Here I Go Again!

I'm off to a new city tomorrow- Atlanta. I'll be at the Southeast Homeschool Expo so if any of you happen to be there stop by the Teach4Mastery booth for a visit.

I wish I could tell you that I'm incredibly excited about this trip, but in all honesty I'm just ready to have the conference season come to an end. I'm ready to do exciting things like homeschool my kids and start writing the next curriculum and maybe just be a wife and mom for a little while.

I can't really complain. Poor Gary will be there with me and he's been to a different conference in a different city every weekend for about a month now, and that's just this month! It's just that I never really envisioned that I'd spend my weekends standing at a vendor booth in a homeschool conference or speaking...to people...in public...as in public speaking. If I could write everyday for the rest of my life I'd be perfectly happy without all the public stuff. But having said that, I usually do enjoy myself once I'm there and I truly do like helping people. Plus, this is a shorter conference than some. I think I'm just tired.

This time I'm driving and my kids and Aunt Ellen are going with me. Granted, none of them will work at the conference, but at least I'll have the company on the way there and back. They'll be staying with my parents in Atlanta and doing fun stuff like watching the new Batman movie with Grandpa and Aunt Ellen will go antique shopping with my mom. I'll get to eat dinner with everyone on Thursday and Saturday, but that's about it.

I wish I could tell you that I've been really on the ball and have some of those pre-scheduled posts that will appear in my absence, but that just didn't happen this time. I may end up taking my laptop with me, though, and if I do I'll try to post some. Please don't forget about me in my absence, ya'll!

I'm off to wash clothes, iron, and pack. Have a great day!

A Thought for Your Pennies

Yesterday it was raining pennies. I found pennies everywhere I went. Pennies on my morning walk. Pennies at the gas station. Pennies in the Walmart parking lot.

When I find money on the ground it reminds me that God is thinking of me. Each time I bend down to pick up a coin I say, "Thank you, Lord, for reminding me that I'm on your mind and you're right here with me." It's like a little inside family joke that both of us understand. Whenever God especially wants me to know that His thoughts are on me, He sends a penny or some other coin my way.

After picking up all those pennies yesterday I felt especially loved. Then I came home and read something in my email box about- you guessed it- pennies! I usually don't even read the forwards that I get because I simply don't have time and I'm much more interested in personal email. But this time I decided to open one and read it and was surprised to see it was about pennies.

The email was a reminder that when we see pennies we should remember what is written on them- In God we trust. Every penny should cause us to stop and think, "Am I truly trusting the Lord?" It should serve as a little sticky note to remind us to cast all of our cares onto the Lord and trust Him to work things out.

It's ironic that God would use a penny to remind me to trust Him in these troubled economic times. I especially laughed when I found two at the gas station. It's about time they gave me back some of my hard earned money!

Recently, I've been discussing with my history buff friend, Melissa, how much our current times parallel what happened just prior to the great depression. This morning my husband returned home from getting the oil changed in my van and told me of two businesses owned by acquaintances of ours that are no more. Even the place where he got the oil changed had to increase their prices and they are barely struggling to make ends meet. The debt that our nation is under and the personal debt that people owe is staggering. Couple that with rising unemployment and price increases and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that we are headed for disaster without a major intervention SOON!

Yet in the midst of it all, God sends pennies to remind me to trust Him. I have no plans of receding, depressing, or going under. Yes, I live in this sour economic environment, but my citizenship is in the kingdom of God. Have you ever heard of a recession or depression in God's kingdom?

The weird part of all this is that right smack in the middle of all the talk of economic doom and gloom and soaring gas prices, God keeps telling me to do more, branch out, write more, speak more, and try new things. He keeps the creative ideas flowing and me growing. And then He sends pennies to remind me that regardless of what happens in the world system His thoughts are on me, He will provide for me, He will even bless me richly in spite of the times, and most of all, that I can trust Him- with everything!

Decorating With the Domestically Challenged

I spent part of my weekend spending money that I don't have to buy things that I don't need in an attempt to decorate my house.

I learned these three things about myself.

a) I'm not a decorator.
b) I'm not a decorator.
c) I'm not a decorator.

I really want to fix up my office because right now it's blandsville with beige on beige on beige. I'm so NOT a beige person. I was hoping to breathe some life into it.

What better color to add some pop than red, right? So, I went with red. Only I'm not sure I'm really feeling it. It certainly stimulates thinking, but I'm not sure it's the kind of thinking that I want to stimulate. Horror thrillers aren't really my writing genre.

You see, I had in my mind that I needed a sophisticated office. I have no idea where I got that idea. I wrote an entire writing curriculum in an office with pastel green walls with sunflowers and butterflies stamped on them. I revised that same curriculum in a cramped corner of my bedroom. And look at what I write! Primarily writing curriculum for kids that involves a DVD with a goofy teacher (me) who does weird stuff just to teach kids to write. Sophisticated? Hardly!

So I'm back to square one, only with less money. I may keep the red. Doubtful. I love vibrant color and I love black and white. What to do?

Well, I'll share with you a few decorating trinkets of which I'm especially proud because they DO reflect me.

Take these magnets, for example, that are prominenty displayed on my refrigerator door.

And isn't this rock just the best? I think it could be talking about Martha Stewart or the frantic Martha in the Bible.

Before I end this lesson on how not to decorate I do have to say that I did find a few things that worked well. None of them were for my office, but we won't mention that. I did get some things to redecorate my bedroom and I think they will actually work. If they do and when I get it decorated I'll share pictures, providing it happens in this millenium.

I'm also very excited about a mirror with a shelf underneath it that I bought at an upscale department store. It has that distressed look and I just love it especially since I got it for a third of the original price. I'd post a picture here, but then you'd see me in the mirror with my grungy clothes, unruly hair, and sweat band on my forehead. I fear that would ruin the effect of the lovely mirror.

My conclusion: I should stick to writing and make enough money to hire someone to help me decorate.

Carpe Diem

I don't know what happened to me in California, but something did. Maybe I picked up on a little bit of that California free spirit. Before I left for California I was consumed with all the little details of life and my never ending "to do" list. It was suffocating me.

Since I've been home things are different. I didn't walk in the house and immediately see all that needed to be done. I saw it, but it didn't affect me. I'd already scheduled two days on my calendar to do nothing but rest and recover from my jet lag experience. That's what I did, even to the point of leaving my unpacked suitcases sitting for nearly three days! So unlike me!

Yesterday was my transition back into real life day. I had everything all planned and as usual had much to accomplish. All was going pretty much according to plan until I dropped my son off at work. Immediately, I had a thought, "Take your uncle to lunch." Naturally, my mind went to those unpacked suitcases, piles of dirty laundry, the groceries I needed to buy, and all the other tasks awaiting me. My mind said, "Stick to the plan", but my heart said, "Take your uncle to lunch." I followed my heart.

I took my Uncle Manuel to Chick-fil-A, his favorite restaurant, and my son was thrilled to have us there. When we finished eating I asked my uncle if he'd like to visit his sister, my Aunt Eleanor, since she recently got out of the hospital. He did.

I spent my early afternoon sitting on my Aunt Eleanor's front porch sipping iced tea, enjoying a welcome cool breeze that kept it from seeming like a July afternoon in the south. I forgot about the suitcases and the laundry and the groceries. I simply enjoyed the moment relaxing on a front porch that houses a thousand memories from my childhood.

I listened to my Uncle Manuel's antics. He's quite a character and so very funny. The neighbor joined us which delighted him to no end because it gave him another person to tease.

My Aunt Eleanor is like Cinderella in one of those animated Disney films. You know the ones where the animals are all around Cinderella, even helping her tie her apron strings. A chubby black cat sat in her doorway. Little gold finches flitted around the bird feeders she made especially for them. The neighbor's dog joined us on the front porch. A lone pigeon stopped by the bird bath, looked up to give Aunt Eleanor a wink, then dipped his beak for a cool drink. Even the mailman stopped his truck long enough to hand deliver her mail and chat for a minute.

As I sat there in peaceful revelry I realized something. I'll always have more suitcases to unpack, more laundry to wash (that will be dirty again soon), more groceries to buy, more things that need to be done and redone and done yet again. But I won't always have my aunt and uncle. She's 75 and he's 81. I won't always be the brunt of his teasing. I won't always see the tears well up in her eyes as she tells how the Lord cared for her in the hospital. And never again will I have that breezy July afternoon when the temperature was just right and the tea tasted extra good and the three of us just relaxed and enjoyed being together. I'm so thankful I took it while it was available.

The funny thing is that the suitcases got unpacked, the groceries got bought and put away, the kids made breakfast for supper, flowers got planted, and the laundry will be done today. The world didn't come to an end because I followed my heart and took time to be with people I loved, to leisurely look into their eyes, to really hear what they said, and to let them know how much I love and value them. In fact, the world got a whole lot better.

Words from a song that I love, but can't remember who to give credit to:
Seize the day,
Seize whatever you can
For life slips away just like hour glass sand.

Seize the day!

Study Your Loved Ones

I learned a lot of lessons in California, but one of the most important involves how to treat your loved ones.

I stayed with Gary and Anne after the convention and what a blessing it was to watch them live out their day to day lives.

I loved Anne from the moment I met her. I hadn't been in her presence two seconds when she enveloped me in a warm hug that made me want to melt right into her arms. It was a genuine hug that plastic people can never give. That hug immediately told me that she was real.

Over the next few days I watched how she treated her husband. I watched and I learned. Her every word, deed, and reaction was filled with kindness and love. That she esteems him highly is unmistakable. Every time an opportunity presented itself she took the time to speak little words of praise and encouragement to him, making him believe that he could do anything. I don't know if he even realizes how much affirmation he gets from her in a given day, but I sure noticed it and thought to myself that anyone in those circumstances couldn't help but feel like a king.

But it wasn't just her words, it was her overall tone. It's one thing to say all the right things, it's another to have the right tone and attitude behind those words. On a few occasions we needed to leave and Gary was right in the middle of writing something. She would gently, but firmly, remind him that it was time to go and then she would sit and wait patiently never saying another word about it. I thought of all the times I'd been in a simliar situation, but I couldn't leave my husband alone but nagged and prodded and wanted to grab him by the arm and say, "Get moving, Buster!" Even when Gary and Anne disagreed about things the conversation was respectful and often laced with humor.

I actually met Gary at the convention a few days before meeting Anne. I noticed that whenever he mentioned Anne, his face lit up and he beamed with pride. He told me that he often buys her clothes. He said he could look at an article of clothing and think, "That's Anne!" That he was a student of his wife was very evident because he knew her likes and dislikes in intricate detail and he took great delight in providing things she especially liked.

But Gary and Anne don't just study one another. They study others too. They studied me. They noticed little details about me. Gary knew what type of tea to bring to me when he offered "broom service". When we were on the way to the airport to send me home we had a mix up as to the time of my flight which left us flying down the highway in an effort to make it to the airport on time. Anne, perceiving my anxiety (I REALLY wanted to get home that day) quietly said things to soothe me. "Oh look, we're nearly at the Irvine exit. The airport is in Irvine, you know." "About twenty more minutes and we'll be there." She never pointed out my anxiety or nervousness, but just sweetly addressed it in an effort to comfort me.

I learned much from Gary and Anne. I learned the importance of studying my loved ones and treating them in ways that are best for them. And I learned how important it is in this big frantic world to slow down and notice all the wonderful qualities in other people. I learned that it's just not all about me. In fact, none of it is about me. But the greatest lesson of all is what comes as a result of studying our loved ones and implementing what we learn. Peace.

When I stayed in Gary and Anne's home I was struck by the peace I found there. I felt so relaxed and at home and acted as such. Anyone who knows me well knows that is a virtual impossibility when I'm staying with people I hardly know. I realized that when we make it our goal to truly love our families in the way they need to be loved, home becomes a haven. It becomes our protection from the onslaught of the world, a place of refuge. It's the place where our families feel safe and warm and loved.

So I make it my aim to study my loved ones and learn to love them with my words, my actions, and my attitude. Thank you, Gary and Anne, for the great life lesson and the wonderful hospitality!

California- The Homecoming

I've already shared much about my California trip, but I have to share the very best part- coming home! I love being with my family and they have been loving on me so much. Only the cat is indifferent. Usually, he is all over me when I return from trips, but apparently I stayed too long and he's quite miffed about it. No loves or rubs or anything for me until late this morning when he finally decided to forgive me just a little.

The crowning glory of my trip was something that my daughter told me today. She said, "Mom, I think Dad really missed you a lot. He just wasn't himself without you."

I can't tell you how much that warmed my heart. I know he loves me. I knew he would miss me some, but I didn't have any idea how much he missed me. The man stayed up to all hours of the night last night tracking my flights by Internet to see if I would make my connections okay since we were running behind schedule on everything. He knew I landed before I did for crying out loud! Do you think he was a little anxious for me to get home?

And this, friends, is the reason that sometimes leaving my family can be a very hard thing to do. We just kind of sort of really love each other to pieces.

Be it ever so humble, truly, there is no place like home!

California- Part Three

Warning: I'm about to show my lack of directional and geographical intelligence in this post.

When I left Charlotte for California it was very hard. I did not want to go. It seemed so far away and like such a long time- 5 days- to be away from my family. Okay, I cried when I kissed my husband goodbye. When I was sitting on the plane waiting for take-off feelings of loneliness and fear seemed to shroud me like a suffocating cloak and I felt the tears welling up again. It was just plain hard.

Those feelings stayed with me all the way to Colorado, but then something wonderful happened. I woke up from a brief nap and peered out the window beside my seat. What I saw was breath-taking. We were just starting over the Rocky Mountains. They were so regal and majestic, the peaks covered in soft blankets of snow. Suddenly, I realized how big my God really is and how capable He is of handling not only me and my small problems, but this whole big wide world. My fickle feelings changed. I realized what a privileged girl I am to "get" to go to California and meet new people and see some amazing places.

As we came near Salt Lake City for my connecting flight to Orange County, I was amazed. I don't know what I thought that area was like, but it looked nothing like I imagined. It was so beautiful! The oranges and browns and golds and so many colors. I could look into the Salt Lake and other little lakes and literally see the salt and what appeared to be underwater mountains and canyons. We passed the largest copper mine in the world and it was stunning. What a portrait God painted for me!

I was shocked by southern California when I arrived there. I expected lush greenery. I had no idea that it's actually a desert. They don't have grass, just an abundance of tropical plants and cacti. I was mesmerized by the plants and the scenery the whole time I was there. The mountains were rugged, unlike the green carpeted mountains of North Carolina. We were driving down the highway at one point and I saw the Pacific Ocean through one set of car windows and mountains through the other side. On Sunday afternoon Gary and Anne took Lori and me riding through the area and showed us the devastation left by the fires of last year. The fire had literally come within blocks of their house!

I couldn't believe the citrus trees and avocado trees, but the flowers were the best of all. So many beautiful blossoms everywhere and such vivid colors. Gary and Anne have a little oasis in their backyard that includes a lemon tree, lime tree, apricot tree, orange tree, cacti, and lots of other flourishing plants. That coupled with wind chimes and lots of garden eye candy made it so peaceful, like a minature Eden. See the fruit on their trees:

I had to laugh. Lori and I flew from Salt Lake City into Orange County together. When she called Dan to have him pick us up from the airport she said, "We're standing by the palm tree." Do you know how many palm trees line the John Wayne airport? Too funny!

The conference took place at the Long Beach Convention Center which is located in a harbor and a bustling area. A huge aquarium was next door and it had a beautiful mural of whales painted on it. I could look out of my hotel window and see it as well as a beautiful little man made lake with bridges over it. I got to watch a hula dancer show from my window the first night I was there. I would have preferred to be sleeping, but when the show is so loud that the dancers might as well be in your room you might as well watch it.

I also took a short trip to the 15th floor of the hotel to take this picture of the Queen Victoria or Mary or one of those fancy queen people, a big ship that now has hotel rooms on it. I'm sure it also has history attached to it, but since I can't even remember the queen you can probably guess that I don't know the history either. And, yes, I really do homeschool my children and they are doing quite well academically, thank you!

Even though California was beautiful, nothing compares to the humble little abode I call home. It was an especially welcome site after running breathlessly through the Atlanta airport way past my bedtime with sweat pouring off of me in an attempt to make my connecting flight to Charlotte. I almost needed resuscitation when I arrived at my gate just in time to head down the gangway to the plane. But we won't talk about all the little airline and airport issues that happened on my trip for they were many. I do have to say that the night before I flew out we had a bomb scare on an airplane at our airport and when I arrived there the next morning all the big news crews still had their lights and cameras set up everywhere. Not knowing what had happened at that point, my husband said, "Whatever you do, don't listen to the news today."