The Mother-In-Law Next Door

My mother-in-law just bought the house next door in an auction on Saturday. I know, it is next door, but I am happy for her. It is the first house she has ever owned. Her mom is gone now and my kids are her happiness. She is not the mettling type either, so I think it will be okay. I know you would like for them to be a few houses away, but I am trying to just think of all the good things.

When I am at work, I'm sure that Nana will be sure the family is fed. John is definately not a mommas boy, so that will not be a problem. She will get to see the boys more, and she can help take Caleb to preschool. I worry though that Caleb won't want to spend the night with her anymore, when he can just go home to his house next door.

And....maybe we can get her to go to church with us. That would be awesome. Which brings me to my other good news......

BRETT WANTS TO GET BAPTIZED. He is asking a lot of questions, and we are gonna talk to Chris, the youth minister, to make sure he knows what he is doing. PRAISE GOD!

Home Alone

I have a day at home, all alone, no kids, can do anything I want, without phone calls or interruption, and no husband either to hog the TV remote. What am I doing with my day? I am lounging on the couch (in my husbands shirt) trying to read or watch TV, with Caleb's stuffed animal and Brett's pillow (so that I can smell them).

I am a mess. I don't know what to do with myself. I miss them like crazy. You would think my dog died. I have waited for this day for years...and now that I have it...I can't take advantage of it because I am too depressed. That is just like God. What a sense of humor. He is probably up there in heaven saying, "You wanted a day to yourself, OK. Here you go. Not all it's cracked up to be is it? Now will you appreciate the blessings I have given you?"

I sometimes get caught up in stuff, stressful work situations, or the hum drum of the fast paced daily activities that I forget momentarily what its all about. As Max Lucado's book so perfectly titled states, "It's not about me." Thank you for this day to remind me what life without you Lord is like.

The Pot Just Gets Deeper

I found out more information about the racial slur episode. It seems like one of the people that I trusted and believed in, was the major one who was sturring the pot and making the situation worse, by adding fuel to the fire. I now am tempted to call her out onto the carpet, tell her what I know, and then tell her that I chose to forgive her and go on. I really don't know if legally I should even be talking to her, or if I should just wait till later, when it all boils over. I feel betrayed and I can't believe that someone could do this to another and actually sleep at night. I feel like they have treated me the way they claim others treat them. Are they any better than the ones they accuse? I also think that no matter what happens, some of them have already made their minds up, and nothing can be done to change that. I keep praying, my friends are praying, I know, because I felt uplifted the last day I worked. Praise God who gives me strength to hold up my head and walk into the fire every day.

Color blind

I recently got accused of making a racial slur at work. A bunch of us were in the lunch room eating when I joked about stealing a bite of someone else's food. A little banter went on and then I made the comment that here in Kentucky, we know how to fend for ourselves and we would just "run you over in the river" and take the food. I was meaning that we "hillbillies" who so often get accused of being dumb and barefoot, know how to hold our own, and usually don't miss many meals. A comment was made back in a very threatening tone that included the words "drive by" and "shoot your ___", letting me know that I had said something that was definately taken the wrong way. Here I was more or less slamming us hillbillies when the 3 African American girls in the lunchroom took it as a racial slur to their culture. Well, word got around and the story evolved and then the HR Representative of the Hospital called me up to ask about the incident, which by this time was 2 weeks ago.
The night it occurred, when I realized that they had missunderstood, I went to each of them and tried to be sure to apologize for the missunderstanding and to make ammends for hurting their feelings. I explained my thoughts and explained that I was talking to them the same way that I talk to anyone else, not realizing that they may be sensitive to something like that.
This whole situation has been really hard on me. I was hurt, angry, and mad. Hurt that they talked about me behind my back, attacking my integrity as a person, accusing me of being a racist. Angry that they didn't come to me if it was still bothering them, so we could work it out. And MAD that me of all people, was being accused of being racist, and that the story had evolved into a whole different story by the time it had been talked about for 2 weeks. The comment that was made to me, if anything, was the one that would be considered harrassment. I apologized for my wrong and tried to make amends, then went on treating them the same. Yet they talk about me and accuse me of things I did not intend, start treating me differently, and say that I was the one who wronged them. I thought this is not fair, I am the victum in this situation. I began to see why people were racist.....because of bad attitudes like that, ones that will jump to play the race card any chance they get.
Then the Lord helped me see...all things happen for a reason. If this is my burden to bare, maybe I can help get the message out that we all need to be a little more color blind. That it is not necessarily always white people who are racist. That we should forget the past and forgive. God made us all, there is no one greater than the other in his eyes. We are all his beloved. We should chose our friends and who we associate with based on their moral code and values, not their color of skin. We should love all human beings, helping each other be the best we can be, striving to draw closer to him.
Please friends, pray for me in this situation that I may not let Satan use this situation to cause that type of hate and mistrust to creep in my life. Pray that they will see Christ in me and see that I am sincere and that they totally misjudged the situation. May the Lord use me to work something great out of something so negative.

Technology today

I am trying my best to learn about this technology today. I am trying to start this blogging to stay in touch with my Christian friends and grow deeper in Christ, but I am discovering just how out of touch I am. The longer I set here, the more I want to throw this computer out the window. So the Christian lesson I am learning today is PATIENCE.

It has taken me over an hour to post this picture so you all could see my family. This was taken while on vacation this year. We took my mother in law, to give her a much needed vacation. We had a great time, but it ended way too soon.

New to This Blog Stuff

I am sitting here after talking to my friend, Sarah, trying to figure out how to Blog. I just read my other friend's Blog about going to a different church and did not realize just how profound she could be. I also read Chad's blog and just cried at how strong he is after losing his wife and realizing how much more I need to grow. So hopefully by reading other Blogs and leaving my thoughts behind, we can all grow closer, and encourage each other in our Christian walk.