I am coming to the conclusion that one must be very careful about "blogging about tomorrow" because "you never know what that day may bring.". Just for example, you never know when one day you might leave for a photography course hoping to return and share pictures with your blog readers, only to find yourself, upon your return from said photography course, in a whirlwind of preparation to move to another country without any time to update the blog!
True story. You can read more here. (Read from the bottom, up, to get the whole story)
"...Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain." Proverbs 30:8&9
[because paying my taxes is something I just really enjoy, and this day is so special to me *cough*]
I thought I'd take you to the archives. Two years ago, I gave you the play by play of my tax day. I go back and read it occasionally and laugh pretty hard remembering the details of that crazy day.
This is my day,chronicled that all may learn from my mistakes. 9 AM Leave to fish with Grandpa and Bro.
9:15 AM Drive up to the lake and think”wow, I haven’t taken off on a weekday morning just for fun, in so long…and I really don’t have time for it, but hey I deserve the break.” (go ahead. roll your eyes.)
10 AM Catch a whopper of a 4.5″ Bass
This year I beat my record, but still got them in the mail on the very last day. I'm learning, slow but sure.
Photo caption: my photo, my pole, and my feet :)
Slash kaylenelise. Find me.
So guess what. When I woke up this morning to find that the roads were icy and I would have to reschedule an engagement photo session, as well as another appointment that I had out of town, I was not in the least bit disappointed. I mean, I'm really tired. Imagine that. After my two hour nap this afternoon, and a good rest tonight, I ought to be ready to start another crazy busy week at 5:00 tomorrow morning.
There are several contraindications for posting the following.
- First of all, these are the first pictures I've posted since purchasing my new camera, and they lack the quality to adequately display the general amazingness of my new camera.
- Second of all, HIPAA the national privacy act, very much dislikes publications of patient photos. In fact, the patient has every right to sue me.
- Thirdly, the graphic nature brought embarrassment and horror when the pictures were taken and will no doubt be the cause of it when viewed.
I had just returned to our table from the ladies' room when I found Harry doing the universal sign for choking.
I didn't tell Harry that he was the first one I'd ever done the Heimlich maneuver on.
Harry is very small, but he is not a baby. So I was unsure of which procedure to perform. Thus the awkward hand positioning and worried expression. All of a sudden I realized we were dealing with syncope.
He seemed to be making a speedy recovery. I kept checking on him and asking how he was feeling. One time, I looked over, and he was in the tripod position-- obviously struggling to breath.
I'm relieved to be able to report that Harry lived through that potentially fatal day, with only slight brain damage. [He now believes he is a snowman].
Please forgive me. I couldn't resist. ;)
(hows that for a title? Tried to be more original than "random topics" you know.)
Bible Reading Challenge 1.14.10
Sarah K., who is one of the participants in our challenge, has been emailing me her progress and thoughts. I want to share this thought of hers with you all.
"Over the last few years I have come to realize that it is ok if one doesn't 'make it through the bible in a year' or in half a year for that matter. The important thing is that we are constantly in His word, seeking Him, studying who He is, and most importantly knowing Him. I think it is easy for people to get caught up in a 'Challenge' and I think that is one of the main reasons people fail to complete their year or half year of reading. If you just view it as a challenge, once the novelty of that wears off, you have no more motivation."
Also, I read this the other day and thought it was a perfect article to help keep us on the right track during this challenge. By the way, we have 3 new participants. Please remember to be in prayer for each other. We don't want this to be an exericise or mere accomplishment of discipline.
Like I said, I'm pretty bad at keeping resolutions. But I'm really, really good at making them. So naturally I have this impulse to write out a new year's "priority list". I've got a lot of purposeful statements floating around in my head. Some of them are depressing, because they were on this year's mental list and didn't get accomplished. Others (well, all of them really) I realize just aren't happening, until I fully surrender that area to God. For some reason that simple lesson seems to take a whole life to learn.What are you're thoughts for the New Year? Or are you a resolution maker?
I ask you: "How many times will you pick me up,
And each time I will fall short of Your glory,
And you answer: " My child, I love you.
And as long as you're seeking My face,
The safest way for a young woman to travel alone, is for her to have a Starbuck's Caramel Brulee Frap in hand. This distracts from her personal appearance and vulnerability. Sinister plans are disarmed. Potential interest and affection transferred. Admiration shifted. True love defined.I'm not just kidding with you. As I write this, the Continental Express check-in person is staring at
Hmmm. I've lost my blogging momentum. I've been busy, plus blogging seems rather blah to me right now. Not sure what that means, but I guess thats what they call writer's block. I dunno though. I've written a couple posts, but they're in my draft folder and there they shall probably remain. They're rather emotional, dramatic scores that are probably best left unpublished.>insert thank yous from the readership<
I always seem to jump back on the blogging band wagon though. So ready or not, I'll be back.
Oh and one more thing. Holiday or no holiday, I just want to encourage you to count your many blessings, name them one by one. I have been, and I'll be honest-- I was surprised to see (and blessed just knowing) what the Lord has done.
Another week. Another month. A month wherein I pass from the years of adolescence and into the twenties. I don't know whether this is extremely relevant. I mean, I sincerely hope that the marking of my twentieth birthday will symbolize a significant jump on the measuring stick of "maturity". But some how I doubt it. Thats ok. I'm content. I've tried to force it before when I felt everyone was poised and waiting expectantly for "my blossoming". An old, but appropriate analogy would be forcing a rose bud open. Petals tend to break off or wilt, because of meddling fingers and too much effort.Elisabeth Elliot's quote "maturity starts with the willingness to give of oneself" pretty much pins the crown on a true woman. I speak as an adult. I'm often mistaken for someone older than I am. But herein lies the struggle. I am more willing to give of my words, then my self. I am more willing to give of my words, than my time. Its the simple things--the day to day-- and the "little" opportunities I seem to be missing. Lord, open my eyes. Wake up O womanhood.
I was considering writing about my Monday this week, but then thought “No, I should pick a normal day to share about.” And then I had to ask myself-- what in the world is a normal day? My life is not exciting to the average passerby, but its rarely ever normal.
So without further ado, I am going to tell you about my Monday.
It started off rather normal. I mean its normal for the alarm clock to go off and its normal for me to not want to get up.
5:00 am: The alarm clock went off.
5:43 am: I woke up. If only good intentions counted in the end.
6:00-7:00 am: I was buzzing around getting ready for the day. Read the Psalm of the day. Ate very little for breakfast. Had a brief but pleasant conversation with Dad.
7:05 am: I headed out the door. I stopped in at the coffee shop to get my fix(es) for the day. Chai tea and a quick chat with my dear friend, the barista.
7:20 am: I'm on the road. I work as a care taker for the elderly in their homes. Lately I've been working for a sweet (& spunky!) elderly lady in a town about 40 minutes from mine.
8:00 am: Arrived. 
Rest of the morning: I helped her with little projects around her house. She's quite motivated and keeps me on my toes. We took a trip to the post office and grocery store.
Afternoon & evening: she rested some which gave me a little free time. I did some reading and checked email. I read the end of Revelations. I'm also reading a devotional titled 'A Call to Die'. I'm daily being challenged. But its so much easier to read about dying to self and talk about dying to self, then to actually live about dying to self. I also took this free time to talk through some details with client for an up and coming senior portrait shoot.
When my lil' lady woke up, we went for a drive. We found some pretty fall scenes to take pictures of. She gets quite a kick out of my picture taking and seeing the pictures afterwards. Hey, its a win-win situation for me!! I brought the car to a stop and took a picture of an old antique pickup sitting in someone's yard. She laughed and said “You're easy to please!” maybe I am when it comes to that. I enjoy finding value in the simpler things. [maybe thats why I'm writing this post???]
8:00 pm: My sister showed up for her shift. I was looking forward to getting home. I had a lot to do before I hit the sack.
8:10 pm: I was on the road again
8:15 pm: I was randomly singing “Great is Thy Faithfulness” and thinking how amazing it was that the words never became dull or meaningless to me no matter how much I sing it. I was silent for awhile trying to remember the 3rd verse. And then I remember whispering a prayer. “Lord, thank you for this car. I'm so blessed to have a car that will get me from here to there safely and effeciently.” How ironic I thought later. But really, God was fixin' to teach me something.
8:15 pm: I was about 15 miles from home and had just gone through a small town. I was increasing back up to highway speed when all of a sudden I started losing speed and my gas pedal was not responding. I pulled over and stopped. I shut my car off and tried to restart it. It wouldn't start. I had a fleeting thought, “Thank you Lord for cell phones”.
8:25 pm: I reached into my purse and pulled mine out. No bars. I sat there for a minute, praying and turning the key. Praying and turning the key. Nothing. I hopped out of the car and stood behind my car, checking again for a cell phone signal. YES! One, then two bars. I called my daddy. To make a longer story shorter he was soon on his way. I sat in my car waiting for him. I knew the Lord was teaching me something. “Will you still know I'm faithful when something goes wrong?” “Will you still trust me when I don't provide a car that runs?”
I sang out loud and clear making sure the devil, the messenger of doubt, could hear me.
“GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS
O GOD MY FATHER.
THERE IS NO SHADOW
OF TURNING WITH THEE.
THOU CHANGEST NOT.
THY COMPASSIONS
THEY FAIL NOT.
AS THOU HAST BEEN
THOU FOREVER WILT BE.”
8:40 pm: A car pulled up behind me. A state trooper came to my window and asked if I was ok. [had he heard me singing??? ;)] I told him my dad was on the way so I was good to go.
8:43 pm: I had Dad on speaker phone. The trooper came back and offered to stay in the area till Dad got there. He paced in his patrol car between a half a mile in front of me to a half a mile in back of me.
8:50 pm: Trooper pulled up again and offered for me to get in his car with a heater. By this time Dad was close by so I declined but thanked him.
8:55pm: Dad showed up. Trooper shared his flashlight and then was on his way.
9:10 pm: We were back on the road! I actually thought it was a lot of fun being towed- steering and maintaining a speed that kept the tow rope tight.
9:30 pm: I “coasted” into the driveway. It was good to be home!
Sometimes my spunky side tries to find an adventure in everything. I'm a little impractical at times. While I was sitting in my car excitedly plotting what might happen next 'on this a dark and windy night', my mom was at home worrying. I wasn't really thinking about the implications of being broken down in the dark and alone on the side of the road. Looking back I can see that God was showing His faithfulness through the circumstances instead of taking me around them. How clearly this illustrates to me that His faithfulness is unchanging even though life always is. Someone please remind me of this when or if we can't get my car running again!! :)
Okay. So my car stalling on the side of the road, doesn't happen everyday. But if I'd take the time to slow down and think through every day, I think I would find God's faithfulness to be the reoccurring theme. So yes, there is something normal and consistent about my life, but it has nothing to do with me. Only Him.
Whew, long post. But hey. I'll make you a deal. You post about your "normal" day and leave a comment here telling me you did, and I promise to read it! You can enter it over there too. For those who don't have blogs, email me about your day !
Tuesday and Thursday I took care of an elderly lady in her home. She is adorable. And feisty. I enjoy fiesty. Especially at her age. :) She wanted to take me to the local bank in her sleepy little town. Because "There's young handsome men in there, and you would like to meet them." But we got too busy (thank goodness) with cleaning her crystal and linens; a pedicure; listening to 8 tracks; and trips to the cemetery.
I just started something new that I love. Wednesday evenings I've been teaching English as a second language. SO fun. But do you have any idea how weird our language is? It is. I didn't fully realize it until I tried to explain some of our funny rules and pronunciations. Thanks to my trips to Mexico and now, teaching my [totally amazing, beautiful and bright] ESL student, I've learned a very special lesson. There is a way of communication that reaches beyond languages of the tongue. Its known simply as smiling and laughing. If you don't know how, I highly recommend you learn how. And no, we don't just sit there and giggle. I mean real laughter and a smile every once in awhile that communicates "I'm happy to be here. I'm happy to know you."
Amidst the rest of my schedule I have to find time to study for my online Doula class. Do you know what that is? A doula mothers mothers. Now you know!
Um, lets see what else? Oh yes. I am designing some wedding invites for a couple whom I helped shoot engagement pictures for. Its been fun to get in on a couple projects for my friend's clients. I may help shoot their wedding in December. Fun-ness.
In other news, I know how much you wanted to know that I made my second sale on Ebay today! Delightful day. I was so happy. Its the simple things.
[ooooh scary shark picture. haha, aren't we cute?]I have accomplished nothing if I have not taken up my cross.
