1. I haven’t posted anything on this blog since November 6th.

2.  Wednesday is anti-procrastination day.

3. And because, frankly, I can’t think of anything cute enough to include in the title.

I’m not sure where anti-procrastination day came about- perhaps Fly Lady, perhaps one of the myriad self-improvement articles I’ve read- who knows. But it has stayed with me, and gratefully for the past few months, I have been crossing off items from the ever-growing “TO DO LIST” each Wednesday.

Let me be clear. It’s not as ambitious as it sounds. But you know the feeling of finally doing something you’ve been meaning to do for ages and just haven’t gotten around to it? Well, that’s what I remind myself of as I undertake the daunting task of slowly becoming less and less of a slacker. So today, after paying a couple of bills and sending out some very overdue emails, I decided to post something to this blog! So here’s a quick catch-up on what’s happened in the past… um… 19 weeks:

1. I got married to the best guy in the world on November 15th. That was great. We had a ball.

2. For our honeymoon, we took a road trip to San Diego, and had a fabulous time.

3. Holidays ensued- good times had by all.

4. We fixed up our little house (and by “we”, I mean Brett) and put it up for rent.

5. We packed up our stuff and moved to Kentucky in January.

6. Brett began school at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville.

7. We moved into a 107 year-old house in February.

6. We announced that we’re pregnant to everyone in early March. (I’m 15 weeks and due September 15th- feeling a little better now, starting to show- blah blah blah).

So there it is. All on one convenient, east to read post. And you can see how easy it would be not to post something my blog, especially if there really isn’t much to talk about. Or, in my case, too much to talk about and I like to talk so I didn’t know where to begin, OR if it would ever end.

But now it’s done. I’ve posted something! And now the sleepless nights, the brutal pangs of guilt– all gone in the flash! Thank you, Wednesday, for being anti-procrastination day.  

So I encourage you to cross something old off of your to do list today, my friends and potential slackers… and I’ll try to check in again sometime soon… hopefully before our child begins walking or something…

… but whenever I post again, it just might be on a Wednesday.

When Brett and I first talked about our wedding, we both thought that the most important thing for us was that our wedding would honor God- so many weddings are all about the bride and the groom, and so when we decided this, it was such a blessing for us to keep that in the forefront of our minds, and this has been huge in the preparation, planning and execution of Every aspect of the wedding.

I think every wedding has a moment- something that sticks out in the minds of those who were there- maybe it’s a great invitation, a darling ring bearer who stole the show, a father’s eyes tearing up as he hands over his little girl to her groom, maybe it’s a song that was written for his bride and sung at their reception… And I’ve been trying to figure out what will be “the moment” on our big day.

And I realized that if Brett and I are truly going to strive to honor God on this day (and by His grace) in our marriage, we have a fantastic opportunity to reach beyond ourselves and offer love beyond the walls of the church or the reception hall. I can’t even remember who gave me the idea (which is a good thing, so God gets the glory), but we opted to not get wedding favors for our guests (I mean, who needs the candy/ matches/ candles anyway).

So at the risk of potentially stealing my own thunder, I’m announcing that Brett and I are sponsoring a child through Compassion International. He is a darling little boy from Haiti, whose birthday is on the same day as our wedding, so we figure having 250 people pray for him on his birthday (and there after) is a wedding gift for us to each other, for our guests, and a birthday gift for Wolny (that’s his name). Here’s a picture of him!

I am so honored to be a part of this, and that Brett and I get the opportunity to share hope with this little boy, and I pray that we are able to pray for this guy throughout the year, and on our anniversary, think of the grace of God and how He has provided for us, and blessed us with the privilege of living in hope. So I pray that this will be “the moment”, but I hope that this moment will live on for a long, long time.

So the 15th of November will be a moment-us occasion. I write it that way because Brett and I will be there, but hopefully pointing to Christ, and not ourselves…

So I thank God for putting it on our hearts to pursue this- Soli Deo Gloria

On Monday, October 13th, my mom just called me at work to tell me that my uncle Mark passed away. Mark, her younger brother had been battling cancer for about four years, so this was certainly not a surprise, but doesn’t diminish the feeling of loss and sadness.

Uncle Mark was the sort of man who had more wit and acuity than is naturally occurring in most people. In fact, he had more comedic talent than 90 percent of the population. He was the sort of person that always sought out the fun and the funny in every situation. Even when times called for a level of seriousness, Mark could always find a way to inject levity. I think it’s safe to say that Mark’s sense of humor not only kept Mark going, but it was also a huge weapon in his battle against cancer.

I love Mark. I have always admired his razor sharp wit, his intelligence, and his hospitality. Mark is the sort of person people always like to be around, and I am thankful that both of his kids inherited a great deal of Mark’s stellar personality and rosy outlook on life…

On Saturday, we went to the funeral. I sat next to my fiance and held his hand while I listened to Mark’s kids speak of their father, and I tried to imagine what I would say if I was in their place. I cannot even begin to comprehend what I would do if I lost my dad (my dad is 62- Mark was only 56!).

At Mark’s service, his friend Don shared on how difficult it is to talk about a person’s life in 20 minutes- especially a life as full as Mark’s.

This is the fourth funeral I’ve been to in the past three months, and after all of those services, it’s hard for me not to think about my own mortality– how fleeting our lives really are, and the legacy that we all will leave behind…

And so at the risk of being morbid, I thought a bit about what I would write in my obituary. What would people say about me and my life if God were to take me home today… In actuality, I think that this is a valuable thing to ponder. God has blessed me with rich experiences in my short time thus far, but what have I done with my life? What would people say at my funeral? What sort of “Mark” (if you’ll pardon the expression) have I (or will I) made in this world?

And I pray that whenever that is, whatever services take place, and whoever is there, people would say that I loved God and that I honored Him- with my words, my deeds, my relationships, my possessions- in everything. I pray that people would say that I loved to speak of the excellencies of the Lord, that I loved the Gospel and that I tried to live a godly life.

And so now that begs the question- am I living this way now? Truly our lives are but a vapor and every breath is on loan. And I am both convicted and encouraged to fear God more, and We simply must always live life as though today were our last day, and always preach the gospel as though it were life or death because it is…

I came across a letter written to me by my dad’s friend, Freddy. Now I’m not overly sentimental with most things, but I treasure words- notes, letters, even emails. I have been blessed to receive many wonderfully encouraging letters over the years, and the one from Freddy is the sort of letter that I will always cherish…

He wrote (and I’m not looking at the letter as I write, so I won’t do it justice) that a friend of his once told him, “You know how to make your boots last longer? Take bigger steps!” Then Freddy artfully wove together this anecdote with the reality of the “big steps” I’d be taking as a grown-up. He really is a gifted writer, and is point still sticks with me… especially now that I am facing potentially many (and very big) steps in the near future.

I’ve taken several big steps in my life so far; traveling through Europe, becoming a flight attendant, moving to NY, buying a house, etc. And here I am faced with a number of rather big steps- planning a wedding,  beginning a marriage, moving to a new state, leaving my friends and family… and all the other steps that go along with them!

So as I ponder this, I am reminded of John 10:4…
“And when He brings out His own sheep, He goes before them; and the sheep follow Him, for they know His voice.”

I just love that verse! 

Yes, I’ll be taking some big steps in the upcoming weeks and months- it’s quite a journey, but what a blessed thought to know that I don’t take these steps alone. God directs my steps as I follow Him! Not only that, but He will keep me from stumbling, and He will bring me through all of this (and wherever else He takes me) to the ultimate destination- my real home!

So I remind myself of this comforting truth as I joyfully step out in faith… in high heels, of course

I just burst into tears. It’s too much- I am overflowing with humility, gratitude and an overwhelming recognition of the grace of God in my life.

What you may not know is that in December, this great guy from my church was leaving for Europe with his brother. I realized that his being gone was going to prove exceedingly difficult for me as we had become pretty good friends over the previous months… I told him I was going to miss him, and I asked him what time his flight was leaving so that I could pray for him.

“11:20″ he said.

So I set my alarm on my phone, and each day at 11:20, I’d hear the familiar beep prompting me to pray for my friend. He was going to be gone for quite some time, so I enjoyed thinking of things to pray for–in fact, I was grateful to be reminded to pray with greater diligence in all things… so I also started praying for my future spouse at this time. I felt like it would be a good thing to be more faithful in my prayers for something so very important.

He returned in January, and I never turned off the alarm. It had become a habit (and a good one), and I felt honored to lift him up in prayer each day.

On Sunday, May 25th, he asked to meet with me and talk- we set up a lunch for Tuesday (the 27th), and I remember my 11:20 alarm going off that day… could it be that this man I’d been praying for every day be the man I’d hoped for all my life?

Sure enough, he asked me to court him!

I remember we were going on a hike as a church and my alarm went off at 11:20. He asked me what it was and I said it was an alarm, and that I’d tell him about it later… I did. At first, I thought he might think it was weird, and I hesitated. But I caved. I had to tell him. He was so gracious about it.

For the first couple of months in our courtship, every day the alarm went off, like Pavlov’s dog, I would immediately respond- not with the drool, mind you, but a huge grin on my face would appear like clock work… literally.

So now this amazing godly man has asked me to marry him (as of September 11th- sorry blog readers! I’ve been slightly pre-occupied to post this in a more timely fashion). The following Friday is when all of this hit me- and I sobbed.

So that’s why I burst into tears on Friday. The alarm has come to mean so much more to me than just a simple reminder to pray for Brett. It has become a faithful reminder of God’s providence, His provision, His incredible grace shown- not just in this amazing relationship, but in all things.

Now as I look at the clock, I am reminded of the sixteen thousand things I need to get done in the upcoming weeks. I realize what is meant in the old cliche “time is of the essence”. And boy howdy, I’m feeling every bit of it. Organizing a wedding (with many helpers- praise God), going on our honeymoon (!), leaving my job, moving to a different state, and starting a new life with the most incredible man I know-all in the span of less than four months… yes, I think I’m beginning to see time as the precious commodity it is.

And it is precious- no matter our circumstances. Every breath I have is on loan, so I must remind myself that although I make these “plans” for the future, it is truly only if the Lord wills. So I hope to make the most of it… all of it.

And I don’t have any time to waste!

And as a side note, I have always wanted to wear my great-grandmother’s watch on my “big day” as my something old… it’s a beautiful watch, but it doesn’t work, so guess what time I will have it set at?

So I was telling my boyfriend the other night that I have been working on a list of Blog names, titles for post and topics to write about… just one teensy little problem. I can’t think of any content- slightly ironic when you think about my general tendency towards loquaciousness! Go figure.

But that doesn’t change how I feel about words, so while I wait for my epiphanies to hit, I will simply talk about two of my web favies when it comes to words.

WORD LAB http://www.wordlab.com/ This site has tons of cool catch phrases, buzzwords and is loaded with clever puns and all kinds of fabulousness. I love going to this site when I want to brainstorm for any number of things, or if I want to add to my ever-expanding list of would-be post titles…

M-W Word of the Day- http://www.merriam-webster.com/ Oh Merriam-Webster, how I love thee… I have been so often delighted to find some obscure, über cool sounding/meaning word in my email in-box! May I say for my part, that French words are my favorite. While I’m admittedly not a fan of le French per se, I LOVE La Langue. C’est manifique!

I have also been known to check our the Rhyme Dictionary, the Cliche Finder, and certainly the Slogan generator. I recently came across a great site http://phrontistery.info/index.html and as nerdy as I am, I imagine I will find many more. Already, I’ve come across some great blogs on language, too. I just love it!

But I want more! (Don’t I sound American?)Do you have a favorite word? Why? Is it the meaning of the word? Or the way it sounds? I want to hear about it! Do you have a cool website on words I should check out?

Comment hither, if you please.

Now I understand that unexpected expenses are are part of the “That’s life” equation, but keep in mind, this is all on the heels of my recent decision to be more responsible with my spending– paying off debt, using what I have, and steering clear of frivolous purchases.

And yesterday was my boiling point… I woke up and could hardly walk. Something had happened to my hip, and I had pinched a nerve so that even sitting down would send a shooting pain through my hip- to the point of not being able to concentrate.

So I began the inevitable listing of the woes, and started asking myself “why me?”

A colleague of mine sent me this sappy email forward, but there was a prevailing theme that stuck with me throughout the course of the day and has caused me to realize two very important things… I’ll give you the Cliff’s Notes version of the email:

You can fill three pots with water and bring each to a boil. You place carrots in the first pot, eggs in the second pot and coffee beans in the third pot.

Each of these are faced with the same scenario, but each reacts differently. The carrot starts out hard and then is weakened. The egg is fragile on the outside and liquid on the inside, then then becomes hardened. The coffee beans will change the water.

So the point of the story is to determine which of these am I? How do I respond to adversity? Am I going to weaken? Am I going to become hardened? Or will I, in the adversity, seek God and try to understand what He is teaching me, and actively pursue honoring God THROUGH IT.

Praise God that He is gently showing me that no matter what my circumstances, no matter the pain, no matter what– God is good! He is the one who is in control. He is the one who can provide. He is the one who is faithful. He is the one who is to be trusted.

So I am writing this post for a couple of reasons:

1. To become transparent and more humble by sharing in my weaknesses and struggles.
2. To hopefully encourage you if you are enduring trials to cling to Christ.
3. To ask for prayer that I might (by God’s strength alone) be coffee beans.

SDG!

On my 29th birthday, I made a list of the lessons I had learned in life… I laugh at that title because although I know these to be true, I hadn’t quite recognized that most of these are, in fact, a process, and many of these I am yet to live out faithfully (see #19). But I thought I’d share them with you… and I’d love to hear the “words of wisdom” you’d like to add to this list.

1.               Fear God and trust in His goodness.

2.               Love TRULY covers a multitude of sins.

3.               Choose your friends wisely.

4.               JOY comes when you put Jesus first, others second and yourself last.

5.               Always count your blessings. Thanklessness is sinful.

6.               Remember to say please and thank you.

7.               Character is born out of trials and hardship.

8.               Don’t allow yourself to get overwhelmed- take everything one step at a time.

9.               Life is too serious to take it too seriously.

10.          Always share with others.

11.          You can and will make a difference in someone’s life. Make it a positive one.

12.          Learn from your mistakes.

13.          Keep short accounts- confess your sins quickly.

14.          Do nice things when no one’s looking.

15.          Obey your parents.

16.          Be loyal.

17.          There is nothing truly done in secret. All sins will come to light eventually.

18.          It’s not what you know, but what you do with it.

19.          Complaining should be avoided at all costs- it solves nothing and is a sin. 

20.          Joy is contagious.

21.          Always try to make people feel welcome and valuable.

22.          Remember everything you have is on loan from God. Use it wisely.

23.          Don’t put things off! Procrastination never makes it go away- just more dreaded.

24.          Life’s too short to hate your job- do what you love.

25.          Never treat people like you are better than them- you are not.  

26.          You can get a lot done in 15 minutes (see #23).

27.          Don’t just read the Bible- KNOW it. In it contain the words of life.

28.          There is a time and a place for everything.

29.          Don’t waste time- you have no way of knowing how much of it God has given you.

So let me know what you’d like to contribute to this list. Thanks!

In fact, recently, my boyfriend and I were working on a budget and I put together a very handy, slightly OCD spreadsheet of my expenditures, and after I gave him the breakdown, I noticed that I classified my monthly Netflix fee under essentials(!). Now up until very recently, I would say that the only circumstances to keep me away from this addiction would be drastic–like if I had, for example, undergone shock therapy, or became blind or deaf… 

Perhaps part of the excitement was the fact that I have several (ahem) movies on my queue. In fact, as I was writing this, I checked my account, and Netflix and I have been together now for over two years (it’s getting pretty serious!), and in that time I have rented over 200 movies- many classics, several TV shows (I hardly ever watch TV), a slew of foreign and independent films- anything my little heart desired. Occasionally, I would come across some piece of garbage film that wasn’t worth the postage paid envelope it came in, but not to worry! I’d just quickly pop out of my player and throw back into my handy bo-dandy return envelope- never to be seen again! Sometimes I’d get the gritty drama and wasn’t in the mood- no big deal! I’d just wait until I was ready- totally on my terms, buddy! *Sigh* It’s just so convenient and lovely!

Netty and I (as I sometimes like to call Netflix) have had some rough patches, I’m not going to lie to you. Sometimes, he’s made me wait a while for those hot new releases, sometimes he shows up a day later than I hoped he would, sometimes he’d be there, but I couldn’t watch my movie because the DVD was cracked. But he come back to me with a shiny new DVD- just like clockwork. We’ve shared many laughs, many tears, many many hours together.

A wise man, after reading this post, has shed some light on to the cameras and action (so to speak)– and he’s helped me re-examine my penchant for film… and even re-write a good chunk of this post.

One aspect brought to my attention (and conviction) is the time issue… Let’s just say that if you assume that the average movie is about two hours, that really stacks up over time- if you think about it, I have spent roughly 200 hours per year on these movies! If I start to look at it that way, the excited anticipation turns into conviction…

Imagine if I had spent those 200 hours working a part time job (that’s well over $1000), attending school (that’s about a semester with 12 credit hours), or working out instead (okay, even I don’t have that vivid of an imagination)…

Or better yet, what if I spent that time investing in the eternal-praying for others, in ministry, in studying God’s Word?

Now, I’m not going to pretend as though I am some biblical scholar or uber-pious individual. And I’m also not ready to quit cold turkey as it were. But it causes me to more closely examine the what, the when and the how much. I don’t think movies are sinful, and I certainly don’t think entertainment as a whole is inherently sinful either.

But as a child of God, it begs the question- am I willing/able to dedicate two hours of my day to worship as much as I am willing to plop in front of the TV for two hours?

So it comes back (as it usually does) to motivation and balance. I’m not going to somehow suddenly practice asceticism, nor should I continue as I have- cramming movies nto my already full schedule. I need to keep my priorities where they belong, and time/finances permitting, I can watch and enjoy movies with a discerning mind and a thankful heart.

So Netflix, I think we should start seeing other people…

And after seeing Dark Knight, I would be remiss not to write about this movie. I can only imagine what most people have written about this movie, and I haven’t read any critiques myself, so here goes.

The movie is fabulous. I normally am unable to sit still longer than an hour and a half, so for me to be enraptured with a film that is nearly two and a half hours speaks volumes to the fabulousness of the movie itself (you may have guessed this by now, but I liked the movie).

Everyone’s probably saying this, and that is because it is true. Heath Ledger OWNED the role of the Joker- the writing was fantastic on the movie as a whole- it had more characterization than your average superhero flick, to be sure. But Heath’s portrayal was captivating- he was horrifying, shocking, tragic and strangely hilarious all at the same time.

The rest of the movie was great- I already talked about the writing- brilliant. Christopher Nolan is genius, and whoever did casting for this and his previous Batman deserves a parade or a big hug… something good. WITH ONE EXCEPTION. I’m sorry Maggie, I’m sorry Katie, but neither of them were great as Rachel Dawes. I semi-hate to say this, but I was relieved that she was killed. Gag! Maggie was too harsh, too clunky, and there was no chemistry between her and Bruce or or Harvey Dent-

But the rest of the cast was super. Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart all rocked it. And the combination of cast and writing really drew me in. I wanted more- even the frightening Two Face transformation was like a car wreck- I couldn’t tear my eyes off of it.

But my complaints were thus: WHY OH WHY did Batman’s voice get so ridiculous. I understand that he’s passionate about saving Gotham- blah blah blah, but you have GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! (when I typed that in all caps just now, I was doing a mocking sound of Batman’s voice out loud). It was starting to get silly after a while. I can understand using the gravelly yell here and there, but they got a little too excited and overdid it to the point of ridiculousness. My other complaint is a standard complaint in most action movies, and sadly even in my uber-favorite, Iron Man. WHY MUST YOU WRECK AWESOME CARS? It’s so needless, so sad. I hate to admit this, but I gasped when they wrecked the Lamborghini- I was as upset as when I thought Gordon was dead. And I might not admit it, but I MAY have shed a tear when the Cobra was smashed in Iron Man (okay, fine! I did! I cried… a little).

But I can’t wait for the next one. I know it’s going to rock. They better keep the core actors on board, and finally get a decent actress on board for the next one. I overheard on the radio at one point that they were talking about Angelina Jolie as a potential Cat Woman. That could go either way in my estimation. She could be phenom, she could be totally sucky. We shall see.

But here’s my question, oh fearless and faithful readers? How shall I develop my ranking system on my movie critique blog? I simply cannot rip off the old stand by of tow thumbs up or a star ranking. Nothing that boring… So if you have ideas on a creative ranking system, I will be extremely grateful. If not, you may face significant mocking (well, maybe). So go ahead, make my day (no really, it just might) and let me know.

And tell me what you thought of the movie (unless you liked Maggie Gyllenhaal, then I don’t care what you have to say)…

I look forward to hearing from you, and I hope to make more posts in the future… Like Tropic Thunder (I CANNOT WAIT!)