Sunday, February 24, 2013

A Short Break

We have an unusually busy couple of weeks coming up. For the first time in 53 years, our church is changing it's office hours. With more people accessing computers to buy tickets and get general information, our front office has less and less to do. So, beginning this week we will be closing on Fridays. Our receptionist will have her hours cut, like many of us have and we'll have to re-arrange our work schedules to accommodate the new hours. Last Friday the receptionist and I had a little party. (My desk is in the front office, right behind hers.) We had cake and flowers, just to celebrate Fridays and to mark the end of an era. 

On Tuesday Beth has a doctor's appointment with her endocrinologist. It'll be her first follow up after the radio-iodine treatment. The doctor will see if her thyroid is dead and then we'll decide what to do from here.

Tuesday night is prayer meeting. Wednesday is our home group...

This week our church will be praying and fasting. Friday we're having an all night prayer meeting. It'll begin at 9:00 PM and go until 6:00 AM when we'll have communion and breakfast together. During the night we'll pray for an hour, then take a short break. Then pray for an hour, etc. This world seems to be calling good things bad, and bad things good. The Body of Christ, God's children all over the world, need a wake up call (my church included!) to begin to seek the Lord and His will for our lives. We need to look to Him to know what is right and what is wrong. The Lord has made holy the institutions of marriage, family and human life but society is desecrating them. We need to get on our knees, humble ourselves and pray that God would heal our land. (Okay, off my soap box now.)

Next week our church is hosting a conference at one of the largest churches in the area (seats 5000) with Anne Graham Lotz, Billy Graham's daughter. We're volunteering and have attended a few meetings for this two day conference.
 
I feel I'm supposed to fast the computer this week. Between Facebook and playing Mahjong and blogging and Pinterest, I can spend literally hours on this thing. I feel I need to give this up and spend more time seeking the Lord. So that means I won't be posting again until next weekend. I'm going to really try to use my camera this week so maybe I'll have some pictures for you as well! :)

Have a great week. Catch ya on the flip side.

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Is That the... Sun??

We actually got to see the sun here in Seattle yesterday! It was glorious! The wind was still cold but so many people were outside. It was a beautiful day.

I decided to head to the beach for a while. We only live 2 miles away, I really should go more often. I walked past the grassy areas, past the playground and headed right down to the water. The contrast between the water and the sky and the rocks was so striking. I was snapping away, taking photo after photo.



 




All of the sudden I hear this lady scream, "Look out! You're gonna step on the baby!!" I looked over to see that she was screaming at me. I thought, 'What? What baby?' And I began to look around. Right at my feet, right at my feet I see this...






That's my footprint at the bottom right. I immediately backed away, the poor baby! He was still alive and the lady said she was hoping mom was going to come back at high tide. He pulled himself up closer behind the rock and just tried to stay hidden. I thought about him all night, hoping, praying he made it back to the water. I wondered if I should have called someone. But who do you call when you find an animal on the shore? And did this warrant a phone call? Would they have taken him away? Course, I didn't think about all this 'til last night.

Anyway, I left there and drove a few blocks away where you can sit in your car and look out over Puget Sound. Much warmer sitting in my car! And the view was just as great. Unfortunately, the clouds covered up the snowy mountain peaks. These were taken with my zoom lens and I haven't quite figured out the lighting when using it.

 

Monday, February 18, 2013

If It's On the Menu Board...

Today was a holiday for Beth, Diana and me. Chuck had to work but the rest of us slept in and relaxed most of the day.

Beth spent a lot of time downstairs watching movies and writing. She writes names with her pens and then goes over them with markers. This was taken about a year ago, but now she's writing only proper names.


Each section begins with the same letter but each page has numerous sections. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it but she does this for hours. I've asked her where she gets the ideas for the names and she shrugs her shoulders, "I dunno." I think she does know, I've just never pressed the issue. :)

Diana was in the mood to watch movies today so she put in Sound of Music and we curled up on the couch for a while. Love that movie.

We had soup and sandwiches for dinner tonight. Well, Beth doesn't like grilled cheese sandwiches (crazy, I know!) so she had soup and a salad. Often on Tuesdays we eat at church before going to the prayer meeting but I talked to her today about eating at home tomorrow night. When Chuck got home, Beth asked him if we can eat at church and he said he thought we could. Beth hollered into the kitchen, "Hah mothera!!" (Yes, she calls me mothera. Accent on the 'uh'.) I told her we were still talking about it and we might not eat at church.

So she went out to the kitchen and wrote 'church' on the menu board! If it's on the menu board, it must be happening! :)

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Feeling Guilty

Chuck, Diana and I went to the mall last night after work. I asked Beth if she wanted to come but she said no. Diana bought a new watch. It's rose gold and absolutely beautiful! At one of her jobs, they're always needing to know the time but the clock isn't in a convenient place and they aren't allowed to have their phones on them so... she bought a watch.

I sent Beth a text telling her that we were stopping at the grocery store and then we'd be home. She sent me this text:

OK. CAN YOU THREE PLEASE HURRY UP NOW. I NEED YOU TO OKAY? SAY YES OK?

Then a few minutes later:

MOTHER ARE WE GOING TO EAT SOMETHING WHEN YOU THREE GET BACK FROM THE MALL?

I assured her that yes, we would have dinner when we got back.


Wow, I thought that would be a lot more exciting than it actually was. Our lives really aren't that grand. I've sometimes felt a little guilty about the title of my blog, Adventures With Beth. We don't have that many adventures. At least we haven't lately.

Beth went to job class yesterday. She said it was 'fine'. She took a package of mini marshmallows with her last week to share with everyone. They are each allowed one cup of hot chocolate and she wanted to share them. When I asked her if they had hot chocolate today she said they were out of hot chocolate.

...And that's her adventure for this week! :)

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Through Her Tears

Beth called me at work yesterday. She was sobbing. Through her tears and her gasps for air she told me her bus had left. She was outside on the porch, sobbing.

As we talked she was able to calm herself down a little and the story emerged. She was in the bathroom brushing her teeth and when she came out, it was gone.

I wasn't surprised.

This is the note I put on the counter every Monday night:

Good morning Beth!
You get to go bowling today!
Set your alarm for 7:30 AM.
Wakey Wakey at 7:30 AM. 
Your bus comes at 8:45 AM.
Be upstairs and ready at 8:45 AM.
Have fun today!
Love you!
Mom

(Wakey Wakey is what Hannah Montana's dad used to tell her every morning.) I put a note like this on the counter every night, if Beth has someplace to be the next day. When to set her alarm and when to be ready to walk out the door. 

When the DART bus arrives at your house, you have 5 minutes to be outside. If you don't respond after 5 minutes, they have to leave to pick up the next client. They will ring the doorbell, call you, they really go out of their way to give these riders an opportunity to respond.

Unfortunately, Beth has developed a habit where, when her bus pulls in, she goes in to brush her teeth, wash her face, etc. When they ring the doorbell, no matter how much I coax, she won't answer it. I end up telling them 'just one more minute.'

Yesterday I was at work so when they rang the doorbell, Beth ignored them. When they called the house (I heard the voice mail when I got home) she didn't answer the phone, so... they left.

It hurts so much to watch your kids learn a lesson the hard way. Especially when they're adults. You can't spank them or ground them or insist they do things your way. When they become adults, all you can do is give advice. Offer suggestions. And hope. And pray.

When they look the other way or choose not to take the advice, sometimes it works out fine and they're able to figure it out on their own, but when it doesn't, it is the hardest thing for a parent! You wanna rush in and fix it, make it better. But you can't.

Sitting at work yesterday all I could tell Beth was, "I'm sorry." "I'm so sorry Beth".

Last night we asked her what she could do differently in order to make it to her bus on time and she repeated all the things we've been trying to tell her. This morning, she was up, dressed, teeth brushed, breakfast eaten and coat on before DART even arrived!

That big blue and white bus pulled into our driveway and Beth was on the front porch as the driver was coming off the bus! She missed bowling yesterday. She sure wasn't going to miss art and karoake today!

Monday, February 11, 2013

Being Forgetful Sometimes Brings Opportunity

When Beth starts a new activity or whatever, DART requires that you call each week to set up the ride. After 6 weeks, it becomes a Standing Ride and you don't have to call anymore. It's just always in their system unless you cancel it.

So when she started volunteering at the school each Monday I had to call and schedule the ride. I did really good... until this week. I forgot to schedule the ride! When I called them this morning for her ride times, they told me she didn't have a ride scheduled. Drat.

But...

That meant when I dropped her off this morning, I could take her picture!! She wasn't very excited about it so I told her I'd just take one of her walking into the school. She was okay with that. :)

When I picked her back up her job coach came out and said that Beth finished shredding early so she was able to read with one of the students! I guess the 2nd grader came to the office and she and Beth read for a while. Beth loved it! Another baby step!!


Saturday, February 9, 2013

Let Me Introduce Myself

You might not remember me because it's been so long since I last wrote!! I'm sorry!!

This has been a crazy two weeks. We've been out almost every single night with meetings and errands. I"m still getting used to my new hours at work. Plus they'll be changing again in a couple weeks.

Our small group has started up again so we're out every Wednesday, usually til around 9:30.

We celebrated Chuck's birthday on Thursday. My hubby is 55! Our friends keep telling us about all the great discounts out there that are available to those who are 55 and over. We're definitely looking forward to this!! I secretly took cupcakes to our small group host home before the meeting started, then we surprised Chuck with a little impromptu singing.

Thursday Ryan and Sharaya came over for dinner, then gifts and pie. Chuck isn't a big fan of cake so every year I buy a lemon meringue pie. His favorite! And there were cupcakes left over from our small group so there was a lot to choose from.

Ugh. Too many sweets. A lack of sleep. We're looking forward to getting back to normal next week.




Monday, February 4, 2013

A Little Reminder

John 9:1-3
As Jesus went along, He saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind?" "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life."

The Lord reminded Chuck of this verse on the night Beth was born.

The Lord has a plan for Beth. Life isn't about me. It's not even about her.

It's about Him.

Sometimes I just need a little reminder.

Friday, February 1, 2013

"Shotgun!"

Do you play that game? Where the first one to yell shotgun gets to ride in the front passenger seat of the car?

Beth l-o-v-e-s this game! At some point at our house, the rule was established that you can't yell it until you can actually see the van. I don't know, maybe the girls were saying it when they woke up each morning. :)

The other night Chuck, Beth and I were headed to church and as we stepped out onto the porch Beth yelled, "Shotgun!" then squealed with glee!! I'm not sure I've ever heard her make that sound before! She was SO excited that she said it first!

A few days later we were headed out and she said it again! Then she scrunched up her shoulders and giggled!

I love this girl!