Sorry....

Sorry that you have had to endure a "no blog" week again! Here's a brief update...

My ears have still not "popped"! You know that annoying feeling that you get when you go swimming and you just can't get the water out? Well, that's kind of what this feels like. I went to the ENT on Tuesday and he said they were improving. (They are??) I asked him if I would be able to fly on Thursday. I had an Alumni Board mtg. at Trinity, plus a fun weekend planned in Chicago with Elise, my sister, Nancy, and some college friends. The answer was "NO!"

This is the second big disappointment these ears of mine have caused me. It's been a L-O-N-G week journaling about what it means to "trust" in God's plans.

The good side of this is that I was able to exchange my ticket for another trip to Chicago. Only this time Bill and David get to travel with me!!! I sure hope my ears are fully recovered by then! Elise has always wanted her Daddy to see her at Trinity, so now she can! This trip co-insides with a speaking engagement I have in Chicago...a talk about Katrina.

On a lighter note, Facebook friends have been changing their profile pictures with celebrities that they look like. I think this is pretty close to me...this is Joanne Worley from Laugh-In...what do you think? Do you see the similarity?

A LAUGH TO START OUR WEEK OFF WITH A SMILE!

Got an email from Amsterdam this morning. In the email my friend sent this video. Well, it was just what I (and my poor, pitiful ears!) needed! It always feels so good to laugh, doesn't it? So here's the video and I hope you take time to view more of hers on you tube...the naked bungee jumping story is cute too!

Ear Update

My ears. My poor, pitiful ears. They are still "congested". They don't seem to be getting any better. In fact, I had to cancel a class on Wednesday so I could return home and take some pain medicine. A friend told one of her friends about my ear story. Apparently she brought her son to a chiropractor and was able to avoid having plugs put in her son's ears. So, I thought I would give the same doctor a try.

I made the appointment and went in that same day. He thoroughly informed me about chiropractic care and throughout the whole lecture this little voice inside my head was screaming, "I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE DEFINITION OF SUBLAXATION!!!!! FIX MY EARS!!!!" But this Dr. was having done of that. No sir-reee. He told me that I needed a scan and an x-ray and to come back in the morning.

My ears and I were not happy about having to go to the doctor at 7:00 in the morning to make an 8:00 appointment. But we went anyway, hoping that with one quick snap my ears would miraculously open and I would return to "normal" (and I do use that word loosely!).

Well, I got another lecture. Apparently he has never seen a neck as bad as mine! He said he was surprised I'm not having more problems than just my ears. I'm sitting there, pretending to be listening, but once again that little voice inside my head was shouting, "THIS SOUNDS LIKE A SETUP!" I DIDN'T JUST ROLL OFF THE TURNIP TRUCK, BUSTER!! LET'S GET TO THE EARS!!!"

After going to two different stations to "warm up" my spine and neck, I finally got to lay on the table. He popped my back once, each side of my neck, and then he pulled each earlobe so hard that all I could think of was what my life would now be like living with ear lobes that were forever going to hang down to my shoulders!

Nothing miraculous happened. I waited all day. Nothing. I woke up with eager anticipation. Nothing. If anything, they seem a little worse today. I called the ENT, but he was out of the office and won't be back until Monday. Maybe Monday will be my day for a miracle....

Prepositionally Speaking....

This past week in school, I assigned Psalm 105:4 for memory work. As we were writing out the verse, the little preposition “to” caught my eye and made me think. The verse tells believers to “ Look to the Lord…”. See that little word “to”? We hardly ever use that preposition when we speak about looking. We use the preposition “at” as “Look at me when I’m talking to you!”

It led me to spin a question around in my thoughts this week. What difference does it make if I "look at" God or if I "look to" God? My thoughts are in the infant stage, but I do think there is a world of difference between those two little words.

"Looking at" seems rather distant, almost cold. "Looking to", however, seems to denote a trust. I can "look at" a myriad of things and people, but I am much more selective when it comes to those whom I "look to". Those whom I "look to" are people that I have an established relationship with, people that I can count on, people that I know love me and would not do me harm.

Read these verses:

· 1 Chronicles 16:11
Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always.

· Psalm 34:5
Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.

· Psalm 123:2
As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till he shows us his mercy.

Now, go back and substitute to with at. Does the meaning of the verse change?

What are your thoughts on this?

For me, I know there are times when I look at God. I know He doesn’t like that very much. In fact, it must grieve His heart. It signals that I’m off doing my own thing. But when I look to God, I’m in a special place. A place where all my focus is on Him. A place where He is my only hope. And that’s the place, I believe, where He wants me to be always be….looking to Him for all that I need.

CAN YOU SEE ME NOW?????

Thank you for your helpful comments about my "blog problem". I think it might have returned to normal. Please help me out by telling me if you once again are able to see the full page, or if the "sidebar" has slipped to the bottom of the page. Thanks for your help! I hope to be up and running again very soon!

...and they HEAR the Shepherd's voice...

The gift of hearing...I've been thinking about those words lately. All of our senses are wonderful gifts. I don't know about you, but I now realize how ungrateful I have been for good health, good senses, good hearing - I just took for granted that everyday I would wake up and feel relatively healthy. Being a little sick, however, has refocused my thinking.

I won't go into some long, drawn-out diatribe here and bore everyone, but just let me say that living without really hearing everything going on around me has been a little scary! Like yesterday. I was quietly folding towels in the bedroom, and when I turned to reach for another towel, there was Bill! I screamed!!! I had no idea he had come home. Normally I would have heard the garage door open, or I would have heard him say, "I'm home!", but right now I hear very little.

It was brought to tears as I tried to put myself into someone elses shoes, because I realize now how indifferent I was to their plight. I had no idea how hard it is to not hear. We have friends that have a deaf child, I have had relatives that have lost their hearing with age, I know of a student who gradually lost her hearing for no known reason, and this past summer I heard an excellent speaker who is totally deaf. She speaks so eloquently, yet she can not hear her own voice. Harder still, she can not hear the voices of her children.

God never under-rates hearing, however. His Word is full of references to the importance of hearing. Right now, I can't hear very well. I trust it will only be for a little bit. And my little sickness pales in comparison to the significant challenges others face on a daily basis. I may not be able to hear, but I can listen. And through listening, I'm hearing God more clearly than I have a long time.

Mark 4:23 (New International Version)
If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.

And a little FYI: I called the doctor today. He wants me to wait and see if I make anymore progress. If nothing clears up by Thursday, he will re-evaluate the "puncture the eardrum to try to relieve some pressure" procedure. Meanwhile, I'm going to try to teach tomorrow. Yeah!

The Snuggie

The Snuggie. Who hasn't heard of it? This blanket with sleeves has caused an overnight sensation in our country. And I must confess, at 2:30 a.m. on the mornings I can't sleep, that Snuggie commercial has tried to lured me in on more than one occasion!

Yesterday I needed a Snuggie...at least, that's what I thought I needed. I woke up nice and early, hoping against hope that I would finally be feeling better and could go with my husband and son to pick up our daughter in Mobile. I wanted that trip. I longed for that trip. But, alas, it was not meant to be. If anything, I woke up feeling even worse. Ears still congested, but now with a touch of dizziness and upset stomach. I pulled the covers over my head and cried. Oh, well. I said my good-byes to the men in my life and returned to my new BFF - the recliner.

But all day, I drifted in and out of it, feeling worse by the hour. By suppertime I was beside myself. Not only was I sick, I started to unravel emotionally as well. I can't explain it, but for awhile there I really lost it. And what did I do first? I wrapped myself up in a comforter and curled back into the recliner.

Today I'm feeling better emotionally - not so much physically. And it has given me time to think about comforters, and Snuggies, and things that we use to try to get us to that "snuggly" place.
Today, I still have the comforter around me, but I have THE Comforter, as well. Yes, I know He was with me yesterday too, but yesterday I took my eyes off of Him and He let me just wallow around for a while. But today, I just went to climb in His lap and let Him love on me for a while.

He brought back scripture to me about the many ways He wants to comfort me. In fact, I even did a word search on the ways the word "comfort" is used in throughout the Bible...I feel another topic for women's retreat coming on!

Corrie Ten Boom used to say, "Don't wrestle! Just nestle!" So that's what I'm doing today...nestling in the arms of my Saviour. And you know what? It's soooo much better than any blanket with sleeves!

"May your unfailing love be my comfort..." Psalm 119

Picture Experiment

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Pictures!

I will be gone for a few days. We are making a quick trip to the Gulf Coast to see our son and to retrieve our daughter. So in my absence, I will post a few pictures for your viewing enjoyment.

I no longer teach in a traditional classroom. Since moving to Houston, I have become an independent contractor. I work for different families and have many different students. They range from Kindergarten ESL to a Chemical Engineer and pretty much everything in between.It keeps me on my toes and I find it to be oh-so-very-rewarding!

Every morning I begin my day by teaching two home schooled students, Christopher and Oksana. We have so much fun together! Just before our Christmas break, we took a field trip to the Houston Children's Museum. They had a wonderful display from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. It was magical! We entered the exhibit by groping our way through the wardrobe - fur coats and all! And as we entered Narnia, it was SNOWING!!!

Oksana, ready to fight against the evil forces!

Aslan greeting us at the entrance to the exhibit.



Waiting with eager anticipation to walk into the wardrobe!

Getting ready to begin our journey!

Art class???

Teacher with her two favorite students!

Christopher concentrating on his Gingerbread House.

Oksana working on her spelling.

Oh, the wonder of geometry!

Ears and Games

What I heard at the doctor today!

Three quick updates:

1. Many of you have been sending emails, calls, and texts of concern about my poor ears. Thank you! Today I went to a fantastic ENT. Why fantastic? Well, it began with his office staff. After seeing my internist on Tuesday, she gave me a list of ENT doctors to call. I began with the first one on the list. When I told her I was "self-pay", she told me office visits began at $250.00. I told her "Thank you" and went to doctor #2 on the list. A whole different scenario. She said she had an opening for Friday, but that I might want to wait and see if the steroids made any difference. She wanted me to hold off just a few days, because she didn't want me to spend money unnecessarily. She also told me she would work me in if I needed an appointment and NOT to worry about the cost. What a breath of fresh air!!!

So, today I went to see Dr. Klinker (what a cute name)! He told me, "Yup! You've got it bad!" He then proceeded to tell me that he could slit the eardrum (OUCH!!!) and release the pressure.

But, he also said that there is so much swelling that I risk the fluid returning and having even more pain. After thinking about it for one nano second, I said that I will just try to let this run its course. He said that everything should clear up on its own within six weeks! SIX WEEKS??? But he reassured me that it wouldn't take that long for me, given the fact that I already have one week of pain behind me. Thanks, Dr. Klinker!!!

2. I wrote to the author I told you about yesterday. I shared with him that while I disagreed with his conclusions,I liked the honest wrestling he is doing with some of life's most difficult questions. He responded by telling me that his article was just chosen to be in Psychology Today.

3. And this is soooo God's timing...I received an article on FB today from World Magazine. It clearly explains the difference between a believer and an unbeliever's approach to the hard questions of life. It's a GREAT article and worth your attention and time.http://online.worldmag.com/2010/01/08/heads-i-win-tails-you-lose/

Open My Eyes, Lord. I Want To See Jesus.

This is a great book. (BTW, I let somebody out there read it. If you know where it is, can you return it, please? Or, I can always but another one...)

The author relates his journey living with Asperger's. So many, many of the stories are ones my family can relate to as we have walked the same journey with our son, David.

I am "friends" with the author on Face Book. This man is well spoken and has great insight. Today it gave me pause to read his comments that he posted after listening to a speaker from Rwanda. It raised many theological questions for him. Here is his blog if you would like to read about his thoughts on prayer and forgiveness and wrestling with God. I't really quite interesting!http://jerobison.blogspot.com/2010/01/power-of-prayer.html

Bottom line is that he questions the acceptance of a God that saves/helps some and seemingly leaves others out to dry. I like to listen to this wrestling. I like it because it sharpens my ability to answer people that have those same thoughts. It's so easy, as believers, to have our own set of values, to know what we believe based on what God has revealed to us in Scripture, but what do we do when we run into people that question the existence of God?

As I contemplated my response, I took a break to have devotions... and I just had to shake my head and laugh. I LOVE God and the way He surprises me, and the way He speaks my language! This is what the devotion said:

Do not be discouraged by the fact that many of your prayers are yet unanswered....keep Your eyes and your mind wide open to all that I am doing in your life.

So, just out of curiosity, how would be your response to John and also to this woman who used this quote to comment on John's concerns about a loving God?

"Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones." -Marcus Aurelius

Doesn't it greive your heart to know how lost some people are...and we are called to be the Light in this very, very, dark world.

Which leads me to my next thought...a "Proud Grandma" moment! Our oldest Grandson is a freshman in high school. It was great to spend some time with him and his family at my Mom's BIG BIRTHDAY BASH.

Recently, Brandon gave a speech for an assignment in Honors English. His topic? Abortion. Going into the project, his teacher made it very clear where she stood on this issue. Brandon's grade? D- His mom's response? "Brandon, that is the best D- you've ever brought home!" His aunt's response? "Chin up, Brandon. God was the only audience member whose opinion truly matters, and He was evaluating you and your teacher, so resist the temptation to be bitter or get a bad attitude. We are called to return good for evil. So just keep being the best student you can be, and leave her(him?) to God."

I'm certain his great-Grandma is telling him how proud she is of him!

Great-Grandma and Brandon

So proud of you, Boo! Have a great second semester, and keep letting your light SHINE!!!!

Divine Nudgings

Me, Writing My First Book...Vermeer Captured My Essence, Don't You Think?

(The Hair...Maybe Not So Much!!)

Nothing new to report about my ears. I really hope I wake up and find that my hearing has returned, the pain and pressure are gone, and that I can return to the land of the living!

Meanwhile, this unexpected time of calm and quiet as had its times of joy as well. I have been able to spend much more time, quiet time, in His presence. It has been soul satisfying.

The year my father died, my Mom bought each of us (for herself and her three daughters) a devotional book. That way, no matter where in the world we are, we know that we are united in what we have read from God's Word that day, and have shared the same devotional thought. This year, after we went out for my birthday lunch, she presented each of us with our new book. This one is such a delight. The author is Sarah Young and the book is entitled, Jesus Calling.

Yesterday's devotion was so timely for me. For many years, people have heard me speak or give my testimony and they have said, "Wow! You should write a book!" I think I've written before

how my oldest sister has always encouraged me in that direction. Even our minister's wife used to tell me that after all we've been through as a family, I should write a book that could be a real source of encouragement to others. And then there is my faithful blog buddy, whom I've never even met face-to-face, who sent me information about getting started with writing...thanks for believing in me, Henry!

The "biggie" came yesterday. I received an email from a new friend I met this past summer at a speaker's/writer's convention. She was my partner, my speaking buddy, in our evaluation group. She, too, was a former teacher, plus we both have the name Joyce. At the conference we were known as "Joyce and Re-Joyce". Anyhoo, she sent me an email telling me that her book was just published. I went to Amazon, and sure enough, there it was! So happy for her!!!

I've said all that in order to quote from my new devotional. For me, it was a Divine nudge. I think God may be preparing me to write. This is only in the infant stage of the whole process, but I, like little Samuel, want to say, "Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening!" And this is what God said to my listening heart yesterday in the devotion:

True dependence is not simply asking Me to bless what you have decided to do. It is coming to Me with an open mind and heart, inviting Me to plant My desires within you. I may infuse within you a dream that seems far beyond your reach. You know that in yourself you cannot achieve such a goal. Thus begins your journey of profound reliance on Me. It is a faith-walk, taken one step at a time, leaning on Me as much as you need. This is not a path of continual success but of multiple failures. (GULP!) However, each failure is followed by a growth spurt, nurtured by increased reliance on Me...

This gives me a refreshing perspective on the writing process. God plants the desire, and I am called to faithfully follow and to LEAN!

Trees and Ears and Doctors

They have a saying in the South that I don't think I ever heard in Michigan. When a person feels really sick, he/she says "I'm feeling really puny (pew-knee)!" Well, today I'm feeling really puny. I called my own doctor today and she is back in town. I was able to see her at 4:30 and Bill worked through his lunch hour - bless his heart! - to be able to come home and take me to the doctor.

We pulled into the parking lot of the medical clinic, and there, in front of us was a tree the looked rather, well, puny! No leaves at all, just kinda' shakin' in the lot 'cause it's rather cold here in Houston.

I said to Bill, "That tree looks how I feel!" He smiled at me and said, "Just wait until Spring!"

Ah, my man! Says so few words, but when he does, they're zingers!

UM, correct me if I'm wrong, but when your doctor looks into your ears and says, "Ewww! Ouch!" does that mean she relates to my ear pain? She added steroids to my list of pills and sent me on my way. I really pray that God uses this medicine to take down the swelling enough to let my ears drain properly. I'll let you know the outcome tomorrow...

Trees

Ear Update: They haven't popped yet!


Trees. They have always held a quiet fascination for me. Many of them stand as a silent, yet majestic testimony to the Creator. Nowhere on earth have I felt this more than when we lived in Mississippi. It was there that I began my love affair with the gentle giant of trees, the Live Oak. They are majestic with a capital M. One can't help but be captivated by their presence and begin to ponder. They seem so big and so grand, and I've often found myself wondering what all they had been a witness to during their long lives on earth. Many of the Live Oaks that I gazed at were probably also admired by Native Americans as well as Civil War soldiers.

Trees after Katrina often reminded me of gnarled, arthritic hands, reaching to heaven for help.

Highway 90 - lined with the great Live Oaks.


Post Katrina



Many of the trees have been destroyed because of the deluge of salt water.

Death and destruction - the gifts of Katrina

I hadn't thought much about my beloved trees since moving here to Houston. Until, that is, I took my students on a field trip. And there, in front of a grand old homestead stood a mighty Live Oak. My camera could not capture its grandeur, but here it is:

Symbolically speaking, it is my heart's desire and goal to be like the mighty oak. I think it's beautiful the way the prophet Isaiah describes and captures what I'm having great difficulty trying to express. Isaiah chapter 61 has often brought such comfort to my heart; the prophet assures those that have been crushed by the blows of life. They may have grieved and mourned and despaired, and yet there is a future; there is a hope! And what will these people be called?

They will be called oaks of righteousness,

a planting of the LORD

for the display of His splendor

I can't help it...those words just thrill my heart. Or as my Southern friends would say, "Bless my heart! I just got chill bumps!"

Ear Aches, New Years and Trees, Oh My!

Happy New Year to all of you , my dear and loving blog family! The best is yet to be! May we all enjoy the new adventures this year has for us...

So far, this new year has given me some adventures I'm not enjoying too much! I came down with a bad head cold on Tuesday night while I was still up in the Winter Wonderland of Michigan. On Wednesday, Elise and I flew home. She went to Mobile and I returned to Houston. It was the most anguished flight I have ever taken...not because of pilot error or poor weather conditions...it was because of my head, which felt like it was about to explode at any moment.

I really thought my ears would "pop" soon and give me some sweet relief, but that NEVER happened! On Thursday Bill took me to a clinic, because my doctor was out of town. They loaded me up with meds and I spent all Thursday and Friday in a recliner, waiting for the horrible ear congestion to go away. NOTHING. ZIP. NADA!

I only slept two hours, tried to entertain myself quietly (which, at this point means no TV because even at the highest volume level, I hear very little).

By 9:30 this morning the pain is too much. I feel like I have a baby in each ear canal that needs to get out SOON!!! Poor Bill drives me to another clinic, where we find out the wait will be at least two hours. TWO HOURS!!???? Can't they see I'm ready to deliver at any second???? What's wrong with these people???

We then travel to the emergency room, which is remarkably (and thankfully!) quiet. They escort me to a room, Draw blood, give me morphine (YES!!), do chest x-rays, a CAT scan, and tell me I am one sick puppy. The ears are horribly infected but the infection has not entered to some bone (?), so that's a good thing, they tell me. I'm given MORE drugs, and sent home.

We get home around 3:30, and I spent the rest of the day in the recliner, in pain, just trying to remain calm and stoic. But ask Bill...I've failed in both areas.

I now have new found respect for Helen Keller, and, frankly, anyone who is deaf. Being deaf is no fun. Not hearing plus having these two huge 15 pound babies stuck in my ear canals is even worse.

I was going to write about trees, but I'm in too much discomfort. Maybe tomorrow...

Happy Birthday To Me

My Mother...she turns 90 on Christmas Day!
My sisters, my Mom and my daughter...celebrating birthdays and family!

Me, opening a birthday present. Can you tell I LOVED it???

In my world, it just doesn't get much better than this...

I'm sitting at my sister's, savoring the warm memories of my birthday spent with a few of the special women in my life. We laughed, we cried, and we celebrated another year of LIFE!

Tonight we will attend a midnight Christmas Eve service and sleep over at my sister Karen's house.

Tomorrow we celebrate my Mom's 90th birthday. She's a real survivor and we are so thankful for her and all she means to our family.

Through the years, many people have commented on my Christmas-time birthday. It usually happens whenever I have to show someone my driver's license. Most people say something like, "Oh!! A Christmas baby!!" Or they ask me how I celebrate my birthday. They want to know if I actually have a birthday, or if it all gets jumbled together with Christmas. And then there are a few joy-killers that get the most anguished look on their faces as they exclaim to me, "Yuck! How H O R R I B L E to have a birthday at Christmas!"

Well, Christmas is all about a birthday, isn't it? A miraculous birth. I pray that each one of you have a wonderfully joyous Christmas...the best birthday party of them all!!!

Joy to the world, the LORD has come!

Computer Blues

I am sitting in Panera with my laptop, trying to get my "computer fix". Our computer at home is not working, and I have had to endure a whole weekend without the Internet. Lo and behold, I made it through! Truth be told, I actually had a delightful time catching up on my reading.

I have lots to write about, but will wait until I can enter some pictures. I took my morning students on a field trip to a historical park that is only 15 miles from our house. We are studying Colonial Days and this was the closest thing to Colonial that I could find.

On Wednesday we will take another field trip (can you tell I'm loving this time of year??). We read The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. On Wednesday we will take a tour of the making of the Narnia movies. I think the exhibit even has items on display that were used in the movies. Today it was amazing to see their response to Aslan when it finally dawned on both of them the reason Aslan went in the tent with the Witch and why Aslan died without a fight. I could tell that they were ever so slowly making the connection between Aslan and Jesus...it was a precious moment to witness.

I can't believe I'll be in Chicago in just a few days. I fly in to Chicago on Thursday, Elise will pick me up, I'll stay in the dorm until she finishes her final exam, and then we will head for Grand Rapids. The two of us will spend almost two weeks with my mom and celebrate her birthday...hard to believe that she has bee blessed with 90 years. Her birthday is on Christmas and my birthday is on Christmas Eve. Elise and I can't wait! But I wish Bill and David could come with us...Christmas won't be quite the same without them. I'm already humming, "I'll have a blue, blue, Christmas without you."

Well, more later, when I (hopefully!) can write on the computer from home...it's kind of drafty here in Panera!

Just When I Thought I Was Out Of Ideas...

Have you noticed it too? I just don't write as frequently these days. There are many reasons why, one of them being the fact that nothing too unusual has happened. Until today...

Men might not "get" this post, so you men out there might want to leave now.

I have very dark brown hair. I have since the day I was born! Nowadays, however, the dark brown is being run out of town and and the grays are taking over. Actually, the gray hair has been visible since I was in my 20's. (Laura, do you remember helping me look for the gray hairs on our trip to Washington D.C.?)

Okay, with that little piece of background information, our story will proceed...

The past few years I've been trying to figure out how to make this dark to light transition a little easier on myself. First, I tried giving in and letting the gray take over. I looked and felt sort of "washed out" (aka made me look old and pale and anemic!) and "washed up" (aka made me feel like I was traveling at top speed over-the-hill and had no breaks!)

Next, I added highlights. This went well. The highlights helped the gray less noticeable. The bad side was that highlights can get expensive. So, in an effort to save money, I gave up highlights and colored my own hair. That's where I am right now. The problem is, my hair is WAY too dark! I buy the box that says, "Light Brown" and end up somewhere between "Way Too Dark For Your Age, Sista'!" and "Who In The World Do You Think You're Foolin'?".

Another problem with being so dark is that the grays are much more visible because of the contrast. This means I have to dab a little color on my roots quite often. I've also been experimenting with this whole root thing...trying everything from "Just For Roots" to mascara. The other day, I was in a beauty outlet store, and I happened upon something new...spray color in a can. I tried it in the store and the results were, well... miraculous! This stuff was amazing!!! Just what I have been looking for, so I bought it and had a smile on my face all the way home. No more ugly roots! From now on , all I have to do is spray them away!

Today I woke up and began my morning ritual of getting presentable for the day. Oh, no...ROOTS!!! Never fear, said I. I now have my handy-dandy miracle spray. One spray, and the problem was gone!

So, I went on with making the bed, eating breakfast, etc. One quick, final look in the mirror before I leave, and...hey, wait a minute. There's something on my face. I smile. I must have gotten a little "spray" on my face...nothing a little moist towel can't fix..and I'm out the door.

So, I teach for the next three hours, hop in the car, happen to catch a glance at my face in the rear view mirror and...WHOA!!! WHAT HAPPENED???? I have dark brown streaks coming down my face! On my nose, on my ears, all over my neck. How am I supposed to get this stuff off? Why didn't anyone tell me I was turning colors? Where are all the napkins I so faithfully keep in the car in case of emergencies?

I had another class to teach in 10 minutes. He's in high school. Hopefully he won't notice, and if he does notice, hopefully he won't care. After spending 90 minutes teaching about the periodic chart and chemical equations, I raced out of his house to the safety of my car. I looked in the mirror to assess any new damage. It looked passable. Until I held up my bangs!!! It looked like I had a good three years worth of mold growing on my forehead. How ironic, I thought. I just was teaching about chemicals, and here I was with some strange chemical reaction happening all over my head!

I raced home, determined to wash my face before my next teaching assignment! Finally made it to the safety and security of my own home, only to discover that there was brown spray all over my white counter top and sink! Urgh!

When I was all done with my workday, I was determined to take a shower, wash away all the mess on my head, and thoroughly clean the bathroom sink and counter. Ahhh...all clean again. My last laugh came when I put on my pjs. You guessed it...a nice ring of brown all aver the neckline. Needless to say, my "Miracle Spray" is going back to the store ASAP!

Jesus, I Am Resting

Last night in church, we had a mini hymn sing. Three people got to choose a favorite hymn to sing. The couple in front of us were selected...they asked to sing #139. Then I saw the wife tell her husband, "I don't even know this song! Oh well, we can ask for ours another time."I wanted to shout out, "NO! This isn't a mistake! This is MY song! I LOVE this song!!!"

There are two melodies to the song, but the words are the same in each version. I remember singing this song CONSTANTLY in my head the week my father was slowly transitioning from this world to the next. So last night we sang the song. And the words of the third verse seemed to come alive. So often I look for my joy to come from "things". My heart's desire is to find my joy in the fullness and the deepness and the richness of God's love. I want to see Him as the Lover of my soul! I want to be passionate about HIM! These lyrics say it best...

Simply trusting Thee, Lord Jesus

I behold Thee as Thou art

And Thy love, so pure so changeless, satisfies my heart.

Satisfies its deepest longings, meets, supplies its every need

Compasseth me round with blessings...Thine is love indeed!

I hope the couple that "accidentally" selected this song last night ended up enjoying it as much as I did (d0!).

Walking In A Winter Wonderland!

Yesterday it snowed in Houston! As a former "Michigander", I found the response to this strange,cold, white stuff very puzzling. For me, it was wonderful, almost magical! For most Houstonians, however, it seemed to create high levels of anxiety...except for the children and the young-at-heart. Children took advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime experience by having snowball fights and building snowmen. So what if the snowman was only 12 inches tall...it was a SNOWMAN!!!!...in HOSTON!!!!

I found it remarkable that one or two inches of snow brought this city to its knees! Schools were closed, government offices closed, stores closed early...I was one of the few that ventured out after 6 pm and found the mall to look more like a ghost town.

I found all of this strange, until I started hearing some of the facts. In the past 15 years, it has only snowed 4 times! The city does not own any snow plows for the streets. The last time it snowed as much as it did yesterday was in 1973.

Another Houston blogger wrote, "It has only snowed on 39 days in the last 113 years in Houston, the largest of which occurred in 1895 with a record 20 inches! Counting those 20 inches there has been less than 50 inches (my math says 44.5) to ever touch the ground in Houston!!"

Today, the snow will exist only in our memories. The forecast says we will be back up to 58 this afternoon...well, it was fun while it lasted!!!