An Easter Prayer

Dear Lord,

Thank you for the gift of HOPE
You gave us on Easter morning. Because of You we know that no problem is too difficult, and even death does not have power over us.

Thank you for the gift of JOY
You gave us when you were resurrected. Because of You we know that no matter how challenging life may be, in the end we will rejoice again.

Thank you for the gift of LOVE
You gave us when You laid down Your life. Because of You we know that there is no sin too great to seperate us and we are incredibly valuable to You.

Thank you for the gift of LIFE
You gave us when you left the tomb. Because of Easter we know this world is just the beginning and we will spend forever in heaven with You.

We celebrate you, JESUS
with hearts full of praise and gratitude for who You are and all You've done for us!

Amen. (written by Holley Gerth)

Please take a few minutes and watch this video from You Tube:

This clip illustrates in a powerful way how the sacrifice of Jesus must have completely broken the heart of God the Father - and how Easter should also include a time of expressing our gratitude not only to Jesus, but to the Father as well.

This clip is also more than just a video. It's actually based on the true story of a real man who made that exact sacrifice.

This week over a billion people will celebrate Easter. We celebrate the fact that Jesus Christ came back from the dead after paying the ultimate price for our sins. We celebrate the fact that salvation is available through trusting in the risen Savior of the world.

But even though we celebrate, sometimes we forget. There was more than one sacrifice that was made on that hill where Jesus hung on the Cross and poured out His life. Think of the sacrifice God the Father also made for us.

That's why this Easter we need to remember and celebrate not only the earthly side of the gospel message, but the heavenly side as well.

But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. (Romans 5:8)

Happy Easter, everyone.

A Few Peas Shy of a Casserole

Today, while driving to work this morning, a car pulled out RIGHT in front of me. I mean I was this close to hitting the guy. I had to slam on the brakes. (And no, as much as I wanted to, I did not scream out obscenities. I had the kids in the car with me.) But the kids did watch the whole thing. After we composed ourselves, Cole said, "Wow. That guy wasn't so smart, was he, Mom?"

And of course, I wholeheartedly agreed. And followed with, "Nope. He certainly is not the brightest bulb in the pack. And, he's for sure not the sharpest tool in the shed."

Well then, I had to explain what those sayings meant. (Yeah, I know. I'm not up for the Mother of the Year award anytime soon.)

So then, Gage pipes up and says, "Yeah. He's really not the tastiest nut in the Snickers bar." Ha ha! Good one! Yeah, I know it really doesn't make sense. But it made me laugh.

So THEN, not to be outdone, Lexi says, "Nope. He's not the brightest ketchup stain on the ol' dress shirt." Ha! I'm laughing hard now. 'Cuz that one made a little more sense, and was pretty funny.

Cole listened to all of this, and really didn't know what to say. And even though it had nothing to do with anything, he came up with, "Well, I just think Mom is pretty." Awwww...yeah he sometimes says the sweetest things.

To which Lexi says, "Mom? Cole is such a suck-up. And, you know what else? Cole for SURE is not the first chicken on the rotisserie."

Yeah. I have no idea what that means either. But I nearly snorted my latte outta my nose, I was laughing so hard!

....And then, of course - Cole: "I am TOO the first chicken on the rotisserie."

Wordless Wednesday: Spring Storm

I'm participating in Wordless Wednesday this week. Yay for me!

Except I'm gonna use some words, so it's not really wordless.

We had the coolest storm roll through this past weekend. It's hard to see, but it's just POURING rain and hail. Afterwards the most beautiful rainbow emerged. I LOVE storms!

Wax on, Wax off

As long as there's been women and facial hair, there's been women trying to get rid of that facial hair. We tweeze, we bleach, we pluck, and yes, we even wax.

I have to admit though, before this weekend, it had been over a year since I'd been in to get waxed. Why? Because the memory of the sheer PAIN of it all was fresh in my mind. Even after a year. I mean GEES. Basically you're sitting there, and this cheerful perky lady takes gobs of hot molten WAX and spreads it on tender parts of your face. Then she gets little white strips of paper, presses them on the wax and then rrrrrip ... rrrrrippp....rrriiiipppp. And all the while this is going on, she's smiling and chatting away with you. Like it's perfectly normal to have little short bits of hair, along with the first layer of skin RIPPED from your upper lip or eyebrows. It's really not fun. And you're paying this woman to do this torturous activity. Oh, and being waxed down there? I don't even want to THINK about THAT. I'm pretty sure no one has lived through THAT to tell the tale.

But I must say, on Saturday, RLG and I went in to get waxed, and it was almost pleasant! Well, pleasant is a strong word. I mean it's still hot molten wax, and hair being ripped from your face, but surprisingly - it didn't hurt! I don't know if my threshold for pain is different now, or if they've improved the waxing technique since I was last in, but I was pleasantly surprised.

And the best part? When I got home, Cole examined my eyebrows and said, "Wow, Mommy! You left here with 2 giant furry caterpillars on your forehead, and now it's like....ummm...now they're just 2 little worms."

Hey. I'll take little worms over giant furry caterpillars any day of the week.

What else...Oh! Look how big our pigs are already:

They're growing so fast! And, they're so funny. They have such personalities. You know what else? Pigs are very clean. They 'do their business' in one corner of the pen, and it's far away from their shelter and their food. I never would have thought. I mean, cows just poop where ever and whenever the urge strikes. Even if it's on the head of another cow eating right next to them. It's really pretty gross. But pigs? Very clean animals. They're fun to watch.

Happy St. Pat's Day everyone! Hope you remembered to wear greeeeeen!

Just the Secretary

Not too long ago, I received the following little gem of a phone call at work:

Him: "Yeah, I'd like to speak to someone about the Science Fair."

Me: "Oh! You're speaking to the right person. How may I help you?"

Him: "Well....um... who are you?"

Me: I said my name when I answered the phone, but anyway...
"This is Diane. I coordinated the Science Fair this year. Is there something I can help you with?"

Him: "Sooooo. Ummmm.... Do you work there?"

Me: No. I'm some derelict that wandered in off the street. I heard a phone ringing and I answered it.
"Yes, I sure do. I'm the secretary here. Can I help you?" (For the 50th time?)

Him: "So let me get this straight. You're JUST the secretary down there, and they put YOU are in charge of the Science Fair??"

Me: cringing that he said 'JUST the secretary.'
"Yes, that's right."

Him: "Don't take this the wrong way, but why in the world wasn't a teacher put in charge of the Science Fair? Or someone at least with a science background?"

Me: Yeah, thanks, I'll try not to take that the wrong way.
"Well, you know, I do happen to have a 'science background'."
(completely irritated that I have to defend myself to this dude.)
"I have a degree in Microbiology and worked many years as a Medical Technologist."
OR maybe you'd rather have a teacher with a degree in Home Ec be in charge? Not that there's anything wrong with a Home Ec degree, you understand, but you want someone that doesn't know the Scientific Method from a hole in the ground running the thing? Not that an elementary Science Fair is rocket science. But still.

Him: "Oh...."

Me: How do you like dem apples?
"So, sir, HOW CAN I HELP YOU?"

Him: "I just wanted to pass on that I thought the Science Fair was well organized this year."

Me: Oh gee - thanks.

Him: "And I was just curious...if you supposedly have all this science background, why are you there? Why are you just the secretary at my son's school?"

There's that 'just the secretary' nugget again.

Yeah. I'm not sure if this guy was trying hard to be JUST an idiot, or if it came naturally.

But I do get asked that a lot. Why am I the secretary at my kids' school? There are many answers to that question. Sometimes, to be honest, I don't have a CLUE what I'm doing here. Coincidentally, this clueless feeling usually occurs on the days I'm cleaning up puke or helping a kid who just peed all over the floor.

I used to think I was here because I got 1/2 off my kids' tuition by working here. (Don't get me wrong - that's huge! That's why I accepted the job. But that's not why I stay.) I'm here for a lot of reasons. I have a lot of stories I could tell that answers that question. But I'll just tell one today.

There's a little girl that goes to school here. When she started in September, she was very angry. She never smiled. She did not talk. And every single morning she was tardy. But I didn't mind, because as I wrote out her tardy slip, I smiled at her and told her I hoped that she would have a good day. She never smiled back and never said a word to me. In fact, she glared at me most mornings.

She gets in trouble. A lot. She's in the principal's office all the time. She struggles academically. And she was even moved back a grade. The other kids don't play with her because they say she's not nice. The teachers dog her because she misbehaves. All of this made her even angrier.

I don't know much about her home life, but I know her mom is a struggling single mom, and she tries hard.

So here it is March. I have spent six months smiling at this girl, winking at her in the halls, giving her quick words of encouragement, with nothing back. Zip. Nada.

That all changed this week!

This week, this little girl has started to soften! She smiles back! She winks back. And yesterday? Yesterday she paused in front of my window until I looked up, and then she smiled. She smiled first.

Maybe that doesn't sound like much to you. But I know that I am making a small difference in this little girl's life. I'm not sure why she's softening, I'm just glad she is. I'm thankful she's here in our school. And I'm thankful that I'm 'just the secretary' at this school.

That's why I'm here, Mr. Jerk on the phone. I'm here for the little girl that smiles at me now, and a million other little reasons. I could be in a lab someplace making a lot more than I do now. And, maybe I will do that again some day. But right now? I'm here.

I'm here because I believe God placed me here. I believe He wants me to do what I can to make a difference, as small as it is, in the lives of the children here.

Isn't that what it's all about?

(Oh yeah. And also? I get a month off in the summer & Christmas and Easter breaks off. Don't forget THAT.)