Where to begin?

I am Stephanie. I am married to Eric ( ecopas.blogspot.com ) and we share 2 wonderful children: Nick, which is 12, and Abbie, which is 4 and a half. We are both nurses here in the currently icy abyss of southern Ohio. My family attends Sunshine Church of Christ, in Minford, Ohio. ( sunshine-church.blogspot.com )

Every year, our church puts on a Father-Daughter Valentine Gala in our local high school. Some come because it is an excuse to get dressed up and be silly. But if you are really paying attention, the actual underlying theme is: to depend on and have a relationship with your Heavenly Father. It is really touching but hard to get across because the group has fathers and daughters of all ages. This year, I was asked to be responsible for the photography end of it. I love that sort of thing and was flattered by the thought of it. We have around 300 Daddies & Daughters come through the door and they get their picture taken and can pick up the printed out photo after the rest of it ends. I really work best under stress. My best work comes out of staying up all night the night before a term paper was due, finishing it up. I don't like stress but it likes me. So three days before the Gala, two days before I have this weird-freckle-thing removed from my right shoulder, and one day before Nick's Science Fair project is due, and I am sick. Really sick. Then it was cold, the kids were snotty, the phone wouldn't stop ringing....the list goes on and on. I was so crazy for a while, I couldn't tell which way was up. Then, it occurred to me. I know what's going on here....SATAN WAS IN MY LIVING ROOM. I have seen him before but this was just bold. Anything that could be wrong was going that way because it made me doubt whether or not I was doing what I should have been doing. I looked up to my ceiling and with a smile said, "Nice job, Satan, you're really working hard, aren't you?" then I looked another direction and said, "God, I know you are there and I know you can handle this. Please, make him leave so I can do what I need to do. Thank you." IT WAS AMAZING! In the blink of an eye, I felt better, the phone stopped, the kids stopped. God made a miracle happen in my living room. God moves when HE wants to move. I don't say "wants" to imply He's some spoiled child that does things when it just strikes Him, with no thought to anyone. He can see the beginning, middle and end of us. He moves when it is right to move, when it is best for us...even when we don't understand why it took Him so long to do so. The Science Fair project got finished. Actually, Nick placed 5th place in the whole 6th grade on Thursday and gets to go to the County Science Fair. Whoo Hoo! Yes, the thing was removed on Friday, leaving me with 4 stitches in my shoulder. Oh, did I for get to tell you I am VERY VERY right handed and that I had to roller paint 8 sheets of particle board (front & back) in preparation for the Gala. My arm and shoulder HURT for three days, but things got done and the Gala was a screaming success. ***Special thanks to Julie, Tim, Zack, Nick, Steve, Jake, my Mom, Irmalee, Beth, Mary, Meaghan and my wonderful husband Eric. Right now, it is Friday evening 2 weeks after all these things happened. I am happy to report the pathology tests came back clear on the freckle issue and the stitches came out reasonably easy. Praise the Lord! The doctor had mentioned that he thought it might look like skin cancer. I was surprised and then again, I wasn't. I like to bake by the pool in the summer. Nothing gives me more pleasure than to be nice and brown in my shorts and tank top. Well, those days are over. This morning everything in southern Ohio was covered with a layer of ice. I stay at home with our children but my husband had to get to work this morning. He drives 45 minutes to clock in at 7am. He got out of the driveway just fine and a couple miles up the road. Then, the car slipped on a patch of road that hadn't gotten as much salt or grit as the rest of it. He ended up nosed in the guardrail. He's okay, called off work and drove the car home. That sad car looks like it has Belle's Palsy. The bumper is sideways, the hood is sideways, the passenger head light is busted out, and that fender is bumped up some. It had a stroke in the ice. Eric, on the other hand, is fine. A little stoved up in his arms and neck, but he's okay. I don't know what lesson is to be learned from this, from God, but He definitely kept Eric safe and for that I THANK HIM!