Obama Care...Hillary's big campaign push?

I've been thinking a lot about healthcare lately. When we lived in CA, we had Kaiser Insurance, and I loved it. It was convenient; all the services were in one building. It was simple; there was no red tape to navigate. It was affordable; the monthly premiums were reasonable, and since it was an HMO, the co-pays were small. I had two of our kids with Kaiser, and Will had his appendix out. The cost of these events probably was more than the premiums we paid, but somehow their system works. It was a blessing for us!

When we moved to Texas, we had the option to get insurance through Will's school district. The problem was that the only plans available were PPO's, with high deductibles. So, the first year, we paid $600 per month for a high deductible plan, and we had to pay to see the doctor with food money, which was already tight after that big monthly insurance premium. There was no chance we were going to get anywhere near the deductible, and we couldn't actually pay to see a doctor!

The next year, we cancelled the health insurance, except for Will, who was mostly paid for by his employer. Suddenly, the kids and I could afford to go see a doctor again. That was nice. A couple of years later, we signed up for a flexible spending account, which takes pre-tax dollars off our paycheck, and makes them available to use for dental, vision, and medical expenses. Since our girls were getting braces, we had the maximum deducted, which was close to $5000. This was great because it lowered our monthly taxable income, and, unlike a Health Savings Account, it was all available right up front, so we could go get glasses and dental work and all that right away.

Side note-we did sign up for Dental Insurance for the whole family because it was inexpensive, and drastically reduced the costs of the dentist. Definitely worth the money. And it reduced the price of braces.

This year, because of the Affordable Care Act, we were only allowed to deduct $2500 for our flexible spending account. We decided to bite the bullet, and sign up the kids for insurance this time around. That cost about $350 per month. I didn't sign up, because that would have brought the cost up to $900, and the just wasn't going to happen. All this for a plan with a $4800 family deductible.

So, here is the story that has gotten my wheels rolling. I needed to take Abby to the doctor because she felt like she had a lump in her throat, and was having trouble swallowing. We went to our usual practice, where I normally pay $70 per visit as a cash/self-pay patient. I gave them my new insurance info to see how it was going to help us. When I got ready to pay, they said, "Because you have insurance, the office visit cost is $108. What??? And, that didn't include the three lab tests we decided to do, to rule out a few random things. Remember, I'm paying all this with my reduced flexible spending account. So I said, "OK, never mind the insurance. Can we pretend I'm just a cash payment like before, and not worry about reporting this to the insurance company? I doubt we'll ever reach the deductible anyway." They were very kind, and shredded the insurance information. With the three lab tests, and the office visit, I ended up paying $120 total.

A couple of days later, I got a bill for $206 from the company who did the lab tests. I took the bill over to my doctor's office, and asked to double check what I had paid for the other day. They were very nice, apologetic, said, "Oh, we forget to tell them you were self-pay. We'll take care of this. Sorry about that!" I left the bill with them and went on my way. How many people would have paid that without a fight? And if I had used my insurance, you can bet that would have been my cost!

Here is what drives me crazy. If I had used my insurance, this doctor's visit would have cost me $315. All of which I would have had to pay from my inadequate flexible spending account. That is an eighth of my entire budget for the year! And I haven't bought glasses for all of us yet! If I had the $300 monthly premium we are spending for this useless insurance, I could save it for medical expenses and be rolling in money to spend on any whimsical health issue that I can imagine wanting to check out.

Its true that if something catastrophic happened, we'd be glad we have health insurance. Coming up with $4800 for the deductible would be nothing compared to $100,000. But, is it right for me to be bled dry today, just in case something big happens tomorrow? Health Insurance doesn't keep me healthy. It doesn't prevent catastrophe.

I don't think people who support Obama Care realize the implications of what it means to have this kind of health insurance. Do they realize that it costs more to function with it than with out it? How is this going to affect our economy when people's extra money gets sucked into the costs that happen below the deductible, along with the premiums? I'd rather pay the penalty, I mean, tax, because it will cost me 1/12 of the price of premiums. And then I can actually afford to go see the doctor with the other 11/12's.

With the ridiculous roll-out of the new Obama Care website, I can't help but wonder if this fiasco of ineptitude was planned. Its so bad! How could it not be? Let Obama, the puppet, take the fall for the clumsiest rendering of nationwide healthcare possible, and pave the way for Hillary to come in and save the day in 2016. After all, she was trying to get nationwide health care coverage going years ago. Surely she's learned something new since then!

If the Republicans don't figure out that the Democrats and the media are making them look like the Party Who Doesn't Care About Helping People See A Doctor, and start making some good arguments for how they can fix things, Hillary is a shoe-in for the next president. I think it would be safe to say that most Americans think there is a problem with the outrageous costs of healthcare in this country. I personally think that there is a huge racket going on in the background, and some people are making a whole lot of money on inflated test costs, unnecessary procedures, and deceptive practices by unscrupulous players in the health insurance and medical industries. If Kaiser can run a lean, efficient system in California, why can't it happen elsewhere? Notice, there is no insurance company involved in Kaiser's system.

What's going on these days

Firstly, Happy Birthday Madeline!

School has started up again, so we are all back in a schedule. The first few weeks were a big adjustment, but now we are more used to it. Last year my goal was to make healthier lunches, and I did a good job on using fresh fruit, non packaged stuff, protein snacks, and water instead of juice. This year my goal is to avoid using baggies whenever possible. So I bought containers with compartments and lids. So far, so good!

Madeline is a junior this year, Abigail is a freshman, and Sam is in 6th, enjoying middle school. They have classes they like, and the switch to middle and high school has been good for Sam and Abby. They were both ready to stretch their wings a bit. So far this year has been a little easier for Madeline, and she has good teachers. They all do. I'm so happy to be living here in TX with the benefits of this school system. Sam is learning clarinet in beginning band, and Abby is in dance class for PE. She wants to try out for the school dance team next year.

I thought I'd put up some photos and a video of Madeline and John Dickson from church playing "At Last." They are going to play it for a wedding on Saturday. Madeline and two of her friends from orchestra are also doing all the rest of the wedding music. Its a big responsibility, and they've been practicing a lot.

Madeline's Cello Duet Project

I thought the family would enjoy seeing Madeline do a duet with her cello and violin. She decided to teach herself some basic cello for a school research project. As the final display, she learned one of the songs in the practice book for both violin and cello. Then, the church media team helped us out by filming her twice, and putting them together to create a duet. I like it.

Madeline's Fall Choir Concert

You probably can't see Madeline, but she is in the far left corner in the front. It is really fun to see her in choir this year growing in her vocal skills. I hope you enjoy hearing her. To enjoy a really phenominal choir go to Will's post here.

Phantom of the Opera

I got the girls Phantom of the Opera from Redbox for fun recently. Ever since, Sam has been suffering. Madeline is going to be in choir next year, so she is working hard to expand her range. Phantom provides the perfect medium to do this. Observe this common event in our household.

Cupcakes for money

Last week, I offered on impulse to make cupcakes for a baby shower that took place Sunday. I've never done it in that official capacity before. After offering I began to have performance anxiety....this isn't just some kids class birthday party. I'm getting paid for these things to look cute on the food table.
My carrot cake cupcakes were successful-except that I filled them too full and they spread out all over the baking pan. But the tops looked good. So I turned the cupcakes upside down and cut around the edge. This brough them back into the right proportion, but then I had a new problem...raw edges above the cupcake paper. To deal with this I made wrappers. I got cute scrapbook paper and made little cups for the cakes to sit in. They extended up beyond the edge of the cake, so all you really saw was the top. I frosted them with lemon cream cheese icing. Yum. I had leftover icing, so I gave some to a friend, and made orange scones and slathered them with the icing. Those went to work with me on Tuesday and were a hit.

The chocolate cupcakes were the biggest challenge. Usually I just use a mix. But there was no way I was going to do that for this event. What is the point of having someone make cupcakes if they use a mix? My problem was that I was using new recipes, and then filling the cups too full. I also managed to destroy the baking soda in the first batch by letting it sit for 30 minutes in the oven that was off. Oops. My successful batch ended up being a Pioneer Woman recipe. They were perfect, and cute. I was wishing I had the Pioneer Woman Cookbook.

The whole thing took way longer, and used up more ingredients than I expected. But I also learned a lot of valuable things about making successful cupcakes. It was fun to pipe on the icing and they turned out cute and tasty. What I'll earn will cover the cost on supplies, with a little left over for labor. :-)

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38 Today

I have been so blessed today by all the love and gifts. Mom and Heather both sent me beautiful quilts.....I was blown away by their thoughtfulness. Thank you again! And I couldn't help wondering what the Lord is saying through the non-coincidence. Whenever Jesus said something twice it was important. Verily, verily.

Its amazing how Facebook changes a birthday! Since I get all my comments texted to me my phone was buzzing all day long. I felt special.

In between buzzes I also got some phone calls, and I worked for a few hours, and drove with Sam down to Fort Worth to help Will with his school carnival. It was hot and sticky. We had to shut down half hour early because of a thunderstorm that rolled it. I didn't mind because I was drenched with sweat and tired of standing up. Tomorrow will be more relaxing with a chance for a fun dinner out with the fam.

In between all the other distractions I had a few moments to ponder the meaning of life as a 38 year old, and wonder if perhaps I should do something about the fact that I don't really like the look of my kind of flabby upper arms, and my squashy midsection. The seeds for these thoughts began when Will and I went to get him a gym membership and the girl asked me what my fitness goals were. My mind actually went blank, and I realized that I had none. Combine this experience with a new friendship with a mom from Sam's baseball team who is 7 years older than me and looks great....and probably actually has a budget for things that help with that, and you have a recipe for some introspection on outward appearance.

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Merry Christmas Dear Friends and Family!

Since we are here, and you are there, we have had a very calm and uneventful day. No family gatherings, no big meals, no places to go. In some ways its nice to lounge around in PJs all day and play with the new toys, or read the new books. In other ways, its a little boring. Consequently, I actually have time to write a blog. Which helps me feel connected to you, and share our Christmas Day.

The festivities started out this week with Glory of Zion's Festival of Lights. For three nights the Garden was lit up with thousands of colored lights, there were singers on two different stages, and lots of tasty food and hot drinks. We went on Wednesday night to just enjoy it as a family-although Sam ran off immediately, which is why you won't see him in the photos. We also went on Friday, and Madeline played Christmas carols on her violin while I helped children do a craft inside the dining hall. Here we are, minus Sam, and also I got a picture with Lisa, who I work with. We share an office, and we got a big kick out of the idea that we should put a framed photo of ourselves on each of our desks. Or, pass them out to the other members of the staff. A bit of overkill.

Last night we went to our Christmas Eve service. We met a couple from New Mexico who had flown in just for the service, and then were flying back today. They brought his mother with them, and I think a brother. They were from East LA and La Puente originally, so that was fun. They have been watching GOZ on the web for a few years, and have attended at least one of the conferences. I was pretty blown away by them being there, just for the service.

It was a good service. They sang "Mary Did You Know?" and thanks to David Shack telling me about "Vader Did You Know?" on youtube, we all had trouble keeping a straight face during that one. Our worship leader, John, sang his traditional "Herod" song where he dresses up and wears a kingly hat and struts around being the bad guy. He has a very good villan laugh. This year four of the college girls danced with him and acted as the chorus and as characters in the song. It's just not a Glory of Zion Christmas without Herod. Everyone was given a candle on the way in so at the end we all lit them off those around us, and held them in the dark for quite a while. I was slightly nervous about all the little kids holding candles; Sam being one of them. He loved it, and kept blowing out his candle and relighting it on our. We made it through that without incident that I know of.

On the way home we thought it would be fun to drive through Wendy's, but it and all the other restaurants were closed. So we came home and made fried tortilla chip nachos. Yum.

This morning we had lots of fun opening presents. William got a 4 ball bowling bag and a baseball mitt, Madeline got a Kindle, Abby got an ipod touch, Sam got a Mario game and baseball equipment, and I got a pretty platter, a trivet and a smaller cast iron enamel pot.

I made cinnamon pull apart bread and a hash brown egg casserole yesterday so this morning I just had to pop them in the oven while we opened our presents. They were done just as we got hungry so we feasted with coffee and sparkling apple cider. It was good. We didn't need another meal until 5 this evening. By that time I was ready to cook again, so I made split pea soup in my cast iron enamel pot, and a cheese ball with veggies. Fun holiday food. We have learned that since EVERYTHING is closed on Christmas its almost like an ice storm. Get ready with plenty of good food beforehand so that the long day at home is extra fun. I bought a lot of fun food this last week and the urge to leave the house and forage for something more interesting has been minimal. On some Christmases past we could be found at Jack in the Box, because it was the ONLY place open. I didn't really want to do that again. So this year, when the urge to get out struck, we just took the dogs on a walk, and then came back feeling refreshed. And so did they.

We love you, miss you, and hope you have had a wonderful day celebrating Jesus' birthday! Thank you for your gifts, cards and photos. We feel blessed and we wish you a very Merry Christmas. XOXO

Halloween

This year is the first in a few that we didn't have a Harvest Festival at church. That was nice for me, since I'm usually involved in making the festival happen. So this time we got to relax and go trick-or-treating with the neighbors.

Madeline and Sam dressed up as a cowgirl and cowboy (mostly because they were given boots by some friends) and Abbie dressed up as a fairy (because she was loaned wings by a friend.) Will wore his favorite pirate hat with his graduation gown...I'm not sure what he was. And I wore my normal mom costume. I also made a great taco soup with ground pork, chicken broth, leeks, hominy, diced tomatoes, black beans, bell pepper, chili and cumin. I wanted to make sure we had some kind of healthy protein in us before the candyfest began.

We leashed up the dogs, gathered three of Sam's friends and one of Abbie's and walked the neighborhood. The kids walked/ran about twice as far as me because they kept running back and forth across the street to all the houses. Madeline finally lost the war against thirst and an ensuing cramp, and staggered back home with her candy. We dropped off the little boys and Abbie's friend, and then Will had the brillant idea of driving to the neighborhood next to ours to see what they could do. Boy, was it worth it! Sam and Abbie came home with twice as much candy as Madeline. We separated all chocolate from the candy, and bagged it up in gallon ziplocks. You can see that we now have five gallons of candy in our home. Madeline was kind of bummed that she didn't push through for that extra gallon of candy, but really didn't want it that bad. Sam was allowed to sleep in Abbie's room so that they could barter with each other for favorite pieces. They love to drive a hard bargain, and we had to shut them down about 45 minutes after they went to bed. Sam ended up with the full sized Crunch bar, and Abbie got 5 smaller pieces for that one. I'm hoping that traded more than that, but they were both happy. I finished up the night eating the only non-candy treats: goldfish crackers and pretzles that Abbie got from someone. That, and some Earl Grey tea finished off the night nicely for me. Happy Halloween!

First Day of School

Its that time of year again! This year we've got one child at each school. Sam's in 4th, Abbie is in 7th, and Madeline's in 9th. The schools start about 30 minutes apart; without the buses I'd be driving all morning! Thankfully the bus stops right around the corner.

Sam wanted me to walk with him and go a bit early so that he could play at the little park for a minute. Abbie didn't want me to come at all, even though I promised to kiss her at home and just hold her hand while we walked. Madeline wanted me to drive her the 2 blocks because her backpack was super heavy and she was a bundle of nerves. So I did the sending off three different ways. To each his own.

Then I went back home to enjoy my Monday alone. First one in three months. I loaded the dishwasher, moved some laundry....and went back to bed. I slept soundly until 11 am, and woke up feeling great! What a luxury.

At noon I left the house to run errands and had a lovely time wandering around Target for a few items. Then, fortified by a large iced tea, I came home and cleaned (including dusting) the livingroom.

Pretty soon everyone began getting home and it was all about snacks and school stories. Will only had 3 kids in his class....Sam's teacher doesn't yell and is strict about the rules....Abbie had a big schedule drama that meant she'd have to eat with the 8th graders (that'll get fixed)....and Madeline was able to visit her locker between classes and didn't have to carry all her books at one. It was a good day; the beginning of a good year.

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Summer Fun

Lots has happened this summer: the kids' big trip to CA for Camp Grandma, two birthday parties so far, and our church's move from our rented facilty to our new purchased building. Also, we've had 37 days of 100+ temps and no rain so far, and the 10 day forcast doesn't offer any hope for a break.

I thought I'd post photos of Sam and Abbie's birthday parties, for fun. Sam's birthday came first, and this year he invited three friends. They even spent the night. It went well; they really wanted to play their nintendos together, and I'd say it was one of the more low maintenance parties we've had. Here they are decorating cakes. We also went swimming in our neighborhood pool, as a way to get cool and drain off some energy. Happy Birthday Sam!

Yesterday we had Abbie's party. She invited 8 friends; it was not a slumber party! Madeline introduced us to a really fun game she played at another party. We divide up into teams and design dresses with newspaper and packing tape. It is really fun, and all the girls get to be creative. At the end we lined them all up and awarded three first place awards in three different categories: Party girl, Classic, Scarlett O'Hara. Maybe you can guess which was which.

We also swam and ate dinner and had a water balloon toss. Much fun was had by all. Happy Birthday Abbie!

On the GOZ front, we moved at the end of July into the 215,000 sq ft building that we are purchasing. Only a portion of it is finished, so right now there is no nursery or children's ministry during service. I am enjoying a break from the weekly pressure of making sure that all the teachers are in place for the babies. But I'm taking this time to pray and plan and recruit for when we open back up with the permanant nurseries. We've got a beautiful garden to wander in, and the dining hall building is up and running. Each week before service we are having "Warrior Practice" where the elementary aged kids come to worship, hear the Lord's voice for themselves, and hear the Lord's voice for a friend. It is such a neat exercise. Today we prayed for each other, and one of the dads who was there too. I'm enjoying getting to go to that, and to service with my kids!

This week we begin pre-registering our kids for school. Madeline will be in High School this year! Ahh! That happened fast. I think she'll enjoy it, if she doesn't stress out too much about her school work. She's been taking violin lessons this summer. I think we'll continue them during school too. They make such a difference in the little things.

Abbie is not going to do band this year. We decided that Drama and Art are more her style, so she's going to participate in the school plays. I think she's a natural actor, and her lungs are extra large, which we learned when she was able to hold a note on her baritone longer than anyone else in band. I'm not too surprised, and this skill carries over quite nicely to vocal projection, which will serve her well on the stage. :-)

Sam does less, of course...those elementary days were good! But we'll be watching to see where his interests lie. Two more years of elementary for him, and then off to middle school. Last year he got really good at reading, so this year should be good. Although 4th grade can be more challenging.

Will starts his job back up this week, with the first day of training on Tuesday. It feels like this summer has flown so fast. Maybe because we didn't do a month long trip like last year. But I'm looking forward to the structure and cooler weather that fall brings. Maybe I'll even get back into planning menus. Summer kind of throws everything off track.

Monthly Update

Well, whether you're ready or not, I'm doing my monthly blog entry. Actually, what really happens is that I look at blogs on my phone, but can't comment or post very easily.

May is the busiest month for the family. The kids have field trips, practices, performances, special school event etc. And Will has the same for his school. So we're running like crazy. The girls are in The Wizard of Oz at their school tomorrow and Friday. It's their first theatrical debut (outside of church.) Some of our friends are going to come watch with us. I'm looking forward to this production! We also have orchestra and band concerts next week. Poor Sam simply has a school festival next Friday, and we'll see if we make it to that. He wasn't quite as interested when I told him that he'd have to spend his allowance on tickets.

Abigail was in "The Miss Lindy Show" that we do for the children's ministry at our church. It has gone churchwide, so now you can watch on the GOZ website. She plays young Miss Lindy interviewing Joshua, Caleb and Onan the first time they are getting ready to go into the Promised Land. The next show is 40 years later when they are finally going in. Its really cute, and if you want to see it, click here. Then you will need to sign in. The show is on the GOZTV tab in the black bar at the top. I hope you can watch it! The one with Moses is really funny too. Actually, they're all good. You'll see me in the audience of "Angelo, the Angel of Death." Its really silly, but fun.

I'm looking forward to summer, slowing down a bit and relaxing. Meanwhile, we'll take each day as it comes, and try to get enough sleep.

God's provision

Some of you may have seen the garden we made last weekend on Will's blog. It was a lot of hard work, but turned out great. So, we got it all built, put in lots of dirt, and finally planted seeds and small plants. We made a kind of fence with stakes and twine to keep the dogs out. Hooray!

On Monday I got home from grocery shopping to discover Dolce sitting in the garden. She had broken through the fence, and had dug herself a hole. I was so mad! I dragged her out, spanked her with a spatula and so on. Later, Mander did the same thing. So he got spanked too. Ugly. Thank God they didn't take out the 5 tomato plants or Abbie's flowers.

They did the same thing on Tuesday. More spankings. They just can't resist the manure and cool dirt. That night Will and I prayed, and gave the garden to God.

Today at work, Pam informed me that there was firewood to collect at the new church property. We'd gotten some other wood one time, do she knew about our scavenging ways. I told her about the dogs, and she said we should make a stronger fence, and also a dirt patch for them. So we added Home Depot to the list of places to go. But we really didn't want to spend more on this project.

When we got to the land we found the wood in a pile of things to remove. And there, in the pile was a bunch of old chicken wire! And also, there was some old metal strips with stakes that had been used to make raised beds! So instead of wood, we filled the back of the van with stuff for the garden. Now all we need to buy is dirt and everyone will be happy.

What was doubly amazing about all this is that Madeline's violin bow broke yesterday at school. I called the store where we bought it, with warranty, and the guy I spoke to (the manager, it seems) told me to bring it down and they'd exchange it for free. So off we went. When we got to the store someone else was working. He said we'd have to pay $250 for a new bow...it wasn't covered by the warranty...and so on, with the opposite I'd been told. I just kept repeating what I'd been told, including that the new bow was waiting for us behind the counter. He went and looked, and there it was, with instructions to exchange it for free. He was baffled, and said he'd never seen that happen before.

So apparently we had two miracles last night. Worth about 300+ dollars. Thank you God!

A Day in the Life--Ice day 3

We're enjoying our forced vacation while we wait for the ice to melt. Today is the first day that we've had reliable phone and internet access. I've been able to text, and update facebook at times, but that is about it.

Tuesday night brought the storm and an arctic cold front that coated the streets with 2 inches of ice. The temperature dropped, and has held steady at about 15 degrees ever since. So, until we get above freezing, the roads are icy and everyone is staying home.

We did take an adventure drive on Wednesday. 10 miles per hour to see if we could get a movie at Redbox, which was frozen, of course. But we had fun driving our heavy van for 40 minutes.

The pipes in the kitchen froze, but we remembered to keep the bathroom faucets dripping, so we have water. We just bring it into the kitchen in jugs for dishwashing, tea making etc. The washer and dryer work, so I've been keeping up on the laundry. I'm doing two loads for my neighbor right now, because her pipes to the washer froze. She also got me eggs, milk, butter, and soda at the store yesterday when she ventured out. So we're helping each other.

I have been chuckling to myself at the irony of our lifestyle. We require a direct opposition to nature at all times in order to live "normally." Electricity and communication facilitate a disconnection from the outside world that is really kind of scary when faced with the lack. I saw a headline about how people were so upset about the rolling brownouts we had yesterday. I guess they just don't realize how lucky they are not to lose electricity completely.

Here are photos of things we've been doing lately: video games, movies, blogs, laundry. reading. Dolce seems to be reading Dumbo. And Madeline too. Roosevelt is happiest with Madeline scratching his ears

Will updated Abigail and Sam's blogs, so just click on the new links here.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Seeing mom's blog inspired me to just slap a bunch of photos up with descriptions. Getting the photos ready is the biggest hurdle for me. So I sat down today and downloaded all the photos from my phone, and getting them organized. I also changed my blog format in honor of the new year. I'm always inspired by January and get all excited about cleaning. This year I took photos of the kids in the nursery and made collages for the teachers. Here I am reading a book to Lisa's daughter one Sunday morning.




















Here are some pre-Christmas festivities...We went to the Denton tree-lighting event in early December with friends. Our church does a living nativity every year, so we had to see everyone there. This was the first year it wasn't freezing cold, so it sounded like fun.

I went to Sam's Christmas performance, and watched the kids sing. It was hard to get a photo of him with his class because he was always behind other kids. But I got some good ones afterwards.


I made Aunt Boo Boo's sugared walnuts this year for everyone at the office and friends. I made a total of 50 of these little boxes-they held 1 cup of nuts each. Unfortunately I deleted some of the best photos, but these give you an idea.



The DeHarts came to visit for the week of Christmas. We had a great time, and they left Christmas afternoon. On Christmas Eve we invited three other families over, and had a big feast and a Dollar store white elephant gift exchange. I made pulled pork sandwiches with a huge pork shoulder. Here are the dog's enjoying their Christmas treat: the big bones.


Dan and Jacquie gave Sam an elaborate marble maze thing. It took all Christmas day to build. Thank heavens Dan was here!!

We were given ticket to the Army vs. SMU football game, so we went; It was the first time the kids had been to a live game, which is kind of sad here in Texas. We had a great time, and ate nachos, soda, peanuts and pretzles and cheese. We parked in the neighborhood around SMU, and I loved seeing the beautiful houses. That was worth the drive for me!

On New Year's Eve we went to our church's First Fruits celebration. Everyone was given noise makers, and we had a great time worshiping and celebrating. Robert Heidler gave a very interesting talk about the Jewish month that starts on January 6th. But that ended at 9:00, and what to do next?? For the last few years we've had a big conference over the New Year's holiday, and fit in celebrations with the Petersens when we could. So this year we were at loose ends. However, it worked out that Chuck sent and invitation to all the bowlers to come to the bowling alley where he'd gotten three lanes for the night. It turned out that the bowling alley was sponsering a party, complete with champagne and sparkling cider, and breakfast after midnight. So, that's what we did. The kids and Will bowled, I talked to people, and it was very festive.

Phones shift

Hello family,

I wanted to let you all know that we are thinking about stopping our home land line and home internet service. We'll keep our cell phones--comment if you don't know my number. :-) The home number that will go bye-bye is 940.387.4682.

Not having the internet and netflix will be really different, but we are thinking that it will be good for us to not have that constant instant pull. And we'll keep our email and blog addresses the same. I'll be using my email every day at work, of course.

Bless you all! And talk to you soon. :-)

Wish you were here!

Happy Thanksgiving, all you people we love! I thought I'd make a little video to show you what is going on at our house today. We're waiting for our friends to arrive, and I'm about to start in with the stuffing, creamed corn, and mashed potatos. Bless you this year!

Oil Spill

This week has been very interesting. I realized last Sunday that the date was 10-10-10. 10 is the number for government, and all week at prayer people have been talking about "the new administration." From what I'm seeing, "the new administration" means that the Holy Spirit is doing things differently than before. I had a conversation today with a lady on staff, and she was talking about how the counseling/inner healing/deliverance ministry was starting to look different. The old ways of doing things just didn't work the same, and the change was in a new reliance on the Holy Spirit to tell them what to minister about, rather than following a formula, or questionaaire.

This week I have had a number of powerful counseling type conversations with people that the Lord has brought to me. I never seek these things out, so sometimes I don't "minister" in that way for a long streach. But this week I had 4 significant conversations in one day. And then some others on the other days. The difference is noticeable. I can sense a change in my own life.

So, to the story of the Oil Spill. I came home from work today with my mind full of the interesting conversations I've been having. I had a crock pot of beans and sausage that had been cooking all day, and the plan was to make cornbread to go with it. I went into the pantry to get the flour and cornmeal, and as I lifted them down, I knocked a bottle of olive oil off the shelf. It fell and shattered on the tile floor right at my feet. Olive oil and glass shot like a cascade across the kitchen floor, with glass shards as far away as 15 feet. I had oil on my foot and shoe; it was everywhere. I stood there paralyzed saying "Oh no, oh no!" because the mess was so huge. I took a step and almost slipped. I didn't know where to begin.

William came to my rescue with his Beylik Oil experience, and began unrolling TP onto the biggest puddle of oil. I began sweeping up glass. But this required moving the table and chairs into the livingroom. Madeline vacuumed the carpet on both sides of the kitchen. There was oil all over the floor, and even after Will got it sopped up and swept, I still had to mop everything. And while I did that for 20 minutes with really hot water and soap, I had plenty of time to reflect.

Oil is prophetic of the anointing of the Holy Spirit. I was experiencing a sudden outpouring of the Spirit, and it was a mess. It ruined my timeframe for dinner. I had to do a major clean up that I wasn't planning to do. And it happened when the glass bottle broke. Throughout my growth process over the last 8 years, the Lord gave me a picture of myself as a bird in a glass bottle. The bottle was something that I had constructed to protect myself from pain. I could see out, but I couldn't hear or feel. I have done the work of breaking that glass bottle and coming out. But today a glass bottle broke in my kitchen, and oil poured out. It got on my feet, and messed up my plans. I was really mad to be doing that project right then.

I think that the Lord is speaking to me about His plans for my future. I've entered the "new administration." I'm going to see the Holy Spirit poured out in unexpected ways, and its going to be inconvenient and mess up my schedule. I think this is also a picture for the church in general at this time. God wants to do something new. The Holy Spirit is messy. He doesn't stay convenient for us. He challenges our basic beliefs about how things should be. But what else matters? After fighting through the cleanup, I had a cleaner kitchen. That's exactly how the Holy Spirit works. His ministry messes things up, and then rebuilds them without the false stuff there. So, its worth it! I say, Holy Spirit, do what you want!

GOZ Snapshot

I'm home today on my day off, and I decided to watch the webcast of yesterday's services. I was busy all morning with nursery stuff, so I couldn't participate. I'm so glad I decided to watch! Both services are so powerful. Second service is a perfect picture of all I love about GOZ. Worship as a dance party. I read a quote once, "Never trust a leader who won't dance." Everytime I think of it I smile because at GOZ the leaders regularly dance. This service is a gem. I encourage you to watch. Its only an hour long, and you can get some exercise while you do!

School Supplies

Every year, no matter what, I spend $150 on school supplies. I should qualify that. Every year since I moved to Texas. In California no one was asked to buy school supplies. But here the schools publish a big list and you are expected to bring it all in on Meet the Teacher night and put it in the class. California is a bankrupt state, and Texas isn't. So they are doing something right here. But it still kind of irks me that I have to search high and low for black Expo dry erase markers and bring reams of copy paper to school. If every child brings two boxes of 24 pencils, that should be enough, right?

One benefit of Will being a teacher is that he had a lot of 12X18 packs of manila paper left over from last year. So our kids are bringing the surplus and I didn't have to buy that.

Different stores run specials to get you in, so the last couple of years I've been trying to beat the system by hitting those sales and only buying the deals. Today I bought 5 packs of filler paper at Staples for 1 cent each. The rest were .78 each, but still...I got out of there with 20 items for $17.00. I felt a kind of vindictive glee because I paid less than a dollar for each item on average. I realize that I was resenting this required spending spree and beating the system gave me just a little sense of sticking it to the man. However we spent the rest of the budget at Target getting everything else, including a tacky Transformers backpack for Sam ($9.00) that he loves. The one from last year had holes in the bottom.

I'm glad to be done with this. Maybe next year I'll start earlier and hit all those weekly sales and maybe only spend $100, or even $80. I really feel that it should be possible. We'll see.