What I learned in 2010

This year has been beyond words, or rather full of so much that it will take a book to explain it, and honestly I'm working on it.

My, this journey, painful but beautiful beyond anything I was ever brave enough to dream.

Rather than lay it out, I thought it would be cool to do a "What I've learned this year" instead. I have gone thru my 2010 "What I've learned today" posts from www.beautifullychaotic2009.blogspot.com, picked some of my favorites, and added in a few here and there. They are in no particular order. I'm too overwhelmed (in a good way) to organize right now. Save it for a rainy night.

Before that, I have to say thank you. I should NOT have made it thru this year. I would not be here without some of you, and the God above who sent you to me. Thank you for every kind word (and even the get off your hiney ones), for every reminder of who I could be, for calling me out when I was slipping, for every hug, sermon preached, dinner cooked and phone call. Each of you are truly and example of God's love and grace for me. I can't even type it without tears rolling. My very existence is because of you.

The number one thing I have learned this year is that God loves me.

He is the only one capable of loving me just as I am. He loves me when I fail. He loves me when I am scared, whiney, angry. He loves me when I'm not funny. He loves me when I'm skinny or fat. He loves me when I'm lost. He loves me when I'm found. He loves every tear, and every belt of laughter.

He loves me. And guess what? He loves you too.

He who has begun a good work in me, will carry it on to completion.

Everyone gets lost, at one point or another, in one way or another. No one is exempt. Sometimes, there is great fanfare around the lost, and sometimes, no one notices, but it happens none the less.

You are NEVER too lost to go home, even if home is a little different.

You can feed 5 kiddos, bandage a knee, and detach a turtle from a child's finger in under 10 minutes

Silence is far more accusatory, overwhelmingly more painful, than any word or action could be capable of causing.

God does not care if you leave the state, or even cross the country, He will hunt you down and make sure you are listening to Him.

There is NO ugly view in Colorado Springs.

Fresh air feels amazing in your lungs!

There really is such thing as a "Rocky Mountain High"

When the view is gorgeous, I will willingly walk miles a day with a smile on my face!

Isaiah speaks squirrel, crow, and a little raccoon.

Self tanner+tears=a ridiculous facial complexion. Hello Zebradom.

Abby can stop a hundred squirmy first graders when she sings.

Washing oversized comforters in your bathtub is not nearly as fun as I remember it being when I was a kid.

Mandisa has written a very beautiful new song "He is with You"

I have some of the very best flashlight holders in the whole world. You know who you are. Thank you.

If scientist find an abandoned bear cub, they will rub him down with vicks vapo rub and put him in another mother's den while she is sleeping. When she wakes up, all she will smell is the vapo rub, and will lick all the cubs clean, and by the time she is done, they will all smell like her, and she will take them all as her own.

16 oz of spinach, 2 banannas, one apple (not peeled but cored), 2 oz of honey, 8 oz of vanilla yogurt, 16 oz of milk, blended together, make a delicious smoothie, and the kids are oblivious to the healthiness of it! WOOO HOOO!

Being incapicitated by a broken ankle will add fifteen pounds to your hiney in less than a month.

No matter how many times I put Abby to bed, or what time it is, she will keep getting up.

Guinea pigs have sex within 12 hours of having babies....oh lord women can you imagine?????

If Jayin yells, and I whisper, it gives her a headache.

If she mumbles, and I speak clearly, it gives her a headache.

You cannot win with the mentally ill.

When you are helping someoene else, you are not thinking about how sad you are.

Reaching out keeps you from collapsing in.

When you fall down, especially if there is blood involved, vultures will come, and fast.

It sometimes takes me a minute to figure vultures from friends, but I will.

I am the vulture master.

Beagles are needy little fockers.

Petting stinky, but beautiful malamutes, just makes you smell like a stinky malamute, lol, you don't get the beautiful!

I can find a million explanations other than what the truth actually is

I'm retardedly honest. I talk to much, tell to much, but in general I feel it does two things...one if I know someone knows what I'm struggling with, I think twice before I do it. And two, time and time again, I am contacted by people who struggle with the very same things. God is using my falling, and one day, I'll fly.

I am one resilient little focker!

If you spill a gallon of homemade laundry detergent on your kitchen floor, it will be super shiny and slick.
Wet socks have NO traction.
Laundry detergent, which you do not get to wash off for two hours because of a raging kiddo, itches.
A lot.

A piece of glass can hold it shape and still be ashes, you only have to touch it to find out.

When you are sad digging thru burnt up things you knew your mother loved, a kitten crawling out of nowhere can make you smile.

Kittens rescued from fire are very loving and thankful.

Sometimes you NEED a mouthy friend to speak truth into your life.

The aftermath of a fire is overwhelming, even if it wasn't yours.

You go can from noticing that your guinea pig is pregnant, to having three guinea pig babies, in less than 12 hours.

Livy figured out hiding icing in the cat food bag was a great idea.

You can go to bed and wake up and your world be drastically different.

You can drive uphill for 15 hours straight. BOTH WAYS!

Well placed dish detergent in the dishwasher will make lots of bubbles.

A bubbly floor is one shiny floor!

We all need to be more honest and open with each other. I am becoming increasingly aware that "discretion" and "private matters" are the number one weapon of the enemy to God and His people. We think that by putting on face we set a good example. That does two things, it makes God and everybody look horrible when people see thru our facade, and it leaves people feeling like they are alone in their brokenness and I think that is even worse.

You cannot see the stars without a little darkness, and sometimes a lot of darkness, but keep looking up.

NEVER NEVER NEVER GIVE UP. Sit down, lay down even, but you get back up and you keep moving forward!!!!!

Miracles exist, not so much in healing and restoration, as in the strength, mercy, and grace God provides as you navigate the situations you face.