A Mysterious White Powder

Okay, so it's not so mysterious, but a white powder covers everything. Last night Greg grinded the concrete floor of the kitchen. We did our best to tape plastic over everything, but quickly found pockets of what looked like smoke billowing into the kitchen and living room. Donned with our masks and vacuum cleaners strategically placed, we did our best to eliminate the damage. No matter how much I wipe things down, there's more dust! I'm fighting a losing battle I'm afraid.

I've found a huge blessing in my new found occupation. Besides working for and with my husband, being self-employed, getting stronger, and having a flexible schedule, I found that I can connect with God throughout the day even better than when I worked for a church. Alone in God's creation, picking weeds, caring for the plants He made, I find myself listening to the Holy Spirit more. Without the distractions of the demands of others, I knelt this week on a rocky, hilly planter in the middle of a beautiful lawn. As I pulled weeds it occurred to me that weeds were everywhere. Kind of like sin, it's everywhere. I was appointed to help remove it. But my abilities are limited. I can pull them out, temporarily stopping them from view, but they could pop back up again. Only God can remove them for good. Kind of like sin. Does that mean God is like Round-up? I can't quite make that connection, but I do know that the more we desire to be like Christ and form a closer relationship with Him, the more sin is replaced with the things of God. We no longer desire to chase after the things of this world, they become less and less appealing. We desire to replace them with the Godly thoughts and actions.

Take time today to experience God's creation. It's going to rain today, but rain is a beautiful thing that God has provided. Find Him in His creation today. Blessings on the rainy Friday!

Early Christmas

After a hard day at work, we went to small group. I was pretty excited because I was able to teach last night. Greg and I had bought a case of hardcover NLT Life Application Bibles to give away to folks on the west side. They day before I went to Target and got gift bags and tissue in bright neon colors to wrap them. While there I thought, 'I don't want the six kids to feel left out that they didn't get anything', so I bought some age appropriate toys to keep them occupied during the teaching. Then Greg and I went to the local Bible store and bought Bible covers and highlighters for them. I put the bibles and highlighters in the cases and wrapped them in tissue and put them in the gift bags. Then I wrapped the boxes of toys.

We arrived, and with Greg's mighty, "Ho, Ho, Ho!" we came inside. The kids were quiet and so expectant wondering what was inside. The oldest boy told me the boxes were for the kids and the bags were for the grown ups. Smart kid! The kids went first and opened the gifts. We explained that they were from the EQUIP church and belonged to the church, as someday they will be used by other kids as well, but for now they could play with them while at Grandma & Grandpa's house. They were great with that. The parents opened their gift bags and were thrilled. The youngest daughter said she had been praying for a Bible cover for over a year. Yeah!

Greg ran interference with the kids so the moms could concentrate on the teaching. It was great. I was exhausted after yesterday, so we got to sleep in a little this morning. Self-employment is a great thing!

Off to work. Blessings on this cloudy, cool day!

New Stuff

I'm finding it impossible to blog on Mondays. I have just enough time to get up way early, throw on work clothes and hit the door at daybreak. I even eat in the truck. So, here's an update on what has gone on in the last 2 days.

Sunday we went to another church to check out what they did. Several people have asked us what we thought about them but until Sunday we couldn't answer because we had never gone. Though what I heard prior was controversial, we found it to be a great experience. We were greeted warmly at the door and handed our bulletins. We were welcomed by a couple we knew and got to catch up a little before service. The associate Pastor came over and introduced himself as well and welcomed us. Then the Pastor came over and called us by name and welcomed us. He said he heard we were planting a church on the west side. We caught up with him a bit and I got to catch up on his brother, who I worked with at Gallo many years ago. The worship was great, the teaching was on track and relevant. As we exited the front door, the Pastor offered to help us plan our church plant and asked that we call him. I filled out a visitor card and the associate Pastor called us that afternoon. All in all it was a great experience and we're glad we went.

Sunday we pretty much did stuff around the house and watched football. Yesterday was a good hard workday and last night I fell asleep on the sofa with Greg at 6:00 for a few minutes while our tile guy grouted what he did on Saturday. He offered to come back tonight and Wednesday night and tile more, but Greg wanted him fresh on Saturday, so he'll be back then to tile the kitchen. Yeah!

I'm looking forward to tomorrow night. Besides teaching, we have gifts to bring. I love bringing gifts! I have lots to work on today and tonight we will probably grind down the rest of the concrete and pull up some carpet to prepare for this weekend. Maybe I'll do some painting today as well. Blessings on this fall Tuesday!

Update

I'm slapping myself for being so sporadic in my blogging and having to try and remember where I left off Tuesday! Wednesday night was our Bible Study on the westside. We had our new youth pastors Josh and Monica over so everyone could get to know them and they had instant rapport. We played a game called Loaded Questions which was great in getting everyone to know each other better. We laughed constantly. I get to teach this week and then next week we'll start a marriage series. Josh and Monica will be caring for and teaching the six little ones so all the adults can focus on the teaching.

Wednesday Greg and I worked the Turlock route and Thursday we were in Modesto. Greg assigned me my first area to be totally responsible for; the rose gardens and planters around the sanctuary of a church in Modesto. Friday I helped him for a couple of hours at our church and got to mow a new area.

Yesterday one of the couples at our small group was having a garage sale to make rent and we saw the opportunity to bless them. We called them Friday night and told them we had appliances and boxes of kitchen stuff they could have if they wanted it to sell. They came over at 7 yesterday and picked it all up. It blessed us to have it gone. Greg rearranged the garage and I can park in it again! They sold enough stuff to make their rent! Yeah!


Our tile guy came at 7:30 and started tiling the new room. He laid 92 20" tiles yesterday and will come back Monday night and grout it. Then he'll be back on the weekend to continue tiling into the living room and kitchen.


The stucco guys also came at 7:30 and started on the back of the house. I went and picked up pizza and soda for everyone at noon and we had fun talking in Spanish and English and finding out about every one's families. The tile guy ha 4 kids! The stucco supervisor came from a family with 10 kids and another stucco guy had 11 kids in his family! Yikes!

Today we're visiting another church. Should be interesting. Better finish getting ready. I hate being late! Blessings on this beautiful 85 degree Lord's day!

Burned!

Let's see if I can catch you up on all that has happened since Friday. Saturday we had a board meeting at our house, which went well. After that, Greg and I went to work for a few hours. At the second job site, I had finished edging and was putting the edger back in the truck. Because of some prunings, I was having to shove and maneuver the edger into the truck. My training as a mother taught me that when you need to put a bottom-heavy item somewhere in front of you, you grab it by the bottom and shove it forward. Not wearing gloves, I grabbed the edger by the hot metal piece at the bottom and let out a yelp! The edger was tossed a little into the air and landed on the tailgate while I tried to figure out what happened to my thumb. Not realizing I had lost the cap to the gas reservoir a ways back, gas also flew out of the edger, as it was full.

Trying to decide if I was mad at the edger, felt victimized by the great pain, or just needed first aid, I walked towards the building to find water. I didn't have a key on my to the building so I had to use the hose. The hose required pliers as there is no way to turn it on by hand. Back to the truck, couldn't find pliers, but then FINALLY found them, I walked back and had cold water run over my second degree burn. I admit I was crying quite a bit. Greg was nowhere to be found, mowing out of sight and earshot. After a few minutes I stopped, figuring I might be able to get back to work if I could bandage my thumb. I walked back to the truck where the fire on my thumb returned. I couldn't find the first aid kit either, grabbed the pliers again, crying all over again, and headed back to the faucet. Greg saw me and wondered, why is she crying about watering the trees? Then he looked at me and asked, "Are you hurt?" He jumped off the idling mower and ran to my rescue. He didn't know if he should hold me, help me, or laugh. He'd never seen my cry so hard before. He got more water on my thumb, which helped with the pain and the crying. He got the first aid kit but didn't really have anything to put on my thumb for the pain. I refused acetaminophen and ibuprofen. Each time we took the water off, the fire returned. Plan B. He asked if I could suck it up and continue working. I told him my pride wanted to keep working, but there wasn't a hair of obligation to work anywhere in my heart. I wanted to go home and put my thumb in a glass of cold water. He called Mark and he came with a baggie of cold water for the ride home. What a great son! I sat on the bed with my thumb in cold water for 2 1/2 hours until the pain subsided enough to take a nap. The burn area turned white immediately, a sign of second degree burns. I was able to work yesterday, with gloves, which I will always wear from now on.

So, yesterday we worked at Safeway. I got to mow most of the lawns, even the ones at the entrance. I got to edge and weed and shovel dirt too. It was a full day and Greg said he was so proud of how hard I worked. Last night we went to parent teacher conferences, which was very good.

On the home front, we have green in the new room and the red in the kitchen is done. The green is darker than I imagined. It's a pretty color, but not what I had in mind. The bathroom is almost done. We need the towel bar installed, the light fixture, and some touch up done, which I'll probably do today. My desk needs attention too, laundry, etc.

This Saturday we start tiling the big room. Next week I hope to get the dining room table and china hutch delivered. Lots to do. I need to make lists.

Blessings on this beautiful, cool, Tuesday!

Scary!

What a crazy couple of days since my last post! Greg and I met with a guy who he wanted to do our tile floors Monday night. He struck me as someone with a drug history but seemed pretty okay that night. We agreed that I would meet him at Lowe's Wednesday at noon to pick out the mortar, grout, etc. He called and said he couldn't make it until 12:15. No problem. I got there at 12:10, waited in the front of the store until 12:20, then headed to the back in case he was in the tile section. At 12:25 I called him on his cell and he said he was on Monte Vista Ave. and would be there in a couple of minutes. At 12:50 he comes staggering in, slurring his words, is constantly in motion, mumbling, can't concentrate, it took him 20 minutes to pick out the mortar from about 4 choices! I told him he looked like he wasn't feeling too well, and was he under the influence of something? He said he lost 1/2 a tooth and couldn't keep his plate up. I thought, if you have plates, then a lost tooth shouldn't hurt a bit! He didn't say he took anything and didn't miss a beat or seem the least bit offended when I asked, as though he's been asked that before.

I started feeling really freaked out. I couldn't wait to get out of there! He was supposed to come over and start working on the floor, but I thought, I don't want him using a saw on my property! He'll cut off a finger or something then I'll have a lawsuit, yikes! We went out the store and he said he had to go to the temp agency to pick up a ticket then would be over in 20 minutes. As soon as got in my car I called Greg. No answer. I drove to where I thought he would be working but he wasn't there. Kristen was home. Finally I got Greg and told him this guy was on drugs. He called the temp agency and had them tell him we wouldn't be needing him. Whew! That was close. I've never felt so threatened in my life! He was nice, but he was totally out of it and not very lucid. Even the temp agency said they've been watching him lately. Greg said he sounded out of it on the phone message he left that day.

With our new board coming Saturday morning, I was in a pickle to get the bathroom done. I was already painting and needed a tile guy fast! Friends of our let us use their saw, then when the tile guy fell through, they let us contact their tile guy. What a godsend! This sweet, Christian Hispanic man and his wife came over at 6:30 yesterday morning to see the job and agreed to do it all today so we could use the bathroom tomorrow for the board meeting! Yeah! He doesn't speak English so I get to try and remember my Spanish and communicate with him. He's very patient with me! God surely protected us from making a horrible mistake on this one!

The painters are here doing their thing. They're even going to make my corners straight in the bathroom and touch up the kitchen too. A professional job. Yeah!

I worked with Greg 9 1/2 hours yesterday. He said he was glad he married a strong wife. My shoulder is a little sore from lugging around a full large trash can several times yesterday, but a good kind of sore. He said I'm ready for mowing our largest account on Monday. Yeah! It's a little scary thinking I'm going to be doing corporate lawns. I remember Gallo's beautiful grounds. I'll be very careful. Greg said it's the most challenging time to learn to mow, it's wet and the grass is high. That means there could be ruts left when turning and I have to know the height to mow. Luckily he helps me with that but says I have a good eye to know what to set it on. Since I'm not working with him today, I have to help him Saturday afternoon. Should be a pretty easy half day though.

Today, I'm trying to be productive. It's hard, as everything is covered in plastic and I can't get in the bathroom. I'm pretty much making lists and doing laundry and running errands.

Blessings on this gorgeous Friday, and thanks for reading my rambling!

David

Sorry it's a day late, but the bathroom has taken all my attention. On to David.

The beginning of Charles Swindoll's book on David talks about three priorities for a God-Appointed Servant Leader.

The first quality God saw in David was spirituality. "The Lord has sought out . . . a man after His own heart. When you are deeply spiritual, you have a heart that is sensitive to the things of God. What hurts God, hurts you. What burdens God, burdens you. When God says, go this way, you go that way, without much hesitation, argument, fear, or anxiety, you cast your cares on Him and you just obey.

2 Chronicles 16:9 says that For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. . . When God corrects you, you adjust your behavior. You're grieved over what grieves God. The things that displease God concern you.

The second quality God saw in David was humility. God found David faithfully watching the sheep. A shepherd back then was considered a blue-collar worker. No public upper education needed, no fancy clothes. Just someone who was willing to be the sheep's advocate, day and night, and insure their safety and health. Charles Swindoll puts it this way: "It's as if God says, "I don't care about all that slick public image business. Show me a person who has the character, and I'll give him all the image he needs. I don't require some certain temperament, I don't care if he has a lot of charisma, I don't care about size, I don't care about an impressive track record. I care about character! First, is the person deeply authentic in his or her spiritual walk or is he faking it? And second, is he or she a servant?""

This quote reminds me of the verse that talks about God using the foolish things of this world to confound the wise. It's just like God to take those things that have been the most battered, the least attractive, the slightly quirky, to do great things for Him.

The third quality God saw in David was integrity. Psalm 78:71-72 says, From the care of the ewes with suckling lambs He brought him,
To shepherd Jacob His people,
And Israel His inheritance.
So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart,
And guided them with his skillful hands."

Charles continues with, "Circle the word integrity That is so significant! God is not looking for magnificent specimens of humanity. He's looking for deeply spiritual, genuinely humble, honest-to-the-core servants who have integrity."

Scan your heart today. Ask yourself where you fall in regards to spirituality, humility, and integrity. Ask God to reveal where he finds you in these areas and where you need to grow. Then ask Him how you are to grow. I've been finding that God is full of answers, but we seldom ask him any, other than "Will you please . . .?" Start asking questions that start with How and What and When and Why and Where. "How can I grow deeper in the knowledge of you?" "What will my next ministry step be?" "When will you call me onto my next assignment?" "Why do I feel stuck?" "Where will I be a year or five years from now?" He has all these answers. Seek Him with all your heart.

Blessings on this sunny Wednesday!

Saving Grace

Not what you think. I don't remember if I blogged about the frustration of having striped ceilings or not. If not, I have them after several coats of primer. The saving grace comes in the form of a painting contractor who may (hopefully) save my tail and finish the painting. I'm too gun shy to try and finish it myself, though I'm doing the bathroom. Hopefully, Greg will approve the bid and we can move on to tiling the floor and finishing up.

I've taken a break from the painting to concentrate on other things that have been neglected, like my desk, the ironing board, the bedroom, and better cooking. The bathroom has been prepped for painting as soon as the spackling paste dries on a few spots and Greg unscrews the light fixture box, which has stripped screws due to the installation, I'll get painting. We bought the new toilet last night, bone colored, elongated bowl, and chair height for when we're too old to sit all the way down on a standard toilet! Greg will install the toilet and faucet this week, hopefully, before our board meeting on Saturday. Yes, I am cutting it close!

Here's what a wonderful husband I have: We had 2 coupons at Lowe's, the better for $25 off a purchase of $250 or more. The toilet was $221 complete. The coupon expired 3 days prior. Greg said I had to find another $29 worth of stuff and then he went to the service desk and asked if we could still use it. He probably explained that I had been trying to get him to go buy the toilet for a week, but he put me off, and could they make an exception. They did! While he was negotiating, I found a salad spinner and a couple more kitchen utensils I needed. What a great shopping experience I had! Greg got brownie points and gold stars and pats on the back and compliments all the way home. He's my hero!

Tomorrow I hope to share with you what cool things I've discovered in my David book and m Multi-ethnic church book. Good reading!

Blessings on this sunny Monday afternoon!

New Job

Today was my first full day (9.5 hours) in my new job with Greg doing landscaping. Most of it was fun and challenging. We started by going to Ripon (about 30 minutes north) to pick up several flats of annuals, then to Modesto (about 10 minutes back north) to LaLoma (a gorgeous neighborhood on a river) to prepare to plant them and do some detailing. The homeowner came out and chatted with us and expressed he didn't want to lose us as his landscapers. (He won't!)

Then it was off to Turlock to stop at home for a potty break and cut my bangs (they were driving me nuts, especially in this wind). Off to the storage unit to pick up the big mower and to a residential to mow (I mowed front and back), edge, and blow, then to a subdivision of 10 homes where I mowed 6 backyards and learned to use the commercial edger. A little detailing and then we were off to our church. Yeah! I like doing our church because it's beautiful and because I get to ride on the big mower, which is a blast. Greg said my lines were straight! I got to edge there also, then off to the storage unit to unload.

To celebrate, Greg took me out to Lampost Pizza. Honestly, tonight's dinner tasted better than any dinner I've had in months! It pays to burn calories! I'm not even tired, but I know that when I go to sleep and then roll over, my body will experience the stiffness I've come to know lately from all the painting I've been doing.

You might be wondering where we are on the house. Well, since I've been home this week, I've put 2 coats of primer on the walls in the new room, 3 coats on the ceiling, 2 coats on the kitchen ceiling, and 3 coats of paint on the kitchen walls. My biggest frustration is that the paint is streaking. I've never had a problem with paint not covering well in my life, and now, all I get are streaks! Needless to say we're getting quotes from painters to have it all sprayed before I go bonkers. I'm not taking any chances with painting the new room with a roller, though the walls came out well with the primer.

Can't wait to actually live in the house when it's done, cook a real meal that takes more than a little baking or microwaving, and sit at a table to eat a meal. Tomorrow, I tackle the bathroom!

Blessings!

Wide Awake - Finished

It took me a long time to get to finish this one, but last night, I finally did. With everyone out of the house, I was determined to read the last 10 or so pages. Now I can concentrate on David by Charles Swindoll that a dear friend of mine just gave me.

There were a few paragraphs I would like to share with you from my reading last night. I've been privileged the last week or so to talk with a handful of people who are searching for God's will in their life. What does he want them to do? How does He want them to serve? Check this out:

by Erwin McManus

In one sentence, God unwraps for us the power and significance of prayer: "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things that you do not know." We think we know what prayer is, but I often wonder. For most of us prayer is when you ask God to solve your problems and tell God what you need and, of course, what you want.

Have you ever considered the possibility that how we pray and how we engage God is pretty much senseless? Do we really think God is saying, "Oh, thanks; I don't know how I missed that. Oh, you need a job? I thought you should be unemployed all your life. Oh, you want a wife? I was going to give you a poodle for Christmas. I'm so glad you're clearing everything up for me"?

When we pray, we act as if God has been missing the point the entire time. "This is what I need, so pay attention, God. Amen." That's not really what prayer is supposed to be about. God invites us to connect on a much more profound level. "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things that you do not know."

This is what God is saying: The reason you need to be in conversation with me is that I created your imagination to be a playground where you and I can get together and I can blow your mind away. I'm going to stretch the boundaries of your dreams. Just ask me, and I will begin to share with you the dreams I have for your life and for all of humanity. You can talk to me about the small stuff, or you can listen to me, and I will let you in on what I am thinking. It's going to be big!

Remember Adam? He didn't say to God, "God, thanks for the elephants. They're really fun to ride. I'm not so sure about the rhinos; don't ever mount them from the front. God, thanks for everything, but I've got an idea. I need a woman! Koalas are cute, but they're a terrible date." Adam didn't have a clue. He couldn't even conceptualize a woman. God put him in a deep sleep. Why? Because God saw that it was not good for man to be alone. God knew something Adam needed. Something Adam didn't even know he needed. God knew what Adam would want, what Adam would need, something Adam couldn't even imagine.

...Isn't it possible that the life that your soul longs for is beyond even your imagination? Is it possible that no matter how big your dreams are, how expansive your imagination, how ambitious your goals, they pale in comparison to what you would begin to see for your life if you would invite God into your life conversation? He is saying to you, "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things that you do not know."

I remember praying a similar prayer in 1998. I was feeling called to ministry, but didn't have a clue what God wanted me to do. In the midst of praying about ministry, I was a little torqued that someone I admired was marrying someone else. It was at that time that God spoke six simple words to me. "I have great things for you." I didn't know what that meant but I assumed it meant ministry. When I started a small group for single moms, I thought I had arrived at God's 'great things'. Little did I know that in 10 years, I would have gotten married to a wonderful, Godly man, been a church administrator, have a nearly remodeled house, be in a very good financial position, be starting our own church, and not have to work for anyone but my husband. I could easily say, these are God's 'great things', but I know better than to put him in a box like that. He may surely have other 'great things' down the road. His boundaries are endless.

Pray some dangerous prayers today. Seek God's will for you. He might very well surprise you with more than the desires of your heart and dreams. Blessings on this gorgeous Wednesday!

Condemnation

I have found that some people don't know too much about condemnation so I thought I would share some thoughts that have been going through my mind recently on the subject. I think I've mentioned this in the past, but it's always worth repeating.

Sometimes when a person is feeling beat up emotionally, they stay in this state for weeks. Some don't know why it is happening. They may have had a conversation with a believer who was trying to help them in an area they are struggling with. They turn the blame on the believer, feeling the believer was trying to condemn them. More times than not, it is actually the Holy Spirit convicting them instead. The Holy Spirit gets our attention by bringing up an area we should be better at, like spending time with God, giving, fellowshipping, etc. In this case, the best thing to do is make the correction and the conviction goes away.

Other times, it really is condemnation. The enemy finds an area we're weak in and starts telling us what a horrible person we are. The difference between conviction and condemnation is that the Holy Spirit draws attention back to God. The enemy, however, tears us down, and makes us feel unworthy, drawing our attention to ourselves. God would never make us feel unworthy. One leads a choice to repentance, the other to a focus on us and our sin.

Once it is determined that it is condemnation from the enemy (which lasts as long as we allow it to), we have a choice to make. When someone tells us a lie, we have a choice whether to believe it or not. It's totally up to us. We can choose to be sucked into this lie, believe it, join the enemy in beating ourselves up, (which he just loves the help!) or we can choose not to believe it and replace the time we have been spending on the lie, on something much more healthy. Philippians 4:8 says, "Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise." God doesn't want us spending any time on the negative. God made you wonderfully, He doesn't make mistakes, and he doesn't make junk. Why ever believe that you are anything less than wonderful?

If this blog helped you, I would love to hear from you! You can email me at gshazenberg@sbcglobal.net. Have a blessed, cool Monday!

Prayer Walk

We had quite the morning this morning. We had 6 people join us, two that were new to our prayer walks. We got a bit of a late start, as we enjoyed a time of showing off our new kitchen. It looked like the weather was clearing as we left. As we headed out onto the streets of the westside, we were approached by a man on a bicycle. He showed us a missing child bulletin. A little boy didn't come home from school yesterday who lived in the neighborhood, a neighbor of this man. We promised to keep our eyes open and to pray for his safe return. The police were on every street, knocking on every door, calling every house.

We had decided to meet at the elementary school at the half-way point in our walk. As we approached it, the alarm was going off, a fire truck was parked there along with other cars and another came as we headed into the middle of the school grounds to pray. We split into two groups and prayed for the westside and for the boy's safe return that hour. We then headed back to our cars and debriefed. God spoke of refreshment and renewal, a time of God calling the westside people to himself, and a time for the residents to open their hands to others. God told me to not grow weary. As we finished sharing and began to pray, a lady and her two kids asked us if we had been looking for the boy. We said yes and she said he had just been found at a friend's house where he spent the night. We rejoiced in his safe return. We finished praying and as we did, a light rain began to sprinkle down on us. It was so refreshing.

May God thoroughly bless your day, this drizzly, cloudy Saturday.

EQUIP Announcement

We are happy to announce that Josh and Monica Kemper have joined our Leadership Team. They have a great background working with youth and Monica has taught women's Bible studies. They have a heart for marriage ministry and we look forward to see how God will use their gifts and abilities going forward.

I got most of the extension primered yesterday. A small section of the wall remains as well as the kitchen walls. Greg and Mark worked on the ceiling last night and when the sunlight hits the room I'll see what needs to be finished. Looks like Saturday is paint day after the prayer walk. Also on tap for today is helping Greg get a load of debris to his truck this morning, a trip to Modesto to pick up the bathroom fixture and my replacement left contact (I've been wearing a trial pair with a piece missing in my left eye for a month or more), meeting with the cabinet guy for the dishwasher facing installation and a drawer guide repair that I kind of broke, bill paying, lesson on the big mower, and bed. Whew! Ambitious? Yes. Do-able? I hope so!

Blessings on this cloudy, cool Friday.

Bogged Down

I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with the huge task of painting ahead of me. Please pray for me. Vanessa suggested a painting party. Not sure. I hate asking for help.

Anyway, we have a prayer walk this Saturday at 8:00. Please pray that God will continue to fill us and direct us as we pray for the westside.

Gotta go, lots to do.

Blessings this cool, fall Thursday.

My First Day as a Bum!

My daughter has been referring to my 'in-between-jobs' time as when I'm a bum. I don't really care for that word because I intend to work very hard during this time painting and tiling and fixing things up. But it was nice to get up this morning and not think about what I had to do at work, not put too much effort into what I would wear and know that if she was late getting out the door, it didn't matter, because I was coming home. Takes a lot of pressure off!

I'm dedicating the morning to God, then it's off to lunch with my best friend and maid of honor, Vanessa. She's the one person I can talk a mile a minute with and still have stuff to say.

Yesterday was a great day. The staff prayed for me and Greg at our staff meeting, I received a special gift from a special friend, then the staff had a great lunch at Red Robbin. I received a wonderful card with well wishes from everyone that I will always treasure. I received an unexpected bouquet of flowers from my mom, wishing me well on my new venture. The vase is gorgeous and totally matches the new room! The day ended with me packing up my stuff and having a great exit interview with my Pastor. I slept great last night and look forward to today.

This has been a joyful transition. Thank you New Life Staff for making it wonderful. Blessings on this glorious Wednesday, the first day of the rest of my life.