A Wonderful Doctor

Since we don't have enough to do, we went to the doctor today because Kaitlin had a sore in her right ear. The doctor drained it and put her on antibiotics for 10 days. When the doctor found out she was an artist he wrapped her head and told her to tell her friends she went to see Dr Van Gogh! When we walked out the nurse took a double take. Kaitlin told her that the doctor had to cut her ear off and the doctor said to the nurse " Didn't you hear me call for back up?" You get your medicine very quickly when you have a bandage on your head.

Addie Lou

A woman spoke at church last night on being a Resilient person. The definition being- capable of withstanding shock without permanent deformation.

She said that resilient people have a reason to Not give up, something to get back to, they know they matter.

They are always learning. They pick up lessons from the situations they are going through and they hunt for things of God along the way.

They don't judge the outcome of the situation by the front end.

They keep margins in their lives. We all need free space. Jesus stopped even when sick people were waiting on Him.

They keep joyful people in their lives.

When going through a hard time or situation we need to admit it. Feel the feelings. Realize that every emotion is a total body experience. She said that grief comes in waves that can last 30 minutes. Surrender the outcome to God. When you can't think of what to do- just do the next thing ie eat lunch, take a nap. There will come a time when we need to stop replaying the event.

My Mama was the most resilient person I have every known. As I listened to this woman talk I realized how much of this I knew from watching my Mama live. What a blessing.

The birdfeeder

A few years ago Carl bought me a birdfeeder for Christmas. He hung it up so I can see it from my chair in the den. Two days later the squirrels chewed through the cord that held it up and it was down on the ground. The war had begun. We got a wire and the squirrels chewed through it. Next a coat hanger...no problem for the squirrels. Thicker wire and the squirrels jumped from the closest bushes to feeder. We moved the feeder further out and cut the bushes. The squirrels got the feeder off the hook and knocked it to the ground. Bought a squirrel baffle and thought we had won. No such luck. It was on the ground again. My brother John bought me a Yankee Flipper. We waited to see it flip off a squirrel. We are still waiting. It was knocked to the ground. Carl put a latch up so it would be harder to get off. We awoke that night to such noises like a terrible cat fight-- Raccoons. They can unlatch a birdfeeder, no problem. Carl wired the latch shut. They got on feeder or pulled it up and took the bottom off. So now the feeder has the bottom wired shut. I have enjoyed seeing my birds eating for several days now. I am sure this is just a respite.

VBS

Today is the first day of VBS. I have always loved VBS. John is helping with the 5th and 6th graders, Marisa is in the nursery, Kaitlin is the photographer and I am helper KimT in the Kitchen. The theme this year is The Race is On.

The Rinns

We are blest to be in a church where there is high priority put on missions. We had the priviledge of having supper in our home with some of our favorite missionaries Joel and Jessica and their 4 children. When we see them again after a few years we are able to just pick right up like we saw them just last week. What a blessing. They have been here to our home 3 times. The first time Jessica noticed that their daughter Anna looked like Kaitlin's baby pictures that we have up in the house. We checked again on the second visit, still she looked like Kaitlin and now last night we pulled out pictures of Kaitlin at 4 and still they look alike! How much fun is this.

Papa's birthday

Today is Carl's birthday. We gave him some new water shoes like Kaitlin got for her birhtday from Uncle John and Aunt Elaine plus a new AUBURN shirt. This one is a white polo with AU on the front. He said that he was looking for a white AUBURN shirt to wear on ' Show your team spirit Fridays at work' I am so blessed to be Carl's wife. I am glad he was born.

07-07-07 Wedding

Kaitlin took pictures at a wedding this morning. The wedding started at 9 am. The bride and groom left the reception at 1pm. It was beautiful. There was a wonderful atmosphere about the whole event. The Mother of the Bride and the Bride were great to work with and for. They knew what they wanted and were kind in telling us about it.

The lady who made the cake told Kaitlin that she had several weddings today. Kaitlin is glad to just have one. At her weddings I usually chase after Kaitlin with the list of pictures written down so she doesn't have to remember them all and the paper can be her brain. Carl now uses her other camera . She had a list for him at this wedding. Kaitlin stays with the Bride and lets Carl get the other shots. It is fun. I am glad we can support her in this way.

It is fun to be at weddings with ours so soon. Several folks have called me when they received their invitations.

Books for my vacation

These are the books that I am packing in my suitcase to take with me to RYM. Relationships- A Mess Worth Making by Lane and Tripp. Chambermaid by Rao. No! I Don't Want to Join a Book Club by Ironside. Summer at Tiffany by Hart. The Empty House by Pilcher. Winter Birds by Turner. A Timbered Choir by Berry. Sweetgrass by Monroe.

I will be in a condo with Cheryl about 3 miles down the beach from the youth group. We will pop in as we want or are needed. Cheryl plans to bring her pile of books too. I am looking forward to the trip.

Happy July 4th.