Lingering...

A couple of Sunday's ago, the Sunday school class I attend was issued a 21-day challenge to form the habit of reading the Word and praying each day. Now, over the years I've had inconsistent quiet times, sometimes being consistent for long stretches of months and then dropping off as things get hectic or I get too complacent with where I'm at spiritually. Of late, I've felt kind of adrift - still trying to get my bearings on how to do life in Louisville and work in a MUCH less than routine ministry environment...and well the chaos is definitely being reflected in my significantly less than Martha Stewart (or even Laura Altendorf) house-keeping. And that has also spilled over into my time with Christ being fairly hit-or-miss.......kind of hard to be wooed by Him if you rarely let yourself spend time with Him!

Thus, I have taken up the 21-day challenge. I started it that following Monday, but I've since started over again because I've decided on a better "routine." Here's the thing, for as long as I've ever had to get up routinely in the morning for school or work - I have always had the TV on and have used that pretty much as my guide for my morning schedule. However, I have resolved to no longer have the TV on in the mornings. Instead, after I wake up and shower, make my tea and prepare breakfast - I take my tea and breakfast and Bible out onto my balcony. I set my cell phone alarm for 45 minutes - and settle into my time with God. Now, the reason I set the alarm for 45 minutes is because when it buzzes I "snooze" it for another 15 minutes to allow me some specific time just devoted to prayer. Here's the thing, when I'm reading the Word and meditating and reflecting on it, I often find myself lingering over certain sections. By setting the alarm, I don't have to worry about the time - I can linger as long as I need to on a certain verse or passage because I know I've set aside more time specifically for prayer. Mmmmm, I love that word "linger"...to be slow in parting with the Lord.

In regards to prayer during this 21 day challenge, I am renewing my efforts to pray for whoever that lucky soul is that might be my "future mate" (HA!) Again, this is a prayer that I've gone through spurts of consistency with - actually even more inconsistently than the quiet times really - mostly because I feel silly (and a bit selfish) praying it. As much as I desire marriage and a family - after a while you just get tired of beating the same dead horse into the ground. However, I am finding that maybe part of why I don't praying about it is because 1) It goes back to how I don't always believe that my Father has greater gifts in mind for me than I could ever imagine and 2) by not praying about it then I still have some influence/control over the situation. Instead, by laying it down before Him each morning - it frees me up to keep my focus on serving Him where He has me now. And I am reminded to pray that God would continue to prepare me for whomever I marry. And don't worry ;) my prayers aren't solely focused on me either, I have several friends that I am praying for on a more consistent basis - some who have wandered away from God, or become apathetic, or are experiencing health issues, etc. I just know that I want to be more consistent and intentional in placing all of those needs and requests and hopes and dreams before the throne.

Hmmmm, this move to Kentucky is certainly spurring on the formation of a lot of new experiences and spiritual disciplines! :)

Family

Twice this past week I've gotten to spend some time with my co-worker, Cassie's family at two of her brothers' soccer games. I have to admit I have always envied my friends who have large close-knit families - especially those who have several siblings and/or cousins. My sister and I grew up as the only grandchildren. We had no first cousins, and only a handful of second cousins (most of whom were older by at least 5 years). Plus, you factor in the fact that my mom wasn't too keen on us spending hardly any time with any of our relatives if she could avoid it - and well is it any wonder I envy my friends with all those built in playmates!

Thankfully, God has provided me with several surrogate families throughout the years. First, it was the Morenos. Melissa and I became fast friends in elementary school, and I loved going over to her house where she had two older sisters and an older brother, and then she also ended up with an adopted younger brother. Next, it was the Hemphills. Robin and her family moved across the street from me when we were both in the 7th grade. I was soon invited to their weekly family dinners on Friday evenings which usually included both of her mom's sisters and their families, and both sets of grandparents. Usually, they would go to Larry's Original Mexican restaurant or have dinner at one of the families' homes since everyone lived within nearly 5 minutes of each other! I particularly loved it when we had breakfast-for-dinner :) Often the weekends would be spent with her family at either her brother's or one of her cousins' baseball games. One year, I even went with them on their family vacation on a house boat at Lake Travis. The next family that seemed to adopt me and my sister was the Altendorfs. This occurred around the time I was in college, and I became good friends with all three of their children. It has practically become tradition for Wendy and I to spend New Year's Eve at their home chowing down on fajitas, destroying gingerbread houses, and playing Nertz, Mexican Train, or Spades. And now that I'm up in Kentucky, Cassie has been inviting me to many of her family's events: first their Easter lunch, and now soccer games :)

I think it would be fun to marry into a family like the ones I've been blessed by. And one day, I hope to have a family of my own with three - maybe four kids - and hopefully my sister will pull through in the cousins department ;)

Blind Date #2

Actually, this one was instigated by one of my current co-workers before I ever moved up here. He flew down to Houston for something else but also managed to squeeze in some fundraising. It was at one of these fundraising home groups on a Saturday evening where the wife of the host home (whom I’d never met before), chatted me up during dessert. She found out that I’m single and proclaimed that she had a great Christian guy to set me up with. Turned out this guy was a longtime, childhood friend of her son. Knowing that her son was a pro-baseball player, I figured, what the heck – his friend should be interesting, right? She told me all about him being a pilot for a major airline and what a great guy he is. By the end of the evening she’d gathered my contact info, but I assumed nothing was going to really come of it. However, the next Tuesday I got a text message from the pilot. He’s going to be in town Wednesday through the following Monday (Labor Day), would I like to get together for lunch. Sure, I plan to meet him for lunch on Friday (that way it was my lunch break from work with a specific length of time attached to it – I had an obvious mode of escape if needed). We texted and had a couple of phone conversations before Friday. He did the majority of the talking about being a pilot. I surprisingly tried to interject here and there, but wasn't really given much opportunity to share. I got to the restaurant on Friday, only to immediately get a call that he was running about 5 – 10 minutes late. So, I waited in the entry of the restaurant. As I was waiting my boss and his cohorts from the office showed up at the restaurant. This restaurant was not one of their typical haunts, and they're creatures of habit…ugh...just my luck. They came in and I ended up having to fess up. My boss started to go into overprotective big brother mode, but finally they were seated. Not long after, the pilot showed up. I saw him walking up (hadn't ever seen him before, so I was assuming it was him and it was), my first thought was: “So when people look at me now, do they immediately think – she’d be great for this skinny, kind of geeky guy that I know.” Is that what I evoke in people? My inner dialog is trying to give me a pep-talk, “Okay, so I’m not initially attracted to him, but the conversations so far haven’t been all that bad. Maybe he’s got a really great personality. Sometimes that really changes the look of a guy.” We got seated for lunch with the menus. He asked me what’s good, and I rattled off all the things I’ve had there. He then asked if there were any lunch specials, so I point those out as well. After we’d perused the menu for a while, he decided on the cheese enchiladas which happen to be on the lunch specials menu. When the waiter comes by to take our order, he made sure to point out that he wants the lunch special cheese enchiladas. I placed my order, also for the cheese enchiladas, and then the pilot made sure to verify again that he wanted the lunch cheese enchiladas (those are the only cheese enchiladas on the menu). By this time I was already thinking, I am definitely going to be paying for my own meal. As we snacked on the chips and salsa, the pilot talked some more of how he was looking to buy a place in town. He had already put down several thousand on a condo/townehome with a builder back in the spring, but apparently the pilot had changed his mind about that decision. Now, he and his real estate mom were working to try to get that money back. Are you kidding me?! Good luck with that! Not long after that topic, he mentioned how commercial pilots’ salaries double every year for the first five years before they level out. Most of the conversation overall revolved around money and how he was looking forward to settling down and being based out of Houston and starting a family. The best part was that towards the end of lunch he made a lovely off-color comment about the rise in crime in the Houston area since we acquired a large portion of the Katrina evacuees. He knew how he’d solve that crime problem – he’d ship them all back to New Orleans . To what?! To the ruins and garbage piles that used to be their homes? Are you kidding me? Anyways, that date ended, and he did end up buying my lunch.

Back at the office the guys I worked with revealed they had wanted to play a prank where one of them would have gone over to my table and said to me, “What the heck are you doing here? Where are the kids?” They should have; it would’ve made lunch a bit more interesting :-) No more than an hour passed back at the office when the pilot texted me to ask me out to a movie the next evening. (Seriously, texting is NOT the way to ask a girl out - for the love, it's not as if he was shy about talking). I hemmed and hawed to the end of my work day before finally deciding to give the guy another shot (at the recommendation of way too many people). I asked him what movie he had in mind, and he suggested World Trade Center . Well, I had already seen that film, and it's not something you watch over and over. I told him I'd seen it and not one you watch multiple times, any other suggestions. He suggested Pirates 2 (already seen it) or You, Me, & Dupree. Now, I like a good comedy as much as the next person, but I saw Wedding Crashers with good girl friend and was uncomfortable watching that with her. There’s NO way I was about to subject myself to watching You, Me, & Dupree in mixed company, especially with a guy I’d just met. I had to finally take the reigns and suggest the new movie out that weekend, Invincible – good, reliable, sport flick.

We met at the theater the next evening. He dominated conversation, again, all the way through the previews into the title sequence of the film. Seriously, I, the mute girl, actually tried to talk, and he asked me a few questions, but even when I did talk he practically ran over whatever I was saying with more of his own jibber-jabber. The movie was good, but then it ended. We’re leaving the theater about to part ways, when he asked me out AGAIN for Sunday evening to dinner at his sister’s house. What the heck?! Even if I had been interested in him, I think that would’ve freaked me out. Dinner with your family after two dates and I just met you this week?! Nope, not gonna happen. Thankfully, I actually had real plans for Sunday evening, so I didn’t have to lie. But, he seemed to take it in stride as he mentioned that he’d be back in town in the next week or so, and we’d still keep in touch. However, thankfully, I didn't hear from him again, either. I say thankfully because I'm a weeny, too, and don't want to have to tell the guy I'm not interested. But I still don't give out that lame line, "I'll call you," when I have no intention of communicating with them again. I typically just ignore them until they get the picture, but I'm working on being a better communicator these days and not indulging in my usual response of avoidance. So watch out! If I'm not interested, I'm more likely to be upfront about it now.

Blind Date #1

While getting ready for work, I caught a segment they did on the Today show about how mothers like to try to be matchmakers for their daughters. Thankfully, my mother is more talk than action in this area - however, my "friends" on the other hand have tried this matchmaking thing a time or two and tend to talk about it even more than my mom! Between watching that segment and reading a fellow blogger's blind date post, I thought I might do a two-part post of my blind date experiences. We'll call the first guy Holy Boy.


Blind Date #1:
My best friend (who is married) e-mailed me and tagged onto the end of her e-mail that she had this great guy that she wanted to hook me up with who lives in Houston. My attitude was to take advantage of most opportunities presented to me, so I told her sure – bring it on. Thus, she e-mailed Holy Boy, whom she had gone to college with. While they were in college together, they ran in the same circles but were more acquaintances than good friends (this should have been my first clue!). Holy Boy and I email and IM for a couple of weeks and trade pics via e-mail. He seemed fairly attractive, but even from the pics you can’t really tell much about how a person looks in proportion to other people (this will factor in later). We finally decided to meet up. First, we tried to meet up for coffee, but considering he wasn't much for planning ahead – AT ALL – it took us about three attempts over the coarse of the weekend to get together. That right there is annoying. If you've got a busy weekend, then suggest a later date don't continue to try to make plans with me and continually postpone because you've forgotten these other things you've committed to do. I've got my own life full of things that need to get done, too - thank you very much. Here’s some background on Holy Boy that I managed to accumulate before meeting up with him: he grew up in a missionary family; his sister and her husband are missionaries; he has a job and supports himself but ultimately wants to become a missionary; he is active at his church; he likes to dance; he has similar taste in TV shows and humor. Sounds pretty okay for me, right? Ugh…We went to dinner at Gringo’s (my unfortunate suggestion – I mistakenly called it a Mexican restaurant, which he felt obliged to correct me in conversation several times – it's Tex-Mex). I had had a HUGE lunch earlier that day. Had I known that I would be going out to eat that evening, I probably wouldn’t have eaten as much, but considering Holy Boy didn’t call until close to the end of the work day and I had figured that we would just be meeting up for coffee like we had been trying to ALL weekend, I went ahead and ate to my heart’s content. Anyways, back to the date. We met at the restaurant. I saw him standing there as I walked up and couldn't help thinking “Dang, he’s pretty darn skinny.” This became a thought that continued to pop into my head throughout the entire meal because I could not get over the fact that I probably outweighed this guy. Anyways, thankfully the conversation was fairly steady, no big gaps of silence. Although, throughout the meal I kept getting this sense of him being a little “holier-than-thou.” I don’t know, some people may think that about me, too, I’d hope not. I’d hope I come across as a more genuine than that. He talked about the salsa and hip-hop aerobics classes he taught on the side. I asked if he still taught the classes, but he said no he had to stop teaching them. You see, as I’m sure we're all well aware, the lyrics in many hip-hop songs are very sexual in content. He was starting to wake up in the mornings with the pictures of the lyrics in his head, and he couldn't have that. And that's a fine enough explanation, but he had to follow it up with the fact that he'd also been hanging out with some of the students in his classes afterwards, and a few of the women were developing crushes on him, and that just wasn’t appropriate. Note to self: on a first date make sure to mention how other members of the opposite sex are crushing on me – it’ll make my date want me more...or maybe not so much. And all that talk about me eating a big lunch plays into how I barely ate any of my dinner. I kind of felt bad about that, but not too bad since I hadn't planned on going out to eat that evening. Finally the date was over, we left the restaurant and he walked me in the general direction of my car. We did the side-hug thing (which only reinforced my earlier feeling that I could probably crush this guy if I squeezed too hard). He said he'd call...(I hoped not). I left more than happy to go back to my dateless state, and thankfully it must have been mutual as he did not make any move to contact me. While it worked out well for me that he didn't call - guys really need to not use that as their standard parting line if they have no intention of following it up. Overall, the date wasn't horrible - it just wasn't a good fit.

I am NOT a morning person

It's 10am, and truthfully I'm just starting to feel the teeniest bit ready for the day. And I've been up since 6am. Even after 3 years of working at SYSCO and being at the office by 7:30am each morning, I am still NOT a morning person. Even my boss at SYSCO commented that I didn't really come alive until 10am! I have never been a morning person. I attribute this to the Rundle side of the family because my mom is most definitely a morning person. You can only imagine how badly that worked out when I was still living at home. As many know, I'm not a big talker in general, but I'm pretty much mute in the mornings. Yet, that almost always seemed to be when my mom liked to play 20 questions with me. NOTE to everyone else, please don't do that. I try to live by the rule, "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all" in the mornings. You've been warned! My dad wasn't a morning person either, and neither is his sister or my sister. When I was in middle school and high school, I would regularly sleep until noon or 1pm on Saturday mornings because I could...and because I LOVE sleep. I especially love sleep when it's cold, and I can snuggle lower beneath the warm, cozy covers. I could spend all day in bed like that - just a big lazy bump on a log covered in mounds of blankets (sigh). Typically, I'm a night person. Although, when I was in Houston, working full-time, and busy Monday through Thursday evening, by Friday I was pitifully zonked out and in bed by 9pm.

Where did this "NOT a morning person" diatribe come from? Pretty much just because I had to get up earlier than usual to take my bosses to the airport this morning. However, I only had to meet them at 7am to take them to the airport, which really isn't all that early but because I'm not a morning person it's like pulling teeth. And I knew I would need to get up a bit earlier (6am) and have some God time in order to be at least polite on the drive to the airport. I knew there was no way I'd be allowed to be completely mute on the drive there. And I'm definitely wishing I could go crawl back into bed and sleep...until tomorrow :)

Expelled

This movie is definitely worth going to see! It's refreshing that there are scientists out there who actually would like to have an open debate - it's a shame that many of the Darwinists are so quick to object to a dialog and to dismiss the science behind an Intelligent Design position. Go check it out!

Singleness

Much has been made about my singleness for many years now. Per usual, like at every other place I have worked, my singleness has been the topic of several discussions at my new job. However, it is typically brought up by one particularly irritating co-worker who continues to refuse to believe that I know myself well enough to know how I truly feel about my own singleness. Thankfully, there are only a few people in my life like him who really seem to want to pile on the pressure for me to hurry into marriage. I understand that to some - being 28 years old and unmarried and not even dating - well that's tantamount to being an old maid! Whatever...For me it means that I'm not going to fall all over a guy just because he has a pulse and a job.

And what is the hurry? Granted, I never thought I'd still be single at 28, but I'd rather be single than desperate and end up in a bad marriage because I just couldn't stand to be single any longer. I have standards that I'm not willing to compromise, nor do I believe they're unreasonable. Here are the main non-negotiable ones:

1. Attractiveness: Christians often try to make themselves look more righteous by saying, "it's what is on the inside that really counts." While what is on the inside counts a LOT, being physically attracted to a person is pretty darn important too.
2. Growing Christian: If a guy is not making the effort to grow in his faith and relationship with Christ, I cannot not allow my heart to become romantically entangled with his.
3. Humor: I LOVE to laugh. A man with a quick, dry wit is my kryptonite - think Hugh Laurie.
4. Financial Stability: I am able to financially support myself and stay out of debt. I expect him to be able to do the same or at least be working hard to pay off any debt he has incurred.
5. Accountability: I have a strong group of women who I lean on, confess to, and look to for advice. I expect him to also have this in place or be actively seeking it out. In my book, it is imperative for both people to have strong influences of accountability in their lives to challenge them to address the tough issues in their relationship.
6. No cats: They're gross, and I'm allergic.

As for how I feel about my own singleness, I am quite fine with my status. I don't sit at home crying myself to sleep at night desperate to be in a relationship (contrary to what my co-worker would like to believe). I'm an introvert - I enjoy my alone time, and it's not as if I don't ever go out. I've never been the person to go out and party all night, or date a different guy each night of the week. In truth, I could probably count the number of dates I've ever been on, on one hand - and I'm okay with that. Now, I'm no Paul - I don't desire lifelong singleness. I would love to get married and have children someday, but I don't see any reason to be desperate about it. Being desperate is dangerous because it causes one to forget and compromise their standards. The goal of my life is not to end my singleness with marriage, the goal of my life is to honor God and there is plenty to be done in this world to fulfill that that has nothing to do with marriage. I choose to focus on that rather than wallow in self-pity about being single. Do I have moments of depression and self-pity about my singleness? Sure, I'm no super woman. However, those moments are fleeting in comparison to the contentment and security I have as I continue following His lead in this aspect of my life.

PLT

A few of my blogging friends are doing this thing called PLT: Picture Looking Through and while I was just sitting here at my temporary workspace, I looked to my left and thought...hmmmmm, that might make a good PLT. So, I snapped it with my cell phone. I am looking through mine (really Shane's) office door through the door of my future office (currently John's) through the door to Kevin's office. Hopefully, I'll be moving in to my office tomorrow! (John doesn't know that yet, but he's pretty flexible).

So funny...

This is too funny not to share with any and every person that I can:





One of the Ramsey brothers who helped to create this comedic gem, Richard Ramsey, will be joining the City on a Hill Productions staff this summer. Check out the other films offered by the Ramsey brothers on YouTube.

Valiant, Vulnerable & Scandalous

"A woman who is living out her true design will be valiant, vulnerable, and scandalous." - John Eldredge

I first came across this quote while it was scrawled across a picture frame that my friend, Laura, had in her apartment. The picture was of a group of girls (including miss Laura) clad in pink t-shirts and shorts or capris - all of them hamming it up in semi-provocative poses. It was adorable! I asked her where the quote was from and what the story was behind the picture. She told me that the quote was from John Eldredge's book, "Wild at Heart" - and the story behind the picture was that this group of girls would regularly play pranks on their guy friends - and part of their signature was to have "scandalous" written out in pink. When I returned home after my visit with Laura, I wrote the quote on my bathroom mirror in red dry erase marker. Valiant, vulnerable, scandalous...which one of those words sticks out to you? Which one kind of scares you?

The one that still scares me is vulnerable. I love authenticity and transparency, and I desperately want to be like that but it requires so much vulnerability. One baby step at a time, I feel like I'm making some headway in this arena, but I have a LONG way left to go. I struggle the most with being vocally vulnerable. I don't mind opening as much when I'm writing in a blog like this or in an e-mail because well for one thing - it's not as though I have a massive blog audience...and I can eloquently craft and massage my written vulnerability, whereas in conversation you're kind of on the spot, and I often get anxious and my thoughts get all jumbled in my head and a lot of times it takes me while to mull things over before I know what I think about a topic and by then the discussion has usually moved on. And sometimes people just look at me and want me to talk - and I don't know what to talk about - I'm not some performance monkey that has magical conversation that will flow out of me if you look at me long enough...what do you want me to talk about? And I guess that's part of it to, is that a lot of times I don't talk because I don't know what the other person wants me to say. But why do I care so much if I say whatever it is that I think they want me to say? I feel like I have very strong values, standards, opinions - and yet I get caught up in worrying about what is it that they want me to say. How ridiculous is that? Umm, pretty darn...which then begins the downward cycle of getting frustrated with myself in that and the self-condemnation...and it's just ugly and silly. But please bear with me, I am trying to break free of this - your patience is much appreciated!

And scandalous - well that just sounds fun! And for me it relates back to my last blog and that whole trying new things and not worrying about failure. To be scandalous - shocking...hmmm, I may need some suggestions in this area. I'm usually pretty laid back and conservative. And how does one become scandalous and still stay within the bounds of godliness?

Then there is valiant, which I seem to equate more with strength - although it also connotes bravery and courage. Bravery and courage are things I don't always feel in possession of - especially since for me those are part of what I need to help me become more vulnerable - ugh. Strength, however, is something that I would claim to have plenty of - what with being a strong, capable, single woman who's got to push through and do it all on her own. Of course, this is also my downfall. All of this "strength" has turned into a nasty, hard, icy shell that is melting and even being lovingly chipped away by others to allow for more freedom to be vulnerable.

And that's really what I need to remember about vulnerability - there's freedom in vulnerability and transparency. No longer hiding part of myself away just because I don't think it's all that interesting or that I don't think others will find it all that interesting. And don't ask me what "it" is because I don't know. I don't know exactly what part(s) of me I'm hiding away, but I know that I do it - that I clam up a LOT in social situations.

So there you have it, that's me in relation to this quote...how does it speak to you?

There is no shame in failure, only in not trying

I must say, I wish I had heard this saying growing up. There is so much that I would go back and at least try. I would have tried to enjoy high school more rather than just focusing on the grades - same for college. Instead, having a perfectionist mentality instilled in me from as far back as I can remember - I refused to do things in public if I didn't know that I could do them well, which is pretty ridiculous because nobody is a master of anything that they try for the first time - but there you go, I did not want to try and fail and look like a fool in the process. I still struggle with that crazy kind of thinking, but I have been more prone to try new things of late. Granted there have been a few things that I've tried and ended up getting a little more out of hand than first anticipated,but you live and you learn. And well I'm a fairly late bloomer in this whole "trying new things" department.

With this move there have been plenty of new things I've had to step into not knowing how well I'd do or what the outcome might be. I've had to try my hand at fundraising again (which didn't work out so well the first time). I've had to try to find a new church to attend, a Bible study class, a small group, and just new friends in general. The next thing on my agenda is to try to start my own small group for women in my apartment. Now, I've done this several times before in Houston, but I already had a great, big, built-in group of female friends who attended the studies I led. This time my comfort level is lower because I'm still getting to know many of the women here, but I figure this will be another way to help build and cultivate those relationships. I haven't quite figured out what study I want to lead the group in - so suggestions are welcome!

The Office is Back!!!!

After waiting for too many months for the writer's strike to end, and then having to wait even longer for the writers to come back and create some new episodes...The Office is finally back! Last night was the first new episode and it was HILARIOUS. If you didn't get to watch it here is a sneak peek two-minute recap - enjoy!

The Pastor's Wife

I've been given a project by Shane (my boss) to read "The Pastor's Wife," by Sabina Wurmbrand and "In God's Underground," by Richard Wurmbrand. They are a missionary couple that endured many years of separation and imprisonment during the Communist reign over Rumania. As I am reading "The Pastor's Wife," I am continually in awe of Sabina - a woman who adores her husband, but she is also a strong and feisty companion who grounds her husband in their combined effort to reach all people for Christ in Rumania. Here are just a couple of instances where Sabina's forthrightness has reminded me of the kind of woman of God I desire to be:

The Communist leaders are pandering to a conference of religious leaders of all faiths, but Sabina and Richard knew better.

It was as if they spat in Christ's face. I could feel that Richard was boiling. So I told him what was already in his heart and said:
"Will you not wash this shame from the face of Christ?"
Richard knew what would happen: "If I speak, you will lose a husband."
At once I replied - it was not my courage, but given to me for the moment: "I don't need a coward for a husband."

To which her husband arose and spoke to the crowd. What a woman!

And then later on there is an opportunity for them to escape and leave Rumania, and Richard believes that it would be better for them to flee than to remain in Rumania. All this after a friend has come and reminded them of the words of the angel to Lot:

"Escape for thy life, look not behind thee."
When he (the friend) left, Richard asked me: "Don't you think that may have been a message from God? Why should he come to see us after so long, and repeat over and over, 'Escape for thy life?' Wasn't it a warning that I must save my life by fleeing?"
I said, "Escape for what life?" Then I went into the bedroom and opened the scripture where Jesus says: 'Whosoever will save his life shall lose it and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it."
I asked Richard, "If you leave now, will you ever be able again to preach about this text?"
We didn't speak again that night about leaving.

Reading Sabina's story reminds me of the stories that Neil (my pastor in Houston) tells about his wife, Marcie. One in particular where Marcie responded to Neil by saying, "What a small price to pay for integrity." Women unashamed to support and challenge their husbands to be blameless men of God. I love it!

More visitors!

Last week, my sister and several of her co-workers made the trek up to Louisville in a 15 passenger van. Can you believe they came here of all places for their "fun trip" together? Weird, but I feel like they all had a good time - for the most part - there were a few whiners along the way.

Monday:

They started their trek late Sunday evening and arrived in Louisville around 9am, tired and road-weary, but still ready for an afternoon of adventure in Louisville! After guiding them to a grocery store to pick up ingredients for dinner and making a stop in at the Homemade Ice Cream & Pie Kitchen for several of them to indulge in a nutritious breakfast of pie, I led them to the Bryans' home where they would be bunking during their stay. The girls (there were only two of them, including my sister) got the pleasure of staying upstairs. One in a double bed, and the other in a twin bed, and they had a bathroom to themselves. All six of the boys were relegated to the basement and had one bathroom to share amongst themselves. After they had sufficient time to stow away their stuff and freshen up, we headed to the Louisville Slugger Museum. Everyone seemed to enjoy the tour and taking lots of fun pics together. All the guys and Kati, also took advantage of the batting cages.

After we'd had our fill of the museum, we needed to fill our bellies, so we headed across the river to Indiana for some river-side dining before going on a tour of Schimpff's Confectionary. Now I must confess, I had some fun leading Chris Carter, who was driving the 15 passenger van, in a few circles around downtown before finally deciding to take the group across the river for lunch. After a most amusing tour at the confectionary, Mrs. Schimpff was simply incredible and bestowed us with many wonderful treats to taste, we headed back to the Bryans' where I dropped the gang off to get settled (and nap). Later that evening, I went back to the Bryans' to assist my sister in making individual pizzas for the whole gang. We created the pizza crusts from scratch using Marcy Bryan's pizza dough recipe, and even put the sauce on the pizzas - only requiring each person to put their own toppings on the pizza. It seems quite simple enough, but we did have a few boys who still needed "help" figuring out how to put toppings on their pizza. A couple of them even made some lovely chauvanistic comments and almost lost their finished pizzas to the hungry trash can. In the end, after Wendy and I had finished making everyone's pizzas - the rest of the gang did eventually pull together to do the cleaning. After indulging in our glutonous pizza feast, we all headed downstairs to watch "Dan in Real Life." If you haven't seen it - you must - if only to understand the hilarity of this line, "You are a MURDERER of love!" Ahhh, one of the poignant moments of communication between Dan and one of his teenage daughters.

Tuesday:

After a lazy morning of sleeping in, everyone decided they wanted to check out Lynn's Paradise Cafe for lunch. At first view everyone was filled with wonder and excitement as they took in the crazy eclectic nature of Lynn's. Ooo's and Aahh's were heard as each person tried to figure out what they were going to order from the delicious menu. Several people were making deals with one another to share their food in order to get to taste the wide array of things offered at Lynn's. My sister and I made such an arrangement, as I ordered the sinful Bourbon Ball French Toast (really much more of a dessert than a meal, but whatever), and she ordered the Greek Scramble - see that way we both got to indulge in savory and sweet. And even if we couldn't finish it all you knew that no one's food would go to waste - one of the boys (or even Kati) would happily finish it off.




Once we'd all sufficiently stuffed ourselves, the next stop was Zappos on our way out to Kart Kountry. I found it quite amusing how excited all the boys were about going to Zappos. I feel as though their anticipation of shoe shopping was more heightened than any of the girls. Most everyone walked away with a purchase from Zappos, and thus we were off to Kart Kountry to experience the longest go-cart track in the world!




Each person was signed up for two laps around the 1.5 mile long track. Annoyingly enough, Chris Carter came from behind to beat everyone in his super fast "Wonder Woman" go-cart. As fun as the go-carts were, it made for a short adventure, so everyone went inside to play arcade games - well everyone played but me and my sister (we're not big video game players).




For dinner that evening, we all split up and went our separate ways near Kart Kountry. Several people were insistent on wanting to go to Waffle House (no thank you!), several others went down to Taco Bell, and my sister and I decided to bond at Fazoli's as being the lesser of all the evils. On the way back to the Bryans' the gang wanted to stop in for another piece of pie at the Homemade Ice Cream & Pie Kitchen. Back at the Bryans' several people played on the Wii upstairs while others played Halo in the basement. Those playing Halo downstairs got their rears sufficiently whooped by a 13 year old in another state.




Wednesday:

This day was dedicated to the Frazier Arms Museum. A couple of the guys were not quite able to enjoy the significance of the museum, but for the most part everyone else quite enjoyed their time there. Nearly every hour there was a re-enactment performed on a stage on the first floor. Most were entertaining, a couple were kind of creepy. We also got to watch and learn the process of putting on a suit of armor - quite interesting and laborious.




Afterwards, we had yet another late lunch (all our lunches were usually around 2 or 3pm) this time we went to Mark's Feedstore so they could experience Kentucky barbecue. They loved it! I've even received requests to ship them some of Mark's barbecue sauce. From there a couple of the guys, Kati, and my sister headed over to my apartment to install a light fixture for me. And my sister even helped me get a few more things hung on the walls. The guys were quite frustrated with my apartment's wiring and while in the end they did manage to get the light fixture hung, um, it doesn't turn off! There is a switch on the wall that should turn the light on and off, but apparently it doesn't work because it was in the off position and the light was on, and the only way we could turn it back off was to flip the switch on the breaker. Oh well, good try guys! I have since removed the bulbs, but the fixture still hangs there. I'll figure that out another day!




That evening they grilled hamburgers, and we headed over to the Sooters' home to play Rock Band in their basement. Everyone seemed to REALLY enjoy Rock Band, I even hear that one or two of them have since purchased it after arriving back in Texas.




The gang left early Thursday morning, making a stop in Memphis to tour Graceland before embarking on the long journey back to Texas.

The group was a lot of fun to hang out with, and I'm glad I got to meet all the engaging individuals that my sister works with day in and day out. Thanks to all of them for letting me tag along on their Louisville adventure!