How Quickly They Grow Up

I have so enjoyed having Carissa home this summer. I think she's been okay with being home, but it's not the kind of summer she would describe as "summer lovin' had me a blast." She has worked hard with 4 jobs and then volunteering every Wednesday night at the hospital. I have tried to make it fun for her, we have seen a lot of movies, did a mini family vacation at the Omaha zoo, but I have to face it. I'm her mom. I think I'm totally fun, but she would probably prefer hangin' with someone closer to her own age.

So she came to me yesterday and asked if she could drive up to Orange City to see Rachel. Really, I was happy she could have this time to spend with Rachel and be with people her own age. Really, I was. There was just one problem. She would not be able to leave until after 9 p.m.

Now it's close to a 4-hour trip from here to Orange City. She has been to Orange City before but with us and during the day. But this time she was driving. Alone. At night. When it's dark. And late.

When I think of my children this is what I see.

But other people see my children like this.

Lands sakes, they are grown up.

One is married.

How did that happen?

I'm happy to report she made it safely. At 1:11 a.m. I could stand it no longer so I called (so very thankful for cell phones) and she had gotten there a few minutes earlier without incident. I don't know how people who don't rely on God send their kids out on their own. It was a praying night for me.

I am so happy she has this opportunity to be with Rachel and meet some of Rachel's friends up there at Northwestern. This just might be the perfect ending to her summer vacation.

But, I do miss those little ones.

Thankgiving:

1. Carissa's time in Orange City.
2. Rachel and friends.
3. Cell phones.
4. Prayer time with Dena.
5. Wellspring, Paige and Al.
6. Beautiful weather.
7. The adults my kids have become.
   

Petitions:

1. Continued healing for Tate, my dad's back, Rachel's wrist, Carissa's foot, and Katie Bloom.
2. Jobs for Carson, Curtis, Aaron and Mike.
3. Safety as Carissa comes home and we leave for Chicago on Friday.

Stuff versus Treasure

I have to admit I do enjoy shopping and I like stuff. I like makeup with its interesting packaging and playing around with it. I love shoes and purses. I feel the thrill of the hunt for bargain prices as I enter the mall. But I can have a good time just browsing and looking around without the need to necessarily buy something. However, that is second best. I have thought that perhaps I could be a Secret Shopper; that could be fun.

I am trying to do some updating on my house so I've been spending time looking for just the right thing.

Merely walking through Barnes & Noble, I see at least 10-15 books I would like to read. It gets worse at Wellspring.

I just like to be out and about.

Last winter, Mark's grandpa died at 100 years of age and this past weekend there was an auction at Grandpa's house. The house was packed full of stuff that we hauled outside so that people could look it over and buy it. There was all kinds of stuff. Mark's grandma had been quite a crafty person so there were also sorts of things she had made, there were some antique type things, some nice furniture.

As I walked through looking around, I could not help but think about the stuff Grandma and Grandpa had accummulated over the years and now it was just going to be sent off to the highest bidder. What was important to them, may not be important to anyone else.

So I wonder ....

Are the things I value, valued by anyone else? If someone had to look over all my stuff and decide whether to bid on it or not, would they? Finally, what do I want to leave behind that people would consider precious, something that could be passed on, something to be desired.

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and seal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destory, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19-21)

Treasure or just stuff? Time to decide.

My Grateful Heart

1. Family celebrating birthdays in July and August: Mark's mom and dad, Gerri, Larry, Katie, Garrett, my mom, Dale, Mark.
2. Starting to get some answers regarding Tate's medical issues.
3. Carson's willingness to volunteer with the WHS cross country team.
4. Safe travel for Carissa to Orange City last night.
5. Tirimasu Tuesday.
6. Our On-Line Book Club and their insights on "The Shack."
7. An e-mail from Shari on a job possibility for Carson.

With Lifted Hands

1. Continued healing for Tate, my dad, Carissa and Katie Bloom.
2. Blessings on Carissa's time with Rachel in Orange City.
3. Safe and healthy delivery of Eric and Laurie's baby later this week.
4. Jobs for Carson, Aaron, Curtis and Mike.
5. Answers for couples struggling with infertility.

Let's Put a Positive Spin On This

I enjoy reading the editorials on the opinion page of the Des Moines Register. However, one of the Register's editors has opinions I rarely agree with. I would say she is a liberal and I would say I am a conservative. Her pros are usually my cons and vice versa. So reading her editorials results in much rolling of my eyes and muttering "oh brother" under my breath over and over. You can imagine my surprise a few weeks ago when the title of her editorial for the day was "How High Gas Prices Could Improve Our Lives." I agree!!! Here's a few quotes from her editorial.

Tough as it is, they could force us to make adjustments that result in healthier, more communal and environmentally friendly living. And they could push governments and businesses to help provide the infrastructure.

And if people limit their forays to the mall just to hang out or exercise, and start using their neighborhoods for recreation, maybe we'd see more block parties and picnics and a growing sense of community connectedness.

...... when we stop behaving as if the Earth's resources are infinite and each of us has unlimited, autonomous access to them, we might also start living more consciously and purposefully.

She made some other good points about riding bikes, public transportation, shorter work weeks, etc. I did some checking and there has been a 3.7% decrease in automobile use. That doesn't sound huge except it translates to 9.6 billion vehicle miles. 3.7% is the biggest drop ever in the summer. And I noticed gas prices have dropped in the last few weeks. Supply and demand, demand and supply.

I see bike sales are way up.

My Attitude of Gratitude
1. Kenley Marie, born this week, healthy baby, healthy mom.
2. The perfect colors of my freshly painted office.
3. Dena, Paige and Wellspring.
4. Getting to see family this weekend in NW Iowa.
5. My new computer.


With Lifted Heart and Hands
1. Healing: Tate, my dad, Carissa's foot, Katie, Westview families.
2. Job Searches: Carson, Curtis, Aaron, and Mike.
3. Safety as we travel to NW Iowa.
4. Couples strugging with infertility.
5. That I can get my shortcuts into my new computer.

Our God Is An Awesome God

Every so often, God allows me to see Him in action. I am following the story of a young woman, Katie Bloom, who is proving that God can do so much more than we can imagine.

Last Monday, when I was at the surgery center we learned of a young woman who delivered her third baby at the beginning of July and several weeks later had a severe brain hemorrhage. They operated on her and the prognosis was unknown. Thousands of prayers have been said over Katie Bloom. She is improving daily, she is showing many people what faith is all about.

To read the entire story about Katie use this link Katie's progress. And while you're there, please lift up Katie Bloom to the Throne of Grace.

This Thankful Heart:
1. All the people of faith who believe in a God who can do All Things praying for Katie Bloom.
2. All the butterflies flitting about in my yard.
3. Cool breeze on summer nights.
4. Rachel joining us for Tiramasu Tuesday.
5. My husband who kills my weeds, paints my office and then is mostly ok with repainting it when the color isn't just right. 

What's On My Heart
1. Continued healing for Katie Bloom.
2. Healing for Tate, my dad and Carissa's foot.
3. Paint crew safety.
4. Perfect jobs for Carson, Curtis, Aaron and Mike.

Visitors

These guys came over to our house for dinner last night.




My Grateful Heart
1. Having Carson and Carissa home.
2. Geese in my front yard, deer in my backyard and the hummingbird I saw last night.
3. God's work in the healing of Katie Bloom.
4. Safety for the paint crew.
5. Getting back in touch with Nancy.
6. Tirimasu Tuesday.
7. Rachel's almost-good-as-new wrist.

My Humble Requests:
1. Healing for Tate.
2. Healing for my dad's back.
3. The perfect job for Carson, Curtis, Mike and Aaron.
3. Continued healing for Katie Bloom.
4. Barb's dad.
5. Rocky Mountain High Blessings.

Weeds, Weeds, Weeds, I Am Sick of Weeds

Three years ago, we took a family vaca to Rocky Mountain National Park. Last year, I visited Cody and Elizabeth in San Diego and saw the ocean for the first time in my life (yeah, yeah, it was overdue). We went to Sea World and I was completely enthralled by the whales. Such grace and power in one creature. On our drive home, we stopped at the Grand Canyon and my calendar for this month is a beautiful picture of the Grand Canyon.

I am enthralled with God's creation.

I have a hillside in my backyard where I would like to have my own little piece of this beautiful creation. With some work, okay, probably A LOT of work, I believe this site could be a  profusion of color throughout the spring, summer and into the fall.  

One rather major problem is that it also has an abundance of weeds. I have been working and working, but my attempts have been so feeble. I can spend hours out there pulling and pulling and pulling and, dang, if those weeds aren't back in what seems like minutes.

PLUS .......

There was some sort of bug activity out there that I did not even notice, but it certainly found me and been quite successful at biting me IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES.

I don't know much about plants or how to make a lovely yard, but I do ask questions and every greenhouse I went to, I asked questions. (with the exception of Hy-Vee because I just didn't think a high school kid that they pulled from the register would have many answers). I hit the jackpot the other week at the Woodsmith Store where the lady working there acknowledged she couldn't answer my questions but gave me the name of someone who could. That's all I ask, refer me when you don't know. So I called the Des Moines Forage and Turf and they were a wealth of information. I now know exactly what I have to do and now is the time to do it. Here's a before picture of my weed-side and I will post pictures as I progress until next year when (hopefully) I have a burst of color. I'm hoping to have enough to cut and bring the garden inside.

The Weed Garden (with disrespectful bugs)

I'll keep you posted.

Good Times

We have had a pretty fun couple of weeks. 4th of July was really interesting and fun and I will write more about that later, but last Saturday night Mark, Carson and I went to the Iowa Barnstomers game with Monica and John and their delightful offspring. If you don't know what a "barnstormer" is, here's what I found out:

Barnstorming was a popular form of entertainment in the 1920s in which stunt pilots would perform tricks with airplanes, often in groups as a flying circus. These aerialists — or "barnstormers" as they became known — performed almost any trick or feat with an airplane that people could imagine.

Sounds like fun -- the Iowa Barnstormers in 2008, however, is an arena football team. Arena football is not ordinary football; I think everyone has more fun. I loved the player who led the "hey" cheer before the kickoff after every touchdown with his knock-em-dead dance moves in the middle of the field. At halftime, the Barnstormer mascot rode around the field on a bike-propeller-airplane while people in the crowd threw yellow balls to get them into the basket on the bike with the chance to win a prize; in the end hundreds of little yellow balls were all over the field. It was entertaining to watch college-age guys in tricycle races. There were lame fireworks during the National Anthem, but I'm sure they tried. Oh, and there was football too. Lots of points were scored, I think the Barnstormers had more than 70 points and with that many points, they did win, although they have lost more times than they have won this season. There were nearly 10,000 people there. What fun.

Oh, but I do love Des Moines.

Speaking of football, I do not know what to think about my-all-time-favorite-NFL-team, the Green Bay Packers, and my-all-time-favorite NFL player, Brett Favre. Sounds like a lot of off-the-field games but basically I don't know what to think.

Sometimes ..... I. Just. Don't. Know.