I hate being tagged

And honestly, I think this is the first time I've actually complied! I guess it seemed short enough and well, Elizabeth, you do have a special place in my heart since you got me started doing this whole blogging thing and all...so here's to you!




Ten years ago...I was plowing through my first year in seminary and loving springtime in Louisville!

My to do list today...
1. Get to work on time - check.
2. Get summer calendar ready to mail - working on it.
3. Join my sis in the Relay for Life tonight to benefit America Cancer Society.

What would I do if I suddenly became a billionaire...
Travel the world for a year!

Three bad habits...
1. hitting the snooze.
2. procrastinating...especially when it's something I despise like dealing with car stuff.
3. going to Target....it's kind of a love/hate relationship.

Five jobs I've had...
1.worked a couple summers at a preschool.
2.worked at a psychologist/psychiatrist office.
3.worked in Pediatric Cardiology at TCH.
4.taught conversational English.
5.my sister hired me to teach dance...I only lasted one day!

Five things people don't know about me...
1. I took 4 years of French.
2. I can stand on my head.
3. I had open heart surgery when I was 17.
4. I love the movie Man On Fire.
5. I want to write an essay for This I Believe.

And I'm not going to tag anybody and laden them with peer pressure and guilt, but if you're at a lost for what to post...what's stopping you?

March Madness Madders

Okay, so here's the thing, let's face it...I'm not that into sports. I couldn't care less about who's winning what and who's playing what and who's in what conference, blah, blah, blah. Unless of course, I have some personal investment in the team, like when the Rockets are playing for the championship or it's the Astros in the World Series or it's my niece kicking serious tail in soccer or my nephew busting heads in football, or some of our Stratford kids in Playoffs, or even Kasey's age-old buddy who's grad assistant coach for the SFA guys basketball team....but I mean, other than all that, I don't care. :)

But alas, March Madness comes around and I lose all sense of not caring. I'm sucked in. Suddenly the fact that I have committed to a bracket makes me insane with curiosity about who's winning at all times. I can't begin to tell you how many times I checked the status of games today. AND IT'S JUST THE FIRST DAY! Sheesh! What am I gonna do with myself? Suddenly, I'm watching the live game updates online during the day at work and hitting refresh every 5 seconds just in case the game has turned. I didn't even know bulldogs were from Georgia until they failed me in the last quarter of the game today. What's wrong with those guys anyway? You try to pull for the underdawg and look what happens! You get BURNED, that's what happens! I mean, really, those guys are an embarrassment to the game, fouling all over themselves, missing free throws, just lame. period. And yet, speaking of lame...why do I care? Well, because they cost me a vital point today that's why. It's March and I'm mad. Just plain mad. This is why I don't do sports, the stress is just too much. So, for a brief reprieve from my obsessive compulsiveness, I decided to do something different, you know, distract myself with something more positive and productive and beneficial to society.

I updated my Yahoo Avatar. What can I say? I'm officially a March Madness Memphis-lovin Mess...but what a great outfit!

What a day of rejoicing, of rejoicing that will be..

When we all get to Heaven,
What a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
We’ll sing and shout the victory!

Well, while I am not in heaven today, I am certainly very very very happily rejoicing. My mom and dad received GREAT news today after meeting with the oncologist and going over all of her reports - she does NOT need to have chemo! How awesome is that? I can't tell you how excited we all are to be at this place in the journey. When I talked to my mom earlier today she sounded more excited and more like herself than she has in a really long time. The e-mail update she just sent said she felt like doing a cartwheel and a somersault she is so thrilled! And I don't know how to explain the huge sense of relief I feel...my eyes are beginning to tear up, but not because of sadness this time! I'm just so thankful for good news and thankful for God bringing me and us through to this place and thankful for incredible doctors and science and medical technology and thankful for so many of you who have shared this with me. Mostly, I'm thankful that God does answer prayer and that He has been so gracious. And I'm thankful that so many of you are giving Him glory too today because of my mom. That is awesome. I'm grateful for His love that never quits. And, even if she had needed chemo and even if the journey was different or longer or even if a multitude of things, I know that God's grace is always sufficient and that He is always the same and that He is always enough. His love never quit! What a wonder! So if you picture me today, picture me grinning. "Oh happy day...."

Yeeeeeeeeehaw!

Yep, a week ago the three cowgirls - Kasey, Janelle and moi - headed out for our third annual trip to the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo! Such a great time, such beautiful weather, such fun animals, such cute bull riders, such great food, such a rich cultural experience, and such a great excuse to wear the cowboy boots and hat!

Getting out of the city and getting my rodeo on...about 5 seconds earlier I said, "Man, I can hardly see with this hat on!" Now we know why.

I cannot even begin to explain how big he was - I think his name was Peter the Great!

City Slicker goes country!

"Come on little buddy, if I can do it you can too!"

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this is a look of sheer joy...the deep-friend-oreo and I meet again!

And yet, just in case you missed it the first time, here's a closeup of just how happy I am!

When you see the next picture of happily fed piglets,
you'll realize why she has that look on her face!

Indescribably cute.

You've heard of a wolf in sheep's clothing, but what about a sheep in leopard's clothing?

John Deere never looked so good.

"She's a loooooong taaaaaaaaal Texan and wears a ten gallon hat..."

His love never quits

This morning on the way to work I was listening to David Crowder...”Joy and pain, sun and rain, You’re the same, Oh You never let go.” Last night in our youth leaders meeting Chuck shared with us from Psalm 136. We read it out loud responsively from The Message. I’d encourage you to read it out loud yourself. This morning as I was writing my mom back in response to an update she sent, this is what came to mind...What a gracious God we have who grips us with his steadfast, covenant-deep, lovingkindness. His love never never quits.

When things are going well

His love never quits

When my mom had her biopsy

His love never quits

When she believed for God to heal her

His love never quits

When she talked to the doctor and found out she had breast cancer

His love never quits

During Christmas when I was there

His love never quits

When we had to learn to use words like cancer, chemo, radiation, oncology...

His love never quits

When we all had meltdowns

His love never quits

When she was encouraged

His love never quits

When we all cried

His love never quits

When we couldn’t sleep

His love never quits

When she agonized over her decision

His love never quits

When people continued to ask how my mom was doing

His love never quits

When we were so afraid

His love never quits

When I bought a plane ticket

His love never quits

When I saw the sunrise from my window seat on the plane

His love never quits

When my mom had the lumpectomy

His love never quits

When people prayed for her and for me

His love never quits

When my mom was so chatty after surgery

His love never quits

When I had to say goodbye

His love never quits

When she was brave for the radiation

His love never quits

When Kate went to see her

His love never quits

When we all waited and waited and waited

His love never quits

When I had to teach Deuteronomy 7

His love never quits

When God met with me on the Katy Freeway

His love never quits

When his Word didn’t seem to true to my eyes

His love never quits

When I crawled into his lap and looked into his face

His love never quits

When we heard 9% chance of it coming back

His love never quits

When we realized that meant 91% chance it WON’T

His love never quits

When my mom waits again to talk about chemo

His love never quits

When Kate and Zach did a little devotional last night

His love never quits

This morning

His love never quits

Only toe deep

Well, I can't quite explain what is compelling me to write this, because honestly I don't really have much to blog about. I wouldn't say life has been boring at all, but I guess I just haven't been inspired. But, here's the thing...it seems like the last several posts have been a bit heavy. Kind of deep, and honestly pretty sad. I just hate for all 3 of you to be faced with seeing that "sad news" every time you come visit. It was and continues to be sad news, and although I am so grateful for your prayers for Cyd's family and also for my mom, I feel like we could all use something a little less deep for a change. Of course, this is where I got my lame attempt at being clever in my title, "Only toe deep." When I come up with stuff like that I'm amazed that I can ever talk about more than poptarts or something else as base. What am I saying? I'm not sure. How about this joke I heard on Prarie Home Companion today...

What happened when the butcher backed into his meat grinder?
















(wait for it, wait for it...)

He got a little behind in his work!

Oh my goodness, how sad is it that I find that absolutely funny! I can hear some of you saying, ewwwww and a few more of you just moaning because it's so corny. Man, how I love corny.