Queenies Little Kingdom

Last night was party night. No, not that kind of party. It was a work party. Since hubby began his new job for Black Support Services, I haven’t met his boss. The company has also expanded with 3 other new employees as well. It seemed appropriate that we all get together and swap some food and fellowship to kick this company in the “go get ums”!

It turned out to be a great evening. We met up at the home of the head honcho, Bill and his wife Dawn (super nice people). I forgot to mention, they used to own the “town favorite” restaurant, Laurel House. So these people can cook! The menu was grilled salmon & chicken, grilled fresh asparagus, saute’ed pepper-onion-feta delicious concoctionista (I made that word up), mashed potatos, brocolli, mac-n-cheese, two choices of fresh bread with yummy herb butter and two rockin desserts. You get the idea here, right? Everything tasted fabulous!

We were outside on their deck (it was warmish) but soon cooled off a bit. Someone noticed a deer walking behind their shed……so guess who flew into camera ready action? Yes, bloggy mama! We couldn’t believe how this deer was just hiding behind the tree watching us, as if…..she knew us. Too cute! Our hosts informed us that our visitor was named “Woody” and that she visits regularly. We all laugh and continue on while “Woody” meanders around in their back yard. Deer are so beautiful to me. I never get tired of seeing them. I get so excited when they are in my yard, I actually check every morning just to see if any are out there. They even come through in the middle of the day. One of the perks of living in a wooded area. I LOVE IT!

After dinner, it was competition time. You know, every party has one. They invited us down to the basement to play some pool and Wii. It was a blast! The four women were in a bowl-off! I actually won the first round and Nita (a co-worker) won the next. We were so funny! I can’t wait to get my own Wii! I think it might be a new addiction for me. I’m like that, ya know?

This is such a new phase for our lives. We’ve been in full-time ministry for more than 12 years. For Don to be working in the real world is a whole new ballgame to us. We really love ministry and even though he is still preaching (supply for a church without a pastor right now) it isn’t the same. We needed the change (not that we are turning from serving….) and God knew. He has a plan! We just have to trust Him. In the meantime, we must be faithful. No matter what we do for a paycheck or passion. We are to do it to the best of our abilities.

Ephesians 4:1b ….”live a life worthy of the calling you have received”.

Meet……Woody!

And, The Team! Skip, Nita, Don, Sherry & THE BOSS, Bill!!

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First let me start by saying….I do NOT want to be a trash talker about anyone. This is why I haven’t shared my story on my blog before. It is a happy place for me. This past year’s events are not happy! I don’t want to dwell there and I don’t want to blab to the world my issues. God knows them and He is in charge! So, listen with your heart and hear me when I say…..I’m living for Jesus! Not for man. The following is to show just how sneaky satan can be when we least expect it.

Sorry if I seem weak, friends. Satan had the bull’s-eye target on me for his vicious attacks. My day wasn’t so bad, but it had it’s moments. I have been in such a good place lately, emotionally. I haven’t blogged about this past year on purpose. I don’t want to go there. It was really dark and painful! I am healing and healing in a good way. Today, was just one of those days.

I had a student (who was in our former church/youth group) and he told me that he overheard some “church ladies” talking trash about my hubby on Sunday at church. OUCH! It stung so badly! Now I want you to know, I am a mature and intelligent person. I understand that these things happen. People are mean and they talk when they should be maybe, say, praying for their enemy. I’m a big girl and I know of man’s evil ways (that’s why I don’t go to this church anymore!!!). But it hurts! Bad!

We loved them. We were good to them and loyal to everyone of them. Even when they weren’t good to us. Which was quite often. I don’t know why this happens, people. I’m amazed at the behaviors of church people. I can’t help but think about how God feels and what He expects of each us. Those who do evil and justify it as the right thing, just blows my mind. We will all face Him and account for everything. That’s enough for me to want to stay on the straight and narrow. I fail, but I get back up and try again.

I’m growing. I’m in His hands. I trust Him. I want to be completely whole and healthy. My heart is so full with His love and I want to share it. I want other’s to know of His love and to feel that peace that can only come from Him. I can’t do that if I’m broken like glass. I must persevere and stay close to Him and His fire. I will push on even in the midst of the firey darts that satan flings my way. I will keep moving forward and follow Him who leads with love. Why? Because it is He who gives me strength. Do you ever feel like you’re taking one step forward only to fall two steps back? That’s how I felt today. I’m so thankful that tomorrow’s a brand new day!

Eph. 1:19 “His power works in me. HE is my strength.”

Confession time. I love frogs! I have this rinky dink pond out front that brings me untold happiness. It’s not even that great of a pond. We (hubby and I) dug it ourselves a few years back on Labor Day weekend and believe me, it was real labor! Our Indiana dirt is HARD! We slaved over that dude….and we even worked in the rain. Until the thing started to fill up with water and we had to shut down our two-man crew.

Once we could get back to our project (days later) we decided to dig down about 3 feet in the center and leave a shelf around the edges that would be around a foot and a half deep. We knew our lab Maggie would most likely venture in and the shelf would be for stability and to give it some levels of depth for our fish. We couldn’t wait to put in fish! And I really wanted frogs to come, too.

We went hog-wild crazy (that’s how we roll, ya know?) and went to Wal-mart and bought a dozen little goldfish. We excitedly moved them into their new home and fed them constantly. This was one of our favorite things to do (and still is!!). Once winter hit, our fish froze! We were so bummed! But we knew we’d try again as soon as it warmed up.

We did just that. Again hubby buys a dozen cheapo goldfish and in they go. We love and nurture these fellers the best way we could….feeding them as if they were all starving to death and sitting out watching them at odd hours of the day and night. Yes, we loved them. Only two survived so we just got comfortable with them and claimed them as our own. Sorta like kids. You fall in love with them…even if they’re kinda funny looking.

We go on summer vacation and when we return……we notice there are a ton of baby fish in our pond. OUR FISH HAD BABIES!!!! We were so excited, we went bonkers. Then the next thing we know they have more. Our pond was a fish love nest. It was so much fun watching this take place in our pond. We had a blast trying to count them….it became a sort of game.

They grew so much that we had to give some away in order for them to have enough space to party. They love hiding down deep in the bottom and under the many rock caves that we created. Sweetboy can actually feed them out of his hand. One time, his dad dared him to try to catch one with a fishing pole….HE DID! Talk about funny!

Each summer I watch for frogs. One year we had at least 3 different ones living there. Big ones too. My favorite kind. I have tried to catch all of them at one time or another. Remember, I’m not from around here….I was raised in the south….we have frogs, we hit them with our cars (NOT ON PURPOSE!). All up and down our highways are smooshed frogs, I know, gross! If you go out on your porch at night, you are likely going to step on a few frogs back where I come from. That was just one of the many fun things we did as kids. We’d catch frogs and play with them for hours. They’re really cool!!! Not slimy…..more like scratchy-bumpy. And fun to chase around.

Today I was out sitting by my pond when I notice a skinny little frog sitting up on the rocks. He was eyeing me, like he knew I was a professional frog chaser or something. So I did what any weird blogging mama does, grabbed my camera and snapped a few pictures of him. Here he is….before my dogs and neighbors 4-wheeler scared him back into the depths of pondville. I love him! I’m gonna stalk him til I catch him.
I’m weird like that. I have a sweet friend who has a blog called The Frog Pond. She is so funny and her take on the frog pond comes from the Fully Rely On God standpoint. Smart girl, that Darlene. When I think of frogs I can’t help but remember that…..I need to fully rely on God….for everything.

I’ve got a problem! No, my girls do. But I want to help them. Honestly, I can’t. I’ve given out the good christian parent advice (and these girls are good at handling this stuff christ-like) but the situation is not getting any better. To be blunt, it’s getting worse!

They are the new chicks at church. We’re not in a new town, just new to this congregation. We left our old church where hubs was pastor in February. Our kids have joined this youth group for several events over the last few years. So they are not strangers here. They all go to the same school!
Sweetboy has several buds in this group….so he’s not having issues (and he LOVES his SS class/teacher!!). Boys, they just deal…huh?

Anyhoo, this one girl seems to be the instigator and has a follower that backs her mean-ness up. It is really hurtful and embarrassing. We’ve talked this out with our girls and even said, “Maybe you’re misunderstanding her, or she can’t be that bad, maybe she’s insecure, pray for her, be nice!”. All of which they have tried, to no avail. She’s just gotten meaner! And real good at looking friendly while doing it.

I don’t want to be a big whiner! But, I’m burdened for them. They love church and they love SS. But this is not a good situation. I don’t feel like this is the venue to pour it all out. So, I need your prayers. Pray as we deal with this…..girls can be so mean. Even grown-up girls can. Sadly, even christian ones. I know, I’ve experienced it! Maybe you have too.

God is not pleased with us when we behave in a way that hurts others. I’ve been guilty! Thank goodness for conviction. I don’t want to be a “hater”! I pray that my girls wouldn’t be either.
So….bless you for listening! I know it’s a hot topic and that mine aren’t the only ones to face it. I just wish I could take this sting away. Only God can.

Ps. 86:5 “You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to you.”

BEST FRIENDS FOREVER!!!

I am not a morning person! I wish so badly that I was, but I’m not! It’s not that I like to sleep all day. I just need to sleep past 7:50am. Then, I’m ready! Bring it on! Now that the beloved school year has begun, it’s back to that “get up in the mornin” schedule again. It is painful for me! I just want to put my head under the covers and hide. My whole family wishes to sleep in. We are hilarious in the morning. So far, we haven’t had any before school wars….but come winter…it will get hairy around the Gway house. Too many activities and late nights filled with homework deadlines will put even the most godly in stress mode. We sin! Don’t judge us!

This morning was one of those hard to get me going days. When I woke up I could hear Ms. Gates in the bathroom singing away (she’s semi able to function in the am). She had gotten up early to get ready for a special breakfast for the youth at church. Gavin was pecking away on the computer working on a 500 word essay about himself for his ACP English class (he was too tired to do it the night before) and it was already past due. When he sees me…..his stomach reminds him…my mama can coooooooook! Mom, I am so hungry….feed me! I stagger to the stove and create a grits and eggs masterpiece for sweetboy all while calling to Ally to GET UP! She is the one…..who really cannot get moving in the morning. She is a nightowl…..and can sleep ALL day! We have to get creative to get her up and going every morning. She finally hopped up and hit the shower.

Don comes up the stairs to tell me we sprung a leak, again! Our refridgerator line sprung some sort of leak and was spraying all over my car downstairs in our garage when he woke up this morning. This is two times in the same month. He had to cut off the whole line until he could replace it. Which meant I could not get to my filtered water. Of course, my body immediately began to thirst for that water. I’m crazy like that. It was just one of those harried, run-around mornings with little things trying to ruin the whole day. We were running just a few minutes late when I went to pull out of my garage. I had to stop to wait for Ally to come down when I turned to look across my yard. The sun was shining through the many trees and it just looked so glorious! I felt complete peace…..so much so….I just stopped and stared at the beauty in my woods. I felt relaxed and still.
I grabbed my camera and tried to capture it……I wanted to remember it……to hang onto it. It was really glory in the morning (if there ever was such a thing!). Thank you God! I was blessed by your beauty shining just for me this morning.

I hope He shows you something too when you least expect it.

Ps. 8:1 “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.”

I have waited to post about my adventure to youth camp this summer. Why? I don’t really know. I went as a chaperone (not my first time doing this…) but it was my first “mission” camp. We were in Greenville, South Carolina……or as the old song goes…..over the mountains and through the woods…… about 12+ hours away. I was lucky enough to be on the “hot” van (No, people. I don’t mean the one with all the beautiful people!!!). I’m talking about the one that the air-conditioner was kapoot! Not a good thing for this forty-something old lady, and I was in the front seat too. I was still on fire hot! I’m not complaining! Just trying to give you the full mental picture.

This van also did not have a working radio. Any of you who spend any time with teenagers know…..there MUST be music! I love music! You have to know that by now….but not a boom box rigged up on top of a tool box and several pillows right by my face (BLARING AS LOUD AS IT WOULD GO!!!). Get the picture? I wish so badly I had one. You would really enjoy it.

I was co-pilot with our fabulous youth pastor, Mark. Mark is great! He’s extremely ADHD (not a big deal as I am married to the “ORIGINAL” poster child of ADHD!). He’s wild & spontaneous! He’s hyped up and loud! He’s fun & crazy! He’s a ball of excitement! Which really means….he can also be annoying! In a good way! I, along with the rest of my family…LOVE Mark!
I wanted to totally be able to help him however he needed me. I’m a people pleaser by nature! Let me throw in here, we were traveling far away with little to NO SLEEP! With two vans full of teenagers excited to the max about going to camp. I was ready! Need the map read? Need this? Need that? I wanted to make sure Mark was NOT distracted with anything so as not to wreck and kill us all. Mark wanted to act not only as driver, but as head cd digger-outer/DJ to the boom box that was BLARING (have I mentioned that yet?)in my face.

Directly behind me in the seats were 3 big teenage boys. Who were very loud, playful and not so sleepy! One of whom took a liking to me right away. His name was Christian. He was just a sweetheart of a kid. He talked and talked. I had to turn in a weird way to participate in all our conversations, therefore me old neck got a crinky. I wanted so badly to sleep..but to be honest, I just couldn’t do it with that boom box blaring in my face. Once we arrived at camp, it was a whirlwind of activities that consisted of go, go, go the entire week. It was exhausting, but in a good way. Free-time was not on the list of activities.

One morning, Christian came to breakfast with a gift for me. He was so proud to give me my very own duct tape purse that he made with his own two hands. It even had a wallet and a place to put my cell phone. He was beaming with pride. I was touched! I really thought he was joking with me at first, but he was serious as could be. He wanted me to wear it and use it all week. I was all like….”Well, Christian…..I don’t want to mess it up!”. We had some rain during the week and honestly it wasn’t broke in quite right either. It hung all cattywonka and stayed gaped open….anxious to spill out all my personals. I told him…I’d hang on to it and keep it forever! Also, that I loved it and was very thankful he wanted to share his gift with me. What an honor! It had taken a lot of time to create…and to make it even more wonderful, he wrote my name on it. What a sweet kid!

I want you to know that I learned a great lesson from Christian. It was unconditional love stuff. He hooked onto me and he genuinely liked me. He wanted so badly to show me just how much. He spent his time (and when he had free time to construct an elaborate duct-tape purse I DON’T KNOW) putting this gift together to show me his love. I am really blessed because of it.
What is it about us that we are so careful to show love to people? Why do we live so reserved? Protecting our image? Wouldn’t it be nice if more of us were like Christian? Loving, accepting and looking for ways to bless others? I remember how everybody was laughing at his gift (they thought he was playing around) but he wasn’t. He thought it was amazing! Maybe that’s why we hold back, we’re afraid someone will laugh at us or think we’re weirdo’s. I want to be someone who blesses others. Lucky for them, I do not have the gift of duct-tape art. Maybe I have something else they need…..just to be a friend.

Acts 10:34…”God does not show favoritism, but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.”