Good News On the Home Front

search engine optimization

Just thought I'd check in after being AWOL for a week from the net. We traveled back home for the Regional Conference there. I worked the conference for my boss, taking pictures and writing a report for the paper. Got to do that yet. I have it started, but I have to finish it. Anyway, I went into the conference very negatively and discouraged. That was monday. It was a good day, but still downhearted. However, Tuesday night, the night of the ceremony, God sent several people our way to lift us up, to fill us with hope. The pastoral couple that I took my internship under (I took my internship in the SW with the Navajo) were there at the conference. I talked briefly with them about our struggles while admiring the beautiful Navajo jewlery they had there. It is well worth the money they ask for it, but I cannot spend money on something that is a want. Later the pastor's wife came up to me, embraced me while shoving something in my hand. She spoke words of encouragement and hope to me. I don't remember all that she said, I just remember that it was much needed. I was lifted. I looked later at the pieces she gave, a beautiful ring, one I was admiring and a wonderful bracelet. I was blessed, I was very blessed. Then another pastor came by, one who is the head of one of the committees and arranged a meeting with another head of a committee (the committee that places pastors!). And then the Director of the Region and his wife sat down and had dinner with us! What words of encouragement they spoke to us! We both were lifted. It was needed. What was so wonderful about all of that is it showed me that God cares about the state of our hearts. He cares that we cry even though He knows how it will turn out. It's like when Nadia cries about leaving Pooh in her crib, I comfort her even though I know she will have him again in a few hours. He cares that we hurt. And that means so much to me.
The ceremony went very well, I am so proud of my husband. He is a pastor now! I was able to get some great shots of the lisentients and the ordinands. I don't know if I spelled those words right or not, but they used them in the ceremony, so I am too.
We have some serious opportunities for jobs available to us that we are excited about. Please pray for wisdom and the ability to hear His voice in this. We are so excited.
Thank you again for your prayers and please continue to pray. Just thought I'd give a little update.

Dancing, Jigging....But not at the same time

search engine optimization

I am doing a little dance today. God has blessed me through my husband....again.
About two-three weeks ago my little rotating, umbrella-like outdoor clothes line fell over....AGAIN. In fact, it so liked the falling, it did it THREE times. Of course, I had it laden with heavy, wet clothing. And of course, Andrew was at work. Of course it fell into the freshly tilled garden and of course, I lifted it up all three times, muttering what a terrible piece of tin this thing was. I was waiting, just waiting for my neighbor to walk up his driveway and start chuckling. Hm, chuckle. Yeah, it's funny.
Anyway, in the midst of all that warring with my aluminum friend, it got bent. I mean really, the arms bent up in a most modern art-like way. Well the line was mixed up so terribly, meanwhile clothes, wet clothes, mind you, and clothes pins were all in this jumble too. I was not to be outdone. Nooooo way was a clothesline going to get the best of me. I left all of those clothes on there to dry. Well except for the now dirty ones. Took those off and washed them again. By the end of the day, however, most of them got thrown in the dryer, because there was not a lot of airflow between the clothes. Most were layered on each other. Sigh.
Fast forward to yesterday. I had done my research and knew what type of clothesline I wanted. I wanted a real one. Like what my mother had when I was growing up. A nice pulley system, so that I don't have to walk, drag, walk, drag, walk, drag to put up laundry. I told Andrew of my plans (which by the way, I think most men like it when you present to them what your end result is, what you need and how you need it, I don't think they like all of the inbetween figuring out. Well at least my man likes that!) and asked him if I could pick up the stuff. He said sure!
So off Nadia and I went to Home Depot.
I should've found a woman.
Nay, I should've found a woman who hangs laundry.
Instead I found a woman, who found me a man, who said (in a home improvement store) 'no we don't have anything that will help you'. Excuse me? I wanted a wooden pole, preferrably treated, two pulley's (big honkin pulley's), line and the screws and so forth. I was told that the wood would warp and not be very good for that. Really? Then what, pray tell, do you sell to people who are making DECKS!!!
Anyway, they told me to go to a store that sells things for landscaping. Really? Ok. So before I go there I use the store phone to call and see their hours. 8-9, great, but they don't sell clothesline stuff. Go to Tractor's Supply.
So I stuff Nadia back in the car and we head merrily off to TS. They don't have the big honkin pulley's, haven't carried that stuff for years. DOESN'T ANYONE HANG THEIR CLOTHING ANYMORE OUTSIDE TO DRY??
Ahem. Then, I see, shining in the distance like a beacon, Menards. One last try.
I again stuff a now disgruntled Nadia back in the car and head to my one last try.
I find a woman, who has hung clothing in her parents backyard for years.
Thank you Lord!
Well they didn't have the pulley's but I revamped my plans, made an executive decison and went with a crossbar with two lines out to the tree and back. Andrew was impressed with my planning and subsequent change of plans and put it in that night.
Right now, ladies (and gentlemen?), I have a beautiful clothesline that I am proud to call mine, that I am proud to hang my shirts on, my diapers (well not mine....). I am so fond of this new thing I want to take it with me when we move. But it's cemented in the ground, that's not gonna happen.

On another note.... I got a new dishwasher!!!!
Oh it's new to me, but it's like 17 years old. However, it's nicer than the one we had before. Mainly because I don't shriek and holler everytime I walk past "Awwww, crap, it's leaking again!" The stinkin think leaked so much. I was ready to give it a diaper. Well I kinda did. I would stuff rags underneath. It was a portable. We had to turn it everytime we wanted to run it. This one is quieter, we don't have to turn it, it gets the dishes cleaner. I am loving it!

I can thank my hubby for both of these things. He's a good man.

It Hurts A Little Today

Seems that as time goes on the pain of being forgotten gets just a little bit bigger. We've been waiting for a church for two years now. We've sent out resume's to all the regions. We've been accepted in one, contacted by a church in that one region (over a month ago, still waiting to hear back, they are looking for enough money to pay), have been put on the back burner in another region, and the other one, well we must've gotten lost or something. Two years! I know two years is nothing when considering somethings. But when you are considering that this is what you went to school for, this is what you feel called of God to do, two years is a long time. This is our occupation! We are barely scraping by. Life is so much on hold. We don't have insurance, so we can't have another baby right now. I haven't been to a GYN appt since my 6 week post pardum checkup. Do we put another garden in? Will we be around to harvest it? Or will we be around for next years garden too? We can't get too involved with a church, who wants someone who will be here today and gone tomorrow? We could be here another five years, or we could be gone by the end of summer. I just don't know what to think anymore. Oh God remember your promise!
Aside from all that my heart just hurts over this. I thought we'd be somewhere by now. I'm trying not to whine, trying not to complain. And really I'm not, I just hurt. How much more can I say about it but that. I'm not asking why, not yelling at God. I just hurt. And I can't tell you why. I don't have a really good reason in mind, I just hurt. I just hurt.
I'm not a grieving person. Not really, anyhow. I mean I cried over my lost cat, but when my grandfather died, well I didn't really feel anything. But I don't cry over lots of stuff. But this gets me. I just don't know what to think or do or pray anymore. I'm just kinda stuck. So that's where I'm at. Just hurt.

Faith, Fitness and Finding a Home

It seems we are heading into some wintery weather for the next couple of days. Great. I am soooo looking forward to it.

Well I'm down 21 pounds so far. My goal is another 19 to get to my calculated weight. I took a health class and they have a way to accurately calculate your weight. A 25 fat percentage for my lean muscle mass and my bone structure would put me at 165. I don't care if you know how much I weigh. 25% is just in the 'healthy' standard of fat. So, I am aiming for that. So far I've lost a total of 100 pounds. Yes, I weighed almost 300 pounds at one point. I was a big girl. This is the thinnest I've ever been in my life. When I get to my 165 weight we'll see if I need to loose more, but I am going to be happy if the scale never budges from that. I am going to reward myself with making a dress for me, just me. I make stuff for hubby, friends, I am making a wedding dress, but the last time I made something for myself to wear was when I was pregnant. I needed it, but this time, it's for fun.
The only problem with loosing weight is....I don't have any clothes to wear. You know those commercials where the woman is holding the waistband of her pants out? Well I can do that. All of my summer clothes are too too big. I can't wear them. I don't have any money to buy new. But I've taken some clothes to consignment and am selling some on ebay. Which reminds me, one of my auctions is ending tonight. Gotta see how much I made.
Nadia has another cold. She just fell asleep about 30 mins ago. I know some will disagree with this, but we give her baby cold medicene. It's called Little Colds and she does really well with it. It helps her cough, her stuffy nose and helps with fever. I figure she'll heal faster if she can get some sleep. She didn't sleep well last night, yesterday and today's naps were VERY short. I even laid down with her and she kept sticking her fingers in my nose and mouth (yeah, and I wonder how I get sick....)
When I was younger I didn't like Easter. Now I think Easter is my favorite holiday. It is so significant to me. Without Easter, Christmas would be nothing. I'm trying to read through Christ's last week as the days coincide. So much happened in that last week. No wonder the man died so quickly. He was tired!
I've found myself longing to be done with this time we are in. I want to be somewhere. Although I can't complain. There was a young man who used to visit with us every week. He'd come over, eat dinner and chat. Nadia just LOVED him. He helped us with the roof. He was good to have around, nice company. He enlisted in the army and went to basic at the end of January. Andrew and I were very open (how can we not be, he's trying to get a church to pastor!) about our faith, but we were also very human too. In his last letter he said that we helped him find his way to Christ. HOW AWESOME IS THAT!! I'm baking that boy some cookies! Probably my huge chocolate chip cookies. When I read that, it made me cry. If God has given me the ability to cook in order that others may be blessed, then Lord bless my hands that You may work through them more! I baked the lady down the street some bread when she first moved in. She's a single mom. I don't know where she stands. But we've started a friendship. Her little girl is 2.5 and she and Nadia just love each other. She's a nice woman. Hope to get to know her better.