Funny Nail Comedy

This video was hilarious- because it is so true! If you have never gotten your nails done by a Vietnamese woman, you are missing out. :) Leave it to a Vietnamese woman to smile at you and make you feel like she is there only to serve, and be putting you down in the same breath. My current lady is the sweetest woman ever, but I have been to some salons that are exactly like this.

My favorite memory was once in Arizona, I was getting a pedicure next to this really beefy lady, and I was listening to the two girls doing our toes go off on her disgusting corns, how she never tips well, blah blah blah. (The best part of being half Vietnamese, is I get to eavesdrop on Vietnamese people and they are never the wiser.) I was trying hard not to be obvious as I held in the giggles, but then I forgot to stay incognito. One of the other ladies said in Vietnamese for my manicurist to give me a water bottle- and I quickly said, "Oh, I don't need one". Oops! Cats out of the bag- you should have seen the girls jaws drop when they realized I had understood all their rude comments. It was HILARIOUS. Needless to say, I got the star treatment, and left there with painted flowers on every toe, a coupon for my next visit and a head that could hardly fit through the door from all the compliments they gave. Ah, good times.
(Remember to pause the music on the right before playing video.You can skip forward to about 40 seconds into it- that is where it gets funny.)

My Ebenezer Stone...

"Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, "Thus far has the LORD helped us." 1 Samuel 7:12

I have been thinking and thinking about our memories this week, and how important a "feature" that is in the human being. As I prepare for this next school year and all the new experiences we will have, I can't help but get nostalgic. And as I look back at our life since May of 1998...I have to say, I wouldn't change a thing. Mistakes and successes, tears and laughter- how could I take one thing back, because it has all brought us to today?

When I read Samuel's words "Thus far has the LORD helped us", I get goose pimples, because that is so what I can say- "Thus far the LORD has helped me". He never said die, never said quit, and is continually patient and faithful to a stinker like me. How can that not put a smile on my face? Now, I might not have heard him thunder over my head, and throw an entire Philistine army into a panic so I could whoop their butts (1 Samuel 7), but I have certainly heard Him whisper love in my ear, felt Him fight the internal demons of despair and self loathing, and I have watched Him grow and mature the most beautiful people in my life in miraculous ways. Oh, if I could remember these days- "Thus far the LORD has helped us".

Now I need to go for a walk and find my own Ebenezer Stone for the patio- one that I might "set up (stand on end)" to remind me always what the Lord has done.

Time to stop forgetting....

(The photos are of Woodie's baby colt- Shadow. He is so big! And perfectly healthy. I can't help but wish he was mine, but I am so glad his new mama is as infatuated with him as I would have been!She said he is super friendly, and already follows her all around the stall, giving kisses, bucking and rearing, and full of life.)

This week my mind has been a whirl. I am really starting to think I need some kind of medication. :)
I know that my biggest issue is just being too busy, but how do you hit the pause button to put life on hold so you can get some much needed "peace" time? Let me know when you figure it out.
Today will be great because I am off and it is SUNNY. I can't tell you how happy that makes me. It is like a breath of cool wind after walking though deep, dark caves. I love the sun, it always makes things seem prettier.

I read something on a blog I follow the other day, and I can't stop thinking about it:
“Be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.” Deut 4:9
This passage is speaking on the miracles that God had preformed getting the Israelites out of Egypt, and moving into their Promised Land, but I felt like it applies directly to me. I keep trying so hard to FORGET things- forget old friendships, fun memories with now estranged family, mistakes, sins, horses, Arizona- and maybe I am not suppose to spend so much time forgetting them- but rather spend time seeing God's hand in it, and remembering "the things my eyes have seen". He has been so faithful to guide and provide, I wouldn't want to forget that. Yet, if I forget the reasons He had to guide us, or provide new friends, activities, whatever- I will forget how grateful I really am. I need to remember everything, good and bad, and say THANK YOU. No matter what. Because looking now, I can see the things that I thought were "bad" at the time, were really huge blessings for my family. Ways that God has protected us from the insanity of this world.

In reality, I am so utterly happy right now- and it has absolutely nothing to do with what I think my life should look like, or how blessed I am. Happy isn't what I use to think- that giddy goofiness that sometimes strikes (especially when I am sleep deprived!)Happiness is something more- feeling like you are right, smack dab, in the middle of God's will. It solely rests on the fact that God has been merciful, and been better to me than I could ever deserve. When I keep my focus on that, none of the other stuff can make me sad. Isn't that what He wanted us to do? Not allow His great deeds to "slip from (our) hearts"?
So today, I choose to be thankful. Thankful for mean people who help me appreciate my friends all the more, arguments that remind me that "when you argue with one fool, there are two", thankful for animals who bring so much light to my life even if the time is short, just enough struggle to keep me on my knees, and enough mistakes to keep me humble. That is always easier of course, before I have to actually open my mouth and interact with this world! :)
Praying for you this morning, and that God would bless you with a great memory- a storehouse of all the ways He has freed you and yours, and how he does not repay as our sins deserve. Happy Saturday!

Memories...

" A moment lasts all of a second, but the memory lasts forever." How bittersweet that truth is. I love the memories I have, but some make living here on earth a lot harder. We had a wonderful few days with our dear friends, the Hutchisons, and yet had to say goodbye again far too quickly. It just breaks my heart, and watching the sadness of the kids makes it harder. I know that God uses all things to teach us and grow us, and I am so thankful for friends who you can truly enjoy every minute with, but that almost makes seeing them again after so long even worse. Matthew said to me- "This sucks, it's like a teaser"- in regards to seeing each other again after two years, and then having to say goodbye, and he couldn't be more right. As time goes by, you can miss your friends, but life moves forward- seeing this wonderful family again, just reminded me how much fun we could be having. Talk about ripping a band-aid off a new wound! If only they didn't live in Georgia! Well, all I can say is I can't wait to get to heaven so there won't ever be goodbyes, and Jesus, Dianna and I can charge all around on our beautiful horses- not a care in the world!

Old times, new times, and in-between times.

What memories we have- and how funny that we can remember the same event, or person, but recount it so differently. Depending on our personalities, frame of mind, and perspective, that same event can be wonderful to one person, and terrible to the next. I remember this photo, and wanting to cry for joy over these sweet girls, and my Jasmine remembers how much she wanted to get back home so she could swim with Katie in the pool! These last few months I have been "remembering" a lot, and trying to place all these thoughts in little boxes, good, bad, not worth remembering, etc. Unfortunately, I have been very unsuccessful. I can't seem to fit any of them in one box. So many events, choices, people in my life can be considered "bad", "good" or even "well worth it".
I was talking with an old friend last night, after I called her to see if she could convince me to not drown my sorrows in an entire box of Krispy Kremes, and after hanging up the phone, I tried to put our memories, and relationship into a box. I have experienced so many things with this woman, watched our babies grow to teens, laughed, cried, fought, prayed, learned. I miss her terribly some days, those old times, and other times I know that life must go on- and there are so many new memories to make.
So, I have finally come to terms with my "boxes". That they are really a bunch of bull. I don't want to try to over simplify things anymore, to label them. I know that what the Word teaches is the only thing "good", that since He is a part of my life, the experiences I have are either directed or allowed by the Creator of the Universe, and that is all that I need to know. I am not going to play the "what if" game anymore. I don't want to keep saying "did I do the right thing"- I want to walk away and truly say I have no regrets. Not anymore. Every "mistake" has taught me something, changed me in some way. Every blessing has grown me, and made me "better". So, for today, I will remember what the blood of Jesus has really done for me- NO REGRETS, because how can I regret things that God no longer remembers? How can I be sorry for choices that brought me closer to Him? Thank you, Lord, for friends and family, for life, and breath, and everything else. And I will try not to regret the donuts. ;)