No, no… I am not hitting menopause at the ripe age of 34. 

I have made the decision that it is time for me to move from homeschool bloggger.  I have been here for years, but recent changes have made some things MUCH easier, but other things much more difficult.  After lamenting to my husband about such issues, he, in his geeky wisdom, set me up my very own.  Still not ready, but getting going today.

My new blogging address is www.tancytalks.com

I am sad. My favorite blogging moments happened here, but I am ready to move on.  The new blog should be up and going this weekend….. hopefully. If lie doesn’t get in the way.

As a person who struggles with anxiety, and even takes medication to control it, I was so grateful for the nugget of truth He had for me this morning.

When anxiety was great within me, Your consolation brought joy to my soul.

AMEN.

We were heading home last night after a long day, and I was telling the kids about just how I was expecting the rest of the evening to go.  "Walk in to the house.  Take ALL your stuff.  Kiss your Daddy Hello and Good night.  Put on your Pajamas and Brush your teeth.  Go straight to bed; it is after bedtime.  We are having a practice school morning."

"What?  How early do we have to get up?"

"I will wake you at six.  That is what time I will be waking you up, unless I have to give piano lessons in the morning, and then it will be a quarter till."

Collective sighs.

Then I hear from the back…"Will you at least sing the GOOD MORNING, song when you get us up?"

"Good Morning song?"

"Yes, the one you sing to help us be less grouchy about waking up."

So many times I wonder if my kids are even paying attention.  I do sing in the morning, and it is for that reason.  I have a few good morning songs, some more annoying than others.  I do walk around singing them because I keep thinking it has to be more pleasant than what I want to say, "If you don’t get out of bed RIGHT now, I am going to clobber you."

I am so thankful for the little reminder that they ARE paying attention!  AND, they notice the little differences.  I am trying. I don’t want them to remember that mornings were hell because mom was running aound yelling GET OUT OF BED. I do yell; I must admit. BUT, I yell less than I want  to sometimes   We all have rough mornings!

I am so grateful for a little nugget from God through the  mouth of our babes.

Today,  I was sitting at lunch with Amie and Vernon.  Jp walks in (he was late) and asked us which one of us had the vehicle down the street with all the white shoe polish Bible verses and stuff on it.  We all giggled and I proceeded to tell them about the guy I saw on the road the other day.

Yesterday,  I came upon a van that was COVERED in big giant stickers of Bible verses.  And, it seemed since the stickers of scripture were not quite enough, they also wrote other things on their windows.  The one that stuck out to me was “Jesus doesn’t need your acceptance, you need His.”  I must admit that I stared and internally decided that it was nice that the person felt strongly about their faith, but I still thought he was an idiot.  I went down my list of reasons why, including the fact that THESE are the Bible thumpers who give so many of us a bad name.

As I was proclaiming this story, and my obvious disdain for that person’s witnessing tactics, Vernon questioned me. “Why is  that strange?”  He said, “Don’t you think much of the Bible characters we know WERE RADICALS?  If John the Baptist were here we probably wouldn’t want anything to do with him.”

What food for thought!  I highly doubt you will see my van covered with shoepolish and bumper stickers, but maybe I should be a tad more  of a John the Baptist radical.  Oh, to be counted similar in nature or impact!  The gospel is strong, and we must be strong as we carry it.  God has been convicting me of being more vocal about my faith, and I have noticed that He has since brought me more and more opportunity to share that faith.

What incredible things my God has done for me, and yet I get shy about my faith?  He died on a cross in ultimate humilation, beaten and bloody, and yet, I fear what someone might think about me when I say that I AM a born again believer?  Shame on me.  Shame on me.
Thank you Vernon, God used you today.

So many times you hear people refer to a “wake up call” when it come to your health.  A few years ago, when I lost a bunch of weight I had just had a baby and I just made the decision, and it wasn’t about my health falling apart.  I was going to lose the weight. and, I did.  Fast forward a few years, and I have gained almost 50 of the 69 pounds that I had lost.

I haven’t been feeling the greatest.  I have been ignoring it and going on my merry way knowing I really should do something about the weight.  I gave it a half baked effort once in a while, but something would happen, and I would be right back where I started. I haven’t been running, which I miss terribly, and I have felt myself get more and more out of shape.  I have been getting light headed, getting headaches, and have been noticing swelling in my legs and hands.

It has been time to see my doctor for a med recheck.  Well, I have been avoiding it, for good reason (in my book).  I knew the lectures that would ensue. I knew that he was not going to be happy about what I had decent suspicions of.  Yesterday it was time to face the doctor.

My suspicions were correct.  My weight is up (yet down from where it WAS) and my blood pressure was through the roof.  Considering when I am at a more ideal weight, my blood pressure is up 60 points on the top number and 45 on the bottom number.  Great Fun! So… you can imagine. He can HEAR the hypertension on my chest.  How do you do that?  He noticed the swelling in my legs.  Something about the colors and texture in the whites of my eyes.  so….

So…. This is my wake up call.  I am 34 ears old, and my doctor is a “little” concerned.  HA.  I am now in significant risk of “Stroke and heart attack.”  I AM ONLY 34!!!!  I go for a ton of blood work on Monday to check my blood sugar, thyroid, kidney function, and a myriad of other worries.  I left with an order to lose 40 pounds BY DECEMBER 1st.   WHAT????

I am hoping that putting this out here in the great blog land, will give me some accountability.  I have to do something, so I am going to end up too dead too early and  because of my own stupid health practices.  SO…. I must do something.