My Husband. My Hero.

If you know me at all, you know I despise animals. Of all kinds. I don't know if that's sinful or not, but I can't seem to get over the fact that animals absolutely creep me out. I'm horribly allergic to anything with fur which doesn't help. I can't imagine choosing to have an animal live in my house. (It's okay that many of you are animal lovers. We'll just never quite understand each other.)

Unfortunately, I became familiar with what it feels like to have an animal living in my house. I don't like it.

Last Friday morning I was upstairs in our bathroom when I heard some loud banging noises downstairs. I immediately thought someone had broken into our house, so I ran quickly downstairs. I hadn't thought about what I would do had someone broken in, I just felt like I needed to run down there. (Thankfully Myka was sound asleep in her room). When I got to the bottom of the stairs, I rounded the corner to see something flying in my kitchen. I turned around and ran back up the stairs in a split second and locked myself in my bedroom. I immediately called Tony at work. He didn't answer. I called again. He answered. (He knows its an emergency if I call twice in a row :). I told him I needed him home right away because something was flying around in our kitchen and I wasn't mentally capable of leaving our bedroom until I knew it was gone. Being the sweet man he is, he came right home!

We talked through the bedroom door when he got home. I really wasn't going to leave that room until I knew my home was rodent free. He opened the front and back doors and started his search. He searched all through the kitchen and living room. Then he went to the basement and searched there. Nothing. After awhile he told me he might head back to work since he couldn't find anything. The canvases that had fallen off the top of the cupboards and onto the floor were proof that I wasn't totally crazy. Something had been in there. I begged him to keep looking. He did. All of a sudden I heard lots of commotion and then a very proud shout from Tony - "It's done, Cari!" And I sang the hallelujah chorus.

That creature was hiding in a basket on top of my cupboards. ew. ew. ew. ew. ew. Tony flipped the basket over, it came flying out and met that tennis racket. And then the floor. Don't worry, I have researched IA State Law and learned that it is not illegal to kill a bat that is in your home (it is, however, not recommended). I wanted to make sure I wasn't turning my husband over to the authorities with this post.

I'm still pretty horrified over this whole ordeal. I spent the rest of the day sanitizing every square inch of our kitchen and living room and then I had to quit thinking about it. We have four HUGE trees in our backyard, so bats probably love our yard. But I'd like to know how it got in so I can ensure it NEVER HAPPENS AGAIN!

I am such a wimp. Thank goodness Tony was on call. I'm even scared of puppies and kittens. I know - something is wrong with me. And this reminds me of the time I saw a mouse run across the floor of our old apartment, so I stood on top of a coffee table for 45 minutes until Tony got home. I don't know why I thought I needed to stand off the floor, but I did. He came home and gently instructed me to climb down and join him on a trip to Wal-Mart for a mouse trap. My husband. My hero.

Praying for My Baby

I posted awhile back that one my New Year's Resolution for 2012 was to be the woman I'm praying Myka will become. Yikes! The Lord is definitely doing a refining work in my life, for which I am very grateful, but there are so many areas I want and need to grow in to help Myka (and others) see Jesus in me.

I've been thinking a lot about just how to pray for a daughter and I'd welcome your feedback to this post. When I first became pregnant with Myka, the Lord laid the word compassion on my heart, so I have prayed fervently that she would be compassionate. Of course, that is an area where I need tremendous growth. God definitely knows what He's doing, huh?

Anyways, some days it is hard to get passed just begging God to draw Myka into a relationship with himself. After all, that is everything. I just want her to KNOW Jesus and to spend her life on behalf of him...everything else will fall into place when that firm foundation is in place.I can pray for her physical health (and I long for her to be strong and healthy), but what good is that if she doesn't KNOW the creator of life? And health is no guarantee from God. I don't mean that to sound crass, but its the same as my prayers for myself and all those I love - Lord just let our lives bring your glory today - whatever that might look like. That's not easy to pray and so I don't pray that way all the time. But I think I should.

I've recently been challenged by a song I heard by Kendall Payne called Pray.What if this is how we prayed for our children and for one another? You can listen to it here.

Honestly, I have mixed emotions when I hear this song. Those aren't easy words to pray for your beloved child - "May you find every step to be harder than the last, so your character grows greater each stride." I'd love to pray that she has great character, but it's not easy to ask God to allow difficulty in her life to make that a reality.

I feel challenged to evaluate my prayer life...the way I pray for myself and for others. How about you? More questions than answers from me tonight. Let me know your thoughts. What do you pray for your children?

Can't Believe I Forgot this One...

A few months ago I blogged about some funny middle of the night conversations I'd had with Tony while waking up with a newborn - you can read all about that here. Thankfully the days of waking up all night are over, but I can't believe I forgot to document the very craziest night.

In early October (1 month into parenthood), I turned our furnace on for the first time. Thankfully it seemed to be working fine and keeping our house cozy for baby. During the night, I woke up to something beeping repeatedly. I was so completely zonked that it didn't even register that it may be a smoke detector. Tony was so zonked, it didn't even wake him up. After a few elbow jabs, Tony woke up and I ask him to investigate. I fell right back asleep. He came upstairs a few minutes later and reported that our furnace room and laundry room were completely filled with smoke and smelled of fire. He said he had turned the furnace off and with that, WE BOTH FELL FAST ASLEEP until morning!

When the repairman came the next afternoon, he was horrified. He said flames had been shooting out of our furnace during the night as a result of a part that had fallen off. AND WE SLEPT THROUGH IT! This is hysterical to me now, but I spent that entire day praising God for his provision and I think I'll thank him again now! Our stinking furnace was on fire and we decided the best idea would be to go back to sleep. It's a good thing that season of life doesn't last forever!