Exceedingly Abundantly Beyond

I had a meltdown tonight.   I started crying and I just couldn't stop.  In front of my kids... Texting to my mom... Wishing it would stop... Wishing I could go to bed for the night.   I feel better now.  I'm sitting in the living room listening to my kids play Uno in the kitchen.  It's rather peaceful.  But an hour ago it wasn't.  I bawled in the living room while Aida told me all the ways I'm so wonderful, Christian tried to distract me with a rousing game of "Go Fish" and the little boys duked it out with curtain rods in the driveway. I have a hard time moving forward when I start to feel overwhelmed and depressed.  And by "hard time" I mean "totally paralyzed".  I know that I need to do things.  I may even know specifically what needs to be done.  But I cannot force myself to do it.   Today my mom and I cleaned in my living room so that it can be painted.  I have been hoping (dare I say counting on) some outside help to...

A while back I decided to make a quilt for Derick. Let me back up... April 1, Derick left the United States, heading to Afghanistan.  He was required to bring his sleeping bag.  On his last deployment, he used his sleeping bag every night.   After he arrived and got settled in, he told me that he had purchased cheap bedding from the closest Exchange to use on his bed.  He said he had a real bed, not just a cot.  And he would like for me to send him something better.    We shopped on Amazon together.   As an aside, it was actually a quite enjoyable way to shop together.  I hate shopping.  I hate making decisions.  But, it was fun browsing the same website, but different items.  It was great being able to send links back and forth to see.  I highly recommend it for people that don't enjoy going to the mall. Anyway, we shopped on Amazon together.  I ordered what I thought he would like and had it shipped directly to him....

We have been home from camp almost a week.  And though I enjoyed it, it was a lot of work.  Christian did his own thing.  But it was up to me to get the little kids up in the morning and to class and to meals and to church in the evenings.   To make sure they were supervised when they were swimming.  To make sure they ate something other than dessert and soda for every meal in the cafeteria.   To make sure they didn't get lost in the dark. And it was up to me, after a long day, to get them to bed at night. It was a good week.  I'm glad that we went.  But It was exhausting... like a lot of things that I do with my little kids in tow.   A friend of mine approached me on the last day and commented that she believed there was something wrong.  She said I didn't seem to be acting like myself.  I assured her that what she had seen for the last week, was indeed my everyday life.   I told her that what she sees when I come to her house...

I had a photoshoot a few nights ago.  My good friends Jeremy and Kristie Sparling have a photography business in Peoria, called Image Innovations or Imagei. Jeremy has been shooting in the studio for over 20 years.  And he always does a fantastic job. Derick and I love cycling.  We love cycling * together *.  We can ride for miles at a time, getting exercise and spending real quality time together.  Unlike running, we can talk for 90% of a bike ride.  During a run we probably talk about 30% of the time.  We love to be active together!  And biking is our favorite!  My church sponsors a fun ride every summer.  (I use the term fun loosely.)  It used to be from church to church camp.  But church camp is no longer within riding distance, at least not a 3 1/2 day distance.  Now it is from church to Lake Michigan.  Northfield Christian Fellowship in Tremont, IL to Warren Dunes State Park in Michigan, to be exact.  3 1/...

Some of you may have read my post about my tattoo.  Here is an extended version of why I got a tattoo and what it means to me.  I hope you enjoy it! Update July 12, 2014 - Since the embedded video isn't working on mobile devices, here is a link to watch it on YouTube.  https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FDyc0FqxpAA Sorry about that!

I skipped the gym today.  There is a spinning class that starts in 15 minutes that I had good intentions of going to.  *sigh*  I know all the right things to do while Derick is gone.  Its the actual "doing" part that trips me up! Is this a struggle for anyone else?  And its not just going to the gym, its every area of my life.     "Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you."   I signed up to run a triathlon this summer.  I did it last year.  Signed up with a team and ended up running the whole thing by myself.  I didn't die, so why not do it again? I've had good intentions of signing up for about one a month while Derick is deployed.  But, so far, just one...  I really have a pretty good idea of what I need to do to train for it.  But there are some days that I just cannot force myself.   "The Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation." Any excuse is a good one, right?!  I'm ti...