And Life Still Goes On

We are still having that calm, I truly believe it is a mixture of God giving us peace and all the prayers that are going up for us right now. You find out who your friends are, that is for sure and this week,  I found out I have more friends than I realized. They say friends crawl out of the woodwork when you have won the lottery. I think it means a lot more when friends crawl out of the woodwork and you did just the opposite. They are there because they want to be there, not because they think they are going to get something out of it. So a HUGE thank you to all our friends, for your friendship, concern and especially for the prayers.

So, Andrew's week has been eventful, he had an interview lined up last weekend with Casey's for last Tuesday. Monday morning at 10 after 8, he got a call for an interview with Pepsi. It was at 8:15 on Tuesday morning. That interview lasted almost 4 hours. He got a call Friday that he has a second interview at 2 this coming Tuesday. He also had a phone interview with Dollar General yesterday. He is supposed to get a phone call to set up a second interview with them some time this week.

On our last regular night of AWANA, we took our guys Geocaching. I took pictures and meant to get them on the blog the next day, however, the next day was the day life spun out of control. So, I am finally getting the pictures up.

We had awards night last Wednesday night, I don't have any pictures of that yet. We also have Fun Night this coming Wednesday and then AWANA will be in the books for another year. This one went fast!  I promised the guys we would go geocaching again sometime this summer. The biggest news from the AWANA front though is NEXT YEAR WE WILL HAVE GIRLS!!!! I haven't had any girls for 4 years. I am SO excited, on top of everything else, our club will be big enough to do some exciting things.

This week is my last low-key week for a few. A week from tomorrow, I go to Springfield for a training for PIPP. I am staying over Tuesday night ( and getting to meet my sis and BIL for dinner) and then Wednesday, me and three other ladies from other agencies as well as our PIPP lady from Springfield are putting together the training manual for the rest of the state to use. This is a huge honor in my eyes. I love being asked to work on things like this. My boss started keeping a "kudos" folder this week, with all the things that various ones of us at ERBA have been asked to help others with.

I come home on Wednesday night and then go back on Sunday for three days. This is the conference that has our Family of Distinction banquet. If you have followed my blog any length of time, you know this is my favorite night of the year. The night that all these people we have walked along beside as they have pulled themselves out of poverty are celebrated. We also found out this week that Jackie Joyner-Kersee will be our keynote speaker at one of our lunches. I am SO looking forward to this conference.

I am positing a few pictures of our Geocaching adventures. Thanks again for all the prayers for our family, and if you have a chance, Tuesday @ 2:00, say a special one for Andrew and his second interview.

A New Chapter

What a difference a week makes. I have always said 10 seconds can change your life. This week's 10 seconds came in a form I didn't ever imagine. Andrew lost his job. He has taken the high road though and that is just one more thing that makes him as perfect as a human can get in my eyes. He made a mistake on a gun sale and the day he found out he did it, he told me he would be fired over it. He told me he would terminate anyone else for the same mistake. So, when he called on Thursday, fear set in for about 5 minutes and then I had an overwhelming calm, it was almost embarrassing as I thought of all the reasons this might not be so bad.

We are planners, the me of we are planners anyway and I left work as soon as I heard and we came home and started planning. We were within 2 hours of going and getting Robert another vehicle. I had permission from the bank to just go ahead and write the check and we would take care of the loan after we got the car home. It wasn't a big loan by any means but it was still a loan and one that we could finagle without for a few months. One less thing to worry about.

So now tomorrow starts phase 2, his first interviews. Do any of us want to venture a guess at how many interviews he has been on the asking end of over the last 27 years? Tons; however, the other side of the desk; not so many. I know he is nervous. I know one of the jobs in particular would be something that he would just love, the other one would be good too though and I believe he could make a name and a career for himself in either one.

Tonight, we have the shirts ironed (the "one" and a spare), pants ironed, hair cut, resumes printed, references printed, folders organized and his portfolio ready.  I am thinking I should have him star repeating "The rain in Spain......"

I wish I were scared, I feel silly not being scared and maybe if he goes for a while and doesn't get a job, I will start being but God has given me this uncanny sense of calm.

The only time I lost it today was about 5 minutes out from work, listening to the Message on Sirius XM and Casting Crown's "Praise You in This Storm" came on. I have always loved that song but today it cut me to the quick because we are praising him in this storm.

I will leave you with it.


Casting Crowns-Praise you in this Storm from pam1983 on GodTube.

Life goes on......

We have made it to Wednesday. I think Robert is through the emotional roller coaster ride of the wreck. His instructor called school off Monday which was probably the worst thing that could have happened to Robert. It gave him way too much time to think. He was dwelling on what he could have done differently and it was basically making him mad at the world that he even let this happen. Nobody likes to be reminded that some things just do happen.

I wanted to wait until we were a little more certain about the car being totalled before he started looking for another vehicle. One of the boys Robert rides to school with works where they took his car. He and his boss went to look at it, and they both agree, it will probably be totaled. So I let Robert start looking.

It sounds like if State Farm excludes him from our policy, it won't be until August so we at least start out having insurance for him. He has also decided a pick-up would be a better fit for him, and low and behold, the insurance is cheaper on a truck than the performance car he had. So, slowly but surely, things are falling into place. I believe we will know something by tomorrow evening, or Friday.

Reality hit big time yesterday at work and brought me to a whole new level of being thankful for what I have. One of my clients committed suicide over the weekend. There are a lot of things that factor into this and I don't want to say too much but the biggest factor was the financial situation this person was in. Just a sad, sad situation, one that brought tears to my eyes many times yesterday. One of our goals is to try to show people that things are not hopeless. It feels like a direct hit to the gut, when it is clear that the hopelessness won.

We had class last night though and that had to have been the best thing that happened to me for the day. I love my students, we are working on building their resumes and I am so excited on where it is going. Talk about separate ends of the spectrum.

Tonight we are taking our high schoolers geocaching and to the Dairy Queen, last regular night of AWANA, can't believe that either. This year is going at warp speed.

Oh and in about 45 minutes, I am going to go get on the treadmill for Day 2 of the Couch 2 5K. Can't believe I made Day 1 Monday but I did and wasn't even hurting afterwards. I am honestly looking forward to pulling it off today. Good thing for treadmills in dark basements though, I don't think the world is ready to see this body run in public. The summer before we got married, I ran and I loved it. I also liked what my body looked like at that point in time, honestly for the first and only time in my life. It will definitely be a long road if I head in that direction but somehow I have it in my head that getting in better shape might help the UC. I have no proof of that but if my mind is wrapped around it, I think we will try.

Happy Wednesday all!

Easter 2012

I've always said 10 seconds can change your life. That is about the time it takes for the brain to register what has been told. Saturday, life changed again, in 10 seconds.

My sister and BIL came down Saturday morning, we all were at Mom's. I had drove up separate to run into church and practice some music for Sunday morning, the guys came up in Robert's car. Robert had to go to work at 5, so he had planned on going home around 2, resting a little and then going to work. He left the house at 2. at 2:15, Andrew's phone rings and it is a number he doesn't know. When Andrew answered, I was sitting close enough, I could hear Robert's voice, "Dad, I just had a wreck". He told us he was fine, but his car was probably totalled.





So, after what took forever to get to where he was, we saw the car, with the back glass out, it looked like he had rolled it, he didn't, thankfully. He was coming down a country road, met a pickup, pulled over to get better on his own side, over corrected and went across the road. A sad day for a little car that just 20 minutes earlier had been beautiful. He only had it 10 months.

After realizing he was going to be okay, I have mourned the car. This was THE car he had wanted, I wish I had pictures of the engine, but it was something I never got around to taking. Everywhere he could trim in red, he had. He had put a lot of time and effort into dolling up this car and seeing it gone was a heartbreak. After the tow truck and the deputy left, he broke down. He said that little car had a lot of good life left in it and he had killed it.

So now begins the aftermath. I am thanking God that he has the same schedule at school as a couple of his friends. One has already volunteered to swing by and pick him up this morning. We are supposed to see about a rental car today and the insurance company figured they would have their details by Thursday. I can't imagine it not being totalled, but it could be it looks worse than it is. So, we wait and see.

Yesterday morning, during Sunrise service, I was playing my flute. Normally, when I play, that is all I concentrate on, playing. Right in the middle of my song, it hit me. I could be sitting beside a hospital bed or planning a funeral this morning. The things Christ did for me on the cross a little over 2000 years ago is incomparable, but the things he did for me over the weekend, holding my baby boy in his arms though a ride that could have changed our all lives forever.....I don't even know how to begin to say Thank You, Lord and Savior.

Focus

Good Friday.....nothing I could go through could possibly compare to what Jesus did for me when he went to Calvary. I can't imagine someone who had never sinned, taking the beatings, the abuse and the torture so that I could go to Heaven. Lately, I have been feeling the true brunt of the fact I don't deserve what He did for me. Then, to top it off, he has handed me an incredible life with an incredible family.

Hallelujah, What a Savior. Thank you Lord, for that wonderful, priceless gift.

This week has turned into a blur. I have so many projects going on at work it isn't even funny. I have 4 very distinct directions. LIHEAP stuff, a PIPP user manual (that I am working on with 3 other ladies throughout the state), IT stuff, and ERL classes. I sat down Monday and made a list (yeah, I do that, don't make fun of me--my mom says I have to make lists of my lists--but it works for me). I taped the list to my cabinet at work, it is full, and color coded for the 4 major areas. As of today, I am halfway done and right on track. That makes for a sense of accomplishment, see what lists can do?

The UC won out this week too, I was off the prednisone but not for long. I started myself back on it over the weekend and when I called the doctor Monday morning, he agreed, it was the right thing to do. I don't know what else to do, I think long-term prednisone is the only way I am going to be able to do this....without the bag and I am not ready for that yet. What's odd is I know a woman who has the bag. Her doctors are wanting to reverse it and she is just as scared as I am to get one, to have it reversed.  I know the drawbacks of the prednisone is something to consider, I hate how round my face gets, I know that's not a big one, but it is one I see every morning, that and how red I get, but I feel normal otherwise, which compared to running to the bathroom 25-30 times a day, is a great feeling.

I have a very special prayer request before I go much farther. My friend Patty's plans changed drastically this week, check out her blog over on my blog list. She is heading to Houston today for a consultation, then coming home for a week and then moving down there for 5 1/2 weeks to have radiation. Please pray for her. I know the hardest part for her is going to be the fact that her oldest daughter is graduating from college while she is gone. Patty lives for those girls, and this is definitely not an "oh well" deal for her. I am sure she has shed more tears over missing Jenn's graduation than over the cancer. So please put her on your list.

Andrew was supposed to start back to work yesterday morning, I love him dearly, don't get me wrong but I have gotten NOTHING done the last 6 weeks compared to my normal home life. He normally leaves at 6:45 a.m and returns home at 8:30 p.m. When he is not here and I get home from work, I go into "home working mode." I have craft projects, sewing projects, crocheting projects, cleaning projects, all that get that 4 hours of an evening when I am pretty much here by myself. I haven't touched ANY of them for 6 weeks. I come home and he is sitting on the couch and I plop myself right there next to him. So, yesterday's false start leads to one more week of plopping of an evening. When I am home that is. 

AWANA is winding down too, we are taking our boys geocaching next Wednesday evening and then to the DQ. The next week is Awards night, the next fun night and then we are through for the year. This one went faster than ever.

I believe my father-in-law and his new girlfriend will be visiting in May. I have one conference to go to the first of the month and other than that, things should be pretty quiet. June, is a totally different story. It is going to be downright crazy and exciting and fun and exhausting. More on that when it gets closer.

So, this weekend, Nila, my sister and her husband are coming for a visit. Saturday morning, I go to practice with a friend of mine for a song we are doing Sunday morning, "I've Just Seen Jesus".  We have done this song many times, however, a few years ago, a good friend and encourager of both of ours, died on Easter Sunday morning. Cherilea and I were starting to sing this song and I blurted out how wonderful it was that Betty truly had just seen Jesus. We were asked to sing the song at her funeral. Since then, it is hard to get the emotions under control but it has to be done. We were really looking at singing "O Glorious Day" and that would have worked fine for me. Can you imagine though, what is would really, really be like to have JUST SEEN JESUS?? 

A friend of my son's who was also a son of friends of ours, was killed in a car wreck two years ago yesterday. I know he got to see Jesus too, what a thing to be able to say about a 19 year old. He was one of our AWANA kids. When Andrew and I started doing the Grand Prix, Phil was one of the most excited clubbers. When we went to the visitation, his granddad (who, along with Phil's grandma had adopted him) saw us and the Grand Prix was the first thing he mentioned.

A friend of mine was talking about the book, "The five people you meet in Heaven". I haven't read it but it is now on my list. I guess it is supposed to make you think about the people who made a difference in your life. It made me wonder if I would be on anyone's list. I am beginning to think, maybe that should be the center of my focus. It seems when I spend he most time focusing on what God wants for my life, it all falls into place.

I had been praying for quite some time for Robert to spend more time with the Lord. About a month ago, he asked me to start just having a few minutes devotional and prayer time of a morning. This is something we did when he was little before he went to school. We have just been reading the scripture in My Daily Bread, reading the little devotional and then having prayer, but I think he is seeing already how spending time with God first thing of a morning changes your day.

So, after all the business mentioned above, the bottom line is every morning, I give my life to the only ONE who was, and is, and yet to come......and in return, he is blessing me so much more than I can ever imagine.

Take a few minutes today to really focus on that sacrifice, He was sinless, He never did a thing wrong......I can't make it through the day without messing up someplace, yet he died so I could live...........PRICELESS.

Latest Read....The Marshal's Promise

Okay, saying I was excited that I won Rhonda Gibson's new book is probably the understatement of the year.  The Marshal's Promise is to be released in May, I finished it over my lunch hour today. It was truly the highlight of my day. There are so many of the characters that I just love, just have to mention one of the townsmen, Hank,- Hank Browning, the Marshal trusted him, so he must have been a good guy.

 Writing fiction is and always will be one of those things that leaves me in awe. I love reading, but can't fathom how to tell a story from start to finish and make it interesting, I would get off on so many rabbit trails, I would forget where the story was supposed to go. Several years ago, I wrote some articles freelance to be published in parenting magazines. I was never published but the whole ordeal led Nila, my sister, to start writing again, she was published in magazines such as Country Woman, She also wrote two books, she never had them published, but I got to read them and I was in awe then too. Geesh, I had lived with her for over 20 years and didn't know she knew how to do that either. What was odd though, is she has, for as long as I remembered, wanted to be a writer, honestly, she wanted to be a newspaper reporter. She had been an editor for the high school paper and then life happened. Now, 30+ years later, and she is FINALLY doing what she had wanted to do her whole life, she writes for the Lincoln Daily News Online (lincolndailynews.com).
 And to add a bit more odd to the mix, before she was doing that, she was working for a Community Action Agency. She is who convinced me that I wanted to work for Community Action. Had it not been for her, I might not have been so excited when I found out the blind ad I had answered was for ERBA.

Anyway,  see, I am on my own little rabbit trail now......Life is good.....

Look for this book in May, I am not good at writing "reviews", I am always afraid I will tell too much, but trust me, it is a good book!