One More Visit

So the "To Do" lists are taking over my life and I hug my Moving Binder when I'm getting overwhelmed. Its nicely organized pages give me the illusion that I have some control of the chaos around me. But today I did my best to put it all aside and make one more visit to the mountains.

I love these mountains and I am really going to miss escaping into the green woods to go walking under towering pine trees. The sound of the wind, the whistling birds, the crunch of leaves, gravel and twigs underfoot, the sound of my kids joy at discovering a rock or branch that is absolutely more amazing than anything that they've discovered before.

It makes me think of how much we've changed, learned and grown in these three years.

We ended up on a path to the old railroad trestles. We all really enjoyed exploring but it made me sad for all that we'll be leaving behind. I will miss this place.

I loved that on our last trip with a random turn down a different path than normal we found one more corner that we had not explored before. But even as we explored the tumbled down trestle and enjoyed one more adventure it was a reminder that all things are temporary. Our time at Holloman has been short. We will be forgotten and others will come to make this place their own. That's good and as it should be. We have no ownership of this place. There is nothing here that is ours. It has not been our work or our ministry.

 Scripture says it best when Paul talks about how it doesn't matter who is preaching the gospel. The Corinthians were dividing into factions. Those who studied under Paul and those who studied under Apollos. Whether it was him or Apollos, the goal was the preaching of the gospel! Who preached it wasn't the point and was a waste of time.
 I Corinthians 3:10-13
¹⁰ According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. ¹¹ For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹² Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— ¹³ each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.


Nothing that WE have done here matters. None of it will last. Only what Christ has done has any true value.


Matthew 6:19-21
¹⁹ “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; ²¹ for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Day Dreaming

I have a million things to do but I'm ignoring them to share my daydreams for a minute. I have phone calls and appointments all over the place, not to mention a few more home school lessons with the kids. But one of the things that keeps me pushing along is an occasional stop to enjoy the daydreams of our new home.

We're buying a house because we have reason to hope that we'll be in San Antonio longer than the average stop. So I can garden my heart out! No dirt yet but I'm sketching my ideas! Wanna see...

And I day dream about critters...

http://pinterest.com/pin/231583605811330217

... but we're not in a chicken friendly neighborhood so I had to give up on that one.
I replaced that daydream with this one...

I found him on Petfinder. I want him. You may not have him. His name is Roscoe. He's 90+ lbs of fluffy, fuzzy, drooling cuteness and he's mine! If he's still there in about a month.

Ok back to work. I've got things to do, places to go and people to see!!
But daydreams are more fun.

Only On Base

Living on a military base means a few unusual experiences. Random aircraft fuselage driving thru the neighborhood? Sure! Why not?

Super Dog

Today the kids are being superheroes. Why should Lucy be left out of this fun? So the kids dressed her in a cape. Personally, I would have called her a super villain based on our long rivalry but naturally the kids see her as Super Dog.

Like all super heroes, Lucy has super powers. The super wag is the tail that wags at the speed of sound, destroying all in its path. It moves so fast that it has never been photographed.

The super bark is the mind numbing sound that melts the brain of everyone within a quarter mile. It takes about 10 minutes to be effective but Super Lucy has no problem with the persistence that this requires. The mind melting capacity becomes more effective with each subsequent application. With my many years of exposure, I'm down to my last three brain cells.

She also has a super jump that enables her to leap tall kitchen counters in a single bound. Pizza powers her super jump and she will leap higher, faster and better to attain even the smallest crumb. Trash is also a source of super strength and she will leave no trash can within her reach standing upright. She is merciless with trash cans.

Her krytponite includes baths and car rides. Car rides are particularly disabling, causing her to vomit her super power giving pizza and any other stomach contents. She does however seem incapable of losing her gaseous super powers which can clear a room of all enemies ... Or friends. In fact, exposure to her kryptonite baths and kryptonite car rides increases her Super Gas.

She is quite stealthy, disguising herself as a slug or rug until enemy food is smelled and requires her destruction. She has perfected the martial art of stepping into the path of anyone carrying food thus causing them to trip and spill her superpower pizza slices.

Her greatest superpower is the ability to be loved and to give love unconditionally. No matter how many times she steals their food the kids can't stop loving her.

Homeschooling, Moving, and Potty Training

So today I'm doing homeschool in the upstairs hall. Why? Because I'm potty training my smallest student. I'm sitting outside the bathroom door while Susie at least pretends to take care of business. I would give you a picture but Susie would never forgive me. I'm on a mission to be diaper free by the time we get to Texas. That doesn't sound right does it? Let me assure you that I personally am diaper free but I am not free from the diapers. It's probably wishful thinking but it won't hurt to try. So today home school is happening in the hall outside the bathroom so that we can all cheer for bowel movements as a family. Besides I don't have much to do for the move lately. No boxes to pack since the movers are doing it all this time. I'm just on hold. I feel like I've got one foot in NM and one in TX. If we can at least leave the diapers in NM then that would be wonderful!

Goodbye Garden

Over the last few weeks I've slowly disassembled the garden. Some raised beds went to a friend, some pots to a neighbor down the road and some plants to new homes. Until it was all gone. Someone asked me if it was sad to tear it down. At the time I said no because it wasn't too hard to let it go knowing that we had a new home and a bigger yard waiting for us in Texas. But now even though there are less than 2 months left here, I hate looking at that bare dirt in the yard. I know all of the beautiful growth that was in that same place at this point last year. Hey it was so significant that base housing wanted to use my yard to show incoming personnel what it's like to live here. Now I'm cultivating boring old grass to comply with base housing's requirements for checking out. But still, there's a lot to look forward to. Whenever the dirt and grass start to annoy me, I daydream about the garden I'll build at the new house. I hope we can get a second tour in San Antonio because this time I'm going to do it right! The garden I'm building in my imagination is going to be amazing and I would hate to tear it down after just 3 years. But hey even if this next base is just a three year stop, then there's always something to look forward to growing in the next place, and the place after that, and the place after that, ... Bloom where you are planted being lived out literally right here.

You still think I exist?!

I got nominated for another blog award! I'm surprised that anyone even knows I'm here anymore since I've been kinda AWOL for months now. Lately some of my experiences have had to stay private. They have involved others and I want to be wise about what I say. Short version "I've decided that I hate the chaplaincy but I love what God does with it." Does that make sense to anyone? The chaplaincy is a flawed organization full of flawed people, but God is bigger than the chaplaincy. I love when he uses it in spite of all of its flaws... a lot like me. Shouldn't we all be amazed that God uses anything on this world to bring honor to himself? So the specific experiences that go with all of these thoughts just aren't worth hearing or dwelling on. What really matters? God is sovereign.

Ok now that I've been absurdly cryptic in an attempt to communicate an absence that doesn't matter to 99.99999999% of the world.... moving on!

To you sweet 0.00000001% who still know I'm here. Check out Munchkin's Momma who nominated me for the Liebster Award. Thanks Munchkin's Momma! You gave me a smile in the middle of this chaos of moving in less than 6 weeks!! Aaaaah! Why am I still typing? Whatever! It'll get done!

So she asked her nominees, the following questions.

1. What's your favorite book?

OK Christian here so obvious answer: The Bible. Now that the obvious answer is out of the way let's give a better answer. My favorite devotional series is Tabletalk. I LOVE this devotional magazine. I read it almost every single day during my quiet time. It is so much better than the light fluffy stuff that you get in the majority of devotionals. I'm constantly recommending it to others. I'm recommending it to you right now. I mean it! But that's not a book. How about another book I just read for the umpteenth time? "A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23." Great book! 

2. If you could hop a plane--right now, all expenses paid--where would you go?

That's easy! Some tropical beach alone with my sweetheart. We tried to make this happen after Rich's deployment. He was gone for our 10 yr anniversary so we wanted to do that when he got home. It just didn't work out. Maybe for our 20 yr anniversary. :)

3. Of all the places you've lived, where was your favorite?

Texas! I'm so excited to be going back to Texas. It's not exactly the same corner that we left 3 years ago but it's still Texas! I love the place, the views, the people, the common sense, the friendliness... I feel like I'm going home.

4. What's your favorite compliment someone has ever given you?

My husband. He married me. Seriously! What compliment gets bigger than that? "Hello. I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you." Not sure I deserved that one.

5. Who is your favorite fictional character?

Just about anyone in every Jane Austen book ever written. I especially relate to Fanny, in Mansfield Park. She's kinda awkward, gets totally wound up complete nonsense, and falls flat on her face socially. Ya that's a bit like me.

6. What's your "perfect date"?

I love to go exploring with my husband.Whether it's people watching in the mall (a big buttery pretzel is necessary to this), or hiking through the woods looking for wildlife, or driving around just to see a corner of the world we've never seen before, I love to be out exploring the world with him.

7. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

Hmmm. Depends on this whole military thing. If it were in MY hands, then I would definitely make sure that my husband was promoted to major, because he is absolutely the most amazing chaplain and minister EVER! But that's me. I have no idea what the AF will say when it's time to go to the promotion boards. Plan A: I love watching all the amazing things that Rich gets to do in this job and I'm happy to ride his coat tails wherever that life takes us. I seriously love my life! Plan B: If we get out, then I don't know. God will burden our hearts with a desire to serve wherever he calls us when that time comes.

8. Where has been your favorite place to visit on vacation?

We had the most restful and fun vacation a couple of summers ago on the East coast. We saw lighthouses, sunsets, and wild horses. We sat on the beach, road a ferry and did some of that exploring I mentioned in #6.

9. What does your ideal vacation look like?

The whole family relaxed and enjoying some beautiful corner of creation. And no fighting children. That would definitely be an ideal and has no basis in reality.

10. What's your favorite drink?

I'm trying to give up coffee, so right not it's a case of the object denied is the most attractive. Coffee has been upsetting Rich's stomach so I'm trying to help by joining him in a coffee free life. You know how it's easier to eat healthy when your spouse will do it with you? Same thing. I don't want his stomach to hurt anymore so I'm trying to help in any way that I can. But I've been seriously tempted to sneak some in when he's away from home and I just might do that one day. Shhh! Don't tell him!

11. What was your favorite toy growing up?

That would probably have been my dollhouse furniture or my collection of Breyer horses. I loved building little homes from all that tiny furniture. Now I get to do it full scale! :) Horses? Well I still haven't managed to do that in full scale except for a brief period during high school but someday my city slicker husband will join me on some 20 acre spread somewhere. I'll enjoy this awesome military life in the meantime!

Since I've received a nomination for this award before, I will refer you to my previous goofy post on the subject of blog awards, in case you would like to read my nominees.