Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen things that I am looking forward to
(in the near future)

1. Leah Michelle Exum, my friend's baby, who is scheduled to be born one week from today!
2. Braden McCrackin, another friend's adopted Korean baby, is coming home in the next few weeks!
3. Going apple picking this weekend and making lots of apple goodies!
4. Getting Kaedra's surgery scheduled for October and getting it done!
5. A Hallelujah barn party for my 4H & group where the girls get to dress up, Michael is coming!, and I will get to meet and get to know fellow group-ies better.
6. Spending time with Kim B. at the next meeting!
7. Going to the state fair with my girls and Michael (if we get a babysitter for Kaedy) and hanging out for the day! (Sherria can you bbysit on the 7th?)
8. Getting ready for Christmas with the girls
9. Seeing Facing the Giants
10. Finding out if we are having a boy or girl
11. Michael having vacation in October (whether or not Kaedy has surgery)
12. Kaedy's 2nd Birthday!! WOOHOO!
13. Kaedy being off of her vent and eating by mouth! HALLELUJAH!!

Zoegirl

Update on Zoegirl

Our new cat is doing great! She fits in with our family just wonderfully. Michael is absolutely smitten with her, which is so cute, since he isn't a "cat guy."

(he tolerates them because he thinks I am a cat person. Which I'm not. I don't think? My mom always said "cat person" like it was a bad word, so I have never thought I was one. I know I like two types of cats...ragdolls and Maine Coons, of course, but I don't like cats across the board. Okay, I am going to say I am NOT a cat person. I don't think...)

So the SAME DAY I get myself this wonderful Maine Coon from the SPCA (for a mere donation), I see an article on Google News about these new allergy-free cats. Have you seen that??? They are ridiculously expensive! But, I guess if you ARE a cat person and you are allergic, then they are the pet for you! It reminded me of the Cats and Dogs movie that was out a few years ago. They have some cool cat facts on their site and I can't copy and paste them here. So, if you ARE a cat person, or if you are a cat person in denial, you may be interested in them.

Here is a pic of Zoegirl. As you can see, I got her a collar. It is purple with rhinestones and it has a painted bell. Yes, I have gone soft. She is my first girl cat, so I am spoiling her rotten. (but I'm not a cat person, right?)

Fasting

I am on a fast.

Now don't freak out, I am not endangering the baby and this has nothing to do with eating.

I just noticed I am spending a lot of my time reading fiction lately. (more than usual) It's actually because a lady at church suggested an author and I love his writing - Robert Whitlow. But too much of a good thing can be bad. soooooo......

I am fasting away from fiction for right now. This will give me more time to read some good non-fiction I have lying around and more time to just study the Bible.

What we do know, and what we don't

Well, we had our ultrasound this morning. And yes, I had a full bladder this time. Praise God!

Okay, we know:
1. there is just one baby
2. this baby has all of its ribs!! WOOHOO!
3. this baby has a perfect spine!! WOOHOO!

We don't know:
1. Whether we are having a boy or girl


We have to wait 8 more weeks for another ultrasound, so, for now....we know we are having a baby...and a baby with all of its ribs and a perfect spine, Hallelujah (I know some people count fingers and toes, but we count ribs and vertebrae...funny how your priorities change!), but that's all folks. :-)

The straw that broke the camel's back

Or, in this case, the dryer....

Our handyman came and fixed our dryer last week. It had been broken for a few days before he came and we were SO excited to get it up and running again. Two loads after he left, it broke again.

It took him an ENTIRE week to get back out here (I don't even want to get into that story!) and he finally showed up a few minutes ago. He goes into my laundry room, takes the back off of the dryer, does something, replaces the back, shoves the dryer back in and it works fine.

What was this magic that he did?

THERE WAS A PIECE OF WICKER BASKET STUCK IN THE FAN!!!!

It kept me from laundry the whole week!

Although most people would be happy to not have to do laundry, it isn't fun when it is piling up and you don't have a way to take care of it. (we tried hanging clothes outside, but it rained on and off, so they weren't drying very quickly in the humidity...actually they were drying at the same rate they were getting stinky and moldy.....UGH)

So now I have a week and a half worth of laundry to catch up on and I am trying to decide on whether or not to go to the laundromat.......
pros: I could get 4-5 loads done at once, I could be ALL THE WAY DONE!
cons: I have to leave the house, I have to carry all the laundry, and I have to keep busy while they are washing. I may take Britty and get a start on tomorrow's school since I have my dr appt in the morning.

Let's try this again

After giving up my sweet kitty last week (to a wonderful family, willing to work on his "problem"), I decided not to completely give up on the cat population. I went back to the drawing board, aka GOD, and asked for exactly what I wanted. I started searching in Petfinder for a young, female, housetrained Maine Coon in our region. I came up with a couple, although they had some VERY cute adults. But I knew that God gives me the desires of my heart, so I didn't give up. He led me to look at the Bartlesville SPCA and I found an adorable kitty that was not listed as a Maine Coon, but definitely had all the characteristics. I called and they gave me the necessary info and we all piled in the car and took a family trip up to Bartlesville. She is definitely as Maine Coon as she could be, without the paperwork, and she is a doll!

So, we brought her home and we have her in our room while she gets acclimated to the new surroundings. I am proud to say that she has already used her litter box! WOOHOO! She also kept Michael and I up almost all night playing with our toes. (sounds like Tempe) We haven't introduced her to the dogs yet, but we will do that later today.

So, without further ado, here is our newest member: Zoegirl





These are the pics they had on the SPCA website advertising her, we haven't taken any of our own yet.

Britty's in the money

Brittany got mail today....

We weren't expecting this at all, but she got a CASH prize for winning second place in the Wagoner County Fair. Yup! WOOHOO!!!! My little girl won some money!!!

Okay.....ya ready to hear how much?

$1.50

WOOHOO!!!! YIPPEEE!!!

I told her not to spend it all in one place, but that may be hard. LOL

She decided to give it all to church. :-)

Now I never have to leave....

Well, it's official. I can get comfortable here in Oklahoma.

The only thing I have really missed from NM is the green chile. It was major culture shock to come to a place where when you say you want a chile cheese burger, they put texas type chili all over your poor patty!

I used to be able to:
go to any fast food place in NM and ask for green chile on my burger,
call Pizza Hut and ask for green chile on my pizza,
Have green chile or green chile sauce in nearly every eating establishment,
go to the grocery store and pick up a few more green chiles, in case my bushel ran out before the next chile season.
The grocery stores also had my favorite chile, Hatch Green Chile, canned and on the shelf, for any chile-emergencies. (which can be frequent, when you have grown up eating green chile on EVERYTHING! If it wasn't sweet, I had green chile on it. I even had powdered green chile for my popcorn!)

After I had already been acclimated to the large deficiency in the Oklahoma cuisine, my ex sister in law came and stayed with us (from ALB). I took her to Ron's and paid NO ATTENTION when the poor thing ordered a chile burger. She was as shocked as I was when she got her burger covered with beans and texas chili. She was a really good sport, though, and didn't send it back. (like I had a few years earlier!)

One of the times Michael and I went to visit Albuquerque, we picked up a bushel of green chile. We rode all the way back from Albuquerque with it in the car, making our eyes (and mouths) water. I never did finish that whole bushel before our freezer gave out and I lost a few pounds of the chile.

Well, now the deficiency has been repaired! My sweet friend, Susan, who also hails from NM, told me that the store in Coweta (my new favorite grocery store...read earlier post) had NEW MEXICO HATCH GREEN CHILES! Reasor's also had them, even a little cheaper. I dropped in on her, unexpectedly, and got to smell her roasting the wonderful things!

The next day, I went to Reasor's and picked up several pounds. I was so excited to see them that, as you can see, I took pictures of them and the sign! A customer came around the corner and just stared at me. He said "is there something special about these that you need to take a picture of them?" So I told them how wonderful Hatch Green Chiles were. He just nodded and left, shaking his head. To him, I am obviously not a native Okie. But, with NM Green Chiles making their way here, I may never have to leave. :-)

Ultrasound

I forgot to update about my ultrasound on Monday...or lack of one.

I got back home from Tarry's house (after the power outtage) at 3am. We all got up and got ready to leave the house early, but, in our rush, I ended up really sick. By the time we got in the car, I had nothing in my tummy. I knew I was supposed to have a full bladder, so I drank 20oz of water, thankful I could keep it down, and hoping it would be enough.

We got to the appt, had a bunch of Kaedra's ventilator's battery issues, finally got her plugged in and not beeping and the lady said my bladder wasn't full enough. She said it was 1/3 of the size it needed to be. She also said she wasn't going to suggest for me to drink anymore water because she "didn't feel like being thrown up on that day." As you can see, she wasn't very friendly, or else I would have asked if we could just "take a peek" at our baby. Oh well.

Anyway, we are now scheduled for next Tuesday before my regular OB appt. This is one of those times when I am really questionning my decision to go to a new doctor. I love my new doctor, don't get me wrong, but I loved having an ultrasound every appt at my last doctor! I was very spoiled. :-)

ANSWER TO PRAYER!!!!

HALLELUJAH!!!!

Kaedra got accepted for an evaluation in Kansas City on October 4th!!!

Thank you sooo much for your prayers!!!

Please agree with us, now, that we get all the paperwork on time (from San Antonio) and that we will get in for an operation before Oct 31st.

YIPPEEE!!!! PRAISING THE LORD!!! HALLELUJAH!!!

Powerless

Well...it is 12:24am on Monday morning and Kaedra and I have gone visiting! Kaedy has never been to anyone's house so I thought we might see how she does........yeah right!

About two hours ago our electricity went out. Kaedra's backup battery is supposed to last somewhere between 4-6 hours. Approx an hour after the power went out, her backup battery went out. So, Tarry (my friend and Kaedy's nurse), Kaedra and I piled into the car, plugged her into the car battery, took a side trip to McDonalds (because I was feeling nauseous), and came to her house. Soooo we are awaiting Michael calling us back with the news that the power is back. Until then......

New feature on my blog

I now have our prayers and praises on the left side of my page. Please join us in praying and praising!

Sunday Seventeen (sort of)

Here are 17 scriptures that each, individually, have changed something in my life. (of course the list is not exhaustive, just the 17 that come most easily to my mind today! And this list is not about getting saved, they are things that I, having been saved, take to heart)

1. Acts 17:28
For in him we live, and move, and have our being;
as certain also of your own poets have said,
For we are also his offspring.

2. Isaiah 53:4-5
Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.
But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.

3. 1 Peter 2:24
who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree,
that we, having died to sins,
might live for righteousness—
by whose stripes you were healed.

4. Gal 3:13-14
Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law,
having become a curse for us
(for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”),
that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus,
that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

5. Gal 2:20
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.

6. Malachi 3:10
Bring all the tithes into the storehouse,
That there may be food in My house,
And try Me now in this,”
Says the LORD of hosts,
“ If I will not open for you the windows of heaven
And pour out for you such blessing
That there will not be room enough to receive it."

7. Psalm 5:12
For You, O LORD, will bless the righteous;
With favor You will surround him as with a shield

8. Phil 4:19
And my God shall supply all your need
according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

9. Phil 2:13
for it is God who works in you
both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

10. Eph 2:5-6
even when we were dead in trespasses,
made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
and raised us up together,
and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

11. Gal 4:7
Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son,
and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

12. Romans 10:17
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ.

13. Hebrews 1:13-14
But to which of the angels has He ever said:
“ Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool”?
Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?

14. Mark 10:27
But Jesus looked at them and said,
“With men it is impossible, but not with God;
for with God all things are possible.”

15. Luke 8:50 (Kaedra's Verse)
But when Jesus heard it,
He answered him, saying,
“Do not be afraid; only believe,
and she will be made well.”

16. John 4:24
God is Spirit,
and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.

17.John 10:10
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

Okay, I KNOW I said Seventeen, but I have to include just one more....
(I will have to just close my bible after this, because I have tons more!)

18. Joel 2:28
And it shall come to pass afterward
That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your old men shall dream dreams,
Your young men shall see visions.

Further Kaedra updates

Well the dr appt went well yesterday. No changes at all for anything.

Dr. Carey was upset that the x-rays had still not been read. Although the dr that is supposed to calculate the angles is out until the 29th, Dr. Carey said that any radiologist should be able to do it. I asked him if he wanted me to get out my compass and protractor and he said I could probably go to school and learn how before the dr ever read them! LOL

We talked to him about Kansas City and he wholeheartedly agreed for us to pursue going there as soon as they could get us in. Michael called them today and talked to someone who told him that we couldn't get her in for a surgery until February 07 and that we couldn't come for a consultation any time soon. When he called to tell me that I started laughing. He was perplexed as to why I was laughing. I told him that she obviously doesn't know how blessed we are and that we are highly favored favorite sons (and daughters) of THE KING! The RN in charge is supposed to call us on Monday and I am expecting very different answers! Please join us in agreeing that we will get in for the consultation in the next few weeks and she will get in for her surgery before Oct 31st.

We will post the good news on Monday! :-)

Kaedra update

I just want everyone to know that we have not heard anything from the doctor about Kaedra's back yet. We are supposed to go in for a doctor appt this Thursday evening. We will probably wait until then to talk to him now, since we haven't heard from him yet this week.

We are going to be asking if we can go ahead and schedule our meeting in Kansas City and possibly have her next surgery there in the next month or so. (or as soon as they could get her in)

Michael still has about a week of vacation available that he has to take by Oct 31st, so hopefully we can go up there for one or both times before then. We feel that God has completely released us from San Antonio and we are ready to pursue Kansas City now, rather than waiting until after her next surgery.

Thanks for everyone's concern and I will update y'all as soon as I know more!

Being pruned and pruning

God is doing a huge work in me right now.

I have been praying for God to use me, lead me, guide me, and prune me. Yes, I prayed for pruning. I admit it. I know that I can only serve Him if I let Him into EVERY area of my life and that means that everything that is not His Will for my life goes.

The problem comes when you pray for Him to do those things and then you don't listen. You soon find out that if you don't listen, He stops talking. As my Pastor says: When you don't hear Him anymore, go back to the last thing He told you to do and make sure to do it.

He has been urging me to "circle my wagons" lately. It is hard to explain in words exactly what that means to me, but I know in my spirit exactly what it is. I am closing my life in and getting rid of anything that is not producing right now. I am pruning the branches that are not productive so that I can give more life to that which is. We are closing in our family and our activities until that which is left is the best of the best and meets the criteria for where God is leading us. There is only so much of me to go around and it was getting spread thinner and thinner until I felt like I was not doing anything well.

Yesterday was a "day of reckoning" for me. God spoke to me through His word in my morning Bible reading. What He spoke to me was not new, just a reminder of what I already knew. I hemmed and hawed and thought I could avoid it. By noon, I was so very uncomfortable and agitated in my spirit that I was just having an AWFUL day. I took the drastic leap of actually TRUSTING GOD and doing what I needed to do.

It was amazing.

By last night I felt like I had lost 100 lbs! (I wish I looked like it too!) Just by making some decisions that needed to be made and taking care of some issues that needed to be taken care of, just by FOLLOWING GOD'S WILL, I felt so much peace and happiness. I thought I would be so upset by my decisions but God truly freed me from sadness, discomfort, and guilt.

I woke up today with a smile on my face and heard God talking to me ALL DAY! HALLELUJAH!

Soooooo, in case you are wondering (which I know you are), these are some of the changes I made yesterday:
1. I put my beloved cat up for adoption. I have two takers right now. I am waiting to see which one will work out better for him.
2. I finally started the process of getting rid of myspace. I will actually be deleting the page tomorrow. I used it to advertise Battlecry for a few days, first.
3. I talked to Michael and he agreed to letting Shooky Do, his boston terrier puppy, stay outside all day during the day.
4. I closed the pool for the season. The girls were hoping for a few more weekends, including maybe an end of summer party but they will have to wait for a beginning of summer party instead.
5. I quit some online groups.
6. This is the most shocking - I quit my longtime homeschool group.
7. The rest of the changes are more private and not to be shared but equally, if not more, important.

I am really excited about the changes! I did have some fleshly twinges of sadness and guilt today, but I was able to overcome them by knowing that I am following God's will. And what changes he has wrought in ONE day! Things I never expected. It was wonderful having my Best Friend back, whispering in my ear all day.

What peace! God is SOOO good! HALLELUJAH!

Congratulations Britty!!!

Britty put a colored pencil drawing in the Wagoner County fair and won 2nd place! I would put a picture of her drawing up here, but I don't know where the drawing is at the moment. As soon as I know, I will add it to this entry....

The Brownie Parable

A father listened to all the reasons his children gave for wanting to see a particular PG-13 movie: it had their favorite actors, everyone else was seeing it, even some church members said it was great, it was only rated PG-13 because of the suggestion of sex-they never really showed it, the language was pretty good-they only used the Lord's name in vain three times in the whole movie, the video effects were fabulous and the plot was action packed. Yes, there was the scene where a building and a bunch of people got blown up, but the violence was just the normal stuff, it wasn't very bad. Even with all these explanations for the rating, the father wouldn't give in. He didn't even give them an explanation for saying, "No." He just said "No."



Later that evening, the father asked his kids if they would like some brownies he had prepared. He explained that he had taken the family's favorite recipe and added something new. They asked what it was. He calmly replied that he had added dog poop. He stated that it was only a tiny bit and that all the other ingredients were gourmet quality. He had taken great care to bake it at the precise temperature for the exact time. He was sure the brownies would be superb.



Even with all the explanations of the perfect attributes of the brownies, the kids would not take one. The father acted surprised. There was only a small amount of poop, so what could the problem be? He assured them that they would hardly notice it at all. But they all held firm and would not try the brownies.



He then explained that the movie they wanted to see was just like the brownies. Satan tries to enter our minds and our homes by deceiving us into believing that just a little bit of evil doesn't matter. With the brownies, just a little bit makes all the difference between a great brownie something really gross. He explained that even though the smallest amount of dog poop makes the brownie totally unacceptable, they seemed to having no problem watching a movie of similar ingredients. The people who make movies and TV shows would have us believe their entertainment is acceptable for adults and youths; but they are no more so than dog poop brownies are good to eat!



Now when this father's children want to do something or see something they should not, the father merely asks them if they would like some of his special dog poop brownies and they never ask about it again.

Leaving Myspace, going to Battlecry

I am leaving myspace in the next few days. Too much trash for my taste. (Have you ever heard the parable about the brownie? If you haven't, let me know! ) I was trying to be a shining light amongst the filth, but I don't think "this little light of mine" is able to shine quite bright enough.

Instead of myspace, I will be "hanging my hat" at Battle Cry. Check out my Battlecry here!

"battlecry.com is an online community and resource for Christian teens, churches, youth groups, and leaders." When you join, you create your own "battleplan." This is a plan on how you are going to help today's teens grow into tomorrow's leaders. You are also able to track your actual specific goals on the page (publically or privately) so you can be accountable for your plan.

If you haven't read the book Battlecry for a Generation I highly recommend it! The book gives some VERY startling statistics. It is very scary to me what the world could be like when our present day teens are running it. Here is a link to a great video you can see on your computer. Watch the video, read the book and then go make your own Battlecry. I highly recommend that, too, whether you are a teen, parent or concerned citizen!

Be involved, get your church involved...Everyone CAN make a difference and we need everyone to be able to make a difference!!

More book reviews

I have read a few more books in the last week. Lately I have been finding GREAT books, some of the best I have ever read.

Blessed Child by Ted Dekker and Bill Bright. I know I started this book before, but I have no idea why I never finished it! It is wonderful! It gave me a lot to think about. The premise is: what if a child was raised in seclusion from the world and grew up believing the Bible to be COMPLETELY true. I don't mean those who cavalierly say they "believe the Bible." I mean someone who doesn't doubt a THING, someone who has never heard or seen otherwise. Someone who lives what they read. Here is the quote that starts the book:

"The greatest difference between present-day Christianity, and that of which we read in these letters (of the New Testament), is that to us it is primarily a performance; to them it was real experience. We are apt to reduce the Christian religion to a code or, at best, a rule of heart and life. Perhaps if we believed what they believed, we could achieve what they achieved."
JB Phillips

in the introduction to his New Testament translation

Last night I read Blood Ties by Sigmund Brouwer. It is definitely a page turner, I hardly put it down from the moment I picked it up. I would not suggest this book for everyone because it is more graphic than the usual Christian fiction I have read. It would be a good book for someone who is used to more worldly books, trying to segue into Christian fiction. I couldn't quite figure out if it was published as a Christian novel or as a secular novel with Christian characters. (I eventually looked at the publisher (as soon as I could turn away from the story) and it is a Christian publisher) The story line is about an FBI man, his wife and a maniac in Montana. It has some great twists and it kept me guessing until the end. The book seems a little more like it is trying to convert readers (which might have been his point) than speaking to the already saved. As I said, it is a gripping story, but Brouwer says himself that it is a study of evil. In the long run, I much more enjoyed the less action packed Blessed Child which was a study in faith.

In memory of Steve Irwin

We are so saddened to hear that Steve Irwin, The Crocodile Hunter, has died. He left behind his wife and two small children. We so enjoyed watching him on TV and he seemed like such a great guy.



click on his picture to see a photo tribute to him by the BBC.