Moonstruck over Manhattan

Our company has been fun and we're glad they are here (a pastor and wife from California). They came in the door and I told them they had to put puzzle pieces into my coffee table sized puzzle before they could eat. And they believed me! And now they are hooked.  So we've been working on this 1,000 piece mostly black, white and yellow scene of New York City at night. It's mostly done now and it's at that obsessive stage where you can't step away. (which is why I'm writing this at almost 1am)

I live in a house with 3 intuitive people. I'm the only sensing one since Bethany moved out.  I am guessing that is why they just shake their heads at me when I ask them to help me with the puzzle. Details are like a foreign language to those people. Charles and Maggie both tried to help one time each and I had to redo their sections.

And I guess puzzle pieces are delicious because the dog keeps eating them! She gets mad when we leave the house sometimes and we come home to find a few soggy pieces of puzzle on the carpet.

Now it's a 993 piece puzzle. Bad dog.

I'm driving Emma to her first grown up women's retreat in the morning to Prescott. So I'll get in on a little of the retreat before I go home. I miss being there this year!

Tapestry retreat 2012

The women's retreat this past weekend was such a fun time....and very meaningful personal growth began for lots of us too. Because it would take a few pages to tell you ALL about it, I will just hit the highlights....


-Riding up with a Chris Tomlin concert going on in the back seat. :) (I was in the front seat enjoying it)
-The weather was AMAZING.
-Stars
-Watching women diligently try to roast HUGE marshmallows over sterno cans, then try to make s'mores with them.
-Fun speakers, Patty and Lisa from Girlfriendit.
-Being a mocha, highly entertained by all the chai-s, lattes and espressos.
-Pondering the turning points in our lives in following such a great God.
-Sticky notes, sticky notes, sticky notes.
-Mailboxes....with mail.
-Ice cream in the park. Popcorn tasting. Dogs.
-Margie and the Walmart greeter.
-Sam Elliott look-a-likes everywhere....gee, Prescott, what is up with that?
-Earplugs
-We like Ike.
-That crazy lady who makes us sing Day by Day in the cafeteria.
-Sticky notes on my back.....sticking stickies to everyone else as fast as I could.
-Remembering what God has brought me to, from, through, watching other people remember too.
-Merrit singing the first verse of Revelation Song in a beautiful voice!
-A huge gust of wind blowing in one door and out the other while I had my hands raised singing Revelation Song. Wind going over me like a visitation. Laughing at all the reactions to the wind.
-Wanting to leave the doors open a crack every time we sang after that happened, just in case, expectantly.
-Skit night, getting carried away---vague but very real threats of retaliation if skit night photos begin showing up in public! !!
-Sandwich board fashion show.
-Great, hot....cakes! lol
-Seeing the young women turn red.
-The coffee shop skit!
-Marchell and Shirley as identical twins.
-Good coffee
-Kelly under my bed trying to scare me.
-Making Margie laugh.
-Hiking and Prayer Cabin with Jo Ann.
-No traffic on the way home.
-Going home.
-Wanting to go back to camp. :)
-Sunday night. zzzzzzz

Lightening Up Life

Life is hard sometimes. Lori Regneir's story of ministry to families of child sex trade victims was hard to listen to today on GirlfriendIt radio. It's a subject so heavy and dark, but it is so prevalent that it has to be addressed, it has to be STOPPED. And Lori couldn't do anything else but jump in and help stop it. To find out more about this organization, go to Starbright Foundation. God bless her for using the gifts God gave her in serving these hurting families.

What has God given you that is a gift to hurting people?

The next guest on this show, Jessica Pierce, talked about not knowing where she was gifted or what her mission in life should be. Now a career finder and life coach with Career Connectors, she is passionate about helping people see their gifts and helping them focus on where they should be headed in life.

When I took the Myers-Briggs personality sorter, it even confirmed my suspicions that I am basically put here to entertain, as comic relief. And while that is a tongue in cheek statement, it is true to a big extent. If I get carried away, my children even look at me with serious eyes and say, "Mom, focus....really." But God has been so kind and generous to me, to use my silliness as a way to minister to people who are hurting. Time and time again, I am drawn to people in pain, trying to move through healing and find myself making them double over with laughter. It's kind of shocking sometimes, I don't even try to do it, but I let God use it when it comes out. (What else can you do?) I feel like it comes from a deep place of compassion for them though, so it's somehow appropriate.

Two years ago, another ministry family, David and Diana Johnson, had a tragedy happen with their son on the other side of the world. They got a call from Africa to inform them their son had been killed in a motorbike accident while traveling to a village to teach. He was 21 and a semester missionary in Mozambique, Africa.

Four months later, I found myself traveling to Africa with them and my husband to visit the places Jeremiah had worked and meet the people he ministered to. It was a match made in Heaven, because they needed comfort and help to walk through those places and to hear the testimonies of how their son touched so many people. I have never appreciated my gift of humor more than this trip. I didn't go thinking that would be my offering, but it was and I thanked God for letting me have something to offer. My journaling on that trip is here if you would like to read about how one young man touched the world and our visit to those places. In the end, it was an honor to be able to go on that trip and share that hard experience with my dear friend and add some comfort...in my own way.

As Patty Wyatt asked on the show, "What had God put in your hand?" What is God already using in your life to help people? I found humor was not shameful and immature (most of the time) but was quite healing and freeing when used appropriately.

Just remember to handle humor with care or you get in trouble...a lot of trouble. As a pastor's wife, I know this to be true. *ahem*

Of heart attacks and days gone wild

I missed two days on writing about thankfulness, but I'm sure you'll understand when you're done reading here today.

On Thursday I was waiting until the end of the day  to write my blog post in case something really interesting to be thankful for came my way. Well, let me just say before I begin that what I am thankful for is my family. (just in case this is not obvious by the end)

Thursday afternoon I was just thinking about what to put out for dinner. My husband and I both had large lunches and were not going to eat. And then, the phone rang.... and things got kicked into high gear and my day suddenly had a different plan and reason.

It was my sister Becky. She was frantic sounding as I listened to her voice while Charles was talking to her on his cell phone. He asked her several pointed, serious, urgent sounding questions, then hung up.

"Larry has had a heart attack at the cabin. He's going to be air lifted to Phoenix and we need to go meet him at the hospital."

This is the moment in the caricature my life was becoming that adrenaline squirts out of my head in little drops like a cartoon while I turn into a Tasmanian devil whirling around the house stuffing things I may need in my purse. Socks, travel sized lotion, make up, ipod, some meds, Mentholatum....just the necessities.  I knew I would be spending the night in the hospital with my sister so my practical head made use of the time we had until the second phone call telling us which hospital to go to.

I made calls to family and we jumped in the car. We were walking in to the ER while the helicopter was landing. And we got to see Larry a few minutes later. He was sitting up talking and explaining and answering questions. The doctor looked at the EKG and said, "Yes, you are having a heart attack, let's get you into an angiogram ASAP." Time to visit a moment, pray and they whisked him away.

My sister had to drive down from the mountains to Phoenix all by herself and it had turned dark, so we prayed for her and she arrived about an hour later. It's an hour and a half drive, so you can imagine how she was driving and she was only pulled over by the police once. But she turned into hysterics with the officer and he waved her on, no ticket.

I can't remember how long it was until the doctor came out giving us a good report. Only one blockage and it was repaired with one stint. Simple, quick and as non-invasive as can be.

What happened to Larry is really pretty common. He had been doing some hard work, cutting wood by chainsaw that afternoon, then got tired and felt like the chain saw was extra heavy. So he came in, took a shower and sat down to put socks on. The discomfort in his chest was worrying him, but he didn't think about it seriously until he sat down and began sweating profusely. His clothing was soaked and Becky told him she was calling 911. She was surprised that he didn't argue and by that, she knew it was the right decision. Twenty minutes later, back in the woods in their cabin, he was being loaded into an ambulance, being given a field EKG and was told that yes, it was a heart attack. They just drove to the main dirt road and met a helicopter, where he was quickly flown away and to the hospital.  It took 30 minutes to arrive at the hospital and he was still alert and talking, but still having the heart attack. His main artery was completely blocked and he was sitting up, talking to us.

The doctor said it would have been a much different outcome if they had hesitated on calling or if the paramedics hadn't been so on the ball as to order a helicopter or if my sister hadn't made him eat an aspirin and the paramedics hadn't given him nitroglycerin when they arrived.

It was about 12 hours later when my sister and I were sitting in his ICU room figuring out his Myers-Briggs personality temperament and reading it to him off of the internet. We were all laughing at how accurate the description was and appreciating what a great guy he is....and that he was still with us. This is how two ESFP's handle an ISTJ who is in day one of recovery from a heart attack.

Thank you to all who prayed for Larry and sent encouraging emails or messages. He's going to be just fine.

Season of refreshment

It is beautiful Fall weather outside here....high 69, breeeeeeezy, crisp, leaves rustling, faint smell of a fire place in the air...mmmmmmm. It is so refreshing! I am sitting at the kitchen table, listening to Maggie read her story for the day...I'm only getting that it's about a frog and the 'tools' he has to help him swim and survive in water.

Where I really want to be is sitting out on the lawn swing enjoying the day....soon I will be. So I'm taking a minute now to share a new page I've found. It is called The Drinking Fountain. I started perusing it this morning during math time. =) Math time takes forever and it is review, so I was perusing between checking answers. I have been finding the internet a very dull place lately…mostly I check mail, a few message boards and a few blogs. I guess I’m not very good at finding new places to explore. The Drinking Fountain is full of interesting links and blog pages arranged by the personality type of the author….very fun idea! So check it out if you’ve run out of places to explore on the net.

I hope you have some refreshment in your life today….I know it is just what I needed after a couple of weeks of seeing tragedy and horror. Pray for those who are relocating from the Gulf area, that their lives will be refreshed and the places where they settle will be a blessing to them.

Proverbs 11:24-25

One man gives freely, yet gains even more;
another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.

A generous man will prosper;
he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.

Divine design

Have you ever stood back and gazed at a brand, spanking new car and admired in awe how it just ‘happened’…..wow! After billions of years, this metal came together to form an engine that makes it run, all bolts, belts and converter thingies in the precise places that make the car able to be driven by human beings. Why, even the inside of the car has a perfectly formed seat for our tush, some even capable of holding a whole family of tushes! Some are more evolved than others of course, which is consistent with the theories of evolution. It amazes us, doesn’t it?

Of course it doesn’t. No one in their right minds would think that a car just happened…it is a complex system of parts that work together in just the right way. That would never happen without a maker, a designer. Yet our schools , universities, and some (not all) of our leading scientists are telling people that our world, more complex and intricately designed than any car, simply evolved….oh, it took a long, long time they say, but they are trying to make us believe that it just happened. I refuse to give in to popular thought on this. Evolution is a theory, not a solid piece of evidence exists to support the theory. And while no hard evidence exists to prove the creation theory either, the cellular structure of the earth, the precise things that happen to make the earth a balanced and valid atmosphere for human life is amazingly, undeniably by design.

There is no question in my mind about the existence of God. It’s obvious to me that the Universe down to the smallest part of a cell was created, not an accident, that it is planned, designed. Everything in nature has order and purpose, including us as human beings. The Bible tells us that God created humans in the image of God….meaning, I believe, that we are different from plants and animals in that we can reason. We see beyond food and bodily function to relationship, character and self-control. We can plan, create and think of others before ourselves.

Not only are we different from plants and animals, we are even different from each other. He designed our physical bodies to function so well, everything working together like clockwork. But He also designed our minds, our personalities, our purposes. Scientists are finding that we are not only shaped by our environment, but that people have a set personality from birth. We are programmed, wired, designed to be a certain way. And amazingly enough differing personalities work together to make the world a create, well run place to live. One of the most comprehensive personality tests is the Myers Briggs temperament sorter.

I first took the sorter 16 years ago as a young married adult. It is the one most helpful thing we have done as a married couple to learn to understand and appreciate each other. And it helps to accept and understand other relationships I have with people too. My friends, the family members I grew up with, my children, coworkers, church members….all have personalities that I sometimes find difficult to get along with, irritating and hard to understand….because they are different than me. They don’t do things the ways I like to do them….they think differently about how to relate to their world, how to learn, make decisions, and how they like their world ordered…or disordered.

One of the most helpful things I’ve learned through this is that just because others don’t do things the way I think is best, they are not necessarily wrong, they are just different. So I try to sit back and observe people to see how they are wired now, to hopefully appreciate how they think, how God designed their personalities. Because of lessons I’ve learned and because it helps so much in relating to other people in my life, I think it’s one of the most valuable things I could pass on. But I’m not an expert, so I’m just going to give a websight and let the experts speak.

Here is a free online personality test. Remember, be honest. Choose the answers that really express who you usually are and not what you think is an ideal answer. At the end of the test, press the submit button and it will give you a 4 letter synopsis of your personality. Follow the links to study about your personality.

Senses and Favorability

Are you red or blue? What Winnie the Pooh character do you most identify with…and if you were a tree, what kind would you be and why? Puh-lease! No, those quizzes are fun (I’m most like Pooh, btw and a very nice shade of green) but I took a personality test once that changed my life and my marriage too. (my husband is, it turns out, almost my exact opposite!) It’s the Keirsey Temperament Sorter
…..sometimes called the Myers Briggs test….and it’s used by psychologists and counselors of all kinds to help people understand how they are wired and to work with it and what areas to work on most.

My four letters are ESFP, which in part means I am a very tactile person. I experience life and explore my world mainly through my senses. Yesterday I was reading a magazine article on smells and how they evoke memories and I started thinking about how my senses affect me....so I started listing my favorite things from each sense and it was pretty cool. So here are some of my favorite things.....

The smells of sandalwood oil, pine candles, freshly bathed little 7 year old's head, a sweet space behind the ear of our puppy. Savory and sweet, comforting smells of foods cooking.....that moment when it's about to rain, but hasn't begun yet, burying my nose into a rose or a carnation, lemon fresh Joy, freshly cut grass, the scent of peeled oranges alongside coffee brewing (from my childhood), pine tree forests and citrus blossoms. And my husband will be happy about this one, fresh cut wood for the woodstove.

The sounds of my family, children and husband...laughing, singing, playing piano and guitars. Our puppy Winnie, trying to howl at the train several times a day, my dog Millie trying to talk and cry at us to tell us something.....swiftly flowing creeks, aspens quaking, wind chimes (gentle ones). I love music....good music, real music, no synthesized rhythms and mindless beats from a computer. Whether it's classical or rock and roll......just make it authentic and harmonic with real instruments playing.

Sights I love.....our puppy: pouncing, sitting on our other dogs so her bottom won't be cold, playing, seeing her watch television… lol. Tidy rooms, light yellow and cobalt blue together in my kitchen, patterns, textures. Contagious smiles, someone's hair lilting in a breeze, Fall leaves and Christmas lights. Flowers in a garden or alongside the road, designs in nature....like the star inside an apple, the man in the moon, snowflakes and wood grains….. a butterfly, a ladybug, fuzzy bumble bees and hummingbird moths.....amazing and cute. I also love photography and seeing other people’s photographs….like seeing through their eyes.

Touchie things I love….I touch about everything I pass by in stores and houses…especially soft textures. I love to be dressed in comfortable cotton, sleep on cotton sheets, sit on corduroy furniture…..I love warm blankets, cool breezes, hot showers, hugs and kissing. Fuzzy dogs, soft stuffed animals, flower petals, soft hair, ear lobes and soft candle wax just before it melts.

As for taste…it is easier to list what I don’t like. Brussel sprouts, liver, purple candy, lima beans and weird things that should be called food anyway like sushi and innard type parts. Shudder

Thanks for the read and maybe I’ll think of something more entertaining or witty tomorrow. =)

For something cool to do now, feast your eyes on this.