Tylenol For One

This has been an absolutely gorgeous day! It has also been a very productive day for me. I did a lot of driving, talking, thinking, reminiscing, planning, socializing, signing, and erranding (I added the "ing" on the end of errands for effect). Accompanying my eventful day was a headache that started as a hint of an ache behind my eyes, but as the day wore on increased to a monster sized headache on steroids. By the time our church functions were over tonight, all I could think of was getting home and finding SOMEthing for my nauseating headache and going to bed. After getting the kids settled I went to the medicine cabinet to get me some extra strength anything. But to my distress, there was nothing. And then the frantic search ensued - I searched the drawers, kitchen cabinets, every purse I owned, medicine cabinet AGAIN (in case I overlooked something by chance)drawers, oh yeah, already said that. As I was realizing I had nothing at home to take, I breathed these little words to the Lord, "I remember when my spouse was here, that was one thing he was really good at - he would go get me something if I needed it." Times like that tend to make a person feel all alone. I had resigned to the fact that I would just have to try to outlive this headache and pray that I would have some relief through sleep soon. For some reason - God - I looked one more time in the kitchen junk drawer (now, come on, you have one, too) and I found an old Cracker Barrel gum tin that I had from a while back. I picked it up, shook it and heard some small rattling. I opened it, and what did I find? TWO Tylenol pills. TWO! One serving just for me from my faithful Husband. And He spoke to me, "See, I am your true Love. I provided these just for you! Sleep well, my princess." So, with my pills taken, a smile on my face, and a headache soon on it's way out, I will be going to bed and resting well tonight.

Love Me Tender

I gotta tell ya. There's nothing like being loved by the Creator of the Universe. He is so good. I'll never forget hearing Lana Bateman speak at Christ Church YEARS ago. She had been in the ministry for years when her husband left her for a much younger woman and she said the heartache she endured was agonizing, but the pain she had for broken dreams and future plans only emphasized the pain. She wresteled with God, pouring out her soul to Him, stating, "What about all these plans we had? Plans for growing old together and taking trips, seeing new sights, living life?" And He spoke back to her, "I will take you places your husband could never take you. I will give you those things and fulfill your dreams." Her stories were amazing. One of which was she had been looking forward to getting a pearl necklace for one of their anniversaries. Now that was gone. Until she was on a plane ride to speak somewhere and a lady sat next to her and said, "I don't understand this, but I'm supposed to give you this. The Lord told me to." And she opened a box holding a pearl necklace. Our Creator lavished her with this gift. By the way, she was on her way to speak at a resort she and her husband had dreamt of visiting one day, and she thought it would not be possible now. Again...only the Creator.
I don't have a pearl necklace to look at, but I am constantly lavished with His love everyday of my life. There's nothing like hearing the Spirit of the Living God whisper to your soul and knowing you had a moment with the the Holy One. I don't really know what my purpose in this blog was, except to just lift Him up and to tell you how He constantly takes my breath away. He is overwhelming. Don't let the enemy distract you in this earthly journey. Allow the Faithful One to romance your heart and sing over you. One Sunday, several months ago, Natalie, my precious friend and SS teacher, talked about our Lord singing over us. And she encouraged each of us to ask Him in our quiet time, what He sings over us. I did just that. I went home and that week I asked him, "Lord, what do you sing over me?" His instant words were, "Love me tender, Love me true, all my dreams fulfill. For my darling, I love you, and I always will." Looks like He might have sung that over Lana, too.

Earthquakes and Richter scales

For the past two weeks, the occurrence of earthquakes has been returning to me. The first was a project in my sign language class. I was teamed up with two other classmates to do a presentation on the earthquakes that happened over the past year. Then I took my kids to Pigeon Forge for the weekend, and we saw the "Earthquake" ride in Gatlinburg and just HAD to ride it (by the way...it proved to be too disturbing for little kids). The following day we spent hours at Wonderworks which is an indoor playground for the mind. There's actually a "game" you play with your mind -- using EEG(?) waves -- and now my son KNOWS he's a jedi. But, back to the earthquake theme, there's an actual earthquake simulator where you sit in a cafe booth and all of a sudden you experience what appears to be an earthquake. So we get back to Murfreesboro and I have class that night for sign language, and once again, my professor talks about earthquakes. Okay, God. What's the deal here? So I did what I seem to be doing a lot these days. I asked Him, "Lord, what's the significance of these earthquakes? What are you trying to show me?"
Well it just so happened that when I got back to town from my wonderful weekend with the kids, I had a disturbing letter waiting for me from someone in my past. I read it and started feeling the shakes,quakes, and tremors. I spent time thinking, praying, seeking how to deal with it, and after the Lord and I spent some serious time together on it, I knew what to do. Once my decision was made, the Lord spoke to me again. He said, "About those earthquakes...did you notice that a year or two ago, this issue would have caused you to experience the equivalent to an 8 on the Richter scale, but because you are trusting me and working on getting healthy, it's more like a 2 now?" Ahhh... I see. Indeed even a 8 months ago, I was falling apart, feeling the effects of a mighty emotional earthquake, but look at me now. I don't crumble and fall apart. Yes, people and circumstances - the enemy - throw some mighty hurtful and hard things at me, but it's not devastating me anymore. I'm growing, learning and leaning on Him. And every day I'm getting stronger and stronger. So, now I don't fear or dread the earthquakes as much, they don't shake my foundation, but instead they help me realize I'm unshaken.

Sunshine through the clouds

During our vacatation to Pigeon Forge, we didn't have the best of weather. Our trip there was beautiful and our trip back was the same. Gorgeous, to which I am extremely grateful. But the few days we were actually there, the weather was cold, cloudy and just plain lousy. On Sunday we woke up to 45 degree weather and extreme overcast skies. We went out that morning, had breakfast, and did some souvenier (hope that's how it's spelled..."i before e except after c, and e before n in chicken"- Andy Griffeth) shopping. When we came back to the hotel later that afternoon the kids wanted to go swimming in the indoor pool, so I studied while they played. At one time I looked out the window at the dark skies and had one of my millionth conversations with my Creator. I said, "Jesus, would you please let us have just a little bit of sunshine today? It doesn't have to be much or for very long, but will you please let us have SOME sunshine?" I left it at that.

After a little while, I got the kids out, showered and ready to go. We went and had our picture taken at one of those old-timey places. Kailen and I held guns, and Dani wanted a fan - but we were a tough looking bunch. After leaving there, I decided on a whim to take us to Gatlinburg to the Motion Master inside thrill ride. As we headed out of Pigeon Forge, the clouds continued to get darker and darker. Kailen informed me that they are called "Stratus" Clouds. Mr. Smart Guy. But the awesome part was as we were winding around the mountain, some sunshine began to peek through the clouds. During the entire time we were in Gatlinburg (about an hour and a half) the sun beat down on us and it got to around 65 degrees out. Beautiful! As we headed back to our car, the sun started to fade - but it followed us back to Pigeon Forge. When we got back into town, the sun was beaming strongly on us, but the dark clouds surrounded the area around town - those stratus clouds again. It was bazaar looking - to see it almost black everywhere we looked except up. The kids and I said, "Thank you, Daddy! You're so good to us!" And He is!

It's amazing how our circumstances can look black all around us, but if we look up, we see the beauty of the sunshine beaming down. We have to keep our focus. One thing that I'm learning right now is that the enemy is a great Distracter. He wants our eyes off of the mark and he doesn't care what is the source of our distraction. Distraction is his business. We have to remain focused with our eyes on the the Lord, remembering what's real and true and trusting that he will indeed bring the sunshine through the clouds.

Mrs. Tyler Brandon Troy Perryheathpolamalu

For those of you who don’t know…after being officially single for a few months, I have decided to remarry. However, I’m stumped as to which fellow to devote my future to. There are three gentlemen who have stolen my heart. Troy Polamalu, The NFL’s best Safety who plays for the Pittsburg Steelers, has been at the top of my list for quite some time – however, I need to come to the realization that he’s already married. I’ve lived in denial for a while. But what drew me to Troy was his outspoken faith in God, his faithfulness to his wife ironically enough, and his integrity as a man and human being. He’s kind and caring, and gives his ALL every time he gets on that field.

Then there’s my next runner up, Mr. Brandon Heath. He is a Christian singer/performer. Now, he’s at least single – a LITTLE younger than me, but not MUCH. I can’t go for a much younger guy. They're like chicken wings…too much work. But Brandon has possibilities. He is doing something with his life, reaching other people through his life, extending hope and encouragement through his lyrics. His words are so deep and the music just makes you want to bob your head as you drive down the road. And he’s a cutie.

But now I have another favorite contender. Mr. Tyler Perry. What a man! For those of you unfamiliar with him, he plays “Madea” in the Madea movies. “Diary of mad black woman”, “Family Reunion”, “Madea goes to jail”. And I just finished watching his play, “I can do bad all by myself”. That man is absolutely hilarious! “Halleluyer! Praise the Lo-rt!” But in the midst of EACH one of his movies/plays he has the same message of looking to Jesus. He always points to the main Character…Jesus. That man LOVES Jesus!

And that’s the common thread between these three VERY different men. They all love Jesus, and that’s what’s so attractive about them all. But the awesome thing is…I don’t need any of these men to be a part of my life. I have the very best after all! He is the one who is outspoken about God, who is faithful to his bride, who has integrity. The one who is kind and caring…giving his ALL in everything He does. He reaches people and touches their lives, extending hope and encouragement. HE sings over me. He is funny – has the best sense of humor, and is always ready to take the stage front and center, exhibiting messages that are applicable to our lives.

So, I already have the one person in my life who is truly the best husband. He’s so good to me! And one day he’ll bring a physical companion to me who will be an example of his love and care. Who knows…maybe it will be Mr. Perry? To which I would respond, “Halleluyer! Praise the Lo-rt!

St. Patrick's Day and Olive Green

So...this is my very first blog! And it just hit me - I have no time to blog. I should be studying. BUT - sometimes you have to make time for special events, and I feel this blog is one of those. A special event. So with that said, here goes:
For my very first post, I wanted to start with something exciting! And I was IMPELLED (great word) to write about my favorite color. Olive Green.
Now, for those of you who don't know...Olive Green has NEVER, and I repeat NEVER been a favorite color of mine - UNTIL the Lord took me on a little journey that revealed to me the secrets of the color, Olive Green.
Like I said, I've never been drawn toward Olive Green. But one day as I was getting dressed, I couldn't help but notice how over the previous month, several - no, MANY items surrounding me were Olive. I observed olive bedsheets, olive towels, shower curtain, suitcase, clothing, and even a purse I had just purchased. And then it hit me. What is the Lord trying to teach me here? There's a reason for all this Olive green...And the awesome thing is, when we ask Him, He tells. In Psalms 25 it states, "Friendship with God is reserved for those who reverence Him. With them He shares the secrets of His heart". So I asked Him, "Lord? What are you trying to tell me?"
And then I started studying His word. He led me to see that Olive branches were used to crown Victors in bloody battle. That was me. I had not been fighting a physical battle, but a spiritual battle that was brutal. But I received and accepted His Victory!
When I got to work that day, I was still enthralled with the Olive green revelation. As I was sitting at my computer, I received an email from someone I had never met that read:
"A word for you. Thought you might need this today"
After leaning to my coworkers and seeing if they received the same email - negative - I proceeded to open and read. It was a devotional written by Joel Osteen. (Now, I'm personally not a huge fan, but, Hey...this message WAS indeed for me)
It said: Start Celebrating Your Victory Today!
It continued to say that Victory is on the way. Start receiving and believing that God has given you the victory for whatever you're dealing with.

I was amazed...that went right along with my Olive Green - Victory! I immediately replied to the sender of this email and said, "I don't know if you meant this email for me, but I want you to know...it was MEANT for me." To which she responded, "No, I meant to send it to the person right above you on the email addresses, but glad it could help!"
Isn't God good??? He's so wonderful.
So ever since that extraordinary day, when I saw Olive green in a whole new light, I have LOVED that color. I now call it my "God" color. And I think it's even cooler that today of all days, when so many people are celebrating St. Patrick's day, I'm blogging for the first time...surrounded by my favorite color...Olive Green.