Company Came Calling

We don't get much call for company out here in the middle of nowhere in Crazyville, but last Sunday we were all excited to see some company coming.

We were thrilled to welcome her in to our humble home.



I was especially excited to meet Yvette; I knew she was amazing in Blog Land, so I couldn't wait to see what she would be like in real life here in Crazyville.

Let me just say this, "She was wonderful!"

We piled up on my bed and talked for hours and hours. You would have thought that we had known each other our entire lives.



And it obviously goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway, "Allie loved her!"
And Yvette was so patient with Allie's overwhelming welcome. :)

I have not laughed so much in a long time. Yvette made bed rest seem like fun!

I got so tickled because she and Shannon are so much alike.
They say things in unison, and have many of the same "quirks" about them.

As Yvette was on bed rest with me she yawned quite a few times.

I told her every body does that when they come here.

So we've decided it is either one of two things.

1. We are the most boring family in the world, and manage to put all of our guests to sleep. Or...

2. We have such a comfortable, welcoming home that people are just so relaxed, and that is what causes them to yawn and/or fall asleep.

I like to think it is number 2, otherwise I get my feelings hurt.:)

Well, our visit came to an end too quickly for me.

I enjoyed Yvette's company so much.

She did a post yesterday about our visit. Click here to see it. :)

And I realize that she can't come to all of your houses, but you can all visit her on her blogs. I highly recommend you paying her a visit. She is so funny!

You can find her here:

The Boyd Family

here:

Boyd's Babblings

and here:

Movies with Mom

Stop by one (or all three) of her blogs and say hello! You will not be disappointed.

Shannon took our picture together as she was getting ready to leave.

We took two. You know so each of us could have our best side showing.

Don't judge.





It was sad to me when she left.

And Allie cried and cried at the door as she drove away.

Bed rest is much more fun with a friend. I've tried, but I can't make myself laugh as much as Yvette did.

Yvette, if you're reading this, thank you for coming all the way out to Crazyville to spend time with me and Allie. We enjoyed spending time with you so much. You are a very special lady.
As soon as I am given the all clear to get back behind the wheel of a car again, I will be coming to see you. Then we can put our two heads together and figure out our plans to stalk visit Mia. ;)


♫
Well now its time to say goodbye to Amy and her new friend.
And they would like to thank you folks fer kindly droppin in.
You're all invited back any time to this locality
To have a heapin helpin of their hospitality
Hillbilly that is. Set a spell, Take your shoes off.

Y'all come back now,'hear?
♫

Job 8:21
"He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy."

♪ Happy Birthday To The Greatest! ♪

Today is my sweet husband's birthday!
I don't normally sing in public (I prefer the privacy of my own car), mostly due to the fact that I always sometimes sing off key, but for today, I will make an exception.

I have put together a little slide show of some of Shannon's favorite pictures of me, and I did a little background vocal of me singing "Happy Birthday" to him.

(Of course, all of this is a lie; it's all pictures of Mariah Carey, and of course it's her voice singing. But Shannon only turns 43 once in his lifetime, so let's just let him have his fantasies today, mmmkay?) ;)




Happy Birthday, Baby!

You are the greatest husband and father in the world.

Even if you have a little crush on Mariah Carey......

What?

I'm not bitter about it.

Really.

I'm not hardly bitter at all.

Happy Birthday, Shannon!

I love you!:)

Wicked Witch Card Mystery Revealed

Several of you asked about the meaning behind the "Wicked Witch" get well card that I showed you all a picture of Sunday.



I received that card from my friend Kenny.

From the first time that I met Kenny in high school, when we are together all we do is laugh.

So, the card was just his way of being funny, and putting a smile on my face.

I don't think he thinks of me as a witch; or if he does he never mentioned it to me.

Kenny reads my blog everyday, and most days he seems to like it. But if I ramble on too long on a post, he does not like that. He will send me a Myspace message complaining that my long post put him to sleep. Then he informs me that everyone that reads my blog would be much happier if I just stuck to showing a lot of pictures with a lot less words.;)

(I told him that I would work on a Clif Notes style blog especially for him.)

Here is a picture of Kenny so you can all "meet" him.

Hi, Kenny!;)



On a different note, I am having a difficult time again with my foot, so I am back in the bed most of the day again. It hurts too much to walk around right now. I also can't sit at the computer for very long, so when I am feeling better I will be back around to read all of your posts. I didn't want you all to think I had forgotten about you.:)

I already have a couple of posts completed for the rest of this week for my blog because we are celebrating two birthdays in our house this week. So stop back by this week and celebrate them with us if you get the chance.:)

And as soon as I can, I am going to post the pictures of Yvette and me from our meeting Sunday. We had the best time together. We talked so much, it was like we had known each other since the third grade. She was lovely. And just let me say, "Allie LOVED her! A lot!"

Thank You All

I wanted to take a little time this morning to say thank you for all of the cards, well wishes, and prayers that I have received since having my surgery.
Here is a picture of just a few of the many that I have received.



Each time I have read a handwritten note, a comment on my blog, or a letter in my email has meant so much to me. Not being able to leave the house for so long and do the things I normally do has been difficult to say the least. But I have received so much encouragement from all of you, and that has helped make this time of healing so much easier.

Paula and Tracey, I want to say a special thank you to both of you as well; I am just blown away by your thoughtfulness to me. You have both been such a blessing.

This week the boys and I were startled by the sound of a car honking in our front yard. Matthew looked out the window and realized that it was the mail man. He had a package for us.

He ran out to get the mail, and he returned with a box. He said, "Mom, it's something for you!"

I thought to myself, "I didn't order anything...."

So I was naturally very curious to see what was inside this box.

Imagine my surprise when I saw this.....



Along with these things......



Yvette is one of the most thoughtful people that I have never met in real life.
I had mentioned to her not long ago that I had a big Fozzie Bear collection, and of course, she knows about my hatred feelings concerning frogs.
I was blown away by the time she took to put this package together for me.

And if the surprise in my mailbox was not enough, today, I get to meet her in real life. Yvette and her mom are coming all the way to Crazyville to visit with me and my family, and of course, Allie.

I am so excited!

And obviously I will take pictures and take notes so that I can tell you all about it.

(Mia, if you are reading this......I want to give you fair warning......Apparently Yvette is an even better stalker than me; the two of us together could be dangerous.
So if I were you, I would not be surprised at all if the two of us show up on your door step one day. I'm just saying is all.)

I am a blessed girl indeed to have so many bloggy friends that pray for me, and I just want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart.

You are all such a blessing to me.

Philippians 1:4
"In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy."

I've Been Tagged And Got A Little Help From A New Friend!

Let me start out by shouting out a big "Thank You!" to Dianne. Dianne reads my blog and offered to fix my blog header. You may or may not have noticed that it is now centered to the blog, and looks much more pleasing to the eye. So if you get a chance stop by and visit Dianne at her blog called Deez Dayz, and send her some bloggy love. And be sure to tell her Amy sent you.

Now, on to some more bloggy business, I've been tagged by Sharon Hurley to tell six random things about myself. If you have not checked out Sharon's blog, you should. She shares her heart and her love for her family and for the Lord. So stop by and tell her Amy sent you.



Now boys and girls, here are the tag rules.

1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
5. Let ech person know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Now that you all understand the rules of the game, let me change into something that makes me feel pretty. If I feel pretty, I won't be as embarrassed for you to read these six humiliating random things about me.



That's much better; even if it wasn't the exact look I was going for. (Melissa has a life of her own, so she is not always available to do my hair like when we were on the cruise together. But I'm not bitter about it. Really. I'm not.)

Now, I will begin to humiliate myself tell you six things about myself that I am sure you all don't really want to know.

1. I sing out loud in the car. A lot. I think that I sound great, especially when I am singing with my boyfriend Tim McGraw. My family does not.
I think it especially embarrasses my boys when I sing out loud when their friends are also in the car with us. It does not, however, embarrass me.



2. Even though I am 38 28 years old, I still love Fozzie Bear. I have an entire Fozzie Bear collection that I started when I was just in the sixth grade. I have two shelves full of Fozzies in the school room. And every time I look at them, they make me smile. Wocka! Wocka!



3. I cannot stand to leave my bed unmade. As soon as I get out of it, I start making it up. On the three occasions that I had to leave the house with the bed unmade, I was a basket case. I could not even enjoy myself for the all consuming thoughts of my unmade bed.



Don't judge.

4. I've told you all about this one before, but after spending almost a month away with Melissa, she REALLY noticed this humiliating habit that I have. I pick at my split ends A LOT apparently. And I told Melissa with all of the stuff I have been dealing with lately, I'm just moments away from sitting in a corner eating my hair.
(I'm kidding, of course. Really. It's not that bad yet.)



5. I don't like gelatin desserts with fruit in them. My mom tries to convince me all the time that they are so delicious, but I'm not buying it for a minute. Just looking at the gelatin jiggling with all that fruit that appears to be "floating" in the dessert makes me want to gag. I prefer my desserts to be "still" on my plate; I don't want them to be moving.



Seriously, this dessert would send me screaming from the table.

6. Last but not least, I have to have my toenails painted at all times. My toenails have not seen the light of day since I was in the seventh grade. The only problem with this (as I have confessed to you all before) is that I am terrible at painting them. I unintentionally paint almost my entire toe, then I have to go back around all the edges with a Q-Tip to clean them up. Unlike my singing in front of others in the car, this does embarrass me a lot a little.
I don't see how anyone can paint just the nail and not most of the toe. One of my dreams in life is to be able to paint my toenails and they look like this:



As opposed to this:



I'm just saying is all.

Well, now that I'm done humiliating myself sharing these random things about myself, I hope that you will still find it in your hearts to visit me again some time.:)

Now for the six people, I will tag:

1. Denise

2. Tracey

3. Ellie

4. Dianne

5. Aleisha

6. Mia (Yes, Mia, I am still stalking you!)

Bible Study About Joanna

The woman that I read about in my devotional study book this week is Joanna.

This study is the first time that I have ever heard of Joanna. There is not much said about her in Scripture, but God does not have to use very many words to say so much, amen?

We are introduced to Joanna in the book of Luke.

Luke 8:1-3
After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; Joanna the wife of Cuza, the manager of Herod's household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.

Being the wife of Cuza, the manager of Herod's household, would have made Joanna a woman of high rank in Herod's court.

These verses tell us that Jesus healed Joanna, but we don't know "what" she experienced healing from, but her response to Jesus' healing touch was huge and personal. She gave herself to Jesus and His ministry. She, like the other women, followed Jesus wherever He went, and she supported him and his ministry from her own means.

The devotional that I am reading points out that Herod himself may have known about Joanna's personal story of healing at the hands of Jesus.

As with all of the other women that I have learned about in my devotional, there is always a certain part of each story that sticks out in my mind. This story is no exception.

Before I tell you what struck me the most, let me share the verses from God's Word that tells a little more about Joanna and the other faithful women that were with her.

Luke 24:1-12
On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.
They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them.
In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead?
He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.'" Then they remembered his words.
When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others.
It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles.
But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense.
Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.


What strikes me so much about the story of Joanna is her faith and the faith of the ladies that she was with.
Think about it for a minute.......These ladies are telling the Eleven and some others what the angels had just told them to be true of Jesus and what had happened to His body, but the men did not believe them.

The Eleven did not believe them.

The Eleven who had been with Jesus all throughout His ministry.

The Eleven that knew Him personally.

The Eleven that loved Him.

Are the same Eleven men that thought that these women spoke words of nonsense.

But these ladies, including Joanna, spoke boldly in faith to the Eleven. They knew what they had seen with their own eyes, and they knew what they had heard with their own ears. They knew the peace that they felt in their hearts.

That is what strikes me the most of the story of Joanna; her complete confidence in Jesus.
Being married to the manager of Herod's household, Joanna was a woman very familiar with power. But she knew that the power she had been surrounded by in her wealthy lifestyle in Herod's court was nothing like the power she had found in Jesus.

It did not matter to her if others thought that she was just an hysterical, grieving woman, because she knew what the truth was. She knew Who the Truth was.

God honored her faithfulness by letting her be one of the first witnesses to the Resurrection.

So many times in our own lives and walk with the Lord, others don't believe us when we tell them something wonderful that God has done in our lives. If you go so far as to tell someone that God has promised you a miracle in any given situation, most times you will be looked at as someone speaking "nonsense."

But thankfully, God has given us the testimony of Joanna and her faithful friends for encouragement in our own walks of faith. What those faithful women told the Eleven about Jesus was one hundred percent true. The disbelief of the Eleven did not change a thing; these women knew the truth.

When God speaks a word into our hearts, we need to walk with that same faith. Others may not believe you, but that's okay, because you know what God spoke to your heart.

I have been confronted by someone in my past who tried to argue with me about this very topic. I shared with her a promise that God had made to me, and she told me very matter of fact that I was completely mistaken. She said that God would not promise me that because of decisions that Shannon and I had made in our past. I looked at her and said, "You can think what you want, and that is okay. The thing is, God told me about this promise, not you." She was quite speechless after that. And I will humbly tell you that was the first time in my life that I did not back down, and I did not let the devil use her negative comments to confuse me or make me question what I knew God had told me.

And several months later, God honored my faithfulness of believing His Word over the negative words of another. That same girl called me and apologized, because God had shown her that what He told me was completely possible, and that it lined up with His Word. She said that she realized just because God wasn't speaking to her in that same way, didn't mean that He wasn't speaking to me.

Our relationship with God is a personal one. So no other person can know (without your sharing) what God says to you. That is between you and God.

God speaks to each and every one of us differently.

Only Moses stood in front of the burning bush.

Only Jonah sat in the belly of a whale.

Only Daniel sat in the lion's den.

Only Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego stood in the fire.

God speaks to us uniquely,and works through us all uniquely, because we are all unique. Not one of us are the same, nor will our walks with Him be the same.

So listen for God's Voice in your own life.

Look for His activity all around you.

Open your Bible and read it to see if what you are seeing and hearing lines up with the Word of God.

He will speak to you. You just need to open your heart, listen, and believe!

The devotional book points out how Joanna and the other women went to the tomb grieving, but left the tomb rejoicing.

Scripture tells us that we will experience that same type of joy. It may not come in "our" timing, but our joy will come in God's timing.

And it is a promise.

His timing is perfect.

Psalm 30:5
For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.

The devotional ends with a beautiful prayer that I will share with you.

"Lord, you laugh at the rulers and powers of this world who oppose you. Help me to realize that no evil, regardless of how terrible or prolonged it might be, can ever stand against you. Give me a greater sense of your resurrection power and majesty."

Just For Laughs

Today's post is just for laughs. I grew up watching "The Carol Burnett Show," and I loved it.

And with the incredible invention of You Tube, I have been able to find some of my favorite episodes, and they are as funny to me today as they were thirty years ago.

So, if you have a few minutes, and you could use a good laugh, sit back and enjoy yourself as you watch Eunice, Ed, Mickey, and Mama play a "friendly" game of charades.

I hope that you enjoy it as much as my family and I do.

Right, Mama?;)

Part 1



Part 2



Psalms 126:2
Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, "The Lord has done great things for them."

Stop Sweating Small Stuff

For a little over two weeks now, as most of you know, I have been on bed rest due to back surgery. I would love to tell you that it has been a joyous time full of book reading, movie watching, and many conversations with the Lord, but that of course, would be a lie.

I have had a very difficult time with bed rest. I don't think as a mother that complete bed rest is even remotely possible. Of course, I have done more resting than getting up, but none the less, I have had to get out of bed a few times more than I probably should have.

Shannon and the boys have had to take over all of the "chores" that I normally do, and I appreciate their help and efforts very much. Even with that being said, there are still so many other things that I "normally" do, that have not been done in a long time. I don't say that to complain, I'm just saying that it is driving me crazy not being able to "keep" the house exactly how "I" like it.

Now don't get me wrong, I am no June Cleaver.........



I'm probably exactly a little more like Roseanne.



And since I have been on bed rest, I have become completely a little overwhelmed at all of the house work that is not getting done while I am stuck here in this bed.

The dust is so thick on the furniture that you could draw pictures in it.

The dish drainer needs a good scrubbing with the Mister Clean Magic Eraser.

Dog hair is taking over everything.

And I don't even want to discuss the school room that needs to be organized and cleaned before our school year starts next month.

I could continue, but I'm sure that you have had enough get the idea.

The other day, I wandered into Daniel's room to look for something, and what I saw when I opened his bedroom door......well let's just say I had what my momma has always called a "conniption fit!"

I'll admit it.

I freaked out.

Like Bill Cosby's mom, I declared Daniel's room the worst pig sty I had ever seen in my life!

But if the truth were told, I don't think even pigs would want to live in that mess that he calls a bedroom.

Needless to say, I immediately had to go get back in bed and take several slow,deep breaths.

Lots of them.

Daniel of course, didn't see what all the fuss was about. He said, "Mom, you are freaking out! Stop freaking out! It's just a bedroom! Who cares? Gee Whiz!"

Kids.

Logic.

Grrrr!

After I calmed down, I remembered a book that I have titled, Don't Sweat The Small Stuff with Your Family. It was written by Richard Carlson.

I asked Daniel to get it off of the book shelf and bring it to me.

As I thumbed through it, I hoped that I would be able to embrace all or even some of his ideas, and literally stop stressing over the small stuff that was completely overwhelming me right now in my life.

His thoughts are all very common sense approaches to our every day lives, but it's definitely easier to read about the ideas than it is to practice them.

But one of his thoughts really struck me. It is Chapter 9 of the book and it is titled, "Think of Taking Care of Your Home Like Painting the Bridge."

As anyone who has a home knows, there is always work to be done. For example, the house needs new paint, the gutters need cleaned out, the yard needs mowed, not to mention the constant mountains of dirty clothes and dishes, etc., etc. And all of these things can at times be so overwhelming!

I know Shannon and I sometimes feel emotionally bogged down just by all of the things around our home that need repaired, not to mention the daily amount of general housekeeping.

So in this chapter, Richard Carlson talks about the Golden Gate Bridge in the San Francisco Bay area. (My mother has been there!....I'm smiling at you, Mom!)


Of course, this bridge is something most Americans are familiar with.



It is a beautiful sight to see, isn't it?

But what you may not know, is that virtually everyday of the year, this bridge is being painted. The painters start on one side of the bridge, and by the time the work is done, they have to start back over at the beginning. The painting of the bridge is NEVER done!

I let this information sink in a bit, and I realized something. Every picture you see of the bridge is beautiful. I can't recall ever seeing a picture of the bridge that it did not look majestic.

And just think, it is constantly being worked on. Not once have I ever noticed the spot that needed painting on that bridge. I just see it as a whole, and it is always stunning.

So I thought of my own home. I need to look at it with those same eyes.
My home is lovely(flaws and all) just how it is today.
Yes, it is in need of much repair and maintenance, but it is still a wonderful home.
We will have work to do on it every day this year and in all of the years to come, but that is okay. The same would be true if we moved into a new home tomorrow. Everyday we would still have the same chores to do, and the house and yard would require the same daily upkeep.

I was talking with a friend on the phone the other day; she is planning to come see me soon. I was very excited at the thought of her coming to visit, but before I even thought about what I was saying, I said to her, "Now you have to remember, my house is quite a mess; I haven't been able to do any housework lately, so please just ignore the dust and clutter."

She gently and politely said to me, "You need to remember, Amy, I'm coming to see you, not your house." (Yvette, you are a treasure!)

Anyway, I won't lie to you and tell you that I will never be overwhelmed again about this same topic, but at the end of the day, housework really is some of the small stuff of life that is not worth sweating over.

I love the saying that I have heard countless times. It goes something like this, "At the end of life, no one ever says, 'Oh, I wish I had vacuumed more.'"

Amen?:)

All Is Fair In Love And Hospitals

Some of you may remember when I posted about Shannon having a colonoscopy procedure done; if not, you can click here to see it.

Well, I guess since I had so much fun taking pictures at the hospital during Shannon's colonoscopy procedure, he decided that he would have a lot a little fun at the hospital with me.

This picture was taken as we were getting ready to leave for the hospital. Enjoy this picture while you can, because in the rest of the pictures that I have to show you, I look like a blow fish(with good hair, of course). (Thanks, Melissa!)



My surgery was originally scheduled around lunch time, but that is not how it worked out. It ended up being more like dinner time. Shannon got bored after the first six couple of hours of waiting, so he started having fun with our my camera.



Is it just me or do hospital gowns make every one appear to be pregnant?



Finally after starving waiting for hours, Snoop Dogg a man who worked at the hospital knocked on the door and said that he was going to take me to the pre-op room to give me some good drugs get me ready for my surgical procedure.



Once the surgery was completed and I was put in a room, Shannon decided to have a lot of fun at my expense.



Obviously I am not at my personal best here, but my highlights still look good, amen? (Thanks, Melissa!)

And as if taking pictures of me looking like a blow fish (with good hair) wasn't enough, he took pictures of my feet.



I had to wear these white stockings, gripper socks, and some contraption that squeezed both of my ankle areas every three seconds. (I tried to convince Shannon that these items were all the rage at Victoria's Secret, but I don't think he bought it.)

Even though I looked quite ridiculous pathetic, Shannon still wanted to kiss me. Sigh.



I do love that man! Sigh.

Not long after I woke up from all of the drugs the anesthesia, some friends of ours from our Sunday school class stopped by and brought me these beautiful flowers and a card from our class.



Thanks, Bo and Michel!:)

Well, after waking up from my drug induced coma and visiting with my family and friends, I really needed to pee use the bathroom.

It did not go as well as I had hoped it would.

I don't know if you are aware of this or not, but regular toilets are like a half inch off of the ground.

Seriously.

Needless to say, I was unable to lower my big butt myself down that far.

So, the nurse introduced me to my new favorite thing, an adult sized potty chair.

Yes, you heard me correctly.

I loved this thing.

I think we should install one at home.

I'm just saying is all.



It was just a little embarrassing peeing using the bathroom in the middle of my hospital room, not to mention having to watch Shannon the nurse "empty" it when I was done.

But I really did not care, because like I've said before, my highlights still looked good. (Thanks, Melissa!)

Well, after two drug filled fun filled days and nights at the hospital, it was finally time to go home.

My sweet Allie Girl was excited to see me, and as you can see, the feeling was mutual.:)



This is what life for me as been like for the last couple of weeks. Bed rest, bed rest, and more bed rest.



And you know, a little blogging.:)



Thank you, my bloggy friends. Your prayers, cards, and words of encouragement have meant the world to me. You are all a special group of ladies, and I am blessed to have met each and every one of you here in Blog Land.:)

1 Thessalonians 5:11
"Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing."

Nuclear Waste

My last few posts have been a little sad due to all that is going on in my life right now, but today I just want to share a funny and completely somewhat embarrassing story with you.

When the boys were much smaller Shannon could never understand my need to take them to the doctor for every major little illness. I guess it's probably fair to say he thought I over-reacted to their illnesses a lot just a tiny bit.

That's why what I'm about to tell you is kind of funny, in a gross kind of way. (So, I want to apologize to you in advance. Sorry.)

When Matthew was still little enough to need help in the bathroom, he would call for me when he was done. Always me, never Shannon. He didn't want his dad to see him in this particular situation. Ever.

But, one day when Matthew called for me to come in the bathroom to help him finish up, I was quite alarmed at what I saw. So alarmed that I called Shannon to come in there with us. Shannon was needless to say, less than enthusiastic about coming in the bathroom to look at something. Matthew was not happy about it either.

When I finally convinced Shannon that he needed to um.....hurry up, he finally came in the bathroom to see what I was talking about.

As I just told you before, he always thought that I over-reacted a lot little bit to issues regarding the children's health. So his reaction to what he saw in the bathroom, surprised me.



He looked at me very seriously and said, "You need to call the doctor. That is not normal. Something must be wrong with him!"

I, of course, did not want to be the one to have to call the doctor and ask what it could be, much less explain what it looked like.

But, I did make the phone call, because if Shannon was concerned about it there was probably something seriously wrong.

So, I called the doctor and it went something like this.

Doctor: "How can I help you today?"

Me: (Not even knowing how to begin) "Um..........My son just used the bathroom a few minutes ago, and um...........what came out of him is, um......... fluorescent green. My husband is concerned it might be some form of, um....... nuclear waste. Have you ever heard of anything like this before?"

Doctor: laughter

Doctor: more laughter

Me: "Doctor, are you still there?"

Doctor: "Yes, I'm here."

Doctor: more laughter

Doctor: (Finally having composed himself) "Has Matthew been drinking grape Kool-aid or eating grape Popsicles?"

Me: (Feeling sure this man must be psychic) "Yes, sir, he has."

Doctor: "That's the problem then. Grape flavored drinks and Popsicles turn the bowel movements fluorescent green. Give him a different flavor from now on and his bowel movements will look normal again."

Me: (Mortified) "Oh, okay. What a relief! Thank you for making me feel like an idiot your help."

Doctor: more laughter

After I hung up the phone from that humiliating informative phone call, I looked at Shannon and said, "Well, I think this time you may have over-reacted a lot tiny bit!"

Our Allie Girl

Yesterday, Shannon called me around lunch time to tell me that he had heard from the vet's office.

Long story short, Allie's heart is not strong enough to withstand any kind of surgery procedure, and she has a build up of fluid in her lungs.
The vet wants to put her on some heart medication for the rest of her life. The purpose of the medication is to try to strengthen her heart which will help to get rid of the fluid in her lungs.
If the medication is successful, then they could do the surgery to repair her ACL. If the medication is not successful, all they can offer her is some pain meds to make her more comfortable walking around with the torn ACL.

The vet told Shannon that if he had not brought Allie in with this ACL problem as soon as he did, that she would have been dead within two months due to her weak heart, which is causing the fluid to build up in her lungs.

Needless to say, I am devastated, as is the rest of my family.
Allie is such a big part of our lives, and the thought of her being in pain and/or losing her is heartbreaking.

I know some people in life think, "It's just a dog. Who cares? You can get another one."
But to us, Allie is a part of our family. We all say that she is the favorite person in the house. If we were in school with her, she would be voted "Most Popular," or "Class Favorite."

She is so loving. I say all the time that she is like a toddler forever. You know how toddlers always want to sit on you, kiss you, have you rub their hair, love on you, etc.? Well that's how Allie is. If I go out to get the mail, she is thrilled when I come back inside. She misses me when I am not with her. She cries at the door when we all leave the house to go to church. And every night when Shannon gets home from work, she behaves as if she hasn't seen him in years.:)He is greeted with a full on love fest! (And he loves it!) :)

Yesterday, in my post, I shared about the gift of humor, joy, and laughter that God gives us all.
It is very difficult to find much humor, joy, or laughter in this current situation, but I am trying. I want to focus on the joy and the laughter that she has brought into our home. Allie has been such a blessing to our family.
I just want to enjoy every minute with her. I want to laugh at the funny things she does. I want to pet her until my arms fall asleep. I want her to lick all over my feet while I watch television. I want to love her like she loves me.

Allie has brought so much joy into our lives; she is a gift from God to our family.
And we love her.

Proverbs 3:13
Joyful is the person who finds wisdom,the one who gains understanding.

I don't pretend to understand why God allows so many things to happen to us all at once, but I do know that everything that He allows in our lives is for our good.

Proverbs 3:5
Trust in the Lord with all your heart;do not depend on your own understanding.



Thank you for praying for me, my family, and for "Our Allie Girl."
God Bless,
Amy:)

God's Gift Of Humor

This morning Shannon took our Allie to the vet to have her ACL repaired. She will have to stay overnight at the vet's office, and possibly one extra day as well.

If you have read this blog even one time, then you know how much we all love her. We all agree that she is the "favorite" person in our family.:) Just ask her, and she will tell you.:)




We have all been praying for her surgery to go well and for an easy recovery. If you feel led to do so today, please pray for her. And pray for us; it is so hard just leaving her at the vet's office all alone. It breaks my heart that she cannot "see" us; I have prayed that God would comfort her heart with our presence. Unlike a human, you can't explain to her that she will be coming back home. As far as she is concerned, she has just been abandoned there. And that breaks my heart.

I have been talking to God quite a bit about all of the circumstances that are overwhelming me right now, while being bedridden (with good hair), and He has given me so many words of comfort.

When I was in the hospital, my mom gave me a little calendar called "Caring Thoughts." It is a calendar for a mother to give her daughter. It is filled with wonderful quotes and sayings.

One in particular this week really struck me.

"Humor lifts burdens you thought were once to heavy to carry."

I am so thankful that God has given me the gift of humor. When I am going through a difficult situation, I know that I am going to be okay, once I am able to laugh at myself or the ridiculousness of the current circumstance.

Whenever Shannon and I disagree with one another, humor helps us heal. As long as we can laugh at the situation and ourselves, we know that we are going to be all right.

Scripture gives many examples of laughter in remarkable circumstances with God.
Genesis 21:5 says:
"Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born. Sarah said, God has blessed me with laughter and all who get the news will laugh with me!"

Notice how Sarah said God had "blessed" her with laughter.
Humor and the laughter that follows are blessings from God.
Abraham and Sarah's situation of having a child in their old ages was so absurd, that when the promise came true, and Isaac was born, Sarah could not contain her laughter. It was not mocking or disrespectful laughter; it was joyful laughter at the unbelievable goodness of God.

With my current situation being anything but funny, I desperately need to keep an attitude of humor and find some form of joy and laughter in all things.

Proverbs 17:22 says:
"A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones."

In my Women's Devotional Study Bible 2, there is a devotional titled, "Celebrating Laughter." The author of this passage is Emilie Barnes.

In this devotional, Emilie Barnes says, "Laughter is a gift of God that brightens our good times and lightens the rough ones. Laughter even has a healing quality to it. People have recovered from serious diseases by learning to laugh each day. Even more people have regained the courage to go on in painful circumstances when they were able to laugh."

She goes on to say that if you live a life that does not have laughter in it, then you are setting the stage for depression, and depression can lead to many other types of illnesses and problems.

She encourages everyone to cultivate the spirit of celebration in our lives. She says to make room for laughter. Deliberately seek it out. Smile at someone. Find something worth laughing about. She says, "As the laughter permeates your life, the spirit of celebration will take root in your heart and you will discover the meaning of another proverb: "The cheerful heart has a continual feast.." Proverbs 15:15.

I don't always succeed in having a cheerful heart, but I do always try. Sometimes I quickly find my laughter, but sometimes it takes me much longer.
I am a very slow work in progress.

As the parents of two teenagers, Shannon and I have to keep a sense of humor, or we would be nothing but dried up bones, like the Proverb says.:)
Sometimes when our boys are acting like lunatics teenagers, we just look at each other and laugh and say, "If we don't love them, who will?" :)

Laughter doesn't necessarily change the situation, but it definitely changes our perspective. The problems don't seem so large and overwhelming when you can find your gift of laughter.

The last couple of months, I have gone from crying to laughing more times than I can tell you, and it is such a relief when I finally do laugh.
So many blogs that I read are so spiritually uplifting. The words that are used are like poetry. I have often longed to have that type of writing skill. I would love to be eloquent with my words, but I have finally realized that being eloquent in speech is not one of the gifts that God gave me. I am now trying to just embrace who I am and work with it.

Lately life has not necessarily been "funny," but I am still trying to find the humor in all of the circumstances that we are facing right now.

The hope that I have for my blog is first and foremost to honor God, and beyond that, I hope that when you stop by here you will leave with a smile on your face, or laughter in your heart. Humor is such an incredible gift from God, and I pray that I am able to share that gift with all of you. Even when we are all overwhelmed with everything that there is to do in life, there is always time for laughter.

Seek it out. Be deliberate about it. And if today finds you down, sad, or discouraged, just remember you are not alone; we all struggle from time to time trying to find our gift of laughter. But, if all else fails, once I am no longer bedridden (with good hair), and can get out of the house, call me. I'll get all dressed up and meet you at Starbucks....We can have some delicious, over-priced coffee and some good Godly conversation filled with laughter.

And if you have trouble spotting me at Starbucks, remember, I'm the girl who never quite achieves the look I am going for when I get dressed up, so I usually stand out in a crowd.:)



I'm just saying is all.:)

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Be joyful always, pray at all times, be thankful in all circumstances. This is what God wants from you in your life in union with Christ Jesus.

Thank you all again for your prayers for me and my family.
I have just been overwhelmed by the outpouring of love.
I will also keep you posted on Allie. Hopefully, the vet will call us soon to tell us how she is.

God Bless,
Amy:)

F.R.O.G.

Hello!
I am writing a post today just to let you all know how I am doing.

But before I talk about me, I want to take a moment to thank each and everyone of you for your thoughts and your prayers. I am blown away at the way blogging friends rally together to lift someone up in prayer to the Lord. I feel like I am a member of the most amazing Christian Blogging Group in the world; what an honor!

My surgery went very well. Long story short (and in layman's terms) a piece of one of my discs about the size of your thumbnail had broken off and fallen down inside my spinal cavity, and it had landed on some nerves. And those nerves led down to my right foot, hence all of the pain.

My foot is much better now, but needless to say my back is hurting now from the incision.
I cannot sit up for very long, and just walking to the bathroom and brushing my teeth is very exhausting.

I ended up having to spend two nights in the hospital, because I was not at all ready to go home that first night. I was so sick at my stomach from all of the drugs, and trying to get up out of bed to use the bathroom was very painful.

On a lighter note, I got several compliments on my hair! Of course, I was heavily medicated when I received them, but I enjoyed them all the same, amen? :) I was glad to know that while I was wanting to throw up and begging for more pain medication, my hair was looking great! (Thanks, Melissa!) :)

You know the old saying, "When it rains, it pours"?
Well, it has been pouring for a while now at our home.
I don't say this to complain, or throw a pity party, but right now, we are really struggling.

The last year and half has been just one thing after another. We have been challenged emotionally, financially, physically, and spiritually.
When we returned home from the hospital Saturday, Shannon discovered that our living room television had died (for good), as well as our cordless phone, and right before bed that evening, he noticed that our basement floor was covered with water. Apparently the air conditioner was blocked up. (I don't know these terms, but you get the idea.) Shannon and Matthew sucked 10 gallons of water off of the basement floor. He finally got that fixed for the time being and was able to get some rest.

Monday Shannon took the day off of work again, because I still needed so much help. And he had to take our favorite baby girl, Allie, to the vet. She had been limping around, and we knew something was wrong. Well long story short, she needs surgery. But the vet will have to do an EKG to make sure that her heart is strong enough for surgery, because if it is not, he will not be able to operate on her. She has torn her ACL(I think is what Shannon said), similar to a common injury for football players.

Shannon will probably be taking her next week to have this procedure done, God willing.
Right now, I am physically still very weak, but emotionally, my heart is broken. I so badly want to curl up with her on her rest pad and love on her like I've always done, but because of my back, I can't. And she wants to get in bed and sleep with me like she's always done, but because of her knee she can't.

I feel so helpless right now, and my heart is broken. She is so special to our family, and here she is hurting, and I can't even help her.

I've cried out to God so much these last few days; and yesterday, He gave me a couple of verses.

Psalm 4:4-5
Be angry and do not sin;
on your bed, reflect in your heart and be still.
Selah
Offer sacrifices in righteousness
and trust in the LORD.

I thought that it was so interesting that verse 4 says, "on your bed."
God speaks to us right where we are at, amen?
He also told me to, "be still." Orders from the Great Physician Himself.
Staying in bed and being still are not things that come naturally to me. But I am trying to follow God's and the doctor's orders. I know these orders are for my physical health, as well as my spiritual health.

And I am supposed to do these things while I trust in the LORD.
I do trust Him, however, I am just so overwhelmed right now, that sometimes I lose my focus.

Last year, while we were going through so many difficult situations, I became so frustrated and angry at God, that one day, I just cried out in anger at Him. I then opened my Bible, and this is what He said to me:

Exodus 14:14
The LORD will fight for you while you keep silent.

Or as it says in the NIV:
The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.

I've noticed a pattern: God tells me to be quiet and to be still. He is fighting for me and my family; He does not need my help.

Thank you all again for you thoughts and prayers on my behalf. I have received many e-mails and cards in the mail. One card in particular, from Jenny, really touched me.

Jenny loves frogs. And, as most of you know, I do not. In Jenny's letter, she had drawn a picture of a frog, and over the frog were these words: "Fully Rely On God."

I guess now I will never look at frogs the same way again. Instead of being scared when I see one, I will now be reminded to rely on God, fully!

I'm sorry I have been unable to read any of your posts lately. I am still unable to sit up for very long. But, as soon as I am able, I will be catching up with all of you. Until then, thank you for your prayers and thoughtfulness.

Psalm 46:10a
Be still, and know that I am God.

God bless,
Amy. :)

P.S. I want to thank Matthew for typing most of this for me, because I am not able to sit up long enough to type it all.