The last 15 hours . . .

Here's my last 15 hours:

Bella=vomitting and liquid diarrhea - at the same time
Cleaning vomit and diarrhea from clothing, carpet, sink, toilet, blanket
More vomit and diarrhea
More cleaning
6 hours of interrupted sleep (who sleeps well when their baby could barf at any moment?)
Rushing Faith and her buddies to preschool (my day for carpool) praying that there would be no vomit or diarrhea incidents
Glitter all over the playroom . . . including the DOG! That's right, the dog looks stunning . . . how long do you think it will
take for all the glitter to disappear?

So far - no more vomit or diarrhea - that's forward progress.

As for the glitter? I think we'll be finding it for years to come!

Tonight is date night . . . boy do I need it!

Here's hoping Faith stays healthy, so we can have a babysitter!

Calgon . . . take me away!

Zone of the Unknown

I've been reading a great book called Just Walk Across the Room by Bill Hybles. The concept is very simple - Jesus wants us to care about people the way he did - and if we're going to do that we need to be willing to go outside our comfort zone into the "Zone of the Unknown".

This whole thing with Joshua (see my last post) - in addition to reading this book - has me feeling very challenged in entering the "Zone of the Unknown".

I think we've all had it were we feel something in our 'gut' - sometimes quite literally - that leads us to say something to someone, confront an issue, help a stranger, give someone a smile or encouraging word or call someone we haven't talked to in ages. If you're like me, sometimes you listen to this still small voice, sometimes you ignore it and move on.

My goal is to keep my spiritual ears open to the propting of the Holy Spirit. I'm going to jump right in to the "Zone of the Unknown" and ask the Lord what he would have me do, or say, or NOT say for him each day. So often, my days are focused on what I want to do, or what I want to accomplish. My goal is now to focus on what Christ can do through me - on making myself available for his purposes - not just my own.

I hope my ears will be open to the Spirit's prompting. Sometimes it's so quiet, it hardly registers as a whisper, and I find myself thinking, "Is this just me, or is this from God?" It's hard to discern sometimes, isn't it?

Then there are times - like this whole Joshua deal - that I feel like it couldn't have been any clearer than if God spray painted the message on my garage door! I found out that Joshua only has one 30 minute visit per week. The chances of me actually getting in to see him is pretty low. I mean, honestly, will he choose to talk to his old 4th grade teacher over his family or friends? That said, however, I still feel a very strong promting from the Holy Spirit to move ahead with trying! If God wants me to go, he'll open the doors, right? So for now, I'm going to start with writing Joshua a letter. Please pray with me that this will open the door for one to one contact with him in the future!

How about you? Is there someone you need to call? or have coffee with? Is there a neighbor or co-worker that you can make these first steps with? Is the Holy Spirit prompting you? Enter the "Zone of the Unknown" with me! It's going to be a wild ride!

A Prediction Come True

Unbelievable!

Last night I got a call from the gal I used to teach with several years back. She told me that one of my past students had been arrested for attempted murder! No Way! You can read the story here.

Joshua was one of those kids you don't soon forget. He was always in trouble, picking on kids and trying to get a rise out of teachers . . . Just an example: he announced to my whole class of 4th graders exactly what Monica Lewinski did to President Clinton - in detail. Nice, huh? Try explaining that one to the parents! I remember saying to my team teacher, "I'm going to see this kids picture on TV someday for doing something terrible." Well, yesterday was that day! I still can't believe it!

I went from shock to having a very heavy heart.

Joshua came from an extremely unstable home - complete with domestic violence - among other things. He was always after attention - even if it meant/especially if it meant -negative attention. I did my best to hug him often, and encourage him in the things he did well. He was a very smart boy. He did well academically. He had beautiful penmanship. He was very athletic. He had so much potential to overcome his circumstances - to do something positive with his life!

Yet, out of his need for approval and affection, he decided to join a gang.

My heart aches for him, because I know that he lacks the one thing that would give him identity and purpose - a relationship with Jesus. He's trying to fill the gaping hole in is life with everything but Jesus.

I was catching up with my New Testament reading yesterday (before I had heard about this) and read the passage from Matthew 25 that says, "For I was hungry and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me."

As I was reading this yesterday, I remember thinking specifically about that statement. That's one thing I have never done . . . visit someone in prison.

Then I got the phone call.

Now I have someone to visit. I don't know what I'll say when I get there.

Sometimes God is subtle, sometimes not . . .

Why do we live here again?

My question for the day is this: Why do we live here?

When we could live here instead?

You know it's winter in the mid-west when:

• there are two feet of snow on your deck
• you can't fall asleep because your house is making so much noise as a result of wood contracting as it tries to shrink in the cold
• you have to jump start your car because your battery is experiencing hypothermia
• the digital thermometer in your car reads in the negative
• it's so cold that salt doesn't melt the snow anymore
• your boogers freeze in your nose
• the snow squeaks beneath your feet!
• you haven't seen more than 2 minutes of sun in more than a month
• your arms are as white as your butt
• you feel depressed due to your whiteness, lack of sunshine and cabin fever
• when your energy bill is nearing $300

How about a California winter, or a Florida winter?

• 80 degree temps
• sunshine all the time (OK almost all the time)
• bronzed skin - that healthy glow
• sand squeaking beneath your bare toes
• feeling refreshed and energized by the sun, sand and happy, tan people
• cars starting with ease
• did I mention the warm, happy sunshine

I've concluded that people need the Lord in warm places too. We don't need to stay in the freezing cold to do His will . . . who's with me?

Question of the day . . .

How long can wet laundry sit in your washer before you have to re-wash it?

Bye Bye Birdy!

Well, we had to say good bye to our little "Pijjy". Yesterday I made several calls to find out what to do with a lost homing pigeon. I finally was given the name and number of the veterenarian for our local zoo. They have several stray, wild animals that live with them, and they offered to take Pijjy off our hands.

She explained that most owners of homing pigeons don't want the ones that fly off course back . . . apparently they're a flight risk (tee hee). What good is a homing pigeon that doesn't come home?

Anyway, we thoroughly enjoyed our 36 hours with Pijjy, but it was time to bid farewell. So, don't be holding your breath for your "air-mail" delivered packages from us!