Just a Sliver

A few days ago at work, I sat down in my chair at my desk and felt a surge of pain...like a lightening bolt...go through my arm. The source of the pain came from my index finger, so I immediately checked it to see what in the world was causing such havoc.

To my amazement, I saw the tiniest piece of wood or metal...something sticking out of my finger. I carefully took hold of it with my fingernails and pulled it out...all the time wondering how in the world this little piece of sharp material got in my finger in the first place. My office chair doesn't typically injure me when I sit down!!!

A few days went by and I realized that everytime I used my finger...for typing, playing the piano, etc...each time another pain surge went through my arm. But it just didn't make sense...looking at my finger, there was absolutely no indication of anything still being in there! There was no red mark. There was no black spot to show where the sliver was. There wasn't even a mark to show where it may be.

I brushed it off for a few days, trying to convince myself that it was just a result from being stabbed by some rogue piece of something sharp. But by Friday, I decided that I had enough. The pain had overcome me to the point where I was ready to open up my flesh and dig around until I removed the source of my pain and discomfort. And for anyone who knows me...and how I faint at the sight of blood...this was DEFINITELY a bold move on my part.

I took a clean safety pin and went into the light of our bathroom...and sure enough! I found a little mark and after about 20 minutes I successfully removed the sliver....WITHOUT fainting! My finger is no longer in pain. I can type...I can play the piano...everything is wonderful!

It was just a tiny sliver. It was microscopic. I could barely even see it with my own eyes. How could something so very small affect my body in such a large way?

The more I think about it, I equate this sliver to the sin that creeps in our lives. Just a hint is okay, right??? Just a little sin won't affect me, right??? .....or will it???

If you take a clear pitcher of water an add a drop of food coloring, it will affect the entire pitcher of water in time. Sin DOES affect us...even a little bit...even just a hint. We may think that we can handle it, but it does stick to us, just like this annoying sliver in my finger.

Just a hint...just a bit...just a taste...it all has an impact on us, even if we don't see it now!!!

Strep Throat

This past weekend, my daughter and I were attacked with an awful sickness called STREP THROAT!!! It was horrible. My fever wouldn't go under 101 degrees...my throat hurt to swallow or talk...and I had no energy at all to even get up and walk.

I woke up last Sunday morning feeling so horrible, but still determined to make it to church. I remember rolling over in bed and telling my husband..."I can make it through worship. I'll just lead the worship and then come home and sleep..." Yeah. What was I thinking? I couldn't even get out of bed! He took one look at me and knew there was no way I would even be able to make it up to church. He set up things so that my worship team took over for me. Instead I spent the day going to the doctor with my daughter to get the medicine we so desperatley needed.

Through this sickness, I couldn't help but yearn for the times when my body felt good. All I wanted was to feel better. It hit me then that I take "feeling good" for granted far too often! We go through our day-to-day life while feeling good most of the time. But how often do we take the time to thank God for our health? It's times like these when I realize just how awesome it is to be in good health. Last Sunday I would've gave anything to get the sickness to leave my body. As we were so very sick, all my daughter and I wanted was to feel better.

As of now, my strep throat is gone...my daughter and I are back to good health...laundry is caught up on...and the house is once again cleaned. But that just means we have even more reason to praise God!!!

If you are in good health, take the time to thank God for this blessing! All too often we only thank God for making us better...and forget about all the days when He has kept us in good health!

In the Hands of God

I use to like snow. I remember peering out the window as a child, ecstatic to see any sign of snow. For a child, snow means the possibility of school delayed...or better yet, maybe even cancelled!!!

But now as an adult, snow means that I have to drive in it. It means that I have to try to make it up our steep hill to get out for work. Snow means dangerous driving conditions. Snow is just not as fun anymore.

When the first sign of a snowflake comes, my kids are rejoicing that they may get school off....but I am praying that the storm goes a different direction and totally misses us.

It's not that I can't drive in snow. I grew up in Wisconsin and I lived in Fargo, ND for four years. I am well-experienced in snow travel. Snow doesn't stop things in those states. When it snows, life goes on. But here in Indiana, the snow makes driving conditions so much worse. It doesn't get plowed as fast...and we get more ice. Plus add to that the fact that our house sits at the bottom of a GIANT hill.

Yesterday I had to travel three hours to train a school for my job. I braved the snow-covered streets and slowly made my way, praying the entire way. I felt like my car was in a bubble that was protected by God. He had His angels all over my car and I drove through nearly impassable roads and icy spots. For half the trip, I couldn't even see the yellow or while lines on the pavement. It was just a guessing game!!!

But God was there. His protection was all over me. He led my car and He kept the other vehicles out of my path. I was in His hands...and that is the very best place to be!

Even tonight as I gazed out and saw that it had again started to snow giant flakes, my heart first skipped a beat, wondering how travel conditions will be. But then I remembered how awesome of a protector our God is! No matter what, He has me in His grip. He is there for me. I can rest in His arms and just marvel at the beauty of each falling snowflake. Freshly-fallen snow covering our whole backyard is such a beautiful sight!!! I can find peace...because I am in His arms.

Heartache for Haiti

My mind has been consumed with images of Haiti and the intense damage the recent earthquake caused them. The scenes of children walking aimlessly around looking for their families cuts straight to my heart. My heart is heavy seeing the makeshift villages made from bedsheets that people are constructing. I can't get the image out of my head of seeing people running over each other trying to get to the food being dropped from the helicopter. It is a horrible situation. People have lost everything they own...they have lost houses...they have lost families and friends.

I want to go to Haiti. I want to be there to help them. I feel so helpless sitting on my couch watching images of the destruction.

I can't help but feel guilty when I walk to my fridge and satisfy every hunger pang that I have. I can drink water when I am thirsty. I can relax in my comfortable house. I am warm from the clothes that I am blessed with.

Why do I have so much stuff and others have so little? How did I get blessed to be born in the United States instead of country where 90% of the people live in poverty?

Sometimes I take things for granted. But the things that are taking place in Haiti are a stark reminder to us all of how blessed we really are. It puts things in perspective. Even when things seem like they are going bad, we still are blessed.

Take some time to lift up the people in Haiti in your prayers. They need prayer warriors to rise up and pray for miracles to happen!!!

Scooby Strikes Again

I know you all are anxiously awaiting to hear about yet another "Brown Family" episode, so here it is.........(drum roll)....

Last Saturday morning as we prepared to leave for Christmas in Iowa, we loaded up the van to capacity. Five people...five suitcases...four pillows....four blankets...one bag of snacks...five water bottles....two bags full of gifts...one travel DVD player (a necessity for traveling with 3 kids...although ours broke on the way home)....five winter coats...five pairs of boots...AND two dogs.

Yes...picture me and my husband in the front of the van...then my 2 girls in the middle seat with Sammy (our beagle) sitting on top of them....then my son holding the psychopathic dog Scooby in the back. Actually, he wasn't really holding him as much as he was restraining him from flinging his entire body over the seats to try to come to the front of the van.

The trip to Linton to drop off the dogs at the vet for boarding went smooth. Each dog was obedient and stayed in their assigned seat. Then we arrived at the vet clinic. Yes, this is always a fun time as both dogs anxiously try to propel their bodies out of the van at the same exact time. So you have Sammy carefully hopping out at the same time Scooby thrusts his body through the doorway while dragging my poor son behind.

After the dogs smelled the grass around the clinic, we went inside and then it hit Scooby. You could read his mind as he cowered in the corner refusing to go any farther than the entrance. "THIS IS THE PLACE I DETEST WITH EVERY FIBER OF MY BEING!!!!"

So what does Scooby decide to do? At that very moment he decided to cleverly slide his neck OUT of his collar and turn towards the front door....the front door that was NOT shut completely. Out of the corner of my eye, all I saw was a flash of black and then saw the door slam shut behind Scooby as he ran free...with my son scrambling behind him in an effort to catch the lightening-fast dog.

Now picture this....my husband was waiting in the van which was parked facing the front door of the vet's office. He sees us go in. He sees the door open again. He sees Scooby run by. Then he sees my son run by with the dog collar in his hand. Uh-oh.

The next moments are pretty much a blur in my mind. I remember running circles around the vet clinic with my entire family and the vet workers, yelling Scooby's name as he paraded around playing a game of chase. He was probably having the time of his life as he escaped being caught by so many people.

But then he discovered this is new territory. He went next door to CVS to check out the people leaving the store. Then he ran into the busy traffic at the intersection on Hwy. 54 and dodged cars for awhile. Then to our disappointment, he ran across the street into the parking lot by Angel's Grocery Store and Arby's. At this point, my husband and kids followed on foot while I got back into the van to try to catch up with the escapee.

For the next half hour, we ran and drove through Linton...by the movie theater, by the surrounding neighborhood, in a field, in traffic...chasing the psycho dog. As much as we would love to get rid of him some days, this was not the way to do it. I couldn't imagine my kids witnessing him getting run over and then having to leave to go on vacation. Or what if we couldn't catch him? How long would we chase him before we would give up? How could we leave Linton knowing he was on the loose somewhere? He didn't even have his dog tags on since he got out of his collar.

After about 1/2 hour, Scooby slowed down a bit, but still evaded being caught. I would drive to the neighborhood and he would run back to Arby's. I would drive to Arby's and he would run back to the neighborhood. It was just a big game. My poor kids even tried riding with me and jumping out to get him as we drove by him. They tried everything. They were cold little popsicles at this point.

Finally, I opened the van door in a last effort and summonded Scooby to come. "Please, Scooby, let's go home...come here"....I pleaded as I squated down next to the van and called him over. As he started to run, he slid on a patch of ice, which scared him...causing him to run to me.

PANIC....how do I keep him there? There's no collar to hold!!!! So I grabbed his chest fur in one hand and his leg in the other hand, holding on for dear life as I screamed for backup. One of my daughters caught up and proceeded to grab his tail. So there we were, holding his tail, leg, and chest as the rest of my family came around the corner panting for breath. The collar got reattached....and tightened. Then poor Scooby went right back to the vet.

As we drove away, now 1/2 hour off our schedule for our trip, we all started to giggle. Can you imagine what we looked like to the passing traffic? There we were, all five of us, chasing a silly black dog through the streets and parking lots of Linton. Picture three kids and my husband running after him. Picture me driving to get to him, and quickly jumping out of the vehicle trying to entice him in. Picture us all surrounding houses of people we never met before, trying to get our frustrating dog out of their yard. Picture me and my girls running through a muddy field. As we checked our shoes and clothes, we all discovered we were COVERED with mud!!!

If anyone decided to videotape us, I know we would win America's Funniest Home Videos. If anyone happened to see us running through Linton this past Saturday, I hope you had a treat watching us run like crazy.

And where is Scooby now? He is home, safe and sound...sleeping here beside me. I don't know whether to love this dog or hate him. He is just so cute. But he is just such a problem child. But all in all, this was a memorable moment. A Brown family moment we will NEVER forget.

A Life Remembered

This year Christmas was a little different for our family. We had the loss of my grandpa just days before the holidays. I remember so much about him...all the times I spent at his house when he and my grandma watched me while my parents were at work. I remember him laying on the floor playing barbies with me. I remember taking rides in his red pick-up truck. But mostly, I remember what he said everytime he saw me.

"I remember the time you asked me for a roll of life savers. You saw I had a big box of them and said, 'Grandpa, you have so many...could I just have one roll of life savers?'" He chuckled everytime he said that.

He was a great man...a great life remembered...and he will be missed.

I was very amazed by the story I heard from my uncle when I was at my grandpa's funeral. During World War II, he had to have emergency surgery and the rest of his unit was sent to a battle (or something of that sorts). No one returned from this mission. He was the only one of his unit to survive.

It's amazing how God works. Imagine if he was with his unit. Things would be so very different. I would not be here. God's plan is such an amazing weaving of PERFECTION!!!

Where did time go?

I am simply amazed at how fast time flies! It seems like just yesterday we were sending off three kids to elementary school...and suddenly now we have two junior high kids! Where does time go?

I was looking at the pictues on my wall of my son in his first year of football. In 2006 he was just 10 years old at the start of the football season. That year my daughters were ages 6 and 8.

Fast forward a few years to the present day...and now my YOUNGEST is 10 years old! My youngest is in fourth grade and she is wearing the same clothes my other daughter wore just last year in sixth grade!

I know time flies for everyone, but I do feel somewhat lacking in my time with them as youngsters. Since we adopted our kids at ages 6, 8, and 10, I didn't get to experience them as small children. I missed all the wonderful years seeing them grow up from little babies. When we first welcomed them into our home they were young and and yes, we still did experience great bonding times...as we still are.

But wow...my son is going to tower over me soon. My daughter and I can just about share clothes. This is all too weird for me. Where did all the years go where my kids were suppose to be young and...well....um...kids? They are turning into teens sooooo... fast!

I know parenting can be rough and trying at times. But really, please do appreciate those times and never take them for granted!!!