Our Very Own Fan Club...

You would think by now I would be leery of "letting my guard down" and actually getting comfortable on vacation. After all the last time I did that we found ourselves facing a hurricane in Mexico!

Never-the-less that is exactly how I was beginning to feel on Monday. The sun was bright, my hubby and kids were playing in the sand and I was alone in the condo, enjoying my morning cup of coffee and finally writing on my long-neglected blog. Could life get better than this??

And then, as if on cue, someone knocked at the door......

It was "Building Management" and they wanted to know if we were having any water issues. "no, other than the toilet seems to run quite often." He shrugged that off and asked if they could come in and look around?

(now why exactly did I want to be ALONE in the condo?)

Immediately they started looking at the walls. From my view this is what we saw:

(many of the walls are covered in hand painted murals)

But they were looking through a different lens, specifically the lens of an InfaRed Water Detection camera. None of the pretty pictures painted on the walls impressed them at all but what was behind the wall had them very concerned! There was water and if left untreated it could turn to mold and eventually destroy the entire structure.

After discussing it among themselves for a few minutes the man turned to me and said:

"I'm sorry Ma'am but we are going to have to bring in some equipment that will impact your stay. If you can, you might look for somewhere else to move to."

"WHAT? But this is our vacation" I whined.

"You must understand that salvation of this building is our first priority. I am very sorry but we will be in touch."

Apparently the "building manager" trumps the "condo owner" in the heirarchy of decsion making and the comfort of a guest is not their main concern.

Later that afternoon we returned from the beach to find our very own "fan club" waiting for us in our "not-so-perfect" condo.

(a giant de-humidifier & 2 of the 3 very loud fans that must run continually)

It is a good thing we are a family who is no stranger to inconvenience, LOL!

All of this has made me think...... what is hiding inside our walls?

In our culture we tend to focus on outward appearance ("working-out", what we wear, the cars we drive, where we live, spending a fortune on skin-care...) but we are slowly being destroyed by what's inside; bitterness, unforgiveness, greed, lonlieness, insecurity, fear....

Fortunately we have a "building manager" who is able to detect and fix the problem before it is exessive and visible to the naked eye.

If we let Him, God will shine the "infa-red light" of His love on us and not only expose those areas that threaten to destroy us but He also promises to help us repair them. He doesn't promise it will be comfortable but our comfort is not His first priority, our salvation is.

So in the inconvenience of struggling to be heard over the fans I take comfort, once again, in the fact that God is with us and at work in our family....

Day 2 - Paradise Found....

Day two of our adventure was much less eventful and might have even bordered on ordinary had we not ended up in paradise.

The first order of business was to remove the bat from the car's grill. It is situations like this that make me grateful to be married.

(Seriously there are just a few unwritten vows in marriage: if a kid gets sick I give up my plans for the day and stay home, if the school needs cookies I bake them, if there is a dead bat stuck on the car~ that would fall outside my realm of responsibility...)

Fortunately, "the removal" was done before any of us were even awake. My hubby assured us that he never actually touched the bat with his hands but used a towel to pull it off. GROSS!! We still avoided getting to close to him most of the day and have agreed not to discuss it ever again, LOL!

For the next 5 hours we passed through 3 states and drove by more churches, flea markets and fruit stands than I could count. I would love to have stopped at every one but once again it was a day of compromise and I was allowed one fruit stand.....

As we neared our destination we found a Sam's Club where we stocked up on some essentials for the week. Finding space for groceries was tricky but we worked together and got it all unloaded and into the car. I set the last gallon of milk on the bumper before returning the cart. Apparantly, instead of hearing, "it's on the bumper" my husband heard the words, "it's in the car" so needless to say we ended up a gallon short on milk but at that point we figured "no use crying over spilled milk!"

(and I thought the people that were honking at us were just being friendly!)

Eventually we found our destination

and it was everything we were hoping for.....

Unfortunately however, we may have left Kansas behind but there is no leaving Sponge-Bob behind....

A New Adventure!

Hello Blog Friends,

Let me set the scene here by telling you this is my first post in a long time and I am writing to you from a Drury dining room in Jackson Mississippi on my way to the beach in Florida. No I am not running away from home, I am actually on a long-awaited (and much needed) vacation!!

My hope for this trip has been to relax and enjoy some "down-time" with my husband and 3 youngest children (a more "normal sized' family than the brood we are used to) and maybe find the time and inspiration to do a little blogging.

Together we raised enough money in a garage sale to cover the condo and gas money so we wouldn't have to stress over funds but unfortunately "relaxed" is not an easy or natural state for any of us. So Saturday night my husband was in a bit of a self induced panic as he was loading the car and he accidently locked it with the keys inside. Fortunately his wife (that would be me) had renewed the AAA membership so there was no need for bent clothes hangers and a crow bar.

Our plan was to leave early on Saturday morning but we got delayed by about 45 minutes as we launched an all out search for my husband's missing eyeglasses. I suggested we pretend it was Easter morning and we were trying to find that last elusive egg but nobody was buying it. Tense is not a strong enough word to describe the atmosphere at that point! Eventually of course we found the eyeglasses, right where he had set them down, and we piled in the car, pulled out of the driveway and began our adventure.....

It wasn't long before I remembered that there are two ways to take a road trip.

1) Head straight to your destination and do not be detoured!

2) Enjoy the ride and stop to smell the roses!

I am a #2 type of traveller but I am married to a #1 type of traveller.

Our first conflict came when we had to decide where to eat. He wanted a quick, franchise burger and I wanted a local culture experience. In the end we compromised; we went a few miles out of our way to eat at the world famous, Lambert's Cafe (home of the throwed rolls) but when the wait was too long we ended up eating burgers at the Pancake & Waffle house.

It was when we stopped for lunch that we discovered a problem with our Suburban. We were going to have it checked at a nearby Chevy dealership in Springfield, MO. but we "just happened" to be sitting in front of a man who is a parts & service manager for Porsche. He overheard us talking and he offered to check the car and was able to diagnose and fix it right there in the parking lot.

What are the odds of that? God's timing is perfect and he used a misplaced pair of glasses & an off-the-beaten-path restaurant to put us exactly where we would find help before we even knew it was needed!

Of course our drama didn't end there but continued when several hours later we ran out of gas on a remote highway in Mississippi.

On a positive note that gave the girls and I a chance to do a little reading.

Before AAA could arrive (for the second time in a 24 hour period) a kind Samaritan and his family came to our rescue. Come to find out he is a Christian and asked if he could pray with us so we formed a little circle and prayed on the side of the highway.

Our family sure does give God plenty of opportunity to show His glory in our lives! LOL!

The rest of the drive was pretty uneventful except for while driving on a pitch black Mississippi highway we heard an "extra loud" bug hit the front of the car. When we finally reached our destination we got out to investigate and found a bat lodged in the grill.

Again though this experience divided the genders. The girls and I were totally embarrassed to be driving a car with a "dead bat" grill ornament but John and Quin are now calling our car the "Batmobile"!

I can hardly wait to see what today brings....

Sampler Wisdom

"Today is the first day of the rest of your life"

I remember embroidering those words on a fabric sampler when I was a young girl and I also remember being totally confused by that message. TODAY? REALLY?

Maybe I am simple-minded but I have always thought it would make much more sense to say

"Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of your life"

After all, today has already been partially lived, today is filled with mistakes and not nearly as productive as I anticipated it would be when I woke up. Now tomorrow, that's another story!

I just know that tomorrow would make a great beginning to the rest of my life! I will be energetic and productive; I will be kind and considerate; the path to success will show itself and I will follow it to a bright and happy future! Yes, tomorrow will be the first day of the rest of my life but today is just another day, filled with regrets and failure to live up to my own expectations. A lot like yesterday....and the day before......and the day before that....

Oh don't get me wrong there have been moments in those days when everything was going along great! The laundry was done, the family was fed, the dog had been walked, the birthday treats for school had been baked, even my hair was working for me!

But inevitably "today" carries with it an OOOPS or two........I forget to pick up my daughter from a brownie meeting, my patience wears thin and I blow up at my husband, I manage to drop and break one of my favorite dishes or I sabotage my diet with a huge bowl of ice cream; it could be the roof leaks or my car has a transmission failure....

Is this how I want the rest of my life to look? Surely I could do better than this.....or can I? Will tomorrow look any different from today? From yesterday or the day before?

The details may change regularly but the one thing all of these days (and the challenges they present) have in common is me. The same is true of tomorrow and all the days in my future. Good, bad or ugly this is my life and today is where it is being lived.

The reality is none of us will ever be perfect nor will any of us live a perfect life so instead of striving for perfection let's embrace our circumstances and stop waiting for tomorrow to begin living.
--Today is the first day of the rest of your life. Psalm 118:24


If your joy in life is missing and you are not happy with how you have been living then what better time to make some changes? Remember, "Today is where the change occurs in order for you to live a changed tomorrow!"
--Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
Psalm 51:12

--I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
John 15: 11


If you lack direction and don't know where to turn, stop right now and ask for directions, otherwise you may find you are even more lost tomorrow.
--In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps. Proverbs 16:9


Finally, we need to remember that we are never promised tomorrow. Today may be all we get, in which case we had better make the most of it!
"Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." James 4:14

So today really is "The first day of the rest of my life" and that means I choose to stop waiting for tomorrow and start living today!!

Who would have known that a sampler could hold so much wisdom (and who would have guessed it would take me so long to figure it out?)

Who Asked You?

I still remember where I was when I heard it; the question that has the potential to alter one's entire view of life. The question that is so simple, and yet at the same time, so difficult to get out. The question that demands an answer and determines your destiny.

"When you die will you go to heaven?"

Looking back I am certain this question, and all of the circumstances surrounding it, were carefully planned and put into action by none other than God Himself. After all it is God who draws us to Himself, He only uses people as His mouthpiece.

I had attended church regularly as a little girl, but not so much after my parent's divorce.

And then, during the year I was 12 years old, my relationship with my mother had become so filled with tension that I moved in with my Grandparents. Directly behind them lived a Pastor, his wife and 3 sons. Not surprisingly that family was everything mine wasn't, including filled with laughter, fun and faith.

One evening as the Pastor's wife and I were chatting she asked the question:

"Will you go to heaven when you die?"

"I think so." Was my uncertain reply.

"Do you want to be sure?"

(OK who doesn't want to be sure? Of course I wanted to be sure!!!)

"Then you just ask Jesus into your heart through prayer. Do you want to do that now?"

That was all there was to it. She prayed, I prayed, and Jesus took up residence in my heart. How do I know?

Because my life was never the same after that day. No, it wasn't (and still isn't) perfect, but I began to know a hope and a future that I had never known before. Reading my bible, even if I didn't understand it, filled me with excitement.

Unfortunately there were many times over the years when I chose my own paths over godly ones. In fact I have chosen to go down some very dark alleys of rebellion, for which I have endured costly consequences, and yet I know that I was never alone. God allowed me to choose the path but He never left my side and throughout it all He never stopped calling me back to Himself.

A short time later the Pastor's family moved away and I haven't seen or heard from them since. But sometimes I wonder......

--Does she have any idea that the seed she planted over 30 years ago has been tended and cared for and harvested in a big way?

--Does she know that because she was bold enough to ask the question, the man I married has come to a saving faith in Jesus?

--Does she realize that my mother has re-confirmed her faith after attending church with our family?

--Does she know that my children, the next generation, will be spending eternity in heaven?

I guess if I don't get a chance to tell her all of these things here on earth I will definitely be relating them to her in heaven! Will you be there? Do you want to know for sure? If you have already made that decision then let me ask you this:

Who asked you?

Who have you asked?

Easter Sunday was especially meaningful to my family this year as we celebrated the baptism of my two youngest children. Does life get any better than knowing that each of your children has confirmed their heavenly destiny through public confession of Jesus Christ as Lord and submitting to the cleansing of Christian Baptism?

I am so glad that "once upon a time" someone had the courage to ask....

"What's On My Mind Monday".....

Since I couldn't think of anything too profound to write about today

I figured I would share a few thoughts of randomness:

This is a picture of the shower in my bedroom.

Actually it is a picture of where my shower used to be. A few weeks ago as I was enjoying a nice, steamy shower I heard a loud crash. Upon further investigation it turned out the tiles had fallen right off of the shower wall onto the floor.

Fortunately my bathtub remains unaffected (so far) and we are blessed with 3 other bathrooms that have showers in them.

To be honest this is a project my husband and I have been wanting to tackle since we moved in 6 years ago, but being the procrastinators we are we waited until the walls were literally crumbling down around us before we did anything about it, lol.

Fortunately my husband is quite the handy man and he is convinced he can do this job by himself. The rest of us aren't so sure....

Yesterday I asked Quin,

"Do you think it will take Daddy days, weeks or months to fix the shower?"

He answered with a straight face,

"Years!"

Oh heavens, I hope not!!

I do have to say though that the man I married is not only a good handyman he is also an awesome Dad to our children. Last month he took all of our daughters to the annual Daddy/Daughter dance at church and from what I hear no other Dad could (or would) dance like

my hubby!

Of course he was the only Dad dancing in tennis shoes (due to a bad case of gout).

Whatever the case I am just glad he had some shoes on because this is what his toenails look like.....

When you see a man with toenails painted like this it usually means one of two things:

1) He is a patient Father of little girls
or

2) Well I just don't even want to go there.....

On the other hand my toes were not much more attractive after I acted on the brilliant idea of giving myself a "black french manicure".

Thinking it would be a very cool and trendy look, I discovered that it only makes me look like I have ultra dirty toenails. Perhaps it would be trendier in the Fall~~ like at Halloween!

Well that is about all of the randomness I can generate for now. I guess it just goes to prove that life is not always deep and sometimes what is on my mind is just plain shallow, LOL!

The Word Is GREAT!

It never ceases to amaze me how God chooses to speak to us individually.

What might be an obvious "word from God" to one person may not even make sense in our own vocabulary.

Have you ever been excited by your own personal revelation only to have those you share it with smile and nod politely?

Or after hearing a sermon that seemed specially tailored to your circumstances you discover the person sitting next to you heard a completely different message?

Personally I think this is one of the mysteries of God and a demonstration of His "Living and Active word." What else could survive the test of time and still be so revealing and relevant thousands of years after it was written? God's desire is to speak to us in a personal way, right where we are at. If only we will have ears to hear and eyes to see.

I was reminded of this over the weekend when my husband got his own "message from God" in a place he would be sure to see it.

Each year he chooses a "word for the year". It is supposed to be a word that keeps him focused on the LORD and one he can apply to his life daily. One year he chose "JOY" (an interesting choice for a guy who is often known as "grumpy"!). Needless to say that was a challenging year.

This year however his word is "GREAT". His philosophy is that he can say it when he is happy but he can also say it when he is frustrated (oh great!). I have to say that so far it has worked pretty well for him. Especially when it comes to the ups and downs of sports, which are a huge part of his life.

Then over the weekend his beloved Missouri Tigers basketball team won the Big XII conference championship so he was actually experiencing some "great joy".

And can you guess what the headline was on the next mornings Sports page?

That's right, it was "GRRREAT!"

And it didn't go unnoticed by my husband who proudly held up the paper and said, "Isn't God amazing? It's my word!"

Thank you God for giving my husband a personal message in a language he would understand, and thank you too for giving him ears to hear and eyes to see. I pray that we would always be receptive to hearing from you!