October Joy

It is Sunday afternoon and I am at Radinas in aggieville with Leah.

 Went to church this morning and had an awesome Sunday school lesson with the TRU group then a great service and sermon by Dave Romero.  It was called Be Still and Know I Am God.  What I got out of it most was to get in an unforced rhythm of grace with God.  I want to be more conscious of God and listen to His leading all throughout the day, to see others as He sees them, to respond to the needs of others.  All I need to do is to stay in rhythm with Him and accept His grace to do this.  It was very inspiring.

I have to take a time out and mention the conversations around me in this coffeeshop.  There is a small group of young people nearby who are planning a film shoot.  There is a lady behind me talking about voice training for a choir.  There are some ladies also behind me doing a Bible study.  Another table is talking about people they hate.  Humm...

Last night we went to the wedding celebration of Josh and McKenzie Garcia, the son of Mary who is in our small group.  We always love spending time with these people.  

Yesterday Leah and I went to Topeka.  We spent some time with my mom in law, Julie, and met Ian and Season at Chipotle.  I wish id taken a picture of them.  They are such precious people.  It was so good to spend time with them.  Ironically, in walked Larry and Joanna who don't even live in Topeka!  

Leah and I then went to the soccer fields and watched Scott coach his U10 girls.  So fun to watch and they did really well!

I enjoy having Leah home.  

Friday was a work day and I had meetings most of the day.  I got done some of the things I needed to, but not all.  Oh well!  This week was also school safety week so we had a reverse evacuation, severe weather drill, enhanced fire drill complete with smoke, a lock down drill, evacuation drill where we walk the entire school to a church five blocks away, and a lock down drill.  

Also this week, I took Adelle to a movie event called Surge put on by acquire the Fire.  We ran into a former student of mine, Tedi, and she was thrilled to see us.  She was totally into the music and message.  At the end, Adelle lifted her hand and prayed to accept Christ as her Saviour.  She said she's done it before but it was still very cool.  

They have their eyes closed due to the flash in the dark theater.  

I love weekends

I do love weekends.  

Friday nights I am exhausted but relaxed and looking forward the the weekend ahead.  I always take a nap after work then have a snack and go work out at 5:30.  Step class plus some weights.  Good stuff.  Then I order our Chipotle and go get it and bring it home.  If its nice, we eat on the back deck.  Then we just chill.  This Friday night we watched a movie about a guy in the fifties who wanted to prove that Polynesians were settled by Peruvians so he and a group of guys built a raft and put it in the ocean and drifted all the way across.  It was cool.  I never make it very late on Friday night before turning in.

Saturday mornings I get up after sleeping as late as possible which is now around 9 am.  I take my time with my morning devotions and prayer journal.  Then I make my to do lists and plan the weekly meals and make my grocery list.  I love doing that!  The best part of weekends is filling the pantry and fridge, cleaning to make everything shiny, fill the gas tank, getting the stinky laundry all clean and folded and put away, doing my nails, pick up new library books, and just take care of all the little things that have bugged me but I've ignored all week.  I also like spending time with Scott.  And Adelle.  Adelle likes helping me grocery shop and run errands.  

Last night we had some friends, Fedra and Jose and daughter Maya over for homemade enchiladas that I bought from an old friend.  We met Fedra and Jose at the gym.  They've been in my step classes for years and we've wanted to have them over for a long time.  We had a nice dinner and drank chocolate wine, yum.  We turned on the dance kinect game and danced until we were sweaty.

On Sundays, we've been getting up earlier than usual to go to Connection Hour at 9:45 because our TRU group has been meeting to "learn" how to be evangelical in our relationships and intentional,as we prepare to launch small groups and a church.  

This afternoon I wrote a hands blog for Leah's blog, A Clover and a Bee, and then repotted a begonia plant to bring inside and made a flower thing for the front door.

The rest of the afternoon I want to talk to the kids and the parents on the phone and read my latest book.

Then Sunday evenings we meet from 6:30 to 8:30 with our small group of friends who've become very precious to us, the Funks, Turners, Ridders, and Quintanars.  We have been meeting together studying the Bible and sharing our hearts for years now.  These are the people who help us carry our burdens, who know the most about us, who hold us accountable and who love us unconditionally (and we do this for them, also).  

I hope your weekends are as amazing as mine.  

These Hands

These hands are 51 years old.

They bathe and dress and put on my makeup early every morning.

They drink coffee, eat breakfast and write verses and prayers to change my heart and feed my soul.

These hands fist bump kids in the middle school hallways and take notes at endless meetings.

But these hands reach out to troubled teens and pray with women recovering from the sex industry.

These hands pet my soft dog, play with my iPad and turn hundreds of pages of books to help me relax.

They clean, grocery shop, fold laundry and decorate this beautiful home we are blessed with.

They fist pump to loud music in the car with my Little Sister, Adelle every Saturday.

They rub my husbands back.

They lift weights to make me strong and healthy.

They call my grown kids and aging parents and drive to see them for precious visits.

These hands join with God's people in prayer for the hurting and broken, hoping to share the love we've experienced with the world.

Mama

It's official.  I have opened every app on my iPad today.  

Yesterday after work, I drove to Leavenworth as Mom had surgery.  Dave took her to the hospital and waited all day.  He thinks I have the hard part.  Lol.  They'd just gotten home when I got here.  Mom had her bladder lifted under light sedation.  She did real well.  She went to sleep at 7 last night.  So I farted around, made myself some dinner, watched the voice, settled in.  Her cat had a huge owie on his neck and smelled like a corpse.  I've never actually smelled a corpse.  I finally went to bed in my little middle bedroom at 10 and read til sleep.

Mom got up several times in the night and I finally willed myself to wake up and get her a pain pill.  We slept then til 8.

Fixed mama some breakfast, had some coffee then I went for a run! I ran quite a way before I walked.  Got back and showered then caught the cat with a towel and put it in a cat carrier and took the silly thing to the vet.  It complained the whole way. Made a Wally World run then back to the house.  I did some work stuff, painted both our nails, had an early lunch, sat on the deck in the beautiful cool sunshine for awhile, played on the iPad, and read.  We hung out back on Mom's bed together while she rested and I fell asleep:).  Picked up the cat at the vet and I drove by my childhood house and grade school on the way.  Memory lane.  Ate some pizza for dinner and made mama some pumpkin muffins, then watched the voice and played on the iPad some more.  I went for a walk in the early evening.  Soon we'll watch Chicago Fire.  

If I was home, I'd have worked today and gone to the gym but at home would have done pretty much the same stuff.  With Rex.  And Scott.  

Home tomorrow.