Midwestern roadtrip

If those words don't stir up uncontrollable excitement, I don't know what does.
Thursday morning, I left my house and Marco and headed for the great state of Iowa, where there are apparently "Fields of Opportunity". Google Maps told me that it would take about 11 hours and 33 minutes. They were pretty much on the money with that estimate.
So I drove through Oklahoma, and then onto Kansas. I realized that I would be passing through the state capital in Topeka. Naturally, I had to take a picture. I mean, I was a history major in college!
Here is the capitol building:
And then to add to my love of history, I saw a sign leading me to the courthouse where Brown vs. Board occurred. What an important part of the Civil Rights Movement! So, here is where all of that went down:

Unfortunately, that was the end of fun little sites to see along the way. I went from Kansas, to Nebraska, then to Iowa. The rest of the trip looked a lot like this:
The whole point of this journey was to see one of my best friends, Mindy, get hitched. I was also the guestbook attendant so my presence was absolutely essential..haha. When I arrived in Sioux City, Iowa, it became clear why Mindy always called her hometown 'The Sewer'. Upon entering the town, you are hit with an overwhelming smell that I learned was the burning of animal refuse. Yummy.
But one cool thing about Sioux City is that it's on the border of Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota. You can drive to any of those three states literally within a couple of minutes. We stayed the night in South Dakota. Who would have thought I would ever be in South Dakota?!?!?!

Back to the wedding....
Mindy was probably the tiniest little bride I've ever seen. She is one of those naturally size-zero people that we all love to hate (: But anyway, she looked so perfect in her dress and was just beaming. I was able to snag one quick picture with her at the reception. Please excuse my lifeless follicles. I was suffering from South Dakota-flat-hair-syndrome.
Here is a kinda blurry picture with Mindy, her niece Brittney, and her new husband Chris!

Because most of my college friends live all over the country and world, I didn't know a lot of people at the wedding. One of the biggest surprises was that my friend, Ian, made the trip from Florida. Ian was a baseball player at ORU who came in as a freshman when we were sophomores. He and Mindy became great friends through the years (and they even dated for a week or two). Ian was pretty much always there...even when we would have girls' nights. He is all grown up now and has a wife of his own. We got to hang out and talk before the wedding and it was really great to catch up .
This is Ian with one of Mindy's nieces, Ahnah. She has always loved Ian!!!
After dinner and dancing, Mindy and Chris were sent away with sparklers. This is the best my camera could do.
Congratulations to The Hemmelmans!!! They will be starting their new life in D.C.--no more Sewer!!

Because I spent a total of 24 hours in the car--partly due to an accidental jaunt to Missouri (oops!!!), there was a lot of time to think.
Here are some observations from the road.
**Midwesterners are seriously the nicest people I have ever encountered.
**The Kansas Dept. of Tourism needs to come up with a better slogan than, "Kansas: It's not as
bad as you think"
**South Dakota people really sound like the people in 'Fargo' (yes, I realize that is N. Dakota, but
it's pretty darn close!!)
**There's not a lot to do in South Dakota unless you have something in common with Kenny
Rogers
**Your foot gets really sore and cramped when there is no cruise control.
**I will hire childcare for my wedding so that parents without better sense won't stay in the
sanctuary with screaming children.
**I never want to live in Iowa. Ever. Even if Pete Sampras asked me to move there with him.
**The Chicken Dance is probably the worst song imposed on mankind.
**I got the best news ever from a friend right before the ceremony which I will share in a later
post. Seriously, I am so excited about this!!!

And finally, praise God that The Escort made the trip to Iowa and back. That was quite a miracle!!!!

Fullness of Joy

After months of anticipation, July 15th finally came around. Twas the night of the Hillsong United Concert in Houston. Words cannot describe just how amazing it was. (I'll post some pictures and get into the details of our night on a different post.)

As we sang song after song, God's presence was so evidently in that arena. I haven't jumped up and down and clapped so much since college. And at the end of the night, my voice was worn and a bit wobbly from singing at the top of my lungs. There have been only a few times where I have felt the Holy Spirit move in such a powerful way. As the night progressed, I was just wishing that it was possible to stop time and just bask in His glory. But it is not practical to sing songs every second of every day. And sadly, Joel Houston is now back in Australia and unavailable to sing to me every waking moment (:

For some time now I have been trying to figure out how we can stay in His presence "when the music fades" (thank you Matt Redman). It is amazing to me how much peace and clarity comes as a result of us just worshiping God and telling Him how much we love Him. Maybe it's because we expect the Lord to meet with us when we are singing His praises. Our eyes are fixed solely on the Lord and we are ready to receive from Him. What if we expected him to meet with us during our day to day activities?

So how can we worship the Lord as a lifestyle? I think we can do that by obeying the Lord's commandment for us to love the Lord will all of our heart, all of our soul, and all of our mind. Jesus says in John 14:12 that "Whoever has my commands and obeys them is the one who loves me. My Father will love him who loves me, and I too will love him and show myself to him."

We were created to worship. Worship strips away the layers of our heart to reveal what is really there. Being in His presence prepares us to hear what He is asking of us and to respond to His call. It brings us to the place of intimacy with the Lord that satisfies the longings in our hearts, fills every void, and brings joy. Worship is living a life of surrender and obedience to the revealed word of God. I pray that we can learn to continually seek Jesus' face, get into His presence, and grow in knowledge and love of our Lord. For there will be Fullness of Joy.

The Escort

The Escort was a lovely Christmas present that my folks gave to me after my first semester of college. I could hardly believe that I had my very own vehicle. There have been a lot of memories of which The Escort was a part. Thanksgiving 1999 trip, Colorado in the summers, etc.

Well, like everything else in life, the Escort is getting older. Soon, it will be nine years old. Yes, I find myself entertaining thoughts about new vehicles. But until I get a roommate or two, I need it to hang in there. I especially need it to make it to Iowa and back for Mindy's wedding.

Thursday, I'll hop in the Escort and hope that it will make it across several states just one last time. This could be the Escort's last big trip. Let's all pray that it makes it there and back without incident!

Lead Me to the Cross

Last week's message at church was about remembering the sacrifice that Jesus made for us. We discussed it further at home group and I have been trying to find ways that I can constantly remember.

I know I talk a lot about Hillsong United, but please indulge me once more. (Well, I am sure there will be a post after this weekend's concert so maybe two more times ;)

There is an amazing and powerful song called "Lead Me to the Cross" that just kind of sums up the focus of this past week or so.
Here are the words, but I highly suggest you go and listen to it on iTunes.


Lead Me to the Cross

Savior I come
Quiet my soul remember
Redemptions hill
Where Your blood was spilled
For my ransom
Everything I once held dear
I count it all as loss

Lead me to the cross
Where Your love poured out
Bring me to my knees
Lord I lay me down
Rid me of myself
I belong to You
O Lead me
Lead me to the cross

You were as I
Tempted and tried human
The word became flesh
Bore my sin and death
Now you're risen

To your heart
To your heart
Lead me to your heart
Lead me to your heart

East Texas

Last weekend I had the opportunity to get-away for a couple of days in East Texas. Michelle's parents have this AMAZING log cabin and a ton of land outside of Palestine. It was awesome!!!
There was lots of 4-wheelin', great food, American Idol Karaoke, conversations on the porch, and much, much more.
It was really one of the best weekends I've had in a while. And it was so peaceful and beautiful out there that I forgot for moment I was in Texas.


The gang when we first arrived.....Candace and me throwing gang signs. I don't think I'm a natural "thug"
View from the porch
Gettin' ready to canoe in the beautiful lake (:
Row, row, row your boat
Danielle's amazing rendition of "She Bangs"
Dance Party!!!
Brett and me in our matching tshirts before they got destroyed by the mud
4 wheelers....
John and Brett really bonded

What a fun weekend!! Thank you Judy family for being so hospitable (:

Psalm 15

I have been reading the Psalms a lot this summer. The Lord just keeps bringing me back to them and I have been so encouraged by David's honesty. And I completely relate to the emotional roller-coaster that he seems to be riding.

One passage in particular has challenged me lately:
Psalm 15
1 Who may worship in your sanctuary, LORD?
Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?
2 Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right,
speaking the truth from sincere hearts.
3 Those who refuse to gossip
or harm their neighbors
or speak evil of their friends.
4 Those who despise flagrant sinners,
and honor the faithful followers of the LORD,
and keep their promises even when it hurts.
5 Those who lend money without charging interest,
and who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent.
Such people will stand firm forever.


I have quite a ways to go but what a great picture of holiness. The more we strive to know and love Jesus, the easier these things will be. Seems simple enough, but I always fall short. Jesus, help me to love you more!!

Question: What do solving equations and the Civil War have in common?

Answer: I will be teaching about both of these next year! Yes, 8th grade Math as well as U.S. History--Colonization to Reconstruction. These two subjects are at completely different ends of the spectrum...but I am excited! My degree is actually in Secondary History Education which means that I took A LOT of history classes in college. I mean, I even took an entire class on the Reformation. Crazy! My first three years of teaching were in social studies...two years of Freshman World Geo. and one tortuous year of Texas History. So, it is nice that I will get to use my degree and all of those college hours for something I love--U.S. History!!!!

My love for U.S. History began in 8th grade when I entered Mrs. Everett's classroom. She was simply phenomenal. I loved how she knew all of the little fun facts that the textbooks left out. I loved how she made the stories come to life. I loved how she loved her job! (And I thought it was funny that she had a life-size poster of Mel Gibson inside of her cabinets. This reminds me of when I put Pete Sampras's 'Got Milk' add inside of my school locker in high school...oh, those were the days).

Anyway, Mrs. Everett made such an impact on me that I wanted to be just like her. So I went to college and did just that. I would run through the dorms at night in my "Gettysburg" t-shirt and tell all of my friends interesting factoids. Now, I will be getting the chance to live out a dream that I've had since I was 14 years old. A dream I had almost forgotten and given up on. The timing couldn't be better and I am so grateful for God's faithfulness.

Some of my close friends know that on my birthday last September, I felt that this was going to be my own "Year of Jubilee". This just basically meant that I felt that God was going to fulfill some very specific desires that I've had for a long time (you can take a stab as to what you think those are!). But as this 27th year is coming to an end, I'm realizing that He has given me so much these last 10 months: a house, a solid group of friends, and now a chance to live out a dream I've had for almost 14 years. It is easy to get wrapped-up in ourselves, compare our haves and have-nots with others, and think we've been passed-over. But today I was reminded of a forgotten dream and am getting a chance to fulfill it. Thank you Jesus!!!

R.O.U.S. 's

It seems I have some new houseguests who are over-staying their welcome. The other day I snapped this picture in my backyard:
Some of you might think that rabbits are cute. I guess I used to think they had a little bit of cuteness to them once upon a time. That was, until I learned that they were really RODENTS!!!! Yuck!!!
Anyway, you know what they say about rabbits and their multiplication skills. Here is what I found just a few days later:
They are growing!!! And in my backyard!!! I am a little freaked out by the rabbits living here and don't know what to do about it. Even though I don't care for them, I wish them no harm. However, it would be great if they would just hop along and find a new home to accommodate their growing family.


**Bonus points to anyone who can reference where I got the title of this blog...ha!