Chicken With Its Head Cut Off

I feel like I have been running around like

the title of this post for several days.
(Speaking of that,
our rooster was
murdered by some
varmint this week.)

Right now I am
so very glad to be home
with all of my little family
snugged in for the night.
It's just so nice to be able
to sit down for a moment.
This day is done. This week is done.
Most of the things that I needed to get done are done.
I just folded three baskets of laundry....and I think
I am done for the night.
I feel like a toy with a dying battery;
I'm moving slower and slower,
winding down,
running out of steam.

But that's okay.
It's Saturday night.
It's time for everyone to unplug and sit down.

This afternoon
I participated in a
surprise
40th birthday
for one of my
favorite people
in the world

(hello friend!).

Her sisters threw her
the party and
I'll tell you exactly
what it made me think
when she walked in the door and
we all yelled "surprise"
and her sisters were right
there at the door to greet her---I just
found myself thinking, "I wish I had a sister."
But I have always wished that.
Those of us without a sister
missed out on something. Those of you who
have them, appreciate them.
Throw them a surprise birthday party.
Anyway, the party was a lovely time
and I think the 40 year old friend enjoyed it.

I can't believe my close friends are turning 40.
My own husband is turning 40 later this year.
And I've told you throughout this past pregnancy
that I can see 40 from here.
I never could before,
but this past year,
it has appeared on my horizon.
It's getting closer every day.

And remember when 40 seemed so old?
I mean, someone in their forties.....that was just like
somebody who had already done all the exciting
things that they were ever going to do. They
were just along for the ride for the rest of their
time (or that's what I thought when I was
much younger). The older
you get, the more you realize
that the joy of living doesn't
stop at any certain age.


And our lives are what we make of them.
I have come to see that so much recently.

Just tonight my father was telling me
that he talked on the phone to a cousin of his
who has cancer and back in the fall was given 10 months
to live---but he said she was cheerful and just saying
that God would take care of the family she'll be
leaving behind and she was just so joyful and positive.
You would never know what she was facing by
her attitude. What a lesson for us all.
Especially me, the big fat griper and whiner.

I hope you have had a lovely weekend so far.

Are you all geared up for
some wild and crazy
Super Bowl experience?
When did this ballgame
become a national holiday?
It just seems like every year
it becomes a bigger
and bigger deal.
I think it just shows
how people are
hungry for an opportunity
to celebrate and get
together with their people
and have a good time.

I don't have any Super Bowl plans.
I may watch it....but you know, the last part of
Jane Austin's Emma comes on tomorrow night on PBS.
The ball game may be done by then;
I don't even know what time that thing is.
Emma comes on late, after church....not that I've made
it to Sunday night church much since
Baby J appeared on the scene.
I haven't returned to "normal life" in many
ways yet. I think this addition to our family has
been the biggest adjustment of the four additions
so far. Maybe it's just the place I am at in my
life. The last few years have just been
one big crazy thing after another.
I often wonder when life will settle down
and we'll enjoy smooth sailing without some
crazy issue to deal with, but maybe it never will.
Maybe that's just how life is.

I was talking to my pastor and he asked me
about a crazy situation in our life and
I just kind of shrugged it off.
He said it was amazing to him that I wasn't
worried, more of a basket case about the constant stream
of things we have had to deal with in the
last few years.

Maybe that's the one thing
I have learned, that I can't worry and
stew over things. I can't control the outcome.
I can't control much of anything.
I've just got to keep doing the things that I am
responsible for
....keep "doing the next thing"
as our beloved Elisabeth Elliot says.

And as Keith Green sang,
"He'll take care of the rest."
I'm so glad I can
trust God with the big things
as well as the tiny details.

Talk about being in good hands.