tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42262991770663006042011-07-29T01:08:48.700-05:00than when I beganStill standin'noreply@blogger.comBlogger211100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4226299177066300604.post-6099371215135600472009-10-07T22:40:00.000-05:002009-10-07T22:40:52.306-05:00

I ran into a friend Sunday whom I haven't seen in a few months. She's also a single mom. We spent a while catching up, and she shared some things her church had missed during the period following her divorce. She has boys very much in need of a man in their lives. Their dad is an alcoholic and highly inconsistent. They can't count on him for anything. Twice my friend approached her church to ask

Still standin'noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4226299177066300604.post-50131324800236273882009-09-15T11:01:00.000-05:002009-09-15T11:01:05.431-05:00

The summer after my ex-husband left, the kids and I were at home having a normal day. I was in the shower when Mr. Monkey came to the bathroom door and said he had something for me. Never a moment's peace, not even in the shower :-) Through gritted teeth I asked if it could wait until I got out of the shower. When I got out, I discovered that a sheriff's deputy had come to the door. He asked for

Still standin'noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4226299177066300604.post-9200463052504618132009-09-02T04:18:00.001-05:002009-09-02T04:20:18.795-05:00

We finally released Indie, on a Sunday afternoon in the park. We had helped her as much as we could and she was re-injuring by herself trying to fly in the cage. After considering what was safest for her, we picked a spot where there are lots of pigeons roosting in the rocks, lots of people at various times throughout the day and the week, and few cats. The boys knew about this place and we all

Still standin'noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4226299177066300604.post-34298525364342887962009-08-22T06:56:00.008-05:002009-08-30T11:43:33.328-05:00

This story is one example out of many, of God’s miraculous intervention to show compassion to us, and to provide for our needs, in the wake of my husband leaving us. It also illustrates how God’s care for us and provision for us includes our love for our pets. Finally, I hope it explains our reluctance to give up our surviving cat. It’s not just that we love our cat, or that we’re selfishly

Still standin'noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4226299177066300604.post-20792961724294309732009-08-09T08:16:00.002-05:002009-08-09T08:23:02.040-05:00

We saw a nurse practitioner on Friday, who had just a month ago attended a lecture on headache management. God knew just who we needed to see :-) She took a thorough history. She thought LMM's severe headache a week ago was a migraine (which none of us have ever had before). She confirmed what I was thinking, that this one set up severe insomnia, which triggered tension headaches all last week.

Still standin'noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4226299177066300604.post-42430506985846620252009-08-06T11:27:00.004-05:002009-08-30T11:43:56.939-05:00

Please pray for LMM. She has had a headache every day for a week now. From Friday around noon to Sunday afternoon, the headache was so bad she was in bed just moaning that entire time. She could not sit up or stand without making it worse. I called our doctor and the earliest I can get her in is tomorrow afternoon. Her symptoms seem to indicate a tension headache as opposed to a migraine. I'm

Still standin'noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4226299177066300604.post-23054703941996356492009-08-06T06:38:00.009-05:002009-08-30T11:45:13.844-05:00

When my ex-husband walked out, he left us in a serious state of poverty. In 19 years of marriage, he never provided well for his family. There were always unpaid bills, unmet needs, jobs lost and new jobs started, bill collectors’ threats. We struggled financially as much at nearly 20 years together as when we first married. When he left, I immediately wondered if, and hoped that God was giving

Still standin'noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4226299177066300604.post-31280164799034846862009-07-08T18:57:00.010-05:002009-08-30T11:45:41.786-05:00

Sounds like a title for a new show on Animal Planet, doesn't it? :-) No, it's just the best description of this week at our house.We are a family that loves all kinds of animals. Through the years we have owned a variety of pets--cats, a dog, rabbits, several dozen mice (never trust a pet store clerk who tells you, "Oh yeah, we're pretty sure those two are both male."), a few fish. Currently

Still standin'noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4226299177066300604.post-6236353170755462072009-07-01T08:23:00.006-05:002009-08-30T11:46:52.247-05:00

I told the kids from the day after their dad left that we could not blame our own sins on anything he had done. I tried to communicate to them that we could not do anything to make his sins better, that it was just going to be a long, hard road of dealing with the consequences in our lives. At the same time, I recognized and I told them, living through the painful aftermath of someone else's sin

Still standin'noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4226299177066300604.post-87063846551815688942009-06-18T11:09:00.007-05:002009-06-18T12:15:34.301-05:00

Before my ex-husband left, I worked very hard to be at home more than we were in town. It started out as a practical matter. Very often we only had one car. Going to town meant I had to load up the kids to take their dad to work early in the morning. But as I got used to going to town only once or twice a week, I grew to really appreciate my days at home. Days in town were long, usually rushed,

Still standin'noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4226299177066300604.post-81518636976784559622009-06-10T21:31:00.008-05:002009-06-10T22:38:35.191-05:00

I am always amazed at my Abba's remarkable generosity with me. My husband was never a good provider, so when he left our needs were great. They still are. But the Lord's generosity shouldn't surprise me at all. He gave his son for me, my family's earthly needs are meager in comparison, no matter how daunting they seem to me.What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against

Still standin'noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4226299177066300604.post-39938333717300869612009-06-06T20:53:00.004-05:002009-06-08T08:26:42.162-05:00

We have a family joke about Mr. Monkey, that his bones are made of rubber. He's been trying to break bones ever since he was a year old. He started on his injury-seeking career by diving out of a grocery cart, landing on his head, and bouncing off the floor. I figured he would have a concussion, or a least a serious knot on his head. Nope, you could barely see where he hit his head. Since then

Still standin'noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4226299177066300604.post-55157668392702522942009-05-15T10:49:00.005-05:002009-06-05T20:15:07.779-05:00

Hi, I'm 4 Eyes. I'm going to talk about my clay creations. I got started building clay creatures in fall 2006, when Dozer did a report on dragons with our homeschool group. He made a clay model of a dragon with Sculpey clay. He had some left over, and so he let me play with it. I liked the feel with my hands, and how you can make your own creatures. I liked it alot and so I asked my mom if I can

Still standin'noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4226299177066300604.post-80359401608672502422009-05-08T16:04:00.003-05:002009-06-10T22:41:31.125-05:00

I have chosen for privacy reasons not to use our names on this blog. So introductions are in order, to give you an idea who I'm referring to. In comments, I am Still Standin' Child #1, my oldest son: Dozer, a nickname from summer campChild #2, my daughter: Little Miss MomChild #3, second son: Mr. MonkeyChild #4, third son: 4 Eyes

Still standin'noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4226299177066300604.post-90458906283550838192009-05-06T09:16:00.005-05:002009-05-08T16:04:47.402-05:00

It is so humbling to walk by faith and not by sight financially. It makes you think very hard about how you spend your money. I have always struggled over paying my bills, and am naturally inclined to be very legalistic about it. "If money's tight (and our money was always tight), then we just can't do anything fun, we can't spend a dime on anything that's not absolutely necessary." When her dad

Still standin'noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4226299177066300604.post-36447256386487412752009-05-06T09:11:00.013-05:002009-09-30T22:12:06.585-05:00

I'm sure this post will evolve as I see what God is doing with it, but for now I will list needs which are pressing, those things which have been a matter of prayer for some time and for which I still don't have a way to pay, as well as prayer requests regarding our non-financial needs. It will be permanently linked on the left side of the blog. PRAYER REQUESTS 1. The boys are desperately in

Still standin'noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4226299177066300604.post-39420697869510227812009-05-04T09:55:00.004-05:002009-05-04T10:54:59.569-05:00

In the first year after my husband leaving we lived from one crisis to the next. My goal for that year was very simply to get the divorce. It took 3 agreements and 10 months, but it was done just before Christmas. God provided everything we needed during this time. We had professional counseling, I had friends to confide in, and a prayer partner. A friend even gave me the money to pay for the

Still standin'noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4226299177066300604.post-39052514327350057032009-05-04T08:46:00.002-05:002009-05-04T09:11:55.823-05:00

If you look up the word "faith" in any dictionary, the definition centers around belief, but it's always defined as a noun. After hearing Rita Springer's song  I Have to Believe, I think we're missing something in those definitions. She emphasizes that faith is an action we must take. Over and over again, she declares, "I have to. . . ." She portrays faith as a series of compelling actions--

Still standin'noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4226299177066300604.post-1647221419016941772009-05-03T20:26:00.004-05:002009-05-06T09:09:32.000-05:00

I love Rita Springer's music. For a while I wanted one of her CDs, but never could get one. Then, in 2007 my kids plotted to get me one for my birthday. It was a really great day. a Friday. We woke up to light snow on the ground, enough for the kids to play in, but with lots of grass sticking through. Then a friend called to say she was in labor. Guess what, kids? It's a snow day! They played in

Still standin'noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4226299177066300604.post-74563487182113726902009-05-02T15:15:00.025-05:002009-06-10T22:42:21.648-05:00

Everyone assumes that when a man leaves his family, his wife will have to go to work, even if she never worked before. Many assume that she'll have to rely on government programs. But when it happened to me, I asked God if it really had to be that way. I asked if He could do something different that would allow me to stay with my children, who needed my physical presence more than ever. I asked

Still standin'noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4226299177066300604.post-68768010687271509022009-05-02T12:04:00.006-05:002009-06-10T22:43:03.713-05:00

I have been wanting for some time now to share what God has done and continues to do for me and my children since my husband left more than two years ago. I think the thing that has surprised me most about how it is all playing out is my God's extravagant love for me. It has taken me this long to come to a place in my head where I am starting to accept that He loves me so much. So, to kick off

Still standin'noreply@blogger.com0