Carrie's Corner

Both David and I have experienced the death of someone close to us.  David lost his father in a farming accident when he was 13.  It was sudden, unexpected, and shocking.  I lost my father when I was 22, after watching him fight cancer for a little over 6 years.  It was drawn out, expected, but still shocking when his death finally occurred.   The grief that we both experienced was tremendous. These experiences shaped our lives and even our marriage.  It's a conversation we have always had--from the very beginning of our marriage.  We've always had life insurance and we've always talked about what the other spouse should do in the event of our death.  Though it sounds morbid to have such conversations so early on in marriage, it also served us well to keep a sense of reality in our lives.  We never know how long we have on this earth or how long someone else has...and therein lies the lesson of making the most of the days we now have. Eph...

I admit it.  I am NOT a leapfrog.  I'm not exactly a turtle either, but I do move at the pace of  turtle sometimes.  It drives my leapfrog family and friends a bit nutty.  I don't mean to drive them crazy, but I often times move at a different pace.  I'm a thinker.  I'm cautious.  I ponder.  Probably a little too much of all of those things at times... On the other hand, my leapfrog family and friends drive me a bit batty at times.  They get excited over a new idea and want to pounce on it right away, without giving it much thought.  Forget caution and who has time to think? Let's get it done---NOW! I do enjoy having leapfrogs in my life though.  They are the movers and shakers of the world.  They like to get things done, like to implement new ideas and aren't afraid to jump into new situations.  I admire their lack of fear and their carefree attitude about what could happen.  Of course they often look at me ...

Recently, a friend of mine told me that she was frustrated with homeschooling,  I sympathized with her.  I've been down that weary road of frustration many times.  Homeschooling can be hard--no doubt.  There are days when you are really scratching your head and wondering what you were thinking.  You might even be questioning the Lord and wondering what HE was thinking when he asked you to take on this project....but rest assured--if you truly are following the Lord's leading in this area, then he will give you the tools you need to complete the task.  Isn't that true of other areas of our life though?  Truly---whatever God has called you to do, he will provide the tools you need.  Why is that so hard to grasp though? Truthfully, I was filled with doubts regarding homeschooling.  I was pregnant with our fourth child at the time, and couldn't see how I was going to teach a 1st and 3rd grader all while juggling a toddler and a newborn. ...

It was 97 degrees at my house today.  Doesn't feel much like Fall is around the corner, but I know that it's coming.  Oldest son returned to college this last week.  I'm missing him quite a bit.  We had a good summer together. My daughter returned from her summer job and is getting ready to start classes next week.  I'm very glad to have her presence around again.  School started this week for my two younger ones, which meant I had to "go back to work" myself. (I'm their teacher!)  I was pretty excited at the beginning of the week, but by Wednesday I was ready for the first school break!  It was a rough week.  Somehow over the summer, it seems as if my children's brains atrophy a bit and they've forgotten what they have already learned.  We were stuck on the same math lesson all week.  Ahhh...but this too will pass.  I'm sure next week will go better. I'll be more used to oldest son being gone and daughter will have resumed ...

I was inspired! All of the kids and their dates were going to be home Sunday. It's been a long summer and we haven't had too many family dinners where everyone was in attendance, so I decided to go all out. I set about on Saturday to prepare the meal for Sunday. I cooked up potatoes for my potato casserole, made dessert, set the table and made it pretty. I did all of the work I could so that Sunday's meal would come together quickly when we got home from church. I made sure the table was properly set and looked nice, as well getting the house presentable for company. We all sat down to enjoy that lovely meal and the conversation and laughter that is a common theme for our family dinners. It was nice. It was homey. It was comfortable. But then.... As soon as dessert was over, off everyone went in their own direction. The younger boys headed out to the kitchen to get the dishes done and clean it up, my husband headed off to work with a ministry he is involved in, m...

I've often said that I was a  better parent before  I had kids than I have been since  I've had kids.  Parenting is hard.  Bottom line--no frills, no glowing advice or quips--it's hard.  Don't believe me?  Just ask me---I'm a MOM! When I brought that first little one home, I was so overwhelmed.   What do I do?  How do I do it?  Will I get it right?    I was exhausted from lack of sleep and recovering from a C-section and I found myself in tears almost all of the time.  Yet, I had fallen in love with this tiny little creature and couldn't wait to spend time with her.  One was hard.  Yep--you heard me.  One child was hard.  I couldn't imagine having anymore.  She was cute and tiny and precious and I found myself just staring at her in the rare moments that she decided to sleep.  Overwhelming joy was mixed with overwhelming exhaustion and overwhelming fear.   What if she died?  What i...

My husband and I had driven to the top of the falls and parked our car. We walked out onto the footbridge and looked over the edge. It was beautiful watching that entire powerful water cascade down, but somehow, we felt we were missing something. We had passed the path earlier that lead to a stairway. We went back and read the sign. "Difficulty - Strenuous 425 steps". I knew I wasn't in the greatest of shape, but I wanted to see the falls from the bottom up. Hubby and I decided to start down the stairs and if the journey was too difficult, I could always turn around and go back up. I already knew I wasn't going down the whole entire 425 steps, but just a closer look would be great. Down we went, passing people going up who looked as if they were about to pass out. I wondered if I should turn back. We stopped several times on the way down, just admiring the beauty surrounding us and I decided that I had probably pushed things too far and I should turn aro...

I know, I know....I said I would post last week and it never happened.  This thing called "life" got in the way. I could tell you that I've been pondering most of this time, and that is actually true.  This is a hard topic in many ways and I confess I don't have all of the answers.  What I can share with you is my own journey into fear and share with you how God has carried me through times of fear.  Speaking of which, my husband reminded me that when I was sharing with you the camping story, I left out the part about the howling coyotes I heard at night.  As we talked about those early camping trips, we both laughed about how scared I was in the beginning and how many nights I was sure that the bears and coyotes were in cahoots to come and eat me! Right now, I could easily name off for you several close friends and family who are walking through some very trying times in their lives.  Some are dealing with cancer or watching a loved one with cancer go th...

Camping.  For some of you, that word sounds like a retreat, vacation, adventure and fun.  For others of you, that word invokes fear or laughs of cynicism followed by, "My idea of camping is the Holiday Inn!"  For me, I'm somewhere in between. During our first year of marriage, David thought he needed to introduce me to the wonderful world of camping!  Oh joy! I didn't grow up going camping, but I had taken lots of road trips with family and we rarely stayed in motels.  Most of the time, my parents would drive through the night and when they would get too tired, they would pull  into a rest area or by the side of the road to catch a few hours of sleep.  It wasn't "camping", but it was similar in some respects.  One time in particular, we were driving through Yellowstone National Park.  My dad found an area to park the car.  He got his sleeping bag out of the trunk, laid it on the ground and went to sleep, right next to the car.  ...

I don't know about you, but I can't help but smile when I see this picture.  Yes, this is my baby boy when he was about six weeks old.  From the very beginning of his life, his infectious smile and contagious laughter have incited even the most serious of people to let down their guard long enough to elicit a chuckle.  He's a young teenager now, but he still has the ability to unravel the most serious of intentions and get everyone around him, at the very least, smiling. Oh what joy!  Have you ever known anyone in your life that brings such joy to you?  Isn't it delightful to just sit in their presence and bask in the glow of their joy?  It's different than being with someone humorous or someone who can crack a good joke.  It's also different than just being around someone who seems to be "happy" most of the time.  A joyful person soothes your soul. Though all of my children are treasures to me in their own different ways, this last little o...

This is something I have been pondering for a bit.  I confess that I don't believe I'm doing a very good job of fulfilling my ministry.  I've let too many things get in the way.  Here are some of my issues: 1).  What other people think of me 2).  I'm not qualified 3).  The opportunity hasn't presented itself 4).  The timing is all wrong 5).  I'm so busy, busy, busy..... 6).  My family has needs I could list other things, but you get the idea.  Do you resonate with any of those "reasons"?  I thought so. Usually when I realize I'm struggling with something, I find I'm not alone.  Let's get honest here:  These are just excuses.  Yeah--you heard me-- EXCUSES !  When I exchange the word   reason   for  excuse , then I start to sound a bit whiny and my justification starts melting away. Look at what  2 Timothy 4:2-5 says:  "Proclaim the message; persist in it whether convenient or n...

I hung up the phone.  My mind raced with what to do next.  I needed to find David and he was coaching little league football at a park.  We had only been married a couple of months and we weren't expecting this dreaded news quite yet.  This time it sounded serious.  Of course it had sounded serious before.  I hopped in the car and headed to the park a few miles away from our apartment.  I found David and told him the news.  My mom had told me I needed to get home as soon as possible.  My dad had taken a turn for the worse and might not make it through the weekend.  David agreed I needed to go.  He still had to work on Friday, but he said I should go ahead and he would come Friday evening. Fortunately, we only lived about an hour away from my parents' home.  That hour gave me time to think and to pray.  My dad had been fighting cancer for six years and it had been a tumultuous journey.  I was only in high school...

I was thrilled to have new carpet when I moved into my home several years ago.  My previous home had ugly, charcoal-gray, commercial grade carpet, but with more kids coming along and messing it up, my husband and I decided to wait to replace it until they were older.  We never did replace that carpet.  We found ourselves fixing up that house as best as we could to sell it while my husband's company transferred us to Houston.  When we found the house we wanted to buy, I was excited for the bright new floors that would come with the bright new house.  I was excited about it all being new! New appliances, new floors, new walls with no nail holes, new counter-tops, new everything!  Oh my!  I had never lived in a brand-new house and I had grandiose ideas of how to keep it all "perfectly" clean! Enter children.  And children's friends. And pets. And a husband.  Six months after moving into our new house with all of its newness, I found myself dis...

I'm not a computer person.  I know how to turn one on, turn it off, post a few things on social media and Hey!  I even have a blog!  But if my computer crashes, gives me an error message, or comes up with some other new venture to explore, I'm usually asking my kids or hubby for their help.  Oh, I've journeyed into trying to fix some issues myself, and I've even occasionally been successful, but I always know I've gone too far when the message pops up, "would you like to restore to default settings"? Duh.  Of course I would.  Oh--but wait--will that get rid of that other program I just installed?  What about my latest downloads?  What about my favorite screen saver?  Did I remember to save that paper I was just working on?  Will I be able to find my websites?  I had them saved in my favorites.....oh crumb!  What do I do?  DO I STILL HAVE ALL MY PICTURES????? Here is the definition I found in the dictionary:   ...

Today is an interesting day.  One year ago today, David went in to have surgery to repair a hernia.  Though the surgery was not a huge deal, his blood pressure was discovered to be at an unsafe level.  The surgery was actually supposed to happen in December, but because of the blood pressure issue, the surgery was delayed until it could be lowered to a safe level.  The news was unexpected for us both.  Outside of some minor injuries and illnesses, David has not been one to have health issues.  We both scratched our heads, wondering what could have brought on this sudden rise in his pressure.  Though his level was brought down to a safe level for surgery, it was still higher than what it needed to be.  This caused some concern for us as he headed into surgery that morning, one year ago. All went well with the procedure and we returned home, loaded with pain medication, ice and whatever other essentials he would need while recovering.  A ...