Where Does Your Help Come From?

Let's just say this week has not been fantastic. I've been sick. Again.

Yesterday was not a good day and I was feeling very sorry for myself. I had plans. I had things I really wanted to do this weekend that were not going to happen because I'm sick. I'm tired of being sick.

I emailed a friend who was a true friend and didn't let me wallow. Instead she helped me set my gaze on my wonderful Savior. He knew about my plans this weekend, but has other plans in mind for me.

She reminded me of Psalm 121.

I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
My help come from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot be moved;
He who keeps you will not slumber
Behold, He who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

The LORD is your keeper;
the LORD is your shade on your right hand,
The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.

The LORD will keep you from all evil;
He will keep your life.
The LORD will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore.

The author of this Psalm looked at the hills and realized that the creator of those hills is the same God to provide for his needs. I have the same God. He is faithful and powerful and can handle anything. Who better to trust with my plans. I hope that I can keep working on having the same plans as His.

Take a look at what our wonderful Creator did! Who better to trust? Where does your help come from?

And this last one is from the view right outside my window.

The Flu Stinks

This is how I feel.

Yep, I have the real flu...maybe even H1N1. I started feeling yucky on Wednesday and just chalked it up to getting my flu shot the day before. I talked to Anna yesterday and when I told her I was wearing three sweatshirts, two pairs of socks, sitting under a blanket in front of a heater, she said she was taking me to the doctor. I didn't think we had an urgent care clinic and told her so. Well, she wasn't swayed by that and made some phone calls. In the mean time, I called the 24 hour nurse provided by my insurance who told me to go to ER. Well, there you have it. I had to go. Anna's homework found out we do have urgent care, so we were on our way.

The doctor didn't do the tests to find out for sure if I have it. She said that given I have asthma, she'd treat me anyway since I had been exposed. So I may have it and I may not. Bottom line, it's rotten. I'm now very sympathetic to those that have the real deal. It's nasty stuff.

I'm under strict orders not to be around anyone till after Tuesday, so that means I'll have a very happy Birthday all by myself. That also means all my work will be piling up. God knows and it was no surprise I came down with this now. Maybe He wants me to sleep. :)

Well I hope none of you get this. I hope you are all very healthy.

Happy 40th B-Day, Michelle!

One of my camp friends turned 40 today. We celebrated last week and I thought I'd share our fun evening with you. WARNING! Camp ladies are a bit crazy.

When we were in the planning stages, we wondered..."What do old ladies do?" Red hat parties!!! Yep, we had one for Michelle. If you are going to look stupid in public, it's important to drag all your friends along as well. We had a great time and Michelle was quite surprised. See, she was planning on a nice dinner out with her husband, but was greeted at the door of the restaurant by this! (Technically, we were at the camp office, but this is what we looked like when we greeted her.)
And this was her reaction. If you know Michelle, I'm sure you'll be surprised that she didn't even scream.

We promptly dressed her to match us.

Now for some close-ups. Sorry ladies. I know you had hoped these wouldn't end up on my blog, but here they are.




And here's the whole gang.

I love you ladies so much and will miss you more than I can say. Happy Birthday Michelle.

In other news, all the Callisons at camp and Pamela Betz are headed to South Africa for three weeks. I'm so excited for them! I really would like to crawl into a suitcase and go along.

We Have a Winner!!!

Drum roll please!...I can't see you, but I don't think you're doing it. Oh, well. And the winner is...

Corrine!

The winner was selected through a very scientific process. I wrote all the names on a piece of paper and Judy randomly selected the winner. Corrine, I'll get the book in the mail to you some time this week. I know it will be a blessing to you.

Thanks to everyone who participated. That was fun!

200th Post!!!

Congratulations for sticking with me through 200 posts. If you are just joining this blog already in progress, you have a lot of catching up to do. I know I haven't done well at keeping up in the last year and I greatly apologize for those that check every day (believe it or not, there are a few of you). I know you just can't wait to hear what I have to say.

In celebration of my 200th post, I'll be having a give-away. My friend, Mary Ann, recently did this on her blog and I thought it was a fantastic idea. (Maybe I liked the idea so much because I won.) So anyway, on to the give-away. I'll be sending one of you the book, Crazy Love by Francis Chan. I love this book and plan to read it again soon. It is convicting, but you also go away in love with your Savior.

So how do you win? Leave a comment by Monday, October 19th, and please include your email address if I don't already have it. I moderate comments, so if you don't want your email address published, sent me two comments - one with your email address letting me know not to publish it and another comment that I can post. You all know how much I love comments...and if you didn't know that, now you do. A winner will be chosen randomly and announced on Tuesday. I will ship this book anywhere in the world.

Thanks so much to my faithful readers!

Start Spreadin' the News

Some of you that already know may be wondering why I haven't shared my latest news here yet. So I guess it's time to spread the news. This is difficult news, yet exciting at the same time. After much prayer and searching of God's heart, I've decided that it's time to leave IRBC. There are several factors that come into play. It's getting more difficult to keep up with the pace of camp life. I also want to be more involved in local church ministry, which is my love and passion.

I have loved my time at IRBC. Not only have I had a chance to minister, but being in the ministry here has changed my life. I will miss it more than I can put into words.

So now come all the questions...What are you going to do? Where will you live? Will you move to Illinois to be by family? Will you stay in the area? Those are very good questions...I'm glad you asked them. I have no idea. None. Nada. Zilch. Zero. But I know that I serve a God Who goes before me and knows all the steps He has planned for me.

I plan to be done at the camp on December 1. And right now, I'd like to take a month off to get my feet under me a bit and get a clear head. I'll probably start looking to answer all those probing questions after New Year's. Thanks for your continued prayers and support.

Heath Update: I went to Mayo Clinic again on Friday. I'm starting to get some answers, but it may continue to be a long process. He wants to establish a pattern with my immune numbers before heading into any kind of treatment. No recent bouts with bronchitis or sinus stuff, so I'm thankful.

On a lighter note...It snowed!!!! I could hardly believe my eyes yesterday when I saw it. Not only did it just snow, but it snowed all day!!!! Here's a picture to prove it.

God's Chisel

This video is powerful. I hope you enjoy it and it makes you think a bit.

Hilarious!

If this doesn't make you laugh, you need help.