I'm Still Here

Why, I do still have a blog. Goodness, it looks like the front porch here at Sweet Tea With Lemon is getting a bit dusty, looking a little neglected and lonely, needs a good sweeping before we can sit and chat, yes? I haven’t posted anything significant or spent much time reading favorite blogs in over a week. That's like forever in blog time. I must have really needed that blogging break. I’m in a bit of a slump, blog friends. Can anyone relate?

I think I’ll just write a random ‘where I am right now’ sort of post just so Blogger doesn’t think I’ve abandoned my little space here. I just reread what I've written before I post it for the blog world to see. It's probably TMI, way more minutiae than any of you really care to know about my life at the moment. I'm posting it anyway.

First of all, as I mentioned, I seem to be in something of a slump right now. We’ve had a weird sickness run through our house over the past month or so – no fever, but a general tiredness and deep cough with sinus pressure and stuffiness, which eventually resolves once the gunk loosens. Two of the kids have been on antibiotic for infection caused by the gunk not resolving or becoming another ear infection (in Boo’s case – she has had three in the past two months) and Tic Tac is having to go back on breathing treatments for wheezing - something he has not had to do since he was in preschool, we hoped he’d outgrown it. Now I’ve got the cough and I’m so tired it’s hard to just get what has to be done completed. It’s a strange kind of tired, too. I’m not depressed – not sad at all, but the tiredness is the kind of mental malaise that sometimes accompanies that kind of depression. It's like trying to force my way through a solid wall of mental fog just to get the little, have-to things done. But when I force myself to go to, say, my Bible study or to exercise, it is worth it once I get there. I had a wise friend tell me today, after hearing what all I've been trying to balance recently, that I'm trying to do too much. Aren't such friends a blessing! She was right, and I've got to set priorities and say no to some things so I can say, "Yes," to the things I really need to. So, I haven’t blogged in over a week. I’m still here. Lots of thoughts percolating up there in my brain, but getting them out on the blog just hasn’t been happening.

I have been keeping up with reading The Excellent Wife, though. I hope to blog about it tomorrow.

Speaking of saying, "Yes," to things, I signed up to help with VBS this summer. It will be the first time I get to at our new church. I am very excited. We're doing Amazon Expedition. I had already been thinking I would sign up to help, and then I read this announcement in the bulletin last Sunday under the Children's Ministry heading: "Want to help teach kids how to defend their faith? Join us this summer as we travel on a journey through history from the very beginning of creation until the very end of this present world. Our VBS this year is designed to answer the key questions that cause so many young people to question the truth of the Bible. Adults and teens grade 7 & up may sign up today as we begin this journey learning the 7 C's of history with our children in Vacation Bible School." I sort of skimmed that and saw the 'defend their faith' and 'history from the very beginning of creation until the very end of this present world' and '7 C's of history' parts, somehow missing the VBS part and thought, hey, that's my passion, to help kids understand the big picture of God's redemption plan not just taught disconnected Bible stories with moral lessons devoid of the comprehensive spiritual significance, that's what I want to do! How do I get to be part of that? (Remember, the malaise is lingering and I'd been waffling about signing up for VBS) Then I looked closer. VBS! So, I filled out the form and I'm already praying for this summer and that I'll be ready and energetic.

My husband appreciates it when I give him what he calls a 'whip-lash warning' when I make abrupt subject changes in the midst of my stream-of-conciousness type speaking. Consider this your warning. Drew bought me an iPod Shuffle. Way out of my technological learning curve at the moment, but if I can figure out how to load what I want on it, it will be great for my time on the treadmill while oldest son swims each afternoon. This thing is tiny and it holds tons of songs and podcasts. I’ve got some preaching I want to listen to and some music, too. I tried it out yesterday, and it made the treadmill time much more fun. I was even able to run for a tiny portion of my time. Hoping to build that particular discipline. I’ve never been much of a runner. By the way, I found out the hard way that spending 45 minutes on the treadmill is not a very good thing to do when in the midst of a serious sinus headache. I did that the first Monday of J's swim practice and thought I was going to pass out once I finished, the pain was so bad in my head. When I got home I asked my husband if there was a weather front coming through or something, and sure enough, there was a big one. I can usually tell - I get these horrendous headaches in conjunction with them.

Speaking of the afternoons, we are falling into a nice routine of meeting Drew’s mom and leaving Tic Tac and Boo with her while I take Monk to the YMCA for his swimming and I get to use that time to exercise. The first week I took Boo and Tic Tac with me, but Tic Tac hated the ‘Fun Club’ and Boo tends to get sick whenever I leave her in the nursery there (see the malaise paragraph above). So, I only got to workout one day last week. This week, however, we’ve been moving along with the new plan and I got to workout Mon, Tues and Wed. I’m tired. I have to confess, I almost didn’t take my exercise clothes yesterday due to the fact that doing anything requiring planning or extra effort is just mentally taxing this week, but I pushed through and did it anyway. Then took a shower there and met Drew, his parents and the kids for dinner and then on to church last night. Did I mention I’m tired?

Speaking of church last night, boy, am I glad we went! Marquis Laughlin was our guest and he gave a dramatic recital of the first nine chapters of Acts that was just incredible. It is amazing how speaking the words of scripture with inflection and emotion really makes it come alive somehow. The way he recites or reads the scriptures really remind you that these were real people saying and doing the things you’re reading about, and you find yourself on the edge of the seat listening, even if you’ve read the passage lots of times before. He said in his little talk afterward that he is always amazed that people will come out to hear the word of God. He also mentioned that involving the sense of hearing and speaking the words out loud will really enhance how much you understand and retain as you read. I’ve found that to be true, because when I’m reading the Bible, especially early in the morning, if I’m having a hard time getting my mind to focus and not wander as I read I will read out loud. It does make it much easier to pay attention to what I’m reading. What a unique use of his acting talent, to memorize scripture and say it in a way that will get people to hear it. We bought his reading of the New Testament, and I put the first CD in the car this morning, thinking that I would listen to Matthew as I went around doing errands this morning. Well, when we got to school, J wanted me to let them sit in the car and listen, but we were running late and didn’t have time. Then both boys begged me to pause the CD because they wanted to hear what came next. I was astounded. The boys were as excited about listening to the Bible being read as they are some of the ‘Between the Lions’ or ‘Adventures in Odyssey’ story CDs we have. I was planning to listen to the CD myself during the day, but I said, “Okay, I’ll pause it and wait until you guys are in the car again to listen to more.” How exciting is that?

Speaking of this morning, I had Community Bible Study today. I am so very glad I started that, and I can’t believe it is almost over for this year. I’ve already signed up for next year – we’ll be studying Genesis! I’m excited about that, too.

Oh, and my inlaws watched the kids last Thursday so Drew and I could go to Savannah to pick up the new TV he got for us since ours was dying, and they cracked the whip and made/helped Tic Tac get his room organized. That was a huge, blessing, let me tell you. He has done an outstanding job keeping it clean all week, too. Now I just need to get the rest of the house in order. I’ve done some while on break, but not as much as I should – true confession time, I’m afraid.

And another fun thing: The bulbs Drew ordered for me a while back came a couple of weeks ago and we planted them out front and put pine straw in the beds and have been doing some yard work out front. The bulbs are beginning to sprout. I can’t wait to see all the pretty flowers! Hopefully I’ll be able to put pictures of them up on the blog in a few weeks. And the hanging baskets we bought for the front porch add just the right homey touch out front. I always wanted a house with a front porch and hanging flower baskets. I guess there are things I like about living here, after all! (Actually, things have gotten much, much better in that area. I can finally say this town is beginning to feel like home, and I thank God for answering my prayers in the way He has and is, in His perfect time.)

Well, I could probably go on with some more boring details, but I’ll stop now. I hope to get a post written about The Excellent Wife for tomorrow, but we’ll just see how that goes. Hopefully back to better blogging shortly. I’ve been missing it.