In the words of Elton John..I'm still standin'!

I have the Elton John song, I'm Still Standing, playing in my head as I tried to think of a title for this blog entry..haha I love that song. Here it is, in case you wanna have it in your head too. :)



Just haven't felt like blogging.  I have still been reading a few here and there and trying to stay somewhat caught up..sounds like everyone is having an eventful life!  This is good. :0)  Glad to hear it.

Life here is good, still busy..busier than ever, really.  The Fireworks booth opens tomorrow at church..so our family will spend a lot of time down there.  And drama practices for the Nationals trip are in full swing, so a lot of time is spent with that.  And then we have softball..that takes up pretty much all of the rest of the little bit of time we had.  I won't lie, I'm a little cranky.  Don't get me wrong, I love all of these activities.  I just miss my family.  But, everyone else does, too.  Supporting the youth is important, and we are glad to be part of it.  We are looking forward to a great time of rest afterward, though.  Anyway, if you need fireworks, come on out to Kuna Life Church and buy them!  You will be supporting a good cause, and we'd love to see you!

I've been swimming at the neighborhood pool as I can..it's really nice this year.  Water is a bit warmer.  There are a lot more people there this year, though.  Hmm..no likey.  Don't they know it's MY pool?  haha  We've had some good times there so far.  Hopefully I can get some time in this week to go..I like to find a time when everyone else is probably busy..lunch time...dinner time..nap time.. :)

Chris and the kiddos are well.  Chris has been bogged down with work stress for 2 weeks, working tons of hours.  Over 100 hours more than he should have had.  These are times that I would really like to be back on hourly wage instead of salary!  haha  It all evens out in the end though..sort of.

The weather has been fabulous!!! Nice and warm, with a few fun storms mixed in too! The kids and I are loving it. As are the dogs. Speaking of dogs, Greta is still destroying. We should have named her Destruction instead of Greta. How such a tiny little animal can cause so much ruckus I will never know. She's soft and lovey though. I'll give her that! :) Her eyes are just precious.

We get to go camping next month with a bunch of close friends, I can't wait! Will be so fun to just get out of dodge for a few days and laugh and enjoy the outdoors.

We got to spend the whole day with Jess and her kiddos today out in Nampa. We were supposed to come back early but I ducked out of everything we were supposed to do so we could have more time. Sometimes you just have to do that. Enough is enough. We had a blast. It was a great, relaxing getaway.

Well, I'm gonna go eat some cake and have some time with the hubby.  Have a great night.  We'll chat soon..ish.

Take care of yourselves. Love you much.

I will leave you with this:

My dear, dear friends! I love you so much. I do want the very best for you. You make me feel such joy, fill me with such pride. Don't waver. Stay on track, steady in God. ~Philippians 4:1~

We'll chat soon..

Shaken, not stirred.

Still in my season of silence..it's hard. It's hard to be quiet. And it's hard to hear the things I hear because of the silence. Somehow words aren't just words anymore. But, I can't offer anything but silence in most cases. The tears are always just a breath away, though. Not tears of sadness necessarily, although there are those too. Just tears that come with deeper understanding.

What has been especially hard is when someone says something that I SO want to respond to, it's like the Lord wipes my brain of any coherent words to offer. Leaving me with only the ability to listen. I find myself saying "hmm" a lot in conversations. Not because I really want to, but because the Lord is teaching me something in listening beyond the words. In listening for what HIS response is to the words being said, even if I'm not to share them with others. Maybe none of this makes sense to any of you. But maybe it does.

I also find myself asking, "Why, Father?" a lot. And in all different contexts. The answer comes quickly and clearly. "Everything that can be shaken will be shaken, daughter. Focus on Me, just Me." Sometimes I say, "Not now." And then I wish I hadn't. Other times I say, "Ok, Daddy." And in that moment of sheer obedience, even as the storm rages around me, I find peace beyond understanding. And I find rest, knowing that when all else fades (and it will), He will still be.

It's not time to have wandering eyes. It's time for our eyes to be firmly focused on Him. The enemy is hot in pursuit of anything it can get a hold of. Don't be deceived. Not everything is as it seems. As I've said before, just because something's changed doesn't mean anything is different. Sometimes it's just a new dress covering up the same old festering wound.

We were watching the season finale of Chuck last night and one of the characters said, "I don't want a brain bath..I want the truth."  I couldn't have said it better.

Seek healing. It's yours. Seek truth. It's yours.

Check this passage out when you have a minute: Philipians 4 <-- click there. :)

Love you. We'll chat soon..