Your Love’s got me going around the world

He is, after all, the reason behind all of this madness.

Change, for all that’s been said about it being good…and needful, can be so difficult to follow through with…arg.

I’ve never really known it until now, but (for what it’s worth) it is hard to start all over. It is the most unnatural thing in the world.

And I just have to say that I SO love you, all my most dearly beloved loved ones in Chile, you know who you are : ), and I desperately miss you so very much!

You’ve been a part of me for so long that it was strange to have to say good-bye. I didn’t entirely realize how much you mean to me, until I actually left you all behind…as Brian Adams so nicely put it: Baby when you’re gone, I realize I’m in love…well…you know

It goes like this: You’re totally buzzed about facing your “uncharted seas”…you fly away…you land…and then, shortly after all the stress and travel rush…you inevitably arrive at this place, in the far corners of your mind, where you, in fact, hate yourself, and demand to know why all this was necessary in the first place.

All the gloriousness in leaving wears off quickly, and then begins this fight…against yourself…and yourself painfully kicks at you for throwing all of that warm, fuzzy, homey comfort away…awful self!

So you’re forced to recall that feeling in your heart, when He distinctively called, and somehow—unexplainably and involuntarily—you just had to go.

He is the one pulling in directions that no one else can see, feel—or even understand, and He doesn’t gauge your obedience by how your dedication is looking to everyone else, but by how quickly you respond to His spirit, no matter what it says to do.

PRO.16:2 The ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirit.

Amen.
…but it’s still so hard to let go!

It’s so uncomfortable, in fact, that it literarily forces you to enter the realm of faith—where you belong in the first place—and there, in the midst your terrible heartbreak, something much bigger and grander takes over. You remember at once what you’re here for, and you realize that nothing else matters quite as much as fulfilling that call.

So you shed your share of tears, and then you gain something that wasn’t there before; something that brings you a brand new feeling of excitement and satisfaction. You get the feeling that you have just opened the doors to limitless possibilities.

It’s strangely nice and refreshing.

So, my conclusion, after all of this is…firstly that you’re all apspolutely wonderful! And I miss you! And I LOVE YOU so dearly!

…and the future is as bright as the promises of God!!!

(Beyond my dramatic moment…I’m really so happy to be here! Everyone has been so welcoming, and I’m looking forward to finding my place in the Home! Yey!)

Let your goals consume you, so they become more important than any temporary pain of today.

They would not remember the simple rules; that a red hot poker will burn you if you hold it too long; and that, if you cut your finger very deeply with a knife, it usually bleeds.
-Linda Goodman

So many of my very good friends are Aries. I think it’s because we both pity and deeply understand each other. Being an Aries is mostly a big contradiction, and only a fellow Aries can truely sympathize. We have characteristics embedded into our very souls that strike right at the heart of our lofty ideals.

Your everyday Aries will most probably be both:

- Conceded and self-centered—and perfectly selfless and noble

- Pushy and careless—and warm and generous

- Satirical and sarcastic--and genuine and sincere

- Bold and confident—and insecure and self-conscious

- Brave and heroic—and nit-picky and whinny

- Shallow and insensitive—and deep and passionate

- Strong and tough—and fragile and sentimental

- Bad tempered—and incapable of remaining angry

- Independent and self-sufficient—and secretly longing to be told what to do

- Practical, sensible, and straight-forward—and overly idealistic and irrational

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------You are not an Aries:
You are completely confused; probably even rolling your eyes over all of this narcissism

You are an Aries:
You are groaning and nodding your head; perhaps even shedding a tear over this life-long dilemma
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It isn’t easy being so self-absorbed and hating your own kind…but, the important thing is that…we try.

We had an Aries birthday party last weekend, and (just to fulfill our secret hearts’ desire to be in the spotlight) they planned a very amusing make-up contest.

Each of the Aries girls had to pick someone(s) of the male population to apply her make-up, and the guys had ten minutes to work their magic.

Mercy picked all the guys in her Home, I picked all the guys in my Home, and Audie picked Dan…yes (sigh), JUST Dan….that turned out to be a very level-headed thing to do.

Overall it was a very positive experience, in spite of the fact that none of guys on my team had ever personally come in contact with make-up before.

Audie: “I’m so pleased with my brilliant choice!”


Come on guys! We can win this thing!




HELP!!!!!!!!










“That does NOT go in my mouth!!!”

GROOVY! We made her look like a drunken harlot!

Mercy is just so hard to ruin…look at her—still lovely, intact, and holding on to her dignity.


Audie: “I’m so pleased with my brilliant choice!”

It was fun, and we loved our moment.

I love them! I love them!...I LOVE THEM!!!

Yes, I have a disease…I think that every moment with the kids is a “Kodak moment”!!! It’s just overwhelming.

(Note Alan's new best friend, "Tiny Block" on the table)


Raff has a new "Starwars Practice" buddy : )

Long boring post

I used to play “Colored Eggs” when I was kid and it used to be pretty basic. There were eight or nine…tops ten colors to choose from. You picked your color and ran for your life when the teacher called it out. We really didn’t get too creative about it.

But…but, try playing with a group of kids today! It can be exasperating. First of all, they spend between 10-20 minutes in a deep counseling session. When you are finally summoned to “pick out your eggs”, you can go through all the colors of the rainbow, and none of them will budge.

Thoughts like these may run through your head:

…“Perhaps they know another game called ‘Colored Eggs’ that doesn’t…go this way?”

…“Maybe they got mixed up and picked insects instead of colors?”

…“Maybe they just don’t want to play this game?”

You’ll find out there’s no mistake, they’ve just taken the game to a whooole new level.

Example:

Crocodile: (crocodile sounds) (evil cackle)...(pause for effect)…I WANT SOME RED EGGS FOR BREAKFAST TODAY!!!
…

Blue?
Orange?
Yellow?
Green!!!
Purple!?
White?
Brown?
Black??
…
Lilac?

Crocodile: I give up! What color are you?

Child 1: (glowing with cleverness) “I’m sky blue!”

Crocodile: Didn’t I say blue?

Child 1: (double glowing with cleverness) “Yes, you did! But I’m Sky Blue!”

Crocodile: Sky blue?

Child 2: “You’d never guess mine! I was green-granny-smith-apple!”

Crocodile: “Yes…you’re probably right, I would have never guessed…but, I’m pretty sure that’s not even a color.”

Child 2: “YES it is! It’s on one of my crayons!”

Crocodile: Right…Thanks a lot Crayola

eoe (end of example)

Forget the colored eggs of your youth! Now the game goes a lot more like this:

Example:

Crocodile: I WANT SOME TANGY-TANGERINE EGGS FOR BREAKFAST TODAY!!!
…

How about some sparkling-baby-blue?

Shocking pink?

Pale wheat??
…

Periwinkle-shiny-silverish?

(sigh)

…

SANDY-ISH-DUSTY-ISH-SHINY-ISH-BEIGE…ISH?

Random child: (excited shriek) Ahh! That’s me! (takes off running)

Crocodile: (trying to get over the amazing stroke of luck that led him to guess THAT exact combination)

eoe

Yes, it can get complicated being a crocodile these days. Especially if you’re one of those people who thought there were only seven colors. According to these little master-minds, there are over 20 gazillion real-live colors, and they’ll name them all too…if you have the time.

It's hard to keep up, but I found this great quiz, and it can serve as a good review, so I decided to share it in case any of you are facing any of the same challenges.

(Something you may not have known: You can type “hot” "shocking" “or baby” before practically any color, and it makes it a whole, new, official color...Have fun!!)

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