The Big Day

Today is the day S and S will tie the knot. There is a Jewish Proverb that says "God is a great matchmaker." He certainly is. These two were perfect together from the start. They are a great encouragement to me in what a relationship that is Christ-centered should be. I wish them the best for today and for all of their tomorrows. I love these two and am praying for them!

Baby Emma

I'm sure most of you know by now, but Baby Emma passed away on Thursday night. She fought a courageous battle and is now where she can breathe on her own. Thank you all so much for the encouraging thoughts and words and most especially the prayers you have lifted up for my family over the past 7 months. I could not ask for better people to work with. Please continue to lift up my sister in your prayers as she is the one hurting now.

There is a song by Casting Crowns that says, "And as your mercy falls, I raise my hands and praise the God who gives, and takes away. I'll praise you in this storm, and I will lift my hands, for you are who You are, no matter where I am. And every tear I cry, you hold in your hands, you never left my side, and though my heart is torn, I'll praise you in this storm." These words have spoken to me so much over the past couple of weeks. God has never left our side through all of us, and He will continue to be with us. His plans are mightier than ours and He blessed us with the fiestiest little girl for 7 months. And for that I can be thankful.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! God has blessed me and will continue to bless my family. He never gives us more than we can take.

Carrie

Bring Back the Bread

I don't care about the carbs, I don't care if it's whole wheat, honey wheat, white, enriched, etc. I just want the bread. Lately restaurants really jilt you on the bread portions. While A and I were in Hotlanta we had to ask for bread at one restaurant. One of my favorite restaurants in downtown K-town used to have the best cheese bread. Now they offer you a small (and very hard) roll as a replacement. Today I dined at Patin's Field of Greens. You guessed it. The tiniest crescent roll I have ever seen! I almost missed it beside the 1" cube of apple. Get a cup of soup at Panera? Barely enough bread for the first 5 bites. So, I say we start a petition and say "bring back the bread!"

Stress?

How bad is the stress in your life? A friend asked me yesterday if there was anything I had dreaded more than anything. Lately it has beeng going to work. I am in a job I would enjoy if I could just do my job and go home. But I can't get my job done for more work piling up on my desk. On top of that I have meetings to attend, phone calls to make, and people to appease. Then there are the performance reviews, meetings about the performance reviews, and on top of that people are leaving for "greener pastures" and we are stuck with their work. Yes, I dread coming to work. But one of these days our sole responsibility will be to be at feet of Jesus singing praise songs to Him. So, until that time, I will continue to get up and come to the job God has blessed me with, I will praise Him for allowing me this job, and I will look forward to the future.

Ode to the Embassy

So, for the past 2 days I have been staying at the Embassy Suites with my good friend A. The second best part of this stay (the first being A is here with me!) is the quotes that the Embassy puts on items in the room. I would like to share these with you at this time.

On the drink coasters: Because sometimes you need a cup of coffee to go downtstairs to get a cup of coffee.
On the room key: If you are late to a meeting held in your on room, buddy, you've got no excuse.
On the door hanger: There's a good reason for you not to knock right now.

I hope you enjoyed these little plays on words as much as A and I did.

Top 10 Songs - July 19, 1986

WOW! 20 years ago. That's a long long long time. So, here they are:

10. "Love Touch" - Rod Stewart
9. "Your Wildest Dreams" - The Moody Blues
8. "There'll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry)" - Billy Ocean
7. "Glory of Love" - Peter Cetera
6. "Who's Johnny" - El DeBarge
5. "Holding Back The Years" - Simply Red
4. "Danger Zone" - Kenny Loggins
3. "Nasty" - Janet Jackson
2. "Sledgehammer" - Peter Gabriel
1. "Invisible Touch" - Genesis

#4 and #7 are great additions from great movies...Top Gun and Karate Kid 2. You just have to love songs from soundtracks.

A Poem for A

Ok, I have to say I did not write this. A gave her students an assignment to write a poem about death following a study of Huck Finn and how Mark Twain satirized bad poetry. This is the poem her junior girls wrote.

Oh! Poor Arynda.
She is now in Heaven.
She was sweet as Splenda
And died at the young age of 47.

While she was watching Gilmore Girls
And grading our plagarized work,
She swallowed a pearl,
And then croaked with a smirk.

She will go down in history
As being one of the best,
Her death is still a mystery,
Yet when she died she messed.

For P

Factorials were someone's attempt to make math *look* exciting.

Watch Out Williams' Sisters...

C and A are on the move. I enjoyed a nice game of tennis with my good friend A tonight. I fully expect us to be at Wimbledon next year. The little trophy in the picture....yes, it will be ours. So, to all of you would be tennis players out there, if you want a real challenge just call A and me. We'll take you on any day. We'll even let you win so that you can feel better about yourself. After all, no one should ever intentionally show some one up. It's just not nice.

Baby Emma Update

We have not received good news from any of the doctors today. Please continue to lift up Emma and my sister in your prayers.

A Quote

Talk to a man about himself and he will listen for hours.

-- Benjamin Disraeli

More Things I Am Thankful For

In an effort to overcome what I have deemed as a less than desirable Tuesday, I am going to take Wednesday to put down some things I am thankful for in regard to the prayer requests from yesterday.

1. I am thankful for getting to hold Baby Emma last Friday. She has the prettiest brown eyes (like her mama.) Such a pretty, sweet baby she is. I think I'll call her Babybug. After all, big Sister is Doodlebug.

2. My sister. I know we don't always get along (ok, we rarely get along), but she was my constant playmate growing up. We raced our bigwheels all over my parents farm.

3. The times that God has blessed me with being able to spend with my grandparents. Growing up it seems like the best place to visit. Whever we were sick mom always took us there. I have so many memories of being at their house when I was young. And the sayings that my papaw has left me with are priceless. I still treasure being able to go to their house now as an adult and entertain them once a week. I praise God He is giving me this time with them now so I have all the happy memories.

4. My mom. The rock in my sister's life and the best Nana her grandbabies could want. We may not always see eye to eye on things, but she raised me and I haven't done anything too bad yet. Besides, if it wasn't for her, who would my dad and I have made the butt of every joke growing up. We all know Jess couldn't take it.

5. My aunts. They have given above and beyond the call to take care of their parents. From getting called in the middle of the night, to going to my grandparents multiple times per day just to calm them down when they knew nothing was wrong. I hope I can be as good of a daughter as they are. (Note: I've told them all I will not be that good so they better find a good nursing home and get their applications in now!)

So, in light of all the downs, I'm thankful that God has allowed me to reflect on the negative and see the positive. It's all in His hands and He would never give us something that He didn't see fit into His perfect plan.

Prayer Requests

Please pray for the following:

Baby Emma - she is not doing well. The doctors are very frustrated. She is not keeping her oxygen rates up well at all. She goes into the teens and 20s and stays there even when they bag her.

My Sister - pray that she will accept God's will no matter the outcome of this. She has been away from church for a long time and I pray she won't lose faith over this situation.

My Grandparents - they were both diagnosed with early stages of alzheimer's today. This means no more driving and someone is going to have to stay with them pretty much all of the time.

My mom - strength to be there for both my sister, her granddaughter, and her parents.

My mom and her sisters - pray for strength for them as they deal with their parents. They will take the worst of the yelling and fighting over lost independence.

I praise God that He will not give us more than we can handle and that He uses all things for His good and perfect will.

A Poem For J

A prophet
She is not it
But a good friend of mine
And now I end my rhyme

Thankfulness

I am thankful for:

• God's grace, it's sufficient for even me and all of my faults and shortcomings.
• Family.
• Friends.
• My health (even with my 80 year old hips!)
• The doctors and nurses at Children's Hospital for being God's aides in getting Emma to 6 months old.
• Freedom.
• Blessings exceedingly above and beyond what I deserve on any day.

So often we get so caught up in the negative of the world that we forget to stop and count the blessings we do have. I hope you'll take the time today to stop and remember how much you truly have. And while you're remember, remember to thank the One who provided it. Without Him, you wouldn't even exist to enjoy the blessings.

Me Time

This afternoon I decided I had earned some me time. So I called around and got an appointment for a massage. WOW! It was amazing. Anyone who laughs at the idea of spending money on something like a masage has obviously never had one. It's a time when you have someone else focus on you for 60 minutes (or 30 or 90.) In college I got manicures once every two weeks. A guy in one of my class groups asked why I would do that. I simply explained that for one 30 minute period every two weeks someone focused on me and I focused on nothing. I didn't answer my phone, I wasn't studying or working, it was just for me. At the end of the conversation he decided he needed to find something he could do that was for him, and noone else. I miss those times and find that I don't spend the time pampering myself as much as I should these days. It seems I am always going and doing and I simply forget that in order to keep my energy level up I need those special times for myself. So, find something that "pampers" you and indulge yourself.

The Adventures of J and C

This past weekend my friend J and I went to Brevard, NC, to visit with her parents. Fortunately for you who read this blog, we kept a travel log so you could experience the high points of the trip with us. Get ready for the read!

Thursday:

18:23 - J said, "Generic protein shakes taste like a cross between c---t and Goodwill underwear."
19:07 - C said, "Not all water tastes the same."
19:30 - Walter let one rip.
19:34 - J sat stiller.
20:18 - J lost her ability to sit stiller.

Friday

(The morning's travel log is MIA.)

14:35 - J demonstrated "Thinking woman's pose.
14:39 - Discovered hair/lint wad in rental car.
15:00 - 19:00 - Made sweet plates and cups.
19:29 - C was right.
19:34 - Wal-Mart has no movies.
19:55 - Belk closed.
20:01 - The town has officially shut down.
20:12 - Woman spotted in spandex shorts w/ lime green tube top.

Saturday

11:30 - C knocked limeade into J's seat.
12:34 - J knocked over the cards. Twice.
13:17 - J rolled the window down with her foot.
16:09 - C said, "we need to make a list of things to get accomplished and done."
16:10 - J made list.
17:30 - Saw camel on the interstate.
18:32 - Bought sparklers: got 1 free!
18:55 - Girls from Oshkosh, WI, were "peeved."

And that was our adventure. I'm sure you wish you had been there. But at least we kept a travel log since you couldn't. Until the next adventures of C and J.

Thank You!

Thank you to:

My Heavenly Father, who blessed me by allowing me to be born free.
My father, who served in Vietnam.
My grandfather, who served in WWII.
My cousin, who served in Iraq during the first Gulf War.
My cousin, who served in times of peace.
To my friends who have served.
To those who gave their life so that I might enjoy the life I have.
To all those who serve and have served.

I thank you and pray that God will give you a peace about what you are doing and that you know you are doing it because it is part of His plan for your life. Thank you!!!!!

My Personal Prayer

Luke 11:2

"...Thy will be done...."

It's not about me. It's about Him. It's not about what I want, but about what He wants for my life. It's very hard to "let go and let God" but that is what we are to do. It is His will for our lives that matters, not ours. I found myself sitting and thinking tonight about that very thing. When we pray we so often ask for the specifics of what we want. Psalm 37:4 says "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." This doesn't mean that just because we pray and ask for a specific we get it. No, it must still be of His will for us. Garth Brooks sang the song "Unanswered Prayers." That is so wrong. God answers all of our prayers. He may not answer them in the way we as humans want them answered, but He answers them according to His will. After all, it is the only good and perfect way for our life to be led. I am praying for God's will for myself and for all of my friends. It's the only way to live life and know that it is being lived to the fullest.

Bravery

Bravery comes when you know the risks might happen, and you still go on with life.

*** Quote from "True Courage" by Dee Henderson