STREEEEEEEETCH

That is what is going on with me right now. Stretching. But you know what is unusual in this stretching time I am in is that it is not making me crazy. It is uncomfortable but not unbearable. I am a person who works best under pressure. I actually think I enjoy the adrenaline rush, the rush to make it all happen. I know people who are not like that and I admire them but that is not how I am and I am finally ok with that. I have always been like this and it doesn’t seem like it is going to change. Probably because I don’t mind it. I actually enjoy having several balls in the air at one time. You would be surprised to find that when I do have the juggling to do I do better in other areas as well. My other responsibilities, house, laundry etc.

What is stretching me right now? Preparing to preach next week. It means a lot of studying but that is not necessarily what I feel either it is more the responsibility that comes with what you are doing. I don’t take it lightly. I have done it before. This is the third time I will preach at church. The last time was aweful. I thought it was. But I learned a lot. This time I am going to be more myself. It is hard to resist the temptation to try to be like others you have heard but I need to be myself.

Had a VBS meeting last night. I feel good about where things are at and there are many things to do. Last night was just a small group of people who I gathered for their counsel. I believed in my heart that I knew what we are supposed to do. So I gathered a small group together to see what there hearts said. There were some very good questions brought up. I appreciate the way other people look at things it brings balance. Not everyone thinks alike. I used to have a diffacult time with people who had a zillion questions when I presented an idea......then I married Larry. He is the master question asker. I now realize it is good for me as I tend to be one who charges ahead without totally counting the cost. Larry really can’t help it. It is his nature. I recently heard a minister do a teaching on the motivational gifts and when he taught about the motivational gift of the teacher it was like getting a free session at a marriage counselors office. The motivational gift of a teacher is a born question asker. They want to know the hows and whys of everything. Now me, that is not me. I am motivated differently. Since I am not made like that it can kind of drive me crazy when I don’t take the time to remember that they are not out to prove that your idea is not going to work but to add clarity and definition to what you are posing. Now I don’t all ways remember that right away when these things come up but I am trying to remind myself more and more.

It snowed today. What can I say but it is the first full day of spring and this is yucky. There had better be some green grass under this when it is all melted. To be fair the timber or woods if you are from up north looks beautiful and the sun is out making great shadows on the snow.

Alex is coming home this weekend. I will enjoy that. He will be home a month later for the summer. Actually the school year went pretty fast considering that when he left I thought the world had come to an end.

We had dinner on Saturday night with a couple from church. We had such a nice time.
I will make this short and maybe not so sweet. This couple sacrificed a year of there life so he could serve in Iraq for our country and experienced things that a human being should not have to experience. Things that he was not able to leave there when he came home. They are deeply etched in his memory. His wife was alone for a year with out her husband. Dealing with being alone. She had great support but still she was without her husband. And try as we might we cannot comprehend what that year was like for either of them. Especially the soldier. We can’t!.

When I hear people who so boldly speak out and dishonor our soldiers and the sacrifice that they have made it makes me sick. I am sick in my heart and would not want to be that soldier who is home now hearing this. Most of these men have time left in the service with the possibibilty of returning or going or being called up somewhere else is not out of the question. I listened to this couple and will not forget the look on his face when he was talking about the difficult adjustment he has had to make and is still making. And they are doing it together. I thanked him. Just a simple thank you. What else can you say. There are no words that can express the gratitude we should have but sadly many do not.

Just my rambling thoughts for today, the first day of spring.

Just "B"