Fphoto Friday

Sing with me, "How Great Thou Art."

9 ......And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food......Genesis 2:9.

Thanks to marriedtothepreacher for hosting fphoto friday!

God is so good,

Carrie

Location: Around the house

Camera: Kodak EasyShare M853

Camera Setting: ISO

Dry Run

Added to say......scroll down

In case you haven't heard.....Mom got "the" call at 4:50 pm yesterday. Craziness abounded:)....which is common in our family:) As the title stated....it was a dry run. We were 15 minutes from the hospital when we got the call. There are just no words to explain the atmosphere in the car at that time. Needless to say, we had to pull over and re-group. It was the antibody factor preventing the match. But, we will not give up. God is able! We are trusting and believing in His Word!

I'm exhausted to say the least. There is something about when your adrenalin kicks in and then it suddenly takes a nose dive:) I'm sure it burned enough calories to cover the DQ stop we made on the way home:) lol!! Yeah...we managed to have some laughs (ahem..sister C) amidst the disappointment. Mom suggested we finish the race, and that we did. We drove right up to the hospital where she was supposed to be. It felt good to just see it all the way through. We all know the short-cut way now, so no surprises. There is a reason for everything. I know it made it so real to me and seeing how we've all been feeling lately, it's exactly the boost we needed. God knows!

I'll leave you with some pics of the roller coaster ride.

Sister P at the helm....she has some mad driving skilz:)

Mom and Sister C

Thanks for all the prayers and everything that you did on our behalf yesterday. We could not make it without all of you! You are such blessings!

I stopped by Mom's this morning. She slept good and seemed to be in good spirits.

Praising God through it all!

Love to all,

Carrie

It was brought to my attention that I never mentioned Dad:) Sorry...I told you it was utter chaos:) When Mom got the call, she told the lady that she couldn't find her husband, to which she said, just get somebody to bring you:) lol!! Needless to say we called him numerous times. To his defense he is a farmer. No explanation needed. When he finally answered my call, I was in such a way, that he was asking me to please slow down, so he could understand what I was saying. He managed to get home and cleaned up, but before he hit the road, we called him.

Brother J and SIL M were in B'ham with their daughter S for her doctor appointment. They were waiting for us. Everything seemed to falling into place.....or to us it did. But our way is not God's way! Thank goodness!

Sweet Holy Spirit

This is my testimony!

Update #2 on Mom is posted below.

Carrie

Mom Update

Update #2 below...

Good Monday to you,

As I'm typing, Mom is in B'ham. She was scheduled for a heart cath and doctor visit today. However, she has had a stomach bug over the weekend. She said she was better and was determined not to miss this appointment. I read this verse in my daily devotions the other day, to which it describes Mom to a tee; " The strong spirit of a man will sustain him in bodily pain or trouble." Proverbs 18:14 At times she gets down, questions, grows weary, but with the prayers of her church/friends and the wonderful grace of God, she regains that inner fight and refuses to give up.

I'm asking each of you to pray for her today. Pray the heart cath goes well and she gets to see the doctor. In her condition as of late with the bug, they may ask her to just simply go back home.

As soon as I hear something from her, I'll update.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support! We love you all so very much!

Carrie

Update #1.... Just got off the phone with Mom...2:11 pm...and she had the heart cath this morning. She said it wasn't too bad and it showed that she was too dry (fluid wise).... they are instructing her to drink and eat more:)..and reduce the amount of fluid RX she takes. Now she is waiting to see Dr. Kirkland. This may or may not happen. As you know, she has tried seeing him on numerous occasions, to no avail. Good Lord willing, maybe today will be the day! Back l8r with more.....

Update #2....I stopped by Mom's this morning and she looked good. She got to see "the" Doctor Kirkland. God is good! She described him as small in stature, with a very quite and kind personality. He is the doctor who will most likely do the transplant. He explained how he could not get the pic line in her chest. She is just too small frame and her arteries could not hold such a big line. However, they are confident her neck will support the port that she will need with the transplant. Whew!! Also, the pic line meds are working wonders for her. Without them she would be in very bad shape. He is pleased with how well she is doing on them and will not move it from her arm. Mom came away feeling better in spirit too. He told her he is expecting her to get a heart in the near future. The antibody factor, is just that! It is harder to find the right match, but not impossible and has been done, lots of time before. Yeah!! He just reinforced her need to stay as healthy as she can. Meaning....no more losing weight!

I cannot express my gratitude for all your prayers! I'm praising the One who has kept her thus far and will see her through. God is so good! He loves me and loves you so much! There isn't anything to big for Him!

Happy Halloween Southern Style

There's nothing like looking out at this every morning:) However, the bandits left evidence.....a Saints Toboggan:) Gotcha!

All in fun! My kids have rolled a yard or two...too:)

Now on to the cleanup:) I'm thinking my birthday present will come in handy.

Carrie

Relief!

It's not Wednesday....but....this totally works for me....so had to share.....today! If you suffer from allergies or sinus trouble at all, you will want to take note. Go here for RELIEF! You can find it at Wal-Mart, Target, etc., better yet...visit your local drug store. My local drug store is awesome. I had an unexpected $30 credit on my last RX refill. Now that makes me happy! MC and IDS you rock!!

It's cheap people! $3 for the applicator and $10 for 100 packets of the rinse. Ask your pharmacist, they may have it behind the counter.

What's crazy, I had given SIL this advice, only the Neti Pot, and never went through with it for myself. So, you have two choices, the NeilMed or the Neti Pot. Why don't I listen to myself?

I feel as if all the fog I've been in lately has lifted. I can see clearer, breathe easier and hopefully think clearer:) Amazing at what a good nasal irrigation can do:) and what came out:)....oooohhh.

Kinda messy, but definitely worth it! It's strange how you can squirt water up your nose on one side, and it comes out both your mouth and other nostril simultaneously. Cool!

All of this stems from a visit I made to the ENT yesterday. It's funny how when you think one thing is wrong with you, but the DR. proves otherwise. All this time I was thinking allergies were my enemy, to find out in fact it was my gut the whole time. TMI...I know. Anyways my allergies scaled down to 2 out of 4 for hickory nut trees and sugar maples. Not enough to be wreaking the havoc I was experiencing. Hopefully this will be the LAST post on allergies and such. I'm expecting NeilMed, Omnaris and Prevacid to cure all that is ailing me:)

Now on to what was really on my mind....

Mom felt like traveling with me. Bless her heart. It was a LONG day of testing and doctor visits. As always, she was a trooper. Thanks to God, and the prayers of my friends and church family for praying for Mom. I've been worried about her lately and it was great to be able to spend the day with her, even though it was in doctor offices. We talked. I just needed that! I hope it helped her as much as it did me!

Somehow:) we managed to have some fun. We had an itch we needed to scratch:), that required Belk and Target to fix. It's amazing what new clothes will do.

Oh and don't forget the snickers blizzard!

Carrie

Mrs. Stretch Armstrong

Why was stretch Armstrong a man versus a woman? I mean can men really stretch like that? I'm getting the strong part, but the stretching?

Stay with me here:)

I remember brother having one of these back when, and all he was interested in was what was on the inside. Like most typical little boys, he did just that...cut it open and to have this oooey, gooey, slimy mess ooze out. Fun! Or just stretch it too it's limits and it would break.

Now that's what I'm talking about. Stretched to the limit. And the next thing I know, this slimy mess of nothingness consumes me and spills out. Not good. How do I get myself to this point. Pulled in every direction, but getting no where!

If only.....

I would consult the Father on His way.

If only.....

I would be still and know the He is God.

If only....

I would take His hand and let Him lead.

I was reminded as of late how important it is for me to stop and smell the roses. I cannot be effective for Christ if I'm running on fumes. That must explain my 3 hour nap yesterday:) I cannot be a good wife, mother, sister, friend, if I'm spinning in circles. But...don't you just love those buts....with the school owning my boys and everything thing else they are involved in....where is the time to actually sniff a rose:) Much less find one in my yard that is still living, due to neglect on my part, because of yet once again...no time. I hear Mom speak of enjoying this time in my life, because once it's over..it's over. I know and understand that.

But still.....

"We make plans...but the Lord decides." Proverbs 16:9

Carrie

Ya'll Bless My Heart

I'm drinking from the saucer, 'cause my cup has overflowed!




Thanks sisters for all the wonderful comments you left from this post. I'm typing through the tears. They touched me so.




There have been some strange things going on lately. Seems God is in every detail of them too! Of course!



I love affirmation!




How cool is that?




Point being, when we get our words and thoughts aligned with the Scriptures.....good things happen. Why do I even question? Thoughts of, "I can't, why me, are you sure, what will they think, etc.....should be rephrased to, "yes Sir, anything you ask Lord, who cares what they think, I can, I will, ask me, I'll try, and so on and so on." I expect that from my children. What makes me think God doesn't expect that from me. I know how I feel when I hear my boys say the negative woe is me. I want to scoop them up and say, "yes you can, just try, you can do it, trust me."....oooooh...ouch.....I can't imagine how many times, especially at work lately, I've been faced with branching out, having to do things that are not necessarily in my safe zone. My knee-jerk reaction is, "I can't, I've messed that up, get somebody else, they can do a better job."

Poor excuses.



God will give you the grace and courage to face any obstacle or task before you. Just say yes. Believe me, it's better than taking a whipping any old day!





I just can't praise Him enough!!





Carrie

Touched By An Angel Or Two

Updated to add: KT left a comment below. Go check it out! Coincidence...I don't think so. Goose bumps. Also, Mom had the heart attack on November 19th, 2006, for those of you who were curious of the date. I can always remember it was around Thanksgiving. Sister C and I shared that Thanksgiving all by ourselves.......another post.....another day.


For some reason this morning I was reminded of an instance when my sister P and I was visited by an angel or two. Before I tell the story, today was one of those mornings. You know, the kind where you wake up late, and have 1,200 things to do before you head to work. Not a pretty site. Lots of hurry up, we are running late, pants to iron, no clean jeans, wrong choice of jacket....get my driff:) Bus or no bus, the boys were going to eat the ham and cheese biscuits that I made:), whether they brushed teeth or not...sorry KT....those bicuits were going to be digested:)

We managed to catch the bus. I feel regret for getting in such a tissy and not hugging the boys one more time, and kiss Hubby goodbye to add another 5 years:), I need him around ya'll to keep me straight. Then all of a sudden as I'm applying mascara while brushing my teeth:), God just flooded my mind with this:

Some 2 years ago......

My sister P and I were at the hospital with Mom. This was when she had her heart attack. We were waiting, when the nurse requested we come back, because Mom seemed to do better when one of us was with her. As we were visiting, Mom just went out on us. The machine was showing the flat line. The next thing we knew, the room was filled with lots of people. And we were taken by the arms and escorted out.

As we sat waiting, the first angel came. She was great. She talked us through the whole ordeal. Keeping us focused on God and what He can do. To which He did. He brought her back to us.

Earlier that morning, as we were trying to catch some zzzz's in our straight chairs in the waiting room, we were starving. The kind of hunger where I didn't think I could even get out of my chair, I was so weak. We would just set there, numb and look at each other, like now what. We know we need to eat, but we cannot muster enough strength to actually get up. As we sat there in a room full of people, here comes angel #2. He walked straight over to me and handed me a Hardee's bag. In it was several hot biscuits of all varieties. He said he wanted to share these with me. Sister and I got up and went to find him, after he walked out, to thank him. We couldn't find him anywhere.

Why this was so real to me this morning, I have no idea.

Maybe it's for you.

Maybe it was to remind me to stop and smell the roses before my children are grown.

Maybe to remind me that God supplied our needs that day. Waiting for a new heart is difficult on so many levels. It has really been weighing on me lately, because I know it has Mom. Maybe this recollection of that day, is God's way of showing me.... He can. He will. In His time. In His way.

Maybe to show me that when I have a conviction to do something out of the ordinary for someone...I should obey.

Whether you've heard me tell this a time or two, I just couldn't shake it this morning. It was so real! Blessed my heart...again!! I love to feel the Sweet Holy Spirit. Especially on days when I feel as if I didn't deserve it. God is that good. He loves me even when I complain, or when I'm upset, or when I'm ill as Deb puts it:) He loves me through it all.

I want to praise Him today. I want the world to know that I serve a risen Savior who supplies all our needs!

Carrie

Love thy neighbor as thyself

Sounds familiar? It should, we have probably heard and memorized Matthew 22:39 our whole lives. But do I really love myself that much? Hmmmmm...probably not. I should, but days when loving myself is lacking....can I really love my neighbor?



My devotion this morning was titled, "Accepting yourself." That is such a tight rope to balance. We certainly are not to be vain, but to love ourselves in a healthy way. Easier said than done. But not impossible, for nothing is impossible with God. He can see past my sinful nature and restore in me a new heart. A new way to see myself.



I hate to look in the mirror. Yet, I have them all over the house. I'm constantly dodging them:) I glance long enough, so as to make sure I'm not going to scare myself or others:) lol!! As the case lately, the mirror screams, " the bags under your eyes are the size of Mt. Rushmore." Mirrors and pictures do not lie! Truth hurts, it's ugly at times, but it's what I need. If I didn't take a look, OMG, what a mess I would be.

So I'm taking inventory.

Not closet inventory. Which reminds me of something I read about people being like a chest of drawers. We have a "drawer" for each situation we encounter. I pray that I will be a hope chest and have only 1 lid and that all the treasures inside belong to Jesus!

Good 'ole soul searching.



I love light and sunshine! Therefore, the use of mirrors to reflect the light. I want my house to be as light as possible. Shouldn't I reflect the light of Jesus? By all means, yes! Can I accomplish that, if I'm constantly beating myself up over how bad a Mom, wife, daughter, sister, friend, neighbor I am? Don't think so. I use concealer to mask the bags under my eyes. What am I using to conceal my insecurities?

Lots of food for thought. So, while I'm pondering on all that, have you ever really thought about loving yourself? Be honest.

Carrie