So I fall...at least I do it gracefully!

Yes, I confess -- I am a klutz, and I fall. Could it be my eyesight? just not paying attention? weak ankles? The reasoning is somewhat clouded, regardless, I fall. Thankfully, I tend not to do it in large groups of people. Usually, I'm alone or with only a few people in eyeshot -- at least that's a mercy! I would say that it all began when I was seven. Hmmm, if I say that, then I guess I could say the trend is all my mother's fault??? I would never do that! hee hee. So, at seven, I'm upstairs holding my 2 month old sister as my mom's hanging wallpaper by herself -- seriously NOT recommended, particularly due to the fact that it started to fall over her head. She yelled for me to run get Daddy. (Ok, I must note here, she didn't know I was holding the baby.) Being the good child that I was, I ran down the stairs. I almost made it, but my feet all tangled up on the 5th one from the bottom, and I slid down the last four stairs on my knees -- still holding the baby, thank you very much. As I hit the floor, the swaddled baby rolled out of my arms onto the floor. I was screaming, my other sister (already downstairs) was screaming, my mother (who had come running with the ruckus) was screaming, and the baby didn't seem to be breathing. Great. I had killed my sister. Nope. All of a sudden, the baby was screaming. God bless my dad in the middle of this estrogen screamfest. Whew! All was well aside from scraped & bruised knees. So fast forward to Christmas Eve, 2008. I am now an adult with a baby of my own. (Yes, there have been many falls in the interim, and I have the scars & casts to prove them.) I desperately wanted to go to a Christmas Eve service. For some reason, this season just didn't feel like Christmas, and it made me sad. Where could we go? Thank God for signs in front of churches! The Lutheran church was having one at the perfect time. So we went, and it was just what I was hoping for -- Scripture, carol, Scripture, carol, etc., etc. It was perfect. Being there with Andrew & Will was wonderful! Will "flirted" with one of the ushers most of the way through. He's such a joyful boy! Anyway, it finished, and we got out the door at the front of the crowd. It was cold, so I was bundled up and had a blanket around Will -- not so good for being able to see where I was going. There was a curb. I didn't see the curb. Not good. (Side note: since I have a knack for falling, I figured there would come a time that I would fall while holding Will. At least I had thought this through a bit. Whew!) The toe of my boot caught the curb and down I went -- left knee, roll to the side, left elbow, roll to the back. Ouch. Physical pain, minor humiliation, but great pride that my son had only lost a hat and thought it was a great game! So, yes, I fall. But, I have fallen gracefully. Hmmm...good analogy for my relationship with Christ. Yes, I fall, but thankfully, I fall on His grace every time. Now that makes me smile. :-)

Confusion

My son is 9 months old...9 months old, and he still hasn't figured out that if you have a pacifier in your mouth, nothing else will go in it. So...a couple of weeks ago, he started feeding himself puffs. All was well and good until I put him in his chair with some puffs while I made his lunch. When I went over to check on him, his tray was empty -- some would think this was a good sign, however, in the next moment, I noticed that he still had the pacifier in his mouth! He had very successfully put each puff to his mouth and then dropped it into his bib. A week or so after that, he was cruising around the den and found a pacifier. He was a bit perplexed when he tried to put it in his mouth and it wouldn't go in -- already one there. So, where did he put it? In his ear! Thank God it wouldn't fit! Later that morning, he grabbed his sippy cup, but it wouldn't go in his mouth. Once again, paci! So...what did he do but put it to his forehead!?!? He did it a few minutes later with his puffs. Is there an orifice there I don't know anything about???

Chasing the Moon

Friday night, the moon rose large and round and orange. I could see the rabbit and the man in the moon and the eagle. We chased the moon. How long did we drive? We made our way north and east and then north again keeping the moon in full view. It was beautiful to see it above the tree tops and then above the "sky scrapers" and then kissing the clouds. The moon stretched out as the clouds played across its face. We drove for what seemed like forever gazing, staring. Fascinating, beautiful, simply amazing.

Aaarrgh!

Ok, I did a long post this morning and it is nowhere to be found!!! On my "edit posts" page it says I have six posts, but there are only four showing. Help!

Smiles!

What makes me smile?

• my son's ornery smile
• the thud-thud-thud-thud-thud as he tumbles across the floor, so excited to see me
• my husband's kiss at the nape of my neck
• his hand in mine
• a clean and empty floor
• the butterfly and daisy stationery in my Yahoo! account
• a phone call from a friend...just because
• warm chocolate chip cookies and milk
• time with my sisters
• baking with my nephews
• hearing my brother-in-law sing the song he wrote for my son..."Don't call me Bill, don't call me Willie. My name's not Nelson, or Big Green Chili. If you want love from my mother, you'd better call me by another!"
• hugs from mom & dad
• a clean body on fresh sheets
• a massage
• fitting in to pre-pregnancy clothes!
• a fresh breeze
• a bird singing in the morning
• sunshine
• coming home to a clean house
• having friends over
• singing in four-part harmony

I don't think that there's enough time in the day to even come close to finishing this list. The Lord has blessed me with the ability to find joy in the simple things of life, which means that my life is filled with joy. If you hear me grousing about my life, give me a swift kick, and remind me of the simple things!

Compassion International

I cried my way through the Compassion International magazine this morning. Their focus was on the global poverty crisis, and they spoke of children in Ethiopia being fortunate to get one meal a day. Ok, I know that Ethiopia seems to be cliche for drought and other issues, but the magazine was saying that this one is even worse than the problems they had in the '80s...and they're receiving less help. I would imagine that is due to the global economic crisis. I held my very healthy sleeping baby boy in my arms as I read and cried. How we forget that these simple things we take for granted -- being able to feed our children and ourselves more than enough -- are huge blessings from the Lord Almighty. There but for the grace of God go I. Compassion International is an amazing organization who puts the highest percentage of sponsorship monies toward the children -- not advertising or paying for their costs. I have sponsored two children to adulthood, and we are now sponsoring a little girl in Kenya, Serphine. She is beautiful and doing great! November 7 there is a Mercy Me concert at Quail Creek Church here in Amarillo. I have the wonderful privilege to be a volunteer at the Compassion booth. I would love to see you there! Please, would you prayerfully consider sponsoring one of these children around the world who has no one to be an advocate on their behalf? I was reading in Proverbs today and it talked about those who gave much had more, but the wicked gave nothing and lost all that they had. (No, I'm not labeling you "wicked" if you don't sponsor a child. What you do with your wealth is between you and God. This is just one area He has laid on my heart.) Blessings on your day!

Elections...

Elections are upon us. So many years I feel as though I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place...the devil and the deep blue sea. Bottom line, though, my "triggers" of support or denial come down to supporting life, supporting the family, and backing Israel. I've had a blog and a video sent to me that struck two of those chords in my heart. See the links at the bottom. Yes, our economy is an issue; yes, the war is an issue; yes, the energy industry is an issue. However, if we choose to honor God by protecting the gift of life and the institution of marriage (established by Him) and His chosen people, the other things will fall in line. By allowing the murder of the unborn and expanding on God's definition of marriage, we effectively remove our nation from under the protective hand of the Lord. Please prayerfully consider the candidate that you are going to vote for this election day. No one is perfect, but there are candidates who line up with the above mentioned issues. Ok -- I'm finished now. :-) (No, I'm not "done." As a wise woman once told me, "Roasts are "done," people are "finished.") Eternal Perspectives (Randy Alcorn's blog): Not Cool: Obama's Pro-abortion Stance, and Christians en Source: randyalcorn.blogspot... http://www.onenewsnow.com/valuesvoters.aspx ps -- I've disabled posts. It's my personal views, and I hate political debate -- there's no changing my mind on this one.