A Little Much!

Last night I was taking Maggie (she is so cute) for a walk and I saw this car and I said aloud "oh my!" To me this is just overkill and would scare most folks you are trying to witness to about the love of God in Christ Jesus.

There are 8 different types of "add ons!" I've had a car since I was 17 years old and not once,
not ever have I ever put any type of sticker/advertisement on my vehicle.

That is until I had to proudly post my W sticker for his re-election! But I have gotten a new car since then so my vehicle is currently sticker free. (This is not an invitation to somehow sticker my truck.)

I Got Chills...

Tonight Elliott Yamin gave me chills with his performance on American Idol. I don't even know the song he chose but that does not matter because I want to know it now! I especially loved Simon's comment "a vocal masterpiece". Seriously though, Paula Abdul is an absolute fruit loop. She wept. I have no problem admitting I got chills but come on, weeping. Really! Maybe she has some history related to the song.


I still believe Chris Daughtry is going to win it. I was not a fan of the song he sang-Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman-but I am now! He gave a spendid performance!



Bless her heart! She's going home this week. I despise the song she sang-Unchained Melody. Gag!

In This World But Not Of This World

Last night a group from church enjoyed a night of karaoke. It was a night filled with laughter, cajoling and an unexpected and unwanted tumble to the ground! We had reserved a private room and had the stage to ourselves. It was fantastic! What was so refreshing about the night was that the body of Christ had gathered in a very wordly atmosphere and was a little bit of salt and light to the dark world. I had to go in and out of the room several times throughout the evening and I felt in my spirit the strong, distinct difference of the presence of the Lord each time I entered back into our room. I know by faith that the folks we encountered throughout the evening got a taste of our great God.


Not of this World Words and music by Bob Hartman

Based on 2 Peter 2:11, John 15:18-19, John 16:33, Matthew 16:18, John 14:3

We are pilgrims in a strange land We are so far from our homeland With each passing day it seems so clear This world will never want us here We're not welcome in this world of wrong We are foreigners who don't belong

(Chorus) We are strangers, we are aliens We are not of this world We are envoys, we must tarry

With this message we must carry There's so much to do before we leave With so many more who may believe Our mission here can never fail And the gates of hell will not prevail Jesus told us men would hate us But we must be of good cheer He has overcome this world of darkness And soon we will depart from here

I Love Lemonade

I ate lunch at Chick-Fil-A today. I love Chick-Fil-A. I suppose folks would consider it to be a fast food restaurant although I am not one of those folks. Their advertising is simply fantastic and it always makes me smile when I see the giant cows up on the billboards begging me to eat mor chikin. I order one of two things when I enjoy a meal and always couple it with a large diet lemonade. I don't think anyone else in town has a treat such as diet lemonade. After spending quite a bit of time catching up with a co-worker I realized that my favorite treat was all gone and I wanted more. So as we were leaving I wondered if they offered free refills on diet lemonade and so I asked. I was very happy when the lady behind the counter excitedly filled my cup to the top with my beverage of choice. I suppose the excitement I saw in her was really mirroring my excitement because I doubt if she cared whether or not I had more. I have never, not once had poor service at Chick-Fil-A and I love how they respond with "my pleasure" when a customer says thank you!

And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. John 14:13-14

My American Idol

From the start of this season of AI, I picked Chris Daughtry to be the 2006 idol and he proved himself again tonight. Taylor Hicks is another favorite and I would not be surprised if the last two contestants are these men. Although, it would make me sad because I know that only one will be able to win the title.

Katharine McPhee is quite the singer and could certainly win the title but I don't think a 17 year old should win plus she will very easily get a record deal down the road.

So, if I had to pick who will win 2006 AI, I can't, I just can't but I think it will be Chris although I could be wrong!

Right Before My Eyes

I went to the Broken for you message at church last night and left forever changed. When it was over I was awe-struck, all I could do was sit and pontificate on the depth of Christs love for me. As the time was nearing for me to descend the mountain and head out into the world I began walking well more like floating to the parking lot. I'm usually one that has my keys in my hand before I even start toward a parking lot but this night I opted to get them out at the car. To my shock, they were not where I had put them as I headed into church. It was one of those moments where I know they are in there I just can't find them. I took everything out of my purse, laid each item on my car to see if the keys had some how gotten stuck inside my wallet or stuck down at the bottom of my purse and I just did not see them. I did this not once but twice, can anyway say denial! I began to track my steps and knew that my keys had to be in one of two locations so I headed back to the bookstore to wait for my hero of the night to arrive with his master key. As I stood staring through the windows of the bookstore at the counter I prayed and I prayed and I prayed for God to show me my keys. Moments later my friend Steven W. Murray (http://stevenwmurray.blogspot.com/) arrived at the bookstore and grasped my keys from the door handle of the bookstore entrance, the keys had been kindly placed there by the bookstore staff as they were closing for the holiday weekend. As the keys fell into my hand I thought how God knows our need before we ask and often the answer to our prayers are right before our eyes.

Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. Ecclesiastes 5:2

Constructive Computer Chaos

Yesterday as I was working on my computer, the screen went haywire and caused complete malfunction to my file. I did everything that I know to do to restore it back to normal working mode but I failed over and over. This was a sign that something was very wrong! After exhausting my knowledge of computer malfunction remedies I called computer support, left a message and was forced to wait until they called me back.

As I waited I began to mill around my office and came across several projects that had been put on the back burner to occupy my time until my computer was healthy again.

When IT returned my call. I was exceedingly happy because I had completed the smaller things and was ready to tackle my bigger, more important project. Unfortunately, that did not happen. The hard drive was completely ruined! There is a hope of being able to save some of the data but I will have to ship it to Phoenix for IT to attempt the salvage
(I hope it works!).

Meanwhile back at the ranch, I had to disassemble my computer and extract the precious hard drive which in case you do not know is the heart of any computer. The picture above is the inside of my computer and safely tucked away is the hard drive that holds all my saved documents necessary for business. I wish I could have gotten a picture of myself trying to gingerly access the hard drive without breaking a nail or causing any more damage! A bit of good news is that in my office closet sits a brand new computer with an even bigger monitor waiting to be used!

Often, my life is haywire and the problem is my heart. And being the great human that I am, I attempt to correct the chaos myself until I accept I can not and turn it over to God. Sometimes God has me wait it out as I have other areas of my flesh that need the attention of his gentle touch and other times he just quickly changes me. I am a new creation and I don't have to hide in a closet and wait to be used! Praise God he uses me as I am and shows me how he wants me to change and be more like him so I can be used in other ways.

Baseball Season Has Arrived

I love it when the seasons change and daylight savings time occurs, even though it takes a week for my body to adjust to the change. In case you did not know I love the Astros and I'm proud to say that I am not a fair weathered fan as I have faithfully cheered them on to what I hoped each year would be our year in the World Series. I left work early to be sure I'm home in time to see the opening pitch of the season opener and some of the pre-game show. As I stood watching the game I cheered and clapped out loud as if I were at the game. I felt so giddy and expectant! I found myself surprised at how baseball could cause this emotion in me and I was thinking about how I've been faithful to "my team" with the ups, downs, disappointments and victories. You know it's just so true with God that when we remain faithful and hold tightly to him through the disappointing times there is a huge victory in the end. Glory to his name!