When God speaks...

I tend to freak out a little. (But we know that I love to be freaked out like that, so it's ok.)

You may remember that I am "in charge" of VBS this year at our church. Or maybe you don't know or are just finding out now, but regardless...I am.

I've been busy with this and busy with that and tending to the house issues and blah-bitty-blah-blah. Anywho...( Don't you love references to the past? heehee)... I realized between Wednesday and Thursday of this week that VBS is less than 2-weeks away.

I wanted to freak-out in the bad way. Then I checked myself (yes, before I wrecked myself) and went to the Lord. And I said this, "Lord...My Father God, I have not been in Your Word as I should be. Please honor your gift of forgiveness to me and let me hear from You now, about VBS. What I need to do and how to handle this. I'm concerned and You know it. Please and thank You."

SO - I then advised Him that I was just going to open the book and for Him to direct the fall of the pages to where I should read. (Yeah - you know what's comin') I did as I suggested and He did what I asked.

Right there -on the page- were these wonderful words from Our Lord (paraphrased for emphasis):
"Why are you crying out to me? Put your staff over the water and tell the people to walk through the Red Sea. I'll take care of the rest."

Well -I was stunned to say the least. We ask for Him to speak simply and "whoop there it is". (Man - that was just lame.)

SO - again, I address Him and say something to the effect of, "Can we do this one more time? I wanna make sure I got You right." I open up The Book and whamO! He says to me, "Move! Marshall your troops. Prepare for battle." (again paraphrased - save for the "move. marshall your troops" thing.)

Wowie-zowie! Isn't He the coolest!??! Gotta love His Mercy on the weak and small-minded!!

It's Another Day in Montgomery and I ask:
Anybody got a ram's horn I can borrow?? I gotta marshall my troops and I think they're all napping.

2 Weeks and 30 Days

2 Weeks:

My MIL had her visit with the Dr. yesterday and now has a snazzy blue cast on her arm and hand. The "something going on in there" was a hairline fracture and all parties involved were glad she decided to go in because 1 big jolt and her bone could have shattered. She will wear the cast for 2 weeks - until her 2nd grandson's wedding 4th of July weekend. It will most likely feel like 30 days to the rest of us because at 7:20 this morning (less than 24 hours of having it on) she's already calling to complain about not being able to get the back of her hair done, her make-up on right and her stockings all the way up. (If you were to know her, you would understand how important this is for her.)

And speaking of 30 days:

Many of you - make that - the two of you, do not know that we are having some work done in our house. You see, I have two water nymphs who live with me. After 10 years in the same house with one or both of them utilizing the master bath at any given time, the amount of water flung across my bathroom floor had managed to seep into the baseboards and around the vanity cabinet, causing both (the baseboards and cabinet) to swell and crack and generally become quite unsightly. Don't even get me started on the floor!! Let's just leave it with the builders thought carpet in the bathroom would be smell. I mean swell.

My sweet husband decided that we needed a general overhaul. (Hey - if you're gonna fix one -you might as well fix 'em all, right?)

So - we went looking, had the detail and measuring done and made the purchases. (New flooring in the bathroom, new cabinet and a couple of other things around the house) Now, I am quite handy, but not in a way that I could remove the vanity top, replace the cabinet and return all to it's proper place. SO - we scheduled all our activity through LOWE'S. (In case you missed it, we scheduled all our work through L-O-W-E-S.)

Well, when the builders/installers/contractors (whatever they are calling themselves these days) came out yesterday, the very first thing they did was to rip out the vanity cabinet. Good for them! I say good for them because it was a lesson in futility. Minutes after ripping out the cabinet they discover the new cabinet we purchased was not going to work due to the plumbing of the sinks.

Uhhh.

Who's responsibility was it, I inquired, to ensure that the product I purchased would work in my home - considering I am neither a builder, contractor, plumbing expert NOR a professional home product installation professional?!? I had to duck and cover for all the finger point that ensued from one simple question.

7 hours later - Yes. 7 hours later, we were plainly told that we could either keep the original cabinet we purchased, seal up 4 of the 6 drawers and have it installed in a matter of days OR we could have a cabinet special ordered for us -which will take approximately...wait for it...30 days!!

Whoopie!

Now - the "special order" cabinet is valued over 60% more than the original cabinet and we won't have to be out additional funds, but 30 days!?! C'mon. Now, everything else were going to do has to be pushed back because one can't be done before the other.

It's Another Day in Montgomery and I'm:
a) Still trying to rid myself of the vile words that are trying to errupt and spew forth like hot lava.
b) Hoping I'm able to adequately articulate to the staff at L-O-W-E-S that I am doing them a favor by watiting 30 days for a better cabinet - and that I'm still not "happy".
c) Focusing on being grateful that I wanted volkswagen and God wanted me to have a cadillac.
d) Focusing on His perfect timing.
e) All of the above.

You know what day it is...

It's Another Day in Montgomery, of course - and today...my Mother-in-law freaks me out!! (and NOT in the good way.)

Last week she was working in our front flower bed (You try telling the woman no!) It had to be close to 100 degrees and there she was scooting around on her backside, yanking (and I mean good-old-fashioned ripping up the earth type yanking) up youpon roots. If you've ever had a youpon you know those things lu-hu-huv to take root in all directions.

SO, acting as if she were the healthiest of women half her age she's toiling away. I kept telling her it's too hot, get inside or go home - anything but working up a tither in my front flower bed. But as I said before she doesn't understand "no" - especially when it comes to what she can and cannot do. (Sound like anyone you know???)

Well, about 3/4 of the way into it (I'm inside - 'cause I'm a little more sane than she is - emphasis on little) and I hear, "Oh, Oh, Ohhhh!" (Cripe! - This canNOT be good!) I dash to the front window and sha-BANG! There I see the most heart-wrenching of sights. My MIL flat-out on the grass, dirty-pants and all shining in my face. (Not to mention my SWAT-trained police officer of a neighbor doing the 4-yard dash in nano-seconds to her side.) FREAK_OUT! My internal clock just flat out stopped! GoodLord in Heaven I thought it was all over for the old bird - and from the way all the blood in my body was at my toes, I thought I might not be far behind her.

Well, I proceeded to sprint to the door, faster than a woman my age should run inside and leaping over small animals who were frantically trying to tell me in the loudest of ways that they understood I was panicked. (I should pause to mention that my oldest was sound asleep on the sofa and the youngest had her eyes literally glued to the television and I'm not certain they even realized that I'd made horrendous noise myself and was crashing out the door.)

I get out there and praise the Lord she is sitting up! Looking a little glassy-eyed and repeating, "I'm OK. I'm OK." My neighbor then realizes I'm there and gives me a look that I shall never forget. It was part "you're an IDIOT for letting this woman work out here like this" and part "the women in my life don't understand no either" (with a smidge of "whew! I'm glad it's your responsibility and not mine.")

I should also tell you that the Lord's timing is PERFECT - for, you see, we had no sooner gotten the woman off the ground and gave thanks my husband didn't see that when up he rolls. For CERTAIN we would have all the EMT's in Montgomery at my door had he seen her on the ground!!

So, here we are a week later (and complaints abounding over her aching wrist) and she calls at 7:15 at night to say she had spent the last 45 minutes at the urgent care center, where the kindly and fair-looking Dr. advised her there was something "going on in there" with regard to her wrist and urging her to visit an Orthopaedist. Whoopie!! (Did I mention we still weren't supposed to let my DH know she had fallen? Had wrist pain? AND been to the Dr.?? -Tsk-tsk for secrets! Uh, he knows, but has been dutiful and kept silent. :)

We are, today, praying that the new specialist will see her EARLY today...that the "something going on in there" is minor at worst and that the woman will still keep her vip, but drop some of the need for pride in hearing people say, "Good golly! I hope I can scoot around on my rear end in 100 degree weather yanking youpon roots from the depths of the earth like you do when I'm your age!"

Galveston, oh Galveston...

What a wonderful place to be. Hunting shells on the sandy beach or waist deep in the sea.

There are so many wonderful things to do and places to see on Galveston Island and I think we've done and seen most of them. This last visit, however, we mainly played beach bums. It was great. It wasn't as crowded as it usually is and it was a MUCH needed get-away. We all love that town and would be more than glad were it God's will to move us there - provided (there's always a catch, huh?) that it did not require us to actually BE beach bums.

I love the treasures the Lord leaves for me(us) on the beach. Last year it was whole hermit crab shells - sometimes with little crabs hermit-ing inside - only to be found upon arrival at home with stench that would knock the fur off a gorilla. (Eww! Can you imagine the sight of a hairless gorilla?)

This year, though, it was oyster shells - inlaid with the most intricate and delicate mother-of-pearl. They are simply beautiful. I did find a couple of teensy shells still intact and one 2-inch clam shell with (yep, you guessed it) a clam inside. UGH! Talk about stank! But the shell is beautiful - especially after I cleaned all the guts out of it.

We all got too much sun ( some of us even burned using SPF-50!), and none of us were ready to come home. The littlest of us summed it up best when she said after finding out we were leaving, "I'm so upset because I NO want to GO!" Who could blame her?

Even with the threat of hurricanes it seems a small price to pay for having the whole ocean at your feet.

Well, it's Another Day in Montgomery and I ask:
Who wants to go to the beach???

I feel like a doofus - and a vacation....

So, my other posts about being nervous about the upcoming events were just silliness manifesting itself. Those posts left no room for God to do His thang! My reluctance to see His Hand at work and to trust Him always sometimes dumb-founds me, especially when I've seen His Glory in my life over and over.

The first of my meetings went well, it was small and easier to handle than I expected. So, today's - should - be fine. The first of the Wednesday programs was a-ok, too. I had said we'd have 4 or 40 kids and had neither. There were 7 and 8 adults were in and around and about to tend to them. That was better that 1:1 ratio. We had one technical difficulty that took up enough time to put me back on track time-wise. I was running early and ended up being right on time. (Thank you, Jesus!). The group, being so small, was diverse in ages from 4yrs to 4th grade - so there were virtually NO discipline issues (Thank Goodness!). And - there was always someone right there to offer a suggestion as to how to transition the time better (Praise the Lord!). No one got lost or injured and no one died! SO, all in all, I would say it was a success.

After this crazy week, we are blessed with the opportunity to go out of town fr the weekend. It's our annual trip to Galveston. We go for a weekend every year and never on the same weekend and rarely in the same month each year. It is much needed - by all.

My husband has some sort of mysterious soft-tissue-issue in his neck and we had to take him to the urgent care clinic Tuesday. I made him go there because as we were eating dinner Tuesday, I watched him wince and grimace all throughout the meal as if the food smelled bad or tasted funny. (We know that could "NEVER" be true, so off we went.) They've given him some anti-inflamatory med's and told him there's not much to be done, but wait. (How fun!?) It looks like it will be a beach-lounging kind of weekend. Whoopie!!

Anyway, it's Another Day in Montgomery and I appreciate your willingness to read my ramblings, and otherwise indulge my ridiculousness! Here's to the promise of a new day and long weekends at the beach!

Two posts in as many days (Wowie-zowie)

Well, I am not blogging from the bottom of the pond. (We're all relieved, I'm sure.)

Today, I am going to date myself, but not in the traditional way by taking myself to dinner and a show. I am going to spell out how old I am.

T-H-I-R-T-Y E-I-G-H-T

There. I did it. It's not all that bad and looks worse than it is. But it's crazy-wild all the same.

Last Sunday was my birthday. June 1. The beginning of hurricane season (every year). And that alone should explain itself and my life thoroughly.

Last Sunday also happened to be the EXACT 20-year anniversary of my graduation from high school. Yes, I turned 18 and graduated from high school at the same time. It was a banner year, to be sure.

Now, 20 years later, I am here. And, frankly, I am less certain of my impending future here on earth than I was at that time. It's probably because I've seen that none of the things I thought I'd do were done and I'm not really anyone I ever thought I'd be. Which, in and of itself, is not entirely a bad thing...just weird - as per usual for me.

My 20-year reunion is this coming August. And I'm faced with a decision of going to that or staying here and performing in a little dinner-theater at the church. I've been thinking (uh-oh) - Do I go to reunion and show off that I've not done much with my life? (You see, I was voted along with my best friend, Brian, to be the most likely to have my name up in lights.) Or do I ignore the reunion, wondering how it was and staying in my little coccoon and begging off from the reunion because "I'm in a show." (Ha...can anyone say vanity?)

I've been in contact fairly recently with a few friends from long ago and most of them duck and run after I tell them I've been with the same man for 19 years, have two kids and am involved at church. I don't know if it scares them that I am involved with church, or troubled about my marriage (since most of them are on their 2nd+ ) -or- if it is just that I didn't mean as much to them as they did to me? (can anyone say insecurity?)

Anyway, it's Another Day in Montgomery and I say:
Here's to finding out 20 years later that you're insecurely vain! Lest we not forget the "bliss" that is being utterly confused!

What was I thinking?!?!

Ok, so it's been awhile since I posted and mainly it's because what little brain I do have has been swallowed up. Would that it were a giant fish; I might be inclined to just tickle his tonsils and have myself expelled. As it stands - what I'm in is up to my neck in guppies and how to deal with them.

I'm in the process of realizing just how much I have to learn about my new endeavor, how much the previous school-ers of fish knew about the endeavor and how big the pond is that I've been called to fill. It's humbling and humiliating at the same time. Ugh.

The fact of the matter is, I think that I have no idea how this is all supposed to work. I'm short-staffed (in my opinion) for an upcoming Wednesday morning program, running a skeleton crew for one of the years biggest events, and everyday being asked questions about things I never even imagined - forget about even having any suitable answers for them. (In other words, I'm low on bait, my pole's too short and I don't know what to do when the bobber dips.)

Then...I pulled a brilliant move and scheduled a training session the day before we start the Wednesday program AND the day after. Now, I've got two "big events" in the same week and I did it to myself. Ugh x's 2.

I've cold feet. There. I said it. I know people talk and love to do so. I'm nervous I'll be rich fodder for the gossip-mill. I'm concerned about the following things:

*They (being people/volunteers) are going to talk about how lame my meeting was and that I'll be under-prepared and miss things that everyone needs.
*They (being people/parents) will complain to the office about how stupidly run the Wednesday program is and that I will have to do most everything by myself.
*That I'll forget "THE" most important factor (if you know what that is, please let me know).
*That the people telling me, "Don't stress. You're doing a great job." are just saying that because they don't want to do it anymore.
*That everyone (yes, even you) will compare and contrast me against the last school-er of guppies - with me ending up at the bottom of the pond.
*That I'll be asked to leave before I even get through one thing.
*That I'm going to fail miserably.

I know part of this is because the same person who told me Sunday, about my new position, "congratulations...I guess." stopped by the office today and reminded me, "You're the one who chose to do this." (In case you were wondering, my clever replies to his comments were, "Um. Don't congratulate me, yet. I haven't done anything." and "Um. Actually I was called to do it. I just chose to say yes to it.")

Now, I know this person has never been one of my biggest fans - hence all the "ums" present in my vocabulary. But it got me to thinking anyway...and from past experience that's never a good thing.

It's Another Day in Montgomery and I just have to ask:
Can I do this? Will I be able to get through this without messing up God's plan? Is it God's plan for me to mess up? Will my next blog be from the bottom of the pond, shriveled and stinking like the used bait I feel like?