In the beginning was the Word

Eliminating weak vocabularies and hungry tummies, one word, one grain of rice at a time.

Play now: www.freerice.com

p.s. Thanks to Anna for the great link!
I just donated 5 bowls of rice and have a vocab score of 41 !

Indeed

Indeed...what have I been doing for the last 109 days (aka: Since the Last Time I Blogged!)?

Here are a few updates:

Marriage? Love it!

Josh and I will celebrate 11 months this week, and I'm finding our marriage to be a source of great strength, joy, growth, and peace. We're not without our challenges, but we are so richly blessed. Josh has many more deep thoughts in this season of life, trying to figure out his/our future jobs/degree/housing locations/finances/goals/purpose/etc. I'm learning to take more and more pleasure in walking with him and being a wife.

House Projects? Check!

We're done with all the trim painting and grout scrubbing we're gonna do. Now we just have to keep it clean... It turned out really cute, thanks to a million hours of labor. I think the time sheets go like this:


Josh--999,483 hours Sarah--326 hours Assorted Family and Friends--281 hours


Our house officially went on the market a few weeks ago, and we've had several open houses and agents' walk-through tours. No offers yet, so you can join us in praying for the right buyer.


Work? We made our Count Day Goal!


It's kind of too complicated to explain here, but basically for the last 6 weeks, I've been working a ton of overtime for Count Day, which is the way our school gets funded, based on the number of attending students we have. I've made literally hundreds of phone calls trying to convince former students to return to school for this semester and put in their Count Day "time". Many of my students' lives are heartbreakingly chaotic, which makes attending school difficult. Lack of transportation, day care, working phones, bus fare, safe home environments, the list of obstacles is overwhelming.


But we did it...or actually, they did it...for themselves, for their children and extended families. Hopefully they'll stick around this year, finish their classes, and be able to walk across the stage in May.


I really am enjoying this job, even through the Count Day craziness. I'm glad for the relaxed change of pace now (as I'm blogging at work!), but it was worth it. As the big rainbow with the pot of gold nuggets (each representing a student who did Count Day) proclaims..."Education Promises a Brighter Future." I believe that, at least in a secular sense, and am continuing to seek ways to make this about God's kingdom, not just a diploma.


Small Group? Multiplied!


At the beginning of September we multiplied into two groups. Ben and Leah are leading one group at Phil and Cassie's house, and Josh and I now meet at Chad and Becky's. We're reading a book by Jack Deere called Surprised by the Voice of God. It's about hearing God's voice specifically through the Holy Spirit, and is an introduction to prophesy and the various gifts of the Spirit. We've had some great discussions, and the Lord has been answering my prayer that people in our group would not only read the book, but start to experience some of the "stuff" that the book talks about.


Our friend Denise had a cool experience recently where the Lord healed a pain in her neck and head, and we're anxious to see what else God's going to share with us us as we learn to ask Him and then actually listen.

Fun Adventures? As often as we can!

Over the past few months, we've been to the Renaissance Festival, OctoberFest, the Weston Apple Festival, the Plaza Art Festival, Independence Wild West Days (or something), DesMoines for a business trip, Omaha to see Anna, Wichita to see my college girls, Chapman to visit the 'rents, and Josh's brother Jared and our sister-in-law Heather came to visit us!

We've watched Cam and Shar's 4-year old son Caleb play soccer, our cat Rio has put on 2 1/2 pounds, Halo-3 came out and Josh's XBox360 tragically went on the fritz, the upstairs shower floor finally stopped leaking, we started to plan a backpacking trip to Europe, the RAV got new tires, and God's grace sustained us through it all. He is truly good.

So there you have it...Apologies for the long absence...Hopefully I'm back to my on-line life.

I'm the show! Don't miss the show!

Yesterday and today I helped with VBS. My job was to tell the Bible Story while the kids were waiting to start craft time. I had 10 minutes with each group, and I had to give this performance 8 times in 2 hours. Here's the story I told today. See if you can read this whole thing aloud, with feeling, in 10 minutes! Well, 9 1/2, giving them time to line up at the door at the end.

Hi guys! Welcome to day 3 of VBS! Please sit down on the floor in the middle. Not on the table, thanks! (18 elementary kids scramble around finding a place to sit.)

Please sit where you're not touching anyone else! Yep, that means you, in the cowboy hat. Hands to yourself, thanks! Everybody's eyes on me! I'm the show...you don't want to miss the show. So yesterday we talked about Joshua and his Israelite buddies who are traveling across the desert, having lots of adventures. What happened to them yesterday? They had to cross the Jordan River, but it was...

FLOODED!

You're right...and they were scared! But what can we remember when we're feeling scared? That God is...

WITH US! YEE-HAW! (in a throw-back to Pee-Wee's play-house and the word-of-the-day, everytime someone says a "VBS Truth" you say "yee-haw." )

Yep. God is always with us. (yee-haw!) Now before we hear today's story, how many of you play some kind of sport or activity where you have a coach?

Me! Me!! Soccer! Softball! Cheerleading! Football! Gymnastics! Guitar!

Awesome...the rest of you can put your hands down. Thanks for volunteering. So let's pretend I'm your coach, and you guys are all my soccer team. What if I said, "Okay, team, we're gonna have a great season! I know we can win all of our games! Here's how you play soccer. This is a ball. This is my foot. Watch me kick a goal." Now am I being a good coach?

NO!

Why not? What am I doing wrong?

WE DIDN'T GET TO PLAY!

Huh. So if I'm going to be a good coach, I have to let everyone participate in the game, right? Please quit kicking your neighbor, Dylan, thanks. Well, did you know that God wants His children to participate in His plan? Today's story about Joshua and his Israelite buddies getting to participate.

Joshua and his Israelite buddies are still walking across the desert, and they come to the town of Jericho. They're supposed to go into the city and take it over, but there's a big problem. What's the problem with Jericho?

IT HAS A HUGE WALL!

You're right! So if God wanted to, what could God have done to that wall?

Silence...NOT BUILT IT?

Well, yeah, or God could have just gone Bash, Smash, Crash, No More Jericho! But what did we learn about God? He wants his children to ...

(with prompting from a team leader) PARTICIPATE

in His...

(more prompting) PLAN!

Yep, God wants His children to participate in His plan. So He wants Joshua and the Israelites to knock down the wall. Now this wasn't any ordinary kind of wall like this cinder block here. If it was, Joshua would be able to just do some karate chops (Sarah does impressive kick towards wall) and knock it down.

(kids are impressed)

No, this was like the Wall of China. It was huge. And God had a plan. He told Joshua that the Israelites were supposed to walk around the wall, once a day, for 6 days. Now does that sound like a good plan to you?

YES!

It does? To walk around a wall? I mean, no offense, God, but wouldn't it be quicker to just use a bulldozer, or a wrecking ball, or shoot a cannon at the wall?

OH YEAH!

But when God gives us a plan, what are we supposed to do?

LISTEN! OBEY! DO IT!

Yep, so Joshua and his guys walked around the wall. Day 1, walk around the wall, go home, have lunch, take a nap. Day 2, walk around the wall, play some basketball. Day 3, walk around the wall, Day 4, Day 5, do you think they're getting dizzy yet? Day 6, walk around the wall.

Now if you were living in Jericho, standing up on top of the wall, looking down, what would you be thinking? Are the Israelites crazy? Do they think this is a track for exercising? Are they lost? What is going on?

But then on Day 7, God told Joshua to walk around the city 7 times. So around they go...1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and on the 7th time, Joshua said to his men, "Shout, men, raise your voices! Today the Lord has given us this city!" So all the Israelites shouted and yelled, like when someone scores a touchdown, or when the teacher says it's time for recess.

And the people in Jericho are saying, "Hey, could you be quiet down there!" But then the dishes on the table start to rattle. And the picture frames fall off the wall. All the cats in Jericho get scared and hide under the bed. The walls start to crack, and pretty soon it's like one of those movies when all the buildings are crumbling, and then, the walls of Jericho...

FELL DOWN!

Yep, and the Israelites were able to go into Jericho and take over the city. So how do you think Joshua and his buddies felt?

AWESOME!

Yep, because they did what?

LISTENED TO GOD!!! PARTICIPATED IN HIS PLAN!!! KNOCKED DOWN THE WALL!!!

You're all right! So when we pray, or listen to parents and teachers, or read the Bible, we learn God's plan. And what are we supposed to do then?

LISTEN! DO IT! OBEY! KNOCK DOWN WALLS! YEE-HAW!

Yep! Okay, time for crafts! Line up behind your teacher!

I grab a drink of water and greet the next group who are waiting in the hall. Whew... I came home for lunch and promptly took a nap.

It was the longest series of 10 minutes of my life! Yee-Haw!

been a while

Obviously, I haven't blogged in a while, so if you're even checking this, thanks for sticking around!

You can check out Josh's blog for recent pictures of our trip to North Carolina for my brother-in-law's wedding. Congratulations, Jared and Heather!

I'm in the middle of a 3-week summer vacation before we start school again August 6. The last time I had a week off (Spring Break), I pretty much wasted the entire time. Nothing checked off the to-do list...no little gold stars on the sticker chart...not a good situation.

This week, however, I was determined to get some stuff done. We're nearing the end of the fix-it-up projects on our house, so I put my Dave's Paint Crew skills to work.

I'm proud to say that I checked everything off my list for last week: trim paint around the living room ceiling; clean the scary floor underneath the fridge and stove; trim paint behind said major appliances; catch up on laundry; pack up extra books in office; hang out with Shar and her kids; clean out leftovers from the fridge; finish scrapbooking summer pictures.

Yay for productivity! Gold star on the sticker chart! (don't worry...we don't really have one of those)

Josh has been pouring concrete and laying tile in our 2nd story bathroom, so I'm also his go-fer girl, running up and down the stairs to find mysterious things like the miter saw box, or the can of denatured alcohol, or a piece of scrapwood at least 25" but not longer than 36", or to hold the PVC pipe steady until the glue dries. I'm trying to be a good helper! Josh taught me how to use the sheet-rock saw, and I got to cut a hole in the wall for the air-return vent. Good times!

But honestly, I'm ready to go back to work. I think I'm getting house-fatigue...I like where we live, for the most part, but I am definitely ready to have a weekend without any fix-it projects.

I'm so grateful for Josh's skill and determination in getting our house ready to put on the market. We're getting better at working together on projects without arguing. I wish I had some wise insight or poetic application about the whole fixing-it-up-ness that we're going through, but my head's kind of empty right now.

That's what happens when you're on vacation.

Camping Trip!

This weekend a bunch of us from small group went up to Watkins Mill Campground, near Kearney. It was a hot weekend, but we had a shady campsite and a lake to swim in. We also had several cheeky raccoons who wanted to raid our food supply!

Here's Josh, whose fire-building skills kept him from getting voted off the island...

Here are the girls...we look pretty good right here, but you should have seen us with the sunburn/ lake swim/ no showers/ smelling like smoke and sweat and bug spray/ ketchup stains. Gorgeous! From the left are Cassie, Ashley, Becky, Denise and Sarah.


The boys invent a new breakfast favorite: scrambled eggs, bacon, cheese, and black pepper on tortillas. Camping Burritos!! From the left are Chad, Phil, Josh and Mike.

Chad prepares to cook another marshmallow. That's why they're called s'mores!
A good time was had by all! See you in September!

Joe and Mel

The school where I teach is in an old shopping mall. The mall manager is named Joe. He's in his early 60s, and he makes me miss both of my grandfathers.

Joe is in several grown-up Boy-Scout organizations like the Shriners, or maybe the Elks Club. He takes his wife square dancing on Friday night, and gives the teachers here free tickets to the Tonginoxie rodeo.

Usually Joe wears grey slacks and a Miller Security button-down short sleeve work shirt and black dress shoes, but today he came in wearing plaid golfing shorts and a white tank top.

With the dress shoes.

"Gonna be hot today," he told me.

Joe likes hearing stories about my life, and since we didn't have any students in yet, he pulled up a chair and I found all of our pictures on Josh's blog Flickr site.

Mel stopped by shortly after Joe did. Mel is the mall maintenance guy, who likes to grumble about the new mayor, the potholes in the parking lot, the worn out belt on the vacuum cleaner, and his kids who "just don't got no sense some of these days."

Joe and Mel stayed for an hour looking at pictures.

They argued about whether Josh looked better with or without facial hair, whether Anna and I looked alike or not, and which wedding picture they wanted a copy of to hang in their office (they finally decided on the one where we're putting gas in the RAV, still wearing our wedding clothes).

I showed them the pictures from our trip to the Topeka Zoo...Mel said, very seriously, that he had never liked giraffes, because they looked like they were "up to something."

Good times.

Cat & House - 2; Josh & Sarah - 0

It stormed all weekend in Kansas City, leaving us with a sopping wet yard, but fortunately a dry basement. I like thunderstorms and wish we had a bigger front porch to watch the wicked lightning and pounding rain.

Our cat, however, does not like storms. His tail gets all fuzzy, a la Calvin's buddy, Hobbes. On Saturday night, I was awakened by the simultaneous sounds of a crazy loud crack of thunder, Josh shouting in pain, and the cat scrambling out the door to find a safe hiding spot.

Scared by the thunder, Rio had used Josh's leg as a launch pad to leap off the bed, leaving behind four distinct puncture wounds and three deep scratches. Ouch! I'm not sure Rio felt all that bad about it...check out Rio's expression in this picture: Guilty as charged, Your Honor!

Score: Rio - 1; Josh - 0

-----------------------

The second injury of the weekend occurred when I was getting ready for bed on Sunday evening. Our house is pretty old and occasionally quirky, one of those quirks being the 71.5" (5 feet 11 1/2 inches) bathroom door, compared to standard 80"(6 feet 6 inches) or 84" (6 feet 10 inches) interior door heights.

So I was hopping around the house (don't ask...I just like to hop sometimes. Anna knows...I think it started when I lived with her in Sioux Falls).

Anyway, I brushed my teeth, and then hopped out of the bathroom, straight smack up into the door frame of our previously mentioned tiny bathroom door. Now I'm almost 5' 9", and I'm a pretty good hopper, so that's a whole lot of hop-power slamming the top of my head into a wooden door frame 3 inches above me.

I saw stars.

I crumpled to the floor, swearing and sobbing at the same time. I felt like a moron.

Josh quickly got the bag of popcorn kernels from the freezer for my rapidly-rising goose egg and fixed a big mug of medicine that was equal parts rum and sprite, with a little lime juice.

Oh, the headache.

I quickly didn't care that the combination of the thunderstorm and a worn-out VCR tape had only picked up the audio from the TAR finale, with little broken snatches of video. I didn't even care that Eric and Pink won, and they're like my least favorite contestants ever, being a dreadful combination of "that guy" and every girl who lets herself get dragged along through life by that guy.

Josh put me to bed and made me swear off hopping, at least until we move to a different house with people-sized doorways.

Score: House - 1; Sarah - 0

Z O O !

For Josh's birthday, my parents took us to the Topeka Zoo. Josh's favorite animal was this little tamarin.


Mom and Sarie in the rain forest jungle.











Two little monkeys up in the tree.

Happy Birthday, Baby!

Saturday is Josh's official special day, but we started celebrating early on Thursday evening with our Small Group friends at Buffalo Wild Wings. It was quite a party, complete with trivia games and the Miller Lite girls. We finished the evening back at Phil and Cassie's for root beer floats and video games. Happy 27th Birthday!

Signs, Signs, Everywhere a Sign

Okay, so these pictures were taken in the parking lot of the place where I work. Most handicapped parking spots are marked with a yellow stick person sitting in a wheel chair. I honestly mean no disrespect for the actual people who need to use these handicapped parking spots... I'm just confused.

What is this guy doing? Hula-hooping? Cartwheels? The Pee-Wee Herman Dance?
Or what about here? I think I see the wheelchair guy, but is that the LochNess Monster on his lap?
This one reminds me of this cowboy thing my Grandpa Detrich used to have down at his office, where you tried to tip the little guy off of his stump, but he was balanced with a big long pole, like a tight-rope walker. Kind of hard to explain.

As is this:
This one is probably my favorite, considering that where I work is sort of ghetto.
This is the designated spot for gunmen to park. How thoughtful.

Not a Flannel Board Jesus

Here are a couple of the flannel boards I made for our Small Group. The first one is the Nativity, and the second is the Temptation in the Desert.

Coming up soon...The Feeding of the 5,000! That's a lot of little fish to cut out!!

The book we're reading continues to emphasize that Christ was not simply the meek, kind, flannel-clad figure we learned about in Sunday School. It's definitely challenging the way I think about Jesus and my relationship with Him.

Here are a few of the guys having an impromptu praise and worship session at the end of small group: Josh, Mike S., Chad and Phil.
And here are some of the girls I've been blessed to shepherd and fellowship with over the past 5 weeks: Cassie, Denise, myself & Becky.

Rescue Feline-1-1

So you may have heard that we have this cat, Rio, who is kind of quirky. He loves to sit up against the screen door and look outside at the trash blowing down our street and smell the fresh air.

This morning, Josh opened the window in the office, right next to the spot on the desk where Rio sits. The cat was enjoying the breeze, and then he realized that by batting the loose screen aside (another spring break non-project?), he could really get a taste of the great outdoors.

Before we knew it, Rio had his whole head, both front paws, and half of his sizable belly sticking out the window! He was hanging out over the side of the house, about 10 feet above the ground. Josh had to grab Rio's tail and then handfuls of fur to haul him back to safety.

Rio was yelling at Josh, Josh was yelling at Rio, and I...was laughing. I can't help it...at heart, I'm still a Detrich!

I am honestly growing to like our cat, and he's definitely proving valuable in the whole "practicing parenthood" thing. Note to self: Fix the screen before you have kids.

Things and things

How has it been almost a month since I last posted?? Apologies to those of you who still occasionally drop by this site to see if I have anything new to say.

Here are a few highlights from the past weeks:

*Josh and I celebrated our 1st "first sight" anniversary...February 25 was one year from the day we actually met in person. Praise to the Lord for allowing us to walk together in His presence and for His glory!

*My job at 500 Reach is going well. It's pretty rewarding to work with these people who are returning to school after facing some tough realities. I'm continually inspired and blessed by their personal stories and hard work.

*Small group continues to be awesome. We're through 3 chapters of The Jesus I Never Knew, and we're learning a lot! Good-bye, flannel-board Jesus!

This week we're trying live worship with Josh and Mike S on the guitar, and Phil on the violin. I'm sure it will be a joyful noise! We're anticipating adding two if not three new couples to the group...we're going to need more chairs!

I think everyone in our group is sort of surprised (or relieved?) to find that they enjoy hanging out with eachother outside of small group, too. It's like we knew we were all in it for Thursday Bible Study, but we've also had fun playing UNO and Speed Scrabble on the weekends, sharing meals and lots of laughter. What a blessing and a gift this fellowship is!

*Josh took a 4-day trip to Birmingham for Brice's wedding, and had many adventures including a St. Patrick's Day bachelor's party, karaoke, and probably a few stories that are better left in Alabama. The photographer referred to Josh as "the cute groomsman" which gave his ego a little boost.

*Husband-less for the first time in 4 months, I spent Friday night hanging out with BJ, Gail, Sharla, Donna, Emily, Tionna, Denise, and Tiffanie. What an amazing bunch of women! Southern comfort food, Friends quotes, silly stories, late-night Target runs...I felt like I was back in college. p.s. Girls...I'd love to see pictures of our adventures!

*Saturday I drove down to Inman, KS, (by McPherson) to visit my dear friend Jodi, and attend her sister's wedding shower. 30 women showed up for the "tea party" and to celebrate Melanie and Chuck. I love wearing hats and eating cucumber sandwiches!! Yay for marriage!!

Our wonderful friend Angie was back in the US (she's a missionary far-away), and several other college girls spent the night at the Lightner family farm. We giggled until after midnight.

*This week is Spring Break. I wish I could say I've been really productive and have completed many tasks like painting kitchen cabinet doors and grouting tile in our upstairs bathroom. However, much to Josh's dismay, I'm sure, I'm mostly catching up on lost sleep (see Busy Weekend, above) and distracting Josh while he's working from our home office. Tomorrow I'll head up to see Shar and her kids for the afternoon. The kitchen cabinets will still be there this summer, I'm sure.


*My sister Anna is spending the week in Lithuania, visiting the other country she loves.

*Next weekend we'll head up to Sioux Falls/The Farm for Schmeckfest. It will be so good to see my Aunt Linda and Uncle John, Grandma and Grandpa, and so many dear friends at The Crossing. Funny how the word "home" keeps redefining itself.

All in all, life is good...God is consistent and very real...

The Jesus We're Getting To Know

Last night was our first small group meeting. There were 9 people there, which is a great start. Phil and Cassie are wonderful hosts...comfy chairs...peach pie...

I'm pretty good with names, but my biggest problem is remembering which wife goes with which husband. Hopefully everyone else can figure it out. Just for the record, though, it's Mike/Denise, Ben/Amy, Phil/Cassie, Chad/Becky, and Josh/Sarah.

I'm kind of a mnemonic device dork, but the other girls' names are helpfully alphabetic...A B C D. If you want to join our group, your (or your wife's) name needs to start with an E, please.

Josh and I have each been leaders of various small groups in the past, and it's now being an interesting challenge to lead a group together. It's been the source of some tension over this past week as we prepared for Thursday night, but ultimately we've both had to agree to trust one another's leadership style and allow this adventure to strengthen our relationship.

The book we're going to start studying is a Phillip Yancey book called "The Jesus I Never Knew." I think it will be a good pick for this group, most of whom grew up in church and have at least a basic understanding of scripture. But do we really know Jesus, in the sense that we walk and commune and seek and talk and relate with Him? Probably not very well, or very often, would be my answer.

So I'm humbled and blessed to be part of this group, to journey with these people, to spend time in worship, fellowship, Bible study and prayer. If you live in the KC/Liberty area and would like to join us next week, we'd love to share life with you. I think there's some leftover pie.

I am job!

I am pleased to announce that I am now the proud owner of a teaching position with the Greenbush organization.

The specific program is called 500 Reach, which partners with the Kansas City, KS, school district. My students are adults who initially did not finish high school, but are now returning to pursue their high school diplomas.

My work will include tutoring individual students as they take a variety of computer-based courses, tracking student progress, assigning appropriate lessons and homework, restructuring the 500 Reach writing program and doing writing workshops with students, and best of all?

No more grading papers at basketball games! Now there's something to cheer about!

In order to help each student, I'll have to brush up on my Chemistry, my Algebra II, and my Shakespeare, for that matter.

This job is a serious, specific answer to prayer. I am overwhelmed at the way the Lord allows us to come to a place of desperation...

(exhibit A: Me thinking it would be fun to have a baby, because I was getting bored at home)

so we will recognize our need for His providence and grace. Why do I forget to remember the promises of Philippians 4 ? "And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus."

room on the couch

I've spent a lot of time on our couch recently. When I'm sick, I don't like to spend the day in bed...too far from the kitchen... DVD player is in the living room... I hate the term bedridden (too hard to say the d-r-d-combination)...etc.

Fortunately, Josh makes really great nests on the couch for me (even though he insists on calling them "forts"). Just the right number of blankets, pillows propped up just like I like them, easy access to the remote control, Kleenex and Sprite nearby. But I'm better now, and the couch is less of a nest/fort and more of a dining room table/movie theatre.

Yesterday when we were trying to decide what to do for the evening, Josh was wishing that his family lived closer than North Carolina, because it would be nice to just go sit on someone else's couch for a while.

We ended up hanging out with Cameron and Sharla. Usually when we get together, we play some kind of "plot to destroy eachother" game like Settlers of Catan or poker, but we were all pretty tired after a long week, so we ended up just drinking (coffee for the girls, beer for the boys, chocolate milk for the kiddos) and chatting.

What did we talk about? I don't even really remember now...plans for our new small group, their joys and challenges of parenting Caleb and Kiersten, spiritual warfare, my job interview, quirky habits of our pets, why men wouldn't take a wingman to go lingerie shopping for their wives... you know, just stuff.

And you know what? It was great to sit on someone else's couch. Josh and I love to spend time just the two of us, and we enjoy going exciting places and learning and serving and adventuring and playing, but sometimes we just need to sit and be with our loved ones. It's like a time to recharge our fellowship batteries, resting comfortably and restoring our strength with the family of God.

So thanks, Cam and Shar, for making room for us on your couch and in your life.

I look like a monkey

Happy 28th Birthday to me!

This birthday sort of snuck up on me.

I've been ridiculously sick for the past 6 days...I hope someone remembered to feed my husband and our cat, because I have not.

Last year I spent my birthday riding a bus home to South Dakota from a missions conference in Texas. That's a long ride, even (especially?) with good friends like Alyssa, Kylie, Kate, Jessica, Sue, Jenna and Char. I miss you, ladies! Also, Happy Birthday Buddy to Jamie! (and to the late great Gipper himself, Ronald Reagan.)

I was dreading turning 27 last year, feeling old and spinsterly and wanting very much to quit my masters program. I was also quite nervous because a few weeks after the Texas trip, I was planning a trip down to Kansas City to meet some e-harmony guy, Josh, for the first time. Needless to say, it's been quite a year!

So suddenly it's my birthday again. I live in a new state, have a new name, a husband and a cat, hopefully a new job, and a new understanding of God's provident grace.

Thanks to all the tremendously special people who have made it a great day and who will make this an amazing 28th year of my life.

Everybody, eat cake!

(p.s. Josh doesn't like icing, so that's win-win for us!)

sick of this

If I had a job, I would have called in sick today.

With all due respect to my sister's current illness, I have one of those colds that makes putting on slippers seem like a lot of work, to say nothing of going all the way downstairs to do some laundry.

My current attention span allows me to stare alternately at the closed blinds and then at the wall and then back again, making the paint look striped. Fun!

In one burst of energy earlier this morning, I managed to get Josh's laptop, make toast, and take any vitamins and unexpired cold meds I could find in the cabinet. Medicine head, anyone?

I've been catching up on re-caps of old Amazing Race episodes, one finger poking out of the blanket nest to hit the "next page" button. Momily and those crazy Guidos are currently racing through Tunisia, which brings back some good memories.

Josh gets home in a couple of hours...hopefully this box of Kleenex lasts that long. We're supposed to go to Topeka tomorrow to have lunch with the 'rents...maybe Mom will bring me the box of Adventures in Odyssey tapes and a pot to bang on when I need someone to come fluff my pillows!

Grandpa O

I just found this photo on my uncle David's website...thought it was worth sharing. Doesn't my Grandpa O look snazzy in that tie? He has such sparkly blue eyes!

You think he looks proud in this picture? Ask him about his lake...

I miss you, Grandpa. Stay warm...I'll see you at Schmeckfest.

Razor Blades and the Ex-Wife

Most of the time, I don't think about my husband's ex.

I mean, sometimes we get junk mail for her (why yes, she'd love to open another credit card account); she and Josh still have some mutual friends (we came across her MySpace page which was kind of awkward); and Josh and I have talked a lot about their relationship, and how the Lord has healed him from that pain. You can check out his blog entitled Redemption Draweth Nigh to read more of Josh's thoughts about his divorce.

Together we've prayed about it and closed the door on that part of Josh's life. We wish her healing and peace and that she'll stay out-of-state.

But mostly, I just don't think about her.

Until this week.

The front windows in our living room and our back kitchen door are painted white around the sills, and on the little strips of wood between the panes of glass. That looks nice.

What doesn't look nice is that the person who did that trim work didn't bother to mask anything, resulting in a one-inch smear of white paint on the glass.

Let's see... 4 separate panes of glass per window, times 5 living room windows, times 4 edges per pane, times how many inches per edge, times...HOW HARD IS IT TO USE A LITTLE MASKING TAPE?

I spent too many hours standing on a chair or kneeling on the floor with a spray bottle of some magical orange cleanser that says right on the bottle "Not Recommended for Use on Glass" that really did make the paint easier to scrape off. (hey...it was Josh's idea)

My hands cramped up severely and I have blisters on my thumbs from inching the razor blade along the glass.

Sometimes the paint would cooperate and peel off in satisfying 5 inch strips, but sometimes I had to pick pick pick at each little fleck. You know what a razor blade sounds like scratching on glass?

IT SOUNDS LIKE HIS EX-WIFE.

Scraping off all that paint was sort of a cathartic activity, allowing me to release some pent-up frustration with her that I didn't really realize I had. It's a good thing Josh wasn't around to listen to me curse as I almost slashed the razor blade through my rubber glove, or when the chair wobbled and I banged my forehead on the window sill.

Her fault...her fault...her fault...

It's weird to realize that if she had done things better in the first place, not only would I not be scraping paint off those windows, I wouldn't have Josh in my life at all. Not quite sure what to do with that line of reasoning. I think I continue to blame her for recurring pain that I see in my husband's life; Josh is better at releasing that hurt to the Lord than I am.

I'm grateful that God's love and providence comes from a perspective that is outside of human experience. I tend to just see smears of paint on every pane of glass...a cloudy vision of grace.

with glad and sincere hearts

This weekend Josh and I attended a two-part training session on leading small groups at our Vineyard Church. These verses from Acts 2 was the basis for the training, and while I'm not sure I learned anything especially new, it was a good review of how and why God wants His people to live in community and fellowship.

42They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. ⁴³Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. ⁴⁴All the believers were together and had everything in common. ⁴⁵Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. ⁴⁶Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, ⁴⁷praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

For several months now, Josh and I have been talking and praying about the general need, and our personal desire, to connect young couples in fellowship with one another. The Vineyard has grown so large, and with 6 services every weekend, it's easy to feel disconnected from the few faces I do recognize.

After spending 2 1/2 years in leadership and precious fellowship at The Crossing in Sioux Falls, it has been a little intimidating to think about just starting up a new small group in a new town. We don't have that many friends...who would come? We live too far away...who could host? We don't know anyone else's phone numbers...how will we get the word out? Okay...time to pray.

A couple of weeks ago after church, we were chatting with our friend Bryan and his new fiancee Lori, and another couple we just met, Will and Brooke. Brooke sort of randomly said that she and Will were wanting to be in a small group; they just didn't know of one that fit what they were looking for. Bryan and Lori agreed. Yay! Answer to prayer # 1... People!

Then after the service last night, I decided to ask the couple sitting behind us if they were involved in a small group. Phil and Cassie said no, but that they just purchased a new house and really felt like they were supposed to use the space to host a Bible Study. Yay! Answer to prayer # 2 ... Place!

Then we found out from the young adult pastor, Cameron, that this upcoming weekend is Connect Weekend, where all the new small groups can advertise after each service. Yay! Answer to prayer # 3...Promotional Materials!

So basically I am just overwhelmed by the way this small group has come together, and the consistant provision and goodness that the Lord has shown through this situation. I am expectant of sweet hours of Bible study, friendship, prayer time and snacks.

Forever God is faithful, Forever God is strong, Forever God is with us, Forever!
Sing Praise!

The Year of the Vegetable

January. A month of grey skies, credit card bills, finding holiday M&M's and scraps of wrapping paper under the couch, and the determination to make life different this year.

At the beginning of 2006, I made two New Year's Resolutions:

1. Pray with people.

When I told someone "I'll pray for you," I would actually take a few moments to pray with them right then. This proved to be a great challenge and a blessing to both me and my surprised friends and co-workers.

2. Eat more vegetables.

This was sort of a cop-out resolution, cleverly and intentionally avoiding the unlikely resolutions of eating less dessert or exercising more. My path to a healthy lifestyle in '06 would be lined with broccoli stalks and carrot sticks.

I actually did pretty well. Every day in my lunch, I took some kind of veggie to munch on along with my sandwich and cookies, and I purposely spent more time shopping in the produce section. Steamed broccoli with cheese, spinach salads (with smoked salmon filets!), and frozen stir-fry snow peas, red peppers and bamboo shoots became common dinner essentials.

I could list so many ways in which the Lord prepared my heart to introduce Josh into my life during 2006, "The Year of the Vegetable" ...my parents' and grandparents' beautiful examples of marriage ...learning to share the bathroom mirror with phenomenal roommates (here's looking at you, Christa, Anna, Lindsey, April and Kate) ...a variety of friendships and church fellowships to both support me and remind me that there are always more people out there who want to be my friend ...a good painting buddy who was so delighted to be married to a strong-willed woman, and who gave me hope that someone would want to put up with me someday...

But also seriously essential has been my change in heart towards vegetables.

My husband loves vegetables. (I can hear my mother trying to hold back a gleeful smirk.)

Every time I go grocery shopping or plan meals, I have to remember this. I would be happy to live on bread and potatoes, but Josh needs green things. And things that are orange/yellow /leafy/ carmelized/steamed /garlicky/balsalmicky /cilantro-esque.

Over the past few days, we've eaten potato/carrot/spinach soup, bowtie pasta with red peppers/onions/mushrooms/spinach, spinach/broccoli/carrot/olive/mushroom/tomato/raisin salad, cous-cous with yellow squash/mushrooms/onions/tomato/garbanzo beans, and split pea/lentil/carrot/celery soup. We even chop up more vegetables to put on top of a frozen pizza! Onions for the universe!

We should be poster children for the produce section at our ghetto Price Chopper!

Josh is so good for me. And so are all those vegetables, I guess. And now that I think about it, so is the gym we joined. And don't forget the fact that Josh is allergic to chocolate and likes the taste of "lite" ice cream better.

Sheesh.

We're going back to our pre-marital counselor for a two-month check-up. I can only pray that all aspects of our relationship will prove to be as healthy as the food in our fridge!

I need to be careful what I make as my New Year's Resolutions for 2007...they might actually change my life!