At Least She's Safe Now.....

It's been a rough week. The abduction and murder of Caitlin Wooten has really thrown me for a loop. I didn't know her that well; she & her sister had started babysitting for me about six months ago and my girls seemed to love them. Jeff worked with her mom at VV and they seemed like nice people. After attending her funeral on Wednesday, I can honestly say I wish I'd taken the time to know her better. There were several things that happened during the eulogy that really stood out to me. First of all, she apparently was in the habit of reading her bible every night. After her death, her bible was found open to Psalm 37, and it's believed to be the last one she read. The theme of this Psalm is to trust in the Lord and wait patiently for him to act and it vividly contrasts the wicked person with the rightous. That was enough to get the chills started with me. Next, Caitlin kept a notebook in which she jotted down bible verses and her thoughts about them. She had written "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His rightousness and all these things shall be given unto you.". Under this she'd written the words: Remember to ask Mom to ask God "What do I do now?" instead of "Why did this happen?". Wow. Chills galore. This girl was all of sixteen and she got it. Some day I'd hope to come close to where she was on a spiritual plane; it just blew me away. Finally, the eulogy focused on Caitlin's light never being extinguished by the darkness of evil. The day had started out cloudy, and suddenly from my seat in the balcony, sunlight began to shine in through the stained glass windows. In my head popped the thought "She's here." It seemed only right that her spirit was there, among the thousand who gathered to remember her, and that she was OK. Nobody can ever hurt her again. She's safe. Keep her family in your prayers. That plus time and love will help them heal.

On a lighter note, yesterday I was alone in the house and suddenly I hear a noise that sounds like cabinet doors being slammed shut. It scared the heck out of me! I'd been in our downstairs office, and I made a quick sweep of the house. Nothing. I was standing in out entryway wondering if I'd lost my mind when I heard the noise again. I saw one of the wild turkeys that cruises our neighborhood out by our dining room window, so I dropped to my knees and crawled over there to see what he was doing without scaring him away. Apparently he'd come across a mirror we'd taken down that had somehow ended up outside and he'd seen his reflection in it as well as in our window. Not only was he pecking at both (very loudly, I might add) but he'd puffed out all his feathers to show that 'other' turkey who was boss; he was also gobbling at his reflection. I was on the other side of that window, basically at eye level with him, and I was cracking up; if anybody had seen me they probably would have thought I'd gone crazy. I guess somebody up there thought I needed a laugh, and boy, did I get one!!

Lastly, Pavarotti was wonderful. He sat the whole time, but his voice is still mesmerizing. It would have been amazing to see him with the Three Tenors a few years back. The dress was awesome, Jeff loved it, and I can't wait to wear it again!!!

Happy thoughts to all!!!!

My Mute Button is Stuck...

If you're wondering why you haven't heard from me in a while, don't feel bad. Right now nobody can hear me and they haven't been able to since Thursday. That's right; my voice is on vacation and I don't know when it's coming back. Let me tell you: trying to keep a two and four year old in line when your 'shout' doesn't even register above a whisper is tough. They're not threatened by me at all right now. My main prayer over the last two days has been that they won't get hurt at home because the 911 operator would probably think I'm a crank-caller into heavy breathing. Also, I can't answer the phone, so if you're trying to get in touch with me try text-messaging or e-mail. Hopefully I'll be talking again soon; this stinks!!!

Also, I don't know if it's just me, but both of my kids seem to have gone into hyperdrive since starting school, dance and FaithBreak this week. I thought they'd calm down, but somehow they're even more revved up and have been bouncing off the walls. Wednesday night Maggie taught Kendall how to gag herself with her toothbrush and Kendall vomited all over the kitchen floor. Wonderful. I think that was the night my voice gave up. I'm starting to feel like I should be in mime school. Ugh.

Hope all is well with everybody else. Maggie & Kendall loved their first week with Miss Janota, Miss Christy, Miss Kiah & Miss Tiffany. Keep up the good work, guys!!!!

In the Words of Swiper the Fox: Oh Maaaaannn!

OK I was just attempting to do a spell check on this really good rant about this week's events involving Katrina (Chris would have been proud, Dawn) and somehow I lost it. So here's the condensed version:

1. My heart aches for those in the middle of Katrina's devastation.

2. We should all try to help where we can. Contact your church to see if they are expecting any of the estimated 400 refugees that are headed to Ada this weekend.

3. I'm trying not to judge the looters too harshly; I haven't been in their shoes, even if they are stolen.

4. I am freely being very harsh in my judgement of those attempting to profit from this situation through price gouging. Straight to jail; no questions asked.

5. Keep them in your prayers. This isn't going to go away for a long time.

Finally, on a lighter note, I am very thankful for the start of GSPS on Tuesday. Amen to that.