Sometimes I Write

Tonight was our farewell party. We received some beautiful gifts. Our friend David, who went on the DB trip last summer, had a picture of the group up on the mountain blown up to about 20X30, and framed for us. It’s breathtaking! Our teens made us a memory quilt of pictures and each teen decorated their own square. It’s bright , beautiful, and made me cry. The congregation got us a coffee table book about Kansas and everyone was signing it. (No, the Wizard of Oz is not on the cover). And finally, we received a basket with a cow bank in the middle with cash around it for the grass. Gary called it our cash cow :). I wasn’t as teary as I thought I’d be and it was nice to hear people affirming our decision to follow God’s call to Denver. I’m so thankful Westlink is going to continue supporting and encouraging us. We also had some very generous friends bless us with a check. Can’t tell you who, but we are so grateful! My friend who said she wasn’t coming to the party was there too. Her son loves Benny so much that he bought him a sword, which Benny loved! It meant alot that a teenaged boy went out of his way to not only buy him one of his favorite things, but he picked out a beautiful oriental style card to go with it and really blessed Benny with his words. God is so great!

The ladies are taking me to afternoon tea at Aunt Hattie’s on Friday. My friend Tawnya (college friend) is coming from Kansas City to see us next week. It’s packing time people! My procrastinating ways are NOT helping! It is a little weird to be getting packing boxes from the Farley’s as they are moving in. What a world I live in.

Today was my last BSF class before the move. It was awesome – as always. It was also our fellowship day. I had such a nice lunch with my discussion group ladies. I’ve blogged about them before. I love these women and I’m going to miss them so much! Kathleen made our family a basket of goodies for our trip out to Colorado…crayons, coloring books, snacks, mini stuffed animals, etc. I am so blessed to have such caring and giving friends.

I have a special prayer request for my son Max. But first – a praise for him…he read his first book by himself yesterday! We were both so proud! YEAH MAX!

Now for prayers: These past few weeks he’s had a few nightmares and we even caught him sleep walking once. But, lastnight he woke us up screaming and we couldn’t calm him down. When I tried to hold him he pushed me away looking at me in terror, yet when he got away from me, he quickly came back and crawled into my lap, clinging to me and crying. He kept saying he was scared, but it was obvious he wasn’t awake. I was freaked out! After he calmed down a bit I held him and talked softly while stroking his hair. I prayed over him out loud in case he could hear me, and he just drifted off and was fine the rest of the night. The whole episode lasted about 15 minutes. Meanwhile Benny got on the net and found some info that described all this as a night terror. I’m still not clear about what we’re supposed to do about this. I’m still searching for more answers. Please just pray that he will get rest, and that it doesn’t happen again. My BSF friends said this is fairly normal for his age. It just caught me by surprise and scared the crap out of me. Ofcourse I questioned if it was all of the change taking place, or maybe he was overly tired because he didn’t have a rest time yesterday. I don’t know. As a parent those moments of helplessness are horrible. He had such a great day before that point. I hope everyone at my house sleeps through the night tonight! Thanks for the prayers!

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I’ve been waiting for so long and it’s finally here! John & Stasi Eldredge’s latest book! I pre-bought my copy over a month ago, but they are offering a special price if you order it from their website before April 15th. I know it’s going to be great and I plan to buy a few extra copies for some of my favorite women. What a gift! Here’s a description for you and a link to their site:

Description: What Wild at Heart did for men, Captivating offers for women – to heal their hearts, set them free as women. This book unveils the glorious design of women before the fall, describes how a woman is wounded in her life, and how her feminine heart can be restored. It also reveals the power, freedom, and beauty of a woman released to be all she was meant to be. Every woman longs to be romanced, to play an irreplaceable role in a great adventure, and to be the Beauty in the story, to unveil beauty. That is the life God intends for her; that is the life Jesus invites a woman into as his Beloved.

click here to link to the Ransomed Heart site.

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Updates:
1. The consignment sale went great! I sold 158 items out of 168 that I consigned! YEAH!
2. The fish was o.k. It wouldn’t hurt my feelings if we never had it again. The Claddaugh must have a secret recipe or something!
3. I still haven’t thought of a book – my friend didn’t ask today, but we’re having lunch tomorrow so maybe she’ll just surprise me.
4. The Farley’s (new youth minister) are here full time now. I truly hope they like Wichita and I’m sure they’ll be a great blessing to Westlink. I hope Westlink blesses them too.
5. Our family’s website is up and running now though it is not exactly the way we want it yet. Check it out at www.teamdrybones.com

Old Friend:

I had a long talk with my friend Tim lastnight. He used to be my Partner in crime at Soul Quest and Zenith. We had connections before that though. I went to college with his younger brother at York in the early nineties. Anyway, it’s been a long time since we’ve talked. The last talk we had was last fall when we asked him to pray about the possibilities surrounding our future with Dry Bones. (I feel guilty for not keeping in touch better). Before I handed off the phone to Benny, we got an interesting dialogue going about the state of the church and the world around it. You know, the same things I’ve been blogging about and reading on friend’s blogs…Are we relevant to the world today? Is there a better way to be Jesus to the masses? Are we too inward focused? Good traditions aside, are we pleasing God with our worship? How big is too big for a church? Why are we inviting people in to join us instead of going out to join them? Lots of interesting things to talk about. Tim said he’s been thinking about these things for many years, but just recently started talking with people about it. I think he said I was the 2nd one he had discussed this with. He encouraged me to get a dialogue going with our friends, and on my blog. I told him which blogs I read to be encouraged, blessed and challenged.

I asked if he’s read McLaren yet. He’s never heard of him before. There are so many out there leading the way down a new path, a road less traveled so to speak. There is a throng of people that want to make a difference in our world today and are willing to try different methods to do that, and yet there is a group that claims it’s all apostasy and those of us who are desiring the “different” are falling away from God. I know that the Bible is clear that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever – he never changes, but it is also clear that his methods did change. He taught and trained the people in OT times with different methods, signs, laws, etc. than he did with the people in NT times. Don’t you think he could be doing the same with us?

Over and over again I read in scripture that Jesus WENT to the people, with the people, and loved the people. When news spread about the miracles he was performing, people flocked to him like sheep without a shepherd. He had compassion on them and told them stories using everyday examples they would be familiar with so they might understand a little easier what he was trying to teach them. He ate with them, and stayed in their homes, even though they were despised by society. It seems to me that his methods worked, why not try it now? I know there are many who are, so don’t think I’m just griping to gripe. Sometimes I just feel like my denomination is so secluded and afraid of being like the world, so they stay in the “Christian world” that has been created, where it’s safe. Again, I know I am not the spokesperson for my denomination. I’m struggling to find my place in the bigger picture.

I’m sure I’ll post more on this later. Until then, I welcome the dialogue and the new perspectives that are out there. Any thoughts?

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I mentioned the other day that I don’t know how to say goodbye. One of my friends told me after church Wednesday night that she’s not coming next Wednesday (that’s our going away party) because she’s not good at goodbyes. I hope she was kidding, but I’m not sure. Her family is having a hard time with us leaving, especially her son. My friend and her husband went through a divorce last year, and Benny is one of the few men her son trusts. She’s also on my Bunco team and everytime the subject comes up of us leaving she says she doesn’t want to talk about it. I don’t know what to do about her. My last Bunco game was last week at Danita’s 😦

Another friend asked me if someone hypothetically wanted to buy me a book, hypothetically what book would I want? 🙂 She’s funny that way. Here’s the thing…I don’t know what book I want. I can spend hours just wandering the bookstores reading titles and cover backs, dreaming about the days I’ll have time to sit and read a book for hours while sipping tea or chai, but when asked this simple question, I couldn’t think of a single book I’d like to have. She gave me until Sunday to hypothetically think about it.

Semi-annually I participate in a children’s consignment sale. I pay $8.00 to be a consignor, price my own items to sell, drop them off, then receive 70% of the selling price after the sale is over. Last fall I made over $700.00 doing this 4 day sale. Not bad huh? Ofcourse I spent about $150.00 at the sale on my own kids. I didn’t have as much stuff to sell this time, but I know I’ll still do well enough to make it worth my efforts. This is my last sale here, but my mother-in-law and I have decided that we’re going to start our own business doing a consignment sale in the Denver area. I’m volunteering 4 hours tomorrow at the sale, and I’m taking lots of notes and pictures. The two ladies that run the sale have agreed to have a Coke with me in the next two weeks so I can pick their brains about what works and what doesn’t. They’ve been really encouraging and I’m looking forward to working with them tomorrow.

We’re having fish for dinner tonight. HaHa, now you think I’ve lost it sharing such unimportant information. The thing is we don’t eat fish. I have NEVER made it for my family because I don’t like it. I did have some cod once at an Irish Pub that I liked, but that is it. We figured since we’re open to all of these other changes in our life, we might as well try some new foods while we’re at it. What goes with fish? I have no idea, so we’re having fries. The kids are happy about that. I’d prefer garlic mashed potatoes. If you happen to travel through Indianapolis, Indiana, eat at The Claddaugh Irish Pub downtown. Good fish, GREAT Guinness Irish Stew, and what an atmosphere! Eat there for lunch or just before the supper crowd to avoid the majority of the smoke. Next to the children’s museum, that’s my favorite place in Indy.

Now that you’ve read my world changing dinner menu, my hit counter numbers may drop off. Oh well. I already shared something profound today in my last post. Give me a break. 🙂

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