Now that it is public knowledge. I edited my last post to link to who’s pregnant.

It’s Rachel and I’m SOOOOO EXCITED!

Today started great and just keeps getting better and better.

1. A dear friend called to tell me she’s pregnant. I’m so excited! Giddy even.
2. Tamara is getting married! She asked me to be in her wedding and I’m thrilled. Sarah gets to be a flower girl. She’s equally thrilled.
3. I got my orders for First Lieutenant in the mail. They’re effective September 9th. [Sarah's birthday]
4. Joel taught his first day of classes for our new business: Professional Law Enforcement.

I don’t want to tempt you… I know it’s hard not to covet either my lunch or the man who cooked it… but I just have to tell the world:

For the first time in 15 months, Joel cooked his famous fried chicken! Mmmm… just one more reason why I missed him so much while he was deployed!

Just in time for the Olympics–Voice of the Martyrs offers these free ‘Pray for China’ bracelets. Sign up for your free prayer band or buy a few to support VOM.

OH! And of course, don’t forget to pray for China!

I spent a couple weeks with Rachel and her family last month. Joel was busy training new Army officers and my kids were enjoying time with their cousins. Meanwhile, I enjoyed beautiful East Tennessee.

My web site admin was broken while I was there so I didn’t write.

Here are a few posts by Rachel:
Our Shopping Trip - complete with silly photos.
Hiking at Frozen Head

Here are some photos she posted. Click the thumbnail to view an album.

Playing at Frozen Head

Frozen Head June 11 2008

Hiking at Frozen Head… Again

6:45 came earlier than it did yesterday morning. That might have something to do with how late I went to sleep… or maybe it’s some shift in the Earth’s rotation. I don’t know.

Also, someone tinkered with my radio alarm clock’s volume knob yesterday. I think maybe it reached a new decibel level… one that quite possibly shook the foundations of large buildings in St. Louis. I wouldn’t go up in the Arch anytime soon if I were you.

Anyway, the alarm went off. The music blared. I turned it down… then stayed in bed till 7. When I finally awoke, I postponed my oh-so-spiritual plans of doing devotions long enough to make my man lunch. Oh yeh, I’m rocking the good-wife thing today. Actually… well no. I must confess that while I made his ham and cheese wrap, I begrudgingly gave him one of my treasured Nina’s Tortillas [from Dumas, TX] and judged him for wanting processed cheese wrapped in plastic… which really tastes just like the cheese does. Also… I nagged him about bottled water.

But forget all of that. I woke up, made him lunch and kissed him goodbye. See: Good wife behavior.

Next I made a terrible error in my path to morning devotions. I sat down at my computer. Which means I checked my email, blogs, daily sites not worth reading… and started a research project… I do that sometimes… randomly.

My growling stomach caught my attention. I made a PBJ sandwich and a cup of coffee. [Using my Aeropress... you needed to know that]

Finally, I sat down in my ‘thinking chair’ and read Psalm 4 in Wood’s book. Meanwhile, Jeremiah woke up. I convinced him that he needed to read his Bible or a devotional and journal before playing video games. See… I’m rocking the good-mom thing too. He seemed a little suspicious of seven year olds having to journal in the morning. But I convinced him that it’s a fantabulous idea. I asked him, can you be the world’s strongest man by exercising once a week? No. OK then, you can’t become an awesome man of God by only reading your Bible on Sundays. This line of reasoning worked perfectly. I also convinced him that all the cool guys in my school wish they would have started journaling when they were seven. Surely that’s true… right? Don’t you wish you had notebooks filled with weather reports, pictures of airplanes and overly erased, carefully written explanations of what God was teaching you in the second grade. Of course you do.

The journal goes like this:

Date on top corner of page.
Room to draw a relevant picture.
Topic of reading or scripture reference.
What Jeremiah learned.
How he will put it in practice today.

If it works out, we’ll put some of his writing on his website. JeremiahMaxwell.com - Newly redesigned.
—
Ok back to my morning. I came back to my computer once again and read a sweet comment from Beth. Then Rachel called. Yay!

She shared what she had read in the Bible today which cut right through me. She asked me some hard questions too. I love her. Everyone needs a friend like that. It’s occasionally painful, but always helpful. Thanks, Rach!

Oh, and then we prayed together. I love that too. I used to be uncomfortable with phone prayers. Back in high school, I called my youth leader when a friend died. She prayed with me on the phone… I thought that a little odd. When our restaurant closed, I quickly figured out which friends would pray with me when I called them… I then called them A LOT. Having gained a new appreciation for phone prayers, I still didn’t think it was something I myself would be practicing. No reason really… well except for the self-consciousness of it all. [And maybe the worry that possibly the phone call was being recorded for quality assurance purposes.]

Also this morning: The ESV Bible Blog linked to some helpful info on memorizing large chunks of scripture. Which is… well helpful. I’ve been wanting to do that. I spent so much time memorizing poetry in high school, maybe I should spend some time memorizing the Bible now.

And there we go… that brings us to this point in my day. Surely it’s time for lunch by now.

While Joel was deployed, I normally woke up at 4 a.m. to do homework. I’d have breakfast and write a paper or study until around 6:30 a.m. then I’d take a nap. I’d wake up 45 minutes later and get the kids ready for school.

I got a lot done before the sun came up each morning. If I didn’t set an alarm, I’d still wake up by 5:30.

With Joel home and my years of sleep deprivation finally catching up with me, I started sleeping in. When we moved to the new house with it’s terribly dark bedroom I really slept late. Apparently, this isn’t good for me. I can’t get anything done if I wake up after 9 or 10. I start the day feeling defeated and I finish the day having proven that true.

I’ve gotten so much done today! I’ve unpacked so many boxes. I finally know where all of my bathroom stuff is, where all the cleaning supplies are, I found the alarm clock, the dvd player, playdough and my Army boots.

I plugged that alarm clock in right away and set the alarm to 6:45. I’m going to get up tomorrow too, I like this productive not-hating-myself thing.

When are you most productive? What helps you get things done?