Am I There, Yet?

We are starting to see some signs of health…there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.  It seems as if we’ve been sick forever.  When I’m sick, bad mommy comes to visit.

I woke up yesterday all groggy because I had taken Nyquil the night before…late the night before.  I couldn’t sleep because of the coughing, so I took Nyquil around midnight.  When the kids woke up around 7 AM, I was still out of it.  I could hear them running around, but I couldn’t make myself get out of bed.  At around 8:30 I hear, “MOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!  TI SPILLED YOGURT ON THE FLOOR!”  I respond by saying, “Mmmhmmm” and rolling over on the bed.  A few minutes later my daughter came into my room and said, “It’s O.K.  I cleaned up the yogurt.”  “Mmmmmph.”  I rolled over and went back to sleep.

*groan from the crowd*  STRIKE ONE!

Every good mommy knows that it’s important to get up early and make a healthy breakfast for the children so they can have good start for the day.  Also, if one of the children make a mess (especially with a milk based product) it’s important to clean it up right away so that it doesn’t start to smell.

For dinner last night I grabbed a frozen pizza from the freezer and put it in the oven.  I am in no shape to go grocery shopping, especially with two snotty-nosed, grumpy children in tow, so I’ve gotta improvise, right?  Besides, I don’t think that Josh would appreciate me hacking and coughing all over the food I prepare.  Anyways, when I called the kids for dinner and Lilly found out what we were having she said, “Frozen pizza, again!  I’m sick of pizza.  I don’t want Mommy to cook anymore!”

*an awkward silence stills the crowd*  STRIKE TWOOOOOOOO!

Every good mommy knows it’s important to fix a balanced meal for her family.  Growing children need lots of fruits and veggies to stay healthy.

I got a sudden sweet tooth last night.  Since this stupid virus showed it’s face, this has been a rare occurrence.  I started to scrounge around the kitchen looking for something sweet and ran across the Klondike bars in the freezer.  I knew better than to eat something that cold and high in sugar and ended up paying for it with a coughing fit I couldn’t control.  However, my craving was pretty strong.  My kids were racing their trucks around the living room so I tried to eat it incognito.  I was pretty impressed with my skills…it’s an art to eat junk food in front of the kids without them noticing.  Around the last couple of bites my son wanted to show me something.  As he approached me he saw the silver wrapper and asked, “What’s that?”  “An energy bar.”

*gasp from the crowd* OOHHHHH…Strike THuREEEEEEEEEEE!  You’re OUT!

Every good mommy knows it’s important to model positive character traits for your child.  If you don’t want your child to lie, then take extra special caution to always tell the truth in front of them.

The thing is…Even though I struck out, I’m still in the game…and will be for the next 16 years and 3 months.  Yes…I’m counting down to my son’s high school graduation.

Every good mommy knows to cherish the time you have at home with your children.  The children grow up so quickly and you’ll soon find yourself wishing you could have this time back.

*groan*

I’m so sick of going to the doctor’s office!!!!  My 3 year old’s been three times…my 5 year old’s been once…I’ve been twice and Josh has been once.  This is so stinkin’ ridiculous.  I never want to hear the words, “It’s just a virus” again for the rest of my life!!!!!  Give me something for the pain.  Argh!!!

Alright…on to spiritual health issues.  I’ve recently had several conversations with women in our church about our upcoming annual women’s retreat.  I’m re-thinking the whole strategy, keeping in mind some very restful weekends away this past month and wondering how to duplicate them (or borrow ideas from them) in order to create a retreat experience that is relaxing and refreshing and stress-free for women…giving them opportunities to really connect with God.  So, if you are reading this (and you are a woman) please, please, please help me out and fill in the blank in the following statements.  (You can leave your comment anonymously if you wish…I won’t hunt you down.)

I would go to women’s retreat this year if _______________________ .

If I were planning retreat, I would ______________________________ .

Women in our church need ___________________________________ .

COMMENTS PLEASE!  I even want to hear from people outside of our church who may have had a fabulous retreat experience at one time and would like to share that.  Say anything…i.e., cancel the speaker, give us more free time, lower the cost, guarantee that I’ll be in a room with only my friends who encourage me and not tear me down, fire the women’s ministry director, give us more prayer time, free massages for everybody in attendance, etc…  (Hey, I didn’t say I’d accommodate!)  LOL!!!

Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you! 

I ran into this entry at Don’t Call Me Veronica.  I thought it was interesting in light of my recent reflections on church.  Just wanted to share.

Sorry about the stupid quizzes yesterday.  I felt like I had to do something to feel normal again, and since I can’t talk very much I thought I’d do quizzes…’cuz that didn’t hurt my throat.

I think I have strep throat.  I’ve had it before, but for some reason it feels worse this time around.  I can’t talk.  I can’t eat.  I tried to swallow an Advil last night and it felt like a boulder was being forced down my throat.   I really just want to go back to bed, but Josh is at work and I can’t leave the kids alone upstairs.  I made that mistake yesterday.  Josh went to work at around 4:00 and the kids and I lay down to take a nap.  My daughter was up at 5:00 and my son and I slept until 6:30.  My little Miss Independent took good care of herself while I slept, but I did find the yogurt upstairs, which I wasn’t too happy about.  At least she was able to feed herself without my help.

Speaking of my nap…when I was falling asleep I swear that I heard George Bush (Sr.) speaking to me.  It was so audible and realistic that I said out loud, “What?”  I’m still trying to remember what he said because he didn’t repeat himself.  Then I remember hearing the microwave beep, which wasn’t possible because Josh wasn’t here and both kids were in their rooms.  The only drugs I took yesterday were Claritin and Nasacort in the morning and the Advil I took last night.  I’m amazed at how much a physical illness can affect my mental, emotional and spiritual well-being.

My mom is sick.  My dad is sick.  My son is sick.  My daughter is sick.  My husband isn’t feeling 100% either.  This is ridiculous.  My mom is concerned about my grandma.  If my grandma catches any of this, she’s not going to have the strength or energy to fight it.

Did I mention that this is so ridiculous?  We didn’t get sick at all last year and it seems as if we are making up for it this year.

So, I was joking with my girlfriends last weekend about how I don’t go to church anymore.  On February 12^th I was sick.  I was battling a sinus infection, so I didn’t go to church.  On February 19^th my son was sick.  He had a high fever, so I didn’t go to church.  On February 26^th I went to church.  Josh was the preacher that weekend.  On March 5^th I went out of town with my girls, so I didn’t go to church.  This was a planned vacation and was on the calendar for quite some time.  Today, March 19^th, I’m not at church because I’m sick again.  I’ve only been to church once in the past 5 weeks.  I don’t feel guilty about it because it’s purely circumstantial.  O.K.  That’s not completely true.  I feel about 10% guilty, but that’s just my flesh.  I don’t think the guilt is coming from God.

Being away from church has allowed me to reflect on the importance of it in my life.  Do I miss church?  Yes and no. 

I miss the worship.  Yes, people…I like the worship experience at our church and if I hear one more complaint I’m going to scream.  Whah whah whah whah whah…save it for somebody who cares.  Well, I won’t be screaming today, but when I get my voice back I will.  It’s an attitude, people!  If you have a worshipful attitude, you could worship God anytime, anywhere, with any style of music…or no music at all!  And who are you to judge other people using their gifts (that God gave them) to the best of their ability to worship Him?  People used to whine about low-quality worship…now people whine about high-quality worship.  It’s not about the quality of the musicianship…it’s about your attitude!!!  Argh!!!! 

O.K.  That’s all I’m going to say about that.

I miss seeing my church family.  I have a ton of great relationships in the church.  I love to see and interact with people at church.  I especially enjoy seeing the women that I go to Bible Study with at church on the weekends.  I feel a special bond there.  I love to have friends who are nothing like me.  I love to have friends who are much older than I am and who are at different life stages than I.  There’s something so fulfilling and endearing about it.  I love their hugs and smiles and questions.  They know where I’m at in life.  They don’t ask me the generic, “How are you?”  They ask me the specific, “How’s your son feeling?” or “How was your doctor’s appointment?” or “Did you finish knitting that shrug this week?”  J 

I don’t miss the busyness.  I don’t miss Josh always having to be here or there or figuring something out or taking care of this or that.  It would be nice to go to church and experience church as a family some times.  But, I guess that’s what vacation is for.  For 2 weekends a year, we get to pretend that we are normal and go to a church and enjoy it as a family.  It’s just too bad that we can’t do that at our own church.  I think it’s impossible.  We would have to wear signs that said, “Don’t bug me…I’m on vacation.”  I don’t think that would be appropriate.  We have to go elsewhere to be anonymous.  One time we were on vacation, but we were still in town, so we decided to attend a different church in town on Sunday so that we could truly be on vacation.  We were checking our daughter into her class and all of a sudden we heard somebody say, “Pastor Josh, can I speak to you for a minute?”  So much for anonymity.   We’ll wear a disguise next time we do that.  Josh would look cute in a thick mustache and beard.  LOL!!! 

I don’t enjoy going to church when church becomes a chore.  I don’t enjoy going to church when there’s tension and stress in a relationship.  It’s hard for me to sit there and try to focus on God and worship Him, when I know that certain people are angry at Josh or angry at me for whatever reason.  It’s hard to see them smile and say, “Hi!  How are you?” at church when I know they are seething at me or my husband on the inside.

Is our church perfect?  Of course not.  It’s not perfect because we’ve got people in our church and we’ve got people running our church.  No church is perfect because no person is perfect.  That’s why I don’t understand church hoppers because they’re just trading in one set of imperfections for another set of imperfections.  It saddens me when people judge God because of a negative church experience.

On a side note, I just heard a story about a pastor who was fired because of something he wrote on his blog.  It was a personal joke meant for his mother-in-law, but some people didn’t understand it and didn’t like it.  Apparently they were looking for a reason to get rid of him anyways, this was just the excuse.  But, it’s sad to me that people won’t allow their pastors to be human.  Once they catch a glimpse of their pastor’s humanity, they rush to judge him.  I’m so grateful to be in a church where people allow us to be human.  The best compliment of all times is from people who tell me that they forget I’m a pastor’s wife because I don’t live up to the stereotypical picture of the perfect pastor’s wife.  I’m grateful for friends who let me be who I am without judging me…well, most of them.  The others can sit on their judgment.  Their judgment is not going to change who I am…who God made me to be.

I’ll get to go to church for the next three weekends and then I’m off on vacation.  That’ll be 5 out of 9 weekend church services that I’ll miss.  That makes me laugh because that’s how often the average church attendee goes to church…once or twice a month.

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.  Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”  Hebrews 10:23-25  (NIV)  I love how The Message puts it, “Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on,”  Is church just about the weekend services?  Of course not.  Are the weekend services important?  Yes, I think so.  It’s because of the weekend services that I get connected with people in my small groups (past and present) and it’s because of the weekend services that I get to worship with music with my church family.  It’s because of the weekend services that I’ve been able to meet people who have taught me how to connect with God and have given me tools to enhance my relationship with Him.  It’s because of the weekend services that I’m encouraged to continue on when life seems tough.  Do I always feel like going to church?  Of course not…but sometimes the most rewarding things happen when I do the opposite of what I feel like doing.

This is my last quiz for now.  I feel like garbage and I’m going back to bed.

You scored as The Notebook. You have strong, passionate love like the notebook! The Notebook 92% Legally Blonde 67% A Cinderella Story 42% Mean Girls 42% Charlies Angels 33% What Chick Flick is just like Your Life? created with QuizFarm.com

EDIT NOTE:  I’ve deleted the original quiz because it was stupid.  :)  The questions were inappropriate and irrelevant.  (What does being a virgin have to do with being a Disney Princess?)  Please accept this quiz as a replacement.  Thank you.   

You scored as Peter Pan. Your alter ego is Peter Pan. You are a child at heart. Anything you believe is possible, and you never want to grow up. Peter Pan 88% Goofy 69% Cruella De Ville 63% The Beast 63% Cinderella 56% Pinocchio 56% Sleeping Beauty 50% Donald Duck 25% Ariel 25% Snow White 25% Which Disney Character is your Alter Ego? created with QuizFarm.com

Hmmm…I guess my parents got my name wrong.

You Are Winter!

Intelligent Serious Cozy Calm Shy