Foggy

 I drove to Denver on Sunday night to hear a friend of mine speak at her church.  I had planned on going to the morning service, but because of the snow that had fallen the night before, I waited and went to the evening service instead.  My friend is author and speaker Sharon Hersh.

Every time I hear her speak or read something that she has written, I come away different.  She is spirit filled and so honest.  I love her.  I'm somewhat of a groupie actually.  Sunday night was no different.  She was awesome.  I was blessed.  

Because it was dark when I drove home, I was unsure of what the conditions of the roads would be like.  It had gotten colder and a little moisture was falling from the sky.  All in all, it was very pretty with the fresh, white snow on the ground and the city lights of downtown Denver (a favorite place of mine) to the east of me.  As I drove further on the interstate, I noticed that the electronic signs that hang over the freeway were flashing a warning.  it said

 "Patchy fog ahead, reduce speed and drive carefully".  

The warning spoke so strongly to me, but not really with regards to the road conditions. I could relate so much because it was a description of how my life feels.  Sometimes the fog that surrounds me makes the road ahead seem treacherous.  Fog that isn't literal, but that rolls  across the horizon of my world in the forms of busyness, worry, self-pity, fear or disappointment.  When I am focused on the fog, I am so distracted and consumed with the things that are clouding my vision and purpose.  When this happens, I get paralyzed and stuck; confused and unproductive.  The other night when I was cruising north on I-25 at 70 MPH, it was imperative that I keep my eyes on the road.  Necessary, really.  When I could see the tail lights of the vehicle in front of me, I followed those; when I could  no longer see their helpful glare, I had to watch the white lines on either side of me.  I was slowed down, but I still had to keep driving.  To be honest, it was a little scary. Yet, if I had been watching the fog instead of the road, it would have been even more scary; I would have surely ended up in trouble.  What a metaphor for my life!   I easily lose my focus and turn my attention and energy to the things that are making it hard for me to see clearly.  I start to panic and over-react.  These are the times when I am ineffective and I know that I am not living the way that God intends for me to.  I was thankful that the fog Sunday night on my drive home was indeed patchy and that it didn't accompany me the entire trip.  Praise my Savior that He doesn't allow the fog in my life to be all consuming.  It is patchy and  causes me to slow down and live more carefully, but it doesn't over take me.  When I choose to follow Him even through the distracting fogs, He will be the One who leads me to my destination. That is what faith is to me.  It is the hand that 

I hold - tightly - to get me home.     

Golden Birthday

November 1998

My sweet Marky turned 11 this week. She turned 11 on 11/11. It was a pretty cool birthday date! She had so much fun celebrating her birthday. The celebrations began with a "fancy"dinner party for her friends, hosted at Grandma Oman's house. All of her friends dressed nice, the table was set with a table cloth, candles were lit and the lights were turned down. It screamed - "FANCY"!! Grandma outdid herself preparing a feast of Marky's favorite food, tacos. The night was full of giggles, shouts of "BINGO!!", and sincere "thank-yous" as Marky opened gifts of lipgloss, jewelery and all things girly. It was the perfect party. Following that, there were treats in the mail from Grandma and Grandpop Henricks, Aunt Renee, Aunt Lisa, and then came her actual birthday on Wednesday. Michael and I went to school and had lunch with Marky, and later on in the day made a trip back to school to enjoy a treat with her class. Marky's treat request was hot apple cider and Oreo cookies. Mmmm... We made it work and it was a hit - just like Marky is as the sweetest girl in the 5th grade. That night we finished our celebration with a birthday dinner of Chinese food and cupcakes. Grandma Oman was able to join us which made it even more special. Marky was blessed with many gifts from American Girl, making her doll Julie the best dressed dolly in the house. The day was wonderful, and I could tell that Marky had enjoyed herself so much. She is an incredible child, and I am feel deeply grateful to God that He chose me to be Marky's mom. After she was born and the "it's a girl" had been said, I remember thinking, "We are going to have so much fun". And we do.

November 2009

Tired and Happy

Those are the qualities that come to mind after our weekend. Actually after our week. Last week was one that was all over the place emotionally. Walking through the "valley of the shadow of death" along side my sister as she experienced the death of a friend; consoling my oldest daughter's tears after she received an angry email from a supposed friend; keeping all of the balls that are tossed my way into the air while Patrick travels again. After a week like that happens, I find myself absolutely exhausted. Add on top of that, many short nights of sleep and that is where the zombie part of this mama sets in. When I am this tired, I am forgetful, short-tempered, short-sighted, emotional, irrational, all of those things that I dislike about myself. But, it is a new week and even though the residue from last week's hardships is there, I also have great memories of the happy things that have been going on. Things like celebrating Marky's birthday, painting cabinets and giving an old dresser a makeover, getting my house cleaned by my sweet new angel-friend Sabrina, finding a beautiful dress on sale, watching chick flicks, reading a great book, starting a new Bible Study, doing some late-season gardening to get the yard ready for winter, Patrick arriving home on Saturday. Life is so full and even though some days are soggy with shed tears, the joy is there lurking around the corner. I just have to look for it. Now I'm off to pour a third cup of coffee so I can make it through the rest of the day. Maybe I'll try to get a nap in this afternoon too!!

Special Day

We do this thing at our house every month.

We've been doing it for about 2 years now.  

We almost never forget.

On the day of the month of your birthday, (did that make sense?) it is your special day.  

The rules are that

1. You get to pick what's for dinner
2. You get the "it's your special day" plate
3. Everyone goes around the table and tells you one reason that they love you.
   

It has really become such a fun things that we do, and we truly all look forward to our own special day.

Well,  one 3rd of the month, which is Meredith's special day, we were going around the table, gracing her with our many accolades and when we were finished, she said that she was going to tell what SHE loved about HERSELF.   At first we all chuckled at the idea of "only Meredith would give herself accolades," but then I thought... What a great idea!!  A day every month to tell yourself  something that you love about YOURSELF.  

It has been several months now since Meredith introduced her idea, and we try to remember 

(those of us who aren't 5 and precocious as all get out) to add ourselves to the list of who's turn it is next to compliment the honored family member.  It has made our special day celebrations even that much more exciting.  Today was the 3rd, so Meredith jumped right in exclaiming without any inhibitions what she loves about herself.  She doesn't even need a reminder that it's her turn.  

It's such a great idea.  

We all could use a little more "self-love".

I hope that we do it forever, saying nice things about ourselves... and others.  

Happy Halloween!