Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Split Personality
Well, I just don't have time for anything anymore. I need to post about school more than anything else, so unless I face some life-changing event, this blog may be somewhat dull. Please visit my homeschool blog to see what we've been up to in school these days. Otherwise, you'll just have to call me on my cell phone from soccer practice to find out about the rest of my life!
Monday, October 5, 2009
Eight Years and a Lot of Reading
What were you doing eight years ago? Don't remember? I can. Baxter and I were newlyweds. We were on the last couple of days of our honeymoon in Paris. We returned on the 7th (just barely missing my birthday) and we came back to Greenville, SC to pack up and move to our new home in Savannah. Those were exhausting and scary times back then. The fresh memory of 9/11 literally smoldered over the harbor as we took off from Newark a few days prior. People were coming together in solidarity against the evil of terrorism. Baxter and I were in love - passionate, beautiful and earth-shattering love. We had made a commitment to each other that still stands today - unshaken.
I remember the move to Savannah. Our first house on 63rd Street was so cute. I did my best to decorate it like a new wife should. Baxter was fresh off the heels of closing his restaurant. We had little money when we moved and no jobs. Pretty soon, we were broke. I look back on those scary days when we were living off of 19 cent-a-pound chicken quarters from the Red and Black with so much fondness. How we survived is still a mystery to me and I just can't believe that we did. We did land jobs - good ones - and we started to make it finally. I know it was only possible because we were holding each other's hands the whole way.
Some time after we moved, I realized that I had lost my bible. I will admit, it had been a long time since I had picked it up. My early twenties were not a time in which I sought after a deeper relationship with Christ. In fact, for some time I pushed Him away. I had fallen victim to anger, pride and lust. I was living in a completely selfish way and although I loved my husband dearly, I felt an emptiness and longing that I will never forget. After neglecting the Word for so long, once I wanted it, I couldn't get my hands on it fast enough. I remember being near an outlet mall in Savannah on a weekend and demanding that Baxter, "stop the car right now!!" I was literally drawn into the Christian book store by forces beyond my control. I went straight to the Bible aisle and poured over the selections like I was looking for a long-lost child. I chose a conservative, leather-bound NKJV. I couldn't even wait until I got home to read it, I started searching through it immediately.
We shared a car for a while back then. Baxter had to be at work at 7AM so we would leave the house at 6:30 and I would drop him off at Capitol Materials before heading over to my job as an administrative assistant at Gulfstream Aerospace. After I parked, I would sit in my car and read the bible. I just started on Genesis and read it straight through. I know there are other ways to read the bible but I had read it chronologically before and not knowing what I was looking for, I just felt good to be in The Word again. Eventually, my boss told me to stop reading in my car - he would be happy to see someone reading the bible at work early in the morning! So, I started reading at my desk before the phones started ringing and before letters needed typing. Maybe that is why I still think of Gulfstream as my favorite job of all.
The purchase of that bible and the single act of dedicating myself to reading God's Word changed my life - in some ways I may never know. God had been holding my hand ever since. He has led me to reach out to people and given me strength in every adversity. God is always faithful. Sometimes, we need to remember how to come back to our own faithfulness. Prayer can be a catalyst, Christian community can be encouraging - but the scriptures are unfailing. I know that seeds were planted eight years ago. Some of them started bearing fruit quickly but others are just starting to bud. I praise God for giving me such blessings and for always looking out for me, even when I felt far away.
I continue to immerse myself in the bible. Right now I am working on praying the scriptures for my husband and my children. A couple of months ago, I was introduced to a blog called Praying My Heart Out and dedicated myself to praying the scripture for Baxter and let me just say - the fruits from this have been amazingly abundant! God is listening, but sometimes we need help to just know what to say. For my birthday, a dear friend gave me a book called Praying the Scriptures For Your Children. This has introduced a new way of praying for my children that makes so much sense to me. The words are already written - we want so many of the same things - but putting these desires into prayers for our little ones is so important.
I feel God leading me in new and exciting paths and this morning, I felt like sharing a bit of my testimony to those that read this. If you find yourself far away from God right now, I hope it has encouraged you in some way to reconnect with God's word. The power of His Word alone is amazing!
I remember the move to Savannah. Our first house on 63rd Street was so cute. I did my best to decorate it like a new wife should. Baxter was fresh off the heels of closing his restaurant. We had little money when we moved and no jobs. Pretty soon, we were broke. I look back on those scary days when we were living off of 19 cent-a-pound chicken quarters from the Red and Black with so much fondness. How we survived is still a mystery to me and I just can't believe that we did. We did land jobs - good ones - and we started to make it finally. I know it was only possible because we were holding each other's hands the whole way.
Some time after we moved, I realized that I had lost my bible. I will admit, it had been a long time since I had picked it up. My early twenties were not a time in which I sought after a deeper relationship with Christ. In fact, for some time I pushed Him away. I had fallen victim to anger, pride and lust. I was living in a completely selfish way and although I loved my husband dearly, I felt an emptiness and longing that I will never forget. After neglecting the Word for so long, once I wanted it, I couldn't get my hands on it fast enough. I remember being near an outlet mall in Savannah on a weekend and demanding that Baxter, "stop the car right now!!" I was literally drawn into the Christian book store by forces beyond my control. I went straight to the Bible aisle and poured over the selections like I was looking for a long-lost child. I chose a conservative, leather-bound NKJV. I couldn't even wait until I got home to read it, I started searching through it immediately.
We shared a car for a while back then. Baxter had to be at work at 7AM so we would leave the house at 6:30 and I would drop him off at Capitol Materials before heading over to my job as an administrative assistant at Gulfstream Aerospace. After I parked, I would sit in my car and read the bible. I just started on Genesis and read it straight through. I know there are other ways to read the bible but I had read it chronologically before and not knowing what I was looking for, I just felt good to be in The Word again. Eventually, my boss told me to stop reading in my car - he would be happy to see someone reading the bible at work early in the morning! So, I started reading at my desk before the phones started ringing and before letters needed typing. Maybe that is why I still think of Gulfstream as my favorite job of all.
The purchase of that bible and the single act of dedicating myself to reading God's Word changed my life - in some ways I may never know. God had been holding my hand ever since. He has led me to reach out to people and given me strength in every adversity. God is always faithful. Sometimes, we need to remember how to come back to our own faithfulness. Prayer can be a catalyst, Christian community can be encouraging - but the scriptures are unfailing. I know that seeds were planted eight years ago. Some of them started bearing fruit quickly but others are just starting to bud. I praise God for giving me such blessings and for always looking out for me, even when I felt far away.
I continue to immerse myself in the bible. Right now I am working on praying the scriptures for my husband and my children. A couple of months ago, I was introduced to a blog called Praying My Heart Out and dedicated myself to praying the scripture for Baxter and let me just say - the fruits from this have been amazingly abundant! God is listening, but sometimes we need help to just know what to say. For my birthday, a dear friend gave me a book called Praying the Scriptures For Your Children. This has introduced a new way of praying for my children that makes so much sense to me. The words are already written - we want so many of the same things - but putting these desires into prayers for our little ones is so important.
I feel God leading me in new and exciting paths and this morning, I felt like sharing a bit of my testimony to those that read this. If you find yourself far away from God right now, I hope it has encouraged you in some way to reconnect with God's word. The power of His Word alone is amazing!
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Go To School
I just published a pretty funny post on my homeschool blog, PTO of One. Visit it for a recap of yesterday and some general observations about Walmart.
Friday, September 4, 2009
When God Touches Your Shoulder
A few of my friends received an email from me earlier this week. It was a long, complaining one, about all of the silly things that are annoying me right now. It was titled "woes" and it was just basically me venting frustration towards friendly ears. Sometimes we all need to do that, and my responses back were encouraging and even hilarious.
In part of my email, I complained about how many times per week we are supposed to drive to Mableton for soccer practice. Yes, 4-5 times per week is a lot of time, gas, and commitment to my kids. It's a lot of time from our schedule. However, last night I was approached by a mother arriving just a few minutes before our practice was ending. She wanted to know what team we were and I told her. She asked if this was the only U8 field. I explained the layout to her and pointed out the fields where the U8's practice. I also told her that we were almost finished but that more teams would be showing up for the 7-8 time-slot. I told her, her best bet was just to ask around as I had on Tuesday. She didn't know the team name or which field they were practicing on, only the first name of the coach, Rob. Most mothers would have probably paid more attention to the emails - or maybe gone to the parents meeting - but this mother has other things on her mind. Her beautiful little girl had no hair on her head. She obviously has been battling cancer, and there she was, wanting so badly to play soccer like all of the other little girls. I felt so ashamed for complaining about parking and late nights. It touched me so deeply that I had to pray to God for forgiveness. How blessed my life is! Don't take your beautiful and healthy children for granted!!!
In part of my email, I complained about how many times per week we are supposed to drive to Mableton for soccer practice. Yes, 4-5 times per week is a lot of time, gas, and commitment to my kids. It's a lot of time from our schedule. However, last night I was approached by a mother arriving just a few minutes before our practice was ending. She wanted to know what team we were and I told her. She asked if this was the only U8 field. I explained the layout to her and pointed out the fields where the U8's practice. I also told her that we were almost finished but that more teams would be showing up for the 7-8 time-slot. I told her, her best bet was just to ask around as I had on Tuesday. She didn't know the team name or which field they were practicing on, only the first name of the coach, Rob. Most mothers would have probably paid more attention to the emails - or maybe gone to the parents meeting - but this mother has other things on her mind. Her beautiful little girl had no hair on her head. She obviously has been battling cancer, and there she was, wanting so badly to play soccer like all of the other little girls. I felt so ashamed for complaining about parking and late nights. It touched me so deeply that I had to pray to God for forgiveness. How blessed my life is! Don't take your beautiful and healthy children for granted!!!
Thursday, September 3, 2009
What Up?
I just realized that it's been almost a month since I last posted here. Yuck. Sorry. It has been a particularly difficult month physically and that has but a bit of a strain on my ability to write. I am still working on my book and I'm managing to keep up with copywriting assignments, but both my examiner page and this blog have suffered. I should be able to be more consistent now that I'm feeling better. School with the children is going well. I remember the beginning of last year feeling a little awkward but this was so smooth I hardly needed to explain anything. We just dove right in!
I have health insurance again!! WHOO HOOO!!! Let me preface this by saying I am NOT in favor of universal-government-run-healthcare. However, living without access to coverage because of my pre-existing condition (type 1 diabetes) had been very difficult indeed. Thankfully, Baxter's job has provided us with awesome benefits which started kicking in on Tuesday. I had my first appointment with my new Endocrinologist today. I had no idea who to go see so I prayed about it and literally just picked him off of our list (of about 70 providers). He is wonderful! I think God answered my prayers very clearly here. The practice is the most cutting-edge in the city, the care is incredible and his bedside manner is the best I've ever experienced. If you need an Endocrinologist...see Dr. Bode!!
We are settling into what appears to be a very busy season for us. Soccer practice alone could put me in an early grave. However, we all feel up to the task and will just take it as it comes.
One last thing, I'm going through a new phase in my relationship with my parents. My parents are aging. We're all aging, I know, but my dad is now 78 and my mom is 76. They're no spring chickens. It is difficult to watch your parents grow old and feeble - daddy especially. I feel a great change coming on and I'm only 32. I'm not prepared for it. I should be but I'm not. As we all reach these middle years of our lives, prayer becomes so important. I am going to focus more of my prayer life on my children and my parents. We all have our concerns for these groups in our lives and I feel torn between concern for the two. It is stressful and must be what causes grey hair! I've never felt like I've had to write down prayer requests because I can remember them just fine. Now, they seem to be piling up all around me. I'm going t need a journal!
I have health insurance again!! WHOO HOOO!!! Let me preface this by saying I am NOT in favor of universal-government-run-healthcare. However, living without access to coverage because of my pre-existing condition (type 1 diabetes) had been very difficult indeed. Thankfully, Baxter's job has provided us with awesome benefits which started kicking in on Tuesday. I had my first appointment with my new Endocrinologist today. I had no idea who to go see so I prayed about it and literally just picked him off of our list (of about 70 providers). He is wonderful! I think God answered my prayers very clearly here. The practice is the most cutting-edge in the city, the care is incredible and his bedside manner is the best I've ever experienced. If you need an Endocrinologist...see Dr. Bode!!
We are settling into what appears to be a very busy season for us. Soccer practice alone could put me in an early grave. However, we all feel up to the task and will just take it as it comes.
One last thing, I'm going through a new phase in my relationship with my parents. My parents are aging. We're all aging, I know, but my dad is now 78 and my mom is 76. They're no spring chickens. It is difficult to watch your parents grow old and feeble - daddy especially. I feel a great change coming on and I'm only 32. I'm not prepared for it. I should be but I'm not. As we all reach these middle years of our lives, prayer becomes so important. I am going to focus more of my prayer life on my children and my parents. We all have our concerns for these groups in our lives and I feel torn between concern for the two. It is stressful and must be what causes grey hair! I've never felt like I've had to write down prayer requests because I can remember them just fine. Now, they seem to be piling up all around me. I'm going t need a journal!
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