poems, quotes, memories

(those are for you Lance. i love being married to you. i love the way you love me. and i've probably said it 10x already today, but ... i love you!)

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"Do not for a moment be intimidated by the enemy for it is a sure sign to him, and to you, that you are not believing in your promises. The enemy seeks to do more than just depress you. He seeks you for an ally." [Graham Cooke]

THIS has really been speaking to me lately ... 

"Love and help everyone. But if you let negative people influence you, you won't ever fulfill your destiny. Some people just suck the life out of you. They deserved to be loved but you must set boundaries with these folks. We minister to the poor but you better have people who are full of faith in your inner circle." [Kris Vallotton]

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memories that make me laugh out loud every time i think of them:

1.) my stepdad slipping and falling on the hardwood living room floor when he was running/hurrying to answer the phone. i was upstairs with my mom and we could hear something crash from upstairs and when we went to see what happened we laughed SO HARD. (he was okay and laughing too.)

2.) lance's dad getting kicked in the face with a very forceful kickball in a family game of kickball. it kind of blew his face sideways and he reached for his glasses and grunted, "that hurt." it was at least five minutes before anyone could say a word because everyone was laughing SO HARD.

3.) one time i was making my mom laugh and the phone started ringing. she told me to stop and i don't know if i did or not, but i was laughing really hard too and she hadn't regained full composure because when she pressed the button to answer the phone she paused and apparently couldn't remember what to say because she said, "hi." then she looked at me and lost it. (lesson: do not answer the phone if you are in hysterics! i have no reservations about not picking up my phone. apparently my parents generation feels inclined to answer calls immediately.)

4.) i asked my dad if he knew whitney houston died and he said yes. i asked if he knew how it happened. "no, what?" "she drowned in a bathtub. drug overdose." and the look on his face when he shook his head and turned away and said, "oh my God."

5.) my dad telling the story of when my uncle crapped his pants. (he was in his 20s, not a child.) the way my dad laughs while telling it, combined with his storytelling abilities and imagining my pappy's face/role in the story ... gets me every time!

6.) the story of my mom at small group talking/listening to some woman beside her that she had been in the same small group with for months, and later the woman piped in during the group discussion time, "it's like i was saying to judy" and motions toward my mom. my mom's name is CHERYL. NOT JUDY. there was no other judy in the room. the face my mom made when telling me this story is probably what made it so funny. how do you get judy out of cheryl?! if you are THAT bad with names, you need to reevaluate your life and priorities, or at least learn to use fillers like "girl" and "man" at appropriate times to hide your lack of class, manners and respect for people.

7.) one time we stopped at a mcdonalds in the city, i think for my dad to use the restroom and to get milkshakes. we never got the milkshakes because when colby and i were at the back of the line when my dad came tearing up to  where we were saying, "come on let's get out of here." "wait dad, i want-" "we'll get it somewhere else! come on! let's go!" and we rushed out of there and tore out of that parking lot in his truck wondering what was happening and if perhaps the police would soon be following us depending what we were peeling away from. well, when my dad calmed down to explain himself a block or two later, he told us that he went into the bathroom and opened the (unlocked) door and there was a homeless man on the toilet and he started screaming.

family humor runs deep - one of the many, many things that makes family so special. whether we're family or not, maybe you got a laugh out of one of those stories. :) 
have a happy weekend! know that you are loved and the best is yet to come! 

popcorn, CDD's, sunburn & joy

chelsea: "i'm thinking about making popcorn, what do you think?" 
lance: "i would eat some popcorn." 
chelsea: "popcorn is like, irresistible, you can't help but eat some if it's there ..." 
lance: "so basically i am a synonym for popcorn." 
chelsea: "i was just going to say that if i was a food i would be popcorn!"

... sometimes we are scary weird ALIKE.

then we watched pitch perfect, which is still one of my current favorite movies. so funny. when lance came home from work yesterday he surprised me with that movie and flowers. which was super sweet and helped with the sting of getting rejected from more jobs yesterday. i apply for jobs here like it is my job, and i am so frustrated with it.

it was only one job rejection yesterday, and it was for a bank. a bank is kind of an odd thing for me to be applying for anyway, because when i created the online log-in account to apply for the job, one of the security questions i used was: "what was your least favorite subject in school?" and my answer was "math." maybe that was a clever secret test and disqualified me immediately.

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last night i was talking to my dad about buying a TV, among other things.

dad: "yeah that's a good idea, get a nice one you can play CDD's in or whatever you call them. i had a radio that played CDD's or whatever they are, but it broke ..."

i am not opposed to referring to CD's and DVD's as CDD's from now on in honor of this conversation.

on a more serious note we were talking about memory. Dad said i have a good memory, and i said i got it from him. he remembers everything and tells great stories. he said he guesses. then, "some things i would better forget. that's the thing about memory, it can be good or bad." how true.

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 on saturday lance and i were at the lake beach at callaway gardens. beautiful place and beautiful weather. very sunny. asked lance if he wanted sunscreen. he said no because he didn't feel sun. hmm. i could sure feel that i was getting sun, but i wasn't going to argue. mostly because sunscreen is annoying. eventually we both put sunscreen on, but by then it was probably 4:30 p.m. and we soon left.

so we both got burnt. the difference between us (besides our skin tones, ahem) is that i was not surprised, but when lance was looking in the mirror he kept exclaiming, "i can't believe this! i can't believe how burnt i got!" 

i am laughing right now just thinking about it. i had to convince him that putting aloe on would help it go away faster. he agreed and it worked. (and i am only including this detail for future reference so i can remind him of the time i was right about aloe.)

i had lance put lotion on my back where i got burnt and he said, "i hope you know what a sacrifice this is for me." i thought he was joking, because in my mind rubbing lotion on your wife's body would be an easy, really good thing. "yeah i bet babe ... wait are you being serious?" "yeah, i hate lotion and now it's all over my hands." i forgot how much he hates lotion. but if that is the biggest sacrifice you have to make in this marriage i think you're set.

yesterday i noticed lance's skin was peeling as soon as he got home. but a few hours later HE noticed. "am i peeling? i'm peeling! i can't believe this ... i can't believe i'm peeling!"

i could not stop laughing, but he said, "babe, ya gotta understand ..."

still laughing: "oh boy. anytime you say 'babe, ya gotta understand' i know i'm in for an interesting lecture."

lance has prefaced some mildly ridiculous lectures with that phrase in the past. but he went on to say that most guys think of themselves as invincible, so when something happens - be it sunburn, injury, whatever - it is a bit of a shock. hmm. that actually makes complete sense and is good to know. time to start taking my 'babe, ya gotta understand' lectures more seriously.

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my latest chalkboard design for our dining room. i love making these. chalkboards are such a fun trend, and a cheap and forgiving art form. this verse that stuck out to me this week at the beth moore study of daniel i'm doing (and loving!) at church. that verse and this quote...

"... one of the most powerful mood changers God had ever taught me was to open up my mouth and say, "I choose joy. I may not feel it, but God has appropriated it and I CHOOSE it." [Beth Moore]

make yourself available

this is 55 minutes but worth a listen if you choose to make time: passioncity church: watch. three women share their stories and how God connected them - basically through each one being obedient and choosing to make themselves available.

pastor louie giglio starts out the message before the women share their stories, and he says that while we tend to think of generosity as wealth, that isn't what it always has to be. because not everyone is in a place where that's what they have to be generous with. generosity is about being available. make what you do have available to God and miracles happen.

when jesus fed the crowd of 5,000 with five loaves of bread and two fish, he did not ask the disciples, "what do you wish you had to give to these people?" he didn't focus on what they didn't have. he took what they did have and he used it. whatever you have, make that available to God!

"all of us are the beneficiaries of the generosity of God, because Jesus made Himself available. and because of that, we can be generous and say, 'i want to make myself available.'" [louie giglio]

 in case you don't have a chance to listen to the podcast, here's the gist: adria, a 17-year-old girl decided to answer the nudging of the Holy Spirit to get involved at her church and volunteer in the kids ministry. one day a little seven-year-old girl catches her eye. she instantly feels a connection to her. she doesn't know why. weeks later the little girl is back and she is talking to her, asking what she did that weekend.

"my family went to a hotel and swam in the pool."
"oh fun. what do your parents do?"
"well my mom doesn't have a job and my dad used to work, but he died last year."

adria told her that when she was seven years old, her dad died too. she had tears in her eyes and was almost expecting a sentimental moment, but the little girl just said: "i really hate when that happens." and adria fought back tears and laughter and said, "i really hate when that happens too."

God opened Adria's heart to deal with some things she hadn't. she realized: this is why your pain has a purpose. this is why 10 years later, my pain has opened the door to help others. but her pain has opened the door for my healing too. she sensed God as her father saying: i carried you all the way to where you are now, even sharing your story.

the little girl had been visiting the church with her mom, courtney, whose young husband was killed tragically last year. he had been a worship pastor at a different church. they had three small children.

courtney didn't know why her daughter looked so fulfilled that day when she picked her up (her daughter hadn't even wanted to go to that church that day because she didn't have friends there) but she was deeply thankful that God had answered her prayers for her kids hearts to be filled that day.

a few weeks later courtney was at a bible study with women from that church and someone said, "did you hear about adria?" courtney hadn't, so she filled her in about adria having gone through a very similar tragedy in her own family and reaching out to her daughter.

courtney was blown away. and blown away even more when she met adria and found out her dad had been killed on the same date as her husband, just 10 years earlier.

healing was happening in courtney's heart. she was in awe of how God is mindful of us, even to the details! that divine setup happened because of someone else who answered a nudging of the Holy Spirit in their heart.

kerri heard about courtney's husband's death and was devastated for her. she did not know her, but kerri and her husband had three kids about the same age, and her husband was a worship leader too. she couldn't stop thinking about it and finally felt like she should invite her to an event at the church. kerri didn't feel like she had anything to offer, but she knew Jesus would be at the event and that's really the best "thing" you can give anyone.

she had trouble finding an email address to get in touch with courtney and almost gave up - partially out of doubt, fear and intimidation - but finally did it. she was surprised when she heard back from courtney. they met and kerri hadn't planned to do anything else, but during the service she told courtney: "God is nearer to you now than He has ever been. His heart is for widows and for orphans. His heart is for YOU."

courtney was blown away again - she had just come off the hardest week yet, because it had been their first christmas without the love of her life and her kids dad. she was feeling like God had deserted her. but He hadn't. she has so many powerful things to say in the podcast about how much she has learned to trust God to pick up ALL the broken pieces and redeem them.

SO AMAZING! God is faithful and He is awesome!

don't stop with good intentions, follow through.

don't feel like it has to be a BIG thing. think about the things that have stuck with you or changed you or encouraged you most - it probably wasn't something huge. sometimes it is the "smallest" comment or compliment or prayer.

choose to make yourself available. give the money, write the card, send the text or email or pick up the phone ... just do whatever it is that the Spirit is nudging you to do. be generous, be available, be you and be blessed!

"The best thing you can do right now is to finish what you started last year and not let those good intentions grow stale." [1 corinthians 8:11]

p.s. wow, i clearly have trouble paring something down to "the gist," sorry it took so long! i just love stories and details.

recently read for 6.5.13

Gone Girl 
by Gillian Flynn

This book. It was my first time reading a mystery, crime, suspense thriller (I don't think the Babysitter's Club Mystery edition or Boxcar Children count) and it will probably be my last. I read it in about two days because I couldn't put it down. Excellent writing and crazy plot about a couple, how they meet and get married, and the husband gets accused of murdering the wife. I HATED the ending! A perfect book club book, because I was desperate to talk to anyone else who has read this book to hear what they thought of the ending. I was on a 55 person wait list at the library for this. (And I thought 15 people for the Hunger Games series was bad!)

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?

By Mindy Kaling

Very funny book. But I read it after I read Tina Fey's Bossypants (THE BEST!), so I was slightly disappointed. Mindy Kaling is a pretty amazing person -albeit overbearing and annoying at moments. I wasn't so sure about The Mindy Show during its first season, but this season was hilarious.

Audrey Hepburn, An Elegant Spirit 
by Sean Hepburn Ferrar

Really more of a coffee table book with great pictures, because the writing was not worth reading. (Unless you are an Audrey-addict, but that's not me.) Her son didn't get into any knitty-gritty or good stories - the real stuff I like to hear about people's lives. It was interesting to learn about how life was for a movie star in that era, and to read about her work with Unicef - something I had no idea she was so involved with.

Let's Pretend This Never Happened 
by Jenny Lawson
She can be hilarious but she can also be too crude for my liking, so I'll admit I skipped a few chapters. Her childhood stories from life in Texas with her taxidermist dad are hilarious, but others are almost too hard to believe.

I Feel Bad About My Neck, And Other Thoughts On Being A Woman
by Nora Ephron
I am probably too young to read this. But I love Nora Ephron's movies (Sleepless in Seattle, You've Got Mail, When Harry Met Sally, Julie and Julia) and had been wanting to read something written by her for awhile, so when this was in Goodwill's bargain bin for a quarter, how could I resist? She's a great writer, I just found the content dull.

Deliver Us From Evil

by Ravi Zacharias

A MUST READ. One of the best books I have ever read. If you ever find yourself looking at current events in today's world or wondering about future generations or asking, "What is wrong with people?!" This book gets to the root of the answer to that question. Zacharias is BRILLIANT. In this book he lays out historic similarities to the disintegration of great cultures.  He outlines where the United States/west/world is headed and what to do about it. The stories he tells are so intriguing, and the way his mind works and is able to explain things to readers is awesome. I practically underlined and starred the entire book! READ IT. (And don't let the quirky cover fool you, this is grade-A writing and content.)

Any thoughts to share on these books or on what you're currently reading? What should I add to my summer reading list or steer clear of?