It's Out!

Go see it.
We need to support this movie... I hope to see it sometime this weekend:

Click the pic above for more info...

Sick Family =(

Yes, I know it's been another sparse blogging week for me, but I have a good excuse.
No, really; I do!

Clay and I went to New Orleans last weekend -- withOUT the kids (thank you, Lorri!!!) -- for Tulane's annual French Quarter Symposium. This year's topic was "Great Men, Sick Minds," and Clay spoke on Howard Hughes.

In a nutshell: If you're poor: you're insane. If you're rich: you're ECCENTRIC.
It was a wonderful weekend with beautiful weather.
Incidentally, it was also the weekend for "French Quarter Festival."
Now, everyone knows that tourists come into New Orleans for Jazz Fest to hear great music and eat great food, but apparently, French Quarter Fest is for TRUE Jazz lovers and it brings out all the locals...

Since we got home, however, it's been non-stop drama.
Clay started getting sick on the way home Sunday night. He continued to be very ill (stomach flu) for the next 3 days! I was sending him love from across the room.

"Sweetie, do you need anything? I can tie the Tylenol to the cat's back and send him your way..."

I'm only kidding!
But I did NOT want him to share, if you catch my drift.

Nadia -- who never burns -- got a HORRIBLE sunburn during her softball game last weekend and had fever, chills, and nausea for 2 days. Then she couldn't sleep because her shoulders were so sensitive. Nadia is my RIGHT HAND, so it was doubly hard having her out of commission, too!

Natasha is still hobbling around. Although we got a very good report from the Pediatric Orthopedic Specialist, she is still in some pain and is learning how to negotiate the stairs in a post-op shoe.

Finally, poor Raisha was just not sleeping so I took her to see our pediatrician. Turns out she has a sinus infection and fluid in BOTH ears. Ugh. Poor baby!

The week is finally over and everyone is on the mend, but I'm feeling pretty drained and not so hot, myself. But don't worry about me; I'll be fine... Everyone KNOWS that moms AREN'T ALLOWED TO get sick!

Sanctuary

About 2 weeks ago, our Friday "Ladies Thrive" group moved to the sanctuary portion of the old Winbourne Baptist Church.
Since last fall, we had been meeting in the back "social hall" for our weekly meetings, but our men's outreach has been growing steadily, too, so they needed more room. Our ladies' group just keeps getting bigger, thus the decision was made to move to the front of the building. The men's group took our old spot in the social hall.
Here are some pics from our first day in the "new" sanctuary:

Winbourne Baptist Church / The (new)
Baton Rouge Dream Center
of
Healing Place Church

This place is ENORMOUS!!!

Looking down the side of the buildings toward the back...

Inside the Sanctuary

Here comes our first bus load of ladies!

The first, smiling face they see is of our sweet Mrs. Jeannie at the registration table...

Waiting for the service to start.

Some of our precious, faithful attendees.

Two ladies from my (usual) group: Ms. Gail & Kenya

It occurred to me that day that it was appropriate for us to be moving to the sanctuary of our new building because, for so many of these ladies, the Dream Center is just that:
A SANCTUARY
It's a place they can come each week to escape (temporarily) the pressures of the outside world, to get refreshed and fed -- both physically & spiritually.
So many of them live lives that are full of pain and frustration; I cannot even comprehend the DAILY stress of making sure my children have enough food to eat or how I'm going to pay my heating bill.
But faithfully, each week, these ladies take 2 hours out of their workday to come here and hear the Word.
I have to admit, I get as much out of these Fridays as they do... I love these ladies and I miss them when I can't be there. I was out of town this past weekend, but I'm looking forward to this FRIDAY for another day in
sanctuary.