"Who are you...who-who, who-who?"

Last Sunday, my techno-savvy friend Toby helped me out with a blog dilemma I was having. He is younger than I, and is part of a generation who came out of the womb with computer skills. He is always "up" on the latest and greatest on this gadget and that. I knew he would be the perfect person to solve my dilemma. Toby has a cool blog, much more advanced than my own. My blog is a Chevy....his blog is a Mercedes. Enough said.

After spending about 45 minutes with me on the phone, educating me on so many things I didn't know about my blog, he suggested that I put a counter on the bottom, just to see how many hits I am having. I kind of liked that idea. Sometimes when blogging, you feel like you are having a conversation with yourself, you know. Well, it has been exactly one week since he showed me how to put the counter on....and I have to tell you, I am floored!!!! At "press time," there have been 124 hits to my blog. Now some of these have been counted as times when I have looked at it or have posted something. But certainly not 124 times!! Which leads me to ask the question...."Who-who, who-who is looking at my blog? I really want to know." (Ever wondered why The Who would write a song called "Who are you?" It's kind of redundant, don't you think?)

I am kind of curious to know who my "blaudience" is. (That's blog terminology for "your readership," get it?) I have had several people share with me that they are enjoying my blog, and I had no idea they knew about it. So....I know some of you are scared to comment when you read my blog.....but why not throw "caution to the wind" and try it just this one time. Just simply "Tell me, who are you?" Come on....it will be fun.

The Light

"The Light was blinding. It penetrated deep into the dark recesses of our hearts, initially causing us to squint in pain, but then, as we relaxed and adjusted to the Light, it flooded us, delighted and changed us."- Nancy Ortberg, "Looking for God"

I read this quote over and over again this morning, as I reflected back on my own "Light bulb" moments with God, beginning some 17 years ago. And I have to use the word "moments" instead of "moment," because there are just too many light bulbs to count. Some dimmer switch types, some energy efficient, a few incandescent, and a scattering of "life changing" strobe lights have graciously emitted my path to God. The illumination has truly "flooded me, delighted me, and forever changed me." It has been worth everything to have been "blinded by the Light."

My favorite.....your favorite???

As the list narrows down on American Idol, I think I have finally arrived at my favorite contestant. Unlike past years, this season has so many I like... so many personalities I connect with...it was hard for me to pinpoint whom I would like to win Season 7. But after last week, I have decided. You may find this hard to believe, because you see me as some "top 40" kind of "chick." I never have been. The stereotype of the quintessential "30-something" female and her musical tastes is not me. Would you have guessed this one?

The Best Laid Plans......

Make big plans, but change your plans as time changes.--Marchant

Plans get you into things but you must work your way out.--Will Rogers

Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.--John Lennon

"The Best Laid Plans" of the Hestermomma have been nothing more than just simple attempts at achieving a desired goal....and failing as of late. For some reason, my desired goal and God's desired goal haven't been in sinc lately. And as disappointed as I get when my "best laid plans" become "the worst laid plans," I take comfort in knowing that God is in control and that His plans always turn out for my good....somehow.

The girls and I set out Wednesday to spend a few days touring southwest Michigan with pending stops in St. Joseph, Paw Paw, and Battle Creek. These are all towns that "house" some of my dear ones, and I was so looking forward to seeing them all. Much to my husband's dismay, I characteristically try to cram every minute away seeing family members whom I miss so much. It is not that he doesn't want to share me.....he just feels that I overbook my schedule. And I do. I figure I will have plenty of time to recover from it when I get home. I just want to see everybody.

The ride up there was a breeze. My "pretty sneaky sis" always complains about the drive. But I have found it not to be that bad. Twenty minutes from our destination, Hopie says from the back seat, "It's hot in here." And as quickly as I adjusted the temp in the truck, I heard her yell, "I am going to be sick!" Before I could fully comprehend what was happening, she grabbed a nearby empty Target bag (gotta love Target!) and "deposited" her lunch from Subway and her dessert from DQ. At 70mph, I kept my hands at "10 and 2" and remained calm, cool, and collected.....but completely dumbfounded.

As descriptive as I naturally am, I won't go into the details of what happened next except to say that it happened again and again and again....so many times, I lost count. I could not subject the first stop of our Southwest Michigan tour to this illness, especially because it was my sister's house.... home of the absolutely precious niece "Izzy-B" and my equally adored nephew Michael. Nobody needs the flu, and that includes babies under the age of 11 months. So, Hopie and I checked into a nearby Holiday Inn Express (with a beautiful gray view of Lake Michigan) and spent the next two days held up there. We left Faith with the family as she seemed pretty bug-free.

I would have it no other way than to be by my baby's side when she was as sick as she was. Clearly, she felt as much disappointment as I did. She missed out on things she was really looking forward to as well.....like building forts out of blankets with her cousin Michael in the basement, playing with Izzy-B, eating Kellogg's pop-tarts for breakfast, etc. She kept telling me how sorry she was....which made me feel even worse about the situation. She would say, "I know how much you were looking forward to..." I couldn't argue with those words, but I did share this with her: "Even though you were so sick, I still had a great time with you. And I am really glad we got to spend some time together, just me and you."

In situations like these, you always think about what God might want you to learn from it. Obviously, He is showing me lately that I rely too much on "my plans" and don't look too hard for what "His plans" might be in the grand scheme of things. I am really trying to focus on looking at the God-good that comes out in all of my so-called "trials." There is always plenty of that to go around. I am after all, God's child. :)

PS- Hopie did a lot of sleeping in the hotel room. My sister was at her house taking care of the rest of the kids, while I handled the sick one. So...my amount of adult interaction was low....really low. When the maid came in to change the towels, I just about grabbed her and begged her to stay. I tried to ask her some questions to keep her engaged.... maybe explain to her why there was a strange smell in our room. (Remember, I told you I had lost count on Hopie's flu-capades.) I think her supervisor was nearby, otherwise, I could have talked her ear off. I even thought about asking her if she needed any help cleaning up in the next room. Seriously......

PPS-We never did make it to our other pending stops. Just couldn't subject anybody to this nasty flu bug. I was missing my family long before we made the trek there. It is strange to return home with that ache unaltered and still very present.

"Pretty Sneaky Sis"

You may remember me mentioning a few blogs back that my sister and I have our own language with each other consisting of quotes from movies, tv shows, toddler-isms of Faith's, and even commercials from "back in the day." I just stumbled upon this rare gem and dedicate this to my one and only sister, "Widdle." (Translation: She is little, I am bigger. Thus she has always been "Widdle" and I have always "Bigga." Any questions??) I know she will remember it well....because she's "pretty sneaky sis."

Attention Target Shoppers.....

Did you know that the Isaac Mizrahi line is leaving Target? I cannot say that I am sad about this. I try to stay as trendy as the next person....but I have only bought 1 IM piece the whole time he has been connected with the store. And that is because it was on the 75% off rack. Most of the time, he is just too "out there" for me. Maybe I didn't give him enough of a chance. Looks like I have until the end of 2008 to gain some affection for him. Hmmmm.....I wonder whom they will replace him with?

**Another Target blog you might enjoy looking at: target-addict.blogspot.com

Whew! That was a close one!

God is good! Have I said that lately?? I am so grateful for His insight....His timing. Case in point: Last night, Faith was having her first sleep over in her Daddy's newly finished basement. (This brings great joy to Gregg's heart, as this is the very reason he consistently labored in it for over 1 1/2 years.) With the new DVR, we are able to program the Hallmark Channel's Little House on the Prairie episodes that run twice a day. My girls are SO into Little House right now. It has been fun to revisit my childhood love for that show with them.

In trying to give Faith "her space," we told her that she could watch anything with her friend last night that was programmed, or that we already have on DVD. That seemed perfectly safe and harmless. As I was headed for bed, I thought I should just check on them one more time, to see if they needed anything. WAS I EVER GRATEFUL I DID!! It seems that yesterday's Little House on the Hallmark Channel was the 2 part episode all of us remember from watching it back in the 80's. Ask any avid watcher of the show back then, and they will surely be able to identify it in a heartbeat. To keep my blog free of words I absolutely hate, I will just say it had to do with Albert and a character named Sylvia. Enough said. It was the most scary, most disturbing one they ever did....even topping the show's finale with Walnut Grove exploding. I have never forgotten it.

So....I quickly explained to Faith why I wouldn't allow her to watch it. I didn't do a very good job because I hadn't planned on talking about this subject with her yet. It was totally off the cuff. Unfortunately, I will have to revisit it today, after her friend is gone. I am just not comfortable with how I left it.

Gregg, not at all a Little House watcher from the 80's, was quite taken back when I went upstairs to tell him what had just happened. He asked me "Why on earth would they have put something like that on a family show back then?" Maybe it was getting towards the end of the show and they were hungry for story lines. Honestly, I don't know. But I guess I should be grateful for the opportunity to talk with Faith about it in our home, instead of her learning about something so awful possibly at school.

**Side note: Attention girlfriends who remember the referred episode.....I could have used you last night!! I felt like I was having a hard time convincing her that this show wasn't something that she should be seeing. I even brought up a few of you by name as witnesses to that which I was trying to prove. Seemed to help some. I think she was having a hard time imagining something on the show being that scary for her to watch. She thought I might be exaggerating. Me? Naw....