Sunset Picnic

Good Thursday morning! (The best morning of the week!)

Sorry! I don't have a "Thought for the Day" to bestow upon you. Actually, there were three more little signs hanging in the office where I copied the "breathtaking moment" thought, but I ran out of time... and space to write them on my hand. So I guess I should have called it "Thought for the Week," or "Thought for the Month." If I'm not going to be consistent, I should have just put "Thought." What I'm trying to say is I will not be having a "Thought for the Day" every day. Too much pressure on my little ol' brain.

I've been hearing about a young man who is traveling all 50 states and staying a week in each state working a different job. He was in Alabama this week coaching high school football, and Rick and Bubba interviewed him this morning. He's going to Florida next week and he will be working at Universal Studios. He tries to get a job each week which best represents the state he is visiting. What an adventure! I admire that kind if ingenuity (good word) and inventiveness in people, although I don't really have those qualities myself. He's writing a blog about his travels. If you're interested, you can go to www.livingthemap.com. What an exciting thing to do!

Weekend Family Fun

Argo Drive-In - I'll go ahead and tell you right now, Fast and Furious is still at the Argo Drive-In. But Mall Cop is still there, also. (Can't recommend Fast and Furious... highly recommend Mall Cop.) As always, double-check Friday morning to make sure the movie hasn't changed. The number is 467-3434.

Dollar Movie - This Saturday and Sunday they are showing Confessions of a Shopaholic (PG), Hotel for Dogs (PG), Mall Cop (PG) and Bedtime Stories (PG). For showtimes, call 822-5187.

Stadiumfest at Samford University - This is an all-day event held at Samford this coming Saturday. It is FREE! Here are just a few of the things offered for people of ALL ages:

Veggie Tales Characters - Bob and Larry will be there
Bibleman will be making an appearance
Face Painting
Inflatables
Demonstrations from skateboarders and BMX experts
Jugglers
Puppeteers
Christian Concert featuring multiple Christian artists
Speakers Scott Dawson and Rick Burgess
Fireworks at the end of the evening

There is so much more. For more information, go to www.stadiumfest.com. They have an excellent website with times for each activity, etc. This would be a great one-on-one date with your child or teen, or a great way to spend time with the family at a fun, exciting Christian event.

A Little Bit of My Story - Part 4

Where am I now? I ask myself that question all the time. Like Josh, I appear to be much improved. Like Josh, I feel like everything is right under the surface, ready to take over at any given moment. I can't let my guard down, which is part of the problem. It's always in the back of my mind.

Has it changed my life significantly? In some ways. I'm not comfortable doing some things I used to do. During Josh's illness, my little escape was one or two trips a day to Wal-Mart. Not necessarily to shop, but to get out and maybe see someone and talk to someone. Since two of the attacks happened in Wal-Mart, I rarely go there anymore (rarely meaning once a week at the most). I have to make myself go that often.

Church is difficult, again because I've had several attacks there. I spend much of the service making myself stay put, but not really getting much out of the message or the worship music at this time.

While nighttime used to be my favorite time of the day, I dread the evening hours now. My attacks are always worse in the evening.

Although Mike rarely goes out of town, on the occasion when he does, it is very hard to keep our family schedule... but I make myself continue.

I make myself go out of town. I make myself go camping. I make myself go shopping alone with Roxie across town. I make myself do many little things I used to take for granted.

At one point, I was on the Internet constantly reading, reading, reading about panic attacks versus heart attacks. What were the differences? What did this symptom mean? I finally stopped going to the Internet at all for any information. I will not allow myself to do it because it causes more anxiety, not less.

Off and on for a while, I would check my blood pressure several times a day. Now, I will only check my blood pressure when I go to the pharmacy to specifically pick up medicine. I do not make special trips all during the day.

I overheard a woman ask another woman one time if it was okay for a Christian to be depressed. The woman paused, and then replied, "It's okay to be depressed. It's just not okay to stay depressed." This was a woman who had obviously never had a mental illness.

While I wasn't angry with her, it did strengthen my resolve to try to help people understand it is not a choice. It is not a choice to have epilepsy. It is not a choice to have asthma. It is not a choice to have severe food allergies.

And it is not a choice to have OCD or panic attacks or depression. These illnesses are just as real as anything mentioned above. And if you suffer from any of these very debilitating illnesses, it doesn't mean you have less faith in the healing power of God. It does not mean you are a "weak" or "immature" Christian.

No one would ever say to a mother of a child with chronic migraine headaches, "It's okay to have a headache every now and then. It's just not okay to have them all the time."

It's time for people to try to understand. It's time for people to have compassion for the things they cannot always see. It's time for people to stop being "uncomfortable" and start a dialogue. And it's really time for people to stop being ashamed of having an illness they have no control over.

I, for one, am tired. The last three and a half years have been exhausting... mentally, emotionally and physically. And the years have taken a toll on the Faulkner Five. But if it enables us to be more aware so we can help another family, or befriend someone who is going through something feeling very alone, or gives us a chance to tell how God helped us time and time again... then that's what we'll do.

When everything is said and done, I don't want Josh's suffering to be for nothing. I don't want what little I've gone through to not have a meaning or a purpose. Now that's when someone could honestly say, "It's okay to have a real illness. And it's okay to talk about it, and feel sad about it, and even be angry about it sometimes. It's just not okay to keep everything bottled in, and be secretive, and feel shame because you're sick." Wow! I think I would actually hug the person who said that to me. (Little known fact... I'm not a huge hugger outside of the family... except for babies and kids!)

I know you're all relieved this week is over, and I've gotten all that off my chest. Next week's topic will be "Plastic Surgery... How Much is Too Much?" Just kidding. We have three kids to put through college, two aging dogs, an old house and the big gold van (which is almost as old as the house and the dogs). I'm afraid my plastic surgery needs are low, low, low on the list of ways to spend our money.

Don't worry. I'll figure out something to talk about next week! Maybe pet peeves!

Sunset Picnic

This is a simple, fun, romantic date to put together. I'm planning one of these with a little twist as I write this, but because Mikie reads the blog from time to time, I don't want to give too much away.

The first time we had this date, we were newly married. On our deck, I set a beautiful table with fresh flowers, tablecloth, candles, good china, etc. Because we were both working (and it was a date for me, too), I went by our favorite Italian restaurant at the time (Salvatore's), and ordered our favorite dishes from there. I then went to a bakery and bought two portions of a fancy Italian dessert. When Mikie arrived home, we had a romantic dinner on the deck with delicious Italian food (I didn't have to prepare) and a decadent (good word) dessert. To top it off, always time it so as you're eating as the sun is setting. It just creates a beautiful, special, not too expensive, memorable date.

It's also nice to be able to have a date in the middle of the week sometimes because when you do have kids, the weekends can be really, really busy.

"Oh, good grief! Anyone could do that!" you might be saying. That's true... but have you had a Sunset Date. Sometimes the most obvious date is the one we never try.

NOTE: I also planned a Sunset Date at a little lake near our first home. I had the red checkered blanket, fried chicken, potato salad, pickles, cake, etc. Everything was packed in a beautiful picnic basket. We set everything up under a huge shade tree and fixed our plates.

Unfortunately, across the lake lived a HERD of geese, and when they spotted us, they started swimming at warp speed toward us. (I know the correct term is "gaggle," but if you had seen these things coming at us, you would have said "herd," too.) They were very loud and aggressive. They were not scared of humans at all. Basically, they attacked us and ate our food. Not only did they ruin our sunset picnic, but they gave me another "Birds That Hate Belinda" story to add to my repertoire. I say all this to remind you to be careful where you plan your picnic. Location, location, location. (Somewhere without woodland animals is always preferable!)

And, after thinking about it a little while, I AM going to leave you with a little "Thought for the Day." "Just Do It." (That's from Nike, you know.) Stop putting things off. Today is the day!

Have a fabulous Thursday! Check in tomorrow for a wonderfully, wacky devotion book for the kids. Fun and meaningful. You won't even have to remind them to do their devotions in the morning.

Have a safe day, and I'll talk to you tomorrow!