Category: Redemption’s Heart – pieces of my story

Don’t throw away your confidence

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“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded, you need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised.”

Hebrews 10:35-36

I made a commitment to God and to several of my new blogging friends to memorize one new scripture verse on the 1st and 15th of each month. We all began with a bang and most of us are still here. A lot of us chose paragraphs in our enthusiam and Beth and Amanda at Living Proof Ministries Blog lovingly suggested this might be too ambitious and to please start smaller. They were right. I was struggling with mine. I spent February committing my first verse (small paragraph) to memory and meditating on that. The fact that it is our new benediction for 2009, made it all the more fun.

God had actually impressed my first verse on my heart last Spring when I bought Seven Celebrations for the Soul by Kathy Troccoli. I picked that Bible study for our new women’s Sunday School class long before I knew what Pastor’s verse for the year was going to be.

This is my new memory verse for the next two weeks. I’ve been praying since last fall for a focus. Something that God wanted me to learn, grasp, inwardly digest and the word “confidence” keeps coming back, again and again.

So be it. The truth is, I am extremely insecure. I’m not nearly as confident in anything as people seem to think. What amazes me about that is neither are my heros in the faith. I was blown away when I discovered that. I love this new verse. I know I’ve read Hebrews time and time again and yet, I missed it somehow.

Don’t throw away your confidence.
Persevere in carrying out the will of God.

God knew that the time for me to hear those words, was now.

The Day Mom Broke

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I can remember the day, years ago, sitting at our dining room table writing our Christmas newsletter when “I’m gonna KILL you!” screams ripped through my peaceful writing time. The next thing I knew the door to the garage burst open with my five year old running for his life from his (very wet) seven year old brother. Dillon ran past me, with Charlie in fast pursuit. Through the kitchen and living room they went with a brief chase around the couch. Dillon then made his bolt down the hall and into our bathroom, locking the door behind him and falling against it in fits of laughter. Charlie hit the door too – pounding on it with both fists, screaming at him the whole time.

I crumpled up my Normal Rockwell lie of a newsletter and started over. “My sons are trying to kill each other today, and I have no idea why. Charlie is soaking wet, it’s cold outside and I can only assume Dillon decided to spray him with the garden hose. Who knew it still worked in the winter. I thought we’d put it away. Dillon found it again and plugged it back in. I’m not surprised. Dillon is locked in the bathroom laughing, and Charlie is pounding on the door trying to kill him. Should I intervene? Or let nature take it’s course. Ah yes, the true issues of parenting I can’t find in my parenting books:Do I make them love each other? Or let them fight it out and see who survives?”

Charlie finally gave up and went into his bedroom to change clothes. I knew the battle wasn’t over. Charlie would at some point get even. I just didn’t know when or how.

There was a time when these expressions of brotherly “love” would have me baffled to the point of tears. My husband had come home to find me sitting on the middle of the living room floor in tears because I thought I was a failure as a Mom. “They hate each other!” I cried. “What did I do wrong? I’m a failure as a parent.”

Jeff walked back to find them playing cars in their bedroom and asked what happened. Charlie piped up. “Uhm.. Mom broke Dad. We don’t know what happened, we weren’t doing anything.” Yeah right.

They were fighting – over I don’t remember what, and I had finally had enough and fell to the floor on my knees calling out to God. “I’m so sorry! I failed! My boys hate each other and it’s all my fault.” I basically had a nuclear meltdown.

That would be when Jeff sat me down and shared with me all of the ways he and his brother showed “love” for each other. Basically, they beat the snot out of each other until one got big enough to hit back hard enough that it hurt. After that, they became friends. OH.

My boys still mess with each other, but not as bad as they did. When they were younger, Dillon would throw himself to the floor crying hysterically saying that Charlie hit him and Charlie would get in trouble. It did not take long for Charlie to learn if he was going to get in trouble anyway, he might as well hit his brother. It did not take long for Dillon to stop throwing himself on the floor. Now they just play mind games.

Take Sunday night for example. Once a month we go to a leadership Bible Study. Jeff and I lead it, and the boys babysit. This month Dillon had the night off. He knew we were going, but was asleep when we left. When he woke up the house was dark and he was alone. He’d forgotten where we were, so he called Jeff.

Relieved to find out he wasn’t missing anything, he hung up. Charlie piped up then, “You should have have told him the rapture is real after all and he missed it. That would have been funny.”

Brothers. They WILL love each other some day, right?

Ablaze Church Egg Hunt 2008, Broken Arrow

Deana2 Comments

Our first Easter Egg Hunt at Ablaze Church was such a success and we were so inspired by the turn out, that we decided to host another one in 2008. Our team wanted to do a joint venture with Lord of Life across town and both teams had so much fun, planning, stuffing, buying things that we just knew God was going to bless our endeavor and use us to bless the neighborhood. We got to know people at LOL and they got to know us and we had so much fun planning this together.

We had over 8,000 eggs stuffed with candy and a lot of prizes. We had juice and cookies, live music and a message from pastor. We prayed for good weather. This was going to be awesome!

We learned a lot that year.

We learned that there is more to planning such an event than good intentions. We learned that we should have been outside, and that the need for such an event was larger than we could have imagined. Both churches settled in and set up and waited for the 750 people we were sure would show up.

We underestimated the crowds. Oh, we had 750 people all right give or take an additional 1,500. Mostly give. Our group of 50 volunteers wasn’t enough.

We learned so many things being over run. People kept filing in, and past the cafeteria to a holding place in the gym and finally to out back where our team of hunt coordinators waited – there were no walkie talkies between us, and no way of managing this crowd. While people inside worshipped, people outside broke past our lines and took all 8,000 eggs. Leaving about 1,000 people without anything.

Some of us ran for the hills, following in Peter’s footsteps of “I don’t know them.” Some of us tried to manage angry crowds from out front and some of us jumped under the prize pavilion splitting up prize baskets and handing out candy to the kids who didn’t get any.

We had things thrown at us, we watched parents walk right up and steal baskets from out of our hands saying their kid didn’t get anything and deserved it. We were sworn at, spit on, and screamed at – all by adults and in front of their children and ours.
Someone even stole my son’s digital camera.

Not all ministry events go as planned.

What I remember most about the day though, isn’t the screaming, crying (myself) and swearing. What I remember is watching our team (that stayed) take off their He is Risen shirts that we had made for the day and pass them out. I remember several neighborhood families jumping into the pavilion with us and drawing their swords at the angry crowd to help and defend us. We gathered up as much candy as we could, split up all the prizes that were left and passed out everything we had – including for some, the shirt off our own backs.

When it was all over, we threw away all of the previous entries for the drawing of the free bikes, and let everyone who stayed fill out a new entry and we gave the bikes away to two families.

We wanted to be Christ with skin on, we wanted to minister to the community in which we serve, and they ministered to us.

Mission work is not always fun, not always easy, nor does it always turn out the way we want. We left the school that day heartbroken, angry, and hurt – hurting not for ourselves but for the overwhelming needs that we saw.

See – we prayed over those eggs. We prayed that each person who touched an egg would be filled to the measure they needed with the Holy Spirit – we discerned some simply had greater need than others.

We all went home after the hunt, for a little while to rest before church started that evening. I went home, drank a glass of wine, cried and prayed. Then we came back at 7:00 to worship the one and only living God. 100% God, and 100% man. He too knows the crowds. He too was mocked, spit upon, sworn at and rejected. In His death and ressurection we find our life.

We all came back – every one of us to praise the living King and to thank him for the glimpse we got into the hurting of his people. And yet, one family of five stayed – and is still with us and they bring friends. Two more families remember us, and visit from time to time to pray with us and encourage us.

We made mistakes. We didn’t count the crowd and have a cut off. We didn’t have walkie talkies to communicate across campus. We didn’t have security. We over advertised. We were ill prepared.

But not this year. This year, we are trying again. This year, God willing, we will be prepared for those he sends us.

Updates on the hunt for 2009

I am His Beloved, but is He Mine?

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If God could write a Valentine today, what would it look like? What would He say? Would it be flowers and prose? A card from Hallmark, or maybe a rose?

If God were to write a Valentine today, What would it look like? What would He say? Would it be candy or something as sweet? A box of dark chocolates? Now that would be neat.

But that doesn’t quite do it. Its not quite his style. No, He’d probably think and ponder a while. He’d keep it simple. And that would be best.

“Come home to me Valentine, and I’ll give you rest.”

My Dearest Valentine,

You were, and are still, my first true love, created for my pleasure. Your parents gave you a name at birth. I have my own name for you. I call you “Beloved”. Do you know? Do you remember? Or have you forgotten?

I called the heavens and the earth into being with my voice, yet I saved you for my hands to create. I am still creating, making you more and more into my image, even as you live and breathe. Can you feel my touch? Have you seen my fingerprints? Your name is carved into the palms of my hand. Nothing can snatch you away. Not even your sin. I knew you would fall and I created you anyway. I already had a plan worked out from the beginning of time, so that I might keep you by my side.

I came down to be with you. To eat, sleep, walk, dance, and touch you. I gave you my time, my love, and my life. Your time, your love, your life and your faith and more precious to me than silver or Gold. Do you weigh the cost? I did.

Did you see the sunshine I sent you today? I wanted to watch it shine off your hair and in your eyes. Did you feel the warmth? Did you hear the songbirds? I wrote that song just for you. Does my music fill your heart? Yours does mine. Oh, how I love to hear you sing. And that breeze? It’s me caressing your face like I did for Elijah. Did you notice me? Do you hear the leaves rustle in the trees? That’s my whisper. Can you hear me?

I can’t wait until you see what I have in store for you on Easter morning! Will you be there? Will you see me? Or will you miss it? Please be still beloved and know that I am God and that you are my first true love. Would only that I could be yours.

So tell me Beloved, will you be my Valentine?

Love,
God

Copywrite: Deana O’Hara, Red Bridges Home 2009

25 Random things about me.

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Rules: Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it’s because I want to know more about you.

1. I was born near Syracuse NY and raised in: Buffalo NY, Bridgeport NY, Endicott NY, Cleveland OH, Cincinnati OH, Columbus OH, Atlanta GA, Fort Walton Beach FL, Detroit MI, Southfield MI, Redford MI. – I’e also lived in Sweden, IL and OK.

2. I’m an artist – I love scrapbooking, photography, and designing jewlery.

3 – I have a knack for speaking first and thinking – eventually – making my husband laugh from under a lot of tables and my pastor to hang his head and blush. – I call it being a UFO – Unintentionally Funny Orator. Basically that little filter from the brain to the mouth – doesn’t work.

4. I met my husband at work in Chicago 20 years ago and wouldn’t go out with him until he told me that he played guitar in a rock band – true story.

5. I love a lot of people but don’t get to spend nearly as much time with them as I would like.

6. I used to be an actress, my “claim to fame” was a Work Place Issues video filmed while I worked for Williams Companies. Depressing really, but I still have the video. It was my only paid acting gig, ever.

7. I used to think I knew who I was until I realized that I spent the first 40 years of my life defining myself by how I thought others saw me. I lived to please others, and hurt myself a lot in the process.

8. If God lined up all of the teenage boys in the world and told me I could pick whichever two I wanted, I would pick Charlie and Dillon every time.

9. I love God with everything I have and I‘m learning to believe that the feeling is mutual.

10. Raising boys is harder than I thought it would be. I find myself saying things I never dreamed would ever come out of my mouth – phrases like “No you cannot drive your go cart off the roof to make it look like it’s flying for your video.” and “No you cannot send that frog into space. Please untie the helium balloons and use a GI Joe instead.” There are other phrases, but you get the gist.

11. I have a half sister I never really knew.

12. I left corporate America to be a stay home mom, and learned that staying home is harder than working for a corporation – but the benefits are fabulous and I’d do it again in a heart beat.

13. I am a bibliophile and have a room in my house dedicated to books and reading. I want to be an author and study other authors to learn how to write better.

14. I’m a really good cook – but don’t take the time as often as I’d like.

15. I actually love public speaking – I’m not sure if it’s because I was raised an only child by a single mom and think it’s all about me – or what. I tend to crave attention – mostly though – it’s just really fun for me today because it used to scare me.

16. There was a time when speaking in general terrified me, even if it was just to say hi to someone. I used to be so shy and so scared that I would literally shake in new situations. I preferred to be invisible, but secretly wished someone would notice me. Learning how to overcome that took years of prayer and practice.

17. I love facilitating Beth Moore Bible Studies (personal hero)- and I love going to our Mom’s Group at Church (Bad Girls of the Bible) and just hanging with my friends.

18. I love praise and worship music and I love the old hymns. I believe that both bring pleasure to God. He looks to the heart of man, and I’m thankful for that because my singing ain’t all that great.

19. I wasn’t raised in the church – and when I finally joined one, it took me years to get over the fear of being kicked out. – That’s what happens when you look through broken glasses. – I didn’t really know what Grace was until I experienced a personal failure and then got drowned by Grace in ways I still cannot put into words. – I actually turned in my ministry resignation to God that year – funny thing is, he acted like he never saw it and just kept pouring out more and more gifts and opportunities to serve. I’ll never figure him out.

20. When I was growing up I wanted to be, a circus clown, an actress, or married to a rock star. – uhm.. Goals were not my strong suit. – so I married an up an coming rock star – who is now a praise and worship leader on top of his full time corporate career – and is strongly studying to be a worship pastor and I’m thinking God has an amazing sense of humor.

21. I love Oklahoma, but wish we did not live so far away from my family. We’ve been here for 16 years and we didn’t’ get to see our nieces and nephews grow up, and my boys don’t know their cousins. And I think that’s sad.

22. I have the heart of an artist – and weird (eclectic) taste in clothing.

23. I sometimes miss my corporate job – I audited line costs and kept track of regulatory pricing, negotiated local contracts with Bell Companies, designed long distance circuit layouts, and installed switches. I felt smart when I worked there – I have had to remind myself sometimes that smart is smart no matter what you do and a career does not define my value. But I still miss it.

24. When I was 15, I wanted to be an exchange student. I didn’t’ think I could, but I applied any way. The essay question was tell me about your life. I wanted to throw it away but an adult friend told me to tell the truth and turn it in. I lived in a single parent home, my mom only made about $10k per year and she was a recovering alcoholic. I’d moved almost 15 times in my life, my grades were B’s, our house was only about 1,000 sf – I knew the competition – kids from two parent homes with stay home mom’s and straight A’s. – I didn’t think I stood a chance. He knew all the lofty “right” answers – his favorite author was Shakespeare and mine was Erma Bombeck. I really thought there was no way.

After the essay – I was first runner up – then came the interview – this is what they told me – “Because of what recovery has done for your family, and the life issues that you have overcome, which have made you stronger – we believe you are the right candidate” – And just like that I got to be a Rotary International Exchange Student and live in Sweden for a year and they paid for the whole thing – I even got to go to the Nobel Awards and meet the King (which would be when I told him he was shorter than I thought he’d be. ) That’s when I really learned that my past can be my greatest asset.

25. For this decade in my life, I’m exploring the world God has called me into – studying everything I can get my hands on – learning public speaking, writing sketches and learning stand up. I’m learning how to find the courage to say “I want to learn from you.” I’m learning about who I am – and more and more about who He is – and I feel like I’m falling in love all over again.

The Mission Start that Almost Wasn’t

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I have a confession to make. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would be a missionary, or be part of a church plant. I mean I just couldn’t see it. I wasn’t exactly raised in the church – mission work was for nuns, or something like that. I never would have pictured this and yet, here we are. This Easter will mark our third Easter Service as an active Mission Plant in Northern Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. Ablaze Church began with a group of seven individuals busy at work, planning, praying, hoping, and answering God’s call. Then our numbers grew to eight then ten and then twelve.

To be honest, we didn’t start out wanting to be missionaries. The Christian Worship Band, Zion’s Fire does community outreach events, using contemporary Christian music to reach people with the Gospel of Christ.

(Zion’s Fire: Jeff O’Hara, Jason Hulings, Chis Taylor, Tina Funkhauser and Travis Patterson)

In late 2005 they began a Sunday evening Praise service at our home church, hoping to reach out to the local community and our youth. Several of us worked along side with the band, and with pastor – who over saw the whole thing – developing devotionals, messages, and worship. While the liturgy style was open, the doctrine remained absolute and our service reflected the confessional nature of our home church and the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod as a whole.

LCMS began a new program called the Ablaze Movement and challenged congregations and districts to prayfully consider planting 2,000 new churches. What a task!

Pastor approached our feable little worship team in the summer of 2006 and asked us to prayfully consider being a part of this endeavor. We were already doing a live worship opportunity for the community. God had already paved a way for the team to gain experience and knowledge, and while we felt comfortable leading worship – a Mission Start? That was huge.

Everyone promised that they would pray. We came together in prayer and in research. Pastor found a grant program (The ARC Program) that could possibly help fund this, and they found a location in Northern Broken Arrow. Our home congregation The Lutheran Church of Our Savior, voted to plant a new LCMS Mission Start in Northern Broken Arrow, in December of 2006. We now knew, this was God’s direction for all of us, and we were excited.

Five different men throughout the Tulsa area took the church planters test (a requirement for the ARC program) – Only two men scored high enough to be recommended as church planters; Pastor Dreier, and another gentleman across town.

From a single seed – two church plants began. District started a plant called Lord of Life with Jonathan using the ARC program and Our Savior started a plant with our little team. One seed – and look what it did. What an incredible gift of God.

Finding out we did not qualify for ARC support was disappointing, but we did not let it make us quit. The ARC program would be used across town, and that was a great blessing for them.

Our team turned it over to God. If this was His will, we reasoned, He could provide the funding. And provide he did. Dozen’s of people stepped forward with several thousand dollars in donations, for equipment, gear, and rent. God’s provisions overflowed.

We opened with a community egg hunt. The weather outside was bitter cold, and we didn’t know what to expect. But we prepared, the eggs were stuffed and placed, the inflatable was inflated, the messages prepared, the prizes accounted for, volunteers in place and we waited and waited some more.

At 9:45 am – with no one arriving yet – we walked into the parking lot with Pastor, and prayed. By 10:15 – this is what we saw.


The line just grew, and grew.

Over 500 hundred arrived, in spite of the bitter cold and threats of snow, for our first annual Community Egg Hunt.

About 100 of them came back that evening for our Easter Service. Three families who were present that day, stayed with us and helped plant God’s new church.

This Easter will mark the beginning of our third year walking with God in our back yard. What an awesome journey it has been.

While we celebrate God’s truths this year, I’ll be taking a look back at some of the wonder of being part of His plan. Stay tuned for more pictures, and more updates about our little mission start – and the heart of God.

The Brain Cells You Are Trying to Reach Are No Longer In Service

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I am convinced that menopause causes brain damage. It must, I mean why else do I spend hours looking for my glasses only to find them perched on top of my head or why if I run into someone I know at the grocery store I cannot remember their name. Things have gotten so bad that I’m not sure I’d even recognize my own mother unless I was in her home. It’s almost as if my Verizon Network of a brain has been replaced by T-Mobile. Most of the time there just aren’t any bars available. Nashville was one of those days.

Nashville is exciting and my brain got a little over stimulated by the new faces, names, places and sounds. So much so that after the concert I recognized someone I thought I should know and momentarily panicked. Why I thought I should know this person was beyond me. Truth is we’ve never met before, he is simply in a video I own. I sent a message to my brain asking for name recognition and received an all circuits busy please leave a message reply in return. I tried tilting my head and staring hoping to receive better brain wave reception, but it didn’t help. All it did was make me appear stalkerish. Not quite the effect I was going for.

Note: if you see me in public and I’m tilting my head while looking at you,I’m not being cute, or coy or flirtatious. I just have no stinkin clue what your name is at that moment and I’m doing my best cingular inpersonation – “Brain, can you hear me now?”

I let the issue drop for the rest of the evening and just enjoyed myself with my friends when suddenly my brain returned my call and put me on speaker phone. (The true story of my life.)

“I know you! You’re (insert name of recognized comic here).” and then it disconnected the call leaving me with nothing more than dial tone. My mouth is once again engaged with no service to the brain which really isn’t the best thing in the world for someone who wants to be a professional speaker and stand up comic, you know what I mean?

That would be when said person asks, “Yes I am and you would be…??”

I drew a blank. I knew this day would come and sure enough it had. I had momentarily forgotten my own name. I’m pretty sure that if it had not been printed on my shirt, we would have been toast for conversation right then and there. It’s really a good thing I didn’t have my name printed on my underwear like I did when I was a kid, or that would have been really awkward.

I did my best to explain who I was, but ya know… it really didn’t help. My circuits were once again busy and the best I could accomplish in return was a stuttering and stammering while I try to recover from yet another speaker phone experience.

“I’m in CCA, but I’m not really a comic, I’m a speaker and teacher, and uhm yeah… that’s who I am. “

What?

I’m in CCA but I’m not a comic?

Right!

“Clean up Aisle One! – Neurotic comic about to vomit.”

– The whole reason I joined CCA was so that I could learn how to be a comic. So that I could learn what to do with the speakerphone moments in my life and make people laugh on purpose rather than accident.

The busy circuit days do tell me something – when faced with a legit – real, out there making money comic, I don’t feel I have earned the right to call myself a comic yet. It doesn’t matter that I’ve been at this for three years, I’m not there yet. I can call myself a speaker – been doing that for 20 years or more, or a teacher or a writer, but not a comic. What’s up with that?

——————————-

Being part of a mission team and being married to a man who is studying for his entrance exam to seminary, I am struggling with my own images of “Godliness.” That’s what’s up with that. Can I be a missionary, a pastors wife, and still write and perform comedy? My speakerphone moments have made people laugh for years, why not keep that in my life?

Can I still be a speaker like I have been for the past two decades? Talking about the hard issues of special needs and family dysfunction. Talking about the hope that is in Christ when all feels lost?

Can I write the book that is really inside me. The one God wants me to write, and not the one I think I “Should” write because it has all the pretty words.

Can I still be me, in ministry or does my husband’s new career path change all of that? I hope I can still be me – but to do that? I have to put my eyes on Christ and keep them off of other people.

I’m learning that sharing Gospel of Christ in uplifting and postive ways IS Godly. I like to have fun in whatever I do. And today, more than ever, we need laughter, we need hope.

My joy in Christ is a gift I bring to the Mission Start – it’s a gift I bring to my own church. He placed it there – hiding it because someone might lable it “ungodly” would be a horrible mistake.

Don’t you think?

Nashville or Bust

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We did it! We faced the snow, rain, and ice and we made it to Nashville. Driving through Kentucky had me white knuckled and tense, but Rena and I made it in time to see everyone.

I can’t write about the video taping other than to say “Wow, I had no idea all that went into it.” You’ll just have to wait for the release in March to see the final cut for yourselves.

Meeting my Turbo Girlfriend’s face to face was so much fun. Here are some pictures for you. This is our Turbo Gang. We coordinate the volunteers for Chonda’s comedy concerts when she comes to our cities. People kept asking us if we were a fan club or groupies and even though we tried to explain what we were, they would just smile and nod, so we left it with “Yes, we are Chonda Heads, we travel the country and sleep in tents.” This is honestly, the greatest group of gals (And one guy) you would ever want to know. We came in from Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee, Missouri, and Minnesota to help support Chonda.

Chonda’s best friend Alison is our Turbo Coordinator. This is the gal who recruits, encourges and strenghtens all of us. I can see why they are best friends. Alison is a screaming riot. I loved meeting her face to face.

Sir Richard – is a man of many hats, from the web page, to merchandising. I’m sure he has an official title, but we just call him “Thor-god of the turbos.” 😉

This funny man, with the freakishly huge hands is LeLand Klassen. LeLand was one of two opening comics that night. He’s hilarious. And please know I am not making fun of him when I call his hands “freakishly huge,” that is actually his line in his act. He uses his hands a lot as a comedic prop if you will. He is also a true professional. He completely blew his knee out just four weeks before filming and hobbled his way, in a leg cast, through the acts of the DVD and did a great job.


Goosing should not be allowed, but hey when you are standing to a wirey, ornery blonde, things are bound to happen. Zan was discovered when she won a radio contest in Florida to open for Chonda and she’s been traveling with her ever since. Zan is also in the video and I can see why. This girl is a total crack upi.

Of course me and Chonda. It was almost midnight when we took this picture and that poor gal had to get on a tour bus right after this and go to Shrevesport. I do not envy her schedule. Sorry about the bug eyes. I was tired to say the least.

Now for some simple random shots of me and Nashville. We had time to kill after the show and a few of us got silly on main street.



I did it my way

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My kids are home today. The ice storm has shut down the city, forcing schools to close, my husband to work from home, and my bloodpressure to raise ever so slightly. We can’t be closed today! – I have to get ready for Nashville. I have laundry to do, floors to mop, clothes to pack. I need to have today to myself – I don’t have time… and so the whining goes.

Frank Sinatra knew what he was saying when he sang “My Way.” I love that song. Mainly because it’s probably the story of my life. Not that I have control issues mind you, I just like to get my way.

And my way is presently in Nashville Tennessee and I need to go get it. 😉

Several months ago several of my internet girlfriends and I decided to drive to Nashville for Chonda Pierce’s new video taping on January 29. We made these plans long before we knew what the weather was going to be. Sure enough ice and snow has hit many of us. But that isn’t stopping any of us.

What is it that makes this trip so special to all of us? We are Chonda’s National Turbo Team. We help hostess and promote her concerts when she is in our town. Most of us know each other through email and we have helped, encouraged, and prayed with eachother over the years. This is the first time, most of us will be in the same room together and we are excited.

All of us are involved as Turbos because we love Chonda and want to be a source of encouragement and help for her. She is not only a great commedian, she also has a wonderful message. Helping get the word out about her shows, is the least we can do.

This is going to be a fun week. I just need to get past the ice and snow.

I have several things to blog about when I return. Next week things will calm down again and I can get back to the business of writing. Today, I can get down to the business of being mom and knowing that things will work out if I can just remember to breathe and trust God with the details.

To be or not to be ADD, that is the question

Deana4 Comments


I had my one month med check with my primary doctor today. She upped my dosage to 36mg, but she’s still not convinced that I’m ADD. And you know, neither am I at the moment.

I’m high energy – yes
I forget things – oh yeah
I get bored easily – yep

But ADD?

Edited on 3/3/09 – After being on Concert for 2 1/2 months, I do concede that I am indeed ADD. The change is astounding.

She thinks the pediatrician is wrong, but since I’m tolerating the meds so far we’ll go two months on the new dose. If that doesn’t help… then she thinks her original assessment is correct. I do not have ADD, I have WWS.

Wonder Woman Syndrome

She also thinks I’ve allowed someone to define my personality type as a defect of character.

I have two assignments – well three actually.
1. Get a composition notebook to keep my do lists and notes in
2. Start setting up a scheduled routine (Flylady is good)
3. Find TWO chores that I am no longer willing to do and PERMANENTLY delegate them.

I asked if she’d write a script for that third assignment.

“See honey, doctor’s orders. She said you have to do laundry from now on.”

This should be a fun month.