Prodigy in me

Defining a Prodigy from Elevation Church on Vimeo.

Everything I need to know, I learned from Titanic...

Jack: Rose, you're no picnic, all right? You're a spoiled little brat, even, but under that, you're the most amazingly, astounding, wonderful girl, woman that I've ever known...
Rose: Jack, I...
Jack: No, let me try and get this out. You're ama- I'm not an idiot, I know how the world works. I've got ten bucks in my pocket, I have no-nothing to offer you and I know that. I understand. But I'm too involved now. You jump, I jump remember? I can't turn away without knowing you'll be all right... That's all that I want.
Rose: Well, I'm fine... I'll be fine... really.
Jack: Really? I don't think so. They've got you trapped, Rose. And you're gonna die if you don't break free. Maybe not right away because you're strong but... sooner or later that fire that I love about you, Rose... that fire's gonna burn out...
Rose: It's not up to you to save me, Jack.
Jack: You're right... only you can do that.

It's my favorite movie. I'm devoted to saying this is my favorite movie for the rest of my life. But I would have found a way to get two people on that darn floating debris. Orrrr when I was producing the movie, I would have gotten a smaller piece of wood.

Thank goodness someone gets it

"How can a woman be expected to be happy with a man who insists on treating her as if she were a perfectly normal human being?" -Oscar Wilde

When I grow Up...

C.S. Lewis, you pierce my heart...

Mrs. Wong

It costs God nothing, as far as we know, to create nice things: but to convert rebellious wills, cost him crucifixion. -c.s. lewis

The "F" Bomb

Mind out of the gutter-the other F bomb.

So here's the deal about "forever." It is the one word that simply put means the day after tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that and the day after that, etc etc etc. You get the picture. I made the point.

So when you're with someone, you eventually-hopefully sooner rather than later-but who am I to judge-come to the ultimate question:

Many would lead you to believe that is, "do I love (insert name)?"

But I think the ultimate question is, "do I want to spend the day after tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that and the day after that, etc etc etc, with (insert name)?"

Because love, as much as it is the ultimate compromise between emotion and game-time decisions, is more intangible. Because we desperately believe in its ideals, truths and infectious butterflies, we conveniently and flirtatiously forget if it's lost or missed.

But forever. Now, we know exactly when something is not forever. Nap times in Mrs. Williams' first-grade class were not forever. Running the mile in middle school was not forever though it felt like an Iron Man bc Pizitz Middle School was surrounded by torturous smelling Bradford Pear Trees and strategically built on a hill for the sun god to beat us all with hot, sweaty sticks.

Love conquers all.

But there is only one forever...

And we're not there with the Author, Writer and Maker of Forever.

So therein lies the dilemma...

Grace be active. Patience be outstanding. Wisdom be obvious. Boldness be encouraging.

Love be genuine.

Forever be near.

Sooner rather than later.

Peace on earth... and in my heart

Peace.
I recently read in My Utmost for His Highest that peace is God's mark of approval from when we obey Him.
I recently made a few decisions (insert "duh. you're 22 w a mediocre income, depending on your parents, deciding ab grad school vs real world, still living in a college town with a heart as big and as tossed yet as anchored as a Macy's Thanksgiving Day balloon).
I accepted a new job still in Auburn, turned another opportunity down and am patiently waiting to see a few more decisions unfold themselves.
While transitioning into my new position working with development in AU's College of Architecture, Design, and Construction, but still working full-time in my old job with Special Events, I realized there was deep unrest in my heart. I felt hasty despite knowing good and well the Lord will never leave nor forsake me.
I thought I was lacking peace because I didn't pray for months about some of these decisions like I had in the past. ex 1) I have prayed since freshman year for a fulfilling job, and I prayed even more fervently before graduation about which job to take because I was blessed to have two promosing options. ex 2) I pray for my husband, but I admit, I may/may not have asked the Lord to hold off on that one until I had ex 1 at least semi-controlled. Commit-a-phob strikes again. Moving on...
Today, this phase in life, everything is different now. I didn't have months this time.
I had urgency.
Funny because Jesus didn't have months either while praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, but I'm pretty sure the blood sweat came from a deep sense of urgency for His Father's will too. Not that I'm sweating blood bullets here, but I find courage and so should you knowing it's not always the amount of prayer but the need of the prayer. Yes, there have been months and years of counceling/prayer in the Word, so when the time came, I would know His will. I'm not saying Jesus nor I hadn't prayed about a day that would come when we'd need the Lord urgently-just saying, sometimes, He calls for our immediate action, and we should be prepared to pray accordingly.
Never doubt the Lord's response (though it might not be what you want) to the sincerest prayer that come from the most humblest of circumstances asking for the wisdom to do His work.
But be ready because He'll ask you to "go" or "no" or "stop" or "now" at any unannounced moment... And He expects you to do just what you prayed for-His will, not yours, to be done.
So here we are at Christmas, and I can't help but sing,
"Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me."

Hit it Gladys...



live in love,
grace

A little sugar goes a long way

Find the theme:

"Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch. You know that I love you. Can't help myself..." or

"Sugar, Sugar. You are my candy girl, and you got me wanting you..."

And my personal favorite Stevie Wonder's "Sugar" "Sugar, sugar, I want to be your main boy... All I got is good, good lovin."

Geez. Just typing those words makes me want to find an unsuspecting victim (or Fred Astair) and dance floor.... Anywho.

Baking for Good is an online bake sale with peppermint brownies, chocolate crackels, gingersnaps and many more (including vegan options), but that's not all... 15 percent of your purchase supports a cause YOU pick!

You can support nonprofit causes such as American Cancer Society, Action Against Hunger and Art for Change, or you can support community causes such as art.party.theater.company and the Red Swing Project. These are only a few of the manyyyy causes Baking for Good supports. Shoot, you can even e-mail them about adding a cause!

So, not only are you sending a beautifully wrapped, delicious treat to bake, you are supporting national and international causes.

That'll convict me next time I'm tempted to pick up that convenient pre-packaged, shake-and-bake cookie package...

It's a smart choice too. Manhattan-inhabitant and founder, Emily Dubner, grew up raising money for school projects with bake sales, and continued baking for fun while studying at Harvard. (Try to make a woman-in-the-kitchen-joke after that line) After working as a management consultant at a fancy NYC firm, she was inspired by a gift package delivered to her mom and started Baking for Good creating unique, gourmet treats, which support causes all over the world.

Call Barbara Walters. She beats Gaga, Kim K and Betty White for most fascinating woman in my humble, but pretty dang accurate opinion.

Best friends near or far

Two of my best friend's WEB LOG.
If you follow me on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace (jk. I think I'm better than most people with MySpace. Besides, I think it's for the music crowd), you know I am obsessed with my two friends, Jordan and K8ie gurl Anderson.
He's a chaco-flannel-Levi-wearing Tiger Head (AU alum), wet cat (AU swimmer), Banjo picking and skit performing enthusiast (YL leader).
She has a Moe's-pizza-and-Birthday-Cake-ice-cream palette with a rockin body. She loves nicknames, lilies, notes and early bedtimes. But I love her most for her unmatched ability to deeply love a wretch like me despite my mood swings and all-too-often tendency to pull away from the ones I need the most.
Freshman year in ADPi, I was blessed to meet Katie . Then I got to live with her on the ADPi hall and in 36 Mafia with 4 other best sista friends. I met Jordan through my "magnet" friend whom was also influential in kindling the K8ie+Jordo=4eva fire.
I liked Jordan because he entertained me in between classes in the Haley Center. He was (who am I kidding-IS) way cooler than I, so I appreciated his companionship.
Now, when I say I liked him-I did. But that didn't mean I liked him coming in and dating my bff.
I need to confess this because for all who knew me at the time Jordan was pursuing Katie so patiently and confidently, I was not-so subtly protective.
I was protective because she had been hurt indifferent to what Jordan was or was not doing. I was also protective because of the caliber of man I knew him to be in the short time I had known him. That sounds backwards, but isn't that the mind of a girl for you?
I have been affirmed EVERY time since the first few days of our friendship he was as genuine and intentional as they come. I knew he was the real deal.
THAT terrified me because those are the kinds of guys who ride off into painted sunsets and steal your best friends.
It didn't take long (well, I was the last bff to accept them, but give me a break) for me to concede my reservations and happily support this couple. The rest is history documented thanks to various Facebook albums, visions of swim meets dancing in our heads and countless stories that will be re-told to their all-star kids and my red-headed heathens of unforgettable porch nights and lake trips.
Now, I have a brother AND my sista friend.
Here's the kicker: He is actually stealing her away-not to never never land via side saddle on some tantalizing stallion, but to England via Delta (maybe even United).
AND I'm not even upset about this fairytale. I'm pumped.
Because it's not a cursive "The End" after a Disney movie or "happily ever after" just yet...
It's the beginning.
I joined my best friends in marriage, and you better believe I'm using my dad's Sky Miles and sick days to go visit.
Now that K8ie gurl blogs, I can shout out to her with hope she'll see it:

Here's a toast to... you know the rest, but most of all here's a toast to my best friends!

Circumstances... You don't want to answer my prayer?

Listening to another podcast from the Austin Stone Community Church, Matt Carter said, "Did you ever think that maybe God won't change your circumstance because He wants to change YOU?"

Why, of course I have never thought of that because my view of myself is so ridiculously good looking.

Circumstance 1:

The scripture is John 9.

Short version: Jesus makes clay and makes the blind man see. Pharisees jump all over this because it was the Sabbath, and they claim this was labor. Default, Jesus is a sinner (for healing a blind man? pretty positive 'no work on Sabbath' was intended to mean don't make your kids mow the grass or fold laundry on Sunday-not quite... but it's def OK for Jesus to heal a blind guy any day He wants to). Pharisees ask him not once but three times why can he see now and is Jesus a known sinner. After questioning his parents for crying out loud, he said,

"Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see." John 9:25

He's been surprisingly collective up til now. I start to sense a little sarcasm here though...

They say, 'We're disciples of Moses, but have it your way, if you want to be his disciple.' In their most LiLo-Mean-Girls voice they add, 'You know, God spoke to Moses. I don't know where this Jesus character came from.'

Now, the keep-calm-and-carry-on attitude just flew out the window, and the once-blind-but-now-he-sees man says,

"Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes.
We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him.
Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind.
If this man were not from God, he could do nothing." John 9:30-33

Circumstance 2:

Now, don't go thinking, how in the world don't these pharisees get it? Jesus's own disciples who would have been tagged in most of his Fbook pics and been a fan of the Jesus page had Al Gore and Steve Jobs been around said something similar after Jesus's resurrection. They look at the man who they know to be Savior and Messiah before He ascends to HEAVEN and ask him, "Are you going to restore the kingdom of God to Israel now?"

What a bunch of nincompoops. He 's not going to Happy Hour at Sonic. He's going to Heaven because He just restored the kingdom!

He restored it in ME. in You. in ALL who will believe for Pete's sake-o that was punny.

Jesus responds in Acts 1:7,

"And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power."

Our circumstance (me interpreting Matt Carter):

God, my life is hard right now. What do I do?

David is a great place to start. Ask to be bailed out just like he did... Because I'm God's daughter, He wants to love me and dust the dirt off my J.Crew skirt. But if he says, "No..." to my pleading, I must cling to the Word, and you guessed it, wait.

Psalm 86:11 "...unite my heart to fear Your name."

Be changed.