Prayers With Abbey #1

It's been awhile, I know.  Kids, life, surgery, recovery, laziness, binge-watching Pretty Little Liars and Prison Break on Netflix...it has all come in the way of posting funny things my kids say or do!  But last night I was inspired.

Each night before bed, we read the children's version of Jesus Calling with the family.  A different person reads each night, you know, to keep it fair.  We tried to go in order from oldest to youngest, then youngest to oldest.  But we kept forgetting whose turn it was.  And it kept making me mad because that would cause the kids the fight about whose turn it was.  Some wanted the privilege. Some wanted to NOT have to read.  So we created a new system.

A fair system.

A system that would ensure equality all around and make sure that it was completely fair - and it would require no remembering on anyone's part, lessening the fighting.  Unless you count the part where the kids fight about whose turn it is to pick...

At the suggestion of one of the not-so-little Bishops, now we have this cup.  And we put each person's name in the cup, the kids' names added twice and mine and Kris' once.  An odd situation has been developing the last several nights though.  Four nights ago, someone drew Abbey's name.

All well and good.  She read the devotion that night and the Scriptures that corresponded with it.  Then the child who ends up reading that night, closes out with prayer.  So she prayed and we went on to another day.

That brings us to three nights ago.  Olivia had the chance to draw a name and drew Abbey's name.  Abbey moaned about how she had just read, so I thought, "Well, let me draw a name then..."

Guess whose name I drew.

Abbey.

So Abbey read devotions again.

Wind back the clock to TWO nights ago.  This time it was Kaleb's turn to pick a name.  Yes, you guessed it.  He chose Abbey's name.  And at this point we're all like, "Are you serious?"  So, in the interest of amusing ourselves, we let Katherine draw another name.  AGAIN...she drew Abbey's name.  So I sighed and told Abbey that God must really enjoy listening to her read and pray.  She read devotions for the third night in a row.

Now we're caught up to last night.  Kaleb wasn't home to witness this, as he was attending a Cardinals game with his new school.  So it was just me, Kris, and the girls.  And it was Olivia's turn to draw a name.

She drew Abbey's name.  YET AGAIN!

It was time for dad to get involved.  Kris took the cup and AGAIN drew Abbey's name!  At this point, Kris and I are thinking, "Okay, something is up.  Kaleb probably took out everyone else's name and put only Abbey's name in."  To test this theory, Kris took each piece of paper out and verified that no, Kaleb had not messed with it at all.  Everyone had their name in there twice, with the exception of me and Kris.  So we put the names back in and just for kicks, Katherine drew a name.  ABBEY.  Seriously?

So we determined that it was meant to be for Abbey for read the devotions once again.  Though to stop the madness, I drew another name and it was Kaleb so there's a chance Abbey will be off the hook for tonight's devotions - I'll report back if that is not the case.

Reluctantly, with all of us amused by the situation, Abbey read the devotions.  And Abbey being Abbey, she couldn't help but add this to her prayers.  And me, being me, just had to share it here.

My Life In Comics #1

As some of you may have seen all over Facebook, Bitstrips is all the rage.  I've been seeing them here and there for a while, and lately it seems that everyone has jumped on the bandwagon.  I did not want to be *that* person, the one that annoys everyone with pictures no one understands except those the comic is intended for.  So instead, I thought I'd try posting it here.

Something happened tonight.  Something that happens quite often with my mother-in-law.  We are a family of six, and every single time from time to time, we may accidentally leave something (a jacket, a shoe, a turkey...) at my mother-in-law's house.  And for whatever reason, Cindy is practically obsessed with ensuring that we leave her house with SOMETHING.  Usually, it is something that we haven't seen in years.  Why she doesn't give us our stuff back from newest to oldest I don't know.  I suspect she has some sort of system to ensure that she can annoy me for the rest of my life.

Don't get me wrong - I get that it is OUR stuff, and she doesn't want it to stay forever at her house.  But you have to understand that this happens more often than we actually leave stuff.  Sometimes she sends us home with stuff that isn't even ours!  She has this sick need to ALWAYS send something home with us.  Sometimes I believe that she actually just finds things she doesn't want and tells us it is ours for the pure delight of sending something with, when she can't find anything of ours.  For all I know, she is intentionally TAKING things from the children and hiding them so that the next time we go over there she can load us up.

So, I made this in honor of her obsession, which she acted on yet again tonight, literally running out to the van as we were driving away.  It was as if she realized at the very last minute that she hadn't given us anything, so she had to flag us down.  It was dark and we weren't even in front of her house, and yet there she was running and yelling to give us something.

Prayers With Olivia #3

Prayers With Olivia #2

Abbey: On Dating

Abbey has been asking for over a year if she could start dating.  We have told the kids that until they are 75, there will be no dating.  Just recently, Abbey pleaded with me to let her date, and wanted to know WHY she couldn't.  I explained to her my concerns:

She's too young.
Dating leads to kissing.
Kissing leads to...more kissing...

Best. Birthday. Ever.

Olivia has spent the last year or more enjoying one "Best Day Ever!" after another.  I can't even recall the number of times I have heard her exclaim "Best Day Ever!"  Every time it cracks me up.  She's always making me laugh.

Today she gets the spotlight once more, as I share with you how we celebrated her 8th birthday yesterday.

Prayers With Olivia #1

You can always count on the kids to tell God exactly what they are thinking at any given moment.  We could take lessons in prayer from our children.

Apparently she's okay with cars running into the neighbor kids, as long as they don't do it "a lot."

Poetry Is ALWAYS About Death

I have a long-standing belief that all poetry is about death.  If you were in my college literature class, which you likely weren't since there were only four people in it, you know my adamant belief that all poetry is about death.  Give me a poem and I can show you how it is about death.  Katherine wanted to put this to the test.  The first two poems I Googled contained at least one form of the word "die" in them.

Thinking she would be clever, Katherine decided to write a poem for me, so that I could show her how it is about death.  Now keep in mind that poetry, like art, is open to interpretation.  And so perhaps you may think my interpretation is a stretch to get to the topic of death, but I don't really care.  I hold strongly to my belief.

He Is Beautiful To Me

While Kris and Kaleb are going through Every Young Man's Battle together, I picked out a book called Talking To Your Daughter About Best Friends and Mean Girls to go through with the girls.  One night a week we have been doing one of the ten included devotions together.  Each one has a topic to write about in a journal.  Tonight we were asked to write a letter to Jesus expressing how he was beautiful to us and I thought I would share the letters that we wrote.

They're Not So Little Anymore

It was a year or so ago that I realized, with horror, that I had to stop calling my children the Little Bishops.  The kids likely would have not groaned in embarrassment if I had stopped years ago.  But it's my job to embarrass them, right?

But then this odd thing happened.  I woke up one day to find that they weren't so little anymore.  They had become preteens!  And so I see this and I think "What have I gotten myself into?"

I had grown accustomed to quoting my hilarious kids on Facebook, and it gave me an excuse to avoid this.  While there were no bad memories associated with the blog itself, in my mind it represented a time in my life that I am not proud of.  I needed some distance.  But I MISS this blog.

As life continued around us, and my kids have not stopped being hilarious, I found myself feeling nostalgic as I thought about the temporarily abandoned "Little Bishop Chronicles."  This led me to a frantic redesign and an updated blog title, more appropriately named to describe this crazy life that threatens to pass me by.  I wanted to once more share the funny stories and rant about the things that drive me crazy.

They did what?!?

Lately, I find myself astonished as I read the Old Testament.  I'm seeing it in a completely different light.

The Bible mini-series left me longing to re-read all the stories I grew up with:

Adam and Eve
Daniel and the Lion's Den
David and Goliath
Noah's Ark
Abraham and Issac
The Fiery Furnace

And so many more...

I want to read it to verify what was truth from the actual Bible and what the writers of the mini-series added/took away.  I want to read the stories again, this time from the perspective of the prodigal that has finally come home.

Little Bishops Recap

I'm torn when it comes to this blog.  In general, my writing has been infrequent and inconsistent.  It is partly due to working on a computer all day.  It's partly that I feel exhausted when I get home from work.  I know this might shock you, but scanning papers and typing on a computer all day long is less than glamorous.

It's difficult to keep up with two blogs also.  I have trouble writing consistently on Loving When It Hurts, which is where my passion lies.  And then, at the same time, I have hilarious conversations with the kids, and I think "When was the last time I shared those with you?"

So, while I can't promise that I will write every day, or more than once or twice a month, I still feel like I should keep writing here.  I want a place to share my kids' lives, the crazy things I do, see or hear, and to talk about my book.

What is the status of your book you ask?

The Post-Daneil Fast Post

So what did I learn from my three week purge of all foods delightful and delicous?  From commiting to spend all that time I would normally spend just thinking about food to growing closer to God?

Jeremiah 33:3 says "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know."

Jeremiah said it better than I could. 

The Daniel Fast was an amazing experience, both physically and spiritually.  It is definitely something that I think I want to incorporate into my life on a regular basis.  Not every month, mind you, but maybe twice a year.  It was great to detox my body of all the processed and unhealthy food I had been consuming in large quantities.

Using Your Story

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Romans 6:8

While watching The Hunger Games for the first time, I was really moved by Katniss volunteering as tribute, when her little sister's name was called.  I can remember sitting in the theater, crying.  I made the connection that I am sure many other have made.  It was a connection that I failed to see when I read the books themselves.

The Hunger Games revolves around a tribute being required, a sacrifice essentially, to remind the people of their past.  Of their history, where District 13 rebelled against the Capitol.  Upon doing so, District 13 was completely destroyed.  Rarely would any child want to be chosen to compete in The Hunger Games.

Already There

I have started 10 different blog posts, some dating back to Christmas; but it's now February 8th, and I'm not even going to get to any of them tonight.  There is something more pressing on my heart right now.  So everything else will have to wait.

Something happened today that took me back to a place of overwhelming fear.  I've written several posts about fear and how our counselor and church was involved in a "D.I.A." (Do It Again) surrounding my fear.  Since that night, God has broken the spirit of fear that had surrounded my life for thirty years!!

Today, however, was a true test in trusting God for me, when fear overwhelmed me.

I was on the phone with Kris this afternoon, when he asked me to hold on.  He had a text from Katherine (who was already home from school).  This text let Kris know that she heard on the bus that the elementary school that Abbey, Livvy, and Kaleb go to was on lock down.

Wait.

What?!?

LOCK DOWN?

Daniel Fast - Halfway There

 After a full week and a half on the Daniel Fast, I have to say that it's been a very enlightening experience.  It is nothing like I expected, physically or spiritually.  I thought that perhaps it might be more difficult to give up the food I love and adhere to an extremely strict "diet" but it really hasn't been.

Do I want a huge piece of chocolate cake?

Actually, no.  For whatever reason, now that the sugar is out of my body, I'm not craving it at all.  I saw a candy cane on my end table this morning and thought about what it would be like to eat it, and my mind was screaming at me, "Why on earth would you just put pure sugar in your body like that?"  The thought disgusted me, and I didn't crave or want anything sweet.

Do I want an 8 oz. steak, a grilled chicken breast, or some shrimp linguine from Red Lobster?

Yeah, I kind of do.  I find that instead of the sugar, it's the meat and carbs I miss the most.  The other night, I told Kris he needed to put the one-pouch fettucine alfredo away so that I couldn't see it.  It was really bothering me to have it out in plain sight, tempting me.

The Dreaded *F* Word

Yes.

Today we're going to talk about the *f* word.

That's right.

You read that correctly.

*Fasting*

I know, I know.  I'm just as shocked as you are.

How much do you know about fasting?

And how much of that is true and how much is just some preconceived notion you've had since you were little?

Here are the things I thought about fasting:

Coincidence?

There is no denying that the pain I have become accustomed to has worsened since I started working.  I was talking to my mom about this last night.  In the last (almost) three months, my pain level has doubled.  It was tolerable, while I was sitting at home doing nothing at all.  Sure, it makes sense now that I think about it.  Doing nothing doesn't put much strain on a person, so while I was still in pain, it was tolerable.  It has become increasingly intolerable and I have been in tears several times in the last couple of weeks, due to either the pain, or frustration at never having a moment without pain.

So, I think it is no coincidence that now that I am out and working, and interacting with human beings again, that I am in so much pain.  Yesterday proved to be the end of what I could tolerate.  I was stirring melted chocolate, making amaretto fudge for our work "End of the World Gorging Party."  When switching to my right hand, I felt something "slip" in the middle of my back, on the right.  It felt about the same as the time I was reaching for sour cream and likely ruptured the lowest disc in my back, ending up in the ER and down for several days recovering.  This time though, the pain was a lot higher. 

I doubled over in pain, and it hurt to breathe for a few minutes.  Once the pain breathing in subsided, I leaned back up to what I was doing and painfully finished the fudge.  With my left hand.  My right side under my shoulder hurt to bad, plus I'm left-handed anyway...

NaNoWriMo Winner

Well, my first ever novel just hit its climax and I can happily say that I am a 2012 NaNoWriMo winner!  I finally have a real title for my novel, and a short synopsis.  I'm pretty excited about it, even though it took a turn I never would have expected.  Livvy threw up at school yesterday, and so I took advantage of the fact that my boss let me off work today to stay home with her (that lame 24 hour rule...) and I hit 50,000 words.  I actually exceeded it, as the picture below will show.

I'll say this.  For years, I have wanted to be a writer.  I've had grand dreams of actually writing a book some day.  I always imagined it would be non-fiction, believing that real life was all I knew how to write.  Until I decided on November 1st to try to write a novel in a month, I never knew I had it in me to write a fictional book.

Now, 28 days later, I am almost done!  Granted, there is still writing the ending, editing the entire thing, and a lot of work soliciting editors if I actually want to get it published someday.  But I have a HUGE start!  I am excited and proud of myself for sticking with it.

Thanksgiving

I don't know about you, but I really enjoyed the four days off of work I just had!

The food, the family, the time off--it was all very needed.

We spent Thanksgiving day with my mother-in-law and I am grateful that she took on the duties of hosting, making the turkey, supplying dessert, etc...

After counseling on Friday, we headed out to Indiana to spend some time with my family, and it was very relaxing, nine grand kids running around and all!  I can't say that I am looking forward to going back to work tomorrow after these days off, but I am sure my parents will be happy to have their house back...and QUIET!

My sister-in-law has been having some health issues.  She had a heart attack not long ago, just a couple of weeks.  She is young, not even 40 yet, and is still having issues with her blood pressure.  We saw her yesterday for dinner, but she was back in the ER today.  Please say a prayer for her if you would!

Last week, my doctor prescribed Ambien CR for me.  I've been on it for three nights now, and last night was the best.  I slept for SEVEN hours!  That is a LONG time for me!!  The two nights before were both about six hours.  It has been awesome sleeping at night, even though I'd rather be off of many of the medications I am on at night, but I am still having trouble adjusting to getting up in the morning.  Yet another reason I am dreading having to go back to work tomorrow!  I plan to take all of my medicine earlier tonight though, in the hope that it will "wear off" by 7AM.  We'll see...

Blue Mountain

I can't even begin to count the multitude of kindnesses God has shown to me, especially these last 9 months. I have been home for NINE months now!  Can you believe that?  I am amazed.  And in that time, I have rediscovered my husband, I love him more than I ever thought was possible, I am fighting for my marriage against a very powerful enemy, I found the Cross, and God's blessings have been pouring down and me and my family.

I finally got a good job that is actually quite stress-free, and in retrospect, I see now why God placed me in this company, with this job.  I needed something low-key as Kris and I continue to heal and I continue to grow spiritually.  I also needed something that would "work with" my constant pain, and if I were in a more stressful environment, the pain (no doubt) would be even greater.  Kris' business is finally beginning to get the growth we've been praying for, so maybe in a year, we'll be able to put the kids back in private school.  Keep praying for that!

But one of my favorite blessings is all the amazing music I have discovered along the way.  I got to see Chris August perform "Battle" and some of my other favorites at the TobyMac concert.  More recently, I had the chance to see Matt Maher and Brandon Heath perform.  Friday night was a night I had been eagerly anticipating.  The songs by both of these men have moved me to tears on multiple occasions and filled my heart with hope and joy and peace.  I have loved their music and was happy to have the opportunity to go with my mother-in-law and son to this concert.  We had been planning it since the concert was announced, and I was really looking forward to it.

Talks with Livvy

Funny story.

Last night, I was home with the kids and we were watching TV together.  Livvy started asking about a movie.  She was saying, "When are we going to watch the second movie?"

I said, "What movie?"

She said, "You know, the one with the girl whose friend wants her to die?"

Grand prize what?!?

I think I mentioned before how Katherine called me selfish.  Who me?  Never! totally true!

When we got tickets to go see Toby Mac for Katherine's birthday with Grandma, who got to go?  Me.

When we got Brandon Heath/Matt Maher tickets for Kaleb and Grandma?  Who gets to join?  Me.  (And that's tomorrow night by the way!  Cannot wait!!!)

And when Katherine won tickets on JoyFM to see the Rams game on Sunday, with a Switchfoot concert afterwards, who would be going?  Yeah, you guessed it.  None other than me!  And Katherine of course-she did win the tickets after all.

But over the weekend, I started thinking about trying to park downtown just how much I loved my husband. I thought about the crowds at the arena how great our marriage has become and how much I adore him.  I thought about how grateful I am for Kris and that Switchfoot is always best at the pageant I really wanted to do something nice for him.  So, with only a little complete selflessness, I told Kris that he should take Katherine to the game and Switchfoot.  I listed off all of the reasons he should go:

Halfway there

Yesterday I hit 25,000 words on my novel.  It's day 11 of NaNoWriMo, and I am making good progress.  My story keeps changing and my plot and characters are inconsistent.  Ridiculously inconsistent.  BUT...the thing with NaNo (I can call it that-all the cool kids are!) is to just write.  With reckless abandon, pour it out on paper.  Or pretend, virtual paper on a computer.  Don't worry about editing (difficult for someone who is annoyed at the use of improper grammar/spelling-which of course, is certainly NOT ME it's totally me), and just write.  Write whatever comes into your head and keep moving forward.  So that is what I have been doing and with the month only 1/3 of the way over, I am at the halfway point for the 50,000 words goal.

Writing

The funny and cool thing about writing a novel is that the story can change without warning.  Your characters can do something you didn't expect, or your story can change entirely.  Remember that sample I gave you the other day?  Well, it's not even in this novel!  My current word count is 14,700, so I am definitely on track to hit 50,000 words before the end of the month.  I find this whole process to be quite enjoyable.  That is an understatement if I've ever written one!!  I think about my book while I'm working (though I'm still giving 100% at my job-which I love by the way-physical pain aside).  I wrote over 3000 words today, in about an hour and a half.  That's been the pace I've been at since I started six days ago.  I never even knew I had this story inside of me.  And the sample I gave you in my last post is irrelevant.  And I think I'm going to have to change my title too, but I am not sure to what...it's going to have to go in a different book.

NaNoWriMo

I recently participated in a blogging half-marathon on my other blog.  Since I completed that, I decided that I would go ahead and take a leap.  Starting today, I will be participating in the NaNoWriMo.  If you aren't familiar with this, it stands for National Novel Writing Month.  It is much as it sounds.  A month of individuals writing novels, across the nation.  The goal is to write a 50,000 word novel by November 30th.  Maybe that sounds crazy, but if you break it down by the day, it takes just 1,667 words each day.

So, I am up for the challenge.  Busy with the new job, writing my blogs, juggling schedules, and all.  I will write on my lunch break.  I've needed something to do anyway for an hour, and now I have NO excuses.  I can write some mornings before I go to work.  I can write on the weekend.  I can write whenever and wherever I choose, really.

I hate this body

You know, I'm just gonna be honest with you guys.

I hate this body I am living in.

I HATE it.

I know I shouldn't hate.  But this is my semi-annual rant about living in constant pain.

Bullies

My son is being bullied.

I'm not just talking about being called names like stupid or gay (which he has been called).

So long Charter!

"I'm going to reach in there and slap her in the face.  I can do that with this new U-verse, right?"

I said as the person on The Food Network show was annoying me.

So we finally got rid of Charter.  U-verse is finally in our area and we have actual TV channels again.  Granted, it's only for 30 days (free trial) because we aren't paying $70 for TV, but we'll be able to watch The Cardinals as they (hopefully) make it back to The World Series.  I'm a very fickle sports fan.  I follow the St. Louis teams only when they are doing something good.  I really can't tolerate baseball beyond that.  The games are too long and too boring.

I have to just say, I love my family.

I mean...I REALLY love my family.

Kris and Katherine were having a discussion this evening.

Kris asked Katherine to do him a huge favor.

Juggling time

So, I mentioned briefly in the last post that I got a job.

There are some reasons I haven't written too much about it.

The superficial, untrusting-of-God part of me is nervous that I'll get fired after three days for no apparent reason.

The other part of me is wanting to be professional and make sure that I am presenting this new company I am working for in the best light.  By not mentioning their name and details, etc...

I can say this: