sunday stuff

I'm having my second cup of coffee now... at 1:30pm... because I don't DARE drink two cups of coffee before church! Our services last about an hour and a half. I'd never make it that long on two cups! But it's good... enjoying it now...

Austin went to church with Tasha. He's sick... has a nasty cold... which makes me nervous because the LAST thing I need is to get sick! I'm coughing up a little uck this weekend but I'm totally in denial. I am NOT still sick. No way. It's nine weeks past the initial bronchitis diagnosis and I refuse to believe that it could be still hanging around - or even recurring - not now. No way! Technically, what I have is considered "chronic" not "acute" so TECHnically, the symptoms can pop up at any time... which is why I'm on inhalers and singulair and stuff like that even when I don't have anything going on... it's a bummer but it is what it is. I had a ton of amoxicillin around from all the times i've been started on amoxicillin and had it changed to something stronger since I don't respond to amoxicillin. I had Austin start taking that last night. Hopefully that will knock this junk out of him.

It was interesting to me that Austin was so eager to go to church... but that's what love'll do for you. I wish I could say that he's eager to be in the Lord's house. Mmm. Prollllly not. But he's there. Sometimes the motivation is external... and for autistic kids, the motivation is almost ALWAYS external, so I'm thankful that he's motivated to go, whatever the reason.

I didn't get to see my girls at church this morning. There was a baptism at the river after church and I didn't go to that (although I could have and should have - I was just wiped out, headachey and ready to go home). They dismissed the parents who needed to pick up kids at childrens church and Jim went out... guess he forgot that is MY job... but, whatever... our sweet Jessie joined our church today so I was able to stick around and love on her for a minute.

I am headachey. Maybe the extra caffeine will help. A extra bit of joe never hurt anyone, right? *wink*

Which reminds me... I forgot to turn my cellphone back on after church. Oops. Will do that as soon as I finish this entry.

Sunday School and worship service were both awesome. In Sunday School we're studying Genesis... we talked about how animals didn't fear man until after the flood. I hadn't ever thought about that before... but it's interesting... once man started to KILL the animals and eat them, animals developed fear of man. Even my Stubby the 3legged wondercat is a big ole scaredy cat... he startles easy... and when he approaches me... it's all sneaky and slinky like he's testing me out. Still.

In Worship service we talked about Paul's second journey and how so many things went wrong... and how sometimes our response is to give up when things go wrong, thinking that SURELY it must not be God's will for our lives if things aren't all hunky dory. Sometimes (ok, all the time) we learn so much through those tough times. I know I did. Am. Still learning. Present tense.

We had an altar call for those who are in a time of struggle and you know... I didn't feel like it was about me... I feel like an overcomer. Not that I'll never have another second of hurt, disappointment, regret, etc over the things that have happened over the past year but the crisis itself has passed. It was pretty awesome to have that realization wash over me. The storm has passed. Now it's just a matter of cleaning up the damage.

Four years after Katrina and NOLA isn't all the way put back together... actually... in some ways, it's forever changed. I am too. Forever changed. My prayer is that the structure of my life that is rebuild is stronger than ever and can withstand much stronger winds and a much deeper flood. When we rebuild, if we're wise, we rebuild it better. That's what I'm doing now - making sure this new life is better than anything I ever had before.

I have a friend whose husband lost his job last week due to some things that were misrepresented by others. Ok, let's just call them lies...because that's what they were. I'm not sure what this guy's income was but I would say based on the home that they live in, that he was making a little bit more than what I make. Ok. Let's just say he made a lot more than me. So... because of the misdeeds of others, his life has completely changed. We don't know yet what the ultimate outcome is... we don't know how long he'll be out of work or what kind of job he'll have in the future and if that will be a similar income but we know... this change... this storm... was no surprise to God.

Some of the greatest injustices in the world result in the greatest miracles we could possibly experience. What others mean for our harm, God uses for our good. Most of the time, I think if people could see all the way through their actions to the potential consequences to themselves and others, that they would take a different course of action. But I also know that I wouldn't have changed a single thing in my life if that meant never knowing the God that I know now.

Anyways... today is my Cody's nineteenth birthday. Those of you who have been reading my blog since the beginning will remember Cody turning fifteen... time flies. Those of you who are in my real life might remember Cody being born... or... him standing outside the bathroom door of our hotel room on a trip to Chattanooga when he was about two years old saying, "Open the door, Wisa Bwackett..."... God love hm.

I'm having a Pajama Sunday afternoon and evening. It's quiet here. I'm thinking nap... even with the caffeine. If anything, the caffeine is making me sleepy. I am also REALLY wanting beef curry but there's nowhere around here to get a decent curry and that's too much of an indulgence to drive over an hour round trip for. Maybe I should change the channel from the food network.

Nothing particularly demanding coming up in the next week. Just a normal work week. Stasha and I have FINALLY been able to coordinate our schedules to both have lunch with Sarabeth at the same time. We're surprising her. Next weekend is a three day weekend and *hopefully* Cody and Marquee will be able to come up and spend some time. Another summer has ticked by...

Hope you're all having a wonderful weekend. Love and hugs, y'all!