Shhh...Don't Tell

For most of my life, up until about a week ago, I have had this icky, gross feeling towards rats. Maybe it is because of the destructive ability that wild, loose rats tend to have on your things. Or maybe it is that nasty, long, squirmy tail, which again, up until about a week ago, made me go into the immediate, squirmish body shake where you jump up and down, shaking your arms and squealing as loud as possible to make the point that there is an icky little creature loose and you want to have nothing to do with it, except maybe to help set out traps in order to rid the world of one more rodent. YUCK!

My wonderful husband, has very different views on SOME animals than I do and has forever tried to convince me that domesticated rats make terrific pets. They are clean. Nope. And loyal. Nope. And very sweet. Nope. Nope. Nope!!!! He had one as a child and to this day claims it was the best pet he's ever had. And he's had a lot of pets in his lifetime. He even convinced my children that they were ok, and they would want to hold one every time we entered the pet shop that my mother-n-law owns and Chad currently works at. Again, YUCK!

Well, Chad set out to start breeding rats at the store in order to sell them and he found himself a "dumbo" male and a sweet (did I say sweet?) female and they ended up having babies. 7 babies to be exact. Ouch! I suppose any living thing that can birth 7 babies at one sitting should be given some praise! :) The kids (and Chad) were so excited about the "pinkies" that were born on July 21st and although I was still in the grossed out phase, I thought they were ok.

About 2 weeks after the babies were born, the momma started getting sick. Chad noticed that she just wasn't herself and wasn't eating/drinking as much and would just lay there. He tried to nurse her back to health, but it just didn't work. Unfortunately, and sadly, he lost the momma.

By this time, the babies had started getting fur on them and were actually so dead-gum cute that I had to hold one. Bad idea...that was all it took. I was sunk and totally in love. I suppose I used the excuse that they really needed a mom to adopt them since they were still so young and lost theirs, but somehow, someway, I became ok with them and wanted to bring them home to continue caring for them until they were old enough to sell.

See, that's where the problem comes in....bringing the babies home means I have to bring the babies into my mother's house, where we are living. She is like 10 times worse at the squimish thing with any sort of rodent....PERIOD. So, I called Dad. :) heehee!

To my surprise, he reluctantly gave us his approval, but he knew "nothing about it!" Now, we just need to figure out how to pull off getting the cage inside the house without anyone seeing us and more importantly, keeping my kids quiet. Poor girl. It was killing her! She wanted to tell so badly. The more we said "SHHH!", the more she wanted to tell.A week went by though, with no one noticing the many trips downstairs to get the frozen veggies, or the four of us locked in our room each night to play with the babies. We did good.

It must have been eating at my dad though, because he blabbed to my mom just a few nights ago. Although she didn't make us immediately take them out of her house, she did inform us to get them out ASAP. I figured once she saw one, she would change her mind since they are just so flippin' cute, but as I entered the kitchen (after carefully picking out the cutest one in the bunch) the squealy, squirmish dance began. I guess I can't blame her. After all, I'm still new at this rat thing too!

God is just SO AMAZING!

For those of you out there who have a tough time believing that God answers prayers or even hears you when you pray, I'm here to tell you that our Almighty, Awesome God hears our every word, and truly does care about His children.

I'd like to SHOUT PRAISES to our wondrous Father for answered prayers on behalf of our friends, Brad and Jenny Wims. You can find out more about this precious family on their blog http://www.thewims.blogspot.com/ but in order to give God the glory He deserves, I must tell you a little about them. Brad was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in January 2007 and has since had several surgeries, numerous visits to the doctor and physical therapist and more days on bed rest than any one person could stand in a lifetime. Brad is an incredibly strong man, active and so full of life and laughter and although the toll of this sickness would take the life out of any normal person...He just keeps living His life as strong and hard and determined as could be. He is an amazing man. He loves God, and loves bringing light to others. He is a big teddy bear with a huge heart.

Brad is married to a woman that makes the rest of us girls look like the bottom of the barrel. She has stood by this man's side with unwavering faith and continuous support to her family. On the days I would have fallen apart, she kept her head up and kept going. She had a baby girl in the midst of these enormous trials, while taking care of her son as well. A woman of strength. A great example of the Proverbs 31 wife.

They were told several months ago that there was nothing else the doctors could do for Brad. They would have to seek alternative treatments, and that they did. They found a sweet doctor in Germany, whose name is Dr. Thaller and they have just finished their 2nd round of treatments there and are headed back to Houston this weekend. During this trip, the doc compared CT scans from their last visit to new ones taken about 2 weeks ago.

BIG, AMAZING NEWS....THE TUMORS HAD NOT GOTTEN ANY BIGGER!!!! HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD!?!!! AND, the doctor said that during the therapy he is receiving, that inflammation cells fill the tumor cells and can make up more than 2/3 of the actual tumor on the scans. This would mean that his tumors have ACTUALLY GOTTEN SMALLER!!!! HOLY COW! or better yet, HOLY LORD!!!

Father God, YOU ARE SO AMAZING! Our hearts are filled with awe and gratefulness as we sit astonished, bathing in the glory that pours from your Holy throne. Thank you, thank you God for blessing this family with your healing hand. God, we know not of your future plans for this family, but we thank you so very much for this fresh breath of life, of hope. Please continue to heal Brad, Lord. We know that we are here on this earth for your glory....to bring glory to your name Father, and we pray that your name continues to be glorified through this family Lord. You know your servant's heart God and know that He is such an asset to your kingdom. Thank you for allowing my family's path to cross theirs. Thank you for your answered prayers God. Thank you for all that you do, big and small! In your Holy name we pray, Amen!

Hats Off to Willie, Waylon, & Every Other Guitar Player Out There

Anyone else ever wanted to learn how to play the guitar out there? I have always dreamed of strummin' my guitar while singing along, yet never quite understood what it would take to get to that point. I thought it would be as easy as picking it up, moving your fingers up and down the neck and strumming away. I'm a natural, right?....WRONG!


Thank you to Scott who loaned me his guitar this past weekend and brought me one step closer to fulfilling my dream. But wait, not so fast! He sat me down and "taught" me the main chords I would need to know to do most songs. He assured me that many famous country artists used these same chords over and over again. Scott then proceeded to sing several songs while I watched in amazement about 2 inches from his fingers trying to take in every chord change and remember where all my fingers go when playing. Whew! That wasn't that hard. He made it look so easy and told me once I learned those main notes, I'd be on my way.


Well, I'm on my way alright. On my way to numbness in my pointy finger. I knew there might eventually be calluses, but I didn't know I'd have a strange sensation in my poor finger for a whole day after trying to wrap my small hand around a huge neck and spread my fingers way farther apart than God ever intended. And if that wasn't enough, I had to push down on this really tiny, tightrope wire that acted as a finger bungee unless I pressed down so hard that I created an indentation in my forefinger all the way to my fingernail.


Is this what all guitar players go through? Really? I mean, REALLY? I know A LOT of people play, but come on? Is it worth going through the pain to get to that end result? I suppose so, because I can't seem to let it go. Even after hearing that Taylor Swift played until her fingers bled as she learned, I want to learn so badly that I will suck it up and press on. (No wonder she had teardrops on her guitar!)


Maybe it's not such a great idea to publicly announce my plans to become the next guitar hero, but here I am. And one day....some day, my pain will turn to triumph and I'll be playing "My Song." Until then....wish me luck!