Church Stuff
Our new pastor came in June and we've had five great weeks with him so far. He's a great guy and cares so much about the people in our congregation. He loves all ages and really spends time listening to people without a pre-planned agenda. I'm enjoying his teaching, his leadership and his family. He's on a mission trip to India right now and we are anxious to have him back and kick off the fall.

Sunday we brought the elementary kids in with some horns and marched around the "walls of Jericho" and reenacted that bible story. It was such fun and the kids really enjoyed being part of the morning.

VBS ended last week and was spectacular. There weren't tons of kids but the ones that were there had a blast. We had a team of teens and colleg age young adults to do our VBS for us. They were the best! They came in and loved the kids, perservered through some adversity and long days. 8 kids said they wanted to know Jesus and Family Night was awesome! Non-stop craziness is over but I'm blessed to have spent the week with the team from First Baptist, Ozark, Missouri!

Depression Is a Sneaky Thing
A few months ago I was at a place in my life that I felt hopeless, helpless and didn't care about much of anything. I was struggling every day to just get through it until I could go to sleep again. I was angry and irritable all the time, I hurt physically and was weepy all the time. I went to my doctor for a growth on my tonsil and basically broke down while I was talking with her. We began to explore some mood and tendancies - completing a sort of inventory and describing how I'd been feeling.

She asked if I would consider trying some medication that might help. If I'd been asked that question two years ago I would have said that I need to get things under control myself. However, I've known several folks who have benefitted from medications, so I decided to give the medication a try.

Six weeks later I feel like a new "me". I'm not different personality wise, but I am more focused, more patient, more content, more energetic, less angry, less irritable and just really enjoying life again.

I look back and realize that I've probably struggled with this for several years. I've shared all this with Jon and the boys and we've talked about how I've been in the past and how I am now. They all agree that I'm a better me now and we are certainly enjoying each other more.

If any of this sounds familiar, talk with your physician and check into some things that could help - Depression is serious and can really hurt the ones we love.

Catching Up
Wow! I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted any updates. Lot's has been going on and it's all good!

A few more days and my boys are off to Texas for visits with uncles, grandparents and great-grandparents. They are very excited and looking forward to swimming, shooting BB guns and driving the golf cart. I think fishing is on the agenda too!

Jon and I will try to survive without them and I think we may even have a date or two during the time we are alone. Alone - what a thought. Can't imagine life without the boys though.

Bite My Tongue
I was ordering food for lunch today at one of our local fast food places. I said into the little silver box that I would like a cheeseburger with ketchup only. The voice on the other end said to me, "Do you want cheese on that?"

aaaaaaaaargh! Yes I bit my tongue and didn't say, "Well, yes doesn't a CHEESEBURGER come with cheese?" When sarcasm lies just under the surface it is always an effort to respond with gentleness and grace. Thankfully, God is bigger than me and He held my tongue in check.

I'm trying to understand where others might be coming from and not be short tempered or moronic to people who may need understanding.

Always room for grace.

Houston Bound
I've just finished purchasing airline tickets for the guys. They are flying to see their grandparents this summer. I'm not sure any of us are ready for this. I'm not sure I'm ready to let my babies fly across country by themselves and I'm not sure the grandparents are ready to have two active boys on their hands for a few weeks. I'm trying to view this event as I view all new things; as a grand adventure. I know all will be fine and it will be a tremendous blast for the boys to go to the farm and explore - maybe find a rattler or two. I think they will enjoy spending time with my grandmother and I think Zach will find lots of things to do to help her out. He's the biggest helper. Adam helps to but enjoys being by himself and tends to wander off by himself. Can't wait to see how it all turns out.

School's Out!
Last Thursday was the last day of school and awards day for my boys. We arrived at 9:00 for the awards and was very proud of both the guys. Adam got perfect attendance and high honors for the year (he maintained a 3.72 average all year) and Zach got his award for reading over 4,000 pages during the year and the honor roll. Not bad for 4th & 2nd graders. We are all glad the year is over even though it was a good year. We can sleep a little longer each morning for a few days then day camp starts up. They boys love day camp and they are looking forward to all the fun activities they have planned.

God is Up to Something
The past few weeks have been a incredible whirllwind of activity. Our church had 12 acres of land and the school district wanted to buy it. The church had to close the complete deal in order to deal with the bonds we had used to finance the auditorium that was built 4 years ago. The offer from the school district was short of the full amount by about 400,000 dollars. So not only did the school have to come through and close by Monday the 15th of May but we had to obtain additional financing for the extra amount. We started this whole process on May 1, closed the deals on May 15th and all the money has been wired today! It's pretty much unheard of to obtain a loan and close it in 15 days, but God put people on the job that were believers and they allowed God to lead. It was harrowing and exciting all at the same time. God is truly mighty and has moved in an awesome way in our church these past 4 months. Can't wait to see what is ahead.

It's Scary Out There
Yesterday I ran some errands with the boys after school. They were thirsty so I drove through McDonalds to get them a drink. While I was waiting for my change, I saw this sign; "Braille and picture menus available".

Whaaaaat?!?!?!?

I'm a little confused - why would someone in the drive through need a braille menu? Is there new technology that allows vision impaired people to drive that I haven't heard of? Oh, my... what's next?

Birthdays, Anniversarys and Mother's Day
The first part of May is always a bit over the top for us as our anniversary is May 7th, my birthday is May 9th and Mother's Day is always thrown into the mix as well. This year I'm doing things I haven't done before or haven't done for a really long time. First thing is I've started this blog. I don't really know why, just seems like fun and a challenge. Next thing is I've cut my hair OFF! Yep, its shorter than I've ever worn it EVER! I've gone from being a red-head to being more of my natural deep brown with all the gray covered up of course. I'm not sure who was the most worried about cutting off my hair, me or Heather - it looks great and it's fun to have a new look. The next thing I'm doing this month is getting some rose bushes for the front yard and maybe a lilac tree or a spirea bush. Maybe not all at once but the front needs some work and I got some great new garden gloves for my birthday - Thanks mom!

We are looking for a car. My poor car has lost it's ability to back up. The boys and I went out last week to go to school and we couldn't back out of the driveway! I didn't know what I was running over but it had to be bad. Got out to look and nothing was there. Ok, what's going on? I found that I could roll back about a foot each time I tried to go in reverse so I made multiple 3 point turns and finally, actually, turned the car around in the drive and went out head first. The boys thought it was great fun since every time we were backing up, when it got as far as it would go it slammed us to a stop. I'm sure if the neighbors were watching they got quite a laugh. We have to park on the street now because we can't back anywhere. My thinking has changed to accomodate parking in a parking lot so I don't have to back, you know, just pull straight through. Ah, the joys of life. I'm thankful it still is getting us where we need to be.

Mother's Day tomorrow. Wonder what that will bring?

Mother's Day Tea
This week is a very busy week as we are preparing for many events at church. Doing double duty right now seems very daunting and in the midst of this is my Zach's, ever so important, 2nd grade Mother's Day Tea. Would I even think about not going? Maybe - think about it but actually not go? Never! So on Wednesday at 8:30 AM (the time of day when I get the most work done) I arrive in the cafeteria to find Zach's face beaming that I have arrived. He hands me the most beautiful pink construction paper crown that is 3 times too big, shows me the pot he has nailed together, painted and planted a pansy in just for me. He's also made me a placemat with lovely artwork on it and a creative writing book he has written for me. The children sang two songs for us very special moms and then presented a poem. To top it all off we had muffins the children had made all by themselves - very tasty I must say - with fruit and of course hot tea! Zach and I mixed two varieties because we both love to live on the edge. We decided it was really yummy but did need a bit of sweetner.

God created seven days for us and instructed us to keep the Sabbath holy. I believe that my tea time with Zach this week counts as part of my Sabbath - I truly felt refreshed when I left to go on my way to work.

My placemat is on the table, my pansy is in the window, my crown is folded inside my book for safekeeping. What a blessing!