PEOPLE!!!

Okay people...let me give everyone a little reminder course on how to tip when you go out to eat. I know that I probably don't have to give this reminder to all of the wonderful people who read this, but I am going to anyway. I think this is just a way for me to vent and get this crappy night I had off of my chest.
Okay, let me start with the fact that $2.00 DOES NOT cover every single type of tip you should give!!!!! If your bill is $47.12 you SHOULD NOT tip $2.00! You should tip $9.40, 20% of what your bill is, or leave $9.00 that's fine too. I know that the standard tip used to be 15% of your bill, but sales tax has gone up which means that the amount you should tip has gone up as well. Sales tax in Indiana is now 7% so you should be tipping 17% not 10% or 5% or 2% or NOTHING like I got the other night. If you want to be pissed off at the world that's fine, but I came in here to make some money and since I only make $2.13 an hour I would appreciate it if you would respect me enough and the effort that I am putting in to wait on you. If I do a crappy job then leave me $2.00, but it is just flat out rude to leave nothing.
I know that I shouldn't complain and that every penny I am making is all extra and going to pay off debt like Dave Ramsey told us to, but I just get so darn frustrated with people. Don't they know that people who ONLY wait tables need to make a living too? They can't live off of $2.13 an hour. And if they are having a crappy week like me (making less than $100.00 in two days when I should have made double that) they won't be able to pay their bills.
I know that gas prices are high and it is affecting every area of our lives, but if you can't afford to tip your server then DON'T GO OUT TO EAT!!!!! Chances are that you make a lot more money on the hour than we do.
Oh, and one last thing....don't talk down to us like we are nothing, like we are your servants, like we are lowly people because we are waiting tables. For those people who don't know I hold two (that's right, I said TWO) bachelor's degrees. I paid my way through school waiting tables. We are there because when the money is good you can't beat it and you can work your schedule around whatever else you need to do. So show us some common courtesy. Use your manners because we sure as heck are using ours the whole time, don't snap your fingers at us or flag us down from the other side of the restaurant, and my biggest pet peeve...don't say you NEED something! UGH! Okay, you might need water but you don't need a beer and you don't need a dessert and you don't need those chili cheese fries! You WOULD LIKE TO HAVE them, but I know when God was creating things he didn't make those things a necessity.
Okay, I will get down off my soap box now. I just had a REALLY crappy night at work and everyone else is in bed (where I should be since I have to be up in 6 hours) and I needed to get that off my chest!
Peace out homies!

River Bats Game June 23, 2008

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

The Bible assures us that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. I once read that the word “wonderfully” in the Hebrew is “palah,” which means “to distinguish, or to be set apart.” God created each one of us to be unique and distinct in some way. We each have a special destiny only we can fulfill. In a world of comparisons and keeping up with impossible standards, it is so easy to forget that our uniqueness is His gift to us. Too often we see it as a curse.

Every Day Deserves A Chance

Have you ever had a day that you just could not get out from under? A day where no matter what you did you never felt better. What avenues did you look toward to help you feel better? Did you turn to television or food? Did you turn to a friend or your spouse? Maybe you called Miss Chleo? What about God? Did you call to him? That is exactly what He wants you to do not only during difficult times, but also during wonderful times.
One thing that I have learned in my few years on this earth is that unfortunate things are going to happen. People are going to die, your feelings are going to be hurt, things are not always going to go your way, and (as my mom always says) the fair only comes once a year and is usually preceded by county. To us life doesn't always seem fair. If you read my previous blog about If you want to hear God laugh tell him your plans then you know that I personally wouldn't have chosen to have had three miscarriages, endometriosis, or cervical cancer, but I have been dealt this hand for a reason. No, I don't know what that reason is, but God does. He knows every breath of our life before it is even breathed by us. He knows every hair on our head and holds every tear we have cried in his hands. WOW! I know I have cried a lot of tears in my almost 32 years...think of how many oceans He holds in his hands of all of the people in the world. Like any loving and caring parent I know He wishes that he could take away all of that pain, but as we all learn in life we have to endure those difficult times to learn and grow. As our children do not always listen to our advice we, unfortunately, will not always seek God's advice or do His will. But, like most parents are always there when we stumble and fall God is ALWAYS there waiting for us to come back, to make the right choice, and to open his loving arms to us. I know that I will make mistakes and not always make him proud, but I am forever thankful that He will love me and you and everyone who seeks him unconditionally.
Are you wondering where this came from? Well, it is summer break and even though I used to despise reading as a child I do now enjoy picking up a good book. This summer I have been able to be poolside with a good book. I just finished reading Every Day Deserves A Chance by Max Lucado. If you have not read this book you really need to! It is WONDERFUL!!!! I have a few excerpts from the book that I would like to share.
"We indwell a garden of grace. God's love sprouts around us like lilacs and towers over us like Georgia pines, but we go on weed hunts. How many flowers do we miss in the process? If you look long enough and hard enough, you'll find something to bellyache about. So quit looking! Lift your eyes off the weeds. Major in the grace of God." (pg. 28)
How true is that? Life is not always going to go our way. We are going to get stuck in traffic, or be late for work, or forget something important. It is going to happen. Take it as it comes to you and run with it. Don't be angry with it and try to battle it. RUN with it! It might not turn out to be an obstacle after all. It might turn out to be a wonderfully disguised blessing!
An excerpt about work:
"You ought to be glad for the troubles on your job because they provide about half your income. If it were not for the things that go wrong, the difficult people with whom you deal, and the problems of your working day, someone could be found to handle your job for half of what you are being paid. So start looking for more troubles. Learn to handle them cheerfully and with good judgment, as opportunities rather than irritations, and you will find yourself getting ahead at a surprising rate. For there are plenty of big jobs waiting for people who are not afraid of troubles." (pg. 29)
This next excerpt really hit home for me. I always say that I don't understand some of the things in the world that happen as I am sure others of you do the same. How can anyone understand someone abusing an innocent defenseless child. And there are never explanations for those people wanting children so badly, but can't have them and others who look at children as a government paycheck and they keep popping them out left and right.
An excerpt about looking at life's situations:
"'We are looking at the wrong side of this today, from the wrong side. Someday we shall see it from another standpoint, and shall understand.' Indeed we shall. Until then, focus less on the tangled threads and more on the hand of the weaver. Don't let the bumps in the race keep you from the awards ceremony at the end." (pg. 68)
"In giving Jesus no chance, they gave their day no chance." (pg. 74)
The next time the person you work with that you can't stand because they are annoying gets on your nerves, remember that God loves them as much (that's right I said AS MUCH) as He loves you. The next time you are frustrated in a long line at the grocery store show others around you God's love, kindness, and patience. The next time you wake up and whine about going to work say a prayer of thanks that you actually have a job and are able to go to that job. And remember the next time you go to pay those dreaded bills to praise God for allowing you to have a home where you receive those bills. It is so easy to take it all for granted and to become self-absorbed and see only gray, but remember that with God you can see color in ALL things!
If you look hard enough and long enough you WILL find something to complain about!

If you want to hear God laugh tell him your plans

I know that many of you have been concerned about Aaron and me. You have been wondering how the loss of three babies would affect us. No worries dear friends! God is always in control and He always has a reason for everything! We cannot see the bigger picture, but God always knows. Personally I have been struggling with trying for another little one. Not so much for the fact that I am afraid that we will lose that little one too (even though we all know that is a great possibility), but for the fact that I am just tired. I am tired of all of the pain that I have to endure. For instance, I had to come home from work on Friday because of the amount of pain I was in. And last night I was sitting at Skyla's softball game rocking myself back and forth trying to ease the pain and make it go away. I am also tired of having all of the tests run. I am tired of being poked and prodded on every three months for exams and almost every month for blood work. After two years of trying to have a baby and over four years of living with the pain that endomitriosis brings and the tests I have to have run to check for cervical cancer I admit that I am tired.
With that being said I am not going to just give up. We haven't worked this hard for this long to just quit. Aaron and I have already committed to each other that we would try to conceive one more time. Oh how I pray that we will conceive and this one will stick! We are not charting or actively planning. We are going to leave it in God's hands...what better place to be! God has a plan for everything. NOTHING ever happens by chance! There is a reason for our three angles in heaven. There is a reason for all of these tests and procedures. There is a reason for everything and I thank God that he knows what it is because I sure have learned that I honestly don't have a clue.
I know this picture didn't turn out very well. It is quite blurry for some reason, but I wanted to put it on here and explain what it is and what it means to me. I know that I have had several bracelets made for several people. My sis-in-law Robyn makes wonderful bracelets! I have my anniversary bracelet, and my believe bracelet, and my purity bracelet, I have had her make some mother's bracelets for my friends. I personally am waiting for my mother's bracelet because I am waiting to see if we will have an extra stone to add to it. This is a picture of my angels bracelet. There is an angel charm, white beads, and three color stone beads. There are two clear or diamond stones that represent April births (Sam due 4-7-07 and Titus due 4-27-08) and then the green stone which represents an August birth (Sadie Grace due 8-19-08). I hope and pray that we do not have to add another stone to this bracelet, but if we do there is a plan for that as well. This just helps me to remember that these little lives meant somethinig and God has a bigger plan for them with him. God is so good, ALL the time!
All that being said I do hope and pray that we are able to have a little McKim of our own. I am so truly blessed with an amazingly wonderful husband. He is such a great dad to these two kids that he loves as though they are his own flesh and blood. My prayer is, and I hope you will help me pray this too, that I will be able to to carry a healthy child to full-term, without complications, with an easy delivery, and a healthy baby for my husband. Is this something that I want for myself? Absolutely! But, I have had the joy of that experience and he has not. I want so badly for him to be able to experience that for himself. I know that he would be perfectly fine if it doesn't happen for us, but I pray that we will be able to have that wonderful experience of a miracle together!

Galatians 6:9 - "So let's not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we do not give up."

Celebrating my hubby on Father's Day!

“…’honor your father and mother,' and 'love your neighbor as yourself.'.” Matthew 19:19 (NIV)

The Greek word in the Bible for father is “pater” which means: one who has infused his own spirit into others, who actuates and governs their minds; one who stands in a father's place and looks after another in a paternal way. Much like Joseph did with Jesus, there are many men who are privileged to step into the role of becoming a father through marriage.

Let’s celebrate all the dads who, like our Heavenly Father, selflessly infuse their own spirit into the lives of others.

I know this is what our kids would say about Aaron, read below:

“I was thinking about it, and there is a difference between Dad and Step-dad. A Dad just is. It’s Dad. But the word Step is one of those polite substitutes for what it truly is: a LEAP; a PLUNGE; a FREEFALL on to the side of an unknown mountain, knowing no matter where you land on it – you MUST climb and fair the weather along the way if you want to reach the top.

The Step – much like the jagged blender blades which create the blended family – is what it takes to bridge the chasm from your heart to mine. And you took that Step, that Leap, that Plunge. I cannot thank you enough. You stand by me. You listen – really listen. And perhaps what most impresses me is that you opened your arms to me – from the first day we met. You were willing to love me, and hold me. For once I could be held by a man and trust, to feel SAFE.

I cannot thank you enough…for being a father to me…my incredible Step-dad. I love you”

To my wonderful husband I cannot thank you enough for making us the wonderful family that we are. I thank God for you each and every day and I love you more than you could possibly know. I hope and pray that you have an amazing Father's Day because you definitely deserve it!

Girls just wanna have fun!

A few pics from our girls trip to Nashville! :-)

On the road!

The girls in front of the hotel!

Beautiful sun and pool time!

Check out who we met!