Bambi vs. Police Cruiser

There are tons of deer crossing signs all over Georgia and here in Peachtree City, we have more than our fair share of deer. Being from South Florida, I am fascinated by the little Bambis and have been known to pull over to the side of the road to watch them eat on the golf course. I've seen them walking down the side of the road, crossing through the parking lot at Publix, walking across a residential street, and ironically, laying dead directly underneath a deer crossing sign - no joke!

Today was definitely my most disturbing encounter with a deer since we moved to Georgia. I pulled into the church parking lot at Southside and noticed something laying on the ground across from my car. As I got out of the car, I saw that it was a deer, bleeding pretty badly from the head and lying dead in one of the visitor parking spaces. (insert your witty line here about the deer dying to come to church!)

I walked into Waumba Land (our preschool ministry) and found one of the pastors and asked him if he knew there was a dead deer in the parking lot. He explained that the policeman who directs our Sunday morning traffic was sitting in his police cruiser, drinking his coffee while waiting for his traffic shift to start. Suddenly, a deer ran out of the woods and directly into the side of his parked cruiser. It shattered his rear windshield and rear passenger window and left a pretty huge dent. (By the way, this is one of my biggest fears about living here - yes, I love Bambi, but I love my car even more!) He said the deer was hurt, but ran back into the woods before the officer could get out of the car. "Well," I said, "the deer ended up in one of our parking spaces." He and some of the parking team guys immediately went out to cover the poor animal and take it away before any of the preschoolers saw it.

Our preschool director told us that her husband hit a deer once, pulled over on to the side of the road, put the deer's head in his lap, and petted it until it died...I had a bird fly into the front of my car once (as in the front bumper) and I went home and cried about it for an hour.

Ever have a vehicular encounter with any of our animal friends???

Faith

"The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It's our handle on what we can't see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd." - Hebrews 11:1 & 2

John received an email from AirTran officials yesterday that said that there may be furloughs (layoffs) in September due to the rising costs of fuel and the strain it is putting on the economy. There are a variety of possible scenarios, none of which sound particularly appealing, but we are confident that God not only knows what the future holds, but that this was not a surprise to Him at all and He has a plan for all of this.

Yes, we are a little nervous, especially with a house being built and the financing dependent on John having his current income. Yes, we are doing everything we can to prepare for what may happen if John does in fact lose his job. And yes, the words "worried," "stressed," and "freaking out" have escaped our lips a few times over the past 24 hours. BUT...we serve a God Who is faithful and we are confident that this will be added to His perfect record of saving the day in a way that we never could have imagined.

Please keep John in your prayers - he LOVES his job and has been so excited about the house and completing his first year at AirTran that this has really knocked him off of his feet. I know that He has faith that God will provide, but like most men, he wants to do all that he can to take care of our family and he wants to be successful in his career. Please pray that we will make wise decisions and that if we need to hold off on the house that God will make it clear before we get to the point of no return.

I have complete faith in God - He has seen us through so many other things, I have no doubts that He will save the day!

We Have a Skeleton!

Here are some pictures of the "bones" of our house!!

Less Like Scars

No other song more accurately describes the last 2 years of my life better than this one! Praise God for His healing, His timing, and His passionate desire to mold us into the image of Christ!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9RDNuUz7Sk

Less Like Scars by Sara Groves
It's been a hard year
But I'm climbing out of the rubble
These lessons are hard
Healing changes are subtle
But every day it's

Less like tearing, more like building
Less like captive, more like willing
Less like breakdown, more like surrender
Less like haunting, more like remember

And I feel You here
And You're picking up the pieces
Forever faithful
It seemed out of my hands, a bad situation
But You are able
And in Your hands the pain and hurt
Look less like scars and more like
Character

Less like a prison, more like my room
It's less like a casket, more like a womb
Less like dying, more like transcending
Less like fear, less like an ending

And I feel You here
And You're picking up the pieces
Forever faithful
It seemed out of my hands, a bad situation
But You are able
And in Your hands the pain and hurt
Look less like scars

Just a little while ago
I couldn't feel the power or the hope
I couldn't cope, I couldn't feel a thing
Just a little while back
I was desperate, broken, laid out, hoping
You would come

And I need You
And I want You here
And I feel You

And I know You're here
And You're picking up the pieces
Forever faithful
It seemed out of my hands, a bad, bad situation
But You are able
And in Your hands the pain and hurt
Look less like scars
And more like
Character

What a Week!!

It has been a very, very busy week at our house...



John has officially started training to be a Peachtree City Volunteer Firefighter (that's one of their trucks pictured above). This is in addition to being a wonderful husband, co-leading our small group, volunteering in the infant room in Waumba Land at church, kickboxing and boxing twice a day, and flying 100 hours a month for AirTran Airways. He LOVES everything he is doing, so I really can't complain! We have totally switched places - when we lived in FL, I was always going in 50 different directions and he was always asking me to slow down - my, how things have changed!! He has training about one or two nights a week for about 3 to 4 hours each night. Please keep him in your prayers - especially for his safety! He needs both arms and both legs in order to fly the plane!




On Sunday, I flew down to Fort Lauderdale to go to Sam and Shannon Watson's graduation party. I only told one person (Peggy Nations) that I was coming, so it was a really big surprise to everyone else! Since the party wasn't until the evening, I was able to go to church with my family and then out to lunch at a Benihana-type restaurant. Jordan loved it all - except for the FIRE! Check out her face!



The highlight of the whole day was surprising my little Watsons as well as most of my girls and so many of my dearest friends from South Florida. It was so good to catch up with everyone and I was so glad that I made the trip. I love those girls and their family, and I wouldn't have missed it for anything!!



Even though getting home was a challenge (long story - suffice it to say that I took the long way home - Fort Lauderdale to Newport News, VA to Atlanta) it was so great to come home and see this huge machine on our lot finally moving dirt!!!



This was what our lot looked like today when I was at work. You can see that the plumbing has been started and the foundation will be ready to be poured next week. It is hard to believe that it is actually happening!!

We have a lot coming up - a wedding in South Florida, family coming for a summer visit, the Peachtree City 4th of July parade (seriously, it is a big deal around here), and, of course, our normal crazy schedules. Hopefully it will all make for a lot of really good posts!!

Love Languages

Our small group at Southside is studying the book, The 5 Love Languages, by Dr. Gary Smalley. It is a fantastic book and it really helps with every relationship in your life - not just marriage! John and I had studied the book in our singles class at FRC when we were engaged and it really opened our eyes to the cause behind many of our clashes and hurt feelings.

The basic premise of the theory is that everyone operates out of one of 5 love languages - gifts, acts of service, quality time, physical touch, or words. You tend to show love in one of these ways and it is directly connected to the language that you tend to respond to in the strongest way. For example, my top love languages (they are always tied - I know, I'm a whack) are quality time and gifts. I tend to show love to others by giving thoughtful gifts and by spending time with them. I also feel incredibly loved when I am given a thoughtful gift or when someone makes time for me. When these things happen regularly, I feel loved. When they are neglected, I feel very low and unloved.

When we first took the test, John had quality time as his top language. Because of my languages, I would show love by cooking dinner for him or by leaving cards in his truck about once a week. The clash would come when I would put my acts of service (cleaning the kitchen after dinner) above sitting on the couch with him (quality time). He would get his feelings hurt and feel as if he was not very important to me even though I was showing him love. Once I realized what his love language was, I was able to show him love in ways that shouted to him how important he is to me.

If you struggle with letting people know how you feel or if you struggle with feeling loved by the people in your world, you should really check this out. It will help you not only to realize how you best receive love, but it will also help you give your love away more effectively!!

By the way, if you know your love language, I'd love to know what it is!!!

Waiting

There are so many things that I am waiting for in this season of my life...

• My older sister just found out that she is pregnant again!! I was so excited that I got to be there when she found out!! Unfortunately, this time I won't be able to watch her progress over the next 9 months, so I will be waiting for opportunities to go to Fort Lauderdale and visit her.
• I have a full-time job, but just found out that the boss and the office manager did not get the memo, so now I am waiting for my paycheck to be fixed and waiting to find out exactly what my new pay will be. I was told that it would be more, but I was also told that I am now full-time, so I don't believe anything they say anymore.
• We signed the contract on our house on May 1st and were told that they would break ground in 8 to 10 days...it is June 4th and still nothing. Talk about waiting!!!!
• I desperately want to be involved in full-time ministry again, but so far there have not been any oppportunities available. I am waiting for God to open the doors, but it is hard to not get discouraged.

We have decided to wait to start our family, we are waiting to see when we can go to Fort Lauderdale for some vacation time, we are waiting to see what is going to happen to AirTran due to the rising fuel prices and the unstable econmy, and we are waiting on a few answers to prayer. Yes, we have complete trust in God and in His timing, and yes, after all of the waiting we have done, you'd think that we would be really good at this waiting thing, but unfortunately, we aren't (well, at least I am not).

In the meantime, I will do what I know is right, keep my focus on God and His promises, and continue to wait on Him.