An unexpected phone call

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?

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Location:Nolensville Pike,Nashville,United States

Beautiful Mess

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!!

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Thankful for - TECHNOLOGY

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

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

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

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.