The Sullivans in the Big City

Unsure of Treatment for my Central Serous Retinopathy

2011-06-27T12:28:00.006-05:00

Some of you know this but I'm sure many of you don't but I have a rare eye condition called Central Serous Retinopathy (CSR). In short, I have swelling and scarring on my retina that affects my vision. Usually, for most people, this stuff clears up on its own in a few short months or goes away after treatment. Mine, on the other hand, has lingered for a good 6 years. I go annually to see an ophthalmologist (Dr. Keith Fisher, great doctor if you need one) to monitor my condition.

Each year the prognosis is the same: the fluid is still there, no change. The condition seems stable which is good and bad: good that it's not progressing, troubling that is has remained for SOooooo long. Anytime there is fluid under a person's retina, doctors give pause and usually seek means to remove it. Doctors really aren't sure what causes CSR. They also aren't really sure how to effectively treat it. And the fact that mine has moved in and taken up residence for the majority of my adult life, that makes things even more complicated.

At my visit today, my doctor recommended a possible treatment to remove the fluid that is present. Rifampin is a medicine used for the treatment of TB but has been shown to have positive effects with CSR. Here's an article discussing it.

There are many questions to be considered when deciding whether or not I should pursue this treatment.

1. My vision has worsened slightly each year for the last few years. What's the direct cause of it? Is it just the natural effects of age or is it the fluid that currently sits in several spots under my retina?

2. There are side effect risks associated with any medicine. Rifampin has some minor side-effects, like all medicines, but it has also been known to cause trouble with a person's liver. Not to mention that my urine, stools, saliva, sputum, sweat, and tears may turn red-orange (this they declare to be harmless). Can you imagine? Me turning red-orange every time I got a little sweaty? Or having big streaks down my face every time I shed some tears? That's one more reason for me to avoid exercise and sad chick-flicks, I suppose.

3. If Kyle and I consider having children soon (didn't say that we are..just if), this medicine could affect that greatly.

4. There is no telling how long I should remain on the medicine if I do start to take it. In the studies done, it seems that the fluid returned after patients stopped taking Rifampin. Would I have to take this medicine indefinitely?

Whenever considering any type of treatment, there are so many factors to weigh. I honestly don't know what to do. Talking about it makes me feel anxious but oddly enough, writing about it has taken some of the anxiety away, though it hasn't given any insight into what I should do. Since I've lived with this condition for 6+ years, there's no need for a hasty decision. Normally the decision has been "wait and see what happens." With my vision gradually deteriorating each year, very slightly, I wander when the benefit will outweigh the risks.

Please pray that Kyle and I can make a wise decision about this. I want to take care of the body God has given me best that I can (sans exercise, of course) and I don't want to make a hasty decision or delay a treatment that will be beneficial.

Demotivators

2011-03-14T13:21:00.007-05:00

Maybe I'm just cynical but I think these are stinking funny. For more, check out despair.com.

Does Nothing In Biology Make Sense Except in the Light of Evolution?

2011-03-10T19:11:00.001-06:00

"Nothing in biology makes sense except in light of evolution." One of my professors said this to me in 2004 when I was struggling with aligning evolution with my faith in Christ. His words caused me great angst and I prayed and cried many tears in search of the truth. After several years, though I've learned much evidence to point out the flaws in NeoDarwinian evolutionary theory, my general conclusion remains the same: there is a person named Jesus Christ who walked this earth, died on the cross, and rose from the grave proving His divinity. This all points to an active and benevolent God who created the earth not by means of chance but with intentionality and forethought. Without sheer uninhibited chance, there is no evolution in its true NeoDarwinian sense. Sorry folks. You can't have your cake and eat it too.

Anywho, I like this Podcast (link below) discussing that devilish quote. Seems like NeoDarwinism is more of a philosophical position than a necessity to be successful in the world of science. Whodathunkit? :)

Does Nothing In Biology Make Sense Except in the Light of Evolution?

Mercy for the merciful

2011-02-27T15:50:00.003-06:00

Just a brief note on some connections I've been making recently. For the next few weeks, we'll be studying spiritual gifts in the Jr. High Sunday School class. This week we started off looking at 1 Cor. 12:4-7, where the gifts come from, what their purpose is, etc. To wrap up the class and lead into next week's class, I had my students start working on a Spiritual Gifts Survey. I completed the survey the night before, and as expected, I was strong in certain areas (teaching and administration) and weak in others (mercy and exhortation). This was no surprise to me, particularly in my weak areas because I am very aware that my first and natural tendency is not to build others up, but instead to tear them down and build myself up. (Praise the Lord His love for me is based on His holiness and steadfastness and not my own or I would be without hope!)

After taking the test and thinking about the results more this morning, I began making some connections that I wasn't too keen on...not because they were bad connections but because they require repentance and change on my part. The last several weeks, I continue to go back to and think on Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. The portion that stood out to me recently is Matthew5:7, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy." The merciful, huh? Well, that excludes me, at least most times.

Though my spiritual giftedness is not characterized by mercy, I still must extend mercy for God calls His followers to exhibit the character of Christ. Christ's life was characterized by mercy. Mine should be as well. Though it is not something I am naturally inclined to do, I must extend mercy to those people I feel do not deserve it...especially if I wish to be the recipient of mercy myself. And boy, do I!

This all connects back to my struggle to love the unlovable, as I wrote about in a previous post. I must extend mercy to that person who has wronged me and those around me. I struggle tremendously with this...and I'm afraid that I must admit that thus far, I have been disobedient. Hopefully by posting these things publicly on my blog and Facebook (though few will read it), I will be held more accountable to follow through with this requirement of obedience.

Lord, my heart longs to be pleasing to You but my flesh desires to satisfy itself through prideful actions and an unmerciful attitude. Please break my stubborn spirit so that my thoughts and actions bring You glory.

Graduation Pictures

2011-02-10T13:51:00.003-06:00

I’m just checking this Windows Live Writer thing out to see if it actually works and if it is more user-friendly than the BlogSpot interface. In the meantime, enjoy these graduation photos from our family’s visit in December when Kyle and I earned our Masters degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Graduation 2010

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And I attempted to make a quick video using Windows Live Movie Maker. Same photos, just put to music and a bit snazzier transitions.

Graduation Video, 2010

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Loving when there's no desire to do so

2011-02-08T09:19:00.006-06:00

I feel that I must always start my blog posts with an apology concerning my posting delinquency. But then I think...hey, no one is relying on me for current news, words of wisdom, or posts of any scheduled nature so relax.

I've been feeling particularly reflective and introspective the last few days. When I feel that way, it usually turns into me discovering areas of my life that are far from where they should be. Such is the case today. I do not write this post for anyone to pity me or try to "encourage" me that the situation is otherwise for I know the state of my heart. I would covet your prayers though for my further sanctification and diligence in obedience and removal of anything in my life that is not of Christ.

Though, by the forgiveness that Christ offers through His sacrifice, my sins have been removed and His righteousness accounted to me, I still struggle with my old flesh (Romans 7). The particular plight of my heart as of recent is my inability to love a certain person. While I would greatly enjoy (for the gratification of my spiteful flesh) delving into all the legitimate reasons I have for not loving this person, that's not the issue.

The issue is this: I'm disobeying God because I am not seeking to love this person as He commands. Instead, I'm seeking to find further reason to dislike this person at each turn...and my searching is always fruitful. But again...how legitimate my dislike for a person may be, no matter how abhorrent this person's actions, no matter how dishonorable the person is to the name of Christ has no bearing on this situation. God's command is to love, period.

My recent study of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7 keeps bringing this to the forefront (see Matthew 5:38-48 at the bottom). God calls me not to retaliate when I am the victim of personal injustice. Instead of retaliating, I am to be generous and...ugh...loving. I am so conflicted in how to love this person. First is my obvious battle with fleshly desires. This person doesn't deserve love so I'm more than reluctant to give it. Secondly, there are real and serious issues of immorality, disobedience, and blatant disregard for God that must be addressed. How can I love in such a way as to show God's gracious and merciful character while not endorsing this person's actions and lifestyle? These two reasons intertwine to cause a great problem for me: I do not speak to this person because I know the only thing I will say will be rebuke. How can I show love to this person when I can't even bring myself to speak to the person?

This situation of my disobedience is all the more dire when I recall 1 John 4:20-21: "If anyone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother." If I am to say that I am a Christian and that I love God, I must love this person. This person proclaims to know Christ, and though living in willful disobedience to God's commands, I am still commanded to extend love to this person. I post this to ask that you, dear friends, join in praying for me that I can do this.

Oh, LORD, you know my struggle right now. You know how my only desire is to give this person "what for" for the wrong they have been doing to me and others. I have no desire to show this person compassion or love. I don't even know where to begin. But you do. You are the perfect example of steadfast love of those who don't deserve it. You love me in spite of all that I say, think, and do. Please allow me to love through your power for if I must love through my own, I will certainly fail.

Matthew 5:38-48

38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42 Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Her Story

2010-12-21T13:49:00.004-06:00

Please take a few minutes to watch this video about our dear friends, Jeff and Audrea Medina. Pray for them and about how God might be leading you to encourage and support them.

Expectant but not expecting

2010-10-03T21:05:00.004-05:00

Thought that title would get your attention. :) I'm not pregnant (as far as my finite mind can be sure about anything...but I'm pretty certain on this one). I'm just excited about what God has in store in our future and thankful for what He's been doing. I've been encouraged by the opportunities for ministry and growth in our Sunday School department. Kyle and I are getting nearer to graduation and hopefully a job for me. :) Things are going really well with Kelsey living with us and it's a great blessing to see her growing in Christ.

Though the alternator is on its last breath in ole black beauty and Kyle's car has over 200,000 miles on it and accelerates from a stop like an old man trying to get out of a deep, comfortable chair, we trust that God will continue to provide for us as He always has. Though Kyle works hard hours at FedEx and many hours at the church for what amounts to be less than minimum wage per hour (salary pay) and I only get to sub a handful of times per month, we still have enough to tithe, pay our bills, and even enjoy some times out to eat and football games. We have wonderful family members that are traveling 2,000 miles round trip in December to attend mine and Kyle's graduation from seminary though we'll be home a few weeks after that for Christmas. We've been able to attend seminary without incurring any loans to pay for our education.

God is good and I just wanted to publicly thank Him.

Psalm 111
1 Praise the Lord!
I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,
in the company of the upright, in the congregation.
2 Great are the works of the Lord,
studied by all who delight in them.
3 Full of splendor and majesty is his work,
and his righteousness endures forever.
4 He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered;
the Lord is gracious and merciful.
5 He provides food for those who fear him;
he remembers his covenant forever.
6 He has shown his people the power of his works,
in giving them the inheritance of the nations.
7 The works of his hands are faithful and just;
all his precepts are trustworthy;
8 they are established forever and ever,
to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.
9 He sent redemption to his people;
he has commanded his covenant forever.
Holy and awesome is his name!
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
all those who practice it have a good understanding.
His praise endures forever!

Long Overdue Update

2010-08-14T21:02:00.007-05:00

I'm really almost ashamed to post to my blog right now because I've been so terribly delinquent in keeping up with it. My apologies to those two or three people who might be interested in reading about my life or my thoughts.

I suppose I'll give a rundown of the last seven months because it has been a whirlwind of a year thus far and I'm not expecting it to slow down. Reflecting, even if no one else is interested to hear it or if they already know it, is helpful for me in processing what God is doing in my life. Since I'm home alone tonight (Kyle at preteen DNow as a chaperone and Kelsey at her grandparent's birthday party), I must reflect to you dear people via the web.

At the end of January and beginning of February, I began training a nice lady to take my position at the seminary as I began fulltime studies again here at the seminary. For a few weeks in February, I worked 40 hours a week and took 12 hours of graduate level classes. Kudos to those who sustain that type of schedule long term. I wouldn't be able to do it. The last two weeks of school, I had nearly 100 pages of papers to write! I believe my fingers are permanently damaged from typing so much.

In February, I began substitute teaching in the Everman Independent School District, mostly in the Junior and Senior High Schools. That was an adventure. I was cussed at, forced to break up fights, had students walk out of classrooms, and asked the craziest questions by the students that, sadly, reflected their fallen worldview. But I was also hugged by students at all age levels, able to help with their classwork, and complimented by teachers and administration on how I did as a substitute.

In March, we took a youth mission trip to Arizona to help Mike and Debbie Bishop with their church plant (video from this in the previous post). Five people accepted Christ and many of us grew in Christ from the experience.

After spring classes ended in May, Kyle and I traveled home to Kentucky for our nephew Tyler's graduation from high school. Tyler rode back home with us and spent a week with us. While Tyler was in, we found out that Rylie has heart worms. The vet said that without treatment, Rylie would die a painful death in a few years. It was a difficult decision but Kyle and I opted to get treatment for her in spite of the high cost. Rylie has done well through the two required rounds of treatment and will go in next Monday to hopefully receive a clean bill of health. This was all quite hard to hear and go through so I can't imagine how it will be when Kyle and I have kids!

In June, we had a great week at Falls Creek (youth camp). Following Falls Creek, I finished up online courses for ECAP (alternative teacher certification training). The first 3 weeks of July, I attended ECAP training classes five days a week from 9-4 in West Fort Worth. The following week, I had an I-Term at SWBTS that met from 8-5ish Monday-Friday. My July was booked from head-to-toe in classes!

In the midst of ECAP training, a great young lady from the youth ministry, Kelsey Williams, moved in with us. She'll stay with us at least until she graduates from high school here in Everman in May 2012. While not replacing her parents, fulfilling parental responsibilities are certainly a new venture for Kyle and me. We're praying we will provide a stable, loving, Christian environment in which Kelsey can grow closer to the Lord and flourish.

We also suffered at the loss and suffering of a dear family in our church, the Medinas. We love this family, are saddened by the loss of their baby, and pray for Audrea's small intestine transplant at an unknown date in the future to be successful. We're amazed by the family's faith in God during this time.

A good friend, Stacy Martin, got married on July 31 to Cole Zachary and I was blessed to be a bridesmaid in her wedding. A few days following the wedding, I cut off my hair and sent in another donation to Locks of Love. I'm loving the ease and feel of the new hairdo. Justin Greer, a gentleman at our church with long, curly rocker-esque hair also cut his hair off for donation. Thanks, Justin!

This week Kyle and I took a quick trip to Mexico to look into future missions opportunities for the youth and possibly the church as a whole. We had a wonderful time (pictures are up on Facebook), met fantastic believers, and enjoyed great food in large and small cities (Zaragoza, Tio Pio, Moreles, Monclova, and Sacramento). Dr. Don Fawcett, Bro, Jose, and Bro. Jonathan were a joy and great encouragement to be around. We are hopeful God will allow us to serve in the future with some of the people we met this week.

Future plans: Lock-out this Friday, trip to the lake with the youth after Labor Day Weekend, fulltime classes this Fall, graduation December 10th for me and Kyle (!!!), and hopefully I can begin teaching Biology at Everman High School in December or January.

Oh, yes, and I need to study for my Biology content test so I can be certified to teach. (Prayers for motivation and studiousness are much needed at this point).

It's been a season of changes and surprises. I'm hopeful about God's future work in our family and our church. I pray that I'm a supportive wife, a loving guardian, and a competent, godly teacher. Your prayers for me in that regard are greatly treasured.

Mission Trip Video

2010-03-28T14:04:00.001-05:00

Thanks, Jon, for putting together this video of our youth. We appreciate all of your and Alicia's help on the Spring Break Mission Trip!

When You Don’t Feel Like It, Take Heart

2009-12-01T13:52:00.004-06:00

Encouraged by this article by Jon Bloom. Enjoy!

Did you wake up not feeling like reading your Bible and praying? How many times today have you had to battle not feeling like doing things you know would be good for you?

While it’s true that this is our indwelling sin that we must repent of and fight against, there’s more going on.

Think about this strange pattern that occurs over and over in just about every area of life:

Good food requires discipline to prepare and eat while junk food tends to be the most tasty, addictive, and convenient.
Keeping the body healthy and strong requires frequent deliberate discomfort while it only takes constant comfort to go to pot.
You have to make yourself pick up that nourishing theological book while watching a movie can feel so inviting.
You frequently have to force yourself to get to devotions and prayer while sleeping, reading the sports, and checking Facebook seems effortless.
To play beautiful music requires thousands of hours of tedious practice.
To excel in sports requires monotonous drills ad nauseum.
It takes years and years of schooling just to make certain opportunities possible.

This goes on and on.

The pattern is this: the greater joys are obtained through struggle and pain, while brief, unsatisfying, and often destructive joys are right at our fingertips. Why is this?

Read the rest of the article here.

Can a True Christian Believe the Prosperity Gospel?

2009-08-28T08:34:00.003-05:00

I had never really posed this question before but it is entirely appropriate to ask. Listen to Pastor John's response, a response that humbled my perspective.

The Falsity of the Prosperity Gospel

2009-07-24T17:30:00.001-05:00

Piper just has a way of saying things that gets right to its core.

Maturation is an inspiration

2009-07-22T17:30:00.001-05:00

One of the greatest thrills of working with youth, for me, is getting to see them mature in their walks with Christ. I've been particularly encouraged by my middle school girls who moved up last September from the children's ministry to my Sunday School class. Some of them started off as quite a handful. I butted heads with them a few times and even reduced a couple to tears...but I genuinely love these girls. I'm so happy to see how they are growing and stepping out in obedience to Christ. They did a wonderful job leading in our recent Backyard Bible Club and they'll soon be heading out to Arizona for our church's mission trip. I pray that this mission trip is a challenging time that brings about growth in them for God's glory. I can't wait to see what happens!

Sending and Going

2009-06-23T16:52:00.003-05:00

Many people criticize the effectiveness versus the cost of sending missionaries from the West to other places in the world, particularly Short-Term Missionaries. These brief trips are painted as glorified vacations by their detractors. That's a whole other topic, though I'll say briefly that I am wholeheartedly in favor of appropriately planned short-term mission trips. The DG blog gives a brief rundown of why we should still be sending and going.

If you can't sufficiently counter each of their five points, why aren't you sending and going?

No, Mr. President

2009-05-20T12:47:00.003-05:00

Wanted to share this video with you and hear your feedback.

Stem Cell Research

2009-03-31T08:26:00.003-05:00

I haven't posted in a while because of my position change and just the general busyness of ministry, school, and fulltime work. I did want to share this article that I read this morning. It is a telling sign of our future under President Obama. Please pray for our President, that he will make wise decisions that honor God and promote respect for and appreciation of human life.

The telling article from the Wall Street Journal

I'm a horrible blogger

2009-01-05T18:00:00.004-06:00

My recounting this entire lesson below has two purposes. First, it helps to further explain why I'm a horrible blogger and second, I hope it is a quick encouragement to you from a Jr. High SS lesson to spend daily time with God.

Yesterday in Sunday School, the Junior High class addressed the question of why we should spend time with God. I modified the curriculum a bit but here's a quick run-through of the lesson. We began the lesson by discussing the statement, "If something is important to us, we will make time for it." All the students agreed with this statement and we talked about examples of eating, spending time with friends, brushing our teeth, showering, etc. We discussed how God is the most important thing in life and thus, we should make time for Him.

To address the question of "Why spend time with God," we talked about how God wants to be our friend (John 15:13-16) and then moved into how a friendship with God is different than any other sort of friendship. He's always truthful, never lets us down, always does what is right, and unconditionally loves us. The main difference between our friendship with God and our friendship with anyone else is that He's the omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, holy God and so, unlike any other friend we might have, He deserves our worship and our obedience. Verse 14 (I believe it was...I don't have a Bible in front of me right now) talks about how if we are His friend, we'll follow His commands. We looked at Psalm 23 and discussed how God is not only our friend but our shepherd and so He guides us, provides for us, and protects us.

We wrapped up by talking about how, if God is the most important thing in life, we must be intentional to spend time with Him. The students said it was hard to find time for God because they are so busy, at which point, we alluded back to the opening statement of "If something is important to us, we will make time for it." We discussed ways to help us purposefully spend time with Him, not just give Him the spare moments we might have throughout the day. Those ways included things like

having a specified time to set aside and read God's Word and pray
following some type of Bible reading plan
having accountability from friends and maybe even following the same reading plan so the passages read can be discussed
writing notes on the mirror as a reminder to spend time with Him
making associations between things we do everyday (like brush our teeth or shower) and spending time with God so we are sure to be reminded of it

If we spend time with God, who is our friend and desires to guide us, we will grow to mirror more of His character and less of the world's. The entire month's series involves studying this topic in its various aspects. It's a great way to start off the new year with the right focus and perspective.

So, I summarized all of this to state the obvious at this point: blogging is not a priority in my life and so I haven't made time for it. I am sorry to those handful of readers we have out there. I'll try to post brief updates for those friends and family who do not live in the area.

The way we spend our time reflects, in large part, what is most important in our lives. What is your time reflecting?

Oh, and a quick update on a previous blog. I might have to go back to "hovering" because these girls are not exhibiting the maturity they so boldly claimed to have. Awww....the joys of youth work. :)

Funny post-election video

2008-11-11T08:19:00.004-06:00

Maybe I'm just mean but I think this is pretty funny. Poor Obama supporters.

But this one by Mike Huckabee really speaks volumes.

Thanks Rebecca and Audrea for posting these videos.

Youth listen so much more than you think!

2008-11-04T14:46:00.007-06:00

We have a couple of particularly lively youth in our youth ministry at our church. They just moved up from the children's ministry so they're quite young and interrupt others, get off track easily, and just talk nonstop. But they ask wonderful questions during Sunday School and have great insights (for example, does God want us to have a president or does He want us to have some other form of government?)! They are pretty blunt, which I appreciate because at I least know where they stand. During church lately, I've been sitting near them because they have a bit of a reputation for goofing off during church or getting up and walking around the church building. I sat by them last Sunday night to keep them from distracting others.

After the service during the youth fellowship, I went over to check out what they were up to (you just never know). One of the young ladies asked why I was always hovering over them. I explained that it was in response to their previous behavior of talking during church, leaving during church, passing notes, etc. They said they weren't children any more and could act good but I hadn't given the opportunity to be more mature. Good point. So, we had a quick test. I asked each of the girls separately if they could recount to me what the sermon was about. Both girls did a surprisingly good job so we've come to an agreement. They can sit several pews away from me during the service BUT they must speak with me after the service about what they remember from the sermon. They might goof off a bit, they might even get up to leave sometimes, but I think they are listening and growing. They'll mature with time and by giving them this room, which can grow into more room later on, I think we'll build good trust.

By giving the girls room to grow, I am also leaving open the opportunity for them to fail. Hopefully, we'll take it in reasonable steps so that they grow steadily but aren't in a position to fall too far. I do not want to set them up for failure by placing in their hands more than they can handle at once. But I also don't want to "hover over them," as one of the girls put it, never demonstrating any trust in their ability to grow in Christ.

Lesson: Youth listen far better than we think.

My Hero

2008-10-31T14:41:00.004-05:00

So my gal Audrea is the woman (check out her blog at http://funkycoldmedinas.blogspot.com/). Not only is she a word wizard, she's also the blog whisperer. Now everyone can leave comments to their little hearts' content. :) Hopefully I'll post a recap of my weekend with Rebecca next week. No promises. Everyone have a great weekend.

Quick Update

2008-10-29T15:39:00.007-05:00

Kyle has had another one of those weeks. He preached Sunday night, had a test Monday night, and has a paper due this week, on top of his normal classes, teaching at church, and spending time with little ole me. He is so diligent.

Rebecca is flying in this Friday to spend the weekend with me. So exciting! I have a few ideas for things to do in DFW...we'll see which ones she's most interested in. Of course, it will include some good food at some of the great DFW restaurants. I want to check out the Pit BBQ up on Jacksborough HWY because it was voted to have the best ribs in Ft. Worth. Yum! There's also the Montgomery Street Cafe which is supposed to have wonderful chicken fried steak. I'm getting hungrier just thinking about it. We aren't going to just eat the entire time she's in so I'm thinking about other things like attending a local showing of Sleepy Hollow (very Halloweenish), going to the Farmer's Market (yay for fall!), and shopping is always an option as long as I spend very little money. There are tons of great places to shop and eat in DFW. It would be fun to ride the train into Dallas just because I've never done that before. I've been on the bus in Ft. Worth when I had jury duty but not the train. Oh the options. Then there's the good ole Botanic Gardens and such.

Mom and Dad are flying in for Thanksgiving so I'll have to start thinking of the Thanksgiving meal soon (it's almost November...holy cow!) and things for us to do.

Class is picking up for me as well. I have a group presentation in a few weeks that is supposed to last the entire class period on how to teach and work with youth. I also have to make a Teacher Training Manual with 10 one hour sessions. I really should get cracking on that manual.

Rylie is doing well. She's pretty crazy sometimes but she has a sweet disposition. Kyle is feeling better after his episode a bit ago. I'm getting antsy wanting to paint the kitchen hardware, the mailbox outside, the bench I need to finish. I also need to finish my final set of curtains and take the recycling somewhere that has piled sky high in my garage (no recycling in our town).

The youth are doing well. Kelsey spent the night last weekend and we took a few youth to a football game on Friday. I'm really enjoying teaching my Sunday School class and love the youth in there. They are all so different. I need to pray about being a better teacher to them, especially in light of the lesson today on all the different intelligences, learning modes, and styles that people have. So much to take into consideration!

Well, I think that's plenty of rambling for now. Oh...by the way...pray about the election and go vote. I already have so I don't have to wait in line!

Facebook is so much less complicated for users

2008-10-22T15:26:00.006-05:00

Soooo.....apparently for some unknown reason and at some unknown time my particular blog has removed the "Comments" option. I'm not sure how this happened because I never edited the html. I don't even know what html stands for. For any of your code writers out there, please help! I want my dear friends and family to be able to read by blog. This is the only section on my blog html that mentions anything about comments. If you know what I should do to enable comments on my blog, please let me know. I messed with all the functions that the blogspot help sections said to mess with in terms of settings. Now it's up to you, faithful html decipherers, to help me. Please. Since you can't post comments to tell me how to fix my comments, please email me. If you should have my email address, you probably have it. If you know my phone number, you can give me a call and I'll provide my email address. (By the way, I'm also going to post this same blog in the blogspot forum and see if I get any help).

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Blow dryer help needed

2008-09-29T12:40:00.004-05:00

According to several of my friends here at work, I don't do so hot with blow dryers. The current blow dryer has over the last few weeks been making some type of noise as if it is struggling to do its blow-drying duties. I flipped it on yesterday morning to get ready for church and it emitted some noise that I could only imagine a terradactyl might make. I quickly switched it off and resigned myself to heading to church with a wet mop. When I arrived at church, Kyle said, "You stayed in bed for a while this morning, didn't you?" assuming that I had slept in and hadn't had enough time to blow dry my hair (this from the guy who has slept through his finals!). Today, I also went to work with a wet head though it was considerably drier at work than it had been at church (thank God it is still 90 degrees here!).

My previous blow dryer met the trash can after it proceeded to shoot flaming fireballs of death at my head. That morning I went to work with half of my hair dry, much worse than either alternative.

So in short, I must purchase a new blow dryer. Does anyone have any reliable recommendations for a girl with straight, fine, thick hair that hates spending time styling her hair and does not like to fork out dough on anything, much less a blow dryer?

Strawberry Quick

2008-09-25T11:24:00.001-05:00

Got this link from a friend and was absolutely blown away and pretty horrified. Makes me glad I don't have children yet so that I don't have to worry about this.

Yay for a great weekend!!!

2008-09-16T08:54:00.022-05:00

September has turned into super duper busy time for me and especially Kyle. Poor fella. Last Monday-Wednesday, he was in Birmingham, AL for a youth conference (drove the 10+ hours by himself there and back). Wednesday night he taught youth. Thursday, he had classes and then that night we had soccer practice. Friday he spent much of the day with one of our youth who will be heading off for basic training soon. Then we went to Camp Eagle for the retreat and didn't return until Sunday night.

Yesterday, he worked on homework, laundry, drove one youth to work and took another to Sonic, and then had class that night. The rest of the week is looking just as busy since he has class today, FedEx tonight, youth on Wednesday night, classes and soccer on Thursday, and Friday we have our senior retreat. The seniors will spend the night Friday night and then we'll head out early Saturday morning to go towards Tyler, TX for the retreat. Sunday night, Kyle is preaching. Oh yeah...and Rylie is being spayed this Thursday. Craziness! Hopefully things will slow down a bit, particularly on the weekends, after this week.

Our College and Career Retreat was fantabulous. The ladies I went with were wonderful, as expected, and John and Kyle had a great time as well. At 6:30pm Friday night our group hopped into the van to head to the Hill Country (beautiful!!!). We arrived at Camp Eagle at 12:30 am after a few bathroom stops and one missed road. Kyle did a great job driving to and from the camp, my little trooper. Stacy kept asking where he was taking us because it seemed like we were in the middle of nowhere, literally. No one had cell phone service and we drove down a dirt road for 8 miles to get to this place. Fun times. It was great to be so disconnected and have a chance to breath. Kyle challenged us through some Bible studies on the life of Noah to be obedient in the little and big things. We shouldn't be afraid obediently pursue great things for God. Here are some pictures from our trip. I hope you enjoy them! I've added some captions that should tell a bit of what we did. Those things not captured on film to show here are: kayaking, blobbing, swimming, hiking, zip lining (at least, not on my camera), and just tons of beautiful scenery.

View from the building we stayed in at Camp Eagle

Stacy, John, and Katie with Cedar the dog (amazing retriever that would dive down in the lake, deep into the lake, to retrieve rocks we'd thrown in). John really loved him as shown in the picture. Cedar really loved John because he fed him Honey Buns. Poor thing probably has diabetes now.

Quiet time next to the river

Pierre David Deer from the wild game farm across the river

Kellie blazing up the rock cliff we were climbing (I just love her expression in this picture)

We all made it to the top alive (sans John who hung out at the bottom with Cedar).

Now begins our Sherpa trek and then rappelling!

John and Kyle went mountain biking (wonderful trails) while Stacy, Katie, and I went kayaking and Kellie studied for an exam she had today (hope you did well, Kellie!).

Update and our little monkey

2008-09-11T09:27:00.006-05:00

Just a quick update. Tonight we have our one and probably only soccer practice for our intramural soccer team. I think we're going to name ourselves the "B Team" since we don't expect to be a real threat to the competition. We just want to play for fun. And fun it will be! We'll see how my knees hold up. I played a few games of indoor and outdoor soccer my senior year of college with no major injuries. Amazing, I know. We'll have to see how this goes. (For those of you who don't understand the context of these comments...I tend to have trouble with soccer though I love it. I've had surgery on both knees, a broken clavicle, a broken foot, several sprained ankles, busted lips, etc. I guess it's more of a nonreciprocal relationship. I love soccer; it hates me).

Kyle and I are leaving on Friday for a retreat with part of the college and career class. I am really excited about the opportunity to get to know the ladies more who will be going. They are so much fun! I hope to post pictures of the trip soon (Note to self: remember to take your camera and charge your batteries and download the pictures you currently have on the camera).

Oh yeah, here's quick update on Rylie for all of you who care (Mom does because she calls Rylie her granddog since we don't have children yet). Here's a picture of Rylie on the way home from Lake Mineral Wells State Park. We stopped by DQ and gave her a small ice cream as a treat for her good behavior (she's just like Kyle in her love for ice cream) and this is a picture of her after her post-ice cream nap. :)We took her up there on Labor Day weekend to go hiking. She did really well on the car ride there and back. She did fairly well during the hike except towards the end when she got tired (she's still a puppy). The car was back up the hill but she only wanted to walk downhill because it was easier. She didn't understand that she had to go uphill to stop hiking and to get to rest (very deep and applicable to life but I won't go there). We're having her spayed on September 18 so I hope all of that goes well.

Some of you may know that she's been getting out lately and we first thought that someone was letting her out because we couldn't find any spot that she would've climbed under. Next we figured out there there were some spots in the fence where the chain-link wasn't attached to the top bar so she could put her weight on it and climb up it, wiggling herself out to freedom. Last Saturday we were outside fixing all of these suspected routes of escape. I was outside the fence helping Kyle secure the chain-link to the top bar. All of a sudden Rylie begins to climb the chain-link fence to get outside to me. She put her paws in the holes and climbed up and over. I wish I had a video because she strained terribly to make it and it's a very cute face. But now she must remain tied up in the backyard until we think of some solution. We're leaning towards the underground electrice fence but we aren't sure yet. In the meantime, she's awfully pitiful being tied up all the time. Poor thing. Anyone have any advice? We'll gladly consider it!

International Students

2008-09-05T11:20:00.007-05:00

While I have been here at Southwestern I have been exposed to so many wonderful international families, families from Nigeria, Cameroon, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Romania, Argentina, India. It has been such an encouraging experience. These kind friends love Jesus and want to be best equipped to minister to His glory. They are great people. I could write so much about the encouragement and kindness I have been the recipient of from all these wonderful people but that would make this post entirely too long.

At the church fair last night (the church fair happens once a year where the area churches set up booths during the seminary picnic so that new students can find a church to join), one friend from Malaysia came to our church booth and introduced me to his wife and son. His wife asked if anyone at our church could help her practice her English. She wants to raise her TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) score so she can study here at SWBTS. It reminded me of my friend from India in the D.Min. program who will often come to my office or Mike's office to practice his English on us. According to him, it is much easier to speak, and particularly to read and write English, than it is to hear and comprehend it.

This has gotten me to thinking about the wonderful opportunity our churches could have to minister to these wonderful people. How simple would it be for a native English speaker to sit down and converse with one of these international students to give them the chance to practice their English? It would only take time on our part, nothing more. And the benefits we both would receive would be tremendous. We would be helping fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to get a better grasp on the English language, allowing them to better function in day-to-day life in America as well as enabling them to better understand their studies here at SWBTS. (I'll tell you one thing, if I was pursuing a degree in a second language, I would be utterly lost. These are really intelligent people but without practice, English is such an intimidating barrier.)

In the meantime, we would be building relationships with believers from different cultures, reminding us that God is not just an "American" or "English" god but the God of the universe and He is worshipped by people around the world. We would develop a love and respect for their culture and their country, placing in us a greater burden for missions around the world.

What would be the best way to go about doing a ministry like this? I'm not sure if God is calling me to take part in something like this, but it's a great thing to think about. Let me know what you guys think, especially those of you who are part of my church family.

Beth Moore Conference

2008-08-25T16:28:00.014-05:00

I don't have tons of time to post (as usual) but the ladies and I from work had a wonderful time at the Beth Moore Conference in San Antonio this past weekend. I was a little skeptical because I tend to shy away from large groups of emotionally charged women. Yes, I'm a woman and yes, I do have emotional moments but I don't like to be submerged in such situations (I'm sort of a tomboy/outdoorsy girl at heart). But it was a delightful weekend. Beth is a wonderful Bible teacher. The praise music was beautiful and powerful and I got to know my sisters in Christ that I work with at SWBTS just a bit better.

This weekend made me think of several things. First, the topic was great. Inheritance. The Bible is laden with talk of inheritance. The main passage of the weekend was Psalm 16:5-6 (though we jumped often to different passages):

The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. (ESV)

The 8 main points of the weekend were:
1. I am an heir of God. My life is not left to chance.
2. I am an heir of God. I am inheriting a kingdom.
3. I am an heir of God. He is my portion…And I am His.
4. I am an heir of God. The down-payment has been made.
5. I am an heir of God. My boundary lines form a pleasing place.
6. I am an heir of God. The will has been activated.
7. I am an heir of God. I can be secure.
8. I am an heir of God. I have a beautiful inheritance.

A few things that struck me during the weekend (many did but here are a few) are the facts that we're God's "glorious inheritance" and that we need to live in light of that fact. God values us so much so we should live with this in mind, without insecurities or being trapped in sin. Another thing struck me and I'm hesitant to say it here because I believe it could inflame some potentially volatile debate (such statements have in the past).

Okay, here goes: Beth Moore is a more skilled preacher than a great number of men I have heard preach. Let that soak in for a minute before I continue. Being a part of her Bible studies on Friday and Saturday was a blessing. But they weren't merely Bible studies because there were 10,000 women there in a venue where there could be little interaction. She was preaching. She was preaching to women but she was preaching. Beth acknowledges that her calling is to work with women and it is clear that God has gifted her to that capacity. It made me think back over some of the pastors I have had in the past and how she had so much more skill in laying out Scripture than many of them.

So this topic naturally drifts to the topic of women serving as pastors and/or teaching men. This weekend something was reaffirmed in my heart that I have often struggle with (not for myself but just in general). God chooses to use people regardless of their skills or abilities. God chose not to use women as pastors over congregations not because of their lack of ability or their tendency to be easily led astray (crazy boys drawing that from the text) but because of His sovereign choice to use whatever means He sees fit to best glorify Himself. If men argue that God placed them in their positions of authority because of their abilities, they are sorely mistaken. God uses the weak, unwise, and inexperienced to confound those that think are they are strong, wise, and experienced. If anything, maybe this speaks more highly of women (*wink wink*). Honestly though, this weekend helped to reinforce in my life that God chooses to use people because of His power, not their own. His choice to not use women in certain ministerial positions is no indication of a women's worth or ability. He has worked through Beth because He loves her and wants to glorify Himself in the way He has chosen.

Okay, to end on a less heavy note (and please understand that the above rambling hasn't been thoroughly thought out and could be erroneous in some ways), here's a picture from the conference. I'm in the second row, in the middle with an orange shirt on. The ladies who went with me are around me. Click on the picture for a larger view.

Infanticide

2008-08-21T09:09:00.003-05:00

I don't have much time to write my thoughts on this article except.....gosh, what a travesty. We value human life so very little. We disregard and throw away the weakest members of our society because they are unwanted. This article is NOT primarily on abortion but on something that everyone can agree is horrible...well, everyone except Obama.

http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?id=28732&ref=BPNews-RSSFeed0820

Doctrinal Accomodation

2008-08-20T10:48:00.009-05:00

I was struck by this quote earlier today:

"I pray that the younger evangelicals who are pondering where to put their energies will learn from history that doctrinal accommodation brings larger audiences in the short run but death and irrelevance in the long run."

Piper's comment above came at the end of a brief summary of an article on the death of Mainline Protestantism in the last thirty years. Joseph Bottum calls this decline the "central historical fact of our time" so I perked up and read Bottum's explanation. The objective of this article is not to point to Christ as savior but it is an interesting article.

Piper's closing remarks in his summary are reaffirming for our ministry in Everman as we try to do things of substance to foster growth in the youth there. Many churches' desires to be relevant to those outside of the church cause them to tolerate compromises in theology. This ultimately leads to their inability to minister to the true needs of the very group they are seeking to reach. According to one of the sources cited by Bottum, "the single best predictor of church participation turned out to be belief—orthodox Christian belief, and especially the teaching that a person can be saved only through Jesus Christ."

Orthodox belief...not well planned, non-threatening, relational family programs or utilization of the latest technology for worship or a focus on the social plights of the day or environmentalism or the economy or politics or even a spurning of "archaic" doctrines to accomodate those less comfortable with church. Belief in Jesus as Lord. Funny, isn't it, that the One who began the church blesses the church when its focus is Him? What else is funny is that when Christ is the center, all those other things are affected: our treatment of the environment, how we spend money, how we "do" church, what we believe about doctrine. Hmmm...

For the summary of the article by John Piper (brief and to the point), click here: Dying Protestantism. For the full length (and I do mean FULL length) article by Joseph Bottum, click here: The Death of Protestant America.

Let me know what you think.

Quick Update from a Horrible Blogger

2008-08-18T17:30:00.001-05:00

My lack of time and lack of home Internet connection (Kyle and I figure we have access at work so it's best to not have access to the addictive thing in the house at this time) causes me to be a pitiful blogger. Sorry family and friends. Here's quick update:

Monday: I'm facilitating Ph.D. orientation over at the Riley Center..should be a good time.

Tuesday: Kyle has FedEx on Tuesday nights so that's my night to veg out alone. Lately I've been finishing up the curtains I'm making for the dining room.

Wednesday: we're doing something different to welcome in the new seventh graders coming up to youth...can't remember for the life of me what it is.

Thursday: Paintball (also to welcome in the new youth...kind of like hazing, only in Christian love)! I'm excited but also a little apprehensive about this. Maybe I can play the feeble, delicate little flower part and then surprise them with my wicked bad sniper skills. It usually works when Kyle tries to wrestle me.

Friday: Classes start back up for me (Thursday for Kyle). I'll work a few hours, go to class, work a few more hours and then go to San Antonio with a group of ladies from work for a Beth Moore conference. Should be a fun time. Kyle is having the youth lock-in this night. They'll be playing messy games, having a devotional, going to Group Dynamix to do team-building high ropes stuff, and then playing dodge ball in a nearby gymnasium. I'm sorry I'll be missing out.

Saturday: Kyle will probably be sleeping much of the day and I'll return that night.

We have two retreats in September, one with the upcoming seniors and one with the college and career group. Should be a great time. Kyle is pumped about football season (he's been talking about it starting for over a month). I'm more excited that the average temperature for the month will be below 101 degrees (no lie...that's what our electricity bill said for July).

Rylie is doing well. She's walking well on her leash and still as sweet as ever. She has, though, dug a tremendous pit in the backyard. When I say tremendous I mean several feet long and foot deep that could easily cause someone to break an ankle if they unknowingly stepped into it. That will be one of our projects next spring...grow grass where the weeds were so she can't dig as much!

Oh yeah...and we were phelpsaholics when he was swimming. We're loving the Olympics. Go Team USA!

Steven Curtis Chapman Family on Good Morning America 8/6/08

2008-08-08T08:23:00.002-05:00

Wonderful interview with an amazing family. You can pause the music at the bottom of the page so you can hear the interview.

China pastor, wife forced from home

2008-07-21T10:21:00.004-05:00

I came across this news story online today and thought it appropriate to post the link here. We should be thankful for the freedom we have in the states to worship . Yet, there is something to be said for the refining power of persecution. While I wish persecution on no one, it would certainly do America's watered down version of Christianity some good to be forced to choose between prayerlessness and fervency, comfort and eternal rewards, popularity and obedience, our way of life and the Way. It is too easy to get lazy and comfortable in our mediocre style of Christian living when we are not challenged. Praise God for those believers in China and around the world who stand fast in the midst of persecution.

Please pray for the believers in this story and if you have the opportunity, write the Chinese Ambassador, Zhou Wenzhong.

BEIJING (BP)--A leader among China's unregistered house churches and his wife have been forced from their home and hounded from shelter to shelter by Chinese authorities since July 6, according to the human rights group China Aid Association. The only explanation given by officials for the couple's treatment was that the pastor "met the Americans and destroyed the harmony of the Beijing Olympic Games."
Click here to read the remainder of this story.

Ketchup: Kyle's Kryptonite

2008-07-08T08:56:00.011-05:00

I was rushing off to work early this morning so I could open up the room for the D.Min. seminar that's going on for the next two weeks. As I stepped outside to get into my car, I just chuckled, walked back inside and yelled upstairs to Kyle that his car had been attacked. Kyle came outside to see this (see pictures below taken with my phone I got for $0.01). For most people, this would just be sort of humorous but for Kyle, it was disgusting, which made it all the more funny. Apparently, the people who did this are aware of Kyle's great aversion to ketchup. I thought it was hilarious. The ketchup packets are from several different restaurants, which makes it even better. Thanks for the early morning laugh, guys.

Colorado Vacation - Part 2

2008-07-02T16:46:00.000-05:00

So, I promised more pictures. Here they are! Hopefully I'll have a video or two of Kyle on the trail to post soon.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Colorado Vacation - Part 1

2008-06-10T09:40:00.004-05:00

So...I'm a horrible blogger. I know. I need to be better about giving updates and posting pictures. I have tons of pictures to post of our Colorado vacation but...ya know. God gave us a wonderfully relaxing yet adventurous trip that helped to refuel us for our busy lives here in Texas. Here's a quick overview of how the trip went with a few pictures from my cellphone as a preview of what's to come.

Kyle and I left early (5:30am) Saturday morning and drove straight through to Colorado, reaching our destination at about 6:30pm. The drive through Texas was barren of any good scenery (sorry to those people who live in Northwest Texas...your portion of the state is just not aesthetically pleasing...you can't help that).

(notice the barrenness in the background...a very desolate drive except for the cute little prairie dog I saw!)

New Mexico was prettier but very sparsely populated, except for the pronghorn antelope. Amazing. I don't think I'd ever seen one before and it was nearly the highlight of my trip (yep, I'm still a Biology nerd at heart). We stayed in the Marriott Mountain Valley Lodge and saved a bunch of money by cooking nearly every meal there. I have more pictures of the scenery from my camera but here are a few from my phone (you know, the one I got for a penny).

(Notice the difference between the first picture of Kyle in this post and this one)

Here's a run down of the week:
Sunday: Church in Denver at Riverside Baptist with Pastor Jim Shaddix followed by a Denver Rockies game against the Mets (the Rockies won)

Monday: Hiking at St. Mary's Glacier. Snow everywhere but it wasn't that cold.

Tuesday: Georgetown Loop train ride and silver mine tour

Wednesday: Ended up hiking up to about 13,000 feet elevation on Quandary's Peak when we wanted to be on McGullough Gulch. Lotsa snow+no snowshoes=soggy feet. The quotable conversation of the trip had to have happened that day. I was worried about the quickly approaching clouds; Kyle was worried about mountain lions and then later, black bears.

Kyle: What do we do if a mountain lion attacks?

Rachel: I don't know. I guess we fight back or climb a tree or something.

Kyle: Don't worry. I'll fight for you.

Thursday: White Water Rafting on Clear Creek, the same creek where they get the water for Coor's Beer (so our guide said).

Friday: Hiking on the Mohawk Lake trail with snowshoes. I still ended up with soggy feet. I have two hilarious videos of Kyle from this trip...well particularly one. I'll have to post it later.

Saturday: Drove home all day but stopped at Capulin Volcano in New Mexico. Kyle was a little disappointed that is was all grown up inside but we did get to see free range cattle.

And now to wrap up with my favorite picture of the trip:

Moderation is less than you think

2008-06-02T17:30:00.002-05:00

I'm not making a statement in any form in this post about my convictions on drinking. They're complicated and somewhat personal. I just want to give an appropriate warning: Ladies, be careful. Moderation for a woman is much less than you'd think.

Upcoming Vacation and New Do

2008-05-21T12:21:00.006-05:00

So...Kyle and I are leaving for Colorado in a few days...super pumped. We desperately need a break. This year has been pretty busy and crazy with school, work, ministry, and all that has gone on with my family recently. I hope to have beautiful vacation pictures to post soon. :) In the meantime, here's a quick picture of my new hair cut. I cut a bunch off....a bunch. This is the shortest my hair has been in about 20 years. Crazy, huh?

Before the haircut:

(with cartoon effects added):

After the hair cut:

Vandals

2008-05-15T17:31:00.002-05:00

We had some vandals come to our house on Saturday night. Not the bad kind of vandals...the fun kind that make you feel loved. This is a quick video of their work. In the video I point out two innocent people as culprits but now I know the truth. Those two were framed by some other youth. You know who you are. Be ready. It'll come. :)

Mother's Day at Six Flags

2008-05-15T17:30:00.000-05:00

Since both of our moms live a thousand miles away, Kyle and I decided to go to Six Flags for Mother's Day. We only went for a few hours but here are a couple of clips and photos for your enjoyment. :) Love you, Mom!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

New Rylie Photos

2008-05-15T09:10:00.009-05:00

Rylie's been growing like a weed. She's a sweetheart and it's great to see Kyle enjoying her so much (he was severely deprived as a child, never getting to experience the joy of a pet because of his pet allergies). Kyle was mowing the backyard so I had to tie her to the tree in the front yard. I looked out the front door and she was digging full-force with both front paws in the empty flowerbed by the tree. When I came out to take photos, she was proudly laying in the nice new hole she had dug. Good thing we hadn't planted flowers yet!

New Cell Phones!

2008-04-29T13:47:00.009-05:00

Kyle and I just recently got new cells phone. His was on its last leg, sometimes not allowing him to hear people or people to hear him. Fickle little thing. Mine was still doing alright though I got it a few months before Kyle got his new phone (mine-12/04). We went to one of the local AT&T shops and saw a few phones that we liked, especially one that was going to be $79.99 after a mail in rebate (no, thank you). Instead, I decided to look around on the AT&T website to try and catch some web only deals. Kyle and I decided that we weren't going to be able to find those phones that we particularly liked without paying a little bit so we decided we would get them after our vacation in May and then count that as our birthday presents. BUT...the story doesn't end there.

I received an email from Amazon about some random product (don't remember what it was now) and a link on the page caught my eye: cell phones for $.01. I checked it out and they had the phones that Kyle and I wanted to get...for $.01 each! We ordered them on Friday and they were on our front porch on Monday, brand new and as promised and only for $.02 total. I was pretty excited to say the least. The phones are Sony Ericsson's Walkman W580i and have 2.0 Megapixel cameras, FM radio, the ability to synchronize with our calendars, contacts, notes, tasks, etc. on our computers, and serve as MP3 players. Kyle's phone (the white one) came with a small 256 MB M2 Micro Memory Stick but mine (the gray one) did not. So far, that's my only complaint. I've ordered a memory stick (4 GB) for mine so it'll be ready to go in a few days. Exciting times. If you need our new numbers, email me or call me quickly on my old phone before I shut it down.

And a forewarning...once I get the memory card all situated and ready to go, I might be able to do some video blogging. How exciting!

Another Helpful Tool For Spiritual Growth

2008-04-17T17:30:00.001-05:00

I blogged a while ago about BibleMemory.us that sends emails with a link so you can practice Scripture memorization (it has since been modified and you can choose which verses are sent to you and personalize some other things). I've just found another neat little tool: Echo Prayer. It's a online resource where you can input prayer requests and then they'll send you email or text updates at specified times to pray for random or specific prayers. Seems pretty simple, straight forward, and useful. It also has options to add journal notes about prayers and mark that the prayer has been answered. I just started using it today and it will send me specific updates to pray for Uncle Bill.

Spring Break with (part of) the Family

2008-04-14T17:30:00.003-05:00

I decided on a slideshow this time instead of a montage. The slideshows don't have sizing options like the montages do so it doesn't fit exactly. Sorry! Enjoy!

Free MySpace slideshows, photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Evermazing Race, DNow 08

2008-04-14T17:30:00.000-05:00

Just a random montage of Evermazing Race videos from March. I didn't get to take as many good photos as I would have liked. Sorry!

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

An unexpected opportunity to minister

2008-04-09T08:38:00.002-05:00

I saw this clip on a friend's blog and was encouraged by it so much that I posted it here. This should remind us that seemingly bad situations can be the perfect opportunity to share. Just watch.

I'm 100% Chalcedon Compliant

2008-03-14T10:01:00.003-05:00

Based on this quiz, I'm not a heretic but 100% Chalcedon Compliant. Check it out and see how you do.

Quick Update

2008-03-12T09:04:00.005-05:00

I haven't blogged in a few weeks so I thought I would put up a quick update until I have the chance to really post something. Okay...what's been going on...hmmm...

We had DNow this past weekend and around 25 youth showed up and we had a wonderful weekend. Kyle's messages were good, the teachers were excellent, and I think everyone had a good time. I think it was a time of spiritual growth and unity for the youth ministry. Josh Reardon flew in from KY to lead worship. He did a great job and I was glad to see Kyle getting to hang out with an old friend.

Rylie is growing like a weed. Kyle said we should stop feeding her so she'll stay little. I tried to explain that it didn't work that way but he didn't understand (silly boys). We're still trying to teach her how to walk on a leash but she's pretty well comprehended sit (in calm situations). She's gotten stay down about 75% of the time in non-distracting environments.

Mom and MawMaw are coming out next Monday so I'm excited about that. They're driving out and bringing a piano that Mom bought at an estate sale. They'll be here during Spring Break but I'll still have to work most of the week.

School is going well. I am about to start researching for a paper on Christian Perfectionism, a doctrine that Wesley developed that Christians could become perfect in this life (it's funny that he never claimed to have reached it himself and he drastically limited his definition of sin...it'll be interesting to research).

That's about all for now. I hope to post DNow pictures soon. I'm still behind on a few other sets of pictures. Sorry! Have a spectacular week!

Oh, yeah...I had jury duty on Friday and Monday. Our group sat through 6 plea bargains...very boring stuff but I'm glad I could help our judicial system.

Republican Debate Petition

2008-02-19T08:49:00.007-06:00

Before I begin writing this post, I would just like to say that I am glad my grandma does not even know how to turn on a computer. If she knew I wasn't supporting Hillary Clinton, who she says has run the White House before and can do it again, she might disown me. Gotta love spunky little Grandma Ama (and for those of you who don't know her...I call her little because she's only 4'8"). Anyway, on to the post. I have never been involved much in politics. It all frustrates me, nearly as much as student loans and taxes. Last tax season I was nearly brought to tears in H&R Block because the man who was doing our taxes was completely boching them up. Finally, Kyle looked at me and said, "Are you comfortable with this?" to which I promptly replied, "No." We asked for a new person to help us and all was good. I'm dreading it this year. DREADING IT!

Anyway, politics give me a mild version of that feeling. Since I'm sort of an "adult" now I have been keeping up with the primaries much more than I would have in the past. The Republican field is down to two and almost one candidate. I received a link from a friend to sign a McCain vs. Huckabee debate petition. http://www.petitiononline.com/jkb1961/petition.html. The petition states the following:

To: Sen. John McCain

A Republican debate was scheduled to take place on February 28th, 2008. It was to be sponsored by the Ohio Republican Party. This debate has since been mysteriously cancelled. A rush to judgment has ensued following the Super Tuesday elections on February 5th in which more than 21 states held primaries or caucuses. Sen. John McCain gained an enormous advantage and squeezed out Gov. Mitt Romney. Gov. Mike Huckabee was left standing as the Party’s only other viable candidate.

We believe: 1) Sen. McCain should earn the respect of the Republican base by debating Mike Huckabee in one or more formal Lincoln-Douglas style debates. 2) that failure to publicly engage Gov. Huckabee in debate before March 4th should be considered a gross attempt to grab the nomination without properly demonstrating a viable candidacy. Thus, we hereby petition Sen. McCain to accept an invitation to debate Mike Huckabee with all due haste and prove or disprove his worthiness.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

Makes perfect sense to me. If there are only two Republican candidates left in the race, why not let the voters get a clear picture of who to vote for? It seems that only those who are unsure of their strength as a candidate would shy away from such an event. I think Senator McCain is aware of how well Mr. Huckabee has performed in the debates that have been held and wants to shy away from any sort of event that could lessen his momentum as he bids for the Republican candicacy. But, then again, I'm not a politcal analyst, so what would I know?

I'm not sure how great of a leader either man would be but I primarily want a person with upright moral convictions to hold the office of President. Any leader can surround himself with a good cabinet to get the skills needed to successfully run a country. What we need is a leader who has integrity and honesty. That is something a presidential candidate cannot make up for by surrounding himself with highly skilled politicians. I hope this sort of mindset will drive each of us as we vote for the next Presidential candidate and our local politicians. If our leaders do not value honesty, integrity, and fairness, political advisors will not be able to compensate for these weaknesses.

Rylie!

2008-02-13T15:32:00.007-06:00

We got an adorable puppy on Sunday. Check out the pictures. I'm sure there will be more to come. When I have the chance, I hope to post Super Bowl pictures and College and Career pictures and then write more about little Rylie. Come visit soon before she grows up!

Phones in Church

2008-01-22T15:58:00.000-06:00

Disclaimer: This post is not meant to be theologically valid. It's just funny. Don't be offended.

I received this email from Susan and thought those fellow Kentuckians out there would appreciate it. Enjoy!

PHONES IN CHURCH

A man in Topeka , Kansas decided to write a book about churches around the country. He started by flying to San Francisco and started working east from there.

Going to a very large church, he began taking photographs and making notes.

He spotted a golden telephone on the vestibule wall and was intrigued with a sign, which read "Calls: $10,000 a minute." Seeking out the pastor he asked about the phone and the sign. The pastor answered that this golden phone is, in fact, a direct line to heaven and if he pays the price he can talk directly to GOD.

The man thanked the pastor and continued on his way. As he continued to visit churches in Seattle , Dallas , St. Louis , Chicago , Milwaukee , and around the United States , he found more phones, with the same sign, and the same answer from each pastor.

Finally, he arrived in Kentucky , upon entering a church in Louisville, Kentucky . . . Behold - He saw the usual golden Telephone . . . BUT THIS time . . . the sign read "Calls: 35 cents."

Fascinated, he asked to talk to the pastor, "Reverend, I have been in cities all across the country and in each Church I have found this golden telephone and have been told it is a direct line to Heaven and that I could talk to GOD, but in the other churches the cost was $10,000 a minute. Your sign reads only "35 cents" a call. Why?"

The pastor, smiling benignly, replied, "Son, you're in Kentucky now ...... You're in God's Country, It's a local call."

American by Birth - A Kentuckian by the Grace of God!!!!

Christmas in Texas and Kentucky

2008-01-18T17:05:00.000-06:00

Here are some pictures of friends and family at Christmas time. Enjoy!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Charlie Brown Christmas

2008-01-17T17:05:00.000-06:00

The youth performed the Charlie Brown Christmas and did a spectacular job. Following the photos of that are a few of the church's wonderful Christmas musical.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

UK Basketball

2008-01-16T17:05:00.000-06:00

They're having an off season but that's okay. Go Cats!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Bible Memorization

2008-01-10T17:05:00.000-06:00

I know I said I was going to put up pictures soon....and I will. I just haven't had the chance to get them all off the camera. Don't give up on me. They should be coming. I vow to have them up at least before February, hopefully next week.

I wanted to put up this short blog about a program I've been using lately to help me memorize more Scripture. http://www.biblememory.us/. The program sends emails right to your inbox 6 days a week with a link you click that takes you to their website. On the website, you do certain drills to help you memorize a certain verse of the Bible each week. There are other customizable options, like choosing what translation you use, but it's a simple and convenient way to memorize Scripture. You can also choose to receive it as an RSS feed. And if you're like me and you check your email nearly every day, it's a great way to be held accountable too. So start memorizing!

I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
Psalm 119:11

We're back in TayHoss

2008-01-04T10:37:00.000-06:00

We made it back safely to Texas. Traffic was a breeze and it only took us a little over 13 hours to make it home. We made GREAT time. I did catch Grandma's cold and have been fighting that for the last few days (this is my first day back to work) so I haven't uploaded any pictures yet. Sorry. Check back in for another update soon! Everyone enjoy the first weekend of 2008!

Free Hugs

2007-12-21T12:05:00.000-06:00

One last post before I head home. Saw this on YouTube. This fella from Georgetown College in Georgetown, KY (my alma mater) gave out free hugs. For those of you who have never been to GC, it gives you a brief tour of the quaint downtown and historic campus (GC started in 1787!). Also, I love the second song on the video, "Take My Hand" by Shawn McDonald...spectacular. Enjoy!

My Old Kentucky Home

2007-12-20T17:05:00.000-06:00

O, there's no place like home for the holidays.

So...we're heading back to Kentucky this Saturday.

We'll make the 15 hour, 1000 mile trek across Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, and then into the promised land.

I'm hoping the weather is great while we're driving but we have a white Christmas while we're home. I should have pictures to post when I return so check back in after the holidays. Everyone have a wonderful and meaningful Christmas!

Thanksgiving Video Montage

2007-12-12T12:35:00.000-06:00

A little video montage from Thanksgiving. Enjoy!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Eloise on Missions

2007-12-06T11:51:00.000-06:00

I ran across this YouTube video on another blog. I'm particularly fond of it for several reasons:

1. Eloise is wearing a UK jersey. Go Cats!
2. Grandmas talking slang are always funny.
3. She says, "Kobe who?" at the end.
4. She is promoting missions.

The SBC supports over 5,300 missionaries around the world. So, she's right. We need to put the "cheddar in the bag," whatever that really means. Anyway, we need to financially support these men and women who give up security and familiarity to share the great news of hope in Christ. Our annual Lottie Moon Offering contributes a large portion of the financial support that our missionaries receive. So, cough up the dough, as Eloise would say.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

2007-12-03T17:05:00.000-06:00

There was frost on my windshield this morning. The temperature was close to 80 degrees yesterday but was around 30 this morning. This isn't the post I said I could write on Texas weather...just a quick observation. I need someone to go outside in the morning and then come tell me what I should wear for the day. I'm always wearing something that's too warm or too cold. Oh well. Anyway, our Christmas tree is up and the interior of our house is semi-decorated. This Friday, hopefully the guys will be able to help Kyle decorate the outside of the house (Kyle looks forward to putting up Christmas lights). The girls in the youth are probably coming over to the parsonage on the 15th to make Christmas cards and have dinner together. Kyle's teaching a series on Sunday nights about the true meaning of Christmas. We talked last night about how Christ's birth fulfilled numerous prophecies and how God aligned the culture at the time to be just the way he wanted it for the arrival of Jesus (Hellenization of the culture, better road systems, Pax Romana, etc.). Pretty amazing stuff.

One of the youth found a box in the youth house a week ago with a game inside called Double Dance Mania. Kyle and I took it home to install batteries and see if it would work so the youth could play it. Though the outside of the box portrays the game as such, it is nothing like Dance Dance Revolution. DDR is fun and the songs sound like the actual songs they claim to be. Double Dance Mania is Atari's ugly cousin. The songs sound like the monophonic ring tones from my old Nokia cellphone. It was funny to see Kyle trying to play it, though. I have pictures that I should post later.

And this Saturday is the next round of the high school football state tournament. Kyle and I plan on going to the game. They've made it to the Elite Eight and will be playing in Texas Stadium (exciting, huh!).

SUCCESS!

2007-11-27T17:00:00.000-06:00

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.

Family and Youth Service

2007-11-19T09:06:00.000-06:00

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!

Weekend Update

2007-11-13T17:00:00.000-06:00

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.

Kyle the Cowboy

2007-11-09T17:05:00.000-06:00

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

2007-11-09T17:00:00.000-06:00

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.

Olny srmat poelpe can raed tihs.

2007-11-07T17:05:00.000-06:00

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

2007-11-07T17:00:00.000-06:00

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.

First Blog

2007-11-06T13:07:00.000-06:00

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.