Go Play On The Swings???

     It's been awhile.  A long while. 

     These last three and a half months have been the most grueling, exhausting, and frustrating months I've ever personally known, and believe me, I've had some challenging moments in my lifetime before this one!  If I could share my life story in this public setting, I would, but in order to maintain the privacy of others who are also involved, it's just not something that can be shared here.  In this particular season of my life, it's been a matter of facing a 43-year ongoing battle and trying to find some kind of healing.  There have been so many obstacles and hurts and tears along the way, and at one point my biggest struggle was why God doesn't seem to hear our prayers or seem to care to do anything about them.  No matter what was happening, it felt as though there was very little hope for our situation. 

     After finally allowing myself to verbalize that to a friend, she was able to share her own pained heart with me, and we were able to pray together.  What a sweet time of fellowship!  Later on that very afternoon, God did something that is just so like Him.  He put in front of me the most perfect devotional that was all about being tired of waiting on God, and in it was the verse I have at the top of this blog as well as this verse:  “Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD."  Psalm 27:14.  It was such a beautiful answer to prayer at the most perfect time, and I was so thankful. 

     But then He did something else that was really awesome.  After weeks and weeks of diligently searching for the right person to help walk us through this valley, God led us in a very roundabout way to a man who seemed to be the most perfect fit.  A ten-minute phone conversation with this man was all it took for me to end up on the floor in a thankful mess of tears.  God had provided just enough hope to keep me moving forward just when I so desperately needed it the most.

     A short time ago, there was a meeting held with this man and a few other main participants.  There were people huddled in prayer in another location, and lots of other people were praying for us as well.  Even though the stress level was high, there was a sense of peace and assuredness within me that God was in this thing.  Only He could have brought us to this place like He did. 

     After a couple hours' worth of discussion, some of us were given the directive that we desperately needed:  "Go play on the swings!"  In other words, "Take a breather.  You've done what you need to do.  Let it go.  Take time to heal." 

     Those words of wisdom have been ringing loudly in my head, and I'm doing all I can do to keep on letting go and put it back in the hands of God and the help He has provided for us.  That's so much easier said than done.  An issue of this longevity is not quickly undone, and even though we're supposed to be "playing on the swings," the reality is that the long-term effects still have a way of infiltrating our lives on a daily basis.  There is so much healing that needs to take place, but I'm just thankful for a God who understands our hearts and knows everything.  I'm clinging to that promise right now. 

     It's time to turn my focus back on my own family.  Next Tuesday we will be heading to Iowa City with Heath to check on the tumor that was discovered on his brain in September 2010.  When it was checked last December, it had not grown, so we were told to wait a year and see what happens, so the time has come for us to see whether it has grown or not and assessing what, if anything, needs to be done with it.  My prayer is that it will be gone!!  What a great thing that would be to give thanks for this Thanksgiving!  The very next week Harris will be heading to the hospital for his repeat colon surgery, and he'll be healing from that right on through the Christmas season.  My prayer there is that this time there will be no complications and that his body will heal properly. 

     If we could all just go "play on the swings" for the next couple of months, we would!  The thought of putting our family on a jet plane and flying away to some island far, far away and coming back in 2012 has crossed my mind many times, but that doesn't seem to be a realistic option.  It's sure fun to dream about though!  I'd even settle for a week away if I could figure out how to make that happen!  Nevertheless, we are approaching a holiday season that will be vastly different from the norm, but we're just going to have to trust in God's perfect provision and plan for our family's lives.  When we are weak, He is strong, right?  If I'm supposed to be playing on the swings, I just as well start pumping my heart out and bellowing out the words of "Jesus Loves Me!"

Holding Fast

     I’ll be honest.  Choosing joy right now (as explained a couple blog entries back) isn’t always the easiest thing in the world to do.  In fact, some days it’s just downright difficult, and it takes a lot of effort to just find the good in what’s going on around me.  Sometimes when people ask the most simple question, “How are you,” it takes energy just to say, “Fine,” when in reality one or two more simplistic questions might be just enough to cause all the tears that are lingering just beneath the surface to be spilled all over the place.  Depending on how well-informed the person is, the dam may let loose a little bit, but then there are my precious family members right here at home who witness the majority of those tears and who are helping me shoulder the burdens.  Whether they are directly engaged in helping me process all the thoughts, emotions, and possible solutions that are raging through my being or whether I’m silently sorting through it all in my own head and heart, either way, my stress filters down to my family at times, and it is so unfair.  My heart just wants to protect them from all the pain that haunts me.  They are drug into it whether they like it or not, but thankfully God has given them to me to keep me grounded.  They are my biggest blessings, and when I can consciously and deliberately choose to focus on joyfully serving them, I can detach myself from the bondage of the other circumstances and just enjoy the beautiful life God has given me.  I’m so incredibly thankful that God recently had a special way of confirming that little whisper of instruction to me.   

     In fact, He’s just been pretty cool with things like that.  Over Labor Day weekend our family decided to get away from life by going on a little camping trip, so in an effort to just totally relax, I opted to indulge myself in a Christian fiction novel while we were gone, which is something that rarely happens.  Little did I know that the story line would involve a main character who discovered a brain tumor and who successfully endured a lengthy waiting period before the successful removal of her tumor.  Keep in mind that it’s now been a year since we first discovered the tumor on our son Heath’s brain, and we are anxiously anticipating his follow-up appointment in November.  This story, even though it was just a story in a book, gave me a great big dose of hope on so many levels just when it was so desperately needed.   

     God used that author to minister to me so much that when that book went back to the library, another one came home with me.  It’s taken me much longer to get through this second novel, but when I recently found myself in the deepest pit of despair I’ve probably ever been in, God used this author again to show me a true picture of what depression looks like in a Christian’s life and confirmed in my heart that I have personally not hit that level of concern.  Thank you, Jesus!  After a while you begin to wonder if you’re losing your mind.  I’m so thankful that there are people in my life who would encourage me to get help if they felt I needed it and who are praying for me and who are there to support me. 

     One of those people is someone who goes way back to my childhood.  She knows and understands me better than most, and we’ve prayed each other through many storms in our lives.  After a brief email to her one morning last week, she felt very compelled to earnestly pray for me that afternoon in particular.  It happened to be an afternoon that I was mindlessly working on a project all alone.  Darkness was invading my heart, and even the music from the Christian radio station wasn’t soothing or encouraging or uplifting to me that day.  It was even kind of annoying to me because it felt as though there was hope for everyone’s situation but mine.  Normally I would find myself singing along and thinking about the messages of the songs, but on this particular day there was only one time that some lyrics just popped out at me and really caught my ear and my heart:   “Help is on the way.”  The song was familiar to me, but no other words before or after in the entire afternoon seemed to register in my mind.  This time, though, the words were very loud and clear, and it was as though those were the only words God wanted me to focus on that day.

     Imagine the tears that fell from my eyes later on when I got home and read this email from my friend: 

As I pray for what to say to you, God reminded me of one line from “Hold Fast” by Mercy Me, the line, "hold fast, help is on the way," and I looked up the song, and it has a great message ... but it's not from me cuz it was a God thing, so please take it not as from me saying it but as from the singer or as a gift of God to you tonight.

     Our God is so cool like that.  He knew I needed that more than life itself that day.  Maybe you need to hear the message in this song too.  We may find ourselves in a place where it would be easy to just give up and not trust Him anymore, but He's worth clinging to even when it feels like our strength is almost gone.  Hold fast!  Help is on the way! 

In The Silence

     "Be still and know that I am God." 

     Needing prayer.
Thanks.

Choosing Joy

(written Friday)

     Today . . . even if it's just for today . . . I'm choosing joy. 

     Let's face it.  We all have things that come up in our daily lives that frustrate us and cause us some temporary pain.  We fix them rather quickly and just move on with our normal tasks of the day.

     We all have some things that we deal with for a longer chunk of time.  It may be for a week, a month, a year, and sometimes even many years.  It may be a health issue, a financial issue, a relationship issue . . . you name it.  God never said our lives would be easy, even if we're following Him, and oftentimes as soon as we get out of one crisis, we find ourselves in another one.  We systematically work our way through them.  Sometimes these crises come rather infrequently, but then other times, like has been the case for our family this last year, they just seem to pile up right on top of each other a bit too frequently, and you find yourself struggling to make sense of all of it.   Thankfully, though, many of these issues eventually come to pass. 

     And then I would dare say that a lot of us have some kind of pain deep down inside that's just always been there.  An issue that just never seems to get resolved.  A feeling we can't seem to get past.  A struggle we continually do not know how to face.  A hurdle that just can't be jumped over no matter how hard we try.  A disease that affects our entire life.  Oh, it may not be something that causes us grief every moment of every day or even on a regular basis at all, but somehow it's just always lingering in the background and in the far corners of our mind.  It might just be something that we personally and privately deal with alone, or it might be something that affects not only us but many people around us, and the ramifications of the whole thing can be so incredibly complicated. 

     That's where I've been for the last month.  For me, it's an issue that has been present in my life for as long as I can remember.  The level of severity of it has always been high, but lately it has reached an even higher notch on the scale, and there is no evidence of it backing down anytime soon.  It has been the most mentally draining and emotionally exhausting month of my life, and when you add that to all the other stressors of our "normal" life lately, it's really, really difficult to know how to keep picking up the pieces and moving forward.  If I could snap my fingers and fix things, I would.  If I could find something tangible to actually do to make a difference, I would.  I'm trying.  If I could pray a little harder and ask God for the millionth time to bring relief, I would.  And I have been. 

     But the fact remains, there are no easy answers.  There is no quick fix.  In fact, there are many obstacles -- big ones.  The actual root of the problem is something that greatly prohibits any normal attempt at fixing the problem, and that plays a huge factor in the whole dilemma.  Consequently, my heart and mind has once again become consumed with trying to figure out how to make some real necessary changes for all involved.  Those closest to the root of the problem have almost become immune to it, even though their lives are greatly affected by it.  But it's like a ripple effect.  Those who are a little bit further away get caught in the middle because they know the problem and are used to it.  They know that things are not right, but sometimes it's easier to just overlook it and try to pretend it's not that bad.  Then they have a wake-up call and find themselves challenged by those from the outside looking in who can clearly see the issues at hand and who can't fathom why something hasn't been done to fix it long ago.  But then we get back to the root of the problem as being the prohibitor for healing once again, and it goes on and on and on.

     For all who are involved, it's deep.  It's painful.  It's horrible.  It affects our lives in ways that most people would never be able to understand.  It's a part of my life that isn't easily shared, but it's a huge part, and there is a whole lot of healing that needs to happen right now in not only my life but also in the lives of those around me.  It's kind of scary to poke my head out and expose this part of my life, but God has blessed me with so many friends and family who truly care, and it's time to just lay it out there and humbly seek your prayer support. 

     After consciously realizing that I was taking my stress out on my family yet again, God recently nudged me to simply choose joy.  Even when the storm is brewing all around me, for my sake and my family's sake, I must choose joy.  That's easier said than done when you're desperately seeking answers and the inward turmoil is about to engulf you.  But the joy of the LORD is my strength, and I must simply keep laying my burdens before Him and then focus on the joy and blessings that He so abundantly gives me.  Relying on that strength has been crucial for me all my life, and I simply cannot give up now.   

     So today . . . even if it's just for today and hopefully again tomorrow and the next day . . . I'm choosing joy.  I'm choosing to spend my day doing some things that I love to do.  I've walked and prayed.  Flowers have been picked from my yard and put on my kitchen table.  Plans are set in place to make some foods that I know my family will enjoy this weekend.  Thoughts have been circulating in my head of how to best be a blessing to others.  I've come here to write again, which is something I've really missed.  And just because writing leads me to pictures and pictures lead me to wonderful memories of my family, I'm choosing to end this by sharing some memories of our summer. 

Thank you, Lord, for my family.

Thank you, Lord, for those who are praying for us.

Today . . . I'm choosing joy.



We had a couple fun weekends of camping with the Westerkamps.



It's amazing what one cousin can get another cousin to do.

Pizzas in the fire -- oh, yeah!

Detasseling and swimming can wear a girl out!

The annual tractor ride around parts of Iowa

Even the kids enjoy the tractor ride!

Cousin time at my sister Sheila's house

We had shirts made for my family's big annual campout.

That's a whole lot of descendants!

My grandma and grandpa, ages 90 and 94, celebrated their 69th wedding anniversary in April.  They're going for the big 70 next April!

After all the little kids had a few whacks at the pinata, they started chanting, "Grandpa!  Grandpa!  Grandpa!"  It was a priceless moment to see Grandpa out there with his cane!

We had a whole lot of fun family activities planned, but the rain had a way of interrupting, which forced a whole lot of people into one shelter house for a while.

Our kids and a couple special friends. 

Cousin time! 
I love how Jenna brought her purse along for this . . .

Mudding!!!

Normally these kids would have been covered with mud from head to toe, but we had some unfortunate vehicle challenges, which prevented some of the normal "fun." 



Kelsey's workouts have definitely paid off! 
None of these boys could accomplish the same feat!



Good times with cousins from Michigan

Keaton headed off to church camp with his friend Jordan
the morning after we arrived back home.

Haley enjoyed some little trips with her friends.

Kelsey's friend Diana invited her along on a week-long houseboat
trip to Lake Powell in Arizona.

Cousin Camren came to town for a few days to celebrate his 10th birthday.

Keaton moved to middle school and is now a 6th-grader.

Kelsey is now a sophomore in high school.

A couple nights before we took Haley to college, we had the chance to meet up with a third cousin of mine, Tarah, and her kids and parents.  She was on her way back to Africa to meet up with her husband, so Haley was thrilled to have the chance to learn more about their work in Uganda, which is one of the places Haley would love to go someday.  She was even more excited when Tarah extended an open invitation to her.



We moved Haley up to Ashford University in Clinton, Iowa, where she will be studying psychology as a freshman.



It was a group effort!

Heath is going to the same school, but he will be commuting from home as a second-semester junior this fall.  He is majoring in accounting.

So hard to believe we now have two kids in college!

Our kids -- our pride and joy. 

A Love Song From God

     Sometimes God calls me to share what is going on in our lives.  

     Sometimes it's just a little too personal, and He asks me to be still, to trust Him, and to patiently spend time listening for His voice in the midst of the storm.    

     And then sometimes He absolutely blows me away by providing exactly the right words at the precise time they need to be heard.      

     This little love song came from Him just when I needed it the most, and it keeps coming back to me.  It's time to share it.  Maybe you need it too???      

Strange Day In The Neighborhood

     The morning had been delightful.  Harris and Keaton were gone to Pella; Heath and Kelsey had already left for work; Haley and her friend Ashlyn were quietly sleeping in the basement.  The serenity of the morning was the perfect scenario for me to leisurely enjoy a little iced coffee and some Jesus time in our screened-in porch.  There are always a myriad of things to pray about, and one of the more "trivial" ones on my mind was my computer.  I woke up to some issues Monday morning already, so this was my one final chance to pray over the thing again before taking it to my favorite computer technician who lives just down the street.  He called while I was still in my pajamas, saying that he was ready to take a look at it, so my clothes were quickly changed, the computer was unplugged, and once again, I found myself carrying a computer to Chuck's house.  (I've done this a few too many times and always feel like kind of a dork but am always so thankful God gave me this connection.)  His wife and another neighbor lady were just pulling out and going for their Friday morning coffee date, so we chatted a bit in the street. 

     I came home, logged into Facebook on Harris's laptop, and proceeded to have a wonderful chat with a friend who had seen my frustrated gardening status and was offering us some veggies.  Soon enough Chuck was calling to tell me that he had my computer fixed, so the retrieval was made, and I came home just feeling so grateful for the answered prayers.  All my data and pictures were still intact!  It wasn't till later, though, that I discovered that there is still an annoying fix that I have to manually make to each and every single picture on my computer, but at least they are there.  Backups had been made to an external hard drive, but even those had been affected.  The whole thing was just rather bittersweet. 

     My mind was forced to shift gears and start working on some brunch to be served before taking Haley's friend to the airport.  I called downstairs to make sure they were up and told Haley that muffins were in the oven and sausages patties were being cooked.  They each hopped in a shower, and I went back to cutting up strawberries.  All of a sudden, our doorbell was ringing off the wall, and my initial thought was that one of our kids' friends must be at the door feeling a little crazy for a Friday morning because I'd never heard our doorbell ring quite like that before.  I walked through the living room and glanced out the window and was shocked to discover a fire underneath our pickup!  Our neighbor Bill was obviously just trying to get someone's attention, and he was frantically grabbing our hose and turning the  faucet on.  He stood in our front yard and battled the flame that was underneath the front of the truck near the tire and told me that his wife was calling 911.  All I could think about was how on earth something like that would start and wondered if someone had thrown something under the truck to cause a fire.  Heath's car was parked in the street right in front of the truck, so I tried to call him, but he didn't answer his phone initially.  I was pretty sure he had the keys with him at work, but I came inside to do a quick search for them, turned my stove off so our house wouldn't catch on fire as well, and hollered for Haley, but she was still in the shower and didn't hear me. 

     Before I knew it, Bill's wife was hollering from their yard and telling him to get away from the truck because the fire was under the hood, and at that point we both just backed away and watched the fire get more and more out of control, taking over the front of the truck.  Very, very scary.  Haley and Ashlyn came outside about the same time the police and the firetruck arrived on the scene.  By the time the truck was doused pretty good, the whole hood had melted right on through and onto the street.  Somewhere in there, Heath had returned my call and told me he'd come right home so he could get his car moved out of the way, but the fire had been extinguished by the time he got here.  Thankfully his car was not damaged at all, but if the firetruck had gotten here two minutes later, I'm convinced that the fire would have ravaged the whole pickup and it would have exploded.  We definitely had the attention of the neighborhood at 11:30 in the morning!

     The fireman gathered lots of details from Haley and me and told us that he was pretty sure it was an electrical short of some kind under the hood.  The last time it had been driven was the previous night, and no, no one had been smoking in it or around it.  He showed us where the fire had started and told us that we would need to get it towed away within a timely fashion because it's considered an eyesore on the street.  The kids both talked to Harris on the phone before I had a chance, but there was little he could do from where he was anyway.  The neighbor ladies came back from their coffee date and told me that the exact same thing had happened in that spot to one of the previous owners' vehicles before we moved here, so that's a little crazy to think about. 

     Until further observation by someone else, we accepted the fireman's explanation of a short under the hood, but Bill came back late afternoon with an internet printout detailing a cruise control recall that was declared on a few Ford vehicles back in 2008.  That was before we had the truck, so we obviously would not have known that it was something that needed to be corrected.  From what I read, it makes sense to me, though, that that could be the cause.  I thought the first part of the week had lots of random occurrences, but this one definitely topped the list!

     By the time the whole thing was said and done, all we could do was choose to look at the blessings.  Haley and Ashlyn could have driven that pickup to Coralville on Thursday to meet up with Beth from Pella, but we had opted to send them in a different vehicle because of the poor gas mileage it would get.  This is the second close call Haley has had with a vehicle in the last couple of months, so we're very thankful for God's protection over her!  The truck could have been in the garage or in the driveway and caught the house on fire, but it wasn't.  It could have exploded while we were out there watching it burn, but that didn't happen either.  It could have been setting anywhere else and exploded and caused serious damage or injuries to others, but we were spared from that nightmare as well.  And besides all that, God definitely gave us opportunities to talk with all our neighbors! 

     I was just thankful that I was home at the time and that our neighbors were proactive when they sensed the problem.  It's an old truck with over 200,000 miles, but it was a good, functional truck that rarely gave us any problems.  It's a disappointment and a loss for sure, especially since we only had liability insurance on it.  Haley was rather depressed because it meant the loss of her beloved "Hank, Jr.," that she had been driving for the last year.  It was always available for hauling things for us or others; it was our truck we used to pull our camper; it was just a good ole truck to have around for the kids to drive or for Harris to use for all those things that guys need trucks for.  It's a sad day, and we have no idea why this had to happen, but finally all you can do is smile, move on, and be very, very thankful for God's protection over all of our lives.  It could have been much, much worse.  It could have had all of us in it next weekend on our way to our big family campout.

     We made it to the airport on time, said a little prayer together, and sent Ashlyn on her way back to North Carolina.  It was definitely not the perfect ending I thought we'd have to the wonderful week we had together, but she was very gracious and kind.  Her family came home after church to a house fire one time, and they were out of it for a year, so our little dilemma pales in comparison to what they experienced. 

     Our minds were rather consumed with the whole situation the rest of our day, and we found ourselves having conversations with a few more of our neighbors, which was unusual because oftentimes everyone is just so busy and wrapped up in their own little world.  Not today though.  Today was a day of reaching out, and there was a little more camaraderie than usual.  I liked that.  I liked that part a lot.  It's just too bad we had to lose our pickup in the process. 

Random Musings

     The list setting on my desk beside me is long.  It's filled with errands and phone calls to make and household tasks.  You know the kind, right?  The kind where every time you go to cross something off, you end up adding two more things to the list.  It's got things scratched out, marked with an asterisk for super important, and things that surely could have been accomplished in a day's time but never got touched.  It somehow found its way into the kitchen at one point and has a few grease stains shining through it.  It's that time of night where I could either decide to keep it and see how much more could be crossed off tomorrow or it could be transferred to a new sheet of paper, reprioritized, and looking all nice and neat for tomorrow.  Instead, something keeps beckoning me to this computer tonight.  Writing a blog entry wasn't even on my list for today, but it's something that I can't get out of my mind.  Sometimes I just need to write . . . to journal . . . to share.  Nothing real deep on my mind but yet a whole bunch of random and bizarre things that someone might find interesting.

     So . . . one day last week Haley came home and said, "I saved a life today, Mom!"  She was riding with a friend of hers, and they saw someone faint and just fall over, so they pulled over to help this man who could have just as easily fallen over in the middle of the street he was about to cross.  Another woman stopped to help as well, and amongst the three of them, they came to the conclusion that he was drunk, so they called 911.  Before Haley could even get off the phone with the operator, there was a police car, a firetruck, and an ambulance on the scene.  Who knows what became of it, but at least he was no longer out roaming the streets and putting himself in more danger. 

     And God bless these children of mine.  Last night when Heath got home, he told us he had picked up a hitchhiker who supposedly had gotten left behind by his girlfriend and then had cut his foot by walking in some glass.  I may not have my story straight, but I'm not real sure that guy had his story straight either.  I think I'm thankful my children are feeling the need to be so compassionate, but my goodness, my heart does a few flips and turns when I hear these things. 

     Earlier this week, Haley's friend Ashlynn from North Carolina flew in to visit us for a few days.  These two girls met while they were in Africa last summer, and we are certainly enjoying her and her sweet southeastern accent.  She is just the sweetest thing, and you can imagine all the fun they're having as they recount their African adventure together.  To make it even more interesting, Haley invited another girl over to our house last night who had just recently come home early from a missions trip to Ethiopia because of a break-in situation that she had experienced there.  Her dad "happened" to be there visiting her at the time, and while he was there, someone broke into the home they were staying in one night and lashed out with the machete that he brought in with him.  Both this girl and her dad had some pretty severe injuries, but they escaped the situation alive.  Haley had met the dad at a graduation party, so Haley's been trying to get together with the girl ever since then, so it was pretty interesting to have three girls sitting in our living room last night who were all able to share their African stories and their ultimate trust in God. 

     So today we end up with this girl at our door who supposedly came all the way to America from Estonia, which I guess is a country in Europe.  I'd never even heard of it!  She was pretty bound and determined she was going to come in and sit down at our kitchen table and show me this 500-page math textbook that I could buy for my kids.  I try really hard to be kind to people who show up at my door, but this one almost had me slamming the door on her to get her to leave!  Tonight one of Haley's good friends showed up to drop off a thank-you card, so we got to talking about her plans to attend a school in Sweden this fall.  She, on the other hand, was invited right on in, and we just had a delightful time visiting for the next 45 minutes to an hour. 

     Let's see.  I could tell you that Heath is now working for my brother up in Eldridge . . . that Kelsey is detasseling from 6:30 to 3 every day and then heading to swim practice in Clinton at 5:30 in the evenings and not getting home again till about 10 . . . that Keaton got to celebrate his 4th of July birthday at the campground this year and how we had to pull the camper out there four days early just to get a spot on a holiday weekend . . . that Haley quit her job at Fareway because she was tired of getting about three random hours of work per week.  I could tell you about waking up early Monday morning to about eight messages on my computer saying "hard drive failure" and how I'm praying for my computer guy to have all the answers and know how to fully restore all my data and pictures.  Or about the fact that shortly after I woke up to that dilemma, the power went out for three hours.  Or about our first-ever visit to a school board meeting on Monday night and how we about witnessed a fight break out in the parking lot afterwards over the issue which brought us there.  Or about the call we got at 8:30 Tuesday morning from our company's auditor saying that she would be arriving at our office at noon for our "no-notice" audit that we knew would be coming sometime this summer because those happen every other year.  Thankfully we just strive to keep a very compliant office on a daily basis anyway, but there's always that panic that sets in when the call comes in, and then there's always that sweet relief that comes over us as she walks out that door, knowing that we passed all the tests, once again, and knowing that next year's audit will at least be a scheduled one.   

     It's now Thursday morning.  My blogging session got interrupted at that point last night, and my mind can't seem to think of what all else I was going to add.  I was kind of on a roll!  That grease-stained list is still setting beside me, and God has just given me a new day full of possibilities of how to spend my time.  Oh, how I love my life!  I guess we'll start with a shower and the trip to Sam's Club that didn't seem to happen yesterday.  Enjoy your day, everyone!