Namaste,

Last day was such a long one that I forced myself to go to bed when we got home because I was so physically and emotionally spent from everything I had seen and done since we arrived. There is so much that I am taking in constantly, and it feels like I’m on brain overload. Being able to blog right now is helping me to not only keep you updated on what’s happening here, but in a way it’s acting as a repository for me to kind of dump everything from one day to make room on my memory card for the next, if that makes any sense.

Sleep is still hard to come by. So far I haven’t been able to sleep past about 5 a.m., after not having gone to sleep until after midnight. I’m kind of an 8-hour girl, so this is hard for me. But I know I can sleep when I get home, so it’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make. The only way for me to even remember everything that happens during the course of a day is to pull up my pictures and just go from start to finish. So here we go.

Yesterday was another full day of visiting satellite churches. We traveled about 300 miles to visit four area churches, mostly all gypsy churches. Outreach David was telling me that the gypsies are coming to know Christ faster than any other group. This is such a picture of the church because He is coming to the lowest of the low in society, people who have nothing, and offering His free gift of salvation. These people truly have nothing to offer him but their love, and I know He accepts it with a full heart. It’s hard for me to explain the attention that we receive everywhere. It’s a little bit overwhelming at times. The people look at us and treat us as celebrities, but that’s not really even a strong enough picture. I was talking to outreach David and he said that the people are so thrilled that we would come to their church, that the pastors will be motivated for another two or three years to keep on doing the Lord’s work. He said because of our white faces and hair colors, we look like angels to the people. This is just hard to understand. But the people will crowd around us sometimes to the point where I feel claustrophobic. I now have such a better picture of why Jesus would need to get in the boat and preach sometimes, and why he so often needed to go off to a quiet place and pray to reconnect with God and recharge his batteries so often. At every church we visit, the pastor wants so badly to give us something. This first church we visited yesterday, the people began bringing in coconuts with straws. We were served coconut milk in a way that I will never forget. I looked outside and realized they were picking them off of the palm tree, and this guy was just chopping off the top right there and giving us straws. That is as fresh as it gets. They also served us watermelon, oranges and grapes. It’s so hard to take from them, because it feels so unnecessary. We came here to serve them, not the other way around. But it means so much to them to do this for us, that we just accept it with gladness.
The lady in pink is the pastor’s wife. They had a little boy who was probably about 18 months old, and he never made a sound. He looked so scared of us, because we are the first white people he had ever seen. It must be so strange for these little ones.

At the next church, the people were waiting for us. As they often do, the ladies first sang for us. At this church, Charmaine gave a testimony about her friend at home who had given her the outfit she was wearing and asked her to wear it in India. Her friend has cancer, but the Lord is healing her. She said that Jesus knows every cancer cell and pain in her friend’s body, just as he knows every pain in theirs. And that one day, every one of them that know Jesus will no longer have any pain. The central theme to all of our testimonies has been that we are all part of the same family. It means so much to the people for us to say that we serve the same God, and that we are all his children. It makes the differences between us shrink tremendously.

After Charmaine’s testimony and Johnson Jacob’s short message, (the elder whose name I couldn’t remember yesterday) the pastor’s daughter sang a song for us in English. I didn’t realize it was in English until after we left, and it made it go from just cute to something even more special. She was bridging the gap between us in her own way. Amazing.

Just one example of how incredibly beautiful these children are.

After we left this church, the most incredible thing happened. We were driving along, and suddenly all traffic came to a dead standstill. We assumed it was a wreck or something, until a jeep came barreling up on us full of men waving their arms at every car as if telling them to pull over. Behind that car was a minivan that looked just like ours. We pulled over right behind it and began following. We were just flying past all of this stopped traffic. It turned out that we were part of a military convoy. The person in front of us was some type of dignitary, traveling with a police escort. The pilot car traveling with them was behind us. So our three vans were traveling with this convoy as if we were part of it.

In the beginning, there was no traffic coming at us, which we couldn’t figure out. But eventually things slowed down and we began crawling through both lanes in a sandwich. This picture doesn’t really do it justice, but it’s the best that I have. The white car in front of us is the pilot car. The men walking around are police who had gotten out to make the way clear. And, yes, they had big guns.

It turns out that the reason for all the traffic was that it had been stopped by the police way back in both directions for this dignitary to travel through. We were able to follow them the whole way, and everyone on the side of the road just assumed we were part of it because of our similar vans and our white faces peering out. Last night at dinner Solomon told me that he was in the back car and they were waving their hands just like the front car was. I just laughed and laughed. I know it’s probably hard to picture the way I’m describing it, but there is no other explanation for what happened yesterday other than that the Lord sent this convoy. How else could we have been in exactly the right place at the right time? Solomon told me that it was illegal to do what we had done, and yet the police never even looked at us. I’m getting chills thinking about it. The Lord is here with us in a way I’ve never experienced Him before. And I never want it to stop.

Eventually the convoy veered off to the right and we went to the left. We stopped just a few minutes later to eat. As all of our local escorts piled out, they were high-fiving each other and laughing like crazy. It had been a crazy ride for them as well, and they knew that we had all just been a part of something sent by God. The laughter was just contagious. Solomon told me that he would be telling all his friends about this and remember it for the rest of his life. I know I will.

At lunch, most of us stuck with our safe American food, but Jeremy and Nelson were up for a challenge, so they ate the quail that our hosts were having. Laura tried it too and said it was amazing. I was a little too cautious, but as of last night none of them were sick from it.

Our next church was truly out in the middle of the desert. Not too long after lunch we stopped on the side of the road and picked a guy up, who turned out to be the pastor of the church we were headed to. He had walked all the way so that he could lead the way to his village. We’re talking several miles in the desert. It blew my mind. This area where we were only gets rain one month out of the year, and that is their only source of water. We were truly in the middle of nowhere. The terrain was much more suited for jeeps, but our driver was holding his own in the minivan.

When we finally arrived at this village, it was like nothing we had seen so far. The people just stared as our caravan passed by their little thatched huts. When we got out, we walked over to their “church.” This group of gypsies meets under the shade of a tree for worship.

The pastor’s hut is the one with the cross you see behind the tree. The people sit under the tree, and he preaches from his porch. I know I keep saying things blew my mind, but this was something else. The pastor brought out two benches for us to sit on. By the time we were finished, we were completely surrounded. The people were closing in on every side.

Laura shared her testimony of being lonely as a child, but learning that Jesus loved her unconditionally and that the same love he had offered her was available to them. She did such a great job. When any one of us are speaking I just pray so hard that the Holy Spirit will speak through them and say whatever the people need to hear. It has been amazing to watch that happen.

Outreach David told us not to shake any hands, and they rushed us from this place pretty quickly. The people followed us to the vans and were just crowded all around. As we left, he told us that most of the people have skin diseases, and that the two times he’s come out there he has left with a rash. He said hygeine is virtually non-existent due to the lack of water. No doctors want to come all the way out there, so they just have to deal with it. And yet many of them are turning to Christ. Have I overused the word amazing yet?

Our final church was another gypsy church, this one having been paid for with funds from BBC. Our church has paid for the land and some of the materials for five churches, I think. This one was so beautiful. The pastor used to be a gypsy. After he met Christ, he trained to be a pastor and came back to serve his own people. He was so full of joy and energy, it was mesmerizing to watch. After the people sang for us, Jeremy gave his testimony. His sense of humor translated beautifully to the people, and the children were especially intrigued with him. He spoke about John 3:16, and how when Jesus died on the cross, he was not only picturing Jeremy in Texas, but also each one of them in India. Again, the message was about how we area all heading to the same place. And it strikes me to think that one day I truly will see many of their faces again. What a day that will be.

Afterwards, Outreach David brought a little boy to show us. He was blind, and had been since birth. As David was telling us about him, the boy had the worst look of fear and sadness on his face I had ever encountered. His mother was standing behind him as David spoke. She is a widow, and she is suffering from TB. She was desparate for us to pray for her son. So we laid hands on him and began to pray. But I couldn’t get the image of his face out of my mind. I think everything that I had encountered since this journey began just hit me all at once, and I began to break down. I tried so hard to keep it together because I knew the people wouldn’t understand why I was crying. But here was a little boy who was probably almost exactly Bradley’s age, suffering in ways that are unimaginable to me. I’m crying again as I write this. It was just too much. At that point I wanted so much to be away from everyone so I could just melt into a puddle on the floor and ask God why the differences between us are so different. Why do I come from a land where I’ve never wanted for anything? Why was I born into the vast wealth of America, and these little ones were born into such poverty and their choices are so limited? What do I do with this?

As we left, Outreach David was so kind. He told me that the doctors had said that this boy was a good candidate for corneal transplant, and that they were praying to somehow make it available to him. He believed God was going to do this, so please pray right this minute that God will do this. David said he would get me the name of the boy so I can pray for him by name, and when I have it I will definitely share. What David also told me as we left was that this boy has the most amazing singing voice, and that every time he hears him sing, he cries just like me. If I had heard him sing, I honestly don’t think I would have been able to do anything at all for days.

From there we left for the three hour journey back to Hyderbad. Much of this was after dark, and that is the worst. The people here either drive with no headlights at all, or with them on full bright. It is surreal, and I truly am trusting God to get us through it. I do not feel in any danger when were are out in the middle of a desert village surrounded by gypsies, but there have been times I truly thought the end had come on the drive. Jeremy said last night that if we got hit, at least the white lights coming at us would merge beautifully with the pearly gates. It was funny, but it will be hilarious once the trip is over and I know I don’t have to do this anymore.

We arrived back in Hyderbad around 9:30, I think, and our hosts took us to a nice Indian restaurant for dinner. It was on the 8th floor or a building, so our view of the city was incredible. I asked Singing David to order for me, and he did a great job. They even showed me how to eat rice with my fingers. I’ll have to show this to the kids when I get back. I know they’ll love it.

By the time we got home, it was after 11:00. It takes me a little while to wind down, so I didn’t get to bed until sometime after midnight. I’m glad I’m up now, though, because it’s given me a chance to get all this down. These are the churches we visited yesterday: Chityal, Narkatpally, Mukundapuram (the church under the tree) and Miryalaguda. This morning we don’t have to go anywhere until about 10:00. BCH is having a baptism service and we’re going to be a part of it. We have a few self-supporting churches to visit today, but supposedly they are in the city so we won’t have to drive so long. I’m not going to hold my breath on that one.

Tonight, Ashley and Laura and I are hoping to get to attend choir practice. I am so excited about this I can’t stand it. I really hope we get back in time. We are going to sing for the congregation tomorrow morning as a group, but tomorrow night I’ll get to sing in their choir for the English service. I am so psyched about this! Please pray for energy today. My physical strength is running low, but I’m trusting God to just keep filling me with what I need. I pray that He will give each of you what you need today as well.

Love from India. God is good.

Namaste from a weary traveler. Today has been so incredible and so full, that I'm not really sure words can do it justice. But you know I'm going to try.

We began our morning early, meeting for breakfast before 7:00 a.m. Unfortunately, they didn't start serving until 7, so we got a little bit later start than we had originally planned. But we ended up leaving the hotel around 7:30 in three vans with several members of the church. Our first stop was Baptist Church Hyderabad (BCH) to pick up Pastor Samuel and another elder whose name is escaping me at the moment but who is absolutely adorable and celebrated his 71st birthday today. The plan for the day was to take us around to several of the satellite churches, including the ones that Brentwood Baptist has sponsored.

The first one we went to was actually just a plot of land that is waiting on construction. What's so intriguing about this church is that the pastor is married to one of the girls who grew up in Baptist Church Hyderabad's orphanage. She is the first one to graduate and also have a post-graduate degree, and she has a job as a lecturer. She and her husband are pictured here on the right. Pastor Samuel is in the middle and the birthday elder (I think he's the president of the executive committee) is on the left next to Kim.
We were able to pray over this land and this couple who are awaiting their church building. The way they build churches here is to get the outside pillars and a roof erected so that they can begin meeting in the church. The rest can come later. This church is just waiting in line to get things started.

Outreach David (there are three Davids we're working with, so we have to have identifiers) was telling us all about the way this process works, so I'm going to try and briefly summarize. Basically a pastor moves into a village area and begins telling the people about Christ. As soon as he has one or two believers, they begin having church in the pastor's home. Then they begin praying for the land to build a church, and eventually they are able to do so. BCH will support the church until they have enough funds to become autonomous, and then they are on their own. So the 19,000 members of BCH include these 120-some remote church congregations.

Our next stop was to a church called Pratapsingaram. There were ladies and children meeting in the church when we arrived, and they came out to greet us. The children are so beautiful, and some are very extroverted, but most of them look at us like they can't figure us out, and this little boy in his mother's arms ended up screaming in tears when we spoke to him.

We also had a great time of fellowship with this pastor and his family. It's such a privilege to pray over them and for the work that God is doing there. They are so grateful that we have come. It is incredibly humbling.

Dick Cathey is an absolute joy to have on this trip. He LOVES these people and they move him to tears constantly. He has such a heart for Jesus and sharing His love with others. Here he is telling these little girls how pretty they are, as he has done countless times today. The Indian people really take to him as well. I'm just enjoying him so much.

I'm not sure the name of the next church we went to, but after we had been there a few minutes, these two gentlemen walked up. We learned that they are two of three brothers who helped found this church. In fact, when they first tried to build, some of the Hindus were very hostile to the pastor and his efforts, and these brothers stepped in and were very instrumental in getting the church built. Their names are Abraham and Matthew. They were awe-struck to have Pastor Samuel there. Traveling with him to these churches is like being with a rock star. He is so loved by his people. It is amazing to see.

Our next stop was to a church that Brentwood has given the funds to build. It's in the stage where there are only pillars and a roof. These beautiful people were waiting on us when we got there. As soon as we were seated in the front, they began singing for us. I have video, so maybe when I get home I'll figure out how to put a little clip on here. They sounded so beautiful and they were so happy to sing for us.

At this church, Pastor Samuel asked if one of us would speak to the people. Since there were small children and mothers there, Kim asked me if I would say something. I felt like I was stumbling around, but I told them that I had three children, too. I told them how wonderful it was that they were raising their kids to know about Jesus, because they have their whole lives ahead of them to love and serve Him. Then I pulled the mom card and passed around my little picture album. One of the guys on our team had mentioned that bringing pictures of your family is a great conversation starter because it sets common ground. The women seemed to love getting to see the pics. So stumbling around with my words or not, at least the pictures were a hit.

After I said what I did, Dick asked if he could say something. Choking back tears, as usual, he told the people how we are all the same. He made a joke about being old and fat, but that not mattering in the kingdom because we are all equal. And then he looked at them and said how much he was looking forward to seeing them in Heaven one day. I was so struck by this, and thankful for this God moment. (Did I mention how much I love having Dick on this trip?)

After we left this church we went back to BCH to drop off Pastor Samuel and the other elder. Then we took off heading for another remote church. We had no idea, but it was going to be about a three-hour journey. About an hour into it, we stopped at a restaurant. All of our local guys ate the Indian food, but we got out our lunch stuff and had sandwiches. We did try a couple of their soft drinks, though.

After lunch we piled back in the vans and were off. Ashley and I were talking about how there is no way we can accurately describe the driving today. Unless you were there, you truly could not believe it. The driving in the city is scary, but the driving in the country is unimaginable. We were playing chicken all day long, and it wasn't just against other vehicles our size. We were barreling down the road 65 miles an hours towards a gigantic truck or bus, and we would literally squeeze over at the last possible minute with inches to spare. There were several times where I thought I actually might meet Jesus today. We kept comforting ourselves by comparing ourselves to the Israelites in the wilderness saying, "Surely God wouldn't have brought us all the way to India to kill us in a car crash!"

Fortunately we made it to our destination. Thank you, Lord! The funny thing is that Solomon, one of the guys in my van, put in a John Denver CD. It's hard to be completely anxious when you're listening to "Country Roads." By the end of the trip, the CD had played through five times. So I will never again hear John Denver without being instantly transported back to this day. And I can't wait for the first time that happens.

By the time we got there, it was about 4:00 in the afternoon. The folks at this church had been told we'd be there at noon, and had been waiting on us since that time. This church is in a gypsy village, so these folks are in the lowest class. They truly are outcasts in society.

When we sat down in the church, the pastor got up and prayed and they sang another song for us. Pastor David (Sarah's brother) told us that many of them are not believers yet, and encouraged us to share the gospel. Kim asked Nelson if he would give his testimony. This was my favorite moment of the day.

Nelson shared with the people through an interpreter that Jesus had knocked on his door, and that He was knocking on theirs as well (this is an extremely abbreviated version, but it's getting really late). He told them that if they know Him already, to live for Him and make Him part of their every moment. But he told them if they don't know Him, they can. It was amazing to watch them hang on his every word. I was almost overcome by the magnitude of the moment. I could feel the Spirit working in that room and it was so powerful.

After Nelson spoke, Outreach David preached from the 23rd Psalm. The people were so responsive and would answer with "Hallelujah!" and "Amen!" It was incredible knowing that many of them are not followers of Christ yet, but that they were learning to be.

My camera battery died at this point, so I don't have pics of what happened next, but I will get some. After the service, we went outside and the gypsies did a circle dance for us. Well, of course they wanted us in the goose pot. So three of us were in the middle, and some of the others were dancing around with the gypsies. I'll never forget the image of Kim dancing with those women. It was just fabulous.

Right after the service, one of the older women came up to Laura crying. Laura asked for an interpreter, and it turned out the woman wanted to be prayed for for healing. Laura did this, and it was like a floodgate opened up. All the women were in line waiting to be prayed for, pointing at various parts of their bodies. They truly believed if we prayed for them that it would help. I pray that it did.

The way the people are drawn to us, Kim drew the analogy of the early Christians. Peter and the gang drew some pretty hefty crowds when they were healing, and today I got a clear visual image of what they might have been like for them.

Pastor David won't let us hang out anywhere very long, because he doesn't want the crowds to get too big. He told Kim that he also was intentionally vague with our estimated times of arrival for these folks, and had asked the pastors not to make it wide-spread knowledge that we were coming. Since the churches are right on the edge of the villages, they are also rushing us out of places fairly quickly. He said it's because he doesn't want the villagers to rush back home and bring lots more folks. He's worried about the crowd control. There is some hostility towards Christianity in certain areas, and they are extremely concerned with keeping us safe and happy and comfortable. At times it has been frustrating to have to leave so quickly, but we will do whatever we are asked to do.

The drive back into the city was just as long, but the danger level got kicked up a notch as night fell. Headlights are apparently not mandatory, and I just couldn't watch most of the time. Thank you, Jesus, for keeping us safe. It sounds funny, but I truly covet your prayers over our safety when we are driving in the vans. I've never seen anything like it.

The highlight of the car trip, however, was when Singing David asked me who my favorite worship leader was. At first I couldn't figure out what he meant, because I didn't think the name Dennis Worley would mean anything to him. Then he started mentioning Hillsong and Michael W. Smith. So I started naming some worship songs, and he said, "Sing them now." I told him I would if he would sing with me. So for the next 30 minutes or so our van turned into a praise and music service, and the songs have never sounded so sweet. How incredible that we live on opposite sides of the earth, and yet we worship the Lord with the same songs and the same passion. How small the world must look to the Father.

Please pray for these remote churches today: Pratapsingaram, Venkatapuram, Peerjadiguda, and Choudariguda. One of the things I forgot to mention about the gypsy church is that the gypsies built it themselves. It was a thatched shack, but it was truly one of the most beautiful churches I've ever seen.

Tomorrow's schedule is basically the same as today's, but who knows what the day will bring? All I know is I'm looking forward to it. The Lord is at work here. These folks do not take their faith lightly. Christianity is not casual for them. I pray that my walk with Christ will never be so taken for granted again, and that He will constantly remind me of those who give up everything to follow Him.

Namaste!

The above pics are the view from my hotel room. Ashley and I are on the back of the hotel, and we are actually looking at another nice hotel. Everyone else is on the front of the hotel, and their view is quite different. You could literally sit in the window for hours and just watch everything going on down there. This morning, we saw a parade of oxen. This is pretty cool stuff.

Today has been awesome. We learned early this morning that ear plugs are going to be necessary for sleeping, because our windows are nowhere near soundproof and the sounds coming in are like New York City in the pre-Giuliani days. But we are so tired right now, I don't think sleeping tonight will be a problem.

Our hotel serves breakfast, so we all ended up meeting down in the restaurant this morning. After a group meeting, Sarah's sister David met us in the lobby and we headed out to what I thought was going to be the bank and the grocery store. This is why I decided to leave my camera in the room. I would totally regret this later on.

Actually, where we ended up going was to Baptist Church Hyderabad, where we were able to exchange our currency at a better rate. This is such an amazing place, and I can't wait to go back there. We got to interact with many of the children that attend private school there. They were so adorable, and proved that children are the same everywhere. They were completely intrigued with our white faces and light hair. And we were intrigued with them. We also got to meet Sarah's family, including her 7-month old niece, Jessica, who was sheer delight.

After exchanging our money, we headed out to the grocery store. Now, last night night I mentioned that the drive wasn't all that scary. It turns out that was because it was 2:00 in the morning. Today was terrifying. It's just like Thailand, and I'll never begin to understand how the traffic doesn't just constantly gridlock. It is mass chaos on these roads. One of the drivers said so far this year there have been 300 motorcycle deaths. Can you even imagine?

The grocery store was fun, and we were able to get some yummies for lunch from the bakery. For the next two days we will be visiting remote churches and we needed to pack our own lunch, so we were stocking up on water and lunch items. The store we were in was definitely geared toward the West, so things were pretty recognizable for us.

After we left the store, the girls all went with Sarah's sister-in-law, Esther, and mother, Eve, to a tailor shop to pick out our Indian clothes. I bought a beautiful dress that I can't wait to wear to church on Sunday. We all picked out either a ready-made outfit or material to be "stitched." I can't wait to see how Ashley's dress turns out. This trip took most of the afternoon, so by the time we made it back to the hotel we were all pretty wiped.

The sad part of India so far is the begging industry. We virtually can't be in public because we become instant targets. So our drivers have to take us wherever we are going, and we go immediately inside. It's sad, but necessary, because the beggers are relentless. And they're not just talking to you. They are touching you, coming up and knocking on the car windows, making it really hard to even drive around them. It is heart breaking.

Tonight we met with the elders of Baptist Church Hyderbad and enjoyed a nice dinner getting to talk with them. Sarah's dad is awesome. These people are so generous and kind and loving. It is truly a joy to be here with them.

Jet lag has seriously set in this afternoon, so I'm going to crash hard. It's 9:30 p.m. as I type. We have to be at breakfast at 6:30 in the morning so we can head out around 7:00. I think we're visiting 4 or 5 satellite churches tomorrow. It's going to be a long day, but I'm so looking forward to it.

As a group we are getting along really well together. As you pray for us, please pray that we will be able to maintain our unity and sense of purpose and flexibility as the days get long and longer. I'm so excited about what God is doing in our lives, and I know that makes us especially vulnerable to attack. Thank you so much for continuing to lift us up.

Until tomorrow...

We have finally arrived! Our plane landed about 12:20 a.m. India time, which is a little bit before noon in Nashville. It took forever to get our luggage, but when we walked outside we were greeted by this amazing group of folks from Baptist Church Hyderabad. We felt like royalty!

Each one of us were presented with these gorgeous floral wreaths that smell unbelievably delicious. They weigh a ton, though, and we have left a trail of rose petals behind us everywhere that we've gone.

After a non-too-terrifying van ride to the hotel (or am I just getting used to the way they drive in Asia?) we made it to our hotel. The accomodations are very, very nice, although the pictures may have looked a tiny bit overblown. :)

Here are a few of us, jet lagged and all, but none too worse for the wear. I really have to crash, but wanted to share just a quick story.

On the flight from Frankfurt to India, we realized that our switch to minority status had fully happened. We were just about the only white faces on this plane.

Once our plane got up to cruising altitude and the seat belt sign went off, I pushed the button to lean my seat back, just like you always do at that point in the flight. Well, apparently the man behind me didn't like that and he pushed me right back. I can honestly say that's the first time that has ever happened to me!

So we all crashed extraordinarily hard at the beginning of this journey leg. This was actually the first real sleep I had since leaving Nashville. So when I woke up after about four hours, my mouth was as dry as the Sahara and I had that fuzzy tongue thing going on. I reached for my bottle of water, which was mostly empty, thankfully. Somewhere on the way to my mouth, I hit the arm rest of my seat and the bottle flipped up in the air and upside down on the floor of the guy behind me. I swear I did not do this on purpose. I let out a little yelp and tried to grab for it, but couldn't get it.

I looked behind me, and the guy was sound asleep. I knew my water was spilling all over his foot area, though, and I'm completely panicked. It really started to feel like a scene out of a bad Steve Martin movie. I'm reaching my hand around between my seat and the wall, trying to get to the water bottle without touching his legs, because I know if he wakes up and finds the bottle he'll be able to figure out where it came from. I'm terrified that I'm crashing his laptop or something. I did manage to get the bottle, and as I was pulling my arm back he shifted his legs and brushed my arm, so I jerked it back really quickly. I have no idea if he realized my arm was back there or not, but hopefully he was in that state of semi-consciousness where it might have just seemed like a dream or something.

Anyway, I never knew if he realized that the floor beneath him was wet, because I couldn't understand anything he was saying. But I've learned my lesson about water bottles and planes.

I think.

Since I have to be up in a few hours, and I'm probably not making a whole lot of sense, I'm going to get some sleep. Hope all of you are having a wonderful Tuesday.

Namaste!

Here we are! This is the India 2008 Mission Team. From left to right, Jeremy, Nelson, Roger, Laura, Kim, me, Ashley, Charmaine and Dick.

Sadly, the reason I have time to blog at 2:22 when our plane was supposed to have left at 1:06 is because we're still here at Nashville International. As excited as I was about not going through Chicago, I never considered the fact that our plane would have been coming from there. We just heard the announcement that the plane is en route, so it should be here in an hour or so. Our flight from D.C. has been switched to the 7:20 p.m. flight. We're supposed to be able to make the same flight from Germany into India.

If something like this hadn't happened, we'd be wondering why things were going so smoothly. So hopefully this is it and we'll be good from here on out. Keep praying!

In about 12 and a half hours I'll be heading to the airport, so before I pack my laptop I wanted to leave one last word.

So many of you have sent e-mails or called to say that you are praying for me and the India mission team. This truly means so much to me, because I know that the Enemy will do everything he can to thwart our efforts. He will attempt to frustrate our travel, our health and certainly our attitudes. So I truly do hope that we will be bathed in your prayers.

There are so many unknowns about this trip. I don't have an itenerary that I can post. We are basically just going to be there at the pleasure of our host church, and can be called upon at any time to do virtually anything. So please check in often as I'll try to keep you updated on our daily happenings.

As for tomorrow, our flight leaves Nashville at 1:00 headed to Dulles International in Washington, D.C. (Thank God we're not going through Chicago!!) We are supposed to arrive there at 3:52 Eastern time. Then we will leave around 5:30 p.m. Eastern headed to Frankfurt, Germany. We should arrive there at 7:10 a.m. local time, Tuesday, which is 12:10 a.m. here in Nashville. We'll leave there at 11:20 a.m. (4:20 a.m. here) headed for Hyderabad, India. We should arrive there at 12:25 a.m. local time, Wednesday, which is around 1:00 p.m. here on Tuesday. Is that confusing enough? :)

So whenever you think about us, please just pray for safe travel. I've seen way too many stories this past week about pilots falling asleep at the wheel and landing gear not working, etc. Are there always this many airplane stories? I know, the Enemy.

Bradley told me the other day how proud he was of me for being a missionary. I can't tell you how that made me feel. I pray that I will live up to his expectations. But more importantly, I pray that God will be able to teach me whatever it is that wanted me to learn by sending me on this trip. And that it will all be to His glory.

truer words...

And So it Begins...

The New York Times is running this article tomorrow dropping the bomb on McCain over an alleged affair he had with a lobbyist, which will not only draw attacks on his character but also his ethics.

This is only the beginning. Huckabee may not be so crazy to wait for the convention after all.

This picture has nothing to do with the following post. But it has everything to do with why I sometimes can't. My best friend asked me a few days ago if I post something every day. Clearly the role of best friend does not compel her to read my blog. And for that, I love her all the more.

But the truth is, I do blog every day. Sometimes more than once. I just can't always get it in the computer. But my mind is always composing. What's funny about this is that I've been this way for years. But until blogger came along, I never had an outlet. I just talked to myself a lot. So having a place to actually put my thoughts on virtual paper has been such a cleanser for me. The fact that people occasionally tell me that they read it, while it never fails to surprise me, is really just icing on the cake. I'll tell you who loves my blog more than me, though, and that's Jeff. The poor guy has had to listen to way more than his fair share of my opinion-making over the past 15 years. He is SO thankful for my blog, because now he can listen on his own time. Or not. I love you, Baby.

There really has been a lot to talk about this week, but somewhere between the 250-page deposition I edited on bed sores (seriously disgusting), hosting Bible study, homeschooling, taking care of three kids and trying to get ready to leave the country for two weeks, I just haven't been able to get to it. So here's a brief commentary.

Obama scares me. I mean, really, really scares me. It's looking more and more like he's going to be our Democrat opponent this year. I'm not ruling her out, just because of who she is. But isn't it fascinating that Hillary is even still considered a viable candidate at this point? She has lost the last ten primaries. Has there ever been another candidate to lose this many in a row, face a crystal-clear loss of momentum, and not have already had everyone from the media to the party leaders calling for a withdrawal? I think that's just amazing.

The reason I'm so scared of Obama is because as soon as he's finished with Hillary, the focus will be on Obama vs McCain. Obama, the young, exuberant, energetic, charismatic, handsome and full-of-hope (not to mention more liberal than McGovern) Democrat, vs. the old white geezer. As much as John McCain was loved and admired leading up to his nomination, he will be equally spat upon when it's time for the media to get serious. I fear that we don't stand a chance.

Obama is somewhat of a messianic figure, isn't he? I mean, people are fainting (whether real or not) at his rallies. His followers gaze at him with more than just admiration. They appear to be worshiping him at times. He's almost like a cult leader in a way. And it is really going to be hard to fight a war of ideas when you're having to fight the war of popularity first. How many geeky kids are able to beat the captain of the football team for the student council presidency? It's not too common.

So it remains to be seen how this fight will go down. McCain hasn't had a really strong conservative record on a few issues, so I'm not really sure how he's going to compare and contrast himself. It's probably going to come down to the war in Iraq. Either you are for it or against it. Obama will use war fatigue to his fullest advantage. He's being followed by a bunch of people who have no apparent concept of the battle we face, and it is not the global war on poverty, even if he does want to commit $800 billion to it. It is a battle for the security of our nation. He may not want us fighting in Iraq. But I, for one, would sure as heck rather fight this fight in Iraq than NYC, Washington, D.C, Atlanta, Los Angeles or anywhere else in this country that I love. And those are the stakes we face.

Hillary definitely seems to be fighting a losing battle against this guy, though. Putting the two side by side is just sad. She looks like a miserable wretch. The whole plaigarism argument, while I'm sure it seemed like a good idea at the time, seems to have gone nowhere. The media was completely defending Obama on that one.

What amuses me about that whole thing anyway is that he was accused of plaigarizing a speech which quoted several famous lines in our nation's history, the most notable being "I have a dream," from the late Dr. Martin Luther King. One of the things I learned in graduate school (I have exactly 6 credit hours from UAB, thank you) was that Martin Luther King was a well-documented plaigarizer, if that's a word. His writings were full of it, including his doctoral dissertation. Now, I don't bring that up to besmirch him. Whether he did or didn't has no bearing on the incredible efforts he made in this country towards civil rights. And the point I'm about to make is probably cliche at this point anyway.

But don't you suppose that if we were talking about Ronald Reagan, for instance, it would be a well-known fact that he was a plaigarizer? It makes me giggle a little to think about how often the media would bring that up, if they could. But it certainly would have been thrown in there as a nice little side dish if there was a story about a candidate plaigarizing him, don't you think? Just something to make you go hmmmm....

So we will watch and see. Things should definitely pan out over the next couple of weeks. It will be fascinating to see what Mrs. Clinton does from here. At this point, though, I think the tears might be genuine.

I'm supposed to be working, so I'll have to keep this brief. But I wanted to share from my kids' journals today. It's such a picture of the difference in boys and girls.

Today we read the end of Genesis 24 and beginning of Genesis 25. It was the conclusion of the story of Isaac and Rebekah getting married, followed by the death of Abraham. After we finish reading the Scripture, they write in their journals whatever they want about the story and usually choose to illustrate.

So Bradley chose to write about the death of Abraham. In the top picture, you see Abraham sitting on a rock, desperately trying to draw his last breath. The tree and stars are all smiling.

In the after picture, Abraham has now croaked and the tree and stars are sad. Very moving, don't you think?

But of course my daughter would have chosen to write about the wedding. I so loved her picture that I had to share.

She dictates to me, and the caption for today read, "Today we talked about Rebekah and Isaac. That's my middle name, but I've already told you that before. Remember at the beach there was these flowered things that you go in and the guy comes beside it and reads from the Bible? This is Isaac and Rebekah getting married."

I love that her picture of their wedding was what she's seen at beach weddings. I love that she drew such a beautiful trellis. I love that Rebekah is holding a bouquet of roses.

I LOVE that she was so taken by the fact that Isaac's servant gave Rebekah a gold nose ring that it is perfectly placed in the picture. Look closely. That's just beautiful.

I think she can pull Mississippi, don't you?

Fairness, Mad Cow Disease and Indian Cuisine

While they may seem completely unrelated, all three of these things helped define my day yesterday.

First, those of you living in the Nashville area know that we had a teensy, weensy bit of snow on the roads yesterday morning, so most local school districts were closed. It was very pretty to watch, but bitterly cold, so I wasn't all that excited about sending my kids out to play in it. But they had other ideas. Where it got interesting was when they realized that school was not in session and their friends were out and about. I immediately got hit with, "We want a snow day, too! It has to be fair!"

So I gave them the look that all kids hate and sweetly said, "Okay. If it needs to be fair, then from now on we will do school from 8:30 to 3:30, Monday through Friday. No more relaxed Fridays, and we're going to have to add some new coursework to our day."

Looks of frustration and despair caused a moment of pause. And ultimately, "But that's not the kind of fair we mean!"

It was a fantastic lesson in how fairness doesn't always equal a good outcome. And how making all things equal always means pulling someone down to bring someone else up. Could it be that my children, albeit unknowingly, got a taste of Socialism yesterday?

They chose to do school on a snow day. They have chosen wisely.
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Last night the Red Cross did a blood drive at my church. I, being the good citizen, signed up over a week ago to make an appointment. I have one of the more rare blood types, and I know they definitely need folks like me to give. (Out of 100 people, only me and my daddy have it.)

So I picked up the little piece of paper sitting there while I was waiting and read all the reasons why you shouldn't give blood. I'm not taking any antibiotics. Check. I haven't had a recent blood transfusion. Check. Haven't been to Africa or had sex with anybody who's from there. Check. Haven't been doing IV drugs or had a recent tattoo. Check. I'm feeling pretty confident here that my blood will be good with these people.

After getting called back and giving my personal info, I begin taking the confidential health survey. There are a couple of questions on there that make me begin to worry a bit, but I'm still 75% confident that everything will be okay.

The lady comes in and asks me about my recent travel outside of the USA. Well, last summer I went to Thailand, I tell her. She wants to know where and puts it in. Anywhere else? I'm thinking about my cruise last February and wondering if it counts. So I tell her the Caribbean. She wants to know where. Oh, man. This cruise had 5 ports! So I have to slowly tell her each place I got off the boat and tell her how to spell them. This takes a little while.

And then the question that had me worried pops up. She says, "Between the years 1980 and 1996, you spent a period of time totalling more than three months in the United Kingdom?" I say yes. She says, "How long?" I tell her three and a half months. In college, I had the amazing privilege of spending the Spring semester of my sophomore year at the London Study Center for Samford University. It's definitely one of the highlights of my 34-year lifespan. But apparently this is a problem for the Red Cross.

She asks me when I left and enters May of 1993. Then something starts flashing and asking for a comment. She's apparently never seen this before and leaves to retrieve upper management.

He comes in and looks at my profile and starts talking to her under his breath. This is starting to worry me. He looks at me and says, "Unfortunately, you can't donate today. In fact, we're going to have to give you an indefinite deferral."

"Why?" I ask in a puzzled sort of way.

"Well, it's because of Mad Cow Disease." Apparently, there is no way to test for Mad Cow Disease, and those of us who lived in England during this 16-year period may have it. I know some of you are thinking this may explain a lot, but no comments are necessary. (Seth - I'm watching you.)

So I stand up to leave and he tells me I need to wait for the paperwork. I feel like there is this giant spotlight on me screaming "BAD BLOOD! REJECT!" It's totally humiliating.

He brings in a letter that states I can't give blood, and I'm entered in the Red Cross system as a disqualified donor. Oh, but the good news is, if they ever do come up with a way to test for MCD, I'm free to come back and let them stick me with a needle again. That's so comforting.
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And last, but not least, I tasted real Indian food for the first time last night. As some of you know, I leave a week from this coming Monday for Hyderabad, India. I'll be gone for 12 days with a group of nine other people from my church on a mission journey. I am so excited about this. I'll supposedly have Internet access while I'm there, so hope to keep up my blog. But obviously I can't promise how often. It's 11 and a half hours ahead, so almost just like Thailand last year.

Anyway, my group met at "Cuisine of India" over by Vanderbilt. Other than about 5 other people (only one of whom looked Indian) we were the sole patrons. Our fearless leader Kim ordered for us since most of us were Indian cuisine virgins. We had some flat bread that was pretty good, some deep-fried something-or-others for appetizers, which is good, because I can eat virtually anything that's been deep-fried. It's the Southern way, you know. For our entrees we had lamb and chicken, both pureed and both really red. It was hard to tell them apart other than the fact that the chicken was more lumpy. They also brought out fried chicken, which looked really scary because it was that same really red color, but it actually tasted pretty good. No dessert.

All of it was entirely edible, so I feel pretty good about being able to find something to eat while we are there. Now, I'm sure that this was cleaned-up, Americanized Indian food, so I'm not expecting it to be exactly the same. But I know I can at least eat the bread. Worst case scenario, I lose a little weight. Or I guess that would actually be the best case scenario! :)

So that was my day yesterday. Today is Valentine's Day, and my sweetie and I are going to eat with some friends and then go see Spamalot at TPAC. Can't wait!

Bradley asked me today why we celebrate Valentine's Day. I told him that I had no idea, so we looked it up. Guess what? There is no reason. This is a purely made-up holiday for Big Candy and Big Flowers. I'm dead serious. There was a St. Valentine, but he apparently had nothing to do with Cupid or candy or anything. Fascinating.

So if you are a Valentine's Day fan, I hope you enjoy it to the fullest. If you aren't, take heart in the fact that it is completely contrived and has no significance whatsoever.

But either way you go, you should definitely enjoy the excuse to eat some chocolate!

Update on Dana- the surgeon DOES NOT think it is cancer. Praise God! :)

Please pray for my dear friend Dana on Tuesday, February 12. She is facing an MRI, chest x-ray and needle biopsy to determine whether or not she has breast cancer.

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, who abides in the shadow of the Almighty, will say to the Lord, "My refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust.” Psalm 91:1-2

The LORD is my light and my salvation - whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life - of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1

profound thoughts

Earlier today Bradley was trying to imitate the sound that a certain type of bird makes. What he doing, however, sounded strikingly similar to the very horrible sounds that he makes when he is puking.

I said, "Bradley, you sound like you are vomiting."

Bailey pipes up, "Yeah! And you also sound like you're throwing up!"

--------

After he returned from a trip to the restroom, I asked Bradley if he had washed his hands.

"But Mom, I only went number 1."

"That doesn't matter, son. Go wash your hands!"

Grumbling, he walks back to the bathroom. I hear him saying, "I only did number 1. That's not as bad as number 2. Number 3 is pretty bad, but number 4 is disgusting!"

Of course I'm wondering what those other numbers are, but there's no way in this world I'm going to ask.

He comes back in and asks Bailey if she knows that the numbers mean. She doesn't, and I'm so curious I decide not to intervene.

"Number 1 is when you pee. Number 2 is when you poop. Number 3 is when you share your pancakes. You know, puke?" (Giggles and snickers.)

"What's number 4?"

"That's the worst. That's when you have... you know."

"Diarhhea?"

"Yeah!"

Screams of laughter all around.

I give up.

So now my second choice has quit. I understand why. I applaud him for putting his self-interest aside and attempting to defracture the Party, if that's what he felt he needed to do. But what am I left with now?

Can I tell you how much I wish Obama was my candidate? I really like that guy. I think he's funny, articulate, at times inspiring. He makes me believe that he has the power to do great things for this country. Until I actually listen to what he wants to do. That's where we have a slight disconnect.

I don't know if you saw him give his speech on Super Tuesday. If you liver here and you're like me, you were going back and forth between that and the weather coverage. (By the way, can I just give some props to Lisa Patton and the gang for staying on the air from the early evening until the wee hours of the morning? I know they were doing it on the other channels too, but I just love that News 2 Weather Crew.)

But if you saw Obama give his speech that night, you would have noticed a middle-aged blonde woman over his right shoulder. This woman was hanging on EVERY syllable that came from the Senator's mouth. She was jumping up and down, looking at him with adoration, wiping tears from her eyes... the woman was in complete love with her candidate. I want that. I don't have it.

As of right now, when I see McCain or Huckabee on TV, I turn it. I have the same feeling of disgust that I used to have when I saw Bill or Al. And I know I'm not the only one. This is not good news for my Party.

What is going to be really interesting now is the dynamic between McCain and Huckabee. With Romney in there, we practically had a civil union going between those two. Suddenly, a vote for Huckabee is no longer a vote for McCain. A vote for Huckabee is now a vote McCain doesn't get. I think he may be in for a pretty nasty surprise now that he is no longer needed.

However, I still see the potential for a joint ticket. I think McCain is still going to need a southern conservative on his ticket. I personally hope that is Fred, but my hopes haven't gotten me too far this election cycle.

Something to speculate about is the Democratic ticket. It's widely spread that Hillary, if nominated, will pick Bill Richardson to gin up the support of Hispanics. I can totally see that.

But who will Obama pick? Will it be Joe Biden, who would offer a wealth of experience to the ticket? After all, he was so nice to call Obama the first clean, articulate black man to ever run for President. (I still laugh out loud every time I picture Al and Jesse's faces when they heard that!)

Or will it be Ted Kennedy? There's kind of a little love fest between the two right now. He'd play the anti-Cheney pretty well, I think.

I honestly have no idea at this point what to expect. But I think Hillary is getting stuck in some pretty deep and murky waters. Obama raised $30 million this month, while she had to loan her own campaign $5 million. That's not a really good sign for her.

I will make this prediction, however. If Obama wins the nomination, there is no doubt in my mind that he will be the next President of the United States. McCain's only chance of winning is if he runs against "his dear friend and colleague, in the most civil election this country has ever seen."

Gag me.

So here's what we know. For whatever reason, it appears inevitable that John McCain is going to be the Republican nominee. It's not completely over yet, but I can hear the fat lady doing her warm-ups.

There are all kinds of theories behind who is voting and why they might be voting for McCain. I still think there's a lot to the name recognition and the sense that it's his turn, plus the fact that the Media has tried to do everything they can to get him in this position. But it doesn't really matter.

I could whine and get upset and spend my time now mulling this over and over and working up a nice ulcer, but the fact is this is completely out of my control. My voting is over until November. So I thought it might be time for some perspective.

If I lived in Darfur, Sudan, I could be one of the estimated 2-400,000 casualties of war, or join the 2.5 million refugees who have been displaced from their homes in the face of this catastrophic war.

If I lived in Saudi Arabia, I could be arrested, tortured or even killed for having public contact with a man that I'm not related to. (See this article in The Times.)

If I lived in South Africa, there's at least a 30% chance that I would be infected with HIV/AIDS, and certainly would live constantly surrounded by its grim reality.

If I lived in France, I'd be faced with 10% unemployement, an alarming rise in radical Islam and a newly-elected president who just married an ex-model and is traipsing her around the world wearing a red heart-shaped ring that looks almost identical to the one his ex-wife used to wear. I mean, that's just weird.

Ultimately, as we discussed in Bible study last night, the outcome of this election is not going to surprise God. This is one dot on the time and space continuum. And if I believe He is in control of all things, then I have to believe He's got this one covered too.

There is a lot of time between now and November. So many things could happen. Yes, I am discouraged. Sick to my stomach, even, if I allow myself to go there. But if I'm going to trust God, then I need to let it go.

"Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes."
James 4:13-14

"Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever."
1 John 2:15-17

"Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God."
Psalm 42:5

"Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds."
Hebrews 10:22-24

Of course I will continue to stay involved in the political process. I'm stunned right now, and there is part of me that really does just want to walk away from the whole thing and leave my Party to lie in the bed it's made. But I don't think that's how God made me.

For now, I will take my time to mourn. But I'm so thankful that I don't have to mourn as those who have no hope. Today, at least, my eyes are on things higher.

Tuesdays are usually our busiest day homeschooling, because instead of staying home we take Bryant up to his school and our friend Russ up to the church for his school. Since it's all the way in Brentwood and we have to pick them back up at 2, we just stay at the church and do school in one of the upstairs classrooms.

Bailey got sick again during the night last night, so I really didn't want to take her anywhere. Plus, with all the sickness going on out there, I kind of didn't want to expose Bryant to a bunch of other 2-yr-olds either. After all, one of them might throw up or something.

On days when we are all here together, we wait to do a lot of stuff until Bryant goes down for a nap. But after Bradley finished his math, he went to practice piano. I've learned that he has a really great ear, and he's started picking songs out on the piano from memory. His newest one is "The First Noel."

Today, Bailey started singing it with him in the form of "la, la, las" while he played. Where this ended up completely blew my mind.

First, Brad came up with a tag ending where he would hold out the last note of "Noel" and Bailey would keep singing. It actually sounded really good. He was working hard at different endings to see what would sound the best.

Somewhere along the way they decided they needed a microphone. So with the help of some black construction paper, tape and string, they ended up with this...
Bradley even took the time to make the bottom of the mic have an on/off switch, complete with a red light power indicator. I didn't even know that he had looked at the bottom of a mic, but apparently he has. I thought it was interesting that they decided to put a power cord on the mic, since all the ones we use at church are cordless. I think it just made the whole thing look cooler to them.

After they had a mic, of course they needed an amp to make sure everyone could hear. One Amazon box and black marker later, and Voila, you have a pretty cool sound system! They even put a hook on the side to hold the mic on when not in use.

But what totally blew my mind was when Bradley said he needed a mic for the piano. As he said, we need the ones that hang from the ceiling so the instruments can be heard. This one came in orange...
And here is our worship team, completely decked out with the latest in sound equipment and ready to go.

I just stood back in amazement at how much they have picked up from being in church, being in choir and having to sit through early morning worship team rehearsals. I couldn't be more proud of them right now. I feel like it's just a glimpse of one of the ways God may use them in the future.

Oh, and the cage? That's to keep Bryant out. He was determined to get a piece of this action before it was all over!

In the future, I'll be sure the dryer door completely closes behind me.

Please read this article from the Washington Post before casting your vote for McCain. It's worth considering.

Obviously the man struggles tremendously with his temper. I'm personally uncomfortable having someone with this much of a hothead being in charge of our nuclear arsenal.

I know it's not PC to suggest, but there is no telling how much Senator McCain suffers from PTSD after being tortured in Vietnam. Who knows what kind of flashbacks, nightmares and even hallucinations might plague this man. I don't think he's the only person on the planet who can go through being tortured without having it affect the rest of their life. This is why he is so anti-torture when it comes to our military. Do we know that he would allow American intelligence to do what it takes to save millions of Americans from another terrorist attack? I'm not so sure.

Please don't vote for him just because he seems to be inevitable and because the media loves him. They will turn on him in an instant once it's time for the general election. I really believe a vote for McCain will be a vote for the Democrat party.

Up until it looked like McCain would be our nominee, I felt like Hillary Clinton wouldn't have a chance. She polarizes people, especially Republicans, so much, that it seemed like it would be no problem. But if she's running against McCain, I think she'll be our next President. If Obama is running against him, there's no question. There are so many conservative Republicans who can't stomach voting for McCain and will stay home. I've heard some prominent Republicans in the media say that they would vote for Hillary over McCain. That is scary, scary stuff.

Sadly, there's no one left that I feel strongly about. But I do feel like Romney has a better chance of beating Hillary (or Obama.) Just something to think about.

Now for the family stuff. If you have a weak stomach, just skip on down to the political post below or check back tomorrow.

As many of you know, there is a very contagious and nasty stomach bug currently going around our area. I had to pick up Bryant from preschool on Tuesday because he had thrown up. He threw up again on the way home, fell sound asleep and woke up fine. He had a few runny diapers on Thursday and Friday, but basically all was well.

Friday night, Jeff came down with it. He was sick all night long, and being the faithful and loving wife that I am, I slept through the whole thing. I seriously had no idea this was going on, and I feel pretty guilty about it. He was still sick yesterday for a great portion of the day, and although the nauseau passed, he was completely wiped out and had a killer headache.

As we were going to bed last night, Bailey mentioned that she didn't feel well. Fearing the worst, we put a trash can by her bed and a towel by her head, hoping that if she got sick we'd be able to contain the mess. Sadly, it didn't play out quite as we'd hoped.

At 10:45, I heard Bailey go into the bathroom coughing. I jumped up (apparently my mommy sensors are much more sharply tuned than my wifely ones.) When I got to the bathroom I discovered a scene out of the Exorcist. In my almost 9 years of parenting and dealing with vomit and various other nasty things, this was the worst.

I will spare you the most disgusting details, but let's just say that it looked as if an evil clown had smashed her in the face with vomit pie. My sweet darling had throw-up in her eyes, ears all over her clothes and deeply entwined in her curly hair. It was enough to make me call on Jesus to please come back right away.

The only thing I could do was put her in the shower while I tried to deal with the crime scene. She ended up taking a pretty long shower, because there was much that had to be cleaned up. I didn't have the heart to wake Jeff up due to the circumstances of his past 24 hours, so it took me a while.

I finally got her back in bed and was able to lay down at the foot of her bed with her around midnight. A few minutes later she sat up and threw up again. This time she hit the bucket, so not much was required other than TLC. I laid down on her bed with her until about 1:00, when I snuck off to my room.

Of course I couldn't go to sleep for a while, but I finally dozed into semi-consciousness somewhere around 2:00, when my precious came in and woke me up so I could come back and lay in her room. I told her I needed to be able to stretch out, but assured her that if she needed me I would be there. About 45 minutes later she came in asking for water. So I still hadn't had a chance to slip back into slumber.

At 4:30 a.m., I hear Bradley run for the bathroom. I jump up, hardly able to believe what is happening. Now, Brad didn't throw up in his sleep, and tried very hard to hold it all in with his hand. He made it almost all the way to his door. So instead of cleaning up all his bedding and him, there were carpet issues.

At this point the sensitive wife was replaced by the utterly-exhausted-out-of-her-mind wife. So Jeff was politely asked to get up and help me. I gave Bradley the miracle drug Zofran (Bailey had received it as well) and he actually didn't throw up again until he woke up this morning around 7:30. That's been it for him. Thank you, Lord.

But the silver lining to this dark and thoroughly disgusting black cloud is the fact that the Lord answered my prayer last night. Before we went to bed, I was starting to feel seriously queasy. I knew that my time was coming. I earnestly prayed that God would spare me, because I knew in my heart that Bailey was going to be getting sick very soon.

I've prayed to not get sick before, but never with such passion and faith that God would answer. Obviously He is more powerful than any stomach bug. So I called on Him to take it away from me so I could be helpful to those who need me the most. Plus I was scheduled to teach Sunday school this morning.

The Lord was faithful and answered this prayer for me. I was able to get to church and teach. As of right now, I've been nauseous most of the day, but so far that's been the extent of it. I think some of mine comes from having been up all night and not having a nap. But I truly believe that God just gave me some extra favor this weekend, and I wanted to give Him the glory for it.

So instead of having a Super Bowl party like we'd planned, we've all just been sitting around all day. For some reason, pizza and buffalo shrimp didn't seem like an appropriate menu. So we're watching the game with scrambled eggs and toast. It's not too bad.

Stay well out there!

My friend Meredith has brought up some interesting information that I thought I would pass on for those of you voting in Tennessee on Tuesday...

When you vote Tuesday, you will see “I hereby declare my preference for candidate for the office of President of the United States to be as follows:” Then you'll see a listing of Presidential candidates.

However, by voting for a particular candidate, you are not technically voting for your choice for President. This list of Presidential candidates is just for informational purposes for the TN Republican Party and the TN Democratic Party. The delegates to the National Convention choose the candidate. The election of the Presidential candidate is the responsibility of these delegates. You are voting for these delegates this Tuesday.

Following your “vote” (better known as preference) in support of a specific candidate, you will then have the opportunity to vote for 12 Delegates at Large and 3 Delegates from your voting district. If you do not know your district, call your county election commission or go to: http://www.state.tn.us/sos/election/maps/index.htm.

In each party's primary, the voter may cast one (1) vote for his or her preference for candidate for president or for the uncommitted designation. However, TCA §2-13-312 permits the voter to vote for as many delegate candidates as there are to be delegates elected from that congressional district. According to the number allocated for any presidential candidate, the delegate candidate(s) receiving the most votes shall be certified as the delegates to their parties' national conventions. TCA §2-13-315.

What does this all mean? You do not have to choose your delegates to the convention based solely on the fact that they are listed as “Committed to …” a certain candidate. It does not matter if their commitment is to Romney, McCain, Huckabee or a candidate that is no longer in the running for President (such as Thompson and Giuliani). Some of the best delegates for the convention are listed under “Committed to Fred Thompson.” These folks are very conservative and believe in smaller government, less taxation, etc. They are fellow local residents who have our best interests at heart, not that of the National Party.

All of the people below are listed “Committed to Fred Thompson.” So if you were planning to vote for Fred, you might want to still consider voting for his delegates.

Jim Bryson (formerly served on TN State Senate, ran for TN Governor in 2006)
Tim Burchett (R-Knox County; TN State Senate)
Steven Buttrey (2005 Republican caucus Secretary)
J. Wayne Cropp (Chairman of the Hamilton County Republican Party)
Glen Casada (R-Williamson County,TN State Congressman of Franklin, member of Brentwood Baptist Church)
Delores Gresham (State Representative of District 94)
Tom Leatherwood (Shelby County Registrar of Deeds)
Ron Ramsey (Lt. Governor and Speaker of the Senate)
Jamie Woodson (R-Knox County; TN State Senate)

If you’re in the 7th District, you can also vote for the following:
John Allbrooks (TN Republican Party Exec. Committee – Williamson County resident)
Monty Lankford (founder and owner of TLC Medical in Franklin, TN)
Joseph A. Woodruff (Served on Thompson’s financial team, Board member of the Heritage Foundation of Franklin and Williamson County)

I'm posting this because I think it's important to be informed of what you will be facing in the voting booth. To be honest, it makes me a little bit uneasy to vote for Fred's delegates without knowing who they plan to vote for. Now, it will probably not matter by the time the convention rolls around, because by then it's very likely that we'll know who is going to get the nomination and it will all be pageantry.

But, again, I wanted to put it out there that you are going to have the option to choose delegates, so it's worth looking into before you head to the polls.

Thanks for the info, Meredith!