When I grow up...

...I want to be a 5th grade Sunday school teacher!

The perks are incredible. You are recognized wherever you go. The children hang on your every word and their lives are forever changed in that one hour each week! It is simply the ideal job!!

Yah...right!!

Even though I sometimes feel like I am talking to the air while my 5th grade pre-teens catch up on their beauty sleep, I can't help but be amazed at their occasional flashes of brilliance and deep-yet-simple insights. They end up teaching me.

One Sunday morning we talked about love. I came away from class with a fresh desire to love others like God wants me to love. This desire was sparked in my heart by God and His Word, but fanned into a nice little flame by the young minds who discussed it with me on their 5th grade level.

Our church just did a special offering called "not to us" that is earmarked for several Chinese orphans, Brazil medical supplies, and a special gift to all our missionaries. These kids made a goal to bring their own money to put in their own glass jar for this offering, and they were serious about it! They ended up giving a total of $38.27 to this wonderful cause!! It touches my heart to see their hearts and their hands so open to the things of God.

And I love how I get the title of teacher, but I am the one doing the learning!!

The Way He Is

For the last 17 years and 1 day (the age of my oldest) I have dedicated my life to mommyhood--what God has called me to and what I have mostly embraced through these years. But I always knew that there would come a time when those sweet kids of mine would need fewer of the hours in my day and God would call me into some new adventures.

A few weeks ago an ad in my daughters school newsletter caught my eye. The schools in our district desperately need substitute special ed. aides. I read the ad. My heart lurched ever so slightly. And I threw it immediately in the trash. By noon the next day I had dug the paper out of the trash, out from under the nasty apple cores, etc., and called the number for more information.

Which reminded me of the year 1998 and Allyssa.

In 1998, Allysa was about 13 years old and the daughter of a fellow seminary wife and good friend of mine. Out of the blue one hot Texas day, Sally asked me to consider watching Allyssa (handicapped both physically and cognitively) for about 20 hours per month and for which the state paid a certain sum. My heart was touched but I immediately said no. The next day found me calling her back for more information.

Ten years later and I am still fighting stubborness and still learning to discern God's voice speaking to my heart. I guess that is just the way I am!

I am excited to see what God wants to show me personally for now and possibly for my future. I am nervous about the unknown environment that I will enter. I am excited that God has provided a new opportunity for me to serve others, especially the "least of these." I am nervous to see if I have what it takes to step up to a new challenge and still keep my priorities in line with God's priorities.

In a few weeks I will go through the orientation and begin stretching my wings in a little different direction then I am used to. I have no idea if this will be short term or long term but I have committed myself to a certain amount of time and I will let you know how it goes. One thing I do know, Allyssa stepping into my life so many years ago didn't just bless my friend but also enhanced my relationship with God and forced me to grow in ways I wouldn't naturally have pursued. I think my patient and loving Lord wants to do the same thing again. That is just the way He is!

My Band-aid Day!

It started with a broken nail as I walked in to Bible study this morning.

Is there anything so aggravating?! It snags on everything, because of course I don't carry emery boards in my purse.

Then at lunch with D and the staff, a plastic fork (heavy duty, no less) snapped in my fingers as I cut through a red onion sliver (!!!) and literally punctured a hole in my finger. D's ad.min. had to run and find a band-aid before I bled all over the food while I phoned my personal injury lawyer.

As we got up to leave the room after lunch, I conscientiously pushed the chair back under the table with one hand while holding a pile of used paper plates in the other, because I am a mom and that is what mom's do. But the chair was on rollers and my thumb nail was pinched in between the table and the arm of the chair right at the cuticle. (I didn't cuss, I promise!)

And somehow in the course of today, I have managed to aquire a large paper cut on my other thumb.

All these things are quite trifling, little injuries in the grand scheme of things. But as any kid can tell you, the little boo-boo's can sometimes hurt worse then the big ones!!

Does anyone feel sorry for me yet?!

Just a little sassy!

Yesterday was a long day at church with a lot of action. Great sermon, awesome worship music, childrens ministry focus, hilarious video during the sermon that everyone wanted to talk about, missions luncheon, a car broken into and credit cards stolen, 911 called for a sick lady... Lots of different things were going on at the tail end of a week with lots of different things going on. It was really a great day for the most part, just long and tiring.

I can get a little "sassy" when I get tired so I usually try to disappear when I feel that sassiness setting in. Kind of like the Hulk ducking into an alley when he transitioned or the Superman in the phone booth thing. I need to be away from other people for my own good as well as theirs. Unfortunately, our church is not furnished with either alleys or phone booths. (Maybe I need to talk to the deacons about that!)

Anyways, I got a little sassy with some sheep. Don't worry, it was pretty tame and I already confessed to D. He just laughed. The first time was in the ladies room where 2 ladies were having a conversation about health food stuff in the stalls when I arrived. I knew who they were but they didn't know I was in there. You know how I am about health food. The temptation was just too much. I joined in the conversation as soon as there was a convenient break in between the benefits of keefer (???!!!) being extolled and the best price on cocunut oil I said, "What are you...a bunch of health nuts?!"

You could have heard the proverbial pin drop.

About half a minute later one of them tentatively started talking again about something else and I decided the time had come to reveal myself. Fortunately, they have a sense of humor. It would have been a shame to have lost their families at church just because I was feeling tired and sassy!!

The second incident I believe I won't share. It would take too long and it would lose something in the telling, I think.

I guess the moral of my little story is: beware when I get a little tired.

Or maybe the moral is: don't talk about health food in public bathrooms.

I am not sure. Either one works for me.

So Very Quiet!

That is what I hear in my house.

All my little ones skipped happily off to school this morning. Actually, not really. D3 drove M and C so there was probably no skipping involved if he had anything to say about it. And J is really the only one truly happy about school starting back up. But she will get over that in about 2 weeks when the new of being a 3rd grader with her very own locker wears off.

So back to the quiet. There is the sound of D's fingers quietly tapping on his computer in the other room. There is the quiet hum of my computer as I check email and read some blogs. And I am surrounded by my own thoughts.

It is so very quiet!

VBS Weary

I spent all yesterday weaving my normal daily activities in and out of VBS preparations. I started out working on the supply list for snacks and then cleaned up the kitchen.

I worked through the preschool curriculum and did a little vacuuming.

I made some phone calls and emails to volunteers and put the laundry up and made my bed.

I had the girls and the next door neighbor do a "wet" run on the preschool water games in our front yard while I did some more emailing.

The list goes on...

And it didn't end when my head hit the pillow. All night long my mind tossed through vbs issues like diet restrictions for the preschoolers and oranization of the volunteers. Which means that this morning, I am completely and totally weary of the whole VBS thing.

So I am not going to touch it today. I am going to have to hide it, because if it is out it will call to me and I might give in. But enough is enough and I want to sleep tonight dreaming of anything but VBS!!

Memory Meme

This meme comes compliments of Lara over at From My Texas Window. Here are the rules:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you.

Thanks for playing along. I look forward to hearing from you.

A Brilliant Foo'

It is true. I did it. You may not believe I did it, but regardless, it happened. I signed up to co-lead our church's VBS.

Perhaps we should all pause now for a moment of reflection on the foo' who commits to things that they know they will probably regret...

Ok, I am back.

Actually, now that I am done being drama queen over this, it is actually going quite nicely. And I owe it all to the fact that I have been so brilliant as to choose a great partner. My co-leader just happens to be little Miss Organizer Extraordinaire.

And she owns a sleek and snappy little ski boat.

So what does that have to do with the price of apricots, you might ask?

Today we had a VBS meeting. She basically outlined to me what she had accomplished thus far and I nodded at all the appropriate times. She handed me a folder to look over (really a token job I am sure) and we were done in 20 minutes. My kind of meeting!! It only got better!! We then loaded all our kids up and spent the rest of the afternoon ( with a high of 79 degrees, thank you very much) on the lake skiing and swimming and boarding and tubing. Oh, and eating chocolate chip cookies too. A very important detail.

So I am thinking maybe I am one brilliant foo'!