knowing so soon, too!!

Any and all prayers would be appreciated!!

I will be laying my worries at His feet because, like my husband has me trained to think, it is what it is and I can't change it. If it's meant to be He will make it!!!!

I am never in doubt with God's plans, just always amazed with His timing!!!

I DO have a sono pic but am NOT tech savvy enough to know how to scan/upload it, sorry!!

(I tell ya' if I didn't know any better, I'd think my past came straightout of a Lifetime Movie!!!)

Not Defined by My Mascara (thank you for sharing this..........i've copied from a 'sister'.
I was never a crier.

I took great pride in that truth, it just wasn't cool.

But then, my sons died and I couldn't stop crying.

In the car, in the bed, at the table in the restaurant, at church, outside, inside, everywhere in between, I cried.

I have been fighting my way back to that "non-crier" status. I remember feeling strong before and I'm longing to be that girl again.

Every single day, I pause and contemplate which mascara to choose. Waterproof or not waterproof? Lately, I've been feeling a little brave and a bit rebellious as I grab the navy blue tube that tells me I will not cry today. And most days, I don't. I don't want to be a sad girl. I don't want to be the sensitive one that people tiptoe around. I want to be honest and genuine and true, but I also want to be real and tender and pliable between the fingers of my God. I want Him to go right ahead and make me into whatever He wants me to be.

Then I want Him to use me, no matter how I protest. Eight years ago, I thought an eternity would have passed by now. But, the thing is, it just really hasn't. The way the Lord has moved through my life has been so beautiful and downright breathtaking and you won't find a more grateful girl than me. But, oh how I still miss my boys!

It's hard. I'm scared. I'm tired. And it hurts.

And, as the song says, I know who wants to be the One I run to first. It's not my lifelong friend. It's not my mentor. It's not even my man. It's my Father. He wants me to run to Him first. He must watch me run to and fro with this scarred up heart, shaking His head and wishing I would just reach for Him like I should. I find great comfort in knowing He knows my heart and the truth that lies there, because if all He knew was all others see... whew.

The emotional roller coaster continues, I am just learning to be a quieter passenger. I don't scream so often anymore. I have been up these hills and plummeted to these lows so many times now that I just hold on tight and trust they'll pass, just like the long, straight stretches do. Still, sometimes I reach a point where my head is spinning and my stomach has flipped one too many times and I find myself weary and spent, begging to get off this grief ride. The navy blue tube of mascara fails me and black streams stain my cheeks again, marking me as the broken woman I am.

But, you know what? There's beauty there, too.

We're all broken. If the light shines on us long enough, the cracks will show.

It's what we do with those cracks - and those tears - that matter. Do we let them transform us into something we never could have been before? Do we let them cleanse our eyes, that we might see more clearly than before? Do we let them spur us on toward good deeds and great purpose? Do those scars remind us to push through the pain? Do our memories ask us what we are afraid of?

Maintaining a facade is exhausting work.Time spent pretending is precious time wasted.

We'll never be given this second again.

My boys taught me that.

Tears might equal weakness, but my weakness equals His strength.

I don't know about you, but I think I'll just let my tears roll when they may and I'll offer the pain that comes with them as a sacrifice to my Lord. I'll bite my lips, push my shoulders back, put one foot in front of the other, and I'll keep on keepin' on.

I think I might be a crier after all.

But only for a little while.

Whucha' Dooooooooin'?

WOWZA!!! Where did May go?????? You wouldn't believe my calendar/planner........noone could read it but me as we were going this way, going that way, meeting ourselves coming and going. We were at the school more times in May than we were the rest of the year with all of the........

Music group concerts

Rock and Worship Roadshow......just to name one (watch for another post of ALL we've been to)

field trips

Austin's class at the Nature Center



track meets

awards assemblies

5th grade 'girls' movie (sorry no pics)

band/honor choir concerts

Super Kids Field Days

a pretend birthday party

(for that summer bday)

family 'vacation' to

The Dalton Gang Museum

Woolaroc Ranch

(that's another post in itself, so check back)

etc...............................................

Ahhhhhhhhhh, SUMMER!! This week the kiddos have been out in KS with my sister and sister-in-law. I heard from them last night and I think the 7 days was the most they've ever been away from Man-of-Mine and me. Sooooooooooo, needless to say, they are (called just last night, again) ready to come back home. I'm certain that they love their hostesses and cousins, but I just know they must be absolutely be wore down---draggin' tired!! I can't wait to see them Saturday!!

Now, to the title of this post. What have I been doin'? I've been busy chasing kids, doing some custom sewing pieces and...................drumroll, please.....................I have gone back to work full-time. I swore when my kiddos all got into school that I would go back, and the 'just right' job opportunity was presented to me so I hopped on it. Let me say that I love it and especially the ladies that are in the office with me. They couldn't have been more welcoming during my first week. I'm excited to get up in the mornings and look forward to this being a long-term career position. Oh............................where am I employed you ask? Ozark Christian College as a Financial Aid Counselor. Yes, it is outside my degree, yes, it is working with numbers and pushing papers, and yes, I am really enjoying my training, seeing things go full circle and actually kindof understanding some of the uh-ma-zingly complex process of a college student receiving financial aid.

I also wanted to share some of the custom pieces I've done the last several months:

If you've made it this far, THANK YOU!! I will try and do a better job of making individual posts, I have a lonnnnnnnnnnnnng list of topics, but just not enough time.