Silent Night.....Fire!

Last night we attended the "Jazz Nativity" at a local church.  It was a lovely evening benefitting the Lottie Moon offering (see previous post) with decorations, coffee,  Italian ice-cream, and candles.   The music was outstanding and the atmosphere was refined...until Audra went to the bathroom.  Apparently she set her napkin too close to the candle because after she was gone I looked up and there were flames.  I didn't really know how to put out open flames with my bare hands.  I wasn't sure if it would work, but I grabbed a program and started slapping the fire.  This got the attention of the people next to us AND put out the fire.  Next, Richard casually scooped up the ashes and put them in the trash can.  There was nothing we could do about the hole in the tablecloth.  After I apologized to the visitors who were sitting at our table, they said "Are you kidding?  This table is HOT!"

All I Want For Christmas

Well, there are a lot of things I want for the new house, but what I'm getting is a new crown--and not the jeweled kind--the kind that goes on your tooth after it breaks while you are eating cookie dough.  When I told Will how much crowns cost, he said, "Man, we could have bought a flat-screened TV!"  I guess I am being selfish because no one else but me cares if I have half a tooth:-)

Let's all help Lottie

Check out this new video promoting Lottie Moon.  I have NEVER heard her referred to as a "missionary hottie of biblical proportions" before.  Whatever you call her, she has always been one of my heroes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCrhpLGTkOI&feature=player_embedded

Thanksgiving

We did something TOTALLY different this year for Thanksgiving.  (Okay, it wasn't "totally" different.  We still ate turkey.)  We invited ourselves to our friends' house near Washington DC.  (It was Will's idea.)  They moved from Oklahoma the month before we did so they are struggling with the same things we are as "transplants".  We drove up there Thursday morning. The most exciting part of the drive was crossing the Potomac River.  Well, the sign said that's what we were doing, but it was so foggy we couldn't see the water.  When we arrived we enjoyed a feast, then later in the afternoon we took a drive through Annapolis and crossed the Bay Bridge (over 4 miles long).  Of course it gets dark early so while we were on the bridge Will said, "So what are we doing?"  I told him that we were over water, but once again we couldn't see it!

 Audra, Tara, Ben, and Will "feasting"

Josh and Jacob Jammin'

The next day we drove into DC.  Will had asked to see the Lincoln Memorial.  We headed that way, but took a wrong turn and wound up at Arlington National Cemetery.  They had parking so we decided we might as well see it since we were there.  We saw John, Robert, and Ted Kennedy's graves as well as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  It was an impressive place, and very respectful.

Next we found our way to the Lincoln Memorial and Will counted the steps and then told me what kind of columns they used.  While we were there, I thought of my friend Darla whose husband proposed to her at Lincoln's feet.

On our way back to the car we happened upon the Korean War Memorial which was also very impressive.  Right after I took this picture it started pouring down rain and got so windy that it BROKE our umbrella.

We saw the White House from a distance as we made our way down Constitution Avenue towards the Smithsonian.  It took us a LONG time to find a parking garage and then the Museum of Natural History was FULL of people.  I guess we weren't the only ones with the day off.    After an hour at the museum, we were exhausted and made our way back to our car and back to Richmond.  I was very proud that we had actually driven to DC and found all those places.  Next time we plan to park outside the city and take the metro in.  It will probably cost the same as the garage, but will eliminate the stress of driving in the DC traffic.

It was a MUCH better weekend than last year.  Black Friday will always have a different meaning for me than the rest of the world, but this year doing something totally different kept me from reliving Anna's last hours like I had done before.  I have much to be thankful for, but I have to choose to be grateful.

Secret to Survival

I knew Monday would be a hard day.  I was dreading the emotions  I would face going back to the house one last time, visiting the cemetery, and helping with the blood drive.  How did I get through it?
That morning I paraphrased 1 Peter 1:1-13 and wrote it on the palm of my hand.  It was right there all day as a reminder to maintain an eternal perspective.

"We have a living hope in Jesus Christ
and an inheritance in Heaven that can never perish.

  Therefore, set your hope fully on what is to come.

There is great joy ahead
even though now for a little while you have had to suffer grief."

That is how I survived Monday and how I survive every day when I want to crawl back in bed and give up.  I press on.
And so should you.

Two Years

Five years is too little
We let her go
We had no sudden healing
To think that providence
Would take a child from her mother
While she prays, is appalling
Who told us we'd be rescued
What has changed and
Why should we be saved from nightmares
We're asking why this happens to us
Who have died to live, it's unfair

This is what it means to be held
How it feels, when the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive
This is what it is to be loved and to know
That the promise was when everything fell
We'd be held

This hand is bitterness
We want to taste it
Let the hatred numb our sorrows
The wise hand opens slowly
To lilies of the valley and tomorrow

This is what it means to be held
How it feels, when the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive
This is what it is to be loved and to know
That the promise was when everything fell
We'd be held

If hope is born of suffering
If this is only the beginning
Can we not wait, for one hour
Watching for our savior?

This is what it means to be held
How it feels, when the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive
This is what it is to be loved and to know
That the promise was when everything fell
We'd be held

We are held


("Held",  by Natalie Grant--with a couple of changes by me)

Blood Drive Pics

Here are a few pictures of all the fun you can have at a blood drive.  Thank you again to everyone who came.

Nicolle putting up signs.

Kay and Sittie decorating the sign-in table.  (K is giving me "the look" for some reason.)

Teri, Me, K, and Jennifer making Anna ornaments

"Hugs and Kisses from the Salamy Family"

Autographed football, pink roses, butterflies, and books for the hospital

Sittie's beautiful hospitality table

It was Teri's first time to donate and she had to have both arms poked.  Notice Austin in the background--this was before they had to elevate his feet!

This is Nicolle laughing at Austin.  (He was fine!)

Stacy left her 5 boys at home and came to "relax" and give blood.
 Anna's nursery teacher Ms Mary worked the sign in table for the second year in a row.
 Ms MaryAnn and Papa Tom stopped by to say hi.
 Lance "The Man"  gave double red cells and his beautiful wife Shawna  took me to Sonic happy hour.  Thanks Shawna!

Pastor Ben couldn't decide which t-shirt to take, so he took one of each!

Butterfly face painting by Susi

Emily hates needles but did it for Anna.

Spencer, who saw the sign while driving by and stopped in to donate, won the autographed football.

Anna Salamy Memorial Blood Drive

Just a reminder that Anna's blood drive is tomorrow at Northwest Baptist Church in Oklahoma City from 2-7pm.  I am looking forward to seeing everyone there.  If you can't donate, you can bring a book or a snack food item to donate to the Ronald McDonald Family Room at OU Children's Hospital.