1.12.2011

If You're Going to Skim...Go Straight to My Fourth Point

I was gracefully reminded by my father today that I had not only fallen off the blog wagon, but was the bearer of wheel tracks right 'cross the face.  Hmmm....'tis true. 

But, as always, good excuses abound. 

Firstly, I've been stuck in a house with 3 people whose ages don't even come close to my own age if added up together.  Therefore, the last thing on my mind has been blogging, because I've just been trying to refrain from curling up in the corner and poking hot needles in my eyes.  Keep in full mind, that I love the children dearly and profusely, but only being exposed to those 3 same faces for days on end is enough to make anyone start sucking their thumb and calling for their mama. 

Snowmeggedon struck SouthWest Arkansas this past weekend, and though some of you Northerners would scoff at our few and mighty inches, it was enough to send us Suthenuhs raiding the bread aisle at Walmart and confining ourselves to our homesteads.  We know sweat.  We don't know about this snow stuff.  (Case in point:  After thoroughly soaking through our first pairs of measly thin knit mittens and gloves while playing in the snow, I resorted to coating the boys' hands in socks.  Yes, socks.  Because we usually don't have a need for those thick thinsulate gloves whilst we're swatting mosquitoes.)   

On to my second excuse.  We lost our power during Snowmeggedon.  Now, granted, it was only out for 8 hours, but, I'm still recovering from the frozeness that overtook my toes during that time.  Plus, I had to trek to my van in the snow uphill both ways and barefoot to charge my phone, and that just made me grumpy.  And my grumpiness about the whole ordeal has unfortunately persisted....

Thirdly, I don't appreciate the constant bundling/unbundling of snow clothes.  Oh, to just have snow suits and snow boots...easy on, easy off.  (Listen to me assuming those are easy on/easy off...those ski getups could be like Fort Knox to get in and out of, but for my rambling purposes, I'm going to pretend they go on smooth as butter.)  But, since our warmest clothes consist of fleecey pajama bottoms and an assortment of camouflage parts and pieces, it was a little ridiculous all the layering and tucking that had to be done just to send the boys out for a romp in the snow.  And then they'd want to come in because the socks on their hands were sopping wet, and they needed a new pair.  I was popping Tylenol by the handful after all of that....

Fourth, and most importantly of all, I have been totally and thoroughly sobered by the news of a dear fellow blogger that has suffered majorly at the hands of an imperfect human body this week.  Joanne Heim, some know her better as The Simple Wife, had a stroke yesterday.  And now she is lying in a hospital bed in very critical condition.  Her 9 year old daughter found her at home, and in the blink of an eye, the lives of that entire family have been turned drastically upside down.  Everything that they knew was changed in an instant.

Joanne is only 38.  Thirty-eight.  And everything about the happenings have left me in a strange swirl of emotions.  I don't know Joanne personally, but I know people who do.  Their pain must be so much more deep than mine, yet I find myself grieving for her and her family.  Joanne is a blog friend of mine, and one that always had such uplifting and encouraging words for me the times I exchanged words with her.  She loves Jesus with every fiber of her being, and she is such an amazing advocate for marriage, family, and spreading the Word.  Joanne's husband, Toben, has been updating her blog here, and you can also follow @tobenheim on Twitter for updates on her progress.

Please pray for Joanne.  Please pray for her daughters, Audrey and Emma.  Please pray for Toben.  And the host of family and friends that are aching for her.  I know with all of my heart that Joanne would want this situation to glorify Jesus, and she would plead with the Father for whatever outcome gained that result.  I am praying for healing, but I also find myself beseeching the Lord for His good and perfect will to be done. 


(I'm not posting pictures today for my Photo Project.  Frankly, I don't have the energy to fight my internet service and Blogger to wait on the upload.  Perhaps tomorrow......)

6 comments:

Gretchen said...

"3 people whose ages don't even come close to my own age if added together" got me thinking.
How 'bout that. Mine either. Another reason to hate math. ;)

Instead of that white fluffy stuff, we ended up with ice pellets. Guess where my car ended up this morning? In the front yard. Yard. Not the driveway. Even hubs couldn't get it out.
But I still love old man winter.

Headed over to Joanne's blog. Sobering, yes. Praying for her already. Hugs!!!

Mich said...

prayers for your bloggy buddy and her family today.

You crack me up with all your snow talk. We enjoyed our snow days. Wouldn't want it to last for weeks, but for a day or two it was nice. Of course my electricity was nice enough to stay on the whole time.

Love ya!

Bridget said...

I was thinking that our wardrobes were not really equipped to handle snow in the south...but it sure was fun!

Mandy said...

I've haven't let the boys go out the past 2 days. I'm just so tired of dealing with all the soggy layers . . . I'm debating getting them some snow pants off ebay before next winter, but then of course then it won't snow worth anything, if it all.

I've been thinking about Joanne all day today. Praying for her family and friends and especially those 2 beautiful girls of hers. It was so shocking, so out of the blue . . .

Carpool Queen said...

After hearing about Joanne yesterday, I said some words that needed to be said.

Heartbreaking.

Angie said...

I hear ya sistah!!
As I type this, my girls are rocking the glove/socks on the trampoline because for some reason this 'Who dat' nation has dipped into the 40's! We haven't bought gloves in ages.

Praying for you're friend and her family. Praying God's plan will be revealed, and that peace follows.