2009 - A Year in Review

It's that time of year again to reflect and ruminate over the year's happenings. Summing up 2009 in one blog post would be impossible, but I'll give you the Reader's Digest version...

January - I resolved to get my groove back in 2009 and I'm happy to report I did. God has done some amazing things in my life and provided me many unexpected blessings. Most importantly, He restored a joy for ministry and loving Him that I'd been lacking for a while. The year also started off with a bang as we were hit with ice storms and snow storms causing citywide power outages and shutdowns. Thankfully, no power outages for me, so the Red Rose Inn was a refuge for some.

February - I made a trip to Robinson Mountain. It's not really a mountain, but a place of hospitality and relaxation in the home of Mark and Sharon. What a timely trip this was as I needed a break from reality and being cooped up during the January storms. They surprised me with tickets to see Selah which was an unbelievable concert. The weekend was full of great discussions, sweet prayer, and Mark's infamous Indoor S'mores at the fireplace.

March - Our annual women's conference at my church was this month with Heather Payne, former Point of Grace member and member of my church, as speaker. I always look forward to these conferences as our women get a chance to really connect with God and others. In 2010, I'll be one of the three speakers at our conference, which humbles me and excites me all at the same time. I never cease to be amazed at how God uses one like me.

April - Although this officially was born in March, Open Arms Fellowship became a true reality in April. Our tagline, "We integrate, not segregate" sets the tone for the experience at our weekly meetings. It's very simple. We meet at Culver's after church on Sunday nights. We have fellowship (hence the name) and great discussions. I provide a pearl of wisdom each week and we always have a good table topic for discussion. Our Head Twit, Ben Sutton, makes sure our OAF Twitter page is live for those who can't be in attendance to follow along with the events. On Sunday nights when we don't have church, we typically plan an "off-site" that takes us to various places to keep the fun going....cookouts....drives to Shelbyville....you name it. We are official because we have t-shirts, a Facebook Fan Page, and our own Twitter profile. To those who haven't experienced it, this all seems a bit goofy. But for those of us who have, it's created some of the sweetest bonds in our family of friends at church.

May - My friend, Liz, made a visit over Mother's Day weekend which was a nice diversion to a holiday that is always difficult for me. And along with her visit, I was able to do a covert mission and deliver flowers to my friend Rod's mother at the 11th hour to make him look like the stellar son he is. Spring had sprung and after the long winter, I was ready to break free.

June - I broke down and finally got a Smartphone. A beautiful purple Sidekick from T-mobile. I affectionately named her Violet and quickly got addicted to the crack that is mobile technology. As my faithful blog readers know, Violet met her demise in October after a horrible data outage that lasted for three weeks and I now am a proud owner of the T-mobile G1 Google Android phone. She's not purple, but black...and named Pepper in honor of Tony Stark's (aka Ironman's) faithful assistant, Pepper Potts, who I dream of being on a daily basis. I love Pepper even more than Violet. I am one of those people whose phone is now an appendage.

July - My spontaneous friend, Amy, and I headed to the mountains of North Carolina for a weekend getaway. We stayed at this quaint little spot called Lakeview at Fontana and the time we spent together was priceless. Great coffee, great conversations, relaxing massages....it was just what we both needed. One of my goals for 2009 was to nurture relationships and the time we spent together on this trip surely met that goal. I am ever so blessed with invaluable friends.

August - Speaking of invaluable friends, my annual trip to Adel with Christie to visit Chad and Tracy happened in August. This year we had an added member to visit, baby Allison. I always love visiting Chad and Tracy. This year we had a good time watching them as parents, which was enjoyable and sweet. And I learned that I'm the best person you'll ever want to play Mario Kart with because you can always win.

September - I had minor eye surgery in September. Zap zap and sparkly eye once again. Another birthday came and went this year and the memory of my Mom's passing was rather vivid. Oh how I wish I could spend just a few glorious hours with her. She was a special lady that I miss and that I rarely make it through a week without someone telling me how much they miss her too. Someone said that very thing to me today. I pray I'm half the lady she was.

October - My OPCs rarely are able to get all five of us in the same room. But in October we made a quick overnighter to Chattanooga. We did nothing spectacular but hang out and spend quality time together, but it was so worth the drive. People may not understand that, but we sure do.

November - In my normal travel fashion, I headed to Viriginia to visit the Roederers in the middle of a Nor'easter. I can travel south and an ice storm comes...I'm like the Grim Reaper of weather when I travel. But, the flight was great and aside from being a bit inhibited due to the flooding of doing some of the things we'd hoped, it was a wonderful trip. I got to love on the sweet boys and spend quality time with a long-time friend that was in dire need of girl time.

December - Aside from holiday festivities and enjoying this special time of year, December has been a time of reflection over the past year. There are many more things I could ruminate about that happened over the course of these short 12 months, but many would take too long or simply seem a bit too unbelievable. But that is what makes this year so special. My number one goal was to fall in love with Jesus more. Through many circumstances, the One that loves me most, wooed me in a way I hadn't planned. For a Type A planner, getting out of the driver's seat has been hard. But once I surrendered and unbuckled myself and got out of the way, God blessed me in many ways. My prayer for 2010 is that my love for Him will grow ever more stronger and when I look back on "Twenty Ten" I'll be able to glorify and praise Him even more.

The Posts of Christmases Past

Recently, my friend, Alisa, wrote a blog post about the man behind Rudolph and linked to a post I wrote three years ago. I'm amazed that she remembered that post because I had long forgotten it. In April 2010, my blog will celebrate its 5-year birthday....which means I've blogged for five Christmases thus far. I'd like to think my blog is like TVLand...it has "rewatchability" (or re-readability) so I've decided to pull some blog posts from the past four Christmases for those that may have missed them, or like me, have long forgotten. Enjoy!

"When the North Pole Meets Bethlehem" - December 2005 - So many people in my life have discussed the challenge of allowing their children to believe in Santa Claus yet still be able to retain the true Reason for the Season. This post explains my life as a child who believed in Santa, but more importantly, believed in Jesus.

"Dating Lessons from a Reindeer" - December 2006 - As a single gal, and a mentor to many young girls, I'm always keen on using anything I can to teach object lessons about relationships and dating. This particular post was born out of my viewing of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and my appreciation for Clarice and her ability to be just the doe Rudolph needed in his life.

"All Aboard" - December 2007 - After my first viewing of The Polar Express, I was taken by the basic lessons of belief found weaved within the story. Be forewarned, there are spoilers, but this post focuses on how the movie teaches us to believe in that which we do not see.

"The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" - December 2008 - My OPCs and I went to see the local performance of this wonderful book by Barbara Robinson. It was a great reminder of why this tiny baby came for someone as lowly as me.

As you reflect during this most glorious season, find the true Reason for the Season amidst the chaos and commercialization around you. Let His Voice speak loudly during the hustle and bustle you experience. Have yourself a merry little Christmas!

Tis the Season for Giving

I've worked for the management team at my company for many, many years and with various companies. We've been through the good, the bad, and the buyouts together and I trust them enough to follow them wherever they may roam. One of the things about this team is that for the almost 20 years I've worked with them, we've always done Adopt-a-Family at Christmas. A woman here locally in town finds families in dire need and has various businesses willing to "adopt" them for Christmas.

At every company, the process is the same. Employees are divided up into teams randomly and given the description of the family and their needs and wants....usually there are more needs than wants...and more "wants" for the children expressed by the parents. It's a great way to get to know employees that you don't typically work alongside. In years past, I've had some pretty amazing stories. One year when Rick Pitino was still coach at the University of Kentucky, my team had a family consisting of a grandmother raising her grandson. No details on what happened to the parents, but little Anthony, when asked what his dream gift was, indicated "A Basketball..I'm a UK fan." That melted my heart that all he wanted was a basketball and most likely dreamed of being a Wildcat. At the time, my Dad was traveling a lot throughout the state and was in Lexington. He had heard my story and went to the athletic office to see if he could get some UK paraphenalia to include in the gift. When he recounted the story to the staff, they said, "Hang on one minute." They called down to the floor where Coach was practicing with the team and relayed the story..then asked my Dad the little boy's name. One of the assistants took off to the gym while another one gathered the annual basketball yearbook, stickers and other assorted "fan" fare for my Dad. When the assistant returned from the coach, my Dad had a glossy 8x10 picture of Rick Pitino, personally autographed to Anthony. Wow...what I would have given to see that boy's face when he opened that present.

This year, our family is a soldier who, while in Iraq, was seriously wounded. They have three girls and one baby on the way. The Mom asked for a crock pot. Being the ever practical shopper, I wanted to get her that, knowing with three children and being pregnant, she needs easy cooking options. Because I love online shopping, I quickly ordered one from Target to be shipped to work. In just a few days, it arrived. The very next day the same crock pot was delivered. I was baffled, so I went online to check my order and make sure I didn't err by ordering two...and I hadn't. Great. Now I have a crock pot that if I return, I'll get credited as if I received no crock pot. Or keep it and chalk it up to Target error. But, that too, didn't seem right. So, I decided to call customer service and plead my case. Let's see if Target has a charitable heart...

I spoke to a representative who I would surmise wasn't located in the continental United States since I could barely understand him. I explained my dilemma the best I could and told him about our charitable efforts to help families and asked if they would be willing to let me keep the extra crock pot for one of our other families. After checking and re-checking, the customer service rep said "Sure, that's fine." Yes, Viriginia, there is a Santa Claus...and he's dressed in a red polo shirt and khakis with a bullseye logo on his nametag.

Table Topic - Christmas Movies

Christmas Time is Here...Happiness and Cheer...Fun for all that children call...Their favorite time of year!

One of my favorite parts of Christmas (aside from the Reason for the Season...Jesus) is all the Christmas movies and specials. You have your Christmas movies...and your Christmas television specials. Although I own all the Rankin Bass Christmas specials that I can watch in the heat of July, there is something about watching Rudolph on CBS in prime time with all the commercials that takes me back to childhood. Picking just one favorite of all the annual replays of Christmas classics is tough. So I'll just summarize a few of my favorites...

A Charlie Brown Christmas - I have my very own Charlie Brown Christmas tree that I put up each year at my house in honor of this great production that debuted the year I was born. Some of the scenes from this special are simply priceless. The children at the end singing Hark the Herald Angels Sing ....Lucy's quizzing Schroeder "Can you play Jingle Bells? You know deck them halls and all that stuff? You know Santa Clause and ho-ho-ho, and mistletoe..and presents to pretty girls?" (A woman after my own heart) And the greatest scene of all as Linus says "Lights please..." and recites the Christmas story from Luke 2 ending with "That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown." I still get a tear.

Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer - Rankin Bass knows how to produce good Christmas specials and it's hard to pick just one. But Frosty made me cry way too much when he melted and I still get choked up during that scene, so Rudolph wins the prize. I think the main reason this is my favorite is the ultimate story of the misfit and underdog saving the day. When I was a little girl, I had this dream of wanting to go to the Island of Misfit Toys so I could play with them all. They seemed lonely and I figured I was just the gal to make them happy. I still have a much softer place in my heart for the uniques of the world, like myself.

Holiday Inn - I get a lot of grief from friends about my love of this movie. This black and white film released in 1942 was where the song White Christmas made its debut. It stars Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire, and in my opinion ranks way above the movie White Christmas. Between Fred's dancing and Bing's singing...my heart swoons. And, the movie focuses on every holiday during the year (hence, the name Holiday Inn...it wasn't named after that hotel chain). Aside from Christmas, my favorite holiday in the movie is Valentine's Day. Jim Hardy (Bing Crosby) writes a song for the woman he is falling in love with (but he hasn't expressed that verbally to her yet) entitled "Be Careful it's My Heart." For the hopeful romantic in me, I melt everytime that song is played. If you haven't seen it, skip the 65th viewing of It's a Wonderful Life and watch this classic.

And now for today's table topic....

What is your favorite Christmas movie and/or special?

Roast those chestnuts and fill you mug with hot chocolate...discuss.

Four Scoops of Ice Cream, Three Meals at Qdoba, Two Redheads and a Brunette with Very Curly Hair

I'll never forget where I was three years ago in August when I got the call from Regina. She was in Los Angeles, about to board a plane to East Asia to serve on the mission field. I was sitting in a Burger King in Manchester, TN, with Christie, on our way to visit Chad and Tracy for the first time in Adel, GA. I remember getting off the phone and telling Christie "That was Regina. She's on her way." It was bittersweet. During the time Regina spent in Louisville at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, we became great friends. This redhead from Eastern Kentucky had accepted a call to the mission field and was pursuing her masters. I knew the day would come she would leave, but I dreaded the arrival of that day.

During her time in East Asia, I was blessed to keep constant communication with her through the glories of technology - email, Facebook, Skype - and in June 2007, we began a prayer partner commitment that we have kept ever since. So many of my dear friends are far from me in proximity, but thankfully, like Regina, we work to keep our friendship seem as though we are next-door neighbors. After learning how to code my e-mails with "Daddy", "pr" and "the club" to represent God, prayer, and church, communication was a breeze. We both looked forward to the day she would be able to come home and enjoy a visit in Louisville.

Last week, our day had come. After flying in from Virginia, and having severe PVD (post-vacation depression), it was refreshing to know Regina would be checking in to the Red Rose Inn the next day. Her schedule was packed with people to see, so I was grateful for our late night talks and recaps over the past three years. We didn't have a lot to catch up on, but we were able to talk without the confines of code language or limits of the written word. Saturday was our day...the day we would make a memory with Christie and the pressure was on. Christie and I had discussed a lot of options....something interactive, but something unique....something possibly seasonal, but definitely something to make a memory. Then it hit ..."Lights Under Louisville." Regina had made a couple requests to do some things she missed over the past three years, but this part of the evening was going to be a surprise. And off I went with the two redheads....

Our first stop was Qdoba. Regina had not been able to savor that delectable restaurant since she left three years ago. That almost seems sinful as I'm a believer that there will be Qdoba in Heaven...with fountains of queso and lime-flavored tortilla chip trees. She knew the next leg of the journey was a surprise and she was as giddy as a kid on Christmas Eve.

The next stop was "Lights Under Louisville." This is the first year for this event, and Saturday just happened to be opening night. The Louisville MegaCavern is a large underground cavernous tunnel that runs under the Louisville Zoo and the Watterson Expressway. It currently houses the largest recycling center in the state. During the year, historic tours are given as you ride a tram through the darkness and hear about all the details of how this anomaly came about. Someone had the brilliant idea to illuminate the place with Christmas lights, pipe Christmas music throughout, and charge per car load for the holidays. And, I, for one found it quite enjoyable. At $20 per car load, some would find it a bit pricey, but it's an adventure, people, and where else can you drive through a cavern and look at Christmas lights and Nessy the Christmas Monster? Yes, they even had the Loch Ness Monster with a Santa hat, complete with her own pond. And, thankfully, there was a Nativity Scene...something often excluded from public "holiday" displays. I definitely want to go back...again and again.

The final stop was Graeter's...a regional ice cream shop. Regina had longed for the Chocolate Coconut Almond Fudge and got her wish...along with a second scoop of Buckeye Blitz. I'd love to ship her some to East Asia when she returns, but I think it would take too much dry ice to keep it frozen. She savored every bite knowing her next bite of that ice cream may not happen for another three years.

Regina pulled out on Monday morning to head back to Eastern Kentucky (not Asia) to celebrate Thanksgiving with her family. Another bittersweet good-bye as we hugged and hugged...and I wondered when I might see this precious redhead again. Many times God moves us away from our friends for a time, but oh how sweet each reunion is. I'm already looking forward to the next one...but in the meantime, we'll continue to grow our friendship through the virtual means of technology and our prayers for each other.