I think...

I think I may have figured out why I don't have a teaching job. I can't go into details, but God planted something in my heart last night. At least, I think it was Him. At any rate, prayers would be appreciated, that I might be able to figure out if it's God or me, and whether this idea is right for me and J.

This is Not Forever

One of my favorite bands is BarlowGirl, and I'm so excited that they have a new CD coming out in September called Love and War. Septemberr 22 is the release date so you should mark your calendars.

They've posted two acoustic sessions with 2 of the new songs. One is called "Beautiful Ending" which is really pretty, but the one which struck a chord with me is "This is Not Forever." In the video, which I have posted below, Alyssa talks about how she is always praying that God will pull her OUT of hard times, and she had the realization the day she wrote the song that God doesn't want to pull her out. He wants to pull her THROUGH the hard times, so that she'll learn and grow and trust in Him more.

This one hit home for me because, as you all know, I have been looking for fall employment. I haven't had any calls for interviews except one, which I'm actually waiting as I type this to hear back about. J and I have been pinching pennies and getting frustrated because every time we seem to be getting somewhere, something sets us back. (Such is life, no?) I've been praying so hard about finding a job and this message is exactly what I needed to hear right now -- that God will stay with me through everything, no matter how hard life gets, no matter "how high the steps are." He's with me always and He will always pull me through.

It's my friend's birthday

Happy 23rd Katie!

I really want to apologize for the lack of updates recently. My life has been BUSY. While it's nice for the money to be coming in, I've constantly been going from job to job to job. It's hectic. I can't wait to have a full time job, which will hopefully be M-F, and 9-5(ish). It will be so nice to have my and J's schedules more in sync.

My dad gave us his old BBQ grill and I can't wait to use it. I have most of next week's evenings off so we may fire it up for some chicken or something. Anyone know of a good grilled chicken recipe?? All we need now is a nice (or, well... any) set of patio furniture.

J and I and some friends went to see the midnight showing of Harry Potter on Tuesday (Wed...?) I loved it. I'm actually surprised at how many people I know who didn't really like it... And I'm interested to hear the differing opinions about the 5th and the 6th movies. I was disappointed w/ the 5th movie (although upon rewatching it on Tuesday afternoon, it wasn't AS bad as I remembered) but loved the 6th... I wonder if people who loved the 5th were disappointed w/ the 6th??

Hey, will you all please keep a young woman I know in your prayers? I've been blessed to get to know so many wonderful teenagers in my different capacities as youth leader and camp counselor, and they are all amazing girls. One of those girls is facing a personal detour in life that is going to change everything, and I just hope that those in her life can be pillars of support for her now.

Oh, Life...

...I have 2 good friends who are having upheavals of sorts in their lives. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

Our high school youth is in ECUADOR right now. I'm jealous, and I know that they're having an awesome time. I can't wait for them to come back so I can hear all about it and see pictures!

This year was my first FULL Fourth of July at home since 2001. Yes, you read that right: 2001. I've been at camp every summer since then. and the 4th had fallen in the middle of a session every year till last year when they started a week earlier. Last year, you may remember, the 4th was on a Friday, which meant that it fell on the last day of a session. So I was home that night, but not all day. That was weird, too, though. Every year prior, I would shoot off fireworks the weekend before the Fourth with the hubs (who wasn't the hubs yet) and an assortment of international staff members from camp.

A family in my church owns a firework stand in St. Pete and we always bought from them. on the 4th, the hubby and I went to his step-sister's and shot off a whole bunch of stuff, even in the rain and the lightning (I know, we're bright...). then last night, we went to the family that owns the stand and watched them shoot off a bunch of leftover inventory. (They have to buy all of their product, so what they don't sell they save for next year as well as shoot it off at this annual show.) It was pretty cool. They were exploding all these cool fireworks and we were having a pretty good time. No fatalities, though a shell did fly over and hit my friend's boyfriend's chest and burned him a little bit. Here are some photos I got on my little Canon digital point and shoot. (Not too bad, if I say so myself!)

**You'll have to click on the photos to see all of it... even when I make them "small," Blogspot doesn't seem to want to make them blog-friendly!**

I'm pretty sure we shot off just about all of these:


B and J setting up the Grand Finale:





Oh, by the way, the shop put in new grounding wires on my car's starter and it's working now. hopefully it stays that way! LOL. (knock wood!!

Prayers for those in Ike's Path

Those of you who have kept up with the blog for a while know about the two mission trips I have made to southwestern Louisiana. The first was almost a year ago, which is hard to believe. We were helping to build new houses with Habitat for Humanity. We met a nice man named Chester who was a great man to lead the project: good-humored, willing to teach, and excited about what he does.

The second time I went (in February of this year), we were disappointed to not get to work with CHester, but we had the privilege of working to repair damaged houses. We worked in Nick's house in Lake Charles and we worked on a trailer not too far off the coast in Cameron.

Ike was ad. The eye hit near Galveston/Houston, Texas, but the effects were felt even up here in St. Charles (many areas in the metro area are still flooded). It was total devestation to those not only in Texas, but also our friends in Louisiana. Chester's house -- his beautiful, expensive, "hurricane-proof" house was flooded. The original plan was for this current group (only four from our church this time, and not me sadly as I have student teaching) to go and help our friend clean his house, but authorities aren't even letting him to his house. So the four down there are helping out where needed. On monday and Tuesday, they worked in a church with no power. They also took a drive to examine the effects of Ike in the area. And... well... read for yourself...

We worked in a church for the 2nd day that did not have any power. It was like working in a oven!! The temps are in the low 90's today with high humidity! The church was not damaged too bad, just some sea water about 8 - 10 inches up the walls. We are working about 40 miles from the Gulf. After we where done working today we drove down to the Gulf and we can not describe the scene. Everything was gone!! We saw grass on the power lines that was on the top line of a 8 wire power line pole. Long ways up. We saw a house upside down in a canal that was about 30 miles from the coast. We saw thousands of dead fish from the salt water. We found what was left of a trailer house our church worked on last year. The only thing left was the steel frame that was bent like an s shape. Nothing else was left. We had a shrimp fishing boat sitting partly on the road and had to drive around it. It is soo hard to imagine the damage. Cameron LA is basically gone. We saw oil tanks that where pushed off their foundation by the wind. We saw oil tanks in the middle of fields with nothing within sight. After I get back I will post pictures, but the damage is unbelievable. The scary thing is we are sitting about 2-3 hours drive from Houston, and that is all we saw in the news about damage. This is suppose to be far enough away from the eye of the storm they are not suppose to have all this damage.

Please pray for those all of the Gulf region who were hit hard by Ike. To lose all of that is unfathomable to me, only because I have never experienced something of this magnitude personally. But the few people I have met down there are fighters, and as long as there is a home left, they will keep rebuilding. Pray some prayers of thanks for lives that were spared, but also pray some prayers of intercession for those who are now homeless, for the family who lived in the trailer we worked so hard on.

It's heartbreaking to hear about all of this damage. I know that it is all only "stuff" and our real treasure is not here, where rust and moth can claim, but in Heaven, but you can't help but have your heart ache for these people who have lost everything.

May God be with them. May God be with US.

God is So Good! (And a PSA...)

A friend of mine, Whitney, on the STLWed boards went through a hard time this week. Her best friend has been suffering from cystic fibrosis all of her life. She was admitted to Barnes this weekend and told that she wouldn't be leaving without a new set of lungs. You can read the whole story on Whitney's blog.

Anyway, Wednesday afternoon, her mother signed papers to get her officially put ont he donor list. She must have been a high priority on the list, and God must have really been listening to all the prayers going up to Him, because at 12:30 AM, the doctor came and told Jessie's friends and family that a set of lungs was on its way. EIGHT HOURS LATER!!! What an amazing God we have. The surgery went well; they'll wean herr off the ventilator today.

Her journey isn't over, of course... she still has the risk of rejection in addition to a lot of rehab. So please pray for Jessie, Whitney, and everyone involved in this praise-worthy occassion.

Also, remember the family of the donor in your prayers, too. After all, these lungs belonged to someone and while I know Jessie and her family are grateful, there is a family out there mourning. But they did something courageous after discovering that their loved one was gone: they donated. Are you a donor?

If not, you can be. In Missouri, you need to register to become a donor. You can that by goiong to the online registration site. In Illinois, there is also a donor registration site (according to new IL law, registering on this site is legally binding; they do not need youor spouse/parent/child's permission). For all other states, please Google "become an organ donor in..." and find out how you can become a hero, even after you're gone. And please, don't foroget to tell your family members. It is essential that they know your wishes so that they can be carried out.

Organ donation is one of those causes that I have always cared a lot about. You can save so many lives. Think about it: you're got 2 lungs, 2 kidneys, 1 heart, 1 liver, 1 small intestine, 1 large intestine, 1 pancreas, 2 eyes, and your skin. You don't need that when you're lying in a box in the ground, why not give it all to someone who vitally needs it?

Someone like Jessie...