Did I mention that I'm not a morning person?

I have a feeling that this morning is one of those times that I will be able to laugh about later, but am too annoyed to find the humor just yet. I woke up to the sound of the Tyrant banging the toilet seat closed repeatedly. Not sure why, but when I got up to check on him, he grinned at me, and said, 'GOOD MORNING MOMMAY!' He was wearing nothing but a diaper, don't know where he left his PJs. I then proceeded to the living room, following him as he reported to me on the dog's activities. Apparently he wanted to use the dog biscuit container as a garage for all of his 412 matchbox cars, so he dumped the biscuits on the rug. There weren't too many left, so I would imagine that my 19 pound beagle had quite a full belly. If I wasn't sure of this, it was confirmed by the Great Dane sized poo that she left in my office and the guilty look on her face. I'm so ready to go back to bed.

Operation Christmas Child

My church is a regional collection center for shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. If you've never been involved with this before, make sure you do it next year! It's such a great ministry. Thousands of boxes came through our church during the past week, and they are all being shipped to Charlotte to be checked before going overseas. I don't know the final numbers, but over 7,000 boxes came through our doors this week! So many kids will be blessed with a box full of toys, candy, school supplies and the love of Jesus - what a great way to say Merry Christmas.

Overheard

Some things heard 'round here lately...

'Mommy I'm cold! My hands, my belly and my back belly are all cold!' (Tyrant, age 3)

'I had 2 testes today and I got A's on both of them!' (the Boy, age 7)

Oh and one more thing

I forgot to mention this too, haha, that I got this when my sister was visiting this summer. We like to do things together for our birthdays instead of buying gifts, since our birthdays are close together. So this year we decided to both go get our third tattoos. It's the Man's initials on my right shoulder. Next Up: Full sleeves, ahahaha! I kid I kid, but if I had the money, and didn't get super queasy during tattooing, I would totally have a big arm piece. In the meantime, I'm trying to talk the Man into getting some ink for Christmas...

Out of the Blue

It just occurred to me that I never mentioned that I have changed my hair color.... I think it suits me.... what do you think?

Recovery Walks!

Last weekend I was blessed to participate in Recovery Walks!, which honors organizations providing prevention, treatment and recovery support services; shows support for individuals in need of treatment and their families, and celebrates those in recovery.

I walked with a group from Livengrin, and there were so many other groups represented, such as Addictions Victorious, NET, and Libertae.

I could not have been more proud to walk with my sponsor, and the atmosphere was just incredible. The joy of long term recovery; it's hard to understand it if you don't live it, but it's amazing. I loved walking with all of these other men and women who are either in recovery, or have a loved one that they support in recovery. It felt like one big family reunion.

Witnessing for Jesus

Above the doorway of a local church there is a lovely little sign that says, 'PREPARE TO MEET THY GOD.' I'm no PR expert, but is that really the best way to attract people? It just sounds like you are ABOUT TO DIE when you walk through their doors. I don't have the gift of evangelism, but I do try to talk to others about my faith. I know it's intimidating to a lot of people, as we worry too much about what others think, and not enough about what God thinks. But at the same time, I have seen one too many an over-zealous Christian push people away with their version of the Gospel. I don't know about you, but I didn't come to know Jesus because someone made me take their tract, or because I opened the door to someone who knocked on my door, or because a man with a sandwich board on the corner informed me that the end was near. I just think that we make these assumptions about how to witness to others, and we forget how we first came to God in the first place.

So in my most loving, Christian-church-lady voice, I must say, 'LIGHTEN UP PEOPLE!' Most of us got to know Jesus through a family member or friend, and we were open to hearing about Him because we ourselves were already searching. So don't be afraid to talk about Jesus. He rocks! He loves you more than pancakes, as I always tell the Boy, and all He asks is that you tell other people about Him. Sounds like a sweet deal to me.

Remembering Mary Jo

You know, I'm not one to usually speak ill of the dead. I find it tacky. But what I find even more tacky right now is the disgusting flood of love and squishyness coming from the media in regards to the late Teddy Kennedy. President Obama and many others have spoken fondly of Kennedy's passion for his beliefs, his speaking presence, his accomplishments..... Yet I can only find myself thinking of the trail of destruction he left behind him after a life of clearly doing whatever he dang well pleased. He was a womanizer, a boozer, an adulterer, a cheat, a liar and a murderer. His numerous affairs led his heart-broken wife to alcoholism, for which he mocked her. I'm sorry that I can't get on board with eulogizing someone who was a hideous human being and should have been in jail a long time ago.

John Lofton over at American View wrote a piece several years ago when the Senator was on a Senate Judiciary Committee, and I think it speaks volumes about what the man's true accomplishments were in his lifetime.

In the meantime, my heart goes out to the family of Mary Jo Kopechne, whoever they may be. Her parents have both passed in recent years, and she had no siblings. I hope that they know that there are many of us who still care about the death of a Boiler Room Girl, and hope that she rests in peace.

In The Gutter

I ran into a friend on Facebook recently that I hadn't talked to in the last few years. We exchanged all the usual pleasantries, and it was nice to reconnect with him. A bit later my phone rang, and it was him. He said that he felt he had to confess that even though he had said he was fine, he was not, and that he was just coming back to the rooms. After almost 13 years of sobriety, he had gotten injured and addicted to pain medication. He was just home from rehab. I love and respect this man, and it broke my heart to hear this. I hurt for him, but I'm so glad that he has found his way back, and is going to meetings daily. He said that his downfall was self pride, plain and simple. It's very easy to get confident in our own abilities, and think that we have this thing all wrapped up. The truth is that we never 'have it' and never will. 'It' has us, and when we start thinking otherwise, we are on very dangerous ground. The first step was admitting that we were powerless. We don't have that power, only God does, and until and unless we give up this fight to Him, we will never stay sober.

"Pride is the basic breeder of most human difficulties, the chief block to true progress.

Pride lures us into making demands upon ourselves or upon others which cannot be met without perverting or misusing our God-given instincts."

- As Bill Sees It, p. 12

I read this article today about a drunk found laying in a gutter, clutching a bottle. Know the difference between him and I? Nothing. There is nothing special about me that keeps me sober. I've done the work, sure, worked my steps and gone to meetings and talked to other alcoholics. But I am only able to do this by the grace of God, and without Him, I'd be laying in the gutter next to that man. But for the grace of God go I.

Of Mice And Men

The Man took the big kids and went camping at an amusement park this weekend with his family. I decided this was the perfect opportunity to clean the shed, which is a place that I never usually enter. And by place I mean dungeon. And by dungeon I mean a shingled box in my yard into which random tools and equipment are thrown to be scampered upon by hordes of poo-dropping mice. It was clear upon close inspection that the Boy gets his cleaning & organizational skills from his father, because things were just piled wherever there was a spot for them, and in the case of the workbench and shelves, was then surrounded by poo. I spent the first hour just vacuuming the poo. I wish I were kidding.

After several hours & trash bags & taunting from the neighbor I got it all cleaned out and things put away & hung up. I'm very pleased with myself and hopefully the Man will be too. And if he is underwhelmed by my sweaty efforts, I can at least be satisfied that I have protected my husband from mouse E. Coli.