The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday, it was POURING when we woke up - and I think it was the hardest rain we'd ever walked to church in! I put my hair in a pony for the walk...to try to keep it from going all Monica Gellar on me. By the time church was over, it was such a nice day, and we had a wonderful time of rest at home. I ate the other half of the omelet-the-size-of-earth I got at breakfast the day before...and Braeya cleaned up what I couldn't.

* Monday night was HAIR OVERHAUL NIGHT FOR THIS GIRL. I'd not had it cut since November, and it was 37 kinds of straw-like and unhealthy. And I had about an inch of white all over my roots. So I spent 3 hours in the chair and came home with chopped off hair and - well - almost black hair. And I may or may not have completed the experience with a frappe. Ryan worked much harder than I did...mulching projects at the Greentown house!!!

* Tuesday night we went for a run and mine was a miserable failure. My injured knee, which had not hurt since Saturday DID NOT LIKE running. So I walked along and thoroughly enjoyed the gorgeous, full hanging baskets on the path. We went home and made quesadillas for dinner, and my friends Ronda and Katy joined us for dinner before watching the Beth Moore study with me. My heart was THRILLED with the messy kitchen - because it meant we were showing love in our house, and I loved that. :) And at the end of the day, I threw together a quick beach themed mantel. It's kind of sparse, but I still loved it.

* Wednesday, Lynne and I worked a sticker stop in Fort Wayne, as you already saw. We had pretty much all the weather Indiana has to offer - except snow - and had a great time mingling with listeners and cleaning off windows! And I was a good girl and didn't defect to the Hobby Lobby clearance aisle.

* Thursday, we had CUPCAKES at work! How happy did THAT make me!?!? Ryan and I had a relaxing evening at home; I worked on my Beth Moore homework, which includes writing out the entire book of 1 Thessalonians...and I did my nails! Fancy pants new shade of pink that I got for my birthday! It is also possible that I was a major Miss Crankypants that night, but we will just thank Ryan for his grace and move on about THAT.

 * Friday was, as the picture said, a complete waste of makeup. Good GRIEF. I left home for work and forgot my medicine and had to come back, which made me late, and Ryan's truck wouldn't start, which messed up his plan for the day. Happy full moon!! We should have gone back to bed, but we went to work, and whilst I worked, I watched that house fire in Texas - of the house falling off the cliff into the lake. Some people watch bird nests - apparently I watch random house fires. That night, we didn't have a full date, but we did have our first frozen hot chocolate from Dairy Queen. It was AMAZING.

* Saturday was a LONG day, but a great one! I got up early and went to work with Ryan...did some scrapbooking while he worked. We scurried to Indianapolis after work and went on a fun date to Buffalo Wild Wings and through a park on a walk. Then we made our way to Ryan's cousin's graduation open house. Lots of good food and laughter and fun!

The Saturday Six

One.

Ryan showed me this video last week and it CRACKED ME UP. It's not new. But man, it's funny. I am somewhere between the elbow flap and carry the TV.

Two.

Source

I adore peeking into homes. In the perfectly legal sense...not in the creepy sense. I may be in love with the home teased in this blog post - written by my almost-in-real-life friend, Chelsea. {Her parents were my youth pastors before she was born. I've met everyone in her family EXCEPT her, because she was away at school when I visited them.} Still. Such a cool post. LOOK AT THAT HOUSE!!!!

Three.

You know that Ryan and I are big America's Got Talent fans...and one of our favorites from the show a week ago was the Willis clan...big group of siblings with amazing musical talent. I just read this article this week...had not known this story about the deep loss among their parents' generation.

Four.

Source

Gulp. My name is Bekah and I love more houses than I should. Guess what sold me on this one? {Obviously not in real life...hello price range!!!} Oh yes. That picture right up there. Why yes. Yes, it is a porch off a bedroom upstairs, overlooking water.

Five.

Source

Did you read about this house in Texas that had to be burned down because the cliff it was built on...collapsed? Unreal. I can't imagine such a thing!! 

Six.

We had our first frozen hot chocolates last night. Oh. My. Word. If it tells you ANYTHING about how good they are - I drank mine down before Ryan was done with his. I NEVER beat him when it comes to food.

Friday Fun!

It's Friday the 13th, a full moon, and gas prices are going up again. Sounds like we need some FUN!

And cupcakes.

{You'll have to get your own cupcake. I think I've eaten all the ones in my general neck of the woods.}

So here's a couple of things just to have some mindless fun for today!

NUMBER ONE.

If you've never heard our BLT show {the show we do on Thursdays}, you won't know that Lynne creates a special opening theme for it and she changes it up periodically. She uses clips of conversations we have on random BLT shows and creates this lovely masterpiece. This week she made a new opening theme and included my previously aired confession that back in the day {and by that, of course, I mean like 30 years ago} I found the man of my dreams...and he married my sister. Never mind that he was...you know...almost 20 years older than I was and I was 5 at the time...he was a catch, and I knew it. 

So that's Friday fun fact number one - my sister and I fought over Jeff and she won. Hey, I did get to be IN the wedding. As a flower girl. And he officiated our wedding. {And he and my sister are a great couple. They both chose well.}

You have any "long ago" loves that got away? Or were never viable options? 

NUMBER TWO.

Also inspired from BLT yesterday. Our topic of the day was...if you could ban a word or phrase from the English language, what would it be? HOT TOPIC!! Popular suggestions included:

It is what it is.
Epic {and epic fail}
Overuse of "like"
Gals
You guys {to a group that includes women}
My bad
Moist. {True story.}

I spent the entire show paranoid to talk because...I was afraid I would accidentally use an offensive phrase.

So what would you pick? Word or phrase to eliminate? 

NUMBER THREE.

Just watched a video on YouTube about a lady who had three sons and when pregnant with her fourth, found out she was having a girl but led everyone else to believe it would be another boy. They recorded the reactions of her family when they found out at the hospital after the baby's birth.. My favorite was grandpa, who wanted to know why "he" had that pink bow in "his" hair.


I attended four childbirths in my day. The first time, no one knew what the baby's gender. The second time, the parents and I knew but no one else did. The third and fourth times, everyone knew the whole time. First one was my favorite. Loved the surprise.

So what about you? Fan of finding out ahead or being surprised? Or lying to everyone and taping their reaction?.

This concludes Shafferland's Friday party. Sorry about the gas prices {as a commuter, you have no idea HOW sorry} and hope the full moon syndrome doesn't get out of control.

Sticker Stop...Hobby Lobby Style!

Wanted to take a break from my back-in-the-day story to catch you up on some real life stuff. You might remember from last year that at the station, we do sticker stops during the summer! {If you missed that and have no CLUE what a sticker stop is...it's where we take the van to a location and set up camp for a few hours, meeting listeners, putting WBCL window stickers on their cars and letting them sign up for a prize!}

Lynne and I worked one yesterday afternoon...in the parking lot of a Hobby Lobby. The mother ship. The mother ship with a FRESH supply in FOUR AISLES, marked 80% off. And I was in the parking lot. Oh my.

Not only was I separated from serious clearance, but it was a bit...rainy...for a while. Despite the weather and the distance from the clearance aisle, we had the BEST time. It was such fun! Want to take a peek?

We took this picture at the station before we left. We wanted proof that we had normal looking hair before rain and humidity got the best of us. HA!!

 I think we look 82 kinds of tired.Well...it was pre-iced tea. So, you know, maybe!

Secret: I am petrified to drive the station van. I'm always scared I'll wreck it. Took this one after arriving safely at the Hobby Lobby.

We set up under the back hatch of the van - safety in the rain!!

When we go out on our sticker stops, we call back to the station to check in with the on-air person...and Lynne had the first shift of that!

And then....the rain. Blue sky all around us...and over us?

Oh Indiana. Sun and rain all at once.
 




Lynne and I ran around and put stickers on people's cars for them.

See? I really did clean windows!!

And I took my turn calling back to the station...

Biggest question of the day to me was...aren't you blonde? I was! But not now!! :)



So it was a great day - and we were thankful the sun finally came out!! So great to see all of you who stopped by...now to pick on the morning guys for praying for rain to fall on us. {Okay so maybe they didn't pray for it...but that doesn't keep me from picking on them about it!}

Wednesdays in the Word: R Verse

I have very active tear ducts.

You probably know this. :)

So you can understand, then, why I love THIS verse so much.

My active tear ducts mean that I've done some pretty ugly melting down in a public setting. I've been caught mid-ugly-cry by a brand new boss on his first morning of work. I may or may not have sobbed a squealy "world-peace" sort of cry while speaking in front of a couple hundred people. I also had a shining moment during my first Share when reading a note from a listener on air - and I started crying so hard I had to pass the note off for someone else to finish.

I spend a lot of moments embarrassing myself with snot and hiccups and Rudolph nose syndrome.

But it isn't always like that. Sometimes I cry out in the privacy of our room...my car...the shower...behind a closed door at work. Sometimes the reason for my tears seems so silly...but yet my heart is torn. Sometimes I cry for reasons no one else could possibly understand...but I'm crushed. Sometimes I am not even sad at all, but just so overwhelmed that I have no choice but to let my exploding heart spill out through tears.

Regardless of the reason...regardless of the reaction of others...God cares.

He pauses. He listens. He comforts.  He understands. And most wonderful of all - He records it. He doesn't forget. The scroll bearing the story of my life finds a new entry...dated and detailed...with the number of tears fallen and the reason for them. When I'm 102, God will still know why I sobbed into a pillow on my bed when I was seventeen...and seventy...and He will still think of me with love and affection.

I know that so many of you who read are struggling through hard times for various reasons. You might spend some time, publicly or privately, mopping up pools of tears.

If I could be there beside you, chances are good I'd join you. But since I'm not, please hear me...HE sees. He joins you. And He has recorded every splash onto His scroll.

I Am Naaman

I emailed  my accountability partner, first thing Tuesday morning and told her that I was going to start the Tuesday prayer dates in earnest this time.  I asked her to specifically check on me that afternoon to make sure I’d followed through – correctly. 

The closer the clock crept to twelve, the more nervous I became.  I hoped someone would call or come in right when it was time for me to go to lunch – so I could delay – perhaps avoid – the hour altogether.  But twelve o’clock came and the phone did not ring.  No one stood in need of assistance at the front desk of our office.  I picked up my purse and walked hesitantly out of my office and past the secretary at the front desk.  “Be back in a while,” I said to her.  She waved and offered a cheery “Have a nice lunch!”

If she only knew.

I plodded down the stairs of my building very slowly, and even as I walked, I wondered why it was so hard.  All God had asked of me was that I walk to a building and pray.  The building wasn’t far away, it wasn’t raining, the campus wasn’t crowded…nothing logical stood in my way.  Just a nagging fear. 

And as I walked down the stairs and toward the door, the first of a string of God-ordained thoughts entered my mind.  Even as I pondered why this was so hard, God planted in my mind the story of Naaman.  How many years had it been since I read Naaman’s account in 2 Kings?  How many years had it been since I read anything in 2 Kings?

Naaman was a commander in the army of Aram.  He was a great leader and very well respected.  Unfortunately, he became a leper.  Leprosy was the cancer of that day – the dreaded disease.  Lepers were banished because the disease was so highly contagious, and Naaman’s family was devastated when he developed the telltale leprous signs.  A servant girl in Naaman’s household knew God – she had been raised in Israel and became a servant after she was taken captive.  She told Naaman that if he would go to Israel and find the great prophet, he would be healed.  Desperate to find a cure, Naaman went. 

The Bible says, “Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, ‘Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.’  But Naaman went away angry and said, ‘I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot, and cure me of my leprosy  Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than any waters of Israel?  Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?’  So he turned and went off in a rage.  Naaman’s servants went to him and said, ‘My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it?  How much more, then, when he tells you, Wash and be cleansed!’  So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy” (2 Kings 5:10-14).

By this time I’d reached the sidewalk and could see the back of the prayer chapel just a few hundred yards away.  I shook my head.  I was Naaman.  These prayer dates were supposed to be about praying for my husband.  I would have done all sorts of crazy things to find this elusive man.  I would have climbed a mountain, run a marathon – neither of which my body would have appreciated – if I knew that at the summit, at the finish line, he would be waiting.  I probably would have tried my hand at scuba diving if I knew he’d be swimming the waters. 

And yet what was the one thing God had asked?  Go to the prayer chapel on Tuesdays and pray about your husband.  Such a simple request.  Yet because it wasn’t the grand display that I thought God should use, I snubbed my nose at it.  It was too easy.  Too simple.  Surely it didn’t matter. 

I thought of Naaman – after the seventh cleansing dip in the River Jordan.  He came up out of the water and found that his flesh had not only been restored from disease, but was as pure and smooth as a young boy’s.  He even got back better skin than his old, battle-scarred, weather-worn covering.  What if he had ultimately refused the healing?  He would have withered away slowly as the debilitating disease ate at his body, bit by bit. 

What if I had refused this heart-healing call?  I didn’t think I wanted to know.   

Another Chance

Remember last week...when I told you about my modified obedience? {aka...disobedience??}

It was a warm evening in May – one year after my failed attempts at the Tuesday prayer assignment - that I curled up on the couch with my journal, my pen, and Lisa Bevere's book, Out of Control and Loving It. I had the out of control part down. I was hoping to learn how to love it.

I read these words and conviction poured over me:  “We need to stop trying to conceal our inward condition and instead allow God to heal us.  He already knows our true conditions, yet He loves us.  Untangle yourselves from the superficial and embrace the supernatural.  It is urgent that we consecrate and separate ourselves, not by rending natural garments, but by tearing the hidden veil from our hearts.”

I had not only tried to conceal my inward condition from everyone around me – including my accountability partner – but I’d even tried to conceal it from God.  I knew He knew – but there was something about seeing that reminder in print that made it real to me.  I had a big veil in my heart and I knew some rending needed to take place.  Yet I was already in the middle of another rather significant spiritual exercise, and the thought of taking on more made me want to curl up and quit.

In response to those thoughts, I wrote in my prayer journal, God, I know that this is why it’s not time for me to find my husband yet – I need to work on inward adornment  Wow.  So much work – and at times very discouraging.  Very much so.

Suddenly feeling very heavy in my heart, I closed Lisa’s book and moved on to my Bible reading for that evening. In the way that only God could ordain, my Psalm reading that day was from Psalm 102:

“Lord, hear my prayer!  Listen to my plea!  Don’t turn away from me in my time of distress.  Bend down to listen and answer me quickly when I call to you.  For my days disappear like smoke, and my bones burn like red-hot coals.  My heart is sick, withered like grass…Because of my groaning, I am reduced to skin and bones…I lie awake, lonely as a solitary bird on the roof…” (NLT).

Well, I couldn’t relate to the skin and bones part, but the rest of it described my feeling that day.  Loneliness overwhelmed me.  I stared at Lisa’s book on the floor nearby and thought again of all the inward rending and mending that needed to take place before I could even think of being ready for a husband.  I turned my attention back to Psalm 102 again and made it my prayer.  I was just so lonely. 

In the way that God does with me, I felt prompted to open the devotional book God Calling. This book was the precursor to the popular Jesus Calling...and was written by two missionary women years and years ago.  I’ve found that often the words within speak to my heart almost as much as Scripture, and this day was no exception.  The words on the page that day read:

“Delay is but the wonderful and all-loving restraint of your Father – not reluctance, not desire to deny – but the Divine control of a Father who can scarcely brook the delay.  Delay has to be – sometimes.  Your lives are so linked up with those of others, so bound by circumstances that to let your desire have instant fulfillment might in many cases cause another, as earnest prayer, to go unanswered.  But think for a moment of the Love and thoughtful care that seeks to harmonize and reconcile all your desires and longings and prayers.  Delay is not denial – not even withholding.  It is the opportunity for God to work out your problems and accomplish your desires in the most wonderful possible way for you.”

Delay.  I knew about that.  I wonder…had I obeyed and taken the Tuesday prayer assignment seriously…would I have him by now?  Would I at least be closer to finding him?  Why didn’t I do it the way God asked?

And then I heard that Still Small Voice once again:

Tomorrow is Tuesday…

The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday was another gorgeous day...so thankful for these beautiful weekends after the mess of the winter we had! Ryan and I grilled chicken and made huge salads for lunch...and ate in the pirogi and took a nap in the hammock. LOVELY. And then we were unashamed bums for the rest of the day. I did some Pinteresting online {with Braeya's "help"} and then at the end of the day, after our walk, we settled into the kitchen and cooked together! We made our anniversary dinner a day in advance...gotta love a man who cooks!

 * Monday was our 18 month anniversary - and it was the sort of day outside that made us want to stay HOME!!! Overcast and rainy all day. We went to the gym after work {the couple that works out together stays together, right?} and had a great workout in a nearly empty building and then we came home for a yummy dinner and night of TV! So thankful for our first year and a half of marriage!

* Tuesday night, I started leading a Bible study on Beth Moore's newest book...Children of the Day. I was SO EXCITED for this chance to be in a study again!! While I did that, Ryan did some yard work and apparently bonded with ALL the electronics. LOL!! We did squeeze in a quick walk after Bible study - and then we hunkered down for America's Got Talent and the Duggar engagement! {That was a lot happening for one day!!!}

 * Wednesday was our big book giveaway on Mid-Morning, so I spent most of the day in my happiest place...playing in books. :) We went to the gym after work, where I got a {this round} record 4.2 miles in on the track. {Did not run all that way, but made it all that way!} It was miserably cold and rainy out, so we went home and I worked on my Beth Moore homework and Ryan did some finishing projects on the house.

* Thursday was my friend Phats' birthday...and Lynne and I gave him a shout out on BLT! Thursday morning was also VERY foggy...and it's the one kind of bad weather I don't mind driving in. So pretty! That night, we had a surprise visitor...our friend Shawn came to see us on his way through town! {We were dreadfully under-dressed for the occasion.} Ryan and Shawn are really good friends, and we always love it when he visits! He also let us take a spin in his car...and someone was pretty happy about that!

* Friday, I had a fun treat...I actually knew our Mid-Morning guest {David Drury}  in real life, and his whole family came with him to the station for his interview. It was fun to give them a tour and show them life behind the radio scenes! The down side of Friday was that while trying to get something out of a cabinet at work, a whole cabinet door came crashing down off the wall and nailed me in the knee and shin before shattering into multiple pieces. So I spent the afternoon on ice, trying to prevent bruising and swelling. That night was date night and the aforementioned discovery that our precious former Sonic building had been demolished.

* Yesterday we got up at the same time as a work day. NOT RIGHT!! We met our friend Randy for breakfast and then all of us headed to Greentown to work on our house there. Mom and Dad met us and we had a work day! Dad cut down a dead tree and mowed the yard, Mom and I painted, I cleaned carpets, and Ryan & Randy repaired the deck that had been damaged. A long, full day! In the evening, we went to two graduation open houses for girls from the church we used to attend. I think we might need a nap! :)