Thanks

The other night, R&I were in the basement and (okay- most nights we've been down there- this night in particular.....) he saw our 'blessing calendar' from last year. He suggested we get it out. 'Not yet- it's too early,' I tell him.

But then I couldn't stop thinking about it. I have a quote taped to my work computer (yes- it's still on there) that says, "When you are tempted to complain, it's God inviting you to give thanks."

Yes, I need to give thanks!

And we have much to be thankful for.

Our home. family. each other. ableness. friends (really amazing friends!). clients. beautiful weather (oh it makes bus duty so much easier!). love. faith. dakota. life.

I could go on and on but I'm also thankful for sleep... and being almost 11:30, it's my shortest workday of the week so far. Good night!

(And maybe we'll change our Nov. calendar to the Oct & Nov calendar!) :)

[breathe in]

Other than the fact that it is a reminder of winter being around the corner.... fall is amazing. The perfect time for a deep breath of fresh air. Time for being outside with the ones you love. Time for bringing out the fall decorations (not that we've done that at our house... that would require dusting). Time to relax. Wait... not actually. But the weather helps make me feel like taking a deep breath in and relaxing. Even if just for a minute.

This week's forecast is perfect for taking in deep breaths. And perfect for picture taking. Which means no relaxing, but lots of fun! I'm so happy to be back behind the camera after a hectic week around the H house. God is good. All the time.

Happy Fall!

reminded

as i lay in bed, anxious; pray.

as i get ready for the day; pray.

as i listen to a college student tell the receptionists about her busy test schedule; pray.

as i hear a daughter talking to her mother about her cancer; pray.
as i'm clinging to his hand; pray.

as i'm trying to keep it together; pray.
as i think of all the people struggling around me today; pray.

pray.

pray.

I'm His Wife

There are some things I blog because I don't want to forget.....

Tonight I was laying (okay, propped up) in bed and thinking about R.

As his hand slips out of mine, I hear them telling him to sit. Later, when I'm aware of what's going on, I hear him say, "I don't know what happened there."

The Dr. said,

"That's your wife, man."

I am his wife. I am blessed, indeed.

Blessed

Blessed.

I am.

I am blessed with the best friends. I know a lot of people say they have the best friends, but I actually do. Really. I have pictures to prove it. And I'll work up a post one of these days about all the life that's been happening around here lately. When I have the gumption. (Actually, my friends have taken care of everything else... maybe one of them will take care of that too. Ha. Just kidding. Unless one of them wants to go to work for me tomorrow (wait... one sort of took care of that for me today too.....) Man, they really are the best!)

I am blessed.

Happy Birthday, Kari!

Thanks for a good laugh tonight. You are such a beautiful person inside and out. Happy Birthday, friend!!!

(and don't worry... I won't tell anyone how 'old' you are!)

He Reigns

updated- Thanks for all the prayers. I'm surrounded by some amazing people and I'm so blessed. We go back tomorrow and I'm less anxious than I was yesterday. I know it's your prayers at work. You are so good to me. I'll post more soon.

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I lay anxious in bed. Nervous. Praying. Crying. I reach for my Bible. I find my notes from the last week. I wonder if Ang's facebook status was catered for me today. I figure it must come from today's Proverbs 31. It didn't. But today's devotion was good. I needed it.

Psalm 9:10, "Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you." (NIV)

Psalm 145:18-19, "The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cries and saves them." (NIV)

I believe it. But my stomach still pains with nerves.

This is His plan. His course. His doing. His big picture. He rules the seemingly chaos; it's all perfectly planned.

There is pain. It is hard. Today was hard. Tomorrow may be harder. But there will be a better day.

There is Hope.

Our God reigns.

Even when my heart is heavy He reigns.

A Perfect Day

If I were going to plan

a perfect day

it might involve

being unplugged from the real world

a hot drink

a favorite snack (and meals which I don't have to cook)

hunting for treasures (and finding great deals. HELLO Junk Bonanza!)

spiffing up my home

spiffing up myself

and lots of time with this guy.

Yes, Friday was

a pretty darn good day

indeed.

Hey, Prayer Warriors!

This was sent to me today.... I know I have some faithful friends with worn out knees and that I could share it here. The new mom's name is Melissa.

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This is a special request of all my prayer-warrior friends. I had been interpreting for a pregnant deaf client at the Pregnancy Resource Center. She has other challenges as she has cerebal palsy, also. The baby was just born, almost two months early and this is their first child.

She and her husband, and especially the new baby girl, are facing some real mountains in the near future until the baby is strong and developed enough to leave the hospital. They appear to be true believers, so God will be a vital force in their lives at this time.

Will you please join with us in prayer for them?

September 12th?

Is it really almost the middle of September already?

We've been up to much but not much to share. I have pictures to share from Labor Day weekend and from the ISU/Iowa game day but they aren't yet uploaded. So I'll just share about em and update the post later.....

We spent Labor Day weekend laboring but don't feel too bad for us, we had some fun too- Our family that's not really our family, invited us to crash their family get together. They are always so fun to be with. I always leave feeling loved.

We watched the ISU/Iowa game at our place with some good friends. Most of them were wearing the right colors but unfortunately it wasn't enough. We got a beat down. But that's okay, "ISU is a better academic school." ;)

As you can tell, well you can't yet but when I put up pictures you'll be able to, the more exciting game of the day was probably the bags game. Thus the empty lawn chairs in front of the tv. On the plus side, the weather was awesome- great day to be outside. And we got to have our first chili feed of the year. One major plus of fall.

Friday night (okay so I'm backtracking), our good friends brought over some dinner to us. I cant even describe what a blessing it was to have a last minute phone call asking if they could bring us food. Ummm hello. Of course! It was fabulous. They brought the dinner entertainment as well. I HAVE to post pictures of that here (soon, I promise!).

And in between we've been working and working some more. We're both back in the trenches, school is in full-force. We've been working hard on a big house project. It's coming together slowly but surely. R has been putting in lots of time on it! And I've been super booked with photography work. God is working in big ways. We have much to be thankful for.

We have huge week this week. I'm pretty excited and I cant wait to share more.

Have a blessed week! Keep your eyes on Him. (That was more of a reminder to self but not bad for any of us to try.)

How's that for a random post? ;)

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Updated.

You probably don't care that I didn't have pictures up, but it will look nicer in my blog scrapbook if I do. ;)

Cheerleaders

I was never a cheerleader (unless you count that 6th grade phase where us girls would sit on the sidelines of the big recess football games and copy the high school cheer girls).

I'm not really great at it. (And by not really great, I mean I would make a terrible, no good, very bad cheerleader).

But God urges us to cheer each other on so 'give me a rah' I try.

I'm not the best at it. Especially lately. I've been pretty absent. ie: I've gotten emails from friends addressed to "my elusive friend." Gosh I'm thankful they still call me friend. :)

I've always known I have great friends. But lately, I've realized I have an amazing cheerleading squad. I've gotten sooooo much encouragement and love from some amazing people in my life lately. I appreciate it. I need it. I'm so grateful for it. You guys really are the best. And I'm going to have a friend party to thank you all just as soon as you know when. :)

Love to you all!

Fly to Jesus

The following is from Lisa's blog today. He was in our classes last year. (http://www.barbstrong.com/)

Please Pray

Please send up some prayers for a former student of mine whose mother passed away this afternoon. My heart is just broken into a million pieces for him. I know his mother is at peace and healed with God now after a terribly hard fought battle with cancer. However, for her two boys that are left behind, please pray for strength, comfort, and courage to face the upcoming days, weeks, months and years ahead.

Hey, Jesus!

Hey, Jesus! It's me, Heidi. Remember me?
That's about how small I felt last night. I was up late crying out to Jesus. Wondering if He had heard me lately. Questioning this two full-time job choice I'm taking on right now. Questioning if the steps we've been taking (that we felt like He's been pushing us in) were really the steps He was wanting us to take.

He answered this morning in the form of an email from a young woman. This 'stranger' told me she wants to be me when she grows up. Almost the same thing two 8th graders told me last week when I was feeling a little (okay lot) uncertain. And our little Compassion girl? In her last letter she told us she had been playing 'teacher' just like me.

Wow. What a reminder that people are watching and that we are to indeed 'walk worthy' of the calling to which we were called. (Eph 4:1, Col 1:10, 1 Thes 2:12)

Superhero Cape

I thought the windy day would be a great day to get a picture of a superhero cape blowing in the wind.... I thought wrong. It didn't work out so great so I stuck it on the back of a chair indoors instead. Maybe tomorrow I can get one of the P boys to model it for me. :)

But until I get better pictures... here is an example of a superhero cape. The webbing is sewn into place with velcro at the ends. I can do several color combinations on the capes with either stars or initial symbols on the back. The capes are 27" long but I can make them shorter if you need it. Currently, I'm not shipping them out (because I think it would cost more in packaging and shipping then it's worth) so you'll need to be able to pick them up from me. Cost is $10. Let me know if you'd like one! :)

Ideas of crafty orders I'm taking:

Superhero capes: $10

Flower Hats: 3/$25

Ugly Dolls: $20

'Hold Fast' or 'Walk Worthy' necklaces: $20 (I'm not taking custom orders on the necklaces because my skill level is lacking. I'll send you a picture of your necklace before you purchase to see if the 'character' of it suits you.)

Magnetic Boards: $25

Chalk Boards: $15