(In)Courage -- What Encourages Me?

Courage –noun
1. the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear; bravery.
2. Obsolete. the heart as the source of emotion.—Idiom
3. have the courage of one's convictions, to act in accordance with one's beliefs, esp. in spite of criticism.

This new website (In)Courage is launching tomorrow! (their button is on the left sidebar) Taking hope to heart is the site's motto and I can't wait to read about what courage and encouragement looks like in others' lives. "Imagine all of us sitting around the kitchen table at a beach house, coffee in our hands, listening to stories as different as each one telling them." I'm excited! Imagine, the beach, coffee and girlfriends from all over sharing stories. AMAZING!

What does courage look in my life? Courage is being a military wife for over 24 years and being brave during unsettling times in the world. Courage is my fight against MS and the unknowns. Courage is going back to college at age 40 and getting my Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education. Courage is stepping out in faith to try to become the best in what God has for me and learning to "Be Still!" It isn't easy. I fall, often and hard! But I'm thankful for my friends who encourage me in my journeys. I couldn't make it without encouragement!

Encouragement to me is taking time to share a cup of coffee to talk about the struggles and successes of life, my friends and family , an email or handwritten note that uplifts me, laughter with tears for the good times and bad, elementary kids who remind me daily how important my job is. Encouragement gives me extra strength to have the courage to face today and tomorrow without fear! What encourages you?

From another blog friend, I found this quote:

Spread love everywhere you go.

Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.

~Mother Teresa

I can't wait to become friends with the (In)Courage girls! Check out the (in)courage website for yourself and be blessed~

I'm (IN!)

Gratitude Friday

It's late Friday night and I'm one tired skinny brown bear!! Two weeks at camp and I'm the darkest I've ever been with being out in the sun. Yes, I wear sunscreen but I just continue to darken. No coffee tonight unless you'd like to make it yourself. I think we have Country Time Leomonade in the fridge...help yourself!!

Gratitude Friday list includes:

1. young love....today Josephine and Kevin got married!! I have known Josephine since she was two & a part of my daycare in Germany. She and Ian (my son) have been best buds for 20 years and we're glad she's been a part of our lives! Congraluations, Jo and Kevin!! I'll see if I can get a picture posted of them.

2. the Spokane River....I have learned that by sitting in the river with a good book, I can keep really cool on our 90+ degree temp days. What a way to relax and enjoy the outdoors! It's soooo beautiful at the camp.

3. Speaking of camp...WOW!!!! 30 teenagers are part of my list this week. We had kids from Youth for Christ with us and the girls I had in my Challenge Course group were awesome. I learned sooooooo much from them! They each came with their own personal story of sadness and I was humbled. I pray that they have an wonderful school year and that they'd remember what they've learned from camp as they're home today and start school next month.

4. Cooking in the kitchen with my hubby! We tried a new Rachel Ray recipe this evening. It is HOT in the house....I really missed my quiet river time today!....and David had just gotten home from a baseball game. But he cooked right along with me. Dinner was great....pasta with sweet Italian sausage and broccoli.

5. payday!! I was able to buy a new camera today so I will be able to post pictures once again. I'm sad that I haven't had one for over a month because I've had some amazing photo ops and had to settle for making mental images in my brain.

6. air conditioned movie theatres...Ian and I watched "Public Enemies" this afternoon & were captured by the old time gangster movie featuring Johnny Depp and Christian Bale. Except for the bedroom type of scenes (I wanted to make Ian close his eyes!!), it was great!! Both the movie and the A/C, plus I splurged for a soda and popcorn. Nice to spend time with Ian, too.

7. catching up with friends! I had coffee with Melissa today. It was good to spend time with her!! I have such limited access to my cell phone (complete with text and email and internet) that I've been trying to connect with everyone while I'm home. I have to drive three miles one way to sit on the side of the road next to some hayfields to get service that comes and goes. I'm VERY THANKFUL for it. I consider it my "cell phone break", like others consider a smoke break. So shoot me an email or text me 5093893620 and I'll try to respond within a day or two. The emails are short since it is on my cell phone, but I'd love to get email from friends!

Happy 4th of July to everyone!! Thank a soldier for your freedom in the USA!

Settling down...

The orthopaedic specialist authorization never came through today and it just was a tough emotional day! I have come to realize that I was totally spoiled with Fairchild's Flight Medicine Clinic. Triple spoiled and well taken care of by Dr. Wonderful and Dr. Kuhar. So this combination of the civilian doctor community and military insurance (to which I'm BLESSED to have!) are going to take some getting used to. I decided that perhaps I'd go hide under a rock*, since I can't run away because of a broken foot. But look what came up on Sarah's Art House blog tonight -- she has BEAUTIFUL inspiring words and fun artwork -- I was struck by this piece! I've put the words below the picture to share the verse with you.

Isaiah 43:1-3

"Don't be afraid, I've redeemed you. I've called your name. You're mine.When you're in over your head, I'll be there with you. When you're in rough waters, you will not go down.When you're between a rock and a hard place, it won't be a dead end — Because I am God, your personal God,

The Holy of Israel, your Savior."

The End of the Starbucks Day....

...didn't end the way I thought it would, with those muffins and soup. Nope! Dinner ended up being leftover cooked by Mr. York!

My dr appt was at 2 pm, I got to see my dr at 3. (I'm giving grace here because I definitely want her to spend time with me and I only have three medical problems! I'm thinking that internal medicine drs definitely need longer patient/dr time!) She checked out my foot and said that I either have a stress fracture or that long word that sounds really strange. I had two choices: wait a few days for a referral to come through for a civilian x-ray or go out to the base for an x-ray there. I chose the latter. HOWEVER, I didn't realize the x-ray image gets read at Travis AFB. Tomorrow is a down day for them so there's only one radiologist working! I still have to wait to get the results back. "WAIT, WAIT, WAIT".....I'm starting to hear a theme here. I probably won't get the results til Wed and then we'll see what the dr has for a plan of action. Stress fracture means a boot for six weeks AGAIN....the other problem (I'll find out what the medical term is) gets a different treatment. I'm probably going to get orthotics, too, for my shoes.

Soooooooooo, I really did end up at the base at 3:45. I was able to get two new prescriptions for the meds I haven't been taking (It was TRUE CONFESSION time at the dr office!), had my foot x-ray'ed and then I got to wander into the commissary & the BX. New earrings for me, raw hide bones for Jen's dogs (b'day present!), a few more groceries that I didn't buy at Safeway, and one Almond Snickers bar for the ride home. I got back home around 5 pm.

Church worship night was on the calendar for tonight. I went by myself because Mr. York's tummy wasn't feeling well. Before I got there, I treated myself to another Venti non fat, extra hot vanilla latte at Starbucks! The worship night was amazing! However, imagine this! I am sooooooooo sleepy that you'd never know that I've had two of these lattes today, plus a pot of Starbucks Christmas blend. But....my heart is content with knowing my tummy been blessed with Starbucks today!

Tomorrow, I'm teaching Special Education all day and then it's off to Jen's house for the weekend! I'll try to post my gratitude list, too. Have a great weekend, everyone!