Sometimes I Write

O.k. So I thought I’d have plenty of time to blog on Thanksgiving. Did I mention that sometimes I tend to be overly optimistic? 🙂 It was an interesting day. Football was about the only thing that went as planned, and there was much mourning at the Nowell house when the Broncos beat the Cowboys. (So, I exaggerate too – we like the Broncos)

I got into it with a 7 1/2 foot tall Christmas tree…and lost. We inherited a beautiful pre-lit tree a few years ago. It was so nice not having to spend hours stringing the lights just right. Last year Benny spent 3 hours getting all the lights to work right, and this year we spent almost five (yes hours) doing the same. We never could get ALL of the lights to work and had dark splotches all over the tree. After much stress and a few choice words for the guy who invented circuit lights, we decided to cut the lights off the tree and buy new ones this year. The poor kids were very disappointed we didn’t get to decorate the tree as planned. It’ll happen…just as soon as we get all of these dumb lights off…

We had a great visit with Benny’s family in Buena Vista over the weekend. I was also able to spend several hours with Linda. That’s always a priority when I’m there. She accompanied me to the emergency room in Salida on Saturday. Zoe was running and tripped, and she fell hard on a rock in grandmas yard and split her chin open. It was deep and wide enough that we thought she might need stitches. Dermabond saved the day instead. One of the disadvantages of living out in the boonies is having to drive 30 minutes to the emergency room. The advantage was that there was nobody else there when we arrived. Zoe was the only patient and the nurses were absolutely wonderful with her. The doctor could use a refresher course on bedside manners with a child, but all ended well. My pretty little girl won’t even have a scar.

On Sunday we gave a Dry Bones update report to the church there, which is part of our support team. I love to watch Benny speak about Dry Bones. His passion and heart for the ministry is so obvious and he’s very good at conveying them both. They sent us home with alteast 30 blankets they had collected for the streetkids. It was awesome. One of my favorite things about Benny’s report was watching his mom. You could see the pride on her face. I hope Benny saw it too. She told him she was proud of him when he was done speaking. I love that for him!

Pool night was a little wierd for me last week. I only knew about 3 people, not including our teammates. A girl came up to me a gave me a big hug, then stepped back and said, “Oh, you’re not Joyce!” I said, “No I’m not, but thanks for the hug anyway.” Cheeto was standing there and said, “That’s Niki, you’ve never met her???” Maybe he assumes since he knows me, everyone else should too. I also met “Twist” that night. He had the shakes really bad. (a sign of heroin addiction) He asked me if we could start serving supper early because he was really hungry. He also asked if we brought any clothes with us. I told him there is a guy who comes down on Thursday’s pretty often with clothes and shoes. The guy (Chris) showed up a few minutes later and I introduced him to Twist. Since I had been home with my family all day wrestling a Christmas tree, I didn’t wear my make-up, and I just twisted my hair up in a clip. I was wearing my jeans and a Dry Bones t-shirt under my jacket. I had never met Chris and his wife before, and they thought I was a street kid! Chris offered me a sweater, and his wife, who had brought gingerbread and licorice with her told me to eat as much as I wanted because there was plenty. It really caught me off guard. They also gave each of my kids a stuffed animal and offered them clothes too. Pete was wearing his blanket sleeper pajamas – the kind with the feet built into them – under his coat. That’s when it hit me that they thought my children were children of the street kids. I didn’t know whether to be offended, or proud. Afterall, Zoe and Max both were sitting down on the sidewalk talking with a few of our street friends like they’d known them forever. When Nikki, Matt and I started serving the meal, Chris’s wife noticed me standing there but didn’t say anything, so when the line died down I introduced myself to her and pointed out the rest of my family, telling her the children were mine. I think she was a bit relieved to know they wouldn’t be spending the night out in the cold. Does this mean I’m not visible enough in the ministry? I don’t think so…my role is just very different than the rest of the team. I’m thankful for the opportunity to participate in pool night occasionally.

I received my first Christmas card in the mail this weekend! My friend Vicki is on the ball!! (Over achiever!:)) I guess I’d better get mine started. Let me see, where is that list?…