God Makes Surprise Visit To Local Church

Thanks be to theOnion.com (and Hilary) for this one:

FAYETTEVILLE, NC—Parishioners at the First Presbyterian Church were left stunned and in awe of His glory Sunday, when the Lord God Almighty dropped by their 11 a.m. service unannounced.

Our Father, the Almighty God, popped His all-powerful head into First Presbyterian Church Sunday.

Interrupting Pastor Terry Pridgen's sermon on His unending mercy, God appeared suddenly before His flock as an intense beam of white light, instantly dispersing the earthly forms of those seated in the first two pews. Sources said the remaining congregants had to avert their eyes from their Creator, whose booming celestial voice overwhelmed their worldly senses and humbled their hearts as He politely apologized for not calling first.

"I AM the God of Abraham, the LORD MOST HIGH, who brought you forth from the bondage of Egypt," God said unto church members, many of whom cowered in reverent fear of Him. "Thought I'd just pop in and see how things were going. Please, pretend like I'm not even here."
The Supreme Being then thanked the choir for its "lovely introduction" and took a seat to the right of the altar.

According to wholly repentant witnesses, who were scarcely able to look upon the Alpha and Omega, much less conceive of the enormity of His Might, God did not speak again for the entirety of the service, but was seen nodding approvingly during the Nicene Creed.
Attendees reportedly did not ask the One Who Made Them Flesh why He had chosen to visit their small parish, though some suspected the church's new electric organ might have had something to do with it.

"I don't think anyone knew He was coming," said churchgoer Ron Stiehl, adding that, for once, he was happy his wife dragged him to church. "At least it seemed that way when He started walking toward us and everyone was yelling their heads off like it was Judgment Day."
"Turns out the King of Kings was just making the rounds," Stiehl continued. "I thought He'd be taller."

While God did not reveal unto man a reason for His visit—nor did He, in His great wisdom, offer to pay for the six stained-glass windows that shattered from the awesome power of His presence—the Almighty sat among His followers for the last 35 minutes of the Sunday service, as well as the free coffee and pastries that followed.

Sources said that Our Father sat alone eating two cinnamon-sugar doughnuts, and was approached only once, when 5-year-old Jeremy Pacheco tried to hug the omnipotent deity. The boy's parents immediately yanked him away.

The other 112 church members avoided God entirely, and reacted to His continued stay with a mix of astonishment, confusion, fearful reverence, and the sublime inner peace that comes with the knowledge of a power greater than oneself.

"I wanted to ask the Lord what heaven is like, and if my mother is there, but I wasn't sure if it's still considered taking His name in vain when you address Him directly," Wendy Alston said. "And I didn't dare draw attention to myself with two teenagers wearing blue jeans to church. I could barely look at Him, I was so ashamed."

"Oh dear God," said 72-year-old church volunteer Michael Sharpe, completely enraptured by the materialization of the One True Creator before his very eyes. "Oh, dear God in heaven."
Since the Almighty's decision to stop by the First Presbyterian Church, the theological world has been thrown into chaos. Presbyterian leaders said God's appearance was indisputable proof that their denomination is the one true faith, but afternoon sightings of the Lord at two other Fayetteville churches, as well as one synagogue, have cast doubt on that theory.

"God said He just wanted to see what we were up to," Pastor Pridgen said. "This is His house, after all. He can drop in whenever He wants."

"Although, you'd think an all-knowing deity unbound by time and space would be able to give us some warning so we could at least put a bulletin in the church newsletter," the pastor added.
"Not that I'm complaining or anything. All praise be to God. Is He still hanging around the parking lot?"

um…well. As per custom with the Onion, the truth—wrapped as it may be in witty, sarcastic mock journalism—still makes a glaringly blatant appearance. This actually humbles my heart quite a bit. How often do we act this way towards the Almighty, as though He doesn’t belong in our pitiful “worship services”? As though he is UNINVITED?)

If you were coming in the fall,
I'd brush the summer by
With half a smile and half a spurn,
As housewives do a fly.

If I could see you in a year,
I'd wind the months in balls,
And put them each in separate drawers,
Until their time befalls.

If only centuries delayed,
I'd count them on my hand,
Subtracting till my fingers dropped
Into Van Diemen's land.

If certain, when this life was out,
That yours and mine should be,
I'd toss it yonder like a rind,
And taste eternity.

But now, all ignorant of the length
Of time's uncertain wing,
It goads me, like the goblin bee,
That will not state its sting.

- Emily Dickinson -

i've always loved this poem...
i think in the past every time ive come across it ive had someone in my life i could kind of/sort of apply it to, whether it be a boyfriend (rare) or the latest crush-o-the-month (much more common).
its really very odd to now have absolutely, 100%, not-even-a-glimmer of an applicable someone.....and to be so strangely ok with that.i've always loved this poem...
i think in the past every time ive come across it ive had someone in my life i could kind of/sort of apply it to.
its really very odd to have absolutely, 100%, not-even-a-glimmer of it.....and to be so strangely ok with that.

here's another good one:

Heart, we will forget him!
You an I, tonight!
You may forget the warmth he gave,
I will forget the light.

When you have done, pray tell me
That I my thoughts may dim;
Haste! lest while you're lagging.
I may remember him!

- Emily Dickinson -

again, absolutely no one to apply it to, but it's a beautiful piece of poetry, is it not?

i just realized i know someone in the dc area who has access to lights and softboxes and all kinds of photography toys.
so we're gonna start shooting stuff.
im EXCITED.
:-D

last night was poker night.
Josh won (of course) but both my roommates showed some IMPRESSIVE skills and held on til the bitter end.
i was like the 2nd person to go out. out of like 10 people.
HA! oh well. i bought the prize, so it would have been silly to win anyway.



our fish (well, Carrie's fish), Ruby, died last night trying to escape her bowl.
poor thing.
i do find it a bit ironic though, considering the day....




speaking of which, JESUS ROSE TODAY.
well, not TODAY today. but, you know...
2000 years ago today
(by the way, how long before we start changing that date and saying like "2009 years ago" or something?
ive been hearing "2000 years" for the past 26...shouldnt that number change eventually?)

but yes, anyway....i am eternally greatful for the gift of His grace.
i am a dirty rotten sinner and am ALL too aware of it. but HIS grace and HIS strength and HIS blood are enough to cover me
i am so undeserving, Jesus....
but i love you all the more because of that.

yep.

LOVE this.





but here's something i dont love: ANTS. bah!
(i also dont love working one-day trips on a sunday.)

"this Book will keep you from sin

...or sin will keep you from this Book."

- Vance Havner -

Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.
But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.

Psalm 1:1-2

FEED ON THE WORD OF GOD
and pay attention to what you hear!

also, live in the fear of God!!!

But with you there is forgiveness;
therefore you are to be feared.

Psalm 130:4

do you realize who He IS??

i feel like everything becomes monotonous to me eventually--every hobby, every thrill, every relationship, every job.
eventually, i lose interest.
eventually, i become dissatisfied.
and i hate being dissatisfied.
but more often than not, that's where i am.
i thrive on constant newness.

what does that mean i'm supposed to do with my life then?
am i doomed to wander in endless tedium and restlessness?

life as it is now leaves me too much time on my hands.
too much time to think, to dwell on my current situations, be inside my own head, entirely internally focused,
thereby increasing my desperation for something more than this.
is the solitary life unhealthy for me, i wonder? do i need the distraction and stimulation of one or more people to keep me going?
"life"--what it's supposed to be, in my opinion--is more exciting than this.
it demands more of my attention, it demands action.
"life" means more things should be going on--more events, more projects, more things i HAVE to or NEED to do, not just WANT to do
(because i am a horrible self motivator, and things based solely on my desire to do them quickly go by the wayside...
i rapidly lose interest, even in things i love)
"life" means busy-ness, action, excitement, alleviation of boredom, thrills, wonder, purpose.


my current "life" is a mindless wandering in a waiting room disguised as a scintillating adventure.
really it's just a quasi-predictable to and fro shuffle, filled with crossword puzzles, coffee,
mindless petty conversation, and books filled with OTHER people's adventures.

i want a great story.
i want more ELEMENTS of story in my life...more elements of plot.
i want foreshadowing, inciting force, conflict, rising action, crisis, climax, falling action, resolution
over and over and over again.

basically i just want to live in a really good movie.
i want an elaborate plot filled with constant surprise and unpredictability.

maybe i need to become an actress.
HA!
oh the horror...




dear sweet Jesus, reveal your grand story for my life
cause i'm growing increasingly restless in the waiting.

Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,

yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.

The Sovereign LORD is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to go on the heights.

Habakkuk 3:17-19

this is my heart tonight.

and i may not be one for the CCM, but this chorus is just too dead on right now:

as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain,
"I'm with you"
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away.

And I'll praise you in this storm
and I will lift my hands
for You are who You are
no matter where I am
and every tear I've cried
You hold in your hand
You never left my side
and though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

hey so is it true that guys, for the most part, prefer longer hair on girls?

if youre a guy, please share your thoughts.
if youre a girl, well...feel free to speculate.

i must say, if this IS true, then i find it horribly and wonderfully ironic that i look way better with short hair.
ha!
my life is just full of ironies these days...

love it :-)

its official.
i was right.
damn.



Jesus be glorified.
im here for You and You alone, not for...that.
dont let me forget it, ok?
i love You.

be enough.

sometimes i hate being so intuitive.

its a curse. seriously. ugh.


but whatever.
its all for the best. let it be, let it be, let it be.

do you ever just want to scrap your current life and start over?

sometimes i just get so frustrated with the way things are playing out.... i wish i had some sort of control over it, but of course i don't.
i mean, don't get me wrong... on the whole, life is actually pretty good right now
(well, apart from the whole money thing--namely being that i don't have any)
but all it takes is one little hiccup. actually, just one little GLIMMER of the POSSIBILITY of a hiccup, and suddenly that's all i can think about.
i hate that.

but i'm gonna try to look at the upside and ignore that possibly-crummy part.
cause i really just shouldn't care.
maybe that's what's bothering me--the fact that i care at all.
i'm completely dedicated to not caring about that particular aspect of life.
and yet, here i am, going against everything i've been adamantly against and WANTING something i shouldn't want.
that i DON'T want.

what am i doing?
gosh i'm such a fool...


in other wholly unrelated news,
i'm going gluten free for lent
HA!
no but seriously, i am.
a friend of mine already cant have gluten, so we're used to taking that into consideration when we have parties and whatnot
and now my mom's bein' told by her doc to cut it out of her diet too
so i figure...what better time to give it a whirl and see what that life would be like?

granted, with my job i have a feeling its going to be STINKIN' HARD.
but its only 40 days (less now, actually, since i had a wedding to go to first), and i've been through worse.

so... yeah.
gluten deprivation begins NOW!!


oh yes, and for the first time ever
i get to play Beulah (my guitar, for those of you not keeping up) tomorrow at church.
just for one song that i'm leading, but still.
its thrilling.
and frankly, overwhelmingly terrifying.


yep.

I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed,
but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.

- Philippians 1:20 -

yesterday had all the makings of being a very bad day:
3 hours of sleep, a phone call from work at 3:38am assigning me a check-in at 7:12am,
a 4 hour flight out to Denver with a really long delay before we even took off...which made our day feel exceptionally long before it ever even started,
..and then we mis-connected (which was actually the fun part) due to the delay.

awesome.

so typically on such days my attitude would be less than "peachy"
but before it all began--before i even set foot in the airport, actually--i prayed.
i prayed that grace and love would pour out in every action and word , and that HIS name would be glorified through it all.
and i smiled--one big determined grin that declared "i AM going to be happy today. JOY IS NOT CONTINGENT ON MY CIRCUMSTANCES!"

and you know what?
it turned out to be a pretty great day.
i mean, nothing about the day itself stood out as particularly fantastic
but my ATTITUDE....well, my attitude was pretty stinkin' grand.
when i smiled and said "good morning", "how are you?", "thank you" and "have a nice day", i meant it.
i CARED.
i had JOY.


God is so stupendously sweet.

you want funny? here's funny:




and classically awesome:

RCC Baptisms Winter 2009 from matt morgan on Vimeo.



what a great night :-D

watch this

and read this (directly quoted from my pal Parker's blog):

GOOD GRIEF // Anyone paying attention to what is going on in Washington ? Massive spending and government expansion
in the name of stimulating the economy, to the depressing tune of $825 BILLION. Do we have that money available? Will it work? This is a spending bill, not a stimulus bill.
Broken down, only twelve cents of ever dollar maybe could be argued is going towards something with stimulative effect. It's chock-full of non-solution spending.
For instance, for every $1 in tax relief spent for small businesses, the current plan will spend over $12 buying new alternative-energy cars for the federal government.
This is is more of the same, but worse. Can we stop royally screwing things up for our kids and grandkids?

ECONOMIC BASICS // Ok, so the government tires to pump money in to the economy to stimulate it. (basically from a liberal philosophy, but Bush did it too.)
Ok, where does this money come from? Congress does not have a vault of trillions waiting to be distributed. Therefore, every dollar Congress "injects" into the economy
must first be taxed or borrowed out of the economy. No new wealth is created, its just moved around by the government. The government can create new spending power
by printing more money, HOWEVER, this causes inflation and disastrous damage to the value of our dollar and we've done plenty of that. PLEASE, NO MORE.

The economy is revved up by the creation of new wealth -- AMERICANS WORKING AND EARNING NEW MONEY i.e. JOBS. Good lasting American jobs are best created
by the free enterprises of American businessmen and women, not the government. Relieving tax burden helps businesses afford to make new ventures, expand, and hire new employees,
instead of laying them off. How can the government best contribute to creating and sustaining jobs and therefore stimulate the economy? CUT TAXES. Please, President Obama,
that would be real and effective change. Yesterday, Obama actually sounded like Reagan:

"In the end, the answer to our economic troubles rests less in my hands or in the hands of our legislators than it does with America's workers and the businesses that employ them.
They are the ones whose efforts and ideas will determine our economic destiny just as they always have, for in the end it's businesses -- large and small -- that generate the jobs,
provide the salaries, and serve as the foundation on which the American people's lives and dreams depend. All we can do, those of us here in Washington,
is to help create a favorable climate in which workers can prosper, businesses can thrive, and our economy can grow."

YES!! BUT THE PROBLEM IS THIS: THE BILL HE'S PUSHING DOES NOT WALK-THE-WALK OF THAT STATEMENT!
THIS on the other hand, makes brilliant sense, and it is truly "bi-partisan" as President Obama claims to care about.
[CONTRIBUTING LINKS: Heritage Foundation // Congressman Eric Cantor video + blog post, thanks, Candace, for the GB video link]

WHAT I HATE ABOUT WINTER :



static.

i wrote things.
on my other blog.
but i dont know who reads this one...
so i dont want to write them here.

yeah.

so....our lights are still up. yep.
and they're goin' nowhere fast


(my roommate plays the drums. the guitars are mine.)

(this is our living room.)

(oh yes, and we rock.)








this little guy also rocks.

How To Practice Being a Flight Attendant

Go to a resale store and find an old, navy suit that an army sergeant might have worn. Add a white shirt and a tie. Wear that same outfit for three consecutive days.

Go to an airport and watch airplanes take off for several hours. Pretend you are standing-by hoping to get a seat on one of them and they are all full. Go home. Return to the airport the very next day and do the same thing again.

Fill several large boxes with rocks. Lift them over your head and place them on the top shelf of a closet. Violently shove as many heavy items into the leftover space as you can without anything hanging over the edge of the shelf. Do this until you feel a disc slip in your back.

Turn on a radio. Be sure to set it between stations so there is plenty of static. Turn on the vacuum cleaner and garbage disposal. Run them all night.

Remove the covers from several T.V. entrees. Place them in a hot oven. Leave the food in the oven until it's completely dried out. Remove the hot trays with your bare hands. Serve to your family. Don't include anything for yourself. Serve your family a beverage one hour after they've received their meal. Make them remain in their seats during this time. Ask them to scream at you and complain about the service. Scrounge uneaten rolls off the plates for you to eat 6 hours later when you're really hungry. Place a straight-backed chair in a closet facing a blank wall. Use a belt to strap yourself into it. Eat the rolls you saved from your family's meal.

Ask your family to use the bathroom as frequently as possible. Tell them to remove their shoes and socks before entering, and see who can make the most disgusting mess.

Make a narrow aisle between several dining room chairs and randomly scatter your husband's runners and loafers along the way. Turn off the lights and spend the night walking up and down the aisle while banging your shins against the chair legs and tripping over the shoes. Drink several cups of cold coffee to keep yourself awake.

Gently wake your family in the morning and serve them a muffin in a package. Don't forget to smile and wish them a nice day when they leave for work and school.

After the family leaves, take a suitcase and go out into the yard. If it's not raining, turn on the sprinkler system and stand in the cold for 30 minutes pretending like you're waiting for the crew bus to pick you up for the hotel. Then go inside and wait by your bedroom door for another 30 minutes for an imaginary maid to make up your room.

Change into street clothes and shop for 5 hours. Pick up carry-out food from a local deli or 7-Eleven. Go back home. Sit on your bed and eat your meal. Set your alarm clock for 03:00 am so you'll be ready incase you don't get your wake up call. Repeat the above schedule for three days in a row and you'll be ready to work your first international flight!



(please note: i did NOT write this. i edited bits and pieces, but i cant take credit for the brilliance of this post. sorry to mislead, if i did in fact mislead.)

"The world bursts at the seams with people ready to tell you you're not good enough.
On occasion, some may be correct.
But do not do their work for them.
Seek any job; ask anyone out; pursue any goal.
Don't take it personally when they say "no" -- they may not be smart enough to say "yes."

- Keith Olbermann -

(from an old Starbucks cup i found...)

so now begins that wonderful time of year where sarah has some choices to make.
fun choices, mind you.
choices liiiiiiike.........where does she want to layover during the holidays?


yes yes, if you'll recall, my company does this lovely little thing called Christmas Wish List.
all reserves who are scheduled to work the holidays are free to submit 3 locations (ANYWHERE United flies) where we would like to layover during Christmas.
they will then try their best to give you one of your choices.
now, it doesnt always happen...i've never actually gotten any of the choices ive submitted, BUT i did get NYC my first year and Honolulu last year, so really...i can't complain ;-)


SO I NEED YOUR HELP!!
where should i go for Christmas?


this year im gonna keep it a bit more realistic.... i usually throw one wildcard in there, but this year if i do that im gonna stick with a location that we actually fly to out of our base. like Paris.

so......where else should i go?

i wouldnt mind going where i KNOW people, but then, i also dont want to wreck anyone's holiday plans by dropping in unexpectedly and demanding you take me to all your christmas festivities ;-)


so if you have any suggestions, feel free to share!
and i'll let you know where i end up ;-)

i finished rereading the first Twilight book this morning.
then i read the spoilers for the other 3 books in hopes of curbing my obsession.
i think it worked, actually.
i don't get so sucked in when i know what's going to happen...and now i wont go rushing out for the next one.
i'm hoping, if i DO choose to read the other ones, i can remain comfortably detached from the storyline and not get so entranced.
that was annoying.
and unhealthy.
i'm looking forward to getting back to reality
(well, sort of...)

nothing has been appealing to me lately. life in general has been dismal. i don't know why or when it started...but it's very troublesome.
nothing is fulfilling. everything is a disappointment, if not immediately then in the foreseeable future, which the very thought of inevitably ruins any pleasure i might find in the present.
for example, the thought of any romantic relationship is unappealing.
surely, eventually, it will fail or fall apart (if i ever even enter into one to begin with), love and passion will fade and disappoint, and i'll end up broken. dissatisfied. ugh.
i know that this attitude in particular towards relationships has really only recently been fueled by the infidelity of someone i never would have expected it from... someone who's marriage seemed unshakable because they were both so crazy about each other.
but apparently even the craziest of love isn't enough...
i haven't heard all of the gory details yet, but the very fact of it happening has left me even more hopeless and pessimistic toward love and the institution of marriage.
in a positive twist though, i suppose it further fuels my determination to never settle.
i'm holding out for above and beyond, or i'm going it alone, which is perfectly fine by me.

it doesn't help (returning to the Twilight storyline) that Edward and Bella are like the epitome of perfection, and having just read about them i have to be faced with the imperfections of reality and this recently tainted marriage... it makes it all a bit hard to swallow.
not to mention that Edward and Bella's story is also full of adventure... adventure that very much seems to be lacking in my life right now.
i'm always a sucker for a good adventure, as are probably all the other people who seem to be addicted to this story.
maybe that's WHY it's so addicting...cause our lives are pathetically boring in comparison.

is it bad that falling in love, getting married and having kids isn't an exciting enough story for me? isn't an exciting enough LIFE for me?
it's too boring. too normal. too predictably disappointing.

i guess this is why we have a higher calling in Christ and aren't meant to live for ourselves.
good grief, i think if i didn't have the hope of Christ and living for him as the reasons for my existence, i would be constantly depressed.
i struggle enough while HAVING Him--imagine what kind of shape i'd be in if i didn't!


i need someone to talk to... this is too much emotional turmoil for my lonely little self to handle.


oh and here's another log for the discouragement fire:
mom and i watched It's A Wonderful Life while i was home, and it got me thinking...
if i had never been born, how might things be different for those who are currently around me? WOULD anything be different?
i've never saved anyone's life or helped anyone make any life-altering decisions. at least, not that i can recall...
mom and dad would never have had to fork out $18 grand every year for my college tuition, my nephew wouldn't have an aunt to spoil him,
and i'm totally expendable in my company so its not like the planes would suddenly not be able to fly without me...
my parents would still be divorced, my sister would still be married to her husband and would still have Aiden...and really not much would be affected by my absence.
any role i've ever filled could easily have been filled by another.

its very discouraging to come to grips with how...replaceable you are.
to realize your life doesn't have much impact.

i guess, instead of looking at that thought process in a negative light, though, i should try to use it to inspire me to make my life matter--for more than for my own selfish gain...for eternal significance.



geesh.
leave it to me to let one of the greatest Christmas movies of all time DISCOURAGE me.
good grief.

"the gospel is THE GREATEST NEWS available in the WHOLE WORLD
and it has been placed in your hands and in your lives.

give yourself up
give up every small ambition
ask God to make you all he desires for you to be
so you may live to the praise of His glory."

- Alistair Begg -

i think its easy for me to get discouraged about where this journey of life is taking me.

today i was looking at my facebook profile, scrolling through my information to see if there was anything i needed to update.
eventually i hit the box labeled "Education Info"
and there, in black in white, are the words "Cedarville University '05, World Missions major"
for some reason, it caught me off guard.
is that really what i graduated with?
a BA in World Missions?
why?
what was i planning on doing with that?
what AM i planning on doing with that?
should i have majored in something more practical and a little less...vague?


perhaps im having something of an identity crisis.
but really....that degree--those experiences--seem so foreign to me now.
my heart struggles to relate to that world i once knew and longed for.
and im left to wonder...where exactly was i hoping to be at this point in my life?
maybe doing something that, perhaps....mattered a little more?


whats really breaking my heart though is not that im not doing much with my degree at the moment.
whats really breaking my heart is that my desire for mission, for worship, for my Lord...is not NEARLY what it used to be.
its not what it was when i declared my major.
not what it was when i was going to bible classes and learning about God's desire for the poor and the lost.

i dont feel like the life im living now and the kind of person that i am at this very moment is a very mission minded person--not a person who has such an overwhelming LOVE and DESIRE for her Savior that everything else comes second, and all she wants to do is shout His names from the rooftops.
that person...feels so......past.
if she ever existed at all......
and that saddens my heart greatly.


the Sarah i now see in the mirror is a selfish Sarah.
a Sarah who has gotten comfortable and cozy in her nice house, with her nice things, her nice friends, her nice church, her nice job....
this is not a broken Sarah.
not a God-fearing, God-seeking, all-together sold out Sarah.
not a Sarah who wants to shout the name of Jesus so that all the world can hear.
its a reserved Sarah. a quiet, lets-not-cause-waves-and-ruffle-feathers Sarah, who would much rather have people like her than like (or even love) Jesus.

what an ugly and thoroughly disappointing reflection.


so what hope is there for this wretched self-absorbed soul?
thankfully, the same hope that there is for ALL such souls.

Left my fear by the side of the road
Hear You speak
You won't let go
Fall to my knees as I lift my hands to pray

Got every reason to be here again
Father's love that draws me in
And all my eyes wanna see is a glimpse of You

All I need is You
All I need is You Lord
Is you Lord

One more day and it's not the same
Your spirit calls my heart to sing
Drawn to the voice of my Saviour once again
Where would my soul be without Your Son
Gave His life to save the earth
Rest in the thought that You're watching over me

All I need is You
All I need is You Lord
Is You Lord

You hold the universe
You hold everyone on earth
You hold the universe
You hold
You hold

slowly but surely, the walls are starting to crumble
theres a rumbling of hunger inside me...a hunger for more than this. for something greater. for YOU.

what if....we DIDN'T put God in a box?

what if...we let our passion overflow into ridiculous amounts of belief and trust in our Maker?

what if...we let Him have FULL ACCESS to our hopes and dreams...?

...and our lives?

sometimes i wonder if i come off as just a taaaaaaad bit needy.

im pretty sure i do.
i hate that.

just goes to show that i AM in need of something, and its not something im gonna find here on earth.

You hold the universe, You hold everyone on earth
All I need is You, all I need is You...

Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are


oh man, who doesn't love the Onion?
:-D
sarcastic, feisty, and oh so spot on.
this is seriously just too funny, no matter who you voted for.

i can NOT seem to get warm.
ive got on jeans, a tank top, a t shirt and a sweatshirt
and im currently curled up underneath my sheets and down comforter
and STILL, no warmth.

gosh i love this time of year
:-)





yesterday, a handsome young passenger on my plane gave me this:



actually, he gave it to the Customer Service Agent to give to me since she wouldnt let him get back on the plane to personally deliver it.
hah!
but seriously, how sweet is that?
things like this need to happen more often!

so i suppose we're due for an update here...

id have to say the most recent and exciting news (that is, unfortunately, not so pleasant)
is that my checking account just had about $450 stolen from it.
apparently someone in Florida decided to make a counterfeit of my debit card (or something)
and use it to make $75 and $100 transactions at some BPs around the Orlando area.

the card has since been canceled and i have a new one now, but unfortunately i cant really use it since i have almost no money left in my bank account.

lovely.



other news....
running has lessened ever since my right knee decided to stage a revolt and protest my actions.
booooo on that.
im gonna try getting new shoes and see if that helps the issue.
when i get some money, that is.



the hair is getting cut, possibly today.
it needs oomph.



Jesse fixed my electric guitar, which is very exciting.
i havent touched that thing in 4 years or so...it'll be nice to play something other than Beulah for awhile.
(no offense to Beulah. she's a faithful ol' broad)



its been a crappy couple of months for reserves at my airline.
furloughs for all the people who got awarded them are starting at the end of this month,
which means alllllll those people (1500 or so) are flying allllllll of their trips and arent giving any of them up for us reserves.
i mean, i guess i can see why.... theyre trying to chalk up as many hours as they can to get as much money as they can before they stop working for 6 to 21 months.
id do it, if i were them.
but alas, i am a reserve who depends on the sick days and tossed aside trips of the elite lineholders.
blast it all.

so ive been doing a lot of twiddling of the thumbs.
so far this month ive flown 2 trips -- one Frankfurt (3 days) and one domestic 2 day.
not exactly impressive, considering we're nearing the middle of the month already.
the silver lining is the fact that in 18 days those people will be gone and we will, once again, be needed.
and isnt it just grand to be needed?

finis.

The Death of the Flowers - William Cullen Bryant - THE MELANCHOLY days have come, the saddest of the year,
Of wailing winds, and naked woods, and meadows brown and sere;
Heaped in the hollows of the grove, the autumn leaves lie dead;
They rustle to the eddying gust, and to the rabbit's tread;
The robin and the wren are flown, and from the shrubs the jay,
And from the wood-top calls the crow through all the gloomy day.
Where are the flowers, the fair young flowers, that lately sprang and stood
In brighter light and softer airs, a beauteous sisterhood?
Alas! they all are in their graves, the gentle race of flowers
Are lying in their lowly beds with the fair and good of ours.
The rain is falling where they lie, but the cold November rain
Calls not from out the gloomy earth the lovely ones again.
The wind-flower and the violet, they perished long ago,
And the brier-rose and the orchis died amid the summer glow;
But on the hill the goldenrod, and the aster in the wood,
And the yellow sunflower by the brook in autumn beauty stood,
Till fell the frost from the clear cold heaven, as falls the plague on men,
And the brightness of their smile was gone, from upland, glade, and glen.
And now, when comes the calm mild day, as still such days will come,
To call the squirrel and the bee from out their winter home;
When the sound of dropping nuts is heard, though all the trees are still,
And twinkle in the smoky light the waters of the rill,
The south wind searches for the flowers whose fragrance late he bore,
And sighs to find them in the wood and by the stream no more.
And then I think of one who in her youthful beauty died,
The fair meek blossom that grew up and faded by my side.
In the cold moist earth we laid her, when the forests cast the leaf,
And we wept that one so lovely should have a life so brief:
Yet not unmeet it was that one, like that young friend of ours,
So gentle and so beautiful, should perish with the flowers.

rest peacefully, Janet.
we miss you, but we'll see you again soon...

im thinking of bringing back my shorter hair days.
my locks are achin' for VOLUME!

thoughts please.



i find it odd how often i make my bed these days.
surprisingly, its much easier to make a queen bed than my former twin.
mostly because i no longer succeed in inadvertently tossing the majority of my bedding off in the middle of the night like i did with the twin.
ergo, much less to straighten and tidy.
i gotta say, it really is so nice to come home from a trip and see a nicely made bed waiting for me.
makes everything look cleaner.

good heavens, im becoming my father.
(either that or hotel rooms are spoiling me)



so, running as often as i have been and avoiding sugary desserts and whatnot seems to have had no real impact on my weight.
if anything, ive gained, and thats just messed up if you ask me.
i mean, whats the point of trying so hard if you get no results?
im about to throw in the towel and say the heck with it---go back to eating my sweets and get all lazy.
but im sure that will only lead to the diabetic curse that seems to run rampant in my family
and, well....no thanks.



that aside, theres not much else to say.
except this:

He loves us, O how He loves us...

there's a guy at a certain Starbucks i frequent who bugs me.
ive never interacted with him, but the reason for my irritation lies in what he DOES.
no matter how early i get there, he gets there before me, and no matter how late i stay, he stays later.

and he sits in my seat.

i mean, ok, its not mine PERSAY, but its the table i prefer when im photo editing because its got the best lighting.

the worst thing is that he's almost never actually SITTING there.
he has his computer stuff all splayed out, marking his territory,
but the majority of the time he's outside smoking, or talking on his cellphone, or just disappearing altogether.
one time he was gone for a good hour and a half,
yet all his stuff stayed put.
ARRGGG!!

and he doesnt even DO anything.
when he's actually AT his computer (which, of course, is a Mac. dont even get me started..)
he's just surfing the web.
yesterday he was browsing political articles on cnn.com,
commenting on articles, occasionally visiting a blog or two,
but never doing anything that actually resembled WORK.

maybe i need to take this Starbucks out of my rotation,
because he apparently never leaves.

oh well.
the lighting sucks anyway.

this is from ben's blog:

The opposite of complaining is leading...

If you don't like a decision your boss makes, lead up.
If you don't like your office culture, lead around you.
If you don't like your circumstances, lead through it.
If you don't like your church's short-comings, lead out.

Complaining is a sign of giving up. It's admitting that you're a follower, not a leader. A leader is a never a victim. But someone who sees that all conditions are subject to change with the right influence.

i liked it.

so i stole it.

thanks ben.

it sucks.

i never really understood what was so undesirable about the dreaded "middle seat"




i mean, no, it wouldnt be my FIRST choice
but it's not as bad as people make it out to be.

look at it this way:
if you're sitting in the middle,
you only have to inconvenience ONE person if you need to get out of your seat,
whereas the person at the window is pretty much just stuck there for the duration.

you also are only ONE seat away from a window view,
which is better than the guy on the aisle who, being where he's at, will never get to know what Chicago looks like from 30,000 ft.

so, really, how can this equidistance be so bad?
you gotta look at it from a different perspective, people.

here's a random thought for you:

in all those crime investigation shows, when someone gets murdered in a hotel room
have you noticed how they always assume (and are right) that any DNA they find at the crime scene (fingernail clippings, hairs, bodily fluids, etc)
is linked to the murder/suspect/victim somehow?

i mean, really, how do they know its not just a poorly cleaned hotel room?

now, quite obviously iive been in a LOOOOOOT of hotel rooms, most pretty darn clean, but some have been real dives. and sometimes, in the dives AND in the more upscale ones, the cleaning staff misses a thing or two.
take today, for example.
im staying at a very nice, recently renovated Marriott hotel in Orlando.
this morning, as i was drying my hair, i noticed a small fingernail clipping imbedded in the carpet.
mine? certainly not.
i dont blame cleaning crews for this--they do a really good job, most of the time--but obviously, sometimes the vacuum doesnt pick up everything its supposed to.

so what if that hotel room turned into a crime scene?
someone would find that fingernail clipping, run DNA scans, and poor Mr. Billy Bob Jones of Luckenbach, TX would suddenly be pegged as a key suspect in the investigation.

seems like a bit of a sham to me.







in other news, ive taken to running 5 miles in the morning, a couple times a week.
im loving the results...my endurance has increased immensely, my stomach is tighter, my leg muscles are more defined, and ive already lost almost 5 pounds
my only beef? my neck muscles are KILLING me!
i must tense up a lot when i run.... is this normal?

bugger.



also, im fasting from sweets and desserts for a month.
with how often ive had to avoid things and turn certain things down so far, i am excruciatingly aware of how much of that crap i must have eaten on a regular basis before.
its an eye opening, for sure...
crappy food is apparently always readily at my disposal.
stupid job....

i am convinced an iced Americano will cure many more ails than we give it credit for.
just ask me yesterday morning..




so i slept in my car the other night.
long story as to why, but in the end i kinda liked the idea.
got to finally break-in that sleeping bag i got on sale at Dick's about 3 years ago...
it got a wee bit cold around 3am, but it kinda felt like camping.
without the bugs.
reminded me of my homeless weekend in Urban Ministry senior year...

sobering.

do you have ANY idea how privileged we are?



Mike and i found an absolutely ENORMOUS cantaloupe at Kroger's the other night.
observe:







amazing.



so. West Virginia is gorgeous, by the way.
all that Appalachian country.... wow.
had i actually thought about the fact that id be traveling through such beautiful areas
i would have left earlier in the day...
as it turned out, i hit the mountains just after dark
so rather than enjoying the lovely scenery around me, i had to succumb to ARAA
(Anal-Retentive Animal Awareness)
so as to avoid any nasty run-ins with Bambi and friends...

what a bummer.



but today's my birthday, i have a new purse, i ran 5 miles this morning, and im on my way to Brussels.
ain't nothin' gonna get me down ;-)

(if, in this offering, you see me more than Jesus,
then we have a problem)

"Mommy, when Sarah sings 'How He Loves', I see how much God loves us"

best. compliment. ever.




other news:

* i have a new car. a RELIABLE car, with AIR CONDITIONING, CLOTH seats, and a SMALLER BODY that doesnt require that two side-by-side parking spaces be empty in order to park it into one of them.
huzzah!
the downside: no antenna, which means no ipod hookup....and i have no cds with me except for the new Death Cab. its gonna be a loooooooong drive back to Virginia.... (oh yes, did i mention the car's in Indiana?)


* ive been throwing a lot of things away lately. i like throwing things away.
i like condensing my life and getting rid of the clutter.
it bugs me when i want to just trash something but i know i need to try to sell it or give it to a worthy cause which is always more of a hassle than just throwing it in the garbage.
oh well. such is life.


* i have Aiden-slobber on my shoulder.
yet another reason why i should enjoy my singleness NOW while i can.
(i gotta admit though, he IS the cutest nephew a girl could ask for)


* that stupid waxing gibbous is killing my Perseids viewing.
meh.


* life is dealing some crazy blows these days, and not just to me.
what's going on??

15 minutes into the Olympic Opening Ceremonies and im already crying. DANG IT! happens every year...

i love singing praises to you, Jesus.
i love it that in heaven i'll be able to bust it out even more so than now,
and no one will even care.
no one will praise me or pay me any mind at all, really--
it will ALL be for You,

and you'll be pleased.
you'll smile,
maybe even cry a little..

cause you love me so,
and i love YOU so
and we both get to enjoy each other for eternity

what joy is this
:-)

ohhh how lovely it would be to be able to say all those things we long to say to passengers...and have an excuse like that to fall back on

locked myself out of the house today
(and, consequently, my car, seeing as the house and car keys are on the same chain)

at least it wasnt raining.



i may acquire these.
if i can talk the seller down to a more affordable price.






i keep biting the inside of my right cheek when i eat.
maybe i should just stop eating.
it happens every time...



so have i mentioned that mom is finally giving me her Honda Accord?
yes yes, tis true--the moment we've all been waiting for has finally arrived.
she got her CRV, and i am currently the neediest child when it comes to vehicular exigency,
ergo.....i get the Accord :-D

the only catch is i have to drive it from Fort Wayne, IN to Reston, VA.
but its a pretty drive....right?

so yesterday i put this ad for my current car on Craigslist just to see if i could spark any interest:

this is a 94 chrysler lhs, in so-so condition.

it could use some new tires (one of the current tires is a spare, but its a full tire, not a donut, and its been on there awhile and served me just fine),
and the brakes squeak a bit (hey, honesty's the best policy, right?),
and there's no air conditioning.

it also could use a good car wash (HA! im so lazy)

apart from that, its fine.
really, i just need to get rid of it, since im getting a new car in early august and cant afford to keep both.
the price is $500...or best offer.
i'll take whatever you are willing to pay.

some of the perks are that there's TONS of room inside. you can fit at LEAST 2 large suitcases in the trunk, no problem. its freaking HUGE.
leather interior as well.

let me know if you want to come look at it.

within hours, i had 18 emails about it.
good gracious, its amazing how many people are willing to fork out $500 for a piece of crap.

so here's a question:
if you mix non-fat milk and half and half...is that essentially the same as just adding 2% in the first place?





oh yes, and the wedding was good.
here are some flowers:

















apparently thats the official flower of South Africa (where the groom was from)

the pictures could have been better...but then, i am still learning.
they werent horrible for my first wedding, i guess.


oh yeah, and i flew first class both ways.
booyah.
man, those lie-flat seats are coooooooooo-zy.
;-)







does anyone else feel like blogging incessantly is kind of....self centered? selfish? egotistical?
in a way, its like that one kid on the playground who runs away from everyone who tries to come up and talk to him, simply so he will be chased...
wanted.
sought after.
pursued.
KNOWN.
we blog to feed our longing for attention.
we want reactions. results. an outcome for our output.
at least for me this can be the case...

maybe thats why my posts are so sparse these days.

just a thought.

off to Derby again, as of 6:04 this evening. i cant believe its been almost 3 years.... wow. God is good. you know, i think the issue i have with doing wedding photography is the whole public display of affection thing. unless its in a movie, i dont want to see it. well, lets amend that...handholding is fine. but anything beyond that and i get uncomfortable witnessing it first hand. so... i guess thats a lovely little hurdle that im just gonna have to get over. pray i dont botch this up.

Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,

yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.

The Sovereign LORD is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to go on the heights.

Habakkuk 3:17-19

and, just for kicks:

PS 50:1 Бог Богов, Господь возглаголал и призывает землю, от восхода солнца до запада.
PS 50:2 С Сиона, который есть верх красоты, является Бог,
PS 50:3 (49-3) грядет Бог наш, и не в безмолвии: пред Ним огонь поядающий, и вокруг Его сильная буря.
PS 50:4 (49-4) Он призывает свыше небо и землю, судить народ Свой:
PS 50:5 (49-5) `соберите ко Мне святых Моих, вступивших в завет со Мною при жертве`.
PS 50:6 (49-6) И небеса провозгласят правду Его, ибо судия сей есть Бог

Psalm 50:1-6

m o n d a y :

my laptop crashes.
everything--my pictures, my music, my photo editing programs, my word documents--everything is sucked into a virtual black hole of oblivion.
frantic chaos ensues.

t u e s d a y :

computer goes into the shop.
they'll call within 3-5 business days.

w e d n e s d a y :

i get assigned a 5 day international trip.
what timing.
not only can i not be available when the computer guys may call to authorize repairs (PLEASE God, let it be repairable), but that also means that by the time i get back, i will have only 1.5 days before i leave for England to shoot Nicole's wedding....with no hope of a computer to put the pictures on, edit them, make a cd of final copies for the bride.....
i also have to hastily book my transportation to Derby (mooching off my roomie's laptop for 2 hours) once i arrive at Heathrow (do i take the bus? the train? which is cheaper? what if we're delayed? are the tickets refundable? what do you mean my credit card is declined?)


sooooooooooo much fun, i cannot even begin to tell you.

but God and i had this conversation:

"WHY does it have to be FIVE DAYS, Lord?!
and why why WHY must it be OUT OF THE COUNTRY?!?
im a ship with no sails here...a boat without a paddle, flailing about with no.."

"Do you trust Me?"

"..yes...."

"Ok then. Trust me."



"ok."








that aside, i think i may have also completely botched up a perfectly good friendship
suck.

du journal, le 5 Juillet 2008

here's a story of a classic french moment:

Just now, as I'm sitting on this bench in the park, a man (probably in his mid thirties) approaches pushing two young children in a stroller.
He stops in front of me, leans on the stroller handles and asks, "American?"
I respond yes.
"Beautiful?" referring to me. (love how he phrases it as question)
I chuckle and shake my head no.
"No? Not beautiful? Ohhhh", he smiles. "What you do in Paris?"
I pause my ipod, smile, and say, "Flight attendant."
"Fly?" He makes a motion with his hand. "You fly in planes?"
I nod.
"Ahhh." Big smile. "How long you stay in Paris?"
"I was here all day," I explain, "and leave tomorrow morning."
"Ahhh I see, I see. Well. You are very beautiful," he says, still smiling.
I laugh and wave as he and the kids start to roll away.
"Au revoir", I smile.
He winks, and theyre gone.



only in Paris.

love this girl.
and the picture.
and the city it was taken in.


anyone wanna move to portland with me?

i just bought these shoes on Zappos.com





woo!!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25083833/

this actually made me chuckle

mostly, though, because of how it totally outs our upper management as being a) responsible for our current mess, and b) just plain insane.


brilliant.







(Lord, whats my next move? im ready for something to happen. something big, exciting...different.
at least, i THINK im ready...)

can you honestly say, with enthusiasm and sincerity, that you LOVE your life?

the closest i can get is that i like it a good deal...most of the time.
its not bad.....

truly though, why is it so hard to LOVE my life?
(this is me, asking myself. because i dont know.)



i think theres a difference between loving life and loving YOUR life.
im all about life. i think its awesome. im a big fan of the living dealio.
but when it comes to MY life--where i am right at this very moment
i dont know..
im satisfied. content. (at least, 95% so)
but LOVING it...?

well, heres a question: does loving it mean theres nothing about it that you would want to change?
hmmm...

man, honestly, anytime i feel a little glum, all i need to do is look at pictures of my nephew and inevitably it makes me smile.
he's just so freaking cute
see for yourself:




























told ya

today i really started to wonder what i would do if i no longer had the job that i have.

as many of you have probably heard by now, my company (United Airlines) is cutting a lot of jobs (900-1600, various reports say).
while i have yet to discover if my job is in jeopardy,
it has gotten me thinking of what my next move may be
should God decide this is no longer where he wants me to be

would i move back to Fort Wayne?
(maybe just for a little while?...for grandpa's sake, mostly)
or would i stay in Virginia, with the church i have come to love so much?
how would i handle being so far from my family, should i choose to stay?
would i have to get a REAL job?
would i possibly consider the mission field once more?
would i possibly go somewhere else entirely and start a whole new life?

the options are thrilling and terrifying all at the same time.
thank God none of this is in my hands! i rest secure in the hands of the Lover of my Soul.
He knows what's best for me, and will do what's best for me

and because of that, i am content.




in other news, im terribly sad they're taking Men in Trees off the air
but i do look forward to seeing how they wrap it up.
i guess this means one less hour will be sucked out of my life via visual entertainment.

thats just swell.


soon to come:
pictures of the nephew.
and maybe some of the Louvre, but the nephew is far more enthralling :-)

ok
im doin' Los's lil Ragamuffintop Challenge

i dont know if i'll be able to post a photo every week
(dare i be so bold?)
but im definitely in.

goal weight: 130
timeframe: however freaking long it takes!

the last time i was that thin, i wasnt treating my body well at all.
im not going through that again...
this time, its good, its real, its HEALTHY, and its with the support of other lovely bloggers who want to start treating their bodies better

my obvious conundrum will be figuring out how to handle my diet when im working.
this job is the WORST for eating well,
cause sometimes your only options are to starve or to eat one of the ugly sugar-inflated donuts that the captain just bought for your crew...
and when youre gone for days on end, you can only bring so much of your own food...

but by golly, im gonna give it a whirl.
20lbs, my friends.
20lbs....starting now.


today: started in Vegas.
worked out in the morning, but not for too long...
half hour or so.
ate 2 sugar free Jello cups (60 calories each)
and an apricot dried fruit bar (35 cals)
left for the airport at 11:45am (vegas time)
got a sub at Quiznos (im tellin ya, this is how i live. we dont have a lot of options)
got a yogurt at Starbucks
flew from Vegas to Dulles...got in around 9pm
got home around 10ish
made myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich
and ate a huge bowl of my homemade veggie soup (AMAZING stuff--just tomatoes, squash, zuccini, onions, and spices)
...and then ate some peanut butter straight from the jar.
(yes, im one of those)

not the best day, food wise, but pretty typical....one might even call it one of my BETTER food days
(you dont want to know what i had for dinner last night.
it would break your heart)


dont worry, i wont give you a rundown EVERY day.
it helped to lay it all out to begin with though