What Happens in the Helm House at 2 am . . .

Doesn't he look handsome! Love my husband!

The Two of Us

1. Who is your man?♥Ralph
2. How long have you been together?♥Dated for 2 years, married 3
3. Dating/Engaged/Married?♥ married
4. How old is your man?♥35 years


You or Him
1. Who eats more?♥ Him
2. Who says “I love you” first?♥ Equal amounts of "I love you's" said here
3. Who weighs more?♥ Him
4. Who sings better?♥Him (would you believe he asks me not to sing?!)
5.Who’s Older?♥Him ( I had dated two guys younger than me before I met him and vowed never to date a guy under the age of 30 again. He was 30 when we started dating.)
6. Who’s smarter?♥ Equal?
7. Who’s temper is worse?♥ I don't know. We may be equal but flare up over different things.
8. Who does the laundry?♥ Him
9. Who does the dishes?♥ Me (He's not allowed, we don't have a dishwasher and he's not very good at handwashing dishes. I'm not patient enough to let him learn.)
10. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed?♥ Right or left is not important. I make him sleep between me and the door.
11. Who’s feet are bigger?♥His
12. Who’s hair is longer?♥ Mine
13. Who’s better with the computer?♥ Him
15. Who pays the bills?♥ Him
16. Who cooks dinner?♥ When I'm on dayshift, he provides/cooks dinner the days I work and I make dinner the days I'm off. When I'm on nightshift, dinner is a relative term and it's every man for himself. ;-)
17. Who drives when you are together?♥ Him (I'm still burnt out from driving solo all-in-one-day to MN for all those years)
18. Who pays when you go out to dinner?♥ Him
19. Who’s the most stubborn?♥Equal stubborn
20. Who is the first one to admit when they’re wrong?♥ He's better at that
21. Who’s parents do you see more?♥ His, they're closer
22. Who named your dog?♥ We did
23. Who kisses who first?♥ Lots of kissing here--equal amounts. ;oD
24. Who asked who out?♥ Mutual agreement after two nights of equal interrogation, but I opened the door wide and pushed him through. ;oD
26. Who’s more sensitive?♥ Me (but not by much)
27. Who’s taller?♥Him
28. Who has more friends?♥ Who counts such things? We share friends.
29. Who has more siblings?♥ ME!!!! No contest.
30. Who wears the pants in the relationship?♥ Him

Enjoy! Try it for yourself!

Today's Walk

Views of my neighborhood . . .

Fall in Ohio

Fall is finally arriving in OH! It's had a few false starts--deliciously cool fragrant days followed by obnoxiously warm oppressive ones; but it's more fall than not now. Today my husband, dog and I decided to play outside in the leaves. Then we met up with my in-laws for lunch--a delicious smorgasbord from the local deli. We ended the day perfectly with our HC at The Dublin Pub where we talked, laughed, cried a little, were challenged, and had the opportunity to pray with our server, a struggling brother.

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Read this e-bay listing: Ebay then check out her blog Because I Said So. She's a riot!

Italian food, Transformers and Espresso

Tonight Ralph and I came to a startling realization--we have not had a night together for at least two weeks. We have been so busy working and jumping back into life that it has left little time for the two of us. So we decided to cancel our plans to go to the Bolvi's pumpkin carving party and decided to just stay in tonight. (Sorry, guys! Hope you had fun!) We got some great take-out from our favorite neighborhood bistro, Troni's Pizza and Restaurant. Ralph picked up Transformers now that it is out on DVD. (We never got around to seeing it in the theaters.) We ate Italian food and watched "Transformers" and then made chocolate peanut butter chip cookies and espresso. It was wonderful to just spend time with my husband reconnecting. It was nice to be on the same page. I woke up thinking I just wanted to stay home with Ralph tonight and he called on his way home to say he was exhausted and just wanted to stay home tonight. I thank God every day for my husband. I truly feel blessed to be married to him and to have him in my life.

A Good Day Off

Today was my one day/night off. I was not expecting a lot really. I had plans to bring a meal to a friend who just had a baby, coffee with a girlfriend and I was going to try and fit in a haircut and color at the local beauty school. It actually sounded a little stressful to me as half of this would have to happen in the middle of my "night"--what the rest of the world sees as the daytime! So, for once, I decided not to try and play superwoman. I said "no" when my girlfriends called to see if I was coming with them to the beauty school. I slept about 6 hours. Thanks, Dad, for the phone call. I thought I had reset my alarm but instead reset the clock. If you had not called, I would have overslept. I got up and made Pizza Popover and Sweet n Spiced Acorn Squash to take to our friends Jamie and Amy. We stayed to have dinner with them and had a great time just visiting over the meal with them. Their new baby is a doll baby. He is such a sweetie. Amy lets me hold him as much as I want. :-)
Then I met my friend Tamara for coffee at (where else?) Caribou. Tamara is one of those friends I don't connect with often enough--seriously it may have been 2 years since we talked last. Whenever we do get together we end up having these marathon conversations! We met at 8:30 p.m., Caribou closed at 10 p.m. and we didn't leave until midnight. That was a perfectly fine time for me but Tamara has to work this morning! I realized tonight I don't make enough time for girl time. My husband often encourages me to, but I just don't take the time. I really need to as we don't have kids at this point in our lives so that makes it much easier now. I need to make the most of the time that I have. That's a new goal for me. We'll see how that goes.
When I came home, I was able to spend time in the Word and praying. I took a nap. I have just relaxed tonight. It's been good. I'm glad I decided to leave superwoman to someone else today. My hair still isn't done (after months of complaining but not making the time to go to the salon), my house isn't spotless, there's laundary and dishes to be done but I've made time for friends and the LORD. I think I got all the important things I needed to done today. I can head back to work tonight and tomorrow night feeling recharged and refreshed. That makes me feel good.

Comfort

Comfort is . . .
The Word. Prayer. Prayer with amazing friends. House church. My husband's embrace. Hot chocolate and popcorn and a chic flick and a an old friend (in the form of a favorite book)--yes, all at the same time. ;-) Baggy sweat pants and a big sweatshirt. My sisters' words of encouragement and prayer coming from across the miles. Connecting with a cousin I have prayed for but rarely ever seen. Bubble baths with The Word.
I don't know why but I always consider HC to be the perfect end to a week. It's not my perfect beginning. I always think of it as capping off my week. It's what I look forward to at the end of a long hard week. A long hard week, is what both Ralph and I had this past week even before the events of Saturday night. Our HC is amazing. We both started out feeling worn and weary and a little bit discouraged. And then they came--and they just kept on coming. It was a FULL house this week. We had one new person and 3 second timers. We were only missing 4 regulars. Normally, I don't get hung up on numbers. We have seen such quality with our smaller numbers--quality growth, quality relationships, quality discussions, quality prayer, etc. For some reason, numbers had been one of the things bothering me this week. Other HC's in our region are maxed out and we're not. I don't necessarily want to be maxed out for maxed out sake--I just feel bad that they're overwhelmed at times and feel like we should do more somehow. At the same time, I feel God has kept us small because it's what our people have needed. The group we had this week was spectacular. We discussed Romans 5:1-11--a totally God-ordained conversation (see CreightonHC for those details. Anyway, we both ended the night feeling completely energized and comforted and refreshed. These people are my Church more than "big Apex" is. I believe that is a positive thing. It is what our goal for HC is. "Big Apex" is just a gathering of "little Apexes" all together. "Big" is just big and empty without the fellowship, nurturing and ministry of the other. In fact, I am more apt to invite someone to HC than I am to "big Apex." I find it is more personal, less intimidating ("Come to my house for dinner with friends; we're also going to talk about the Bible some and spend some time praying for each other" vs. "Come to church"). All that to say, Thank You, Jesus, for the Body of Christ. Thank you that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance character and character hope and that Your hope does not disappoint.

My heart is broken

We lost a patient last night. She was young . . . in between Ralph and I in age. She left behind a husband and five children. We don't know why she died. We tried very hard to prevent it. She was Mormom. Please, dear God, let her be with You. Let her to have found You before she died! I didn't get to talk to her this admission. We spoke several times about many things on her previous admission--some of them spiritual. I never out and out shared the gospel with her but I shared what I felt led to at the time. She was a sweet person--truly cared about others. Her children are beautiful and so sweet. One of them is the reason I now want pink cowboy boots. They celebrated a 5th birthday in the hospital today. Thank You, Jesus, for a happy day for the family. Thank you that they spent her last day together as a family celebrating. Eternity is so near--too near some days. Thank You, Jesus, for the staff tonight. Thank you for her dayshift nurse who you whispered "Run!" to before she totally understood why she was running. Thank you for her tears of compassion and grief for this woman. Thank for my Christian sister who helped me wash and tuck away the shell she left behind. Help us to find the WHY. Not the physical why, though we wish to know that too, but the spiritual why. Bring this family to know You. Bring my friends who were involved to know You. I love what I do. It tears me up some days but tonight reinforced my belief that someone needs to stand in the gap for my patients and lift them up to the throne of the Living God. I have been appointed to be that ambassador by the Living God Himself. Guide me, Lord Jesus. Give me boldness when I need it. Provide the words needed at the right time. Prepare hearts. Thank you for breaking mine to remind me of my role. Please let me see her in heaven, please.

Autumn in Ohio

What a strange autumn this is! I went hiking with Kenya today at one of our metro parks--it was 89 degrees when we left the house! Craziness! I would much rather have been dressed in a sweatshirt and jeans instead of my capris and T-shirt. Oh, well, I'm sure the cool weather will come soon enough and I will complain about scraping windshields and the car not warming up fast enough. :) I think Kenya and I went about 3 miles today. I was shooting for 4 but she tricked me into ending our hike sooner. I could have sworn she was developing a limp as we neared a trail that gave us the option of ending our hike sooner rather than later. She favored the right front paw and wouldn't let me touch it. Now mind you, she almost broke my ankle on the first part of our walk as she would take off running down these hills in the trail covered in rocks! Then she decides to start limping. So, I shorten our walk and take the easier trail back to the car. By the time we get to the car, the limp is magically gone. I think she planned it! She slept for most of the evening. It's one of the best nights we've had since we got back! :-)


She looks so innocent! She loved playing in the water. Now, if only we had leather seats in the car . . . .



This is the gorgeous lake at the park.

Some pretty berries we found while hiking.

They have these great water fountains with dog bowls on them! Isn't that terrific!

Pics from the trip home . . .

The rainbow at Cumberland Falls. I guess when there is a full moon there is a moon bow in this spot as well. I'd love to see that!



Cumberland Falls



Ralph "bouldering."



Ralph's favorite view of the falls! ;-D



Breathtaking!

Coming to you from TN

So, we did less meandering and more just driving than we planned. My poor husband woke up with very clogged sinuses and a horrible headache. We drugged him up ;-) and I spent most of the day driving. On our way today, we have been listening to the book Safely Home by Randy Alcorn. This is a definite must read for every Christian. It's a novel, but you'll learn a ton about the persecuted church world wide but especially China. He even gives you ways to pray for the persecuted church. It's a book that every house church shepherd in our region was encouraged to read. I had started it but had not gotten very far due to how emotional it was. It got a little intense for me and was hard to pick back up. It helped to listen to it with my husband. It made it easier to pray my way through than if I was actually reading it. It made me think I needed to go back and re-read The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom. I used to read it a lot, but I bet it's been over 10 years since I read it last. I think these type of books are good reminders that what we experience in the US is not typical Christianity. I have a responsibility to bear the burdens of my brothers and sisters around the world. I have not been "holding up my piece of the sky." "Whatever you do for the least of these, you do for me." What am I doing for the least of these? The very least I can do is pray. Actually, that is the best I can do until God gives me another task. How are you doing? There are so many resources to help us pray for the church around the world. My favorite is Operation World: When We Pray God Works , it breaks down each country and gives you demographics and specifics about the spiritual conditions. It is excellent and I don't use it enough.
Well, tomorrow we plan on seeing some of the beautiful country around here. If my husband feels better, that is. If he doesn't, we'll make a beeline for home so he can get some rest. Have a great night all!