most entries are pretty random...
btw, you can't always expect correct grammar or punctuation. and i like to type in lower case as much as possible.
Disclaimer: my views/opinions/reviews are not necessarily the views of my employer and/or anyone else i know like my friends & family- so don't blame them!
A scripture that I have prayed over friends and family this year is found at the end of Psalm 27. It says: "I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD." Be confident that God's plan for your life is not only a good plan but a plan worth waiting for. And, it's a plan for the land of the living... for today... for the here & now. Trying to solve my own problems by my own strength has never ever turned out well. The truth is that when I decide to be patient and wait on God's plan and His strength to solve my problems... it's always WAY, WAY better than anything I could come up with. Seriously. When it seems like nothing is changing or nothing is happening... you're wrong. God is working and moving on your behalf. So, stick that in your pipe and smoke it. No really, whenever you start to freak out: stick the "GOD IS WORKING I JUST CAN'T SEE IT" in your pipe and chill. That's what I try to do... anyway... take it or leave it.... that's my 2 cents.
Merry Christmas!! I pray the rest of 2010 will be happy for you and that 2011 will be a year of growth and joy in your lives! LOVE & HUGS!!
Luke 10:27 He answered: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'
A very dear friend of our family passed away last month. He was one of the few men who I looked up to in this world. One of the men who cause me to continue to believe that good, godly men exist. I called him: "Uncle Danny". He was a man's man. A veteran. A great father to Tony & Eric. A loving husband to Teri. A man of God. A man who followed Luke 10:27 with everything he had. And I will always love him for being all of those things. I remember my dad & Uncle Danny would come out and play baseball with us kids growing up. He always had the heart of a child- he loved to have fun and laugh. I loved watching him wrestle with the boys... teaching his sons to be men. Even as a kid, I found something awe-inspiring about it. I loved how he taught them to be tough and unafraid even in the face of uncertainty. I will always be eternally thankful for the godly example that Danny was to me. I am SO sick of the obsession of our society to feminize men. I gotta tell ya, the boys I always liked as a kid were the ones that got muddy and caught bugs and snakes and weren't afraid to skin their knees or bleed or be ADVENTUROUS. And guess what? I still like those kind of guys!!! A guy I dated in college pursued me like that day was his last day on earth. He risked looking like an idiot to get my attention and it worked. He loved to get dirty and sweaty and guess what? I thought it was sexy. I remember my little brother, pretending to be a superhero, took a flying leap off the sofa when he was about 3 years old. I'm pretty sure the coffee table knocked him out cold. All I remember was the end result was a pretty black eye and my mom freaking out. All I'm saying is... what happened to the little boy sense of adventure in men?? What happened to the little boys who weren't afraid to get caught passing love letters in class? The boys who climbed trees and built treehouses? What happened to the boys who dressed up like superheros and firemen? (Not that I advocate grown men dressing up like superheros in skin-tight pants). Men: Look for your sense of adventure... if it's lost... go find it. My girlfriends and I considering setting up camp in the men's clothing section at Bass Pro Shop hoping to check out the men shopping for Carhartt gear. Ok, that's a joke... kind of. The truth is that real men have been missing from our society for awhile and we'd like to know where all of you manly men are. Please tell me you're not a dying breed. I have to watch "Man, Woman, Wild" to catch glimpses of a man. I'd like to see the girlie men in our society go hang out with that guy, Mykel Hawke. Mykel and Uncle Danny would have been great buds. I recently bought a book called "The Ultimate Man's Survival Guide". I don't know why I bought it but I'm glad I did. It's encouraged me that there are still real men out there who LOVE GOD & aren't afraid to get dirty. I love it. Let me tell you, if any guy interested in me doesn't have this book at the top of their favorite list... then we probably aren't going to work out. I had lunch with my parents this weekend and of course my parents brought up my dating life. You know, like "what are you doing to meet people"? Ugh. My response was to tell them about a conversation my roomie had with a friend recently. This friend was also inquiring about whether we girls were dating and what we were doing. He said: "You just need to put yourself out there." REALLY? IT'S THAT EASY??!! We just need to put ourselves OUT THERE?? Hmm, ok. So my very wise roomie asked: "Ok, where is this elusive out there? Is there a secret hiding place?" And not surprising, after much discussion our friend could offer no advice outside of church singles groups. Anyway, back to the response that I gave my parents... I told my Dad: "I want my husband to be like you, Dad. A man who lives his life honorably as unto the Lord." And guess what? THAT'S THE TRUTH!! THAT'S WHAT WE CHRISTIAN WOMEN REALLY WANT! Sounds simple, huh? I live MY LIFE in that way... and I expect him to do the same. What's so damn complicated about it??
The truth is that I'm not going to go hunting for anyone. I'm sure my man is looking for me. And I'm sure my God who created the UNIVERSE and EVERYTHING in it, can manage to get us together. My bro met his wife at a dog park. Another couple I know met because she was his waitress and she accidentally spilled a drink on him as she was passing by. Seriously, God is big enough... He can handle this. This entry is not about me or my dating life. The purpose is to encourage men to BE MEN!!!! To encourage you that we want you to be men and LIVE "The Ultimate Man's Survival Guide". Most importantly, we want you to live Luke 10:27!! Because if you do that... then you can't help but be real men.
I've been dabbling in some ancestry stuff recently. I gotta tell you, it's also boosted my belief that men are created to be courageous. Looking at my genealogy, it's filled with guys who were warriors, soldiers, fighters, victors. They were the type of men who were naturally "ultimate". Men who weren't afraid to risk everything for the people they loved. Men who went against the grain went the going got tough. And I believe many of them loved God with all their hearts and with all their souls and with all their strength and with all their minds. Certain things really fire me up. And this is one of those things. Men: Please stand up and be men. Take off your girlie clothes, put down that "messenger bag", go camping, go fishing, make a fire, and sleep under the stars. Don't forget to take your bible and talk to God. I'm praying that He will help you be the men that He has created you to be. The men that we need you to be. Don't let us down... go watch Braveheart, put some warrior paint on your face and get revved up. We need men to stand up for the truth of God's Word. We need men to stand up for their country. We need men to stand up for their families. We need men to stand up. STAND UP! STAND UP! STAND UP!!!!!!!!!
There are only a few songs that cause me to involuntarily move. I've been listening to "Cosmic Love" while writing this... it's just the kind of song that makes me want to get up, march & fight. Maybe I like it because she's shouting at the top of her lungs and I can hear gun-fire somewhere in the background. But unlike this song, I believe that the men in this world aren't going to leave us "in the dark". I'm praying that men of God will stand up & be courageous & be the leaders that God has created them to be.
I love what Jesus says to Saul (aka Paul) in Acts 26: "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," the Lord replied. 'Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me."
Men: You can thank my father & my Uncle Danny for my crazy 100% faith in the "manly man". I can hear your hearts beating. Don't leave us in the dark. We need you. We miss you. Live Luke 10:27. Help us light the darkness.
Ok, let me just say right now that if you have not seen the series finale then stop reading now.
I've decided to take the time to write up a few thoughts on LOST. I know, this is more than likely the nerdiest thing I've ever done but who cares. I've been meaning to post this for a VERY long time. If some of this is something you already know, then great... here's my translation anyway.
Here's the deal... if you're an extreme left brained person (like our beloved Jack) then you're probably not getting the whole picture. If you're an extreme right brained person then I'm guessing you might also be a bit LOST. To my Jack-like friends who are focusing and zeroing in on things of no consequence, I'm just going to say it... like Jack was told, you're going to have to "let go". This show is a sci-fi show. It should be understood that not ALL of your questions are going to be answered. It's a story about a strange mystical island... so things are going to be strange & mystical... period.
If you have a chance to watch the "Enhanced" version of the show, I recommend it. It may explain some things for you. I was happy to see that it confirmed many of my thoughts and theories.
I want to briefly talk about the show's pilot, with the backgammon reference. John tells Walt: "Two players. Two sides. One is light- one is dark." The entire show was about the light vs dark or the good vs the evil. Backgammon is a game of not only luck, tactics, strategy... but also of choices. Kind of like the saying "You have to play the cards you're dealt" in the game of backgammon you have to choose wisely how to play according to the roll of the dice. I believe the writers were giving us the main idea of the show with the backgammon reference. Life for our characters (and dare I say us) is about light vs dark and about how we choose to live our lives according to the hand were dealt. Do I think the writers knew what they were going to do or how they were going to end the entire show at the very beginning? Yes, I think they did to a certain extent... hence the backgammon reference in the pilot. Did all the story lines in every single episode line up with this main theme? No, not every episode... does any sci-fi show? So what was the point of Dharma? Dharma was simply a group assigned to study the island and all the crazy, mystical things that go on there such as the electro-magnetic anomalies and other strange happenings like the smoke monster, etc. Think Bermuda-Triangle weird. There's no explaining that kind of weirdness. Seriously, not even Ben(who lived there the majority of his life) knew what was going on with the island. And unfortunately, the "Man in black" used Ben's confusion and frustration to get him to kill Jacob.
Watch the Jimmy Kimmel's LOST after-show... or at least first part with Matthew Fox. Within the first segment, Kimmel chatted with Fox about his theory. Matthew confirmed Jimmy's thoughts/ideas and added a bit more explanation. Jimmy suggested the the "sideways" life that we have been seeing in this 6th season is actually an "after-life". Now, here's where a lot of people get confused based on whatever their religious beliefs are. Here's the deal, it's not just one religious/spiritual road that they have taken! They actually took the beliefs of a handful of different religions and tried to morph them into one ending. Matthew Fox attempted to explain some of this to Jimmy on the after-show. For example, some religions believe that you have to remember your previous life in your after-life before you can "move on" to the next place or life. This "after-life" that we have been watching all of them go through is a sort of purgatory type place where they live until they realize their pasts and are ready to move on. Not all of our characters are ready to move on... for example, Eloise Hawking, Daniel Faraday, Charlotte, Ben. Also, did you notice that their "after-life" is slightly different than their real life? If you examine the afterlife of each character, in most cases you will find that they chose the better road... or the things they always wanted in real life but never had. Hurley has good luck instead of bad. John is still in a relationship with his girlfriend/fiance(in real life they broke up). Jack has the son he always wanted but didn't have in real life. Kate was innocent and not guilty. Sun & Jin are able to conceive a child. Eloise didn't kill her son. Daniel is the musician he always wanted to be. Charlie quits the band(Hurley has to kidnap him to get him to the concert). Sawyer is a cop instead of a con-artist. Ben is kind, is looked up to and admired and makes the right decisions (including not killing his father). Desmond is loved by Penny's father and not hated. Claire decides to keep her baby. It goes on and on. In other words, our characters have chosen different paths in this afterlife... they attempt to right their wrongs in a way or they have the things they always wanted but could never have in their real lives. In the case of Eloise, she has time to spend with her son because she didn't kill him... remember what she asked Desmond? Eloise understands what is going on, and isn't ready to move on yet. She is enjoying a life she didn't have before and tries to keep Desmond from revealing their pasts to people because she fears this will cause her & Daniel to be forced to move on. She asks Desmond if he's going to take Daniel along... to which Desmond replies "Not with me, no." It appears that our characters who aren't willing and ready to "move on" don't go to the church. Eloise isn't ready to move on because of the aforementioned, Daniel & Charlotte just met at the concert so they're not ready, Ben is finally admired and has a healthy relationship with Alex.... so you see the pattern?
Obviously, there were a lot of clearly defined "Christian" references throughout the course of the show. But as I've already mentioned, the finale is not to be translated strictly from a "christian" point-of-view and cannot be. They try to clue us in on this by using symbolism in the last scene with Jack & Christian in the church. The window in the background had not only the christian cross to represent Christianity, but it also included symbols of a handful other religions: Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism. Side note: Funny the show is called "LOST" because that's what usually happens to people when they try to live life according to more than one true belief system at a time.
There has been some discussion on whether or not their lives on the island were real or were they all dead? They were not dead in the island life... they were alive. There were hints/clues & symbolism throughout this season to explain that... but for sake of time, I'll just give you a couple... the conversation between Richard & Jacob when they meet for the first time and another example was the conversation Jack has with Christian Shephard in the church.
Also, an important key to understand is that this "after-life" does not coincide or line-up on the same time-line with their real lives on the island. This is explained during Christian & Jack's conversation at the end. Jack asks, So we're all dead? And Christian tells him yes, but some have died before you and others died LONG AFTER you. Also, when Kate approaches Jack after the concert, she says, "I've missed you SO much waited for so long". If you remember, on the island life, Kate left the island on the plane... and it is assumed that she then went on to lead a long life off the island. Also, Hurley & Ben at the end when Hurley tells Ben he made a good #2 and Ben telling Hurley he made a good number #1.... this also insinuates that they lived & stayed on the island for quite awhile.
I'll close this with a video clip from IGN. If you are still looking for answers... maybe this can help... and if it can't then I charge $20/hour if you want to discuss LOST theories with me. Ok, just kidding about the $20/hour thing.
2,977 victims. Some went down with the towers. Some were firefighters. Some were paramedics. Some were police officers. Everyday people who went to work but never came home.
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." John 14:6
"Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. Ephesians 2:8-9
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name... John 1:12
Then they said to Him, “Where is Your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also.” John 8:19
He who hates Me hates My Father also. John 15:23
And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” John 20:28-29
"Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him." John 14:19-21
Some of my friends took me to dinner for my bday last month. Since we were discussing aging, I mentioned to them how I used to listen to the "Oldies" radio station from time to time. I remember listening to it one night & thinking: One day my music is going to be the "Oldies" station. Well, that day has come. Our local radio station changed it's format at the beginning of the year from the "Oldies" to "Gen-X" radio. Don't get me wrong, I love it. But part of me doesn't love it. Thanks 106.1FM -- I have mixed feelings-- but I'm sure I'll get over it.
Quote from Lindsey's blog: I read a little random article in Prevention about how it's proven best for healing to keep scabs or wounds covered and unexposed. It felt like an odd little reminder to shut up about these things and not talk about or rehash them, but to let God cover me and "bind up the brokenhearted."
Psalm 147:3 He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
so about a year ago I was sitting at an intersection & watching some birds flying over to perch themselves on a wire. it made me wonder: what do the birds who sit on tree branches think of the birds who sit on electrical wires? I shared my thoughts with Tara Lynn. she suggested I blog about it. again, this was at least a year ago... but i just thought about it again today.
anyway, so do the "tree" birds like the "wire" birds & vice versa?
is there a social class among birds? do the "wire" birds consider the "tree" birds old-school?
do the "tree" birds consider the "wire" birds as living on the edge? are they the "Gen-X" of the bird world? I bet it's the Gen-X "wire" birds who fly around dropping bombs on freshly washed cars while the "tree" birds respectfully drop it somewhere else.
this is just one example of some of my random thoughts.
hope everyone is having a very Happy New Year so far...
I can’t let this year end and not say it. It’s been a hell of a year. Is this going to be a depressing post? I hope not. Hear me out.
It started with… death. Death of a friend’s father. Then a 2nd friend’s father. Then a 3rd friend’s father. Then a tragic loss of a another friend’s family. Then one of my long-time friends after a long illness. Then another friend’s father. Then another.
Why do I bring this up? Because when I think of this past year, it has been defined by these losses. You know how at the end of every year you see those celebrity lists of famous people who have passed on? I saw one of those today and it annoyed me. None of our real-life friends and families are on those TV lists. And it’s ok to be mad about it. It’s ok to grieve our loss. It’s ok to hurt. It’s ok to cry. It’s ok to be ticked at the world for not stopping to take notice. When I first experienced great loss, I hated the world & I hated God. I was SO SO SO MAD at Him. I thought He didn’t care. I thought He was a liar. I thought He was deaf & dumb. I didn’t think I could ever trust Him or love Him ever again. I was young and it messed with me for a long time. I hated God & lost interest in life. I had so many questions. And so, so many regrets. I thought: If only I had spent more time with them. I never told them. If I could just have 5 minutes more. Did I tell them that I loved them? Did I hug them enough? What was the last thing I said to them? Did they know I loved them? I’m forgetting the sound of their voice!!! NO! God! Please don’t let me forget their voice!
Psalm 30:11 You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy…
It took a long, long time for me to heal. A long time for me to come back to God and recognize & feel His love. It’s one thing to lose someone to old age… it’s another to lose a loved one by tragedy or illness unexpectedly. It hurts more. It takes longer to heal & the scar is much worse. When you have a deep cut, the nerves get damaged. You lose feeling for a long time… sometimes years… and that's what it’s like when you experience great loss. But slowly, your feeling starts to come back & those nerves begin to heal. And the scars fade… with time. Not that you stop missing your loved ones… even when the healing comes, you still miss them. That never changes. Do you have physical scars that hurt sometimes? I know I do. When I see a lot of blood or see someone else get injured… my scar starts to ache. Seeing all my friends go through their losses this year… has been like that. Experiencing losses of my own this year, has made that old scar hurt again. Those questions replay in my mind & heart. It’s hard to understand & hard to move on. The love of friends helped bring me out of my depression & grief all those many years ago. You have to allow yourself to be around people and be loved… and love again. It is through love that we are repaired & heal. I realize now that God was using others to heal my broken heart and reach out to me. Give it a try… and let Him bear your chains. It was for life that God sacrificed His only Son. It was for life and love. It was for your life and your love. I know, it’s hard to believe right now. It may take years, but I assure you, He’ll prove Himself to you again. Your wailing will be turned into dancing.
Isaiah 26:19 But your dead will live; their bodies will rise. You who dwell in the dust, wake up and shout for joy. Your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead.
We will see our loved ones again. We will be reunited. No more lonely holidays, no more tears of sadness… we will shout for joy and rejoice in the everlasting life of the Lord Jesus together. We will shout & jump & DANCE.
So what am I praying for 2010?? I’m praying for this next year to be a year of LIFE. I pray that for each of you reading this. I pray your wounds begin to heal. Let me know if you have anything you want me to specifically be praying for you about… otherwise I pray you have a Merry Christmas & feel God’s love surrounding you.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for coming to this earth to bear my chains & walk to Calvary for the life of me. For the eternal life of us all.
Last night I got into a discussion about life. Roomies are good for that a lot of times... my roomie, Tara Lynn, is really good at it.
It started by me expressing my concerns and feelings about my job and life in general. It's been a rough year... in a lot of ways. But TL always has great words of encouragement to help me through the times when I'm tired and ready to throw in the towel. That's what friends do. We encourage one another and lift each other up. We talked about God's plan. Talked about how we don't understand it. Part of growing up is realizing that you don't have to know or understand the big picture because God does... and He's the one who knows the best plan for you, your life, and your future... because why? Oh, yeah... because PS: He's the only one who knows the future. The problem is learning to trust God with stuff can be a very difficult thing... a daily struggle at times. But I believe that God has a specific purpose and plan not only for my life but for others lives. He has a plan and a purpose in every living thing.
I have to believe that if God has wired bees to have and fulfill a specific purpose, then He probably has wired me and you for a specific purpose too. I read the following excerpt in "Our Daily Bread" from RBC Ministries the other day & wanted to share it on my blog here:
The honeybee has one of the most highly developed social structures in the animal kingdom. At the heart of the hive, which may house as many as 80,000 bees, is the queen. Without her, the colony has no future. But the 80,000 don't just sit around watching their queen. Each bee has a specialized duty to fulfill. The forager bees encounter the perils of the outside word to collect food. The guard bees protect the hive from intruders. The undertakers are responsible for removing dead bodies from the hive. The water collectors bring in moisture to regulate humidity. The plasterers make a kind of cement to repair the hive. And the fanners station themselves at the entrance and fan the scent outward to signal the location of the colony to lost or disoriented bees. The scout bees keep the hive alerted to opportunities and dangers of the outside world. The variety and specialization of the worker bees seem endless. In a similar way, the Lord has given special gifts and tasks to all His people...
God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. 1 Corinthians 12:18
Today I slept in. I stayed up too late. And my neighbor across the street likes to have loud parties until 4:00 am. Before I popped the earplugs in my ears last night, I turned my phone off. When I finally got around to waking up today, I checked my phone and saw I'd missed a message from my friend's wife, Nikki. She was informing friends & family that the doctors where telling her to call them to come to Billy's side. Having been in the hospital with a mysterious illness for nearly 2 years... it's been a long, hard battle for Billy... and his family.
Nikki and Billy
Today Billy's pain ended and he walked through the gates of heaven. I'm glad to know he was greeted by friends today... I'm sure Tim greeted him with a hug. And I'm especially glad to know that he's face-to-face with Jesus.
I've been thinking of Billy all day. Remembering high school and other memories with friends throughout the years. I was so glad to hear that he made things right with God before he left this earth.
Many of my friends have experienced so much loss this year & I've cried hard tears... more than I have in about 15 years combined. But as Thessalonians says, we do not grieve or mourn like those who have no hope. I am comforted by the fact that I will see Billy and all my friends again and we will all spend eternity with Jesus. I look forward to heaven more & more. And I look forward to seeing Billy's bright eyes & big smile greeting me as I walk through those gates.
Please be praying for Nikki, Billy's daughters, and the entire family.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.
Isaiah 40:31 those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
If you're wondering where I've been, I've been spending more of my online time on Twitter. Between work & life, it's hard to find time to blog these days. However, today being the 8-year anniversary of 9/11, I'm taking time to honor those lost on that horrific day.
I've recently read statements from some public school teachers that trying to teach kids about 9/11 in schools today is like trying to teach them about the Civil War. The kids don't remember because they're too young, most of them have no personal impact nor memory of it. I have some friends in their early-twenties who admittedly don't remember much about 9/11 either. Again, they were too young 8 years ago to really understand the tragedy of what was going on.
As for me, I had just graduated from college in May 2001 and was busy working at a local company in Tulsa. I do remember Sept 11, 2001. I had arrived at work as usual that morning. I started to make my daily calls to customers and clients. At the time, I worked with churches helping them with their websites. I decided to call my customers in New York because it was almost 9am EST. The first church I called (located in downtown NYC) said: "Hello? Kristin, we can't talk to you right now... we don't know what's happening... but we're being evacuated! I think the city is being attacked!" CLICK. I was left listening to the dead line & thinking: What? New York City is being attacked? I turned around and called out to my manager & co-workers: "Anyone know what's going on in New York?" Someone responded: "Yeah, a plane accidentally hit one of the World Trade Center towers." Me: "Accidentally? No, sorry, but planes don't accidentally fly into buildings like the World Trade Center. That's nuts." The next thing I know, my phone was ringing. It was my mom. Mom: "Kristin, do you know what's going on in New York? Two planes have flown into the WTC buildings in downtown NYC." Me: "Yeah, I just heard about it. One of my churches is down there and..." Mom: "Kristin, Donnie was in one of those towers." Me: "What...?" and my heart skipped a beat... and the room started spinning.
My friends, Donnie & Andrea, were married while we were still in college. They're the type of couple who you meet and you instantly love. You just need to spend a few minutes with them to see that they were made for each other and will be together forever. We met our freshman year. We spent a lot of time together... Donnie, Andrea, Stacey, & me. These are "salt of the earth" people... people you'd like to know all your life. They were my closest friends at the time... and I still love them very much.
Donnie, who worked for Morgan Stanley, had been sent to NYC for some training. He was in the South tower of the WTC the morning of 9/11. He'd called Andrea to tell her he was okay... before the towers fell. When my mom called me on 9/11 to tell me that Donnie was in one of the towers, I couldn't believe it. I remember spending the evening with Andrea. I remember watching the news coverage with Stacey, Andrea, and some of Andrea's family. I remember us waiting for Donnie's call. I remember Andrea screaming at the TV: "Why do you keep showing that? I don't ever want to see those planes again! I don't want to keep watching the towers fall! Stop showing it! It's terrible!" We all waited to see what would happen next.
Donnie was one of the lucky ones who made it out alive on 9/11. I remember hugging him when he made it home days later. I remember wanting to ask him about it, but being afraid to. I remember the relief of having him back in Tulsa. Seems like yesterday...
I remember watching the scenes of the planes & towers for days. I remember the photos. I remember the "jumpers". I remember watching the families on the news who were desperate to know of their loved ones whereabouts... begging and pleading people to contact them if they'd seen them... not wanting to believe their loved ones were dead. I remember watching the denial and pain in people faces. I remember adults sobbing. I remember the stories that began to emerge of heroism and courage. I remember "Let's roll." I remember the quiet. I remember the eeriness of not knowing what would happen next. I remember the pictures of the guilty Muslim foreign terrorists. I remember the security videos released days later showing the terrorists checking in for their flights. I remember praying more than I'd ever prayed before. I remember my grandmother suggesting I join the military. I remember the songs. I remember the conversations. I remember the waving American flags. I remember President Bush. I remember the tears. I remember God's peace. I remember the names & faces of those lost in the attacks on 9/11 flashing across the TV screen.
I remember. I will always remember. And I will never forget.
This vid is powerful & difficult to watch... but we must never forget the horror of those attacks.
This vid is a little over an hour... a documentary called "The Falling Man".
Oh, tragedy Has taken so many Love lost cause they all Forgot who You were And it scares me to think That I would choose My life over You My selfish heart Divides me from You It tears us apart
So tell me What is our ending? Will it be beautiful So beautiful?
Oh, why do I Let myself let go Of hands that painted the stars And hold tears that fall? And the pride of my heart Makes me forget It's not me but You Who makes the heart beat I'm lost without You And dying from me
So tell me What is our ending? Will it be beautiful So beautiful? Will my life Find me by Your side? Your love is beautiful So beautiful
At the end of it all I wanna be in Your arms At the end of it all I wanna be in Your arms At the end of it all I wanna be in Your arms At the end of it all I wanna be in Your arms
So tell me What is our ending? Will it be beautiful So beautiful? Will my life Find me by Your side? Your love is beautiful So beautiful
I'm thinking of watching "It's a Wonderful Life" today. Yeah, I know, Christmas in July. But that's ok- I love that it's a story about life & what it's really all about. If you haven’t figured it out yet— life is about relationships and how you treat others.
Your relationship with the grocery clerk. Do you smile at them & ask how they are doing?
Your relationship with the video store girl. Do you take time out & stop to hear her latest story?
Your relationship with your waiter. Do you treat him with the respect and tip well?
Your relationship with you family. Do you call them just to say “I love you”?
Your relationship with your co-workers. Do you strive to do your best work and get along even when you don’t feel like it? Even if they treat you awful?
Your relationship with friends. Are you someone they can count on and trust?
Your relationship with God. Do you take time out to talk to Him & then stop to let Him talk back to you? Do you listen?
Notice that I didn’t list these in any particular order. I did that on purpose. I hope that you are treating the waiter just the same as you would your friends. But I have to say- I would hope that your relationship with God doesn’t rank last on your list.
Luke 6:27-49 would be a good excerpt for you to read today. If you don’t have time, let me list a handful of the verses for you: 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.
37 Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
43 No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thorn bushes, or grapes from briers. 45 The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.
I have this little devotional book I read every once in awhile. This morning I read something that I felt like sharing on my blog. So here it is:
"Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the LORD, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah. The people of Judah came together to seek help from the LORD; indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him. Then Jehoshaphat stood up in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem at the temple of the LORD in the front of the new courtyard and said:
"O LORD, God of our fathers, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you. O our God, did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? They have lived in it and have built in it a sanctuary for your Name, saying, 'If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgment, or plague or famine, we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name and will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us.'
"But now here are men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, whose territory you would not allow Israel to invade when they came from Egypt; so they turned away from them and did not destroy them. See how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession you gave us as an inheritance. O our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you."
All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the LORD. Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite and descendant of Asaph, as he stood in the assembly.
He said: "Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the LORD says to you: 'Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's.Tomorrow march down against them. They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel. You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you.' " 2 Chronicles 20:3-17
In today's Bible reading, the people of Judah were in trouble. They admitted their lack of power and wisdome to conquer their foes. All they had left was God! But King Jehoshaphat and the people saw this as reason for hope, not despair. "Our eyes are upon You," they declared to God. And their hope was not disaapointed as He fulfilled His promise: "The battle is not yours, but God's."
Are you in a position where all self-sufficiency is gone? As you turn your eyes on the Lord and put your hope in Him, you have God's reassuring promise that you need nothing more. {excerpt from April 2009 Daily Bread publication}
When I was a little kid in elementary school, we had weekly class trips to the school library. I wasn't a big fan of books or reading when I was a kid. Honestly, reading is something that I'm just now starting to really enjoy... ha. Anyway, every time we had a trip to the school library, I would look at all the Shel Silverstein books or I would sneak over to the "big kids" side of the library and check out the Choose Your Own Adventure books. I loved those books! Anyway, I've bought a couple Shel Silverstein books lately... I don't know why exactly... sentimental I guess. Suppose I should go get one of those Choose Your Own Adventure books now! But anyway, thought I'd share one of Shel's poems from Where the Sidewalk Ends.
FORGOTTEN LANGUAGE by Shel Silverstein
Once I spoke the language of the flowers, Once I understood each word the caterpillar said, Once I smiled in secret at the gossip of the starlings, And shared a conversation with the housefly in my bed.
Once I heard and answered all the questions of the crickets, And joined the crying of each falling dying flake of snow, Once I spoke the language of the flowers.... How did it go? How did it go?
p.s. In case you haven't, you should check out The Giving Tree. It's probably my favorite of Shel's books.
My heart and my prayers go out to Melinda & Brian... I love you guys and I'm thinking of you. Since I realize that the words I offer can only bring small comfort... I'm offering you comfort from God's Word... and what He does and says will last... for all of eternity. To everyone who might be experiencing loss, I pray that God will envelope you and surround you with His Love... may you feel His arms of peace wrapped around you. Know that He can be our strength when our hearts run out of faith.We grow weary but He does not. We must look to Him- God is our everlasting hope and our salvation. He is our Daylight- and Daylight will come. Isaiah 25:8 He will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth. The LORD has spoken.
Isaiah 33:2 O LORD, be gracious to us; we long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress.
Isaiah 49:14-16 But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me." "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me."
1 Corinthians 15:52 In a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
Hosea 13:14 I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. Where, O death, are your plagues? Where, O grave, is your destruction?
Isaiah 51:3 The LORD will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; he will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing.
Lamentations 3:21-23 Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
Hey! Just wanted to say Happy Memorial Weekend and thanks to all of our servicemen & women! And thank you veterans! God bless you all.
Speaking of veterans, I had a rare opportunity to take a flight in a WWII T-6 Texan Warbird last weekend. Below is a 30 second video of some of the pics. I found this really cool site that makes music videos with your pictures... you should check out Animoto.com
And since I had so much fun... I made another vid with the pictures from our fun snow day back in March... enjoy!
I've been on a writing hiatus. Actually, I've been on a hiatus in many ways lately. Not allowing myself to get emotional or feel anything. Maybe because I've been afraid that if I allowed it... there would be no ending it. That hiatus has ended.
It ended this week when I learned that Amber, my best-friend from high school, lost her father. Tim Etzkorn passed away suddenly in his home on Tuesday. This is a very hard loss for many... as he was such a wonderful and giving man. He was a father to many of us. Personally, I do have a very wonderful father and am blessed to have him but there were many of our friends who weren't so lucky.
Tim was a father to the fatherless, a friend to the friendless. He loved the least of us and gave all he had to every one of us. I can honestly say I am a much better person because of Tim. I am a more generous person because of the example I saw in Tim's constant giving and caring for others. Tim and Patti always opened their home up to everyone. They have been true examples of Christ in my life and I am so eternally thankful for their love and friendship in my life. Thank you Brendan, Amber, and Megan for sharing your parents with the rest of us. This is the most recent picture I have of Tim. And I realized how perfect it is... because the picture is focused on someone else... just as Tim lived his life... always focused on others. In this picture he's holding Brady, one of his many grandchildren. And Patti, his beautiful wife of 36 years is smiling in the background. Although I have a great dad, Tim was another father-figure in my life and a very important one. I will always cherish all the memories spent with their family in my heart. I know there are many others who truly share the same feelings and sentiment. Tomorrow we will be honored to attend his funeral and lay his body to rest. Yes, my hiatus is over and I am crying as I write this... but as Rita Schiano said in Sweet Bitter Love: "Tears are God’s gift to us. Our holy water. They heal us as they flow."
Just after I'd learned of Tim's passing on Tuesday, I opened up an email that a friend of mine had sent earlier in the day with a seemingly random scripture at the bottom. This passage comforted me so much on Tuesday and I shared it with some of the family this evening... and it is perfect. When I read it, I know that it's a specific message straight from God to give us comfort... and I read it with all the heavenly hosts in mind.
6But Timothy has just now come to us from you and has brought good news about your faith and love. He has told us that you always have pleasant memories of us and that you long to see us, just as we also long to see you. 7Therefore, brothers, in all our distress and persecution we were encouraged about you because of your faith. 8For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord. 9How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you? 10Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith. 11Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you. 12May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. 13May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones. -1 Thessalonians 3:6-13 (New International Version)
Thank you Tim for all the love and laughs... I look forward to you greeting me with one of your big, warm hugs again one day... soon. Love you.
i like to pretend that i work for SNL, i love colorado, i love traveling, i love coming home, i love music, i'm blessed, i love people, i'm learning to like green peas, i eat out too-too much, and i have blue eyes... just a few things "About Me".
