Today my daughter was on TV!

OK, I'll admit it- my daughter isn't on a network television show or even on a cable channel but rather on a closed circuit TV morning news show in her school. Of course, there are still 800 people watching so what happened really was a big deal to her. Usually only a few select 5th graders get a chance to appear on morning news so when the opportunity arose, I jumped at the chance to get her on the show. You see, my daughter wants to be a reporter. Most girls her age get things like clothes, video games, or baby dolls for Christmas, but the only thing my daughter wanted from Santa was a typewriter. That is right, an old fashioned, black, manual typewriter. Well you can imagine Santa had a little problem with that (especially since it was only a week before Christmas); he did however, manage to deliver an electric, grey one instead. How did my daughter get the chance to be a reporter so young? I'm glad you asked... I paid for it! Her school PTO sponsored a silent auction and this was something we could bid on. Now let me tell you, the bidding process alone was a new experience for me. I would like to give a shout out to the other mother who gave me the courage stand my ground and took turns watching our bid sheets to allow our children this opportunity. After all, the bid was for hosting the morning show for an entire week!!! Without her, I think I would have crumbled- if looks could kill... Now that you know how much my daughter wants to be a reporter and all of the effort I went through to get her this chance, you would think this would be the perfect experience for her right? Ummm, nothing is ever easy is it? On Monday morning we went to school early and began to prepare for the show. A very well meaning 5th grade student exclaimed "Why did you wear green??? You will look like a ghost and everyone will laugh" Oh no, my daughter was a little nervous and this was not a good start. I quickly pulled off my cream colored wrap and gave it to her. Being a desperate mother, I had actually offered her the blue t-shirt I was wearing until I realized that I would be next to naked at the school! She got one chance to rehearse and then broke down into tears. Oops, what have I done? You will be happy to know that once on camera, she did great. That is until Daddy watched her on Wednesday. I still haven't gotten the full story, but somehow the microphone broke apart while on-air, she missed the script rolling on a nearby computer screen and finally did cry on camera. Yes, all 800 people saw the entire thing. Of course, I had no idea any of this happened until she got off the bus with puffy eyes and tears streaming down her face. Apparently, the incident didn't seem like a big deal to my husband and he failed to warn me!!! We sat down at the kitchen table and talked. I started out singing "Mama said there'd be days like this, there'd be days like this my mama said..." and then I got a violent stare back from her. I quickly changed tactics. We talked about being embarrassed and having the courage to continue on even if we didn't want to. You will be happy to know that she did go back today. As a parent, I want her to face challenges. I want her to gain the confidence from overcoming embarrassment. I want her to grow and in the process become more Christ-like. However (and it is a BIG however), I don't want to see her go through pain. The Bible tells us that God loves each of us more than a parent loves their children. I know God allows difficult things to come into my life to help me in the future. Unbelievable as it seems, God loves me more than I love my own daughter. The challenges God has allowed for me in my life have indeed made me stronger, more compassionate and even more humble. Can you think of a challenge God allowed for you that in the end made you more like Christ? I want to hear from you. Post your comment and encourage someone with how a difficult time in your life has made you better.

Today I built a fence.

Of course you guys know that when I try to do something as simple as repair a fence, it never ends up being simple. Our beagle has been getting out a lot. Yes, this is the same beagle that has been the topic of several other blogs as of late. After finding both of my dogs in the Walmart parking lot, I finally decided that it was time to fix the broken pickets in the fence. You see, our beagle (the same one who yelps from neck pain almost daily) has found a new way to fill his time. He headbutts each and every picket of our fence until he finds one that is weak. He then contorts his head and neck around to be able to chew the bottom of the weakened picket. He will continue to work at destroying the picket until he makes a hole large enough for him to escape. The fact that this behavior is causing the neck pain has yet deterred him. Is there such a thing as an obsessive compulsive dog??? I began this week replacing the broken pickets and let me tell you it is not as easy as it would appear. First, I had to use the back of the hammer to pry the old pickets off of the fence post. Now that doesn't sound too dangerous but let me share a few warnings with you. For instance, when the picket unexpectedly breaks loose, it can cause one to land quite forcefully on one's backside. Also, using one's foot to push the picket down, can cause one to awkwardly straddle a fence post; this is particularly uncomfortable when neighbors are watching you. Of course, these things didn't happen to me... The second step was for me to walk around the other side of the fence to attach the new picket. Once again, you would think that merely going to the other side of the fence really couldn't be too hard- but you would be wrong. For example, at one point there were several pickets in a row that had to be replaced. Once I pried the old pickets off, I thought it would be a lot easier to crawl through this hole in the fence than walk all the way around to the gate. As it turns out, the hole wasn't as big as I though it was. When my son walked by, he asked me what I was doing. I thought it would be too difficult to explain to him that I belatedly realized that I wasn't as flexible as I was in high school and, well, I was stuck. I simply asked him to give me a push and finally made it out of the fence. Fortunately, the only thing that was hurt was my pride. Lastly, I had to screw all of the new pickets back on and I still can't explain how the pickets were absolutely, perfectly, unquestioningly straight when I screwed them in but were rather crooked when I stood back to see what I had done. I know it wasn't my problem- right? Well after working at this project for a few days, I thought I was done. I had just walked by the front door when I saw it- that white tipped tail running through the front yard! Oh no he didn't! Yes, my beagle got out again. I retrieved him from the neighbor's bushes and marched over to the fence to find his latest place of escape. Finally, I found it... umm, I had forgotten to close the back gate! I guess I kind of made it easy for him- didn't I? Then I started to think about my life and about how I thought I had everything all nailed up. Just when it seems like I have it all together- I'm having my quiet time, depending on the Lord for my needs, being accountable to other people, I realize that I have left the back gate open for temptation to walk right in. I think about the words of the Lord's prayer "deliver me from temptation" and I realize how I need God to do that for me too. Today, I am humbled. Today, I realized that even when I try to fix things up myself, I still need God to close the back gate.

Today I want to know why this bird is so special.

Last week we visited Callaway Gardens during the kids' Spring Break. Callaway is a great place for families. We stayed in a cabin; my husband enjoyed a morning of guided fly fishing; we walked through the butterfly house with butterflies flying all around us; we took a ferry across the lake and saw turtles. We were so busy having fun we couldn't possibly get into trouble- right? Well, those of you who know me, know that I tend to find unusual circumstances. I would argue that these things find me, but I've been told that isn't totally true. No matter which way you would argue my predicament, I still found myself in an awkward situation. While my husband was on his guided fly fishing thingy, the kids and I went to the nature center. We walked around for a while and I spotted a bench where I wanted the kids to have their picture taken. Now, you do have to walk across flowerbeds to get to this bench and there isn't exactly a path to get there but why would they put a bench out if they didn't want you to sit on it? This bench is just a few feet from some bird feeders, a lovely spot. It just so happened that a very large bird, yes the one in picture above, was sitting on top of the bird feeder. I did notice the bird and made sure my kids walked very slowly and quietly to the bench. I did notice a few people taking pictures of the bird and courteously waited until they were done before we approached it. I, however, did not think about the fact that no one else was getting close to the bird. Well you will be happy to know that we got to the bench just 10 feet from the bird and the kids took a great picture (don't you agree?). I decided to sit on a nearby chair and enjoy the scenery for a few minutes. That was when I noticed all two dozen people staring angrily at me. Yes, two dozen- OK, I didn't really count them but there were a lot! Behind a fence stood this very large group of people all wearing the telltale Callaway green shirts, glowering at me for having the audacity of getting so close to this special bird. I had no way of knowing they were there and that I might be disturbing them. They were hidden behind a fence and I couldn't see them until I had already committed the act. I personally think those angry looks stemmed from jealousy; after all, I was only 10 feet from the strange bird and they must have been at lest 30 yards away. It wasn't because I was somewhere I shouldn't have been, kids and all- right? Well, you can probably understand why I didn't stay too long. I sternly whispered to the kids that they needed to slowly and quietly walk back to the sidewalk. And then it happened. As we stood, the bird lifted it's wings and prepared to fly away. Then I heard an audible OHHHH and felt the utter disappointment of the dozens of people behind the fence. Oh yes, I wanted to run and hide but we kept walking slowly. And thank God, I mean Thank You God. The bird decided to sit back down and I didn't have a mob running after me! I was tempted to go inside and ask someone what the bird was and what made it so special, but I didn't dare. I felt it wasn't wise to draw any more attention to us that day. So if you know what this bird is and why it is so special, please let me know. Oh, and what did I learn? I was reminded that people are always watching how well or poorly we represent Christ. I had no way of knowing that dozens people were behind the fence, but they were sure watching me. It is easy to think no one will know if I just say a little white lie, if I don't help that person, if I loose my temper- but people do know. People we don't even know are watching and we have the chance to make an amazing impact on someone's life. People will notice we are different and that is a wonderful testimony.

Today we have a new guinea pig- now ask me why.

You see it all started last Friday when we decided to go to Walmart to purchase one of the kids' favorite movies- Bed Time Stories. The reason why the kids like this movie so much is because the guinea pig in it looks just like one of ours, Dorothy. My husband was away on a fishing trip and the movie seemed like a great idea. When he left that morning, I was glad that he had the chance to do something he enjoyed but rarely had the chance to do- that was until the accident happened. After returning from the store, I opened the door expecting to see the dogs. The dogs always wait right there for me; but they weren't there now. Something was terribly wrong. I ran upstairs and found my worst nightmare. We had been gone for about an hour and during that time, the dogs had found the guinea pigs, tipped over the cage and destroyed my daughter's room. I found our beagle under my daughter's bed. No matter how loudly I called him, he wouldn't come out. My first thought was that he had hurt his neck again and couldn't move... but then I noticed the smile on his face. Honest, he really was smiling. He clearly was not in pain. Finally, I noticed it- the body. This lifeless body had been the favorite guinea pig; this was the one who looked just like the guinea pig in the movie, the entire reason for leaving the house in the first place! I started screaming to my daughter that I was sorry, I was so, so sorry. My daughter, son and I all started to wail; I'm surprised no one called the police with the amount of noise we were making. Then I realized that my husband- the one who hunts and fishes and can chop off the head of a snake without flinching- was hours away from home. The questions flooded my mind. Why, oh, why did this happen the only day he wasn't home? What am I going to do with the body? Where is the other guinea pig? How am I going to help my children??? Soon the answers came. My beagle got out from under the bed, covertly grabbed the "evidence" and ran outside with it. My lab followed him outside and helped (we'll just say) dispose of the body. I found the other guinea pig in the room my lab had been patrolling. I took my daughter upstairs (away from any window to witness the "disposal" of the body) and told her to take care of the guinea pig who survived. My son curiously watched me clean up the mess. That, of course, was when I remembered that I was out of carpet cleaner. By the way, that Pledge for everything really does clean everything. I made my kids grab a snack and we hopped into the car to find another guinea pig. Oh, and we also found a cage- with a lock. How did I take care of my children? I just kept telling them to thank God that one guinea pig did survive. To be honest, I don't know who I was trying to convince of God's love more- my kids or myself. Even though I knew what happened was terrible, really terrible, God was not to be blamed. I hope that at some point in the future they will remember that even though bad things happen, we can still thank God for being God. He may not provide for us in the way we would like (i.e., a husband being home), but He will still provide.

Today I was a slayer of dragons.

You see it all started a few nights ago when I was getting ready for bed. I went to turn off the lamp and suddenly felt something on the switch. Living down south, I've learned to jump anytime I touch something unexpected. You can find anything from tree frogs, to lizards to my worst nightmare- roaches, crawling in unwelcome places inside your house. I hate these roaches! My husband tries to convince me that these unbelievably large things are not roaches but rather something called "Palmetto Bugs"; he claims that they live in pine trees but accidentally get stuck in our house, blah, blah, blah. No matter what he says I know they are still HUGE roaches. It is like a living, breathing nightmare when they fly around because you don't have any idea where they are going to land! I once had one land in my hair while I was walking up the stairs; it is a true miracle that I didn't fall to my death at the bottom of the stairs trying to get it out! After all, it is hard enough for me to walk without tripping up the stairs anyway- I sure don't need a roach to push me over the edge. Thankfully, when I was turning out the light, I was not grasping a roach but rather a dragon. Yes, you guessed it, my four year old has been at it again. My son placed his dragon under the lampshade and on top of the light switch. Why he did this will always be a mystery (he forgets these things as quickly as he does them), but the dragon was left for me to find. That miniature dragon was an unexpected surprise for me but I also have other unexpected dragons in my life. These dragons come in the form of worry, negative thoughts, and anger. These dragons creep into my mind without me even realizing it. Today I decided to slay these dragons and try to focus on God's perspective. However, I do know that these dragons will keep coming back and daily I will need to take up my sword and slay them again. It is not an easy process but one that God will reward. So next time you see a dragon attached to your lamp (this happens at your house too- right?), remember to look for the dragons in your life that sneak in and don't hesitate to slay them every day.