Too Blessed to be Stressed?

This little phrase kept running through my mind tonight as I pondered, "What in the world???"

Did I mention what I was doing?
See for yourself:

Still have no clue??
Well those aren't lampshades baby! I was hanging clothes on light fixtures, dining room chairs, bunk beds, etc.
This is not a new development.....you probably read about our dryer needing repair.....
but all of this high-maintenance laundry came at the end of SUCH a long day!

This morning I took Merrick to the hospital for a bone scan.

The procedure required an injection of dye and then almost two hours of waiting before he would need to lay still for forty minutes!

That's quite a test for a 5 year old! Just walking into the hospital was an adventure as we each had to wear a face mask to protect ourselves from the H1N1 virus.

Just the day before I met the aunt who lost her 6 year-old niece to this horrible flu strain. So I was more than happy to be protected while we walked around the hospital. Not to mention that I looked at each of the workers like they were a saint!  Like I said, I was already emotional, but I couldn't help but think that these hospital workers daily put their lives at risk to care for those who are sick or in need of medical attention. It takes a lot of compassion and quite a bit of bravery if you ask me! (and you're here...so you have no choice but to ASK me!)

Well, both Merrick and I arrived at the hospital under duress. His motrin had worn off and he was weeping and fidgety from his leg pain. And I was a mess, because my boy was hurting and I could not help him! (We had rushed out of the house to drop off Ian and Natalia, and make it to the hospital in W.C. asap! This being the day before a holiday, a super-kind nurse had pulled some strings to get us in for the scan. I was TRULY grateful, but also unprepared to get moving when she called!)

Tears clouded my thoughts as we drove to the hospital and I contemplated what was ahead. The point of this scan was to check for any abnormalities on his femur. My mind reeled with the images of further treatment and testing if this scan showed anything bad.  As it is Merrick has had the absolute WORST time with needles in his short life. 

So I knew that I was walking into a battle zone where I would need to stay composed if we were going to get through this test. I challenge any momma to stay composed when your child is screaming in pain. The nurse who came in bragging about how great she was with a needle was thrown of with his blood-curling pleas. Then she took more than one try to get that needle in......it was awful. We cried together as I tried to distract him.  Thankfully, the injection proved to be the worst part.

Merrick was a trooper for the 20-minute virus scan (doesn't that sound like he's a PC??)
And then we ran to a dear friend's house for Motrin and to grab lunch during the wait time.
Their company was such a great distraction....we almost forgot about what lay ahead.

We showed up to the hospital just a few minutes past our two hour wait time.  The techs strapped him down to the machine and started the procedure.
I hummed our favorite lullabies and rubbed his head as the machine hovered barely an inch above his nose for 5 full minutes.  Then as it worked it's way down his body Merrick was able to relax.  He had to remain still, but we talked and laughed and made it through.

And now we wait. 
The doctors at the hospital need to write their report and then the next time they could fit us in at the orthopaedic specialist is in 2 weeks.
So be it. 

That's what I was thinking while I hung underwear on the furniture in my house.

We can do nothing to change this experience.  We cannot walk through this FOR Merrick, but we can walk with him every step of the way.

Everything in us would like to take away his pain, to shorten this ordeal, but there is a reason he must go through this. We're all being shaped.

And I can tell you that nothing has brought us to our knees quite like this. 

We find ourselves constantly praying. 

Not just pleading with a deaf idol.  We're talking to our Savior.  The redeemer of our lives.  The giver of only good gifts.  This may not be a trial He would choose for us, but He will see us through it....and He will use for good what the enemy longs to use for evil.

So as corny as it sounds.  I DO feel too blessed to be stressed.

I cannot change my circumstances, I cannot alter Merrick's path, but we can choose how we react while we're walking it. 

And even as I wake up to find laundry sprawled around the room....I find joy in putting away all these clothes....and for the arms we have to put into each sleeve....and for the ability to be here with our boy, not having to leave him  in pain and under someone else's care.  

God's words in 1 John chapter 3 have been talking straight to my heart:

Starting in verse 18 it says:

Dear children, let us stop just saying we love each other; let us really show it by our actions.

It is by our actions that we know we are living in the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before the Lord, even if our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Dear friends, if our conscience is clear, we can come to God with bold confidence. And we will receive whatever we request because we obey him and do the things that please him. And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us. Those who obey God's commandments live in fellowship with him, and he with them. And we know he lives in us because the Holy Spirit lives in us.


God is not a magician or a genie I am asking to make this better.
He's our Daddy, and we're here asking Him to walk it with us.
And we're confident we're not alone.
So we are blessed.

Flies part Deux

You know when you're in the middle of a whirlwind....it's hard to see beyond the swirling flies....


Well, when I blogged about our fly plague....I received quite a few helpful comments.
So a friend pointed out that we should check our gutters for maggots. Ick, I KNOW!

But worse things have been known to happen....things die. Flies feast. Eggs are laid.
And poof we have an ugly 'flying' cycle!

So, Saturday my hubby went into the yard and cleaned out the gutters.
(Check that nasty chore off the honey-do list! Yahoo!)

Unfortunately, he didn't find anything of great significance in the gutters.......
Then as he was coming off a ladder, he caught a whiff of death near our garage door. And sure enough...he found a decaying mouse carcass....full of....well, ya know!

Now lest you worry and call the exterminator for us....we don't seem to have a varmit problem. However, our 'Bug Guy' left a mouse/roach hotel with bait inside that he checks on his monthly route. So apparently this little mouse took the bait then checked out of the hotel to die. He didn't make it far, but managed to hide underneath the clutter in our garage.
To be honest...I didn't even smell anything strange.....just call ME observant!

Well, much like the initial flies in our house that lead to a crack in my windshield...this was only the beginning.

After disposing of the mouse and the 'baby flies'........
Jarrod decided to clean out our garage. YAY!

Well in his zeal he made sure to vaccum all around our dryer....leaving spic and span lint traps, etc!
Sounds good still, right?
Unfortunately, he OVER did it......and tightened up a vent that needed to have some 'give'.....causing a short out in our dryer!

Boo to that!

The funny part is how he tells the story.....he says it was all de ja vu! You see he had done this before.....overfixing this vent....causing a fuse to blow in our dryer....(mind you our washer/dryer set is less than 5 yrs old...the front loading/pretty pedestal type.....one of the ONLY areas of our life that SHOULD NOT need repair! Nevertheless, a dismantling of our dryer ensued.......and an order was placed for a new part. Meanwhile, my laundry 'routine' is disrupted for atleast two weeks. Thank God we've learned that a sense of humor is vital to survival around these parts!

Admist all the fun and games....I was left hanging loads of laundry onto ANY willing surface in our nice clean garage. And as you can imagine......in this cold....it hasn't been a quick process to get clean laundry!

And really.....though I love a stiff pair of jeans as much as the next gal. I don't do scratchy towels! So I resorted to lugging our linens and towels over to my mom's. Bless their hearts.....Papi even folded a load for me :D
The moral of the story? Um, I'll leave that one up to you ;)

I'm done for now.....

**This series of events is brought to you by an over eager mouse....and a resulting plague of flies.
Did I mention it's been a long two weeks?

Oh my, how do I, hate flies....

I have been killing flies all morning. Seriously, it's like a plague around here.

My hubby says it's always like this....around this time of year. I think not. I think I'm being tested.

And it all came to a head on Wednesday. My hubby had been gone 3 days and the night before the kids had managed to leave the van door open. In the couple hours before dusk settled, a herd? a gaggle? a SWARM of flies decided to nest inside!

So the next day as we set out to run errands I was the victim of frequent fly-bys....

and these weren't casual flies. They were persistent. They were ruthless. They'd settle on my face, be swatted away and then come right back before the next downbeat!

I'm driving with the windows down and shooing them out at every chance I get.

Till finally, I'm at a stop sign and I just lose it! I go beserk! I waved my arms emphatically all around.....anything to get those things out of the van!

Then with one good swat of my right hand I hit this innocent little medal hanging from my mirror. Ian won it at a science fair. And it's solid, not a plastic little thing. It's well, metal.

....and it is here that my mind started spinning........that medal has been there for over a year. An innocuous memento....a reminder of a great event...nothing more. Or was it? Could it be an emblem of disaster? A symbol of my disorganized life.....(why was this still hanging there after a year?!?!? Shouldn't it be filed away with Ian's school memories?)

Whatever the reason, it was there for a reason. So with one great swat I sent it flying into my windshield. And with a pop and a crackle I hung my head in despair......for there before me were two flies taunting my aim, lingering below the star shaped pattern on my windshield.

Yes, in my quest to rid the van of flies, and stop the nagging insects from landing on me.....I managed to break a window. *sigh*

I hate flies. And the medal is now filed away safely where it belongs. Thanks for asking.

...And the sun shining on my face.....

That skirt captures movement. You can't see how quickly our life is flying by in most pictures. But here it's all around her.....the speed of our life.

And the grace that flows around our day-to-day activities. Sure you can see it in a smile. But that tulle shows what's in the air when these kids play.

It's the giggles............the rush of the wind as they run past. It's the sound of the sand as they slide down that hill......the clank of the swing as they jump off it in mid-flight.

Yes, that skirt reminds me of the fantasy that goes on all around me, outside of the chores and the have-tos.

The kids know how to live. To laugh at the inappropriate sounds. They pile up the display pillows into forts. They're just living. Enjoying. Breathing.

I want to let that joy be contagious.

So today we ran, we walked, we biked. And we were alive.

Without weight or responsibility, just soaking in the brisk air before it rains.

Before the sun goes down, as it's so accustomed to doing too quickly at this time of year.

It's barely past lunch and then poof! it's dusk.

But for today our clothes were caught by a breeze. And the laundry went undone a little longer.

And I'm glad.

Now tomorrow, what will I wear?