Life as I know it...

Our church recently did a top secret random musical where nobody but the cast - knew there would be a random musical in the middle of church.  You'll even see our pastor, John Jackson get up and sing (which he always says he cannot do) and dance... hilarious!  If you look closely you'll see Justice.  She's wearing the white headband - next to the third singer.  Please overlook the poor camera quality... the cameras have seen better days! :)

This weekend - Minden, Nevada is host to the Tookula Youth Choir from Minden, Germany.  I'm fortunate to have two wonderful guests staying with me.  Both Johana and Victoria are 17 year old girls who have been friends since birth and grown up singing in the 90 person choir.  Their voices are beautiful and they are a pleasure to have!  

6.2008 Johana & Victoria (3)

Tonight - nearly half of our staff went out to tour Grace Church - for a tour... very informative!  These guys at Grace are just so awesome!  They've really taken us under their wing... and their F1 guys are the best... offering help whenever needed.  Us admin girls took off early to grab dinner together and then on the way back, most of us stopped at BJ's for pizzookies... yummy - and great fellowship.   Needless to say - it was a long but fulfilling day!  

At last for those of you who are not local - here are a few photos of Carson Valley (Minden/Gardnerivlle) and Lake Tahoe (Thanks Deborah for taking these!) :)

As if my life needed more drama... Wednesday Justice had her 5 yr old well child check up.  It turns out she'll need surgery to repair her belly button (for those of you who don't know...she was born w/ an umbilical hernia - she still has a hole in her abdomen where her umbilical cord was - to the normal person it looks like an outie (sp?)- but the muscle wall is not completely closed - so they need to close it surgically).  There were a number of things we addressed but I left the appointment feeling quite overwhelmed with it (and she left sore from the 5 shots she needed for school).  I got to my car to find a flat tire! Uggg.... that's the last thing I needed.  My car's in pretty good shape but it's one of those "seasons" - where it seems like I'm just replacing all sorts of stuff on my car.... not major work, just regular maintenance but it's all happening at once... so with low enough tread to warrant a new tire- I headed to the tire department at Walmart (and if you know me - you know I HATE going to Walmart).  So with two hungry and tired kiddos - we embark on an hour long journey through the store as we wait for the tire to be done.  More than an hour and a half later - I finally hear my name on the pager... excitedly I nearly run to the tire department. 

When I get there the girl looks at me and says "Uhh... you have a flat tire."
I reply "I know, that's what I brought it in for" (My mind is beginning to go to that panic place where I realize I may be stuck here another hour b/c they forgot to fix my car)...
"No, you have a flat tire"
"Yes, I know..." (the other customers start giggling.
"No, you have another flat tire!"
"WHAT?!?!?!?!?"  - Yes that's right - I have TWO flat tires in one day... lucky me - and at $125 a piece... I won't be forgetting this night.  Fortunately they were able to plug the second tire - but I'm sure it's only a matter of time before that has to be replaced.  And of course - since my "original" flat was on the front  and my second flat was on the rear - that means my other front tire which was perfectly fine - needed to be replaced.  For the time being - I've got my spare on it - but I think this weekend I'll be at Costco getting that one done as well!!!!

So at last - after 2 1/2 hours I'm on my way home from Walmart...and I have to get gas.  $90 later... I'm finally headed home! 

Thursday was a welcome sight - new day - new beginning.  The day went fairly well with my morning filled with meetings but they were productive!  Then Friday... by Friday I was wiped out.  It'd been a long week - emotionally and I was ready for the weekend.  I'm not normally a clock watcher -but I was so tired- that by 4:45 I was starting to pack up.  At 5:00 I bolted out my office door... ready to go home.   Seeing a friend of mine - I reached into the car - to start the a/c - and as I turned to talk to her - I managed to somehow lock and shut the door - with the car running... so now my $90 of gas is burning away - and I've got less than an hour to get my car unlocked and get to the kids at daycare (20 minutes away)... uggg....

2 hours later - I am officially a card carrying AAA member - complete w/ my first AAA visit... and at last I'm on my way to get my babies. 

Needless to say - I'm glad for an end to this week!  It's been such a long one!  And although it could have been absolutely disastrous - filled with many tears (and an empty wallet) - God is good - and gave me a spirit of joy in the midst of it all... the tears were turned to laughter - and I can honestly say that what could have been incredibly stressful - has actually been quite humorous!

Today was one of those days where I just felt so scatterbrained that I couldn't focus on one project for more than 30 minutes.  Fortunately - my desk is piled high with projects that I could go between and still make progress.  Then just when I was ready to wrap up for the day - I was handed a graphics project (woo hoo - they're my favorite!) :)  - so I opted to spend time tonight working on that - and finished it in record time!  Had a great conversation with a wonderful friend and enjoyed a rather late night - simply because I was foolish enough to have a big cup of coffee at 9:30 pm (it sounded like a good idea at the time).  Needless to say - I'm typing as fast as ever - too bad it's nearly midnight!  But hey a girl's entitled to catch the news at least once in a great blue moon eh?

Of course work was one thing but then picking the kids up...  they had their first field trip today - to the swimming pool.  Jonah managed to lose his shirt and Justice managed to lose her EGYPTIAN COTTON beach towel.  The teachers looked everywhere for the missing shirt (which happened to be brand new) - but they think someone walked off w/ it.  The towel however they insist was brought back - so I'm hoping it turns up tomorrow.  Of course how silly of me to send egyptian cotton w/ my 4 year old - but then it was the beach towel Costco carried last summer so the price was no more than that of a regular towel at Target. :)  Once we got home and I "forced" them to choke down their salmon for dinner (always a battle) - we were able to move on w/ our night, and at last the sleepy little ones were sawin' logs.  Now it's time to go check on them... and head to bed myself. 

Have you ever met someone who "just gets you"?  I've recently had someone come into my life - who is just that.  I feel like this person understands everything about me!  It's so great to have a conversation with someone like that!  We've talked about so much- and are totally on the same page about some of our deepest convictions.  I just can't tell you what a blessing it is - to have met someone like that!

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On another note - you've got to read this.  The following is a posting from my friend and coworker, Wendy.  I still laugh hysterically over it (like I did when she first told me it happened):

Typically I answer the phones and answer questions, take messages, or direct people to whomever they need to connect with. I had a call the other day that really was nothing extraordinary, but I definitely will NOT forget the conversation (nor will the person who called I am sure) for a very long, long time!

The office was quiet, and the phone rang. In my normal overly-cheerful and exuberant voice I answered, "Carson Valley Christian, this is Wendy, can I help you?" Then, the request from the other end of the receiver, "I need to know who is in charge." Once again, overly-cheerful and helpful I asked, "In charge of what?" We're a big church with tons of ministries, so I was assuming she would be more specific and let me in on which 'in charge' person she needed. I sensed a teensy bit of annoyance this time, "I need the name of whoever is in charge so I can send a letter." Not enough details for me, so I persisted, "Okay, this is a church so I need to know which ministry area you are inquiring about so I can connect you with the right person." I sensed a bit more irritation this time. "I just need the name of the person in charge so I can send a letter." Oblivious to the irritability of my conversationalist, I pressed on. "So, do you want the Senior Pastor then?" I should mention that I DO smile when I'm talking on the phone, and pray that you can hear my smiles through the phone line!! "I need the name of the person in charge, over everything, who would that be?" I sensed the aggravation, but for some reason could not help myself (forgive me Pastor John), and I said these words: "Well, as I said we are a church, so the person in charge would be God." And there it was... I'd laid it out there. What followed was one of those awkward pauses. Finally, she spoke again very slowly, "I will not be sending a letter to God." And there it was... I swallowed, took a deep breath, smiled a little smaller this time, and told her, "I guess I'll just give you the name of our Senior Pastor then." She took the information and hung up. Immediately afterwards I felt sick to my stomach. Had I offended this woman? I wasn't trying to be funny, though in retrospect, it isis in charge. kind of funny. When I tell people what happened their first response is, "Did you really say God was in charge?" Then they laugh and congratulate me. But I really wasn't trying to be funny or upset anyone. What if I gave them a bad impression of our church or of the church in general or of God? That wouldn't be good. I've had to ask forgiveness just to cover my bases, but I don't think God is upset with me either. If anything, I think He might have even laughed as the whole conversation transpired. I mean who really IS in charge?? If it isn't God, it should be. He is in charge whether we believe it or not- of the world, of our nation, of our church, and of our lives. It was a nice reminder for me. I love my church and my pastor, and I mean no offense when I tell people that ultimately God is in charge.