And the Madness Marches On...

Well, I have to respond to the past weekend of basketball scores, exits of the next tier of teams and the final four. Where shall we start...ahhh, the good 'ol Aggies.

I mentioned before I will have to give props where props are due and let's do that. Seriously, can we all pitch in and buy Billy Gillespie something. I have re-thought it through and I think they deserve more than an ice cream that I previously offered. The turnaround they have had in the last three years is nothing less than remarkable and even though they run around in those gosh awful looking colors, it did not hinder them from putting the ball through the hoop over and over again. I hate it they lost on free throws. I have made myself a promise...I promise to "bank" (these puns come out of nowhere) on anyone who is named "Acie" on, honestly, many levels: good name, good player, good guy apparently. Can't personally vouch for him but the rumor mill swirls with heavy compliments. I can vouch for his epidermic artwork, which is extensive, and it appears that everything is spelled correctly. That being said, Alicen, I am sorry but you have not made it to the Final Four.

Onward and upward to the grand state of Tennessee.

Both of our teams, the Commodores and the Vols made a sad exit last weekend. I did not see the Tennessee game but I did see the Vandy game and made an exciting discovery. I work out with one of the Vandy assistant coaches! How 'bout 'dem apples?!?!?! We're close, I tell ya. I do see him most evenings at the beloved Y but had NO idea that he was employed by the black and gold. We're co-laborers for crying out loud! I mean, he is tall but what exactly can you deduce from that? I have a cousin that is short but he is not a jockey. No, I'm kidding. All of my cousins are at least medium-sized.

The Vandy game was a great game. It kept my attention. I heartily enjoyed the game until the last 2.5 seconds when Biggin' did not call time out. What is going on there? Am I losing my hearing or why was there no whistle signifying time out? I've read all about the changing pivot foot of Georgetown and blah, blah, blah. To me, I did not get the whole "let's-just-bring-the-ball-down-court-and-we'll-launch-one-if-we-have-time-when-we-get-down-there" kind of attitude. I am not a basketball star. I am one of my cousin's medium-sized cousins. Someone help me with this scenario. I am quite sure that I missed something on that whole play that was called. Was there no plan and if so, was THAT it??? You lose by uno point-o and I didn't hear the whistle. Yo no Se`!!! I am asking my friend and co-laborer if his whistle broke. I'm not going to ask him now, of course...maybe in August when he's not so tender.

Then, there was my birthplace in the midwest. The Jayhawks. I don't have much to say about this team as I was only born in this state and I have not been back in 30 years or so. So they lose to UCLA. Ok. What else you got? I could get up for them for a short while but I think my Kansas blood has turned Tennessean, or at least Texan. It takes too much effort to learn a team in the middle of the tourney. Plus, I've got 1000 wedding invitations to address and I have trouble multi-tasking those particular tasks. I need to be able to get emotional at games and that just leads to mountains of "redo" invitations. You make a choice...

Those are my thoughts about the developments this past weekend. Here are some repercussions from this past weekend.

I helped a friend make picks (and by "helped a friend" I mean, "chose independently")several weekends ago about the tourney and how it would turn out. Though I have certain shallow allegiances to certain teams, I am vaguely aware that the team needs to have talent and skill (and a certain amount of money to throw at the refs....WHAT? DID I SAY THAT? I am just kidding! Seriously...) to advance to the final four and then to the finals. Here is the funny thing...

I did NOT pick one of my teams to go beyond the Elite Eight,

so...

even though they all lost,

I AM AT THE TOP OF THE POOL!!!!

Yeah for me!!!!

(I fear this will be short-lived adulation.)

Let it be known that I picked Ohio State to win the whole kit and kaboodle.

Stay tuned...

The Value of Being Known - Part 2

I closed my sentiments last time by saying that there will never be anyone who knows you as well as the Lord Yahweh God knows you. No sibling, parent, spouse, child or friend can know your every thought, heartache, and challenge.

What's more is not even you can know you the way God can?

That might sound preposterous given we live in an age of "Enlightenment". Let's face it. Everyone wants to be able to tell you who you are, what you like, and what you need to do. We have therapists and counselors to tell us how bad our childhood was and how we need to love ourselves more, magazine quizzes to know what kind of friend we are and what color we would be in a box of 64 crayons, and psychics and tarrot card readers to channel our loves ones so we can make nice with them and get on with our lives. We have teachers who tell us to study more, friends who tell us to party more, and society that tell us to do more, give more, take more, work more, tolerate more, enjoy more, relax more all in the name of finding out who we are, what we like, and what we should be doing.

Here is the real enlightenment - Yahweh God knows you better than you will ever conceive of knowing yourself. He deciphers things about you that you haven't even realized are confused on your own. He ingrains things deep within you that you couldn't even fathom on your own. He orchestrates things in your life for your good and His glory where you couldn't play the simple melody line on your own. He just knows you better and more comprehensively than is available to us in our finite minds.

Psalm 139: 5-6

5 You have enclosed me behind and before,

and laid Your hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

It is too high, I cannot attain it.

David is overwhelmed by the concept that God knows him better than he could know himself. More than that, there is not a stone left unturned in our lives that He hasn't checked out thoroughly. He is not waiting for us to reveal anything about how we feel or think about anything. I don't have to help explain myself to Him. He knows my intentions and when my mind will change and where I miscommunicate things to Him. He just knows. It is the ultimate relationship. It is, by far, the most personal and intimate relationship accessible to us.

In the movie, "The Mirror Has Two Faces", Rose (played by Bah-bra Streisand) has a great quote.

"You know what I envy about those in love?

I'd love it if someone knew me, really knew me.

What I like, what I am afraid of ... what kind of toothpaste I use.

I think that...would be really wonderful."

Here is my point, even Bah-bra wants to be known and she is known by millions around the globe and still it is not enough. It will never be enough.

Sometimes I admit I get caught thinking like Ms. Streisand. Now, don't go nuts because 99% of the time I strongly disagree with her ultra-liberal stance on things. However, when she delivers those lines, I can relate to that line of thinking sometimes. However, the Lord brought this to my mind that really has made me re-think that thought process.

Your spouse, whoever it is, Scott, Jim, Henry, Brad, Trey, Blake, Mark, Charles, or Mr. Yet-To-Be-Determined, though they may be the most loving, sensitive and attentive to your needs (and I am quite certain that they are) can never compare to the love, sensitivity, and attentiveness of the Lord God, Creator of you. For example:

Your spouse knows that you like your coffee with one packet of Splenda and a splash of cream.

Your God knows that you like your coffee with 467 granules of Splenda and 1.1372 oz. of cream.

Not even you know that.

Your spouse knows that he should tell you that he loves you very sweetly and very often.

Your God knows that you would be like "buttah" in his hands if he said some certain "Alicen" words or certain "Amy" words at 18 decibels between 6:17 and 6:21 in the evening.

Not even you know the specifics of that.

Your spouse knows that you love to slip on fuzzy socks and curl up with a good love story during a thunderstorm.

Your God knows that after the thunderstorm, the most beautiful love story is when He artfully paints the arch of His promise and uses not just your typical 7 basic colors but over 150, 000 color gradients, the indigo and aqua hues reflecting the water and the shades of persimmon and corals reflecting the sun.

Not even you know the miracle of that.

To be truly known is the desire of everyone's heart. Only God fills that desire. To long for someone else to fill that desire is longing for something that is not Biblical. It is not possible for anyone to be known by anyone the way God knows His creation. He is the only one who can fill that need. Everyone else is an unworthy and sinful substitute.

Lord, I pray that I never believe the lies that there is someone who can fill this need in my life better than you can. Only you know what is best for me and that is You, Father. Remind me in my moment by moment weaknesses that only You satisfy and to expect that from someone else is unfair and unfaithful to You. Please allow me to see the facade of the cheap substitutes I replace You with and give me the strength and faith to place You back in Your rightful place.

The Value of Being Known - Part 1

There is something profound about "being known". I don't mean what your name is or what job you go to everyday, but truly and utterly known - from what secret music group you love but would die if anyone knew, to what you have a passion for, to what makes you laugh so hard you cry, to what makes your heart swell, to you greatest fears. I think everyone longs to be known in a very real sense - to be connected with someone so closely that your thoughts and feelings are known just as they are happening. I can attest to the fact that there are those friends who can see into your mind's eye when certain things happen and they know what you are thinking. They can read your eyes just like they were reading a open journal of your life. Sometimes that "picture worth a thousand words" is my face when somebody's name comes up and my mouth is tilted into the slightest smirk. A jeweler can count the all the facets of a diamond though it would take quite the investment to see and count each individual cut. With us, there is an infinite number of facets found in one person - so many moods, ideas, thoughts, experiences, challenges and dreams that it almost seems beyond the realm of possible to know all these things about someone.

But God does.

1 O LORD, You have searched me and known me.

2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;

You understand my thoughts from afar.

3 You scrutinize my path and my lying down,

and intimately acquainted with all my ways.

4 Even before there is a word on my tongue,

Behold, O LORD, You know it all.

In the first part of Psalm 139, we find David calling out to the LORD, or Yahweh. It is the covenant name of God and it speaks of intensity and intimacy of their relationship. Not to cheapen God's name in anyway but it is likened to when we call our loved ones by personal nicknames. A lot of times, these are names that not everyone knows about but by those that know you and love you. They are names that signify time spent together and a deep relationship that goes beyond the moniker that your attendance lady would use to check if you were at school or not. A lot of times it speaks to your character and who you are. As it is with God Almighty, Yahweh is His name that speaks to His character and who He is.

"Yadah" is the Hebrew word for "searched" meaning "to explore, to dig deeply into, spy out". Yahweh God understands and knows us because He digs into us and has unlimited access into the depths of our lives. He knows us in our passive lives ("when I sit") and He knows our active lives ("when I rise").

I know someone in the FBI and though I have yet to directly discuss this with him to get it directly from the "horse's mouth", I know somewhere in my "knower" that they have some sort of "stalking" equipment and they can find out anything they want to know, about anybody they want to know about. I'm sure he would never call it "stalking" equipment but for lack of a better word (which I guess would be "surveillance"), we will use "stalking". In a very real sense, they can "know" you. Perhaps I am wrong or maybe I watch too many movies. Who's to say? My point is that even though they can get lots of private information, the FBI has limits to what they can get access to. They may know where you live and your credit score but they cannot find out every heart's intention and mind's decision. Only God has unlimited access to that part of you.

Verse 2b "You know my thoughts from afar" - Others see your actions; God sees into your heart. He created you and relished the fact that he knows exactly how you think. What is so huge about that is that the God of all knowledge, the Creator of every human life, Sustainer of the world, would care enough to spend precious time on knowing my thoughts.

I worry about really silly, unimportant things like:

• When can I wear white pants again?
• When is Jessica going to realize she was better with Nick?
• Why can we not wear open toe shoes to work but we can wear sling backs? Are not my newly pedicured toes more attractive than my "winter-ed" heels?

See? Ridiculous, really! And still, He has chosen to sift through these crazy desires, thoughts, simple wonderings and hopes to know each of them as well as He knows His own. And, He does the same sifting through for you. He knew, based on verses 3-4, and was deeply familiar with David's comings and goings and knew the thoughts that would develop into words and the very intentions behind those words - YEARS before David was created.

He doesn't just concern Himself with the big things of life like your salvation or your job choices, marriage issues or health problems. He is concerned with the very little things as well. Why would He care about those silly little things? Because we were created to worship and have fellowship with Him and that doesn't just happen in the critical "decision-making-times" of life. It happens in the ins and outs, ups and downs, and same boring routines that we find ourselves in day in, day out.

There is NO ONE - no sister, brother, mother, father, spouse, child, or friend - who cares more about those little things than the Lord does.

There is NO ONE who cares more about you than the Lord does.

There is NO ONE who knows you like the Lord does.

There is NO ONE who ever will.

Lord, thank you for being so accessible to us and accessing us as you will. The blessings that come from being known by you are too many to count or even acknowledge in so many cases. I pray that we would be an open journal when it comes to fellowship with the Lord and we would trust Him with our struggles, desires, and dreams of what is and what will be. Only He has the sovereignty to provide shelter from the storm, a change in the weather, or a peace in the middle of the storm. I pray that we would not withhold anything that is rightly due Him from our praise, our trust, our loyalty, and our service. May our lives be a living journal of what you can do when we are open to your indwelling within us, even in the little things.

The Madness (...and Music?)

I will admit it. I think it is only fair for you to know.

I am a bandwagon fan of the NCAA.

There. I said it. It is out in the open. I am only subtly ashamed but ashamed nonetheless. Bring on the stones.

My question is, how are you people not bandwagon fans and do you have more hours in the day than I do? I would love to religiously follow some of these teams but a girl has to primp sometimes, go to the gym sometimes, eat sometimes and sleep a few winks every now and then. Oh, yeah, and work 8 hours. How do you have time to see it all? I don't know but I do spend time following the tournament and if you will allow me, I have to send a few shout outs to some of these proud moments I watched this weekend.

First of all, let's go with the "hometown" peeps -

Can I get an AMEN for the representation of Tennessee in the Sweet 16? You have to give it up for the orange and white. And how proud am I to wear my Vanderbilt badge to work today? Please tell me you saw "the block". Please tell me you didn't miss it. Fabulous! They'll show it again - probably 137 more times before it is all over. Love it!

Now for the REAL hometown peeps -

I guess the best thing to say would be...

WHOOP!!!!

Can we talk for un momento about the rise of the Aggies (not those at the "beach" - although props to them, too) but those mired in College Station, Texas? Ladies and Gents - they have learned what to do with the big, round ball. My allegiance is not to them, but I have to give credit where credit is due and these lanky men deserve an ice cream. Maybe more. Perhaps they will rise to the level of the Lady Bears of Baylor U from a couple of years ago. There is always room to dream. I say this primarily for my oldest friend ever (light on the "old"), Alicen, for the purpose of "gig-ging" her but in all seriousness, Aggies give new meaning to the saying "pull yourself up by your boot straps". They certainly have from three short years ago when they were cleaning the castle basement and I have to commend them for their season ranking and their current job of mopping the floor with the joes served up to them. Cinderella, you have finally made it to the ball. (The pun was not intended.) Heads up for if they win, I will so be claiming "Texas" status loud and proud.

Now for the sad news...

Poor Kentucky.

What do you say except that Kansas is just better. I have no ties to Kentucky except that an old paramour rooted for them so I kind of got interested. Isn't that funny how things change but yet remain the same? (And by "funny" I mean "sad" but this is neither the forum nor the audience.... Aren't you lucky? - You dodged a bullet there!) I know everybody is up in arms about Tubby, but come on - cut the guy some slack. Please don't make me quote Janet Jackson on this blog. Please don't. It just seems that we have the case of "What Have You Done For Me Lately?' and lately, it hasn't been enough. See, now look. I've "Gone and Done It." Now, JUST STOP! Don't Make me quote Shania anymore either! Tubby just needs a little time at the "Copacabana" and he will be fine. He can hang out with ... Coach K ... and apparently Barry Manilow. They could be the 70's beach rendition of the Blue Man group? (By the way, do those guys scare anybody else? I just don't get that.) OK, enough of crazy talk.

Kansas was just better. What else can you say? Here is the simple equation:

More talent = more points more than likely.

And, I am about to claim the favorite female prerogative, the perpetual mind change. Carrie, get out your white out. I am rethinking my choice for the champion. I had Ohio State but I think I am going to pick Kansas after more thought. "That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!" (Colin Raye????)

Did I mention I was born in Kansas?

GO JAYHAWKS!!!

My personal Psalm 139

I was given the opportunity to teach this familiar Psalm this morning for my Bible study class. At first, I was a little nervous. Not for the actual teaching so much as the ability to take an all too familiar passage and bringing a new perspective to it. I enjoyed studying the passage throughout the last 10-14 days or so and digging deeper into the heart of Psalms. I did run into a problem while I was studying and praying through the lesson.

How can I possibly communicate the proper elevation of Almighty God with only 1 hour and a finite vocabulary filled with concrete and very measured terms? David is so clearly speaking to the omniscience of God, the omnipresence of God, the omnipotence of God. Praise for our God who is outside of time and space and who fits into no box we could ever create for Him. I think I might have said this before but sometimes we have a tendency to try to make God fit into our image we have conjured up for Him, with dimensions and boundaries. We think (or hope) there must be places He goes and places He can't (or doesn't), big things He knows with small pockets of undiscovered private things He knows nothing about. When we develop these false ideas of God and who He is, we, in actuality, become idolators worshipping a "false god". We have created and images graven in our mind's eye that are at the very least, inaccurate. He is so far beyond these ridiculous parameters we put around Him.

That still leaves me with a question. How do I classify in the clearest of terms, the greatness of El Shaddai? I came to this conclusion...

You don't.

You don't because you can't possibly.

There are no words to capture the essence of our Jehovah God and the scope and space He inhabits. The only way to begin my futile attempts at understanding the greatness of God, is to try and grasp who I am, how far I fall short, and how I am truly nothing but wind-swept dust without God's own breath inflating my lungs and his right hand gently pulsating my heart every moment of every day. It is so easy for me to take for granted the basics because I do nothing to keep them sustained. They just are. And they just continue without my help. When I finally get to the point that I realize that every step I walk, every sound I verbalize, every thought that passes through my mind, and every intention of my heart is only there because of God's grace and love for me, I will perhaps have barely scratched the surface of the most elementary of understanding with regard to God's deserved place in my life.

I am going to blog on this topic more in depth this week. Tune in.

God's Story

I mentioned in my last post that I had been working, travelling and sick. I guess I should have added "reading" to that list of things I have been doing because I finished reading another book. I read God's Story: Finding Meaning for Your Life through Knowing God by Anne Graham Lotz and it was excellent. The best thing about it was that I got something totally different out of it than what I thought I would get. Love that when God reveals something of His character in a way that is so unexpected. Another reason I liked this book is because it has a 100-page study guide and lots of teaching outlines with it for personal and group study. For those of you who are not big readers (in that you don't like to read books without pictures) it is a longer book - approximately 400 actual pages to read but the good news is that when you pick it up it looks much longer than that. The last 125 pages are all extra study notes and the like. See, you only have to read 275 of those pages! Yahoo for you! Like before, I will list the chapters for you to peruse:

I AM Your Creator

1. I Fill Your Emptiness

2. I Mend Your Brokenness

I AM Your Father

3. I Forgive Your Sinfulness

4. I uproot Your Bitterness

5. I Redeem Your Wastedness

I AM Your Savior

6. I Share Your Loneliness

7. I Overcome Your Helplessness

8. I Calm Your Fearfulness

9. I Understand Your Weakness

I AM Your Redeemer

10. I Reject Your Religiousness

11. I Banish Your Hopelessness

There are too many passages to quote that I just love so I can't pick just one. All I can say is that, I learned about things of the Lord on each page and how He has orchestrated meaning for our lives today all the way back into Eden. This book confirmed, yet again, that the Lord will use whatever means necessary to demonstrate His glory and elicit praise from His children.

On a personal note, I find the Lord revealing Himself to me in the strangest places right now. Should it be strange to have the Lord reveal characteristics of Himself to me wherever He chooses? Is He not there in the most unfortunate of places, the most comfortable of silences, the most intimate of moments, and the most unusual of situations? Surely He is. He is there to comfort or compel you, challenge or champion you, and cast vision or captivate your attention. Wherever you are and whatever you're doing, He is there waiting to reveal Himself to you. And, unfortunately for me, He is usually not shouting. Don't you wish He would just shout it outloud sometime? He is probably not going to get my attention with a trip wire. Most of the time, you just have to be prepared and ready to hear His still quiet voice. When do we get prepared and ready to hear Him? It is not in the moment before He chooses to speak. It is in the hundreds of thousands of moments prior to that. This preparedness is an ongoing process. It is dynamic in that there is ebb and flow and always moving and changing. It is not a place that you arrive at and park. There is no parking in preparation. When He decides to speak, and if you are His child, He will speak to you, you will miss the message without proper preparation of knowing His character, His promises, and His desires for your life all found in His inerrant Word. After all, it is God's Story. He wants you to read it, take notes about it, study it, understand it, apply it, live it, breathe it, share it. It's the best selling autobiography ever written. Be part of something bigger than you could ever be by yourself. Be part of God's Story.

This book is a great read and I highly recommend it.

Welcome Back!

Thank you so much for coming back! It's been a while, huh?

Been working, been travelling, been sick, NOT been blogging. Sorry about that. I have had several people inquiring about me and requesting updates on the blog. So, I am totally sick right now but here I am to answer the call.

I actually do have an entry in draft form from about a week and a half ago. I read some of it to my mom and she told me it would be in my best interest to NOT put it on a public blog. "Either change your entry or change your last name" I believe were her words. No, she wasn't really that harsh. She thought it was hilarious but was concerned it was something that "only a mother could love". What?? It had to do with a walk to work, a large squirrel and a lesson in preparation. This is all I can say publicly but am willing to share privately if you so desire to hear the story.

Today is Thursday and you know what that means... Thursday Thirteen!
By the time most of you read this, it will be Friday, but I think we go by the publish date so I am still in the clear with regards to accuracy. So, what will the top 13 things of today be... so many choices... The selection of the week is...(drum roll please)... Thirteen Favorite Spring Break Locations! Yahoo! Spring Break is upon us and who doesn't want to be thinking about getting out of Dodge (especially if you're from Dodge - no offense, of course to the "Dodgers".)

Here we go... (in no particular order)
1) Vail, Colorado - zipping around on skis
2) Bahamas - relaxing on a boat - a big boat
3) Aspen, Colorado - getting stuck in a snowbank on a snowmobile
4) Beaver Creek, Colorado - a day on skis followed by an evening at the spa
5) North (or South) Louisiana - enjoying lagnaippe with friends
6) Virgin Islands - relaxing on an island -after getting off a really big boat
7) San Francisco, CA - walking the hills and watching the stars
8) Seattle, WA - braving the rain, drinking coffee with family
9) Banff, Canada - captivated by and breathing in Lake Louise
10) Dallas, TX - being "home" without really being home
11) Hiking, Anywhere - any mountain worth seeing is worth hiking
12) Florida - enjoying sun, sand, and surf
13) Home - wherever family is at is where I would love to be.

How 'bout you?