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What  a great morning! Today my family and I had the wonderful opportunity of volunteering for this year’s “Trash Bash”. Basically, we picked an area and then picked up trash. So, after donning our bright colored safety vests and gloves, we went to work. What a beautiful day and what a great learning experience for my children! After we finished, we met up with other groups at NRH2O for a picnic. We laughed and danced and played silly games. I also had the opportunity to speak with some teenage girls who were pageant hopefuls; I hope I inspired them because the more I talked about pageants with them, the more excited I became about the Mrs. Texas pageant!  Don’t forget to check out the pictures by my wonderful photographer husband and don’t forget: no littering  and reduce, reuse and recycle!

So after walking in the rain this morning for the American Heart Association Heart Walk, we went to visit Kyle since he lives down the road from where we were in Fort Worth. I guess for some reason I had not thought that we would be very wet after walking a 5K in the rain-but I THOUGHT WRONG. After rummaging through the car we found some dry clothes for the girls (even though Trevor & I were soaked) and we headed to Kyle’s place. You see, Kyle used to live on the street, so being a little wet in the rain did not compare to some of the experiences he has had. Kyle  is living at Cornerstone, is in school and is doing exceptionally well. He knew we were stopping by to visit, and he was ready for us. His housing area is only for men but he received special permission for the girls and I to see his great new home. I could tell he was very excited and proud as he showed us his room and his homework (he received a 100%). Kyle still doesn’t have many material possessions, but he is becoming educated and has a place to sleep and has food to eat. Kyle then displayed a great & generous act of kindness to my girls; sitting on his desk were 2 small bags of M&M cookies. He said excitedly “can the girls have these?” Of course we accepted and Kyle was able to see the girls enjoy their cookies-the cookies he was able to give to them. Kyle gets it…he understands generosity. At a point in his life when he thought he had lost all hope, Kyle was blessed with the generosity of others and knows that blessings come by helping others. He understands that generosity is not about being flashy & extravagant for the world to see; it’s not about giving out of your plenty but giving out of what little you have; it’s not about what you give but about your intentions in giving; and sometimes it’s just about cookies.

So, after much thought and preparation, I have decided to compete for the prestigious title of Mrs. Texas America. I am so excited and I will be competing as Mrs. North Richland Hills. The pageant is in June 2010-so throughout the year, I will be making updates regarding my activities. Maybe you ask, why? Well, I believe that the Mrs. America pageant is unique in the fact that it celebrates married women and it is a wonderful opportunity to reach my community, my great state of Texas and possibly even our wonderful country. I am excited to be able to promote our non for profit organization, Remedy for this Heart, as well as volunteer with many other organizations and causes. It seems like June is forever away, but I know the time will approach quickly. No matter what happens during the pageant, I will always be grateful for this opportunity to represent such a great city as North Richland Hills. More to come so stay tuned………….

Check out the new Mrs. Texas America website at www.mrstexas.net!!!

Well, I know I don’t have many followers, but I can’t believe it has been so long since I have written anything. Life has been going on and I guess it has gotten the best of me lately. Between my husband being out of town frequently  and having to work and take care of the kids and all the medical tests…..whew!-Overwhelming at times and also tends to give me a little writer’s block. So I guess I have nothing too creative to say, but I thought if I wrote something it would at least be something instead of nothing; so is it better to have something of no substance or to just have nothing at all? Hmm…I guess it could really be about the same, but in reality I guess nothing would be better since a lot of something without substance is just a lot of white noise and a waste of time-unless it is chocolate…..oooo……or coffee

Well, as a married woman I am very blessed to have the help of my husband as we travel through life; this week he has been on a trip and so I am utterly aware of all the hats that I wear. Let’s see…I am a wife, mother, sister, daughter, friend, mentor, housekeeper, cook, nurse, referee, manager, pastor’s wife, hairdresser, princess……..(just kidding on the last one except when I am playing dress-up with my kids). So what is missing? Why do we look at our lives martyristically (yes, I think I made up this word) and focus so much on WHAT we do instead of WHO we are? Really, if we would just realize that we are children of God, then everything else would just fall into place. I mean, shouldn’t the hat, “child of God” be the huge sombrero on our head that everything else just fits under? Hmmm….so maybe we need to look at the size of the hat rather than the number of hats that we wear. If being a child of God encompasses all of who we are, isn’t this the hat that we should wear with every outfit and for all occasions?

Strange, I know, but my recent experience of illness with my 2 year old brought many thoughts to mind. So, not to go all SAT-like and stuff, I will elaborate. So here are the similarities I found between sin and vomit: disgusting, inevitable, embarrassing at times, leaves a stain, you can’t take it back, can be contagious, foul, exhausting, lingering Effects, can take your breath away, can make you feel sorry for yourself, can make your stomach churn, caustic, can be public or private, can ruin, can leave a bad taste in your mouth and can make people walk away from you. I thought it interesting at first that I could think of so many similarities, and then realized that it is no mistake that both of these vile things could be compared so easily. So why is it that every time we see someone throw up (especially if it is on you), we are so disgusted by it, but when we see sin, sometimes it is actually enticing to us? If we actually saw sin for what it really is, would we still think it is fun or intriguing or easy? I say “easy” because it is, isn’t it? I mean, trying to be good or do good is hard work, right? Or is that just something we convince ourselves so we won’t have to change? Living a life in obedience to God—why is it so hard for us to do and why do we continue to make excuses for our choices? Of course we can say, “well, we are all sinners.” Sure we are, but at some point we need to take responsibility for our choices instead of continuing to blame Eve or the snake or whatever else is convenient to blame at the time. Do we continue to choose sin because “it is in our nature” or do we choose to be fulfilled and renewed and be free of all the guilt and and grossness that binds us to this terminal world that we live in? So I compare obedience to an antiemetic-well, they are calming, settling, brings peace, takes that icky feeling away, prevents, alleviates, suppresses, prohibits, is deliberate and reduces the incidence of-(that’s my favorite I think). Reality–sin is going to happen, but faithful obedience will definatley “reduce the incidence” of it. To live a life of obedience to God-it takes the guesswork out of life. There are so many choices to make, why would we not want to make the best ones? When we follow God’s leading in our everyday occurrences, it will start to become natural and even the “difficult” or non-popular decisions will be “easy” because we will know they are the right decisions and we will have the peace that passes all understanding. Sin is a choice; obedience is a choice; so what is your choice today?

So this weekend I had the opportunity to go on a little getaway with my husband to the Palomar Hotel in Dallas. The week proceeding this event consisted of busyness  and stress as I awaited some test results. So I never have felt that I am a particularly impatient person, but I guess the headache that I had all week long blew my cover. So I have heard people say before NOT to pray for patience because then God will teach you by allowing you to go through something difficult. Well, I think that our definition of patience is much different than that of God’s. We act like oh if I get through such and such situation that I will have learned “the virtue of patience”. Well I say that patience is a lifelong journey and that we will reach the end when we are finally home with our Savior. If you think about it, our perception of time is much different than that of God’s. So if one day in our lives is equivalent to a thousand years in God’s time, then really it would take longer than a lifetime to even come close to mastering the art of patience. So yes, I had to wait a week and a half for some test results; I guess I should be thankful that I didn’t have to wait for one of “God’s days.” I admit, a long time ago I was brave (or naive) enough to pray for patience; hence my journey began. So whether I am standing at my kitchen sink patiently awaiting a pot to fill with water from my water-pressure challenged faucet or I am patiently awaiting my potty-training daughter to finally finish on the toilet, I continue on my journey to patience. It is not something that is finally obtained after a difficult trial but a continual process that inevitably teaches us that we are no longer in control once we choose to follow Him. This is actually great news because when I rely on God I seem to make the right choices (funny how that works). When I wander off and start to think for myself, then I begin to do the things I don’t want to do instead of the things I should do…..so patience brings obedience and obedience brings peace and peace brings relaxation? So I had a headache all of Friday despite my incessant use of ibuprofen. Trevor (my husband) was getting sick and so our getaway was a time to heal and yes, finally relax. I think by the time we were ready to leave I was actually feeling better and wanting to stay. So off to home we went, refreshed and ready to get back to reality again. So is my reality a life of frustration or one of patience? And so the journey continues…….

Okay, so yesterday I went to the Fort Worth Museum of Modern Art with my husband and a couple of our friends. We were having a delightful day as we had lunch in the cafe (which is actually quite awesome because the glass windows are right on the water). Go check it out at www.themodern.org. So anyway, we were looking at art and having a good day and my friend Morgan and I decided to view the featured artwork. It was a unique piece-some was hanging from the ceiling and some was on the floor. Morgan and I were across the room from each other and we heard a loud, static-like noise that appeared to be coming from the hallway area. We both just stood there looking at each other for a moment when all of a sudden, we heard a raspy, male sounding, low-pitched voice that said “heeelp meeeeeeeee!!”. Frozen, we looked at each other and finally said in disbelief, “did you hear that?” Yes, we both heard it. When my legs finally decided to move, I ran into the hallway where no one was to be found. We continued throughout the museum where we observed neat and strange art and then visited “the area of the encounter” one last time. Nothing was heard or seen and the air had a much lighter feeling. I looked on the Internet trying to find out information and have inconclusively concluded that it was Rothko’s ghost. He was an artist that well, isn’t alive anymore. If you are really interested you should look him up-it is actually pretty interesting. So, what does this mean? Do you believe that encounters like this really happen? All I know is that I heard what I heard and without getting all into the forces around us that we don’t see, I’ll just say I heard what I heard. I leave that for another time-but I do have stories.

So anyone that has kids and has had them in sunday school has probably heard the song about “you can’t get to heaven on a pogo stick” or “in a rocket ship”, etc. My daughters and I sing that and try to make up new things all the time. My favorite just hit me one day though when we were singing about how “you can’t get to heaven in a washing machine.” I’m not sure if my hormonally challenged self went crazy or what but I actually got a little teary-eyed. At the top of our voices we were singing “you can’t get to heaven in a washing machine, ’cause God don’t care if your clothes are clean, all my sins are washed away I’ve been redeemed!” WOW! Maybe it is just the messed up hormones, but it became apparent to me how true that statement was-God surely doesn’t care if our clothes are clean–why do we care so much about appearances in church? How often do we go up to those who may be dirty or smell a bit and just put our arms around them and embrace them the way Jesus would? Why should they be treated as sub-human because they don’t look like a picture of the church that someone came up with (definately not the picture Jesus had). Who in your church fits this picture? Anyone? Maybe the church has surrounded them so wonderfully and shown such community that needs are being met or maybe there aren’t any at all because-well, maybe some churches just don’t welcome ALL of God’s children. But why? Why is it so difficult to love people that aren’t like ourselves? Is it because maybe the realization that we could be that person scares the daylights out of us? Or maybe if we acknowledge that poverty and homelessness really exist then we have an obligation to do something about it. Hmmm. So the Bible says that the poor will always be among us. So…does that free us from obligation? NO! Of course not. Sin is in the world but that is not a free ticket to do wrong because we are sinners. Of course we are sinners but the beauty of God comes from his saving redemption through Jesus Christ that washes our sins away when we repent and turn back to the mindset of God. So, yes, the poor will be among us-thankfully God just didn’t say, well sin is now in the world-good luck with that whole saving yourself thing-let me know how that works out for you. No, God gave us a choice. He provided the Way with Jesus.  So how far does our love for God’s children go? Is there a limit? Or should I ask why is there a limit? We limit ourselves by our insecurities. What would you do differently if you truly believed that all that mattered is how God saw your heart and not how others see you. But then again, isn’t that what matters?

So over and over I hear myself say to my kids “why won’t you listen to me?” My frustration level rises and rises. I tell them time and time again to “do this” or not to “do that” and yet my pleas are ignored; maybe they are just too busy doing their own thing to pay attention. As these words echo through my mind I now wonder-do I listen? What has God been saying to me that I have ignored? Maybe I have been too busy to pay attention. How many times does God say to me “why won’t you listen to Me?” Gulp- kind of hard to swallow. So now as I reflect on this, I realize that the obedience of my children that I desperately long for is the same obedience that the Father desperately longs for from us. If we are children of God, why don’t we act like it? I mean really, can you imagine if God was here on earth interacting with you every day as your parent-wouldn’t you act differently? Shouldn’t you? Well, I guess that excuse isn’t a good one because HE IS! God is alive and he longs to talk with us and to share life with us. Why do we make our life with God separate from the rest of our life? Shouldn’t it be one in the same? I also find myself saying to my children, “if you would just listen we could actually have more fun and be able to do more things.” Isn’t that the truth? If we listened to God and did what He says the first time, wouldn’t our lives be truly fulfilled and wouldn’t we be free of all the clutter that weighs us down and keeps us from being who we really are? Shouldn’t we live our lives in such communication with our Father that He should never have to ask, “why won’t you listen to me?”