In the end... Rocky wins!

I don't seem to have any original thoughts to blog about as of late so I am just going steal from someone else today.

There are times in my life...and I have often said this to Jeff...where I can NOT seem to pick myself up from one "blow" before I am kicked in the teeth yet again. It is like a scene from ROCKY where he is just being pounded on...blow after blow...and blood and sweat and spit are just FLYING all over the place. Apollo Creed HAS NO MERCY!!! And it all occurs in slow motion.

As I was reading a devotional from Charles Spurgeon this morning I was pleased to find out that I am not the only one who suffers from this "syndrome".

So..because Charles was MUCH better with words than I...I leave you with this.


Deliverance Not Limited

He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. (Job 5:19)

Eliphaz in this spoke the truth of God. We may have as many troubles as the workdays of the week, but the God who worked on those six days will work for us till our deliverance is complete. We shall rest with Him and in Him on our Sabbath. The rapid succession of trials is one of the sorest tests of faith. Before we have recovered from one blow it is followed by another and another till we are staggered. Still, the equally quick succession of deliverances is exceedingly cheering. New songs are rung out upon the anvil by the hammer of affliction, till we see in the spiritual world the antitype of "the Harmonious Blacksmith." Our confidence is that when the Lord makes our trials six, six they will be and no more.

It may be that we have no rest day, for seamen troubles come upon us. What then? "In seven there shall be no evil touch thee." Evil may roar at us, but it shall be kept at more than arm's length and shall not even touch us. Its hot breath may distress us, but its little finger cannot be laid upon us.

With our loins girt about us, we will meet the six or the seven troubles and leave fear to those who have no Father, no Savior, and no Sanctifier.

I got the "My kids are growing up" blues....

Being a parent is a strange and wonderful beast.

One day you are holding this little tiny thing in your arms and you can't IMAGINE what life is going to be like when they start walking...or talking....

MUCH LESS DRIVING THEMSELVES TO HIGH SCHOOL!!!!

No...Kaitlyn is not my first child to drive herself to school. Kirsten started that last year. Kaitlyn IS my first child to drive her AND her sib to school though.

It was hard enough on me yesterday as I watched Keaton drive off with his dad for the first day of his freshman year....without one moments hesitation I might add. TODAY as he drove off with his sister it was like some HUGE chapter of my life had ended.

SOOO...here I sit...after soaking in the tub for an OBSCENE amount of time...wondering, "What the HECK does a woman who's only goal in life was to be a wife and a mother DO when her last baby enters High School?"

I KNOW, I KNOW, I KNOW...this is NOT the end of my parental obligations. I KNOW they will still need me...BARELY. I know that the end of a chapter is NOT the end of the BOOK.

I JUST WANT MY BABIES BACK!!!!

And do you know what the real kick in the teeth is. They DIDN'T even look back!!! Oh..wait...they did....they pointed and laughed at me standing on the porch, in my PJs, holding my camera with terrified look on my face and tears in my eyes. No, really....they pointed and laughed....ask them.

Of course...my kids have NEVER looked back. They would leap out of my arms to go into the church nursery. They ran to the bus stop. They jumped out of the car in carpool, waving back over their shoulder as they caught up with their friends. They hugged ME and told ME not to cry when they went off to camp. And now they LAUGH at me as Kaitlyn drives off with my baby boy and leaves me here all alone. I have been told that all of this mean that Jeff and I have raised wonderfully confident individuals.....

Whatever.

If I had known THAT was what we were doing I would have switched tracks and started raising whiny, clingy, Mama's babies!!!

YEAH RIGHT!!!!

This started out as something different...

I don't really have much to say today.

BUT...I was poking around the Phillip S. Miller Library Website because I thought I should know more about my place of employment. When I decided to look at the history of the library I found this quote from March 1942....

"It is hoped by the committee that in these times of sacrifice and worry, when many of our usual forms of recreation are abandoned, that many people will seek and find the books in the library a source of unexpected relaxation and entertaining pleasure."

I don't know why but I found this quote strangely moving. You must remember...we had only OFFICIALLY been at war for few months in March of 42...but the effects of the war abroad must have been weighing on America since the Germans invaded Poland in 1939.

NOW...read this quote again very carefully...."when many of our usual forms of recreation are abandoned".

Think about that VERY carefully. It holds a TOTALLY different meaning in 2008 and than it did in 1942. People did not have television or computers or cell phones...if they even had a phone. Cars were a luxury item, there was no central air...and there were parts of the country in which people still used outhouses. People did not shop for groceries the way we do now,as the war drug on there was rationing of gasoline,sugar,steel and rubber... among other things...and a cup of coffee was less than a dime. AND..we did not have Amazon or a Barnes and Noble on every other corner where we could purchase books by the armload.

I "find the books in the library a source of unexpected relaxation and entertaining pleasure". every day. But I wonder what it must have been like then. How many people DID turn to books as a form of escape or relaxation. What books were they reading....

The Moon is Down
The Robe
Dragon Seed
See Here Private Hargrove
And Now Tomorrow
Brave Men
Forever Amber
So Well Remembered
The Song of Bernadette
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
The Little Prince

These were just a few bestsellers during the war.

I don't know...I just found it interesting to think about...it was a different time...A time before space travel or the Internet. A time before celebrities were heroes just because of their celebrity. Our heroes were soldiers...as were the people who gave up the simple pleasures of sugar and travel and stockings..the ones who planted victory gardens as their husbands and sons went off to war.

This did not begin as a commentary on war...but I think it might be worth mentioning that we once again have soldiers fighting on another continent and we give up NOTHING because of it. We still drive and bake and watch TV and spend 6 bucks on a cup of coffee and 10 bucks on a movie and watch stupid sitcoms in our air-conditioned houses WHILE surfing the web AND talking on our cellphone.

MAYBE...JUST MAYBE...that's why our soldiers are still fighting a war that we have almost forgotten. A war in which soldiers are still dying.

I DON'T KNOW...It's just a thought...maybe one we should ALL be considering.

And MAYBE...JUST MAYBE...we could remember to say a little prayer for our soldiers and an end to this war each time we pump gas, or drink coffee.....or pick up a book.

Thanks to all of you who have served, are serving and will serve our country.

Highs and Lows of July 2008

Well...the summer has FLOWN by and we are now 4 days into August!!! HOW DID THAT HAPPEN!?!?

ANYWAY...Highs and Lows

Highs...

My Uncle WIllard, Mom and cousin Frank came to visit and we got them for a WHOLE WEEK!

My bro Matt came for a visit the VERY next weekend.

I re-established contact with my cousins son through Facebook.

The DeGraffenrieds were here from Mexico.

Have I mentioned lately how much I absolutely FREAKIN'...beyond all ability to not only voice but to comprehend...LOVE MY HUSBAND.

HighISHness...

Got to see Hellboy 2!
Read tons of books.
Several Mini Motorcycle ride with Jeff

Lows...

Everyone always has to leave.

Grammy was in the hospital.

The Fourth of July kinda sucked.

Our financial situation is still in the crapper.