Today I took our beagle to the vet.

It all started two weeks ago when our beagle, Pete, could barely walk up our deck stairs. He whined the entire day and I was devastated. He couldn't lift his head or even move in anyway that could be considered normal. Now, two weeks later and I finally accepted the fact that things weren't a whole lot better. I had done my Internet research (always reliable- right?) and thought I figured out the correct medication to give him, but something was still wrong. I called the vet and prepared them for the trial they would have in getting him out of the car. I told them that every time I touched his neck he would whine terribly and walk around like a hunch-back for hours. When I arrived at the vet, they were prepared to get a stretcher out and carry him inside. The vet came out and calmly put a leash around his (enormous) middle and the tech carefully lifted him out of the car. There was no problem. OK, I was a little embarrassed at this point because I had been quite explicit about how difficult it would be to get him inside. Now I had one of those thoughts, you know- the ones you wish you had more often. I realized that perhaps the experts may know a little more about this than me- go figure. We got Pete inside without a problem and they even got him onto the exam table. Wow, how did they do that? I showed the vet what pills I had decided to give him for the last two weeks and she looked worried. Apparently, you are not supposed to give dogs both aspirin and steroids together. Hmm, maybe I should have asked an expert sooner. As it turned out, Pete does have a pinched nerve. According to the well qualified vet, he does need to loose another 10 pounds. But with a little rest, he should be OK. I won't elaborate too much on my experience getting him back in the car. It had to do with me climbing into the back seat of my minivan, begging him to get in, bribing him to get in and then ending with several unsuccessful attempts of trying to lift a 40 pound beagle into the back. Oh, all with the experts watching. Maybe I should have asked them for help- someday I will learn. It may already be obvious to you that I try to fix things myself. Sometimes fixing things ourselves isn't such a good idea (i.e., guessing at what medication to give a dog when you aren't a vet). God has never asked us to fix our problems alone. God wants us to come to him for a solution. I know that God's solution is better than anything that I could plan, but I don't always follow that truth. You see, it takes faith to follow God's plan instead of our own. I'm still working on the faith part, but when I trust God, He always comes through. What plan are you following today? Are you trying to medicate your problems yourself, or are you asking the expert? Don't forget that God is the ultimate expert.

Today I asked, "why is there a harmonica in our bush?".

No, the title of this post isn't the first line to a county music song I am writing; rather, it was an actual question I posed this morning. You see, it is beautiful here today (don't you want to move down south too?), and my son and I went outside to enjoy the weather. That was when I notice something red in our bush. Huh? OK, I knew I had to take a closer look and that was when I found the harmonica. Yeah, our bush sprouted a harmonica. I asked my son why it was there and he, of course, had no idea. To be honest, that question didn't seem all that strange compared to the questions I have been asking God lately. What is going on in our world right now is just plain scary. Our family isn't exempt from these fears. My husband makes a living by designing subdivision and other new construction. Unless you have been living in a cave, you know that no one is building new things and that means my husband is having a hard time surviving. We have also had a number of other strange things happen that have become quite a challenge. Just like everyone else, I have a lot of stress. I have recently been able to talk to a number of women and naturally the topic of stress came up. So many women were talking about panic attacks, severe symptoms of stress and just feeling such a strong sense of being overwhelmed that they could not function. I have come to realize that even though I am not handling the stress in my life as well as I would like, I'm making it through. I still cry, I am still scared, I still feel overwhelmed at times, but I still have a sense of security too. Even if that sense of security is sometimes VERY scarce- it is still there. I would like to think that it is just my ability to withstand our challenges, but if I told you that I would be lying. That sense of security comes straight from God. It is the Holy Spirit whispering to my heart that God is still in control even if I don't see it. I was surprised to see in my life that there is something different about me, and that gives me great hope. I know without any doubt that God is the only thing keeping me sane. He wants to do the same for you too. Go ahead and ask the Holy Spirit to whisper to you today.

Today I wanted to share with you my son's new bed.

As you can see by the picture of my son's new bed that isn't finished- not even close. You see it all started by my son repeatedly asking if he could have a big boy's bed. Now he is almost five so we figured that it was really past due (we've been busy...). On Monday, I decided it was time to shop around. I can hardly describe my excitement when I found the perfect bed on CLEARANCE! This was the same bed I had been eyeing for him for almost 5 years. Now you need to understand that I come from a Dutch family, raised with Dutch values and one of those defining values is being thrifty; I feel the need to explain that we are not cheap, rather we are just very good stewards of our money (OK, go ahead and laugh). I dragged my husband to the furniture store to look at this perfect loft bed with a slide and a hideout underneath. He then had the poor sense to say "I'm not really excited about it, how about this much more expensive one". OK, he didn't really say much more expensive but that is what the other bed was! I was stunned. I've always been cursed with a very readable face and I'm sure the emotions of horror, confusion, and shock were written all over my face. Those of you who also understand the thrill of finding the perfect thing on sale will understand what I was going through. Well after some discussion, we did decide to go with the perfect (well priced) bed. It was to be delivered yesterday. I was told that I had to be home for the entire day with not even a four hour window of delivery time (yeah, I thought it was a little extreme too). About 10:30 the customer service called me (at home) and informed me I was not at home. Huh? Apparently the delivery men were in front of my house and I wasn't there. Huh? Well, about 20 minutes later they did show up- at the right house. About 45 minutes after that, I was asked to come upstairs. They explained that it doesn't normally take 45 minutes to screw together 6 pieces of wood together but something was wrong. They concluded that the screws would not line up and I needed two new railings. They then took the railings away and left everything else from the bed in my son's room. I knew this was going to devastate my son because he had really been looking forward to the new bed. He was disappointed, but I came up with a compromise. You see, the delivery men had left everything else including the tent, tower and hideout pieces. Me being, well, me, I decided to put together these accessories. I accomplished the task and was able to set the tent part up over his new mattress on the floor. I realized that even though things looked a mess and my son was extremely disappointed, he could still get a vague idea of what his bed would look like. (The fact that he woke up in the middle of the night because he was stuck in his tent is another blog all together.) Sometimes (in reality, a lot of times) it looks like our life is a mess, and things are well beyond our control. It is really hard to see any plan that God may have for us. These are the times that faith is so important. I read this morning in the Bible that it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God without faith. To be honest, that is not what I waned to read- but truth is truth. I will pray for you today, and hope you will pray for me, that we all have the faith we need when our lives look a mess. He will put our lives together even if he has to leave the pieces unscrewed for just a little while.

Today I want to share something really funny with you.

This is a video our pastor showed in church a few weeks ago. I hope you laugh at this as hard as I did. It is an actual ministry team trying, note- I did say trying, to rap. Have a good laugh today.