Tuesday, November 27, 2007

SUCCESS!

Yep, my first Thanksgiving was a success. The turkey tasted wonderful (thanks for the tip, Melba). Nothing caught on fire. No one got sick. And the Cowboys won. Not too bad. Mom and Kyle were great helps on Thanksgiving, Kyle chopping and cutting and Mom making the green beans and corn. I was very thankful to get to spend time with my family. Dad busted out his shorts for the trip. They were appropriate the first few days he was here and then a cold front swept in and made him rethink his vacation attire, especially when we were out in Dallas walking around on the Grassy Knoll. I showed my skill in Guitar Hero (okay, so I only have skill compared to Mom who just hits random buttons and giggles when she tries to play). We took a trip to Ripley's, the Wax Museum, the Maze of Mirrors, and the Grassy Knoll. The Grassy Knoll was overrun with conspiracy theorist, not that all of what they say is false...but there were several there ready to sell something or to give you their spin on the assassination of JFK. Bub requested we go there and I think he enjoyed it. My favorite part might have been the Maze of Mirrors. Mom kept getting lost. The rest of us had already made it through a time or two and Mom was still in there wondering around so we had to go rescue her. Good times.

The fun is over though. It's back to the old grind stone (is that the correct expression?...for some reason now I can't remember). On Thursday Kyle and I are going to see a production of the Messiah put on by Southwestern and the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. I'm excited about that. It should be a nice evening. When we went to the event at Bass Hall, it was so relaxing just to sit back and take in the wonderful sounds.

And a quick side note, the Everman Bulldogs have made it through the first two rounds of the play-offs. I'm not used to rooting for a high school football team that actually wins (OC had trouble in my day). It's a nice change.

Monday, November 19, 2007

Family and Youth Service

Mom and Dad made it in safely on Friday. We are waiting to do anything major until after Bub comes out tomorrow (we don't want to exclude him). Saturday we went to the Amon Carter Museum. I'm not big on art museums but when they're free, they aren't so bad. I just don't have the artistic eye, I guess. Modern art in particular looks like paintings a five year old could do so I never see the point in them. Dad tried to give his interpretation of them, which was pretty funny. I do appreciate beautiful things though. One painting was so life-like that I told Mom to get really close to it so we could look at some of the details in it...and then the security guard came and told us to back away. It's really easy to get Mom in trouble and oh so much fun. Wednesday, I'll think we'll head over to Dallas to explore. I work today and tomorrow so that cuts down on some of the stuff we can do. I told Mom and Dad they could take my car but they seem really leery to drive around DFW by themselves.

It was a Youth Service last night at church. The youth led the music and performed a skit and all of that went well. They act like goobers during drama practice but then usually pull it together for the performance. Gotta love youth. :) Kyle preached from Isaiah chapter 1 and did a wonderful job in my completely unbiased opinion. His allergies were bothering him so he sounded a little stopped up and during the sermon, a wasp landed on Dad's head which Ed quickly swatted off. Even with those distractions, he preached God's word clearly and with conviction so I pray it impacts the hearts of all who were there to give God true service, not merely heartless religious rituals.

So.....I'm cooking Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday. I have the Oven Ready turkey that Melba recommended (you don't have to thaw the turkey...how amazing!). I think we'll do stuffing, corn, green beans, broccoli casserole, mashed potatoes, a veggie tray, rolls, blackberry cobbler (my fave), brownies (another fave), and a few other things. I don't know how to cook sweet potatoes (probably because I don't like them) and most of us like pumpkin pie but prefer other things over it so we won't be having it for dessert. None of us are big cranberry sauce consumers so we'll skip that too. I'll need to go buy a card table soon because we only have a little four person table. If my friend Laura joins us, we'll have 6 people. A good number for my first Thanksgiving, not too overwhelming. If there are any cooking disasters, we'll just head out to eat and no one will ever speak of it again.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Weekend Update

Just a quick update of what's been going on. Friday, Everman won in overtime (fantabulous game) and they are now district champs. Saturday, twenty-seven youth came to Connect. I taught the girls how to play Mafia (instead of viewing it as teaching them how to kill and be deceptive, I like to think that I have taught them the finer points of discernment). Kyle played Madden and Guitar Hero with the boys. I think the Bible study on prayer went well and I'm hoping the youth will be motivated to take part in the 6 week (I think it's six week) study that's coming up. Oh yeah, and I got a whopping 1.5 hours of sleep on Saturday night and still don't feel like I've caught up. I haven't been able to nap (gotta love naps) because I have a research paper on Open Theism due this week. I've learned so much researching for and beginning to write this paper but I'm afraid it's going to stink. That's alright...I have a well cushioned grade in the class right now.

Mom, Dad, and Bub (aka David) are coming in in less than a week. I've missed them and I'm excited about them coming in. I also get to be their tour guide, which is always kinda fun for me. There are so many things we can do while they're here. Bub wants to go to Dallas to see the site of the JFK assassination. I'm thinking about taking Dad to the Ripley's Museum and the House of Wax and Mom to the Farmer's Market. They have to go to the Stockyards if they're coming in to Fort Worth. We'll have to wander around Downtown and maybe go to some of the free museums in the area. Too much to see but there's always next year if there are things we miss.

Friday, November 9, 2007

Kyle the Cowboy

No words needed. The picture speaks for itself.
(Just so I can sleep at night, I have to admit that I stole this from Rebecca's Facebook account. Thanks, Rebecca!)

High School Football in Texas

For those of you who aren't native Texans or haven't spent extended time in Texas, high school football is king. If you drive around on a Friday night, you cannot go far without seeing the glare of a high school stadium (hence the show Friday Night Lights). The high school most of our youth go to is no exception. The Bulldogs of Everman High have been spectacular this year, having an undefeated season thus far. Tonight they face their biggest challenge from the also undefeated Stephenville High. Both, I've been told, are ranked in the top ten in the state in the 4A division. It should be an exciting game. Check out this website for more info: Everman Football

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Random Excursus
You know, Texas is a funny place. Besides the weather...I could write several blogs on the weather so I'll wait on that one...they have the craziest homecoming tradition. At homecoming, the girls wear mums. This sounds nice, a pretty flower pinned to a girl. But no, this isn't the case at all. It's this gigantic thing made of bows and whatever else they can glue to it and it can cost a few hundred dollars and is sometimes so heavy that they can't pin it to their clothes but they must strap it around their necks. Those of you from Kentucky will agree that they look like something you would pin on a prize winning horse (I'm not implying that the girls in Texas look like horses, just that the mums they wear look like things that would be pinned on horses). I forgot to take my camera during homecoming so I don't have pictures. I've seen light up ones, ones with multiple stuffed animals attached, and ones that took up a person's entire torso region. They're insane. Here's a website that talks a little about them and shows some pictures. The ones pictured are not the LARGE ones, mind you. And I really like the title of the url: Homecoming Mum: the Riot on your Chest
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We have an overnight event for the youth this weekend. We'll be going to play putt-putt then the girls will go to Delretha's house and the boys to the parsonage (I hope they don't massacre my home). There we'll have a Bible study on prayer. Kyle is starting a prayer emphasis with the youth, trying to give them a good foundation. Pray that the youth, and the leaders, will have a passion to seek God out in prayer. We're hoping this weekend helps to foster that.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Olny srmat poelpe can raed tihs.

I always thought this was amazing. I shouldn't be so worried that my typos will mess up the message of my posts. Enjoy!

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! if you can raed tihs psas it on !!

Thanksgiving and Chapel

This next week and half are going to be extremely busy for Kyle and me so we probably won't be posting much (particularly Kyle-3 jobs and school) until Thanksgiving Break. I know we have few to no readers right now but for those friends and family who might stop in once we get the word out....check back in periodically and know that we're still alive and kicking even if we don't post.

On a side note, Mom, Dad, and Bub are coming for Thanksgiving Break. They'll get to see the parsonage and hopefully have a good tour of Ft. Worth. It will be my first time heading up Thanksgiving so we'll see how this goes. Tips for a successful Thanksgiving dinner are welcome.

Chapel today was a little too formal for my tastes (the whole processional thing and loud organ) but the spirit and message was good. Dr. Priessler was installed in the new Eklund Chair of Stewardship. Dr. Patterson spoke on the sin of Achan when he stole from God in Joshua 7, the herem (or however the Hebrew word is spelled), how our sense of gratitude toward God should inspire us, at the bare minimum, to give our ten percent back to God, and how tithing is a moral law and not a ceremonial law. All good points but if he wanted to point out the New Testament basis for tithing, he failed to mention Jesus' upholding of tithing in Luke 11:42 where he said, "...and these you ought to have done..." He didn't say he was seeking to point out the NT basis for tithing but that seems to hold the greatest weight for me in the "under the grace, not under the law" debate on OT laws. Chapel was also a reminder of how we are to honor our brothers and sisters in Christ without taking the focus off of the one to whom it is rightfully due. It reinforced some of the things I learned this summer in Equipping Believers to Serve. We should take the time to honor those who are faithfully serving God in any capacity. Good note for us to remember as we work with the youth.

A final note and disclaimer: please ignore typos in my posts. I'm not perfect and neither is my typing.

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

First Blog

Well, I've entered the blogging arena. I am by no means a writer. I like reading, don't get me wrong, but I have never felt like writing has been my thing. So, this isn't going to be a well written autobiography of my life or a blog filled with nicely flowing, humorous real-life anecdotes. It will keep those who aren't near me and my wonderful husband somewhat updated on our lives, our ministry, and just whatever else we feel is relevant to post. So enjoy and feel free to leave comments.