Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Passage of Time

This time last week, I was sitting in a hotel room with my family and the Scarbrough's absolutely having the time of my life with David! Wow - that was already a week ago?!?! How nuts is that?! Here I was just begging those 7 months to fly by and then I wanted this one week to last forever! I know - nuts but...it did get me thinking about the passage of time!
My kids are sure growing up fast. I am in the midst of the small amount of things that I have to do for David's wedding when he should still be running around my house playing with Lego's! Carrie is considered a sophomore in college when she should be dressing her dolls for crying out loud! Ashley is almost done with her tenth grade year and driving when she should still be in diapers! See anything wrong with this picture? The passage of time!!
So - here is my question...what am I passing on to them? Is it just about cleaning and laundry and proper nutrition and perfect manners? Or - have I somehow managed to teach them about a right relationship with God? Have I stressed all the "right" things they need to know before I "shove" them all out the door to live on their own? I look around and see all these parents with little ones driving them nuts and I want to YELL as loud as possible for them to take advantage of the time they have! The laundry will always be there as will the cleaning - actually they both will shrink somewhat!! The job will always be there and so will the bills you think you have to work so hard to pay NOW!! The only thing you can take with you to heaven just wants to spend time with you on their level.
Okay - so I am being sappy which is somewhat unusual for me but that is the stage I am in right now! I will see if I can do better next time!!

Monday, April 28, 2008

The Aftermath!!

Trust me - this is one blog that you will be thankful there are no pictures to look at! Let's see - I guess I need to go back a few days! Thursday afternoon, the request for supper was the famous "Fulton Taco Dip and Chips" so while the kids went swimming, Dave went to the store for supplies and did the cooking too!! GREAT job, Babe!! After supper, the Scarbrough's ended up leaving around 8 or so which was not easy for Christa! By 9, David was ready for bed so we all joined him shortly thereafter since I knew I was in for a long day on Friday!
To be honest, I was NOT looking forward to Friday at all! First of all, that is a LONG 13 hour trip! Secondly, I had to leave David and that was actually a little harder than I thought it would be! Then, most importantly, I was leaving Dave in NC and that wasn't too great either!!! As a side note, we figured out yesterday that he has been home for less than 24 hours in the last 4 weeks! So - the trip passed with no problems outside of the fact that I had 2 girls in the car and a young man in Hobe Sound who kept saying, "Go faster, Mom!" I had a panic attack every time I saw a cop car!!!!! (Not really, honey - just joking!!) We did make good time and I was glad to finally arrive home at 6pm.
It just seemed like there was no end in sight to the mess in my house all day Saturday! No matter what I did, there was still laundry and still piles and still unpacking and still a MESS!!! What made matters worse, I felt like doing NOTHING!! I think I managed to catch up the laundry and that was about it! Of course, Dave came home last night and so there is more stuff to put away and more laundry to do! He brought home all the stuff I couldn't get in the car plus his laundry! I am so glad he puts his own stuff away and is so helpful!!
So - we are back at home, back to "normal" (if there is such a thing) and back to the rat-race! I wonder if my emotions will ever stabilize again?! You know, when you have kids - teenagers no less - it makes life interesting! Things just never seem to really settle down and there always seems to be "turmoil" of some sort! Now, it is wedding planning time for David and Christa! I know - there isn't much for me to do since I don't have the bride!! At this point, we are all looking forward to school being over for the year. Carrie only has about 3 weeks left, if that, and Ashley has about 5 weeks left I think. I will be glad for it to be over!
I feel that I have done nothing but rattle in this blog but I guess you all can forgive me just this once, right?

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Homecoming 4

I thought I would post some pictures of some of the activities yesterday! We managed to get around and head to the mall around noon or so. The first priority of the day was to get David a cell phone. Mission accomplished although it seemed to take forever!! Walking around that mall was like walking around a Marine Base - everywhere you looked there were Marines! It was interesting to see the ones that David just nodded at or the ones that he called out by name and stopped to talk to and introduce Christa to!
We came back to the hotel and the kids went swimming again - this time with David! These girls have to be nutty - it's just a necessary part of life!!

I think in this picture, everyone is just hanging onto David!! Poor guy!!

Because I am such a great Mom (not!), I brought along all the necessary items to provide David with his first home-cooked meal. After a quick stop at the local Wal-Mart, I had the fixings I needed to have the whole hotel smelling good! The menu was - Roast, Potatoes, Carrots and Onions along with green beans, cottage cheese, rolls and ranch dressing (specifically for David)! Well - it was all for David but we all enjoyed it!! It was funny - we came in the room after the mall trip and David just stopped and inhaled deeply!!! I think he thought it smelled pretty good! He said they didn't get stuff like this in the MRE's he has eaten for 7 months!! What do you think - I couldn't get the camera fast enough - he had his food half gone before I could snap the picture!!

One of my most favorite parts of the day - having all my kids in one spot being "normal". Christa was down the hall with her parents and we are all missing Josh (especially Carrie). This is one of my favorite pictures so far! Where I was taking the picture from is the small kitchen in the hotel room and I was leaning on the counter! I had to just lean there for a few minutes and thank God for his blessings to me and my family!!

David had to be back at base this morning by 7:30 so his dad took him there and he will be done shortly after noon. The "girls" may be going to a wedding shop in a while so that should be fun! Christa and her parents are headed back home this evening and the girls and I are leaving in the morning to head home. Dave is going to leave on Saturday morning! I probably won't post again until I get home! Please pray that I survive that 13 hour trip!!

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Homecoming 3 - Wordy Details

Good morning all! It is not calm and quiet here but I am sitting on the bed just relaxing and to be honest, this is a relaxing activity for me! Also, if I don't go ahead and blog about this now, I will forget all the things that made this so interesting - NOT!!!!
Sunday was quite the interesting eventful day! We got up to get ready for church and the fun began. We found out that David was definitely coming home and would be arriving on Tuesday at noon. So we began to make hasty arrangements for both us and Carrie. She was with the choir and about an hour after she left Christa's house for their next service, we found out the homecoming details. It was pretty fun there for awhile!! Anyway, Christa and her Dad went to get Carrie Sunday afternoon and Dave and I decided that we should probably go ahead and start on our journey. We left Hobe Sound around and traveled up 95 to just across the Georgia line and spent the night! We got up on Monday and started off on on the rest of the journey. Carrie and Christa and her parents were headed this direction also. Monday the homecoming plans changed about 4 or 5 times so it was an emotional day to say the least! We arrived at the hotel and got all checked in and unloaded. THEN we found out that David's flight had been cancelled and he would not be arriving until Wednesday at the earliest! I thought I was going to die!! Finally around 7 or so, I received a phone call that said that David WAS on a flight and he would be arriving at 2:55 on Tuesday! The rest of our group finally arrived here around 8 and so we got together for supper and then took the girls downstairs to the heated pool to spend some energy!!
Tuesday morning - oh boy, where do I start?? We got up and started getting everyone ready for our big day. Christa sent me a text to tell us that David had called her from Ireland so we had proof that he was actually on his way home! At that point, we still believed that he would be landing at Cherry Point at 2:55 and would be on base at Camp Lejeune by about 4. The girls made their posters, we ate lunch, wrote on the windows of the vehicles and headed off to base at about 1:30. Then the fun really started! We got to the right spot for where the buses come in and they had a place with coffee, donuts and pizza for the families! The longer the afternoon went, the more the families showed up. They had tents set up outside since it was raining off and on and was a little windy! We had a really nice Staff Sergeant that kept us posted off and on as to the progress that our Marines were making! He came in the room and said that they had landed at Cherry Point and the noise was unbelievable!! Around 3, we decided to head outside for the rest of the time. We got out our own chairs and sat under a tent and the waiting really began then. There were more changes than you can imagine! They land, go turn in their weapons and find out that the charter buses are not getting there until 5!!! To make a long story short, (oh wait - too late for that, right?) we sat and waited until the word came that the buses were almost to the main gate of the base! We were standing along the street and before long, a lady turned and yelled that the buses were coming! There were four buses that turned and past in front of us and David was on the 3rd one - we found that out a little later!! We headed towards the Marines that were coming off and Ashley spotted him first! You have never heard such screaming in your life! He was immediately attacked by Christa and then his two sisters and then his dad and then his in-laws and then finally, his short little momma!!!!!! Of course, then there was more waiting as these guys had to stand around and wait on the semi to bring their luggage! It arrived, it was unloaded in a matter of minutes by some fast moving Marines and we headed off with David to our hotel!
It was the best thing in the world to gather in the hotel room and stop and take a few minutes to just thank God that he had brought David home safely! There were no dry eyes let me tell you!
We got to bed but I am afraid that didn't last long! His body is on the wrong time! Anyway, we were up around 4am talking and looking at pictures. I went back to sleep and his dad got up with him. I think they ate and went out for a bit and then down to play some pool and who knows what else? He pretty much had everyone up by 7:30 with his hyper ways!!! I must admit that I missed that!!
So - that's it for now! I feel so much better to have this all down in writing and to share it with those of you who have prayed so much for our family! I am sure I will have more to post later on!!

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Homecoming 2!!!

Here are just a few pictures that I managed to snap in the midst of the very unorganized chaos!! This was the first bus that was rounding the corner!

This is Christa finally being able to plant one on her man after a long 7 months!

Somewhere in this mess is Christa, Carrie, Ashley and Dave!

This is David with Carrie and Ashley!

There are probably a whole lot more I could say and post but to be honest, my food is getting cold and I am so tired my eyes are playing tricks on me! I am sure I will post some more tomorrow but for now, David is home and that is ALL that matters! Praise the Lord!

Homecoming 1!!



I am going to start numbering these blogs from now on to see if I can prevent anyone from getting lost!!

So - it is 12:35 and we will soon be headed out to the base. The posters are made and the windows of the vehicles are about to be properly MARKED! Our Marine called Christa this morning early from Ireland and is on schedule to arrive in the US at 2:55. As to when we actually see him, time will tell!

Thanks so much to all of you for your prayers!! Please keep them up! I promise that more pictures and blogging will be forthcoming so check back on a frequent basis!

Monday, April 21, 2008

A Quick Update

As of this moment, although I am so tired I am not too positive of anything, it looks as though the Marine of our family will be on USA soil sometime tomorrow after noon!! We are ALL in North Carolina now and trying to get everyone settled down and ready for bed so we can get some sleep!
Check back tomorrow evening sometime and I will see if I can update this blog with information that you might find interesting!!

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Hold your breath!!

It is currently 4:50 in the afternoon on Sunday and the three family members in this house are frantically packing and making last minute preparations to head out the door in the next few minutes! There is tentative homecoming information that I must confess I would love to shout to the mountain-tops but am quite hesitant to do so for fear of putting a curse on the immediate plans!! Christa and her wonderful dad have made a flying trip to pick up Carrie and we will be meeting up with them "at the meeting place" sometime tomorrow evening!
I promise that I will do my best to update you on any further information as soon as I can! I can also promise you an amount of pictures that will probably drive you all to the brink of insanity! At least you will be able to better comprehend where I have been living recently! Well, actually - I have been driving those closest to me to that point pretty much on a regular basis!!! Check back for the "rest of the story" and I will post it as soon as it is "written"!!!!

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Unusual - Blogging on Saturday

Well, this is a momentous occasion and I cannot help but blog about it. As I type, it is 1:15 in the afternoon, I am sitting at the computer and for about the next 30 minutes ------ wait for it........ my house is entirely clean and the laundry is almost done, there are no dirty dishes and it is completely quiet! WOW!!! I am so amazing! (ok - that was a bit much!)
Dave and Ashley should be pulling in anytime from IHC so the laundry will explode about 30 minutes later. Carrie is still with the choir and they are going to be at Christa's church tonight so she is really excited about that! Actually, I do not know who is more excited, Carrie or Christa! The choir will be home on Monday evening and I am looking forward to that. They will have a choir service here at home on Wednesday night and we always look forward to it!
David called yesterday with the news that......nothing has changed! Now THERE is a shocker! Anyway, hopefully this time next week we will be in North Carolina but as is usual, you won't find me holding my breath! He is doing well although quite anxious to get home! The emotional upheaval has been a little difficult on us all but "Over and over, again and again, God is faithful"!!

Friday, April 18, 2008

I LIED!!!

Hmmm....got your attention, didn't I?? I have made the decision to apologize for this one, say what I need to and drop the subject. A certain Marine is still in the same location he has been for the last almost 7 months. There is NO homecoming news to report at this time and I am done talking about it! I will NOT discuss this mess again for my heart, soul and body can't handle it. Please pray for this family and ALL it's members! Trust me, we need it about now!
A brief hello to all you people who told my husband at IHC that you read my blog! I guess I have quite the "fan" base! Hmmmm......wonder if those are good fans or bad ones who are trying to plot my demise! If you are reading this, be so kind and post a comment! I would love to know who you are and where you are - even if you live out my back door, within easy driving distance, in a distant state or around the world somewhere!!

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Another Update

I cannot go into detail but I have heard from a very reliable source that David is no longer in the "sandbox"! For now, since I am at work, I won't type more for fear of emotions but I will tell you that my heart is doing funny things!!!!
I ask that you PLEASE pray that God will work out ALL details of the homecoming! There are many questions and lots of planning that we need help with!!!! PLEASE pray for Christa especially that God will work out the details for her college classes and most of all, that HE will bring peace to her heart!
Stay tuned for the ever-changing details!!!!!!!

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Update

Well, Dave is headed to IHC today. Ashley is on an airplane as I type this to fly to Dayton. Carrie is still on choir tour and will be arriving in Dayton on Wednesday! I am at home waiting. On what? That would be the military to decide which day they will be flying home a certain young man!!! Yes - as is the usual case - the plans have changed so this family is taking flexibility to an all new level! I can't seem to think of a single one of us (Christa and Josh included) who are thrilled beyond words but since we are not the "head honchos", I don't think it matters a whole lot what we think!! Anyway, just a quick update and if the members of this family come to your mind, please pray for an extra large dose of grace and sanity. For reasons that should be obvious, we are all running a little short in those two areas! Ok - that was speaking for everyone which is probably not a good idea! I just thought that if I included all of us, the one who is really stressed (me!) wouldn't feel so guilty!!

Friday, April 11, 2008

News of Ashley


This is Ashley's school picture for this year which I am sure she will not be too happy about when she sees I did this!! BUT - anyway, what good is a Mom if you can't frustrate your kids, right??
As the baby of the family, Ashley has struggled somewhat finding something that she does that the other two haven't. I know - sounds weird but you probably understand what I mean. Anyway, a favorite thing that Ashley does is choir - this girl loves to sing!! Several weeks ago, the high school choir competed in Jacksonville for the state competition and won so they were able to go to the National competition that is held at Bob Jones University. They left bright and early Tuesday morning and headed off to compete. They sang on Wednesday and had to wait until the awards ceremony last night at 7 before they knew the results. Our choir placed FIRST at Nationals and let me tell you, we had some very happy kids last night! I thought my eardrum would burst when I answered my cell phone! They were all sooooooo excited about winning!
I don't know if it has really hit Ashley yet or not, but she finally has done something that the other two haven't and that is win with the choir at Nationals. David and Carrie both sang in High School choir all 4 years and never went to Nationals. I was really happy for her! They are on their way home as I am typing this and I wonder how long it will take me to settle that girl down this evening so I can go to sleep?!?!?!?!

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Music

If you have ever had to suffer through the few times I had to play the piano in SS here in Hobe Sound OR actually listen to me play in church "up north somewheres", then you know that playing the piano is NOT one of my God-given talents! BUT - playing the piano is a HUGE stress reliever for me and not one I have been taking advantage of recently as I am sure my neighbors have been thanking God for!! However, a short 1 minute blurb is what I want to tell you about.

With very little detail, I will tell you that things have been a little "quiet" in my life on the spiritual side for quite some time. There has been many, many instances of emotional turmoil over recent months and I often wondered what the end result would be and if it would ever end. Last night, during a brief period of time when no one was home but me, I walked by the piano, paused and flipped open the chorus book that was left there by an unmentioned child. Here is where I stopped, here is where I pulled out the bench and played what was there. Here is where God spoke ever so gently to me! Here is what I played!

Be still and know that I am God!
Be still and know that I am God!
Be still and know that I am God!

I am the Lord that healeth thee!
I am the Lord that healeth thee!
I am the Lord that healeth thee!

In Thee O Lord I put my trust!
In Thee O Lord I put my trust!
In Thee O Lord I put my trust!

I know - quite simple actually! BUT - in HIS own way, God used this to speak to me and show me that once again, HE can ALWAYS be trusted! Then this morning, it became even more apparent that God was using it to speak VOLUMES to me - by the way, have you ever tried bending over to dry your hair, start crying bucket-loads and keep the snot out of your hair? It actually is very hard!
The bottom line is that I am blessed for God has chosen to speak to me and that makes ALL the difference!!!

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

An update and a break

Not much to say - no time to say it anyway! We are all getting ready to go all different directions until we meet up for homecoming in a couple of weeks. The next few weeks should be very interesting at the "funny farm". Dave will be off for revival and IHC, Ashley is headed to BJU for competition and then IHC, Carrie is headed off on choir tour and then we will all meet up for the BIG DAY!! I will be getting some alone time and I think that is a VERY good thing!
I think I am going to take a break from blogging. There is too much going on in my life right now and the tendency for it to seep into my blog is NOT a good idea. I often blog about struggles and frustrations and hurts and trials and for now, there are just too many and I am afraid to say them "out loud" so to speak. I do know that there is always something to learn and that God uses all kinds of things to teach lessons - these are just too painful to deal with in the "public eye".
I may update my "daily blurb" from time to time but I will have to see what time will allow. Check back for the next time I blog - excitement will have chased away the blues!!