January: Done

* I rang in the new year with friends...the old and the new. Faith and I celebrated the official start to the new year with our Hawaiian themed festivities, and I spent the entire first day of January meeting new friends in Fort Wayne, worshiping with them, eating with them, and spending time getting to know them.

* My Pinterest-inspired month gave me a 2012 time capsule, a way-too-cute snowman wreath, inspiration for a blog post, and a twisty little twist on scarf tying/presentation.

* Started my one thousand gifts journal as part of Mid-Morning's 1000 gifts challenge for the year 2012. As of this morning, the count is at 196...and I know there have been more gifts than that...some have slipped past me.

* Went to the Goshen Fire and Ice Festival where I got to see ice sculpting in action for the first time. Pretty fascinating!!

* Had to stay in Fort Wayne three times because of weather. Not too bad for an Indiana January. Still...looking forward to the day when I can put AWAY the suitcase from its on-call status.

* Had the privilege to join Lynne on the air to interview Ann Voskamp, Lisa Harper, and Angie Smith...three women whose writing and ministries I very much admire.

* Participated in my first ever SHARE - which was a delightful blend of SO much fun and SO exhausting! And SO much food. Seriously so much food.

* Got to be in my first attempt at a video with Lynne - for one of the recaps of SHARE. It was much fun - and the things I do to humiliate myself never cease to amaze me. :)

* Started writing again. Destination: completing volume two of a Bible study I began writing a few years ago. A church group did volume one and has asked for volume two, so I have to finish it. More updates to come!

* Received a 30 day challenge from God which begins today. More to come on this tomorrow!

My First Share: The Final Day

I was going to write about the last day of Share on Saturday - but by Friday night I was absolutely EXHAUSTED and I didn't want to cheat the story of the last day.

Friday was our last day, and it was scheduled to end around noon, so we all came in at 5:45 in the morning.

Our buddy Silas (remember him?) had other obligations on Friday, so he sent his stand-in. Isn't this a scream?
Apparently several years ago, during Sheryl's first Share, someone told her on the last day, it was pajama day. She almost believed it, too! So as a joke, this year, she and Jeri came in their jammie pants...

Lynne took a shift on the phones. Or talking to volunteers while sitting at a phone. No - for real - she was logged in to take calls.

Sheryl brought me some cake, but no fork. That was some GOOD cake. (Or rather, some good icing. For me, cake is merely a vehicle for the icing, remember?)

Mac Powell...in the jammies. LOL!!

This moment was one of my most pivotal. I talked about it in the weekly recap. We'd been trying to raise $30,000 in one hour and with 9 minutes to go, we were still $10,000 short. But it came in at the very last second. This moment was when they announced that on the air and everyone clapped. Very moving.

The final Mid-Morning hour of Share - Ross, Lynne, Ron and me. This would be right before I had my on-air meltdown. I was struggling anyway, and then somehow thought it would be a good idea to try to read a really moving email. Bad.I.Dea.

Busy busy phone room. It was crazy busy all day - even past noon, when they decided to keep it running!

By about 3:30, I was back on the phones myself, and I wrote this note. Hard to read, but it says "I'd like to report a rare phenomenon: I'm tired of talking."

The phone company that set up our extra lines for Share had contracted with us to keep them open until 4 pm. So we'd been warned that when the lines cut, they'd just go dead, even if we were in mid-conversation. My phone rang, and I thought for sure I'd switched it off the headset mode, so I picked up the receiver. Nothing. So I grabbed the headset. Nothing. So I had them both up to my ear, saying "HELLO!?!?! HELLO!?!?!" Phil was my seatmate at that time and was so cracked up by the entire show that he started grabbing staplers and Clorox jars to say hello into all of them. I laughed until I cried.

In the end, we came in pretty close to our goal - not quite there, but pretty close. It was a neat moment to be in the studio all together as a staff and share with the listeners what had happened and pray together.

First Share...in the history books....and it was a good one.

It's the Weekly Recap!

* Last Sunday, as I pulled out of my driveway to head for church, my check engine light came on. SUPER. I debated whether or not to even leave town TO go to church...(because in my car-stupid mind, yellow light = one wheel spin away from a blowup) but I decided to proceed as planned. I elected to take back roads because I would rather ditch a car on a road less traveled than on a major highway. That meant driving on ice...while trying to caffeinate...what a morning! Fortunately Ryan and Laurie had some little diagnostic thingie-ma-doo in their car and ran it for me...and found out it was just a misfire. WHEW!

* Monday morning I shoved, and I DO mean SHOVED two suitcases in my trunk - please read: more stuff than I took to Florida - and headed to work. After work, I drove my car into previously Bekah-uncharted territories of Fort Wayne and checked in at my new home for the week: the Marriott Hotel. Because it was our SHARE week at work (annual fundraiser), I stayed in town to get extra rest and not have to worry about getting stranded in bad weather.
* Tuesday morning brought my first ever day of SHARE! I was sort of a jack of all trades that day, doing some regular work, learning how the phone bank worked, helping enter pledges, helping take pledges, being part of the dinner-run crew, and spending the Mid-Morning hour on the air with Lynne and Ross. And learning that I should have worn my SKINNY pants on day one, not my fat pants. After seeing the amount of food that rolls in for this thing, I wasn't sure I'd fit in ANY of my pants by Friday. EEK!
* Wednesday was the second day of SHARE, and I had a blast! Definitely by the second day, I was starting to feel the effects of 12 hour work days (in boots) but I adored the atmosphere with all the volunteers coming in and out...all the fun food...all the calls and internet pledges coming in...so much fun!

Know what WASN'T fun? The ice and sleet and freezing rain mix that showed up as we were leaving! So glad I was staying in town. I couldn't have made it home for sure!


*Thursday was crazy busy AND so much fun...during a down time, I got to try my hand at being Jim's lovely assistant for some magic tricks. (He didn't cut me in half. Don't worry.) I also got to be in my first station video...which was pretty fun. The last full day of SHARE - and I really loved it!

* Friday was our final day of fundraising, and it was the most stressful for me. I was also dealing with a still-sick car, which (thank you car shop!) was picked up, fixed and returned by the shop so I didn't have to miss work to take it in. (Did you know anyone was still that nice?) I ended up having an on-air meltdown while trying to read a really touching comment, and at the end of the day, when I was put on air again to talk about my first experience with this kind of week, I cried again! I was exhausted by the end of the day, but it was still a great week.
* Saturday night I was supposed to have game night with my high school friends, but alas, I came down with flu-like symptoms and spent the entire day in bed. And no, you do not get a picture of that.


Pinterest Inspirations: Are nonexistent this week, since I was so busy working that I couldn't be acting out on pins! HOWEVER. I did do some serious pinning while in my hotel room each night.

Organization Confessions: Confession: I didn't organize. I wasn't home. And then I was sick.

One Thousand Gifts: There were many this week but I think my favorite was the moment on Friday when we were trying to reach a goal of raising $30,000 in one hour. With nine minutes to go in the hour we had just over $20,000. I looked at Cindy and said, "Pretty much no on that, huh?" She rubbed my back and said, "Are you a doubting Thomas?" I nodded. And 9 minutes later, we had $30,000. God is so big. Blows my mind.

Country Girl in the City

Sit right back...I have a Bekah story for you today.

I was raised in the country. Not on a farm, but in the country. And for the most part, I've stayed with country (or SMALL city) life. I'm not sophisticated, I'm not polished, I don't know what fork to use when multiple options are given, and I am okay with all these things.

So this past Monday, when I headed to my hotel room for the week, I sensed an "only-Bekah" story in the making. My room was reserved in the middle of downtown Fort Wayne. Now granted, comparitively speaking, downtown Fort Wayne is still pretty small. But for this girl, it was a lot of one-way-lanes to contend with. Thank goodness for Cal.

I pulled up in front of the hotel, parked in the loading zone and went inside. The nice lady behind the desk asked my name, and when I told her, she said, "Oh of course! Miss Freelan!" Ummmm - didn't realize you'd be expecting me!

She gave me the room card and also a card for the parking garage.

Okay people. Confession time. Only once in my adult life have I ever parked in a parking garage, and that was earlier this summer when Lynne and I had our pictures taken just around the corner from the hotel where I stayed last week. I made my way in and out only because I followed her. So while I realize this is a TOTALLY stupid thing to be worried, about...I was.

She gave me another card and said if I'd just pull to the end of the building, I could scan the card, and park anywhere on the first level. Then I could just follow the awnings into the building and find my room. It sounds simple, doesn't it?

Well check out how it REALLY happened. And oh how I wish I had footage of it. The hotel probably does. They're probably selling tickets to it right now, actually.

* Scanned the little card and got in the parking garage with no problem. Headed for the first level where EVERY SPACE had a reserved sign.

* Kept driving and got all the way to the end of the first level before I realized they were reserved FOR THE HOTEL GUESTS. Oh. That's me.

* Decided I didn't want to be the whole first level away from the hotel, so I pulled in a spot and debated about whether I was allowed to pull back out and go the way I just came or if this was one of those garages where I had to continue to the next section and somehow find my way back.

* Seeing no traffic, I decided to backtrack and hope that wasn't illegal (a.k.a. captured on film)

* Parked my car, grabbed all my work bags and dinner and headed for the awnings.

* They did not exist.

* Found signs that said "Hotel" and walked toward the door. It went outside. Surely there was a skywalk of some sort. Walked up the stairs to level two. No exit. Got in the elevator and rode right back down to the place I'd just been.

* Walked outside in search of non-existent awnings. Found a sign that said "Hotel entrance." Entered. No elevators at that end of the building. Walked upstairs and found my room. Took pictures (Duh!)

*Walked back toward the garage and went down one level too far. (No signs on the inside of the door to label it "street.") Rolled my eyes as I was sure the front desk was having a great time watching this on surveillance.

* Made my way back to the car. Hefted (and I do mean HEFTED) both suitcases out of the trunk and pushed/pulled them back the way I came.

* To get to an elevator, I'd have had to push them on the street to the front door. Not interested. Rolled them in the stairwell and ran them one half-flight at a time up the stairs.

* Disappeared inside my room and decided that HAD to count for half a workout.

What can I say? Country girl!

My First Share: Day Three

It is most unfortunate when I wake up on the grumpy side. (And honestly that very rarely happens anymore.) But Wednesday night I made the grave mistake of getting too much sleep. Pretty much five or less hours of sleep works...and anything between five and twelve makes me grumpy. And that night I got about eight. BAD IDEA.

So, this is me, somewhere around 8 a.m. (clutching coffee for dear life) with my best "tryin' to be happy" face. Meet more of my work friends! Jill is beside me and she's the one who worked the David Phelps concert with me! Then you remember Jeri from earlier this week...and Ken (who always pops in to see me and tries to scare me if he can...which usually works!) and Cindy, this week's birthday girl!
Guess who came back to see us yesterday!! SILAS!!!

...the coolest dog IN the world. Hee hee hee.

You just never know who might drop by the station...so it's always good to have a good hair day.

Jim Barron is one of our morning guys, but he's also quite the illusionist. He promised to do some magic tricks for us, and wouldn't you know, he picked the Mid-Morning hour to do that. WHAT!?!!? So between reading pledges....we watched the show from our monitor.

Giving a tour to Mac Powell....he's kinda tall.

And then George came by....goodness, it was a busy day. BUSY!

During the afternoon, I worked the phone room, and looked up to see this in the studio. I asked if it was the Holy Spirit's hour to anchor the show....

One of our phone volunteers brought these darling things. BUCKEYES!!!!

This is Craig. I wish you could all know Craig. He is one of the funniest guys I've ever met, and he can not only give me a run for my money in creative writing....he just flat out does it 100,000 times better than I do. He and I share a deep love of coffee and the smell of Sharpies.

There is no shortage of food during this fundraiser. (Read: I've gained 201 pounds. Roughly.) Cindy's husband brought some caramel corn. (Oh.My.Word.)

I promise, we really did work (and hard, too, I might add!) but during a break...Jim came back to do magic tricks, round two. I was his lovely assistant. Up first: a card trick. (This is my nervous look.)

Oops - this got out of order and I'm too lazy to change it. The second trick was this little loopy ring thing. I was TERRIBLE at it. Jim - amazing.

Okay back to the card trick. Jeri (holder of the camera) was supposed to "read my mind" to guess what card I'd picked. Please note the ginormous hint Jim's sending her way. Jeri just snapped the pictures and stared hard at my eyes and guessed....WRONG...TWICE!! LOL! It was the best trick ever.

This is me, checking the deck to see if my card is still in there...since Jeri didn't quite get it. LOL!

And...to round out the day...check this out! Lynne and I did the daily recap video. I think you'll agree that our acting skills are...well...LYNNE'S a good actress....

My First Share: Day Two

Yesterday was the second day of our fundraiser...and it was even more fun than day one! (Note to self for next year: boots are cute but they HURT after 12 hours of running around!)

Check out one of our first shift volunteers!! Isn't he precious? His name is Silas. I tried to figure out how to sneak him home without his owner noticing. Didn't come up with a solution on that one.

Miss Sheryl and I were twins!

Lynne gave me the actual "thumbs up" in the studio...

Proof that I really was there. (In my borrowed earrings. I completely forgot my earrings and Cindy let me borrow her spare pair. Good grief.)

Speaking of Cindy...SOMEONE had a birthday yesterday. Like a BIG birthday. One that starts with a five. But we won't give ages. We will, however, talk about these cupcakes. Oh.My.Word.

See that chocolate one there on the edge? MINE. It was so good. Ganache over frosting. Oh wow.

And here's the birthday girl with her husband in the background. He made her gift. Poor Cindy....

These two share an office. Amy, on the left, is (as you know) one of my lunch buddies. Doris, on the right, is the Mid-Morning mail guru. She so very lovingly sends out ALL our giveaways for us. It's a huge job and I really appreciate her hard work!

The birthday girl and me. :)

Jeri and Amy - my buddies!!!

* I'm starting to get the hang of the flow of how things work in the phone room, so it's more fun now.

* I've never seen so much food IN MY LIFE. I actually had to pass on the frozen yogurt yesterday. Broke my heart. I love yogurt!!

* Loving the chance to meet people in person!

* Can't wait to see what Day 3 brings! (Hopefully NOT the ice....)

My First Share: Day One

Thought you might like to see how my very first day of SHARE 2012 went!

* This is my typical look first thing in the morning. One with the coffee cup.
* These are two of my fabulous co-workers. Sheryl, on the left, is part of my lunch crew and Jeri, on the right, is my next door neighbor in the office. Both are long-suffering listeners and profound encouragers to my life!

* NOT your typical day at the office: the TV camera arrived to do a news story! This is the phone room...with volunteers taking pledges!

* More of my fabulous co-workers! You might recognize the lovely lady on the left: Mrs. Lynne Ford. (I always call her Miss Lynne, but she really is married.) And then - my good friend, Diane! She is our receptionist and in my (correct) opinion a master of station knowledge. When I cover for her breaks, I develop new appreciation for just how much she knows! I love laughing with her - and we do that about1283791273192873 times a day. Then we have 2/3 of the morning team, Larry and Jim. They are so much fun!

* Here's what life looked like in the studio...Ross is in the back there and then Jim and Phil of the morning team. That seat where Phil is planted (by the door) is where I sit during SHARE. Normally I'm in Jim's seat during Mid-Morning.

* Lynne and I were on air together during the Mid-Morning hour. She propped up her binder and I asked if that was so I wouldn't copy her work. (Hello second grade!!) She just laughed at me. (This happens a lot.)

* Like you thought I'd forget to report in on the food. Lunch was from McAlisters. YUM. Wraps...pickles...soup...and chocolate chip cookies (not pictured but definitely consumed).

* Sheryl trained the phone volunteers when new ones arrived, and I listened in so I could learn for when I had to start answering phones. (I got to wear the Life Alert operator headsets again!)

See? "Help is on the way!!"

* Dinner was an Italian delight - and you see that little brownie looking thing over to the right? It wasn't a brownie. It was some sort of truffly, moussey, cheesecakey delight that I deemed heaven on a plate. Oh. My. Word. All other desserts are now spoiled for me. Not kidding.

A couple of highlights from day one:

* I had just shoved a piece of chocolate chip cookie the size of Pennsylvania in my mouth when a man I'd never met stuck out his hand and said, "I don't believe we've met. I'm Brian." I said, "AhhhmBekah ahhhnd Ahhhhhm srrry ahhhh donnnn usually talkk wif my mouf full..." Amused, no doubt, at my increasingly red face, he said, "What do you do here?" "Ahhhhm the muhmorning pro...." (swallow) "ducer. Nice to meet you." Good grief. Was I born in a barn?

* At the end of the day, I got to meet our IT guy, Marion's, daughter. She's 4. Hilarious. I was waiting for phone calls and she hung out with me for a while. After talking to me about her dad, she said, "Do you KNOW my daddy?" I said, "Yes I sure do. I break things a lot and he fixes them." She said, "What do you break?" I said, "My computer." She said, "How do you break it?" I said, "Well, I wish I knew. He probably does too!"

New Adventures at Work!

Today begins a new adventure for me in the land of radio: the annual fundraiser begins today.

For years (crazy as it may sound) the sharathon (which we now call just plain SHARE) was one of my favorite things to listen to. All the programming was put aside for a couple of days, and some people might not know what to do with that, but I loved it. I loved hearing the staff talk on the air and the stories listeners called and wrote in to share with others. It was always a huge boost to my faith to hear what God was doing in the lives of others who listened to the same music and talk radio I heard every day.

I clearly remember last year's SHARE. I remember sitting at my desk, incredibly discouraged about the work I was doing, closing my door, and cranking up the speakers so I could hear the encouragement over the airwaves.

I remember sending in my pledge, which held significance for me as it gave God credit out loud for the work He'd done in my heart over the desert period.

Hard to believe this year, I'm on THIS side of the radio.
The building looks crazy different right now. The mailboxes have taken up residence in the office I share with Lynne. I call it "the way to get people to visit me regularly." I actually like the influx in office traffic.

Yesterday, Craig said he found communication central for us. A walkie talkie from the era of the ark. Yes, the antenna really is out the side of the picture.

Of course I said "You know, Craig, I HAVE to have my picture taken with that thing." So he patiently waited while I ran for the Bekahrazzi camera. I don't think he was expecting the monstrosity I returned with, but he graciously took my picture.

And so it begins! I have no idea what to expect - but I'm excited! Pray for us?