If I Had My Life to Live Over

I was so grateful when the babysitter came over this week and my house was a wreck, I apologized to her for the mess and she said, "Oh, our house is much worse!" Our sitter that evening was the pastor's daughter!
I'm sad sometimes that I'm in my 30's and am just beginning to learn some of life's real lessons. For the past several months, I've been learning to let go. The house will not matter in eternity. My kids do and my relationship with them. My mom gives me nice candles from time to time and I always save them. I think I'm gonna go grab that cinnamon bun scented one and light 'er up! Read this poem and then tell me what is one thing you will change in your life today.

IF I HAD MY LIFE TO LIVE OVER - by Erma Bombeck

(Written after she found out she was dying from cancer).
I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would
go into a holding pattern if I weren't there for the day.
I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in
storage.
I would have talked less and listened more.
I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained,
or the sofa faded.
I would have eaten the popcorn in the 'good' living room and worried much less
about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.
I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.
I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband.
I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day
because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.
I would have sat on the lawn! With my grass stains.
I would have cried and laughed less while watching television and more while
watching life.
I would never have bought anything just because it was practical,
wouldn't show soil, or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.
Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I'd have cherished every
moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance
in life to assist God in a miracle.
When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, "Later. 
Now go get washed up for dinner." 
There would have been more "I love you's"; more "I'm sorry's."
But mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every
minute...look at it and really see it... live it and never give it back. 
STOP SWEATING THE SMALL STUFF!!!
Don't worry about who doesn't like you, who has more, or who's doing what
Instead; let's cherish the relationships we have with those who do love us.
Let's think about what God HAS blessed us with, and what we are doing
each day to promote ourselves mentally, physically, and emotionally.
I hope you have a blessed day 

The big picture

For well over a year now, I have known something just wasn't right with my daughter's left ankle/foot. We saw a PT who instructed us with proper streching techniques. We have religiously streched Nadia's foot daily, sometimes several times a day but her ankle just continues to be in state of not quite right. So I set out to find a fix.
Finding a fix wasn't a quick trip to one doctor! The first orthopedic doctor said that with enough streching she should be fine. So we did that for awhile. Her school PT said that she didn't think anything was the matter at all (I knew that wasn't right!), the Rehab Medicine doc said to pursue more private PT if it bothered her. Well, she doesn't have sensation below her waist so how was I to know if it bothered her?! It bothers me when I look at it! So, for about a year, we have just watched it and from time to time, my husband and I would look at one another and kinda scratch our heads and wonder if we could do anything else. Then we began to think it was her stander's fault, perhaps she was not getting enough weight on the foot. We had the stander evaluated and the wheelchair sales rep suggested considering a new stander purchase ($4000!). The second orthopedic doctor suggested that when she couldn't wear her AFO's anymore, and she was bothered by it, he would be willing to perform surgery and do a heel cord release, but she would be immobile for about 6 weeks as the heel cord healed properly. Nobody had the same answer for us, and nothing really sounded desireable. And so we remained stuck with no clear direction.

Yesterday we went for our routine annual AFO (ankle/foot orthosis) brace casting. I just expected them to fabricate new braces for her, never did I expect to walk out of there with a new outlook on life for Nadia's foot. It was as if each of the previous specialists only saw Nadia's foot in light of their specific discipline, but this therapist opened up a whole new world for us. I felt like I was in a large theater, my husband and I the only ones in the audience, and as the curtain was raised, Nadia and the therapist sat on the stage. The therapist began to lecture and revealed the big picture to us. We were amazed! Why did nobody ever see this before? How was it that we have gone to splint clinic for the past 3 years and not once have we met this lady? How was it that numerous therapists and doctors with real MD's were so off in their own world?!
A preacher friend of ours calls this "navel gazing." When one is just so absorbed with himself, he sees only what is within, not anything else around him.

As I rejoiced that we will not only non invasively fix Nadia's ankle, they will also fix her knee which turns out and will not straighten all the way! The answer to this is serial casting. She will wear a cast, one week at a time, which will gradually increase her Range of Motion. Each week, she will have one cast removed and then after some deep stretching, they will fit her with another cast which will stay for another week, and hopefully within several weeks, she will have full Range of Motion to both her ankle and her knee!

As a side note, as they were casting her ankle to use as a mold for her new AFO braces, she rubbed the hot pink plaster cast on her leg and told her Papa, "This cast is so beautiful!" I am thankful that she sees it as beauty because soon it will become part of her for well over a month! Leave it to a child to see the beauty in something we tend to look at as a burden!

On a deeper level, my step father had this comment that I'll use in closing, "Isn't it wonderful that God allows us to see the big picture through His telescope? Although the picture He lets us see through His microscope ain't bad!"

right or left?

So, I was wondering if I've got a case of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or if I'm just plain normal. When I put my socks and shoes on, I ALWAYS start with the left foot. I'm right handed and even if I pick up my right shoe, I'll put it down and grab the other.
My kids... still too young to put their own shoes on so I do it. Odd, I always start with their right foot, which is on the left when they face me when I'm donning their shoes. My 4 year old wears foot braces (AFO's not to be confused with UFO's) and I will complete one whole foot sock, AFO, shoe before moving onto the other foot. Why don't I do both socks, then both braces, and finally both shoes? Why are we wired the way we are? My husband puts both socks on and then his shoes. Just curious, how to you donn and doff your socks and shoes?

This is the second time this has happened to me lately, I just start off writing something down and it kind of takes a devotional form. I wonder if God is up to something! Read on and enjoy His sense of humor!

Devotion to think about:
Ephesians 6:15 "And having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace ."


How long can anyone walk gravel road without a decent pair of shoes? What if the shoes are on the wrong feet? What if they are scuffed and have holes in them? My Crocs are wearing thin on the bottom and when I step on a pebble, I can feel it good, and not in a good way.
So with the armor of God that we are supposed to put on daily, what are these shoes of peace??
And what if we leave home without our peace shoes? When we leave home without physical shoes, our feet would get tired and sore real fast. And depending on where we are going, it may just be impossible to go barefooted. So spiritually speaking, God wants us to be fitted for peacemaking. When we are out in the world and encountering battles, we need to have the right shoes on. What soldier do you see wearing slipper socks? No, they wear heavy steel-toes giant boots that lace all the way up to their knees.

How do we get this peace shoe? Whether you put it on the left or the right foot first, the shoes come from knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

More of Ephesians 6:
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes...so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand firm.

Stand firm friends!
And let me know how you put your shoes and socks on!
:) shannon

My favorie word

I've always like the word cheery pa ha. I didn't even know what it was but it just sounded really happy and green. It ends up, it means "Turtle." I also liked the word Che-tear-ree, that is the number 4. In Russian, they have a letter that sounds like "ch." It looks like a lower case h turned upside down.
I also have grown fond of a combination of syllables that sound like, "ma ma ma ma." A very sweet 9 month old boy is learning to call my name. My favorite sentence is "I love you!" when said by a 4 year old sweetheart. I love it even more when she says it on her own and doesn't need any cues. Another favorite is when a 33 year old handsome sparkly eyed man says, " Ya lublue tebya."
What is your favorite word?