Back from Vacation...Exhausted!

We're back! Advertising that I am on an 8 day excursion with the family is not something I typically do on my blog -- unless, of course, I want to invite someone to come and cart off everything that we own! :) So, if you have wondered where in the world is Dori your answer is -- on vacation!

We started planning several months ago to vacation in Atlanta this year. We are normally mountain or beach vacationing people, but this year we decided to go to a nearby city and do everything that it had to offer. So we did Atlanta -- no, seriously, we DID Atlanta! :)

It is the only vacation that I have ever taken where I came back and had lost weight!! :) Don't be jealous. It wasn't without a lot of blood, sweat and tears. Okay, that is being a tad dramatic, but we never stopped moving! Everything we did required a lot of walking and, being in one of THE hottest cities in America (they don't call it "Hotlanta" for nothing), we did a whole lotta sweatin'!

I have tons to write and since I took 1,000 pictures -- no lie -- there will be plenty of moments to share in pictures. But in a snapshot here is what our week looked like:

Saturday -- arrived and got settled in the hotel
Sunday -- Atlanta Zoo, purely awesome!
Monday -- Stone Mountain, one of my favorite things we did
Tuesday -- Aquarium, The World of Coke and a Braves game
Wednesday -- Six Flags - This Wednesday? The chiropractor! :)
Thursday -- CNN Tour, swimming and the mall
Friday -- The Atlanta History Center and I went to Deeper Still
Saturday -- Butch & Kids went to the Fernbank Natural History Museum and I finished up Deeper Still!!

We arrived home sometime near midnight on Saturday night and then got up bright and early to teach about 20 2nd graders the story of Jonah at 9:15 at our church then off to a family get-together for the rest of the day.

When I put my pj's on last night I had that stinging feeling in my eyes like I had been awake for 3 days! I've never been more tired and I'm quite certain I need a vacation to get over my vacation.

Hey, have I mentioned that I have missed blogging something fierce? I have so much to share with you about our trip and some life lessons learned, as well as the incredible experience of being at Deeper Still.

But for now there is laundry to be done, bags to unpack and a house that desperately needs some attention. Not to mention my aching back...The Georgia Cyclone at Six Flags did me in!

I do want to leave you with the scripture of the day that was on my desktop this morning. It was one I've never read before. I'm quite sure I need to dedicate a blog post to it in the days to come. But for now, just read it and rest on it. Read every word, slowly. Then think of all the "names" that you hear thrown around all in the name of religion. His Name, one day, will be the Only Name -- Jesus, the One and Only.

“The LORD will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one LORD, and his name the only name.” Zechariah 14:9

Blessings,
Dori

Credit Due

My friend Jenny has had one crazy week! Last Wednesday she was at work as a Cardiac Care RN -- specifically an Open Heart Surgical RN -- and she began to have chest pains. Two leading doctors evaluated her and determined that she needed to go immediately to another specialized hospital as it appeared she had an aeortic aneurysm which would require a very risky open heart surgery. Keep in mind that Jenny is younger than me and has 2 young children. Also remember that her career is in this field -- making it equally as frightening for her as I'm sure she has seen her fair share of best and worst case scenarios.

Immediately the Body of Christ began to pray for Jenny as she was transported by ambulance to a nearby city for immediate care and further evaluation. After further testing and evaluation her diagnosis had completely changed! No aneurysm. No open heart surgery. She does have "something" but it is not near as dire as the original diagnosis.

What happened next surprised me. At church the next Sunday morning, I heard one person after another comment that the doctors had made a mistake and her diagnosis changed. I even heard myself say the words, too.

This morning I got an e-mail from Jenny and she cleared up any confusion surrounding her diagnosis. She said:

"I wanted to say an amazing THANK YOU to all of you for your calls and prayers. I believed God changed my diagnosis on my way to Vanderbilt. In the ambulance with the quiet ride the song "Let my Life Song Sing to You" kept going through my mind. My goal is to be a Life Song of Joy to family, friends and strangers and remember to thank God for everyday!"

Not to slap any hands for surely mine would be sore and red, but I challenge us as believers in THE ALL POWERFUL, ALL SUFFICIENT, ALL SUPREME, ALMIGHTY AND MIRACLE WORKING GOD to stop giving credit for His mighty acts to mistakes in diagnosis and realize that prayer really does change things and when His people pray He moves. Not always in the way we want, but always for our good and sometimes in overwhelmingly miraculous ways!

"Once again I'll go over what GOD has done, lay out on the table the ancient wonders; I'll ponder all the things you've accomplished, and give a long, loving look at your acts. O God! Your way is holy! No god is great like God! You're the God who makes things happen; you showed everyone what you can do..." Psalm 77:11-14 THE MESSAGE

Blessings,
Dori

Lost in Summer

 

Summer doesn't officially begin on the calendar for another 3 weeks. Summer definitely began at The Cook House on Friday, May 23! This was the day after the last official day of school. Our days have been filled with:

Kids sleeping until 10:00 am if they have a mind to

Swimming all day if we have a mind to

Going to Sonic for Happy Hour Slushies if we have a mind to

Friends calling every 5 minutes to come over

PJ's until Noon if we have a mind to

Preparing for vacation that is quickly approaching

Deeper Still in less than 4 weeks

Painting the kitchen

Begin teaching 2nd Grade Sunday School today!!

Attempting to do an indepth Bible study with friends while all of the above is going on!

It happened just this way last year. As I look back at last year, my summertime blogging was at a minimum. There just seems to be so much more to be done than to sit at my desk and hammer away at the keyboard. But I promise not to leave you totally. I'm sure from time to time there will be a lesson learned that must be shared, a photo taken that just can't be filed away without posting, and Lindsey's always good for a funny comment from here and there.

This morning, though, I'm listening to a storm brewing nearby -- occasional claps of thunder. The reason I'm at my keyboard at 5:54 am is because when there is thunder there is also Lindsey...in my bed!

Truth be told, I couldn't sleep anyway. 2nd Grade Sunday School is on my mind. I can't wait! I remember so much of what I learned about Jesus when I was a little 2nd grader sitting in wooden chairs as Mrs. Powers put watercolor images of Bible characters up on a flannelgraph board. I hope these little ones remember what we teach them about God this year!!

Today's lesson? The tumbling of the wall around Jericho! One thing that struck me about this story was that before the seventh day when the walls came crashing down around the city and God gave them a mighty victory, He asked the Israelites to obey His very strict instruction of marching around the wall every day, one time, for six days -- in SILENCE! They could not talk, not even a whisper. The commentary with our lesson added that they did all of this -- they marched, they didn't talk, they didn't whisper...THEY DIDN'T EVEN COMPLAIN.

Which got me to thinking. How many of God's instructions have I followed in just this way? How many times have I obeyed His leading, but complained, grumbled, reasoned...the whole 9 yards? What would happen if I just decided to obey and be silent?

The journey of obedience can sometimes be the hardest journey of all. But I'm wondering if we make it that way by not being silent and listening for His voice as we travel. What would God whisper in our ear as we obey that would make the journey of obedience easier -- if only we would be silent and listen?

Just something to think about this morning!

Serving Him Shoulder to Shoulder,
Dori