Together for Lincoln

There are times when I get irritated living in such a small community. The resistance to change and economic development, the lack of entertainment, the absence of a shopping mall...ahem...sometimes a girl just needs some quick window browsing therapy and having to drive 40 minutes to get it is such a drag.

But there are other times when I realize how extremely fond of living in Lincoln I've become. It's quaint, relatively safe, people are friendly and there are lots of good things about living in a small town. In fact, I think I can say sometimes I'm downright proud of Lincoln.

Today is definitely one of those days.

Our church, along with 10 others, has organized a community wide service project day where individuals from all over the community are coming together to serve people and show the love of Christ through their actions. They have close to 100 service projects lined up with more than 800 people signed up to participate in volunteering. All kinds of things are happening today from building wheelchair ramps to visiting nursing homes to cleaning hard to reach areas of homes for people who just can't reach there anymore. It has received such a positive response that I'm certain it will become an annual event.

S is a project leader for a woman who needs some painting and staining done on her home. That means my role today is to be home with the kiddos. I have to admit, honestly I was a little resentful when we left for church this morning realizing that I had to give up hubby for the day and for me this would just be another day. But then our preacher gave an inspiring message about unity and serving others. Then they played this song while flashing pictures of various sites around Lincoln up on the screen and I got all teary and warm and proud of what was happening today.

When W and I were eating lunch we heard people talking outside and he asked, "What's that mom?" I got up to look and saw a group of people I'd never seen before picking up trash on our street. Their ages ranged from what looked like about 4 years old to middle age and I instantly got excited about what an impact this project could have on our community. Not just on the people being served, but on the people serving. I got excited about teaching my children why we do what we do on this day every year. I got excited to serve alongside others from different faith backgrounds for one unified purpose: showing the love of Christ to others.

Lincoln, I'm proud of you.

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Busy

This is what I mean when I say she's "into everything!"




What a sweet busy season of life this is.

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Dedicate a Day

As part of Hearts at Home Blog Tour during the month of September I'd like to republish a previous post I wrote after going to their National Conference two years ago. I had to miss it this past year as it was shortly after the birth of our daughter so I'm already getting antsy for next year's conference. The past few weeks have been a bit defeating dealing with sick kids and a toddler in the throes of terrible 2's/3's. I am more than eager to fill up on a little mommy encouragement in March at the 2009 Conference!


I went to a conference last Friday called Hearts at Home. It was a really nice day for these reasons:

• the car ride up and back with my friend E
• spending all day with my sis and getting her undivided attention (i'm still the baby, ok?) (by the way, check out her new business venture)
• crying through the first song (they really shouldn't make you cry within the first 15 min. of the day)
• laughing my head off during our first workshop. The speaker was hysterical
• learning that no matter what I deal with as a mom, some other mom has been there, done that and can often provide encouragement for the journey.

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Redemption

In applying for new health insurance for S's new job we were asked to give detailed account of any medical treatment we have had in the last FIVE YEARS.

Excuse me?

FIVE YEARS?! I can't even remember the last time I had 8 continuous hours of sleep, let alone every medical detail anyone in our family has experienced in the last FIVE YEARS!

Not only did they want to know dates, procedures, diagnoses, they wanted to know medications, dosages and frequency of medications. Surprisingly it wasn't quite as hard as I thought it might be and the specifics I couldn't remember I just guessed.

We filled out our application online and apparently even that did not provide enough detail because I received a call a few days later from an underwriter wanting more information about several conditions we had reported on our app.

One of the issues she wanted more info on was our infertility, specifically the endometriosis I had treatment for. What had been done, when, what results occurred, what subsequent treatments have been done, any recurrence...? She asked me several questions more than once. There are certain times in my life now when I have a hard time believing we went through all that. It seems like such a long ago period of our life when I see my squealing toddler running through the house and cuddle my little baby girl.

That's why I was caught so off guard by my emotional reaction to all her questions. I had to bite my lip several times through our conversation to keep from crying. I felt like once again my privacy was being violated by a complete stranger wanting to know the ins and outs of my painful past in order to make a judgement on paper as to my health condition. I wanted to scream, "THIS IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!" and hang up. I just kept wondering through the rest of the day if that dark period of my life will ALWAYS follow me.

And yet our sermon at church Sunday was a perfect reminder to me about the value of remembering our past when living in today. How can we really appreciate the power of redemption without remembering what we are redeemed from? As long ago as our years of infertility seem, they have greatly influenced who I've become today with a heart for hurting people. God has worked His redemption through my life in so many ways: healing my empty womb to allow me to carry children, healing my heart from the pain of my past, healing my soul that would otherwise be destitute and hopeless without Him.

Maybe God knew I needed that phone call from an unknowing underwriter to remind me of His Great Power in my life.

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Happy 25 years DM!

Discovery Ministries is a wilderness adventure camp that S interned at two summers in college. They were celebrating their 25 year anniversary this weekend so we took the fam to enjoy the festivities. Here are a few hi-lites...

W and Daddy rock-climbing


L rock-climbing (don't worry mom-S's holding her, you just can't see it in the pic)


W liked swinging better than climbing!


Alley Springs...gorgeous scenery


Daddy and W discovering


Stylin!

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