pictures from the weekend...

here are some pictures from my weekend in nashville.

rachel and erin and their pregnant bellies:

erin and her son liam.

normal

i am writing this post from an airplane... about 30,000 feet in the air. this astounds me. and while this is anything but normal, this fact is not what this post is about. just wanted to fill you in on the random coolness i'm experiencing right now. i'm a techie... stuff like this makes me smile. it's totally worth the $10 fee to be able to say i checked my email and blogged from the sky! now if i could only get the guy in front of me to leave his seat-back in the upright position, all would be grand! (i've got long legs and a laptop in my lap... his consistent seat adjustments are getting annoying.)

i'm heading home from a great weekend in nashville visiting my college roommates and their families: erin & jeremy and rachel & brian.

this trip provided an opportunity to meet erin & jeremy's 10 month old son, liam, for the first time. it also allowed me to see erin & rachel's pregnant bellies.

it's amazing how much has changed since our belmont days. in the midst of marriages (theirs) and children (their's as well)... it was amazing how "normal" it was to be with them again. it had been over 4 years since i'd seen rachel and a few years since i'd seen erin, and yet we could pick up where we left off.

(the guy in front of me is still adjusting his seat. he can't make up his mind.)

it was fun to reminisce and talk about life and all that's going on. erin and i lived together for 4 years and we lived with rachel for 2 of those years, so you don't have to explain anything... there's something comforting about being around people who truly know you.

"normal' hasn't been a part of my vocabulary lately... so this weekend was refreshing and a nice break from all that i have going on right now.

i'll post pictures from my weekend when i have the chance to move them from my phone to the computer. ok, i'm going to sign off... we're encountering some turbulence and we should be starting our descent pretty soon.

i love technology!

Fall Preview... a "TRUE"tt blessing.

i took a few students to visit truett seminary in waco this week. it's extremely exciting when i have students who are pursuing a call in ministry and i get the opportunity to walk with them as they seek the Lord. while they were visiting classes, talking with professors and mixing with other prospective students... i worked on BSM stuff and had the opportunity to visit with some good friends. i spent time with 2 friends (katie and emily) who served as BSM interns at the same time i did.

coffee with katie lasted a couple hours and provided an opportunity for us both to catch up and unpack all that's been going on in life. i am so thankful for her friendship and i wish that denton and waco were a little closer together so we could sit face to face more often. she's such a blessing.

after lunch, emily and i went to the parking garage starbucks (yes, they have a starbucks and a chili's too in their parking garage) to catch up. i so enjoyed hearing about all she's learning in her 1st semester in seminary... and was reminded how glad i am that i'm finished with school! (well, at least for a while).

i thank God for community and an chance to talk with girls who understand my life and ministry. such a blessing.

does God exist?

an unplanned break.

on sept. 28, 2009 @ 11:40 pm, i tweeted: "tonight, i attempted to write for the 1st time since july. finally felt like i had something to say. the piano felt like home again."

if you've spent any amount of time reading the things i write here, you know (at least) the following things about me: i'm analytical. i'm in ministry. i've had a rough few years.

one thing i'm not - is emotional. i journal, but not in ways that i think most people do. my analytical nature takes over there too... and rarely do emotion and feelings ever grace the page.

my emotions get sorted out through music. when i write, i wrestle with my heart... and my head is not invited.

in the midst of the mess that i found myself in this past year, i've realized that i've been afraid to let myself work through the feelings i've had. it's been easier to ignore them. in fact, until this past thursday, my guitar hadn't made it out of it's case since july.

in the midst of neglecting my emotions and feelings, a favorite part of my life was left collecting dust in my living room.

finally this past week. i felt like i was ready to step on the field and tackle what's been going on. i knew there were things that needed to be said... and i finally allowed myself to say them.

on monday night, i wrote for the first time since july. while it was hard. the result was real, raw and revealing. maybe one day i'll share it here, but i doubt it. i write to work through life and to worship my God... and that's all the audience i need.

i try to be open and honest here, but as i wrote in a recent post... i believe that boundaries are a healthy part of life, and this online revealing of learned lessons needs to be filtered as well.

thank you for reading. i pray that through writing about what i'm learning, i always point you to the cross of Jesus. it's through his grace and mercy alone that i have something worth writing and sharing.

aloft

here are some pictures from my time at the aloft hotel a few weekends ago. i have some hospitality management students and they made me promise to take pictures of the hotel. (sorry that the pictures aren't the best quality. they are the product of the camera phone.)

updated house pictures

the house is coming along and lots of progress has been made. to see pictures, click here. i've added them the same album as the previous ones i've taken, so you'll have to peruse to the end to see the new ones.

here's the update:

• wood floors installed
• carpet being installed
• electricity is on
• light fixtures added
• bathroom fixtures added
• fence posts in place.

i'm getting excited.

fake friends

my students tell me that they can't wait to graduate so that we can be "real" friends. they think that because they don't know everything about me... we're "fake" friends.

i take this as a compliment.

that means that i'm doing something right. that boundaries are in place. they recognize that i'm not just another friend, because another friend is the last thing they need.

they need someone who invests in them. disciples them. points them to the cross. challenges them with accountability. spurs them on in service. helps them grow.

the funny thing is... they know me. they know my heart. they know what God's doing in my life. they know they can always call me, just preferably before 10 pm. they know i like dr. pepper, enjoy cooking and like the food network. they know i'm a musician, a sister, a friend.

you see, they know me... the real me... but i will not share my burdens with them, because they don't deserve the burden. it's not theirs. they think they want to know every detail and struggle of my life, but they don't. those things are reserved for my God, my family and friends.

i continue to learn the necessity of Christian community. it's necessary if you want to grow, change and become more like Christ. God has blessed me with amazing community. A family who loves me and friends who ask the hard questions... remember my answers... and then ask those questions again.

this responsibility is not one that should be placed on the shoulders of the students i work with. even though the number of years aren't that different between us... college ministry means that i can't cross that line... i can't even have one foot on both sides of it.

boundaries. they are necessary. they are good. i'm learning just how good they really are.

rest, reflect and recover

this weekend i will be heading out of town. because of the kindness of some great people in my life, i get to get away.

i won't be going far away from home, which is fine since distance is not what i need.

i need to rest. to reflect. to recover.

God's grace and faithfulness continues to astound me. i can't believe all of the ways that He's moving and working around me... and i recognize that i must stop... so that i can reflect on how He's working in me.

while i rest and reflect... i'll be staying here:

enjoying a room similar to this one:

i covet your prayers as i seek the Lord and how He is speaking to me.

so if you call or email this weekend, please do not be offended if you don't hear back from me until monday. know that i love you... but i need to be still... and for that to work... i'll need to do it without spending a lot of time on a cell phone and the internet.

it's official. i'm an adult.

i've twittered about some decisions i've had in my life and i promised to share the details... so here you go.

this week... has been one of the most interesting ones of my life. i don't know why i'm surprised though. this has been one of the most interesting years ever.

this week... i realized that i am an adult. yes, i know that i'm 28, but sometimes i don't feel quite that old.

this week... i made an offer on a house, and one counter-offer later, the contract became official.

one of my closest friends lives in a new neighborhood in denton and since i'm at her house a couple times a week, i've watched the houses being built around her. we explored them as they were being built and talked about how much fun it would be to be neighbors. i never actually expected that i would ever be able to afford a purchase like this, but God started to put together the details in ways that i never expected.

the house is currently still under construction. it's 2 doors down from susan (the friend mentioned above). it's red. and if all goes as planned, i'll be closing at the end of october.

the house is over 1300 sq/ft, has 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a large kitchen and a 2 car garage (it's a tandem garage, you park one behind the other).

the flooring (wood floors and carpet) will be going in this coming week... and i'll be picking out the carpet this monday. lots of exciting stuff.

while this experience is exciting, it makes me miss a friend of mine... a friend who would love to help me pick out carpet, paint colors, a refrigerator and dream about all the fun things we could do with the backyard. this friend loves painting walls and working on a house more than i do, and i wish i could share this experience with her.

so now i must venture into the world of mortgage companies and closing costs. i'd appreciate your prayers as i proceed. i trust that if this is where God wants me, the details will continue to fall into place. if it isn't and it doesn't work out... i'll be disappointed... but i know He must have something different awaiting me.

thanks for the prayers my friends. and a special thank you to my parents who have played a huge part in making this a possibility. they're support, advice and encouragement in my life is a daily blessing, and they are just as excited about this as i am! mom's doing decorating research and dad's making sure we ask all of the right questions.

click here to view the construction of the house. i'll try to post pictures of the progress as everything continues to come together.