Left to Tell

Hey, just read an awesome book! Left to Tell by Immaculée Ilibagiza is amazing. Those of you who know me know that God has put justice ministries on my heart and Rwanda is desperately in need of them. I would love someday to travel there and be a part of the healing from the genocide going on.

Anyway, this book is written by a Rwandan woman who hid with seven women in a bathroom - yes, in a bathroom, for three months while the Hutu majority set out to wipe the minority Tutsi population from the face of Rwanda. They were more than happy to kill moderate Hutus as well as anyone else who thought didn't adhere to their extremist views; although some Hutus did shelter Tutsi citizens from being slaughtered.

I warn you that this book is heartbreaking but it is as real as it gets. The really wonderful thing is the way she discovered God in so many different ways throughout her horrendous experience and drew closer to Him. This is well worth a read!

Oh joy, I got to take Lily for her Lupron shot again today. This is the third month having them and the third hysterical fear-induced drama I've had to suffer through. She talks about being so brave and how she won't have trouble this time and then she sees the needle and literally flips out. "No mommy, I'm not ready, no mommy - please don't!" It is the saddest thing because she really is just terrified - it's not that she is trying to be obstinate. For the third time - the nurses and I have had to literally hold her down while she begs me not to let them give the shot to her. Then she feels terrible afterwards because she was so afraid. Ok - the needle is about 5 inches long and it does have to go into her thigh muscle - so it does hurt but Kelvey never had this trouble. Kelvey is fine now, but once-upon-a-time she was my little three year old (yes, all of three) that screamed at the lady taking her blood that she was going to call the police and have her thrown in jail. Now that WAS embarrassing! Kids, you gotta love 'em! :)

At last....

Well, here I am again - although all you 9 people who actually read my blog may have thought I had fallen off the edge of the planet. No, just getting used to a new schedule because I'm working part-time at Pleasant Hill Public Library three nights a week. I really do love it there - the staff is awesome and I've always been a library person. The only problem is - now, I have a list a mile long of books I want to read and many of them are in my bedroom. Piles and stacks - ya gotta love it! :)

Right now, I'm reading about four different authors - Harlan Coben, Dave Baldacchi, a kid's series by Frank Peretti that I'm checking out, and this book that Dr. Laura Schlessinger (ok - I don't have any great love for her - just thought the title was intriguing) that's called - Parenting by Proxy: Don't Have Them If You Don't Want to Raise Them. Holy smokes - this book and I are on the same wavelength entirely. Besides arguing against letting your kids be raised by daycares she also makes an excellent/logical/cohesive argument against this whole new trend of women purposefully having kids without fathers. I think kids should get sent home from the hospital with this book. Ok - obviously I could go on and on about this but anyway - that's what I'm reading - of course, along with every new Christian fiction book I can get my hands on. :)

The kids have all gone to camp now and so things are winding down with summer activities. Now we are just kicking back and enjoying. Morgan went to Wilderness camp this year and it is essentially what it sounds like. Around 20 boys out in a tent in the woods - they took their first showers right before Moms and Dads came to pick them up. :) I can't go two days without a shower but Mo was in 7th heaven - definitely a boy thing. Lily went to "big girl" camp this year and it was her first year in the cabins. She was totally psyched about that and had a fantastic time. Kelvey went to English horse camp and learned all about riding a horse while speaking with an accent - ok, not really, but she did learn some cool things like posting. She had an amazing time and loved that the week's speaker was Josh Denhart, our children's pastor. She really likes him and I think he does a really good job of communicating about Christ.

Oh, I forgot my big news - I AM OFFICIALLY A GRADUATE!!!!! Yes!!!! I walked in the Drake spring commencement and even have the pictures to prove it. I had an awesome time and it felt sooooo good!!!! What a blessing!

Later,

Cheryl :)