Where I'm At

We’ve moved into our new rental home. Everyone in the family is very excited, as it has been almost two and a half years since we have been in a home of our own. Moving has become somewhat of a regular affair for us, regular being a new abode every six months or so… well, twice was to my parents and once was my mother-in-law’s… Still, we’ve packed and unpacked boxes. Some, we just left packed. Until now - we are ready to empty boxes… and the storage unit... and my parent’s basement… and a friend’s basement, too. I can remember when we moved in to the house in Naperville, I said that it would be the last time I ever moved. I wanted to be buried in the backyard I said. That was 6 moves ago. Moving seems like not a big deal anymore. We have learned to live without so much stuff. It’s the people you live with that make the difference. Family makes a house a home. We have been blessed with wonderful families. Oh, how we are blessed.

In September of 2010, our pastor did a sermon series on “Storms”. In my notes, I jotted down what he said that morning (and I haven’t been the same since.) First, I simply wrote “Salt & Light is for others”. Then, “There are people waiting on the other side of the storm”. Then I scribbled Romans 8:28, which is - “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

On that fall morning, I’m not sure I knew what God was saying to me just then. But, I know that those words that came out of Glen Quirk’s mouth were directly from God, directed toward me.  On the other side of my “storm”, people are waiting for me to minister. God put it on my heart to minister in a situation. God wants me to bring someone out of a storm. I want to Glorify Him, Exalt Him and Lead others to Him.

It was that very message that led us to Florida. Many don’t know the reason we moved to Florida in the first place or even understand how we could be moved as an answer to a calling. We moved to Florida because I felt called by God to move to Florida. Mark’s family lives in Jacksonville, and I felt God telling me that we needed to be there. When God speaks, you move. In this case… literally.

We didn’t know what a future in Florida held. We knew that we would be with family and near the beach. We found jobs and a church to call our home in no time at all. But, I didn’t feel God in that place.  I tried. Oh, how hard I tried. And the devil tried harder to attack my every thought and move. So I prayed. And God moved me yet again. Well, all four of us, actually. That’s when we prayerfully decided to move back to Wisconsin. It happened all so fast some people still think we live in Florida, others don’t even know we ever left Wisconsin. I worried that our “mission” in Florida had not been accomplished. What if we didn’t do what God had planned for us to do there? Had we planted a seed? Had we made a difference? We may never know. We simply need to trust that we have been obedient to God’s plan for us.

Around the time we started thinking about moving back to Wisconsin, I read a blog post by author John Katz. He stated, “Sometimes you need to leave the things you love to understand how much you care and how much they mean.” http://www.bedlamfarm.com/blog/2011/05/20/a-tough-place-to-leave-video-off-to-new-york/. Anyone that is familiar with Kohler knows it is a special place. Often times it feels surreal, in both a “Pleasantville” and “Stepford” kind of way. There were a number of reasons we considered when it came to our move back that had to do with the schools, jobs, and church, down to simply missing living in the Midwest. The old sayings, “You don’t know what you got ‘til it’s gone” and “you can take the girl out of the [Midwest] but not the [Midwest] outta the girl”, certainly can stand true.

But on the other side of things, recently while listening to Joyce Meyer on the radio regarding developing discipline, she said, “You need to stay where you want to run away from – there is work to be done!” Wow. That hit me hard. When we left here a year ago, I was running. I was running from people, places and things… I often still feel like I want to crawl under a proverbial rock and hide. Some of this stems from my depression, some from our recent (and past) circumstances, or simply it’s from my own baggage. But just as I felt God was telling me to get out of the boat in the storm because people were waiting for me in Florida… there were also people I left here in Wisconsin with my unfinished story, when I had just begun telling it (or living it, for that matter). I know that God is working in me here… and I have much work to do. I have a lot yet to learn and much to embrace where I am at. This was confirmed to me today, as our new pastor said “As we are preached to, we then do the preaching.” We use our personal stories and experiences to give out the truth and love of God’s Word. And so it continues, here in Kohler, Wisconsin. More to come…

Before it's too late: click Watch Trailer!

Then go to the theatre to see the whole thing.

Fireproof

This looks incredible! Be sure to watch the trailer and the music videos. Looks to be a powerful message through film.

It's just a jump to the left. And then a step to the right.

With your hands on your hips... Name that tune?

Check. Check one. Two. Is this thing on? Hi. It's me. I'm here. I'm back. I'm alive. I was gone. But I came back. I did. Did you even miss me? Did you give up all hope? I can't archive all my old entries. A lot has happened since I started this crazy thing, called blog. Are you new here? Are you my blog stalker? You know who you are... are you still with me? Are you a lurker? Do you check all the time to see if I have posted a new entry? Then leave a comment! No lurking for you! Okay, that latte I had is making me loopy. Until next time... Same bat-time. Same bat-channel.

Let's do the time-warp again...

That's Incredible!

Anyone remember that show? You know, I think I am thinking of That’s Incredible, but I believe it was Real People with Sarah Purcell. Do you remember that show? It’s what That’s Incredible is the spin-off of. Anyway, the only Incredible we worry about in this house these days is Mr. and Elastigirl. The kids love the movie The Incredibles. Frankly, so do I. Even before the kids had seen the movie and got on the superhero craze, I snapped a picture of my two adorable children in the dress up outfits of Batman and Superman, well, Supergirl in this case. With April coming to a close, I have only hours left of National Donate Life Month. I had planned on sending an email blast to tell everyone to be a Superhero and sign a donor card. But when we moved back in the house after getting the hardwood floors done, the month was half over. It still feels as though it should be April 15th or something. I didn’t do a lot of things I wanted to this month. So, I’m just going to post the picture and information here, now. Be an organ and tissue donor and don't forget to tell all your friends and family to be a superhero, too! Just tell them:

Want to be a Superhero? It's easy!
All you have to do is print this card ,
fill it out and carry it with you.
Just be sure to inform your family of your wishes.

Outfit changes in phone booth optional.

Well it’s no wonder the man is retiring

I read that after the next Tour de France Lance Armstrong is retiring. Well, after tonight’s Cardio Cycling class at the Y, I can see why! My word, it was so hard! I can’t stand and pedal (known as second position) or do third position either which is like leaning over the bike. Holy smokes, I had two six-pound babies with no epidural and it was less painful than sitting on that spin bike seat. I even had the add-on cushy seat thing! I’ll tell ya, I am going to be sore tomorrow. I can’t believe that when he had cancer and things swelled on him that he just kept movin' on! You know what I am talking about right, you all watch Oprah, don’t you? They talked about it. I don’t want to talk about it. But one thing is for sure; I am ordering a Live Strong band ASAP. I don’t have one. I have a green Donate Life and a purple Live Well (National Kidney Foundation for kidney health awareness) but I hadn’t been quick to get the Live Strong one. Well, I’m gettin' one. I’m also going to dive into the book that he wrote that my friend Amy let me borrow. Now I am intrigued. All from one little bike ride. I came in the house and said to Mark, ”That was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.” He says to me, “What? Ride a bike?” Mark won’t be doing much of anything but watching movies and eating bon bons here in the next week. He’s getting his hernia(s) repaired down at Northwestern. I am kind of freaking out about it, but trying to stay relatively calm. I know that things won’t be as hectic as they were when he had his transplant. But the same transplant surgeon that did the kidney-pancreas will do this procedure, as well. That’s good. It’s also like an hour and half surgery instead of eight. Still, it’s scary and just well, okay, scary. So, I’ll be even more nuts than I have been this week. I am so distracted. I seriously am just not together. I realized it when I took Remy to school today. But man, I don’t know what it is. (The full moon?) Maybe Mark’s surgery is a subconscious worry. This also just happens to be the busiest time of year in general for me. But if I wasn’t this busy, I would be miserable. I have to be busy, it’s just something about me. My kids are well on their way. They don’t seem to be happy lately unless they are miserable. It saddens be greatly. Remy had picked out an outfit that totally didn’t match and I said okay to it. It’s a battle I am trying not to pick anymore. But, even after saying yes (did she think I would say no?), she still was upset and went on to pick something even more mismatched. She was upset with me about having to wear long sleeves so she just went way over the top on this one. But, it all got straightened out and she went to school looking lovely. When Remy went to bed I sat with her for a bit, and Taffy was lying in there with us. I love to see how much she likes having a dog. She had her arm wrapped around her and would stroke her fur now and again. It was sweet. Then, you could tell it kind of bugged her. Taffy was kind of laying on her legs on top the blankets. Remy tried moving a bit and couldn’t. As we laid there listening to the Playhouse Disney CD, the Great Big Book of Everything song from Stanley came on. There’s this part in the song with kazoos that reminds me of Sixteen Candles! That made me think of teen movies, which I still love. I think Clueless is one of my favorite movies. I loved Felicity and 90210 when that was all on TV, too. Speaking of ages ago, they had great tunes in this Cardio Cycling class tonight. I’d like to be able to get the “Y” soundtrack. It was a great mix of Beastie Boys and Red Hot Chili Peppers with some Green Day and Kelly Clarkson mixed in. Yes, you read that right. This chick that’s never watched American Idol likes Kelly Clarkson. My niece would be so proud! I want to start making my own CD’s to play in the car. When the weather gets nice I love blasting the tunes with the windows down. Yeah, I still think I’m, like, 18. I must look so cool in my SUV... with the carseats in back. I am a total dork. And, how many places do I really go by myself. Yeah, that’s me in the grocery store parking lot, jammin’. Getting back, it must take a lot of time to do though, compile all the songs you like. How do people do it for iPods and stuff? I am so not there yet. I looked at the Yahoo Buzz the other night and checked out the soundtrack music links, I love soundtracks! One link led me to the Garden State soundtrack; the movie from Zach Braff. I like him on Scrubs. Funny guy. That then led me to his blog. I am so intrigued by this blog thing. Especially intrigued by the celebrity blog. I checked out David Duchuvny’s (he is promoting his latest film, House of D), which is here on Blogger, before starting my own blog. I used to watch X-Files with Mark but I love Return to Me with him and Minnie Driver. You know, it’s a transplant movie. We actually saw it long before we even knew about Mark needing one. Weird when I think about it now. I can’t even get through the movie now without bawling. So, it’s neat to me to read these other people’s random (promotional, subliminal perhaps even?) thoughts. Totally enjoying Zach Braff’s blog, though it makes me question if it’s his or not at this point. Pretty sure it’s him. He writes, “anyone saying it’s me at any other site isn’t me.” That’s like when you get those emails that are a hoax. See Step 3 from about.com’s steps to spot an email hoax:

3. Look for statements like 'This is NOT a hoax' or 'This is NOT an urban legend.' They typically mean the opposite of what they say.

Okay, so maybe not totally the same. But it seems like it to me. Make a note to self - bookmark the about.com Urban Legends site and go there anytime you question an email that you get. Do that before sending it on to everyone else! Now, back to the ZB blog, he does something that I think is cool. He’ll list things to check out, like music or just sayings or whatever, sometimes-random thoughts. So, here’s my list:

Live Strong
Moreena started it all for me!
And yes… I’m still feeling the burn.