It is now January 2nd and it is the first time I have had time to stop to write since Thankgiving. December is always so very busy and this year I added a show to the mix! I did sound for Miracle of 34h Street at Henrico Theater Company. It was a good production of an old Christmas favorite. While I learned more about sound and enjoyed meeting some new people, it was not the best choice. I didn't get to actually do my Christmas cards until after Christmas because we didn't get around to doing the picture for the Christmas cards until the 22nd! While I was busy shopping and wrapping I did spend some time thinking about 2009.
As always you have the good and the bad and through the grace of God good came out of the bad. My New Year's Resolutions for 2009 were to buy a house and to lose weight. I did both! Yes, there is a first time for everything!
I lost 30 lbs and still am not at my goal weight. The way I am wording that resolution for 2010 is to actually reach my goal weight. I have faith that one is going to be seen this year.
We worked really really hard at paying bills off so we could get out of a miserable living situation. We were doing a really good job at that and then we had a little curve ball, Jacob was admitted to St Marys with an unknown illness that was causing high fevers and joint inflammation. We were worried the added expense would delay our dreams.
We actually had identified a house we wanted to buy the week before he was admitted and made an offer from the hospital. But they had just accepted another offer. We were feeling a bit defeated....but God had the perfect house for us, we just didn't know it yet.
Thanks to Tammy Gray, my cousin and friend, of Cloverleaf Realty and Paul Jones of Creative Mortgage, we did it! And we did it by my goal date of my 40th birthday! I turned 40 August 29th and we closed August 28th! Whew....that was close!
We saw God really blessing us during the move. First we were blessed with many helpers. I was so worried about how we were going to move because of Rion's arthritis. Our friends from Winn's Baptist Church along with some good friends and family members helped us get the furniture and everything not in a POD moved on Friday night. And then my birthday was spent with our friends from Centerpoint Church and some childhood friends who helped us empty the PODS and unpack boxes. Our friends and family really rallied around us and helped so much with their time, sweat, free furniture, a free big screen TV, and even financial blessings.
The kids and I prayed every single night for more than a year for a house. What a testimony to my children the whole experience was.
After much prayer we made the decision to leave Winns, a church we loved and had only been at a short time. We started attending Centerpoint Church so I can do drama there. First you have to know I prayed for more than a year that God would show me his will for my life and how I can use my talents for him. He answered. First he took us to Winns. I worked with the actors during their annual production of Judgement House and felt God calling me to full time drama minstry in a church. Some months later God sent Mike Cauthorne to invite me to do drama as a regular part the service at his new church plant, Centerpoint! Wow! It is so amazing to see how he puts it together and you had no idea what great things were in store for you.
Centerpoint has been a blessing to our family. We LOVE our weekly life group. The kids count down the days. We have made some GREAT new friends! We LOVE the Sunday morning service. The band is great. It is like going to a Christian concert every week. And Mike, our pastor, well you just never know what he is going to say next....and that IS a good thing. He keeps us on our toes and we are never bored.
I have learned so much.
And I cannot forget Facebook. It was so awesome to reconnect with so many old friends through Facebook. What a great way to stay in touch. One connection in particular is so very special. It is an answer to prayer itself.
I am very pleased with 2009. I feel as though Rion and I finally made some good choices and are headed in the right direction. mmm....maybe we are finally starting to grow up? Nahh....
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Thanksgiving Thorns
When searching for a Thanksgiving skit to direct for Centerpoint I never thought I would find anything that would really make me reflect life as the one I found. Thanksgiving Thorns is by playwright Paul Joiner. It is about being thankful for the thorns in your life because through those thorns you really learn about how good God really is. The poem the play closes with is:
My God,
I have thanked Thee a thousand times for the roses,
but never for my thorns.
Teach me the glory of the cross I bear:
teach me the value of my thorns.
Show me that I have climbed to Thee by the path of pain.
Show me that my tears have made my rainbow.
George Matheson
This passage and the text of the skit have brought a new light to Thanksgiving for me this year. I reflect the past 12 months. And fortunately this year we do have good things to be thankful for. We have the purchase of our first house. After many "Job" years we were finally blessed with our house which is everything we wanted in a house.
Rion and I have had many "thorns" since we have been married. His Ankylosing Spondilitis brought both physical, financial, and emotional thorns to our life. We deal with his pain and the days he has trouble walking. I had to go back to work to support our family because the disease affected Rion's ability to provide. This was NOT AT ALL our plan. I have not always been gracious about it. I do see how God has provided for us. He provided a job for me with a tremendous amount of flexibility. In some ways I think our marriage is stronger because of the change. Rion worked 6 days a week and we didn't have much family time.
Then we have our children. With children it is always an adventure. When our middle was born the doctor estimated the due date wrong and did a scheduled C-Section to find a baby whose lungs were not developed. Those were very scary days. He had to be placed on 100% oxygen and spent 10 days in the NICU. The same child this past summer spent 2 weeks in the hospital while the doctors were trying to determine what was causing his high fevers and joint inflammation. So many good things came out of that experience and we can look back and see God at work. During the hospitalization we received an answer to prayer about God's will for where our family is to worship. When our car broke down while we were at the hospital He made provisions for us and our Pastor "happened" to be in the lobby of the hospital and knew a tow truck company and a mechanic. A good friend helped us with the bill. And when Jacob was released from the hospital before he was ready, the home healthcare nurse happened to get "delayed" at another house and didn't arrive at our house until 10:15pm just in time to see that our thermometer was not reading correctly and he had a fever of 104.8 degrees. This lead to him being readmitted and finally getting the treatment he needed. It scares me to think about what would have happened to him if she had not been there that night and his fever had continued to escalate.
When things are rough sometimes it is hard to remember you are not alone. But the only way I have found to get through those times is by "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms."
My God,
I have thanked Thee a thousand times for the roses,
but never for my thorns.
Teach me the glory of the cross I bear:
teach me the value of my thorns.
Show me that I have climbed to Thee by the path of pain.
Show me that my tears have made my rainbow.
George Matheson
This passage and the text of the skit have brought a new light to Thanksgiving for me this year. I reflect the past 12 months. And fortunately this year we do have good things to be thankful for. We have the purchase of our first house. After many "Job" years we were finally blessed with our house which is everything we wanted in a house.
Rion and I have had many "thorns" since we have been married. His Ankylosing Spondilitis brought both physical, financial, and emotional thorns to our life. We deal with his pain and the days he has trouble walking. I had to go back to work to support our family because the disease affected Rion's ability to provide. This was NOT AT ALL our plan. I have not always been gracious about it. I do see how God has provided for us. He provided a job for me with a tremendous amount of flexibility. In some ways I think our marriage is stronger because of the change. Rion worked 6 days a week and we didn't have much family time.
Then we have our children. With children it is always an adventure. When our middle was born the doctor estimated the due date wrong and did a scheduled C-Section to find a baby whose lungs were not developed. Those were very scary days. He had to be placed on 100% oxygen and spent 10 days in the NICU. The same child this past summer spent 2 weeks in the hospital while the doctors were trying to determine what was causing his high fevers and joint inflammation. So many good things came out of that experience and we can look back and see God at work. During the hospitalization we received an answer to prayer about God's will for where our family is to worship. When our car broke down while we were at the hospital He made provisions for us and our Pastor "happened" to be in the lobby of the hospital and knew a tow truck company and a mechanic. A good friend helped us with the bill. And when Jacob was released from the hospital before he was ready, the home healthcare nurse happened to get "delayed" at another house and didn't arrive at our house until 10:15pm just in time to see that our thermometer was not reading correctly and he had a fever of 104.8 degrees. This lead to him being readmitted and finally getting the treatment he needed. It scares me to think about what would have happened to him if she had not been there that night and his fever had continued to escalate.
When things are rough sometimes it is hard to remember you are not alone. But the only way I have found to get through those times is by "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms."
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Life's Acts
okay, here we go, my first blog post......about a year ago a friend (thanks Sharron) said, you should blog and I have a name for your blog that fits your life, Life's Acts. This brings many parts of my life into play. As a Christian there is the book of Acts in the Bible, as an actor and theater lover plays are done in acts, the act of homeschooling my kids, and my conservative and other types of activism. A disclaimer now, I am not a secretary so there may be commas found in the wrong places. Here we are a year later and I am finally doing it!! I have given alot of thought about my intention. That is what actors do, live in intentions, and I am simply going to share the never dull moments of life.
I have three boys, Chance 12, Jacob 9, and Shepard 5. Things are certaintly never dull with them around. They are each so unique and wonderful. I have my relic hunting husband, Rion. We have quite a romantic and dramatic story, but these days you have to be into civil war history and metal detecting to appreciate his excitement. He is a good man and a loving dad and husband. I work as the Business Office Manager for Hallmark Youthcare, a residential treatment facility for at risk youth. I oversee our homeschooling. Rion is disabled from Ankylosing Spondilitis and stays home with the kids. Jacob and Shepard have also been recently diagnosed with arthritis. Our family worships at a wonderful new church called Centerpoint Church. We meet at Kersey Creek Elementary School at 10:30am Sunday mornings (a shameless plug.) I do a drama ministry for Centerpoint. I also work in the theater any opporuntity I get. And I am a conservative and when time allows like to volunteer to advance those causes. After many years of struggling we just bought our first home. It is everything we could want with 3.3 beautiful acres and our very own pond. We are loving it!! Now this busy wife and mom has little ones wanting her attention.
I have three boys, Chance 12, Jacob 9, and Shepard 5. Things are certaintly never dull with them around. They are each so unique and wonderful. I have my relic hunting husband, Rion. We have quite a romantic and dramatic story, but these days you have to be into civil war history and metal detecting to appreciate his excitement. He is a good man and a loving dad and husband. I work as the Business Office Manager for Hallmark Youthcare, a residential treatment facility for at risk youth. I oversee our homeschooling. Rion is disabled from Ankylosing Spondilitis and stays home with the kids. Jacob and Shepard have also been recently diagnosed with arthritis. Our family worships at a wonderful new church called Centerpoint Church. We meet at Kersey Creek Elementary School at 10:30am Sunday mornings (a shameless plug.) I do a drama ministry for Centerpoint. I also work in the theater any opporuntity I get. And I am a conservative and when time allows like to volunteer to advance those causes. After many years of struggling we just bought our first home. It is everything we could want with 3.3 beautiful acres and our very own pond. We are loving it!! Now this busy wife and mom has little ones wanting her attention.
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