Power of a Praying Wife

This book is amazing!! I started reading it after a group of women at church were going to read it together for a study. I didn't fully participate in the study for several reasons - timing for one and maybe more importantly, I felt like I got more out of it on my own. I finished the book last week after starting it in August. I'm not that slow of a reader, I purposefully read only one chapter a week. Then a few other times a week I would go back and reread just the prayer in each chapter.

Let me back up. If you have not heard of this series by Stormie Omartian you need to look into them. There is Power of a Praying: Woman, Wife, Husband, Parent, Man etc.c In this book each of the 30 or so chapters deals with a different aspect of your husband's life that you can pray for. Some of the things I would have thought to pray for like his faith, work, fears, temptations, health, money, emotions etc. There were also many things that I would not have thought to pray for like his affection, talk, vision, future, mind, fatherhood, etc. Each chapter has a brief introduction to the topic, a written prayer at the end with space to fill in personal names or situations and then scriptures that go along with the topic.

The expereince of reading this book was amazing. I think that it taught me a lot about praying not only for Josh but for other people as well. Almost all of the prayers were written in a way that included and quoted scripture. I loved the way Stormie wrote "Lord you have said in your word that..." It is powerful to be able to pray words from the bible. Some of my favorite times were when I would go back and pray all of the chapters that I had read to that point. I think that when I did that it became more meaningful - instead of just a book I was reading it was a reminder that these are things I should pray for Josh regularly.

In the book Stormie talks about how prayer has changed her, her husband and friends in ways that she didn't think were possible. One of the lines in a pray that has particularly stuck with me was something like "Lord, I release my husband from changing in ways I think he should. I also know that You will change him in ways I never imagined. " That's not the right quote but it was something like that. I was really touched by stories of women who struggled with an aspect of their husbands lives whether that was a temptation, his moods, his priorites etc. They would pray about those situations continually rather than arguing over them. God was faithful and redeemed those situations even if it wasn't in their timing.

I think many times we forgot that prayer should not be our last resort but our first instinct. God loves for that communication and I believe he wants to help and to listen. The more I pray daily about all kinds of things, the more I crave it. I know that I was changed as I started committing time each day to pray - I had more patience, joy, was slower to get angry, etc. It was also interesting how several times the chapter of the week diretly related to what was happening in our lives at that time. For example, when I read the chapter that prayed for your husband's health and safety Josh was across the country at a conference. When I read the chapter that talked about emotions we were going through a really rough time with the loss of a pregnancy. God works in mysterious and wonderful ways.

If you haven't read this book, or the others in the series - look into them.

http://www.stormieomartian.com/

My tattoo

I 've been thinking about getting a tattoo for awhile now and today I finally did it!!! I got a star on my right foot (pictures below). The star has a bunch of different meanings behind it.

Reason 1. Stars stand for hope.
Reason 2. When I was in college and doing an internship I had a supervisor who gave me a star charm and said that star stands for Social Workers Take Action and Responsibility.
Reason 3. Josh and I have had a rough year and have been through a lot. After this most recent loss I kept thinking about a star as kind of a tribute to everything.
Reason 4. I love Texas.

So, I finally went today and got it done. Josh was there to hold my hand and he watched even though he hates needles. I didn't hurt near as bad as I was expecting. I'm pretty proud of myself for doing this. The thing I was most nervous about was not the pain or the fear of not liking it. I was more afraid of other people's reactions. I probably would have done it anyway, but I don't want a bunch of people I care about to disapprove.

I am really happy with how it looks - and I feel really cool. I've heard these are addictive and I'm not sure how that will go, but I'm excited about this experience.

Hospitals

One part of my job that I don't necessarily enjoy is hospitals. More specifically Psychiatric Emergency Rooms. Over the past 2 days I have spent at least 10 hours in a Denver hospital's Psych ER.

It makes me sad to seea kid (or adult for that matter) struggle so much that we need to take them to the hospital. Whether the problem is biological or environmental it is still sad. The kids are either really scared or really angry at the whole situation. Plus, hospitals don't always run smoothly and 9 times out of 10 the kid and the family suffer because of it.

I can't really go into a lot of the details of the case I am currently struggling with, but please keep this family and the kiddo in your prayers. The foster family is working so hard for this little boy and it just seems like nothing is coming together the way we want it to. The county isn't doing what they need to do, the schools aren't doing what they need to do and even worse, the courts are slow to get involved to get things done.

I am still on call this weekend so I'm hoping thattoday was my last trip to the hospital for awhile.

PPP

If you haven't heard of Pay Per Post and you have a blog, it is worth looking in to. I just signed up for it and am pretty excited. Basically once you have had a blog for 30 days, and as long as you have 10 posts in that time you can join. There are various "opportunities" you can choose from. When you pick something you just need to write a short blog entry about it and you get paid. I was pretty amazed looking at all the opportunities - there are things about all different hobbies, talents, issues, cultures, interests etc. Some of the specific things I noticed were:the housing prices, strategies for roulette and black jack, biodegradable shower curtains, a discount coupon website and camping utensils. Obviously that is not an extensive list at all - those are just some of the things that I thought were funny.

The way it works is that you pick an opportunity and agree to write the post. Then you write about whatever it is and submit it to the company. They review it and hopefully approve the post. Once it is approved the money goes into a paypal account. There are different amounts for each posting topic. The minimum is $5.oo and I saw one that was as high as $125.00. My goal is to do posts for the site every week or so and then save all that cash in a seperate account for a nice date night, vacation money etc.

So, if you are interested, check this out. I'm not sure yet how well it works but I'm excited to find out. The website is www.payperpost.com

word of mouth ethics

Juno/P.S. I love you

I have a feeling this will be controversial but I'm saying it anyway...

I really was not overly impressed with Juno or PS I Love You. Ellen Page was excellent in Juno and the humor was great but overall I didn't really like it. I wasn't sure how I felt about the "message". Adoption is a wonderful thing (my sister and I are both adopted) but it kind of seemed like it was taken lightly. Juno just met this family and decided "sure I'll give you this thing growing in me". I'm not saying it was bad, just not my favorite.

Now on to PS I Love You. Way to sad!!! Who wants to think about their spouse dying and leaving them letters? It was a great idea and a sweet story but to sad. I want romantic comedies to be just that - a sad plot at times but really it is sweet, cute and unrealistic. Take, for example, Return to Me - guy's wife dies tragically, he starts unknowingly dating the woman who got her heart in a transplant. It was sad but funny, sweet an completely unrealistic. In PS I Love You it was to focused on her grief. I don't want to watch someone in a movie go through the stages of grief. I want her to do what these letter say, have fun, meet a boy and fall in love again.

Bear in mind that my mood while watching these movies probably has a lot to do with my oppinions of them. Feel free to disagree. I probably love movies that a lot of people hate.

Bachelorette

Ever since The Bachelor and Bachelorette began I have watched it off and on. Some seasons (like this last Bachelor season) I am totally engrossed while others I don't watch at all.

So, last night was the first episode of the new Bachelorette. The woman who is on it is DeAnna - who was the one of the last two girls 2 seasons ago. That season the Bachelor didn't pick either of the girls and said he didn't love either of them. Just a little background...

Anyway, last night was the night where DeAnna met like 30 guys and had to narrow it down to 20 or something. These boys were outrageous. One guys took off his shirt, grabbed her hand and made her feel his abs. Another guys jumped into the pool and had a speedo with her name in sparkles on the butt. I do think it is interesting that she was turned off by most of these blatant attempts to get attention. I was just interested thinking about that and how there is such a fine line between impressing someone and looking like a dork. I'm interested to see what the rest of the season will bring and if it will keep my attention or not.

Josh's Camping Trip

Since my sweet husband left today to go camping for a few days I can brag about him. Josh left to go up to our favorite campground outside of Golden, CO. Three years ago he had the idea that he wanted to get away by himself for a few days before summer started. The summer of a youth minister is crazy, stressful, tiring, amazing, intense and rewarding. He wanted the time to just be still, rest, pray, read and prepare himself for the next 3 months. The last two years Josh has gone with two other guys who are youth ministers in the area that he is close to. I know he has enjoyed that fellowship time. They still usually spend most of the days on their own so they still get the solo time before hanging out in the evenings. This year he will have the first night by himself and then some of the other guys are coming up Tuesday night.

I am not a full time minster, but at times being married to one is pretty close. I don't know how Josh, and other youth ministers are able to get through the summer. The schedule is definitly tough, but I think another challenge would be having to give and give and give while ministering to crazy middle and high school kids. Spiritually that is so draining.

I am so proud of Josh for initially coming up with this idea and having the desire to get away. He has had a year full of ups and downs and I know that being as prepared as he can be for the next few months in important. Josh is an amazing minister. He truly cares for the kids and families that he works with. He puts so much time and energy into them - sometimes I think it's a little too much. One of the things that impresses me most about Josh's ministry is that he has a relationship with the kids in the group that allows him to confront and question them without losing their trust or damaging the relationship. That is very unique and such a blessing. I could go on and on about this but I'de like to close with just prayer that I have for Josh and all the people who are preparing to minister this summer.

Lord, please fill Josh and these other men and women with an extra measure of your wisdom, patience and srength. Give them the words to speak and ears to hear. I pray that you keep them safe, protect them and the kids they work with. Refresh their spirits when they are tired, renew their faith when it is tested, rejuvenate their bodies when they are worn out. Each night, give them more rest then they get sleep. Lord, bless them for the work that they do to honor and reflect You.
Amen.

Summer is coming

This weekend the weather was absolutly gorgeous in Denver. It made me really really really ready for summer to be here. So, I was thinking about reasons why I love summer time and thought I would share a few.
1.Reef flip flops
2.walking or bike riding with Josh
3.the pool - I could be at the pool all day
4.tank tops
5.smoothies and Starbucks frappucinos
6.camping
7.all the wonderful fresh fruits and veggies
8.capri pants
9.Josh grilling outside
10.sweat
11.weddings
12.comfy dresses and skirts
13.tan lines
14.long days
15.rock climbing
16.beautiful green grass

I'm sure there are a lot more but that is the short list. I hope everyone gets to go outside and enjoy the beautiful weather.

Weekend

This was a great weekend. First of all I had Friday off except for a meeting in the morning(because of my new flex schedule I get every other Friday off) so after I finished at my meeting I came home and took a nap. Then I went to the gym for an excellent (and hard) workout.

When Josh got home we went to see an afternoon showing of Prince Caspian. We enjoyed it. I didn't like it as much as Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe but it was very good. I realized that it has been so long since I read the Chronicles of Narnia series that I forgot a lot of the story. When I was a little girl my dad would read to me every night before I feel asleep. We read through the entire Chronicles of Narnia series and then read the Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes.
That night Josh and I went to Olive Garden for dinner. This is one of our favorite places - it's even where we went on our first date!

Saturday started out with Josh going to a men's breakfast at church. My morning was much more fun - I went a got a facial that I won a gift certificate for in a silent auction. I just love being pampered. Massages, facials, manicures - anything. I don't think that I have enough money or time to do this regularly but I absolutely love it.

Later that afternoon Josh and I went on a bike ride. Definitely hard but we had a great time. I really want to start riding more. We went mountain biking on vacation last year and I was hooked.

The rest of today was relaxing...we cooked dinner, got ice cream and went to bed early.

I love weekends.

Mother's Day

As everyone knows, yesterday was Mother's Day. I think that mothers deserve all the pampering and praise they can get. But this year I have mixed feelings about this holiday. As some of you know, my husband Josh and I have have had 2 pregnancies in the last year that failed. If the first baby has lived I would have given birth 3 weeks ago. If the second pregnancy hadn't been ectopic I would be due in October. So either way this would have been my first "real" Mother's Day.

Obviously this was a difficult day. I think it was especially hard because I was not with my husband. I was in Las Cruces, NM for my little sister's high school graduation party. I was able to be with my mom and sister for Mother's Day so I really enjoyed that.

I heard that there was at least one sermon preached on how Mother's Day is a blessing as well as a struggle for many. I appreciate that thought. I never realized how hard this holiday is on families who have had trouble having kids, have lost kids, or have lost moms. I had some very sweet friends who were perceptive enough to know that this would be a rough day and emailed or texted me kind thoughts and prayers.

Even if, and hopefully when, God blesses my wonderful husband and I with children of our own, biological or not, I think my view of Mother's Day will be changed. I hope that I will always be aware that this holiday (as well as many others) is hard on so many people that often get overlooked. I want to always be able to encourage and love on people who struggle through this trial.

Sissy Time

Yesterday I flew to El Paso to go see my mom and sister for my sister's high school graduation. It is actually just her graduation party. She graduates next Thursday. My trip here was an adventure. I was flying on United but when I checked in they asked if I was willing to take the next available flight and that I would get a free ticket out of it. I agreed and when I got to the gate I checked in with the desk to see what they thought the chance of me switching flights was. The nice lady told me that there was a Frontier flight that left just 5 minutes later but that it was at the other end of the airport. They were able to get special permission to tell me early if I would need to switch. So I had about 45 minutes to get to the other end of the airport. It was actually down in a basement!! I had to walk out on the tarmac to get on the plane. There were 3 planes lines up - one was empty (I walked onto that one first because no one told me where to go, it was completely dark and a little scary), the second plane was to Billings, Montanta and then mine to El Paso. There was a guy in front of the Billings plane to make sure that people didn't get on the wrong one.
So we finally got in the air for a 2 hour flight. I did get a ticket voucher that is good to anywhere in the united States for the next year. I haven't decided where I want to go yet....

Today we went shopping for Aletheia's party. The best part was after dinner. Something to know about me is that I have the hardest time waiting to open or especially give presents to people. Josh almost always gets his birthday presents at least a day early.

After dinner I gave Mom her Mother's Day gifts then gave Goober her graduation and birthday presents. I have spent months working on her present. You may or may not know that I make greeting cards and am pretty good at it if I do say so myself. I'll post a few pictures of my latest designs. Anyway, I made Goober 45 different cards. Some are thank you cards and some are just friend, any occasion cards. She was so excited to get them!! I was so proud of most of the cards. One of my dreams would be to one day be able to sell the cards and frames that I make. It's always great to be able to make money doing something you love.

Here are a few pictures - of cards and Aletheia's senior pictures.

My Friend Nathan

I was blog hopping and found the blog of my friend Amy Peterson. Amy was a graduating Senior in HS when I was an incoming Freshman. We went to church together and got to know each other on a mission trip to Minnesota. Amy also has MS and was a huge help and encouragement to me when I was struggling with an illness and being in the hospital so much.

Amy had 3 brothers. Her youngest brother Nathan was one of my good friends. We were in the same class and huddle at church. Nathan was....well there are many ways to describe Nathan - funny, compassionate, faithful, charming, class clown, great athlete, leader, struggling and wonderful. On her blog (ttp://ericswife.blogspot.com) Amy has several stories about Nathan. I read those and have been thinking about him a lot the past few days. Nathan died in a car wreck on December 26, 2003. It was incredibly hard on his friends and I can't imagine the pain his family went through, and is still going through.

I wanted to share several of my favorite memories about Nathan.
Nathan had a unique sense of humor and the uncanny ability to make people laugh at any given moment. Sometimes this was not at the best times..but he was always funny. He could take the most mundane things - like a Wet Floor/Piso Mojado sign that someone put in our huddle room and make it into a long standing joke.

Nathan loved old cars. His first car was a 1967 Cougar. When he got it I really thought it was meant for the junk yard. He worked for months to get it in semi working condition but he was so proud of it. One day he was driving down I35 in Austin and started smelling and seeing smoke come out from the hood. He pulled over to take a look. A few minutes later there was a big boom - his engine had literally blown up. Nathan's next vehicle was an old, ugly brown pickup truck. This truck was not only old, it was antique. But Nathan loved it. He named it some girly name I think. When we painted our huddle room Nathan painted a picture of his truck on the wall.

Nathan Paul Dodd was more than just a funny, charming, cute, athletic guy. He was one of the most amazing Christians I've ever met. He would have been the first to tell you that he was a sinner and that he had faults. One of the things that amazed me about him was that he truly believed in confession. He would go to a party with his football friends on Friday night and on Sunday he would come before our huddle, admit his mistakes and openly ask for help and forgiveness.
At Westover we had a 4pm church service for awhile. Once a quarter the teens would do the service. One night Nathan was going to be giving the lesson. He went up to the front of this huge auditorium and started talking about music. He spoke about how Satan can really get us to be ok with things that we shouldn't be through the music we listen to. Nathan was a varsity wrestler. He would listen to heavy metal or rap music before his meets. Up in front of the church he pulled out about 5 of his cds and said "I don't want to listen to this stuff anymore because I know that Satan uses that against me. " and he broke his cds.

The last story I will share about Nathan (for now) is his compassion. He was the big stud at his high school. He was Captain of the Football and I think Wrestling teams. All the girls loved him, all the guys thought he was cool. Nathan somehow befriended a group of special needs, or disabled kids. He refused to make fun of them like his friends did. Instead he became their buddy, their champion and defender. I think he even took one of those girls - a girl in a wheelchair to his prom.

It makes me smile to think about my friend. He was truly special and someone I will always miss.

Monday Night Yoga

My Monday night yoga class is my new obsession. I started going about 8 months ago. At first I was expecting this to be an hour of stretching and relaxing. Boy was I wrong!! While it is relaxing and lots of stretching it is hard work too. I mean, I sweat and get tired. There is about 20 minutes in the beginning of class that is quick transitions between poses in the same sequence. After that we do some balancing work - which I am pretty good at. We also so a lot of poses that are lunges or similar movements that really work your legs. There is always some stretching at the end of class but it is "active" stretching and fairly intense. The last 5 minutes is relaxations. We had a teacher who would come around and spray aromatherapy oils in the air above your head. It's hard for me to relax at the end of class without thinking of what I have to do when I get home, how my day was etc.

This class that I take is fairly challenging. I have taken some that are much more laid back and restful. I like the challenge. I like seeing the improvements in my body. One of the things that I have learned is to appreciate my body and it's abilities. I am become more flexible and I have more strength to hold poses. It's a different kind of strength from lifting weights - very graceful with slow movements. We also learn how to breathe with long inhales and slow exhales. That is one of the things that is the most challenging for me - the keep my breath even and steady when I'm tired and working hard.

A lot of people think that yoga is weird and religious. While there is some of that, its more about listening to your body, respecting yourself, knowing your limits and being able to safely push your limits. I'm not worshipping Buddha or anything like that....

So, if you are ever even slightly intersted in yoga, you should try at least one class. It isn't for everyone but I definitely love it.

I love flexiblity

One of the things that I love about my job is that it is so flexible. I tend to have several evening or early morning appointments or home visits a week so I can adjust my hours accordingly. It is great to be working with a team where we are all pretty independent. This week starts a new schedule that we are trying. The other girl that is full time, Lacy, and I are going to be working a flex schedule on Fridays. So we will each have every other Friday off. I'm super excited about this for the summer - that means I have a whole day to do nothing and be at the pool if I want to!
There are a lot of frustrating things about social work in general - bad pay, secondary trauma from all the stuff we hear all day, lots of rules and regs to follow...but the flexible work schedules is one redeeming quality.

Snow Storm for Josh's Birthday

Today is May 1st - it i smy husband's 29th birthday and my dad's 54th birthday. There is also a snow storm outside. Colorado never ceasese to amaze me. It was 74 yesterday and today it is snowing - a lot of snow, the thick, huge flakes kind of snow. The good thing about this is Josh gets to go skiing tomorrow. He was given a free lift ticket but wasn't sure he was going to get to use it.

The other funny thing about today is that Josh and my Dad have the same birthday. When Josh and I first started dating I thought it was weird that my boyfriend had the same birthday as my Dad. People have always said that you marry someone who is like your father, I don't know if they are alike but they do have the same birthday. It's kind of a neat cincidence. Today is Thursday school at church - it's like a day care, preschool they have once a week. Josh tries to always go say hi to the kiddos during their lunch time. They all just love him. Today they are going to sing "Happy Birthday" to hime during chapel time. So cute....

I should get back to work I guess.

Happy Birthday Pop and Josh (and happy skiing).