Every week my church sends out what we call "txt." It's a weekly email with last week's bulletin announcements, prayer slide, group information, and a word from our pastor. This week my crazy dog made the txt, meaning Mark mentioned her in his blurb. I have to share in case you aren't on the list...

Luke 10:5-12 (TNIV)
“When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ If the head of the house loves peace, your peace will rest on that house; if not, it will return to you. Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for workers deserve their wages. Do not move around from house to house.
“When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God has come near.’ I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.

…

I share an office with a dog named Jessie. She belongs to Melissa, my assistant, and she makes coming to the office pretty cool. One of Jessie’s best skills is letting me know that she’s very glad to see me. The tail wags the dog, as the saying goes.

But Jessie doesn’t welcome everybody. Far from it. Perhaps she’s an introvert or not a people person. Maybe a snob. But for whatever reason, Jessie is sort of scary and vehement about letting some people know she isn’t thrilled when they arrive. She gets over it, but more than one person has jumped back at her bark.

When Jesus sent his disciples out with the news of his Kingdom, he warned them that they would get one of two reactions; they would find people who love peace and host them heartily, and they would find people, whole towns even, who would bark their lack of welcome from the moment their boundaries were crossed.

Which are you? Vicious whenever the reign of God gets real or real close? Or are you a tail wagging pup, enthusiastically welcoming God and his good news whenever they draw near?

I believe it will be great for my house when Jesus comes near. And sad beyond words if he comes near only to find me scared and growling, doing my best to ward him off like he’s a burgular.

Everyday is a good day to be the Son of man’s best friend. Start wagging your tail, the Kingdom of God has come near.

woof!
m.

when i can't sleep....

I feel it's been a while since I wrote a cheesy "I love Timmy" blog entry and well, I want to write one now.

I'm sitting on the couch in the living room with my laptop. I went to bed at 11:30pm. At 12:30, I gave up trying to fall asleep and left bed. It's now 1:30am and Timmy just came out of the room. He noticed I wasn't in bed and wanted to check up on me. "I'm okay. I just can't sleep." "Okay, just want to make sure you aren't laying on the bathroom floor. I love you." He turns around and heads back to bed.

That little exchange warms my heart. I spent years not being able to sleep and no one knew. I spent years crying myself to sleep and no one really knew. I'd stay up wondering if I would always be alone, if anyone would ever really care. He cares. There is someone in my life, who notices when I can't sleep. It's my favorite part of being married. There is someone with whom to share my life.

There's a movie with a quotation that I just love. It's Shall We Dance: Susan Sarandon, Richard Gere, Jennifer Lopez. Not much to the movie, but there are a few scenes that I love. In one scene, someone asks Susan's character, "why do people get married?" She replied:

we need a witness to our lives. There’s a billion people on the planet, I mean, what does any one life really mean? But in a marriage, you’re promising to care about everything. The good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things... all of it, all of the time, every day. You're saying 'Your life will not go unnoticed because I will notice it. Your life will not go un-witnessed because I will be your witness’

Timmy notices when I can't sleep. I love that about him.

this week

I had a rough week this week. It was super stressful. I was trying to study for my two midterms, and I didn't feel prepared for either one. More frustrating was that I didn't feel the material was clearly taught. It put me on edge and then there were some financial questions at the church. Some times at the church, I forget that I don't have a business/accounting/math background. I know the books. I keep good track of them. I can answer questions when their asked. Then there's this week when I ask myself, "how did I end up responsible for the church's finances?" Thankfully, one of my dearest, dearest friends is an accountant and she goes to my church. She sat down with me and tried to help me understand what was going on - let me emphasize the word "tried." Accounting is another language.

At the end of the week, things were good. God graciously guided me through the study process and I think I did well on both tests. By well, I mean I didn't fail like I thought. I don't however, expect the straight A's from last quarter. The financial question is partially answered, partially on hold, but definitely not overwhelming. The last two days have been great. Lots of sleep. Lots of doing nothing. Lots of Olympics. It's been good.

However, something happened yesterday to put a damper on my happiness. I was catching up on dishes last night, when I saw a mouse out of the corner of my eye next to my dishes. I ran out of the kitchen, water still running. I called my husband at work and felt the tears welling up. I know it's irrational. I know that this little gray mouse isn't going to attack me. I know my husband can't do anything while he is on night shift in Chester. I know these things, but it's a fear and some fears are irrational. So, last night I locked myself in my bedroom, and I put a towel against my door for added peace of mind. This afternoon I did my dishes, while my husband was home. I acknowledge that this mouse issue is mostly my issue for being lazy and letting my dishes go. But despite the clean kitchen, I have only been in there once since Timmy left and that was to turn off the light. Now, I am safely tucked away in my bedroom - yes, the towel is still against the door and I am hoping I don't have to go to the bathroom again.

And perhaps you are thinking what my husband suggested - just let Jessie go for it. Do you know how traumatized I would be if I saw my dog with a mouse in its mouth? Each time, she left the living room this evening, I prayed that she wouldn't come back with a mouse in her mouth. I don't know what I would have done. Well, besides cry....

Things that God Reminded Me Today...

1. I can have an ugly temper.
2. My temper doesn't go off for a lot of things but it goes off for the stupidest, smallest, most trivial things.
3. Humility is hard to accept.
4. Admitting your wrong hurts, even when you know no one else cares that you were wrong.
5. Sometimes I take things way too seriously.
6. I should never let anything wrap me up so tight that a kiss from my husband can't help.
7. I should be thankful that I work for a man whose more concerned with how I'm doing than what work I'm doing and that he actually prays for me when I'm having a bad day.
8. I can't always blame these ridiculous intense feelings on hormones.
9. It's okay to cry and it's better to cry than to punch something or yell at someone.
10. Don't worry so much about the grades - I've "already got the goods" (MDT)
11. God's love for me hasn't changed at all today.

I Don't Understand

For Christmas in July this year, Timmy and I have bought a new bed. We currently have a double and it was great except for the past year when a not so little dog joined our family. Now, all three of us sleep together and we need an upgrade. So the queen will be delivered on Friday. Today I went to Kohls to pick up new bed sheets. Ugh. I don't understand bed sheets. I don't understand how I can spend $135 on three sets of sheets and one blanket. I really don't understand how that can be my sale total. We saved $170 going today when Kohls had a 50% off sale and then using Gradnmom's 15% discount. It would have been $300 - on sheets. My goodness.

The Power of Facebook

In regards to the story below, I had put a Facebook message saying I was considering calling the cops. In the hour and a half that I had the mesage up, I got one phone call, two emails, and one post, asking if I were okay, telling me to call the cops, assuring me that I was being prayed for. Oh dear. I didn't think anyone would be worried, maybe just a little curious. I figure if anyone has a message similar to what I wrote that they wouldn't be in any real danger. If they were, I hope they would just call the cops and not put a message on facebook. But I am touched. Thank you for caring about me. And no worries, if I am ever in danger or think I am in danger, I wouldn't hesitate to call 911 :)

Irritating People

From 10-10:30pm, there were about 10 teenagers playing kickball on my street - literally on my street. I was so close to calling the police. I mean, did they think it was a park? Did they not realize it's a Monday night? They were irritating.

Speaking of irritating people in our neighborhood, this is a story from a few weeks ago: I got home from work around 5pm. I pulled to the curb in front of the house and saw two young kids (9 or 10 yrs old) standing across the street wearing hoodies and facemasks. I just shook my head - "kids being stupid." I stayed in my car, gathering my things as I notice the two boys walk across the street and stand just a few yards away from me. They are standing side by side, completely still, staring at me and my car. I knew they were just being stupid and trying to provoke something. So, I got out of my car and walked around it so that I wouldn't go near them or make eye contact. As I walked to the front door, they followed me and were breathing heavily. I finally turned around and said, "just go home." The one said, "we don't want to go home."

Then I went inside to my wonderful husband and told him about these two boys. And my sweet, sweet boy went into protector mode. He looked out the window and saw that they were still out there in front of our house. So, he went outside and took our crazy, not so friendly, sometimes scary dog with him ... unleashed. I watched them go outside and I felt so feminine and he looked so masculine - I loved it :) I could see him telling the kids to get off our property, "get away from my house." He told them he wasn't scared to let the dog loose on them. As they resisted to leave, Timmy would take a few steps forward and Jessie stayed right next to Timmy. He says that at some point, she realized the game they were playing, so she starts barking, lunging forward, her fur on her back was sticking up. Eventually they walk away and Timmy comes inside.

However, they didn't stay away. We live at the corner of two streets and within a few minutes, they are walking back and forth, stalking our house. They were blatantly trying to get a peek inside. I was scared they were going to try something but it made me laugh because we live on the second floor. If they did anything to the windows or something, they would get our crazy neighbor. Our neighbor would chase them away with a bat. Actually, Timmy believes he owns a gun, definitely scarier than a bat. Well, after a couple walks around our house, Timmy called the cops :) The cops came by a couple minutes later and the kids didn't come by again. Nice story, huh?

Oh, one more story about the people in my neighbor. This story is not first hand experience. It's a story my crazy neighbor told me. He told me that one night he came home and saw two figures sitting on his picnic table in the backyard. Now, our yard is partially fenced it. The back of our house is L shaped so there is a little nook where the picnic table, grill, and stereo are. They are a few feet from our neighbors windows and below our back porch. He walked closer and realized it was two teenagers making out. Two people we don't know making out in our yard on his table. What? He said that for a moment he thought it was me and Timmy. I can make people uncomfortable with my pda but that it too much even for me. He confronted the teenagers who lied and said that the owner had said it was okay. He called them on it. They lied again saying they lived a couple houses down the street. Again he called them on it but they tried to keep it up. So, my neighbor said, "fine. I will walk you to your house because I will tell someone - either your parents or the police." They fess up. They confess to just needing a place to be together - so they picked our yard because it was only partially fenced in and had a table. My neighbor told them to go away and not to come back. Are you serious?

These neighborhood kids are unbelieavble.

oh....

and I cut my hair. But this time it seems I cut it enough that people are actually saying, "Wow. you cut your hair!" Well, it's not that much shorter than the last time, but it has more layers and that makes it appear shorter. I am a little nervous about seeing Melody this morning. She will tell me exactly what she thinks of it and her comment, whether good or bad, will pierce directly into my self-perception. She has that kind of power. I remember I had this dress my freshman/sophomore year of college, back in the day when I had to wear dresses to church. I loved it. My sister, then 15-16 years old, said that I didn't look good in it. I never wore it again. And I loved that dress! I value her opinion greatly, in most things, especially these things. That's why when I had a date with this guy named Tim (he-he), she went shopping with me for my outfit. And that's why when I married this guy named Timmy (he-he), she was the only person I wanted there to help with my wedding dress. I knew that everyone else would say "you look beautiful" to every dress I put on, but Melody would keep real.

hi

Well we are back from vacation and back to life. Timmy is on night shift. I just got back from the Media 5 Mile. And ha-ha if you thought I ran! I helped hand out water to the runners and ate hot dogs and drank soda. This really is one of the events we do at BRV that I really enjoy. Probably because I don't have to speak to any strangers. I give them water and they keep running.

I am thankful that my first week back was pretty painless. I feared my inbox. Both the Outlook inbox and the desk inbox. They were pretty calm. Thanks guys for taking care of the work yourself :)

Vacation was very restful, but short, as all vacations tend to be. Timmy and I did nothing. It was great. We watched movies. I studied for my final while he read a book. Jessie just lounged around. However, she did twist her ankle or something when she ran down the stairs. She was limping for a few days. It's been a week, though, and she is back to being a running fool.

I am very excited to say that I will be going to the Vineyard Regional Conference afterall. I had a few reasons for not going but at the end, they didn't make any sense. Who knows how many of these conferences I will be able to go without any concerns. Lots of people I know would love to go but can't because of work. I have a boss who asks "Why aren't you going to the conference?" It's a perk. And the church is willing to pay for my registration. Seriously, why wasn't I gonna go?? Oh yea, Timmy won't be coming - boo. He doesn't like conferences and he has to work and someone needs to tend to our neurotic dog. So, I have made a new friend and she is going to be my roomie for the few days. I am excited about a few days where I can hide out in a big auditorium and just hang out with Jesus. I miss that since we left DCCS and since I started working for the church.

Well, I just wanted to say hi. I want to go and rest for a bit. I need to be up early tomorrow to have lunch with my sisters.

missy's life

This will probably be my last blog for at least a week. The next three days are going to be insane. The last week has been insane in preparation for the next three days. I have an area meeting today, which is why I am up so early. I have the normal Friday craziness tomorrow plus a wedding rehearsal and rearranging the church for the wedding. Saturday morning is the management team meeting - I'll start working at 7am. Wedding at 4pm. Followed by a super late night getting the church ready for Sunday morning. I don't expect to leave the church until after midnight, but I suppose if the party goes well, clean up will go even later in the morning.

I am thankful that I don't have to try to fit in an intensive there as well. I am thankful for being able to listen to the lectures online and for Columbus being two weeks ahead of us.

I am curious to see how the building will function as a full wedding venue. We've had a ceremony there before ( he-he ). We've had parties there before. Never had the whole wedding festivities: ceremony, hor dourves, dinner, and dancing. From an administration end, I am curious if we can pull it off.

I am so, so, so excited for Nathanael and Kristin. A happy marriage makes a big difference in how I experience weddings. I think this one is going to be great - the wedding and the marriage :) Congratulations you guys. Thanks for letting me be a part of it.

And lastly, what has pushed me through this past weekend and five lectures and pushes me through the next few days - I am so looking forward to our vacation on Sunday. It wasn't planned to fall after a crazy week. It just kind of did. But it has been my motivator - "Sunday. Sunday. Just get to Sunday." Then we are off to a cabin, just me, my boy, and our dog - nice.

..... Oh yeah, and yesterday I picked up my brand new prescription sunglasses. I have wanted them so long and now I have them. I may never wear contacts again!!! Well, besides weddings :)

peace out, my friends!

The Update

Well, it seems we will be staying here a little while longer. Guess I will have to live with the sex noises, the f-bombs, the bass, the cigarette smoke, the absentee landlord, and watching JJ poo. At least I know longer have to shower in a few inches of my own filth. I love drano.

brv.txt

One of my brother's suggestion for when I don't have anything to blog is to write what God has taught me. I took his advice this afternoon when I couldn't think of anything to write for the brv.txt. For those of you who don't know about the txt, every week our church sends out a mass email with lots of information. Part of the information is a message from the pastor. Well, Mark has been on vacation for the last two weeks, so Rich, our associate pastor, wrote last week's txt and I agreed to do this week's txt. I had writers block, but then took Tom's advice. So here is a copy of my txt.

Yesterday morning, a good friend of mine sent me a message via Google chat. It was a simple prayer, a blessing for the day ahead. In that moment, I appreciated it. Knowing that my husband and I would be taking a serious look at our finances, I had a feeling that it was going to be a rough day. I replied to his message with a similar blessing. Then I changed my mind. I told him, “Instead, how about I pray that we would both see the many blessings God has already given us?”

The day was a rough day as I expected it to be. That night as I got ready for bed, my head throbbing from the tears shed, I remembered that prayer. Actually I didn’t remember that prayer so much as I remembered someone else, another family. One of the things about working for the church is I see things most people don’t see. Most likely you come to church on Sunday morning and see a bunch of smiling faces. During the week, I see many faces that aren’t smiling – people who are scared, people who are lonely, people who don’t know how they are going to make rent, people who don’t have money for food. Simple things that I never think about. I may have a hard time buying a house, but I never worry about rent, about food, about health insurance.

While writing this entry, I answered a call at the church office: it was a young woman asking if we helped with food. We get these kinds of calls often, from people in our church and from people in our community. A lot of the times we can help and it’s because of your generosity. There’s a Generosity Box that sits between the sound booth and the doors in the sanctuary. It’s a way to offer a gift to the poor. Many of you give faithfully. Many of you give generously. I thank all of you who do. It’s because of you and your giving that we can help people when they call us. A special thanks to all of you who gave this weekend. I know it was a blessing to the family who received your gift.

Remember - you’re not just giving to a box: you are giving to real people with real needs.

I’ll see you Sunday.
Melissa

Thanks Thomas for your help :)

Weird Dream Last Night

I was back in college, I think. But it wasn't Eastern's campus. It was a shopping mall. I recognized Sallie, Laurice, and Rob from LGP at Eastern, so I knew it was college. But also, in my class were the cast of Saved By The Bell - well, I saw Jesse Spano and it was Jesse Spano not Elizabeth Berkley. And also in my class was David Archuleta from American Idol and I am not an Archie fan. Between our classes, we all went back to the same clothing section of this one store and changed our clothes. I changed once, but then I kept thinking, "why does everyone change between classes?" Well, I was late for two classes, each of them by five minutes and everyone else got there on time. I think it was because I was always eating food when I was late. However, there were also these vampires chasing us, but Buffy was there to save us (the slayer, not the dog). At the end of it, I got a call from Iris, my sister in law/realtor, and she was telling me about home repairs. When I looked over, Timmy was next to me, but we were still at the store and I was still in my nice new clothes, eating french fries, looking at the time because I was going to be late to class again.

I am a nerd.

I just looked at my syllabus for next quarter: History of the Christian Church and Theology AND Systematic Theology. I felt my eyes widen and a grin came on my face.

Hi Tom

My brother says I need to blog more regularly.

.....


Yesterday I got a call at the church. Some guy offering us a free visit to his chiropractor. I said no thanks but before I could get off the phone, he asked, "do you have an accent?" It made me smile. I just had this same conversation last week with a member of the church. I get that comment fairly regularly. I guess it's the growing up with people who have accents and growing up with two languages around me. And it doesn't help that I speak really quickly and end up slurring my words. But the next comment the guy made really made me laugh, he said, "yes, you sound English." English? As in like the Brits? Her Royal Majesty, the Queen? I've never gotten that before.

Top Ten Reason I Pray Tomorrow Goes Well

1. No more waking up to sex noises.

2. No more cigarette smoke.

3. No more F bombs.

4. No more bass.

5. No more waiting for Jessie to poo.

6. No more absentee landlords.

7. No more showering in a few inches of my own filth.

...

I'm sure if I thought about it harder, I could come up with three more reasons. Or if my husband were here, he would list another dozen. Here's to a good home inspection.

Argh

I just found out that my favorite aunt, who lives in California, whom I haven't seen since Dec 05 when she meant Timmy, is coming to town...the same weekend we are going to Columbus - ugh. I still haven't heard exact arrival and departure times, but hopefully there will be a few hours where we can actually see each other.

Catching up.....

So lots of things have happened in the two and a half months since we last put up a blog. I guess we're both just lazy. Blogging isn't as much fun without a laptop. But since more than one person has said, 'yo, what's up with the blog?", here are some highlights:

I turned 28 in January. I'm feeling good about 28. Not sure why, but I do. I'm excited. But I have to admit, growing older is easier being married.

A few days after my birthday, we spent the weekend with friends from Pittsburgh. We rented a cabin: seven people, two dogs, lots of games, some GSN, and a small hike. That's where Timmy's new Facebook pictures came from. Funny story from that weekend, but I only feel comfortable sharing with my lady friends. I'm not going to blog about it. Sorry, but if you are a girlfriend and you want to know, ask me next time you see me.

Speaking of Pitt people, Megan's pregnant - que emocion, yay. So excited, seriously. It's been a while since I was so excited to hear someone was pregnant. They told us in December. They are due the first week in September. Then a week later, I find out my niece is pregnant - shocker. No seriously, shocker. Sat in silence for a few minutes unable to say anything. She's due in early September. Then a few weeks ago, I find out that my friend Janice from college is pregnant - what? Guess when she is due? That's right September. I asked Timmy, "where were we when they were all making babies?" He turned to me and with this look I can't quite describe, but if you know Timmy, you can probably guess, he turned and said, "Um, we're on the pill." It's true; I can't argue with that.

So those three pregnancies are on top of the at least five that I know of from BRV.This week when Rich told me Jess was pregnant, I told him "please don't tell me she's due in September." I think he was thrown off a little about the question. And there were eight babies dedicated on Sunday. And more could have been dedicated. I'm telling you - babies everywhere.

And it gives me a little itch, but not enough of an itch to start trying for a baby now. We have discussed it. In the future we will try. For now, Jessie is enough of a baby - literally. She still can't be left alone so our schedule revolves around her. I don't know what we would do if the Kaisers didn't live five minutes away.

But for all of her issues, she's so worth it. And how could she not have issues; she's adopted. Who knows what her life was before she came to our loving home. I try not to think about it too much, but it's hard not too with Animal Channel and those Pedigree adoption commercials, and those Sarah McLachlan SPCA ads. I cried the first time I saw them. Now my comfort is the fact that Timmy and I are playing our part. We adopted a dog and we love her and care for her. She is a part of my family. And not just me and Timmy family. The Kaisers love her. I know if anything happened to me and Timmy, they would take her and wouldn't let anything happen to her. And she's a part of the BRV family. She comes to the church with me when Timmy is at work. Mark loves her! He comes into my office, throws himself on the floor, and plays/fights with her. She loves it.

Random note: A few weeks ago, Timmy and I saw Caedmon's Call and Derek Webb in concert. Caedmon's were good; they were enjoyable but there were a few things I could have done without. However, Mr. Webb - wow. I really love his music. I find myself thinking more about his lyrics than anyone else except maybe Andrew (Peterson, that is, another obsession thanks to Timmy). So, we have spent the last few weeks buying cds and downloading songs. Good stuff. Really good stuff. Currently, listing to "King and A Kingdom" from Mockingbird. Ew. Offensive. I love it.

Do you know what today is?........let's just say that one week from today, Timmy and I will leaving Jessie with our parents and going away for a few days. Can you believe it's been two years? Wow.

JJ just let out a belch that could have come out of a big drunk guy at a frat party. It's gross, but it also makes me smile. She's a lot like me :) Alright, that's it for now. I need a little snack and The View is on.

Where Have I Been That I Didn't Know?

Rent's closing. Ugh. And of course the first thought that came to mind, "Gotta figure out when I can go." I told myself I wouldn't spend $70 to see a show I have already seen four times on Broadway, but...how could I not go see it one more time? Alright, now I need just think this through, look at my calendar, talk to some people. Sad.

Merry Christmas.

In him was given so much, that heaven could give no more.

Of all the things that Mark said this morning, this is what I remember. It was part of his opening prayer. I don't know exactly where it came from, just that it was part of a book of prayers. Some day I will send out Christmas cards and this is all it will say. Not four words, but quality words nonetheless.

Merry Christmas. God bless you all.