I've got a secret

I'm working on a little house project that I'm really excited about. I'm going to keep it a secret until I can do the photo reveal (and now I'm a bit ticked at myself for not taking before pictures). True to form I had no intentions of doing this so soon, but I just got an itch on Sunday and got started and now I'm so excited to see the finished result.

As with every major project I take on, everything else in the house suffers. Oh, the kids are fed, but they spent the entire day in their pajamas. The laundry is not being done, the dishes are barely being kept up with, the house is in disaray, but it only lasts a few days and then I feel like I have a whole new house so I'm excited to pick up where I left off before I left off.

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Ryann's fever has gone down (I'm assuming - I haven't taken her temperature, but she doesn't feel hot anymore). The fever lasted quite a long time (Friday - Sunday, 103 degrees) - she was so hot for so long, I felt miserable for her. I checked her throat this afternoon and her tonsils have also gone down and I didn't see white spots on them any more. So she seems to be getting better in that regard, however, she is so incredibly, unbearably crabby and always out of sorts that I can't hardly stand to be with her. She has a meltdown over the silliest, tiniest little thing - like she didn't get a blue bowl for lunch. I'm talking serious meltdown - screaming, crying uncontrollably, has to go up to her bed to calm herself down. Its been a pleasant time;) I don't know if this has to do with her being sick... the strep seems to be getting better, but she is terribly congested and stuffy and still is not eating a whole lot (she has barely eaten since Friday - cereal for breakfast, some fish crackers for a snack, yogurt for lunch - maybe - and usually nothing for dinner). Neither Dave, nor I have ever had strep so I don't know what it feels like or what to expect. I really hope the crabbiness is from the illness and not just her being 2 because I cannot handle a year of this.

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Yesterday at church the pastor talked about the first part of Psalm 23 and how we should be comforted by it in terms of God providing for us...

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want
I lack nothing - I am in want of nothing - The Lord provides for my needs
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
What do sheep eat - grass. green grass. If a sheep is hungry where is the best place to go? A green pasture. However, these sheep (us) are lying down in the green pastures... therefore I am not hungry - The Lord provides for my needs.
He leads me beside still waters.
When a sheep is thirsty where is the best place to go? A raging stream or river? Or a still, calm body of water? The still water is easy and appealing to drink. However, these sheep (us) are walking beside the water. I'm not thirsty - The Lord provides for my needs.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness for his names sake.

Wow did these verses and the pastor's discussion of them speak to me. We are so financially in a place of pain right now. I'm not going to get into the details as my intention is not to complain about that, but instead to recognize that God is providing for our needs. We are struggling and want so badly to get through this quickly, but know that it is a process and that God will bring us through. We want so badly to just be able to pay our bills and to take care of our children - these are the things I pray for. However, God provided a way for us to be able to do that until Dave is making enough money to be able to do those things. He HAS provided. He IS providing. And He WILL provide. We serve an incredible God. One who lavishes us with blessings beyond what we recognize or thank Him for; One who cares for us when we don't know He is doing so. I am humbled by this reminder.

So I'm going to use this as my memory verse for the week: Psalm 23. I have memorized this so many times throughout my christian education However, in the last year or so I realized that I no longer remember it correctly, so I am going to memorize it again this week. Sometimes I find it hard to even read some of these passages that I memorized so many times as a kid because I have such a cadence attached to them and I can't get beyond that... Psalm 23, Luke 2:2-10, I Cor 13 (right? the love passage), etc. Even if that is the case for you, I challenge you to memorize Psalm 23 with me this week.