Joyful Transformation

Yesterday was great. I got up at the usual 5:00 to hit the gym by 5:30. Got my upper body workout in, came to the office to shower and change and met the girls at 7:20 to go to Birmingham to play tennis. I played singles (won 6-4, 6-3) and doubles (split 7-5, 6-7). Then we went to La Paz for the best Mexican food I have ever eaten. I had the lunch Chicken Zapnin and words just can't describe how good this was. I do not even care how many Weight Watchers points was in it, it was delicious!! (can you tell I like food?, maybe why I am having to do Weight Watchers??)

Well, arriving back in Cullman it was almost 3:00, by the time I went home and showered and changed it was 4:20 when I arrived at the office. I knew there were some phone calls I needed to return or I could have just skipped coming in. I am leaving tomorrow for the Zoe Conference in Nashville (I am so pumped about this), so I needed to pick up a few things for the trip. I left the office at 5:45, went to shop, grabbed a bite to eat on the way to church (yes, more comfort food, but I am through confessing today) where I was teaching a ladies class at 7:00.

I can't tell you how tired I was. I could barely maintain a thought I was so tired. I guess that is the kind of tired your kids are when they just can't stay awake. It has been a long time since I felt like that, needless to say I slept very well.

I guess I will be out of touch for a few days! I hope I am meeting alot of you in Nashville. I know there are many more of you who want to be there who can't come. We will be glad to give you a full update when we return.

Be safe, have a great weekend and play hard once in a while. It will wear you out, but make you feel great at the same time.

The other day after playing tennis I was very hungry. I took an exit off the interstate where I knew there were several fast food places. Up ahead I saw a Chick-fil-A. Great, I thought, I know just what I want. I drive up to the window and say “Yes, I will have two of those Little Chicks and a large diet coke”. “I’m sorry, can you repeat that?” Great they can’t hear me…”YES, TWO-LITTLE-CHICKS- AND a large Diet Coke” I say with great emphasis on each syllable. “I am sorry, I don’t know what you are talking about, this is Chick-fil-A”. Gulp, well of course it is, and your not going to give me food from Krystal are you? Very humbly I ordered a Grilled chicken sandwich, but couldn’t resist asking them at the window why they couldn’t get me some Krystal food. And of course it couldn’t be some generic item I ordered, but rather something that sounds ridiculous like “Little Chicks”.

Well for some reason today I related this to church. I mean we have our menu items don’t we? There are things we don’t claim to have, others we think ONLY we have. When my son became engaged my mother said “I was hoping he would marry a Christian”. “Mother” I said, “Mary is a Christian”. “Well, you know I meant a member of the church” Oh, so Christian is exclusive to our menu. There are other things I thought of; Grace has just been added to many of our menus, Salvation on the other hand has to be ordered every day. You can never be sure about that salvation stuff. And no, we don’t have testimonies or witnessing. You will have to drive up the road for these things. And yes, we know that the Bible speaks of “pastors”, but I don’t think you will find any here. I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but it is a little ironic don't you think? Can you think of other things we do or don’t have?

Yesterday in Church we were singing God is So Good. We got to the verse that says "He answeres prayers". Since I was holding the answer to many prayers I was so moved I couldn't sing. I just sat there and thanked God for answered prayers. He is so good. Even when we don't deserve it, even when we can't see His goodness for the storm, still He is good to us.

My sweet baby is 2 months old today. Man, he will be graduating high school before I can turn around twice. I hope you don't mind if I share his picture with you. Have a wonderful Monday.




I think the dimples come from his mom, but his dad has some pretty cute ones too!

Boy I’m glad it’s Friday. I looked back and this is the first week this month I have had to work all 5 days, no wonder it has been so long. I don’t know what I am doing this weekend for sure but it is going to BE OUTSIDE!!

My Tahoe came equipped with an XM Satellite radio. I was so excited at first because I absolutely hate endless talking on the radio (unless of course it is talk radio, then its O.K. if they are talking about something that interests me). Then I thought Oh NO! This is going to be just like Dish Network TV, I have all these choices and nothing that I like. Well it was like that for the first week or so, I am not a big country fan, I can’t handle Rap at all and the teenage girl music leaves me shrugging, but I persevered and found “my” station. For you XM listeners is it channel 46 “Top Tracks”. They play music I love and that has not been overplayed on the radio. Deep cuts from Boston, Kansas, Elton John, Springsteen and others, not just 70’s stuff, but good rock from all decades. When they do play a song I don’t care for or if I am in a funky mood I switch to “Bluesville”. I like the Blue’s. Then if I get tired of that there are 3 Jazz Stations. Mood music for sure, but when I am in the mood, I like some good Jazz. They occasionally do “unplugged” live in the studio and that is great.

So in the grand scheme of things I guess the key to too many choices is to realize if you just dabble in a little of everything you will never find what you “love”. To find “love” you must make a commitment of time and exposure. Didn’t mean this to get deep, just realized this truth as I was typing. Have a wonderful weekend, with good weather, good music, good football and of course good food!!

Roll Tide!

Have you ever noticed how many people want to be Monday morning quarterbacks, or coaches, or whatever? I read an article yesterday stating that Brodie Croyle probably would not be drafted by the NFL thanks to his coach Mike Shula. The same article thinks that the “sleaze-ball”(my word not the article writer's) Mike Price would have been a positive influence in young Brodie’s future! Gag me! I wonder if Brodie had been hurt in practice (it wasn’t a hit that got his ACL, just the fall) or perhaps roller blading or dancing if that would have been Mike Shula’s fault. Now, I understand that the Tide won the game 52-0 and it was well in hand at the beginning of the second half when Brodie was hurt, but come on people, football is a contact sport, people get hurt. Would it have some how been alright if he had been hurt against Arkansas? I believe in unity, I believe in supporting each other even when we don’t agree with their decisions. I believe we should act like a “team”.

Or do I? Just last night I was questioning a sister’s decision when it came to dealing with her abusive spouse. I stated what “I would do if I were her” and how she should be handling her life. Perhaps before I get on others for being Monday morning quarterbacks, I should examine myself!!

If you could bottle and sell the weather we are having you would make a fortune! So, what does this weather bring to your mind? I think of high school and college football, the county fair, playing tag football in the yard, hayrides, playing in the leaves, being in love…

If you could go anywhere right now to enjoy the weather, where would you go? I think I would like to hills of Virginia, somewhere around a lake. I know the colors aren’t there yet, but it just seems like it would be a good place to be. How about you?

I am teaching a class on Overcoming Your Giants, dealing with fear. A couple of Sundays ago I was reading my new Bible (The Message) during announcements at church and I ran across a passage that caused me great fear. It spoke to me so plainly in this version. See what you think.
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I Corinthians 13
The Way of Love
1If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. 2If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing.3If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.

4Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
Love doesn't strut,
Doesn't have a swelled head,
5Doesn't force itself on others,
Isn't always "me first,
"Doesn't fly off the handle,
Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
6Doesn't revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
7Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
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Yes, I have fear. I am afraid that this type of love is not in my life and without it I am nothing!! I have so much work to do.

Sometimes I think this blog habit may not be good for me. I can’t wait to get on and see what everyone is up to. If your like me lack of comments doesn’t mean you don’t read and enjoy what people have to say, sometimes all you can say is “amen” and that is really not necessary. I guess I could be doing or reading worse things.

I was thinking about this in context of what I have learned from various blogs. One of the things I have found most useful is from Judy Thomas’ post on Examen. Now each night after I write my prayer in my prayer journal, I reflect on the day and write down the thing that has made me the happiest and the thing that has made me saddest during the day. I don’t light the candle, but I am sure that would be a neat thing to do.

I have learned some not so meaningful things to; Terri tried Brandon’s Orange-Pinapple home made ice cream and brought it to my house on the 4th of July. I had no ideal you could do so much with guacamole (Mike Cope’s blog). I have taken spiritual gift test (SG), passed along jokes (Joe Quile) and just basically enjoyed sharing whatever you have to share. My ideals have been challenged, my horizons broadened and most of the time my day has been made by something you have written. So, maybe it is good for me. What about you? Have you learned anything useful or otherwise?

Have you ever noticed the clearness of the sky after a storm? Today the beauty of God surrounded me. I sat on my deck in the shade. The sky was that bright blue you seem to only see in the fall. The sun was bright without being blistering hot. There was a gentle breeze blowing to add to the pleasantness of being outside. I had wanted to watch the race (Jr. finished 3rd) I wanted to watch some football, I wasn’t real enthused over the Ryder Cup but my husband was following it. But I couldn’t stay in the house. I sat outside and read and napped and just enjoyed the beauty surrounding me. At one point a low flying plane came over, I looked to my right to see the plane and could see the suns glorious rays shining through the tree limbs. I was trying to memorize this beauty and looked up and could also see the sliver of the moon. WOW!! So much beauty it is hard to take it all in.

Then I felt a bite. There was some kind of biting gnats or fleas or something crawling on my arms and on the pages of my book. It must not have been fleas because I could easily catch and squash them. I couldn’t help but think that the bugs were like Satan’s devices; just small irritants that keep us from fully enjoying peace in God. How many times have we gone in the house because the “bugs were biting”? If I had prepared better by having my bug spray with me this would not be happening. Well, I refused to let the bugs drive me off. I did have to come in to get ready for church, but I enjoyed the beauty as long as I could.

Let’s try this week to not let Satan win by distracting us with small irritations. We all have them everyday of our lives, but the beauty and grace of our Father are so much greater, surely we can think on “these things”.

Hope you all have a wonderful Sunday

I wondered why I was buying so big a SUV, more than 75% of the time it is just me in my vehicle. But yesterday as I loaded up Derek, Mary and Matthew and all of their baby paraphernalia to bring them to my house to weather the storm, I was wondering if my car was big enough.

We were very fortunate. The weather blew through here so quickly that it didn’t cause too much damage. There were 27,000 without power in the county of which I was one for about 4 or 5 hours, but other than that we were fine.

Matthew was pretty sure we all just took the day off to play with him. He was so sweet and I did enjoy being with him so much without the pressure of knowing I had to “get somewhere”. It is sad that it takes storms in our lives to make us slow down and just enjoy our families.

At one point yesterday the radar showed a clear band circling Cullman County, it was kind of eerily strange to me. Like God has sheltered us, and I know that He did, not that we are any better or prayed any harder than the people who were hit hard. But for some reason we were spared major damage from this storm. I give Him all the thanks and praise for that.

Thank you to everyone who prayed for us. Continue to pray for those on the coast. Orange Beach and Gulf Shores are like second homes to me. I try and spend as much time as possible there every year. It will not be the same for a long time. God don’t love us more than them, His test for them may be to get through this, and His test for us may be how we help.

Thank you Lord that the loss of lives was limited in this storm. We know that all things material can be replaced. Forgive us when our priorities get up-side-down. Help us to always give you praise, whether we are in need or blessed with plenty. Help our lives be all about You, working on getting Home and taking our neighbors with us.

As to previous post.... As for the car fever, that was resolved Saturday. Check the P.S. and the comment to see how I came out.

As for the humility post;

I agree with my commentors. There are some things that go on in our hearts and minds that just need to stay there, Of course we "tell it to Jesus", but that is where some confessing has to end. But, I do think we need an accountabilty partner, we need to have that person in our lives that will be brutally honest with us. We need someone we can talk about our struggles to, just to keep us in line. God meant for us to be support for each other, I don't think we take advantage of this enough. There are things that tempt us, but if we can keep it out in the open it loses some of its power over us.

As for pride, I think for me personally anyway, that it is not pride that keeps me from admitting my failures. I know that I am weak and unworthy and I admit this readily, just without the details. There are many other ways that pride is manifested in my life. I must work on these. Maybe they will be covered in the other 10 points of our Sunday school lesson.

Today in Bible study we were talking about humilty. There were twelve ways to humble yourself presented. Of course we only got to #2.

#1 Routinely confess your sins to God
#2 Acknowledge your sin to others.

Question for you. Do you believe that you have to be specific with others about your sins? Can you just tell them you have struggles and that you need their prayers without going into detail? Is it pride that keeps us from 'fessing up to the real burdens in our lives? How do you develop enough trust in someone to confess things that you think will appall them?

My answers will be posted later. But I really want to know what you think.

I have got the fever….car fever! Well maybe it is SUV fever, but nonetheless, I feel my bank account shrinking…. I try and tell myself, I don’t need a new vehicle and it’s true, I do not NEED one. I don’t NEED this Diet Coke I am drinking, but I WANTED it. Once I get to this point I am pretty useless till the deed is done.

Is anyone driving a car/truck/suv that you just love? I haven’t “loved” a car since my 1996 Buick Riviera. I am not sure if it was the turbo charged V-6 or the classic luxury of the car, but I did love it. I am leaning towards a smaller SUV, perhaps the smaller Lexus RX series. I need, I want your input. What do you drive? Do you love it?


P.S. (September 14, 2004) The deed is done..... check it out here

Yesterday turned out to be a great day. I was “way” less than 100% on the tennis courts but it was fun playing during “working hours”. Me energy and well-being level never got up to where I could say that I felt “good”, but I proceeded with my day and got everything accomplished.

Our small group “ladies class” at church has been such a blessing. It is so wonderful to have a place where we can openly discuss our fears and frustrations as well as our blessings. Too long in the CofC we have kept women silent to the point that they are afraid to speak out, or at least uncomfortable doing so. It is such a blessing to meet with a group of women with whom you can be comfortable, showing your warts and all. When I lead the class I am always more blessed by the comments of others. Sometimes it is hard to welcome new people into the group, but that is what it is all about, forming new groups and getting everyone involved in some type of group where they can open up and share. I pray that God will continue to bless us and help us to multiply these groups.

Do I do too much? Do I try and do too much and don’t do anything well? These are the questions that plague me today. Yesterday I went to the dentist to have a crown put back on that had come off. Well, the good news was I got to save the $600 and reuse this crown, the bad news was the tooth underneath had abscessed and needed a root canal. That really wasn’t all that bad other than wasting two hours in a dentist chair that I couldn’t afford, but hey I am caught up on my reruns of the Adams Family. (I even saw the episode of how Gomez met Morticia, who says the morning was a waste!) At any rate have you ever noticed that you don’t feel bad until someone tells you that you have an infection or are running a temperature? By the time I got back to the office I felt awful, just that nagging no-good feeling you have from a low-grade fever.

So, what was on my list to do….. I was supposed to practice tennis at 4:30, it was too wet, (yeah). I had a closing at 4:00 so I couldn’t go home early. I finally did get home around 5:30 and tried to get ready for today, here is my supposed itinerary.

5:30 Work out at the gym
6:30 Go to the office and get ready
7:00 Get two loans ready to close today
8:00 Meet the ladies to go to Gardendale and play tennis (not just singles that I signed up for but now they need me to play doubles)
12:00 Hopefully head back to Cullman and get ready for work, etc.
2:15 Give blood at blood drive (do they take it when you are on antibiotics??)
4:00 Two loan closings
7:00 Teach Ladies Bible class.
8:00 Finally head home and get ready for another day tomorrow.

I am very fortunate to be a healthy, active lady in my forties. I am not plagued with sickness or injury. Does that mean I have to push the envelope with my activities? No I know I do not, and most days are not quite this stressful, but I enjoy being busy, I enjoy having things to do that are fun and things to do that are meaningful. Anyway, as I write this I am hoping tennis is rained out today. Maybe I can schedule myself a little more free time in the future. Sorry I shared this all with you because I am sure you are wondering “what is the point”. I just want to remember to not book my days so full in the future, and I know if I share this on my blog, I will remember. So thanks for bearing with me and I will let you know how the day turns out.

Matthew is speaking: (he is so very smart but he can’t type yet…)
I finally got to spend the afternoon at my Mimi’s house. It was so cool. I don’t want you to think bad of her, but she is a little crazy. Fortunately for me, crazy is good. She told me all about playing tennis, there was this one guy Andre Agassi, she said I looked like him because he didn’t have any hair, mine is still in the defining stages. From what she said his is more in the dying stages. Mimi said he once had what was called a “mullet”. Now I’m not sure what that is, but Mimi doesn’t think I will need one of those. We talked (o.k. she talked and I listened) about how to hit a forehand and a backhand, how to get the ball to spin and just how important it was to be in good shape. I’m a little worried that she is going to buy me a tennis racquet for Christmas, but I will try and humor her, it seems she really likes this tennis stuff.

Then she told me about all the books in her library, especially the ones she had bought just for me. She might like books as much as she likes tennis. I don’t know how anyone can read that much. Mimi took me out to see the water in the lake and the frog in the fish pond. There are lots of things to look at out at her house. They were even having a concert at the park, Mimi said it was just for me.

When I got a little tired Mimi danced this hokey little dance that was something like marching with attitude. She sang a lot and I finally just went to sleep where I wouldn’t have to hear her anymore. I don’t know if she talks all the time or just when I am around, but I think I kind of like it. At least I know I have her full attention. I love my Mimi and I know that she loves me too.

Matthew
6 Weeks Old.

As I look out my window this morning there is a light rain falling. The lake is serenely calm. The cranes are flying low over the water; so low in fact I don't know how their wing tips miss the water. You don't see that alot on Saturday morning. The boats and PWC's ususally keep all the cranes in the safety of the sloughs. The weather I assume will dampen this "last weekend of summer" and we will have the lake to ourselves (o.k. we will always share it with the bass fishermen).

I come back in the house to watch the Weather Channel and the strong contrast of what is going on in Florida. I think how lucky the people of Florida are that Frances has weakened. But is it luck? I know that this storm is still very strong and very dangerous but it has weakened considerably. How many people have you heard pray or have ask you to pray for the people of Florida? Is it not amazing what the joint prayers of God's saints can accomplish? Why do we sometimes doubt the power of God in our lives or the fact that He does answer our prayers? We have alot more praying to do for our brothers and sisters in Florida, let us not neglect so great an opportunity.

Last night I was traveling to Decatur to play tennis. I was playing a classic rock station and singing along with Boston. As I got off the interstate there was a couple there; the man with a cardboard sign and the woman sitting on the ground with a duffle bag. I immediately turned off the radio and rolled down my window where I could read the sign. It said simply “traveling couple needs help”.

As I was driving I had been thinking about buying a new car. Before I left the office I was calculating how much I should be giving this week. I am paid on commission so my check is never the same, and this is the week I do the extra for the building program. While I drove around in my cute little tennis clothes, here were some people that genuinely needed help, or did they? Maybe they were just druggies who were trying to score money for a quick fix. Maybe they were running from the law and had left their kids in some rat infested motel; but, maybe not. Either way they were out here, humbling themselves in a way I pray I never have to do by asking for money from strangers. In Joe Beam’s book about spiritual warfare he talks about spirits being put in our lives to see how deal with them. He speaks of one guy who picks up a stranger while fearing for his and his family’s lives and being later convinced that this was “entertaining an angel”. I am not sure about all of that, but I do know while I was driving along in my perfectly good car thinking about a better car, these people were put in my path.

So what do you do? You can’t know these peoples hearts, motives or even their story, but here they are asking YOU for help. What should I have done? Maybe they needed a ride to a bus or train station, I didn’t offer them a ride. I did give them money. I am not telling you this because I feel 'oh so good' about myself, because I don’t. I should have been willing to do more. My heart pounded making the decision to just hand them some money. I truly want to let Christ live in me, but when faced with the true opportunities to do so I am plagued with fear. I don’t understand this. Do you ever face this dilemma?

I have a wonderful friend who is in the hospital. He has been my adopted grandpa at church. He had been very very sick, but you would never know it by talking to him. He is a wonderful example of joy in adversity. As a matter of fact his general good attitude masked from his family just how sick he was. He was delighted for me to come and see him in the hospital, but truly it made MY day. I pray that as I continue to grow older with aches, with pains, with true sickness, I can do it with the grace of this wonderful man.

If you have a moment today say a prayer for Elbert England. God already knows who he is.

Have you ever noticed that there is just something special about seeing the moon? It is especially beautiful over the natural bodies of water that God has blessed us with, like here, in the Gulf of Mexico (The picture of course does not do justice to how beautiful this night actually was). I am always a little surprised when I watch a ballgame on TV in New York or somewhere and they show the same moon that I am seeing. The lights in the sky make this world a little smaller somehow.

In a world where we can all see and enjoy the same moon it does not seem so daunting a task to make sure the whole world knows about God, "how can they not know?" I think to myself, "can't they see Him?" Yet we know it is not that simple.

We are so blessed to be loved and cared for by God. He loves us even when we are not sure anyone else does. I really related to Chris's post yesterday about being invisible. Why? I wonder is He so hard for us to share with people we come in contact with daily, when we know that our own lives are incomplete without Him?