So, today, I was browsing through the kids’ section at the back of the store when I heard someone singing Amazing Grace. It was a loud, off-key voice coming from somewhere near the front of the store. “Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost but now I’m found, was blind but now I see!”

After Amazing Grace ended, The Sound of Music began. “The hills are alive with the sound of music! La, la, la, la.” That somehow morphed into, “How do you solve a problem like Maria?”

Then, “Hey Jude, don’t make it bad. Take a sad song and make it better.”

Despite the definite tone-deafness, the voice was sweet. Almost like a child was singing.

By this point, I was curious to see who was happily singing with total abandon so I grabbed two dresses for Lauren and pushed Hope in her stroller toward the front of the store.

As I turned the corner, I heard, “Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay. My, oh my, what a wonderful day. Plenty of sunshine headin’ my way. Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay!”

Crouched down on the floor, with a dusting rag in her hand, sat a lady with Down Syndrome. She was carefully cleaning the glass shelves that were full of nick-knacks.

She smiled and I smiled. I continued my shopping and she kept right on singing.

As I checked out at the cashier, I told the Goodwill employee that I thoroughly enjoyed the concert and that I was very happy that nobody asked her to stop.

“We are lenient about that sort of thing,” he said. “That’s what life is all about!”

I was very blessed to have such a wonderful friend as Jamie in high school.

A few years ago, I asked for prayer for Jamie’s daughter. God healed little Karen Vi and she is doing great. Now, Jamie needs your prayers.

Jamie has inflammatory cancer.

Jamie’s oncologists have said there is nothing more they can do at this point. Due to the fast nature of inflammatory cancer, they say it’s not a matter of if it spreads but when. Next week Jamie will begin 20 days of natural alternative treatments.

Jamie and her husband, Danny, are rare people who praise God in the midst of the storm.

Will you please pray for Jamie? Pray for healing, peace, comfort and strength. Will you also pray for Danny, their children and family?

Thanks.

ETA: Jamie has asked that people pray for her on Tuesday nights at 7pm Central time. Of course, you can pray for her any time but if you remember, pray for her then!

This was 20 years ago, in history class. Jamie and I often wore matching flowered shirts that we bought at Lerner’s. Apparently, Jamie did not get the memo that day and decided to wear her Jesus shirt instead!

Jamie and Me. Rockin' the big hair!

Stay tuned for more of Pop-Up Lauren.

P.S. Lauren’s teacher made cut-out picture bookmarks for her students to give their moms for Mother’s Day. Cute, huh?!

***

I don’t believe in coincidences at all. I believe that “coincidences” are really God giving us all kinds of signs to remind us of His existence. The following story isn’t directly related to Carmen but I thank God often that He got me through a tough time with my eyes so that I have less to handle while caring for Carmen.

I first got glasses when I was 8 and then contacts when I was 9. The doctor put me in rigid, gas-permeable contacts. I stayed in the gas-permeables for the next 18 years. I wore them every second of the day, only taking them out at bed time. When I was pregnant with Lauren I started having a lot of trouble with dry eye and infections and eventually could no longer wear contacts. This was a huge deal to me as my glasses gave me horrible headaches and were just plain thick and ugly! You can’t really make coke-bottle glasses cute — although Dave assured me that I looked great, even with those ugly, ol’ glasses! I spent most of my pregnancy in bed with a hot compress over my eyes, trying to relieve the dry eye and pain from the infections.

After Lauren was born, I still had problems and couldn’t go back to contacts. I think I put every eye drop and antibiotic and herbal remedy in my eyes. Nothing helped.

We looked into Lasik and decided that it would be a good option so that I could at least avoid the headaches I got from my glasses. Since my prescription was so extreme, -10.75 and -11, I went to Dr. Whitten for the surgery. Dr. Whitten did Tiger Wood’s Lasik so I figured I would be in good hands.

In April 2005, I went in for my Lasik procedure. I was ecstatic! The tech did a couple more tests before my procedure was set to begin. Then I received the crushing news that I couldn’t have the surgery due to a corneal abnormality in my right eye. If Dr. Whitten had proceeded with Lasik that day, I likely would have needed a cornea transplant.

I managed to make it to the car before the tears started flowing. I think they had already given me the Valium for the surgery. That was a good thing as I was so, so upset.

Dr. Whitten referred me to Dr. Rubinfeld, a corneal specialist. After about 50 tests and countless doctor visits, Dr. Rubinfeld decided to proceed with PRK. Technically PRK was not FDA approved for my prescription but a steroid could be applied to my eye that would hopefully get me near 20/20.

Dr. Rubinfeld warned me that with my prescription I would most likely need more than one surgery. I would likely also have all kinds of side effects: increased dry eye and halo vision around images being two of them. He also made it crystal clear that recovery from PRK takes a long time and is very, very painful.

In September 2005, I went in for the PRK surgery. My appointment was set for 10am. I got the Valium, completed a few tests and signed my life away!

The procedure was so easy and so quick: numbing drops, a clamp, and a laser reshaping the surface of my eyes. It took about 10 minutes in total.

Afterward, the nurse told me to sit up and look at the clock. “What time is it?” she asked. For the first time in my life, I could see something farther away from my face than three inches!

“12:02!!!!” I exclaimed. As soon as it came out of my mouth, it hit me that Lauren was also born at 12:02pm. Coincidence? I don’t think so.

Dr. Rubinfeld was right. The next few days were horribly painful and my vision came and went. I have never been in so much pain and that includes unmedicated labor and delivery! But, as time went on, the pain subsided and within a few weeks, I was seeing much better.

I see 20/20 today and have absolutely no side effects. No halos. No double vision. No problems at all. And strangely enough, the dry eye got significantly better after the surgery. I have a couple of bottles of eye drops but only use them a few times a year.

For so many years, I was legally blind. I am still amazed that I can see. I once was blind but now can see…

I am so very thankful that I am not dealing with eye problems right now. I sometimes stop and thank God for getting me through one trial so that I could handle the next! I don’t say it exactly like that. It’s more like, “Thank you for for healing my eyes. I don’t think I could handle eye problems and Carmen’s disease!”

So, this is my miracle. 20/20 vision. And the assurance, yet again, that God orchestrates the events of our lives. 12:02pm.

Dave and me (pregnant with Lauren), 2003

By the way, in case you are interested in reading the other posts in the Miracle Series in which this post was supposed to be included, here are a few links:

• Miracle Series Introduction
• Nine Days
• The Call
• Money, Moolah, Dinero

Has God shown you any miracles?

(Yoo hoo Dave! I would like to live on the beach someday. )

My MOPS group

Our Fearless Leaders

I’ve been in MOPS for eight years and I can honestly say that this particular group was great and one of the best I have been a part of. I’m looking forward to meeting new MOPS moms next year at a new table, but I will very much miss this group. Thanks ladies for a great year!

Ohhh, this wee one keeps us on our toes!

Dave went to Home Depot this past weekend to buy a pantry door rack to hold our spices, teas, etc.

This makes me soooooo happy!

Previously, the spices were a jumbled mess in various plastic bins, which explains why we have three jars of cumin.

Now, the spices are alphabetized and easy to see.

When we have rented before, we have been of the mindset that it’s only temporary and we’ll just live with the way things are. However, we are in no hurry to buy this time around so we are fixing a few things here and there to get the house the way we like it. Who knows, we might end up renting this house for 1o years!

Thanks, Dave, for making the pantry beautiful and making your wife very happy!

Mexican Food.

Whether it’s a quick run to Rubio’s or a sit down dinner at a family owned place, there is seriously good Mexican food here. Hope hollers “Beans! Rice! Tacos!” when she is hungry.

Last night was Taco Night at our house.

Hope eating beans and rice

Tacos. Yum.

I grew up eating Tex-Mex. Dave thought Mexican food equaled Taco Bell. The first time we went to a Mexican food place, somewhere in Texas, he ordered a steak. Dave commented recently that he prefers tacos over any other “fast” food. My how times have changed!

This year is our “investing” year. We are focusing time and energy in a few areas:

1. Getting ourselves in shape. I’m going to the gym 3-4 times per week, working my butt off, to get out of the funk of lethargy and unhealthiness that I sunk into after having kids and losing a child. Dave has been running up and down the hills around us. We are both tracking what we eat. We’ve both got some pounds to lose and some energy to gain.
2. We’re trying to get more rest. Dave and I are both night owls but mornings come early no matter how late we stay up! Going along with # 1 above, we’re going to bed earlier at night so we’re a little more rested — and hopefully less ornery.
3. Daily devotions and Bible reading. Dave listens to the Bible while driving to and from work and I’ve been reading through a daily devotional book. Lauren also listens to the Bible on her iPod. Hope prays at night: Dear Jesus, thank you Mommy, Daddy, Lar-Lar, Carmey, pretty kitty (not ours…the neighbor’s cat statue that Hope can see out of her bedroom window), toys, baby doll, slide, hamburger. AMEN!
4. Memorizing Scripture. Dave, Lauren and I are memorizing verses together.
5. Renewing our passports. We let them expire after we brought Carmen home. I picked up the papers to renew them. If God sends us on mission trips, we might just need those passports.
6. Building relationships by meeting our neighbors, joining a small group, volunteering at church, going to MOPS, attending ladies events at church, inviting friends over for Lauren to play with, etc.
7. Practicing photography and film making. Dave and I both keep working on learning new camera skills. Lauren loves to carry around her Canon 20D so Dave is teaching her the basics.
8. Daydreaming about becoming a professional surfer. Dave is scheming on ways to become a surfer and never have to work again. He found the following description of the Evolution of a Surfer: It all starts out innocently enough. A surf lesson, a rented board, just trying it out. But the more you do it, the better you get, the more you like it. Finally, it gets to the point that when the waves are good, you’re calling in sick to work. Then it all depends on the waves. Good Waves = Calling in Sick to Work. Finally, you lose your job. You get fired. The wife leaves you, because you’re a no-good dead-beat beach bum surfer. You move into a VW van, because the house has been foreclosed on for failure to pay the mortgage. You go to Mexico, in your van, because it’s cheaper to live, and the waves are better. It’s a downward spiral, but you’re the one who wants to surf.
9. Using our 8 year old as the excuse to surf ’cause it makes perfect sense that the little girl who loves Bethany Hamilton might become the next great girl surfer, right??? So, we signed Lauren up for swimming lessons to make sure she is competent in the water.
10. Looking around for a house for Wes and Karen to rent near us. Cause we would love to do this next great adventure together.

We want to bloom where we are planted.

Dave ready to surf

Come on wave!

Hooray! I'm surfing!

It's taking every ounce of the strength I have left to carry this board...

He had fun. Except for the parts where he was saying, “I need water! I’m dehydrated!” And, “My legs are going to fall off. This is like doing P90X for the first time!” And, “I feel like I am going to throw up. I’m going to pass out.” And, “I’m exhausted. I need a nap. I can’t drive home. Can you drive?”

From my vantage point on the beach, it didn’t look that hard.

(Lest I end up sleeping on the couch tonight I shall add that I’m JUST KIDDING! Dave, I’m sure I would have died of pain within five minutes.)