kevinandlindsay.net

It’s true. I am the worst blogger. I can’t tell you how many times this year my husband has asked me, “Are you ever going to post another blog?”

“Yes…just as soon as I give Victoria a bath, dress her for bed, feed Thomas, change Thomas, put away the laundry, unload the dishwasher, check my email, look at the budget, vacuum the den…” And the list goes on and on. Well, those things are always going to demand my attention so I decided just to sit down and write. This particular entry will have no real direction, but I know that I have a lot to say.

The year 2008 has been the most challenging year of my life, and I hope that in fifty years, I will still look back on 2008 as the most difficult. I have learned that the simple things in life really aren’t to be taken for granted. For instance, the ability to eat solid foods and walk without assistance, to leave the house without concern if you’re going to need to take your IV antibiotics with you, going a week or even a day without being stuck by a really bad lab technician, or the simpleness of being alone in your own home without someone waiting on you hand and foot. (Some consider that a blessing; I consider it troublesome.)

Someone told me soon after I returned to normal health, “Well, it can’t get any worse than this.” But you know what? It could. When I hear of the trials and tribulations that others are going through, my year seems like child’s play. Yes, this year for me has seen its struggles, but it has also presented its amazing blessings! I ended my 5th grade teaching career at Cedar Grove Elementary with a superb group of students and an amazing team, my husband and I moved to a beautiful community filled with so many great opportunities, my family is part of an awesome and Godly church family, we have two precious and loving children…and the blessings go on and on. I see God daily and am constantly awed by His love!

In just a few days, we will gorge on turkey and homemade sides. Remember that each day is a beautiful gift from God not to be taken for granted, not even for a second. Find the blessings in your year no matter how small.

I Chronicles 16:34 “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, His love endures forever.”

<><LinZ

This year, a person, very near and dear to my heart, defended this nation in Iraq- my precious, baby cousin, Sam. (Okay, so he’s 27 years old, but he’ll always be little to me.) For 7 long months, my husband and I prayed for him, along with countless others. We prayed for his safety, we prayed for his spirits, and we prayed for his sweet wife, Leigh, as she waited anxiously for his return.

As a teacher, I often talk with my students about the brave men and women who protect us everyday, and I listen to the students talk about these soldiers. Children are not concerned with the politics going on behind the war. What they do know is that these people are their heroes. Forget Batman or Superman or Spiderman. Place a soldier in their presence and for a few short seconds, they are speechless. Give them time to make a card to send to a soldier and they will not tell them their opinion on whether or not they support the cause. But what they will do is write very largely in their CRAYOLA marker, “Thank You!”

Many times I have heard, and even said myself, “You can learn a lot from children.” That statement could not be more true. Currently, their is a video circulating through email courtesy of “The Gratitude Campaign.”

Please visit

http://www.gratitudecampaign.org/fullmovie.php

and see what a simple sign can do for the random soldier you pass on the street.

My cousin returned, physically unharmed in September. I will have the pleasure and joy to see him at Christmas, and I will be telling him, “Thank you!”

<><LinZ

Indulge me for a moment while I tell you what’s been going on in my life these last two months. In August, I began feeling less than wonderful. I was tired and ill (not as in mean, though my husband may disagree, but as in not feeling well), and I feared that I might be pregnant again. (Yes Mom, I said feared; I’m not quite ready for a second Nut.) So, after much complaining, I went to the doctor. Turns out I have mono and apparently have had it for quite some time. Well, that definitely explains the tiredness. One night two weeks later I began experiencing a stabbing pain, much like a contraction. (I have quite a few pregnancy connections.) I journey to the emergency room only to discover that I have passed a kidney stone. Lovely! Also during this time I meet with a gastroenterologist who proclaims that I have irritable bowel syndrome, to which I translate as, “I’m not really sure why you’re having constant stomach pains.”

Well, some time passes and I begin to feel great again. As a reward, my husband and I take what we hope to be like a second honeymoon- a cruise. It was going to be wonderful! I boarded the ship (childless by the way…a week with zero responsibility) and I was giddy, like a kid in a candy shop. The first two days were amazing! We laughed, played Bingo, and tanned by the pool. And then Monday hit and I was sick. Not sea sick. “Chop my head off because it hurts so bad” sick. For the next two days, I would see the doctor and nurses in the infirmary more than the poolside waiters.

Thursday morning, the day of debarkation, couldn’t come soon enough. I visited my doctor and learned that my mono is still hanging on and I have viral meningitis. It’s not deadly, just a pain in the neck! (No pun intended.) I am slowly recovering and hope to be myself again soon.

I titled this blog “Bad Takes On Good” but I’ve yet to mention anything good. Here’s the good. A couple of weeks ago, a package was delivered to our house addressed to me from Belk. Upon opening, I found 12 five-piece place settings of lovely flatware. My step-dad had received a phone call a couple of days earlier from a Belk store saying that the package had been sitting there for a couple of years and was never mailed. It seems that it was a wedding present. So, my step-dad gave them my address and now I have this wonderful gift. Curious though, there wasn’t a card. Not a single piece of evidence that would reveal to me who sent this rather extravagant gift. I am bothered in knowing that some kind and generous person is cursing my name for having never received a proper “Thank you” from me. Any takers?

And in other good news…my cholesterol is quite desirable at 122!

<><LinZ

The summer is coming to an end. I know, I know. Many of you will say, “Why, that’s not true at all! Summer doesn’t end until the middle of September.” Well, technically yes, but ask any grade school child or teacher and they will sadly declare that summer is over! Instead of feeling sadness though, I feel absolute gratitude. How many of us can say that we are able to spend everyday with our loving husband and beautiful daughter? Kevin and I have been in a very unique position this summer by not working with a ministry, and I would not take back this time for anything. We have a marriage and friendship that is stronger than ever, and we have a little girl who is happy and confident and completely secure knowing that Mom and Dad adore one another and her.

And now, there are school supplies to be purchased! I do get most excited about new supplies and meeting new students and teaching the lessons in new and exciting ways. I am reminded at this time every year of a favorite line of mine from “You’ve Got Mail” as Tom Hanks writes so poetically to Meg Ryan with respect to the onset of Fall, ” I would send you a bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils.” What an awesome gesture!

And so, gone are the days are of sleeping in until The Price is Right. Gone are the days of napping with my sweet baby. Gone are the days of playing endless hours of Worms World Party with my husband. Gone are the days of staying in my pajamas until late afternoon…That is, until next summer!

<><LinZ