Tell Me I'm Not the Only One...

Good Grief. That's what I mutter to myself every time I walk past this.



It never goes away. As soon as I finally carry all the junk upstairs, a new collection has already begun to form again downstairs. Our piles of junk reproduce like bunnies around here. I have no idea how to stop it.



I need your help. Advice. Tips. Something.



And, do not suggest that maybe my stuff could grow legs of its own and put itself away...I already thought of that...not likely to happen. Also, you should not suggest that members of my family *cough* actually put their own stuff away...the junk growing legs is far more likely to happen than that.



*OK, so some of the stuff on the stairs is mine...but in my defense, I am the one putting it away... *smiles*



Happy Day, Friends!!

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Friend-Making Machine

I feel the need to tell you all that I have been making A LOT of friends lately.

I kid you not.

New bloggy friends that I will probably never meet in real life, new friends in tiny-town (because of tornado) and new people (thru blogging) that although I've never met in real life, I've met through blogging or Facebook and because they live in close proximity to me (because they are already friends with my real friends), I will actually probably meet in real life...soon. If you just followed that sentence...congratulations, you officially have been reading this blog too long and can now follow my sentences that do not make sense. Phew.

I've never been really great at making friends. I've always had friends, I was just never the one to introduce myself and pursue a friendship...if the other person did, well then, we were of course BFF's.

When I moved to tiny-town, God said to me..."Umm, sorry, but that is not gonna fly anymore...get off your butt, and go make some friends, stop making them come to you, YOU go to them" (I'm paraphrasing here) And I did...and it was so out of my comfort zone (still is) ..but, God has given and is still giving (in abundance) wonderful women friends. More wonderful that I could have imagined. That's like Him though...He never fails to go SO FAR above what I think He will do. Doesn't matter what it was or is, He ALWAYS outdoes Himself (if God can, in fact, out-do Himself...but you know what I mean :)

It makes me excited for today, and for the future. What's He gonna do next?!?

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I'm a Shoe-In...

Remember when I told you about planting flowers? Yeah, I didn't think so, better go here to refresh your memory.

Here is a picture of where I planted those bulbs...

See them?!? Nope, me either...that's a weed. Dang it.


On that particular post, The Preacher's Wife commented that I should enter her Garden Tour. Are you laughing hysterically!?! You should be. Is there a prize for the WORST Gardener? Because then I'll totally enter...I'm a shoe-in.

Happy Saturday lovely bloggy friends!

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Balance

I'm learning that, on my own, I have a bit of trouble balancing my life. When I jump into something, I JUMP in. Sometimes that's good, and sometimes...not so much. I could list many areas in my life where this has/is true. It's not a surprise, I've kinda known it...but this tragedy in tiny-town has made me so much more aware of it.


I need God to show me what to do, where to go, when and how much. Does that make sense? On my own, I'm excessive in some areas, and completely lacking in others. Exhausting.


As I re-read my last post, I realized that one of the reasons I want "normal" back, is because I am having trouble balancing the tragedy that has occurred with every day life. Focusing on all the devastation leaves me feeling empty and depleted, yet enjoying life makes me feel guilty. My family lost nothing in the tornado. So many friends, lost everything. In order to make up for that, I've taken some huge burden upon myself to grieve over all of them...to want to help all of them...in the meantime, I've found myself utterly frustrated with myself and others for not doing enough.


Yesterday afternoon I found myself complaining to God. Wish I could call it prayer, but it wasn't...it was more like a combination of whining & begging. But God, ever so quietly, has been speaking to my heart. Here's what He's shown me...

• He took me to the book of Psalms *sigh* what better place!?!
• I am feeling overwhelmed because I am taking on burdens that are not mine to bear. I repeat: NOT MINE TO BEAR. Some of them are...but I have excessively heaped loads of stuff onto myself that I CANNOT possibly handle. I do it out of guilt, I think. This does no one any good. I need to rely on Him for the who, what, when, where and how much questions.
• He is willing to teach me how to live joyfully amidst chaos, if I will just LET him.

I know that these issues were there, for me, long before tragedy hit. I know many others struggle with the same problem of balancing...it is not new or unique to me. But I no longer want to deal with it like I always have...I want to learn to allow Him to show me HEALTHY ways to deal with life amidst chaos.

One little verse that really grabbed me was Psalms 90:12

"Teach us to number our days and recognize how few they are; help us to spend them as we should."

Here's to that!

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Bring Normal Back!

I miss normal. Normal, boring, everything in its place life. All talk in tiny town(s) revolves around the devastation left by the tornado...which is okay, because we're all in it together. It binds us together. It's almost therapeutic. It will continue to consume much of my life here in tiny town...but in bloggy land, I need my normal back. I need to write and share other stuff.


So, from now on...I need to blog about other stuff. I'll update you now and then, and feel free to email me and ask how it's going...SO just because I'm back to blogging about....hmmm, whatever it was I blogged about before...just remember that in real life...the tornado talk lives on :)


OK, so for some completely useless information, you should know that I have not put make-up on or done my hair since Sunday morning. I have turned into a grungy slob. BECAUSE, red-patent shoes are not tornado-clean-up friendly...and if I can't wear cute shoes...who cares about the rest of the outfit. Seriously. I really could use some cute gloves or something! A HA! NOW I remember what I blogged about!!! So glad to have normal back :)

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Today...

This song sums up life in tiny town today...

I'm sure I looked like a crazy woman as I belted this at the top of my lungs in my mini-van. Life is good.

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It's Official...

I'm officially a red-neck...

I know, I know, it takes a special kind of stupid to work outside all day with no sunblock. Oh, I brought it...but actually put it on...not so much. My pasty white skin is paying the price, bloggy friends...paying the price. *smiles*

The clean-up and recovery from tornado stuff is going to take, what seems like, FOREVER :) I'll keep ya updated now and then though. Thank you for your prayers for everyone involved...keep 'em coming.

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