Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Perspective

Now that I got that whining out of my system, I have a fabulous post to share with you that I found while surfing the internet instead of putting away clean laundry.  I figure, the laundry will always be there, but you never know when that big internet in the sky will crash, and then I'll never get to read these fantastic blogs!!!


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Stop it, just STOP IT!

Please just stop believing everything that comes through your inbox.  They are LIES, people.  Anyone can make up anything and send it out as an email.  The world would be a much happier place if Mr. Email had never included the "forward" option in the first place.

Okay, that's all.

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Monday, October 27, 2008

Windows

We were at Homecoming at our alma mater this weekend.  This one was particularly nostalgic for me.  I was overwhelmed with gratefulness for the sacrifices my parents made for me to go to such a special place.  I was struck by the ways this place began the process of making me who I am still becoming.  I was thankful for the adults there who discipled me, taught me, set examples for me, and STILL know my name and where I live and how many kids I have.  I was intrigued by the way the campus seems so different and yet still the same.  

I began taking pictures of our windows at Milligan.  I would have gone inside to take a picture of the actual rooms, but you never know when a girl might be walking around naked in the girls' dorms, and, if I had walked into the boys' dorm, I might have gotten a fine from the RA!!!! By the time I was done, I decided it was kind of neat to have a collection of windows in my camera...

...the highest, farthest window is my first dorm room, Hart 317, where I made dear, forever friendships, where I lived when my dad died, where I studied Calculus and Chemistry and Humanities and where I slept through classes (I hope my mama doesn't read this!!), where I dreamed of someday becoming a wife and mama, where I started becoming a grown-up, where I ate Papa Johns pizza at midnight, where I counted my change to go on Taco Bell runs at 2 am...

...somewhere on the top floor is Tim's first dorm room, Webb 304, where he roomed with the other Tim, ate breadsticks that the pizza hut guy brought back for free (you know Tim!), played poker with pennies, got up really early to practice piano, packed his backpack to study in the library for lots of hours, where he walked down the stairs to meet me on the sidewalk for a goodnight hug...

...Williams 101, where I became an RA, where I lived with some of the sweetest girls on the planet, where I hosted dinner parties on open house night, where I baked cookies for Tim, where I fell even deeper in love, where I spent many nights falling asleep with Jesus as I read the Word and prayed...

...Quillen 101, where Tim became an RA, where he grew to love Nathan, where Nathan drove him nuts by waking him in the middle of the night to go sledding or taste a carmel apple (thank you, Nathan, for preparing him for me!!), where Tim fell more and more in love with the Word, where he hid my engagement ring...

...now I look at the campus through the window of a mini van.  It's a different view, but I'm still the same girl, blessed to be living in the Kingdom, excited about the future, trying daily to be who he wants me to be, failing miserably, and trying again the next day...

...when I look through the window, I see a man I am more in love with now than I was then, who loves Jesus with his whole heart, who loves me in the most perfect of ways, who is an incredible dad, who I might never have found if I hadn't spent some time at this special place, who is excited about the future, who is SO HOT...












...I see 3 sweet boys who are growing up to be like Jesus, who want to go to Milligan now because they played on inflatables at Homecoming and saw that there's a soccer team and liked the Coke in the SUB...












I am blessed beyond my imaginings.  Thank you, Father, for loving me, choosing me, sending me, protecting me, using me, saving me, calling me...

**For more pics of homecoming, see Hold On...My Hearts Giving Birth.**

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I will never do a contest again...

I don't know how the Pioneer Woman does it!  Once all the entries arrived (you know, all 6 of them!!), I was just overwhelmed and didn't know what to do with the fact that a few of them were correct, including the 1st one, and I was feeling so sad that the rest of the correct ones wouldn't get a pie.  So, I just never wrote another blog entry.  Seriously, folks, that is very sad considering the Pioneer Woman has nearly 10,000 entries every time.  Apparently, I do not have what it takes to be "wife of rancher"...I'll stick with "wife of youth minister".

So, Nicole, a pie is in your future.  Congrats.  A hotsling is indeed a Dr. Quinn Medicine woman type of baby holder.


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Monday, October 6, 2008

My new Hotsling

I ordered a hotsling this week and it arrived today.  I loooove it!!  Now, whoever is the first to guess correctly what a hotsling is by leaving a comment (and WITHOUT googling "hotsling") will win a homemade pie.  Okay, in case you're wondering, I'm not really sure how I'll get the pie to you if you don't live close, but I'm serious about this, and I'll figure out a way...maybe a visit from me, which would be fun for both of us!!

Start your guessing!!!

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