Blah, Blah, Blah

While reading last night, I stumbled across this quote by William Penn...

"Oh the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person; having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but to pour them all out, just as they are, chaff and grain together, knowing that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keeping what is worth keeping, and then, with the breath of kindness, blow the rest away."

Anyone who has been my friend for any length of time knows that I usually have to say 999 words in order to get to the 1,000th word that actually says what I think, feel, and believe. Those first 999 words can be all over the place and make absolutely no sense at all. They can be critical and negative or they can be full of compassion and love. No matter what the topic, I will always speak honestly (most of the time, too honestly - I think most of my close friends wish I wasn't so open all of the time!) and even if I know that what I am saying is contrary to the way I am supposed to feel or act, I love knowing that my real friends will do as this quote says and be able to sort through my words with kindness in order to find the truth in what I am saying. No, this doesn't give me the freedom to say whatever I want or to hurt people with my words, but it does give me the freedom to be myself and to be honest with the people who are God-in-skin to me.

I hope that you have friends like mine who allow you to be yourself, who accept you just as you are and not for what you give to them, and who can listen to you and understand what you are trying to say. I am so thankful for my friends and pray that they would consider me this kind of friend as well, even if I do talk too much.

Humility

The definition of humility is walking through the airport with your pilot husband, talking to everyone in security, being introduced to the pilot and co-pilot at the gate, getting to sit in the cockpit while they prepare for the flight, being seated in first class, having all of the flight attendants ooh-ing and ahh-ing over your wedding ring, when you suddenly realize that you never zipped up your pants when you got dressed.

Going Home

John and I are going home tonight for a total of 22 hours - just enough time to see our families and get 2 much needed haircuts! It may seem silly to travel 800 miles for a haircut, but it is a great excuse to go home.

The best trips home are the ones that give me time to spend with everyone that I miss. Unfortunately, this will not be one of those trips. I am hoping to get to see my dad for longer than the drive back to the airport!

As much as I look forward to the visit, it is always weird to go back. In some ways it is like we never left and in others, it seems like we have been gone for a lifetime. I sometimes feel like every trace of my existence has been erased from South Florida and the people that I love that are still there. I know that it isn't true, but keeping in touch with everyone is a lot harder than I expected.

Speaking of keeping in touch, who have you been meaning to call or email? Well what are you waiting for??? I'm gonna go call a FL friend right now!

My New Favorite Bean

I have recently discovered that my new favorite bean is the lima bean. Mix 'em with some jasmine rice and Smart Balance and you've got yourself quite a tasty little lunch full of fiber and beany goodness :)

(Can you tell that my high fiber diet is getting a little bit boring??)

I Sang With Andy Stanley Last Night

Last night, we had a special service at our church for the giving campaign we are starting and Andy Stanley came to speak live. We hear him every week, but he's on video, so we were all really excited to finally "meet" him.

I honestly didn't know what to expect. My hope was that he would be really accessible and personal and want to talk to every person in the room, but reality told me that he would probably be surrounded by security guards and bodyguards and that he would be locked up backstage in some swanky green room filled with Evian water, Starbucks coffee, green M & M's, and fancy pastries. He would come out, recite his "go get 'em" speech, and be whisked away to his getaway car before anyone could get a good look at him.

John got there early to save seats for our small group. Never one to be subtle, he saved us seats on the second row! I got there about 15 minutes before the service started and took my seat on the end of the aisle closest to the middle section. After catching up with my small group and talking with John about my day, I looked across the aisle to find a very tall, thin, casually dressed Andy Stanley standing right next to me. Now, I know he is just a man and God doesn't look at him any differently than he looks at me, but this is a guy whose books I have read, whose teachings have inspired change in my life, and whose philosophy on church has shaped much of my belief system about how a church should function. Let's just say that I was a little excited to see him standing there.

I was absolutely amazed by his lack of pretense and his abundance of humility and "normal-ness." There weren't any security guards, bodyguards, butt kissers, or groupies hanging around. He didn't even have a bottle of water with him, much less the coffee and banquet that I had expected. He was talking with the people sitting behind him and even got up to walk into the Foyer to see who all was hanging out there. The more amazing thing was that no one was really freaking out over him. I think everyone there had the same feeling I did - he's a great teacher, a godly man, an incredible visionary--but he's just a guy and if he doesn't feel the need to put himself up on a pedestal, then neither do we.

When the service started, I realized that the only thing separating my seat from his seat was about 18 inches of aisle. When the music started, I closed my eyes and sang my little heart out, so grateful to God to be in a healthy church and to have the privilege to hear this amazing teacher every week. I soon forgot that Andy Stanley was just a few inches away and started focusing on the fact that God knows my weaknesses, knows my needs, and knows exactly what I need and loves to give it all to me.

So, in a way, you could say that I sang with Andy Stanley last night - I mean, we were right next to each other singing the same songs :)

Real Snow - not that 1/2 inch nonsense

Today we are having another snowfall in Atlanta. This one is a little different from the one we had on Wednesday...

As you know, Wednesday's snow was a media frenzy! Last night, the news called for snow downtown and north of Atlanta, but they really didn't say too much about those of us south of Atlanta. The Weather Channel was kind enough to let us know that we may see some substantial amounts of snow, but the local news had no information for Fayette County.

I was in my usual Saturday morning routine - getting ready to go to work, watching the news, making my lunch - and the news still had nothing of interest to say about poor little Fayette County. I put on every scarf, coat, hat, and pair of gloves I could find and headed out the door. As I was locking up, my cell phone rang - my boss was calling, making sure that I was not going to work today. Literally 5 minutes later, it started snowing and hasn't stopped since. They are calling for a big FREEZE this afternoon and everything will be shut down tonight and tomorrow due the fact that the roads will be ice skating rinks! (FYI - My sweet husband is supposed to be flying home from Dallas today - let's pray that he stays safe wherever they end up sending him!)

So from now on, I will be taking my weather advice from The Weather Channel and NOT Flip Spiceland!!

Here are some pictures of our gorgeous snow day...


My poor CRV!!!

Heather's Weather (ha-ha)

In South Florida, the news stations go insane over one weather event...HURRICANES!

In North Georgia, the news stations apparently go insane over another type of weather event...SLEET AND SNOW!

This afternoon, it started sleeting, which quickly turned to snow. It was really cool to look out the window and watch the snow falling gently to the ground. It was also really cool to drive home and feel like Middle School boys were throwing ice from Tijuana Flats at my car (to me, that is what it is like to drive in sleet and snow!).

While John and I were preparing dinner, we were listening to the evening news. 2 police officers were shot today and their killer is still on the loose. Such a tragic story only made the news for 3 minutes. The rest of the newscast was entirely devoted to SLEET AND SNOW.

It went something like this...

I'm Flip Spiceland (seriously, that is his real name - I am not making this up) here in Cobb County where there is about one-quarter inch of snow on the ground...blah, blah, blah snow......blah, blah, blah sleet...now let's go to Art Vandelay in DeKalb County...I'm Art Vandelay here in DeKalb County where there is about one-eighth of an inch of snow on the ground and people are freaking out...blah, blah, blah snow......blah, blah, blah sleet...now let's go to Oliver Clothesoff (ha-ha) in Fulton County... I'm Oliver Clothesoff here in Fulton County where evening classes have been canceled for all high schools and colleges (seriously! And there is talk of closing schools tomorrow!)

This went on for the remaining 27 minutes of the news - it was like the South Florida Hurricane coverage that starts when the storm is just off the coast of Africa.

It is cool that it is snowing and we were big nerds who took pictures of the snow, but I still think that 2 police officers sacrificing their lives deserves a little more recognition than frozen water.

And luckily, John and I are both off tomorrow and will not have to venture out into the frozen tundra!