The Days of Romance

Remember when you were first dating your beloved and he would write you poetry, bring flowers, and whisper sweet words to you. I have a wonderful marriage and my husband has done a great job of keeping up in the romance department. However, nothing could have prepared me for the beautiful picture he sent of himself this morning. I was swooning at the sight of my precious husband and the incredibly romantic scene he chose to send me. He is out of town and it will be evident when you view the picture, what he has been up to. I have to say-romance is not dead, the pig may be, but not the romance.

Traditions

I believe traditions can be a good thing. Our family enjoys its traditions. One of my favorite is how we open presents at Christmas. Beginning when the kids were smaller we open 1 gift per night until Christmas Eve when Santa comes. So, if the kids had 5 presents under the tree, 5 days before Christmas we would begin opening one a night. I loved this because my children were able to focus and enjoy that one gift the whole evening and gifts didn't get lost in the madness of doing them all at once.

My family (mom and dad) had a tradition that only one person opens a gift at a time so everyone can enjoy the opening and then the gift giver gets a hug and kiss from the recipient of the gift. We have kept that tradition with my children. However, when we go to Phil's moms for Christmas, their tradition is everyone opens all at once and it is fun that way too. It is wild and crazy and everyone is laughing and having a great time. My children have had two different traditions given to them and I wonder which one they will use with their family. Will I be upset because they choose Phil's family's way and not my family's way. Not in the least. I will just be happy they love each other. The gift giving is just an outlet of their love for each other.

I have been thinking a lot about traditions lately. Mainly traditions in the church. Why we do things the way we do them and how sometimes those traditions become our religion instead of our relationship with Jesus. We have been moving away from some of our long kept traditions at one of our services at church lately and there has been quite a bit of controversy over the changes. Some love them, some hate them. The changes were made in an attempt to reach the lost of our community who may never have stepped foot in a church building and to reach the young in our community who see church as irrelevant in today's world.

I have my personal opinion on these changes and I know I have to be careful about my thoughts and actions. I don't want old or new traditions to become my religion. I only want Jesus. I only want a relationship with my Father. I only want to show others his grace and mercy. I believe there are many ways to accomplish this, but I need to be careful that I don't become so set in my traditions that I value my traditions more than my relationship with God.

Like I said earlier, just thinking.....

Two weeks in and counting

I have finished my first two weeks back at school. Only 178 more school days to freedom--summer! I know that is sad wishing my life away, but boy, I miss my freedom!

Things went well at school except for "NO AIR CONDITIONING" in my little room and "THE COMPUTER FROM THE STONE AGE."

Yes, as I was putting loads of books onto my little cart, I was sweating through my shirt and capris--remember an earlier blog-I am something of an Olympian Gold medalist in the sweating category. There are a lot of physical elements to my job the first two weeks and my thermostat was set at 100 degrees and could not be moved. Finally, a maintenance man came out yesterday (Kevin--I read name tags now and try to be Jesus by calling all people by their name) "So, Kevin, what is going on with my air conditioner?" Kevin responds, "Well, it looks like your thermostat was set at central office to come on at night and not the day"
( if you are in the world of education, you know this makes perfect sense to the powers that be). "So, Kevin how are we going to fix this little problem." Kevin says "Well, I will check at central office and see if they will let me change it to come on in the day while you are here." "Well, thank you very much Kevin, that would be so awesome to have air conditioning when I am actually here!" I said that last part in a very Jesus like way. I pasted a smile on my sweaty face because it really is not Kevin's fault that I am melting at work. I think I kind of grossed him out because as you know, I was sweating profusely and he had not one bead of sweat on his face or uniform. I bet he gets day air conditioning in the maintenance department. Lucky Kevin.

Now I can only hope that central office will change their position on air conditioning. Maybe Kevin will help them see the value of having air conditioning during the day instead of at night. Stay tuned. You never know how these educational decisions will turn out.

Tomorrow I will write about my computer. This whole air conditioning blog has made me sweat. I need a shower. Til' tommorw..

What a Weekend!

I have just awakened from a marathon nap--it is Sunday afternoon people! I don't awaken well after a deep sleep nap. My brain is not fully functional and I have learned that because of this, my mouth can sometimes say things that people (my family) sometimes misunderstand. I need to be awake so that my "be nice" filter is in place because I tend to be somewhat grumpy when I awake. So while I am in my "no filter on brain and mouth mode" I thought I should write about this weekend.

The reason for the marathon nap is because me and my "Peeps" went on a road trip to hear Beth Moore speak God's words to us in San Antonio. There were around 10,000 ladies from all over the world-even Japan in attendance. The worship was incredible. Hearing all of these ladies praise God was something I won't soon forget. Beth visited with us about our inheritance in God. It was powerful.

I loved seeing Beth-we all got our picture made with her. She had her two girls with her and we bloggers got a special chance after her last talk to sit in a question and answer period. Very fun! I have to tell you all that even though I loved seeing and hearing Beth, my favorite part was before and after the picture shoot with her. You see, I got to visit with "Boo Mama"

Boo Mama has always been one of my favorite blog sites. I love her writing style, precious stories about her comings and goings, and her incredible testimony on the internet. I also felt somewhat connected because she and my husband and about 10 others went to Africa together in February with Compassion International. (My husband, Phil, got to meet our little adopted girl there-Doreen which was so precious) Anyway, I and my Coffee Group friends just marched ourselves up to Boo Mama and before I knew it, I was in a big bear hug with her. I just love that woman even though it was the first time we had officially seen each other in person. Isn't it neat that those that love the Lord have such a common bond that we can't help but love each other.

So to recap the weekend:

Cost of hotel: $244, plus $38 to park; Drive to and from Abilene:12 hours (we had lots of potty breaks); loss of sleep: 4 hours; Friday night supper time: 10 pm on the river walk; Grossness: huge rat on said river walk; Hair: wet and dripping from rain in San Antonio; Walking to and from and all around the Alamodome: three hundred miles (I am exaggerating somewhat, but I didn't have my pedometer so I had to estimate), water for sale in Alamodome: warm and $3.75 a bottle.

Hearing Beth and meeting BooMama: priceless!

Number 2?

We are getting a bid for the repair to our ceiling today. You know the one that had the leg sticking out of it last week. That was number one house fix.

Last night as Phil was returning home, he pushed our trusty garage door opener and the door would only open 1/4 of the way up. He tried several times and nothing above that height. It is a little hard to get through that space, so he goes around to the front door, where I meet him saying "I think the garage door is broken." I need to remember to be quiet in those obvious times of husband frustration. He seemed to already know that the garage door was broken, so I quietly stepped out of the storm that surrounded him and kept my mouth from stating anymore obvious facts.

We were supposed to be on our way to a rehearsal dinner. Phil had just finished the rehearsal and had come by to pick me up. We had to call and cancel because we had to get this fixed. My car is being held hostage in the garage and Phil is leaving for Alaska Sunday.

Phil looks at the garage door and the spring has broken. This is the garage door opener and spring replacement that we put in two years ago. Hmmm...things sure don't last like they used to.

So another $225 to the garage door people this morning who came on a Saturday and replaced the spring on our door.

I figure this is number 2. You know when things begin to break around the house, they always come in threes. So, the air conditioner is 1, the garage door is number 2, ...I am waiting to see what number 3 is. Do you think that maybe the leg through the ceiling would count for number 2? That sure would be nice. I am really glad I have a job or I would have had to sell my wedding ring or something to pay for all this.

I'll let you know when and if number 3 lands.

IC-Warning-this may be TMI-too much information

As many of my close friends know, my health has kind of been an issue for the last two years. After my hysterectomy in May of 2006 it seems my body decided it was time to give me a good dose of reality. You see, I have never really been sick. I have had the usual childhood diseases (measles, mumps etc) and I did have aseptic meningitis after Zach was born, but on the whole I have been very healthy. Kind of took it for granted. I had no fear of doctors or hospitals because I knew that if I ever came down with anything, they could fix it. Oh, the innocence of the unafflicted!

In October of 2006, I had a urinary tract infection. Never had one of those and I didn't like it one bit. I went to the doctor, they put me on antibiotics and I fully expected it to go away. It did get better, but kept coming back. After 3 rounds of antibiotics, it never truly went away. During this time my hormones were down in the dungeon. My body was in shock from the hysterectomy, having no hormones and then the UTI hit. I guess my bladder said, "I am not happy and I am going to tell you about it." I had pain, terrible pain, bladder spasms and everything seemed to hurt. I went to doctor after doctor. No one could help me. They couldn't understand why I was having this continued pain and no bacteria was showing up when they tested me for the UTI.

Being the resourceful person I am, I got on-line. I was desperate to find out what was happening to me. I spent many hours researching. Surprisingly, there are not many diseases of the bladder. However I did find one that fit my symptoms. So I found a doctor who specializes in this disease and went to Lubbock to see if this was truly what I had. After a bladder procedure entitled the "potassium sensitivity test" which is just as fun as it sounds. This involves putting potassium into your bladder. If it hurts, you have Interstitial Cystitis. Mine hurt-bad-I wanted to jump off the table. Evidently, my bladder lining is falling apart. The GAG layer (weird name) keeps the acidic urine from touching the nerve endings in your bladder. People with this disease begin to lose their GAG layer. Hence the pain. So I was diagnosed with IC-Interstitial Cystitis

Here is the kicker: No one knows what causes IC, there is no cure, and there are over 700,000 people in the US alone that have this disease. Many have it so much worse than I do. They are not able to work, they go to the bathroom up to 60 times a day, and their bladder gets smaller and smaller because it is scarring over trying to protect itself. If you have ever had a UTI, these people put up with that pain times 10 each day of their lives.

So far, my symptoms have been minimal. I do have pain, but most days I can handle the pain. I even have a few days that are pain free. I rejoice in those days. I keep praying that mine will not progress and so far this has held true. My doctor is wonderful and has me on the only treatment they have that works on 20% of the cases. I am praying that I am one of the 20 percent. I am careful about eating acidic foods. I take my meds. I rest when I need to. My friends have prayed with me and have been great about supporting me through this. My mom has heard me cry for hours on the phone. My husband is a saint and always really wants to know how I am doing each day.

I guess I needed to share this because I was a person that really didn't understand when people had pain or diseases. There are millions of people each day walking around this world trying to hold up and do what they need to do, but are doing it in pain. I believe the Lord gave me the blessing of having IC so that my eyes would be open to those who quietly suffer. I needed to grow in patience towards others "having a bad day." This "bad day" may be because they are doing the best they can to hold themselves up. I needed to see suffering from this side to truly know and understand.

I just found out that one of my friends from school has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Before, I would have told her I would pray for her and that is a good thing. I believe in the power of prayer. Now, however, I want to hug her and let her cry and tell me everything. I want her to know that I will be there to talk about it and she can tell me how she is feeling and I will never grow tired of hearing her story. I want to tell her it is okay to be angry with the disease and it is okay to have days to just rest and to not worry about what people will think if she misses another day of school or an important event.

So, I am learning my lesson. I pray that I will be more tolerant, kind, merciful and will react with the heart and mind of Jesus. I want to remember that every person on this earth is suffering from something-maybe not physical, but some kind of hurt. If you know someone who is going through a bad time today, give them a call, send a card, reach out in some way. It makes a difference-it really does.

Picture of Dad's Surprise Party

I have been promising pictures of my Dad's Surprise party. Here they are. The theme was "Cowboy" so that is why he is wearing a sheriff's vest, hat and badge.