They're Home

Thanks for your prayers for the choir. Half of them are home (including my family) and all is well. They are full of stories and brought home many souvenirs. They had a wonderful time and will remember the last 12 days always. The other half should be arriving about now. Getting through customs didn't take very long (and the other group went through that somewhere else as they were not on a direct flight). If you can attend the Home Concert on Sunday, please do. You will love it.

Tour Nears the End

The choir is about to head home. They have had 10 very full days, and they sang their last concert today in Munich. They have been in Germany twice, to the Czech Republic and to Austria. They will spend a night in Switzerland before they head home.

If you are in the Dallas area, please come to their Home Concert on Sunday, July 3 at 6pm at the First Baptist Church. It will be wonderful and they would love for you to be there.

Today they toured Dachau which was a very moving experience. the photos are quite good and sobering to see. Please continue to pray for their safe travel.

Internet Difficulties Overseas

To those of you keeping up with the choir's tour, it looks like they do not have internet access in the country they are in right now. They will receive their emails as soon as possible, but that may not be until they move again on Thursday. My daughter called again this morning and is feeling almost 100% better. She sounded fine and only coughed once in our 5 minute conversation, so thank you for your prayers. Their afternoon concert was delayed while they waited for that nation's president to come through and I guess for security to clear out, but they were having a grand time in the meantime. Your continued prayers in their behalf are greatly appreciated.

The Tour Continues

I have heard again from my daughter and they are having a wonderful time and things are going well. She has a cold, but that's minor and it interfered with her singing today, but not much else. They left Germany after this morning's outdoor concert and traveled to a new country, so she got to "rest" on the bus. They were headed to their hotels soon. Please pray that they will continue to minister to those they come in contact with - since there is a language barrier, pray that their actions and attitude will reflect those of Christ. Also, this is the only place on the itinerary where they've been warned to be wary of potential pick-pockets. My son is posting audio blogs whenever he can, so be sure to check those out on the Bigger Blog.

Tour Update

I have heard from my husband and my daughter and things are going well on their choir tour. They got some sleep last night and my husband emailed me some photos awhile ago. If you are interested, contact me for the link. They cruised the Rhine River this afternoon before having dinner and heading back in for an early night. Their concerts begin tomorrow, so please pray for them.

So Far, So Good

The choir has arrived in Frankfurt (my family got there about 2:05am my time today) and they have had a full day of sightseeing. Tomorrow begins a little work in the trip. They will set up at the church where they'll lead services on Sunday morning and then have a more leisurely day while they adjust to the time zone change. From that point on, the itinerary is full. Keep praying for them as they are out and about that they will represent Christ in the best possible way.

They're Off

I took my family to the airport this morning and they should be boarding their flight now. Please pray for them as they travel and sing. My daughter is feeling fine, so I appreciate your prayers for her. They will be singing concerts in 4 countries over the next 12 days. It is a really cool trip and they are so excited. My dad went with me to the airport and he commented on the way back about how happy they were to be off. Back to work, now. I have stacks on all sides of things I need to do.

The End of the Dry Spell

I'm really excited today because I signed a new consultant to my downline yesterday. It has been many months since that happened, and I'm so pleased. Plus, she's a really sweet lady and I will enjoy working with her.

I am frantically trying to get everything in order for my family's departure to Europe this week. No matter how much I do, I realize there is still more I need to do! It's never-ending. I guess once they go through airport security, I will have done everything I can and I won't be able to worry about it any more.

My daughter is sick today, so I have made an appointment for her with a nurse practitioner, but please pray specifically for her to be well enough for comfortable travel by the time they leave on Thursday. Thank you.

** Update on my daughter. She has strep and is now on antibiotics. Hopefully, they will kick in before their departure and she'll be perfectly fine by the first concert on Sunday. Please keep all of them before the Lord.

Whew!

What a weekend! I had two full-house workshops this weekend, so I am wiped out. Something about 6 hours on my feet trying to listen for signals someone has a question or needs something or has a problem on a page they need to solve. It wears me out.

One fun thing happened last night, though. I finished workshop about 8pm and then I checked my email. I had a message and an order online from a new customer. When I read the name, I wondered if she was the mother of one of my son's friends. When I saw her address, I knew she was, so I called her back to tell her I had the items she wanted and when I identified myself, I also told her who my son is. She came awhile later to pick up her products and fussed at him for not telling her what I do. He kept saying, "But you never asked". It was funny.

I had a great week in sales which is always a blessing and usually, the summer is a slow time but last month was the best month I've ever had and this week I did over half what I normally do in a whole month. In addition, I have two potential recruits in my direct sales line which is really exciting. I'm just excited in general about my business. I'd been frustrated with corporate and it had translated to my attitude, so I'm pleased to recognize I've turned around a bit.

A lady who sings in the praise group at the church I've been going to told me today that I have a "sweet spirit" and she loves to watch me during the service. Hmmm. It seems I cry nearly every week during the music service, so that was interesting. I love Sunday mornings in church. I love the music in that church because it is more often hymns that I've known and loved all my life and God speaks to my heart during that time.

To add to our trials and tribulations in recent days, my son came to me yesterday morning and said he'd run his laundry through 3 cycles in the dryer and they weren't dry yet. My family leaves in 4 days for Europe. Laundry is not optional between now and then. Since I had to work yesterday, I asked my husband to go buy a dryer. He couldn't believe I didn't want input. Who has time for input? I told him no bells and whistles, just something that will work and can be here in time for us to use it this week. That eliminated my chosen store because they only deliver out here on Thursdays. (He said, "Why do you know things like that?" I laughed.) He called to say he could only get a white one immediately. The old one (and the washer) are almond. Can you say 1980s? I told him since few people ever see my utility room anyway, I couldn't care less what color it is. My son suggested orange, but that wasn't an option. Anyway, my son met my husband at the store and they brought home and installed the new one. Thanks, Guys! I really appreciate you and it! So my family will be clean when they leave for Europe.

Please pray for the Chapel Choir of First Baptist Church of Dallas. They are going to be gone 12 days touring in four countries and presenting concerts all along the way. (I think they have 8 concerts on the schedule.) For additional information, you can go to www.firstdallas.org/chapelnotes

Have a good week. Look for ways to share God's love wherever you are this week. Thanks for stopping by.

Progress

I've accomplished a few things in the last 3 days. I'm all moved into my new desk and I love it! Almost everything that was in the two desks before fits in this one and I'm sure to be more efficient now. :) You're doubtful? I guess so.

I also have 2 of the 4 vehicles repaired now. That's major progress although the remaining two are bigger projects and won't get done in one day. But it's still forward movement.

I have full workshops both days this weekend, so I have work to do to get ready for that, too. But most of it is done and I'm so pleased to have that many coming to work on albums. And I have a consultant meeting tonight. I'm just about ready for it. I love it when a plan comes together.

Chuckles

Yesterday wasn't nearly as interesting as the day before, but I'm pleased to report that we do have a fully-functioning kitchen light fixture that has stayed on the ceiling for some 18 hours now. Thank you, Husband.

My son took me to Addison (north of Dallas) yesterday to get a new desk. It's my first-ever desk at home that wasn't a hand-me-down. I'm so excited. My son has a pickup truck and who knew that the desk would not really fit in it? It was a fun ride home - with me trying to figure out if anything was shifting back there because the desk return was tied on the tailgate with not-so-strong-looking twine. I told my son not to take off from a stop quickly and not to go uphill. Why does he roll his eyes at me?

Because rain is expected today, and since the light fixture repair took all evening, the guys just unloaded the desk and put it in the garage so it wouldn't get wet. Maybe tonight they'll bring it in and set it up. Then I can work on moving into it tomorrow. So now I'm excited that I was invited to leave the use of the roll-top!

My son's dog gave me a royal scare awhile ago. When my son and the boy next door left to run a couple of errands, they left the garage door up. I opened the door to the garage to put the door down and the dog ran out. Luckily, he must have just gone out there to look for my son and when the truck was gone, he looked around, gave me an evil grin, but decided to come back into the house. He knew he was supposed to be in big trouble (because he kind of cowered and wouldn't look me in the eye - just like yesterday when I found he'd been eating something he wasn't supposed to), but my heart was pounding so and I was so relieved that he didn't really run off or into the jaws of the two bully dogs in the backyard, that I couldn't even scold him. I just said, "Don't do that to me again!" He's sitting quietly at my feet now like he'd never do anything to cause heart failure.

Turkey Dog!

Payback

You know what they say about payback. Right after last night’s discussion over the roll-top desk, my husband took on the task of checking the kitchen light fixture for a short. One of the 5 lights has never worked in the 5, almost 6 years we have lived here. It was a failed attempt. This morning, at 6:20am, I was in our room changing the sheets and that fixture crashed to the table and into a thousand pieces. He was outside watering the flowers on the back porch, but I can’t believe he didn’t hear it. I walked to the back door and opened the storm door and said, “I’m not cleaning up this mess.” He walked back in and somberly said, “Oh my.” So we have been to Home Depot for a replacement. They still had the same cheap fixture, so we just got that.

Not a Stellar Day

You’ve all had them. Those days that would make you cry unless you find a way to laugh along the way. Actually, I’m about to give in to the crying part anyway because it hasn’t ended yet, but anyway….

I worked out this morning and that always makes the day better. I should have stayed and worked out all day instead of coming home to tackle the multitude of “minor” things on the list today. First of all, I called our local body shop to make arrangements for not one, not two but three vehicles to be repaired. Two are minor, but one has pretty significant hail damage. That will get done while my family is in Europe.

Next I called about having the seat in my car repaired. I have to go 35 miles to the dealer for that because it is 2500 miles from the end of the warranty, but I’ll take it since that was the only bright spot in the day. I have an appointment for Friday morning. I will be there for 2 or 3 hours. What fun!

After that, I called the cellular insurance company to confess to having dropped my phone in water (weeks ago) and though it worked for awhile after being thoroughly dried out, it has slowly lost all resemblance to a useful form of two-way communication. That’s the second replacement I’ve had in a year – so they cancelled my insurance. I have to go a year before they’ll reactivate. This is not normal for me. I’m the one in the family that doesn’t lose, break, or screw up things. Hardly ever. Except today.

Then I called my corporate office because I am not receiving a particular piece of literature on time and that hampers the way I work my business. To say they seem unconcerned is somewhat of an understatement. I am tempted to call back and say “Does the word `deactivate’ mean anything to you?”

I left a vacuum cleaner for repair yesterday, so I went by and picked that up. Miraculously, though the manufacturer has gone out of business, they had the part it needed and they were able to fix it….to the tune of $46.

A bargain compared to the next stop: I noticed last night that I’d lost a stone out of my ring. No big deal. Wrong! I’d lost the stone because I broke the ring. Replacing one little stone has turned into a $200 repair. Can’t wait to tell my husband that.

I made it to the gas station with about a half a gallon of gas left in my car. I shouldn’t do that to myself because it is painful to put $31 worth of gas in a car. I’m glad we got rid of the Suburban and the full-size van.

Things kind of evened out for awhile until my husband finally got home (he missed dinner per usual) and then in the course of the resulting conversation told me he wanted one of the desks I’ve been using. I’ve never had a desk of my own here. Everything I’ve used has been a hand-me-down and now the use of the roll-top has been taken away, too. It’s not that big a deal and I know that, but it was too much on top of the rest of the day. I only used it once a week to prepare my deposit and on the first of the month to do my end-of-the-month books and for storage. Now I have my stuff in boxes sitting in the middle of the game room. I have to find a cheap solution (remember the ring repair) FAST – before my workshop where my customers will come in and there is my stuff in the floor in boxes! The main advantage to using that desk for finances was it was downstairs away from the distractions of the computer, etc. I’ll have to learn to turn off the thing so emails and IMs don’t interrupt me when I’m doing the books.

So that’s my terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day. Hope yours was better, and I know mine will be tomorrow because tomorrow is a new day!