Story of my Life

Let's see now. It's been nearly two weeks since I "really" blogged. The first thing worthy of mention is the Easter egg hunt at the church. It was on the Saturday before Easter we all went to the church at about noon. We had pizza, chips, and some really great punch while we visited with the adults. Sister Dudley had done all sorts of special little things—like making Easter cupcakes with green “grass” frosting and Peeps on top, and some jell-o Easter eggs, stuff like that. The teenagers (the two Dudley boys and Kody) had way too much fun hiding the eggs while all the kids worked on crafts in the fellowship hall. I think I heard there were 460+ eggs hidden. Can you imagine?! I think there were probably 15 or 20 kids there, so there were plenty of eggs for everybody and they all had a blast. Katie found more eggs than any of the other girls, so she won the girl prize—an Easter basket with a little stuffed bunny and other goodies. Joe “found” the prize egg (a great big plastic egg with lots of candy), but only because Joshua Dudley is a cheater. ;-) The teen boys arranged a special egg to give to one of the girls and Katie was the lucky gal. Unfortunately for the boys, Katie wasn’t the least bit bothered by the live frog she discovered when she opened it. Little did they know she handles frogs and lizards all the time. :-) Here's a picture of her with her prize basket.

And a picture of the boys riding a Dudley. My kids LOVE the Dudley boys. Maybe almost as much as I do. :-)



We had lots of fun, then enjoyed watching the kids practice for the Easter program. When we finally left the church we went to a Parent-Teacher Supply store in Hoover. It’s a GREAT store and I was able to find everything I needed to teach Sunday School the next day. :-)

On Friday I had some strong pain in the middle of my back, perhaps a little higher than mid-back. I felt only very minor discomfort on Saturday, but by that night the pain had returned. I had a terrible time sleeping, unable to find a position that didn’t hurt. I got very little sleep and when I finally got up at six-something Sunday morning I was in horrible pain. When I stood I could just barely breathe and it was just tiny little itty-bitty shallow breaths, which is an acutely miserable condition to find yourself in. I spent a few excruciating minutes gathering my clothes and begging God for mercy. I stepped into the shower and the moment the water hit my back I felt relief. Praise the Lord! I can’t imagine the heat from the water would have had a chance to affect me that quickly; I truly believe God just touched me. ~sigh~ I love serving God. :-) I was still unable to take deep, full breaths, but the improvement from my previous condition was wonderful! I had Brother Hopkins and the men pray for me at church later on. I continued to improve throughout the rest of the day and by that night I was able to take the deepest breath I can manage—with no pain at all! My back felt great and I’ve been thanking the Lord ever since. :-)

That was Easter morning. We all got dolled up in our Easter garb (Katie’s the only one who had anything new to wear—and her’s was a hand-me-down! Ha!), Kate and I put on our corsages from James :-) and we headed to church. Though I was on to teach Sunday School, I had no students—they were all in play practice, going over the program one last time—so I sat in on the adult class. We had a good service and the kids’ program turned out great, though I failed to take a single picture of it. I saw all of the good mothers taking pictures and I figured I’d get ahold of some of theirs. ;-) I did, however, take a picture of our kids when we first got to church that morning.



Brother Ridlespurge saw me taking pictures and was offended that I hadn't asked him to be in them, so I made up for it. I love this shot. :-)



After church it was time for Easter dinner. If only…! I can’t remember eating out on Easter EVER in my whole life. Probably because it’s just wrong to eat out on Easter. ;-) You’re supposed to go home to a nice, home cooked ham dinner with all the fixin’s. Currently however, we don’t go home in between services because we are not living very close to the church. So if we were going to eat, we had to eat out. James figured all of the restaurants serving a traditional Easter dinner would be packed out and we should go someplace non-traditional. I don’t know why, but we ended up at Carino’s. I already hold a grudge against them for the lame no-refills-on-Italian-sodas thing. Jerks. ;-) And perhaps I went in with some subconscious glitch about having to eat out on Easter when we should be enjoying a nice ham dinner at home. All I know is, “This is the worst lunch I have ever had.” That’s a movie line from some movie I’ve never even seen, only heard about—but it is quite fitting. The bread was fantastic—always is. I’ll give ‘em that. From there, it went downhill. ~sigh~ We try to teach our kids to be thankful and to not be so picky—to not complain if they have to eat something that they’re not so crazy about; just eat it without making a fuss and quietly hope for something better next time. I set a horrible example for them that day! I’m usually so good to bite my tongue when I don’t like something at a restaurant for three reasons. #1 – I truly want to be thankful. #2 – I want to set a good example for our kids. #3 (or perhaps this should be #1—ha!), I know James paid good money for the food and I don’t like to gripe to him about what he just spent money on—it’s rude and ungrateful. On Sunday I held out for as long as I could, but it finally all came spilling out. “Okay, I’ve got to say it. This meal tastes like it came straight out of a can, James!” The noodles were rubbery and the sauce was horrible. I don’t mean not great, I mean really and truly horrible. Bad enough that I was forcing myself to eat it and doing my best to suppress the gag reflex. ~Bleagh~ So rare is it that I actually make a fuss about food at a restaurant that it became quite the joke, the kids all joining in and mocking all of my gripes and happily pointing out the hypocrisy of my rules vs. my example. Oh well. You can’t win ‘em all. ;-) I had just finished a rant about how awful my food was when the waitress appeared and said, “How is everything? Are you all enjoying your meal?” “Excellent, thank you. Please give my compliments to the Chef… Boyardee!!!” Naturally, I didn’t say that until after James had already covered for me and she had left the table. Actually, I would have preferred a bowl of Spaghetti-o’s to what I had that day. I enjoyed Carino’s out west (could it be entirely due to the Italian sodas? Was the food awful and I just didn’t notice or care because I was happily floating amid the raspberry cream delight in front of me???), but this one is terrible. We sing this Veggie Tales song around here sometimes when somebody is complaining: “My life is a disaster, a sea of endless pain; A picnic promising the sunshine, but giving only rain…” On Easter, “My lunch was a disaster…” So on the bright side, we were almost in tears laughing over the entire experience and will have some terrific memories of our first (and last—please!) Easter dinner OUT. :-)

About the time we left the restaurant I received my first ever phone call from South Africa! How cool is that?! They had reception for the first time, so Mom called on Brother Hawkins’ Skype account. I was able to talk to her and to Dad for a few minutes, so that was great. They were having a good time over there and the Lord was blessing in the services and Conventions. The following day was their “off” day so they were going to be able to do a little sightseeing—perhaps some elephants or lions or giraffes... It is SO WILD that my Mom and Dad went to AFRICA!!! I think it’s the coolest thing ever that the two of them were able to experience this. Better than that, they’ve were able to become acquainted with some of our own brothers and sisters and fellow members of the Body of Christ from Africa, as well as establish The Church of God in a brand new country! :-)

As I was talking to Mom & Dad on the phone, we were on our way to drive by two more houses. The first was another “Hhmmm… who knows—maybe it would work,” the second was a definite “Hu-uh.”

Then it was on to the hospital to visit Sister Christine Douglas. She is one of Brother Staggs’ daughters and she is one amazing lady! She has her father’s mind, that’s for sure. I didn’t even realize until just now that that’s where she gets it from, but I was blown away today at her memory of every tiny little detail about things that happened yesterday and things that happened 50 years ago. It was fascinating to listen to her. She fell recently and broke her left arm and leg and will have some serious recovery time if the Lord doesn’t heal her. We look forward to visiting with her again, whether she’s in the hospital or not. :-)

After that we headed back to the church. It was 4:30 and James was needing to do a little more prep for the message he was on to preach at church that night. I took a pillow in with me, laid down on the pew, and got a little, tiny nap, but one that was desperately needed after my painful and sleepless night. The kids played basketball outside, then Katie and I went to the Sunday School room and made the craft that I had intended to do with the class that morning had I had a class. I think it worked out for the best. The craft was great, but probably a little too difficult for the younger kids. But Katie and I enjoyed it, so it’s all good. :-)

That night we had communion and feetwashing service. It was much more formal than what I’m used to. Nobody telling anybody else, “Them’s purty feet” or instructing them to scrub between your toes or anything like that. ;-) The table was elegant and beautiful—they put so much thought and effort into making things special here. It’s strange to be in a whole different world and with different people who do things differently… and to enjoy and appreciate it just like you did the other way. :-) I feel like I’m learning a lot through the differences.

After church we grabbed dinner at McAlister’s (kids eat free on Sunday nights), drove home, got the kids to bed… then had a crazy impulse come over me and I cleaned out the laundry room, emptied everything out from above and below the sink in that room (it’s rather disturbing, Sister Powell, to come across large dead bugs preserved in Tupperware when you’re not expecting it—just so you know. Beautiful moths or not, they’re a little creepy when they take you off guard!), did a few loads of laundry, bathed Charlie and who knows what all. It was weird to have so much energy that late at night (I know it was after midnight when I was washing the dog) and after such busy days, but my back was feeling great and I was able to breathe deep, full breaths without pain and I just felt like accomplishing something!

Monday morning James and I got up early, sat down and talked it over, and decided we needed to make a trip to Pennsylvania. Like… right then. So we spent the next 3 or 4 hours getting packed and cleaning the house up, then left for Pennsylvania at about 10:00am.

The thing that necessitated this trip is that James’ Dad, who is 70 years old, fell off a ladder last week. He broke a rib and banged his arm up pretty good. He’s okay, but having a hard time getting around and certainly unable to do some of the things that need done around their place. So we decided we would spend a few days helping out around the house.

I’m not sure how far we made it Monday night before finding a motel. I know we were somewhere in Virginia and ended up at a very nice, clean, and pet friendly Howard Johnson.

Tuesday we finished our trek to Pennsylvania, arriving just after noon. James was hoping to mow the many acres of grass, but it was too wet due to the recent rains. Our first job, then, was to go pick up a tool box (a big Craftsman one with lots of drawers—loaded with tools) that James’ Dad had bought off a lady, but was unable to lift. When we got home from that little trip I got to work on dinner. I tried to take care of the the cooking and housework so James’ Mom wouldn't have to worry with it and could better direct James in the big chores. After dinner James and his Mom went shopping for a few necessities and came home with them, plus a whole lot more. I did some laundry and ironing while they were gone.

James spent most of the day on Wednesday pressure washing the house and spraying for bugs and stuff like that. I was able to get the living room completely dusted, baseboards wiped down, furniture vacuumed behind and under—everything completely clean. AND I made chicken and noodles for lunch and then smothered deer steaks (some of the best ever, nice and tender—yum!) for dinner. How come I can’t be that productive at my own house?! All that while making multiple trips down to the bridge to try to kill snakes with a shovel so we could investigate and find out if they really were Copperheads or if they were just water snakes. I’d really like to know for sure if my kids are going to be fishing down there, as they were doing all day long! I never was able to kill one. They’re too fast, I’m too slow, I didn’t have the right angle, or any combination of the above.

That night we received a phone call from Sister Bishop, checking on us and updating us about all of the storms in Alabama. I felt guilty to learn that all of our folks there were enduring such horrible weather and we didn’t even know about it! There were tornadoes all over the place, reports of dozens of people killed (that number is well over 200 at this point, just in Alabama) and extensive damage in several locations. We immediately got to praying and started checking the news to try to keep up. Part of me was glad to not be there in the midst of all of that mess. The other part felt horribly guilty that we weren’t there hiding out in a basement like all of the other Church folks in the state! We just ran off and left ‘em to weather the storms themselves—that’s horrible!

Though it couldn’t possibly compare to the devastation caused by the storms down south and is not to be compared, we had our own minor little tragedy that night. The kids were all playing on the swing set and somehow a swing came back and hit Joe in the face, breaking his front tooth. I mean really breaking his front tooth. Like, nearly half of it is GONE. ~sigh~ Poor Joe. He came in with tears in his eyes, not from pain but from the knowledge that this was a permanent tooth and he’s going to “look like a freak” for the rest of his life. I couldn’t get any information out of him because he was choking back the tears, but when I saw he was holding his mouth and didn’t appear to be in pain though he was obviously deeply upset I wondered if perhaps he had broken a tooth. I’m glad I realized that possibility before I saw it or he was able to tell me about it—it allowed me a minute to prepare a proper reaction. What, by the way, IS the proper reaction to that?! I didn’t want to freak out and cause him more alarm, but it takes a mighty good game face to be able to pull that off! As a mom, it gives you a horrible, sick feeling inside to come to the realization that your kid’s front tooth is half gone… forever. ~sigh~ Poor Joe. He amazes me though. I told him to go into the bathroom because I could see a little blood on his hand (his nose was bleeding a bit) and I could tell he didn’t want to talk about whatever happened with Grandma Wanda there. When we got in the other room I asked if he broke his tooth and he just nodded his head and the tears started streaming down his face. I felt sooooo bad for him! I hugged him and told him it was okay, that we’d work through it and everything would be fine. Within just a few moments he was trying to make jokes and find a bright side to it… in between those moments when his eyes would well up with tears once more. For the first day or two afterward a sort of sick feeling would wash over me when I think about it, but then it settled back into rational thought. We have so much to be thankful for. My son could have been in an accident and lost and arm or a leg or something; all we’re dealing with is a tooth. Or what if it was a serious head injury or something. We are so blessed to have a broken tooth! And then there’s “the big scheme of things.” In the scope of eternity, this is so insignificant. And yet, God uses so many things to work in our hearts and lives and form us into who He wants us to be. I’m sure He has some purpose for even this. So we’re praying that God will help us to come to the right decisions. Here's picture I took of the little trooper that night.

Thursday and Friday were spent working, working, and working some more. I managed to get all three bedrooms completely cleaned, everything dusted, ceiling fans cleaned, walls wiped down, baseboards, all that jazz. It felt GREAT. :-) James worked with his Mom on getting the closets cleaned out; something that has needed done around there for, oh, probably 20 or 30 years. HA! It was AMAZING what all was crammed into those little itty-bitty spaces. After putting the “keepers” back in the closets, there were two HUGE piles filling the living room: stuff to be donated and stuff to be thrown out. Two trips to Goodwill took care of the donation pile.

I can’t remember what else we may have done up there, I just know that things are in much, much better shape than they were before. James’ Dad is still in a lot of pain and actually the last day we were there seemed to be his worst day. He seemed to be in more pain that day and he did lots and lots of sleeping. On the whole, he’s doing well and we’re all trusting and expecting a full recovery.

Saturday we loaded up and hit the road by about 7:30am. Here’s our goodbye picture.


We drove all through the day and made it to Cleveland in time to meet Mom and Dad for a late dinner at the Pizza Hut/Dairy Queen/Daylight Donuts/gas station (talk about multi-tasking) at Exit 20 near their house. I hate it that we couldn’t stay longer, but I’m so thankful for the time we had with them there. It was so great to see them and to hear a little more about their trip to Africa. They had just gotten back a day or two before, so it was especially nice to be able to see them.

We left Cleveland after dinner and drove the 4 hours or so back to the Powell’s house. We were sooooo tired! But we made it and got everything unloaded before crashing for the night.

Woke up a little late Sunday morning, but still managed to leave early for Church. We’ve been doing much, much better about being there early instead of rushing and being stressed out and sliding into our pews moments before the opening prayer. :-) Anyway, it was good to be back in our home church, especially after all of the tornadoes this past week. So good to see all of the folks still alive and well!

After church we went to a Mexican restaurant (pretty good, but not as good as the one in Russellville), Penney’s (I found black dress shoes--been searching for two or three years-- and Katie and I got a couple of shirts on clearance from $1.97 to $4.97--wa-hoo!), stopped by the Post Office, then the car wash, did some shopping, stopped by the pastor's house and visited for a little while, then went back to church. Brother Hawkins preached a great message about the "pillow or pillar" and ground of the truth. After service James went to pray for Sister Washburn's niece or cousin (can't remember!) while I waited at the church with some of the other folks. The kids all enjoyed playing kickball in the parking lot and the adults enjoyed visiting. :-) We went to McAlister’s with Washburns, Coxes, and Hopkins later on. It was GREAT. I love having people to go out and visit with. :-) We got home late, but I took time to bathe the smelly dog after he'd been in the outside pin all day. I sleep better knowing my dog doesn't stink, even though he usually sleeps with Katie!

Monday was the day I scrubbed the Powell's wood floors down to saw dust. You already heard all about that. ;-)

And then there was today. We did school this morning, then James said we were going out. Get this--I was able to don a SWEATSHIRT and BOOTS before we left! WA-HOO!!! Great weather right now, let me tell you. :-) We went to the Chinese buffet then to the library in Montevallo. We had stopped in there before, but hadn't gone to the trouble of getting library cards because we know we're only living here temporarily. It cost $15 for a card since we don't live in the county. It seemed crazy to PAY for a library card, but the kids have really been missing the weekly library trip and fresh books. And there's no telling how much longer we'll be here. Apparently Brother Powell’s prayers are better than ours. Ha! We came home and enjoyed the rainy afternoon. James took a nap, I tried, but then gave up and played a game with the kids up in the loft room. Katie cooked dinner tonight and cleaned the kitchen (I owe her--maybe a girl movie night one of these days after the boys are in bed), then I scrubbed (no--gently rubbed a damp cloth across) the remainder of the floors while kids watched a video from the library about American legions. I cried during the John Henry part. Joe got up and started playing with the dog to distract himself and try to keep from crying. Sam pelted me with questions about WHY he died. Who picked this show out, anyway?!

At the end of the day, ALL of the wood floors in the main area are nice and shiny and clean. ~AAAAHHHHHHHHH.~ That feels so good. :-) We let the kids stay up and read books after devotions tonight while I looked through several Taste of Home magazines James' mother sent home with me. I pulled out some recipes that look worth trying. We'll see.

And there you have it--I'm ALL CAUGHT UP!!! :-)

Ah, yes. I almost forgot to post this clip. This is my pastor and his wife singing in church the other day. I do love my pastor. I love his sincerity and pureness of heart, and his true worship. And his raspy voice and old guy adorableness. :-) They are a blessing to me.