Holidays=Stress?

It's that time of year again- the Holiday Season. It is supposed to be the season of perpetual peace and joy. Why then are we driven into a frenzy that would rival Walmart on Black Friday? Why have we allowed this season to become the most difficult time of the year?

I am dealing with many personal stresses this year. Some I have put upon myself, some I have chosen, and some I feel are not within my power to say no. I chose to bake 6 different kinds of cookies. I chose to go above and beyond in my Christmas shopping. And it is my decision to accept each of the invitations I have received for different holiday events. But I also have strained relationships between family members that I got caught in the middle of and am trying to keep good connections with. Certain events I am committed to have overlapped in scheduling, bringing out the nascar driver within me (both in the car and out). And what can you do about work and other normal events that are still occurring?

I long for a simpler time when everyone gathered together for one day. Each person brought something so preparations didn't fall to one person. Decorations were created as part of the day's activities. Gifts were shared around the circle equally. It was a time of love and community. A time to enjoy the company of others in a relaxed, inviting, unhurried environment. These were holidays of days gone by, when perpetual love and peace seemed to truly exist.

All that aside, I still look forward to Christmas every year: Of course the food is the best of the year and the warmth of hot cocoa fills me with cheer; Christmas music-oh how it makes me smile; who can argue that presents aren't wonderful; the twinkling lights tickle my fancy; and friends and family gathering near is the best gift of all!

Happy Turkey Day!

Happy Thanksgiving!
I hope everyone is enjoying the feast-ive holiday. I am excitedly anticipating the delicious meal we will shortly be partaking as the heavenly aroma of turkey and other fixin's drift down the hallway to my family's den. I will soon be fighting my brother and sister for rights to a turkey leg and investing my time in eating the best meal of the year. I can't wait!
Yesterday was also a wonderful day as I was able to spend some time with my small group girls home for the holiday. I cannot express enough how much I have missed them this fall (as stated many times) and it brought over-flowing joy to my heart to see them and share in their ever-changing lives.
Tomorrow is also a very special day for me and my mom. It is Black Friday. Every year (even when we don't see anything of interest in the ads) we awake long before dawn to rush to the stores, fight the maddening crowds, and purchase things that we really could live without. Thanksgiving day is spent cooking and perusing the newspaper ads. We've also looked online in preparation. We want to be fully prepared for what the day has to offer. Usually our first stop is JCPenney, if only to receive a Disney snowglobe. We have been receiving them every year since they began to give them out and I proudly display my consecutive collection every year at Christmas. Then we head to Younkers, Walmart and Target; ads in hand, battle plan ready, and a strict list of everything we want. We attack the store without mercy, quickly finding each item on our list, throwing them into the cart and rushing to the next item. Then, when we have everything we originally came for, we casually stroll through the store to see if we missed anything and to evaluate whether we are truly going to purchase everything we've picked up. Once final decisions have been made, we head to the checkout and on to the next store for the same melee. Though absolutely crazy, it's one of my favorite days of the year and one of my favorite traditions. We've even begun to train my sister in the art of Black Friday shopping!
The dinner bell has rung; I'm rushing off to our Thanksgiving meal! Happy Thanksgiving & Happy Turkey Day! And for those of you who are as crazy as my family- Happy Black Friday!

Update?

I haven't had much time to write recently. Usually I do my writing at work during the down times, but there haven't been any lately. I've also struggled with what to write. There has been a lot of not so good things going on in my life and around me, yet I don't want my blog to turn into a whine-fest or a complaint board. I want it to remain as positive as possible. But for those of you who get the privilege (if you can call it that) of listening to my vents or verbal processing you'll understand that at times like the recent, it's very difficult for me to find or focus upon anything positive. I just now caught up on several friends' blogs and it's great to hear what's happening in their lives, especially when I don't get to see them very often. So, I thought I also better post, but like I said, I'm not sure what else to talk about.
Work's been crazy busy. We had our Great Pumpkin Party last week- the largest event of the year. Over 3000 people came through the doors of our church and we were here til after 12:30 am cleaning up as much as we could. We have many more events and projects on the horizon, so it is not really slowing down at all. But I am grateful for a very supportive boss who takes me into consideration every time before the job.
Some good news on the family front: My family went to a college fair and my brother and sister both found Christian colleges that they will be adding to their list of potential applications. I'm very excited for them as they approach this next stage in life. But I must admit, it makes me feel kinda old. I still call them my little brother and sister!
I'm planning some get-togethers with my small group girls from last year, and that brings over-flowing joy to my soul! I miss them all SO much. It will be GREAT to see all of them and get updates on life. (Email can only share so much)
Oh, one last thing before I go. My friend, Travis, blogged about getting back in touch with an old friend and thought I'd share a somewhat similar experience. A couple of weeks ago, a long-lost friend of mine sent me a friend request on my Myspace page. I was very surprised; we haven't talked in at least 2 years. I also remember looking him up (along with several other long-lost friends) when I first started my Myspace and didn't find him. It was only a friend request, no messages attached, but it was still nice to hear from him. But it also opens a big door of curiosity...So, friend, if you read this, I've got questions...
Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend, especially those of you enjoying some island-time. I'll be back soon...

Fairy Tales

I awoke this morning with a familiar song playing through my mind. It brought peace and was a wonderful reminder that there is more yet to come for me and to anyone who believes:

...Have faith in your dreams and someday
your rainbow will come shining through.
No matter how your heart is grieving,
if you keep on believing,
the dream that you wish will come true.
~Cinderella~

I realize that it comes from a fairy tale/Disney movie, but it still speaks to my heart. I still believe in fairy tales. I hope I believe in them until the day I take my last breath. Fairy tales can come true. But there are important things to remember: most fairy tales do not turn out as expected. Their happy endings do not just happen, the heroes and heroines must prove they are worthy of their "happily ever after". They must endure trials, hardship and many times isolation. Great growth can occur if their faith is sure and steady. They must endure to achieve, persevere to profit.
As many adversities appear on my path, I will cling to these words. I know that my "happily ever after" is coming. I may not have the opportunity to appreciate it while I inhabit the earth, but someday I will enjoy my eternal happy ending.

Appreciation!

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! A giant THANK YOU goes to Brandon Barker for assisting me in updating my blog with links and a wonderful picture of the Eiffel Tower. In all honesty, I shouldn't say assisting- he did it all. (I didn't realize it would take HTML knowledge, of which I have none.) So, Thank you Brandon. I am appreciative, grateful, indebted, much obliged, delighted and beholden.

Survivor Family

Last Thursday was the kick-off of Survivor. I can no longer be called a Survivor rookie. I have now loyally watched two seasons- the second of which I picked the winner for (thank you Aras!)
Every Thursday night during Survivor seasons, we gather at the Barkers house. Karla makes amazing home-cooked meals, something we singletons LOVE! Brandon will grill and engage us in interesting topics of conversation. Now, the past two seasons, it was only the Barkers, Jennifer, Monica for the first, and myself. This past week with the start of the new season, there were a lot of people there- Jon and his wife Kelly came later, Travis, Jeremy, Eric and of course the kids Grace, Seth, and Jayla (sp?). We filled the basement as we crowded around the television to cheer on our favorite players. We (or should I say mostly me) got shushed by Brandon every few minutes, as talking is NOT allowed! A wonderful time was had by all- or at least it seemed so.
I personally look forward to each Thursday night. It doesn't seem to matter how tired I am, I always get excited as I'm driving to the Barker's house. Though I have learned to enjoy the show, this is not my real reason for going; I never watched before joining everyone there. I wanted some fellowship, some friends that I could share laughter and tears with. What I got though was so much more than that- I got a family. They are my Survivor family. We are an odd bunch, much stranger than the weirdest of normal families, but we are still family. And as Brandon says, "Family sticks together." Even when their Survivor pick has been kicked off and the rookie's has won!

New experiences

Had a new experience last week. I was introduced to the game Killer Bunnies. If you haven't experienced this game- you need to! At first I will admit it seems long and extremely complicated, but once you get into it, it's a blast! Barkers taught me how to play; they own all the available decks. When we first started, I had an amazing helper, Grace. She explained cards, told me which were the good ones and tried to help me pick which cards I should play. But her assistance was interrupted by bedtime. Karla was also a valuable resource throughout the game. Almost every time I got a new card I had to lean over and ask what the card did, if I could use it, how I should use it, etc. She was ever patient and helpful, even while trying to play hostess to the rowdy bunch of us, put her children to bed and play her own cards.
One interesting thing I did learn while playing this game, you get the opportunity to see different sides of people's characters than you normally would. For example, Brandon is very mischievious, almost evil sometimes; he is very cut-throat. Jennifer tries to play sweetly and apologizes when she has to kill your bunny. Travis likes to make jokes. These, of course, are only my observations. Hopefully, none of you will get mad at me.
Anyway, I truly hope to play the game again sometime soon! It brought a smile to my face and laughter to my heart!

Time? What's that?! ...and other quandries

Wow, it has been a long time since I've blogged. For those of you still checking, I am still here. I have been very, very busy. Hence, part of the title. Time. What is time? Obviously something I haven't had lately. Fall is the busiest time at work plus you've got the kick off of everything else too. Maybe it seems busier because I haven't had nearly as much going on during the summer? No Sunday, Wednesday or Thursday night activities. No lessons. Students were too busy and were leaving for college. No regular youth. Only one large event to plan for work. Now I'm trying (notice the word trying) to coordinate 3 large events. High school Gathering started Sunday. Pledge groups start tonight. Lessons started last week. Survivor starts tomorrow. And now I'm considering taking a theology class that meets every Thursday morning at 6 am. Yes, I know everyone is busy too. I'm not complaining or whining, just stating the facts of my current life.

As I mentioned, Pledge groups (our high school small groups) start tonight. I'm sorta nervous. I'll be starting with a new group tonight- juniors. I don't know who is going to be in my group yet. I've been praying that God will bring just the right girls. Which, I am completely trusting He will. I'm also sad. I'm VERY sad because I miss my girls, the girls I had for the last two years. They have all graduated and are at college now. From reading their blogs, it seems they are all doing well; I never doubted they would. But I miss each of them terribly. And I'm feeling that sadness especially stong tonight. I know that this new group of girls will be just as special- in their own way of course. But also, no one will ever be able to replace my first girls. It's like your first love. Nothing is ever quite the same after that.

I've been reading a new book, Blue Like Jazz, by Donald Miller. I'm not very far into it yet, but my initial reaction has been, "Wow!" He verbalizes many of the thoughts and questions that have been roaming through my head for years. The experiences and stories he shares are so real and show faith in a fresh light. If any of you have read it, I would love to hear your feedback. Did you enjoy it? Did you agree with him? I could see this book, at least from what I've read so far, causing somewhat of a controversy. I was raised in the church, been going longer than I can remember. One thing that has always bothered me is the way people in the congregation seem to take the messages from the pulpit as the final word. They don't question or search for themselves to discover what they truly believe. Miller says (this is a thought he struggled with while searching for his true beliefs within his faith), "I couldn't give myself to Christianity because it was a religion for the intellectually naive." (pg. 31) I have thought this myself at times. Jesus questioned the leaders during His time on earth- why can't we question ours? I'm not saying be disrespectful or try to debate over everything they say, but ponder what they say. Read for yourselves what the Bible actually says about the matter. Discover for yourself whether you agree or not. Miller does this. He's questioning the church and some religious practices. Maybe I'm not understanding all of what he's saying, or perhaps I haven't found the point of his book yet. But he is still speaking out loud thoughts I've been too afraid to verbalize. I'll keep reading. For me he's been inspiring and freeing. I don't feel quite so crazy for some of the questions and observations I've had.