AND THIS IS WHY...

We choose to get up one Saturday a month,
for five months,

some of us at 4 am, and some of us at 5 am,

because it makes these babies happy.

And that makes us happy.
*photos by Kay Owens photography

SELLING SHOES...

I sat in the meeting and I heard the words,

"You know when you meet someone and they just have leader all over them."

Not talking about me.

Though my flesh so desperately wanted it to be me.

It actually went through my head,

I wonder why that was not said about me.

Then right after that I thought,

what is up with your puffed up head.....get over yourself.

Later that night I was thinking the whole thing over again,

and I am not sure how we got there,

but during my internal discussion, someone interjected with....

What if you are just the shoe salesman?

Now it could have been my flesh, lamenting its lack of pomp and circumstance.

It could have been the enemy trying to discourage me.

Or it could have been the Lord asking,

What if you are just a shoe salesman?

Will that be enough?

What if you going into that classroom everyday is it?

What if you loving those men children of yours,

and the ones that come along that aren't,

so what if that is as big as it gets?

So what?

Shoe salesman....

knelt down before people, serving them.

No pomp.....

No circumstance...

Shodding their feet with the gospel of peace as I go along,

or crushing their toes while I try to get ahead?

I wish I could tell you my flesh just gave in on its desire to be celebrated.

It just surrendered that ground.

It didn't.

It won't.

But it doesn't choose.

I DO.

YOU DO.

Jeremiah 45:5

"And do you seek great things for yourself?

Do not seek them;

for behold,

I will bring adversity on all flesh,"

says the Lord.

" But I will give your life to you as a prize in all places,

wherever you go."

Shodding with peace?

Crushing with pride?

Which shoes are we selling?

We would be wise to take note,

for someday we may have to walk in them.

HELLO WORLD.....

I am going to blame my lack of blogging on my Internet deciding it need some rest this past week. Seems it is scared of lightening and decided to duck and cover after a storm last week. MC 2 asked me last Monday where I had been all day. I have been asking myself that for the last two weeks. I just finished a power point for physics and need to get everyone up and going, so here is a statement. ( I was going to say a list, but I am pretty sure a single bullet point does not constitute a list).

• School is going great for all of us.

Hope your weeks have been good to you as well.
See you...well, someday!

IT WENT MUCH BETTER THIS TIME AROUND...

Meet the Teacher that is. Of course, it usually does when everyone is there. Last night HH got a video message from my mom showing MC 1 bungee bouncing on something. Don't think that sentence doesn't shock me. Mom sent a video message...I am impressed. We will see the boys tomorrow. Me thinks they have not missed us too much. MC 2 told mom, " We wuv it here!". Getting them home may be a chore. But higher education beckons on Monday, so they have no choice. Besides...they belong to us and have to do what we say:)
Did I tell you about the discussion the boys and I had about HH being the head of the household, aka the boss. You know, trying to instill some biblical authority thinking in them. Yep....except now they use it against me anytime they don't want to do something.
You said dad's the boss and he didn't tell us to do that.......
I am thinking we will be needing to go back and do a little reteaching there.
I hope you guys have a great weekend!

GETTING MY DATES RIGHT...

It feels like it has been forever since I last posted something. Yet it has only been a couple of days. Of course, you are reading the ramblings of a woman who thought yesterday was the 18th (ALL DAY LONG). A woman who had her HH rush home so we could go to Open House for the MCs, loaded up the haul of school supplies, only to finally realize, when there was not a single soul at the school, that yesterday WAS NOT IN FACT the 18th- which is when Open House will actually be.
A thin thread gals, hanging on by a very thin thread.
The week has been good in all truthfulness. The MCs have been at their grandparents house since Sunday. HH and I go our separate ways to work each day and then come home and crash. The school I am in is brand new, as in still not finished brand new, and is really pretty. Which kind of balances out with the way my house looks right now.
So, I am still here.
I finally know what day it is.
That, well, may the best we can hope for.
Not really, 'cause we have Jesus!

Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
Hebrews 10:23 (NKJV)

"I" HAVE BEEN UP FOR A WHILE...

And this is the part of starting something new I hate.
The anxiety.
The insecurities.
The being awake at 3:15 am and then 4 and then 4:15.....
The feeling that I want to cry.
That I want to eat everything in sight.
Then cry for doing that.
The desire to run to my tv and get lost in some meaningless show (s) for hours so I don't have to deal with it.
I'll be honest with you. Since I got up at 4:15 I have watched Giuliana and Bill, and am right now hoping Ren and Willard can lift my spirits with some crazy dance moves.
Then beating myself up for not being more productive.
The lecture that I gave myself last night about how MUCH, MUCH more I am going to have to get it all together, be more disciplined because when it all starts up next week, I am hitting the ground running.
New job, new ministry, new relationship, new town....
They all carry their own stuff.
Know what I noticed about my list of troubles?
There is a whole lot of "I" in there.
Even though "I" am the one fleshing these things out,
"I" don't have to do it alone.
The "I" in me can choose to be alone.
To try to do this all in my own power, control and strength.
To worry and fret and agonize what might be or what could happen or not happen.
"I" can choose that.
But the fact that "I" can choose must mean I get to pick between paths.
The "I" path, well, I have done that one.
Too many times and for too long.
Like this morning at 4:15, just for an example.
The other choice....

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Galatians 2:20 (NKJV)

Faith.
In Him.
Better choice.

CHURCH NOTES

I love being a student.

Assuming I am being educated and not just read to.

I am one of those peeps who takes fast & furious notes during a sermon.

I am also one of those people who hates to study.

Which is why it has only been over the last several months that I have been

deliberately re-studying my sermon notes during my morning devo.

Anyway, I thought it might be fun to show you my "notes".

You should in advance my note journal serves a wide range of purposes.

I'm just tellin' ya up front.

This is my official notes journal right now.

I am pretty sure SS#2 gave it to me.

Please note I am not supporting a store or a brand with these photos.

I am going to make Texas Trash later today.

We work on our numbers.

Sometimes we have to draw.

This is what my "notes" look like.

I try to highlight while I am re-reading.

Note the frustration at the whippersnapper Nanny?

I write myself a key point.

What about you?

Are you a fastidious note taker?

Are you a straight up auditory learner?

Perhaps kinesthetic?

How do you process your sermons each week?

'Cause, ya' know, we're kinda suppossed to.