the conference was....

Absolutely awesome and I will add some pics later!! I am so glad I went and was so blessed the whole time. You know when you go on a retreat or conference and you come back with such a high only to let that emotion fall weeks afterwards? I do not think this is going to happen because I learned things, actually learned things. I was not just encouraged and motivated but my eyes and heart were opened to things I really did not even know existed.

So I will share my actual trip and then I will share with you what I actually learned. Remember until this month I was a Beth Moore virgin (those are the words my small group gave me) but I now know what I was missing.

First off , my church is awesome. If you are anywhere in Atlanta, I encourage you to check out North Metro. Its a big church but you never really feel like its that big.

So Friday afternoon, I met some ladies at the church and we carpooled to the hotel. We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn which was right beside the aquarium. Got in line to check in and since it was so long of a line, they gave us coupons for free breakfast in the morning. So we find our room and got unpacked. My roomie was Irene. More about her later she rocks as well. We rest for a bit and decide to find something for dinner as the doors would not open until 6m. We also got a really cool t shirt from our church.

We find some ladies and walk over to a deli and get a sandwich and head over to Phillips arena where the line to get in was enormous. Holy cow, thats a lot of estrogen. We wait just about 15 minutes and the doors open. We walked up stairs and got some aisle seats which was fabulous. SO, Travis and the worship team started and some amazing videos were shown. Each time one of the ladies spoke, the others were gathered around and prayed over her..Just beautiful. Oh, how could I forget, Miss Mandisa ended the evening? Wowsers. What a lady of God. She is beautiful and you could see her smile from the inside. She sang and spoke and gave us the inside scoop of American Idol. We were not expecting to hear her tonight and she rocked it! I will be getting her cd at some time.

Priscilla Shirer spoke first and I will listen to her again. What an awesome lady with words straight from the scripture. She was the only one who spoke Friday night and I am glad we had a chance to her her speak. Walked back to the hotel, had some Coke Zero I brought and some snacks Irene brought. We talked pretty late and watched Jurassic Park 3. Our view from our room was beautiful.

Saturday we woke up and headed for breakfast and packed the cars up before walking over. We got there a bit late but still got some good seats. Once again worship time was awesome and I just enjoyed the prayers as well. Kay Arthur spoke next and what a heavy message she had about our country and what danger we are in. She read straight from scripture and I will tell ya what, she scared me. According to the Bible, we are living in some scary times my friends. But she also gave us some hope. This lady may be 74, but God just spoke through her.

Lunch. we got a coke and hot dog. With almost 20,000 ladies there, we did not dare go outside. SO, Irene and I chatted some more. Next up, the ladies answered some questions together and it was just precious. Oh, the Governors wife attended as well.

If you have read my blog before, I have been very hesitant to read anything by Beth Moore to see her out of fear. I did not want to come across as saying, "this is what Beth Said". That is no longer a fear. No matter where you are in your walk of faith, this lady will get you excited. She spoke last and its obvious that she is a woman of God. All 3 of these ladies are so real. We share some of the same insecurities and that felt good. All 3 even mentioned those who struggle with weight, fertility and man, it was awesome.

Ok here is what I learned

1) If I can read 2-3 Christian novels a week, I have no excuse for not digging into scripture like I desire. Boy, did I think she was looking me straight in the eye

2) If you truly repent, you do not need to hold on to that sin. You are released of that burden

3) No matter what your past or present is, no matter what how yucky your heart and mind seem to be, God can use you to do some pretty wonderful things. You just have to let him. Its hard to give him full control, but once you do, its a pretty awesome feeling.

4) Even 80+ year old people can "raise the roof" and worship like they are the only person in the room. I will never see the lady who sat beside me but her hug meant a lot

Needless to say, I am glad I went and thankful for my friend Irene. Irene and I are in very different seasons of life, but God led us to the same Wed morning small group and for that I am thankful. In fact her daughter now works at the same hospital I do. It was nice to spend time with her again. Here are some pics from weekend. I followed the rules and did not take pics while the speakers were on stage!

YOU know what else I was thinking? I was thinking about the people who work Phillips arena. There were 19,500 women singing some seriously loud, incredible worship music. I wonder, I really do wonder if anyone who did not know Christ, felt something? I got a coke during one of the breaks and talked to the people who worked there who had the TV on were able to watch it but decided to turn the sound off. Bummer!

I'm out of here! See ya tomorrow night! Im heading out for the Deeper Still conference downtown!

Happy Birthday Owen

Won't you join in wishing my awesome nephew a Happy 3rd birthday and lets say thanks to my sister (Kelly) who made a beautiful little boy!

Hey Owen,
Its Peanut Butter Jelly Time!

CONTEST AND POSTCARD EXCHANGE

OK, I KNOW MOST OF YOU LOVE FREE STUFF AND CONTESTS ON BLOGS SO I AM PLUGGING MY HUSBANDS.

ITS EASY

HEAD OVER TO WWW.VALTOOL.BLOGSPOT.COM AND LEAVE A POST REGARDING YOUR MEMORIES FROM THE 80S. THATS ALL YOU HAVE TO DO.

ALSO, THERE IS A BUTTON ON MY BLOG BENEATH THE BOOK I AM READING, AND IT SAYS POST CARD EXCHANGE. LAST CHANCE TO SIGN UP TO GET SOME COOL POST CARDS AROUND THE COUNTRY. ITS A PRETTY COOL THING TO DO FOR YOUR KIDS. YOU WILL NOT HAVE TO MAIL OUT MORE THAN 5 OR 10. THATS ALL, NO RULES!

SO THATS IT, HEAD OVER TO THE CONTEST, AND SIGN UP FOR THE POST CARD EXCHANGE IF YOU ARE INTERESTED

Thursday 13

Thirteen Things about Amy 13 cool things that Michael and I have done in the past 7 years www.valtool.blogspot.com is having a fun and easy contest. Go share your 80s memories and he's picking a winner or 2! 1. We have been on 3 1/2 Disney Cruises 2. We have been on a Costa cruise with his family 3. We are adopting a baby girl from China 4. We may not have children yet, but we do go to a pumpkin patch each year 5. We have been to the Apple Festival in Eliday a few times 6. We were able to go back to Williamsburg, Va for our 5th anniversary 7. Michael has shared his love of theater with me and we have seen Cats, Phantom, Disney's On the Record, Les Mis, Rent and Wicked. The last 2 have been my favorite 8. Because of a previous job of Michael's, I have been able to meet Michael W Smith, Steven Curtis Chapman, Amy Grant, Casting Crowns and many others 9. Because of his previous job, he was able to my passion for Christian fiction books restored 10. We now have 4 nephews and 1 niece 11. We share the same birthday and have been able to hit a Disney/Universal park a few times on our birthday 12. We got our house really really clean this week in preparation for a social workers visit 13. We both love to dream about our future

So, did ya go visit www.valtool.blogspot.com and share your 80s memories? How much easier could a give away be?

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Prince Caspian

So we went to see Prince Caspian yesterday. I will not give the plot away but be careful if you do not want spoiler but I really am not giving anything away. The longer the movie went on ( 2 hours 45 minutes) the more I fell in love with it. If you can not see Biblical references in this, oh boy! I am going to admit. I cried. I did not tear up. I cried at certain scenes. Are you serious God? You want to talk to me through a rockin movie? Okay, I will listen. If you have not seen this but plan to, please pay attention to the intimate scenes with Lucy and Azlan. Be prepared to get some chills. Perhaps I was in the right mindset at the right time, but I so needed to see this movie yesterday. So, do I recommend it? heck yeah? Did I like it better than the first? You know I just might have. I will warn you, there is much more fighting but then again, its based on the book. I think the messages were much clearer. Thats just my 2 cents.

thoughts and question

Ok, so here is a random thought I had in regards to a question that was asked lately? Why even pray when God know everything?

my answer: You know when you are talking a 4 or 5 year old and you ask them what they are doing or what they did or how there day was? You probably already know what they did or whether or not they had a good day or not..but.. You want to interact with this wonderful human being. You want to talk to him or her. No matter that you already know the answers, you want him or her to share things with you, to have a relationship. I think we are like that to God

Here is another question that I have thought about at sometime in my 34 (or is it 33 or 35, please say no to35)

When were cavemen around? Where in time were dinosaurs? I know about Adam and Eve and I know Jesus walked around over 2000 years ago but where were the cavemen? I really am asking, not just being silly!

Great day with hubby
Lunch
Prince Caspian
Trivia.


More details on that awesome movie. maybe tomorrow. Hoping for a calmer night than last night.

drama drama drama

Drama at the Christophers late last night, check out www.valtool.blogspot.com for all the details

Tagged by hubby

ABC Meme - I got tagged

I was tagged by hubby who is having a very simple contest. Click here to play!

A is for: Attached or Single? Attached for almost 8 years, legally for 7.(copied this from Michael

B is for: Best Friend? my Michael, Lorrie in Jackson, Tn, my sister Kelly and all of my adoption friends

C is for Cake or pie? Both? gonna have to say cake. I love anything with coconut and anything thats not all chocolate

D is for: Day of choice? Im now guaranteed Wednesdays and Saturdays off. Woo Hoo

E is for: Essential item? IPOD

F is for: Favorite color? Blue, burgundy

G is for: Gummy bears or worms? worms

H is for: Home town? Atlanta, GA but have lived in Tn, SC, Ms, Fl,Va

I is for: Favorite indulgence? blogging

J is for: January or July? January, it's our birthday month and October for our anniversary

K is for: Kids? not yet but hoping LynnMarie will come home this year

L is for: Life isn’t complete without? hubby, family and friends

M is for: Marriage date? October 6, 2001

N is for: Number of brothers and sisters? 1 brother and 1 sister, 2 BIL

O is for: Oranges or Apples? apples

P is for: Phobias? I am paranoid about many thing. Will get back to this

Q is for: Quotes? Movie quotes. MIchael and I know tons of them

R is for: Reasons to smile? looking to the future and seeing our family grow, future vacations

S is for: Season of choice? fall or Autumn. I find it terribly romantic. We were married during this season and I love the leaves, the smells, the fires (the ones in the fireplace)

T is for: Tag 5 people: if your eyes are on this screen and you have a blog you have been tagged. Im guessing 5 people will read this

U is for an Unknown fact about me: I am odd and paranoid

V is for: Vegetable?anything with cheese on it

W is for: Worst Habit: according to hubby, I do not put caps on anything. This is true. I admit it

X is for: X-ray or Ultrasound? ultrasound

Y is for: Your favorite food? anything with cheese on it. I guess I should say any Weight Watcher food but I can not

Z is for: Zodiac sign? Capricorn, for what it's worth.

Z is for: Which zoo animal is your favorite?gorillas, the big cats

no clue why

Had a great night and work, got in my car and started driving home and then..I started crying. NO, bawling. Ugh!!!! I do believe satan was trying to take my joy.

One of our cats Sammy got sick this week and Michael took him to the vet, got some IV fluids and should be okay. I started talking myself out of ever having a pet and perhaps warning any animal that makes eye contact that if they come live with us, they may not be around long .

I feel very guilty for Lucy and now for Sammy. This feeling sucks. I am glad Michael went to work right after I got home, I hate him or anyone else to see me crying. I drove home and saw several dogs in cars with their heads out the windows and then I looked at the passenger side and saw Lucy's drool and paw prints on the window and that did me in.

OH I hope that Lucy did not regret living with us. I hope that she knew that I loved her so much and what a joy she was. I hope that she did not get sad the last time she saw me because as much I tried not to, her face will forever be etched in my mind and I hope it goes away. When we got Lucy, the one fear I had was loving a dog so much and either finding her dead or having to put her to sleep. I miss her presence, her sound, her silliness, her playing with the cat. As much as I have been looking at rescue dogs, I am starting to doubt the fact that we will have another dog. I am even beginning to doubt my ability to parent. Oh, I am sure these feelings will go away but right now I am tired and sad. Not a good combination. i had actually been doing much better with all of this and had not cried in weeks.

WE have pics on the computer downstairs as our screensaver along with dozens of other pictures. Almost everytime I sit downstairs, the one video I took of Lucy doing puppy power shows up.

Oh how my heart is hurting today. I miss my Lucy the basset hound

Question

I love to ask this. If you could serve dinner (you have to make it) to any 7 celebrities in the world (dead or alive and I dont care what makes them a celebrity) who would you choose?

Oh yeah, still time to join the post card exchange. Just click on the button on the right side of my blog under the book I am currently reading. Once you join, fill out the database. You will not have to send more than 10 out and its cool to get mail from all over the country!


Here are the 7 I would invite
1) Rascall Flats
2) Steven Curtis Chapman and family
3) John Cusack - hubby would have a great time with him
4) Oprah- not for the reasons you might think
5) Nick and jessica- what really happenned?
6)Walt Disney
7) Billy Graham

Your Turn

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Things about Amy 13 Things I would like to have done before LynnMarie gets home LynnMarie may come home sooner than we thought! We are adopting from China! Our adoption journey can be found at www.thechristopherfamily.blogspot.com 1. Continue to work on losing weight 2.Get used to carrying a purse. I may be the only girl who this is not a habit for 3. Get a new front door 4.Get new carpet in LynnMarie's room 5.Paint the whole upstairs 6. Get rid of the half peeled off wallpaper in 2 bathrooms and repaint 7.Touch up the stuff we have already painted 8.Declutter 9.Go on one last Amy/Michael trip 10.Save as much vacation time as possible 11.Save as much money as possible 12. Clean up the back yard 13. Learn as much about China/attachment/parenting as possible

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Going to they gym and church just not at the same time

So here is my question. If after going to church, I always feel better and a bit revived and after going to they gym, I always feel good, why do I not do both more? Seriously, am I so lazy that I do not want to put the energy into doing something that guaranteed results?

I'm just saying

Book Tour and Review-Having a Marys Heart in a Marys World

Lets get to business. To follow along with the book tour, visit http://joannaweaver.blogspot.com/2008/06/having-mary-heart-gift-edition.html

She is actually giving several copies of the book away so make sure you visit! All you have to do is leave a comment!

My thoughts on this book. Wow! I did not read the back or the inside, I just read and let me tell you, it rocked! It helps light a fire and helps increase your desire on being the person God created you to be, not necessarily who you want to be and who doesn't want that. Most of you know my personality. There is not one person I would not recommend this too. This is just me, Amy talking but this is another great book that would make a great gift. I plan on reading this again very soon!!!!!

About Joanna:

Joanna Weaver was voted the Most Promising New Writer of 1997 at the Mount Herman Writer’s Conference. She has authored Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World and written for publications such as Focus on the Family, Home Life, Aspire, and The Evangel. A pastor’s wife for more than eighteen years, she and her husband have counseled many couples, both those approaching their wedding and those struggling in marriage. The Weavers live in Montana and have taught young married classes and spoken on the topic of marriage throughout the northwestern United States.

About Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World:An invitation for every woman who’s ever felt she isn’t godly enough, isn’t loving enough, isn’t doing enough.

The life of a woman today isn’t really all that different from that of Mary and Martha in the
New Testament. Like Mary, you long to sit at the Lord’s feet…but the daily demands of a busy world just won’t leave you alone. Like Martha, you love Jesus and really want to serve him…yet you struggle with weariness, resentment, and feelings of inadequacy.

Then comes Jesus, into the midst of your busy life, to extend the same invitation he issued long ago to the two sisters from Bethany. Tenderly, he invites you to choose “the better part”–a joyful life of intimacy with him that flows naturally into loving service.

With her fresh approach to the familiar Bible story, Joanna Weaver shows how all of us–Marys and Marthas alike–can draw closer to our Lord: deepening our devotion, strengthening our service, and doing both with less stress and greater joy.

Joanna's blog: http://joannaweaver.blogspot.com

Joanna's website: www.joannaweaverbooks.com (Coming Soon)

Buy the book here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1400074037?&camp=212361&creative=383841&linkCode=wss&tag=sprightly-20

Blog tour schedule ( http://joannaweaver.blogspot.com/2008/06/having-mary-heart-gift-edition.html).

I was tagged

My adopting friend Sara not only tagged me but said I was the most likely not to do this because I am so busy. As I told her, I always have time to blog. I do not always have time to do the tagging thing, but this one is fun..If you read this, you are tagged. Let me know if you do this so I can come visit you!

New post below this one!

Favorite person (outside of family): My friend, Rebekah or college friend Lorrie. Those both love me unconditionally which is awesome. Then there are my First Friday friends and I can not pick just one!

Favorite food? anything with cheese on it

Quirks about you? Oh I am odd. I have to be reading something when I eat. I end my phone calls with "Goodbye Friend", I am pretty particular about my schedule and get upset when it gets messed up. I will ask Michael. I cant remember them but I know I am very special. oh, I have over 700 blogs on my bloglines

How would the person who loves you the most describe you in ten words or less? makes up her own words,funny, moody, tender hearted


Any regrets in life? not realizing Gods plan for me and His timing is far better than mine, not taking better care of my body

Favorite charity or cause? Half The Sky , Love Without Boundaries, Starfish Orphange, Childrens Miracle Network, CHildhood Brain Tumors


Favorite blog recently? Bring The Rain. I love Angie's heart for Jesus & how she sees life in LIGHT of her circumstances, not IN SPITE of them. I have to agree with this. Cfhusband.blogspot.com of course. There are so many and I am always looking for more


Something you cannot get enough of? 4 days off in a row, the feeling of getting a bill paid off, dreaming about LynnMarie

Worst job you ever had? I had a babysitting job for 3 kids for 12 hours, She paid me a dollar.

What job would you pay NOT to have? telephone sales. Bless the,

If you could be a fly on the wall, where? on the set of Greys Anatomy . I know. I have to come with something more creative

Favorite Bible verse right now? We are doing Beth Moores study of Psalms and so far they are all reaching my heart at the perfect timme


Guilty pleasure? blogging , window shopping


Got any confessions? Loads. OH yeah, I have made some really dumb decisions in my life. Only my hubby and sister know them. If I am feeling guilty I confess.


If you had to spend $1000 on yourself, how would you spend it? A very nice cabin or hotel for hubby or I, or pay someone to paint the house or buy some baby clothes for LynnMarie

Favorite thing about your house? We have a little balcony by the master bedroom that I rarely visit. ALso, Christmas trees look great in our bay windo

Least favorite thing about your house? its hard to keep clean, the carpet upstairs, lack of backyard


One thing you are bad at? setting limits when I go shopping

One thing you are good at? making sure my kids know they are loved beyond belief!


If you could change one thing about your circumstances, what? debt-free

Who would you like to meet someday? Jesus, Wes King and tell him what an awesome songwrite he is. There are a lot of people who I would like to meet so I will have to add on to this list .


Who is your real life hero? dad


What is the hardest part of your job? its night shift so trying to get as many things done as if I worked days. Making time for friends. Trying to stay away from gossip

When are you most relaxed? blogging or hanging out with Michael

What stresses you out? deadlines to clean the house, drama at work.

What can you not live without? Hope. Faith

Do you agree with the recent article that blogs are authored by narcissists? My bil thinks blogs are just a forum for people to talk about themselves. I use it for free counseling.HAHA! I tend to talk a lot. With blogging, you can just quit reading when you get annoyed with me

Why do you blog? see above.Also meeting new friends and to help pass the time away as we wait for LynnMarie

Who are you tagging?anyone who reads this

Rules:
1. Answer the questions.
2. Link back to who tagged you.
3. Tag 8 bloggers in the above categories to do the same.

catching up

Hmmmm

Weight loss- looks like I have plateaued. Hope to have a better week next week

Night shift- still working it and meeting the coolest families

Lucy the basset hound- still miss her badly

Michael and I want to plan one last trip before we get our referral which is still a long time away but we need to save some money, so no more vacations besides going home to Florida. So, we want to rent a cabin for a few days this October in the North Ga Mountains. Any recommendations?

I have had 4 days off and got to have lunch with friends this week and that was fun!

We have a massive cleaning of the house in front of us and I need a name for it you know like Operation ????? Any ideas would be fabulous

Tomorrow I am part of a book tour and will be reviewing a fab book. Come by and leave a comment so I can keep doing this, woohoo!

Do not forget about the post card exchange. The button to join is right below the "Book I am reading" thing.

So what fun stuff are you guys up to?

Post Card exchange

Check out the button on the sidebar. I thought i would try another postcard exchange. All you have to do is click the button, join the yahoo group and add your info to the database before July 1st. All you do is send postcards to the people on the list I send to you. It should be between 5 and 10 people. No more than that. So go ahead, its a great way to see cards from all over the country and I hear its a great home schooling project..

COme on now!!

comment game

OK, I worked last night and work tonight but hope to see some action here so lets play the comment game, just to play

What's better than getting to play the comment game? So play nice and I'll see you Sunday.

Here's how it goes: I'll start the game off at the bottom of this post by choosing two words or phrases, like coffee or tea, and which ever one you prefer you choose. You can also explain why. When you have done that you do two new words or phrases for the next commenter to choose from. Feel free to come back as often as you like. Just have fun. If someone derails the game will one of you put it back on track? Thanks.

First comment: Pen or pencil?

OOoooooh. Look what the blog fairy (AKA Verna) did to Michaels blog!!!!! Click here to see!

Happy Happy Joy Joy (haha)

Lucy has been gone over a week and I still cry. Not as much, but I do. I walked in the house a few days ago and put the trash can on the table so Lucy would not get it. I woke up from my nap listening for her barking as she could always tell I was awake. I really miss her. Lucy was spoiled.
I am not sure but I think when you are human childless, you build up this love and you just want to share it. That's probably why I adore my nieces and nephews and why I loved my Lucy. Lucy got a new boney (bone) every time I went to the store. She loved doggie day care and had some cool friends there. She loved it when you put a blanket on you and she would jump on it. I loved her ears and if you scratched them the right way, she would make this funny noise

This is not a Lucy blog but more of my random thoughts. Lucy was our friend. Do you know sometimes when you hear the same thing over and over and over and then there is one time you hear it differently? Well I have been hearing and studying the fact that happiness is based on circumstances and that joy goes much deeper than that. I am not going to allow circumstances steal my joy. Lots of things I do not like will happen in my life. But I have to have faith that God knows the whole picture and what I am not seeing is that it will all work out in the end. I am sure of this. Lots of sad stuff has been going on. Lots of things are stressing me out. If you know me, then you know I am a bit paranoid and I worry about everything. But my God gives me a sense of peace that truly can only come from him and my joy is pretty deep.

I am starting to think that Lucy was placed in our lives so I could shower her with love as we wait for LynnMarie to come home. I am thankful we had her for almost 2 and half years. She definitely has a permanent place in my heart.

Thanks to Tymm and Laura and Don and Be for the encouraging cards and to all my blogging friends who sent emails. We both appreciate them and are thankful to know others know how we felt.

New Kids On the Block - Summertime - Full Music Video HQ

Oh yeah baby, they are back! Its true, I have nothing else to post so here ya go. So who was your favorite??


heehee

LynnMarie

Michael and I made a change in our adoption plans this week. We sent in our medical checklist for a child with special needs. Although there is no guarantee, there is chance that LynnMarie will be home earlier than expected. More on that over at the family blog.

So like I was talking about at the adoption blog, I prayed over the application and started thinking. Praying specifically for LynnMarie is the greatest thing we can do for her besides making sure we are doing what we can during this wait to make sure we are the best parents for her.

I remember as a child, my mom prayed out loud, A LOT. It got on our nerves and to be honestly I am sure we all rolled our eyes when mom prayed. As a child, I grew up in the church and prayer a lot, but not to the extent that mom did. I feel guilty. My mom loved us so much, that she went to God several times a day lifting us up to him. What an amazing gift from an amazing woman. I really never spent time thinking of all the things my mom did for me. She is a prayer warrior. my mom might talk more than I do, which means she probably gets on peoples nerves but she does not care.

My mom taught me how to pray. She told me to share my heart with God and not to hold anything back. I did not understand for a long time. Its such an honor and privilege to talk to our creator. Its hard to understand why we even pray when God already knows our hearts and I can not explain it. I just have a total peace that can not be explained. I can not wait to pray for our daughter daily.

Wanna pray for LynnMarie, Michael and I? It would be appreciated!!!!

Does anyone else cry during Father of the bride 2? ugh He is such a good dad!!!

Life Goes on

First, thank you for all of the personal emails and posts regarding our loss. You guys rock and its appreciated..

SO yesterday after work, my women's small group started our summer Bible study. We are doing a study of Psalms by Beth Moore. Until this study, I had not used any of her studies but man, what was I thinking. We watched the first video, and I am excited. This women loves her Jesus and its quite obvious that she wants others to feel the same way.

We will not be studying the whole book of Psalms, actually just 12 of them but I am so excited. She looked in the camera and said no matter what you situation is , you are doing this study at the right time. Circumstances did not bring you here, God does. You will not stay in the same place. We are all on a pilgrimage and whatever you are going through will pass. Our God is a God of timing. We talked about happiness vs joy and that happiness is based on circumstances. As you can tell it was an awesome 2 hours. I didn't share whats going on with me because I was tired after working all night, and we celebrated an engagement but I do hope to get to know these ladies better this summer.

As you can see from my side bar, I started a new book which I have heard of before. I am reading it not because I have doubts but I want to read the views of others, if that's not too confusing.

I have Found lots of new blogs lately and they are fabulous. When I get bored at work, I blog search and then I add them to my bloglines. I will not tell you how many I added, because you will make fun of me. But there are sooo many neat bloggers out there with great stuff going in. People are really interesting. I will share some with you when I get the chance.

What do you guys know about staying in cabins in north ga mtns? Just wondering.

things

Not sure what to write today. I had to write something so that the last post would not be the first thing I saw when I visited my blog.

Its still hard. Got home today and watched some tv with Michael. Tears flowed as I looked out the window I realized I would not see my Lucy running around and she would not be in my lap watching TV anymore.

Some people have told me that Lucy is in Heaven and I didn't want to think otherwise. I mean, my choices were Lucy goes to heaven or her entire existence was just wiped out. So yesterday afternoon, I woke up listening to Jeremy Camp and the lyrics were " Everything that has breath praise the Lord". I googled the whole pet in heaven thing and it said the Bible is not that clear on the whole thing. So I looked up the lyrics and found it in scripture. I don't know. I did find some comfort in those verses.

Life does go on. We will not be getting a dog anytime soon, and honestly I am not sure if we will get one. Too soon anyway.

Anyway, this post was really not supposed to be about my sweet Lucy.

This morning I start my 7 week small group study using Beth Moore's book on Psalms. It will be nice to see the ladies from the church again. I miss fellowship.

5 nights in a row at work is rough. I have Wednesday off then I am back on Thursday and then off Thurs and Friday.

Good news, I am down 3.6 pounds this week. I did go to a WW meeting and found another great leader. I am down 24.8lbs, so close to 25 pounds. I miss exercising but I just ant when working so many nights in a row.

I am hoping Michael and I will find something fun to do soon. I need to get my mind off of sadness. Not just my own. People around me are suffering. People I have not met are grieving a loss.

But there is joy. We have friends that are mommy and daddy as of yesterday. We have friends leaving in just a short time to bring their sweet girl home from Africa. We have a new nephew. These are the things that make me smile. Do you have good news?

Broken heart and remembering our Lucy

Life without Lucy the basset hound has started and it is hard. Excuse my language. It sucks. Sunday morning I walked directly upstairs to bed, instead of wandering downstairs. Then I cried. and I kept crying. I kept hoping the tears would stop but oh no, they kept coming and they will for a very long time.

I will share with you what I told Michael. I failed my Lucy. She was sick, and I went to work. I hope she was not sad with me and I hope that she did not suffer. I am glad I was not there, although I am very selfish with my thoughts. I know you will say to me, Amy you can not think that way and but I have to because it is true. She should not have been alone. My first thought was, if I can not keep a dog alive, how am I supposed to be a good mom? That was my first thought. I cant believe I let my wonderful sweet puppy down.

This dog brought smiles to me for 2 1/2 years. She was loved. She was spoiled. Okay, she was really spoiled. I made up words and songs for Lucy. In the morning, she would have to go outside and go "peepers". Perhaps God placed her in our lives just to let us love someone until Miss LynnMarie gets home. I am still at work and fighting the tears as I type this. I do agree with Michael. My heart also says no more dogs, but you never know. If it ever happens again, it will be an awfully long time from now.

Michael tried to get rid of all things that reminded me of Lucy, her food, her bonies and other things but I see her wherever I go and I can not stop thinking of that puppy who would bark and bark until someone would go outside and watch her do "puppy power". She was a smart puppy (even if she was almost 3). She would wait until Michael or I got up and then grab an object and take it out the doggie door and run. She loved a good chase and I am glad we have a fence because the neighbors would have had a good laugh. She loved to take dvds and undergarments outside along with other odd objects. Oh she was funny. Every now and then, the house would be quiet and we would look for Lucy. Lucy would take the clothes off the drier and make a pile and then sleep on them. She was cute. I remember the day we got her. it was a week before our Christmas party in 2005 and it was a Tuesday. We got her from Petland and I held her in my lap on my way home. She was wiggly. Man our life changed after that. You may not know why we got her. One of our favorite free dates was to go to the puppy store and just look at the puppies. We saw Lucy a few times and realized she was getting big. We caved in and almost got her but she was too expensive. the next day, Petland called and said "Come get your dog" and we did.

My heart physically hurts again. Its been hurting for almost 2 weeks due to other people's losses, changes in friendships and things that I worry over. Do I feel guilty? Oh yeah. I let my Lucy down and I can not take it back. I hope I get over these feelings. But joy comes out of sorrow. I know that to be true. But, I am not used to these feelings. I do not like these feelings at all. Its been a crazy emotional month of May.

Yes, Lucy was a dog but if you ever saw me with Lucy, you would know she was also a snugglepuppy. I miss her big paws putting full pressure on my legs. I miss her bark (although I swore I heard this afternoon) I can not believe she is gone. We will have to call the vet and mans best friend and get the rest of her stuff put away. This is odd but I almost don't want to remember her because when I do I cry. I cant even bring myself to look at her pictures. Tomorrow when I go upstairs, she is my screensaver.

The dynamics of the Christopher family have changed. Lucy had a bigger impact on Michael and I than we could have ever realized. Lucy was more than a dog. She really was our family. Almost all decisions we made had to include her. I hope our hearts feel better soon. I hope my guilt goes away. I am thankful we had Lucy in our family.

Lucy Christopher

2005-2008

If you have the puppy power, say hello!!!!

( sung and written by Amy to Lucy daily)