DA BEARS are 3-0!!!!!!

On Monday night, my BEARS went 3-0 much to the shagrin of my dearest friends who are Vikings and Giants fans! I spent it with Katie, Haley and Maddie and converted Haley to 50% Bears fan and the other half as a Giants fan! She didn't want to eat her dinner or go to bed because she was having "cozies" with Auntie D on the couch cheering on Da Bears....she didn't even like the commercials...she kept saying "come, come, come" (meaning come back on game!). It was a FUN night and Katie made us dinner!!!!!!!!!! :) YUMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rest and rexlaxation...

This last weekend, I jetted off after work on Friday to the DC area to visit my dad and stepmom! It was a good flight Friday evening and I was mesmerized by the sun setting with the moon in the sky and the way it hit the clouds being so far up in the air...you'd think I'd never been on a plane but it was truly a neat experience! I just wished my camera hadn't been buried in my bag! On Saturday, I was treated to a "spa morning" where I received a facial...always an interesting experience..and then a 30 minutes massage...always an AMAZING thing!!!!!!!!!! I walked out and probably looked drunk because I was soooo relaxed and could barely remember how to put one foot in front of the other!!!!!!!! Then we went to see the play Chess in a swanky little modern theater. Then we went to a fun restaurant for dinner! I had the coolest plate I think I've ever eaten out of. It was one of those deep bowl-plates and the "bowl" part was in the shape of a star! Sweet! Then we relaxed at home for the rest of the evening. The next day, we went for bagels, took a little walk in Old Town, ran to the pet store and then went home and watched a lot of FOOTBALL!!!!!! It was so nice to just relax...and dose off every now and then. We had dinner at one of my favorite restaurants in the world KING STREET BLUES!!!!!!! Finally, it was time to hop back on a plan to head home...although it was a turbulent flight...I made it home safe and then reality set in...the next day I had to go back to work! I got to bed and was well rested and felt really good at work the next day!

An Update

In some of my posts last week and weeks prior, I mentioned that I was really struggling to feel like anything was going my way. I am glad to say that God is providing restoration where it is needed and peace where it is needed. He is also teaching me a great deal of patience in dealing with life right now. There is a lot going on still but I know that God is with me every step of the way. I have grown closer to God through all of this and its where I intend to stay. I know that there will be times of great struggle but I also know that Christ will pick me up and there will only be one set of footprints in the sand...when I need it most! Thank you for your prayers and support!

Choose

My mom passed this on from a friend...thought you all might want to read it. What's your choice?

Read this


LET IT REALLY SINK IN......                 THEN CHOOSE...

John is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, 'If I were any better, I would be twins!'

He was a natural motivator.

If an employee was having a bad day, John was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up and asked him, 'I don't get it!'

'You can't be a positive person all of the time.

How do you do it?'

He replied, 'Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or... you can choose to be in a bad mood.

I choose to be in a good mood.'
Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or... I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it.

Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or... I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life.

'Yeah, right, it's not that easy,' I protested.

'Yes, it is,' he said. 'Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people affect your mood.

You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live your life.'

I reflected on what he said. Soon hereafter, I left the Tower Industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that he was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower.

After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, he was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back.

I saw him about six months after the accident.

When I asked him how he was, he replied, 'If I were any better, I'd be twins...Wanna see my scars?'

I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place.

'The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon-to-be born daughter,' he replied. 'Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or... I could choose to die. I chose to live.'

'Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?' I asked.

He continued, '... the paramedics were great.

They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read 'he's a dead man'. I knew I needed to take action.'

'What did you do?' I asked.

'Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me,' said John. 'She asked if I was allergic to anything 'Yes, I replied.' The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, 'Gravity''

Over their laughter, I told them, 'I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.'
He lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude....I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.

Attitude, after all, is everything.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.' Matthew 6:34.
After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.

Settling in...

...I am finally, starting, to settle in for the new school year. As my schedule is 'finalized' (never really final for an instructional assistant), I am starting to see what might be challenges and what I can do to help improve the school environment. We are experiencing a lot of change as we have added new staff to the building and will be welcoming our new secretary tomorrow. I am enjoying working with the 1st graders since its the only grade I'm certified for that I haven't had much experience with in the actual school setting...plenty of first graders in my babysitting world! :) I am also supervising lunch for some fourth graders that I have had for the last two years in the classroom. Its definitely a challenge but I know their "shenanigans" and can easily detect any mischief! :)

...I am starting to somewhat, sorta, feel settled at FCCC! Its been a great journey but it has not been without its challenges. In late January, I officially left the church I had called HOME for 16 years! This was definitely a challenge because this is where I was fed spiritually and gained strength and support during difficult times in life as I grew to be who I am today. There are many people there that made a significant impact on my life and I'm grateful for EACH and EVERY single person! I think one of the most difficult parts was leaving the students of GEBC. They had taught me a lot about love, ministry and myself! I hadn't planned to dive into youth ministry...in fact, hadn't even really thought about it, when I moved back and asked Dave if he needed chaperones for a trip (that I knew would be fun but thought I might find a new passion--which I did!) and he needed one so I hopped in a van with a bunch of students I had never met....and I've never been the same. God used these students in my life to teach me more than I ever imagined they could. I know the impact leaders made in my life and I'm daily grateful for the opportunity to TRY and do the same for them. I have left, with much love shown to me by those students...and lots of sadness....to come a minister to the students at FCCC. I'm excited and nervous as we are "starting from scratch". God's going to use me in spite of my inadequacies and I'm excited to see what He does. I've been fortunate enough that Christina has had the faith and patience with me as I have learned to play guitar in front of the congregation. Before a friend of mine left, I would play with him but now that he's gone, I've been "thrown in the deep end" and have been swimming upstream as I attempt to learn and grow as a guitarist. It would have been so easy to say, "no" but I knew that God was opening a door I had never planned but had always dreamed about! The journey continues and I'm waiting to see what God has next!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

KICK-OFF Launch of FCCC

WOW! That's all I could say after kick-off launch Sunday at FCCC 2 weeks ago already! God brought a lot of new people to our church and we also had a lot of family and friends that joined us. It was a special day as we started a new part of the journey called "church planting". (I've also been able to explain what church planting is and about FCCC to many new families that have interviewed me for babysitting recently!) Each week we've had tons of new visitors..I barely recgonize half of the congregation. I'm fortunate enough to be on stage so I get to see everyone and how each week, there are fewer and fewer empty chairs. God is doing amazing things and I'm excited to see how the next couple of months go. I can't imagine all that God will be doing in the church! Tonight will be my first night with the youth of FCCC! I'm excited and nervous. I know that my SUMMIT family will always be in my heart and I'm grateful for them and the amazing love and support they have shown me as I have been led by God on this new journey.

A little about how I started this journey for those that don't know:
Three years ago, I had a decision to make as I finished college/my Masters program. I could either stay in Nashville and most likely have a job or move home to watch my brothers and sister grow up through the end of high school and have to find a job. I am very close to my siblings and really felt as though that is really where God was calling me. As I came home, I decided to join in with the youth at my home church GEBC. I found a new passion for high school students and ended up staying with the ministry for 2 years until just recently leaving to pursue the youth of FCCC. I remember hearing about the church plant when I would come home to visit and decided to check out one of the meetings. As the discussion grew and we finally had decided on a location, it was clear to me that God was calling me there...as it was going to be planted in the town I was living in at the time...and still am!!!!  I continued attending the meetings and just felt like it was part of God's plan for me. I can see part of why God has called me here but I know there is much more to be seen!