We will be on TV - AFV !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So how this all came about is that we sent in a video to 'America's Funniest Videos' and it was selected as one of the final 3 !!!!  We were flown to LA.... Manhattan Beach area... and stayed at the Marriott in a Suite!!! ...all expenses paid including food!!!!  We were there for 3 days, with a few hours of taping and it was a blast!  We spent the entire day on the beach...walked there from the hotel!!!   My gosh, okay. So my opinion of LA is that it was almost as much of a culture shock as Panama. Uhhuh.  The beach lifestyle... all the pretty manicured people and omgosh the dog walkers were fun to watch!  Just like on tv!  And the tree hugger, mother nature artsy places all up and down the streets... and doggy water bowls in front of the shops so the doggies could be refreshed... and the weather... oh the weather!!! We flew in from Dallas wearing sweaters and ended up in shorts and tees!  It was nice!  I hope you will watch us on ABC, Feb. 20th! I'm not allowed to divulge the outcome of our video place as there is a 1rst, 2cd and 3rd place win. Ours is the thermometer mix up one..... :)   

Annah jumping or is it flying on the bed!

Tiffany and Annah out by the pool...  must of been early morning because they are in sweaters.

 Just swinging by the beach !

Fun fun fun until she slipped and fell into the ocean! :)

So in the midst of wanting to go live in the jungle, instead we went to LA and lived in luxury for a few days. :) Is God fun or what??? 

Right before we left I had finished a book "Evidence Not Seen"...the story of Darlene Deibler Rose.... what fascinated me was that as she was a prisoner of war in a Japanese concentration camp.... and treated very harshly...starved.... she found a way to balance on the door handle of her caged area and she could stand just right balancing on one leg and be able to see out a tiny little hole to see the outside and breath the air.  One day she saw someone get a banana and she became obsessed with having a banana... she kept thinking about the taste of a banana, everything about  a banana and she was just longing for just one banana...she told God she just wanted one banana but she felt like it was not even possible to ask God for such a treat... that there just was no way he could even do it...couldn't provide that due to her circumstances. That day she was given some time in the prison area and she saw a man that she had briefly encountered when she was free and she remembered him to be friendly. She was just so refreshed and delighted to see him!  She was taken back to her cell and within moments the guard threw in a bunch of bananas from that man who asked they be given to her... she counted them all, 92 bananas!  She said she began to weep because she hadn't thought it was possible for God to give her one banana and he gave her 92. 
A friend of mine said "Well why didn't God just get her out instead".... well thats because there are boundaries that we live in within the spiritual realm of good and evil....she was a prisoner.... but God blessed her and loved her and showed her he saw her.  Really bad things can happen to us because we aren't in the part of the Bible where the Lamb and the lion are laying down together... we are still in a bloody war between good and evil and thats just how it is but expect to see blessings and miracles in the midst of even the worst of nightmares when you cling and hope in God.  

Panic of the day

This is my baby boy and his wife, Karmy.  They have been in Argentina YWAM for the past 6 months. They are en route to Panama and Alan emailed me from Chili to let me know they would be in Panama City the next day but that he had passed out at the baggage check point ... he said next thing he knew he was being carried out into the infirmary but he was fine. Thats all I got from him and then the next day I saw the number calling me was from Panama so I picked up the phone and said "ALAN!!" but it wasn't Alan at all...no. It was somebody speaking Spanish and I couldn't understand anything they said...nothing... very disappointing seeing as I took a college Spanish course a few months ago and have Rosetta Stone and think I know something ...I know words but as rapidly as the guy was talking all I could understand was that he said he was the family of Karmy. When I told him 'No Espanol'...he sighed and hung up.  So then I'm thinking the very very very worst.... Alan is laying near death in a hospital and they can't even tell me because I don't speak Spanish and obviously nobody speaks English ... I called my mom and we both just bawled and cried because Alan was obviously not well and maybe worse and we are a billion miles away  .... I got an International phone card, did an emergency call to Tiffany at her work because she can speak the language and gave her the number and told her to call it and find out... turns out it was Karmy's parents house but they had NO idea who called....they said that Alan was fine, Karmy and Elias all fine.... ???? I felt like I was given a new lease on life...I was suddenly happy again.  :)   But it still remains a mystery as to who called us and why.  

The newest angel in the house.  6 months old...he was trying to pull down everything on the tree and the shades. :)  Probably the easiest baby we have had...well second easiest. Katie was by far the easiest. 

I just love this picture. I don't know why. But seeing shoes lined up in a little row of different sizes and even personality just makes me all warm and fuzzy feeling. :)   

Christmas Morning!  :)
If you have never seen this video,its called "The Bridge"....Only 2 minutes but, I bet it will make you cry or smile or something.... its about a man and his son.... gives you an idea of God and Jesus and His love for mankind.... all of mankind.  Lemme know what you think.

Wedding Joy

This is me and my mom by the Oak tree my parents planted the day I came home from the hospital over 40 years ago in good ole Norman,Oklahoma. :)  And thats the house they built.  We drove up and asked the nice lady if we could pose in front of it and she allowed  the intrusion.We were in Norman for a wedding.

Tiffany and Winnie have been friends since they were 3. They really did not like each other at all for many years... Winnie thought Tiffany was mean and Tiffany thought Winnie was terribly boring.  Both grew up to be absolutely neither mean nor boring.  We were neighbors but, Wins family moved away much to both girls glee... about 3 years later, when they were 9, we moved into our current cabin... right next door, albeit acres away to their cabin.  Both girls boo hoo'd bitterly. They did not want to be forced to be friends just because Winnie's mom and myself were and are dear friends...but, as time had changed and boredom demanded time together they grew into very close friends and Tiffany was Winnie's Maid of Honor. It was a spectacular wedding but aren't all weddings?  I cried, my mom cried... everyone cried.  It was just so beautiful.  There were so many giggles coming from the dressing room...it was just too cute.  

And at the Reception we had so much delightful fun and cherished the moments... because life rushes by us so fast. My mom, Tiffany and I drove up to Norman, stayed in a hotel and just enjoyed the time together. We have so much fun together, the three of us. I can't imagine things changing but they just do. 

So, is everyone done shopping?  Presents wrapped? 

The very purpose of Christ's coming into the world was that He might offer up His life as a sacrifice for the sins of men.  He came to die.  This is the heart of Christmas.
--Rev. Billy Graham

Catching Up & Up & Up... super easy gift ideas!!!!

  Hope everyone is finding joy and love in the beginnings of the Christmas holiday. :) 

Thank you for sticking with me and not canceling out of my blog due to the fact that I don't seem to get on here to often. I know its not so fun following a blog where the person doesn't update much. I have spurts of being on every day and then times of absences.  

Okay, so if your wunna my friends here locally, lookie what you will be getting for Christmas!

Although I am thinking I will make my own sugar cookie dough, freeze it and then wrap it in nice paper like this... has the dough recipe and all the instructions right here at Design Dazzle Blogspot.

I got a chuckle out of this one from Howdoesshe.com but I probably won't actually give it to anyone:

And in the daily life, Annah got her first library card... I haven't settled down any at all... there were some diversions but, I'm still thinking that I want to be a Missionary when I grow up.Tiffany is going to college to be an International Adoptions Worker and she wants to live on 'that side' not this side... she wants to be the person who is at a particular orphanage or orphanages and be the one who helps match up and find homes etc.... which means she is going to not be living in the USA. She graduates December 2011...thats only a year away... Alan is in South America ...it looks like my parents are going to have to bite the bullet and join the wagon because I think thats where we are all headed. There is a new base in Panama right in the heart of the jungle.... its possible that when I go visit Alan, Karmy and Elias in July that maybe I can stay at that base if they are in Panama and not Costa Rica.... they are discussing it. That would make me so happy. Then I could really get a feel for what I'm thinking I am wanting to do... and I continue to say "I" because Paul is still happy at work. :)  He is open after he retires but, as I always say...thats just tooooooooooooo far away.   Just think, someday you may click in here and find a picture of me in a hut! 
Annah's first Library card...  

"One of the great uses of Twitter and Facebook will be to prove at the Last Day that prayerlessness was not from lack of time." 

- John Piper

Twinkies

 

I bought this book at our local Library...they always have some bookshelves with books in it for sale and I am a fan of Susanna Wesley although I've never read her Bio and so Wahlah!   I have been reading it for a few days and then yesterday I just so happened to notice the front page had a name on it...

As I open the book I see that it belonged to my friend and otherwise affectionately known as my "Twinkie".... had owned the book.... how fun is that to open a book that you have been wanting to read and see that it was once read and loved by a dear friend?  To see a familiar name.  I was so tickled pink.  :-)  

So as I went to my Twinkies Blogspot to link her page to the word "Twinkie"... I see her title is the same as mine... isn't that even double fun?  :)  Thanks back Twinkie! :)
( of course I am assuming I am the twinkie she is writing about... maybe she has another twinkie friend.. LOL...I"m going to go ahead and assume I am assuming correctly. I'm over confident like that.)

So, life is certainly going on fast by.  Funny how it does that.
Big hugs and giant well wishes!  :)

Jungles or Puppies?

Can you find me?   I went to a Mystery Dinner last night. It was fun. It was hosted by our friends youth group....not really part of a church but a group of young Christians that have been more or less lifelong friends and get together for fellowship and activities.  They did a really good job on this!  Abundant food and friends! 

Disclosing clues and lies.  My good friend Debbie had to be mean to me in her character. I was kinda surprised at how well she did.   Hmmmmm......  :) 


We have an opportunity to get a newborn puppy that is going to need to be bottle fed ... A Shitzu.... a cute and healthy runt.... but, its just that... well.... thats a long commitment...how can I go live in the jungle with a puppy... but Annah wants a puppy... we live in the country, she is home-schooled and she would benefit from having a small pet to care for. 
 And What if I never make it out of the country and spend years saying no to a puppy because we may leave soon... I certainly don't see it in sight. 
But I want to be ready. 
I have my bags packed emotionally... in my heart I'm out the door but nobody else is.  :)  My other half certainly isn't.  He wants to retire first... thats like 10000 years away as far as I'm concerned. 10 years, 10000 years...its all the same to me...forever away.  So I guess I just keep playing keep up with the American life.... have a home, a puppy, lots of chocolate and pizza...  go to parties..... Minister to anyone I can as often as I can.... but its just that sometimes I just want that 100% Consistency that you get from lets say YWAM.... because then your just IN...thats what you do...you spend everyday with that very thing to do.... go out and serve God... 

I KNOW I KNOW I am doing my best to serve God every day... yeah yeah yeah I smile at the person at Walmart...maybe do a pay it forward, Foster care... etc... I know ... sure I know that... But I want to do more than acts of kindness and going to feed the homeless here and there.... smiling at a stranger to brighten their day...blah blah blah... not that I'm  trying to minimize those things because they do take effort on our part...especially mine because I tend to plow through Kroger not looking at anyone but with one goal in mind, shop and get out.  To concentrate to take the time to look at people and see if perhaps someone needs help getting something on top isle...sure yeah I can do that... its a small gesture... maybe it means the world to someone...I don't know. 

I just have my mind set on other things that seem more gigormous... like leaving the country and being in street orphanages in Brazil....or living in the jungle in a hut and taking in babies that can't be cared for...thats what I got my heart set on... but unless I'm willing to go alone then nobody else is coming and Paul's job is like so secure its almost ironic.  Yes I am SO thankful for his job... gosh yes.  I'm just saying that I know he'd be willing to leave the country and be a missionary if he didn't have his job but its very stable and secure probably for a long time and he has no intentions on walking away from it because believe me, we have discussed it at length...  

So, maybe I will stop looking out of the country and try to find something profoundly needful here to do.  I do foster care but, babies are few and far inbetween... TX is trying to give children to their family first and they are working really hard at that and for someone like us who foster newborns... family members are usually found readily to take in the newborns.  Until Annah is older, I am not venturing to take in older children and plus, I've just always fostered the babies....its where my heart leads me.  Anyhoooooooooooos........  looks like a puppy is in site?????   

 "Every good thing in the Christian life grows in the soil of humility. Without humility, every virtue and every grace withers. That’s why Calvin said humility is first, second, and third in the Christian faith. "- John Piper

Near Death Terrors

 I missed the "Wear Purple Day" Memo. :) 

Love this picture of my pretty pretty pretty girl!

....my two pretty pretty pretty girls!

A good friend of mines mom was supposedly dying... I say that because she is now being moved back to the nursing home... she has had 9 children and none of them will even really hardly speak to her except my friend and her brother and only because they feel obligated by their Faith to care for her.  The story of their childhood is not painted lovely but very ugly.  Alot of hurt, pain,severe neglect etc... and all these years their mom, no matter how they have tried to care for her, she has been very mean and hateful to the 2 of them.  When she thought she was dying she wanted to call each one of her children and began to apologize to them...consequently 2 are coming down to see her but their hearts are still full of pain.

As me and another friend where there to be with our friend, her mom did not want us in her room at all... she would open her eyes and wave bye bye to us and say "Bye Bye, goodbye, you need to go" and when we didn't leave ... because our friend liked us there and needed us... she began to get highly agitated and said she couldn't breathe with us in there and my friend said "Mom, why can't you breathe" (she had on an oxygen mask and everything) she said "Because they are taking up all the oxygen in my room".... we couldn't help but giggle at that... it was rather funny.... maybe you might not think we should laugh at a dying womans comment like that but, well....frankly it was funny and she isn't exactly a kindly, sweet old lady whose dying...she then broke out into calling her daughter an ugly pig etc....

The next day a few of us went back...when the mom was very drugged on morphine and we sat with her, talked to her about God, talked to her about Heaven, and sang to her, brushed her hair, tried to minister to her spirit for about 4 hours. We obviously would of liked to do that when she was awake but, she wouldn't allow it.  When she was awake she was screaming in agony that she was dying and she cried out that she never ever ever in her wildest dreams thought dying would be this way and then she would scream and say its going up and down...I think she meant her spirit.... and then she would beg God to help her just one more time and then she would say she didn't want to go meet God because she was terrified of 'retribution'.  

It was really very agonizing to witness.... I know that people who 'know' God and have Peace with God are not at all in terror like that.  No way.  There is no reason to experience that terror when you are at peace with God. 

Take care and have a happy Friday! :)