Disappointment

This post has been waiting in the 'draft' box for over a week. Things have been extremely hectic around here lately and I have not posted as often as I would have liked. We are having issues with our telephones since the move and thus have no Internet at home. I have not had the opportunity to post at work as it has been the usual end of the year frenzy. Thanks to all of you who have sent emails inquiring as to our whereabouts. I hope to do better in the weeks to come.

Thanksgiving week we had high hopes of quiet mornings sitting in the deer blind, extended family gathered around a table filled with food and laughter and evenings around a campfire swapping stories and making memories. Imagine the disappointment of having to make the "grown up" decision to trade all of that to work instead. After all, this is our big 'vacation' every year.

We were scheduled to leave first thing Wednesday morning. On Tuesday evening, as we drove to Brian's basketball game, I was talking to Jim about how excited I was to be going...and yet at the same time how I felt like I needed to be at home moving into the new place. Jim mentioned that we would not be able to leave as early as planned due to the electrician who was scheduled to arrive bright and early Wednesday morning and to figure on leaving around 2 in the afternoon. Meanwhile, we were waiting on word from Meagan as to whether or not they would even be able to go, as Derrick had some issues arise at work. (Kelli and Matt had already let us know that they would not be able to travel this year.) During the first few minutes of the fourth quarter, Meagan called to report that they too would be staying in Texas this year. That was confirmation that our Thanksgiving trip 2007 was not to be.

Years ago, I read a book by Kay Arthur that said that all of life's disappointments can become His appointments. (I believe the name of the book is As Silver Refined.) How true this statement became over the weekend that followed. The lowest point for me came after the game as we were sitting over dinner. As we were waiting for our food, my cell phone rang. It was Daddy. He was calling to see what time we would be leaving the next morning. We had just finished telling the kids of our decision...now I had to tell him. His disappointment was obvious, especially in light of the reason for his call. The kids were disappointed, my family was disappointed...and so was I.

Wednesday, Jim spent the day with the electrician while I took care of laundry and other routine weekend chores around the house. It was a long day filled with thoughts of where we would be along the route home, if we were actually traveling home. Thursday we spent most of the day at the new trailer wiping out cabinets, washing down walls and vacuuming floors. (Carpet again! I had to go to Wal-Mart to buy a new vacuum cleaner!) That evening we were invited to share Thanksgiving dinner with Derrick's family. What an unexpected blessing to have the chance to spend time with all them. We played Password and ate...alot! On Friday I shopped for hours at Ikea picking up new beds for the boys and we spent the evening putting the furniture together. Matt, Kelli and Brooke came out to spend the night with us and to celebrate Kelli's birthday on Saturday. Jim and I moved into the trailer and spent our first night in our new home. We had a wild Spades tournament with all the family gathered (Jim and Derrick won. Meanwhile Meagan swore she would never be my partner again after I set us back in two hands in the final game.) Saturday we had friends join us for Kelli's birthday dinner. We had lots more food, laughs and games: Wits & Wagers, Pictionary and Spades. Everyone left for home around midnight. Sunday was much more sedate. I made Bri a shopping list for Monday and we moved more furniture. .

In His divine plan, God had blessings reserved for us that we could not foresee. There were no quiet mornings in the deer blind...but there was extended family (and friends) gathered around the table on more than one occasion, there were evenings filled with games and laughter and there were memories made. We had a God made appointment to share Thanksgiving with our two new grandchildren and to make Kelli's birthday special. In the end, the sacrifice was worth it...though I still want a weekend in my new deer blind!

It's Turkey Week

We are out of here bright and early tomorrow morning. We are heading north to visit with family, spend a few days in the deer woods and eat way too much turkey and dressing (and pies)!

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!

See ya' when we get back!

A Night at the Museum

Last night I attended 'History Night' at the the local high school. I went to see my son, Mr. Jack Dempsey, and to check out his display board after he placed all the pictures. It was quite a show to behold. I saw everyone from Abe Lincoln to Elvis...and from Oprah to Pocahontus. Some display boards were almost empty and some were so ornately decorated that they looked like they belonged on a parade float. There were statesmen, political activists, entertainers, athletes...you name it. Some of the students even had an uncanny resemblence to the actual person...especially George Lopez. The whole evening I kept thinking about the movie, A Night at the Museum, and Robin Willliams as President Roosevelt. It was that good. I will leave you with a picture of Brian in 'costume'. He wasn't allowed to wear his t-shirt because it wasn't in dress code (plus it was cold in the gym)...but you will get the idea.

The Unseen Path

I want to forewarn you that this post is long...and it has been hard to put into words. It is the product of a call to transparency that the Lord issued several years ago. The ladies who have shared the journey with me over the last several years will recognize it as such...but to the rest, I just wanted to give you fair warning.

This year I have been graciously endowed with a wonderful deer stand. My aunt is unable to hunt this season due to medical reasons and she knows how much I have enjoyed the few times that I have been privileged to hunt from her stand. When my dad called me with the news, I could hardly wait for season to open. This deer stand is set way back off the beaten path in the hardwoods and is a stone's throw from a wildlife refuge. I have only seen two nice bucks in the last six or seven years of hunting, one of which was from this stand.

To get to the deer stand you have to turn off the gravel road and take a woods road that winds and twists. Once you hit the open timber you turn onto a path that is not always discernible to the untrained eye. This path is basically wherever a four wheeler or an all terrain vehicle can get between the trees and around any big mud holes. Once you get past the stand the woods road becomes visible once again even though it is overgrown with tall grass.

This past October, Jim and I took a ride in the Samurai to check on the stand and see if anything needed to be done before season opened. The ride back into the woods was very peaceful and relaxing. It hadn't rained in awhile, so there were no big mud holes to worry about. At the first turn, I went a little too far down the woods road and had to circle back to try it again. Jim helped me spot the trail and I tried to stay on what looked like the path...but had to back up or take tight turns several times to get back on it. I finally came to a big tree that had fallen over and told Jim that we had made a wrong decision somewhere in the puzzle of trees, mud holes and four wheeler trails. I found my way back to the woods road and he showed me how to get back to the stand from another direction...entering on the grassy road.

Once we finished looking around and walking the area, we decided to go forward and try to find the path. Wouldn't you know it? We came right up on that fallen tree! We were on the right path all along. The funny thing is that my aunt could find that place in the pitch dark and I didn't know I was on the path when it was right there before me.

So, you ask...what does all this have to do with anything? Is this just transparency that admits to being directionally challenged?

The Lord reminded me of this 'scene' a few mornings ago as I sat with my devotional in hand. I had just finished reading how He gives us a promise, confirms it through His word/a trusted friend/advisor/circumstance, then He steps back and allows us time to practice faith. Sometimes His stepping back is accompanied by the attack of our enemy...sometimes it is a battle within that causes us to ask whether or not we really received the promise. Either way we have choices to make...will we believe and walk in faith? or will we doubt and fret and worry?

Since making the move out to the country we have been blessed beyond measure. The quiet of our surroundings, the sense of peace that has accompanied our every decision...it all seems to have been confirmation of His will for us. Not that this time has been without struggles, but from the big picture point of view the stress and struggles seem to stem from the vast amount of change that our family has gone through and the 'closeness' that we have shared in living quarters (5 people/1 bathroom...you do the math).

Yet, I personally feel as though I am on that 'unseen path'. It is as though I exited the woods road my last Sunday morning with the ladies in JOY. Nothing looks familiar or clear cut any more. It is not frightening, at least not yet...but it is so unfamiliar that I am not sure whether or not I have strayed too far to the left or the right. We have not even begun to look for a new church home. I could tell you that it is because of circumstances and would have plenty of examples to give...but honestly, I have just been tired and felt the need to rest for a little while. Maybe this unfamiliar place has something to do with the lack of regular fellowship and the sense of belonging that I left behind. Maybe it is normal after several years of studying for Sunday School lessons and suddenly not having one to attend, much less to teach. Maybe I just need a good filling of the Word of God preached and a time of lifting my voice in worship. Whatever it is...would you please pray that I would trust that the Father has me on His chosen path and that I would press on until the road becomes clear again? And if you know this path from your own experience, I would appreciate any insight or guidance that you could offer...as well as the prayers of one who has journeyed this way before.

A Quick Update

As most of you are aware, Kelli has been sick since last Wednesday. She got in to see the family doctor on Wednesday and was told that she had a slight cold. They gave her antibiotics and sent her home. By Thursday morning her fever was rising and peaked around noon at 104.6. We took her to the ER Thursday afternoon to find the source of her high fever. The ER physician was not satisfied with the family doctor's diagnosis, especially since she was just 11 days postpartum. They ran tests, found her to be suffering from an urinary tract infection, gave her fluids and antibiotic through an IV and sent her home. She and Brooke went home with me and we tried nursing her back to health until she returned home on Sunday. She was feeling much better by Friday, unfortunately, she developed a cough and congestion on Sunday...so she is still feeling badly, just with something different. She goes back to the family doctor tomorrow.

I would like to thank all of you who have been praying for her, Matt and Brooke. A special thank you to the Young Married's Sunday School class at Wilcrest for taking such good care of them since Brooke's arrival. We were blessed to be able to share the pumpkin pie this past weekend...and it was GOOD! There were even phone calls while we were at the ER from special friends who were trying to deliver food that night. You guys are the BEST! Thanks to the JOY class for the emails and prayers as well. I miss you all so VERY, VERY MUCH! To the family, I guess you can figure out that they will not be able to join us for Thanksgiving...but we are looking forward to seeing you all while we are home. (I hope we will do. I know you were looking forward to meeting Brooke.) I guess I am just trying to say...if you prayed for, thought of, visited, called, emailed, sent a text message, brought food or any combination of those...thank you, thank you, thank you! You are such a blessing to all of us!

It's Arrived! It's Arrived!

Wednesday evening about 4:30 Jim received a phone call that the movers were lost. Fortunately, they just had not quite made it far enough down the road yet. 15 minutes later and a "Mr. Rescue" drive by Jim to find them...this was the view from my driveway.

And this was the second half of the doublewide coming across the ditch to find overnight residence across my driveway.

They are piecing it together as I type. I can hardly wait to go home and see it with my own two eyes!

Seasons Change

Monday night we attended Will's final 7-B football game. Though the Dawgs led at halftime, 6-0, the Cubs managed two touchdowns and an extra point field goal in the second half while holding the Dawgs scoreless. With one rain-out, the Dawgs finished the season 4-3-1.

Last night we attended Brian's first JV scrimmage. There were three schools participating and one of Brian's teammates from Alief was there playing with his new team as well. It was almost like being back in the Lion's Den again. The season officially begins on November 13 and the first district game is December 14.

Today Will is trying out for the 7th grade boys basketball team. So, we switch from yells of "hold 'em" and "go, go, go" to "rebound" and "we need a basket, boys". Never a dull moment around here!

Would You Like A Gift Receipt?

Two weeks ago yesterday, Jim and I went to look at a HUGE double wide mobile home to put on the property. It was a deal of a lifetime, so we did not hesitate to write the security deposit check on the spot and arrange for closing that Friday. When Friday arrived, I bowed out of the closing opting to go shopping with Meagan and Kelli instead. Jim met with the mobile home distributors and completed all the paperwork. On Tuesday he met with the mover to see where it would fit and what trees needed to come down. On Saturday morning we still had four trees to remove (three were dead and just needed to be cut before they fell), so all five of us got up early and cut, hauled, burned, etc. until we had the place cleaned up for the arrival of the trailer that evening or early the next morning. By late afternoon, the work was completed and we were on pins and needles wondering when the trailer would be arriving. We had friends drop by to see our new home, which still had not arrived. Jim made a few phone calls, but was unable to do more than leave voice messages. As we sat around the fire and discussed the situation, Jim and I began to wonder if perhaps we had been scammed. How many other people had this deal of a lifetime been offered to? Was the trailer ever really for sale? Far fetched ideas tend to take over when you are impatiently waiting for something. As we sat and talked about all the absurd ideas that were popping into our heads, Albert made a comment about having the title and thus everything was okay. Jim responded with, "The title is being filed with the state, and I don't have a copy." Albert's promptly replied, "But you have a receipt don't you?" At this point, I had to bust out laughing. I have a receipt for my new home, ya'll!

And The Winner Is....

I have been receiving emails wanting to know what name Bri chose for her goat. Ya'll had some good suggestions and the narrowing down of names was tough. It may be a bit of a let down to know that we (Jim, the boys and I) still call her 'goat'. It kind of stuck and she seems to like the name. Bri however, chose the name 'Punkin'. So, congratulations, Doug (Mr. August), your name suggestion and explanation suits her just fine. I guess I will have to get used to calling her 'Punkin'.

Happy Birthday, Sis!

Hope you are enjoying the bright lights of Vegas and having a wonderful time!

Babies, Babies

I spent today with my two precious grandchildren and our new mommies. Little D and Aunt Meagan drove over to visit with Princess B and Aunt Kelli.

It is such a blessing to watch as Meagan and Kelli interact with their own children. I sit in wonder as I watch them playing and talking, as they change diapers and fix bottles...somewhere along the way they have grown into beautiful young women who nurture so naturally. Davin adores his mommy. His brightest smiles are always for her. I love to watch them play and hear him laugh. Brooke is such a sweetheart. She snuggles into Kelli's arms like she has always been there.

I am looking forward to the days ahead, watching them grow and learn. I am looking forward to tea parties and t-ball games; to dance recitals and deer hunts. Yet today, I am content as I watch two of my girls sharing labor stories and baby tips; personal struggles and laughter. Somewhere along the way, they became friends. What more could a mother want?