Two years ago today, saw my oldest son off on a plane…again. In less than 70 days, will welcome him home…again. The days inbetween are but reminders of the endless time that lies ahead. Thank you, Jesus!
27 Aug
Rock-A-Bye Baby, A Sweet Remember
Remembering the warmth of this little body against mine. His chubby cheek on my shoulder. Probably a little drool, too. The rhythm of his every breath. His complete and satisfied rest, in arms that were so eager to hold him and so uncertain of much else in this world. We’ve come a long way, baby! Praising God today for His grace and mercy that have allowed me to look upon moments like this and see that His arms were confidently around us then, and remain with us today. Feeling blessed, undeserving, and loved beyond measure, as I am able to celebrate twenty-one years of being a momma today. Thank you, Lord! Happy Birthday, Drake. ❤
16 Aug
80-six
Spent this week preparing for the new school year.
Our middle son is a sophomore in high school, and our youngest is in 6th grade.
Today’s preparations involved haircuts.
The youngest proclaimed, after getting his hair only trimmed a little around his ears, that he will not be getting another haircut until his big brother comes home. He wants his hair cut like his. No drama. Just stated very matter-of-factly.
I think the high schooler is waiting on his big brother to teach him to drive, too.
Incredibly moved with every single quiet pledge noticed in excited anticipation of the three to be united in just eighty-6 days!
12 Aug
NINETY-1
Welcome to the countdown!
90-One is a perfect number. Way better than the 710 of yesterday.
Today I’m camping out in Psalm 91. Click HERE if you’d like to read it, too.
I can’t help but smile when I read:
“He will cover you with His feathers;
you will take refuge under His wings”
As I have felt a great desire to protect my family, and have experienced great relief and comfort in having my children nestled under the roof of our family home, IMAGINE how far greater the desire and love of Our Heavenly Father as He continually feathers us and keeps His protective wings around us! How much greater does The Father love than we?!
Today I am keeping NINETY-1 close to my heart in thanksgiving for all of God’s promises and His truth, as I celebrate the start of this long-awaited countdown.
11 Aug
Day 710
Seven Hundred Ten is a nice, even number, don’t you think?
That’s 1 year, 11 months and 10 days, exaclty.
Or 17,040 hours, approximately.
Wow, that hours number doesn’t freak me out as much as the almost 2 years number.
My gifting is in colors, not numbers, and in the case of moments away from home (which is 1,022,400!), that’s a good thing.
710.
Nice, round, evenly divisible number.
Also a great stopping point, don’t you think?
Many of you have followed my “count up” since Day 1.
(On this blog, that would be since Day 19, the first public post of the count up)
In doing so, you have also shed some tears and smiles with me along the way.
Many of you have also offered prayers and lifted our family up to The Lord, and I’m confident that the immense strength we as a family have had during this journey has been a blessing from God, and I am thankful for the faithful prayers of friends and strangers alike.
My son will be returning soon.
That’s right! We have a count down in progress now!
In just a few short weeks, our family will be reunited, and words cannot express the excitement every one of us has, as we prepare, plan and dream a little bit louder about our reunion.
But the journey is far from over. As much as we prepare, plan and dream, and think about our desires for the coming months, it is Our Saviour who remains in control. We understand that it is His perfect and holy, Masterfully orchestrated script that will unfold before us. It is in knowing this that I ask for your specific prayers.
Please join us in continuing to pray for safety & protection.
For provision.
For us to recognize the direction of the weather vane.
For understanding.
And above all else, pray for us to be yeilded to The Master’s plan, and to move in obedience with His will for our lives.
As much as I have looked forward to having all of my chics under my wings again — oh! My heart leaps at the thought! — I know that like the seaons and other things of this earth, temporary is the moment, and eternal is the life. Please pray for our time together to be an easy transition and a powerful ignition into a new chapter.
Tomorrow is a new day.
A new number.
Praise the Lord, for great things He hath done!
2 Aug
Counting Our Blessings At The Trash Dump
My husband called at 3:30pm:
“Honey, we need for you to come pick us up. The Trailblazer has a problem.”
The ole’ Trailblazer is down.
Broke down, that is.
Where did this happen?
Of all places, the trash dump.
On a busy Friday afternoon.
Her shifting cable snapped in half, and she wouldn’t budge from the prime real estate in front of the household waste dumpster.
The girl has over 200,000 miles on her, and things just happen.
Still, my immediate reaction was not evident of anything understanding.
No peace fell upon me as I started calculating the cost of the repair and the discomfort of living without her for a few days.
None.
This unexpected fix would cost money we hadn’t budgeted for.
That stinks!
The big red bus needs some attention!
Thankfully, the short drive to rescue my husband and son was long enough for me to be reminded of all the blessings that abound around this mini distraction.
* Thank goodness this “break” didn’t happen two weeks ago when my husband and son were on the road between here and North Dakota!
* And thank goodness this “break” happened now, instead of three months from now when my oldest son will be driving it!
* Hallelujah, we are paid ahead on one of our bills that will allow for us to cover the cost of this repair!
* How furtunate we are to have another vehicle at home that we can drive this week!
* Could there have been a better place to break down? I think not! The car was PARKED, and in a place where the traffic flow is cautious and forgiving, as well as the Waste Management attendents!
* We had opportunities to serve others while waiting for the tow truck (helping empty the truck beds and trunks of others)!
* And we had the good fortune to visit with our Music Minister while we waited, since he spied us and the twinkling hazard lights of our car when he was passing through!
I am so thankful for God’s blessings and for His protection. Always, and in all ways.
It’s Friday night, and we got to squeeze in some quality family time a little early today, as we hanged out together at the trash dump. It’s been a great start to the weekend. Seriously! It has!
30 Jul
A Boy Without A Story
Several years ago, there was this little boy without a story.
Or so he thought.
He had overcome the obsticles of divorced parents and blended families.
But that didin’t define him; therefore, this was not story-worthy.
He had overcome the fears of being “different”, in a world that wants “same”.
But that didn’t define him; therefore, this was not story-worthy.
He wasn’t a recovering drug addict.
Didn’t come from an abusive household.
He did not have any skeletons in his closet that were rapping to get out.
He went to school and had decent grades.
He had a part time job.
Drove a sixteen year old Jeep.
Played a borrowed guitar, because he could’t afford one of his own.
None of this “non-story” stuff was brought to the table for discussion, until…
American Idol.
American who?
Yeah, the television show.
See, this boy had a passion for music.
Lyrics and rhythm didn’t just come naturally to him, they were him.
Lyrics and rhythm were as much a part of who he was as his heartbeat and fingerprints.
Music just was.
There was no time when it became a learned thing.
There was no time when it didn’t exist in his every day.
Because music just always “was”, it was not seen as story-worthy.
Not by him.
At least, not yet.
After getting the “golden ticket”, and continuing to a second audition (not a televised audition, sort of like a pre-audition to the audition, if you will), he was told, “Be thinking about your story, so if one of our producers asks you about it, you’ll be ready to share it.”
What?
And this is when the “non-story” subject became a “thing” worth pondering.
Isn’t it that way with everyone?
I mean, about our stories.
For years, I lived beneath the lying voice that told me I wasn’t even worthy of a story, let alone story-worthy. I excused away every coincidence, every defeated obsticle, every battle scar, recognition and praise-worthy accomplishment. I lived in a world I filled with negatives, like self-doubt and self-imposed guilt. I listened to the lies of the enemy telling me I was nothing. No one. Nobody. A mistake.
If it’s not Hollywood encouraging exageration or realities that just aren’t, well, real, it’s the rest of the world around us. Strangers. Our peers. Our collegues. The people nextdoor. It may even be our own relatives or – go ahead and gasp – our church family. The world doesn’t want us to recognize our stories, and it doesn’t want us to share them.
How crazy is that? Bear with me…
I am a follower of Jesus Christ.
I believe that Jesus is the Son of God.
The one and only Son of God.
I believe in the Holy Trinity, as one – God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
I believe Jesus came to earth, where he brought the message of salvation to us.
I believe that Jesus was crucified.
I believe He died for my sins. For yours, too.
I beleive that three days after His death, He was resurrected.
I believe that He is coming again.
I believe, completely, 100 % without a doubt, that everyone has a story waiting to be realized. Waiting to be told. One that is worthy and a vessel for sharing The Truth. That’s why the enemy works so hard and creatively to silence it.
The enemy is sneaky. He’ll use those American Idol execs to tear us down, or build us up. He’ll use the world to determine our value. He’ll work diligently to keep us from knowing Truth.
So where is this little boy without a story today?
Well, he is no little boy any longer. He’ll be 21 this year. He is traveling the world and sharing the greatest story of all – The Story of Salvation Through Jesus Christ. And he’s doing so using music as his platform.
See, what this little boy figured out was that once he stopped listening to the world around him – once he tuned the business and chaos out – he was able to hear the voice of The Savior. And after listening to The Father, he began to understand that his own story was indeed one worthy of sharing.
That’s what our testimony is, you know. It’s our story. It’s the one that has been gifted to us so that we can share it with others for the sole purpose of spreading The Good News of Jesus Christ.
Thank you, Lord, for Your Little Boy and for His story.
16 Jul
I Have Made Some Crappy Choices
It’s morning.
Driving to work.
Should I listen to the radio, Lord, or shall we talk on the way to work today?
I hit the radio button.
“It’s a good morning!”
It’s also a beautiful day.
Figures.
Clear skies and sunshiney rays of hello lend to poor reception.
Too many different sound waves happily traverse the space around my car.
Sorry, Mandesa, I have to turn you off this morning.
So, I guess it’s a talky-kind-of-morning.
I’m no different from the next guy.
Really, I’m not.
I sin.
I have a hard time learning a lesson.
Gosh, I’ve made a bad choice and decided against making the same bad choice, only to do it again.
And again.
And again.
Lord, I’m so glad You love me and You forgive my shortcomings.
I’m so glad you’re patient.
I have made some really crappy choices.
Yes, but you’ve made some really good choices, too.
Thank, you, Lord, for pointing that out.
I have made some really good choices.
I HAVE made some really good choices.
I get it.
Thank you!
9 Jul
Day 677
Cleaning out the china cabinet tonight, I found a stack of newspapers from summer of 2010. They were tucked away for memory’s sake, but tonight, they were a sweet smile from the Savior. No doubt His plan is far greater than any we could imagine, He knew exactly the moment I should stumble upon the words spoken by my son nearly 3 years ago, recorded in newspaper print.
This has been one of those flash-forward moments. God’s allowed me to see His hand in the days that have followed these words…words that have been spoken into life by The Creator himself. Thank you, Lord. Thank you!
