Well, one night to bed before 9:30, the rest of my life to go. The other night as I was drifting off to sleep at, oh....about 1:00 a.m., I thought, "Why don't I go to bed at 9 or 10 and get that really healthy sleep before midnight and then just get up earlier. I'll bet I'd still get more sleep than if I messed around trying to make sure everyone's b'fasts and lunches are made. I get sidetracked when I do that but if I waited to do that stuff until the morning hours (just getting up earlier...like 4:30 or 5:00) I'd still get more sleep and it would be a healthier sleep. So, it's gonna take me months to change my ways, (a friend of mine says it takes about 6 months to make a lifestyle change) but I know whoever reads my blog will keep me accountable and on track.

Faith has had runny/watery diapers. But I've found if I give her probiotics, she's better.

Grace is trying to get pink eye again. She's always been prone to getting the cold in her eye for some reason. I saw some matter in her eye last night before bed. We put some diluted colloidal silver in both eyes and so far we've constrained the nasty stuff to just a tiny bit of matter in the inner corner of her left eye. Also I've been giving her a homeopathic called Candida Yeast to try and eliminate the odor in her ever present, annoying drool.

I slow-cooked a roast, potatoes, green beans and onions last week. The roast was tough. Dad says it's because they were mostly grass-fed. I got the leftovers out of the fridge last night and cut the potato wedges into smaller pieces, added some leftover corn from the fridge, some leftover, already-cooked ground beef, beef soup base, water and salt and pepper. This morning I popped it in the oven and set the oven on warm before I left for church at 7:00. It was a wonderful soup that I'll be sending with Landis and Bobby in their thermos' for lunch.

Landis, Grace and Faith are still awake and it's 9:04. I need for them to go to sleep so I can go to sleep. Everyone's used to staying up late the last several nights.

This is probably the longest sabbatical I've taken from writing. And, honestly, I've forgotten I've even had a blog...that's how busy I've been. Just now when I signed in, I was hoping I could remember my username and password. (Obviously I got in.) The Ladies Night of Laughter, working part time, working my home business and the kids going back to school have all kept me busy to the point where monthly meal planning, planning errand-running and getting kids to bed early have become an absolute and not an option 'round here. I've come up with some dandy menus, recipes, and money-saving ideas in the process and thought wouldn't it be a good idea to go ahead and share what I'm doing with others and maybe it will help some other moms out there - because I KNOW you struggle (I've heard your lamenting) - especially if you work outside the home. On the other hand, if you comment after reading and share your tips with me, we ALL benefit, now don't we? Maybe I could start a website like that lady up in Minnesota who created http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/.

The Ladies Night of Laughter was so much fun and I was so impressed by the talent all around me. I kept telling myself up to the performance that I would not, no matter how much I enjoyed being a part, participate in LNOL 2008 or anything like it because it was too stressful to prepare for it with all the other things going on in my life. But when the evening was over, I knew I could not deny myself the joy of being a part of something so fun. I was grateful to Lesa Wharton for trusting me with the Eve monologue and if I ever get the opportunity to do it again or something similar, I'll do my best to improve my performance.

I'm still working 2 days a week at Bethel Baptist Church as a Parent's Day Out teacher to 2 year olds. I'm loving those little ones a little more every day but I'd still rather be doing something else. :)

Youngevity has kept me hopping, especially with the business fair we had at Cornerstone a few weeks ago. I've made and received many follow up calls since then. Presently I have 20 people in my organization and am monthly receiving half the of the money I need in order for the nutrition my family consumes to pay for itself. Best of all, I'm seeing people realize there is a better way to live; there are options out there, and we have the freedom to choose what's best for our physical bodies.

The kids going back to school means that I stay up later to make sure breakfast and lunch is ready for everyone the next day, notes are written, papers are signed and clothes are clean. The next morning I must rise in time to get myself ready and then get everyone else ready to go out the door. Then it's off to the races. On Mondays and most Fridays I can stay home and work on laundry, bathrooms, floors, dishes and dinner. But on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings it's "hurry, hurry, hurry" to go to work or run errands.

That is a quick update on my life right now. I promise myself I'll blog in detail SOON.

Labor Day Weekend. The final summer "fun" day. Sunday after church Landis was begging Bobby and I to play baseball with him. He grumbled when we told him it was too hot then but after naps and when the sun sinks a little lower in the sky (say, 6-ish?) we'll go outside. He began to barter with me and asked, "Five?" I shook my head. "Five-thirty?" At 6:00 straight up he was reminding us about our promise. So, out we went. Bobby pitched to him and I was the slow outfielder. We all took a turn batting and then Landis wanted to jump in the pool. The pool really did sound refreshing and so I got in to wade with my dress on. Hope ran inside to change into her suit and I put Faith in the water after stripping her down to her diaper. No one saw Bobby taking his shirt off but we heard him as he ran toward the pool and jumped in. Grace, who had been swinging, could hardly stand it, watching us all enjoying the water, after all, it is HER pool. So I suggested to Bobby that he go get her out of her swing and toss her into the water with her clothes on and without her head float (which keeps her head above water). You should have seen that child's face when Bobby threw her in. I know she had to be thinking, "What's wrong with you?!" Once she landed in the water I pulled her out and sat down in the water with my dress on so I could just hold her in the water and she could enjoy herself. Now that was a spontaneous swim! I think it will be a nice family memory we can talk about for years to come.

It's Sooo Hot.....

A friend of mine sent this today:

It's Soooo Hot Here Right Now That.....

The birds have to use potholders to pull worms out of the ground.

The trees are whistling for the dogs.

The best parking place is determined by shade instead of distance.

Hot water now comes out of both taps.

You can make sun tea instantly.

You learn that a seat belt buckle makes a pretty good branding iron.

The temperature drops below 95 F (35 C) and you feel a little chilly.

You discover that in August it only takes 2 fingers to steer your car.

You discover that you can get sunburned through your car window.

You actually burn your hand opening the car door.

You break into a sweat the instant you step outside at 7:30 a.m.

Your biggest bicycle wreck fear is, 'What if I get knocked out and endup lying on the pavement and cook to death?'

You realize that asphalt has a liquid state.

The potatoes cook underground so all you have to do is pull one and add butter and salt.

Farmers are feeding their chickens crushed ice to keep them from laying boiled eggs.

The cows are giving evaporated milk.
STAY COOL!

I think this is the 10th day in August we've had 100 degrees or above. This is the hottest it's been here in recorded history. This weather is helping Al Gore's agenda right along, isn't it?

The children have really enjoyed their pool this summer but have not been in it all this week... the water's too warm. I can tell the pool water is evaporating quickly. I wish I would have measured it from the beginning of this heat wave.

It's not pretty and I'm certainly not trying to make a fashion statement but I have put my king-sized navy blue flannel sheet set to good use in the middle of the summer by hanging the flat sheet over the patio window and the two pillowcases over my kitchen window. I also have a single navy pillowcase over my back door window. I'm normally one who likes to let the sun shine in! But I have found it necessary to take these measures because of the lack of shade trees to shelter from the afternoon sun. It seems to help a little, but boy, it sure is dark in here!

Excitement was in the air. We were going to have a slumber party! Hope kept talking about going to a slumber party. I tried to tell her we weren't going anywhere, cousins Owen & Clay were coming over Sunday evening and we were going to have a slumber party at our house. Timothy & Kristy arrived with their 3 sons Saturday afternoon at the airport. It had been over a year since we had seen them. Christopher being only 3 weeks old was a great traveler but they had their hands full on those long flights with a 3 yr old, almost 2 yr old and a newborn.

The Halls are here in the States for nearly a month. However, with their full schedule there was only 2 dates on the calendar that worked to have the older cousins spend the night together and the second night they were here was the first and best choice. So Clay arrived around 4:30 and Uncle Timothy was gracious enough to spend some time in the pool with the children. Then they moved on to pizza, popcorn, apples, grapes and fruit tea as they watched movies the rest of the night. Clay, suffering from jet lag, was the first one out at 10:00. I invited him into the kitchen where he and I shared some cookie dough that I was baking for the rest of them (but never gave them) and 5 minutes later he was passed out on the floor in the den.

Grace was next at 11:00 and we were down to the last 3...Landis, Hope and Owen. Landis fell asleep before the midnight hour and Hope followed minutes later. However, Owen was steadfast in his quest to not give up the ghost. He stayed glued to The Three Little Pigs and when I suggested several times that he lay down to watch the movie, he quickly informed me that he didn't want to. When the pigs movie was over at 1:00, he told me he was ready for another movie! I almost laughed when I told him he definitely was NOT going to watch another movie and he needed to lay his head down on the pillow. He sat there in his bedding and was very reluctant about giving in so I gently pushed his little tired body down into the horizontal position. He was out in 2 minutes.

Bobby and I had a rare treat the first week of June...we went on our first cruise and left the children in good hands at home! Kent, our friend from the band Bobby sings with, Heritage Road, told us about Cruise With A Cause (see PraiseFest Ministries)back in March and asked if we wanted to go. He and his wife, Marie had gone last year with their church, Landmark in Cincinnati. He mentioned handing out some Christian tracts one afternoon in the Bahamas. Well, the low price for the cruise was unheard of so we agreed to go and a month later Bobby was laid off from his job. We decided not to waiver and just go in faith (wouldn't you?) and wow! What a blessing the whole week was. We were told we could invite friends to go with us and so Derick and Charcy Luthe, friends from church/work, decided to go along.

Saturday night, the 2nd of June, we left after church. Our kids were being cared for by Pat and Mary Johnson and the Luthe's left their children with Derick's parents who actually live in a part of Derick and Charcy's house. Derick wanted to leave in the evening because he prefers to drive at night. He drove the entire 11 hours to Orlando and we crashed (not literally...I mean "took naps") at Charcy's dad's house. Mr. Evan's fixed us a light breakfast before we snoozed and then in the middle of the afternoon he prepared a wonderful meal for us consisting of a salad with crab and capers, Italian sausage and lasagna made with grilled eggplant. Mmmmmmmm! I like to try new foods and I found I liked capers and very much liked caviar, which he dished up just for me to try for the first time ever.

We were off the next morning to Port Canaveral. It was sunny when we boarded Royal Caribbean's Sovereign of the Seas and saw that our friends from Landmark were already poolside catching the rays. We decided we had all week to tan and was in no hurry to lay out. Little did we know that was just about the last of the tanning opportunities we'd have.

Tuesday morning as we docked in Nassau, we were invited to attend a training session for street ministry. We were given the million dollar bill tracts and were coached on how to ask people if they had been asked the "million dollar question," and the method of witnessing is that used by The Way Of The Master. As our excursion began, some of our shipmates went into the prisons, some went into the local schools and the rest of us went out into the streets inviting people to BahamaFest (a bit more here) at Clifford Park that night.

I asked one gentleman if he'd been asked the million dollar question and without hesitation he leaned back on his stool as if to get himself postured to hear a story and answered, "No, what's the million dollar question?" He laughed when I saw that his buddy had on one of our PraiseFest T-shirts and realized he was one of our own.

We spoke with a security guard outside of a bank. His eyes welled up with tears as he looked away from us and acknowledged that he needed to make a change but now wasn't the right time. We talked a few minutes with him and invited him to Bahamafest and a few minutes later as we were talking to someone else, the young security guard walked by us, touched me on the arm and said, "I'll see you tonight!"

An 11-year-old school girl approached me and asked me if she could sing me a song for a dollar. I won't write the conversation we had but I sure did get pleasure out of talking with her and giving her that dollar. By the way, she sang, "This Is The Day (that the Lord has made)" and said she was taking the dollar to her mother who needed help at home.

I have to write about "Action." I was filming and a very unique individual with piercings everywhere imaginable lined up with my camera and when he knew he had my attention, he approached. We of course began to talk to him and his face lit up as he said, "Oh, I know Jesus!" Action had a "boat" and gave small tours to make a living.

Because of the unfavorable weather we did not dock at CocoCay and there was an attempt to add some things to the schedule so the passengers wouldn't get bored. On Thursday, they decided to have a worship service and it was then that we were given a report that 4,100 people were saved as a result of PraiseFest 2007! And yes, they were working with the local churches to disciple these new converts. Praise God. Some of the artists who sang for us were Nicole C. Mullen, The Crabb Family, Austin's Bridge and David Phelps.

Bobby and I had a great time and at times I thought about how spoiled I was. We couldn't have enjoyed ourselves like we did had Pat and Mary Johnson not taken care of our children for us. What a blessing!!!

We arrived back in Port Canaveral 30 minutes ahead of schedule on Friday morning and was on the road north by 9:30. We had made last minute plans to stay with Charcy's parents who were renting a condo on Daytona Beach, on Friday and then begin our drive back to Tennessee Friday night. As we drove in to Daytona, we heard the radio announcement that the space shuttle, Atlantis, was scheduled for lift-off at 7:38 that evening. Bobby and I wouldn't have thought much about this but Derick and Charcy informed us just how rare of an occurence it was to see the space shuttle lift-off in person.

We enjoyed laying out that day, walking the beach, having another WONDERFUL meal prepared by Mr. Evans and just spoiling ourselves one more day. We loaded our bags by 7:00 and was able to see a perfect space shuttle launch - on time, perfect weather/visibility and then hop in the truck and head back home to Tennessee.

Pictures are posted here.

Videos are posted here.

We are talking about the doing the cruise again next year and taking the children. We shall see.

I'm paying Landis to read his bible. He'd slipped twice with saying, "Oh my G--." The first time I was concerned of course and wondered if I'd even heard him correctly. Well, I did hear him correctly and I told him that we don't use the Lord's name like that and why. It happened again maybe a week later and so I knew something had to be done. I sat down with him and asked him if he'd heard talk like that at school. Of course he did and so I explained to him how important God's name is and that we don't throw His name around like that. Then I remembered listening to some teaching about 5 years ago where the guy was saying that it doesn't work to try NOT to be carnal and to try NOT to do the same old sins you've always struggled with. This guy (Andrew Womack) was teaching that we need to keep the Word before our eyes and to be filled daily with the Holy Spirit and to get so infiltrated with the HIM that there's not room for the old man. At least that's how I remember it from that long ago. Instead of trying to keep out the bad, just pour in more good. Basically, the point is to get our focus right.

Landis needs to get more of the Word in him so I began to wonder how I could get him in his Bible more, now that he's reading. He and Hope already have a weekly chores chart where they keep up with what they need to help with around the house. They get to mark in a box to show that they did the job and they get paid for it at the end of the week. Landis has a little more responsibility than Hope does at this point and gets paid just a little bit more - 5 cents per job and Hope gets 3 cents per job. Hey, you gotta leave room for growth. To show Landis the importance of reading the Word of God and to give him incentive to do it I told him I'd give him 10 cents a day if he read his bible. He was excited about that and he's done a pretty good job of keeping it up. Now, if I can get him into a habit when he's young that would be wonderful...just so he doesn't expect a check in the mail every week from me because he's read his bible. :)

I was making dinner a couple of weeks ago and Landis was reading his bible. I remember hearing him say he wanted to read John 9 but I didn't pay much attention to him. But when he began to read something got my full attention. He read the first two verses and I stopped him and said, "Landis, you just ministered to me." The passage is about the disciples asking Jesus who sinned, the man or his parents that this man was born blind. Jesus told them neither but that the works of God could be revealed in him. I have struggled for years with taking blame for what happened to Grace. But in November of 2002 John Bevere and Pastor Davis both told me together in one conversation that it wasn't anything I did that caused Grace to suffer. (I had rebelled against something Pastor Davis had told me to do in 1998 - just before Grace was born.) In 2005 I was visiting family in MI and went to their church on a Sunday morning. I took Grace forward for the altar call for healing. As they gathered around Grace to pray for her, Pastor Don Smith stopped everything and said that he believed God was telling him to remind me of John 9: 1 & 2. I melted a little but when I thought about it later, I still decided to hang on to my own opinions. Stubborn little sucker, ain't I? Finally, this day in May of 2007, my 6 year old son was reading John 9: 1 & 2 and the Lord said to me, "how long are you going to put your opinions over My Word? I've spoken through the men of God. Now...by the mouth of 2 or 3 every word shall be established." Later I looked at 2 Cor. 13:1 and was so amazed at the accuracy of our great big God and how He doesn't miss one tiny detail of our lives. Wow! He's so awesome. Needless to say I've repented for holding my opinion in higher regard than His Word.

Day 13: Health Benefits
GOOD THINGS

Another perfect sermon for me personally. I don't remember the sermon for May the 6th but it sure was what I needed. On Saturday night when my care group leader and my choir cell group leader both called asking if I had any prayer requests I asked both to pray for me for physical strength. Bobby was gone singing and I felt like I needed an extra something to make it through the rest of the weekend. Pastor Davis spoke about getting our nutrition and strength from the Word. We can't get it by just reading the Word. We've got to meditate on the Word. Matter of fact, he gave a scripture reference about a word that literally means, "physical strength for every day living." I probably shouldn't write that down without giving more information but I wanted to move on with getting this journal writing done.

Saw little Christopher Payton this morning before Sunday School. Kelly told me he was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy, so I knew it but when I actually saw him hobbling it broke my heart! I greeted him cheerfully and acted like I didn't notice - is that what I'm supposed to do? Funny, the mother of a little girl with cerebral palsy and I'm asking how to act around a child with a handicap. I learned this past weekend that MD is caused by a selenium deficiency. Large doses of it now might help little Christopher. I'm going to talk to Kelly about it.

I want more power in my life. I want to see results (immediately) when I pray for my children. Tonight I asked God why don't I have more power? I've asked Him before to search my heart but sometimes we don't really mean it, I guess.

Again...my attitude toward Bobby! It's been so long that I've had this underlying attitude like I know more than him. I can act like I agree or respect him but so many times my thoughts and attitude is, "That's a stupid idea" or "my way is much wiser than your way." That's PRIDE, arrogance, selfishness and rebellion!!!

Oh God, I'm crying out to you tonight to change my heart. I don't want those thoughts any more!!!


Day 14: Man Does Not Live By Bread Alone
PEACE

Bobby came home this afternoon. This evening after kids were in bed I apologized to him and repented. He forgave me but he said he didn't think it was that big of a deal. Ha ha ha. Peace.


Day 15: Fasting As A Lifestyle
DESIRES ARE MET

Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4
Of course we've all heard it taught that we should pray that God's desires become our desires. Of course that's true. However, just as God gave us free will and He gave us all different personalities, He also gave us desires and I believe He wants to fulfill our desires. Otherwise, He would have said He will give us the desires of HIS heart.

Now. It says to DELIGHT yourself in Him. Pastor Sarah told us recently that the word desire here means "to be soft and pliable." So I'm thinking about Abraham. He was willing to kill his son for God; the son he'd been promised and waited to receive for 25 years. But God fulfilled Abraham's desires and spared Isaac's life. Abraham was "soft and pliable" in the hands of the Lord, whom he delighted in. If we're willing to give up everything most precious to us to please Him, He'll make sure that not only ourneeds are met but our desires are fulfilled. He's just so good, isn't He?

It got too warm in the house this afternoon. We didn't turn the AC on early enough - didn't want it to run and try to catch up at 5:00 in the evening so we suffered through until the sun went down. I felt TERRIBLE! As soon as it started to cool off I felt much better. Another lesson learned.


Day 16: Fasting To Break Strongholds
CURSES ARE BROKEN

A week ago a girl in choir told me God was going to speak through me and to be ready for it. The first couple of days I was watching but then I forgot about it. Tonight during dinner in the gym before church, a friend was telling me about some therrible and pretty scary things going on with her husband's 16 year old daughter. I made a couple of suggestions but there was always another problem following that. Finally, I blurted out a strong suggestion to here and she stopped. Her face changed and her shoulders dropped. "Thank you!" she said. "I'd never thought of that."

God's so funny. Why does He wait until the last minute? It doesn't matter; He's always on time.


Day 17: Fasting For Your City - Prayer Walking
YOUR NEEDS ARE MET

God continues to meet our needs. Our bank account looks the same, if not better than it normally does.


Day 18: Fasting To Proclaim Liberty And To HaveFreedom From Legalism
SPECIAL. YOU ARE SPECIAL TO GOD!

I left my family behind and went on a road trip with 3 other ladies for some business training. I was able to sit/lay alone on the back seat of the van and spend time in the Word, pray and sleep. They stopped for lunch and I could stayin the van and read and pray. That night they went to the hot tub and I could have more time with the Lord in the room. I really glad I came!


Day 21: Breaking The Fast
SALVATION. ALL YOUR FAMILY WILL BE SAVED!

Dad called me this morning to tell me that my brother didn't show up for work. (They work at the same factory.) He wanted me to call their local sheriff's office to see if I could find anything out on him. He said he'd call back. I thought he was going to extremes but I called so that I could give him a report when he called back. He was relieved to know Joel wasn't in the slammer. Then I told him, "Dad, it was Mother's Day yesterday. Joel is still grieving (mom died in October 2001) and he tried to drown out his sorrows. He's wasted somewhere." Dad seemed a little surprised but considered the idea.

That afternoon we spoke again and Dad had already called the sheriff's office to file a missing persons report. I was very surprised that he was going so far with this. He'd called Joel's friend that he drinks with and the guy rather flippantly said that Joel just had too much to drink last night. But he told Dad where Joel was headed when he left his house. So Dad drove out to Klinger Lake and started looking for Joel's truck. He found him and let me know everything was alright. That's not the end of the story but the point is that today we believe for salvation for our entire family. I know that Joel believes he's saved. But he's not. He believes that God's grace covers his sins - if he considers them sin. But Romans 6 asks, "should we continue in sin that grace may abound? No."

The suggested scripture reading today was Psalm 119 and verse 9 says, "How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word." I pray Lord, that Your will be done in my brother's life and that the plans you have for Joel would be established and set into motion in Jesus' Name.

I'll probably get up about 4:00 am and started juicing. I'm ready to EAT!!!!

I'm sure not good at making daily entries. But I'm a very fast typist so I can catch up!!!

Keep in mind I'm following Bob Rodger's book:

Day 2 - Fasting and drinking water
FAITH

The Lord really spoke to me today about my attitude toward my husband. AFTER I repented I read Matthew 7. Whew! Glad I repented first - I might not have been able to physically bear the load of conviction.


Day 3 - Read through your bible in a year
STRENGTH

Oh, I was so weak this morning. I kept thinking of the scripture about the joy of the Lord being my strength. I turned to Nehemiah but didn't know where it was in Nehemiah. I prayed and knew that if I could just enter in to His presence I'd be ok. I felt too weak and sick. I'm telling you, I thought of my mother on her death bed when she was so weak she couldn't raise her eyelids all the way up. I've never felt so weak. Part of my problem was I drank all mineral or spring water yesterday (not good for you when fasting). Finally, a couple of hours later (after a nap - Bobby's home), I looked at Rodger's book and sure enough, today he talks about STRENGTH and refers to Neh. 8:10!! God is good.

Day 4 - A specific place for fasting
THERE IS NO WANT

The week prior to Easter I fasted 7 days - only water. One of the things I was praying about was Bobby's income. I prayed that God would double it. The very next week he was laid off! Bobby and I together began fasting on April 24 for 21 days - nothing but water. We're believing together for that income to double. There is no want. One thing Rodgers writes in his book is, '
'...one of the first things that fasting does in a person's life is to break poverty and debt.'
Breakthrough is on the way!

Day 6 - Fasting with a right heart
VICTORY!

God's timing is perfect. Today Pastor Davis preached that FAITH WORKS BY LOVE.

Day 8 - Fasting launches ministry
GOOD THINGS WILL HAPPEN TO YOUR FAMILY

Yes, I believe that. Mark 4: 31 & 32 I've always heard it taught that all you need is a little bit of faith, the size of a mustard seed. But I don't remember hearing anyone talk about "grown faith." The mustard seed, when it is grown is "greater than all the herbs and shoots out large branches"
Lord, I want grown faith.

Day 9 - Expect God's plan for your future
FAITH

We had an incredible time of worship in choir tonight. Tears, bowed knees, raised hands, praying and singing in tongues...and running mascara. Afterward, Stephanie Ebling approached me rather cautiously and said she believed the Lord spoke to her and said to tell me that He was going to use me to speak into someone's life in the next week. So just be ready and watching for it. I was grateful and thanked her for having the courage to tell me.

Day 11 - An American tradition
DIVINE HEALTH

Yesterday I was walking on the track at Bethel and I saw Wanda (Mother's Day Out teacher) watching over children playing in the gym below. At one point I rounded a corner and was behind Wanda. She couldn't see me as I took a long look at her obese legs. At the next corner I stopped walking to reach for my water. Just then the Lord asked me, "How do you look at Wanda?" I need not tell you how much conviction I felt.

She's been on my mind this morning. I cry when I think about her. (I seem to be very emotional during this fast) I'll be praying about the opportunity to reach out to her. It will be a little effort since the only way I know how to reach her is when she's working and Hope isn't going to MDO right now.

I mentioned fasting in my last entry. Last Fall, Mark 9:28 and 29 stood out to me and I felt led of the Lord to do some fasting. However, I was still nursing Faith and so I decided it was something I would study more on until I weaned the baby. Pastor Sarah loaned me a book called The 21 Day Fast by Bob Rodgers. I read it and several things on line, looking at scripture and asking a couple of doctors for advice as well. At the recommendation from something I read on-line, I decided to do a shorter fast prior to the 21 day fast. The week prior to Easter I fasted 7 days and was surprised at how "easy" it was. Don't get me wrong, it WASN'T easy but I thought I would have problems with blood sugar dropping, jitters, etc. That wasn't the case. However, I was weaker and hungry a lot of the time. This was a learning experience for me and I'm glad I did this as sort of a practice. I finally got to get some advice from Pastor Jeff Gregory who did a 40 day fast a few years ago. He really pushed me to stick to the original plan...meaning whatever the Lord told me to do...do it. If I planned to fast 7 days, don't stop at 5, etc. He also stressed writing everything down like, how long to fast, why I'm fasting, etc. AND the most important part and something I already knew but found it very hard to practice was staying in prayer and in the Word. "Whenever you would normally sit down to eat, you should, instead, spend that time in prayer," he said. Well, I knew that but I don't sit down to eat. I sit down to feed Grace and Faith while Landis and Hope feed themselves and I would normally grab my food standing in the kitchen (this is assuming Bobby isn't home when we eat - which is often) while I'm doing other things. This is still true now that I've started my longer fast but I will do my very best (which means I should get off of this computer) and believe in God's grace and faithfulness.

I thought yesterday that I should keep a blog of my journey in this fast and therefore have something to look back at and, obviously, this is public so maybe it will help someone else.

We celebrated Faith's first birthday on February 2. (birthday 1-31) Papaw and Mamaw came up from Arkansas and Grandpa came down from Michigan. The Sterbans, the Johnsons and the Kelsos came and we had a good time.

Bobby is singing this weekend...a long weekend. He left Thursday morning and won't return until Monday afternoon. I'm glad the long weekends don't happen often.

Grace threw up this afternoon. She was rather sober this morning and I asked her if she felt ok. Sure enough it wasn't long after that and I heard a gagging sound and went running with a bucket. I hate it when Grace throws up. She just lays there and pukes. I turn her over on her stomach and then lift her up under her arms with one arm and with the other hand I hold her head so she can just drop it into the bucket. However, with her spastic movement sometimes she slings it here and there. Oh well. We got half of it in the bucket. The rest was in her hair, on her shirt and on the blanket. I got her some Sprite, prayed for her and put her to bed. I'd like to go to church tomorrow. In one of my first blogs I wrote how I feel about missing church because of sickness.

It's just us girls here tonight and tomorrow. I took Landis down to the church tonight so he could attend with Jackson Luthe and then go home and spend the night with him. It's Jackson's birthday and so he invited Landis and one other boy over to celebrate. Tomorrow (Sunday) they're going to ride 4-wheelers and go fishing and who knows what else. They're going to have FUN! Landis woke me up at 6:20 this morning and asked what time he was going to Jackson's house. I wanted to say, "Who CARES?"

Hope had a nap on the way down to the church and back. She totally missed everything. When we got home I turned the engine off and called her name to wake her up. She opened her eyes and seemed surprised that we were back home. She looked around the seats toward the front of the van and asked about Landis. I told her where he was and that she had slept through dropping him off. Because of the nap she wasn't ready to go to bed as soon as Grace was so we shared some chocolate cookies and milk together. Hope has driven me crazy this week with her excessive and redundant questions and statements this week. I was happy to redeem myself after being impatient with her by sharing some special "Hope and Mom" time with her.

Faith was walking more than crawling today. She's just so much fun. I've really been contemplating just when I should wean her. She only nurses 2 or 3 times a day and she doesn't get that much when she does nurse. In case she's my last one I just kind of hate to end it. At the same time I'm really excited about weaning so that I can focus on some weight loss, internal cleansing and even some fasting.

Speaking of "last one," about a month ago I thought I was pregnant. I have to admit the first emotion I felt was shame. I knew I shouldn't feel that way but if I'm honest that's what I felt. I could just imagine what people were going to say and I was absolutely DREADING it! After a couple of days I started to get used to the idea but still felt the shame. Until I read the passage of scripture that I had posted at the top of my own blog almost a year earlier, Psalm 127:3-5. "...they shall not be ashamed..." My feeling of shame ended right then and the next day I realized I was NOT pregnant. (whew!)

Thinking of possibly going to Michigan during Spring Break.

December 22, 2006

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!

Adia Faith arrived at the beginning of this year and what a blessing she is. After a lot of walking and some wheelchair lifting, she arrived 2 weeks earlier than her due date. Sometimes I think we should have named this little girl JOY because she’s full of it and she’s brought so much of it into our lives. We were voting for a boy but when I saw the ultra sound, I immediately fell in love with her. God has sure been good to us.

Hope turned 4 earlier this month and has she ever grown up since Landis started school. She’s becoming a big helper, making her and Grace’s beds, putting her folded clothes away and putting clean silverware away. She’s a hearty eater and has been very, very healthy. Hope is our most affectionate child and although she doesn’t know it, she’s teaching me about unrestrained and unreserved love and affection.

Landis is a handsome and clever 6-year-old. He’s busy reading, writing, adding and subtracting and he loves school. Landis helps me the most at this point and I’m so grateful for him. He puts dishes away, moves Grace, vacuums, dusts, makes his bed and folds his own clothes. He’ll make some little girl a very handy husband some day. Just kidding and don’t worry, he’s very good at running around outdoors through the grass, mud and stones, climbing trees, catching bugs and toads, fishing, pounding nails and jumping from high elevations…he’s all boy!

Grace is doing very well in school. That wasn’t the case in October and November. She was getting very frustrated because the communication techniques she was learning at Vanderbilt were a little different from what they were practicing at school. So Grace and I, the Special Ed teacher, and the speech therapist from school, all went to Vandy for an appointment with the speech therapist there so that everyone could get on the same page. Grace has been happy about going to school ever since. She's getting good grades again and is cooperative. As a matter of fact, following the Vandy appointment, the teacher warned me that Grace’s spelling words for the week were very difficult. Grace also had a Social Studies test that same week. She scored 90% on both tests AND she frequently scores 100% in math. That’s my girl!

Bobby is still working for Three Rivers Contracting and is looking ahead to a good year for singing, his passion. As much as Bobby has been gone from home with singing, activities at church and his day job, God has always made sure he was home for the birth of the children. He impressed me so when Faith was born. As labor intensified, he methodically gathered the things we needed as if he’d done it 100 times. He joked about knowing exactly what he was doing. I thank God for this man He brought me to. He’s the most patient, gentle and kind man I’ve ever known and I’m slowly but surely learning how to love him.

I had a hard time getting started with this letter. After reading all of the wonderful letters coming in the mailbox and email inbox about how wonderful everyone’s lives are and how it sounds like they have it all together, I thought, "Nobody wants to read my letter. Besides, it’s not that interesting." But once I got started I found myself sitting up straighter and getting excited about what I was writing. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you everything or I’d be up all night writing and that would make me a lousy mom the next day. And, fortunately, for you, I’ve condensed everything to one page. We’re very grateful and when you stop to think about your life and what God has done, you realize no person and no event is insignificant. I’m always amazed at how He weaves our lives together causing our paths to cross at the appointed time in order to bless and encourage each other. God’s goodness and mercy follows hard after me every day and I haven’t even begun to fathom just how blessed I really am to know Him!

My hearts’ desire for 2007 is to walk closer to the Father in order to be a better friend, mother and wife. But most of all to be a better witness of the love of Jesus. I’ll be praying this next year for you and me that our passion for the lost would become fervent, that our hunger for the things of God would abound and that our faith would rise to a new level so that we would expect to see His miracle-working power manifested in our lives.

When I don't write very often, it's difficult to determine what I should write ABOUT. There are many subjects. Grace had a canker sore that only gave us problems (REAL problems) for about a week. She has suffered with them for as long as 6 weeks. She caught a cold and because of the sinus drainage, her tongue was much more active and she bit it...who knows how many times. Big old sore on the tip of her tongue. We prayed over her, anointed her with oil and gave her colloidal silver (for the cold - but it I think it helped with healing the sore more quickly too).

Speaking of Grace, we've had some trouble with her at school. She chooses to holler out in class and make a fuss. Her second grade teacher asked parents to send a morning snack for the kids this year so I did but we've since eliminated Grace's 9:00 snack. It was a SNACK and when that tiny meal ran out she'd scream and fuss. She's doing much better now that we've taken that opportunity for her to scream out of the schedule.

Last week the teacher mentioned twice that the spelling words for last week were going to be much more difficult. They were to be tested on words like "weather" and "leather". Grace also had a social studies test last week but she got 90% on BOTH tests! I was so proud of her.

Oh and one other thing about Grace at school. Her second grade teacher called me a couple of weeks ago (can't remember why) and in our conversation she mentioned that Grace likes boys. I knew Grace preferred men in her company but I didn't know she liked the shorter, younger version already. The teacher and aide seat Grace between students and Grace prefers to sit next to boys, particularly one named Joseph. Even with her tantrums and drooling, she still seems to maintain a level of popularity at school. Just last night we went to see Hope sing with her PDO class at Bethel Baptist and a student walked by Grace to say hi and told me he was in her class at school. My dad has taken Grace to Wal Mart before and a couple of girls walked by her slowly and told Dad Grace went to school with them. That doesn't make her popular but they don't have to acknowledge they know her or go out of their way to say hello.

When Grace was in Atlanta for therapy her classmates were instructed to write letters to Grace to send to her telling her they missed her and what they thought about her, etc. The one I liked best went like this:

Dear Grace,
I have been missing you. I can't wait until you come back. I wish that you didn't even leave. Since you left I'm really sad. Hope you get to do different things.
Your dude,
Eli

Isn't that great? There were more cute ones and they talked about the thrill of making her laugh and how her laugh makes them laugh.

Well, I've got about 37 loads of laundry to do and I promised Grace we'd get those Christmas decorations out. We're busy at church for the next 2 weeks and it's real easy to get behind here at home. Once in a while I can get the next days' lunches prepared, clothes laid out, coffee and breakfast made and notes to teachers written early in the day and then I'm not up until 10:30 doing those things. That feels good but I don't get to enjoy that feeling very often. That's why I don't sit here and post blogs very much. I don't think it's a waste of time...it's just not a priority. Wish it were because I enjoy writing them and reading them later. I'd like to post several times over Christmas vacation. We'll see.

We're back in Atlanta for therapy for Grace. We arrived Monday, Oct. 2 and will be going back to Nashville each weekend, finishing up with therapy on Friday, the 20th. I'll be glad when we're done...this hotel room wreaks of must and smoke.

Life has been anything but boring. Landis spent the 15th of September in the hospital. On Wednesday night, the 13th he was wheezing after church. That was nothing new. It has happened a lot. But it gradually got worse. I had to get him from school on Thursday morning and at 3:00 a.m. Friday I took him to the ER in Springfield. This was our 4th trip to the ER in the last 3 years so I figured it would be like any other time. He'd get his breathing treatment and some steriods and we'd go home about 2 hours later. Not this time. The Indian doctor told me he wanted Landis to go upstairs because he wasn't responding to treatment as they wanted him to. Tell me. I had given him several puffs at home and it wasn't phasing him. So we rolled upstairs and quickly we began to change our plans for the day. Bobby was home getting Grace ready for school when I realized he couldn't put Grace on the bus because I had the van with the wheelchair in the back. I had to leave Landis in the hospital room alone while I drove home and swapped vehicles. I sternly told Landis not to let anyone take him anywhere out of the room for ANYTHING! Of course the nurse knew what was going on. I hurried back and we settled in for the day.

It was a long day to say the least. Pastor Glenda had met us in the ER early that morning (oh I didn't want to call her but I've been scolded before because I didn't call) . Pastor Joe drove up to see Landis that afternoon and Aunt Mary and the cousins, Owen & Ivan stopped in with an activity/coloring book and a box of crayons. Cool. Bobby left for the Quartet Convention and Mary was still there when I left to go get Grace from school. She couldn't stay with Landis as long as I'd be gone but again I told the nurse what I was doing. Came back 45 minutes later and we found Landis with crayon in hand, sitting up in bed but fast asleep. Hope and I whispered and I fed Grace and Faith while Landis continued sleeping. He slept for an hour and a half after we got back to the room!

When the doctor came in that evening she looked at her watch and mentioned we probably didn't want to go home at such a late hour (8:00). I quickly expressed my desire to go home, PLEEEEAAAAAASE!!!! She gave the ok with the exception that I would get a nebulizer and go the pharmacy to fill a couple of prescriptions that night. I agreed and we slept so well in our own beds.

One funny Landis quote: About 6:00 a.m. he pulled the oxygen tube out of his nose again and said, "This thing is suckin' all my bugars out!" Pastor Glenda and I had a good laugh.

Landis went for his Kindergarten testing yesterday morning. He did very well, as I expected. :) However, he didn't know where his "heel" was, nor did he recognize the numbers 9 and 19, for whatever reason. He knew how to spell his first name (Bobby) and was able to tell the teacher his address, phone number and birthday. He was so excited about being tested he asked if he could stay and continue with more. "Sorry," I said, "there are others coming to be tested and we have to get out of their way."

Bobby left yesterday morning for work and said he'd spend the night out where they are working (around the Dale Hollow area) and wouldn't come home until Wednesday night after church. However, he called this evening and said he was on his way home because they had been called to work around Paducah...northwest of Nashville instead of east. He was also called to a meeting at the church this morning with Pastor Sarah and so he needed to be home for that.
A couple of weeks ago, Pastor Davis preached about going through different seasons in our lives. One of the things he said was that we need to embrace the season we are in. It made me think about Grace and the "season" of Cerebral Palsy. I wondered, "how do I embrace the season of CP without accepting it as if it were God's will for her life?"

Yesterday morning in Sunday School in the Beth Moore video we were watching, she said something about seasons and then the word servant was mentioned. That's all I remember and then right after that the thought came to me, "You embrace the season of Cerebral Palsy by serving your daughter."

Link to the photo album of the vacation in Michigan:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&conn_speed=1&Uc=2snii9ox.bhr7o0k9&Uy=-otbd8x&Ux=0

We had a great time in Michigan in July. Our week-long stay was so pleasant at my cousin, Roxanne's house. It was so big and spacious (and air conditioned) that you hardly noticed there were 11 children in the house. The Stevens family pictured from left to right are: Isaiah, David, Esther, Jeff, Jeffrey, Roxanne, Ashley, Autumn and Andrew. We are very grateful for such a comfortable place to lay our heads and for the good fellowship and food.

It was so good to see Timothy and Kristy and the boys again. It had been 6 months since we last saw them here in Nashville. You can keep up with all they are doing in Slovenia by going to Kristy's blog. We plan to see them again next summer.

We ended the week with a nice evening at the Elks Lodge in Sturgis celebrating Dad's retirement.

Hi-lights of our vacation were: Reubmommy (my Grandma Troyer) sending a couple of more quilts she had made home with us, getting to see and visit with so many relatives that we rarely see, swimming in the river on a hot afternoon, discovering the coffee shop in Sturgis that Kris and Mary told us about, Grace taking showers in Jeffrey's big walk-in shower and bath seat, eating over-sized ice cream cones on the deck by the lake, and fresh blueberries and a free quart of honey - "thanks Roxie!"

Link to a photo album in next entry.

What a busy day! I mowed, raked, pulled weeds, sprayed weeds, packed clothes for the road trip, dug into Timothy & Kristy's shed and pulled the amount of boxes I thought I could squeeze into our van, washed and dried a load of laundry, folded wash clothes and towels from yesterday, cut Landis' hair, made breakfast for Saturday and Sunday, made lunch and dinner, made granola and cornbread, packed Sunday bags, turned my mattress, changed my bedding, sorted through Faith's clothes, bathed the kids, read to them and put them to bed! So, why am I still up? Well, I'm waiting for nail polish to dry, of course. I don't know what the deal is...my nails aren't breaking off. I'm sure they'll do so just any day now. It's so unusual that I have to take advantage of the situation and paint them, even if it means staying up later.

I forgot to mention that I took time to feed this little sweetie pie a few times today. She's been soooo spoiled with being in Arkansas in early June and then Hollie was here for 2 weeks. Not that Hollie spoiled her but she was picked up sooner than if it had just been me here. For the past 2 1/2 days she has really done some crying. By the middle of the day today she was doing better...as you can see.

I got so inspired that I decided to make another entry - so quickly.

Bobby has been home so little. He's just completed another album with Heritage Road and it sounds great. They did a remake of one of their tunes from several years ago called, "Across The Miles," this time featuring Sonya Isaacs. He's been so busy with music that his regular job with Three Rivers Contracting has taken a back seat. He left for Western Canada Thursday morning, June 29 and today is in British Columbia on Pacific Time. He is tired from singing daily and traveling 300-500 miles between dates but he's doing well.

We're looking forward to our trip to MI. We leave on Monday morning and travel with Kris & Mary and their boys. We will stay with my cousin Roxie, her husband, Jeff and their 7 children. She's about to give birth to baby number 8. She called a few minutes ago and I told her it sounded like a cafeteria in the background. Today was mopping day and she was supervising the task at hand.

The photo above is my mother-in-law, Tena Bowen. She is pictured here with her older brother, Harold and the resemblance between her and her granddaughter, Hope is remarkable. Tena is 3 years old in this picture, the same age as Hope is right now. What a shame if I had missed this opportunity to snap a quick picture. I had thought of doing this several weeks ago but realized if I don't take the time to do it, it won't just happen on it's own. For me, it's one of those projects that, when you do it, you feel like you're wasting precious time. Nonsense. It does take time to do it and it's worth it - for generations to come.

So, I took a sabatical over the month of June and didn't write in my blog that I'm so committed to. Tonight I decided I needed to pay closer attention. I called my sister Mary to see if there was some slight possibility that she knew how to get in touch with our youngest sister, Kristy who is in North Dakota for the week with her mother-in-law's family. I really doubted Mary would know anything but yes, she had called Kristy this morning. I wanted to know how she knew how to get in touch with her. Very matter of factly she told me that Kristy had posted her hotel phone number on her blog. Oh. Of course. If I read blogs I'd know that. It's not that I've had nothing else to do.

There's so many things to write about - just not enough time. Shame on me for not keeping up, hence feeling the need to catch up. Don't worry, I won't try. I'll post a few pics from our trip to Arkansas, June 8-13, for my mother and father-in-law's 50th wedding anniversary.

God is good and faithful. I don't need to say any more than that after a week with the kids all home, no van, very costly repairs and a leaking sink.

Look at me! He's ONLY graduating from Mother's Day Out and I have to snap pictures as if this is one of the major milestones of his life! Oh, it's so fun! Walking down the aisle with his best buddy, Noah, and in the middle pic he was showing everyone how he learned to tie shoes and the intimidating clenched fist. I had taken a few pictures and he busted into that pose without warning.

Most all of us have parasites but Landis is loaded with them. I had him go through a screening at Orbit Health Food Store and it named the 6 worst parasites in his body. I brought the list home and Googled them. When I looked up the first, also the worst, it said that there have been only 27 reported cases in humans in the U.S. As I moved on down the list I read that there have only been 4 reported cases in humans in the U.S. of another one of these parasites. Another one of the parasites in him can cause wheezing and breathing troubles. Sounds like asthma to me - yes he has that. Also, one of the parasites he has is a "buski" (pr. boosh' - ky) which is a parasite that eventually "turns into", "instigates", I'm not sure - but it's connected with cancer. We don't want him in there. So I've been working and working with him for the past several weeks to rid his body of these varmints. He asked me how the worms got in his body. I wasn't sure but we found out the main ways he got them was through tap water and dogs and cats. I thought I was keeping my children healthy by giving them water to drink instead of juices and cokes but as it turns out, even though we have a simple filter on our tap it's not getting the bacteria out - just changing the taste. It all sounds pretty gross, I know. But the fact is, as I stated earlier, most of us have parasites to some degree. What's in YOUR body?!