And here I thought last week's Sunday sermon was designed to rock me to the core. I mean, it did, but today's was the refresher course that I really needed. Rob, too. We were privileged to be in the audience for the guest preacher, a Zimbabwe native with a first hand glimpse at life on the other side of the spiritual line.
I would much rather let him share his message with you himself, via webcast, so I'll most definitely post it when SonRise gets it up on the website. In the meantime, we'll have to settle for the Storytellers' abbreviated version:
Today we listened to a man whose childhood consisted of a life of rituals, witch doctors and spiritual seances purposed to channel the voices of the deceased. He was witnessed to by a nun, and that led to a decision that would change his life, and ultimately provide him with the information and passion to share his testimony with congregations along the way, just like ours.
What I love, is when something is stated simply: In his case, the fact that whether we want to acknowledge it or not, we are on the front lines of a spiritual conflict. No, it's not a mystical, fantasy, imaginary world. It's the world in which we live, where we are faced with the decisions daily of who and what will influence us, and in what ways.
We must be armed. We must be prepared. We accomplish preparedness by reading the Word. We ready our hearts and minds by establishing the truth in them, so that when false words and claims are presented, that truth will acknowledge. We resist temptation by understanding our limitations and relying on our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to stand beside us in the seasons where our areas of weakness may otherwise distract us. It's a commitment that we must have, to pray. For protection, for guidance and for perseverance of ourselves, our brothers and sisters, our families, children, friends and those who don't yet even know Christ. It's a full-fledged war, in which we put our trust in the power and ability of God.
I can't wait to share the full vido here; I'll absolutely do that as soon as it's up live!
In the meantime, a friendly reminder that the first meeting for this year's Panama trip is next Sunday. I found the video on the SonRise site and thought I would share it, just in case you're curious about what it is in which we invested ourselves last year in April.
For now though, it's the day of leisure that Sunday should be...
.... okay, well maybe with a little bit of Pinterest to boot. I mean, we're going to have a couple of rooms to decorate here soon, right?
Okay, okay, okay, let's not pretend like I am the only one out there who's ever taken her car's ability to function despite an exactly-routine oil change for granted. Whether it's surprising or not, I am generally not that bad about preventative maintenance and ensuring repairs are done as needed. Oil changes though? I could do better.
I said all that to say that today's top priority was getting my dear little Subie a well-overdue oil change! Not just that, but she got 2 brand new tires, an alignment and a full internal/external wash & detailing. That girl got pampered today! She wasn't the only one; Lexi got her fair share of attention today, too. It was definitely a day dedicated to the cars we've been blessed to have.
lexi getting a bath...
It was a beautiful day outside. We're in the last couple days of January, and as we adventured out for a day of local tourism, we couldn't help but laugh at the masses of like-minded folks, clad in tshirts, shorts and even a few sandals were sighted!
It would've been easy to commit today to a marathon of TV shows, lounging, perhaps packing for this upcoming move, or any number of other things, but it felt good to get out and about, contrary to what I'd originally thought I wanted to do today. Haha. Our city, Cincinnati, was wholly appreciated today, as we journeyed across 275, 52, 50, 28 and 125, and drank in everything from downtown to the east end. We didn't make it north, but the quality time I got to spend with Rob will supercede the fact that we spent the afternoon tucked in the car ;).
We're home now, after a dinner of hibachi, sushi and edamame.
Tomorrow is the first official meeting for June's SonRise Panama trip, aka Panama, Part II!!! I am beyond excited for this, and am praying there will be a healthy turnout of folks who are interested and able to join in. From what I've heard, it sounds like this trip may be a bit more mild than last year, with less physically-demanding hikes and seclusion; hopefully that provides a more conducive opportunity for a diverse collection of our church family to join in.
Ok, so really it was last week that I could've legitimately said, "Friday, I thought you'd never get here." This week, I was equally ready for the last day, but not quite for the same reasons.
For starters, this came in today, and created a small but welcomed shift in my daily "living space" here at the desk...
Last week was brutal from the time Monday rolled out on the wrong side of the bed, until it finally went back to bed Friday evening. Just a rough week. This week wasn't any less active, but there was definitely a firmer balance with life beyond the desk, and while we were at them, it didn't feel quite like the universe was trying to sizzle us under a magnifying glass.
But still, a busy week is a busy week, no matter how you spin it. This Friday at hand was punctuated by an isolated incident involving an individual [who should also be isolated, perhaps on an island somewhere... or another planet... mehhh; I digress] with a fascinatingly-unfortunate and advanced arsenal of ignorance. The week's been good. We had the pedal to the floor for four full days, so I wasn't surprised to feel the gas running low today.
At least we finally took lunch breaks that exceeded 5 minutes. I think today was an entire 10, maybe even 12.whole.minutes. College taught me how to be resourceful with just a couple of minutes [usually running, ungracefully between campus buildings]. Whatever. Lunch!
nommmmsss..
The weekend was officially here.
Well, almost.
This was my 6:00. And 7. And also 7:30p:
paperwork. the bane of my existence.....
This guy I know [he's kinda cool, so I decided I'm going to take his last name later on this year ;)] - well, he made and brought me not only a PB&J, but a PB&J burrito, along with my favorite pair of jeans, so that I could wrap up my work and not have to go home and change/eat before reporting in for celebration with our long lost friend Jessica!
I changed, ate and closed up shop. From there, it was off to Pearl's in Col-Tusculum for Jessica's open house: celebrating her past accomplishments and shortly-unfolding plans for expansion to her studio.
love this gal!!
Congratulaaaations, dear friend! And so good to see you, as always!
we're really good at pictures. like, really good. :|
Oh, and my date was decent, too, I s'pose.
this guy......
And with that being said, the weekend is officially here. And that's officially awesome.
I seriously love birthdays. It doesn't need to be my birthday, either. I love love love... birthdays in general. Especially when it's a super cool person worth the efforts of staging super cool things.
happy happy birthday, riss!!!!!
I wish we would've been able to relish a little more in the celebration of her special day, it was a neurotic day - in a good way? - and just didn't give us the time we needed.
The day blabbered on so much that we had to forfeit small group for the evening. Instead, we arrived home several hours later to unwrap and set up the Big Barker that we bought off an auction site for the dogs.
big barker!
Ya'll, if you're not familiar with what these are, they are basically miniature memory foam beds. They have a built-in "head rest" on one end, and may as well come with a matching side table, because if our dogs don't like it, that means I'll have some form of a reason to craft up a custom sheet set and sleep on that sucker myself. Word of advice though - do everything you can to strike a deal on an auction site or somewhere otherwise discounted; these things are not cheap! We were super fortunate to find this one when and how we did. [Good luck!!]
Tomorrow's Friday; I promise this can't come soon enough. It's been a fantastic week, really, but the tank is getting low and the end is in sight for this week.
Here's to this week, here's to Thursday and heeeeere's to it almost being Friday!
In the continued spirit of my post-dated blogs, I decided to venture into my phone for any gems that may have been sitting dormant;
These aren't "old," but they're awesome and for my own amusement, thought I would share some fun with the blog world.
This one, from probably 2 weeks ago:
what happens when your kid finds your 80's glasses ;)
And this one, from around the same week probably. We'd taken Sydni to Build-A-Bear, which was a far less chaotic experience than we'd envisioned it to be, thankfully. Frankly though, chaotic or not, it won't be forever that we'll get to go on these silly ventures with her - making teddy bears and preparing their birth certificates with absolute, unfiltered joy. She's already growing into her own, and I'm relishing every bit of it. Most days, I don't want it to go so quickly, but I remember as I took this picture that I'd realized in that instant that she is becoming more than I ever imagined. In my heart, in my eyes, she is a little mess of wiggly teeth, bedhead, scuffed shoes and knees from playing and a heart of gold. She's hilarious, inquisitive, generous, sassy, rambunctious, bold and kind-hearted.
build-a-bear! ♥
Just another reason that I'm determined to continue in my commitment to the regular maintenance of this little e-journal of mine :). These are the things I can't afford to forget. Ever.
Confession: It's been a couple of weeks since I've been to a Sunday service at our home church. Between traveling, holidays and being so sick that I declined movement beyond the path from my couch to the bathroom for nearly two entire days.
My parents were in town for the weekend and nobody was sick. We were finally all assembled in town for a weekend, so it seemed a perfect a time as any to find our seats and be fed with a morning of worship and lesson.
Have you ever been in a service that speaks so clearly to you that you're almost certain it was written specifically for you? Well, this was one of mine.
No, it wasn't emotionally riveting. It was practical. It's an understatement to call it practical, really. It's applicable, realistic, achievable and above all, an integral part of how we as Christians are expected to live. Rob and I have a lot of financial changes coming this year, and we need as much wise guidance as possible.
I went back and studied the notes again today, from yesterday's service. There's some excellent stuff here, packed into just an hour message with our senior pastor, Jeff.
I said I didn't have any real New Years Resolutions for 2016. After yesterday, I'm not certain that's entirely true. I said that if we made it through the major events of this year with our sanity and a couple bucks left in our pocket, that'd be good... BUT, after yesterday, I'm challenging myself to not only saving, but better allocation of what we have. We're fortunate enough now that we don't live strictly paycheck-to-paycheck, but we certainly don't do nearly as well as we should with discipline in our giving, saving and spending.
So there it is folks: last Monday of January and I just changed my mind that I do in fact have one new years' resolution, and that will be the one that helps propel my entire family in the right direction.
For the time being: Pray, plan and perfect it.
Stay tuned; I'm pretty sure our next step in this plan will involve Dave Ramsey :).
For now, take a listen [& a watch] to that message, and see if you don't get something out of that, too!
I realized on Friday that this blog I've been neglecting for the past several months is more than just an outlet for me to bore an occasionally-engaged reading audience.
Isn't that somethin'?
This isn't the first time I've relied on my blog to answer my own questions: 'what DID I do that day?,' or 'When WAS that thing?' It's been a while since I've need affirmation that's of any real significance other than satisfying a curious gap in my recall. Given that I haven't updated this thing recently, I'll just swallow the irritation weeks from now when I ask the same question but can't answer it from a blog reference. Meh.
Anyway, the end of 2015 was the beginning of the time Rob and I decided to be real adults and take our first steps down the road of home-buying. Neither of us have done this before, but apparently part of the process entails the mortgage company asking you for the last few years of your work history. No biggie, right? Well, no... unless you've worked for a franchise installments of the same corporate company for the past 6 years but they need to have specific dates. #AdultingIsTimestamped
I can't even remember what I ate for breakfast 5 hours ago. What I can do, is my due diligence to myself not just for the primary purpose of journaling, but for the the side benefit of revisiting any given day in as much vivid detail as I cared to use in scribing what was still fresh in my mind. And, as you may have guessed, I was able to hunt down the exact dates of my first and last days with each of my franchise installments, all from referencing my dear, recently-neglected blog.
I didn't make any real "New Years' Resolutions," because I figured making it through this year with our sanity and with at least a few bucks in our pockets after buying a house, going on a mission trip and getting married.... is a medium-term goal that speaks for itself. It's now January 24th; this month is almost over and I've decided I not only want, but need, for myself, to keep this blog from going on vacation. December will be here before we know it: Willing God's plan allows - We'll have a house, Sydni will be in 2nd grade, we will have gone to and returned from a second week of missions in the mountains of Panama and I'll have celebrated my final holidays under my maiden name. This of all years, makes sense to keep my blog afloat.
THAT BEING SAID:
Our first week of January included the viewing of and offer-making on what we're praying will be the fifth and final search result houses. We uncapped our pens and started practicing our signatures, not just for the house, but also for our wedding photographer! We agreed that the new year would usher in more intentional efforts of planning this wedding, so when I reconnected with one of my dear hometown childhood friends who now has her own photography business, I knew it was a golden opportunity.
Yep, it's KARA!
circa soccer '99
kara & her hubby matt now! right photo cred: tracie maglosky / tracie jean photo
I am so daggone excited to see this gal, especially since she'll be in a few days earlier for the pre-festivity fun. Who knew?
Week 2 of January:
More house stuff, including the initiation of real paperwork, negotiation and questions. My work, which I haven't touched yet in this entry, took another dive into change, as one of my fellow staffing consultants left the business, and I reabsorbed a double workload that I'll carry [again] until we hire a replacement. Prayer warriors, I won't be mad if you could spare a little extra for this one.. :) It's not the end of the world. We'll be okay.. but just a little extra encouragement would be nice. Oh, and I spent the week sick, with two days as a complete mute, thanks to a small tango with laryngitis. But the show must go on...
Week 3 of January:
Ever have one of those weeks that just doesn't feel.... calibrated? Although I'm pretty sure that it's just that stage of readjustment that comes with a shift in activity at work, given that we spend at or over 40 hours each week together at work, it's not a surprise that any disrupt can ripple out across the team and even individually. At home, it felt like nothing was getting done, and the signing of our loan paperwork doubled as an exciting and equally-unnerving experience. It stamps the progression of this process, but amplifies the other stuff that's still temporary: our current residence, and more central - the looming task of cleaning and moving out. Haha. This will be the last time. Breathe, repeat.
That brings us to this weekend!
family dinner for mom's birthday!
Friday consisted of us cleaning the house. And by cleaning, I mean detailing Sydni's room, along with the rest of the house, in preparation for our special weekend guests. Laundry was done, small presents were wrapped, and dinner reservations for the following night were confirmed. Pajamas were donned and an early bedtime was surprisingly accepted without contest under just the mere thought of Nana and Pappy arriving in the morning.
Saturday came in with the sunrise: We are among the fortunate this weekend who were not buried up to our eyeballs and then some in multiple feet of snow and ice. My parents had a smooth drive to [& from] up north to visit with us, and we were able to rendezvous with our realtor Tiffany, so they could get a first look at what is almost certainly the new house.
Nope, there won't be any pictures yet... oh, the suspense! ;)
... I'm just kidding; I know nobody really cares that much. Le sigh..
Anyway, it was no surprise that they loved the new place, and frankly, I can't wait to have my mom's help with decorating. We finished our quick visit at the new digs, and headed back home for an afternoon relaxing: Dad & Rob watched golf, Sydni played and ready with Nana and I enjoyed being right in the middle of it all.
The evening came, and we headed out the door to Seasons 52, where a 7:00 reservation in a carved out corner booth greeted us with a team of smiling servers and a bottle of Wrongo Dongo to get the night started. Between the food, the company and the fun that's never absent from a gathering with my parents, I'm confident this was one of the best birthdays we've orchestrated for Mom in a while.
Whoa, did I just get on Mom's level?!?
- Okay, no... not quite I don't think... but hey, I was definitely in the zone today and felt more like my mom than I do most other days ;).
So Saturday was a wrap, with delicious food, spirit and memories under our belt, we headed home to unwind for the evening. What I always forget though, is that although we may annually celebrate mom turning another physical year older, there is nothing OLD about this woman.
These two... hahah. Gosh I love them.
Today, was church [which was incredible,btw] with the family, followed by Mom making us one of her signature brunch menu's. They were soon on the road back to Mt. Vernon, leaving us with a leisure day ahead of us.
Well, with soccer, of course. USWNT friendly game vs. Ireland? I think so :).
With so many new faces to watch, I have to say I'm looking forward to rabidly cheering on the USA through this year and their next road to the Olympics! #USWNT!
It's been a beautiful weekend and I'm ready to see what this next week will bring. Even with just one more blog under my belt, I feel a bit more like I'm back in my element and yeahhhh, that's good :).
Phew,
Happy weekend, ya'll. It's the last week of January at our fingertips, and I think it's gonna be a good week.
