Full Circle

I'm one of those...you know the ones...those who believe the fairy tale.

I dreamed one day my prince would come. I sang along with Snow White, danced along with Cinderella, even dreamed alongside Belle.

It was four o'clock in the morning on July 29, 1981 and the Oklahoma air was already hot and humid. This eleven year old country girl sat with wide eyes as close as she could to the television screen. The volume was turned down very low so that she wouldn't wake the rest of the family in that small farm house. I was watching a fairy tale coming true.

Or so I thought.

Unfortunately, that prince and beautiful princess did not live happily ever after.

Although I had not planned on being awake at two o'clock this morning, I awoke at two-thirty and decided that I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see the eldest son of that beautiful princess marry his own princess.

This morning the Colorado air was crisp and chilled. This forty-one year old married woman sat in her recliner in front of a huge high definition flat screen. The volume was audible. My eyes were more cynical and suspect about the prospect of this fairy-tale-happily-ever-after wedding.

But then it happened, Kate stepped onto the red carpet of Westminster Abbey. She looked every bit the princess. Her wedding dress regal, elegant. Her train carried by her doting sister. The joyous chords of organ music echoed in the stately cathedral. I leaned forward and became a little girl on the brink of womanhood, wide eyed and in awe of this beautiful woman on her way to marry Prince Charming.

Thank you William and Kate for reminding me that I still believe in fairy tales.

Mind Overload

I've had a lot on my mind lately and I didn't even know it. I suspected that my mind was almost to its maximum load when I couldn't find my cell phone yesterday after searching the house twice. (Yes, I did look in the fridge AND the freezer.) We don't have a home phone anymore so I couldn't just call it and hunt down the ringer. I finally just gave up and went to work.

It became pretty clear my mind had reached the maximum when Troy finally found my phone in HIS closet in a shirt pocket. As soon as he pulled it out of the pocket, the scene came flashing back to me....I had ironed shirts and started to carry them upstairs with several other items and thought the shirt pocket would be a convenient way to carry my phone.

This afternoon, it was glaringly obvious that I am definitely on overload. I was shaving my legs with my right hand, reached down with my left hand to make sure I hadn't missed a spot and shaved my index finger nail down to the quick! Thankfully, I just caught the nail. This was definitely a case of the right hand not knowing what the left was doing! Really?

I don't know what's been filling my mind. No major problems. Plenty of rest. But I have asked God to take whatever is taking up so much space so that I can function without hurting myself.

How Great Thou Art!

I just watched a clip of Carrie Underwood and Vince Gill singing "How Great Thou Art".

It made me have goosebumps, a lump in my throat, the urge to burst out in tears and joyous laughter all at the same time.

The video is from "Girls Night Out", a special which aired on CBS last night. The audience was a gathering of the stars of country music. As Carrie sang the last chorus, the audience rose with a standing ovation.

I think we are "built" with this desire to praise God and we allow life, circumstances, and our own selves to numb that desire. Although I'm sure the standing ovation was in part due to the talent on the stage, I chose, as I watched through tear filled eyes, to believe that this applause was for God. Even if the audience meant it for Vince and Carrie, ultimately, it's for God, their creator.

And for your viewing pleasure....

"How Great Thou Art" performed by Carrie Underwood and Vince Gill.

Tip

Bad service makes a yummy dinner not such a yummy experience.
Just had to say it.

Homework

Troy and I are in marriage counseling. Don't worry. Nothing wrong. In fact, our marriage has never been better. I truly believe that each and every marriage needs a little "tune up" now and then. We actually are working on some issues, but nothing I really want the blogging world to know about right now.

So, as I said, we are seeing Steven, the counselor, who gives us homework each time we leave. This homework usually consists of something that was discussed during the session. Our appointment is tomorrow and, true to form, we hadn't done our homework. Our assignment was this: find healthy alternatives to combat the stress in our lives. Pretty general, huh? So, tonight, as Troy was cutting the dog hair from the wheel in the vacuum cleaner, we talked about our homework. And talked. And talked. And talked.

I really don't know that we completed our homework. But I do know that we spent about an hour sharing our fears, hopes, and dreams. And I do know that this hour of sharing reduced any pent up stress I might have had.

Steven is pretty smart. I actually think the purpose of the homework was less about the end result as it was about the process.

Productivity

My post was going to be about how productive I was today. I didn't do any laundry. No dishes. No vacuuming. Didn't scrub one toilet. But I really felt good about the productivity of my day. Then I started wondering what productivity really meant. So, I looked it up.

Productivity: a measure relating a quantity of quality of output to the inputs required to produce it.

So, it's basically a ratio of output to input.
Yep, still feel productive.

Input: Quiet time with my Savior.
Output: Love, guidance, comfort, healing, super-natural transformation.

Input: Trip to Colorado Springs and lunch with a new friend.
Output: Bond-forming, life-sharing, moment-treasuring friendship.

Input: Short texts and conversations with my husband throughout the day.
Output: Connecting, loving, never-far-from-my-mind moments that keep us...US.

Input: Relaxing and writing this post.
Output: Counting my daily blessings. Reliving this God-kissed day. Thanking Him for it all.

Yep, VERY productive.

Bedtime for the Wilsons

Not a restful night last night.

Troy took Friday and today off work for a much needed time of rest. His type of rest is reading, playing on the computer, staying up late, and waking up late.

I'm not "off work". I only work part time outside our home, but I still have to get up at 6am to give our beloved Leia her allergy medicine. (I saw that eye roll!) Yes, our girl who walks with a limp also has major spring allergies. Anyway, medicine every eight hours is unforgiving to the "mom".

I'm one of those people that can rarely go back to sleep after the alarm rings. So, alarm at 6am, up at 6am and 30 seconds. Then the dogs are walked at 7:15am. Precisely at 7:15am because that's when the high school students are picked up from the corner by the school bus. This time is also before the middle school students make their slow walk to the bus stop. The kids don't bother my dogs. My dogs bother the kids. According to my dogs, I should be deathly afraid of any person walking along with white cords hanging from their ears, looking down and pushing buttons on a small rectangular objects. No telling what could be in those backpacks! :)

I say all this to say. I don't usually have the luxury of sleeping in. (And probably wouldn't take advantage of it if I did.) So last night, at 12:30am, I called in from the bedroom to Troy in his office to ask him if he was coming to bed soon. "Yeah," he replied. I asked because I knew that if I went to sleep and then was awoken by him as he came to bed, I would have much trouble going back to sleep. A sign that I'm going through "the change". Sleep is sacred and often disrupted by night sweats and racing thoughts.

"Within the next few minutes?" I asked, hopefully.
"Yeah," non-committed.

I put down my book turned off my lamp and decided to talk to God until Troy came to bed.

ONE HOUR LATER....

Troy climbs into bed. I wake up. I'm awake. I'm hot. I'm cold. Troy starts to snore. Still awake. Look at the clock. I've lain awake for 30 minutes. Troy is cluelessly snoring. Now, I'm mad. So, I get up and take my pillow to the guest bedroom. Toss and turn. Restless, weird dreams. Wake up. Hot. Cold. Hot. Take my pillow back to our room. Get into bed.

"You okay?" Troy asks.
"Not sleeping well."
"Sorry." Troy slurs, then resumes snoring.

Finally fall to sleep after 3:38am. Alarm rings at 6am.

I really, really wish Eve had just plugged her ears, started singing, "La, La, La", and ran as fast as she could from that conniving serpent. I'm positive the whole change of life, night sweats, hot flashes, and crazy moods could have been avoided if a better decision had been made.

But on the brighter side, I'm really, really glad God blessed me with a marriage to a husband who understands this crazy time of my life and encourages me to take afternoon naps to make up for the lost sleep after dark.

And tonight I've already requested that we BOTH go to bed before 10:00pm. ;)

Note Worthy?

I don't write that many posts. I always feel like I don't have much to write about. But I really, really enjoy writing when I write. So, I'm going to start strengthening my writing muscles. I'm going to pick one thing in my uber-eventful day(insert sarcastic chuckle) to write about. Starting tomorrow. :)

Well, I would start with today, but it was a basic Sunday. Nothing much happened. Really. Church, lunch, laze around the house, watch Amazing Race, hang out on the computer for a bit. See? What part of this lackluster day is worth writing about? I did make a pretty good dinner. A dish called "Vegetable Cheese Crescent Ring". It was pretty. And I thought it tasted good. Troy didn't care for it. (Although I did see him sneak a second helping.) Oh! I did get a huge compliment from my friend, Nancy, who was sure that the person that made the Challah bread for our women's bible study luncheon actually bought it from the bakery. Well, that person didn't buy it from the bakery, because that person was ME! I made it! I still have the flour in the kitchen floor air vent to prove it! (Don't ask.)

But that's about it. Not really much going on in the Wilson house. Really.

Run, Elijah, Run!

I've been reading through the Old Testament during my quiet time and just finished First Kings. This morning, I read about Elijah. Not Elisha, Elijah. I know, I used to get them mixed up too. But now I remember that they are in alphabetical order. ;) So I was reading about Elijah and his encounter with the prophets of Baal on the Mount Carmel...mmm caramel....Anyway, (This is what happens to my brain in quiet time, too. Sometimes I can almost hear the finger snaps of God bringing my attention back to Him and His word.)

As I was saying, Elijah challenged the Baal prophets to call down fire from Baal to burn their sacrifice. The Baal prophets "called on the name of Baal" all morning long with no response...(duh)...Then they jumped up and did a little dance around the alter. Not really sure what that was supposed to do besides make Elijah chuckle a little. Then Elijah told them maybe they needed to be louder because Baal, being a god and all, might be deep in thought, or maybe he was busy, or maybe sleeping. My NLT translation actually said, "Maybe he is relieving himself"....which made me laugh out loud. (Sometimes my quiet time isn't so quiet.) The Baal prophets continued this nonsense until evening.

Finally, Elijah had seen, heard, and mocked enough. It was time for the evening sacrifice and he asked the people who undoubtedly had gathered around watching the spectacle to poor a huge amount of water on his sacrificial alter. I think Elijah might have been so excited to show the crowd what the one and only Living God could do. I'm surprised he waited as long as he did. The pow-wow dance would have ended the Baal show for me. With the alter dripping in water, Elijah said, "LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word." Then fire from heaven came down and not only consumed the sacrifice, but also left the stones as dust and dried up all the water! Wow!

After witnessing this challenge, King Ahab began his chariot ride back home to Jezreel. The very next verse says "Then the hand of the LORD came upon Elijah and he girded up his loins and ran ahead of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel." I can just picture Elijah watching Ahab turn his royal chariot toward Jezreel, urging his trusty steed to start the journey. And for reasons we will not know this side of heaven, the LORD gave Elijah the ability to run faster than Forrest Gump! (Okay, I had to stop there and laugh at the picture in my brain of Ahab trotting along and then hearing sandals hitting the ground hard and fast, turning to see a blur of the loin-girded Elijah streaking by with a trail of dust behind him.) Isn't that funny?! I honestly think God laughs with us when we enjoy reading his book.

Elijah had his mountain top highs and his mountain top lows, his "Look what God can do" experiences and his "Poor pitiful me" dark times. I think Elijah was a man who may have been a little manic-depressive. And I'm so glad God used Elijah's strengths AND weaknesses to His glory. I too experience those poor-pitiful-sit-under-the-broom-tree-and-dwell-on-my-sadness dark days. But seeing Elijah basking in God's glory gives me hope that I'll be in the right place (in God's presence)at the right time (in God's perfect timing) to see God's mighty power at work. You never know, maybe God will see a need someday to have me gird my loins and run like the wind! ;)