Guess Who's Walking!

Alaina that's who! She took her first steps on Sunday. 3 of them to Momma.

Settling Down In Our New Home

We arrived home to Germany on Thursday evening July 31st. Alaina's 11 month birthday. The next day was a matter of unpacking our suitcases and putting things away and continuing the process of unpacking the house. Saturday we decided to take Alaina out to the PX in Graf. to get the things she needed that we could not have gotten ahead of time. We also went to the commissary as no grocery shopping had been done since June. Alaina did exceptionally well in both stores. We got enough baby food and diapers to last a while. We bought her a high chair with a tray as I have decided that is better that the kind that pulls up to the table where she can grab everything and throw it. We also had already discovered the need for a diaper pail with a lid. Those of you with children will understand and are probably nodding and smirking right now. It was a long day so we topped it off after we got everything we bought into the car by going to the food court and enjoying some good Taco Bell! We ran into some good friends there who had also adopted from Guatemala. It was really good to see them and talk with them. Alaina chose this time to pee through her outfit so I was thankful I had brought along an extra outfit in the diaper bag. It was while we were eating that we discovered she likes diced tomatoes. She in fact prefers them to Cheerios.Anyway, we have settled into a good routine. Alaina is generally a very happy baby and life is good. We thank God for bringing her into our lives. She is so precious.

Today

Yesterday was so relaxing. Church was really good and we all just took it easy. Today however is a different story. I woke up just before 7am. I would really liked to have gone right back to sleep, however I have discovered that if my day is to be successful at all, I must get up an hour before she does. This gives me time to shower and dress and do my hair and makeup. I also can usually get the bed made, my Bible read, and possibly fold whatever was in the drier overnight. Since I don't move too fast in the morning, all of this may take me longer than it does you. So, this morning, I got up at 7. Alaina generally gets up anywhere between 0730 and 0830. If she isn't up by 0830 I get her up or it will throw our whole day off, but I digress. OK, so, I got up at 0700. Showered, washed and conditioned my hair. (when you have long, coarse, dry hair like mine you only wash once or twice a week. If I wash more I end up looking like foo foo the clown) I even managed to shave my legs! Woo Hoo! Got it all done. Hair, make-up, Listerine, clothes. I put a load of whites in the washer, and stripped the bed. I then realized that I could not make up the bed because the other set of sheets is in a closet in Alaina's room. (Note to self: pull out sheets on Sunday night before she goes to bed) Then I changed the towels in the bathrooms and gathered anything that needed to go downstairs. 0830 Alaina is still asleep so I go in and wake her up. I wonder if she's thinking that she's landed in some sort of crazy people family where they try so hard to get you to sleep and then go and wake you up from it. lol I figure she can make it up at nap time. So Alaina up and changed and dressed. Hair done. We gather up our things for downstairs and head down. Breakfast for both of us. Clean up from that and unload, reload and run dishwasher while baby works on puffs in high chair. 0900 bottle time. 0915 She's had enough and is ready to greet the day, play with toys and pull things off shelves. 0915 - 1330 I read and answer emails and get things ready for lunch for her. We watch some olympics as the View was discussing vaginal rejuvination. I'd just die if those ended up being among her first words. lol I find myself absolutely amazed by the things people will discuss on these talk shows. So we watched the olympics as we went through our morning. Mommy washed bottles and got some set up for her etc. 1330 Lunch time. Introduced cottage cheese to her. She wasn't impressed. Sweet potatoes were much more palatable. 1400 bottle time. Baby doesn't want to sleep. It takes a good half hour or more to get her down. 1430 - 1630 Put clothes from washer into dryer and start load of towels. Clean up from lunch. Set up for supper. Make all preparations that I can ahead of time. Set table. Make brownies. I have been craving them lately. I believe this is a sign of PMS and every woman knows that it is an absolute sin to ignore the God given chocolate cravings of PMS. Therefore, the brownies. While they are baking I check email, update my to do list, check the blogs I read and blog myself. I also work on invitations for Alaina's birthday party. I watch olympic rowing of some sort while I do this. Germany is doing well in this one. The housemeister did not come as promised today. The puddle on my bathroom floor leaking from the toilet tank is growing better. They wonder if they can come Wednesday from 2-4. No they can't. They will need to find a better time but find one before the floor collapses beneath the toilet. My neighbor is having the same problem. Hmmmmm. My plans for the rest of the day in no particular order are to actually make supper. Clean up from it. Set up for breakfast, get Alaina up from nap, change at least 2 more diapers, set up for her bath and give it unless hubby gets home in time to give it. Feed her supper. Bottle and bed time for her. Book reading for her. Proverbs 18 for all of us. Fold clothes that are in dryer, put towels in dryer, fold those, set up iron and ironing board for tomorrow, get consignment store items ready to go for tomorrow, get Alaina's outfit ready for tomorrow and pack up diaper bag.

You wouldn't think one little baby could add so much work. I'm mystified.

Travel Day

We got up at 0330 Wednesday morning at the hotel in Guatemala City. Took our showers and got ready to go. Got Alaina up, changed and dressed and saw that everything was packed. We checked out of the hotel and took the shuttle to the airport. We waited in line for over an hour to check our bags in. Then we were told that the flight would be two hours late because they got in late the night before. I assume that has to do with the number of hours a flight crew is required to rest between flights or something. Eventually we got on the plane. It was not crowded so we were able to move over to a row of 3 seats and Alaina could move around some. We fed her on the plane and she did well. Then we touched down in Miami. Alaina was officially a citizen!!! We celebrated with her, but hurried to get off the plane and through imigration and customs etc. so we wouldn't miss our connecting flight to Frankfurt. Well we were delayed at immigaration. They were not as pleasant as they might have been. By the time we got to the counter to get our boarding passes we could have made the flight but they wouldn't escort us through the lines to get there on time and then of course Luftansa was also on strike so they were short handed. So, then we had to wait and try to get another flight. It was a mess, but we finally got on a flight to Dusseldorf. We only waited in the airport like 8 hours. I was so glad I had packed extra food and diapers than I thought we would need. Did I mention that Alaina got attacked at the Miami airport? Alan had run on ahead to hopefully get us on our plane and Alaina and I were waiting in line to get on the elevator. (she was in her stoller) There was a lady in front of us with an airport employee. I noticed that she seemed to have some sort of skin problem but the lighting was poor and I paid little attention untill...The lady backed up without looking and backed into Alaina's stoller. She turned around and hit her on the foot and leg, yelling at both of us. I moved to protect Alaina and let her know quite loudly that she backed into us and she doesn't need to hit my kid. She didn't hit her hard enough to leave a mark but with that wierd skin I didn't want any rash or anything to develop either. And for the love of mike who hits a baby? The airport lady said that she is crazy etc. She did seem to be escorting her somewhere but she should have kept better control over her if she is unstable. The lady is lucky Alan wasn't there. He would not have responded as well as I did. Anyway, the evevator came and I warned a new couple that had come up not to get on with her as she was loco. I hope I spelled that right Jungle Mom. So the transatlantic flight went well. Alaina caused very little disturbance and was kind enough to poop only in airports where her diaper could be disposed of better. We let her know that we appreciated it. We got off the plane in Dusseldorf and waited at the entrance to the plane for our stoller. They had taken it and put it with the checked luggage. This meant that we had to carry her through the whole airport. This was not good. She is heavy and we had carry ons. Then, we waited to get on a plane for Nurnberg. They gave us a hard time about what flight we could take because of all the mix up in Miami and we waited quite some time before we finally got the boarding passes. Oh I forgot to mention that for the big flight they were very kind to us and only charged us for a lap ticket but they gave us a 4 seat row all to ourselves. Ok so waiting for the trip to Nurnberg they told us that there would be no drink service on board and provided us with warm drinks to take on board with us. Well, when we got on board they did have drink service so that was interesting. But, they made a big deal over Alaina and she went to sleep after we took off and slept all the way there. When we landed in Nurnberg, Alan played a very unkind trick on me. It was already about 36 hours since we had started at the hotel and neither of us had had much sleep. He said, "Well, we're in Frankfurt. Now we just have to get to Nurnberg and then we can get in our car and head home." I didn't recieve that bit of false information well. So we get our bags and wait as Alain gets the car and we head out to it. Alan had not installed the car seat before he left for Guatemala. It was raining and we were tired and it took quite some time to figure it out. Turns out it wasn't right but we made it ok. We retured home to a house I had never seen and a town I had never been in. Alan had gotten quite a bit done as far as setting things up. Only the kitchen and decorating remained and a little rearranging, but not much. We got some take out pizza and fed us and Alaina and we all went to bed. Until Alaina decided that she was not happy about being put in a crib in a different room. We let her cry it out and within a few days she was fine with it.

So that is our story. I'm sure I've left a few things out but that covers most of it.

Back To The Guatemalan Adventure

These are pictures of Alaina here at home in Germany with her brother Smokey. The two of them have grown very close. It was quite hot that day and since there is no airconditioning in Germany I just had her in her oneszie.

So there we are back at the Marriott. It took both of us about 10 days to get over our bout with Rotavirus. Poor Alaina went through a lot of outfits as the diapers were just not constructed to deal with that amount of poop. I have to say though. Even on the other side of it. If pooping were an olympic event, my daughter could bring home the gold. Or perhaps they would construct a special brown medal for that one. Anyway. Alan finally arrived. Boy was he a sight for sore eyes! He even looked taller! I had forgotten he was so handsome. I had been there 5 weeks and missed him very much. That first moment when he got to hold his daughter again was so precious. I loved the look of love and joy on his face. The week that followed until we were able to go home went by so much faster than they'd been going. My world was right now that Alan was with us. I'd forgotten how wonderful it was to have him to lean on. Thank you Jesus for my wonderful husband. He's not always perfect, but he's a perfect match for me. Well, the other interesting things that happened are that our interpreter got us kicked out of the embassy the day we went for our interview. We went back the next day without telling him but he showed up anyway. He almost got us kicked out again! I'll skip all that ensued with him, but the Lord was with us. It was imperative that we get our visa that day. You usually get it the next day, but since we had gotten kicked out the day before we had to get it that day because our plane was leaving the next morning. The first interview guy first liked us because our baby was quiet (the child before us was screaming at the top of its lungs) then it turned out that he is prior military and felt for our situation so he put our case at the top of the next guys list. The next guy turned out to also be prior military and moved our case along so we were able to get Alaina's visa that afternoon. Praise the Lord for His goodness! After that I took care of Alaina while Alan got us packed up and ready to leave the next morning. Then there was the travel day...

I've Gone Batty!

You might think that the title of this post refers to my new daughter. It doesn't although there are times... Our internet was down from Saturday evening until last night so I haven't been able to get on here and let you know what has been going on with us.

Bats. That's what.

Friday night we were all snug in our bed asleep. Alaina was in her own bed in her own room peacefully sleeping too. Praise the Lord for that! I heard our boy Smokey meow. I thought, "It must be about 0430 because Smokey always meows at 0430. I heard Alan get up and thought, "Good" and went right back to sleep. Suddenly I hear him yell out. Guilily I remembered the baby toys on the floor that I didn't pick up before I went to bed. "He must have tripped on one or hurt his foot." thought I. I asked him if he was alright. He said, "There's a bird in here." I looked at the clock and it was 0030. I thought, "Birds don't fly at night. There's no bird. He must have imagined it." Then I saw it fly across the room. I thought," This bird must be sick or something to have wandered in here at night." Then I saw it perched on our wall and thought, "Oh stink. That's a bat. Don't tell Alan it's a bat. He wont like that. Let him think it's a bird." Alan (my hero!) ran downstairs and got the broom handle. He hit it twice and it flew out into the hallway. Having no idea how to kill this thing, but thinking it was dead since it was lying on the floor, he sprayed it with a combination of Glade air freshener and some sort of German cleaner or something from the bathroom. It wasn't dead. It flew down the stairs. Alan went after it. He trapped it down there with the wicker basket we use for umbrellas. At this point I inform him that it is in fact a bat. He'd had his suspicions. We decide to leave it there until morning and deal with it before we get Alaina up. At this point (lol) he realizes that Alaina is not in bed with us. I'm not quite sure why he thought she was as we have never taken her to bed with us unless he thought it was earlier in the evening and I was lullling her to sleep with a bottle. At this point he said, "You were hiding under the blankets! All this time I thought you were protecting her, and you were hiding!" lol This was in response to the laughing comment I made about the manner in which he yelled when the bat surprised him.
So, the next morning we trepidiciously went down to the basket. The bat didn't seem to be there. We found its blood on the walls of the stairway but did not find the bat. I decided we needed to look closer at the basket. Alan held an old cookie sheet and I flipped up the basket while he covered it. The bat was in there and attached to the side of the basket. I took it all out side, put the basket down on its side, took my cookie sheet (yes it got washed and scalded) and watched to see if it came out while moving back toward the house. A few hours later I went out and looked at the basket. It was empty. Not a sign of it anywhere. We decided to throw the basket away.

The Howard Johnson's

So, after Antigua we went to the Howard Johnson's. Alan was able to get a special government rate that should have been a little less expensive than the Marriot. I have put a link to the website. The pictures look nice but it says that the internet is free (it's not) the staff was not multilingual at all etc. One really good thing is that my Spanish improved by leaps and bounds while I was there. Well, it was interesting. The place was a bit dirty and then the sewer backed up and the toilets overflowed. Then I got sick. I thought I had a case of Monezuma's revenge until Alaina started having diarrhea. When she had her fourth one and it (excuse me ladies) smelled just like mine and she also had a fever, I took her to the hospital. I knew as sick as I was that the diarrhea would dehydrate her to death. So in she went. It was the most modern hospital they have in Guatemala. As it turned out we both had rotavirus. How fun. Alaina was in for 3 days. They put her in a private room and in a regular hospital bed. No crib. Then they told me I would have to stay with her and watch her 24 hours a day because they were not going to do it. Well, a hospital bed with a mobile child doesn't work. She would fall out in 2 shakes. I was only given a straight chair to sit in and I knew it was impossible to spend several days there, with me sick, and not sleep at all. Plus I would be unable to take her and her IV into the bathroom and I was going a lot. (I lost 14 pounds in Guatemala) So I hired private duty nurses around the clock. Lucky for me they only cost 300 quetzles a day which is about 80 - 90 dollars a day. And they were real nurses not just some lady to watch the baby. So I felt better and was able to go home to the hotel at night and get some rest. The whole hospitalization cost us about $3,000. Can you imagine what it would have cost in the States? I can't tell you how upset I was to discover that had they given her the rotavirus vaccine she would not have had to suffer this. It costs $ 100 and the attorney didn't want to pay it. Had they asked us we would have paid it for her. The morning she was to be released, I moved us back to the Marriott. It is cleaner, nicer, not much more expensive (it turned out the other place gave us the rate without including the taxes which were a lot and made it cost almost as much as the marriott with out the benefits) and they had a baby lounge with swings and bouncers and toys etc. The camera broke down at the HOJO's so no hospital pics. Sorry. These however are more pics from our time in Antigua and the 2 from the HOJO's.

Antigua

The 4th day we went to Antigua. It was my intention to stay there at a place called the Chosen Children's Home until her paperwork was completed and we could take her home. It didn't quite work that way. The place had changed owners and no longer offered everything the website claimed. It was also a lot more expensive. When the only other family left and I was there alone at night (the staff left at 5pm) with Alaina I decided to go back to Guatemala City. By the way. The Antigua I am referring to is in Guatemala not the island of Antigua. The pictures below were taken at the place we stayed in Antigua which was quite lovely.

The First 3 Days

I arrived in Guatemala on June 23. The next day the foster mother brought Alaina to me. She told me that they spoiled her and they don't care if we are upset by it because she is their last foster child. What they didn't tell me but I did discover was that they had stolen all of her stuff. All of the clothes we had given her and even her toys. She was 9.5 months old and they had sold her formula and bought her powdered milk keeping the difference in money. I was really unhappy about all of this but didn't see any point in saying anything as nothing could change what had already happened. I did however get rid of the powdered milk and put her back on formula. It was 2 days before I was able to do that, but I noticed when I did that she drank the formula with gusto. She hadn't been too interested in the milk.

Alaina grieved their loss for about 3 days. Just cried and cried. At least she wasn't afraid of me. She just wanted to be held while she cried. Alaina has and outstanding pair of lungs. She is quite possibly the loudest baby I have ever heard. It turns out that there were 7 adults and no children in her foster home. Therefore she was held 24 hours a day. Literally. I do realize that it is the culture for the children to be in charge. They hold them all the time and whatever the child wants is done immediately. Alaina was used to grunting and having her wishes granted. The foster father even held her while she slept. We had asked them not to do this so as to make it easier for Alaina to adapt to us especially in light of the fact that she has so many things to adjust to that could not be helped. But no. The entire time we were in Guatemala we did what we had to to keep her quiet at night for the sake of the other guests. Now however she is having to adjust to sleeping in her bed and not being held while she does it. Please pray for her that she adjusts soon and for me that I make it through this. We do give her lots of love and holding during the day and we are there at night. We just don't pick her up. When she wakes up crying we tell her we love her and we are there for her etc.

In other news. When I got her then she was barely crawling. In the 6 weeks that followed, I gave her lots of floor time and some walker time and by the time we came home she was walking around furniture. Today she took her first 2 steps in her crib by herself. She stood alone in her crib and then a few weeks later she was able to stand alone in her crib so I think it wont be long until she is taking her first steps on the floor.

These are pictures of Alaina the first 3 days.

We're Back!

We are back from Guatemala and Alaina is home with us! Woohoo! In the next few days I'll be posting pictures and posts about our trip. We arrived home on Thursday night and we are so happy to be here. More information tomorrow.
Rebecca

Coffee and Company

I'm in the mood for some company today so I'm hosting a come as you are party. Everyone stop what you're doing and come over for some coffee, cake, and visiting!

Wacked Out Wednesday

I'm on my second cup of coffee right now. That's right with caffiene. I almost never take caffiene and so I'm on overdrive. I haven't slept well the past two nights and this morning I woke up at 0430. I can't take a nap during the day or I will not sleep at night and so I'm on caffiene. Today I start packing for my trip. I'm so thankful that I will have use of a washer and dryer so I don't have to try to pack a million clothes. I'm bringing all of Alaina's clothes even those I think are too small for her because I'm hoping to meet other adoptive moms over there and maybe someone could use them.

Tired Tuesday

I'm tired. I didn't do all that much today, but I didn't sleep well last night. Kept having night mares. Anyway, today I went to the PX to get Alaina some more clothes. She needed onezies, socks, and sleepers. I was really disgusted with the lack of clothing for size 12 months. There was almost nothing. I was hard put to find onezies and I could only find one sleeper and it was so ugly. Socks were no trouble but really. Are there that few babies wearing 12 month size? I say that because the racks are labled and there were hardly any lables for that size. She did get one outfit, but that was all. In other news I've been working on my coupon book for an hour or two every night. So many people are sending them that it takes some work, but it's worth it. I'm getting 4 packs of oral B dental floss for free tomorrow. Well, actually they are paying me 1 cent to take them away. There are some people I am slowly schooling in the art of coupons and sales, and it never fails that someone asks me about them while I'm in the store. Now some of them look at me like I'm nuts but when I explain how much I save and that it can be considered a vacation fund the light bulb goes on over their heads. lol It's kind of funny to see. I should clarify however that the time spent working on coupons is done while we are watching TV or the news or a video or something. So it's not like I just sit there and do nothing else. Anyway that was my day. We are taking a break from finalizing travel plans so I thought I'd blog a bit. Cya later!

A Must Read

For an interesting read about Obama go see Jungle Hut.

Manic Monday

Today I began my countdown towards heading for Guatemala. I did the regular Monday things such as changing the linens on the bed, putting fresh towels out and putting a load of laundry in to wash after putting the load I ran last night in to dry. So I made up the bed, folded the laundry from the dryer and put it away. Put the towels in the dryer and put the sheets in the washer. Put away the little outfits of Alaina's that were air drying. I took time to check my email and found that there was room for me in Guatemala. It turns out that many adoptive parents end up going and taking over the foster care of their child while waiting for the process to be completed. I found a place that is something like a bed and breakfast that caters to us adopting parents. At the place I will be staying there will be a large room for me and a crib for Alaina. I will have use of a common room, the kitchen, and the washer and dryer. They will provide linens, kitchen ware and dishes, and cell phones that will charge me 13 cents a min to call the States. That works for me because we have an internet phone with a State side number. I will bring the stroller we bought and all of her clothes. The place is within walking distance of shopping and grocery stores and I need not be lonely as there will be other adoptive parents sharing the house with me. So after I found out they had room, I emailed back to reserve a room, let my husband know, and started looking at plane tickets. Then I went down stairs and made a real macaroni and cheese using whole wheat penne pasta. I also made some blueberry bread and it is delicious if I do say so myself! Then I emptied the dishwasher, reloaded it, ran it, and hand washed everything else that needed washing. Wiped down the counters, cleaned the stove and headed for the commissary. I haven't done any real grocery shopping for some time. Since before my sister came really. I stopped by a few times and got a few things but not much. So today since I didn't have time to go through my coupons I went to buy the things I know I will not have coupons for. Namely meat, milk, etc. My goal was to buy enough to last until I get home from Guatemala. 6 lbs of hamburger 2 pkg of chicken, a steak, a brisket, eggs, cheese, yogurt, 2 large bags of cat food (with coupons from the store) onions, green peppers, lettuce, 4 TV dinners with coupons from the store (for Alan while I am gone) 4 quarts of long life milk (like Parmalat from the States) 3 rolls from the bakery (some of Alan's favorite) and turkey sausage. All for 80 bucks. Not too bad. We don't get sales on meat here so you always have to pay full price. That will turn into a huge kettle of chili, a 3 pound meat loaf, barbeque brisket, a homemade sausage pizza, oven fried chicken, hard boiled eggs, and enough milk for his cereal while I am away. I'll freeze the chili in meal portions so all he has to do is pull it out in the morning and it's ready to go in the evening. The chicken and steak will likely be eaten before I go. The hard boiled eggs keep well and will be snacks for him while I'm away. The pizza I will freeze and he can put in the oven when he wants it and the meat loaf I'll refrigerate and he can bake with in a day or 2 of my leaving. I'll make the brisket up before I go and that will likely only last him a day or so. Big meat eater. Otherwise he will have to make due with TV dinners and eating out or at the dinning factility. The DFAC is actually a decent place to eat and is really pretty cheap for what you get so I'll feel ok about that. Now I'm just waiting for him to come home and the macaroni to come out of the oven so we can eat. Then I'll fold the sheets from the dryer and organize my coupons for the rest of the shopping tomorrow. How was your day?

Adoption Update

OK, there is new information on Alaina. We have been told it may be another 8 weeks or so before we can take her home. They have to do this and they have to do that. Long story. So, we have decided to send me down there to Guatemala City to assume her care until we can take her home. I will be leaving in about a week and a half and then you wont see me around for at least 6 weeks as my internet access will be limited if I have any at all. So, I am getting all of her things washed and ready to go. I need to go and buy her some more underwear and socks and a really nice dress for her Embassy exit review. I also need to see that Alan has enough food etc to last until he joins us there. Good luck me!

Garmich and Amsterdam

The day after Rothenberg we went to Garmisch, Germany and stayed at the Edelweiss resort there. The weather was a bit rainy at times but we just relaxed and enjoyed the scenery. Then the last hurrah of my sister's vacation was a trip to Amsterdam. I love that city. I'm not really sure why. It may be the fact that it was the first city outside of Germany that we traveled to after moving here. It may be that when my husband and I went we went to the Anne Frank house and to the Corrie TenBoom home and it was so exciting. I consider Corrie to be a heroine of the faith, and it was very exciting and inspiring to be in the place where they put their faith into action. You could really feel the Spirit of the Lord there. My love for Amsterdam certainly has nothing to do with legalized prostitution, pot, hash, legalized gay marriage and polygamy, but it is a beautiful city and it's so exciting to see so many things from the past. Fran and I went to the Anne Frank house of course and then went to the Jewish history museum. We enjoyed a lot of really good Greek food while listening to the wandering musicians. We rode the Canal Bus and enjoyed the sights and shopping and coffee. I suspect my sleepiness this week is the lack of caffiene! It's somewhat rare in Europe to find decaf. We traveled on Swiss Air and it's a really nice plane. They give you some wonderful Swiss chocolate to enjoy instead of peanuts.

The month went by so fast, but we had a good time and she flew out last Saturday loaded down with souvenirs and chocolate.

My Sister's Trip Part 2

We had a great time in Prague. We stayed at the Cloisters Inn in the old part of the city. It is an old medieval monastery and is in walking distance of everything you'd want to do in Prague. We walked across the Charles bridge and had supper by the river where I got a big kick out of the waiter trying to flirt with me. lol We spent quite a bit of time in the old Jewish quarter. When you go into the old cemetery or one of the synagogs they give the men a paper yalmaka to wear. I was a bit put out with all the men who casually tossed theirs on the ground or just refused to wear them. I realize they are not Jewish, however I do think it is appropriate to respect the custom while in their house of worship. Anyway, my back held out alright though I did have to rest quite a bit. lol We had coffee or some variation all over the place. We did one walking tour through the old town which was supposed to be a ghost tour. They told the old legends of many years past and had a guy who jumped out and scared everyone and it was offered at twilight so that was fun. We went to the Prague castle and walked down through the golden avenue. When we got to the train station to leave, the original platform we were to meet our train on had been changed. Neither of us speak any Chech and we were desperately trying to find the right train. We found it and you should have seen us jumping train tracks to get on before it left. lol Wow!

Our next outings were a trip to Poland for polish pottery shopping. Poland is lovely but they seem to be quite poor there. I was interested to note how the roads changed as soon as we crossed the border. The 4 lane autobahn changed to a 2 lane road. I'm hoping the EU will help change some of that. We went shopping at some outlets in Neustadt near Weiden one day and then another day we went to the walled city of Rothenberg. We didn't get to spend much time there and we never found the Italian ice cream stand but we'll go back another time.

My Sister's Arrival

My sister Fran came to visit for a month. She arrived on may the 10th. What a busy month it's been! The next day she had her first experience in a military chapel and then had her first time eating brunch at the mess hall (now called dining facility or DFAC). She is currently finishing her doctoral dissertation in medieval history and so in all our down moments she worked on that, well at least she did until I got her hooked on an internet puzzle game. :( bad me. Anyway, that first two weeks she attended a Hail and Farewell, a forum in which 3 soldiers were awarded medals, shopped with me in the commissary and PX, went to Bamberg on two day trips where we saw 3 castles, a medievel cathedral that is still in use, an old medieval church that is not, an open air market and lots of shopping and ethnic eating. Yum! In the first two weeks she also got to attend my husband's change of command ceremony where he officially took command of his unit, helped me pull off the reception (in the army you give your own receptions for change of commands and promotions) and we went to Prague on the train where we met an interesting young man who is working on his doctorate in biochemistry. Between him and my sister, I felt like a real slacker let me tell you. Here are some pictures from the first two weeks of her visit.

Pictures

We are having some trouble with our digital camera. As soon as we get the problem corrected I will post the pictures of our trips.

HELP!

OK How does one go about writing posts and then scheduling them to post at a certain date and time? Can anyone help me?

The Past Few Weeks

So in the coming days it is my intent to fill you in on what has been going on around here the past few weeks.

I'll start with April. A few weeks after we moved into this house (which happened on the same day I had back surgery) our landlord informed us that he had a buyer for the house. He said it had always been his intention to sell and these people wanted to look at it. So they came (with out him) to look at it. They asked us why we were moving if we had just moved in and we said we aren't moving, the rug is being pulled out from under us. When they discovered that the owner had been decietful with both of us (he told them that the house had been empty for 7 months) the husband told my husband and then came and said again to me that they would not even consider buying the place under those circumstances. I didn't really believe him as after he said that they continued to look around. I mean really, if you wouldn't even consider buying a place why stay? Just go. So anyway after they left we found 3 internet sites that have the house listed. He is asking a different price on each site but they are from 300 to 400 thousand euro. When he initially told my husband about the potential buyers he offered the house to us but for 440,000 euro. Essentially 100,000 euro over the price he is asking of others and 200,000 over the market value. Interesting. So a few weeks after these people wouldn't even consider it we get an email from them telling us that this house is on their short list to buy. In the mean time we had consulted a German lawyer who informed us of our rights. According to German law our current landlord does not have the right to kick us out for any reason. Therefore, if he should sell the place the new people would have to do it but they would also be bound to honor our contract. Also, there are specific rules that govern all of this and none of them have been followed. Enter May. The landlord has moved to intimidation tactics to try and force us to move going so far as to come to the house when he knew my husband wasn't home and bring someone with him to threaten me. What he didn't know was that my sister was there and a witness to anything. He said publicly that he had a key to our house (illegal) and that it is his house and he can come in any time and do any thing he wants to. Of course none of that is true, but he stuck his finger in my face and kept advancing on me as if to hit me. I felt in danger and yelled for help. He and his buddy quickly left. The MP's and police were called, reports were made, an every 30 min. drive by was started by the MP's, my husband was called home, and the LL was informed in no uncertain terms that to enter our home at anytime without our prior knowledge and consent will result in his immediate arrest. Our lawyer was informed and he wrote him a letter that he is not to contact us again in any maner. By writing, telephone, email, text message, he cannot come to the house, he cannot come by the house, etc. If he does he will be arrested for assault. They don't have harrassment laws here but they would count it as assault because he is making my blood pressure go up and that is damaging my body. An interesting point in German law is that had he called me an ___ ____ or any other dirty name he would have been arrested right then, that is illegal but it's just fine to threaten to come in the middle of the night and do anything he wants. I don't really get that. I should let you know the German police were amazed at all of this and had a hard time believing that a German would do such a thing. Until of course I informed him that he is not German but Irish and married to a German. lol Then they understood. Not that the Irish are bad but that a German would naturally know better. Anyway, so here we are and here we will remain. I'd be suprised if those people buy the house because they will not be able to move in when they want to. At this point they would have to spend several months in a hotel or temporary housing before they can move in. Anyway that is the latest with the house. We have gotten back on the post housing list but we are not on top and will have to wait until something opens up. Thankfully they will pay for the move for us as none of this is our fault and we had found him through the housing office in the first place. The matter has been taken up the chain of command to the garrison commander and I would not be a bit surprised if they canceled all of his leases with the government and made his bar off limits to all military personnel. He has delt with us wrongly and as we all know, you reap what you sew.

The next dramatic event tomorrow.

I'm Back

Well, I've been gone quite a while, but I'm back now. My sister left on Saturday. She had been here about a month, and we did quite a bit of traveling. We went to Prague, Bamberg, Amsterdam, Poland, Rothenberg, and a few other places. It was great to have her and we look forward to her return next year. In the mean time everything has been acomplished that Alaina can come and we are only waiting on our court date to go and get her. It should come any day. In the next few days ( unless I am on my way to get Alaina) I'll show you some pictures of our trips etc.
Carrie asked about my back. It is doing better. I think it gets a bit better every day although there have been times that I've overdone it and then had a slight set back. I try not to but when it doesn't hurt it's hard to know that I'm overdoing it. All the traveling I've done lately has been very tiring and right now I'm recovering from that. All in all though I think I'm doing well. Thank you for asking.

So spell check still doesn't work? What is up with that? They can fix it to where we can write posts ahead of time but they can't fix spell check? Am I the only one?

Truly Disturbing - Please Read

This was sent to me by email today, and I felt it necessary to share this with you in the hopes you will share it with others.


Subject: Fwd: A Letter To Oprah PLEASE PLEASE READ ALL OF THIS A LETTER TO OPRAH
A letter posted to Oprah's personal address.

Dear Oprah,

I realize that you won't be the first to read this, but I do hope it makes its way to your eyes and heart.

I hoped to tell you that your show has helped my daughter in many ways. I am very sorry to have to block the show in my home due to some disturbing information you are disseminating on who you think Jesus Christ is/was.

Like you, I am a seeker. I took charge of my life, got an education, and I strive to constantly improve myself just as you teach your viewers. I made no effort to re-define God based on my new life. The freedom and privilege that come from success and money do not, in my mind, change who God is, was or the history of what really took place in His revealing of Himself to us.

The Course in Miracles you are promoting is a sadly convincing trap that will snare many simple minded and d esperately searching people when you could so easily point them to a true solution to their suffering.


The 'slain Christ' does have meaning and has for thousands of years before you became 'enlightened'. That old rugged cross got me and thousands of others through crisis after crisis - again before your billion dollar media empire existed. Fortunately, someone influential in my life pointed me to the truth rather than some self-styled idea about who they decided to re-invent..

I implore you to re-think your actions and listen deeply to your heart and not to advisors that become abundant when you are notable. Your influence on this planet is great. Imagine if you take your 'followers' down the wrong road due to inaccurate information. Teaching comes with a tremendous responsibility. Success doesn't make you right, or an expert on everything.

I doubt seriously you were taught these things as a young girl. I suppose rather they have come to you from advisors and interesting people that have influenced you along the way.



Integrating these beliefs, you have abandoned your roots and attempted to re-define the One who created you. To this outside observer, you appear to be trying to take on God's role. That's been tried before and the world waits as that story plays itself out. Let him teach; you share His message. The consequences of your actions have dire ramifications for a lot of searching people.

Ms. Winfrey, if you have indeed seen this for yourself, I want you to know that I will pray that the God you seem to have abandoned will find someone influential to you to show you that you are hurting rather than helping these souls and help you understand WHY God has allowed you so much. History will tell. Many have been deceived...and deceived others.

Your friend,
Steve Harbin

Subject: Oprah and false prophets Bible warned about

Every Christian should read and be aware of this. 2 Tim. 4:3-4

Paul warned 'For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will
accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths.' This warning has never been more true than it is today.

We really need to be aware of this. It is one more dangerous sign of the times we are living in.

This made for interesting reading and how we are so easily deceived. Go to the different web sites listed and it makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck. All the untruths that are being taught to gullible people. We best be on our toes with our Bibles in our hands to see what is truth and untruth and help people see the real 'light.'



May God help us! So sad to say, I used to think Oprah knew it all. haha

Many of you, like me, have probably been Oprah fans for a long time. This is very discouraging news to hear about one who has such tremendous influence on the general public. Please ask God to show Oprah the real Jesus Christ.

Just to make sure this was true, I went on Oprah's website and there it is. The below article is very interesting, so I thought I would
share.

http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/007/smith-oprah.htm and

http://www.oprah.com/xm/mwilliamson/mwilliamson_about.jhtml

'Oprah and Friends' to teach course on New Age Christ.

Jesus Christ being reinvented, redefined, and blasphemed and, this false New - Age Christ teaching is about to make huge inroads into the world, with the help of the queen of television talk shows, Oprah Winfrey.

Oprah Winfrey, beginning January 1, 2008, on her daily radio program will offer a year-long course on the New Age Christ, in a lesson a day and completely cover the 365 lessons from the Course in Miracles 'Workbook.'

Listeners will be encouraged to buy A Course in Miracles for the year-long course, and an audio version, recited by Richard (John Boy Walton) Thomas will be available on compact disc.

Those who finish the Course will have a wholly redefined spiritual mindset - a New Age worldview that include the beliefs that there is no sin, no evil, no devil. A Course in Miracles teaches its students to rethink everything they believe about God and life, and, bluntly states:
'This is a course in mind training' and is dedicated to 'thought reversal.'

The Course in Miracles - in reality is the truth of the Bible turned upside down.

Oprah told her television audience that Williamson's book, A Course in Miracles was one of her favorite books, and that she had already bought a thousand copies and would be handing them out to everyo ne in her studio audience. Oprah's endorsement skyrocketed Williamson's book to the top of the New York Times bestseller list.

A Course in Miracles is allegedly a 'new revelation' from 'Jesus' to help humanity work through these troubled times. This 'Jesus', who bears no doctrinal resemblance to the Bible's Jesus Christ, began delivering channeled teachings in 1965 to a Columbia University
Professor of Medical Psychology, Helen Schucman.

One day Schucman heard an 'inner voice' stating, 'This is a course in miracles. Please take notes.' For seven years she diligently
took spiritual dictation from this voice that described himself as 'Jesus.'

Here are some quotes from the 'Jesus' voice of A Course in Miracles :

'There is no sin . . . '

A 'slain Christ has no meaning.'

'The journey to the cross should be the last 'useless' journey.'

'Do not make the pathetic error of clinging to the old rugged
cross.'

'The Name of Jesus Christ as such is but a symbol... It is a symbol that is safely used as a replacement for the many names of all the gods to which you pray.'

'The recognition of God is the recognition of yourself.'

'The Atonement is the final lesson he [man] needs to learn, for it teaches him that, never having sinned, he has no need of salvation.'

2 Timothy 3 (King James Version) (KJV)

1. This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3. Without natural affection, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4. Traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5. Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.


Christians.....Take heed!!

And PLEASE pass this one on.... .if you never forward anything
else!

Little Black Dress

What Your Little Black Dress Says About You

You have a flair for the dramatic. You love attention. You feel alive when all eyes are on you... and you definitely love to work a room. Your style is glamourous, over the top, and luxurious. You love to shop, and you have expensive taste. If you were a shoe, you would be: Stilettos

The Little Black Dress Test

What Flavor Jelly Bean Are You?

I saw this on Pam's blog, so I thought I would participate.

You Are a Cherry Jelly Bean

Sweet yet strong, you have a distinct personality without being a weirdo. You're the most normal of all flavors - but you're never boring.

What Flavor Jelly Bean Are You?

My Sister Is Here!

Proverb Of The Day:

"Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing." Proverbs 12:18

My sister arrived Saturday night and we are so happy to have her! She will be staying with us for a month and we will be traveling all over Europe so stay tuned for exciting adventures and pictures.

A Beautiful Truth

"A bruised reed he will not break, and a smildering wick he will not snuff out, till he leads justice to victory. In His name the nations will put their hope." Matthew 12:20-21

Stop The Madness!

I have something on my mind today. There is a new show on TV called Moment of Truth. On this show people ask you questions while you are hooked up to a lie detector machine in front of your family. It is my opinion that this show is detrimental to families. The commercials show them asking men if they would or have cheated on their wives or if they think of other women and asks women the same type of thing about their husbands. The commercial I saw today shows a married woman being asked, in front of her husband, by her former boyfriend the question if he wanted to get back together with her would she leave her husband for him. She answers yes! What is the purpose here? I don't find that entertaining which makes it a good thing that I don't watch it. It just seems to me that they are trying to tear marriages apart in the hopes of getting some money. It's not worth that ladies and gentlemen! It just isn't! It reminds me of that movie about 10 - 15 years ago where Demi Moore slept with Robert Redford for a million dollars and it tore the marriage between her and Woody Harrelson up. They discovered it wasn't worth it and that was a MOVIE! This is real life! Real people! Where has the value of marriage gone? Will we as a society do anything for a buck?

So True

I got this in an email and decided to post it here.




Minorities

We need to show more sympathy for these people.

* They travel miles in the heat.
* They risk their lives crossing a border
* They don't get paid enough wages
* They do jobs that others won't do or are afraid to do.
* They live in crowded conditions among a people who speak a different language.
* They rarely see their families, and they face adversity all day every day.

I'm not talking about illegal Mexicans; I'm talking about our troops! Doesn't it seem strange that many Democrats and Republicans are willing to lavish all kinds of social benefits on illegals, but don't support our troops and are now threatening to defund them?

I Stand In Awe Of You

I Stand In Awe Of You


You are beautiful beyond description
Too marvelous for words
Too wonderful for comprehension
Like nothing ever seen or heard
Who can grasp Your infinite wisdom?
Who can fathom the depth of Your love?
You are beautiful beyond description
Majesty enthroned above *

*And I stand, I stand in awe of You
I stand, I stand in awe of You
Holy God, to whom all praise is due
I stand in awe of You.

You are beautiful beyond description
Yet God crushed You for my sin
In agony and deep affliction
Cut off that I might enter in
Who can grasp such tender compassion?
Who can fathom this mercy so free?
You are beautiful beyond description
Lamb of God who died for me *

You should be able to listen to the song by clicking on the link above. I hope it works for you as it only works in the USA. Please let me know you USA'ers if it doesn't work for you.

Nuts Anyone?

I saw this over at Pam's blog, so I took the quiz and here it is.

You Are a Hazelnut

You are very unique and distinct. You may even freak some people out. Most people don't really know how to interact with you. You get along best with anyone who is super sweet. But you really do get along with almost anyone. You just need a chance to wow them.

What Nut Are You?

Commissary Savings

As I mentioned in the last post, I went to the commissary earlier this week. I just had to tell you about some great deals I got. I saved $37 and change in coupons alone and a lot more in sale prices. Crest toothpaste, several different varieties, was on sale for $1/tube. I had 25 coupons for $1 off making them free. I had to restrain my self and it wasn't easy but I only took 5 of them home. The killer cereal deal I mentioned in the last post was this. Buy 3 boxes of Kellogg's cereal and get 1 gallon of milk free. Any brand any kind of milk. Well, Rice Krispies were on sale and I had coupons for $1 off making them something like 67 cents each and my hubby's favorite Raisin Bran Crunch was on sale for the same deal and of course I had another $1 coupon. So I got 3 large boxes of cereal for less than $2 and got a free gallon of milk. We buy the German milk that you keep in your cupboard until you need it and then refrigerate. It's like Parmalat in the States. It's 90 cents for 1 quart and I got 4 of them thus saving $3.60. How cool is that! 3 boxes of cereal and a gallon of milk for less than 2 bucks! Other cool deals were 2 18 count packs of Kotex for 29 cents each. They weren't on sale but I was out of them and had 2 coupons for $2 off so it was still a great deal. 5 boxes of pizza rolls for 45 cents each. 2 bottles of St. Ives body wash for something like 35 cents each combining coupons and sales. A large bottle of Coffee Mate flavored creamer in my favorite flavor for about a dollar. Maxwell House coffee, the large can, was on sale for $5.99 and I had a coupon for 1.25 off so I got 2. There were other deals but those were the killer ones. I was quite excited about them. Anyone else get any good deals this week?

For more Super Saturday Savings see Money Saving Mom.

Help When You Need It.

The other day I went to the commissary. I hadn't been to the commissary in oh I don't know 2 months? (We've been eating at the mess hall a lot as I have not been up to cooking) That morning I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Not incredibly uncommon for me but still I was in a particularly foul mood. That mood persisted all day. Couldn't ditch it. I sat there in the car cranky as could be and prayed something to the effect of,"Lord, I really need a blessing today. I don't want to feel this way. I just need your help right now." Fast forward about 5 min. I'm in the commissary investigating what turned out to be a killer deal on cereal and milk and a lady I don't know came up to me asking about my coupon book. She said, "I know this sounds strange, but you just look so nice and approachable." She wanted to know about how I get my coupons and how to use them and my book and savings etc. All things I'm very passionate about. So I gave her a short tutorial, showed her where the coupon box was in the commissary and explained my strategy of using coupons combined with sales to get rock bottom prices or free. She thanked me and went on about her business. Now who doesn't like getting compliments? Pulled me out of that mood and fast. I can't tell you how amazed I was again at how well Jesus knows me. He knew just what I needed and when to send it. He had already started answering my prayer before I prayed it. I know this because the woman was already on her way to the store when I prayed. Then, a few minutes later another lady said to me something to the effect of Wow, you're really organized and asked a few questions. Both ladies were very friendly and both mentioned how nice and approachable they thought I seemed. lol Now, yes the thought did cross my mind,"Yeah nice and approachable as a rabid pit bull," but, it just amazed me how a few kind words from a stranger could make such a difference.

Does God Laugh?

We all know that "Jesus Wept". The book of Luke tells us about how He wept at the grave of Lazarus. But, does God laugh? Of course I suppose so since He created laughter and He is everything but this is why I ask.

We had a situation the other day that I may blog about at a later time. Now, anyone who knows me knows that the battle of the tongue is one that I will have until Christ comes for His own. I have been the queen of telling people off if they need it and of course I have always been the one to decide if they need it or not. If you're one like me you know exactly what I mean. So anyway, days ahead we knew this situation was coming. I had been praying about it since I first knew. The last time I prayed about it before the situation came, I asked the Lord to help us (me) glorify Him and that we (I) should act like a child of King of Kings. A few hours after this situation came and went, (I didn't do too bad but it could have been better) I was bringing take-out home and I began to think about how I'd done and how it hadn't gone quite as well as I'd hoped. (God was definately there. It could have been much worse.) I thought of the prayer I'd prayed and wondered(with my history)if God hears this kind of prayer from me and has a Godly little chuckle out of it. I wonder if He calls over the angels and says, "Angels you gotta hear this one! It's her again! She's asking for tongue control again! You know she isn't gonna let me hold her tongue!" Now please understand I'm not being disrespectful to God. I mean no disrespect at all. I just wonder from time to time if God just sits there and chuckles and says, "Oh daughter. if you'd just let me you could not imagine the things I could do for you and with you." It sounds a little sad really, but then I think too that God says, "She fails a lot, but she's still in there trying. When she falls down she's quit wallowing in it and cries out to me for help. She has faith. She knows I wont fail her. She's trying to be like Jesus. She gets attacked a lot, but she holds on." My Father knows me so much better than I know myself. Which of course is why I think He laughs when He hears some of my prayers. Does anyone get what I'm saying?

WOW!

Ok I saw this one on Pam's blog and I'm posting my results here. I have to say I'm quite amazed. This one seems to be right on. lol I even wear clogs quite a bit. They're common here in Europe.

You Are Clogs

You are a solid and down to earth person. You seek – and almost always achieve – a really sound balance in your life. You are stylish yet comfortable. Mellow but driven. Excited yet calm. You are the perfect mesh of contradictions. No matter what happens, you have the ability to stay well grounded in your life. People know that they can truly depend on you. You should live: In Europe You should work: At a company dedicated to helping the world

a href="a href=">http://www.blogthings.com/whatkindofshoeareyouquiz/">What/a Kind of Shoe Are You?/a>

Blessed Be The Name Of The Lord!

That's the song I woke up singing this morning. Not so strange you might think, but let me go back a few days.

Wavy lines as time moves back.

Sunday morning I awoke early mad at the world. Now typically I'm not a cheerful morning person anyway. I'm generally grumpy and cranky and definaltely want to be left alone. (Currently I really wish the spell check thing on here would get it's act together) I was resentful toward my husband and the more I thought about it the angrier I got. (He certainly did not deserve all the anger and resentment building up) Then it hit me. It's Sunday morning. Because of being in the hospital, I have not been to church since Palm Sunday. I realized that the Lord must have something for me at church for me to be in such a foul mood. This is not the first time I've been dangerous on a Sunday and when I've allowed it to overtake me I've missed out on what God had planned and spent the next week kicking myself. I prayed about it. Telling the Lord that I didn't want to be so angry etc. So I cuddled up with Alan and told him I was mad and wanted to kick the cat and be in charge of the world so stupid things would stop happening etc. Alan found this quite amusing. A long story short my mood disapated. We went to church. (Our first time at the new post) I could feel the Spirit of the Lord there and He had such freedom! I've missed that so much! We had such a wonderful worship service. I was so blessed by it.

Wavy lines as we go back to the present.

Each day so far the Lord's Spirit has been so close to me. My heart has sung His praises as the day goes by. You see I'm not a happy morning person to the point where when I see one I think, "freak". So for me to wake up singing is a miracle in deed. Blessed be the Name of the Lord! May His Spirit be close to you today.

Quick Post

This week I go to work with Alan every day but Friday. He is attending a commanders course and there is a companion course for the spouses. Today was very tiring and my back is sore and tired so I'll sign off for now. I hope all y'all have a great week.

Eminence or Pre-eminence

Over at Cherish The Home, Michele had a musing on a recent sermon from her church. It has affected me in such a profound way that I feel today I must share it.

Speaking of church our Pastor preached from the book of Colossians (one of my very favorite New Testament books) and one thing that really stood out to me from last night's sermon was when our Pastor read Colossians 1:18b:"And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. ~ Colossians 1:18 (emphasis mine)Our Pastor then asked us, "Does Christ have preeminence in your life or do you only give Him the eminence in your life?" He then went on to explain the difference as eminence is when you give Christ a high place in your life, which sounds pretty good. However if He has preeminence then Christ is above everything and everyone. He doesn't just have a high place in your life, He has the center, most important place in your life. Hmm, lots for me to ponder here....

Having read this I realized that the Lord has been given eminence in my life but not always nor even often preeminence. I have always (since I've been saved) held the Lord in a place of honor and never blasphemed Him. That's not to say I haven't sinned many many times and fallen flat on my face, but looking back it seems that I've put the Lord on a priority escalator in my life. Sometimes He is going up and some times He is going down and other things are going up. The point I'm making is that recently through my illness these months, through the trials with our adoption and other things I've searched Him out more and more. I've sought to claim that intimacy with Him that the Spirit within me craves. When I read her post it hit me. He has always had an important role in my life, but not always the most important role. I keep taking my eyes off the prize. Oh I see Him in my peripheral vision but my focus keeps turning to other things and then I find my self sitting there confused with all these other things. That word confusion always rings a bell in my head because it reminds me that "God is not the author of confusion, but of peace..." 1 Corinthians 14:33. It is then that I realize that I have lost my focus and must refocus on Him.
So now on to how to give Him preeminence or place Him above everything and anything in my life. I don't know all the answers to that one but now that I know the lack and see the difference, I can allow Him to show me all the things that I have put in front of Him and together we can change it. I confess I find it a little scary or intimidating because I'm a very practical person and I have always been disgusted with those who are so heavenly minded that they're no earthly good. You know the ones I mean. They see someone poor or sick and they say "I'll pray for you" but they wont deliver them a bag of groceries or bring them some hot soup. But then the Lord reminds me that "Faith without works is dead" (James 2:26) and I'm not that kind of person anyway and chides me a bit saying "Faith daughter. Trust me. Would I do that? Would I want that?"

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight." (Proverbs 3:5&6) Another way of saying He will make your paths straight is to say He will direct your paths, and honestly He will never direct you down the wrong path.

So, this has been a long one, but it's what's on my heart this morning as I arise.

Sorrow

Today we awakened to the news that a friend my husband served with in a former unit was killed in Iraq due to and IED. Captain Ulises Burgos-Cruz was a husband, friend and soldier. He was one of the people in that unit that my husband truly liked and respected. Cpt. Burgos was one of the good guys. I remember my husband coming home with funny stories about him, and always with a smile on his face. Alan has the ability to know very quickly the heart of a person and he liked the heart of Cpt. Burgos. I did not know his wife well, but my heart goes out to her. She is in my prayers and I ask if you think of her to send up a quick prayer on her behalf. I can only imagine the pain and grief she is suffering. I understand she is expecting their first baby this summer.

This makes the third personal loss for me in this war.

http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/news.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2008-04-09-0173.html

http://iraq.pigstye.net/article.php/UlisesBurgosCruz/

http://www.kwch.com/Global/story.asp?S=8134276

Comment Moderation?

I have been recieving spam comments and I will not tolerate them. Today I have enacted the function that requires the commentor to enter symbols in order to leave a comment. I wish to have your input. Do you prefer this or would you prefer comment moderation where I approve comments before allowing them to post. I ask because I know plenty of people really dislike having to put the symbols to comment so please do it, just once, for me and let me know.

Thank you to all who have so graciously prayed for my recovery. I start my first day of physical therapy today at 1500 which is 0900 east coast time USA.

In other news, I had my first experience in using my new German washer and dryer last night. The washer is a front loading model and that's a first for me as well. I must say, it certainly gets the clothes clean, however it takes 2-3 hours to run the washer alone. The dryer takes slightly less time. I'm thinking this will necessitate doing a load of laundry per day just to keep up. That's ok though because I have been so blessed to have my W/D on the 2nd floor where the bedrooms are! That's right girls! No more toting baskets of laundry up and down stairs! Woooo Hoooo!

Well, I'm off to catch up on the rest of your blogs. Have a wonderful day!

I'm Back

I'm finally out of the hospital after a 16 day stay. It's so good to sleep in my own bed. The surgery was successful and I woke up from surgery in less pain than I went in! lol How often does that happen. Thank you all for all of your prayers and especially for the prayers that went up for Alan. He had to move us while I was in the hospital and had so very much to do that he got little sleep. He was unable to be with me the day of my surgery and it was the first time I've ever gone into surgery alone. I was a bit nervous about it, but then I realized that God was there and I never need truly be alone. I'm off a lot of the medication and so now it hurts a bit, but I am able to walk without pain albeit slowly. I look like I have a zipper up my back. DH suggested I but it on the blog but I have declined to do so. That's more of me than anyone need see. lol So now I am in our new home of Vilseck, Germany. It is a wonderful house, and I will tell more about it as the days go by. Right now I'm off to bed again. Thanks again for all your prayers.

A Quick Post

I am posting this fast. We are on the way to the hospital to have me admitted. The pain has become unbearable and so I'll have pain control and then back surgery. Heather is doing better. She is out of her coma but is still being sedated. I am posting a link to a web site you are welcome to visit to get the latest on her condition. Thank you for praying. She was very near death. You are welcome to post comments on her website but please keep in mind that her 11 year old son does not know all the details and may read what is written.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/pray4heatherjackson

The movers are coming on Tuesday and this week will be very hard for my hubby. Please keep him in prayer. I will post again when I am out of the hospital and able to post.

Rebecca

A Call To Prayer

I'm calling all of you prayer warriors out there to prayer. The wife of one of our chaplains is gravely ill. Her husband, Chaplain Scott Jackson (southern Baptist I believe), deployed to Iraq on Monday. Tuesday Heather was taken to the hospital and is now in a coma. I understand it is a diabetic complication and she is very near death. They have an 11 year old boy and a 3 year old little girl. Heather is a light in this darkness. She is one of those women you can very clearly see Jesus in. We need her here. Her husband and children need her. I understand that her son is taking this very hard which of course is understandable. Scott is now at her side, but please my sisters, please pray. Storm the gates of Heaven with us for her full recovery. I'll keep you updated as I learn more. Thank you.

Things I'm Thankful For (In no particular order)

Alan - A husband who loves me and is picking up the slack without complaint.
Smokey - A loveable cat who wont leave my side when I'm sick.
Alaina - My precious daughter. I can't wait until she can come home.
Pain medication - Life would be unpleasant without it right now.
There are many other things but I just realized I need to cut this short and go to the commissary so I'll finish with the most important one.
My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ - The one I cry out to in times of need - The one who loves me in spite of me - The one who makes my life worth something - The one who suffered so much more than I am now so a worthless wretch like me could spend eternity with Him.

And I had the nerve to complain.

terribly ashamed...

Saturday

Well, it's Saturday and I don't have much to say. I have loads of housework that needs to be done, but I can't get it done. The pain is back pretty bad. It seems that perhaps I tried to do too much. I don't know. I'm rather frustrated with not being able to do much. If I unload and reload the dishwasher (sitting in a chair for most of it) that's about all I can do for the day. I can do one or two things and then I hurt so bad I have to rest the remainder of the day. I hate that Alan has had to pick up so much of my slack. We have so much going on right now and he has to carry the burden of everything! It doesn't seem fair for him. Well the verse about do everything without grumbling or complaining just popped in my head so I guess I'd better shut my yap and be thankful for the things I can do.

Do Me A Favor Please

Ok everyone go and look at the comments from the last post. Comment number 3 is weird. Anyone know anything about this? I'm just curious but I thought some of you other bloggers may have seen it before.

Feeling Better

Well, I went to the doctor on Tuesday. She put me on a new regimen of medications and boy has it helped! Way down with the narcotics and way up with the feeling better and mobility. I really have to give the credit to the Lord though. I was already starting to feel better before I saw her. I'm still going to have the MRI on Monday though. If I really do have a herniated disk as the doctor believes I need to know and to get the right treatment started. That said I believe the Lord will heal me. He may choose to use medical help, but He may choose to touch me like He did last night. The pain was so bad and I prayed again and immediately I felt relief. As each part flared up I asked the Lord to touch it and He did. Immediate relief and I slept well. Praise the Lord! I hope I'm not spelling too many things wrong! Where is my spell check?!!!!!