Life is...one big comedy show

There will be a lot of things I will forget about my former boss, but his taglines will remain embedded in my memory forever. There's one that is so appropriate for this post, "I can't make 'em up, I just report 'em." This is something I just can't make up!

This past Saturday we had an auction for the New Albany Police Department - their regular impound auto auction. Over the years these auctions have become quite a success - events to look forward to - and Saturday was no exception, over $70,000 in sales! It sure helped to have a few garbage trucks in the mix. Yes, I said garbage trucks. Sometimes we auction-off the city's old equipment, and those items can make for entertaining banter. But this particular auction was special indeed.

For every NAPD auction there will be some personal property (stolen or left-behind) that gets sold. Just imagine the delight of the 100+ men in attendance when the backpack full of women's scanty-panties and see-through attire came up for bid. I flashed-back in time to another NAPD auction where a car brought an extra couple hundred dollars simply for the panties hanging from the rearview mirror. I was quickly brought back to the present when the next item for bid was the condem machine! Yes, I said condem machine. Oh, they could barely get through the bidding for all the laughing.

The time to sell the cars came next. Now, when there's men and cars - women barely exist. And during an auction, I'm the most important woman out there (aside from our cashier who takes the money!). It gets hard to squeeze my way through all the people to get to the next vehicle to take bids and write the tickets. I try to be polite, "excuse me, pardon me, excuse me..." But Saturday was classic. I'm not sure if he was trying to be funny, engage in conversation with me, or hit on me, but one guy (in his late 50s/early 60s) replied to my 'excuse me' with, "Why, did ya fart?" I had no time to stop "the look" I gave him.

If you did not laugh at any point through this post, we need to talk. If I add my hand and face motions to it, you get the full effect. This will be one of those moments I save for a speaking engagement somewhere. Or write a script for a show. Or just a book, even. Oh, the stories I could tell...

Life is...one big to-do list

Again, it's been awhile since I've last posted. There's just been so much going on!

• The 175th (+1) celebration concert at church consumed me for about three weeks. But it was a success! I just hate that I didn't get any pictures, but there is video! As soon as I get a chance to work on that, I'll share some bits here.


• The church youth's Amazing Race before that. That took some organizing time, but well worth it. The kids had a blast and the stories we got to hear at the end!


• Auctions and all that entails.


• Odd-jobs, and trying to drum-up business as well as cheering Bill on for a career-change.


• Friends' and family drama.


• Church goings-on.


• Pro-bono wedding video and pictures to still be done.


• Crocheting a baby blanket plus three other projects.


• Reading about 5 books - combination of business and Christian, plus one biography on Eleanor of Aquitaine (ancient royal history).


• Housecleaning - lots of purging going on with closets.


• Bible study groups - I'm a part of one mixed group, one women's group, and I think we're going to another mixed group this week.


• Personal God-time. I've made the change to starting my day with God. I sit at my kitchen table with all the windows around me and just ask God to teach me something new in His word, and He does! I get to watch the sun come up and just start the day right and that sticks with me for a long time through the day.


• Support group night - can't really count it as Bible study, but it still amazes me how real people can be in there versus in church.


• Got to have my facebook game-time.


• Then there's eating, although I can play games on the computer while I eat, or read.


• And finally - sleeping! During those weeks of working on the concert I didn't get much sleep, maybe 4 or 5 hours a night. I can proudly say I am making up for it now!

And through all that - which is nothing compared to anyone who has children - I am trying to be intentional with ministry. Basically, ministering to anyone who has a need, and that could be you. Bill and I have been given opportunities to just be servants wherever God places us, and that it simply awesome. Have you ever been in a place where you just feel blessings and "enlarging of territory" coming your way?

I'll be writing more soon enough. Thanks for visiting!

Grace & Peace to y'all!

Life is...full of decisions

So when you are faced with multiple windows - do you open one at a time or all at once? What kind of breeze do you get? What about the view? Do you close 'em the instant a storm hits? How do you know which window to open? What is the deciding factor?

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil.

That's what I'm doing right now. There's a lot of opportunities of projects to work on - I just don't know where to start sometimes! But one decision I've made lately is to start my own business. I have a business concept, name, and logo idea. I am continuing to work out the details, but we are ready to get started! Factotum (definiton is "jack of all trades") will be a business that is a network of independent contractors that can do just about anything you need done.

For example, I can do great video work. So if you wanted to turn your home movies into a professionally edited dvd, you could call Factotum and I would do the work. If you have cleaning needs (business or home) call Factotum and I have a contractor that can do it. If you need extra office work: bookkeeping, typing, presentation design, etc., call Factotum and we can get it done. And so on and so on. That's why I'm working out the details.

So please, spread the word and put this on your prayer lists! And I'll keep you posted!

Life is...Beautiful even when messy

Life is a lot of things, and I've been trying to back in the swing of things lately - like blogging. So when I walked in the house yesterday and saw this poor hosta I was thinking how time flies and the season is changing again already. But then I looked closer - this weather-beaten-ready-to-give-up-for-the-year hosta is blooming!

It amazed me. The whole rest of the plant is ready to die for winter, but it's giving it one last bloom for the year. It's blooming even though I think it's died. It's giving life when I percieve it to be dead. It's beautiful even though I thought the rest of it was ugly.

The placement of this bloom is not in an obvious spot - it was under a dead leaf on the backside of the plant. I had only caught a glimpse. I moved the dead part to see the full bloom.

Is any of this sounding familiar? Don't we feel that way sometimes - that we are dead, ready to give up for the winter, but there's this small glimpse of a bloom that "someone" sees (that would be God). And only God can move the dead parts so the full bloom can be seen. Don't be afraid to bloom, dear ones. God will help remove the dead parts so everyone can see the beauty!

...proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor. (Isaiah 61:2,3)

Life is...like school

Life is like going through school...you are always learning (or should be). Be it something new and exciting, or lessons learned from bad mistakes and failed projects, but we should always be learning.

My great-grandma died at the age of 98. And right up to the moment she got too sick to move - she was still learning new things: new words, puzzles to solve, crochet patterns to master, people's birthdays, historical tidbits, you name it - she had a learning spirit. I just hope I can hold on to that kind of spirit in my life.

With my time off from a job I've been learning a lot about myself - mainly how burned-out I actually was. How trying to live-up to or exceed the expectations of others only leads to emptiness. That I am not worthy to be saved, but because Christ loved me He died on a cross for me - He has made me worthy to be co-heir with Him. I've learned how even cats can have separation issues. How just because I can figure something out - doesn't mean you have it figured out, and I am learning to see it from your side of the table. I've learned I have too much STUFF in my house! I've learned that mulch disappears after a storm. I'm learning how to be still and KNOW that GOD...IS.

And there's going to be TESTS! Oh my is there ever going to be tests! Do you know when you're in one? Does God do the testing - or just allow it? Does He grade on a curve? How do you know when you've passed a test? Does everyone get the same test? How do you study for those?

There are plenty of times when you need to study alone: study the Word, pray, meditate, take a nap, hike a trail, or pet the cat to relax - you get the idea. Then other times you need a study group. Get with a fellow group of like-minded souls (believers, friends, buddies, whatever), and get real. Circle the wagons, so to speak, during trials. Come to the round table, O ye knights (in tights, or flip-flops - whichever) in preparation for battle that starts in the mind.

What about the answers to the tests? Will we know this side of eternity? I present to you one of my all-time favorite versus: Jeremiah 33:3 - 'Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.' That's God speaking! He'll reveal the answers to you if you pay attention in class!

Grace & Peace y'all!

Life is...FUN!

It's been a month now since I was let-go from my job at KFC. I wish them well. For me, I have been making it a point to have some down-time to readjust, switch gears, get re-energized. I realized that because I was so burned-out on duties and drama that I wasn't able to just enjoy life. That's changing now, praise God! In this first month He's opened fun opportunities for me: Women of Faith, Kings Island, Chicago, my pool (when it's warm enough), cornhole (beanbag toss), and even the LST! What's the LST? Well, let me start with the cornhole tournament.

I got to play this year! Bill teamed up with me and we actually won one round. We would have won another time if I hadn't been the best player for the other team! At least I was making the hole...just not with my bags. We had a great time. And to no one's surprise, Jeff won again this year. He and Mark will be sharing the trophy. Yes, I made the trophies. Corny, huh? :-)

Joe and Chad came in second place - this would have been me and Bill had I not gotten a few of their bags in the hole! Oh, and since it was my birthday weekend, Bill made sure I had a cake there. This was about the cheesiest smile I could muster. Check out the colors - hot pink with my neon green lettering - 80's flashback anyone?

And the LST? The US LST 325 is a Landing Ship Tank - the largest ship ever designed/built to place tanks, troops, and cargo onto a hostile beach, then retract off. These buggers are considered to be "the ship that won the war," meaning WWII. This was docked in Jeffersonville and we decided to tour it on Sunday. Yes, my official birthday.

We went to Rafferty's and overdosed on cheese fries - my favorites! And I got some really fun presents from friends - Rebecca & Ricky gave me a Wonder Woman doll, along with sock yarn and needles. She had confidence that I am ready to make socks. And Kim - by best friend/sister got me the most fun present I ever received. A HUGE coloring book of Tinkerbell, along with a mega pack of markers that even had the smelly ones! We had a ball with it - or maybe we were just getting high from sniffing the scented markers.

But back to the LST. This was bringing back memories for Bill since he had served on an aircraft carrier. He had little stories for every part of the ship - his own stories. And the veterans that still run the ship would be stationed along with way with stories of their own. The boys had fun being boys with the guns of course.

And yesterday? Filled with rest. Seriously, I slept most of the day with the cats. Now that was fun. Not a care in the world, did whatever I wanted, which obviously was not much. I may be another year older, but got back to my early teenage roots sleeping all day. And yep - I was up till 1:00 a.m. this morning. Go figure. But I'm learning to have fun again.

So take it from me, if you are feeling burned-out, stop. Find something you enjoy - and go enjoy it. Life is full of stuff and fun should be right in there with everything else. You need to have fun to loosen-up. So do things that are fun and childlike to you, and hopefully those things being back childhood memories - those are the best...smelly markers!

Grace & Peace to you all!

Life is...Unpredictable

Today is Day 2 of being unemployed. You see, I was let go from my day-job last Friday. Did I plan for something like this - no, not really. Was I planning to move on at some point? I had hoped so.

Do you remember back, for some of us WAY back, to elementary school? Do you remember what you wanted to be when you grew up? Me - I had ALWAYS wanted to be a country-western singer on the Grand Ole Opry. Still do. But alas, life has a way of getting in the way of dreams sometimes. There are unexpected events along the way.

In Proverbs 3:6 it says, "in all your ways acknowlege him and he will make your paths straight." Does that mean life will be easy? Not at all. Jesus himself said each day has enough trouble of its own. But the path to the RIGHT PLACE will be straight (and narrow), and focused on what's important in life: God, family, yourself, others. Jobs/Careers do not matter a bean in eternity. I believe He gives us those works so we will be prepared to show His glory daily.

So for me, I will enjoy this time off from work. I am under His shadow right now. (Psalm 91) And I hope I will have the sense to stay there. Did you happen to see the gorgeous sunrise this morning? Turned the corn tassles outside my bedroom window pink!

And for everyone else, take Psalm 91 to heart. It's there for a reason. Whatever life (the world, Satan, others, your own choices' consequences, etc.), throws at you - and there is some pretty heavy stuff sometimes - give it all to the One who can handle it. That would be God / Jesus / Holy Spirit. They're there to help, listen, and love you through anything. And right now, HE and all of heaven is celebrating that I "get it."

So now - I'm going back to housework and looking forward to spending time with the Almighty, My Lord, today.

Grace & Peace!

Life is...Like a box of chocolates...

You just never know what you're going to get. You know I couldn't resist. And while I couldn't find the right clip on youtube, I did find this one that is probably even better! Enjoy!

Life is...

MESSY!

Bill & I just finished up a discipleship study called Roots & Fruits. There was some really great stuff in this study. Stuff that I am hoping we can use when starting up our own discipleship training. Anyway...

One of the points that was made about being a disciple of Christ is that Jesus was not afraid to get messy with people in their messy lives.

And that reminded me of a message that one of our former preachers gave about the junk drawer. Everybody has one. Everything gets thrown in there. And it hardly ever gets cleaned out - sometimes for years. And isn't that how we handle our lives? It's a mess - everyone's life is a mess to some degree. There are issues in our lives that we just throw in a "drawer" and just refuse to deal with - sometimes for years.

So, what can be done about it? Well - the great organizer can come into our lives and convict us to clean it up. But we don't have to do it alone. If you've accepted Jesus as your Lord & Savior, and been baptized - you've been given the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit convicts us of things to clean-up in our lives. But I digress as usual.

The main point of this posting is that we are a mess, and so are others. To be a disciple of Christ, we need to be willing to get messy with others. Don't shy away from sitting across the table of a homeless single mom to hear her story. Don't shy away from playing ball with someone that's of a different lifestyle than you. Don't shy away from someone who doesn't have the luxuries of life you do in hearing, seeing, speaking, or moving all parts of their body the way you do. Be willing to hold a hand, lend an ear, or walk with someone who just needs you to be there and be kind about it.

"Preach the gospel at all times. If necessary use words." ~ St. Francis of Assissi

Life is...

Busy! Good grief. I was all prepared to talk about how abundant life is over the weekend. I even wrote the beginning of a sentence and got pulled away to something else. Then I got pulled away from that on to something else, then something else, and another, and another till at the end of the day nothing really got accomplished, but I was wore out! Ever have those days?

Our days are filled with activity: jobs, church, travel to and fro, kids' activities, housekeeping, cooking meals, working out, time with family in & outside the home, pets, gardens, grass, vehicles, and on and on and on it goes. Days are full. No wonder we're so tired all the time. No wonder we just veg in front of the TV. No wonder we can feel overwhelmed at times.

But you know what? God built in a solution to our busy-ness - the Sabbath. In Exodus 29 God gives us one of the 10:

You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy. (NLT)

At church a couple of Sundays ago, the pastor gave a great message on the Sabbath - CHILLAX. You know - to chill-out and relax. God knew what He was doing when He gave us this commandment. He knows we as humans need rest. If we don't - we burn-out. He takes care of us and gives us full permission to do nothing at least one day a week.

So take advantage of that one day a week to just chillax. Make it purposeful: crockpot instead of actually fixing meals, read a book (Ruth & Esther are great books), take a nap, but most of all - spend quality time with God. Let Him restore & refresh you.

Grace & Peace!

Life is...

A high school colleague of mine, Brian, posted this on his blog and I'd like to share it here for this week's "Life is..."



“Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you’re just coming out of one, or you’re getting ready to go into one.”

I read the above quote (from Rick Warren) a few weeks ago – and I wasn’t sure if I agreed with it. Today I’m sure that I do. Warren goes on to add, “The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort; God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy. We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that’s not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in charactar, in Christ likeness”

Truer words have never been spoken. Warren goes on in the interview to explain that he used to think that life was a series of hills and valleys – that you have ups and downs – good times and then bad — but he says that he doesn’t believe that anymore. Instead, he says that life is more “like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life.”

He explains that at any given moment – no matter how “good” things are in your life – there’s always something bad that needs improving. And no matter how bad things get – there’s always something good that you should be thanking God for.

This way of thinking makes a lot of sense to me. If we think of life as being two rails – something good and something bad – it leaves us with a choice to make each day. We can focus on and accentuate the good – or we can obsess about the bad. We must make this choice daily – and soemtimes multiple times each day.

Last week I discovered that a very close family member has a longterm and very active drug addiction – including the frequent use of crystal meth and various pain killers. Last week I also lost my cousin Jerald – whom I grew up with. We were in the same graduating class. He left behind a wife and two lovely young children. I married he and his bride about 14 years ago. Then on Saturday I preached his funeral. Bad stuff.

And yet – I am very happily married. I have three beautiful and wonderful children. I have a loving and supportive extended family. I have many friends who are there for me. I serve a church that I love – and I see God’s handiwork all around me.

The good stuff about this church that I love is an entirely new category in and of itself — This past Sunday we celebrated another Baptism (5 in the last 3 weeks), and two more families formally joined the church (9 in the last 3 weeks)! We sent a small team off on a mission trip, and welcomed home a young lady from a 2 week trip to Ecuador.

Yep — there are two rails in our lives at all times. One carrying the good – and one carrying the bad. Which one will I focus on today? Tomorrow? I have to make the choice daily, and so do you.

What is your "Life is...?"

C

Life is ...

What you make of it. Really? Is that all there is? Simply, no.

Life is ... a lot of things. And I'd like to add this little "Life is..." moment to my blog as a weekly post. And because there are already so many great weekly postings going on, I think I will make this my Tuesday regular.

So, if anyone else would like to chime-in, please do so. I'm going to try that cool little "Mister Linky" at the bottom, and just let us know where to find you.

My first "Life is..." was inspired by Stitch - yes, from Lilo & Stitch.

This little guy was created for evil purposes, yet made choices to change for good purposes. He made the choice - he made his life what it was. Now, take note: he did not do it alone. He needed Lilo to encourage, love, and support him to make the changes necessary. He needed inspiration from someone else's story of love (i.e., the Ugly Duckling). He needed motivation to make the change permanant - like when Lilo was captured by "stinky-head" Gantu and Stitch rescued her.



Now, I could have picked someone else like say, Donald Trump or Oprah or Colonel Sanders even. Self-made men (and women). But there is more to the life we make than monetary success. Then I think about the life I'm making - with God, family/friends, myself, job...I am not even close to being perfect. But how much farther have I come since giving my life to Christ? Lots. What matters most in THIS life? Cause I have a feeling what we THINK matters most - doesn't add up to a hill of anything in the life eternal with Christ.

What I've been discovering, over and over again, is that "my attitude determines my altitude." My attitude and thoughts make up my life - from the inside-out. Romans 12:2: Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind... How often do I renew my mind to make my life new? How many times (in a day) do I get down because I perceive thinks in a negative manner - it's all in my head. How often do I take the time to renew? Not near enough really. And do I have others that help put into me? Not near enough sometimes. That's why I enjoy reading others' blogs, reaching out of my own world to learn something new - to renew and refocus.

So thanks to all you other bloggers out there for providing me inspiration, knowledge, humor and interaction. I just hope I can be that for you sometime! And if you decide to write your "Life is..." moment, make sure to link up here - and link back to this site. Thanks!

Life is a *itch

As you can see, I've changed the look of the blog again. Just slightly though. And I've changed the title. I actually got inspired by Mama Kats' Wednesday writers challenge question: Tell us about your blogline...how long have you been blogging, when did you start, what were/are your goals for your blog, etc.


I've been blogging for a couple of years now. The look has changed multiple times and so has my purpose for it. My initial blogline was "Life is a Daring Adventure, or Nothing..." based on the quote by Helen Keller. This amazing lady who was both blind and deaf has many insightful writings that give inspiration to many. I wanted to be able to show how life really can be a daring adventure. However, through my 2-year blogging journey, I have found there is so much more. So I've changed my blog title to "Life Is..."


Because life really is so many things, I thought about it while doing dishes at work (that's how glamorous my job is :-) ). The first thing that comes to mind is the saying I grew up with is "Life is a *itch, then you die." And you all know what that word is, don't even try to fool me! So I thought about it - what is a *itch?


The Webster's description is: 1: the female of the dog or some other carnivorous mammals, 2 a: a lewd or immoral woman b: a malicious, spiteful, or overbearing woman —sometimes used as a generalized term of abuse, 3: something that is extremely difficult, objectionable, or unpleasant, 4: complaint.


Then I thought about the Proverbs 31 woman. There's no mention of her being malicious, spiteful, or overbearing or difficult or unpleasant at all. In verse 25 it says: Strength and dignity are her clothing, And she smiles at the future. I want to smile at my future! Does she smile because she has not one hint of *itchness in her? Is my own *itchy-ness holding me back from being worth more than jewels to someone?


I think about that Proverbs 31 woman quite a bit. She's got a lofty standard for us to live up to as women. She's rumored to be Solomon's mother - you remember her? Bathsheba....David & Bathsheba! If it really was her...oh, the grace that abounds! God is amazing to have such an impact in a woman's (or man's) life and perspective. This Proverb was written ABOUT her ... I wonder what she actually thought of herself? Regardless, she is an example for all women to look to and ponder.