Top 10 Reasons Reneene's Negectled Her Blog

10. She was busy being a Team Captain for the Jeff Wenzel Memorial Walk at
the Easter Sun Run. The Wenzel Warriors had the biggest team with 125
members!

9. She's driving Ben and Olivia around to many baseball/softball practices
and games/tournaments. Taxi driver has become her new 2nd job.

8. The kids are out of school and home 24/7. Someone is always using the
computer, unless she wants to get on at 2am!

7. Migraines have been a real monster. Who really wants to hear about
pain, suffering and migraine headaches? You already have to hear about
grief and loss.

6. She's been in a bigger pit than she let on. Seriously downer, depressing
blah, blah, blah..... The kind of stuff you tell your counselor and they listen
because you're paying them. But the sun is coming out now!

5. She's can't think of anything exciting, witty, funny, inspiring to write. So
she's taking entries from you, her life is rather boring at the moment.

4. She's trying to plan her summer vacation to Florida. Roadtrip? Fly?
Disneyworld? Universal Studios? It may seem simple but she's had bad
luck when it comes to vacations. Ask her about the cruise sometime.

3. She's always chasing piles of laundry. She should have this down, she's
been doing this for 13 years now. But no, so many clothes, piles are
everywhere. She would love a laundress.

2. She's been too busy watching TV episodes of "Psych" and "Monk" with
her oldest son Joseph on Netflix. The Wenzel family just loves that Netflix!

1. She's been wading through knee high grass in the back yard, finding all
sorts of objects; baseballs, parts of the hose, pool toys, etc...
Wondering if the mower will survive it or not. Keep you posted!

Blogging needs to be cultivated and kept up, kind of like my yard. I have let them both go, so to speak. My yard is uninhabitable, not something I want people to see. My blog is the same. You will not read it, if there is nothing to read. My goal this summer is to keep you reading as I keep my son mowing. Hope you have a great summer!

Garments of Mourning

Every day is a gift from God. I still believe this is true. It's perfectly human to stop for a moment and have a good cry. Remembering someone who changed your life for the better. It's not however a good idea to pop up a tent and start a camp fire and make this your new home. No sirree! I admit to being a bit stuck. Anniversary dates get me. I almost posted a play by play of our day on that fateful April Fools Day in 2003. God and I have gone round and round since last night. I have been slowly doing a bible study book on Ruth called, "Loss, Love and Legacy" by Kelly Minter. It's powerful stuff. This morning God used the words I needed to hear. He got my heart today. It's been a long time since He got my heart. I haven't let Him near it. I've been afraid to He wasn't safe anymore. Today I share with you her words, Kelly's words. She is talking about Ruth, the widow and how she puts on "new" garments for Boaz. She had to cast off her garments of mourning. The rest is from her book, it is in quotations. "Though many of us have not experienced the unspeakable and incomprehensible tragedy of losing a spouse or someone we love deeply, we have known a time when God asked us to take off our clothes of mourning, clinging, grasping, wishing, hoping, striving, even praying for something...and move forward. I specifically remember a moment when God made this exact request of me. I had been clinging to the past, hanging on to the last ragged edges of something He had worked hard to move me on from. It was time for me to move forward without my mourning clothes. Here's the deal: When we're wrapped in garments of mourning, we're unavailable for whatever else God has for us. In a sense, we take ourselves out of the game. Please know that if you have walked Ruth's exact journey of a dire loss, I am not at all presuming on your grieving process. My simple hope is when God has held us, healed us, and lifted our heads, that we'd be ready to move forward with Him; and though our hearts may always ache, we won't stay in our mourning clothes forever. Do you sense that God is asking you to throw off some weighty garments? Unforiveness, bitterness, anger, discontentment, jealousy, mourning or anything else that might be keeping you in a stagnant place?" Can you believe how God showed up today? I believe every one of you who prayed for me had a part in this, don't believe for a minute your prayers aren't working. My blog is for you and I hope the words God gave me, He also gave you. That you will be moved by them. Stagnant is the perfect word to describe what my life has been like these past four years. But today I KNOW God wants me to take off my clothes of mourning and begin to live the life He has for me. I don't know what that looks like but today I gave my heart back to Him. It's a good day, Praise God.

Who's Your Daddy?

The idea of God being our Father or even our "Daddy" has been something taught by Sunday School teachers or youth leaders my whole life. It's hard to imagine God as a Father but for many, the earthly ones sometimes brought pain or weren't even physically there. Some weren't loving or safe. We need God to provide what was missing. He promises unconditional love. No earthly father can even touch that.

When I try to imagine God as a "daddy," what I picture is Charles Ingalls from Little House on the Prairie. Can you imagine him as your daddy? A real man's man but tenderhearted. Not afraid to cry. Kind. Tough when he needed to be. Listened to his kids. Disciplined them but was always intentional with them. Hardworking. Loved only one woman. Man of faith but struggled through things, life wasn't easy for him and his family. Always willing to help a fellow man, no matter the cost. Played the fiddle and sang at night. Gave to the community all he had. Sacrificed. Forgave when wronged. Taught his children to work hard. When his children messed up, he made them be responsible for their own actions. He wasn't too proud to do any job to provide for his family. He always made time for his children. They knew he loved them.

I imagine if God was my daddy on earth, I'd like one like this. Could be why I always cry when this show is on. What's your perfect daddy picture look like? You guessed it. I have been watching a LHOTP marathon this weekend. The show always gets me.

Who's your "perfect" daddy? Maybe you had one in real life, lucky you. Tell me all about it, I would love to know!

She.....

~tells her children every single day she loves them, sometimes more than once.
~loves anything sweet, Willy Wonka might have been a good husband but Jeff
Wenzel beat him out.
~often feels completely inadequate as a parent.
~can't believe Jesus is still here but knows He really loves her.
~wishes she was more disciplined, in ALL areas.
~can sometimes be harsh and is working on gentleness this year.
~can't believe she has a teenager.
~wishes she liked to exercise, she used to be quite the athlete.
~has never slept well; her entire life.
~loves warmth but lives in Kansas.
~is a news junkie.
~she misses being driven around and having someone else fill-up the tank.
~couldn't do life without her friends.
~wonders if she'll ever get over losing Jeff.
~cannot help being transparent; it's who she is.
~loves "Redeeming Love" by Francine Rivers, she has given away at least 20
copies of this book.
~talks to her sister-in-law almost daily, double trouble.
~gave her whole heart to another and it was the best 10 years of her life. No
regrets.
~absolutely loves sitting with a girlfriend having coffee, talking.
~hopes she can find Joy again.
~would love to read your She... list and know you better.

Happy Valentines Day!

It's Valentines Day. I had to post. And no I don't have a Valentine, unless you count my children. Still waiting for George Clooney to show up. I just got home from Olivia's class party at school, it was at 9:15am. Who comes up with this? First of all, we moms are barely awake. It should be a requirement to have Starbucks waiting at the door. All in favor? Say aye. And secondly, you couldn't pay me to be a teacher after feeding 24 children all that sugar for the rest of the day.

Who decided the mascot of love should be a chubby dude who wears a diaper with wings? Oh, and we can't forget he shoots arrows at you. This is exactly what I think about when I think of love. I am not anti-Valentines day. I actually miss my Valentine very much. I am just wondering who decided Cupid should represent this special day. I vote we have a mascot change. First order of change, drop the diaper!

"Love, love, love. All you need is love, love. Love is all you need." One of my favorite Beatles songs. Good, good stuff. Thankfully our truest Valentine doesn't look like Cupid and is all about LOVE everyday. And if you don't have a valentine on this made-up holiday it's okay. Because Jesus, the Ultimate Valentine, is there for you every single day. Not just today. And He might not have roses and chocolates but what He offers will last forever. I know for a fact George Clooney cannot even come close to that.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!

What's In Your Fridge?

You know it's time to clean the fridge when your parents are coming for a visit. I mean really, who does this on a regular basis? Not me. You read my last post, right? I am a messy by nature so the last thing I want to touch is the fridge. Besides, it's my way of staying in school. Ode to the Science Class. I have so many science projects going on in there, I can't even keep them all straight.

I am the kind of person who dry-heaves just from opening the container and even getting a little whiff of what's inside. So, I have learned a lesson. It may not be budget-friendly but unless it's in one of my nice plastic containers, I just toss it right into the trash. Why throw-up when you don't need to? Unless you have a few pounds to lose. Kidding.

The truth is my father is not capable of throwing food away. He is known around the family as The Finisher. He will dig through the fridge and eat what's in there. And I have visions of him coming to me and saying, "I just finished off that pot roast." My horror response would be, "I don't have any pot roast." So you see why it's imperative I clean out the fridge. It's not only to impress my parents but to save a life. My dad's. Can you imagine if I killed my children's grandpa while he was visiting from a year old science project in my fridge? I'm sure we'd make the news.

Well, off I go. I only have two days to get this done. There's a lot of stuff growing in there. Who wants to come over for dinner? Hee Hee.

You Can't Come In!

Thought I'd give you a peek into my corner of the world. At this very moment. Being real, as you know I am, I have been in a pit as of late. Really what this means is I'm struggling with some depression again. This isn't new for me but it's been awhile. If you haven't dealt with depression, lucky you. I thought I'd share some of the lighter, funnier side of it.

First, my home is unrecognizable right now. I am very picky as to who gets in. "It can't be that bad," you say. Well, it's January 26th and my Christmas tree is still up, ornaments and all. Why? I just don't have it in me to take it down. I keep thinking, if it's still up by Valentines Day then I'll just hang red hearts all over it. Easter...eggs. You get the picture?

Imagine the worst teenager's bedroom. My bedroom looks even messier. I've decided if you do come into my house, you'll have to sign a consent form. You cannot talk about what you see or take pictures or ever speak of it again. When you are in a pit, this is what happens. If things don't improve soon, you may see me on one of these "Hoarding: Buried Alive" shows.

There are piles of clean clothes in the leather recliner and I just keep adding to the stack. When the kids need something to wear, I tell them to dig through that pile. It's all very sad actually so I can't really harp on my kids to pick up their rooms when mine looks like a bomb went off in it. Sort of hypocritical.

Forgetfulness is a reality when you are deep in a pit. Last night I put my dog in her crate at 10pm and I normally let her out in the morning. Poor Abby. I forgot about her this morning. I found her at 2pm still in her crate. Bless her heart. That's not all. Today has been tough. I broke my garage door (again) this morning. I was warming up the car to take the boys to the bus stop and then I pushed the button to open the garage. But it was already open, smash! Right on top of my van. Wait until I tell my father-in-law, he had to fix it the last time I did something stupid.

The worst of it is...come close so I can whisper this. I just invited some family members to come stay at my house this weekend and even offered to host a birthday celebration event. I have exactly two whole days to clean the whole thing up! Oh dear. What a predicament. Where is Cat in the Hat when you need him? And Thing One and Thing Two?

So the question is. Do I leave the tree up or have my relatives help me take it down? My dear sister-in-law Jodi is coming to the rescue on Friday and helping me whip this house into shape. SHE will sign a consent, she just doesn't know it yet. So glad God is all about grace. I am needing extra doses of it. Along with my own garage door company!