You should read this blog...and no, I don't mean mine!

My life is crazy getting ready for Camp, Senior Boat Trip, mini-mission to South Texas Children's Home and our high school trip to Israel and lots of stuff in between! I am trying to trust God's provision for daily manna and not completely panic. Honestly, most days I fail to trust and have been a been panicky when I look to tomorrow instead of living in the moment. Each day has enough trouble of it's own and God has been gracious each day. My goal and vision for the summer has been to merely survive. I know that's not God's best for me though! Just today, I purposed in my heart, if nothing else, to know Him better and to see Him bigger by the end of the summer. In all of my weakness, I have little doubt that He can reveal Himself to me in ways that I need. Yet another trail of life's journey that will lead me to deeper places of trust. I become less that He may become greater. Pray that I will keep this heart as I plow through the busyness and stress. Pray that I will rest in Him and continually seek his face in all things.

But alas, I really am posting because I just read this incredible story on a blog. It's really cool and I think you should check it out. Only takes a minute...LOVE146

Happy Mother's Day and Why I Love My Mama!

Her children stand and bless her. Her husband praises her: “There are many virtuous and capable women in the world, but you surpass them all!”

Proverbs 31:28-29

I know that lots of Hallmark greeting cards say something like, "To the World's Best Mom," but here's the truth - and I don't say that word "truth" lightly - my mama is the world's best. I'm 35 years old and I've met and heard about a lot of other mothers. Mothers who win gold medals in the Olympics, mothers who are successful businesswomen, mothers who homeschool and sew all their children's clothes, mothers who are gourmet chefs, Martha Stewart mothers who keep an immaculate house, mothers who always look "together," mothers who have an amazing teaching ministry, mothers who travel the world, and sadly, I've heard of lots of mothers who don't really mother at all. But then, there's my mama. Nobody is better at mothering than she is. Really, nobody. She has three children who still adore her and don't have any "mother issues" as grown adults. :) Seriously, that's a rarity these days!

My mom is so good at mothering and nurturing and loving people that she loves on lots of other children, young people, and adults who need a little extra mothering. I couldn't begin to list all the people that call my mama, "Mom." All kinds of people. "Fixed" people and broken people. Big black men (my mom is smiling right now because she knows exactly who I'm talking about!) and petite white ladies. People who are making right choices and people making hurtful choices. Loveable and unlovable people. You see my mama is just good at loving. Not that it's easy for her to love so much, sometimes it's very hard and sometimes hurtful. Sometimes, we live up to her hopes for us and sometimes we don't. Sometimes she doesn't see the "payoff" of so much investing. But! She keeps loving anyway. And that makes her amazing.

Sometimes I wonder how my mom can love so much. I think it's because she's been loved by God so much. She knows the incredible difference that God's love made in her own life. And she wants other people to know that too. She continues to be the godliest woman I know. I also think she's good at loving because she had a mom and dad that loved her very much.

I also think she's good at loving because she had a mom and dad that loved her very much. So today, I'm thankful for them too because even though they died when I was really young, so much of who I am is because of who they were. If they hadn't loved my mama so, I'm pretty sure it would be harder for her to love me the way she does.

Here are just a few of the ways my mama loves me so well...

• On any given day, whether I was 5 years old or 35 years old, she will always give me the last bite of her cookie.
• When I go home to visit, she still comes into my room to say goodnight and “tuck me in.”
• She fights in prayer for me and my joy and purpose at times when I can’t fight for myself.
• When she had to face breast cancer, she was concerned about how the news would affect me.
• When I was a teenager she would take me bargain shopping at Foley’s Red Apple sales so that I could look cooler than we could actually afford. ;)
• She does little things to make me feel special like putting a miniature rose in a vase by my bed and pulling back my covers.
• She thinks everything I write is just wonderful.
• She saw what God could do through me when other people didn’t see it yet.
• She graciously supported me whenever I’ve gone on a mission trip or even when I moved to Turkey even though it was really difficult to let me go. She and my dad were even brave enough to travel for their very first time over the ocean to come visit me!
• When I was little and would get sick in the night and would walk to her bedroom, she would immediately wake up and say, “What’s the matter Baby?” as soon as my little foot stepped inside the room.
• No matter my age or stage in life, she still thinks I’m the neatest thing since sliced bread.
• She went back to work as a kindergarten teacher when I was in junior high so that she could pay for my sister and brother and I to get braces and go to college!
• Last year she flew to Houston just to be at my birthday party that my sister planned for me – my sister, Kate, is really good at nurturing and loving too!
• She drove Kate and I to hundreds and hundreds of dance classes growing up – not to mention coming to – and actually loving – all of our recitals. (I guess the greater miracle is that my sweet dad came to all of those recitals too!)
• She taught me about Jesus and of God’s great faithfulness…so many times I think of how she made us read our Bibles 10 minutes every day.

In a million teensy ways (many that I’ve never even seen) and lots of huge life-changing ways, my mama has loved me well and I’m so very grateful.

So, Mama, thank you. Thank you for loving me the way that you do. Thank you for so much willing sacrifice for me. Thank you for making me a mostly well-adjusted happy person! J I know God loves me because of you. I love God because of you. The way you mothered me, the way you love on so many people, matters. It makes a difference, an eternal difference. Thank you. I love you so very much.

What was I thinking?

I don't know what I was thinking saying I was going to post soon! Did I actually think my life was going to slow down at all? Admittedly, part of the problem is the fact that I don't have a laptop/internet at mi casa and let's just say that while amazing in its own right, my blackberry is not exactly conducive to blogging. And well, when I'm at work I actually try and do real work most of the time. :) And when I'm done working, I don't really want to stick around the office. Do you see my dilemma? Ergggg, even now I'm trying to focus on this, but feeling guilty because my pup is at home crossing her legs and anxiously awaiting my arrival. I know, I know, I'm being a drama queen, right? How is it that some people do this posting thing multiple times a day - especially people with jobs! I guess if I had to choose between a rich and full real life and a rich and full blogging life, I'd choose real life any day. And...apparently that's what I'm going to keep doing. Starting now. I'm still planning to post soon, just not when I'd rather be going home and taking a nice, long walk with the pooch. And then I plan to sit on my loveseat w/a tasty basic sandwich and read my Israel travel book (I'm going there with our high school students this summer!). And then I plan on doing a bit of laundry and perhaps adding the final touches to the desk I repainted a week or so ago. And who knows, maybe I'll even do a little straightening. Wow, sounds exciting, doesn't it? Try to curb your jealousy of my "real" life. :) Actually, on this Tuesday evening with absolutely nowhere to be, a boring night at home sounds absolutely amazing! Hope you get to live life to its fullest and have your own incredibly dull evening at home soon. Shalom.

Coming soon!

Okay, so don't have a heart attack, but guess what?!? I'm still alive and I'll post something soon, I promise...my life has been a bit on the crazy side with lots of stuff to tell, but the ironic thing is that when I've actually got stuff going on to talk about I'm so busy I don't have the time to blog about it. So, in lieu of just burying my blog in the abyss of the dead I've decided to try and revive it! But alas, I'm currently at work and so you'll just have to wait a bit longer. I know, I know, I'm killing all 3 of my adoring fans (once upon a time, there were 6 of you, but apparently my absence hasn't made your hearts grow fonder), but I don't want to overdo it my first time back on the saddle. However, just to reward you for still checking this thing, here's a couple pics from my recent road trip with the youth staff and crew to make some final plans for Camp Tallowood!

Yes, we are ridiculous...this was like an old school family vacation except none of us are actually related. We ate lunch here in Lampasas after we picked up a hundred cedar posts. And yes, we ate fried porkchops, mash potatoes, green beans w/bacon, and chocolate cake and drank sweet tea! We passed on the daily special of rocky mountain oysters...and no, I'm not kidding.

Okay, so not the most exciting pic at the cedar yard, but it's the only pic that has my good friend, Kay, in it as she was our resident photographer!

The bossman and I enjoying some amazing icecream fountain drinks in Uvalde at the local drugstore soda fountain. This was just moments before Jerome tried to pawn me off on some creepy old married man who walked in and wanted to put his arm around me for the picture and said he wished he was still single. Gee Jerome, thanks for having such high standards for me.

Winter is here!

I cannot believe I haven't posted ANYTHING since October! I truly don't want to be a blogging hasbeen, but I'm slipping that way very very fast. Yikes!

Today is one of those rare and wonderful really cold days in H-town (well, that's 35 degrees cold, which for the likes of us is quite chilly!) Unfortunately, it's a bit chilly inside the office as well. Thankfully, I brought my scarf to bundle up at my desk. Apparently, these Baptists have a very high addiction to air-conditioning.

And now, a couple hours later, it's actually snowing here - even getting some decent sized snowflakes. I'm trying to muster up more excitement about it to match everyone else's, but it's kind of hard. Guess I've spent too much time in Kentucky, Turkey, and New Jersey to be overly impressed! Still, I am glad it actually feels like winter here instead of the 75 muggy degrees it was yesterday.

Here's a few pics from last week when my friend, Rebecca, was here! I got to meet her little boy, Samuel Porter, for the first time. He is absolutely beautiful, sweet, and precious! Too bad none of the ones of me and Becca turned out too good...but here's some of Porter and his Aunt Becca.

Apparently we have lots to say to each other in this one. Here are Blake and Brayden, Rebecca's nephews with me. I've known them both since they were babies too! :)

Happy Friday! Don't forget to vote!

Can you tell we're sisters? :) Kate and I went out for a very fancy dinner at The Melting Pot to celebrate her birthday. It was an amazing amazing meal of everything (except salad) fondue style that you cook at your table...breads and raw veggies in cheese, about 4 kinds of meat and ravioli and potatoes and broccoli and mushrooms that you cook in a flavored broth, and the ultimate desert experience of life changing bananas foster fondue with cheesecake, regular and chocolate marshmallows, sponge cake, bananas, strawberries, rice crispie treat, brownies dipped in the banana white chocolately cinnamony gooey goodness. The entire experience was so much fun and there's noone else I would have wanted to share it with!

Kate getting ready to dip some bread in the fancy cheese...

and me being cheesey (HAHAHAHAHA)

And then last weekend our junior staff here at church had our second annual Hallo-Wii party. We had sooooooo much fun even though we did wish Scott and Abby and Will and Kristi and Rob and Lynda could have all come back for the event! The costumes were amazing...couple of rednecks, James Bond, Kris Kross, Ed McMahan and prize winning housewife, Hurricane Ike and tree-trimming, electric repair man, Sarah Palin, a very very young olympic Chinese gymnast, and yours truly as a Starbuck's barista with her very HOTT cup of Venti Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate!

Yep, here I am getting my crunk on during the worst ever attempt at Guitar Hero.

Me and my cocoa. Is she absolutely fabulous or what?!? She was simply amazing and has already inspired at least 3 people to copy her idea...it did take some work for us to convert that laundry basket into a very authentic looking cup of coffee complete with cardboard sleeve. Yep, that STIR STICK was all my doing.

Not sure if you can see my fake nose ring...you know, part of my emo barista look!


My favorite pic from the night. How cute is she?

The Z-Man

So, you know I live with my newly 10 year old nephew, Zach...well, I also live with my sis and her hubby, but they aren't nearly so entertaining. At least not this week. So just for kicks, here's a recent convo shortly after Z-Man comes running into the living room after he's taken his bath. Side note: he's always running because there is only one thing faster than a speeding bullet. Z-Man taking a bath. We're not exactly sure what happens in there or even if any soap actually touches his body, but all we know is that he comes out wet and running. He is willing to sacrifice cleanliness at the altar of things that are much more fun in what he must think of as "anythingsbetterthanhavingtogotakeabath" world. But I digress, so here we are in the living room when he comes running in with his usual fervor and wet head shaking and I'm contemplating taking a much longer and more thorough bath of my own...

ME: Dude, uh, I'm just wondering if I'm gonna find any of your dirty clothes on the floor in the bathroom?

Z-MAN: nope

ME: So, did you hang up your towel?

Z-MAN: yep

ME: So, is the floor all soaking wet?

Z-MAN: nope

ME: What about any poop waiting for me in the toilet?

Z-MAN: hmmmmm, I'm not sure about that one, I better go check!

And off he goes running to the bathroom and my sister and I soon hear flushing. Guess that was an affirmative. Man, I love that kid.