Monday, January 18, 2010
Hubs is Home!
On Saturday & Sunday we pledged to only spend time together & with the Lord. We worshiped together at church on Sunday morning and then hosted our Life Group that evening.
This morning hubs had oral surgery where he never had a permanent tooth. He's had 3 bridges and needed a replacement again, so his dentist recommended a dental implant instead because they can last up to 50 years. The only real drawback is the cost which is not covered at all under medical / dental insurance and the cost is normally between $6-8K which is pretty steep; however, a bridge typically cost $2-3K and lasts 8 - 10 years; dental insurance covers 50%. So, the long-term costs are about the same, but the implant occurs only once and acts just like a real tooth without all the precautions required of a bridge. Great news is that once the oral surgeon began the surgery this morning he realized that hubs did not require the bone graft that he was expecting; therefore hubs only had a tissue graft today and was able to have the actual dental implant today instead of 4 months later that was going to happen after the bone graft healing. The cost isn't any less, but the healing is much less and the time period will be much less. So, PTL - YAY God!
After resting all day today, the hubs is very antsy and more than ready to go back to work. Doctor says he should rest 2 days, but could go to work if he feels up to it... so we'll see how tomorrow goes.
Tonight we're praising the Lord for His goodness in our lives! I pray you find the goodness He provides for you even in the storms of life.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Super Saturday & Sunday
I've visited with the hubs 2 - 3 times a day on Skype. He's doing okay, but is very tired and therefore he's a bit grumpy. The work days start late there and meals are much later. He's an early morning guy and needs to eat on a regular schedule and go to bed early. The 9pm dinners and going to bed after midnight is taking a toll on him. This morning when he called me on Skype he had a nice surprise - he'd purchased a camera that he has connected to his older laptop, so I can see him when we visit. He's been able to see me because I have a newer iMac with a built-in camera; now it's nice to see his face when we visit. ;=)
Today's worship was great! I missed having hubs with me though. The strange customs and personal rules and regulations where he is are wearing on him. I pray that the Lord will give him supernatural wisdom concerning all the meetings that he's having and that he'll have boldness to speak freely with his superiors regarding his concerns.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Hubby Lands Safely on the Other Side of the World
Many people are praying for him and for me while he's away. Thankfully, I'm feeling much better than I thought I would be - prayer is amazing because we serve & honor an amazing God! I also have a young friend visiting & staying with me for a few days which is a nice distraction.
Well, I need to get back to putting those Christmas decorations away. It's a nice day to stay inside - it was 15 degrees this morning at 7am when I let the dogs out. Make it a good day... let the warmth of the Lord's Light shine in and through you today!
Afternoon Additional Post:
We finally visited on Skype! Hubs is fine... we had a nice 15 minute visit. Our puppies kept looking for him when they'd hear his voice... it was cute & sad. Now hubby is going to try and get some sleep. He doesn't feel sleepy since he slept well for 6 - 7 hours on the plane and then was on the cellphone for a board meeting here in Dallas for an hour & half, so he feels like he's still still on Dallas time. I'm praying that he can get some good rest; I think he will because he always goes right to sleep within minutes of his head hitting the pillow. Tomorrow he and the other 3 from the company will travel to a neighboring country for some sight seeing, so they have a fairly light day and will be able to get to bed early for their 1st business meeting on Sunday. Yes, business on Sunday - it's the 1st business day in that country. Friday is their holy day and Saturday is their day off, so next Thursday will be the last day of the work week and the hubs last meeting day. He leaves early next Friday morning (our Thursday evening). Of course it'll take almost 24 hours to get home after a 16 hour flight to Chicago with several hours on a layover there and then a 2 & 1/2 hour flight home; he's scheduled to land just before 10pm one week from today. I pray the time will be spent in God's will there on the other side of the world and here at home!
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Just said goodbye to my hubby - he's off to the dark other side of the world
Hubs has been gone this long before and even longer than this trip several times. He was gone 11 days in February of 2008 while crisscrossing Central Europe on a business trip. That was an exciting trip for him and he enjoyed seeing all the beautiful architecture. Hubs also went on 2 very long Boy Scout backpacking trips in the New Mexico mountains with our sons in the 90's. On those trips, they were gone about 2 weeks, of which we had absolutely no communication for 11 days because the cell phones didn't work in remote locations back then. It was exciting for them, but worrisome for me because of the possible weather & wild animal threats. During each of those trips, one son was with their dad and one son was home with me. Having the one son home with me was a good distraction from thinking about the other half of our family hiking through the wilderness.
This time is different because hubs is going to a very foreign area of the world that is glitzy, yet still very backward with completely different views about the world and life and has completely different beliefs. I must concentrate on God and His will and His desires and His plans for my hubby and for our life together. I know the Lord has great and wonderful plans for us! I know He wants to use us for His purposes, so I'm trying to keep my mind on the good things He has in store for us after my hubby returns.
Okay well today - it's very cold and it's only going to get colder for several days, so since I despise cold weather, I will be staying home inside where it's warm and I plan to make the best of these days by getting all the Christmas decorations put away. I know that sounds simple, but we have A LOT of Christmas decorations and each has to be packed carefully before being put away in storage. And then I'll have all the regular decor to put back in the appropriate places. This is a really big job!
So, I'm going to lather up my hands with lotion and have prayer time then tackle all the Christmas decorations. Stay warm and get your decorations packed away too.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Wonderful Wednesday & Today's Mission
I have an important mission today: Find the hubs original gold wedding band!
He cannot wear the one I gave him for our 25 Anniversary (almost 5 yrs ago) where he is going on a 10 day business trip. The new(er) wedding band has Song of Solomon 6.3 written all the way around the outside of the ring in Hebrew. I can't write, read or type Hebrew, but the in English the scripture reads, "I am my beloved and my beloved is mine." It's a beautiful white gold & yellow gold band. We've talked about him not wearing it on this trip for months now and wearing his original simple gold band instead. I just assumed that hubby knew where his original ring was because he's very organized and remembers everything very well, but I was mistaken. Yesterday, this trip suddenly got moved up a day because he has to fly to Chicago and leave the country from there and Chicago is expecting a big snow storm early Thursday morning, so hubs is flying up to Chicago this evening (Wednesday) instead of Thursday afternoon. This all meant that hubs had to pack last night instead of tonight. I frantically remembered the ring situation late last night after we had gone to bed, so in the dark I asked him if he'd exchanged his rings to which he answered, "No not yet, I'll do that in the morning." So I replied, "Why don't you take off your ring now, so in the morning you'll notice it missing and you'll be sure to remember to get the old ring." Hubs said, "Well, I guess that's a good idea, but I haven't slept without my ring on in almost 30 years." But he did take it off and he placed it on his bedside chest then said, "Uuggg... this feels like I'm missing a finger." That was sad and sweet at the same time. This morning he tried to locate his original ring and was unsuccessful, so he's wearing a nice silver ring that we purchased before our 1st trip to Russia. We minister to orphans and their caretakers in a small village about 5 hours away from Moscow, so we don't wear any flashy expensive jewelry there. Today I'm going to try and find the hubs original ring myself... Will it be in the safe (where he already looked), in one of 2 chest of drawers top drawers (old furniture now in exercise room, or new furniture in our master bedroom), in our closet chest of drawers top drawer, in his velet in the closet, in one of his bathroom vanity drawers, or in one of my 4 jewelry boxes? That is the question and I will try to find the answer ;=}
To be continued......
Monday, January 4, 2010
Wow - God is sooooo Good!
Happy New Year 2010!
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Weepy Wednesday
In the meantime, I've been cleaning and organizing our home because I feel the Lord telling me, 'Get your house in order.' Doing that is easier now than ever because our oldest son, his wife and daughter have settled into their own beautiful home and we have a lot of empty space since we cleared out a lot of old stuff when they moved in with us last April. Our younger son really doesn't stay here much and is planning to move out sometime this month or next. So, we'll be empty nesters again.
We built our home 15 years ago so its now at the repair and renovation stage. We scheduled to have new hardwood floors installed the end of next week in the family room and master bedroom, but have just received an estimate for the A/C & Heater repairs we need to have done soon, so we're reconsidering the timing for new wood floors downstairs and new carpet upstairs. My husband and I both want to complete all the updates on our home soon so we can host visiting missionaries and other Christian workers passing through. We would love to host a Life Group again. It has always been an honor to open our home and spend time in worship, studying the Word, breaking bread and fellowshipping with fellow Christians.
I'm missing my hubby, Jim -- he has been in California this week on a business pleasure trip. He is actually playing golf at Pebble Beach which has been a lifelong dream of his. I'm so happy that he's been blessed with this trip and can't wait for him to be home tonight to tell me all about it and to show me his photos. He was away at a men's retreat last weekend where he was a speaker sharing about Studying the Word. Studying the Word is a passion of his and when he shares his passion it makes me so proud to be his wife and I feel so blessed to be married to him.
Another passion of Jim's is music. He is so gifted in playing the guitar and singing! God gave him a real talent for music; his mother recognized it when he was just 18 months old. Jim's mother was the organist at the church we grew up in and says that she could play one note on the piano and he would sing, 'Jesus loves me' in that key and with perfect pitch and then again in a different key... over and over, in whatever key she would play for the first note. Jim doesn't get to practice as much as he would like to, but when he does it is a blessing for so many, especially for me when he sings for me and sings over me.
This reminds me of my second trip to Russia... I had a crown fall out during dinner on our first night. It was painful and scary because we had to find a dentist. Our Russian friends and co-labors in Christ said they would find a good dentist for me and told me not to worry, but I was worried and scared! (You know, the whole growing up in the 1960's propaganda stuff about the USSR being so evil... it all came rushing back into my brain!!!) Well, Jim takes his guitar with us to Russia to lead worship with the kids at the orphanage, so he pulled it out and began to play and sing over me. He must have done so for more than an hour before I finally fell asleep, which must have been so tiring because it was our first night there and we hadn't laid down horizontally for close to 30 hours. I'll never forget how unselfish he was to sing me to sleep when he was so exhausted himself. That's just the way he is and it's amazing to share life with him!
Okay, I'm feeling better now. :)
God is so good! And so good all the time!!! Praise His Holy Name!
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Thankful Thursday!

Our kids, R and R along with our Precious P moved into their new beautiful home this past weekend! The 5 1/2 months that they lived with us were joyous and challenging. We will miss seeing them everyday (though not the 2 big dogs so much).
Two wives / mothers living in the same home is certainly a challenge. The two husbands / fathers wasn't a big deal -- I guess because it was a natural father / son relationship and a really good father / son relationship with mutual respect to top it off. The wives / mothers relationship was a daughter-in-love / mother-in-law relationship that is still relatively new -- only 2 years old, so we had a lot of new stuff to deal with... mainly a mothering mother, that's me - Nona and a brand new mother - R who basically raised herself while her single mother worked 2 and 3 jobs in order to provide shelter, food and clothing. R's mother did the best she could with what she had and R loves her very much, but she has never known what it's like to have a mothering mother. This mother / Nona likes everything in its place and orderly while my daughter-in-love likes to pickup right before company comes. I want all dishes to be immediately placed into the dishwasher, not accumulating on the countertop or in the sink to be placed into the dishwasher when someone (?) gets around to it after they are pilled sky high. We eat dinner at the kitchen table most of the time and only occasionally eat in front of the TV while R & R mostly eat in front of the TV. My children were bathed at least every other day while R only bathes P once or twice a week. Six weeks of a runny nose would have never happened before seeing the pediatrician, but R only took P to the pediatrician 1 time that wasn't a scheduled checkup and that was for a cut finger that wouldn't stop bleeding that occurred while clipping P's fingernails.
All of the above mentioned items had to be discussed, respected and accepted. Time and space was encouraged and practiced because my God-fearing husband looked to our Heavenly Father for guidance and shared that guidance with us along with constant encouragement for peace and acceptance. Praise God, we made it through and even came through better than we started. We had wonderful family dinners (mostly at the table), numerous car trips running countless errands, inspiring Bible Study and prayer times. We shared tears, laughter and happiness. I pray that she has known me and will always know me as an encourager, a mentor, a loving mother and grandmother.
Thank you Lord for being our guide, getting us all safely and securely through this recent adventure!
Please bless R, R and P's new home with Your Holy Presence, Your Truth, Your Holy Spirit, Your Protection, Your Guidance, and the Peace and Security that only comes from You. AMEN!
Friday, September 21, 2007
I was Thankful for Thursday Yesterday!
Thank you Lord for ...
My Mother
My Family
P's Birthday and her Birthday Week of Celebrations
And most of all -- Your love and forgiveness and Gift of Salvation
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Thankful Thursday!
rd that...Our kids, P's parents arrived home safe and sound last night from their vacation in Mexico. They had a wonderful time, but were so happy to be home and with P again. Her mother said, "Oh, my goodness! P's looks so different -- she looks older and more mature." P preceeded to show off standing up on her own, right in the middle of the room for her Mama & Dada. Of course, they were both amazed.
P had a great time with her other grandmother and came home healthy and happy.
Our other son, J was working from home yesterday so I was able to have a nice visit with him.
Jim has stayed in town all this week! It's so nice to have him here with us.
My whole family is healthy and happy. PTL!
Cooler temperatures... sitting out on our new back patio reading my Bible and Bible study.
For serving my Lord.
Having His grace and forgiveness every day because I mess up so often, but through Jesus there is always a 'do over' and 'try it again.'
Thank you Lord for so many blessings, more than I can ever count.
You are so amazing and awesome!
Saturday, September 8, 2007
God is so Good!!!
My hubby arrived home safe and sound yesterday evening in time to take P and me out to dinner at one of our favorite Mexican food restaurants. He was ready for Tex-Mex after being up north for the week. P and Papa got to hang out this morning while I went to church for a Women’s Ministry Fall Kick-off Luncheon. I volunteered to decorate one of the 15 tables with some of our Russian items and had to be there at 9am. We had a special guest speaker, Carrie McDonnall who has written a new book about her mission experiences in the Middle East. Her book title is "FACING TERROR" -The story of how love for the Muslim people cost an American couple the ultimate price. My favorite Bible teacher, Beth Moore wrote the forward for the book. Carrie has a compelling testimony and is still praising our Lord even after losing her husband and enduring years of physical pain and surgeries from her own injuries after they were attacked in Iraq while they were ministering there. Carrie’s testimony was very encouraging and uplifting; she was a huge blessing to the 120 of us today.
Dear Lord, please bless my sister, Carrie McDonnall and the new ministry, 'Carrie On' that you have given to her. Bless her with continued encouragement, with strength and health and with your joy and hope. Amen.
My hubby has started cooking our dinner so I need to go be his sous-chef; I mostly clean up around him (he's a great, but messy cook).
Have a blessed weekend!
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Thankful Thursday!
Today I'm thankful...First of all for my Savior, His grace, and His fogiveness
I'm getting over a sore throat, fever & rash virus
To be spending the day with my precious "P"
That my hubby comes home tomorrow evening after a long week of business travel
That God has provided provision for our family & I'm able to be a stay-at-home Nona!
It was a long week
My hubby left Tuesday morning on a 6am flight to Boston, then flew to Toronto on Wednesday morning for a Real Estate Conference. He is due home Friday night after our son & daughter leave on Friday morning for Mexico with friends to celebrate their 2nd wedding anniversaries. We get the honor of keeping our precious granddaughter, “P” on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, then her other grandmother will keep her Monday through Wednesday. We’ll be tending to the big dogs for the whole 6 days; usually it’s a pretty easy job, but we’re not letting them outside in the back yard until the new landscaping takes hold so we’ll be walking them both two times a day. Walking two 80+ lbs dogs that are not used to being walked on leashes isn’t as much fun as walking our little 14 pounder, Sydney. Oh, well it’s another Nona & Papa thing that we do because we love serving our family.
I’m keeping “P” today while her mother is getting a manicure & pedicure and running last minute errands getting ready for their Mexico trip. This will be our daughter-in-love’s first time to see the ocean up close (she and our son flew over the Atlantic on the way to Italy for their honeymoon in 2005).
“P” and I may be going to my niece’s Grandparents Day Luncheon tomorrow if she and I are feeling up the hour drive, hour luncheon and hour drive back home. My niece’s three grandparents all have prior commitments, so she invited me because, “You’re a grandmother, Aunt Susan.” Dear Lord, please help us to feel well and be able to attend.
Laundry is calling my name while “P” is taking a nap… Nona duties never cease!
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Completing our Patio
Jim hasn’t seen the completed patio in the daylight yet; he came home around 10pm last night after a business dinner and left at 5:15 this morning for the airport to go look at properties on the west coast.
Today, my daughter-in-love, Reg and precious granddaughter, P are going to look for patio furniture since there are big end of summer sales right now. If we can’t find an incredible deal, then we’ll just spray paint our old patio furniture. We’ll need to get any painting completed before the new grass is delivered this weekend.
So, here we go patio furniture shopping.
Hope you have a great day!