Hung out to dry

I've said before that I hang almost everything to dry... everything except sheets and blankets. Well..... add sheets & blankets to that list.

Yup- our old dryer died. And by old, I DO mean old. We bought this dryer for about $30 a year ago when our previous dryer died. That one was about 14 years old. One of our dear friends, Dave Brunswick, helped Tim move it here and downstairs while Stacey & I hung out. (Man, I miss those two!!!) The dryer was quite old... at least 30 years old, but it worked. DID work.

Friday, while the dryer was trying to ignite, it kept clicking. And clicking. And clicking. Tim just took out the part that would need to be replaced and went to the appliance repair shop that a friend owns. Lo and behold, those parts are too old to be carried anymore. (sigh)

While I was looking for a picture of a dryer that resembled our old monster, I came across this handy contraption. I thought it looked pretty cool, till I saw that it cost $149 plus shipping.
I think my style of hanging clothes on hangers in the basement works just fine!


Since we are NOT in the position to buy a new dryer right now, I've learned that I DO indeed have room enough to hang sheets downstairs.

2 Timothy 4:7- I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith

We head to West Virginia tomorrow! YEAH! The kids are so excited they can barely sit still. Tim, Timmy, and some others from church will load the box truck tonight, and Tim will drive it down there tomorrow. Sierra, Garrett and I will follow in our car.

Last night was our karate Christmas party. It is always a nice time. Last night it was even more special because MANY families brought in food & supplies for us to bring with to Appalachia. Many of these families are feeling the budget crunch themselves, but are still willing to reach out to others.

I was asked to lead the blessing last night. My amazing pastor, Rick Duncan, helped me with part of it. Thanks, Rick! I know you are incredibly busy, but you still took the time to get back to me. You are such a blessing to me and many, many others!
It was NOT a "bless this food, keep us safe" type of blessing. My intention was not to offend, but I refuse to be so concerned about NOT offending, that I do not reach out.

This is what I used:

Heavenly Father, we thank you for bringing us together safely tonight. We thank you for all you have given us, and ask that you always keep us humble, remembering that to much of the world we are rich beyond imagination- we have a safe place to live, clean water to drink, clothes to keep us warm, and enough food to eat. I thank you for those who thought of others that do not have these things, and brought food and items to help those families in Appalachia.

We ask that you keep us safe in our travels home this evening. We ask you to bless this food- that it nourishes our bodies and keeps us healthy. We ask for your blessings on all our karate families. Especially for J's grandmother, for M's father, and for K's father. Lord, you know what they are going through. We ask for healing, but mostly for the love and comfort only You can give them.

2 Timothy 4:7- I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

Dear Lord, You are the Creator God. You made our bodies to be used for Your glory. Thank You for giving us the privilege of using these bodies to learn karate. Help us to always use our skill for Your purposes. There is evil in this fallen world, and one day You will make all things right. But meanwhile, help us to fight- body, mind, and soul- against anything contrary to Your wise and good purposes. Help us to help the helpless and to defend the defenseless. Use the disciplines and skills we have learned to equip us to fight the good fight of faith. May we finish well. May we keep the faith. And may we honor Jesus, the only One who perfectly fought the good fight of faith, who dies and who rose again to save all who believe. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

****

I'm sure this didn't go over well with everyone there, but I pray that it worked on thier hearts. One of the people there is staunchly anti-religion. This person was included in the prayers for healing. I pray that this didn't anger that person, but instead helped them to experience the love that ONLY comes from a relationship with Christ.

Re-Born Identity

Friday we will be heading to Keystone, WV again. We do mission work in the Appalachian Mountain areas with others from our church. We began in the Beckley area, and in the last 5 years we've branched out.

We first went to Keystone 1 1/2 years ago in the summer to clean up the park area, to spend one-on-one time with residents while we pampered them, and to hand out food and supplies to needy families there.

MOST of Keystone is living in poverty. It is a small coal mining town near the southern tip of West Virginia. The mine used to employ about 1000, until it was exhausted in 1986. Now the mine there only employs a small handful of people. There is very little work to be found anywhere nearby. As bad as the rest of the county thinks the economy and unemployment are now..... it's been that way for years and years in Keystone. They were also hit his 2 big floods in the last several years.

This will be our second "Christmas" trip. Yes, we bring presents. Yes, we bring food. But the most important thing we bring is hope in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The time I've spent with individuals there brings joy that just cannot be measured!!!!!

This past summer I was approached by a woman there. After hearing my testimony the day before, she searched me out. We talked for just a short time when I knew that she not only HAD struggled with drugs (as she had told me), but was currently using and was high right then. We prayed together, and we had others pray with us. One of the other women I was with then put her in touch with services to help her get clean. I can't wait to see if she will be there this weekend!

One of the biggest highlights of my trips to the Appalachians was my time with Josh. Josh had been speaking with one of the men on our trip while getting his hair cut. The two of us sat and talked for quite awhile. He opened up about his past with drugs and how he was determined to stay clean when he left the half-way house we were visiting him in. I began sharing Christ with Josh and he was more than a little receptive. Finally, I asked Josh if I could pray with him to accept Christ into his life and he said YES. We prayed as I held his hands in mine. By the time we finished, we were both crying. I hugged him and told him that I loved him and God loved him. He said, "I love you too. Thank you!"

As a mother, I can honestly say that nothing in the world compares to giving birth.

And I can honestly say that nothing in the world compares to seeing someone be born again.

Hi Ho... Hi Ho.... It's off to work I go.......

I love being a full-time mom. I really had NO desire to work outside the home. But.... circumstances being what they are, it became necessary. I looked around, did a lot of searching, and found a couple things.

One is UPS. It isn't an easy job by any stretch of the imagination. And I haven't even started yet! The hours, when I DO start, will be something like 4 am -7 am, Monday through Friday. The pay isn't even anything to brag about. But the benefits! Oooohhhhhhhh, the benefits. After one year, I will have full benefits. After 18 months, the whole family is in.

Now, we already have pretty good medical coverage. It's an 80/20 plan after a hefty deductible, but we can go to anyone, anywhere. However, depending on what happens with Tim's work, we may or may not have it in a year. If he isn't working in his field, through his union, in one year- we won't have insurance. UPS would be a really nice back-up plan.

So.... how do we get those neat little frivolities like heat and food while Tim is out of work????? Unemployment won't cut it. Not with both boys in braces and some serious medical bills rolling in.

So, I needed to find some other work to tide us over.

I did my homework and found that there are some very good, reputable companies that provide work from home opportunities. I decided on one of them, contacted them, and turned in all my paperwork. Then I did the preliminary training. That was back in September. Then I waited and waited.

I finally heard from them in November! I started my training a week ago, and finished on Wednesday. It was a bit nerve wracking. I love working with the public, so this was a good fit. I put in my first night of work last night!!!

I'm not thrilled that I will be working EVERY weekday evening, and eight hours each on Saturday and Sunday, but this will get us a little closer to being able to pay our bills. We are still several hundred short each month, but we know God will take care of us. I love to see Him work!!!

Now I am off to spend some quality cuddle time with my hubby!
(And since the temp is dropping back down to 50º for the night in this house, cuddling is even more rewarding! LOL)

Surprise

I was shocked, confused, bewildered
As I entered Heaven's door,
Not by the beauty of it all,
Nor the lights or its decor.

But it was the folks in Heaven
Who made me sputter and gasp--
The thieves, the liars, the sinners ,
The alcoholics and the trash.

There stood the kid from seventh grade
Who swiped my lunch money twice.
Next to him was my old neighbor
Who never said anything nice.

Herb, who I always thought
Was rotting away in hell,
Was sitting pretty on cloud nine,
Looking incredibly well.

I nudged Jesus , 'What's the deal?
I would love to hear Your take.
How'd all these sinners get up here?
God must've made a mistake.

'And why's everyone so quiet,
So somber - give me a clue.'
'Hush, child,' He said, 'they're all in shock.
No one thought they'd be seeing you.'

On a Tangent

Sung in my best RUN-DMC style:

This math is the triangle, I think it's very vital
To rock (the sine), that's right (cosine)
It's Triggy is the title, here we go...


To know the sine, and the cosine & tan this time
It's Triggy...it's Triggy (Triggy) Triggy (Triggy)
It's Triggy to know the sine, and the cosine & tan this time
It's Triggy...Tr-tr-tr-triggy (Triggy) Trrrrrrrrrrriggy

Well, I'd like to say that my brain is fully recovered, and I'm back to my same old self.

HOWEVER-

Timmy, who is in 8th grade, is starting trigonometry.

I like math. I'm more of a geometry person. (I believe most people can be split into two groups- geometry people and algebra people.)

I've got a lot to RE-learn to be able to keep up with him now. He loves this stuff. He gets excited when learning new math concepts. He gets VERY frustrated until he understands it, but he will NOT let up until he has it mastered.




My brain is still like cold, coagulated oatmeal.

I am woman hear me snore

I thought I'd be writing some witty tonight. Something about how strange/scary/exciting it is to be entering the work force again.

ha ha ha

Tim & I started going to the gym again. My body hurts and I wanna eat something fried. Fried and with lots of cheese.

I spent all day yesterday catering to a very sick Garrettmonster.

I did my training for my new job for the last 6 1/2 hours. My brain is like cold, coagulated oatmeal.

Witty takes at least a handful of braincells that are willing to cooperate.

Looks like witty just ain't happening.

Diary of a wanna-be-geek

Sierra was in tears on Tuesday. Her laptop that she scrimped, saved, and worked so hard to buy herself wasn't working. It would power up, but then the screen would go black. No log in screen. No nothing.

I'm no computer genius, but I do know a thing or two. (Maybe even three, but certainly not four.)

I knew how to start it up in safe mode, so I did that. There I could log in. Ok.... so it was probably a software issue. I deleted all the garbage stuff, scanned for spyware, and did a virus scan. (AVG rocks. It's free and it doesn't mess up things like McAfee.) Only thing is, when you are in safe mode, you can't run a regular scan. I'm not sure if it caught anything or not.

Restart. No luck.

So I got on my computer and googled like a google-extroidaniare.
I did more scans. I deleted unnecessary programs.

Restart. No luck.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

Restart. No luck.

(sigh)

Go to bed and try not to think about that stupid laptop in the living room. I could almost HEAR it mocking me. Calling me stupid. I'm sure it called me other geek-tech-type names, but I tuned it out. Dumb computers.

Got up and went to the gym. Sat in the sauna for 10 minutes. Maybe that would help me come up with something?

Get home and power up her computer. Same thing. Dumb computer.

Call the number of the $99 service plan I paid for on her laptop. Wait on hold. Get transfered to "service plans". Get transfered to "computers". Get transferred to someone whose first language is NOT English.

He tells me all kinds of stuff, but I only understand half of it. I DO understand when he tells me that if it is a hardware problem, it is covered. If it is software, it will cost me.

"This is most likely a software problem, right?"
"Yes"
"So.... that $99 I spent won't help me."
"No, but you can take it to Best Buy and they will help you."
"But they will charge me."
"Yes"

(silence... or I would have said something bad)

"This computer did not come with a restore disk. If I had this, I could fix it."
"They can do that for you."
"But they will charge me."
"Yes"

(silence.... I think he was afraid of me)

"There is a way to restore it, but it may be too difficult for you."
"There is?"

He explained a bit, but it was hard to understand him. I had already told him (nicely) that I couldn't understand him, and would he please repeat himself. I thought if I asked again he just might not help me. (My $99 didn't include this type of help, so I was really at his mercy.)

I took note of what he said, said "thank you" and hung up. I quick got to work while I stil had some idea of what he was talking about.

I powered it up and hit F-11. (I'd already done this before, but this time I did somthing different.)

All of a suddent he screen came up and I freaked a bit, worried that I didn't do it right at all.

Then it made a noise. Not a bad noise, but a noise that sounded like maybe it should be making that noise.
Sierra came running in.

me: "Is that a good sound?"
her: "That's the sound it makes when it starts up."

We sat quietly and watched it do its thing.

I amazed her AND myself.

I made major Mommy Points!


(I'll make a recovery disk later today)

Run like the devil.....

James 4:7
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Pretty much everyone who knows us knows that Tim was laid off last week. We have not been worried. We know that God will take care of us and we refuse to let our hearts be troubled. I kind of feel like I've been walking around with a stupid grin on my face because I know that my hope is in the Lord.

We have been amazingly blessed by our sisters and brothers in the Lord. Their prayers and their concerns have amazed us. God has shown His love abundantly through them.

So then WHY is this verse suddenly so relevant to me?

Because for about one minute (maybe two) I felt a pang of jealousy. Someone I know has had a very difficult year and because of this, God's people are reaching out to them. As quickly as I let my guard down, Satan jumped in. He took that moment to make sure I knew how much more stuff they had and how they couldn't possibly appreciate it as much as I do.

I am so ashamed to even admit that.
Go ahead. Hurl those rotten vegetables. I deserve it.

Luckily, God wasn't about to put up with my "spoiled brat" attitude. He kept me awake that night for a couple hours and we had quite the conversation. He told me, "You have ME, Kim. You KNOW Me. You tell Me that you trust Me, so why do you pout and stomp your foot like one who has never heard My Name? Where would you rather have your riches- here, now? Or in eternity with Me? For those that do not know Me, the riches of the earth may be used by man to show them My love. Why do you want what they get, when you already have what they don't?"

Talk about spiritual flick on the forehead!!!

The joy I had been feeling has now been tainted. It's still there, but I don't know if it can ever be as perfect as it was before I let Satan dig his dirty, grimy, sinful foot in the door.
But I cast him away. The devil is not welcome here.
He flees. And boy, is he ticked.