For Chuck and Dorothy

Tangential: 1: of, relating to, or of the nature of a tangent 2: acting along or lying in a tangent 3: DIVERGENT, DIGRESSIVE

(Websters Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary)

LOL

Thank you

This post is a "thank you" and a tribute to my church family at FUMCHS.

Dear friends and family of FUMCHS,

GOD has provided such an amazingly wonderful opportunity for myself and my girls. And yet it is with very mixed emotion that we move on. We move on with the knowledge and faith that He is in charge and that He is fulfilling His purpose in us and through us......and yet we also leave with sadness.

Five years ago, our family moved to this community. Shortly after arriving we were blessed to join our brothers and sisters at FUMCHS. YOU have been such a vital part of our life. YOU have been "heart and hands" of JESUS to our family.

I have watched my little girls as they grow into young women of faith, and YOU have played a part in that in many, many ways.

YOU have walked beside our family in dealing with the pain of addiction, YOU have been on suicide watch with me.

YOU have given us prayer and support through a divorce and held me when my sister died.

YOU cared for us when my elbow "got broke."

In the middle of the night, when the house flooded ........YOU just showed up and got to work.......WE can laugh at that one now, right?

When I took the new "commuter job" and my truck broke down just a few days later, well that was "just another miracle" which YOU participated in.

YOU have taught my girls how to knit and how to serve. YOU have sent them to camp. YOU attended their awards banquet when I had to work. YOU hemmed the gown and delivered it to school on the day of the performance. YOU provided "taxi service". YOU stood with them as they made their confirmation. On the night that I told them we were leaving, YOU came and sat and offered comfort. YOU have prayed for them and with them. YOU have prayed for me.

Most of all, YOU have loved us and shown us the love that GOD calls us to. So, although it is with sadness that we leave, it is a sadness mixed with joy that comes from having loved and having been loved. I will cherish these memories always.

When I reflect over these last several years, I am blessed to see where the Lord has brought this church family. The fruit of your faith becomes more and more obvious each day. And He's here, you know.......the HOLY SPIRIT inhabits your praise!!


Please remember us in your prayers as we will YOU.

Letting Go Again

Dear Fan (lol......you know who you are!),

It's been awhile........no, i didnt skip town, though I will be soon. Just been busy being busy.

This moving thing is such a burden to me..........probably my personal #1worst thing to do. (I'd much rather give birth than move!) Okay, I'm not much into the eating bugs and slimey things either.

Interestingly, our family is downsizing, CONSIDERABLY! From a spacious home to a much, much smaller apartment. About half the size. And yet, Im pleased with that aspect! I see it as a reflection of our changing lifestyle.......from a married, stay at home mom, to a single-mom-full-time-working-woman. Many of the "things" that used to bring pleasure, now seem a burden. Efficiency and utilitarian are what I crave. "Simple". But the challenge is choosing what is left behind and what is kept. How did so much "stuff" come to share my home? Some choices are simple, others not so. I find myself continuously scanning each room, "what else can be eliminated?" Furniture is easy to decide...what will fit and what do I "need"? "Collectibles" are much more difficult: I don't need the fairy candleholder, but it was a gift from my dear little neice and her mom. The Kim Anderson prints will leave our family but the paper mache cow sculpture created by my beautiful daughter will come with us. The china cabinet and the crystal will no longer be a part of our lives but the photograph of Alan Jackson will. Isn't it odd, the things that I choose? Someone else would take the exact same contents and end up with very different results. Funny creatures we are sometimes.

Oh! for the record: I AM taking the kids!

Dear Lord, I Believe. Help Me In My Unbelief!

lol..................i know that i shoulda known.

My last posting was on Tuesday.

Wednesday, I took the day off from work to go apartment hunting, which ended up in frustration and discouragement.

Thursday, a written notice was presented to move by June 4th.
Thursday I was blessed with a phenomenal opportunity...........far bigger than I had even imagined. Our family will begin this new "excellent adventure" on Saturday.

The details would astound you! Suffice to say: God is capable of so much more than we can imagine!

Father, forgive me for putting limits on you and for worrying. Father, thank you again for being our more than perfect provider. Father, I praise you. I bless you.

EWWWWWWWWWWWWW

This morning my prayer was to trust my Father. And I squirmed as I said it.

"Stuff" has come up again.

The owner of my "home" has sold the house and our little family will be homeless in just a matter of days.....the very distressing part for me is that rentals have risen exponentially in the community that I live in. Where will we go?? How can I afford????......gas to commute to work? rent? Sometimes it seems too much for me. It is too much for me.

And yet............Creator of the universe is my Dad! The one who spoke the world into being!!! He knows our family's every need.
And STILL I wonder "what if......"
I start to feel anxious, worried. I feel like crying. I feel like running away. I feel like giving up. "Haven't I just had enough, Lord?" I hesitate to "blog" these thoughts. I wish that I didnt think or feel this way. I know others who have suffered so much more. I reflect, how often I seem to get "tripped up" by my emotions, by "feelings". God is the same whether I am happy or sad and I can count on His grace and His mercy. He loves me. He loves me. So, my prayer is to trust Him "no matter what!" My prayer is to grow in faith. My prayer is to be light and salt. My prayer is to have gratitude!!!

I think on how my Jesus must have "felt" when he was brutalized and murdered on my account. Who am I to complain? If He never, ever did anything else, the cross was enough to show his love for me.

Father, help me to have a grateful heart, no matter what.

What a Cool Gang!!

Sunday was my birthday and I'm not publicly declaring which!!!
Quite frankly, if my kids didnt make such an event of it, I would probably just ignore my birthday (which means that i dont have to get any older, right?!)

So.....Im strolling into the 9:30a.m. service. Okay!!! I was running "almost late" and I wasn't strolling at all. I notice a bunch of the "eight o'clockers" standing in front of the sanctuary, engaging in informal "fellowship"......they're almost in my way, sheesh!!!

As I approach, I hear someone whisper (Chuck?), "okay, now"..........and they burst into the birthday song! What a fine family God has blessed me with.

Thank you, Father.

p.s. my marlins lost to colorado, but it was the most perfect day to spend at the game!