PASTOR'S SCHOOL

I just got back from Pastor's School/ Educator's Convention.  It was such a great blessing.  I got to hear many great men of the faith and attend hands-on classes in different areas.  My biggest problem in my Christian life has always been prayer.  I try very hard to do what I know what I should do but I fail everyday.  I say the quick God bless my food prayers and I ask God to help people who need help but I don't seem to be very good at having long conversations with God. 
One of the sessions I attended was entitled "Why You Hate To Pray" by David Gibbs III.  He talked about the reasons we hate to pray and I suddenly understood something.  I wasn't the only one.  I am just like everyone else.  Bro. Gibbs said, "The only way to have a great prayer life is to have a great prayer list."  This struck home to me.  I will be working on a great prayer list.  I already have many things I pray for everyday but I need a more detailed list.  A list that pinpoints the areas of life that really need help.  I am so thankful that God showed me how to talk to him and I can't wait to get started on this great journey.

IS IT SPRING YET?

One really nice thing about living in the midwest is that there are actually 4 seasons.  Pretty soon it will be spring.  I can't wait to start doing yard work and fixing up the outside of the house.  My husband has been working very hard on the inside.  The dining room is almost finished.  We plan on moving the dining room table and some other furniture for the dining room this week.  It will be so very nice to have a real table and another room finished in the house. 

Kyndra had a third birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese last night.  She is such a delight.  She picked up the card from Beth and said,"Oh boy!  A card....with no money."  It is so hard raising a smart kid! 

All I can say is I LOVE MY LIFE!

POOR ME

Last time I blogged Jerry was sick.  Now a week later it is my turn.  Please feel sorry for me because I don't have time to feel sorry for myself.  Just kidding.  I have been praying for everyone with this stupid bug.  It sure has been going around and it really hangs on.  So more TV and more reading and more sleeping for me.  See you all soon.

POOR JERRY

My wonderful husband planned a get away for us this past week end.  He got us a room in Springfield and we went to the Lincoln Museum, saw Lincolns home, and went to a big mall.  He didn't feel real good but decided he could handle it.  Sunday instead of going anywhere else he asked if we could go home.  Of course we did.  When we got home about 3pm he went directly to bed. Around 6:30 he woke up with a 103 fever.  After 3 Advil it still didn't go down.  He had the worst headache and he was coughing and just feeling awful. I gave him a vicodin and an hour later his fever still wasn't down. I called the advice nurse at our insurance company and after a profile they said to take him to the ER.  The ER decided he had Bronchitis. No flu, no pneumonia.  They gave us meds and sent him home.  As soon as we got home he started throwing up.  After a couple of hours with no relief I called the ER.  They said to give him Dramamine wait 1/2 hour and then give him more pain meds.  He threw up the Dramamine so after another 1/2 hr I took him back to the ER.  This time they gave him a shot of morphine and something to keep him from throwing up.  He has now slept all day and so far not thrown up anything else.  He is still taking vicodins for the headache but no coughing .  I think he is on the mend. Love this guy.  He is such a trooper. He keeps apologizing for ruining the week end.  I'm pretty sure he didn't do it on purpose.

WHAT MAKES IT WORTH IT?

Have you ever wondered what makes a person devote much of their lives learning to be a doctor or face danger everyday as a police or fire person?  Do you wonder why Pastors give up any chance for a normal life by being on call 24/7 for their congregation?  What about someone who does something less heroric?  What about a stay at home Mom?  I was fortunate enough to be a working mom and a stay at home mom.  We started out with me working full time plus at a start-up electronics company.  I worked 8-9 hours plus an hour commute each way.  I did that until Cassie was 3 and then we decided that I needed to be home.  At first I felt home bound and isolated.  Then I started to enjoy staying home with my girls.  When they were both in school I got a series of part time jobs so I could be home when they got out of school.  I got to stay home every summer with them and we had a wonderful time.  I was able to teach them about gardening, housekeeping, grocery shopping, and lots of other things. We never got a new car.  We seldom had an extra penny but it was worth every bit of the time I spent at home.  Our girls turned out to be beautiful accomplished young ladies.  Jessica is a wonderful wife and mother.  Cassie is a great wife and I'm sure someday she will be a great mother also.  Was it worth it?  You bet.

SNOW DAYS

Well living in Illinois has been a real adventure.  Last winter it was really cold living in the motor home. It snowed more than we had ever seen and  all the locals told us it was more than usual.  This winter has broken records of snow fall.  Chicago announced the first school snow day in years and years.  We have 2 1/2 to 3 ft drifts on our deck.  Jerry had to dig our cars out this morning.  Now that the blizzard is over the temp is dropping like crazy.  The forcast is for -9 tonight.  It is now -1 outside.  We have been out of school for 2 days and will not have school tomorrow either.  The truth is I kind of like it.  It feels like winter in a way that the rain and clouds never did.  I like the cleaness of the air and the way everything is all soft and white.  I like unexpected days off from work and getting to do things around the house we usually don't have time for.  I am sad for the people that were stuck on Lakeshore Drive in Chicago for up to 12 hours in their cars and for anyone who has been injured or hurt due to the snow.  Illinois is a all new experience for us.  Cold in the winter, hot and humid in the summer.  Taking all of that into consideration I LOVE IT!   So glad to be with our kids and our grandkids.  So happy for all the new really good friends we have made.  So happy that our house is coming along and that we both have jobs and that we are healthy.  God has truely blessed us in everyway.  He deserves all of the honor and glory.  So loving my life.

BEING SICK

What do you do when you are home sick all day?  It's fine for the first day.  You can catch up on your reading, tv watching, sleep, etc.  On the second day you start getting bored.  You've watched all the tv you want, you've read for hours.  You start climbing the walls.  If you try to sleep you can't.  You know that you need to stay down and rest but your body is sick of laying around.  The longer this goes on the worse it is.  I have had a headach for 3 days.  Not the throw up kind but the kind that just hurts.  It is really hard to teach when you have a headach.  You have little patience and all you really want to do is go home.  I decided today to stay home.  I have slept off and on all day.  I have watched enough tv to last me a month.  I have facebooked, blogged, searched and googled.  My head still hurts but by golly I am going to work tomorrow.