A cheerful heart!

Hi chickas! How's it going? Awesome I hope!! Praying for you to have JOY today and to be filled up with tons of "cheer"!!

"A cheerful heart is good medicine!!" Proverbs 17:22

I had a few fun ideas I thought I would pass your way and I am hoping that you have some you could pass back! I am always looking for new fun things to spice up life, you gotta keep things interesting! Plus it is always fun to share cool finds!

First, my coach just left for an away game. It had been a rough week of "to do's" and working on eligibility requirements for some players, tough practices and then the thought of spending 6 hours on a bus....well lets just say there won't be febreeze handy :) The kids and I won't be going on this trip, but we still wanted coach to know we love him and we would be cheering him on! So we pulled together a quick travel bag of goodies...nothing too fancy, but it meant the world to Toby. It really is all about the simple things in life and sometimes I think I make things way to complicated.
Today we didn't have much time, but we used the time we had along with a little bit of cash and we whipped up something sweet and special for coach. We bought two sport's illustrated magazines, I printed off 3 of our favorite game day pics and put laminate over them (Scotch brand has some awesome "do-it-yourself" laminate I found @ Walmart to cover photos!), and wrote some inspirational quotes and scripture on the back, as well as two big zip-lock baggies of Oreos!
Ladies it doesn't take much, they just want to know you love 'em and you believe in them to do the job at hand!

I also have a website to give you. My friend has started making some adorable hats and she made me one for SWOSU, well it is just too cute so I have to share!
Thought it would be a great gift idea for other wives on your staff as well as being a new gift for yourself! Her web address is www.hannaspaige.com and it has her info on there to order and design your own hat!

I love you so much and I so respect the job you do! Keep it up! It isn't easy, but you are doing an INCREDIBLE job!!!

Love, love,
Cari

The Cracked Pot...

I am re-reading an awesome book that I LOVE! It is Warrior Chicks by Holly Wagner...anyone that is needing an extra boost of confidence from God should grab and devour this book...I seriously love it that much :)...anywho...I was reading today and there was a story she tells that I thought was perfect to share today! Enjoy!

"A water-bearer carries two large pots on a yoke across his shoulders up the hill from the river to his master's house each day. One has a crack and leaks half its water out each day before arriving at the house. The other pot is perfect and always delivers a full portion of water after the long walk from the river.

Finally, after years of arriving half-empty and feeling guilty, the cracked pot apologized to the water-bearer. It was miserable. "I'm sorry that I couldn't accomplish what the perfect pot did."

The water-bearer said, "What do you have to apologize for?"

"After all this time, I still only deliver half my load of water. I make more work for you because of my flaw."

The man smiled and told the pot. "Take note of all the lovely flowers growing on the side of the path where I carried you. The flowers grew so lovely because of the water you leaked. There are no flowers on the perfect pot's side."

I would like to say that there is no "perfect" pot. All of us have a past or hurts or issues we are dealing with. The point is that our past - or what we might see as flaws - can create beauty. You and I must understand, really understand, all the way to our core, that we are beautiful. Just the way we are. Only when we realize this will we be able to extend our hand to help-which is one of the reasons we are still breathing. We were created to join God in doing the work He does, the good work we had better be doing. Believe it or not, God is counting on you and me to co-labor with Him to bring His love and goodness to the planet. We are not just spectators; we are participants. And being a participant in His army makes us soldiers. And if we choose, we can become a warrior-and since we are beautiful, that makes us beautiful warriors!"

Yeah...I'm fired up!! If that isn't a great locker room pep-talk I don't know what is!! Ladies I hope that encourages you today like it encouraged me. Man, it makes me what to charge the field in like a "crazy lady-gone Braveheart" kinda way ;)!!

I read that and I realize that as long as I keep learning from what I think might be a mistake or a misstep God can make a beautiful garden grow! I just gotta keep stepping, keep cheering, keep loving, keep growing and keep reaching out to help those around me!! So fellow "cracked pots" ;) let's keep spilling out living water!!

"He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water." John 7:38

Love to you from a very cracked pot ;),
Cari

No gas, no cell phone and no garage door opener...awesome! :)

It has been a while since we have spoken and I apologize for that, but I am so happy that today the Lord has brought us together to chat about life! And today was a doozy, so our chat should be pretty good! :)

As the kids and I headed out the door this morning to run some necessary errands I realize that my husband is still working on my new cell phone and won't have it ready for me to take while I run errands. I think to myself as I pass out pop-tarts and sip my coffee, "Oh, it should be fine...we will only be out for a bit. And we live in Weatherford now so nothing is too far from home or Toby's office. Yeah it's okay we'll be back in a minute." We pull out of the drive way, turn up some of our new favorite music (Matt Papa - amazing worship!), start singing "How He Loves Us" with my little people and head for the first stop on the list.

1. Put gas in the car

I have decided to include that as a #1 listed item because I am a list maker...I do # things that I need to get done, but I am the master of relocating items to different numbered positions - like any good mom/wife/multi-tasker :)- thru out my day. I usually try to be as effective as possible. I am also writing it as a #1 item because it was obviously important, but it got relocated....big mistake. :)

So we head to the gas station. I pull up to the pump, to which Cade says "Mommie are we going back to our Weatherford house now?" as he is known for doing the moment we step out to do a long list of "fun" mommie errands. It's like no matter how fun I try to make them sound it's like they just know. Kiddos are pretty smart. As I am answering Cade and sifting through my Mary Poppins bag to find my newly organized money envelope system for the month, I realize they are sitting neatly on my night stand. I don't want to cheat and use my debit card when I am really trying to be a good girl and stick to the system so I decide I'll have to go back to the house! Stink!

"Oh, well." I say out loud to the kids, "We will just relocate item #1 down a few and knock out some of these other errands and then swing back by the house pick up the envelopes and THEN go get gas. I mean the gage reading LOW FUEL RANGE doesn't really mean that, I have a few more miles in there...hahahhaa! It's aaaallll good! We pull out of the gas station, turn the volume knob to the right and start rockin' out to Matt Papa again, only this time we get to a great older worship song "Here I am to worship, here I am to bow down, Here I am to say that your my God. You're all together lovely, all together worthy, altogether wonderful to me." All the while rollin' through my newly adjusted "To Do List" in my head and singing, but not really paying attention to what I am singing. Then as I am turning right the music in the car turns off, the air shuts off and the power steering starts laughing at me as I am having to anchor my body against the console to make a right hand turn....

...oh no, I just ran out of gas.....stink!

The long and short of how this particular scenario plays out is this....I immediately reach for my cell phone in my purse.....

.....oh no, I left my cell phone with Toby....stink again!

So I look up and notice this guy that is mowing yards - to which I of course case several scenarios of safety in my head and evaluate that it is safe to ask for help - hey you never know! I flag him down and precede to give him my sob story - however I am hesitant to admit that I ran out of gas because I feel so stupid...but I do confess and he proceeds to offer some help and even some gas from the gas tank for his mowers....then even offers to give us a ride back to my house...awesome....only problem is that when I finally get to my house and he is driving away I realize Toby is not home and....

.....oh no, I have no garage door opener....stink, stink, stink!

So the kids and I journey back to the car, which does turn in to a lovely nature hike. Cade was definitely happier with the way the day turned out! ;) As we are about to reach the car a police officer drives by...what do I do? I flag him down too, tell him my sob story to which he says he is in route to check out the suburban that's rear was judding out in to a main street...they had received some calls. :)

Obviously I was glad to confess to being the owner of the car...it's called sarcasm folks ;) He decides that we should all pile in his cop car and go get more gas from the gas station...my son at this point is having the greatest day of his life...nature hikes, cop car rides...and oh I almost forgot to mention as I am chatting with the officer, holding on to Ainsley that is clinging to me for dear life terrified that I might forget her today in all my "forgetful list repositioning" craziness and instruct Cade to stand by a tree while we are talking. He makes the executive decision that it is a perfect place and time to take a bathroom break...right there, off a main street in town, and by a tree...I'm surprised I didn't think of it myself. LOL! Thankfully I did not actually see this happen I only hear Cade say "Hey mom, that was perfect....I just went ahead and pee*peed right here by this tree." All I can say at this point is "Okay, whatever, we'll talk about that decision making process later." ;)

Okay so long story, longer...we get to the gas station, I have to spend $25 on a gas can, wow...we fill it up with gas, get back to the car and put the gas in the car. While the officer is helping with the gas I put the kids in the car and watch as they both climb to the back. I open the back window only to hear Cade say, "Hey mom, come see the caged animals at the zoo and tell 'em you love 'em!" All I can do is chuckle and give my two caged zoo animals kisses.

By this time we have contacted Toby at the college, who arrives shortly and fixes the "oh it's okay not to have my cell phone for a few short errands, oh it's okay not to put gas in the car just yet and oh no I don't have my garage door opener" situation. Whew.

We have been pretty hectic around here as I am sure most of you have that have started your respective seasons. We are moving about zero to sixty these days. The Trotter troops successfully moved from Texas to Oklahoma, have settled in to an adorable little house in Weatherford, Ok and are smack dab in the middle of the Southwestern Oklahoma State University football season! Sounds easy enough right?! You coach's wives out there know better than that!:)

It's football season, which is code for "You just coach 'em up, we got the homestead covered!"

I love my coach and love that when asked the question "What would you do if money was no option?"

Simply answers, "I'd coach football." I love that and feeling that Toby is doing exactly what God has created him to do makes my heart as a wife so happy.

Those answers don't mean that being a coaching family is easy and that you are always loving the "job". It definitely isn't easy. But as I got home from my almost productive errand running day, fed everybody lunch, tidied the house and put everyone down for naps...I got quiet. I got humbled. I realized that it might be okay to leave my cell phone, or run out of gas (although I am hoping to learn from that experience), or even not have a way in to the house and spend the morning on a nature hike back to the car and cop car rides to get gas....but for the sanity of my soul and the soul of my family leaving God behind won't work.

I started this post by numbering my first errand. I'll tell you what our fist errand every day should be....

#1. Run, sprint, crash, fall, tumble, sit, kneel or stand before Jesus - get His instructions. Get His inspiration. Gather your thoughts and position your heart. Do not reposition this item.

Our seasons aren't going to be easy. Even if you win every game. Something will come up for you or someone you are close to because of your position as a coach's wife and if we choose to leave Christ at home, or take a chance on repositioning what should be #1 position in our lives or even take a chance to "run a few more errands before we fill up with God" we'll miss it. We will miss where God wants to use us and I can guarantee we will miss being the effective wives, mothers and influencers Christ wants us to be.

Being a coaching family, if you will let it, will stretch your faith beyond your capacities. That's why we have to fix our eyes on Jesus...not on winning or losing, not on success or failure...not on circumstances, agony of the past or the "might be" of the future...not on the perfect job, place or home....we have to fix our eyes on Jesus...It's not easy ladies and we can't do it alone. I'm with ya and today's happening is just one in a list of a thousand experiences over the recent months some with a good amount of comedy and some that are not so funny that have reminded me of the song that started my day and I just breezed right past. Don't miss it.

Here I am to worship
Here I am to bow down
Here I am to say that You're my God
You're all together lovely
All together worthy
All together wonderful to me

As we journey through funny moments of "holding down the fort" while coach is on the field let's encourage each other to position ourselves in front of the Father that loves us so much each day so that our gage reads FULL.

"There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, The holy dwelling places of the Most High. God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns." Psalm 46:4-5


Love, love, love you
Cari

By the way...I just realized I had my car keys with my house key on the ring the whole time...nice. :)

It's Game Time!

Well, it has been forever my fellow wives! Ladies...for the Trotter bunch IT'S GAME TIME! I have so much to share from the past couple of months...so many ways the Lord has lovingly and most of time with a fair amount of comedy stretched us...lots to chat about and you wives out there that are starting up your respective seasons...."Be strong and courageous!" Joshua 1:9

I promise to catch up with this little blog soon...until then know that I love you and am praying for you! Remember ladies..."Be strong and courageous!" Your coach may be tough on the field of battle, but he needs your strength...and the only place to find that kind of strength is from the Lord! Cannot wait to chat more soon!

Love and Blessings,
Cari

Family Hugs!!!!

Hello my sweet ladies!! It has been a bit since we talked and I have missed you! Forgive me for taking so long to catch up on life, toss ya a little encouragement and gain a little strength from ya...we have been nomads with no country traveling back and forth between Texas, Oklahoma City and Weatherford, OK. Just trying to settle ourselves down, you know! So I have not been as consistent with writing to you, but I have been thinking about you and praying for you...especially those of you in the middle of transition! The "tweener" phases of life can get you a little hairy if you know what I mean!! Which is what today's post is all about!

I have included a photo my mom-in-law snapped of us recently that sums up how we feel right now. We are squeezed in as tight as we can to each other. If I am not totally off a few of you might be in the same place too. Holding on tight to each other in the middle of a transition...whether you are moving or not...it has seemed to be a common place for most as I have chatted to others about their own "tweener" phases! Toby and I started this when Cade was a baby and we would all squeeze in really tight and say "Family Hugs!!!!" really loud. Well it caught on so much that every now and again Cade will say we just need a good family hug..thus the pic.

And in this pic we are in the middle of a great family hug. It actually looks a little like Cade has Ainsley in a choke hold, but all in love I am sure! :) Any-who...

I added this photo because we are having to do this more than ever while transitioning from one job to another. We are holding on tight and trusting in God to sell our house in Texas, move us and plant us successfully in a new community and protect us in every way in the process. It has taken longer than we anticipated and we are really ready to be situated, but we are having to continue waiting for several things to fall in to place before that happens.

I kinda feel like I have felt right before my babies were born....do you know what I mean? Like you have been pregnant with them for 9 months and out of anyone you are soooooooo ready for them to be born, meet 'em and get on with lovin' 'em! But no matter how fast you want it to happen you have to wait till they are ready, completely. Everything has to be formed just right and it has to be God's perfect timing. However with all that waiting it never fails that some well meaning person you run in to a week before your due date sees you walking in the store looking like a beached whale and laughingly says, "Still haven't had that baby yet?!?!", to which you lovingly and ever so patiently reply, "Nope, still haven't had that baby yet!". I try to be sweet but somehow always end up saying it with a strained look on my face thinking to myself.."You have no idea how ready I am to have this baby!!"

Seems like most of my prayers have been about transition lately, but that is right were we are tweener transition! And sooooo ready for the birth of something new. We are trying to walk each step with Joy and Faith and having to resist the temptation to respond to the "tweener" with a strained look on my face! :)

I love My Utmost for His Highest and it seems that I always find the perfect encouragement. I was reading through some of May and I came across one that I couldn't help but post.

Perseverance means more than endurance— more than simply holding on until the end. A saint’s life is in the hands of God like a bow and arrow in the hands of an archer. God is aiming at something the saint cannot see, but our Lord continues to stretch and strain, and every once in a while the saint says, "I can’t take any more." Yet God pays no attention; He goes on stretching until His purpose is in sight, and then He lets the arrow fly. Entrust yourself to God’s hands.

So ladies if you are in transition, waiting or moving...I am right there with ya and I love you!! God is stretching back His bow and aiming at something we cannot see yet, hold on and hug tight! I know God has His purposes in sight and He is about to let His arrows fly!! Hang in there, believe me I know it is hard I am so there with you, but we have to trust Him, hang on and hug tight!!!

Even if sometimes it looks like a choke hold...at least it will be a choke hold of Love!

FAMILY HUGS OF LOVE TO YOU TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!

Kiss the Coach!

So my mom found some fun pictures of me when I was a little girl and this was one of them. It is of me kissing my dad through the fence at the baseball field. I'm the one behind the yellow hoodie :)

I was born into to the world of sports. My dad is a baseball coach by job description, and really has a baseball brain. He knows more about the game than he could ever forget! And my mother was already championing the coach's wife ranks as well as being an accomplished Speech Pathologist when I came along. Matter of fact when I was born there is a picture of my dad holding me and behind him on the TV in my parents recovery room is the 1980 Winter Olympics, specifically the Miracle Hockey team winning the gold medal against all odds. I was even brought home in a Sesame Street Olympics onesie!:)

Like I said I was born a coach's daughter. I was afforded and still have the incredible opportunity to watch my parents balance the good, the bad and the ugly of being a coaching family. I have watched them go through the seasons of several sports both at the high school and junior high level. I watched as my mom has taxied four kids around. I have watched as she both stayed at home and balanced a successful career, dealt with the highs and lows of winning and losing, as well as the highs and lows of coaching. I have seen her support my dad's dream through thick and very thin. Through good days and bad.

I have watched my dad impact students and families for 30 years +. I have waited up to see my dad and hear all about the game. I have a great memory of him sitting by our fire place and taking the tape off of his baseball sock while he told the details of the game. I didn't have any idea what he was talking about but the passion in which he told it, made me love it! I have waited in the driveway to see if we where going to get to take that family vacation to Tulsa for State Playoffs. I have loved my parents through times when the "game" that you love so much disappoints and almost devastates you. I watched as my house growing up was a Rolodex of players just dropping by to say "hi and thanks for everything coach". I could have never known just how important that would be to my step now.

My parents dealt with and still deal with life honestly. We were never without what we needed, but we were aware of what was a "need" and what was a "want". They were open about times when coaching hurt your feelings and drained your time. They were open about how hard you had to work, the sacrifices that had to be made and the discipline it took to be committed to something bigger than yourself. And when we celebrated, vacationed or spent time together as a family we went all out! We have cried, cheered, supported, loved and prayed together.

I guess in posting this today I was thinking of all us mommies and coaches out there raising up coaching families. It is a lot to balance. And sometimes going to the field or the gym takes work and for me, who is a big time "scheduler and likes to stick to the plan" kinda gal, I have to be willing to bend the rules sometimes. I am so thankful that I was raised in a coaching family. It taught me more lessons than I could post in this blog, but there are a couple I remember the most. I learned to support those you love,that it takes discipline to achieve great things, and having a great amount of passion for what you do.

I am praying that we would raise up a generation of coaching families that support each other, encourage each other as we pursue greatness and that we are strengthened as we work and live. I pray almost more than anything that we would be a generation of coaching families that live with a huge amount of passion not only for what sport we coach, but for the way in which we coach it. And yes, ladies I mean you. We "coach" just as much as the coach himself.

I cannot encourage you ladies enough, I love ya! Keep going to the field, the gym, the court. Keep opening your home, your life and your time. It will payoff and I am reminded today that all our little people are watching, observing and making decisions....let's make sure they grow to not only love, support and enjoy the "sport" but the family that was behind it all!

Love to you today!

Whoa..is all I have to say about this morning!

Whoa is right. I don't know if any of you have seen the greatness of Steel Magnolias or not (you should if you haven't...I mean grab a box of tissues, your mom, sister, grandma and best girlfriends, get a good cup of coffee and pull up for some chick flick greatness!) but if you haven't, they talk about laughing through tears being the greatest emotion. Today I would agree.

Toby is out on the recruiting trail and so I am "holding down the Trotter fort" this week as the lone commander. This morning I did not do so great at leading the troops. For starters I woke up late. Boooo. I hate that when it happens. I needed to get up early so I could have a little "me time" or better said "God time", get a shower and be ready to go when the little people woke up because we had year doctor checks today. Side note: it is actually a little more accurate to say year plus two months...I'm a little behind :)...Any who...

My thoughts are that I overslept my alarm because at 1:30am it started storming outside and I heard Cade's battery powered dump truck start rolling through the backyard because of the wind...and when you are the lone commander your senses are on high alert so I about jumped out of my skin when I hear a huge bolt of thunder and then think a dump truck is backing up into my backyard at 1:30 in the morning! Needless to say I was jolted from my "I will lay my head down in peace and rest" - slumber. Finally I think I drifted back off around 3am after I had checked the crazy Oklahoma weather and made sure we wouldn't blow away to Oz in a Tornado...Geez...

So back to my morning...well Cade man wondered in to my room to give me my wake up call and of course I jumped a mile high when I realized we had 45 minutes to do the flight of the bumble bees and shower me (and I was desperate for a shower...and a hair wash..hey, just being honest here...personal hygiene is low on the ole' to do list these days, but today it had to happen!) milk, breakfast, COFFEE (and yes it is in all caps), get me dressed, kids dressed, diaper bag/Euro pack of tricks packed, Insurance info in hand for new doctor (which is a huge part of this story), and out the door! And for sure on track to be only 5 minutes late...awesome. Another side note: I hate to be late!

Okay so we are clean, ready and I am trying to toss all the questions I want to ask the new doc to the front of my brain while I am driving, putting on mascara, giving a quick spiritual lesson for the day to Cade and trying to pass bites of breakfast bar to Ainsley. Multi-task much?!?! Welcome to life as a mom! :)

Okay...(remember I say okay at least 500 times a day..I wasn't kidding!). We pull into the doctor and I grab a quick call from the hubby before he hits his recruiting meetings for the day. Quick I love you and we bust through the doors of the doc!

The rest of the story I will fast forward and hope that you can hang with me and feel the laugh/cry that was coming on from the shot of the gun this morning. We enter the office and greet the nurse/receptionist at the window. I am given a huge stack of papers to fill out while keeping both my toddler children "in play". Again, okay...

They call us back before I have time to finish filling out the paper work and although I came armed with my new insurance info it never fails to take FOREVER to "get in the system". We finally get to the room, wait a bit and have the doc come in. Of course I forget every question I wanted to ask and just go with the doctor flow because I am just trying to make it a pleasant experience for all. Knowing all the while I am about to ruin Ainsley's day with the all exciting immunizations. The doctor, nurses, staff etc were great...no complaints. But somewhere in the middle of dishing out another breakfast bar, talking to the doctor about Cade potentially regressing the whole potty training thing when he is 6 (whoa, he is only 3?!?!), Ainsley pulling out old Popsicle sticks out of the trashcan and the mound of "we just need you to fill out these few papers to get you in the system" paper work I started to feel a laugh/cry coming on.

Well, we made it through the appointment all smiles. Ainsley made it through her immunizations and got her finger pricked. The kids are happy, healthy and ready for another year of fun! As I am walking out the door I am handed immunization precautions, what to do if your child is anemic, and the mound of paper work I didn't finish to take home. Whoa...to say my brain was on overload is an understatement.

I got everyone in the car. I got in the car and all at once I started laughing so hard and then just started crying. It was awesome. I just released it all. We are in a new place, I was championing the new doc and new insurance thing, and I was just trying to make the best decisions for my precious kiddos in the middle of it all.
I have tons of support, love coming from a million directions and a family that is just precious, but in that moment of "overwhelming new" I just needed a laugh cry.

Okay...

And you know what as soon as I let out a few tears and a couple of laughs God scooped me up. He loved on me in my weaknesses and didn't forsake me. He loved me and was tender to me today so that I could continue in joy and not accept the "overwhelming new" that was pressing against me.

"For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. And I will be found by you declares the Lord." Jeremiah 29:11-14

In the middle of it all I said a little prayer for all you ladies doing the same thing and feeling a laugh/cry coming on today. God will not forsake us in our weaknesses, in fact it reminded me that His power is perfected in my weaknesses! (2 Corinthians 12:9)Thank goodness!!!!

To finish off this little post for today I wanted to share a link to some music that is AWESOME and a song that fits my heart perfect for today. Check it out if you get a chance. The link is www.karijobe.com and the song for the day is You Are For Me. Oh, and I will be watching Steel Magnolias tonight! :)

Much love to you today!
Cari