The Aftermath

My friend Andi pointed out that I left for a week with a very drab post. Here's an update:

I did not throw up at camp, though there were a few close calls! Yes! Thanks, Lord!

I feel much better and can stomach the thought of food, though some more than others. Yes! Thanks, Lord!

We got back today around 5:30. I haven't had time to sit down and type a coherent post, but here's a picture of what I like to call, Fuge: The Aftermath.


Please note Rudy the Cat on the couch next to Dusty. I can tell he's been lonely!

This is not a Happy Post

I'm in one of those moods where I would usually call my mom and she would say, "Gosh I'm glad you're not here." And she would kind of mean it, and kind of not. One of those moods.

I really should be doing about a trillion different things. Packing for camp, finishing an unfinished, time-sensitive, camp-related project, cleaning my house, etc. Instead I'm blogging.

I've been put on some different medications and one of them is making me sick as hell. I've thrown up every day this week except Wednesday. (Even last night, in case the in-laws are reading this. Right when we got home.)

Mission-Fuge is next week. We leave Monday for Alabama. I really do not know how I'm going to get through this week if I keep feeling bad. The doctor changed my prescription, under the condition that I finish my current one, the one causing all the problems. I just so happen to have 1 more week left on it.

I've lost 5 lbs this week and my legs shake when I walk. So this really is just perfect timing to be trekking off to Alabama for a week.

Ah, dear reader, I'm not asking for your pity. Just pray that the kids would really hear from the Lord this week. And that I won't hurl all over the interior of the church van.

Gimme, Gimme

Okay folks, for those two or three of you who care I still have not bought a book since my hiatus began back in February. I've sold quite a few of the ones I'm definitely not going to read again (or ever) but the funny thing that keeps happening is people find out what I'm doing and just give me books, either to borrow to for keeps.

If I had known this would happen I would have stopped buying books years ago! Just kidding, of course. So, the next two up on my list are:

Funny...?

I'm feeling sick today. Like really sick. Like hug the toilet sick.

But this kind of made me chuckle today, which on any normal day I think would have made me laugh a little. Not a lot. It's not that funny. Just deals with an issue on which I am trying to decide where I stand.


Study: Most Children Strongly Opposed To Children’s Healthcare

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The only way to begin to fully appreciate the difference between Holy God and sinful man is not to delve into the depths of our own sinful nature but to experience the heights of God holiness and perfection. We know our lives and actions amount to trash. We don't often enough learn how to even begin to comprehend the holy perfection of the Lord. Often it's because we don't know how.

Even as I write this I can't imagine how to start experiencing all this. But then I am reminded that the gulf created between us and God has been bridged! With Jesus standing in between us, we are given a framework by which we can understand all this holy goodness that is so wholly other than ourselves.

And we are people in desperate need of a framework, are we not?

School's Out For The Summer!

For some reason, ever since the youth kids have gotten out of school I've been singing the phrase "school's out for the summer!" to the tune of You All Everybody by Drive Shaft. (I know only a select few of you will get that reference. For those of you in the dark, go here.)

Nothing says "school's out" like a pool party which is exactly what we had last night. Here are some of my favorite photos. They ended up playing a game in which people (mainly guys) leaped off the diving board while trying to catch multiple foam balls. No one succeeded in getting more than one but I'm pretty sure they've invented a new challenge for themselves this summer.

Enjoy!

Thinking Outloud

It's okay from time to time to steal things from fellow bloggers, especially one with whom you shared a bed for a week. (Grammar on that sentence? Not confident I'm doing it right. Oh well.) She just did this little post on her blog a few days ago and I couldn't just comment! I had to do it! So here we go.

Today I am thinking about...

-one of these. As a book aficionado do I really agree with this? Do I need this? Or does it take away from the essence of reading, namely that new book smell?

-my summer in the Middle East. Even though it was two years ago, some things are resurfacing that need to be processed. Or maybe reprocessed as the case may be.

-the story behind this song. It's always amazing to find a song that pours out truth with every word. This is one of them.

-this movie. I totally resonate with the first few lines of the trailer. Except we don't have cardboard windows. Now if only it weren't playing in select cities only!

Psalm 136

Here's how Psalm 136 looks when I write it in direct relation to the happenings of my life. I don't think King David or God will mind.

Praise the Lord, because he always provides
His love endures forever.

Even when your bank account looks scary
His love endures forever.

Even when your new medicine makes you feel terribly sick
His love endures forever.

He puts plans in motion for my good, because He is Good
His love endures forever.

Even when I'm a loser and ignore Him
His love endures forever.

I know He is for me, so I'm not afraid of anything
His love endures forever.

Sometimes I wonder why in the heck he has me here but
His love endures forever.

He gives purpose in lonely times
His love endures forever.

He left me the Holy Spirit to comfort and give counsel
His love endures forever.

He has been faithful in the past therefore I look to Him for my future
His love endures forever.

He humbled himself to the status of a servant for me
His love endures forever.

He has given me a partner I can share with in life and ministry
His love endures forever.

He delights in the smallest of victories in my life
His love endures forever.

He puts passions in my heart that will bring glory to his name
His love endures forever.

Even when I come to him out of selfish ambition
His love endures forever.

He is ruler of creation yet I'm his friend!
His love endures forever.

He draws near to me as I draw near to him
His love endures forever.

I will follow Him all the days of my life
His love endures forever.

Sitting, Waiting, Watching

I'm sitting in the Orlando airport, Orlando International to be exact. MCO if you go by codes. I'm getting ready to fly home after spending a relaxing week with my friend Andrea, who no longer lives in Kentucky. (Insert muffled sniffles and crying sounds here.)

I have the pre-flight jitters which consist of numerous things, not the least of which is dreading the moment my ears start popping.

I feel like I've gained some perspective on this trip that I wasn't necessarily looking for, but am happy to have found. Here's the thing: the farther I can disconnect myself from my everyday realities the more clearly I can see the big picture. And I'm seeing a very big picture these days.

One thing that I've gleaned from my musings this week is that there is a fine line between having hopes and dreams for the future and constantly being dissatisfied with your present. Because the present and future go hand in hand for someone who is such an itemized planner like me. This step leads to this step leads to this leap leads to this bound, etc. Dusty and I have plans for the future, for sure. But I don't want to miss my present by pining away for uncertain things.

(And isn't funny how we "pine" for future things, things that will change the reality with which we are so dissatisfied, only to drag and kick like a child when the uncertainty that accompanies future things replaces reality!)

I think Dwight Schrute said it best when he said, "Nothing is on my horizon except everything. Everything is on my horizon."

Book Blog From Far Away

I just finished the book Light Force by Brother Andrew and Al Jannsen. It was good, though somewhat slow in places. However, I feel like I gained a lot of knowledge about the Palestine/ Israel debate. Like if someone were to ask me to explain it now, I could. Not in great detail, but I could give you the basics.

(Sidenote: did you know that while I was in Jordan a lot of the people there referred to Israel as "Occupied Palestine." It was pretty interesting.)

I am about to start a new book called Sister India. This is one of the last books that I bought before my hiatus. I picked it up on a whim at the Half Price Book Store (a.k.a. Paradise) with my birthday gift card back in December. It is now June. Do the math. I have an unhealthy addiction.

But at least it's not meth.

Thoughts From Florida

Well, we made it! After a whirlwind stop in Atlanta last night we packed up this morning and headed south!

So far, Florida has been cloudy and rainy! We were planning on a beach trip tomorrow but I think we'll have to take a rain check, literally.

Other than that I think Andrea and I are just a little brain dead from riding in the car for so long. Not to mention I got stuck on the sun side and I think my arm is a little pink. Pathetic huh?

More later!