Contemplating Job

I have done a great deal of reading in the Book of Job in the Old Testament. [For some odd reason ;) ].

I was reading it again this morning, and specifically contemplating Job's answer to the Lord in the last chapter:

Job 42
Job's Confession

1Then Job answered the LORD and said,
2"I know that You can do all things,
And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.
3'Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?'
"Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand,
Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know."
4'Hear, now, and I will speak;
I will ask You, and You instruct me.'
5"I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear;
But now my eye sees You;
6Therefore I retract,
And I repent in dust and ashes."

[Notice how the words: "You suck God! How could you do this to me?!" are NOT part of his speech? LOL!]

Many people over the years have compared my life to Job [which is ridiculous really - Job endured trials far beyond my ability to endure - for example, if my children all died there would not be one shred of sanity left within me].

But I think people don't read to the end of the book.

The story of Job is actually a *Comedy* [in the classical sense], NOT a *Tragedy*.

Job perseveres. He loves the Lord no matter what befalls him. When he has lost everything and even his own wife is telling him to curse the Lord, he perseveres.

The book of Job ends with the above prayer and then with a final bit that tells of the many gifts the Lord bestows upon Job for his faithfulness - Job becomes twice as wealthy as he was, twice as prosperous, he is widely respected. He has seven sons and three daughters who are beautiful above any other women in the land. Job is, incidentally, one of the only men in the Bible who gives an inheritance to his daughters [and not just to his sons], and his daughters are some of the only daughters mentioned by name in the Bible: Jemimah, Keziah, and Keren-happuch.

The book of Job ends like this: "and he saw his children, his grandchildren, and even his great-grandchildren. Then Job died, old and full of years."

Wow.

The story of Job is not a sad story about some pathetic guy who loses everything - it is a story of hope and beauty, about a man of character and courageous Faith who remains steadfast and loving in the face of terrible adversity. A man who, in the end, comes face to face with his God and is blessed beyond measure.

The next time someone makes a tongue in cheek comment about my life being the life of Job, I will smile broadly and say "Thank you!!!".

Today I Praise God for all the good in my life, for the hope found in the Book of Job, and I look towards the next chapter in my own Comedy - with much Hope and Gratitude and Love for God.

Marines Never Die....

For a long time there has been a saying in the Marine Corps:

"Marines never die, They just go to Hell and Regroup".

[In fact, circa 1989 I had a T-shirt that said this... along with a creepy zombie skull in a kevlar helment... ;) ] [You can find the above image on a shirt here.]

This post today is to share with you - I have been to Hell, and I have regrouped. [Ooh Rah!]

I am back in full force, exuberant about enjoying this beautiful life God has given me! ;)

Things are just so GOOD here now! I can't believe it!

It has been almost exactly 5 months since my husband announced to the children that he wanted a divorce [it has been 6 months from when I first realized he was planning to leave and started trying to talk him out of it].

And you know what? Most of that 5 months has been really, really awful. I have been broken hearted, lost in despair, overwhelmed, and just completely desolate.

But God is so good... so GOOD. In the last few weeks, life is "normal" again. I don't feel sad, or even overwhelmed, any more.

I have gone through all of my "Stages of Grief" with the divorce, and I am now living firmly in the last stage: Acceptance.

And you know, it is SO good to live here!

I am looking around me and my sense of happiness and well being just brings tears to my eyes.

My children are *thriving*. They are all on the Honor Roll [except the one who isn't developmentally ready to read yet - she's got all 100 averages in everything EXCEPT reading and spelling - and those will come about the time she turns 8 :) ]. They have all made significant friendships. They are *happy*. They are growing up to be truly *outstanding* human beings - I am so proud of the people that they are that my heart could burst from it.

They are also coming to recognize the very good things about our new life [not that we aren't all sad that their father left, of course we are, but we are finally seeing QUITE CLEARLY that God has great things in store for us regardless!]

Being a Single Mom to six kids has become ... a breeze really. Are there rough moments? Sure. Mostly centered around when one or more of them are sick or injured. But over all, our routines are in place, they are working very well, homework has come together and gotten much better [Monkey2 is finally reading now!] - we have lots of time for snuggles and fun and read alouds and family prayer and ... loving life, enjoying each other, and looking forward with Hope and Wonder.

We all love our new home, our new neighborhood, and our new town. Our house is clean and cheerful and open to guests at any time. It is quite pleasant!

I *enjoy* being a mom again.

The future seems so bright and full of promise. God has truly taught me, once more, that "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me". He has taught me, once more, that HE will always take care of me and my children - that He will never let us down. Even in the darkest night He is there, and we can always trust Him to do the right thing [even if we can't see it at that moment].

That is such an amazing revelation. And what Peace it brings - when we truly know we can Trust in God no matter what.

I am just GIDDY with Gratitude right now. I feel so Grateful to God, so happy that He has brought us through this more or less intact, so, SO aware of the many, many blessings we have in our lives in the form of family and friends - we are truly Blessed among Men [and women ;) ].

I realized a few days ago that I am Singing again. I bet that sounds silly.

You see, I used to sing all the time - I used to sing hymns, and silly kid songs, and early 80s dance trash, and just whatever came to mind. [I never sang WELL mind you ;) , I just sang for sheer Joy - something that I learned from my beloved late Grandmother].

Monkey1 LOVES to sing, and I believe it is because I filled her early life with songs - by the time she was 18 months old she could sing several songs all by herself [including "the Elmo Song", which I did come to deeply regret LOL!].

I realized the other day that I was singing again - after not singing for ... 7 years? It was amazing to me - it actually brought tears to my eyes [in a good way - so wonderful after the many months of sobbing in desolation].

I feel like someone who has been living in an underground prison for many years and who has finally been released into the sun again - to Gaze in Wonder at the beautiful wild flowers and to Feel the Breeze on my face and to Breathe in Deeply once again the Scent of God and Joy and All Good Things...

Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ!

God bless you all!

Thank God I'm A Country Girl!

I moved back to a small town in July after more than 2 decades of living in a large Metropolitan area - our "small town" [population 36,000] is near the "tiny town" [population 1,051] where I grew up - about a half hour's drive from where I was raised and lived till I went off to college and the Marine Corps.

We are doing a "lease / purchase" on the home we are living in. I love our little house and I love our little neighborhood.

When we first moved here, I was worried. We were making such a tremendous adjustment - losing our family as we knew it because of divorce, losing our home, losing our option to homeschool... it was a lot. I was worried that moving "back home" to be near my family maybe wasn't the best idea because, though my family would be close by, we would lose all of our other support system [friends, community, church, homeschool group, etc]. I wasn't sure if I was making a wise choice, but our income was so dramatically reduced that the bottom line is that I couldn't afford to keep living in the Metro Area.

It has turned out so much better than I ever dreamed. While I worried tremendously about my children and I being a "burden" on my family, it turns out that us living here has been awesome for my family. They've been able to be very involved with the kids and it has really been an excellent experience for all of us. We have always been a very close family, but now we are even closer - it is incredible.

After living in the Metro Area for 22 years, the move to a smaller town was a bit of an adjustment in itself. For instance, there are no Publix Supermarkets here. THAT was a hard thing for me, because Publix was my favorite place. LOL! There are no Targets here. Basically, if you want to shop here you go to Walmart. [I could rant at length about the evils of Walmart, and until I moved I did not EVER shop there... but, it is what it is and the options are what they are. LOL! ].

But after the initial shock of the move and all the change [for myself and for the kids], things have been excellent!

We have a very happy life here.

I LOVE the "small town feel". When you go places people talk to you. And, honestly, in the Metro Area they do too - that's what I LOVE about the South and why I'll never move away - people are friendly. When I've visited places up North, I've always just been kind of shocked by how unfriendly people are in general - I'm sure that isn't the case universally, but I was always taken aback by the absolute surliness of people in some of the other states I've visited and lived in.

But here in my small town, it is different - people are friendly on a whole new level. Little old ladies and gentlemen stop me in the [dreaded] Walmart just to talk to my children. People make pleasant conversation where ever we go. People are just NICE here. People say "Hey Y'all!". Gentlemen hold the door for you. People smile at you. Most of your neighbors really care to know you and want to be helpful.

And God has used these citizens to Minister to me during my difficult transition. I've had ladies [complete strangers] lay their hands upon me and tell me how blessed by God I am to have such beautiful, well behaved children. When I go through a drive through or stop to buy an item at a store, many times the people say "God Bless you" or "Have a great day" [and they really MEAN it]. On one memorable occasion I went through a drive through after a very long and very painful phone conversation with my husband [I'd been sobbing, obviously tear stained] and the young 20-something man in the drive through said to me "I don't know what has happened to you or what is going on, but I want you to know that you can offer it to the Father and He will take care of you. I want you to know that I will be praying for you and I will ask my Church to pray for you." I mean really, how cool is that?

Another thing I love about this town is the complete and utter lack of pretension. We are poor now, but we fit in just fine. I don't feel any pressure to "keep up with the Joneses", I don't feel anyone looking down their nose at me or my kids because we are existing on the edge of poverty. People are really down to Earth here, and I hadn't realized how much I missed that. I'm sure there are pretentious people around here some place - there is probably that "one" neighborhood in the town where the "rich folks" live and they probably do look down their noses at people like me, but I haven't met those folks. In general, there is just this awesome, REAL, "salt of the Earth" feeling to the people here. I love it.

I also love how safe I feel. When I lived in the Metro Area and my husband would be gone away from home, I would always feel afraid, especially at night. When he left for the first time in 2007, that was one of my hardest adjustments - being alone with the children at night and feeling scared. I don't know why I felt that way when he wasn't home - I'm a great shot, a former Marine, I know how to fight to win, and I am definitely the one who would risk life and limb and valiantly save my children if we had an intruder. But here in my new town - I just don't feel afraid.

The children love it here too. They've made good friends, their school has worked out wonderfully [after the initial 4-6 weeks of bad stuff]. They love our home and our neighborhood and our closeness to family as much as I do.

I am just so happy here. I love it here. God has blessed us. He really has. In the midst of tragedy, He was always watching out for us, as I knew He was but sometimes it is hard to see in the middle of the awfulness. We are right where He wanted us, and life is so beautiful.

I feel very connected to my roots here, in a good way. While I'm not actually living in the country right now [I'm inside the city limits in a subdivision], it is more of a mindset. A laid back attitude about life, a wholesomeness to every day that was missing everywhere else I've lived.

I am just so very Grateful, and so happy to be HOME. :)

God bless you!

Thoughts on Twilight??

[spoiler warning: if you haven't read those stupid Twilight books and you plan to, there are spoilers below so skip this post].

Public school is going great for us now - it is actually a good experience most of the time these days, and I'm so happy about that.

I haven't seen near the negative pressure from the other kids at school that I was expecting - over all, the kids at my children's school are very nice children. [The one that was bullying and ridiculing my oldest so badly the first few weeks of school had the courtesy to move away. Wasn't that nice of him? LOL!]

We do have one issue that is coming up though: the Twilight books.

According to my oldest child, "Everyone" in her 5th grade class has read them and she's just devastated that she hasn't and doesn't know what they are talking about. [And she has the added handicap that she's my child - the idea that there is a book out there that she can't read is just beyond bearing. Books MUST be read! LOL!]

I have a HUGE issue with this one though.

I read all four of those books in about 4 weeks [which is about 2200 pages of book...ugh!]. Other issues aside, they are just poorly written - they stink. I feel that the author had some very good, fairly unique and interesting ideas, but her actual execution of the books is just miserable.

The first book in the series, "Twilight", is the best of the four I believe [and it was bad IMO], and they go dramatically down hill from there - culminating in book 4 which is one of the worst books I've ever suffered through - I hated it.

Poor writing aside though, I think these books are bad because of the characters involved.

The main character, teenage Bella, is pursued by a Vampire named "Edward" who is an obsessive stalker. Seriously, if he was human and not a "sexy Vampire", he'd be in jail. He is *insanely* possessive and controlling of Bella's life and a really, really sick model of a "romantic character". And teenage girls the world over LOVE this character now - he is THE model for what they are looking for in a man - which scares me half to death. I was once engaged to a guy much like Edward - only not a Vampire ;) - and it is NOT a romantic thing, it is a living hell.

Then there is the other main character, "Jacob", who is a Native American Werewolf who also loves Bella. In my opinion, she uses him badly [he is my favorite character in the books though, so maybe I'm biased] and breaks his heart over and over just so she won't be lonely while she waits for Edward. Then, in one of the most bizarre twists of any plot ever, he instantly falls madly in love with Bella's infant daughter in book 4 and waits for her to grow up so he can be her husband .... which was just stinking creepy IMO.

And let's just talk about book 4... because that's really where it gets too bad to read. The one good thing I can say about the series is that there is no pre-marital sex, however - TEENAGE Bella does marry Edward in book 4 and the first part of the book is a soft core porn romance about their honeymoon - no vivid details, but definitely enough steamy-ness to get every teenage girl on the planet going places she shouldn't in her mind.

Then, TEENAGE Bella becomes pregnant instantly, is extremely sick while pregnant [she DOES forbid an abortion of the baby, which was actually cool], and is dying in childbirth until Edward has to "turn" her into a blood sucking Vampire to "save her life". [Bella has been BEGGING him to turn her into a Monster for the whole 4 book series, she finally gets her wish].

Then the baby is some sort of bizarre human/Vampire half breed who has super powers and... gosh, it just gets more and more bizarre....

I just don't want my 11 year old reading these books....

What are other moms doing? [And I know some of you will disagree with me because, obviously, these books are EXTREMELY popular and well loved by millions].

I am not one to ban books, and I will be comfortable with her reading these later [hopefully after she's 16 or so ... even better, after she's 21 LOL!].

Comments? Opinions? ;)

Happy Veteran's Day!!!

"We sleep soundly in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm." - Winston Churchill

[and I'll add "and women" :) ]

Happy Veteran's Day to all the Vets I know - Thank you to all of you, living and deceased.

And to those of you still serving in our military this day - God bless you and your families and may He always keep you safe!

Semper Fi!

And, since this day always has me thinking back to my time in the Marine Corps, I thought I'd share some pics of me "back in the day" [circa 1989]! ;)

Here is the Monkey Mama in her Camouflage Uniform:



Here is me with some of my Woman Marine Friends at Camp Lejeune, NC [Monkey Mama is on the far left]:



Here is a pic of my sister and I. It isn't a great pic, but it is the only one I can find of me in my dress uniform. I wish I had more pics from back then. [I need to check with my mom and see what she has! I bet she has better ones than these].

Quote of the Day:

"Happiness Is A Choice" - Randy Disher

I needed to hear this tonight. It is very true, isn't it?

What Happens In Heaven

This is not a deep theological piece, but a very "dead on" piece that was emailed to me by a friend. I think we could ALL benefit from reading this. Hope you like it as much as I did:


WHAT HAPPENS IN HEAVEN

I dreamed that I went to Heaven and an angel was showing me around. We walked side-by-side inside a large workroom filled with angels. My angel guide stopped in front of the first section and said, 'This is the Receiving Section. Here, all petitions to God said in prayer are received.'

I looked around in this area, and it was terribly busy with so many angels sorting out petitions written on voluminous paper sheets and scraps from people all over the world.

Then we moved on down a long corridor until we reached the second section.

The angel then said to me, "This is the Packaging and Delivery Section. Here, the graces and blessings the people asked for are processed and delivered to the living persons who asked for them." I noticed again how busy it was there. There were many angels working hard at that station, since so many blessings had been requested and were being packaged for delivery to Earth..

Finally at the farthest end of the long corridor we stopped at the door of a very small station. To my great surprise, only one angel was seated there, idly doing nothing. "This is the Acknowledgment Section, my angel friend quietly admitted to me. He seemed embarrassed." How is it that there is no work going on here?' I asked.

"So sad," the angel sighed. "After people receive the blessings that they asked for, very few send back acknowledgments"

"How does one acknowledge God's blessings?" I asked..

"Simple," the angel answered. Just say, "Thank you, Lord."

"What blessings should they acknowledge?" I asked.

"If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep you are richer than 75% of this world. If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish, you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy."

"And if you get this on your own computer, you are part of the 1% in the world who has that opportunity."

"If you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the many who will not even survive this day. "

"If you have never experienced the fear in battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation ... You are ahead of 700 million people in the world."

"If you can attend a church without the fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death you are envied by, and more blessed than, three billion people in the world."

"If your parents are still alive and still married ..you are very rare."

"If you can hold your head up and smile, you are not the norm, you're unique to all those in doubt and despair......."

Ok, what now? How can I start?

If you can read this message, you just received a double blessing in that someone was thinking of you as very special and you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world who cannot read at all.

Have a good day, count your blessings, and if you care to, pass this along to remind everyone else how blessed we all are.

ATTN: Acknowledge Dept.
"Thank you Lord, for giving me the ability to share this message and for giving me so many wonderful people with whom to share it. "