Severe Weather Alert!



Yesterday, here in middle Georgia, we experienced some severe weather. Thunder, lightning, heavy rains, and high winds, all were part and parcel to the storm and not uncommon in this change of season.

I love a good storm weather-wise but am not so much a fan of relationship storms.

Because of the three teens under our roof, it should come as no surprise to me (or anyone else for that matter) that the number and intensity of relational storms has grown more frequent in this season of our lives. I wish there were relationship forecasters. I can just see it -some guy standing in front of maps saying "here you see a high pressure front from the school, when it reaches your home conditions are favorable for severe yelling, disrespect with a chance of slamming doors".  Maybe they could even recommend some items for an emergency preparedness kit: earplugs, breathing techniques chart, and  maybe a handbook would be nice plus I could really use a checklist.

I think over the past week every weather idiom known to man has played out in our house.

We've had  the "lull before the storm" with a lovely vacation and a "storm in a teacup" during which Ben walked out. Our son took shelter at "any port in a storm" while we (Sparta and I) "rode the storm out".  After talking "up a storm" we think the worst is over, although we are not sure if this is possibly just the "eye of the storm". Our hope is that we are now living in a long lasting  "calm after the storm".

There is great comfort in knowing that even in the most turbulent of circumstance I have a God who can speak to me in a storm just as He spoke to Job. I serve a Lord who is not storm-driven but who controls the winds and waves.  I found an original song on Youtube by a very talented young man- hope you take time to listen and enjoy. It's called "Calm My Storm"

So far it's been sunshine and peace this week....let's hope it stays this way.

Praying to no longer be driven by the storm but by the One who directs it!

Dial "M" for Mom

Today has been one on "those" days.  It started out all Snow Whitish, not in the "someday my prince will come" way but in the birds are singing, and I am skipping around the wishing well, - all happy, happy, joy, joy- except that I didn't really skip and I don't have a wishing well.

Anyway...things were going swimmingly. Everyone got up and out without problem, I got the bulk of my household chores over early, the baby I keep three days a week settled down for his nap right on time and (cue the foreboding music) then the phone rings. It's the high school graduation coach telling my that my senior son has not turned in his research paper and there is no way he can graduate unless and until it is turned in.

What's worse is not that I found this out, but that he lied to his dad and me and said that it was completed prior to our vacation last week. We allowed him to have two friends along contingent on the finished paper. So the happy, happy, joy, joy, is gone now replaced with  angry, angry, bitterly disappointed, bitterly disappointed.

I bandied ugly thoughts and emotions about for a while and came to the conclusion, that it is not my failure as a mother that caused his behavior. (Not sure if that's true but it makes me feel a little better.) There comes a time when each one must take possesion of his own "stuff", wholly and stop playing the blame game.  Hard-working responsible parents can have irresponsible, take the easy way kids. We were never perfect parents and never claimed to be. We did the best we could with what we had at any given time and prayed it was enough.  So after coming to my own sort of calm about this...the phone rings, again.

The high school, for the second time, different issue, different kid. This time I am told Allison needs me to bring her more suitable clothing or spend the rest of the day in ISS.  As I write this she is in ISS, a bailout would not help with learning the needed lesson. In this situation I see her lesson as rules and authorities are expected to be obeyed.  I can't help but wonder what my lesson is in all this, but I'll have to ponder that later since the phone is ringing and caller id shows it's the primary school.

Tipping the Scales

My husband weighed 117 pounds when he graduated high school. He was told that if he stood sideways he resembled a zipper (I assume his nose would have been the pull). In comparison, I weighed in the neighborhood of 130 when I graduated. Sparta has had the metabolism of a hummingbird.  If conventional dieting wisdom said "don't", he did and it never showed in his weight.  Not fair, not fair, not fair.

While I have been up and down the scales and tried practically every diet known to (wo) man, he has never had need. That is until now  and by now I mean the past couple of years. I don't think he needs to lose anything but he feels yucky and there's no arguing with that.

You'd  think he might listen to the 20+ years of expertise I have garnered on the subject. Carbs? Calories? Fat content? Ask me, I'm your girl.

This morning I gave him the most critical piece of advice for successful dieting. Eat breakfast and not just any breakfast but one high in protein.  Do you think he listened? Ummm, no.

That's okay though because at some point in the future, someone else will tell him the same thing and then the advice will be pure GOLD. 

At that time there will be some eye-rolling and shaking of the head-- my own. I wouldn't shake him no matter how tempted. I'll bet that would burn a few calories though.

God and Football

The following is a letter written by Neil Caudle's mom after Auburn's national championship win. Sparta told me that earlier in Auburn's season Coach Chizik was asked about the amazing win over Clemson. His reply that "it was a God thing" was met with derision; even after THE big game, acknowledging God's hand in the matter was called into question.  Check out this article from ESPN http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/commentary/news/story?id=6011095 then read the awesome letter from Teresa Caudle.

hey, auburn fans! i just downloaded my pictures from the national championship game. because we were on the south end

of the field, opposite from the action at the end of the game, i made pictures of the jumbotron and scoreboard. the attached

picture reveals that not only did # 19 take the snap and hold the ball for the 19 yard field goal to break the 19-19 tie to win the  national championship, but there were 19 seconds left on the play-clock.


 
all of us have wonder at times whether or not we are in god's will. with each injury and disappointment, keith and i wondered if god wanted neil to play football at auburn. but neil always felt he was in god's will, even when things didn't go

like he wanted them to. getting to be a part of the national championship team seemed to be an affirmation that he was right to stick it out. but god always exceeds our expectations. sometimes god gives us signs.
you can do the math and see it is no coincidence. i believe god orchestrated neil's last college football game to show his
power and to affirm to neil (and us) that # 19 was right where he was supposed to be all along. (matthew 25:21)
for now i see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now i know in part; but then shall i know even as also i am known. (first corinthians 13:12)
god always does what he says he will do. (psalm 33:4 and psalm 145:13)
god is all-powerful and he will never forsake us. (psalm 37:28 and romans 8:35)
god will bless those who seek to follow his will. (1 john 5:14 and matthew 26:39)
god requires us to humble ourselves and take the form of a servant. (matthew 20:26 and 23:12)


verse-of-the-day today is this: "even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: but they that wait upon the lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." isaiah 40:30-31

thank you for sharing in this experience with us. thank you for all your prayers and support. our god is an awesome god!


war eagle!
teresa and keith


I have always believed that my God cares about even our smallest concerns, to me this is just further confirmation. Though it must be said, to most of my fellow Alabamians football is no small thing whether they roll with the Tide or soar with the Eagle.  Giving God the glory!!! War Eagle.

Beauty and Beast-My Mulitple Personalities

In Proverbs 21:19 Solomon says, It is better to live on a corner of the housetop than in a house in company with a quarrelsome wife. He also noted not once but twice in the same book that a contentious wife is like constant dripping (19:13, 27:15).

 Since we know Solomon to be the wisest person to ever live, I am guessing at least one of his 700 wives had some serious PMS. My own husband no doubt feels as though he is married to two women (and they‘re both me). I have PMDD ( premenstrual dysphoric disorder), which in layman’s terms is PMS on steroids and not just for a couple of days but in some cases three weeks out of a given month. Below I have listed the symptoms that must be present in order to qualify (sounds like you might be getting a prize,huh). You must have at least five of the following:

Disinterest in daily activities and relationships
Fatigue or low energy
Feeling of sadness or hopelessness, possible suicidal thoughts
Feelings of tension or anxiety
Feeling out of control
Food cravings or binge eating
Mood swings marked by periods of teariness
Panic attack
Persistent irritability or anger that affects other people
Trouble concentrating
Physical symptoms, such as bloating, breast tenderness, headaches, and joint or muscle pain
Sleep disturbances



Me, I have them all. I will frequently do and say things, when the hormone soup starts to come to a rolling boil, that are later regretted. As years passed things just got worse. At my annual physicals, I would list my complaints and they would be waved aside as nothing more than a little PMS. Last year a new physician took me seriously. She asked about any additional concerns and I jokingly told her, “my husband says I’m mean” but she didn’t laugh with me as expected, she listened and then said, “he would know’.  Soooooooo... we set about finding a proper medical regimen to treat the condition.

Through it all my husband stuck with me even though the relationship was quite a roller-coaster ride. He never knew which one of me he would find upon his arrival home from work.
Every month without fail in the aftermath of my meltdowns, he would forgive me when I apologized. I did not deserve forgiveness, for without fail the cycle would be repeated.

How could he keep on forgiving me? I believe it happened because God gave him the grace too. For this was grace as God has shown it to be; simply unmerited favor that is a by-product of His love.

I happily report that with the prescriptions and life-style changes that were recommended, we are now one husband and one (nice) wife in the same house.

The Big Why?

Why is it that when we are in the moment, it is so impossible to see past it? It's true in times of joy, it's truer still  in our sorrows.

There's a country song by Patti Loveless from several years back, the gist of the song is about love and loss and life's constant change. One line says, "it's okay to hurt, it's okay to cry, come let me help you say goodbye".  Some folks we know are facing a terrible goodbye. An untimely one, one that was preventable and one that leaves many people hurting and searching their hearts for answers in it's wake.

I know that I am looking back at missed opportunities, chances to have said or shown the love and concern a Christian sister should have and all the while knowing that this was the work of satan.
In our weakness, he strikes whispering awful words to our spirit. The ones that cause us to doubt God, to lose hope, to only see the pain of now  and believe that this is all that's left in life.

While this situation leaves me heartbroken and aching for the ones left to carry on. It also makes me angry...I know God is the ultimate victor but why must the casualties of this war be so many?

Iced In

This will be a January to remember, and I'm sure the kids will remember it fondly for the snow days it has brought them.Leah made a video of herself walking through snow that was more crunchy than a kettle cooked potato chip. There were no Frostys made with that stuff. Oh the joys of winter- NOT. I like to look at snow for a day or so and I enjoy seeing the kids play in it once.After the first time, the amount of laundry they create with each new venture into the frozen tundra of our yard is all I see.

This weather makes me thankful for several things that other times of the year are more nuisance and time stealers than anything else. Video game systems, television, and the internet. Other than sick days ( mine not the kids), I complain vehemently about the excessive screen time that no doubt is damaging their eyes. In our nature imposed imprisonment I tend to overlook that danger.

We've had the requisite chili, played a few games and spent some quality time in conversation and I have read a pretty good book. Last night I fried cauliflower and pickles and Leah made chocolate cookies. This morning I cooked a real breakfast much to the delight of the kids. So in addition to vision loss, clogged arteries and weight gain are becoming real threats if we don't soon get out of here.

Although we moved farther south in order to avoid extended periods of cold and snow (not the only reason), on day two of treacherous road conditions I miss living in a place where the powers that be know how to clear highways and roads. At this point school has been out for two unscheduled days and it's looking pretty iffy for tomorrow.  It's not all bad rest assured, I have plenty of bread and milk.