Love Note

Aww.....this is what I found when I turned back the covers to get into bed tonight.  Whenever Dave or I have to be away over night somewhere, we often leave little good night notes for one another - one of the things I love about us.  :)

Dave is gone for the weekend with some other men from church for the Men's Retreat. I have been praying for each man who will be attending.  I know that there are quite a few men who are stepping out of their comfort zone to attend, and I admire them for that.  It says a lot about a man that he would be willing to go away with a group of other men to learn more about what it means to live out his faith as a man of God.   Dave will be sharing during one of the sessions, and I am praying that God speaks through him to affect change in each man's life.  I know Dave's been in prayer about this weekend, too, and I'll be looking forward to hearing how God worked.   I am also praying for each woman/mom at home this weekend.  God wants to teach us some things, too, if we'll be on the lookout.  We get to serve our husbands by taking care of things on the home front, even though that can be very difficult, especially for those with little ones.  God will give us what we need as we rely on Him each moment, and we'll reap the benefits of our husbands being encouraged and strengthened from the weekend.  If we'll look at it that way, it's a win-win!  

Well, hello there!

Wow! It's been a year and a month since I last posted here, and I've had quite a few times I had things on my heart that I wanted to share. Instead, I focused on what was in front of me, obeyed the Lord as best I could discern, and set aside this blog.

A lot has happened since my last post. A quick run-down?

February 22, 2011 - Dave and I celebrated 25 years of marriage! I read a quote that was floating around on the internet at Valentine's Day that said "A happy marriage is the union of two good forgivers." Can I just say, "Ain't that the truth?!" :)

March 2011 - my first fundraising banquet since taking the role of Director with Turlock Pregnancy Center. I felt that it went well, but must say, I was nervous having to get up in front to speak. Some great people shared with us that evening; Eli and Cindi Arrigotti shared about their open adoptions, a client and her boyfriend shared (via video) what the Center had meant to them, and Holly shared about her abortion and why she wished Turlock Pregnancy Center would have existed at that time. We met our fundraising goal for that event - Thank you, Jesus! :)

May 2011 - Servolution #4! Watch this video of a past Servolution and contact me to let me know that you would be willing to lead a team for this year's Servolution (which is now called "Love Turlock" to join other valley cities all serving together on one day, showing love in action).

June 2011 - We headed back to Washington DC for vacation. Eric had to work, but the rest of us had a wonderful time at our nation's capitol. Our favorites? The Library of Congress; the Supreme Court building (very, very interesting; I'd have never thunk it!); the White House; and the Federal Bureau of Engraving. We also visited Williamsburg VA, and Philadelphia PA (loved the National Constitution Center) and the Franklin Institute was phenomenal! The trip was a wonderful time for us all!

June also held a missions trip to Portland, OR for Hannah, Peter, and Dave. Kari was able to go and stay with her Aunt Nancy and Uncle Todd who live there and spend time loving on her cousins Hugo, Augie, and Pearl. She loves the babies, that girl!

In July, I was able to go to the Uppercase Living convention in Las Vegas. Hate Vegas, but had a fun time at the convention, and Dave was able to join me.

August 2011 brought a leadership trip to Costa Rica for Dave. He had a great time suffering for the Lord - white water rafting, zip-lining, hiking, etc... Poor guy!

Also in August, Kari started 8th grade and Peter started his sophomore year. Hannah started her senior year at CSU Stanislaus (unbelievable!). And.....Dave, Eric, Hannah, and I ran The Giant Race half-maration in San Francisco (Peter ran the 5K).

The fall was a rough time for me as I struggled with a herniated disc. My world became a narrow path of pain that kept me from many, many things. After a long road, I ended up having surgery on December 23rd. I had never experienced pain like that ever in my life, and I pretty much only had relief if I was down on my back. I thank God that there was finally an answer to my pain, and I have been great since the surgery. I am back to walking, but I am afraid to try running again as that was when I first noticed the pain. I am hoping that at some point I am at least able to get back to running three - four miles, but that will be a bit down the road.

During those dark and painful times this fall, God allowed me to see that I fill so much of my time with meaningless running and busyness of my own making. Without being able to go-go-go, I had to let many things go, and take it a day at a time. And you know what? The world went on. I had one of the most peaceful Christmases I've ever had with not being able to run hither and yon looking for gifts. I didn't bake all the goodies I usually do. I ordered all my gifts online. And it was all fine! Why, oh why, do I make my life more difficult than it needs to be? I have always said that I have the uncanny ability to make anything more complicated than it has to be, and I want to stop that! O Lord, I ask you to continue to help me sift my life and activities down to what really matters.

So, how was that for a quick rundown of the last year? We're now a month and a half into 2012, and in a couple of days, Dave and I will celebrate our 26th anniversary! I'm so excited that we are able to get away for a couple of nights - those times are necessary for us to reconnect with who we are outside of our jobs, children, and responsibilities. We really are those same two kids who fell in love all those years ago! :) And I'd do it all again in a heartbeat!

Hello? Anyone Here?

I was prompted to visit my blog today when a friend asked me to pray for her son who is serving in Afghanistan for the next year. If you've never noticed, there is a column on the right hand side of this page and I have a small section dedicated to those in the military that I remember in prayer. Please join me in praying for these individuals who are serving so that we can enjoy our freedom here in the U.S. Thank you.

Now that I've been a part of the Facebook world for three + years, I realize how immensely that has changed my blogging habits. It's so easy to go to Facebook and catch little glimpses into what my friends and family are doing. But I guess that's about it - little glimpses. As I look back over my blog post from the last four years, I notice that when I did share what was going on, it was a little more in depth than what I ever post on FB. I still try to keep up with a couple of blogs that are favorites of mine, and it's true that it takes more time to read what they post, but I also feel a better sense of connection with them because they've usually shared more in depth about a situation.

It seems like the more technology we have at our disposal, the more surface relationships have become. I can have access to almost 500 people's FB profiles, but do I respond to even half of their status updates/posts/pictures? No. Do we interact? No. There's simply no way I can comment on each post of each "friend," so although I might know what they are doing by their last post, I have no personal connection to what else happened in their day or how they are feeling.

I don't know if there is anyone who ever checks in here at my blog anymore, so perhaps if I take to posting now and again, no one will even know. Therefore, is it a good use of my time/focus/energy? I'm not sure. One thing I do know.......it gives me a much better journal of my life for me to look back on. I mean really........why would I ever want to look back at a facebook post that simply says, "It's been a good day; night all!" Down the road, I'll have no idea what I did that day or what the state of my family was or what I was thinking. And with all the things I DON'T remember these days, I need as much detail as possible if I'm to remember anything!

So, although I can't promise, I hope to post on here now and again. Do email me or let me know if you check in here; it's always good to know who's stopped by.

For now, I'll leave you (or simply myself) with this thought that is a good one for me:

Thoughts become things.......choose the good ones!

Whew!

Let's see, events last week included: Senior Grad night for our son at The Refinery Youth Group, a job on Tuesday for me out of town, our youngest daughter's band performance, our oldest daughter's choral performance, providing part of a meal that our small group served to the homeless, a trip to the divisional finals in Sacramento for our son, a bridal shower for my cousin, a graduation party for our son at our home, baptism Sunday with approximately 35 people being baptized, and attending a grad party for the son of some friends. And this coming last week of school promises more of the same. Oh, it's all good stuff, but there's just SO MUCH good stuff!

Yeah, I'm tired.

And you know what happens when I get tired, really tired? I start to see things through melancholy eyes. I find it harder to handle things, and I'm a little harder on myself than I probably should be. I begin to feel that I am sliding down into depression.

I begin to look at so much of my life and think that I just can't keep up. I can't keep up with all the people that I should keep up with (family, friends, neighbors, church members). I can't keep on top of my kid's schedules. I can't keep up with my household and family responsibilities. I can't keep on top of my job. I often can't even keep up with my thoughts that are going in a hundred different directions.

Yes, it's that haunting "all or nothing" mentality that I struggle with. If I can't keep up with everything at the level with which I think I should, then I just begin to shut down. And right now? I'm in shutdown mode.

Why do I tell you that? I'm not really sure. Maybe it's because I often have people tell me that they don't know how I do it all. Maybe it's because I'm trying to justify why I'm not keeping up with stuff. Maybe it's for sympathy. Maybe it's because I want those who struggle with the same things to know that they are not alone. Whatever the reason, it feels risky sharing with the world that I'm struggling, even though I've vowed to try to live my life authentically with my Lord and with others.

So, tonight, I need to get to bed. I need some sleep, and then I need to spend some time in the peaceful and renewing presence of the Lord. I know that those two things will help me to regain my proper perspective and will revive me. He has promised that His strength is sufficient for me, so tonight I am grateful for that promise. HE will carry me, and that's exactly what I need.

Looking Back

Can I just tell you how thankful I am for photographs? Really. I just downloaded a boatload of photos from my camera, and believe it or not, I had forgotten some of the events already! So, I thought I'd add a few pictures as a way of catching up here at the ol' blog. (Facebook has changed my blogging habits as I'm sure you've noticed. I just don't have time for EVERYTHING!)

Anyway, I'll start with some of those strange, random photos that showed up on my camera. I can usually figure out who took the picture based on what it is. Let's see how you do at guessing who was behind the lens.

Picture 1

Yes, I think Pete must have taken this shot. To be honest, there were about 90 photos of stop-motion photography. When I scan through the iPhotos quickly, I can see the action take place! It was pretty cool, but photo by photo, it's not so interesting and it sure takes up a lot of room in iPhoto!

Picture 2 - Can you guess who took this one?

Yes, I'm sure the girliness of this picture helped you figure out that it was taken by Kari. She had created this masterpiece after doing the dishes one evening. She's a little artist, anyway, so I guess it was just natural for her to find something to create out of the dishtowels. It was fun to find this on the camera. I love the suckers for the mouth, the bubble gum for the nose, and tootsie rolls for the eyes. :)

There were many other photos, too, but I'll spare you the randomness of them all. I then found photos of the Cousin Christmas Sleepover. The Tuesday before Christmas, we had all the cousins spend the night (well, one had to leave early because of her job; that's what happens when the kids start getting older), and we had a great time. Between myself and my two sisters, we have ten kiddos, and I happen to have the oldest two kids and the youngest two kids. My sisters were busy during those four years between Eric and Peter! :) They had six kids in four years! I guess that must seem ridiculous until you learn that my youngest sister had triplets. We are all so blessed! Anyway, I digress. Here's some photos of those crazy cousins.

*Pic Removed per K's request.

The white elephant gift exchange was quite fun. The kids had to bring something that they already had around their house that they weren't using. Kari shows off her sunglasses.

*Pic Removed per K's request.

I'm not sure which gift the kids are laughing about here.

My nephew received a lovely dishtowel that had a painted girl on it with a crocheted dress sewn on. This happened to be something we had (I can't imagine why I didn't use it!), and it was from Brazil. You know how crazy those Brazilians are! The funny thing is, when you lift up the crocheted dress, they had painted panties on the girl! Quite interesting (and funny if you are a teenage boy)!

*Pic Removed per K's request.

And then, my niece received a grass skirt and maracas; you can never have too many maracas, you know!

*Pic Removed per K's request.

The cousins had fun playing Apples to Apples.

Sssshhhhh.....don't tell anyone that two high school boys had fun coloring some fuzzy posters from the white elephant exchange.

The living room becomes one big bed with wall to wall cousins. My older two are getting more finicky though; they decided to sleep in their own beds. :)

Yes, it's hard to wake up the kids after they've been up having fun most of the night!

Yes, cousin sleepover provides fun times and great memories. I feel so blessed that our kids get to grow up together. I realize that not everyone has that luxury, and I don't take it for granted. I'll never regret the effort and HUGE amount of food it takes to have everyone over.

Last Roll of Photos

I just downloaded the last roll of photos from our camera and found some fun photos. I forgot some of the events that were on that roll, so I'm grateful I had pictures of them.  Just thought I'd share some of our life.

First off, in January my youngest was given an Award of Excellence for the district PTA Reflections award for her photo called, "Bella."   We had been on a field trip that day to Monterey and then we had to travel from there to Stockton to make the award ceremony.  A long day, indeed, but the two of us had lots of fun.

*Pic Removed per K's request.

Also in January, my son and his friend went to winter formal with a big group of friends.  Too bad they were slumming it to dinner and the dance.

Later in January, it was the Father/Daughter Dance, so my youngest and her Daddy stepped out to boogie the night away.

*Pic Removed per K's request.
*Pic Removed per K's request.

Of course, no Father/Daughter Dance would be complete without the traditional stop at Latif's afterwards.

*Pic Removed per K's request.

Last week, my two youngest went with Dave to the AMGEN tour where Dave was a marshall for the race.  Although it doesn't look too bad in this photo, it was a rainy, cold day, and the kids were glad to get in the car to head home afterwards.

*Pic Removed per K's request.

And then, of course, there are the random photos that show up on the camera.  Someday I will miss finding these eclectic photos mixed in with all the others.  Here's some of what I found this time, and it will give you a glimpse into the world my children find interesting.

"How do you do it?"

This question stopped me in my tracks as I was leaving the women's lobby area in the restroom at church. I was already at the door, pulling it open, when the quiet voice behind me wearily whispered these words, "How do you do it?"

At first, I wasn't sure the woman was speaking to me, but as I turned around, I realized there was no one else in the room.

"Excuse me?" I said.

And she repeated, "How do you do it?"

"How do I do what?" I asked, genuinely not knowing what she was referring to.

"How you do it all? How do you get up and get here every Sunday, looking all put together, with good kids and a good marriage? How do you get it all done and do it so well?" she asked.

If she hadn't been so sincere (with a sigh of hopelessness in her voice), I would probably have laughed out loud and said, "Are you talking about ME?" because I couldn't for the life of me figure out how she thought that I had it all together. Although I knew this woman as an acquaintance, we had never had a true conversation. She looked at me and compared herself and her struggles to who she thought me to be.

"You don't know me very well," I said, "because if you did, you'd know that some days are a struggle. I don't do "it" very well much of the time."

We women have a tendency to compare ourselves to others. This woman mistakenly believed that because she sees me sitting in the front row of church with Dave that she knows what my life is (and has been) like.  She did what so many of us do; we assume everyone else has it more together than we do. We think we just don't measure up.

In case you were wondering, just because I'm married to a pastor doesn't mean that I have it all together, and I'm usually the first to try to dispel that notion. Sitting in the front row on Sunday mornings with my husband doesn't give anyone a true picture of who I am and what my life is like, just as seeing others at church doesn't give me a true glimpse into who they are. Seeing me at church for one hour on Sundays might make it easy to believe that my life is perfect and that I can't understand where others might be coming from.

Pastor's wives can find it difficult for people know who they really are because they can't always personally know everyone who goes to their churches.

I can't get up and spill each and every detail of my life every Sunday just so people won't make assumptions about me.

This topic came up a couple of days ago when I was at lunch with a friend of mine. We don't know each other all that well, and something came up that she didn't realize was an issue I have had to deal with. I shared that I don't keep those things secret, but I wonder, how do I let people know that I understand pain and struggle without wearing a sign that tells everyone up front what issues I have faced or am facing? 

Don't get me wrong; I am a living testament to the goodness, power, and love of God and the life-change that He makes possible, and I thank Him for the many, many blessings He has poured out on me, my marriage, and my family in spite of me. But...... my life isn't (and hasn't been) perfect. I am definitely not complaining, but I regret that people may look at me and think that I don't understand how hard life can be, that I can't sympathize with where they are, and that I have it all together.  

My dear friend, I am just a fellow traveler on this journey.  No one has "arrived" and we are ALL becoming.  

How do I do it? Well, I'll share some things in next couple of posts, but for now, this was the suggestion of my friend....

You should just show up at church with your hair all ratty and uneven. :-)

Is that all it would take? If so, perhaps I should try it sometime.

Coffee Moms

I had the best time tonight with some of my friends. When our kids are on track, we meet for coffee on Monday mornings, and truthfully, it's always a day brightener to spend some time with them all. Anyway, tonight was our Christmas get-together and we laughed, we ate, we shared, and we laughed some more. One mom bought us all Starbucks ornaments that we all then signed to take home. A truly great time.

It's getting crazy again around here! I'm off to UCSF tomorrow with Dave's sister and will be gone all day. Saturday holds a basketball game, making our gifts for the staff, and celebrating Christmas with Dave's family because his sister, brother-in-law, and nephew are here from Portland. (By the way, our nephew, Hugo, is the cutest little guy, and we sure wish we could see him more often!) And on Sunday, I'll be at church for first service, at a meeting during second service, and then our staff Christmas dinner and dessert which will be at our home. (Of course, the staff Christmas party ends with the infamous white elephant gift exchange!) It's all good even though it's so busy. I somehow need to find time to finish the gifts we're making, write out cards for all of the staff, grocery shop and cook my items for the family Christmas, wrap Christmas gifts needed for Saturday, clean the house, and get the desserts ready for the staff party. No problem-O, right?

By the way, come back soon to see one of the Larson family's holiday traditions.

Blessings!

Honestly, We're Not Trying to Steal Your Stuff!

Okay, I was doing laundry again today (well, what's new about that?), and I ran across a shirt that I have never seen before. I know it isn't a shirt that I bought for my son, and I know no one gave it to him, but here it was coming out of my dryer. I asked my son about it and he said he had worn it (I am most observant, obviously) and put it in the dirty clothes basket. I asked him where he got it and he told me, "I don't know, my drawer?"

I'm sure it was simple to my son - "I need a shirt. Shirts are in my drawer. All shirts in my drawer are mine. This shirt, although I've never seen it before, is in my drawer. Therefore, it must be mine. I will wear it."

And so, here I am folding a shirt that I've never seen before to put back in my son's drawer. I asked him if it belonged to any of the numerous kids who come over to play, but he said no. So, I'll put it back in his drawer and he'll wear it again. However, I have this fear that another mom (either at church or in the neighborhood) will see my son in this shirt and think that we just took something of theirs. So, I give you all permission to let me know if you ever see any of my children wearing anything that belongs to you child. It wasn't deliberate, honestly!

At my house, this same phenomenon is especially true during the swimming season with beach towels. I have beach towels that I know are not ours, but there is no name on them and no way to know who they belong to. So, same goes for beach towels; if you see one of yours when you're here, just let me know and you can have it back. And....I'll do the same if I see one of my beach towels at your house, okay?

And...you can thank me that I won't even go into the little kids' underwear that shows up from time to time! :-)

My Heart Trusts in Him

There come those times in all of our lives when we need to step away from things for whatever reason. This past two months has been one of those times for me, and I have truly felt no prompting to write anything on my blog. In fact, deciding not to blog, although difficult at first, has become increasingly easier. And yet, I do not feel free to close this blog down. The problem becomes, "After so long of not blogging, how do I step back in? Are explanations needed? Do I try to catch everyone up on what's happened the last two months? Is there anyone still checking in? Lord, am I released from posting on this blog yet? Where do I start?"

Questions, questions, questions! And I am quite sure that I don't have the answers for all of them, which is not unusual for me. I find that as I grow in the Lord, however, I am increasingly more comfortable with questions; everything does not have to be tied up in neat little bows. And that brings me to the last two months. There is no way to summarize and share what these last two months were about in uniform little boxes with bows. It's not that tidy. And you know what? That's okay.

There's a comment I get every now and again that I'd like to address. Sometimes, someone will tell me that they have been reading my blog, and then they add something like, "I would never want to have everybody knowing what I am doing," or "I just can't be that public about my life."  I can understand where these individuals are coming from; I have had those same thoughts myself, and I feel that way many, many times. I started blogging for some very specific reasons (you can read that post HERE), and then I stopped posting on my blog for some very specific reasons.

I want to state for the record that on my blog I only share what I feel is safe for me to share in such a public forum. Yes, I share from my personal life, but not if I feel it is something that will violate myself or my husband or my children. I think about everything I post, and there is PLENTY (in fact, LOTS) that I don't (and won't) post about my life. There are precious and sacred moments that would lose their meaning if they were shared with whoever decides to stop on over at this blog. There are conversations and situations with friends and people in the church that are confidential.  There are treasured memories and special times that I would not want some people reading about. I mean think about it, old high school friends, former co-workers, college acquaintances, previous boyfriends, people who have left the church, people who don't like me, my family (wink), and any ol' body in the world could stop by here anytime, so I don't post anything that I wouldn't want any of them to know. So....if it's posted here, I have made a conscious and prayerful decision that it was okay to share what is posted.  And....although it is easy to live a closed life, I feel God is calling us to a harder (and much more rewarding) path of living open and authentic lives.  I know I've shared this before, but some lines from a country song have become a prayerful desire - "I will leave my heart wide open; I will love and have no fear."  

With that being said, I am choosing to share that the past two months have been a struggle for me for various reasons. As I've pondered how to step back into posting on this blog, I feel I am able to share that I have been struggling with depression. (That's not unusual for a melancholy person like myself.)  I don't feel compelled to share more specifics about that, but I know that many, many women have struggled with exactly the same thing, and yet we will all keep doing what we do and we feel like we're the only one slogging through foggy days of disengagement, sadness, feelings of worthlessness and hopelessness. Much of my struggle had to do with the expectations I had placed upon myself, and I felt the Lord speak to my heart that it was okay to step back and be quiet for a little while.   

And so, here I find myself two months later, gingerly stepping out, trying to live with my heart wide open.  I am tempted to pull it all back in and take the easy way out (I'd feel much less vulnerable that way - smiley face), but as I said, God is calling me to the much harder path of living with an open heart.  My heart is again open to posting on this blog until such time as the Lord makes it clear that I am to give it up.  I will not be pressured by my own expectations of perpetual posting of perfectly polished pieces (alliteration gone wild!).  I will simply continue to be myself, and if anyone reads or not, I will obey what I feel the Lord is calling me to.  

The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. Psalms 28:7 (NIV)  

I am so grateful today.

Flights and Fire

Hannah arrived safely in the Dominican Republic (DR from here on out) after a rough flight from Miami.  Several of the students were sick in the air from all of the turbulence, but once they hit land, they felt better.  No word on whether or not Hannah was one of those who became ill, but all's well that ends well, right?!  I probably won't hear anything again until the team meets back up to head home.

On a sad note, the Telegraph fire outside of Mariposa has taken the land that my family has owned for close to forty years.  Well, I guess that's not entirely correct; the land is still there, it's the trees, structures, and trailers that are gone.  It's a sentimental loss, and all of our family is safe, so we must keep things in perspective.  I've had many wonderful times at that property and I believe our property is one of the reasons that my extended family has stayed close all of these years.  

My grandfather and grandmother, together with her brother and his wife, bought forty acres in the middle of the Stanislaus National Forest.  Their dream was that both of their families would have a place that they could go to so that it might keep the families close to one another.  Their plan worked, and I am blessed to have regular contact with my extended family.   I come from a big family and we've shared some great times sitting around the camp fire, visiting long into the evening.  The one time of year that ALL of the family makes it up to the mountains is Thanksgiving, and it's a blast.   Usually around 11:00 AM a big ride is organized and most everyone gets on their motorcycles and quads to travel off to Black Mountain, Soap Stone Ridge, the old mine, or other interesting locales. 

You can get to my family's mountain property by going through Greeley Hill or through Mariposa which means it is smack-dab in the middle of the Telegraph fire.  The only way in to our property is on dirt roads through the Stanislaus National Forest.  Pine and oak trees cover the hills and line the roads.  Manzanita bushes fill in the mountainsides, and at certain times of the year, poison oak is my number one enemy.  On the news reports, you'll hear frequent references to the "rugged terrain."  That terrain is what is hindering the efforts to contain the fire.

I don't know what we'll find when we are able to get back in to our property.  Our mountaintop camp will be black and barren, I'm sure, but I will want to see what, if anything, survived from our trailer.  There is nothing of true monetary value that was in there, but there were many items that belonged to my grandmother that were of sentimental value to me.  There was the wooden shoe that we kept the matches in; my uncle brought it home from Germany as a gift for his mom (my grandma).  The etched mirror on the wall, although spotted with age, made me smile when I saw it.  My grandma would mount the pictures that we drew for her on that mirror.  There were still a couple of my grandma's over-shirts and jackets in the closet because every once in a while they came in handy.  There were some tin measuring cups that were nothing special, really, but they were old and dented around the bottom edge, and I felt close to my grandmother when I used them.   

None of those things would mean anything to anyone else, but they brought me comfort when I saw or used them.  Those are the things I will miss.  I know of people who have lost everything in their homes to a fire, and this doesn't even compare.  But it is a loss and a grief, nonetheless, for me.  The latest report that I saw said that they now have the fire 40 % contained.  If that is true, that's a marked improvement over last night when it was only 15% contained.

Anyway, I hope to get back to my bullet points on being easily offended one of these days.  I've already started another post on that, but kids, activities, open houses, and family have pretty much taken all of my time.  It takes a while to get a post written, especially because I'm not a natural writer and I have to really work at it.  Let's just see how long it takes me to get back to that!

I Missed Church Today

Well, not really.   What I really mean is that I missed church at New Life Christian Center today. 

Dave, our two younger kids, and I went to Yosemite Church in Merced this morning.  Our two older kids wanted to be at New Life, so they went on their own.  (I must say, I am so grateful that our children LOVE being at church.  I think it's a good thing when your teenagers don't want to miss a Sunday morning or a youth event.  I can't give enough thanks to Jake and Jennah, Vince and Cheri, and the entire youth staff team.  We, as a church, are blessed more than we realize.  If you see or interact with anyone involved with our youth leadership, please be sure to let them know how valuable they are and how much they are appreciated.)

Anyway, back to my story.   We visited Yosemite Church, which is located, ironically enough, on Yosemite Road in Merced.  They are at a fairly new campus, and there were some things I loved about what I saw/experienced this morning.  

First of all, I loved sitting with my husband in the back row for a whole service.  (We didn't choose the back row, folks; it was the only place in the auditorium where the four of us could sit together!) 

It was the Sunday service after their VBS (Vacation Bible School) week, so the stage was set as a pirate ship and all the kids were there, sitting on the floor at the front of the church.  We saw a video of their week, and we heard them sing two of their special pirate songs.  I could tell that they had had a great week.

Dave and I met the pastor, Jeff Leis, and his wife YEARS ago at a conference in Southern California.  We haven't kept in touch, but Dave and I have always wanted to visit their church, so since Dave had the day off, we decided to go. 

They have a cool outdoor baptism pool sort of thing by a big, rough-hewn cross.  Very neat!  They were having baptisms out there today after the second service.  They must keep it drained when they are not using it because otherwise it would be a BIG liability issue as there is not fence around it.

Pastor Leis spoke about becoming a "Lie Detector."  Good stuff about discovering the lies that we believe and the process to overcome those lies (that often become strongholds) in our lives.   I loved his points:  

1) Deception Detection - figuring out what the lie is and why we are vulnerable to it.  

2) Deception Confession - We must agree (confess) that we have bought into a lie.  We have to face the fact that we are owning wrong thoughts.

3)  Deception Correction - We must seek the truth of God's word in relation to the lie we find ourselves believing, and we must commit to those truths.

The church has a cool outdoor amphitheater, much like CSUS, but obviously on a smaller scale. They also have an outdoor stage built at the base of the amphitheater, so it makes it easy for them to do outdoor services or concerts.  

By sitting in the back of the church today, Dave got to experience the noise that came in from the lobby.  He didn't realize how distracting it can be sitting in the back hearing the doors open and close, hearing the people laugh and talk in the lobby, and hearing the chairs being brought out and moved.  One of my pet peeves (I'm just being honest here) is when people at our church talk loudly during services in the back hallway.  Do they not realize that they might be disrupting someone from hearing what God has for them that day?  I've been known to "hush" people a time or two, and you know me, I do try to do it in the nicest way possible.  It's much easier to hush the teens than to try to hush the adults.  It just seems like a respect issue to me.  I want people to visit, don't get me wrong, but please do it where it won't interrupt others who are longing to worship.   Okay, I'll come down off my soap box now.  :-)

I love, LOVE being with other believers, and I thank God for all of our differences.  I loved how multi-ethnic the church body was.  A prayer of mine (since before we came to New Life) has been that the church we would serve at would reflect, ethnically, the body of Christ.  We miss so much richness when we are so homogeneous. 

Yosemite Church has a big boulder outside of their sanctuary (Half Dome Worship Center) that is engraved with a likeness of Half Dome and says, "Meeting people where they are and loving them to where Christ wants them to be."  

All in all, it was a great day, but I'll look forward to being back at New Life next weekend!  :-)

FYI: on July 29th at 7:00 PM, Yosemite Church is the site of a free Listener Appreciation Concert featuring Building 429.  If you are free, you might want to travel down for that.  The doors open at 6:00 PM and it is first come, first served.

Bullet Points

I don't have much time, so I'm trying out a new format: 

Quick thoughts in bullet points.  Here goes:

• It's HOT! Have you noticed? I thought not.
  
• Blessed to have my nieces spending the night with us tonight; we laughed throughout the ridiculously dangerous "Wipeout" TV show.
• Received some good medical news today.
  
• Met a friend in Modesto for lunch today.  It was nice to catch up with her so I know how to pray.

And on to a new topic -

• Some questions for you:  Do you find that you are offended easily?  Do you get your feelings hurt often?
• I've been mulling over the concept of being offended for the last little while after speaking with someone who has a friend that seems to be offended frequently.
• Some thoughts on being offended to come in the next few posts, but I wanted us to have a chance to think through how we respond to situations/people who anger, irritate, annoy, or hurt us.
• I feel like I'll be stepping out of my comfort zone to share my thoughts on this subject, but I also feel perhaps we need to grow up in the area of having our feelings hurt, so I'm willing to take the risk.

Stay Cool!

Lots of Life

Although I've not been posting lately, there's been lots (isn't that a good, descriptive word) going on. I've started a couple of posts in which I attempted to get my thoughts down, but those thoughts have been deep and complicated, and in my current state of burnout, I just can't find the words to spell it all out. Lucky you! :-)

My oldest daughter attended her new student orientation at CSU Stanislaus and is officially enrolled in her classes. She was able to bypass all placement testing and scored well enough on her AP exam that she gets college credit for freshman English! Yeah; that's three units we don't have to pay for!








My two oldest kids (Hannah and Eric) left last Sunday at 7:00 AM with our youth group to work in Mexico for a week. They'll be back home in Turlock tomorrow evening, and I am so, so grateful for our youth leaders who call out the best in our children! To Jake, Jennah, Vince, and all the other youth leaders......Thank you! Here's a picture of the group praying before they head out.

*Pic Removed per K's request.

Also on this past Sunday, my youngest daughter was baptized!  It was a special moment for us as Dave was able to baptize the last of our four children.  It took place during our outdoor service, and we were blessed to have some of our family join us for the special event.  I love that my children have each individually chosen to live in obedience to God's call to be publicly be identified with Christ's death and resurrection through baptism.  Kari just received her baptism certificate in the mail today, and she was so thrilled!  

My Miner Forty-Niner

My mush-mind has nothing to say, but I thought you all might enjoy a picture of my other husband. You didn't know I married a miner, did you? :-) I am proud to say that my husband (my one and only) was willing to play and sing old California mining songs with ten groups of fourth graders earlier this week. He played the guitar for 3 1/2 hours straight, causing his fingers (and I'm sure his rear-end) to go numb. And just for the record, the song, "Clementine," is one funky song. I knew it was about a man who lost his daughter, but there are a few verses that are pretty funny, or should I say, tragic?

*Pic Removed per K's request.

And this is a picture of my daughter who just happened to like the miner's gambling games just a little too much. She ruled this hand with two face cards, and I'm not sure that it was the best thing to teach her how to play Black Jack (or 21). The other games didn't involve gambling, thank goodness! Kari also was able to mine for gold, stake a claim for a homestead, participate in a reader's theater, make flapjacks, and sew a pouch to hold all her "gold." Quite educational, really.

Anyway, we're off to another swim meet tomorrow, and then.....BAPTISM SUNDAY! I'd better wear my waterproof mascara.

Missing Church

I am home this morning with a sick one. Last night, I awoke to the sound of little feet making haste to the bathroom with the ensuing echo of sounds that let me know that someone was throwing up. Amazing how that can make a sound-asleep mom jump up fast as lightening! Anyway, I am missing church this morning to be here to attend to her needs. I think it may be that there has just been too much activity the last week, and her little body seems to has less resistance to stress than some. I found myself feeling the same way yesterday; exhaustion seemed to overwhelm me after the intense last week of school for four of us here in this house.

I don't know why we would be tired. We only had the following activities/functions in the last week: An awards assembly, my day at Funworks with my junior high students, a wedding, our first invitational swim meet, an interrupted burglary, a graduation party, a Servolution debriefing meeting, a field trip to Boomers, swim practice four nights, a dentist appointment, finals, housecleaning for our graduation party, an 8th grade banquet, shopping for our graduation party, a school "market" day with needed items to sell, getting my final grades in, set up for the senior all night party, cleaning out my classroom and signing out for the year, an 8th grade graduation, a Hannah's graduation, Hannah's grad party at our home, working at the all-night grad party until 4:00 AM, Hannah gone to her senior grad party until 6:30 AM, and another graduation party. WHEW!

We all basically "crashed" yesterday! And I think some of that over-activity is why little Kari is not feeling well. She slept a lot yesterday as well as sleeping in today. She is now on the sofa again, drifting in and out of sleep cuddled with our dog. It is wonderful to have some time to let her be home to recuperate.

It's great to know that although I had to miss church today that I'll be able to listen to the message online when it's posted. Today's message is on forgiveness, and I know God wants us to walk in obedience to His word in that area, so I'm sure the message will challenge some to examine their relationships and to take steps to make amends or to offer forgiveness. I don't want to miss out on what God wants to say to me today, so I'll make sure to listen. (I guess I could just ask Dave to speak the message to me personally, but he is so exhausted after Sunday mornings that I know I would be "pushing it" to ask him, so I'll wait for it to be posted online! :-)

Blessings to you all on this beautiful Sunday morning!

Still Here!

I know; I know.....it's been a long time since I've updated my blog.  Let's just say that 47 journals and 47 essays have been consuming my time.  I have motivation to finish grading the essays, however, because next week I collect 32 four to six page research papers.  

I also have a sick child in the house, and your prayers would be appreciated.  I know there are so many struggling with this awful sickness that has been going around, and many have had relapses (much like my son), so please use a little more hot water, wash your hands a little more frequently, and get out that spray can of lysol for a tour of your door knobs and faucets handles!  :-)

Some Fun Projects!

I'm not the craftiest person in the world, but I do like to personalize my living spaces. If you've been to my home, you've no doubt seen these phrases that I stenciled in my kitchen:



Doing those stencils (measuring out the letters, centering the phrases, painting them on) took a lot of time and work, but I believe in the power of words so that investment of time was worth it to me. You see, I place words, phrases, scriptures, and poems around me all the time to help me keep my focus right. They encourage me, strengthen me, inspire me, and comfort me. I want my children to grow up surrounded by words (vocally and written) that encourage and build them up to become all that God has for them to be. I have struggled with listening to negative words in my head (self-talk), and I find that having His word and positive thoughts around me, visible when I need them, continues to help me as I retrain my mind and form new thought habits. I think that's why I'm enjoying the projects I've been doing with some Uppercase Living products. I have been able to place meaningful words around me in a new and easy way. You can see some of my new projects below.

"Gather Round" in the dining room.

This tile says, "Grant me patience to deal with my blessings." So true! :-)

"The best things in life aren't things." Again, so true!

Is "L" for Larson or Looney?

It's hard to see on this metallic canvas, but it says, "Always kiss me goodnight."

So, among doing laundry, making dinner, running kiddos hither and yon, and working, this is what I've been up to. It's good to have a little creative outlet every once in a while, don't you think? :-)

They Found It!

Yes, we received a call just before midnight from the police department saying that Hannah's car had been found.  It was not far from our house, and the police had pulled over the person driving it because it had expired plates on it (they had switched the plates).  The guy driving bolted and wasn't found.  The passenger was arrested and had been on parole, so the officers told us he would be in jail for at least a year.  In this day and age of over-crowded prisons, I don't know how they can be assured of that, but I digress.

Anyway, we had to look at everything the officers were pulling out of the car to say if it belonged to Hannah or not.  There we stood, not far from a big intersection, at midnight in cold rain saying, "No, Officer, those four shaved keys do not belong to our daughter; neither do the cigarettes, jackets, envelopes with return addresses on them, and other "paraphernalia."  

What was weird was that we did not know that the guy they arrested was in the back of the police car that we were standing next to.  When we pulled up, there was another truck that had been pulled over (for another reason), and Hannah's car was in the middle of the road with the driver's door open.    So, Dave and I stood there in the rain, talking to one another right outside of the car window where the arrested passenger had been placed.  I think the officers should have informed us of that fact, because I can guarantee that had I known he was behind those dark windows two feet away from us, I wouldn't have stood there.  :-o

The funny thing was, a friend of ours thought he saw Hannah's car being driven by someone on a road between the high school which is right near our home on Sunday.  He was behind the car, and he noticed the license plate frame said it was from Modesto, and he noticed the license number.   He said the driver looked like he was David's size, so he assumed since it was so close to our house that the car had been recovered and Dave was driving it.  Well, tonight when we got to her car, sure enough, the license plate frame was from Modesto, and the license had the number he had remembered. The officer also asked how tall Dave was because the guy they had seen running from the car appeared to be about 6'3".  So, our friend had seen Hannah's car on Sunday; it's just that the tall guy driving it wasn't Dave!  :-)  The car has some residual damage from its jaunt around the town with the thieves; there is a cut on the outside of the driver's side door, and the inside smells strongly of cigarette smoke.  

When we arrived home, Dave "febreezed" all the upholstery, and we put an air freshener inside.  Hopefully, the smell will dissipate quickly, although Hannah didn't think she wanted to drive her car tomorrow anyway.  We will be buying the recommended "Club" for her car tomorrow since she owns one of the more frequently stolen cars.  All's well that ends well, except you still feel a little vulnerable knowing the people who stole it had our home address on the registration slip that was in the glove box.  

Just thought I'd update you before I head back to bed.  Thanks for your prayers; the extra set of wheels are so appreciated and needed with our schedules!   Oh, and her car had a full tank of gas!  :D

A Nice, Little Break

Well, I must say, I've had a nice little break the last week! I didn't let myself feel tied to the computer at all, and I think that was only by the strength of the Holy Spirit at work in me! We've had some great times with all the kids being home from school. We've done some moving and re-arranging in our house. My oldest son moved his bedroom downstairs, and then my youngest daughter moved into his old bedroom. So, everyone has his/her own space now, and can breathe a little easier. Dave and I rearranged our bedroom and moved every stinkin' piece of furniture to a different location. I LOVE the new arrangement - so much room and such a peaceful feeling knowing EVERYTHING is clean and organized! We all cleaned out our closets and dresser drawers also. Christmas decorations have been taken down and put away, so all in all, it's been a productive and good week! 

Speaking of cleaning and organizing my home, I've become a "Company Girl."  Now, I know that sounds weird, but click on the side button and you can see what it's all about.  I was able to earn 40 points today!  :-D

Now....it's time to get back into our routines. School and work all resume tomorrow morning, and I'm looking forward to it.