Month: August 2017

Last day of my sabbatical, others told me that the time will fly by but I honestly feel like time didn’t fly by. Looking back on my sabbatical I accomplished a lot of goals I had set for myself and even accomplished a few I had no clue were coming. Since my last blog a lot has changed in regards to our living situation but lets start off by talking about the weekend.

Stephanie & I as well as our dog Ellie traveled 3 hours south back to my hometown of Durand, IL. Saturday was all about Stephanie, my mother threw her a lovely bridal shower in the afternoon and Stephanie got to meet a lot of extended family members for the first time. While the girls were having their fun my dad and I vacuum sealed the cheese that we smoked a few weeks back. Upon multiple quality control tests I can officially say the cheese turned out amazing! That night we were invited to have dinner at my uncles house and I got to catch up with a few family members that I haven’t seen in ages.

Sunday We had a huge family reunion on my mothers side out at my uncle’s pond. We had around 50 family members attend and some drove from as far away as Alabama! We grilled out and shared stories about the past as well as what’s currently going on in our lives. I even met some 3rd cousins of mine that live a few towns over from me who own and operate a honey bee farm.

Monday through today have honestly been kinda stressful. This new living situation has had me running all over town. Long story short after dozens of emails, phone calls and meetings I received an email today that the sellers of a house I was looking at accepted my offer and we will close on December 15th, which is a long closing date but that’s probably a good thing  because now we can focus our attention on the wedding and worry about moving once the wedding is done. My landlord told me last night that he accepted an offer for the house we are currently living in and that the buyer doesn’t want to move in until the spring of 2018, so hopefully the buyer will let us stay here until December. I was hoping to spend a few more days at the Hunger Task Force but this whole housing situation made it impossible to donate more time. I would like to spend more time with the Hunger Task Force in the future though, they are awesome people helping out so many families in the community.

Overall my sabbatical was a success, It had its ups and downs but God works in mysterious ways and it appears everything is going to work out. I am blessed to work for an amazing company and want to say thank you for allowing us to participate in this event. I will be honest though, I think I enjoyed my time away from work just a little too much. I had no problems letting go of work duties and could easily get into a groove of not having to go to work everyday :+) However I’m ready to go back to the funeral home and start helping out families again, I assume the first few days are going to be crazy but I will take it one day at a time and try not to get too overwhelmed.

Thanks again to everyone at FDLIC. This will be a month that I will never forget.

As my Sabbatical continues, I have remained focused on spending time with my children.  We have experienced some nice weather during the month of August and this allowed us to enjoy some time in our pond with friends and neighbors.

We have also had time to take a hike and enjoy more of the natural beauty of God’s creation.

My youngest son, Davis, completed his firearm safety requirement two weeks prior to the beginning of my Sabbatical.  During my Sabbatical, we competed in our first “hunt and cover” tournament and we missed only one target.  My son thought we won the tournament but I encouraged him to be cautiously optimistic.  We didn’t win the tournament since another team hit all the targets.  It was a great lesson for my son.  My son enjoys winning, but he despises losing even more.  We must be humble in our success, and gracious when we fall short of our goal.  Since the tournament, we have been practicing a lot.  My son is determined that we will not lose again.

Finally, we had some time for a history lesson.  Wisconsin has a proud history of logging.  As a result, we took some time to visit the “Big One”.  It is a cross-cut section of a Douglas Fir tree that is 586 years old and was 238 feet tall.  It was 98 feet tall and 133 years old before Columbus discovered America.

My time for my Sabbatical has come to an end.  It was nothing that I thought it would be, but everything it needed to be.  I have a stronger relationship with all three of my children.  Blessings.

After some time, thought and prayer I decided to move my charitable time to Mathew 25 Ministries today.  The Talbert House “Fatherhood Project” was still not moving forward and although I know it will be a tremendous program I felt the need to contribute to the hurricane Harvey relief efforts at M25M.  I will plan to stay in touch with Talbert House and give time as I can.

As I approached M25M today I could see cars backing up onto the road due to the tremendous outpouring of support from the community.  It was even hard to find a spot in the volunteer parking lot, but I parked and within minutes was working and contributing.  A typical day will see 30-40 volunteers but today there were well over 100.  Every age group and ethnicity seemed to be present and focused on the chance to help those in need.

I have volunteered here in the past but I must say that I have never seen the building and the parking lot so energized and moving at a pace that was incredible.  Pallets of clothing, water, medical supplies and cleaning products were filling up, getting shrink wrapped and moved in record time.  And the tractor trailers were filling up within a couple of hours as opposed to maybe one per day.  The time goes by so quickly and you meet some fantastic people in this environment, but the moment that I knew I had made the right choice was as I was leaving I drove along side one of the M25M trucks as it got onto I-71 South headed for Texas!

With gratitude,

Kevin

This past week I focused on my service project which was volunteering at Loaves & Fishes. This place is located behind Sacred Heart Catholic Church in an old house. This is open for those who are low income families only and are allowed to come here once per month. In addition, everyone is a volunteer; all food is donated from food bank or grocery stores, and any supplies or items needed are purchased out of own pocket.

Staging the crates to put food in for famlies

Storing some of the food inside the house

I worked outside loading the crates with food and resupplying the shelves with more food. We would have six families at a time in the back with the food. After they had the opportunity to go through the items they could leave items behind or give to their neighbor. I would help load the food into their car and then I would take the shopping cart to the back and reload cart with food and get everything ready for the next six families.

The last few days of my sabbatical have been interesting. Our trip to Houston ended earlier than expected due to Hurricane Harvey, the wedding was moved to Friday and plans quickly changed to accommodate the day early wedding. Even though it was rushed and there weren’t as many guests as originally expected, you would hardly notice as the ceremony was beautiful and captured their love greatly. The rehearsal dinner served as the reception to the wedding, which worked out great. A few friends left that night, but we decided to stay and get some rest to leave in the morning, that didn’t work out as well as planned; turns out its a bit difficult to get good sleep when you’re worried about getting stuck. So we ended up leaving about 5:30 in the morning to make it home in time for my nephews first birthday party. After the party I tackled the task of getting my house put back together since we got the new carpet in. With the house all back together I was able to relax again.

I am very thankful for this experience, it really helps put things into perspective allowing me to focus on parts of my life that I may neglect while working. I really enjoyed being able to spend all this time with my family and grow relationships with them. I go back to work tomorrow refreshed and ready to start again.

No, not that Babe….besides, he’s been long gone.  No more plate appearances for him.

Before we go any further, allow me to explain that “The Babe”  is a term of endearment (never before aired to the public) that some years back Debbi approved of allowing me to use.  No, not in the sense of …”Babe, while you’re up would you get me a beer?”..

No, it was born out of watching the occasional round of the PGA on the tube and someone would yell out (as soon as the metal face of the club made it’s resounding thwack upon contact with the ball)…”You Da Maaaaan!   So, what started out as somewhat of a joke, turned into one of those ongoing, although in our case not overused,  pet names couples sometimes have for one another.  Debbi was certainly not “Da Man”,  she was and is quite simply “The Babe”.  In our household, it is considered an honorific.  She has one for me as well. But, perhaps that might come later.

The title was certainly earned after almost 42 years of marriage.  She is one of the sweetest, kindest, toughest, grittiest people I know all wrapped up in  4 foot 10 inch bundle of energy that up until last Monday was operating on two knees that were long overdue as to being replaced.  She refused to do it before now because of her commitment to watching the Grandkids three  days a week.  She did  not want to see them have to go into daycare as good as some of them are.  But, like much of what people endure,  other things started going awry due to compensating for the manner in which she had to walk and move about.

Moving forward, we are now 8 days this side of what is considered a “Simultaneous”  Bi-Lateral Total Knee Replacement or BTKR, and it looks as if Debbi will be heading home from re-hab tomorrow.   She was ready for this in so many ways.  We were advised that the surgery would take upwards of 4 hours to complete.  And when Dr. Welker shared with me 2 hours and 15 minutes later that all went very well, it was clear he was very happy with the results.  He also mentioned that she would probably add back at least a couple inches of height due to the success of what was accomplished.

Just a side note to all of what has happened.  We chose her surgeon because of two good friends who previously needed his orthopedic surgical skills.  Neither of which would be as mobile as they are today had it not been for those skills and gifts.  Tell me referrals don’t mean anything.

Lastly, the Kettering Health System here in SW Ohio is topnotch.  They are aligned with the Seventh Day Adventist Church.  And, in all that they do, they honor God.

Enough for now, “The Babe” will be home tomorrow…I need to fold the laundry.

Steven

During my Sabbatical, I have been focusing on relationships, specifically with my kids.  Since I spend a lot of time traveling and working away from home, the one thing my family misses the most from me is time.  During my Sabbatical, I have spent the majority of my time with my family.  We haven’t done anything extravagant, we have simply been together enjoying the simple things in life.  As we reconnect, we spent one day enjoying God’s beauty in a sunflower field.On a different day, I focused on spending some quality time with my wife on the golf course as we played in a golf outing to benefit our local school district.  I played the best golf of my life and I won a prize for the longest putt.  However, the biggest prize I won that day was spending time with my wife.

On Friday the 8th, we left for vacation with Laura’s Dad to meet the rest of her family on the beach at Dauphin Island, Alabama.  It has become a family tradition and this was the 5th year we have gone.  Laura’s brother rents a house on the beach on the Gulf of Mexico on a small island about 40 miles south of Mobile.

We usually take two days to get down there because it is a 12 hour drive with no stops.  When I was younger, driving 12 hours was easy, but not now.

Our first stop was in Weatherford.  Laura’s Dad has talked about a Car Museum/Restaurant for years and has wanted to go for a long time.  The place is called Vintage Grill and Car Museum.  We saw some old cars and some historically unique ones.  I highly recommend going and the food is good also.

Our overnight stop was in Minden, Louisiana.  It is just East of Shreveport, and close to the halfway point of our journey.  The hotel we stay at treats us well and the breakfast is good too.  The reason I like it is the cost.   While we were there, we met some nice people that were having a school reunion for Minden Webster High School, which from my understanding closed in the 70’s.  I was really impressed with the community the alumni of Webster High have and the love they showed each other.

On Saturday, we ventured on to Dauphin Island.  We got there in the evening so we didn’t do much that day.  On Sunday we played in the ocean some and saw a small shark.  Laura’s Dad said that is was only about 18 inches long.   I didn’t see any more the rest of the week, but we did see plenty of Dolphins.  We went to Mobile to go to shopping for food on Monday.  One of the traditions we have developed is each family unit picking a night of the week to cook for the rest and the last night having leftovers.  Our night was Monday, which was a good decision, we got that “responsibility” out of the way and enjoy the rest of the week.  On another note, Mobile has more traffic than I prefer, and someone thought I should drive.  The only stress of the week was getting around a large city and not knowing any streets.

On Wednesday, Laura’s brother and sister-in-law rented two jet-skis (sea doos).  We rode these out for a few hours.  On one of the trips I took one, my goal was to ride it as far out as I could.  I think I got 3 miles out.  The water was calm further out, and I wanted to go further, but I did not know what time it was, and wanted others to get a chance to ride.   Riding out to the horizon with nobody around was calming.  I saw some dolphins and crabs floating at the surface, but no sharks.

Thursday morning some of us got up early to go to Fort Morgan, which has a significant history.  There have been battles at Fort Morgan dating back to the War of 1812.  The Fort was constructed between 1833 and 1834.  To get to Fort Morgan from Dauphin Island, we have to take a ferry.  It got pretty hot that day.  Laura’s niece has two kids, a daughter that is almost 4 and a son that is almost 2.  While we were walking to the fort, we had to walk down a street, through tall grass, and on uneven sidewalks for probably half a mile.  To healthy adults, it is easy, but for toddlers, it can be arduous.   When we started the trek, Laura asked the 4 year old if she wanted to hold her hand.  Her response to Laura was, “I want to hold Uncle Jamin’s hand.”  I think my wife is jealous because of the attention I get from children.  Several mornings when she would walk downstairs, Laura would be asked by a 4 year old, “Where’s your friend?”  Not “Good morning Laura,” or an invitation to play.  Somebody wanted my attention and my time.  There have been several times on my Sabbatical that I have been reminded of the analogies in the Bible, especially in the Gospels of “little children.”  Uncle Jamin may be a mythical legend, and when the nieces and nephews get older, I may be boring and lame, but now I will give kids the attention they ask for and spoil them.   That was the main factor in buying a 2 pound jug of Utz Cheese puffs that I am still trying to finish 2 weeks later as I type this.

Thursday evening, we went back to Mobile.  Again I was chosen to drive.  Mobile has a minor league baseball team, the Bay Bears, which is the Double A affiliate for the Angels.  I bought tickets for 4 of us, Laura, her Dad, our Brother-in Law, and me.  The parking lot was fairly sparse.  The tickets I bought were good seats and only $9 a piece.  After the first out of the top of the first inning, two of the interns/hostesses came over to us and told us we were chosen for the “best seats in the house” promotion.  My first thought was “we have good seats, and there aren’t alot of people here, so we could move down a section and be on the first row.”  They moved us to Suite 2, which is Directly behind the visitors dugout.   We had an air-conditioned room with a tv and a couch and a bar to eat at.   I spent the whole game outside in the box seats in front of the suite because I love baseball more than comfort.  We had a hostess take our orders so we would not have to go to the concession stand.  We were treated really well that night.   If you ever go to Mobile during baseball season, check out the Bay Bears.

On Friday we rested more and ate leftovers as some of the family left, including the kids.  The last 24 hours or so at the beach were quiet.  We cleaned up Saturday and stopped to eat breakfast together and headed home.   The 3 of us, Laura, her Dad, and I decided to come back in one day, and got back at about 2 in the morning.   I drove all but 100 miles, which wore me out and I skipped a nap for the first time on Sabbatical.

Love and Care!

 
Wow what a week. I served at Love and Care Ministries on this last week of my sabbatical and man has it been an experience. I admire all the people that work and volunteer for this amazing organization.

 
My first day, on Monday was a little crazy! The leader of the kitchen (Janet) was on conference Monday and Tuesday but, the awesome volunteers and employees helped me get started and every person got their meals and everything turned out great.

 
Those of you that know me even a little a bit know that I am a little inquisitive. So, I think to shut me up one awesome lady (Lacey) said hey “Let me just show you around and show you all that goes on here” and so she did. It is an amazing place that helps cloth the homeless, gives them a place to shower, a meal, and prayers. They also give meals and clothes to poor families in this area.

They also have a chaplain that is an awesome sweet man (Sammy).

 
It has been such a blessing. The people that went through the food line or the people on street feeds were so appreciative and most of them had such a great attitude and so many had a great sense of humor which I love:) What a blessing to meet these people.

 
Friday was my last day and it was a lunch/street feed. We were preparing to leave when the Director (Mark Hewitt) came over and he went through the history of what was 23 years ago and where it is now and how God has led this ministry. His testimony was awesome! He then gathered everybody together and prayed for us.

 
And then the best thing happened on this street feed today when we stopped at a house and Janet went and sat with this lady and gentleman that were sitting on the porch. After a while, I was wondering if we were ever going to leave:) A little bit later Janet called us all over and we held hands as Sammy lead the prayer and both of these wonderful people accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior! It was awesome!

 
There is so much I will remember and cherish about this experience. Every person that I came in contact with during this time was such a huge blessing to me.

 
I would like to say Thank you to Val, Larry, Lacey, Sammy, Joe, and Paul. A special thank you to Janet for letting me be a small part of your team for a short time and experience a fraction of what ya’ll do and with the people you serve daily! I am blessed to have met all of you.

 
I have a couple of days to rest my feet (my friends at Love and Care wore me out for real:) . I am thankful!

 
Prayers for all of the Houston area!

My first week of sabbatical was busy, but fun. I took my Mom to the zoo on Monday for Senior Citizens Day. She really enjoyed it. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons I kept my 2 month old granddaughter, Kleasy. I really enjoyed that. Just can’t get enough of her. I also got my hair done and oil changed in preparation for my trip to Red River for my service project.

I drove to Red River, NM on Saturday. It’s about a 9 hour trip. I’ll be volunteering at a camp for adults with traumatic brain injuries. It’s called Mountain High Camp or “God’s Camp”. The camper I was supposed to oversee was not able to make it because of hurricane Harvey. There were 20 campers and counselors from the Houston area that couldn’t get out. So I’m taking one of the Houston counselors place and overseeing 3 campers- Robert, Randy and Kelvin. They are all from the Ft. Worth area. They all got here a couple of hours ago and we’re all about to load up the buses and head to the church to get the camp officially started.

I’m really excited for the opportunity to help at this camp.

I’ll let you know how things go.

Blessings

Due to infrequent and unreliable internet (and travel), I have not been able to post for a while. This post will catch us up to today – my last official day of sabbatical – but it will not be my last post. I am still elaborating some of my thoughts and emotions, so I will share them post-sabbatical.

Tragedy

In the not quite 3 weeks that we were in Italy, tragedy almost struck 3 times.

The first near miss was when our beloved dog somehow got out (the how is still a mistery) and ran off. It was late and we had people form all over the beach village looking for him. This is the dog that twice now we have not been able to bring with us because of the time of year we travelled. He has been keeping my mother-in-law company for the last 2 years and we still hope to get him here eventually. To lose him to a freak escape would have been quite a blow to all of us. Thankfully, we found him and he was unharmed. No doubt he was chasing some girlie dog.

The second almost tragedy was quite a bit more serious. The family beach house is over 30 years old and has sadly not always received sufficient maintenance since my husband’s father died. The electrical is dodgy and since we are dealing with 220 instead of 110, much more dangerous. My husband and I did some upgrades a few years ago and increased the general safety, but if you put a washing machine and a water heater (on an extension cord) together on a splitter on the same outlet, you might have problems. One day, I started smelling a funny burning plastic smell in the kitchen and I couldn’t figure out where it was coming from for the longest time. it got stronger, so I kept following my nose until I found smoke. The extension cord plug was melting itself and the splitter. I immediately shut the electricy off and detached the plugs. On of our neighbors had experience, so he came over and changed out the plugs and we found separate outlets for the two machines. What was the scariest about the plug melting was not the possibility of a fire – the houses are not wood, so you have more time to put out a fire – but that the gas tank for the stove was right there by the outlet. I doubt there was a leak, but had there been one, and a fire had started, it would have been a bomb.

The third event is kind of funny. We were at the beach relaxing one day, but there was what was called “land wind.” I don’t really know what it is called in English, so translated it literally. It creates a dangerous sea and funny air currents on land. There we were minding our own business – Ilaria running around playing, Massi and his cousins standing around chatting, and me lounging on the beach bed thingy (under the nted beach umbrella). Suddenly a gust of wind (that I didn’t even feel) pulled our umbrella off its base, twirled it around like in a tornado, and dropped it on my head. It had whacked Luisa, my husband’s cousin, but she got the broad side of the pole. I got the end of it straight down on my noggin. It hurt like crazy and I iced it, but it didn’t break the skin or knock me out or anything. It was a bizzarre event for sure and I’m glad it hit me and not Ilaria.

Trial

While we definitely rested and enjoyed our time in Italy, I personally felt attacked quite a few times. I mentioned in an earlier post that I suffered anxiety attacks the first few nights. That was only one of the types of attacks I felt. As I studied and read, I begin to focus and make decisions. As we went through our time there at the beach, my husband I solidified communication and proactively discussed our future. We tried to mend strained relationships and build new ones. I don’t believe the enemy liked our attitudes and progress, so we got to ride a roller coaster of trials, gossip, negativity and frustration. That is one of the reasons I am still elaborating some of my emotions. Now that we are back in the States and removed from certain behavioral patterns, I hope to be able to make sense out of “the ride” – if you will.

Triumph

Despite all the drama and emotion, Ilaria thrived and grew. She absolutely blossomed. She began to speak more Italian, she grew in confidence with the water and on the beach. She developed another level of independence. It was a joy and such an encouragement to watch her thrive. She came up against some not nice kids who tried to keep her from playing, and who didn’t know how to share, causing a couple of melt-downs, but we worked throught them and she grew in her social skills. She made friends and had other kids coming to find her to invite her to play. We joked that in another couple of weeks she would have been commanding the kids on the beach.

My pasta-loving little girl also expanded her culinary repitoire. She now eats what she calls rainbow plate: ham, cheese, carrot sticks, tomato wedges and green olives. She shies away from meat, so she has to eat 3 bites of ham to each bite of the other stuff. She loves the idea of the rainbow plate, so she eats it. I’ll take victories where I can find them. Ilaria starts a new school tomorrow, and I hope her food horizons will continue to expand.

There were other triumphs as well, but I am still sorting them out. For now, I will sign off. There is still a lot to do to get ready to jump back into the normal stream of life tomorrow.

P.S. Ladies, if you are married, I highly recommend The Power of a Praying Wife. Read more…

Last week of Sabbatical

This week has been very productive. The kids and I were able to feed a few more in need in the Houston area.  It wasn’t planned in advance but we enjoyed it so much last week we decided to do more.  In fact, this will become a regular event for my family.  It just seems logical to me that the human race should take care of each other.  One thing my kids have learned from this is that there is always someone who has more.  There is always someone who has less.  I am grateful for what I have and try not to ponder about what I don’t.  And this was prevalent during our time to be of service to others.

Additionally, this week we continued to prepare for the start of school.  This seems like an ongoing task from last week.  My little guy is going into 5th grade and my daughter starts her freshman year in college.  I did not realize how much work goes into moving a kid into a dorm.  Let me just tell you that I have ‘donated’ a significant amount of cash to Target.

I have mentally prepared for her departure all summer.  And yesterday it was surprisingly easy to move her into her dorm.  Because she came right back home as we now prepare for a hurricane to hit the Texas coastline over the weekend.  All schools here in the Houston area and most along the TX coastline, including her University, have cancelled the first two days of school.  I had ‘planned’ to write my last blog on Sunday which will be my last day of Sabbatical.  But, given the inclement weather, I don’t know if I will have power and capability to do it once the storm rolls in.  I come back to work officially on Monday.  I have really enjoyed the past four weeks.  I’ve grown and gained so much throughout this time on Sabbatical.  I am sincerely grateful for this gift from our company.  This is not an opportunity we will find with most organizations.  I am equally grateful to everyone that has helped keep my region running and my customers happy.  But friends, I have to be honest.  I am ready to come back to work. I found that I missed my coworkers and seeing my funeral home friends.  If this is how you feel during and after Sabbatical then you know we work for a GREAT company. 

I have one last request if you are reading this blog.  If you don’t mind, could you say a prayer for all of our homeless folks/veterans, the elderly, hospital patients and anyone in need in Texas/Louisiana as we expect the arrival of hurricane Harvey? 

Blessings to you all,
Stef

my apologies for not blogging earlier this week, my relaxing sabbatical just received an interesting plot twist. Last week the night before I was going to leave home for 7 days my landlord told me he is selling the house I am renting so now I must find a house to buy/rent in an extremely short amount of time, while simultaneously finalizing the rest of my wedding plans! Yikes…needless to say this blog will be short because I have time sensative issues to deal with so again I’m sorry for not blogging more.

Thursday night through Sunday morning I was able to spend some time in Wisconsin dells with a few friends and family members I don’t get to see that often. It was supposed to be a relaxing weekend on the lake but my mind was more focused on my new living situation, I still managed to have some fun and relax but it was not as relaxing as I had hoped.

Sunday afternoon I flew out to Rhode Island to visit with my best childhood friend who moved out there about 6 years ago. We were very close growing up due to the fact that we lived on the same street growing up and in 5th grade he was diagnosed with cancer and I was by his side through treatment. I asked him to be in my wedding and he said yes. He gave me a tour of Rhode Island and we even went to Martha’s Vineyard. It was an enjoyable trip to catch up with such a good friend but I couldn’t stop thinking of my living issues waiting for me back home. We toured the east coast of Massachusetts before I flew back Thursday night. Today has been filled with scheduling appointments with realtors, loan officers and attorneys. I have a lot to do before Stephanie and I have to drive 3 hours south for a bridal shower and a family reunion.

I will keep you posted on my travels and my housing situation.

It has been an interesting time since my last post. A bit of good news, my house is all cleaned and we have fresh carpet for my older dog, my son, and the new baby on the way. Yes you read that last part right, we went to see the little one on an ultra sound Wednesday. Seeing the ultrasound can really put things in perspective, making many things seem so small and unimportant. I’m very thankful to have family here in town who were able to help us in our time of need with the flooding, it really helped us get through this stressful time.

On a bit lighter note, my best friend gets married this weekend down in Houston! The Woodlands to be exact, a bit north of Houston thankfully. We arrived Thursday afternoon, and went to downtown Houston to the Museum of Fine Arts Houston to check out an exhibit on the Mexican Revolution through art, we wanted to slip that in before all the rain and potential flooding. The plans are changing as Hurricane Harvey begins throwing rain this direction, but its the joining of 2 people in love so no amount of rain can ruin that, at least in my opinion. Please pray for our safe travels and happiness for the newly weds!

Last week was a week to celebrate 25 years of marriage! Gary and I started dating in January 1989, I was a Junior and he was a Senior. As much as we were “in love” at that time, we never really imagined we would truly be so deeply IN LOVE 25 years later!  After our anniversary trip to Jamaica I came home and prepared for an anniversary celebration with family and friends! It was a truly blessing to have so many friends and family come to celebrate us!

One of the things I pray for most is that our children see the example that Gary and I are doing our best to give them. Marriage is a lot of work, but the great times outweigh the hard times. Most of all, being married to someone that makes you a better person is so very worth the investment!

This week is a week ALL ABOUT ME! Yup! Time to be selfish for a few days. Gary is at work, the kids are in school, so I’m going to do what I want to do and everything else will be there when I decide to do it….or until someone else gives in and decides to wash the dishes!

My service project is volunteering at Free SPIRIT (Special People in Riding Therapy) Riders.  It is a non-profit organization committed to enriching the lives of children and adults with disabilities through safe, therapeutic interaction with horses.  At Free SPIRIT Riders, the daily obstacles of frustrating disabilities are left behind for the freedom of a horse’s movement.  Students challenge the limits of their physical, cognitive, and emotional disabilities.  As a result, their physical, cognitive, and emotional health improve and they build confidence, pride, and self-esteem.

Two students have been assigned to me, so I may build trust with them (building relationships and the process of relating never goes on Sabbatical).  My first goal with a student is to relieve any anxiety the rider may be feeling.  The rider must feel comfortable and be at ease.  So, my first rider fell!!  She didn’t fall off the horse.  She fell asleep and we ended the session early!!  This has only happened one other time in the history of Free SPIRIT Riders.  I thought I was suppose to build the self-esteem of the rider, but my self-esteem is at an all-time high.  Don’t worry, my wife is always available to keep me humble and stop my self-esteem from turning into arrogance.  My wife accused me of boring her to sleep.  That is a complete possibility, but we can’t argue with the end result, she was comfortable.  She fell asleep!!  So, next session I throttled back on the comfort initiative and increased the level of interaction.  She is making tremendous progress.

My second rider is currently struggling with life and is depressed.  Her cognitive abilities are sharp enough to know that other kids are not kind to her.  As a result, she cries often and doesn’t want to leave home for anything, but to come ride with me.  I have been able to relate and build a relationship with her.  Some of her favorite activities include softly hitting me with a stick (used for playing tag with other riders) and drenching me with water (the water is meant to stay in a cup while riding to build a better sense of balance).  I may have turned myself into the occasional drenched human pinata, but I have built a strong relationship with this student.  However, I don’t allow her to play “tag” or “water games” every session.  She has an infectious laugh and it saddens me to know that she only laughs when riding a horse.  My goal is to pour enough love into her heart that it remains with her the rest of her day.

Aren’t we all disabled to some degree?  I am not disabled physically or cognitively, but my soul is disabled.  I am a sinner.  My disability is something I pursue reducing as I strive to have a heart like Jesus, full of love and peace.  Just as Jesus saved my soul, Jesus also longs to improve my heart.  Often our soul is connected to Jesus, but our heart is not altered.  Not only must we trust Jesus for salvation, but allow the love from Jesus to transform our heart.  The more time I spend with these students, the more my heart is filled with love and peace.  Let your heart be transformed!

“I promise, I’ll be brief”, said the salesman as he stepped across the threshold.

Nothing awesome or profound to report so far. What began as testing the blog waters may just stay on as a first installment.

Monday is day three, and Debbi is in the midst of her double knee replacement procedure. She’s such a trooper with the pain she has endured. She’s been ready for this for a time, and only in the last few days has she allowed her façade to show any cracks regarding her discomfort. We were both up by 3:30 AM to be at the hospital by 5:30 this morning. Immediately following surgery, the doctor came out to brief me on the success of her operation. He was pleased with the outcome and it only took 2 hours and 15 minutes. We were told it would range from 2 1/2 to 4 hours. As I type this she is resting, pain free and sound asleep.  Thanks to all of my FD family for the prayers for Debbi today.  Evidence abounds in God’s grace and mercy as she recovers and heals.

Getting up early for me is nothing new, I am usually up by 4:30 AM most mornings, and this last Saturday was THE first in what I can remember as a Saturday with nowhere to be in the morning. I was abed by 9 PM Friday and didn’t drag myself out of bed until 8 AM Saturday morning. 11 hours….What was that all about? Then yesterday I saw the opportunity to take a quick nap and what was to be maybe 30 minutes turned out to be a 2 ½ hour snooze fest. The rubber band has definitely lost its tension. So, I can see where the resting part of what we are called to do took little effort to achieve.

I started this journey with a short intermittent 24 hour fast coupled with prayers from Friday to Saturday. My good friend Mike, is always game to share in doing one of these, and we hope to perhaps do this a few times in the coming days and maybe one for a more extended period. We always have a purpose for these, but that’ll have to remain private.

Lastly, to bolster the whole experience, I am reading the Andy Stanley book, “Visioneering”, re-reading, “Love Does” by Bob Goff, as well as continuing to make my way through the devotional gift we received at the Summer Sales Meetings, “Book of Mysteries” by Jonathon Cahn.

In closing, for now, probably my biggest challenge over the remaining 27 days will be NOT filling all available time with activities. I need to throttle back a bunch. Nothing new, right?

Steven

As I write this second blog I can’t believe two weeks have gone by and I have started my third week already. Last week was more relaxing since I did not travel or do any work outside like I did at my parents house. Instead, I started my Bible study, continued reading my devotional book, and learned a lot about homeschooling.

First about my Bible study that I am doing. We had purchased this years ago for my wife to go in a group Bible study from our church back when we lived in Keller, TX. I stayed at home watching our kids so my wife could attend and now I have the opportunity to go through it. My wife Lindsey and I are doing this study together and we are doing two sessions a day which is two chapters a day. With no interruptions, we are averaging 1.5-2.0 hours to complete 2 sessions per day. I will have to admit that I am really appreciative of religious scholars and leaders who have taken time to put together study guides to give you the meaning of what you read. If you’re like me, I need all the help I can get!

Sorry for the sideways picture but I tried and tried to rotate it and the system won’t have it!

As for my continuation of “The book of Mysteries” I like the most so far the mission of the day that he gives. Don’t get me wrong, I do like the content his teacher gives the author and I think about that as well. But, for some reason I really like the mission that is at the end of each page.

As for home school, man, my wife keeps my three kids jammed packed everyday. A typical day goes like this: Breakfast, a few hours of school work, take kids to a place called Studio One (more on this later), come home eat lunch, more school work, back to Studio One, back home and finish remaining school work. I helped out where I could last week and I will do the same for week three when I am not working at Loaves and Fishes for my service project.

Studio One on 7th Street is place that is mainly for homeschoolers, but all is welcome. She does different activities for all different age groups throughout the day and week. Besides the basics, my daughter takes babysitting class, and photography. My son takes Wild Kratts class and chess club.

The first day of my Sabbatical was more or less uneventful. I read the entire Gospel of John, and the first chapter of “Cure for the Common Life” by Max Lucado.  Two weeks ago today, I came down with an allergy attack that took away any energy I was hoping to exert.  It was a mystery why my allergies reacted that way for a couple of days, then I remembered what I did the day before.

My parents had a garage sale on the 4th and 5th, which was the Saturday before I started my Sabbatical.  My Mom’s two sisters came to visit them and help, along with their husbands, one of my cousins and another cousin once-removed.  (The generation gap in family trees confuses me sometimes.) Their garage sale was going on at the same time as a family reunion for Laura’s family on the evening on the 4th and the first part of the 5th.  Laura’s family is large,  I don’t know how many cousins she has or how many her Dad has.  This reunion was for her Dad’s Mother’s parents’ descendants.  I met some people I have not met before, so that was interesting and fun.  It was also exhausting to my introvert side.

When that was over, we headed to my parents’ place to see my Mom’s family and helped clean up after the garage sale.  That meant a long trip with an open trailer from Eula to Abilene for a stop a Goodwill to donate an inordinate amount of clothing (some of which may still be on South 11th and Treadaway).

My parents could have garage sales every weekend from now until Kingdom Come and still have too much “stuff.”  They have always been garage sale aficionados, but over the last year, they have gotten hooked on auctions as well.   So on Sunday, the 6th,  I got the opportunity to go with my Dad and two uncles to an auction in an older part of town.  I wasn’t planning on buying anything.  However, when we were outside, there was a stack of “Abilene” bricks along with a half full propane tank for my grill and some other “junk.”  When I saw it, I was sure the bidding would be too high.  The auctioneer started at $5, nothing, then he went to $2, nothing, and again asked for two.  Because I did not expect to buy anything, I did not register to bid.  So the third time the auctioneer asked for $2, I elbowed my Dad and said I wanted it and would pay him back.  I got about 45 bricks and a propane tank for $2 and tax.  There were so many ants and spiders in that stack of bricks, I had to put on gloves and still got bit a couple of times.  I think those bricks had been in the same stack for over 20 years and some of them may be 100 years old.   I have always wanted “Abilene” bricks.  Abilene is home to us and has had a significant place in my family.  

I tell this story partly to explain the mystery of the allergy attack.  On Tuesday, I had time to reflect and also figure out what to do with the bricks.   I remembered walking into the house and recalling the smell, it smelled like a pet or a hundred pets, specifically cats.  So, on Monday, the 7th, I rested.

On Tuesday morning, I rested some more, and did a few things around the house for Laura, and in the afternoon, we did chores together.  On Wednesday, the 9th I called my Mom to see what they were doing and if I could go out to their place and clean off my “new” bricks and measure them.  She told me they were going to pick up my niece, who is 3, because my 2 month old nephew was having his second surgery in two weeks on his throat.  I don’t know much about medical procedures, but I think the surgeries were called “supraglottoplasty.”  The first one was on the sides of his throat to clear up some tissue that constricted his breathing and the second surgery was on the top of his throat.  Fortunately, the second surgery went smoother.  I went with my Mom and Dad to meet my Brother-in Law, kids in tow at a truckstop around Gordon.  It was a good time for me to chat with my parents about things we haven’t really talked about in several years.  It also gave me a chance to compliment them on how well they raised my siblings and me.  On the way back to their house, we stopped at DQ in Ranger and got to see my parents be grandparents and buy too much ice cream for my niece, which meant she got to share with “Uncle Jamin.”  A quick discloure, there may be future blogs about the legend of “Uncle Jamin” and his status, which rivals Greek Mythology.  After getting back to Mom and Dad’s, Mykenna (my niece)  wanted to see the chickens, so we walked behind the shop and watched the chickens and I collected the eggs.  Going to the “farm” (only 5 acres) is one of her favorite things to do, evidenced by her perpetual singing of “‘Nellie and Pop-Pop’ have a farm, E-I-E-I-O.”(Nellie and Pop-Pop have become my parents’ grandparent nicknames.)  We came back to Abilene and hung out at our house for a couple of hours until Mykenna got tired and they went back to Eula.

On Thursday, Laura and I did more things around the house, including yard work. Finishing up my first week of sabbatical, on Friday the 11th, we left for vacation with Laura’s Dad to meet Laura’s family for a week on the beach.

Hello FD family and friends,

It’s been a while since my last blog.  Mostly because there has been one thing after another on my calendar.  I might need to come back to work just so that I can rest!  It’s all been in good fun though.  Last weekend I was able to enjoy some very quality time with my best friend and both our families.  This is a rare opportunity given we both live busy lives with kids.  We enjoyed the beach and thanked God for each other and the blessings in our lives.  Then we rushed back to home in the concrete jungle for the work week.  We are down to the last week of summer for kids and it seems like there is more to do than usual to prepare them for the school year.  Most of my week was checking off a zillion things for each of them.  Too many to list and you don’t want to read that anyway.  While I thought I would be doing more ‘fun’ stuff on Sabbatical, this provided me with time to spend with each of them independently.  I recently saw on Facebook that time = love to a child.  As a working mom that travels quite a bit, I have to say this was a huge blessing to have just time.  My daughter is about to leave for college.  This is my first born and I’m not sure what to expect as we are packing her up this week to move into the dorm.  What I do know is that this time is precious so I am cherishing every minute.  Meanwhile, my son (age 10) is starting his last year in elementary school and as a result of them growing up too fast, I may be having a mid life crisis by the end of the week.  This is my last week of Sabbatical.  I plan to make the most of it!  Until next time…

I wasn’t going to start blogging until later in the week, but I just wanted to share my devotional from yesterday. I’m using Joyce Meyer’s “Love Out Loud” for my devotional study. This coming Saturday, I’m driving to Red River, NM to help out as a counselor at Mountain High Camp – a 5 day camp for adults who have suffered traumatic brain injuries. I’m really excited about this opportunity to serve, but I’m a little apprehensive also. I’ve never done anything like this before and it’s a bit out of my comfort zone, but I know this is what God wants me to do. So yesterday I’m reading  my devotional for August 20, (because there is no way I could start at January 1 when it’s August haha) and it was of course perfect for the situation

“August 20
No More Same Old Same Old
Do not [earnestly] remember the former things; neither consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing! ISAIAH 43: 18, 19
In today’s Scripture, God says He is doing a new thing. As you move into the future He has for you, you will encounter all kinds of new opportunities, and challenges. The days ahead will be full of new experiences, things you have never done before. You may not know how to do them, but you will learn. Everything you are doing today was new to you at one time—and look, now you can do it. Continuing to face new challenges and develop new abilities is extremely important to your growth and maturity. As you walk with God into your future, you will hear Him say, “You have not done this before, but don’t be afraid. I’m taking you to a place you have never been before. I’m going to ask you to do something you don’t know how to do!” God has already been where He is leading you, and He has prepared the way. Step out in faith and you will experience the faithfulness of God. We think and say, “It’s time for a change! I need something new,” and then we hesitate to embrace that new thing when it comes. If you are ready for something new and fresh, don’t be afraid to embrace it when it comes. Don’t stay trapped in the past. Let go of what lies behind and press into the great future God has planned for you. I can promise you: God is with you. He will lead you. He will strengthen you. He will help you.
Love God Today: With God’s help, I will embrace every new thing He brings into my life.”

God’s got this!

Today is “Senior Citizen Day” at the Abilene Zoo, so I’m going to take my Mom. She doesn’t get around too good and hasn’t been to the zoo in several years, so I think she’ll enjoy it and I’m grateful for the opportunity to spend some quality time with her.

To be continued…

Hi All,

Wow, I am half way through my sabbatical!

I traveled to Fayetteville, Arkansas for some family time with my daughter and granddaughter. My son and his family made it there a couple of days before me and we had a great time. The grandkids love each other so much and it makes a Mimi’s heart happy to see her kids and grandkids have so much fun together.

After a week in Fayetteville I was planning on heading home on Monday when everybody left for work/school but, my granddaughter wanted to stay behind and help me while I finished packing up. So I had the pleasure of taking her to preschool on my way out of town. It was bittersweet! She was so happy to be back at school where she had not been for a week in order to spend time with her family from Texas. She was extremely happy to see her teacher and her classmates. She did manage to give me a hug goodbye in between accepting all the welcoming back hugs from her peeps. By the way, I expect the same reception when I return to work:) lol.

I cherish that time with my kids and grandkids!

I had a couple of things to complete this week with my mom and her appointments. It has been so nice and truly funny and frustrating at times with my mom. We are truly alike in so many ways and I just smile and Thank God for her every day!

I also meet with Terry from Love and Care Ministries on Wednesday and he got me lined out on where to report on Monday. I will be serving in the kitchen and I am looking forward to that.

I have had plenty of rest with no alarm clocks (except for grandkids lol) and my reading has been great!

Peace and Blessings

The last part of my sabbatical provided two different opportunities to spend time with family members. We took a quick trip to Arlington with Mark’s youngest brother and his family for their last hurrah before the start of school. It was great to spend time with our niece and nephew, because they’re growing up so fast.

The second trip was to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where my dad grew up. I got the chance to see some relatives that I had not seen for many years.   When I found out that my parents were making a trip to Santa Fe while I was on sabbatical, I knew it was the perfect opportunity for a visit.

Our first stop was my dad’s favorite restaurant, Tomasita’s, which is across the street from the train station where my grandad worked. Both of my uncles and one aunt met us there for a delicious New Mexican dinner. We spent several evenings at Uncle Dale and Aunt Marilyn’s house, eating dinner on their patio overlooking the mountains. My cousin, Becky, came over and it was good to catch up with her. We also took some time for sightseeing around Santa Fe, walking around the Plaza, touring the Loretto Chapel with the “Miraculous Staircase”, driving up to the mountains, touring the Pueblo ruins at the Pecos National Historical Park, and the Veterans National Cemetery where my grandparents are buried.

The main reason for making the trip around August 13^th, was to attend the 100^th Anniversary Celebration of First Baptist Church. My great-grandparents, grandmother and great-uncle were charter members in 1921, and my dad grew up in that church. He had been invited to talk about the history, and to sing at the service. The first services were held in a tent until the church was built in 1922, and the first baptisms were held down at the river. My Great-Uncle Jabez is the one standing in front of the tent in the picture, and my great-grandfather’s name is on the original cornerstone. Today, the church meets in a traditional adobe-style building built in 1960. I really enjoyed seeing pictures of my relatives, and learning how instrumental they were in starting a church that has served so many people over the past 100 years. It was a very meaningful experience and I’m so glad I was able to be part of it.

God led me to experience some wonderful things during the last 30 days, and I’m so grateful to have had these opportunities.

My sabbatical began at 12:00 midnight, Friday, August 11, 2017. At 6:00 AM that very day I was admitted to the hospital for surgery. Yes, it was “planned” for that date and time but it had not been planned for long! And, you guessed it, it was nowhere near what I’d planned all along for my sabbatical. Enter God’s perfect plan.

Until just a few weeks ago, we, my husband Galen and I, had no idea my surgery was even needed let alone medically necessary. Wow! Because of this necessity, lots of precautions were taken by my doctors to ensure a successful surgery. While my care team was focused on the medical/human readiness aspect, we refocused our perspective.

We left all the doctors and medical stuff behind and focused on who and what we know and have through our faith; prayer. And we didn’t stop with just the two of us praying. We reached out to family, friends, extended family, and every prayer group we know. Guess what? Every single person embraced us in love and prayed with us and for us. No questions asked. No “Soccer practice first, then I’ll pray.” No “I’ve been in meetings all day and I’m too tired.” Because of love, they prayed.

Oh, I almost forgot a pretty huge step that I took! I called on a true friend the night before the surgery, explained what was happening with all the challenges that had been overcome to make the surgery possible, all our fears that had been calmed, and the needs being met by this change in my plan. This news was a big surprise to my friend to say the least. My heart was relieved and our decisions reinforced after this call. He prayed for me, for us, for our medical team, and for a swift and full recovery. Why, you may ask, was this such a big step for me? Because it is easier for me to give than to receive. I’ve really focused on asking for help, for prayer, when I need it. It’s becoming more natural to me every day but it’s still a work in progress. And my friend remembers all too well the “DJ” who would never share her needs nor ask for help/prayer and recognized my strength and courage. See, I told you it was a HUGE step!!

My surgery was an amazing success! It took longer than expected but my team took the time needed to do their good work.  Another piece of big news is the fact that I came home the very next day! Yeah, that wasn’t my doctor’s plan for me, but we know who is in control. Today I went for my first car ride and had my one week checkup. Both were awesome!

I have much more to share but that’s for later. I’ll share with you a quote, a promise from God, that a longtime friend, who just happens to be a guiding light in my life, shared with me many years ago. Just insert your name on that line and peace will be yours too!

“God’s in control. _____ has peace.”

This has been such a chaotic week for me . I am praying about all i am doing and going through , i an trying to stay strong . I dont like to worry but it seems as if my body just cant help itself .
Helping with meals on wheels has been such a treat i have met so many nice people . Knowing i get to be a oart of have a hand in helping makes me so happy. Everyine needs help it doesnt matter what walk if life you come from .
I have also just completed my 1st week of my cna clinicals . The people i have been assisting with are so great and wonderful . I am so excited about being a vital part of this process . It is so amazing .
I will up date soon about me health concern with my hip, when i have new information . Until next time blessings !!

I’m in the middle of week two, and I realized I haven’t blogged as planned! I really thought I would use this as a journal, but realized I would probably bore you poor folks to death if I did. Funny thing, I have been journaling since I was very young, until 2009. That’s when it came to an abrupt halt.

If you happened to see a post of mine on Facebook, this is old news to you, but in 2009 I did something I swore I would never do. I walked away from a 29 year marriage and an equally long career as a church admin and musician. I was a Sunday School teacher, worship leader, and women’s Bible study teacher. I really thought I had reached everything I wanted in my career.

Suddenly, it all came crashing down. I’ve had a lot of time to think about it the past couple weeks, and it’s interesting that part of our sabbatical practice is called “redemption.”I found that an odd name to call the practice of meditation and reflection. Only now do I understand why, in my opinion, it’s called that.

I walked away from my entire life. I quit having a quiet time, I quit reading Scriptures, and I quit attending church. I was hurt and I was mad. Never mind that everything was done at my hand. God didn’t do anything to me, and God’s people didn’t do anything – at first. I decided that a divorced woman who was on church staff had no place in church work. I had fallen and fallen to the very bottom. There was no coming back from this one. There was certainly no forgiveness for this girl. I knew God couldn’t possibly hear me or see me ever again.

I did everything to hide from God and to ignore Him. I even thought I would renounce my faith. I gave away all of my Christian books and all of my Christian CD’s and printed music. I didn’t want anything to do with any of it. I put my Bibles on a shelf – funny those are the only things I purposely kept.

I went on like that for about 5 years knowing in the back of my mind that I may have changed the course of my eternity. You have to understand that I spent most of my life in a fundamentalist Southern Baptist Church that preached once saved always saved, so I tried to believe that I would be okay. However, the last four years of my church service was in the United Methodist Church. I heard for the first time that a person can lose their salvation if they didn’t want it. Oh my, was I in a mess of guilt and confusion and fear.

Fast forward to March 2015. I interviewed with FDLIC, a Christian values based company, and I thought to myself, “Why in the world and I doing this?”I was so afraid to go back into anything that had any attachments to Christianity. I knew I wouldn’t fit.

In the same month, a small Methodist Church asked me if I would lead worship on a part time basis. Yikes, really? God, what are you doing? I reluctantly began to sing and play again, but my heart was still a bit hardened.

Coincidence? Maybe, but I’m not so sure. Slowly, but surely over the last two years, I have started to open my heart again to God, but something magical happened the 2nd Sunday of my sabbatical. I searched for my Bible because I wanted to take it to church with me, and before service, I spent some time revisiting the Psalms that I once loved. It’s like a chain broke lose from my heart and soul, and I made friends with an old friend – Scripture.

I’m not sure where I go from here, but for the first time, I prayed – really prayed, and had a conversation with God. He didn’t go anywhere. He was waiting all along.

The Holladay family is very close.  Sadly, for those of us remaining, many of our family are now in Heaven with the Lord.   Over the years, my immediate family has enjoyed several amazing family vacations with my mom.  For the last ten years my mom has dreamed of taking a trip with all of her grandchildren.  She has said many times that this was a “bucket list” event for her.  This year we arranged a cruise with my mom, niece, nephew and my family.    During this time, we enjoyed some amazing family time and were also able to check off a second “bucket list” item for my mom by riding horses on the beach.  My children have been blessed and had the opportunity  to travel to many countries.  For my niece and nephew it was their first time to see the beach or another country and helped create memories we will all remember for a lifetime.  Seeing their faces as they experienced new opportunities was truly amazing.

Yesterday, was my birthday. It was a great day and we celebrated at Red Robin where I gobbled up my free birthday burger. I spent a lot of time reflecting on my life yesterday and decided to jot down my life’s blessings just to keep me grounded and focused on the big picture. If you are friends with me on Facebook you’ve probably already seen this but since part of our sabbatical is for a time of reflecting and focus I wanted to post here as well.

42nd Birthday Blessings in my Life

1. My God who is ever so merciful and forgiving of all my shortcomings. Who blesses me beyond measure every single day.
2. My amazing husband who treats me like a princess every day no matter what. I didn’t know the true meaning of being loved until he loved me.
3. My Hannah Rose. My beautiful, talented first born. I didn’t start living until I had her. She gave me purpose and has taught me how to be a mom and love a human unconditionally.
4. My Hailey Brianne. The most focused and driven young lady I’ve ever know. She is caring and loving and gracious.
5. My Hayden Vincent. He has shown me how to open my mind and let go of my own plans for this life. He is more gifted and talented than I could have ever hoped for.
6. My two angel babies. It doesn’t matter how many years pass, I will always long for the day I finally get to met them in heaven. Knowing I have that opportunity is such a blessing.
7. My parents. Through all my ups and downs, good choices and horrible decisions, they have loved me no matter what. I’m so blessed to still have them in my life.
8. My brother. Although we are far apart I know that he will always have my back and be there for me when I need him.
9. My grandparents. Even though they are all now gone from earth I will never forget all the great memories of how they loved me so well.
10. My last 10 days with my grandpa. It was traumatic and heartbreaking but was also my most favorite time with him. The blessing of showing him how much I loved him by caring for him is something I will always cherish.
11. My family by marriage. They have claimed me and my kids and never missed a beat. It’s a blessing to be part of the Bechtel family.
12. My former family by marriage. Even though my mother in law has passed, she was such a tremendous blessing to me for 20 years. She loved me as her own and was truly my second mother. I will forever be blessed from the things I learned from her. Mostly her graciousness and tremendous faith.
13. My former family by marriage, again. I’ve never felt abandoned or uncared for from my former father in law and I know I can always count on him if I’m ever in need. I’m blessed that he is still apart of my life.
14. My ex husband. Yep, I’m going there. I choose to find good in all situations. Without him there would be no 3,4,5 & 6 and I could never deny or regret those blessings. We have been through hell and back and I’m thankful that we have learned to be the best we know how to be for our children.
15. My friends. They are an eclectic group of people that I’m blessed to have in my life. Sometimes I’m still amazed at how faithful God is to have placed them all in my life at different times when I needed them the most.
16. My job. I work for an incredible company with leadership that cares for and loves their people.
17. My coworkers. They are all unique and bless my life in different ways.
18. My health. I’m blessed to be alive and well.
19. My dogs. They bless me with joy and love me no matter what.
20. My house. I’m blessed with far more than I deserve.
21. My Finances. We don’t struggle with money and have been continually blessed year after year.
22. My freedom. I’m so blessed to live in this country.
23. My humor. I have used it in all situations and it has gotten me through some tough times. I’m blessed to have this attribute in my personality.
24. My independence. I spent more than half my life codependent and lost. I’m blessed that through all my life experiences I have learned to be independent.
25. My heart. It’s ever evolving and I’m blessed at its ability to love through the hurt and rejoice through the pain.

Monday, the 14th I was due to start my service project at PRA. Unfortunately, right about the time our truck broke down, I started having stomach issues and they didn’t get any better by the next day. I’m pretty sure I brought back a parasite or something bad from Mexico. So, I delayed my service project and started the next day. I have chosen to volunteer at Pregnancy Resources of Abilene for a few years and I really enjoy every aspect of it. The people there are awesome and I like being a small part of something so much bigger than myself. The simplest task is part of the big picture in saving a child’s life. Every card stapled in every folder that’s given to an expectant mom is an opportunity to minister to her to choose life. On Wednesday my daughter Hailey was able to come volunteer with me. I’m thankful for that time to spend with her.

I’m a little farther behind on my blogging than I intended so I’ll try to recap as best as possible. On August 6th my husband and I left for our 7 day anniversary cruise. We left out of Galveston and ported in Honduras, Costa Maya, and Cozumel. The first two days were great. We were at sea and enjoyed the ship and loved the group of people at our dining table. To me, that’s one of the most fun parts of cruising. Our table consisted of 4 couples and we all hit it off on the first night and became instant friends. On days 3-5 our ship hit a tropical depression with ten foot waves and horrible rocking. It caused me to be super sea sick and get very little sleep. We almost didn’t get to port in Costa Maya because of the swells but it cleared up enough for us to port. That was my favorite of the three destinations so I’m glad it worked out. We completed the cruise on August 13th and were excited to make it off the boat and to our truck by 8:30 am. We were excited to get home to the kids and sleep in our new bed. Unfortunately, our truck broke down in Waco and we were literally stranded for over 5 hours. It was horrible! Apparently, mechanic shops are not open on Sundays in Waco. After trying a few things with no resolve we finally called family to come pick us up and we left the truck in Waco. The next day my husband went back with a friend and a trailer to haul it back to Abilene. Not the most awesome ending to a vacation but it could have been a lot worse so I’m thankful we made it home and nobody had a heat stroke, which was a serious concern.

Read more…

We enjoyed some very nice sites that young girls dream of, Castles and Von Trapp family home.

The Von Trapp family home from the Sound of Music

Looking for their Prince

These first two weeks felt like they flew by! As I left off in my previous post the next step in my sabbatical was all about spending quality time with friends and family. Last Thursday and Friday I went back to my hometown of Durand, IL where I grew up. I tried to stop and visit with as many family members as I possibly could. I wanted to talk to them about their families/lives since I don’t get to see them that often as well as hand out as many wedding RSVPs as I could. (stamps aren’t cheap!) I got to play a round of golf with my father which is something I haven’t been able to do in years. We also went down to the local funeral home and finalized his funeral plans!!! Unfortunately I only got to spend a few hours with my mom since she got called into work while I was home, but that’s ok since I will be seeing her in a few weekends anyways.

Friday night through Monday morning I was in Bloomington, IL which is where I recently lived for the past 10 years. I was blessed with the opportunity to see a bunch of close friends that I haven’t seen since I moved up to Wisconsin. One of the families I got to spend time with has a 6 year old son named Liam who tells all his friends that his buddy Jake is “the coolest man alive”. I asked him if he would help me out by being the ring bearer in my wedding and he freaked out in excitement!

Monday I spent the day driving back to Wisconsin. Tuesday – today I have been trying my best to take it slow, meditate and rest, but I also spent a lot of time over at the Hunger Task Force too. The HTF is a rewarding place to donate your time. Everyone there is so nice and very down to earth, they have a common goal to help out those in need and they are an awesome team. I got to ride along in the truck again (my favorite part) handing out pallets of food to local establishments. It’s nice to know that I live in a town that has so many organizations that care about the less fortunate in the community. I have a fairly lengthy to do list for today due to the fact that I am planning on being gone for the next ten days so I better wrap this blog up and get my chores done!

Where am I going next you ask? Well…..you’re going to have to be patient and tune in next week to find out!

This week I really embraced the rest and relaxation part of my sabbatical, I did not really work on any projects or anything. Most of the week consisted of binge watching Game of Thrones so I can catch up, only 4 seasons left!

I volunteered at Habit For Humanity on Saturday, this week we focused on cutting out the holes for the windows, getting the windows put in and weather wrapping the house. It truly is amazing how people can come together to help build a home for someone. While there was a few people I was working working with the week before, it was mostly new people, and seeing how we were able to organize and get going pretty efficiently was a sight to see.

The change for this week wasn’t great, as I’m sure you know we got a pretty good rain Monday night; that rain along with development going on behind my house caused water to seep into my home. Thankfully I had family that was able to come as it was happening and helped me to clean up and contain the water as best we could until it stopped. I believed that really helped keep the damage down, and am very thankful for that. It is tough seeing your house, something you worked so hard for, torn up. As it dries it gets better, and we can rebuild, you really have to stay positive in these situations, and turning to God through prayer is really helping us stay positive in this.

Proverbs 16:3 – “Entrust your works to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.”

I made all kinds of progress today . Everything from laundry to dishes etc. I have a house again !!!! I did a little work on the outside as well , i pressure washed my siding . Now its all pretty again. Also sprayed off the front porch as well looks nice.
I also had a Appt. Today for physical therapy , sadly it doeant seem to be helping like i had hoped but it get better i know it will . On a side note i am missing my kiddos they went to their dad’s , feels weird with them not here boring !!
Not to much going on today to tell . I will be posting some pictures soon . Everyone have a blessed and wonderful day .

I spent my third week volunteering at Global Samaritan Resources. What a wonderful organization! They not only meet needs all over the world, but also serve people in the Abilene area. Last year I read an article in the newspaper written by the executive director at that time, Danny Sims. As soon as I read it, I knew I wanted to volunteer with them. The article was written right after the terrorist attack in Nice, France. It starts out addressing the helpless feeling we have when something like that happens – what can we possibly do? The article states there is something simple, yet significant: sending food and kindness to people displaced by war. While it won’t fix the conflict, showing love to refugee families can bring light into their dark world and change their future.

The first two days I sorted through donated bags full of stuffed animals. Coming from someone who still has her first teddy bear, I really loved this job. Some of the stuffed animals will stay in the Abilene area to be distributed by first responders when they encounter young children during a crisis. Others will be shipped to Iraq to be distributed to refugee children. All of the donated stuffed animals are examined for rips and holes, then sent to A-Town Cleaners where they are cleaned for no charge. Any toys that are too large, too small, contain words or logos, or are too scary are pulled out. Any toys that Global Samaritan cannot use are taken to the Christian Service Center. I packed two large boxes of stuffed animals to send to Iraq, and delivered 5 bags of toys to the Christian Service Center.  When I entered the CSC, I heard my name – it was Sarah Bailey, who was doing her volunteer work there. How nice to see FDLIC employees volunteering all over town.

On day three, a semi arrived from San Angelo full of donations collected by a church in San Angelo. Global Samaritan’s job was to organize the pallets and prepare them for shipping to Amman, Jordan. Jason Gazaille was also volunteering that week and we both helped Esther and Sal prepare the pallets. Each pallet must be a certain size before it can be wrapped and weighed, and the boxes are all verified against the spreadsheet provided by the church. Esther told us that having two extra people helped them finish the shipment a week sooner than they expected. It made me feel so good that we were able to make a difference while we were there.

The following is the excerpt from Danny Sims’ article that really spoke to me. He said, “No one knows the number of lives and future decisions sending food will affect. But this is the answer to the question ‘What does sending food have to do with Nice, France and terror?’ Maybe not much today, but maybe everything tomorrow. We cannot, as Christians, do nothing. We should not, as Americans do nothing…So what can we do? One Army sergeant told us, ‘Keep sending food. Sending more compassion and kindness than we send bombs is our only hope.’ I asked him how many others in the US were sending food (to Northern Iraq)? He paused for a moment then said, ‘You guys in Abilene, Texas are the only ones.’ Abilene and Global Samaritan are sending kindness and hope. It is something we can actually do in response to terror.”  The entire article is posted on the Global Samaritan website: https://globalsamaritan.org/terror-again-what-can-we-do/

If you ever think one person can’t make a difference, go volunteer somewhere and you’ll see that you can make a difference.

In week three of my sabbatical I focused on my bible studies and a home building project.  To relax and remove stress I enjoy physical activity.  One of my favorite things to do is to build something.  I enjoy the satisfaction of knowing that I built something from start to finish without assistance.  I learn from these experiences, reduce mental fatigue and get to enjoy the outdoors in summer.  During my sabbatical 7 years ago, I built a workshop with an entertainment room and steam room.

This year my objective was to add a balcony to my previous project.  Blow are a few pictures of the “almost” finished project.

Cousins

My daughter, Ilaria, spoke almost exclusively Italian 2 years ago when we moved to the States. She understood English, but had always spoken in Italian. Now it is the exact opposite. She understands Italian, but won’t speak it. The other day, after she got over her initial disorientation, she asked me, “Mami, does everyone at the beach speak Italian?” She has begun to speak a little and wanting to play and communicate with the other kids at the beach has pushed her to remember her Italian. Today, she was playing with her cousins (who don’t speak English), and she was trying to get them involved in one of her playacting stories, but she kept talking in English. I had to remind her that they didn’t understand. They kept looking at me for a translation. She is doing really well and I hope that we are able to help her continue speaking in Italian when we return. Even though we speak in Italian at home, all she hears everywhere else is English.

Any excuse is a good excuse…

I have always said that – for the people of Naples – any excuse is a good excuse for a party and fireworks. Now, I could live without the fireworks – especially since most of the time they start shooting them off at midnight when I tend to like to be snuggled in bed sleeping peacefully. The parties on the other hand…now those are fun. I am not a huge party person, but the Neopolitans are so spontaneous and alive when they decide to get together. Last night we went to a birthday party. One of Massimiliano’s friends since forever came in to his own family’s beach house to celebrate with his family and a few friends. Food, drinks, laughter and music for hours. The guys pulled out their guitars and sang songs that they wrote together in that very house 25 years ago. They turned water bottles and coke cans into marroccos and had a great time. Every time we turned around, this friend’s mom and sister were bringing platters of fresh seafood out of the kitchen. They told stories on one another and griped about the competing music down the street. (Everything takes place outside in the evenings. Nobody has air conditioning, windows are thrown open and people wander from house to house socializing.) My personality tends toward the perfectly organized party with a specific number of people invited, where I know who is coming and everything is perfectly in order. Yet, I am strangely attracted to the Neopolitan sponteneity – where anyone and everyone is welcome, they can always throw some more pasta on and nothing is ever perfectly in order. (And 9 times out of 10, there will be drama.) 

Relax in the Keeping Power of God

Coming back to Italy after 2 years has been a satisfaction, but we have also had to deal with situations and emotions from which we had been mostly liberated and removed. There is no getting around them while here, however, and for the first few nights, I suffered panic attacks and had trouble sleeping.

The encouragement for August 9 in the Bible Study I am following is entitled Relax in the Keeping Power of God. “Trust in Him. The Bible says that God never sleeps nor slumbers. When you go to sleep at night, He stays up and watches over you. Relax and trust Him to strengthen you and keep you all the days of your life.”

As we also strive to repair relationships and as we search for ways to encourage and help my mother-in-law in her depression and difficulty, today’s lesson spoke to me. Enjoy God’s Grace While You Wait. “Trusting God to do what only He can do always leads to joy, because ‘what is impossible with men is possible with God’ (Luke 18:27).”

This week has been amazing and of coarse eventful. I worked with meals on wheels mon., tue., thur. . I am very to happy to see places that are so pationate about helping others in need .I have met so many kind people that are just sooo sweet . I even had my daughter come with me one of my days and she had so much fun being my little navigator .
I have also been going to physical therapy for my hip it seems to temperarily relieve some pressure , but isnt really solving the problem 🙁 . I am very hopeful that we can figure out the cause and fix me . Its is down trotting to be in pain all the time but im going to maintain possitivity. I will definately keep praying about it .
My cna classes have been so jam packed with information. There are so many components to taking care of people which i already knew that . I learned how to take a blood pressure and gor it right on my first try i was so excited . This up coming weekend i will be starting my clinicals nervous yet excited .
On the family front , things are going well my brother and his wife appear to be doing a little better.i definately have been enjoying some much needed family time . My husband and i have gotten to spend alot of time together ive felt like this was much needed .
Rest ! So much rest . I love it and Ive Been feeling so energized . Its been amazing , i dont remember the last time i had this much rest. I love reading my devotionals in the morning and enjoying some relaxing book time .
Here cones a brand new week . Lets do it !!!

Whoa what week full of adventure and fun. I started last week off with celebrating my youngest son Benson. He turned 3 on the 8th of August. I had a small party at the park with my family and closest friends. Small parties are great you actually get to talk to everyone and your kid only gets a few presents. I know some might think it’s mean to not let your kids have lots of present but being a mom of 3 boys i can assure you we have plenty of toys at my house.

Next I took Weston (my middle son) to six flags. He absolutely loved it and rode all the rides he could. He is fearless like his mother. Not sure if that is a good thing or bad thing. Haha! weespend the whole day at Six Flag and it was great.

I have truly enjoyed my time with my kids.   Being a single mom of 3 boys can be  challenging and exhausting but it’s and whirlwind of fun and adventure I wouldn’t trade for anything.

I titled this a few milestones because Benson turned 3, I took Weston to Six flags(that is something I told myself I would never do since he is only 4) and Benson is now potty trained. I can’t tell you what a relief that last milestone is.

Gotta go for now. I have some cleaning I mean resting to do.

The first week of my sabbatical I wanted to tackle the main mission I had which was to work on bringing my parents back into the church. In addition, I worked on anything they needed around their house.  You are probably thinking that seems simple? Well not exactly. Little history on this to set the stage.

Both of my parents are in their early eighties and they are able to still move around but like anyone else who is elderly, they need help. As for the church part, I grew up going to church when I was very little and I can barely remember going since I was really young. For whatever reason we stopped going to church and I never bothered to ask why. I guess since I was going to private school my spiritual needs were being met but I did not bother to think about my parents spiritual needs.

So it begins…I loaded my truck with 2 of my 3 kids and my bike for exercise with me and we drove to my brother who lives in Boyd, TX and I dropped both Brooke and Hunter off to stay with them a few nights. After visiting awhile I then left for my parents house which is in Hurst, TX.

As I began working around my parents house last week time can run away from you. I had to manage my self so I can stay on track with the guidelines of the sabbatical because I am one of those who starts a project and keep working on it until it is finished. I had to leave myself enough time for my bike ride in the evenings and read my book which is “The Book of Mysteries” by Jonathan Cahn in the morning. Also, I am doing my bible study over the Gospel of Matthew by Jeff Cavins & Sarah Christmyer.

Here are a few pictures of the work I did around my parent’s house:

Removing trim around shed that has rotted out and critters have been moving in.

Me removing the old rotted out trim

Me cutting the new trim for replacement

Me trimming trees in the back yard. I also trimmed trees in their front yard

One of the evenings I moved their computer and everything else from the bottom of the computer desk and the electrical cords to the top. My mom said it was too hard to crawl on the ground to mess with any of these items and I agreed!

Initial confusion of wires everywhere but operational check is good when I finished!

In the evenings I started slowly bringing up about going to church and not much action was taken on the subject. As time went by, I realized I really have to make an impact before I left to go back to Abilene. So finally late Friday night I had a meaningful conversation with my mom about why they stopped going to church and I had a break through! Come to find out, my mom said that my dad had mentioned to her that he would like to go to church.

I thought this was great, even though my mom did not say anything to my dad when he said he wanted to go to church again. To me this gave me affirmation that God was working through me when I decided to do this for my sabbatical. Before I left to go back home, I told my parents that I loved them and that God loves them too and that you are not off the hook yet until you can agree with what church you are going to attend. I will continue to follow up with them and will keep you posted on what happens.

Last week was a wonderful week in Jamaica with the love of my life!  We had a wonderful time.  I’d like to say it was uneventful and 100% relaxing, but it did not start out that way….  We arrived at our resort in Runaway Bay Sunday afternoon and quickly agreed that we had landed in paradise! This place was indeed another one of Gods masterpieces!  When we arrived it had been raining most of the day, and was still misting off and on, but we were determined that a little bit of rain was not going to stop us!  About an hour later we finally found a buffet that was opened to get some food. After a little bit of frustration at the restaurant we ate and left with a complimentary bottle of “apology” champagne.   As we were walking back to our section of the resort with, the unopened bottle of champagne, we came out of the covered hallways into the open aired walkways connecting two sections of the building.  We heard  music playing and Gary suggested that we go upstairs for a night cap and to listen to the music for a while. As he turned towards the sound of the music the concrete walkway had a step down that we did not see and it was wet from the rain.  Before we knew what was happening Gary was picking himself up from the ground holding on to his right hand as tight as he could.  As you can guess he was the one carrying the bottle of champagne and when he fell that bottle busted and glass shards went everywhere!! One of the butlers heard the bottle bust and came running to see what was going on.  She instantly started calling for help.  It was 6:55 at this time.  We stood there for a couple minutes while she tried to get help.  She finally ran off to find a towel for Gary to wrap his hand in and came back still dialing the phone looking for help.  She finally was able to get someone on the phone that told he that she needed to walk with us back to our room (I’m not sure why they wanted us to leave the ‘scene of the accident’, but off we went!) We got to our room and while the butler was continuing to do her best to get someone to come help Gary and I went into the bathroom to run some water over his hand and try to get a look at what we were dealing with. We knew instantly that there were two pretty big cuts. One was more on his wrist and was clearly of concern.  We wrapped the towel back around his hand and waited.  Finally at 8:05 someone finally showed up!  The security guard took our report and decided we needed to see the onsite nurse. The nurse told us what we had already decided ourselves, that the cut on his wrist was in need of stitches!   Naturally, she was not able to do such procedures in her office so we were going to have to go to the local Jamaican hospital.  This is when the real fear set in… A driver was called for us, we were put into the car and sent off to the hospital with a sweet gesture of “Good Luck”!  Umm.. Help? Really? We have to go on our own?  Yup!

We made the 40ish minute drive to the hospital.  As we were driving through the security gates into the hospital and peering through the metal security gated doors into the ER we soon realized we were in for an experience that we were not prepared for!  We passed through the security area they took our cellphones, and sent us in to check with nurses.  We were then sent to the registration area. We gave her some information, $60 US dollars and were sent back into the ER.  Although at this point no one had looked at the wound to know what we were there for, we felt as if we were being looked at as if we were wasting the staffs time. They seemed very unconcerned with our needs and told us that we needed to find a seat and wait. I will take the time now to acknowledge that, clearly, it was not a life threatening accident and although it was on his wrist it did not cut a major artery so thanks be to God we weren’t one of the highest priorities in the hospital.  However, a little more concern seemed appreciate?  We waited… and waited… for Gary’s name to be called.  As we were sitting in that little spot in the hallway that was considered the waiting room it his us both how incredible spoiled we, as Americans, are! Looking around it was bad as you may be envisioning that it would be. However, the other people there waiting for help were content and just waiting their turn.  We humbled ourselves quickly!! After a long wait we were called to the nurses station and told that they did not have the supplies needed to do the stitches…. Umm, pardon me?  I’m not sure I heard this correctly? We are in the hospital, correct?  How could it be possible that a functioning hospital not have the supplies needed to do a simple procedure such as putting stitches in his hand?  Again, we were humbled to the reality that this is how the Jamaican’s live. We are the spoiled ones! The ones that never question such things as going to the ER to have our hand stitched up in a extremely sterile environment, handed a $500+ bill, patted on the back and told to check in with our family doctor the following week!

I started my mini sabbatical a week ago by volunteering at Camp Able. At first it didn’t look like it was going to work out. I emailed the food bank, and quickly had a response that someone would get back with me shortly. That didn’t happen. I never thought volunteering for places that really can use volunteers would be so challenging. None the less, Ray mentioned to Nadene who is chairman of the board for Camp Able that I was having issues. As only she can do, she took the proverbial bull by the horns and I was a volunteer.
As I arrived I was still quite unsure as to what was expected. I learned quickly that Nadene had bragged on me and that left me just a little scared! Renee Hicks, owner of Camp Able is a super sweet lady that has a tremendous love of horses, mainly ones that have been abused or neglected. Not only does she love horses but she is loves children with disablilities. She uses her horses to help children and adults.
There is much going on and the day to day life on a ranch is busy. There was another volunteer already there. A girl name Chloe who has been volunteering for a while. She is 15 and knows her way around the horses. My initial job wasn’t much, but it was something that I love. The farrier was there to trim hooves and replace shoes. I was to brush the horses. I am not tall by any means, but I seriously could only see over 1 horse’s back and that is only because her breed is short. One horse name Buddy literally has hooves as long as my foot with my tennis shoe on! His back was way over my head. So dirt and horse hair was blowing right in my face. Now to some that might seem a bit well, nasty, but to me it was great. I love animals of all kinds, but horses are such majestic creatures, each with their own personalities and nature. My day lasted only until 130 but that was ok. I was pretty dirty by then.
Tuesday, Renee had appointments and wasn’t going to be around so I did not go out, however, Wednesday, when I arrived, Cary and Lota, nephew and wife were working on the new tack rooms. It is going to great and so much easier for everyone to work with. Very organized. Renee had another appointment, but ask if I would use the weed eater and get rid of a very annoying weed that was growing primarily in the fence rows. This particular weed has a dried “pod” that gets in the horses mane and leaves a tangled mess. I said sure! I love a good challenge. The weed eater only beat them, but would not cut them. I however was very determined to get rid of them. So I proceeded to pull them up by the roots and pile them up. During the process I encounter some very angry and potent fire ants and a bumble bee that decided my temple was a good place to plants his stinger. I did persevere and spent hours pulling weeds, but I was quite pleased with my progress. I did decide that part would have to wait until Thursday and I would bring my battery operated hedge trimmers. The weeds would not win this battle and neither would the ants and bees. She had also ask me to catch Tara, a beautiful paint that I had met and brushed the day before. She had gotten her face in those hideous weeds and her forelock was a mess. So after pulling weeds I got the halter and lead and went for Tara. At first I thought she was going to be a pill and just run, but after flying past me she stopped and I was able to put the halter on her and brush her mane. I gave her extra brushing as a treat to myself. I also caught one of the miniature horses and gave her a good brushing.
Lota said if I had time would I mind checking out the concession stand and see how dirty it was. It was filthy. Someone had kick the door in, breaking the door jamb. Now this was something I could definitely fix. I went to town for a new lock and to get our nail gun and some caulk and paint. I clean as much dirt as I could possible get out of there, replace the door lock, painted and paint the door and the jamb. My day ended around 345. I felt I had done a good job and was proud of what I had accomplished.
As promised I went Thursday with my hedge trimmers and cut down and pulled up weeds. I also rode with Renee to another place to get 3 other horses.

My sister, Kim said she had google sabbatical and it said the number one thing you should do and the most fulfilling thing to do is to clean your sister’s house.  I laugh so hard I thought I might have a dislocated a rib!

Camp Able does tremendous work, but in order for Renee to do what she loves best, she needs a team of volunteers and money. Horses are not cheap to take care of and anyone who has every owned land or even a house, the care and upkeep is never ending. She is surrounded by great people who work hard to help her out. I for one plan on going back and I hope you will as well.
Thank you Ray for telling Nadene and thank you Nadene for calling Renee. Thank you Kris for a mini sabbatical.
Now for my vacation week I am doing something else that I love to do. I am painting the inside of my house and I am already off to great start.

Clothes

Who would have thought that helping someone pick out used clothes would be so humbling? I mentioned that I would talk more about my service at the CSC. While I was there, I did several jobs, but mostly I worked with the clothes: sorting, hanging, sizing and replacing. On my first day, at the very end of the day, I was called to accompany a gentleman through the clothing section to pick out some items. I had a list of the items available to hi  and how many of each he could choose. I knew nothing of the man’s story – only that he had a need. I began walking him through the clothing “floor” and we started with jeans and pants. He took a couple of pairs of jeans, but when he started looking at slacks, he suddenly got an insecure look on his face. I didn’t want to pry, but after a minute he leaned close and whispered, “Can a person wear jeans to church?” a myriad of thoughts and words spead through my mind in a brief second, but my answer was firm, “Absolutely!” based on my answer he decided he didn’t need the slacks, but as we moved on I remained moved by that simple question. I have no idea what prompted it, what his experiences are or what he might be wanted to atone for, but I know that my answer was not only right, but what he needed to hear. It was an affirmation that gave hima moment of confidence. As we continued on to the shirts, he asked how many he could have. I told him 10 and he suddenly got a funny look on his face. My first thought was that he was scoffing at the number because it was too low. I quickly learned that he scoffed at the number because he was overwhelmed by our generosity and had no idea how he was going to choose 10 shirts. He didn’t. He took only what he felt he really needed. I did find out that he had “been locked up for a long time,” but I never learned anything else. What I do know about that man was that his gratitude for some hand-me-downs humbled me and his uncertainty about how to dress for church tells me that we too often miss what people really need – unconditional love.

On another day, I was “culling” the clothes racks. (Even donation centers sometimes get more than they need of certains types and sizes of clothing, so they go to other centers or third world countries.) There was a mother there choosing clothes for her and her oldest daughter. She had been there the day before to get clothes for her youngest three. I wasn’t responsible for helping her, but I happened to be nearby and noticed that she was having a difficult time choosing her clothes because of the constant interruptions of her 4-year old (who has been diagnosed with severe ADHD among other things), her daughter (who was supposed to be watching the 4-year old, but has issues of her own) and the 9-month old (who was doing a great job of doing what babies do best). The elderly woman attending the family was trying to get the 4-year old and the daughter situated, but the little one was hungry and had no one to hold his bottle. Here was this mother of four, embarrassed and distracted byt the behavior of her children, trying to hold and feed the littlest AND pick out clothes. She obviously needed help. I struck up and conversation with her. I told her that I didn’t know if I was allowed to hold the baby, but how could I help her? I got her a small clothing cart and we rigged a bed for the baby in it so he could be comfortable and have his bottle propped up. I watched hi  and pushed the cart along beside her as she “shopped.” At one point, I sat with the 4-year old while his sister changed the baby’s diaper. In all of this, I continued to make conversation with the woman. She ran away from an abusive situation in Florida when she was still pregnant with the littlest. I asked her how she ended up in Abilene. She told me the story of her research and hunt for a safe place that would help her get back on her feet and how she eventually found the Noah Project. Two of her children have diagnosed disabilities (perhaps results of the abuse they endured) and she is a single mother raising four children. I tried to encourage her that she did not need to rush or feel self-conscious as she was choosing her clothes. We were there to help her and I did my best to relieve some of the pressure of watching her kids. She laughed and said that it was hard not to be self-conscious. I don’t know if I touched her life in anyway, but I was left with a profound respect for her courage and strength. I pray that her and her children’s future is much different from their past.

Italy

We arrived. Safely.

It is by the grace of God we arrived to our final destination in one piece. Neither my husband nor I sleep well in planes, but we expected to get a little. Nope. Nothing. Nada. Then we had to drive 2 hours from Rome to the beach house near Naples. I had to keep myself awake so I could keep my husband awake. So there I was making annoying, “lalala” sounds because I was too tired to make intelligent conversation. We did stop at a gas station, and my husband went in and I stayed in the car with a blissfully sleeping Ilaria.  Yes I was jealous. First of all, we barely found parking because we had forgotten that it was the first Sunday in August when the first real mass vacation exodus takes place in Italy. The North moves South for a month. I asked Massimiliano to pick me up a Coke to help me stay awake. I fell asleep while he went in and when he came back after a really long time, it was without my Coke. Evidently there was a line to wait in line and so he gave up.

We did finally make it safely and had a joyous reunion with Massi’s mom and the dog that we had to leave here. While we are all still struggling some with jet lag, for the most part we are getting settled in and are enjoying some beach time and some reunions with some dear friends. Oh, and food. Can’t forget the food.

Expectations

Over the years, I have learned to be careful and realistic in my expectations. How many arguments, misunderstandings and frustrations could be avoided by having realistic expectations. We so often set ourselves and others up for disappointment because we have unrealistic (sometimes widly unrealistic) expectations.

Somehow, in planning this trip to Italy, I was not as careful to guard myself against unrealistic expectations. Perhaps I just forgot how some things are. For example, when we went to get our rental car in the airport, I expected a well-organized, speedy line. What I got instead (after 15 hours of travel and no sleep) was a blob that took us an hour and a half to wade through. Not a huge deal, I guess, but it caused me more stress than necessary because I was expecting something different. Then – and you’ll laugh at me for this – there’s the food. I have been dreaming about my mother-in-law’s linguine with fresh tomatoes for weeks. I make it at home, but it is not the same as when you have tomotoes grown in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius. The other day she made linguine con pomodori freschi…and I looked at it and was confused. I asked what tomatoes she used, and she said regular tomatoes. Now, in the ten years I’ve known her, she has never used “regular” tomatoes, so I have no idea why she did this time. She has always used cherry tomatoes. It was still good, but I was disappointed because I was expecting something different. Since being here, I have had to adjust my expectations. Nothing earth-shattering, but an adjustment here and there all the same.

My husband has also struggled with his expectations. He has experienced disappointment due to his expectations of people more than events, though. In the end you tell yourself that you knew it would be that way, but you really had hoped that something would be different this time.

My husband lost a cousin to cancer a year and a half ago, and we knew that his aunt has had a particularly difficult time since – as is only normal when losing a daughter, of course. What we did not expect, however, were the rancor and disgust on her face when we greeted her. She was like a statue except for her facial expressions. My mother-in-law says that she is that way with everyone now, but we found out that she and her husband (and vicariously, one of their daughters) have been holding against us a specific event involving the daughter that died. The details don’t matter to anyone but us, and who is right and who is wrong matters little as well. We had left relations strained for other family matters 2 years ago, but we certainly did not expect this level of hostility. We had hoped to repair those relationships to some extent, but another brick has been laid in the wall. Anything is possible, especially through prayer, and we still have two weeks to make more attempts. My husband spoke for a while with his uncle yesterday and who knows what seeds where planted.

Drama

I would (lovingly) say that drama is the national passtime of the Italians…especially in Naples. Neopolitans are like the volcano they live near: they are constantly letting off steam, but they’re not happy if they don’t have a spectacular explosion every now and again. Then everything returns to normal – as if nothing ever happened. Have you ever watched a soap opera? That’s like everyday life for a Neopolitan. Italian soap operas and movies are ridiculously cheesy because they already have so much real-life drama that they have to crank it up on the screen.

My husband’s family is no different. Thankfully, since it is just us and my mother-in-law right now, we are able to keep things to a minimum, but there is always that “something” that is there, waiting to cause an explosion. We made a choice, however. We are here to spend time with my husband’s mother, to rest and to visit friends. We have no time or place for drama.

Beach
It’s time for our afternoon outing to the beach. I’ll close for now and try to include some pictures next time.

Last week I mentioned it has been hard for me to really disconnect from work. This week has been a little bit easier. I’ve been able to focus on rest and spending quality time with each of my kids. I’ve also tried to focus more on my reading commitment. I love the Book of Mysteries we received at the summer sales meeting.  However, the book I chose specifically for Sabbatical does not seem to speak to me and I was having trouble relating. But as I continued with the book, I realized it related to my closest girlfriend who has been going through a really tough time in her marriage and in life general. Perhaps God has placed me in this position as a conduit to help her through these struggles. To be continued on that…

Also, this week, I began my service project. Originally I signed up to participate with Interfaith Ministries.   As I sat through the orientation, I realized this was not the project for me. My heart was not in it. The volunteer work did not align with my Christian views, nor my political views. So I started my own project to feed people in need. The kids and I assembled brown bag lunches, along with care packages of toiletries items, and loaded up my truck to distribute them to anyone in need of a meal whose path we crossed. Most of the folks we met were homeless. And most of them on street corners making it hard to have conversations or even talk due to safety and traffic. Being in a large city like Houston, you have to be very cautious and I was a little nervous having my kids come into contact with the unknown. I prayed for God to watch over us and knew He would lead us in the right direction. A good amount of the homeless folks in Houston are either drug addicts or suffer from a mental illness. My youngest didn’t understand why one gentleman was shooting a sling shot at cars passing by and yelling at what appeared to be an imaginary person next to him. This opened up a conversation about mental illness. One lady told us she didn’t want to take our food. And one family of five was so grateful, we fed them lunch and dinner. But the one that really got me was the veteran. We had minimal time to visit because we were at the busiest intersection in the city, preventing me from even getting out of the car. He was on crutches with one leg amputated from an injury serving our country. He was young, kind and happy to receive anything we could provide to him. He was on a waitlist for a prosthetic leg with the VA. This man gave up so much to serve our country and for our freedom.  And here he is standing on the street in traffic asking for help of any kind.  No veteran should live this way.  And if you think there was a dry eye in the car as we drove away you are mistaken. My kids were speechless. When I prayed that God would teach us something of value on this journey, He delivered big. And my kids are better people because of it. Also, a lot of folks had full bellies.

I’m off to the beach, this time Galveston Island. Did I mention I love the beach? That friend I mentioned at the beginning of my blog is coming with her family. It just ‘happened’ that both of our families are able to vacation together 😉

I’m thankful for all of you who make this time with my family and friends possible.

Stef

At the beginning of my Sabbatical, I have struggled with figuring out how to balance my time.  There is so much I want to accomplish.  I have a road map: a time to rest, time for redemption, time for reflection, time for reward and repair, time for relationships, time for refocus.  All of my expectations have a common denominator, time.  I am acutely aware that the “Clock of Life” is only wound once.  As a result, I strive to accomplish as much as possible with my allotted time.  Time cannot be saved for another day.  Therefore, I naturally resist the idea of slowing down.  Since God has given me the gift of time, I prayed to God for some guidance.  God wasted no time.  I woke up the next morning to discover two dead fish floating in the pond, a bass with a bluegill stuck in it’s mouth.  The bass, like myself, attempted to accomplish a lot.  However, the bass bit off more than it could chew, or even swallow.  The bass died along with it’s goal, the bluegill.  I will probably never lower my expectations of what I want to accomplish.  However, I need to maintain a healthy pace at which I accomplish my goals.  I haven’t slowed down completely yet, but I have shifted into a lower gear.  I am also trying to take smaller bites and eat slower!!