A Line Of Entrapment: A Call For Help

While the kids and I ventured to Sonic for lunch on our first actual day of being in Texas, we sat intrigued as well as ready to help ... after eating our food.

What was this thing that we were so intrigued, saddened, ready to help with, yet at the same -- we were amazed??

The Sonic we ate at was kind of in a "rough-looking" neighborhood. Sitting next to the fast food joint was a soccer field park. Given the condition of the park, I am going to assume and safely say that it was not being used, or had not been used in quite some time. It made me sad, really. Even kids in those "rough neighborhoods" need an outlet of encouragement and direction. **I will leave that topic for another time. Maybe.**

Anyway, there was this soccer goal that had a loose net string. We witnessed a bird fly into it and then becoming entrapped. We could not tell if it was the wing that was caught or if it was the little bird's foot. Our daughter was a bit worked up because she felt so bad.

"Mom! Can we go help it? Oh NO! It can't get away!"

So, I promised that we would go help it after lunch. In my heart I felt that it would be okay. Plus, we did not have any sort of hand sanitizer and we were about to order our food.

What happened next was utterly amazing!

Picture obtained by Google Search.

The entangled bird must have called for help because along came two little birds. One bird bounced towards the loose net string and the other stood there watching. I imagine the little onlooker was analyzing the situation. I mean, God did not create animals without the knowledge to be able to fend for themselves, know the call of struggle, etc! Anyway, the entrapped bird tried flying away and then the little onlooker bird grabbed the loose net string. I have no idea how that made the string come away from the bird, but it surely helped. The bird was free!! Not only that, but the three birds stood there. In my fairy tale mind I think the entrapped bird was saying, "Thank you so much! **tweet. tweet. tweet.** Thank you so much for helping! **tweet-tweet. tweet-tweet.** You saved my life! **tweet. twee-tweet.**

I was in utter amazement!! Our kids were like, "WOW! Did you see that?!" Totally amazing!!

TOTALLY GOD!!

Then, we witnessed another bird fly into that loose string and was entrapped, also. Do you want to know what makes this even more amazing? Of course you do and so I will tell you.
Those two little birds that came to the other birds' rescue stayed near the soccer net. When the other bird became entrapped, they were there to help. And help they did.

I will share in another post what the LORD showed me through this "Call For Help".

Plans For A Future And A Hope: #2

This week was a week full of doctor appointments -- three consecutive days of doctor appointments for me. Tuesday was for an MRI and blood work. Wednesday was for a mammogram and breast ultrasound. Thursday was a follow-up.

The MRI never happened because as I was sitting in the waiting area in the MRI department, and paying attention to the conversation that was going on with the technicians, it occurred to me that my appointment more than likely was not going to take place. *The air conditioning in the MRI department of radiology is so junky that if the temperature reaches 85*, the machine shuts down. Well, since it uses electromagnetic pulses to capture images, and the machine is gigantic, of course it is going to be hot. OH! And the temps outside for that day was just over 100*. So, instead of waiting and waiting some more (since I was going to have to do plenty of this, and have done plenty of waiting over the last year), I spoke up and asked to have my appointment rescheduled. I was not upset at having to reschedule since I had to come into the hospital anyway for the blood work -- the staff obliged and even opened up the first week of July's schedule JUST. FOR. ME. How special am I?! ;)

Wednesday's appointment was a biggy. Long story short (or you could read about the beginning of it here), I was absolutely elated to hear that the results would be made available to me before I left the radiology clinic. That alone made me happy (even though I still had a follow up appointment for Thursday that I still had to go to). The results were even more exciting, to the point of having to blink away tears because I could breath. No more waiting. No more wondering on the "what ifs". I just kept saying, with a slight sigh of relief in my voice, "Thank You, LORD! Thank You, LORD! Thank You, JESUS!" There were OVER 100 people praying for this appointment and for a clean bill of health. Let me just say this: NO lumps. NO shadows. NO cysts. God heard every prayer!!

NOTHING was found on the film.

What is so puzzling is that the doctor, William, the radiologist technician, and myself all felt the lump. To be honest, the lump is still there, barely, but it has changed size (it is smaller) and not really hard at all. Puzzling? Yes. Amazing? ABSOLUTELY! That's how the GOD of my salvation works. I had prayed and shed buckets of tears prior to my Wednesday appointment.

I was prepared to walk in the battle of breast cancer with the LORD as my Commander.

I was persuaded that HE would get the victory over the illness. That each day's amount of grace would be sufficient. Yet, I am human and in my mind I was still a bit scared. I had thoughts about "what if it was cancer and it had spread and was progressed?" I had told God many times "I am not done here. There is still work to do. Therefore, You cannot take me, yet, LORD. As must as I love You, it is not time." **My heart opened up to you readers of how I truly feel and how I pray.**

God is about a personal relationship. There is no hiding anything from Him.

So that is it. No cancer. No nothing. Life goes on as usual. Time to get our home ready for those orders to our next station --whenever that may come. *Just for the record, we do NOT have orders at the current time. We are just hoping and praying for orders.* Now I feel that I can get back on the exercise wagon that I fell off of two weeks ago.

Thank you, to each one of you who prayed for me. May God bless you greatly for seeking Him and carrying this burden with me. Praise the LORD for His mercy and LOVE!!!

One Or The Other

I have two doctor appointments this week. Two. Both for me. Oh! And they just so happen to be consecutive days (Tuesday and Wednesday). I have to tell you something: I do NOT like going to the doctor. I do not like going. I would much rather "play doctor" with Google. Come on now, I know you've done the same thing. :)

One appointment (Tuesday, today) is an ultrasound to hopefully shed some light as to why my menstrual cycles put me in so much pain. Such agony. Torture. The pain has gotten progressively worse, to which I cannot bare it anymore. The first 24-48 hours accompanies so much pain that I literally shed tears. This last one was not as painful, but the clotting was pretty grotesque. I believe this appointment will either do one of two things: 1. Reveal that everything is fine and the pain I just have to endure. Or 2. It will show that I must have my womanly bits removed.

The second appointment is for a tubal reversal (Wednesday). Yes, we are considering a tubal reversal. Why? We have no idea and cannot fully explain it. To be honest, it is quite exciting, yet very puzzling as to why WE would give much thought to this. Having another child would be like starting all over again. We would be in our 50's when the child is 18. I will barely be 41 when our (now) third child turns 18. To even consider this, we truly believe it something God has placed on our hearts for whatever reason.

Keep this in mind: We have been in our current city for 3.5 years. Prior to coming here we had a consult to see about a tubal reversal. Everything was a-go and when going back for the follow-up, the doctor actually asked us "Do you want to have it done now?" Back then, the technician who did the ultrasound actually noted that I "was a perfect candidate for a tubal reversal". Have things changed much with my body to make me NOT a perfect candidate for a tubal reversal? We shall see when we have another ultrasound done for my tubal reversal consult (Wednesday). OR the appointment on Tuesday reveals that it would be best to remove my womanly bits due to other health ailments. Health ailments. Yes. I will leave it at that. If you knew the health problems that have plagued my mother and grandmother, you would completely understand why.

Honestly, I have doubted that this is even a good idea since we are nearing retirement from the service. At the same time, this feels right. I also want to add that it is my husband who has been talking about babies A LOT lately. So I asked him if he wanted to see about a tubal reversal and he said "Sure. Why not?" I was a bit shocked, to say the least.

I will keep you in mind when I hear the results of what is going on with my menstrual cycles; as well as whether or not we can have a tubal reversal done or not. Never know, we may be able to. OR ... my Tuesday appointment may reveal that it is best to remove all of my southernly, womanly bits.

P.S. Womanly bits just sounds funny. ;)

Special. Unique. Peculiar.

Per Merriam Webster Dictionary, the definition for special is: 1. distinguished by some unusual quality; 2. being other than the usual: additional, extra 3. designed for a particular purpose or occasion. The definition for unique is: 1. being the only one 2. being without a like or equal: unequaled; 3. peculiar. And the definition for peculiar: 1: characteristic of only one person, group, or thing: distinctive.

Special. Unique. Peculiar. That's how I describe what 2011 is going to be. First off, here are three reasons why ...

#1: The eleven in 2011 is a prime number. Eleven is only divisible by one and itself. That's special. It's unique. It's peculiar -- set apart (with the other prime numbers) because no other numbers get its attention except ONE!

#2: We will celebrate our 13th wedding anniversary! That's VERY SPECIAL! VERY UNIQUE! And VERY PECULIAR! Thirteen just so happens to be another prime number, too. Besides being so very special, very unique, and very peculiar ... how many 30 & 31 year olds do you know celebrating 13 years of marriage?! Ooo... I do. I do. And that's what we said to each other almost 13 years ago!!!

#3: I will be turning 31 in May. Guess what? 31 is another prime number! Can you believe that?! That's a lot of special "PRIME" events happening in my life -- this year alone. Not to mention a few special, FIRST-TIME finishings and events I'd like to accomplish this year. I can't wait to see how God directs this new and special path for me. :)

Besides all of these special, unique, and peculiar happenings of events, this year is a refocus, to be refreshed, renewed, revived -- in God -- year for me! With only coming to the LORD back in September 2005, and having been through so many things, especially since early on in 2010, it's time. Time for a healing. Time for restoration. Time to be revived. I'm tired. I'm weak. And I most certainly NEED and WANT God to be my SPECIAL. UNIQUE. PECULIAR. NUMBER ONE focus for 2011.

So while I'm waiting for these new beginnings to happen in my life, as God is my focus, I'll continue to serve Him. To desire more of Him in my life. No matter. No matter how long it takes to be restored. No matter how long it takes my wounds to be healed and turned to a scar. No matter what encounters I have to endure to climb the mountain to Him ...

I. WILL. SERVE. YOU. LORD.

**What special events are you looking forward to in 2011? Do they include God? A new relationship with the Savior, Jesus Christ? What about your hurts -- do you need someone to cover them? Jesus is the answer. TRUST ME -- I know. Take one day at a time. One step at a time. It doesn't have to be perfect -- YOU don't have to be perfect -- because God is that perfect answer for you.**

Here's to a VERY SPECIAL 2011!!!

2010: Year in Review

I've been thinking about how I should start this entry: Top 10 highlights of 2010? Catchy, but in all honesty, I think it would be hard to narrow it down to JUST the top 10 most favorite things that happened in 2010!! Sometimes making choices is NOT my forte. *sad to admit that... but is that a girl thing anyway?

Okay, back on topic... 2010: Year in Review? That's a good one, too, because then I could include MORE THAN 10 things! God knows that I am very thankful for so much that has happened over this past year, so let me go ahead and recap... and in NO particular order...

1. Our tradition EVERY year (since coming to Las Vegas) has been to go to Mount Charleston at the beginning of January. The last two years (2009 and 2010) we have built a snowman, and each year the snowman gets better looking! HA!

2. We celebrated our 12th anniversary on February 26th!! That's right -- ONE DOZEN -- years together!! :) How awesome!! :) We are truly blessed and thank God for His blessing on our marriage! Believe me, after coming through so much in the beginning of our marriage, to truly being happy now, there's definitely MUCH to be thankful for.

3. Mariah got to ride a horse for the first time in April. She was so excited!! The smiles on her face said it all. Someday, we really do hope that we can get her riding lessons ... on more of a permanent basis. She'd LOVE that!!

4. A pretty heart wrenching "event" happened with our old church. In all honesty, I wasn't going to include that in my list, but since it has continued to help shape me and reinforce my faith and help me find out what I BELIEVE of God's Word ... it fits perfectly on this list. I won't include details, but what had transpired could have easily sent me packing away from any denominations, as well as religion... for good -- or bad, is the better word for it. So, for what had happened, I am thankful! I continue to seek after the LORD and His will in my life. I look forward to sharing with you more frequently in the next NEW year ;) about the revelations and teachings God gives to me. Hopefully they'll encourage you! **I will blog again to start off the year and will include two songs that have so much meaning and are a perfect fit for this #4 on my list.**

5. Earlier in the year, I did get to go to a ladies conference which left me inspired to seek and desire more of God's will in my life. And only a couple short months after conference, that's when the unsettling feeling began bubbling up... which led to the events in #4. Remember, NO MATTER what happens in life, as long as you are seeking and desiring God's will to be done, you have to trust that HE has and holds your interest at heart... HIS heart! :)

6. Fishing! We went fishing quite a bit. a few times in June -- which William got to catch his biggest catch so far, since fishing again after all of these years! *I do have pictures! Maybe I should post them?* And we went fishing for Andrew's birthday, too! Fishing is definitely one of those outings that our family enjoys... even me! Warning: I DO NOT touch the worm or bait, NOR do I touch the fish! YUCK!!

7. Took the kids to Iowa for a personal visit with grandparents. We left on a 20+ hour trip on July 14th to Iowa... got there on July 15th, and William and I (without the kids) turned around and drove back home on July 16th. YES, we are crazy, but it was a fun roadtrip. Oh -- and now that we have the whole driving rotation mastered, driving isn't so bad. :) P.S. This was the LONGEST time we had ever been without the kids in all of their lives (Andrew is 11, Mariah is 9, and Corey is 7).

8. William and I drove back to Iowa for a month-long visit in August. It was so great to be back visiting family. The break from Vegas and all that had happened here was needed... and God definitely knew that -- He knows ALL anyway!

9. My family, sisters, aunts, uncle, and cousins surprised my mom with a 55th birthday party (before doing #10)! She. Had. NO. Idea! I LOVE surprising my mom! The expression on her face is priceless. This also makes two years in a row that I was part of something that surprised her. What can I do next year?! **Mom, you'll probably be on your toes, huh, and expecting something, won't ya? Guess I'll just have to be clever about it!**

10.We enjoyed a week trip to Lake Okiboji with William's mom and dad while we were visiting in August. This week trip was also very nice ... lots of fishing and a great stay in their condo! BEAUTIFUL!

11. Demolition and construction continues on our master bathroom. Believe me! I CANNOT wait until it's finished!!!! I miss being able to brush my teeth and do my hair in OUR master bath... those tools that William got for Christmas are about to get dust on them... and that's not dirt dust, but saw dust!

12. We went to the squadron Christmas party ... hadn't been in about 11 years. No joke. The last "visit" to a squadron Christmas party was back in 1999. We really enjoyed ourselves and HOPE that next year's party is better and not so agenda-like. Fun is the key. ;)

13. Ohh!! Can't leave joining the PWOC here at Nellis AFB off my list. It's been so great to be part of such a great women's Bible study group. The ladies of PWOC, no matter what base you go to, are supportive, encouraging, and love unconditionally. It's been great getting to know a few of them (because that's all I know)... even if all of our days here in Las Vegas are numbered. Love You Ladies!

14. God has also blessed us with a great friendship with one of the guys and his wife from the shop! We've had many game-playing nights... full of laughs, competition, and fun!! We really look forward to many more game nights and more getting to know them!!

15. There are so many other things during 2010 that I can list, but maybe I should go ahead and stop now.  I look forward to the NEW coming year and all that it has in store... the good, the better, and the stormy.

Hope you guys have enjoyed reading the recap of 2010 (and the rest of my blogs).... "see" you guys next year....

A Christian is like being a Pumpkin

 A Christian is like being a Pumpkin:

God picks you from the patch

brings you in and washes all the dirt off you may have gotten from the other pumpkins.

Then he cuts the top off 

and scoops out all the yucky stuff.

He removes the seeds of doubt, hate, greed, etc.

Then He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside of you to shine for all the world to see.

**Remember, God LOVES You!!**

Good Morning

I've never seen this one before...I really like it!

When I say good morning I mean to say:

G-od

O-ffers us His

O-utstanding

D-evotion to

M-ake us

O-bedient &

R-eady for a

N-ew day with Him.

I-nspire others please, and

N-ever forget

G-od loves you!

Letting go ... of control ....

Sometimes in life we go through things that we're not sure why we have to go through them or even deal with them .... for extended periods of time. This is me.


It's funny how when life is going "smoothly" everything is a-okay. It's easy to pray. It's easy to worship God. Everything is just ... easier. But when trials come and linger, then we begin to question "God, I just don't get it. I don't understand." I've used that question. Oh - and this one: "How can things seemed to have been so right, but now they're so wrong?"


Well, I attended my first PWOC Bible study here in Las Vegas. Last time I attended PWOC was 2-3 years ago. Anyway, I got to talk with a dear sweet friend. I hold this woman in high-esteem as a Godly woman. Every time we talk, her speech blesses my heart. She KNOWS who the One is that cares for her; the One who has "her back"; the One who is there even when she, also, faces trials.


I took in our conversation on the drive home, as well as having a conversation with God. And He spoke these words to me, "Your frustration comes because you are not trusting Me." OUCH! Yep, there ya have it. Plain English. He said. It's definitely the TRUTH! So I talked some more with the LORD about this frustration and the lack thereof of trusting Him. I cried. If I just let go of this "wanting to be in control thing", everything will be less stressful and I won't be frustrated. If you can understand this, to me, EVEN trials are EASIER to go through when you're trusting in God to bring you through it, show you what you need to learn, etc. Seems easy enough. RIGHT?


Well, God said it. Now it's up it's up to me to do something about it. No, not the wanting to be in control, but the relinquishing the control to Him. After all, life is DEFINITELY better with Him in charge! :)

When you go away

We have done something that we have NEVER done before: Taken our kids (Andrew, Mariah, and Corey) to see the grandparents and LEFT THEM there. Where is there? Iowa. Where are we? Las Vegas. How far away is that? about a 20 hour drive if you drive straight through without stopping for gas and that's not possible. So, adding in stops for gas, potty breaks, and food and you're looking at a 24+ hour drive. Oh - and we're also 2 time zones apart.

We left Las Vegas on 14 July and got to Iowa on 15 July. Left Iowa on 16 July and got back to Las Vegas on 17 July. It really does feel surreal that all three kiddos aren't with us. As a matter of fact, at about 9 a.m. this morning I still felt like I was waiting for them to wake up for the day.

Just a little background: Andrew is 11. Mariah is 9. Corey is almost 7. We have NEVER left them longer than 3 days. I mean, there was this time back in November 2007 that, while William was deployed, I went to a Women's Worship & Study Conference for 5 days. And then there was a time in February or March 2008 that William and I went to a Marriage Retreat (this was shortly after he had returned from his 2nd deployment - the 2nd one lasted 6 months). But we have never left the kids just for "fun". So this may explain a little of my heartache with being away from the kids.

I sent my mom a text message saying how I missed our kiddos. And upon sending here a message, I get a text message from my MIL with a pic of our sweet daughter getting some pig tail braids put in. She LOVES her hair braided. Something I don't do as often. But as the saying goes, you don't know how much you love something until you no longer have it. So I'll be braiding her hair more when I see her again. And even though we have considered ourselves pretty good parents, we may just become the greatest parents in the world after being reunited with our 3 children.

Anyway, so as I sat looking at the TWO pictures, I sobbed a little. Then I sat down the phone (very briefly) and spoke these words outloud, "LORD, this is silly." He knew exactly what I was talking about. And as I sat there for a moment, I felt the LORD speak to me these words:

"This is how I feel when My children go away from Me."

How sad. Simply heartbreaking. I feel lost without my kiddos as they surely do keep me busy during the day and on into the evening.

I am so thankful that I call the LORD - Father, Friend, Comforter, Savior. Without Him -- I'd be lost.