#1. The first Kleverkathy Couple’s Caribbean Cruise is set to sail October 24 – 31, 2010! We are gonna have a blast! Why do I mention this? Because I’m going to do it again! This time we are taking seven couples, next time I’d like to take double that or more! So… I am going to begin working on the next one tentatively for let’s say, June 2012! Stay tuned. In the meantime if you have travel needs, might I recommend Aleece Rothandler with Omega World Travel, 703-359-8888. She has been a great travel agent and I look forward to working with her in the future. (shoot me! I’m a marketer!)

#2. Please pray with/for me today as I have a phone interview at 11:30 this morning. Typically I don’t share these types of things with a lot of people because there is always the chance I won’t get it but… I have given it over to God so no matter what happens, I believe Him for His will and I am not worried about it! Getting this job would catapult me into the next phase of my life, but if it is not the Lord’s will, I’ll wait. It is a Department of the Army job and the transition would be almost seamless. I’m excited!

#3. Here is my health update. I had the ultrasound of my heart and carotid arteries Friday, no results yet. Getting to the most important specialist – the neurologist – is the problem! It is apparent I am not myself because any other time I would have raised the roof until I got that appointment! Here’s where we stand.

Friday I went to the office to ask why I hadn’t gotten my appt. After sitting there for 6 -7 full minutes while she was on the phone, finally she finishes and I explain that this is the third time I have been here about my neurology appt! She immediately gave me a print out that said a referral to an off post doctor was approved the day before! What!? I asked, if I hadn’t come in, would nobody had continued the process, made me an appt and called me? She assured me they would. So she picked up the phone to call to make my appt right then. It’s 4:30 by now and they are closed! She told me she will fax all my info to them and it would be waiting for them when they get to work Monday.

Monday… (tapping my toes). Finally, half way through the day, I call and she tells me… (wait for it!) there is only ONE neurologist in Columbus (the second largest city in Georgia! ) and the earliest he can see me is September 15th!!! OMG! So she tells me, she put herself in my shoes and she went ahead and called a neurologist in Opelika (25 miles away) and is waiting to hear from them. How magnanimous of her, don’t you think!

Here’s the thing, my first attack was Sunday, August 1st. My MRI was Tuesday, August 3rd. My second attack was Monday, August 9th and today it is Tuesday, August 17th and I am NO closer to an answer than I was Saturday, July 31st before this began! I have been advised on more than one occasion to fake an attack just to go to an off post hospital and maybe I will get quick results. That is not really me but… the thought of it is becoming more appealing. Daily I have at least the symptoms that scare me into thinking, another attack is coming on. I pray through it and it doesn’t overtake me but I am still worried. Today is it! I will have an appointment with the neurologist by close of business! I still have the joy of the Lord and I am still blessed! In the words of Hezekiah Walker: I know God favored me because my enemies did try, but couldn’t triumph over me! Yes they did try but couldn’t triumph over me. I’m still here, I’m still alive, I’m still blessed, on my way to my destiny, because the favor of God is on my life!

The last two months of my life have been trying to say the least! In efforts to not have a woe is me party right here at kleverkathy.com, I won’t bore you with ALL the details, I’ll just say, I honestly don’t know how I have maintained this far! Everyday seems to bring more hurt and pain and worry but… God is so good and He is handling this! He’s got this! It is amazing how we screw things up by leaning and depending on a person/people and invariably, the one/s you think you can count on, lets you down, but my great God never lets us down, does He!

So… my health has been one of the biggest surprises! I have now lost 25 pounds (it’s been hard! Excuse me for patting my own self on the back) and have conformed to a healthier lifestyle of eating and exercising. However, wouldn’t you know, I have been afflicted with attacks that have me and the doctors puzzled. Today I have an x-ray on my Carotid arteries and an ultrasound of my heart and am waiting for the most important appointment, a visit to the neurologist. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t scared and felt alone and sad, but I’d also be lying if I didn’t say, I know God is able! My sickness is on the cross. He left it there when he died for me! I can’t sing a sad song because I have seen the miracles and wonders He performs and as His child, I’m standing in line for the next one!

I am so grateful to all who have lifted me up in prayer. Here’s your flowers:
Angie, you got the first balling rolling! Thank you girlfriend! I love, love, love my brother Tom for making things happen when I can’t make them happen. He is a mover and shaker! (truth be told, he would make a great leader of a city, state or country! Lord just give me that!) I love you Karolann for being a true nurturer, always there willing to do whatever needs to be done! Kourtney, Kendall and Ali are the joy and strength of my life! Your concern and random “I love you” is what having children are all about. Karen, when I say go, I’m gonna step back and let you lose to do your thing! ROTFL! Daddy and Buzzy thank you for your ongoing prayers.  I know your anointing will get them to Him!  Bishop Fonzer, without your daily personal encouragements, I’d probably be wandering through my days with no real sense of what to do. Thank you. Lillian, thank you for telling me what to do and staying on top of me while I do it! Your concern is appreciated. Kim, you were the first to say, yea… that’s pretty scary! Lol. I smile about that because it is so true, I’m scared! Miss Betty, you have been a true mother-in-law through this. I look forward to your daily calls checking on me. Thank you and I love you! Karlissa, Kelsey, Kandance and Korbyn, thank you my sweet nieces. Wesley, thanks for calling and checking. Cece and AJ thanks for helping me through that first episode. My little Jaime and Amber, thank you for being there for me over and over and taking me home from the hospital both times and to my doctor appointments! Traci, Renee and Staci thank you for your love and concern.  Henry, Bobby and Jesse, thank you.  Master Kaiden Jay there are no words to say how much I love you and love hearing, “get better. I love you”! Grandmother loves it! The best medicine I could have!

Yesterday, today and tomorrow… I have to make some hard decisions. Decisions that I know will hurt me deeply but are necessary. Right now I am marking time but soon, I gotta move on! I ALMOST welcome the hardship and pain that will come along with my decisions just so looking back and knowing that I made it will be that much sweeter! Can you imagine the power of my testimony? And I will tell of His goodness!

Do you all know my favorite song? It is by Rev. Richard White, and it says: You been waiting on a blessing and it seems it just won’t come, doors are shut, things are rough, it seems that you’re all done, but the devil is a liar and a deceiver too, God Is Not Through Blessing You! I am holding on to that! I am encouraged and hopeful and I realize through all of this, God has an awesome assignment waiting for me on the other side! Stay tuned! The Best Is Yet To Come!

Carol lost her father a few days before Thanksgiving. She went home to Guam to bury him and her mother fell ill. She recovered enough for Carol to come home but a few weeks later took a turn and died right after the New Year. She went home to bury her mother and while there her Aunt fell ill and died. Two weeks ago Carol went home for her brother’s wedding. A day or two after the wedding, they were fishing. Carol’s other brother’s line got caught in some rocks. He went in to untangled it, the waters became too much, his lungs filled with water and he drowned. Lord! What More!!! Dad, Mom, Aunt and now brother.

Fastforward… Carol is still in Guam following her brother death and funeral. She had planed to return in a couple of days. Yesterday her sister fell ill, went to the doctor, was told she had an infection in her lungs, was hospitalized and died this morning. (long pause and heavy sigh…)

What? What? What? I myself am so sad and distraught; I can’t imagine Carol and her family’s unbelievable grief. How in the world do so many families escape family deaths and then others are bludgeoned with the despair of death over and over and over? I know God and I love God and I believe God and have served Him all my life. I think questioning God is a gray area and definitely shouldn’t be a common practice, however, today I find myself entering those gray murky waters as I ask: why God and how much more?

Carol is financially and emotionally spent. All we can do is help her financially, supply a shoulder to cry on, pray for her and know God is the only one that can carry her through this ongoing storm.

I have nothing else to say. Just pray for her. Holla back…

Rarely will you see me post prayer lists on kleverkathy.com. Not because I don’t believe in the power of prayer, I do! I have witnessed results from the power over and over again, firsthand! I don’t post them just because I think prayer is usually personal to the person praying, and although I see a name on a prayer list, because I don’t know them, it doesn’t stick with me to be diligent throughout their deliverance. But I do pray and I will pray, even for those I don’t know. However… today I am posting this request for one person specifically, my coworker Carol Castro.

Carol is from Guam. Her father became ill some time before Thanksgiving. He asked her to come and visit him. She tried to coordinate her visit with Thanksgiving. She already had schedule time off for Thanksgiving. She would be spending extra time in Guam to visit with her ill father. She planned to leave on Thanksgiving Day. He died a couple of days before. She went home and buried her father. While she was there, her mother became ill. She got better and Carol came back with hopes her mother would fully recover. Her mother passed right after the New Year. She went home to bury her mother. While she was there, her Aunt died. She stayed a little longer for her funeral. Carol and I talked about deaths in threes and basically touched and agreed that this was it for her and her family. They had suffered enough!

Carol is in Guam now. She went home to Guam last week for her brother’s wedding. Carol was due back today. We got word this morning her brother (we don’t know if it is the one that was getting married) was fishing and his line got caught in the rocks and he went in the water to unhook/fix it and somehow he drown! Oh Lord! What more?!

As I thought about this today and began thinking on the goodness of Jesus (still yet!) and thought on the saying (since it isn’t really a scripture per se), God won’t put more on us than we can bear, I realized, sometimes He does. But I believe He does it just so we will let Him bear it and make us rely totally and completely on Him! Unfortunately, at times, we go to God as a last resort instead of first choice! God should always be plan A! Actually, plan A, B, C all the way down to ZZ! So often He isn’t. Anyway…. I’ve digressed.

Bottom line, regardless, He is Good!

My heart and thoughts and prayers go out to Carol! She is a believer and I know she knows how good God is in the midst of this storm, her previous storms, and her future storms! But it is hard. Losing family member after family member takes a toll and is a lot to handle. Please keep Carol Castro and her family in your prayers!

The floor is open for any other prayer requests you have that you may want to share with us. Please feel free at any time to express those at kleverkathy.com, but especially today, share those with us as we ask God for that continuing praying spirit throughout the day. Holla back!

It is hard raising a child. Other than marriage ) I think it is the hardest job in the world!!! To me, today’s parents (generalization) are the laziest, most lackadaisical, lenient, wanting to get rid of their kids, parents I have ever seen! Children are so misbehaved these days. They will cuss at you, disregard you when you tell them something, threaten you with their mama or daddy, some may even pull a weapon on you! I’m just saying!

There are a lot of new age methods for raising children that tout a new and better way to make Johnny come out better than the last batch! Statistically, children are worse today than ever! And it all starts young. This is family week, but check out the two scenarios below and tell me what would you do.

Scenario #1: You just bought new furniture and it is but a few weeks old. You still enjoy the fresh leather smell every time you walk in your house. You have gotten compliment after compliment on your exquisite taste in picking this combination. You are pleased with your decision and plan to enjoy your furniture for years to come. One day your friend comes over and their child is, instead of sitting down in your new leather chair, jumping to sit in your chair! Repeatedly! You and the mother are standing right there! Your adrenaline is forcing your heart to double the beats per minute as you watch your expensive furniture disrespected. But not only are you watching, the mother is watching too! And the child; the child keeps eyeing you and essentially saying, nah nah nah nah nah. You can’t say anything to me or my mother will go off on you! Help somebody!!!

Scenario #2: You’re at the grocery store standing in line. A mom and little one are standing behind you. The little tyke keeps running their kiddy cart into the heel of your foot…and it hurts! The mother is on the cell phone paying absolutely no attention to this state of affairs. The first time you kind of turn around and look at the child and then up at the mother, smile and step up a little, hopefully out of the range of the tykester. You do this two more times but it is apparent, little Johnny/Johnita is making a sport of running into your foot! The mother is oblivious to this baby crime spree. Should you interrupt the mother’s call and ask her for a band-aid!!!

In each scenario the parent is not doing their job! If you know me, you know I have said so many times, the two easiest things to train are pets and children. That is why God gives them to us at birth! But society today is made up of parents, especially the parents of the “I hate to see that kid coming” little kids, that don’t want to train their child yet don’t want you to say anything to their little china doll!

So in each of these situations, what do you do? Would you say something to the parent? Would you say something to the child? Would you just say nothing and take action and lift the child out of your chair and make them stand the rest of the visit? Would you take your items and get in another check out line? Would you beat the snot out of the child or better yet, the parent? Just kidding!!! (although I am convinced, there are not really bad kids, but bad parents) Seriously, what would you do? Let us know and share your experiences with the village and without the village. Holla back!