Devotions of a High Heeled Warrior

You may be thinking, "What does a bird have to do with this week's blog?"  This past week has been Spring Break!  Can I get an amen from all teachers out there?  I had such great plans for my spring break.  I planned to rise early, clean out numerous spaces in my house that needed to be cleaned, and catch up on everything that I had piled to the side during my normal work week.  "So how did it go?" you may ask.  My rising early went a little later than early.  Hmmmm.  Okay, it was closer to ten o'clock.  I managed to half-clean my bedroom.  What I did accomplish was to binge watch an entire season of a television show on Netflix.  I also read three books.  So as I face the dawning of a new work week, I've felt a little bit like a failure.  I wanted to be extraordinary in my accomplishments this week, but instead, I was dismally unaccomplished.  This brings me to the starling.  "What is a starling?", you may ask...

One of the most asked questions I get is "what is it like having twins?"  Because it will be my daughters 15th birthday tomorrow, I thought I would tell you a little about raising twins in honor of my daughters.  Before I had children, I had joked with my husband about being next in line to have twins.  I didn't really think I was.  Only after having all four of my children did I find out that my grandmother had twins and lost one at birth.  No one knew until after she had died, and they found the surviving twin's birth certificate.  I really was next in line for twins.  So needless to say, finding out I was expecting two children at once was quite the shock.  As anyone would guess, I got huge really quick.  By the time I was 7 months pregnant, I was the size of a 9 month pregnant woman.  We were visiting a friend who had just delivered a baby.  The nurses thought I was the one about to deliver.  They weren't wrong.  A...

I have survived spending almost a complete week in the hospital with my daughter.  We were waiting for the VEEG to capture three seizures in order to have an MRI performed.  After days of sleep deprivation on her and my part, walking a treadmill until midnight (her part), and blacking out from exhaustion (my part), she finally had three seizures.  During this hospital captivity, I had a lot of time to think and listen.  After the first three days of non-stop HGTV, I thought I might scream.  I like the Property Brothers as much as the next person, but I could only handle so much renovation.  I started thinking about how many parents were sitting in hospital rooms just like mine feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, and beat up.  So for all of those parents out there who are struggling as they dedicate their lives to supporting their child with special needs, this is for you from God. What your child is going through is not your fault.  You may think...

You might be wondering why I am posting a day early.  Tomorrow is the big day when I drive my daughter down to Arkansas Children's Hospital for a VEEG.  Megan has epilepsy and is now a possible candidate for brain surgery.  It is really scary, but also it is a chance for her to live a life seizure-free.  The hospital hopes to catch three seizures on video and then do an MRI to see if the seizures are in part of her brain that is operable.  So Megan and I will be hanging out for the next few days in a hospital room catching up on whatever it is that teen girls like to watch.  This got me thinking about our brains.  They are so complex.  Our brains contain over 86 billion nerve cells or neurons.  They are connected by trillions of connections or synapses.  When information is passed down the synapses, it can move at around 250 mph.  Why the science lesson you may ask, and what does this have to do with cake?  Our Creator made o...

When you hear the word "embarrassed" everyone has some moment that pops into their mind.  For me, I think of being trapped in a Walmart bathroom.  Now, keep in mind that I was only five,  the bathroom was a one-stall bathroom with a bolt lock, and about thirty people were extremely concerned to hear a little girl was trapped in a bathroom.  I didn't want to go to the bathroom alone for the next three years.  But that was nothing compared to my teenage years.  My mother worked a factory job and didn't get off work until around 4 pm.  I had a choice to ride a bus on a route that involved a long dirt road for about an hour or wait for my mom to get off work and pick me up.  I chose being picked up.  My parents didn't have a lot of money, and my dad commuted about an hour each day one way to get to work.  This left my parents buying an old car for her to use.  I remember that I could see the car coming in the distance.  Smoke wou...

We have survived one of the most high-pressured holidays that exist- Valentine's Day.  In case you don't know what I mean, think about the pressure your significant other is under when every one of your co-workers get flowers, chocolates, stuffed toys, and your desk sits pathetically empty with a few pens and inspirational plaque to comfort you.  Now that significant other must show up big, or they have proven that you are nothing in the great scheme of their existence.  This whole idea is so wrong, but it is what we've formed into the concept of love.  I blame all of the Disney movies and romance novels that convince us that the perfect man will show up in a tux, burst into spontaneous song about the sparkle of your eyes, and lead you through rose petals to the castle he has specially designed for you.  In my fantasy, maid service, chef, and chauffeur would be included.  This, however, is not what love really is.  I can best explain it by telling th...

Have you ever had one of those weeks where it seems like the weekend will never get here, and then when it does, you're busier during the weekend than the week.  This was one of those weeks.   Thursday was parent-teacher conferences.  Two hours and multiple teachers later (remember I have four kids and a lot of teachers) I survived.  Friday was senior night for my son's final home basketball game of his life.  I sadly walked him onto the court and watched him play a great game.  I left to bake and decorate a two-tiered wedding cake for a couple being married in our church on Saturday.  Then Saturday, we decorated the church, did the wedding, and then did 6 loads of laundry.  That brings me to today.  While at church, one of the boys who attends our church was upset.  When I came to see what happened, I found out he had been bullied by a teenager.  We talked with the teenager, got an apology, and continued with Sunday School,...