Thanksgiving was wonderful. We were at my Mom's and enjoyed the day with my favorite Aunt and Uncle, a niece and her fiance, a friend from the past and with her a new friend, and my big brother, along with Lex, the kids and I. Steve and Lisa and James were with her family this year.

We laughed, ate, groaned, ate more, and laughed more. It never fails that when we are all around my Mom's table, we end up talking about the past. Funny stories, silly things that happened, and always something comes up that my Mom didn't know about. She's either a great actress, or we really did pull the wool over her eyes from time to time. Hard to believe. I thought she knew everything.

It makes me wonder what it will be like when I'm 70ish and sitting around the table with my kids and grandkids and who knows who. Will they tell me things I didn't know?

Ultimately, what comes out of those days is the overwhelming thought that we are so blessed. Blessed to have each other, blessed to be in a country that allows so many freedoms, and above all, blessed to be a child of God.

I hope your day was wonderful.

The Fresno State vs. USC game was set to come on our T.V. in about 2 hours. Lex's goal was to finish work at 5:00 and get home in time to have some dinner and be comfortably in his chair for the 7:15 kick off...

My cell phone rings, it's Hobbytown which is where Avery works. So, I pick up my phone and say "Hey sugar, what's up."

It's silent on the other end for far too long. "Hello?" I say again.

"oh, hey, is this Avery's Mom?"

My stomach dropped. I knew something was not quite right. It wasn't Avery calling me.

"This is Justin from Hobbytown" (Avery's boss)

"Yes...Hey Justin. What's up?"

"Well, first I just want to say it's not too bad...I mean, Avery's going to be o.k....I mean, he is o.k."

YIKES...JUST TELL ME! I wanted to scream, but didn't.

It seems my son had a bit of a tangle with the electric drill. The flat head drill ended up in his thumb...going through the nail and causing enough pain to actually turn my son's face green with pain. That, according to his boss, was the scariest part. Seeing somebody's face actually have a green color to it because it hurt so bad.

I asked to talk to him and was glad to hear his sweet voice. I told him Dad was just now leaving work and I'd send him to get him right away. He was going to have to go to emergency and get a tetanus shot. It was 5:00 and Avery typically doesn't get off until 7:30...so he turns to his boss and says, "Is it o.k. if I get off early?"

What a goofball! You just had an electric drill go through your thumb! Of course you can go home!

I called Lex, explained the situation and he took off right away to get him. It should have taken him about 15 minutes to get there...it took him 6. I don't even want to know how fast he was driving!

The nurse asked Avery on a scale of 1 to 10, how bad is the pain. He told her about a 4.83. If you know Avery, you know he really meant that. He told me later, "well, Mom, it wasn't a 5 but it was definitely worse than a 4."

They sat there for about 4 hours. Finally, he got in to get his shot and they sent him on his way.

Lex called and said they were finally on their way home and they were starving. That was good to hear.

Warmed up their dinner just in time for them to sit down and watch the last quarter of the game.

There are some things more important than any thing else. Your kids are up there in the top slots...

Wednesday is typically a very long day. It's the day I finish the order of worship and get it emailed to all participants, elders, and bulletin editor. Copy all the music, put it together in bound books for the Praise Team, and rehearse with them during class time this evening. I usually have to "ride the wave" on Wednesday. It doesn't matter what I have planned, things usually don't go like I expect. I'm learning to accept that.

Today, I had an outside appointment, which I try to avoid at all costs, but couldn't avoid today. When I finished at about 12:30, my stomach said to eat but my brain said I don't have time. I called to chat with my husband as I was driving and we decided to meet somewhere for a quick lunch. After a lengthy discussion of where that somewhere would be, we ended up at Burger King.

I'm more of a
"sit-down-and-bring-me-my-food-in-the-quiet-calm-dimly-lit-place"
kind of person.

But, for today, Burger King it is.

So, we're sitting there eating our Whopper's with fries (very healthy) and all of a sudden, a million kids start pouring into the place. Middle school type kids. Goofy, loud, laughing, having a blast, kids.

I tend to shrink in situations like this if I'm particularly busy and feeling overwhelmed anyway, but not Lex. He thrives in this atmosphere.

The young lady (the 13 year old) who was baptized Sunday saw him and with a bright beautiful smile said, "Hey! Hi!"

Lex responded with the same kind of enthusiasm and then looked at me and said,
"Aren't you glad we came here?"

He's so weird.

So, what do you prefer? Sit down or Fast food?

A young lady (13 years old) had called during the week and said she was wanting to be baptized this Sunday. Wonderful. The plans were set in motion. She came prepared for the morning with no make-up, hair in a pony tail, wearing flip-flops. Her Mom had with her a bag of "stuff". Change of clothes, brush, towels, etc.

When the song was sung, she made her move. Other young girls followed to "help" her, along with her Mom and one of our most faithful and beautiful "senior" women. I couldn't help but wonder how many times this women had been on this journey with people. I remember her being in the back with me when I was baptized.

The song was over, Communion was shared, and then we all were blessed to witness this young girl offer her life to God through baptism. It was beautiful and innocent and full of good things.

During Communion, before this baptism took place, I watched a young lady make her way to one of our sweet Elders. She quietly kneeled down, said something to him, and he moved over to make a place for her on his pew. He sat with his arm around her, both of them continuing to be engaged in what was taking place. She leaned over and said something to him, they talked, she cried, he kept holding on to her and displayed patience as she talked a little bit at a time to him...

The assembly time was officially over, but worship continued as they sat and cried and prayed and talked. Finally, he announced she wanted to be baptized. Those who were still in the auditorium stayed and some went to get others who had gone on to class. We've known this girl since she was tiny and her Mom came as a young single mother to our College age class.

She grew up, took some wrong turns, ended up in an abusive relationship. She and her two baby girls left that relationship and has been kind of searching and wandering since. Yesterday, she decided to "come home".

Steve Thurman had talked just moments before about the prodigal son...this was it. On the one hand, we had this young, innocent, sweet 13 year old wanting to give her life to Jesus Christ. No big disasters in her life...just wanted to be a follower of Jesus.

On the other hand, there was this other precious one who had been there, decided against it, left, had her fun with nobody to tell her what to do, and in the process had lost herself and realized there was only one place she wanted to be...in fellowship with those who supported her and in the arms of a God who would love her unconditionally...no matter where she had been in previous months/years.

What a great morning...
Blessings to you all.

My husband had a regularly scheduled check-up today...the Dr. asked him what his secret was...How do you actually stay alive and not stroke out with blood pressure this high? Heh, heh, funny Dr. The Dr assumed he was still on his blood pressure medication...he's not. He quit taking it.

"Why did you stop taking your medicine"
"Because I felt better"

I'm counting on all you out there to comment on that because although he rarely comments on my blog, he reads it faithfully. So, obviously he doesn't listen to his wife who says, "you feel better because you're on medication, you big doofus!" Maybe he'll listen to you all.

I was thinking about how I really am like that, though. I do things out of desperation...pray, call on God, look to the Word, etc when things are lousy. When I've hit bottom or been discouraged or scared...that's when I finally think of calling on God. Obviously, I am unable to solve this particular dilemma, so, I'd better check with the Master. Doofus.

Fortunately, through time and maturity, those moments come fewer and fewer. My personal walk with God continues to strengthen and grow as I do. But, I still find myself putting off what I should do sometimes because I feel pretty good. Things are going well, and I'm not in any situation that needs immediate attention. So, I'll work on that.

Don't be too hard on Lex, but feel free to get after him just a little bit.

We have hit a little blip in the radar of the Henderson household.

I will explain more at another time, but for today, I would ask that you take a second to pray for our family. Nothing devastating, just a speed bump that Satan would like to use to discourage us and take our focus off whatever is good.

So, when I can share, I will. But for now, just pray that we continue to be a strong family who's goal everyday is to serve God.

I love the Matthew 6:33 scripture from a not so familiar version:

He will give you all you need from day to day if you make the kingdom of God your primary concern.

I love that. So much power and peace and assurance in those words.

I hope your weekend was wonderful. I pray this week proves to be productive and fun!

Happy Monday, Bloggers!

Most of you know my husband sells custom choppers...Motorcycles.

It started as a part time job, just to make the money stretch a little more at the end of the month. He goes to work at his "real job" at 4:30 am and gets home about 2:30 pm. He then changes into his "motor cycle selling outfit" (it's similar to a Super Hero changing into his tights and cape), and works the afternoon, some evenings, and every weekend at "the shop".

He decided when he took this, he would call the afternoon job "the shop" and the day job "work". That tells you how he feels about his two employments...one is really just work, the other is a place to go and hang out with people who love the same things you love. He just happens to make money while doing it.

I've tried to get into this new love of his. After all, it is taking him away from me quite often, so I thought I should get to know this mistress, the motor cycle.

I've been to rock and roll nights at the shop, I've met many of his customers, I've flipped through his magazines when no one is looking just to try to get some of the terminology down, (he thinks it's sexy when I "talk chopper"), I've even been to a biker bar. (It's not as bad as it sounds, Mom).

I've noticed something...it's much like church.

It's a bunch of people who have found a common love and like being together. They have a place where they fit in - feel included.

Lex loves to introduce me to these folks.

They always politely and gently take my hand, even though some of them could crush my bones with a single grip. They kind of bow their heads and quietly say, "It's so nice to meet you...I love your husband." (really, almost every time those words or some similar come out of their mouth) When/if they cuss, they quickly look over at me and say, "Oh, excuse me..."

Now, not all these guys are the typical biker kind of person. Some are bankers, many are policemen, firemen, and there are quite a few attorney's riding around dressed up like something different than what they portray in the courtroom.

I think it's interesting how we like to take on other personalities. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it...unless...

As we've been studying through this discipleship series, it's become more apparent than ever that your evangelism to the world has nothing to do with whether or not you behaved in church...or even if you went this week. It has everything to do with who you are all the time. Our life is a representation of who we serve. Our witness is what we are deep down.

Last night I accompanied my husband and six big chopper dudes to a High School varsity volley ball game. It was the "senior" game for the girls. When the announcer introduced the team, the Sophomore and Junior girls ran in like usual, but, when it came time for the Senior introductions, they came riding in on the backs of the choppers. (I know you're not supposed to wear heels on a gym floor, but they never said anything about not riding motorcycles on it!) It was loud and exciting and something those girls (and the horrified parents) will never forget.

It was fun to watch everybody get so excited and I must say, I was really proud to be with the guy in charge. Every person he talked to hugged him. The girls, the parents, the chopper dudes...every person.

It's a great example of being in the world but not of it. Lex mingles and talks with many different people. Different backgrounds, different financial status, different morals, and different goals. But, Lex is the same all the time. People not only appreciate it, they admire it.

I'm more comfortable in church than I am in a Biker Bar...but honestly, if Jesus were walking in the flesh among us today, where would he hang out?

Happy Wednesday!

I typically don't take a specific day off. Sometimes I stay home on Friday, sometimes Thursday is a better day for me to be off. But usually, I work 6-7 days per week. I'm not bragging about that, in fact, I think it's a flaw.

Sometimes it's because to be home means I need to clean and I'd rather be at work than home cleaning. Sometimes, I just feel like I need to "be around" for whatever reason at church, and usually, I see at some point in my day I was right about that.

Yesterday, I stayed home. I cleaned, I scrubbed, I changed sheets, I did laundry, I put a roast and potatoes in the crock pot, I raised a mirror in my kids bathroom so my 6'+ children don't have to bend to see the tops of their heads, I made pumpkin orange rice krispy squares, (in honor of Halloween, of course). I was a domestic goddess!

My family walked in the house and the happiest looks came over their faces. They saw the house had been cleaned, they smelled dinner cooking, and they felt the peace that comes from a happy, organized home. Who wouldn't like that?

I still love walking into my Mom's home (which happens to be the house I grew up in), and smell something cooking. (Especially if it's a roast dinner). My mom is truly one of the best homemakers I've ever seen. There is a peace about her home because she's organized and clean and loves the tasks that make her house a home.

What are some of your childhood memories that bring up wonderful feelings? Smells, traditions, holidays?

Happy Tuesday! Blessings on you for an organized, productive, spirit filled week.