Gray

The last few weeks I have learend again never to take for granted:
1. My health
2. Sunshine

I have definitely been under the weather--circumstantially, physically, emotionally. I'm just a fat blob of gray sitting on a couch in Central Arkansas.

I think we have had 4 sunny days in the last month. I have long struggled with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), but have had it well under control, thanks to the glorious existence of Welbutrin! But I think it is time to talk to the doc and raise my dosage, because it isn't working! Sunshine is in the forecast for the next few days. Oh wow, am I ever looking forward to soaking up some rays!

Sickness has been tracking me like a bloodhound this last month, too. Laryngitis and bronchitis took me out in Round 1. There was never Round 2...just a complete knockout. I'm still not convinced I didn't have H1N1 in there...no official diagnosis, but my symptoms exactly follow descriptions of the virus. And here I am a week of fever-free, and still dragging all day. No energy. Zip. Nada. My family is lucky to have gotten to eat the last week!

All that plays on the emotions, too. Add a traveling husband, challenging circumstances at home, and the cancellation of a planned family trip, and I'm just kind of a mess. Oh. And financial woes, too. It's that time of year.

Sorry to host a little sob-fest here, but I journal the down times as well as the up times. Lay it all out there, because I'm far from perfect. No use being delusional, right?

Ha ha!

On the bright side, Snapper's swim team is going great! She swims in her first meet next weekend! Pepper is fully potty trained at night! Woot! I have bought my last package of Pull-Ups, at least for a time! The trees are changing colors! I have a beautiful maple tree that I enjoy all year. I purposely modify my travel route when driving to see my friend Karon, in order to drive by that spectacular tree! Be watching for pictures, coming soon. The tree needs another week or two before it will peak. Finally, I was healthy enough on Monday to go photograph my friend Jodie's new baby, Ashten. He is 3 weeks old, and a total cutie pie! Here's my favorite pics from the shoot.

Alrighty then, grumpfest is over. I'm going to make an apple cake and an egg casserole to feed my Bible study ladies for breakfast tomorrow. And I also need to pack Snapper's lunch. Then I am going to bed. Night night, bloggy friends! I am thankful for you.

Theology, Penmanship, and a Minivan

We have now been home for a week, and life has settled back into a comfortable rhythm. I feel in control enough over laundry, dishes, and children to think about writing again. I'll warn you in advance--this blog is not very exciting. It's more of an update.

While we were in California, we made a 3-day detour up to the Lake Tahoe area to visit my cousin John and his wife Daisy. John is the youth pastor at a church up there. While we were there with John and Daisy, we had some great talks. If I lived close to Daisy, she would become a best friend for sure. We're so like-minded in so many ways. I loved the hours I spent cuddled up on the couch in their living room talking about everything under the sun with Daisy. John teaches a theology class at his church, and Matt and I got to go to that class while we were there. John is an incredible teacher. He taught a 90-minute class on a very...shall we say, heavy...topic. And the time flew by. He is so passionate about what he was teaching that his enthusiasm spread. It was an awesome class. The class, combined with my deep discussions with Daisy, have sparked a blaze in me.

I want to start digging deeper and learn more about God. I'm hungry for more of the Lord. So yesterday I headed to the Christian book store and purchased a "Concise Theology," by J.I. Packer. It is not a textbook by any means, but it is a basic theology book broken into bite-sized chunks for busy people like myself who don't necessarily have the time or energy to put into extensive study. I'm really excited to go through the book and dig for new truth!

Moving on.

While we were in California, we didn't get very much of Snapper's schoolwork done. All my good intentions, well, they remain good intentions that just didn't come to pass. We spent so much time on the road, meeting with people, working, that school took the back burner. And something very interesting happened. I discovered it yesterday, and confirmed it today. Either the time off, or a spurt of brain growth occurred in Snapper during the 5 weeks we were away. Her penmanship has taken an amazing turn for the better. Hallelujah! Her ability to focus has improved. And her general ease in doing schoolwork has matured as well. I was beginning to wonder if we'd be able to tackle cursive writing in 2nd grade. My concerns are now gone! Hooray! I love days like today.

Thursday will find us on the road...again. We're renting a car (our van still leaks transmission fluid when not parked facing down a hill), and driving straight through to North Carolina. It's a 14-hour drive. Don't worry, we borrowed a second portable dvd player to avoid disputes over movies. During our entire 5 weeks in CA (and close to 4,000 miles driven), the only movies Pepper would watch were Shrek, Shrek 2, and Horton Hears A Who. Poor Snapper is sick of those movies. So thanks to the borrowed dvd player, we'll be able to plug the kids in and go. They won't watch movies the entire time, but it will buy us some hours. Matt is working at a conference there in NC, and the kids and I will spend the weekend visiting Beverly.

While we're there, we're going to pick up OUR NEW VAN! Here's the amazing part. This van is being given to us. It's an older minivan with high miles, but it is still with the original owner who is a mechanic and has fixed the van up for us! When the owner gave it to us, he didn't know we were going to be in Charlotte in February. Charlotte is where he is. Amazing! Thanks, Lord!

I'll leave you with one last thing to think about. How can it be 71 degrees on a Wednesday and then snow on a Friday? That's the forecast for us this week. Weird...

Gustavius

Whew! Now that Gustav has moved out of New Orleans leaving behind minimal damage, I am free to enjoy the wild weather here in Arkansas. Ah yes, the remains of Gustav are right on top of us now.

One of my favorite parts of living in Little Rock is the variety in the weather. In California, we had mild winters with periods of cold rain, gentle springs with some rain and lots of balmy days, warm summers with cool, foggy nights, and clear, cool fall days. We almost never had exciting weather, with the exception of the occassional heavy, winter rain. People pay outrageous sums of money to live in coastal California's "perfect" weather. Guess what? I say it's not worth it. That calm, mild weather is B-O-R-I-N-G! I love the unpredictability of weather in the South!

There are few things more spectacular than a severe thunderstorm in which lightning flashes every 2-3 seconds for several hours! Matt and I love to sit outside in the middle of the night during a summer downpour, when rain is falling at a rate of 3 inches per hour, and the 2 a.m. temperature is 80 degrees! This year we had 6 inches of snow in March, and 80 degree weather with tornadoes a week later. Granted, the tornadoes are scary, but there's something awe-inspiring about witnessing the power of God in the midst of those terrifying storms. We have plenty of perfect days here too, especially in October and May. Fall here is spectacular! But right now I'm looking out the window, watching the remains of a hurricane blowing through.

It has been raining non-stop since 2 o'clock this morning. And it is beautiful! The clouds are moving in an arc, from southeast toward the north, and around to the southwest. The rain falls steadily, blowing from all directions. The clouds are moving one way, but you can't tell from which direction the wind is blowing. And sometimes you see mini twister patterns in the rain. This is called hurricane effect rain. I've never seen anything like it.

The forecast for our town is 10 inches of rain by Thursday morning, with the possibility of thunderstorms and tornadoes. There's a flash flood watch in effect, too. Needless to say, we are sticking close to home. The drivers here are nuts in good weather. In heavy rain, I hate to venture out on the roads. So we're bunkering down tonight for Chicken Supreme (made on my cooking day), and a quiet evening of cinnamon scented candles, popcorn, and family board games. To sum it all up, I love living here! I LOVE this weather!

P.S. Tomorrow is my birthday! I'm so excited.....

It's A Comin'!

Three years ago we were glued to the television watching in disbelief as Hurricane Katrina pounded New Orleans and the Mississippi coast. I cried many times in the following days at the stories of complete devastation, of people's lives torn apart. And that was all from 2500 miles away, in the safety and comfort of my California home.

When we moved to Arkansas, there were still evidences of Katrina here, in the form of Red Cross shelters for Katrina victims. After all, New Orleans is only an 8-hour drive from here. Central Arkansas has become the permanent home of many people displaced by Katrina. They are all over this area, seeking to rebuild their lives here. They are even in our church. It is so easy to feel disconnected from disasters like Katrina when you live far away. We are expecting the aftermath of Gustav to hit Central Arkansas, not only in the form of evacuees, but in much rain as well. So keep your eyes on us! This is shaping up to be an eventful week.

Now we watch the ominous approach of Gustav, due to make landfall tomorrow. This impending disaster feels so much more real when you live within easy driving distance. For you in the Bay Area, it would be like a hurricane hitting Orange County. For those in Spokane, imagine a hurricane hitting Boise or Portland. Makes it feel a lot different. The evacuations are much more organized and wide-spread this time around. Most of the people in the at-risk areas are well on their way out. But that doesn't make Gustav any less horrible. People are still going to lose their homes, belongings, and ways of life if Gustav directly hits New Orleans again. And chances are, we'll be seeing many of those people here in our area.

So I ask you, please be praying. Pray for the safety of the people in Gustav's path. Pray that hearts will be open to God, as He often moves in when people are at their lowest points. Pray that other cities (Little Rock, Baton Rouge, Houston, etc.) will be ready to welcome the evacuees and meet their needs as they wait out this storm. I'll keep you posted as this week unfolds.