More Please

I stole this title from a friend... but it still applies to me.

Lately I've been thinking a lot about life and how I don't feel content where God has me. I keep telling the GOD OF THE UNIVERSE that I want more. I want a better place to live, I want a washer and dryer, I want a better paying job, I want a nicer car... There are so many things that I THINK I want. "Think" being the key word here. God has given me so much already... He has blessed me with so many things... and yet I still want more. What's up with that? 2 weeks ago we watched a sermon from Louie Giglio about Prayer. (It's called prayer remix and has totally changed my ways of praying). He showed us how we ask for these little things when in comparison, God has given us all these big things and we're not using them. The way he showed this was throught gifts. He had a present... one present. And talked about this being what we want from God. It was a nice present and probably had something nice in side. (Not literaly, just figuratively.) But Louie wanted us to see that God has so much more. We are asking for this one present... when actually he has a whole wall of presents for us that we haven't "opened" yet. We're not tapping into the blessings that He's given us. Louie pulled off a sheet and literaly there was a whole wall of gifts. Pretty gifts... big boxes, little boxes. And this is what has been stuck in my head and heart this week. I've been given so much already... how can I be asking for more?

But there's a flip side....

I've also been thinking about the "More Please" in another way this week. Through realizing that I have been given all these blessings from The GOD OF THE UNIVERSE!!!! It's made me want more of Him. The pastor at my church said on Sunday... "The more we get to know God, the more we love Him." (or something close to this, my notes are at home.) And that has been my hearts cry as well. I want More of Christ in my life. I know I'm not perfect... but I'm tired of this world. This world has nothing for me. (it's hard sometimes to admit, but oh so true) I want more of Christ. I want to love Him more and more everyday.

I feel like these kinda contradict each other. I need to be thankful for what I have and use the blessings I've been given... but I also want more of Jesus in my life.

Funny huh?

Texas... Finally!

So my time in Texas ended up being wonderful. I was kinda nervous about the whole thing, but I realized that my heart is with my family. Not that that's where I need to be right now, but they have a piece of my heart. And there is a comfort that comes with being with family... no matter where you're at.

When I first got there Thurs night we had dinner in Dallas and drove into Athens that night. By the time we got there it was dark and I had NO IDEA where we were. (Big surprise right?) When I first walked into my parents town home all I could think... this stuff doesn't belong here. Everything around me was familiar, yet different. Needless to say I had mixed emotions about that. The next morning we got up and took our time getting ready. It was Jessi's b-day and my pretend one (mine was a week later and we were all together... one of my moms things to do). Then we went riding. And when I say riding... I mean we drove for HOURS and I don't think I saw the same piece of land twice. We saw where they are building the church. We saw Matt's land... and Cliff's land... and Cliffs dad's land... and this man they knows land... Needless to say we saw A LOT of land that day. We had lunch at this cute little shop in dtown Athens. And then it was time for fishin! Where my parents live in Texas there are a lot of lakes. I think it's even called the land of lakes or something. Mom correct me here. So we went to a Trout Fishery (where they raise trout I think). And we saw the UGLIEST cat fish. They were HUGE!!!!! And we fished and just hung out as a family. I caught a catfish!!! My dad had to take it off the hook of course... but still... I did it!!! =-)
We then went and saw the land my parents bought. I can't get over that they're building a house in a gated community. I know this is common for Texas... or Athens I think... but NOT in North Carolina where I'm from. Mom cooked a WONDERFUL dinner that night and had the best wine I think I've ever had and of course I can't find it here in VA. Then we opened presents and hung out.

Saturday was spent in Tyler at the zoo with my cousin and his family. He has 3 little girls and it was fun to see the zoo through their eyes. Then we came home and chilled as a family.

Sunday we went to church. I liked their church. Small, but nice. And then we had a long lunch with some family friends that I've known since I was 3 or 4. I love Mark and his family. Mark is like my big brother. I am so glad that if my parents have to be in Texas... at least they're with Mark and Lisa. And WOW... their kids have grown so much. It was so cool to see how mature they are. It's always weird when kids you've watched grow up become teenagers... there was a lot of that this weekend. =-) After lunch we all went home to take naps and do whatever... then Mark and Lisa and the kids came over to my parents house and we sat for hours talking about stuff. This was my favorite part of the weekend. Just sitting laughing... being with people I love. It was WONDERFUL!

Monday we spent the day shopping and driving into Dallas... It was D-day, the day of departure back to VA. We just spent even more time together... and then that night we flew back to g-boro. And I've already talked about the delays... man that wasn't fun!

The weekend was A LOT of together time. It was a lot of us doing things... or just just sitting talking... but we were TOGETHER. That was the best part.

I realized after my time in Texas... I don't hate Texas anymore. I don't love it... but I don't hate it either. Do I want to move there... not really. But do I want to be closer to my family? You'd better believe it!

My Home....

or wherever that is... but this is my favorite home... even if it's not home anymore...

I know... I promised but....

LIFE GOT CRAZY!!! I will write about Texas soon.... I PROMISE!

• But right now I'm watching Biggest Loser and am getting ready to lose myself in my new book.
  

• God has really touched my life through the story of Whitney Cerak. My family and I watched the special on Dateline while I was in Texas, and I've been blown away because of it ever since. I just got the book tonight and can't wait to get lost in it.

• God is so good and is teaching me things like crazy! I had dinner with a good friend/family member tonight and it was so good to catch up on life and share our hearts with each other. So fun!!! And Faith crashed it for a little while and she's so great!! I love her so much!!!
  

• My b-day was yesterday, and my sister surprised me by coming up to see me. (This made my day!!!!) Then my girls had a party for me at small group last night... it was so fun! We just talked and played games. I love those ladies.

• AND... My good friend is getting ready to have her baby ANY MINUTE now!!! I'm so excited! I'm waiting for the phone call letting me know he's been born. COME ON JEREMIAH!!! I can't wait to meet you!

Have a great night!

The Joys of Travel

I'm back!!! I got in late last night/early this morning. Something like 4am I believe. Our plane was delayed and didn't leave until close to 10pm (central time), which put us in Greensboro around 1:30am (eastern time). And with waiting to get the luggage, trying to find the ride to Overflow parking, then the drive to d-ville... It was a long night.

The original plan was for us to get in to g-boro at 11pm, then I would drop Jessi off in d-ville, then drive up to l-burg and make it to work today. That was BEFORE our plane was delayed for 3 hrs. I know... travel is all about being flexible, and you never know what could happen... but still... I was hoping for things to work out MY way. =-)

I ended up taking the day off today to catch up on rest and get unpacked. I'm glad I did. Jessi and I had lunch in a cute diner in d-ville then went home to take naps before I headed back to the burg. I'm now feeling rested and ready to head back into work tomorrow. I'm dreading it of course, but what's new. More details of the trip to come... I PROMISE!

I really want to be here right now:



This is one of my favorite beaches in New Zealand. There is just something about this place that keeps me relaxed. Even now when it's been almost 3 years since I've been there... just seeing this picture helps me to relax. (Seriously... I even have a picture of this beach on my desktop at work.)

Tomorrow I fly out to Texas. I'm super excited... a bit nervous... and a little scared. I'm praying that God shows me a lot on this trip. I want to see my parents vision for this town... I want to SEE with my eyes how God has them there. I want to see if it's a place I could live myself. (No this is not something I'm praying about right now... but I need to consider it.) I feel like there's a lot of pressure with this trip. That's why I want to be at Piha Beach. I've got so much to do tonight... I wish my bags would pack themselves. It's pretty much all ready, I've just got to make it all fit in my suite case. THANKFULLY... my friend Andy is on Spring Break this week and offered to do my laundry yesterday while I was at work. This is my friend who could have her baby ANY DAY now... but she wouldn't take no for an answer. She knows all that I have to do... and all that I'm going through... she wanted to help. I'm blessed.

So for now... I guess I'm going to have to settle for some lake in East Texas. (Where my parents have just bought land.) I don't think it'll be the same... Piha Beach New Zealand... Athens Texas.... somehow I don't think they can compare.

Easter Weekend

This past weekend was really great! I ended up at my sisters house to have Easter with her and what I call her "D-ville Family". I almost didn't go... I had planned to get two new tires for my car on Friday, but there were some other things wrong with it, so it ended up costing me over $400 total. (I had planned on $150.) Thankfully the guy worked with me. Crazy car expenses. So I struggled a bit with the thought of driving down to D-ville, knowing that I had to drive to G-boro this Thursday to fly out to TEXAS! (More on that later.) But I went... and man am I glad I did. I had one of the best weekends I've had in a while.

When I got there on Sat, Jessi and I went and met some friends at the park for an hour or so. It was so nice just to catch up with them. They just had a baby right before Christmas and Jessi hadn't seen him yet. He's grown since the last time I saw him. We had our "baby fix" for the day, and went to dinner at her roommates parents house. Then we did something I hadn't done in YEARS!!! We dyed Easter Eggs. It was so much fun! Then we went home and played my new favorite game... ROCK BAND! Can I tell you how much I love this game. I had played Guitar Hero before... and it's pretty sweet, but with Rock Band so many people can play and you can rotate what you play. Oh goodness, I so want this game, but so DO NOT NEED IT. I would be addicted I'm sure. I stink at the drums, but am pretty decent on the singing, and the guitar I LOVE. The first time I tried guitar hero I stunk so bad... but I can honestly say I am WAY better than that time. =-)

Sunday was great as well. The Easter Bunny came to the house... then church was really good as always. Then it was back to the roommates parents house for lunch. (This is also the pastor of the church.) It was great... I felt so at home... Jessi and I just jumped in and helped cook and get things set up. There were about 20 people that came... and we had an Easter Egg hunt for the little ones after lunch, then played games into the early evening. We laughed, ate A LOT! and just had a good time.

Then it was home to Jessi's to fall asleep watching a movie only to wake up at 10:30pm and have to drive back to L-burg. Monday was a sleepy day!!!

Last night was crash and tonight is catch up/clean because on Thursday...

I AM GOING TO TEXAS!!!!! Yee Haw

I can't wait! Last night some of the ladies in my small group prayed for me and my time there. It was so sweet to have friends that have been through this crazy transition of life with you. They know how I'm going to have such mixed emotions while I'm there. They were there for the first... "Yeah, so my parents are moving to Texas" to the more recent "I hate Texas" or even "darn Texas" (except it wasn't darn there but another word instead. =-) ) While my distaste of Texas may have changed, I still don't like the fact that this is where my parents live. But I'm gradually getting over this, and hopefully this trip will help.

So this is my life right now. I'm sure there'll be more to write about after this. I'm still mulling over my emotions from a few weekends ago when I went to NC. Time heals things... at least that's what I'm praying for.

On a side note... check THIS BLOG out. It's the church that I've been visiting. Their youth group is in New Orleans this week on a missions trip. loVe New Orleans. One of my good friends is there with them, so it's neat to read about their experiences. Please be praying for them. Make sure and read Day 1. I LOVE what they do to bless the people around them on their way down. What a wonderful opportunity to show Christ's loVe.

Crankypants No More

Today turned out better than I thought it would. It started out with me not feeling so well (sinuses), to me being cranky at work, and this afternoon after work I was fine. Being a woman is so weird sometimes.

I am blessed with some great friends. Tonight we decided to have dinner and a movie at my place... and it was wonderful. We had pancakes and turkey wraps. (I wasn't planning on this, it was a spur of the moment, so we raided the fridge.) It was fun. We watched an episode of The Office, then popped in a movie. And now everyone is gone and I'm off to bed. I'm thinking the crankiness is because I haven't caught up on my sleep from the weekend. If not... maybe I can take my friends to work with me tomorrow?!?! Now THAT would be fun.

Thanks guys for a great night.

Crankypants

I am cranky today. I don't know why. It's not that time of the month. I went to be early last night.

I don't know what's going on with me today, but I am just cranky! I want to go home and go to bed!

I was talking with our office secretary, and she says that everyone in the office is cranky today. Which is true!

It must be cranky Wednesday or something.

This Past Weekend

I went home to North Carolina... But it wasn't home. It was nice to be where things were familiar, but even that was weird. I knew it was going to be weird... but I didn't know how much.

This is part of an e-mail that I sent to a friend on Monday. It's easier to copy and paste rather than re-write it.
My weekend was good. It was WEIRD to go home. I didn't like the new pastor... he's nice and all, but so NOT like my dad. Which is fine, I know I can't expect that... but it still hurt my heart to see someone else on that stage preaching to that church. He's very quiet and NOT FUNNY AT ALL!!! He tried... but he just can't compare. My dad is one in a million. He's crazy and has the personality that can get along and reach ANYONE. This guy... well I was bored and didn't agree with some of the things he said. He's VERY traditional and preached from the KJV. Oh no! =-) And he said that rated R movies are bad. Which some are... but not all are... and I HATE it when preachers talk about things like that without giving explanations. He could have said that some are, but some aren't, it's not about the ratings... it's about what's in it. Some PG-13 movies are just as bad. Why didn't he say that all movies are bad? Not just R rated. It just made him sound legalistic to me... and I don't want that for Eagle Heights.

Being at the church made me miss my dad sooo much. At the end of the service they played his favorite song before they left... and all I could see was him sitting on the stage crying to that song. Crying because of the words... crying because he was leaving. And of course... I started crying. Not the little tears that I had cried earlier. (Yes... I cried a little when I saw the new guy on the stage.) But this time I couldn't stop. I was ruining my makeup and everything.

It was great to see the people though. I love that church and miss those people like crazy. I don't want to move back, and if I did, I probably wouldn't go there... but still... those people are my heart. They have a piece of it, you know?

Other than that... we had a good weekend. I had a LOT of fun with Jessi. And LOVED hanging out with our Aunt Becky. I love her... really I do. Sometimes she gets on my nerves, but I do love her. She made me miss my mom. We just hung out and did things you do with your mom. It was great. I'll go back to visit them soon I hope.

And the time with Jessi... sweet. I am blessed to have her as my sister. I love her!!! We laughed... talked... a lot... and just had fun. I couldn't have gone through church on Sunday without her.

That was my weekend. Mom, this is what I couldn't say on the phone. Hope it makes sense.