Happy Halloween ... 3ish Hours Early

Here ... read ...

Think of a Jack'o'latern.

Going and picking out the right one...
Cleaning it off...

And think of all the work that goes into carving it.

Cutting off the top at the thickest part...
cleaning all the icky stuff out...
putting a pretty face or design on it...
all that time that goes into it...
then when you're done and its perfect by your standards...
you put candle/light in it and it just glows....

Now think of this another way.

God picks out a pumpkin, one that is perfect one that represent you...
He takes it home, and cleans it, makes it bright and smooth.
He then takes and cuts off our tops, taking away our egos and exposing our insides...
inside is our 'yuckyness'...he scoops out all the gross stuff, our unhappiness, our hurts, everything to make us clean inside as well as outside.
He takes his time to carve just the right thing, the right face into each and gives us a new face...
he then places his light into us, each of us to shed his light to the world, and illuminate the world...

(Thanks Courtney)

(P.S. Yes ... the retreat rocked my face off. Yes ... I will write about it very soon. Yes ... I'm still debreifing.)

Lessons from the Blogosphere

So I really needed to hear this today. Perhaps some of you will too ... (and thanks to Miss SarahCool for posting it on her blog today)

Do It Anyway
by Roy Lessin

Others may not notice your efforts or give you recognition for something you've done. The credit may even go to someone else.
Do it anyway, as unto Me,
for I am pleased by your service and will honor your obedience.

There may be times when a job you've done will be rejected. Something you have prepared may be canceled or delayed.
Do it anyway, as unto Me,
for I see all things and will bless the work of your hands.

You may do your very best, and yet fail. You may sacrifice time and money to help someone and receive no word of thanks.
Do it anyway, as unto Me,
for I am your reward and will repay you.

There may be times when you go out of your way to include others and later have them ignore you. You may be loyal on your job, and yet someone else is promoted ahead of you.
Do it anyway, as unto Me,
for I will not fail you or make you be ashamed.

You may forgive others, only to have them hurt you again. You may reach out in kindness, only to have someone use you.
Do it anyway, as unto Me,
for I know your heart and will comfort you.

You may speak the truth but be considered wrong by others. You may do something with good intentions and be completely misunderstood.
Do it anyway, as unto Me,
for I understand and will not disappoint you.

There may be times when keeping your word means giving up something you want to do. There may be times when commitment means sacrificing personal pleasure.
Do it anyway, as unto Me,
for I am your Friend, and will bless you with My Presence.

Finally Home ...

... till Thursday afternoon ...

So this weekend was cool. My mom and I went down to the Mingus Pumpkin festival in Cincy on Saturday. I thought I'd be in a meeting on Saturday (also in Cincy), so it was a real treat to get to spend some time with my mom. Emotionally, I really needed that. There were lots of good crafties there to look at. I don't think I've ever seen so many vendors at one festival. I also got a lot of good gift ideas as well as ideas of things I could make rather cheaply and then sell too. So the fall leaves were in full bloom this past weekend. And it was B-E-A-UTIFUL down there. The air was cool and crisp. The sun was shining. Wonderful day. And the best view of it all ... from the plane ride that mom and I took. It was far too short ... only about 10 mins. But we got a view of the whole area/county. It was sooooooooo much fun too! Just me and mom in the back seat of the little plane and the pilot in the front. He was nice too.

That's about it for highlights of the weekend. Not much can top the day at the festival. Mom and I had some good time on Sunday just being. Too often people forget how important it is to just be. Take some time today for yourself to do that ...

Okay ... laundry's calling ... It's really cold here today. I think it's about 60 degrees in our appartment. Last year we made it till Thanksgiving without the heat. But it seems colder this year. And as I look outside ... it's snowing ...

Weekend Traveling ...

... really stinks when your weekly worship gathering is on Saturday nights. I haven't been home on a Saturday night since September. I miss it. It stinks. I won't be home again next weekend either. But that'll be for a super sweet reason.

So I'm leading a retreat for high school girls in Cincy next weekend. I'm kinda getting a little nervous about it. My talk prep/practice is going well. But ... there are still spots where it seems a bit ... umm ... schizophrenic ... yeah ... that's a good word for it. Also on the subject - I have NO clue how many people read this ... but I apparently need to see the movie Mean Girls before this coming weekend. I leave on Thursday afternoon. (Also on the Cincy front - I could use somewhere to sleep on Thursday night.)

Okay ... I'm tired. I'm headed to bed. Although, I forgot to pack my jammies and toothbrush when I left home yesterday morning. It's a good thing my husband has some extra clothing at my mom's house.

Happy Birthday Tyler! I love you. I'm glad you had a good day at Fall Gathering. I'll see you tomorrow night when you get back to Ohio. Travel safely please.

WOO HOO

WOO Freaking HOO!!!!!!!!
(please excuse the language)

AMY MICHELE PASSED THE TENNESSEE BAR EXAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She's an official lawyer now!!!!!!!!

CONGRATS GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!

A-typical Kind of Girl

So I've never really fit into the "girl mold" ... and I've (almost) always been okay with that. I was reminded of this fact earlier today. (Yes, earlier. Tyler works at 7 ... I'm up then too.)

Iwo Jima. World War II. There's a new movie out - Flags of Our Fathers. Wow ... I want to see that ... so bad. I rarely say that. There are several movies that I'd like to see. But it's rare to think that I WANT to see something. I thought that when We Were Soldiers came out. I thought that when Black Hawk Down came out. I thought that when Saving Private Ryan came out.

And so I was reminded today that I'm really into war movies. And most "girls" aren't. And I'm good with that.

My Apologies

I haven't been online much. I'm sorry about not updating.

So what's new? ... I've been doing a lot of thinking. Ryan's blog touches on some of it (today's writing - which is acctually Tuesday the 10th ... dunno what's up with the date being weird ...). I commented. But that's just the surface.

In the midst of all of this thinking, I've discovered that somewhere along the way (and just in the last couple of weeks) I've become an emotional wreck. Yesterday's emotional mess I just attributed to my exhaustion. (We were at the Apple Butter Festival in Salem, WV with Tyler's mom on Saturday. It's about 6 hours from here. Jet set weekends usually take it out of people.) However, today the mess remains. I slept well. I'm not feeling really great. But I'm not tired anymore. I've also lost a large chunk of my desire to socialize. I've ignored at least 5 phone calls today. Yesterday I didn't want to go somewhere. Don't get me wrong, I had a good time once I was there. I know I was helpful. I just didn't want to be there. I don't really want to work around here either. I look at the stuff that needs done and just feel overwhelmed. I've never been this intimidated by so little work. I keep trying to tell myself that I can do it all ... really it's just light cleaning ... but that doesn't seem to work ... grr ... Eventually I shall snap out of this mess in which I sit.

More things to think about ... I'm leading that retreat in 3 weeks. I'm super looking forward to it ... but I need to nail down the talk I'm supposed to give. I must say ... when Derek (It's his youth group ... I'm taking the girls for the weekend.) and I originally set the schedule, I thought the talks were like 15-20 mins ... NOPE ... I'm supposed to go for 40. That's intimidating for me. And so, because I'm short on material with which to fill that time, I'm extending an invitation to you all - my faithful readers. It's a He-Man/She-Ra retreat. I'm talking about how we must be enough in ourselves and in God. For only He can fill the void. Society, friends, boys, commercialism, etc. preach the need for things and that we can never really be enough. My title is "Enough Already!" ... so far ... I'm short. Thoughts on being a woman of God ... These are high school girls. The rest of the weekend they'll be hearing talks on sex and what's really going on in a guy's head. There's also going to be a dedication time for them ... Another note here - I'm giving my talk at like 8 am on Saturday morning. So I want to dive in ... but I don't want to loose anyone because it's too early ... Seriously - help me here ...

One yay moment before I go ... my shirt is a size smaller than I could wear last winter. It looks pretty good on me too ... :)