Bring It...

I recently finished performing in my church's Christmas production - a tiring yet rewarding priviledge! I met a lovely new choir member during our dress rehearsals. When we met, we were discussing death and I shared with her that I had this fear of Heaven. That sounds crazy doesn't it? But I just kept thinking how it would just be DIFFERENT - not being with my family who was still on Earth, not being in my house, etc. I pictured myself sitting in a hard wooden pew for all of eternity - even though I know it won't really be that way. I just can't wrap my brain around what it will be like. This friend shared with me that she died when she was 12 years old. She was lifted out of her body by angels, she floated above her body watching the doctors work feverishly to revive her. She soared through the solar system and finally arrived at "the" tunnel of light. At the end was the source of this light - Christ Himself. They spoke and agreed that she should come back and, thus, here she is. Fast forward to the last night of the concert. My very favorite part of the entire concert was the manger scene. The song we sang was SO beautiful - I mean it really took my breath away to hear it, to be a part of it. All of our voices - mine and all my choir friends whom I love so much - blending together to make such a magnificent moment. I often had tears in my eyes - it just felt so sacred, so real, like you were really at the manger. It was an incredible high! I was sharing this with my new friend and she said something that changed everything for me. She said "Imagine being in that unbelievable, magnificent moment for the rest of eternity. That's what it's like in Heaven." She would know - she was there. That quick little exchange that took place in the stairwell of our church seriously changed my life! That seems a little weird. But I don't have that uncomfortable fear about the "unknown" of Heaven anymore. It will be even MORE wonderful than any moment we experience here on Earth - BRING IT!

Simple Christmas

At my most recent MOPS meeting, we were asked to consider Christmas simply. Mary was a mom, just like me (except her child was God!). I'm sure she had morning sickness, swollen ankles, exhaustion, varicose veins, weight gain, headaches and all the rest of it during her pregnancy with Jesus. And then, when she was nice and huge, she had to ride to Bethlehem ON A DONKEY?! Um...no thanks. No wonder she went into labor as soon as they arrived! Oh, and there were no epidurals. Just labor on the dirt floor covered in dirty straw. Back then, a woman's family would attend her birth. But Mary didn't have her mama. Just Joseph, who was probably as nervous as any dad would be today. Oh, and lets not forget the farm animals! Um...no thanks. What did she think when she heard Jesus' first cry? I imagine it was much the same as the rest of us when our babies were born. Except she had the added stress of knowing she had to raise God's son. After the baby was born, they had to wrap him in dirty rags and use an animal feed trough as a bassinette. The first visitors were a bunch of shepherds who probably smelled of sheep. No hand sanitizer to get rid of the sheep germs before touching the baby! But you know what, Mary pondered ALL of these things and treasured them in her heart. I had never thought of Christmas in this way, but I really enjoyed that MOPS meeting! I hope that you are able to take some time this Christmas to treasure in YOUR heart the precious simplicity of the birth of our Savior!

6 Quirky Things...

I've been tagged by my mom at Mimi's Garden to complete this little quiz - what are 6 quirky things about you? Here we go!

1. In addition to multiple US states and Canada, I've been to The Caribbean, England, Wales, Tokyo, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, Brisbane Australia, Sydney Australia, Cairnes Australia (where we snorkled on the Great Barrier Reef), and Papua New Guinea.

2. I like coffee after it has cooled down to room temperature.

3. I was born with only three wisdom teeth and one of my "adult" teeth was missing as well.

4. I have sung in backup choirs for Darlene Zschech (Hill Songs Australia), Twilla Paris, Steve Green, and Fernando Ortega.

5. I cannot STAND having two or more things making noise at once (like the TV and a musical toy). It makes me feel like my head is going to explode!

6. I've been in the oval office (Seriously. OK, just my head poked in to look, but that's close enough for me!)

Where were you 7 years ago today?

I can't believe it's been 7 years. I think it will always seem like yesterday. I was a 3rd grade teacher and we were about an hour from lunch time. It was a beautiful sunny day out and the older kids were out for recess. Suddenly, they all came in way too early. I thought maybe it was because we'd been on alert for a child predator loose in the area. Then, one by one, half of my students' parents came to pick them up. I looked at my cell phone and had nearly 20 missed calls. I knew something bad was happening. There was a tv in our room, but I was afraid to turn it on because I didn't want to expose the children to whatever was happening - that was their parents' decision, not mine. When I first heard about the first plane, people were saying they thought it was a Cessna and that it was an accident. When my kids went to lunch, I went to the teachers' lounge, where the tv was on and it became apparent it was no accident. By that time, I believe the second plane had hit and I'm not sure if the first tower had collapsed yet. A friend of mine lived in Michigan where I live, but worked in the Pentagon on the day of the week the attacks occurred. For some freaky reason, she wasn't at work that day. I remember the years immediately following were difficult because the kids didn't know how to deal with it and when I had middle eastern children in my class, it was a constant battle to stop accusing comments. It's like there are two time periods in our lives - before 9/11 and after. May God give peace to the families who lost loved ones that day.

These are some pictures of our trip to NYC in September of 2005. All but the last are of Ground Zero.


"The Cross"



A building directly next to ground zero who's windows were all blown out during the events of 9/11/01. The building was scheduled for demolition because it was so badly damaged it was beyond safe repair.



The gaping hole in the ground - an entire city block - where the two towers used to stand.



"Trinity Root" at Trinity Church

Very close to Ground Zero is the earliest commisioned church in NYC, Trinity Church (There are soldiers buried there from the Revolutionary War. The church was chartered by King William III in 1697 and received a large grant of real estate west of Broadway - 311 years ago. It was re-built after it was destroyed in the 1776 NYC fire). It's the church featured in the end of the first "National Treasure" movie. Even older and closer to Ground Zero is St. Paul's Chapel. A sycamore tree sheltered the 238-year-old Chapel (which is directly across the street from Ground Zero) from the blast created by the falling towers. The tree itself was ripped out of the ground. An artist made a mold of the stump from the tree and with other tree segments made a large sculpture called Trinity Root to stand as a testament to life, humanity and the positive response to the catastrophe. It stands in the front church yard of Trinity Church. The 238-year-old St. Paul's Church not only survived the 1776 New York City fire and the attack on the World Trade Center unscathed, but it became the center of hope, refuge and faith in the months that followed. It became a sanctuary for thousands of volunteers, policemen, firemen and others who frequently made stops at the church, some after searching for bodies in what became known as "the pile" to pray as well as to seek comfort and strength. St. Paul's is the oldest public building still in continuous use in Manhattan and the city's lone remaining Colonial church. It was known primarily before Sept. 11 as the place where George Washington prayed on April 30, 1789, the day he was inaugurated as president .






Another view of "the cross" and the gaping hole in the ground.



Yep, we're still free.

Fall Festival

OK, I've been totally lazy in blogging, but I've been placed on blog alert by my friend Sharon! I've been sitting here staring at the computer screen and then I decided I'd tell you about our very special week! First, my baby started preschool! She absolutely loves it! Here are a few pictures of her first day:




This past weekend, we had our fabulous local fall festival - an enormous three day weekend of fun with tons of rides, a craft show, food, free crafts and face painting for kids, and THE ABSOLUTE BEST chicken dinner EVER on Sunday! The Rotary Club starts cooking over 10,000 chicken dinners in the middle of the night in bbq pits built the entire length of the movie theatre parking lot.



Here are some pictures from our weekend:







One more exciting event is that Mark and I went to see Michael W. Smith and Steven Curtis Chapman in concert! Here is a pic of Michael:

Sarayu

So I finished "The Shack" and I must say that it is a life changing read. I want to read it again because it is such an intense book and I am certain I didn't catch all of the important stuff the first time around. One of my favorite parts of the book, without giving too much away, is that the Holy Spirit is named Sarayu in the book. I did a little research on this name and found that the Greek word for spirit in the New Testament is "pneuma," which can also be translated "wind" or "breath." "Sarayu," also meaning "wind," is therefore used as the name for the Holy Spirit in the book. I think that my perception of the Trinity is a fairly common one - God the Father is the one "in charge" and greatly resembles Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings:



Jesus is the one whom we can relate to the most:



The Holy Spirit...well......hmmmmm. I never really understood The Holy Spirit that much and never really gave a great deal of thought to it. One of the life changing effects of this book is how you view God and the character of each of the three in the Trinity. I so much enjoyed Sarayu in this book and realized that you can indeed have a relationship with The Holy Spirit and that The Spirit loves you as much as The Father and Jesus does! Each in the Trinity has a profound love of each person on this Earth and even the Holy Spirit has a beautiful personality. You must read this book! Seriously....go to the store immediately and buy it!!!

PS - I'm not sure it's appropriate to have a picture of Jesus and Dr. Evil on the same page!

PSS - My chore at work tonight was cleaning the bathrooms and, yes, I remembered to clean the mens' room this time!!!

You like WHAT song?!?!

I've been tagged by my mommy dear to complete the following meme!

5 songs that I am embarrassed to like:

1. "Hot in Herre" by Nelly (Best song line ever - "I think my butt gettin big!")
2. "Whine Up" by Kat DeLuna featuring Elephant Man
3. "I'm a B**ch I'm a Lover" by Alanis Morissette
4. "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It" by Will Smith (Will Smith was recently named the 8th worst rapper of all time - I'm highly offended.)
5. "Miami" by Will Smith


Mwwwwhaaaaaa!!!!!!

For a limited time only, these songs will be on my playlist (Not long, since I'm supposed to be embarrassed to like them - well, maybe I'll leave some of them. He He!)

I only have one close friend who blogs, so I tag my friend Cheryl!

"The Shack"

OK, so I just received the book "The Shack" for my birthday from my parents. I have wanted this book forever and have already read about 1/4 of it! Here is the book description:

"Mackenzie Allen Philips' youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation, and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later, in the midst of his Great Sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend. Against his better judgment, he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change Mack's world forever."

I have just gotten to the place when Mack arrives back at the shack and I have to say that at first I thought that what he "found" was a little strange and hard to wrap my mind around. But the more I read, the more I understand the point of view the author decided to use. This book is also a challenging read. It makes your mind really work (or perhaps it's because I am now only used to reading Curious George books!). I am still withholding my final review of this book, but I think everyone would enjoy it from what I have read so far!

Oops...

So, in May, I started a new part time job that I absolutely love as a gymnastics coach. I teach twice a week and after you are done with your classes, you have a short 15 minute chore to complete. For this entire 6 week session, my chore was cleaning the bathroom. At first, I hated the thought, but it turned out to be a quick and easy chore. Today (after six weeks) I said to the receptionist (who is the preschool director's mother) "Yay, I'm about to do my last bathroom cleaning!" So she says "Oh, you mean you already cleaned one bathroom and you are going to clean the other one?" At that moment, my heart felt like it fell down to my feet - the entire semester, I'd only been cleaning the WOMEN'S bathroom - I had completely forgotten that there even IS a men's room since it is in an area away from the women's room that I never go to!!! Luckily, I covered myself pretty well and scurried into the men's room to scrub like a maniac! What a total blonde I am! At least someone else had been cleaning bathrooms on the four days a week I don't teach. Geesh!

Beauty For Ashes

I saw this video on another blog that I frequent. This song was written and performed by a man with terminal cancer. It is so beautiful! If you would like to listen to it, go down and press pause on my playlist first so there aren't two songs playing at the same time!

Wordless Wednesday...Christmas in Jamaica, 2005

That's me in front holding the guide's hand, climbing Dunn River Falls, Jamaica.

The Princess Diaries

My Princess...
You Are My Precious Daughter

You are a daughter of the King, and not just any king. You are My daughter, and I am the God of all heaven and earth. I'm delighted with you! You are the apple of my eye. You're Daddy's girl. Your earthly father may love and adore you, but his love is not perfect, no matter how great - or small - it is. Only My love is perfect...because I am Love. I formed your body. I fashioned your mind and soul. I know your personality, and I understand your needs and desires. I see your heartaches and disappointments, and I love you passionately and patiently. My child, I bought you with a price so that we could have an intimate relationship together for all eternity. Soon we will see each other face to face - Father and daughter - and you will experience the wonderful place I have prepared for you in paradise. Until then, fix your eyes on heaven, and walk closely with Me. You will know that - although I am God - My arms are not too big to hold you, My beloved daughter.

Love,
Your King and your Daddy in heaven
-Excerpt from the book His Princess - Love Letters from Your King

Sometimes I have such a difficult time believing these words! Who am I for the creator of the universe to wrap His arms around me?! But amazingly, it's true! As much as I love my two princesses, Sydney (4) and Isabelle (12 months), God loves us even more! I hope you feel His arms wrapped around you right now!