Tuesday Testament - Thanksgiving

     We all have things that we are thankful for. Especially now, during the Thanksgiving season, we find ourselves being thankful for all of the obvious things. Good health, a house, family, did to ready, clothes to wear.

     But what about the less obvious things? What about the things that, at first don't (or don't ever) look like blessings?

     Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. - 1 Thessalonians 5:18

     It's not "give thanks when things go good". We're suppose to give thanks in all circumstances. Believe me, I know how tough that can be. I run my van into a ditch. My child has, yet another, unknown medical problem. My mother passes away from cancer at the age 42. But there is a way to be thankful in all of these instances.

     Yes, I ran the van into a ditch. But, thankfully, everyone was ok. Thankfully, the van is fine. Thankfully, there were wonderful neighbors there to help me.

     Yes, my child has more unknown medical problems. Thankfully, she's still here. Thankfully, she's not in pain or suffering. Thankfully, we have the technology to test and find out what's wrong.

     This last one is a little harder. Yes, my mom died from cancer at age 42. Thankfully, she's no longer suffering. Thankfully, she got 2.5 years with my baby brother. Thankfully, she got to meet and know my children. Thankfully, she was a Christian and I will see her again one day.

     It's easy to be thankful when things are going good. I think that true test is to be thankful when things aren't so great. You may be suffering, but there is a chance that your experience will be able to help out someone in the same situation.

     I hope that you'll think about these things this Thanksgiving as you gather with your family and/or friends.

     I'd like to leave you with one last scripture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. - Psalm 100:4


     I hope that you all have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving. Be careful while traveling and enjoy your holiday!

Too Much Excitement

     Yesterday was way too much excitement for me.

     The day started at 5:30 am (should have been 5, but I reset the alarm clock for 5:30). Thing 2 had to have an EEG and an EKG and they wanted her sleep deprived so that she would sleep through the tests. If kids that age aren't sleep deprived, then they usually have to sedate them to get them to cooperate. They like to avoid sedation if at all possible.

     At 7:30, we woke up Thing 1 and they took a bath. We got dressed and had breakfast. Then it was time to leave. We took Thing 1 to a friends house. Thing 2, being grumpy and sleep deprived, started crying when she realized that she wasn't getting to stay. Then came the one hour car ride. Have you ever tried to keep a sleep baby awake in the car? Every 5 minutes, I was reaching back there and tapping on her leg while saying "Wake up, Baby. You can sleep when we get there."

     We finally get to the hospital (without her actually falling asleep). We were 30 minutes early, but we had to register. They were shocked that we were early to register. Apparently, most people think that an 11am appointment means that you get to the hospital exactly at 11. They were pleased that I was early, but surprised. When we got into the EEG room (just a few minutes after 11), they had Disney Junior on the TV. They had me sit in a chair with Thing 2 in my lap. She stared at the TV the entire time they were taping sensors to her. When they needed her to move, I moved her and she never took her eyes off of the TV. It was a long test. We watched an entire episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and a good portion of Pocahontas before we were finally finished. She never fell asleep.

     As soon as the EEG was finished, we headed straight to the EKG room. Thing 2 was a little hesitant about this one because she had to sit on the bed by herself. I could sit next to her, but I couldn't hold her (not enough room). The nurse was very good about getting her calmed down. She explained to Thing 2 what she was going to do. Then, she reexplained as she did it. Thing 2 was watching intently and calmed down. The nurse ran one practice test to make sure that everything was working good. When that one came out, she handed it to Thing 2 and asked her to read it to her. Thing 2 said "Up, down, up, down, up, down.", as she moved her finger along on of the lines. She "read" us the results for the next 5 minutes while the nurse ran the test 2 more times and the results printed.

Thing 2 reading the results

     
     After we were finished, we hit a drive through for lunch (it was 1pm!) and headed home. As soon as we got back to town, we went to get Thing 1. When we got there, Thing 2 wanted to play, so we stayed for a bit. At about 3:15, I loaded the kids in the car and headed home. It's important to note that these particular friends live on a tiny (barely 2 lane) road with 5' deep ditches on each side. They recently put gravel on each side of the road in an attempt to "widen the road". I stopped at the end of their driveway, then accelerated as I turned. The tires on the passenger side hit the gravel on the right side of the road. They then (in an attempts to make all the times move together), started spinning faster. This shot the van towards the wrong side of the road. I hit the breaks, but the front tires were already on the gravel on the other side of the road. So, the tires stopped spinning, but we started to slide. And we slid right into that 5' deep ditch. I managed to not hit the other side of the ditch and to not flip the van over (the cop said I deserve a medal because he doesn't know how I did it). I immediately called my Dad, who left work and came right over. Before he got there, my friend called. And I said (all nonchalantly), "I drove my van into the ditch in front of your house." They don't technically live in town so it's a bit of a distance from their house to the gate. She was shocked, but immediately sent her husband (my cousin) out to help. As he stopped, so did a local doctor. The girls and I were still in the van because I was afraid that if we tried to get out, I would tip it over. My cousin and the doctor propped the van so that we could safely get out. After we were out and they knew that everyone was ok, the doctor went on his way and my cousin called the sheriff's office. They deputy (that I know) showed up and called a wrecker (I know the owner) to come get me out. The rest of a long story short, about an hour after I drove it into the ditch, it was out. The wrecker service was able to get it out without tipping it over. The girls and I were fine because we were all properly restrained. The van is fine. Not a scratch or dent. Nothings broken and it's driving just like normal. The only thing that was a problem was there was some grass and dirt embedded in my tire. I took it to the tire center and they fixed it right away (the owner goes to my church).  Thank God for small towns and for looking out for me yesterday.

That's my van in the ditch.
The tow truck had just gotten there and they were discussing the best way to get it out.

Tuesday Testament: Patience

Patience

     When you ask God for patience, do you know how he gives you patience? He tests it. There are a thousand ways that God tests my patience. Kids, slow drivers, waiting forever in the grocery store, having to explain my point several times to a person.

     Sometimes, I think that I'm crazy for asking for patience. Usually, I think that in the must of an incredibly trying time.

     What I should do is remember Hebrews 10:36. Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God's will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.

     We also have to remember that raising our children in a calm, loving, Christian environment is God's will. There are trying times when it would be easiest to just tell them to sit down and shut up. But because these lovely children are gifts from God, we don't. We need to show them the love of Christ through the way we handle them even when they are being trying on purpose. When we lose patience with or children (who hasn't been there?), we can turn to Psalm 127:3. Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him.


     My biggest test is probably my children. 99% of the time, they are angels. They do what their told, they use their manners and most importantly, they don't pick on each other. But that one percent. Wow. I never knew that 1% could seem to take sooooooo long. Did you know that 1% of a week isn't even 2 hours? It's about 101 minutes. That means that, on average, my kids try my patience for less than 15 minutes a day. Doesn't seem like much when you put it that way. Maybe putting out problems in perspective is a great way to handle them.

     Lastly, (and this verse is great for so many different instances) I'd like to leave you with Jeremiah 29:11. "I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not disaster, to give you a future and a hope."

Tuesday Testament: Let Go and Let God

     A lot of people do religious posts on Sunday as this is traditionally the day that we reserve for worship. I am going to break with that tradition and make my religious posts on Tuesdays.

     Today's theme:

Let go and Let God!

     Too often, we let our worries and cares pile up because we try to deal with them ourselves. Many of our problems are bigger than we can deal with. Psalm 55:22 (NIV) says: "Cast your cares on the Lord, and he will sustain you." 

     Sometimes, we think that our problems are too big for God. Did we ever stop to think that if we gave the problem to God in the beginning, then it may not get that big? Or, some of our problems seem to small for God. You may think, "God doesn't need to be bothered with this, there are other people with real problems." But, if we give it God, he will help us through it. Now, this isn't a give this to God and it'll be all better. We don't always get the answers that we want or get them when we want them. God is a parent, He gives us what we need, not necessarily what we want. 

     I attended a Bible study where we listened to Priscilla Shirer, in cases like these, she points to Hebrews 12:2: "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith." If we turn to Jesus, and let our worries be the worry of a higher power, how freeing would that be?

     In an attempt to worry less (which is hard for me, I am a worrier), my Sunday school class made "Prayer Jars". My teacher found glass jars with a small opening (so that you can't get the paper back out) at Hobby Lobby. We then decorated the jars with scrapbook paper and stickers. Lastly, I wrote verses on mine. Things to remember when I was really stressing. The ones I used are 1 Peter 5:7, Philippians 4:13, Philippians 4:8, Matt 7:7, Matt 6:25-34 and Jeremiah 29: 11-14. I'm not going to type them here, but I hope that you will take a minute to look them up. Here is the front and back sides of my prayer jar. You can decorate as much, or as little, as you want. I hope that you'll take some time this week and make a prayer jar. If you don't want to go spend money, an old canning jar and a sharpie would work just fine.

        

     And I'll leave you with this one last verse. Matthew 6:34 says "Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."