I'd Say It's KRIS...

(KRIS)-tal clear who America wanted for the American Idol of 2009!

There is a chance that I reacted strongly to the announcement... I'm just sayin'...it COULD have happened....

The Name - Living Water

"Living Water

Bread of Life

Come and quench this thirst within me

Fill the hunger deep inside

For so long, I have been empty

Nothing else can satisfy....

Living Water, Bread of Life"

Lyrics from "Living Water, Bread of Life"

Performed by 4Him

Just like the woman at the well, you can drink the water from every faucet, every well, every plastic FUJI bottle, every eco-friendly water thermos. It will never satisfy you like drinking from Living Water. That is hard to explain to someone who doesn't know what Living Water is and/or has no idea that it is available. This is where faith comes in. We put our faith in lots of things:

The chair that we sit in - we have faith it will hold us up.

Our primary care physician - we trust that he will diagnose us correctly and utilize every procedure/medication necessary to heal our sick bodies.

Our President - we trust that he will fight for our causes, that he will look out for the greater good over the individual, that he will keep our country safe

Our friends - we trust that they will be there for us, they will include us, they will continue the friendship

Our family - we trust that they are there through good and bad, that they will love us enough to get through the hard times, that they will support us when we're down, love us enough to tell us the truth, and celebrate with us when we are flying high.

BUT... all of these things, A-L-L of these things will let us down at one time or another.

Chairs break,

Presidents fail,

Families split...

Faith in these "certain" things WILL let you down. The only thing that won't let you down is Jesus Christ. He calls our faith into being and asks us to trust Him and Him alone. Faith is the cup that allows us to taste the "Living Water". It is the only thing that allows us to see how the Living Water is personally and ultimately satisfying. Without faith, water is just water. It helps our bodies to keep working, it tastes good with a crystal light package of peach tea in it, it will tide you over until you need another drink of water. It will never allow you to know ultimate satisfaction as God intended on a permanent basis.

Have you ever had situations/events that seemed "fine" until a positive change occurred and in hind sight, you realized that you were not "fine". It was much worse than you had actually believed? This is what "satisfaction" can be like.

You think you are satisfied with your life:

your job,

your mate,

your children,

your singleness,

your wardrobe,

your family,

your status,

your friends,

your home

....until you get to know Jesus and you realize that you had no idea about satisfaction. The cavern being filled to satisfaction was deeper than you thought. It was wider than you thought. It was emptier than you thought. Just because you didn't know you were unsatisfied doesn't mean you were actually satisfied. It means you can't even grasp what satisfaction looks like or feels like until you have tasted the Living Water and truly KNOWN satisfaction the way God provides satisfaction.

Christ is offering Living Water for any and all who are called and choose to believe that this world, this season, this country, this society, this job, this life is NOT all there is. There is more, much, much more available to those who believe. It is a fountain overflowing with blessings unconceived of by you and only dreamed of by God.

Come! Come drink from the fount of Living Water to see the change within from what only Christ can provide you. It is the most amazing sense of liberation, sense of productivity, and sense of purpose that can never be matched by anyone or anything.

Guaranteed!

The Name - Abba Father

Whenever I think about God as Abba Father, the image that it conjures up in my mind is the tallest body, the strongest build, the mightiest intellect, the most charismatic personality, the choleric leader and the ultimate decision maker, crouching down to become eye to eye with his little girl when she asks him to come to her tea party in the middle of the most important task the world can offer.

To me, "Abba" softens "Father" a bit. It makes me think that He is more concerned about what I am concerned about which is not always world politics and the economic state of Belarus. I am concerned that I lost my phone or that I am running late. I am concerned that my sheets need to be changed or my dog needs to be walked. "Abba" seems to embrace the little things, the innocence of things, the childish things that seem to trip us up daily. "Father" follows it up by having the power and strength and decisiveness and determination to take action on my behalf. He is effectual and affectionate. He is firm and affirming. He is carrying my burdens while He is carrying me.

Not a theologian's post... just simple thoughts from Abba's daughter.

Any thoughts from the other kids? What does Abba Father mean to you? How does this name manifest itself in your life and change you to become more like Him? Does it?

Name That Tune!

Woo-hoo!!! There's been a change in blog world for Christi! YES!!! We have added music and what a CHANGE that makes. I love it but I wish I could see your faces when each of you hear the songs that randomly appear in sequence. So funny! Anyway, one of my chico readers has requested a copy of "The Name" by Anadara so I thought that I would add a playlist of music which I incidentally have been working on since Sept. 2008 - seriously. As I told him, unfortunately, I cannot find a copy of that song to be put in sequence on my playlist. I found it on iTunes and scrounged up a buck o' two in the couch cushions to download it. I don't know if that helps you guys or not but in my opinion, I think it is worth the .99 cents. Just my opinion.



So, let's yammer on the tunes... so excited about this! Excited to find some oldies but goodies and some there were some disappointments as well, of course. We're not in heaven so there will never be perfect playlist except on God's ipod. Anyway, I have added around 70ish tunes to the playlist and look forward to adding more but honestly, I feel like I have overdone it. I mean how long are you people hanging out on the blog for goodness sake? BUT..... there are some goodies on there.



I did try to have a reason for putting songs on the play list besides just "I like this!". I left some of my faves off because the lyrics were not the most uplifting (I love some of those melodies though) and there are some on here that are probably NOT my favorite but clearly typify some element of my life. There are several TV theme songs on there that I saw flashes of people at work. There are country songs that make me think about particular people. There are Christian songs that have ministered to me in profound ways. All in all, a good list of songs that can all speak about something in my life.



The fun part might be trying to figure out how things go together and why I would put certain songs on there. I leave that with you. Ask questions... post comments... report memories... make sure everything is clean...



I'll leave you with some...



1) "To Make You Feel My Love" - by KRIS ALLEN!!! -- I think this has already been covered as to why this song might be on here but just in case it wasn't clear.... I like him. I like him and I like this song and so I put it on here.


2) "Diff'rent Strokes" Theme - well, CLEARLY one of my favorite shows and why wouldn't it be? Loved a little Mrs. Garrett and Mr Drummond, Kimberly, Willis and Arnold. Things didn't turn out so well for the kiddos in real life but I hear Mrs. Garrett is still kickin' and earning wages. Good for her, I say. Plus my sister just adopted two kids from Ethiopia... so it is kind of like our family... kind of...



3) "Single Ladies" - speaks for itself... nobody's put a ring on it... perhaps it is because I do not own any Derion jeans. Lame... but I like the beat.



4) "Everyday America" - Talks about going to state and bringing home trophies in high school and that musters up good memories of going to semi finals in football our junior year. How can you not tap your foot to this?

5) "How Could I Ask for More" - a great all time favorite of mine and my sister-in-law recorded it several years ago. It is in the top 25 songs played out of 3500 on my Itunes library. Very fitting of my life.



There will be more follow up discussion on this. Until then, my goal is to blog every day on the name of the day. Tomorrow, I will blog on God being our Abba Father.

Blessings and Be Bops!

THE Name

I have run across this singer songwriter, Anadara (pronounced Anna-dare-uh), who signed with SpringHill Records in 2005 and has recorded this great song. She wrote it with Joe Beck and Billy Sprague and I just love it. It has such a simple melody and yet won the best Scripture Song in 2005 by the Worship Leader Magazine Praise Awards. One reason why I like it is because it is simply a list of names of Almighty God. I want to share the lyrics below just so you can think see who He is line by line. I believe in praying the names of God and I want to issue a challenge.

For the next 30 days, why don't we all take the following names of God and pray these to Him and about Him and for Him. Beyond bringing glory to Him which is what we are ultimately called to do, I am convinced it WILL change YOUR life. It will powerfully impact your life in ways that reality TV can't even come close to... encourage you in ways your spouse can't fathom.... fulfill you in ways your job never will... show you love of a God who created you for you to love in return. I urge you to try it and see if doesn't change you... even if you try it to prove me wrong... try it. Make it a point each day to spend even just 2-3 minutes focused in prayer to God and call Him by his name of the day. I think that more is better because there is so much more to Him than 2-3 minutes but if you're just starting out... take just a few and spend it with...

1.) ABBA FATHER

2) LIVING WATER

3) SHEPHERD

4) SERVANT AND

5) KING

6) MASTER

7) TEACHER

8) LORD AND

9) KEEPER

10) COUNSELOR

11) PRINCE OF PEACE

12) ALMIGHTY

13) CREATOR

14) EMMANUEL

15) SAVIOR

16) ADONAI AND

17) THE ROCK

18) HOSANNA

19) MESSIAH

20 YAHWEH

21) JEHOVAH

22) ALPHA

23) OMEGA

24) GOD

25) FRIEND AND

26) HEALER

27) CHRIST

28) REDEEMER

29) GREAT IS THY GLORIOUS NAME

30) JESUS

THE Name !!

I am going to really want to hear from those who take on the challenge. I think it is so important for us to encourage each other in the faith. Walking around down here is HARD... Where are my Amen-ers? Let's hear it, chicas and the two chicos that read here.

Watch out!!!! I am now mobile and updating the blog from the road now. (j/k... I never text, blog, use the phone in any capacity on the road. Hands always at 10 & 2!)

Again, I Heart Kris Allen ...

...But I hope he does not win.

There. I said it. I do not want Kris Allen to win although I really, really like him. I think he is a better singer, has a better demeanor, is humble and I SO enjoy the untechnically sound jaw jut. Love the jaw jut! He appears to come from good stock as well judging from tonight's show. Mainly, I like him because he does not make me look at his tongue when he channels Gene Simmons like somebody else we all know. There is really no need for that.

I do not want him to have to sign with 19 records and lose the money he would make otherwise. Let's let the scary Adam be saddled with 19 and let's get Kris signed somewhere else with a better contract. They are going to strangle him with all sorts of caveats and the like and I want him to be able to do what he wants. The only reason I want him to win is for the complete and total upset over scary Adam. He is really scary to me. I am overreacting here? I think not.

Just to be clear... I really like Kris Allen!

Let's crown the West Coast this time, though.

It's Chilly Here... Better Grab Your (Strait) Jacket

I wish I could state in detail the regularity of ridiculousness of my Tuesday morning appointments. I mean seriously. The fundamental characteristic that must be present in order to get an appt with me is that you must be nuts. I must caveat here.... there are some very good friends who at one time, were perhaps scheduled for an appt with me on a Tuesday morning.



I AM NOT TALKING TO YOU.



I am talking to the people who leave me feeling like I need medication directly following the appt. I do not seek intentional friendship with these people. I try to keep my crazy friends separate from my crazy patients. There is a line and try to walk it carefully. That being said, let's continue on with my crazy life...



Chapter 36 - story #42



Last Tuesday, I was scheduled for an appt with a precious little kiddo. Precious, I say. Well behaved and clean. Cute as a button. I would totally take him to the park. His family... not so much. Characters in this story include precious little **Ethan (**Names have been changed to protect the guilty and myself.), Mama, and Granny Agnes. It is very important to note that Mama and Granny Agnes are related by marriage, there is no blood between them except bad. They are daughter and mother-in-law. Let the fun begin...



Every one transitions nicely to the room. Little Ethan is playing nicely. Granny Agnes needs to lay off the smokes. Mama needs to grow a backbone. This is strictly my initial analysis and they pay me well for it. There is enough going on in this evaluation appt that there is no way to cover the entire cock-a-maminess (I might have just come up with a new word?) so I will hit the high points. These are the TOP TEN actual quotes said...


10. (Christi says "Why are you here today?") "I don't know. Granny Agnes, why don't you tell 'er." - Mama, scared and insecure

9. "He ain't talked right." - loud and proud by Granny Agnes

8. "SHOCKING!!!!" - thought bubble quote by Christi

7. "Well, she don't keep no structure and let's just.... let's just say that.... let's just say that we's different in hows we growed up the kids. I just slap 'em and tell to get their _ _ _ _ together 'cuz I ain't got time for none a that nonsense." - Granny Agnes

6. "Wait, for real? Did you just seriously say that?" - thought bubble quote by Christi



5. "We's just not used to lettin' kids write on the walls with crayons and scribblin on the cabinets with markers. I ain't just not puttin up with that. I finally went out and bought some markers and crayons and colored with 'em on the walls." - crazy ole Granny Agnes

4. "I grew up depressed and a place where we just feel everything and I know I'm sensitive but they're just mean." -venting by Mama and answered by Granny Agnes with this... "Oh, we are not mean. You don't take care of your kid and I don't have the time. Well, YEAH we tell dirty jokes and we cuss at each other and we use some pretty hard language, but _ _ _ _, you've gotta be kiddin me that you're sayin we's mean!?!?"


3. "Well, she let's 'em just sit around and watch TV all day and then she don't get 'em when he plays in the plugs." - Granny Agnes the antagonizer



2. "That ain't true!!!! I grew up in a depressed family and I just don't think there is anything wrong with being nice sometime. And anyway, she takes Ethan's diaper off and tells him to go pi... I mean, pee on grandpa and she thinks its funny!!!" - Mama the indignant


And the number one quote of the appt....

1. "Well, that WAS pretty funny!!!" - Granny Anges, the unpaid comedienne of preschool programs all over the US.

These "ladies" almost came to blows and there were defintely tears present and I'm not talking about the kiddo's tears. I have never seen anything like this at all. Classic and yet so disturbing.

Comprehensive speech language evaluation:

$647

Value of my time wasted on this evaluation

because the child is totally fine:

in the $1000's

Value of honest and stunningly ridiculous material gleaned for my next show:

PRICELESS,

of course!!!

I Heart Kris Allen

That's all I needed to say.

It's a Miracle in the Making

I am praying for a miracle. Just letting you know. I am praying for a miracle. And, if I am being honest, I am praying for several miracles. These are not class A miracles mind you. I am not praying for the dead to be raised or Vanderbilt employees to get a raise. These are just not necessary for me to believe in the one True God Almighty. I'm there already. I am looking for class B miracles - miracles that can be performed through natural acts and events that are guided by the loving hand of God.

I am specifically looking for 7 miracles. I am not going into details but just want you to know and be part of the accountability. I am laying these things at His feet and I am trusting God to accomplish them and I truly believe that He can absolutely provide in ways that we will not understand and never see coming and that is what I am getting prepared for!

There are amazing mercy-filled inexplicable and remarkable acts that convey loving encouragement from God. They offer a foundation for our hope in his second coming. They lead us into a stronger relationship with Him. They bring us to our knees to worship the One who is worthy of our worship. Yes. That's what these miracles are:

M - Mercy-filled

I - Inexplicable and

R - Remakable

A - Acts that

C - Convey

L- Loving

E - Encouragement

...from the everlasting God.

Please agree with me in prayer for these 7 miracles and for me to be diligent and mindful of what I am praying for. I pray I would see the answer to these requests even if they are not the answers that I am looking for. I pray that whatever the Lord has in store that I would be more grateful tomorrow than I am today and that I can be faithful and trusting of God's very best for me and for my family.

Mercy and Grace

I am reading Henry Blackaby's book CHOSEN TO BE GOD'S PROPHET: LESSONS FROM THE LIFE OF SAMUEL from his Biblical legacy series. I highly recommend it and though I am not even halfway through yet, it is just excellent. Perhaps it is just hitting me on some issues that I have been struggling with lately. I have marked up lots of passages so far but wanted to share one in particular.

"Many book have been written about grace, but preceding grace is mercy. God's nature, revealed to Moses, was - 'My name is mercy'." This is described in Exodus 34:6-7.
"Before God can give you what you do not deserve, He will have to withhold from your what you really deserve. God must first cancel your sin. When you cry out to God for mercy and plead with Him to extend His mercy to you, you do so because you have sinned grievously against a Holy God."

We all deserve everything but mercy. We do not have a full enough concept of our sin and how it disgraces the Lord God in front of the multitudes of saints. We think that what we do, we do in private. No so, says the Lord. That is really scary to think that all our sins will be exposed and we will have nowhere to run except to beg for the mercy of God. This is where we find our hiding place and safety. There can be no better place than in the arms of the Creator of the universe.

Crying out for mercy is the only hope we have. When is the last time you found yourself crying out for anything other than additional comforts for your life? When was the last time I did that? There is so much more that we need besides comfort and thankfully he is more concerned with our character rather than our comforts.

Father, we do cry out for an outpouring of your mercy and an overflowing of your grace. We are nothing without You.

A Walk in the Park

So, let's catch up on sweet little Vivi...

She is so adorable... when she is not urinating on the floor, throwing up in the den, or chewing my favorite socks. Absolutely precious, I say. The puppy is CLEARLY a sanguine puppy, kind of like her Aunt Christi. Playful, fun, short attention span... you get the picture. If not, go back and look at a few posts ago. It's right there.

Let's talk about our little outing today.

Yes. Today, we had a little aunt and puppy time together. We talked, she slept, I drove, we listened to Carrie Underwood. A great time was had by all. My friend, Sharon, and her mongrel, I mean, dog, went with us. I invited them because I LOVE Sharon and her dog needs some social skills in a major way. This dog has no friends and let me tell you, her last days will be lonely. I, in my own way, am trying to help that (rat dog) pet become all that she can be. And she is completely ungrateful and wants to bite me on the backside for even attempting to help her. She did lick me today for the first time. Sharon thinks it was primarily to determine if she needed A-1 or Heinz 57 when she finally took a bite out of crime. I can't say that I disagree with her. (Just for future reference, this lovely dog is named Georgia, but she has several nicknames.)

So, Vivi and I (and our "friends") decided to try out the dog park in East Nashville today. This was not going to be an all day affair, but something that lasted a couple of hours at most. My friend at work was hyping the dog park dynamic so I took the bait. Plus, I don't have to wear those stupid footies there so I said, "Vivi, git in the car - we're goin'!" After driving approximately 90 minutes for a 12-15 mile drive, I knew today was going to ROCK! Growling Gidget was scratching the steel from her cage bars in the back of the car and Vivi was chillin' in my lap. Sharon and I are discussing lots of things from both of us being poor map readers, both of us having a terrible sense of direction, and me having less than 1/16 of a tank of gas left. Fun times. Anyway, Chewbacca finally quit shredding the steel and we arrived at the dog park after becoming friends with 8 cops, 7 random walkers, 6 random passengers in cars, 5 dog walkers, 4 adolescents heading to the community center, 3 marathon finishers, 2 children in strollers and 1 security guard. This dog park was hard to find.

We get there and notice there are caterpillars everywhere. Gross! Not the inchworm-ish critters. These are the plump juicy fuzzy, yellow and black caterpillars that I am positive are poisonous and will NOT turn into butterflies. Everywhere. I get out and haul out Vivi's diaper bag. You think I am kidding. This puppy travels in style, Baby. She has her own travel bag, and in the bag, she has: food, food bowl, treats of many different flavors, regular leash, retractable leash, small towel (for when she sweats), bottled water and water dish, eye cream for when her eyes drain and we don't want them to stain, and "pet wipes" for ... well, the name speaks for themselves. I wish I was kidding about this, but alas, I am not. I will say, I have NEVER EVER used the "pet wipes". This girl has to have her standards and I am not doing that. Sorry. Call me a bad aunt. I am totally OK with that.

Vivi walks me over to the fenced area while I am carrying her bag and my bag (which carries my reading material and bottle of water - THAT IS ALL!). The Queen of Mean is growling the entire way over to the fenced area because she has to walk and wants to be carried exactly 4 ft, 6 inches above the level of other dogs and she ain't makin any bones about it... she's ticked. Vivi looks at her in a very friendly way, she snarls. Georgia's learning curve is a little steeper than other dogs her age in the area of social skills. I don't know what else to say about that.

We go in and meet the first pooch, a cairn terrier, whose owner keeps telling him to "SIC 'er" toward Vivi. Clearly, another dog who needs social skill training... perhaps the owner as well. Who does that? First rattle out of the bag, not even a "Hey, what's up, let me have a sniff." before "SIC' er!" Anyway, luckily there was another dog, Tiger. I liked him (and the single male owner) but alas, there was no love connection for Viv and Tig. Tiger was about 8 times Vivi's size anyway so I don't see that working out. I learned some things about Viv today. She has no fear and she runs really fast. She also shares very well and is very modest....all of which makes me very proud to be her aunt.

Move along to meet the other dogs: Let's see... we had, Tiger, Chester (the hound), Jake (the Weimariner), Stella (the brindle medium dog), and Bartlesby (the dalmatian mix). All very nice dogs, all much bigger than Vivi, all very into Vivi. It was SO MUCH like HIGH SCHOOL!!!! Vivi was clearly the cute cheerleader in high school and Jake was the star QB, Chester was the strong but silent Valedictorian, both fighting for the same girl and Stella was the jealous dance team member. I could not have seen this more clearly. Viv was the popular girl and the other guy dogs danced around her and acted cool but when she was about to leave their vicinity, everyone became very territorial with Vivi ... except for Stella who was whispering malicious lies to Georgia about Vivi for the ride home. Georgia heard every word and was clearly calculating her next move. Classic KHS!

Sharon and I are making friends with the owners and watching the dog soap opera play out when she and I felt something crawling up our legs. OH YEAH! The caterpillars were alive and well and scurrying up our legs and all I can say is that YOU WISH that you had been there to see it! Others present in the park DID see it and came over to make friends with the freaky girls dancing on the bench with poisonous caterpillars crawling up their shorts by now. Thrilling to say the least. After that show of emotion, Georgia was more than miffed that she had been disturbed and actually had to stand on the same ground as the other dogs and basically demanded that Vivi share her best treats with her. So, we got them out and then Georgia totally turned her nose up at them. Snooty Patootie! By this time, the entire population of thepark had migrated over to our little corner. People pulled up benches, the boy dogs were whispering about Viv's silky coat and gams (you know guys are visual), and Stella and Georgia were catty and cracked open a cold one to spike the water buckets. Typical.

But wait... where's Bartlesby? Remember, the good looking Dalmatian mix. Oh, here he is...

PEEING ON MY BAG!!!!!

And just like typical boys, Jake and Chester started laughing (they love bathroom humor). And don't think for a minute that Gnarly and Snarly didn't plan that! Oh, they acted like they were genuinely surprised but you could totally see the evil sneer. And then, they went behind the tree, high fived and drank the rest of the hooch. I have one thought for that: Vivi and I are Christians (she became one three days ago when she quit pottying on the carpet) and we will ignore this incident. They only serve "warm" beer where those kinds of girls will be going and it just won't be as fulfilling in the heat.

We left in a blaze of glory with yet more caterpillars crawling on us and honestly, we just got tired of all the tricks Jake and Chester were doing to get Viv's attention. It got a little embarrassing. Come on, guys! Keep it together! A little give and go - don't drown her in attention. I personally am pulling for Chester but as her aunt, I will support her decision. It's a girl's perrogative - just ask Britney. She knows.

We are certainly going back in the near future. Who knew the dog park could be so much fun?

Beware of Friends Wearing Slingshots

...Ok, so I am eating lunch with my good friend, Leah. Let me branch into how much this girl ROCKS! Love her! She is new to Vandy and such a breath of fresh air up there. We have decided that we need to be going to the main hospital cafeteria for lunch. The Starbucks, the Pesto Minestrone soup, the doctors and the time away from the clinic. What is not to love?! So we took a jaunt down to the courtyard cafe... Herein lies today's funny story...

So, here we are, hair brushed (perhaps stylishly mussed), nails polished, debit card in hand walking at a good little clip to be sure. We have a rule up at Vandy... no open toe shoes.

Yeah. That stinks, especially in the spring and summer with cute sandals. However, this is NOT the worst rule we have.

We MUST wear stockings or socks or the ugly little footies that "try" to hide under the leather of your shoe but let's be real. They are not foolin anybody. You can see those ugly footies eight people away and they are not pretty. IF you cannot tell about my opinion about this rule, let's spell it out...

T-o-t-a-l-l-y stupid rule! (Yeah, I said Stupid ... and I think it IS a stupid rule.)

Anyway, Leah and I are walking around, finding our food, rubbing elbows with lumbering eligible long lab coats and looking for a table. Long story short, Leah found a table as I was paying and I walked over to the table she picked across the way. As I walked over there, my little stupid footie slipped off the bottom of my heel in my shoe for the 847th time that day. SO ANNOYING! I sat down and unloaded my tray. We were chatting and trying to present our best angles in catch the best lighting, you understand. IN a flash of brilliance, I decided I would just casually reach down and fix the little booger in my shoe and try to be as inconspicuous about because really... who honestly wants to see that?

I reached down to pull the footie down over my heel and my shoe slips off...

... AND I SHOT THE UGLY, STUPID, LITTLE STINKY FOOTIE ACROSS THE MAIN HOSPITAL CAFETERIA!!!

OH YES, I DID!!!

It landed in the hot doctor's soup at the table beside us.

NO IT DIDN'T!!!!!

What kind of moron do you think I am? I have other ways of getting physician attention. I am not going to make him puke by shooting my sock in his lunch! Good grief! I have some couth!!

I became aware in this situation just what kind of friend I am. Seriously. This is what I thought...

Thought #1: "GOOD GRAVY TRAIN, I JUST SHOT THAT STUPID FOOTIE ACROSS THE DANG BLASTED CAFETERIA WITH ALL THESE BEAUTIFUL LAB COATS ALL AROUND!"

Thought #2: Fake it. IT DIDN'T HAPPEN! Admit NOTHING! That is somebody else's stupid footie. Quick, find your happy place. HAPPY PLACE. HAPPY PLACE. HAPPY PLACE.

Thought #3: Where in the cocoa puffs did it go? DON'T MAKE A SCENE, CHRISTI! Probably not too far away, I bet I can reach out with my foot (which is bare by the way, now) and pick it up like Jennifer Little used to do back in middle school with those amazing long toes.

Stinky footie spotted... walking distance away. OH yeah.

Here is where I feel ashamed, sorta...

Thought #4: It is kind of by Leah. Closer to Leah than to me. Maybe I could... NO! You can't! OR could you? Maybe I can leave it there and somebody will think it is hers and they won't notice my OTHER ugly stupid little footie hanging out from under my other shoe. Oh yeah. That's my play. (Enter GUILT, GUILT, GUILT...)

Holy Spirit's thought #1: Classy move, Hot stuff. IF you are going to shaft your friend, at least do it when you have used odor eaters. What you are doing is just WRONG! You are a skanky new friend." (I am a little fuzzy on the last phrase the Holy Spirit used. I cannot be sure if He said "skanky" or "stanky" friend. I actually have never heard either phrase used before by the Holy Spirit but let's face it.... that was poor performance in friendship 101.

Thought #5: Well Crap. I am going to have to go pick up that totally useless footie off the floor. So, then what? After it is in my hand, then what? Put it back on so we can have a repeat performance in 12.7 seconds? Dude, if it happens again, I am TOTALLY blaming Leah!!! Just go get the stupid sock.

I slipped on my shoe without the footie and walked over and picked it up off the floor and walked briskly back over to my table where Leah was transfixed on my face which by now had taken on SO many expressions including: annoyance, horror, fear, guilt, conviction, defeat and finally, the inhalation of humble pie. She, oh sweet friend, full of innocence and blissfully unaware...

Here is a question for you: What do you do with the sock now that you have picked it up and brought it back to the table with you? Put it back on the footie-less foot? Put it in your purse? Try again and aim higher so as to show your sense of humor to the only Dr who didn't see it the first time since the rest are snubbing their nose at you? What do you do?

You want to know what I did?

I sat on it.

Right under the left cheek. Just couldn't handle the whole situation so I just sat on it. I don't know what that solved, but it made me feel better and I just wanted it to go away. It became funny shortly after that and I eventually put the stupid footie back on.

It was truly a character building moment. Glad you could enjoy it with me.

Sorry Leah.

Say "Hello" to my Li'l Friend

Is this the cutest dog you have ever seen in your life? Seriously. This dog could take ALL of your dogs in the Miss Dog America pageant!

On Friday...

She will live with me!!!!!!

CAN. NOT. WAIT.

More pictures to come.

OMGosh! She is so cute!!!!!!

God's Goodness

I spent a good six hours yesterday reading, studying, journaling and praying. It was the best day of 2009 thus far. It was a beautiful day and I now have a porch overlooking some ready-to-bloom dogwood trees and some blossoming pear trees so I brewed a pot of tea and got all my books and a brand new journal and just sat in the gorgeousness of it all. The Lord is so evident on days like yesterday. The weather is perfect, the world is ready to burst forth with color, the daily pulls of things to do can be at least put off and at best forgotten for just a few hours of much needed time in the Word. God is so prevalent in settings like that.

How many of you had Saturdays like I had yesterday?

What? You didn't have 6 hours of uninterrupted time. To read. To pray. To journal what the Lord is doing. To study the Word with commentaries and other resources.

I am treading on very, VERY thin ice. I know. I can feel the death stares and the hear the grumbling under your breath. Actually, it is not quite under your breath, huh?

I know that there are MANY of you, probably MOST of you who don't have that kind of time to yourselves. I know not from experience but from personal reports from people like you and the rest of the world.

At this stage in my journey and where the Lord has me right now, I am blessed to have that much time to myself to do what I want to do. I say this not to brag or remind you of how much YOU need to get done before Monday rolls around. I say this for the benefit of myself and the recognition of blessing that I have during this season on singleness.

As a single women in her 30's, I struggle at times with being single this far into the journey of life. I am friends with women who are at many different stages of life. Some are just gathering their wits about them a few years after college/grad school. Some are settling into life as a newlywed. Some are "enjoying" the sleepless nights with young children and the strain that this economy is putting on the typical family of 4. There are some who are struggling, like I do, with protracted singleness. How does this translate into blessing for each of these stages?

Several truths:
1) God is always good: His provision, His timing, the circumstances He allows... He is always good,
2) He has storehouses of blessings for His children. These are not going to be bestowed upon us all at one time. They are called storehouses because they are for storing. They store up blessings for Him to distribute all along the journey we walk. If you are His child, you will have more blessings to come in the future.
3) God is going to receive the glory, no matter what. If there is something that you can manipulate and receive glory from, there will be a very short shelf life for that particular accolade, promotion, "jewel", etc.
He is the beginning and ending of all things. God promotes and God demotes at His leisure for our very best good and His glory. Take it to the bank!
4) God loves you and me! He is not looking for ways to trip us up. He is not looking for ways to ambush us. He is lovingly guiding us to Him and towards godliness. This is love. It doesn't look like the love we are used to here on earth given by man. It is altogether different. Those that are supposed to love us the best, do not compare to the love of God. They are in different leagues.

So before, you start throwing tomatoes at me for pointing out all the time that I have available to myself, I want you to think of all the good morning kisses you get, the love of a man/woman who chose you to spend the rest of your lives together with, the coos and giggles of little kids who love you beyond measure, the home full of love (and trials - I know), the teamwork , the help, the camaraderie...

See. There are so many blessings on either side of the coin. I think this is how God intended. He didn't want us to look across the yard and see all the flowers where "they" are and simply notice the weeds where we are. God is always ready to bless and knows exactly where we need to be at all times. If you needed to be single, you would be single. If I needed to be married, I would be.

This week, try to find things that demonstrate the goodness of God in your personal life. One thing for me is that today, I am able to make the time to update this blog. I know there are flourishing writers out there that do not have opportunities given their current status to do some writing. I am blessed and I am thankful for where I am today. God is good to me in all things. I know this to be true.

What about you? What are some things that demonstrate the goodness of God in your life today?