Hey Laurie 5

Oh, my beautiful friend....I miss you.
Where are you?
I was in my garden the other day and you came to my mind, and I was so grieved....that I could hardly breathe.....so, I escaped the pain and went into a beautiful daydream.....Pam called and simply said to come over, quick, because you were there......
I drove over to Pams' and saw you in the yard and I tried to run to you, but I just fell, on my knees and sobbed. You came over and held me and asked for my forgiveness....and I looked at you, my beautiful, beautiful Laurie and told you there was nothing to forgive....and we just held each other and cried......it was delicious and....bittersweet.
Where are you?
I have prayed for you to be well.
I have prayed for you to have clarity.
I have prayed that you would be restored.
Even if you came through this, I don't know who you'd be?
Most times I think this would be easier if you had just died.....
I used to tell my girls the "stories of us" and see reminders of you in our lives....the paintings, the gifts, the pictures, the memories....
I'm spent.....all out...sad beyond measure.
Funny though, how you still creep into the little things...the girls remind me of a funny story about us....we saw a car that looked like your Nissan and I remembered how Viv used to charge us 10 cents to give us a ride to school and if we made any noise at all, she would stop and say, "get out!"
We had to run to school, alot, didn't we?
It's time to start thinking of finding you again....this time, though, you will not hurt me....you will not catch we unaware.....my eyes are open and my heart, guarded......
I will not give up on you..... my beautiful friend.

"Signs"

Here's where I think the "immigration-frustration" is going.....

Obviously, we, as citizens need to have secure social security cards, instead of the archaic method of paper cards, duh!
Identity theft is way out of control!
Measures have got to be taken to fix the problem.....right?
All we have to do is turn on the news to hear that something has to be done to take care of this problem, which is not isolated to the US.
Hmmmm.....
I think that this will usher in the age of a global identity program that is the stuff, not of science fiction, but, of Revelation and biblical prophecy!
Just watch....you'll see.
Oh yeah, are you up on the Iran-nuclear thing?
Iran is a sworn enemy to Israel and Zionists and have said that they will wipe Israel off the face of the world!
But, "Iran is only building their nuclear program for electricity"....right!
Israel will defend itself....remember the Six-Day War?
Yeah, that didn't work out so well for Israel's enemies because...God defends His own!
Anyway, if you're really interested in good news, read Revelation, and you will see that God wrote down all the things that are happening today in His word, and that all things are set in motion for the greatest showdown in history....the showdown between God and Satan, in which, even Satan knows he's doomed.
Noone knows the day or the hour of His return, but even Jesus said to watch for the "signs", just like when the blossoms appear on the almond tree, you know spring is near, and when you see the "signs, you will know the time of His return is near.

the beginning of a beautiful career....

A couple of months ago, we saw in the paper that the precinct caucuses were upcoming and , since we had been studying government, I thought it would be a great field trip, so we attended our precinct caucus.
It was in Prosser, and so we decided to make an evening of it by going to have a nice dinner beforehand, which sweetened the deal for the girls, who were less-than-enthusiastic about the caucus.
Anyway, short story long, it was a very interesting evening where we got to see grass-roots policy-making and, since our precinct is so small and our PCO (precinct committee officer) was not there, Con was nominated as the delegate and I, the alternate, to attend the county convention where we would vote on the party platform and see our government in action!
We were very touched when the floor was opened up for discussion and the precinct chair person stood up and applauded the girls for coming to the caucus, because, he said, the hands of our government is in young people!
Very cool....
We attended the county convention and voted on the party platform, and we saw how ammendments to the platform are added because there was a motion on the floor to add Initiative 65, the "no preferential treatment or same sex marriage".
It was explosive!
But, the right prevailed and it is now an ammendment to our platform pending the 160,000 signatures that are required before it is put into committee to be considered a bill.
Wow!
It was very gratifying to see that the little people can make a difference, if only you are willing to participate in the process.
We got to meet many of our local officials along with our state reps. and we got to be part of the nominating process by being asked to nominate and second a couple of newcomers who wanted to be on the next ballot, and we were voted to be alternates to our state convention in May after we got up and made speeches about why we wanted to go to the convention and be part of our local government.
I will add that we were voted as alternates over some very "seasoned" persons, knowledgeable in all things government, and I believe it is because we are younger and, perhaps more savvy about the issues, and because we are modeling to our children, the next generation, how to make a difference in our world.
All in all, it was an awesome experience!
We met some very influential people who are in positions of authority who are sold out to God!
How encouraging is that?
The speeches that we heard were all about pro-family, pro-moral, less government issues and we heard very little bashing of democrats, which, was very telling to me about this pary and its integrity.
It's not perfect....but it's in the right, unlike the other side that is so full of hate for anything we stand for and for the party itself.
Update.....
We are now going to the State Convention as delegates, which means we will be on the voting floor and we will have access to all of our state officials, including "Doc" who was not at the county convention.
If you have a chance to got to a caucus, GO! See what it's all about and make a difference in your world!
You are either part of the problem or part of the solution....
Which are you?

F.R.O.G. or just frog?

I got an email from a friend who wanted my girls to be part of a class she was hosting on frog dissection.
I called her up to ask her about the class.
I said, "so, you are dissecting how to be Fully Relient On God?"(F.R.O.G),. that is so cool....I told her.
Pregnant pause.
"hello, Michele."
Dead air.
She eventually laughed and went on to say that she was REALLY dissecting frogs, real frogs.
Dead air.
Then.....
"Gross!"
We both laughed....hard.

Got love?

What is God showing me?
Well, first off, that He is in charge and we need only to be obedient to Him and Him alone.
This week is especially sweet to share with my girls about the sacrifice that Jesus performed for a people who neither knew him nor followed him.
On, Wednesday, the last supper for Jesus and his disciples, Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, knowing what would happen to him in a few short hours, he showed to us his servanthood and humility and love.
He broke bread with them and shared Himself with them, for a little while longer.
He gave them one last command, and it was a doozy; "love your neighbor as yourself so that the world will know that you are my disciples."
Then He did what He came to do....He died and rose again.....to make a way for us to be with Him forever
That just blows me away.....and speaks so clearly to me about embracing this idea of love, not a love within my flesh, but of a Love that doesn't require reciprocity, that doesn't need approval, a Love that identifies you as a child of the Living God.
I don't know about you, but I am humbled to the core of my soul, and I want nothing more that to give praise and honor and glory to my Father in heaven by loving people simply because God loves them and He commanded us to do so.
Got love?
Try God.

variety...and dessert

What's going on in my life?
Well, thanks for asking...
The Dessert/Variety Show fundraiser was a huge sucess!
Being that I am a product of the 70's and 80's, I grew up watching Laugh-In and the Carol Burnett show, Hee Haw, the Donnie and Marie show(don't judge me) and Satuday Night live.
It was hilarious and we raised over $1000 for the trip to Africa this summer!
My favorite sketch would have to be "Sniglets- words that aren't in the dictionary, but should be".
Here's few:

When a hillbilly comes back to life, it's known as-----"Re-Intarnation"

Graffiti painted really, really, high is known as------"Giraffiti"

Terminal coolness is known as------"Hip-atitus"

The invisible layer surrounding a person that prevents bright ideas from coming through is known as-----"Bozone"

Manhandling the "open here" side of a milk carton so badly that one has to resort to opening the "illegal side" is known as------"Lactomangulation"

The emotion caused by the line of debris left by the dust pan that keeps a person backing their way out of a room until finally they give up and sweep it under the rug is known as-----"Dustration"

They make me laugh out loud!
Scott and Renae did a Hew Haw sketch.
Anyone remember, "Gloom, despair and agony on me...OOOHHHHH....deep dark depression, excessive misery....OOOHHHH....if I had no bad luck I'd have no luck at all....OOOHHHH.....gloom, despair and agony on me...OOOHHHHH!"
It was so funny and I couldn't get that stupid song out of my head for a week!
Thanks, Scott.
And thanks to everybody who particiapted and made it a labor of love for me and thank you to all those who brought the desserts, they were amazing!

who's the fool now....?

OK....
......so here's the April Fool's joke that I played on my daughter.....which promptly exploded right back into my shocked face; I'm calling myself Mother of the Year...see if you don't agree:

About a year ago, my daughter went to an open casting call for a nationwide talent search and about a month later she got a call-back to meet with an agent.
It was all very exciting and she got some great feedback about her audition, but, in the end they wanted us to commit to a financial deal and we were simply not in a positon to do so, at the time, but, I told my daughter that we would pursue this if she wanted to, when it was better for the family.
So, I thought it would be HILARIOUS to pretend to get a call from this agent who just happened to be in town to discuss "her career".
She fell for it....and for the next couple of hours we built this thing up so big that it literally began to take on a life of its own. I began to be excited for her!
Anyway, at the appointed time, we all drove into town to meet at Red Robin and after we had parked and gotten out of the car I handed Lace a "notebook" for her to take notes and she opened it and saw in bold writing: APRIL FOOLS!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well....let's just say....it wasn't received quite the way I thought it would be, in fact, she looked shocked....then green....then the sobbing began and didn't stop until.....the following day really.
It was interesting to see her emotional processess, albeit, they all took place within 30 seconds, and then to compare them to mine,which were: shock, remorse, more remorse, horror, then,.....anger.
How dare she not see my brilliance!
I built this from nothing and made it....SOMETHING!
I gave it life and it breathed, on its own!
My performance was.....uncanny.
Someday, after much counseling, she'll appreciate my effort.
In the meantime, I am simple known as the "dream-crusher".
I can live with that....