One foot, a bed and some coconut oil

Sounds like the beginning of a weird joke ... So a foot, a bed and some coconut oil are sitting at a ... You get the idea. But it's not the beginning of a weird joke. It's actually part of my morning today.

It started out like most mornings. I was sleeping, I heard the girls come in my room, I look to see which one is awake, Button roars at me like a bear, I jump. Typical morning. Ok, so she doesn't roar at me every morning. I would grow to expect it and wouldn't jump.  But she did this morning and i did jump.  I get up and get dressed. The girls were playing. That is the typical morning stuff. I tell them I am going to go downstairs to start breakfast. Ask is boiled eggs are good. All say yes. I asked this morning to stay upstairs for a few minutes because after I got the eggs going, I was going to sweep. The fewer people trekking through the dirt the easier it is to sweep. All were good with my request. So I get the eggs going. I start sweeping. I hear Punkin telling Button to stop that she's not helping. Button responds with " I'm trying to help". More dislikes and tone are spoken. So I tell them they need to try again and speak nice to each other. This has been something we have been working on. They go through small spats of time where they get bossy with one another, so I figured this was the same. Then they say, " Mom, we need you". I tell them to work it out. I had started sweeping and thought my help in solving who got to play with which pony or doll was needed. Then they say "Punkin's foot is stuck in Buttons bed". What? So there are two components to the title - a foot and a bed. So I go up and sure enough, Punkin was sitting on Buttons bed, which is a toddler bed, and her foot is sticking through the rails. It was through the front rails, the ones that go only half way across the front of the bed to keep you from falling out. I evaluate the situation.  I ask the necessary questions "What were you doing?" "Why did you stick you foot in there?", etc. I try to pull her foot through, but no luck. I turned it and pointed her foot and bent her knee. No luck. Her ankle bone was getting mushed between the rails. I didn't want it to start swelling and I needed to try to keep Punkin calm too. That's where the coconut oil came into play. I have coconut oil that I use as a lotion and moisturizer in my room. My brain went to shows and cartoons from growing up of someone getting stuck and them getting sticks of butter to free them. Coconut oil. I got the oil. Both girls looked at me like I was crazy. I told them I really did not want to break the bed or saw a rail to get her foot out. I got some oil and slathered her ankle and foot. And my hands and arms ( I had extra, so I figured I put it to use). Then Button says "because its slippery". "Yep" I say. "We are gonna see if this works, otherwise I have to cut out a rail." I told her it may hurt a little to get it out, but it would quick then we could ice it for it to feel better. The thought of me cutting a rail with her foot right there was really not thrilling me. So, with a gentle pull, her foot slipped right out. WooHoo!  No saw needed.

Her ankle was ok. Button went and got her a princess ice pack and she laid down for a bit after with the ice pack. All ankles and bed rails are okay!!!

One foot, a bed and some coconut oil..... A funny something.

Reservations for 20

For the Fourth of July we spent several days visiting family and friends. The girls had spent a few weeks with Nana and Grandaddy, and were gonna be coming home with us. My parents always do a big cookout for the fourth, so it was a great opportunity for us to see friends and family all in one place. The fireworks for the city are shot off directly behind the church we used to go to before we moved. We were excited about being there as well. There is just an incredible feeling in and around His Hands Church. It's definitely a God/Jesus/Holy Spirit thing. Anyway, there were several people there we were excited to see also. Punkin was giddy with excitement at the thought of seeing Jeremiah (see previous post from June Archive Story). Needless to say, we were excited -  friends, family, food, fireworks. What's not to be excited about? Rain!!!  Well, specifically rain on the fourth when we are excited about seeing friends, family, fireworks and food. It poured for days, it poured. It rained on our drive. It rained on the fourth. It rained on Friday after the fourth. It rained on Saturday which is when the cookout my parents have to celebrate the fourth. It rained. The fireworks for several cities were cancelled. The ones we were going to see we're postponed until Labor Day. Big bummer!  We still enjoyed our trip though. We were able to see Hunny's mom (Granna) and dad and Angie (Pop and Grandmama) on Friday. Both visits were very nice. The cookout on Saturday was great too. All in all it was a relaxing few days though. It just rained.

So on Sunday, we headed for home. The girls were going to vbs the next week, so we needed to make it back for Monday. Hunny also had to go to work. The drive was good. We started early and from spending a few weeks of action packed fun at Nana and Grandaddy's, the girls were tired. They slept off and on, watched some shows using the iPad and played some games. Scooter Button was playing games on my phone at one point while Punkin was napping. I could hear which games she was playing and she would show me occasionally what she had created or colored. She checked the weather and looked at the news and made a reservation for 20 at a steak house. What?!?  She made a reservation for 20..... Yes, that was not a typo. She made a reservation for 20 at a steak house. Here is some backstory. On my phone I have an app to make reservations for restaurants. When we lived in an apartment before moving into our house, there was a steakhouse Hunny and I went to that was a block away from the apartment. As she was playing on the phone, she apparently went to that app and went to recent reservations. Pressed a few buttons, made some numbers change and viola, reservation for 20. Oh, and it was in 30 minutes. Fortunately I saw the reservation and was able to cancel it in time. Could you imagine the hostess when she got that? Um, we have a large party on their way. We need to get some tables set up. Oh, never mind. If we had been close, maybe we could have changed it to party of 4, but we were still about 5 hours and a state away. She keeps us on our toes.

The rest of the ride home was uneventful. Just a drive. We were making great time, until we got 45 minutes from home. Then there was traffic and those 45 minutes became about 2 and a half hours. Who has traffic on Sunday night at 10 pm? We do. I'd like to tell you it was due to the fourth being only a few days prior. But that's a typical Sunday. Traffic headed into DC. Even from hours away -traffic. Or as I like to think of it - extra time together :-).

I hope each if you had a great 4th!  Rain or shine.

Book - Kisses from Katie - updated

From the introduction: 

"I have absolutely no desire to write a book about myself. This is a book about a Christ who is alive today and not only knows but cares about every hair on my head. Yours too. I'm writing this book on the chance that a glimpse into the life of my family and me, full of my stupidity and God's grace, will remind you of this living, loving Christ and what it means to serve Him. I'm writing with the hope that as you cry and laugh with my family you will be encouraged that God still uses flawed human beings to change the world. And if He can use me, He can use you."

Katie Davis

I have just finished reading this book. It was amazing. If you are wanting to be inspired... Here is your book. She also has a blog, posted below, but you need to read the book to get the story. Then follow the blog.

www.amazima.org
www.kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com

Amazima Founder, Katie Davis 

In December of 2006, 18-year-old Katie Davis from Brentwood, Tennessee, traveled to Uganda for the first time. She was immediately captivated with the people and the culture.

In the summer of 2007, Katie returned to Uganda to teach Kindergarten at an orphanage. As she walked the children home, she was shocked to see the sheer number of school-aged children sitting idly on the side of the road or working in the fields. She learned there were very few government-run public schools in Uganda, and none in the area where she was working. Most schools in Uganda are privately operated and therefore require school fees for attendance, making impoverished families unable to afford an education for their children. God laid it on Katie's heart to start a child sponsorship program, matching orphaned and vulnerable children who are unable to afford schooling with sponsors anywhere in the world. A annual gift of $300 enables one child to go to school and provides the necessary school supplies, 3 hot meals each day, spiritual discipleship, and medical care. Originally intending to have only 40 children in the sponsorship program, Katie had 150 signed up by January 2008. Today the program sponsors over 600 children.

Later that year, in 2008, Katie established a 5019(c)3 non-profit organization called Amazima Ministries International. The word “Amazima” means “truth” in the native Luganda language. The organization seeks to meet the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of the people of Uganda who need it most.

Katie also became a mother of three orphaned girls in January of 2008. She would adopt ten (10) more daughters in the coming few years.

Shortly thereafter, Katie was introduced to the Karamojong people of Masese. The poorest of the poor, and losing their children to malnutrition and starvation at an astounding rate, she noticed their desperate need for nutritious food. She started a feeding program to the community, providing meals to over 1,200 children Monday through Friday. This program allows the children to attend school and therefore not go to the street to beg. Amazima also provides medical care, Bible study, and general health training to the Masese community.

As her friendships developed in Masese, Katie wanted to help the women in the village provide for their families. She initiated aself-sustaining vocational program to empower these women to generate needed income by making unique Ugandan magazine bead necklaces. The necklaces made by the women are purchased weekly by Amazima and then sold in the United States. The money the women receive for their beads allows them to support their family and offset the cost of sending their children to school.

Now the mother of 13 daughters, Katie offers, “People tell me I am brave. People tell me I am strong. People tell me good job. Well here is the truth of it. I am really not that brave, I am not really that strong, and I am not doing anything spectacular. I am just doing what God called me to do as a follower of Him. Feed His sheep, do unto the least of His people.”

 

I kept thinking through the entire book, "she is so young. God is using her and she is so willing to give everything and she is so young". But then I think of my own girls and how willing they are to love and listen to god. To love Jesus and thank him for the blessings we have. So young. He uses the little ones to teach us, doesn't he?

I picked up this book on my way to the airport. I was making an emergency trip to Atl for the funeral of a dear dear friend who had passed away a few days earlier (there will soon be a post about that... I just have to write it still). But there was a delay in the flight, so I stopped by a Barnes and Noble to see what might find. I ended up with three books. This was the third book I saw and it just stood out to me. On my way to the airport I asked god which I should take with me, and again this one stood out. So, I took it with me. Only a few short days later and I have finished the book. It was really difficult to put it down. I constantly wanted to know how god was going to use her next and how her family would grow. God knows what we need, doesn't he? I needed to read this book. To trust. To embrace the journey. To let go sometimes and know that he has a plan. To trust. To ask. To trust.

He has a plan.

I am thankful for that.

If you are looking for an inspirational book, if you are a parent, if you think there may be a god, if you know there is a god and want to be amazed ever more by him... Read this book. Kisses from Katie, by Katie Davis with Beth Clark.