Moments Worth Mentioning

 Yesterday I spent close to over 10 hours doing “church stuff”.  To put the appropriate spin on this jam packed day, keep in mind that I did it all on a mere 3 hours of sleep…. 

• I was up early for a breakfast meeting to discuss the good, the bad and the ugly from the last two months of a Single’s group I have helped with.  And by helped I mean practically ran.
• My next stop was Buckhead church for an 11 o’clock appointment where I was to meet with a staff member for an interview.  I spent the next 45 minutes telling a complete stranger every piece of my life story.  Every piece.  It was humbling and rejuvenating all at the same time.  The next few months should be interesting as I venture into a leadership role in a ministry that both excites and terrifies me.
• After that, I walked upstairs to be apart of a Q&A lucheon for another leadership position.  The last few months of volunteering in a singles group has allowed me to consider leading a group next Spring.  We ate, we Q&Aed.  We left.
• The next two hours found me walking every corner of a church that I can now call my own!  As of last month, I am an official member of Buckhead Church.  I was amazingly curious about the “behind the scenes stuff” of such a large operation.  By pure coincidence I met a man over the weekend that holds the key to every door in that place…. and he was willing to show me around.  I saw production rooms, secret doors, control panels, a sneak preview of the amazing Christmas decorations, walked through back hallways, walked across every stage… I basically had access to every corner of a building rumored to have hidden tunnels and secret rooms (which may or may not be true!).   This building is approximately 200,000 square feet of amazingness! Why does that excite me?  Because I love that church.
• Finally, at 6pm, I actually “went to church”.  Sat a few rows from the front and got to hear Jeff Henderson do his thing.  The same Jeff Henderson that I had shaken hands with a few hours before.  I love how the “celebrity persona” disappeared a little bit for me.  It makes the whole church feel that much smaller.
• I was supposed to rush from there to help a group go shopping for needy families/Thanksgiving project.  Instead, I threw up a white flag and went home where I immediately fell into my bed and stayed for 10 hours.

My level of involvement in the church makes me want to jump up and down!  I remember being in college and being active in so many groups on campus.  I ran around like a crazy person trying to get to every meeting and complete projects for the numerous organizations.  I remember being stressed out, but amazingly at peace all at the same time.  I enjoyed every minute of it.  My commitments to Buckhead remind me of that fast paced life again.  I love it because I believe in what I’m doing…. which is just kinda fun!!

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.

Philippians 4:6

I saw this on someone else’s blog, and I wanted to give it a whirl:

What were you doing 10 years ago?
July 1998: I was almost 16 years old. I was finishing my third year of high school and anxiously awaiting my senior year. I had my parents divorce about a year under my belt, and I was falling into a routine of moving between mom and dads respective homes. I was eagerly awaiting a drivers license… Lots of fun memories from this time period!

Favorite Snacks
Sweets. They are (and will forever be) my weakness. As a healthy alternative, I like to munch on fruit, granola bars, or crackers.

To Do List
This could be a blog in itself.
I have a “short term” to-do list all the time. Errands to run, grocery lists, ect. I like to check things off as I go.
My “long term” to-do list is much more interesting. I want visit Chicago and New York City… soon. I also would love to find myself back in southern California.
I also want to eventually find myself back down south. How, when, and exactly where are still up in the air.
Heres a big one: I want to figure out what I want to do when I grow up. Is this what I want to do for the next 40+ years?

Jobs I Have Had:
First job: I worked at a tanning salon. I then moved onto an amusement park where I helped to to serve meals to large parties/group outings. I stayed there for 3 or 4 summers. I also worked in a hospital operating room for a summer. I hated that job, but figured out that I did want to pursue a career in the medical field.
My first “real” job was at an outpatient physical therapy clinic. I moved onto working for an Orthopedic surgeon. I worked for a chiropractor for a few months. And here I am in Michigan… working for General Motors.

Places I Have Lived
Born in Augusta, GA
Raised in Gainesville, GA
Went to college in Dahlonega, GA
Lived/worked in Winder, GA
Currently live in Davison, MI

Bad Habits
Not planning my meals and eating whatever is available instead
Not using sunscreen
Impatience
Driving and talking on my cell phone

What I’d Do if I Were a Billionaire:
Take care of every penny of debt that I have… which really isn’t much.
Payoff my moms mortgage.
Move back down south, and find a nice new place to call home.
Give to a great charity (probably that dealt with animal rights/homeless pets).
Travel.
Buy back my puppies. =)

You actually have a system for your bills, and it’s not a shoe box.

The term “energy efficient appliances” gets you kind of excited.

A cheeseburger, milk shake, and an order of curly fries at 3am sound considerably less yummy than they used to.

Having sex in a twin-sized bed is absurd.

You keep more food than beer in the fridge.

6:00 AM is when you get up, not when you go to sleep.

You carry an umbrella. You watch the Weather Channel.

You go from 130 days of vacation time to 7.

You don’t know what time Taco Bell closes anymore.

Your car insurance goes down and your car payments go up.

You feed your dog Science Diet instead of McDonald’s.

Sleeping on the couch makes your back hurt.

Over 90% of the time you spend in front of a computer is for real work.

In some ways, I feel so old. But in other ways, I feel like I’m younger then I have ever been. I would dare to call my life “normal” for the first time in close to a year. I feel settled and adjusted. I have learned things about myself that have amazed me. I have grown closer to my family, and gotten rid of several toxic individuals. Its been a cleansing process and a necessary evil. In many ways, I feel older then my years. But then again, the starting over process makes me feel very young. Life is funny like that.

I am approaching some anniversaries and I can’t help but look back in awe of how far I have come. Next month will be one year since I loaded up my car and headed for my moms house. In August, I will celebrate one year of living in Michigan. Its hard to believe that I’m the same person that lived that life. I am so thankful for everyday that I am allowed to enjoy this new life of mine.

I have so many fun things planned for the summer months. Cancun with my family, spending Labor Day weekend on Lake Lanier, having tickets to opening day of Georgia football, spending my birthday with my mom in extreme northern Michigan, and most importantly… enjoying a splendid summer of clear blue skys, 70 degree days, and lots of sunshine! It will be a fun few months, that wouldn’t have been possible if not for my new life. Life is good!

Maybe being grown-up isn’t that bad after all!

Found this, and fell in love with it. Thought I would pass it along…

“Ever wonder why the IRS calls it Form 1040? Because for every $50 that you earn, you get 10 and they get 40.”

There’s no such thing as a grown-up. We move on, we move out, we move away from our families and form our own. But the basic insecurities, the basic fears and all those old wounds just grow up with us. We get bigger, we get taller, we get older. But, for the most part, we’re still a bunch of kids, running around the playground, trying desperately to fit in.
-Meredith Grey from “Greys Anatomy”

You’re on an airplane, sleeping with your head against the window, your heart set on being home this time three hours from now. All of a sudden, something goes very wrong. The plane stops moving across the air and instead starts falling through it. The lights are flickering and the movie is skipping. The plane dips hundreds of feet in seconds, and the yellow cups fall from the ceiling. They’re a brighter shade of yellow than you remember, because unlike the demonstration, these cups have never been handled before. “Flight attendants take your seats now”, you hear, the pilot’s voice trembling over a cacophony of alert tones. You get that smell in the bridge of your nose like you’ve just been hit with a football. That’s what the fear smells like. The plane is going down.

Four more drastic drops in under a minute. People are crying. For all the folklore about how your life flashes before your eyes, you’re remarkably fixed on one vision – your parents. They’re sleeping at this very moment, in a bedroom so quiet they can hear the clock in the kitchen. And you can see them, clear as can be. You wish you could see a playground or a first kiss, but all you can see is your parents sleeping. Huh. Well, that’s that.

Several long minutes go by. Then, all at once, the lights come back on and the plane somehow rights itself. Some people cheer, but most people cry harder. The plane lands about an hour later, and as soon as you feel that touch down – hell, even when you were within 50 feet of the ground and could still technically survive a fall – you realize that however you brokered the deal between you and God worked; you’ve just been granted life in overtime.

Here’s the question: what do you change? Whom do you call that you haven’t spoken to in years? Whom do you realize has been toxic to your heart and drop with surprising ease? What trips do you cancel, and what trips do you book? What can’t you be bothered with anymore? What’s the new you like?

Think about that, and then ask one more question. Why not just change it all right now?

I never considered myself a southerner before I moved up north. Call it being naive, but I didn’t consider that there were real differences between how people lived and behaved depending on which state they lived in. I have now been well educated on the differences… and there are quit a few!!

The obvious difference is the accent of the people up here. Or, as they like to believe, its my accent that is different. The second HUGE difference is the northern idea of buying American made products. I had never given a thought to where my car, t-shirt, or water bottle was manufactured until I moved up here. Now, driving my foreign car is considered disrespectful, and admitting that I shop at Wal-Mart is considered un-American. I’m such a rebel.

I have been fascinated and greatly entertained by learning the differences between these two states. I have come to the realization that its two different cultures, and therefore support different ideas and behaviors. I guess it only proves that I am a southerner after all…

Rules of the South: (I’m not proud of them all, but they are all true.)

-Every person in the south waves. It’s called being friendly.
-Southerners open doors for women. All doors, for all women.
-They eat catfish and crawfish. If your looking or sushi and caviar you will need to find a bait shop.
-You won’t find a “Vegetarian Special” on the menu. Order a steak.
-Every great southern cook uses three spices: salt, pepper, and ketchup.
-If you show up with some “coke” it better be brown, wet, and served over ice.
-College and High School football is as important down south as the Lakers are up north.
-The south begins where all the restaurants start serving sweet tea.
-The north has coffee houses, the south has waffle houses.
-The north has cream of wheat, the south has grits.
-Its fairly common to find video rentals and bait in the same store down south. Don’t buy food here.
-If you hear a southerner exclaim, “Hey, y’all, watch this,” you should stay out of the way.
-If there is a prediction of the slightest chance of even the smallest accumulation of snow, your presence is required at the local grocery store. If doesn’t matter whether you need anything or not.
-A true southerner makes friends while waiting in lines.
-A true southerner knows that you don’t scream obscenities at little old ladies who drive 30 mph on the freeway. You just say “Bless her heart” and go your own way.