This Trip Brought to You by the Letter S

I just returned from my annual trek to the little south Georgia town of Adel to visit Chad, Tracy and little Allison. As my friend, Christie and I were driving down, she reminded me this was our fifth trip. I thought about recapping each of the past years (which you can read here...trip one, trip two, trip three and trip four) but had an epiphany on the drive home to do something different. To celebrate this milestone, I decided to recap the trip by using five "S" words to describe this year's adventure.

Sashes - When we arrived Thursday evening, we shared with Chad and Tracy our fifth-year realization. Tracy had just returned from a women's meeting from their church where Chad serves as Minister of Music and had told all the ladies about our coming arrival. We joked that there would be sashes for us to wear that stated "Five-Years!" to wear proudly to church on Sunday so everyone could identify who we were. One of the running jokes of the visit was, "well, we'll have our sashes on, so they'll know who we are." Unfortunately, we didn't have sashes, but we were still welcomed with open arms as we have been the last four years.

Spaghetti - Tracy is a marvelous cook. Our visits always involve her favorite dishes of the moment and I always get great cooking tips from her. I can't enumerate the number of cooking tips and products I use today based on my annual Adel visits. This year, one of our meals was Tracy's world-famous (or at least Adel famous) baked spaghetti. The secret, my friends, is in the sauce, as I can attest to by reading the recipe. I can't tell you or I'd have to kill you, but let me say it is to die for. To prove the famous-ness of her dish, she invited their friend, Whitney, over to eat with us and as soon as soon as she heard what was being served, she proclaimed "Awesome!" We enjoyed a lot of great home-cooked meals, as usual, and Chad was a wonderful dish washer since we seem to dirty a lot of dishes during our stay.

Surprise - Before the trip, Tracy informed us they had a surprise for us on Saturday. I love surprises!! Christie guessed the surprise on our way down, and although Tracy didn't confirm...she was right. Great friends, Kevin and Sarah, came over from Tampa to spend the day with us. I had kept in touch with Sarah via Facebook, but hadn't laid eyes on them in a couple of years. We affectionely call them the "Sugar Family" (a bonus "S" for you and an inside joke that would take another blogpost to explain) and it was wonderful to see them and catch up on their lives. They recently moved to Florida as Kevin is active military (Navy) and is stationed at Fort MacDill Air Force Base. Spending the day with the "Sugar" family and Chad and Tracy was a great blast from the past and one of those comfort moments you want to last so much longer than it does.

Swap - As with every trip, we played lots and lots of games. This year we played a lot of cards....Rook...Golf....Tricks....and a game called Swap. Swap resembles UNO but a lot more fun and "active" as you swap your hand multiple times during the game. This is one game we played late into the night one evening and got slap happy...or more appropriately, "swap" happy. This one may be worth purchasing. I can also report that I still stink at Wii Mario Kart...even though I love it, I can't get out of last place. Thank goodness I don't drive in real life that badly.

Sibling - The trip had added fun from 16-month old Allison. Last year she was four months old, and too young to realize we were there. This year we got to love on her and watch her play, babble, and say her newest word, "Okay." "Allison, ready to go to bed?"..."Okay" You could ask her just about anything and she'd reply softly..."Okay"...so cute. I thought it would take time for her to warm up to us since we only see her a couple of times a year, but when we arrived, she came outside to greet us in the driveway and was all smiles. She even took each of our hands and escorted us into the house. Precious. Where does this "S" word, sibling, come into play? Tracy is expecting baby number two in February and in about six months, Allison's world will be rocked. One of our road trip tasks was to come up with name options for the next baby. We were given instructions from Tracy on the characteristics of a name that we needed to keep in mind and we presented a few that fit the bill. We are sworn to secrecy and would have to kill you (see spaghetti sauce recipe above) if we shared any of the names. Come February, we'll all know.

The trip was over all too quickly but our time was sweet...yet another bonus "S." Time with friends...especially the lifelong friends...is always memorable and fun. Thanks to Chad and Tracy for five years of great memories....with more to come.

Who's in My Seat?

Air travel is always an interesting experience for me. In the past year I've flown to Virginia, Orlando, and DC on various carriers and connecting in random cities. Pre-September 11, flying was a lot more enjoyable. Security allowed friends to actually meet you at the gate...you didn't have to disrobe prior to boarding...the amount of liquids in your carry-on luggage wasn't measured. But, even with all the hassles of traveling, I've enjoyed passing the time by watching people. I like to imagine their stories....where are they going?...is it for personal or business? Everyone has a story to tell and my imagination runs wild.

Unfortunately, I'm not the normal social butterfly on flights as I am on the ground. Normally by the time I buckle in, I'm just about out...asleep. I should use this opportunity to meet my seat mates, and there have been some interesting folks I have met along my life of travels in between my snoozing. I flew to Rochester, NY, transferring in Chicago the day after the University of Kentucky won the NCAA basketball championship. As I proudly donned my blue UK shirt, I felt like enlisted military as everyone almost saluted...well, not really, but they smiled and nodded like they just encountered royalty. I flew from Atlanta to San Francisco sitting next to Carlos Santana's cousin. He was a real hoot...and very intrigued I was from Kentucky. He said, "It's so green and lush there." Last November during the east coast Nor'easter that flooded a majority of the coastal area, I flew into Newport News, Virginia. Without a delay at all, I flew right in without a problem. I had more trouble staying dry getting in my ride to leave than our plane had getting there. The trek there initiated a lot of great conversations with people that had no idea what we would face once we landed.

I recently read this blog post "The Sky Stories of Seat 10D." A sales VP, who clearly travels a lot, has decided to conduct an experiment. He bought a nice leather-like journal and wrote his story on why he was traveling in the front of the book, along with his Twitter handle, e-mail and other contact info. He's asked the future occupants of seat 10D to leave the journal in the seat back pocket and enter in their story...where are they going?...why?..who are they? And, has asked them to contact him so he can write about the adventures of this little journal. This is about the coolest idea I've heard in a long time. If those airplane seats could talk. This reminds me of that Where's George? site where people log the serial numbers of their dollar bills to track the travels of their currency. The oddity and quirky-ness of me just finds this airport seat notebook experiment fascinating.

Now I'm contemplating what I can do similar to track future travelers on my trips. Maybe I'll leave a journal in my hotel room at my next destnation and see if others will journal and contact me via Twitter about their trips. Or, maybe I'll just follow in this brilliant sales VP's footsteps and do the same...leave a notebook in the seat pocket of my next airplane ride and see what happens. The fantasizing romancer in me can visualize the coolest of stories that could be turned into the greatest of novels. This from a girl who wrote a soldier deployed during Desert Storm hoping for a romance to start similar to the love story of my parents. Sadly, I never heard from him. I'm convinced he died in combat and that was my husband to be. Ahh, but I digress. I've got a few months before my next flight...plenty of time to devise an intriguing experiment to meet the world...all from my airplane seat.

Full of GLEE

I just finished watching the first half of Season 1 of the FOX show, GLEE. Typically I'm a late adopter to the hip and new shows. Mad Men was the last show I got wind of before it debuted and actually became a fan when the world was just finding out about its uniqueness. But I'd heard so many people rave about GLEE and when I heard a few 80s songs from the GLEE cast, I was intrigued. My friend, Amy, decided that our summer project was to catch up on the show, but alas, the second half of Season 1 just ended and won't be on DVD until September 24. Hmmm, Hulu, here we come!

For those of you who have been living under a rock and don't know about the show, it is replete with unique and quirky characters. There is Will Schuester (sigh...) the Spanish teacher who was a Glee Club member in his high school days and is given the daunting task of leading this unrespected group of singers. Will is also married to a quite strange woman who can't work more than four hours a week, thinks Will needs to get a better-paying job, and fakes a pregnancy. There is Sue Sylvester....the woman you love to hate. The sassy coach of the cheerleading squad (The Cheerios) who spews biting comments to anyone in her path, especially Will. I love Sue...call me crazy...but Sue has revealed some soft sides, which makes me a bit endeared to her. Then there is Emma Pillsbury. The school counselor who is a germaphobe and quite attracted to Mr. Schu. Like all good counselors, she sees potential in him and how much better he can be...and even is the one to keep him leading Glee Club when he is about to bail.

But of all the characters in the show, the kids of Glee are the ones that make my heart melt each week. (Aside from my Emma-like crush on Mr. Schu, of course) Every member of Glee are those kids in high school everyone made fun of....or Gleeks, as they are called on the show. They can't walk down the high school hallways without getting slushies thrown in their faces. There is Rachel...the daughter of two gay dads and the butt of the cheerleaders' taunting. There is Artie...a wheelchair-bound singer who doesn't let his wheels keep him from dancing. He's found acceptance in Glee, more than he ever had before. Mercedes is the full-figured African American teen who can belt a song like Aretha or Whitney. But because she doesn't have the figure of a Cheerio, she's not Miss Popular either. Mercedes befriends Kurt, the homosexual member of Glee. His mother died when he was young leaving his father to raise him. Acceptance is found in his Glee family. I could go on...Quinn, the pregnant teenager, ex-Cheerio...Finn, the football star turned singer...Puck, the bad boy with talent.

The show is full of drama. Just reading these short bios indicates that these people are a breeding ground for drama. But it's reality, folks. The world is full of stories just like these. You are surrounded by people just like these. Though I don't agree with the homosexual lifestyle...nor pre-marital sex that leads to Quinn's current predicament, my heart goes out to people who walk similar roads. Oh, how we all wish our lives were so nice and buttoned up that the journey was easy and smooth. But the road ahead is normally full of pot holes and speed bumps and if we aren't grabbing to the steering wheel strong enough, we can veer off into places we don't need to go. Then we find ourselves like these kids...unloved, made fun of, and slushies in our faces.

For all of Mr. Schu's faults and sins, I love him (beyond the fact that he is cute, sings and dances) because he sees potential in those most have no time for. As I live and strive to imitate Christ, I can't but love those who are unlovable. For I, too, have been a Gleek in my life and found the love of Christ through those who loved me beyond myself. It reminds me of the passage in Matthew, where Jesus says "Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." May I never forget that truth...and always have a towel handy at my side to wipe away the slushies...and the tears...from the faces of hurting people.

Just Like Family

Last Sunday night, Blake preached a sermon in a series on "What is the Church" and posed a statement at the end for us to finish..."My church felt like family when..." He closed by having various church members share their personal stories and by the end of that sharing time, the tears were flowing for me. I take for granted sometimes the work of God when I see it happening all around me every day, but when I take time to reflect and hear testimonies...testimonies of people I walked some of those roads with...it's overwhelming.

I began to think...how would I finish that statement? Honestly, I could write a book. But, instead, I'll do what I do best...blog. My church felt like family long before I took my first breath. My Dad accepted Christ at my church and it was where he learned at the feet of many a man who has made him the spiritual rock he is today. My parents struggled with infertility and the loss of a child born premature and my church was there. When Mom was expecting me, the church provided many things (cribs, high chairs, etc) for her to use because she just couldn't bear buying anything for fear this baby may never be born. My church felt like family because it was my home away from home. My Dad was a Deacon and Sunday School teacher, and my Mom was a Sunday School teacher so if we weren't at home, school or work, we were at church. Even those folks they served side by side with became family...and their children and grandchildren are my family today.

When you think about family, you may let your mind only go to the good times. But every family has struggles, tragedies, and hard times. My church has been no different in my life. In 1991 my Dad went through a difficult time in leadership as one pastor was departing and another one was working to come on the scene. It was hurtful and hard to watch my Dad, who spent all hours of the night praying for our church's future, to be humiliated off the platform. But in families, you have those times. Even in that darkness, one staff member reached out to me in love, of which I'll never forget. Nine years later our church suffered a dark time again. The very things my Dad tried to help prevent had manifested itself and we all feared that God would remove His Spirit from our church for extreme disobedience. My church felt like family when a sweet saint and pillar of our church walked up to us as we all were in tears, fearing our family was crumbling away, to remind us that God was not finished with us yet. Do you know those times in your family when you think there is no hope for some situation? We felt it then. We experienced hurt and pain on every turn. Not a time one would reflect on positively. But as the problems of the past were removed and we started fresh and anew, God was ever so faithful and the blessings and joy that came out of that pain and hurt were unbelievable. No one who stands in the midst of our church family today would believe we ever experienced a painful time. True evidence of God's amazing grace.

My church felt like family when my Mom passed away....even during the months preceding her death. The love of my church showed as they prayed and wept with us while Mom was strong and ready to be free from the pain of this world. The visits, the food, the support...it was family. And my Dad will still tell you that many people will say they will pray for you and you wonder if they truly will, but there was one church member who stood with him at my Mom's casket and prayed right there. Two months after my Mom's passing, a family invited us for the Thanksgiving holiday so we wouldn't be alone. That is family. My church felt like family the times I've been in the hospital...or been unemployed...or needed rides to the airport...or fill in the blank. I've made friends for life through my church family from Tennessee to Trinidad. There are very few states in the union I could visit that I could not find a family that has moved on from our church that would take me in and let me visit. No matter where I roam, even if I leave my hometown, this church will always be home.

From a person like me that has very little biological family, my church has become my family. I have been blessed and pray that I'll be as much a blessing to others as many have been to me.

Table Topics - VBS Memories

Tis the season for Vacation Bible School! For those not familiar with this annual summer ritual, churches host a week-long event - sometimes during the day, sometimes in the evenings - inviting children to come and learn about Jesus. There is always some catchy theme to get them hooked and make learning about the Gospel fun! My church is having VBS the week of June 21 and our theme this year is Saddle Ridge Ranch - "Roundin' up Questions, Drivin' Home Answers." The kids get to be together in worship at Worship Rally Valley and get lunch everyday at Big Sky Grill. I am helping this weekend at our VBS work day to help prepare crafts and truly wish I could actually be able to be at VBS everyday seeing those cute kids running around screaming "Yeehaw!"

Thinking about VBS made me think about my favorite VBS memories. There are so many, but I'll narrow it down to two - of which neither include raw macaroni cross formations or other craft projects. When I think of VBS, I think of being able to wear shorts to church! When I was little, the only time I was allowed to wear shorts in the sanctuary of our church was during VBS, per my Dad. I felt like such a little rebel as we lined up on the porch each day waiting to march into the sanctuary to "Onward Christian Soldiers" whilst wearing my t-shirt and shorts. Life at church has gotten much more relaxed, but I will still never forget that memory. The other memory that sticks out in my mind is the treat we got every year on the last day of VBS. My family attended a church for a couple of years that was close to our house and the pastor was a good friend of my Dad's. He pastored the church I attend now before I was born...Dr. Beach. He was the pastor that walked me through my decision to accept Christ and baptized me. One of his favorite things was White Castles. (For you southerners, that's a burger similar to Krystals) Each year on Friday, we all were treated to White Castles. They carried in bags and bags of those little square burgers and I remember the quirkiest thing - the teachers asked us to break down the little boxes that held the burgers so we could make our trash more compact. Why I remember that, I have no idea.

So, that brings us to today's Table Topic...

"What are your favorite memories from VBS?"

Attention...Salute...Pledge (that's an inside joke for you VBS-ers)