Happy Thanksgiving

On a day that was a bit more stressful than I had hoped for, this verse came to mind as I was sitting here trying to wind down the day. I'm hoping to let it settle in over the next couple of days and to leave the stress behind.

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Phil. 4:4-7

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. :-)

Look out below...

...that's what I think when I see this picture of Anna. ;-) I was reminded yesterday of how L--O--N--G a gymnastics meet can last! And of how unforgiving this sport really is... We spent about 4 hours yesterday at the Huntsville Gymnastics Fall Meet at the VBC watching some of Anna's old teammates start their competition season. Of the girls that she has 'grown up' with in gymnastics, only 2 are still competing. After being away from the gym for a while, it was good to see how much they have improved and the new things they've learned since last year. Amazing, really. But there are still judges to impress, other gyms to compete with, and always just that ONE mistake that can cost you a finish on the podium. THAT surely never changes.

It was a little weird being there as a 'spectator' and not a mom of a gymnast or one of the crazy people working behind the scenes at the meet. I had flashbacks of doing that last year as I looked down at the coaches eating area and passed by the 'Judges Hospitality Room' and thought that I didn't miss doing that at all! ha But I must confess that I really did miss seeing Anna out there on the floor as one of the competitors. She was always fun to watch. :-) (even when it was nerve-racking!) Of course, she had the best time she's ever had a meet because she got to watch and help out some and there was NO PRESSURE! :-)

Anyways, I found that picture of her above at the meet last year. She's just coming off the high bar doing a 'fly-away' dismount. That's a pretty scary move and one that she didn't like too much. But part of gymnastics is about mastering your fears and I'm continually amazed at how all these girls do that. And it's made me think a little bit about the 'life lesson' in that -- God never promises a life without fears or challenges, etc... but how well am I 'mastering' mine? hmmmm..... good question.

Man's Best Friend

After one of my walks up on Green Mountain a week or so ago, I started thinking about Mandy and how much of a dog lover I've become. I didn't grow up with dogs - I mostly had cats - and I was the last one in the family to 'want' to have a dog. I definitely didn't want one in the house! Well, all that changed when we brought this cute little puppy home almost 4 years ago. :-) I fell in love with this silly dog and now she's more like another family member than a dog... I hope she doesn't read this, because she doesn't really know that she's a dog. ha Anyways, that thought, "Man's Best Friend," popped into my head and then this idea for a poem came to mind... so here goes:

Man’s Best Friend

I think I’m beginning to understand
That old saying about “man’s best friend”
These days it seems that my dog Mandy
Has truly become my biggest fan(dy)
(sorry, that was really corny)

I realize there are things that she knows
That thankfully she can never disclose
But… oh the stories that she could tell
Of confessions heard and tears that fell

From long walks up on top of Green Mountain
Around the lake and past the water fountain
To back porch writings and conversations with God
Listening outside my closet door between sobs

She’s heard it all and then some more
And it doesn’t seem that she ever gets bored
Wherever I am, that’s where she wants to be
It’s funny how comforting that is when you’re in need.

Yes, ‘man’s best friend,’ so loyal and true
There when you need her no matter what you’re going through
I’m grateful for my dog these days
And the loving devotion that never fades.

Taking the long way home...

I was driving home from lunch today and as I got onto the Parkway and started to get off at Governor's Drive to head over the mountain, traffic was backed up almost to the ramp. There's been a bunch of construction on Governors at the hopital for quite some time now, and some days it's just crazy. Apparently today was one of those days. So I decided to go further south and go home over the other mountain... and as I drove down that way, something in me got kinda nostalgic and I decided to do a little drive down memory lane.

I grew up on the south end of Huntsville, but unless I'm going to get my hair cut or to the doctor, I don't go down that way too often. So I often 'forget' that I actually grew up here. ha Anyways, I got off at Airport Road and when I got to Whitesburg, I took a right and almost immediately, I felt transported back in time. Something about Whitesburg Drive does that to me. :-) Pretty quickly, I drove past one of my best friend's house from middle and high school. Just down the road, I took a left on Tannehill and drove up the hill to the top and took a right. That's when I passed by my old high school boyfriend's house... As I drove a little more around that neighborhood, I passed my old piano teacher's house, and then the girl's house that was flag corp captain when I was rifle corp captain in band. I drove down the road that I had traveled many times to another best friend's house... I even turned around on the hill that my dad first had me stop on when I was learning to drive a stick shift. He very purposefully didn't tell me that the car would roll backward while I was trying to get it in gear and he fell out laughing when I screamed and stalled the car that first time. ;-) I noticed as I drove down Hickory Hill Lane that they've put in speed 'humps.' Those weren't necessary back when I was growing up there -- but times change. Then when I rounded the corner onto Atwood Drive, I passed the creek we used to play in that we weren't supposed to (shhhh.... don't tell my parents!) and drove along the 'Aldridge Creek Greenway' that's in place of several homes that were across the street from mine growing up. You know, we could have had a lot of fun on that bike path if it had been there when I was little... but then, I wouldn't have had the friends who lived in the houses (or my babysitter!) or gotten to play ball in the Moss's back yard. (We lost a lot of balls to the creek playing there!) I drove past the house I grew up in and marveled again at how big the trees are that I remember planting with my dad. And I've told this story to lots of people, but there are shutters that my dad put up inside what was my brother's bedroom (instead of curtains) many, many years ago.... and they're STILL there. I'm not sure how many times that house has changed hands, but that amazes me. I suppose one day I'll drive by and they'll be gone, and I think I'll lose one more little bit of my childhood when that happens.... but for now I hang on. :-) So I turned onto Loukell (who thinks up these names?) and past my neighbor's house where I used to go swimming, and the other neighbor where I used to jump on their trampoline... oh, I forgot the best neighbors of all - the family we 'grew up' with where you could just come and go like you lived there. I passed their house, too. Then past the kids I used to babysit for. I thought is was SO cool back then that their entire back yard was a full-sized tennis court! Nobody in the neighborhood had anything like that! Then as I left my old neighborhood, I passed my other piano teacher's house and finally past another best friend.... as I passed her driveway, I had the most vivid memory of dragging her ping-pong table out there and playing ping-pong for hours. The 'last' stop on my journey was passing by my old high school, Grissom. I drove past the back parking lot where I spent many hot summer mornings and cool fall afternoons practicing with the marching band. I would say some of my best teenage memories came out of those times and my association with the band.

And at that point, it was time to go home because I was running out of gas. :-) So I started over the mountain and as I left south Huntsville behind and headed into Hampton Cove, I suddenly felt as if time fast-forwarded 30 years to the present with a jolt. Can it really be that long ago? It seems almost as if time stands still whenever I make that drive... but it doesn't. Things change, and I have changed. Other people live and go about their lives where I used to live... the friends I grew up with are scattered and we've lost touch... it makes me a little sad thinking about it. But I don't want to dwell there. Driving down the mountain into my life now, I'm making new memories with my own kids.... and thinking that we moved here when Anna was 6 years old - the same age I was when our family first moved to Huntsville. (weird) So maybe one day she'll find herself taking the kind of drive I just took this afternoon and taking a little trip down memory lane like her old mom. :-)

My 'New' Office

I thought maybe I should take a picture of my office while it's clean. ;-) Actually, I spent most of the day yesterday putting a final coat of paint on the trim that has needed to be painted for, oh, almost 2 years I think. ha That's the way 'projects' seem to go around here. Jack did a wonderful job of making this little room for me out of some extra attic space and it all got done but the last bit of painting and putting in the cabinets that you see in the corner. And it stayed that way for quite a while because I didn't paint and couldn't decide on the cabinet stuff. The problem was that the room was 'functional' without all that, so getting that stuff done fell way on down the priority list, if you know what I mean. So anyway, Jack put these cabinets in for me not too long ago and finished off the top so I have a place for my scanner now, other than on the floor... and I painted and got most everything organized and put back in the room. I even hung some pictures that I think I've had for over a year! And now the room isn't just 'functional,' it's actually a really nice place to be. :-)

Impossible! Or is it?.....

I had one of those mornings today where I stopped before I read my bible and really asked God to speak to me through His word today so that I could see Him and hear Him clearly. I don't always stop to do that quite so specifically, but I imagine I should do it more!

So I opened up in my reading and today was about Abraham and Sarah and the promise of them having a son. I got to the part about Sarah standing at the entrance of her tent and laughing to herself as she overhears the promise that she will bear a son in about a year's time. After hearing Sarah laugh, the Lord says to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, 'Will I really have a child, now that I am old?' Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son." (Gen 18:13-14)

It's funny how thoughts can all come together at times. Things like having a birthday recently and holidays like yesterday and such tend to get me thinking about how much can change in a year's time. So that's already been on my mind. Then I read about Sarah today and the doubt that flooded her mind as she heard this promise being made to Abraham. I had to ask myself, "How easy is it for me to be just like Sarah? Am I standing at the entance of my 'tent' and laughing (or maybe crying!) quietly to myself, struggling to believe the promises that God has for me?" But it was so reassuring to hear God's clear and confident voice in response to my doubt as I read these words... "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" And as I read that, I could hear Jesus saying to his disciples, "With man this is impossible, but all things are possible with God." And then Paul's words, "I can do everything through Him who gives me strength."

Of course, it's always helpful to have 'the rest of the story' right at your fingertips. I can read on just a little further and see a year on down the road in Abraham and Sarah's life and know that God, indeed, did just as He said He would. What seemed absolutely impossible in Sarah's mind was never too hard for God to accomplish. So it makes me wonder what another year from now will look like in my life? And no, I'm not hoping to have a baby!! ;-) But I do want to place my hopes in God's hands and know that nothing is too hard for Him!

Just for fun, I found this picture of the "Impossible Triangle" done with dice. It's a pretty amazing optical illusion. The more you stare at it, the more your mind wants to make sense out of it but just can't - it's impossible! :-)

Accident Report

A little update on Mackenzie's accident from last week. Today I have been dealing with obtaining an accident report and I'm now trying to hunt down my insurance contact and get an email address from her so I can send it on to her. One thing I will say, this day and age of doing things electronically is SO nice. You just pull up the police website and you can download your accident report for a mere $12.50. Of course, if you actually go and get it in person, it's only $10.00. But it was worth the $2.50 not to have to leave my house today. :-) A month ago I could have also made the argument that it would have cost me more in gas to go in person, but gas prices have come down enough now that I'm not sure I can say that any more....

Accident reports are interesting to read. First, I was really curious as to what the police officer would report about the accident. If there was any doubt at all about who was at FAULT in this accident, well, that's all been cleared up. ha And you know our policemen was very nice, but I don't think that spelling is a requirement for the job. ;-)

Then there are the individual reports from the drivers involved:
"Car #3" "Morning Traffic on Governors. Approx. 7:30am. Just Past Parkhill Rd going west (coming down Mountain into HSV). Traffic was slowing down to stop; car behind was hit which pushed it into my car."

All the capitalization was his in that first sentence -- guess at some point he decided that he didn't need to do that through the whole report.

"Car #2" "Bumper to Bumper traffic. Hit the brakes. Came to a complete stop. Car behind me hit my rear bumper which caused me to hit the car in front of me."

She started with the capitalization thing, too. Maybe that's just what you do when you're stressed out!

"Car #1" "I was driving down northbound Governor's Drive in heavy traffic. The vehicle in front of me stopped abruptly, and I did not stop quick enough. I rear-ended the car in front of me."

Well, I'm glad that even in stressful situations, my daughter can still put a complete sentence together with relatively proper capitalization - even though she didn't know she was going westbound instead of northbound. :-)

Well, not too long ago when Mackenzie first started driving, I was thinking how nice it was that when you add a 15 year-old driver with a permit onto your insurance, that it doesn't change your premiums at all.... well..... at least not until you have an accident. ha I just wonder if it will be her father's or my name that will bear the 'step up' on the premiums. ;-) Ah, all the fun things you learn along life's way... but as those things go, this is very minor in the grand scheme of things. And thank God for that....

Collide

Well, it was an interesting morning today. Not what I had in mind. About 2 minutes after Cindy showed up for our usual Thursday morning workout, I got a phone call from Jack. He and Mackenzie had been in an accident going over Governor's drive on the way to school. Luckily no one was hurt - but as you can see, the car didn't fare so well.

So Mackenzie had just started driving to school this week. She's been doing great driving and had been asking about taking this next step. So her first time to drive was on Monday and I remember Jack calling to tell me that it was a little more stressful way for him to start out his morning than usual! ;-) And then today, apparently traffic was backed up and 2 cars ahead of her, a guy stopped kinda fast, then the girl in front of her (also a HHS student) had to stop quick and well, Mackenzie just didn't stop quick enough and ran into the girl in front of her and pushed her into the guy in front of them both. It didn't hurt the guy's car at all - good for him since he still had the dealer plates on his new Jetta! And the Landrover in front proved that their cars really are built pretty good -- not too much damage. And then there was our 'Green Machine.' :-) Poor thing -- it got the worst of it. I'm not so sure it will be coming home again... guess we'll see. And Mackenzie was very sad - she really loved that car.

So as Jack and I sat at breakfast after this was all over and contemplated this new understanding we now have of OUR parents and what they felt when we had our first accidents way back when, it was all kind-of surreal. Can we really be at that place in life where we're dealing with our teenager's first car accident? Wow, where does time go?..... and when did we get to be the grown-ups? ha

So I have to explain where I got the title for this post. When I picked Mackenzie up from school today and we were driving home, she was looking at songs on her ipod and made this comment - "Oh, it would have been pretty funny if this song "Collide" by Skillet had been on when I had my accident this morning!" (That's one of her favorite songs.) Yeah, right... funny. NOT! ;-)

Psalm 86

It's been a while since I've posted anything on here, but it's been a little busy. All of my family was in town to visit last week for what we were affectionately calling "Christmas in October." Or, "A Halloween Christmas to Remember"... or something, I don't know. The real issue is that my brother realized that it was going to cost over $4,000 to fly here AT Christmas time and that just wasn't going to be happening! So they were here last week -- and it was kinda nice because we got to celebrate a lot of birthdays at one time, open Christmas presents one night, take my little French niece to pick a pumpkin and go trick-or-treating for the first time! So like I said, it's been busy. :-)

I was going to write something last night, but I got more interested in changing the look of my blog and that took up my time. :-) And it's now very late once again, but I found a psalm a few days ago that I've found myself going back to and reading and praying through every day since, and really trying to take to heart. So I just thought I'd post it here and then call it a night.

Psalm 86
A prayer of David.
1 Hear, O LORD, and answer me,
for I am poor and needy.
2 Guard my life, for I am devoted to you.
You are my God; save your servant
who trusts in you.
3 Have mercy on me, O Lord,
for I call to you all day long.
4 Bring joy to your servant,
for to you, O Lord,
I lift up my soul.
5 You are forgiving and good, O Lord,
abounding in love to all who call to you.
6 Hear my prayer, O LORD;
listen to my cry for mercy.
7 In the day of my trouble I will call to you,
for you will answer me.
8 Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord;
no deeds can compare with yours.
9 All the nations you have made
will come and worship before you, O Lord;
they will bring glory to your name.
10 For you are great and do marvelous deeds;
you alone are God.
11 Teach me your way, O LORD,
and I will walk in your truth;
give me an undivided heart,
that I may fear your name.
12 I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart;
I will glorify your name forever.
13 For great is your love toward me;
you have delivered me from the depths of the grave.
14 The arrogant are attacking me, O God;
a band of ruthless men seeks my life—
men without regard for you.
15 But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,
slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.
16 Turn to me and have mercy on me;
grant your strength to your servant
and save the son of your maidservant.
17 Give me a sign of your goodness,
that my enemies may see it and be put to shame,
for you, O LORD, have helped me and comforted me.