My hero

I must confess, my hero is my niece. She is one of the most wonderful, loving, caring human beings I know. She also loves the Lord with everything she's got. She believes in being nice to people, in showing them love, and enjoying life. So, I had to put up a picture of me and my hero. I wonder if she will ever know what a profound impact she has on my life....

Pressing On

This past week is almost a blur, and I am not even quite sure why. Could it be I am sleep deprived, or maybe the running all over town we did yesterday? Maybe the "professional development" day we had today that left me wondering, "Why do I teach again?" But anyway, let's get moving here...

Last Thursday, Andy took me to the Casting Crowns concert. Josh Bates and Nicole Nordeman were there as well. What a wonderful concert! Josh Bates is a new artist from Kentucky, and the only negative aspect of his set was that it ended. I will definitely be going to get his cd on my next jaunt to Lifeway. Nicole Nordeman jammed, as usual. She is a magnificent storyteller, she really is. This is the second or third time I have seen her in concert, and it feels more like I am sitting in a living room with her rather than watching her on a stage. Of course, Casting Crowns was awesome. One of their new songs, Praise You In This Storm, TORE ME UP! It is a beautiful song, and can be heard on their website. It was a wonderful night of praise, and much needed it seems for Andy and I. It was incredible to look around the Grand Ole Opry and see hundreds of people just praising God. It feels as if my own well has been running dry, by no fault but my own, and it was good to be in His presence. The late hour is what took us away before the concert was fully completed, but it was still a blessing.

Peggy spoke this past Saturday for a women's event. Unfortunately, I was not able to make it. Andy and I did have a wonderful morning together however, which was needed after feeling like we had hardly seen each other all week. I am sure Peggy did a wonderful job, and I'm also sure there probably wasn't a dry eye in the place. I will have to find out if anyone taped it.

Yesterday, Andy and I served in children's church. Oh those third graders, they are a mess. It is fun to see how kids wrap their minds around the things of God. We were talking about how Jesus paid our debt, and one little girl asked, "But how do all of our sins fit on one cross?" I just smiled at that question, big question for a young girl. She went on to say, "I know I sin all the time, everyday, so, how do they all fit on the one cross?" This is where we wanted to say, "because Jesus said it was so, that is why." I love how literal kids can be in their interpretations, as if each individual sin is up on a cross on a spiritual post-it note. The joy of Jesus, they are shredded up the moment we ask forgiveness. Good thing, because there is no post-it pad large enough for this girl!

So, these days, I find myself uttering the simple prayers of a child. I feel at a loss for words most of the time, or maybe I finally realize I don't really need to be saying much at all to begin with. It has been a long time since I have felt awkward during prayer times (which, let's get real here, still aren't as frequent as they should be, if you don't count the, "Lord, keep me from killing this child" prayers I mutter everyday at school), but it is good. It is good to have to go back to the basics, to question why I believe what I do, and search and strive to go further in my faith. Sometimes, it is even good to feel like a mute (yes, I hear you all laughing at the thought of me being mute), to finally not feel like I have to perform, but to be able to simply sit in His holy presence....if only I would do it more.

Be blessed today.

ps

I loved my dress, but I am praising God I had a shawl to go with it. Without it, I was headed for a wardrobe malfunction of Janet Jackson proportions. YIKES! That would not have been good. So, a big thank you to Tara's boutique for helping me find the dress AND the shawl to go with it!

Hooray for snow

Somone listened, we have a snow day today! Yippee! I am so happy, even if it means I now have to clean the house. That's what I get for making a statement last night about needing a snow day so I could clean. Oh well.

Andy and I fully enjoyed the Valentine's Banquet. And to prove I do wear a dress once a year, here's a picture:

It was a wonderful evening, and the seminar Saturday morning was great. I had to struggle to stay awake thanks to some medicines I'm on for my back/hip (turns out it truly isn't just a pulled muscle, but a messed up nerve), but it was still good. Anyway, guess I should eat breakfast so I can start cleaning!

It's almost Friday, and time to dance!

Tomorrow is our church's annual Valentine's Banquet. To put it simply, it is a prom for married people (truly, it is). It's a fun evening of food and dancing; then they throw in a seminar on marriage Saturday morning to make sure we actually learn some useful tools to improve our marriages. Andy and I have gone each year since we got married, and always look forward to "getting pretty" for this event. In fact, I think Andy enjoys it so much because it is my one time a year to wear a dress. Yep, I think that's it. I have finally figured out why he enjoys them so much. And the lightbulb is on people! The seminars are always phenomenal. The first year was a huge eye opener on how we tear each other down rather than build one another up. Last year was on the different seasons of marriage, and who knows what this year holds. I am sure it will be good though, and a learning experience (maybe there will even be more "amens" than "ouches" this year!). We'll see what God has in store. I'll even post some pictures afterwards to prove that I do actually wear a dress....once a year.

Middle Tennessee is expecting a winter storm....FRIDAY night. Why on earth should it snow when there is no snow day to be gotten from it? It is a waste of a good weekend I tell you. I protest the pending snow, I protest it until Monday! I wonder who I should call to hold this off until a more appropriate time. In fact, I know my students will be behind this because we start research projects on Monday. Yes, the snow needs to wait until Sunday night, that is what I think.

Then again, I should not be complaining. I will not be attending school tomorrow because I get to go to a doctor's appointment instead. What fun. Actually, if he can tell me what I have done to my hip, it will be worth it. This pain I get is not helping in the way of training for two half marathons I will be participating in within the next two months. And yes, regardless of what he says, I will be taking part in both, much like I did the full marathon when a doctor said I should reconsider because of the ankle surgery I have had (what did he know?). We'll see. I did learn this evening not to initiate a wrestling match with Andy when I have an injury, OUCH, that's what I have to say for that genius move of mine. But anyway.

More prayer requests for you all, so hit your knees kids:
Lisa's mom: cancer (tumors are being reduced though, yippee!)
Joanna's mom: in the hospital (wasn't supposed to make it through Monday night, yet she's being taken of a ventilator tomorrow and is improving..yippee again!)
Peggy & Jenny: cancer
Me: I am venturing on a home business thing (network marketing), it has an amazing income opportunity, but we'll see how self-motivated I am
Andy: he has to put up with me EVERY SINGLE DAY (I'm only half joking there, I am a pain!)
Heather: She's having a baby! HOORAY! The bad news, she feels sick ALL DAY LONG!

Thanks for prayin it up. Blessings to you all...time to take of my dancing shoes and rest for tomorrow.

Ho Hum

Well, this past weekend I encountered quite a celebration. Cailey turned 7! My mom offered me a "free" ticket she had from Southwest to fly home and surprise Cailey for her birthday. Far be it from me to pass up an opportunity to go home, so off I went. The expression on Cailey's face at the airport was absolutely priceless! Unfortunately, I was not smart enough to have my camera in my hand in order to capture that moment (one day I'll be a smart girl, I just know it!). My parents did a great job on helping to trick the girl, and it was well worth it. We partied hard at Mr Gatti's, they have quite a good set up for such things. Seeing Cailey and all her little friends was a hoot, they are so funny. Carsynn is getting big, she's got the greatest chubby cheeks I have ever seen. She's a beautiful girl, not that I'm a biased aunt or anything.

Training for the half marathon is going well. Missy is still my friend, even after our adventures at the gym. There are days she claims she can hardly move her arms, and times she looks at me like I'm a complete lunatic (ok, so she's probably right on that one) when I tell her what we are doing next, but it's just as I thought: she's one tough cookie. Our running is going well, and aside from the soreness from lifting weights, it's getting better every week. Today was a short day, only 6x400s -- much better than the day we had to do 10 of them! Hopefully by the time we get to the week where we are scheduled to do 14 or 16, it won't be as bad as I currently fear. We're also running under the "required" time, which makes us feel like big time studs. The Saturday runs are going well too, though we haven't been able to do that as a group yet. Strangely, I enjoy them more. It's easier to find my "groove" on those days, and it's a good way to work out things that are on my mind.

Lisa's mom is doing well with chemo, it's wearing her out, but her tumors are decreasing in size (praise the Lord!). Continue to pray for her, and the whole family. Her mom is feeling tired and beaten up I am sure (no surprise there), but is making progress. Pray for a 100% recovery from this cancer. On another note, Lisa claims her and her husband will be venturing up here in April to join us for the half marathon. I AM SO EXCITED! If we can get our buddy Dennis up here, it will be a mini FCA reunion.

Speaking of FCA, man do I miss that time in my life. For five summers, I was blessed to work as an FCA camp counselor. I was often teased that I was going to be the first counselor to receive a 401k. I met some of the most incredible people at that time, people who are a part of big stepping stones in my faith. In fact, I learned so much from them and fed off of them all the time. I look back now and see what a complete mess I was, and I'm so thankful my FCA buds were in my life to love me and pray for me. I miss working at camps, miss seeing teenagers fall madly in love with Christ, and I miss the fellowship of others trying to figure out this whole things called faith. I miss my FCA family. That's what it boils down to, I miss knowing I will get to see those friends in June, when the Abilene camp started. I miss knowing that no matter how long it had been since we had talked, we would gather, like family, and pick right back up where we left off.

I would not trade in life now to go back, don't get me wrong. But there is a bond when you are in the "trenches" with others that forever ties you to them. That is how I feel with them. We fought spirtual battles together, and we saw God prove himself victorious time and time again. We were ushered into his presence, in fact, we ran there together, just to drink in a little more of Him. Sometimes, maybe I just wonder why it seems I have stopped running altogether. I miss them running with me, as we were intricately interwoven into one another's life, without ever noticing how big of an imprint we were leaving. I am thankful they have been imprinted on my spiritual life, one that will never die.