Are You Drowning?

Last night we watched "The Persuit of Happyness" (yes, I know how to spell happiness). If you haven't seen it I highly recommend you take the time to; it was a very touching movie. If you have seen it already do you remember the jokes Jaden Smith told? I was especially touched by the one about the man who was drowning.
This isn't word for word, but you'll get the idea. So, a man was drowning in the ocean. A big boat came by and saw him in trouble so they offered to help. He said, "No thanks. God will save me." So the boat left the man to struggle in the water. Some time later another big boat came by and again they stoppped to offer assistance. Again the man replied, "No thanks. God will save me." So, once again the boat left. . . The man drowned and went to Heaven. He asked God, "Why didn't you save me?" and God replied "I tried, I sent two big boats but you ignored them!".
Now, I don't think any of us will have the audacity to ask God why he did ANYTHING he did when we get to Heaven. However, I think there is some important truth in this joke. Sometimes we get so caught up in trying to "prove" our faith to others (or even oursleves!)that we forget to listen to God. Sometimes we try to do God's work our way. And sometimes, He lets us "drown" ourselves to get us to see Him more clearly.

My Husband is Bald ! ! ! ! !

If you know my husband you know that he has always had a big gray mop of hair on his big head. . . But it is ALL GONE. He had his head shaved Sunday!
No, he hasn't lost his mind. No, he isn't having a midlife crisis. No, he isn't going crazy. He did it to help raise money for St Baldricks, a children's cancer foundation dedicated to finding a cure. He, along with about 500 other people, had his head shaved on stage at Fourth Street Live in dowtown Louisville this past Sunday. He was REALLY nervous about it, but he felt strongly enough about the cause to suck it up and expose his bald head! He has a friend whose 18 month old son Dawson was recently diagnosed with Optic Glioma. This is a very rare form of brain tumors that affects the Optic Nerve. Dawson's tumors are inoperable but with Chemo he has made tremendous progress. He is the cutest little boy with the brightest smile I have ever seen. Although I am not used to seeing Robby without his shaggy, gray mop, I am so proud of him for stepping up. I don't know many people who would let a stranger shave their head. . .
If you are interested in seeing the before and after pics or learning more about this event follow this link.http://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/shavee_info.html?ShaveeID=12386
There is a cure out there just waiting to be discovered.

What Will I Do?

I was driving down the road this evening with my 6 year old daughter Lindsay by my side. She is always rather inquisitive and asks some pretty tough questions sometimes. Well, tonight wasn't one of those deep philisophical questions, but it is good for a laugh.
Lindsay has been trying to understand how people start out as babies and grow into adults. She is really confused about the "time" aspect of it all. She started with asking if her siblings were babies at the same time as she was. Of course, "no" wasn't enough of an answer. She wanted to know who was a baby first, and second, and third. . . I explained that the older a person is, the longer it has been since they were a baby. Her curious little mind quickly changed subjects and now she wanted to talk about moving out. She declared, "since I am the youngest I will be the last to move out." Then she went on to list the order in which everyone would be leaving home: "Cynthia will go first because she is the oldest, and then Kimberly but they won't live together because they fight too much, when Garrett leaves he will need a car and someone to do his laundry, and I will move out last with all my Polly Pockets." I chuckled at her innocence and interrupted her thought. She looked at me and asked in a "matter of fact" tone, "Mom? What will you and Dad do when we move out and you don't have kids anymore?" Not really prepared for the question I replied "I don't really know.". She shouted enthusiastically, "I KNOW!!! You will be OLD like GRANDMA!!"
Oh to see into the mind of a child!

Food, Friends and Laughter

Last night after church we went out to eat with a big group of friends. There were 20 of us all together (including kids!) in our own little section of Mark's Feed Store. The 8 kids all sat together at their own table. With the oldest being 14 and the youngest 6, I fully expected some problems from their table. Amazingly, their was no drama. Everyone got along. There were no food fights. No spilled drinks. Nothing. It was so nice to see the kids playing quietly together relatively unsupervised. As a parent, it's hard not to expect too much out of your kids sometimes. Especially when there is a large group and the service is a little slower and the patience of hungry, tired children runs thin. But these kids, all of them, were as close to perfect as they could be.
I had a great evening. Not only were the kids good without having to be threatened, but we enjoyed the company of good friends. Some we see on a regular basis, but others we haven't seen in awile. There were even a few we don't normally get to visit with outside of church. It was really nice. And even though we couldn't have an evening out free of problems with the bill (I hope my dancer friend got her credit card issue straightened out!), being surrounded by people who genuinely care about you and whom you genuinely care about is essential to personal happiness. We used to go out for dinner with big groups like this on a regular basis, but things have changed and people have moved on. I had forgotten how much I NEED these seemingly insignificant times together. I hope we don't wait too long to get together again; just talking, laughing and sharing stories. There is nothing like food, friends and laughter. . . all rolled up in one evening!

I guess I'll give it a try

I have to admit, I've been hooked by the Blog Bug. . . I know a few people who have started blogging, and it seems so interesting, so I thought I would give it a try. Plus, most of my family lives in another state and this might be a good way to keep them up-to-date on the interesting (and often not so interesting) happenings in our family. Maybe it will even keep my Mom from calling after we are in bed to ask if anything interesting is going on!!! (Sorry, Mom!)
Today, being Sunday, Isn't really the best day for me to start out on this adventure. We will be heading back to church soon for handbell chior practice. No, I don't play. I don't have the patience. My oldest daughter does though, and it has been a good opportunity for her to stay involved with things. Recently (well, it still feels recent to me), our Youth Minister left(with some rather bold persuasion!) and it hit her pretty hard. She didn't want to attend any church functions or talk to anyone from church (except her best friend and boyfriend). She really started to question God's sovereignty and how we can know God's Will for our lives. It had me pretty worried because I was about her age when my faith was truly tested for the first time and I didn't handle it really well. I'll have to get into that story later, but the point is-She has found a place at church where she isn't constantly reminded of the hurt and loss she felt through that situation. And for her, some good has come out of it. She was forced to evaluate her relationship with God. She felt compelled to search for answers to the questions of life, and knew exactly what Book to go to. It still amazes me how God uses us. All of us. But most of all I am thankful. GOD IS GOOD! Even when we don't realize it right away.