moments…….. April 29, 2008

we all have them. Moments that change our lives, moments that impact who we are or who we will become.  They can happen every day or once a year. 

I haven’t blogged this much in a while, but it seems we have had a mudslide of events the past few days and I must share it, I just need to get this immortalized so when I’m old and senile i can remember.

Abbie came up to me on Wednesday night and told me she was going to get baptized…she’s said this before and to be honest, I wasn’t sure if she was serious or not, so I told her to go talk to her dad.  She marched up to him and said “Daddy, I am going to get baptized Sunday night”  and with that, she moved on our preacher and told him, “Bro. Wayne, I want to get baptized this Sunday night, okay?” (she’s always SO tactful).  Triumphant at last, she was SO happy.  Well, she decided Saturday night that her daddy needed to baptize her – especially since it was his birthday, so I told her to speak to Bro. Wayne about it, well she didn’t have to, Bro. Wayne asked Tony if he’d like to do the honors………

 

A teary-eyed mom behind closed doors watched her little girl climb (actually nearly JUMP) into the baptismal waters and grab her daddy’s arm… “do you trust me?” he whispers… “yes, Daddy” she replies.. and Tony speaks and thanks God for our children and how although he received wonderful presents from the church and thanks God for them, THIS MOMENT tops it all for his birthday. THIS MOMENT was the best present he could have ever gotten.  And she was baptized.  

She bounded out of that water and was so excited, and a little chilly.   The story should have ended there.

About 15 mins later, while chatting with some friends of ours and watching the guys load the van for the golf tournament…I get my arm nearly ripped off by my baby girl, who is in tears and panicking.  She can’t breathe, literally…she is gasping for air……..

I am not one to panic in most situations, I may fall to pieces later, but I can handle myself fairly well… I sat her down and tried to figure out what was going on.  “mama, *gasp* my throat *gasp* i can’t breathe *gasp*:”   WHOA this is serious, she can’t breathe and her throat is swelling.  It was noticably swollen… she wasn’t turning blue and was crying so at least that was a plus.  We tried to sip water, but she said her throat was on fire and it felt like she was being choked.

HOME – NOW. The only reason we didn’t go to the E.R. was because she was talking and her lips never turned blue.  She was having an allergic reaction, but to what?????    It took about 2 hours for her breathing to go back to normal and until the next day for her throat to feel better…… we don’t know what caused it, and we covet your prayers.  

That night, as we drove home, I found myself in earnest prayer as I held my baby girl in my arms…

” Lord, I know she’s not mine, I gave her to you so long ago, but I’m not ready to let her go just yet.  Please Lord, help her – don’t let anything happen to her…… but  Lord, if it’s your will to take her, give me the strength Lord, help me to be strong whatever you decide……..”

moments, split seconds - change your life – I pray that I am ready for every moment God brings me……..

all rise for the national anthem April 29, 2008

Josh’s choir, the Cohutta Classic’s had the honor (as previously mentioned) of singing the national anthem for the Chattanooga Lookouts, well here some pictures, as promised.

                                                                                                                                                                  Josh has had quite an exciting week – he not only was able to sing at the game, but he entered into a speech contest at school.  It was a speech on your favorite National Landmark, and he chose the White House, he is a huge fan of D.C. and politics.  Well, he wrote the speech and though nervous at first, came through like a champ……….he not only did well, but took first place in his entire school and is now going to the County wide competition!!!!! He is thrilled, actually his words were “I almost died when they told me I’d won, cause I was so excited”  So well done my boy..  We are so proud of him.   We can’t thank God enough for the children he gave us… I will keep you posted on how the county competition goes.

feliz cumpleanos……….. April 28, 2008

I love birthdays, Christmas, any time that we get to give gifts…I enjoy giving gifts much more than receiving them. I love the expressions, smiles and everything that comes with giving someone something.  I wanted to send this out last week, but didn’t want to let the cat out of the bag as to what we were doing for Tonys birthday…

Tony isn’t one to ask for anything on his birthday and very rarely expects anything. He doesn’t like cake or a party..so it’s always fun to do something big for him, because he gets so flustered…. Yesterday was no exception. 

The service went as usual, songs, message, inviation, ect… then as he dismissed, I stood up.  I’m not usually one to talk much during the service, so he knew something was up… Well I had quite a few surprises up my sleeve. This year, the spanish church teamed up with the American church to give Tony his gift… a Snapper riding lawn mower…. and a cordless weed eater.  It’s something he needed, and perhaps even wanted, but knew we’d never get it on our own…. It was a blessing to see both churches join forces to give this to him and more of a blessing to see my darling husband speechless when he opened the card and saw the picture of it.    I can’t thank our people enough and also Pastor Cofield for his help in this endeavor.

I have another post that tops this present but am going to wait until I get the pictures to tell you about it…

Tony, happy birthday my love.  Thank you for who are and all that you do for our family and for the church. I love you so much….

 

in the light of life…. April 24, 2008

I love my office the first 15 mins after we close…i love the quietness of this place… for a few minutes at least – then it gets downright creepy, I do work in an old jail…  but this time does give me a chance to wind down from the stress of the day, to sit back and reflect for a minute, collect my thoughts and breath a little bit slower.  I have a Nemesis in the office. One that at times I am so frustrated with I want to throw something and at other times I’m overwhelmed with frustration because no matter what I do, how I act or don’t act, I cannot seem to make things right, or smooth things over.  I have sat back and analyzed the situation, and the more thought I put into it, the more my head hurts.  I have come to the realization that not everyone likes me.  *OUCH* that hurts!! I know some of you reading this are chuckling, perhaps this isn’t “news” to you that you aren’t liked by everyone, but for me, I’ve never had this problem before, I could always get along with everyone…old, young, whatever… This person confounds my thinking and makes me want to pull my hair out… I have been praying about a verbal conversation, our current communication status is about the same as two rocks…we sit there, do not speak when in the same room, and are civil to one another as needed.  It’s very odd for me…

I sit and think in the stillness what I could do to make this work, but I find that it ricochets off the ceiling right back at me and the answer never comes.  I have fervently prayed for the door to open to a conversation that could mend some wound I may have caused but again, nothing.  At what point does one turn off the feelings and leave well enough alone, how much is too much and when have I tried enough?  I pray that God grants me wisdom in this situation, wisdom to know what steps to take and how and when to take them. There may never be a friendship, I know, but I would cherish a civility between us that at least grants up a working relationship. 

With all these changes here in this office, I have no idea what the future holds, the water-cooler chatter indicates that this individual will be leaving in the near future, but as I watch and listen, I am not so inclined to believe that.    But would that make it all better, or just remove the problem from my sight, does that relieve my duty to mend the relationship?

I’ve crossed the river on a bridge and now as I sit on the shore with my feet dangling in the water, I wonder if I am brave enough to step in…….

softball, baseball and everything in between April 24, 2008

This week has been one of much excitement around our house…

to the left is Abbie and to the right, her best friend the catcher, Emily.  The Cohutta Dirt Diamonds had their 1st game.  She was a little  panicked all weekend, she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to hit the ball, or that she would make a fool out of herself in front of everyone… well, that didn’t happen, in fact although there were some first day jitters, the girls did well.  Abbie got a double on her first at bat… she is a lefty so she swung hard and hit it right down the 3rd base line…   the rest of her at bats she did okay and took it “like a man” well, like a 9 year old girl anyway.. she didn’t get upset when she struck out and played her position well.  We had some minor outburstsfrom the opposing team’s parents, I think the parents sometimes cause more problems that the children do at these events… but aside from that, the game went well.  We ended up with a tie score after all was said and done.  Game well played – we have our next game Saturday!

The next exciting event was a baseball game at which the Cohutta Classic’s Choir sang the national anthem.  The entire Cohutta Elementary school was able to attend the game…so it was very exciting to have 387 children at the game. The Chattanooga Lookouts is the local farm baseball team.  What an honor Joshua had as he stepped out onto the field, stood on home plate with his choir and sang the anthem of this great country of ours.  This was sung with much heart and happiness from the children and they had an opportunity to “high five” players on  the field.  It was a thrilling time for Josh.  Tony and I both took the day off to attend the game, and we had a great time, aside from some sunburn – it was a fantastic day.    Unfortunately because of where we were sitting and where they were singing we didn’t get a picture of the choir, but i’ve been talking to the local news station trying to locate a video of it.… but here is a picture of the next American Idol.

There has been much going on in our house…from the games to a new puppy!! I’ll have pictures of Kinsey, or new family member soon. I’ve very proud of her because it is a 13 year accomplishment.. i’ve been begging Tony for a puppy all these years, and i finally wore him down, i’m trying to decide now what to start working on for the next 13 years.

        best friends forever…Abbie and Emily…

Installing Love April 21, 2008

I’ve a friend of mine that is suffering from a broken heart.  I was looking on an online Bible page for some verses to help comfort her and stumbled upon this…while not a Bible verse, it caught my attention…  I hope you enjoy it….

Tech Support: Yes, how can I help you?

Customer: Well, after much consideration, I’ve decided to install Love.
Can you guide me through the process?

Tech Support: Yes. I can help you. Are you ready to proceed?

Customer: Well, I’m not very technical, but I think I’m ready. What do I do first?

Tech Support: The first step is to open your Heart. Have you located your Heart?

Customer: Yes, but there are several other programs running now. Is it okay to install Love while they are Running?

Tech Support: What programs are running?

Customer: Let’s see, I have Past Hurt, Low Self-Esteem, Grudge and Resentment running right now.

Tech
Support: No problem, Love will gradually erase Past Hurt from your current operating system. It may remain in your permanent memory but it will no longer Disrupt other programs. Love will eventually override Low Self-Esteem with a module of its own called High Self-Esteem. However, you have to completely turn off Grudge and Resentment. Those programs prevent Love from Being properly installed. Can you turn those off?

Customer: I don’t Know how to turn them off. Can you tell me how?

Tech Support: With pleasure. Go to your start menu and invoke Forgiveness. Do this as many times as necessary until Grudge and Resentment have been completely erased.

Customer: Okay, done! Love has started installing itself. Is that normal?

Tech Support: Yes, but remember that you have only the base program. You need to begin connecting to other Hearts in order to get the upgrades.

Customer: Oops! I have an error message already. It says, ‘Error – Program not run on external components.’ What should I do?

Tech Support: Don’t worry. It means that the Love program is set up to run on Internal Hearts, but has not yet been run on your Heart. In non-technical terms, it simply means you have to Love yourself before you can Love others.

Customer: So, what should I do?

Tech Support: Pull down Self-Acceptance; then click on the following files: Forgive-Self; Realize Your Worth; and Acknowledge your Limitations.

Customer: Okay, done.

Tech Support: Now, copy them to the ‘My Heart’ directory. The system will overwrite any conflicting files and begin patching faulty programming Also, you need to delete Verbose Self-Criticism from all directories and empty your Recycle Bin to make sure it is completely gone and never comes back.

Customer: Got it. Hey! My heart is filling up with new files. Smile is playing on my monitor and Peace and Contentment are copying themselves all over My Heart. Is this normal?

Tech Support: Sometimes. For others it takes awhile, but eventually everything gets it at the proper time. So Love is installed and running. One more thing before We hang up. Love is Freeware. Be sure to give it and its various modules to everyone you meet. They will in turn share it with others and return some cool modules back to you.

police academy – the reality show April 17, 2008

I know – 2 posts in one day, close your mouths…

So, as some of you know, I am working for a court as a probation officer. well, things have changed a good bit the past few months, in that we have lost a supervisor and one of our head clerks.  So, we have some new blood in the building, and chugging along.  Well, for a few years now, I’ve known that I needed to attend some training for my job, to become a certified Municipal Probation officer. I have been putting it off, still undecided if I wanted to “go the extra mile” for this job or not.  Well, the extra mile is here and I’ve prayed about it, and God’s opened the door for some interesting opportunities, contingent upon me receiving this training.  Its a 3 week course, involving firearms training, classroom time and defensive tactics..I can’t say I was thrilled about doing this, but FINE.

So Monday the court administrator comes down, grinning like the south Georgia goat that he is… and tells me that I don’t have to worry about that 3 week course any more.

REALLY??? GREAT, now what’s the catch..

I don’t have to go to the 3 week course, because they no longer offer it.  I have to attend the full blown 12 week police academy!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have to become a peace officer……just like the boys in blue across the street from my office…  This course is complete with firearms, defensive tactics, defensive driving (skid pad, ect) the whole kit and kabodle. 

I sit dazed, confused, intimidated and bewildered. 

I never have been one to jog, but I know there is PT every morning at the academy.  So I am not the proud owner of a sweet pair of running shoes and am out at 5:30 every morning exercising, jogging, doing sit ups and attempting push ups.  I beg you for your prayers…I covet them as I am getting myself prepared, not only physically, but mentally.  Pray that God gives me wisdom, calms my spirit and allows me to succeed. This is a big deal for me and can open many doors. 

so I’m wondering who’s going to play Tackleberry…………………………………….. – yes always the sense of humor, i can’t help it.

hablas ingles? April 17, 2008

That is all I hear all day.  They come to the window, ever so tentatively…eyes darting for another face that resembles their own, but all they see is this tall white woman with blond hair…. they manage to stutter …you speaka spanish?  My reply – SI COMO NO!!!  they instantly relax, though at this point their gaze changes from anxiety to bewilderment…SHE SPEAKS SPANISH…

I remember in Peru, when the taxistas would ask me if I were Peruvian…do I LOOK Peruvian?  of course not!!! I always chuckled… now here, with a whole new Spanish language to master, i find myself missing those days.  Mexican Spanish is NOT Peruvian Spanish.. and don’t get me started on Guatemaltecos… AYE DE MI!!!I get the glazed look so many times – and find that i rephrase things, change my accent to match theirs, repeat, repeat and repeat until DING the light goes on and it finally clicks- sort of, sometimes, not so much and you just tell them to go home and bring someone back with them that speaks SPANISH….  So I thought this was just ME, that it was MY Spanish…until thankfully while visiting with a new family in our church I found out it wasn’t me!!! (yes, i was so happy) but that differences in the language had nothing to do with my ignorance, but in the simply differences in the countries…these members, from Puerto Rico, have a terrible time understanding those from Mexico and even more of a hard time with those from Guatemala.  We sat and discussed this for a while, and I have to admit my heart was happy knowing i was not alone.

i love being bilingual, I count it a blessing from God, and an honor.  I stand amazed that God will allow me the priviledge to speak to someone about Christ in not only English, but also in Spanish.  I read my Bible in Spanish, and often catch myself speaking in Spanglish…for instance I tell people to go to such and such DIRECTION instead of address..but what a problem to have….

I’m thinking of starting a support group…… April 16, 2008

Deficient Noun Disease

v  Do you commonly find yourself calling your children by the wrong name, and feel like kicking yourself for spending so much time selecting just the right name for each child?

v  Do you find yourself saying to your child, “Sure, I know where you left your cookie.” It’s on the long white horizontal surface in the kitchen… you know, the one with the thing we cook with on one end and the thing we put stuff into keep it cold on the other end? Um… there’s a sink in it?”

v  Do you tell people on the phone that you’ll be happy to take a message, just as soon as you find a “message-writing-down thingamabob?”

v  In fact, do all the nouns in your vocabulary, nouns which have been your friends and companions since you were two years old, suddenly become “thingies” when you are under pressure? You may be suffering from deficient noun disease.

v  Common symptoms of Deficient Noun Disease or DND include the following: Calling children by each other’s names; forgetting the proper names for common household objects; the frequent use of the WRONG noun in a given situation, rather like mild aphasia. Someone with this particular type of DND might say, “Put your plate on the stove…I mean on the counter… I mean ON THE TABLE!”

v  DND, although virtually untreatable and incurable, can still be endured with a minimum of pain and embarrassment if the afflicted person makes use of the following handy coping mechanisms:

v  One method of coping with the disease involves the clever use of nicknames, which can easily apply to any individual in the family, like “Dear” or “Sweetheart”. This method breaks down when the DND sufferer is faced with the necessity of differentiating between individuals, or when she is talking to several people at one time, so the use of group nicknames, like referring to everyone in the room as “Y’all”, a common Southern coping mechanism, is recommended.

v  Another good way to conceal DND from your friends and family members is to develop the habit of pausing in your sentences when reaching a crucial noun. If the pause is long enough, the other individual will attempt to guess the noun for you, and you need only respond in the affirmative when the correct noun is reached. Although this method may take time, it certainly adds suspense to an otherwise ordinary conversation.

v  The information available on DND is still patchy and incomplete, due to the unnecessary shame felt by many mothers who do not realize that this illness is widespread and quite common. Very few mothers are able to call their children by name, and it is difficult for them to believe that the time invested in picking out those names was, to put it bluntly, wasted. When education has removed the stigma from the minds of all women, this disease might very well be shown to be the most common affliction in human history.

v  The cause of DND is not yet known; some scientists believe that using a word over 100,000 times in the course of a lifetime may simply fade that word from long-term memory; mothers simply reach the lifetime limit earlier because they must repeat themselves so often. Other scientists hold up the two-year old child as proof positive that the repetition of a word more than 100,000 times (in this case, the word Mommy) does not cause selective noun amnesia.

v  Although modern science may never be able to cure DND or discover what exactly causes it, we as mothers and fellow sufferers can still help one another to recognize the illness and learn to live in harmony with it. The next time you hear yourself shouting, “CLAUDIA-CODY-BETSY-LOGAN-JILL …. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!  GET IN HERE!”, you can comfort yourself with the knowledge that mothers all over the world are doing the same thing.