I've started this post multiple times, trying to make it amusing and interesting to read; but have been unsuccessful. I just wanted to share a few things that happened this past week with my children that is making me hold them all a little tighter.
Monday I got a phone call from my sister asking for prayer because she had a tick bite that is looking rather scary and has to have blood work done to see if she has Lyme's Disease. After that call, I remembered that I had pulled a tick off Lily's head on Thursday and called her over to check on it again. AFter 4 days, it was still very swollen, red and sore - so I called the dr. Fortunately, they think she's fine, but has to take antibiotics for a month. (Prayers are still appreciated for my sister, as we won't know her results for about a month.)
Then, Wednesday, the girls were all sitting at the bar finishing lunch. When I went to the sink, Eva decided to get herself done from the stool, but apparently slipped. I turned in time to see her flip and do a direct head dive onto the tile floor. I immediately scooped her up and set her up to check her out. She was groaning and not crying and struggling to breath. I called Joe and he came home within about 2 minutes to find her still grunting and pale, and wanting to go to sleep. He called a worker from the greenhouse to come stay with the other girls and we took off for the drs office which normally is about 7 minutes away, and I think we made it there in less than 4 minutes. By the time we arrived there, Evie was starting to breath normally and still wanted to go to sleep, but was able to talk to me. After checking her out thoroughly, the dr said that she had gotten the wind knocked out of her and was stunned, but perfectly fine, not even a bump on her head. We kept her awake for a couple hours and she's been fine since.
Then, Friday night, we were having a family night. Evie and Elley were watching a movie and Joe, Anna, Lily and I were playing Scrabble. At some point, Lily went upstairs to get something, and we heard what sounded like someone falling down the stairs. We took off running, expecting to see Lil on the landing. Running up the stairs, we discovered that that was not the sound we heard. But, right inside the girls' bedroom we saw the tall chest of drawers toppled. Apparently, Lil tried to climb up the dresser to get in the top drawer and it fell. She says she tried to hold it back when it started to tip (she weighs about 35 pounds!), but managed to get out of the way, except for getting her fingers pinched in the drawer. I just held her and thanked the Lord for His protection, because I absolutely believe there was angelic intervention that kept that incident from being much much worse. Lily was very shook up and will NEVER try that again and will be very cautious to make sure her sisters don't either!
Finally, last night, we were in Ephrata at an international worship service at another Dove church. We had only done one song, when we heard a loud noise and the power went out. People scurried for candles and flashlights and they continued the service, despite the loud pounding, which we discovered was golf-ball-sized hail. After the service, people were heading out,still in the dark, when I discovered Evie missing. She had been sitting with Jess' boys at the other end of the row, and when Jessi went up front to retrieve Kate's ring that she forgot in the bathroom, apparently Eva followed her without anyone seeing. Immediately we fanned out, looking and calling for her and after a few minutes, she was found being "detained" by two guys in the front of the church trying to figure out where she belonged. It was heartstopping, considering it was dark, and the doors to the parking lot were propped open to allow some light in. She was oblivious to my fear and was content to be stuck right back into my sling. When all was said and done, we also discovered that apparently, it was not just a hail storm outside the church, but also some tornado activity, that shattered the church sign, tore down the steeple and destroyed a barn across the street, as well as poles down, roofs blown apart and other random damage all around where we were. We are very grateful for our safety!
All this to say, I think God must be pulling out all the stops lately to get me to deal with some issues! I'm feeling a bit battered dealing with the identity thing, and now adding the fear thing on top of it! I'm about ready for a break!

Ahhh! I screwed up my facebook account and had to start all over again! If anyone was my friend there, could you please add me again, so I can rebuild my friend list? I just don't know what I'll do without my connection to the outside world through facebook!

Normally, I try to refrain from posting unless I have something good to share - something funny that happened, something uplifting that I'm learning. But, I've been feeling less than amused or uplifted for a while. Maybe it's the time of year; I definitely struggle when I'm not getting quality time with the hubby, and get to feeling restless waiting for the warm days of spring. Maybe it's just that I was really enjoying feeling a bit of peace for a while and God decided to rip me a new one to shake things up. I don't know. I'm not yet to the point where I can clearly see the lesson. Still at the point where I just want to hide and cry. Having to come back to basics - who God says I am. This seems to be a recurring theme with me - struggling with my identity, my value; apparently I'm a very slow learner. Where does this come from - this feeling of being unaccepted? My poor husband doesn't know what to do with me, when every time he comes home, he finds me crying. So, just putting it out there - kind of a warning to those that may be unfortunate enough to cross my path right now.

Joey was cleaning up around the outside of the house today, and Evie was watching him move things on the back deck. He threw some dead plants in the garbage and Evie said, "Good girl Daddy!". Hey, a little encouragment goes a long way - even if it's slightly gender confused!

He's a true romantic

Since I started back working at the greenhouse, twice things about my husband have come to my attention that make me sigh with love. One day, the women that Joe works with informed me that they had asked Joe at some point what his favorite color was. His response? "Hazel, the color of my wife's eyes." Awww.
And then, later we happened to be working in the office at the same time and he was logging into some account of his online - credit card, or cell phone or something - and I happened to see that his safety question/password that he had chosen was, "What is the last name of your best friend?"; and he typed in glick. He could've chosen any of those other questions, like the name of your first pet, or the town where you were born. But he picked the best friend question - and put me as the answer. It may not seem like a big deal, but I found it seriously touching. Because, after being married for almost 10 years, I'm still so in love with this man, and I really really LIKE him too; and it's nice to be reminded that he still feels the same.