Text Messages To God: October 2011

Monday, October 31, 2011

Wait...I thought it was only Fall??

Rob going out at 130am to try to save some of our branches

this is only a few inches of snow, but layered on ICE

As many heard around the States, Northern Colorado was POUNDED with heavy, WET snow.

We were right in the middle of that. I never really thought about how proud of my trees I was until we laid in bed and listened to the sound of branches cracking and falling to the ground. I was cringing at the view I'd have in the morning. Rob went out and tried to dust off the trees, but to no avail...here is the whole scenario as it began raining at 630pm and began snowing right around midnight...

looking out to the backyard

this is the Elm out our front porch...still standing tall

We had been told that we'd get somewhere around 4-8 inches by morning...well...that was true, we did get 4-8...in fact we got 13 by morning...

Gus is NOT excited about this...he forgets that he is a dog.

As you can see...my poor cottonwoods are not only UNHAPPY...they are suddenly NAKED. The trampoline isn't too happy either since its buried right in the middle of another Elm and 2 cottonwoods. This snow was so heavy in fact, that it left an entire town north of us without power for 48 hours.

RIDICULOUS. We sit in a very interesting part of the country though. Either Denver gets POUNDED with snow and we get NOTHING...or we get hit like this and get it all!

The kids LOVE this kind of weather...I guess I don't mind it so much as long as its not muddy...

However...we'll move to the front and you can see the digression of my poor Elm out front...

I'm fairly certain my Elm will live...its looking abit sad right now, but in the spring it should branch out. We'll just have to see I suppose.

Rob's car was blocked in so here is the temporary fix...with a machete.

As I write this blog post Rob is working on his 4th trip to drop off the fallen branches. Its been a mess. And to top it all off on this Halloweenie morning, we are expected to get another 'few' inches on Wednesday...

I'm beginning to wonder...will I have ANY trees in the spring?? ;) Here's hoping!!!!

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Goldylocks and ...A WHOLE LOTTA HAIR!!!

I AM ONE PROUD MAMA.

My girls both have LONG BEAUTIFUL naturally curly hair. It's a lot of hair to manage. Last week while going to Walmart my husband casually suggested we cut the girls' hair because of a recent wailing and gnashing of teeth situation that happened. I cannot handle frizzy wild hair, so up into a ponytail it goes. Isannah's hair has become proactive in it's idea of becoming more like dreadlocks. This doesn't work for me at all. I don't do dreadlocks and I don't do screaming when we have to comb the enormous snags out! Well unfortunately for my husband, the girls heard and began bouncing around since some of their friends had cut their hair short too. Rob and I took this into account because it'd mean WAY less work for me and it'd mean less product for hair and more time for me to get things done since showers usually take 30 minutes due to hair care. GAG ME. Extra time!? YES PLEASE!

I recently began reading Beth Moore's So Long, Insecurity (you've been a bad friend to us) with my Bible Study ladies. I thought at first, I think I have a few insecurities I'd like to get rid of...but upon reading the first couple of chapters I realize, HOLY CRAP...I HAVE A LOT!!! Anyway, I highly recommend it...its been amazing. I also found that a lot of my identity has been in my hair. In fact, a few other people have found identity in MY HAIR. Why? I'm not sure...but there it is...black and white...I guess since it's mine, I'll go ahead and do what I want, thank you very much. I realized too that I was asking myself, WHY would part of my identity and security be MY HAIR!? Its hair...ITS DEAD...And so I began to investigate abit more...how can I raise my girls to avoid some of the insecurities I've felt dealing with my hair? Well like this one...God says that in our abundance that we should give...because its better to give than to receive. Suddenly I jumped on my computer (okay not on it but in front of it because I try to just hit it when I'm mad since jumping causes alot more damage.) and began researching different places that make wigs and finding one that is geared to help children. I want my girls to see that they are doing something beautiful...they are giving something that they can personally say, "That was mine, and I gave it because I WANTED to." They are furthering God's Kingdom by 'giving to the least of these..." meaning those who need hair the most. I found that on the Locks of Love website that there were a lot of pictures of children giving hair and there were pictures of recipients. My girls have never really heard about cancer and the effects it has by its treatment methods. They read about how children lost their hair from going through chemotherapy and radiation. My heart broke as I read the information, but it hit me the hardest when my girls said that they 'had a lot of hair that they could give to a little girl with cancer.'

That's when I brought it up to Rob and since he wasn't too keen on the idea..."I don't want our girls to have any identity in their hair...nor the length of their hair." I even had to ask myself, do I have anxiety over cutting their hair because I actually have placed identity in their hair? Not in their ACTUAL hair...but the beauty of it? The compliments we receive for it? WOW, ouch...that's a crummy question and I found that shamefully I had to admit, yes...I did find pride in their hair...how silly! I have my own hair!?!?!?!?! They get to choose what they want to do with theirs and if giving it to a child who has cancer and has no hair....WHY ON GOD'S GREEN EARTH WOULD I EVER STAND IN THE WAY and lets go deeper...SHOULDN'T I BE THE FIRST ONE TO APPLAUD AND ENCOURAGE THEM TO GIVE IN THEIR ABUNDANCE!? They are being absolutely selfless...and they were so excited to do this. I couldn't believe how mature they were being and how brave they were for giving so much and being 100% ready to help another child.

These are the moments that, as a mother, I'm SO HONORED to witness!!!

I'll let you peek into our Hair Whackin good time!

Our hairdresser is Christy. She was SO excited about being apart of this day for the girls. Thankfully she dealt with me as the crazy picture-taking (IN THE WAY) mother!