Minivan Moments

Okay, amidst the craziness that is my life, I am getting a recurring message. If you are anything like me, God knocks on your heart a few times in quick succession to be sure you are paying attention, then begins to prepare you for His will. Lately, that message is "working from home." I have been feeling called to find my specialized talent or gift - whatever that is! - that God would enable me to use to earn some supplemental income for our family - which I wouldn't turn down! - and I admit that I am seriously digging in my heels! A home-based business? Me?!?! NOW?! Are You kidding me?!?! And yet .... In the midst of my personal study of the Proverbs 31 Woman, I have also read an e-book from The Old Schoolhouse Magazine ( www.TheHomeschoolMagazine.com ) entitled HomeWork and I must say, it does inspire me to dream! There are many different families discussed in this book, and each has found its own niche - with the help of the Lord - and each is thriving und...

Oliver has been recovered; My heart would not endure The pain that had been beating Forever at the door. The Lord has been obeyed; He guided me so gently. He let me break my heart first, Then whispered oh, so softly. I choose to rehabilitate Our faithful family friend, And in my efforts to improve, I chose a friend for him . Now Cocoa's joined the crew, And a happy friend is she. She adds an element of fun To Oliver's family. Welcome back, Oliver! And welcome to Cocoa!

Today was a terrible day. No, it was a Terrible Day, with capitalization required. Today is the day I decided to give up the search for a new family for Oliver - and I took him to the Williamson County Animal Shelter. It was devastating . For all of us. Well, everyone but Daddy, since he proclaimed the whole business would be up to me. Never mind that the dog is biting our children out of aggression, never mind that everyone we talk to says it is a difficult trait to break, never mind that my children's safety is in question; it is solely my decision. Which puts me in the position of being The Bad Guy , the one who made Oliver go away, the one who left him there in that puppy jail, the one who walked away without saying "goodbye." Does he know he will never see us again? Does he miss us? Does he hate me? Is he all alone inside a cage all day with nothing to do and no one to play with? How long will he have to live that way before someone else falls in love with...

Dania seems to be feeling worse today. Last night was a hard night for her; she woke frequently with pain in her mouth (not to mention her mean mommy woke her every 4 hours for yucky, ouchy medicine). She is right on track with what is considered normal progress, though, according to the nurse at the surgery center (naturally, I called first thing this morning to find out if I should panic... you know, more than I was already panicking). I'm going to need more coffee. Unfortunately for Dania, things will get a lot worse before they get better. The nurse indicated that things should go from bad to worse right about now or very soon as scabs begin to fall off and her ears begin to hurt. All of this is normal, I am assured, but it is my job to keep Dania as comfortable as possible, and I am about as frazzled as I can stand. This, too, shall pass. I keep reminding myself that I was worried that she wouldn't even survive the surgery, and that does help quite a bit in dealing wit...

We are so thankful to God and the hospital staff that Dania sailed through surgery without any issue, and is now recovering at home! We are thrilled to have her home!! She is taking heavy-duty narcotic pain-relievers around the clock, so we are trying to stay ahead of the pain, but she is still suffering quite a bit. She eats very little, but she is drinking enough to stave off dehydration, thank God. She seems to have split personality disorder on these meds, though, which is not surprising when you consider how little she is. She vacillates between need, whiny, and clinging to Mommy to jumping around, pestering the dog, bouncing off the walls, and throwing the mother of all tantrums. We cannot expect much of her while she is so drugged, but it makes for a very long day! Especially when you consider that we are up every 4 hours at night to force-feed her medicine that she doesn't like. Ah, the joys of motherhood!