20 Years off my life!

I have to share a story about Alex today. We were at the base pool and Alex and some other kids were all jumping off the diving board. Another Mommy and her 2 year old daughter were in the water hanging on to the side and I was standing on deck near the ladder. Alex dove in and came up, just as he wiped the water off his face another 4 yr. old little boy ran down the diving board and jumped.... knees bent... right into Alex's head. The Mommy in the water tossed her daughter on the side (she was wearing a life jacket) and headed towards Alex. The instant I saw the boy start to jump I flung my hat off my head and dove straight in after my boy knowing the pain he was going to be feeling. I got to him just as he came up crying. I snatched him up trying to calm him down as we swam to the side while I secretly searched for blood.

My heart raced from watching a 40+ pound kid jump on my sons head and from diving in to rescue him. Scared the CRAP out of me. Alex cried for several minutes and said it really scared him as he couldn't breathe. He clung to me while I tried to focus on him and remember accidents happen and the child was only 4. (My Mommy instinct was to yell at the kid, lol). Within 5 minutes Alex decided he was fine and was back up on the board jumping off again.

Several lifeguards all commented on my quick reaction and Alex's calm recovery. It could have been so much worse and we were all blessed that it wasn't.

But I SWEAR it shaved at least 20 years off my life.....................

4i's

I want to say this picture says it all but of course I have more to say. When I first put my new lenses on my eyes and brain freaked out. Everything just looked weird. I don't want to say clear but almost too bright. My brain literally hurt. I took them off to drive home in fear I might crash the car. Once home I pulled the shades shut and sat in my recliner, lenses on, trying to allow my eyes to adjust and focus. I was amazed at how bright and clear my computer screen seemed. I was also impressed that I could read the names on the videos on the shelf across the room. Whoa! I finally felt settled about an hour later but then it was time to leave and when I stood up my eyes freaked out again. I kept catching myself looking at things either above or below my glasses. Ugh.. I was warned I may have a headache off and on for a few days. I tried to wear them the rest of the evening but finally at 10pm I gave up and put them away. I am surprised how hard my brain is fighting looking at things "properly". I guess they have been trained and are stubborn. IMAGINE... my eyes are even stubborn. Ugh....

As to the way I look.. well.. since I had been in the pool today my hair is insane, plus my cold sore isn't gone, my face is swollen, I'm PMSing, and well tough crap all your getting is what you see! If you don't like it... send me a e-mail!!

Rick decided he can actually see things better using my glasses and has decided he may need to steal them. I explained maybe he TOO is getting old and needs glasses. He argued that he has 20/20 vision YET could not tell me that last time he saw an optometrist.

Alex LOVED my glasses and told me I looked HOT! LOL.. ahhh to revel in the fact my 5 year old thinks his Mama is hot. He was very excited and said "now we match" "we are so cool", "people who wear glasses are not blind they just have a little extra style". Yeah being 5 rocks!

Luke 10: 41

"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed." ~ Luke 10:41

A friend (let's call him Andrew) who has been praying for me regarding numerous things but especially Africa told me a story today. He was in the book store looking for a special bible for my husband. (That's another story), but during the process he was thumbing through one and opened directly up to Luke 10:41. Interesting since he was thinking of both Rick and I. Even more with everything he knows that is going on in my head regarding Africa.

Andrew is not one who runs around pointing out random things and says it's from God, BUT, when something really hits him and truly feels like it's God speaking he listens and shares if necessary.

When Andrew told me I laughed... but he said He truly believed that with all my stress over if I should go to Africa I may actually be missing something. Did he happen to know what that something IS? No.. of course not. :) But man I loved him for sharing....

I am working hard to not allow Africa to become a focus but rather allow God to show me the way. However, what I am finding is it's like trying to get pregnant. Once you actually decide and start trying you suddenly notice every maternity store, every pregnant women on the street, and every infant in a 500 mile radius.

No, I am not finding every missionary in Columbus and grilling them but I do find myself turning my head to every magazine, book, tv show, movie, or newspaper article about Africa. The more I read the more my heart breaks, the more I feel led.

Today in the car Alex asked me "Mama, how many more days till you go to Africa? (pause and before I could answer) The babies are waiting for you"

*** Side notes from Andrew who I spoke about above***
"I have some additional commentary on Africa. I think what I was trying to to say about your focus is that maybe YOU were still trying to figure out the particulars of going or not going rather than BEING STILL and waiting for God to make it clear in His time. Somehow that came out that you were missing something. I didn't mean that in a tangible sense, more that perhaps you should focus on His will and let Him work out the particulars."

What color blue is your pool?

Today we once again headed to the base pool. It was brutally hot and humid out so we were ready. The pool there is a saline pool which is the coolest thing ever. No chlorine smell and no stinging of eyes. Kind of like swimming in the ocean minus the NASTY seaweed and jellyfish.

The base pool has 2 slides and a 5 foot diving board. Alex is a FISH with no fear. He passed the swimming test with no problem. This consisted of swimming 50 yards without stopping. Alex was doing crazy jumps off the diving board, swimming in the deep end, and going down the "big boy slide".

Enjoy the pictures! Not sure if you can tell but in one he is grinning at me as he comes off the slide. Cracked me up when I went back and looked at it. There were actually several like it. He is such a ham and just silly!

Glasses are not for Nerds!

Tell me that's not the cutest thing you have ever seen!! Alex got his glasses today. He struggled to pass his 20/20 vision. He did but just barely. He really squinted and his left eye watered like crazy. He also had astigmatism. So we decided to go with glasses to give his eyes a little help and allow them a chance to mature and get stronger. We will see in a year how is doing. I think this is a good thing with him starting Kindergarten in August.
I am going to get my eyes checked next Monday. I have not had them checked since I turned 16. Basically 15 years. OUCH!! Plus with my headaches and the amount of time I spend on here who knows what I will do. Everyone in my family wears glasses except my brother Tim. I wore them for 1 year in 6th grade due to poor lighting in the classroom I was in.

My Review...

Yesterday, Alex, Lynn, Connor and I drove to Starkville to see Narnia Prince Caspian. I was a little disappointed as a Mom. The first Narnia (The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe) was truly focused on the children who would be watching it. They took the time to explain and give the characters depth and personality.

Also what happened to the depth of spiritual theology in this film? Did the producers forget who wrote the book and the Christian rock he stood on? There was a thin "have faith" line repeated several times. But, it was so thin it's almost not noticeable. On a moral compass there were acts of betrayal, deceit, attempted murder and plenty of politics and back-stabbing. But the kings and queens of old, as well as Caspian, fight for what is good and true. Caspian is tempted by revenge, and Peter's pride leads to disaster, but everyone sees the error of their ways in the end. For the most part, the girls are portrayed as courageously as the boys.

There was constant violence or "awesome sword fights" if you ask Alex. BUT barely a story line... There was no true "gore" but rather understood gore. Characters are pierced by arrows and swords and fall to the ground (many are injured, and some do die), little gore is shown besides the odd cut on the lip or cheek.

I give it a C. This movie just barely hung on to Alex's attention and dragged on grasping at straws to truly be called a Narnia movie. sigh....

Africa? Africa? AFRICA???

Every now and again (okay more now than then but whatever it's my blog), God has these crazy conversations with me. I mean seriously crazy and I start checking not only my sanity but His too. It started several months ago maybe around December. My Best Friend Lori was turning 40 and her husband Trent was paying her way to go on a Mission Trip to Africa with our church. I tossed around the idea of going but God quickly put me in my place that I was only thinking about it because she was going. Well.. DUH.. 3 weeks kid free with my best friend on a crazy adventure... OF COURSE that's what I was thinking. Well, God as you can imagine was NOT pleased with my thought process and rightly told me so. Sigh.. no Africa trip for me in 2008.

Well, then my son (being the future Baptist Preacher that he is) begins the nightly ritual of praying for the people in Africa but especially the children. I mean he REALLY prays for them. He wants them all to have shoes, more than just rice to eat, a warm bed and most importantly someone to hug every day. Alex began to save part of his "commission" (aka: allowance) for the children in Africa. Every time he outgrows something he tells me to bag it up for the kids in Africa.

I started wondering if God was trying to tell me something through Alex. So I really started listening and praying hard with Alex. I asked God if he had a message for me to make it clear.

Now stay with me here.... this all makes sense in my head but typed out.. well who knows!

For the past 6 months not a day has gone by that something hasn't prompted my attention and prayers for Africa. A website link, a newspaper ad, a TV show, my son in his 100 questions. The interesting part is that it is always kid related.. always.

About a month ago I was in my room folding laundry and Alex comes in, climbs up on my bed for a "chat". I can always tell when it's gonna be serious because he gets comfy and looks very serious. Here is how the conversation went:

Alex: Mama, God told me that I was going to get a "chocolate brother"

Me: umm really? a chocolate one huh?

Alex: yes from Africa

Me: Ok

Alex: no I am serious and you have to go get him!

Me: Alex, Africa is very far away and very expensive to get there. You can't just go and pick a baby put him in a suitcase and fly home with a baby.

At this point I have gone from aww he's so cute to ohh man he's going to get his heart broken.

Alex: Mama, I'm not worried God will take care of it all. You just listen okay?

Me: Umm Okay Alex but be patient okay? And know it's God's will no matter what. I Love you and you are my forever boy.

Alex: climbs down and leaves the room saying YEAH I'm getting a chocolate brother!!

(Slapping forehead)... OHHH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

Needless to say I have told others this story with the "awe Alex said the cutest thing"... But now I wonder if it isn't something more?

I have been feeling more and more drawn to go to Africa on our teams next trip in July 09'. Every time I begin to argue with why I CANNOT GO.. God responds.... ugh.... WHY does HE always respond?? lol

Let me just lay it out here as t why I cannot go to Africa......

1. $$$$$$$ JUST to go it's $5,000 not to mention spending money etc and all the things I don't know about, hidden fees etc.

2. It's a 3 week trip.. I CANNOT leave my son and husband for that long!

3. Who in the world would take care of Alex while I am gone and Rick's at work?

4. Who would do my job (at work) for 3 weeks?

5. I would need a mess of shots $$$$$

6. I need a Visa $$$$

7. I would need Luggage?? $$$

8. I would need different clothes $$$$$

9. What if I am not spiritually ready?

10. How am I a "baby" Christian suppose to minister to others when I can barely minister to myself??

11. What if it crushes my spirit?

12. What if I actually get touched instead of me touching them?

13. What if I cannot function because of the food?

14. What if I get sick?

Okay.. I think you get the picture of my own personal battle. So, what I need from all of you is prayer. Please pray for guidance and for me to just be still and rely on God and not myself.

Is God serious??? He wants ME to go to Africa to love on the baby's???????????

Alex Rocks!

Well it's far too early since I was awake for 3 hours in the middle of the night. But That being said I thought I would re-introduce my pride and joy.. ALEX!!

So here is a recent picture of The Man, The Myth, The Legend! LOL.. This is from our 2008 T-ball season. He played for the Giants and Rick and I were assistant coaches. He had a good season with a lot less crying which was really nice. We really worked on his swing and about half way through I got him leaning back and stepping and then BAM... he started parking it. He has been hitting some gorgeous line drives into center field since then. He is still pretty weak in the catching area but I think it's because he literally can't see the ball till it smacks him in the head. lol That being said he was the youngest member of the team yet one of the better players. He was consistent. He has a great throw but gets anxious and misses his target (normal for this age) and awesome hitting. We really just needs to work on his fielding and catching but I truly believe we are on the brink with that too.

For some reason this year he has taken to wanting to pitch. He has a mean pitching wind-up too. I am not sure where that comes from since he is still in t-ball. However, I started pitching in softball at 7 and pitched for the next 10 years. Red Sox fans delight though because he is LEFT HANDED!!!! Could he be a dream come true and be a left handed pitcher??? OH BABY..... Be sure to keep his name tucked into your memory because one day you just might see him pitching for my beloved Red Sox in the world series.

Hey a Mama can dream!!!!