Bless the Lord!

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy
name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who
forgives all you iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems you life
from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you
with good so that your strength is renewed like the eagle's.

Psalm 103:1-5

After more than a week of having growing discomfort and swollen eyes that would impair my vision at times and make it very difficult to work, I am now doing amazingly better. My doctor was not sure how to treat me at first since I have no known allergies other than to dairy and this was lasting too long (and worsening) for any dairy to still be in my system.

My mom was such a hero yesterday. She picked Xavier and me up to get him to school and me to work because I was really having trouble seeing well enough to feel comfortable driving. If you don't know this about me - it takes a lot for me to not be willing to drive. I feel handicapped without a car - yes the Lord is working on idolatry here and where I place my hope. Then a couple of hours later she picked me up at work and went with me for a follow up appt w/ the Dr. I was going to be treated for cellulitis with antibiotics, I have a prescription for bloodwork to be done on my kidneys and thyroid, and about 7 other prescriptions which I have not filled because they've all been, "You can try this, just in case that's what you have and see if it works". The Lord has ordained that my budget prohibited lots of drug "sampling" and I've just had to seek him for wisdom. The first prescriptions were not helpful.

Yesterday the Dr consulted with an allergist and he wants to see me on Tuesday and gave some recommendations for how to better treat an allergy. So I am now on Zyrtec and Prednisone and already looking incredibly recovered! I woke up this morning and could see! The swelling is so minimal now you can hardly tell and the redness has all but subsided. I actually have open cuts under both of my eyes from how raw they have been! I keep putting chapstick on them to heal the skin and Xavier says, "Your eyes smell minty."

God is so good! For those of you who knew and were praying - Thank you! Please continue to pray for wisdom for the Allergist this week and for God to continually provide the means for treatment. I'm curious to find the allergen since I've never had anything and then to out of no where have such a strong reaction. Some coworkers avoided me or squinted their eyes, saying it was painful for them to even look at me, but most of my close friends helped me to laugh at myself and were gracious with my impaired speed and inability to think clearly at times (when I was consumed with my body screaming at me). Thank you Lord, you are strong and kind to heal!

Girly Things Through a Boy's Eyes

I stopped into Green Valley Nursery tonight to pick up a gift for a coworker. After smelling 90% of the candles they had I made my selection. As I was finishing up Xavier asked me to turn and look at something behind me. He pointed to a shelf of taper candles and asked, "What are these?" Before I could answer he whispered excitedly, "Dynamite?"

A Sweet Long Weekend

This has been such a fun and sweet weekend. There were several commitments I had, all of which God just removed from me. I had three days to just relax and enjoy my family. Friday night I picked up hamburgers and told Xavier we could watch a movie before bed. He yelled, "Yea! It's date night again!" When I asked him what a date is he replied, "It's when you drink wine and pan-shane (champaign)" I didn't address his pronounciation, but corrected his perception of what a "date" is. I explained that it is when you get to spend time with someone and talk with them to learn more about their heart. I told him I often have dates with Mrs. Inglin or Mrs. Valentine and never do we drink either of those things!

The skin around my eyes has been bothering me since Wednesday but my eyeballs themselves are perfectly fine. The irritation grew each day and I woke up Saturday morning with both eyes very swollen. I'm not exactly sure why, but I suspect it's an unusual response to some ice cream I ate this week (but it began before I ate it! - only the Lord knows). No sympathy now - I know better! This is a boundary God has set and I sometimes begin thinking it's not real, it's all in my head, I'm just being picky... but then I eat dairy and I'm congested for weeks. So I've spent chunks of each day under the influence of Benadryl with no real benefit but catching up on hours of sleep . It hasn't had any affect on my face, but it's allowed for Xavier to watch lots of videos with me dozing in and out on the sofa. He couldn't have asked for a better weekend!




A feather found at the pond

In between doses I would manage to get outside with him for a while. We went fishing on Saturday. I really believe the Lord would have given me grace to get a fish off the line if he caught anything... but thankfully he didn't :-) We walked over to the creek and dipped our toes in for the first time this year, but it was still much too chilly to think of going any farther in than that.

back by the creek

Today I got to do my favorite household chore: Laundry! I love doing laundry and can't imagine ever growing tired of it, particularly when I get to hang my clothes and sheets outside. I just love it! I get giddy when I see the basket filling up! I'm sure most other moms wonder what it's like to have a day where you don't have to do wash, but it's a treat that doesn't come often enough for me :-) Then Xavier woke up and I got to remind him that it was Memorial Day. We talked about how we remember and honor the men and women who serve our country and protect us. We talked about Jesus being our greatest hero and the most important battle ever won! Then we talked about picking Seth up and all the candy they would get at the parade!


We had so much fun! I love parades! My favorite part is when the drums pound as they're going past and you can feel it in your chest. I also like the old cars, they're so fun. The boys liked all of the fire trucks and the old cars too, and especially the candy! In the middle of the parade one of the fire companies got a call. We saw a driver of the fire truck hand off a young child who had been riding with him and about five men and women who had just marched past turn around and run to the truck. They backed up and turned around quickly. The boys and I prayed for them and the people they were protecting. After the moment of initial surprise the crowd erupted with applause to honor these people for leaving a scene of glory to go serve yet again.

Root Beer floats after a long hot day

(soy ice cream - for the record!)

It has been so sweet to slow down and spend time with Xavier. He's really a funny guy and growing into a young man who loves the Lord. I bought a much needed new pair of sunglasses on Saturday and asked him what he thought. He said he didn't like how wide the sides were. I said, "I know, I'm not used to that either... but at least they have flowers on the sides there, that's kind of cute." He quickly, but gently replied, "Mommy, are you being modest?" I was so surprised by the question I just kind of giggled and wondered where that came from, but thanked him profusely for asking. Was I? I asked what modest meant. He said, "When you want people to look at you and they do and they say Wow!" I asked if he thinks that's what people say when they look at me (jokingly)... he said, "No... but I'm just asking cause I wouldn't want you to be 'un-modest'." I was so grateful for him seeking to care for me that way and most importantly to see God be glorified. I don't think I had impure motives in picking my sunglasses. I pretty much look for the cheapest pair I can get without those plastic nose grippers that aren't some outrageous shape or color. How funny and exciting that he would be thinking that way though!





While we were fishing the other day I was seeking to draw him out and asked how I could be praying for him. He said he didn't know. I asked, "Is there anything you need the Lord to help you with?" He said, "Well, catching a fish would be a good one." We just sat there laughing. I was laughing partly because I was asking myself : do I really want to pray for that?





Tonight at supper he declared that if I am ever lost he will call 911. When I asked what he would say to them he replied, "My mommy is lost. She has brown hair, big brown eyes, a funny nose and a chewing mouth... giggles... and flowered sunglasses... giggles... and she looks beautiful!" Later he added big ears to the description! Was the big eyes comment meant to be a compliment... or a knock on my puffiness? Too bad for him he looks just like me!

A Date Night

Tonight I got to share a special evening with my little man. First I took him to Isaac's. This is one of our very favorite restaurants. It's rarely busy and we both enjoy the food and atmosphere for a pretty good price. Here he is making his own Peanut Butter, Jelly and Marshmallow Sandwich on Rainbow Bread. He had a lot of fun with the extra long bendy straw. He had it tied in knots and zig zags. This is a heart he made for me.

Then we paid a visit to Miss Leah for some fabulous new do's.


Before

After - The back is higher than before, not sure if you can really tell

While she trimmed me up Xavier flipped through a book Leah had made of styles she likes. He changed his mind a couple of times, but settled on a very fun punky looking teenage boy. I think he looks adorable! He's curious if his friends will recognize him tomorrow.

Before with his beloved Shag look

getting close to bed time, yet Miss Leah plugs away

Ta-Da! A more modern rocker look
His sense of style cracks me up

Thank you Lord for Xavier and the fun I get to have with him!

As we were waiting for Leah to finish with her client before us I picked up the newspaper (which is extremely rare for me, but God had us waiting there and drew my attention to it) and read a very sad article about someone I used to know and how her sin was hurting her child and the judgment she is now facing for it under our nations laws. I sat there weeping and praying for this family and God pierced my heart with grace. If it were not for him drawing me out of death and away from my pursuit of sin I have no doubt that it would be me in the papers and the story would be much worse. I would not be out enjoying my child and talking about God's goodness together over dinner. Xavier snuggled up to me when he saw the tears and I just held him and reminded him again that God has been so merciful to a sinner like me! Thank you Jesus for standing in my place! I go free because you have taken every last drop of the punishment I've earned!

All Boy

Xavier asked if he could play outside after supper tonight. I was reluctant since it looks like rain could come any minute now. I asked what he wanted to do out there and without hesitating he casually replied, "Well, I was gonna find a tree branch and lift weights or something because I'm not very strong yet." I had to laugh at the picture that popped into my head. And his desire to just be a boy compelled me to release him to the great outdoors.

After a few minutes he was calling me to the window to see a discovery he'd made. There was a whole family of earth worms living under a rock by the shed. They were all different sizes and pretty interesting to him. I realized that I had never really pondered where worms come from and how small a wormy starts out. Some were very tiny!

Not long after he called me again to see a caterpillar he'd found. I stroked it in his hand and commented on how still it was staying. I said, "I'm not sure this is alive Honey." He said, "I know. He suffocated." I asked how that happened. He said, "He suffocated in the spider web before I pulled him out." Eww! I touched that! (I took the picture before I heard the story)

My Little Theologian?

Xavier was trying to sing the song John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt the other day. I never heard that song until I was a grown up but people assure me it's very popular with children. There's a scene in a movie we watched recently where they show kids singing it for a few seconds so I guess that's where he was introduced to it. He couldn't remember the words apparently because he was walking around singing "John Piper Jambalaya Smith".

Last night I asked him to pick a book for us to read together. He chose a book about George Muller - not what I expected. After reading a bit I asked him why he had chosen that one, and with such enthusiasm. He replied, "Cause that guy has really cool hair!"