USA!! USA!! USA!!

The crowds roared last night as Michael Phelps became the winningest athlete in Olympic history. I could almost hear the roar of the world as they rejoiced in this young man's accomplishment by screaming USA!!USA!!. I cried and swelled with pride right along with his mother as she wept with excitement at the achievements of her only baby boy. I am quite the sap and a very sympathetic cryer. I had to choke back the nubbies when as I saw Old Glory raise to the roof and hear the melodies of The Star Spangled Banner playing. I sang along as the noted athlete stood stoic and still. I had chill bumps from my head to my feet. Like I said, I am sappy. I also cry every time I hear Rocky Top. OK, shut up! Laugh with me not at me! I think what it is , is that my emotions are triggered from memories. I vividly remember as a kid going to the UT games with my family. The sound of the band lining up in T formation (I already have chills), the taps of the drums, the announcer welcoming in our own Tennessee Vols and then the deafening screams of 100,000 fans. Cheering the Vols onto the field shouting WOOHOO!! GO VOLS!!! YEAH!!! The screams continue and you can feel the heavy vibrations in every inch of your body. Thunderous applause ring through your breast bone all the way through to your feet shaking from the stomping droves of fanamania. Today, I remember that excitement so clearly that when I hear the chants for USA USA, my nervous system just kicks in and I start bawl like a spring calf. What came to my mind during all this was Revelation 19. The Lamb stands victorious and a "great multitude" in heaven screams "Hallelujah!! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God!" "Hallelujah!! For the Lord our God the Almighty, reigns." (NASB) Can you for a brief moment imagine the throngs of people in one voice praising our God and King? I can hear the familiar WooHoos and the Go Go Gos rumbling in the atmosphere. The excitement is everywhere and victory is won. The battle is over and our Lord is victorious over ALL!!! YEAH!! Then the Father (not unlike a proud swimmers mom) rises up and weeps with excitement at the achievements of His only baby boy.
Yes I am crying and am covered in chills!!

Meet your 2008 Miss DIS-Organized USA

I wave my hand up in the air and blowing kisses to the crowd. A delicate tear rolls down my cheek as I say, "Thanks You! OH, Thanks You!" to the judges. My glistening crown is perfectly nestled in my beautifully coiffed hair. ~Snort~ gasp~Ok as I wipe the drool from my cheek and waken from my dream I realize that not only have I fallen asleep on the couch but my children have once again won the battle that they have waged to keep my house a scattered mess. I look around daily and wonder if I will ever be able to gain some kind of organization in my home. As quoted from my magic 8 ball..."Decidedly NO". ARRGG!! I just cannot figure out how some people can pull it together and KEEP it together. I try and try and always seem to end up feeling like a huge disastrous failure. I have a friend, Tracy, who by all accounts holds the title for most organized person I have ever met. Her house is immaculate, it even smells good. She always looks really put together, never a hair out of place. Hey people, her van looks like it just rolled off the show room floor, not a crumb in sight. Without a doubt she is my hero. Today during a homeschool meeting (that she organized) she pulled out a lovely book with calenders, schedules and plans all in colorful floral papers. I bet they smelled good too! :) I jokingly leaned over her book to act as if I were regurging all over it. To be honest I am amazed at what she was able to put together and I am sure that she will stick perfectly to her beautifully laid out plan. She really is a wonder! Oh yeah...she is also one of the most loving, generous, selfless people I have ever met. Yes, we hate her! :) I cannot figure for the life of me why some people can do stuff like that and then there are people like me. I have made some of the most creative lists (if I do say so myself) and hung them up with pride and determination and within a week they lay under assorted papers and books with edges covered in dust. How is that? I often find that if I make a list or schedule that in my failing to keep all the "i's" dotted and all the "t's" crossed that I lose a huge amount of confidence in my ability to do much at all. We were told in our adoption classes that the BEST thing we can do for these kids is to give them a schedule and a routine. My life is anything BUT. Once again, I am intimidated and concerned. My God tells me that I can do all things through Him. Does that include checklists and organizing? He tells me that I am MORE than a conqueror. Does that include my time? Is all that even important for who I am in Christ. I say that because I have tried for so long to live up to the beauty that I see in my friends and family. The incredible gifts and qualities that were given to them. I often try so hard to be "like" them. I have cried to Patrick many a night questioning why I cannot seem to get myself together. One night in his sweet and comforting way he said this to me. "You'll never be the first rate you that God created you to be if you are striving to be a second class her." Wow! Who God created me to be. That is pretty amazing. So tonight, as I look at 3 piles of magazines that I have been pondering for 3 weeks what to do with, silver children's slippers scattered in the den floor among the multi pieced transformers, dishes in the sink that I have postponed loading in the washer til tomorrow... I have peace. My mind is sound. My family is together. My God is on the throne. I have peace.

Cluttered disorganized peace. :)

They're Outta Here!!!!

Buckle your seat belt I am taking to the brief stint on my soap box. I signed up a while ago to get e-mails from a group that gives really great advise for saving money in the home. I have gotten some very valuable information and I have learned quite a bit. BUT today as I was reading the mail there was a section talking about how to save money on school supplies and such. In the article she was counting down the days to get her kids off to school. She later talked about how great it was to get them out of the house. Ok guys, we are talking about little kids. Her oldest looks about 3rd grade or so and her smallest is starting Kindergarten. This really burdened my heart. I remember a time when I was working full time ( I had one infant at the time) and school was set to start in a few days. A woman cam e into the shot clinic where I was a nurse with her three daughters. I said to her "I bet you are ready for school to start huh?". She looked at me with shocked tears and said "NO WAY! I treasure every moment with my kids!". I was humiliated that I knew really nothing about parenting at the time (other than 5 hour feedings and diaper changes) and I was suggesting that her children were a burden to her. Eleven years later, my heart still remembers the look on her face and the embarrassment that I felt. Those of you who know me know that I suffer from foot to mouth disease on occasion. Please don't misunderstand, I know that there are times when we get totally frustrated with our kids. I homeschool so I am with mine 24/7/365. I KNOW burnout in the Biblical sense. However, the Lord has so shown me grace to love and grace to see the beauty of my kids. I too treasure every moment, even the moments when idle threats exude my mouth like lava from the pits. God has granted me the love of messes and squeals, interrupted conversations and constant humming, dirty shirts and unkept hair. He is still working on me on embracing/obliterating tattling and whining. :) If you too are ready to lay out the kids clothes for school a week early, and announce to not let the door hit 'em in the rear on the way out, I encourage you to look at the last years school picture and the one from the year before that. That time will NEVER be duplicated and their changes will not stop. Try to remember all the wonderful moments that you have had with them over the summer. Try to realize that the trying times will soon pass as well. Phil 4:8 says we are to meditate on things good, honorable, right, lovely,excellent and worthy of praise and we are to DWELL on these things. Yeah, I am pretty sure this includes our spawn. So as another year of education (that's for Pam) begins, let's meditate on our time that we have with them in our homes. The opportunity to live out Deut. 6 in their lives. The God given and appointed chance to train them in the way he should go so as they grow they do not depart from it (Prov 22:6). Ps 127:3,4 Says that our "children are a gift of the LORD" (Jehovah; Creator). I pray that we can all accept this gift and treat it as such.

Bob Barker

Nah, you don't need to "come on down" for this Bob Barker. Let me introduce you to our Bob Barker. He is a bassett beagle mix that I adopted from the pound 2 and a half years ago. Oh yeah, he IS a dog. He is so precious and sweet that I have to share some of the things that God has taught me through him. I went to the pound to get this one dog that I had found on-line. When I got there she was a jumping jack and a barkin' fiend. She was very much a puppy. As I was filling out the paperwork to get her I looked at all the other animals in the cages that were looking for a home. Most all of them were barking, meowing or yelping in some way...all but one. He was a skin and bones black and white figure that just sat there and looked at me. His eyes were tired and as I approached him he leaned to the cage door as to absorb every last bit of my human touch. Now I have said this next bit before and gotten strange looks, but I have come to know God's voice pretty well in the last years and I believe with all my heart He was saying to me "Not that one, get this one." I walked away from the cage and continued on with the paper work. My heart and eyes were repeatedly drawn to the poor malnourished beast. As I was just about to sign my name for the overzealous barking wonder, the attendant said "Would you like to see Wiggles (Bob's old name)?" I responded with an almost relieved YES! I walked him through the store and KNEW that he was the one. So I went back to the office and changed all the paperwork. That started the process of bringing home our first family dog. We only found out later that he was on the the block to be euthanized. His name was given by Tori and to this day whenever we call his name around others we always get a chuckle. My whole purpose in introducing him was that God called me to this dog so that He could teach me more about Him. The first lesson that I learned is that while I looked undeserving, worn and malnourished of the things of heaven, God reached into my life and saved me from a fiery death. He saved me from my very self and a world that had consumed me. God showed me that He CHOSE me from the foundations of the earth and that I, in many ways like Bob Barker, longed for the touch from the master. The Father called me to Himself and in exhausted submission I leaned into Him and found a home, a friend and rest.

What a weekend!

Praise God for another great Sunday. My friend Jennifer and I attended a satellite viewing of Beth Moore's Living Proof live this past Fri and Sat. It was SOO amazing as one can only expect from one of Beth's events. I left with so many different thoughts of the Father in my head that I am sure it will take me a few days to really digest all that I took in. The one thing that REALLY impressed me the most (so far) is that in order to keep the enemy at bay we MUST hide His Word in our hearts. Hold it close and treasure every syllable. We have to mediate on it all the time and have it available to use at the first sign of trouble. I have had to tell myself even in the past few hours that I am more than a conqueror. I am His and He loves me. Man, does He love me. So as I log off tonight I want to throw out there into the universe this thought. Hebrews 13:8 says that "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and tomorrow and forever." That means that He cannot un-forgive me , un-save me or un-love me. His love transcended time and found me exactly where I was and He will never depart from me. NO THING can pluck me from His hand. I have to remember to be the deep rooted seed found in Luke 16. The one that holds tight to His Word and does not depart from it. I am looking forward to blogging and documenting and sharing my journey with you as our little family begins to grow. We are excited about our new additions and cannot wait to see what God has in store.