Garment of Praise

Isaiah 61:3 (NIV)
...to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,
the oil of joy instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor.

Today I am consciously making myself look for the beauty in the ashes, the oil of joy, & the garment of praise. 

Murphy's Law of Deployment strikes again. This morning started like any other morning - getting the kids up and out the door for school. Although this sounds like a simple thing to accomplish, I can assure you it is not. Waking them up is not too much of a problem, it is the aftermath that ensues that is the issue. This morning was no exception to the rule - bickering, belittling, fighting - and that was just within the first 30 minutes of being out of bed. 

After finally making it out the door I discover that my car just isn't up to the challenge today - it won't start, not even a little. For a moment I had a slight panic attack wondering how in the world I was going to get these kids to school. I have no one else at home, my mom is at work in Tulsa and my neighbors are not available. Oh wow - what am I going to do? Then it dawned on me - I have The Beast just sitting in the driveway - duh!!! 

Blessing #1 for the day - I have another mode of transportation should the need arise. 

Upon arriving back home I pondered calling AAA to come jump my car so I can go purchase a new battery. However, the survivor instinct stubbornness in me took over and I Googled how to jump a car. (For real, I have never done this before - stop laughing). Found the jumper cables in the back of the truck and off I went. Connect this, don't let this one touch metal, do this, don't do that. Finding something to ground it to was the hardest part honestly - there is a bunch of plastic under my hood and not much metal. But once I found the metal, and got over the initial shock of seeing those sparks fly, we were good to go. Turn the beast on, wait, turn the car on, and now do everything in reverse order. Made some more sparks and the car was running - until I tried to back it out of the garage. At this point it decided to freak out on me - lights were flickering all over, needles on my gauges were spinning, & I lost my ABS and power steering. 

I should probably also add that my awesome husband was also texting me directions on how to jump the car - fortunately we were not on a live call or he probably would have freaked a little when I screamed and jumped from the sparks I created - haha

Blessing #2 for the day - learning a new skill that may come in handy again someday.

At this point the situation has become a little irritating and laughable all at the same time. I have to call AAA to come tow my baby to Broken Arrow (BTW - if you are EVER in need of a mechanic/automotive shop Greg's Automotive in Broken Arrow is the absolute best - IMHO). 

Blessing #3 for the day - Greg's Automotive - these guys have always gone out of their way to help me.

So for today I have been stuck driving The Beast. Jase absolutely LOVES his truck but me? It's not that I don't love it to, it does come in handy quite often, I just HATE driving it. Think about it - I am normally driving a little bitty Mazda3 that could almost fit in the bed of this thing! I am always afraid I am going to take someone out in it because it is so big! However, The Beast has really bald tires - I was told today that the front tires are a little under a 2 and the back tires are at a 1 (I'll be honest, I know that means they are bad but I am not sure exactly how those numbers tell me anything - maybe it has something to do with tread depth??) So on top of hating to drive it on a normal day, now I am driving it with tires that could give out at any minute. It is going to Hibdon in the morning for new tires.

Blessing #4 for the day - discovering I have open credit on an old Hibdon CC so I can pay for new tires for The Beast tomorrow.

As a side note to this - I may HATE driving it - but I can park this bad boy like none other. (no curb checks and no hitting the basketball goal)

Like a GLOVE!!!!

 (admit it - Jim Carrey just said that in your head)

Introducing....me!

So I seriously never realized that setting up a blog could possibly be so time consuming. I have been working on it for quite awhile and to be honest - it doesn't really look like it. I mean, the layout if fairly simple and I have a total of two pictures on it. Haha

I have had a blog before and never kept up with it but I hope this time will prove to be different. 

There are so many things going on in my life at this time that it will be hard to cram all of them in here without writing a novel. However, I can't imagine anyone sitting still long enough to read everything I could put in here so I do believe some bullet points are in order.

• My best friend and the love of my life is currently serving his country overseas. 
• The positive of this is that I can attest to absence making the heart grow fonder. 
• The negative - just about everything else. :)

• My kids are the best thing that have ever happened to me. And yes, I truly believe this, even when I want to pinch their little heads off.
• My son is on a journey of his own at this point going from boy to man within a matter of years.

• My daughter is also on her own journey but still not quite to those drama years - at least not yet. 

• I have never been more thankful than I am right now for my mom. I honestly don't think I tell her often enough how much she means to me and how thankful I am to have her in my life.
• As a side note - my mom is a beautiful woman inside and out - however, she would kill me if I put a picture of her on here. :)

My life is definitely a roller coaster but I am trying to learn to enjoy the ride.

Tina