Hello World!

Friday nights often leave me home alone. It's not that I don't enjoy High School football because I do. I just am not crazy about all the crazy people who attend high school football games. Plus, I tend to be a little claustrophobic and sitting at the top of the bleachers surrounded by people that I don't know whose laps I would almost have to sit on in order to squeeze out to make a potty run, which is likely at my age, just makes the whole thing seem like a waste of a good tv viewing night. And that may be the longest sentence I have ever written!

So in the interest of all one or three of my readers here are a few observations observed while watching tv while home alone:

A) Jon Stossel is leaving ABC for Fox News. That's right Jon! Leave the dark side and come to the light.
B)LaToya Jackson is soooo strange.
C)Sleepless in Seattle was probably the last time Meg Ryan's hair looked good.
D)YAZ will help to prevent pregnancy and clear up your zits.
E) Chris Matthews makes me want to throw up.
F) Maybe next Friday I should go the ballgame!

A long time ago I used to blog...

WOW! It has really been a long time since I last looked at my blog. And boy have things changed since then. I lost my job and Michael Jackson died. Life shattering events as you might imagine. It truly has been a tough few months. I LOVED MY JOB! But the economy ran amuck and it crashed into the non-profit where I worked. I went in on a Thursday and was told that the next day would be my last. It was devastating! Even the director who gave me the news cried when she told me. It has been a very difficult time emotionally and spiritually. I have spent a lot of time confused about what God is doing and what all this means for me and my family. What are the lessons I am supposed to learn? For a while I thought the answer to those questions were complicated. But now I think I am getting it.

When life tosses us around we WANT the answers to be earth shattering and profound and they are. They are profoundly simple. They are found in the Bible verses that every child is taught in Sunday School. Verses like, "What time I am afraid I will trust in thee" (Ps. 56:3) or "Be anxious for nothing.." (Phil. 4:6) and "Cast all you cares on Him because He cares for you", (I Peter 5:7).

The older I get the bigger worrier I become. I think it is because as we age we understand just how scary life can be and we file all that fear away in our brains so that we can pull it out in the panic of our lives. But there is another file that we should keep at the ready and that is the file of God's protection and provision over us! For all of my 45 years he has NEVER left me to fend for myself or make my own way. He has always provided, always cheered me on and always blessed my life. My temporary circumstances do not scare Him in the least nor do they catch Him by surprise. He will always prove Himself to be faithful in loving and caring for me.

I love hymns. These words are my prayer today and everyday:

"Tis so sweet, to trust in Jesus,

just to take Him at His word.

Just to rest upon HIs promise,

Just to know, "Thus saith the Lord"

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!

How I've proved Him o're and o're!

Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!

O for grace to trust Him More!"

Monday Morning Mercy

Psalm 71: 8
"My mouth is full of praise and honor to you all day long"
I have always been amazed by runners. Not table runners PEOPLE runners. I am talking about the folks who can strap on a pair of Nike's and start to run. And keep running. And keep running... There is just something facinating to me about "the long haul". That is thing that requires focus and concentration and energy and determination. It requires preparation and motivation. For me, that thing that requires all that inner strength and drive is ... MONDAY MORNING! I don't like them and I don't do well. Mine starts way to early and ends way to late. It is the busiest day of my week and I live out my Mondays in a rush of coffee, traffic and emails. So often I run through my marathon Monday, collapse into bed and realize, I lost the race. The God race. I never stopped to praise Him or honor Him even once. Never mind doing it "all day long".
This verse reminds me that God pursues a relationship with us that is living and active. A relationship that invades everything we do and say. All Day Long. So today.....
Lord, may my mouth be full of praise to you while I am in traffic, at my desk and on the phone. My I honor you while I love my children, find their homework and make sure they are fed. May I lift a song to you when I hit my 3pm slump and want to quit in frustration. May I be infused with your Holy Spirit in the most unlikely of places like the laundry room. And when the day is done and my marathon complete, allow me to raise my hand and give you Lord, my running buddy and victory "high five"!

"And on the seventh day the Lord RESTED"?

Really? Like does that happen anymore? 'Cause let me tell you something, Sunday is a work day for this old girl! Most of the time I fall into bed on Sunday evenings exhausted by the events of the day. See if this rings a bell for you:
6:30 am - feet hit the floor and the mad dash for the coffee pot begins. By 7 am I have peeled 3lbs of potatoes, and seasoned the chicken for frying after church. 7:30 and the dishes are done and I have started making the rounds to wake up the people who were sleeping while I was doing dishes! 8am - Jump in the shower ( water is cold because the people who stayed in bed while I did the dishes are now all in the shower at the same time as me!!). Between 8 and 8:45 I dry my hair throw a casserole in the oven and apply approx. 1/2 lb of Bare Minerals. ( The results are nothing short of miraculous!) Grab Bible, Grab children, crate the animals and jump in the car.
After we get to church I prepare my heart for worship by running around like a chicken with her little head chopped off gathering music and looking for members of our Praise Team.

By 9:45 I am leading rehersals and praying mercy over our sweet sound man who bless his heart cannot seem to make us all happy!

Worship begins at 10:30 and I am lookng forward to the sermon as it will allow me to sit for 30 minutes.

After church I hug the necks of friends and strangers alike while running out the door for home to get dinner on the table. By 1:30 we have eaten and the Rev. and I are out the door to the local hospital to see a brand new baby boy and his sweet parents. Then home again. Plan the service for tonight and help with college son's laundry. (Don't even say it!! It is the one thing he still needs me for and I Love IT!)

Church tonight and I am back home in bed and exhausted but get this, I am also RESTED! How does that happen? I think it is because for one whole day I have particiapted in things that are bigger than me. It is a sweet thing to get a family to church on Sunday morning. It is a beautiful thing to raise my voice in the worship of our King. And those necks I hugged, well I love those necks because they are attached to people who are dear to me. It is a precious thing to see my family all around the same table at the same time. And a hospital becomes Holy Ground as you touch the face of a newborn baby and know that his parents are undertaking the most sacred of jobs.

Thank you Lord for the kind of rest that comes from getting our eyes off ourselves for just a little while and setting our hearts on higher things. It is an amazing thing and you are an amazing God!

Bloggy Confession

For the last several months I have become increasingly addicted to reading blogs. Many of the ones I frequent leave me feeling challenged and inspired and encouraged. But sometimes.. something else creeps in. I begin to look at the lives of other people and feels downright envious. There I said it. The green monster called envy wants to settle itself in my heart as I read about women who can save 20 gazillion dollars with coupons. Women who find the time to bake cookies, keep their laundry caught up and churn homemade butter. Women who live on a ranch. Women who live on the beach. Women who seem to have it all and getting more of it all the time. I begin to focus on my own issues. Like the fact that I work 40 hours a week. My laundry is never done. We are in debt (SSSHHHHH!) and I drive a van with a dent in it. There is dog slobber on my wall, my baseboards haven't seen a scrubbing in forever and I feel overwhelmed and incapable most of the time. I don't have a stash of bulk groceries and I haven't seen my "hair girl" in months! *SIGH*

But then...... I get myself together and realize that no one has it all together and I find comfort in that. I have been in the ministry long enough to know that very seldom is someone's life the way they make it out to be. We are masters of disguise when it comes to showing people who we really are. After all, it is much more satisfying to our HUGE egos if we allow people to see only what we want them to see. Then we can make the picture pretty. And sweet. And yes, uncluttered.

So here is to being real. And being thankful for what I have. A precious family, everyone healthy, a frozen Pizza to have for dinner and yes even said "slobbery dog". The next time I want to be like someone else I will just look in the mirror. That girl looking back at me has got it pretty good!!!

The list of school closings is as follows:

Sevier County. Third time this week. My children went to school 6 days in the month of January. This is as smart as they are gonna get.

It all came to a screeching halt!

For those of you who see snow on a regular basis you cannot imagine what it is like to live here in the south and see the chaos that ensues at the first falling snow flake. We generally lose our minds. Schools begin to let out early, businesses close up shop and everyone hits Kroger for milk and bread. As for me, if I am going to be snowed in my last minute run to the grocery store will garner for my family chips, dip, soda, popcorn, Doritios and salsa. (Also an extra roll of toilet paper because, well, you know! ) Anyway, after we sweep the gas stations to fill up our tanks we hunker down. And then we watch it snow. For an hour. And then it stops. But we are thrilled that there is a dusting on the ground and that alone may get us out of school and work for tomorrow. I LOVE THE SOUTH. It just doesn't get any better than this!