It's Great to be a Mother!

For all of you who have emailed me and are still waiting for a reply, please don't give up on me!! It's been a little crazy around here, but I love receiving your emails and I plan on responding to all of them. Just be a little patient with me ....

I had a wonderful Mother's Day! So wonderful, in fact, that it lasted the whole weekend. On Friday there was the annual Mother's Day Presentation at Drew's preschool. The first four of us that arrived all realized we had forgotten our cameras at home. Are we bad mothers or what?

On Saturday I received a small bouquet of flowers from Church on the Hill. (Thanks, Rachel!!) That evening Michael, the boys, and I joined my family at a Mexican restaurant to celebrate my mom's birthday and Mother's Day all in one.

On Sunday Michael had the most beautiful Mother's Day letter written for me ... accompanied by a brand new camera!! I was so excited!! I can't believe how great the pictures look, how much I can do with it, and that I finally have a camera whose lens closes all the way and whose megapixels are a little more realistic for the year 2008. It's awesome!

The four of us went over to Dave & Tami's (Michael's sister & brother-in-law) after church for a HUGE turkey dinner. There was a big group of us and it was fun. Drew had been very "servant-oriented" for me at his school presentation when it was time for the kids to serve their mothers snacks & tea. He did the same for all the mothers at Dave & Tami's. He didn't have the opportunity to serve them anything, but he did (along with Nick) shower them with lots of hugs and let them know they were appreciated.

Do you see this rash? I woke up yesterday morning with what I thought were 3 bites at the base of my neck. By evening I noticed this rash on my right arm and Michael realized my "bites" weren't bites at all. By bedtime it had spread up my neck and around my chin. Today it has gone onto my right hand and near my right eye. I'M MISERABLE!!!!! I have some stuff Michael brought me that is supposed to dry it up and does relieve a little of the itching for about an hour at a time. I can't believe it ... and since heat makes it spread, that means no sitting out in the beautiful hot weather, no hot tub at Craig & Vickie's, no hot showers in the morning. Michael doesn't even want me to do the dishes or give the boys a bath. He's helping out. What a man!

I need to quit for now. I'm getting more itchy just talking about it ...

Tuesday morning a local photographer was supposed to come over to meet with me. She was bringing her 2 yr. old son with her and I prepped the boys on being good hosts. We cleaned the house (well, as good as it got for the day) and made homemade cookies. And then waited... and waited. It was 15 minutes past our scheduled appointment and the boys were drooling every time they looked at the cookies in the middle of the table. I finally told them that if our guests still hadn't shown in another 10 minutes, I would come get them to eat a cookie. Well, my photographer was a no-show (not the first time she's flaked on me either... let's just say that her name has not been added to my own private list of "preferred vendors"). When the 10 minutes had passed and I went down to the playroom to get the boys, this is what I found ... total silence while my two little readers were buried in books. I just had to run and get the camera!

Speaking of no-shows, the George Fox student who contacted me about getting some free experience hasn't been heard from. She wanted to meet with me this week, but hasn't contacted me or responded to my email.

A few days ago I was contacted by a college graduate in Colorado who's planning on moving to Oregon and wanted information on how to become a wedding planner, how to get experience, etc. It was fun chatting with her by email and giving her some advice. After being the focus of a high school student's senior project and then being contacted by two college students/grads, I might just be starting to get a big head!

Until today my head and neck muscles have been extremely tense and painful all week. I'm not sure what's different about today other than the fact that I'm just slowly learning to release and trust.

Last night I attended my first Women's Ministries Bible Study at Family Life Church (Tami, Michael's sister, leads it). I rode with Vickie and joined about 35 other women. I'm not good in new social situations. I feel extremely uncomfortable until I get to know people. However, the video series they've started ("Captivating" by John & Stasi Eldredge) is really good. Stasi talked about how when Eve fell it was because she didn't trust that God had her best interest at heart and would take care of her, so she took matters into her own hands. Hmmm, sounds so familiar to how we women today react ....

It was nice afterward to sit around a table with the women of Michael's family and just talk and laugh. An hour and a half went by before we realized just about everyone else had left long before us.

While I was doing my girly-thing, Michael & Craig were skinny-dipping with the boys in the hot tub. Hmmm, let me rephrase that. Just the two young boys were doing the skinny-dipping. The older two were clothed. At least that's how I'm going to picture it....

Today was our city-wide "Kindergarten Round-Up". Yes, I took the next big step in Drew's life and enrolled him in kindergarten. They don't warn you that there are mounds of paperwork to fill out. It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the fact that the paperwork asked for the exact same information 3x. My boys were getting squirrely, the community center was full, my hand was cramped and I was getting ready to go crazy. I think I had imagined some wonderful new "stepping-stone" type of memory. Not so! I felt trapped and just wanted it to be over with. In the midst of me writing in triplicate, Drew announced that he had to go to the bathroom. There was no way I was going to lose my momentum... or my table. So I told him he had to wait. Once we were completely done, we sprinted for the bathrooms. It turns out that he didn't have to pee .... if you get my drift. Not only that, but he thinks that when he has to sit on the toilet to relieve his bowels, he has to undress from the waist down. I advised him (sternly) that he didn't need to disrobe. However, coming from the other side of a locked door, that didn't do much good. Off came the shoes, off came the pants, off came the underwear. And, for whatever reason, off came the sweatshirt. I just wanted to be home!!!!!!!!!!

I've now had my little break. I need to get dinner started early because we're taking it up to Michael's so we can help him clean out and start packing.

P.S.
It was mentioned in casual conversation last night that women who didn't grow up with sisters often don't like things like women's retreats, sleepovers, sharing rooms or clothes with other women, etc. I just have to say, Deb & Bren, that I'm so thankful I have two awesome sisters! Those women who grew up without sisters were so cheated!! I'm laughing just thinking about some of the things we've shared. And I know that, given the chance, we'd still all sleep together in one bed for just a night.

Promise

As I sit here typing, my body is reminding me that it is full of stress and tension even though I know without a doubt that God is in control of my situation. My heart is trusting and I truly believe God will make a way that is beyond our comprehension; however, my head and neck did not get the message and tell me so with a constant pain.

I did have my meeting with the new attorney, Mark Bierly, on Friday. Since I will not discuss my legal issues on this blog, please know that if you would like to pray along with me, I welcome your email and would be happy to keep you updated. I covet all the prayer partners I can get along this scary part of the journey.

Because we are both dealing with extremely stressful situations at the same time, Michael & I made a pact to dedicate the entire weekend to nothing but fun & relaxation (the boys were at Matt's). Any talk of anything remotely stressful, legal, financial, etc., was banned. OK, well at least until Sunday night. Then it was time to regroup and reinforce our faith in God and support alongside each other.

At Michael's church, the kids stay in the service until the worship time is over. Yesterday we had communion during the worship time. As the elements were starting to be passed, Michael leaned over and whispered to me that Drew was now able to take his first communion. It was the first time I had even thought of it! It was so thrilling to be able to share that special moment with Drew. I explained to him in whispers (and at his level of understanding) what each of the elements stood for and why we were taking them. What an awesome moment!


After church we took our picnic lunch and the boys to a nearby park. It was a beautiful day and the boys had a ton of pent-up energy. We had them run their little hearts out... and then run some more.

But their favorite, by far, was the pond. They could have spent all day there. They were soaked by the time we left.

I just love my boys! They're so much fun. I wish I could capture all the memories as vividly as they happen and store them forever.


Also on Sunday, while we were away, Bella Casa (my realtors) held an Open House for me. I found out today that there were two families who intentionally came to this house to look. One family had 3 kids and were looking for a big backyard. They loved ours. The other family loves antiques and old houses and apparently loved some of my antique light fixtures (Michael cracked up at that one!). I'm only cautiously optimistic at this point, but it is definitely something for you to pray about with me! We prayed specifically for people to come who could find something to love in this house. God already answered that prayer. Now we'll see if it leads anywhere.

Bella Casa has also requested that I bring by some business cards for them to display, and they would like to add me to their website. How cool is that?!

This weekend I remembered that God had given me a verse, a promise, over 2 years ago on New Year's Eve. I went hunting through an old journal to find the verse. Let's just say that Michael & I had a good cry together when we read it (Sshhhhh.... don't tell him that I just made it public that he gets sensitive like that or I'll be in trouble!).

Would you like a good cry too? OK, here's the verse. It's Rev. 21:5 (NASB):

And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new. " And He said, "Write, for these words are faithful and true."

And that, my friends, is my promise from God I found in my journal that He has already been fulfilling since last year.

I am loved.

And again, here come the tears...