It's Time

I've put it off long enough, it's time to let you know about the new blog.

Small Town Nebraska

I'm not sure when I'll have good internet access, so if I don't post for a while don't give up on me. 

We might not be living in Lincoln anymore, but if you're in Lincoln and have an electrical need you should still call Brad. He's a fabulous electrician, and I need frequent excuses to road trip Lincoln.

Electrical Recycling

Here's something interesting about being an electrician. If you're a thrifty one, you save scraps and go turn them in for cash.

Since Brad was saving aluminum and copper, I took it upon myself to help with the cause. I faithfully collected all the "pop" cans I could spot on every walk I've been on for quite a while now. The kids are pro's at spotting them now too. We easily averaged two cans a walk. I thought maybe it was paying me to take a walk. Well, this box of cans (plus a few other pieces of aluminum)...

...paid me a whopping $5.85. It sure is going to take a lot of walking to earn money for much. All the stuff Brad collected earned him almost $300.00. I guess I need to go start walking construction sites.

Update

About time for an electrician update, isn't it?
He's been keeping busy the last couple of weeks. He just passed his inspection with no problem on the rough in (a.k.a. before drywall) part of the first new home he's wiring as Robertson Electric. It's a log home in the sandhills, which seems like an interesting fact you would want to know. I hope to see the final result someday. Maybe I'll show you a picture of a light he put in it someday.

Now for a Julie update.
I've actually finished six chapters of Sacred Marriage: What If God Designed Marriage to Make Us Holy More Than to Make Us Happy by Gary Thomas. It's interesting enough that I can actually read it before I go to bed without falling asleep after five minutes. I do find it a little difficult to read a book on marriage when it is a husband talking about what he's done to be a better husband. I have a remarkable husband, but I've had times when I thought of pointing to a paragraph in the book and making Brad read it. Clearly I need to read the book and let the part soak in that talks about making yourself better and not your spouse. (see 3rd quote below)

 I thought I should share some interesting quotes from the book for you.

"The difficulty with honoring our spouse is that it calls us to adopt attitudes and actions that go far beyond merely saying that we won't dishonor him or her. As Betsy and Gary Ricucci point out, "Honor isn't passive, it's active...""   That's on page 63 if your book is like mine.

"Whether in men or women, there develops an underlying ruthlessness, a demanding spirit, and a stark self-absorption that permeates every task and relationship as the person seeks to manipulate others into joining their own orbit rather than seeking to launch people into God's." He says this on page 78 of my book when he's talking about people who sacrifice their family relationships for their personal ambitions.

This one I have to ponder from page 101. "Much of our marital dissatisfaction stems in actuality from self-hatred. We don't like what we've done or become; we've let selfish and sinful attitudes poison our thoughts and lead us into shameful behaviors, and suddenly all we want is out....The times that I am happiest and most fulfilled in my marriage are the times when I am intent on drawing meaning and fulfillment from becoming a better husband rather than from demanding a "better" wife."

I've also been spending time on creating a new blog. I might tell you where to find it in a month or so.

Running and Reading

Congratulations to Team Rob The Truck. The five people on our team - Brad, Tyler, Jill, Shauna and I - all finished the 10k Havelock Run. Finding five people to train, sign up for and complete a 10k is harder than you might think. We were all happy to finish and City Impact gets money! It's a win/win.

My reading kick has slowed some you may have noticed, but it came back with a vengeance with all the quality, quiet car time I had when Brad and I got away to Minneapolis this weekend. Maybe because I was content to just read while we were driving instead of attempting to have quality conversation time with my husband is why my mom gave me Sacred Marriage: What If God Designed Marriage to Make Us Holy More Than to Make Us Happy to read. The first chapter is about "a call to holiness more than happiness." I bet Brad probably went and hid any other book I might consider reading so that I read this one quick. I'm going to try to stretch my brain more than I do by reading fiction and give it a try.

Once I finish it, I'll make sure I encourage Brad to read it.         He's actually on a reading kick too lately. Currently he's reading Beyond the Final Score: There's More to Life Than the Game by Tom Osborne. He keeps sharing all the great info he's reading, so I don't know if I even will need to read the book when he gets done with it. (Thanks for the book Dad!)

On our trip I finished my most recent Blogging for Books book and read
Sharpshooter in Petticoats in it's entirety. That series could easily be made into a western movie that I would want to watch.

As for the book that I got free for this review from WaterBrook Multnomah...


I can't decide what I feel about it. It wasn't hard to read, was well written, and I wanted to find out what happened; but fiction about someone who really lived was hard for me to come to terms with. The Daughter's Walk is about a real girl named Clara who actually walked across the country with her mom in 1896. No kidding! They walked from Washington to New York. The author, Jane Kirkpatrick, did extensive research on Clara's life. She then fills in the unknown and makes a story about what she thinks may have happened. I loved learning about life in a different era while reading, but I was always wondering what was really true and what did the author make up. Kirkpatrick does explain a lot of that at the end, so that eased my unease some. In my opinion writing a book like this would have to be much more difficult than writing about someone you can create from scratch.

I liked the book enough to check out from the library another of Kirkpatrick's books that I'm assuming is written the same way. Of course I won't be reading that until I finish "Sacred Marriage."

Or maybe I'll alternate books every time I finish a chapter. Sometimes I have to create a little motivation.

Remember The Wonders He Has Done, Part 2

Continuing right from where I left off before...

I'm sure many families would've been more than happy to adopt her baby right when he was born; but because of some complicated court issues, he wasn't able to be adopted right away. In the mean time, after my parents had time to grieve and process, they looked into adoption. We stopped by the adoption agency to check in at about the same time that a judge said the little boy could be adopted. The agency saw us and knew we were the family for him.

We didn't disagree. Less than a year after looking into adoption and 14 months after losing a baby, we brought home an adorable 14 month old boy. His location had to be kept secret for a while, so it felt sort of like an undercover operation. We had to give him a new name, which was the third name he'd be given in his entire life. We named him Luke, and to say he was well loved and attended to would be an understatement.

He was more adorable than words can describe. (Still is actually)

Thanks Mom and Dad for finding and scanning pictures!
Do we wish that Jay would've been a healthy baby and lived? Of course! Did Luke's birthmom enjoy going through 48 hours of labor, (which means she was probably in labor almost the same time my mom was!) then having a major c-section, giving up her baby for adoption and then wondering for over a year if he would find a good home? I don't think so! Did God have a plan?! YES!

This example of how God works things for good has been on the forefront of my mind because Luke just got married. When he seated his birthmom during the wedding, I made the mistake of looking at my sister and the tears rolled. Not only was that little boy all of a sudden grown up and getting married, but he was with the woman who chose adoption, which allowed us to have him as our brother. We're so proud to have Luke as our brother, and so deeply thankful for his birthmom.


The details that show how God was at work in both of our stories are countless. I feel completely inadequate to tell them all because I was almost eight at the time it all started, and I only know of most of the amazing ways God worked because of what I've heard people say. I think Luke, his birthmom and my parents all just need to write a book together. (I think they could follow the format of The Same Kind of Different As Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore, but I'd let them settle for writing posts for my blog if they're not up for a book at the moment.)

When talking with Luke's birthmom about her story, she mentioned how she sees the fingerprints of God through it all. Our stories are definitely proof God is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think (Ephesians 3:20).  I'd be beyond hopeless if I couldn't count on God to work all things for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28). I'm also thankful to have lived through Him doing just that for my family. It makes remembering His wonders a lot easier when evidence of them is right in front of you.

Psalm 105:1-5
 Oh give thanks to the LORD, call upon His name;
Make known His deeds among the peoples.
Sing to Him, sing praises to Him;
Speak of all His wonders.
Glory in His holy name;
Let the heart of those who seek the LORD be glad.
Seek the LORD and His strength;
Seek His face continually.
Remember His wonders which He has done...

Remember The Wonders He Has Done

Seems like I've heard a lot of bad news lately - tornadoes, floods, fire, death.

It's one of those times where I have to look back and remember what great things I've seen God do. Thankfully I've had one of those instances of how God works things for good right in front of me recently.

In 1988, my mom gave birth to a little boy, Jay, prematurely by c-section. Right after he was born, my parents were shocked to find out he wouldn't live long. Jay had a problem with his chromosomes, specifically trisomy 18, but he lived a full two weeks.

My mom had been on bed rest and her tummy was larger than it should have been (We later learned this was because Jay couldn't swallow, which I always thought was a very interesting cause/effect.), but we didn't know the baby was going to have major problems. We were very proud that he could pee and that he had a great grip. We were thankful for every day we had with him, but needless to say it was a very tough time for our family.



Also in 1988, a high school girl got pregnant. Considering she was a pastor's daughter with college in sight, I'm pretty sure that wasn't what she had planned. In order to have her baby born in a state that was more favorable towards adoption of children who are partially Native American, she actually moved away from her family to an entirely different state to finish high school and have her baby. I think it's safe to say it was a rather tough time of life for her as well. She gave birth to her baby exactly two days after Jay.

I'm not making it up when I tell you those two tough stories collide and make an amazingly happy one. I'd tell you the rest of the story, but I can't let myself without a picture. So we're all just going to have to sit tight and I'll finish the story later.

I promise it's too good to not finish.

Do I trust God?

I like to think that I had the perfect job for me this year.

(I should probably put something about how being a mom is actually the perfect job, but I kind of sit in the boat that says - I do a little bit better at staying home with my kids when I go work somewhere else for a couple days. - Gasp in horror and call me a rebel if you need. Maybe you won't think I'm so evil if I tell you that I worked three days a week this year and would much prefer to only work two.)

I love working in a high school, I love the students, I love the things they're learning, I love the environment, and I love the role of the SLP in a high school. I rarely ever had that sinking feeling of dread about the day when walking into work. I'm sure it helped that one day a week I got to work with Kyla. 

Say hello to my newest blog follower!

To say I was a little torqued when I found out I don't get to go back to my perfect job for me would be an understatement. Usually when educators get to the last few months of the school year, they start counting down the days until summer with extreme eagerness. When I saw how many days were left it just made me want to cry. Yesterday was my last day and I started getting all teary eyed in the parking lot before I even got out of my car. (Thankfully I got a grip for the rest of the day and didn't lose it until Elliana said good bye to a little friend at daycare.) I am so sad that I won't get to stay with my students and see them graduate, and since I really love this job I'm almost dreading working with elementary students next year. If you're reading this and you're my employer, don't worry, I'll eventually get over it.

I've been a bit mad at God over it all. Why shouldn't I get to stay at a job that I think is perfect for me? In the book I last finished, The Same Kind Of Different As Me, which is essentially a very interesting and moving autobiography of two people, one of those two people writes this:

There's somethin I learned when I was homeless: Our limitation is God's opportunity. When you get all the way to the end of your rope and there ain't nothin you can do, that's when God takes over. I remember one time I was hunkered down in the hobo jungle with some folks. We was talkin 'bout life, and this fella was talkin, said, "People think they're in control, but they ain't. The truth is that which must befall thee must befall thee. And that which must pass thee by must past thee by." (169)

Does it make sense to say my life is not my own? Do I really think that I want to be in control of my own life? My mom and I were talking about something that worries us, and she said she just has to ask herself, "Do I trust God?"   So I think it completely stinks that I have to leave the job that I think is perfect for me, but I've had to ask myself, "Do I trust God?" Really, trusting Him on the issue is really my best option because being angry about it just makes this ugly pit of discouragement fill me up.

I'm not in control of the plan for my life, but I'm trusting God to have a plan for me that far surpasses what I would get out of staying at my perfect job (and crying every now and then because I'm sad it's not the plan  I wanted).

HIS little feet

Follow this lovely link -----> HIS little feet  <------ and you'll see the captivating smiles of the 15 children who led our church in worship this morning. I was teary through the whole thing. I went to their concert this evening and started getting teary all over again.

It is so sad to me that they are orphans, but what really made me cry was their joy. They sang the song "Blessed Be Your Name" like they meant it. Only God can bring children who have had terrible life circumstances to a point where they can praise him and have an impact on people across our country. They certainly had an impact on me; they showed me that whatever my circumstances, God can keep my heart still praising Him. I also decided we need to adopt two siblings from another country. Doesn't everyone feel that way though, or is it just me?

Speaking of adoption...

...my brother became my brother when he was 14 months old. Yesterday he graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. That made me teary too. My tear ducts are working I guess. The smart school that decides to hire him will be getting a fabulous high school business teacher. Working in the schools, my heart swells when I see a quality educator in action. I have a sense Luke's going to be one of them. I'm sure it's partly because of the profound impact his two other mothers (a.k.a his sistsers) had on him. We were very good about making sure he didn't watch too much tv when we were in charge!

Comparisons and other 1/2 marathon reflections

One of my dad's frequently declared quotes is "All comparisons are odious." Well, when it comes to half marathons I completely agree, especially when I begin to compare how I looked after the race to the female who ran it in half that time I did that took the time to put make up on before the 7 am race. She must have known she would get her picture taken.

I guess I knew I would too, but I chose to go as unprimped as possible. Here's proof as I stand before the race with my fabulous running mates, Shauna and Charles.

More proof of my unprimped self as I stand with part of our send off team. Charles' parents and my sister-in-law to be were also there super early to send us off as well.

I'm so glad they sent us off because it makes the experience even more fun and because they were able to get a picture of my other running mate, who I need to name,

and a picture of me looking like I'm running. Looking like I was running in the pictures was one of my goals for this half marathon. Look for the shirt I always wear when running in official races. My cheerleaders say it helps them spot me.

Here's a closer look in case you couldn't find me or make out how 2 inches taller than normal and it actually looks like I'm running - focused, serious, both feet off the ground.

Speaking of cheerleaders, look at what Charles, Shauna and I had going for us.

(I believe the hair sticking up one the top of my head is my wings from last year.)

 Brad got the kids up early and out the door and was able to get to four different spots along the race to cheer for Shauna and I. Elliana cheering with all her might was priceless! They would've cheered for Charles too, but Charles could only stand about 2 miles of our pace and sprinted off to finish 20 minutes before Shauna and I. He wasn't wearing an orange under armor shirt either so I'm sure that made it hard for Brad to spot him as well.

With this amazing group of people and Brooke (who made Shauna and I a sign!) we were able to have 8 different spots where people were encouraging us on. Hearing them shout their lungs out during the last .1 mile was unforgettable. Thanks everyone!

(Only when you're on a high from finishing a race do you really have the nerve to put your sweaty armpits around your friends. Sorry about that guys!)

Now back to the comparison lecture before I tell you Shauna and my finishing time. (We tied all the way to the second if you're wanting to compare how we did.) Comparing half marathon speeds is completely odious. If I compared my time to the winner's, I could feel like such a slow runner; but I believe that would be a completely worthless comparison other than to note she's unbelievably fast. I was not made to run that fast. I most certainly couldn't have finished much faster than I did.

I don't think it's odious to compare my time this year to last because it does show improvement. It's a personal accomplishment for me and one I never thought possible, actually. Here's the comparison.

2010: average pace: 10:14 (and I spent at least 4 hours after the run in the bathroom or curled up in my bed while everyone else went to brunch) 

2011: average pace: 9:59 (and I only spent 15 minutes in the bathroom and was actually able to eat lunch!)

Can you believe my goal was 10 minute miles?! Scary considering I don't like to think I'm goal oriented.

Now please don't go comparing your would be or actual time to mine because that would be completely odious. However, I would consider setting a goal for yourself so you can have a great personal accomplishment as well. Continue reading for a possible opportunity...

So now it's over and I start to get depressed because I don't have a half marathon to train for to give me an excuse to run, BUT there is another run coming up that you can join me on:  The Havelock Run the first weekend in June.

I'd like to get together a team of 5-7 people to run the 10k, but if I can't find enough people to do that, I'd consider putting together a team to run the 5k. Let me know if you're interested in either. If 5 people from a team finish, the charity of my choice gets a donation! I failed at this last year but am trying again anyway! I need a reason to run!  If I don't have one, I prefer to not have to hassle with changing into and out of running clothes to exercise.

 

MORE Reading!

I just finished another book that I recevied for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review. My reading kick continues!

The Book:

It took me a few days before I read it to get over wanting to read the title as "Lie Lees" in Moonlight. It is true that the plural for the flower lily is lilies, but my brain doesn't like the fact that it has to say a short 'i' in front of an undouble consonant. Thankfully, the main character's name is Lilly, so whenever her name was followed by 's' may brain could easily just say "Lil Lees."

This book was great for me because I now have a better understanding of the "flapper" era. I'm terrible with history so "flapper" meant very little to me. I didn't think of the book as historical fiction until I was done reading; but when I saw it was, I thought back and realized I did learn lots of things about that time in our country's history while reading. Makes me appreciate reading even more.

I didn't become too emotionally attached to the characters, but I thoroughly enjoyed them all. It's probably good to read a book where I don't feel the need to pray and dream about the characters. I found the plot to be entertaining once I got past the first two chapters, which were kind of vague. I'm sure they were intended to leave you questioning, but I was a little concerned I wasn't going to enjoy the book.

Thankfully I did enjoy it and I'm guessing you would too. Just ask Brad about how I enjoyed it. He asked me once when we were with his family over Easter if I could be a little less anti-social. What's a woman to do when she only has a couple of chapters left?! 

After I get through this weekend, the next books on my reading agenda are Same Kind of Different As Me: A Modern-Day Slave, an International Art Dealer, and the Unlikely Woman Who Bound Them Together, which was highly recommended by the Johnsons and which my mom praised highly, and Sharpshooter in Petticoats (Sophie's Daughters), which is the 3rd in a series written by my mom's cousin!

Mom and Jill, you'll have to wait a bit on deciding who gets to borrow Lilies in Moonlight first because it's heading up to Amy, who is on hospitalized bedrest for up to five more weeks! If anyone wants to give a little shout of encouragement to her, feel free!

Funky

I just saw that my last post was my 100th for this blog. What an uninteresting post for the infamous 100th post! I've felt rather funky in general about this blog lately. As if you couldn't already tell that based on the randomness and irregularity of the posts.

My focus started as talking about how Brad is lighting things up and how I'm lightening up by dealing with my issues. I've been terrible about telling you what Brad's been doing, although he's had relatively steady work lately. (*PTL!*) I've already dealt with all my issues so I've none left to tell you about.

Ha Ha!

Actually, I just got sick of telling you about all my issues and thought maybe you were all going to start thinking I just liked to beat myself up on here. Who wants to read that?

So I've lost focus, which is actually one of the reasons I've been post irregularly.

The other reason I've been irregularly posting is because my mind is all wrapped up with a new blog I want to start.

You're thinking, "Seriously, another new blog? Would you just settle on one and stay there?"

Yes and sorry, I hope I will someday.

I'm no where close to telling you about the new blog because I so want to start this blog right. I want it to look great (but have no idea how to make that happen *HELP*), I want it to have a focus that I don't veer from like I've done with this blog (which I'm still hashing out), and I don't want to tell you its topics yet. 

I sort of feel like I need to have a little blog committee meeting. Any volunteers who'd like to be full of constructive criticism and helpful ideas? I'm thinking a meeting at a coffee shop just before bedtime so that I can get out of putting the kids to bed. My sister and I did that this week and it was FABULOUS! Anyone else get sick of bedtime?

Mostly it's that perfectionist tendency of not starting something because you're afraid you can't do it right that's keeping me from working on it. That and that my mind is a slightly full with all the MAJOR events coming in the month of May...

1/2 Marathon
My Brother's Graduation
Our 9th Anniversary
Wyatt's 2nd! Birthday
My Last Day of Work for the School Year
Brother's Wedding!

Perhaps I should put blog creation on the back burner for a few weeks.... :(

On the Lighter Side of Goals

Just so you don't get worried that I'm becoming overly goal oriented, let me tell you the first thoughts that came to my mind when I considered what my current goals might be for my kids....

Wyatt:  Needs to talk more
Elliana: Needs to talk less [only at appropriate times]

I know that "all comparisons are odious;" but when I compared those thoughts to what I remember reading on Breezy Acre Farms about how she has 3-5 character goals for her kids, I realized I have a ways to go to get on the majorly-goal-oriented-person ship.

Still on the lighter side of goals would be our financial goal for the year: to not spend more than we make. That's a little tricky considering the income of my fabulous self-employed husband is always unknown. God has consistently shown up in the last two plus years of self-employment; because of that, I have a lot fewer worries about money than I did two years ago! I know He'll keep taking care of us even if we currently don't have a very ambitious financial goal.

I probably have a subliminal personal financial goal: to get as many things free as possible. It probably borders on the line of an unhealthy obsession, but it's also personal entertainment.

Then one more reason why I laughed at myself after I wrote my last goal post (get it? ha ha!) - it occurred to me I write goals for every single student I work with at school. I referred to goals at work in that post but was talking about the ones we deal with in long staff meetings. I didn't even think about individual student goals when I was writing that last novel. Perhaps that's just evidence that I have very little problem with leaving work at work.

This now concludes my thoughts on goals until January of 2012. You may have to read more about my mission before then but that's still getting tweeked.