In The Refiner's Fire

Our purple dwarf iris - unfortunately I don't know the name, it was  hand me down from a family member. It’s been a long time since I posted.   So, if you’re still here, thanks for hanging on with me.   We’ve had an… eventful? Full?... summer so far.   I’m not quite sure of the right word. Very shortly after I last posted, my laptop met an entire cup of coffee.   It did end up being salvageable but the keyboard and track pad needed to be replaced (way cheaper than buying a new one) but, of course, that took a while. I taught summer session.   John had 12% of our congregation in the hospital, 4 funerals, and a wedding.   The children had sleep away church camp and then we’ve had to juggle childcare.   There was a major, very stressful, not good, and quite unexpected happening at my work and John had to handle a major thing with the property at church too.   All in all, by the time I got done with summer session, I was s...

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone! The kids had their Valentine's Day party at Pre-school Friday and they enthusiastically wrote their names on all their Valentine's to take to school! Here they are writing - I'm adding the pencils that came with the Valentine's! I have such good memories of Valentine's Day from when I was a kid - I'm glad they have those kinds of memories too. John was on call - and of course, got called in right when we were supposed to have our at-home Valentine's date - so we will postpone our "Valentine's Date" until next weekend, when we have an actual babysitter and no call scheduled! I hope you have a wonderful day and are able to do something nice for your sweetie, your kids or someone who just needs an extra boost. God Bless You All!

One of the favorite things for me to do this time of year is to spend my 10-minutes of morning quiet time for the day with my hot cup of coffee sitting in this rocking chair with the main lights off in the house and just the Christmas tree lights on. I just rock and think and drink my coffee, enjoying the lights and the quiet of the house. There's something special about Christmas tree lights. I'm not sure what it is but for me they embody the magic and wonder of the season. There's such wonder in the birth of a tiny baby who would bring salvation to the world. There's magic in the idea that God would choose such an astounding way to come into the world. There's just something special about the whole thing. We put up our tree late by most standards - on the third Sunday of Advent - and take it down late - the first Sunday in Epiphany (today). So today the tree comes down. And I'll miss my morning time quiet time with my Christmas tree lights. But, if they were t...

Hurray! That title doesn't have a "bummpy" in front of it! Not that I couldn't have put one there - I woke up a whole whopping 30 minutes before I had to get myself and my 2 kids out the door this morning, including showers, clothes, etc. plus an afternoon's worth of toys packed too - but it certainly isn't as bumpy as the last two have seemed. I did manage to get us out the door and the two kids dropped off at Sunday school (it felt SO WEIRD just to drop them off and leave - I wonder how other people do that regularly?) and then drive across town (thank heavens for Sunday morning lack of traffic!) to the retreat to hear John give his last talk. He did AWESOME! I am so proud of him and feel so very, very blessed that he is my husband. Just hearing the team members praying for him (they do laying on of hands before and after the talks) and thanking God for how he has impacted their lives even if only met him on this retreat was amaizing. I know beyond a sha...

It's another bumpy Sunday here. I officially caught the crud that's been running around our house. About mid-afternoon yesterday, I felt like I had been doused in boiling water and felt limp as a dishrag. To bed I went. Took a 4 hour nap. Ate dinner and went back to bed. Up at 8am this morning. Clipped a couple of coupons, ate a very small breakfast, took a shower. Went back to bed. Up ate a snack, checked my email, now I'm writing this. Then I'll go back to bed again. Uff da. Just when I think everything is ready to get back to normal, reality hits. The good news? John and the kids made it to worship - though they missed Sunday school. I'm starting to feel better - at least a little bit. The kids actually took a nap today. My fever is pretty much gone, I just feel like I've been hit by a truck! I don't have to go in to work until Wednesday, though I have my final follow up from surgery appointment tomorrow. Not too bad. Not to mention that I think w...

Today is Sunday. Supposedly a day of rest, a day with the Lord, a day to get my ducks in a row for the rest of the week to come (mentally speaking). This morning was one of the most mornings that just didn't go well. Got to sleep way too late (or rather early this morning) in spite of going to bed on time. Woke up with a headache and a tummy ache, which translated into a lot of time spend in the bathroom. The hose I needed for the skirt I was going to wear today had a run in them. So did the other pair. Then I stuck my finger through the 'backup' pair. So I switched to pants. Which showed too many lines. So I had to dig out the blazer that would cover them. Then I dropped and promptly lost an earring. Then the necklace that I was going to wear was broken (previously and somehow ended up back in my jewelry box). So, I missed choir warmup, almost didn't get my robe (we play musical robes due to having more people than robes), and spend half of the sermon in the bathroom a...