Nearly All Day at Church

Well, it is Sunday night again, and I'm just now getting back here. The week has been not one of my best, as it was an extreme roller coaster. I felt pretty blue much of the beginning of the week, but bounced back up fairly well by Wednesday. I'm definitely having to rely on the Lord!

We spent many hours at church today! We went in early for the 8 a.m. service, so played/sang for 3 services instead of just 2. We grabbed a great lunch at Demos with Natalie, then was back at church by 3 p.m. Had patriotic services at 4 and 6, with snacks in between. It was good, but we were glad to get home!

The house has been quiet this weekend. Zach went to Washington DC for a long weekend, visiting some friends from college. He's due back tomorrow night.

Yesterday Natalie went with us yesterday to visit Mom. She's doing pretty well. We did our normal visit to Cindy's for lunch, then back to her house, but this time by way of Fred's and Piggly Wiggly. Wes's daughter Terri and her four children were on their way up from Texas for a visit. So Mom needed to stop for a few things. Our visit was short again, but we had a good time!

Nothing much else is going on. I dread going back to work tomorrow, as always, but at least it is only a 4-day work week. I look forward to better days!

Tonight I'm praying for Kennedy, who has spinal surgery this week. She and her whole family are in Philly for that. Even her dad is in from Afghanistan.

I'm thankful tonight for progress in the healing of Erik, the little boy who nearly drowned a few months ago in an unknown well at his daycare. He's doing well and amazing his parents and rehab staff.

Till next time!

Another Sunday night

Well, I had meant to write before now, but it just didn't happen. The week has been long and hard, and full of disappointments. But I won't go into them here.

Natalie had a disappointment too. She flew out of town on a long-anticipated trip to visit an old friend, but the situation there with this girl was unacceptable and Natalie chose to come back home the next day. She felt cheated about her little vacation, and I don't blame her. But she made the right decision.

Saturday David and Zach drove to Louisville for a concert. So Nat and I met at church for a different concert. But we didn't care for the group that much, so left early and went for ice cream! That was nice!

Today we had an extra choir and orchestra rehearsal to prepare for next week's Patriotic Celebration. It went well. I always enjoy this type of music, particularly the marches. They are always a challenge to play, but fun.

I dread Monday mornings, so I dislike Sunday afternoons and nights! I spent some time Friday night reading an old diary, written during my senior year in college. I didn't like Sunday afternoons then either. It was weird reading this diary. It was only for about 10 weeks, but interestingly covered the time when my dad died. I somehow didn't write much on my feelings, but mostly the mechanics. Not that insightful.

I feel somewhat stifled. I don't know that this blog is the best idea. I have much I want to say, but just don't feel the freedom. This is primarily only an exercise in talking around the elephant in the room. But I suppose there is some benefit.

Today I want to ask for prayer for the sister of a friend. She's got cancer again, after surviving breast cancer a few years ago. Not sure what kind of prognosis she has.

I am especially thankful for God's traveling mercies lately. In the last two weeks, we've had round trips to Indianapolis, Cincinnati, and Louisville, then Nat's flight to Minneapolis...all without incident. Zach has a trip to DC planned this next weekend, so I pray His cover of protection will remain.

Till next time...

Lazy Weekend

Yes, I admit it: I accomplished almost nothing this entire weekend. David and I caught up on some TV and caught up on some sleep. I feel a smidge guilty, but needed the rest. The past month has just been crazy.

Today was a great Father's Day. Church was good. The choir and orchestra did "Thou, O Lord," which always gets to me. Today I remembered how Bro. Glenn would sing along to the song, and I remembered how we all miss him.

After church the family ate at Cheddar's, David's pick. I tried their Philly steak sandwich for the first time. Great!

My children are blessed with their father, as I am blessed to have him as a husband. I'm so thankful God put him in our lives!

My niece is having a life crisis, or at least experiencing something we'd consider a crisis. Unfortunately, I can't help but trace some of the trials that my sisters and their children have gone through to the sins of my father. I'll never understand all that he did and the reasons he had, but know that his choices created baggage in each of his children's lives, and now their offspring. And those choices led to his early death and caused his absence in my life today. I ask your prayers for my niece and that she'll come back to the Lord.

I'm still waiting for the Lord's reveal in other areas. The waiting is more and more difficult. I pray He'll sustain me.

Today I'm praying for the Burgess and Chapman families who lost children in the past six months. I know today has been hard.

I praise the Lord for His provision and love. He is my All in All.

Later!

Wow, it's over!

Well, my time in Indy has come to a close. I've enjoyed it, even though my feet and knees hurt from the shifts of standing in the booth. I met several new folks, some old classmates from seminary, and even saw two guys I hadn't seen since high school and college. Crazy!

My all-time favorite thing of this time is the luscious stuffed chair in Starbucks. It has a magical affect on me, enveloping me in relaxation. I've been blessed to get to use this chair several times in the last two days. The hotel's free internet service is only in the lobby, so one has to come down to use it or pay for use in the room. But there's just something about this chair...like, when you stop and think, you realize you could take a nap right where you are, and you weren't even thinking of a nap before sitting down.

The rains and floods up here have been terrible. Several communities have lost homes and crops from overflowing rivers and creeks. I learned today that some of our SBC folks got stranded on I-65 trying to get up here, while roads were in process of flooding or being closed.

These last days have been good. I've needed the chill time and down time for my brain. There has been too much stress lately and I've overextended myself too.

Nat is still struggling with the job thing. She keeps getting interviews, but that is as far as it goes. She needs to find something soon! I pray it is around the corner!

David is in Cincinnati still, visiting family. He saw one aunt yesterday and another today, both of whom he hadn't seen in quite a while. Plus, he's hanging out with his siblings and getting caught up!

Zach is holding down the fort, but enjoying a quiet house to himself. When David contemplated not going away, Z pushed hard 'cause I know he wanted his own vacation from us!

Better go! I pray for those folks who can't take a break from whatever heartaches they have. I'm blessed to have health and good stuff!
R

First full day in Indy!

Well, it is Monday night after spending over 7 hours working the Young Adult booth at the Southern Baptist Convention. It was difficult for my knees and feet, so I'll be in trouble in the morning, probably. The marketing people brought a tall bar stool for me to use, but it wasn't like actually having a chair. But working was enjoyable anyway. I enjoy meeting folks. Saw an old friend and some newer friends I hadn't seen in a while, so that was good!

The trip up almost didn't happen. David and I had planned to leave after lunch after church, but that changed. After I dried my hair, I saw light smoke wafting in Zach's room. We had been smelling an electrical burning smell, but thought it was a bad outlet. Well, yes, that was it. I stayed home from church and made David go. Nothing else happened. Also, the Honda isn't performing well. The air is substandard and there's a rattle in the back.

Well, we cancelled David going with me and nixed my driving the Honda. So I had to hustle to find a rental car. Zach drove me to town to get the car and I was on my way. It made me 9 p.m. arriving in a strange place, but it went OK. Also, I regretted that my car didn't have cruise. Boy, do we get spoiled!

Turns out, David went on to Cincy himself today. A friend, Bob, from David's Sunday School class, came over last night and replaced the electrical outlet. Should be OK, at least until I dry my hair again. David wound up having to get a tire fixed this morning before leaving town. So things were crazy!

Well, I'm closing early tonight. Headed to bed to be horizontal, at least. Then will try to get some good sleep!

Oh, I was about 8 feet from Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy today. They brought him into the exhibition hall on a golf cart with security all around. You'd think he was the president! Anyway, he signed copies of his book that people bought in the LifeWay store section of the exhibition hall.

Later!

Whew! It's over!

Hurray! VBS is over! Even though David and I are both tired and I was rather stressed through it all, we sort of enjoyed it but were thrilled to be finished. (And I only wrote "Not Sure" on the form to indicate whether I'll be available next year!)

It is crazy how hectic the VBS day is and how little time a worker really has with the children. Of the 18 kids who we met this week, I think I only know the families of perhaps 3. So it is unlikely that I'll ever see these kiddos again. Sad!

Let me do a quick rundown: First there are the two A's. One reminds me a little of Ricky Schroeder with glasses. Decent behavior, and not any trouble. He had a great quote one day. I heard him tell another boy: "Babies are my worst nightmare!" The other A seems a full year older than the others. He was very sharp and interacted well with adults. I'd love to watch him grow up!

One little guy, J, was a tiny guy, but a firecracker! Adorable and sharp as a tack! He'll probably be a surgeon. Another little J, is as fair as the other J is dark. Also a little monkey! He delighted in going against the grain in the Yes/No game. It cracked him up to choose Yes when the obvious answer was No! Too cute.

S, is the new son of some friends. He and his brother were adopted from overseas six months ago or so. Adorable! Quiet and well behaved.

Another S is also the son of friends. Also cute as a button. One morning when I was leading a segment, I ignored his raised hand while I was teaching, until I had a moment to let him have his say. His comment: "Last summer I had a stomach virus!" Funny and so random!

There were at least 5 little guys that I really didn't get to know. Either they behaved so well they blended into the scenery, or they were really quiet.

Two guys were our major discipline problems. I'd love to know what troubles little W. He has a near meltdown every day. At the drop of a hat, he starts a whine that turns into tears. He isn't that loud, but just falls apart at little things, such as wanting to sit by a specific person, or not seeing himself on the video coverage of rally time. I found that he did better on the days that I sidled up to him and assigned myself to him. He seemed to welcome the affection and attention, and behaved a little better.

D was the other troubled child. He has ADD issues and really has problems with that with his mom. He has his own agenda and we had to run herd on him. At one point he wouldn't do what I asked, so when I made a second attempt at having him mind me, he went limp and rolled his eyes to the back of his head. I guess that technique works at home. Wild!

We only had 3 girls! S was sweet and helpful, R was quiet and a little sad, and E also sweet and cute. I'm concerned about R. I don't think I ever saw her smile.

So, needless to say, I won't miss the stress, but will miss some of those little personalities. I do know I'm ready to have little people in my life again!

Changing subjects: Nat had another job interview for an AA job for a small web management company. Maybe she'll have a shot. She didn't get the pediatrician office job. Come on, people! Somebody give her a chance!

Zach also had some breakthrough about his job. He has lots more responsibility, so he could use an upgrade!

Well, I'm going. Till next time!

It has been Vacation Bible School week!

Wow, the last few days have been hectic! I should've been writing, but there hasn't been time. I haven't even read for leisure, as I had been doing prior to the last few weeks.

David and I donated our Memorial Day to help Robin and Micky do some moving. They were in that really awful early time of a move when you're still packing, but needing to move stuff out. We helped finish loading their trailer, then loaded David's pickup. I didn't move much since the tendonitis in my elbow remains an annoyance. But I filled a few boxes of pantry stuff and taped broken boxes. Just as we pulled out to head from Donelson to Fairview, the clouds broke open and torrents of rain fell. We drove a fair amount in pretty strong rain, then stopped to eat lunch at the Loveless Cafe. Yum! Thankfully, our 40-minute proposed wait was only 20!

Their new place is about 7 miles south of Loveless, and totally in the middle of nowhere, it seems. But it is cute. Just a two bedroom with basement. Very secluded. Just seems strange to go from being in the center of Donelson, with a landing pattern overhead, to a "holler" with poison ivy all around. I'm afraid I wouldn't do well there.

That whole week was spent finishing this crazy chair I'd been working on. David helped much with cleaning out the grooves, staining it, and dealing with attaching and reattaching the cushion seat. I don't want to see another one of those, ever. I undercharged her, so I lost money.

Then I spent the next several days finishing the first draft of teaching plans for Camp Kaboom. Hopefully there won't be too much revision and the bulk of the work is done.

Despite the stress of getting that chair out of the house Friday afternoon and needing to work on Kaboom, it was a tremendous feeling that day knowing I had a break from work. We started working Monday in Kindergarten VBS. I was a co-leader and was fairly frustrated with the curriculum. They offer just too much, plus it is so confusing. Also, the communication from leaders at church was poor. A lot of what I stressed over was unnecessary. I'll know not to volunteer next year.

The kids have been fun, though. We totally got slammed with an uneven boy-to-girl ratio. We've had 17 kids each day, with the addition of one on the same day another child was absent, so we had a total of 18. But 15 were boys! At least two have major ADD issues and needed extra attention. But we've enjoyed most of the personalities.

The air conditioning compressor in our wing at church was faulty this week. Of course, Nashville had temps in the 90s this first week of June! So most days we felt so gross and sweaty! Today was a tad better, since we saw a repairman yesterday.

We've decided the best part of VBS is the break for workers. They have a huge spread of food--everything from muffins and sweet rolls, to sandwiches, chips & dip, and desserts. The rally time has been not as bad as I expected. The catch is, you can't get those songs out of your head!

David especially enjoyed being the only male worker to accompany the boys into the restroom. Most of the church's lavatories have motion sensor soap dispensers. The little guys enjoyed getting the foamy soap out and pretending it was shaving cream! David said bathroom break was like a circus, even with just 5 boys at a time!

Today I heard a real funny. In rally, the mission money reporter mentioned the amounts the different grade levels have brought in. After she mentioned the preschool department of toddlers and babies, one little boy in our class said to another, "Babies are my worst nightmare!" So funny!

So, with tomorrow being the last day, we'll miss the young'uns, but will be glad to be finished. This commitment is the culmination of the triple threat commitments, lately, that have taken so much of my time. I look forward to the break!

The family met for supper tonight. It was nice. Natalie is still doing some interviews and always looking for new opportunities. She's still hoping to get good news from the doctor's office where she interviewed, but can't get an answer from the office manager. She has another interview tomorrow, but it is for part-time work, which means she'd still need another job.

Better go! Still need to finish preps for tomorrow's VBS.

Today I'm praying for Joyce, a coworker who has breast cancer. Reports are that surgery went well.

I'm very thankful for my church and the impact it makes for the kingdom.

Later!