Crash and Recover

It happened today--the nightmare of all writers. I was pressing toward a deadline (tomorrow noon) to have chapter 4 of my current Bible study completed. I had been waxing eloquent for 3 hours when suddenly my computer starting sending me coded messages: disk full unable to save document; chapter 4 error disk full...I can't even remember what they were. Since I didn't have a disk in my computer, I just "x"ed them out and ignored them when all of the sudden the entire computer froze up. The curser wouldn't move, the letters wouldn't type, and I thought, "Hmmm, I should save this file!" Only, when I went to save it I just received the same weird messages.

So, I did what all computer savvy writers do. I turned off my computer. No, I didn't hit "shut down" I just clicked the switch. Then I left my office to go eat a cold piece of pizza for lunch and I prayed God would recover my file.

After lunch I turned my computer back on, opened the file and sure enough I saw my recovered file in the left column so I clicked on it, only to receive the same error message, "Disk full, cannot read." Then, I got another message "Cannot delete this file" which was fine with me because I DIDN'T WANT TO DELETE IT! So I clicked on the "x" to shut that command down and that's when it happened. My recovered file disappeared.

It vanished into computer never, never land.

I cried.
I prayed, "Dear, God! You know how great that chapter was and that I was more than half way done, Please, please, please give me back that file!"
Then, I called Andrew (our IT guy at TSC). He gave me specific instructions on how to recover lost files, I went through all the steps but my file never appeared again. It was gone.

So, I cried again. I prayed again. I tossed a few books across the room and tore a few slats in my window blinds (accidentally).

And after that, I started over on page one of chapter 4. It's 10PM and I'm not yet back to where I was at noon. But--I'm feeling much better.

At 3PM I had to fetch my 8th grade son. He took me on an errand to Target, then went with me to the post office (to mail books that are completely done and published!) Then we actually made it to happy hour at Sonic and I purchased my favorite Sonic beverage, unsweet peach flavored iced tea. (Sonic ice makes me happy.)

By the time we got home I only had 20 minutes before I had to go get Kaleigh from tennis practice. She and I then took TJ to basketball try-outs (travel team) and then she invited me to Chili's for dinner. We ate, talked about boys and mission trips, and order a chocolate molten cake. Somewhere inbetween "how cute is he?!" And my first bite of chocolate gooey-ness I felt much much better. Molten cake and dinner out with Kaleigh makes me happy.

So, life goes on. I'm trying to finish day 3 (of 5 I need for chapter 4), and I'm sipping some herbal tea (kindly served by Kaleigh). So, I will survive. And now Tom's commiserating with me, and that too makes me happy.

Face???

Okay, here's my first post from my East Asia trip. When we arrived in the town of 60,000 my first impression was that there was a whole lot of construction going on. Then, I saw a man sleeping in a cot in one of the roadside "tent" dwellings--right at the construction site!

We ate a God-blessed meal at the little "cafe" by the river. And by God-blessed, this is how our host prayed, "Lord, thank you for the food set before us. Please help us get down what You keep down and keep it in there til You want it to come out." I'm just sayin' stay away from the "green stuff."

After lunch and a great game of cards--that we never quite figured out. (Playing cards with young adults who can't speak a single word of English is quite the experience. Tom and Reagan took a whirl, I think Tom even won a hand.) Anyway, after lunch and cards, we walked back over the bridge that crossed the river and watched a bride and groom take their wedding pictures. When they saw us they invited us over to ...BE IN THE PICTURES!! Imagine that!

After we posed for wedding pictures, we ventured over to the school yard where I was able to converse with the girls --when they gave their English a group effort. It was so fun. They taught me to say hamburger in chinese. It sounds like ham...bah...bah. How's that?! Once we shared as much as we could communicate one girl looked at me and said, "face?" I looked back, nodded yes and repeated, "face?" I wasn't sure what she was trying to say. But in response she simply reached up to my cheek and planted a kiss right there.

I was in love. The people welcomed us with smiles and kisses! They are so eager to hear what we have to share. Pray with me that God will open doors to the gospel through us. I'm seriously considering organizing a prayer team to go next year and march through the streets of that city, and up and down the paths of the market towns and villages where this unreached people group lives. Maybe you should go with me!!

East Asia and SPRING!!

I just returned (Tuesday) from a trip to East Asia with "a few good men." (Tom being one, our mission's pastor being another and a seasoned world traveller being the 4th.) I have to say that traveling with 3 men was quite the experience--as was East Asia. I'm not going to blog about that until I get my pictures loaded, for a picture speaks a thousand words...

This morning I was walking with a friend and we noticed that spring is on its way!! The trees are budding, and the grass is getting greener--I love this time of the year! I am also excited that we spring forward THIS SUNDAY! I'm so ready for the sun to set later in the day. And since I'm already jet lagged anyway (the time was 13hours ahead of ours where we traveled)what's one more hour?

I love March because it comes "in like a lion and out like a lamb." When I was in elementary school we made paper plate lions and lambs. Today--it's kind of "lion-y."

I love March because God answered my prayer for a baby on the 12th of this month. She came to us at 12:08AM, March 12, 1992--7lbs 8 1/4 oz. Next week Mikel Lorin McCoy turns 17! We're planning a family dinner--she's much more focused on prom right now that she is her birthday.

I love March because of the daffodils! I LOVE daffodils! I always have. They signal the beginning of flower season, and here in Tennessee they pop up all over these fields! I have yet to plant any in my yard, but there are a few on the pasture fence line that separates my yard from my neighbor's. Daffodils also remind my of my daughter Kaleigh (whose favorite color is...yellow).

I love March because Spring Break is on its way!! We normally go on a trip--mostly to the beach, last year to Disney for Mikel's ball team but this year to the mountains! And, I love the mountains.

Basketball season has come to a glorious end!

Oh my, to really appreciate this blog, you really need to go back and read every one that I wrote that dealt with TJ's basketball season. Let's just say--goodness!!

Let's just also say, GOD IS GOOD!! Even when we wonder! TJ learned more than I would have wanted to teach him during his season. But this week he proved his stuff in the tournament. The coach let him play lots in the first tournament game and he scored some significant points. In the final 12 seconds he was fouled. The score was 37-36 with us ahead and he was to shoot 1 and 1. (for those that don't know bball--that means he only gets to shoot the second shot if the first goes in) It was the kind of moment every child dreads and dreams of--the opportunity to make the difference!

Like a cool breeze on a summer day, TJ easily made the first basket, and his coach called a time-out to tell the boys how to defend their lead (now a 2 point lead). Back in after the time-out, he took a deep breath, dribbled 3 times, took another deep breath and SWOOSH! --made his 2nd shot giving his team a 3 point lead. With TJ's foul shots the Hornets were able to keep the other team from scoring a 3 pointer (to tie) and won the game.

After an entire season of disappointment, despair and all that goes with that...TJ came home a WINNER!

I'm reminded of the verse God gave me in my quiet time the first time I paraded myself into His throne room after the night TJ didn't get to play at all:

He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.

Mikel's first accident

I think there ought to be a new "baby book" that we give mothers when their babies become teenagers. We could record all the "firsts..."

The first boyfriend
The first kiss
The first tragic, end of the world break-up
The first driving lesson
The first solo drive
The first broken nose, arm, wrist, ankle, etc from playing ball
The first experience with Eve's curse
The first homecoming dance
The first...

Oh, how I could fill that book. Most recently we experienced...the first car accident. It happened last Wednesday when Mikel pulled out of her school parking lot. "I never saw them at all!" Nor did she see the pasture fence until it was behind her. After a wham, bam, spin and land...she came out amazingly ok. Her 96 Camry...not so good.

She called her Dad--not me. When I told Kaleigh that I wondered why Mikel didn't call me, she said, "Because you never answer your phone!" Once her Dad found out she wasn't hurt, and that the people in the other car weren't hurt either...he wanted to know where her phone was. When he discovered it was in her purse and not in her hand, he then assured her that she was much more precious than a hunk of metal, and that we were so thankful she was okay.

I called when her Dad was on his way down and she sounded like a rock! Just a few days ago I collided with another car in the Academy parking lot, and was shaking like a leaf! (we are not blogging about that little accident) But here was my daughter in an accident that hit her so hard she flew off the road, through a ditch and a fence spinnning around in a pasture and she was holding up amazingly well. She did shake a little when we saw the spot on Thursday morning when I took her to school. But she also told me how her headmaster came and stood with her before her Dad arrived. She said, "Mama, Mr. Wahlman stood by me like a mother duck!" I LOVE that school!!!

She drove our 93 Suburban to school today. It's a TANK! Woe to the one who hits her in this!!

ZUMBA and numbers galore

Okay, I finally got back with Kaleigh and this is what she said, this year (only) she is half the age I was when I gave birth to her, and if you add half the age I was when I gave birth to her, you will get my age today! That's the numbers wonder.

You should've seen her face when she realized TJ's name had 18, not 17 letters.

Now, for all you out there who have discoverd ZUMBA...oh my!! We had our first free night of ZUMBA last night at TSC...and I wiggled (or tried to wiggle) my hips more than they've ever been wiggled! Over 100 women jiggling, giggling, and wiggling together was quite a sight! I'm hoping Melanie will offer the beginner's course for the next few MONTHS, as I'm sure I'm going to need it!

Numbers Galore

Those who know me, know that although I have many character traits in common with Mary Poppins (I even had someone tell me I reminded her of Julie Andrews!) --being "practically perfect in every way" I do have one teeny weeny itsy bitsy flaw.

I am numbers illiterate. I don't know what you call that disability--it's kind of like dyslexia with numbers! I find it quite humoruous--Tom doesn't. I can sign my credit card slip at the grocery, get in the car and be driving home and suddenly have this thought, "I wonder how much I just spent?"

However, my daughter Kaleigh makes up for my insufficiencies. She's always had a real knack for numbers--and a love for number games. When she was a preschooler she absolutely loved the sorting games. We had these little plastic bears that she played with all the time. When we were in the car she begged to play "the numbers game." This was in her early elementary school years. So--we'd play. I'd say, "You have one peppermint candy, you add 4 then take away 2. How many do you have?" While I was still figuring she'd shout out, "3!" In a minute I'd say, "That's right!" The games got harder until I couldn't play anymore!

Just yesterday she and I were riding to church and she said, "Mom, did you know that right now--only this year--if you take my age, and add it to the age you were when I was born, you get your age. This is the only year that will work. It took me a minute, but sure enough--if I added 15 (Kaleigh's age) to 30 (the age I was in Kaleigh was born) I got 45 (my age today). It took both of us a minute, (actually I was still trying to understand what she was adding) to make sure this was so--only this year. And sure enough it is. Next year Kaleigh will be 16--add that to 30 and you get ...hmmm....wait a minute...you still get the age I will be then, 46. You know what? I honestly can't remember what point Kaleigh was trying to make last night, but it was a good one, and it did work. I'll get her to explain it again to me today and I'll update this thought tomorrow.

But this I do remember about last night's conversation: Kaleigh told me that Mikel's full name has 15 letters in it. Kaleigh's has 16 and TJ's has 17. How cool is that???

Mikel Lorin McCoy (15)
Kaleigh Rhea McCoy (16)
Taylor Jamison McCoy (18)

oops. I'll have to tell Kaleigh that TJ's name actually has 18 letters not 17. Never mind...I'll get back with Kaleigh and get her to walk me slowly through these numbers wonders.

In the meantime, just know there must be numerical dyslexia and I must have it!