I want to be moved...

Wow, so much has happened in the last week. I was thinking it had been almost a month since last posting. Funny, time. One minute, I want it to slow down, the next, I am all about getting there and getting it done. No pun intended.

Last Tuesday I had lunch with some of the moms from my children's school. Our annual fundraiser is Friday and we were meeting to complete last minute details. A father of one of the children in the school was just air lifted from our smaller community hospital to a larger one. We prayed for him at lunch and have prayed for him fervently for the last week. He went to be with the Lord yesterday afternoon. I cannot imagine losing my husband, my children's father. I don't even know where to begin. The funeral will be this weekend. He has three small children and a loving wife. What to say? do? Why??? We met this morning at school and had our Mom's in Touch Prayer time. Praising God in the midst of tragedy. Glorifying Him in the midst of sorrow. I never thought I would be able to do that. One of the children prayed with his parents last night the his (the father's) ears not pop on his way to heaven. My daughter asked why I was sad..."Mom, I want to go there too! Heaven is going to be wonderful. You need to read about it in Revelations Mom, it sounds so beautiful!" How is it that they are so filled with faith? Where do we become jaded? (Puberty???)

Anyway, I was listening to Ginny Owens on the way to school with my daughter this morning. Her songs touch my heart and are so appropriate in so many of daily life activities. There is a chorus: I don't want to be a flame, I want to be a raging fire. Tired of my will, my way, Your calling is higher. And I know its time I stopped running from the truth. So, I'll stand here, still until I'm filled, I want to be moved....I am going to attempt to link the song....huge in my world! Such appropriate lyrics. God calls us to move. God calls us to act. Having faith is not passive, it is active. I am learning more and more. I have the desire to learn, read, discuss and learn some more about God and His will. I was really disappointed that our prayers were not answered and that he was not healed. If I have learned nothing else, though, I have learned that God's will is best and He will bring goodness from pain and loss. I pray that for the family who lost their daddy and husband this week. I pray that for the loss of children or other loved ones. I pray. God's will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

What is for dinner?

Tonight we had London Broil, Broccoli Salad and Couscous for dinner. Quite simple, considering we broiled the meat, ate salad from a bag and couscous from a box. My query is, is this normal? Am I doing my family a disservice with simplicity? Or, is this a good thing, because it did not consist of eating out or in a drive thru? I love to make a nice dinner. I hate cleaning up after myself. I love to hear my husband say, "Wow, honey, this is wonderful." I hate hearing my 6 year old say, "No. Way. I am not eating that! I want cereal. I want Peanut Butter." Do you make your child eat what is served? I am in awe at what my niece and nephew eat on a daily basis. Candace is like a gourmet cook compared to me. AND, they eat it! Amazing!

They were here this weekend and we had, what I consider, my favorite breakfast. Crepes with berries and buttermilk syrup. I probably would not have eaten this 5 years ago. Food holds too many hang ups for me. But, it is worth the effort and the wait. Spectacular, I mean it. Thanks to Candace and my little brother, Jay, our whole food intake has changed. For the better. They gave me confidence to try new things. Not to mention, she made many of the dinners so, having someone else cook for you is always a plus!

Just wondering what food means in your house? Do you have picky eaters? Kids that love it all? Recipe for crepes a la berries to follow:

Crepes: 3/4 cup flour
Pinch of salt
1 1/4 cup of milk
2 eggs
1 tbs melted butter

Mix well until smooth. Melt butter in skillet. Pour 2-3 tbsp in pan; quickly tilt pan in all directions so batter covers bottom. Use more batter if you are using a 10 inch skillet. Cook 1 minute until crepe can be loosened easily. Flip and cook another 30 seconds. Wrap with berries and cover with buttermilk syrup. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Buttermilk-Syrup/Detail.aspx Berries we use are blackberries, raspberries and blueberries.

PERFECT FOR SATURDAY OR SUNDAY. Saturday usually works better for us because we are always rushing for church. Hope you enjoy them!

Interesting...

Okay, I find this incredibly interesting and because I have no where else to post it, I am going to here. Adding up some of tonight's results, McCain seems to be winning because he has the most points of any one individual. But, if you add up the results of all of the other candidates, some of which are not even running any longer, the "others" beat him. I think that the RNC needs to take note that there is still some unrest about Senator McCain. There are plenty of people willing to stand on their principles and vote for other candidates that have suspended their campaigns and those numbers, plus those of Huckabee and Paul, add up to "significance." I don't think we need to "calm down," I think McCain needs to step up in a serious way if he wants to be anywhere near the White House next year.

McCain needs to get rid of his advisor: http://michellemalkin.com/2008/01/27/in-his-own-words-mccains-hispanic-outreach-
director-preaches-open-borders/

McCain needs to take a stand to the right on this loan:
http://michellemalkin.com/2008/02/12/14-billion-border-
securitystimulus-bucks-for-mexico-but-what-about-our-fence/

And McCain needs to stop appearing with Joe Lieberman:


I am so tired of all of this already and it is only February! We need a different primary process.
We have not even gotten to vote yet for Pete's sake!

I believe in smaller government, lower taxes, winning in Iraq, having PERSONAL responsibility for decisions I make GOOD and BAD, freedom of religion, marriage is between and man and a woman, life begins with conception and that illegal immigrants should have to wait in the same line to come to this wonderful country that every immigrant has to wait in...oh, and I also believe in the right to bear arms! I don't believe in entitlement programs, higher taxes, amnesty, gay marriage, abortion and aborting our mission and commitment in Iraq.

I have wrestled for the better part of my adult life with some of those issues and have wondered what God would have me do, believe. I am a Christian --I believe that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. I believe that God calls us to be responsible for our actions, for our tongues, for our management of money. I believe He calls us to follow laws, His laws and teachings above all else. Please, don't get me wrong. I love the American Dream and all that America has to offer. I love the diversity of our culture. But WHY does that make it all right for 12-15 million people to be able to do it the wrong way when all of the others have to do it the right way. What is the point? I believe in One Nation under God-indivisible. I believe that our Founding Fathers sought God's will when they drafted the U. S. Constitution and that, if not for our Christian heritage, we could be living a very different American "dream." What if our country was founded in Hindu beliefs? Islamic beliefs?

Okay, I am no longer shaking. I think I have that out of my system. If you made it this far, thanks for reading! Any opinions would be welcome debate. Night...

What a difference a week makes...

Well, I finished ONE of my 40 books for the year this afternoon. The Potluck Club-a novel by Linda Evans Shepherd and Eva Marie Everson. Great read, funny and sad with recipes to boot. Makes me wish for a potluck club of my own. My sister, Sara, has actully started a dinner club with some of her buddies from work. They are going to start next Wednesday so I will let you know how it goes. I think that would be fun. And, it would make me clean the dickens out of my house at least once a month. I can always use some inspiration!

My political "virtues and morals" have all been dumped with the withdrawl of Mitt Romney. I was really hoping for a brokered convention so that we might get a true(r) conservative for the Republican nominee but the "establishment" is getting behind McCain so...yuck. My husband says, "Why vote for the lesser of two evils." I would really like to have a smaller national government, less spending and less taxes for all. So, hopefully, voting AGAINST Hillary/Obama will get us closer to that end. November is a LLOONNGG way off!

Speaking of less spending, the other book that I have been reading is the Dave Ramsey book about getting out of debt and changing habits. I have put that book down for the moment. I got to the budget part and choked. I cannot do it. I would like to do it but, seeing how all of our oldest daughter's college tuition is coming out of nowhere at the moment, a budget seems a little far fetched. I am on a plan to be out of credit card debt by August. I am so hoping that comes to fruition. I cannot believe it is already February--UG!

Back to the 40 things to do this year...does anyone have any good books they have read lately? I love Christian Fiction and mysteries. I need to get my list back up to keep me focused. (Anything to help with focus is a plus!) I love that Steffany has set a goal to run a 1/2 marathon. I cannot see that in my future but, what an accomplishment. Maybe if she shares her story I will feel inspired (hint). Running hurts my legs, like the shin area. I would really like to have that as a life accomplishment though. Anyone for rock climbing?

Anyway, I hope that this finds you well and that you are able to find reasons to celebrate this week. It will only happen once so MAKE IT COUNT!

Great News...

Major news today--the sun rose after Super Tuesday and a McCain "win" and I am happy, alive, blessed and loved in spite of it. Whew, I thought that would be close. Curtis would not let me watch tv last night. I am thankful. As for politics, I am still hoping for a brokered convention. As for life in general, my friend Ann put it in perspective: we lived through 8 years of Bill, we can live through 4-8 years of McCain. I CANNOT believe I just typed that "out loud!" I truly don't want that man representing the United States...but, I definately don't want Hillary so, there you go!

On to other Major news...I finished the quilt I have been working on AND got it off to the professional quilter to have it machine quilted today! Yeah! I was drafted by my lovey to do the kindergarten quilt for our fundraiser at school. It turned out so cute with the kids each contributing at least one square. HUGE check on the to-do list. Did not even think to take a picture of it. I'll have to do that once I get it back.

Our company left this afternoon to head back to Pennsylvania. My friend Ann and her husband and daughter were here visiting. We had a wonderful time. They used to live here in New Braunfels and our daughters were the best of friends for the first 3 years of their lives. They are still pretty good friends now because they share the same interests and we are able to get together every few years. We were blessed to see them twice in the last year. This summer we were able to get to New York and see Beauty and the Beast together on Broadway. That was the best show...highly recommend it. I am extremely thankful for Ann. She is a friend for life and I am glad to know her and to be able to call her such!

The weather here today is absolutely gorgeous--in the mid 60's with BEAutiful blue skies. My son is ready to ride bikes and I am sitting on my bottom blogging...something is wrong with this picture! So, off we go. May God bless you and keep you!

God Can...just because He can!

I have been running on fumes for the last few days! I am so encouraged by the news I received tonight though...my children attend a private, Christian school in San Marcos, Texas. It is called The Master's School. It was founded through prayer by one woman and some of her friends; they rallied around her and together, made it happen. Anyway, that was in 1993. Tonight, I went to a meeting about the future of the school. The meeting was rolling along and everything was FANTASTIC and then, the best news ever...the land for the new school was GIVEN to us today, FREE and CLEAR! I know that may seem little to all in the blogosphere, but that is INCREDIBLE to those of us attending this little school. God is so incredibly GOOD! I cannot begin to express how exciting it was to hear those words. The entire room burst in to applause. So, I may have been on fumes, trying to collect silent auction items, make a quilt, finishing school projects, son having surgery, putting up with unlikely visitors, hosting company from out of town, etc. but GOD was pulling it all together to give me hope, energy and joy for tomorrow. I am reminded by the book of Jeremiah where they had to build a wall...I don't know the exact place...but God gave them the instructions and they all pitched in to make it happen. WOW! YEAH! Just had to share. May tomorrow bring you hope and peace (...like a river...) and may you see the power of God in your day!