Beaches, brothers, and God's goodness!

So, the Hodgepodge was on Spring Break last week... but this week is OUR Spring Break - so here I am, typing to you from the comfort of the family beach house on the central coast of California... not bad, not bad...  Anyway - away to the weekly hodgepodge we go!  

1. Share one fun thing you did last week, while the Hodgepodge was on 'spring break'.

Last week my younger kiddos got out early one day so I took them on errands - because, well, that's how we roll sometimes!  But that wasn't the fun part... THIS was the fun part - our view on the way home!  So spectacular, I simply HAD to stop the car and take a picture.

Because when God gives you a gift like this, you stop and give thanks.  Post haste.

2.  April 10th is National Sibling Day...do you have siblings, and if so are you close? Share a favorite story featuring one or all of your siblings. If you don't have siblings, did you ever wish you did?

I do have a younger brother - he is 2 1/2 years younger and lives in Los Angeles.  My favorite story, among many, would have to be from the weekend of my wedding. (Almost 19 years ago!)   A few days before the wedding, he came to me and said "You know, I think D is a good guy... he'll treat you well.  You've got a good one."  That meant so much to me, to have those words of support during such a crazy time.  The morning of my wedding I woke up with so many butterflies in my stomach, when I walked out to the kitchen he asked me how I was feeling.  When I said I felt like I was going to be sick, he looked straight at me and said "No sister of MINE is going to throw up on her wedding day!  Now you sit down, eat some crackers, and get ready for your DAY!"  I was too shocked to do anything else!  :-)  We've certainly had our differences over the years and have lived very different lives, but all in all we get along pretty well.

3. Is it important to you to 'buy American'? Why or why not? How much of an effort do you make to 'buy American'? If you're not American, insert your own country in the blank. 

I'll be honest, I don't really think about buying American, per say.  I do look into a company's ethics, though, and if I know that they support child labor in other countries, or have questionable dealings with other major companies, then I will not buy from them.  It's really hard in this global economy to be solely committed to buying from only one country.

4. Besides The Bible, what book has impacted your spirituality in some way?

"The Fragrance of Beauty" by Joyce Landorf.  I picked it up at a yard sale when I was a teenager, and it has stuck with me - such a beautiful way for me to start challenging the world's way of looking at beauty, pointing me to a new understanding of beauty and youth, and how to prepare myself honorably for my husband and for my future children.

5. April showers bring May flowers or so the saying goes.  Do you find rainy days calming or depressing?  When were you last caught in a rainstorm? What's blooming in your neck of the woods today?

I don't mind an occasional rainy day - it cleans the air and refreshes everything - but after a couple of days I'm ready for the sun again!  The last time I was caught in a rainstorm was a couple of weeks ago, I was doing errands over an area of 60 miles and there were scattered showers - and I was wearing (very cute) blue suede shoes.  Serves me right.  Sigh.

I now live in southern California, where things are blooming year round, which I really like!  Living in a new house, though, I'm excited to see what blooms in the yard... I think there are new buds forming on some of the bushes in the front yard!

6. What's your favorite yellow food?

Cornbread, baked in a cast iron skillet, served with whipped honey butter.  Yes ma'am!!  (my years in the south were not wasted!)

7. April is National Poetry Month...what's a poem that holds special meaning for you, and why is it special?


Bear with me... this is an involved story, but it's worth reading...

These poems, the psalms of the Holy Bible, NEVER fail in speaking to my heart... because, well, it's GOD... speaking right to His beloved... Me... Us... YOU.

A few years ago, my dear friend Andrea was pregnant with her firstborn, a sweet girl they had named Aubrey.  Halfway through the pregnancy they found out that Aubrey not only had Trisomy 18, but had a heart defect that, combined with the Trisomy, made it highly unlikely that she would make it to full gestation.  Andrea and her husband were meeting with a specialist, who would determine whether he could operate on sweet Aubrey in utero.  (How amazing is our technology that they can operate on sweet babies while still in the womb!)  Anyway - I was, at the same time that this was all going on, studying Moses and the exodus... more specifically, the Passover, when the blood of the perfect lamb was painted on the doorways.  This all connects... read on.

I fell asleep one night, as we were all praying for Aaron and Andrea and their sweet baby girl, and all that was upon them... and I dreamed that I was walking through their house.  Andrea showed me the baby's nursery, and as I looked up, painted along the doorframe was this verse "Psalm 51:10" and the words "This is my child... my lamb"

I woke up and immediately opened up my Bible and read Psalm 51:10, which reads:
  
"Create in me a new heart, oh God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me."

I immediately called Andrea and said, "I don't know what this means... but God has your sweet baby and her heart in His hands!"

The next Sunday I was getting ready with our church praise team, when my husband walked in and said "You need to come to Sunday school NOW!"  As I walked into the room, Andrea jumped up and hugged me and said, "Sally, you need to do more dreaming!  I went to the specialist this week and our baby's girl's heart completely reversed its abnormality!  Her heart is perfect!"  The specialist was puzzled... this never happens... but God... He happens!

Now, sweet baby Aubrey only lived 48 hours after her birth... that's the Trisomy 18... but she had extra time in that womb, and got to meet her parents for two whole days... days that they didn't know if they would ever have.

To God be the Glory... he changes hearts... 


8.  Insert your own random thought here.

Everyone in my house is dancing to this song lately!  Sooooo good!!!  I dare you to not listen to it and be tapping your foot to it all day long!  :-)  (There was originally a really cool video of a church who organized a 1000 member congregation to dance to this for charity... but the video has all of a sudden been made private... odd... but anyway, here's just the music - it's still awesome!)

Hey, thanks for visiting today!  If you'd like to see what's going on in the rest of the Hodgepodge world, check out Joyce's blog where is all begins!