Mississippi has Oil

Every time I start making a list about how devastating the oil spill is to the Gulf Coast, I get so overwhelmed and start to feel like someone I love dearly has died. You know that weight you get on your chest when sadness comes. We visited the coast in April. My little one kicked up her heels in the chilly waters. The beaches had never been prettier. We walked on the beach in Long Beach and Bay St, Louis. The sand was so clean having been scrubbed by big machines after Katrina. We find seashells that have been scrubbed smooth and seem chalky. I never want to keep them, because they don't look like real shells anymore. The girls bring them home anyway and I'll find them in my car or in the bottom of a tote bag. They think any seashell is pretty, but I have other ideas about the caliber of shell I want to go in my shell basket. I would give anything for those white chalky shells now.

Christmas

Our Christmas on the coast spent with my husband's family was very pleasant. We ate delicious food and received thoughtful gifts. It's nice to have a family to spend time with on the holidays. I did miss going to the Christmas Eve service at our church and we considered going somewhere on the coast, but got wrapped up in cookie making and just being together. I love this retro tablecloth.
I thought the decorations on the sideboard were magical.
We always ride through neighborhoods looking at lights and we found this one. It cracked us up.
We are also Saints fans and love this family's support and Christmas spirit.

My Gratitude list continues:
16. cold brisk wind on sunny days
17. our tolerant cat
18. my daughter's sitter
19. clementines in season
20. warm socks

Katrina Again

I posted back in August about the impact of Katrina on our lives and what she took from us. Last year we got all worked up about moving to Mississippi again and making it work down there. I'll sit here in the burbs of Atlanta and fall in love with little cottages in downtown Ocean Springs or Pass Christian, but then we go to visit and every thought I've had about simplifying our life flies out the window. Between the pay cut we would take, the loss of services for B, and well, there is a huge list and I have convinced myself that we need to sit here outside of Atlanta and raise the girls. My year at school is pretty good. I really enjoy my students this year and even though I'm not entirely pleased with some things, I know I have it good. The "condition" I have has been out of control. I don't really want to talk about it now, but I suffer with chronic pain and am also recovering from a bout with the shingles. Ouch! So I pray Thank you, God for my family, my home, my job, my church, your provision, the trust that you are running things, etc... and I get hit again with the idea of Mississippi. I run into sermons or devotionals on trusting God's will and provision in our lives and sit behind cars in traffic with Mississippi license plates. In the past, I've shared my Mississippi thoughts with my sister-in-law, friends and my husband, but this is different and I've been wrestling in my mind with the idea and asking God to hit me over the head with his will.

This is a picture of the tree in my in-law's back yard. Whenever we go for a visit, I always enjoy seeing the tree. It has the ability to create awestruck wonder at the beauty of God's creation of our natural world. Yes, it stood firm during Katrina.

Psalm 143:7-8 "Answer me quickly, O Lord; my spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me or I will be like those who go down to the pit. Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul." (NIV)