My Star's Hollow

Wild Goose Chase - This month's MUST read

2011-07-27T19:28:00.000-05:00

A little while ago I was told about a book called Wild Goose Chase. It is a book all about reclaiming the adventure of pursuing God. Now being one who doesn't regularly seek adventure the idea was a little bit scary yet felt "controllable" since I would just be reading a story. Well I'll be honest, it has taken me right at a year to get the story read, in fact even after purchasing the book I found that it still sat beside the bed. Was I that afraid of adventure that I was even afraid of reading the book? I don't know if that was it or I convinced myself that I didn't have the time.....so I bought the audio. I spend a fair amount of time driving and there are only so many times you can hear the same 5 songs on Top 40 radio. Needless to say, I am now about half way through the book and there have been few others that have hit me in the same way. I don't want this to be a book report so I will just tell you a few things about the book, thus far.

In Wild Goose Chase, Mark identifies six cages inverted Christians can get locked inside: responsibility, routine, assumptions, guilt, failure, and fear by examining the lives and ministry of Nehemiah, Abraham, Moses, Peter, Paul and Jonathon. It's not a book of theology but more of a challenge for you to look at your life, your passion and the things that you have allowed to become a normal part of your thought processes. The book almost dares you to live a life more radical in every way. If you are finding yourself at a crossroads, professionally or personally or if you just need a end of summer reading option I would DEFINITELY pick it up.

Unsure if you want to try it? Sample chapter for free. Chase the Wild Goose - Sample Chapter

I Love Gifts!

2011-05-21T16:59:00.000-05:00

A little known fact about myself. I Love Gifts! Now before you dismiss me as greedy, I should elaborate. I love GIVING gifts. It most definitely is my love language. As I have been in this time of limited resources I am reminded daily how much I enjoy this. I actually don't even enjoy giving gifts on "expected" occasions like birthday's or Christmas, but would much rather surprise my friends on a random Tuesday. I don't know why, I haven't fully analyzed what it means about me, but I thought I would share.

FINALS

2011-05-03T15:55:00.002-05:00

I am in the midst of finals and just had to say that this is the absolute WORST way to determine what students actually know. I have been going off of three or four hours of sleep for the past few days and trying to cram everything it has taken these experts 4 months to teach. Then within two hours they expect me to be able to put it all in the right order on endless lines and bubbles. I know I am not the first person to realize this but I wish that someone would make it all end.

Exhausted

2011-04-28T15:52:00.005-05:00

Wow! This has been a crazy year. (Not 2011, but the last 12 months) I have successfully completed another year of school which leaves me with 3 semesters. But that has only been part of it. Between school, my family, my finances, my jobs and my friends I find myself feeling like this statue more than I would like to admit.

Honestly I have found myself more lost and yet certain of where I am supposed to be then ever before. At the end of my rope and completely out of control but this is more restful then anything else. When there are very few options and you can't see a lot of light in any direction you start to get used to the darkness. Now before you start to dial that suicide hot-line or call me a good life counselor I should share that there have been a lot of good things. I have begun to understand and experience a relationship with God like never before. A more loving and accepting God rather then a schoolmarm with a ruler and a poster size 10 commandments. I have learned that I am a lot smarter and capable of doing things I never thought I could handle. Also, I have found myself with more boldness in situations that I would typically be timid and then timid in situations I would have been more bold. Maybe my personality is changing or maybe that's what happens when you get worn down.

So as we head in to the summer I have made some new decisions. First, I can't do everything on my own. I am learning to be more transparent with those that God has placed in my life, even when it seems most embarrassing. Cutting myself a break far more often. I try really hard at everything that I do, I mean REALLY hard and I'm going to accept that that has to be enough. I am going to be taking some time off school, just the summer, but a break none the less. That ever expanding brain or mine is tired and in desperate need of a break, as is my ever shrinking wallet, so I will be working as much as I can.

I pray that these three months will give me time to laugh, dream of what's to come and find myself in a lot more of a peaceful place. Let's see how it goes.

The illogical in the world of a very logical girl

2010-07-14T16:56:00.004-05:00

I am a very logical person, and I have always been. For better or worse I have never been able to escape that voice in the back of my mind telling me that one option was safer than the other, and for me the safe one was the only one that really made sense. For most of my life that has served me well and has been of great comfort. For many reasons over the last few years nothing has seemed to be as cut and dry anymore. While that should seem disconcerting to a non-risk taker as myself, I have really learned that my analytical way of approaching things was only really ever in my head. The times when I thought I had control, in fact I never really did.

Lately this has been a very comical experience as my life has been in a state of change and it has really revealed what I actually believe about the nature of God, not my belief in God, but my awareness of who He is. When viewed in the context of a loving Father, the impossible is absolutely possible. And it makes me wonder, do we limit God and the power that he has in our life by applying our small-mindedness or is our understanding just limited. I don't want to live with those limitations any more. No limitations as I try to fulfill the checklist I have made for myself or those made for me. There is such an overwhelming of freedom that washes over me, even as I type those words. It's exhilarating to think about what can happen in and through my life as I try to step out of the way of myself. The best part is that even if nothing in my life changes, from this point on, I have learned to love it as is. Without hesitation or regret.

Maybe this is what comes from turning 30, the wisdom of this silly age, or maybe it's just another major change in my life and mind and God continues to show off. We will have to see...

A break from all seriousness - Best Pranks I ever pulled

2010-05-29T19:52:00.000-05:00

So when I tried to pull together the finalists for my favorite pranks ever it became a little tricky. Partially because I think I am forgetting some of them (which is epically sad) and secondly because I just can't choose between them all so we will go through the top two that I can remember, which we can add to with your memories.

1- Chelsea's 13th Birthday: A yard full of 13 flamingo's. Slightly tacky, but definitely the embarrassing surprise to the teenage world that I was going for and a guarantee that she never again looks at a flamingo the same way again.

2 - Okay, another would be a workplace prank. While working at an un-named music company,we had a group of people that had become a little too comfortable working together. So one night a group of girls just thought that we would TP, that's toilet paper to those of us in the "Biz", but when we got down there and got working on it we were inspired. We replaced their pens with tampons, disconnected their keyboards, changed their computer passwords only after putting annoying children's music on repeat. Filled their coffee cups full of marshmallows and probably a dozen more things that I can't think of now. Their offices were a wreak, nothing was damaged mind you, just altered.....redecorated if you will. For good measure we also trailed a roll of toilet paper out of the office and down the hall.

There are SO many more and I will probably add more posts along these lines, but these were the two that popped in my head. What are your best pranks? I want some fresh ideas.

wandering

2010-05-01T03:06:00.004-05:00

I am up at 3am pondering what's next for my life. I am sitting, pencil and paper in hand, and trying to make plans for the future and I have a sensation I haven't experienced in many years. I can clearly remember a particular elevator ride at my first job, about 10 years ago. The doors closed, I took a deep breath and said to myself, "I feel so grown up, I hope that they don't figure out that I don't belong here". That job taught me what I would LOVE to do. It made me feel completely alive. Everything seemed to come together and click. As I write down different options for my future I am thrilled to be experiencing a similar sensation and its energizing. While I can't see the whole path before me and there are still a LOT of questions, everything just feels right. I know that God does provide, and my life is a perfect example of that. So I will continue to put one foot in front of another. Who knows, the path MAY end up going exactly like the paper says that it will. Here's a very hopeful heart believing.

Life

2010-03-08T21:34:00.000-06:00

In a recent article about one of my favorite actresses she says "I want to continue to celebrate where I am and not be apologetic." this short and pretty simple statement really struck me. You see I am 31 years old and my life has taken me on many detours and finally led me to a place I never expected to be. I think most people have that internal timeline with expectations for each milestone. I vivdly remember talking with a dear friend of mine when he was 30 and she was lamenting her single life and I can remember thinking to myself how tragic it really was for her and having to thought that I would find myself in her shoes. During that same time I had friends who were out of work for a long time and I pitied them and honestly thought that they were at that place due to poor work ethic or ability, yet I have been taking odd jobs outside my area of expertise for almost 7 months. Even typing that kind of takes my breath away. But this isn't a blog expresses the woes of life. It is sharing something I have learned, and continue to learn. My life is my life. It is what it is and so I have to embrace it, not apologize for it or regret it. Not internally or externally. My path may be different than I thought it would be but there are a ton of things that I thought were true that time has shown to be the opposite.

I no longer will dread saying my age or be ashamed of where my path has lead me career wise or personally. I'm going to give myself a break and EMBRACE where I am and what has brought me to this point, after all this is the only life I have and I won't be able to go anywhere by constantly looking behind me.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Chicago, IL

An unexpected phone call

2010-02-20T00:53:00.001-06:00

Today could easily marked by three unexpected phone calls received within moments of eachother. One involved a coworker trying to assit a person struggling with their purchases, the other occurred while I was taking a 15 minute break at work and the last happened while I was wandering around walmart in my pajamas.

The first was the standard woman, overly busy and overly obsessed with herself. Too busy to speak to the friendly associate in front of her but rather just shout out orders , while remaining on the phone, treating my friend as if nothing more than a slave. Now the work was not laborous but the lack of respect shown during the process was really the problem. Word to all consumers: the people who work at tha various retail stores are in fact human beings and such they deserve to dealt with. You never know the reason they are there or the live the endure. We do not have a caste system here in america and God definitely didn't provide for one, so think about the hurt and tears of a person when you treat them as a slave.

Second call was received while sitting, or rather collapsing at my second job reminding myself that there was only one hour left. But while checking messages I discovered something. The day which had been such a mess with an important interview to match had not been such a mess after all as they wanted to speak with me again. Hope again is rising for what lies ahead.

The third call came through while in the shoe section at walmart, of all places. The phone rang and the best kid I have ever met was on the phone, ready for his surprise. His sissy, his fav person, was taking the long and expensive voyage to see him to help celebrate his miraculous arrival on earth and in our family. I must admit his excitement about my visit was greatly enhanced as he knew a special star wars toy would be accompanying me on my trip in to the great White.

So three unexpected calls. Two gave hope and light at the very busy tunnel we are all in, and one only left hurt and discouragement. What will your next call be like?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Nolensville Pike,Nashville,United States

Beautiful Mess

2010-02-18T00:10:00.001-06:00

Today was a day that I thought would be pure magic. I woke up and from beginning to end it was a seeming disappointment. Starting with a hair dryer that broke just about 10 minutes before I needed it, to a night spent chasing a stray dog in this frozen tundra. Why do things always seem to turn out this way? Do I believe in things that just aren't true? Is my sense of reality just a hair off? Have I seen too movies or read too many books that my expectations of life have become skewed? Whatever it is I find myself here more often than I would like.

In the midst of the unending mishaps there were moments of beauty in everything. Hope on the faces of those who have been hopeless, restored by the healing power of a good night sleep and the private words of encouragement between two friends. Wonder in watching the prayers of thousands of people accomplishing the simple task of taking communion, and endless inspiration by the questions of the unbelieving.

Life's not pretty, not my life and not those around me, but that's not how God always works. Its not always green pastures and lives that seemingly go perfectly according to schedule. Sometimes we are the children of Israel wading through the years of slavery or rebuilding friendships through grief and loss. Never removed from the power and love of our God, but learning what faith really is. Figuring out what its like to commit your life to a cause when it hurts; when it's not easy. Life is a mess, Faith is not always beautiful. Does that make it any less grand? Any less worthy of a life of devotion? It's not what we would have wished for, but that's our job, to try to find the beauty in all of the mess.

I've Moved!!

2009-07-30T17:17:00.000-05:00

Make a Smilebox invite

Thankful for - TECHNOLOGY

2009-06-16T17:25:00.000-05:00

My DVR: I will admit it, I watch way too much tv. I don't know exactly when it started, but I really do enjoy it. Probably about 4-5 years ago a glorious thing came in to my life and it's name was DVR (digital video recorder), which is basically a cable tv version of tivo. It pretty much is the best invention in the world. I don't know that I even watch anything that is not on my DVR and have not even considered not having it installed every place that I move when I have held off on getting Internet. It's funny, I know but I can't live without it.

My iPhone: On this one it is a fast love type of thing. I just got the phone a few months ago and while there is endless amounts to learn it never ceases to amaze me. Anything that I can dream of needing it does or can find or, wait for it, there is an app for it. Just holding it in my hand and knowing its there makes me feel more powerful and able to take on the city of Dallas and next the world.

Book of Questions

2009-06-09T14:19:00.003-05:00

One of the best books to just have at your disposal, in case you need it, is the Book of Questions. The other night I was sorting through things and deciding which items should be kept and which should be donated to charity. As fate or a cruel trick of nature I came across the Book of Questions which basically put me a good hour behind my schedule on the sorting. So from time to time I am going to throw a question out there and see if I get a response. So here goes:

Question #41 "Your house, containing everything you own, catches fire; after saving your loved ones and pets, you have time to safely make a final dash to save any one item. What would it be? "
Now a time for you to share
I think that I would try to grab my big suitcase which would have all of my pictures and memories inside. Now there are probably 10-15 items that I really love and are family heirlooms that I love and would treasure having around a little more consistently, so do I go ahead and box them up so that if the random act where to happen I would be ready? But then you aren't really enjoying them.

Your Thoughts?
What do you think? On that final dash to save one item, what would you grab and why?

Jon & Kate Plus 8

2009-06-04T23:26:00.002-05:00

Okay, I will start with saying that I do realize that I am about to blog about a TV show, and there is a certain part that is pathetic, but I just had to say something.

I have watched this show for quite a few years and I will say that I wasn't very surprised to see at the end of last season that Jon was not thrilled about doing another season and that was the whole cliffhanger, was would they be back or not. Now mind you, this was before any of the stories or rumors about Jon broke, but over the last season he had just become less interested in being on camera at all. And to be honest I saw random stories about the different things, but I really didn't pay much attention to them so when the first show came out I actually had missed it on my DVR, and saw the second and third episodes first. While those shows didn't look too different from the end of last season (just like a busy family), I happened upon the first episode and I was absolutely floored by it.

To watch a show that is usually so happy and even when things were tough you can still see things come together. But to see it so very different was heartbreaking. This is where I am going to the extreme, I realize. As I watched the looks on their faces and them dodge each other for their child's birthday party, I was speechless and could do nothing but shake my head. It broke my heart for their 8 children and for their little hearts, and yes I will say it, It broke my hearts for Jon and Kate and the hurt that they are going through. You see in their show they have talked about the fact that they are constantly filming. They don't take a period of time off, like some shows do. While they aren't filming 24/7, they don't film for 3 months and take 3 months off. So in a show like this, unlike The Hills, you do feel like you see a certain amount of authenticity. This is a christian family and to see it being torn apart is hard to watch.

Now I am not naive. I do not believe that this type of thing does not happen, nor do I believe that it is more heartbreaking when seen in the lives of people on tv. It is devastating when lives are torn apart whether they are co-workers, friends, pastors or family. But as I sat and watched this family I truly believe that this is not just the natural evolution of living in a fallen world. There are other forces at work here and for first time in my life I found myself praying for a television show. And I have to be honest and say that it didn't end there. When I woke up the next morning Jon & Kate were the first people on my mind again. If God can bring dead people back to life he can bring a dead marriage back to life. Whether that of a TV family or of any other. So it is with a little embarasement that I will admit that I will be praying for them. Not to ensure the success of their show or so they can sell another book, but for the lives of the 10 people that myself and millions of others were all too happy to watch for an hour a week.

Thankful for - SAVANNAH'S SMILE

2009-05-09T16:12:00.002-05:00

This is a continuation of my "thankful" series started several months ago based on a bible study I went to. But this post will focus solely on my niece, Savannah Lauren.

She will be turning two this week and that’s a pretty big deal to me. You see we found out that Savannah was joining our family in a very surprising way. My brother was stationed overseas with the Army Special Forces and we didn’t really get to talk to him during his deployments unless it was an emergency. One night we got a surprise call from him to let us know that Savannah was on her way. The weeks raced by and all too quickly we were receiving phone calls that Julie was in the hospital, and Savannah was being born (a full 8 weeks early). Over the next two weeks things were very cautious but with all of the spirit of both her mother and father little Savannah came home quickly and grew stronger and stronger and has continued to ever since.

I am thankful for - Savannah and for her beautiful SMILE. I have never been one of those people who looked at a baby and was able to see their parents in them, but for some reason with Savannah things have been different. When I look at her I see so much of my brother. She is like a little mirror image of him, with just enough of her beautiful mother mixed in to make her the perfect little girl. But her smile and her facial expressions are all Tim. The odd part about it is that I am only like 15 months older then him so it's not like I actually remember him as a child enough to see him in her, but there is just something about it that clicks.

The distance between us makes it hard, but that means that every picture and every visit makes all the difference. So happy birthday little Savvy. Aunt B loves you very much.

An anecdote on soul mates

2009-05-07T11:22:00.000-05:00

Another quote from my reading "eat, pray, love".....
"People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that's what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that's holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life. A true soul mate is probably the most important person you will ever meet because they will tear down your walls and smack you awake."

When I read those words it really did kind of shake me for a second because it is so contrary to what we are taught and shown to believe. I have only had one person that I have ever come across in my life that I ever thought of as my soul mate. Thinking about it now it's kind of funny because it wasn't a serious relationship or anything, it was just a person that I connected with more then I ever have before and nothing ever felt like the right way to describe it other then a soul mate. Now the question is, does that mean that he was/is the only person I would be happy marrying? I certainly hope not as I haven't actually seen him in about 10 years and I think that his wife would probably have an issue with it as well.

So where does that leave us on the theory? I don't know and didn't really expect to share an answer but thought I would share the theory and at least get you thinking.

When all else fails you Remain

2009-05-04T11:24:00.003-05:00

So I have quite a lot of time on my hands over the past two weeks and I have wanted to get caught up on my list of blog ideas. I keep this running note pad of things that I want to write about and so I tackle them one at a time as I get a chance. (There is your peek behind the curtain of the Oz that is my blogging life.) So an ironic thing is that for the past 8 1/2 years I had a steady stream of free Christian music given to me by the armful. More then I could listen to and more then I frankly cared to listen to. Mind you, that is not a slam on Christian music as much as a commentary on the volume of music that I was being given and my non-adventurous nature so I would find something that I liked and stick with it until I became sick of it. Needless to say a good amount of music slipped by me during those years without so much as a listen. Now I am in a musical desert where my source of new music, Christian or mainstream, is my Pandora playlists. It's funny the way things change.

One of the funniest things has been the discovery of the group Starfield (Christian band). I vividly remember their cd's passing through my hands as I gave them away. Now I have purchased their songs for .99 each contributing to the economy and boosting their mainstream SoundScan numbers. One song in particular that has really stuck with me and I find myself singing as I go throughout my day almost more then any other song in the past 6 months is their song Remain. So I thought I would share it with the world as my own way of making up for the fact that it was previously passed over.

Enjoy...

Defender of this heart
You loved me from the start
You never change

Through the highs and lows
As seasons come and go
You never fail

Day after day
Your love will remain
Faithful and true
You are good

CHORUS:
You are God with us
You're victorious
You are strong and mighty to save
For Your word stands true
There is none like You
And when all else fades
You remain

When troubles come my way
You guide and You sustain
Lead me, I pray

Forever You will be
The great eternal King
Now and always

Day after day
Your love will remain
Faithful and true
You are good

Wrestling with God on a muggy day in May

2009-05-01T17:38:00.004-05:00

I have been wondering lately where the line is between asking God for more in your life and being ungrateful for all you have been given. I have been overwhelmed over the last few months by a mixture of torn emotions, a wrestling if you will, between God and I as I have spent quiet moments thinking about my life. Over the past 8 months, heck the past 2 years, there have been many things that have been taken away from my life and yet there have been a surprising number of things that have been added to my life, which leaves me with the question I began with. Where is the line between gratitude and dissatisfaction?

About ten years ago The Prayer of Jabez was all the rage. Everyone was reading the book, quoting the passage and it was taped up on mirrors and cars everywhere. Not since the Revolutionary War has God heard more people praying for more territory and with few of them understanding what the implications would be. What was God thinking during that time? Did he think we were a land full of greedy Americans, as usual, or did he say "finally they have realized that they don't have to be satisfied with this earthly version of life"? Did he give a sigh of relief that we were finally getting how much more there was that he wanted to give us and that he wanted us to do for him?

Jacob wrestled with an angel and didn't let go until he received a blessing. Now if you follow this story out you see that he walks away crippled for the rest of his life. Again it begs the question did the injury occur because he wouldn't let go without needing the blessing or because when you have an encounter with someone or something so holy you will always walk away changed.

So I guess I am wrestling thought. What happens when we are dissatisfied with things in your life, in your relationship with God, in the lives of those you love. What do you do with the question “Is this answer to their prayer, forever?” I am not a person who ever settles for things, which is a double-edged sword. I am not given over completely to the Pollyanna mindset to think that tomorrow is another day and everyone and everything will be better if you just think positive thoughts and smile, but as I see these situations in my life and that of my friends and family I am forced to challenge the notion that things will remain the same forever. And here I sit, on a muggy day in May still wrestling and still praying.

Books, Books, Books

2009-04-22T09:38:00.003-05:00

Okay, for some of you this will be new insight in to me and my world and for anyone who has helped me moved or lived in the same place with me, you know this all too much. But alas, I must confess.......I Love LOve LOVe LOVE Books. I love just the thought of books. Old books are the best, and hard backs are my favorite. When my family would force to go antique shopping I would see all of these books that I desperately wanted so I could fill a library with them. I didn't care what the books were about at 7 years old, all I knew is that they would have looked perfect on a bookshelf . So I have collected quite a few books, and even though I did scale it back before the trip from Nashville to Dallas, there still seems to be quite a number here and they continue to grow.

A couple months ago I shared about my experience at the Downtown Dallas Library and the wonder that awaits in the 8 floors of books and research materials there. It was wonderful.One of my selections was an amazing book by Elizabeth Gilbert "eat, pray, love". While a secular author and with some non-traditional views she writes some of the beautiful things that I have ever read. I encourage everyone to read it and especially women since it is about her personal and spiritual journey through different situations.

Over the next few blogs I am going to pull out gems to share and talk about them a little and get your thoughts as well......hopefully you will enjoy it.

I wonder if my life boils down to nothing but an Italian joke?

2009-04-21T21:38:00.006-05:00

There is an old Italian joke told about a poor man who goes to church every day and prays before the statue of a great saint. The man sits begging, "Dear saint-please, please,please...give me the grace to win the lottery. " This lament goes on for months. Finally the exasperated statue comes to life, looks down at the begging man and says in weary disgust, "My son - please, please, please....buy a lottery ticket."

How many times have I sat in this very room or in rooms all over this country listing off prayers, with complete sincerity and deepest yearning for an answer just to feel like in the end I was as effective as talking to a frozen statue. The years pass, locations may change and yet a good number of the desires and requests stay the same. What is the reason for that. Do those questions, problems, desires not matter to God?

No, they matter just as much as anything else to him but there are times when we need to "stand up and buy a lottery ticket." Not that God needs our help but we have to keep walking forward and take every opportunity that he gives us not standing aside waiting for him to magically bring everything directly to us. Our desires and dreams don't just fall in to our lap. Sometimes we have to get out of our normal comfort zone, take the chance and see what happens next.

VOLunteerism - finally done

2009-04-21T11:29:00.001-05:00

James 2:14-17 - Dear friends, do you think you'll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, "Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!" and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn't it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense? (MSG)

“Great Commission” Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:47; Acts 1:8

John 20:21 - Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you."

We have been given the same calling as Jesus had to reach out and serve the world. (NIV)

We are no longer in the world but have now become of the world. It is impossible to change a world that you are not in. We have to be living out our life in front of them before they will follow us.

But too often the church and ministry community has become homo-sectual: we only like people who are just like us, or those who live inside the same community that we do.

Psalm 96:4 - Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise! He is to be feared above all gods.

Our ultimate motivation for everything we do is exactly that, Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised! He is why we reach out to others, not because of their need, but because of his greatness.

All too often when we talk about VOLunteering or about missions the topic seems really heavy because it feels like there is a lot of work or more things being added to your schedule. But if you are really focusing on the reason that you are serving it doesn’t become a chore or duty. Think about how it is at the beginning of a romantic relationship. All you can think about it being with that person and it really doesn't matter how late you stay up when you are together, how many miles you have to drive to make it happen.

Most of the time we see God as a means rather then the end. We serve God day after day looking for some sort of reward for our efforts. The truth is that the reward is that we were allowed to be a part of it at all. God lowered himself to our level to honor us with his presence. It is an honor and not a burden.

Have you ever had a young child help you with a project? Maybe it was making dinner or cleaning up. We all know that we could do it so much better on our own and probably ten times faster, but we love that child and it sweet to have them help. It also helps them grow to have them help. So we struggle through the process. It is the same with God. He comes down to our level and has us help us accomplish his work. Whether it is ministering to the person next door to us who doesn't believe or helping out in an area that has been hit by a natural disaster or going to the other side of the world to care for people that are the polar opposite from us.

The thing is God is going to accomplish his work with or without us (Rev. 22), but he honors us by allowing us to be a part of it.

If you truly want to know if you love God, and you want to see him reigning in your life you will see it reflected when you engage the world around you, not how well you can sing in praise and worship or can talk about him. You will see what happens when you serve.

We need to find ways to engage in what’s going on around the city and around the world. Not only is a good discipline for us as a staff but it is also a good lesson and example for the coaches and students we are leading. We need to find groups and individual organizations for us to contribute our time and treasure to.

We should wake up every day not going through our list of agenda items for the day, but asking God what he has for us to do with the day.

John 17:4 - I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.

That should be our goal at the end of everything, to be able to say those worlds to God. We usually focus on what we want to hear God say to us. That he is proud of us and that we have been faithful. But Jesus faced the end of his time earth with confidence. He knew that each day he had responsibilities given to him by God and in those last moments he felt a sense of release.

From a personal level, If this week was all there was, do you believe you have a race you should be running? Do you have things God has called you to that you have yet to complete? If this YEAR was all there was?

References from: Christine Caine, Francis Chan and Jeff Lewis

The devotional I can't seem to write

2009-04-18T00:51:00.002-05:00

As part of our work here at FCA each of the staff is assigned a devotion to share in our staff meeting. Well this is my second time around and both times I have been really lucky. You see we are also assigned the topic so depending on how the cards fall you could end up with a topic that you really don't like or maybe just are indifferent to. In my case the first one was exactly about something that I had been going through over the past several months and so I was able to share very candidly and honestly with a group of people that were still pretty much strangers at that point. With this new devotion that I have been assigned for this upcoming week, the topic is Volunteerism. Coming from the great state of Tennessee the first thing I think of is the sports team (and the school) which should make my employer and co-workers proud. But the real theme is something that I am again very passionate about. Being born in to a pastor's family I have been taught that volunteering is not something you do, it's something you are. It's just a natural part of your life and you don't just do the things that are convenient but you make your life work around the things that you are committed to. Thinking back I guess I can pinpoint times when I did it simply out of obligation or duty, but honestly I really do love it.

Back to the devotion....So I have known about the topic and date for this devotion for about 3 weeks and have been excited about it and started doing some extra reading, listening to podcasts, etc. Just didn't want to re-circulate the same information to a room full of people most of whom went to seminary so have more technical bible schooling then I do. Yet with all of the work, all the notes here I sit....1am on the Friday before the devotion and just the starting verse on the final draft. Isn't that odd?

It can't really be writers block as I have to write quite a bit for work and so I am getting used to spending a good portion of each day coming up with copy. It makes me sad because I have some great notes and if I pull them together well it could end up being a really good devotion and I would have to cut about half of the notes. So somehow getting the great topic, that I am so passionate about has caused me to flounder around searching for the answer. Maybe I should have prayed for one of the other choices that at first glance didn't make me excited to talk about (Spiritual Formation, Care or Reproduction).

Here's hoping that before the beginning of the week God and I figure out a way to get these thoughts down on paper.

Observation on the move

2009-03-05T16:18:00.000-06:00

Just a very short observation today that I have been pondering over the past week or so. Changing your location doesn't change things, it just changes the faces you see when you look around. I think that when we all talked about this move we thought it would be like the windex in Big Fat Greek Wedding, the cure-all when in fact it's just window cleaner.

So nothing too profound to share, just thought that I would send this out in to the world.

**To clarify, I am not saying that I don't like it here in the fabulous state of Texas, just taking a look back. I am a fan of self analysis now and then.**

Thankful for - FAMILY

2009-02-26T21:25:00.000-06:00

I have really been struck lately by the impact that family has on people. Last week I was at an FCA conference where Joel Engle was the worship leader. During one of the sessions he talked about his family. He only knew his mother for a short while, never met his father and his grandparents passed away when we was still young putting him in an orphanage. (He sang a song about his father and I linked it below.)

As I heard the song and thought about situations in my own life I was overwhelmed. I have been incredibly blessed in my life with my family. I grew up in a an incredibly close family, on my Dad's side. At times we lived next door to my cousin's and those are my earliest childhood memories. Running back and forth across the church parking lot to each others house. With every bit of my heart and mind I know that those Aunt's and Uncle's, and cousin's loved me and still would do anything for me. Even when I don't see them for months or even year's at a time, the foundation of those relationships don't change.

My Grandfather and Grandmother are two of the hardest working and loving people I have in my life. They have doted on me every day of my life and I have never felt unloved or even un-adored by them. They have instilled in me a servants heart and compassion for others and unending dedication to ministry. My Grandfather is a lifelong learner and is the only one of my friends grandparents to not only be on facebook but to check it incessantly. My Grandmother is the classic Leave it to Beaver mom and prides herself on it. I would like to say I wish to be like her at her age, but I fear that I don't have her energy now so it doesn't bode well for the future hopes. They may not have been perfect people, but I think that is the joy of being a grandchild (or at least being their grandchild) because in my mind they are.

My brothers, my brothers. I begged my parents and I begged God for a sister for years, but it never worked. Then we did foster care for more than 10 years and I thought, this is my chance...we will just adopt one. What do we do? We add a brother. Oh, the irony. For most of my childhood the "majority rule" always worked against me and my mother saw right through my whining so seldomly were the cards in my favor. I think that I have enjoyed my brothers more in the last 10 years then ever before. They are great men that I would chose to know even if I wasn't forced to. Matthew Atticus, the addition to the group is by far the best of the whole group of us. He has been the joy of my world from the 3rd day of his life (which was when he entered our home).

Savannah has been the most surprising addition to my life and our family in every sense of the word and I LOVE HER! I have never before really been the type of person that could really see people's characteristics in babies, but oh my goodness, when she was born I have instantly been able to see my brother Tim in her (Julie too from time to time) but in a lot of her expressions and such. (She will be having her own dedicated blog post coming soon in the weeks to come.) My sister-in-law, Julie, can make friends faster then anyone I have ever met. She has impeccable taste and is incredibly hard working, surviving basically as a single-parent for Savannah for the whole first year of her life which blows my mind when I think about it.

When I was a young teenager I decided that just for spite I wanted to start calling my parents by their first names, instead of Mom and Dad. True to form, my mother was too stubborn to let me win and let me call her Cathy, and a lot of the time I still do. My father on the other hand would have none of it. So I can probably count on my fingers the number of times I have called him Tim. Just as with the names, my relationships with them have changed more then with anyone else I have ever known. I honestly think that my mother waited all her life to have adult children. I think she enjoys us all now more then at any other point. My dad, he is the first call for myself or for any of us kids when anything goes wrong or we don't know what to do. I honestly wonder, now that I am an adult, if he has a book somewhere that he looks in for the answers, or does he just make it up and we believe it because he says it. He is by no means a mechanic but when we have a car problem we call him and he says something with authority and we go with it. It's a little scary now knowing that there isn't instant wisdom that you receive when you hit 30, because I remember him at 30 and I am not as smart as I thought that he was. So there is a breakdown somewhere in my logic.

Okay bunny trail for a moment ***My parents decided to do foster care for babies when we were in High School, it was the craziest thing in the whole world. (Both parents worked and all three of us had very busy lives, but sure let's add a newborn to the mix. ) As we went through the process for the first few years and we had the unending questions from people about why? and how hard it was emotionally to say goodbye, I learned something. Foster care is the ultimate expression of unconditional love. Especially at that newborn stage. Seriously those babies come in and they are completely dependant and need you for all their physical needs and on top of that they need those smiles, and hugs to develop correctly. In the end, in most cases, you are preparing them to go homes with someone else. It is a long term babysitting gig that you never get paid for and never get a thank you for. *** Bunny trail ended

Marathon posting just to say, I hear these songs and I have these conversations with people who have missed out on their family (whether a mother, father, etc) and I guess in my mind I have a hard time understanding what it must be like to have that longing to belong. I have always had that security to fall back on, no matter what other crazy things may happen in my life. I am thankful for that, and I love them dearly.

Farmer's Market

2009-02-06T13:22:00.000-06:00

I had a magical day a few weeks ago. I had been cooped up in the house for too long and it was a beautiful day so I decided that I was going to be adventurous and go exploring. So armed with GPS(round 2) I headed out to the 8 floor Dallas Library downtown to explore all of the beautiful books. It truly was like heaven. I honestly could have come home with 15-20 books to read because there was just so many that I stumbled across that were so interesting. They also had these intriguing areas that you had to sign in and out of. I admit I was a little afraid of them on this first time, but next time I am totally going to find out what is in that section. So after bout 2 hours I emerged with with The Great Gatsby (on CD), Water for Elephants and Monarchy (a book about Queen Elizabeth - after watching The Queen again I have found a new obsession).

After the library I thought I would see if I would be able to find the Farmer's Market on my own. Holly and I had visited it when she was in town in December, but it was not really the weather for the market. After a couple failed attempts to navigate the one-way's I did find it and it was beautiful. Flowers, produce that truly did feel like I had stepped through Alice's looking glass in to wonderland. After the cold and dreary winter. Walking around just energized me more and more. I felt like I could breathe deeper.

I loved it and will definitely return many times to in the future.

I LOVE holiday's

2009-01-31T01:45:00.001-06:00

I love holiday's, I really, really love them. I don't know if I love them because of all the decorations and everything or if it is just something that just spices up the year and creates a little excitement. My favorite holiday by far is Halloween. The costumes, pumpkins, candy and trick-or-treating, the slightly sinister quality of the whole thing. I just love it.

I probably have about 10 or more boxes of holiday decor in my one-bedroom apartment and that doesn't include the 10 Christmas trees. If I had the resources or the space I could easily rationalize doubling or tripling that amount and I honestly can not convince myself to part with a single thing. I tried to before I moved and I just couldn't do it. The best part about it was that my dear friends didn't even try to make me because they too knew that it would be too hard for me. I once nannied (if that is even a real word) for a family that had a whole set of housewares for almost every season and major holiday. We are talking dishes, glasses, comforter sets, towels (for all rooms) and home decor. I worked with them off and on for several months and so changed over their home a couple times. While the first time I thought it was a little crazy I then fell in love with opening the cabinet to valentines dishes or sleeping in a bed of fall leaves. It was perfect! I decided it was definitely a long term goal. A few years ago I did buy Christmas dishes, but alas this is as far as I have gotten. But one day my friends.....one day.

My Door

2009-01-31T01:29:00.000-06:00

At a bible study session this fall the speaker shared a brief suggestion about creating a poster board listing things you were thankful for. Something about the idea stuck with me. So I cut slips of paper and put them up on the door and they have been there ever since. The new series of blog posts will be based on those things that are my favorite things in my life, the things that I love the most and that I am most thankful for.

Ready, set, go....

Back at it

2009-01-30T23:54:00.000-06:00

So I have taken a hiatus, if you will, from blogging. I don't really know why to be honest. I think that it is quite funny looking back now. Why is it that when you have the most to say you say the least. I find that to be a very true for me.

The end of 2008 was an incredibly busy time involving quite a few road trips. A trip to Nashville for my 30th birthday, Little Rock, AR for some friends wedding which was really more of a family reunion then just a wedding. Then a trip back to Nashville for Christmas and New Years. In the middle there my family came to Dallas for Thanksgiving which was more eventful then could possibly be imagined.

This time was also one of the most difficult as I am continuing to adjust to life in Dallas and more then the change in city I am trying to learn to live in an area without the community of family, friends and support that I have been so fortunate to have had around me for so long. **Disclaimer - I came to this city into the arms of the most amazing adoptive parents and my respect for them has grown every month that I have been here. In addition since almost my first day at work I have gained the friendship of a wonderful girl who has definitely got out of her way to make me feel welcome.

All this to say, I don't know why I stopped but I am going to get back to it.

Blessed

2008-10-26T14:53:00.000-05:00

Sometimes God let’s things go on a long time while he tries to teach you a lesson and sometimes only a matter of minutes before it smacks you in the face.
The same day that my car was broken in to I had run to CVS to pick up a couple things and while waiting in line, a little frustrated with God and definitely feeling very “Woe Is Me” I noticed that the man at the check out counter was taking quite a while to check out. Now everyone else was getting angry but I noticed that the clerk was a little embarrassed and that he and the man were trying to quickly count pennies while the line grew. I myself am not against paying for things with change now and again so I knew that it can sometimes take a while to count it all up, but as I watched the man search his pockets a second and third time to come up with more change I looked to the counter and saw that he wasn’t trying pick up a pack of gum or gallon of milk and just didn’t want to break a ten or use his debit card. This man was buying a roll of generic toilet paper. Just one roll. He was gathering together every bit of change that he could find to buy some toilet paper.

As I stood there, still two people back in line, wishing that I had had any cash on my (or change for that matter) the best I could tell is either they finally got to the total or the clerk gave up as he handed him back a couple dimes and he was on his way. Now for good reason my day thus far had been really bad. I only have a couple people here in Dallas that I know, so when something like the car being broken in to I just felt overwhelmed with the sense of being alone in this city. And to loose these things that I loved, and believe me I did not take them for granted one bit, it felt like one more blow that I just didn’t need. But then to stand in a line, just feet away from a man without even the necessities of life, all of a sudden the iPod or the GPS system (while things I love and still miss daily) did not seem all that important. I began to realize how blessed I am. Blessed that they didn’t steal my car, talk about feeling isolated in a city, what would I have done then? Blessed that I wasn’t in the car when they decided that they wanted the items. Blessed that I have a whole apartment full of other items that I really do love and make me oh so happy just to see them. They aren’t expensive, by any means, and I may never have that type of life, but I could name 100 material objects that I have that bring joy to my life. They would confuse you and make you laugh at me, but they do. Then put that aside and I could name about 30-40 people that I know or have known that have changed my life and thinking about them makes me feel enormously blessed.

I guess in the end possessions are just possessions. They are just there to crowd up your life and make things beautiful around you while you are living. People form your character. They help build your memories that you will reflect on for the rest of your life. But you can’t take the people or the memories or the possessions with you after you are gone so you have to maintain perspective on what really matters and live your life. So for today and as long as I can I am going to try to realize how blessed I really am, even though the things I had have been taken away. Maybe like Job, God has a plan to bring them back x’s 2, you never know.

The menu for illness

2008-10-18T19:14:00.000-05:00

I love chinese food. As everyone who knows me can attest, I have somewhat of a "selective palette". Meaning I do not always like all types of food and all restaurants, but I typically like chinese food. I like Japanese food. I am really pretty open to them, but man last Monday I had a horrible bout of food poisioning from chinese food. It was the first place that I had ordered food from here in Dallas. I had actually been wondering about a good place here and came out of my house Monday morning and there hanging on my door knob was this amazing menu glistening in the sun, so I decided to give it a try. It took me a good couple of days to recover, but things are fine now.

Word to the wise for those in the Dallas area, stay clear of this place if at all possible.

Take-Lock-Hide

2008-10-16T14:52:00.000-05:00

A few days ago I had the distinct pleasure of having my car broken in to. I have now been told that this is a normal part of Dallas life, so yeah, that is totally something that they should put in the welcome packet. I came out of my apartment to go watch a friend play a football game and saw the most beautiful and horrible thing. Piles of glass that looked like blue topaz gemstone, my birthstone ironically, on the ground and inside my car. As I looked around I noticed it was gone, all of it gone. My brand new GPS system, iPod, my Ralph Lauren Romance perfume and all of the chargers. As time went on and the police came and went I started to realized that my makeup was gone. I mean really, who steals someone else’s half used make-up. (I think that confused me the most.)

So for the next two days I drove around with cardboard taped up to my door and went through it making sure that there was nothing else left in the car of value or that had any personal information on it, just in case it happened again. (Including Proof of Insurance with blacked out information) Here in Dallas they have a whole campaign to help people protect themselves against auto break-ins. There are signs everywhere. I think that it should have been my first warning. The campaign says “TAKE-LOCK-HIDE”. It is supposed to remind you to lock your car and hide your belongings. Sadly, what they mean is for you to hide it inside your house. And that someone else would be the one’s taking things. Who knew?

Tonsil's

2008-10-09T01:37:00.000-05:00

**Disclaimer: I am about to tell a potentially embarrassing story about someone, so in an attempt to protect their identity, I will just not say who it is. I will just refer to them as “person x”

When “person x” was a child he had his tonsils out. After the surgery he wanted to keep them, for some unknown reason, so they were kept in this spice jar. Occasionally over the next few weeks and months we would find out that he had taken them out of the jar and put them in his mouth. Finally I think his family took them away and hid them for a little while. Okay, so that is the end of the disgusting details.

So I have noticed something about myself over the past couple of months that made me think about this story. I went through a really tough time about 2 years ago and kind of shut down emotionally and everything for about a full year. When I think back about that time and and how things are now it is drastically different that I don’t even feel like the same person. But I have noticed that even now when things get rough I find myself drawn to thinking a lot about that time, which is so odd to me. I start to want to listen to the music that was a prominent part of that time if my life. To me it feels kind of like when “person x” would put those tonsils back in his mouth. It was an unnecessary part of his body, and it is not necessarily healthy for me to go back and constantly dwell on a painful place. Maybe this is something that that everyone does in some way or another, so it may not be a big deal, but something I noticed and something I definitely want to work on.

So this is not an entry about being sad, cause I’m not, but just a realization that I thought I would share with you, my friends.

Person of Contradiction

2008-10-01T21:48:00.000-05:00

I have discovered that I am a person of contradiction, well at least as far as my television shows go since I have moved here to Texas. I have always prided myself as being a person who watches “intelligent television”. Who stays away from those mindless shows like Real World or Laguna Beach; someone who try’s to focus her attention more on shows like Charlie Rose, The West Wing, Gilmore Girls. Shows that challenge your mind and make you think about the world and politics and stretch you mentally. When I first moved to Dallas I started to watch The Hills as a nostalgic thing since my brother and I would watch in together before I moved. I always fought it and actually made fun of him for watching it and yet here I was watching it alone. Then things only got worse....A friend had been talking about Gossip Girls for several weeks, and there wasn’t anything good on so I thought I would check it out, yet while watching it i saw a preview for a new show, Privileged, and I was hooked. Then the new 90210 started up and all do my friends were reminiscing about the original, I was the only one not watching the new show so I thought I would check it out. That is one thing about being new to Dallas is that for the time being I don’t have a lot of friends so I have quite a bit of time on my hands and a pretty empty DVR.

So this is where we ended up, a DVR split between shows that inspire me to tears and are intelligently stimulating and then the polar opposite, shows that are an escape from the real world. Shows that are so fake that they are laughable most of the time, but somehow very endearing. How did this begin? I could blame it on my brother, on his addiction to The Hills, but sadly I think that this is where I would probably be anyway. Stuck in the contradiction.

My move, explained, after the fact

2008-09-30T14:03:00.000-05:00

Okay, so after getting more then a handful of angry and confused emails and posts about my seemingly sudden departure from Good Ole Nashville I realized that I may not have done a great job of communicating the change. So I thought I better catch everyone up.

My decision came on very quickly and if I am honest I am probably still in a little bit of shock even now. In the very end of July I was emailed out of the blue from a colleague regarding a position in Dallas. I actually disregarded the email for several days as I had no interest in moving to Dallas and didn't really know that this was the position for me. After a couple of days I had a recurring thought of Jonah and the whale and didn't want to to just ignore it, even if it wasn't for me. So I responded just to be nice. When I received the email from him there was something in the email that just stuck out to me. I then left for a couple weeks for a business trip, still thinking that the chances of me taking it were remote. But over the time that I was on the trip it just became more and more apparent that this was the next step that God had for me. Still I had some strong hesitations (moving to Dallas, a city in which knew no one being a main one). During the trip I had little to no contact with anyone.

I came home for two days and then left to meet the leadership at Greater Dallas FCA. I prayed and knew in my heart that this trip would make the decision. I knew that in my short day and a half there I would have a feeling on whether or not I could see myself in this environment and living in this new place, and it did. While it was totally different, it didn't feel wrong and to be really honest, it still doesn't. While there are still things about starting over completely that I really don't like, as I have already listed and shared with some of you over the phone, there has never been the moment of me feeling like this is a time to pick up and go home. If that moment comes, and God calls me home, then I am there just as quickly as I came, but for now I know that I know that this is where I am supposed to be for whatever reason it may be.

So I came home from my trip and turned in my notice a couple days later. That night my grandmother passed away, which is something that we had been battling with for the past many months. While it was hard to see her go, I knew that she was ready to. So my last two weeks in Nashville were wrapped up in Funerals and then feverishly packing my place in the span of a week (with some of the best help I could have ever asked for).

For those of you that may not have heard about this until after the fact or right as it happened, I am deeply sorry. You are still very dear to me. I literally only had the two weeks and had no idea that this was also the time that God was going to call my Grandmother home, which obviously divided my focus. I hope that through this you can see God's hand was guiding me to my new home. I hope you will soon feel God guiding you here to come visit me. :-)

If you have more questions, send them on. Email me, call me, whatever. I am still here.

Sports Teams have been Chosen!!!!

2008-09-29T18:01:00.000-05:00

Okay, the decisions have been made after some very deep soul searching. Some are based on family ties to the teams and some are based on connections to the cities. Then I did go ahead and choose one Texas team, just for good measure. Thanks to all of you for your contributions and suggestions. If you have any helpful information about the teams or players feel free to continue to send it on.

Baseball: California Angels
College Football: Vanderbilt
College Basketball: Duke
Pro Hockey: Nashville Predators
Pro Football: Dallas Cowboys

I don't like being new

2008-09-18T21:14:00.000-05:00

So I have decided something this week.....I don't like starting new jobs. Don't get me wrong, I actually really like my new job and despite it being quite a bit different from what I have been doing, I still feel confident that this is where God has me and there are parts of it that I can't wait to get in to. But what I have learned is that I don't like being new. I don't like the slow process of learning everything, the waiting, etc. The freedom to take things on as you feel comfortable and to not feel overwhelmed and be thrown in to a loosing situation, that's great, I just think that I am not used to the pace and its so disorienting. I know every job starts like this and that I need to be patient (Patience is a Virg....Virture or whatever that saying it). I guess I have just become so accustomed to actually being able to do things and so the process of sitting back and watching other scurry around and doing research it a little bit frustrating I have to admit. huh....sorry I know that this is what I signed on for. I do know that this is what I am supposed to be doing, but man I really don't like feeling incompetent or being seen as such.

My home....post three

2008-09-16T17:20:00.001-05:00

my beautiful pool that I can see from
my apartment.
entry way
living room, dining room below. No table as of yet. My old table broke in the move and so I will need to buy a new smaller cafe table sometime soon.

hall walkway
the reason for the bakers rack in the dining room. Every cabinet has these weird divisions in them which makes them too short for most things.
living room, some more.
and then this is a duplicate added for emphasis or by accident and then it won't let me delete it....you choose which story you would like to believe.

My home....post two

2008-09-16T13:56:00.000-05:00

Okay, I know that these are not glamorous, by any stretch, but I have been asked a lot for them, so here they are. Bathroom (ballerina theme returns); bedroom, linen closet, etc.

My home....post one

2008-09-16T13:49:00.000-05:00

Okay, so we have my wall of closets. Literally it goes the entire span of the bedroom. Pretty crazy, Then we have the jewelry wall, closet picture 1. Picture 2 and then a shot of the gnomes new home. My back patio.

I need sports help!

2008-09-15T23:30:00.000-05:00

Okay, so here's the deal, it is not going over too well this whole "not into sports" thing in my new job, so I need to take on a new hobby here with my abundance of free time with no friends, no church and basically no life yet here in Dallas. I need sports teams and I am not just talking about for one sport. I think I need one for every sport. Okay, maybe I can get away without a Lacrosse team, or rugby team, but other then that for all sports that are "American Past Times" I need to just choose a team and start keeping up with what's going on with them. Sign up for a couple RSS feeds, etc. Something, cause it is a daily issue around here.

This is where the fun comes in for all of you, this is the crowd participation part of the blog. I need your recommendations for each sport. Which team you think I should choose and whoever has the most overall votes will win. Now keep in mind, these have to make sense for me, it has to be a team that I could legitimately like. For example, don't recommend all TX teams, as that is to generic for me to do...same would be true for suggestions for all TN teams. I am a person who likes things that are not the norm for everyone else (aka gnomes). When I was younger I chose my favorite baseball team to be the Toronto Blue Jays because I liked Canada and their pennant was pretty.

So here is what I think that I need, being the sports enthusiast that I am, if I have missed something you can kindly recommend. I am going to try to take this on to a reasonable level at first. I will add tier two in later if I am able to handle this amount of sports.

College - Basketball, Football

Pro - Baseball, Football, Basketball

Hockey (only if TX has a hockey team - does anyone know?)

Alright, so there is your task.....I am ready for your feedback. The game begins NOW.

Life

2008-09-11T19:13:00.000-05:00

Well, so far things are going great. I haven't done a ton of sightseeing yet, but I am feeling pretty at home here already. Mostly I am just going to work and home each day and at night I work through any boxes or decor or cleaning. So nothing glamorous to report but I am super excited to know that I haven't been struck with homesickness yet.

At work it mostly consists of reading a lot and taking some tests (talk about FUN). I did have my first meeting with the Executive Committee today so that was interesting. Lots of listening and trying to soak up everything that is going on.

I haven't really made a lot of friends yet (really any), but it will come. This weekend will be exciting as I will be trying out churches for the first time. The pictures are still coming, but my internet connection at the apartment is "borrowed" until my real service gets hooked up and it's pretty poor. Once I can get them to upload I will add them.

2008-09-09T21:19:00.000-05:00

Okay a brief moment to explain the blog naming, just to avoid any confusion. I know I don't live in Star's Hollow, Texas. I have an un-natural obsession with Gilmore Girls which takes place in Star's Hollow, CT. I thought it would be a funny thing to name a blog. No other reason

My Adventure Begins.....

2008-09-09T19:23:00.000-05:00

So it was, we set out at 2am on our fateful trip from Nashville to Dallas. As the road went by and the hours dragged on it became more and more real, Jeremy in the moving van and Tash and I in the truck racing the GPS. 4 stops for gas and 10 1/2 hours later we were here. We arrived at my new home and I began the long process of signing the multitude of papers for my new fabulous home away from home. Sadly, there was a problem with the carpet cleaning and then a couple other issues so the apartment wouldn't be ready for several hours. The very tired road warriors waited out the remaining hours roaming the aisles at Target and in the parking lot of the apartment. When we finally got in to see the apartment and stood huddled in the kitchen waiting for the carpet to dry I was struck with a horrible feeling in my heart. I stood looking around the rooms that would be my home and there was nothing that felt right about it. I just felt lost in that space. The inside of the apartment felt cramped and old, the outside was dirty and scary. A little ghetto, to be honest. I stood there and just knew that I could not live here, I could not live here.

I then began the frantic search for a new place to live (with just over 30 minutes left before everything closed down). We had my dad looking places up online and giving us options and calling them as well, then Jeremy, Tash and I driving door to door to complex's trying to see if anyone had an opening for move in the very next day. It was the craziest 30 minutes. We finally found a place and I had 3 options and was willing to stay open to get me through the process. The best part was that I actually liked it better then anything I had seen before. We got it all done and still made it to dinner with some friends (mind you we were almost an hour later then we had originally planned, but it all worked out in the end). We moved in as planned on Saturday as if nothing had changed. It was pretty amazing.

The move was insane, you know the drill, boxes and boxes and boxes. Up the stairs, down the stairs. I had great friends that helped and some of my friends family came and chipped in amazingly to make the day even possible.

Now four days in there are no more boxes left in the apt, most things have found there new place (pictures will be forthcoming) and life is starting to fall in to a routine. The new normal that will be my life here in Dallas.