Monday, November 30, 2009

I Am Still Thankful

I thought that Brock said this really well:

i know that thanksgiving is over but i am still thankful. i have realized how blessed i am this year and i just want to continue to thank God for what i have in my life.

this weekend i was reminded that we are not promised tomorrow. i got the news that my friend lost his life this weekend. its an awful situation and the details are still unknown at this point. what i do know is that he made a bad choice and ended his own life. he found a permanent solution to a temporary problem.

no person is immune to tragedy. for many years he traveled as a communicator to youth groups all over america. he recently founded a church in sugarland texas and was a new pastor. he had a wife and 3 kids. it seems like everything was going great. he seemed to be living the american dream. unfortunately a series of circumstances along with the enormous pressure of being a church leader and spiritual teacher took its toll.

his name was thomas young.

its times like these that make me look at my own life and take inventory. thats when i see how thankful i should be. im thankful for the wonderful life that God has given me. its a sad day but im still thankful.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Coincidental Conversation

Yesterday, like every Tuesday, I spent it in downtown Franklin. I had lunch with my girlfriends and Brock had lunch with a guy and then we all met up at Sweet CiCi's for two punch Tuesday. We get two holes punched on our card for every one frozen yogurt we buy. After the 9th punch, we get a free one!

As we were eating our ice cream (sorry, frozen yogurt!), our friend was telling us about how he was a victim of credit card fraud. As he was explaining it, I received a phone call from an unknown number to me. Since I did not know who it was, I did not answer it. (I have a close number to someone else whom I don't know but whose family does not realize that they dialed the wrong number AGAIN until I answer.)

After seeing that I had a voice message, I stepped out of the store to listen. It was from the fraud department at our bank. They had a question about a purchase made with Brock's credit card. We soon found out that while we were in CiCi's talking about credit card fraud, someone was in New York buying $1,000 worth of computer software on our credit card! To my knowledge, this has never happened to us before, and it happened at the same time we were talking about it!

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I forget to be thankful for what I have and what the Lord has done. It's a struggle of mine. I am always looking to what is next. I am also always thinking about how much I can improve or make the most of life. It is okay to want to better yourself, but I need to pray to be a little more content or at the least grateful.

Here is what I'm thankful for: my relationship with my Lord (He is always here for me. Thank you, Lord!), my husband (We have a genuine love for each other that just comes naturally. Brock, thank you for loving me well.), my family (I have two wonderful parents as well as in-laws and sisters and brothers, etc...not a grouchy one in the group!), my friends (We are like family to each other.), all that I have been able to experience in life.

What are you thankful for?

Monday, November 23, 2009

Capitalize His Name

Years ago, my dad spoke about the ritual the scribes went through before they wrote the name of God, Yahweh. The amount of cleansing they did was incredible. Sometimes, different ink was used. Hardly anyone could even say the Lord's name.

Now, we are under a new covenant through Jesus. To our relief, we can go straight to the Father with our prayers and thoughts. However, we still need to realize that the Lord should be revered. He is awesome and so mighty.

Ever since I heard that sermon, I capitalize any of God's names. Even if I am using His pronouns. That little pause that it takes me to hit the shift key is nothing compared to the ordeal the ancient scribes went through, but it is a way that I like to acknowledge His majesty. It is most inconvenient when I am texting. I have to hit a few buttons in order to do it. Sometimes, I stop and think about what I am saying. Is it glorifying to my Lord?

Friday, November 20, 2009

This Week in a Nutshell

I've had some exciting days since I came home Monday night. First of all, my wonderful husband installed a garbage disposal while I was away. He decided not to tell me and see how long it took me to notice it. (I'm not very observant at times.) Tuesday morning he left to go to his meeting and I stayed home. I made myself some lunch and cleaned up all of the dishes. Then, I noticed that the drainers in the sink were switched. When I pulled out the drainer, I saw the disposal! I immediately called Brock.

Tuesday night I shared my testimony with the girls in my village. It went well. One of the girls said that it was good timing for her to hear it. They are such great gals! Wednesday was our last day with the Beth Moore Bible study that I was doing with my friend, Tiffany, in Murfreesboro. I feel very accomplished!

Wednesday night, Brock and I were driving around running errands before we were going to meet some friends for dinner. We were so close to our friends' house that we decided to drop by. It was such good timing! Stephanie was about ready to load up her stuff and get onto the bus for Winter Wonder Slam concert tour. She needed help getting all of her equipment loaded. We took her and her things to the Walmart parking lot to drop her off. Brock helped load her and her band's gear in the storage bays of the bus. Pray for her as she is on this tour for the next several weeks. Also, her new CD is out!

Last night, Brock did a quick show at a benefit for the Christian Academy in Franklin. It was fun! All I had to do was bring him his props as he needed them. It was easy. Now, he is done until the second week of December!

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

My Grandma

My grandma is so funny! She told me to look for a box of crackers. She said that she put it in a place where she could find it, and she'd been looking it for it ever since. I found it behind the trash can. Then, she told me that she'd drawn a map to her mountain dews. My aunt does not like her to drink it, so she hides them. However, she kept forgetting where she hid it, so she drew a map!

The funniest thing she said last weekend was when she told us a joke. She said that back in the olden days, a man and his wife were in their horse and carriage when the horse stalled. The man said, "That's once!" They continued on for a little while but the horse stalled again. "That's twice!" the man declared. When the horse stalled the third time, the man simply got out of the carriage and shot the horse. His wife said, "Now, why did you do that to the horse?" The man looked at her and said, "That's once!" Then, Grandma said, "The moral of that story is that, Pam (my mom), you've woken me up twice." She was just teasing her of course.

One of the best things about Grandma is that she says, "Thank You, Lord" several times a day. Sometimes she says why she is thanking Him after. It's not necessarily a big thing. She'll thank Him for feeling better than she did earlier. When she says the blessing before the meal, she thanks the Lord for everyone present and more. She really inspired me to be more thankful to the Lord.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Visit in Florida with my Family

I had a great time with my family last weekend. We had lots of the family over to dinner Friday night. Grandma made her famous biscuits.
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Grandma's new great-great grandchild was present. The mother kept teasing Grandma about leaving the three month old there for the night and letting Grandma babysit. Grandma was not too keen on the idea. She's too old for infants. So, when everyone was standing around the door getting ready to leave and the baby was sitting in his carrier back on the sofa, Grandma quietly said, "Don't forget your baby." It was so funny because it really did look like we'd forgot about him sleeping there in the other room.Photobucket
Saturday night we went to see the musical, Jane Eyre, put on by the college there. It was good!

Every morning, we went out for breakfast. Usually we went to Bob Evans. Here's mom and her sisters there.Photobucket

Grandma put up a "closed" sign in the kitchen. Here's mom breaking the rules.Photobucket

We had lunch with my aunt and some of her family on Sunday.Photobucket
Sunday night, on a whim mom wanted to go to Steak n' Shake, so we did! It was fun.

Pray for me tonight. I am going to share my story with the girls in my village.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Favorite Videos

We have all kinds of videos on youtube, but this one has been viewed the most.


This is my favorite video. Brock's birthday was on a Sunday a few years ago, so the people at our table tried to embarass him at the restaurant in a room full of strangers. Little did they know, Brock cannot be embarassed.

Friday, November 13, 2009

Downtown Franklin

I love downtown Franklin! Every time I hang out there, I see so many people I know. We refer to it as the campus. It's so much like a college campus. Merridees is the cafeteria. Starbucks is the union center. It's so fun. Here are some pictures of it.
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PhotobucketThe square.
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PhotobucketSome of the girls.
PhotobucketNew place!
PhotobucketIt's a frozen yogurt place with tons of toppings.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Taking the Trash

The other day, I had to take the trash to the dump by myself. That's usually Brock's job, but since he was out, I had to do it. So, I drove up to the dump with the whole trash can in the back. I was going to simply pull the bags out of the larger can and place them in the big compactor. When I opened the can, I was taken aback. I cannot explain the level of disgustingness I experienced. I don't usually get grossed out very easily. We have all kinds of bugs around our house living out in the country and all. However, when I saw all of the maggots that had taken residence in there, I dropped the bags.

Luckily, the man who runs the dump came out and removed the bags from the can for me. He must have noticed my distress. Thank God for husbands who can take care of this kind of stuff!

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

MuteMath

The MuteMath concert was amazing! Here is a little video clip from it.

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PhotobucketHere's the drummer. He is so crazy that he has to duct tape his in ears to his head.

PhotobucketThis guy often plays the upright base.

PhotobucketThe lead guitarist sometimes plays a xylophone.

PhotobucketThis is the lead singer, Paul. We did a few shows with him when he was in the band called Earthsuit.

PhotobucketThese guys are so talented that they play all different kinds of instruments. This is 3 of them playing the drums at the same time.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Be Rich by Andy Stanley

Andy Stanley preached a powerful message at church Sunday. It was a paradigm shift. He's talking about giving. I thought that I really was getting a grasp on giving only to realize that I know very little about it. Watch this.

Monday, November 09, 2009

Update

I have been home a month now, so I wanted to give you an update on how it is going. The biggest deal is that I usually sleep about 7 hours a night. This entire month I have been sleeping 9 or 10 hours a night! Can you believe that? I think that maybe I was very exhausted.

I have been working on projects every week like cleaning out our closet...taking out the winter and fall clothes and putting up the summer clothes. I also went through the mountain of mail that was piling up on our counter.

As far as my schedule goes, I have been sticking to it rather well. At first I had a schedule of activities I would do everyday of the week such as going to a Bible study or lunch with a friend as well as personal and ministry business that I would do daily. I have done the activities, but the personal stuff like laundry or grocery store shopping has been all moved around.

I am beginning to get a little antsy. However, it's just the right time because I am flying to Florida Thursday to visit family. My mom is flying there as well. It's going to be fun!

Friday, November 06, 2009

Bookstore Fiasco

I knew that it would happen. One day it was bound to occur. That day was last week...

I go to my favorite bookstore in town often. I just love the look of all of the books on the shelves. It makes me feel inspired just walking in there. Truly the most adventurous place in the world is a room full of books.

When I go into the bookstore, I don't bring the book I am reading in because I am afraid they are going to think that it's their book and when I walk out with it that I am stealing it. So, I go and get their book off of the shelf to read while I am in the store and replace it before I leave.

Last week, I realize it's time to leave, so I gather the book that I am reading in my arms and walk out to my truck. I open the door and place the book on the seat of the truck and that is when I saw it. There were now two of the same books sitting in my truck. Now, I am all the way out of the building and into the parking lot. This means that I unintentionally had stolen a book!

What was I going to do? Well, I had to take it back immediately. As I began walking back into the store, I noticed the detectors to each side of the door. I pause wondering what was going to happen when an alarm sounded. How would I explain this? I quickly walk through the door and by the detectors. Do you know what happened? NOTHING. No big siren screaming, "You are a thief!" No staff wrestling me to the ground demanding that I hand over the book...nothing. After scanning the whole bookstore and realizing that nobody has even noticed me, I walk to the back of the store, place the book back on the shelf where it belonged, and exit the store!

Thursday, November 05, 2009

Fluffy


We needed a scorpion for the show on Friday night. We wanted to get it last minute because we didn't want to keep it very long. We called around and the closest one was in Murfreesburo. I called up my friend, Tiffany, who lives there. I apprehensively told her about the scorpion and she said she would pick it up without hesitation. Her husband was the one who hesitated when he brought it to our house the next day. Tiffany and the kids liked it and named it Fluffy.

After having Fluffy a few days, he grew on all of us. Brock was wanting to keep him, but we can barely keep a plant. Tiffany found a guy that wanted him, but in the end, even Kevin, her husband, was wanting him.

We bought him a little container to put him in. We also put a couple of crickets in his home to eat. He didn't eat them right away, but the next morning, he had one of them in his claw. I actually liked having him around while Brock was gone. Of course I never took him out of his container. I wasn't that comfortable with him. I gave him away yesterday. Oh well, I will remember Fluffy.

Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Christmas Caroling

We had the best time on Halloween. We went to the spot in downtown Franklin where over 2,000 trick or treaters come annually. We all dressed up. Do you know what we dressed up as? Christmas carolers. Instead of saying, "Trick or treat," we began singing, "We wish you a merry Christmas!"






Tuesday, November 03, 2009

Pics from the Party

PhotobucketThere was food of course! Gumbo and chili were on the menu.

PhotobucketWe had people squeezed in everywhere!

PhotobucketThis group did not like the candid shots, so they smiled for the picture.

PhotobucketThen, they gave me a fake "candid" shot.

PhotobucketSome of the girls.

PhotobucketLots of beautiful girls. Where are all of the guys?

PhotobucketHere's one!

PhotobucketAmy bumped her head on the ladder coming in the door.

PhotobucketThese three dressed up. I loved their costumes!

PhotobucketChocolate Fountain!!!

PhotobucketAt the beginning of the show, I lit the candles. I got to be a different character as I assisted Brock. I was very stoic. I figure that's the way they were back then. At least they are never smiling in their pictures, so I pretended to be someone right out of an old photograph.

PhotobucketBrock had people roll a die. Then, they would place their hand in the corresponding bucket. There was straw and nails and such in all of the buckets except the last one. The last one which nobody every rolled that number had a scorpion in it! Brock is showing the scorpion to everyone in this picture. They all freaked out!

PhotobucketWelcome to the circus!

PhotobucketAnd the curtains are pulled back!

PhotobucketSean sews a needle and thread through his neck!

PhotobucketLindsey eats fire.

PhotobucketJacob lays on a bed of nails and has his hand on fire.

PhotobucketBrock tells the scary story of Alma using magic and mentalism. It was an excellent show! Brock loved to be a different character.

PhotobucketThe crew.

Monday, November 02, 2009

Party in the Rain

Last year, we had our party around the fire pit. Everything was based outside. This year, it poured down the entire night. So, we moved everything inside. We had 50 people squeezed into our little house, but it was fun!

Since we could not do the spooky hayride like we did last year, we had a scary, rainproof tunnel built at the entrance of our house. Everyone had to enter through the shop and go through a maze type thing made of black cloth and visqueen. In the shop, we had scary sound effects. When they got to the front porch, the tunnel shrunk so much that you literally had to crawl through it.



It was so much fun watching people come through that front door! That was the entertainment for the first part of the night. Then, we all ate chili and gumbo. Then, Brock spoke about Hands and Feet, the orphanage in Haiti. We raised about $1,500 for them so far. Praise the Lord!

After that, we served dessert which was cake, chocolate chip cookies, and we had a chocolate fountain. As they were mingling and eating dessert, I came out in costume and character. I didn't say anything, but I had a sign that said "The Show Begins." I carried a candle and led the way to the barn outside where we had the show.

The show was amazing! Brock was in character and told the story about a circus performer and his wife who was a gypsy back in the late 1800s. He did lots of magic, one thing involving a scorpion. Then, we pulled the curtains back to display an old time freak show. Sean pulled a needle and thread through his neck. Lindsey ate fire, and Jacob laid on a bed of nails. It was so cool! I will post pictures from the party tomorrow.