Beagle Mafia

4 years ago today, I married my best friend, my soul mate, the half of my whole and the greatest man I have ever known.

We got married over looking the beach in a very romantic and perfect ceremony followed by one heck of an after party that was our reception. We celebrated each other among our friends and family.

I cant gush enough about how lucky I am. While we didn't get a chance to celebrate today because we had do a parental duty of chaperoning a field trip, tomorrow night its just Capo and me. The poor guy always tries to surprise me but he never can. I can sniff out a secret in a hot second. I planned on volunteering at my son's fall festival for school but Capo told me I could not because we had "plans". Quickly I jump to "who is watching the dogs, where is the boy going?" He had it all worked out! I even tried to bride my pet sitter for more information but she would not budge. All I know is that we are staying overnight at a spectacular hotel close by and I needed to buy a new dress for the occasion.

I have several blogs in the works but I am sure I will have another one about our special night tomorrow. I married a true romantic man who loves me for who I am. The good, the bad and ugly and all that is in between. He is one in a million and I am blessed to be blessed by this man. My covenant partner brought to me by one heck of a broken road but none the less brought by the grace God. He was looking out for me. There is no one on this planet that could put up with me and the other way around as well. We were meant to be forever and ever Amen.

I leave you with our wedding song:

Undefeated in more ways then one this week.

WOW! What a week we had. A very rough start but in the end everything turned and worked out for best. I do have an unpublished blog post that one of these days I fill finish. I really want to keep it private but I might just have to tell it like it is instead.

Lots of work to be done rescue wise. I was forced into a pretty ugly choice and situation and somehow by the grace of God, I managed to work it out. All the signs were there and little by little light was being shined. I managed to find 3 spots for 3 beagles in a matter of 10 minutes. It was like a Chinese fire drill but I did it. I am truly blessed to have the right people there to pick up the pieces and ready to be called into action at any moment. No begging, no dancing around just people ready to take on whatever is needed. People who will readjust their entire schedule and life to help a beagle or beagles in need. Who would have thunk, there are actual people out there who get the concept of what RESCUE really means? What a relief! I have a huge weight off my shoulder and feel more refreshed then ever before. Out with the old and in with the new.....

I also quickly learned that its usually not the dog that is/has the issue but the environment the dog is in. One of our fosters was labeled as a "unadoptable" but after moving the dog into another environment, she is now a completely different dog. Aint that a funny thing? I think not.......I will elaborate more about this subject in the other post I am working on. Its a doozy but very entertaining yet sad.

We had 2 finalized adoptions this week and one more possibly next week. Pretty much the status qua. Nothing for a month and then BAM, one, two, three in a row. These two adoption placements are just a perfect fit all around. These beagles are going to live like kings and have truly found their forever homes. They definitely deserve that after what they both were forced to go through this week. Again for the other post.

I also am pleased to say that my son's football team ended their season today UNDEFEATED. I am so proud of him and all of his teammates. These boys worked hard and tirelessly and thankfully their efforts paid off. If ever there was a perfect tiny mite team, it was this one. We celebrated with a fun party at a local amusement center where games, go karts, golf, pizza and cupcakes were had. I am a very proud wife and mother today. My husband did a fantastic job coaching these kids on defense. He may be the bestest Daddy out there.

I am also relieved to have a little break before we go right into flag football in a few weeks. Tomorrow, we are celebrating by our yearly trip to Disney World for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party followed by a trip to Sea World on Monday for Spooktacular. We will spend time having a fun as a family. We are also very excited to spend Halloween with our church for some trunk or treating. Good times!

We are going to have us one heck of a time next week all around. I am anxious to see where my husband is whisking me away to for our anniversary. Do I NOT have the most wonderful man on the planet? I do, I do.....

Psalm 45:4 (New International Version)

⁴ In your majesty ride forth victoriously
in behalf of truth, humility and righteousness;
let your right hand display awesome deeds.

Pretty much who I am and what I do.

The origin of my volunteering comes from me being a bad teenager. You see, my mother was a single parent working full time for a very large hospital. One particular summer, I was grounded literally for the entire summer(honestly cant remember what for) and I was to go to work with my mother full time. 8hrs a day I was a candy stripper wait, striper. HAA! (Hey sound like a nice sexy Halloween costume.) Anyway, since I volunteered so much, I did a large variety of jobs. One job was to feed Alzheimer patients. I learned so much compassion and love from the people and the families that horrible disease affects. In fact, I have and still want to go to nursing school because of this experience. The issue with that is I am a horrible needle phobic. Like pass out on the ground even looking at one....so yeah, no nursing in my future :(

So now, just this week alone I was a volunteering fool. Obviously running a rescue is a volunteer full time job. I live and breathe rescue. Beyond that, I am thee only classroom volunteer in my son's class. Somehow I got rooked into teaching a math session once a week in the classroom. Oh and math is like my worst subject so I have to have Capo teach me how to teach the kids simple math problems. I also go into the classroom and help the teacher for two hours a week. I do this because I like to be heavily involved in my son's academic life as a student. I want to know what is going on in the classroom. Not to mention, having an in with the teacher will help your kid from time to time. :wink Volunteering in the classroom also allows me time to silently cover the teacher, the children and the room in prayer. I never underestimate the power of prayer.

I am also a PTA parent. You see we have a brand spanking new school here in my subdivision and I wanted to get involved immediately before the PTA clique forms. Last year, I was involved with the PTA in the old school but it was short of being back in high school again. Too much chattiness for me.

I got an email to come for a vision screening meeting Friday. Apparently the school's PTA is in charge of vision screening all 600 kids. So I go to the meeting and there I learn we would we are actually administering the vision tests and referring students to opthamologists if necessary. Of course, only 5 out of 1,2000 parents so show up to the meeting. I am not sure why this is the PTA's responsibility but for some reason it is. I remember going down to the school nurse every year for this screening. Interestingly enough, we do not have a full time nurse in our school which I find pretty darn scary honestly.

I am also a 2 year old children's ministry lead teacher at my church. While this is an act of volunteering, this is also the single most rewarding ministry to be involved with. I love these little walking balls of temper, rage, fit throwing, hugging, kissing, slobbering toddlers like they are my own. Don't get me wrong, 2 1/2 hours of non stop chasing, coddling, and correcting 10-20 2 year old is a load of work and quite a work out. I do this 3 times a month. I aspire to make a mark on these kid's lives that can not be erased.

So if you are wondering why I neglect this blog so much, you can see I am a busy volunteering woman in many different arenas of my life.

done to my child and my life.....

The boy is playing football as you all know. As much he loves playing it and I love to watch him play the sport, I am pretty sure it brings the worst out in him. He has been called all sorts of names from other opponents since he is now playing the line. Such as, poopy face, baby, jerk, a**hole, and my personal favorite jerk o**. Lovely isn't it?

After the one of the plays on Saturday, an opponent on the other team was mouthing off to my son and then proceeded to face mask him. For some reason pulling of the face mask sets my child OFF. And I mean OFF. Next thing I see is my son ramming his helmet head into the back of said opponent. Of course I am horrified while all the other parents are pretty much cheering my irate son on. I can only imagine the reason they are cheering him on is because there is one particular bully on our team that likes to pick on all the younger, smaller children. This kid is about a foot and 1/2 taller them my son and just plain mean. Last practice he swatted at M and M returned the swat with a punch to the face. Normally I would have been horrified but its been a long time coming. All the other parents pretty much thought it was much deserved and wished their children would stand up to him as well. Anyway back to the game......

When he comes off the field, I summon him off and I ask him why he would do that? I get the "well he pulled my face mask" proceeded by "the kid is jerk off MOM". So there I am horrified again that my son would use that terminology. I am SURE the other parents behind me heard him say this. I quickly tell him that his actions and his comments were completely unacceptable and we would talk about it later.

I just think that football is just not my kind of sport. I think its brings out serious aggression in my kid and while I get that is the point, I am not sure I like it. I have like 2 different children when he is playing. I like my nice child better the I like my aggressive child.

And now, I sit here prisoner as both my child and husband watch game after game on Sunday. Is it baseball season yet?

In June, my Pastor had taught a series about Diligence. We started with the definition itself of diligence. Diligence is the constant and earnest effort to accomplish what is undertaken. Its beyond passion and intention. Diligence is what keeps a passion and an intention going. Its also one of the seven Holy virtues.

Diligence is a persevering application of an intention or a passion. Diligence is the steady application in any business of any kind. Diligence is constant effort. Its the exertion of the body or mind without unnecessary delay or slothfulness. Diligence is the personal attention and taking care and head over a thing.

I use to be one of those people who use to start a thing but never finish it. I always had the right intentions but never very good at follow through. One way or another I would end up as the tail instead of the head. Most of this was due to my own idleness, laziness and I had many excuses.

All of this changed when I turned a passion into a reality. This rescue is the pin point and prime example of my applied diligence. This may be the one and only thing I have ever done with such intentionality and diligence. The passion and dedication I have for this undertaking is something that words elude me to describe. I had said and will continue to say that I truly feel this is my divine calling.

When my Pastor got up on the pulpit this morning to revisit this series, I realized as I was jotting down notes that we already had covered what he was preaching. What I didn't realize until the end of the sermon was his question of " After 90 days of first hearing this Word, "have you been diligent?" What areas have you been diligent in? What areas do you need to be more diligent in? Lord knows, I have MANY areas that I need to work more diligently in. It can almost sadden me that there are actually other areas in my life that need more of my intention and diligence then even the rescue. This is where I am at right now. From this day forward my diligence will now have another dimension.

I can now see the reward of applied diligence. I now know what it takes to be diligent. I know that I need to intensify my intentions, set a pace and keep my priorities in line. I need to apply my diligence first and for most in my marriage and secondly in my parenting. I will be diligent in my giftings and assignments that God himself has placed in my heart. I will continue to enjoy life itself and remember to make mental snap shots day in and out. I will diligently maintain whatever progress I have made up to this point and continue to track my progress in other areas.

Most importantly, I will be more diligent in my walk with the Lord. Its my burden to be diligent. I cant pray for diligence but it must rise up within me. I must bring it forth and bring it forth, I will.

"He who has a slack hand becomes poor,
But the hand of the diligent makes rich." Proverbs 10:4

"The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing;
But the soul of the diligent shall be made rich." Proverbs 13:4

"The hand of the diligent will rule,
But the lazy man will be put to forced labor." Proverbs 12:24