Still going! I’m dang determined to keep this up. Won’t weigh myself (don’t even own a scale), but I’m liking that my clothes are starting to have the loosies.

Giselle started a conversation today on RealChristianWoman that asked
What are you doing?
What are you thinking?

In response, I wrote:

A little wind, maybe
Not that we ever see much in the way of real hurricane weather in Tampa. This storm seems to be acting much like Charley with regard to route, but (as I’m sure many appreciate) is barely even a tropical storm. I admit to feeling a little disappointed when we’re supposed to get a good hurricane and it fizzles or goes elsewhere, but I usually don’t mention too much about it for fear of offending those who have experienced serious hurricane damage. Every now and then the wind picks up a little bit in gusts, and I smile down to my toes when it does. There’s just something about hurricane weather.

How could anyone vote for this and still sleep at night?
I saw a disturbing video today. I would suggest viewing it to anyone considering voting for Obama. If you value the lives of babies that apparently Mr. Obama doesn’t mind delivered alive and left in a storage room to die, you might want to take a look.

Music to Love
I love Deas Vail. They are just simply amazing. Their new EP is extraordinary. I’m pretty sure I’ve never heard vocals quite as mesmerizing, although Leeland comes pretty close.

Road Back to Fitness, Day 6
I won’t be weighing myself any time soon, so I won’t have a number to go by for a while. I am already feeling better and have more energy, and hopefully I will start seeing a difference in the way my clothes fit pretty soon. I’ve already had someone tell me I looked like I was losing weight, but that could’ve just been kindness. When I start hearing it consistently, I’ll be ready to celebrate. It’s really good to be back on the right track and to be able to actually have a little hope again that I can get back to a healthier and fitter me.

My Car
I’m hoping to get good news on my car diagnostic this morning. See, what had happened was…
We left PC and when we hit Ormond the oil light started flickering on the car. I thought that was odd, since we aren’t due for an oil change for another thousand miles. I stopped at the store and bought some oil, and Mattie put half a quart in, bringing the measurement up to halfway on the grid–a good spot to leave it. Got back into the car and the oil light stayed off. We noticed some greenish liquid on the ground, but we hadn’t had any indication of a cooling issue so we headed toward Tampa. A few miles before Tampa, there was a total backup on the interstate so I dodged off to take an alternate route the rest of the way. I wasn’t sure of the reason for the backup, but thought it would be a better idea to go another way. As I got off the interestate, I noticed an officer wasn’t allowing anyone to enter the interstate on that ramp, so I guessed it was a good call.

A few blocks down, my transmission started acting funny and not wanting to change gears. The engine sounded a little funny but not terrible, so I continued on a little farther. The oil light started flickering again and the transmission finally got so bad that I had to pull off the side of the road. Water and coolant immediately started pouring out of the reservoir and onto the ground. The indicator in the car was still registering on the cool side, not even up to the middle between cold and hot. I was baffled. I called my husband and he said he would meet me there. Then I called our mechanic in PC and explained the situation to him, and while I was waiting for him to answer I tried to get the transmission to go into gear. It wouldn’t, at all. So I turned the car off. The mechanic told me to crank the car back up, and when I did, it ran really rough and I had to keep giving it gas to keep it running. My mind was racing, “Great! The engine and transmission are both dying at once!” Then, suddenly, it started running fine.

After asking me a few more questions and having me test to make sure the fans were running, the mechanic told me to go ahead and drive to where I was going, and then to refill the reservoir as soon as the engine had cooled down again. He said the only guess he had was that maybe the reservoir cap was faulty. I drove up to the corner gas station and met up with my husband. There was a mechanic from a local car dealership there and he was flummoxed as to what had caused the problem, so we drove on to Jeff’s apartment. No problems at all during the drive there.

The next morning (yesterday) we took the car to our shop in Tampa to have it looked over. They called in the evening and said they wanted to keep it overnight to check it out further this morning just to make sure, because they couldn’t find anything wrong with it. I just got off the phone with the tech and he said they can’t find a problem. So I guess I’ll be heading over to pick it up. I have to say I’m a little nervous about how severe the problem seemed and now we have no explanation for why it happened which means I’m afraid it could mysteriously happen again (next time it might not happen in a convenient place). One thing I won’t complain about is a $20. diagnostics charge. I thought that was pretty awesome. So I am grateful that it wasn’t an expensive repair, and I’ll just have to trust the Lord to keep us safe.

Day two of no soda, mostly water to drink, and frequent tiny meals (if you can call them that LOL) behind me, and I’m forging ahead. It’s interesting to note how much better I feel overall without Mountain Dew coursing through my body and my digestive system completely confused if not totally deprived. I’m looking forward to continuing down the path to feeling better and better. 

Our car is supposed to be repaired today. We sure didn’t need that $200. cost out of nowhere piled on top of an already too-stretched budget, but I suppose it could be worse. Before it’s all over, we’ll have two brand new old cars. Thankfully they are both paid for! I can’t imagine juggling car payments on top of it all.

Cars aren’t the only things being repaired lately, I’m thinking. It’s bizarre how whole I am feeling even amidst all the ups and downs and the fact that we are facing moving back across the state next month. There are still quite a few unknowns (like where we’re going to live for starters), but I feel such a complete peace I can’t put it into words. I guess it’s obvious why I can’t describe it. Things of God often can’t be worded.

I’ve been bulk-dumping into my personal journal a lot lately, throwing everything into print just to get it out. It isn’t that it’s all bad, either, just jumbled. Putting it on the page helps me to sort it out. Sorting helps me study and learn, and that’s really the reward of all this, right? Wisdom?

So yeah, I am feeling God repairing many things in my heart and mind and spirit. He has used some amazing people in the process, both in pleasant and unpleasant ways, and I have to say I am feeling like I need to be grateful for both. In some ways that sounds almost silly, but if God works all things together for my good (and I believe He does, since He said so) then I have to believe that the unpleasant experiences I’ve had with people and circumstances have still been used for my growth and progress. It’s been hard at times, but the growth in me is tangible. I can see and feel it, and in some manner I’m hoping it will benefit others so they can see it too–not for my glory but for His.

Interestingly, I just got an email from one of my homeschool e-groups that included the following quote.

I wrote to a group of friends yesterday that I had “waved until their I-love-you hand signs disappeared around the corner and I couldn’t see them any more”. This morning I received this poem from my friend Sarah.

Waving at your I-Love-You hands
Watching them fade away,
Waiting to see
them come back again,
Back to our home some day.

Missing the touch of
I-Love-You hands,
Stroking my hair and face,
Holding, strengthening,
carefully keeping
The world in it’s over-there place.

Knowing wherever
I-Love-You hands go
How calloused and hard they become,
That their
softness stays in the love in your eyes,
And they’ll return and your words
will come.

No more need for I-Love-You hands,
When I-Love-You feet
bring you home,
When my-love-you ears hear I-love-you voice
And our
separate days are done.


I have some really good friends.
I wish there was a smiley with a tear.

• I was thinking back today to the three vacations we spent in the condo on Treasure Island. My current profile picture was taken on the balcony of the 6th-floor condo where we stayed. We made some truly amazing memories there. One of my favorites was the year the hurricane hit and the condo lost power so our family all gathered in the stairwell and watched the hurricane rage on through giant windows and sang praise songs in three-part harmony. When we’d finish a song we’d hear applause from various floors, and each song ending seemed to indicate that we were drawing an audience. It made me smile thinking of people listening to us and singing praises to the Lord along with us. I won’t ever forget it, and I’m pretty sure my family won’t, either.
• I was in Wal-Mart today and a precious woman came up behind me in line in one of those little carts. It was her own and not a Mart-Cart, but she apparently was still getting used to the way the buttons worked. It suddenly started beeping at her and she looked up rather sheepishly in her embarrassment. I smiled at her and said, “Those things have minds of their own, don’t they?” She smiled back and nodded. We carried on a friendly conversation while the cashier finished my order, the dear elderly woman reminding me more of my beloved Mama Mary by the moment. I found myself reluctant to leave her behind. I managed to wave at her one last time in the parking lot but resisted the urge to stop and give her my phone number in case she ever needed anything or just wanted to chat. I wish I had given it to her.
• Our 17-year-old son Trevor is leading worship this Sunday. Rosie and I are on vocals, and we’re doing one of my very favorite songs, “Lead Me To the Cross” (which should be playing currently here on my blog). We’ve worked the vocal switch-offs and harmonies until we have them down really well. I love the way Trevor leads. It makes me smile deep down.
• Trevor, Rosie, and Matt led worship for a youth group gathering last night and afterward got some pretty awesome feedback. The youth pastor called today to tell them thank you…and quite a bit more. It went something like this: I just want to tell you guys how much I appreciate you, not just because you did such a great job on the worship, but because of who you and your family are. I haven’t known many people who moved away and left me really missing them, but I feel that way about your family. The way your parents interact, the way you all interact as a family, the way you build each other up and don’t tear each other down…I mean, I’m sure you have issues like anyone else, but I just love the way you are with one another and the way you reach out to others. The neighborhood isn’t going to be the same. Things…just aren’t going to be the same without you. You’ve really shown me the way I want my family to be. When Megan and I have our kids I want them to be just like Trevor, Matt, and Rosie. I love you guys, and I’m really going to miss you. I’m so glad God brought you here.
• We’re having dinner with close friends tonight. It’s been a while since we got together with them, and I’m really looking forward to it. We’ll be talking over some pretty deep things, and it’s been a little while since we did that, too. It’s good to be able to share our hearts again.
• My beloved is on his way home right now. I can’t wait to feel his arms around me.

I was just sitting here thinking about “Mama Mia”, and it occurred to me that I would love to see it again with Lakin, Kristen, Bananders, Laurabelle, Mare, Valerie, Ronda, Kathie, Gretchen, Giselle, Retta, Bethy, Glenda, Karrie, Christy, Sharon, Jessica, Shea, Mari, Trisha, Suz, Kells, Crystal, Pam, Aunt Vernell, Tammy, Nadine, Mandie, all my dance moms, and a few other crazy women I could name. Talk about a RIOT. Not that I’ll get a chance to see any movie, ever, with all of those people in the same place. But a girl can wish. And if I’m wishing, I’ll add my mama to the list. She would’ve totally gotten it.

I’m dying to watch it with my daughter, but I’ll probably have to fast-forward some parts.

Which means I get to see my husband tomorrow. I got an email from him last night that said, “one day closer to you…” and it made my heart smile all night long.

Last night I went with about 30 awesome women to see “Mama Mia”. Definitely a unique film, but I loved it. Meryl Streep was as always vintage beauty in action (and song), and I loved seeing Amanda Seyfried in a completely different role from Karen in “Mean Girls”. I have to say it was interesting hearing Pierce Brosnan sing. He did well, though. I won’t say much more about it so this doesn’t become a spoiler. I do know I will be singing Abba songs for days.

God continues to lead us through this bizarre maze that our life has become. One thing’s for certain: It’s hold on for dear life, or else!