Together or Separate?

Yesterday, I enjoyed my first day off in 14 days.  I can’t say I was very productive, but I can say it was relaxing and fun.  Scotty had the day off too, so we decided to go out to lunch.  The first place we drove to was closed.  Very closed.  The sign on the door informed us it had been closed since March 23rd.  Bummer.  We were already near LSU, so we decided to stay in that area.  We chose one of my Dad’s favorite places to eat in BR.  It took an unusually long time to get two burgers, but what did I care?  I had the day off!  We enjoyed both the food and our time together.  We were laughing and talking the whole time.  Imagine my surprise when the waitress came to clear the table and asked if we would like separate checks!  (Were we having too much fun to appear be married to each other?) 

Singing Strangers

A couple of nights ago I was in the store grabbing some last minute things for supper.  An old, familiar song came over the speaker and I started to half sing, half hum quietly.  I’m browsing the shelves, singing and  minding my own business. I turn and head up the next aisle and that is when I hear it.  The man at the end of the aisle is also singing the song.  As I get closer to him he does not back off of his song or shy away from singing out loud.  Hmm.  What the heck?  I continue to sing too.  So here we are, looking for gravy mix and singing a duet.  We turn and go our separate ways, but I am sure we both sang the song until the end.  Isn’t there something strange about singing strangers?

Understanding Women’s Roles

First of all, let me apologize to those of you who are reading this blog entry because you are looking for some serious answer on women’s roles in the church.  You are not going to find that here.  Read your Bible.  Now, I will get on with it …

Chelsea came home with a Bible test that needed a parent signature.  She made a “B”.  A “B” in Bible?  How could that be?  (ha B, be .. nevermind)  

TEST QUESTION:  Why did God create Eve?

CHELSEA’S ANSWER: Because man cannot be alone.

TEACHER’S COMMENT:  It was not good for man to be alone.  (no point deduction for this one)

Lisa is now laughing out loud, Scotty is not.

TEST QUESTION:  What act caused the fall of Mankind?

CHELSEA’S ANSWER: Adam ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

TEACHER’S COMMENT:  and Eve – 1/2

CHELSEA’S COMMENT:  but Mom, it says MAN kind, it doesn’t say WOMAN AND MAN

SCOTTY’S COMMENT :  See what you are teaching her.

 LISA:  no comment 

Soccer Camp Notes

Chelsea has been in soccer camp all week.  She has a new coach this year and a few new teammates.  She is having a great time (her words) and I am so happy for her.  Last year was so tough and I’m proud of her for hanging in there even though she hated the entire experience.  All she wanted to do was play and she showed up and put in the time, but saw very little time on the field.  This year has already been night and day different!  She is practicing from 9-3 in the Louisiana heat and comes home happy everyday.  She is remembering why she loves the game.  She loves it so much that she is using tape and/or band-aids to cover the 19 blisters on her feet and ankles!  Yes, 19.  And she has not complained once.

Last night she was asked to play with a high school “super 7″ team that did not have enough players.  She and 3 of her teammates went out and ran circles around some high school girls.  It was fun to watch.  It was also fun to listen to parents on the sidelines talk about the 4 of them like they were superstars.  Because I think they are.  When the game was over I told the parent next to me that the 4 of them were going in to the 7th grade.  Great, proud moment for me.  The girls worked well together and I can’t wait to see what this season holds for them.

Double Dog Dare

1.  Write three notes of encouragement.

2.  Call someone to let them know you are thinking of them.

3.  Pray for someone who hurt you.

4.  Make up your mind before you leave the house not to let your morning drive stress you out. 

5.  Say a prayer of thankfulness.  Do not ask God for anything, but spend time sincerely thanking him for your blessings.

C’mon …. I double dog dare ya !  (let me know how you do) 

What Is That Sound ?

What is that sound, filling the air?  It’s the sound of open G.  That’s right ladies and gentlemen, the unmistakable sound of my little girl with a new clarinet.  “Teach me a song now, Mom,” she pleads.  “Not yet honey, just get comfortable with the instrument and making a sound,” I tell her.  And make sounds she does!  She is actually doing a great job considering she has only be “playing” for 2 days.  She has already asked me to explain how to make first chair in the band!    I hope the excitment continues.  I know I’m excited to have a working clarinet in the house.  I must confess that I put it together in my van right after leaving the music store and made an attempt at a chromatic scale.  Not too bad if I do say so myself. 

Ah, open G.  The beginning of so many possibilities …

Do you hear what I hear ?

If you’ve been reading very long, you know I like music.  I’m not as polished as my friend, Sandy though.  I can’t name many symphonies, but I can appreciate them.  I’m mostly a 70s / 80s music lover.  Some songs can make me really happy. 

Today, I was listening to “classic rock” and heard Big Ol’ Jet Airliner, don’t carry me to far away … and I immediately remembered an old friend who told me she used to think that song said Bingo jet had a light on … another person I know thought Take the Long Way Home said take the wrong way home … For a long time I wondered why Jimmy Buffett spent four lonely days in a Brown Nellie haze - I thought it must have been drug induced.  Once while chaperoning a youth trip, we heard one of the kids singing that famous Eagles tune You can’t hide your la dee das -We still can’t sing that song without laughing.  And then of course, there are church songs you change the words to.  Our God Reigns will always make me giggle as I think of Our Bob Raines - can’t help it!  When Scotty was little, he wondered why Jesus was laying in the gravy.

What are some of the words you hear ?

Teaching or Learning ?

This morning I started teaching Sunday School again.  I guess now it’s called Bible Class.  I always end up learning so much when I have the opportunity to teach.  During the weeks leading up to today, I was trying to be very prepared for this morning’s class.  I knew who the students would be and I knew most of them – big 4th graders – are already “lifers” in the CoC.  Over half of the students in the 4th grade have been in “Bible Class” since “Cradle Roll”.  I wanted to be prepared.  I wanted to make sure the material was challenging enough.  I was over-prepared.  I spent so much time reading and thinking and planning what I was going to say, that I forgot that these kids are exactly that.  Kids.  Next time, I will be better prepared to teach 4th graders and not so focused on the fact that these kids have been in class since the womb.  Lesson learned.

I only had two kids in class today (summer travel time) but I still came away with plenty of information.  Here are some of the other things I learned:  Quinn says his Dad is a genius, Mary Elizabeth says her Dad is the world’s number one putt putt golfer, M E had 7 holes in one (!) during one game of putt-putt, Q’s Dad’s computer screen is as big as my refrigerator, ME played baseball – maybe -because she was quickly corrected and informed that girls don’t play baseball (ouch!  I kept my mouth shut on that one), Q says baseball is way harder than softball (shhh .. don’t tell the AZ womens team), Q says pitching machines are much harder to get a hit off of than coaches.  Q spends his money on games but wishes he could have an MP3 player, ME spends her money on clothes, but wants a dog.  ME & Q both have birthdays in Sept and if I bring doughnuts to class they would each like to have more than 1.    

** edit – the whole reason we talked about baseball in the first place is because Quinn’s coach gave him a new Bible for learning 10 verses.  He was excited to use his new Bible Sunday morning **

I am really looking forward to Sunday mornings …

Birthday, iPod, Hurricane Katrina

Well, I have been absent from this blog for a while.  Last week I spent two and half days in bed sick, celebrated my birthday and drove back and forth to Lafayette for a soccer tournament.  I also spent one and a half days trying to get my stupid cell phone to work.  All of these things combined kept me from sitting down for a long block of time to blog.  As a result, I have a ton of things to say today!

My sister and her husband gave me an iPod for my birthday.  I mentioned to her that I would like to have one and use it while walking on my treadmill.  I already had a list of favorite songs in my mind and was eager to begin.  You should note here that I was eager to begin downloading songs, not walking on the treadmill. 

I consider myself to be pretty quick when it comes to computers, electronics and such.  I saw on the Today Show this morning that Mom’s who are technologically savvy and work and do the whole soccer mom thing are now called “Alpha Moms”.  Well, until last week I would have told you that I was surely and “Alpha Mom”.  After the cell phone, blue tooth, iPod week I had, I must admit that my technology “skills” are lacking in a few areas. 

Many friends told me I would love, love, love my iPod.  And I do.  Now.  The whole download iTunes and sync but don’t disconnect the iPod from the computer while it’s blinking orange.  WHEW!  OK – got the iPod all in sync and started to download.  And what did I download you might ask – sermons!  That’s right people.  I have yet to download any music.  If you know me very well, you might read this and check my temperature.  Enough of the blah, blah, blah and on to the sermons -

I downloaded a few of Jeff’s sermons, Rick Atchley’s series on marriage and John Dobb’s Hurricane message from Tulsa.  Let me tell you I have been tremendously uplifted by all of them.  Jeff’s and Rick’s were great reminders for me and I even learned a few things   John’s was the one that made the most impact though.  His thoughts on Jesus and Hurricane Katrina really affected my thinking on the whole Katrina issue.  I have not blogged about the hurricane very much because I have some very strong opinions about it.  I feel bad about some of those opinions because I was inconvenienced by Hurricane Katrina, but I wasn’t devastated by it like so many others were.  I will write more about Hurricane Katrina and John’s message in my next post.  What I learned from it will take a lot of words.  This post is already too long and I could not do it justice or expect you to keep reading this wordy post today.

I leave you with this.  Jan keeps a book list writes a book review on her post every now and then.  I have decided to start a “recommended listening” list.  So here are the first ones I encourage you to enjoy:  How to Chase and Overtake the Lions I & II , Lord of the Rings , and Jesus Came to My Town in a Hurricane .

And, I recommend this hilarious iPod post by Antique Mommy because I could really relate when I read it.  When you’re done with that one, read this one.

 Have a great weekend!

I Wish You Would Blog

I read plenty of blogs everyday.  I read all of the ones that I link to.  In addition, I click on the links at Dusty’s site, John Dobbs site and Sandy’s site.  I never miss Jeff Jenkins’ site because I love to read “It’s a great day at Shannon Oaks Church!”  His enthusiasm for what he does really shines through.  All of these are great and are fun for me to read.  However, there are some people who do not blog (!) and I would love to read what they have to say.  They are (in no particular order) :

George Myer – he’s a level headed guy.  I appreciate his willingness to rely on scripture even though, in some cases, he has to eat crow because of what the scriptures say.

Christi Grady Marin – She is an awesome wife and Mother.  She has the heart of a servant and she should share some of her insights.

Sara Fergus and Van Chesney – oh the wisdom!  and lessons that could be learned from such beautiful women of God.

Ray Morris – because when I was a teenager I did not appreciate fully what he was trying to teach me.  I would like to opportunity now to learn some things from what he has to say.

Lance Hendrix – because he is so stinkin’ funny!

Eddie Parish – wouldn’t that be a fun one !  If you know Eddie P., you know what I mean!