Spotted Boy, Tired Momma, Whiney Girl, Vacationing Daddy and Home Repairs

WOW...what a couple of weeks we have had around here. First, Rachel had fever for 5 days.....YES 5 days! She had no other symptoms than fever but it was high. Her only problem now is that she has reverted back to the whiny 3 year old. Well she is 4, but I remember 3 as being whiny....... gotta love her though....she's so stinkin' cute!

Now Timothy has CHICKEN POX!!! I praise the Lord that he didn't get them as bad as I did when I was a child. I had them EVERYWHERE!!!!! Timothy has only had them on his chest, back, and a few on his face. He never ran fever, but did complain of a stomach ache and sore throat a couple days before the first spot showed up. And yes....before you ask....he did have his vaccination. Well, he had the 1st one, but when school started and it was time to get his second one, NO ONE had it...not even the health department. SO, it makes me wonder.......does he really need it now? Hmmmmm......

As for the Momma of the house......well I am exhausted. I have had SO much going on at work lately, and have had to bring a lot of it home too. SO, I am tired. I am drained emotionally, physically and mentally! And today, one of my students didn't get his meds before coming to school, so the day was almost wasted. He was in RARE form and therefore the others fed off his behavior. There wasn't much I could do to "discipline" him because it really wasn't his fault and at the same time, I didn't feel I could do much to the others either.....it was just ONE OF THOSE DAYS!

The man of the house is on vacation. He had several days of paid vacation from the church that he had to take before the end of the year. So, he took some now and will take the rest at Christmas. I praise God for this because I don't have much leave built up at work, and since Timothy has had to stay home, it has worked out wonderful. He is out tonight at a Rockets' game.

As far as our house goes.....we will really need your prayers. We are about to have to take out a loan of some kind to pay for all the repairs. The plumbing will be around $5500 and the foundation will be around $6000 and the repairs to the inside we are not completely sure about but I would venture to say they will be in the ball park of $5000 as well. This is definitely money we don't have right now, but repairs HAVE to be done. Pray I can lay it at HIS feet and leave it there!

This is RIDICULOUS!!!

Ok, I have SO gotten into a rut that I didn't realize it had been a week ago today since the last time I blogged. And I only noticed that because I saw it on the sidebar of one of my blog friends!

The days have been so crazy around here. I promise to get some pictures up and to share some funny stories with you all SOON. So please don't give up on me. I will return!!!!

I started another blog for my classroom called Pieces Of The Puzzle. Check it out. It's still evolving. I hope to be able to use it as a tool to keep in touch with the parents, and to introduce the students to other kids within the Autism spectrum that are successful members of society.

Another thing that is ridiculous these days is my weight! I know part of it is stress and all, but I put on a pair of pants this morning that had gotten way too big for me. Well now they are just a little big....what the heck!

SO, starting this evening.....I am either taking evening walks in the neighborhood or I am getting my behind to the gym. The frequent stops to Starbucks will be coming to a halt....well, at least slowing down. (can't stop all together...what in the world was I thinking!!!)

Well, I can at least say I posted something today...may not have been all that interesting to you all, but at least I did it!

Timothy has a soccer game tomorrow! The season was suppose to start 3 weeks ago, but because of the two evacuations we obviously didn't get started. Maybe I'll have pictures of that on Monday. Oh, and hubby is coaching this time! Very interesting!!!

The Weight Thing and Other Stuff

Well, obviously from the ticker on my sidebar, you might have noticed that I have NOT lost any more weight since several weeks ago!!! Honestly, I haven't really tried much lately. I was doing really well, but then all of a sudden it was like I didn't care again, until yesterday.

For the past couple weeks I have been so BLAH!!! I have had two major headaches, migraine or cluster (not sure yet). I was suppose to go have the MRI, MRA and the EEG last week, but even though the Lord blessed us with the clergy discount at the Baptist hospital, I still couldn't afford to pay my part that day. The discount was very much appreciated. It knocked the amount I would owe down to less than a third of the entire bill. After insurance, the total bill was $4447.89! After the clergy discount it was only $789.84!!!!!!

Now tell me that isn't God working!

The only problem that morning was that they wanted me to have $500 of the money BEFORE I could have the tests done. Well, there was no way that was happening. I could barely afford to pay them $100 that day. I told the "financial counselor" that I had gotten paid that Monday, but didn't realize I would need that much money to have the tests done and that I thought I was going to be able to pay them out over time. My hubby had already written and mailed all the bills. I explained to her that I could bring another $150 on the 25th when I got paid again, then I could pay $100 out of every check (which is 2x's a month) till it was paid off.

She then explained to me that the amount I owed was because of my deductible and since it was going toward my deductible they would not let her take any less than $250 on that day. Then she started to explain to me that the MRI and MRA machines were down and that I would have to reschedule those tests. AND since those machines were down, the tests were being split up and the discount woudn't be as much.

After MUCH inner struggle, I told the woman, "Forget it! I will just deal with the headaches until I can get all the tests scheduled at the same time." I told her that I would work on setting aside the money needed for the tests and come back later.

There was actually much more said in that conversation....some of which I am embarrassed by, but in all the pain I had gone through over the past couple days prior to this, I didn't really care. I told my mother and my hubby and another friend that the pain I had in my head that day made me want to shoot my head off! I have NEVER felt that kind of pain before and I pray that none of you do EVER!!!!

There was NO sympathy coming from this woman. And it really frustrated me to no end. She had obviously never experienced such pain.

I just want to know what is causing the headaches. I want to get in to see the neurologist to discuss it all and get the medication I need to (hopefully) deter that kind of pain from ever rearing it's ugly head again! The pain for both only lasted approximately 45 minutes to an hour, but it was completely UNBEARABLE during that time, and for the next several days I had a constant headache.

Just pray for me in all this......I am sure it is nothing but Migraines or Cluster headaches, but I want to know and I want to get whatever medicine will work and I want it NOW!!!

The tests are rescheduled for May 1st and the neurologist appointment for May 9th.

Thanks friends!

This is my new best friend! I LOVE this stuff.......I know many of you probably already know the "healing power" of body butter, but me and my cheap self have just discovered it! I have suffered so much from dry skin for YEARS and recently my hands have gotten terrible, and my feet........the hubby has been known to describe as "caveman feet". (I know......how dare him!)

Anyway, a friend told me that I needed to get something with Vaseline in it or some body butter. Then I went to Walmart and saw both things in one. SO I "splurged" and got this. I will never buy regular lotions again. Body butter is the way for me! This one is unscented and that usually means it stinks, and although it doesn't "stink", it doesn't smell that great either. So I will be looking for some better smelling stuff the next time!

Some thoughts on Worship and Appearances

I KNOW THIS MAY BE LENGTHY, BUT PLEASE TAKE A MINUTE IF YOU CAN...

Ok, so in the Sunday School class that I currently attend we all take turns teaching a lesson. This past Sunday was my week to teach the lesson. I was really excited about the lesson from the moment I saw the title. The lesson was primarily on accepting others. There was a scripture from Romans and a passage from James.

Romans 15:7
Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.

James 2: 1-13
1My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. 2Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. 3If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," 4have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
5Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? 6But you have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? 7Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong?
8If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right. 9But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. 10For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. 11For he who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder." If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.
12Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, 13because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!

The notes in the lesson brought up how we as Christians tend to (wether we think we are or not) judge others based on the clothing they wear. It talked about the rich man and the poor man in this passage from James, and how we need to see past these things. It talked about how judging the poor and the rich alike dishonors them and how God didn't look down on us to see our outward appearances before he sent his Son to save us from our sins.

So, the discussion in the class took a turn down a road that I SO did not want to go on, especially as a minister's wife. I knew where this discussion could go, and I knew that my dear husband (the youth minister) would/could become a topic in this discussion. And sure enough it happened.

There were a couple of women (that I still respect) that got on the topic of how we dress (should dress) at church. Several statements were made such as:

"I think that we should dress in a way that honors God."
"We are coming to the temple and we should have on our best."
"We get dressed up every other day for work, so why can't we give God our best on Sunday."
"What if someone's best is a pair of jeans and a t-shirt?"
"I don't think a deacon should be taking up the offering in jeans."
"I think that any time we come to worship God, we should be dressed in our very best."
"We come to the "temple" so we should dress appropriately"

Then there was this one that I KNEW WAS COMMING......"And if you are on STAFF, you really shouldn't wear shorts to a Sunday evening service."

After that comment was made, I tried to ignore it and move on.....but the next section in the book brought this same topic up AGAIN!!!! So, I had to face it, especially when this was said, "Yeah, Angie, you might just want to relay that message to Carlton that he really upset the Senior Adults." My only response at that time was, "Well, that is really between him and God, not me. So, on to the next scriputure...."

OK... since that moment I have had some time to think, meditate on it and pray and here is where I have come on this (let me know what you think....HONESTLY!!!)

First of all, he was actually on vacation that Sunday. We did not leave town, so that morning we got up and went to SS and church. He wore slacks and a shirt, but no coat and tie. Then that evening in question we were going to stay home but realized that the pastor was holding a special Lord's Supper that evening and we wanted to attend. Several of the guys (youth) wanted him to go to the movies after the service, so his thought process was, "I am on vacation, I am going to a movie after the service....I think I will wear shorts." The shorts he wore were khaki cargo shorts (I ironed them to a crisp), and he wore a polo style shirt with them. He definitely was not slouchy wearing basketball shorts and a t-shirt. The irony of this situation was that one of the choruses we sang that evening was "Come Just As You Are".

Second and more important than all that in my opinion is, "What does it really matter anyway?" (And I am NOT just saying that because the accused is my dear hubby) I can't think of anywhere in the Bible that the Lord tells us that we have to dress a certain way to come to worship him. The only scriptures I can find on the way we should dress is in reference to women and if we were to get literal with what the Word says......I don't think many women would like it one bit.

Another thought I had in response to one of the comments was, "If we should be dressed in our very best EVERY TIME we come to worship the Lord then that would mean that we should be dressed in our VERY BEST ALL THE TIME. Weren't we created to worhip Him? Weren't we created to bring honor to Him? Weren't we created to be in constant comunion with Him? If that is the case, and the comment they had is true, then when I went to the grocery store on Saturday in my wind pants, and a t-shirt that was a size too big, then I could not/would not be able to worship God. I beg to differ! If that was the case then I couldn't worship God while digging in the dirt with my children then could I, but that's not what the Bible tells me.

And for the comment "We come to the "temple"....." Isn't our bodies the temple
1 Corinthians 3:16
16Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?

And furthermore, with this kind of attitude, what are we saying to the non-Christians out there. They already think that we Christians are rude, stuck-up, hypocritical, and the list goes on......
If we tell them that they have to dress a certain way to come to church, then we are telling them that Christ only wants them if they are ready to be "presentable" (in our terms of presentable) to Him. And that is FAR from the truth.

Gosh....I could just go on forever about this.......if you have a thought, please leave a comment.