thankful. 11.26.09

I’m thankful that so many people observe the conscious, intentional focus on giving thanks to God for our blessings.

I read, therefore I quote.

“I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and also those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers . . .

. . . and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union.”

Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln’s 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation

(This was originally posted on Thanksgiving 2008.)

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“. . . therefore I quote” If you have a quote to share from something you’ve read recently, feel free to comment and/or include a link to your own “quote” post.

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thankful. 11.25.09

I’m so thankful . . .

Working full+ days recently has reminded me that I am SO thankful that I don’t (normally) have to work full-time. My daughter is really missing me and while I feel guilty about that, I’m also thankful for the experience because she too is realizing what a blessing it is that I pick her up every day after school and that I get to spend so much time with her every day. She and her brother are off from school this week and my husband is on vacation leave, so they’ve spent the week together. Yesterday, on the phone, after I’d been gone from the house all day, she said:

“Now I know how my friends feel when they have to go to after care every day. They don’t get to see their mom and dad as much as me.”

Heart wrenching. Part of me loves and wants to do the work. Part of me wants to be home with my family. My prayers today are for all the families who struggle with those same feelings – all the time.

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I’m participating in a month of Thanksgiving hosted by Rebecca Writes. If you want to join in, post something you are thankful for and then link up over at Rebecca’s blog!

mom’s pumpkin soup

In honor of Thanksgiving and my mother-in-law, I’m highlighting a past post for Tempt My Tummy Tuesday:

Mom’s Pumpkin Soup

Although we used “real” pumpkin for our jack-o-bread recipe, we use canned pumpkin for this. It’s much smoother – not so . . . grainy, if you know what I mean.

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And click on over to check out the recipes at Tempt My Tummy Tuesday hosted by Lisa at Blessed With Grace

turkeyisms.

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Need a few more chuckles today? Check out Friday Funnies hosted by Homesteaders Heart!

If you’ve got time to hang out for a few minutes, check out what else makes me laugh: Pragmatic Compendium’s “laugh!” category.

7 quick takes. 11.20.09

1. American Girl doll, Kirsten backordered until May 25? Seriously?

2. I have stuffed so much information into my brain in the last two weeks I’m mentally exhausted. I read computer manuals much like novels when I’m in the learning curve mode and somehow I remember freakish amounts of computer capabilities but forget to do simple things, like eat and sleep.

3. Work is good. Busy, but really good. My favorite client is upgrading – all new computers for everyone – more than 60 when it’s all said and done. LOTS of work. Custom configuration for each computer after they are cloned and I’m training my first batch of client employees on Monday morning at 9:00 a.m. I REALLY want to be finished by Christmas.

4. More than wanting to be finished by Christmas, I REALLY want to remember everything I’m learning so I can teach it to other people. Content outlines are my lifeline.

5. PinkGirl’s 9th Birthday!!!!

6. Serving Thanksgiving dinner at our church this year instead of having our traditional meal at home and we are all (even the kids) looking forward to it! We’ll have our Thanksgiving on Friday. NO shopping for me. You die hard Black Friday people? Good luck with that. I’m gonna give CyberMonday a try this year.

7. I need a massage. There appears to be a corkscrew stuck in my trapezius.

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Join in with your own 7 Quick Take Friday post at Conversion Diary hosted by Jennifer!

thankful. 11.09.09

I’m so thankful . . .

For music. The music we’ve been leading at church has been beautiful. This week, my favorite was None But Jesus by Brooke Fraser.

THANK YOU, LORD!

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I’m participating in a month of Thanksgiving hosted by Rebecca Writes. If you want to join in, post something you are thankful for and then link up over at Rebecca’s blog!

thankful. 11.04.09

I’m so thankful . . .

Last year, we found an allergist who prescribed a season allergy treatment for my son which left him nearly symptom free for the first time in his entire LIFE. We just got back from his annual check-up with new prescriptions already called into the pharmacy. This is life changing for both him and for our entire family!

From November to February, he takes both Singulair and Allegra every day and after a nightly saline spray, he uses Flonase. Occasionally, he needs to use the neti pot. LIFE. CHANGING.

THANK YOU, LORD!!!

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I’m participating in a month of Thanksgiving hosted by Rebecca Writes. If you want to join in, post something you are thankful for and then link up over at Rebecca’s blog!

I can’t believe I’m one of “those” people.

You know, one of those people who sets off their car alarm and then can’t figure out how to turn it OFF.

And I was SITTING in it at the time. Talking on the cell phone to FirstHusband – shouting over the incessant horn:

“Did you know this van had an alarm?”

“No.” (pause) “Do you need me to come help?”

“YES! I can’t figure out how to turn this thing off!”

Finally as I fumbled with the key, the key fob and the door lock, it STOPPED. And I have NO idea what I did to MAKE it stop. I do know what I did to set it off. I got out of the van at the homecoming football game, locked up with the key fob and thought, what’s that blinking red light on the dash? Curious.

I unlocked the van and the blinking light stopped. Curious. I sat down in the driver’s seat and closed the door. Still no blinking red light. hmmm. While still sitting in the van, I locked it with the key fob.

Oh! Look! The little red light on the dash is back. And oh! There’s one on the radio too! I reach for my glasses to read the little words over the blinking light on the radio.

At the exact same time I open the van driver door.

Let the gawking begin.

The little words over the blinking light on the radio?

“Anti-theft”

Good to know.

So it appears there’s one MORE difference between my old van and my new van.

do they make Garanimals for women?

Seriously. Somebody teach me how to dress. Oh, who am I kidding? I don’t want to LEARN how to dress, I just want someone to pick out my clothes for me. Jewelry too, please. And I already have a haircut scheduled for Thursday.

Okay. Got that out of the way. (I’m a woman, of course I’m going to critique my appearance first.)

I had an AMAZING opportunity to deliver the message at my church this weekend for all four services (for Women’s Sunday). LOVED IT! Absolutely LOVED IT! It was a rush, such a a mountaintop high, I’m still not back down on solid ground! SOOOOO much fun! I got to lead music at three of the services too. SO. MUCH. FUN. I’m praying about more opportunities to sing and speak. Here’s about 6 minutes from the 11:00 a.m. service:

Three of the services were videotaped, providing me ample opportunity to analyze myself. I need to identify the weaknesses and work on them. I asked FirstHusband what constructive criticism he had and he said, “I can’t think of anything.”

That’s a good husband. But seriously. Stop blowing rainbows and tell me what I need to fix.

“The grey jacket adds ten pounds and the blue suit is too masculine. You shouldn’t wear pants, you should wear skirts.”

Well, that’s a start.

ADDS ten pounds? That’s all I need. I’m already fighting a battle with my badonka donk butt. I have GOT to go shopping. I wear these suits when I work on client site, usually at law firms. And they are “fine.” But seeing them in this context, FirstHusband was telling the truth.

So, I’ll be fixing that. First I have to find a “hip” (and frugal) friend and beg them to be my personal stylist ask them to go shopping with me. I’ll buy lunch. And I’ll be following my own advice on alterations.

Now I need to objectively critique my delivery. After the services, I got a lot of positive feedback. It was really very affirming and when I said “thank you so much” and “I really enjoyed doing it” I sincerely meant it. But this is my home church, where “everybody knows your name” as the song goes. So there is a certain element of “polite.”

I think the feedback that meant the most to me were the people who approached me and told me how what I said specifically spoke to them. They told me stories about something in their life or some experience they had which, when I was speaking, was called to their mind. I LOVED hearing those stories. That’s where I got to see God work!

Overall, I’m feeling that maybe, just maybe, God is prompting me to pursue faith-based speaking more intensively. I’m praying and listening and paying attention to anything God brings into my path. I would love to pursue faith-based speaking, don’t get me wrong – BUT, it’s usually night and weekend work and I’m not willing to pursue it at the expense of my commitment to my family. Being there for my family is my top priority. They come first. I’m not saying I can’t EVER work nights or weekends, but, like everything else in life, I need balance. I’ll be making every decision to speak/sing based on whether it is in line with our family’s goals.

To expand on what I’m saying in the following clips, I’m praying that God expand my territory only as far as I can handle without the middle – the core – collapsing. I need a strong foundation in the middle. That’s God. And family.

Blessings Require Change (Part 1 of 3) 7:34 minutes (Evening Service)

Blessings Require Change (Part 2 of 3) 9:19 minutes (Evening Service)

Blessings Require Change (Part 3 of 3) 3:49 minutes (Evening Service)

pray-ers wanted.

This Sunday is a very specific answer to a very specific prayer. Here’s what I’ve been praying for months:

“Lord, please allow me to use my voice – speaking and singing – for your glory.”

Here’s the answer:

I’m leading praise and worship for three services at my church this Sunday. AND I’m delivering the message for four services. It’s our annual “Women’s Sunday.”

I’ve led music and spoken at meetings and retreats before. It’s hard work, don’t get me wrong, but it’s very comfortable for me. I’ve been a teacher and trainer for over a decade. I can talk in front of people without freaking out. And I’m an extemporaneous speaker. I don’t’ use a script, I use an memorized outline. I know what I’m going to talk about and in what order, but I don’t always know exactly what words I’m going to say.

But right now I know this: I need to stay out of the way and let God work.

I’ve had a very fragmented few weeks. PinkGirl was home sick Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I had client training (online from home). I finally put my website up, spurred by impending compensated work and client inquiry. Last week was full of mini-van transfers and FirstHusband travel, and I was sick and wiped out for days. And then there was the skunk. As of yesterday, I had disjointed fragments of a message floating around in my head and no plan. No outline.

Today, I carved out three hours. The first two hours were spent reading my Bible, writing in my prayer journal and reading a few devotionals. Some might say I wasted my time. I don’t think so. The last hour was all God – filling my head with his message, flowing through my fingertips onto the keyboard. I wrote to sort it out. It’s not a script. I’ve set aside three hours again tomorrow and I’ll follow the same agenda. After it’s all written, I’ll extract an outline and memorize it.

Now, my prayer is still the same: that God will use my voice – singing and speaking – for his glory. I believe in the power of prayer.

Please pray with me?

the “funnest math show EVER.”

So says PinkGirl. This used to be her brother’s favorite show:

Cyberchase on PBS. Hacker, the villain is voiced by Christopher Lloyd and Didg is voiced by Gilbert Gottfried. I didn’t realize it was still on the air. IMDB shows it still in production through 2008!

I have no idea why I remembered this and searched for it on youtube, but I am seriously loving that PinkGirl is loving it. Very cool!!!

fits like a glove.

So, just to remind you – here’s a photo of my “old” van, a 2000 Honda Odyssey (which is now functionally repaired and dependably serving its new, growing family):

And here’s a picture of my “new” 2003 Honda Odyssey:

After the accident, I actually said that because I hate change so much, I felt like going out and buying a 2000 Honda Odyssey because I knew where all the buttons were. In reality, I’ve been praying for God to “give me the desire of my heart” when it came to finding a replacement vehicle.

Turns out, the desire of my heart is familiarity. And NO car payment.

It’s a 2003 Honda Odyssey. Red. The funny thing about that is that my 2000 Odyssey was originally white. After Hurricane Charley, it had to be COMPLETELY repainted and I changed the color to red because “If I have to drive a minivan, it should be red.” The “new” van has had one previous owner and they just so happen to live in my same little city. I bought it from a wholesale dealer in a neighboring city (it was on Craigslist). I paid my mechanic a $70 fee to give it a thorough inspection and the first thing on his list was “replace windshield wiper blades.” It’s in great shape. It’s even had the timing chain done already. It even had velcro in the EXACT place I needed it for my expressway pass.

There are few differences, however. First – the inside is CLEAN. Nothing crusty on any surface. It has 15,000 LESS miles on it than the 2000. The turn signal lights are yellow instead of red. There’s an after market tow package. It doesn’t have a 6 CD changer (but I didn’t use it anymore anyway, I used my mp3 player). There’s an ichthus (Christian fish) decal on the back door. Oh, and this one has leather seats. And seat warmers. Which is so very important here in Florida where the heat index was 106 on Friday. In October. If those things are broken, I may never know it.

It also doesn’t need to be unlocked three times before the tailgate will open (FirstHusband just resigned himself to using the key). The knob stays on the air conditioning control. The right passenger door opens without holding the lock back. The radio volume can be controlled on the radio AND the steering wheel instead of just the steering wheel. I can roll the driver’s side window down if it is wet and be confident it will go back up without pulling it with both hands. hmmm. what else?

oh. It DOESN’T have a way to play my mp3 player. I used to have a cassette player and cassette adapter which plugged right in. I’ve used the FM adapters before, but they distort. I’ll just burn CDs for now, but my van is my rehearsal studio, so I’m researching a long term solution. I’ve heard about an aftermarket auxiliary port, so I’m checking that out.

But, as I drove away from the purchase and PinkGirl asked me to turn on the radio, I subconsciously turned it on, tuned it to the right station and pushed the sound to the back of the van. When I realized what I was doing, I started laughing.

Like I said. Familiarity.