Simon Says Hi

Hi

Simon saw his picture on his Uncle Scott's computer and he kept saying "Hi" and waving to himself. It was so cute!

Well, the reason I'm blogging less and less is because we cancelled our internet, thinking we could get dsl. We were very surprised to discover that dsl is not in our area. I will not say anything about SBC because someone I know and love works for them. (right, Ashley?)

We would remedy our situation with dial-up, but Matt recently installed a new operating system on our compuer--Linux and our current modem is only Windows compatible. And then we will have the issue if picasa and hello are Linux friendly.

BUT we are waiting until we MOVE! Whoo-hoo! Last Friday, our realtor came over with an offer that we accepted! So our home is under contract, but of course, we are still in the 'option phase' where anything can happen with inspections, appraisals, and the buyer's loan. He wants to close OCTOBER 21st!

Ow, I have a toothache.

So, please pray for everything to go smoothly with an Oct. 21st closing. Then we'll see where God puts us.

Keep praying for Nancy and Josh. Nancy called on Saturday, relieving my immediate fears for her safety. She said they were in California, but in a nice way, she wouldn't give me the address b/c she knew I would have to tell the authorities. Somehow someone sent them money for bus tickets to CA. I didn't know teenagers could just get on a bus without ID or anything. That's crazy in and of itself.

Well, my immediate fears were relieved. But now I am wondering what next for Nancy? She can't finish her last year of school, I'm assuming, without being legally emancipated. What about her heart medicine-will she be able to go to a doctor? Is she safe? She mentioned Sat. that it's a little hard b/c she has ONE SET OF CLOTHES! Can't imagine that. Josh said it's legal for kids to work in CA at the age of 14, but it would be nice if he had the chance to finish his education, too. At least a high school diploma. And is he safe, really?

These are all just worries stemming from a limited worldly standpoint. Thankfully, God is bigger than my worries and His plan is above my understanding. I'm trusting, believing, and praying in faith for God's promises in scriptures to be fulfilled.

Tuesday Night Prayer

Well, here's a computer I can blog on for a second before I drive home.

Nancy (see previous blogs, Feb: "Sunshine and Rain at Once...) called me on Sunday afternoon, feeling sad and disheartened...I was able to encourage her in the Lord and remind her that the Lord has a plan for her. She hasn't sounded this sad in a long time, if ever. Nancy's been on my mind so much lately, even last week, I would wake up in the middle of the night and Matt and I would pray for her.

Then, later on Sunday, she calls in the middle of the night, saying that she and one of her cousins were going to run away and could I pick them up...but then she had to hang up the phone and literally run. I can't imagine running and jumping fences and even feeling like I had to run.

And, so she is gone from our sight for now. And that makes me really sad because she is like family to me. Really. And I'm sad not knowing if I'll see or hear from her again. She's 17, so I don't think she's considered a runaway. Or maybe we should say runto instead of runaway.

You know, the Lord can take what seems hopeless and turn it into something beautiful. Joseph said to his brothers, "You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good."

Please pray that the Lord would have his hand upon Nancy and her cousin Josh as they runto. Yay, I coined a new word. I believe that the Lord has set Nancy apart. Even in her brokenness Sunday, she asks me about the Bridge of Hope children with Gospel for Asia and how that was going. She said she's been praying for them.

Pray however the Lord leads you for Nancy, Josh, and their family. I'm believing in faith to hear great things about how the Lord has met their needs.

Read Psalm 116. It's Nancy's favorite.

Yay!

Yay. I can't wait to check out Lynn's xanga. She's in medical school and if my math is right, will probably be graduating this year from Southwestern Medical and then on to residency. We lost our good friends Lynsay and Craig to a residency in surgery in Connecticut a couple of years ago.

We have had our mail held for a couple of weeks, but we got so much mail this past Friday. (Cute card, Lynn! Simon Says, "Thank You")

Ha ha. Simon says...Get it?

Tall Decaf Non-Fat Iced Double Latte With Whip

We were so delirious last night, around 3:00 in the morning. Matt was saying that ordering at Starbucks was kind of like speaking in tongues. I guess the baristas are the interpreters. We so should have roused everyone for an exciting game of DISEASE!

Well, either I have learned how to finally make my own tasty latte or the coffee pot here is just better, because my daily latte is so good in the morning. At home, it's kind of weak. The only thing I have changed is that they use paper filters whereas we use the washable kind. Also, I left our more expensive has to be ground coffee at home and bought a canister of EXTRA DARK Folgers in the red cylinder thing. How funny if the secret to better coffee is a cheaper brand because that would be the coolest.

It would be like this summer when my Grandma said the dishwasher salesman said that the reason why a lot of people's dishes are spotty is because they use TOO MUCH detergent, filling in both the slider container and the open one in the dishwasher. He said we really only need to fill the one that closes; too much detergent makes the dishes spotty. I love finding out that less is really needed. OH wait, I just remembered that I am using Borden 1% milk instead of our usually generic skim (b/c Borden was on sale.) Hmmm....there are just too many variables. I'll experiment when I get home to determine the secret to perfect java.

We're going to hop on our bikes, when I finish this yummy coffee, and drive around some neighborhoods in Carrollton to get a feel for the area. This morning I had a nice surprise: a letter from my dear friend Dana was nestled between all of the boring mail that my parents brought us when they picked up Simon. Matt is on the phone chatting with M.Epperson. That's a fun last name: Epperson.

A Non-Pix Update

Well, we're housesitting for a GFA family for 2 weeks. It's been so nice, this last week, to be only 5 minutes or so from the office.

We had the chance to have dinner Wed. evening with a family here, and we are looking forward to sharing a meal next Monday and Wednesday with a couple of other familes. We normally aren't able to fellowship as much with our GFA family, so this has been nice. I am slowly feeling more connected and plugged in. Not that that matters.

Please pray that we'll be able to move soon!
Keep faith for us as mine sometimes falters.

Tonight is all night prayer at GFA which is also a nice time of fellowship. It's kind of like a lock-in with adults! Well, children and teens too, though as the night wears on, you'll start to see children one by one lying on the floor with their pillow and blanket. We just pray around them. Seriously, last month, I almost stepped on a child.

White Rock Bike Ride

Bike Ride

Last Saturday...notice the cute little bike helmet with clouds that matches the bike trailer! Sorry the exposure is off...technical difficulties.

"Can I help you, ma'am?"

Skipper

It looks like Simon is saying, "Can I help you, ma'am?"

This is a boat that our good friends the Taylors gave Simon for his birthday. They gave it to him when we saw them this summer in Tennessee. Simon LOVES the boat--on land or on water!

SIDEBAR:
Have you ever read Corrie ten Boom's The Hiding Place? In it she shares how God miraculously never let her bottle of medicine run empty until she did not need it anymore. And then there's the story of the widow's oil in the Bible.

Well, you've heard all of those stories and they may seem so remote. But we have Sam's Brand Plastic Wrap (Saran Wrap.) I promise we have been using the same box/roll since we were MARRIED over 5 years ago! (I am not necessarily contributing this in all seriousness as a supernatural work of the Lord. I also buy different fun boxes with different colors from now and then and so there could be a logical explanation.)
BUT WHO KNOWS????

My friend Lisa thinks the Lord blesses them through appliances that just never give out. I can't claim that one since our over the range microwave went out in July! Now, that was a lesson in patience. What better appliance to take from someone less skilled in patience?

Does anyone else have a widow's oil or saran wrap blessing?

Revolution in World Missions Flashback

This pix reminds me of the cover of Revolution in World Missions.

When we were at Edisto Island this summer, there was a new bookstore/coffee house that had a box of New Testaments by the door for free. A sweet Christian couple owns the place, and this is their first season to have it open. They probably opened it up after retirement.

I had the opportunity to give a copy of Revolution in World Missions to the lady/owner who was making my cup of java. I told her a little bit about it, and she told me how her Sunday School class was sponsoring a missionary in Haiti. I suggested she might read the book and consider putting out a box of these 'free books', too. She said she would pass the book along to her husband, because 'he was the one who ordered the bibles and put them out there.' She was really nice about it, and I never had the opportunity to follow up with her husband because I never saw him there.

(I do know that he exists, though, because my cousin Sarah took Simon there once for an afternoon visit. While she was reading on the porch, the man/owner brought out a toy for Simon as a gift. It was a little blue beanie baby. Sarah thinks he felt sorry for her, thinking she was a teenage mom, but she was too embarassed to explain that Simon wasn't hers.)

So, let's pray that the wife did pass the book along to her husband, and that he would be willing to pass these books along, too. I'm sure that many believers visit the store, and they probably have a little bit more time on their hands for reading since they would be on 'vacation.'

Who knows, maybe the little island store could be instrumental in the Great Commission.

Hey, I'm just wondering...I know we've been passing out a lot of copies of Revolution in World Missions, and I know a bunch of our teens got a copy at Acquire the Fire...So, I'm wondering if any of ya'll have read it and what are your thoughts???

If you're wondering what I'm blogging about, you can click on a link on my blog for a free book and all of your questions will be answered!

The Rescue

The Rescue

Simon's boat capsized, and it was so eerie to see him floating and sinking for a second. But not really scary because Matt was right there and grabbed Simon right up.

This is the second after the rescue. I was out of the pool with the camera in my hand, because I was videotaping. (Not the accident, but just before, I was taping the calm boat ride.

Fun in the Sun

CUTEY PATOOTIE!

Simon had his one year well baby checkup last Monday. Yesterday, he began running a fever from all of the shots. (It can take a week to ten days for the ramifications of the shots to set in.)

He is in typical good spirits, so it can't be that bad.

Okay, his height is in the 90 percentile; his weight is in the 60th percentile. That's about all I remember from the visit. Oh, we started him on whole milk. It's so wonderful to pass by the $16 cans of formula at Target!

Maybe we'll go on a family bike ride tomorrow and I'll take a pix of him in his blue bike trailer! We fitted him for a bike helmet yesterday at the bike shop. (I am the classic rule follower. I even avoided the helmets at Target and WalMart like his doctor recommended. Surprisingly, the helmet at the bike shop was only $1 more than the ones at Target.)

The Stretching of the Coat

From left to right: Ashley, Bethany, Amy

Anger Doesn't Become

The Battle of the Banners

Pictured here is the jaded Matt P. He thought he would be the only one bringing a banner to baby Simon's party. (His handiwork, with the extra embellishments of sister Ashley, is located in the top right quadrant.)

Shay, the only person I know who brings her own birthday banner to every birthday party, brought her Pottery Barn Kids Banner.

An undercurrent of celebration rivalry emerged.

Only at Papa Ken's House

Is this normal?

Only my dad would use industrial clamps at a toddler's feeding station.

Blah and Blog

Hilltoppers

I feel really awkward when I haven't blogged in awhile. Kind of like the awkwardness of when you've waited to long to return a phone call. And you secretly hope that when you call that person that you'll get a voicemail, answering machine, or best yet, it just rings (but you know they have caller-id and so you're off the hook) Ha ha. Off the hook.

Interesting info:
Whoo-hoo our home showed twice this week so far! That's an answer to prayer because I prayed that the Lord would just bring someone to see it, to give me hope! It's been officially on the MLS for almost two weeks now.

My Little Heartbreaker

Watch out girls!

No Mullets, Please

No Mullets Allowed

This mid-haircut picture fools the viewer into believing that we allowed Simon to have a mullet. By no means! This boy is mullet-free!

In my relatively small world, I am planning a random act of kindness, Simon's birthday, and Simon's one year pictures!
I am thinking of having him pose in a swimsuit (He is getting a new Old Navy Swimsuit for his birthday; he outgrew his other one this summer!) and having him pose in some extra lovable pajamas with his special green blanket and lamb.

I always forget the personal 'props' when it's picture time, so they always use their stash of sentimental look alikes. Not this time; I will be the prepared mommy with all the right materials!

It's my Birthday, and I'll cry if I want to!

First Haircut

Well, first haircut, and NO tears or fussiness. Whoo-hoo!
Of course the cool race car and veggie tales movie helped!
(Way to go, Cool Cuts for Kids!)

Simon LOVES wheels and tires; it's his little obsession.

So, do I officially have a toddler on my hands now?
(I'm not sure what age is considered toddler...)

Georgians

Cousin SAYRAH

A little known fact, Matt, Sarah, and I were all born at Floyd Medical Center in Rome, Georgia. 1976, 1988, and 1979, respectively. Sarah and I are cousins. Matt just married into the coolness.

Sarah has brown hair now. (Why would anyone color their hair brown???) SAYRAH! Just kidding. It's not brown, it's chestnut. (How cosmetologically correct.) Sarah's one of my few chat anytime over the phone people regardless and that is her best attribute. That and that she is mailing me some sort of something this week! I LOVE MAIL!

Is it just a coincidence that male and lame use the same letters???

I need to add links to everyone's xangas. Sarah's is: www.xanga.com/s_kelly.... If you have a xanga (Katie, Jamie, etc...) please leave a comment with your info so I can link it and stay intouch. I guess we might include the lame 'my space' users, too.

Update

Saturday

Saturday was a full day! Gospel for Asia work in the early morning, Matt getting a new tire for Camry in the mid-morning, going to Carrollton to look at houses all afternoon, worship practice at church, and more GFA and home searches that night.

Please pray that our home sells fast and that we have a quick transition to Carrollton. And pray for patience and faith in the inbetween time.

Simon was such a trooper on Saturday. We were in the van for over 4 hours with no break, and nary a whimper from him. The strap on his car seat keeps him occupied. Really.

Poor Simon, he's been on a BRAT diet for a week: bananas, rice cereal, applesauce, and toast.

Life Lessons

Priority

I love that goofy guy.

5 years of marriage, 2 ish years of dating. Seems like the latest statistic I heard on the divorce rate was that 50% of marriages end in divorce--HALF of all marriages. I was really sad a couple of years ago when two of our really good friends (couple friends good for double dating) got a divorce. This was a couple that seemed to be so happy, and they could make you laugh and laugh and laugh. And they went to church and he played the guitar and .... Well, too close to home.

Tonight Matt was hanging out with a friend of his that is about to be going thru a divorce.

So, of course, this makes me think. I think people in marriages have to be on the offensive, expecting attacks and heading them off beforehand.

I've been changing a lot in my mind. Really realizing that my family is my number one priority. Even if it's a little family of three. I heard once that whatever job you have, someone else could do the same job, probably better. But you are the only one who can be the wife or mother or husband or father that you are designed to be.

So, as I continue my struggle to live for the audience of One (this is really hard for me because I used to live for approval), I am realizing that it is okay to change priorities and to make sacrifices for the sake of cultivating a healthy family.

So, while other relationships and committments will occur as I try and live how Christ would, I will not feel guilty for choosing family over busyness or business or both!