Lori's Ramblings

The Coolin' Station

2009-06-11T22:14:00.004-05:00

I have to admit that I enjoy blogging more about the adventures of my parents than anything else! The girls and I went down this week to pick up my niece, and we stayed overnight in Murfreesboro. We never know what project they will have going on until we get there. This trip they have been working on The Coolin' Station and doing quite a bit of gardening. Here's a picture of Daddy sitting in the newly created Coolin' Station complete with "Cyclone" fan (Mom says it helps to keep the flies and mosquitos away), radio (to keep you entertained) and police scanner (so Momma can keep up with all the outlaws in town!).

This next photo is of the view from the "Station". Momma said that she needed to remember not to plant corn in this garden next year, because she is afraid when it is grown she won't be able to see over it.

Yes, this what you do at the Coolin' Station, sit and watch traffic go by. Mom & Dad are now on a corner lot since they bought the lot next to the house and tore down the old house that was where the garden is now. It was funny to see how many people drove by (and slowly I might add) just to see their garden and what all they have been doing. They drive up from the front of the house and make a right turn just on the other side of the garden.

And this is what they will see on the other side of the row of corn! More peas and flowers!! There is another entrance, if you will, from that lot and Mom has made it pretty as a picture. A couple of weeks before Mother's Day, she called and said, "Are you gettin' me anything for Mother's Day?" because I usually send a fresh bouquet. She had gone to the neighborhood greenhouse and had some plants put back that she wanted. The owner of the greenhouse is a good friend of mine so I called and purchased the plants (I think she called them Mandevillas??) and they are now happily climbing and blooming on this arched gateway. You can't see the pretty little yellow blooms, but there were several on it. Each side of the entrance is flanked with a wagonwheel and set of lights. I don't know what it is, but she must like wagonwheels. I remember she had several set around at our old house! And that's the second garden you'll see in the background. Now remember, they moved to town so they wouldn't have as much to take care of as they did out on the 20-acre home place!

So the purpose of the Coolin' Station is (at least) 3-fold:

By the time they get through with all the yard and garden and flowers they just need a place to cool off!
This is Mom's outdoor living room. Daddy is so cold-natured and keeps the house so warm Mom just has to get out so she can breathe. And...
I found out some of Daddy's buddy have been know recently to stop by for a cup of coffee!! Not to mention a couple of neighbors that wondered over that afternoon just to visit!

Whatever their purposes are, I must say that even I enjoyed the outdoor living space. It was quite comfortable. If there wouldn't have been so many kids around disturbing my peace ;) I would have enjoyed several chapters of a good book while I was there!

So I'll end with a picture of myself with Mom. I really haven't gotten the knack of self-portraits yet. I was just happy that both of our heads were in the frame! (hehe) And one of Daddy before he left to go to "preaching". We've got to go back next week to return the niece, and the project of the week we're hoping is putting the pool up!! More pictures to come.

Chapter Two

2009-05-25T22:08:00.005-05:00

So Daddy's hospital stay in January was because the time had come to start dialysis. His kidneys just were not cleaning the impurities out of his blood anymore. We were ready!!...so we thought! Daddy had had the fistula in for about a year...it should be ready to use, right? Nope, not the case! They drew the blood out, but when they routed it back into his arm, it blew up like a balloon in his vein! Stop the train, we've got to go with plan B! The doctor scheduled a procedure the next morning to have port put in his neck area. As the dialysis doctor was checking on him before the surgery, he was explaining what they were going to do. How they were going to put the catheter in that they will use temporarily until the fistula is usable. Well all Daddy heard was "CATHETER" and his eyes got as big as baseballs and he looked down. The doctor noticed the body language and quickly says, "No, no!! Not that kind of catheter!!" Daddy's room was full of our family and I wasn't sure who all was listening to the conversation between them, so I just snickered to myself and let the doctor finish explaining. Later, after Daddy came back to his room after the surgery, we were sitting around talking and my brother starting reminding Daddy about "catheter" story and the expression on his face, but he got SO tickled he couldn't even talk!! I haven't seen my brother laugh that hard in a very long time. We were all crying from laughing so hard before it was all over with!!

To give an update on the fistula, they have been using it for about 3 months or more. They removed the catheter at the end of March and he is doing well.

Sheridan comes between Searcy Co. & Shirley...

2009-01-28T06:47:00.002-06:00

As the school closing are scrolling across the bottom of the TV screen, I am searching and hoping that "Sheridan School District" will be there-right after Searcy County School District and before Shirley School District. It's not there!! :( We're going to school.

Chapter One

2009-01-25T20:50:00.005-06:00

Because of my dad's diabetes, he suffers from neuropathy which is a constant pain in his feet. So Friday night as he was lying in his hospital bed, he asked me to rub and massage the bottom of his feet. Since I am the good daughter that I am, I scoot my chair up to the end of the bed and start rubbing away. Even though this should make his feet feel better, he still hollers out in pain. I think it probably feels like rubbing pressure over a tender bruise. Daddy is a very "vocal" person, and by vocal I mean that he makes man noises and makes them very loudly. For example, he yawns loud enough for people 3 floors away to hear. Or when he clears his throat, it's a very distinct sound. Well, this evening he had the TV on, but he wasn't really watching it. Now remember that my dad is deaf in one ear and hard of hearing in the other. And you know how in hospitals that the speaker to the TV is on the remote control. While Daddy was laid back in his bed, he had laid the speaker in his lap so to speak, where the crease of his leg (in the groin area) and belly met. Also keep in mind that my daddy has a pot belly plus he was retaining extra fluid that made his belly even larger. So just as I am starting to rub his feet, he starts with a few "OHHH!"s & "OWWW!"s And then I hear this pooting sound. Yes you read correctly-Pooting, as in farting!! I jumped back and looked at Daddy. But I had figured out that it was coming from the TV, but with the position of the speaker, I wasn't sure at first. Well, I started laughing and looked at my mom. She finally figured out what was going on and started laughing with me. But Daddy still hasn't caught on, but he finally heard the pooting sound. But HE couldn't figure out where it was coming from! He had forgotten that he put the speaker in his lap and couldn't see it. He practically sits up in his bed, looks from side to side, looks under his bed, looks back and forth from Mom to me! I am laughing so hard I can't hardly breathe. I picked up the speaker so Daddy could see where the sound was coming from and then he started laughing with us! I asked him if "Lori, rub my feet." was something like "pull my finger"!! He thought Mom and I were pulling a trick on him. I guess he thought we had one of those farting machines or something. So if you're still reading this, have you guessed what was on the TV? It was the scene from "Blazing Saddles" where the cowboys are sitting around the campfire cooking and eating beans. If I can figure out how to add the video here, I'll post it. But for now you'll just have to follow the link. It is nearly a full minute, so picture this all going on while this sound is playing in the background. We laughed till we cried!

To be continued

2009-01-21T22:18:00.003-06:00

I haven't forgotten that I need to finish my story. I have just been too tired the last couple of days to get to the computer. However, just to update about my dad...he's home and resting better! He told me that he stayed outside most of today. I think sunshine probably did him some good! He will start his 3-days per week dialysis treatments tomorrow.

The Books I'll Write - Part One

2009-01-18T21:23:00.010-06:00

Before I was married or had children, I swore I knew more about raising kids than the people who actual birthed them. And later after I married, but still before my own children were born, I had a partner with whom we swore we would write a book on the correct methods of child rearing. Both of us childless at the time, but had so much wisdom to share with the world. Needless to say, we never got around to write "the book", but both agreed that we would have had to completely revamp and revise the original after we actually had children of our own! We also discovered that we would now have to write two completely different books, because we had two completely different styles of raising our girls. We have laughed many days about the concept of "the book".

Well, I decided this weekend that the next book I'll write will be about the adventures of my dad's last days! No my dad is not dead...yet. My dad is however a very sick man, but today he is alive. We've been told Dad could die any minute or he could live for years. My dad loves to aggravate people for good laugh. He's always looking for a way to pull one over on someone. So with that mind, I'll say that my family has a choice to either cry and dwell on the vital state of my father's health or laugh with him each day that he's still with us. I choose to laugh! I have my moments when the realization that his days are numbered hits me, but I choose not to dwell there.

So let me catch you up to this weekend.

My dad is 67 years old. He is a heart, diabetic and kidney patient. His heart is just about worn out. The diabetes is eating his body up. And his kidneys have all but stopped working. Daddy is just an old country boy that was raised on fried foods and hard work. Taking care of himself (eating healthy and exercising) was never thought of I'm sure, so now he's suffering the consequences.

Daddy had his first heart attack in 2000; his second in 2007. Repair after the first was a triple bypass. The second only allowed for a stint because the diabetes had done so much damage to the heart muscle. His doctor told us that Daddy was "a walking time bomb". The next heart attack will be massive and will kill him. The doctor did not beat around the bush to explain the seriousness of his condition. This is same doctor that said, "So...you're still alive??!!" on one of dad's follow-up visits after H/A #2!

During his stay in the hospital with the last heart attack, his kidneys starting shutting down. So he has had regular visits with a kidney specialists since then. My dad lovingly refers to this doctor as "Dr. Kervorkian". He is Russian with a strong accent and very soft spoken. Oh did I mention my dad is deaf in his right ear and hard of hearing in his left. After several failed attempts of gaining kidney function with medicines and diet, Daddy had to have a procedure done last year to insert a fistula into his arm which is a port to have dialysis done when the time came.

Within the last month, Daddy has had to change to a "sliding scale" for his insulin. So at least once a week, he has been going to a local doctor where they live, and having blood drawn so they can manage the correct amount of insulin his body needs. We think a lot of this doctor. He is the one who took care of Daddy when he had his 2nd heart attack until they could transfer him to a Hot Springs hospital. He is also the doctor that took care of Aunt Mildred at the end. As he was struggling to get Daddy's meds right, he told him that he "didn't have much to work with" referring to the condition of my dad's health. Which all leads up to Daddy being admitted to the hospital this weekend.

This story is much longer than I anticipated so I'll continue tomorrow. But I'll leave with a couple of my favorite photos of Daddy.

Months in Review

2008-12-21T20:31:00.005-06:00

I just noticed how I was on a roll with my postings in October and it seems that I might have fallen of the face of the earth. So here's to catch up...

October 24 & 25 I went to Oklahoma City, OK with a friend of mine for a women's ministry training event, "Relevant and Recharged". It was one of the best events that I had been to in a while. The conferences were just what I needed and was looking for. I came home with fresh ideas and ready to get to work. The approaching holidays put a small damper on my enthusiasm, but it was definitely God's timing. Our WM Team had dwindle down to 5 ladies, and we had put the word out that we were looking for more ladies. This time of "waiting for the holidays" gave about 7 or 8 ladies time to respond to our plea for help! Hopefully when we meet again in January we will have 12 ladies present instead of just 3 that was at our last meeting! ;)

This is my friend and me with a couple of ladies that lead and organized the conference.

I can't leave out the fun my friend and I had together that weekend. We don't get to see each other very often, but a road trip to OK gave us a chance to catch up. I also saw a couple at the hotel in OKC that were from the town we lived in before. That was kind of odd. I thought I recognized this man as we pulled into the hotel driveway, but that couldn't be...really, what were the chances! But as I was walking to the door, I looked at him, he looked at me, and about the same time we said, "Don't I know you??" It was quite funny at that point! His wife was on her way back down from their room. They were there visiting one of their kids and their family. One of their grandkids was being christened that weekend. After the conference was over, we traveled back to my friend's home and I stayed overnight with her & her family before traveling home the next day. It was a great weekend.

Wendy & Me!!

For Thanksgiving this year, we went to my parents' as we always do for lunch. We opted months earlier to have Pop smoke our dinner this year instead of the traditional dinner that we normally have. We had smoked boston butt, pork ribs, brisket and all the BBQ trimmings. We had about 25 present for lunch. My cousin and his family drove up from southern AR this year to join us. The best I can remember, it's probably been over 20 years since we've had Thanksgiving together. My other cousin and her twin girls were able to join us this year also. She got a new job recently that allows her to have holidays off now. Here are some pictures from our annual "photo op".

This is my husband, two girls and me.

This is my parents, brother, sister, and me with our families.

This is our whole gang (minus my aunt who was taking the picture.

These are some of my favorite candid shots.

And that was my November!

Brrrrrr! It's Cold!!

2008-12-21T19:49:00.006-06:00

The local weatherman says the low tonight will be 16 degrees. I'm not fond of cold weather. I'd much rather have the other extreme of 116 degree temp! It seems once I get cold, particularly my feet, I cannot warm back up! However in the summer, as long as I have some source of air blowing around me, I'm fine!

I guess this weather should be expected since this is the week of Christmas. Since we live in Arkansas though, we never know what to expect. I can remember Christmases with snow and ice, and others when we wore shorts and t-shirts. The old saying goes, "If you don't like the weather in Arkansas today, just wait until tomorrow." Yes, just yesterday the high was somewhere around 70 degrees.

Speaking of Christmas, I have finished shopping and have wrapped all our gifts! WooHoo!! That's pretty good for me. We usually don't even start shopping until a couple of weeks before Christmas, buying most it in one day, and still hunting for a few stray gifts on Christmas Eve. We'll spend Christmas day at home with my parents coming up to visit. Then later on the weekend we'll go visit my in-laws. Not many gifts under the tree, but I think the girls will like what's there.

Mom needed a picture of our family for a frame she bought so we snapped this one the other night while we were visiting some friends of ours. Thought it might be appropriate to post this week.

Merry Christmas!

Shhh! Don't Tell!

2008-10-20T21:19:00.003-05:00

You ever do something stupid and hope nobody finds out, but it's so stupidly funny you have to tell everybody! Well, here goes...

We built a house and moved in about 2 1/2 years ago. We picked out the light fixtures and all that jazz for every room in the house. Well, the fixtures we picked out the girls' bedrooms are ceiling fans with a single bulb globe. Their rooms are 12' x 14' and we put in a 60 watt bulb because that's what most fixtures allow as a maxium wattage. (Sidebar: Are "stupidly" and "wattage" real words?? Ok, back to the story.) This 60 watt bulb was more like a night light in these big rooms. The dark color of wall paint didn't help things either. So we bought all kinds of lamps for both rooms so they would have enough light to even dress in there!! Reading and doing homework in there was almost impossible! Well, Ky's light bulb on the fan blew out about a month or so ago and the only bulbs we had in the house were 100 watt bulbs. So Matt climbed up on the step ladder and removed the burned out bulb and started reading on the side where it tells you what kind of bulbs are acceptable. Lo and behold, a 100 watt bulb is perfectly safe in this fixture!! Oh my goodness, their rooms are so bright now that you practically need sunglasses when you go in! I just wanted to tell myself, "Well DUHHHH!!" But how bad is it that we made them sit in the dark for over two years!!! Live and learn!! There's you a laugh for today!!

The Youth

2008-10-19T14:14:00.005-05:00

To my surprise, I have enjoyed working with and being with our youth group at church. Jr. High and Sr. High kids have never been on my ministry radar. As a matter of fact, they've never been on any radar screen-ministry or otherwise. I've never understood the purpose of teenage drama, even when I was a teenager, and therefore veered away from any form of the likes. Maybe because I am now the mother of a Middle-schooler, I have a heart to reach out to these kids! I know...I'm just as shocked as you are! Just a reminder that my ways are not God's ways!

Our church sponsored a bonfire and hayride last night that I attended. There were probably about 20 kids that came out for it. Our youth minister planned for us to roast hot dogs for dinner and marmallows for s'mores. The guy who built the huge bonfire decided not to start the fire until after the kids arrived. I think he secretly wanted to show off his bonfire skills. :) The problem with that is that we were suppose to eat first and then go on the hayride. The fire was so big and HOT that we couldn't get close enough to the fire to roast anything but our hands and faces! I think most people just had the chill taken off their dogs because that was as long as they could stand to be that close to the fire! So afterwards we went on a hayride, and I thought it was a pretty good trip. The kids all seemed to enjoy it. They did take them through a cemetery and tried to scare them with guys in costumes carrying chainsaws. Unfortunately, the scare tactic was a little lame! The biggest scare the kids got was when some redneck let his dog loose from his house to chase the trailer full of kids! Some people are just idiots! We made to it back to the house safe and sound though! The irony though was that the fire was just right for roasting when we returned, but there wasn't anything left to roast! Ky had invited a friend to go with her, and needless to say, on the way home we stopped by Sonic!!! ;)

I really had a good time. I have to find that balance though of chaperoning and letting Ky have her space. She doesn't seem to want me around as much any more. The joys of living with a pre-teen! I would post some pictures from this event, but I forgot to take my camera with me. So I'll post a picture from See You At The Pole that was in September. This was our first time to participate. It was an amazing time to see these kids gather in front of their school to pray together.

Isn't this one of the coolest things you've ever seen? These kids were there at 7:15 a.m. Most of them probably don't even crawl out of bed until then! It makes me proud to say that most of these kids are friends of Ky's. It's nice to know the kind of people she is hanging out with.

New Presidential Candidate... It's someone we know!

2008-10-11T11:46:00.000-05:00

There's an effort to elect an unknown random person as President... and it's someone we know! Watch this online video about the surprising new nominee:

http://www.tsgnet.com/pres.php?id=370743&altf=Mpsj&altl=NdDbjo

Jot a note to let me know what you think!

Uncle Olen

2008-10-04T14:28:00.004-05:00

Mom just called said my Uncle Olen just passed away. He is one of my dad's older brothers. This picture was just taken a couple of weeks ago at my parents' house. (Uncle Olen is the one sitting in the chair.) It looks like they were doing what they do best--singing!

I last saw him about the middle of August. He was in the hospital at Hot Springs. Matt's dad had been in a motorcyle accident, and when I called my mom & told her where we were, she told me that Uncle Olen was there too. I got to visit with him several days while they were both there. He told me then that he was feeling well enough to sing! I think Uncle Olen had been serenading the others at the hospital!

We'll miss him dearly.

Winnie-the-Pooh's new "Rabbit"

2008-10-02T11:59:00.010-05:00

This is mom's new turnip patch. My parents planted these were the old house was that they tore down next door. She sent me this picture yesterday and I just had to laugh! The sign she has posted says "HELP YOURSELF" What's so funny about this picture is that my parents moved to this smaller house in town about a year ago. They came from a house that was about 1800 sq. ft. on 20 acres to a house that is about 1200 sq. ft. on one city lot. The whole purpose was suppose to be so that they would have less to take care of. Earlier this year they purchased the lot and old vacant house that was next to theirs. And they have done more work, and created more projects for themselves than they EVER had at our old home place!! Now they have planted enough turnips to provide greens for the entire county!!

Here's the old house that was previously on this site being demolished. One of the first things they did when they bought this lot was clean out and tear down a fence row that went ALL the way around this lot! It was grown up so much that you barely even saw the house sitting on the lot. The local people stop by often and tell my parents what an improvement they have to the lot and the neighborhood. The man that lives on the other side of them has even started cleaning up his lot!! I guess they've been an inspiration to others! :)

Road Trip

2008-09-29T10:18:00.005-05:00

We traveled to Natchitoches, Louisiana this weekend to watch my nephew play football for his college team, Southeastern Oklahoma. They got beat, unfortunately, 63-12. It was good to see Brad play with the "big boys" though! This picture is of Brad #54, his girlfriend Phylicia, my niece Allyson, Kera & Kyla. So despite the score of the game, the road trip will be a memory we'll always cherish! I had my girls and my niece in the van with me, and we followed my sister in her car with her husband (who was sleeping in the backseat) and my mom. We left Sheridan about 11:30 Saturday morning and met them in Hope about 1:15, ate a bite of lunch and hit the road again about 2:30! Paula and I had been mapping out the best route we thought we should take all week. We originally thought we would cut down from Hope and go through Lewisville and Bradley. But all the online maps were steering us toward Texarkana, so that's the route we decided on. I had borrowed a TomTom (GPS gadget) from a friend of ours, and it had also picked the Texarkana route. So we were armed with a TomTom and 2 or 3 printouts of Google directions!! We did fine until we got to Shreveport. FYI--apparently the shortest route from Texarkana to Natchitoches is through downtown Shreveport!! We were right in the middle of the 256 bridges that lead to everywhere but home when we missed our exit. We were communicating via walkie talkie between our vehicles. My sister is in front of me. I have the TomTom in my car. Did I mention that I'm afraid of heights and bridges?!! So while I am "white-knuckling" the steering wheel trying not to look anywhere but my lane, my sister is yelling, "WHICH WAY DO WE GO???" Almost immediate when we got on the first bridge, the highway split! We had to choose to go East or West. So I'm trying to grab my print out directions, watch the TomTom, use the walkie talkie and DRIVE!! You guessed it--we chose the wrong direction! Never fear though, I regained my bearings and let TomTom turn us around to the correct highway! We made it safely to the campus of Northwestern at 5:30pm for the 6:00 kickoff! One missed highway was all we had the whole trip though! We did get a little nervous on the way home when we had to come back through downtown Shreveport, but we were stayed headed in the right direction! Mom rode home with me and my girls. She helped me stay awake! We arrived back at her house about 2:30 Sunday morning. You can always count on a good time anytime my sister is around. So here's a picture of me and my sis after the game. (Ok, now that I've uploaded the picture, I realize this is an AWEFUL picture of me!!)

Brad was pretty upset with the game, but I thought he played hard. If things work out, we hope to make one of his home games in Durant later in the season.

August in review

2008-09-15T09:27:00.010-05:00

August 9 our whole family went to SW Arkansas to visit the rest of our family. We went to McCaskill for lunch to see Matt's family. His parents, his brother and sister and their kids, and his grandmother were there. It was good to see them. Matt doesn't get to see them but a couple of times a year. His work schedule usually doesn't enough time for him to get down there.

Then that evening we went to Murfreesboro to visit my parents. It was my mom's birthday so I talked my dad into cooking for us, and we invited the rest of the family to come too. My dad purchased a gas smoker earlier in the summer and has used it nearly every weekend. When he cooks, there is a enough food to feed a family of five for a week!! So through the summer when he would could cook they would usually invite my brother and sister and their families over for dinner. Since I live an hour and half away, I missed many meals with them. My nephew, Brad, made a comment to his mom, my sister, about what a shame it was that I moved away and was missing out on good cooking. Well, this night he had already left to go back to college, 4 hours away. I took a picture of all the food and texted him a message to let him know how much he was missing out on since he was so far, far away! :) I think Daddy had smoked a brisket, 2 or 3 racks of ribs, a boston butt or 2, and leg quarters. Plus all the sides we had to go with it: boiled potatoes, baked beans, cole slaw, etc. And then to top it off we had homemade ice cream!! Yummy, yum, delicious!!

Here is Daddy watching the temperature gauge on his smoker. He nearly has his smoking technique perfected!! ;) This picture was actually taken just a few weeks ago on another trip made down there. It was an impromptu trip. We were invited just days before to a birthday party for our niece Savanah. She was celebrating her 8th birthday at Meme & Pepaw's house in McCaskill. Afterwards, the girls and I slipped over to Granny & Pop's for the night.

Ok, back to August...

August 14 Matt's dad had a bad motorcycle accident. He was enroute to the hospital in Hot Springs to check on a church member of his that had a heartattack. He came upon a road crew that had traffic stopped, and when he topped the hill he had no where to go but to lay it down! He made it to hospital alright--via ambulance! He had a pretty bad gash on his head, and lost a lot of blood. His whole left side was beat and bruised up! He was very lucky though. He had no broken bones and no internal injuries. After a 4 or 5 day hospital stay and 6 units of blood later, he went home with 32 staples in his head, a hematoma on his left side and lots of road rash! He was very sore, but I think he will probably heal with only a couple of scars to show for it! Here's a picture-3 weeks later-that shows much improvement!

School started the 18th. Both girls seem to be off to a good start. They are both enjoying their new teachers and classes. I have already subbed all but 6 days that they have been in session. Subbing is working out to be a pretty good gig for me!

The 30th we went up to Fayetteville for Hogs first game. They won, but just barely. It was really not a good game. I told Kyla that I thought her and me could have played better than they did. Matt didn't appreciate the comment at all! LOL! We got to visit with our friends Dale & Lisa that in Rogers. We tailgated with them for a while before the game started. It's always good to see them. After the game we grabbed a bite to eat and headed to our hotel in Rogers. Matt & Kera got to swim the next morning before we left. Other than Kyla just getting over a cold, and Kera and I starting to get a cold, we had a pretty good weekend. We got back Sunday afternoon in time to spend the evening at DJ & Liz's. They had a cookout for Labor Day weekend. DJ is a master smoker too and it's always a privilege to get to eat with them!

Here's the game in pictures:

This is Matt and the girls waiting for the football team to arrive.

The team entering the field through the smoking Hog!

Kyla didn't want to be in my picture so she stuck her cup in front of her face. And as I was uploading these picture I was thinking that a picture of the scoreboard and final score would have a been a great addition this photo collection, but...I didn't take one!! Oh well! We won.

And that's most of August's action!

It's gotta be "the funk"!

2008-07-29T16:49:00.002-05:00

Man, I have been out of sorts lately and the only diagnosis I have for it is being in a Funk. It's mainly on a spiritual level though. I feel like Stella and can't get my groove back. What I think that has really gotten me down the most is that I know exactly how to get out of this "funk", but can't seem to get my want-to right! I know the right answers-read my Bible daily, prayer, prayer, prayer, fellowship with God, etc. etc. I know these because I've taught them to others, but I can't seem to make it make sense for me right now. I woke up at 3:30 this morning thinking about what I needed to do, what I knew to do. And I did for little while. But what I can't rationalize is why I'm in this funk. I love my Lord! I know he loves me! I know he desires joy and peace and life-abundantly-for me! And I desire that from him. I don't like the funk. They should make a pill to cure it like it was some kind of disease!

Other aspects of my life are really good though. My family and I have really had a great summer together. My dad is doing pretty well. I talk to my mom at least once a week. I've giggled and cut-up with my sister just this past weekend!

So I guess I say that just to ask for your prayers to be inspired to get out of this mudhole I feel like I'm in.

Twilight

2008-07-21T20:00:00.002-05:00

Ok, I read it! I just had to see what all the hype was about. This is the only book I've ever seen my 12 yr. old get this excited about and can't wait to read the next in the series. So a friend of mine happened to have it and let her borrow it today.

I'll admit that I couldn't put it down myself. Starting it Sunday afternoon and finishing Monday morning. It's written for the younger generation, so there's no cuss words, no detailed love scenes. Kissing and holding hands was quite refreshing from some of the other adult fiction I've read lately! So the storyline goes...a girl falls in love with a boy from school who admits later that he is a vampire. And he is constantly battling within himself not to kill her, because she smells so delicious, but he is falling in love with her too. I was surprised at how much I really did enjoy this read.

My daughter keeps asking me if I addicted to "Twilight" yet. And honestly that has really disturbed me. And maybe it's because I am in the middle of Bible study about gods (little g) and idols. I guess why it bothers me so is because I want to say to her, "No, we get addicted to God (big G), not fictional books about vampires! Are you reading your bible too?"

I don't think I'm against her reading this book, or the Harry Potter books, or books/movies with magic and the such. It's my job to teach her the Truth, and that these others are not true. I know others will argue with me about that, but hey, I'm the mom of this child and it's a free country. (That's my story and I'm sticking to it!) Honestly, I was thrilled that she was actually reading a book!! She's a very good reader, but she doesn't seem to enjoy just reading for fun. So this one I think I will probably ponder more and decide how we'll deal with it.

Time Away!

2008-07-13T22:05:00.014-05:00

Matt and I have been keeping the roads pretty hot for about a week and half now! The girls spent a few days with my parents the week of the 4th of July. My niece (I like to call her the Activities Director) had made all kinds of plan for them! They were going to have streamers and fireworks and a dance and I don't what all else. And no, my mother had to inkling of these plans!! They had a good time. Mom got a new pool so I think they spent most of their time in the water. They did make it up to the lake and watched the fireworks on the 4th. Here are a few pictures of the party.

They somehow managed to decorate with balloons outside on the clothesline! :)

This was the dance!

The last night they were there they remember that they had not swam all week after dark. Granny let them swim until after 10:00 by the light of the Tiki Torches!

They had a great time!

Matt and I took advantage of the girls being gone and to a weekend trip to Branson. We didn't see any shows. We thought about it, but when it took us over 30 minutes to get only 1 mile down the road...we ate lunch and went back to the hotel!! We stayed at the Hilton at Branson Landing. What I like about this hotel is that there are shops, restaurants and entertain without having to drive anywhere! For those of you that have never been there, Lake Taneycomo runs right beside Branson Landing, and in the middle of the shopping area is a water fountain. At the top of every hour, there is a "fountain show" with music, lights and fire cannons.

This picture isn't that great, but I think there are 16 fire cannons across the back (on 2 are shown "firing" in this picture). It's really spectactular at night. One evening the group "Six" performed for free by the fountain. The are an acapella group, but use their voices to sound like instruments. Then Friday and Saturday at 10:00 each night these two guys, they call themselves Buckets 'N Boards, came out and did a short routine. They were definately entertaining! We had a pretty good weekend ourselves.

After we left Branson and picked up the girls the next day, we rested and repacked for another weekend trip with the whole family. We went to Memphis this time. We toured Graceland. Never been much of an Elvis fan, but it was interesting. We toured the Mansion, the Automobile museum, the Jumpsuit museum and the Jets.

The mansion itself wasn't as big as I thought it would be. But when we got home and were thinking back, it had so many other buildings on the grounds that it really was a big place. Also, they don't let the public tour the upstairs of the house, so we didn't even get to see that part.

Matt enjoyed the looking at the all the cars, us girls didn't really get into all of that! :) The jets were cool. On the big jet, there is a bedroom at the back of it. Kyla said that the bed kinda creeped her out! Not sure why, but we all laughed about it.

We ate dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe on Beale St. That was where Kyla wanted to go. She is really into music and singing. I don't think it was all that she had anticipated though.

Friday we went to the Memphis Zoo. It was nice, but not all that I had anticipated. The penguins were pretty neat. The polar bear exhibit was really cool. (And I mean that in every sense of the word. It was indoors.:) And the panda bear was fun to see. However, they have this whole section of the Zoo for the panda and the actual bear was only in one part of that. I was a little disappointed that there wasn't more to it.

The weather got hot in hurry that day, so we didn't tarry long. We went back to the hotel and jumped in the pool!

I really like these short weekend trips. You're not there long enough to be too overwhelmed with all the coming and going. You have just enough time to enjoy the trip! And that's what we did-Enjoyed it!!

Matt is conteplating another trip before school starts, but I think we'll probably hold off until next year.

It's good to be home!

"For Praying Out Loud!"

2008-05-15T21:10:00.003-05:00

I love to pray out loud!

I grew up in the Church of Christ, and it is customary that women are not leaders except in children's classes. So unfortunately, I did not have the example of praying women in my life. It wasn't until after I was married that I met Cathy, my mentor. She didn't know at the time that she was my mentor, and frankly, I didn't know either at the time. I loved to hear Cathy pray. When she prayed, it was from her heart. The ladies in our Sunday School would meet about once a month, and no matter what the agenda was for the evening Cathy always ended each night by praying for each and every women there. It was probably the first time that I heard someone pray for me! I grew up listening to people that prayed using the old English that the King James was written in. It was very reverent. But when Cathy prayed, she used words just like she would if she were talking to me. She even laughed and cried while she prayed. Sometimes she even told God she was mad! Before learning from her, I swore that one of the spiritual gifts listed in the Bible had to be praying just like preaching and teaching and giving. But it just wasn't my gift! However, that's not the case. It a command given, not a gift. "Pray without ceasing." I learned from her that my God is very real, very personal, very loving. It wasn't until Cathy and her family had to moved away, that I realized how much I had learned from her, how much I depended on her. Then I had to figure it all out for myself.

I am very passionate about pray and the power of it. I am guilty though of not doing enough of it. For me, there is not much that more uplifting and empowering than hearing a group of believers calling out to their Lord. I say I get tickled, but I think it's really my heart breaking, when I hear people come before our Father with a pray with so little faith. Because in my heart I'm just thinking, "They don't get it, Lord." One thing I have learned is that God is less concerned about my "request" and more concerned about what I believe about Him.

I want to encourage those of you that don't mind praying out loud to do it as often as you are given the opportunity. Chances are that there are other people like me that just need to be taught how to pray. If you are like me, and don't like to pray out loud, I encourage you to start in a room with no one but you and God. If your voice is only as loud as whisper, that's okay, God still hears it. Praying out loud, even at a whisper, will keep you focused on your conversation with God and you won't be as likely to let your mind wonder. I can't tell you how many times I would start praying silently, and the next thing I know I trying to remember what I need from the store tomorrow.

I can testify that practice makes it easier.

It's Twins!

2008-05-03T11:09:00.008-05:00

I am probably the least "green thumb" person I know, so I have to share what is growing my flower pot! It's twins!! Twin gerber daisies!!

Can you see them right in the middle of the pot??

I planted 3 pots of gerber daisies last summer to add to my flower bed at the front of my house. They were so bright and beautiful! But as fall and cooler weather came on, I just left my pots outside and of course my plants died. So this spring as I was going to freshen up the pots and I was pruning my bushes, I noticed that there was something green growing in 2 of my pots. I just let it grow thinking it was probably a weed seed that had landed in my pots over the course of the year. As the leaves got bigger, I realized that it may actually be my daisies coming back. So I watched it a few more weeks, and it started blooming bright orange daisies!!!

And now it's full of blooms! Included my "twin" stem that is growing.

My other pot has several blooms that are just now about to open up. I'll post picture of them when they open, and I can tell what color they are going to be.

I am also nursing an Encore azalea back to health. I nearly killed it last year. I almost dug it up and threw it out, but the very tips of the limbs started growing green leaves. So I'm thinking to myself, "If it's growing green, it's not dead YET, right???!!" So here's a picture of my poor little bush. It is actually starting to put on little, tiny leaves all up and down the branches now. I'll try to keep you posted its progress too.

This poor thing. I should probably just have mercy on it, take it out of its misery!! But I'm not!! I'm determined to bring it back from the dead. I may have to name it Lazarus!

Family Cookbook

2008-04-16T10:14:00.002-05:00

I have been wanting to put together a family cookbook for several years now. I have gathered my recipes and asked for family members to gather theirs as well. That's as far as it's gotten!! I'm torn as to how to actually put this together. There are several online publishers where you and your family can enter your recipes from your own computer. However, the catch is that you have to order a minimum of 150 books. I only want about 20! And then my next dilemma is what family do I include in the book...the Watsons, the Greens, the McCains,...which will lead to so many others!! UGHHH, what to do, what to do??

In the meantime, I'm experimenting with my own computer skills to see if I can create the pages, and then I'll take the completed book to a local printer. Maybe I'll make this my Christmas project. Which year though?...well, we'll make that the cliffhanger! ;)

How To Plant Your Garden

2008-01-02T19:29:00.001-06:00

I just found this in my drafts from September and have no idea where it came from, but it was cute thought I would post it. More of a springtime topic, but maybe with the New Year it's a good way to start. I'd give credit to whomever wrote it, but I don't know where I got it.

How To Plant Your Garden

First, you come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses.... FOR THE GARDEN OF YOUR DAILY LIVING, PLANT THREE ROWS OF PEAS : 1. Peace of mind 2. Peace of heart 3. Peace of soul PLANT FOUR ROWS OF SQUASH: 1. Squash gossip 2. Squash indifference 3. Squash grumbling 4. Squash selfishness PLANT FOUR ROWS OF LETTUCE: 1. Lettuce be faithful 2. Lettuce be kind 3. Lettuce be patient 4. Lettuce really love one another NO GARDEN IS WITHOUT TURNIPS: 1. Turnip for meetings 2. Turnip for service 3. Turnip to help one another TO CONCLUDE OUR GARDEN WE MUST HAVE THYME: 1. Thyme for each other 2. Thyme for family 3. Thyme for friends WATER FREELY WITH PATIENCE AND CULTIVATE WITH LOVE. THERE IS MUCH FRUIT IN YOUR GARDEN BECAUSE YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW. NOT BAD, HUH?

Random Update

2007-12-28T11:03:00.001-06:00

I've not posted in so long I don't even know where to begin. Life has been a little hectic since October. Daddy is doing better. His numbers seem to stay in check. However he had to cancel his last appointment with the kidney doctor and rescheduled for early in January.

My mother's aunt passed away December 13 at the age of 93. She was still feisty and cantankerous till the day she died. Some of the last words she spoke were, "No need to come now!" to my sister as she got to her bedside wondering if she would even recognize her. Well, she did!! We spent two days going through her house, sorting: to keep, to sell, to throw away. We had two truckloads of garbage! Apparently she never threw ANYTHING away! We found used foil, used ziploc bags, every jar or bowl that was ever purchased with juice, butter, jelly, etc., etc. But my favorite item had to be the bags the cereal was in from inside the cereal box. Each one was cut open, laid flat and rolled onto a rolling pin!!

We did find several items of interest though. She had several antiques I didn't know she had, such as the old victrola hand cranked record player and the records that went with it, an antique mantel clock, a full set of silver still in the plastic that had never been taken out of the box it came in, and several collectible dishes. We came across several items that belonged to my great-grandparents: several clothes items like Granny's old aprons, her bonnet, her Sunday hats, Poppa's hat, war ration stamp books, old glasses and shoes, just to name a few! And then we came across the "WHAT IN THE WORLD???" items from the cedar chests of all places! Now I should probably warn you, Kyla, my 11 year old, doesn't think I should share these stories, but they are so ridiculous and funny I have to share!

The first odd item (yes, "odd", I believe that's the word I'll use!) was a sealed enveloped, one side of it folded over and taped on each side with these words written on the outside, "Turkey breast bone 1982. Spent all day all by myself." Just by feeling the envelope we could tell that the contents of the envelope was indeed a wishbone from a turkey breast! Now grant it, this was the year that my grandfather, her brother that lived with her, died. He died in August, which means that at Thanksgiving or Christmas she was probably still mourning his death, but she was "all by herself" by her choice! I am pretty sure that if my mother hadn't invited her to dinner with us that her other brother did. And my guess is that she probably declined both invitations. She was notorious for not answering her door when we came to pick her up (because she learned to drive) for holidays! And we knew she was there because the screen door would be locked from the inside!

The second item of interest was another sealed envelope! This one was labeled simply "toenail". Our first thoughts out loud and in unison was "uh-huh!!! My Aunt Joyce who is the surgical RN and has seen things beyond what I can describe, bravely and cautiously broke the seal on the envelope and slowly (as if something was about to jump out on her!) removed the folded sheet of paper. She carefully opened the paper to reveal words written in ink, to which we all start breathing again! Just words on paper...and then...there it was...THE TOENAIL!!!! UUUUGHHHHH!!!! After we recovered from our initial reflex of gagging, we read the date the toenail was removed, the doctor who did it, how many times it had been done, and what the weather was like that day!!!

The third treasure of the day came in a small medicine jar with the lid screw on and masking tape wrapped around it to hold the seal. :) On the tape was written something about a kernel of corn that Logan had swolled. (Logan was my great-uncle, one of her younger brothers.) Sure enough, inside that bottle was a kernel of corn! So our first question was, "If he swollowed this, how did they get it to preserve in this little bottle for us to find 80+ years laters????" And again in unison, UUGGGGHHHH!! But to our surprise this was a two part treasure! Going through other closets and paper Aunt Joyce comes across and manilla envelope with a chest x-ray and a better explanation of the incident. "Logan swollowed a kernel of corn. He was 15 months old, just starting to walk but still nursing at the breast." Your thought is probably the same as mine: TMI!!! (Too Much Information!!!!)

We have laughed and laughed at our new found treasures. Unfortunately, no one in the family has been surprised by our finds. They all seem to be tipical of Aunt Mildred. But we laugh the hardest when think about her now sitting in heaven and getting the last laugh!!

So here's to you, Aunt Mil! Salute!!

Sick People

2007-10-14T22:02:00.000-05:00

Well, it's been a very long weekend. I received a call at 6:45 Thursday morning from my mom informing me that my dad was in the process of having another heart attack. His was first was 7 years ago. Luckily he was home. He had just returned from a week long trip to Kentucky with a friend of his just Wednesday evening. About 8:30 that evening (Wednesday) he told my mom that he wasn't feeling well, but that he thought it might go away. At midnight, he decided it was time to go to the ER! Sure enough it was another heart attack. He finally made it to a Hot Springs hospital at noon on Thursday. He went straight to his room and around 2:30 they took him in to do a dye test and put a stent in. Afterwards the doctor came in to tell us of his finding. No good news! He said he saw a LOT of disease in his heart. The muscle was basically wore out. Between his diabetes and the damage from the heart disease, his old heart had just about had it! Surgical repair is not an option anymore. No more bypasses, they're done. His injection fraction is 15%. A normal heart is about 60%. That's how much blood your heart can pump with each beat. What I have learned is that if your heart doesn't pump out the correct amount of blood, bad things happen. And by bad, I mean fatal. So it's up to Daddy now. Either he can lose some weight and stick to his diabetic menu, or die now. There is no way to improve his condition, but he can slow down the process! But as Daddy would say, "he's doing tolerably well for a man in his condition." His spirits are up, and I really think he understands how serious this is. He mentioned to my mom that he wasn't in any hurry to leave to the hospital. They are keeping him until they can get all of his medicines regulated, so his heart and diabetic meds will work together and not against each other.

But the day before this happened, my mom's 92 yr old aunt had to be admitted to the hospital for congestive heart failure. My aunt is an old maid, never married, no kids, and my mother is primary caregiver. Luckily she and my dad were in the same hospital, 9 doors between their rooms! My aunt's heart is just give out too! The doctors did not have anything positive to say except that she had a lot of fight in her. And if you know my aunt at all you'll know that we just call it meanness and orneriness. Saturday she reluctantly went to a nursing home for rehab. The lady is scared to death to die, and really scared of dying in a nursing home.

Well, today I was going to go and visit with my dad again, but I ended up having to take my hubby and my oldest to the doctor. He has strep!! Luckily Ky's is just sinus congestion--no strep! Matt has felt bad for several days. He got a shot of penicillin, so maybe he'll perk up pretty soon.

Needless to say, I'm sick of sick people! But I thankful that it's better than the alternative!

Lazy Sunday afternoon

2007-10-07T15:33:00.000-05:00

It's Sunday afternoon and I just finished my Sonic Reese's Blast. Man I love those things! I have been watching what I eat the last couple of weeks, but today I wanted the ice cream! I joined the local gym about 2 weeks ago and have been going pretty faithfully. I have been trying to attend the water aerobic classes Mon. - Thurs. and doing cardio/weights the other days. I have lost 3 pounds since I joined. However today, I am sitting on my lazy butt! I am starting a new bible study tomorrow night, so I'm not sure what I'm going to be able to do on Mondays now. I'll try to figure something out where I can exercise, shower, fix supper and get to class on time by 6:30.

One of my friends put me on to Facebook yesterday. I really like that you can post photo albums there. That's my kind of scrapbooking! Post a picture for all to see, add a little caption, viola...Lori's scrapbook!!LOL! I have also found a couple of friends from high school on there. I haven't emailed them, not sure I really want to connect with old friends right now. However, one was my best friend in HS, but I don't think I've talked to her since we moved here over 5 years ago. Just seems kinda odd to start a conversation out of the blue. What do you say?? Anyway, I found another Facebook of my friend that's in China, it's really neat to see her pictures. I read her blog, but she updates about as much as I do. Last night we were on the computer at the same time and were sending messages back and forth. It was almost like she was back home with us. I miss her! So if you have facebook, let me know and I'll add you to my friends list.

Well, about the only other thing I have to blog about is my family. Razorback season is in! We went to the game last week and took the girls. The game was a blowout and we left at halftime (thank goodness!) I am more of the tailgater type. I'd rather spend time with my friends and "people watch". I could care less about the actual game! The girls had a good time though. Except for the idiots sitting around us! There was this young guy, probably a college kid, who was sitting right behind Kyla & Kera and was talking about these T-shirts he was going to have made that said "you suck d***". And he just kept saying it over and over. Finally I turned around and gave the "Wrath of Momma" look and told him to watch his language!! Well, then the retired couple (the husband) sitting just to my left kept saying "Oh sh**" about every play the team made! I thought, "Can we not take our kids the game anymore!!!" Luckily, I don't think my girls heard anything that was said, or if they did, I don't think they understood what the words meant. So at halftime we left, grabbed some dinner at Chili's in Rogers, and checked into our hotel room. My dear husband insists that when we stay at a hotel that we get a king size bed. Ours at home is only a queen. When you do that, the only other bed in the room for the girls is the hide-a-bed. Normally this is not a problem, but this time it was!! The sofa pulled out to only a twin size bed!! Have you seen my Ky lately??!!! She and Kera will NOT fit on a twin size bed!!! So Daddy, thinking he's doing us all a favor says, "You girls sleep in the bed and I'll sleep on the pull-out." Well, you got the raw end of that deal....ME! I got stuck sleeping with both girls and he had a bed all to himself! I let him know very quickly that next we stayed in a hotel, I would be making the arrangements and we will have TWO full-size beds! We made it through the night. Got up the next morning and went swimming before we headed home! Here are some pictures from our trip:

End of PT

2007-09-16T14:48:00.000-05:00

I have finished my sessions of physical therapy, and I have to say that I do feel better in the two areas that they were working on. However, it seems that all the others areas are either a lot worse or just more noticeable! Now I will join the gym and see how long I can stick to a workout program. Have I ever told you that I hate to exercise!! I had much rather sit in a comfy chair somewhere and watch movie or read a book or work a puzzle or surf the net or anything but sweat! But my doctor has led me to believe that losing weight and exercising will take care of some of the aches and pains that are left. He told me that I was healthy, but needed to watch my diet and be more active. So on to a new chapter in my book of life!

SOSU

2007-09-11T09:36:00.000-05:00

Now that's a lively bunch isn't it!! This was taken after Saturday's game that my mom went to. I think Mom said they ended up losing the game though. My nephew was about the only Freshmen on the team that wasn't redshirted. He's so proud of himself!

The weekend

2007-09-11T08:59:00.000-05:00

Matt and I celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary Friday. Usually our anniversary weekend is spent at a Razorback football game, but they had an off week. No ballgame, so we decided to go out of town for a few days, just us without the kids. Well, that was a whole ordeal in itself! It really stinks on occasions such as these not have family close enough that can keep the girls without have to plan a week's vacation three months in advance!!! Okay, maybe I exaggerated a little. We had to figure out if I was going to have to take them to my mother who lives about 100 miles away, or if she was going to come up here and stay, all depending on her work schedule. But then she really wanted to go to Oklahoma this weekend and see my nephew play college football. So then we checked with Matt's sister and she said she could come stay with them but she can't leave until 3:30, which would put her getting here about 5:00. So who's going to pick the girls up from school if we decide to leave early Friday?? Can you see where I'm going with this!! Anyway all that worked out. But then we had to decide to where we were going. There are several places that I would like to go, but we only had two days and we weren't taking the girls. I would have liked to have gone to Memphis, but then I thought the girls would enjoy that trip, going to the zoo and maybe Graceland. Then I thought about going to a B&B in Mountain Home, never been there. But my husband was too worried about sharing a bathroom with someone else or not having cable TV that I knew I would not enjoy myself! So we ended up staying at the Hampton Inn in Hot Springs. No frills! I was hoping my weekend be uneventful and restful. And it was to an extent, but wasn't really what I had in mind. We did go down to Bathhouse Row and get a massage Saturday. And we did go to Dillards Friday night and bought me two new bathing suits at 75 percent off!! All and all we had a good weekend, but I've decided our personalities are just too opposite (and since opposites attract, I guess that's how we've made it 17 years) to enjoy a weekend completely the way I like it!

Giving all

2007-08-28T08:45:00.000-05:00

This is a lengthy post, but I think it's important, maybe not to you, but for me. This is how I experienced God this weekend, August 24 & 25, 2007 (and the months before), at the "Heart of Worship" Ladies' Retreat at First Baptist Church. As Mark preached from the book Haggai Sunday, he pointed out how the prophets dated their writings to remember what God did, and this is an experience I don't want to forget!

What does that really mean?? To give your all? Well, as a student of my Mighty God, I am a very slow learner! At our ladies retreat this weekend, that's what God wanted me to do. But I didn't. He wanted me to give Him ALL OF ME to be used for His service. But I just couldn't release control of everything. Now don't get me wrong, this weekend was a great time in His presence. Friday night we had a wonderful worship service! My dear friend Kirsten explained to us what "worship" meant, what it is and what it is not. She explained how we have to prepare ourselves to worship, clean out the insides and take out the trash.
This is a picture of her in her "cleaning attire"! What you can't really see is that underneath the wreath of flowers is a shower cap! And her rubber gloves are covered with lovely embellishments. I like to call her an "eccentric servant" when I describe her. She loves the Lord and is not afraid to tell you! She has the gift of teaching God's word. She can take the scriptures, tear them apart and explain/teach them where I can understand and apply it to me! She was showing us the trash in her life, the idols that she had put before God, but she could have been talking about any of our lives. Some of the things she mentioned were food, coffee, computers, cell phones (and by the way, if I see anyone of you on yours in Wal-Mart there better be someone on the other end of the line!!), our children, books, our schedules. Not that any of those things are bad, but when we don't put God first, they become our idols! And I serve a jealous God!!

Well, moving on, I can't say enough about the Praise Team that my friend Angela gathered together. WOW!! It's been too long since I have worshiped in song like I did this weekend. Our local church is blessed with so much musical and vocal talent! We broke tradition. We saved most of the praise and worship for after the message. Have you ever been in a worship service where the Holy Spirit is stirring and moving through the message and then you have time to reflect and to respond to what God is saying, but the music director only sings the first and last verse of the "invitation song" and then it's time to pass the collection plate? Well, not this weekend!! We let God work and walk among us. The praise and worship this weekend was intense but at the same time very freeing for me! I sang, I cried, I lifted my hands, I fell to my knees, I smiled with joy overflowing in my heart. All because I am HIS child! I hoped to have the glow that Moses did when he came off the mountain after being in the presence of God!

Saturday morning we offered six breakout sessions. So let me tell you about some of the things that God did with this part of the weekend. As a team, our prayer has been, "Lord, don't let the ladies attending see any one of us, but only you and your reflection from us." We scheduled three breakout sessions (at 8:30, 9:30 & 10:30) but they could choose three from six options.

One was led by my extraordinary friend, Jennifer. From the first email I sent asking for participation on the planning team, God walked with her every step! I love to hear her story of how she bargained with God. She said when she read the email something immediately came to mind that God told her it was time to share, but she deleted the email hoping it would go away. But God kept after her anyway. So her bargain was this, "Lord, if Lori comes and ask me I'll do it." But she wasn't going to take the initiative to come to me first! Well, as time was approaching for our first meeting, I still needed a team! The Sunday before the meeting, I sat down with Jennifer after a potluck we had after church and casually asked her if she could help me out and be on this team. Man, I wish I would have had a camera to capture the look on her face! I had no idea that she had been battling and bargaining with God. And she looked at me and grinned because she knew what she had to do! She has a past that she has hidden, but God gave her strength to share her story and give Him glory of how He had carried her through!

And then there's my friend Sandra! Sandra is a quiet, tenderhearted, lovable servant! God took her out of her comfort zone. By nature she likes to be a "behind-the-scenes" kind of person, doesn't like to draw attention to herself. But her topic this weekend was obedience! That's the journey God took her on this summer. She told us earlier in the spring that she might would lead a session, but she knew that this summer this lesson would come! And so it did. She kept telling the ladies in her session how nervous she was, but everyone of them said, "You couldn't tell except that she kept saying it!" God touched lives through her this weekend!

Now Bonnie is my friend that just oozes Jesus! Honestly, you can start any conversation with her and she will find some way to get Jesus into it! Bonnie shared with her groups our significance compared to God. How without Him we are nothing, but to Him we are everything. I didn't get to sit in on her session, but Bonnie reminded me of the simplicity of worship. How we try to make worshiping God so hard, so traditional and ritualistic, but all He says is "Come."

Tonya is has been a dear friend to me for almost all of the 5 years that we've been in Sheridan. She has been our WM director for most of that. And being on that team with her, we have grown close and she is a very special person to me. Her session was called "Believing God's Power". I didn't get to attend her sessions, but what I know without a doubt about Tonya is that she is a teacher and believer of the Word! God planted her in a small pot to grow her roots and has given her a larger field to bloom in! It's amazing and awesome (and scary and painful at times I'm sure) but God has set her and her family on a new journey with a new direction. He is using Tonya already to reach women and moms all over the nation!

Prayer Warrior. That's how I describe my friend Nelodie! Praying with passion, believing that God hears, answers and responds! So you know what I asked Nelodie to teach in her session! One thing God has shown me over the last several months is that without prayer, without building that relationship and making that one-on-one contact with Him, nothing else matters! Because if you aren't talking AND listening to Him, getting direction and guidance from Him, everything we say and do is in vain! My faith has been built and made stronger in the times I have had the privilege to pray with Nelodie!

When Faith's parents named her, they knew what they were doing. She has been down some hard roads in her life. But even through the roughest terrain, she will always give God credit and thanks to Him. God took her on a spiritual journey this summer too. Teaching her how we are to be His holy vessels. That He created each of us unique with his purpose in mind. But Faith is my friend that at a drop of the hat, she will be right by my side giving me support. Whether we eat dinner together or need a shoulder to lean on, at a moments notice, she's there!

Well, the last speaker of the retreat was me. I knew God had given me a message that I needed to share about worshiping in spirit and in truth, and to tell what He says worship is. But you see, unfortunately I didn't give that message. I asked God to give me the words. I tried for 2 months to write it down so I would have notes in front of me. I wrote it out several times, trying to have just the right flow of words. I tried to find the 3 points and the poem of what God had given me. But it wouldn't come together. Even at 10:30 Saturday morning before I was to speak at 12:30 that afternoon, my notes were so scattered and jumbled I couldn't make heads or tails of them. And I kept praying, "Lord, you are going to have to put the words in my mouth, because I don't have them." Well, I got up in front of a crowd of about 80 women and started rambling. I have no idea what I said, but for what seemed like 10 minutes (it was probably more like 10 seconds) I knew the Holy Spirit was speaking through me. Again, I don't remember what I said, but what I remember hearing was "Here I am, filling you." But then I tried to do to go back and get my own words. Ramblings...that what I call the rest. Why?? I didn't give my all to Him. What does that mean to give my all? Well to me that means giving Him ALL OF ME!! I couldn't or didn't do it. I wanted to read Bible verses and sound like I knew what I talking about. I wanted people to think I was good at standing in front of other people and proclaim God's word. And what's so ironic about that whole thought is the reason we didn't bring in a professional speaker in the first place. To prove that God takes plain ordinary people and empowers them by His will to accomplish His purposes for His pleasure! So needless to say, I walked away with a sad heart Saturday, because I knew I failed. Now I know that God can even take my ramblings and turn it into good. I guess what I'm saying is that I'm not worried really about the response from the women, because God's will be completed in spite of me. But what a lesson this has been for me. I knew when I left Saturday that I rambled because I didn't really trust God to put the words in my mouth. My heart has been so broken, because of what I didn't allow Him to do. And I have continued to pray and ask for His forgiveness. I have also been praying for Him to let me go ahead and write it down what I should have said, what He really wanted me to say, knowing full well I may never have another opportunity to share it. But as I was typing this Blog, it made it to paper. And as I realized what was happening, my heart burst and tears of joy gushed. This is actually the second draft of this paragraph. I copied the first draft to a Word document so I can finish it, print it and save it. All He ever wanted was Me!! Words to the song "The Heart of Worship" says kind of sums up how I'm feeling:

The Heart Of Worship

When the music fades
All is stripped away
And I simply come
Longing just to bring
Something that's of worth
That will bless your heart

I'll bring You more than a song
For a song in itself
Is not what You have required
You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear
You're looking into my heart

I'm coming back to the heart of worship
And it's all about You
It's all about You, Jesus
I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made it
When it's all about You
It's all about You, Jesus

King of endless worth
No one could express
How much you deserve
Though I'm weak and poor
All I have is yours
Every single breath

I'll bring you more than a song
I'll bring you more than a song
More than a song
I'll bring you more than a song
I'll bring you more than a song
You're looking into my heart
Looking into my heart
You're looking into my heart
Into my heart
I'll bring you more than a song
I'll bring you more than a song
I'll bring you more than a song
I'll bring you more than a song
Public Domain
Words and Music by Matt Redman

So when God allows me to finish His message on paper, I'll share it here. I serve a mighty awesome God!

Worship

2007-08-19T19:25:00.000-05:00

We had a Mission Celebration this morning at church. As a church we have embraced the Acts 1:8 Challenge and the On Mission Team shared their vision. Our pastor explained each area of mission and we prayed for each area, we had a commissioning service for one of our young adults that will be leaving this week for Asia, and at the end, one of our men gave a Mission Challenge to our church. Each aspect of the service was good. My Ky even led one of the prayers! :) Then we had a fellowship meal together followed by a Mission Fair. But what has stuck with me today is something Ken said in his challenge. "Here's a need...your available...God meshes them together. No coincidences!" WOW!!! That is worship!! Our retreat this weekend is all about worship. And what I'm learning is that there is no mold, no formula, no one activity that makes worship. Worship starts in the heart!! And I'll stop there for now so those that are going to attend the retreat don't have to listen to me twice!

Not sure of my reaction

2007-08-16T09:56:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was the deadline to sign up for our Fall Retreat that is next weekend. Always knowing that there will be people signing up until the last minute (because that's just the way people are), I'm a little disappointed in the numbers so far. We were hoping to have 175-200 women, but to date I only have about 65. But I also know that God has the perfect number. I'm embarrassed to an extent that I'm even posting this. Not because of the numbers, but because of my reaction to the numbers. As we gathered to pray Monday evening, a discussion was started about how we are a reflection of who God is, and how our actions are a reaction to God's action. Did that make sense?? Everything we do should be a reaction of what God is doing in our lives. We should measure everything we say and do against His standards. So pray for me and the rest of our team as we prepare to stand before the right number of women and lead them into the presence of God for what we are praying will be a life changing weekend!

Where does time go?

2007-08-13T10:30:00.000-05:00

Why does time fly by so fast in the summer? The girls start back to school on Monday. Things are so hectic and unplanned for us during the summer that I am ready for the everyday routine of school. It seems like we have just been on the run and can't put my finger on anything in particular that we have accomplished! I have made several "extra" trips to my mom's than what we normally do, and are going again this weekend. Oh, I've got to post these pictures that my mom sent of my dad and his dog.

The one of them asleep just cracked me up!! :) Anyway, we are going to go to the water park at the diamond mine with some of my family. A last bash before school I guess.

Well, I've been to PT for 4 visits now. Can't tell yet that I'm feeling better. Every session starts with an ultrasound treatment and a massage. At the time it feels really good, but my back was really sore last week. But they told me it would be. Then I spend about 20 minutes in the pool (walking, sitting and doing exercises) and finish up with 10 minutes in the whirlpool. They told me last week that they will start working on one of my knees this week. I can't wait! A friend of mine and I tried to do some pilates this weekend. She had a DVD that we were following. We got an ab workout for sure, but it wasn't from the exercises. We were laughing so hard, we couldn't even attempt half of the things the lady on the video was doing! Oh, to have been a fly on the wall that day!!!

Well, I must get off of here and start something productive! I am suppose to sponsor a booth at our Mission Fair Sunday and I haven't even given it much thought. Our ladies retreat is the next weekend, and I have been spending much of my time working out the last little details.

Physical Therapy

2007-08-07T14:31:00.000-05:00

I went to my first physical therapy appointment Monday. As I walked in the door, there was a patient in the back that could not speak well, and had a very loud voice. Her words at first sounded more like screams until I could figure out exactly what was going on. But can't you imagine the initial thoughts going through my mind. There was no one sitting at the first desk and I thought to myself, "No one knows I'm here, I can sneak out and no one will ever know the difference!! I sure didn't want the therapy she was getting!" But I sat bravely instead, and waited my turn.

They are treating me for DJD (degenerative joint disease), and naturally I had to ask..."What does that mean?" The therapist said it is basically just advanced arthritis in my joints. It's not so much that the arthritis is "advanced" like you and I would think, but it is advanced for my age. And again I asked, "Because I'm too young, right??" (I asked my doctor the same question!!) And he said yes. I just like hearing people say that!! heehee! Anyway, they are going to focus the therapy on my back, but when I have to do pool exercises it will work the whole body. They did an ultrasound treatment where they rubbed that "wand" on my back and it makes the muscles contract. That was a very strange feeling. It was like having muscle spasms and that I couldn't help or make stop. Then they massaged it and I got heat therapy, which is when they put those 20lb. hot pads on my back. Ok, they probably didn't weigh 20lbs., but they were heavy. I am scheduled to come in 3 times a week for now. Wednesday when I go back they will put in the pool and start those exercises. My therapist said that sitting in a pool is going to the be the best thing I can do for my joints, to get in a pool as often as I can. I asked him if he would write that down and sign it so my hubby will believe me and not think it is just a ploy and excuse to get me a pool!! Needless to say, the hubby just rolled his eyes when I told him. So, I have been trying to walk every morning, or at least 5 times a week. I call my neighbor every morning at 6:45 and wake her up so she'll go with me. She doesn't sound very happy that early in morning, but she has been a good friend and has gone every time I've called. I'm excited about starting these exercises, which is strange for me. I don't like to exercise and I don't like to sweat!! But I'm really tired and want to sleep all night. I just hope this works.

We survived this week!

2007-08-04T20:53:00.000-05:00

My niece came up for a week long visit. We went to Magic Springs two days this week. In the picture, that's my niece at the front of the log ride. They rode the log ride 3 times in a row and I took picture of them every time they came around to this point. This is best one of three because they were making faces and hand signals in every one!! We had a good week though. Usually when these girls are together they spend most of their time making up dance routines, cheer routines or secret handshakes and I have to watch them constantly!! We picked up Al on Sunday and I didn't have to watch a single routine until Thursday! And we took her home on Friday after another trip to Magic Springs. I think my sister was a little jealous. She had to watch a few more performances than I did when my girls spent a week with her early this summer. (Na-nana boo-boo!!)

Here's another picture from MS. I have never noticed this little waterfall before, but it caught my eye this week. The sign in the background says "Watson Falls". Watson is my maiden, so that immediately got my attention, but when I read the small print, it said this flowerbed/waterfall was "in honor of Bob Watson, a treasured employee of Magic Springs", I just giggled. Bob Watson was my grandfather's name. This was not in memory of my grandfather, but the coincidence just tickled me!

I went to my parent's this weekend. Yesterday was my dad's birthday, and mom's is next week. We all went out to eat dinner with my sister and her family. Today I took my mom to Texarkana to buy a new miniblind for her living room. We spent all day over there shopping, or "looking" would probably best describe our excursion! I found out today that my mother likes to shop as much as I do--none at all!!! We made three stops and all we came home with was a blind and a lamp shade!! I almost got a new comforter set that was on sale at Penneys, but I talked myself out of pretty quickly. We were also looking for some last minute items that my sister needed for nephew before he leaves Monday for college. I couldn't believe how conjested the traffic was in that area. Since we moved to Sheridan 5 years ago, they have really built up the businesses on the north side of the interstate by the mall. I just thought traffic was bad before! Well, we (or I, the girls stayed with my sister) had a long day and now I'm very tired and sleepy. I should get much needed sleep tonight.

The Doctor's Visit

2007-08-01T08:01:00.000-05:00

So I went to the doctor on Monday and came away with I'm fat and lazy! Now tell me something I didn't already know!! I didn't really get a diagnosis, but he told me that I needed to strengthen the muscles around my joints so that will strengthen the tendons in my joints. He recommended physical therapy for my back and knees, or at least exercise such at pilates or water aerobics. He also did some lab work on my joints, but I'm not sure what that will tell me. He said that he was leaning toward rheumatic tendencies because of my family history (my paternal grandmother had rheumatoid arthritis) and my age. He said I was too young to be in this much pain. I thanked him and told him I thought I was too young too!! Heehee!! So I am checking into physical therapy today, to see how much it costs and how much my insurance will cover, and compare it to an exercise program that will target my back and knees. I have gotten up and walked the past two mornings. And just to update on my water excursion, I have not had but one small cup of soda since last Monday. We were at Magic Springs yesterday and the soda fountain we stopped at didn't have a water "spicket". But I can't say that stopping the aspartame has alleviated any my pain. I think I'll stick with the water and see if it will help get some of this weight off. I did learn that my home scales are off by about 10 pounds and weigh heavier that the Dr.'s scales. WooHoo!! So now my goal is to eat less, exercise more. YUCK!!

Water, water, water!!

2007-07-25T16:18:00.000-05:00

I have challenged myself to drink water instead of sodas for at least two weeks. I DON'T LIKE WATER!! (Unless I'm really hot and dehydrated, and then I can't seem to get enough!) I have a doctor's appt. Monday afternoon because I have had lots of pain in my joints for sometime now. The reason I'm going now is because it has started in my fingers and hurts really BAD! I was telling a friend of my about this and she suggested the aspartame, such as in Diet Coke (my drink of choice), might be causing some it. So at this point, I'm willing to go without and see if it helps. I'm on day two and haven't noticed any drastic changes. It probably hasn't helped either that I have gained 30+ pounds in the last 3-4 years. Matt and I both were following the Weight Watchers plan before we moved here, and I reached my goal weight shortly after. And I guess I have been celebrating ever since!! So, I'm going to try to do better: watch my portions and lay off the sweets (sniff,sniff). And exercise...I hate to sweat! But now with this pain in my joints, it's hard to do any kind of activity for too long. Maybe it's just an excuse, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Another day

2007-07-18T07:51:00.000-05:00

We got Ky sent off to church camp yesterday. She will be gone until Friday. They go to a camp in Lone Star, TX. Last year was her first year to go (because she has gone to Siloam since she was a year old!) and she loved it! I hope she enjoys this year as much! But as soon we got her on the van, Kera and I headed to Magic Springs with friends and met Wendy and her twins there. We had a really good day. It was soooo crowded though. I guess after all the rain last week, everybody was ready to get out of the house!

Well, despite my creativity block, I finally came up with the beginning of a poster for the fall retreat. I took it to a printer and asked the lady to take what I had and "jazz it up" so it would look professionally done. I don't know if she really meant it or if she didn't want to mess with me, but she said she would leave it just as I had done it. I pleaded with her to do some different, add color, change the font, something...,but she said, "If I were to do this, it would look basically like you've already done." I was a tad disappointed because I wanted more color, but she also informed me that colored posters cost $15.00 each!!! So black ink on colored paper looked a whole lot more professional than I thought!!! However, I was relieved that I didn't have to wait for her to re-format (is that word??) a poster, because my girls with me and they are NOT good "waiters". I'll see if I can figure out how to add a picture of it to this blog.

Oh, look! I did it!!!

Creativity have I none!

2007-07-14T21:34:00.000-05:00

My mother is very artistic. She decorated cakes for the public for many years. She could draw anything that anybody wanted on their cake. The girls and I went down this past weekend to help her move, and as we were going through some of her stuff I can't tell you how many pages of paper we found that she had doodled pictures of her grandkids. She is a master seamstress (in my opinion!). Prom and wedding dresses weren't even started on until the day before the event! She is a jack of all trades. If it's broken, she'll fix it instead of buying a new one, which is what I do! WHY DIDN'T I GET ANY OF THOSE GENES??? I am working on a poster for our fall ladies' retreat and it just won't come together! Frustrations are raging high!! I was trying to save a little money, but I think I may have to pay someone to come up with a decent layout. I hate putting out stuff that looks like it's half-done or low-budget production. I know what I want it to look like (well kind of) but I can't get it from my head to the paper or computer in this case. Well, I better get back to it. I am hoping to get this to the printers on Monday!

Where to start?

2007-07-12T10:16:00.000-05:00

I am excited about this blog, but I ponder on where to start. Because I am such a rambler, I fear the thought of writing something stupid that will come back to haunt me later!

I guess the most pressing thing in life right now is to get the ball rolling again on women's ministry at our church since we know that we aren't moving to NW Arkansas yet. I have heard so many women comment lately that they don't feel like they fit in and they don't have any real close friends here. And we all know that women need women!! So one of my goals is to create care groups where they can hopefully feel like they belong, 1st to God's family, 2nd to a circle of friends that care about each other. The problem I'm running into is finding women that will take on a leadership role to head these small groups! I know the Lord will provide and call these women to step up to the task. So in the meantime, I will press forward with what I believe God has given me to do.

Since Matt didn't take the day off for his birthday on that day he is taking the day off tomorrow and getting a 3 day weekend. I don't know what we're going to do, probably not much. Any suggestions for a day trip on Saturday??

Here we go!

2007-07-11T14:42:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my world! I am been contemplating for while now whether I wanted to start blogging or not, so today I decided to plunge right in! I have been viewing blogs from some of my friends and it looks like fun!! I'm not sure how consistent I'll be at posting, but I'm hoping I can keep up! I'm hoping this will be a way for family and friends to keep in touch with our family. Enjoy!