Florida Reflections

Last nite on the way home from prison....ok, that will always make me laugh...Marlon and I were reflecting on our vacation. I told him that I know it was so prayed over because of the peace that I felt having someone else in charge...the days seem to last forever and the 5 days felt like 15...with a group of 12 we all got along amazingly well...the kids had a blast and Jordyn missed us, but didn't regret spending Thanksgiving with her dad's family.

Highlights:
The boys swimming in the ice water (the heater broke) and Uncle Jerome jumping in with his jammies on to swim with Izzy!

All of us gettin' our praise on in the morning after Marlon and Uncle Jerome dissected some scripture and gave a bible lesson...only in Uncle Jerome fashion. Niecy even entertained us with her interpretative praise dance!! lol

Marlon and I getting a night to ourselves to go out for dinner while everyone else watched the boys...except why did it take them as long to get their take out as we did eating AT the restaurant??? lol

Seeing the boys faces as they met new characters at Universal or Island of Adventure.

Having Isaiah tell everyone that next time he is taking all of the cell phones and putting them in a box and they can get them back when vacation is over!! (Let's just say the 16-26 year old group had trouble letting those calls go...lol)

This might not make much sense if you weren't there...but Uncle Jerome's silly self singing, "We are a part of the Rhythm Nation...." over and over again because he wanted to hear it so bad and nobody could find it on iTunes...lol. Now Elijah and Izzy sing that same line non-stop and they've never heard the whole song!!

Just spending uninterrupted time with such a loving, fun, crazy group of people!!

Marlon's Grandparents...

So I am not sure why Marlon's grandparents have been on my mind. Well, maybe I do...but that's another story. I look at my husband...at the amazing man of God he continues to be...and I know that their love for him and raising him are big contributors to who he is. Pops is laid back and cool. He is kind of quiet, but when he has an opinion about something--he'll let you know. Now Granny...when I met Granny...I remember I was so intimidated. She was a grounded, outspoken Christian who made no apologies for her direct, straight-shooting way.I felt the need to push back a little and let her know she wasn't pushing me around. :) Marlon was my man and I was the queen of MY castle...I knew how to be a mom and I knew how to raise my family.After one extreme argument (and when I say extreme...I mean it...I actually broke my foot running down the stairs to get away from her...lol) things just changed between us.It's like she had a newfound respect for me.This woman was a big part of my growth as a Christian.

She lived out Jesus.If you needed something--she was going to get it for you.She would even get things for people she didn't know. One time I had mentioned to her that my cousin needed furniture. Not even a week later she called and had found her a couch.She knew the work I did with foster care and would always call when she'd been rummaging and found bags upon bags of clothes.

She lived out Jesus.This woman prayed.When scripture talks about praying without ceasing...she took that seriously! From her moment of waking until her head hit the pillow she prayed.She taught me to claim things in faith and then watch God work.She taught me that God has a plan for each of us and He will get you through whatever you come across when you release it to him.

She lived out Jesus.She evangelized until the day she died. I never knew someone who wanted to tell everyone she met about Christ and the impact he'd had on her life. As she grew weaker in the hospital she witnessed. To doctors, to CNA's, dietary aides and housekeepers. She said, "They tell me I have the Big C, but I tell them I have a Bigger C and he is going to take care of me.He's either going to heal me or take me home and either way I say thank you!"
I am thankful to God that she and I grew to love each other deeply and respect each other greatly.I love her and know she is enjoying living it up with Jesus...and probably hanging out with my Grandma Nickel chatting about those great grand-kids!

More Photos

The boys run from the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park...

The characters in Suess Landing were a riot...of course there were 10 of us rotating to take pictures so of course they started to really ham it up with us...

Uncle Jerome strikes a pose as he rides the waves on the City Walk...

Thomas and one of his many "boos" ....lol

Florida Photos

Universal Studio and Island of Adventure were such fun!

Isaiah, Elijah, Israel and Morgan attacked by Jaws!!

Elijah giving Morgan a piggy back...and Isaiah attempting to jump on...lol

Michelle, Dee Dee and the boys strike their Captain America poses.

Home...

So we got home on Thursday about 9pm. Our flight left late. The plane was so empty...we all got to switch our seats around pretty much wherever we wanted to sit. Uncle Jerome even got to move up to first class. At 6'4, it's good for him to be able to stretch his legs out. There were quite a few kids on the flight home...arguably some of the most misbehaved children I've seen in awhile. The flight attendant was so sweet...she came to our row, bent over by the boys and handed them each a brownie...then said, "You three are so well-behaved and sweet...here's something for being so good....when the others aren't." The boys were so excited. As a mom, of course it makes you proud for your kids when are caught doing what they're supposed to and then rewarded for it. I'm thankful for those times (one other time when they were with their grandma out for a breakfast, a stranger paid for all of their breakfasts because they were such a pleasure to sit by) that they get positive reinforcement from people other than us. It's one thing for your mom and dad to give you encouragement...it's another for a stranger to point out when you do something well.
Anyway...yesterday Marlon had to get back on track by going to a prison for bible study (the boys and I straightened up) then we went to visit with Pops and pick up Chloe' from my mother in law. At Pops, Niecy gave me three large crates of clothes. I love it when she cleans our her closet! lol It's such a blessing for me because I hate to spend money on myself and if I do, I never want to spend much. She has such nice things and takes such good care of them that it looks like brand new stuff. Today we sat around lazy all day (well except for laundry which is always being done...lol) Tomorrow is church and then we have a prison to go to at night.

As for the remainder of our Florida trip...I'll post more pictures. We went to Universal Studios/Island of Adventure on Tues., Wed. and even a few hours on Thurs. before we left. Uncle Jerome stayed back on Wed. and cooked a yummy Thanksgiving dinner for us all. I must say it was one of the most relaxing vacations I've been on. There's something to be said about going when someone else is making the plans...normally with my family I help do a lot of the planning and "entertaining" so it was different to just sit back and go with the flow. I wasn't sure it I'd like it or not--- not being "in charge", but it was a nice break and needed rest. We had a blast! The Pitchford's are already talking about making this an every other year or every third year tradition...taking time to see other attractions different years. As long as we stay in that same beautiful house!!!

Sea World

Here we are starting out our day at Sea World. It was a great day, sunny and about 60-65 all day. It wasn't very busy either, so we went to see the Shamu show, the dolphin and shark show, went on a water ride twice (the boys and I did...Marlon and Lynetta thought we were crazy...lol) and of course went through some of the other stuff too.

This was so cool. You are in this long glass tube and the aquarium is all around you. The water is full of sharks! Very freaky.

We had great seats for the Shamu show. The boys and I sat down very close in the soak zone and Marlon and Lynetta sat back in the safe dry zone...lol. We really didn't even get wet anyway...but I guess they warn you to make sure you know you COULD get soaked. The boys really enjoyed themselves, but I think the highlight of the day was Marlon getting to see a manatee. He was so beside himself to see that! Funny!

Downtown Disney

Have you seen the commercial for Budweiser with the donkey who wants to be a clydesdale? This is him and the horses were in a stable nearby.

Downtown Disney had a lot of cool things to see. We spent some time there on Sunday while we waited for the time when we could check into the house. They had all of these cool lego creations.

The plane ride...

Marlon, Niecy, Michelle and DeeDee waiting for our plane to come.

And we've landed!

Florida...

Here is a picture of our pool. The kids were so excited to get in...it didn't take them long to start swimming!
Here is the house we've been staying in. It is so beautiful and hard to believe that we are already leaving tomorrow! The kids have had so much fun...and we have to. I'll share more pictures and stories....

Who can sleep?

Oh my goodness...the boys are so excited! I don't know how any of us are going to get ANY sleep! My dad is coming at 5am to pick us up and take us to the airport. I am going to vacuum and do the dishes so we don't come home to a totally disheveled house...and then I am going to lay down. Marlon is finishing his packing (I finished the boys and I late last night and Jordyn this morning) and then we are good to go. I keep going over everything again and again to make sure we don't forget anything. Hopefully anything we would forget, we could do without.

My neice is getting baptized tomorrow so that is a bummer that we won't be around. I talked to her tonight though to let her know how proud of her we are and that we'll think of her tomorrow at 11am. Marlon's bringing his laptop so I might be able to blog while we're there. We'll see how time is.

Pray the boys get at least 5 hours of sleep so they aren't totally grouchy tomorrow!!

Nite!

Day off

So I have today off and it's been great....although I've been very, very busy...it's been great! After taking the boys to school, I went and used my parent's treadmill, then I ran errands, stopped by my Grandma's, picked up a little and started packing. It was nice to know I'd have today with nobody else here so that I didn't have to pack during the week. So far so good. Only have about 3 things that I need to run back to the store for....lol. That's actually better than I thought it'd be. One bummer is that I can't find my white hoodie sweatshirt ANYWHERE and I need it for the plane :( Maybe I'll find one when I head back out. The boys and Marlon will be gone most of the evening with SFIU so Jordyn and I are going to watch a movie and have girlie time. Well, as girlie as I can get her to be...lol. That's okay-I love her just as she is!
Well, I will try to post tomorrow one last time before Florida--if not, have a great Thanksgiving!

Off Day...

I don't know what's wrong with me...but I am just off today. Actually all week I've just been off--I think it just caught up with me today because it was so crazy busy. There was so much to do at work since I'm going to be gone a week. There is also a ton to do around here since we're leaving on Sunday. I hate feeling overwhelmed. It's wasted energy because I know that I can only do the best I can do and I can't expect perfection from myself. Prayer has kept me going today. My friend Jackie says she thinks my body and emotions are just reacting to Marlon finally being home and my being able to let things go now that he's home. That could be very true-I don't know. What I do know is that I am incredibly blessed and covered in grace and each morning brings new opportunity to get it right. So I'll let my feelings of being "off" settle as I pray for renewed energy, a positive outlook and peaceful days of vacation.

Teen MOPS

So tonight I spoke at Teen MOPS. To know more click on this link http://www.elmbrook.org/articlelink.asp?iid=154 It was a lot of fun. I couldn't stick around to chat and mingle afterwards, but I had gone early to make sure I got some time to do that beforehand. It was good to see everyone-leaders included. I've said before that one hard part about going on a part time basis is that it really makes me miss it. God is at work there in a big way. I feel it when I walk in...hard to explain without sounding like a kook...lol. I think so much has to do as well with the great way the teen center is working with our youth. Check out the teen center here http://www.one2oneteencenter.org/

I think the talk went well. Sometimes it's hard to tell because the fruit of discussion can happen AFTER there's been time for follow up and reaction. It would be interesting to know what the girls thought about it--and the leaders as well. With not attending at all the month of Oct. I am not sure if it was in line with what other's have discussed or did I just really go left field on them??
Lord, I pray in all of Your might that each girl there tonight would think further about what was shared. That they might see you as a today-just for them-full of love Messiah-fully God yet fully man and not a far away God who hangs somewhere in the heavens to judge and punish them. I pray that as they make daily choices that they would pause to consider what is the moral, right and just decision. That they would feel You near and be pulled to find out more about You. That they will not find rest or peace until they are safely wrapped in Your arms. Equip the leaders with discernment, wisdom and passion for these girls. Love I know is already there...but guide them as they make decisions regarding semantics like programming, speakers, etc. and iron out all of those little details so that their focus can be right with You. Thank for this opportunity and thank you for providing a place for us to meet. In Your name.
Amen

Funny...

So the Middle School pastor and I banter a little bit...kind of like you beat up your little brother or punch your big sister...lol...and I think today someone from the "older" generation might have taken our banter too seriously and thought we were upset with each other. It's kind of cute when you think about it. Luckily he and I are both the kind of people to go straight to each other and say, "um...I heard that you were upset and it might be my fault.." Then it was like, "um no...I heard the same thing!!" So for the record, Brandon Brown is my friend and he is a cool, rebel Middle School Pastor with great passion for those irritating middle schoolers that the rest of us write off so often! Check out his blog http://brownsquirrel.blogspot.com/

Click here for Marlon's Testimony

Check out Marlon's video testimony from Jubilee. This was shared during service Oct. 28/29. If you look at the different characteristics of Jubilee you can see the other 6 testimonies. Powerful.

Musings about nothing really...

What a good weekend. Movie night at church http://elmbrook.org on Friday, cleaning on Sat. morning and then we hung out with Marlon's family all Sat. evening. He not only got to share all about Africa, we finalized the rest of the Disney plans. I can't believe we leave in a week. Actually this time next week we'll have had a day there already. The kids are so excited! Today was church in the morning and then finishing school projects all afternoon. I also went and used my parents new treadmill. Jordyn was at a friend's house for the day and the boys were out playing football with cousins, Marlon was watching the football game--so I snuck off on my own to exercise for an hour. It was very nice. While walking I was able to think a lot and pray a lot too. It's always interesting to me who God brings to mind when I am praying. I may start out praying one thing and then I can feel the spirit bringing a name or a face to mind and the next thing I know I am praying about that.
So much to do this week. Harder because Marlon has a very busy week too. I am excited because I have Friday off. Since we weren't sure what day we were going to leave I had taken it off. Even though we aren't leaving on Friday--I am still keeping it off because while the kids are at school and Marlon has a meeting I can finish packing and getting everything ready around here.
Gonna go see if I can talk Marlon into giving me a back rub. I do love walking, but it certainly doesn't do much for my lower back when I haven't done it in awhile. Reading over this blog I see how fitting the title was...lol. Nite!

Sick

So the Pitchford house has been sick this week. Actually just Marlon, Jordyn and I. Jordyn was just down for an evening with a horrible headache and stomach ache. Marlon and I had full fledged stomach flu. I must admit that sometimes for me, being ill isn't that bad. While I hate the feeling you have when you are sick...it's really the only time when I am totally at rest. I know, I know...probably why I get sick so often lately. It's funny because the whole time Marlon was gone I didn't get ill once. The week of Harvest Fest I had a few days of exhaustion...but Sunday nite--bam! It hit me. Tuesday-little better-still went to bed super early, Wednesday did alright and today I was doing okay. Not 100%, but okay. I picked the kids up from school today because Marlon went down for the count last night. We stopped at the store so they could get "fun" snacks for their bag lunch tomorrow (all school field trip to the PAC) and on the way home it hit me again like a ton of bricks. I do have to say it was so funny to hear my three sons all chanting, "green light...green light...green light" all the way home. My oldest was like, "oh Mom...please don't puke in the car, that's gross!" Like that would be MY choice...lol. What it did mean was I missed worship practise--so I won't be part of service this weekend. Odd blessings, because it means I won't have a weekend of chaos and a long Sunday. I know I need to read again about Sabbath and shabbat. That is my weak area (um...okay there are about 2,000, but we'll start with that!) It is so easy for me to fall back into busy mode. Much of my life before becoming a Christian was spent "doing". I've always been one to pitch in and help, lend a hand to others-even if it meant putting myself way out. Becoming a Christian certainly didn't change that. If anything it may have made that stronger. What I continue to learn and be reminded of though is that I have to focus and be guided strictly by what God wants me to do. When I lose that focus and rely on my own judgement and my own discretion--I easily fall back into the habit of being the "yes" girl. Need a speaker for an event--why yes I can! Need someone to volunteer on a weekend--why yes I can! Need cookies baked for class party--certainly! etc, etc.
Anyway...not sure how I got to my business from my illness...but such is life in the mind of a random thinker. Now off to switch the laundry and then bed. Peace.

Amazing...

Here's Marlon with our friend Kilyoni and his wife Queen outside of their home in Chingola, Zambia. More pictures to come...there's so many, I'll just upload a few at a time.

Marlon has been back a week. We looked at each other this morning and could hardly believe it! With Harvest Fest, our schedule really wasn't going to get back to normal until Monday and Sunday I came down with a horrible case of the stomach flu. Nasty. So today was really our first "normal" day--whatever normal is around here...lol. What I do know is that we're complete with him here.

Harvest Fest was amazing and really an inspiring time. It's already opened doors. Marlon and I were asked to speak at a couple of venues and Marlon was asked to come to a couple of the high school youth groups to share about prison ministry and his trip. He's already been asked to go to the Philippines next summer (this would possibly be a trip for all of us) and Pastor Allan in Zambia asked him back for a different conference in Aug. Also, a Pastor at our church from the Congo asked him to come along with him on one of his next trips to the Congo and of course there's our family mission trip to Biloxi in June. There we will, with one of our Children's Pastors, run a vacation bible school for a week in the mornings and then help in the afternoons with any service projects they might need. We have a relationship with a church there that coordinates a lot of Katrina relief efforts and will be working with them. It's an exciting time for us. Blessings continue to flow and I know that they are not from us but only from Him who continues to provide for us and we continue to seek daily.

Seeing Marlon's pictures and video footage just remind me what gluttons we are as a society. Always searching for things to make us happy. Clothing, jewelry, homes, cars, furniture, artwork...whatever it might be...material things that really mean nothing at all. While I do believe that it's great to make your home an inviting place and a safe haven for your family...I honestly feel that most of American society has a thwarted idea of what that is. We really can live fulfilling lives without so much of what we have. We also have a responsibility to use what we have wisely, share resources and not take things for granted. We also need to thank God every day for being born into the country that we were and seek to find out what He would have us do with that blessing. Maybe it's to be a missionary to the world (whether cross ocean or just cross county)...maybe it's to support a missionary...maybe it's to share our wealth with organizations that need donations to run...maybe it's to be a foster parent or house exchange students...maybe it's give our time and volunteer somewhere in an area where we have something to share...the possibilities are endless.

Anyway...things can now return to normal and we're back in the swing of things. Thanks to everyone for patience with us this past week as we needed time to finish Harvest Fest and reconnect with each other. You'll be hearing from us now!!

Thanks to anyone who prayed with me over a situation with a person who I was having trouble communicating with...it's getting better! God never ceases to awe me!