Gee...I've been a bad blogger lately!

Has it really been since the Gaither concert that I have written on this thing? Wow...that's what the holidays will do for you!

We had a great Thanksgiving! My ENTIRE family was here: Dad and my brother and sister. They have never all been to my house together and it was great! Then we went down together to Ottumwa for George and Waydene's 50th anniversary and all six cousins were together for the first time since 1977. We haven't done that since Jorin was a little pup. That was the year I dropped him on his head and ran away and hid because I thought that Uncle George would kill me.

I preached for George's church the Sunday following. They are such an easy church to preach to. Some places make it easy on a preacher and some...well...make it harder. First Pentecostal is easier than many I have spoken in. Their new pastor is just great! He is an evangelist at heart and has a vision to reach those in Ottumwa that aren't being reached elsewhere. If you're ever in Ottumwa drop in on them on Church Street.

It's funny...one time I preached at a Church of God in Christ here in Council Bluffs. I love preaching in black churches! When we left that night Shawn said, "Wow...I never heard you preach like that!" I said, "Gee, most of the time people don't work with me like that!"

You know...that's an interesting thought for me. Do I make it easier or harder for the person standing in the pulpit on Sunday? How can I make their job of preaching easier? Hmmm...I need to think on that! Any thoughts?

Gaither concert & memories of The Imperials

Had a great time at the Gaither concert last night...even though I felt like being home in bed with a cup of cocoa and really did toy with getting someone else to take my place. I am feeling better but mornings and evenings are when I am still struggling with my throat. Thanks to the Lord for giving me a better time during the day so I can get some work done. National Adoption Day is tomorrow and there's a lot of prep work behind the scenes to make sure all the media announcements are out and all of the families are prepared.

Shawn and I worked Russ Taff's booth at the concert. It was a blessing to us to be able to give some of our time to bless artists who have blessed us so many times. (My, that's a lot of blessing going around!) I have been listening to Russ' music since I was a kid. The Imperials were the IT group in my circle of friends in the late 70's. I had all of their music on 8-tracks and my first cassette was their release "Priority." This was during the time my parents were divorcing and I spent hours listening to their music when I couldn't sleep. I am only just now beginning to realize what a blessing it was during that time to have had that background...all those nights that I cried myself to sleep I would drift off listening to words like "Be still my soul and know that He is God..." and "Yes, Lord, I'd rather believe in You." For so many kids my age that were going through the same kinds of things they were drifting off to words like "The lunatic is in my head" or "I'm on a highway to hell..don't stop me." Thank God for those who have given us the opportunity to surround ourselves with encouragment through their music.

Before we left Russ last night, I thanked him for the years of ministry that he has given me. You know, we really don't stop often enough to pray or to say thanks to the people that God uses in our lives. So many were quick to jump on to Ray Boltz about his recent news but how many of us took time to just say "thanks" for the times the Lord held us up while listening to "The Anchor Holds"?

I suppose I identify with Russ because he knew what it was to be a PK in a place where he was having to sort out the differences he saw between the Message and the messanger. Not an easy thing to do when you're just a kid. It was interesting to note what most of the people who stopped by his booth said about his ministry: He sings with passion and such emotion. It made me think of the woman in the Bible who let her hair down and "wept much." When we have truly experienced God in the deep and dark places we come out of them with an intimacy that expresses itself in everything we do.

I lost all those old 8-tracks somewhere along the road of life...but each time I hear a strain of "Heed the Call" or "Old Man's Rubble" it takes me back to the time in my life when I began to solidify my decision that I would trust Jesus regardless of where life was taking me.

Thanks, Russ...for being a down to earth guy who realizes he's just traveling this road with the rest of us.

Finally went to the doctor

I finally went to the doctor today. Nothing serious, just another one of my bronchial issues. I declare that I am allergic to Iowa. I'm also dehydrated...and, well...worn out. Sigh. I'm too young to be told that. I simply have to eat better! I am fasting from fast food this month...that's a good start. Perhaps I need a new motto: "I will fast food no more forever" (apologies to Chief Joseph). With all the traveling that I do that would be really hard!

I sure hope I feel better soon. We have our family picture this afternoon and I look...pretty bad. I'm pale - even for me! That's pretty pale!

Tomorrow night is also the night I am supposed to work at the product table for the Gaither concert. That will be a LONG night...probably about 6 hours or so and keeping up with all the customers and smiling, etc. Sometimes I have to smile at stuff like that so much that when I get home my mouth hurts. LOL

Teleconference this afternoon...I'm SO glad that most of my work can be done from home. YIPPEE for the computer age!

Thanksgiving is coming...Yeah and Yikes!

I cannot believe that Thanksgiving is just a matter of days away! Where has this year gone???

I am very excited about this year's celebration...my family is coming! Yeah! This will be the FIRST time in 19 years of marriage that I have had my family here for a holiday and to have them all together is just an incredible thing. We all live in different states and rarely are all together at the same time.

The special occasion is my uncle and aunt's (George and Waydene Edgerly) 50th anniversary celebration the Saturday after Thanksgiving. We're not a large family. My nuclear family will all be here and that only consists of 11 of us. All of George's family is only 13 people. We're depending on my cousin Jorin's little boy, Ian, to carry on the Edgerly name.

It is good for me to have my uncle and aunt's anniversary to celebrate...they married only 3 months after my parents who divorced after 23 years together...they were the only divorce that I can find in my genealogy. Sad. George and Waydene also let me live with them when I was in college and have been a second set of parents to me in my adulthood. They have been a major blessing to me and I credit them with much of my success in life. They're good folks.

Now...if I'm going to have all these people here I had better get that basement cleaned up and these carpets...oh boy, there's work to do!

The weekend

We had a nice weekend...since school was out on Friday we had two of Gracie's friends spend the night on Thursday. Molly and Becca are really nice girls and they seem to hit it off well at school. Molly's dad is our DARE officer; she has four of the cutest siblings (especially little Hallie!) and I am just getting to know Becca's family.

We went to see WALL-E at the $1 theatre after school on Thursday. Georgia Brogan went with us. She is such a good surrogate grandma for the kids! It was a good movie - very imaginative and pretty much had a biblical worldview - we must take care of the things that God has given us and not relinquish our responsibilities for the sake of pleasure. Good wisdom that we need to hear.

I took the girls to the zoo on Friday. I absolutely LOVE our zoo! Since we have a membership I often go by myself and just enjoy the quiet of the animals. The penguins are my favorite.

I'm glad I started this second blog to just write about life. It's good to be able to journal and share my thoughts without feeling like I have be saying something that has a moral or point to it. HA HA.

Mom's visit pt 2

On the other blog I started writing about my mom's recent visit - I'm just finishing up with that one here:

Anyway, I was really surprised that mom wanted to come. She has always said that she would like to visit but with her health and the distance I didn't think it would happen. There's no way she could travel by herself so my brother came along. Thanks to the Lord that he did. I wouldn't have been able to manage without him.

Picked them up at the airport Wednesday evening the 16th: Here is where I start to sound like such a snob (sigh). I work with lots of different people and I love them and accept them regardless of silly things like how they smell, how they dress, their little quirky behaviors. Yet, somehow, I struggle with dealing with these things in my own mother.

Mom got off the plane wearing a bright blue mumu dress, a pair of black pants, red earmuffs, a long sweater, a funny little hat, white socks, and slippers. Would I have even noticed someone else in the airport dressed like that? Probably not...I really don't pay that much attention to how people dress. But for some reason, seeing my mother get off the plane dressed like that bothered me. She really has been a beautiful woman - mental illness has robbed so much from her, including her dignity in how she presents herself.

I suppose this is the part I struggle with (confession time!): I see my friends with their mothers, and they go out and have a good time and there is a feeling of "pride" in introducing their mom to others. I feel like my mom doesn't need introducing - she needs explaining.

I think so much of my feeling goes back to when Mom left and I was left (at age 11) to start explaining her behaviors to people. "Where is your mom?" "Is she living with someone?" "Will she be coming back?" "Why did your mom leave your dad? "You live in such a nice house; why does your mom live in a such a dump?" I think I started looking down on her then...and it became a thinking pattern that I need to learn to break.

Lord, PLEASE help me to be more understanding and loving to those around me - not just people I meet but my own family - ESPECIALLY my own family, Lord! Help me to learn to love my mother for who she IS...not who I WISH she would have been.