Quick Updates

I have a few things jingling around in my head to write about, but for a quick update on some things . . .

• NFL Draft this weekend.  Big time stuff especially here in Detroit.  Everyone's hopes soar yet again thinking, "This could be the year!!!"  My favorite part has been watching the faces and reading the articles of the many Detroiters as they heard the name of the Lions' top choice.  "Gosder who?!?" seems to be the most common theme.  I hope he revolutionizes the team and shows everyone this is a new time for the Lions.  
• I also managed to catch an interview on ESPN with Mike Tomlin.  It felt like someone just gave me a pitcher of cold water to drink after I'd be wandering around in a desert wasteland for a few months.  Unlike Pittsburgh, Detroit news does not manage to work in some story about the Steelers into every broadcast regardless of what time of the year it is.  Crazy, I know.  How I missed hearing about my Steelers. :-)
• Samantha, my sister, is graduating in a few weeks and had an opportunity to sing in a coffee house at the college as somewhat of a "last hurrah."  My mom uploaded the videos to You Tube and I'm attaching the two links here and here.  She sang 4 songs for a total of about 15 minutes (2 songs on each video) and I just have to say, "Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow!!!!"  I'm a bit biased, I know, but they truly are amazing.  I think she does "Dream a Little Dream" better than Mama Cass (sans hambone) and I'm pretty sure Judy Garland turned over in her grave wishing she could have sang "Somewhere over the Rainbow" like Samantha.  If you've got some time, I highly recommend the listen.

Springtime in Michigan is super pretty and really fun.  I love the start of a new season!

Major Life Decisions

So, there's these major decisions that we all must ask ourselves in life.  

1.  What will you do with Jesus?

2.  Who will you marry?

3.  PC or Mac?

Because I've got the first two answered, I thought it was time to tackle the third.  And yesterday, I made my decision.

It's a Mac!  I'm a pretty analytical person, so it will take me a while to make these decisions, but once I do, I'm two feet in.  It's amazing how quickly I've become a Mac girl.  Brad says he no longer feels as cool as me (as if he ever was . . .) :-) 

Regardless, she's really pretty and nice and I think her name is Dayna.  (I tend to anthropomorphize pretty much everything I own.) The only thing I hold against it is that I can't find Spider Solitaire. What a great new friend!

Closed for Remodeling

Right across from Church of the King is a Burger King. I use that term loosely, because here are some pictures of the aforementioned Burger King.

When I passed the Burger King a few weeks ago, I noticed they put this sign up. "Closed for Remodeling." "Oh," I thought. "Burger King is remodeling . . . getting some new paint, tables, chairs. That should be nice. I wonder when they'll open again?"

Later that day I drove by only to see a crane digging into the roof. By the next day, the building was gone. Parking lot torn up. Huge chunks of cement foundation in a large pile. Leveled. The only thing that remained was the Burger King sign that said, "Closed for Remodeling." Remodeling, huh? It's gotta be one of the biggest understatements that would make even that scary BK King chuckle.

As much enjoyment as this sign has brought, God's recently used it as a metaphor of sorts for my life right now. I hesitate even stating that, because the immediate picture that comes to mind is one of terrible destruction and distress and that could not be further from the truth. I'm indescribably happy. I love being married and this new season where God has me. So many things are so much better than I could have ever imagined and the things that I thought would be a big transition (i.e. living together, sharing a tube of toothpaste, etc.) really haven't been a big deal at all. The things that have been bigger lessons are quite surprising to me, mainly because I thought I had already learned them.

Before we got married, Brad and I made a prayerful and conscious choice for me to wait before I jumped into a job or ministry area at church in order to give me time to adjust. It seemed like a brilliant plan. I would spend some time remodeling . . . new city, new name, new role, new church, paint the walls, change the carpet . . . that's what I imagined my renovations to be. It seems like God has wanted to get much more foundational in His renovations, however, reestablishing my identity in Him, simply as His daughter before I am a wife, pastor's wife, daughter, job title, or any thing else I can throw in there. I've been going through the book, The Search for Significance, and while most of the teaching is Truths I've known my whole life, I'm amazed at how quickly I can forget them and how revolutionary they really are.

So, by God's grace, I'm choosing to embrace God's "crane" of sorts, and let Him dig up my foundation and rebuild it once again with the proper blocks of His Truths that I am accepted, loved, forgiven, and pleasing to Him regardless of what I do, what people think, what I've done or anything else I can come up with to try and rock that foundation.

I would like to think that after this, I will have learned this lesson for good and God and I can move on to something else. I'm beginning to think now, however, that this is the lesson. It's so core and crucial to everything else, that I'll probably just keep building upon it the rest of my life. And in the meantime, it's so encouraging to know that unlike Burger King, God can still use me to bless other people and be blessed by others while He is still remodeling. Amazing, isn't it? I'm pretty sure the BK King is jealous.

Chick Flicks!

As I have mentioned in previous posts, I had the delightful pleasure of growing up in the chocolate business. A common question that I get when people discover this is, "Wow! Did you just eat chocolate all the time?" My answer is not that surprising if you think about it. Of course we didn't eat it all the time because it was always there. We could have some if we wanted it, but we didn't need to gorge ourselves on it because there was always more to enjoy. A classic case of not recognizing what you had until it was gone. Now when I have chocolate cravings I swear I would pay $20 for a peanut butter meltaway from Geoffrey Boehm Chocolates.

Another blessing that I got to enjoy was growing up in a house full of girls. With closets and jewelry galore, there were always new outfits to be worn and accessories to be shared. And, a basic staple to our house of 4 women was a well-defined collection of chick flicks . . . the Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan classics (including the little known, Joe vs. the Volcano, one of my faves) and the full Jane Austen gamut, just to name a few. They are pure bubble-gum movies, adding no real value to my life, but extremely entertaining to indulge in every once in a while.

So, imagine my pure glee when I got a package today with 11 of my favorite chick flick movies sent to me by my amazing mother!!! While I appreciate the wide variety of golf, basketball, and war movies that Brad has gathered, I found myself the other day craving a mindless chick flick to watch while writing thank you notes. Would you believe that Brad didn't have any?!? I felt again the twinge of not appreciating what I had until it was gone. Now I have hours of pure enjoyment right at my fingertips. I'm sure I can't fully express Brad's joy on this subject. :-)

And to top off my glee, it seems as if my mom is going to be able to come out here for a brief 24 hour period to watch them with me while Brad is at a conference in New York. It will be a nice balm to my saddened heart while Brad is away. :-)

Spin-O-Rama

So, one of the many gifts of being Brad's wife is that I now get to join his membership at Lifetime Fitness, what I like to refer to as the Mecca of all gyms. The first time I walked into this place, I just stared with this deer-in-headlights look on my face trying to hide my complete awe-struck feelings and maintain the "I know what I'm doing here" mantra that everyone else seemed to have.

I've discovered over the last few years that I am more of a social-exerciser. While I really admire the people who put on their iPod and run 10 miles in a day, I much prefer to do a workout with a friend, or even a stranger if a friend is not available. That is why I've really enjoyed the Group Fitness Classes. I've tried "Core Strengthening" which made it hurt to even cough 4 days later, and "Strictly Strength" which I'll let your imagination try and guess what that one's about. But yesterday, I thought I'd try the big one . . . Cycle 60.

In case you're not familiar, Cycle 60 is a spinning class. Spinning sounds so happy, doesn't it? Twirling in a field in a pretty dress maybe? My friend Bonnie in Pittsburgh is a big spinner and she does this several times a week. Surely I should be able to give this a try for a mere hour. Bonnie, I have an entirely new found respect for you.

One of the benefits of doing something for the first time is that you're pretty ignorant to what you're getting into. I should have known when the lady helping me set up my bike asked if I was wearing a heart rate monitor (Heart rate monitor?!? Am I going into the ICU? Why do I need to measure my heart rate?) and she kind of laughed when I said I didn't have any water with me. "You'll definitely want to bring that next time," she advised. "This class is pretty hard." And then she proceeded to tell me that she regularly goes on 100 mile bike rides with her husband. This would be the time when most intelligent people would realize they should probably leave. Unfortunately my stubbornness overrode my intelligence yesterday.

They start pedaling their bikes and I think, "Hey, this is fun! A nice bike ride. Good workout. Yeah, I'm feeling pretty worked out right now." Then I looked at the clock and saw that we had been going for 13 minutes and I hear the instructor say, "Ok now, let's get out of the saddle and really kick it up!" Kick it up? Wasn't that what I was already doing? And did I mention how thirsty I am? And how much it hurts to be sitting on this pole that's referred to as a seat?!?

The misery continued for the next forty-five minutes reaching a climax when the instructor said, "I'm feeling that it's now disco time!!!" Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse. And as I was pedaling to "It's Raining Men" thinking about my complete torture, I was struck with the thought, "Wait a minute. I chose to do this. Oh no! I actually paid money to do this. What is the matter with me?!?"

I managed to make it through and looked at my bike's calorie counter that read, "65 kcal." The lady next to me assured me it was broken and it made me feel a little better that I didn't do all that work to burn off the apple that I would eat for a snack that afternoon. I'd also like to say that I won't be returning back there anytime soon, but as the wise Proverbs (26.11) have said, "As a dog returns to his vomit, so a fool repeats his folly." Me and my folly will probably take a spin again sometime soon. :-)