The Waiting Game

I LOVE my business. Well, I LOVE when I have business. Last summer when Phil's dad got sick & we thought we might be moving, Phil asked me to not do any live shows with my business. In the fall, it picked back up & I had some shows scheduled for January. Needless to say we had to postpone those shows, then we lost Bill in February, and by then I had not had the time or energy to call & get shows booked for March. I've had several wonderful friends who've done catalog shows to keep me afloat. Thank you!

As a director, I have goals I have to meet monthly, and my team has to meet a certain amount of sales monthly, as well. Really, the amount is quite feasible, in a normal month, when I am working. The beauty of owning your own business is that you can set your own schedule. The downside is that if no one tells you when to work, you don't work! In January and February, my team was not able to meet our goals, mainly because I was not working. THEY were doing a great job. But, with my business, if I have 3 months in a row where we don't meet goals, I forfeit my role as director. That means the loss of my team (aka "downline," consultants who signed up with me), and the loss of additional income that has been very helpful. I've been sending out notes about special sales & calling people. God has provided SO many sales for both me & one consultant who has some shows to turn in. We are still a little bit short. If you think about it, would you say a prayer that I can keep cooking with this business! I am ready to go cook for people and help my team. Thanks!

You think that dryer is dry yet, or do I need to add another post?

Church Tonight

When I was a little girl (okay, that just made some of you reading this stop reading because I'm going down some bunny trail to get to the main point!) in Marietta Georgia, we went to a church that was Methodist, but had as many church meetings as any Baptist church. Of course, we got out earlier so we could get to the cafeteria first! LOL! I remember having Sunday Night church. My most memorable experience with this is the night my friend & I went to the church playground before church started. We didn't know what time it was until our mothers found us about half-way through the service and marched us back into the sanctuary. I am pretty sure I saw steam coming out of my mom's ears, which was a rarity for her.

As I grew up, and we moved around, churches didn't seem to have services on Sunday nights. We had youth groups, but not a regular service. One church I attended as an adult, fresh out of college, did have Sunday night services, but I only went occasionally. I was normally furiously grading papers on Sunday night! Today, it is very difficult to find a Sunday night service, even in those good ol' Southern Baptist churches. Saturday night church has caught on (hey, the Catholics had that idea a long time ago, and the Jewish community had Saturday WAY before that!), but Sunday night has faded away.

Almost. One church, at least, in San Antonio has started up a new service on Sunday nights. It's an offshoot of Trinity Baptist Church, where my nephew Nils is the youth pastor, and where Katie (his wife) grew up. We went a couple of weeks ago. Bethany didn't like the music because it is VERY loud. I mean, concert volume loud. It is kind of cool, though, because the church bought an old grocery store, and that is where this new church service is held!

Sunday for us have become a day of rest. TOO much rest. We often are so physically exhausted by Sunday that our bodies will not wake up. Today the girls & I did get up in time to go to a different church, where the music isn't AS loud (hee-hee). When Phil got up he asked if we were going to church, then said we could go tonight to the night service. So, what did the grown ups do? Take naps!

Sunday afternoon means AWANA (Approved Workmen are not ashamed---2nd. Timothy 2:15-- Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.) from 4:00 til 5:45. It's a Bible based group that is international and helps kids learn the Word of God and how it applies in their lives. Today we tried going straight from AWANA to church. I THINK we can do this. Plus, AWANA only has a few more weeks left.

Nils had told us the speaker tonight was a guest & was really good. When I told the girls someone different was speaking, Bethany said, "I hope it's Katie or Kelly." Kelly is Katie's sister. Then she said, "I think Chris should preach. But I don't think he's ever preached." I thought she meant Phil's good friend Chris Loyd, who is a preacher in New Jersey. I said, "Of course he's preached. That's his job." BOTH girls knew what I meant, and filled me in on what Bethany meant, "NOT THAT CHRIS. Becky's husband Chris!" So, there you go, nephew, I not only messed up your birthday, but mistook you for someone else!

He was good. His name was Scott Crenshaw. He was funny, yet had some great things to say. Being the deeply spiritual person that I am, the thing that struck me the most was that I am SURE I knew him in college. I didn't recognize him (I doubt anyone from college would recognize ME today), but the name was SO familiar. Then he told us he graduated from the same college I went to. I couldn't tell how old he was, so I checked on the Internet. He is 44. I'm 43. Yep, he was there the same time I was. So, if ANYONE reads this and knows me from college (fat chance!), PLEASE tell me if we knew this Scott Crenshaw person!

I know I should have something deeply inspiring to say about church. He talked about the fact that to get to new places with God, sometimes we have to let go of old places. That makes me think of the passage in John where Jesus said that He is the vine, and we are the branches. If you've never seen the tiny little book, The True Vine, I highly recommend it. It's a short devotional based on that passage. I read it in college (see, there WAS a connection in all this) the first time. I remember being struck by the passage that told me that He prunes the vine to allow for new growth. It doesn't have to be bad growth, but it is usually stagnant growth, or overgrowth. What things was I holding onto that needed to be gone for Him to work more abundantly in me & through me? What things am I now holding onto that I need to let go of?

And, back to having church in a grocery store. I took Bethany to the bathroom (you do know that it's a rule that one child MUST have this sudden urge right in the middle of the best part of the sermon). The area where church is has big black stage curtains cutting off the rest of the, well, store. When we walked past those, it was quite funny to see grocery carts and the different sections where the pharmacy or meat market would have been. And it's the only church I've been to with automatic doors.

If you are wondering why I'm rambling so, it's mainly because I have to wait for the dryer to finish before I can go to bed and you get to "listen" to me wait. Aren't you glad you popped in today!

P.S. Becky, I've now blogged about Katie, just sayin'! xoxoxoxo

*Updated* Please pray for Rylee, a 2 year old

In case some of you pop on here & aren't either on the e-mail list I sent out or on SCS, I wanted to post this prayer request.

My friend Laurie, who lives in Wisconsin, has a nephew named Rylee, age 2. Rylee fell this evening in the garage & hit his head on the cement floor. They took him to the hospital & found out he had fractured his skull and there is swelling with possible fluid on the brain. They are transporting him to Children's hospital in Milwaukee. Rylee's parents also have a baby boy about 1 month old. Laurie is sick & can't go visit Rylee, which is frustrating. Please keep the family in your prayers. Thanks.

***UPDATE*** Sunday morning from Laurie
Rylee got home at about 4am. They had an eye specialist, plastic surgeon and neuro surgeon in with him. They never realized until sometime around midnight that he hadn't been given any pain meds. Can you imagine??? That poor little guy. No wonder he was screaming (and I mean screaming) NO when the docs touched him! SO, they got meds in him and after a few consultations with the eye specialist and redoing the CT scan they found there are 2 fractures right by his right eye. There is a huge amount of swelling as well. They feel that as of right now he does not need surgery, but there will be follow up appointments to keep track of all of this.

Chalk it up to Dorkdom

I'm part of an online group of friends called the Traveling Dork Sisters. We are not too proud to admit our complete and total dorkiness. From getting lost in the parking lot to forgetting where we put something (or in my case EVERYTHING---I have the worst memory for locating things, but the best memory for trivial info that has no use in life), we share our dorky moments with one another.

Here is a dorky thing I did. I listed all those birthdays in my last post & forgot about my new Nephew-in-law Chris. His birthday was March 24th. Happy birthday Chris, even if it is late!

I think I've mentioned that God gave us a special day to celebrate in January. While Steve died on January 19th, 1978, we now have a birthday in our family to celebrate: Ruth's (Phil's mom) birthday is January 18th! Now we have a birthday the day before Steve's and Aunty Edna's to celebrate! Don't you love how God does little things like that just for us? Becky could have married a man with a birthday 364 other days (or 365 if he'd been born in a leap year), but God chose one with a birthday the day before Steve's so we can celebrate life!

Chris, so glad you got to have an Incredible Pizza Company birthday!

March 25th

March is a huge birthday month for us. Phil & I both have March birthdays. His Grandma's birthday was about a week before his. I had a great-great aunt whose birthday was just before mine. My aunt's birthday is March 20th (oops, I forgot! Happy Birthday Aunt Carol!). But March 25th is a remembrance day now. My mom's Aunty Edna was born on March 25th in 1910. On March 25th 1960, my brother Steve was born. Aunty Edna called him her "Golden Birthday Boy" because he came on her 50th birthday! I think it was as hard on her as it was for my grandparents when Steve died in 1978. It's been several years since Aunty Edna passed away now. But, the birthday of someone who has passed seems a much brighter day than the remembrance of the day they died. It's a day to really reflect on the life that God gave them.

Today as Natalie was bouncing around, I told her she reminded me of her Uncle Steve. My niece Becky also has some of those traits. Becky has no fear, like Steve. She can be a total ham like Steve was. Yet, quiet Bethany is the one who looks so much like him, and has the gift of art that he had. As far as I know, no one in our immediate family besides Steve could draw. I mean, beyond stick figures. I tried. I don't know that Greg (my big brother) ever drew at all. But, Steve could draw well. It's really interesting to see the things that made him special reflected in the "next generation."

I guess in these pictures you can't see the resemblance, but I don't have any of Steve as a teenager. You can see that we (and they, in the before I was born picture) were all SKINNY back then! LOL! For the record, this was the first and last of Steve's saxophone playing days. He later moved onto the drums. Greg, however, is a very good guitar player. To his credit, I must say he no longer wears the boots, and doesn't often perform with his pj's on. At least not in public!

The Kids

I was an aunt long before I was a Mom. In fact, I was an aunt for 16 years before I gave my nephew & niece a cousin. I was only 15 when Nils, my nephew, was born, so he & I are actually closer in age than he & Bethany are! Nils & his lovely wife Katie live in San Antonio now. My niece, Becky, and her lovely husband Chris (LOL! Just had to say that! Becky is beautiful!), came into town last week. They all took the girls to a cool place called, "Incredible Pizza Company." They took these goofy pictures. You can't really see the guys, but they are in the last picture. I think they all had a great time! It was a really nice break for me to do some errands and get some things done at home. Thanks guys!

He is Risen!!!

He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!

Yesterday was the day we celebrated our Lord's Resurrection. Not only did He die to pay for our sins, but He gave us the promise of eternal life! For all who would call on Jesus as Lord, we can be assured that we will one day stand in His presence. Or, we will bow down in His presence. There will be no more tears, no more suffering, no more death. What a great God we have!

On Saturday night we watched the Disney movie, "Enchanted." It was a cute movie. In the movie the fairy tale princess often used the term, "Forever and ever." If anyone said, "Forever," she would add, "And ever." That is the way fairy tales go, after all. To me, it brought to mind the fact that God's grace and love and goodness are forever.....and ever. Life isn't a fairy tale. "True love's kiss" doesn't mean there is always a happy ending. And as of yet, I've never had a fairy godmother spin me a dress and a carriage. But we do have a Father God who gives us the promise that while there are trials in this life, one day we will be with Him and have that "happily ever after" that we can't even begin to imagine here on earth.

While we've always made Easter a celebration of Jesus' resurrection, we've also let the girls enjoy being kids with an egg hunt and fun goodies. Here are some pictures of them in their Easter dresses (that I finished sewing on Saturday night!) and with some of the goodies. If I knew how to put a movie onto my blog, I'd do that. You'll just have to imagine them running through Grandma's house looking for eggs. It was a dreary day, so they hunted inside.

We hope you had a blessed Easter Sunday and will continue rejoicing in our Risen Savior all year long!